"How'd it go?" Reid asked as Emily dropped onto the sofa and stretched out.
"Well, I'm recertified to go out in the field now" She said unenthusiastically and took the coffee cup Reid was offering her with a grateful look.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Reid questioned as he sat down on the armchair and picked Jessie up.
"Yeah, I guess… It just doesn't feel the same without you" She said honestly and sat up a little to take a sip of the hot coffee.
There was a small pause as Reid thought of what to say. "Have they found my replacement yet?" He finally asked.
"They've had a few interviews but Rossi and Hotch haven't accepted anyone yet… They aren't rushing to forget about you if that's what you're worried about" She said softly. "The team's only just been cleared to go back out on cases anyway" She added and relaxed into the chair.
Reid gave a sheepish smile and stood up, holding Jessie close to his chest. "I'm gonna put her to bed, are you coming?" He said softly, 'ssleepy breathing tickling his neck just the slightest.
Emily nodded, followed him to the bedroom and watched him gently place Jessie in her crib and stroke her soft black hair. Seeing her little girl sleeping peacefully made Emily realise just how tired she was, the training and tests Morgan had her do had exhausted her.
She slowly pulled on pajamas and slipped into bed, her eyes fluttered shut and her mind slipped into sleep before Reid even had time to switch out the light.
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Reid's eyes lazily flickered open and he slowly sat up, looking round the dark room to see Emily's figure dressing silently. "What's wrong?" He asked as he stood and walked closer to her.
"Hotch called… there's a case" She whispered to him as she turned and softly kissed his cheek. "I have to go" She added as his heart dropped and he had to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "I'll call you from the jet"
"Bye" He whispered to himself as he heard the front door click shut. He knew this day was coming but he just didn't expect it to be so soon, Jessie wasn't even two months old yet and they were left alone for who knows how long while Emily put herself in danger. "It's alright" He said as Jessie let out a little cry and squirmed round in her crib. Reid gently picked her up and softly rubbed her back, hushing her as he rocked her back and forth.
It was a few minutes before she finally stopped crying and Reid could put her back in her crib and climb back in his own bed but by time he did so he didn't feel like sleeping. He knew from the day he'd been fired he wouldn't get to go back and things were going to be different but her leaving only made it harder for him to accept. She was going to be the one waking up in the middle of the night and leaving for weeks at a time to catch criminals while he stayed at home and prayed nothing bad would happen to her.
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"How's it going?" Reid asked down the phone as he bounced Jessie round in his arms, she was being unusually cranky and hadn't slept much for the last two weeks Emily had been away on her first case.
"Bad" Emily said as she swallowed a yawn and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "No one's slept for days and we aren't even close to closing the case" She explained. And we really need you here, she thought. "The police chief is just about ready to ask us to go back home" She added. "We're trying to get a fresh pair of eyes on it but it feels like we've looked at everything already… there's no consistent MO or type, he used to use the same weapon but even that's changed. It's like he's just killing because he can" She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Have you tried looking at it geographically? Maybe try and find his hunting ground?" Reid asked and took a sip of strong coffee as his mind began to process the information.
"He was sticking to a ten mile radius inside the city which we presumed was within where he lived or worked but now he's working completely off script. He's killed three more people this week. He opened up a line of communication with the local news, sent one letter then nothing"
"Have you considered multiple UnSubs?" Reid asked as he scribbled down the information onto a scrap of paper and read through it.
"We thought about it but we couldn't find anything pointing to it" Emily replied as she took a sip of her own coffee and opened the case file, intrigued to hear what Reid was thinking.
"Well the first kills are organised, efficient and close together" He said as he thought back to what she had told him every night they'd talked. "Then one of the kills doesn't work as well. Something goes wrong and it breaks their loyalty to each other. They split and start killing on their own. They try and distant themselves from the previous murders and forge their own identities as serial killers but nothing gives them the same thrill as working together so they kill more and more often in search of the same feeling" He said thoughtfully as he patted Jessie's back and walked round the room bouncing her.
"Reid, you're a genius" Emily said with a big smile on her face. "I'm gonna go talk to Hotch" She added as she closed the folder and drank the last bit of hot coffee. "Give Jessie a kiss from me" She said softly then ended the call.
When Emily's voice disappeared from the room Jessie let out a loud cry and wildly threw her hands round, her face turning red as tears streamed down it. Reid gently patted her back and paced the room; he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. Neither of them had slept well, he spent most of his nights comforting Jessie or watching her sleep and he was almost always thinking about finding another job.
He'd been approached a lot since word got out he'd left the Bureau. He was a very wanted man in many fields of work, from his vast knowledge of almost everything, all of which would pay him much more than the bureau ever did but he just couldn't settle on anything. Nothing really drew his attention like it had a few moments before when he was solving the case for the team.
"It's ok. Mommy's coming home soon" He whispered to Jessie as she slowly calmed down and let him carry her to her crib. He perched on the edge of the bed, pushed the hair out of his face and sighed. He took a few deep breaths then dragged himself further up the bed, pulled the blanket up to his chin and let his eyes flicker shut and sleep wash over his mind tired.
we're getting close to chapter forty! for anyone wondering who Jenny was from the last chapter, Jenny's is the name of the american style diner the team visited in chapter 27 and again in the last chapter (chapter 37). i'm thinking about maybe (and this is a very big maybe) ending this story then making a sequel a little later. i really do love writing for this one, it's always one i can fall back on and it's never stressful, but i'm not sure whether having a lot of chapters is off putting for someone wanting to start reading it. what d'you think? if i did end this one the sequel wouldn't be up for two or three weeks just so i've had time to work out where the follow on would go so keep that in mind.
on another note- for anyone wondering when my other story's (reid's big sister) sequel is coming out, the first chapter will be up within the next week. it's taken a little longer than i planned but i'm close to posting, the full explanation will come with the first chapter because i don't want to bore anyone who isn't interested in the story. so, anyway, keep an eye out for it if you're interested! :)