CHAPTER 59

DIBS ON CUDDLING WITH PRENTISS TONIGHT

"Okay, I'm out." Reid cringed the moment the door to the boys' room opened and he saw his worst nightmare staring back at him from the other side of the room.

"Oh, cool, man!" Luke and Matt fist bumped, already happy with their room.

Rossi chose not to react.

Luke had to run after Reid, in order to drag him back, as he was now walking down the hallway.

"Dude, come on. It's like high-school all over again! Four dudes, one room, some minor drinking may be going on, eh?" Luke said, reminiscing of his past.

"I was done with high-school by the age of fourteen, so I don't know about your experiences, but mine were a bit different. Also, it is prohibited by law to drink under the age of twenty-one, at least in America, so it would have definitely not been ok to do so in high-school." Reid shifted uncomfortably, standing in the middle of the room.

"What's bugging you, my man?" Luke asked, this time being a little more serious.

"That's…" Reid stuttered.

"Those are bunk beds!" He said, pointing at the beds.

"Yup." Luke nodded.

"They are dangerous!" Reid protested, like a child.

"Reid, you can run after a serial killer, armed with nothing but your brain, but you cannot sleep in a bunk bed? Come on, now!" Luke tried to argue, but it was a lost cause.

Reid moved towards the bed and examined it from all sides.

"Every bunk bed must have a warning label that advises against placing children under six years of age in the upper bunk. If the bunk bed is taller than thirty inches, it must have a continuous guardrail on the wall side of bed. This one does not!" He asseverated.

"You are also not six, Reid." Rossi came by to try and knock some sense into this boy.

"I know. But what if I was? If the factory that produced this piece of furniture does not care about a six-year old's safety, how can I be sure they care about mine? Also, what if it caves in under the weight of grown men?" Reid stated and Rossi hated to admit it, but he was not keen on the bunk beds, for the same two reasons.

"Well, if it helps in any way, I can assure you grown men have slept on these beds and nothing bad has happened…other than a few kids being conceived…" Matt said, coming to the sad conclusion that could be applied to pretty much every hotel room in the world.

"Eww!" Reid squealed like a little girl, regretting having touched the surface of the bed during his little prior investigation.

"Come on. Don't be silly. May I remind you that we have a serial killer to catch?" Rossi reminded them the more severe question on hand.

Matt and Luke tossed a coin and Matt was upset that Luke once again won the top bunk.

Rossi and Reid just looked at each other before they dragged the mattresses out of their bunk bed and placed them on the floor.

Reid contained himself from pointing out that he was now going to be closer to germs. He was just happy to not be sleeping while levitating, which is what bunk beds represented to him, in his own messed up mind.


"Ladies…" JJ said, walking in the triple girls' room.

"Yes, Madam Jareau!" Tara walked in after her, already pulling a glittery throw blanket out of her carry on.

"Mood?" JJ turned to face Emily, who had a beautiful candle in one hand and a small loudspeaker in the other.

"Glam?" Tara asked and JJ set her bag down, so she can comfortably pull things out of it.

Three nourishing face masks; three pairs of disposable home slippers that she had once stolen from a fancier hotel, back in the days when the BAU could afford one; a pair of tweezers, because – brows; lip-scrub and lip balm; three Christmas-themed travel mugs, because that was all she could find the night when she had prepared her Go Bag, a month ago; battery-operated led lights in the shape of a gun, because JJ was a girly girl, but with a tough side to her…also because Will had found it to be cute to get her those for one of their Saturday dinner dates recently; and then randomly – one of Mickey's soft toys that had ended up in her bag, by mistake. JJ smiled, holding it to her chest.

"Alright, Mary Poppins…is that all?" Tara said with eyes wide opened.

"No." JJ grinned. "I also have a spare underwear set, but I'm surely not showing you that."

"Oh, is it the one Will got you recently?" Emily asked curiously.

JJ nodded, now blushing.

"Out!" Tara commanded.

"Now!" Emily reinforced that command.

JJ shrugged, pulling out a two piece set of underwear. Black lace with red and white lining.

"Wow, you got yourself a man with some taste!" Emily smirked. She was borderline obsessed with that set of underwear.

"This is possibly the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life. And I've been through my phase of obsessive collecting of sexy underwear." Tara shared.

"Been?" Emily looked at her and started laughing. "What do you mean been?"

Tara looked at her, a bit confused.

"Yeah, Emily has always had a thing for sexy lingerie. She judged everyone who ever gave up on it. So, you're on her bad side right now…" JJ smirked.

"Which is great, because I call dibs on cuddling with Prentiss tonight." JJ then added, sticking her tongue at Tara and placing her bag on one side of the double bed in the room, forcing Tara to now take the single bed.

"Ugh." Tara pretended to be upset, just to play along with JJ's game, but truth was – she did not care where or who she slept with, as long as she was able to sleep well.

"Face mask, Ladies?" Emily said, being the referee between both of her friends.

"Ah! Not before…" JJ then pulled out their favorite robes.

"Oh, yes, my Pink Ladies…we shall commence!" Emily said, laughing out loud as she put her pink robe on and turned around, flashing the 'Prentiss' name, written on the back of it with white rhinestones.

"I feel a bit guilty for doing this without Garcia…" JJ frowned for a second.

Garcia had bought the girls tickets to go see Grease, the Musical, a year ago. Ever since that night the girls had been obsessed with being the Pink Ladies when they were on their own, so much that Garcia had then gone out of her way to find the perfect light robes, in pink, and then customize them with rhinestones, writing everyone's name on the back. The girls always wore the robes when they were having their occasional girls' night out, or rather in, just drinking, watching a movie and having a good time.

"We should send her a selfie." Emily suggested, seemingly in a much better mood than before.

They posed for about seventy-four photos before they ended up taking one last picture, the one they ended up actually sending to Garcia.

"Aww, you geeks!" Garcia texted back, with all the heart-shaped emoticons she could find.

She then sent them a photo of herself and her cat and Emily did most definitely catch that male blazer, just randomly hanging on the back of a chair, in the far left end of the photo. She smirked, knowing that Garcia was having a good time, as well.

They put on their face masks and started discussing everything, nothing and just about anything that had nothing to do with their job. Work was a taboo topic during their girly evenings, even when they were currently active on a case. They had all made a promise to each other to unwind, to leave it all behind and to hide under a face mask and their pink glittery robes, for as long as they could, just to gain more energy to face the daemons the day that was to come. And they had always made good on that promise.

The best thing about it was – the boys had no idea!

"So, Prentiss…" JJ started off, holding her mug full of peach juice and sipping on it as if it was expensive champagne.

"Are you taking the Mayor up on his offer?" JJ asked with an innocent smile.

"Oh, God no!" Emily cringed.

"Why not? Was he not cute?" Tara asked, but she was looking at JJ, because she wanted to hear the truth and Emily was definitely not going to give her that.

"Mmh, yeah…" JJ recalled. "No. Not really." She then laughed.

"Really, he was not my type, at all." Emily shrugged, taking a sip of her own mug, suddenly feeling her lips very dry.

"Oh yeah?" Tara winked at JJ and it was about to get complicated for Emily.

"What's your type then?" JJ asked, immediately understanding what Tara was communicating to her with that wink.

"And since when do you even have a type?" Tara added, clinking JJ's glass victoriously. Watching Emily squirm uncomfortably was the best source of entertainment they could possibly imagine.

Emily shrugged and looked down to the carpet.

"Oh, so you can discuss the lingerie that my husband bought me, but you can't dish it when it comes to your private business? Come on, Prentiiiiiissssss…" JJ trailed off in her sing-songy voice.

"I have nothing to say." Emily sighed.

"We just want to know your type. I bet it's someone with curls. Blonde, curly hair, piercing deep blue eyes…" Tara suggested.

"Hey, that's basically my son!" JJ cringed so badly.

Emily took another sip, wishing it was wine. Or pure alcohol. Either way, she'd be okay with it.

"I see her type as tall, dark, mysterious, well-built, a man with authority, someone with deep, manly voice, someone possibly with an accent that would make her forget her own name…" JJ commented and with each personalization she made to what she believed would be Emily's type, Emily felt a new dagger thrown right into her heart, twisted around and then taken out, only to be thrown right back in. That was basically Richard!

She chose to keep her thoughts to herself.

Oh, Emily had found someone who made her want to forget all about Emily Prentiss, alright.

"Aww, don't pout. You are amazing and I am sure that one day you will find your Mysterious Prince, the one who will sweep you off your feet and make you forget who you are." JJ added, all in good humor.

In fact, she was the one who rooted for Emily's happiness the most. Emily had always felt a bit more comfortable talking to Morgan, about guys, but it had always been JJ who had spent every waking moment of her life, wishing Emily the same happiness and family that she went back home to every single night.

"Mhm." Emily grunted, more ironically than approvingly.

"Until then, I'm going to continue setting you up with just about anyone I want to." JJ chuckled, pouring herself a second mug full of juice and really starting to believe that it was champagne. The power of suggestion and self-belief!

"Well, history remembers that one incident when you set me up with a guy who then flirted with you, in front of your own husband, so…" Emily had been waiting for the best time to rub this failure in JJ's face and the time was now.

"Oh, that was embarrassing." JJ laughed out loud and quickly told the story to Tara, who started laughing along with her.

"You are out of your mind!" Tara said, unsure if she was speaking about JJ or Emily. Or rather – both.

"Eh, it did serve a good purpose, though." JJ shot a glance at Emily who was now smirking and trying to hide it.

"Alright. Yes, ultimately it did." Emily gave in and told Tara the ending of the story, where she had met the bouncer and ended up having a fast-paced relationship with him.

"But that only lasted a couple of weeks!" Tara shook her head disapprovingly.

"Darling, trust me – every second of it was worth it." Emily was now beaming.

"Ugh, ya'll just making me want to get right back into dating again." Tara sat on the side of the bed, crossing her arms defensively.

"Why not?" JJ smiled at her.

"Yes, please do, so that this one would stop bugging me about my own intimate life details." Emily sighed, shooting a glance at JJ. "Or the lack there of." She added, with an even bigger sigh.

"Who? Me?" JJ pointed at herself dramatically. "Never!"

That addition made Emily want to hide under the covers, moreover because she knew it was true. JJ would keep on pushing it. She would also be extremely happy to hear what Emily did during that week off…which was exactly why Emily intended to never speak a word about it in front of JJ. Or anyone else. Morgan knew, but he had now safely taken their little secret back to…well, wherever his new identity lived.


"Hey there, sexy."

"I could be your father!" Victor replied with a cringe.

"I could call you Daddy…" The waitress, the same girl he had spoken to two days ago, was now all over him from the second she saw him entering the bar again.

"Ok, two things: I am not interested!" He said defensively, keeping his distance.

"That's one thing. What's the other?" She tried to place her hand on his chest, but he blocked it out.

"Second one is that I will never be interested in a girl who looks like she is underage."

"Oh, you are such a buzzkill. I figured, with all the nasty guys who come here because of me, I might as well take you up on it, I mean, you do look damn good yourself…"

"Please stop! And there is nothing to take me up on. I haven't suggested anything and I won't do so. Snap out of it, young girl."

He was getting irritated. Maybe returning to that bar was a mistake. She had been more than clear the first time – Richard had never stepped foot there.

Victor turned around, intending to leave, but that was when he heard her voice again.

"Damn, I regret not hitting on him earlier! Why did I have to wait around, hoping you'd show up?" She said cheekily.

"Him?" In two seconds, Victor was sitting on a stool by the bar, eager to hear what she had to say.

"Yea, your hot friend from the photo you showed me before."

"He was here? When? Where did he sit?" He shot his best questions at her.

"Ah, not so fast. First, you have to give me something…"

"Fine, how much do you want?" His right hand reached for his pocket, to grab his wallet.

This time it was her who blocked him out and blatantly invited herself to sit right next to him.

Her hand inevitably trailed down his chest and he shivered. This was so not fair. Why wasn't she like all the rest of them, wanting just the money?

"I'm married." He stated, flashing his ring finger at her.

"I'm discrete." She whispered, now leaning way too much.

If he could feel her breath on him, this was wrong. And if he could see everything that her tiny little top was failing to hide, this was most definitely wrong, too.

"You do a bit more than just mixing drinks around here, don't you?"

"Who's asking? Are you a cop?" The girl giggled.

"Do I look like a cop?" He smirked at her.

"Honestly? You look like a drug dealer. Or a millionaire. Either way…" Her hand went just a little further down as she added to her statement. "I'd do you."

Victor was awfully careful not to break her hand with what he did next. With one swift motion, the girl was now facing the nearby wall, on her feet, with her hand twisted behind her back and with Richard hovering on top of her.

"Listen carefully. I need to know where he sat and what he drank. And then I need you to go take a cold shower and maybe go to church someday. Throwing yourself at middle aged men is not what you should be doing with your life." He said silently, trying not to make a scene. After all, he had to go unnoticed.

"Where did he sit and what did he drink?" He asked one more time.

"Over there and he had red wine." This time, she replied.

"Where? Near the window?" Victor shot a glance to where she was pointing.

Sitting near the window would mean that something unexpected had happened and that Richard was gaining information.

"No, no. That table, where those two guys are now." She pointed out two guys who looked like they rode a Harley and drank vodka like it was water.

"Crap!" Victor groaned.

Choosing an inner table meant that Richard was in immediate danger and in need of back-up. In that case, whoever was at the bar that night, would have to make contact and pretend to be forming a friendship with Richard, over drinks.

However, Richard was no longer there, so that plan was no longer eligible.

Moreover, he had ordered a red wine – red, an obvious symbolism for blood. It was like Richard knew the danger he was in, but there was nobody there to help him out when he needed them to.

"When did he leave?"

"Like, an hour ago, when those three guys came in."

"What guys?"

"I don't know who they are, but I've seen them around. One of them gave me a huge tip once, for when I gave him a lap dan-…"

Richard put his hand over her mouth. He did not want to hear the details.

"Did he seem like he knew them?"

"Not really. I mean, maybe, but those guys just barged in and dragged his fine sugar daddy ass out of here in seconds."

"Was there a fight?"

"Is it a fight if three men jump a guy who does not even throw a punch back? Or did they simply beat his ass up?"

That girl had nerve. If only she knew who she was talking to, but most importantly – whom she was talking about.

"He didn't fight back?" Victor asked in disbelief.

"No, not at all. He just let them beat him up and drag him outside. He's probably somewhere along the road, dead or something." She said casually.

"And you didn't call the police!?" Victor lost it and yelled at her.

"Not exactly legal here, hello?" She pointed out, confirming his suspicion that she was, indeed, underage.

"You better pray that he's alive, or else you'd end up on the side of the road. Dead!"

The girl gasped loudly. This did not sound like a threat. It sounded a lot like a promise.

"Call me if anything new happens around here." He put a card inside the pocket of her shorts.

"Also, tell anyone you've spoken to me and you're dead before I even get to you." He added before he left the bar.

The girl was now shivering. She walked back behind the bar and after serving a few new customers their drinks, she finally allowed herself to check out what was written on that business card.

The second she laid eyes on it, she knew she was in trouble.

"Oh my God!" She said out loud after reading his name, his job title and his work place. "What have I gotten myself into!?"