Chapter Text
She wasn’t sick. Really, she wasn’t. Sure her throat was a bit scratchy, her stomach was turning, and her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, but she wasn’t sick. Her exhaustion was from overworking, and the stiff aching soreness in her muscles was from a little too heated of a gym session. But she wasn’t sick.
Not in the least because she didn’t want to be sick, but the team couldn’t afford for her to be sick. Not when they relied on her so heavily.
Most people assume that as media liaison, JJ would have the easiest job of her unit. In reality, she was the first to arrive and last to leave every day, even spending some overnights in her office, not bothering to make the half hour trek to her dinky apartment.
Of course, lately, that’d been changing. When they’d first started dating, Emily was hesitant to disrupt JJ’s routine, but now, a year into their relationship, Emily knew what boundaries to push. She always made sure JJ had something to eat, when previously she’d frequently forgotten lunch and even dinner. She also made sure JJ went home at night, or at least left the BAU. The pair found them selves more often than not in Emily’s attractive modern apartment, only 15 minutes away from work.
Despite the steps in the right direction, the team knew JJ still pushed herself too hard. It had been particularly bad when Emily was out for nearly two weeks testifying for a particularly gruesome case the team had had. Like prior to Emily’s arrival to the BAU, JJ pushed herself to the extreme, eating and sleeping too little, working and going to the gym too much. Now the past weeks seemed to be catching up with her, especially since it was the dead of winter, and flu season was in full swing.
But she still was definitely not sick.
That’s what she told everyone who asked when she blew her nose too aggressively, or couldn’t stop shivering despite her space heater being on full blast. She continued to work, until a particular case caught her eye. A series of young girls being taken, raped, and killed. The joining factor? All of their father had left them, either by choice, court order, or death. JJ felt a pang in her chest, a twisting of the knife her own father had laid there decades before, when he left JJ and her mother a year after Rosalyn’s death.
Despite the odd kilter the world seemed to insist leaning to today, and the relentless pounding behind her eyes, JJ stood from her desk and made her way to Hotch’s office. She glanced at her girlfriend’s empty desk, hoping the brunette would return in time for the case.
Luckily, her boss agreed with her deduction of the urgency of the case, and called the rest of the team to a meeting in the roundtable room. After stumbling through her normally flawless debrief, JJ began to gather her go-bag to make the trip to Kansas City, ignoring the concerned looks she received from her team. She brushed off Hotch’s questions of if she was well enough to travel with a cold glare and muttered “I’m fine.”
Trudging her way to the jet, when she finally hauled herself up the stairs, JJ’s eyes widened and a smile graced her lips for the first time that day. Emily was sat on the plane, in the normal spot, looking at her with an expression that oozed exasperation.
Emily decided not the comment on her girlfriend’s sickly appearance, and instead patted the seat next to her, greeting her with a kiss to the forehead. The plane took off, and JJ was grateful to simply lean her head on Emily’s shoulder and tune out the team on the rest of the debrief. Eventually falling asleep, she didn’t notice when Hotch made his way over to the pair.
“If she doesn’t take a break now she’s going to collapse,” Emily pointed out to her boss.
“I know,” Hotch admitted. “If we’re making good progress when it happens, you will need to go take care of her.”
“She won’t go easily. Not when this case is so personal.”
Hotch almost smiled. They all had cases that hit a little close to home, and he knew how much they could affect his agents. “We won’t need a huge media presence for this one, I think that will only add fuel to the flames. Maybe you can convince her to take a break if we make good headway by this afternoon.”
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The team was lucky, and they had been making significant progress. Somehow, JJ’d not only stayed on her feet long enough to get through the day, but she was also contributing valuable information to the profile.
At about 7, the team decided to order Chinese, and when it arrived, the smell proved too much for the on-edge blonde. She sprang from her seat, mumbling an excuse about talking with the police chief, and bolted from the room. Emily sighed, and rose, making eye contact with Hotch, who gave her a nod.
Jogging into the bathroom, Emily found her girlfriend exactly where she knew she would, curled over the toilet, head in the bowl, now dry-heaving relentlessly. Emily scooped JJ’s blonde hair into her hands, and quickly tied it into a bun to avoid the splash zone. Her hands quickly moved to her lover’s back, rubbing her hands in a soothing motion. For a moment the blonde paused, sucking in oxygen, trying to slow her pounding heart.
“What was that about not being sick?” Emily gently teased.
JJ managed a weak grin in reply. “I’m not sick, I just ate something weird. I feel much better, really, let’s go back to work.”
Emily looked warily at JJ, now standing, who was paler than she’d ever seen her, and swaying like a pendulum. The blonde shakily made her way over to the sink, white knuckling the porcelain, tuning out the flushing toilet behind her.
“Jayje,” Emily started, knowing this wouldn’t be easy. “Baby, you can’t go back to work like this.”
JJ growled, “I’m fine Emily. Those girls need me.”
Emily sighed. JJ was loyal and kind to a fault, and bitterly stubborn. She knew how much this case meant to her girlfriend.
“My love, I know this case means a lot to you, but you can’t help if you can’t even smell food without dashing to the nearest toilet.”
JJ whipped her head around in indignation, and that seemed to be the wrong decision. The world went sideways and the next thing she knew she was laying on the floor of the bathroom, taking in Emily’s concerned gaze. Part of her was vaguely aware that Emily had helped her not get injured on the way down, but a bigger part of her soon realized the burning need to empty the contents of her stomach again.
In a blink, JJ was hunch back over the toilet. Emily took over the same position as before. This time however, there was nothing left for JJ’s stomach to expel, and so her stomach clenched, not allowing her to breathe until she began to involuntarily cough, retch, and gag harder than she ever had in her life.
A small portion of her mind expected Emily to leave, disgusted by the pathetic woman in front of her. Emily however, patted her back, and murmured softly words to her until she finally regained her breath. Her head pounded and her vision was blurred, but she could feel her stomach relaxing, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Jayje,” Emily coaxed, “can I take you back to the hotel room now?” For a moment Emily thought JJ was going to fight again, but resignation flashed in the crystal eyes of her love and even before the hesitant nod came, she knew she’d won.
Leaving JJ in the bathroom to rinse her mouth, Emily dashed back to the conference room, and after getting the green light from Hotch, grabbed both her and JJ’s things. The two walked to the car, although much of JJ’s weight was supported by Emily. Her body and mind seemed to have finally given in and allowed for the care she needed.
After securing her in the car, Emily began the short drive back to the hotel. JJ rested her head on the cool window, ready to get her body horizontal. Her body ached and her lungs burned from retching and coughing. She couldn’t quite remember why she’d pretended she was ok in the first place, when Emily took such good care of her.
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