Secret Lovers
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas.
Thanks to my Beta for the song prompt: Secret Lovers by Atlantic Starr.
Sorry for the delay I was planning to post yesterday as an end of week treat, but as it was my birthday got caught up in other things. Thank you for all the reviews that I have yet to reply to - I will try my best to get round to them. But if I don't, please know I really do appreciate your support, especially as I am venturing into a new pairing with this.
. . .
Emily glanced around nervously at her friends and colleagues. Since they had decided at the weekend that everyone was to know Emily felt like she had become some flashing beacon that drew everyone's attention. She just wanted to keep her head down and avoid everyone, which was possibly more suspicious than joining in the normal banter.
Although the honest answer was that she was no different from last week or any other week previously. In fact, she was less obvious than last week as she didn't have that silly self satisfied grin on her face. Something, of course, that Morgan had noted and teased her about.
Anyhow, the long and the short of it was that together they had decided that Aaron would start to prepare Jack. He would explain that Emily would around more and that she was his girlfriend. This had made Emily snicker. She felt she was too old to be called a 'girlfriend'. It all seemed so high school - which was just how she was behaving.
They had also decided to come clean with the team, which was something Emily wasn't looking forward to. Jack was a sweet kid who she enjoyed spending time with; telling him made their relationship concrete. That worried her, but she accepted it as it was what she wanted. Yet, telling the team made it public property. She and Aaron would be watched to see if they responded different in the field. There would be the barrage of questions from a certain technical analysis and her newly trained profiler side-kick, the pair of them should run lectures on interrogation as you sure knew when they were grilling you.
Emily physically grimaced at the thought of the next girls' night out.
"What's up, Sugar Plum?" Penelope chirped as she made her way towards Emily.
Without looking up, Emily rolled her eyes. Was the woman psychic or something?
"Come on, you can tell me," Penelope purred as she perched herself onto the edge of Emily's desk. "After all, I am the font of all knowledge and willing to help in any way I can."
Emily fixed on her best smile as she looked up at her teal coloured friend. "Honestly, it is nothing that tossing half these files onto Reid's desk wouldn't sort."
Penelope giggled. She couldn't believe the guys still did that after all these years, though Reid would possibly be offended if they stopped now.
"Have you seen JJ? I was coming to see both of you as I think we are overdue a get together and was going to try and organise something for next weekend, if Will is off duty, so JJ doesn't need to get in a sitter."
Emily made a face. "Sorry, no can do, I'm busy."
Immediately Penelope perked up, a smug smile on her face. "Busy, eh? Is that the same busy 'shoe shopping' that you were the other weekend? Oh Girl, you are keeping secrets, and you know I don't like secrets. Do I need to go and do my own digging, or are you going to just spill."
"Why is everyone so certain that I have a boyfriend? Dig all you like; there is nothing to be found. I am simply helping a friend with some DIY that weekend."
Penelope's eyebrows practically hit the roof. "You and DIY? Really, you want me to believe that? I kinda bought the whole shoe sale story - after all, I am a girl who appreciates an amazing deal on heels - but this, Emily, is poppycock."
Emily had to admit in all her years working undercover she had been told the best lies were those closest to the truth. But maybe sticking to Aaron's excuse for Dave with Penelope was not a good idea, she should have been a little more creative.
"Believe what you like, it's true," she added petulantly, trying hard to cover her tracks.
"What's true?" asked JJ as she returned to her desk.
"That Emily here is helping a friend with some 'DIY'. Unless those letters stand for something different then I am thinking, I doubt our Princess' prowess with a spanner."
JJ glanced between the two women. "Emily did have to be a lot more resourceful when she was . . . away. A lot of the safe houses were pretty crummy, from what Em told me, and she fixed leaks and all sorts."
"Thank you," Emily gave a smug smile as she sat back in her chair.
Penelope narrowed her eyes. "Don't think you are off the hook, yet, Girlie, I'm watching you."
"No going through my credit card payments; it's illegal!"
With a sickly sweet smile, Penelope fluttered her eyelashes. "As if I would." Then she turned towards JJ, "I was hoping we could organise a night out, but Bob the Builder here can't do next weekend, so how about the one after?"
JJ quickly checked the calendar on her cell. "That's fine with me; Will is on days that week."
"How about you, Emily? Unless you have any other major restorations to complete."
Emily rolled her eyes. "That weekend is just fine."
"Good. We're all sorted," Penelope had just risen from her place on Emily's desk as Morgan walked towards them.
"Let's go, we've got another case," he spoke in passing as he carried on walking towards the conference room. Emily, JJ and Penelope followed.
Emily smiled. At least having the case took the interest off her for a while. It would also mean that Aaron would put off telling the team for a while as now would not be a good time. Breathing a sigh of relief, Emily took her seat at the round table looking across at Aaron. She could tell straight away it was a bad one, not that there was ever such a thing as a good one. She knew everyone viewed him as this stoic leader who never gave anything away, but she had gotten very good at spotting the little tells he had. She watched as he flicked through the file once more before closing the file, then without lifting his head he glanced round the room, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did so. Seeing the slight twitch to his mouth, she knew he was worried and wanted to get underway as soon as possible. So did everyone else from the silence that fell over the room.
"We have a case in Miami. So far, the bodies of three boys have been found. Each has been starved and was dehydrated. Their bodies mutilated post-mortem." Emily noticed how Aaron nodded towards Penelope, giving her chance to turn away before he changed the screen to show the dumped bodies of the young boys. "Adam Reeves, 4, Stuart Collier, 5, and Dean Price, also 5, all disappeared from busy shopping malls in three separate towns. However, each ended up at the same dumpsite, literally within feet of each other."
"There is no sign of remorse; our UnSub is literally throwing them away. Though it is interesting that none of the mutilation happens until after death," Reid started, staring at various reports, "Why keep them long enough to starve them if he is not torturing them?"
"Starvation - isn't that torture enough?" Morgan piped in. "These guys are young enough they would be calling for their moms, crying. It would be every bit as bad inflicting these injuries on them when they were alive. Maybe he is let down by them dying, and this caused the rage. There is no method or pattern to the mutilation. The control he has in keeping them and starving them is gone."
Emily kept quick looking between JJ and Aaron, knowing what this case would do to the two of them, it was bad enough to have to see these things day to day, but what it must be like as a parent. . . Emily shuddered.
"I think we should continue this on the jet. Garcia, I would like you to start to cross check our families. I realise they are from different towns, but there may be something that connects them. If there is, then you will be the person to find it."
"Your wish is my command, with which I shall sprinkle my pixie dust and disappear." Gathering her things in her arms, Penelope left as the rest of the team made their way out of the room behind her.
The quick briefing lead to a rapid departure, but not such a quick return.