Chapter Text

Friendship Set Aflame

Ruined Girls Night (Can Be Hard To Let Go)

“Well, I’m guessing someone’s not going to her own apartment after girls’ night,” Emily teased as you met up with her and JJ at the coffee shop.  It was late, and anyone getting coffee at that time of night would be picking the location a few blocks closer to Capital Hill.

“You’re one to talk,” you retorted, waling right up to the counter and ordering, “Medium chai with almond milk, please - [F/N].”

“She’s got a point,” JJ offered, her coffee already in hand as she waited with Emily by the counter.  Your black dress - which you’d bought for a case in Atlanta while JJ was on maternity leave - was about the same length as Emily’s skirt, which was hardly unusual.  When Emily was up for going out and being rambunctious, you were the one she called.  JJ half expected to get a late-night call with one of you drunkenly explaining you needed her to post bail with the other one yelling something like ‘tell her it wasn’t our fault’ in the background.  Though, you’d matched your dress with heeled black boots that went over your knees and a long white cardigan that fell to your knees.

“And I know who I’m spending my night with,” you tucked the receipt into your small black bag and took a few steps towards the girls.

“But we don’t,” JJ pointed out as Emily grabbed her own drink and waited for Penelope’s order.

“Whose side are you on, here?”

“Nobody’s.  Out of the three of us, I’m the only one whose love life isn’t a mystery or dying.”

“Well, after Texas, I’ve had bigger things to deal with.”  Your drink was placed on the counter at the same time as Penelope’s, and the three of you left the shop to meet up with the technical analyst.  “I love you guys, but you’re nosey as hell, so he and I decided it would be best to keep things to ourselves for a bit longer.  At least until I’m done being mad at Derek, and I’ve got at least two weeks of mad left.”

“You did say it would take a month,” JJ admitted before switching tactics and her attention to Emily.  “You hit if off with Mick, why not give that a shot?”

“It wouldn’t work.”

“Bullshit,” you countered, “You two had great chemistry.”

“That’s not the point.”

JJ set out a short exasperated sigh as she rolled her eyes, “Well, are you gonna call him?”

“...Maybe,” Emily admitted, sounding like she already regretted the decision.

“Oh, for fucks sake,” you cursed, not caring if the other two could hear you or not as JJ let out a groan.

“Emily.”

“Mick Rawson is an arrogant, oversexed, egotistical -”

“Hot British dude with a sexy accent, badge, and gun,” JJ countered, “Just your type.”

“Ugh,” Emily couldn’t come up with anything, she was just trying to wait out the discussion now.

“You know what?  I don’t even get you sometimes.”

“It wouldn’t go anywhere.”

“Says who?  You don’t know that until you give it a shot - trust me.”  You figured that out the hard way.

“I know our work schedules.”

“Okay, you know what?  Will and I make it work.”

“Ooh…JJ, 12 o’clock.”  You’d seen Penelope before the other two, and the first thing you noticed where all the bags she was carrying.  There had to be at least eight…maybe even twelve bags.  She’d told everyone she was going shopping to get presents for Henry, and then she said she was running late and asked if someone could get her coffee.  You’d all just assumed she was running late, not buying everything in the mall.

‘Oh, no.”  JJ’s eyes were immediately glued to all the bags Penelope was carrying, each one from a different store.  She just couldn’t look away, even as Penelope tried to explain.

“I know.  I know.  I know.  Don’t say it - but when you see what’s in here, and it’s - it’s not my fault.  They were calling to me, I swear, and they were all on sale, and when you think about it that means that I am helping the economy, which is more than I can say for you guys, cause no one else has bags…”  She started to lose her gumption as she reached the end of her argument.

“Yeah.  Please tell me all of those aren’t for my son.”  JJ smiled to try and hide the cringing, because she was afraid she already knew the answer.

“They’re not.”  Penelope said that so casually it had to be true.

“Good.”

“This one’s for Kevin.”

You snorted out a laugh in the middle of taking a sip of your tea as Emily let out a little chuckle because Penelope was talking about tiny bag your tea wouldn’t even fit in.  JJ couldn’t help but laugh a little herself, even as she looked up to the sky in - mild - frustration.

“What?”  Penelope stood her ground, “It is my duty as a fairy godmother to spoil the child, and Henry is finally old enough to be fun when opening presents.  I am not taking them back.  Give me my coffee and no one’s gonna gets hurt.”

“Oh uh - “ Emily took a quick glance at the cups of coffee in her hands before handing one over to Penelope, “Half-caf extra shot venti, 2-pump nonfat, hold the whip caramel macchiato.”

“Mm-hmm,” Penelope gladly took the coffee and tapped her cup against Emily’s, “Next stop, Xanadu.”

“Oh, wait.”  JJ readjusted her bag to dig her beeping cell out and check the message, “Uh…Xana-don’t.  Time to go to the BAU, ladies.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” you brought up as you all left to get back to work, “But I’m pretty sure the last time we had a break was when Hotch and I got hit by that bomb in New York.”

Emily’s thoughtful and deflated musing was the only answer you needed.

“Maybe I should get a cat…”

********

Hotch was already at the office when you got there with the girls, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise.  He tended to stay home with Jack whenever he could, but Haley’s sister was always available to watch Jack for a night or during a case.  JJ rushed back to her office to look over the file before getting everything ready for the briefing.  The night had just been starting when JJ got you, Garcia, and Prentiss to help her get hold of everyone else, and for some people it was hard to…let go of the lost night off.

“Why is everyone bothering me about this?  Go bother Emily about calling Mick, and while you’re at it remind her that getting a cat does not mean her social life is completely over.”  You grabbed a notepad and some pens from your desk, leaving your small purse in your desk drawer.

“I just want to make sure he’s the right guy.”  Poor Garcia, she couldn’t lie for shit.  It wasn’t a bad thing, it just meant she was an honest person by nature, but it meant you were able to see what she was up to from a mile away.  “Has Reid met him?”

“Why would he?”  You asked as you made your way up to the round table room with Garcia, where JJ, Prentiss, and Hotch had already gathered.  You’d admittedly given the girls different bits of information, but you knew it was nothing that would give away your boyfriend’s identity.  They’d already grilled you on how things were ‘in the bedroom,’ but Garcia had poked and prodded for a bit more information when the two of you met to catch up on Supernatural after work made the two of you miss three episodes.  “Why is this so important?”

You were going to regret that.

“Because I wanna plan a couples’ night that isn’t just me, Kevin, Will, and JJ, and because I need to know more,” Garcia put her notebook down on the table, and out the corner of your eye you spotted Morgan and Reid steps away from the door - easily within earshot as Garcia pushed a bit further, “You said he’s ‘easily the best you’ve ever had,’ how could I not be curious?”

You swear you had an out-of-body experience for a second.  You’d floated up out of your body to get an aerial view of the room and confirm that little tidbit had been shared with everyone but Rossi.  You must not have moved in those few moments, because after you lips and took a deep breath you looked up at Garcia, and it looked like she’d had enough time to process 1) what she’d said, and 2) everyone that had heard.  Hotch had long-since mastered the art of just blocking the nonsense the rest of you got up to - he had to if he was going to even remotely keep the rest of you focused long enough to solve a case - but you swear he froze for a few moments before deciding to act like it wasn’t happening.  Derek looked like he was going to be sick, and you couldn’t blame him - if the roles had been reversed you would have been a bit nauseous too.  JJ and Prentiss were torn between looking at Garcia in shock at the bombshell she’d just dropped - again, by accident - and looking at you - smugly and in search for more details.  Then there was your boyfriend - who had the nerve to look convincingly stunned.

You’d already had this conversation with him, back when the relationship was brand new.  Having been so close before getting together didn’t immediately quell every new relationship concern, and being the sweetheart he was he wanted to make sure you enjoyed the sex as much as he did.  Sure, you’d been a serial monogamist, but you’d had a long string of bad relationships before moving to Virginia and joining the BAU.  You’d start relationships so fast there were bullets that gone slower, you’d go out with people you had no future with, and if you happened to find someone you could have a future with you self-sabotaged.  You knew the kind of problems something like this could cause in a relationship, so you looked him in the eyes and answered him - honestly.

“I’ve had a lot of good sex in my life, really good, and none of it even comes close.  This - us - is easily the best sex I’ve ever had.”

You knew he remembered - dating a man with an eidetic memory was both a blessing and a curse - and the fact that he looked stunned so convincingly irked you.

How did this never happen to him?

Why was it always you?

“Best?”  Emily read the room, she knew this was wildly inappropriate.  She also wanted to know more about your boyfriend and knew this was the quickest way to get you to crack.  You knew she balanced the situation and deciding meeting your boyfriend to make sure he was actually good for you was more important than keeping whatever sense of propriety and professionalism the team had long since thrown out the window.  “All she told me was biggest.”

On that note…why were you so close to Emily again?

“Oh - did she tell you about the -”

“That’s enough!”  You cut JJ off.  Most of what you’d told all the girls weren’t that bad.  How you’d spent the weekend, going to a film festival or the museum.  The night the two of you made a homemade pizza, or the morning he surprised you by making pancakes for breakfast - pancakes and coffee being pretty much the only things he could reliably make.  Lazy days reading or watching TV.  You did tell JJ about that three-day weekend you spent together, and the only time either one of you got dressed was to answer the door when you ordered food, but that had been topical.  She’d asked if you could help Garcia and Spencer babysit Henry so she and Will could spend a weekend at a hotel.  The rest, none of that is embarrassing enough to bug you into spilling the beans…which did beg the question…

Why did you tell the girls anything?

That’s right…alcohol…

At least Spencer wasn’t pretending to be stunned anymore, though it did look like if you’d found a pit to jump into he would have jumped in after you.

“I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.  If it didn’t happen, I can forget it.”  Derek stiffly took a seat next to Garcia while Spencer sat next to you.

“Woah,” Prentiss’ clear view of the open door let her see Rossi reluctantly trudging closer, still wearing his black tux with his untied bow-tie still draped around his neck.

Hotch spared a glance up at the door, “Sorry to ruin your night.”

“What, are you working on wife number four?”  This turn of events was very amusing to Derek, and he couldn’t help but grin and mirthfully giggle.

“I see you people way too much.”  Rossi announced, grumpily, before taking the empty seat.

“Oh - trust me, it could be worse.”  You didn’t even look up from the file in front of you, already starting to go through it.

“Did I miss something?”

“I don’t know.”  Hotch answered that too quickly for it to be true, but Rossi let it go.  “Let’s get started.”

“Alright,” JJ was still smiling from the lighthearted banter from moments ago, including your little secret getting thrown out there.  “Anchorage field office is asking us to investigate a series of murders in Franklin, Alaska.  There’s three people dead in less than a week.”

“For a town with a population of 1,476, that’s fairly significant.”  Spencer observed, sitting back a bit with his pen still in hand.

“It’s their first murder investigation on record,” JJ further explained just how much the local law enforcement was in over their heads.

“Who are the victims?”  Rossi asked, looking for some sort of pattern in victimology.

“Jon Baker, a hunter,” JJ brought up pictures of the victims on the screen, “Dedamia Swanson, a schoolteacher.  Brenda Bright, the first mate on a fishing boat.  There’s a victim every two days.”

“Any connections?”  Prentiss asked.

“Unfortunately, in a town this small, everyone’s connected.”  That was something JJ had personal experience with.

“The M.O. is different,” you pointed out, having quickly skimmed through the file, “The first two victims were shot with a rifle and Brenda Bright was stabbed with an arrow twice.”

“Are we sure it’s the same guy?”  Rossi questioned.  The first two victims could have easily been killed by the same person, but the third one was up close and personal.  A change in M.O. like that wasn’t common - not impossible, but rare.

“All three victims were found in heavily trafficked areas.  The unsub wants them found sooner than later,” Hotch kept things going, pointing out one commonality between the murders.

“John Baker’s body was left exposed to the elements, but the two women were buried under mounds of trash.  Why?”  Prentiss brought up.

“It could be a sign of remorse,” Spencer suggested, “Cover their bodies so he doesn’t have to face the reality of what he’s done.”

“Or he thinks that women are trash and he’s just placed them where he thinks they belong.”  Derek’s suggestion went in the other direction, everyone throwing out ideas when they had them.

“Well, we can’t be sure of anything yet,” JJ warned the rest of you, “Franklin is an isolated fishing community that’s been hit really hard by the current economy.  Add to that a series of unsolved murders and everyone’s on edge.”

“The local sheriff’s out of his depth, and Alaska hasn’t handled a serial investigation since Robert Hansen in the eighties,” Hotch further pressed why the team was needed on this case, outside of the obvious.  “We’ll fly out tonight.  Everybody can sleep on the plane.  Garcia, I need you with us.”

“Sir?”  Garcia was quiet bug-eyed, the last time she’d been in the field had been during your first year on the team.

“I’ve tasked a satellite uplink and it’s your job to keep us connected.”

“Yes, sir.”

“This town’s already on the brink, and if this pattern continues, we’ve only got another day until the next murder.  Let’s finish this fast.”