Hello everyone. We hope you enjoy this fanfic. It will be JJ centered but should contain all members of the team.
We own nothing except for Brandon and a few other small characters that will pop in.
It is co written by SpencerReidFan7 and Whitewolf200056.
"It'll be fine." JJ reassured Brandon as she glanced over at him sitting in the passengers seat.
A small smile made it's way across her face when she noticed how nervous he looked. She glanced out the window to see there were less trees now and that they were getting into town.
"We'll be there soon." She wasn't sure if that would make him feel better or worse. She hoped it would make him feel better. After all, waiting for something you're dreading happening is just terrible, and it always seems endless.
Brandon's green eyes finally turned to meet her own blues. "What would I do without you?"
"I have no idea." JJ muttered as she gave his hand a quick squeeze.
They drove in silence the rest of the way. Brandon worried about his knee surgery and JJ worried about him worrying.
JJ also pondered many things. She planned to finally introduce Brandon to her team. She had held back on that, but now that they had been dating six months it seemed pretty serious. She smirked to herself as she thought of how each member would react.
Hotch, well he'd probably just be polite when introducing himself to Brandon and would go right back to work.
Morgan, she figured would tease her a bit. After all, Morgan considered that a part of his job and he took it very seriously.
She wasn't sure how Reid would react. She was sure he'd be happy for her though.
On the thought of Rossi, she assumed he would probably act like Hotch but wouldn't leave right away and instead would chat a little.
Garcia would get all excited and start planning a wedding before there was an engagement and Emily would definitely be happy for her.
JJ had felt a bit guilty about taking the day off but Hotch had assured her it was fine. After all, how often did Jennifer Jareau take days off work? Never. She couldn't help but wonder what her team was up to today. It felt weird not being at work, but she could not deny that it was nice to spend more time with Brandon and not have to stress going through case after case.
When they finally reached the hospital Brandon hesitated before opening his door and JJ gave him another reassuring squeeze. She ran to the trunk of the car to get his crutches. He'd shattered his knee and had finally managed to get an appointment for surgery, and he was currently a nervous wreck.
JJ fought the urge to roll her eyes at his expression. He was so much like a child afraid of a needle. She grabbed his bag and moved ahead to get the door so he could get in.
Despite Brandon being on crutches, it didn't take long for them to get to the third floor where he was receiving his surgery. When they were sitting in the room Brandon seemed to calm down some.
He was perched on the bed already in the hospital gown. JJ leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.
"Thank you for being here." He said softly.
"Any time." JJ smiled and continued to read her book as she sat in the chair.
She read silently for a few moments before Brandon spoke up. "You should go get yourself some coffee now. My doctor should be in here any minute. I'll be fine."
JJ tried to read his expression and when she was satisfied that he was telling the truth, she kissed him one more time before leaving the room.
The idea of a delicious mocha was the only thing to somewhat distract the worried thoughts JJ had as she walked down the steps, not needing to take the elevator now without Brandon there.
JJ pushed open the glass door and stepped inside the coffee shop, feeling the warm air wave hit her as she entered. She took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the coffee shop, the coffee, the sweet smell of caramel, and the baking pastries. It began to soothe her anxiety slightly, as she stepped into the line at the counter.
JJ allowed her thoughts to wander a bit again, as she had before that day in the car. She thought of introducing Brandon to her team some more. She had decided to introduce him in a few weeks, once his knee had healed up a bit more.
She even went as far as to think about what she was going to say to introduce him, before remembering that she had a few weeks to think about it.
As she moved forward in line she started to think about how her team was doing without her for the day. She had a sudden mental image of them all running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and entertained the thought for a few moments of stopping by the BAU on her way back to the hospital.
She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind, however. She knew that she would never be able to stay for only a few minutes.
And her thoughts turned back to Brandon, nervous and alone in his hospital room, she knew that she wanted to get back to him.
'Why did I ever agree to leave him by himself', she thought to herself, that bit of anxiety that had leaked out before returning. 'He was so worried...'
The elderly gentleman in front of her finally finished his order and stepped out line, and she stepped up to the counter. She quickly ordered a white chocolate mocha from the somewhat snotty teen cashier and handed over the five dollar bill the pulled from her purse to pay for it. As soon as she got her change back she stepped over to the pick up counter next to the man who was in front of her to wait.
Her thoughts remained on Brandon.
Her anxiety must have shown on her face, because a gruff voice said, "You look very upset."
She looked up and saw that it was the man next to her. She looked into his face, a little bit of profiler coming out in her. He had snow white hair and bright blue eyes, with a pair of gold rimmed glasses and a very kindly expression on his face. He had one hand laying on the counter, and she could see a slightly tarnished wedding ring on his finger, as though he had worn it for years and years.
Deeming the man trustworthy, she said, "Yeah. My boyfriend's getting knee surgery today."
"Really?" the old man replied. "My son in law just had knee surgery a few weeks back. Had his whole kneecap shattered in a nasty car accident."
"My boyfriend had his kneecap shattered too," JJ said, interested. "Can I ask you how the surgery went?"
"Oh, just fine," he said. "They said at the hospital that the surgery wasn't very high risk, and relatively simple to perform. Just stick a few bits of wire in to bind it up, and you're good to go."
"I'm glad to hear that, it'll relieve a lot of my anxiety," JJ said.
"Unless of course, it's severe enough that he's going to have to have the entire kneecap removed," the man said. "That's a much more complicated surgery."
JJ looked up at him again, sure that her eyes must have been nearly as wide as they could possibly go, before she saw the look of humor on his face.
"Don't worry about that, it's a very rare thing," he assured her.
"You mean you can actually have your kneecap removed and still be able to function?" JJ asked him curiously.
"Yes," he said. "Some people never even get a replacement, they just live without one."
"Wow. I didn't know that was possible," JJ said, surprised. At that moment a different employee came over and set down two cups on the counter, announcing that one was a medium coffee with two shots of cream (she assumed that belonged to the man next to her), and that the other was her own mocha.
She quickly brought the cup to her lips and closed her eyes, savoring the liquid and momentarily allowing her senses to be overloaded by the sweet, caffeinated liquid. She felt instantly a bit calmer again, getting a glimpse of why Spence drank so much coffee.
As they stepped away from the counter, the elderly man said, "I know this may be a strange thing to ask somebody you hardly know, but would you like to sit down and chat a little while longer? I can tell that you've relaxed a bit since we've started talking."
"Well..." JJ said. She could think of a hundred reasons not to agree. She should be getting back to the hospital, for one. And for all she knew this guy, as elderly and fragile he seemed (at lease 70 years old), could very possibly be an UnSub. But she couldn't deny that she had calmed down considerably. And she did spot a very comfortable looking chair next to the fireplace...
"You don't even know my name, besides," the man said. "My name is Doug." He extended his hand, and JJ took it.
"I'm Jennifer, but my friends call me JJ," she said as she shook his hand. Withdrawing her own hand, she snuck another glance over to the plush and comfy looking chair. But her mind cast her once again over to Brandon, and she quickly decided against it.
"As very kind as your offer is, I think I'd better return to the hospital. I know the surgery isn't' that risky, but I think my boyfriend just might like to know that I'm there," she said.
"I would expect nothing less," Doug said. "You certainly do seem like the kind of person to do that for someone you care about. At least let me be a gentleman and escort you out to your car," he said with a smile.
"Oh, that really wouldn't be necessary-" JJ began, before she was cut off.
"I insist," Doug said firmly, smiling at her and motioning towards the door.
As strange as it was, talking with the man had cheered her up considerably. She wasn't as anxious anymore, as he gave her proof that the surgery wasn't that serious. It was nice to have someone to talk to, not about work, or reassuring about a surgery.
As they reached her car, Doug said, "I'm sure that the surgery will go alright, but would you mind if I called and found out how it went later?"
"No, not at all. That would be very considerate of you," she replied, touched that someone she had known for less than ten minutes would even care. She reached into her bag and pulled out one of her business cards and handed it to him.
"Wow, with the FBI," he said as he inspected the card. "You must be one tough cookie. I'd be glad to have someone like you by my bedside when I wake up from a surgery."
JJ wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so she just smiled at him and nodded her head slightly.
"It was nice meeting you, Miss JJ," he said as he began to walk away. With a final "I hope everything goes alright," he hopped into a white car and drove off.
JJ got into her own car and sat there for a few minutes, wondering why more people didn't act more like Doug. Kind and considerate towards other, willing to lend a few friendly words to someone in need of hearing them.
Taking another sip of the caffeinated drink, she placed it in the cup holder and started up her car, beginning the drive back to the hospital, most of her anxiety gone.
Thanks for reading! Review if you'd like, more chapters to come soon! :)