Re-uploaded, I apologise for not noticing the upload corrupted sooner.
Emily sighed to herself, her fingers drumming on the small plane table in front of her steadily. The tapping was quite, to the point where Emily had to strain to hear to sound of her nails scratching against the plastic over the constant hum of the plane engines. It wasn't often that she felt the need to outwardly express her anxiety or worry over a situation, but after the brief confrontation, the group had with JJ in the bullpen following the blonde's private discussion with Hotch and Strauss it was difficult not to. It was hard not to notice the observant dark eyes of Morgan watching from her right, or the troubled dazed expression that overcame Reid's natural puppy-dog look and in an effort to distance herself from the mutual feelings of unrest Emily cast her eyes out of the window to stare at the sea of clouds they lazily streamed through.
"I'll just be right back, I need the bathroom." Spencer murmured, gathering up his eccentric long coat as he stood from his chair before striding off down the aisle toward the occupied bathroom. Emily watched with mild interest as he went, eyeing the bathroom door as it opened and JJ emerged. Her hair wasn't quite as perfect as it had been several minutes before, it looked almost as if she had been crying. Emily's heart clenched in a rather unfamiliar way and she frowned as her teammate moved to seat herself across from Hotch where the two began a hushed conversation.
"You're worried about her, aren't you," Derek observed, one dark-skinned hand reaching to push the remaining headphone away from his ear. He fiddled with a small old-fashioned mp3 player for a moment before turning to face her, one corner of his mouth quirked upwards in an almost teasing manner.
"Aren't you? I just wonder if we should do something."
"Before it's too late, you mean?" Derek asked quietly, unknowingly completing Emily's original version of the sentence.
"If there's one thing I know, you should always stick with your gut." Rossi quipped absentmindedly. He sat in the aisle opposite them on his own with several papers scattered around him. It appeared as if he was only half tuned into the conversation, clearly engrossed in the handwritten notes that littered his table.
Emily went quiet for a moment, her hand idly passing over her copy of their current case file. It wasn't a usual case for them by any means, a girl went missing after being seen leaving a club with two younger men, both of whom claim everything that happened was consensual and that they didn't murder the poor girl. The window for the probability of the girl still being alive grew smaller with every passing hour and the team would have to pull out all the stops to try and find this girl alive.
"So what is the situation like at the local PD?!" Emily asked, making sure she raised her voice enough to be heard by everyone including Spencer, who returned from the bathroom as she finished her question and promptly placed himself across from Morgan.
"Kate Joyce's parents are still at the station, they've refused to leave since yesterday when the suspects where detained. When we touch down JJ will be going to them, we need to keep an eye on them and if possible have them move to a hotel or their home." Hotch responded, his chair turning to show his open body language to the group, indicating he was fully involved in the conversation at hand.
"Having the parents and our suspects at the station at the same time could provide some insight for us through their interactions as well though." Rossi pointed out, the papers held loosely in his hands falling neatly onto the table as he too engaged himself in the conversation.
"Yes, our suspects are being detained in a spare cell so there will likely be a moment of interaction between the parents and the boys. We might be able to see some emotion from them that will indicate their guilt, then we could use that to further our interrogations. We can't force anything though, David." Aaron met eyes with Rossi for a moment and the two nodded in agreement. "So, Prentiss I want you and Morgan to interrogate Syd Pearson, Rossi and I will work on Jim Barrett while Reid looks at the geographical side of things. We'll need Garcia looking into everything about these two young men as well." He closed his case files and shot JJ a subtle but meaningful look, which was likely meant to go unnoticed by the others but Emily picked up on it immediately and suspected Morgan had as well.
"I'll let Garcia know." Emily offered, sliding her sleek new phone from the front pocket of her black work trousers. The anxieties that came with the choices Emily had made over the years came and went but regardless of anxieties, it was always hard for her to keep one phone or one number for too long. She passed it off to her friends as like to keep up to date with up and coming technologies, which was something Garcia adored but deep down she was really just terrified of her shadowy past finding a way of catching up to her. She unlocked her phone, passing over her current train of thought with ease and quickly found the long string of texts that made up her conversation with Penelope on this phone which was, incidentally, a lot. Emily typed out a very short and to the point message to Penelope, which was the only way the bubbly blonde would understand the stoic profiler meant business, while the rest of the team chattered idly about the case in the background. Biting her lip Emily lingered on her conversation with Garcia, conflicted on whether or not to just text the blonde now and save herself the trouble of waiting around anxiously doing nothing until they touched down but the need for privacy during that particular conversation overrode her desire to unleash the tech hound early and feeling eyes on her Emily slid the phone back into her pocket, composing her features for the rest of her group. She was both surprised and yet unsurprised at the same time to find JJ's eyes on her, the relationship they had together was one Emily considered to be completely unique, wonderful even and she had always felt some sort of underlying magnetism between herself and the blonde. At the same time, JJ's blue eyes had avoided Emily's with a tenacity she had never seen before and to find her almost openly staring at that particular moment seemed incredibly unlikely.
Emily was broken from her thoughts by the changing of pressure in the cabin as the jet began it's decent and without a second thought she clipped the seatbelt into its holster and ensured its security in preparation for landing. To her left, she could see the runway as they circled around the airport. It took a few moments for the pilot to line the plane up with the runway but it felt like only moments after that that the tires touched down on the smooth asphalt with only a slight bump before rolling to a stop a few moments later. It was all hands on deck after that, Emily waited for Morgan to stand up and retrieve his go bag before standing up herself. She was pleasantly surprised to find the dark-eyed agent offering her own go bag to her once she finished righting her white blouse which had become twisted beneath her favourite blazer.
"Why thank you, Derek. What's got you acting so chivalrous?" Emily asked, eyeing him with feigned concern as she graciously accepted the offered bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"Remember what you said before? You and I both know you'll be the one to tell Garcia, you can't help yourself because there's something between you and JJ that you haven't been able to explore yet." Morgan smirked smugly as Emily glanced around fervently to check for the blonde. "Everyone's waiting outside, Em, don't worry." He added, his smirk growing slightly as he meandered off towards the open door.
Emily grumbled to herself for a moment, slightly ruffled at her friend's gentle ribbing but followed nonetheless. When she emerged from the plane her team were already waiting by the government issued SUV's and she set off to join them, her small heels clacking against the metal steps before becoming muffled by the asphalt as she stalked over to stand side by side with Morgan and Reid who both towered over her. Emily straightened her posture a little, eyeing the shadows stretching across the grey-black asphalt in the dry early evening sunlight.
"Three to a car so David and JJ you're with me, let's get moving," Hotch ordered, swinging open the driver's side door of the SUV closest to him moments later to throw his go bag inside before turning to gesture to the rest of the team. Taking the hint, Emily strode over to the remaining car and situated herself in the front passenger side with her bag at her feet allowing Derek to clamber into the driver's side and Spencer to lounge about in the back with plenty of leg room.
"Now who's being chivalrous?" Morgan questioned, raising an eyebrow at the lack of fight over who got to drive. A moment later he was throwing his go back over his shoulder into the empty seat beside Reid and belting himself in, not wanting to lose sight of the other half of the team.
"I just figured I'd let you drive this time Derek, you won't be able to fight me when I want to drive later this way," Emily responded with a half smile, enjoying the chuckle that erupted from Morgan's chest at the thought. In the rearview mirror, Emily could see Reid smiling quietly to himself, watching the scenery passing by through the tinted back window. There was something innately more reserved about the young doctor in recent weeks and Emily couldn't help but worry about him, though she knew he was incredibly smart even considered a genius that didn't mean he couldn't go through troubling times and she secretly hoped he found it in him to talk to someone about whatever he was going through.
"Gotta love Florida, shades and party weather if you know what I mean," Morgan commented, smiling at the groups of people out and about in the nice weather. In truth, if it weren't for work Emily more often than not avoided places like Atlantic Beach with its masses of tourism being one of many vacation hotspots. When it came to her personal preferences mild weather and less crowded areas were perfect and coming to places similar to where they were aroused more anxieties for her to label and file away in the compartmentalization filing cabinets of her mind.
"It's not for everyone." She noted as the SUV rolled to a stop in one of the remaining parking spaces set aside for local police department employees. "Looks like it might be a little crowded."
"Fun fact, the weather station at Jacksonville Beach actually recorded an average of 50.9 inches of annual precipitation which is actually 10.2 inches more than was recorded in Quantico," Spencer said, gripping the strip of his brown leather messenger bag with his left hand as he trailed slightly behind. Emily allowed her eyebrows to rise slightly at the small factoid while hiding a snigger caused by the light joking that immediately burst forth from Morgan. Derek could never resist the temptation to poke a little fun at Spencer's vast sea of facts he kept filed away in that eidetic brain of his.
"Now now children." Emily barked, farther adding to the little joke they had going on. Spencer's almost squealing giggle and Derek's face as he attempted to contain his laughter proved too much for the stoic brunette and with a moment of internal disappointment Emily let out a laugh, just as the group entered the department through the employee door. A second after the small slip she had her face once again composed and began to analyse the room. Rossi and Hotch were conversing with the local police chief to the side of a closed room. Emily squinted, straining her eyes to peer through the blinds on the other side of the glass. She could make out blonde hair and a neat white blouse which she immediately recognised as belonging to JJ. She could barely make out the parents of the missing girl a few feet away through the next section of glass.
"See this is what happens when you drive Derek, how did they get this far ahead?" Emily asked, leading the group slowly around the cluster of desks that occupied the middle of the room. Many desks were occupied with men and women of the police force all working hard on one thing or another be it computers or phone calls. It appeared as if the department were experiencing a flurry of activity, explaining the near full employee car park outside.
"Oh don't even go there, princess! Hotch managed to skate right through that red light and it changed before I could go through you know that!" Derek huffed, a slight pout working its way into his features. Emily rolled her eyes and smiled playfully at the man's antics, where it not for how different the two looked Emily was sure people might think they were brother and sister the way they acted around one another. Not that Emily minded at all, being an only child it as somewhat of a godsend to find someone willing to take up the role of honorary sibling and Morgan took up the role with extreme ease whether it was because of the way the two just clicked or because the man had a predisposition for acting brotherly towards women he grew close to Emily couldn't say but all in all she was quite happy with the situation.
Seeing the tiny amount of frustration showing through in Morgan's speech Emily couldn't help herself, with a pointed look at the man she turned to Spencer and shared a smile before badly hiding her mouth behind her hand and pretending to mouth something to the somewhat bemused doctor, who caught on rather quickly and pulled off a rather convincing fake giggle which he promptly stifled with his hand.
"What are you saying about me that's so funny?" Morgan asked, pouting fully now which looked rather odd on the large, well-built man.
"Not now Derek, we have to work!" Emily teased, her smile turning devilish as she practically watched the frustration grow on the man's face.
"I know your game, you two. I'm onto you, you just want to get me all worked up about nothing."
"Maybe." Spencer murmured, his eyes sparkling mischievously. It was nice to see a more playful side of the lanky, loveable dork and Emily felt almost compelled to rise this reaction from the young man more often.
"There you are, detective Mathius this is the rest of my team. Meet agents Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan and Doctor Spencer Reid." Hotch said in way of greeting, he waved at them as if to motion them closer, one sleeve of his black suit jacket riding up over the white cuff of his shirt as he did so and flashed them all a small strained smile. Emily, Derek and Spencer each shared a concerned look with one another at the strain behind the small gesture but complied nonetheless.
"It's nice to meet you, I only wish it were under better circumstances," Emily stated, taking the greying detectives offered hand in a firm shake. The brown suit and tie combination over a very faded pink dress shirt looked much more tired and weary in comparison to the stark cleanliness of Hotch's suit and Emily wondered for a moment what life troubles detective Mathius might be going through at that point in time. The wrinkled and dishevelled look of his clothes indicated that he probably hadn't changed in a day or so and Emily concluded the poor man might be too engaged with his work.
"Of course, thank you all for coming out again. I'll have a couple of my officers bring through the suspects for you to question. I was just telling your companions we've tried everything we can think of when it comes to questioning those two. Hopeful your team will have better luck." He gave them a tired smile after shaking hands with both Reid and Morgan as well respectively then headed over to a group of three officers before leading them from the room.
"We have less than twelve hours to find out what they did with her," Rossi stated, eyeing the doorway the group of men had just left through with an unreadable expression. Emily sighed to herself softly, her eyes passing over the windows of the closed room JJ and Kate's parents were set up in in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the blonde haired woman. Much to her disappointment, her searching eyes couldn't find her friend, though they passed over the figure of a tall man, Jeff Joyce, distorted slightly by the slats of the blinds. His tired eyes peered out through one of the various gaps, surveying the room outside with vague disinterest.
"And here they come," Morgan said, his intonation flat. Emily whirled around in time to see the door flap shut behind the two men now being walked across the room. The first young man, Syd Pearson, strutted with his arms held behind his back and his head held high, a smug smile plastered over his overly-average features. He exuded confidence and it was easy to tell from one look at them that he likely lead the team. His posture and overall general appearance screamed obnoxious but he likely had a decent enough amount of intelligence, it seemed likely they would find him out to be the orchestrator. Emily shared a look with Derek, who watched their shared suspect with a raised brow and unimpressed expression. His lips were pulled into a taught line as his eyes scanned over the two. Syd's friend, Jim, who followed behind gave off the aura of someone far more reserved. He kept his eyes close to the floor and allowed himself to be led, even going as far as to make himself look smaller by shrinking into himself slightly.
Beside them the door of the room JJ and Kate's parents had been residing in flew open and Jeff Joyce came charging out, yelling almost unintelligibly about his daughter and how the two young men had abused her. Out of the corner of her eye Emily spotted the out of place misshapen metal slats of the blinds, bent by the angry hand of Kate's father as he watched the boys being brought out. Syd flinched away from Jeff and Rossi rushed forward to hold the man back, accompanied by Hotch who observed with a face of stone, willing an inconsistency to show itself. For a moment the briefest flicker of a smile flashed at the corner of Jim's mouth. Emily's eyes narrowed as she watched the boy. The moment was brief and she would have to confer with Morgan before suspecting anything.
"Mr Joyce, please. You and your wife are fatigued, I really think it would be best if you took the offered hotel room and left for some rest. Or even if you can't sleep, just to get a change of pace from being here for so long. It'll do you a world of good." Jennifer's soft voice came from beside her and as the two men were lead through to separate rooms for questioning Emily allowed her eyes to sweep back around and rest on the blonde haired agent. Mr Joyce didn't respond, only turned and sulked back into the room with slackened shoulders heavy with the weight of their recent trauma. As if sensing Emily's eyes on her, JJ turned to face her, her blues eyes searching for Emily's own dark brown ones and for a moment Emily thought she could see a new emotion shrouded in her clear blue iris's but as soon as she saw it, it was gone and then JJ was flashing her a smile before sauntering off to console Kate's parents once more. The brief interaction left Prentiss with a strange feeling bubbling in her chest and in the pit of her stomach, something she wasn't quite sure how to quell.
After a moment of staring at the door that JJ had closed behind her, Emily shook her head and turned to find the overly smug six foot form of Derek smiling down at her as if she'd just proven the one important point he would ever make. With a sass laced eye roll directed at the dark-eyed agent, Emily motioned towards the holding room with her head. "What approach are we taking with the big guy?"
"Your call Princess, local DP think they've tried everything so they've probably been pretty hard on them so far."
"Maybe we should offer them both a meal? Most people can't eat when they've just murdered someone, based on what I've seen of the two of them this probably started out as just being a sexual thing that went too far I doubt either of them could stomach a murder." Emily offered, sorting through the facts she had about the two boys in her head.
"Sounds like a good place to start, we'll let them sweat and put a bit of heat on them before we let them have the food though." Derek agreed, one hand passing over the vibrating form of the phone in his right pocket.
"Coffee first?"
"Sure."
