I've had a shit day; so shit that I couldn't even go to school, so I'm publishing another chapter tonight to distract me and hopefully lift some of you if you're in a low mood too (and I'm sorry if you are; it sucks, right?).
-A xx
Prentiss
We picked Garcia up and Hotch talked to two different doctors to confirm that she was okay before we drove her home. It was silent when we drove; Hotch and I didn't know what to say to her and she didn't know what to say to us. We stopped outside her apartment building and she thanked and apologised to us before getting out.
"Wait," I said as I got out of the car as she walked up the path. She stopped and turned around. I closed the car door and ran over to her, "Garcia, you know, don't you?"
"That Hotch is your mystery man? Yeah, I know, I'm just still trying to get my head around it…"
I sighed and looked away from her, "Penelope, I need you to keep this between us. Please? It's against bureau rules and that why I couldn't tell you. Hotch would have lost his job and I might have too. Trust me Pen, I would have told you if I could. Believe me, I wanted to."
She smiled, "You don't have to justify yourself to me, honeybun. You're allowed to have some privacy in your life; besides, I looked into your life to see if I could find out who it was. I kind of already guessed."
"And you didn't tell anyone?"
She shook her head, "Never."
I nodded, "Thank you. Rossi knows but the others, they can't. We can't risk it."
"I understand," She nodded with a smile, "You should go get some rest before work. We've only got a few hours."
"Where were you?" I questioned her.
"What?"
"Why were you driving so late?"
"I couldn't sleep so I went for a drive. Bad choice." She shook her head.
I smiled, "Well I'm glad you're okay." She thanked me and I walked back to my car. I looked at Hotch at my side, "Two out of five."
"What'd she say about it?" He said as he pulled back onto the road once he saw Garcia go inside.
"She said that she kind of already knew. She looked into my life because she wanted to find out who you were. But she said she'd keep it between us."
"Is that what you want? You can tell the other three if you want to." He said, glancing at me.
I shook my head, "I just don't know how it will all go down. Morgan is one of those people that will look at all the risks of it and he'll know that it risks our jobs and the team. He probably won't be too supportive. Reid's been a little distracted and weird lately; I think something's happening with his mother. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't want to give him something else to worry about. JJ will be furious with me."
"So you're going to keep it from her longer?"
"I just don't know what I want to do yet, okay?"
"Okay." He nodded.
I sat at my desk and looked at the paperwork in front of me but I listened to Garcia and Morgan argue behind me. It wasn't serious, it was about me, but it was more entertaining than the work.
"Penelope, just tell me."
"I can't!"
He sighed, "Fine, I guess I'll just ask her again. Hey Em?"
I turned my chair around, "Yes?"
"When do we get to meet booty call guy?"
"You will." I assured.
"But when?"
"Soon enough," I glanced at Garcia, "Why are you guys talking about it?"
"She knows! That's not fair." He complained.
I smirked and looked at JJ as she approached, "We've got a case."
We stood and followed her to the round table room. Rossi and Hotch walked in beside us and I refrained from smiling at my boyfriend as he sat down beside me. Morgan seemed to be on high alert lately; I didn't want to give him a clue.
Four families had been slaughtered in their homes in daylight. The parents and two children each time. There were two different types of M.O and on top of that, there was a call made after every murder by a man who claimed that his brothers killed them. There was one family murdered each day over the past four, which means there would most likely be another today. We would be travelling to Lawrence, Massachusetts and we would be running against a clock to find the unsub by noon. The families were all murdered after noon. We would have four hours by the time we got there, and the odds of us finding them before another family was executed were very slim. I don't think we've ever been close before 48 hours, maybe 40 if we worked hard nonstop and there was significant leads to work on to start with. We were good at our jobs, but no one was that good.
"Can everyone be at the airstrip in 10?" Hotch asked. We all nodded and he stood up, walking out and removing his phone from his pocket. I assumed he'd be calling Jessica. I picked up the file in front of me and stood as the others did. JJ got her phone out and walked of the room too, dialling a number who I assumed would be Will.
Garcia sighed, "I have to cancel my date." She muttered sadly as she got her phone out too.
Reid smiled at me before walking out.
"I need coffee. Do you want me to pick some up for you guys on my way to the plane?" Rossi asked Morgan and I.
"Please." I smiled.
"Yeah man, thanks." Morgan nodded. Rossi walked out and Morgan looked at me, "Massachusetts we go."
I smiled weakly and we walked out and towards our desks. I grabbed my go bag and walked out with Morgan, JJ and Reid with me.
Four days and three more dead families and we knew our unsubs. Landon Montgomery, David Montgomery and Brady Montgomery. Brady was the youngest and we had learnt that he was the one who made the calls, and he helped restrain the victims but he didn't kill them directly. The adults were beaten up, shot in both kneecaps and then stabbed in the abdomen. The knife was big and twisted inside of them. Their cause of death was loss of blood. After lengthy research on the unsubs, we determined that David did these killings.
The children were forced to watch their parents die, then the other unsub, Landon, would slit their throats.
They were insane, these brothers. They didn't care who saw them around or who heard what was happening. All they cared about was the murder and the thrill they got from it. It was dangerous, and we had just found the next family that they would target today. We didn't have much time.
"Hotch, please," I followed him out of the station, "Just promise me. Promise that if we decide to raid, we raid together. The whole team, not just you."
"Emily, it's too dangerous. They have no remorse and no hesitation whatsoever. If they see us, the Jenson family and whoever agent they see are dead. They will kill anyone that gets in their way."
"And that is exactly why we need to stick together."
He looked away from me and pursed his lips before shaking his head, "I can't—"
"Please?" I cut him off. My voice was desperate.
He closed his eyes before they met mine again, "Okay. I promise."
I sighed in relief, "Thank you." He put his hand on my cheek and I assumed he was about to kiss me but he dropped it to his side quickly and I heard the station door open behind me. I turned and looked at the exiting team.
"We've got the address." Morgan said as they walked past us.
"I'm calling SWAT." The local cop said as he and several of his men ran out after the team. Hotch and I glanced at each other before following them. I went with Rossi and Reid and Hotch went with Morgan and JJ.
Reid handed me a vest when we reached the house and I put it on, tightening the straps and fastening it to me. I took my hair out of the ponytail and retied it, pulling the parts back that I fallen out during the morning. I joined the line my team was in and stood between Rossi and Hotch. SWAT was here already. The agents were ready and they had three of them with binoculars, looking through the windows of the big house. The Jenson's were rich, and you didn't need to see their house to know it. You could tell just by looking at the members of the family and their attire.
"What do we do, Hotch?" Morgan asked from the other side of Rossi.
"We wait." He said as he looked around.
A short while past before he walked over to the local police and the SWAT leader. I watched him talk to them for a while before I looked at JJ. She looked very stressed out. She wanted to move in like I did, but we couldn't do anything until Hotch gave the word.
"Dave." Hotch called. I looked back over to him and he motioned for Rossi to go to him. Rossi walked over to them and I took a step to my right, closer to Morgan.
I looked at him, "How long do you think we'll have to stand here and do nothing?"
"We don't even know if they're inside."
"We profiled that they spend hours in there with the family tied up. They kill them after noon, and it's almost noon now. They're in there." Reid said.
"Okay, so the father is George Jenson, the mother is Caroline Jenson, daughter Dariah Jensen and son Adam Jenson. Dariah is eight, Adam is five." JJ spoke to us quietly. Her eyes didn't move from the front door of the house.
Rossi walked back over and tapped Morgan's shoulder. Morgan took a few steps back and Rossi whispered to him. I heard my name, but that was all. Morgan nodded slowly and walked back to where he previously stood.
"What was that?" I asked him.
"Nothing." He shook his head. Rossi whispered something to both JJ and Reid and I gave him a questioning look when he returned to my left side this time.
"What is going on?" I asked him quietly.
"Don't worry about it." He brushed my question off.
"Let's go!" I heard the SWAT leader yell to his agents. I looked at them as they moved quickly and I looked around the police cars. I couldn't see Hotch anywhere. When I looked back towards the house, I saw him behind a SWAT agent, running towards the house with his gun out.
"HOTCH! I yelled. I went to run forwards but Morgan grabbed me and held me back. "AARON!" I struggled in Morgan's arms and when I got one arm free from him, Rossi grabbed it and assisted in holding me back. Minutes passed since he entered the house with the SWAT leaders and I began to stop struggling and calmed down.
I felt both of their hands loosen on me but they didn't let go entirely. Then I heard a gunshot and they tightened instantly as I struggled again. "Let go!" I yelled at them.
"Emily!" Morgan tried to get me to calm down. I got out of Rossi's hands and then I slapped Morgan away from me but Reid and JJ both caught me. Morgan held me again, being the strongest, and we heard another two gunshots.
Tears fell from my eyes and my body weakened. Morgan let go and I dropped to the ground in sobs. JJ crouched at my side and put her hand on my back. She was looking between me and the house and she looked so confused, as well as Reid and Morgan.
"Rossi…" I choked out, "He told you to keep me back, didn't he?"
"Yeah." He admitted quietly.
I wiped the tears from me cheeks and tried to stop the sobs that kept leaving me. I looked at the house and saw the front door open. Several SWAT agents walked out, and I felt sick for a few seconds until he walked out too. I stood up and shook JJ off as I ran to him. He looked so guilty as he saw me approach him. I met him on the grass and threw my arms around his neck. He caught me and held me to him. I still had tears falling. My hand on his arm felt wet; when I looked at it, there was blood. "Oh my god!"
"Relax, it's just a gunshot wound in the arm. Not fatal; I could still shoot a gun…"
"You shot him?"
"I shot Landon, someone of SWAT shot David and Brady was arrested."
"But you're okay?"
He nodded and I stood on my toes, pressing my lips to his. One hand was on his cheek and the other was on his arm. He had one on the small of my back and another in my hair. When our lips parted, I dropped my head to the side and rested it on his shoulder, "I love you." I said for the first time. I had never returned it when he said it.
He put a finger under my chin and lifted my head to look at his again, and he kissed me again. He did a few times before I pulled away, "Aaron…I know the team is currently watching us…and we're still on the job."
He sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, "Well, I guess they know now."
"Yeah…booty call guy," I teased with a laugh, "Come on, the ambulances are over there."
"I don't need an ambulance."
I rolled my eyes, "Hey, can you please get a medic over here? He's been shot." I said to a local cop who was walking past us from the house. He nodded and walked towards the ambulances.
"Was that necessary?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Well, you're bleeding all over me." I held my hand up that had his blood on it and then motioned to the spot of blood on the side of my shirt.
He smiled, "Sorry."
"You owe me a shirt." I smirked.
