Chapter Text
Another case solved. Another four lives lost before they could catch him. He'd been running circles around them, always two steps ahead, until he wasn't.
Local PD had tried to help but the killer knew his stomping ground too well. All in all, it was a success but only by luck. The jet was due to leave at 12:00 the following day. With all the paperwork tied up they had nothing better to do than find a bar and unwind.
Luke stumbled slightly on his way back to the table, the drinks spilling onto the tray.
"Hey, mind your step. Drinks are expensive enough without losing half of them." Tara plucked her drink from the tray as he placed it down, wiping the bottom on a napkin.
"Not like you paid. Shut up and drink." He rolled his eyes and slipped in next to her.
Rossi and Emily sipped their whiskey, JJ her vodka. Emily turned in her seat to carry on her conversation with Tara, boxing JJ in.
Her eyes roamed. The line of Emily's jaw, the slight slope of her nose, the muscles in her neck, the way her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
Her fingers tightened around her glass.
Focus.
It was the vodka. Definitely the vodka.
It definitely wasn't the way Emily had said her name differently lately, the way she would feel the older woman's gaze on her throughout the day, the way she seemed to press into her space more often than not.
It definitely wasn't the flirting either, or the perfume she wore more after she caught JJ inhaling her, or the way she held her glass when she swilled it.
No.
It was just the vodka making her stare at Emily like she was scripture she wasn't supposed to read.
Maybe the fact she hadn't had sex since Will died. Not the fact that she'd thought about her more than once while he was alive.
But mostly the vodka.
She drank like she was trying to cleanse herself of something. Something that wouldn't stay quiet anymore.
"Jennifer?" Her name. That tone.
She looked up.
Fuck.
Those eyes.
"Hmm?" Her neck flushed pink, creeping up her cheeks. Getting caught staring at Emily's lips was explainable. It was loud, she was following the conversation. It didn't matter that she was only paying attention to the half that she could hear anyway.
The smirk that followed stirred something low in her stomach. "You good?"
"Fine." It was practically a squeak. "Totally fine." Lower this time but she could feel Tara staring. Her eyes flicked nervously around the table. "Darts?" She needed out, now. The proximity was suffocating.
"Just pool." Luke nodded towards the table.
JJ groaned. "Well, I suck at it. Anyone for doubles?"
Tara showed mercy first, her eyes glistening with knowing. Luke and Emily followed suit. Rossi counted himself out of play but gave himself a supervisory role and allocated teams.
He nodded towards JJ, then Emily, smile firmly in place. JJ's stomach dropped.
They knew, they all knew.
Of course they did because it wasn't the fucking vodka. It never had been.
Luke and Tara paired off, racking up. JJ set her glass on the table, now half empty. She watched as the rivulets ran down it, her thumb tracing the path of one.
She felt her more than anything, a presence beside her. She turned slightly as Emily settled into a seat as Tara and Luke argued about who should break.
Brown eyes flicked back to her. "You're cute when you're flustered."
JJ swallowed. Hard. This was the same dance they'd been doing for close to a year, they'd push until one of them gave in and backed off. Usually JJ.
Not this time. She flexed her hand into a fist.
Hold your nerve Jareau.
She turned her body fully, stepping into Emily's open legs. Not quite enough to touch, just enough for their bodies to feel each other's warmth.
Emily's eyebrow lifted, so very briefly before schooling her features again. JJ leant in, her face by Emily's ear as she placed an open hand on Emily's thigh.
Neither of them heard the first crack of the balls flying around the table.
"Am I cute now?" Her voice was low, breath ghosting over the throat she wanted to press open-mouth kisses against. JJ heard her breath hitch, she felt Emily's thigh tense under her touch.
The trio watched on, positively entertained by the change in Emily's face. "Gay panic." Tara mumbled behind her glass to Luke who couldn't move quickly enough to smother the laugh.
JJ held position, humming in question. The power made her head spin. "Not so cocky now, huh?" She turned her face, nose grazing the shell of Emily's ear.
Emily was frozen in place, JJ's hand burning a hole in her jeans at the top of her thigh, her head full of static. She should've been embarrassed, she knew the rest of them could see the utter turmoil and by the look on their faces, they were enjoying it.
JJ leant back, slapping her thigh before smiling innocently. As if she wasn't aware that she'd just completely undone her.
The game went as it usually did. Luke and Tara winning, Emily attempting to carry the dead weight that was JJ.
Emily sunk two balls, missing the third, she handed the cue to Luke and leant against the table by Tara. She felt JJ's eyes on her first, but when she met them, heat crawled up her spine.
Emily shifted, one hand pulling her shirt away from her body, willing cool air against hot skin. Her hands undid another button at the top, JJ smirked.
"Hot?" Tara's voice came from across the table.
Emily swallowed, finally looking away from JJ. "Menopause."
Tara scoffed. "I really hope menopause comes with a hot blonde eye fucking me into hot flushes too."
"She is not eye fucking me." Emily cut her eyes at her.
JJ waltzed around the table towards them both. She tapped the cue once on the pool table, both women's eyes looking over to her. She bent low, cue positioned. She looked back over her shoulder at them. "I am eye fucking you."
Emily felt a second wave of heat, this one settling between her legs as her face turned red. She groaned, head tipped back towards the ceiling.
Tara couldn't help the laugh, Rossi sat back in his chair, whiskey glass between his fingers as he smiled.
"C'mon, Em. Get your shit together." Tara nudged her from across the table. Emily opened her eyes, head swinging towards Tara. "You gotta give as good as you're getting."
The equilibrium was off. Emily was on the back foot and JJ was enjoying it far too much. She adjusted her shirt, pulling it low, cleavage now fully displayed. She could've sworn she saw JJ lick her lips.
After two more consecutive losses, Emily wanted a win, in more ways than one.
She handed the cue to JJ without letting go. "You ready to learn how to play?" JJ rolled her eyes but Emily didn't let go of the cue or her gaze.
"You gonna teach me, Chief?" She stepped towards her.
"Yeah." Emily's eyes darted down to her lips then back up and JJ felt it between her legs. "Pick a target." She nodded towards the table.
JJ made it to the table, barely, her legs almost failing her. She stared at the table, settling on a ball near the pocket. She pressed her hips into the table and bent at the waist, lining the cue up.
She couldn't be sure what happened next as her brain short-circuited.
Emily was pressed against her. Her hips pressed into her ass. Her breasts pushed against her back. Her breath playing against the hair on the back of her neck. Her fingers covering her own.
"Just like that." Emily's sultry tone made her eyes flutter shut, JJ was unaware that she'd shifted the position of her cue.
"This is soft porn." Luke finished his rum and set the glass down, the three of them huddled around a table opposite, accepting their fate. They would stay there until Emily was done getting her own back.
They'd watched the women do this dance for decades, although this routine was different. With each day that passed, it became more obvious, less of the waltz they'd grown used to and more of a tango.
Emily pulled the cue back, her fingers steadying JJ's. "Slow." The shift of Emily pulling the cue back gave JJ some relief until she pressed it forward again, Emily's pelvis following the movement.
JJ's mouth ran dry, her eyes still closed, trying to focus on her breathing. Not the fact that she just felt Emily's hips pull back before pressing her back into the table. Not like she was currently playing every single fantasy of being bent over Emily's desk.
Definitely not.
She opened her eyes.
Her eyes dropped to where their hands met, the cue slid back and forth over the skin between her thumb and index finger.
Focus. She's winning.
One long slow breath. One subtle shift of her hips. One tap of her finger against the green felt.
She felt Emily huff a laugh through her nose, the force of it playing in her hair. "You ready?" She heard exactly what Emily was asking.
She tipped her head to the side, turning to face her. One more breath, just to be sure. Her body knew it before she did, this wasn't a game anymore. Her mouth moved on the breath out. "Yes."
Emily dragged the cue back, the angle creating space between their bodies. Then, it was gone. The space, the thoughts, everything was gone as she snapped the cue forward.
JJ wasn't aware of the whimper that left her throat as her hips were forced into the metal of the table.
Emily was.
The ball was sunk, firmly in the pocket. Emily stood, placing a hand between JJ's shoulder blades, holding her down on the table without stepping back. It was barely a moment but JJ knew her underwear was ruined.
Emily stepped back. She picked up her drink before glancing to Tara, who was grinning from ear to ear as she raised her glass. Emily raised hers in return as JJ stood.
Her fingers pressed into the wood, nail beds white at the force. She hadn't drunk enough for the way her head was spinning.
She spun, draining the rest of the glass, eyes locked on Emily's as she did so. "I hate you." She wiped her lip with her thumb.
Emily's laugh was loud, disarming. "No. You don't." JJ went to argue but Emily continued. "It's your go again. Make me proud."
JJ's mouth opened and closed. Make me proud. God, the tone. The tone she knew would eventually unravel her.
She steadied herself, lined the cue up just as Emily had for her and sank the next ball. She looked back over her shoulder. "I'm a quick learner."
The wink JJ shot Emily stuttered the pulse in her throat. She watched as JJ moved around the table, her eyes on the black. She wasn't quite confident but close. Emily leant back further in her seat, glass in hand.
The curve of JJ's back, the round of her ass, the muscles in her arms rippling as she lined the next shot up. Emily felt the familiar pull.
Tonight.
It wasn't the whiskey. No, alcohol wasn't to blame. It was her.
It was the whimper that made her clit throb. It was the press back that made her want to wind her fingers in her hair. It was the attitude, the strike of confidence, the ease of it.
The black dropped into the pocket and JJ raised the cue in victory, her shirt lifting.
One sliver of skin. A glimpse. The last wisp of restraint gone.
Emily drained her glass, setting it down softly, deliberately. A decision she wouldn't explain. She didn't have to. "I'm calling it."
"Me too." It came too quickly but JJ didn't care, she'd burned through every layer of composure.
Tara raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Sensible. Early night."
Luke nodded solemnly. "Resting is key after a long case."
Rossi didn't even try to hide his grin. "So is unwinding."
JJ slipped into her jacket, it wasn't worth denying. Emily's gaze flicked over her as she pulled it round her. "Rest is important."
Tara lost the battle with her face. "Yeah, you two look exhausted."
Luke snorted into his drink and Emily side eyed him. "Noon take off. Don't make me explain why half the team slept through it."
A chorus of 'yes boss' echoed back at her. Emily exhaled sharply, the start of a small smile tugging at her mouth. "Night."
Emily moved and JJ followed without hesitation. No goodnights, no waves, no smiles. Just Emily.
Rossi raised his glass and his voice. "Good luck getting any sleep."
The door swung shut behind them.
Luke broke the silence. "There goes self control."
"There goes JJ." Tara clinked her glass to his.
"Five bucks says-" Luke was cut off.
"Nope. No. Nuh-uh. You guys are like my children and I don't need any mental images." Rossi drained his glass.
Emily hailed a taxi effortlessly, headlights cutting through the night's haze. She opened the door and stepped back. JJ got in first, Emily's request silent.
The door closed with a thud that sounded suspiciously like commitment.
Neither spoke.
They sat close, closer than necessary. JJ's knee brushed Emily's as the cab hit another bump. The air con blew cold but it didn't help.
The city lights blurred as she looked at Emily. Emily didn't look back but her fingers flexed against her own thigh in recognition. Her body registering the contact before her mind did.
The cab rolled to a stop at a red light. Silence.
He pulled away, both women's breathing changing with the speed. Emily's jaw tightened, shifting a fraction closer. JJ could smell her perfume over the stale taxi air.
One glance, JJ's hands flexed as Emily's fingers twitched in her lap.
JJ was nearly out of the car by the time he parked outside their hotel. Emily paid before following her up the steps.
It was too bright. Too open. Too public for every scenario she had in her mind.
They walked side by side towards the elevator, breaths matching.
Emily pressed the button. Her hand hovered next to JJ's. They waited.
Focus.
The doors opened with a chime. They stepped in. Silence, save for their own heartbeats.
JJ stood beside her, just enough space to not be touching, not enough for Emily to breathe easily.
Her hand hovered, hesitation rare and disarming. The doors closed as Emily punched her floor number. JJ's eyes flicked to the number that glowed, then to Emily.
The elevator climbed until the doors eased open.
Emily stepped out, calm, nothing like what she felt underneath. Control hadn't always come naturally, she'd spent years mastering it. Tonight, she wanted to unlearn it.
JJ followed like Emily was gravity. The carpet swallowed the sound of their footsteps. JJ's pulse drummed in her ears and between her legs.
Suite 712. Emily placed her key card against the lock. The green light flickered. Her hand hovered for a second before she pressed down on the handle but didn't push the door.
Emily's eyes searched JJ's. It was never about professionalism, it was about what she had to admit if she stopped pretending. She swallowed the thought.
"Last chance." Her voice was rougher already.
"Open the door." What else was she meant to say?
I love you. Not tonight.
I've wanted this since the day you walked into the BAU. One day.
I'm tired of the decades-long dance and just want you inside of me. Possibly.
Focus.
The certainty in JJ's voice, in her eyes, in her body language winded her.
The final thread of restraint snapped. She opened the door.
"After you."