So I promise we're going to get more into the texts Alex is getting in the next chapter but I just wanted to do a short update to kind of lead us into things! Thanks so much for being patient with me and for reading! Enjoy! -J

Chapter 5

"Okay wait, let me get this straight," Emily was practically turned sideways in the passenger's seat of the car, facing JJ, who was driving. "Alex has a stalker."

"I didn't say she had a stalker Em," JJ rolled her eyes, not surprised that her wife had immediately jumped to conclusions. "Just try and calm down okay? She's getting weird messages. They aren't threatening, just weird. And she says some boy has been watching her and Spencer at school and it's creeping her out a bit. I really don't think we need to panic yet."

"Yet!" Emily shook her head. "We don't need to panic yet, we can just wait until this little creeper makes his move. You know what I can't leave right now," she sounded freaked. "I should stay here. I'll just drive home once we get there. I…"

"Em," JJ gave Emily a stern look before turning her attention back to the road. "You can't go back. You need to be with the team. We can't keep abandoning the team or Strauss is going to get rid of us," she told her. "Lex is going to be fine. I gave her strict instructions to keep us informed about everything that goes on. If something happens then one of us will come back. She'll be okay until then, so please just try and calm down okay?" She gave the brunette her best reassuring smile. "Now what happened with Olivia's Mom? You didn't bring her back with you so I take it things went okay?"

"I guess," Emily sighed. "I don't know Jen. I mean it seemed like she was listening to what Liv had to say and she acted like she wanted to do better but she's kind of a mess," she explained. "You should see their place. She's obviously drinking a lot and I don't know…she's just not the same person she was when we first met her. Sometimes I think we should really talk to Liv's dad."

"I've been thinking about that a lot too," JJ nodded. "But that may end up hurting Olivia even more. I mean how do we even know things will be any better with her Dad? At least this way we can still keep an eye on her."

"True," Emily agreed with another sigh. "I just feel bad for the kid. And well obviously I love her. I just really want things to be better for her."

"I know Em. I do too," JJ replied, reaching out and taking her wife's hand. "But it'll all be okay."

"I know. I just can't help but worry about it all," Emily said. "Olivia and now Alex too. Sometimes I really just wish things could be normal for a change."

"Who are we kidding Em," JJ chuckled, shaking her head. "This is our normal. But that's okay," she gave Emily's hand a quick squeeze. "It's nothing we can't handle. So let's go catch ourselves an unsub and come back to this crazy family of ours.

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"So what do we got?" Morgan asked as soon as the entire team was seated on the jet, getting ready for the plane to take off.

"JJ?" Hotch turned towards the media liaison. "Would you like to present the case?"

Nodding, JJ grabbed the pile of files she had printed out at home for the team before leaving, immediately handing each Agent their own. "Austin needs our help. In the last two weeks 3 young girls have been kidnapped and killed. All 3 were reported missing and were eventually found 2 days later, all stabbed to death."

"Pretty brutally by the looks of it," Emily wrinkled her nose, closing her file as she placed her hand on her stomach, obviously bothered by the images. "Where were the girls found Jen?"

"All three were found in dumpsters in various back alleys around the city," JJ replied as the rest of the team looked at the photos in their files, while Emily simply listened. "The local authorities have been doing their best to patrol likely dump sites but they haven't caught a break."

"Well literally dumping these bodies sends a pretty clear message," Reid said. "Do these girls have anything in common?" He then asked.

"These girls are extremely similar," JJ nodded. "All three are college students, all living off campus on the moment, two at home and one with roommates," she explained. "They all seem to be good students, hardworking. Trisha and Alicia both had part time jobs, Erika spent a lot of her free time volunteering."

"Not to mention they all look fairly similar," Rossi pointed out. "Dark hair, blue eyes."

"Our unsub definitely has a type," Morgan nodded, looking up at JJ. "Why are they only just bringing this to us now? I mean three girls in two weeks. That's pretty excessive."

"The chief of police had a suspect," JJ replied with a sigh. "He was certain they had their guy until Erika Kenneth went missing while their suspect was in custody."

"Has anyone else gone missing?" Emily asked.

"Not yet, but given the situation we can likely expect another girl missing in the next day or so," Hotch was the one to respond, having already educated himself on the case. "Obviously young girls are on high alert at the moment, but guys like this tend to find a way as we all know. As soon as we touch down we'll visit the families and roommates of our victims. Prentiss how are you feeling? Are you up for some interviews?"

"I can definitely handle that," Emily nodded, smiling. "I'm feeling better, I would just like to avoid any real field work if possible."

"Of course," Hotch nodded, understanding. "You just keep me updated about anything you need. Everyone get some rest until we touch down."

Standing, Hotch moved to sit at the back of the plane, Rossi wordlessly following behind him, as the rest of the team remained where they were, Emily immediately pulling out her cell phone to text Alex.

"Everything okay Princess?" Morgan asked, seeing the worried look on his friend's face.

"Alex is getting these creepy texts from an unknown number and I guess some kid has been watching her at school," Emily told him, Reid listening in as well. "We just found out this morning and honestly I'm a little freaked out about it. I know she's in high school and it could just be kids messing around but after everything that she's been through I can't help but worry."

"Have you talked to Garcia about those texts yet?" Morgan asked, sounding immediately concerned like the loving Uncle.

"I called her before we left," JJ nodded. "She's going to do some digging but it could be hard. Plus she obviously has to work on the case. I mean she's Garcia so I'm sure she'll have searches going on in the background at all times, but still," she shrugged.

"If anyone can find out who's behind the texts it's Garcia," Reid said, giving JJ a reassuring smile. "Plus we'll help however we can."

"Yeah, you just tell me whose butt I need to kick and I've got you," Morgan agreed.

"Thanks guys," Emily chuckled, patting Morgan's arm. "I appreciate the concern and hopefully this all turns out to be some sort of harmless prank but we'll keep you guys updated on that. And if all goes well Garcia will be able to track whoever's doing this down because I'm really sick of people messing with our daughter."

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"So what did your Moms say exactly?" Spencer asked Alex later that day, sitting on Alex's bedroom floor as she looked up to Zoey and Alex who were sitting on the bed. "Do they think they can find out who's sending the texts?"

"I told you Spence, Garcia's going to try but there's a chance she won't be able to do it," Alex replied, trying not to be too freaked out since Spencer was obviously worried. "My Mum told me to just be careful and to ignore the texts for now and she said to just let a teacher know if that kid at school is bothering me," she explained. "My Mom told me not to worry too much; that it's probably just someone at school trying to be funny. She did sound kind of worried though."

"That probably has a lot to do with the fact that she's pregnant," Zoey said, knowing how much Alex hated worrying her Mothers. "You know…hormones and what not. She's probably a little freaked because of that but I'm sure they wouldn't have left the state if they thought you were in any real danger. Right?"

"I think one of them would have stayed if they thought it was anything really serious," Alex nodded, turning to Spencer, who had a rather alarmed look on her face. "Spencer," she tilted her head to the side. "Please don't freak out. Someone's obviously just trying to scare me. It's just some stupid kid."

"Yeah some stupid kid who's also following you around at school!" Spencer's voice raised, her face turning red in embarrassment.

"Technically we don't know if he's actually the one sending me these texts," Alex reminded her girlfriend, trying her best to remain calm since Spencer was obviously worried enough for the both of them. "He may just be a weird kid who watches us because we're together. He's probably completely harmless."

"And if he's not, that's fine because one of us is going to be with you and Alex at all times," Zoey did her best to ease her friends' worries. "Nothing's going to happen to either one of you."

"I'm not worried about me," Spencer huffed, biting her lip nervously as she glanced at Alex before quickly averting her eyes.

"Spencer," Alex sighed, getting up to move to sit on the floor next to the taller brunette. "Nothing's going to happen. Garcia's going to find whoever is sending these texts and then we're going to deal with it. In the meantime I'll be careful," she smiled, reaching out and taking her girlfriend's hand. "Plus, seriously, who's crazy enough to mess with me when my Moms are who they are? It's going to be fine."

Nudging Spencer's shoulder, Alex did her best to ease the tension, waiting a few moments before the other brunette finally cracked a smile. "Okay," Spencer gave Alex's hand a firm squeeze, the tension in her shoulders easing. "I'll try to stop freaking out about it, but you have to promise to just be careful okay?" She said, receiving a firm nod from Alex. "Have you heard from Olivia at all?"

"She text me," Zoey was the one to answer. "She's spending some time with her Mom. She said they had a good talk but it's a lot to explain. She said we'll all talk about it on Monday."

"Good," Alex nodded, happy for her friend. "I mean as much as I love having Liv here, I really hope things get better with her Mom. I want her to be able to stay home and have a relationship with her Mom."

"I do too," Zoey agreed. "I just really think her Mom has a problem. I mean I know you two haven't really seen her in a while, but I was there a couple weeks ago and her Mom is just really different," she said, still worried for Olivia. "With the drinking I just…I worry about Liv."

"I know Zoe," Alex replied. "But we'll keep an eye on her like we always do and she's always got somewhere to go. My Moms would let her stay as long as she needs to no matter what."

"Man this is turning out to be a really shitty Saturday," Spencer then said, resting her head on Alex's shoulder. "We should not have these kind of problems. We're teenagers. Our biggest worries right now should be what we're going to do with our weekends. Not this stuff."

"Seems unfair doesn't it," Alex put her arm around her girlfriend, thinking of all the very adult things she and her friends had to deal with in the last couple years. "We'll get through it though. We always do."

"Together," Zoey smiled, nodding her agreement. "You guys wanna watch a movie or something? Something to cheer us up?"

"Disney?" Spencer grinned, laughing as Alex immediately nodded, jumping up and pulling Spencer to her feet. "Sounds like just what we need."

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"We're very sorry for your loss," Emily said as she took a seat on the couch across from Erika Kenneth's parents, Morgan beside her. "I know this must be hard. And we understand that you've already talked to the police about all this, but it's important we talk to you and learn everything we can about Erika so we can find the person who did this to her."

"We'll help you with whatever we can," Erika's Mother, Janice, was the one to reply. "We just want whoever did this to pay for what they did. And we don't want another family to have to go through what we've gone through."

"What can you tell us about your daughter?" Morgan asked as Emily flipped open a small notebook in order to take notes.

"She was in her Sophomore year at St. Edwards," Erika's Father, Jack replied. "School was incredibly important to her. She wanted to be a social worker…really help people you know," he explained. "She was working hard…taking extra courses to try and graduate early and she spent most of her free time doing volunteer work."

"She volunteered with the children's programs at the library, she served meals at the soup kitchen. She was constantly looking for ways to give back to the community," Janice took over. "We were always telling her to take some time to herself; to be young…but she just never had much interest in that. She was always mature…even when she was young."

"She was living here with you?" Emily then asked, wondering how anyone could manage to get to a girl like Erika, who wasn't out partying like most girls her age.

"She wanted to save as much money as she could so she could move out once she finished school," Jack nodded. "She was always making responsible choices like that."

"Where was she the night she went missing?" Morgan questioned, also confused of how someone as responsible and smart as Erika could find herself kidnapped.

"She volunteered at the library that night," Jack answered. "She had some work to do so she stayed late to study. She text us to let us know she was on her way home," he explained. "She had the car. It's only a 10-minute drive home. When she didn't come home we tried calling but…we went to the library after an hour. The car was still there but she was….she was just gone," he struggled to control his emotions. "We never even got to say goodbye."

Reaching out for her husband's hand, Janice was also very clearly struggling to hold in her own tears. "She…she was our little girl. Our only baby."

"We're going to find whoever did this," Emily told them, her voice firm and sure. "I know it won't bring your daughter back and I wish we could do more, but just know, we will find them."

"You're a Mother aren't you?" Janice said, sharing a knowing look with the brunette, a small, sad, smile on her face.

"I have two kids," Emily nodded, thinking of what she would do if someone touched one of her kids. "A 2 year old boy and a 16 year old daughter."

"It shows," Jane replied, sadness in her eyes. "They're lucky to have you."