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JJ sighed as she approached the bar, taking her seat on an uncomfortable metal stool, which was slowly rusting away from constant human contact. The agent sighed as the bartender approached her.
“What do you want?” he asked bluntly, clearly fed up with his customers already. JJ pondered what alcoholic drink to have to sink into for a few moments.
“I’ll have tequila.” JJ replied, glancing over her shoulder as the bartender walked away and grabbed a glass. The bar wasn’t full, but it wasn’t empty either. There was a rowdy bachelor’s party in the corner that made the bartender sigh with frustration every few minutes and there was a group of friends by the doorway who were quiet for the most part. JJ huffed out another sigh and glanced back at the bartender.
“Long night?” she asked. The bartender nodded.
“Yep,” he answered. “And I hate bachelor parties.” JJ huffed out a short laugh. The first one in… god knows how long. The past few months had been difficult for the profiler. After Henry was born, JJ knew that her relationship with Will was never going to work out. It wasn't until a few years later when Will brought up the topic of their seemingly permanent engagement that JJ forced herself to admit the truth… that they weren’t compatible.
It was an amicable split. There wasn’t any betrayal or unforgiveness. But there was loneliness and guilt. Will had Henry most nights so JJ didn’t see her son much. They agreed it was better that the little boy stay with his father, who was home more often and had a safer job, whereas JJ was all over the country and dealing with a murderous unsub almost every case.
Still… she missed him. She had him on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but it wasn’t the same as before when she had the knowledge that her partner and son would be waiting at home. The guilt didn’t leave her alone either. JJ’s childhood had been fucked up by the loss of her sister and her parents’ divorce, which was a contributing factor to JJ’s hesitation to end her relationship with Will. Would her innocent child be affected by this as much as she was?
The guilt seemed to wash away as the tequila hit the back of JJ’s throat. A temporary relief. The sound of cheering drew JJ’s attention away from the alcoholic drink as she looked over at the bachelor party, most of the attendees drunk from the cheapest beer they could buy. At least they were happy… unlike JJ. She let out another sigh and glanced down at the tequila in front of her.
It wasn’t an easy case. It wasn’t a difficult case either. It was average. Your typical white unsub in his twenties to thirties who had mommy issues. The BAU were able to arrest him before he killed his third victim.
JJ tipped the glass back and drank the last of the tequila, the alcohol beginning to affect her. She could already feel the easiness flowing through her and remembered she had work the next morning too. She stared at the empty glass and shook her head slightly.
“Maybe I should have another one.” JJ muttered to herself as another woman took her seat next to the agent.
“I’ll have some whiskey, Jack.” The other woman requested. The bartender - Jack nodded.
“Sure thing, Elle.” He responded. JJ narrowed her eyes and looked at the woman sitting on her right, her face falling as she realised who the woman was. She had changed in the years since she left the BAU. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown and slightly longer than the last time JJ had seen her. Elle’s hair had been let loose, with gentle beach waves running through it.
Her lips were coated in dark red lipstick and the sharpness of her eyes highlighted by the dark eyeliner and mascara. But she was still the same old Elle, with the freckles and sparkle in her eyes whenever a smile crept up onto her face. She was wearing a light blue flowing shirt with dark grey jeans, her fashion taste clearly having changed over the years.
“Elle?” JJ gasped, turning to face her. Elle glanced at JJ, her eyes widening at the sight of her former colleague.
“Jennifer.” Elle exclaimed, her mouth dropping open ever so slightly.
“Oh my god- it’s been so long.” JJ murmured, uncertain of what to say. It’s not like she expected to see Elle all of a sudden.
“Yeah. Uh… four years? I’m not sure how long it’s been.” Elle answered, tilting her head as Jack put the glass of whiskey in front of the brunette-haired woman. “How have you been?”
JJ wondered what Elle thought of her. She caught a glimpse of herself as she entered the bar and she wasn’t a fan of what she had seen. The bags under her eyes seemed to grow by the day and her frown became more persistent with each long and agonising night. Life hadn’t been kind to Agent Jareau.
“Ah… fine. What about you? How are you doing?” asked JJ. Elle stared at the other woman for a second before responding, as if she was able to see through JJ’s attempt of deflection. Of course. She used to be a profiler.
“I’m better now. I’ve gotten therapy and… my PTSD’s a lot better now.”
“That’s great to hear.” JJ commented, plastering a small but genuine smile onto her face. Elle’s mouth curved into a smile as she glanced down at her whiskey glass and sipped on the bitter liquid.
“I’ve got a job. I’ve been working at Clementine Inc.” Elle informed her. JJ raised her eyebrows.
“That sounds familiar.”
“Yes. A company that supports survivors of domestic abuse or sexual assault,” said Elle. “I’ve been with them for a few years now.”
“That’s great. I always knew you would do something like that.” JJ added. Elle shifted in her seat, still keeping her sight on the blonde woman.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I would… imagine a future for you.” Elle raised an eyebrow and crossed her ankles.
“Alright. Tell me about the future you imagined.” Elle told her. JJ tilted her head, locking eyes with Elle, not noticing the small smirk that crept up onto her face.
“Okay,” said JJ. “After you left you… went travelling. You did get a job eventually, but for a few weeks, you went travelling across the country.”
“All of the states?” questioned Elle.
“Almost. You decided not to go to Florida.” JJ said. Elle chuckled, not looking away from JJ.
“Smart decision,” she noted, bringing the whiskey to her lips. “What did I do next?”
“After a few weeks, you came home. Got a new place for a fresh start, but you stayed in the same area to keep a sense of familiarity,” said JJ. “Then… you got a job. I always thought you would be a private investigator, to help the victims in more of an informal manner.”
“Interesting.” Elle commented, putting the whiskey glass back onto the bar, dark red lipstick staining the rim.
“And maybe… you got a cat. That’s about as far as I got.” JJ stated. Elle nodded.
“Ah. Well… I did intend to travel across the states, but I was too broke, so I only made it to about four states,” said Elle. “Not bad.” JJ failed to hold back the grin that replaced the small smile as she let out a short laugh.
“I’m glad you’re better, Elle.” JJ sighed, staring at her. Elle nodded slowly.
“What about you?” asked Elle. “Fine isn’t an answer. I want to know about your life.” JJ’s grin faded away as she looked down at the empty glass in her hands, silently wishing that it was full. She shrugged and glanced back at Elle.
“Did you imagine a future for me?” she asked.
“No,” she responded. “But I can imagine one now.”
“Okay.”
“You’re still in the BAU. You could never leave, I mean… you love your job,” said Elle, her gaze dropping to the empty glass she was holding. “But you’re not entirely happy. Something happened… or is still happening and you feel… shitty about it.” JJ tilted her head and scoffed.
“Is it that obvious?” she quipped. Elle placed a hand onto JJ’s shoulder.
“Jennifer…”
“JJ.” She corrected her.
“JJ. What’s going on?” she asked. JJ exhaled sharply in an attempt to soothe the lump forming in her throat.
“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” She said as Elle nodded, retracting her hand.
“Okay. That’s fine… but if you ever want to talk to anyone, I’m here.” Elle offered. JJ nodded… but something changed.
“I have a son.”
A moment of silence passed by.
“Okay.”
“Henry. He’s… god, he’s so young,” said JJ. “Me and his father recently split and… it’s tough.” Elle leaned forward in her seat.
“I can imagine.” Elle muttered.
“I don’t want to think about that right now,” said JJ, turning to glance at Elle. “Tell me more about your life to distract me from mine.” Elle ran a hand through her dark wavy hair and softly exhaled.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “There’s not a lot going on.”
“Any… partners?” asked JJ, a sparkle in her eyes as she bit onto her lower lip, locking eyes with the other woman. A prolonged moment passed by, although it felt more like an eternity. Elle gently shook her head, not breaking eye contact.
“There’s been a few. But none have lasted longer than a few weeks.” Elle confessed, flicking a loose strand of her hair away. Still, the two women retained eye contact.
“So there’s no one in the picture?” asked JJ. Elle shook her head again, glancing away, breaking eye contact.
“No,” she said. “There was someone in the picture a few years ago, but it was never gonna work out.” The eye contact returned, stronger than ever. JJ raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in her seat.
“How come?” she quizzed, resting her jaw in the palm of her hand, clear interest making itself known in her facial features. Elle shrugged.
“Well…” Elle breathed out. “It was just a little crush, really. She didn’t feel the same way.” JJ felt her heart pounding in her chest. This sounded familiar. “And uh… we worked together. So… it was kind of inconvenient.”
JJ tilted her head and continued to stare at her old friend.
“That’s a shame that you two never got together,” said JJ. “Maybe you should get back in touch with her.”
“Maybe.”
“I mean… look at you. Who wouldn’t want to be with you?” commented JJ, her heart skipping a beat once she realised what she had said. Elle raised her eyebrows as the corners of her mouth turned up.
“Thank you… but I doubt it.” Elle added. JJ shook her head.
“Those feelings don’t go away just like that. There must’ve been something on her side too.”
“You think so?”
“I do.” JJ said, another prolonged moment of silence passing by. “I don’t think she’s… that oblivious either.”
Elle pressed her lips together and tore her gaze from the agent.
“I was that obvious, wasn’t I?” she muttered.
“Not then, you weren’t. I didn’t know you liked me then.” JJ informed her. Elle brought a hand to her forehead.
“God, I…” she trailed off. “I feel so embarrassed.”
“Oh, Elle, it’s fine.” JJ waved her off. “Besides, this crush of yours…” she trailed off too, looking away from the other woman for a split second before glancing back.
“Yeah?”
“I think she might be interested in a date.” JJ said, leaning forward. The two women sat closely together at the bar. Elle failed to hold back her small, but infectious smile.
“Really?”
“She’s gonna need your number first, of course.” JJ said.
“Right, of course!” Elle exclaimed, pulling her cellphone out of her handbag and handing the phone to JJ to type her number in, while JJ did the same thing. JJ checked the time on her watch and sighed.
“I… I gotta go. It’s late and I have work tomorrow.” JJ informed the other woman. Elle nodded, although disappointment showed itself in her eyes.
“Okay,” said Elle, her voice quieter. “Do you have any way of getting home or…”
“I’ll call a taxi. Be right back.” JJ said, rising from her seat with her cellphone, leaving the other woman alone at the bar. Elle glanced at her mobile phone, the early morning hours glaring back at her. It was wise of JJ to go to bed now before she ended up regretting it in the morning.
Less than a minute later, JJ returned to the bar and sat down next to Elle, “Taxi’s gonna be here in five minutes.” Elle nodded.
“I know we didn’t spend a lot of time together tonight but…” she began. “I enjoyed catching up with you.” Elle’s eyes lit up as a beaming smile became present on her face. Clearly, it was infectious as JJ ended up smiling back at her.
“I’ve enjoyed tonight too,” said JJ. “And… I look forward to our date.” Elle stared at the blonde woman and leaned in closer.
“What do you say to a four-star restaurant next weekend?” asked Elle. JJ tilted her head, retaining eye contact, which only seemed to grow more intimate as the night went on.
“That sounds great.” JJ answered, her smile transforming into a grin she was unable to hold back. Then, her grin faded away slowly as she saw a yellow taxi cab pull up outside the bar through the window. A sigh escaped her mouth as her shoulders sank.
“Taxi’s here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Elle said. The two women rose from their seats and left behind their tips for the bartender and exited the bar. The cold air nipped at their faces, but neither of them were bothered by it, too distracted by each other’s presence to even notice.
JJ opened the car door and glanced over her shoulder at Elle, a small smile on her face.
“Thank you.” She said.
“For what?”
“For coming back into my life.”
Elle softly sighed and hummed in response. JJ went to step into the taxi cab, but suddenly stopped. She turned around. Elle drew her eyebrows together.
“Have you forgotten something?” she asked.
“Kind of.” JJ responded, turning her body to face Elle. Next thing Elle knew, JJ stepped towards her and cupped her face, pressing her mouth against her lips.
Though it was winter, neither woman was cold in the embrace. Neither pulled away from the kiss, not wanting it to end. It was passionate and fiery. They pulled at each other, wanting to be closer together. After what felt like an eternity, they finally pulled away, the eye contact much more intense than before.
Despite all the tension and dramatics… they found themselves laughing. Still holding each other, but chuckling in the cold and dark night.
“I can’t believe I just did that.” JJ commented.
“I’m not complaining.” Elle remarked. “But uh… you should probably go before the cab driver beeps the horn.” JJ looked over her shoulder to see a very bored cab driver waiting impatiently for her. She turned back to face Elle and pulled her in for another kiss, although this one was shorter, left to be continued for the next time she saw Elle.
“I’ll phone you when I get home.”
“Okay.” Elle muttered, watching JJ as she let go of Elle and got into the cab, closing the car door behind her. She looked through the car window and waved at her future date, a gentle smile present on her face. Elle waved back, only just realising how cold it was in the absence of JJ.
When the taxi cab disappeared out of Elle’s sight, she turned on her heel and re-entered the bar. She went into the bar tonight with the intention of forgetting reality for the night.
She completed that goal. Not with alcohol, like she had planned… but with a particular blonde woman, who she had never forgotten. And even as the harsh memories of reality returned to haunt Elle… she was unbothered.
Elle Greenaway knew that whatever this was with JJ… it was special. Or at least, it was gonna be.