Jessa laughed as she watched Morgan dance with three different women, wishing that she too could enjoy the music with or without the partner. She wasn't a fan of this music, but she had always loved dancing—no matter what the tune.
"Jessa?" Haley said to get her attention.
"Sorry, what?"
Haley laughed, "I just said that I heard you bought a house."
"I did." She laughed, "And a dog. Last two things I ever thought I'd own."
Right then Prentiss returned with their drinks.
"How are they treating you at the BAU, Emily?" Haley asked Prentiss when she sat down.
"She means," Hotch smirked, taking a sip of his drink. "Am I being nice to you."
"Actually, everyone's been incredibly nice." Prentiss told her.
"Look at him move." Garcia spoke, obviously not having been listening to their conversation. Her eyes were firmly fixed to Morgan dancing as she sipped on her drink through a straw. "He's like a cat."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"More like a dog." Emily chuckled.
Garcia whipped around to face her, "He did not ask them to dance. They asked him." She resumed her staring.
"Okay," Prentiss conceded, "He's a cat."
"An alley cat." Haley laughed.
"Come on, Haley, let's go show 'em how it's done." Hotch grabbed his wife's hand and led her towards the dancefloor.
Jessa stared after them for a moment before turning back to her friends at the table. Morgan had called her a few hours earlier and practically begged her to join the team at the bar for the Super Bowl. She agreed, despite not following any form of sport. Emily had been in the BAU for the few months that Jessa was out, and she had heard a lot about her from the visits she received from the team, but this was the first they had met. Jessa decided that she liked Emily. She was the kind of person she would have befriended in her youth.
"That is so sweet." Emily fawned.
"I'm going to the loo." Garcia announced, setting her glass on the table. "Do not let anyone steal my seat." She practically ordered before stalking off determinedly in the direction of the bathrooms.
Jessa was a little taken aback, but the alcohol caused her and Emily to burst into a fit of giggles.
"Where's JJ at?" She asked Jessa after the laughing stopped.
Jessa pointed over to the other side of the bar where JJ was celebrating yet another victory at the dart board.
"You play?"
Jessa shook her head, "I do, however, play pool."
"You any good?"
"Watch and learn." She slipped down off the stool and left her cane behind. Her limp made her appear more drunk than she was—which was the plan.
"Can I have a game?" She asked the men standing around the table. She had been watching them play all night and they were good, but Jessa was better.
"How about you leave it to the big boys, sweetheart." One of them spoke, causing the others to laugh.
"Tell you what." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a fifty, "Fifty says I win."
"I'm in." The one that was leaning against the bar said, pulling money from his own wallet.
"Nah, nah, nah, nah," She waved her hands and shifted her weight to make it appear as if she was unable to stand straight, "I want him." She pointed at the one that made the sexist remark. "You," She pointed to the one at the bar, "Can buy me tequila."
She watched as the sexist man racked up the balls, while the other returned with a tray full of tequila shots. Jessa knocked back three before she said, "You breaking, or am I?"
"Ladies first."
She set the cue ball on the line and made an exaggerated effort of lining up her cue and when she took the shot it hit the balls at the bottom corner of the triangle and knocked them in different directions, none of them going anywhere near the pockets.
"Oooh." The group of men chorused.
"You got this, Kyle." One of them said.
The man she was playing—Kyle—smirked and made his shot, sending one of the big balls straight into the corner pocket.
"I was hoping you'd be big." Jessa smirked in an effort to distract him, lining up her next shot and purposely missing.
"Someone get her more shots." Kyle smiled at her.
Jessa let Kyle sink a few more balls until she sank her first, by this time she had downed a few more shots and was beginning to feel the effects.
"Look at that, you finally got one in, sweetheart." Kyle taunted her, sinking yet another one of his balls. "And I've only got the black one to go."
Jessa just smirked and lined up her shot, sending two balls into the far pocket. She grinned and took another shot, sending more balls into the pockets. At this point, Alex—the one that had been buying the shots—caught on to what she was doing and grinned. By the time Jessa's turn was over, she only had one of her own balls on the table.
When Kyle bent over to take his shot, Jessa brushed her body up against his, causing him to miss the ball completely.
"Is that two shots for me?" She asked rhetorically, no longer bothering with the pretence of being drunk. She lined up her final ball and sank it easily, leaving only the black ball in play. She grinned at Kyle and sunk it without looking. "Thanks for the tequila, boys." She grinned, putting her cue down on the table and snatching up the two fifties that sat on the edge of the table, "And the money."
She walked back to the table where Prentiss and Garcia sat, both were laughing.
"Easiest fifty bucks I've ever made." Jessa announced, sitting down at the table.
"Okay," Emily said, clearly impressed, "That deserves a drink."
"No, no." Jessa stopped her, holding up Kyle's fifty, "Drinks are on me."
She made her way to the bar and placed the drinks order, and was about to hand over the money when someone beat her to it.
"On me." It was Alex, the friend of the man Jessa had just won money off.
Jessa laughed, "It's on your friend anyway."
"Please, anyone that can put Kyle in his place deserves a free drink."
"In that case, I might challenge him again." She flirted.
The bartender handed over Jessa's eight drinks on a tray and she attempted to carry it in her left hand while using her right for her cane.
"Here," Alex grabbed the tray for her. "Where to?"
Jessa pointed him in the direction of their table.
"I'm Alex by the way." He introduced himself.
"Jessa."
"How did you get so good at pool, Jessa?"
"I've been hustling pool since I was old enough to flirt my way into a bar."
"That sounds like a story."
She chuckled, "A long one."
"Maybe another time, then."
"Another time? You sound sure of yourself."
"How about dinner tomorrow night?"
"I don't know, I mean, you're a complete stranger."
"I promise I'm not a killer or anything." He grinned.
"See, that's exactly what a killer would say." Jessa gestured to the others on the dance floor that she had their drinks and they made their way over. "Thanks for the drinks, Alex." She shut the conversation down as the group grabbed their drinks.
Alex smiled politely, and walked back over to his friends.
"Who was that?" Emily asked with a sly smile.
"Friend of the guy I won pool against." She said, "Helped me carry the drinks."
"I hate to break this up," JJ said, grabbing her drink and taking a few sips, "But we've got a case. I just called Gideon and he's going to meet us at the office."
There was a collective groan from everyone around the table.
"I guess it's home time for me." Haley declared.
"I'll walk you out." Hotch grabbed her hand and led her to the door.
"I'll get us a couple of cabs." Prentiss told them, slipping away.
"Well," Morgan sighed, "There ends a great night."
"Crime doesn't sleep, my love." Penelope said.
"Apparently not."
When they got to the FBI building, the first thing they did was make coffee.
"You know, it never fails." Morgan started, pouring himself a mug, "Just as I'm getting my groove thing going, bam. We're back at the BAU."
"You know, statistically a case doesn't come in with any more frequency if you're at a party or gathering than if you aren't." Reid supplied for them, "It's a trick of the mind. We merely remember the ones that came in that way more."
"Besides, is it really that hard for you to get your 'groove thing' going again?" Prentiss teased.
"Only when he's sleeping." Gideon deadpanned, walking in the room and slipping out of his coat.
Morgan looked a little shocked, and feigned hurt at his remark.
"Where were you tonight?" Hotch asked curiously.
"I told you, I went to the Smithsonian." He answered without any real emotion in his voice and Jessa cast a curious glance at Morgan is if to ask if Gideon was alright. Morgan just shrugged.
"You missed a good time." Prentiss told him.
"I had a good time." He sat down and faced the screen, "It's good to see you Winchester." He directed at Jessa more as a formality than genuine emotion.
"The good time is definitely over." JJ said sourly, stalking back into the room. She clicked a button on her remote and a couple's image popped up, "Georgia, the Kyles—Dennis and Lacy—were murdered an hour ago in their suburban Atlanta home."
"An hour ago?" Hotch asked, a little surprised at the time frame.
"Police were on the scene unusually fast."
"Why?" Morgan asked.
"One of the Unsubs called and told them that the other was about to murder the victims."
"You're kidding?" Jessa said, surprised.
JJ nodded and added, "From inside the house. According to the dispatcher, the first male sounded terrified and begged them to get there because the other—who they both identified as Raphael—was about to kill the sinners that lived there."
"Sinners?" Hotch asked for confirmation.
JJ nodded, "The 911 centre is going to send Garcia a copy of the tape."
"How fast was the police response time?" Reid asked.
"Four minutes, twenty-six seconds." She told him, "During which time Raphael managed to do this." She clicked another button and four gruesome images popped up, causing Garcia to look away. Two of the images were of Lacy Kyle laying in a pool of blood—one a close up, the other displaying her entire body—while the other two were of Dennis Kyle, who appeared to be in the bedroom, while his wife lay murdered in the walk-in closet.
"In four and a half minutes?" Prentiss asked in disbelief.
"Mr Kyle is a dot com millionaire; his company is one of the largest employers in the community. There's going to be media coverage. Also, when they arrived, the police found this displayed prominently on the bed." JJ clicked the button again and the images changed to one of a highlighted paragraph on a page.
"Revelations, chapter six, verse eight." Jessa read.
"The unsub called the victims sinners." Morgan theorised, "These guys are on a mission."
"Mission based killers will not stop killing." Reid told them.
"And I looked and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death." Jessa read but Gideon jumped in and finished the line.
"And Hell followed with him."
"Let's go." Hotch told them, standing from his seat. Jessa stood too, but he held out his arm to stop her, "Where're you going?"
"To get my go-bag from my desk." She said it as if it were the most obvious explanation.
"Jessa, you're not coming."
"Why not?"
"You aren't due back until Monday, and you haven't been cleared for the field."
"Hotch, come on." She checked her watch, "It's Monday already, and I promise I'll just stay in the field office. You need me. You saw the verse; he's killing in the name of religion."
"Reid is just as useful as you are when it comes to religion."
"I need this, Hotch."
Hotch sighed, it was against his better judgement to allow her to come but he couldn't deny the pout on her face. "Fine. But you stay at the field office."
So the bible verse I wrote in isn't word for word what they use in this episode (2x14 The Big Game) but it's a direct quote from my Bible.
Xoxo
