Chapter Text
The BAU had already been in Washington for three days. It was the fourth day and the unsub kept doing his stupid bullshit. By now the whole team was exhausted. There was no connection between victims, not even a pattern. The abduction sites were completely random. The dumping sites were the same. Reid (who had thankfully come back from his assignment) was still working on a geological profile but it was taking ages. It seemed that the unsub was taking people at complete random, setting them up in front of a live stream, and killing them. But that’s not all he was doing. He was giving them an ultimatum. Either tell your darkest secret, or you die. What he always forgets to tell them is that if he deems their secret “not dark enough” he will kill you anyway. And so far that’s what he’s done to all of them. The streams are public which caught the attention of everyone almost immediately. JJ has already handled press but everyone is still scared nonetheless. It also means the unsub knows the BAU is trying to catch him. They’ve interviewed several suspects, done interviews with family and friends of victims, but none of it is leading anywhere. They set a profile but it’s so vague that they’re not sure it’ll do much.
Emily hangs up the phone with Garcia, sighing heavily. Nothing. No leads, no anything. The signals from the live streams are still blocked.
“So until Penelope finds out a way to unblock the tracking, we have no way to figure this out,” Luke sighs.
“Unfortunately,” Tara groans.
“Well, it’s late team, so I say we get some rest for the night and pray that Penelope has some news for us tomorrow,” Emily states, leaning against her hands on the table.
“Sounds like a plan,” Rossi nods. The group begins to dissipate, all heading back to the hotel, but Emily stays behind as JJ packs up her things.
“Hey Jayje,” Emily smiles softly.
“Do you need something Em?” JJ asks.
“Just wanted to check on how you’re holding up,” Emily admits.
“I’m fine Em,” JJ assures but Emily can tell she’s off.
“Jayje, your husband died just a month ago, it’s okay for you to not be fine,” Emily reminds her, laying a hand on JJ’s shoulder. JJ just averts her eyes, staring at the ground.
“Jayje, it’s okay, I promise,” Emily soothes.
“I just wish I could see him again,” JJ mutters.
“I know honey,” Emily sighs, pulling JJ into a hug. JJ begins to cry softly in Emily’s arms, leaning into the woman’s embrace. Emily just holds her there, whispering soothing words in her ear as she lets JJ cry.
After a few minutes, JJ’s sobs lessen and she pulls back from Emily.
“I’m sorry,” JJ mutters, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“You don’t have to feel sorry Jayje,” Emily assures. “You can sob in my arms any time you want for as long as you want. Nothing to feel sorry for.”
“Thanks Emily,” JJ smiles. “We should probably get back to the hotel.”
“Let’s walk together,” Emily nods, wrapping her arm around JJ’s shoulders.
She leads the girl out as they talk about more lighthearted topics. They manage to make their way to the hotel, though their rooms are on different floors. Emily had offered to room with JJ but JJ had of course insisted she was fine. Emily drops JJ off on her floor before staying in the elevator to get to her floor. She had gone up a floor to get JJ to her room so she had to go back down but she didn’t mind. She steps off of the elevator and heads to her room, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She had the key to her room in her phone case for safe keeping. She stops at her door and is about to take the key out of the case when a noise sounds at the end of the hallway the way she had come. She looks up, eyebrows furrowing at the noise. She cranes her neck to look around but sees nothing. That’s when she’s suddenly hit hard on the back of the head, knocking her out cold.
The next morning everyone files into the station as normal. JJ is the last to arrive. She looks around for Emily but doesn’t see her anywhere.
“Where’s Emily?” JJ asks, confused.
“She’s not with you?” Reid asks, looking away from his map.
“No, she isn’t, she’s not here?” JJ questions, worry seeping into her voice.
“Relax guys, maybe she’s just late?” Tyler suggests.
“Emily is never late,” Tara points out.
“Now that seems like an exaggeration,” Tyler scoffs.
“Never in the entire time I’ve known her has Prentiss been late,” Rossi states. “Not since…”
“Since she ‘died’,” Reid mutters.
JJ immediately pulls out her phone, dialing Garcia.
“Gorgeous girl genius Penelope Garcia, speak if you’re worthy,” Garcia coos.
“Garcia, I need you to track Emily’s phone,” JJ states quickly.
“Wait, why, what happened?” Garcia asks, her playful tone fading.
“Just track it!” JJ exclaims loudly.
“Got it!” Penelope nods, typing loudly on her keyboard. “It says that she’s still in her hotel room, are you she isn’t there?”
“I don’t know but it’s where we’re checking first, we’ll keep you updated Garcia,” JJ states, hanging up the call. “Let’s go!”
The team rushes from the room and straight to the hotel. They get there in less than five minutes, storming up to the front desk. They manage to get Emily’s room key, grabbing it and running up the stairs to her floor. JJ leads the team, unable to bear the fear she has brewing in her brain. Suddenly she stops in her tracks right before Emily’s door.
“JJ?” Rossi questions.
“Her phone,” JJ mutters. “It’s right on the floor here.”
Emily’s phone is discarded on the ground in the middle of the hall, right outside her door. The phone case is halfway off, the keycard sticking out from behind it. The team quickly realizes that this is not just Emily not showing up to work. She didn’t even get to her hotel room the night before.