Inferno (Emily/JJ) part 2
Title: Inferno (2/?)
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Emily/JJ
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. This is just for entertainment purposes.
Summary: A killer is enacting Dante's Divine Comedy, can the team catch him before he reaches the ninth and final circle and can Emily and JJ finally cross the line into something more than friendship? How will Henry affect JJ's outlook on the case and on Emily?
A/N: my first attempt at more than fluff in a story so please be kind!
JJ led the rest of the team into the busy bullpen of one of the NYPD stations, the station from which Detective Jim Carson had called pleading for the BAU to take his case, they had of course agreed without hesitation. The station could have been any of hundreds they had been to before and the distraught detective could have been any of the local law enforcement personnel who had been devastated by a case he couldn’t solve pilling up bodies in his town or city. However, unlike most other cities they visited Ney York held bad memories for all the members of the Behavioural Analysis Unit. For Hotch is was the loss of a respected colleague and sometime love interest; for Morgan it was the memories of driving that ambulance to deserted ground only escaping the bomb by seconds; for Reid and Rossi it was the pure fear they had felt when the SUV had blown up possibly containing one of their friends; for JJ it was the look on Emily’s face when she found out JJ was pregnant and that Will had proposed, just before she could hide it with congratulations and the time she had spent not knowing if Emily had been in that SUV; for Emily it was the fear that she had lost JJ in more ways than one, that she had lost her to Will and then to the bomb of a deranged UnSub.
JJ pushed the bad memories aside as she walked towards the detective she had spoke on the phone with and replaced them with the absolute relief of walking into the station and seeing Emily standing there, it had taken all of her will power not to kiss her there, she had Will now and the baby, instead settling for calling her name in relief.
“I’m Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone.” She held her hand out to the typically robust and greasy New York detective, hiding a wince when he all but crushed her hand. It wasn’t the first time so she could hide it well. “And this is the rest of the team, Agents: Hotchner, Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss and Dr. Reid.” She indicated to each of her friends in turn, not liking the dismissive look he gave Emily, cops could be such misogynists.
“Thank you all for coming.” Detective Carson said honestly, shaking everyone’s hand.
“If it’s all right with you we could use some room to set up?” Hotch asked, glancing with absolutely no subtlety at the conference room to their left.
“Of course, go ahead.” Carson nodded. “Do you need anything else?”
“Not right now, we will be heading for the crime scenes straight away. Can you supply Agents Jareau and Prentiss with the records for the family and friends of the second and third victims?” Hotch continued.
The detective nodded once more, JJ was wondering whether it was all he could do, producing a file from the desk behind him and handing it to JJ. “Everything sould be in there, they didn’t have much family to speak of but there’s a sister in there you might want to talk to as well as the couple who lived next door.”
JJ smiled as she took the file and handed it to Emily to look over.
“Morgan, Reid you’re with me. We all know where we’re going, meet back here when you’re done and then maybe we can present a profile to the local cops.” Hotch said looking at his watch, it was 3.15 pm so they had plenty of time before darkness clouded the crime scenes.
Everyone nodded and went their separate ways, all thinking the same thing: why oh why did they have to take SUVs?
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Emily and JJ’s first stop was the bar that David Anderson and James O’Neill’s bodies had been found at. It was decent enough place, a tad sparkly in the day for either of the two women’s tastes but in the dark they could see that it would be a nice bar. Not too upmarket but nice enough to keep upstanding clientele coming back week after week. The woman behind the bar watched them as they walked in, obviously having been warned of their visit. She introduced herself as the manager of the bar and explained that there was no crime scene this long after the incident and that she had had her cleaning contractor give the whole place and the street outside a steam clean to try to encourage people back, apparently it had worked.
“Did you know David and James well, were they regulars?” Emily asked, taking the lead in the questioning.
“They came in here from time to time, rarely together though.” The manager explained. “James worked nights at the hospital so it was rare to see him in here but David was in all the time, dancing up a storm.”
JJ raised her eyebrow. “Did you ever see David leave with someone that wasn’t James?”
“All the time, in fact I’d say it was unusual to see him leave alone if you know what I mean.” The manager said, a hint of moral superiority in her voice.
“Did you see anyone suspicious hanging around that night? Maybe sitting at one of the booths and watching David and James, it would be someone who didn’t seem to fit in with the usual crowd here, a little older and probably better dressed?” Emily continued.
“How much older?”
“Forties, fifties maybe.” JJ said.
The manager nodded. “There was a guy who just sat at the booth right over there and watched, never ordering anything stronger than an orange juice. He was around for about a month on and off, I can’t be sure if he was here that night but he could have been.”
“Can you give us a description?” JJ prompted.
“Just as you said, late forties, real well dressed, business like with one of those long black coats form Wall Street.”
“Hair colour? Build?” Emily prompted.
The manager shook her head. “Do you have any idea how many people this bar gets in a night?”
JJ smiled through her annoyance. “Thanks, you’ve been a great help.”
“Any time.” The manager smiled, obviously under the impression she had just broke the case. JJ had that affect on people, making them feel important.
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JJ sighed as Emily’s car door slammed shut behind her, cocooning both of them in the safety of the metal bubble.
“It seems the affair theory was right.” The blonde said, starting up the engine and typing the address of James’ sister into the sat nav.
“Affair might be a bit of a strong word for it.” Emily said scrunching her face up in displeasure. “Do you think James knew?”
“I guess we’ll find out when we talk to his sister.” JJ said, indicating as she pulled away from the curb and into the impossibly slow throng of New York traffic. “She lives out in Westchester so it’s going to be a bit of a drive.”
Emily turned to her and smiled. “Peace and quiet at last then.”
JJ couldn’t help but return the smile.
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After an hour of comfortable silence JJ stole a glance at Emily and decided that it was as good a time as any to tell her about Will. The brunette was facing away from JJ with her eyes closed but JJ was pretty sure she wasn’t asleep, Emily never really slept when they were away on a case.
“Em?” She called softly.
Emily turned to her, opening her chocolate brown eyes and focusing them on JJ, a pleasant smile gracing her lips.
“It’s about me and Will.” JJ began.
Emily’s smile faltered.
“We broke up, I broke up with him.” JJ said bluntly.
Concern filled Emily’s eyes and JJ knew instantly that she was doing the right thing in telling Emily.
“I haven’t even told Garcia yet.” JJ admitted.
“What happened?” Emily enquired, sitting up properly and turning her fill attention to JJ. It always made JJ feel like the only person in the world when those beautiful dark eyes focused on her, like she was the only that mattered to Emily and that she could do anything. She knew she was probably just imagining it but it was amazing feeling all the same and having it at that moment spurred JJ on to tell the brunette what she had hid from everyone.
“I didn’t love him.” JJ said. “I never even thought I did, he was just a fling to try to escape this job but then I was stupid and got pregnant and felt like I had to stay with him, especially after Miami when you...” She shook her head not wanting the conversation to go there. “And then before I knew it I had to tell him I was pregnant and he had proposed, he never even waited for an answer, just expected that because I was carrying his baby I should be his wife. Truthfully I can’t think of anything worse.”
Emily placed a soothing hand on JJ’s arm, squeezing it gently and urging JJ to go on. They were stuck in traffic so JJ knew she could finish the story without having to drive and talk.
“After Henry was born I knew I couldn’t make it work, he was great but he wasn’t what I wanted and after growing up in household where your mother married your father because she was head cheerleader and he was the school’s football star made the thought of staying with Will unbearable. I don’t think he even understands what happened.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I was in love with someone else.” JJ said, white hot fear coursing through her body.
Emily didn’t ask who, she didn’t want to know the answer. So instead she brushed a loose strand of golden hair behind JJ’s ear and cupped her cheek. “You know I’m here for you right? I’m here for you and Henry whenever you need me, no matter what.”
JJ nodded, a single tear wiped away by the soft pad of Emily’s thumb. She could see love and pain in Emily’s eyes and it broke her heart that Emily could think for even a moment that JJ was in love with someone that wasn’t her. Her mind made up to tell Emily how she feels JJ grasped Emily’s hand in her own, rubbing her thumb gently over her wrist. “Emily...”
A loud beep cause them to jump apart, eyes refocusing on the now moving line of traffic in front of them. JJ flushed bright red, pressing her foot down and releasing the hand break to roll the car forward to close the gap between her and the car in front, not stopping as the traffic now seemed to be moving freely.
“Whoever it is...” Emily began, griping her seat tightly and staring straight ahead. “Whoever it is you’re in love with is one lucky guy. You should go for it, tell him how you feel. You deserve to be happy.”
JJ felt like crying, hands tightening on the steering wheel and body tensed. If Emily felt the same about her then why would she be pushing her into the arms of another, again? Any confidence JJ had had that had almost allowed her to confess her feelings evaporated and she resigned herself to the fact that her love was unrequited. She shook her head for the second time and tried to refocus on the case, whoever it was that killing these people, that had killed that poor innocent baby had better watch out because JJ had a lot of frustration to get out and she fully intended on releasing all of it before returning home to Henry and her life as a single mom.
For the first time in her life she felt completely alone.