A/N: This is a short chapter! I still don't own CM!
Chapter 12
JJ POV
"Everyone," Hotch shouted, trying to gather us all up after he finished his phone call.
All of us turned to him before we got onto the plane. "What's up? Is it Emily?"
He nodded. "Prentiss just called me. Five more bodies. Same MO. Things have changed. She is worried about a spree and I am as well. JJ and I decided that we were going to LA anyway, but this has just reaffirmed our decision."
"Five more victims?" Spence asked, just as astonished as all of us. His face contorted in a frown as if he was feeling guilty. "She warned us and we didn't go with her."
"We couldn't have prevented this, kid," Derek reassured him. "We still going to Virginia or are we flying directly to LA?"
Hotch replied, "We are still going to Virginia. So that everyone can get their go-bags together. And so we can pick up Garcia. It'll still be a long time until we get to LA. But I'm sure that Prentiss can handle things there."
"How's she doing?" I asked him, concerned for my friend.
"Fine from what I can tell. She needs our help. Help that we refused her earlier. Just to be clear, when we get there, we are going to let Prentiss be in charge. She knows this case better than all of us. We are just going to follow her lead."
All of us nodded. That was fair. We owed Emily a lot more than giving her command. But we couldn't change our decision from the past.
Gloomily, I walked onto the plane. I felt the deep pit in my stomach hurt. It wasn't just guilt I was feeling. It was fear. Fear that I couldn't explain. It wasn't like Emily was in any obvious danger. Yet, I was scared for Emily's safety. I needed for her to be okay. She could be closer to this case than we know. And knowing Emily, she'd do anything to catch the bad guy. Even if that meant getting hurt in the process.
"You okay?" Rossi asked as he took a seat across from me. "You look like you have just seen a ghost. Feeling alright?"
I nodded. Rossi was always good at reading people. He always seemed to know what was going on, even when it seemed like it was impossible for him to know everything.
"I'm worried about Emily. I feel guilty… for not backing her up. For not following her. I just wish we were just there already. In LA, helping her out. I'm afraid that she's going through this alone." That wasn't even half of the story, but I hoped that it would be enough for the eldest profiler.
"She isn't. She has her friend. The detective she was working with. I understand that you feel guilty, but you shouldn't. You were just doing your job."
"But this is Emily we are talking about. Maybe… maybe being a friend is more important than choosing the right case."
He raised his eyebrows and nodded as if he was thinking about what I said very carefully. "As a close-knit team like we are, it's normal to think of each other as family. I understand how you would think that helping a friend would be more important than doing the job right. But I think you need to ask yourself if you would do the same for Morgan. Or Hotch. Or me. Would you feel this guilty if it was one of them?"
Sometimes, Rossi was too wise. And too intuitive. Somehow, Rossi knew. Maybe not about everything. I had no idea how the man who just joined the team months ago, knew about what Emily and I were doing.
"You don't have to answer me, JJ. I just want you to think about it. I think you deserve to know the answer to the question."
I was thankful that he didn't make me answer. I was embarrassed enough as it was. I didn't want to think about his question. I didn't want to know why I felt more anxious about Emily being in LA than during any stressful case. I just wanted to relax. But I knew I couldn't. Not when I wasn't by her side.
I love how clueless JJ is. She's like, hmmm, why do I care about Em so much? She's oblivious, but we love her.
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