Unavoidable

Chapter 1

It's been close to two years since I joined the BAU and it's been almost perfect. I've gotten especially close with Penelope, Reid and JJ. I'm close with Morgan and Hotch too but we don't really get together outside of group gatherings. And then there's Emily, oh wait sorry, Prentiss. We just never meshed. Ever since my first day at the BAU, there was this tension between us. We never talk really except for case related things. At team get togethers we stay away from each other. She hasn't made me feel unwelcome, actually scratch that, she definitely has. Every day I just feel like if she had her way I would never have been allowed to join this team. I've talked to JJ about it quite a bit, and Reid as well, but neither of them know what her problem is. That says a lot too because JJ and Reid are super close with her. She just insists nothing is up but we all know something is up with her. Even Hotch knows and he is not too great with friendships. I've done everything to get her to be friends with me. I've gotten her her favorite coffee almost everyday, I always get her nice holiday and birthday presents, and I even buy her lunch but nothing works. She still seems to hate me and it definitely doesn't help that our desks are across from each other.

I'm sitting at my desk going through some paper work when JJ comes up to me. I look up.

"Hey Jayje!" She gives me a mischievous smile.

"How was your date this weekend. Spill girl!" I laugh, of course she wants to know all about it.

"It was alright, I don't think I'd see him again but I had fun. He wasn't that great in bed either if you know what I mean," I say. I glance over at Prentiss and her fist is clenched on her desk. Huh. Weird.

"Oh my gosh you slept with him! Lil! He's definitely going to want another date now!" She says. JJ is definitely a more traditional girl when it comes to men. I start to laugh and she crosses her arms. I stop laughing abruptly.

"Sorry Jayje. You're right I shouldn't have but I needed some. It's been a while." Just then Hotch walks in.

"Conference room now guys no time to waste!" He says. Prentiss is the first to stand up and leave the room. JJ looks at me and rubs my shoulder. I just shrug. We then all head into our conference room with coffees in hand.

"Alright guys we have a case and it's not pretty. Penelope?" He says.

"Okay boys and girls, last Friday night a young girl, Emmy McHenry age 7, was abducted from her elementary school," Garcia says.

"Wait, it's been over 24 hours. How do we know she's still alive?" Morgan says.

"Ah my Chocolate Wonder, this is why," She clicks a button and and images are projected onto the screen. A picture of the girl tied up on a bed and a note. The note reads: She's still alive, but not for long. Bring me 100,000 dollars and she will be returned in one piece. JJ sucks in a breathe and I pat her hand. She doesn't do too well with cases involving kids.

"Where are we headed?" I ask.

"You, my fine furry friends, are headed to Raleigh, North Carolina," she says.

"Wheels up in 30 team," Hotch says and we head out of the room and to the jet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I take my usual seat in between JJ and Reid and start to review the case files for a bit before taking a quick nap. I rest my head on JJ's shoulder and quickly nod off. We finally land in Raleigh and Hotch divides us up.

"Alright Reid, Morgan and Rossi head to the abduction site, Raleigh PD will meet you there. JJ and I will go talk the McHenry's down at the station and Porter and Prentiss will head to the McHenry home to poke around. Meet back at the station when you are done," Hotch says. I sigh. Of course Hotch puts me with Prentiss. You know for a profiler, you'd think he'd pick up better on the tension. We all separate and head to the black Suburbans that are on the tarmac. Prentiss hops into the drivers seat and I into the passenger side. The ride to the McHenry home is silent and tense. I just stare out the window until we get there. I don't even realize I've fallen asleep until Prentiss gently shakes my shoulder. I'm startled and jolt in my seat. She's never done anything that nice to me. As soon as I'm awake she quickly removes her hand and reverts back to the Prentiss I am used to. We get out of the car and put on our gloves before heading into their home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      

We get back into the car after thoroughly searching their home and head back to the station. During the drive I can't help but keep looking over at Prentiss while she's driving. What changed to make her be nice to me for that split second. I'll have to talk to JJ and Reid about it when we get back to the hotel tonight. We discuss our findings with the rest of the team when we get back to the station and start to build our profile. So far we know it was a white male age 45-55 and definitely has a record. There were no signs of struggle evident on the crime scene and no one heard anything from the time she was kidnapped so we are assuming it's someone she knows. We give our preliminary profile to the police and then agree to meet back here at 8 am to keep investigating. It's almost 9 o'clock at night and we are all beat. We head finally head back to our hotel to get some much needed shut eye.