Criminal Minds - Chaos or Calm

Chapter 11- On the Jet

Morgan's Point of View

While we were all talking Emily snuck off to Hotch's office. When she came back, she had a grin plastered on her face. I guess she got the green light to come back and work. I still can't believe she is actually back. It almost feels as if she never left in the first place

I saw Garcia come out of her layer and called her over. 

"Baby girl, come here" I called.

"Hey sweet stuff and crime stoppers. The boss man wants everyone in the breifing room in 5." She says. 

"Hey again Garcia." Emily said. 

"Hey yourself. Ready to get back into the world of crazy people and gross things?" She asked. 

"I've been ready since I left." Prentiss said with a laugh. 

*****************

Five minutes later, we were in the briefing room. Garcia started the breifing.

"Well cupcakes today is not going to be all unicorns and rainbows. We have a serial killer in Seattle. Four bodies have been found in dumpsters. Each were two days apart. The last body was found yesterday."

"That is a short cooling off period." Rossi noted.

"And they were all female in their mid thirties." Garcia said.

"Baby girl, do you have any photos of them." I asked

"Why yes I do." She said as she clicked forwards on the slide show. 

"Wow, there is a clear pattern." JJ said.

The photo's showed that all the woman were Caucasian with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The victims were laid carefully, had new clothes with there eyes closed.

"The M.O. is the same for both victims. A clean shot through the head, with minor defensive wounds. and signs that they were tied up." I stated, examining the photos.

"So they were probably tied up and then shot, execution style," Emily agreed. 

"Considering the fact that they victims are all females, it is probably safe to say that our unsub is most likely male. Any signs of sexual assault on the victims?" JJ asked Garcia.

"Nope, none, zilch zero." She responded.

"Okay these women might be surrogates for someone. Maybe an ex-wife, girlfriend. No sexual assult could mean that they are surrogates for a sibling or friend. The question is, where does he find these women." I said, looking around at everyone. 

"We will discuss this more on the jet. Wheels up in 30." Hotch said as everyone got up. 

Emily's Point of View 

I sat with Morgan, Reid and JJ on the jet. We had discussed the case, but hadn't gotten very far. So Reid was now reading some book on who knows what, Morgan was listening to music and JJ was doing something on her phone, probably texting Will.  

"Did you know that 86% of all people with-" Reid started, excitedly.

"-I love you Pretty Boy, but if you give me any more useless facts, I will punch you...in the face." Derek said.

"Okay, okay." Reid said going back to his book, looking a bit hurt. 

I smiled, it felt good to here that again. I noticed Hotch at the back of the jet, probably getting coffee, so I went to talk to him. 

"Hey," I said. Hotch glanced over at the team as if to make sure that no one was listening. 

"I know we are going to have that coffee, but with you being back, I really need to talk to you about everything," Hotch started.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I said.

"Emily... what happened? I swear, we had something, I know you knew we did."

"Hotch, I.. I really don't know how to explain it, I hated every minute of being away, not just from the team, but from... well, you." I said, slightly lost for words. 

"Emily, I-" He stopped talking and motioned for us to move farther towards the washrooms, not wanting to be overheard. 

 "Is it odd for me to want things to go back to the way it was before?" Hotch said. I had never seen Hotch act this way, almost desperate. 

"Hotch, what about Beth?" I asked.

"Well, things didn't go too well, this job puts... a strain on relationships." He said.

"What about Strauss?" I say. I know that if I am involved in a relationship with Aaron, then not only is my job in the question, but Hotch's as well.

"As long as it doesn' effect our work, Strauss has no reason to care." He says, confidently. 

I don't know why I was so hesitant, those times when I was with Aaron, I was probably happier than ever. Just then then the seat belt sign came on to signal that we were landing, disrupting me from my thoughts. 

"Aaron... We should focus on the case. We'll talk later... that coffee when we get back." I say, walking back to my seat. As I walked back I could feels the piercing eyes of my team watching me.