Secrets.

3.

Emily's POV

Emily boarded the plane last. As she was taking her seat, she almost sat on an old newspaper. "Hey Hotch, did someone borrow our jet?"

"Yeah, the White Collar team used it last week after theirs broke down in the hangar. Why?"

"Oh, I just found this newspaper." Prentiss laughed, glancing at the front page. "It's from two weeks ago."

Hotch nodded. "Yeah, they are known for their lack of current affairs knowledge." Did he just tell a joke? Emily thought.

He continued, "Everyone, come over here. I need to explain the case better. Sorry about the rush earlier." He apologised as the team crowded as close as possible to hear the gruesome details about this week's serial killer. Emily picked up the newspaper and read while listening vaguely to Hotch's description. "He's been killing for two weeks now."

Morgan let out a low whistle. "Eight victims in less than two weeks?"

"Yeah. He has been killing blonde, blue-eyed prostitutes. It seems that strangulation was cause of death on all of them, but he slit their throats afterwards."

"Overkill?" Emily suggested, looking up from the paper. "Maybe he knows them personally."

"Maybe. Or maybe he just wants to make sure they are dead." Rossi countered.

"Why would he want to do that? Maybe if he removes their shirt, abuses them, then killed them to keep from being recognised." Reid said.

"No," Hotch said, "he kills them then removes their shirts. They are covered in blood from the neck wounds. What I want to figure out is why he would take off their shirt then put it back on."

"Um, Hotch, you never told us where we are going," JJ stated and nobody missed the obvious change of subject.

"Colorado." Emily felt JJ stiffen beside her. "That's another thing with the murders—they seem to be moving north."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

JJ glanced at the file in her hands. "One murder took place right outside of a nice restaurant. Then the next one took place five miles north of that, and the next two miles of that. I think you see the pattern." JJ stood up slowly.

"Weird...." Morgan commented.

"Not really," Reid disagreed. "He could just be travelling in that general direction and killing as he goes. Did you know that the percentage of murderers that kill based on convenience reaches-" Emily zoned out and didn't hear the rest of Reid's statistics. She glanced down at the paper again, her eye catching the title;

Child Molester breaks free after eight years imprisonment.

Interesting, she thought as she read the article quickly. Emily had always hated when people got out of jail for no reason, especially if they did something to a kid. Then again, who wouldn't?

"That's horrible," Emily suddenly gasped.

Morgan laughed. "Girl, where were you? Unless you really have something against gin rummy...."

"Oh no, not that. Something in the paper. These people are letting this guy go—well, I guess did let this guy go already, considering the paper is two weeks old. Anyways, they let a pedophile who raped and sexually abused his two step-daughters for over ten years walk free because they need the jail cell."

"That's disgusting," Morgan spat. They all knew of his abusive past, and didn't comment on it.

"What's even worse is that he didn't even get put away for the molestation—he got away with that, due to lack of evidence. He was put away for attempted rape and murder of his wife."

"Who is he?" JJ asked quietly. She was standing next to her seat; Emily didn't even notice she hadn't moved.

"Uh, let me find a name." Emily quickly skimmed the article. "Here it is—Walter Blaine." JJ nodded and took long, slow strides to the bathroom. Emily threw the newspaper down, horrified at what she was reading, when she heard the sound of somebody vomiting coming from the back of the plane. "Oh, gosh," she muttered.

"What? Another article?"

"No—listen." Everyone was quiet as they heard what Prentiss had.

"Was she...?" Reid didn't even have to finish the question. Under different circumstances, Emily would have teased him for being at a loss for words.

"Yeah." Rossi answered.

JJ exited the bathroom, self-conscious when she noticed them staring at her. She grabbed a bottle of water and sat down. "Yes?"

"Jennifer, if you asked to stay home, I would have let you," Hotch said gently.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just never letting Will cook again." She joked unconvincingly. "So, what were the ages of the victims?" She changed the subject, taking long gulps from her water bottle.

"They ranged from 15 to 30."

"Big range," Rossi commented.

Morgan scowled. "A fifteen year old prostitute? That's disgusting. What are these girls—these sluts—doing with their lives? Selling themselves for money is only showing themselves and their families disrespect."

"They don't deserve to die." JJ said angrily. It took everything in Prentiss not to gasp; she couldn't remember ever seeing JJ this mad before.

"Of course not," Morgan responded, shocked at JJ's outburst. She was usually opinionated, but she'd never voiced it like this before. "But if they need money, get a damn job, don't just walk around in underwear flaunting your stuff."

"You don't know what these girls went through! For all you know, they could have been, I don't know, running from an abusive home! Or...or they had nowhere to go!"

"Okay, I hear you," Morgan said.

JJ came back to her usual self, almost as suddenly as this all began. Looking at the others, Prentiss and Rossi ( the BAU's newest members ) noticed that this was unusual. JJ pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, obviously still recovering from the nausea. Emily rubbed her back. She stiffened under her hand for half a second before relaxing again.

"JJ, are you sure you're okay? If you're sick, you really shouldn't be flying, or working the case," Reid informed them.

"I'm okay, really. I just-"

Just then, Garcia's image popped up on the laptop in front of them. "Hiya guys! How's the flight going?" Silence. "That bad, huh? Anyways, I got some more info on your poor little girlies. They weren't sexually assaulted in any way, shape or form, but they do have a little bit of bruising on their abdomen. Possibly from the forceful way your sicko removed the shirts, possibly from physical abuse and punches."

"Thanks Garcia." Hotch answered, almost mechanically, even for Hotch.

"Why the long faces? I mean, besides the fact you have eight dead girls' faces sitting on the table in front of you."

"Thanks for the reminder. But we may be down an agent." Rossi said. Emily saw the annoyance on JJ's face as she shook off her hand.

"What? W-what are you talking about?" She saw Garcia do a quick head count.

"JJ's sick."

"I'm fine."

"Aww, Jayje. Is my awesome aura too great for you to be around while the team is away? Or is there some other reason you don't want to be in my presence all week?"

"I'm not sick. Really."

"Right. Well, I'm going to let you do your thing now. Feel better, JJ! Caio." Garcia's image disappeared from the screen.

"JJ, really-"

"I promise, I am fine. Please, can we focus on the case now? We have eight murdered and counting."

"She's right." Emily could see the appreciation on JJ's face as she agreed with her. "This guy is moving fast and we have almost nothing." This is going to be a tough case, Emily thought. Then, stealing a look at JJ, for more than one reason.