Hello My Lovely Readers,

I know this took a little longer than my last update but I'm doing my best! Thanks so much for being patient with me, and I will do my best to update as soon as I can!

Enjoy! -J

Chapter 6

Alex and I talked. Things are good. Heading to the doctors then to lunch with my mother. Call me tonight and stay safe sweetheart. Love you xoxo.

JJ couldn't help but smile, reading the text message from Emily that morning, and as she read it over again later that morning desperate for something happy; it once again brought a smile to her face. The blonde had known that Alex and Emily would make up quickly; the teen simply needing time to cool down before allowing herself to listen to her mother. JJ was still happy to know that the pair had talked though, knowing Emily would have been awake all night with worry if they hadn't.

JJ herself had spent most of the previous night tossing and turning, thoughts of the case, Will, Emily and Alex bouncing around in her head as she unsuccessfully willed herself to shut it off for the night. She knew she needed to rest, but the blonde couldn't help but worry, feeling guilty that the whole thing with Will had caused a fight between Alex and Emily.

Eventually drifting off, JJ had awoken to the message from Emily, smiling and instantly feeling better despite her exhaustion, hoping she would be able to focus on work knowing that Alex and Emily were okay. Arriving at the station though, it didn't take long for the case to begin to take its toll, not only on JJ, but on the rest of the team as well. Frustrated by their lack of progress, the team began snapping at each other; all watching the clock, knowing they were at a constant risk of another shooting.

Needing a moment away, JJ had escaped to the break room to get a water, pulling out her phone in order to text Emily; ending up opening the text from that morning instead, not hearing anyone enter the room as she stood staring at the phone with a goofy grin on her face, until the sound of someone clearing their throat made her jump.

"Oh Will," JJ said, looking up to find the Detective watching her with an amused expression on his face. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Just came to get a refill," he said, holding up his mug before heading over to the coffee machine. "Seems like we keep meeting here."

"We do," JJ replied with a small laugh, not really wanting to think about their last meeting, since she had been upset at the time. "I just needed to get away for a minute. It can get intense in there. Thought I'd just sneak out for a water."

"And to talk to someone special," Will said, nodding his head towards the blonde's cell phone which she was still clutching in her hand tightly.

"Oh..I was…I was just checking my messages," JJ replied, stuffing the object back into her pocket, feeling her cheeks reddening embarrassingly.

"Well you looked so happy when I walked in," Will said. "Must have read something you liked," he pointed out, laughing as he watched JJ's cheeks redden even more. "Sorry you don't have to tell me."

"No, no it's okay," JJ quickly insisted, realizing that Will would have to be told about Emily eventually. "The message was actually from Emily…Prentiss. You remember her right?"

"Oh yeah, I was wondering if she was still a part of the team," Will replied. "How come she's not here?"

"She was shot on our last case," JJ explained. "She's fine. She was hit in the shoulder, so she had to take a little time off to heal. She'll be back with us on the next case I'm sure," she smiled, hesitating for a moment as she considered how to tell the Detective that she was dating her coworker. "Ummm actually…there was something I wanted to tell you about Emily."

"Oh?" Will questioned, the confusion written on his face.

"Uh yeah," JJ said nervously. "Emily is actually...Emily and I are in a relationship," she stuttered. "She's the one I've been seeing…that I told you about."

"Oh," Will replied, obviously not expecting this news as he was basically stunned into silence. "I didn't realize you…I…I didn't know you were…"

"Yeah," JJ interrupted, understanding what the Detective meant. "I've always known I was bisexual, but things with Emily and I…they just sort of happened. I mean she was my best friend, but things just…changed," she explained. "But I thought that you should know since we're….Emily and I, are living together, and she's going to be in this baby's life," she said, placing her hand on her stomach. "And I know that you and I still have to talk about all of that, but I thought you should know."

"Oh…uh, right," Will stuttered, obviously flustered. "Well thank you for telling me that," he said. "And I'm glad that you've obviously found happiness."

"I have," JJ nodded.

"Well good," Will replied, feeling slightly awkward. "I should probably get back to work, but uh…we'll find some time to talk…about everything else."

"Of course," JJ agreed. "I'll see you later," she said, watching as the Detective left the room, sighing, glad she had been honest with Will, but knowing she still had so much more to deal with before returning home.

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"Mother sorry I'm late," Emily greeted Elizabeth later that afternoon, leaning forward to give her mother a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat across from her. "The doctor's office was so behind. My appointment started forty-five minutes later than it was supposed to. I didn't mean to keep you waiting."

"Oh it's no problem," Elizabeth quickly brushed it off as Emily tucked herself into her seat. "How did everything go anyways? Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh yeah I'm fine," Emily replied with a wave of her hand, smiling as their waiter poured her a glass of water. "The doctor said everything looks good. I have to keep it in the sling for a few more days, but I can start trying to work it out."

"Oh good," Elizabeth smiled. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Thanks mom," Emily replied with a big smile, feeling slightly emotional since she was not entirely used to her mother's concern.

Before either brunette could say anything else they were interrupted by their waiter's return, Emily quickly opening up her menu in order to pick out something while Elizabeth placed her order. Settling on a salad, Emily told her waiter her order, watching as he walked away before turning her attention back to her mother.

"So I know you said Jennifer and the baby were doing well but how has she been feeling lately?" Elizabeth asked interestedly. "She's rather far along now. Is she getting nervous?"

"A little," Emily smiled. "But mostly she's excited. We all are," she laughed. "She looks great though and for the most part she's been feeling well too. She's missing coffee and she's sleeping a lot more than usual, but besides that she's great. Definitely getting anxious about meeting the little guy though."

"I bet," Elizabeth grinned. "It's such an exciting time. I know I'm looking forward to meeting my grandson."

"Alex can't wait either," Emily laughed. "It's practically all she talks about. She can't wait to finally have a sibling, says she's going to teach him all of the important things, whatever that means."

"Oh Alexandra is going to be such a wonderful big sister," Elizabeth practically gushed. "She's so great with that little niece of Jennifer's, I just know she'll love having a little brother too."

"Oh definitely."

"Where did you say Jennifer was working this week again?" Elizabeth then asked, bringing up a topic Emily really wasn't anxious to discuss, still hating the fact that she wasn't with the team.

"The team's in New Orleans," Emily replied. "They've been there since Saturday and apparently things aren't going all that great. They're still having a pretty hard time."

"And knowing you, you're having just as hard of a time not being there with them?" Elizabeth asked with a knowing grin.

"You have no idea," Emily laughed. "I'm not used to being away from Jen this much, and I just hate that I'm not there helping the team, especially since this case seems to be so difficult; they could probably use the extra help," she explained. "And then there's…" She began, before cutting herself off.

"There's what?" Elizabeth asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly, Emily biting her lip as she wondered whether or not she should really have this conversation with her mother.

"Well, it's just that the fact that this case is in New Orleans has been a bit of an issue, I guess," Emily replied hesitantly. "Jen's…the baby's father lives in New Orleans. He's a Detective and he's working the case as well."

"You mean the man that has completely ignored the fact that Jennifer is pregnant since she told him?"

"That's the one," Emily replied dryly.

"So I take it Jennifer has spoken to him then? Or is he still ignoring her?" Elizabeth asked, her distaste clear in her voice.

"They've spoken," Emily replied. "Not so much about the baby yet, but they plan on having a discussion about him once the case is finished with."

"Oh well that's…." Elizabeth began to reply, considering her next words carefully. "That's….I'm not actually sure what that is," she finally finished. "How do you feel about all of this?"

"I don't know," Emily sighed. "I mean part of me is so angry with the man for how he's treated Jen these last few months, and the other part of me completely understands why she's still giving him a chance," she explained. "I'm trying so hard to be understanding, and to be completely okay with all of this, but it's really not that easy," she admitted. "I trust Jen completely, but it's taking all of my willpower not to go down there and talk to this guy myself."

"Well I don't think that would do you any good," Elizabeth told her. "I mean Jennifer can definitely take care of herself and I think it would just hurt her if you showed up trying to act like she needs protection," she said. "Jennifer loves you Emily. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know that," Emily replied. "But it's just…it's not my relationship with Jennifer that I'm really worried about," she admitted, biting her lip as she considered telling her mother something she had yet to admit to anyone. "It's….It's my relationship with the baby that worries me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Jennifer is the baby's mother and Will is his father and I guess I'm just worried about where I fit in, in all of this," she confessed., feeling slightly ashamed "I guess I just felt more secure with my role when there was no chance that Will would be involved."

"Oh Emily," Elizabeth replied sympathetically, reaching across the table and taking her daughter's hand in hers. "Honey I know this must be difficult but Jennifer asked you to be in her son's life," she said. "You're going to be there for this little boy and he's going to grow up knowing how much you love him, I am absolutely sure of that. Trust the fact that Jennifer wants you to be a part of this baby's life, just like you want her to be in Alex's life. You're a family Emily. Anyone can see that. Don't start doubting that now."

Touched by her mother's words, Emily couldn't help the emotions that began to overwhelm her; tears filling her eyes as she squeezed her mother's hand, trying to convey her appreciation. "Thanks mom," the younger brunette eventually choked out, the words coming out in a whisper. "Thank you."

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"You know something has been bothering me about all of this," Reid said that afternoon, the entire team gathered around the table, all having just returned from their various assignments throughout the city.

"What's that?" Rossi asked, hoping Reid's question brought them some new insights into the case.

"Well typically LDSKs choose victims that are virtually random," Reid replied. "I mean given the nature of the killings it's usually difficult for these types of killers to target specific people, especially multiple people at once, because normally the first shot sends bystanders running," he explained. "And yet given what we've found with these victims being a reflection of each other, our unsub has targeted multiple people in all 3 of our shootings; accelerating up to 4 in this last shooting."

"Which mean's our guy has experience," Morgan pointed out. "For that kind of accuracy he has to have professional training."

"Which makes sense since we didn't find many stray bullets at our crime scenes," Hotch said. "And he goes for the kill shot every time."

"He also would have had to know where each of the victims were going to be wouldn't he?" JJ asked. "I mean he knew who was going to be out in these areas at the same time," she said, standing in front of their map.

"Well all 3 of our crime scenes are surrounded by office buildings or other places where people work, and he's striking at the noon hour," Reid said. "It wouldn't be that difficult to figure out where our victims would be if the unsub knew their lunchtime habits."

"Alright so we need to go back to our crime scenes and visit all cafes, and restaurants in those areas," Hotch quickly instructed. "See if anyone remembers seeing someone there for several day watching the patrons who may not be visiting anymore, as well as our victims" he said. "Morgan you and Reid take the first scene, I'll take the second and Rossi you can take LaMontagne and head to the third. JJ call Garcia, tell her our unsub is someone who lives in the area who has a background in sharp shooting, see if it helps at all."

With their instructions in place the team all headed out with a new sense of urgency, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they had found something that would put an end to all of this madness.