a/n: here's the next chapter. i hope you're enjoying it! please read && review. I looove to hear what you all think.
thanks to my perfect and flawless beta, molly: .com
(follow her because she's the funniest most amazing person ever.
disclaimer: i obi. don't own CM cuz if i did, this story wouldn't be on FFN, it'd be on the show, and this pairing would be as canon as fuck. (:
R&R&enjoy.
After swearing, and crying and yelling for about another hour, Emily managed to pull herself out of bed. She threw on a pair of blue jeans and a black pullover sweater and some slip-on shoes, and went to her mother's house.
The 'papers' that Emily had to give her mother, were just some old family photos she had found lying around in her attic. The whole drive to her mother's, Emily was lost in thought. But this time it wasn't about her mother, it was about JJ. How could she have let something that happened when she was a child ruin one of the most perfect things in her life? How could she have been so stupid? She wanted to find some way to blame it on JJ, blame it on her parents, blame it on anyone else, but this was on her. This was all her fault. There was nothing she could do to change the fact that she had told her girlfriend to fuck off and leave.
As she neared her mother's house, she pulled out her cell phone and called JJ. It rang four times.
"Hi this is Agent Jareau. I'm not here right now, so leave a message and I'll get back to you! Thanks," A recording of JJ's voice played, and then there was a beep.
"Hi, Jayje, it's me…" Emily said, already feeling tears threatening her, "Uh, give me a call when you can…if you're not too busy. I uh, I'm sorry I yelled at Jen. I really am…call me when you get this…or later, I guess, just…bye," Emily said, sniffling, and she hung up. She wiped her eyes and threw her phone in the passanger's seat and got out, pictures in hand.
"Emily," an older woman greeted at the front door.
"Hi Maria," Emily said, bending over and giving the woman a hug.
"So what do you have for your mother? Or is it top secret FBI business," Maria said with a wink.
"No FBI business today! It's my day off," Emily said with a grin, "Just some old pictures and letters," Emily said with a shrug.
"Very nice. Would you like to stay for some coffee?" Maria asked. Emily knew that if Maria was making coffee then there would be time to snoop around in her mother's office.
"Coffee would be great," Emily said nodding with fake enthusiasm.
"Lovely. I'll put it on and I'll be back in about ten minutes. You can go right on in there," Maria said, pointing to her mother's office.
"Thanks Maria," Emily said, and watched Maria leave. She quickly moved into her mother's office, closing the door behind her. She placed the pictures on her mother's chair and began looking, picking up files, and opening drawers. She came to one drawer that was locked.
"Damnit," She muttered. She tried picking it, but couldn't. She started flipping through address books, and calendars. She came the page with the previous day's date. The memo said: Call James and there was a phone number after it.
And as if God was speaking to her, the phone rang, and sure enough, it was the same number. Emily hesitated to answer, but she realized it was for her mother's own good.
"Uhm, hello? This is... Ambassador Prentiss's assistant," Emily answered quickly.
"I'm just calling to remind the Ambassador that she has a very important meeting with Dr. Marshall next Friday," the woman said.
"Dr. Marshall? James Marshall?" Emily asked unsure.
"Yes," the woman on the other line grumbled irritated with Emily.
"Thank you, I'll let her know. Goodbye," Emily said quickly. The woman mumbled a goodbye and hung up.
"James Marshall," Emily murmured, and she pulled out her phone, googling his name quickly.
"Cardiologist?" Emily read aloud.
"Emily?" Maria called, "coffee is ready, I'm setting it out in the kitchen!"
"Uh, thank you, Maria! I'm just going to go to the bathroom and I'll be right in" Emily called, and continued to read, "Specialist in heart conditions, surgeries and rehabilitation…Jesus," Emily muttered. Was her mother having heart problems? What was going on?
"Maria, I'm home," a voice called. It was her mother.
"Shit," Emily spat as she quickly closed the drawers and reordered the calendars and address books. She picked up the envelope with the pictures in it and just as she was about to set it on the desk, her mother entered the office.
"Emily?" She asked, surprised.
"Mother, hi…" Emily said nervously.
"Why are you in my office?" Elizabeth asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I found these old pictures in my attic when I was doing some cleaning yesterday and I thought you might want to see. I came over to drop them off..and Maria said I could just leave them here because you weren't home," Emily said shrugging casually.
"Oh…thank you," Elizabeth said slowly, not sure if she believed Emily. She gave Emily a skeptical look.
"Mother, I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm not always up to no good, you know?" Emily said rolling her eyes.
"Because all grown women roll their eyes at their mothers," Elizabeth said coldly.
"Oh, good one," Emily sneered, "Where were you this afternoon any ways?"
"Out," Elizabeth said shortly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to get done," she said, and opened the door hinting for Emily to leave.
"Good bye mother," Emily said quietly, and walked out the door. She saw Maria with the coffee, but shook her head, sad and annoyed, and walked out of the house.
When Emily was gone, Elizabeth walked out of the room, and she saw Maria shaking her head.
"Yes Maria?" Elizabeth asked impatiently.
"Nothing, Ambassador. But I have seen too much of that in my life time. Emily's a sweet girl and you hardly gave her the time of day growing up. I thought you were going to fix that?" Maria scolded.
"I am, but-" Elizabeth began.
"That doesn't look like fixing it,," Maria said, and walked away, leaving the coffee on the table.
.oOo.
When Emily got home, she called JJ again, for the fourth time since she had left her mother's house.
"Hey, Jen, it's me….again….still calling. I'm going to a cardiologist's office tomorrow, to talk to a doctor…he's my mother's doctor, apparently. I could really use the company if you're willing to…Please call me back, baby, I'm sorry. I want to talk, if you do," Emily begged. She had never pleaded or begged for someone as much as she was now for JJ. No one had ever meant this much to her, "I love you," she sniffled, and then hung up.
"A Prentiss isn't weak. A Prentiss doesn't show pain. A Prentiss is strong, and proud and tall," Emily said. She repeated this mantra to herself over and over again that night, as she found herself crying once more.
.oOo.
At 1:30 in the morning, Emily heard her phone ring.
"Hello?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, and flipping on the lamp.
"Will you open your door?" the voice on the other line murmured.
"Jen?" Emily asked surprised, now feeling wide awake for the moment.
"Please, it's raining," JJ asked quietly.
"Yeah…yeah, hold on," Emily said. She hung up, throwing her phone on the bed, and jogged to her front door.
"JJ," she whispered as she opened the door. There on her porch was her beautiful blonde girlfriend, shivering, and soaking wet, "oh, honey, you must be freezing!" Emily exclaimed. She pulled JJ inside, and shut her door.
"Hi," JJ said quietly.
"Will you come in and sit down?" Emily tried, but JJ shook her head. It was silent for a moment.
"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. She knew JJ was pissed at her, which was why she had ignored all of Emily's calls, so why would she be here?
"I couldn't sleep," she said quietly, arms folded defensively across her chest, like she was keeping her guard up.
"Why?" Emily asked, her voice soft and curious.
"Because I can't stop thinking about you," JJ admitted.
"Come inside, JJ," Emily requested gently, but again JJ said no.
"I came here for answers, Em," JJ said firmly.
"JJ…I don't know if I'm ready to give you answers…just yet. Will you please just come sit down?"
"Fine," JJ said, sighing reluctantly. Once they were seated in Emily's living room, she spoke again.
"Can I get you some dry clothes, or coffee, or something?" Emily asked quickly.
"No. Emily," JJ said shaking her head. She was adamant about what she wanted. As she saw how nervous Emily looked, her face softened.
"Emily, I love you….I want to help you," JJ said gently.
"I…I know. My mother…" Emily began, but her voice faltered.
"I'm right here," JJ said, taking Emily's hands.
"When I was eleven, I walked in on my mother and a man having sex. She had told me that he was someone she worked with and they were having a meeting, and she sent me to bed. But I heard them and so I went to see what was going on…" Emily explained.
"She was cheating on your father?" JJ asked.
"No," Emily said shaking her head, "No, they made some sort of deal, and he told her that if she wanted to keep her job, she had to keep doing that," Emily said, shuddering. There were a few tears forming.
"Does your father know?" JJ asked.
"I don't know…I just need to figure out what's going on. I need know about that man…and then, today when I was snooping around in my mother's office, there was a note in her calendar to call a "james", and there was a phone number next to it. And that phone number called and so I answered and it was a Dr. James Marshall's office….they have an appointment together next week. I googled him, and he's a cardiologist," Emily explained.
"Your father didn't specify what was wrong with her in his letter?" JJ asked.
"No…I don't even know if he knows…" Emily said shaking her head, "My mother is so….secretive," Emily grumbled. She looked down and saw that her hands were still held by JJ's.
"I'm sorry," she said in a tiny voice.
"Sorry?" JJ asked, looking up.
"That I didn't want to tell you…" Emily said looking down at their intertwined hands.
"You don't have to be sorry for wanting to suppress a bad memory, Emily," JJ said.
"Well, I am. And I'm sorry I got so angry about it. I've gotten really good at boxing things away in my head, and that was stored in a compartment, never to be thought about again. I feel like, sometimes, if I don't think about things, it makes them less real," Emily admitted.
"If you box them away, eventually all the emotions are just going to build up until they break. And you don't want them to all go at once," JJ said gently, "But…if they do, I'll always be there for you, Em," she reminded her.
"I'm so sorry, JJ," Emily said, letting go off JJ's hands and wrapping her arms around her neck in a hug. Emily began to cry.
"Shh," JJ said, holding Emily, petting her hair, whispering soothing words in her ear. JJ kissed the top of Emily's head.
"Go back to bed now, Emily," JJ requested, and helped Emily stand. She walked her back into her room, and Emily climbed back into her bed.
"Good night, Em," JJ said with a small smile.
"Stay, Jen?" Emily asked. JJ looked at the door, and at Emily's bed.
"Alright," JJ said sighing. She took off her wet clothes, and put them in a pile on the floor, and she pulled a big tee shirt out of Emily's dresser, and put that on. She climbed into bed, and laid on her side, next to Emily. She draped her arm of Emily's waist.
"Good night, Em," She whispered.
"Good night, JJ," Emily said.
"We'll figure it all out in the morning, Em. I promise," JJ said nodding. Emily didn't respond. Instead she turned over, and kissed JJ's lips gently. She pulled away, and rolled back over, falling asleep fast. JJ soon followed after her