Lead the Way - Chapter 024 - 4x04 - Paradise
Just to remind you guys, the events since the episode chapter 4x03 - MInimal Loss transpired in just one week. I know for us it was longer, but to Emily and JJ only seven days have gone by. Which leads us to a new week and of course a new case. This is October 20th, 2008 and the same "Manic Monday" I told you about yesterday.
Episode 4 of season 4 was written by Erica Messer and Debra J. Fisher. The dialogue from the episode, the Unsub, the whole case and basically everything you've seen on screen is theirs and theirs alone. I only added what I feel is canon anyway. Truth be told, LTW could be called a ship manifesto. Alright, alright, let's get on with it :)
Lead the Way - 024 - 4x04 - Paradise
This morning things had looked grim for Emily Prentiss. Her head felt as though it was about to explode at any given time, her entire body was sore and she vaguely remembered telling JJ to go fuck her detective.
But then, just as she was getting what seemed like her thirtieth cup of coffee, JJ had said something so wonderful and very, very bad at the same time. It had changed everything. Will had left her. She was no longer seeing him. She was no longer going home to him and he was no longer fucking her senseless while Emily was lying awake in her bed every night aching to do the same.
But she had also said that it had been over a month. So that must mean that the kiss in Tyler had actually been a sincere attempt to take their relationship further. Or at least see where it led them. And herein laid the bad news. Emily had rejected JJ. She had physically pushed her away and now she had no idea how to proceed.
She needed to make clear to JJ that she wanted to explore these feelings and take back the rejection. On top of that, Hotch had noticed how this news affected her. Of course he couldn’t know why. He just couldn’t know that she had a crush on the blonde. Maybe he thought she had a crush on Will or something. Yeah, that was probably it. Now tonight, she would come home, relax in her hot tub and come up with a plan to re-approach JJ.
Her plans were changed for her, by the same woman she made them for. Unfortunately not in the sense she had liked.
“Hold up guys!”
JJ came running into the bullpen just as they were about to go home. Emily noticed immediately that JJ looked at her. She smiled inwardly, but she knew it couldn’t be good news.
“Is everything okay?” Apparently JJ’s little plan had worked perfectly. Granted it wasn’t a dinner invitation, but at least the profiler looked at her.
“I’ve been on the phone with the Sheriff in Nevada, there’s been a series of suspicious accidents in the Reno area that may be connected.” JJ decided to neglect to mention that it was her who had made the connection.
“JJ, this can’t wait till morning?” Morgan was exhausted. He had been working all day as they all had. and she could certainly relate to tiredness, but she had seen the pictures of the abused women.
“I don’t think so. If I’m right about this, I think we’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow.” Emily sighed and JJ couldn’t help but think that she even looked gorgeous when she was exhausted.
“Sorry.”
One day…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the briefing Emily focused on the new case. Dead couples were put into cars and placed on the road. Approaching vehicles had run down the cars, staging an accident and the local detective was at a loss on how to proceed. JJ and Garcia had found prior cases and it seemed that the Unsub had been at this for a while. The blonde had been right. They would leave first thing in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the plane, the perfect opportunity to speak to JJ again came up as Emily saw her put headphones on her pregnant belly. Seeing how this didn’t concern work it was much harder to work up the courage to talk. Maybe she had fucked up too badly. She couldn’t muster an entire sentence, only a questioning:
“JJ?”
“So the baby can’t hear,” was her response. JJ too seemed to be unable to form complete sentences. And she smiled.
“What’s he listening too?” Emily got bolder.
“Ah… Beethoven?”
“I preferred Mozart myself. Be careful to limit his exposure to one hour a day. The amniotic fluids have a tendency to amplify sound.” Reid injected himself in the conversation without noticing Emily’s disgruntled look.
“Thanks for the reminder, Doc.” JJ was now positively beaming at Emily.
During the following discussion of the case, Emily noticed that JJ kept looking back at her and found herself doing the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Given the amount of torture and the fact that the abduction took place 48 hours before the actual kill, the team concluded that the Unsub needed privacy.
He most likely owned or worked in one of the 300 hotels and motels in the area. None of the victims had prior reservations in the area and their credit cards showed only withdrawals at gas stations miles away.
Their only option was to canvas the area armed with the profile, and interview as many people as they could before nightfall.
The next morning, before they could give the local police the amended profile, JJ had found another missing couple. They had been missing for over 24 hours. It also meant that half of their prior search was useless.
The profile was detailed and narrow but there were simply too many possible suspects.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently a handyman in one of the hotels and a victim had gone to high school together. Prentiss looked more closely at the couple, trying to figure out if they had any connection with the other victims. While Garcia was cross referencing the victims Emily went through the files again.
The women didn’t match any type, one was a redhead, another a brunette. They didn’t share the same eye color or clothing style. Except… None of them were wearing underwear. Two out of the three wore bras but no underwear. According to her experience this was rather unusual, especially if the woman was wearing jeans.
She dug deeper and found out that these women usually wore underwear since they had all packed it. The fact that the Unsub left them without underwear in their cars ready to be hit by a truck was a sexual component he hadn’t developed over night.
Prentiss called Garcia and had her check for prior rape cases that had gone unsolved. Maybe he had slipped up before this. She didn’t find unsolved cases but she found one rape that didn’t fit the MO of the rapist who was convicted for it.
20 men had been interviewed regarding the rape that the Unsub was responsible for. One of them - Floyd Hanson - owned one of the motels on their list. Hotch had interviewed him, but he had lied so convincingly that the profiler had been fooled.
Quickly the team made its way to the hotel while JJ stayed behind. She wasn’t cleared for this kind of action anymore. Not until she gave birth.
They were able to save the couple but Hanson fled onto the street where he was killed by a truck. Although it wasn’t the outcome they had hoped for, their work in Nevada was done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way back home Reid and Morgan played Gin while Hotch seemed to be silently battling his demons. After all, he had interviewed the Unsub and not seen him for who he was. JJ knew that there was nothing she could do for him now. Some things you had to find out for yourself and deal with by yourself. Realizing that you couldn’t see through everyone and be fooled occasionally definitely fell into this category.
Tired of the day’s events JJ closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to go to their favorite place: Emily’s bedroom. Or at the least what she imagined it would look like. Unaware of the smile on her face, the blonde dressed and undressed her co-worker again and again. She didn’t dare to do anything more than look to her dream-Emily for fear the profilers could read it on her face. After a while she got frustrated for not being able to go further and she opened her eyes.
Emily sat in front of her. Convinced she had fallen asleep, JJ stared at the woman. This was one dream she hadn’t had before. ‘On the plane. Should be interesting.’ Suddenly she didn’t care what the others could see on her sleeping face. It didn’t seem all that relevant anymore.
Her eyes wandered from the dark eyes over the soft lips to the cleavage and she licked her lips in anticipation.
“Hey uhm JJ…” The voice was shaky and questioning. Not like anything her mind had come up before. Dream-Emily was always rather aggressive and promiscuous.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, sitting up. The Emily in front of her was real! And she had just…Oh my!
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” Emily said teasingly.
“No, no… I just… It’s… I was just thinking about the case.” ‘Nice catch’ even in her thought the sarcasm was strikingly evident.
“Yeah…” Emily smiled knowingly. “Listen, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to have dinner or something tomorrow. But if you have plans or, you know, don’t want to… well in case…” Somewhere in there Emily had lost her train of thoughts, and since she didn’t remember if and what she had asked, she started rambling. The profiler could feel her ears turn red. ‘Great job Prentiss! Red ears, smug smile, stupid ramble… really sexy!’
She was almost on her feet, when she heard her whisper: “I’d love to.” Their eyes met. “Have dinner with you, I mean.”
Emily nodded and looked down to her hands. She had been looping them together and quickly she let go. Her heart rushing and her knees weak she still decided she needed to sit somewhere else before she couldn’t resist the urge to touch the blonde. Thankfully Rossi didn’t seem to mind her company.
Episode 4 of season 4 was written by Erica Messer and Debra J. Fisher. The dialogue from the episode, the Unsub, the whole case and basically everything you've seen on screen is theirs and theirs alone. I only added what I feel is canon anyway. Truth be told, LTW could be called a ship manifesto. Alright, alright, let's get on with it :)
Lead the Way - 024 - 4x04 - Paradise
This morning things had looked grim for Emily Prentiss. Her head felt as though it was about to explode at any given time, her entire body was sore and she vaguely remembered telling JJ to go fuck her detective.
But then, just as she was getting what seemed like her thirtieth cup of coffee, JJ had said something so wonderful and very, very bad at the same time. It had changed everything. Will had left her. She was no longer seeing him. She was no longer going home to him and he was no longer fucking her senseless while Emily was lying awake in her bed every night aching to do the same.
But she had also said that it had been over a month. So that must mean that the kiss in Tyler had actually been a sincere attempt to take their relationship further. Or at least see where it led them. And herein laid the bad news. Emily had rejected JJ. She had physically pushed her away and now she had no idea how to proceed.
She needed to make clear to JJ that she wanted to explore these feelings and take back the rejection. On top of that, Hotch had noticed how this news affected her. Of course he couldn’t know why. He just couldn’t know that she had a crush on the blonde. Maybe he thought she had a crush on Will or something. Yeah, that was probably it. Now tonight, she would come home, relax in her hot tub and come up with a plan to re-approach JJ.
Her plans were changed for her, by the same woman she made them for. Unfortunately not in the sense she had liked.
“Hold up guys!”
JJ came running into the bullpen just as they were about to go home. Emily noticed immediately that JJ looked at her. She smiled inwardly, but she knew it couldn’t be good news.
“Is everything okay?” Apparently JJ’s little plan had worked perfectly. Granted it wasn’t a dinner invitation, but at least the profiler looked at her.
“I’ve been on the phone with the Sheriff in Nevada, there’s been a series of suspicious accidents in the Reno area that may be connected.” JJ decided to neglect to mention that it was her who had made the connection.
“JJ, this can’t wait till morning?” Morgan was exhausted. He had been working all day as they all had. and she could certainly relate to tiredness, but she had seen the pictures of the abused women.
“I don’t think so. If I’m right about this, I think we’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow.” Emily sighed and JJ couldn’t help but think that she even looked gorgeous when she was exhausted.
“Sorry.”
One day…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the briefing Emily focused on the new case. Dead couples were put into cars and placed on the road. Approaching vehicles had run down the cars, staging an accident and the local detective was at a loss on how to proceed. JJ and Garcia had found prior cases and it seemed that the Unsub had been at this for a while. The blonde had been right. They would leave first thing in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the plane, the perfect opportunity to speak to JJ again came up as Emily saw her put headphones on her pregnant belly. Seeing how this didn’t concern work it was much harder to work up the courage to talk. Maybe she had fucked up too badly. She couldn’t muster an entire sentence, only a questioning:
“JJ?”
“So the baby can’t hear,” was her response. JJ too seemed to be unable to form complete sentences. And she smiled.
“What’s he listening too?” Emily got bolder.
“Ah… Beethoven?”
“I preferred Mozart myself. Be careful to limit his exposure to one hour a day. The amniotic fluids have a tendency to amplify sound.” Reid injected himself in the conversation without noticing Emily’s disgruntled look.
“Thanks for the reminder, Doc.” JJ was now positively beaming at Emily.
During the following discussion of the case, Emily noticed that JJ kept looking back at her and found herself doing the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Given the amount of torture and the fact that the abduction took place 48 hours before the actual kill, the team concluded that the Unsub needed privacy.
He most likely owned or worked in one of the 300 hotels and motels in the area. None of the victims had prior reservations in the area and their credit cards showed only withdrawals at gas stations miles away.
Their only option was to canvas the area armed with the profile, and interview as many people as they could before nightfall.
The next morning, before they could give the local police the amended profile, JJ had found another missing couple. They had been missing for over 24 hours. It also meant that half of their prior search was useless.
The profile was detailed and narrow but there were simply too many possible suspects.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently a handyman in one of the hotels and a victim had gone to high school together. Prentiss looked more closely at the couple, trying to figure out if they had any connection with the other victims. While Garcia was cross referencing the victims Emily went through the files again.
The women didn’t match any type, one was a redhead, another a brunette. They didn’t share the same eye color or clothing style. Except… None of them were wearing underwear. Two out of the three wore bras but no underwear. According to her experience this was rather unusual, especially if the woman was wearing jeans.
She dug deeper and found out that these women usually wore underwear since they had all packed it. The fact that the Unsub left them without underwear in their cars ready to be hit by a truck was a sexual component he hadn’t developed over night.
Prentiss called Garcia and had her check for prior rape cases that had gone unsolved. Maybe he had slipped up before this. She didn’t find unsolved cases but she found one rape that didn’t fit the MO of the rapist who was convicted for it.
20 men had been interviewed regarding the rape that the Unsub was responsible for. One of them - Floyd Hanson - owned one of the motels on their list. Hotch had interviewed him, but he had lied so convincingly that the profiler had been fooled.
Quickly the team made its way to the hotel while JJ stayed behind. She wasn’t cleared for this kind of action anymore. Not until she gave birth.
They were able to save the couple but Hanson fled onto the street where he was killed by a truck. Although it wasn’t the outcome they had hoped for, their work in Nevada was done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way back home Reid and Morgan played Gin while Hotch seemed to be silently battling his demons. After all, he had interviewed the Unsub and not seen him for who he was. JJ knew that there was nothing she could do for him now. Some things you had to find out for yourself and deal with by yourself. Realizing that you couldn’t see through everyone and be fooled occasionally definitely fell into this category.
Tired of the day’s events JJ closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to go to their favorite place: Emily’s bedroom. Or at the least what she imagined it would look like. Unaware of the smile on her face, the blonde dressed and undressed her co-worker again and again. She didn’t dare to do anything more than look to her dream-Emily for fear the profilers could read it on her face. After a while she got frustrated for not being able to go further and she opened her eyes.
Emily sat in front of her. Convinced she had fallen asleep, JJ stared at the woman. This was one dream she hadn’t had before. ‘On the plane. Should be interesting.’ Suddenly she didn’t care what the others could see on her sleeping face. It didn’t seem all that relevant anymore.
Her eyes wandered from the dark eyes over the soft lips to the cleavage and she licked her lips in anticipation.
“Hey uhm JJ…” The voice was shaky and questioning. Not like anything her mind had come up before. Dream-Emily was always rather aggressive and promiscuous.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, sitting up. The Emily in front of her was real! And she had just…Oh my!
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” Emily said teasingly.
“No, no… I just… It’s… I was just thinking about the case.” ‘Nice catch’ even in her thought the sarcasm was strikingly evident.
“Yeah…” Emily smiled knowingly. “Listen, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to have dinner or something tomorrow. But if you have plans or, you know, don’t want to… well in case…” Somewhere in there Emily had lost her train of thoughts, and since she didn’t remember if and what she had asked, she started rambling. The profiler could feel her ears turn red. ‘Great job Prentiss! Red ears, smug smile, stupid ramble… really sexy!’
She was almost on her feet, when she heard her whisper: “I’d love to.” Their eyes met. “Have dinner with you, I mean.”
Emily nodded and looked down to her hands. She had been looping them together and quickly she let go. Her heart rushing and her knees weak she still decided she needed to sit somewhere else before she couldn’t resist the urge to touch the blonde. Thankfully Rossi didn’t seem to mind her company.