A quicker update than normal but I couldn't sleep…..so I wrote.
I still have no idea of investigatory procedures and I have no idea if the toxin I mentioned could be used in the way I am using it but hey…. its only make believe right? And my Google search history is bad enough.
…..
Emily was woken by the stream of light coming through the curtains she had forgot to close properly in last nights drama. She checked her phone and it was nearly 7am. 'Shit' She thought to herself. She must have slept through her alarm, or maybe forgot to set that too. She looked over at Garcia's bed to see Jordan still sleeping. She had fallen asleep in her arms after several hours of crying. She missed her niece. She had spoke to her nearly every day and her heart was breaking for her sister. Emily also wondered where Garcia had slept. She rolled out of bed and headed to the shower for a quick in and out to refresh herself. She dressed as quietly as she could and wrote Jordan a note before she left. It read 'Don't be sorry. Don't be embarrassed. Give me a call if you need me'.
…
She entered the station and the brunette tried not roll her eyes as she spotted Maddox heading towards her.
"Good Morning Prentiss…late night?" He asked suggestively.
She did not like his tone. "Yes actually. I spent the night with a distraught Agent Todd because of the grief her and her family are experiencing right now". She shouldn't have said it but she did. So much for not wanting to cause any awkwardness. And if she was honest she was only pissed at him because JJ saw them flirting.
"Oh!" He just looked down at his feet like a naughty school boy "Sorry to hear…Erm...some of you team are already in….I have to go" He hurried away without looking up.
Emily went straight to the office with the coffee machine without even acknowledging her surroundings. She was tapping her fingers on the counter impatiently waiting on the machine finishing her cup. A solitary cough behind her brought her back to the room and she turned to see JJ sitting on her own at a table. She looked over through the window to the next office and saw all the males of the team sitting around beside the board and chatting. Alvez was throwing balled up paper at Reid for some reason. She drew her attention back to the colleague and friend in front of her. JJ was just sitting there silently staring at her clasped hands on the table.
"Jayj…." The blonde did not respond in any way. "Jennifer" Emily said tenderly as she sat down in front of her.
JJs eyes shot to Emily and back to her hands at hearing the brunette using her full first name. It was a brief glance but Emily saw it.
"You've been sleeping with Agent Todd" JJ muttered the statement as if she was just realising it. She never once looked up as she spoke.
"This is not really the time or place. But yes I have been" Emily wrapped her hands around her coffee cup and glance over at the window to double check the men's whereabouts.
"Well I guess you won't have any trouble getting any on this trip then?...Maddox…Jordan…maybe a little threesome!" JJ spoke with a viciousness that disregarded the quietness of the words. And every single one of those words was sharp and cut into Emily like glass.
"Whaaaa…?" Emily was dazed into silence. The few words she could think of were caught in her throat by the hurt rising from her gut. The brunette could feel the tears threatening to expose her. "How dare you" She managed to force out on a breath. She slowly rose from her chair and left JJ still staring at her hands. She needed to get out of the room. The office walls started to close in around her and all she could focus on was the door.
"Emily…I'm sorry" She heard somewhere far behind her as she lurched through the door and headed to the ladies toilet.
Emily wasn't sure how she made it to the restroom but she did and she was thankful it was empty. She gripped the basin for support and took several deep breaths to try and calm down and stem the rising bile within her. That was not the JJ she loved and respected. She had never before been so wounded by one person's words. She felt vulnerable and she hated it. Then she heard the door click shut behind her.
"Em...I am so sorry…so so sorry. I never meant to say any of that" JJ moved to put her hand on Emily's arm but the brunette recoiled away from her. "Emily…please!"
"You attack my professionalism and my character and you think sorry is going to make it OK?" Emily was surprised by her composure but couldn't look at the woman she loved for fear it wouldn't last.
"I don't know what I was thinking…I am truly, truly sorry. I do not think that of you…I never have and never will…You are one of the best people I know and….and" JJ suddenly stopped talking.
Emily was aware of the quiet and turned to look at her. She could she the genuine pleading in JJs eyes. And something else. "And what? JJ"
"And…." No words came
Emily just sighed and began to pack her emotions away for another day. Something she was finding more difficult each time. "We will talk about this later Jayj. We have to get back to the office….and to be honest….my love life is none of your concern". She spoke as she passed by the smaller agent and she was nearly at the door when she felt JJs soft hand wrap around her wrist and hold her gently but securely.
"Maybe I want it to be my concern"
The words were loud and echoed around the tiled room. Or inside her head. Emily wasn't sure. She couldn't be sure. She wanted to turn around and double check what she had heard but just managed to move back as she was suddenly aware of the solid door swinging towards her. It was Tara.
"Guys….we have another body"
Work mode activated.
…..
Emily, Reid and Rossi were driving to the new crime scene in a convoy of police cars with Maddox in the leading vehicle. Emily had left Garcia still working on getting Sierra's credit card details and how someone would aquire a Tetrodotoxin compound. The rest of the team were on stand by for further instructions. This body may or may not be connected to their case.
The group arrived at a derelict factory type building about a mile outside of the main town. They all exited their cars and met on the perimeter of the main structure.
"It's an old orange juice production facility" Maddox said for the benefit of the BAU agents as he could tell they were trying to work it out by the way they were looking around, "Old Billy Banks used to own it before he passed last year. None of his kids wanted to take up the family business so his wife sold it to developers and opened a jewellers in town…some of your agents met her actually….Marjory. Amazing old broad"
"Ah…yeah. They took quite a shine to her" Emily smiled up at the police chief. "How was the body discovered?" She asked shielding her eyes from the blinding morning sun. She regretted not lifting her sunglasses.
"They came in to start clearing the site this morning. One of the contractors is an army vet. He recognised the smell right away, got the guys out of there and called it in. A squad car in the area took it and cordoned it off. One of my men went in to check it wasn't just a fox or something. It wasn't. And now we are here. He didn't want to do anything else until you guys got here"
"Good man" Rossi said at no one in particular.
"Unfortunately, any tracks or evidence outwith that one structure may be compromised. There were a good few vehicles and bodies, no pun intended, milling around before anyone was aware to be careful" Maddox kicked the tyre tracks in the ground dust to highlight his point.
"That can not be helped, Chief" Reid was still looking around as he spoke. "Are there any domestic residences around here? Any one living near by?"
"Nah…not that we know of anyway….just here, road then town…and nothing for around 10 miles that a way" Maddox pointed at the horizon.
"Right guys….let's go see what we have" Emily started in towards the large open door of the building in front of her.
"We have surveyed it as best we can without trampling all over your scene and it seems sound. There are safety helmets available if you want them" Maddox waved his hand over to a bench covered in bright white solid hats, plastic glasses, high visibility vests and all kinds of harnesses and ropes.
"I'm good thanks…. I'm used to head trauma" Emily quipped back.
"Oh….I will take you up on that" Reid quickly bounded over to the bench in uneven strides and hops to avoid the boulders and pot holes before him. Rossi couldn't stop a little snigger at his colleagues.
Reid caught up with Rossi and Emily and gave them a sharp tilt up of his head, which caused the over large helmet to wobble, asking them to separate from the rest of the group. "That equipment on the table has never been used. Not once. The glasses still have the protective film on the lenses. Either someone is trying to impress us or they actually do nothing in that department"
"Probably a bit of both….I may have been a little short with the chief earlier at an off the cuff remark he made at my expense" Emily looked a little guilty as she spoke. She regretted what she said for the sake of Jordan's privacy but no other reason.
"I am neither shocked nor surprised by this information" Rossi just shrugged his shoulders.
"C'mon' Emily walked toward the police officers and forensics with Rossi and Reid just behind her. She blew through her mouth as she caught the aroma of death in the air.
"You can see the body from here" One of the police officers spoke to Emily. She pointed to the large piece of of machinery that lay almost prone in the middle of the large room. It was about 30ft from them. The body was crushed under it. Emily could see an arm and a leg projecting from beneath it. If it weren't for the muscle tone still visible on them she would swear they were a kids. The shoe said female but that was an assumption.
"Can we work the area around this first then get this thing off them please" The BAU Unit chief shouted to everyone in the room.
They all proceeded to work slowly in a circle towards the metal box. Cameras flashed and shutters whirred every few seconds and evidence bags were getting filled up with what seemed like nothing.
"Agent Prentiss" One of the forensic officers nearest to the body shouted and held his hand up "Over here" Then he signalled to every one else around him to stop.
Emily carefully made her way to him "I don't want to go any further right now" He pointed to a mass off what seemed to be old footprints in an almost perfect semi circle around the machine where the body lay.
"Get every single one of these photographed please. Every single one…from every angle you can" Emily had that familiar feeling…almost like she was being let down by humanity once again. Maybe this was their type of case after all.
….
The BAU team were together again around their temporary base table. The body of 26 year old Anna Marie Hudson was on its way to the District Medical Examiner in Tampa. The crime scene team had photographed and detailed every possible thing they could before hand, including the unusual but recognisable bruising on her neck.
"We wont know for a while but according to our, and the forensic teams, estimations it looks like Anna has been dead for around 5 days" Emily was pinning pictures on the board once more.
"So…she was our unsubs first kill…or quite possibly one of many" Rossi said.
"I have called the D.M.E and asked his to test for the same compound found in Sierra but with the length of time she has been deceased we may not get anything" Alvez added. "But he did add that he found a small needle entry mark on the back of Sierra's neck so he will look for the same. He seems to be a little more helpful now we have a double homicide"
"That goes for every one around here" Emily indicated to the hive of activity visible from their office. "Garcia what to you have on our latest victim so far…oh and any luck with the credit card details for Sierra?"
"No joy with the credit card details as yet…I will hack them if need be don't you worry…. and I may clear all their customers debt while I'm at it. Assholes" Garcia was typing frantically as she spoke to the team "Anna Marie Hudson was reported missing 4 days ago by her flatmate and friend Jenny Tan…she had only been living the area for 3 weeks"
Emily cut Garcia off with her hand "What is it Jayj?" Emily had been casually looking at the blonde when she noticed she was frowning and a look of slight confusion was on her face. "Do you have something?"
"Who?...me?" JJ looked up from her notes "No…it's just…well I recognise that name…Anna Marie Hudson" She repeated it slowly as if it would jog her memory. "Is she maybe a celebrity or something?"
"I did not figure you for the celeb following type, sweet pea!" Garcia was still staring at her screen "but if you would let me carry on we shall find out….according to the missing persons report she had moved in with Miss Tan to train for next months 'Tampa Bay Triathlon'…..and she was last seen exiting Santiago's Fitness Centre on Willow"
"I do follow the odd triathlon but I do not think that is it" JJ shook her head.
"That's because I ain't finished lady" Garcia held up a finger to hush the team…who were not talking. "Lets see what else…oh!" Garcia's face split into one of her famous cheesy grins.
"What is it Garcia?" Tara tried to hurry the bubbly blonde along.
"Well it would seem our poor deceased Anna was a highly prolific and successful author of…lesbian erotica…both online and in print" Garcia looked up at a now rather wide eyed JJ.
"Looking a bit flushed there Jay" Tara said as the blonde's cheeks blushed pink.
Alvez, Matt and Rossi were silently and motionlessly beaming at her….like statues….or maybe gargoyles. Reid was looking from agent to agent for a clue.
"Right guys…come on…we have work to do here" Emily could barely contain her own delight 'work mode…work mode…work mode'. She thought to herself.
"Of course…sorry…" Matt said as he brought himself out of his own head. "So we have the murder of another successful, unattainable, attractive young woman"
"Yes…we do…I think it maybe time to give the profile" Emily stood up and nodded at her team mates.
…..
Thanks for reading x
