I really wish I had been able to get this chapter up faster, but unfortunately things have been crazy busy! Doing my best to keep this going! Please be patient! And I hope you enjoy!
-J
Chapter 4
After talking to Alex on the phone, JJ had taken a shower before getting into bed, willing herself to fall asleep quickly, knowing the team would be able to tell if she didn't get enough sleep. With her mind filled with thoughts of Emily and Will and the baby though, the blonde struggled to turn her mind off; tossing and turning for over an hour before eventually falling into a restless sleep.
Knowing Hotch wanted to get an early start the next morning, JJ had set her alarm for 6:00am, taking her time getting ready, feeling sluggish and wishing she could have a cup of coffee to give her the boost she needed on such an early morning. She was almost finished getting ready when her cell phone dinged, alerting her to a text from Morgan telling her they were meeting downstairs in 30 minutes. Having some extra time, JJ decided to turn on the TV, searching for a news station so she could see what they were saying about the latest shooting. She watched for 15 minutes, before finally shutting off the TV, not learning anything significant from the broadcast.
"Hey where's everybody else?" JJ asked when she got down to the hotel lobby, finding only Morgan waiting for her. "You said half an hour right? Are we early?"
"No actually the guys already left," Morgan replied, handing JJ a to-go cup filled with hot chocolate, which she accepted with a smile. "I volunteered to wait for you," he explained as they both began to head towards the exit and out towards the waiting SUV.
"So how'd it go last night? Did you guys find anything?" JJ asked as she climbed into the SUV.
"Well Garcia has gotten us everything she could find on all of our victims and we've been going through it with a fine-tooth comb, but it's just still not making any sense," Morgan replied shaking his head. "We have family of our new victims coming in first thing this morning, but even Hotch doubts it will do us any good," he explained. "We're obviously missing something. I mean this guy has to be doing all of this for a reason, but we just can't seem to figure it out. Even Pretty Boy is stumped."
"Well hopefully today's interviews shed some light on that," JJ said. "I'm sure we'll figure it out. I mean the pieces always come together eventually."
"Yeah, I just hope they come together before even more people have to die," Morgan said, both Agents falling silent as they thought about the potential of even more lost lives. "You know I didn't get to a chance to talk to you last night before you left," Morgan eventually broke the silence, sounding slightly awkward as he chanced a glance towards the blonde. "It seemed like I interrupted something with you and LaMontagne yesterday. Everything's alright, right?"
"Oh…yeah," JJ replied hesitantly. "I was just a little upset after talking to Melanie Richards' husband and I just needed a minute. I didn't realize Will was in the break room until I was already in there," she explained. "He was just talking me off the ledge so to speak, when you walked in."
"Ah right," Morgan nodded, hesitating another moment as he considered his next question. "So how's everything going with you and him anyways?" He asked carefully.
"I don't know," JJ shrugged with a sigh. "I mean we haven't exactly had a chance to talk about things given everything that's been going on."
"But you guys are going to?"
"That's the plan," JJ replied, watching as Morgan simply nodded in reply, looking as if he was holding something back. "Go ahead and just ask it Derek," the blonde eventually sighed, having a pretty good idea why the Profiler looked worried.
"You're not…I mean there's no…." Morgan stuttered, unsure how to word what he wanted to ask. "There's no chance that you'd…"
"I have no interest in getting back together with Will," JJ finally interrupted, unable to watch Morgan stumbling over his words. "The only reason I'm even allowing Will the chance to talk about all this is because my son deserves to know his father if that's what he wants," she explained. "If Will wants to be in the baby's life then I'll give him that chance, but I love Emily, Derek," she said. "And I love Alex. They're my family and nothing is going to change that."
"Good," Morgan smiled, pulling into the precinct parking lot. "I'm sorry I had to ask," he then said looking serious. "I know it's none of my business, but Em's my best friend. I'm just looking out."
"I know," JJ replied with a smile. "I get it, but you don't have anything to worry about."
"Okay then," Morgan said, as they both got out of the car. "Then let's get to work."
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Emily was bored. After waking up early and seeing Alex off to catch the bus for school with Spencer, the brunette made herself a pot of coffee, grabbing a bagel and plopping down on the couch where she could watch the morning talk shows. Sinking back into the couch, Emily smiled as Sergio jumped up beside her, scratching the cat's head as she absentmindedly stared at the TV, wishing she could at least go into the office to work the case with Garcia. Still needing a psych evaluation, as well as medical clearance, Emily knew Hotch would immediately have her sent home, fairly certain that Garcia was under strict orders from JJ to tell them if the brunette tried to come back to work too early.
"God this is going to be the longest day ever," Emily sighed, still scratching Sergio's head as she leaned her own head back against the back of the couch. "I have no idea how to do this. I should have forced Alex to stay home," she practically whined, Sergio turning his head towards her briefly before turning away again, uninterested. "Thanks for the support buddy," she said before groaning in frustration, which immediately scared Sergio away.
Unable to even busy herself with cleaning since she was still stuck in her sling, Emily picked up her phone, deciding to do something she wouldn't normally do; scrolling through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for. Bringing the phone to her ear, the brunette listened as the phone began to ring.
"Emily?" Elizabeth Prentiss' voice answered after only a few rings.
"Mother, hi," Emily replied, trying to sound normal even though she knew it wasn't common for her to call her mother out of the blue for no reason, even though they had been getting along well since Elizabeth had found out about Alex. "How are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, just at the office for a couple of hours," Elizabeth explained. "Shouldn't you be at work as well?"
Silently cursing herself Emily immediately realized her mistake, having not called her mother to tell her about the shooting. "Oh well actually I uh…I had to take a few days off due to an injury," Emily replied hesitantly, knowing her mother wasn't going to accept such a vague explanation.
"Injury? What injury? What happened?" Elizabeth asked, the concern evident in her voice, something, which truthfully surprised Emily, not used to her mother worrying about her.
"Well I was…I'm fine," Emily began to explain. "But I was shot last week. It was just in the shoulder, so I'm fine really, but I have to wear a sling for about a week, and like I said I'm off work for a bit, but I'm really okay," she repeated. "Sorry, I should have told you earlier, everything has just been so hectic."
"I guess I can understand that," Elizabeth replied quietly. "I'm glad you're okay though," she said. "How are Alex and Jennifer doing?"
"They're good," Emily replied, glad her mother wasn't giving her a hard time. "Alex was a little shaken up about everything, but she's doing okay and Jen is great. The baby is doing well. She's been a little tired but she's managing," she explained. "She's actually in New Orleans on a case."
"Ah so let me guess you're already going stir crazy?" Elizabeth said, a joking tone in her voice.
"Completely," Emily laughed. "I'm a Prentiss. I don't know how to sit around and not work. I mean the longest I've spent away from work was when Alex first moved here and that only worked because I was so busy with Alex. Now she's at school and she's only been gone for like an hour and the quiet is already getting to me."
"Of course it is," Elizabeth replied with a chuckle. "You always did have a hard time sitting still, and you were never one to simply sit around," she said. "But perhaps some rest would do you some good given what you've been through."
"So Jennifer and Alex keep telling me," Emily sighed. "I will do my best, but I was thinking that maybe we could grab lunch or something this week since I don't have to work."
"I think that sounds wonderful," Elizabeth replied happily. "Does tomorrow work for you? I can clear my schedule."
"That's perfect," Emily quickly agreed; glad to have something to look forward to outside of appointments. "I have a doctor's appointment in the morning but I can meet you after. Just let me know a time and place."
"I'll do that," Elizabeth replied. "I really have to get going, but I'll talk to you soon."
"Definitely," Emily smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you then Emily."
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"Well my favourite crime fighters I have bad news and good news," Garcia's voice rang through the phone later that day, the whole team gathered together, all looking slightly frustrated.
"What did you find Garcia?" Hotch asked, desperate for something that would lead them to their unsub.
"Well I've been searching every inch of our victims' lives like you asked," Garcia quickly explained. "And unfortunately I can't find any overlap between all 8 of them, which is my bad news."
"What's the good news then Baby Girl?" Morgan questioned, sounding eager.
"Well frustrated by my lack of findings I decided to take a caffeine break," the technical analyst began to explain. "While I was enjoying a large cup of coffee, I started thinking about how you guys would think, and what you would do, so I went back to my babies and I thought, WWDMD."
"WWDMD?" Reid asked sounding confused.
"What Would Derek Morgan Do, of course," Garcia replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So I took another look at our victims, not all 8 at once, but each one individually and that's when I noticed something interesting. Our first two victims were a man and a woman, both in their thirties and both in pretty successful jobs. And as I was reading through their histories for the second time I realized that it sounded familiar."
"Victims 5 and 6," Reid exclaimed, rifling through the files on the desk. "Gabe Marges and Katrina Thompson. Both in their early 30s," he explained. "Gabe was an electrician and Katrina was a nurse. Katrina was even recently married just like Melanie Richards."
"Garcia what about our other victims? Is there a similar pattern?" Hotch asked, turning to their murder board, observing the photos of their other four victims, everyone immediately seeing the similarities between them.
"Victims 3 and 7 and 4 and 8 are practically mirror images of eachother, just like the other 4," Garcia revealed excitedly. "That's helpful right? I mean it's something?"
"It's definitely something," Rossi agreed, as the rest of the team reopened their files, looking at their victims in a new light.
"So our unsub is killing people who remind him of 4 people in his life?" JJ asked as the profilers nodded, eyes still scanning their files. "That helps us with who he's going to target, but how do we figure out where he is going to hit next?"
"That's what we have to figure out," Hotch replied seriously. "And with all these potential targets, it's not going to be easy," he said, turning his attention to the map Reid had been working with. "Let's get to work."
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"Ugh I can't believe how much math homework we got," Alex groaned as she and Spencer got off the school bus, immediately beginning their short walk towards their houses. "It's going to take all night."
"Oh please you'll have it done in like an hour," Spencer scoffed. "You're like a math genius. Plus at least you don't have to write a history paper too," she complained. "I only have till Friday and I haven't even started."
"Yeah I so don't miss that class," Alex laughed, speeding up as Spencer gave her a playful shove; their houses now in view.
"Hey whose car is that?" Spencer asked, as she rushed to catch up with Alex, pointing to the black car sitting in front of Spencer's house.
"I don't know," Alex shrugged. "One of the neighbour's maybe?"
"It was sitting there this morning too," Spencer, said, Alex's stomach immediately dropping. "And I've never seen it before today. The windows are so dark. Do you think there's someone in there?"
"Are you sure it was there this morning?" Alex asked worriedly, not remembering seeing it.
"Yeah I noticed it when I was waiting for you to come out," Spencer replied. "Really didn't think anything of it then though."
"Come home with me," Alex said suddenly, grabbing the taller brunette's hand and pulling her towards her house.
"What? Why?"
"Because we live in a gated community," Alex replied, picking up her pace. "That car shouldn't be there. I'm not letting you go home by yourself when no one's home. We have to tell my mom," she explained. "Come on," she said, continuing to pull Spencer along. "Mom," she called as soon as they were in the house. "Mom!"
"I'm right here," Emily called, coming towards the front door from down the hall. "What's going on? Oh hi Spencer."
"There's a car sitting in front of Spencer's house," Alex blurted out, before Spencer could greet her mother. "Spencer said it was there this morning too," she said, seeing the worry in her mother's eyes as Emily moved to look out the front window to see for herself. "I think someone's in there," she said, her voice sounding worried.
Without saying a word, Emily moved to the table that sat in the foyer, opening up a drawer and pulling out her gun, immediately sticking it in the back of her pants before turning back towards Alex and Spencer, both of whom were watching her with wide, worried eyes.
"Mom?"
"Listen to me, you need to stay in here okay?" Emily said, pulling off her sling and dropping it on the table. "I want you to lock the door behind me and don't open it until I get back."
"But…"
"If anything happens you call 911 and you stay inside, do you hear me?" Emily asked, as Alex stared back at her in disbelief.
"Mom you…"
"Alex, do you understand?" Emily repeated, standing in front of the teen, a stern look on her face.
"I understand," Alex replied quietly, Emily reaching out and giving her hand a quick squeeze before making her way out the door, listening for the click of the lock behind her before heading towards the dark sedan sitting in front of the Hastings' house; a look of determination on her face.
Now out on the street, Emily pulled her gun from behind her, holding it firmly in front of her with her good arm. "Get out of the car," she yelled, positive that someone was sitting in the vehicle. "Come out with her hands up, right now!" She called again, the door to the car, opening, as two arms came out before a man who looked to be in his early forties stood up, revealing himself completely.
"Agent Prentiss," he said, Emily freezing in the middle of the street, her gun trained on the man, who still stood behind the car door.
"How do you know my name?" She asked, relieved to see that it was not Isaac Parrilla in the car, but still feeling uneasy. "Step out where I can see you," she demanded. "Slowly."
"Agent Prentiss this is all a misunderstanding," the man said, slowly moving so he stood away from his vehicle. "My name is Agent Marcs," he said. "My badge is in the right hand pocket of my jacket. I'm going to take it out to show you," he said, slowly moving his hand, watching as Emily's gun remained at the ready.
Still confused, Emily kept her stance, allowing the man to reach into his pocket, but ready in case he tried to pull a fast one on her. When the man pulled his hand out of his pocket though, it wasn't to reveal a gun, but rather a wallet containing a badge much like her own. "See FBI," he said. "Do you think you could put that gun down now?"
"What the hell are you doing outside my house?" Emily demanded, not bothering to put her gun away.
"I was assigned to watch your house," Marcs replied calmly. "With Parrilla still out there I was told to watch the house for any suspicious activity," he explained. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you."
"Who assigned you to my house?" Emily asked, ignoring the man's apology.
"Agent Hotchner," Marcs replied, surprised when Emily immediately turned around, putting her gun back into the back of her pants and pulling out her cell phone; angrily hitting Hotch's speed dial as she made her way back towards her house.
"Hotchner," Hotch's voice greeted, obviously not having checked his caller-id.
"Call off your guy right now," Emily said, skipping the greeting.
"Prentiss?" Hotch replied in confusion, not immediately understanding.
"The guy sitting in front of my house Hotch," Emily said. "The one you assigned to babysit me. Call him off right now."
"Emily…"
"I'm a grown woman Hotch," Emily interrupted angrily. "Not to mention a Federal Agent. I can take care of myself," she said. "Call him off," she repeated, before hanging up, trying to calm herself down as she made her way back to the front door, watching as Alex head peaked through the window, the teen immediately moving to unlock the door when she saw Emily coming.
"What's going on?" Alex asked, the fear evident in her voice.
"Everything's fine," Emily sighed, knowing she would have to tell Alex the truth now. "It was just a misunderstanding. Everything is fine," she assured the teen.
"Who was that?" Alex asked, determination in her voice.
"It was…" Emily began, hesitating slightly. "Spencer, hun, maybe you should head home. Alex and I need to talk," she said, not wanting to scare the other teen.
"Yeah okay," Spencer replied, turning towards Alex. "I'll uh…I'll call you later," she said before making her way out the door.
"What's going on?" Alex demanded, turning towards Emily, crossing her arms in front of her. "Who was that?"
"It was another Agent," Emily replied with a sigh. "He was assigned to watch the house. Hotch assigned him to watch our house while the team's away."
"Why?"
"Because of Isaac Parrilla," Emily replied, knowing she couldn't lie to the teen, or keep anything else from her. "The man who shot me…"
"I know who he is," Alex interrupted, having heard about it on the news. "And I know you guys didn't catch him," she said. "But why is that guy watching our house?"
"We aren't really sure what Parrilla's next move will be," Emily explained, biting her lip. "I ruined his plans when I saved Grace Porter and he's probably angry about that."
"So Hotch thinks he's going to come after you again?" Alex asked, her eyes widening with worry.
"I don't know," Emily sighed. "He could. Or he could go after Grace again, or…"
"Or he could come after me," Alex finished, her voice deflating, not needing her mother's affirmation to know it was true.
"We have no reason to believe that Parrilla even knows about you," Emily quickly intervened. "But if he found out…there's a chance that he could," she stuttered, hating the worry in her daughter's eyes. "I'm not going to let that happen though. The team is going to find him."
"Why didn't you tell me all this in the first place?" Alex asked, the fear in her voice replaced with anger. "I asked you what was going on. Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I didn't want to worry you."
"I'm not a little kid," Alex said, irritatedly. "You could have told me. You should have told me. I shouldn't have to hear things on the news. You didn't tell me when you were worried because I looked like all those girls Parrilla killed, and you didn't tell me that you guys didn't catch him and you didn't tell me you were worried about all of this either."
"Alex…" Emily tried to interrupt, hating that the teen was so angry; Alex immediately cutting her off again.
"What's going on with New Orleans?" She asked, knowing her mother was still keeping something from her.
"Honey," Emily sighed, not wanting to get into everything about Will right now. "It's not…"
"You know what, just forget it,' Alex snapped seeing her mother beginning to form an excuse. "Just forget it," she repeated, before grabbing her backpack off the floor and running up the stairs.
"Great," Emily groaned rubbing her head in frustration, feeling a headache coming on. "Just great," she muttered, knowing she had really messed up.
