Caution to the Wind

Chapter 18

Chapter Summary: Tara's miserable. Between feeling guilty over Emily's suspension and dealing with Linda Barnes meddling in the BAU's latest case, she's struggling to keep it together. Meanwhile, Emily's ready to throw in the towel, but a visit from Spencer convinces her to keep fighting. Follows S13E15, "Annihilator."

It was Monday morning, and time to face the BAU's new reality. When they went into work, they wouldn't see Emily sitting up in her office; instead, they'd have Linda Barnes looking over their shoulders. They were all dreading it. When the morning alarm went off, Tara just wanted to press the snooze button and pull the covers over her head, but then she remembered where she was—Emily's apartment was farther away from Quantico than her house was, and she didn't have much time to spare dragging herself out of bed in the morning. She looked over at Emily lying on the other side of the bed, arms folded across her chest, staring ahead at the wall with a pensive frown—today was going to be hard for her, too. Tara rolled over and snuggled up against Emily's back, sliding an arm around her waist and tenderly kissing her shoulder.

"You gonna be okay here, babe?" she asked gently.

"I'm not the one who has to go in and see Barnes," Emily deadpanned.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Tara groaned.

"I promise, I'll be fine," Emily chuckled, "But you'll be late if you don't get up and get ready for work."

"No, I don't wanna go!" Tara whined, burying her face in the crook of Emily's neck.

Emily laughed and turned to face Tara, caressing her hip and kissing her sweetly. "You go in there and show Linda Barnes she can't beat the BAU," she said, "And when you get back, I'll be right here to help you forget all about her."

Tara smiled and stroked Emily's cheek. "I love you, Em," she said.

"I love you, too," Emily said, "Go out there and make me proud."

Tara dragged herself out of bed to get ready for work. She dragged herself out of Emily's apartment and into the office, where she found the rest of the team looking equally glum. They gathered in the conference room like they did every Monday morning. Barnes wasn't there yet, but nobody felt particularly guilty about starting the morning meeting without her.

"Last night, in St. Louis, four roommates were killed in a rental home in what police are calling a robbery turned homicide," Penelope said.

"It's brutal," Matt said, looking over the crime scene photos, "Looks like the two sides of his brain were fighting with each other. Left side wanted to rob the place; right side wanted to cause some destruction."

"And both sides got exactly what they wanted," Rossi said, "What was taken?"

"Nothing traceable," Penelope replied, "Computer, tablets, cash, jewelry, and the like."

"How long was it before local PD called us in?" Tara asked.

"They didn't," Barnes replied as she strode into the room and put her briefcase down on the table, "I called and offered our services to them, because this is exactly the kind of case the BAU takes from here on."

"Maybe it's just me," Rossi said, "But I need a little help understanding our new case selection criteria."

"We want cases with good optics that are also quick and easy to clear," Barnes said, "Here, we have four victims, young upstanding professionals, all of whom the public can emotionally invest in. The crime itself is contained, and the motive appears to be determined."