2 months later
Y/N's POV:
The sound of the front door wakes me up abruptly. I jump up quickly, ready to grab my gun from the safe. Then I notice JJ isn't beside me.
"JJ." I call out.
A few seconds of silence scares me back into attack mode. I get up out of bed, then JJ comes through our bedroom door.
"Hey baby, sorry I went on a run. I didn't want to wake you."
She's wearing a grey tank top, leggings, and a black cap. Sweat glistens on her forehead.
"I could've went with you, I don't like you being out running alone."
"Y/N/N I have a gun, and a lot of training." She giggles.
I walk closer and pull her to me by her waist, making sure to avoid the gun that I'm glad she took with her.
"You're lucky that you look so hot right now." I say before placing a quick peck on her lips.
She pulls away and walks towards the bathroom. "I need to shower, I'm gross."
"Can I join you?" I smirk.
"Mhmm." She glances over her shoulder before leaving the doorway walking further into the bathroom.
I run to join her as fast as possible. She giggles again, her smile giving me butterflies. I pick her up and spin her around the bathroom while we both laugh, then we finally get in the shower.
........
"Hey hot stuff." Derek says from behind me.
"Hi chocolate thunder." I laugh.
He gives me a weird look before joining me in my laughter.
"Taking notes from Garcia I see."
"Just a few." I pause for a second before asking. "So what's up?" I turn in my chair to give him my full attention.
"Just wanted to check up on you, see how you're doing."
"Derek I appreciate your concern, but you've been asking me this every month since the bombing." I sigh and look him right in the eyes, so he'll believe me. "I'm fine, I promise."
"Y/N you told me to leave you in there. You were prepared to die. I'm just afraid that you...."
I interrupt him. "That I'm what, suicidal? It wasn't about that, I just wanted to make sure you got out alive. Believe me?"
"I guess so. If you ever do feel that way, you can come to me. You know that right?" He looks at me with soft, sincere eyes, something you hardly see from him.
"Yes I do, thank you." I smile to reassure him.
Hotch comes out of his office. "Round table, we have a case."
We both nod and leave for the round table. Once we are all settled, Hotch begins the debriefing.
"An hour ago the man on your tablets, was found wondering the streets of Baltimore before he collapsed."
Garcia continues, "he is unconscious. He has no ID on him, so we don't know his name. He's got ligature marks on his wrists, and it's impossible to tell how long he's been missing."
I open my tablet to find the crime scene photos. I notice something strange but Rossi beats me to it. "Are those puncture wounds in the corner of his eyes?"
"Yes and an MRI confirmed that fibers in his brain had been severed."
"He had a lobotomy?" Rossi questions, seemingly taking the words right out of my mouth.
We discuss the case a little further before we're interrupted by someone at the door. "Excuse me Agent Hotchner, Agent Cruz is here."
Who the hell is that? Oh, we were supposed to get a new section chief.
"Oh everyone, this is our new section chief, this is Agent Mateo Cruz. These are Agents Y/L/N...." Hotch is interrupted.
"Y/L/N, Prentiss, Dr. Reid, Morgan, Jareau and Rossi, good to officially meet you. Oh and Penelope Garcia, Erin Strauss always spoke very highly of you."
I look over at JJ for a split second and she seems off. It looks like she has just seen a ghost, and I realize that she won't make eye contact with the new Agent Cruz. I decide that it's probably nothing and brush it off, since I tend to overthink things.
"I'd like to join you. It's not every day that these cases take you an hour away from home, so." The new section chief speaks up.
"We leave in 20 minutes." Hotch finishes before leaving the room.
Everyone including me follows right behind Hotch. Or at least I thought everyone did, when we get outside I notice that JJ hasn't come out yet. I shrug it off and decide to wait for her at her desk.
.........
JJ's POV:
I can't believe that Matt is the new section chief. I went on a run with him this morning and he didn't even mention it. I wait for everyone to leave so I can talk to him.
"You could have mentioned this." I say trying to stay calm.
"I thought you liked surprises."
I look up with warning eyes and Matt continues his thoughts. "Seriously, I got word minutes after we had breakfast."
I just nod to reframe from freaking out. I have to leave now so no one gets suspicious, especially Y/N. I wish I could tell her.
...........
We split up to go to our assignments, Y/N is with Hotch and Cruz and I'm with Rossi and Derek. The subject of Matt comes up yet again. Derek doesn't seem to like section chiefs joining us.
"You ever heard of this Cruz guy?" Derek questions taking his eyes off the road to look at Rossi briefly.
"Yeah but we never crossed paths. You?" Rossi answers.
"Nope."
"JJ?" Rossi turns the question to me.
Lie Lie Lie. "Uh, yeah I've heard his name."
I hope that was believable, I have to keep my micro expressions down around everyone.
Finally, the subject was dropped and we arrive at our destination.
........
After we solve the case, we return to Quantico and I'm so glad to be going home.
"Hey Y/N/N, are you ready?" I ask leaning into her desk.
"Oh um, almost. Go on down I'll meet you at the car." She smiles brightly back at me. Seeing her always calms my nerves.
I nod and head for the elevators.
"You always here this late?" Matt calls from behind me. Really, I was trying to get away from this for today.
He joins me in front of the elevators as I answer, "pretty much, yeah."
I take a deep breath before spilling my frustrations, I couldn't contain them anymore.
"Every time your name was mentioned today and every time I didn't say, "hey, yeah I know him." I'm lying."
"I know it's not easy, I don't like it either."
"We're surrounded by profilers, Matt. One side glance and they're going to figure it all out."
"Well, separating us in the field was smart."
"It was the only way. Look, I- I know why we can't tell them. I get that, but we can't have too many of these conversations either."
"That case could stay open for a couple of years."
"It's already been almost three. - Did you take this position because of me?"
"No. Trust me, I walked into the Hoover Building this morning and was told to drive out to Quantico immediately. So, someone put this transfer on the fast track."
"State?"
"They wouldn't admit it if they did."
"True." I sigh.
"This um... us.... we're good right?"
I smile to reassure him, I mean it isn't his fault. "Yeah."
"Okay. - You want to meet at the air and space in the morning? Run some sprints."
"I'm going to make breakfast for my girlfriend."
He pauses and looks at me confused. "Girlfriend?"
"Y/N, or um Agent Y/L/N." I smile thinking about her.
"Oh, uh... she doesn't know right?"
"Of course not."
Footsteps approach us from behind and Matt tenses up changes his demeanor quickly.
"Great plan." He mutters out, you can tell he isn't a profiler.
I turn to find Y/N approaching us. She doesn't smile or acknowledge me at all, she just pushes the elevator button that Matt and I had neglected to press. I hope she doesn't assume anything about us.
........
Y/N's POV:
I finish up my last thing of paper work quickly, and head for the elevators to meet JJ. When I get to the door I notice she is still here, and talking to agent Cruz. As much as I trust her, I can't get over the tension that has been between them this entire time. Even though I know I shouldn't I eaves drop on their conversation.
I only get the end of the conversation.
"Oh, uh..... she doesn't know right?"
"Of course not."
My breathing hitches in my throat and I feel like I might pass out. Could JJ be cheating on me?
..........
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. These next few chapters have a modified version of the season 9 storyline making it hard to finish fast. I'll try to get them out as fast as possible!
*This chapter contains dialogue from Criminal Minds Season 9 Episode 4 "To Bear Witness"*