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It was late. It was so late that she had no earthly idea what time it was. Outside at this time of night you could only find prostitutes, alley cats, and taxicabs. She stared out the passenger side window of the SUV as the rain made DC look more like Gotham City. It was past the witching hour but the devil still danced.
Inside the car was silent and that was fine with her. They’d had a long flight back from Moscow, Idaho and an even tougher nine days there. Young college men were disappearing after drunken nights in the local watering holes. It was a city of about 25,000 with 2 major colleges…potential victims and Unsubs were all around them. And the victims didn’t seem to have a lot in common except where they liked to spend their time drinking. But they were all sodomized, beaten, and then drowned.
Four victims had been discovered before the BAU were called in to profile a suspect. It hadn't been an easy case. Seeing children hurt was always toughest for Emily. But these guys couldn’t have been more than that; they were in their early 20s. They probably thought Idaho was the safest place on the planet.
That ignorance, which anyone who lived in what could be called Middle America, was guilty of, had been their downfall. The BAU didn’t stay for a showdown and arrest. They didn’t even know if the Moscow Sheriff’s Department had a suspect yet. They worked the profile. Another victim was found in a ditch on the edge of town while they were there.
DNA was found under his fingernails but couldn’t be linked to anyone. The team suspected that drowning was just another way to get rid of evidence. But the killer missed something. Eventually it would lead to his capture. Emily wondered how many more young men had to die before that happened.
She was glad to be home now. Sometimes, especially after cases like this, she wondered what other job might suit her. It was agonizing sometimes to internalize the pain of others. She had to talk to families, friends, loved ones, devastated neighbors, and people who no longer felt safe. She had to look at crime scene photos and deal with the fetishes of some of the sickest people one would ever come across.
Then she had to go home or to some nondescript hotel room and hope the walls didn’t close in so tight that she couldn’t breathe. At least trying to sleep was important because you had to be ready to do it all again the next day. It was why so many agents drank too much, fucked too much, fought too much, or just lost their damn minds. It was why she sometimes wondered what else she might be cut out to do. Too bad she’d wanted to be a profiler for longer than she could remember. Fantasies often trumped reality…this was nothing new to her.
The car slowed down in front of her building and then came to a full stop. Hotch put the blinkers on, looking at his passenger. He thought her eyes might be closed and wasn’t sure how to wake her. Touching Prentiss had never been something he was good at.
He didn’t want to just start talking and possibly scare the hell out of her. Touching her might produce the same results. He knew her personal space was as important to her as his was to him. So he cleared his throat, hoping that did the trick.
She opened her eyes. Emily hadn't been asleep; she was just deep in thought. When the SUV stopped she just thought it was another red light. Even at this hour you still could get trapped in DC’s treacherous timed light system. Once you hit one red light you were doomed. She sat up fully in the seat and managed a small smile for her driver.
“Home sweet home.” She said.
“Do you want me to walk you up or something?” he asked.
“Why would I want you to do that?” she countered.
“I just thought…it’s after 2am Prentiss. This isn’t the safest city in the world.”
“I live in a secure building that I'm about 50 feet from right now. I'm probably colder than that.”
“Did you know that Georgeann Hawkins disappeared just 20 feet from home?” Hotch asked. “She was never seen again.”
“She also didn’t have a 6’2” well trained FBI Agent in a car in front of her house.” Emily countered. “I did know that by the way but I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I'm sure, but thanks.”
Emily undid her seatbelt and reached into the back for her go bag. There would be laundry, tomorrow maybe. Since she had to be ready to go on a moment’s notice she actually had three go bags. There was one still at Quantico so there was no serious rush on this one. Still, Emily was anal about some things and always being ready was one of them.
She was sure most of the other agents were the same way. Even Garcia had a go bag now, though she found packing to be one of the most difficult things to do on without warning. How did she know what she was going to be in the mood to wear? Emily couldn’t help but smile thinking about that. Her whole life had been lived out of boxes and suitcases. She could make a go bag in her sleep.
“I appreciate the ride.” She said as she heard the automatic doors unlock.
“It wasn’t a problem. Be careful going in.”
“You're going to wait?” Emily didn’t even know why she asked.
“Of course.”
Hearing Hotch say it made her smile. She opened the door, not even bothering to shield herself from the steady falling rain. Climbing out of the car, Emily quickly walked around it, onto the curb, and then into the building. She made her way to the elevator after saying good evening to the night watchman. The third floor was quiet at this hour and within a matter of moments she was in her condo.
The low watt lamp she always left burning in the living room made an eerie light. The cat didn’t rush to greet her but that wasn’t a big concern; he had a right to his sleep too. She bypassed everything and headed straight upstairs. Her bed was calling her. Home was warm and cozy but Emily wouldn’t even get to enjoy that. There was sleep tonight and work tomorrow. Suddenly she was exhausted, couldn’t wait to end this long day.
She started undressing almost at the bedroom door. The go bag went on the floor. The boots, jeans, panties, sweater, and bra followed. Yes, Emily Prentiss climbed into her bed naked in a pair of socks. The fall was getting chillier and her feet got cold at night. She didn’t know how that was possible as she wrapped herself around the warmest woman in the history of the world.
“Is that you?” Jordan mumbled, barely coming out of sleep.
“Nope,” Emily kissed her shoulder. “It’s your other girlfriend. Shh, baby, go back to sleep.”
“But…”
“No buts. We’ll talk in the morning. I just want to hold you.”
“Maybe I want to do more than talk.” Jordan turned in Emily’s arms. Her eyes were still closed even though she wore a beautiful, sleepy, seductive smile. Emily couldn’t help but kiss her lips. Damn, she’d missed her.
“That’s tempting but I don’t think either one of us have the energy for that. What time do you have to get up?”
“I'm using a sick day tomorrow.” Jordan cuddled closer and sighed as Emily held her tighter. “I have two doctor’s appointments.”
“Really?”
“Mmm hmm. Doctor’s appointments are now code for breakfast in bed with my sweetie.”
“Ahh, then I approve of these doctor’s appointments. I'm so glad you're here.”
“Where else would I be?”
“There's a warm bed in Arlington that’s probably asking the same thing.”
“It’s not very warm when you're not there.” Jordan said.
“Oh it’s smoking hot when I'm there. Mmm, you better go back to sleep before I'm compelled to make you mine.”
“I'm yours, Emily Prentiss. Are you alright?”
“No, but if we talk too much about it we’ll never sleep. Sometimes…”
“I know.” Jordan kissed her neck. “Believe me, I know.”
“You do, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Maybe I should be holding onto you.”
“We can just hold onto each other. But if you wanna make it fair, the nightgown has to go.”
Grinning, Jordan sat up and pulled the nightgown over her head. The silhouette of her beautiful, naked body elicited a sound from Emily that made her smile even more. The profiler pulled her girlfriend back in her arms, kissing her breathless.
“Damn, I wish I had the mental energy to make love to you.”
“That could be the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“I can't believe that…I've said some pretty sweet things to you. Its at least tied with the night I got piss drunk and said when DC legalized gay marriage I’d marry you.”
“That was two years ago.” Jordan said.
“When I said it?” Emily asked.
“No, when DC legalized gay marriage.”
“Oh. Then why aren’t we married?”
“Go to sleep, Emily.” Jordan kissed her. Then she turned over again and they were spooning. In Emily’s arms was where she felt the most comfortable. With all of the traveling for work they were practically in a long distance relationship. But when they were close like this it never felt that way.
“I love you.” Emily murmured, kissing her shoulder blade. There was a thorny black rose tattoo there. Though they'd been together for three years she still didn’t know the complete meaning of the body art.
“I love you more.” Jordan held tight to her hand.
“So let’s get married. You're off from work tomorrow; we’ll get the license.”
“You're delirious from lack of sleep.”
“I'm just a woman of my word. I love you.”
“We’ll talk about it in the morning. We’ll talk about it after you sleep.”
“Do you promise?” Emily asked.
“Yes I do.”
Jordan had no idea how the conversation got there but she didn’t want to push Emily into a corner. What they had was good and they were both happy. She didn’t want to pretend that marriage was easy. Where would they live for instance? How would their parents react, and their friends.
Hell, Emily just told her team that Jordan was her girlfriend recently and it was a bit of an uncomfortable scene. She hadn't even met Emily’s mother. There were so many things they needed to do before they got married. They might never get married.
Jordan didn’t want to be an impulsive act. She didn’t want to be regretted in the morning like a bad tattoo or a belly ring. She loved Emily so much it hurt sometimes. That didn’t mean that here comes the bride was the right thing for them.
“Dammit, now I'm thinking too much.” she mumbled.
“That’s my fault.” Emily said.
“Yes.”
“I promise to stop being impulsive. I promise to just go to sleep and not freak you out by bringing up marriage again.”
“I still love you.”
“I love you too. Sometimes I just want everything.”
“You'll have everything, just not all at once.” Jordan replied. “I'm not going anywhere. Well, I'm going to sleep…but other than that I'm not going anywhere.”
Emily laughed and held on. She slowly started to drift as the rain mixed with the warmth in her bed and the sound of Jordan’s relaxed breathing. Sleeping was never something that came easy. That changed when she and Jordan got together. She still had her insomnia and her troubles but some nights she could just hold on and slip into sweet dreams. Emily was hopeful that tonight would be one of those nights.