DISCLAIMER: Criminal Minds and its characters are the property of CBS. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: With the clock ticking in my ear, I was so very reassured to know that atfm was waiting in the wings to beta yet another last minute fic. Thanks, Maxi.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Resolutions are Meant to be Broken
By Ann
"Oh, girlfriend, you'll never keep that one." Garcia leaned back in her chair and chuckled. "You won't last the first briefing."
"Yes, I will. I never lose a bet." JJ sat in the nearby chair, watching Garcia's monitors. She smiled when she saw Emily so engrossed in a file she nearly walked into her desk.
"Ha! You're doing it now. It's only the second day of the New Year, and you've already lost."
"What? I'm just keeping an eye on the team. What's wrong with that?" JJ moved her gaze off her lover, shifting her attention to Reid who'd just strung a rubberband tightly in place. She gestured towards the screen. "I think Reid will break Morgan's record."
Bets and resolutions temporarily forgotten, Garcia took the bait and slid her chair next to JJ's. She squinted at the screen. "Morgan's is much bigger than that."
JJ tilted her head to the side. "You think? Reid's looks pretty big."
"Nah, look at the way he's pulling on it. It'll never get as hard or as big as Morgan's." Garcia's words were accentuated with a poke at the monitor. "See, it loses something in the stretch; it just goes right back to its normal size."
Aaron Hotchner stood in the doorway, his view of the monitor blocked by the two women. He'd arrived just as Garcia had moved next to JJ and had heard every word of the running commentary.
"JJ?"
The sound of a male's voice had JJ swiveling her chair towards the entrance and Garcia jumping in place. Reflexively, the queen of all knowledge switched the monitor to display another area of the building. She pushed her glasses further up her nose and waited for Hotch to continue.
"We've got a situation in Texas." Hotch never blinked. "The team will assemble in fifteen minutes." With a nod, he left the room.
Garcia turned her attention back to JJ. "How long do you think he was standing there?"
"I don't know; probably not too long." JJ pushed to her feet. "Why?"
JJ strode into the room with her head held high, her shoulders pulled back, and a slight red tint to her cheeks. She deposited an armful of files on the table and moved towards the wall monitor, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Hotch. She also made it a point not to look directly at Reid or Morgan for fear that Hotch would recall her comments to Garcia concerning the size of the men's rubberband balls, and she definitely avoided eye contact with Emily as well. She had to win the bet.
"Fill us in, JJ." Hotch reached for the top file, turning his full attention to the photos. For once, JJ was grateful to be dismissed so easily. She punched the remote to display the photographs Hotch was currently studying before she started her briefing of the latest unspeakable acts.
". . . and that's all we have at the moment. We're leaving for Texas in the next half hour."
JJ moved back to the conference table, stopping to stand close to Emily, very close, impossibly close. She smiled inwardly at the visible shiver her nearness produced, but Emily stood her ground, managing to avoid the temptation to touch her lover. She was not going to lose the bet.
Hotch was the first to leave the room, but not before he stopped in the doorway as if he'd forgotten something important. Four heads turned his way, waiting to hear the vital information.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There's been a rash of rubberband thefts from the supply room. Please be frugal with your usage." Hotch nodded and left the room with a slight smile playing at his lips.
A confused Emily watched as JJ and Reid turned scarlet and busied themselves with the case files while Morgan just shook his head and chuckled aloud. Emily couldn't understand why the mention of such a simple office supply had caused such different reactions. She made a mental note to ask JJ about it on the flight to Texas.
An hour later, Emily finally caught up with her lover on the plane. She resisted the urge to sit beside JJ, taking the seat across from her instead. She looked over her shoulder to be certain they wouldn't be overheard.
"So, what's with the rubberbands?"
JJ glanced up from her book. It was the first time she'd made eye contact with Emily since they'd left for work together that morning. "You don't want to know, trust me."
"Yes, I do."
Blue eyes focused on Hotch, sitting at the front of the plane. "Later, Em, I promise."
Emily smiled. "Okay, but the first time we're alone, I expect to hear all the details."
"You've got a deal." JJ nodded and turned her attention back to her book. Emily frowned at the dismissal. She hesitated for just a moment before moving to the seat next to JJ, but she made sure to lean away from her lover.
"JJ, what's the matter?" Emily lowered her voice, occasionally glancing towards the front of the plane.
"What do you mean? Everything's fine."
"Then why won't you look at me?" Emily was beginning to become concerned. She didn't remember doing anything that might have upset her lover.
"Have you forgotten already?" JJ seemed miffed that Emily was pushing her to break her resolution.
Emily frowned, wracking her brain to come up with exactly what she'd done to warrant being given the cold shoulder. She couldn't recall anything out of the ordinary.
"Evidently, I have."
JJ noted the upset in her lover's voice. She lifted her hand to touch Emily but remembered the resolution Emily had made. Emily hadn't tried to trick her; she'd been truly concerned. JJ dropped her hand back into her lap.
"My resolution, remember?"
"But we're having a conversation, JJ; it's not the same thing."
JJ dared to look up into her lover's eyes. "It's not?"
"No, eye contact is expected when carrying on a conversation." Emily grinned. "It's your eyes following me around the room that you promised to avoid."
"Oh, well, that makes sense then." JJ took advantage of the loophole to gaze appreciatively at her lover. She unconsciously licked her bottom lip.
Emily stared at the pink appendage longingly, sighing when it disappeared from view. She clenched her hands together to keep from brushing them against JJ's. This New Year's resolution idea of theirs sucked.
JJ had barely closed the door of her hotel room when the attack came. She was slammed roughly against the surface, her protest swallowed by a forceful kiss as a hand slid beneath her shirt and palmed a silk-covered breast. JJ struggled not to lean into the touch and finally managed to break free from the lips which held hers captive.
"Emily, wait." JJ shivered as Emily found a new focus, the sensitive area between her neck and shoulder. She tilted her head to give her lover better access despite her plea for Emily to stop. "Em, we need to get some sleep."
The team had spent three long days in the small West Texas town, digging up body after body. They still had no idea as to the identity of the unsub but were determined to find that one lead that would break the case as they worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk and beyond, only retiring to the hotel when exhaustion set in. Problem was that JJ had gotten no rest in the hotel either; Emily seemed to come alive the minute they were alone.
"Em, let's get a couple of hours of shuteye, then we can pick up where we left off."
Upping the ante, Emily increased the suction while working her hand under the silky barrier. JJ arched into the skilled hand, her body responding as it always did when Emily touched her. She reached back and pulled the shirt free from Emily's pants. Thoughts of sleep were put on hold.
The next morning, JJ propped her head up with her hand and stared across at the wall-sized map in the sheriff's office. She'd had four hours of sleep since they'd touched down in Texas, and it was beginning to take its toll. Emily's sluggishness was becoming apparent as well.
"You two look like death warmed over. Aren't you getting any sleep?" Morgan sat across from JJ, his focus split between his two female colleagues. The dark circles and red-ringed eyes didn't lie.
"Leaky faucet."
"Lumpy bed."
The twin replies were spoken simultaneously. The resulting laughter had Morgan and Reid looking at each other and shrugging. The two women were definitely suffering from lack of sleep.
Standing, JJ continued to chuckle as she moved closer to the map. The faucet hadn't exactly leaked when Emily had inadvertently turned it on when she'd helped a naked JJ onto the vanity; it'd come on full force. And, one of the beds was indeed lumpy; it just wasn't the one they'd chosen to use during their stay.
"You know, that first night I didn't sleep so well either." Reid walked over next to JJ and turned his analytical mind to the pattern of push pins on the map.
"Jet lag?" JJ asked absentmindedly, her focus on the yellow pins.
"No," Reid frowned at the blue pin which was isolated from the rest, "I kept hearing banging noises. Good thing I brought ear plugs."
Emily spit her coffee across the room, the resulting coughing fit bringing Morgan to his feet. "Hey, you okay?" He lightly patted his colleague on the back.
"Garcia, if I don't get some sleep soon, you'll be putting me ten feet under." JJ leaned against the car with the phone at her ear and closed her eyes, grateful for a few moments alone.
"Yeah, but you'll be wearing a huge grin, my girl."
"It's not funny; Emily's like the Energizer Bunny." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, at night that is. She's in the same shape as I am when the sun rises."
"Maybe you should sleep in shifts." Garcia suggested, her eyes glued to the pattern Reid had sent her earlier. He was certain that he'd seen it somewhere and had given Garcia the task of jogging his memory. She'd spent the last half hour trying to find its match.
"I'm not exactly sure I'd know how to explain that one to Hotch." JJ looked over her shoulder. "Can you imagine… 'Hotch, I need to go to the hotel early tonight. Oh, and can you keep Emily occupied? She won't let me sleep; she's banging me all night long.'"
Garcia laughed. "Sounds like touch deprivation to me, JJ."
"What? What's that?"
A beep sounded in the background. "Whoa, I got a hit. Talk to you later, girlfriend."
JJ pulled the phone away from her ear and stared down at it. Realization soon struck, and a smile slowly began to grow. Placing the phone back on her hip, she headed back inside the building. She had a bet to lose.
For the rest of the day, JJ watched Emily's every move, her eyes straying to the strong shoulders, the confident stance, and the oh so perfect ass. She also managed to wink at her lover every chance she got. It'd never been so much fun to break a resolution.
It wasn't long afterward that Emily began to get closer and closer to JJ. The subtle touches soon followed, and at one time, JJ imagined she'd actually heard Emily purring. By the time they reached their hotel room, Emily was beyond relaxed. She headed directly for the bed, falling face first onto the non-lumpy mattress.
Smiling, JJ pushed off her shoes and sat down next to Emily. She gently massaged her lover's back.
"Oh God, that feels so good." Emily melted into the mattress and closed her eyes. JJ continued the light stroking until Emily's breathing evened out. Sighing in relief, JJ stood and stripped out of her clothes.
"C'mon, Em; let's get you under the covers."
A very compliant Emily allowed her lover to remove her clothing and guide her under the covers, all without opening her eyes. She was sound asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.
Flipping off the light, JJ crawled into the bed next to her lover. She closed her eyes and vowed to never make another New Year's resolution again or at least none coupled with a bet. She really hated to lose a bet, but New Year's resolutions were different. They were made to be broken.
With a smile on her face, JJ placed an arm over Emily's waist and drew her near as she joined her lover in a peaceful slumber.
The End