Hotch leans back and rubs his eyes as he tries to figure out what, if anything, he has missed in his statement for the press. They need help. Too many women apparently from two different threat levels. Someone is missing the 20 women whose bodies are currently being removed from a storage unit and taken to the morgue.
"But where are they missing you? Where the hell are you ladies from?" he mutters. Then he sighs. "And what sort of hell did you go through before you died?"
He sits forward again and stares at the words on the screen but they are starting to swim. He reaches up and hits the command to save the file to a thumb drive before he starts to third or fourth guess himself. He grabs the drive and goes out to plug into a precinct computer to print out his statement. He has just hit the command when a cup of coffee appears beside his hand. He looks up and forces a smile to his face.
"I'll have to buy you something pretty."
Emily grins. "That's my line, Bossman. A simple 10% raise will be thanks enough."
Hotch actually chuckles as Emily winks and heads on to the conference center. The unit chief walks over and pulls his statement off the printer. He reads it over once more and decides it is the best he can do right now.
"If I look as bad as you the locals will start to think we're zombies," Morgan says as he walks over.
"We might be." Hotch lets a breath out slowly. "There's a pile of call-ins in the Conference room. Family members of women missing all up and down the east coast have started calling, begging for information. By tomorrow, they will start showing up, wondering if their loved one is one of the women we have found so far."
"Damn."
"Yeah. I have a press briefing in about 30 minutes. It's not going to do much good."
"I know. But it's all we can do. What are your thoughts on the storage unit?"
Hotch shrugs. "Honestly, I haven't had a chance to think much about it."
Morgan studies his boss a moment. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I took a call. Woman's daughter has been missing 8 years. Her husband died of a broken heart. Her grandkids don't even remember their mother."
"Fuck, Hotch. You just let her vent, didn't you?"
"Could you have hung up on her?" Hotch challenges.
Morgan starts to say yes then stops. He runs a hand over his head and puts himself in Hotch's shoes. He slowly shakes his head. "No...No, I couldn't have. Sorry, Hotch."
Hotch shrugs. "It's just...the job. And a part of the job that sucks."
"Want me to give the statement?" Morgan offers.
Hotch shakes his head. "No, I got it. Go check on the reports in from the medical examiner and crime techs. Rossi and Reid are on their way back with 70 or more packets of photos. We need to go through them all tonight and get any with recognizable faces to Garcia for photo recognition searches."
"Got it."
Hotch heads off to the bathroom to wash his face and straighten his hair. It would not give the public confidence to see a bedraggled FBI agent on the news. They needed to see strength, determination, and a public protector.
And when he steps in front of the cameras that is exactly what they see.
Emily drops a tip sheet into the folder marked, "Follow up needed." She sighs as an officer walks in and places another stack on the table. She shakes her head.
"I think Hotch's statement that we will contact families if we find word of their loved ones fell on deaf ears. Nearly everything I have is someone trying to find out if we found their lost loved one instead of calling us with actual information we can use to help find answers."
Rossi glances up at her. "Wanna trade?"
Emily looks at the stack of photos he and Morgan are going through. A shiver crawls up her spine as she remembers the pictures she had combed through during the Long Island case. She shakes her head.
"Not on your life, Rossi," she replies.
He gives her a half grin, guessing where her mind had taken her. "Didn't think so, kid."
Emily looks down at her watch. It is nearly 11 p.m. She had originally planned to call her wife when she got back to the hotel but now she knows the team will not be heading out any time soon. She stands and grabs her personal phone out of her briefcase.
"Back in a few," she says as she makes her way to the door.
"Tell JJ we miss her. Hotch especially," Reid says.
Emily grins at the genius. "I'm sure she already knows."
Emily finds an interrogation room not in use and closes the door. She sits down at the table and props her feet up on it, sighing happily at this small bit of relief. She hits her wife's number and hopes JJ hasn't fallen asleep.
"Em! Hi! I thought you wouldn't get a chance to call."
Emily smiles, something settling within her. "I nearly lost track of time. So many files from the scientists, photos found at the dead suspects house, and people all over the country praying for a miracle and calling us to see if we found their sister, mother, wife, daughter."
"Damn, baby," JJ says quietly, hating the stress she hears in Emily's voice.
"Yeah. Just another fun day at the BAU. In a storage unit today we even found a bunch of homemade videos. I have a bad feeling the photos aren't the only souvenirs the unsubs collected to relive their kills." The brunette runs a hand over her face. "But forget that shit for now. How are you and the nesters doing?"
JJ sighs, accepting the change of topic because she knows how much her wife needs to turn the case off for a while. "So far so good. They are all about the chocolate covered peanut butter pickles, though. Part of me is grossed out but my mouth literally waters when I think about them!"
Emily chuckles. "Thanks for giving me a good reason to be on the road, sweetheart."
JJ smiles. "Glad we could help. Now, if you're asking if they are trying to escape, the answer is no. A few Braxton-Hicks moments but nothing more than that. I do think they had a bit of a scuffle earlier as they were both so active all I could think is they were acting like Henry and Rocky when they annoy each other."
Emily laughs out loud. "Oh, geez...that would suck if they were born. Inside you that has to be crazy painful."
"Oh, it is. Trust me," JJ confirms. "But they eventually settled. Mom said maybe they were trying to line up for a natural birth because one wants to be the older sibling."
Emily's stomach trips. "Uh...natural? I thought you were going to schedule a C-Section?"
JJ giggles. "I am, sweetheart. But Luc and Maddy don't know that."
"Ah. Good point," Emily agrees with a grin. She thinks about her wife and kids a moment then sighs.
"What was that sigh for?" JJ asks.
"I just...feel like I have missed so much time with you and them. I wanted to spend every step with you and- -"
"And you have spent as many days as you could with us, sweetheart. The job is the job. You know that. Hell, Emily, I think I missed a little time with you when I was in Afghanistan."
Emily shrugs. "I know. I just...I guess..."
"Have you ever asked him?" JJ interjects.
Emily frowns in confusion. "Asked who what?"
"You're not your father, Emily. But have you ever asked him how much time he spent with your mother when she was pregnant?"
Emily bites her lip a moment, partly amazed that JJ has immediately hit the heart of the matter; partly scared that if she asks she'll find out he was a better spouse than she feels she has been.
"Emily?" JJ presses gently.
Emily pinches the bridge of her nose. "I shouldn't be surprised you hit the heart of my fears so directly."
"Nope. You're an open comic book."
Emily chuckles at the reference. "Cute." She stares at the wedding band on her left hand. "I'll ask him. But if he said he was there for her 24/7 I'll feel like crap."
"Do you really think that's a possibility?"
"No."
"And if he wasn't there where was he?"
"Either working or...well..."
"Right. The first is like you. Like any other parent in the world, Emily." She pauses. "And the second option could never be you, Emily. I know your heart even when you doubt it. And you tend to doubt it when you are tired and frustrated."
Emily smiles as her wife's words still the storm in the brunette's soul. "You always settle me, Jennifer."
"As you settle me when I need it. I think it was a requirement of that marriage license we signed."
Emily chuckles. "Right. I forgot that clause. I love you, Jen."
"I love you, too, Emily."
"I guess I need to let you get some sleep and go back to the guys. They'll never crack this one without me," Emily jokes.
JJ chuckles. "Damn right, Agent Prentiss." JJ runs her hand over her stomach. "We love and miss you, Em. But we are so proud you are out there helping so many families find answers."
"You don't know how much I needed to hear that last part, sweetheart. Thank you."
"No problem, baby. Good luck."
"Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow."
"Count on it. Love you."
"Love you."
Like ripping off a band aid, Emily hangs up quickly. She sits for a few minutes more, just enjoying the silence and walls without bodies and faces taped up all over them. She gives herself 5 minutes of meditation then gets up to return to the room the team is using. She sees Morgan walking towards her and her shoulders slump at the look in his eyes.
"Don't tell me..."
"Woman reported missing. Low risk victim, same age range as majority of the vics in the newest storage facility."
"Son of a bitch," she mumbles. Let me grab my things."
