"You saw JJ, do you really think this is a good idea Hotch?" Morgan asked.
"Once we give her some time to talk to Emily, she'll come around. Emily won't want a serial killer targeting lesbians living where her family lives. She will calm JJ down and in the meantime, we are going to get their cover stories set as well as ours."
"Ours?" Garcia questioned.
"Garcia and Morgan you're going to move in next week and begin establishing yourselves in the community. Morgan we're setting you up in residential construction—Garcia you'll work from home in a telecommuting position as an IT developer. You'll have access to all your equipment and a few new items as well."
"What about Emily and JJ? We don't even know if this will happen, you saw Jayje. And yeah, I agree Emily won't want a serial killer living near them but this involves their children and I'm not so sure they will—"
"JJ will come around, are we clear?" Hotch snapped.
Everyone was taken back and no one wanted to be next to speak. Rossi broke the silence. "Emily has years of experience in the CIA and FBI to fall back on, she will protect JJ and the girls. What are their cover stories going to be?"
"Emily will be a Wall Street whiz, retired early after making a killing in the market. Now she's a freelance consultant at a small Fortune 500. In reality, she can continue running her own company. JJ will be a stay-at-home mom essentially with Emily because during this time I'm sure Emily will let her father take back duties to focus solely on her wife and girls. JJ will be an author of children's books."
"An author?" Garcia piped up, then covered her mouth in fear.
"An author. We'll print out whatever she needs to cause a messy desk with ideas, but she will just be with the girls."
"Where exactly did the last team fall apart?" Tara asked.
"I'm going to call Strauss back in here to talk to us about that once we get JJ back in here. Rossi, can you go check on her?"
"Why am I the middle man?" After one look from Hotch, Rossi stood up and left the room to find JJ shaking his head.
"Hello?"
"Babe it's me."
"Oh Jen, sorry I didn't check the caller ID. What's wrong honey?"
"Besides the fact I want to quit the FBI effective immediately?"
"Jen, what is going on?"
"Strauss wants you to come back to go undercover with me—"
"She what?" Emily interrupted, now standing up from her office chair and pacing around.
"Oh just wait Em, it gets worse. She wants us to bring the kids too, to really sell it."
"What's the assignment?"
"Lesbians are being targeted in our area—"
"Wait, near Quantico or home?"
"Fairfax," JJ said, hearing Emily gasp, "they've already sent two couples undercover and they're dead now."
"Do they know how he's getting to them? What are the details?"
"I don't know, Em! I freaked out and screamed at Strauss then walked out. How are you even considering this right now…what about our girls? Did you forget about them and decide to jump right back in?"
"Are you kidding me, Jen? I always put our family first, don't you ever doubt my ability to protect our family!" Emily was getting angry now, how dare she think I'm just going to jump back into the FBI for a case and not think about our girls. "But you're missing the big picture here, there is a serial killer targeting families like ours in Fairfax! Do I want to be the one to go undercover? No. However, I'm thinking about our family and we know we're the best—we have our own family to protect."
JJ immediately felt terrible after accusing Emily of not thinking about their family, she knows her wife does everything and anything for them. "I'm sorry."
"You should be! I don't like it either Jen, but telling me I don't put our girls first, that hurts."
"I shouldn't have said that, I'm just so overwhelmed. I'm so afraid of traumatizing our girls, of causing them unnecessary harm, especially Amelia."
"You should have said that, Jen. We already have two serial killers possibly watching us at all times. We know Doyle could escape at any time and that means not only is Lily in danger, but our family too. Then we have Palmer and I know, we have no way of knowing he could come after us, but it's possible. So I go through this each and every day, constantly worrying about protecting our family at all costs."
"Em, I didn't—now I feel like an ass. I don't even think of those things…"
"I'm not trying to make you feel badly, Jen. But this is my reality, these are the things I think about every day. You don't know this because I didn't want to give you any other reason to blame yourself or stress, but Amelia still has her detail everywhere she goes to protect her from Palmer."
"She does?"
"Yes Jen, she does. You know I'll do anything to protect our family, but I can only be so many places at once. Now please, can you go back into the conference room with everyone and put me on speaker so I can hear about this case? I'd prefer to not look over my shoulder any more than I already do. This is the job, Jen. We both know being a couple already can sell it and if I had to guess, the other pairs failed because they weren't together. Calling spouses, possibly meeting them while on the case—that's what screws undercovers up."
"You're right, and I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, babe. We won't let anything happen to our children and we will get this psycho."
Rossi figured JJ would be in her old office, and he was right. Knock knock.
"Em, someone is at the door. Do you want me to call you back?"
"No, I'd put money on it being Rossi, let him in."
JJ stood up and opened the door to find Rossi, "Hey Rossi, I'm talking to Emily," she put the call on speaker. "Em, you're on speaker."
"Hey Rossi," she said.
"Hey kid, how are my nieces?"
"Lily is taking a nap and the girls are at playdates. I was talking to Jen, we will do it. Can you back her up with Strauss though? We're going to need full support and when our girls are at play, emotions run high."
"Anything kiddo, Uncle Dave will always be there for his family," he winked at JJ.
Rossi, JJ and Emily who was still on the phone entered back into the conference room to find Strauss already there. JJ kept the scowl on her face when looking at the witch, but let it fall when looking at her team.
"Okay, as Tara asked before, where exactly did the last teams fall apart?" Rossi asked.
"We believe the unsub had the couples under constant surveillance. While we paired the women up into couples and told them what to do, we weren't explicit enough in our instructions. The women would hold hands in public and be semi-affectionate with each other, but once back at the houses they slept in separate rooms, called lovers and spouses back home and would meet up with them late at night." JJ gasped listening to Strauss, quickly covering her mouth, Emily was dead on.
"For the mission to work, we need lovers in every sense of the word, which shouldn't be hard for Agent Jareau and Emily. This unsub likes butch brunettes and femme blondes, and he targets women that assume breadwinner roles while the other woman works in the home."
"And what type of cover do you have for us that reflects what you're trying to sell here?" Emily questioned through the phone.
"Prentiss your cover will be a Wall Street whiz, retired early after making a killing in the market. Now you're a freelance consultant at a small Fortune 500. In reality, you can continue running your company. JJ will be a stay-at-home mom essentially with Emily but also to work as a children's book author."
"I'm not completely sold on this cover, if we're both working from home how will the unsub know we're actually there? You said he targets a breadwinner; he won't know we even work if we're home all day." Emily said, rolling her eyes knowing the team couldn't see her.
"You will integrate into the community, take walks with your kids to the local park, go out as a family, anything you'd normally do together in the summer. I also suggest going to the local lesbian bars and coffeehouses, you can leave the kids at home for that."
"Garcia and Morgan are moving in across the street from you both and they will keep watch for anything out of place. Emily we look enough alike for us to be siblings and I can watch the girls during these outings," Hotch added to what Strauss said.
Emily still wasn't sold and knew Amelia wouldn't like being alone with Hotch. She also didn't want to add Hayley to their undercover work as she had no experience. "Will all due respect Hotch, our girls wouldn't want to be alone with you for the night, especially Amelia. They've never been alone with you without Hayley," JJ said, almost reading Emily's mind.
"What if we sent Agent Lewis in as a nanny?" Strauss said, causing heads to turn.
"How about we get a house for us that's big enough for my mother to help with the girls, Tara is going to need to help the team and she can't do that while worrying about our girls all night," Emily suggested knowing her mother would have extra details for the house in minutes. They had absolutely nothing against Tara, the girls loved her, but for Strauss to suggest it…not okay.
Strauss knew she wasn't going to win especially with the Prentiss family, "Fine. Aaron make it happen."
Just then, everyone heard Lily through the baby monitor, "Guys I've gotta go the baby is awake. How about you all come over and we can get everything squared away."
"I think that's a good idea, Emily. I'm going to let JJ go home now, we will all be over around 6 if that's okay."
"Perfect," Emily said before hanging up her phone.
"Babe, I'm home!" JJ said, walking through the door. She didn't hear anything and assumed Emily must be in the playroom with Lily. When she couldn't find anyone, JJ started searching the house. Finally she found her wife snuggled up in bed with Lily who was watching a cartoon, visibly upset. "Hi," she said softly.
"Momma home!" Lily said, crawling down to the bottom of the bed before letting JJ pick her up. "Hi bug, did you have a good nap? Oh, you feel warm. Do you feel icky baby?"
"Mommy div me mecine, baby ip," Lily said, snuggling into JJ's chest.
"Mommy gave you medicine, baby? How about we all snuggle up together before I go pick up your sisters."
Emily barely wanted to meet JJ's eyes. She always kept her feelings compartmentalized in front of the girls, but with it just being Lily who was too little to understand, she was having trouble.
Lily was so focused on the tv she didn't realize her mothers were talking, "What's wrong with this little one?"
"Cold. She's been sniffling, coughing and has watery eyes. I gave her Tylenol when she woke up from her nap around 2:00, I'm going to go get the girls and then take them out to pick up some things for tonight. Can you give her more Tylenol even if her fever breaks?"
"Yeah, absolutely but wait Em, I shouldn't have said what I did. I was just—"
Emily put her hand up, "I know but it doesn't make me feel better. It doesn't negate the fact you said it. If you want anything special text me, I love you."
"I love you too, babe."
Emily was deep in thought while driving to pick up the girls. How am I going to keep my girls and my wife safe while catching a serial killer? And my mother! I'll get daddy to take over the responsibilities for the company, he'll do it without any question. That way I'll be able to focus on protecting my family. She was taken out of her thoughts as she knocked on the door and Tracy answered, "Hey Emily, how are you?"
"Hey Tracy, I'm good, how are you? How was Oakley?"
"A perfect little angel, we love having her here. Olivia talks about Oakley all the time."
"Aww, we hear all about Olivia at our house too. Thank you so much for taking her, we'll host the next playdate."
"Sounds great, Olivia was telling Adam and I all about the pool you have and—"
"Mommy!" Oakley said, throwing herself into Emily's arms. "Hey baby, did you have fun?"
"Mhm. Livia has the same doll as me mommy. Can she come pway at my house?"
Emily smiled at her daughter, "Yes baby, next time. Can you say thank you to Ms. Tracy?"
"Tank you Ms. Twice, bye Livia love you."
"Love you too Oakwee."
"Hey James," Emily said when he opened the door.
"Hey Emily, hi Oakley, please come in. The girls are in the backyard playing, I'll go get them."
"Amelia honey, your mother is here."
"Mommy!" she screamed, running up to her mother and sister. "Hi Oakley, did you have fun at Olivia's?"
Emily lived for moments like these; seeing her daughters interact and tell each other about their days, it almost made her forget all the stress in her life.
While the girls were in the playroom with Emily's parents, the team sat down to talk about the case. "So far we know there's a pyscho killing women in Fairfax and let me tell you campers, he is letting his freak flag fly sky high." Garcia said, signaling the screen. She had set up her laptop to project on the tv in the game room making sure they were far away from the children's eyes and ears.
"As the evil witch of the BAU shared he tends to fixate on butch brunettes and femme blondes. All the women, so far, have been couples where the butch is the money maker while the femme doesn't work or works from home in a menial position. It seems as if it doesn't matter to the unsub whether they have children or not, they are never harmed in any way. As She-who-can't-be-named pointed out, SSA Johnson's team was on rotation when this particular bit of ick came our way, and he lost two good agents to the unsub. They were the only victims that had the word liar carved into their foreheads. The rest of the women were tortured, raped and had their hearts removed while still alive. The women were found in their beds, posed postmortem in various sexual positions and if this puppy wasn't sick enough, the hearts have never been recovered."
"Reid let's start working a geographical profile, Fairfax isn't a big town so how is this unsub able to carry out these homicides without being seen? Morgan work on victimology, see if their lives intersected in anyway. Rossi and I will go through the police reports looking for anything that might have been missed. JJ and Emily, I'm not sure how you want to tell your girls and parents so that will be your job for now. JJ you're going to need to inform your family as well—I'm not going to force you to give up contact with them but they won't be able to visit until this case is solved." Hotch said, a slight frown on his face considering its summer and he knew the Jareau's' had planned on visiting a few times.
"We will talk to them once we know a little more about the case, I don't want them under unnecessary stress until we have more," Emily said to Hotch, not meeting JJ's eyes. The team could sense there was tension between the normally happy couple, but knew they'd work it out in their own time. Or, Garcia would intervene at some point.
"Absolutely. JJ, I don't want to see you in the office tomorrow. Is it okay if we meet here again tomorrow after work?"
"Yes." As soon as JJ answered, Emily had left the room to go check on the girls. She needed some time and Lily being sick was the perfect excuse.
"You okay peaches?" Garcia said, placing her hand on JJ's back.
"No, I really messed up Pen. I don't know what I'm going to do to fix this."
"It can't be that bad, Jayje. You two are the perfect couple. You've been through so much together, there isn't anything you two can't work out."
"Pen, this is different. I basically told her, what I said to her," JJ said, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Jayje, come on, sit with me," Garcia brought JJ over to the couch and sat her down. "What did you say to our raven-haired beauty?"
"That she was running back to the job and forgetting about the safety of our children…" JJ said softly, hearing Garcia gasp. "I told you Pen, I fucked up everything."
"Why would you? What were you…Jayje I love you, you're my best friend but that's messed up. Em does everything to protect you and the girls, she gave up her dream job to grow your family, Jayje."
"I know!" JJ exclaimed. "I know," she whispered.
"I get you're upset with the case and afraid but Em is your wife. Be mad at the evil witch, be mad at all of us, not Em. You need to talk to her, tell her, I really don't even know what to say Jayje."
"I need to talk to Em…I'm not sure she'll want to talk to me though. Lily is sick and the girls have been attached to her hip all day long. It's like they know I fucked up."
"Jayje they are kids, they don't know anything that happens between their mommies. We both know Lily gets clingy to Emily when she's sick. After they go to bed, talk to your wife."
Emily had a hard time putting the girls down that night; not because they didn't each fall asleep but because she didn't want to leave their side. Emily was so tempted to stay in Amelia's bed, she was curled up against her chest and was so peaceful. "I love you sweet girl, so much. I'll always protect you, baby," Emily whispered, running her fingers through Amelia's hair. "Mommy loves you, your sisters and your momma so much, more than anything. I'll always keep you safe."
JJ was listening to Emily from the doorway of Amelia's bedroom, "Em? Are you coming to bed?"
"In a minute."
When Emily walked into their bedroom JJ was already tucked into bed reading over the case file. It wasn't until Emily got into bed that she put it down, "Em, I'm so sorry."
"Why Jen? Why would you say that?" Emily almost whispered.
"I was afraid and I was so mad at Strauss. Then I called you and I don't know—it just, you were so ready to jump back into work. It seemed like you wanted to give up working from home and catch serial killers again. I know that's not what you were thinking, but that's where my mind went. I should have never said what I did, I know you care for our girls and would do anything to protect them. I was stupid."
"I understand being mad and I'm doing everything I can to try and see things from your point of view but telling me I don't care about our children…that's a low blow Jen. I willingly gave up my dream job to grow our family because it's what we wanted. I love staying home with the girls, why would I jump back into work?"
"I know, babe. I'm so sorry, I really am. I never knew you had a security detail for Amelia in case of Palmer showing back up and I didn't even think of Doyle. I guess I, I just wasn't thinking."
"Jen there are a lot of things you don't know about that I do to protect our family. If you knew all of them, you'd probably think I was crazy. You'd always be worrying and you have a job to do. There's no reason for you to worry about everything going on at home all the time, that's why I do it for both of us."
"What else do you have set up?" She could see the wheels turning in her wife's eyes, "Please Em, I just want to know."
"Amelia has a detail wherever she goes, school, soccer, dance, even playdates. The two guards by the gate in our neighborhood are hired agents not security officers. I had cameras installed outside the gate to warn me if anyone approaches the house before they get through; I typically only use them when you're away on a case or if the girls are playing in the backyard. The cameras around the house, inside and outside in the property have all been upgraded to the same ones the Quantico building uses. Should I continue?"
JJ's eyes were wide, and her jaw dropped open, "You did, how long, when did?"
"Jen I told you, family always comes first. You have no reason to know all of these small details in our everyday lives because you don't need the added stress of the worrying I do. I know our life isn't the most conventional with serial killers seeming to jump in and out of it, the added safety measures in place, and the girls aunts and uncles all working for the FBI but I wouldn't want it any other way. Of course I'd rather know Doyle and Palmer are dead, but we can't control that. So, I did the best next thing to ensure the safety of the girls and you."
"I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry, babe."
"I forgive you, I won't forget it though. Please, please never question my love for our family ever again."
"I promise."
When the team showed up the next day nobody looked happy. "We're getting nowhere with this; the unsub is all over the map. No particular taste in women except that the more masculine brunette women seem to trigger him. No particular height, weight or eye color enticements. I can understand why Johnson's team was frustrated."
"We have a partial geographical map," Reid added. "It isn't complete, but at least we know where he likes to hunt. We also know all the couples purchased their homes, it could mean the unsub is a realtor or perhaps works in a title company."
Hotch nodded at Reid's assessment. "True. Garcia and Morgan you'll need to prepare to move once Emily and JJ purchase a house."
"When are we supposed to begin that part of the assignment?" Emily asked. She was standing by the map full of sticker flags and circles Reid had used. "Are we limited to finding a place within this circle?" she indicated the area outlined in red.
"It would be best if you could find something in the area. I realize you live on the edge of the circle, but we obviously don't want you using your house no matter how much security we can set up. Reid has been looking at housing available in the general vicinity, he can give you the listings. While Strauss wanted you to wait three weeks, I'm sure we can move the dates because I know you have plans with your girls this summer and I'd rather get this son of a bitch off the street as soon as possible."
"You're right, we don't want anyone else knowing where we live. We need to get the ball rolling, the less disruption there is to the girls lives the better. Amelia isn't going to enjoy being away from her friends especially during the summer," Emily said, her mind already thinking about adding more details to their house now knowing the serial killer hunts literally in their area.
"Strauss has pulled us from the rotation for the duration of your assignment so in the next weeks or so it takes us to find a house and get settled in, stay home with your girls and enjoy the summer."
"This calls for a party!" Morgan announced, "I say we have a pool party at the Prentiss residence!"
Emily and JJ both rolled their eyes, "I'm not cooking anything, bring whatever food and drinks you want."
"Yes mom," he said, sticking his tongue out at Emily.
"I'm too pretty to be your mom," Emily shot back.
When the team assembled around the round table, Garcia pulled up the latest information on the projector and handed the remote to Hotch. "The unsub entered the home of Karen and Diane Melcher at 9pm last night. In a deviation from his normal routine, he shot Diane point blank in the face twice. Karen was found bound to their bed with her heart removed. He didn't take the time to torture these women, nor did he rape either of them. None of the neighbors reported hearing the shots, and nobody saw anyone fleeing the scene."
As he finished cycling through the crime scene photos, he turned the projector off and took a seat. "Reid, Rossi and I will work from here. Morgan and Garcia head to JJ and Emily's house and let them know the new information we have. Their house should almost be ready, I want everything packed and moved for them so they can focus on the girls.
The mantel he thought, trying to decide on the perfect place to display her heart. I want to see this one for a while. She'd fought him and that had excited him more than he'd anticipated. She fought for the little blonde bitch until he had to tie her to the bed. She finally quit when he shot the whimpering little fool and only then could he really begin his fun.
Holding her beating heart in his hands and bathing himself in her blood had been such a rush. He had taken the hearts from the others once they were dead but this one, this one he had to make suffer. The way she stood between him and the blonde like she could protect her, like she was more important than him. He had to teach her a lesson, he had to rip her heart out just like she did to him.
Once he had the jar situated just right, the angle allowing him to view the organ from anywhere in the room, he sat in his favorite char reliving the moment over and over in his mind. The feeling of plunging the knife into the bitch over and over, forcing his fist under her ribcage to grasp her beating heart and then yanking until every tether feeding it blood and holding it in place was severed. Then the exquisite sensation of the organ pulsing in his hand as he held it up to the light streaming in the window.
He relished the memory of the beating slowing beat by beat until the heart was finally still and empty of blood. His erection was immediate and urgent, but he resisted touching himself because that was bad and made him a dirty boy. Dirty boys slept outside in the barn with the animals. He wasn't an animal. Animals wouldn't be able to elude the cops like he'd done. Animals wouldn't be able to clean up a scene and leave no clues. No, he was a smart boy not a stupid boy, not an animal.
As he sat repeating the mantra, 'I'm not an animal, I'm a good boy, a smart boy' over and over again, he neglected to notice that his fists were keeping the beat with the words as they pounded through his head trying to drown out the voice of his mother.