Title: Escape
By: zombie_girl
Pairing: JJ/Emily implied, Garcia
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: Meh, i'm guessin' it's PG-13
Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned them, we'd be watching canon over subtext.
Any Notes: This one goes to sofia_lindsay. Thanks for the encouragement and the ideas, cuz my muse is really not helping. I also blame my muse for any mistakes, they are hers. :D
Archiving Permissions: Ask and ye shall recieve.

***

After the rather embarrassing elevator incident only a few days ago, JJ had managed to avoid Emily Prentiss whenever possible and vice versa.

It made for awkward moments during briefings, but Emily could only blame herself for what happened, even though it was technically JJ who fell into her arms, but nevertheless, she set it up.

Why did she listen ever to Garcia?

Sure, Garcia was JJ's best friend, and sure, Garcia knew how to hack into anything, and sure, Emily wanted to spend some time with JJ and Garcia knew just how to make it happen, and sure...

But none of these are excuses for her behavior as of late. The whole team saw the change in her, and all of them have asked her about it:

"Emily, are you ok?" from Morgan, "Is there something wrong Prentiss?" was stoic Hotch, "Are you feeling alright Emily?" came from the suddenly reserved Reid. She didn't know how to respond to any of them, so she smiled and ran away to Garcia's.

"She probably hates me," Emily moaned to the computer goddess.

Garcia just smiled, "She does not hate you Em."

"Why did you let me pull that stupid stunt huh?" Emily was standing now, pacing the small room, and making Garcia extremely uncomfortable.

"Just calm down Emily," Garcia made a shooing gesture with her hand, calling the brunette's attention back to her. "Look at this."

"What?" Emily moped her way over to the spare chair, falling into it. "Isn't that JJ's office?" She unconsciously scooted her chair closer,

"What's she doing?"

Garcia smiled, "She's obviously freaking out over something."

Emily groaned, "It's because of my stupid little stunt!" And with that, Emily stood, and left the computer filled room without another word.

-----

"Hey Garcia, are you busy?" the blonde press liaison, stood cautiously in the doorway to the computer tech's room.

"Not at all, sweetie," Garcia closed the screen on her main computer, "What's going on in the pretty little head of yours?"

JJ sighed, "I don't know, I guess what happened in the elevator a few days ago has still got me...Shaken up."

"You didn't tell me you were claustrophobic JJ," Garcia's concern for her friend was suddenly much more important than finding out how she reacted to being so close to Emily.

"I'm not," JJ smiled softly, gazing at her friend's extensive pen collection, "She's been distant since the incident, and I can't blame her. I haven't exactly reached out to her...But she's not acting the same, she doesn't look at me anymore, and she doesn't...There are no more soft touches that probably shouldn't happen in the first place. Do you understand what I'm trying to say Garcia?"

Garcia was practically beaming, "Yes," She got up and hugged the blonde, "I know exactly what you're saying."

-----

The ringing of the door bell startled Emily, she wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. Lifting herself from the couch where she was getting to know a glass of wine, she made her way to the door, startled again this time by who she saw through the peephole.

"JJ?" Emily asked, barely keeping the surprise out of her voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, actually, I came to apologize about the other day..." JJ smiled, holding up a bottle of wine, "Um, can I come in?"

"Yes, yes, of course," the brunette stepped aside, letting the blonde agent into her apartment, closing the door behind her. As she led the way to the couch she was previously occupying, "JJ, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, you know. I don't know if Garcia told you, but she helped me plan the whole getting trapped in the elevator rig. I'm so sorry."

"No, Em, it's ok," JJ smiled, joining her friend on the couch, "I just, missed you this week. I feel like how I reacted was the reason for your distance this week."

"Not at all," Emily turned away from the deep ocean eyes, "I thought you ran away because you didn't like being that close to me." Emily closed her eyes, she was putting herself out there too much again. This would not end well.

"Emily," JJ whispered, scooting slightly closer, "That's not what it was. I just...I didn't want anything, that might happen, to happen at work. When anyone could step in and ruin it."

"That's why Garcia suggested the elevator. Private. Close. Perfect," Emily smiled, turning to face JJ, "I know, it's still not ideal."

"Now kinda is," JJ smirked.

"Yeah..." Emily nodded, finally realizing there was going to be a good ending to this.

***