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ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Busted
By sHaYcH
"Your hands are like ice!" FBI agent Jennifer, "JJ" Jareau whispered harshly to her compatriot, Emily Prentiss. Clasping the reddened hands between hers, JJ began to roughly chafe them, while at the same time keeping an eye out for the rest their team of profilers.
I swear, there was never a group of nosy nannies like Reid, Morgan and Hotch. And dear and blessed God, do not ever let Garcia catch me like this, or she'll be wearing that oh-so-smug grin for weeks! Weeks, I tell ya.
The shy half-grin that twitched on Emily's lips was like sucking on melting chocolate to JJ. With a shrug, the brunette agent said, "Cold hands – warm heart."
Cocking one eyebrow askance, JJ murmured, "Promises, promises."
Laughter sparkled in Emily's eyes as she leaned forward under the guise of tugging down her jacket. Softly, her words no more than a whisper of breath across JJ's ear, she said, "I never write checks my body can't cash."
Emily's smile blossomed to a full-blown grin at JJ's strangled sob of frustration. From the corner of her eye, the press liaison caught sight of the approach of the rest of their team and sighed.
"You, my beautiful and beloved Agent Prentiss, are in so much trouble," JJ said with a hiss as they broke apart.
Wrinkling her nose, Emily replied, "Mm, good thing I love trouble." Only too late did she realize she had spoken quite loudly. She had just a moment to register a minute wince that flashed across JJ's face.
"Really?" came the cheery voice of the BAU's resident technical guru, Penelope Garcia. "Great, because I hear that's Jayje's middle name!"
Startled, Emily turned to see Derek Morgan standing behind her, cell phone held out and a look of almost-but-not-quite stifled amusement painting his handsome face with a slowly growing smirk.
"I believe the proper statement here is, busted!" said Dr. Spencer Reid with his usual boyish enthusiasm as Aaron Hotchner bestowed the two women with his most dour of glowers before breaking into a brief, but accepting smile.
Sharing a brief glance, Emily and JJ allowed the distractions around them to recede until all that remained were the moments where their breaths merged into a harmony of inhale and exhale. On the fifth heartbeat, they turned to face their teammates.
Sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, JJ shyly said, "So, any leads?" Emily moved to stand behind her lover of some months, arms crossed and face an impassive mask that couldn't quite hide the joy that shone like a lighthouse beacon from her eyes.
Morgan chuckled in wry appreciation. "Oh you're good," he said, bestowing a little bow of acknowledgement in Emily's direction.
"I had a good teacher," was the only concession Emily allowed herself to give.
"She's not going to crack, is she?" said Garcia with evident disappointment.
"No Baby Girl, it looks to me as though Agent Prentiss has a good handle on things," replied Morgan.
Penelope's loud sigh was followed by the rapid clatter of fingernails on computer keys. "All right Em, I'm letting you off for now, but I'm making it known now that you and I will be having a long and productive discussion upon your return."
Licking her lips, Emily said, "I'll be sure to note that in my date book."
The answer seemed to satisfy the analyst, for she then began a rapid patois of information that would, the team hoped, lead them to their killer.
With their friends gathered around them, the warmth of their presence shrouding them like the arms of family, JJ and Emily slowly relaxed and allowed the burgeoning love they had shared to expand and include the four others who worked so hard to catch those for whom the lives of others were worth less than common garbage.
As one unit they moved off toward their parked SUV's, and with natural ease, JJ and Emily split up, each moving with their assigned partner to once again begin the chase that would hopefully end with an arrest and lives saved.
The End