CHAPTER 122

A LOT LESS POLITICAL PRENTISS

"How the heck did you come to that conclusion!?" Matt was not confused. He was amazed. And quite frankly – proud of her.

Emily had just joined the team, a day later, and was already crushing it and having a hunch that none of the others could have suspected.

"By being an amazing Unit Chief and being outright flawless at what I do!" Emily smirked in reply.

Recently, she found out that if she didn't give herself the respect and gratitude she deserved for the work well done, it was highly unlikely someone else would. The Bureau kept on slapping her on the cheek, but it was alright, as she turned the other cheek while mumbling words of appraisal to herself. The Hell with everyone, she wouldn't be taken down so easily – not physically and surely not mentally!

"Well, not always, but you know, it felt good to say it." She added, like the dork that she was.

Everybody had already figured it was just a quirky statement, not her trying to be smug and self-absorbed.

"The important thing is – Prentiss has a point here. If we work this angle, we might be able to get some results by the end of the day." Rossi pointed out.

It was a new day, bright and early before noon, and the team was briefing in the room that the local police department had kindly given to them.

"We still have no actual clues and no real evidence." JJ pointed out.

"That is true. However, if we change the way we are looking at the bigger picture here, I believe the evidence is right there. We just need to see it with different eyes." Emily kept her eyes glued to the board.

They had crime scene photos and photos of two victims. There were autopsy reports and detailed written reconstruction of how the crime scenes looked like – with a hand sketched layout of all the items that had been found in the vicinity of the victim.

"So, both victims were killed in their own homes and left 'as is'. No staging, nothing that points to a ritualistic killing. Same MO, different victims. As far as victimology goes, they don't have much in common, other than the fact that they go to the same church, but that is hardly any clue for us, I mean, it's a small city, everyone goes to that church." Luke summed up pretty much all they knew. And it was definitely not enough.

"Different ethnicity, different hair, different social status. We've been getting lots of those anomalies in victimology lately." Rossi spoke.

"I'd hate to think the UnSubs are changing their ways and trying to trick us." Tara added. She had spent years studying serial killers and she prided herself in being able to read their thoughts. But when the killers were giving out mixed signals and played around with different victims, it got to her last nerve.

"A killer never changes. There is a connection and we're just not seeing it." Emily sighed. "Rossi, you and I are going to talk to the first victim's family. Tara and Luke, you go visit the second victim's family. JJ, you take the lead in here and figure out what needs to be done."

Emily did the smart thing - she divided the team. Four were reporting to her, when it came to victims' families and the others were under JJ's orders when it came to everything else. Emily was smart enough to realize she couldn't cut herself in half and be there for everyone, in three different locations, given how she had just joined them on this case and she was still trying to catch up, herself. She needed someone to keep the wheels turning, but also someone who would guarantee a smooth ride. And that, for Emily, was JJ.

"Hello…class? Or Trainees? Yeah, I'm not entirely too sure what to call you, but hi. Hello. I'm back."

Everyone laughed. They loved this woman and her weird ass classes.

"And today I have brought a friend with me. This is SSA Mae Jarvis She is the medical examiner for my Unit, the IRT, and she also is a field Agent, along with the rest of us. Wow, I made that sound like there's plenty of us, but uh, no, it's just a bunch of no life weirdos, traveling the world in search of trouble." Clara continued speaking.

"And now that I've dug an even deeper hole for myself and made it blatantly clear that my job is no fun at all, shall we start the class?" She forced a smile.

Someday she'd really have to ask Emily Prentiss to teach her a few things when it came to public speaking, without embarrassing herself in the process. Although, Emily hardly even knew how to do that, herself. Speaking – she was good at, but embarrassing herself – oh, she was the master of!

"Hey guys! Don't listen to her. Our job is awesome! We get to travel the world for free and we are collectors!" Mae laughed. If Clara could allow herself to be a silly dork in class, then Mae wanted to do the same.

"What do you collect? Like, antiques from different countries?" One of the Trainees asked out loud, as this was starting to sound like his very own hobby.

"Nope. We collect those…" Mae pulled her shirt sleeve up, showing a line of nasty bruises.

"Oh, if you guys cringe at that, then I hope you have the stomach to last this class…" Mae said innocently.

"Yeah, and I hope you haven't had breakfast yet, because today's topic is forensic taphonomy." Clara introduced the subject and instantly, a lot of them looked worried.

Granted, it wasn't popular bedtime reading material. At least not for most people.

"Awesome!" Angie rubbed her hands together, ready to soak in every word of this class.

"Why am I not surprised that you are interested in body decay?" Bryan rolled his eyes as he whispered those words to her.

Angela looked like she still played with Barbies, yet there were so many layers to her. And she kept telling him he hadn't even seen half of her yet. That thought alone, worried him a bit. With her, he would expect the unexpected. Always.

"Now, I have to warn you – this presentation is pretty graphic. So, if you don't think you can stomach those images and videos, please leave the Academy, because this…" Clara put up her first slide and people gasped.

"Yes, this is going to be pretty much an everyday thing for you, after you graduate. And you need to learn how to analyze this type of stuff…" She then fast forwarded to a video of a real crime scene, with multiple victims.

"This is going to be on your phones, on your computers, in your mind…forever." She ended off, already spotting out a few people who she was sure would not make it until the end of the Academy.

"Now, does anyone here have any medical education background?" Mae asked and a few people raised their hands.

"Alright, cool. Now, I want you to come here, one by one, and we can try to analyze a few photos first. And then Agent Seger and I will walk you all through the basics of it all before we let someone with less experience try it out. Sounds cool?" Mae looked so sweet, she had full cheeks and beautiful curly hair. Much like Angie, she did not look like someone who had dedicated her life and career to dead bodies, but there she was…and she was kicking ass at what she did.

"She's so chill and fun." Bryan whispered to Angie, knowing that Angie had already met the girl, as they had been in Cuba together.

"Mae? Oh yeah, she's a vibe. I'm feelin' her!" Angie smirked.

The little that she knew about the girl, was enough for her to know that she already liked her, a lot. Mae was beautiful, smart, young, talented at what she did, dedicated to her job and also, an amazing friend to the people around her. Angie could only hope that one day she'd be able to establish a friendship with her, as well.

"So, it turns out Luke had a point with the church." Emily stated when, two hours later, the whole team reunited at the Police Station.

"Told you – everybody goes to the same church." Luke shrugged.

"No, no. I mean, when you said both victims must have gone there, it was the first lead for a connection between the two of them. So we worked that angle, with the parents. Both families said their daughters, our victims, have stopped going to church a couple of weeks ago. And that got me thinking – what happened around that time? So, Rossi and I stopped by the church on our way back home. Turns out, there was some sort of a seminar for single ladies, exactly two weeks ago. However, the man who spoke at the seminar, who is not local and he travels to do such seminars in different cities and churches, well he gives off the creep vibes, but most importantly – he denied that either of those girls had been to his seminar." Emily narrated.

"That's not uncommon. He probably sees way too many people on a daily basis. Plus, this was two weeks ago. Surely he wouldn't be able to remember." Tara pointed out.

"Yes, I know and I agree with that." Emily walked over to the board and put the man's name down at the 'suspect' corner.

"Wait, why?" Matt asked her, looking confused.

"Because it is one thing to say you do not remember a face, but a completely different thing when you spend fifteen minutes, denying with absolute certainty, to have ever seen those two girls. Something doesn't add up. He shouldn't have been so sure, about never seeing them, if he really sees too many people to even remember or pay attention to." Emily pointed out.

"I swear, sometimes it's hard to pick who the BAU genius is – Reid or you. Damn it!" Luke muttered quietly.

He adored Emily and he looked up to her so much. Yes, their introduction to one another had been less than smooth, all those years ago, but he had grown to love this woman so much, since then.

The Victimology team, led by JJ, shared their thoughts and opinions. They had come up with something small, but it added to what Emily had just shared, so the team now finally had something good to work with.

They spent the next three hours at the Police Station, running a background check on the seminar guy, with the help of Garcia, and trying to connect a few more dots.

By the time the sun went down, they had enough evidence to go get the man guy and bring him in for questioning.

Earlier, Emily and Rossi had only been able to talk to him on the phone, as they had supposed this man would already be off to a different location, for his next speech. However, now Garcia had presented them with the news that he had stayed in town for those two weeks, crashing at some sleazy motel about half an hour away from the Church.

Emily had appointed the task of bringing him to the Police Station to Luke and Tara, since they had been stuck in the Station all day long and were surely in need of some fresh air and maybe some action, too.

The rest of the team could only sit around and wait for their new suspect to be brought in.

"Oh, oops, excuse me." Emily said, with a tiny smile on her face, when her burner phone buzzed with an incoming message, inside her pocket. Only one person had that number, so she didn't even have to wonder who was texting.

She walked out to the hallway and sat down on a squeaky old chair before she opened the text message.

"I know you must be busy at work, but I just wanted to tell you how beautiful you are and how much I miss seeing your eyes. Have a good day."

She blushed. This sounded like either an excerpt from a poem…or a teenage love letter. Either way, she kept on blushing.

"Yes, I've had a busy day and still do, actually. My job has no set hours. But it doesn't mean I can't make some time for you. How are you? I miss more than just your eyes."

As soon as she sent the text, she groaned and started typing a second part to it.

"Ok, I didn't mean it like THAT! It just came out wrong. I meant I miss your voice, too. And your hands. And ok, maybe your lips as well. Wait, I'm making it worse, aren't I? Ugh!"

She sighed. Why did she have to be such an incredible dork, even on text?

Richard was now in the comfort of his home. He had just been released from the hospital and he was more than glad to be back where he felt safe and happy. His home was his sanctuary. No matter all the bad things he had to live through, on a daily basis, he knew he would always go home and be able to relax.

However, there was this one thing he recently found himself wanting to add to that home. One thing…or rather – one person.

"Yup, definitely worse. Please, keep talking. LOL! I'm good, had a few days off work and I should be back tomorrow morning. Would have loved to see you these days, but the circumstances did not allow for me to travel. I could, however, take the next weekend off."

He texted back and rest his head against a cushion, on the sofa. His body was still extremely sore, but at least he wasn't stuck in that hospital anymore.

"Oh, tough luck. I'm on duty next weekend. I could…maybe…try to ask for the weekend after that. But definitely not the third one from now – it's one of my teammate's backyard parties. I'm not skipping on that free champagne! Not even for you. Sorry :P"

She smiled, because it was so incredibly easy to talk to him. He didn't get mad about her silly jokes and he never hesitated to joke back. He was perfect!

"I have yet to witness your drunk self. I mean, other than the mess you were when we first met, because WOW, you were a hot mess, woman! As for two weekends from now – I'm good. Question is…"

He knew she was smart enough to figure out the question.

"Who travels? Yeah. I shall sacrifice myself and travel, I mean, not because you live in the most beautiful city in the world or anything…but uh, yeah, because I love Paris. That's it. Ha!"

She was a tease. Definitely. And he liked it.

"Beware, I'm capable of dragging your fine ass all the way to the French Riviera. So I don't know how much of Paris you'd be seeing."

He smirked. In reality, he had absolutely no plans on them leaving Paris. Or his bedroom, for that matter.

"My 'fine ass'? Wow. And they say French men are more upper-body obsessed… Anyway, I don't plan on seeing much of Paris anyway."

She replied cheekily, basically confirming they both wanted the same thing.

"Who says that!? Well, yeah, gotta admit it's true. Put that tiny little French flag two piece in your suitcase, now!"

He was now in the kitchen, fixing himself a drink. He needed one.

"A certain Devil girl with the name of an Angel. And, you do have a certain type of taste in clothing – the less, the better. Isn't that so? Also, not to sound too direct, clingy or God forbid - desperate, but if I book my tickets now I pay half the price. Just saying."

Emily was now pacing up and down the hallway and had somehow found her way to the common room. Naturally, she was fixing herself a coffee.

"Wrong. NO clothing is the best clothing :P! And just book those tickets already. Dates are now reserved on my calendar, for you, ma chérie. Now, since I figure you like playing games, let's play 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours', shall we?"

He smirked and allowed a full minute to go by after he sent that text. He wanted her to feel uncomfortable. He knew that she wouldn't dare reply immediately, so that gave him time to toy with her.

Emily had recently sent him quite the nice photo of herself, in that French flag two-piece underwear set. Did he, really, just suggest that he'd be sending her some sort of a naughty photo, as well!? Oh, she was so glad this was going straight to the burner, with little-to-no chance of Garcia ever snooping around and finding out about it.

She sucked in a breath, figuring he was posing for a killer photo right at that moment, and she wasn't really upset that she had to wait a little bit. It would surely be worth it.

Biting her lower lip nervously, she waited…

A minute later, he sent her a photo of his homemade cocktail, sitting on the bar, in the middle of his kitchen, and with some of the kitchen visible in the background.

"You've already shown me yours. Guess it was time I did so too."

He added the text to the photo, referring to that day when she had shown him a snippet of her own kitchen.

This time he saw Emily typing a reply right away.

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

She had almost had a heart attack after his previous text. How dare he!?

"I know, I know and oh…why don't you show me just how much you hate me? Plus, this was literally the first text you ever sent me and look where that brought us…"

He laughed out loud. This woman was, by far, the best source of entertainment he's ever had in his life.

"FYI, I do own handcuffs! Don't dare me! And it was the SECOND text! Actually, YOU texted that, I just confirmed it before I swiftly and truthfully denied it, two seconds later! Get your facts straight. And I take my right to claim that I've been pressured into that confession!"

Emily smirked. Oh, if he only knew what her professional vocabulary consisted of.

"IN THE SUITCASE! NOW!"

She rolled her eyes at his request. Why, of course he'd be into handcuffs.

Lost in her little chat and in the pretty little world she had created for herself, with Richard in it, she failed to notice someone walking towards her. It was only after they spoke, that Emily came back to reality.

"Prentiss! Is that a burner!?" JJ gasped.

She had observed Emily from down the hallway, typing away on a phone that JJ did not recognize, smiling and chuckling like a teenager. Oh, JJ was so onto her.

"JJ, I swear to God…" Emily jumped like she had just been electrocuted.

"Tell Garcia about it and you're dead!" Emily added, looking at JJ sternly.

"Oh, is it Frenchie? Oh my God, were you sexting? Emily Prentiss, you were most definitely being naughty just now." JJ smirked, putting her hand out expectantly. "Come on, show me, show me!"

"It's none of your business!" Emily shrieked away and put the phone back in the pocket of her smart suit jacket.

"Oh, I'm telling everyone then…" JJ threatened.

"No, you're not!" Emily frowned.

They looked like two sisters, in the middle of a heated argument. A few police officers who walked by, giving them the looks, but none of the girls noticed.

"Yes, I am!" JJ smirked.

"No, you're not!" Emily raised her voice a little bit.

"Only if you give me something good…" JJ knew how to bargain with Emily.

"Fine!" Emily put her hands in the air, in mock surrender. "I'm spending the weekend with him, in Paris. In two weeks. Happy?"

"Oooooohhh, Prentiiiiiiiss!" JJ teased.

"Shut up!" Emily groaned, but she couldn't stop blushing. Or smiling.

"Oh, you're really happy about it, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, I mean…I guess I am." Her best attempt at coming off neutral failed. Her eyes were telling a different story.

"Girl, we are so going emergency shopping!" JJ suggested.

"Considering how Angela told me I have an old lady wardrobe, I guess some emergency shopping would be justified. I need…well, everything." Emily shrugged, realizing that it was somewhat true - she needed cool new clothes.

"Wow, that girl is as blunt and they could get! But she's really cool. I know that, for whatever reason, she doesn't like me, but I kind of do like her. I find her fun and challenging to be around. And she is so incredibly smart." JJ was now pouring herself a cup of coffee too.

They were now just wasting time, but as soon as the seminar guy would arrive at the Station, it would be all hands on deck. Someone would have to interview him and everyone else would be watching from the adjacent room, analyzing every nonverbal sign he'd give during that interview. Or rather – interrogation, since he was now officially a person of interest, being their only connection between the victims.

"She is smart and so much more. And I swear that girl is going to end up in the BAU, one way or another!" Emily stated calmly, now halfway done with her coffee.

She was contemplating on refilling it again, before she'd go back to the team, but she decided against it. If she wanted to have any sort of a chance to sleep that night, she knew she shouldn't drug herself with any more caffeine.

"Also, now that I'm back in your good graces…" JJ started off innocently.

She most definitely knew how to bargain with Prentiss. She had spoken about Angela first, so that Emily would calm down a bit, and she was now about to hit her hard.

"I so need to read those texts!" JJ added with a smirk.

"Out of my sight, Jareau!" Emily pointed towards the meeting room, urging JJ to walk away.

"Oh, it's Jareau now, huh?" JJ laughed.

"Now that you have yourself some French honey, no more ChayChay love for me? Awh, my heart!" JJ put her hand on her heart in the most dramatic way.

"JJ, be gone!" Emily said a bit more sternly this time.

JJ complied and walked over to the room. As soon as she turned her back, Emily allowed herself to chuckle.

So, now JJ was jealous, not of Angela, but of Richard?

"This is violation of my human rights!" A man yelled frantically, being dragged into the Police Station by Luke and Tara.

"And this is the FBI, so you better calm down." Emily stated, welcoming him to the best of her snarky abilities.

"I know my rights!" He kept on yelling.

"Your actual rights will be read to you in just a second. Don't worry." Emily continued, on their way to the interrogation room.

"What? You a cop?" He looked her up and down.

"FBI." She said calmly.

Judging by the way that this man reacted to those words, made her choose JJ to sit with her, during the interview. She would later explain to the team exactly why she made that choice – a hunch had told her that this guy was not a fan of a strong woman who could make decisions for herself.

JJ read him the Miranda rights and he was dumb enough to wave them instantly, by continuing his gibberish talk.

"You can't keep me here!" He yelled.

"Yes, we can and we will." Emily took the lead, as the Bad Cop.

JJ was left with Good Cop and that was okay with her.

"Please state your name and your date of birth." Emily commanded.

"Blake Felton. And why do you care when I was born? Too young for you anyway." He was starting to get cocky and Emily knew it was only a matter of time before she nailed this guy, for murder.

"Oh, I'm taken." She said proudly.

"Well, you don't wear a ring like her." He looked at JJ's ring finger before looking back at Emily.

"I'm unconventional. Sue me." She smirked.

"Ugh, another one of those unfaithful bitches." He muttered to himself.

"What did you just call me? Speak up. I dare you!" Emily did not take any offense, yet she needed him to think that she did.

"Ya'll bitches walk around, screwing guys left and right. Ya'll don't respect religion. Ya'll gotta be punished." He kept on muttering, like he was talking to someone else.

"What punishment do you find fitting then?" JJ asked, but he completely disregarded her.

It was as if he was uninterested in her. Like he didn't care that she was there.

"She asked you a question!" Emily said, a bit more sternly and to that, he replied immediately.

"I could think of a few." He replied, only looking at Emily.

"Care to share?" Emily challenged, but she knew he wouldn't give in so easily.

The suspect then went on, explaining very vivid ways of punishment. His third and last suggestion hit close to home, as it started to sound awfully a lot like the way in which the two victims had been killed.

"JJ, they need you outside." Rossi barged in the interrogation room, unwelcomed.

Instantly, Emily was fuming.

In the blink of an eye, her suspect became quiet as a mouse. He hadn't said enough to be comprehended, so she now had no incriminating evidence and plausible cause to keep him in custody.

JJ stood up and walked out, but Rossi took her place on that chair.

Emily was contemplating killing him off, using one of the ideas she had been just fed by the psycho, sitting across from her.

"So, where were we?" She looked back at the suspect, hoping she'd be able to make him continue speaking.

"I want a lawyer!" He stated calmly, crossing his hands and zipping his mouth.

Emily made a hand gesture for Rossi to get up and follow her outside the room.

"What the Hell!?" She almost lost it.

"Uuh…." Rossi shrugged, unsure where this hostility was coming from.

"I had him, Rossi! And then you came in, mind you, without my invitation, and you ruined everything!"

"Prentiss…this is a bit unfair. It's our case, not yours." He reminded her.

"Yes, but I had him talking."

"How was I to know that my presence would change everything?" Rossi eyed her up and down. For some reason, she seemed tense. "JJ was a useless pawn in there. He wouldn't even look at her."

"You're a profiler, for God's sake!" She hissed at him, putting an enormous amount of pressure, and also guilt, on his shoulders.

"You know what? I'm going to walk away now and maybe talk to you when you're a little more 'Emily' and a lot less 'Political Prentiss', okay?" He knew this was a low blow. Emily hated it whenever someone pointed out her political connection, to a certain other Prentiss woman.

"Ugh!" She groaned.

What had gotten into her? Not even she, herself, knew why she had just acted out like that.

REVIEW REPLIES:

"rmpcmfan" I can neither confirm, nor deny a possible Prentiss women talk in the near future, ehm :P! And yes, it is a super risky decision, but to Emily it makes sense, as it feels like the very last resort to making this man LISTEN TO HER! Which leads me to this question: do we really think that Emily Prentiss would just sit back and do nothing, after a man shut her up in such a rude and dismissive manner (Director or not, lol!)? Analyze it from HER perspective, imagine how horrible she felt to bare her soul with this request and to not just be denied, but to not be heard at all!? It almost makes me think her ego about being silenced hit her worse than the negative answer she keeps getting on her request. Hmm. We'll see where she takes this feud and how things evolve :) I mean, it is a fiction story after all, so maybe things will shift in a different direction...I dunno :P! As for Angie - girl is ready to go full nerd superwoman in those classes! No way she'd EVER disappoint Emily, after the way she stuck up for her.

"sweetkid45" Yeah, Emily is too good at pushing people's buttons hehe :)! I love how snarky and weird she was on the show, especially in the first few seasons, so I've based her on that. She's not all "serious boss lady" all the time :P! And oh, Angie will be quite busy, don't worry. For now, she has to focus on the Academy.