I hope you have a good weekend!
I do not own Criminal Minds
After Emily's first week in the states, the BAU got called to a case in Wisconsin. JJ had called and left a message that she was leaving straight from the Bureau and would call again when she had a chance.
Emily had known this would happen, it was already too good to be true that JJ had had a week off from a case. That night she sat on the couch and flipped through channels until she landed on an old Hitchcock film. She had laid down and her eyes were starting to close when the phone rang.
"Prentiss," she answered.
"Hey, Emily," it was JJ on the other line, "sorry for calling so late."
Emily sat up, immediately woken by JJ's voice, "that's okay, I know how it is."
"I guess you do," JJ said.
There was something in her voice that Emily immediately recognized. She had heard it enough times while she was at the BAU. "Is it a bad one?" She asked.
"Yeah," JJ sighed, "the UNSUBs are kidnapping women and holding them for at least three days."
"You said UNSUBs," Emily said, "is it more than one?"
"That's the thing," JJ said, "the profile points to one UNSUB, but there are bite marks on the victims. We have at least three distinct bite patterns."
"Three," Emily repeated. These kinds of UNSUBs usually worked alone, and in the case that there was a pair, one was usually dominant and the other submissive, it would be unlikely that both of their bite marks would be found on a body."
"Another woman went missing last night, we've been working on it all day, but we have nothing. Hotch sent us back to the hotel, but there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep."
Emily adjusted herself so the blanket was around her shoulders, "do you want to talk?"
"I don't want to keep you up," JJ said.
"You're not," Emily said, "I'm not tired, I've just been flipping through channels, nothing good is on."
"I just can't figure out what we're missing here," JJ said, accepting Emily's response, "the profile points at a single white male 25-40 years of age, but the evidence on the body is contradicting that."
Emily sat there and thought, "is it possible not all of the bite marks belong to UNSUBs? Could it be other victims who are forced to do it?"
"We're pretty sure he's only holding one woman at a time. He picks them up on Thursday night and dumps their bodies Monday morning."
"If he's keeping them for the weekend, why does he kidnap the women on Thursday instead of Friday? If he's employed, is that more convenient for him, or does he not work Fridays?"
"I'll have Pen look into that."
XXX
The next day Emily was driving down the road, a paper bag filled with hot Chinese food sitting on the passenger seat. She was bored and had decided to surprise Garcia with some food. But really, JJ's house was starting to feel too quiet.
She slowed at a yellow light and stopped before the intersection. The smell of their dinner filled the car and made Emily's stomach growl. The light turned green and she checked both ways before pulling forward again. A billboard caught the corner of her eye and she gave it a double take, slamming on her breaks without even thinking.
There was a loud honk behind her, "sorry," Emily muttered, but her mind was elsewhere.
She continued to drive forward and turned into the first parking lot. She pulled out her cell and called JJ, but after six rings it went to voicemail. She left a brief message and then called Hotch.
"Hotchner," he answered.
"Check dentists," Emily said quickly.
"What? Prentiss?"
"Yes it's Emily. I think your UNSUB is a dentist. That would explain all of the different bite marks, but the profile only indicating one UNSUB. Dentists make dental molds all the time."
"We'll look into it," Aaron said, "thanks for your input."
"Of course," Emily said before hanging up. She glanced back at the billboard advertising for free dental cleanings before pulling out of the parking lot and heading to the BAU.
XXX
"Hey Pen," Emily stuck her head into the open door, "do you have a second?"
"Emily! Come in," Garcia greeted from her seat.
Emily walked into the office, holding up a large bag, "I come bearing Chinese food."
"I knew there was a reason we were friends," Garcia joked as Emily sat down and then startled her by shouting, "no food by the computers," when Emily began to take the cartons out.
Emily looked around the table, almost every square inch seemed to be covered in technology, "Uh, Pen," she nodded to the table in front of her.
"Good thing I've thought this through," Garcia swiveled in her chair and pulled out a foldable table about the size of a large tray. She set it behind their chairs and Emily moved the food there.
"Any update on the case?"
"I'm waiting to hear back from the team, but they're getting close."
As if on cue, the phone rang and Garcia answered it on speaker, "you've got the beautiful tech genius and her super spy sidekick."
"That you, Emily?" JJ asked.
"Yeah," Emily affirmed, "just bringing a food delivery."
"Pen, I need you to look up a list of people who work in a dentist office in the twenty mile radius around the dump sites. This person would have to have some technical knowledge of X-rays and dental casts."
"Okay," Garcia said, typing away at her computer, "wow these Wisconsin's must have nice teeth, because they sure do have a lot of dentists."
"Okay, look for people with higher education. Take out anyone with multiple complaints against them and take out any women."
"Give me just a second..." Garcia trailed off, "I've got 8."
"That's still too many," JJ said.
"Look for offices that are only open Monday through Thursday or part-time dentists," Emily added.
Garcia typed something into her computer, "aha," she said, "and that's why you are my super spy sidekick."
"Garcia," JJ said, her voice impatient.
"Sorry," Garcia said as she continued to type, "I got one guy for you, Dr. Henry Seaborn, I've sent all his info to you my darling."
"Thanks, Garcia."
Emily had long forgotten the Chinese food behind her. This was bringing her back to what it was like working at the BAU. They sat in silence as they waited for the team to arrive at the UNSUB's house. Garcia had been patched into the team's intercom system, so fifteen minutes later Emily could hear them communicating as they approached the UNSUB's house. The radio then went silent until Hotch and Rossi shouted "FBI" almost simultaneously.
Heavy breaths came over the speaker along with a few faint "clear"s. Emily was holding her breath, she hated not being there, she hated sitting aside and listening as it went down.
"FBI, show me your hands!" Hotch shouted.
Three cracks sounded. Emily pulled her head down instinctively at the sound of the explosions. She held herself there, waiting. She didn't want to look up, not yet, not with knowing what she was going to see. She could smell the smoke and blood and knew that in front of her were the mangled bodies of her agents. She waited for the rest of the explosions to come.
"Emily."
She heard someone say her name faintly. She knew she had to look up, she had to face what she had caused. When she did, she blinked. She looked over and it was Garcia next to her, not Rogers. Then she looked over at the speaker.
"What happened?" She turned to Garcia, "Are they okay?"
"The team is okay," she said, "no one was hurt."
Emily blinked again, she was in the warehouse, Rogers was pulling her back. Garcia spoke to her again. There was a sharp pain in her leg and she flinched, seeing the shrapnel lodged there. The second bomb exploded, then the third.
Her eyes watered and she pulled her hands to her ears to stop the ringing.
"Emily?"
Garcia was next to her, saying her name.
Emily looked down at her hands, they were shaking.
She had to get out of there. She stood to leave, but forgot her cane and stumbled forward when she put too much weight on her bad leg. She caught herself with the palms of her hands and clumsily stood. Garcia was saying something, but Emily wasn't listening. All she was focused on was getting her cane and getting out of the office. Getting out of the building.
When she finally got her cane she started out of the office moving as fast as she could. The smell of blood still filled her nose and her lungs burned of smoke. She could see Diaz, see her take her last breath. She blinked back tears and exited to the parking lot.
Emily didn't know how she made it back to JJ's. It was a wonder she had made it at all. When she got there she paced back and forth, unable to sit still. She poured herself a glass of wine and took a gulp before abandoning it on the kitchen counter. She sat on the couch and finally rested her head in her hands.
She stood up again and walked down the hall, checking each of the windows.
Then she circled back to the kitchen and leaned against the counter.