I don't own Criminal Minds! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Baby girl, what do the victims have in common?" asked Morgan taking a seat next to JJ.

"With the population size being this small their lives overlap constantly, same grocery store, same gym, hell even same starbucks," replied Garcia through the web cam, "they are all blonde, young and beautiful. All are involved in various volunteer groups, they're just good small town girls. I'm sorry my chocolate god, I'll keep checking but right now I have nothing."

"It says here that the first victim, Sarah was reported missing after working the night shift at a restaurant," said Rossi.

"Ok, the second victim was last seen at a local bar," added JJ.

"Third victim was supposed have breakfast with her parents and never showed up," continued the bald man.

"All women disappeared at night, sometime between 11pm and 8am," mentioned Reid taking notes, "all vehicles have been recovered near the dump sites, forensics are still processing them."

"First thing tomorrow morning I want JJ and Morgan to go the last dump site, see what you can find out. I think it's safe to assume that the murder weapon was some kind of blade, stabbing to the heart implies a personal motive," concluded the unit chief, going through the crime pictures. One in particular catching his eye, "the bodies were dumped and posed," he said looking at the photo of a young girl wearing a summer dress, laying on the mud with her arms gently crossed over her chest, covering the stab wound.

"That's remorse Hotch," mumbled JJ.

"Well a swift stab to chest means they died quickly and with minimal pain also the posing of the bodies means the killer felt remorse for his victims, that doesn't fit with the kidnapping and the violence of their captivities, could we be looking at a team?" questioned the newest member of the team. Alex was still finding her footing in the close-knit unit; she found it helpful to watch their interactions before voicing her thoughts.

"Maybe," said Hotch somewhat lost in his thoughts, "We won't be able to do much, get some rest and tomorrow we'll hit the ground running."

His mind had moved on from the case, instead he focused on telling the team about Emily. As acting Director he had the final say in the decision, it really hadn't been hard to convince his superiors, nothing was ever hard when you started throwing the name Prentiss around.

Further down the plane JJ sat motionless staring out the window, her phone vibrated for probably the tenth time signaling another text Will. She didn't want to look at them, she didn't want to think about him; all she wanted to do was crawl under a blanket and sleep.

The last few months had been exhausting both physically and emotionally. She'd managed to convince everyone she was doing well, she was handling the Hastings fiasco, she was getting better. When in reality she was falling apart. There wasn't a single night in the last one hundred and six days where she had slept soundly. Nightmares took over her sleep, making her relive her torture. But not only that, she was reliving her time in Afghanistan; the explosion, the miscarriage, the soldiers that died following her commands.

Everything she had failed to process haunted her, and it was becoming too much to handle. Will obviously couldn't cope with her; Henry had even caught her crying a few times. There was no place where she could just let go and feel. Her days blended together, the cases affected her more than they should. It was a miracle that she'd been able to keep this to herself, especially when she worked with some of the best profilers in the world. They want to believe everything's fine, they only see what I want them to see.

Emily wasn't like that; she always saw what I wanted to keep hidden. It was for that reason that JJ felt so nervous about having the brunette back; she'd even toyed with the idea of calling the older woman to tell her not to come. But she also knew that she needed her best friend, she needed her unconditional support, she needed to be able to break down, she needed someone who understood. Also with Hotch in the loop JJ couldn't hide anymore.

A particular memory came to mind, the day after the team rescued her from Hastings. She'd gone to the airport to see Emily off, causing a huge argument with her husband. But at the time she felt an urgent need to be with the brunette as long as possible.

Typical Emily, sitting at the fanciest bar in the airport casually sipping a clear beverage; the brunette didn't notice JJ's presence until the younger agent took the seat next to her.

"Jay? What are you doing here?" asked Emily.

"I came to see you off," replied the blonde, taking a sip from Emily's glass, "I wanted to thank you Em, for everything."

Emily's brown eyes softened, "you have nothing to thank me for, you know I'll always be there. We're family," she said gently.

"Still, thank you," she let her hand cover the brunette's, "I'm gonna miss you."

At this last statement the Interpol agent sat up a little straighter, "you know Jay, it's not over. It's going to take a long time before you're ok with all this," she gestured with her hands.

"I'll be fine Em, you guys saved me," answered the blonde.

"Yes sweetheart, right now you are. But when your mind begins to process you might not feel this way," JJ knew that, she knew that it was a matter of time before she broke down.

"Are you sure you can't stay?" she asked avoiding the topic.

"I have to get back, but let's make a deal," the older woman hated the idea of leaving, but she had a job to do, a job she had put on pause when she'd found out JJ was missing.

"I'm talking from experience when I tell you these things, after Doyle I was a mess, I don't want you to go through what I did alone. This will be a way for you to tell me if you're not ok. If a time ever comes when you feel that everything is too much, that the memory of what happened is taking over your life I want you to call me. I promise you I'll be on the first flight back and we'll work through it together," Emily finished the last of her drink, never once looking away from JJ's blue orbs.

"And if that time comes Em? And I call you what do I say?" she asked quietly.

"I hope you never have to Jen, but if you do," she paused searching for the right word, "just say 'blackbird.'"

The two women hadn't talked about that particular moment again. It became a silent understanding between them, and although at that time JJ doubted she'd ever have to use the code word, she was glad they had it. It'd been her safety net these last few months, as had been Emily's weekly phone calls.

The slight vibration of her phone pulled her from her thoughts, looking at the screen expecting to see "Will" written on the screen, she was surprised when she saw the text had come from Hotch.

"We need to tell them that Emily's on her way."

She knew she'd have to, but telling the team about Emily also meant that she might have to divulge some of her internal turmoil. Not right now, she thought before sending a quick reply back to her boss.

"I will, before we land."

R&R!