Title: Vows
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Emily/JJ, Emily/Will
Rating: PG
Summary: The best day can also be the worst.
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds doesn't belong to me.

“In the presence of God and these our Friends,”

Emily shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked at the floor. The linoleum was spotless, devoid even of an interesting pattern, but compared to the alternative, boring was a blessing. Her mother wouldn’t approve of such a display and that was enough to make her lift her head. There were so many things about this situation that her mother wouldn’t approve of and nothing she could do about any of them.

“I take thee to be my husband,”

JJ was sitting up in her hospital bed, looking at nothing but Will. They wouldn’t be exchanging rings today, just vows; the skin on her hands was still too fragile. Her doctors were worried that the metal might rip it apart just as it was healing. JJ had told her that they would worry about that later, once she was out of the hospital, once everything was back to normal. It had taken all of her willpower not to wipe away the tears in JJ’s eyes, to let Will do it instead. And then JJ looked at her with those still bright eyes and asked her if she would be a witness, officially.

“promising with Divine assistance to be unto thee”

Of course she had said yes. There was no other answer, no diplomatic way to extract herself. Weddings didn’t have contentious objectors. So she had said yes to the wrong question knowing that she would never be able to ask the one she wanted. She would never get the answer she wanted. Marriage is a lifelong union and not to be entered into lightly. Memories superimposed themselves over the current proceedings and she had to remind herself that spontaneity and frivolity were not the same thing.

“a loving and faithful wife”

Certain that her attention wouldn’t be missed, Emily looked down at her own hands. There were times when they were all waiting in the hospital, waiting for news, for anything to inspire hope, that she could have sworn she felt the ghost of JJ’s skin underneath them. The sensation stayed with her when she was first allowed into the ICU, separated from JJ by the layers of protocol designed to keep her new skin sterile. The isolation was over, supplanted by layers and layers of bandages white enough to replace the dress that JJ didn’t have. Emily wrapped her hands around the cold metal of the hospital bed railing.

“as long as we both shall live.”

Emily looked back up as JJ finished her vows. JJ’s eyes confidently moved from Will to the Chaplain to her parents and then finally to Emily. Emily wondered just how much JJ could see, how much she knew, and she smiled. A tear, her first, slowly traced down her cheek.