DESENSITIZED//CRIMINAL MINDS

1.13 | 'tell me more about the snow'

SNOW LIGHTLY LINED the streets of quantico, virginia as sierra huddled into a blanket on her couch, using a cup of hot cocoa to warm her fingers that began to tingle with life. it had been a quiet week at the bau — a rare occurrence in which only paperwork had been done at the office, seemingly as if all the criminals of the country had taken a break for the upcoming holidays.

though it was definitely less stressful than having to catch serial killers, a little part of the girl dreaded these types of weeks because the clock seemed to move so slowly. when on a time limit, the clock spun around and around, ticking away the seconds that the victim had to live — but paperwork would still be paperwork at the end of the day.

sierra flickered through the channels on the television, each playing some christmas movie for the hundredth time that day. but she didn't mind — after all, she loved christmas more than any other holiday in the world. not only because of the cheery spirit around the globe, but because of the meaning behind it. she had always seen christmas as a new beginning for anyone who wanted one.

plus, presents are fun.

because of the younger sister's love of the holiday, mia had always ensured that the house reflected the christmas spirit. it was their tradition to start putting the tree up on halloween night — after midnight, of course. in the morielli household, christmas began on november first. garland was hung on the crown molding of their house to match the evergreen tree that had been put up, and the scent of gingerbread filled the air. "anything good?" the elder sister asked, walking into the living room and sitting on the couch next to the younger girl.

"i'm looking for the grinch." sierra answered, unable to peel her eyes away from the television in fear she'd miss the one channel showing her favorite holiday movie.

mia playfully rolled her eyes at her sister next to her. "why am i not surprised?" she asked sarcastically. "cartoon or live action?"

sierra kneaded her eyebrows at her sister, confused as to why she didn't already know the answer. "you act like you haven't known me since my very first christmas."

mia raised her eyebrows in sarcastic shock, letting out a chuckle as she herself turned to face the television that her sister's eyes remained glued onto. "you know, jim carrey didn't go through torture training to put on the grinch makeup just for you to dismiss it as not the real grinch." she retorted.

"keep it up and i'm putting coal in your stocking." the younger sister fired back, in the way that siblings bicker.

before the eldest sister could reestablish her dominance, sierra's phone rang — and it was jj. the younger sister let out a sigh, raising the phone to her ear. so much for an easy week. "where is it?" she asked, not even bothering to say hello to her blonde friend.

"jersey." jj answered with a sigh.

sierra nodded, glancing down at the red flannel pajama pants she had on — she was going to need time to get ready. "okay. give me thirty."

jj winced. "it's bad." she told her friend. "fifteen?"

sierra let out a quick chuckle, a small smirk toying on her face. "your wish is my command."

hanging up the phone, sierra passed her now cooled hot chocolate to her sister, and got up from the couch to go quickly get changed. mia had become accustomed to her strange hours after about four months with the bau, and knew better than to question things. though, it was a bummer when she had to leave, and as nice as it was for her and her husband to have the house to themselves, she missed the girl a lot when she was gone. she didn't know what she was going to do when sierra decided to move out.