Thanks to Cowboy'sMontana, EunHee Kim, EideticGirl, and taiyauchiha21 for reviewing! It's much appreciated!
Things get a bit spicy in this chapter! Also, sorry it's a bit late. Been busy with stuff. Enjoy!
Once they boarded the plane, it was a relatively uninteresting beginning of the trip. Hotch said Alina and Morgan should go to the second abduction sight. Prentiss and JJ were going to talk to the families of both victims, Reid would start working on victimology and Hotch and Rossi would look where the first girl's body was found.
They didn't have much to say after that. Everyone fell into their usually routine. Morgan pulled out his headphones and Rossi read over the case notes again.
Reid took up his spot across from Alina as if by habit. They didn't make eye contact, but the gesture brought a hint of a smile to Alina's face.
Prentiss sat next to Alina after a bit. Idle chit-chat, but it was appreciated. She liked Prentiss, a very down to earth kind of person. Honest. Understanding. Pleasant.
Eventually though, Prentiss left to go talk to JJ. Alina pulled her own book out in response. Jurassic Park. Michael Crichton was always a favorite author of hers. Very thought provoking books. It had been ages since she picked up a copy of Jurassic Park though.
Skimming through it, she glanced up at Reid. He was also flipping through a book, although the angle he held it at prevented her from reading the cover. She quickly finished her book and sat there.
She was bored.
It had only been three minutes and twenty-seven seconds since she had finished reading. She considered going over case details again, but she knew it would be better to wait until they had more information. Her mind drifted off into irrelevant statistics and calculations that comforted her. Math was a nice tangible thing for her to think about. Sometimes physics was better for her boredom, but quantum theories didn't appeal to her brain at this time.
She absentmindedly began measuring everything in the plane. Area of the table, volume of the chairs, length of the couch... she could do the calculations in her head. Next she measured the length of Prentiss's and JJ's hair, Rossi's feet, Hotch's forearm. It would've seemed weird to anyone else, but she could do these calculations passively in her head. It didn't really take any concentration, but it was distracting enough that she wasn't bored.
Glancing again at Reid, her memory flashed back to the quick glimpses of things this morning.
Oh my.
Looking away, she bit her lip in embarrassment. She couldn't believe her mind would betray her like that. Sure it was practically involuntary, but really?Damn her mind and it's need to find comfort in numbers. There were a few things she was just better off not knowing.
She glanced over again, careful to keep her eyes up. Reid was looking at her now. Their eyes locked for a few brief moments before Alina's face flushed a vivid red and she looked away. He didn't blush, but he coughed quietly and abruptly went back to his book.
Alina eventually settled on sketching in her drawing pad. A simple phoenix. The symbol of life in death and new beginnings. Regardless of how many different ways it could be interpreted, that was the simplest of ways she saw it. That was much more relaxing than reading a book. She could already feel the color in her cheeks fade.
Her mind drifted again. It was funny that she was less alert now that she had actually gotten a full-night's rest. Her thoughts went back to this morning. This time she wasn't particularly embarrassed as she was curious. She was suddenly overtaken by a lingering desire and erotic thoughts. Her mind hadn't wandered in that direction for years now.
It was a strange craving. To be pressed against him. All of him.
Her body was suddenly hot as she imagined the feel of his hips grinding against hers. The thought made her squeeze her thighs together a little tighter. How unprofessional of her to day dream during work. On a jet. With the subject of her lewd fantasies sitting unaware on the same flight. Across from her no less.
Maybe it was because she was a virgin. At her age, it was almost unheard of, but it was true. This fact did little to console her. It did even less to distract her. Her legs became slick, as if begging for something to fill her hot, throbbing core.
She could practically feel his erection rubbing against her. The gentle rustling of clothes as he moved lower until the point of his slacks rested blissfully in the parting of her legs.
The hard flesh straining eagerly against the fabric prison it had become so quickly hateful of.
She risked a glance over at him. He caught her eyes for a split second before looking away. Her violently pounding heart only further fueled the urgent throbbing somewhere else.
Crossing her legs, she sharply snapped her head out of its fantasy. Another time maybe, but she couldn't afford to be distracted while on a case. That wasn't fair to anyone.
"Hey! Earth to the two space cadets over there," Both Alina and Reid responded to Morgan's voice. "Yeah, you guys, come be social," he ushered them over to the table where he and JJ were sitting. Prentiss was in the chair near the table occasionally participating in the conversation.
Once Alina and Reid moved, Morgan spoke again, "We are going to play some cards ladies and gentleman."
"But I'm horrible at poker," Alina protested.
"Ah, but we brought... Uno."
"How do you play Uno?" she looked at the cards curiously. Morgan just shook his head, slightly amused. JJ passed her the directions and she read through them quickly, "Oh. Okay."
They started a beginners game as the silence swept over everyone. Spencer and Alina were still extremely awkward, and Morgan and JJ didn't want to be the first ones to say anything.
Spencer eventually cleared his throat, "Alina, wasn't your sister going to visit today?"
She looked up at him, then back at her cards. Blue cards were up and all she had were yellow and green. Drawing a card, she said, "I called her before we left. Katie enthusiastically agreed to bird watching duty."
"Her way of seeing what you've been up to?" Spencer threw down a wild draw four and Morgan scowled.
"I suppose. I'm more worried that she's going to re-arrange my room. She loves messing with me."
"Well you are a little OCD about where everything is arranged in it," he caught a look from Morgan and JJ, "...I mean you probably are... judging from your...kitchen."
"I can at least expect Alphonse will be whistling the most annoying tune my sister could think of when I get back."
"Does your sister go out of her way to push your buttons? And when can we expect to meet the little Payne?" Morgan might or might not have said the last part on purpose, but Alina and JJ laughed nonetheless.
"She doesn't really go out of her way. If you know me well enough, it's easy to know how to mess with me. As for meeting her... No idea. She might not even be in Virginia next week. Traveling is her calling."
Morgan accepted that as a valid answer and placed another red card on the pile.
JJ placed down her last red and simple said, "Uno."
When it got back to Morgan, he tried to beat her by changing the color to green, but coincidentally, her last card was green.
After that, they soon touched ground.
Detective Ashby greeted Prentiss, JJ, Reid, Hotch and Rossi when they arrived. Morgan and Alina had left straight for the second abduction sight. The second victim, Ashley Marrow, had been taking a smoke break outside a popular nightclub. Her body still hadn't been found. She was abducted about 4 days ago. She wasn't reported missing until yesterday though.
"This part of the alley is well lit, how could someone take her without anyone seeing?" Alina looked at the bright neon sign of the side of the building, "and what kind of name for a club is 'Skin'?"
Morgan walked to the back of the alley to see it's accessibility, "One that doesn't believe in false advertising." He noticed something in the back, "Alina come see this."
She walked over and looked, "Tire tracks? Back here? The dimensions of this back alley would fit a mid-size pretty well but don't you think it would be out of place?"
"Not if it was only here a few minutes or so. Then I doubt anyone would even remember it."
"But does that suggest a crime of opportunity or a very organized serial-killer that knew Ashley took regular smoke breaks at this time?"
"We'll have to find out more from the first victim before I'm willing to suggest one or the other. I'm going to find out just how often Ashley came to this club though," he flipped open his phone and called Garcia.
Alina meanwhile was glancing up an the neon-sign again, doing the calculations in her head. She walked again to the front of the alley and more carefully observed the ground and walls. When Morgan hung up the phone, she shared her thoughts, "This light," she pointed to the sign, "isn't angled in a way or is bright enough to light up the end of this alley." She pointed to the back corner where Ashley would've had to walk to see the car. "There are no witnesses that heard screams or saw anything out of the ordinary, so we have to assume a physically fit, street smart 26 year old woman followed someone into a dark alley way when she had her smoke break interrupted."
"That suggests our unsub is comfortable enough around women to smooth-talk them," Morgan walked back to the end of the alley and picked up a small cloth that was lying near the tire marks, "But not confident enough to get them into the car voluntarily."
Alina got out an evidence bag for the cloth. Probably chloroform if she were to guess. Easy way to control your hostages.
"The first victim was abducted from her house though. That suggests our unsub is extremely confident. Let's finish up here and see if Reid made a connection between these women."
Morgan simply nodded.
So I'm not sure exactly what the Detective's name is that they worked with in Las Vegas before because it's been forever since I've seen that episode, but Google has led me to the name Det. Ashby. If I'm wrong and you know better, please share :) I will correct it.
I beg thee to review! I love reviews more than Reid loves sugar! It's true! :P
