take me to church (emily prentiss)

3. eighteen

AN: hey guys!

another one today with a few TWs but i hope you all enjoy!

TW:
mentions of abductions
mentions of drugs
mentions of violence
mentions of murder
mentions of sexual assault
mentions of serial killers

•

"i'm tired of feeling like i'm fucking crazy." - ride, lana del rey

•

They were all back at the Hart house. Nora was making dinner, enough for all of them, and the profilers were pouring over the map, the tape of Delilah being abducted, and the plans for the search parties.

Liv stood on the side porch door step, leaning against the frame with a cigarette between her lips. Nora put the mince on to simmer, moving over to Liv and taking the cigarette from her hands, taking a drag and handing it back.

"How did you get the CCTV?" Nora asked.

"Key," Liv said.

"How did you get it off Key?" Nora asked. "Last I heard, he was still intent on shattering your jaw. My money wasn't enough to settle his debt, apparently."

Liv just took a drag of her cigarette, avoiding Hotch's eyes as he looked over at her.

"What's the significance of the black balloons?" Spencer asked.

"She's scared of balloons," JJ said. "I remember her mentioning she hates all Halloween decorations, including balloons."

"Ironic, considering her birthday is Halloween," Penelope spoke up from the kitchen table.

She was on a call on Derek's phone, though it was looking rather likely that she would be flying out tonight to join them in the Highlands. There was no point her being alone in Virginia worrying when she could easily do the same work here if she brought her set up with her.

Dave would be here, soon, too. Liv couldn't wait to see her dad. He would know how to fix this.

"So is Ziggy's," Hotch murmured.

"And Dylan's," JJ muttered, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she looked at Colin and Nora, then back at the video replaying Delilah's abduction.

Nora walked over to the sink, washing her hands quickly.

"JJ, help me with dinner, please, sweetheart," Nora said. "It's good to keep your hands busy."

JJ moved over to help Nora, the two of them working in silence to finish dinner.

"I think our best bet is choppers," Hotch said.

"There's still so many areas of the woods that are too thick to be seen through from above. If anything, that's where they'll be," Colin said. "Our best bet is the dogs."

"Her scent is long gone," Spencer said. "It rained shortly after she was taken. And it's a wet forrest. We'll lose it within a mile, because she was taken here," Spencer said, pointing at a red X on the map, "And this is a waterfall right here."

"There's also the possibility he had a vehicle and drove them away to a different entrance into the woods," Emily said, pointing on the map. "He can enter here, here, and here. Do we know what vehicle he'll have? It's had to have crossed state lines in the past few days from Nevada."

"That's an extremely huge field, Em," Penelope said. "I need more than that."

"Even if we do find a vehicle, that won't tell us where Delilah and Ziggy are," Spencer said. "Hotch said they would've had to make some of the journey on foot. He could've put them somewhere and dumped the van, then headed back on foot."