BULLETS | JEMILY

save a life

~~~

If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.

Michelle Hodkin - The Evolution of Mara Dyer

~~~

It's a long wait before everything is in place. JJ and I are wired up and ready to roll. I can feel nerves radiating out from inside her, but she puts on a brave face and smiles as we sit at the back of a taxi. "Are you clear on the plan?" Hotch asks through the earpiece. "Clear. He hunts at night at local restaurants. We're going to stage an argument which will get his attention and then lead him to the set up house." I recall the plan in my head as JJ fiddles with the buttons on her blouse. "Right. Please be careful." He says. "You got it." JJ responds. We don't have a lot of time before we have to get out, so we try to make up a scenario. "So what do you think is his trigger? Money? A secret relationship? Feeling inadequate?" JJ asks me. "From the rage he unloads on one of the victims, I'd say he was cheated on. He takes it out on either the woman or the man, and Garcia found a few steamy messages from two of the couples which could mean they were having affairs." I suggest. "Alright, so maybe one of us should have an affair." She winks suggestively. "You seem like the heart-breaking type." She adds. "What? No, I didn't sign up for that." I laugh. We sit in the back of the taxi trying to hide our amusement as we approach the restaurant. We take a moment to gather ourselves before getting into character. JJ exits the taxi first. I wait a second before climbing out and calling after her. "Hey, come on, let's talk about this." "There's nothing I have to say to you." She responds angrily as we enter the restaurant. Immediately, all eyes have turned to us. We both know the unsub could be watching us. "I said I was sorry." "Really? You creep around with my best friend and you're sorry?" She almost spits at me. For a second, I'm taken aback, before I remember we're supposed to be getting the unsub's attention. "Look, I don't know why it happened, I just..." "Excuse me, ladies, can we get you a table?" The waiter interrupts. "Fine. Two, please." JJ sighs and I stand a couple of paces behind her, looking around. There are three men who are all just staring. We sit at our table and JJ stares at the menu. "Come on, babe, just hear me out?" I plead with her. She drops the menu loudly and folds her arms. "Things have just been really hard, you know, with work, and I've been under a lot of pressure recently." "You've been under pressure? Are you kidding me? You're job isn't nearly as demanding as mine." "Look, can we try and have a nice dinner?" I lower my voice ever so slightly, but just loud enough for neighbouring tables to hear us. "The only reason I agreed to come was because there was no food at home. You're paying, by the way, since you believe your job is so much more important." "Come on, that's not fair." She doesn't respond after that. Whilst we sit in an awkward silence, I start thinking. I might be acting, but she actually seems pretty real. Is she talking about Will, possibly? I know he cheated on her, but I don't know much else about him. Maybe she's finally getting to release all of her feelings that she's been supressing for so long.

The dinner is over and after skipping dessert and a short argument about the cheque, we walk out. This time, I leave first and JJ follows behind, making one last sweep across the room. "Any potential suspects?" JJ whispers once we get into the taxi. "So far, just a woman and her daughter have walked out." Reid replies. "What happens if this doesn't work? Do we try again?" I ask. "Well, working from the geographical profile, this seemed like the most likely target for the unsub, so maybe he's watching from outside." "Check plate numbers of the cars that are parked outside." Morgan instructs Garcia. I can hear her typing through the earpiece and JJ stifles a laugh. "Anything, Pen?" "Nope, all squeaky clean so far." We drive to the house and try to continue our argument. This time we get in quickly, because we're running out of things to argue about. Man, it sure is hard to argue with a best friend. "Do you think it worked?" JJ asks as soon as we're inside.