Sarcasm and a Bad Joke

Twelve

Emily's POV
JJ sat at my desk chair and didn't say anything. I walked over and kneeled in front of her. "I'm so sorry JJ. You didn't deserve that." I said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I'm okay. I'm good. But it's all over. That chapter of my life is done, and now ours can start." She smiled.

"That was really cliché of you, you realize right?" I said. She rolled her eyes and held my hand. "Shut up. But can it start? Us?" She whispered. "Finally. I thought you'd never ask." I said, kissing her hand.

"Hotchner." I heard someone yell behind me. We both turned and saw Strauss and Barnes at the door. I dropped her hand and turned away. "They didn't see." JJ whispered.

I stood up and slowly turned around. Barnes walked straight to Hotch's office and I bit my tongue. Strauss gave me a slight smile and followed behind.

The pair talked to Hotch for a bit before standing outside his office. Hotch followed and called my name. "Emily." He said. It's bad. Somethings wrong. JJ turned her head and I reluctantly went to the office.

"I'm sure you know Assistant Director Barnes." I nodded and shook her hand. "Agent Prentiss I am sure you are aware of the coworker relationship policy."

I nodded.

"It appears the BAU has a problem with following  this policy, first with agents Greenaway and Reid. And now, as it seems, agent Jareau and yourself." I immediately shook my head.

"It isn't like that, I swear. Before you arrived her boyfriend got violent with her and I was just consoling a friend. Agents Rossi and Morgan can back this up. Nothing was going on."

It killed me to say every word, to claim there was no love for JJ. But I couldn't risk one of us getting relocated.

"Agent Prentiss we saw you kiss her hand. That seems like more than nothing." Hotch stood up from behind his desk and helped me.

"Agent Jareau feels most comfortable with physical touch. After the Tobias Hankle case she could only relax when she held someone's hand, it was the only way she could handle what had happened to her."

"Working with this team for so long I've witnessed it. I believe them." Strauss added. Barnes nodded and looked between. "Alright. But if anything changes we will take action. Understood?" She asked.

"Yes." I watched them walk out the door and slowly left his office. JJ wasn't at my desk so I knocked on her office door. She opened the door and looked behind me.

"We're in the clear." I smiled. She moved and closed the door behind me. "But I thought we got caught. What happened?" We sat down in the chairs and I went through every detail.

She sent me back to finish working and I started some case files on my desk. Rossi knocked on my desk so I must've been working for a couple hours. "Go home kid." He said as he left with a wave.

I went to JJ's office and we left together for the elevator. "Wait for me!" Penelope yelled at us as we walked past her office. "Ok now we can go."

"So how are you both doing? I can do some digging and find loopholes around the policy. I'm sure there's something we can do." Pen said.

"Thank you Penelope. We're good for now I think." I grabbed JJ's hand and nodded. "We are." JJ split off to go to her car and i walked Penelope to hers.

"Here's Betty." She smiled as we got to a vibrant orange convertible. "Thank you Penelope. For wanting to help." She started talking but my phone buzzed.

J. Jareau
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