Chapter Twelve

After earning a relaxing weekend off from work, JJ set out to distract herself from the case her team had just finished. It was always hard, but over the years she had learned how to cope. Generally the cure was either good company or the world of fiction, and today she collapsed on the couch with a good book, intent on sitting there for as long as she could manage.

Hours passed as she dove into the book headfirst, only shot from the world within its pages when the front door swung open and two boys burst into the house. Spencer was chasing Henry, both of them laughing as the five-year-old made a beeline for the kitchen. Jennifer reluctantly put a bookmark in the novel to save her place and called after the rambunctious children.

"Be careful, boys," she chuckled to herself, amused at how well Spencer got along with Henry. When the two of them were together, it was almost like she was raising two kids instead of one.

There were other times, however, that Spencer was a lifesaver. Since Will returned to New Orleans, it had been tough on her little boy. Spencer immediately stepped up and spent a lot more time at her house, helping her take care of Henry. JJ was incredibly grateful for Reid's influence on her son.

She could tell something had been bothering him all week, though…and she had a feeling she knew why. Everyone had been thrown for a loop when Agent Kent showed up.

After conning Henry into a nap, she finally got a chance to talk to him about it.

"So…rough week, huh?"

He nodded, taking a sip of his coffee-half sugar, just how he liked it.

"Yeah, seems like it. We haven't had two cases in a single week in the past six months."

JJ hesitated, then decided to just come out with it.

"Can we just talk about the elephant in the room?"

Reid face scrunched in confusion.

"What's that?"

"Agent Kent," she clarified, "y'know, I'm not completely sure she isn't bat-shit crazy."

Reid looked down at his coffee cup.

"I asked her out."

"What?" JJ exclaimed and Reid continued, not noting the horror in her voice at this revelation.

"On a date."

"Who?"

"Kristina," he frowned.

JJ pinched the bridge of her nose, still trying to process this new information.

"Oh my God, Spence, were you ever going to tell me?"

He sighed.

"Well, she said no."

"Well, now I know she's nuts…but when did this happen?"

Reid was clearly becoming uncomfortable with this line of questioning.

"Tuesday, after we got back from Columbus."

JJ squinted her eyes, trying to put the pieces together… but there was still one pressing question on her mind.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"She's…she's pretty?" he offered lamely.

"She's pretty, alright. Pretty insane!" JJ retorted. "Spence, you know she almost assaulted Mark Reese?"

"No…"

"She damn near ripped his arm off yesterday."

Reid paused.

"JJ, why are you telling me this?"

"I just want you to be careful," she explained, getting a chuckle from the taller, younger man.

"I highly doubt Kristina is going to attack me, Jayje."

Glad she finally got a smile out of him, JJ grinned.

"Well, if she did, I'd hate to say 'I told you so'."

Spencer's grin widened.

"Actually, you'd probably love to be able say that to me."

JJ swatted his shoulder playfully.

"Spence, you're the worst."

"That's impossible to quantify, but I get the sentiment," he cracked, causing laughter to bubble from Jennifer's chest.

"Stop, you're going to make me wake up Henry," she wheezed, burying her head in his chest to stifle the sound. Even Reid had to chuckle as he took another sip of his coffee.

"I think he'll be up there for a while…I wore him out today."

"Thank you, by the way," JJ replied, but Spencer waved her off.

"You don't have to thank me. I like hanging with Henry. Helps distract me from things." He shrugged, and JJ studied his face.

"Have you been having any more headaches lately?"

He looked up from his coffee.

"What? No."

She cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Really," he assured her, "I'm fine. Promise."


Frank paced his living room, trying to remember if he forgot any details for that night. He already called and double-checked the reservation at Tosca, a fancy Italian restaurant befitting the beautiful, elegant Emily Prentiss. He changed his shirt and jacket combination at least five times, and had called Kristina in a panic trying to figure out what color of socks and belt to wear. He had filled the tank of his SUV earlier, and even cleaned the inside of the car so she wouldn't think he was a slob. Still, he couldn't help but think he was forgetting something important…

"Flowers, shit," he cursed under his breath, then checked his watch. He still had enough time to stop somewhere and pick out flowers before he picked Emily up from her penthouse apartment.

Frank grabbed his wallet, his keys, and checked his appearance in the mirror one more time before he bolted out the door.

Halfway to the flower shop, he pulled out his phone and hit redial.

"Hello?"

"What flowers do I get?" Frank tried not to sound panicked. Kristina chuckled.

"Frank, you're a big boy, I'm sure you can figure it out."

"No, yeah, of course I can…What do girls like? Roses?…Daffodils? Mums?"

"You're seriously freaking out about flowers right now," she chuckled again.

"I'm not freaking out," he protested, "and you're not helping me right now."

Kristina cleared her throat and thought for a second.

"Okay, um…you can't go wrong with roses."

"Okay, so a dozen red roses?"

"No," she corrected him, "not red. Red isn't for a first date."

He groaned.

"Why is this so complicated? What color do I get?"

After thinking for a few seconds more, she replied.

"Lavender."

"So, purple flowers are first date material?" he remarked, and she grinned.

"No, lavender. It's a light purple. Ask the people at the floral shop to fix it up with other flowers, they'll take care of you."

He nodded.

"Okay, thanks Kricket. You're a lifesaver."

Kristina smiled.

"You're welcome, Frank. Good luck tonight…knock 'em dead."

He hung up as he pulled in front of the flower shop. Ten minutes and fifty dollars later, Frank emerged with twelve lavender roses dressed with a couple other fancy flowers with names he couldn't recall if his life depended on it. The important thing was, he was ten minutes early to Emily's apartment.

He received two thumbs up from the doorman as he entered, which he took as a good sign.

Emily answered within seconds of knocking on her door, and Frank stumbled back when the door swung open.

"Hey, Frank," she smiled, and the forty-five year old man almost forgot how to speak.

"Hi," he managed, still taking in Emily's figure in the form-fitting little black dress she wore. Her hair was pulled up out of her face revealing small pearl earrings and her strong jaw line. Her lipstick was a perfect contrast to her creamy, ivory skin.

"You clean up nice," she remarked, and he inhaled sharply, realizing he had been staring.

"You too- you look…wow."

He awkwardly help up the flowers to make up for his lack of coherency. She gasped.

"Oh my God, these are beautiful! Thank you," she took them, holding them up so she could inhale their scent, "I'm going to put these in a vase, then we can go."

He nodded, and watched as she turned and walked into the kitchen.

"I hope you like Italian," he called feebly into the other room.

"Are you kidding?" she laughed, coming back into view. "I'm always up for some good Italian cuisine. Alright, all set."

He opened the door for her when they got to the car, and the smile she gave him made his chest swell with happiness. He was willing to do just about anything to make her smile like that again.

The silence in the car was impeding what he would consider progress, so he brought up the one thing they had in common-the person who brought them together again, after all those years.

"So, how's my girl Kristina working out with the BAU?"

"She's…very dedicated to the job," Emily replied lamely.

Frank chuckled.

"She's a little intense. She doesn't really make it easy to get to know her," he added, and Emily nodded.

"Yeah, I've noticed. But we've all got our hang-ups."

"You seem pretty damn perfect to me," Frank grinned.

Emily chuckled.

"Oh Frank, if you only knew…"


Morgan got back from his nighttime job around 8pm, and collapsed on the couch after a quick shower, still a little disappointed that his crew had bailed on him tonight. Hotch was with Jack, Emily had a date, Spencer and JJ were taking Henry to see some kids' movie…even Garcia had failed him- she was spending her evening playing some online computer game with her boyfriend, Kevin.

He would've called Kristina, but after how she was acting the day before, he doubted she would be receptive to any one-on-one time with him.

He knew very little about Kristina Kent, but what he did know scared him a little bit.

He knew that whatever happened in Nashville went so terribly wrong that the file was sealed-he checked-that it caused one Bureau legend to retire because of a 'bum knee', one agent to receive a demotion and a transfer across the country, and that involved the death of a young girl named Katie.

Curiosity got the better of him. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and hit #2 on his speed dial.

"Derek, my love hunk, what's up?"

He smiled.

"Baby Girl, can you look something up for me?"

"I'm kinda busy here," she muttered.

"Can you pause it?"

"You can't pause World of Warcraft!"

She groaned, hitting a few keys, then returning her attention to the phone call.

"Okay, what do you need, Derek?"

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" He grinned.

"Can you find a file for me?"

She nodded.

"Sure, what am I looking for?"

"A murder victim in or around Nashville about six months ago. All I have is a first name: Katie."

Garcia paused, realizing what Morgan was doing.

"Nashville? Morgan, are you sure you should be snooping in Kristina's business like this?"

He frowned.

"I'm not snooping."

"It feels like snooping," she shot back.

Morgan sighed.

"Please, Penelope. I need to know."

There was an elongated silence on the other end, but she finally caved in.

"Her name is Katie Glenn. She was 22, almost graduated from Tennessee state with a Bachelor's in Forensic Science before she was killed in a fire. I set you the file. Please be careful," she pleaded.

"I will. Thanks, Baby Girl. Enjoy your game."

He hung up and pulled his laptop over, opening the file and was immediately struck by what he saw.

"Well, this just got interesting…" he muttered to himself, eyes still fixed on the photo on file for Katie Glenn.

Morgan quickly dialed another number.

"JJ, you gotta see this…"