An Alternate Ending to “Truth or Dare” or, “How Not to Entirely Fuck Up 14 Seasons of Your Show in Three Minutes”
JJ confesses her love. We cut to commercial. When we return, JJ and Reid are being treated by the medics. JJ looks nervously at him, they share a stolen glance, and she leaves her conversation with Rossi to talk to him. She looks nervous.
“Spence, about what I said-”
Reid cuts her off. “JJ, I know.” He grins. “I told you, you have a tell. You may have won at the roundtable, but you have a terrible poker face in the field.”
They laugh, and she smiles. “Ankle holster? Textbook Hotch move. He would’ve been proud of you.”
We fast forward to the wedding. There are no weird stolen glances when Emily mentions “twin flames” because we’re not here for that shit. Instead, everyone is happily spending time with their partners, and those who are single (namely Emily, Tara, and Garcia) are taking shots. It’s an all-around good time.
JJ catches Reid looking wistfully at the couples dancing during the slow song, and she briefly steps away from Will join him at the bar.
[Instead of “All of the Love in the World” Lily Kershaw’s other song “Darker Things”plays in the background as she walks over: I worry bout you at night / cause when the moon comes out all your demons come to life / and you say you hate the way your mind makes you feel about / all the things that hurt in your life, I feel you now, I can feel you]
“You know, I did mean it, what I said back there,” she tells him. He looks at her curiously. “I’ve always loved you - you’re my best friend. The brother I never had. The best partner I could ask for. And the best godfather to Henry and Michael. I love because you’re kind and you’re brave and you’re brilliant.”
[Don’t cry my one / we’ve only got so much time under the sun]
Reid gives one of those kind of sad-looking smiles as she continues, like he’s trying not to cry. “We all love you. And someday someone is going to see all of that in you and more - and love you in a way that’s so much more than any of us ever could.”
[Don’t cry my dear / we’ve only got so much time here]
He takes a deep breath, nodding. After a moment, he asks “Truth or dare?”
“Do you think it would be easier to find that if I left the BAU?”
She exhales. “To be honest, I don’t know. I mean, Emily and I met our partners through work - Rossi somehow got lucky. I think this job makes it harder. We don’t always get a lot of happy endings. But if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s you.” Then she asks, “Truth or dare?”
“I dare you to let the team set you up on a date with someone.”
“What?” he splutters. “No, absolutely not I ch-”
“Just one date,” JJ insists. “With all of us working together, how bad could it be? Emily said twin flames can’t be kept apart. Let us try to give you a little nudge in the right direction.”
“I…” JJ raises her eyebrows, smirking, and Reid sighs in defeat. “Okay. Fine. One date.”
She pumps her fist in mock victory. Then catches Will’s eye - she smiles at him, and Reid nods towards him, giving her permission to exit their conversation. She does, and he goes to dance with Garcia.
[ “Darker Things” finishes playing as we see a wide shot of the team dancing together: Don’t cry my one / we’v only got so much time under the sun / don’t cry my dear / we’ve only got so much time here.]
The scene fades to black and the credits roll.
stormborns
2087
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
