CHAPTER 131
REMINDER: UPCOMING FLIGHT IN 24 HOURS
"Reminder: Upcoming flight in 24 hours."
Time had flied and before she knew it, she was being awaken by this notification on her phone.
And yes, Emily Prentiss had downloaded the official Air France App on her phone. She had figured it would come in handy from now on. And it had proven useful – this was the first time she received a notification and, even if it was not even six o'clock in the morning, she did not mind waking up to the sound of it.
Knowing herself, she only needed a quarter of an hour to pack. Emily Prentiss was a planner - she already knew exactly what she wanted to bring on that trip and, being a somewhat of a neat freak, she also knew exactly where to find those things, inside drawers and storage boxes in the different sections of her apartment. So, she had postponed the actual packing for the last minute, because as methodical as Emily Prentiss was, she was also known to be a huge procrastinator, too.
"Good morning, early birds." Emily greeted everyone when she finally made it to Headquarters.
She had stopped for coffee on her way there and she couldn't help but wander around that cute fountain area just outside of the building, before walking in. Just two days later she knew she would be enjoying the view of a certain other fountain, she was sure Richard would take her there. After all, it was Sacred ground - it had been the start of their relationship. Twice.
The morning was uneventful. Matt and Tara were busy, doing inventory in the trunks of both BAU cars, making sure all the equipment was in place, ready to be grabbed, if needed during a case. The BAU had a specific list of things they always had with them, just in case. And both cars were perfectly stocked up after Matt and Tara were done with them.
JJ and Luke hung around the office, reading up for those online courses they had signed up for. It was their last week of online studying and they both had upcoming exams to pass before they would get their certificates. Emily could not be any more proud of how openly her entire team had met her decision to participate in some sort of a professional formation course and they were doing brilliantly so far, having done it all on their own free time, except that day when there wasn't much to do around the office anyway.
Emily smiled, repeating it to herself: there isn't anything to do around here.
They were not on a case and thank God for that. She had booked those plane tickets days ago, but they were still expensive and she had not checked the "flight cancellation insurance" box, being so sure that this trip was happening. She wouldn't need a refund. Or…would she?
At lunch, the team went to one of their favorite restaurants in the city. They sometimes needed to get away from Headquarters, to see something other than those walls, those people, those badges.
Right when they flooded the Bullpen once again, after lunch, a notification popped on Emily's phone screen. She smiled instantly, thinking to herself how this must be another cute little reminder of how many hours were left until her flight to Paris.
"Oh, Hell no…" She rolled her eyes, her face becoming pale as she read the text that was most definitely not sent by Air France.
Maybe she should have checked that cancellation insurance box after all.
"Guys, meeting room. Now!" She urged everyone, going to her office to grab her tablet before she joined the team.
"Okay, I just got this case sent to us. It's in Quincy, Massachusetts. Let's read up and see what we are dealing with. I'm sending the file to all of your tablets." Emily spoke and gave everyone five minutes to read the documents, sent to them by the Quincy local police department.
"I don't know, guys. This doesn't sound like a case that fits the BAU. Maybe we should let another Unit deal with it?" JJ suggested.
Emily shot her a quick glance. Oh, she knew what JJ was doing. It was sweet, actually – trying to bounce the case off to someone else, so that Emily could have her weekend off, as planned.
Sadly, this was not how the BAU rolled and the entire team let JJ know that passing on a case was not an option. They had been invited and they were going, whether she liked it or not.
"Well, I tried…" JJ muttered to herself, going over the file one more time.
"Alright, I've just notified the police department that we are on our way. Wheels up in 30." Emily said, feeling a sharp pain in her chest as she spoke.
This was it - the end of her weekend plans. She had waited, pretending to be patient, for two weeks. And it was not happening.
But, on the other hand, someone's life was at stake, so she could not really compare that, to her fun weekend plans. The job came first, she knew this much. She just hoped that Richard would understand.
Damn it. Richard? How was she supposed to explain it, without saying what her job was? It would look really suspicious if she just canceled on him, with no explanation. And she also didn't want to lie to him, so her only other option was telling the truth.
But she was not ready…
Suddenly, she understood Angie's words, when she had kept on repeating that she wasn't ready. She had known all along why this girl was not ready to say certain things to certain people, but she was now experiencing the same thing. And being in that position sucked.
"Uh, a teeny weeny problem." Garcia stated, staring at her phone.
"Okay, so I just texted to get the flight arranged and it turns out our jet is undergoing some whatever kind of maintenance thingy, I don't know. Point is, you can't fly until later this evening. Like, at least a couple of hours. I'm sorry, nothing can be done. It's some safety procedure that cannot be rushed."
Emily rolled her eyes once again. This just kept getting worse.
"But, the good news is that our pilot is ready and willing!" Garcia added, just to soften the blow. "Sadly, quite like the rest of us, he still has to wait for the jet to be cleared to fly."
"Alright then, I need to rush back home and close the windows. I wasn't planning on traveling, so I left everything open and now that we are leaving, and with the rainstorm in the forecast for this weekend, I would rather make sure my place won't get trashed by the wind and rain. You guys hang out, do whatever, I'll text you when Garcia has information about the flight and I'll meet you at the airport, okay?" Emily explained.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have a few spare hours.
"Hey Ems, uhm, can I come over?" JJ asked shyly.
"Yeah, sure. Come on, let's get going." Emily urged her.
Both girls entered the elevator with their luggage, all ready to go. Emily eyed JJ curiously when she saw her drag a small suitcase as well as her usual Go Bag.
"Oh, it's Massachusetts, you never know what the weather would be like, out there. I'm bringing my suitcase, full of warm fuzzy clothes, just in case." JJ smiled and Emily did not question it any further. JJ was known to like snuggling inside of a comfy sweater when the temperatures dropped.
Sometimes, the girls would bring an extra bag of things, on a flight. This was not something unusual. Why would Emily suspect anything?
As soon as they both walked in Emily's apartment, JJ started yawning. Poor thing looked tired, after all the hours of reading and taking those practice tests online that morning.
"Hey, why don't you go take a nap? We have plenty of time and your bags are already packed. I'll do some stuff around the house and I'll wake you up when Garcia texts us with a time for our flight." Emily smiled, pointing at the guest room.
"Okay." JJ replied, heading towards Emily's bedroom instead.
Emily did not think much of it. In fact, JJ had chosen wisely, since the guest bedroom wasn't even equipped with bed sheets and spare towels at the moment, as Emily was not expecting to have guests over.
"Oh and please don't barge in! I'll take a shower first, so let's avoid another awkward staring contest if you walk in on me naked as I'm walking out of the shower, okay?" JJ requested.
"JJ, I've seen you naked. Plenty of times…" Emily laughed at how weird that statement was. "But okay, I'll give you some privacy. Now get out of my sight. I still have to wash the dishes from last night. Ugh, I swear to God, I wish I could live on take away food and single use carton boxes forever!"
"You already do, Prentiss." JJ smirked and left her Go Bag on the couch, but she dragged the suitcase to the bedroom.
Once again, Emily did not find that weird. JJ had mentioned that her warmer clothes were in that suitcase, so she probably just needed to grab something comfortable, to lounge around in until they had to leave.
"Hey, unfortunately there is something I need to tell you…"
Emily shot a text to Richard and sat down on the couch, waiting for the reply.
It had been an hour since JJ and her had walked into her apartment. Garcia wasn't contacting them. Sometimes flying on the jet required way more patience and paperwork than what one might think. There was nothing she could do, nothing other than wait.
For an hour she had gone around the house, putting little things back in their places and making sure it looked like a presentable home. It wasn't a home, it didn't feel like a home to her, no matter how hard she tried. Something was missing.
Then, she had spent a few minutes, reading the papers from the police station. There was barely any useful information on those documents. She wasn't even sure what this case was about, but she was sure she was going to go there and kick ass, with her team, making sure there won't be another victim, even at the expense of the only weekend when she would be able to travel, for a month and a half.
"Oh no! They're not real!?" Richard replied, using five stunned emojis and adding a zoomed picture of Emily in the French flag lingerie, very much cropped to only show her chest.
Emily laughed out loud, placing a hand on her mouth, as to not be too noisy. She hated a cranky JJ and that woman sure was cranky when someone woke her up against her will and for no good reason.
"Well, there is only one way to find out…" She started typing cheekily, although she was sure Richard had already figured out the truth, with those naughty hands of his. "Actually, it's about the weekend plans…"
"It's okay. If something came up and your team needs you, we can always reschedule. I'll call Air France and have them put the credit back to your account, so you can re-book a ticket for another date."
Did he have to be so sweet and understanding? Was he even real?
"Yeah, I'm really sorry. I can't say NO to this and my team does need me. I promise, I'll make it up to you! It's just that…I don't have another weekend off until maybe a month from now. And even then, I doubt it, as there is a work mixer that I should go to. Also, I didn't opt for the cancellation insurance for my ticket, so I can't be reimbursed. Don't bother calling and don't take this personally, but you, French people, are stubborn and stuck up as Hell and there is no chance in Hell I'm ever seeing my money again. It's fine. Money is not the loss I'm upset about anyway…"
She then sat around and waited for his reply. Why wasn't he texting her back? Was it because of that comment? Everyone knew that French people were arrogant, it was hardly something she had come up with. She was just stating a fact. Plus, she loved France and she had a weird appreciation for French people…especially if they were named after a pastry shop. Arrogance turned her on, not that she would ever admit it. Maybe Richard had the wrong feel of her message?
Five minutes later, she received a notification from the Air France app on her phone, letting her know she had been fully reimbursed and was offered a 50% discount for her next round trip she would book.
"There is NO WAY you just did what I think you did…" Emily texted Richard again.
There was also no way this was a coincidence.
"What can I say, I'm a very lovable person. I have friends…who owe me favors."
She could picture him smirking as he would have written that text. His words were a throwback to that one text where Emily had dropped the "L" bomb on him and when she had panicked right after, making JJ assess the situation afterwards.
"Merci beacoup! I kind of don't deserve it, though. After all, it is my fault this weekend isn't happening."
"De rien! And it isn't your fault that you are amazing at your job. Relax. We'll find dates that work for both of us. I can take days off even during the week, it's not a problem. See what works for you and let me know, okay? Oh, crap, I just remembered I have to now cancel our dinner date at that fancy upscale new restaurant…oh, damn!"
He was a tease, but Emily Prentiss was no fool. She lived to call people out on their bluffs, which was exactly what she did with her next text.
"Ha-ha. You're not fooling anyone. I know you'd rather have take away for dinner, in your living room, hanging out with me, maybe not wearing too many clothes…"
"Touche! Now, don't go putting THOSE thoughts in my head! It's going to be one miserable weekend, for sure."
"Aww, cheer up. I said I'd make up for it. I'm a woman of my word. Wait, no…actually, I suck at keeping a promise, but I've been working on that lately."
She could not believe she had just told him that.
Something about their relationship felt easy. Comfortable. Nice. No pressure. She always wrote the first thing that was on her mind and she sent him the unedited draft of each message. She had never had that before, with any man she had ever dated. She would have stressed over every word, every punctuation mark, wondering if it was too much, or too little, or too forward, or maybe not forward enough. But with Richard, she was a straight shooter, much like how Angela was with Emily ever since they started to hang out together.
"Make-up for it? Oh, I'll make you sweat for it, Emily!"
Emily smiled, reading his reply, but that was when her work phone started ringing.
Garcia called, letting her know that they were cleared to fly in an hour. This gave Emily plenty of time to go wake JJ up and get to the airport.
"Sorry, can't talk anymore. I'll text you later tonight. Wait, no, that would make it too late at night, in your time zone. I'll text you tomorrow morning when I wake up, so, that's during your lunch break, for you. Bye."
She wasn't going to disappear without letting him know she was busy, so she shot that last message and hurried to wake JJ up, but not before making sure she had banged on the door loud enough and for long enough, so that JJ would be awake and aware that Emily was going to enter the room. Luckily for Emily, JJ was fully dressed and greeted her with a series of long yawns. Much like her son Henry, JJ had opted for sleeping on Emily's side of the bed, which was cute, but sort of disturbing as well. Then again, Emily and JJ had the weirdest friendship in the world, so nothing was too weird between them.
On their way to Emily's car downstairs, she checked if Richard had replied to her, which he surely had.
"No, it's okay. I like it when you text me before you go to bed. Do it. At most I won't reply, if I'm sleeping. But it's cute. Please, do it. Have a good evening and don't hold yourself responsible for canceling the weekend, please?"
She smiled, placing the phone back in her pocket as she sat in the driver's seat.
"Loverboy?" JJ smirked, climbing onto the passenger's seat, still sleepy and with electric hair strands sticking out in every direction. She looked like a hot mess, but Emily did not have it in her to let her know. Surely JJ would check herself out in the mirror soon, hopefully before landing and meeting the Police Officers.
"Yeah. Guess it will be a few more weeks of texting for us…" Emily stared at the wheel, afraid that if she looked at JJ, her eyes would show nothing but pain and disappointment. And she didn't want to be perceived as the monster who was upset that she had to go save a life, instead of going to meet a guy.
As much as Emily wanted to hide it, JJ knew her better. She was sure how much it sucked for Emily to have found something, someone she cared so much about and to be so curious about being with him, especially at the beginning stages of that relationship, only to find it so incredibly hard to find the time to actually be with him.
JJ had been in a similar situation, years ago, after she had met Will. She had kept that relationship a secret for months and, looking back at it now, she wished she would have felt more confident in her friendship with Emily, maybe confident enough to have shared the truth with her. A secret relationship was this much more fun if you had an accomplice, a best friend who knew about it…a best friend who backed you up and covered for you.
"Why are you grinning?" Emily questioned.
JJ had gotten herself a bit lost in her thoughts and, with her last realization, she had started grinning. She hadn't confided in Emily, years ago, so Emily couldn't have covered for her when she was away, to see Will.
But Emily had confided in her now. And JJ was determined to be the most awesome best friend in the world.
"No reason." JJ shrugged, putting the belt on as they finally drove off, in direction of the airport.
"Hunter?"
Angie knew that stern voice and she knew what hearing her name, in that tone of voice, meant.
She excused herself from her friend group when their training for the day finished, and she walked over to the guy.
"You don't have to yell at me again. I'm behaving." She told him.
"I know. That's why I'm here."
"So, for the record, I'm still going to be in trouble even if I behave? Because, if so, I'd rather be naughty instead." She smirked. There was no stopping her and there was no taming that inner Devil of hers.
"Listen, kid. You've been on top of your game lately. Just keep going, okay? Keep doing what you're doing and kick some ass here. I promise, it will be worth it."
"Dan, I'm not getting in the BAU, not even if I make circles around the Director's home, naked, singing Kumbaya for 24 hours straight! I already know that, so please don't bribe me into being a good girl. I've made up my mind and I've figured the Bureau means too much to me, so I'm not going to jeopardize my spot here, even if it means starting off with a different Unit. I mean, yeah, it sucks, but I'm sick of being an airhead and making everyone believe that I'll have a hissy fit each time I don't get it my way. The truth is – nothing had ever gone my way, so I wouldn't even know how to handle it if it did now, not when this is the single, most important thing in my life. I've wanted the BAU for years. I'm not getting it. Okay. Time for me to put my big girl pants and suck it up."
"Angela, this is not what I was going to say…" He interrupted her when she started getting lost in her words and circling around the same thing.
"Oh. Is there any chance you're here to finally tell me my feedback from my trainers?" She asked, full of hope.
Her friends had already gotten their feedback cards, days ago. Angie was one of the few Trainees who did not get the luxury of reading what the monthly reports said about her.
"Keep dreaming." Dan smirked. There was a reason why he didn't want her seeing those reports.
"I'm here to tell you that you're doing everything you possibly can, to prove yourself to many influential people around that building…" He said, pointing at Headquarters. "And those people are watching you."
"And I'm also here to say that Emily Prentiss has put her ass out there, for you, numerous times. And she ain't gonna stop. So, you keep doing what you're doing and you keep that mouth shut and that chin up. Okay? You owe her this much." Something about the way he spoke confused her. Was he being harsh? Or was that something else she detected in his voice?
"Oh and…" Dan had just taken a few steps backwards. He was late for something and he had made a quick stop by the Academy, just to tell Angie something in person.
"I'm proud of you, my Wild Card!" There, he finally said it. And yes, she had successfully and correctly detected pride in his voice.
And there, she finally felt something. It was finally a compliment enough for her to feel flattered. And, as confusing as that new feeling was, she kind of liked it.
Upon arriving in Quincy, Massachusetts, the BAU team headed directly to the police station. Luckily for them, the policemen were able to shed more light on the case, telling them new things, developments and discoveries, things that were not on the file they had previously sent to Emily.
A few hours later, it was already midnight and the team knew better than to keep pushing. They all needed some rest and they were going to start fresh - bright and early the next morning.
They were accompanied to their hotel by three police cars, as they didn't yet have the Federal cars at their disposal. It just kept happening – first in New York, now in Quincy. But they weren't fussy and they got lucky that this time the guys from the night shift had offered to give them a ride.
Luke and Tara enjoyed the ride, making little jokes about how weird it felt to be sitting in the back of a police car, as if they were busted for something and now on their way to be questioned. Emily and JJ were quiet, for the most part, just going through some notes they had made on their tablets. Reid was telling Rossi something about wanting to teach another class at the Academy, while Rossi had something else on his mind.
Walking in the hotel, they all felt like a weight was lifted off their shoulders. They weren't tired, but they all felt the need to get some sleep and start fresh.
"Oh crap…It didn't look this bad in the photos online…" Tara gasped, the moment she walked in the triple room that was assigned to the girls.
The entire hotel structure was on the verge of collapsing. The walls were thin and, unfortunately for the team, they would soon find out that they would be able to hear every little noise, coming from the adjacent rooms.
"I had a feeling. Damn it, I should have gone with my gut feeling and brought my own sheets." Emily stated as she walked over to one of the beds.
"Come on, it's a hotel. Of all the things that are lacking here, at least they change the sheets." JJ shrugged and put her bag on the smaller bed.
"JJ, if it rents by the hour, they sure as Hell don't change the sheets as often as you might expect them to." Emily cringed, knowing how true her words were.
She had spotted a sign at the reception downstairs, with prices per night and prices per hour. It was a mixture of disturbing and disgusting.
"And you know that, how…?" Tara nudged Emily, who just laughed it off.
The guys had a quadruple room, with more chances of it being clean. People would usually book a single or a double, at such hotels, maybe a triple if they were feeling adventurous. Quadruples, however, were not so popular.
In the morning, they found out that there was really no breakfast option, even if Tara had checked the box when she had made the reservations.
They all gathered outside the hotel, waiting for the police cars to come over and take them to the station.
"I can't believe this place has a website." Matt cracked his neck. It was stiff, his pillow had been uncomfortable and he had barely gotten any sleep.
"Scratch that. I can't believe I was dumb enough to not take earplugs with me. God, this place…ugh!" JJ had never been a prude, but certain things she had heard last night she would find hard to shake off her mind for a long time.
"Guys, I'm really sorry. I thought this whole budget thing would be temporary, like some sort of a test. I just…I don't know what to say…" Emily said shyly, playing with the pinky finger of her right hand, twisting and bending it, as a coping mechanism for all the guilt she felt.
"It's not your fault. And it's not yours either." Rossi's eyes shifted from Emily to Tara, as he spoke to both. "The BAU has been through rough times before. And guess what? We are still here, still going strong and still putting bad people behind bars. This is all I ever wanted this Unit to be. This is what we stand for, guys. We don't need luxury. We only need each other. Never forget that."
Everyone smiled at Rossi's words. He was most definitely the fatherly figure in the group. Emily switched between being everyone's best friend and emotional dumping ground, to being Unit Chief, to being a somewhat of a motherly figure to them all, on different occasions. But Rossi's role within the team had always remained stable, constant, unchanged.
Emily felt her phone vibrating and she made sure she was two steps behind everyone when she briefly checked out the notification she had just received.
"Please direct yourself to Gate A-12 for Boarding"
She could not help but groan in annoyance. Her flight had been canceled, but the notifications came in anyway. Maybe they were pre-defined. Maybe it was a glitch in the app. Whatever the reason was, it upset her quite a lot.
"You good?" JJ asked, searching for Emily within the group and finding her behind everyone else.
Emily did not reply. She just tilted the phone sideways, so that JJ could read what was on the screen.
"Ems…" JJ whispered, placing her hand on Emily's back for a second. It was just a small, simple gesture, but it meant a lot to Emily.
"Let's go. We have a serial killer to catch." Emily forced a brave smile on her face.
This was what she knew – faking it until it would almost feel real, until the pain would almost feel like it was gone. It was the story of her life. If she had to be honest, she had it easy with the FBI. The true route of her deeper problems had been her time as a Spy, as someone other than her real self. And those years of pretending had definitely had an impact on her.
The day went on slowly. Time seemed to have stopped and the minutes somehow seemed longer. While there wasn't much to be said about the case, the team never gave up looking for clues. They were working on two theories, one of which got discarded right before lunch.
Opting for some Chinese, they ate at the police station, still discussing the case and the new lead that Garcia had just provided them with. There was a suspect, with an alibi that checked out. Emily insisted on bringing him in anyway, maybe he could give them some useful information anyway.
After an hour with this guy in the interrogation room, Rossi and Tara came out emptyhanded. The only information this man had been able to give them were a few things that they already knew about.
"Guys, if this is all the information we have, I think we should stop looking for more. Yes, it isn't much, but it might be all the information we need. I feel like we're wasting time, trying to get more, when there is none. Let's focus on what we have, instead. Let's put all our energy into analyzing everything we have so far." Emily said when everyone was taking a five minute breather, to go get some coffee from the lounge room.
Two hours later, her suggestion turned out to have been really helpful. Focusing on the little information on hand, they were able to see right through it, to figure out more about the crimes, the victims and the motive.
Garcia worked her magic, finding two men who fit the profile that they had just come up with.
"We split up and we cover both addresses." Emily ordered. "Garcia, I need search warrants for both men's homes and I need them now! JJ, Reid, Lewis, you're with me. Rossi, Alvez and Simmons – other car."
"Is it just me, or does it seem like Prentiss has been kicking ass hard, lately?" Luke spoke in the car, on their way to one of the two addresses Garcia had given them.
"Yeah, it's like she got her groove back. It's nice to see her like this again." Matt replied and then both of them gave Rossi a look, fully expecting him to pitch in his own opinion.
Rossi was initially planning on remaining quiet and not commenting on this one, but since he was now being put on the spot, he had to speak up.
"I'm not going to deny that we all know how traumatic the Cursed Case was, for Prentiss. It would take time, for her to heal, but she's getting there." Rossi said vaguely.
The other car passengers were discussing their strategy. They were now a team of four, so they had opted for the bigger house, with the shadier looking suspect.
As it turned out, Rossi's car had gone to the wrong guy's house. All they found in there were cigarette butts and traces of cocaine on practically every flat surface. This was not their guy. The profile did not suggest that their UnSub would be using or dealing with drugs, so they notified the police about what they had seen in the house and they were on their way to the house Prentiss and the rest of the team were now clearing.
"JJ, Reid, upstairs!" Emily called out when they walked in.
It did not seem like anyone was home at that moment, but they surely were there just minutes ago. There was a kettle with boiling water on the stove, next to a box of concentrated chamomile tea. That surely fit the profile – the UnSub was someone who was fighting weight loss, according to them, and drinking that tea was a great way to stimulate that process.
"Clear!" JJ called out from upstairs, after searching both rooms while Reid searched the closet and bathroom.
"Clear!" Tara called out from downstairs, after covering all areas, with Emily's help.
"FBI!" Rossi yelled, walking in with Luke and Matt by his side, unsure of what they might find.
"It's okay, guys. He must have seen us approach and he fled. But he's definitely our guy." Emily then walked them through the few suspicious objects she had found while searching the house.
"Murder weapon?" Matt asked.
Everything else was there, all the little things the UnSub used, as part of his rouse, with each kill.
"No. Sadly, we couldn't find it, nor traces of blood at all, for that matter. There's nothing that can give us a solid reason to book this guy for longer than 24 hours." Emily shook her head, hating to admit it.
They went back to the police station with empty hands. They weren't exactly back to square one, because at least now they knew who the UnSub was, but since he had made them before they even entered the house, they were sure he was out in hiding now, some place that won't be too easy to find.
It was evening and they kept on searching for anything and anyone, connected to this man. Garcia was able to find a connection between him and all the victims. As it turned out, he had been fired from a gym a month ago and that was the gym all of his three victims were going to. He must have accessed their files, written down their addresses and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.
The team figured out his stressor as well – his wife had suddenly filed for divorce two weeks ago, which coincided with the time of the first kidnapping and murder.
They all discussed the house and the fact that there were two room upstairs – one was for the husband and wife and the other one had been emptied out, as if they were preparing it for renovations.
"Garcia, I need you to go through the autopsy reports again." Emily said over the phone, putting it on loudspeaker, for the team to hear and interact as well.
"Oh, oh…eww…I mean, okay." Garcia panted, feeling sick by placing her hands on those papers.
"We know the time and cause of death, the murder weapon and we are aware of the fact that all three victims fought back…as if not only their own life depended on it." Emily narrated, whispering the last few words to herself.
Garcia confirmed it all, after briefly re-reading those parts of the autopsy files of each victim. They were consistent.
"And we just figured out where he knew the victims from. But, he got fired a month ago and all the victims recently suspended their gym membership…" Emily kept on speaking.
"I hardly believe it was because they missed this guy…" Tara cringed, looking at the photo on the UnSub's diving license.
"Now, what reason might a young, athletic girl have, to suspend her gym membership?" Emily asked, but everyone knew it was rhetorical, so nobody dared pitch in.
"Garcia, they were all pregnant." Emily stated.
"Wait. Okay, was that a question? Because I'll tell you what – it sounded a lot like a statement. Yeah. Wasn't I supposed to deliver the news in like…like, something like a flash, or like a cloud of pink fluffy realizations that hit you all of a sudden? How does that work? Oh, Emily Prentiss, why are you such a genius?" Garcia spoke in her usual confusing, but cute kind of way.
After checking that part with the fine print of each report, Garcia was able to confirm what Emily had already figured out.
"Guys, the room!" Emily pointed out. "The UnSub and his wife were preparing that empty room for a nursery. For whatever reason, the wife left him, but she must have already been pregnant by then. And he must have known it already. Talk about a stressor…"
"Yeah, remember that chamomile concentrate? Now, the UnSub is clearly a big guy…" JJ pointed at his DMV photo that was now hanging in the middle of their board, under the scribbled down UNSUB, courtesy of Reid and his maniac handwriting in all caps.
"He must have been trying to lose weight, possibly even to appeal to his wife's demands to do so. That speaks to him, feeling lesser, like the subordinate one in the relationship and that is evident in the way he kills. He was trying to tell his story, with each victim, trying to dominate them in a way that he never got the chance to do with his own wife." JJ added.
"Question is – how do we find the guy before he-…" Rossi started to ask the question that was on everyone else's mind, when they got interrupted.
"Excuse me, Agent Prentiss?" The Police Chief barged in the room, in the middle of their reunion.
"Uh, we just received a new missing person's report. This one is blonde, so she isn't like the other victims. She's also slightly older than the others, but I wanted to let you know." The man added.
"Was she a member of this gym?" Emily asked, pointing a finger at a photo of the gym they had pinpointed as the UnSub's hunting ground.
"Uh…" The Police Chief opened a file with some more information on the missing girl.
The girl's younger sister had filed it just minutes ago, writing down all sorts of random little things that may or may not help the police find the missing sister.
"Yes. Yes, she was." The man replied when he finally saw the gym name on the file.
"And she recently found out she was pregnant?" Emily asked again.
"It doesn't say. The sister only wrote that she had missed work a few days ago and she had gone to a doctor's appointment." He replied.
"Guys, we need to find this guy before he hurts her." Rossi commented while placing the missing girl's photo on the board, filling the timeline with the new information they now had.
The BAU rushed to the Federal SUVs that were finally at their disposal, for the duration of their stay. On their way to the girl's house, JJ called her to make sure the timing wasn't bad, as it was getting quite late.
After a long talk they had with the missing girl's sister, all of the checkpoints were confirmed. She fit with everything the UnSub was looking for, in a victim.
Then it was time to hunt down the UnSub's soon to be ex-wife. Seeing as she had acted as a stressor for the UnSub and now that he knew that the Feds were hot on his trail, he might go straight for his end game – his wife. Garcia had figured out an address where her parents lived and it was local, but she was not there and there was no sign of her whatsoever. The parents haven't heard from her in days, which they said was not out of the ordinary. They would only speak once every ten days or so, therefore none of them had even realized she was missing, as it had been a few days less than two weeks since she had last called them or last slept at her home, with the UnSub.
The BAU also hit the house of the UnSub's wife's best friend and once again, there was no sign of the woman they were looking for. Garcia was unable to track down any phone calls, car GPS activity, credit card movements. This woman seemed to have vanished, the moment she had broken it off with her husband.
"Guys, we're going back to the hotel. We can start fresh in the morning." Emily said at around half past one, when everyone was beyond tired and cranky.
It was obvious there was nothing else that could be done at the wee hours of the night, so their best option was to try and get some energy back until the morning when it would be appropriate to make all the phone calls to friends, family members and even the gym, in search of more answers.
Once again, the hotel did not give them any comfort and most of them were unable to close their eyes all night.
Emily sneaked out of the room at around three o'clock and spent the rest of the night in the back yard, sitting on a concrete wall. She had been smart enough to bring a pillow with her, so she could rest her back against a wall and not have her muscles all stiff and aching after a while.
"Good morning. Unless this is me waking you up way too early on a Sunday, then I guess it won't be that good."
She shot a text to Richard at some point, after almost an hour of staring at all the evidence and information she had on her tablet. This case felt like an easy one, but it was proving to be hard to find both the UnSub and his wife and that did not look too good, for the wife. Emily just hoped the woman was alive and well, for the sake of the baby.
"Bonjour, ma chérie. I won't lie, it would have been a much better morning if I woke up next to you. And no, your text did not wake me up. I just finished my morning jog and I'm heading over to the park with a coffee and a croissant in my hands. Hey, isn't it like half past four for you right now? What are you doing up so late? Or so early?"
"How very French of you, in regard to that breakfast. Which park are you going to? I'm on a little work trip myself. I'm stuck in a disgusting little motel, forced to listen to…ugh, you don't even want to know. All I'm saying is that this place rents by the hour and I wish I had earplugs. This is my second sleepless night, so I'm working in the back yard right now. At least I'm trying to do something productive. I really wish I could be with you right now."
She replied again and inevitably started thinking of how hard this relationship already was and they had barely just started it. She wouldn't be able to travel for the next five weekends and subconsciously she wasn't ready for him to travel to her, to be on her turf, to get so close to her life, for so many reasons. One of them being the fact that her entire house had the FBI logo plastered all over it – achievements, awards, photos…it all connected her to her job. And she wasn't ready to share that side of her with him. Not just yet.
"Well, considering how I was planning on taking you to the Medici Fountain, and how I've been spending my lunch breaks here for weeks now, it's safe to say that's exactly where I am right now. It's beautiful, so peaceful on a Sunday morning. There are a few people with their dogs and it's so quiet, like you could hear the water splashing even before reaching the Fountain on foot. And oh, well couldn't you book another hotel maybe? This one sounds like the set of a horror movie. And you're out in the yard, at this time of the night, on your own!? Probably not the best idea, Emily. What if there is a psycho killer, looking at you from behind the bushes, right now?"
Emily chuckled. Oh, he was cute when he was worried about her. If only he knew…
"Stop making me jealous! I'd give anything to be there right now! Well, anything, besides my job, obviously. And oh, I'd be glad if said psycho killer came to me. It would make my job so much easier…"
She couldn't help but smirk. Out of its original context, Richard would surely not be able to deduct what kind of a job Emily had. He didn't even know her last name, so there was no way he would Google her and figure out her job and, God forbid, who she really was, as in – which political family she belonged to. Emily did not know which of those two truths scared her the most, but if she had to bet her money on one, it would be the Prentiss family legacy. That sure was scary and humiliating. Maybe that was what she was subconsciously so scared that he might learn? Maybe it wasn't the fact that she was a big bad Boss Lady, at the FBI?
Her head tilted sideways as she weighted those two options. She imagined a world in which Richard knew what her job was and it didn't look that scary. Then she imagined a world in which he knew how screwed up her upbringing had been from an early age and any sane and educated person would be able to deduct how screwed up such a child's life would turn out to be as a grown up, with all the emotional baggage, abandonment issues and all that. It scared the Hell out of her, so how could it possibly not scare Richard, too?
"FBI, don't move!" Thinking of scares, Emily jumped up, grabbing her gun from the holster and she started circling around the bushes when she heard a noise coming from behind her.
Was Richard a psychic? Had he predicted that a killer would be stalking her? Or, given how freaked out Emily had been at the beginning, thinking Richard was some sort of a mafia boss, did that mean he had maybe sent someone to stalk her? Or kill her? How did he know? Why was this happening just seconds after he sent her that text?
"Freeze! Show me your hands! Turn around!" Emily said loudly, reaching a shadow that was now walking away from her.
"No, no, no! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
To Emily's surprise, when that shadow stopped moving and turned around slowly, with their hands in the air, she heard a female voice.
"Oh my God!" Emily gasped, putting the gun back in its holster and walking towards the woman.
"You're the wife." She commented, as soon as she was able to have a better look at her face.
"Ex-wife. I dumped his abusive ass as soon as I learned that I was pregnant. He's a huge guy, it's one thing if he beats me up, but I didn't want that for my baby. I had to protect my baby. You have to understand…" The woman said, with tears falling from her eyes.
"Oh, I understand. There is nothing that a mother wouldn't do, in order to protect her child. Sometimes, that includes doing stupid, risky things, like going into hiding. But, what were you thinking? You should have contacted your family, your friends. We would have found you already!" Emily spoke as they walked back to the yard.
"So would he! He would have found me and he would have killed me. He said so himself. When I told him I was leaving, he said I won't get out of this marriage alive. I had to run, I have a friend who lives in a small town, close to Quincy, I stayed with her for a while, but when I heard on TV that the FBI was here, I wanted to make contact. She made me come back and search for you, she said you are the only people who could really protect me right now." The woman said, somehow a little less freaked out now.
"Your friend was right." Emily said with a soft smile, praising herself for the decision to go live on TV, just hours earlier. "Don't worry. You're safe with us now. But you can't stay out here. Let's go get you a room and in the morning I'll arrange for someone to pick you up and drive you to a safe house. We'll assign two security details on you, day and night. Your husband won't be able to find you or hurt you."
"Thank you so much." The woman half smiled, as well.
Emily's voice was soothing, she had that power of calming people down when she spoke. Out of the entire team, it was her and Rossi who had this blessing.
The woman subconsciously let her left hand brush against her stomach as she kept on smiling. She noticed how Emily traced that hand movement, with a certain melancholy in her eyes.
"How old is your child?" The woman asked, startling Emily with that question.
"Oh, uh, I…no...I don't…" Emily stuttered.
Oh, how should she even begin to answer that question?
"I'm sorry. It just, it sounded like you were speaking from experience." The woman looked at her guiltily. Maybe she had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
They walked to the small reception counter and Emily used cash to pay for another room.
"Single or double?" The man at the desk asked.
"Single." Emily replied, but something about the way the other woman looked at her gave her the impression she had given the man the wrong answer.
"Will you…stay with me…please?" The woman whispered. She was scared and understandably so.
"Uh, yeah. Okay, double then." Emily corrected herself, paying the difference and upgrading the room.
The man gave her a weird look.
"Look, sweetie pie, we get them all kinds of kinky ones here all the time. You don't have to act so shy. Here's a double, I mean, a double bed for ya. Enjoy." He handed her the keys to a room.
It took Emily a lot of restraint not to give him a piece of her mind. Instead, she played it cool and asked for a double room, with two separate beds.
It was five o'clock already, so Emily only paid for five hours. It was the moment when she blessed the Lord that this place allowed such payments. It was small and disgusting, but it sure was not cheap. And she was, after all, putting that extra room on her personal expenses.
The wife fell asleep immediately. Emily took the bed next to the window, just to make sure nobody could break in and do the other woman any harm. After a while, just staring at the sky, she finally closed her eyes and dozed off.
A little over three hours later, JJ was calling Emily, asking where she was and why hasn't she slept in her own bed, in the triple room they both shared with Tara.
Emily met her team at the parking lot, in front of the motel, telling them all about the previous night, sparing herself the small detail that she had been texting with someone she was supposed to be with, these days, when this woman magically appeared in the backyard.
The team went to the police station while Emily and Matt stayed behind, to keep the UnSub's wife company. JJ and Luke had made arrangements with the police officers to go get the woman and to drive her to a safe house, where she would spend the remaining time until her husband's arrest, with two armed guys next to her, at all times.
Emily had requested that the woman would first be taken to a hospital, just to make sure her and the baby were well. After that, she was off to her new temporary home, with a burner phone in her pocket, one which she would later use to get in touch with the profilers and to give them all the information they needed. As per Emily's personal request, a paramedic was on standby, in case the stress of what was happening would be too much for the woman and the baby.
Once the policemen arrived, Emily and Matt headed back to the police station, to join the rest of the team. They instructed the woman to keep her burner phone with her at all times and to call them if she ever thought of something they might find helpful.
In her first call with the BAU, the wife had not said much, not of big importance anyway, and there was nothing that the BAU was not aware of already. But, an hour later, she called them back, having remembered something else.
"Yes, he spoke about a moon. That's right!" The woman confirmed, after Tara had asked her about her last few words.
"A moon? Can you be a bit more specific? Maybe your honeymoon?" Tara fished for more information.
"Moon. Moon…Moon!" Reid almost yelled out, sprinting to the board. "Moon, guys, Moon Island is up North in Quincy. That's where our second victim was dumped!"
"Didn't she wash up on Bellevue Road?" Rossi asked.
"Yes, she did, but hours after her murder. I was able to estimate an approximate dumping ground, based on the water flow and speed and the time between her death and the discovery of her body." Reid took a sharpie and drew a line on the map that was hanging on the side of their whiteboard. "So, she was found here, but we know she had been dead for about seven hours, which makes her estimated dumping ground somewhere around…here…"
"That's right smack in the middle of Moon Island!" Tara raised an eyebrow. All these years and Reid still never failed to amaze her with his brilliant brain.
"The Boston Police Firing Range is there. And the Boston Fire Department Training Academy, too." One of the police officers who was tagging along with the investigation, commented.
"Yes, my husband liked to go shooting at that range. He would go every Saturday morning." The wife added. Being on loudspeaker, she was able to hear what everyone had just said.
"Well, that would make sense. He is an ex-Marine, he knows how to handle a gun. The murder weapon is a gun. Moon Island is a place he feels comfortable at, he must know all of its hidden little spots. It's the perfect alibi – the second victim was disposed of right there, on a Saturday morning. He had an alibi for being there, in case someone asked - he was a regular at the firing range. He probably even signed in, walked right out the door, did his deed and walked back in, without raising any suspicion." Emily put the pieces together.
"What about the other victims?" Matt asked.
"Well, they were discovered in different shores, but it is still possible that they were all disposed of at Moon Island. There's been quite the movement in the weather, with all the storms lately, so the water flow, speed and direction must have been hard to track of, after so many hours." Reid replied Matt's question and it made sense.
"Is there any place your husband mentioned, in the direct vicinity of this Island? Maybe a place where he liked to go to, have some alone time? A place he wanted to take you? A place that gave him peace?" Emily asked the wife.
"Uh, no. I don't think so." The woman spoke too soon. She then quickly remembered something else. "Wait, he always said that if we ever had kids, he wanted them to go to a school near that place. He never said where exactly, but he mentioned it was hard to park on that road. He said it was beautiful and there was a park for the kids to play in, while he would be at the firing range on Saturdays."
"Does Huckins Avenue ring a bell?" Emily asked after searching on the map.
"Yeah, yeah. That's where he said he once got a parking ticket." The wife replied.
"Okay, there is an elementary school right in front of Wendall Moses Playground. If the UnSub is so obsessed with having a family, then in a moment when he knows the FBI and the police is after him and he is busted, he would want to go to some place that gives him peace, a place that gives him hope. That's where we'll find him!" Emily stated, sure of her words.
"Yeah, I like this version of Prentiss." Matt whispered to Luke and Rossi, who had been his car companions the day before, when he had made the comment about Prentiss kicking ass lately.
The way she cracked cases now, the way she spoke and how she handled herself, made him respect her all this much more. Matt looked up to her so much.
"Let's go!" Emily added while placing the bulletproof vest on top of her clothes.
Everyone else suited up as well and soon enough there were cars with sirens, blocking Huckins Avenue.
The BAU team were first to approach the playground, making hand gestures for all the parents to grab their kids and to get out of there as quickly as possible.
"We do not make a move until this place is cleared out! Too many civilians, too many kids at risk here. Do you copy?" Emily asked on the line that was now open between the FBI Agents and the police officers who were taking part in this rescue mission.
Everyone confirmed they had received her orders.
They walked in further and the UnSub was finally spotted, sitting on a bench, with the kidnapped girl right next to him.
"Mr. Hopkins, I'm Agent Emily Prentiss, with the FBI." Emily introduced herself, using a megaphone, once she made sure the civilians were far enough to be unharmed and on their way to the park exit.
"We would like to talk to you. Would you, please, come forward to where we are standing?" Emily asked, but her attempt at a peaceful arrest backfired.
The UnSub stood up, forcing his hostage to do the same, before he put her in front of him, shielding his body from the bullets he was sure the FBI would not be sparing him.
"We just want to talk, okay? We won't do you any harm. Nobody else needs to be harmed, okay?" Emily kept on speaking, but the man shook his head and put a gun to the girl's temple.
"You wanna talk, huh? Then why did you bring the gun? I don't wanna talk to you. I wanna talk to my wife!" He yelled back at her.
"Mr. Hopkins, this is not possible, at this moment. You can talk to me, instead. Here, is this going to help?" Emily slowly put her gun back in its holster and took a few steps forward, with her hands up in the air.
"Stay where you are!" He yelled back at her.
"Prentiss, what the Hell?" Luke hissed at her, being the one standing closest to Emily.
"I just want to talk. I know you are hurt and I know what it feels like to want to live your fairytale, but then it gets taken away from you…" Emily spoke and JJ could not help but wonder if Emily was drawing parallels between the UnSub's story and her own story, wanting to be with Richard, but being stuck in the reality.
"If you take another step, I'm blowing her brains out!" The UnSub threatened, making the girl wince in pain as he pushed the gun to her temple forcefully.
"Then why don't you take a few steps and meet me in the middle? Sounds like a compromise we can work with?" Emily asked.
He did take a few steps, but he was still too far from Emily. She wasn't able to jump and disarm him, which had been her initial plan of action.
"You don't want to hurt her. It would be all for nothing." Emily spoke and she could see how her words confused the UnSub.
"Her blood tests just got delivered to her house this morning. Her sister let us read them. Alisha, I'm sorry, but you're not really pregnant. Those cravings you've been having lately, they are connected to extremely low levels of calcium in your system and your zinc-copper ratio is unusually low. The blood test suggests you might have anemia." Emily's words threw the girl, held hostage, into a fit of tears.
Emily looked away for a second. She did not want to see this young girl's pain, especially not after she was the cause of it.
The UnSub looked at the girl he was holding and something clicked. He got aggravated, like his fantasy had been taken away from him. He started muttering to himself and acting irrational. Emily knew it was a matter of waiting it out and then jumping at the best moment, in hopes of being the stronger one.
Who was she kidding? This guy was huge. He could take her out merely by giving her a slap across the face. He was big and he was pissed and he was also holding a loaded gun. And yes, a hostage too. Even if Emily was able to somehow get to him before he'd fire his weapon, she had no idea if she would be able to protect the girl from him.
And then it hit her. Then and there, it hit her.
This hit way too close to the Cursed Case. Different people, different scenario. But the same decision Emily had to make – the right thing to do or the thing to do in order to save the girl? She had once chosen the latter and it had proven to be deadly.
"Oh, crap, no, no, no!" Rossi muttered, being able to see part of Emily's face, from where he was standing.
He saw her pale skin turn even whiter, her eyes grew bigger and her lips parted, as she started panting heavily. It seemed like the start of a panic attack and Rossi knew the signs when he saw them.
"No, Prentiss, no. Not now. No, no, no!" He started rambling to himself, keeping an eye on her, while every other Agent and cop kept their guns and eyes on the UnSub.
"Please tell me it's not true!? My baby…no, my babyyy!" The kidnapped girl screamed on top of her lungs and not even the loud sound of her voice was able to break Emily's state of trance.
In front of her eyes, Emily saw quick-paced snippets of the Cursed Case. Inevitably, she also saw the end of it, but the picture of that stayed in front of her for longer.
"PRENTISS, KEEP IT TOGETHER!" Rossi yelled out. He could not take this anymore.
With each second, Emily was getting more and more detached from the reality and she was losing the little connection she had been able to establish with the UnSub. She had managed to aggravate even the hostage, whose loud screaming was now subsequently aggravating the UnSub. It was a chain of craziness that could not be stopped.
"PRENTISS, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Rossi yelled one more time, but it did not help either.
Out of all the times Emily could have experienced any signs of PTSD, out of all the moments when she could have frozen, she chose this one?
The worst thing was that she had banned everyone from making a move until she would tell them to do so. She was the Boss, she called the shots. And yet, how was she supposed to be of any good to her team, if she was borderline panicking, mentally living in a different time, different place, at that very moment?
"PRENTISS, DO YOUR THING AND SET AN EXAMPLE, FOR ANGELA!" Rossi's third attempt was finally able to break Emily's trance.
Hearing Angie's name brought her back to reality. She saw that the UnSub was now walking backwards, away from her, dragging the screaming hostage along, yanking a chunk of her hair with one hand, while the other one still held the un to her head.
After two seconds of assessing the situation, Emily did something none of her colleagues saw coming.
Her feet hit the ground hard as she ran straight forward, throwing herself at the UnSub. She wasn't sure exactly when this had happened, but before tackling him to the ground, she had somehow managed to snatch the girl out of his hands and to push her in direction of her team.
The girl ran and stood right behind Luke and Matt, them being the two biggest guys on the team. She felt safe behind them, with them holding guns and pointing at the man who had been about to murder her.
With Emily tackling the UnSub, the FBI and the Police had no chance at taking a clear shot anymore. All they could see was Emily's hair and hands being thrown in the air, in attempts of dominating over the opponent.
"You don't hurt pregnant women, you son of a-…" Emily had ignored her instincts to disarm him. She had gone straight to torture.
Her nails dug on one side of his face and scratched hard, until she saw blood pouring out. And it wasn't enough.
Her hands tightened around his neck, making it hard for him to breathe. Yes, he was a huge man, but any human without air was nothing but a helpless creature and Emily Prentiss knew that, first hand.
"How could you do this to them? You didn't take their lives - you took the lives of the girls, their unborn kids and the lives of everyone who loved and cared for them! How could you? How could anyone hurt a pregnant woman!? How could you? How dare you?"
Emily got a little lost in the moment. She kept on choking him as she repeated the same thing, over and over again. Did she forget that her gun was still holstered and ready to be used? Or was she maybe enjoying this power play a bit more than she should?
"They were just kids - young girls, wanting to start a family! You took that away from them! You took away everything that they wanted in life! You took away their lives in more ways than one! You are a monster and you deserve every bit of pain that a human being can inflict on you! You deserve to die a lonely, dragged out, painful death! You deserve to burn in Hell for that you did to me! How could you do this!? I was just a kid myself! I wanted this! I wanted her! How could you do this to me!? How could you!?"
Emily kept on yelling. The policemen were too far away to hear her words and the BAU team only heard some of the words, but couldn't make out an entire sentence.
What Rossi heard, combined with what he already knew about Emily's past, made him sprint towards her and the UnSub.
He stopped dead in his tracks, the second he heard Emily flip the switch and exchange the "them" in her little rant, with a painful "me".
Rossi gulped, his face was surely just as pale as Emily's, at that very moment.
One of the first thesis assignments he had been given as a young David Rossi, a student of psychology, had been on psychological transference. He was not new to the world of repressed trauma, one that would come out years later, in a raw shape and form. A trauma that someone would transfer on to someone else, who in some way had reminded them of the person, responsible for that trauma. Rossi knew exactly what was going on at that moment and, as scared as the realization made him, he knew he had to do something, to help Emily.
While thinking about the best move to make, Rossi heard a gunshot.
A second later, Emily was laying on the ground, with the UnSub on top of her. None of them moved.
A pool of blood quickly started to surround them.
The BAU team all yelled out Emily's name, running to where she was laying, immobile.
"Emily?"
"Emily, can you hear me?"
"EMILY!?"
"Prentiss, please, Prentiss?"
"Emily, no! You can't go out like this! Emily?"
"EMILY?"
Everyone was panicking. If Emily had been able to strangle the UnSub, this was his reason for not moving an inch.
Then, what could be the reason why Emily was irresponsive, after a gunshot and now laying in a pool of blood?
REVIEW REPLIES:
"Guest" Hello, beautiful Guest :)! Thank you for taking a moment to send a review, I appreciate it :)! Well, Emily sure is important to the FBI, with all of her expertise and years of work behind her back. Angie, however, is not even a newbie at the Bureau...she's still in training, which means she can be cut at any given time. However, it does not mean that people are oblivious to her talent, determination and hard work, despite her moody moments lol! There are youtubers her age (and much older!) who do nothing but dumb challenges all day, every day, and there she is - having to be a grownup, surrounded by other grownups and basically doing everything on her own...with a gun in her hand. So, it wouldn't be believable if someone her age did not have an occasional meltdown or a moment at the club where she just wants to let lose and twerk in a split, on the bar lol! (I'm ranting now haha). Point is - she's trying to balance out her Academy workload/studying with her actual age and all the while she's suppressing her trauma, which sometimes makes her either doubt herself or just spiral a bit. As for Garcia - she's on pins and needles, poor thing. Her punishment would be fitting, once she finds out exactly what it is lol! Hmm the Ambassador might pop in later on...maybe even in a flashback that is quite important to the route of this story *wink*. Thank you for the kind words, I really enjoy writing and I know there are millions of better writers out there, but this is my little creative outlet and it's always fun to meet people who enjoy reading my work, as much as I enjoy writing it :)!
"rmpcmfan" Curveball, you say? You ain't seen (/read) nothing yet hehe! I will dedicate a special moment to finding out what huge thing the Director gave her the honors to 'have' and then there will be an entire chapter about the way Emily Prentiss handles such a huge honor. And NO, this was most definitely NOT what the Director has been testing her about - as big as this actually is, it's not all! Uhmm, about WHY Angie canNOT be in the BAU - it's not exactly a 'person' that stands in her way. So, in future deductions, think of it as a 'why', not a 'who' :) if this helps. And yaikes, there's a HUGE scene coming up, between Angie and the Director! And lemme tell you - one of them dominates the other one's bumbum during that talk hahaha!
"sweetkid45" Heeey, not everything is as it seems :)! Maybe someone good will turn out to be bad...or maybe someone that looks bad now might turn out to actually have been good all along. As for Angie and the BAU - there's a reason that can't happen right now. And lol yeah, I will be addressing the fact that Emily would inevitably find out about the NYC offer. Also - more Emily and Angie time is coming up, I try to squeeze more scenes or phone calls between the two, whenever I can. Lol yeah, Emily refuuuuses to talk to Angela about her love life :P as she knows how annoyed Angie would be to be denied all the juicy details and to then have the excuse to cringe about them afterwards hahahaha. Like, she wants the details, but hearing them makes her feel uncomfortable lol, whereas JJ just wants it all, raw and unfiltered...and Emily is more than comfortable telling her all of the dirty little secrets she brought back home from Paris. And thank youuuuu :)!