The Slow Burn

Chapter 7: Case Work

TW: Mentions of Overdosing. Mentions of Gun Violence

A month had passed since Penelope left the BAU. It was weird for her to not be there. No more going down to her office to gossip about god knows what. No more cold brew trips. Just no more of the classic Penelope Garcia bubbly and sassy attitude. They had hired a temporary replacement to cover the basics of the job but it wasn't the same. Emily and Megan had begun the refresh of their friendship and that had been going surprisingly smoothly. Emily started accepting Darren's lattes when he stopped by to visit his girlfriend and Megan actually remained civil when Andrew came in for his monthly visits. Often times both women would be the last ones on the floor and would eventually one of them would wander down to the other's office with their laptop and would work on their own respective work. Of course this meant ordering in some sort of take out. But their old traditions didn't stick. Their Saturday brunches never returned as well as their Tuesday night movie binge. In fact the two never hung out alone outside of work. Megan had been working on pushing her feelings away. She was trying her best to move past what she had mentally deemed as a silly crush. But it was hard. It had been eight years since she admitted the truth to herself. Emily would laugh and Megan would forget the world that surrounded them. She would say little things about her day and the brunette would get lost in the words. The only thing that would break apart her thoughts were when the day ended and both woman would retreat back to their relationships.

Darren's presence had been helpful with helping the shoving of her feelings. The nights where he didn't have to work and she wasn't off on a case, he would come over and they would make a dinner before turning on a movie. They would be wrapped up in each other and sometimes he'd start kissing the length of her neck. She'd of course give in to the silent asking and they would end up either simply having sex right there or he would take the time to bring her to her bedroom. On nights he was at work she would just reheat whatever food was available in the fridge or order in some takeout. Most times she'd sit out on her balcony and eat while looking out into the city but other times would make her way to her bedroom and eat on her bed while she listened to some music. She was happy having her own apartment. Not needing to share her private space 24/7. Darren had suggested they move in together but Megan made it very clear that she was personally not at that point. He, with some protest, respected her choice.

Today at the BAU, the team was preparing to fly out for a case in Seattle. The unsub had been murdering woman by overdosing them. These woman were clean and had never done hard drugs in their life. Drug of choice? Heroin. So of course the team went out to the brand new jet and got comfortably situated in it. Megan of course was anxious to head to Seattle. She hated the city she grew up in due to her mother. But of course she couldn't not go. "You okay?" Emily asked as she took a seat next to Megan, her dark eyes scanning over the younger woman. "Oh yes. Love Seattle." The brunette said giving the raven haired woman a small nervous smile. Emily chuckled softly and reached a hand out to gently rub Meg's knee. "Don't worry Meg. We are all going with you and nothing will happen this time." she said as she offered the younger woman a reassuring smile as the rest of the team took their seats. Megan had nearly jumped when Emily touched her knee. The last thing she had been expecting was for the older woman to touch her. "I feel like those are some famous last words Em." The brunette woman said as she scrunched up her nose some. Emily chuckled softly as she moved her hand to open up the file before her, her eyes glancing over at the younger woman next to her. Noticing that the woman was still anxious, she put her hand back on the brunettes knee and continued to lightly rub it. Megan looked down at Emily's hand for a moment, internally screaming with joy and anxiety, before looking up at the profile of her face as the older woman looked over the file. "Shall we get started you guys?" Emily spoke up, catching everyone's attention.

Once the jet had landed in Seattle, everyone broke into their respective groups. Spencer and Tara went off to look at the crime scenes, JJ and Rossi went to talk to the family of the first victim while Luke and Matt went to speak to the family of the second. Emily and Megan made their way to the police station to speak to the lead detective, set up base and talk to the spouse of the third victim. "Andrew is coming to town next week. He wants you and Darren to come over for dinner. How does that sound?" Emily asked in the passenger seat of the SVU as she scrolled through her phone. "Oh uh. Maybe. It'll depend on what night and what Darren is up to this week." Meg said as she kept her eyes on the road, her hands squeezing the steering wheel a little tighter at the mention of Andrew. "Meg...I know you don't like Andrew but he is trying to mend the bridge between the two of you." The raven haired woman said as she set her phone down into her lap, turning slightly to look at the brunette. 'Or to rub it in my face that he is with you.' Megan thought as she inhaled a sharply before letting out a puff of air. "I know Em. But I genuinely don't know what Darren is up to this week. I'll text him tonight about it, okay?" she offered as she took a turn and drove into the parking lot of the police station.