AN./ This story takes place after Will essentially forces JJ to admit she's pregnant to the team (and they have that awkward exchange where he says he's asked her to marry him and she says she hasn't agreed yet). However, the case that the team is in NY for in this fic is NOT the same case as the case in that episode. Only the social setup is the same (the case is imagined and will become relevant fairly soon). I was prompted to write this by a discussion I had semi-recently with rose-lou in which I learned I was not the only one who was creeped out by Will's treatment of JJ. In Heat features another good example of this... Okay, preamble over - enjoy! –Bec xx

You're The One That I Want

Chapter 1: JJ's POV

When the knock sounded at the door I knew it wasn't Will. Will knocked the way he talked: expectantly, like it was his God-given right to be let in. Emily's knock was firm and yet subdued. As I opened the door she wore a guilty expression like she thought she might be overstepping a boundary.

"I saw Will down at the bar and I thought— JJ, I've been meaning to talk to you."

Having said that, Emily winced like she was kicking herself for the hesitation. I had to smile.

"Come on in," I answered. "Do you want a drink?"

"Why would I drink when you can't?" Emily asked.

She was referring to what Will had oh-so-thoughtfully forced me to explain to the team earlier tonight: I'm pregnant.

I shrugged and replied, somewhat more bitterly than I intended to, "That doesn't stop Will."

"Where should I sit...?"

Will had strewn his clothes and other possessions across the sofa, leaving only one desk chair for seating. I ignored it and gestured to the bed. "There's enough room."

I noticed her taking stock of her options and then of me, wearing nothing but my underwear beneath a silk robe. I'd been in the process of getting undressed when she arrived.

Maybe I would have been self-conscious if I believed Emily had come to talk about the case. My relationship with Will had left me well used to feeling exposed and vulnerable in my personal life; I almost didn't register it anymore.

"This is going to come out badly no matter how I say it," was how Emily prefaced our discussion. "So I want to be clear in advance that I'm not judging you—"

"Emily," I interrupted. "I know you care about me. You're allowed to have an opinion about this." I took her hand to pull her onto the bed and I tried not to profile the way she crossed her legs over the side like she was preparing to stand at any moment. I curled mine beneath me. I'm not going anywhere, I tried to convey without words. Emily was uncertain.

"That's the point, JJ. I'm not entitled to an opinion about your love life. None of us are," she answered sincerely. "That's why it disturbs me that Will is always pressuring you to reveal things to us before you're ready: your relationship, the baby, the fact that he's asked you to marry him even though you clearly haven't said yes—which, by the way, is well within your right. It's like he's trying to get us on his side. And I know I'm not doing much better, sneaking up to your room while he's out to question you, but—"

I stopped her speech with a hand on her arm. "Hey. Don't compare yourself to him, Emily."

She looked up at me with her dark eyes searching. It had been close to an expression of what she suspected about my relationship with Will but it hadn't been overt enough to reassure her. I knew that Emily's intense sense of loyalty was both what had brought her to my door and what was pulling her away every second. I needed to give her enough to convince her to stay. Because I'd realised that I didn't want her to go. I had no one to talk to about Will, not like this.

"You're the only one who's shown concern," I admitted. "We work with the best behavioural analysts in the country but none of the others can tell. He's not showing me off, he's trying to trap me. After that case in Miami I tried to break up with him and between him guilt-tripping me and you telling me to go for him, I became the bad guy. I ran after him. But then I called him to tell him I'm pregnant—I couldn't even say it to his face—and suddenly he expects so much of me. He wants me to leave the BAU, to marry him, to move in together, to 'settle'. But then he's down at the bar drinking without me on the same night? What's that say?"

"He doesn't respect you."

Emily's conclusion was unforgiving and I was so grateful to hear it said aloud, to have some verbal reassurance that it wasn't just me who found Will unreasonable. "It was kind of cute when we started," I confessed, unable to hold myself back now that I'd started. "I thought he was just trying to impress me by taking charge, pushing me out of my comfort zone a bit. He's always got to be the man, you know? But apparently you can't be the man without crushing the little woman underneath you. You know what I mean?"

"Has he ever hurt you?" Emily asked.

"Geez, if he had maybe I'd have been strong enough to leave him," I answered guiltily. "That's awful. I actually wish he had. Just once so I'd have a reason to get myself and the baby away from him."

"Jayj, you have a reason," Emily insisted. "And it's a good one. Will isn't going to change. The more you give him, the more he'll take. You deserve to be with someone who respects your autonomy and understands what's important to you."

"You mean someone like you?"

I don't know what made me say it. It just came out. But those five words sent Emily reeling backwards like she'd been burned. She uncrossed her legs and made to stand but then stopped herself at the last minute and deliberately recrossed her legs. Still she looked positively flight-ready.

"JJ," Emily answered carefully. "Do you think I'm trying to break you and Will up because I'm jealous of him?" Her voice was low, unreadable. She was doing her absolute best to keep her emotions in check and I felt immediately guilty.

"No," I swore. "Em, Will's everything you said he is. You're right. I'm terrified to break it off with him but I know he's not going to change. I also know that I'll feel even more locked in once the baby comes and that, if I'm going to leave Will, I'm running out of time on that clock. I'm sorry I said anything. I know you just want to help."

I was babbling and Emily's face had turned to one of concern.

"You're changing," she pointed out. "Will makes you feel like your opinions aren't valid but they are. You don't have to apologise because you see and understand more than most people. Not to me."

I couldn't ask again but I entreated her with my eyes.

"You're a strong woman, Jayj. If you want to know, ask me. I won't run away. But if you'd rather not know, you can change the subject."

"I don't have any reason to think you'd be interested in me," I protested weakly. "It's just something I said. You've never mentioned dating women—"

"But you notice things, JJ. You're a profiler," Emily pressed. "I'm not upset that you know. I shouldn't even be surprised."

Was that...? Was she admitting...?

"Well, do you? Do you think you'd be a better match for me than Will?"

If Will hadn't been so utterly wrong for me it might have come across as a challenge. As it was, we both knew that Emily cared about me far more than he ever had. For a second I allowed myself to imagine it. No more trips down to New Orleans, no more being ordered around his stupid house or being groped in front of his stupid friends from the precinct—people I occasionally had to work with. No more being in terror of what he'd say to my friends. No more feeling trapped by him, like I didn't have any other option.

Was Emily an option? Was that what she was trying to tell me?

"I'm gay," Emily finally admitted, although I think we were past that already. "I've known for a long time and I'm comfortable with it, even though I'm happy for the rest of the team to assume otherwise. JJ, I have always assumed you were straight and, as far as I know, you are. The thought of being with me probably doesn't do anything for you and that's honestly fine. It's not why I'm here. I didn't come because I thought I could make you choose me over Will. I just wanted you to know that he hasn't got to me. The way he shows you off at the same time as putting you down—you deserve more than that. I could watch you marry a man you loved and who treated you well but you do, you genuinely do, deserve better than Will LaMontagne."

"How do I do it, Em? With the baby on the way, how do I tell him?" I swallowed tightly. "He's going to guilt trip me and make it about what's best for the baby. It's his child too."

My voice wavered and Emily took my hand. The seriousness of her gaze told me I wasn't supposed to read into the gesture, just take comfort from it. And I did. How was it she made me feel like everything was going to be okay?

"Remember who you are, Jayj," she told me gently. "You are strong and intelligent and independent and even though Will does everything he can to make you feel like you owe him or you need him, you don't. And I know you don't want your child growing up believing that how Will treats you is how a woman is supposed to be treated by her husband." She paused then, like she was tossing up on whether or not to say what came next: "JJ, I wish I could..."

"You wish you could show me how you think I deserve to be treated," I finished when she cut herself off.

"…How you do deserve to be treated, JJ."

I knew it was taking a lot for her not to break eye contact. She'd promised not to run away if I looked too deeply into her. Although she didn't do it easily, she was already showing me that she could let me in without shutting down. She was serious.

I used the hand that still held mine to pull Emily towards me and test a gentle kiss against her lips. Her mouth was soft against mine—smooth and pliant and nothing like Will's. She didn't push but she brought her free hand up into my hair and closed her eyes and somehow it was so touching that I forgot to close my own eyes for several moments. I just wanted to watch her.

I felt goosebumps on her arms as I ran a hand down her bicep. She'd already removed the blouse she wore earlier in the day and had arrived at my door in a tight red tank top that I'd given more than a passing glance since then. I could do this, I realised. I could fall in love with her if I let myself. I already loved her. And I wanted her... God, did I want her.

The realisation sent a surge of heightened emotion through me and I deepened our kiss, leaning in further and slipping my tongue out to press between her lips. Emily sighed as she opened her mouth to me and her hand in my hair slid down to brace against my neck and pull me in tighter.

Then, just as quickly, she pulled back. I opened my eyes to find hers wide and searching. I knew she was hesitant to ask but the question was clear in those dark eyes: Why?

I didn't know how to answer. All I knew was that I wanted to keep kissing her and that Will knocking on the door was the very last thing I wanted to hear just then.

It was his stupidly entitled let-me-in-right-now knock and there was no doubting it. I gave Emily a desperate look but her face had clouded over, her usual mask firmly in place. Without revealing anything, she ran her fingers through my hair, not to tease me but to straighten it out. So Will wouldn't be able to tell what we'd been up to. There was a subtle smudge of lipstick around Emily's lips and I raised a hand to remove it.

"You'd better answer him," she told me and it almost broke my heart.

Why should I? Why couldn't I just stay here with Emily, safe behind this locked door, and never come out? I knew it wasn't fair. Will may not have respected me but I still felt like I owed him an explanation. I at least owed him the courtesy of opening the door... But could I sleep pressed up against him tonight after kissing Emily? What if he tried to kiss me? The thought sent a wave of nausea crashing over me. How did I think I could even possibly marry this man?

"Did you have a good night?" I asked him dutifully as I opened the door. I could've smacked myself then. Suddenly I was self-conscious about how I acted around Will and I wished Emily weren't here to see.

Will took one look at me and then looked around. Finding only Emily in the room, his tension lessened a bit. Maybe he would've suspected something more if it were Morgan or Reid sitting on my bed. "Agent Prentiss," he drawled. "Something the matter?"

"Not at all," Emily replied. "We were just having a bit of a girly chat." She climbed elegantly to her feet and pressed her hand against the small of my back as she farewelled me. "I'll see you later, Jayj," she told me firmly.

"Bye!" I nearly squeaked but by then she had slipped past us into the hallway.