Hey everybody - so sorry that it took almost 2 weeks to get these put together - but here they are now. I hope you enjoy chapter 9. I'm off to work on chapter 10 and that should be ready by tomorrow. Nothing like a double update weekend :D
Thanks to my beta DetectiveNikkiBenson040709. Having you to bounce ideas off of is more helpful than you could possibly imagine. Thanks for keeping me on task and focused :D
Thanks for all the reviews, favoriting, and alerts. You're all awesome. I'm glad your all enjoying the story. :D
I don't own Criminal Minds... but you all already knew that... and I know that you didn't click on that nifty little link that brought you here to hear me yammer on and on about all this stuff... so without further adieu...
Happy reading and enjoy :D
"Spence" JJ moaned as her boyfriend kissed a path up and down her neck. They'd finished their indoor picnic a while ago and were now cuddled up in front of the fire. JJ was seated in between Spence's legs and leaning back against his chest, while he had his arms wrapped around her while they luxuriated in the heat of the fire.
"Hmm?" Spence murmured in response as his nose brushed against the shell of JJ's ear causing a shiver to run down her spine.
"I love you." JJ whispered as she twisted in Spence's arms. She threw her legs over one of his thighs as she shifted to sit sideways. She reached up her hand and dragged her fingers through his hair, her nails scratching lightly against his scalp.
Spence moaned softly as his head pressed into JJ's exquisite and comforting touch. Between the hand that was playing with his hair and scratching his scalp and her other hand that was playing with his fingers where they rested on her thigh… he was in heaven… assuming based on his experience in Hankel's shed all those years ago that such a place existed.
"You like that baby?" JJ asked softly as she felt the fingers of Spence's hand that was on her thigh flex.
Spence nodded and turned his head, kissing the palm of her hand as his eyes slid shut in pleasure at the overwhelming feeling of love coursing through him. "I love you too JJ" Spence all but moaned as he pulled JJ closer, his hand sliding up her thigh, to her hip. His fingertips lightly grazed the skin of her lower back and they slipped underneath the lower edge of her soft cotton t-shirt.
JJ watched Spence's gorgeous brown eyes as they opened. His eyes flicked back and forth between her eyes and her lips. Her breath caught in her throat as Spence's tongue flicked out and he licked his lower lip. Before she had a chance to breathe again, his lips were on hers.
It was Spence's turn to moan as he tasted the hint of red wine on JJ's lips, a remnant of their picnic earlier as his lips covered hers.
JJ breathed deeply through her nose as she lifted her arm and wrapped it tightly around Spence's shoulders as the kiss deepened.
The logs in the fireplace crackled and hissed in the background creating the perfect ambiance for JJ and Spence to continue celebrating their belated Valentine's Day.
Emily splashed water on her face as she looked at her reflection in the hotel room mirror. The last few weeks had been hell. She wasn't sure what game Doyle was playing, but she knew she wanted it to be over, with everyone that she cared about most safe. She'd taken to staying in a variety of hotels all over the DC area ever since she'd received the flower from Doyle. She changed hotels on a random schedule and randomly picked the hotels. She dropped Sergio off with Brianna when they had cases, not wanting her friend to have to go to her condo.
She was exhausted, she noted as she continued to look in the mirror while she dried her face. Falling asleep on the train tonight while she waited for Clyde and Tsia on the Metro had proven that. She shook her head and turned and walked out of the bathroom, scooping up Sergio as she walked down the short hallway to the bedroom.
"Hey buddy, how are you?" she asked as Sergio propped himself up against her chest. At Sergio's answering meow, she nodded her head. "I know Serge, I miss home too. Hopefully this will all be over soon. Then we'll go home and crawl in bed and sleep for a week. That's sounds good doesn't it?" She asked Sergio as she sat on the bed and Sergio curled up on her lap. She scratched him behind his ears and he purred, silently forgiving his owner for the constant change that had been their life for the last few weeks.
JJ smiled softly at the peaceful expression on Spence's face. His head lay in her lap and she alternated between running her fingers though his hair, rubbing his temples, and running her fingers across his forehead.
Spence sighed contentedly as JJ's fingers continued to trail lightly over his skin. He opened his eyes, noting that the fire was dying down. He sat up, leaning forward to put another log on the fire. He used the fire poker to stir the embers in the previous log. The stirring increased the oxygen flow and caused the embers to glow red hot and flames to shoot up around the newly added log as it caught fire and burned.
He turned from the fireplace completely prepared to curl up with JJ and cuddle again, but his breath caught in his throat. The fire cast a glow across JJ's skin. Her blonde hair shimmered as if it was on fire, and her blue eyes sparked as the flames refracted off her brilliant blue irises. He glanced about taking note of JJ's position in the middle of the living room floor, the positioning of the furniture, the lay of the pile of pillows, and then after determining that it was completely safe, he orchestrated a move that was sure to surprise JJ.
JJ gasped as Spence grabbed her legs behind the knees and pulled her towards him. The she squealed as she lost her balance and fell backwards onto the pile of pillows. Then Spence was above her. "Hi" she murmured softly as he lowered himself above her, hovering just out of her reach.
"Hi" Spence replied as he braced his elbows on either side of JJ's face. He gently brushed a stray hair out of her face.
JJ bit her lip as she studied the light and shadows casting themselves across Spence's face. "So… you realize that we have to stay up a while since you just put another log on the fire?" she asked in amusement as she watched Spence's face.
Spence nodded in reply as he traced his hand down JJ's arm and played with her fingers. He tangled and untangled their fingers. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Then he turned her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. He kissed his way up her arm, lingering at the inside of her elbow before he moved up her bicep to her shoulder and across her clavicle.
"Spence, baby…" JJ moaned.
"Shh…" Spence murmured as he kissed his way up her neck. He lifted her arm above her head and then trailed his fingers down the length of her arm, his finger nails scraping lightly across her delicate skin. He moved his fingers ever so slowly. They reached her shoulder and moved to her torso. The backs of his fingers skimmed along the peak of her breast, along the edge of her abdomen, and then to her hip. At her hip, Spence shifted the angle of his hand so that his hand cupped the edge of her hip. Then his palm moved down, cupping the back of her thigh until he reached her knee. He wrapped her thigh around his hip as his fingers massaged her thigh.
He reached for her other arm, repeating the process; he again kissed her fingers, the inside of the wrist, and kissed his way up her arm.
JJ about melted into a puddle of pure heat and need as Spence trailed his hand down her body while his other hand held her arms above her head, not that she was about to move them. She wanted to see what her genius had planned.
Spence's eyes never wavered from JJ's as he trailed his hand down her body inch by agonizing inch until he wrapped her other thigh around his waist. His hand went back to hers, above their heads, as he entwined his fingers with hers. Then he lowered his head and kissed her as he ground his pelvis against hers.
JJ's hips bucked eagerly against Spence's as her back arched off the pillows and blankets that made up their nest in front of the fireplace. "God, baby, please…" she panted as Spence kissed his way down one side of her neck and then up the other.
Spence relented, releasing his hold on her hands above their heads as he moved his hands to her hips. He stroked his fingers across soft skin of her back and belly that was currently hidden by her t-shirt as he lips danced along the curve of her neck.
JJ's hands slid eagerly across Spence's shoulders that were taught from holding his weight above her. Her fingers traced the lean lines of his biceps and forearms to where his hands were splayed on her waist. She lifted her hands to his chest and ran her hands down the soft cotton covered planes of his chest, then along the sides of his ribcage. Her fingers grasped handfuls of his t-shirt when they reached his waist. She proceeded to drag his shirt back up his torso and over his head as he lifted his head momentarily from her neck.
Spence smiled down at JJ as he shook first one arm and then the other free of his t-shirt. Then he returned the favor and began to drag his girlfriend's t-shirt up her torso. His lips followed in the wake of freshly revealed skin, kissing his way up her abdomen as her t-shirt rose up her torso.
JJ raised her arms above her head, in anticipation of Spence removing her t-shirt.
Spence kissed the center of JJ's chest directly between her breasts and then again directly over her heart. Then he pulled her t-shirt off over her head, lowering his head to kiss her once her arms were free of obstruction.
JJ hummed as she kissed way across Spence's shoulder and up his neck. She nibbled on his earlobe and then blew softly on the wet flesh, feeling Spence shudder in pleasure against her. She skimmed her hands down his sides to the waist of his pajama pants and pushed them off his hips and down his thighs as far as she could reach.
Spence gasped into JJ's neck as he bucked into her hand. Then he rose to his knees, or at least as much as he could with JJ's hand still wrapped around him. He simultaneously lifted JJ's hips and pulled her pajama pants and panties down her slim, tone thighs. He pushed them over her bent knees and off her feet and tossed them off to the side into the darkness of the room that had previously consumed their t-shirts.
He paused in wonder for a moment as he pressed soft open mouthed kisses to the skin of her belly, the belly that had been home to Henry not quite three years ago. He wondered if she'd want more children someday. His children. Sure, he'd always been terrified that he'd be consumed by the disease that held his mother's brilliant mind captive, that if he ever had children they too would be disparaged by the plight of their ancestors. That however didn't mean he hadn't fantasized about a family with JJ. Now, it wasn't so much a fantasy as a possibility, but that was something for them to discuss later, as his mind returned to the moment at hand.
"Hmm… you are amazing baby." JJ purred as she wrapped her arms around Spence when he finally reached where she lay on the pillows. She leaned up and kissed him, smiling into the kiss as she felt his erection press into her thigh.
She hooked one leg around Spence's leg and wrapped one arm around his neck. Then she used the distraction of their kiss to sweep her other leg and arm across Spence's body. Using the leverage she created, she was suddenly on top of Spence.
Spence blinked as he looked up at JJ perched above him on his abdomen. She looked like a blonde goddess, a Valkyrie prepared to fly into battle as she smirked down at him. He rested his palms on her thighs and softly rubbed his palms up and down her thighs as he look up at the ravishing sight his girlfriend made as the firelight cast a glow across her skin and set her hair ablaze in a fiery blonde halo.
JJ lifted their entwined fingers and kissed the back of Spence's wrist, her tongue laving gently over the pulse point. She looked him in the eye as she kissed the tips of each of his fingers, her lips and tongue lingering on the pad of each digit, before releasing his hand.
Spence brushed his girlfriend's long golden locks back from her shoulder as he kissed his way along her collar bone and up her neck. He nipped playfully at her chin just before he crushed his lips against hers.
JJ leaned forward and kissed Spence's neck, just above his bobbing Adam's apple as he gasped for breath.
Spence lifted his head to look at JJ and he rested his forehead against hers as he worked to catch his breath while his pulse slowed as circulation and blood flow resumed to normal throughout his body. "I love you JJ." He whispered as he ran his hands up and down her back, holding her close as their bodies cooled from their exertions.
"I know you do baby." JJ crooned as she brushed Spence's sweaty bangs off of his forehead. "I love you too."
"Aun' 'lelope" Henry said as he shook his Aunt Penelope's shoulder where she lay next to him.
Kevin had suggested that it would be fun for them all to camp out and sleep in the fort that he and Henry had built the night before. So they'd stretched out blankets, quilts, and pillows on the floor of the fort and then fallen asleep watching Disney movies with Henry the night before. But it was morning now, and the young boy was awake.
"Hmm?" Garcia moaned in her sleep, her sleep mask blocking out the light of day from her eyes.
"Aun' 'lelope, I hunry an gotsa go potty" Henry whispered as he attempted to wake Aunt Penelope.
Kevin blinked as he woke up at the unfamiliar sound of a toddler's voice. His hair stuck up in odd angles all over his head as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Then he snorted in amusement as he glanced over at Henry trying to wake up Penelope. "Hey sport, how are ya this morning?" Kevin asked as he turned to look at Henry.
"I hasa go potty" Henry whimpered.
"Okay," Kevin replied as Henry continued to look at him and then it dawned on him. "Do you, uh, need help?"
"Uh huh" Henry nodded. "Aun' 'lelope don' gots no steppy stool"
"Okay, well" Kevin paused as he yawned as he threw back the blankets. "Let's go potty and then um… I bet you're hungry huh?"
"Uh huh" Henry nodded as ran off to the bathroom followed by Kevin.
A few minutes later Henry sat in his booster seat at the table while Kevin perused the breakfast options available in Penelope's cupboards. "Hmm… what do you say we wake up Aunt Penelope and go out for breakfast?" Kevin asked as he turned to look at Henry.
Henry tipped his head in contemplation. "We get boobewwy pancakes?"
Kevin chuckled. "Sure, we can get blueberry pancakes, if that's what you want. But first we have to wake up Aunt Penelope." Penelope was a light sleeper when her team was in the midst of a case, but when they weren't, she could sleep like the dead. "Let's go wake up Aunt Penelope and then we'll get dressed so we can go for pancakes."
"Mmm… morning baby" JJ murmured softly as she felt Spence kissing her shoulder as he lay spooning her where they'd fallen asleep last night wrapped up in a cocoon of pillows and blankets in front of the fireplace. The fire had burned itself down to glowing embers while they slept.
"Morning beautiful" Spence replied, rising up on one elbow above JJ, which allowed her to turn to face him.
JJ smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him, and then they were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. "Mm" JJ moaned as she stretched to reach over Spence for their clothes.
"What time is it?" Spence asked as he pulled his t-shirt on over his head and then slipped his feet into his pajama pants and stood, pulling them up around his waist before turning and offering a hand to JJ to help her up off of the floor.
"I don't know, but it's light outside." JJ said and then yawned as they walked towards the door. She ran her fingers through her hair as she peeked through the peep hole. "It Pen and Kevin. They must be dropping off Henry." She said as she turned to look at Spence as she opened the door.
"Mama!" Henry cheered from where he stood holding his Aunt Penelope's hand.
"Henry!" JJ replied cheerfully as she bent down and picked up Henry and then moved back allowing Penelope and Kevin to enter and closed the door.
Spence smiled as he watched JJ and Henry together.
"You miss me?" Henry asked as Mommy took off his hat and mittens and then worked to unzip his coat.
"I did miss you. Did you miss me?" JJ asked playfully.
"Uh huh." Henry nodded.
JJ nodded and smiled at Penelope over the top of Henry's head. "Did you have fun with Aunt Penelope and Uncle Kevin?"
Henry nodded vigorously. "Unca Kevie hewp me buiwd a fowt."
"He did?" JJ asked.
"Uh huh. An Aun' lelope maked mac 'n cheese... an we sweeped in da fowt… an we gotsa go for boobewwy pancakes." Henry jabbered happily as he told Mommy all about his adventures with Aunt Penelope and Uncle Kevin.
"It sounds like you had lots of fun." Spence said with a smile.
"Unca 'pence!" Henry squealed in delight and reached out for his favorite Uncle.
"Hey buddy." Spence replied, catching Henry as he virtually leapt from JJ's arms to his.
Penelope's cell phone rang in her purse and her brow wrinkled in displeasure as she took in the phone number on the caller ID of her bedazzled phone. "Good morning sir."
JJ glanced at Penelope and then at Spence. "Spence, you should go take a shower. I have a feeling you're going to be going to work." JJ said with a sigh. Hotch always made a point not to call on weekend's unless it was for a case. He wanted to the team to be able to always have as much downtime as they possibly could since they never knew when their next case might land on their desks.
Spence nodded. "Hey buddy, hopefully I'll get to hear all about your day later, but right now I have to go to work."
"You catch da baddies?" Henry asked as he looked up at Uncle Spence through his bangs.
"Yeah, Henry, Aunt Penelope and I have to go help catch the bad guys." Spence replied with a smile. "but you are lucky little man. You get to stay home with Mommy because it's Saturday." He said as he tapped Henry lightly on the nose and then handed him back to Mommy.
"Yay!" Henry cheered and threw his hands up in the air as Uncle Spence passed him to Mommy.
JJ smiled as she took Henry from Spence and kissed her boyfriend softly before he turned and headed up the stairs to take a quick shower before he had to head into the BAU.
"I'm sorry Jayje… we've..." Penelope said as she hung up from talking to Hotch.
"Got a case." JJ finished for her. "Don't worry Pen. I understand. By the way thanks for watching Henry last night."
"Yeah? So you and the good doctor managed to celebrate Valentine's last night, even if it was almost three weeks late and totally not how I would have celebrated?" Pen asked with a grin on her face as she looked at JJ.
JJ smiled and shook her head. "Yes we had a great night. Thanks Pen, seriously, I know Henry loves spending time with you."
"Awe, well I loved spending time with my little cutie… but now I have to get going." Penelope said as she glanced at Kevin who stood next to her with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he rocked on his heels.
"Henry, baby, Aunt Penelope has to go. Can you tell her and Uncle Kevin thank you for all the fun you had last night and this morning?" JJ asked.
Henry's head bobbed in response. "Tank ou Aun' 'lelope" he said reaching his tiny arms out to give her a goodbye hug. He kissed her on the cheek before pulling away. Then he waved at Kevin. "Bye Unca Kevie."
Kevin smiled. "Bye big guy. See ya later alligator."
"Affers while cocodile" Henry chirped in response and then giggled.
JJ eyebrows raised on her forehead as she looked back and forth between Penelope and Kevin waiting for an explanation.
Kevin shuffled his feet. "I, uh, taught that to Henry last night."
JJ grinned and shook her head. "It's okay. I was just surprised." She explained.
"See you later Jayje. Tell Reid that I'll let Hotch know he's on his way." Pen said as she followed Kevin out the door.
JJ nodded. "Thanks again Pen." Then she and Henry waved until Penelope had Esther backed out of the driveway and they were headed down the street.
"Two DCs homes torched; two families on the same night. Last night." Garcia explained as she pulled up the photos on the monitor of the case that had brought them all into the BAU on a Saturday.
"I'm surprised it still hasn't hit the news." Morgan said as he looked up from the case file. "It's already mid-day."
"Yeah, well all anyone's talking about is this storm that may or may not hit." Penelope said as she gestured toward the sky with the remote. "I managed to find an online article about the fires written by this guy Jeff Hastings, but no one's running with it."
"How strange." Rossi said, puzzled. "They usually thrive on tragedy."
"Yeah, and it gets weirder." Penelope said as she pulled up the photos of the victims.
"Ron and Lauren Cosenza and their 10 year old son were found in the master bedroom of their home, each shot through the forehead." Hotch explained as he looked up at the monitor. "The gun belonged to the father."
"Murder suicide?" Ashley asked as she mentally reviewed what she learned at the Academy and worked to put the pieces together.
"Well it looks like Metro PD investigation is going that way, but it's still the first 48, they want our help." Morgan explained as he looked at Ashley.
"Kerry and Frank Fagan, like the Cosenzas were found in their master bedroom, from a suspected gas leak." Reid said while Garcia pulled the Fagans photos up on the screen.
"It had to be massive to cause that." Rossi said as he looked down at the photo of what remained of the Fagan's home after the fire. "How does the news miss a house explosion?"
"Any connection between the families?" Ashley asked.
"Only one, a continent." Garcia replied. "Kerry Fagan was born in Germany, Ron Cosenza is from Italy."
"So two of the five victims are from Europe, how does that help?" Morgan asked as he looked at Garcia.
"It doesn't" Garcia replied with a shrug. "I'm just stating the facts and the facts happen to be…"
"Guys, I'm sorry I'm late." Emily said as she entered the room as she lifted the bag that she now taken to carrying everywhere with her from across her shoulders and slung the strap across the back of the chair.
"You okay?" Hotch asked as he glanced up at Emily.
"Yeah, it's just one of those weeks I guess." She said as she took her seat. "I'm sorry, what did I miss? Arsonist?" she asked as she glanced at the monitor.
"Well one appears to be murder suicide and the other a freak accident." Morgan replied as he turned to look at Emily.
"So, why are we looking at it?" Emily asked.
"House fires are rare" Rossi said with a shake of his head. "Add to that a few miles apart, within the same hour, kind of tips the scales of coincidence."
"Yeah, if somebody did this, they're highly motivated and organized." Reid added as he leaned back in his seat.
"And if he wants to strike again, he's got 72 hours before the storm shuts the city down." Hotch said as he stood up and led the team out of the round table room. They were on a time table if they wanted to catch the unsub before the storm made it virtually impossible to get anything done.
"Everything okay?" Rossi asked as he and Emily sat in the SUV on the way over to the Cosenzas' home to investigate the crime scene. "You haven't been yourself lately."
"Rossi" Emily replied as she turned to look at him.
"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand. I'm just letting you know that if you do want to talk about, I'm here to listen." Rossi asked as he glanced from the road to Emily and back again.
Emily took a deep breath as much as she wanted to tell the team what was going on right now, she couldn't put them at risk. This was her problem to deal with and she'd find a way to fix it.
"Baby girl, I need you to dig and see what else you can find that connects the families together." Morgan said as he and Hotch left the ME. "The Cosenzas were dead when the fire started, so someone was definitely trying to cover their murder up." He said into his phone as he glanced over at Hotch.
"So, what do we have so far?" Hotch asked as he pulled out into traffic.
"Well, our unsub is definitely organized and methodical." Morgan replied. "He managed to orchestrate it to look like the Cosenza family's death was a murder suicide and make the Fagan's look like a freak accident. If it weren't for the fires, DC Metro might not have called us in, at least not on both cases."
"He was also able to exert power and control over each family. Everything was planned out in detail in advance." Hotch added as he and Morgan continued to discuss the case.
Emily dropped her bag on her desk, causing Reid to startle at the noise and he turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry" Emily apologized.
"I thought you were in there." Reid said with a nod of his head towards the break room before he turned back to look at the papers on his desk.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fi… I… I'm sure these victims overlap somehow. Garcia pulled their phone numbers, but so far I can't find anything." Reid explained.
"You just jumped." Emily said as she picked at her fingernails.
Reid swallowed as he glanced down at the phone records he was looking at. He'd hoped to hold off on telling the team until he had answers, but now was as good of a time as any. He licked his lips and turned to look at Emily. "I've been having these really intense headaches lately." He explained.
"Have you seen a doctor?" Emily asked as her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Yeah, a few. None of them have been able to figure it out." He said as he shifted in his seat.
"Oh, … I'm sorry." Emily said, not knowing how to respond.
"Does anyone know?" Emily asked as she glanced up at the mezzanine where she could see the rest of the team in the round table room.
"JJ…and you" Reid replied softly as he looked back up at Emily.
Emily stood in shock for a moment as at she gazed back at Reid. "I won't tell anyone." She said with a shake of her head.
"I know." Reid replied. "They just worry, you know? Not that you're not gonna worry, but they'll just make me feel like a baby." Reid said with a sigh and then sniffled.
"I do." Emily said sadly as she looked at the man she'd come to view as a little brother.
"How about you?" Reid asked as he continued to look over the phone records.
"I'm good." Emily quickly responded as she looked away from Reid to avoid eye contact.
"You've, uh, been picking your fingernails again." Reid said as he looked at Emily's hands.
Emily exasperatedly looked to the other side of the bullpen as she allowed her hands to fall against her legs. "Yeah" Then she lifted her hands to examine her nails.
"You only do that when you're stressed." Reid pointed out.
"It's just a bad habit." Emily replied.
Reid looked back to the phone records. "Ah ha" he said as he found what he'd been looking for. "You comin'?" he asked as he stood up from his chair to head to the round table room and turned to look at Emily.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." Emily replied and then watched as Reid headed up the stairs to the catwalk. Once she was alone in the bullpen, she opened her desk drawer and contemplated pulling out the information that she'd stashed there and sharing it with the team. After a few seconds of contemplation, she closed the desk drawer, not wanting to draw the team into whatever was happening.
Hotch looked down at the files as Morgan stood up and left the round table room to get Prentiss from bullpen so that they could go talk to Byron Delaney. "Garcia dig through Delaney's past and see how he's connected to the Fagans and the Cosenzas." He said as he looked at Garcia. Then he turned to look at Reid and Ashley. "Let's look through everything again and see if there's something that we missed, anything that doesn't make sense."
Reid and Ashley nodded as they poured over the files once more, looking for anything that was out of place, anything that could provide them with a clue as to who their unsub was.
Hotch hung up his phone and walked briskly down the catwalk to Dave's office and knocked on the door frame.
"Hotch, what's up?" Dave asked as he looked up from the files on the Fagans, the Cosenzas, and what Garcia had been able to gather so far on Byron Delaney.
"Morgan just called me. He and Prentiss were just in a shootout with a heavily armed group at Byron Delaney's house." Hotch said.
"What the hell did these people do to piss this group off?" Dave asked as he stood up from behind his desk and joined Hotch as they headed out of the BAU.
Hotch led Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss back into the round table room where Reid, Seaver, and Garcia were still hard at work looking for anything that could break the case for them. He looked at the clock on the wall and then he looked around at his weary agents. "We've been at this for over twelve hours now. Let's call it a night and pick this up in the morning." Hotch said as he glanced around the room at the weary team. He'd have to make sure the team had a couple days off after this case was wrapped up. It looked like once again they'd be sacrificing their whole weekend in the name of truth and justice. "Garcia," he said as he turned to look at her "were you able to track down Jeff Hastings?"
"Absolutely, my liege, and with your permission, I will conveniently 'bump' into him at his favorite coffee shop tomorrow morning." Garcia said using finger quotes as she said bump.
Hotch nodded. "We need to know who told him to pull the story. It's definitely connected to whatever is going on."
Garcia nodded as she shut down her laptop.
"Baby girl, want me to carry any of your stuff for you?" Morgan asked as he nodded at the files, and other items that had accumulated in Garcia's vicinity at the round table throughout the day.
"Be still my heart oh hot and hunky one." Garcia teased as she fluttered her eyelashes and held her hand to her chest.
Morgan just grinned and shook his head as he picked up her stack of files and followed behind Garcia to her lair.
"Are you okay?" Ashley asked as she looked at Emily who was staring off into space with a dazed expression.
"Hmm?... oh, yeah… just tired." Emily replied as she glanced at Ashley.
"Yeah, me too. I can't wait to get back to my apartment and crash." Ashley said as she gathered her files and headed for the doors of the round table room.
Spence fumbled in the dark bedroom for his pajamas as he unbuttoned his sweater vest.
JJ blinked as her eyes opened in the dark room, unsure at first what had woken her. Then she recognized the sounds of Spence fumbling in the dark, even though he was being quiet and trying not to wake her. She reached over and turned on the bedside lamp.
"Hey," Spence said as he turned to look at her apologetically over his shoulder as he slid his arms out of his sweater vest. "I'm sorry. I was trying not to wake you up."
"S'okey" JJ yawned as she pulled herself up to sit against the headboard. "Did you guys wrap up the case?"
"No" Spence shook his head as he loosened and removed his tie. "We got as far as we could for tonight. We're going to pick it up again in the morning."
JJ nodded and watched her boyfriend undress and change into his pajamas through hooded sleepy eyes. She closed her eyes as he walked into the bathroom. She heard water run briefly and she assumed he was brushing his teeth. Then she heard the soft foot falls of his bare feet on the carpet and felt the other side of the bed sink down under his weight when he climbed into bed.
"JJ" Spence whispered, his breath brushing past her cheek.
"Hmm?" JJ murmured sleepily as she turned her face and buried it in the warmth of Spence's neck.
Spence leaned down and kissed his girlfriend on the temple. "Turn off the light and let's go to sleep." He chuckled as JJ shook her head and sighed. burying her face deeper into his neck. Then he leaned across JJ and turned off the lamp.
"Not tonight baby… too tired" JJ murmured in her sleep causing Spence to grin as he slid them down into the bed and laid JJ down on the pillows before he curled up next to her. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the combined scent of vanilla and lavender that he always associated with JJ as he wrapped his arm around JJ and pulled her close, burying his face in the pillow next to her as he sought out sleep.
Ian Doyle stood outside the church, waiting until services were over before he entered. As he exited the long arched hallway, he paused for a moment watching the boys' choir, boys who were the same age Declan would have been. Then he gathered his strength and walked down the aisle and stepped off to the side and knelt in front of the vigil candles as he pulled a wood lighting stick from the stand. He lifted the tip of the stick into the flame of an already lit candle allowing it catch fire. "Happy birthday my love." He said solemnly as he transferred the flame to an unlit votive candle just in front of the cross. Then he blew out the flame on the lighting stick, crossed himself, and rose from his knees prepared to carry out the retribution for all he had held dear being stolen from him.
"The more players we get on this board, the sooner Erin will get her nose in it." Rossi said as he stood with his thumbs hooked in his back pockets while he and Hotch stood looking at their evidence board.
"Strauss already knows." Hotch replied.
"I'm surprised she wasn't in the SCIF" Rossi said with a lift of his eyebrows.
"She's on vacation." Hotch replied solemnly.
"Oh… great. Now she'll never take another one." Rossi said. Then he nodded towards Doyle's picture on the evidence board. "Is everything about this guy classified?"
"Somebody knows him." Hotch replied with a piercing gaze. "We just haven't found them yet."
Emily's eyes teared up as she took one last lingering look at each member of the team, the group of people who along with JJ, she had allowed to become her family over the last four years and change. She swallowed thickly as she convinced herself that she was doing what was right for them… and she could only hope that she was able to eliminate Doyle as a threat before the team was sucked in any deeper than they already were. With one last glance around the bullpen filled to standing room only with people all intent on finding and capturing Ian Doyle, Emily slipped out through the double doors of the BAU. She was heading to where she knew Ian Doyle would be waiting for her; where it all began eight years ago, Boston.
By the time darkness fell, Emily was back in Boston and settling herself into a corner booth with a vantage point view of the bar, watching Jack Fehey as she reflected on the past and everything that had led up to this point with Doyle.
Hotch glanced about the bullpen after the representatives from the different agencies and the officers from DC Metro PD had cleared out, he noticed that Emily was gone. He tried calling her cell and got no answer. With as strange as she'd been acting and the fact she was now gone, it didn't bode well… even a cadet like Seaver could tell that. He watched the team as they split up to look over what they had that could lead them to Doyle, then he headed for his office and closed the door. He had a phone call to make. He knew of exactly one person who had connections in the right agencies and would be as motivated as the team to do whatever it took to help find Emily. He scrolled through the address book on his phone until he came to the person he was looking for. JJ.
"I've got four names on the bottom of the list Prentiss gave us." Morgan said as he held up a post it note and walked toward their evidence board. He bent down to look at the document that had been sent to Prentiss. "Luke Renault, Lawrence Riley, Lila Rafferty, and Lyle Rogers." He said as he turned to face the team.
"All with the initials LR" Ashley said as she slid forward to the edge of the desk she was seated on.
"The CIA uses cryptograms like that to assign to non-official cover agents working the same case." Hotch said as he looked around at the team.
"So do other foreign countries." Morgan said as he pulled the list off the evidence board and held it up. "These last four names are covers. Spies."
"Wait" Garcia said as she walked over to Morgan and grabbed the list from him, noticing that something was off. "No" she shook her head as she paced. "This isn't right." She turned to face the team and held up the document. "Do you see this space?" she asked as she pointed to a blank space at the bottom of the list. "That shouldn't be here."
"Could it be a formatting error?" Reid asked.
"No, this is a spreadsheet template. Formatting doesn't allow for this." Garcia said as she pointed at the document. "There's a missing name on here."
"There's another spy whose cover is LR." Hotch said as he stood with his arms crossed.
"Lauren Reynolds is dead" Reid murmured as he remembered walking in on Emily's phone conversation a couple of weeks ago.
"What?" Hotch asked as he turned around.
"Lauren Reynolds is dead." Reid said in realization as he looked up at the team. "Prentiss said that on a phone call 17 days ago, but her intonation wasn't surprise or grief. It was a mantra, like she was reminding herself. Lauren Reynolds. LR." Reid said as he stood up from sitting on the top of his desk.
"If Prentiss is the last name on that list, she's on Doyle's list too." Ashley said.
As the team discussed the situation, Hotch pulled out his phone and called Prentiss, moving to her desk as he followed the sound of a ringing phone.
"That explains her behavior the last month." Rossi said. "The secrets, the evasion."
"She's been biting her fingernails again too." Reid added.
"Guys" Hotch said getting everyone's attention as he showed them what he'd found in Prentiss' desk drawer. In his hands rested Prentiss' badge, service weapon, and cell phone.
"She left her badge and gun… why would she do that?" Morgan asked.
"That doesn't make sense. Why run? We're her family; we can help." Reid stated in a hurt and puzzled tone of voice.
"Doyle's killing families. She's not married, not close to relatives. He was ready to wipe us out. She ran to protect us." Rossi explained as the pieces all fell into place in his mind. "She's a trained spy. She doesn't want to be found." Rossi said.
"She knows all of our tricks. We don't know any of hers." Morgan said as he stood with his arms crossed.
"Alright, then how do we find her?" Garcia asked.
"Here's how." Hotch said as he strode towards the evidence board with Prentiss' building access ID in his hands. "Ian Doyle is our unsub. Prentiss is our victim." He said as he added Prentiss' photo to the evidence board. "We profile their behavior and we treat it like any other case." He said as he looked around at the team making eye contact with each of them to get them to focus. "Because terrorism isn't an area we specialize in, I've reached out to an expert from the State Department, someone who can also shed light on Prentiss' past."
"Who?" Reid asked.
"Her" Hotch replied raising his eyebrows as he nodded at the women walking across the elevator lobby to the doors of the BAU.
A mix of emotions crossed the faces of the various team members as they turned and saw JJ in the doorway.
JJ put aside all emotion as she paused in the doorway. This wasn't how she wanted to re-enter the BAU, but Emily needed them, whether she knew it or not. "Let's get to work."
JJ had briefed the team on how Prentiss had been a part of JTF-12 and been undercover on Doyle since she was his type. Garcia had placed a bolo on Clyde Easter and all of his covers. That had led to TSA getting a hit on one of Clyde Easter's cover while he was on a plane to Boston. Hotch had ordered him detained as soon as he stepped off the plane. Now the team was on the jet en route Boston themselves.
"Emily walked into a trap." Garcia said as she prepared the team to watch the footage she'd acquired from the Boston PD. "It looks like Doyle got into the SUV, but from this angle you can see that he didn't which I wish Boston PD would have told me before I started watching it. Sorry again for the screaming." Garcia said as she looked around at the team in order to avoid watching the video again.
"She threw a flash bang grenade into a car." Morgan said as he turned to look at the team. "She's lucky the three people inside didn't die. Is anybody else bothered by that?"
"Well, three bad guys." Rossi replied.
"Illegal as it is, I think Prentiss knows she has to be as ruthless as Doyle." Hotch said as he looked at Morgan.
"He's come to the US to wage a public vendetta and hired a group of mercenaries to remain loyal to him. He has nothing to lose, so she has to act the same way." Reid said as he walked through Prentiss' mindset.
"So how did Doyle know she was waiting for him?" Rossi asked.
"Well the mole must have told him right? The same guy who's been feeding Doyle the contractors and agents." JJ theorized.
"And our best suspect was just arrested with a suitcase full of cash." Ashley added. "How do we get Easter to talk? He won't co-operate willingly."
"I'll handle that. The rest of you focus on Doyle's location." Hotch said as he braced his hands on the back of Rossi and Ashley's seats.
"I hate to be the one to ask this," Garcia spoke softly as she looked up at Hotch, "but how long does Emily have?"
Hotch's gaze wavered slightly and he paused to find the right words, knowing that at this moment they all needed nothing less than the honest truth. "Her best chance is also the most troubling." He said and then paused to take a breath before continuing in muted tone of voice. "Doyle saved her for last because he views her as his stressor, which means he'll take his time."
There wasn't a single person on the jet who didn't know exactly what that meant for Emily Prentiss.
Hotch took a deep breath before he opened the door to the interrogation room that held Clyde Easter. Then he stepped forwarded, grabbed the door knob, in no way relishing speaking with one of the few men on the earth who knew Emily Prentiss better than the team did; better than he did.
"So Jeremy sold the list to Doyle?" Hotch asked after listening to JJ and Garcia walk through what they'd found after digging through the backgrounds of Prentiss' former JTF-12 teammates that indicated that Clyde Easter wasn't the mole.
"He was the first victim, killed quietly." JJ explained. "Doyle didn't want any attention until he was ready."
"Did Tsia know?" Hotch asked.
"Can't tell." Garcia said as she looked up at Hotch. "If I were running from a terrorist, I would cash in my IRA," Garcia paused as she realized how that sounded, "not that one, the other one, you know what I mean. The point is Tsia didn't touch that money, so I don't think she's in on it."
Hotch glanced at JJ who nodded her head in agreement with Garcia and then he turned to walk towards the interrogation room that held Clyde Easter to see if he could get him to help them save Prentiss.
"Hey" JJ said looking up as Ashley joined them in a fresh blue button down shirt. "You gonna be okay?" she asked as she took in the younger women who had been badly shaken when she and Rossi came down from the roof. Ashley had been splattered with Jack Fehey's blood, and if anyone knew how disturbing that could be, it was JJ.
"Yeah… thanks for the shirt." Ashley said as she picked at the blue fabric of the button down shirt JJ had pulled from her briefcase and lent to her to change into when she was trying to clean up.
"It's no problem." JJ replied. "I learned over the years to not only have a well packed go bag, but to also keep an extra shirt in my bag just in case I needed one before I could make it back to the hotel."
Ashley nodded as she sat down at the table with Garcia and JJ. She fidgeted as she looked back and forth between JJ and Garcia. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked nodding at the stacks of files in front of JJ and Garcia.
JJ shook her head. "No, right now we're just waiting for Hotch to finish talking to Clyde Easter. He's our best chance of helping Emily right now."
"Did you know that Jeremy sold the list to Doyle?" Hotch asked as he sat with Clyde.
"I had my suspicions." Clyde replied.
"So when you got to DC you couldn't trust Tsia either. Prentiss read your doubt as duplicity and so did we."
"Or you could have just asked me who Doyle's plant was."
"Would you have told me?"
"No" Clyde replied cheekily.
"Someone we both care about is in trouble." Hotch said as he looked at Easter, pleading with his eyes for Easter to agree to what he was about to propose. "I need the original profile when Doyle was a terrorist. We combine that with who he is now as a serial killer."
"Agent Hotchner, you took an oath to protect the laws of your country and I took one to protect the secrets of mine." Clyde replied. "Do you understand what you're asking?"
"I know it's not easy."
"I'll do it," Clyde replied knowing that there wasn't anyway he could live with not having helped Emily, "if you join me. You see there's no catching that man. He'll escape from your prison as easily as he did in North Korea and then" Clyde said shaking his head, "all hell breaks loose. If you want to stop that man, you have to put a bullet between his eyes yourself. Can you do that? … Can you break your oath, Agent Hotchner?"
"No" Hotch replied grimly as he looked at Easter.
"Can you take one then?" Clyde asked, unwilling to not help save Emily. "Can you swear that your team will save her?"
"Yes" Hotch replied stoically as he nodded his head.
Then a knock came at the door, the door opened and JJ stepped into the doorway. "The British Consul is here."
"Could you tell him I'll be right out?" Clyde asked. "I'm consulting with the BAU on a case."
"I got it 1518 Adams Street." Garcia said as she managed to pull up the address of the warehouse where the photos of Louise Jones and her son Declan being murdered were taken.
"Wait, wait, look at that." Reid said as he pointed at the pictures on the screen of the Joneses being murdered. "Morgan, come look at this."
"That's black clothing and a hand Reid." Morgan said as he leaned down next to Garcia to look at the pictures on the screen.
"No look at the fingernails." Reid said as he pointed at the screen.
"Oh my god" Garcia gasped in shock as she was struck with the realization of who was holding the gun in the photos on her screen.
"Agent Prentiss is the only friendly in the building. Rescuing her is our primary objective." Hotch said as he briefed the strike force that would attack Doyle's makeshift complex in the warehouse.
"Our only advantage here is stealth." Morgan added. "Once they know we're onsite there's nothing to stop them from killing her. So we keep it quiet until we get to her." He said as they continued the briefing and prepared everyone to move out.
"I got her." Morgan called into his mike. "I got her in the basement on the south side. I need a medic." He said giving further details. "Prentiss… hey, it's me. I'm right here. You're gonna be alright." Morgan said as he gently placed his hand below the shaft of the broken piece of wood attempting to stem the flow of blood while his other hand held hers. "Stay with me baby, come on. Stay with me."
Emily's head lolled to the side for a moment and then she opened her eyes and looked at Morgan as he talked to her. "Let me go."
"No, I am not letting you go." Morgan replied. "HELP ME!" he yelled in the direction of the stairs and then turned back to Emily. "Listen to me; I know why you did all of this. I know what you did for Declan. I am so proud of you. Do you understand that? I am proud of you because you are my friend and you are my partner. NO EMILY! Come on stay with me." Morgan said continuing to talk to Emily and to try and keep her conscious until the medics could get to them and get her medical help.
Emily faded in and out as she lay bleeding, gored in the abdomen by a broken piece of wood, only the sound of Derek Morgan's voice kept her tethered to this world.
"If you can hear me, just please squeeze my hand." Morgan said, then he felt Emily's weak grip on his hand. "Yes, there you go, there you go baby. Just keep squeezing."
The team sat for what felt like an eternity in the waiting room waiting for news on Prentiss' condition. They each took their turns pacing and shifting aimlessly as they each tried in their own way to will Prentiss to come out of surgery safely.
Hotch paced anxiously, burdened by the weight of his decision. A decision that could potentially alter the team forever; however this is what Prentiss needed. She couldn't speak for herself and voice her own decision right now, so he'd made one for her. He only hoped he could live with it and that if and when she woke up, she would understand why he had done what he had.
JJ stomach rolled with nerves as she walked down the hallway to where the team, her family, and the love of two lifetimes waited for her. She did not want to have to do what she was about to do. She knew why she had to do it, but there had to be a different way, a better way. She hoped after the shock of the moment wore off and she'd had an opportunity to talk to Hotch that she'd figure out what that was. For now, however, the moment of a crushing lie was upon her… and she was about to visit that lie on the team… on Spence as well.
The team looked up as JJ stood in the doorway with red bloodshot eyes from crying and she stood silent, not saying a word for a moment as she swallowed, trying to find the words that would seal Hotch's plan in place.
Garcia shook her head and mouthed 'no', already intuitively knowing just what JJ was going to say.
"She never made it off the table." JJ said in a broken voice, tears welling in her eyes as she stared at the spot of floor directly in front of Spence's feet, avoiding eye contact with everyone as she choked out words that she didn't want to say.
Everyone on the team broke down, each in their own way as the words soaked into their consciousness. Then Spence bolted up from his seat and headed for the doorway and made to pass JJ out into the hallway.
JJ reached out, grabbing him as he moved up next to her. "Spence" JJ said in concern for her boyfriend. She knew that he'd take this news badly, that was part of the reason it hurt so much to have to do this, even if it was for Emily's safety.
"I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." Spence murmured as he glanced up at JJ and then back down into the vacant space between then.
'Come here' JJ mouthed almost silently as she reached out and pulled Spence into her arms. She felt absolutely destroyed as her boyfriend sobbed on her shoulder for their very close friend who was at this very moment still unconcious in ICU awaiting covert exfiltration to Bethesda that would happen once the team had left.
JJ's eyes stared straight ahead as she clutched tightly to Spence. There had to be a way to fix this before things became even more messed up, before more damage was done to the team, to this family. She buried her nose into Spence's sweater covered shoulder as she thought of the happiness and promise the team, and she and Spence had known just 72 hours ago.