The next few days were a blur, Fiona's services had been on Friday and it took a lot out of everyone, especially Emily. The entire team came, but JJ had asked them if they could do a 'housewarming' party at another time which everyone had agreed to, so nobody came over after. Emily had wanted to get their house sorted out to keep her mind busy, so that's what they did. Today was Sunday: JJ and Emily had spent the majority of the morning curled up on the couch with Lily and the elder Jareau's and Prentiss's.
They had set a solid plan in place for Lily seeing as they were heading back to work the next day. The Jareau's had extended their trip for an extra week to help them get into a bit of a routine which JJ was excited about. They would be staying with Lily and the Prentiss's had agreed they would come over as well, even if it was just to bring lunches or dinners and after they had gone home, Gerald and Elizabeth would be in charge of Lily. If the girls got called away on a case, they'd be more than willing to stay over but Emily had her concerns. Hotch, Hayley and Jack were going to come over during the week if they didn't get a case and Emily was going to talk to Hayley; they had plenty of bedrooms and already had a playroom in the works. Emily was also considering talking to Mel about things considering they lived out back, but she didn't want to pawn Lily off on her. For now, they'd have to make do with her parents.
That night, JJ was watching Emily get ready for bed, she couldn't believe she'd married the hottest woman in the world. She was still in awe this was now her life; the girl, the house, the baby. I'm so lucky.
JJ wanted to make Emily feel good before they went to work the next day however, didn't know if she'd be in the mood for anything. So she treaded lightly.
"I've had the most magical time with you these past three weeks, I can't believe it's coming to an end." Emily turned to look at JJ as she spoke, "I've missed watching you taking perps down," Emily laughed, "I'm serious, it really turns me on. I'm getting wet thinking about it." JJ winked at Emily, hoping she wasn't pushing her luck.
"Do you want to know a little secret?" JJ nodded, "Do you remember when we had to interrogate Malcolm Ford and he you told him to keep quiet until you gave him permission to talk?"
"How could I forget, that guy got on my last nerve. Thinking he could order women around; he was a fucking misogynistic pig," JJ let out a steady breath, calming her nerves at the memory of the vile man.
"The way you spoke to him, commanding him, proving he couldn't order you around like any of the other women he was with, it was seriously hot Jen. Like soaked panties hot. I got myself off that night just at the thought of you being so demanding and strong, wishing it was me you were bossing around." Emily ducked her head, not knowing whether to be slightly ashamed at the fantasy she'd had, thinking back to that night. It was one of the first cases she had worked before JJ and her had started seeing each other.
JJ's eyes went wide at the admission, picturing the brunette writhing under her fingers, all because of her. It was her turn to groan, "Babe, just the thought of you getting off because of me makes me so hot, if only I'd known it had the effect on you then—" she reveled in the idea of potentially getting Emily off in the future with her bold and bossy interrogation techniques. Damn, that case was one of the first Emily had worked. Should I tell her how I got myself off just by thinking about her after the first day we met?
"Don't get any ideas Jareau," Emily warned, "besides it was just one of the many times I'd had to sort myself out thanks to something you had done at work." Emily smiled, feeling JJ's arms tighten around her waist.
"It's Prentiss to you," Emily laughed, realizing technically she was right. "Well, I'm glad I had that effect on you. I had my own fantasies I'll have you know." JJ winked at the brunette.
JJ had zoned out and Emily sat watching her eyes change from a dwindling desire to full blown arousal, she was almost dripping at the sight. She wondered what the hell JJ was watching behind those ocean blue eyes, hoping one day she would find out.
"Jen?" she spoke softly, not trying to startle the blonde.
JJ snapped out of her gaze, hearing how husky Emily's voice had become. She chuckled to herself before answering, "All good baby, I got lost in my thoughts about a dream I had about you." she replied sweetly, trying to hide her blazing arousal.
"Tell me what you were thinking about," Emily's voice laced with arousal.
JJ was instantly on top of Emily as soon as she pulled the covers over her waist, the silk of her nightdress pushed up so she could feel the moisture between JJ's legs as she settled on her stomach.
An hour and a half later the couple laid there panting, "I love you so much, Jen."
"I love you too, babe."
The two women woke bright and early, showering and moving around each other as they both got ready for work. Allen and Sandy watched with smiles on their faces, seeing the little song and dance their daughters had. Between feeding Lily and themselves, then strapping on their guns and badges, grabbing their travel mugs and go-bags, it was very well orchestrated.
After an emotional goodbye, Emily and JJ were out the door.
"Good morning everyone, hope you are all rested. Emily, JJ welcome back, I wish you had some more time to settle back in but we are jumping right in the deep end with the next case." Hotch spoke confidently, "Garcia, what have we got?" he asked the bubbly blonde shuffling on her feet in front of the screen. She passed out the case files to each team member and began.
"My fine furry friends, it's not good let's just say that. There have been 12 rape cases in San Antonio, Texas. All the same, each woman had been out for a night on the town with a few friends and it was like any other normal night out until they had been approached by a man offering rounds of drinks. None of them had accepted in this case, but the victims ended up separated from their group and assumed they had gone home. Each woman was found the next morning, outside in the street, all had sedatives in their systems which can only be assumed to have been slipped into their systems as no needles marks were found. All victims were found alive up until last week when they found Maddison Hale beaten to death with a blunt object. They're fairly certain it's the same guy, but they need help trying to catch this sleaze-ball. That's where you guys come in," Garcia revealed, sounding slightly disgusted at the words leaving her mouth.
"Wheels up in 30," Hotch nodded and left the room. JJ looked at Emily, a sad look in her eyes. She knew Emily wasn't okay and she was really hoping to not have to leave Lily, but they didn't have a choice.
As everyone else left, JJ walked over to Emily. "It's going to be okay, babe. Let's go call my parents and yours," JJ just squeezed the brunette's hand then they got up together to make the phone calls.
It was a 4-hour flight to San Antonio so the team sat around and worked on a preliminary profile from the information they currently had. The unsub was targeting Caucasian brunette women between the age of 25-30, all victims were single, whether this was a factor he had been focusing on or not was unknown to the team at this point. They all had college educations, but none had attended the same college at the same time as any other victim, Garcia had determined there was no link between any of the woman as far but requested some more time to dig a little deeper into their lives.
"They all look pretty similar, meaning he obviously has a type. From victim statements, he sounds like a power-assertive rapist trying to humiliate his victims by leaving them in public places with their clothing ripped from their bodies. He's obviously sedating them because they turn him down initially. 4 of the victims were heavily subdued but still remember some details of the attack, we will have the victim statements when we get to the SAPD precinct. He was careful enough to use protection, the rape kits didn't turn up any DNA evidence whatsoever. Then there's Maddison Hale, she was killed due to blunt force trauma to her skull, it was instantaneous." Hotch revealed.
"I think it's safe to say that he is attacking women to restore self-confidence or as a confirmation of manhood. He likes to be in control, hence why he is spiking their drinks with sedatives. Power-assertive rapists are usually aggressive in everyday life, he probably has a high-ranking job, possibly ex-military or we could even be looking at police force. He's running in seven-to-ten-day cycles, meaning we are coming into this right in the middle of when he could attack again," said Derek.
"The SAPD are thin on the ground, otherwise they would be patrolling the bars in his area. Reid, you can start to work on the geographic profile when we arrive at the precinct. Morgan and Prentiss, you go and visit the parents of Maddison Hale and see if you can find out anything we haven't got so far. JJ, we need to work a press release, this is starting to get out to the public and we need to make people aware. Rossi and I will review victim statements. We will need to speak to all of them and see if there are any inconsistencies. Get some rest, we are going to hit the ground running." Hotch finished before heading into the kitchen to make himself a coffee.
Emily, JJ, Spencer and Derek all sat at one table reviewing their files. Emily felt a warm hand creep across to her thigh, looking over at JJ and smiling warmly. That was JJ's way of reassuring the brunette that she was there if she needed anything. Emily dove back into the file, rereading a section that had been bugging her slightly.
"Why would he rape eleven women and leave them alive only to go and kill the twelfth. Something must have happened to trigger that escalation. While the other women were beaten pretty badly, Maddison's attack was overkill, the M.E. report said that the entire left side of her skull was shattered. Did she have any defensive wounds on her?" Emily mused, picking at her fingernails as she spoke.
"She had extensive bruising around her neck, throat, and around her wrists. She also had three broken ribs, signs of internal bleeding and severe sexual trauma. He was more brutal with Maddison than any of the other victims, she could've resisted and tried to fight him. It would explain the sudden escalation to murder." Spencer reeled off the facts from the report, frowning at the thought of the young woman fighting for her life against this man.
Emily let her head fall back against her seat, feeling slightly defeated. She felt awful that this many women have suffered at the hands of this evil man, silently hoping they would be able to work up a full profile and start hunting the bastard down as soon as possible. JJ was re-reading notes from the file, making sure they were etched in her brain so she could begin her statement for the media, giving Emily's thigh a squeeze as she focused on the task at hand.
The team arrived at the SAPD precinct just after 1pm before going on with the tasks Hotch set them to do. Emily and Morgan didn't have much luck with Maddison's parents, they were distraught about their daughter's death and couldn't give much information to help the case. She was an intelligent young woman who had big dreams for a successful career as a lawyer with a big firm in the city.
"All of these women had incredibly high expectations of themselves for their futures. Doctors, lawyers, a trainee pilot for an airline, a marketing manager and even an engineer. These are all male dominating jobs. Surely this is too much of a coincidence, could he be targeting these women because of their choices in career?" Derek shook his head in annoyance.
"It honestly wouldn't surprise me, but it only means that he's smarter than we thought he was." Emily sighed at the revelation. "We should head back and see what the others have got so far," she finished, moving towards their vehicle.
Hotch and Rossi spent the afternoon flicking through victim statements before pulling two women in for further discussion. The first was Alex Sinclair, she had been the unsubs first victim. After doing a cognitive interview, they had managed to get a decent description of her attacker and had a sketch artist sit with her before she left.
Their second interview was with Macy Briggs. She opened up, including some information about what she heard the unsub had spoken to her whilst he assaulted her, making Rossi's stomach turn at the words. 'Keep your fucking mouth shut or I'll slice your throat open' and 'Do you like that you fucking bitch – I'm going to show you that men rule this world, women are nothing without us'. She couldn't have done anything anyway, the sedatives he'd given her incapacitated her enough that she couldn't move or talk. She had no way to fight.
JJ had written her statement for the press, a light warning to any single brunette women that they should be alert if attending any bars in a specific radius Reid had helped narrow down thanks to his geographic profile. Once Emily and Derek arrived back, the team sat down and began to compile their profile on the unsub.
"We are looking for a white male between the ages of 30 and 40. He is most likely ex-military, dishonorably discharged. He is a power-assertive rapist and showing hints of anger-excitation. He will be targeting these women with the desire to emotionally and physically traumatize them, asserting his dominance as a male. He could potentially have been outranked in his previous or current job by a woman, or even gone through a separation in which the woman decided to leave. He is most likely insecure but will come across as if he has no self-doubt, he will be aggressive and confident. He could potentially have a record, domestic violence, drug abuse or assault charges." Emily said with JJ watching in awe, impressed that she had taken the lead with the task seeing everything she had been through in the last week.
"Baby girl, did you get all of that?" Derek chimed in.
"Yeah, I've got my babies running all the parameters now, hopefully won't be a long list of potential suspects. I'll let you know when I've got something." She babbled, hearing the clacking of keys in the background of the call before she hung up.
"Okay team, I suggest we take a break before relaying the profile to the officers, and then we will call it a night. We have patrols on the bars he's hit most this evening so we will get a call if anything happens." Hotch nodded as he dismissed them.
"How you holding up baby?" JJ walked over to Emily, offering a warm smile.
"I'm okay Jen, I'll be glad when we've caught the bastard," she smiled back.
"Won't we all. Hopefully nothing will happen tonight, we can get a decent night's sleep and Garcia will have a short list for us in the morning."
"Thank you for checking in on me, Jen."
"Always babe, I love you."
"I love you too," Emily said, moving away to get the pair a cup of coffee each.
The team found themselves settling in their rooms for the night and Emily sat on the bed, lost in thought. "I miss our baby," she said, tears welling in her eyes.
"I know, honey. I do too. But we will be home in no time, okay?" JJ stood in front of Emily, helping her get undressed and changed into pjs.
"I didn't think our first case back would be so full on. I feel awful for those women, I can't imagine how those parents must feel." Emily stared up at the ceiling of the hotel room.
"Baby, Lily is home and safe. We will always keep her safe. And we will find this bastard bringing their families some justice. We are going to get him and go home, I promise." JJ reassured Emily the best she could. She could only imagine how difficult it was for Emily, losing Fiona and trying to figure out the best plan for their daughter. Of course she was helping in the process, but it was something Emily took the lead on.
"I love you Jen," Emily averted her eyes back to her wife, placing a gentle kiss to the silky hair brushing against the skin of her chest.
"I love you too, babe," JJ smiled at the kiss, slowly falling asleep wrapped in her wife's arms.
"It's your lucky day folks, nothing happened last night, and I have a two potential subjects. I spent all night sorting through many, many men and these are the ones that fit the profile almost perfectly. I'll ping them through now! Garcia out." Garcia clearly hyped up on caffeine ended the call and JJ had to stifle a laugh at the tone of her best friend's voice.
"Morgan, Prentiss and JJ, you take Joseph Hartley. Rossi, Reid and I will take Kieran Ray. Approach with caution, if they fit the profile like Garcia said we don't know how they are going to react to feds turning up on their turf. Wear your vests and for god sakes be careful." The fact that Hotch had to mention being cautious put them all on edge.
They went their separate ways to their suspects' residences; Hotch, Rossi and Reid interviewed Mr. Ray and discovered that he had been out of town for at least six of the twelve attacks, determining he could possibly not be the unsub. They left his house and made their way over to assist Morgan, Prentiss and JJ.
Emily nervously tapped the steering wheel as they got closer to Hartley's house. "This guy was Delta Force, if it is him, it would explain the sudden escalation if he experienced trauma whilst deployed. He could have PTSD with psychotic symptoms; while it wasn't in the profile, we can't completely rule out the possibility. His service record was sealed, not even Garcia could get into it, so we have no idea why he was dishonorably discharged."
"Delta Force? Those guys are involved in some high stress situations, it's mostly counter terrorism, right?" Derek shook his head in disbelief.
"Yep." Emily let out a deep breath, the GPS saying they were less than five minutes away from their destination.
They pulled into the driveway of Hartley's property, taking in the surroundings as they all silently mentally prepared themselves for what could potentially go down. Derek was the first to leave, closely followed by the two women. He knocked on the front door, waiting patiently for an answer. The trio crowded around the door in wait, hearing a glass smashing from inside. They all withdrew their weapons from holsters, readying themselves to enter the building.
"Morgan, do the honors," Emily nodded towards the door and stepped out of the way to see his foot planting firming in the center, sending the door flying open and crashing into the wall behind it. They piled into the now empty room, weapons raised as they began to clear the house. Living room was empty, as was the dining room and kitchen. Derek took the lead and slowly made his way up the staircase to clear the upper level, Emily and JJ following him closely.
He ducked down one hallway with JJ, leaving Emily to seek out the master bedroom and bathroom. She felt her stomach drop when she placed her hand on the handle to open the door, she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. She glanced backwards down the hallway and not seeing her partners she turned her attention back to the closed door.
Pushing the handle down slowly trying to make as little noise as possible, Emily saw a flash, and everything went blurry. The last thing she felt was her body hit the floor with unrelenting force.