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“Hotch, we don’t have time to wait for SWAT, they’ve got two little girls in there.” Morgan paced in front of the black SUV.
“I know, I know. Prentiss and Morgan, you guys go to the back door, Rossi and I will take the front. There are two killers in there and this is most likely their endgame. Reasoning with them won’t work. Be on your toes and watch each other’s backs.” Emily could see the stress behind Hotch’s stoic face. He doesn’t want to go in there, just the four of them, but they’re all out of time.
Emily and Morgan gave him a quick nod and made their way around the house. Emily followed Morgan, both with their guns drawn at a slow and steady pace. They turned the corner to the back of the house, and slowly crept up the small deck to flank the door. Emily met Morgan’s eyes and gave him a quick nod signaling she was ready. Taking a step back, Morgan drove his foot into the door, slamming it against the interior wall.
Emily burst into the house, scanning and clearing the dingy living room. They met Hotch and Rossi in the middle having cleared the first floor. Continuing their sweep of the house, the older agents went to the basement and Emily and Morgan moved to the staircase leading to the second floor.
Morgan led their way to the top of the stairs. He signaled Emily to check the doors on the right side of the hallway and he would take the left. Morgan cleared his first door and was on to his second when the first door on the right flew open. One of their unsubs, Lucas Randall, came barreling toward Emily slamming her against the wall making her drop her gun. Emily started fighting him off, getting a couple good shots to his jaw and stomach. The last blow to his stomach had him stumbling back enough to land a kick in his sternum sending him into the opposite wall.
Morgan came charging out of his cleared room at the noise of the scuffle. Randall quickly regained his balance before Emily was able to raise her gun and got in one lucky swipe of the knife as Morgan tackled him, sending him tumbling down the staircase.
“You, okay?” Morgan levelled his gun on the unsub that was lying in a heap on the landing and made his way down the stairs to put him in cuffs.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked at the wound on her forearm in annoyance.
Just then Emily heard a crash and a small whimper coming from the end of the hallway. She immediately raised her gun, ignoring the sting of the cut, and quickly moved towards the noise. She opened the door to find the two little girls with their hands bound and mouths gagged. Abby and Amy had tears running down their identical faces, their hair once in matching double braids are now half undone and knotted in a nest of blonde. The two girls were wearing “Thing 1” and Thing 2” pajamas. The one with “Thing 2” emblazoned on her chest, Abby, had a small cut on her cheek. Her sister looked relatively unscathed. Behind Abby, stood their other unsub with a gun to the back of her head.
“Joseph Randall, FBI. Drop the gun, now.” Emily steadied her gun and aimed for his forehead.
“Get out of my house! These are my girls now, and I can do whatever I want with them.” The veins in Joseph Randall’s forehead were popping out, his face was sweaty and beat red. The two five-year-old girls at his feet looked like toddlers compared to his giant, hulking form.
“We have four agents in this house and a SWAT team on the way. You will not make it out of here alive if you don’t put the gun down, now.”
“Well, I can tell you I'm not going down without a fight.” Emily registered the meaning of his words a hair too slow. His arm quickly swung around to aim at her, and both of their guns fired at the same time. Her bullet landed directly between his eyes, dropping him to the ground. His sunk into Emily’s vest. The force knocked her back into the door frame, but she stayed on her feet.
“Jesus, Prentiss! Are you okay...still?” Morgan made his way into the room and checked Randall’s pulse before turning towards his partner.
“Yep, still just A-okay.” Emily struggled to catch her breath as she holstered her gun and moved towards the two little girls cowering in the corner. “Hey, there. My name is Emily, and this is Derek. We’re here to take you back home to your mommy and daddy.” She took the gags out of their mouths and untied the bonds on their wrists.
“What do you say sweetheart, you ready to get out of here?” Morgan asked Amy crouching down to her level. With a small nod she let him lift her into his arms and left the room.
“How about you, pretty girl?” Emily softly pushed a blonde lock out of Abby’s tear-stained face and she, too, got a small nod. Emily's right shoulder and chest burned with the effort of lifting Abby, but she ignored it and shifted the little girl to her left hip before following Morgan down the stairs.
“Joseph Randall is in the last room on the left. He’s gone.” Morgan told Hotch as they met at the top of the stairs.
“We heard two shots, is everyone else, okay?” Hotch asked.
“He got me in the vest, I’m good though. Just knocked the wind out of me.” Emily slightly wheezed.
“Here, let me take her.” Rossi extended his arms to take the child from Emily, but her little arms were wrapped so tight around Emily’s neck.
“It’s fine, the worst part was getting her up here anyways.” Abby’s grip was making her right side scream, so she started walking away from the other agents and the little girl loosened up a bit. She made her way outside and over to the ambulances where Morgan was waiting with Amy.
“How is it that there were four of us in there and you got hurt by both of the unsubs?” Morgan said with a cocked brow and a slight smirk.
“I may be joining you on the “I hate Halloween” team. I feel like getting shot and almost skewered on Halloween is some type of bad omen.” Emily rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Abby, “Hey honey, I’ve gotta set you down with the paramedics so they can take a look at the cut on your cheek.” Emily gestured with one arm for Morgan to grab Abby. Once Abby was in the ambulance with the paramedics, Emily let out a wince as she undid her vest. She turned it around and saw the bullet lodged just above the “F” in the “FBI” emblazoned on it.
“Are you sure you’re, okay?” Morgan came to stand in front of her with concern all over his face.
Emily leaned against the side of the ambulance, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just sore.” The right side of her chest creeping up to her shoulder was just one big throb.
“I bet you are, you’ve already got a bruise showing up.” He pointed to the part of her chest that wasn’t covered by the neckline of the T-shirt she was wearing.
“Dammit. Guess I’m wearing turtlenecks for the next couple weeks.” Emily looked down at her chest and could see the start of what was going to be a very colourful bruise.
“And the arm?”
“Just a scratch. The son of a bitch only nicked me.” She held her arm up to examine it. The bleeding had mostly stopped coming from the 10cm long gash on the top of her forearm.
Morgan rolled his eyes at her. "You should get that cleaned up; it doesn’t look like it needs stitches, but it’s still more than a “scratch” you dork.”
“Yea, you're probably right.” They walked over to the paramedic that had just finished checking Amy over. As they thought, the cut on her arm only needed to be cleaned and wrapped. Just as the paramedic was finishing up, Hotch made his way over to her.
“Are you okay?”
Emily gave a big sigh and a thumbs up, “Wear the vest, save your chest.”
“You should get checked at the hospital.” Clearly not impressed with her attempt at nonchalance.
“Honestly Hotch, I feel fine. It hurts, yes, but I can breathe perfectly fine. This isn’t my first rodeo, so I’m familiar with what this should feel like. If something doesn’t feel right, I’ll go to the hospital immediately.” Emily tried her best to keep her voice strong so they both would get out of her hair sooner. It was only 3pm and they were in DC. She just wanted to get home at a decent time and take a nice, long, hot bath.
“Okay. Rossi and I can finish up here, so you guys can head back to the office. Prentiss, just go home and take it easy. Don’t bother with any of your paperwork, it can wait until Monday.” Hotch threw Morgan a set of keys.
“What about my paperwork, can mine wait?” Morgan said with a cheeky grin.
“No, you didn’t just get shot. Next time you get shot, you can go home early.” The corners of Hotch’s mouth turned up slightly in a smirk.
Morgan recoiled at Hotch’s words, “Woah, man. That feels like you’re putting some bad juju out in the world talking like that.”
“Fine, go home.” Hotch walked away towards Rossi.
“Come on buddy, let’s go.” Emily snickered.
Once they got back to the office, Emily quickly grabbed her purse and made her way back down to the parking garage. She’d barely made it out onto the street before her phone started ringing.
“Prentiss.” She answered.
“Em, hey! How'd the take down go?” JJ’s voice rang out through the car. Emily’s face immediately broke into a big smile.
“Jayje! It was okay. We got one of them in cuffs, but the other didn’t make it. The twins were okay too. Scared, but okay. How was your press conference?”
“It went well. I guess I’ll have to do another now that it’s all over. Dammit, I’ll have to see if the sitter can pick up Henry from school. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it done and over with in time to take him trick or treating.” JJ groaned through the phone.
“I can pick him up. Hotch let Morgan and I go home, so I can just head straight there to pick him up. I still have your spare car seat in here from when we took him to the zoo a few weeks ago.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop to think about it. She should be going home to relax, not volunteering to look after the highest energy four-year-old she knows.
“Emily, I can’t ask you to do that. He's probably already full of Halloween candy and my kid is already nuts on a good day. Plus, you literally just walked away from a crime scene with two unsubs. You’ve got to be tired. Go home and enjoy the extra hours of freedom.”
“JJ, it’s no problem at all. I love that little guy! If you're gonna be late then I’ll take him trick or treating and you can join us later.”
Emily’s gut filled with hope as she waited for JJ to answer her.
“Well, okay then. Emily, I really appreciate this a lot. He’ll probably be more excited about you taking him than me. You’ll have to go right to his classroom to pick him up, just ask the secretary in the office where to go. I’ll call them with your name, so you don’t have any issues. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Emily could almost see JJ worrying her bottom lip.
“Yes, Jayje, I’m sure. I’m hanging up now.” Emily did a mental fist pump.
“Wait! Thank you, Emily. How about I pay you back with takeout, horrible Halloween movies, and enough candy to put us in a coma until Monday?”
Emily let out a short bark of laughter, “Sure, sounds good. I’ll see you later.”
The whole drive to Henry’s school, Emily had a massive smile plastered on her face. She likes spending time with Henry because he’s a mini version of her favourite person in the world, but the prospect of getting to spend a simple evening of movies and junk food with JJ makes her absolutely giddy. Emily was drawn to JJ from the moment she stepped foot in the BAU. Of course, Emily was first drawn in by her beauty. The golden hair that falls in perfect waves, her flawless sun kissed skin, and those sparkling blue eyes. Emily, however, fell in love with JJ’s kindness, her joy, the dedication she has to the never-ending pile of files on her desk, her compassion and empathy she uses when speaking to victims and family members, and the fact that she shows only Emily just how goofy and funny she can be. JJ is her best friend and Emily would do anything to make her happy, even if it means stuffing down the crippling heartache she feels every day knowing they’re not meant to be.
Emily pulled into a parking space outside of Henry’s school. She got a few steps away from her car when she realized that she had a huge bandage on her arm and a bruise that would scare the hell out of small children, creeping up her chest. She made her way back to her vehicle and opened the door to the back seat. Shit. Her go bag is safely tucked away under her desk at the BAU. She closed the door and popped the trunk. The only things she has in the trunk are an old FBI jacket that she knows has a broken zipper and her spare bullet proof vest. Well, at least it’s Halloween. She grabs both items and puts them on. She heads into the school feeling like a giant tool and quickly follows the signs to the office.
“Hi there, my name is Emily Prentiss. I’m here to pick up Henry LaMontagne.” Emily says to the grandmotherly looking woman behind the counter. The woman looks slightly startled by her very official looking getup.
“Oh my, yes. Ms. Jareau just called to let us know a friend was picking him up. We’ve seen him a few times here and there today and he is just so proud to tell everyone he’s an FBI agent just like his mom. He’ll be thrilled to see your costume too, so if I can just see some ID then you can be on your way.” The woman sent her the biggest smile.
Emily reached around to grab her wallet and groaned. Seriously. She reluctantly stuck her hand in her back pocket and pulled out her credentials.
“I’m sorry, I just came from work to help JJ out.” Emily gives the woman a sheepish smile as she flashes her badge.
“Oh, so not a costume.” The woman chuckled at Emily’s obvious discomfort. “I think that badge makes us all set here. Henry’s classroom is the last one in this hall on the left-hand side. Good luck in there, those kids are gonna go crazy for you.”
“Thanks.” Emily let out a small chuckle and made her way down the hall. She looked down one more time to make sure her vest was covering the bruise. JJ is going to kill me when she finds out. She knows what JJ is like when Emily gets hurt. First comes the silent treatment, then JJ explodes and tells her she needs to be more careful. After that, Emily has weeks of JJ being overbearingly helpful until the blonde decides Emily is healthy enough to lay off. Emily is expecting two bouts of anger from JJ today, one from actually getting hurt and one from “overexerting herself” by spending the rest of the day with Henry instead of relaxing. Hopefully because of JJ’s press conference and Morgan going home early, she won’t hear about it until she leaves the office. Emily thinks it would be better if she could tell her in person, so she doesn’t have the time to work herself up.
Any amount that she cared about JJ’s reaction went out the window when she saw Henry's face light up as she walked through the door.
“Emmy! What are you doing here?” The little blonde boy dressed in a store-bought FBI agent costume ran full tilt at Emily. She quickly decided it would be better for her to get to his level rather than try to pick him up.
“Hey buddy! I missed you so much that I begged your Mama to let me hang out with you today!” The last of Emily’s sentence wheezed out of her as Henry squeezed her around the neck.
“Ms. T! Ms. T! Look, we match!” Henry lets go of Emily and proudly stands beside her puffing out his chest to show off the “FBI” on his own vest.
“I see that, Henry! You guys look amazing!” The teacher gives Emily another once over. “Where did you get that? It looks so authentic; my little guy would go crazy if he saw that costume.”
Emily rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, it is authentic. I work with Henry’s mom and just came from work.”
“Ah, I see. I guess my chances of being the cool FBI mom for a day just went out the window.” The teacher let out an exaggerated sigh.
Emily laughed as Henry started pulling her towards his friends. “Look guys! This is Emmy, she works with my Mama. She’s an FBI agent too!” Henry flew around to face her, “Do you have your badge?” Henry looked up at her with wide, hopeful eyes.
Emily couldn’t help but smile as she pulled them out to show the kids. After a few more minutes of Henry showing off her badge to everyone, twice, Emily was finally able to wrangle the small ball of energy out of the school and into the car.
***
Jennifer Jareau flew through the bullpen and into her office. It was almost 7pm and she was eager to get home in time for the tail end of trick or treating. She also was looking forward to the night ahead of her with Emily. They weren’t often able to have an evening just the two of them. Usually Penelope would join in, or she’d have Henry with her. She knew that Henry would be in a sugar coma the minute they got home from trick or treating and would be dead to the world until it was time for Saturday morning cartoons.
She looked again at the photo Emily had sent her of the two of them. Emily was wearing some of her gear to match Henry’s costume. They were back-to-back holding finger guns in front of their faces. She let out another chuckle and felt her heart swell at the sight of her son and her best friend, the two most important people in her life.
There was something so easy and natural about spending time with Emily. Their conversations flowed and they always had an endless number of topics to talk about. The sound of Emily’s silky voice flowed through JJ’s bones, keeping her body in a state of calm. Even when they both didn’t feel like talking, just sitting in silence in her presence soothed JJ.
JJ snapped out of her musings and began to harshly pack her things away. She heaved her bag onto her shoulder and stared at the pile of files on her desk debating if she wanted to take some home over the weekend. Who am I kidding? She grabbed the top half of the pile and left her office locking it behind her. She was halfway across the bullpen when she saw the large red sticker on the top file. First, she was annoyed that someone put an active case file on the pile that she hadn’t yet looked at. Then, she registered that the red sticker means someone was injured in the field indicating that every team member involved would have to give a break down on what occurred. JJ veered towards the only agent that was left in the bullpen.
“Hey, Spence. I just got the file for the Randall brothers’ case. Who got hurt?” JJ stopped in front of Spencer’s desk.
“Emily, again. We really need to bubble wrap her or something.” JJ recoiled at his words.
“Wait, what? Emily was?” Spencer looked up from his file.
“Yeah, I talked to Morgan before he left. He said one of the brothers cut her on the forearm with a knife and she was shot by-”
“She was shot?!” JJ cut him off.
“In the vest, but yeah.”
“Emily is with my son right now getting ready to take him trick or treating. Did Morgan say if she was okay?” JJ ran a frustrated hand through her hair.
“He said the cut just needed some gauze, but by the time they got back to the office she had quite the bruise on her chest.”
“Why the hell would she offer to take my son if she was just shot like, hours before?” JJ could feel her anger building in her stomach.
“Because it’s you.” Spencer said with a shrug as he turned back to his file.
“What does that mean? You know what? Never mind, I have to go. See you Monday.” JJ turned on her heel, walked over to the elevators and punched the down button. Once inside the elevator, she let out a frustrated growl. Why does she always get hurt? She runs into situations with no regard for her own life or the lives of the people that love her. I would be broken. Doesn’t she care that I need her? Doesn’t she care what would happen to me if I lost her? By the time the elevator doors opened to the parking garage, JJ could feel angry tears stinging her eyes. She felt the familiar weight of dread that fills her stomach every time Emily gets hurt. The familiar thoughts of what could have happened run through her head and by the time she gets behind the wheel of her car, the tears have started silently rolling down her cheeks. With an eyeroll and a shake of her head, she furiously wipes them away and starts the engine. I’m going to kill her.
***
“Agent La Montagne, dinner is served. Brains and eyeballs, my specialty.” Emily set a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs in front of Henry with a flourish. Henry giggled and started to dig in. Emily started to make her way to the bathroom before turning back and grabbing the dish towel off the stove. “Let’s get this on you before we have a massacre on your “uniform”.” It had taken Henry correcting Emily four times that his outfit was a “uniform” and not a “costume” before she caught on.
Satisfied that he wasn’t going to destroy the kitchen at the moment, she made her way to JJ’s ensuite and searched her medicine cabinet for some pain killers. She popped a couple in her mouth and prayed they’d kick in enough to make it through the next few hours of keeping the little Energizer Bunny from running out into traffic. She headed back into the kitchen to raid JJ’s cupboards for the biggest bowl she could find and began filling it with the Halloween candy her and Henry picked up on the way home. After setting the candy bowl up outside on the porch, she went back in to clean up the small mess from Henry’s dinner.
“Alright Henry let’s head out before all the good candy is gone. Your Mama will probably meet us out there at some point.” Henry jumped off his chair and ran to the door in a blur of blonde hair. “Woah, slow your roll there, dude. Come back here.” Henry bunny hopped all the way back into the kitchen and stopped right in front of her almost landing on her toes. Emily untied the kitchen towel from his neck and wiped his face with it. She wet the end and gave his cheeks another pass. “There, good as new.” She bent to give him a kiss on the top of the head.
As Henry put his shoes on, she snaked a finger under the neck of the vest she had left on and pulled on it looking for a bit of relief from the pressure on her chest. She could tell the majority of her chest and shoulder would be a nasty colour and she didn’t want Henry to see it. Henry got so worried every time JJ got hurt and she didn’t want to pile on to that.
“I’m ready Emmy, let’s gooooooo,” He dragged out the last word.
“Okay, okay. We’re going. Keep your shirt on.” Emily grabbed her phone and keys and kept a firm hold on Henry’s hand as they walked out the door. She turned and locked the house with JJ’s spare key that was attached to her car keys.
“Okay, buster. You want to be a real FBI agent, then there’s a few rules you have to follow. First, if there is a bowl of candy left outside for you to take from, you take only what you should so there’s enough for all the other kids. Second, mind your manners and say thank you to everyone. The third and most important rule of being an FBI agent, partners stick together so you have to stay close to me. You don’t want to leave me in the dust with no back up for all the bad guys to get me, right?” Emily was knelt down and Henry was looking right into her eyes as she spoke. The mention of being a “real FBI agent” caught his attention.
“Yes, Emmy! I won’t let any of the bad guys get you! I’ll kick their butts!” Emily laughed as Henry gave a little karate kick.
“Alright Agent, let’s go.”
***
JJ talked to herself like a crazy person while she drove and by the time pulled into her driveway, she felt a little more in control. She spotted the bowl of candy Emily must have put out and laughed at how domestic that felt. She sent Emily a quick text telling her she had just got home. Emily replied with where they were, and a request from Henry for her to wear her FBI jacket. JJ’s mouth twisted into a smile and grabbed her jacket out of the backseat of her car.
JJ locked up her vehicle and made her way down the sidewalk to meet up with them. When she made it onto the street Emily said they were on, JJ scanned the kids and their parents silhouetted in the glow of the streetlights. She finally spotted her best friend walking around with her son on her back. She can see Henry enthusiastically chatting Emily’s ear off as they make their way to the next house. Her heart fills with so much warmth and love when she sees the smile on Emily’s face and how attentive she is to what the little boy is telling her. That feeling quickly morphs into dread and worry when she sees her best friend’s face scrunch in pain as Henry leans back pulling on Emily’s shoulders. JJ picks up her pace and tries not to let Henry see her. She knows that as soon as he sees her, he’ll scramble off Emily’s back and JJ doesn’t want to risk him hurting her again. She gets up right behind them and plucks Henry off Emily’s back.
“Mama! You scared me!” He threw his arms around JJ’s neck and gave her a big squeeze.
“Have you been making Emily carry you around this whole time?” JJ met Emily’s eyes with a steely gaze, and she could see the brunette’s shoulders drop and let out a puff of air.
“I’ve been watching her back! Emmy told me that if I wanted to be an FBI agent then I have to stay close to my partner and be their back up in case of bad guys. Hey, you match too! Emmy, can Mama be on the team too?” Henry ran his finger over the letters on JJ’s jacket.
“Hey! Of course, I’m on the team! Or do you forget that I’m also an FBI agent like Emily is?” JJ gave her son a look of mock offense.
“Yea, but Emmy is our unit chief like Jack’s dad, so she gets to decide who’s on the team.” Henry gave her a look that said “duh”, and she could hear Emily cough to hide her laughter.
“Henry, your Mama is one of the best agents I have ever worked with. Of course, she’s on the team.” Emily gave JJ a wink.
Henry started wriggling out of JJ’s arms and ran towards the next house leaving Emily and JJ to watch him run up and flash Emily’s credentials at the woman that opened the door.
“Did you give him your badge?” JJ shot her a wide-eyed look.
“Yea, remind me to get them back from him. How was your press conference?” Emily asked cautiously.
“It was fine, do you want to tell me again how the take down went?” JJ turned to face Emily with her arms crossed over her chest.
Emily let out another big sigh, “Let’s talk about this later, okay? He’s having a blast and frankly, so am I. So, can we just enjoy trick or treating with him?”
JJ looked at her for a moment before nodding, “Okay, we’ll talk after he goes to bed. Why don’t you take the vest off at least?” JJ’s eyebrows crinkled in concern.
“No, no. I’m okay.” Emily said sheepishly.
“Emily, you were shot today,” JJ whisper yelled, “I know you’re in pain, I can see it on your face.”
“I don’t want to take it off because I don’t want Henry to see. It scares him when you get hurt and I don’t want to add to that.” Emily said in a hushed tone.
JJ looked like she was about to say something else, but decided against it when Henry came bounding towards them. JJ kept an eye on Emily as they made their way through the neighbourhood. JJ could see her best friend trying her hardest to show she wasn’t in any pain as she goofed around with her son. The two of them were running around like they were chasing unsubs and JJ couldn’t help but laugh at their antics. By the time they made it back to JJ’s driveway, Henry was barely conscious as he shuffled forward holding both agents’ hands.
***
“Okay, buddy. Jammy time. I’ll be up in a minute to check on you. Scoot.” JJ shooed him up the steps once they got inside. JJ hung up her coat and threw her keys in the bowl by the door.
“He’s gonna be passed out pretty soon and then we can start our evening. He’s probably gonna ask you to tuck him in. I can tell he had a really good day with you, so thank you.” JJ grabbed Emily’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You're welcome. I had a great time with him.” JJ still had a hold of Emily’s hand when they walked into the kitchen.
“Jesus, big mess?” JJ dropped Emily’s hand to pick up the dish towel Henry had used as a bib.
“Sorry, I had to make a split-second decision before the kid got spaghetti and meatballs all over his “uniform”. He was adamant it was a uniform and not a costume.” Emily explained at JJ’s quizzical look. Emily tried to hide the slight wince as they laughed together, but JJ still saw it.
“Are you okay?” JJ examined Emily’s face in the light of the kitchen.
Emily let out yet another sigh at being asked the question, “Jay, I’m fine. Unfortunately, this isn’t my first time getting shot in the vest. I’m sore, but I’ll be fine.”
The blonde’s face morphed with anxiety, “I know, why does this keep happening? Why is it that you’re always the one getting hurt? Why-”
Once again, they were interrupted by the little boy’s appearance. He managed to get his Spiderman PJ’s on except that his top was on backwards.
“Can we watch a movie, Emmy?” Henry came right up to Emily and leaned into her legs.
“I don’t think so, monster. You seem pretty tired.” Emily laughed at the sleepy boy and helped him put his shirt on the right way.
“I don’t wanna go to sleep. I wanna stay down here with you and Mama.” Henry said with a pout on his face.
“It’s okay, buddy. Emily will be here when you wake up tomorrow and then we can watch movies all day long. The faster you go to sleep; the faster tomorrow will come.” Henry’s eyes lit up at the prospect of spending another day with the brunette.
“Uh, I will?” Emily shifted a confused look to JJ who wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Okay, Emmy will you read me a story?” Henry looked up at her with a pout. Yea, there’s no saying “no” to that look.
“Yea sure, buddy. Go get comfy, I’ll be up in a minute.” Emily ran a hand through his hair before he took off for the stairs. Emily turned to look at JJ who was still avoiding her gaze.
“I want you to stay tonight. I need to make sure you’re okay.” JJ said in a small voice.
“Jay, come on. It’s not that bad, you know that. Plus, I left my go bag at work. That’s why I had to wear this gear the whole night. I felt so stupid walking into your son’s school wearing an FBI issued bullet proof vest. I felt like I was showing off or something. I can just come back early in the morning before he gets up.”
“You can wear something of mine, please stay.” JJ looked up at her with an identical pout that Henry shot her just a moment ago.
“Okay.” Emily gave in.
“Thank you. Also, you look badass in this. Not stupid.” JJ waved a hand at Emily. “I bet he went crazy when he saw you in this.” JJ’s eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Yeah, he did. It was pretty cool.” Emily said with a shy grin.
“Let’s go tuck him in before he comes flying back downstairs again.” JJ took Emily’s hand again and led her towards the stairs. Emily stared at their entwined hands in confusion. They had held hands before, but it was usually as a way to show comfort. Emily felt something else in the air that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. JJ only let go of her hand once they were standing next to Henry’s bed.
“Just one tonight buddy, which one will it be?” Henry looked at his book collection like he was making the most important decision ever.
“This one.” He shoved “The Giving Tree” into Emily’s hands and the two women perched on Henry’s bed. Even though Henry’s breathing had evened out, Emily continued to read the book to the end. They each gave him a kiss on the forehead, then left the room leaving the door cracked. JJ wordlessly took Emily’s hand again and led her to the bedroom.
“I’ll get you something to wear. Did you want to take a shower?” JJ handed Emily a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.
“Yeah, I feel pretty grimy.” Really, she desperately needed the warm water to soothe her aching muscles.
“Give me your vest and jacket and I’ll go put them by the front door.” Emily knew this was JJ’s way of wanting to see the extent of the damage. With a nod she peeled off the jacket careful of the gauze wrapped around her arm. JJ stepped closer to her, so they were almost toe to toe and took the jacket from Emily’s hands and threw it on the bed. She gingerly took Emily’s forearm in her hands.
“It’s more gauze than I need. By the time the paramedic looked at it, it had stopped bleeding.” JJ nodded and looked Emily in the eyes before she reached to undo the Velcro of her vest. Emily went to take it off but hissed at the movement. JJ’s eyebrows scrunched as she helped Emily out of the vest and saw the angry bruise that reached from her collarbone to under the neckline of her T-shirt.
“You shouldn’t have played so hard with him today.” JJ lightly brushed a finger over the bruise causing a shiver to run up Emily’s spine.
Emily gave her a shrug. “I don’t know, it seemed worth it. I hope he had a good day.” Emily flashed a sheepish grin.
“Em, that boy loves you. He’s gonna drive me crazy for the next month talking about you. It happens every time he gets to spend time with you. He was still talking about our trip to the zoo earlier this week.” JJ flashed her a toothy grin and an eye roll. “Well, I believe I promised you take out, why don’t I go order while you take your shower. Chinese?”
“That sounds great.” JJ nodded and left Emily to take her shower.
***
JJ sat on the sofa waiting for Emily to join her. She felt like she was in some sort of daze from the butterflies that had been fluttering in her stomach since she received the photo of Emily and Henry in their matching outfits. She was amazed by how right everything felt with Emily. She had always been amazing with her son, but something about this evening opened her eyes to just how special the relationship between her best friend and Henry was. Just like JJ’s relationship with Emily, it was so natural with Henry. Every look or touch oozed with love. The domesticity that JJ had felt when she pulled in the driveway stayed with her the whole evening as she watched Henry and Emily laugh and play. JJ realized she was craving all the feelings that had been fluttering around all evening. More importantly she realized she wanted all of it with Emily. Will was a great father and Henry loved him, but it never felt right with him. Sharing a beautiful evening with her son and Emily felt right, it felt perfect.
“Clean as a whistle.” JJ jolted out of her daze and turned to face Emily.
“Feel better?” JJ asked.
“Yeah, much better.” Emily plopped down next to JJ with a big groan and rested her head against the back of the sofa.
“Food should be here soon, wanna pick a movie?” Emily rolled her head to face JJ and gave her a look.
“It’s nice of you to ask, but we both know which movie we’re starting with tonight.”
JJ pursed her lips before getting up and popping “Scream” into the DVD player. Emily knew they would be watching this movie tonight. Whenever JJ suggests horror movies, she really just means they’re going to have a Scream-a-thon.
“So, should we make bets on which movie we’ll make it to tonight before we pass out from the aforementioned sugar coma kicks in?” Emily asked JJ with a smirk.
“Three, but you’ll only make it about 10 minutes in. You know you’re going to force yourself to finish the second because it’s your favourite, so by the time we get to number three you’ll be pretty much done.”
Emily pondered what she said for a second before nodding her head. “Yea, you’re right. I think I’ll keep my money.”
JJ let out a bark of laughter. A few minutes into the movie the doorbell rang.
“Pause it!” JJ yelled as she sprung up to get their food.
“Jayje, you literally are reciting the lines to this movie. I think you know what’s going on.” Emily said as she paused it. JJ returned to the living room with a bag of food way too big for just the two of them.
“Shut up, Prentiss. You like this movie just as much as I do.” Emily just rolled her eyes as JJ passed her a carton and some chopsticks. When they were finished with their food, JJ collected the empty cartons and the leftovers and took them to the kitchen as Emily once again paused the movie. When she returned the two snuggled in with blankets and the leftover Halloween candy before continuing. After JJ switched the disks to “Scream 2”, JJ pulled Emily down to lay her head on her lap. JJ ran her hands through Emily’s beautiful dark hair, which soothed Emily to sleep in no time.
***
Once the movie ended, JJ abandoned their marathon and watched the peaceful look on Emily’s face. JJ didn’t often get to see Emily like this but would take advantage when she did. JJ still remembers the way she was stunned by Emily’s beauty the first day she met her. She looked so young but so professional. Her flawless skin was the perfect contrast to her dark hair and eyes. JJ found herself lightly tracing a finger over the striking features of her face, feeling mesmerized. She dropped her hand when she felt Emily start to stir.
“You should have made the bet. You didn’t even make it through the second one.” JJ said softly.
“Forgive me, but I had a long day.” JJ stiffened as Emily’s injuries were once again brought to the forefront of her thoughts.
“Emily, you scare the hell out of me.” JJ said in a quiet voice.
“What?” Emily tried to sit up, but JJ lightly held her in place.
“I am so scared of losing you, Emily.”
“JJ, I am fine.” Emily grabbed one of JJ’s hands and held it in her own.
“I know you are, but what about next time? Or the time after? I can’t lose you. So, you scare the hell out of me. It scares me that you are so brave. You run into all these dangerous situations with no regard for your own life, and I’m scared that at some point you won’t make it back to me. I need you to think about me and Henry because we need you.” JJ could feel tears starting to pool in her eyes. Emily tried to sit up again, and this time JJ let her. Emily put her hands on either side of JJ’s face and waited until those beautiful blue eyes were staring back at her.
“Jennifer, since I met you, I don’t know if I’ve thought about anything or anyone more than I’ve thought about you. You are my favourite person in the world. You are so special to me, and Henry is special to me because he is a part of you. I need you, too. You and Henry. You two are the most important people in the world to me.” Emily used her thumbs to swipe away the tears that had fallen down JJ’s cheeks. JJ pulled Emily into a hug that almost made her squeak in pain, but she held in the sound and melted into the hug. Once she let Emily go, she stood up and held out a hand.
“Let’s go to bed.” Emily looked at her hand for a second before taking it and letting JJ lead her down to her bedroom. “Please, can you just stay with me tonight.”
Emily gave her a soft smile and a nod.
“Do you want a T-shirt to sleep in instead of the sweater?” JJ asked.
“Yeah, probably.” JJ gave her a nod and moved to her closet to get an old college T-shirt for her.
“Do you mind giving me a hand? I think I spent longer trying to get clothes on and off than I spent in the shower.” Emily asked sheepishly.
JJ just walked over to her, and they carefully maneuvered the sweatshirt off. JJ couldn’t help stalling for a moment to look at the entire bruise on Emily’s chest. With a shake of her head, she helped Emily get into the T-shirt without too much pain. JJ’s hands lingered on the hem of the shirt and stared into Emily’s eyes. With absolutely no control over her body, JJ tightened her hold on the fabric and pulled Emily toward her before pressing her lips gently against her best friend’s. It was short, but she felt more from that simple kiss than she had with anyone else. JJ enjoyed the pure bliss she felt for a moment before realizing what she had done. Her eyes widened and she took a few steps back from Emily.
“I’m so sorry! I don’t know what I was think-” Emily cut her off by pressing her lips to JJ’s. JJ settled both her hands on Emily’s waist as Emily’s hands went to tangle in her hair. Their mouths moved together in symphony and they both felt that feeling of bliss again. When their lungs burned for air, they pulled away from the kiss and wrapped their arms around each other.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” Emily whispered in JJ’s ear.
“Me too.” JJ whispered back.
They eventually made their way into JJ’s bed and laid down facing each other.
“Emily, every day I spend with you and Henry feels like a perfect day. I want this all the time. I want the three of us to go trick or treating next year and wear matching costumes, I want you to do the bed-time routine with me, I want you to be there to teach Henry how to be a good person because you’re the best person I know, I just want you here with me. I know this is a lot to take in and I don’t want to freak you out or do anything to ruin what we already have. I just want to be honest with you because I think you’re amazing and I want you to know that I didn’t kiss you on a whim.”
“JJ, I’ve wanted this,” she waved a hand between the two of them, “pretty much the entire time I’ve known you. I just never thought we could ever happen. I didn’t think you’d ever see me in that way. I want anything you’ll give me.” Emily grabbed JJ’s hand and brought it up to her lips, placing a soft kiss on the back.
“I want to be more with you, but I need you to know something. I need you to really hear me when I say this. You own half of my heart. If something were to happen to you, half of my heart would die along with you. So, please I’m begging you to remember that.” Emily gave JJ a nod and leaned in again for a soft kiss. The soon fell asleep hands still entwined.
***
JJ woke up to the sound of cartoons blaring in the living room. She opened her eyes only to snap them closed again when the light threatened to blind her. In a flash, her memories from last night came flying back to her and she quickly threw an arm out only to feel the cold sheets next to her. She scrambled out of bed throwing a random hoodie on and made her way downstairs. The sight that met her in the kitchen had her stopping in her tracks and backing up to quietly observe.
“Okay, what next?” Henry asked Emily. He was standing on a kitchen stool at the counter with a bowl of flour in front of him. Emily stood behind him with her hands resting on the counter on either side of him effectively caging him in.
“We have to add eggs and milk. I’ll do the eggs; you do the milk?” Emily asked him. He gave her a vigorous nod and she handed him the premeasured milk for him to pour in as she cracked the eggs.
“Now what?” Henry tilted his head back to look up at her.
“Now we stir until it’s perfect pancake consistency.” Emily spun Henry around on the stool, so he was facing her and put her hands on his upper arms. “Okay champ, I’m gonna give you a very important job that only big boys can do. I know you’re a big boy now, so what do you say. Are you up for the challenge?” Henry’s eyes couldn’t possibly go wider. Good thing Emily had a hold of him, or his enthusiastic nods would’ve shaken him right off the stool. “I’m gonna let you stir the batter, but I need you to control your tiny little body. Slow and steady really wins the race here, champ. You think you can do this without making a mess?”
Henry took the wooden spoon out of Emily’s hand like it was a stick of dynamite and carefully stuck it into the mixture. He slowly moved the spoon in circles around the bowl mixing everything together. It took him forever, but Emily didn’t care. She just watched him with the biggest smile stretched across her face.
“Dude! You did so good! High five!” This is where she made her mistake. Henry decided to give her a high five with the spoon still in his grip sending batter flying everywhere. Henry’s eyes widened as he saw the pancake batter splat all over her hand, face, chest, and some of it fly behind her.
“Oops.” He said sheepishly.
“It’s okay, buddy. No harm no foul. This is still the best mixed pancake batter I’ve ever seen. Why don’t you head into the living room and watch cartoons while I cook these up?” At her words JJ moved into the room stifling a laugh but moving towards her son to help him off the stool.
“Morning Mama!” Henry yelled in her ear. “I helped Emmy make the pancake batter!”
“I see that! Good job, bud.” She gave him a kiss and set him on the ground. He took off at a run and launched himself in front of the T.V.
“You guys were so close.” JJ smirked at Emily as she grabbed a fresh washcloth and wet it under the sink. She walked over to Emily and started wiping the pancake batter off her face. When she was finished, she placed a chaste kiss on Emily’s lips. “Morning.”
“How long were you standing there?” Emily asked as she set her hands on JJ’s waist.
“Long enough to see how patient you are with him. I think that was the world record for the longest it could take to mix pancake batter.” Emily snorted with laughter.
“He has your concentration face. His eyebrows wrinkle together in the exact same way yours do.” Emily smoothed her thumb over the spot between JJ’s eyebrows.
JJ just smiled and leaned in for another kiss.
“How are you feeling today?” JJ asked
“I’m sore, but my breathing feels fine. The pain should start to ease up in the next couple days.” JJ was shocked to hear anything other than “I’m fine”, but it shocked her more by how happy it made her that Emily had given her a real answer.
“Well, until then, take it easy. Maybe try not to lift Henry as much as he wants you too.” JJ leaned down and kissed her sweatshirt where the bruise would be. Emily cleared her throat and gave her a nod.
“Okay, I have pancakes to make.” Emily released JJ’s waist and went to pour some batter in the pre-heated skillet. Then she turned to pour JJ a cup of coffee. As Emily effortlessly moved around JJ’s tiny kitchen, she couldn’t help but hope this was the first of many Saturday mornings to come.
One very tall stack of pancakes later, the three of them were sitting at the table talking about which movies they were going to watch today.
“Emmy, I wish you could be here every day with us.” Henry spoke up as they were finishing up their breakfast. He had a bit of a sad tone to his voice, and he wasn’t vibrating with energy like he normally was.
JJ turned her head to lock eyes with Emily and all she saw was love. JJ reached over to grab Emily’s hand and entwined their fingers.
“I think she’ll be here a lot more from now on.”