After a tense, uncomfortable car ride, the four returned in the afternoon to an empty conference room. Reid watched his friends with concern as he stood in the doorway. They each took seats on either side of the table, pretending the other wasn't there. When they started fighting, for reasons none of them knew about, it had been almost unbearable for them to be in the same room together, but it wasn't this bad. And it was getting worse, it made Reid afraid of what this could lead to.
Eden abandoned her coat in her chair, coming over to join Reid. She gently nudged him out of the room, to avoid prying ears.
"I have to admit you were right," she said, glancing in the next room, grinning. "I think Agent Morgan and I will get along very well."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Reid wondered. "We're not going to be here that long, do you really want to start something between you two when you have so little time? I wouldn't want you to get your hopes up."
She was a little amazed at his innocence. "Oh, you're sweet Reid, but trust me, I'm not considering anything too... long term."
She and Morgan were too alike, it seemed. "Well, then, I think he's right up your alley. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find my wife."
Eden allowed him to step away, heading back inside. Reid hurried away, trying to find a few moments alone with Riley before they had to get back to work.
The entire hour, JJ and Garcia sat in patient silence, allowing Riley to vent about the whole ordeal. Her tea was completely cold and undrunk by the time she finished, but she had to admit, she felt an incredible weight off her as she got it all off her chest.
"I accept that we are not going to have the honeymoon we planned, and I'm okay with that now. I've come to terms with it." She announced. "All I want is for us to have a little time alone, but it seems every time we try... it gets ruined. Either we're in a fight or it's too late or he's just... too distracted to think about anything but this case. No matter what I do, he can't relax enough to just enjoy an evening with me. I don't know what to do." Letting out a sigh, she glanced at the girls on either side of her. Just getting that off her chest released a lot of internal stress that was making her miserable. "Thank you, this was helpful."
"You're welcome, Gorgeous Girl." Replied Garcia, patting her hand.
"I wish there was a way we could make this better." JJ said. She gently set an unruly curl behind her ear in a motherly gesture.
"I think I might have an idea." Garcia smirked.
Intrigued, "What?"
Her grin spread wider, like the Cheshire cat. "I appreciate the problem you're having, but... I am wondering if you've tried... everything."
Concerned, Riley turned to her. That was a curious way to phrase that sentence. "What do you mean by... everything?"
"Well..." She grinned. "I seem to remember a certain something I gave you a month ago at your bridal shower."
Riley knew exactly what she meant, having looked at it with apprehension once again the other night. "And I seem to remember telling you, Garcia, that I am not going to wear that."
"Oh, come on, Sweetie." She whined. "You should at least try it. Trust me, you wear that for Reid and the case will not cross his mind for the entire night."
"It's not my style, Garcia, I'm sorry. I know you spent a lot of money on it, but it was a waste. I mean, what will Spencer think when I step into the bedroom wearing... that." She exclaimed.
"Riley, there will not be enough blood in his brain to think anything when he sees you in that." JJ informed. "Trust me, I know you feel self conscious about it, but he will love it. Look, right after I got married, Garcia got me a similar piece of lingerie for my birthday. I didn't want to wear it either, but I tried it. To this day, Will still requests on a regular basis I put it on."
"The sooner everyone realizes I'm just as much a genius as Reid, the better all your lives will be." She admitted. "Look, I told you you can return the outfit, but I'm not giving you the receipt until he sees you in it."
"If you guys want an evening all to yourselves, I think it's a good idea." JJ smiled. "Look, the rest of us will disappear tonight, hit the local pubs or something. You and Reid head back to the hotel room and... take our advice. I guarantee you guys will have a romantic, sensual evening."
Rolling her eyes, she let out a sigh. "I'll think about it."
"Think about what?" Reid asked as he stepped in.
"Nothing." All three girls exclaimed, taken by surprise. They hadn't realized how long they'd been talking, and hoping Reid hadn't overheard any of it.
Luckily, they were saved a very awkward conversation as the girls stood up to greet him. Reid gave both a warm hug. Despite the circumstances, he was pleased to see his friends.
"I'm really glad you guys could get here so quickly." He said as Garcia let him go. "This case is... a lot more than I can handle alone."
"Find anything interesting at the crime scene?" JJ questioned.
"They were basically the same as the other victims. With the exception of the methods of killing. We're looking into current staff at the Grislow."
"So... this is two deaths at the Waterfall and two at the Grislow." Riley realized. "Do you think he's going to strike one of the other hotels next?"
"That would be my guess." Reid noted. "But we can discuss this with the rest of the team. Rossi called a minute ago, he and Hotch will be here in about fifteen minutes and we'll present our evidence with the inspectors. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, we can present a profile."
"And in a few days we'll be out of your hair." JJ noted. "You guys will have your honeymoon back."
"Hopefully," Riley repeated, a bit despondent. "Well, we should get ready with the others."
She went to stand as JJ turned to Garcia. They shared an understanding glance, turning to the two again. "Actually, before you guys go... can we talk to you?"
Reid closed his eyes a second, trying to keep his temper. Morgan was one thing, but the girls? "You know what, guys... I am not in the mood to hear a lecture about this-"
"This isn't about your honeymoon." Garcia lowered her voice, as if the intended ones were listening at the door. "This is about Morgan and Emily."
Riley pushed back some of her disobedient hair, not expecting that. "What about them?"
"Did they have another fight today?" Reid asked.
"Not in front of us, but you've seen it, too. Haven't you?" JJ asked. "That this little spat of theirs is getting out of hand."
"Yeah..." Reid nodded. "You should have seen them at the crime scene."
"Oh, God, you don't think they got into another fight after the wedding, do you?" Riley asked, meeting Reid's eyes.
JJ shook her head. They didn't have much time to talk about this. "It doesn't matter. What we need to focus on is getting them passed this. It's been over a year, it's about time they just let it go."
"No fight is worth their friendship." Garcia uttered. Riley reclaimed her seat as Reid took the forth and final one. "I wish they would just understand that. And that eventually, this whole thing is going to break up our team."
"We want them to bury the hatchet." JJ stated. "And we need everyone's help."
"I think I have an idea what the stresser is in this. Emily has a new boyfriend or love interest or something." Garcia stated.
"She does?" Riley asked. "I never heard anything about that."
"She's keeping it pretty private." JJ admitted. "She let her guard down a bit the other day and I kind of figured it out."
"I don't understand, why would that be a stresser?" Reid wondered.
"Because Morgan has feelings for her." Garcia explained, as if it were obvious. "I think, if you look at this whole fight from his POV, you'd find he's mostly angry because he wants her and he can't have her. Not as long as they work together. And I think on some level, Emily has feelings for him, too. She just doesn't really know it."
Riley shifted a bit in her seat, knowing a bit more information on that subject than the others. She had been the only one Emily confided in about her and Morgan's sole indiscretion. That was where Garcia was wrong; Riley was sure that Emily had feelings for Morgan and she was highly aware of it.
"That makes sense." Reid said, his wife's discomfort oblivious to him. "It's simple Freudian logic, forcibly repressing sexual tension can cause an intense reaction that can cause the subject to act in negative ways. He or she doesn't know why he has to respond in such a way, he just does."
JJ and Garcia stared him blankly for a moment, understanding only about half of what he said. Turning to Riley, Garcia requested "Translate, please."
"He's basically referring to them as kids on the playground. If they were children, Morgan would be pulling her hair and pushing her while Emily would sit on his chest and make him eat a clump of dirt." Riley explained easily.
"It's nice to have the Reid to English dictionary at hand." JJ teased. "And I think you're right. And it doesn't matter why their doing it, the point is they have to stop. They've been friends far to long to let some stupid infatuated attraction ruin everything."
"So, what's the thinking here?" Riley asked.
"Well, I think Reid and I are closest to Morgan, we'll handle him." Garcia assured. "You girls handle Emily. We'll try our best to get them to open up. Saying things out loud sometimes makes circumstance seem less severe. They might realize they're only angry because the other one's angry."
"With a little luck, they'll be friends again by the time we get back to America." JJ added hopefully. "We'll take everyone to drinks tonight and start discussing it then."
"Uh, maybe tomorrow would be better, Jay." Garcia hinted. "I mean... I'm sure our little turtledoves have better things planned."
JJ gasped. "Right. Well, you and I are still available and we'll be at full capacity tomorrow. You guys just enjoy your special evening."
Reid didn't understand, furrowing his brow as he looked to Riley. She avoided his eyes a moment, feeling herself turning a bit pink.
"Pardon me," Bradbury stepped in just then. "I do hate to interrupt, but the last two agents are here."
"Back to the salt mines." Garcia stated, standing.
JJ and Garica hurried out and Riley tried to follow, but Reid intercepted her.
"What special evening? What's JJ talking about?" He wondered
"Oh, it's... nothing." She tried to explain, but the embarrassment in her face was evident. "It's just... something they suggested I do for you tonight to get your mind off the case. That's all."
Amazed, "You girls really talk about stuff like that?"
"Apparently; I've never had girlfriends before. This is all new to me." Riley reached up to place a kiss on his lips. Her hand slipped into his. "Come on, the sooner we get this day over, the sooner we can be alone."
He smiled as she lead him back to the conference room. Tonight was their night, he was certain this time. Nothing was going to interrupt them now. The team was here and could handle any disturbance, and Reid was not going to think about anything but the wonderful woman who he still couldn't believe was his wife.
They followed Bradbury into the conference room, who exclaimed as soon as he walked in. "Hotch!"
"Leo," He cried, sporting a grin which was a surprise to the team. "It's so good to see you."
"It's been far too long." He stated, shaking his hand warmly.
"How long have you guys known each other?" Emily asked.
"Since our Freshman Mixer at Harvard." Leo announced. "We did snorkle shots together."
At first, the team was sure Bradbury was talking about someone else. They could not imagine Aaron Hotchner doing anything of the sort. Hotch caught their amazed expressions. "I was a lot younger then, and a lot less serious."
"Obviously," Rossi mentioned.
He looked to his old friend. "And besides, I could certainly hold my liquor a lot better than the inspector here, who ended up vomiting all over a young brunette a few minutes later."
"Yes, but I ended up marrying that girl, remember?" He stated.
"In all fairness, Harvard parties can be pretty intense." Riley explained. "I don't remember half of the parties I went to, including my first mixer."
"I remember my Freshman Mixer at Cal-Tech." Reid said, "That was the first time I got drunk."
"Weren't you 12?" Morgan asked, amazed.
"13," Reid corrected. "And I didn't intend to get drunk, it was an accident..." He took in all the amazed faces around him. "Well, you guys know I like Jell-O."
"Oh, my God." JJ uttered, starting to laugh.
"I had about five of them before I realized why they tasted so funny." He explained.
There wasn't a person in the room who wasn't taken over by laughter. Reid wasn't sure why he volunteered that information, feeling humiliated. But he felt better as Riley wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, still giggling. He wasn't sure about the inspectors, but he knew his friends weren't laughing at him.
Once they'd calmed down, Rossi spoke up. "Well, we'd better get started."
"What did you guys learn at the morgue?" Morgan asked. Everyone chose seats around the table, getting comfortable. Each knew they were going to be in here for awhile. There wasn't an open seat left to be claimed now.
"Marcy Lemon and her assistant were killed just like the previous victims, only the female was bludgeoned and the male was drugged and killed quickly."
"Right to left swipe across the throat." Riley said out loud, "I would assume that means the unsub is right handed."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Paul wondered.
Reid explained. "How a person initiates a kill is just as important as the method of killing or why he murders in the first place. It's a unique aspect to only one person, like handwriting. Similar, yes, but it's never quite the same."
"And knowing the unsub's right handed can help narrow down the suspect pool." Hotch announced.
"Which is a lot more shallow than we'd like." Bradbury informed. "Normally, we like it when we only have a few suspects, but this time it's not helping us at all. Either they have alibis or were incapacitated or just don't seem like someone who could murder, especially this many times."
"Never assume someone can't be capable of something like this." Informed Morgan. "Some of the most famous serial killers in history were the least suspected of doing anything to this scale."
"Along with high intelligence, killers like this are known for being able to manipulate and charm others." Emily stated, right on track with Morgan's thought. "Ted Bundy always hunted his victims in public places, he was charismatic enough for each girl to follow him somewhere private in order to kill her."
Quickly, Reid read over the latest autopsy report. "There's no indication on how the man was drugged. How is he getting it into the system?"
"There's no sign of that yet." Hotch announced. "When speaking to the coroner, he did look over the stomach contents of Lemon's assistant. Just like the women before him, there's nothing."
"According to some of the staff at the Grislow, he hadn't even had lunch yet." Eden added. "Which means he's not slipping it into food."
"It would be very hard to get it in there, anyway." Reid mentioned. "Not without him seeing directly. And if he's mixing the drugs in a syrup, there's only so many foods he could put that in without making it taste odd."
"So he has to be drugging the victims another way." Bradbury determined. "He waits for the inferior of the couple to fall asleep... and he kills him before the superior returns."
"Meaning he waits about an hour before killing them." Emily announced. "He knows he needs a certain amount of time before the other returns, so he knows the routine very carefully."
"The McClarens did have a routine." Eden expressed. "Lemon showed us a log of how often the two used their car service during their stay."
"The others may not have had such a predictable style, but they must have had something. Lemon's would be easy to determine, she probably has a black book of her entire daily schedule." JJ stated.
"We'll need to pull all her records over the last two months, since the murders began." Hotch announced. "We need to determine if anyone had a grievance against her."
"Someone like her?" Riley mentioned. "I'm sure there are a great number of people with a grievance against her."
"True, but there may be one person connected to the victims. Garcia, search through her files systems, see what you can find."
Reid had almost forgotten. He pulled the red folder out from the other pile of papers before him. "I might already have the answer here, Hotch."
"What is that?" Rossi asked.
"It's a folder of complaints by the guests of the hotel." Reid explained. "Whenever one issues a formal complaint, it's logged here. Lemon almost always had it with her."
"Why would she be so obsessed with the complaints?" Paul wondered.
"Lemon is a classic perfectionist." Riley explained, this being her area of expertise. "She has a goal to be the best in her career and the only way to be that way is to be absolutely perfect. She's disgusted by these because this is infecting her business. This is what's keeping her from perfection."
"I can understand that." Reid voiced. "Growing up, all anything my teachers and mentors could focus on was my flaws. Academically, I had to be the absolute best and fix whatever was holding me back, and that makes a person very distant from society. Driven, yes, but seeing only with tunnel vision. Most of you knew me when I first started, you remember how awkward I was."
"He was more awkward than he is now?" Rossi joked.
"Well, at least now he can fire a gun." Hotch mentioned, getting an eyeroll from him. "Reid, go over that file, if anyone shows up more than once, give the name to Garcia and have a background check done."
"Yes, sir." Reid nodded. That shouldn't take too long. He wasn't sure what good it would do, but sometimes something so small could prove a big break in the case.
"What about the other hotels?" Paul asked. "They have to have tourist couples, shouldn't those people be warned?"
"No, absolutely not." Bradbury announced. "That's only going to cause a panic and ruin tourism for the city."
"So you want to risk the safety of living people just to ensure tourists can still come here with their money?" Eden snapped.
"Leo's right." Hotch announced. "There's no sign when he's going to strike again, it'll only do more harm than good. We'll head to the other hotels and keep them on alert, but inform them it's not necessary for their guests to be aware of this. We need to keep this as quiet as possible."
Hotch always had a certain way to him. His word was final and even the inspectors knew not to argue with it. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Okay, Leo and I will go to the Hotel Cantor. Inspector Eden, I'd like you to take Agent Morgan to The Towers to speak with them and Inspector Paul, I'd like Agent Prentiss to accompany you to The Waterfall."
"Morgan and I always work together, why can't I go with him?" Emily cried at once.
The pleasant nature about Hotch seemed to at last disappear as he fixed her with a coldness. "Because Eden and Paul work in this city. They know it better than we do, we need to stick with them. Is that a problem, Prentiss?"
It was logical, but Emily did not like the idea of Morgan being alone with her. She couldn't protest, however, without arising suspicion. Shaking her head, "No, sir."
"Good," Hotch stated. "The rest can stay in case Reid or Garcia need any help, keep going over the files on the new victims, see if there's anything we missed. Hopefully, we'll have some results by tomorrow morning."
Everyone in agreement, they set to get to work. The others stood, ready to leave. Emily stood slowly, pretending she wasn't watching Morgan as he chatted pleasantly with Inspector Eden. It went unnoticed by everyone but Riley. She pretended to read the lastest file as she watched the scene. Emily looked ready to claw the woman's eyes out, seeing Morgan give her such warm attention. She was feeling exactly as Riley did when any woman flirted like that with Reid. She was starting to wonder if this whole fight was because of their one night stand.
Emily left with Paul, leaving the others to their work. Rossi offered to run out and get coffee for everyone while JJ helped Garcia set up her laptop. No one was the wiser about what had just happened.
She took a glance at her husband, wondering if she should tell him about their night together. Riley didn't want to betray Emily's confidence, but if they were going to help the two get over this, it might be necessary. Spencer could keep a secret and it would benefit everyone in the end.
Riley pushed it from her mind. She'd make her decision tomorrow. It wasn't like they could do anything about it tonight as it was. She went back to the file, trying not to think of how many hours were left before they could finally call it a day.