Emily reached for the scissors underneath her bathroom sink after she had gotten out of the shower. Her bangs had gotten inconveniently long and during her last case she had to brush it out of her face every few minutes. This time she decided to cut it shorter than usual because they'd probably leaving for a long case again today, and given the fact that her bangs grew like weeds, she'd be back to her current length by next week.
She was just getting the gun out of her safe when the shrill sound of her phone woke her out of her thoughts, she reached for it instinctively and smiled slightly as JJ's name lit up on her screen. ''Hey Jayje'' Emily muttered, as she put the gun in the holster of her pants. ''I was just about to head out, what's up'' she added. '' We've got a new case, a twisted one'' sighed JJ from the other end of the line. By the sound of JJ's voice, Emily knew the case would be about children. '' I'm on my way'' Emily said, before hanging up and pushing her phone in her back pocket.
She arrived at the BAU after a short drive, she parked her car in the garage and walked into the bullpen. ''Hey Reid, how was your weekend?'' asked Emily as she started unpacking some of her stuff on her desk. '' It was good, I didn't have any plans so I ended up reading a book about the prevalence of abuse victims that become abusers themselves and the mental disorders linked to that. It was quite educational'' smiled Reid awkwardly as he fiddled with the hem of his knit sweater. Emily was just about to respond when she noticed JJ walk out of her office, she was wearing long black wide ankle trousers, her long blonde hair was up in a high ponytail and she was holding a familiar light brown FBI file. Her face however, said enough about the case.
Hotch called them into the conference room, as JJ placed the case in front of everyone. JJ reached for the remote and pointed towards the board in the corner of the room. '' Atlanta PD called us in after they found two dead babies in a ditch along the side of the road. Both babies were just born, the cord hadn't even fallen of yet'' sighed JJ, as she massaged her temple absentmindedly. '' it unfortunately gets even worse'' said Hotch as he took over from a slightly distraught JJ, whose thoughts were going to her son Henry. '' These babies were found decapitated; their heads were replaced with doll heads''. An eerie silence followed after that statement, Emily was the first to speak up '' Doll heads?''. Morgan, whom was seated next to her, opened the file in front of him and pushed the picture of one of the dead babies towards her. Emily shuddered slightly, before casting a worried glance over to JJ, who was looking exceptionally pale.
'' Usually in cases when there's a baby involved, it points signs to a a female unsub. A possible submissive mother, or a mother that has lost her child'' started Reid, '' However, the brutal violence of the deaths of these babies indicate a male unsub, because most female unsubs are not capable of decapitating a child''.
''But what's the significance of the doll heads? Childhood trauma?'' chimed Morgan in. Hotch sighed gruffly '' Morgan, call Garcia and ask her to look for woman that have lost a baby in the last 6 months in Atlanta, preferably single woman'' he closed the file in front of him before standing up ''Okay, wheels up in thirty''.
Emily pushed her chair back and slowly made her way towards JJ, whom had been quite since she tried to brief the team. '' You okay Jayje?'' whispered Emily, as she squeezed JJ's knee gently. ''Hmm?'' muttered JJ, her eyes glazing slightly. ''oh yes I'm fine, I just keep thinking about these poor mothers''. '' You can call Will to check up on Henry if you want or need to, no one will think different of you Jayje..''. JJ looked up, a slight smile covered her face '' Yes, you're right. Thanks Em''. Emily stood up, brushed some dirt of her pants and made her way towards the door. ''Oh Emily?'', Emily whipped her head around, absurdly fast as she came to face JJ again. '' Never cut your own bangs again, I'll do it next time'' she smirked.
Emily was the last of the team to get on the jet, earning a jokingly disapproving look from Morgan. Morgan's phone rang just as Emily was about to hit Morgan with one of the files. ''Hey Baby girl, what do you got for me?'', '' Hello to you, my statuesque god of sculpted chocolate thunder and fellow beautiful behavioral analysts'' she started. Morgan held his phone away from him slightly as he chuckled. '' I have checked for mothers that have lost a child in the last six months. That list is unfortunately very long, however I checked the list from the last two months and there were only 10 in a 20 miles radius from the dump site. I'm sending you the information as we speak.
'' Thanks Garcia'' said Hotch '' JJ and Reid, you go start on victimology. Morgan and Prentiss, you go speak to the parents of the babies and Rossi and I will go to check out the dumpsite''.
They got into the black SUV's immediately after they landed, they parted their ways. JJ and Reid arrived at Atlanta PD after a 15-minute ride. They parked their SUV and entered the run-down looking building. '' SSA Jareau, we spoke on the phone'' said JJ as she shook hands with the female officer who made her way towards them. '' Yes, thank you for coming. I'm Detective Fielding- And this must be SSA Reid?'' she said as she eyed Reid. '' It's doctor Reid actually'' said Reid as he glared back. '' Okay well, thank you for coming Doctor'' she said, '' we've cleared a room for you, one of the other officers on the case, and also the first on the crime scenes has left his notes there for you to read as well. We've also set up a board as per your request'' she said, as he looked towards JJ.
''This department clearly doesn't get much government funding'' whispered JJ to Reid as she placed her laptop on the filthy looking desk. Reid smiled slightly as he pinned the pictures of the babies on the board.
''The ME rapport just came in'' said JJ, as she typed away on her laptop. ''Both babies were poisoned'. Reid wrote the word poisoned on the board and underlined it furiously. '' It doesn't make sense, poison and new born babies is a typical MO for a female. However, the decapitation and the replacement of their heads with dolls are as far from a typical female serial killer as possible'' muttered Reid as he wrote a few more key words on the board.
'' Maybe she has a partner? Maybe they're married or in a relationship when they lost their baby. Maybe once the wife is done with poisoning the kid, it goes on to the husband who decapitates the baby post mortem and replaces its head?'' suggested JJ. '' Could be'' agreed Reid as he wrote partner on the board.
''I just got a text from Garcia, she minimalized the list of potential killers to five. Two people moved away, another one has been hospitalized after a failed suicide attempt and one of them has passed away. We've got six left'' said JJ. ''Once we've finished the profile we can delegate so everyone goes to speak to two of them''.
''Given that she's only taking new born white babies I'd say we're looking for a white woman, mid to late 20's who has suffered a traumatic loss, possibly a still born baby'' said Reid, JJ hummed in agreement.
'' You call Hotch'' JJ said, ''Time to give out our profile''.