CM/WMC crossover fic - The Unexpected, part 5/?
Title: The Unexpected, 5/?
Fandom: WMC/CM Crossover
Pairing: Emily/Cindy; Cindy/Lindsay and Emily/JJ implied, if you squint really hard.
Rating: PG-13 or so for some bad language. There will definitely be some NC-17 at some point, but I’ll forewarn you.
Disclaimer: Don’t own a damn thing except what’s in my head! Trust me, that's scary enough.
Warnings: This is un-beta’d. All mistakes are mine.
AN: Apologies for the horrible delay between chapters. I'm going to try to be better about it over the holidays.
AN2: For those who need their memories refreshed, the other parts are here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Chapter 5
Claire quietly opened the door to the morgue. It was now well after dark so the only light she saw was the soft glow of the lap on her desk. She stopped for a moment at the door to her office, looking at the huddled form of Cindy on her couch, the light streaks through her makeup the only indication she had been crying. If she could get a hold of Lindsay right now, she swears she’d…she chuckled at the mental image that came into her head of her bending Lindsay over her knee like a naughty child for hurting Cindy.
It wasn’t the first time, and certainly won’t be the last time, Claire will have the urge to knock some sense into the lanky Texan. All three of the women in their “club” were more than just her friends, they were her family and as she watched Cindy stir on the couch, jerking at a nightmare threatening her peace, she felt all of her mother instincts come out.
She pushed down the tears and tried to not make any noise opening the door. Cindy was going to need all the rest she could get, but a creaky door had other ideas. Cindy jumped up, her eyes wild at the noise, only calming when she saw Claire.
“Jesus, Claire, you scared the hell out of me!” Claire sat down next to her, taking one still shaking hand in her own.
“Sorry, I was trying to be quiet. How you holdin’ up, honey?” Cindy took a deep breath and put on a brave smile.
“I’m good. I’m okay.” She nodded her head as if trying to convince herself.
“You’re a terrible liar, kiddo. Spill it.”
Cindy flopped back on the couch and sighed, “I’m an idiot, Claire. A first rate, slap an underpaid stamp on me and send me off to Antarctica idiot.”
Claire scrunched her eyebrows together, “Huh, that’s a new saying! Why are you an idiot? Which you’re not, by the way. You know I’m going to eventually convince you that you’re not, but I thought I’d humor you.”
Claire winced at seeing Cindy smile but not really laugh. This wasn’t going to be good.
“Lindsay knows.” Claire put her arm around the younger woman. Several months ago, about the time Pete showed up and the Lindsay all of them had known got invaded by aliens, Cindy came out to Claire and Jill over her third round of Appletinis. Neither was really surprised since Cindy had been pretty obvious in her adoration of Lindsay. Unfortunately, Lindsay didn’t have an intuitive bone in her body and totally missed all the signs.
“She knows and she hates me, Claire.” Cindy’s bottom lip started quivering.
“Oh no. No, you don’t. You will not cry over her, do you hear me? I’m positive she doesn’t hate you. She could never hate you. She’s just blind as a bat about personal stuff and probably never saw it coming.”
Cindy rolled her eyes, “Oh God, then she’s the idiot! It’s not like I tried to hide it!”
“See? I told you that I’d convince you that you weren’t an idiot.” This time Cindy did laugh as she wipe at the already half-dried tears.
Claire gave Cindy’s hand a final pat before standing up, “So, what’s the plan?”
“Your sofa’s not that uncomfortable. I think I’ll stay here.”
“Nope, I don’t think so. The sofa at my house is far more comfortable, and besides, I have brownies. Double fudge brownies. Homemade too, not that box crap. You know you wanna.” Cindy groaned, her mouth already watering.
“Double fudge? Damn, you drive a hard bargain. Okay, you got me, I give.”
“Good!” Claire linked her arm through Cindy’s, leading her out and locking the office door.
********
The team wandered down the hall of the hotel, exhausted from a long day. Emily had just put her bag down when she heard a knock at the dividing door between her room and JJ’s.
Emily sighed and unlatched the door. When she saw JJ standing there, her arms crossed and an accusing look in her eye, she turned away to start unpacking her clothes. She could feel her whole body tense at the silence. She finally turned to find JJ standing only inches from her.
“We need to talk.”
“Now? It’s been a long day. Can’t we do this another time?” JJ rubbed her own hands up and down her arms. It had become a nervous gesture, something she picked up after the Henkle case and after… She shook her head attempting to rid herself of the memory.
“No, Emily, it can’t. I’m worried about you.”
Emily snorted, disbelieving, “You’re worried about me. Why? And why now?”
JJ shrugged, “It kind of hits close to home for you with this unsub killing…” She couldn’t say it.
Emily stepped a little closer, not quite in JJ’s space, but enough to make her uncomfortable, “Lesbians, JJ. The word is lesbian. You know you can say it without becoming one.”
JJ swallowed, her voice getting shaky, “I just thought it may be affecting you, that’s all.”
Emily smirked, perversely enjoying the way JJ couldn’t make eye contact with her, “I’m good. You, on the other hand, look like you’re about to come apart at the seams. Trouble in paradise with BabyDaddy?”
“Em, don’t.”
“Don’t! Don’t what, JJ?” Emily gritted her teeth, trying to keep her voice down. “Give a damn? Maybe love you too much? Maybe offer you everything, including my heart, only to have you run to the safety of social acceptability?”
Emily slammed the shirt she was holding down onto the bed, closing her eyes trying to shut off the run away feelings. She was loathe to admit it, but JJ was right about one thing. This case was striking a nerve and having JJ within reach yet unreachable only set her further on edge.
When she turned, JJ was looking at her, icy cold indifference etched in the lines of her face. It was this face, the one that mocked her on sleepless nights, that turned away from her in Miami when he showed up unannounced. It wasn’t the face of the woman she had loved. JJ was a stranger. Emily felt bile and anger rise up inside of her.
“And you all say I compartmentalize?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t hold a candle to you.”
“Emily, you know I care about you, but you know I can’t do this with you. I told you. We talked about it.”
“Can’t has a very different connotation than not wanting to,” Emily voice dropped, anchoring the suggestion in JJ’s mind. She could read the shift in JJ’s body, the darkness slowly creeping into her blue eyes. She stepped close enough to smell JJ’s perfume, “And you do want it, don’t you? You can put up walls and shut yourself off from everyone, but I know you. I know what makes you whimper and moan. I know how far to push you to make you shake with need, and only I know you’re not that nice, innocent girl from Pennsylvania.”
JJ dropped her arms so she could brace herself against the desk that Emily pushed her back to, her breath coming out shallow.
“You don’t want to talk, do you, Jennifer? You don’t want me planning your baby shower or being your maid of honor at your wedding,” Emily licked her lips, savoring the energy dancing between them. “You want this,” Emily pulled JJ to her brutally, kissing her with a raw, hard force and a hand gripping greedily at her ass.
JJ pushed away from her, trying to break the kiss, eventually bringing her hand up enough to strike against her cheek. Emily stood there stunned. JJ had never hit her, even in play. Then she saw it, the walls dropped and she saw the JJ she knew months ago.
“Goddamn you, Emily Prentiss! You drive me fucking crazy.” JJ kissed Emily fiercely, while Emily ripped the buttons on JJ’s shirt, her blunt nails digging at the soft skin. Emily worked fast at the zipper on JJ’s jeans, trying to hurry before she changed her mind. One more time, Emily told herself, just one last time.
With strength she didn’t realize she had, Emily lifted JJ until long legs wrapped automatically around her hips and JJ was resting on the desk. Emily pulled at JJ’s jeans making room for her hand to sneak between slender thighs. She could feel the warmth long before she reached her destination. She ducked her head to suck and nip at JJ’s pulse point, feeling the life beneath her lips speed up and become more frantic with each pass of her hand.
It took a moment for the foreign sound to register. JJ pushed away from her, already pulling her pants back up as she talked into the phone.
“Hey! Yeah, I’m fine. No, I’m not going in the field, I’m staying at the station. Yes, I promise I’ll be careful. No, Will, you don’t need to come out here. Please, just stay there. No, I still haven’t felt the baby move.”
Emily turned away, closing her eyes, trying to shut out the sound of JJ’s voice talking about things they’ll never share. Her hands shook and she wasn’t sure if it was the abrupt end of the adrenaline rushing through her body or the tears she was fighting. Either way, she just wanted JJ to leave. This was too much.
A cool hand touched her on her arm causing her to jump, “Hey, sorry about that. If I didn’t answer, he’d never stop calling.”
“Get out,” JJ strained to hear the whispered words even though Emily’s body language said it all.
“What?”
“You heard me, get out.” Emily’s voice was flat and cold.
JJ reached to touch Emily’s shoulder, “Baby…”
Emily turned on her in a flash, her dark eyes red and brimming with unshed tears, “Don’t. Don’t you dare call me that. You don’t have a right. You lost that right when you spread your legs for him.”
Emily stared hard into JJ, the coldness reaching into the blonde’s soul, making her back up, “Didn’t you hear me? I said, get the fuck out.”
JJ backed up wordlessly until she reached the still open door before turning and closing it with a soft click behind her. Alone, Emily felt the acid bubble to the surface. She fought it, her body bending in on itself in an attempt to keep it in. Eventually, she raced for the bathroom, barely making it in time. She closed the door and slumped against the cold porcelain tiles creating distance between her and the room next door, so JJ couldn’t hear her crying.