A/N: Co-written by Auraya-of-the-White. I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR IT'S CHARCTERS. Read and Review please!
They both climbed into the car and buckled their seatbelts. Emily pulled away and began driving back to her place. An awkward silence filled the car. Neither of them knew what to say.
Emily finally broke the silence, "You look different from last time I saw you."
She grinned, "You do too. I like your haircut."
Emily gave a smile in return and said "Thanks."
Emily concentrated on the road, while they both remained quiet. She glanced over at her cousin for a moment noticing something seemed wrong.
"How was your flight?"
She finally raised her head to look up at Emily, "Good I guess," she shrugged, "I slept through the flight to Texas then switched planes and I slept through the flight to Virginia too."
Emily smiled and then asked "Do you miss your home?"
Her cousin was puzzled. She hadn't really become homesick yet. She was more concerned why Emily asked her that question. Did she seem sad?
She hesitated before answering, still confused, "Not really. I'm sort of glad to get away."
Now Emily looked perplexed, "Why?" Emily asked slightly concerned by her answer. Why did she want to get away from home?
Again her cousin took a while to reply, "We have a serial killer murdering people at random."
Emily's eyes widened in disbelief. How could a killer be loose in that city? It had always seemed so friendly and nice, but Emily knew that appearances were often deceiving. Every city had a seedy underbelly.
She pressed on delicately, her cousin was only twelve, "How is the unsub killing people?"
Her cousin answered the question, unperturbed, "With a gun."
Emily's interest had been piqued, there weren't that many serial cases in the U.S. at one time. "How many victims in a month?"
She paused a moment, thinking. She didn't want to tip her hand and obviously reveal her identity. Her plan was in place for her week long absence, so she took the number of victims and subtracted one.
"Seven," she answered calmly, trying to not smile. Here she was sitting next to her profiler cousin, pulling off an amazing deception.
"Seven?" Emily mused, lost in her thoughts.
She tried to quickly change the subject, better not push her luck, "When I was trying to get my luggage at the airport here, I wasn't able to pull it off of the carousel so this man helped me. He was wearing an F.B.I badge and when I mentioned your name he looked at me funny and left. He was a stern looking man, someone who rarely smiles. I think he knows you." she told Em while staring her.
Emily's eyes widened. She looked at her cousin then back to the road, grinning, "I guess you met my boss," Emily laughed.
She was shocked. She didn't know that he was Em's boss!
"Are you serious?" she questioned, giggling.
Emily was still laughing, "Yeah," she said a tad more calmly.
"He scared me a bit," she admitted quietly.
Emily smiled again, "He tends to have that effect on people."
She shook her head, what a coincidence.
Silence filled the car again until Emily spoke up softly, "It's really good to see you again Casey."
Casey looked fondly at her, nodding "You too, Emily."
************************
They arrived at her apartment building, walking up the stairs to the third floor for exercise. Emily set down Casey's suitcase in front of her door and pulled out her keys. Emily was about to unlock her door when she noticed some people walking down the hall towards her. Emily looked closer noticing that it was Morgan, Garcia, and JJ. Emily shook her head. They really never gave up once they were curious about something.
Casey asked, baffled, "Who are they?" pointing at the people walking down the hall.
Emily sighed, replying "Some of my team."
Casey looked at them in awe. They finally stood in front of Emily and Casey.
"What are you guys doing here?" Emily demanded, irritated.
"You dropped your phone in the elevator when you left the bullpen earlier," Garcia responded calmly, the bright yellow baubles bouncing in her hair.
They all scrutinized Casey curiously. She met their gaze steadily, staring right back at them. Emily then hastily grabbed the phone out of Morgan's hand.
She quickly said, "Thanks, bye now," and tried opening the door again.
JJ spoke up, "Wait! Aren't you going to introduce us to your cousin?"
Emily sighed loudly again, and regretfully tore her vision from the door and back to part of the team. "Fine," she agreed unhappily, "JJ, Morgan, Garcia, meet my cousin Casey."
Casey shook each of their hands and happily said "Nice to meet you all."
Casey was impressed by Em's coworkers. They didn't have a typical boring job. Everyone was silent for a moment while JJ, Garcia and Morgan intently focused on Casey. No one knew much about Emily. She was always a private person.
"So you're really Emily's cousin?" JJ smiled friendly at Casey.
Casey smiled back and replying simply "Yeah."
Emily moved to stand next to Morgan, the whole group facing Casey now.
"So how was your flight?" Garcia tossed out, trying to make small talk.
Casey smirked, "I wouldn't know…I slept through it," she laughed along with everyone.
"So, where are you from Casey?" Morgan boldly asked next.
Casey smiled again. For some reason, she found their polite questions amusing, "The smog filled city of L.A."
Garcia's eyes widened in concern, "From L.A all the way to here! You must be tired honey,"
Casey shook her head no, and smiled once more, "No not really. Like I said, I fell asleep on the plane."
Garcia nodded understandingly.
"Well, we'd better get going. Nice to meet you Casey. I hope we can see each other again while you're here."
Casey agreed, "I'd like that JJ. You seem like a very nice person."
Casey shook each of their hands once more and waved good-bye to them as they walked down the hall. Emily and Casey smiled at each other and Emily unlocked the door at last.