Like the prior morning, JJ was the first to wake. Her sleep crusted eyes drifted over the living room to see if anyone else was up. None were, but she stopped once she got to Dave. He was snoring softly in a chair drawn, almost protectively, near Emily. It wasn't unusual for someone to by Emily's side, but Dave had been off wandering about while Hotch and Reid were in their places the night before. Well, she wasn't going to dwell on it too much, instead she cast her gaze about once more eventually landing on Derek. A smile graced her face when she saw Monster draped over Derek's chest, rising up and down with his breathing. They looked so cute together so she snapped a picture of them for prosperity.
Getting up, she peeked out the window. The skies were still overcast, but the snow had stopped falling. "Hey, guys," she called out. "The snow has stopped."
JJ's excited announcement roused the rest of the team. Dave awoke with a snort while Hotch sat up and stretched. Reid, with his youthful enthusiasm, bounded up and joined her at the window. The blonde's cheerful voice penetrated the fog muddling up Emily mind and she managed to sit up on her own though her stomach churned as the room spun uncontrollably. But Derek's reaction was the best of all.
Still half asleep, Derek mistook the warm fur ball on his chest as a cuddle buddy and went to wrap his arms around it. When Monster meowed in greeting, his eyes popped open and he nearly jumped out of his skin, shoving the cat off his chest.
Everyone chuckled as he hopped to his feet, brushing the cat hair from his shirtfront. "Damn cat!" he hissed in annoyance.
"Morgan's got a girlfriend," Reid teased in a singsong voice.
"Shut up, kid."
As Monster rubbed up against Derek's legs, Emily gave him a sly look. "Well Morgan does have a way with the opposite sex…of any species."
A retort was on the end of his tongue and he chose not to fling it at her. Derek loved trading barbs with Emily, but he couldn't now in good conscious because the last couple of days weren't being kind to her. She looked like death warmed over with her arm in a makeshift sling, the large bandage on her forehead and her tired eyes. He would pay her back tenfold when she was back to her old self.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said with a dismissive wave. "Joke all you want." He nudged the cat away with his foot.
Hotch looked at his team. He was pretty sure they were all ready to get the hell out of here. He knew he was. There was definitely something about this place he found unsettling. It was a feeling he wouldn't be able to shake until they were far, far away.
"Since it appears the snow has stopped, help should soon be on its way. Let's get ready for it. JJ, do you mind making breakfast again?" he asked politely.
"Not at all," she replied. "It gives me something to do. Em, you feeling up to some scrambled eggs?" She remembered seeing a dozen eggs in the fridge.
"I think so. And a big cup of coffee."
"No way. It's orange juice for you. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't have caffeine when you have a concussion."
Emily started to protest, but she saw the look on the blonde's face. JJ wasn't going to give in so she decided to pout instead. "Whatever."
Hotch smiled, doubting the coffee would mix well with the nausea that hit her every time she moved. "Morgan, Reid. See if you can find the snow shovels. We're going to have to dig out the cars." The two agents nodded.
He turned to Dave. "Why don't you stay with Prentiss and help her with whatever she might need. She might need to use the bathroom."
"No problem," Dave agreed, glancing at Emily.
Emily shifted uncomfortably and looked away, blushing slightly. It wasn't because she was embarrassed that she had to be helped to the bathroom. That ship had sailed when JJ had to help her do up her pants. It was something else entirely and it somehow involved Dave. She had a dream last night that she wasn't sure was actually a dream. Something had happened, she just wasn't positive on what.
"Meanwhile I'll contact Sheriff Holmes and get an ETA on the snowplow and reinforcements," Hotch continued.
It would also give him time to get back into his suit. There was no way in hell he was going to greet the sheriff dressed like Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies.
JJ stepped into the kitchen and stared about her in disbelief. It looked like a tornado had struck the place. Drawers and cabinets were left open, spilled food and drink was spread over the counters and the dirty dishes weren't left in the sink, but left on the kitchen table to congeal over night.
"I don't fucking believe this," she groused, gazing at the mess. Men were pigs in more than one way and there was no way in hell she was cleaning it up this time.
Angrily she spun on her heels, slammed through the kitchen door and stomped off to the living room. When she burst in, Hotch was hanging up on his cell phone and Dave was making Emily comfortable on the couch.
"Whoever made the mess better get their ass back in there and clean up. I'm sure as hell not doing it."
The three of them stared at her in confusion. "JJ, what are you talking about?" Hotch asked with a frown.
She gestured in the general direction of the kitchen. "I'm talking about the mess in the kitchen. One of you guys decided to make a midnight snack and then didn't bother to clean up after yourself. You left if for me to do it."
Dave held up his hands. "It wasn't me. I'm an Italian son of an Italian mother. We clean up. It's in our blood."
Her eyes swung accusingly to Hotch who quickly denied he was the culprit. "Then it must be Derek or Reid both times," she decided.
Hotch stiffened. "Both times?" he demanded.
"Uh…yes," JJ responded, a little off balance from his tone of voice. "Yesterday morning the kitchen was a mess. I didn't say anything because I was hoping it was a one time thing."
Not saying another word, Hotch pushed by her and headed for the kitchen. JJ exchanged a puzzled look with Dave and then hurried after the Unit Chief. Dave went to follow, but was delayed when Emily asked to go along. He put her arm around his neck, eased her to her feet, waited for the dizziness and nausea to pass and then guided her to the kitchen.
When they finally caught up, Hotch and JJ were just inside the doorway gazing at the mess.
"Did you touch anything?" he was asking her.
Before she had a chance to answer, the door leading to the back porch burst open admitting a worried Derek and Reid. "Hotch, we got a problem. The body is gone," Derek said.
The four blinked in surprise, Emily more so than the rest since she had no clue what was going on. Seeing her confusion Dave told her that they had moved Martha Hanson's body outside to preserve it. He didn't mention that Deputy Bennett's body was also out there or maybe it was the one that was missing.
"Hanson's?" Hotch inquired.
"Yes."
"Could an animal have dragged it off?" JJ asked even though she already knew the answer. The only animal around here large enough to drag off a body was a human one.
Reid shook his head. "No. The screen door was latched from the inside." Then he noticed the state of the kitchen. When they had passed through the room earlier they hadn't bothered to turn on the lights. "What happened in here?"
"Neither of you did this?" She asked, hoping one would say yes.
Both shook their heads. "No way," Derek said. "Momma would have killed me if I left a mess like this."
JJ looked from one man to the next. "So if none of you guys were responsible and we know Emily didn't do it that would mean…" she intentionally trailed off not liking the answer.
"We're not alone," Hotch said flatly.
Everyone glanced about the room like they were expecting the partner to pop out of the woodwork saying 'here I am'. Dave felt Emily leaning heavily on him, as her legs grew weaker. He pulled out one of the kitchen chairs for her and she gratefully sank down onto it. She hated appearing weak in front of her teammates, but this was better than falling flat on her face. Dave kept a protective hand resting lightly on her good shoulder in case she suddenly keeled over.
"But how?" Reid asked with a puzzled frown. "We've searched this place from top to bottom multiple times and found nothing."
"Maybe he's hiding in another outbuilding and sneaking back in at night to eat," Derek suggested.
Dave shook his head. "Remember that we locked and barricaded both doors because of Prentiss."
Emily glanced up at him in confusion. "Barricaded the doors because of me? Why would you do that?"
He smiled softly. "We were worried that in your confusion you might wander out into the snowstorm." He didn't bring up her wandering last night.
"Oh," she said. Was she that bad the other day? She could only guess since she was having trouble remembering things. If she was, Emily prayed she hadn't made a fool of herself.
"It's obvious that we've missed something," Hotch said.
"No kidding," Dave said drolly.
"We need to go over this place with a fine tooth comb," he decided. "We need to find where he is hiding or how he is getting in. JJ, why don't you help Prentiss back to the living room while we look around."
The blonde nodded and helped Emily to her feet. With her arm securely wrapped around the brunette's waist, she guided her injured friend back to the living room.
Hotch waited until they were gone before drawing his weapon. "Let's find this UnSub and put an end to this once and for all."
"JJ, you don't have to stay with me," Emily protested as JJ made her comfortable on the couch. "Go join the guys. I don't need a babysitter."
JJ draped the blanket over Emily's legs and tucked it in. "Can you stand without getting dizzy and sick to your stomach?" she countered.
Damn, Emily swore. She's got me there. "Uh…maybe."
"Right. So it looks like you're stuck with me until they get back." She straightened and rested her hand on the butt of her gun. She had been right that the house was haunted, but their ghost was mortal.
Emily sighed and turned to gaze out the window. She was a woman of action and didn't like being kept on the sidelines, but JJ was right. She wouldn't be of any use to the team if she couldn't stand on her own and, if she was perfectly honest with herself, her vision was still a bit blurry. It would be best this time to stay out of the way.
Suddenly the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up in full alert. Stiffening, Emily glanced warily around the room. It was the same feeling she had when she had first stepped into this room what seemed like years ago.
"We're being watched," she hissed.
"What was that, Em?" JJ asked, spinning around to find Emily sitting on the edge of the couch, body taut with tension. Her dark brown eyes were darting everywhere.
"We're being watched." Emily's hand crept to her hip to find her holster empty. "JJ, where's my gun? I need it."
JJ questioned what to do with the request. Emily was a capable agent, more so on her best days. But she was from her best day. With the concussion, she just wasn't sure it was a good idea to give her a gun. Emily's mental state had been good. She was doing better, not so out of it and with no signs of paranoia. But there were definitely some now. It was justified especially after what they just discussed, but now the paranoia was in her voice and in her eyes. If there was one thing JJ knew, it was that you just didn't give a paranoid person a gun. But this was Emily, not an UnSub.
She made her decision. "Promise me you won't accidentally shoot me or yourself in the foot?"
"I promise." Emily held up her hand. "See? No shaking."
JJ didn't see a single tremor in the hand even when she had Emily rotate it and that reassured her. She went to where Reid's satchel was hanging. She withdrew Emily's Glock from its cavernous depths and turned around. There was a flash of pain and everything went dark.
The men decided to start their search with the top two floors since there were more places to hide and that they had rarely ventured upstairs. If they found nothing they would turn their focus to the first floor and the basement. They were going to find the UnSub even if they had to tear the place apart brick by brick.
They split up with Hotch and Derek continuing up to the attic while Reid and Dave stayed on the second. Within seconds the sound of things being moved about came through to them through the ceiling. The first room Reid wanted to check out was Martha Hanson's bedroom. That was the room he had first heard the thumping emanating from and there was something that was still bothering him about it. Better to get it out of the way early.
With their weapons drawn, Reid pushed the door open. At first glance the room appeared to be the same as he had last seen it, but there was one glaring difference.
The two exchanged looks. "Let's see who is sleeping in Mama Bear's bed," Dave whispered.
With a nod they split up, each taking one side of the bed. Whoever was sleeping had the covers over their head, muffling the sound of their approach. Reid carefully took up a handful of the material, let out a slow breath and flung back the covers.
At the same Dave said, "Nap time is over, Goldilocks."
They froze and slowly lowered their guns in surprise. "Well, this is unexpected," the older agent marveled.
The person lying in the bed wasn't their UnSub, but Martha Hanson.
"How did she end up here?" Reid asked with a puzzled frown.
"I have no clue."
The young genius hurried out to the stairs leading to the attic to summon Derek and Hotch. A few minutes later they entered the bedroom and skidded to a halt at the unusual sight.
"What the hell?" Derek exclaimed while Hotch crossed his arms and stared thoughtfully at the corpse.
"This is interesting," he finally said.
"How so?"
"I thought the partner had taken the body to experiment on since that is what he likes to do. He wants to see how the body works, but this…" he trailed off.
"It's personal," Derek continued. "This shows Martha was important to him." He gestured at the body. "Look at how she is laid out. Her hands are folded neatly on her chest and he tucked the blankets tenderly around her."
"He wanted her to be warm so he brought her in from the cold," Dave said.
"But how did he get her body up here?" Reid asked, going back to his original question. "He would have had to sneak her through the kitchen and pass us to reach the stairs. You all have heard how those stairs squeak. There's no way he could have made it up them silently."
No one had an immediate answer to his question.
"Uh…if he lived here long enough he would have known how to avoid the squeaky treads," Derek guessed.
"While balancing a dead body?" Reid countered.
Derek huffed. "It would be hard to do."
The men fell silent as they tried to think of ways the UnSub could have gotten the body upstairs undetected. Physically he had to be big and strong. Even though Martha Hanson was petite, she weighed more dead than alive. Toting a dead body around was no easy thing. They should know. It took two of them to move the bodies outside.
A loud crash from below startled them out of their individual musing and they looked at each other in alarm.
"The girls!" Derek shouted and took off, the others quickly following.
The men burst into the living room, guns leading the way, to find JJ staggering to her feet. An overturned table and broken lamp lay nearby.
Reid rushed to her side, reaching out to steady her. "JJ, what happened?"
JJ latched on to his arm, worried blue eyes wildly scanning the room. "Where's Emily?"
