CHAPTER 100

THAT'S MY GIRL

"Emily?" JJ whispered, one hand tugging on the little covers that were over Emily's body. The remaining piece was covering Angie.

"Why are you whispering? Have you not learned anything? This woman won't wake up if you poured a bucket of ice on her." Tara laughed at JJ who was being so gentle and silent in the morning.

"Mhh, you're right." She shrugged and noticed something. "Hey, Emily always hogs the covers. God, I love her, but my ass is always freezing when we have to share a bed."

"Jealous much?" Tara smirked, watching Angie sleep like a baby – comfortable and warm under the covers that were mostly on top of her, while nearly no fabric was covering Emily.

Angie was disturbed by all the talking, so she turned around in her sleep and moved to the middle of the bed, until her head was resting against Emily's shoulder, with her nose pressing against it.

"This is weird…" Tara commented.

"Yeah? Says the one who almost suffocated me last night." JJ chuckled. She had woken up in the middle of the night, when she heard Angela get back to the room, and realized that Tara had her hand on top of her. It had made it a bit hard to breathe.

"Let's never mention that again, okay?" Tara blushed. She was a hugger, but only in her sleep. In reality she was a lot more reserved with personal contact, much like Angela.

"I'm going to bribe you now. Just wait for it!" JJ teased and noticed how Tara was checking Angela out with suspicion in her eyes. "What's bothering you?"

"This girl…" Tara's hand pointed to Angela's face. "Yesterday I tried to touch her shoulder and she shrieked away like I was the Devil. But look at her now, how can she even breathe? Her nose is smashed against Emily's shoulder."

"Maybe she just doesn't like you. I mean, you do come off a little cold when you meet people. Don't get me wrong – you're a complete goofball after that."

"Seriously? This coming from you, who ignored everyone's existence all day, yesterday? What was wrong with you anyway? Can I help? Are you in trouble with Prentiss?"

"I deserve everything I received from Prentiss last night. And I am grateful to God for her. I could have had it way worse, had it been anyone else." JJ sighed with relief.

"Remember those words next time you decide to piss me off." Emily muttered, with her eyes still closed. She had just woken up and was now eavesdropping on their little conversation.

"Uhh, it hears everything!" JJ laughed and tickled Emily lightly.

"No, no, no. Tickle wars, really? I'm not five!" Emily moved away, but quickly realized that was disturbing Angela in her sleep.

"Let's go downstairs for breakfast and let her rest a little more." Emily suggested.

They got dressed and stuffed a few things in their bags before they went downstairs, realizing that Rossi, Reid and Simmons were already there.

"Hey girls, where's Angela?" Reid asked.

"Hey guys, where's Alvez?" Tara smirked, mirroring that question.

"Well, they went out for pizza last night and came back this morning, so I don't think either one of them is going to be joining us for breakfast." Rossi no longer understood late nights out. For him, the latest was eleven o'clock, by which time he had to be back home, showered and in bed.

"They're young. It's New York City. Let them have fun!" JJ sounded much more like herself that morning and everyone was kind of relieved.

"Just as long as they get enough rest before we start this case." The Unit Chief in Emily spoke.


"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Angie greeted cheerfully when she joined everyone for breakfast, fifteen minutes later.

"How does she do it?" JJ's jaw dropped.

Angela looked fresh and ready to go. She could not have had more than three hours of sleep since she had come back to the hotel. JJ was jealous. Usually, when the BAU ladies partied, the next day would be a blur…and it would start no sooner than noon.

They took their time with breakfast, chatting about little things and asking Angela endless questions about the Academy.

After that, they moved to the NYC field office, to start their day. Emily made sure she got handed the car keys right away, as they had not received them last night, upon arrival, and it had been an inconvenience.

Angie noticed how there were two keys, for two cars, since the team was quite numerous. She could only hope she would never be asked to drive one of those tacky black Federal SUVs. The tactical driving trainer had ruined her confidence behind the wheel and now she was scared to even think of driving.


"Okay, we're all set." Emily announced after a thorough plan of action had been made.

"JJ, I need you to keep everything on a need to know basis. Understood?" Emily continued.

"Understood. Anything you guys find out about, the police does not need to know about." JJ smirked, confirming she knew exactly what Emily meant.

"Wait, why?" Stephen asked in confusion.

"Did you just sleep through the thirty-minute talk during which we all agreed that there is fowl play and the police knows more than what they have told us?" Emily rolled her eyes.

Looking at this man now, with his arrogance and his lack of intuitive skills, she wondered what the Hell had made her even consider the option of dating him, for the total of two dates they have had. Exactly how dumb did that make her? Apart from the fact that she had no idea he was married, at the time.

"Oh. Right..." He said to himself, now eagerly following the BAU team out the door.

An hour later, they were done with interviewing everyone they needed to talk to and they had ended up having even more questions than before. Something seemed off about this case.

For the rest of the day JJ was great at keeping the police away, and the fact that they were working from an office inside the New York field office, and not the police station, made it easier for her to bluff. She only had two policemen stalk her every now and then, but for the most part, it was just her and Angela in that room, with Garcia on loudspeaker, trying to figure things out.

"So, where are you from?" JJ tried to start small talk, having sensed how distant Angela was with her.

It had been more than an hour now and the girl had barely said two words to JJ, if she didn't absolutely have to. JJ had been warned that her cold welcome might have its repercussions, but she felt really uncomfortable around Angela now, especially knowing that the girl had already established quite the relationship with everyone else on the team - they had laughed together, she had asked questions and she had been nothing short of bubbly and polite. And yet, she wouldn't even look JJ in the eyes.

"Somewhere I'd like to forget." Angie replied shortly before reading a report for the fifth time, trying to come up with something useful, for the investigation.

"Oh, I get it. I come from a small town myself. Been trying to forget all about it since I could remember." JJ smiled, trying to find something in common between them. Maybe then Angie would warm up to her.

"Mhm." Angie muttered and started writing something down.

Luckily for her, Emily called JJ at that moment and they started talking about something else.

Garcia soon interfered, worrying about the lack of clues and information. It wasn't like her to not be able to find something online.

"JJ, would you take the speaker off, please?" Emily asked, at the end of a very unsatisfactory three-way phone call.

JJ obliged and proceeded to listen to something Emily said to her, without Angie hearing it.

"Alright. Talk to you later." She greeted Emily and then turned her attention to Angela once again.

"I'm in the mood for some pizza. How do you like yours?" JJ asked, assuming Angela would want one, too.

"I'm not hungry yet. I'll grab a sandwich from the vending machines later." Angie stated, but in reality she was starving.

"Eww, those will give you a stomach ache. Who knows how long they've been in that vending machine? Come on, pizza sounds better, doesn't it?"

"No. I'm not hungry enough to have a whole pizza."

"Want to share one then?"

"Nope. I want a sandwich." Angie stated and put an end to that discussion.

JJ sighed, walking away. That girl sure had a mind of her own.

It took Angie a minute to calm herself down after turning down a pizza offer. It was her favorite food, but it would surely be much more expensive than the two bucks tuna sandwich from the vending machine. And Angela was short on cash.

JJ did not order food. She was still upset over the fact that she had let herself be childish enough, to get herself grounded like this. Staying back was a punishment, but a lesser punishment than having her badge taken, so she had to keep that in mind.

An hour later, the team returned to their temporary office. Emily looked around, not noticing empty carton boxes, nor sensing the smell of pizza.

"She did not want it?" She asked JJ when they had a moment in private.

Earlier, on the phone, Emily had instructed JJ on mentioning pizza and trying to make the girl eat something.

"Nope. She iced me out and barely said a word to me all day." JJ rolled her eyes. Yes, she had been rude the day before, but why did Angela not like her now that she was trying to make up for it?

"You deserve it." Emily pursed her lips and JJ knew she was right. Emily was the only person JJ would like to hear the harsh truth from, and not be offended by it.

"Okay, listen up everyone. We're ordering pizza. Write down your order on a paper and I'm calling in a couple of minutes." Emily announced.

They had come back empty handed. They were all starving and it would be impossible to continue working before they had any food and it was already past 3 pm.

"Lunch is on me." Rossi announced, but Emily shot him a glance, as if she was about to disagree.

"I said, lunch is on me!" Rossi insisted, giving her a look that made her shut up and walk away instantly.

He knew that Emily was not as well off as she pretended to be. He had figured she was struggling with her finances lately, but he did not know why. As the Unit Chief, she was clearly paid more than the rest of the team and yet, he had noticed her making calculations when it came to spending. She'd sometimes bring her own lunch or she'd pretend like she wasn't hungry at all. There was no way he'd let her keep on paying for the team, on a daily basis.

Emily did end up ordering the pizza, but in the end Rossi paid it all. Angie was hesitant at first, but then she caved in when they asked her a second time. She was beyond starving, so as much as she hated it when people paid for her, she was in desperate need of food.

Rossi watched Angela while she ate. She was quiet, her eyes darted towards JJ a few times and she almost looked like she was guilty of something.

After lunch was done, Rossi asked Angie to take a walk with him outside. He needed to extract her from the mess in the office and talk to her in private.

"So, Angela..." He started off with a smile.

She smiled as well. She already liked him, so it was easy to feel comfortable around him.

"How come you know so much about profiling already?"

"I uh..." She stuttered. It was the first sign that she was about to lie.

"No, no. Keep the charades for someone else." He kept on smiling. Oh, she was so busted. "I want the truth. The real deal. Come on, it's just you and me here."

"Why do you want to know stuff about me?" She shrugged, not used to people asking her stuff. Or rather - not used to answering people's questions in a truthful manner.

"Because I know you are a very beautiful and very smart young girl, who desperately wants to be part of this team. You came in and made everyone like you instantly. You built a connection with each one of us, privately. You listen to our words and memorize everything you hear, because you want to learn how to become one of us. And that is great...it really is..."

"Thank you, Sir." She smiled brightly. The Great David Rossi was complimenting her, in a way.

"But, you see, I want to know the real you. And I'm smart enough to know that what you show, is not who you really are."

Her smile turned upside down and she froze at his additional words.

All of those years of deceit and lies and he was the first one, the only one, to call her out like that. She wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Angela, I've written books on people like you..." He said calmly, one hand pointing at a bench, urging her to sit.

He then sat, facing her, and he continued to smile.

"You know, people smile with their eyes, not with the lips. And I don't see a smile in your eyes. I see something you are hiding. I can only guess what it might be, but I cannot be sure..."

His words were making her shiver. She felt like he was reading her like an open book and that was a very bad thing for someone who did not want to be read, understood or questioned when lying their ass off or when simply withholding certain truths.

She stood immobile, silent as a fish. Her face had a blank expression on it and as much as Rossi hated to admit that to himself, he was actually unable to read her. On the outside, to her it seemed like he could, but the truth was – she was a blur, she was a chaotic mess of letters, not even actual words, scribbles without direction, on a black canvass that represented her soul, her inner feelings, her life.

And that scared him.

For the first time in a very long time, he was absolutely powerless, staring at a face that won't talk to him. He did not need words. He was looking for nonverbal signs – a little eye twitch, biting of the lips, too much blinking, not enough blinking…anything.

But from Angela he received none of that. She was right there, in front of him, staring him back, straight in the eyes, and not communicating one damn thing.

It drove him insane.

She was the blank piece of paper he had often found himself staring at, uninspired, helpless, when the muse had abandoned him while writing a new book.

She was as visible as the horizon, roaring over the ocean, but that ocean was flat. Silent. Calm. So damn quiet…

Subconsciously, he caved in and bit his lip from desperation, realizing that the last time he was unable to read someone it had been Emily, right before she had left. She had been going through some mixed emotions and she had surely suffered. Quietly. Keeping it all to herself. Not communicating a damn thing. Just like Angela now.

Did that mean Angela was on the verge of self-destruction as well?

Or did it mean she was perfectly able to fool him? In which case, he'd be beyond impressed.

"Can we try one thing?" His voice was soft. So soft.

Angie had a thing for voices and she could never deny a soft one, like Rossi's, so she simply nodded in reply.

"Maybe we can use our words?" He suggested.

Her face did not move an inch. Her blinking was at normal rate and she did not bite those lips.

"I just want to get to know you. If you are uncomfortable, just please tell me to stop and I will respect your privacy…" He tried another tactic.

Angie tried really hard not to shiver. She did not want anyone to get close to her, to figure her out, to get to know her.

And yet, she did not want him to stop trying, either.

He gave her a long moment to consider her options. When she did not reply, he took her silence as a permission to continue.

"You are scared. I get it. This is a hard job and a hard reality to live in. But if you are lucky, you'd get into a Unit where people respect you, help you out in times of need. It's a wonderful thing, being close to your co-workers. But in order to do that, you're going to have to let them in…"

His words made perfect sense. She already knew all that.

But then, why did he have to mention a Unit? Any Unit? What about the Unit she wanted? His words made it sound like there was no chance of that happening and she frowned.

Rossi sighed with relief, her face had finally communicated something that he was able to decipher.

Fear.

He knew it was a matter of time that she'd start talking now. Treating her with silence was only going to push her to say what was on her mind.

A whole minute later, she opened her mouth. Barely.

"What if I don't get in the Unit I want?" She asked weakly, her voice almost cracking.

If Rossi's age wasn't reason enough to hold him back from doing a triumphantly happy dance, he'd be busting a move right about now. The girl was finally starting to admit.

"Any Unit would be lucky to have you." He reassured her, knowing the harsh truth that she would be hired as soon as Graduation was over. That was granted. She was one of the top Trainees and, even when she wasn't excelling at a subject, she'd push hard until she'd meet the Bureau expectations. And then she'd push even harder until she'd be satisfied with her performance. All that hard work and perseverance was going straight to her Trainee Report and Rossi was sure she'd be getting tons of offers, from different Units.

Unfortunately, the BAU would not be one of them.

"Then I should work harder…" She said, more to herself than to him.

"No, Angela. You are doing the best you can, already. You need to relax. Enjoy the rest of the Academy. Have fun, make friends, go out for drinks, go dancing. Don't work yourself out. Yes, the Academy is about training, but it is also about socializing, making connections that would be useful to you, in the future."

She looked at him in disbelief. She did not want friends. She wanted the Unit of her choice and there was no question she'd bust her ass to get it.

"But, don't Units have guidelines? Like, I don't know, on how prepared someone should be if they want to get in? What qualities they should have? Which books they should have read?" She asked desperately, knowing perfectly well how dumb her question was.

"No, sweet child. They don't. And if they did, the BAU guidelines paper would have nothing but your name on it."

His words made her smile wide.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really." He nodded and smiled back.

Her enthusiasm was contagious. She was so adorably sweet with the way she reacted to things, connected to the BAU.

"But you need to keep your options opened. Explore other Units. Maybe you'll find your perfect fit. Make connections, show them the beautiful, smart young girl that you are.

"I don't want other Units. I'm a BAU baby!" She said quickly, before her brain could process the words that came out of her mouth.

Rossi smirked. There it was – possibly the first time ever, when Angie had admitted it out loud.

This time, her face was communicating hope, determination, desperation…

As much as he wanted to be honest with her, he knew it was Emily's job to break the news to Angela, when time for recruitment came.

He just hated the idea of possibly being the one who'd break this girl's heart and crush her hopes and dreams.

Then again, he would hate it if that person should be Emily…

He had seen the way Angela looked at Emily. With curiosity, respect…inspiration.

Angie was interpreting his silence as a bad sign.

Such a bad sign…

And she replied with nothing but silence and a blank face, once more.

"You remind me of my daughter Joy." Rossi finally spoke, taking Angie off-guard.

Why would he say that?

"Young and full of hopes. You know, before I even knew she was my daughter, she stalked me. She had read all of my books and she chose a career path that somewhat resembles mine, as an author I mean. And she is thriving."

Angie felt cold shivers, realizing where that conversation might possibly go.

"And then, when we met, it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. And also, quite bitter…"

Angie looked at him quizzically.

"Bitter? Yeah, it is bitter for a parent to have lost so much time, so many opportunities to be with their child. You kids grow so fast. You learn new things. And then one day, us parents realize we no longer have a child, but a beautiful human being – strong, smart, opinionated. A human with a soul so pure and a heart so fragile, that we know we still have to protect them, as if they were still a child. Because that's what you are to us – our children. And a parent, Angela, loves their child unconditionally, no matter the time spent apart. Never forget that."

And there it was. The quivering lower lip that he had been waiting for.

She also pursed her lips and stopped blinking altogether. That's when he saw it in her eyes – moisture. Budding tears that she was commanding herself not to let fall.

"If you ever need anything, I want you to feel comfortable enough to come to me for advice or help. Okay?" He said, unsure how he should handle her nearing emotional crisis.

If it were anyone else from the team, he would have already comforted them, gotten close, put a hand on their shoulder.

But he had noticed how distant Angie always was with people. Physical contact was not even an option, unless he wanted to upset her even more. And words could not help, he had already said enough. So it was now up to her to give him a sign, to let him know what she needed.

"Can…" Angie started speaking, but her voice cracked. As soon as she opened her mouth, she knew she was going to lose it.

"Can I have…a hug…Sir?" She said slowly, making sure she'd sound calm enough to fool him. She failed at it.

"Always." He said softly, holding his hands out and wondering what it was about him that made her open up, made her let him in so quickly.

He soon discovered that his own lip was quivering. There was something so bittersweet about hugging that girl. Rossi was the one, out of the whole group, who would always hug people to comfort them. He was used to holding them in his arms and it always made him feel happy, to know that he was helping them. But with Angela, he felt a certain sadness.

"You really are one of the good girls, huh…" He stated when she finally had the courage to break the hug.

He had been watching her. She wasn't a wild one, she wouldn't get herself into dumb situations involving drugs and alcohol, like most of the girls her age probably would. If Rossi was her parent, he'd be proud of her. Any parent would be proud of her. That was what perplexed him the most.


"Here you are. Come on, Garcia just found a connection between the victims." JJ said, as soon as she saw Angie and Rossi walk back in, half an hour later.

"Yeah, where were you?" Emily could not help but ask.

"Just needed some fresh air." Rossi said vaguely.

Had he left Angela reply, Emily would not have let go until she had an answer. But with him she would not dare insist.

"Alright. Angela, you and I are going to take a drive. We need to talk to someone." Emily stated.

"Okay!" Angie said right away.

There it was – that look, that enthusiasm Rossi saw in her eyes, whenever she was around Emily.

"Who are we talking to?" Angie asked curiously, getting in the car a few minutes later.

"The guy who just admitted to all the murders." Emily said calmly and drove off.

"Wait. What?" Angie was confused.

Didn't Emily just say Garcia had found a connection between the victims? She never mentioned someone came forward. Was it even true? It couldn't be true, if she didn't let the team know. Did they even know?

Angie was beyond confused.

"Come on, Agent Hunter, what do you think about it?" Emily could have simply answered her confusion with one short statement. But she'd make Angela work for it and figure it out on her own.

"Well, I think someone is tech-savvy, at least enough to be able to figure out that Garcia found something out. And then they might have bribed someone else to take the blame. Because, honestly, there is no reason why this guy we're about to talk to, would come forward now. It is not common knowledge the FBI has taken up on the case. So, everything points to a false confession." Angie spoke, keeping her eyes on the road and thanking God she didn't have to drive and think at the same time.

"Good job." Emily smiled at her. "But you are forgetting something…"

Angie took a moment to think quietly.

"Mmh, nope. I have nothing else on my mind. What is it?"

"Ah, not so fast! A Hunter does not give up after one failed try. Come on, give it another shot." Emily urged her.

"Well…" Angie went through all the information she already had on the case, stored carefully in her mind.

"Anything?" Emily nudged her two minutes later, as Angie had gotten lost in her thoughts.

"No…" She shrugged, hating having to admit it.

"That's because you're thinking of the case…" Emily trailed off, but her words did not help Angie.

"Obviously. What else would I be thinking of?"

"What are the components of the case?" Emily tried to put it differently, but still vague.

"Well, the case files; the information we have; the witnesses, if any; the victims and victimology; evidence…"

"And?" Emily smirked. This girl was clueless as to how easy Emily's question was.

"And…and us! Oh my God, I'm an idiot! Us, of course, us! We make the case, we work the case, we close the case. There is no case without us!"

"That's my girl." Emily let those words roll off her tongue. It felt good, even if they made Angie feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Earlier, you told JJ this case was on a strictly need to know basis. We never told the police what was going on while you guys were out there today. And now, you didn't tell the team about the confession, because…" She stopped and collected her thoughts before continuing. "Because you need them to keep their focus on what you guys have already worked on, instead of wasting time on what might potentially be a false confession. Of course! It all makes sense now. You'd want to bring someone useless along, so your team would not be distracted and lose focus, while you explore this angle on your own."

"You are not useless…" Emily pouted and shot a glance at Angie as she drove.

The ease with which this girl had used this word for herself, made Emily upset. She knew Angela was working really hard and trying to learn everything she could. Why would she talk herself down by calling herself 'useless' then?

"I'm a Trainee who is almost halfway done with the Academy. I'm following you around for a week and I'm trying to figure stuff out. Come on, I am the mere definition of useless." Angie laughed genuinely, as if she really believed that about herself.

Emily did not believe it was her place to give Angela a speech on self-love and self-appreciation. God knows she needed one, herself. Instead, she slowly shook her head left and right and sighed.

If only Angela knew what a gem she truly was. If only she knew how smart and capable she was. If only she knew how much Emily wanted to turn back time and undo those damned budget-related documents that the team had forged behind her back, so that she could be able to put a smile on Angie's face, to make her believe in herself, to make her see her true worth when she'd read her internship acceptance letter.

"You're upset again." Angie pointed out.

She had the habit of telling people how she had figured they were feeling, in her presence. Sometimes it backfired. Not everyone was happy to know that she was reading them like an open book.

"I am. Yes." Emily confirmed. Once again, she had no problem being open and honest with this girl.

Angie sunk in the seat and remained quiet. Surely, Emily's mood was her fault.

They arrived at the police station a few minutes later and headed straight towards the interview room. Angie leaned against the wall in the hallway when Emily's hand was on the doorknob, before she'd open the door.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked.

"Uhm, waiting…?" Angie said, doubtfully.

"You are following me this week, remember?" Emily smirked and opened the door.

"So, follow me!" She ordered, motioning for Angela to walk in first.

As much as Angie wanted to squeal with pleasure when she had been invited in to listen to the interrogation, she kept her calm and acted professional, walking in with her chin up.

Emily presented herself to the man who was now handcuffed and waiting to be questioned. She said that Angela was working alongside her, on the case, and Angela tried not to burst with pride. Or to squeal.

Emily started off with a few basic questions about this man, his life, upbringing, family, friends, job. They already had all of that on a file that Emily had read while in the field office. Garcia was the only one who knew about the confession, as she was the one who sent the file to Emily.

At some point, Emily slid the papers over to Angela, who was sitting quietly by her side.

The questioning then took a turn and Emily started asking about the victims. The man knew their first names and their hair color and body built, but not much else. And the BAU had already figured that the killings were personal, so the UnSub surely would have known the victims well. This was the first red flag.

Angie studied his behavior. He was sweating, but it was not too warm inside the room. He kept switching his feet, putting one foot over the other for no longer than a minute. He swept sweat off his palms, rubbing them against the metal of the table he was handcuffed to. All were indications for a lie.

"Hunter?" Emily took Angie by surprise when she spoke to her.

She then pointed at the man, urging Angela to ask him anything she might want to.

Angie's brow furrowed. Was she interpreting Emily's signs wrong?

"Mind taking over for a minute? I need to go grab some water." Emily announced and left the room before Angie could process the information.

"Alright, now I have a couple of questions." Angie turned to the man instantly, without even taking a second to strategize or to come up with questions.

As soon as Emily walked out of the room, she sprinted to the adjacent room - the surveillance room, taking a seat and watching the interview, now being conducted by Angela.

"You said your first victim, Jeanine, was alive while you were torturing her. Is that when you came up with the idea to hit her in the head? Is that when she stopped fidgeting? Walk me through it all…" Angie did something she was quite good at – she faked. She pretended not to know the details, so to make him speak.

"I uh, yeah. She was fidgeting. She kicked and uh she was uh, loud. She screamed and I had to make her stop, so I hit her with uh, the thing." The man mumbled silently.

"What thing? What did you hit her with?" Angie asked.

"I don't remember. It was big, I just grabbed it. It was right there, on the kitchen counter. I hit her and she stopped. That's when I stabbed her. I stabbed her four times – once in the heart, twice in the lower left abdomen and once on the inside of her right thigh. In that order. It took me about seven minutes to finish it all and then I left. I had my car parked outside the house, I drove a black sedan that day. It was my cousin's car. It is now at the impound lot, it has probably been destroyed already. Then I went back home and caught the second half of the game. I ordered some Chinese food at around 8:20 and it came in about fifteen minutes. I ate and took a shower and then went to sleep."

The way he spoke had already screamed lie to Angela, but since Emily was not back yet, she decided to continue.

"Sorry, where did you stab her before you stabbed the left thigh?" She faked confusion once again.

"The…uh, I stabbed her heart." He replied hesitantly and she started speaking right away, not giving him a chance to correct himself, or her, for that matter.

"And that object you hit her with, was it on the floor? On the kitchen counter? By the fireplace?"

"The fireplace. It was the long metal thing, you know, for the fire…that long stick, you know, the fire poker?"

"Can you tell me anything about before the crime happened?" She asked.

"Why?" He was taken off guard.

"Call me curious." Angie leaned forward and smiled.

He looked at her quizzically before he replied.

"I was uh, I had lunch and I was reading the newspaper."

"Which one?" Angie started shooting her questions quite fast at that point.

"It was the sports booklet you find inside one of those fancy newspapers that tell you about news and shit. I'm a huge fan of rugby. Never miss an update on my favorite team-…"

"What day was it?" She cut him off. She wasn't interested in his favorite sports team, at all.

"Uh. Tuesday."

"What did you have for dinner that day?"

"I dunno. Pizza maybe?"

"What color was the car you drove?"

"Black sedan. It was my cousin's. It's at the impound lot. I suppose it has already been destroyed."

"Did she die as soon as you stabbed her in the heart? Or was she already dead from when you stabbed her abdomen?"

"She uh, I don't know. Who cares? She's dead, okay!?" He started raising his voice and getting nervous.

Emily was having a blast. She was watching Angela dominate the interrogation and she could not wait to discuss it with the girl, when they were done.

As soon as Emily saw the man stand up from his chair, she noticed a tiny smirk on Angie's face. It had been her aim to get him all worked up.

"Hey, hey? Calm down. We're just talking here. We only need to know what happened, so we can understand the case better." Angie tried to calm him down, but he was now banging against the table and shouting some profanities back at her.

The commotion made Emily go back in the room and right after that, three police officers walked in and escorted the suspect out.

Angie kept her cool and seemed unmoved by all the nasty things this man had just said to her.

Emily pushed her shoulder, urging her to leave.

Both of them walked to the car in silence. It was only when they got in the car, that Emily spoke up.

"Come on, you can say it now." Emily glanced over at Angela who was sitting all prim and proper, still looking professional and collected.

"That was so cool!" Angie finally allowed herself to squeal happily.

Emily laughed. She had expected Angela's reaction, but still, witnessing her enthusiasm made her laugh.

"Now, talk to me…What was your strategy?"

"Well, first of all, my ultimate goal was to enrage him and to make him admit to a false confession. That only worked halfway through. But first, I needed him to think I was dumb enough to not have paid attention to him while he was telling you all the details. So, when he thought I was dumb, he no longer felt the need to be careful with his words. My tactics were to make him tell me everything and then make him say it, backwards or in mixed order. It's the first thing we were taught to do, when questioning a witness. If he is able to recall all details, backwards, then he is possibly being genuine. If, however, he had previously lied, a liar only has his lie laid out in one way, so he would find it hard to go back and change the order of things. And that is what happened with him. He said he had Chinese for dinner and then he said he maybe had pizza. He also said he stabbed her heart, then left abdomen and then right thigh, but he never corrected me when I said he had stabbed the left thih, and he said he had stabbed the heart right before that, when he had to recall it backwards. Also, doesn't the sports booklet only come out with the Saturday newspaper? I'm not really in the know with those, but if he really is such a huge sports fan, why wait until Tuesday, to read the sports news? Also, the first victim was killed on a Wednesday, actually. And it happened in her bedroom, not in the kitchen. And there is no fireplace in the kitchen, not to mention there is no report of a blow to the head with a metal object, as he claimed. And this…yeah it was maybe my fault, because I gave him a misleading question, containing information. That was not alright as a tactic, but he could have simply corrected me, had he been the real killer. And yet, he took my information for granted and confirmed it with the most obvious thing he could, out of the three objects I enlisted." Angie took a small break, to catch her breath.

"I'm not done yet!" She raised a finger in the air, preventing Emily from speaking, when she saw she was about to do so.

A moment later, she had inhaled in and was ready to continue.

"Also, certain details were perfectly clear in his mind, as if he had studied them. Like, when he spoke about the black sedan and where it could be found now. I never asked, nor cared, about the car's current location. I only asked about the color. And yet, he poured all this information, as if he was trying to make me believe it. But the more details in a story, the less truth. We all know that. Also, I now want the number of that Chinese place that delivers in fifteen minutes. Plus, he said he had lunch right before the crime and then he had dinner right after that. I get it that a crime of this caliber drains out your energy, but Jesus, that appetite is not normal. And he was awfully precise with the time he got back home. I don't even remember what time I got home last time."

"Four fifty-seven." Emily smirked, giving Angie a knowing look.

Angie now blushed and looked away. Did Emily really have to choose that part of her statement to comment on?

"Did you have fun?" Emily pushed it.

"Uh. Kind of. Yeah." She shrugged, trying to sound casual. Truth was, it had been one Hell of a night.

"Mhm." Emily muttered to herself, enjoying Angie's agony at that moment. If only she could see herself, all shy and blushing.

"I'm sorry I dragged one of your team members with me. I just…I don't know. I wanted to have a pizza and then things were fun and it's New York and we kind of lost track of time…"

"It's no problem. Both you and agent Alvez are in great shape at work today, so it really is not my business what you two did last night…"

The way Emily trailed off, with that cheeky smile, made Angie shiver.

"God, no! We did nothing…like that! We just went out and we had a pizza and then we uh, we walked around and we saw Times Square and we went to Central Park, but clearly we only saw it from the outside as it was night time and then I was observing the Empire State Building for like ten minutes straight, because it is so beautiful and then we found a 24-hour place that sells ice cream, so we were there for a bit and we just waked around and started walking back to the hotel." Angie spoke fast and she was feeling sweaty, herself.

"Mhm…" Emily loved every second of this. "Now say that backwards?" She urged Angie, pointing to the theory Angie had just said they had learned at the Academy

Angie pursed her lips and stared out the window.

"You went dancing, didn't you?" Emily smiled wide.

"Yup." It was not a good idea to lie to her superior, especially when she had been busted, using her own game. Angie had a lot of respect for Emily, after she got played this way.

"But all of the rest happened as well. Except that the ice-cream was from an ice-cream stand and we sat on the sidewalk to eat it. That's when we met a couple of drunk girls who were singing some reggaeton song and they spoke about a club, which turned out to be right across the street from where we were. And we decided to go for a drink and then the music was great, so we stayed and we only left when the bouncers kicked us out, to close the club. And then we walked back to the hotel. And I swear, that's the truth. I know it sounds rehearsed, but it is what it is." Angie put her hands in the air, in mock surrender.

"Calm down. I believe you." Emily could not stop laughing and soon enough, Angie was doing the same.

It felt good. It wasn't forced. Nobody was doing something in order to make her laugh. It was her body that naturally decided to react that way. And that felt so damn good. Emily could not remember the last time she had laughed genuinely.

And then she remembered. It was with Richard. At any occasion, she would smile and laugh. He made her feel comfortable, just like Angela did. Sometimes in life, there are these kinds of people who just click with you and make you happy. Emily had just lost Richard, but had she gained Angela instead?

"What are you thinking of?" Angie sensed the shift of emotions, coming from Emily.

"Someone I probably shouldn't be thinking of." Emily said, now it was her turn to be shy.

"Why not?"

"Because they left…" Emily scoffed at the irony of that.

She also labeled herself as an egoist at that very moment, because she was the master of leaving. Who was she to judge someone else for doing the same thing?

"But were they nice to you when you were with them?"

"Yeah. Very much so."

"Well, then you should be grateful you've had your time with them." Angie smiled. "People always leave. It's human nature."

"It shouldn't be." Emily shrugged. "They shouldn't leave…"

"But they do. And there is nothing we can do about it. Other people will come in our lives. It's the circle of life."

"Human nature? Circle of life? What are you, a book of inspirational quotes?" Emily laughed once again.

"No, I just try to be a good person to the people around me. Even when they don't deserve it. I believe that everyone should be treated with respect and everyone should have a helping hand, extended to them, in times of need."

"God, you really are perfect…" Emily's jaw twitched.

Looking at Angela, she could not imagine someone better, smarter, mentally stronger than her, even though Angela did not believe in herself. Emily did.

"I'm really not. I suck at way too many things. Like, I can't pack a damn gift nicely. I'd just shove it in a gift bag and never even think of the possibility of wrapping it in paper. Last time I tried that, it looked like a cat has had its play time with the package." She laughed.

"I also suck in math and any calculation, in general. Even basic ones. I don't like numbers. I'm not dumb, I just don't enjoy calculating things. Same goes for cars – I can drive and I can park, but I hate doing either one of those things. And I enjoy reading about molecular biology, but that doesn't mean I actually memorize or even understand all of it. I just like the challenge it represents, for me. I cannot make paper planes, which is the dumbest thing for me to say, because hello, come on, who can't make a freaking paper plane, right!?" By this point Angie was laughing uncontrollably, at her own words.

"You are such a dork, you know that, right?" Emily nudged Angie while she drove.

It was fun to hear her laughter. It was also contagious, with that high-pitched note of hers and the way her nose vibrated in between laughs. It was barely visible, but Emily saw it clearly.

The fact that Angie was so quick to point out her imperfections, was what made her perfect, in Emily's eyes.

"What about Emily Prentiss? Is she a dork?" Angie asked, sounding like a curious five year old.

"Ohh…the biggest!" Emily laughed again. She simply could not help it. If it depended on her, she'd never let go of Angela.

They spent the rest of the drive back to the FBI building laughing at all the dorky things Emily decided to share and all the numerous other random things that Angela blurted out randomly. The conversation was flowing, it was easy and pleasant, it was light and entertaining, but at the same time Angela managed to squeeze in a couple of questions about profiling, too.

"Do you think you can withhold any information about what we just did? I don't need my team losing focus right now, by looking for clues in a false confession." Emily asked as they were in the elevator, going up to the floor where their assigned meeting room was.

"Me? Keeping a secret? Pretending like what I have done had never actually happened?" Angela raised an eyebrow.

"It's what I'm best at!" She added with a smirk.

Emily already knew that about her. It was astonishing how good Emily was at profiling and it was also quite disturbing how good Angela was at denial. It did not seem to bother her even the tiniest bit. And yet, somehow, Emily could feel the pain that Angela was hiding deep down inside of her, ever since she had first laid eyes on her.

"Remember that denial is an amazing technique…but it can consume you in the long term. I would know. I've been where you are. I get it, all of it. This is all I'm going to say." Emily said quickly before they walked out of the elevator.

She knew her words would make Angela feel uncomfortable, but she also knew that the time would come when Angela's little imaginary bubble of happiness would burst and the girl would need someone to hold on to, someone who understood, someone who knew how it felt to finally come back to the harsh truth, to the reality you've been trying to run away from for so long.

Her biggest fear was that when that time would come and when Angela would inevitably find herself alone, scared and unable to get herself out of that confusing new state of mind; she would not go to Emily for advice. Selfishly, Emily considered herself the perfect person – the only person, who could help Angela fight whatever daemons were brewing inside of her.

Emily shot Angela a glance when she heard her chuckle. It was a mechanism for when someone was under pressure and it was something Emily had found herself do on multiple occasions, as well.

"You know, when you speak to me like that, I kind of wish I had given you my 'always and forever'." Angie said honestly, her words connecting to a very touchy topic from her past – a moment in which she had promised someone her unconditional love, for eternity, and she had wanted nothing in return, but the very same thing. That person had failed her. However, the person she was following around this week didn't seem like the kind of person who would fail her. Angie wished she had gotten to know this new person years ago. Maybe then her life would have been different. Maybe everything would have been different. Maybe she could have been happy, without having to fake it.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello everyone :)! Here's your weekly update - a looong chapter for you to (hopefully) enjoy! Have a great week!

"rmpcmfan" Yeah, Angie found a fun soul to connect to, in Luke. And she sure does loooooove a good time (said in the most platonic and pure of ways). Also, apparently what happened that night was not just a pizza slice and an escape room, lol, but Angie doesn't like to share things unless asked by Emily, directly, LOL! Yes, Angie is VERY well traveled and it's only about to get more obvious. She's super hush-hush about it, though, and also about her upbringing, languages and other things she knows or can do. It's funny you say she sounds like Emily...in a way they really do sound similar, but in other ways they are very different. As for Richard - I want to give him a hug...but I know he wants it from "Lauren" and nobody else! His patience surprises even me and I have created him, LOL! Hmm, you believe Richard knows more about "Lauren" than he leads on? It's an interesting theory, I always encourage readers to have a theory and to try to find clues to support it. Hints will soon be everywhere and if you have the right theory, everything will make perfect sense PS: Nope, Richard won't need to wait too long *wink wink*! People's patience will be rewarded, hopefully in a way the readers will like (I cried writing a certain scene...and then I re-read it about a thousand times...yay!)

"sweetkid45" I feel like people don't think Will was right for JJ. I don't really have an opinion on it, because we have always seen JJ have a happy home life... However, if he was on the show more then maybe people would warm up to him. I dunno. Richard is going to be a very important person in the story...you will soon know what will happen with him!