A/N: I cannot apologize enough for how long it has taken to get this chapter out. I wish I could say it was because of time constraints, but that was sadly not the case. I don't know why, but it seemed my muse had decided to take the time off and I was left staring at a blank screen. Fortunately, I've somehow managed to get it back and fully intend to finish this story as well as my other one.

I'm sorry you've all had to wait as long as you did for an update and cannot thank you enough for hanging in there. I know waiting for story updates in a total pain and hope this chapter at least somewhat makes up for the wait.

On an unrelated note, I hope everyone is having/had a happy holidays. Hopefully those of you spending the time alone or with family (and all their drama and quirks) can get a little joy from this update.

Happy Holidays everyone! :)

Emily continued to stare out the window, with their interviews being nothing more than a bust and having absolutely nothing else to preoccupy her mind, she was stuck with her brain replaying the image of JJ with an overly friendly and ridiculously good looking Jake, his hands all over JJ while his eyes practically popped out of his head.

The dark pit in her stomach continued to swirl around like an agitated volcano, just waiting for the right moment to erupt and Emily did not want that to happen. But try as she might to squelch the feeling, it felt like there was little she could do to stop it if it did indeed happen.

Her mind wouldn't leave the track it was on and she was stuck in an endless loop of images of JJ and Jake. God, even their names went together. She didn't even know the man, and if she took JJ and his obvious interest in her out of the equation, the profiler had no doubt that he was probably a good man and an even better cop — but she would never find out or acknowledge that because he was now known as the man encroaching on the media liaison.

"What's got you thinking so hard over there, Prentiss?" Morgan asked out of the blue, suddenly drawing the woman's attention from her erratic thoughts and onto the man sitting beside her.

Emily scoffed, her eyes briefly flickering over to her partner before returning to their spot fixated outside the passenger window, watching as the trees and cars zoomed past them. "What makes you think that?" She asked idly, only half paying attention to the conversation at hand.

"I can practically hear your brain firing on all cylinders." He said easily, not even bothering to let her terse response or the way she was exuding a don't-bother-me atmosphere deter him.

"Somehow, I sincerely doubt that," Emily responded dryly.

Sensing he wasn't going to get much more from the current line of questioning, Morgan decided to switch tactics. "Does you're pensive state of mind have anything to do with a certain police officer with an obvious interest in our very own media liaison?" From the way Emily's hand twitched and gripped the handle of the passenger door combined with the sudden rigidity of her body, he could only assume that he had hit his intended mark.

"I'm not in a pensive state," Emily deflected, purposely sidestepping the main part of his question.

"Your furrowed eyebrows and death glare at the trees we're passing say otherwise," Morgan said smoothly, his eyes flickering over towards Emily in a pointed 'go ahead and try to deny it' fashion before focusing back on the road.

Emily's mouth opened for a moment before it snapped shut, realizing that there was nothing she could say that Morgan wouldn't somehow find a way to run with. Her best shot at ending this ridiculous line of questioning was to just shut her mouth and let Morgan figure out that she wasn't going to participate in his ridiculous need to know her every thought.

Clearly not getting the message or just not caring enough to stop talking, Morgan continued to verbalize his observations. "And there's the fact that you're clenching your jaw so tightly it might shatter from the sheer force. All indicators that you're upset and thinking too hard."

With her nostrils flaring in annoyance, Emily's eyes blazed, her bout of irrational jealousy making Morgan the perfect person for a verbal lashing.

"Believe it or not Morgan," Emily practically snarled, his name said with more disdain than he could ever recall the woman using with him, "just because we're partners doesn't mean you have the right to pry into my personal life or try to get inside my head." The words were biting, her internalized anger and unplanned confrontation of her own insecurities making her all that much angrier.

"That's true," Derek conceded in an unaffected tone, his head tilting to the side and bobbing up and down, "but you're obviously upset and there's no harm in me offering help if I can."

The chatter in the vehicle settled into a lull, the silence palpable as the two profilers sat in their seats; Morgan relaxed and nonchalant while Emily was tense and rigid.

"If it's any consolation, I don't think you have anything to be worried about." Derek said into the silence, his lips upturned as he shot a furtive glance at Emily. "I mean, he's a good cop and all but the guy looks like he just stepped out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue."

Emily, unable to refrain from teasing the man beside her, turned her lightened eyes towards him, "And how would you know what those models look like?" She asked, her tone humorous and lighthearted, a stark contrast to the tone it had just been moments ago. "Does Penelope know that you spend your free time ogling the male Abercrombie and Fitch models?"

Narrowing his eyes, Morgan shot a playful glare at Emily, "No," he dragged out, "and I don't do that. I have sisters who do." He said petulantly, his lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"Are you actually pouting right now?" She asked incredulously, the corners of her lips reluctantly tugging upwards in a smile.

"No," he said slowly again, his features schooling as he tried and failed to wipe the look from his face.

"You are something else," Emily mumbled, her head shaking in amusement.

Scrunching his eyebrows together, Morgan continued to frown before he turned his attention to the woman beside him and a waggled at reproachful finger at her. "Stop trying to change the subject," he said sternly, finally remembering what it was he was supposed to be doing. "I'm not letting you get out of this."

"Why do you even care?" Emily asked suspiciously, finding it odd that Morgan was suddenly so interested in her personal life and especially her relationship with JJ.

"Because we're partners," he answered matter-of-factly, sounding as though the answer to that question was the most obvious thing in the world. "And we're friends and I can tell that this is bothering you."

God, there was nothing Emily hated more than a Morgan styled guilt trip. She especially hated when he pulled the 'we're partners and friends' card because it always made her feel bad for brushing him off. And she was 100% sure that Morgan knew that, which was why he employed this tactic quite often. The only good thing with this was that if he continued to use this tired line over and over again, eventually she wouldn't even bat an eyelash at brushing him off.

"Contrary to what you might think, Morgan," Emily said slowly, rolling the words around in her mouth as she tried to say the right thing without making it seem as though she were unappreciative of his attempt to ease whatever was on her mind. "But playing the 'friend' card doesn't automatically grant you access to the inner workings of my mind." Her tone was deceptively playful at the end, her attempt at taking the sting out of the otherwise harsh words.

As always, he was unruffled by the comment, clearly not taking her words as seriously as most others would. "Contrary to what you might believe," he parroted, a smug smile of satisfaction playing at his lips as he briefly glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road, "I have no intention of even trying to get inside of your head." As if to punctuate just how undesirable that thought was, he visibly shivered, his shoulders shaking dramatically as he made a quiet but chilly 'brr' sound.

With mock laughter, Emily glared at Derek, but there was no real heat or anger in the action. She couldn't really blame him, half the time even she didn't want to be in her own head. It was a labyrinth that on her best of days, she still couldn't quite navigate.

"So, now that we've cleared that up," he said excitedly, exaggerating the word 'that' as he threw another entertained look towards her before looking away, "how about we finish talking about Policeman Abercrombie & Fitch who was looking at your girlfriend like she was his salvation."

Emily really didn't want to get into this, least of all with Morgan, but her circle of friends outside of her BAU coworkers was depressingly small (re: nonexistent) so she had little to no choice when it came to venting. Morgan was the only person besides JJ that she was the closest with.

With a heavy sigh and an eye roll, Emily's shoulders slumped in defeat despite the small grin on her lips at his joke.

"I was starting to think I was imagining that," she mumbled, surprised at how relieved she was to have someone who saw exactly what she saw. After awhile of replaying the scenes in her mind, she was starting to believe that she was blowing things out of proportion and exaggerating the seemingly innocent gestures between Jake and JJ.

"Oh no," Morgan boomed, a sense of experience tingeing his voice as he nodded along with the assessment, "I'm a master at flirting and he was definitely laying it on thick."

Emily was torn between commenting on his ridiculous sense of pride at the omission of his flirting skills or the fact that he just confirmed that she wasn't going crazy and had actually witnessed the officer unabashedly flirting with the media liaison.

"I can only imagine the moves he's putting on her right now, especially since the two of them are basically all alone together," he added as an afterthought.

Emily scowled at the thought before she forced her facial muscles to relax and her hands to release their death grip on the handle of the door.

"Though," he said thoughtfully, the corner of his lip pulling upward as he tried to puzzle out his thoughts, "I guess with looks like those, you don't really need to use any pickup lines to get a woman's attention." The other side of his lip pulled up, his contemplative look morphing into its usual arrogance and Emily couldn't even suppress her eye roll at the inevitable cocky comment he would make about his own prowess. "I know I don't."

Emily guffawed at that, wanting to point out that because he relied so heavily on his looks that his pickup lines were absolutely atrocious. If he wasn't as well muscled and charmingly handsome, she doubted he would ever manage to capture a woman's attention with his verbal charms alone.

'Do you come here often,' was the best she had ever heard him mutter — it was also worth noting though, that the unsuspecting woman he had used it on had actually gone home with him shortly afterwards.

"Sometimes I wonder why we're even friends," she muttered casually, looking over to the man beside her as if she could visibly see the reasons written on him.

"Because without me, you would just be a brooding, haughty, emotionless and guarded workaholic." He answered immediately, his tone matter-of-fact with a slight hint of pride. Sounding like he was patting himself on the back for somehow breaking through her shell and introducing her the world around her.

It wasn't as though she were some cavewoman who had no idea of how the world worked and it was a far cry from the truth that he had pulled her from her reclusive ways. He was just too obnoxious and persistent to let her behavior or mannerisms deter him from bugging her. From his pestering, a friendship was born.

"No offense," he added after a beat, realizing that while the words were true, it wouldn't hurt to take the sting out of them.

"You do realize that saying 'no offense' after an offensive comment doesn't actually make it any less rude or offensive, right?" She asked, not even bothered by the assessment but wanting to make that observation clear. She kind of hated when he did that — which was sadly and frustratingly, quite often.

"If it bothered you half as much as you say it does, you would have stopped hanging out with me a long time ago," he pointed out smugly, her eyes sparkling with unbridled glee as he landed the verbal checkmate.

"You are so lucky you're pretty," Emily huffed, trying and failing to keep her smile stifled.

"Damn right," Morgan responded, never one to turn down an acknowledgement of his ruggedly handsome features. He was awesome, but sometimes it was nice to have other's acknowledge it.

"Now, about Officer Abercrombie & Fitch," he trailed off, his playful smile growing as he said Jake's new and official nickname. "You seriously gonna let him hit on JJ?"

Her lips pursed in thought as she weighed out her answers, "If he wants to flirt with her, I can't exactly stop him."

"Well, you can you just won't," he said slowly, acting as though the concept would be a hard one for Emily to grasp.

Letting out an incredulous laugh, Emily's head shook as scenario after scenario ran through her mind, "What do you want me to do? Storm into the precinct, grab her and kiss her in front of everyone? Or maybe I should just do like dogs do and just piss on her leg?" Her smile was gone, her lips pressed in a tight line as she tried to figure out just what Morgan expected her to do. "Or maybe I should just find a sword and duel him for her affections? Better yet, how about I just grab a wooden club and go completely caveman on him and bash him over the head."

Undeterred by her mini rant, Morgan shrugged as if those were all viable and completely legitimate options, "Or you could just tell him to back off. I mean, if someone was hitting on Penelope and I saw them, there's no way I would let them keep doing it."

"Penelope flirts with everyone and I have yet to see you confront a single one of them," she pointed out, sounding more challenging and amused than accusing or biting.

"Babygirl is like a wild horse," he said dreamily, looking like he was both in awe and slightly jealous of her flirtatious tendencies, "she just can't be tamed and I wouldn't dream of ruining her fun."

Emily, no matter how much time she spent around the dynamic duo, would never understand them. They were like a Rubik's cube that no amount of twisting and turning could every completely solve; goodness knows she had tried. But then again, she mused, that being complex enough to be unsolvable wasn't that much of a bad thing — many people in her life had told her (sometimes even accused her) that she was the exact same way.

"I can only imagine the hijinks that the two of you get into," the profiler mumbled, casting an appraising and wary glance at her partner, not even wanting to fathom the activities they engaged in when away from prying eyes (though Garcia struck Emily as the adventurous type who was always looking to push the limits).

"Trust me Princess," Morgan said surely, his lips turning upward as his canines bared in an animalistic and lecherous smile, "you wouldn't be able to handle imagining it, let alone seeing it."

There was no hiding the shiver that ran down her spine, a cold wash of fear rolling through her body like a tidal wave as she tried to keep images of that ominous warning from entering her mind. The last thing she needed to go to therapy for was the mental images of Morgan and Garcia's exploits.

"I'm pretty sure you're right," she said quietly, not even willing to argue that point.

"So, since we've established that my relationship has no issues, let's get back to your issue. Specifically the issue that stands at about 6'2, easy on the eyes, has taken to flirting with your girlfriend and has now officially been dubbed Officer Abercrombie."

"Stop worrying about my relationship," Emily chastised, sincerely doubting that Morgan could offer an insight that would resolve the problem of the overly friendly man who seemed intent on wooing JJ. "I'll deal with…" her voice halted for a moment, the nickname rolling around her mouth as she reluctantly gave into the asinine but thoroughly humorous nickname, "Officer Abercrombie on my own."

Derek didn't say anything to that, nodding his head thoughtfully at her words. He looked like he wanted to say more, especially since he hadn't really even had a chance to scratch the surface but he sensed that if there were ever a time to use Emily's overactive mind against her, this would probably be the time.

As the car rolled to a stop at the precinct, Morgan cut the engine and pulled the keys out, turning in his seat as he locked eyes with the woman beside him. "I'm sure I'm just blowing things out of proportion," he said calmly, his face relaxed and his voice deceptively soothing, "just because they got close after the last case we had here doesn't mean they'll just fall right back into things. JJ's probably already given him the brush off." With a confirming and confident nod, Morgan offered her a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder before he slid out of the vehicle and sauntered into the building.

From the deep look on Emily's face and the sudden drawing of her eyebrows, he figured he had hit his mark. It was hard to walk into the precinct and keep his confident swagger from showing, but damn, he definitely deserved a pat on the back for that last comment.

While he walked away, Emily slowly made her way out of the car, her lips pursed before she let the whole ordeal roll off her back. Morgan was obviously trying to both comfort her and mess with her head, that much was obvious and unfortunately for him, she wasn't emotional enough to just blindly give in to his parting remarks. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe at least some of what he had said was true.

After all, that was a case Emily hadn't been a part of and thus meant she had no real idea of how close the handsome police officer and JJ had gotten.

Surely JJ would have told Jake she was otherwise spoken for, right? Especially since it wasn't that long ago that they had been alone on that rooftop enjoying their first date.

As she sauntered up to the precinct, she could only hope that she wouldn't be subjected to more of the JJ/Jake flirt-fest.

Throughout the rest of the day, Emily found it near impossible to keep her focus on the case at hand — she did it but it was a challenge. Every time she would start to let her defenses drop and her sole attention return to the files before her, she would see Officer Abercrombie slinking up towards JJ, a shy smile on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand.

Sometimes he'd saunter up with a donut and more often than not, she had caught him staring unabashedly at JJ from his desk or wherever he happened to perch himself.

Seeing it happen for the entire day was more than Emily could handle and at some point she had stopped all pretenses of keeping her feelings to herself and outright glared at the man. She found herself scooting her chair just a fraction closer to JJ's, a hand on the blonde's back as they walked together to get a coffee, leaning into her personal space to whisper something; all of it done because not only did she enjoy it but she wanted Jake to back the hell off.

None of that worked though.

By the end of the day it was clear that Jake was either a really lousy officer and couldn't pick up on the most obvious of clues and even more obvious body language or he just didn't care that Emily was trying to show him that JJ was not up for grabs.

It pissed her off to no end.

And so when she saw him leaning into JJ's personal space as they were getting ready to head back to their motel room, Emily wasted no time getting into the car and catching a ride with Reid, unwilling to subject herself to the torment she had been witnessing all day.

With a halfhearted smile, she slid out of the car and made her way into the room, her hands burying themselves in her hair as she struggled to compose herself.

No sooner had she stuffed the undesirable emotion into the depths of herself did she hear the sound of a key sliding into the lock and the door creaking open.

Emily kept her back to the door as JJ walked through, feeling the penetrating blue eyes on her back but not trusting herself to turn around and keep her mask in place. "Hey," the profiler offered, her voice strong and unwavering.

"Hey," JJ said tiredly, dropping her bag onto the floor and making her way towards the bathroom, her attention solely on taking a nice hot shower and getting some much needed sleep.

As she shed her clothes and stepped under the delightfully hot stream of water, she let it cascade over her and allowed her thoughts to wander.

She may not be a profiler but she knew something was up with Emily the moment the other woman made a quick scramble towards the car with Morgan in tow mere minutes after the jet had landed. It had left her confused but it wasn't like that was new to her; Emily was a puzzle and despite knowing what the picture looked like, it didn't seem likely that she would ever have the pieces put together. Every time she thought she was getting somewhere, every time she thought the last puzzle piece was about to complete the picture, she found the pieces shuffling and a whole new section opening up.

But when Emily came back and continued to glance subtly at Jake, those glances then turning into obvious glares, she finally figured out what was up.

It amused her to no end to see the profiler riled up and doing everything in her power to reign in her jealousy but still assert to Jake that JJ was not available for his advances.

Really, the whole thing was ridiculous. Flirting was only a problem if it escalated to something more and JJ could honestly say that she had no interest in pursuing Jake. Sure, he was handsome and had a smile that would make any woman weak in the knees, plus his body looked like it had been sculpted by the Greek gods themselves but JJ wasn't interested.

Apparently though, Emily didn't know that and JJ had no intention of letting that piece of information known. There were few times she could poke fun at Emily and this was one of those rare occasions. Something which she fully intended to milk for all the joy it was worth.

When JJ stepped out of the bathroom, her pajamas on and a small smirk on her face, she made a beeline for Emily.

Emily shuffled through the room and towards the bed, pulling the things from her bag and setting them on the bed with more force than necessary. JJ's presence in the room was like a homing beacon for her attention and Emily was doing everything in her power to keep from looking at the blonde and letting her irate jealousy show through. Though from the way she couldn't help but slam things grouchily and mutter incoherent grumblings, she doubted that she was doing all that of a stellar job.

"Are you alright?" JJ asked in concern, stepping up beside Emily and leaning closer, her blues eyes scanning the profiler's face.

"Yeah, why?" Emily asked hesitantly, her brows hiking up in concern as she tried to discern why JJ was looking at her so studiously, her other feelings quelled as she focused her attention of the other woman.

"I don't know, you look a little green," the blonde said after a moment, her eyes slightly narrowed as she continued to study the other woman's pallor.

"Well I feel fine…" Emily said slowly, wondering if maybe she was getting sick and hadn't yet been hit by the effects — it certainly wouldn't be the first time a cold or the flu had snuck up on her. Or maybe she had just been so consumed by her feelings that she hadn't noticed the signs of illness.

"You sure? You definitely look green, especially in the eyes," JJ said in barely masked amusement, the devilish and downright giddy glint in her eyes immediately giving Emily pause as the profiler turned to look at her reflection in the nearest mirror.

"Green in the—" Emily trailed off as she tugged down on her lower lid, only having spent a second looking at her eyes before the words finally registered in her mind. "Oh, very funny," she said dryly, her face deadpan as she turned back around to look at the blonde, making sure JJ saw just how unimpressed she was with the joke. The hint that she was turning into a green eyed monster was not all that funny at the moment.

"I thought so," JJ said easily, clearly not deterred by Emily lack of humor at the joke.

Emily ignored the bubbling laughter from JJ and instead returned her attention to unpacking her bag and grabbing her toiletries. It was bad enough that she was jealous but it was about a hundred times worse now that JJ was aware of the traitorous and uncontrollable emotion. It made her feel like a teenager all over again to be wracked with unfounded jealousy.

The fact that JJ was getting a good laugh out of it just made it that much worse.

"Aw, Em, don't be like that." The blonde said in a coo, slowly approaching Emily from behind.

"I'm not being any way," Emily said evenly, keeping herself in check as she continued to keep her focus trained on her bag and the clothes she was sorting through.

"Are you sure about that?" JJ hedged, placing her hands on Emily's shoulders as she attempted to turn the profiler around. "Because you look a little upset," she said softly, as if she thought speaking any louder would somehow spook the profiler.

Emily scoffed at the observation, taking an automatic step backwards and away from the blonde. "Seriously Jen, I'm fine. I got a little jealous, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Just a little?" The media liaison taunted, her smile growing wider as she stared at the profiler. "So if I were to tell you that Jake and I were grabbing lunch together tomorrow, you would be okay with that?"

Unable to keep her eyes from narrowing, Emily forced herself to relax and stared at the blonde in silent challenge, unwilling and too stubborn to try and dissuade the blonde from going. Within a second, Emily's defense mechanism was kicking in and she was already starting to create an emotional safety bubble between herself and the blonde — old habits die hard after all."I would be perfectly fine with it. It's not like we're actually together, right? This is just a bet, after all."

The moment the words had left her mouth, Emily had regretted them. It was her wounded pride and crumbling mask that let the words slide so effortlessly from her lips and she knew that they were far from true.

JJ stared at Emily, her expression sobering up considerably as she let the words sink into her head. "Is that really all this is?" She asked seriously, her eyes focused on Emily with laser like precision as she awaited an answer.

It was a loaded question, both women were acutely aware of that. However, as much as Emily wanted to define things, she couldn't quite manage it; so she settled for an ambiguous response. "I'm not going to stand in the way of something you might have with a guy you like," Emily responded, obviously sidestepping the question but alluding to the meaning behind it.

"I don't like him like that," JJ responded, her eyes filled with so much emotion that Emily was having a hard time maintaining eye contact let alone deciphering them. "Besides, I wouldn't exactly want to date someone who lives states away. Not exactly good for establishing romance."

Emily frowned slightly, not quite sure how to respond but not wanting to end the conversation either, "Are you sure about that? I mean, who wouldn't want to date an Abercrombie and Fitch model?"

JJ's quiet snort of laughter filled the room, her head downcast as it shook with her subdued chuckles. "I grew up with those," JJ joked, her smile widening now that a bit of the tension had been relieved, "I'd like to think my tastes have improved." With that, she looked pointedly at the profiler, as if silently conveying just how evolved her tastes had gotten, especially if they went from chiseled country boys to elegant, eloquent and beautiful profilers.

Emily's frown slackened but remained despite the platitudes the blonde was attempting to throw her way. Jealousy was a fickle thing and while the reassurances from JJ were great and provided a balm to her troubles, they wouldn't just magically disappear. JJ could conduct herself as professionally as possible but all it would take was a lingering look from officer Abercrombie and Emily knew that her jealousy would flare up without another second's notice.

"Em, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. It's an innocent infatuation, just try not to think about it." JJ tried to say calmly, though the humor of the situation was once again bleeding into her dulcet tone. She couldn't help but be thoroughly amused at the now obvious signs of jealousy written all over Emily's face.

The narrowed eyes, the tense and furrowed eyebrows, the way her lips pressed so tightly together that they almost seemed to have disappeared, and the way every single one of her muscles looked tightened and coiled — it was a sight to behold. Not often did the stoic Emily Prentiss, daughter of Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss, show her emotions, but today they were out in full force.

That wasn't even mentioning the storm that was brewing in those normally innocuous and carefully guarded brown eyes.

So yes, JJ could admit that maybe she wasn't as sincere in her attempts to convince Emily that nothing was going on, but it was solely because she was kind of enjoying seeing Emily feathers ruffled up a bit. Plus, it was always nice to know that she was desired, even if one of those people didn't have a shot in hell of anything more than a few flirty comments being exchanged.

Emily attempted to shove her emotions away, refusing to let JJ see her insecurities any longer than absolutely necessary. The fact that this banal sense of possessiveness seemed to surge up within her every time she spotted Jake making googly eyes at JJ was enough to make her cram the emotions into the deepest and darkest pits of her being.

If her mother could see her now, wracked with this ridiculous emotion, she would scoff in disappointment then proceed to lecture her on the necessity of keeping one's emotions under control. Emily was willing to save herself the moment of berating from her mother and just tamp down on her feelings. This was something she needed to work out because clearly JJ's reassurances weren't doing much.

It was more than obvious that the blonde was getting a kick out of seeing Emily's feathers ruffled and while the profiler could always laugh at herself, she wasn't finding this situation to be all that humorous. It was embarrassing to be filled with an emotion that pointed out her own flaws and insecurities; and she did not like that it was being broadcasted to the one person she didn't want to know about them.

In the blink of an eye, Emily's features smoothed and a light smile graced her lips as she stared at the blonde across from her. "You're right," the profiler said lightly, her head shaking in amusement at how riled she had been, "just a moment of irrational jealousy, I guess."

JJ closed the distance between them, her hands moving up to cup the other woman's face, her thumbs stroking over the tender and pale flesh of her cheeks. "Oh, Emily," the blonde said almost sympathetically, her smile widening as a mischievous glint sparkled in her blue eyes, "get used to those words because I'm always right."

Quirking a finely sculpted eyebrow, Emily couldn't help but smirk at the condescending and overly confident attitude, "Keep telling yourself that, dear," the profiler said in the same tone, her hand moving up to gingerly pat the blonde's cheek before she squirmed out of JJ's grasp and made her way towards the bathroom.

Morgan leaned lazily against the outside wall of the motel, his phone held firmly to his ear. His eyes stared vacantly ahead as he periodically nodded to the instructions Penelope was giving him on the other line.

"Baby girl, are you sure about this?" He asked for what had to have been the tenth time in the short while they had been on the phone. Morgan liked to think he was as devious as Garcia but his allegiances seemed to waver more often than he'd like to admit.

Most of the time he was content to blindly follow Penelope because it seemed that every time he doubted her powers, he was proved wrong. But messing with JJ and Emily and purposefully meddling with their lives felt like it was crossing a line that, no matter the payout, wasn't quite right.

Still, he had to trust that in the end, Garcia would be right — as always.

"Derek, sweetie," Penelope said soothingly, like she was trying her hardest to keep the exasperation from her voice as she attempted to assuage Morgan's reservations, "this will work." She let out a soft exhale and Derek could almost picture the giddy smile that was quickly overtaking her features at the prospect of her plan playing out as she had envisioned, "You just need to do what I said and let the rest happen on its own."

"And you really think this will work?" He asked one last time, sounding more than a little dubious.

"Sweetie, I know it will." Penelope let out a soft but enthused cackle of laughter, the sound instantly sending a shiver down Morgan's spine. "Our girls are nothing if not predictable in this area. Just trust me."

"If it's any consolation, you're just giving them a little nudge," she said in exuberance, her voice still tinged with a placating lightness as she tried to put things into perspective for Derek and to also ease his conscience. It seemed not many were cut out for her devious plans, and that included her trusty partner in crime. "They'll do the rest all on their own."

Hearing the entrance door swing open, Morgan gave a quiet huff as he attempted to steel himself and slip into the right set of mind to stir up trouble. "You got it Baby girl. I'll let you know how things go." With that, he ended the call and slipped the phone into his back pocket, prepared to execute the next phase of Penelope's devious plan.

The case had been taking its toll on Emily for most of the morning, her frustration with their lack of progress making her already fraught emotions all that much more turbulent. Her teeth gnawed anxiously on her nails as she tried to work out a theory or profile that could fit the few facts and details they had garnered from their interviews, but nothing seemed quite right.

"You alright there Prentiss?" Morgan asked calmly, throwing a tentative glance towards Emily before looking back at the road as they made their way back towards the precinct.

"I'm fine," was her automatic response, but the way her brows had drawn together and the contemplative look on her face said otherwise. "Just something about this case," she murmured distractedly, her mind trying busy trying to pinpoint what that something was.

"What do you mean?" He asked, a little thrown off that her thoughts were more focused on the case than on the bout of jealousy she had been showing over JJ and Jake the day before. But then again, Emily had always been good at compartmentalizing and prioritizing, so he should have known that her mind would be focused on the case at hand rather than her relationship woes.

"I don't know," she said slowly, staring out the window as cars zoomed past, "something just feels…off?" Her head shook, a clear indicator that she had far too many thoughts simultaneously running through her mind. "I can't figure it out though."

"Maybe you just need to relax," Derek suggested, knowing that Emily tended to need a moment to herself to work through her thoughts before she could make whatever mental breakthrough she needed. It was also a good way to get Penelope's next step of the plan underway.

"Tell you what," he said calmly, but happily, "I'll tell Hotch about what we've learned and you can grab yourself a coffee. Looks like you could use it."

Looking past the generous offer, Emily scoffed at the insulting comment, "Gee Morgan, with compliments like that it's no wonder Penelope seems so smitten with you," she responded dryly, laying her sarcasm on as thickly as possible.

"All the ladies are smitten with me," he replied easily, clearly not bothered by Emily's attitude or her comments. "And if you'd rather, I could take the coffee break while you talk to Hotch."

Emily shuddered at the thought. She didn't have anything against Hotch but if it came down to telling him that they had absolutely nothing worthwhile to report or a chance to grab a much needed cup of coffee, she was going to choose the coffee every single time. "No way, you can have that honor."

Morgan nodded, "That's what I thought." As an afterthought, he added, "And don't say I never do anything nice for you."

Resisting the urge to snort at that, Emily wisely chose to keep her mouth shut and instead tried to work through her flurry of thoughts.

Upon arriving at the precinct, Emily immediately sought out the tiny kitchen and hungrily grabbed for a cup of coffee.

With her back turned, she failed to notice Morgan whispering to one of the female officers, his smile downright devilish as he whirled the woman around and pointed his finger at Emily. The woman offered a salacious smile as her eyes roamed up and down Emily's body. "Tell Penelope that if she wants to use her favors up on things like this, she's more than welcome to."

Morgan gave a wry chuckle, knowing that the favor wasn't going to be as rewarding as this woman had thought it would be. Instead, he gave her an encouraging nod and walked over to JJ, intent on finishing up his part in this elaborate scheme.

Emily continued to fumble with the coffee maker, her desire for the strong and heavily caffeinated beverage beginning to wane as she noticed the thick consistency of the liquid (though technically, the caffeinated sludge bordered more on solid than liquid) as she poured it.

Sidling up beside her, a woman with long curly brown hair and striking hazel eyes gave Emily a tap on the shoulder, "I wouldn't drink that stuff. It's a running gag to serve it to the newbies and outsiders."

Glancing down at the thick liquid, Emily's lip curled in distaste before she dumped it down the sink, "Thanks for the warning." Her attitude was more stellar than it actually was; her fruitless night of sleep combined with a lack of progress on their case and little coffee meant she was more agitated than usual. But for the sake of their case and maintaining civility, she tapped into her political reservoir and put on her most genuine smile. "I should get back to the conference room then," the profiler added after a moment of silence, her attention drawn towards where she suspected the rest of the team was.

"Or you could come with me for a coffee run," the other woman suggested, her smile widening as she stared into Emily's eyes. "There's a place right across the street, makes the best cup of coffee anyone's ever tasted." Her hand rose into the air, as if she were giving Emily a scouts honor about the coffee's quality.

"While I appreciate the offer," Emily hedged, trying to politely turn down the offer, "I don't think I have the time. I'm supposed to be debriefing my boss—"

"Agent Morgan already assured me he was more than willing to do that." The officer cut Emily off, her smile growing wider as she watched the confusion and suspicion flit across the profiler's face. "Unless it's my company that bothers you?"

Hating that it was solely because of years of ingrained manners that Emily felt the need to dissuade the belief, the profiler shook her head and forced a wider smile, "I can assure you that your company has nothing to do with it."

Nodding at the words, the officer boldly wrapped her hand around Emily's lower arm and pulled her towards the building entrance. "Great, then let's go get those coffees."

Left with only the possibility of being dragged out the doors, Emily sputtered for an adequate response or a futile attempt at remaining in the station. "Are you normally this aggressive…" the profiler trailed off, only then realizing that she had no idea what this woman's name was.

"Yes," she said plainly, still tugging a somewhat reluctant Emily along. "And I'm Sarah," she offered when they had stopped at the corner, waiting for the light to change so they could cross, "and I already know you're Emily Prentiss."

As they walked across the street, Emily gave the woman beside her a curious stare, not quite sure why it seemed like this officer knew more than just her name. Plus there was the fact that Morgan had felt the need to tell Sarah that he was going to tell Hotch about their canvassing results.

Something smelled fishy and Emily knew that something was going on.

Unfortunately for her or maybe fortunately for Morgan, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the promise of a caffeine fix was more than enough to distract her from Derek's nefarious plots.

Morgan glanced from Hotch to JJ, wondering which obstacle he should tackle first. His head rocked from side to side as he mentally weighed his options, only taking a few seconds to decide that it would be better to get the ball rolling with JJ before talking to the team leader.

With the movements of a lion ready to launch itself at the unsuspecting gazelle, Derek casually approached JJ from behind, "Have you seen Emily?"

Not having heard anyone approach, JJ jumped in her seat and whirled around to see Morgan looking at her with curiosity and amusement in his eyes. "No, why would I have seen her? Didn't you two just come back from canvassing together?"

Waving the comment off, and the suspicious look in JJ's eyes, Morgan rolled his eyes and made a show of looking around for the raven haired woman. "We did but the second we came in she took off. I thought she was looking for you."

"Why would she be looking for me?" The media liaison asked in confusion, unsure why Emily would suddenly feel the need to seek her out.

Morgan shrugged his large shoulders, his face perfectly blank until it took on a look of exaggerated realization. His mouth dropped open slightly, his eyes widening just a fraction before he attempted to reign in his shock and realization.

"What?" JJ asked, unknowingly falling into Morgan's trap.

Waving his hands emphatically, the profiler shook the comment off and attempted to back up, "Nothing. I just—I just remembered something."

"Seriously, Morgan, what's going on?" the blonde asked again, her agitation bleeding through her words as she awaited an answer.

Derek looked at JJ for a moment, his expression contemplative as he made a show of weighing whether or not to say what was on his mind. As he dragged it out, he let out a relieved puff of air when his eyes landed on a pair of people by the coffee machine. "Never mind, forget I even said anything," he said suddenly, his finger pointing towards Emily, "I found her." His exaggerated relief evident as he motioned towards his partner.

JJ eyes followed his finger, moving towards where Emily stood with a very attractive officer who was standing closer than was strictly necessary for a casual conversation. "Who is that?" the media liaison asked after witnessing the entranced and overly eager look upon the officer's face as Emily spoke.

Morgan made a show of mulling the question over, his hand moving up to his face as he scratched at his chin. "Officer Rodriguez, I think." Forcing his smile down, he continued with his serious and contemplative look, "Come to think of it, she'd been asking me about Emily earlier. I guess she's a little infatuated with Prentiss, not that I can blame her." With that, he shrugged one last time, acting as if the whole thing was just a strange coincidence with little to no importance. "I guess I'll go talk to Hotch, I'll see you later Jayje."

JJ nodded silently, her eyes narrowing on Emily and Officer Rodriguez as they sauntered out the door, the officer with a wide smile on her face and Emily with a shocked one.

It was only after the two had disappeared out the door that JJ registered that Morgan was no longer around. "I thought he wanted to talk to Emily?" She asked to no one in particular, her mind quickly jumping back to the overenthusiastic officer who had been hanging all over the raven haired profiler.

She didn't particularly like that, but could definitely understand why someone would jump at a chance to have Emily's undivided attention. But still, if the rolling waves of nausea and annoyance in her gut were anything to go by, she needed to nip this infatuation in the bud before it escalated to something more.

"I should get back to my team," Emily sputtered as her and Sarah walked back into the precinct, the officer still clinging to her arm like a koala bear. "But thanks for the coffee and the company," she offered politely as she tried to extricate herself from the woman's grip.

"Any time," Sarah drawled, her eyes roaming up and down Emily's body as she plucked a piece of paper from her pocket and slowly slipped it into Emily's pants pocket.

Stunned at the forwardness of the woman and slightly unaccustomed to the fact that a woman and fellow officer was putting the moves on her, the profiler found herself, for once, at a loss for words. There was no way she was going to call Sarah but she had to admit that the attention was pretty flattering.

With a cocky smile and a slight flush to her cheeks, Emily shook her head ruefully and headed towards the conference room where she was immediately met with everyone's attention.

"What?" The profiler asked after a moment of nothing but silence and staring, her eyebrows hitching upwards as she looked down at her figure to see if there was something on her that would give everyone a reason to stare at her like a sideshow performer.

"Nothing," Hotch said after clearing his throat, his gaze snapping the others out of their trances and forcing them back to reality. "Now, let's go over what we've got so far."

While Hotchner talked, Emily hastily scribbled down her own notes, not at all cognizant of the blonde at the other end of the table staring at her hard enough to bore holes into her head or that Morgan was smiling so wide that it looked like his face was about to split in half.

By the time the day had wrapped up and everyone was back in their motel rooms, Emily was acutely aware of the fact that JJ was not entirely her usual chipper self. That's not to say that she was normally as bubbly as say, Garcia, but on any given day, JJ was usually the most upbeat of the group.

However, that was a far cry from the case at the moment, seeing as how the blonde had been giving Emily looks that ranged from scathing to just plain sad, with maybe a tinge of disappointment thrown in for good measure.

It was only after Emily had left JJ and wandered into the bathroom to finish her nightly routine that JJ finally decided to break the silence.

"So, who was that you were talking to earlier?" JJ asked as casually as possible, brushing her hair with far too much attention and interest for the action to be even remotely believable. It just so happened to work in the blonde's favor that Emily was in the bathroom and couldn't witness her depressing attempt at feigned nonchalance.

Emily slowly exited the bathroom, her eyes immediately zeroing in on JJ, "Who?"

JJ resisted the urge to sigh at the other woman, her brush moving through her hair with more force, "The woman you got coffee with earlier."

Her confusion on the matter suddenly cleared up and Emily's eyes once again snapped towards the blonde, brown eyes wide with a mixture of hesitancy and amusement, though her caution and hesitancy were far more dominant than any glee she would have gotten from the conversation. "You mean Sarah?"

"Oh?" JJ said quietly, her eyebrow hitching in interest, "I only know her as officer Rodriguez."

Had JJ not had such a deadly look in her eyes and been exuding the message that Emily should tread carefully, the profiler would have gladly pointed out JJ's obvious jealousy.

Actually, there was no reason not to point it out, especially since JJ had been having a grand 'ole time when the tables had been turned.

"I only know her as Sarah," Emily replied casually, disappearing back into the bathroom as she resumed her task of brushing her teeth. "I may have been a little hasty in attacking the officers here. Turns out that they're pretty nice and friendly." The profiler made a point of shouting the last part of her sentence, exaggerating the word friendly just to annoy JJ.

"How so?" the blonde asked suddenly, her ears perking up as she lost all interest in maintaining the façade of brushing her hair, the brush clattering onto the dresser with a quiet thud.

"Well," Emily said lazily, spitting out her toothpaste before rinsing with water. "I know I was more than a little aggravated about Jake and how he was hanging all over you but I can see I was wrong to jump to conclusions like that. I guess people here are just friendlier than I'm used to." As she shouted her answer from the bathroom, Emily could just picture the way JJ's eyes must be narrowed and the clear dislike in her eyes.

When JJ didn't offer a response, Emily took it upon herself to keep talking, her voice not betraying her obvious delight at the turn of conversation. "It's not often I'll admit to being wrong, but you were completely right yesterday. I overreacted and blew Jake's friendliness completely out of proportion."

The media liaison was torn between pointing out that Sarah was not just being friendly but flirting quite obviously with Emily or playing the flirting off as just friendliness like Emily had suggested.

For the second time in a row, JJ could only respond with an "Oh?"

"Yeah," Emily responded back, only then stepping out of the bathroom to see how JJ looked. "You alright JJ? You're looking a little green."

"Huh?" JJ asked in a daze, her hand automatically reaching up towards her face, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Maybe you're coming down with the same thing I had yesterday."

"What thing?" JJ asked in confusion, looking as if she were having a hard time keeping up with the conversation.

Instead of answering, Emily took a few quick strides towards the blonde and leaned in close, her thumb pulling down on one of JJ's lower eyelids as she peered into the brilliantly blue eyes. "Yep, they're definitely looking green. You must have that jealousy bug that's been going around."

The media liaison immediately swatted Emily away, her expression hardening as she gave the profiler an icy glare. "I am not jealous."

"Maybe try saying that without looking like you've just sucked on a lemon." Emily joked, dropping onto the bed as she stared humorously at the blonde.

"I'm not." JJ said forcefully, her arms crossing over her chest as she stared at Emily.

"Sure," Emily responded, not even bothering to hide how unconvincing JJ sounded. "So then you would be okay if we grabbed lunch tomorrow?" It was more fun than Emily would have imagined to be able to throw JJ's jokes and comments right back at her.

"No," JJ said sourly, her petulant expression slowly dissolving until her face was perfectly blank.

"Oh don't be like that," Emily cooed, rising from the bed as she moved closer to JJ, her smile still at full force. "You're the one who was feeding me these lines like candy yesterday."

"Yeah, well," the media liaison shook her head, hating that karma was being this cruel to her and making her experience what she had laughed so freely about when Emily was experiencing it. "I might have been wrong."

Cupping her ear with her hand, Emily brought her ear closer to JJ, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Mind repeating it?"

With her teeth clenched and her eyes rolling in annoyance, JJ sighed, "I said I was wrong to act so casual about Jake flirting with me. Happy?"

After a short bout of laughter, Emily shook her head, "Not really because now instead of one of us being jealous, both of us are."

"I wouldn't say jealous," JJ said slowly, not particularly liking the sound of the word and quickly trying to come up with a viable alternative.

"And what would you call it? Because you had no problem teasing me yesterday and calling me a green-eyed monster." Emily accused, staring challengingly at the blonde, practically willing the other woman to say otherwise.

"Yeah, well, it was funny when it was happening to you," JJ grumbled, acting and sounding, very much unlike her usual self.

When Emily's laughter had died down, she dropped back onto the bed and gave JJ a measuring look. "Okay, so, what are we going to do about this? We can't realistically finish this case while glaring daggers into other people."

JJ let out a quiet sigh and moved to sit down beside Emily, her hands folded neatly on her lap. "I have no idea."

"Really, we have no reason to be jealous, right?" Emily queried out loud, looking to JJ for confirmation. If they were secure enough with how things were going, then someone flirting with the other person wouldn't cause any worry.

"I guess," JJ responded, not sounding entirely convinced by her own words as she trailed off quietly.

"You guess?" Emily asked, her confusion evident as she looked at the other woman, attempting to suss out what was going on in her head.

JJ stared at the profiler for a moment, the indecision about whether to discuss what was on her mind clearly up in the air, her blue eyes looking steely despite the indecision that clearly overtook her face. "It's just…" She hated this, she really did. Talks like these never happened in her previous relationships because they had a tendency to just naturally proceed in the right direction. There was no talk of exclusivity because once the 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend' label had been dropped, it was pretty clear that they were officially entering into an exclusive and monogamous relationship.

But there was this stupid bet which meant that at any point, either one of them could decide that it wasn't worth the effort. Which of course meant that any level of understanding about exclusivity would be gone in an instant.

Sure, Emily had wined and dined her and looked to be intent on giving things an honest shot, at least for the duration of the bet, but without any sort of verbal confirmation, JJ couldn't, or more accurately, wouldn't be entirely sure where she stood. But aside from that, there was also the strange protectiveness and possessiveness that burned in the pit of her stomach when she saw anyone, male or female, making eyes at what was technically hers.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Emily asked in confusion, her face the epitome of puzzlement as she stared at the other woman, wondering what the hell was going through her head. If anyone was supposed to be over thinking things, it was supposed to be Emily. But based on the way it looked like a thousand thoughts were flurrying through JJ's mind and flashing across her face, Emily figured that the blonde was taking over the role of over analyzer.

"No—" the blonde said quickly, her lip suddenly finding itself between her teeth as she tried to get up the courage to say what had been on her mind for a little while now, "yes."

Emily's opted not to say anything, unsure whether JJ was going to contradict herself again or stick with her answer this time. It was at moments like this that she wished she had the ability to read a person's mind rather than their mannerisms and facial expressions. There wasn't much beyond nervousness and obvious anxiety that Emily could pick up from JJ's posture and expression, so being a mind reader at this point would certainly come in handy.

"You're in this, right?" JJ asked after a moment, blurting out what had been nagging at her since she saw Emily with that police woman who seemed all too comfortable hanging on the profiler's every word. And the blonde doubted very much that whatever Emily had to say was that interesting. Sure, there were times that JJ found herself firmly ensconced in whatever tale or fact Emily was divulging but she didn't have her eyes popping out of her head, her cheeks flushed in excitement and a steady stream of drool dripping from her mouth as listened.

Okay, so maybe a few times her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and maybe she had found herself getting a little too lost in Emily's strangely hypnotic brown eyes, and okay, so she might have gotten a little too excited and wrapped up in a story but that was entirely Emily's fault for making it so easy to get lost in the tale.

Either way, this woman, Sarah — and yes, even thinking the name meant it was accompanied by a hint of disdain and snide attitude — had no right or cause to be hanging all over Emily and acting like she was a smitten teenager fawning all over the head cheerleader or something.

Emily was hers for the foreseeable future and seeing Sarah encroach on her territory was something JJ just could not handle. Threats to what was hers would not be taken lightly and from the big doe eyes, the flirtatious touches and giggling, the blonde had no doubt that the officer was making a move on Emily.

And Emily, bless her, was a bit dense to the forwardness and intentions of the other woman because she had no doubt that if Emily knew the woman was hitting on her, she wouldn't want to be around her and encourage the behavior, especially since she was spoken for.

Or at least JJ thought she was.

And that, therein, lied the problem.

Relationships had never required this much thinking on JJ's part and she was quickly growing to hate how much analyzing she needed to put into things.

"Uh, Earth to Jennifer," Emily's voice suddenly cut in, disrupting the mental breakthrough and grumbling that JJ was currently going through. "You still with us or has the mother ship finally come to claim you?"

Narrowing her eyes in mild annoyance, JJ stood from her spot, propped her hands on her hips and stared defiantly at the profiler. She was annoyed at Emily for not being able to pick up on the things that were bothering her and she was also bothered by the fact that she was letting someone who, if she were being honest with herself, was no real threat to her or her tentative relationship, get under her skin.

She was emotional and since Garcia wasn't around to listen to her vent and work through her emotions, and Emily just so happened to be standing there, the profiler would unfortunately be on the receiving end of JJ's ire.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The blonde asked grumpily, her blue eyes blazing as she readied herself for a pointless fight. There was a storm of emotions brewing inside of her, from the wonderful date with Emily, to the surge of warmth and lust she had experienced during their brief make out session just before leaving for the case and now, this jealousy towards the officer determined to hit on Emily every chance she got, JJ had no real outlet for it all and she was just letting it all out now.

It was as cathartic as it was destructive.

Emily's hands flew up into the air as she rose from the bed and took a tentative step backwards, clearly a show of her surrender as she tried to calm the crazy eyed woman before her. If she weren't so in control of her emotions, she probably would have resorted to anger, like it seemed JJ had. But she wasn't and she refused to let this situation spiral out of control.

"Calm down," Emily said sternly, her jaw set and her shoulders squared, showing the other woman that she wasn't going to just stand there and be talked to as if she deserved the ire and anger that was being directed towards her. If JJ wanted to work through things, then that was fine, but Emily valued herself and the blonde too much to be reduced to a whipping post.

They were adults who were in a relationship because of a bet — something Emily would reluctantly admit was a bit childish, but it had been set into motion and this is where they were at the moment — and the profiler refused to let the ridiculousness of their circumstances ruin what she thought had the potential to be something great.

"Are you going to tell me what has you so upset or are you just going to get angry at me for no reason?" Emily snarked, a taunting smirk on her face as she stared down the other woman. "Because last night you seemed to be perfectly fine with the fact that someone was flirting nonstop with you, but now that someone is showing an interest in me, you're getting angry."

JJ's stare hardened, hating that Emily was right and hating even more that she was fine with someone showering her with affection but was quick to anger when someone did the same with Emily.

It was also hard to accept that she had forced Emily to endure what had basically been two days of this gnawing and grating feeling of jealousy, while she had only had to put up with it for half a day. And then there was the fact that Emily was so much better with hiding how she truly felt, which meant that the level of distress the profiler expressed with the flirting that JJ had been through was likely nowhere near what Emily had truly been feeling.

JJ couldn't even imagine what Emily had been feeling, but if it was anything like what she was experiencing right now, she knew that she owed the other woman a serious apology and maybe some even more serious groveling. Jealousy was just the worst and she figured this was the world's way of paying her back for taking it so lightly before.

When JJ offered nothing in response, Emily gave a quiet huff of annoyance before slowly approaching the blonde. The profiler would swear that her and JJ had swapped personalities if her stubborn attitude and general reluctance to voice her issues was anything to go by.

"Is this because you're finally recognizing I'm a hot commodity and feel threatened that people are finally noticing?" Emily joked, her eyebrow hiking up in interest as she blew a puff of air on her nails and buffed them on her shirt.

JJ scowled at that, not liking that she was on the receiving end of Emily's jokes and especially not liking that the profiler was inadvertently hitting one of her sore spots. "Please," the blonde huffed, feeling like she was reverting to her adolescent self, the one that relied heavily on arm crossing and sarcasm to get her point across. She had a bit of an attitude problem when she was younger and it seemed that Emily was causing it to rear its ugly head.

"It's okay to be jealous," Emily teased, soaking up every minute of being able to lord this over the blonde, especially since her concerns had been so easily shrugged off the night before. It wasn't that she was holding a grudge or anything but she figured that JJ deserved a taste of the sour and bitter emotion that was jealousy.

Plus, if she pushed JJ's buttons enough, she wouldn't have to try and guess what was on the blonde's mind and maybe the other woman would finally say what was bothering her. Emily was fine with putting herself out there but she wasn't going to continue to be the one to put her first foot forward. If this relationship was going to have a leg to stand on, JJ needed to step up every now and then too.

The first date, Emily had volunteered to take and she thought she had made it pretty clear that she was willing to take things seriously, especially since she divulged information that she wouldn't have otherwise shared. Maybe that didn't come across to JJ or maybe the blonde was suddenly feeling insecure — something Emily herself had felt when she was forced to watch officer Abercrombie hanging all over JJ the second they descended from the jet. Either way, passive aggressive fighting and grumpy attitudes weren't going to solve anything.

"I'm not jealous," JJ grumbled again, sounding uncomfortable and petulant, especially when the words negated what she had just admitted to mere moments ago. Her lower lip jutting out in an adorable pout — or at least Emily thought it was adorable.

"Really?" Emily asked in amazement, her hip cocking as her hand rested on it, "because it kind of looks like you're a little jealous."

"I don't get jealous," JJ admitted, her brows furrowing as she stared at the other woman, looking like she just reached a conclusion that seemed unlikely and completely impossible. "I'm never jealous."

"Then what is this?" Emily queried, her index finger hovering in front of JJ's face at it roughly outlined her face, like there was actual evidence of the blonde's jealousy there for anyone and everyone to see.

The blonde adopted a rarely utilized scowl, her disapproval clear as day as she swatted the finger away and crossed her arms. "I'm upset."

"And I can't help with that if you don't tell me why you're upset, since it clearly has nothing to do with your nonexistent jealousy." Emily said, saying the last part of her remark rather sarcastically but she was too tired to try and reign it in a bit more.

"Jealousy implies I have something to be envious of," the blonde said slowly, taking a step towards the profiler, looking as though she were stalking towards her prey.

Emily instinctively took a step backwards, her heart beginning to hammer in her chest as she glanced warily at the downright hungry and possessive look in JJ's eyes. She wanted to give in and see just what the blonde would do, the temptation in those azure eyes was just that great, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Emily's stubborn streak and ingrained need to not be submissive meant she wasn't going to take the bait JJ was dangling before her. God, how she wanted to see where things would go but damn her pride for making it next to impossible.

"Wow, thanks for the boost to my self-esteem there, Jayje," Emily drawled, making sure to lay her sarcasm on as thickly as possible. It was yet another defense mechanism, sarcasm and snark had been her best friends since she first learned about them and ever since, they were the first weapon utilized in her arsenal.

"You know what I mean," JJ said dismissively, her hand waving off the words as she took yet another step towards Emily.

"Actually, I don't." The profiler offered soundly, her feet planted firmly on the ground as she straightened her spine and tried to give off as much of a defensive position as possible. "I'm an experienced linguist and I'd like to think a pretty good profiler, but I'm not a mind reader. So no, I have no idea what you mean." She shook her head, her arms wrapping tighter around her chest as she looked at the other woman.

JJ growled, sounding incredibly frustrated, and Emily could only stand there and pretend like the sound didn't affect her. But it did, oh dear goodness did it affect her. It was ridiculous how over only a few days and a few passionate kisses made her hyper aware of the sounds JJ made on a daily basis. This frustrated growling thing the blonde had just done wasn't something Emily hadn't paid much attention to before, but now that she was aware of everything JJ was doing, it was hard not to stop and notice. And after their make-out session before coming to this town, pretending not to imagine those sounds in decidedly less innocent situations was close to impossible.

It both delighted and infuriated (though it was mostly delight) her that the sound, that guttural growl in the back of the blonde's throat, sent a wave of electricity shooting down Emily's spine.

Oblivious to Emily's darkening eyes or the slightly uncomfortable shift of her body, JJ raked her fingers roughly through her blonde hair, tugging at the roots to stave off her growing headache.

This whole situation was stupid, JJ knew that. She had given Emily some simple platitudes and dismissed her worries because the flirting was harmless and she knew it wasn't going to go anywhere and also because it was nice knowing that for once, Emily didn't seem so unflappable.

Of course, now that the situations were reversed and she was forced to watch some small town police officer, who was admittedly modelesque, encroaching on what was technically her girlfriend, was not something she was willing to stomach and ignore. No amount of platitudes would make the flirtatious banter between the two women seem right in JJ's mind.

"I don't like that she's practically drooling over you," JJ bit out, her eyes widening a second later as she realized just what she had said. It wasn't one of the worst things going through her mind, not by far. After all, she had just mentally put her claim on Emily, so had she said that out loud, the blonde was sure she would be even more embarrassed and likely the color of a tomato, but as it stood she had probably said the least embarrassing thing running through her mind, so that was okay. Probably.

Emily wasn't quite sure how to react to that seeing as how it didn't give her much insight into what JJ was feeling other than the very, startlingly clear jealousy. So instead of poking fun or drawing attention to the omission, the profiler settled for shrugging lightly, as though the comment didn't affect her much, and chose to stare at the media liaison with passive interest. "I can't do much about that, Jen. And besides, she isn't interested in me like that, she just wants to know more about the FBI and our jobs. You should know better than anyone that there isn't much room for growth in small towns police departments like this."

That was a slight lie. Emily knew that Sarah was interested, and not just in a job with the FBI. The lingering touches, the way she invaded Emily's personal space every chance she got, the strangely flattering comments she dropped so casually into their conversations; it all pointed to a romantic interest. But that wasn't anything worry worthy, at least not for JJ, because Emily had no intention of even showing an interest in the officer.

Sure, she made sure that JJ saw the officer flirting but that was only because it was a little unfair of JJ to so easily dismiss one of her insecurities and give a halfhearted comment on how the profiler didn't need to worry. It was a little cruel but it seemed only fair that JJ get a taste of what Emily had been experiencing.

And it wasn't like Emily didn't put an end to things after the coast was clear and JJ had left the building, because she did. She set the record straight as soon as she was alone with Sarah and made sure that the officer knew that Emily was spoken for and had no interest in pursuing a relationship or exploring things any further — not that she didn't appreciate the offer and interest, because had it not been for JJ, Emily surely would have reciprocated the interest. Hell, Emily had even handed back the paper with Sarah's number on it, wanting to make it perfectly clear that nothing would be happening between them.

"Those weren't innocent looks she was sending your way," JJ countered, her hands cocked on her hips as she dared the other woman to say otherwise — which Emily was smart enough to know not step on that landmine.

"And what? You think I'll just slam her against the wall and take her right then and there just because she batted her eyelashes at me and complimented me?" Emily asked in a mix of amusement and caution. Honestly, JJ was being crazy for thinking things like this.

"No," the blonde muttered lamely, her voice trailing off as she eyed Emily, like by just looking at the other woman she could get all the answers she was looking for without actually having to ask them.

At this point, Emily was too tired and annoyed with the tiptoeing JJ was doing to really try and restrain herself. Her own insecurities and jealousy had been bottled up but steadily building and if the conversation continued at the rate it was going, odds were they wouldn't have resolved anything by the time the sun rose.

And while a little tension was enticing, full blown aggressive tension and unresolved issues wasn't quite so appealing. It just meant that the longer they let things go, the longer it would stew and the bigger the inevitable blowout would be.

"Can you just tell me what it is that's bothering you?" Emily finally asked, her exasperation with things beginning to show in her tired and wary voice. "Because you were fine with getting flirted with and hit on yesterday and this morning, but the second someone shows an interest in me, it's no longer appropriate."

At this point, JJ at least had the courtesy to look sheepish and guilty, a grimace pulling at her lips and transforming her stony expression. "Well, I don't have much experience with jealousy, okay?"

Emily chuckled at that, her annoyance bleeding way to the humor of the comment, "And you think I'm experienced with it?" Her incredulity was on full display as she tried to get her smile under control. The profiler doubted anyone could completely master their jealousy through sheer experience alone; if someone was jealous it was because somewhere, there was an insecurity and more than likely, a crack in the trust that had been fostered. She didn't need to be a profiler or a psychiatrist to know that and she could only assume that somewhere in JJ's stubborn brain, she knew that too. "I've barely been in enough relationships long enough to get to the jealousy stage, Jen."

"You say that like it's a good thing," JJ observed, thinking that that honest answer was not exactly something to be proud of. It meant Emily either had some commitment issues, trust issues or just didn't care enough about her dates to really be bothered if they strayed or not; either way, it didn't bode well.

Emily's response was a simple shrug, not meaning her comment to have sounded like a good thing but also not seeing as an entirely bad thing. Not getting jealousy whenever someone looked at her date seemed like a good quality; it meant she was secure enough, either in herself of her relationship (however short-lived it was) to maintain some semblance of sanity and keep levelheaded. Since when was trusting a partner a bad thing? Relationships didn't last long in their line of work and petty jealousy was a surefire way to end something before it even had a chance to really begin; so in that sense, yeah, Emily was a little proud of her ability to keep her emotions in check.

"Well, it's not exactly a bad thing," the profiler countered, not looking at all repentant for her viewpoint on the matter. "And if I'm being frank, I'm pretty glad that I haven't had to deal with the jealousy bug much in the past. From what I've felt the last few days, it's not high on my list of favorite feelings."

If JJ wanted Emily to be jealous, well, the blonde was going to be sorely disappointed. Being jealous absolutely sucked. Who in their right mind would want to be consumed with that emotion? She had only felt it for two days and she was fairly certain that had she not been distracted for most of the evening by Sarah's presence, she would have punched Jake in the face. Anger was not a place Emily found herself visiting often, she kept her emotions locked up tight but watching someone relentlessly hit on her girlfriend definitely grated on her nerves — the fact that JJ seemed to enjoy the attention just fueled Emily's annoyance and simmering anger.

"And why are you flipping this around on me?" Emily asked, her finger now pointing accusingly at the blonde, "You knew I didn't like Jake hitting on you and the most you did was say 'I have nothing to worry about' but now that you're the one who's jealous, I'm the one to blame." The profiler shook her head, her eyes narrowing on the blonde, "Just tell me what's really bothering you because it's obviously more than the fact that someone talked to me today. We're what, seven days into this bet? I don't think jealousy should be popping up this soon."

JJ grimaced at that, not liking how true those words were. Was it a good or bad thing that they were getting so worked up this soon into things? It seemed like it was a good sign, especially when it might point towards more serious emotions but then again, maybe it didn't bode well that they were getting so riled up when there wasn't much to get upset over.

Really, the whole thing was just plain confusing and JJ had no idea which way to lean.

"Maybe it's a good thing?" JJ questioned, her annoyance fizzling away as she tried to sort through the tumultuous emotions running through her.

"How?" Emily asked genuinely, feeling like she was in new territory and wanting to know what the blonde honestly thought about their predicament.

"It means there's definitely something here, right?" JJ asked, a hint of vulnerability in her voice as she stared at the profiler, her finger moving between the two of them as though she were pointing out a physical manifestation of what she was talking about. "Why else would be get so worked up if we didn't feel just a little bit threatened."

It made sense, in a way, that they would feel this way so early into things. They had known each other since Emily had started working for the BAU and it wasn't as though they weren't protective of one another — even when they weren't romantically linked — so it stood to reason that they would skip a few rungs on the relationship ladder.

The profiler tilted her head and slowly nodded, acknowledging the logic of the theory. "But we already knew there was something here," Emily said after a moment, "that's why we decided to give things an honest shot and stop over thinking things."

"Did we?" The blonde asked slowly, not sounding too sure of herself.

"Yes?" Emily said in much the same tone, wondering how they had somehow ended up on two different wavelengths. From their date, the profiler was sure that she had made things abundantly clear that she was willing to put all her chips on the table and honestly try to make things work, but maybe a part of her doubted that was the case. Jealousy was born from a sense of insecurity, and maybe while Emily was hoping her gesture came across as all-in, maybe a part of her knew that until it was verbally said, she wouldn't feel completely at ease with things. It would certainly explain why Jake's presence was such a thorn in her side.

"I'm getting the feeling that we aren't on the same page right now," the blonde commented, pointing out what they had both just concluded.

Apparently, they were not very good at communication despite the many talks they had had.

"Probably not," Emily responded, her confused expression showing just how accurate she believed that sentiment to be.

The room fell into a tense silence for a moment, neither woman quite sure how to talk about what was on their minds or even having a clue how to resolve what they weren't entirely sure the problem was.

Running her hand down her face, Emily let out a muffled sigh and tried not to roll her eyes at how adolescent things felt at the moment. She hated that only a handful of days into this thing and she was already exhausting the number of heart-to-heart talks she was equipped with.

Actually, if she were being honest, in all of the relationships she had been in, all of them combined actually, she had never had to express herself this much or this often. It was either a testament to the solidity of her few relationships or a show of how stubborn and emotionally reclusive she could be. It also explained why none of her past relationships tended to be all that successful — but she refused to dwell on that.

"You have no reason to be jealous Jayje; you know I'm in this thing completely, right?" The profiler asked after a moment, her eyes open and earnest as she tried to convey just how invested she was in making things work. Who knew how long things would last or if it was even worth the effort she was putting into it, but they would never know unless they let themselves tap into the true potential of things.

JJ could tell Emily was sincere, she could see it in her eyes and she could read it plain as day on her face, but as clearly as it was standing out to her, she couldn't truly say she had known it until that moment. It felt silly to need some sort of verbal declaration for her to see that Emily was taking things as seriously as she was — but then again, she had let Jake flirt with her for the better part of two days and hadn't even batted an eyelash at it. So maybe it wasn't that she needed to hear Emily say she was in things, but JJ herself needed to admit to Emily that she was as invested as the profiler was.

The blonde let out a puff of air and took a few quick measured steps toward Emily, her hand wrapping around the back of the profiler's neck as her free hand gripped the other woman's hip tightly. Without another thought, she pressed their lips together, the force and surprise of the kiss rendering Emily momentarily speechless and frozen.

Her lack of movement did nothing to deter JJ, though, and the blonde wasted no time swiping her tongue along the seam of Emily's lips, her fingers winding their way under the other woman's shirt and gently stroking the soft flesh.

Emily's brain finally seemed to kick into gear and she wasted no time returning the enthusiastic kiss, her lips parting without another thought. Her fingers raked through JJ's soft hair, the silky strands always the go to place for Emily when the two showed affection.

The sensation of the blonde's bare hand on her torso had the profiler gasping in surprise, the warmth from JJ's hands instantly causing her skin to tingle and break out in goose bumps.

JJ, thoroughly enjoying the moment, let her hand drift from the profilers neck down to the other side of her hip, her fingers splayed wide as they wrapped around her waist. With a gentle guidance, the blonde whirled Emily around pushed the other woman backwards, the two moving in sync as they stumbled their way back towards the bed.

Despite the fact that they weren't moving particularly fast, there was still a sense of haste to their movements and in the process of trying to get towards the bed, where there were few obstacles separating the amorous couple from their destination, Emily still managed to smack her leg into the nightstand.

Pushing through the pain, the profiler ignored the throb and probably already developing bruise in favor of the activities they were participating in. The kiss finally broke as the back of Emily's legs collided with the wooden frame of the bed. With a devilish glint in her eyes, JJ offered Emily a carnal smile before she removed her hands the from the profiler's hips and, with an unnecessary but thoroughly entertaining flourish, pushed on Emily's right shoulder and sent the woman falling backwards onto the bed.

As Emily scooted backwards, her eyes wide at the sight of a take-charge JJ and also from the sheer level of desire and arousal that was running though her body, the profiler used her elbows to continue moving backwards on the bed until just her bare feet were dangling off the edge.

The media liaison stalked towards the bed, her body hunching downwards as she started to crawl on top of the bed and subsequently on top of Emily. Emily gulped, feeling very much like the prey that JJ was looking at her as.

With her hands firmly on either side of Emily's squirming body and her knees straddling the other woman's legs, JJ slithered upwards. With each step she took towards Emily, the profiler's eyes darkened just a bit more and her mouth seemed to open just a tad more.

Once JJ had made her way up Emily's body, effectively straddling the profiler at the waist while her lips hovered just above Emily's mouth, the media liaison's voice dropped to a husky whisper. "So, just so we're clear," she said slowly, her voice raspier than Emily had ever heard it sound before, "we're both in this completely, right?"

"Right," Emily said hoarsely, the image of JJ hovering above her with her silky blonde hair falling around Emily's face like a curtain that separated them from the rest of the world, making it hard for the profiler to say much more than a few words at a time. It felt like her blood was boiling in her veins and her mind was, for once, completely silent — something she figured was due to the fact that it had probably short circuited from the feel of JJ's body pressed into her own.

"And just so we're clear," JJ growled — a sound that yet again sent chills and a pleasant tingling down Emily's spine — "you are mine for the foreseeable future." The smile she offered Emily was downright wicked, the possessive tone to her voice as she made the declaration made it clear that the profiler had no say in the matter; not that Emily intended to argue.

Acting on impulse and the distinct need to make sure that everyone knew that Emily Prentiss was officially taken, whether it was due to a bet or not was irrelevant, the media liaison lowered her mouth to the long slender neck below her and bit down the tender flesh.

Emily hissed at the sensation while her head lolled to the side as she gave the blonde better access to the area. JJ's hand tenderly grasped Emily's jaw line, the movement a stark contrast to the almost aggressive actions she was making to the profiler's neck.

The blonde sucked gently on the previously bitten flesh, her tongue slipping from between her lips as it soothed the skin.

Emily let out a quiet groan, knowing she was being marked and finding herself unable to say or do anything other than to just let the blonde continue with her ministrations.

JJ gave the spot on Emily's neck one last lazy lick before pulling away and reconnecting her eyes with the woman below her.

"Mark me to your satisfaction?" Emily asked in amusement, though both women could hear the distinct sound of want that lingered just below the surface.

Taking in the other woman's flushed cheeks and slightly ragged breathing, JJ offered a smug grin, her finger tracing the reddened patch of flesh on the profiler's neck, "Yes," she muttered proudly.

Letting the blonde enjoy her moment of smug attitude, Emily mirrored JJ's smile before she placed both her hands on JJ's hips and rolled them over so their positions were reversed.

Surprised at the action, JJ let out a squeal of shock before Emily's lips reattached to her own. The blonde kept her legs wrapped around the profiler's waist, her fingers scraping over the other woman's scalp as she pulled them closer together — not that they could get any closer without somehow merging into one being.

Emily pulled away from the blonde, her teeth tugging lightly on the blonde's lower lip before releasing it and hovering just above JJ's face.

With a torturously slow pace, at least in JJ's opinion, Emily's lowered her head down to the blonde's neck, her nose grazing the tanned flesh as she inhaled the unique scent that was solely Jennifer Jareau. Her tongue slipped from between her plump lips as she ran it down the column of Jennifer's neck, enjoying the slightly salty taste that ignited her taste buds.

If JJ's neck smelled and tasted as good as it did, Emily could only imagine what other parts of the blonde would be like.

As a shudder of excitement rolled through her, the profiler placed her lips to the media liaison's neck and began to suck on the supple flesh, her tongue laving against the reddened skin as she did so. When she was satisfied with her handiwork and the reaction she was garnering from JJ, her teeth scraped over the now pronounced mark, the gesture eliciting a wanton groan from the woman below her.

Continuing to plant kisses along the blonde's neck, enjoying the way she could feel the quickened pulse under JJ's sun-kissed skin, the profiler made sure to nip and kiss every possible inch of skin before her.

Her ministrations were not for naught as the woman below her tightened her grip on the profiler's inky black hair, her clenched fists being the only thing that was keeping her trembling hands from being too noticeable. JJ's stomach was a bundle of nerves, her body humming with electricity as a decidedly pleasant warmth spread through her like molten lava, consuming her so completely that she thought any moment she would melt beneath Emily.

Emily's mouth was working magic on her neck and while she was barely holding on to any sense of restraint she had, the impossibly husky voice of the profiler was what finally did her in, her body trembling as images of possibilities fluttered through her mind like a dirty peep show into the future.

"Now we match," Emily husked, her hot breath washing over JJ's flesh and causing it to break out into more goose bumps, an involuntary shudder making her already heightened body twitch in excitement. Plus, while Emily hovered above her, those mysterious brown eyes peering into her own, it provided the media liaison with the perfect chance to stare at her own handiwork that graced the profiler's neck.

The red mark on Emily's naturally pale and porcelain skin stood out like red paint on a canvas and it made JJ's heart quicken in excitement, her eyes unable to leave the possessive mark that made it clear to any and all that Emily was taken.

"I guess we do," JJ managed to say, her voice surprisingly steady as she wrapped her hand around Emily's neck and pulled the raven haired woman down, guiding her until their lips met in a much softer and relaxed kiss — though the intensity of their romantic engagement and desire for one another was still extremely clear.

The blonde tightened her legs around Emily's waist and let her hands roam freely under the profiler's shirt, her dexterous fingers roaming over the flat and taught stomach of the woman who rested above her.

Emily shivered, her body quaking as she tried to wrap her head around the recent turn of events and the now visible marks of their possessiveness. Not that she was complaining, mind you, she was just a little caught off guard with how easy it was to just be with JJ.

The groan from the woman beneath her and the bolder wandering hands beneath her shirt drew her mind back to the present, her head now firmly back in the game, Emily let her own hands begin to slide down JJ's torso. Her fingers lightly grazed over the blonde's shirt, dipping down between her breasts and ghosting over the expanse of her stomach.

Her fingers had only just slipped beneath JJ's shirt, her digits dancing along the tanned skin and tracing the outline of the well deserved and perfectly sculpted muscles of her abdomen when the sound of excited chatter sounded from just outside their door, followed by an obnoxiously loud and mood-shattering knock at the door.

With a whine of protest and annoyance, JJ's legs tightened around Emily's waist once more before her head flew back in frustration and her limbs dropped with a heavy thud onto the mattress. Emily's face perfectly mirrored JJ's, her frustration at the intruding knock making her seriously consider using her gun to beat them senseless for ruining their moment.

Glowering pathetically, Emily rolled off of JJ and reluctantly made her way to the door, smoothing down her shirt and attempting to fix her hair in the process. Her face stony and stormy, she swung the door open, her brown eyes blazing with unbridled fury, "What?" She snarled, her expression never changing, not even after she realized who was on the other side.

Morgan's jubilant smile slipped from his face the instant he registered the downright pissed off expression on Emily's face, idly wondering just how big of a fight he had interrupted. He knew that JJ and Emily would get into a tiff over the whole flirting thing but he didn't think it would get as bad as it apparently seemed to be, especially if the fire in Emily's normally guarded eyes was anything to go by.

"Am I interrupting?" Derek asked cautiously, surreptitiously shuffling over a few inches as he tried to peer around Emily and into the room to gauge the damage done so far.

With her glare never wavering, Emily closed the door just a bit more, her body shuffling in tandem with Morgan's until only her face and a sliver of her frame was visible though the opened door. "Actually, yes, you are," the profiler growled, her sexual frustration rearing its ugly head and coming out full force at its only viable target.

"Oh," he said in shock, his eyes widening and his eyebrows skyrocketed so far that had Emily not been so annoyed at the interruption, she would have laughed at the image. "Do you want to stay with me tonight? Maybe get away from things and try to you know—" he trailed off, his concern evident as he once again tried to peer around Emily.

Emily's head whipped around as she tried to see just what it was they Morgan was so desperate to see, her eyes scanning what was in his line of sight and coming up completely empty. "No, I don't know," she said heatedly, her eyes making their way back towards the burly man before her, her anger immediately being replaced by her confusion. "And what exactly and I trying to get away from?"

With narrowed eyes and his confusion suddenly wiped away only to be replaced by a shit-eating grin, the profiler smirked as his eyebrows waggled playfully. "Guess I misread the situation," he said slyly, leaning his body against the doorframe, his face never changing from its cocky amusement. "I mean, why would you want to bunk with me when you can stay here and—" his words halted as he leaned in closer to Emily, "work out your frustration with JJ."

Abruptly pulling back, he offered her a playful wink, "Especially when it provides me with suchawesome joke material."

Upon seeing Emily's bewilderment his hand stretched out, pushing the door open just a few inches more, and poked not so gently at the red hickey that adorned her neck. "Nice love bite," he said smarmily, "didn't know JJ had such a possessive streak."

Not one to embarrass easily — or more accurately, not one to let others know she was embarrassed — Emily mirrored his smirk, her eyes twinkling with mischief and delight despite her struggle to keep her cheeks and neck from flushing scarlet. "There's a lot you don't know about Jennifer," Emily purred, her grin suddenly feral and full of secrets that she knew would just eat Morgan alive.

"And if you think this is something," she husked as her hand moved to her own neck, their eyes now locked as she took pleasure in the slight gulp Morgan took and the hopeful widening of his eyes, "you should see the others."

Emily's voice dropped an octave, her teeth biting into the soft flesh of her plump lower lip, "God Morgan," she gushed before looking cautiously over her shoulder to make sure JJ wasn't near. "I mean—" she trailed off, her head shaking in disbelief, like even she couldn't fathom the things that had been done.

"What?" Morgan asked, only barely able to keep his voice from cracking. He couldn't lie and say he had never noticed how attractive JJ and Emily were, because they were drop dead gorgeous. Hell, at one point he had even considered pursuing something more than just platonic friendship with Emily, but in the end, it had just never happened.

However, that didn't mean that he wasn't a little excited to hear the juicy details of Emily and JJ's 'encounter' because if that hickey and those kiss swollen lips were anything to go by, what Emily was about to tell him was no doubt going to make his night. He could just imagine all the things he was about to hear.

Without thought, he found himself leaning closer to the door, his mouth parted in excitement as he attempted to keep his smile from erupting or his eyes from popping out of his head. "What'd you guys do?" He asked hoarsely, his throat suddenly dry as image after image fluttered though his mind.

Derek himself had never been shy about divulging the details of his many hookups and only on a few occasions had Emily been in the mood to reciprocate and share some of hers (most of them having been told because of how terrible they were, but still…) so he was holding onto the hope that this time, it would be a deliciously entertaining one.

"Have you and Garcia ever gotten so angry that things just sort of escalated," she asked quietly, her eyebrow hitching upwards as if to give some sort of hidden meaning to the words, "and gotten out of control, but in a really good way?" Her voice dropped in pitch, the woman freely letting her cheeks tinge pink as she tried to adopt as bashful of an expression as possible.

"No," Morgan muttered, sounding more disappointed that Emily would have thought, though his eyes were still hopeful as he patiently awaited the juicy tidbits she would drop about her encounter with JJ.

"Well, let me tell you Morgan," Emily said with promise, making sure he understood just how fantastic such an occurrence could be, her head shaking ruefully in the process. "You should butt the hell out of my relationship and work on achieving that in your own." Her voice was suddenly more stern and reprimanding, an antagonizing smirk tugging at her lips as she watched his face go from excited to shell-shocked before ultimately landing on disappointment.

Without another word, Emily offered him a parting wink before taking a step back and slamming the door in his face, her smirk blossoming into a full blown grin as she sauntered back towards JJ.

"This isn't over Prentiss!" Morgan shouted from the other side of the door a moment later, his brain finally catching up to what had just occurred.

It didn't matter though that Emily had just done that to him — he was determined to get those juicy details out of her one way or another — and while she might have had the last word, Morgan could still act haughty and smug because obviously his and Penelope's plan had worked. Okay, it was entirely Penelope's plan, but without him it never would have come to fruition, so it still counted.

Either way, Emily's little stunt did nothing to stem his growing glee and he wasted absolutely no time whipping out his phone to pass along the interesting development.

God, Garcia was going to have a field day with those two, and since Emily had to go and pull that little stunt, Morgan wasn't even going to put up a fight about what the tech analyst had planned. Emily totally deserved whatever crazy-mad scientist-hair brained-downright devious scheme Garcia had cooked up.

But, on a side note, he would also look into that angry sex thing because it seemed incredibly rewarding. Though when he thought about doing that with Garcia, he imagined her taking it way too far and could only imagine the tech analyst adorning some strange BDSM spandex outfit, holding a whipping crop and jamming a ball gag in his mouth. She made no illusions to her sexual adventures and prowess and the thought of that scenario somehow playing out made him shudder in fright.

He would definitely try the angry sex thing but maybe not with Penelope though…

I've gotten requests and inquiries on previous chapters about whether this story will go from a T rating to an M one and at the moment I honestly don't know. I suppose if the writing takes me there then you'll get the heads up at the beginning of the chapter, but otherwise, it's going to stay at a T rating.