We Are a Team.

After we got Sean to write down his confession to the murders, the rest of the team and I sat down at our desks to do some paperwork. It wasn’t until later that night that we all got to leave. “Least favorite part of my job” I said to Derek as we climbed in my car. He nodded his head agreeing. “So what are we gonna have for dinner?” he asked as we pulled out.

“I don’t know. Ya wanna stop and get something?” “Sure. Like what?” “Well, we’ve already had Mexican and Chinese” we both started to think of something we could get. “Let’s just get Sonic” he suggested. I nodded and made a left turn. We went through the drive thru and ordered two breakfast burritos, a thing of cheesy tots, regular tots, and two large cheery slushies. I naturally made Morgan pay before we made our way back to the apartment.

Once we were there, we sprayed out all of the food on the coffee table then turned on the TV. I grabbed my burrito and cheesy tots before sitting on one side of the couch. Morgan grabbed all of his food then sat on the opposite side of the couch. I took a bite before looking at him. “What are you doing?” he looked at his food then at me.

“Eating and sitting” he scoffed. “Why are you sitting there?” he paused before answering. “Is it a crime to sit here?” he gave a small laugh. “There’s a perfectly zebra print chair over there” I pointed at the chair that was pushed against the painted baby blue wall. “Zebra’s not my thing” he shrugged.

I gave up and turned my attention to the TV screen. All throughout Kourtney and Kim take Miami, Derek complained nonstop. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and took the cherry out of my slushy and threw it at him. “Shut the fuck up!” he looked at me for a couple of seconds before he started to laugh. I rolled my eyes then got up to throw my trash away.

“Where’re ya going? It just ended. We can finally watch what I wanna watch!” I heard him laugh as I entered my bathroom. I really wanted to take a long, hot bubble bath. I filled the tub with warm water, bubbles, and blueberry scented beads. I was far off in another world, my head resting on the back of the tub, with my eyes closed. I took a deep breath and put my feet up.

I was so far off in my own world, I didn’t hear the door open. Derek stood there for several seconds, not making a sound and just staring. When I finally opened my eyes and saw him, I screamed. The bubbles had faded, but I quickly grabbed as many as I could and covered my chest. Unfortunately, it was too late and he saw everything.

“Damn” he was the first one to speak as we both just stared at each other, unaware of what to do. “What the fuck are you doing!?” I screamed at him. “I came to tell you that there’s a movie on that I thought we’d both like. But shit, I like this much better” he looked me over once more. I glared at him and told him to get out. Once the door was shut, I jumped out of the tub, wrapped a towel around me and stormed into my room.

I put on a clean bra and panties then some cheetah print footie pajamas. I brushed my hair before putting it in a side braid. I was still super pissed but wasn’t ready to face Morgan. I decided to just stay in my room for the rest of the night and deal with him in the morning. After reading for thirty minutes, I fell asleep in my bed.

I only got a couple hours of sleep before the ringing of my phone woke me up. “What Hotch?” “Wake up Morgan. We got a case” I yawned before I told him okay and hung up. I took my hair out of the braid before getting out of bed and heading towards Morgan’s room. I knocked on the door but got no answer. “Morgan?” I called, knocking a second time.

I will never know how he got up on his own when Hotch called to wake us up early in the mornings. I decided just to go into his room and beat him till he woke up. “Hey” I called, shaking his body roughly. Finally, he opened his eyes. “Hotch called” he reached for his phone and saw he had two missed calls from Hotch.

He rubbed his eyes before slowly getting out of bed. Of course he was shirtless when the sheet fell from his body. He didn’t have a bad body. He actually had very nice chest and arms. But because it was Morgan, I grimaced when I saw him standing in front of me in just a pair of boxers.

“Ugh. Five a.m.” he complained looking at the clock. I nodded before turning to leave and get ready for my probably busy work schedule. I hopped in the shower for a quick five minutes and let my blonde curls fall down my back. I pushed my bangs to the side and put on light blue skinny jeans, a plain black shirt, and a pink hoodie. After putting on light shimmering eye shadow, mascara, foundation, and concealer I laced up my black combat boots.

While waiting for Morgan, I sat in the kitchen eating apples and cinnamon flavored oatmeal and drinking orange juice. When he finally showed up he was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans, a plain white long sleeved white shirt and his boots. He grabbed a banana before turning back around to talk to me. “You look nice” he smiled. “Shut up” I got up and put my dishes in the sink.

I headed to the door, not caring if he followed me or not. I stepped into the elevator and just as the doors were about to close, Morgan jumped inside. “Ready for another day?” the doors opened on the garage floor. “Always” I gave him a closed lipped smile before stepping out and heading to his car. He was right there with me, unlocking the doors and sliding inside.

Morgan wasn’t as fast of a driver as me, so it took us a little longer to get to headquarters. After he parked and we had gone inside, we weren’t able to find the rest of the team. Morgan turned to give me a questioning look, but I could only shrug. I pulled out my phone to call Emily, when she walked by me. “Hey, where’s the rest of the team?” “We all just got here” we turned towards the elevator to see the rest of the team stepping out of the doors.

“Let’s go” Hotch said, walking by us and we had no choice but to follow him to the conference room. Garcia and Hotch stood at the front of the room, ready to brief us on the case. Rossi and Spencer sat next to each other, taking the seats closest to where Hotch and Garcia were standing. Emily and I sat across from them and according to Aaron’s stupid rule, Morgan had to sit by me. “There have been three child abductions in the same city in New York. The unsub took the first two victims on the same day, just hours apart. All boys are the same age” Garcia pulled up the first picture of the first missing boy.

“The first is William Johnson” the picture showed a little boy with red hair and freckles all over his face. He had brown eyes and wore an orange shirt with a plain pair of jeans and a sweet innocent smile. “He is five years old and he went missing two days ago” she clicked her remote and a new picture was brought up. “The second victim is Finn Weston. He was taken four hours after William” this picture showed a small boy with a little bit of a belly. He had black curly hair and bright blue eyes. The brightness in his eyes matched the brightness of his smile.

“He is four years old” I had to take a deep breath. Seeing all these little boys that were missing was breaking my heart. “And the latest victim is Harley Davidson” the last picture was of a slightly older boy who had strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes. There was no smile on his face but you could still tell he was happy by the look in his eyes. “He is eight years old. He’s been missing for twenty four hours.” “Sexual predators usually stick to taking victims who are the same age” Spencer told us. “No bodies have been found yet” Garcia spoke up from where she was still standing.

“Wheels up in thirty” Hotch told us, then walked away. I went to stand up, but Rossi stopped me. “How do you feel about this case?” I blew my bangs out of my face before answering. “I’m assuming you’re wondering how I feel about going back home” I raised my eyebrows at him. “And that you have three nephews the same age as our missing victims” I shook my head.

“Don’t make me think about it. Please” I didn’t want to release the tears I could feel behind my eyes. “I’ll be fine and if I’m not I will tell you right away. Okay?” he nodded then walked out of the room with me. I went to my desk to grab my go bag when Emily approached me. “Aren’t you from New York?” “Manhattan” I told her with a proud smile on my face. I heard Morgan snicker a little.

“What’s so funny?” I turned to him with my hands on my hips. “New Jersey from New York. Classic” he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. “FYI, my mom liked Jersey better than New York. I couldn’t fucking help it! And my name is Jersey.” “Are you gonna show me your old stomping grounds?” I turned back to Emily to answer her question. “I doubt there’ll be time for that, but if there is, of course I will!” I couldn’t help the big smile that graced my face. “Does your family still live there?” Spencer walked over to us, joining the conversation.

“My ma and brother do. My sister and her family live in Pennsylvania.” “What about your dad?” I gave Morgan a dumb look. “I don’t have a dad” Spencer and I locked eyes once I said this. Our dads had left about the same time so it was something we both could relate to. “Sorry” Emily put her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged, not really caring anymore.

“Are we gonna meet your family?” Rossi asked, bringing Hotch with him. “I guess. I haven’t seen my ma or brother since joining the BAU. I’m sure Damien would love to meet the guy I constantly complain to him about” I smirked at Emily. “I’d love to meet both of them” Hotch said. I couldn’t help the twinkle that came to my eyes or the warm smile I gave him.

“Thanks, Aaron. I’m sure my mom would love to meet the man who made me into the agent I am today” he gave a nod with a smile before most everybody left to go get their go bags. “Ready?” Morgan asked, once it was time to get on the jet. “Mmhmm” I let him take my bag and walk me to the jet. Stepping onto the jet, I took a seat on the couch and Morgan unfortunately sat next to me again. Rossi laughed at the discomfort on my face. Once we took off, I was able to call my brother Damien. “Jerssss, what’s up?” his low, gruff voice brought a huge ass smile to my face.

“Gosh, I miss you so fucking much” I heard a long chuckle on the other end of the phone. “How’s the bureau?” “Good.” “How’s that asshole?” I laughed this time looking over at Morgan. He looked at me too and I got to mouth the words you’re dead to him. “Still an asshole.” “Don’t worry, babe. Once I see him, he’s as good as dead. And of course, you can get in a few punches” I sighed, perfectly happy at that moment. “Well you won’t have to wait that long” I sing-songed to him.

“What? Why? Did you quit? Are you moving back to Manhattan?” I laughed. “Sorry but that’s gonna have to wait a few more years. But I am coming to New York for a case” I heard him call for my ma in the background. Then, Damien’s voice was replaced with hers. “Jersey?” “Hi, ma” all sets of eyes in the jet were now on me. “How are you, baby?” the happiness in her voice wasn’t hard to spot.

“Fantastic. I’m coming home” her squeal was so loud, I had to hold the phone away from my ear as all the members laughed. “When?” “I’m on the jet now.” “Oh my goodness! I can’t wait to see you!” “I know. I can’t wait to see you, either. And Hotch wants to meet you” she started to laugh. “I feel like I already know him.” “Believe me, ma, you don’t know the real Aaron Hotchner until you’ve met him in person” he looked at me differently. “Is that Morgan guy coming, too?” “He sure is. Damien can’t wait to get acquainted with him” she laughed, knowing he wanted to beat him up.

“Well, baby, I’ve gotta get dinner ready. Damien has friends coming over” I nodded. “Okay, ma. I’ll call you once we’re done with the case” she paused before saying something else. “Be careful, Jers. I love you” I smiled. “I love you, too, ma.” “Hang on. Damien wants to say bye” I could hear them passing the phone between each other. “Jerssss, you gotta get here soon. I miss my drinking buddy” I giggled.

“I miss you, too. I love you. I’ll see you soon. Bye, big brother” he chuckled. “Bye, baby sissy. I love you! Kick some ass” I laughed before hanging up. I took a quick power nap before we landed. Once I stepped off the jet, I breathed in the New York air and felt right at home. “How does it feel?” Rossi asked coming up behind me.

“Like I never left” he smiled before we both headed to the SUV’s. Morgan got into one with me and Spencer while Hotch, Emily and Rossi got in the other one with Emily driving. Since I didn’t know this part of New York, both of us drivers had to follow the GPS. It wasn’t long before we got to the police station. The sheriff was standing outside, waiting for us.

I was the first to reach him. “Hi. Sheriff Julian Marks” he offered his hand to me so we could shake. “Special Agent Washington” I pointed out the rest of the team and introduced them. He led us inside where we were able to set up everything we would need to solve this case. “In most cases, the first twenty four hours are crucial. But since no bodies have been found it’s possible that the unsub hasn’t killed them yet and is still keeping them or he’s dumped the bodies in another part of New York” Spencer said while hanging up the pictures of the three missing boys.

“Are the boys’ families here yet?” Hotch asked the sheriff. He pointed to the waiting room where we saw three sets of parents. “Emily and I got this, Hotch” he nodded before we walked over to the waiting families. We sat down in front of Ashley and David Johnson. You could tell that they’d both been crying, not that anyone could blame them.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. I’m Agent Emily Prentiss and this is Agent Jersey Washington” I smiled at the parents as she introduced us. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you. You have a beautiful little boy” the mother sniffed. “Thank you.” “I promise you that we will find William” I assured them. Suddenly the room was filled with the cries of a baby. The father reached down to his side and pulled out a small baby from a car seat.

He held him, but the baby still would not stop crying. I noticed the mother couldn’t look at her baby, and the father seemed kind of distant. “May I?” I asked, holding out my arms for the baby. David had no problem handing the baby over to me. I now had a tiny baby wrapped up in a blue blanket in my arms.

I looked down, seeing the baby with small pink lips. He couldn’t be more than two months old. He looked almost exactly like his older brother. He had the same red hair but it was curly. His eyes were still closed so I couldn’t tell what his eye color was.

“He’s beautiful” I told the parents, as he stopped crying. “Thanks” the mother kept her eyes on Emily. “What’s his name?” “Mason” I smiled down at the sweet little baby. “So what can you tell us about the day William went missing?” “Uh, the sun was setting and William wanted to play outside. We’ve been having a hard time with the new baby, so David and I weren’t paying attention to William” tears started to fall down her face.

“We thought what could happen? We live in a safe neighborhood. He’ll be fine” she wiped the tears away. “I wish I could go back and just hold my baby. W-what if he’s dead?” she broke down and started to cry again. She leaned into her husband’s chest. “Things haven’t been the same since. It’s been hard. All we can do is cry. I miss my baby” Emily cleared her throat. “I know this will be hard to answer, but would William ever go off with a stranger?” the mother pulled her face from her husband’s chest.

“No. Never. He’s very shy.” “Did things start changing before he was abducted?” I asked, taking my eyes from Mason’s. “Did he make any new friends? Was he acting different?” they both shook their heads. “He didn’t really have any friends. Like we said, he’s shy” Emily and I nodded. We decided it was best to give them a break. I handed Mason back to his father before getting up and walking out of the room.

We then decided to split up and interview the other two families separately. She was going to interview Harley’s family and I was to interview Finn’s family. I poured two cups of coffee before entering the room where the Weston’s were. As I sat down, I set the cups of coffee in front of them. “Good morning” I gave them a smile.

“I’m Agent Jersey Washington. I’m very sorry that this has happened to you” they nodded and thanked me for my condolences. “I know this is going to be hard, but I need you to tell me about the day Finn was taken” both of the parents took shaky breaths before answering me. “I don’t really know. He likes to catch fireflies at night. Jeff was working” she pointed to her husband sitting next her. “So it was just me. I’d forgotten the jars so I went back inside. We have a fenced in backyard and I thought nothing of it” she shook her head as the tears started to fall. “When I came back outside, he was gone” she put her hands over her face and just cried.

“Can you remember anything unusual happening before he was abducted?” “Everything was normal” the father answered, speaking for the first time. “He went to daycare everyday while I went to work. And when I got home, he was as happy as any other four year old.” “Was there any new friends in his life?” they both answered no. “Would he ever go off with a stranger?” once again, the answer was no. “Okay. I’m going to show you another picture of a boy around Finn’s age. Will you tell me if you’ve ever seen him before or if you know him?” they nodded. I pulled the picture of William up on my phone and showed them.

“I’ve never seen him before” the mother answered. “Me neither” I sighed. “Okay. Thank you for your time. You’re free to go now” I smiled before getting up. Once I opened the door, I had to pause. “Mr. and Mrs. Weston” they both looked up as I held the door open and faced them.

“I will find your son” not another word was spoken so I exited the room and rejoined the rest of my team. “Did you get anything from the parents?” Emily asked. “No. What about you?” “I got nothing, either.” “Garcia checked backgrounds on parents and found nothing” Morgan spoke up, making all eyes go to him. “They have no enemies either” Hotch started to pull out his phone. “Garcia” he said after just one ring.

“I need you to check for registered sex offenders in all the neighborhoods where the boys were abducted. Pay extra attention to the ones who are on probation and see if they’ve violated their probation in the last few months” he hung up without another word. I noticed the sheriff walking up to us, a piece of paper in his hand. Once he reached us, we all saw the worry on his face. “We just got an anonymous tip” he handed the paper over to Hotch. I looked over his shoulder to read the note, as did the rest of the team.

Your time is running out, agents. When you think you’ve won, they’ll already be dead.

Hotch folded up the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. “Where’d you get this?” “I found it on my desk. No one saw anything. I already checked.” “Jersey and Derek, I want you to go to the neighborhoods where the abductions were taken place. Interview all the neighbors, see if they noticed anything” we nodded before starting to make out way out of the building. “I’m assuming you’re driving” he said tossing me a set of keys. “I’m glad you’re smart” I smirked as I opened the door then slid inside. I pulled out of the parking spot and got on the road.

The first neighborhood was a good thirty-five minute drive. I pulled up in front of the Weston’s house and threw the car into park. “This is the house of Finn Weston” I told Morgan as we made our way to the front door. “The parents said that he likes to catch fireflies at night and that the mom had forgotten the jars inside, and when she came back outside, he was gone” I knocked on the door and checked out the neighborhood while we waited. It seemed to be a middle class neighborhood.

Even though the sun was out, it was still a cool October day. Kids were outside in their yards playing with their friends or their parents. All the houses were nice, their grass cut perfectly with beautiful flowers in their front yard. Everything seemed normal. The sound of the door opening caused me to face back around.

“Yes?” it was Finn’s father. “Hello, Mr. Weston” I offered him my kindest smile. “How are you?” “Agent Washington. What are you doing here?” he seemed surprised to see me. “This is Agent Derek Morgan” Mr. Weston offered his hand to shake. “We’re here to interview your neighbors. We’re gonna see if they’ve noticed anything suspicious” he nodded.

I was about to step off the front porch, when Derek asked a question. “Is your wife home, sir?” “No. she’s working. She’ll be home soon though” he nodded. “You’re more than welcome to come back once you’re done. If you’re hungry, we can fix you something to eat.” “Thank you, Mr. Weston. That’s very kind of you” we exchanged a smile before walking off of their property and went on to the house next door. It was a three story yellow house with white shudders and two kids playing in the fenced in front yard. We both smiled at them as they gave us strange looks.

This time, it was Morgan who knocked on the door. A smiling middle aged black woman opened the door. “Hello. How may I help you?” her smile was contagious so I found myself smiling as I showed her my badge. “We’re Agents Washington and Morgan, ma’am.” “Oh” the smile fell from her face. “We’re just here to ask you some questions about the abduction of Finn Weston” she nodded and opened the door more for us to get in.

She led us into the dining room area. “Please. Sit” she gestured to the table. “Can I get you anything to drink?” we shook our heads no so she sat at the head of the table while Morgan and I sat on her left and right. “Did you notice anything strange before Finn was taken?” I asked her, getting right to the point. “No. This is a safe neighborhood. As you’ve noticed, everyone lets their kids play freely. We all know each other.” “Is there anyone suspicious you’ve noticed?” Morgan asked.

“No. We’ve only lived here for a few years.” “What can you tell me about the Weston family?” “They’re a very nice family. My son and Finn sometimes played together.” “Did Finn have any other friends that you noticed? Was he talking to any adults on a regular basis?” “No. This is all very shocking. It’s hard to think that this could have happened to my son” she placed a hand over her mouth. “I fell so terrible for the Weston’s” she let a few tears slip out of her eyes. “Thank you for your time” Morgan and I stood, realizing we weren’t going to get any useful information out of her. She showed us to the door before we went on to the next house. We went to every house on that street and got nothing.

We made our way to the car while I dialed Hotch’s number. I stood outside the car as I talked to him, assuming Morgan had already gotten into the SUV. Once I ended the call, I opened the door only to notice he wasn’t in there. I looked out the window to see him talking to an older man who stood in his front yard. I opened the door and walked over to him. “Jersey, this is Jeff. He’s telling me about a possible suspect. Jeff, this is Agent Jersey Washington” we shook hands then he picked up on his story where he left off.

“Like I was saying, he used to live in this neighborhood. He actually lived in that house” he pointed his finger at the Weston’s house. “And before that, he lived in the house where the Johnson’s live. But a few months ago he moved to the neighborhood where that other boy was taken.” “You mean Harley Davidson?” he nodded. “Do you remember his name?” “Uh, John Stride, I think it was.” “Thank you. That helps a lot” we both shook his hand before heading back to the car. As I drove, Morgan called Garcia to do background on John and possibly get an address. Then he called Hotch and updated him.

A few minutes later, Garcia called back with an address. I made a hard U-turn, causing Morgan to slam into the window and started flying down the highway. “Take it easy.” “Shut up. You obviously don’t wanna find these kids that bad” I put my eyes back on the road as I heard Morgan’s phone ringing again. After talking for a minute or so, he told me that Hotch was sending Emily and Rossi out to interview people living in the other neighborhood. I put my blinker on to turn right, causing the tires to squeal at the speed I was going.

Once we arrived, Morgan run up to the door and broke it down while I ran around back to check for the kids. There was a small workshop where I checked first but no sign of the three boys. I heard Morgan yelling from inside the house and I didn’t think twice about going in for backup. He had a man on the ground, struggling to put handcuffs on him. I left Morgan with the man, while I checked the rest of the house, hoping to find the kids.

I checked every room but still found no sign of them. I opened the closet in the bedroom and found clothes hanging up. But there weren’t just his clothes. It was little kids’ clothes, too. I called Morgan in.

He led the man in first. Morgan had ahold of his handcuffs from behind. “Whose clothes are these?” “Mine” I grabbed a small shirt from the closet and walked up to him. “Does this look like it belongs to you?” I held the blue shirt in front of his face. “This is a little boy’s shirt. Are you a little boy?” he avoided eye contact with me.

“You’re a fucking piece of shit. Where are they?” “Where’s who?” him playing dumb made me want to smack him across the face that much more. “Finn Weston, William Johnson, and Harley Davidson” he shrugged his shoulders. “I heard they were taken by some pervert” Morgan jerked him roughly and led him out of the room. Holding onto that shirt, I prayed that whoever owned this shirt was okay as well as the rest of the boys. Before joining Morgan and that sack of shit, I called Hotch and Garcia.

I told Hotch about John and the little boy’s clothes I found. Then, when I called Garcia I asked her to check and see if John had lived in any other houses or if he owned some other property. The drive back to the station was quiet. When Morgan pulled him out of the backseat, he asked if he was arrested. We didn’t answer we just led him inside where Morgan put him in an interviewing room.

We let him sit there for several minutes before Morgan and I decided to go in and interview him.