Title: It was Always Supposed to Be Us
Fandom: Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds: Evolution
Pairings: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Characters: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Emily Prentiss
Rating: G
Length: 1,781 words
Author's Notes: Written for Challenge 427: Amnesty 71, Challenge 7: Do-Over, Challenge 169: Confession, Challenge 10: Communication, and Challenge 70: Resolutions at fan_flashworks. It also fills the "Heliotrope - Devotion" square of my 2023 Valentine's Bingo Card, and fills all squares of a public card from allbingo's December 2022 Wonders of Nature Fest. The prompts used were "flowers", "canyon", "wind", and "evolution".
Summary: JJ has had enough of the distance between her and Emily and does something about it.


JJ

JJ can't sleep. She's restless, tossing and turning in her sheets, thinking about the woman across the hall. She knows Emily was on the verge of a migraine as the day went on. She was getting increasingly anxious about solving the case and struggled to hear and respond. JJ knows Emily won't rest and is probably, without a doubt, still working, re-reading case files because she {her mind} can't process them. JJ wants to go over there and stop her, but they don't do that for each other anymore.

JJ remembers a night a few years ago, before she moved to New Orleans, very similar to this one. Restless, she couldn't sleep, desperately wanting to take comfort in Emily's arms. But the distance between the two of them was far greater than the distance between their rooms, and JJ knew she wasn't welcome. So JJ stayed in bed, awake and yearning for a lost friendship all night.

But this time, JJ decides she can't stay quiet. She's had enough of this separation. She came back to Quantico because she missed being with the BAU, especially being around Emily. She finally admitted to herself she was in love with Emily and couldn't pretend to be happy with Will anymore.

JJ gets up determinedly and knocks on Emily's door. Emily lets her in, as it's too bright to talk in the hallway. The main light in her room is off, the only light coming from the desk lamp. Case files are strewn everywhere: the desk, floor, and beds are covered in crime scene photos and notes. Both beds are made up, and Emily is still in her work outfit. JJ was right: Emily didn't take a breather at all.

Emily sits back down at the desk and gestures for JJ to speak.

"You need to rest Emily," JJ keeps her voice low. "There is nothing more for us to do right now, and you can't work through a migraine." Before Emily can argue, her frown turns into a grimace, and she holds her head in pain. "You're hurting, Emily. Let me help you," JJ pleads.

Biting back a groan from the pain, Emily sighs and concedes to JJ's help, "Fine."

"Thank you. Now go change, but keep your shirt off. I'm going to give you a massage."

While Emily is in the bathroom, JJ collects all the papers and puts them together in their proper folders. She would put them away (out of sight, out of mind - although she knows that's not true with their job), but Emily will want to look at them again the first chance she gets. Instead, JJ places the folders on the desk and gets comfortable on Emily's bed.

Emily comes out of the bathroom in a bra and pajama bottoms, just as JJ asked. JJ smiles and pats the space in front of her, Emily gingerly sitting between her legs. JJ gently sweeps Emily's hair off to one side so it hangs down in front, and continues to glide her hands down Emily's shoulders, pushing her bra straps down out of the way. Moving inward to the shoulder well, JJ presses hard into Emily's skin. Emily has a lot of tension, but through the rhythm of her hands, JJ can feel the muscles loosening. JJ continues up the column of Emily's neck, stopping at the base of her skull, fingertips pressing into the hollows where the neck and skull meet.

When JJ is finished, Emily sighs, "Wow, I feel better already. Thanks, Jayje."

JJ is elated at Emily's use of her old nickname. Emily used to use it all the time when they were best friends, but stopped after moving to London. JJ is pleased that her actions are working to bring them closer together.

Pleased with Emily's reaction, JJ wishes her a good night, barely resisting the urge to tuck her in as if she was one of her boys. Emily falls asleep quickly, her fatigue clearly taking over. JJ debates whether she should go back to her room. She doesn't want to leave Emily now that her guard is down. The old Emily is still there, and JJ doesn't want to miss a second. Telling herself she's just worrying about Emily's migraine interrupting her much needed sleep, JJ climbs into the other bed and falls asleep to the sound of Emily's soft breathing. She's really missed this.

JJ wakes before Emily, wanting to give her morning a soft start to prevent the migraine from returning. Emily needs to learn to slow down. She has always been a workaholic, but it has gotten worse since rejoining the team as Unit Chief. If she doesn't take better care of herself, she'll work herself into the ground.

JJ takes Emily's room key and gets ready in her own room. She goes to the lobby and grabs breakfast and peppermint tea for both of them. Glad to see Emily still asleep when she returns, JJ sets the food and drinks down and sits beside Emily in the bed. JJ admires how peaceful Emily looks, wanting to run her fingers through Emily's gray hair. She hopes to be able to wake up with Emily in the future and do just that, but for now, she settles on placing a hand on her shoulder and calling her name.

Emily slowly wakes, "Mmm, JJ? You're still here?"

"I wanted to be sure you got enough rest. How are you feeling?"

"Much better actually. Your massage did wonders."

"Good. I brought breakfast. You need to eat."

Emily sits up at that, and sees the food and drinks on the desk. Discomfited, Emily starts to pull away, casting suspicion on JJ. "Why are you doing this, JJ? I don't need coddling."

"I was worried about you, Em. You haven't been doing well with this case." This is it. This is her chance. "I love you. I wanted to help."

Emily freezes, not sure how to respond. "What? JJ..."

"I love you, both as a friend and more. But we don't need to worry about that part right now." JJ grasps Emily's hands tightly, "I really miss being friends with you. Do you think we can go back to how we used to be?"

Emily stares at JJ for a long moment, scrutinizing her. Slowly a small smile appears, and she answers softly, "I'd like that."


Emily

Emily parks her car and sits for a moment, watching JJ with her sons. JJ is walking Henry and Michael to their soccer teams and looks to be giving them some encouragement. Emily sympathizes with the two boys. She could use some encouragement from JJ as well. It's been over a year since JJ and her reconnected, and they've grown closer than ever before. Last week, JJ told Henry and Michael about their relationship. When she called Emily that night, she told her the boys were a little hesitant but happy for her. Even though the boys welcomed Emily to come watch their games today, she is still nervous to see them. She always wanted to be a mother, but thought she lost her chance. She has it now as she builds a future with JJ and her sons.

Emily walks up to the family and wishes the boys good luck before they head off to their teams. JJ immediately picks up on Emily's nervousness. They walk around the park, keeping the soccer fields in their sights at all times. JJ reassures Emily that the boys are not worried about their relationship. They like Emily but are scared of losing the connection to their father, since he stayed in Louisiana. JJ and Emily have no intention of letting that happen.

They continue to talk about their future until a gust of wind causes them to stop.

"Do you smell that?" Emily asks.

"Cherry pie?"

"Yeah," Emily looks around confused. "I don't see where it could be coming from though."

"Maybe it's coming from that cart?" JJ points to an older person standing by a cart near the general parking lot.

As they get closer and the scent gets stronger, they see that the cart is full of flowers.

"Interested in some flowers, ladies? My partner and I grew them ourselves." The owner smiles at them.

"They look lovely. Which ones smell like cherry pie?"

"Ah, yes! That would be the heliotropes." The owner shows them a group of trumpet-shaped flowers in white, pink, blue, and purple. They tell Emily and JJ that the flowers symbolize devotion and undying love. They also share the Greek legend of the water Nymph Clytie who was loved then spurned by Helios, the sun god. Longing for Helios, she sat in one spot, simply turning her head to see his chariot whirl through the sky every day. She died of grief and was transformed into a heliotrope, a flower that stays with the sun like the person she lost love to. The heliotrope changes its "face" to follow the direction of the sun's path like Clytie used to do.

"That's really sad," Emily remarks. She relates to Clytie's longing because her own story is very similar. She's had feelings for JJ since the beginning, when she was just starting at the BAU. But instead of telling the woman of her desire, she pushed her to start a relationship with Will. After their marriage, she knew she had to let JJ go. So she moved to London to focus on herself. However, her feelings never disappeared. JJ was her sun. She would have met Clytie's fate, had JJ not taken a chance on her.

"It doesn't have to be. Clytie's love was true, even though it wasn't returned."

JJ hums and squeezes Emily's hand. "We'll take an arrangement. Can you do one to suggest a long-term commitment to each other?"

"How about blue for intimacy and white for love, loyalty, and faith." The owner made a beautiful bouquet of blue and white heliotropes, and JJ paid.

Emily and JJ walked back to the soccer fields as the teams were finishing warming up.

As the couple took their place along the sideline, JJ turned to Emily. "I got these for you. I missed you so much after you moved to London. And I'm so glad you agreed to start over with me. You're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."

"Don't blame yourself, Jayje. I wasn't open with my feelings either."

"But you're trying now. We both are. And we're here now, together. I won't let go of you this time."

"Me neither, Jayje. I wouldn't have it any other way."