Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this writing exercise, blah blah blah. Please don't sue. As usual, reviews are welcome and encouraged.

Author Note: This is the last chapter. Thank the maker. BTW: After making a vow not to watch the season finale until I'd seen all of the episodes, I caved last night. And I'm certainly glad I did! Man, I can spot the plot, can't I? ;)

As always a big thanks to my ever faithful beta reader, Tracy-Face.

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Forging Connections

By littlelights

Epilogue

LaMontagne Jr.: Honey, can I borrow your hand a second?

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Sixteen months later

JJ looked out at the wide expanse of the Gulf of Mexico. From her place on the beach, the mid-winter water teased her ankles. Her new admirer was walking beside her, blinking away the salt spray from his eyes. Just up ahead, Bill was playing a game of catch with his new best friend, Kip. They shared a few similar traits, JJ thought, well toned and gifted with dark hair. Kip was cute, but her boyfriend still won the handsome contest. JJ looked down at the love-struck blonde next to her and razzled his furry head. Her companion gave her hand a warm lick in return.

Hotch had secured his team, in addition to JJ and Garcia, two weeks leave. For that, she was extremely grateful. Apart from spending time with her boyfriend, she didn't have any idea what to do with the time. Then, Bill made a bid for the time away. His cousin, Jerry Hollander, was leaving for Denver to take in part of the ski season, leaving his lovely old Florida beach house empty.

Given her experiences, it was a pretty far-out suggestion. Two weeks idling away at a beach house near Florida's panhandle wasn't what she had anticipated. Toronto, maybe. She'd always wanted to see Toronto. It was nothing close to what would have passed as an ideal vacation, but it certainly was a different type of experience.

When she'd met him last year, Jerry was a good natured bachelor who spent his retirement fishing, swimming and running on the beach with his two rowdy dogs; Kip the outgoing black lab and Stu, the slightly moronic yellow lab. When he had a yen to travel, Jerry usually kenneled the dogs. But when someone offered to dog sit his two best friends, Jerry made the deal a little sweeter by floating a set of keys to his beach house.

The largest snag in the house sitting plan, at least in her mind, were the dogs. She hadn't seen them before. It unsettled a part of her, to just trust that these pets weren't out to lunge for her jugular.

JJ had always been rather neutral when dogs were concerned. There was nothing wrong with petting a friendly dog, but since fending off Tobias Henkle's feral canines, she'd steered clear of animals all together.

So it would make sense that the biggest, dumbest dog in Florida would become irrevocably in love with her. Big ol' Stu, with a shiny coat and lion-sized paws, was an endless well of energy. When he wasn't investigating a marooned jellyfish or attempting to eat seaweed, Stu was running circles around her all the time. He wouldn't leave her side for more than a few minutes at a stretch. When he romped off to play with a flock of resting seagulls, JJ watched as he circled the birds in a one-sided game of keep-away, then abruptly rushed back to her with a happy expression on his face.

Against the backdrop of the sun and the water, Bill lobbed the tennis ball high into the air. With a powerful sprint, Kip followed the florescent sphere through the broad puddles on the beach. As the dog made his return, Bill turned and met JJ's gaze. She smiled and waved, petting a still adoring Stu. Her boyfriend returned the wave, his eyes were shining with easy contentment.

The routine of vacation life had them sleeping in, eating breakfast outside, and taking long walks with the dogs. Three days without phones or appointments. They hadn't wasted any of their time discussing work. And they took risks that didn't involve guns. Bill convinced her to eat out at a restaurant, which could be politely called a shack, which his cousin suggested. The best low country boil you'll ever have, Jerry had stated in the letter he'd left on the kitchen counter.

It was another one of those cultural differences. Pennsylvania meat and potato taste buds were becoming accustomed to spicy seafood concoctions. It had made her eyes water at first. And bless him, Bill had only rubbed her back and smiled ruefully while she inhaled half the water pitcher. But in a strange twist, southern boy was learning to appreciate the potency of pollen from the deciduous forest. A combination of unrelenting watery eyes and a couple early morning runs to the pharmacy for scripts of Claritin-D had knocked him down a few pegs.

Yes, their respective upbringings were continuing to provide hours of entertainment.

Bill motioned to Kip, and crossed the distance to give her a kiss on the cheek. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, I could eat"

"Come'on, guys, let's go home." Bill entwined his hand with hers, and reached down to gesture both dogs back to the house. Both began to sprint ladders the long length of the beach. Their human companions were content to stroll through the solid wet sand, watching beach combers and men with metal detectors pack up their gear as the tide took over.

He was bursting to tell her something. JJ could read it on his face and in the way he fidgeted his fingers around her own. She smiled broadly, refraining from looking at him for a few moments just to work him up a bit.

"What?" she asked innocuously, giving in to his lazy smile and searching eyes.

"I was just glad you weren't packing heat when I stopped off for the shrimp."

This was interesting. She pulled him closer to keep her voice low. "Should I ask why?"

He hid his teasing amusement well, but she could see the subtle glint in his eyes and the way his mouth curved slightly that he was enjoyed baiting her. Finally, he said, "The girl at the party store was flirting with me."

"Did you reciprocate?"

"Why should I? Darlin', no one reciprocates like you."

Those words hit her in the stomach and sent chills up her spine. His grin made her flush hotly. Schooling herself to continue walking straight, she granted him a kiss, letting it last long enough to nibble on his bottom lip a bit.

"I could always help pick up the groceries from now on. Make sure I can protect you from picking up a few new admirers," she teased.

"I dunno. I saw the guy who works at the liquor counter. He's what you'd call easy on the eye."

"And you're concerned because?"

"I made a vow to serve and protect. And I don't want to arrest myself for making a point on top of a shop counter."

JJ had learned to read the innuendo in his voice by now. But she couldn't shake a quick mental picture of some poor store clerk's face meeting a seventies orange checkout counter. "And this little trick doesn't involve physical violence?"

"If you call what we did last night violent."

Now that was a mental picture.

All the breath in her lungs seemed to disappear when her mind shot back to the previous evening. Halfway through a TV movie Bill had gotten up to make more pop corn. She'd used the break as an excuse to whisper a few choice nothings in his ear while his attention was turned toward the microwave. One of her more risqué remarks sparked an abrupt change in his attentions. Three seconds later she found herself hoisted against the refrigerator with her top off and a masculine set of hands stroking everywhere.

She shook her head in a momentary daze. Having sex on a store counter was an arrestable offence, even if it was a rather non-violent way of making a point. Her boyfriend's stance was somewhat admirable, but totally inappropriate. Which is why he probably thought it would work.

"That could backfire, you know," She thought out loud. "He might want to join us."

"Or he could just start charging admission."

They laughed and groaned, then called the dogs away from chasing another colony of seagulls. Dinner wasn't going magically appear, and the pups needed to be fed. Washing their feet with an outside hose, they herded their charges into the house and set to work raiding the household pantry.

They ate grilled shrimp with heavy masses of vegetables and avoided eye contact with the dogs, who lamented slightly over their bowls of dry kibble. But they were appeased by the occasional dinner table treat. It made a person wonder just how much leeway Jerry gave Kip and Stu around the house.

JJ plopped a smaller shrimp into Stu's food bowl. The dog gazed at her adoringly. "You, dog, are spoiled rotten." JJ said with a grin. "Do you know just how lucky you are?" Stu was too busy chomping on his treat to comment.

Bill tossed a tail end of a shrimp in the air for Kip to catch. "I've heard Jerry shares a beer with them ever Friday night."

She startled. "No way!"

"One beer between the two of them. Jerry just pours it in their bowls. He's got some great stories about that. One time Stu fell off the back porch. I think the dog just slept it off. No hangover, I reckon."

The dogs lost interest in them while the dishes were being loaded in the washer. Both dogs trotted off to their respective dog beds, ready to take a light snooze in the air conditioned living room. It was a nice evening; the sand was still warm from the afternoon sun, and it was an ideal time to take in the sunset from the steps of the house boardwalk.

"This is what I like the most," Bill said as he wrapped his arm around JJ's shoulders. "Sitting here with you. Away from the office and the job."

"No phones," JJ added.

He nodded in agreement. "No phones. No case files. No co-workers."

They looked at each other and simultaneously said, "No paperwork."

"It's not going to be like this forever," JJ said with a slight sigh, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "There's always some sort of work to do. I don't even want to think about it yet. I'm still on vacation."

He could hear it in her voice. The uncertainty of their situation. Separate lives running parallel to each other which only intersected for a few days at a time. And it weighed on them both. They'd talked about it, of course. But they never really gotten up to making plans. Her moving to a branch office in Louisiana. Him moving to up to Virginia. But it had never really seemed the right time to make a decision.

They looked out onto the ocean, watching the sun enter the water like a diver in extreme slow motion. His arm slid slowly down her back to rest at his side. Bill cleared his throat. "I got a call yesterday."

JJ looked at him suspiciously. "You got a call. You actually checked your phone?"

He turned the tables. "Like you didn't this morning?"

She shrugged. "It's a habit. Anyway, was it important?"

If he played his cards right, in twenty years he could look back at this moment and say this was one of the biggest turning points in his life. He swallowed, took a breath, and answered. "Police Chief called. Said there was spot open in D.C. for a transfer. Wanted to know if I was still interested."

"Still interested?"

When JJ parroted his words, it usually meant she was a little on edge. It was in his best interest to finish the story before she started to come up with original sentences.

"I asked about a transfer to D.C. half a year ago. I figured it would be a good time to get a place. Take you out to dinner every Friday night instead of calling you on the phone. Settle down a bit, I guess."

JJ's eyes were wide with wonder. This was certainly unexpected. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him it kinda depended on you. What you wanted. Whether or not you wanted to settle down with me."

What followed was the kind of silence which seemed to suck all the external noise out of the air. No more waves on the surf or birds crying in the air. All JJ could hear was her heart beating in her ears. She was sure it was just a few seconds later when her mouth moved on its own accord.

"Did you tell him yes?" Her voice didn't shake precisely, but it seemed to waver with a giddy energy.

He smiled then, a relieved and happy smile which seemed to smooth away all the little creases on his face. All those cases he'd worked. All the hours he'd walked the beat around the city. The hurricane. His dad's death. In that moment, they were gone.

"Then you'd better wear this." Bill said, unable to keep the subtle joy out of his voice. The diamond ring he'd kept in his pocket for the whole of their vacation finally sparkled in the outside sun. He held it in his outstretched palm for a moment, allowing JJ to gaze at its beauty before kissing her left hand and slipping the ring on her fourth finger.

She kissed him then, murmuring his name into his mouth and pulling him close. This time, they really were in world of their own. It was an outpouring of emotion which lasted until the barest sliver of sun was left stranded on the water.

"You're giving up your home for me," JJ's breath hitched. She curled her fingers in his hair rested her forehead to his own. "I know what it means to you."

He shushed her, and placed a delicate kiss on each of her eyelids. "It'll always be there." He flashed her a lover's smile. "Damn city's survived a couple hundred years. I think it can handle a couple decades more without me." He paused again, taking in the smell of her hair and the salt water. "No regrets?"

"None." She said firmly.

He helped her to her feet and pulled her close on their walk back to the house. There were other things on his mind tonight than the issues of transfers and house hunting. They were both experiencing this crux of change, and he knew that whatever happened in the future, he'd never regret asking her to marry him this night.

The door opened, and as he hoisted her into his arms and into the house, her delighted laugh carried throughout the room. Her pleas for release fell on deaf ears until they reached their bedroom door. As he shut it behind them, the only witnesses to their impromptu engagement were the two furry dogs, who were already fast asleep in their beds.

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