Seventeen: Meeting Prentiss.

11x19 | Tribute.

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         It had been a little over a few weeks since Derek Morgan left. Julia was happy for him but of course, she didn't know him as well as the majority of the team did. Of course, they'd be a little down about it.

          Julia had often found Garcia lingering in Morgan's empty office or Reid staring at his designated seat on the jet — like he was doing now. It was evident that they were the ones taking his absence the hardest.

Julia frowns as she fills her coffee cup and sees Reid's vacant expression as he looks at Morgan's empty seat, his book in his hand still on the same page he was reading about fifteen minutes ago.

Eventually, JJ is the one to chime in next to him, "Are you ever going to turn that page?" Reid blinks, looking down at his book once more. "I haven't finished it yet."

        "You miss him, huh?" JJ guesses and Reid doesn't respond but nods swiftly. "Yeah, me, too." JJ nods in agreement. "Me three." Rossi added and Julia takes the empty spot, "Make that a chain. But he knows we're happy for him." Julia turns to Rossi, who nods at her answer.

        Meanwhile, Hotch had been chatting with Emily Prentiss via FaceTime and she had wanted to discuss a case she had about an unsub she was investigating that got away. The unsub had been copying murders of past serial killers such as Andrei Chikatilo, Jack the Ripper. And now recently, Son of Sam. And Emily had suspected that this was all the same guy.

         Hotch had shared what Emily had shared with him to the rest of the team and the team was turning the plane around to New York to land there for the case.

       "What makes us so sure it's all the same guy?" Rossi questioned and Hotch answers, "Well, Emily believes it's how precisely he's mimicking each crime." Garcia then suddenly appears on the monitors. "Go ahead, Garcia."

"Okay, this is all streaming to your tablets. Feel free to follow along. I give you Andrei Chikatilo. His first victim was in 1978. It was a 9-year-old girl whose body was discovered in the Russian city of Rostov. She was sexually assaulted, strangled, and mutilated." Garcia explained to the team.

       "He also took eyeballs as trophies and ate some of his victims' organs." Reid added and Julia scrunched up her face, "And there's my coffee coming right back up." Reid grimaces at Julia, looking at her apologetically.

       "Ugh. I now give you 10-year-old Natasha Dudechenko. Her body was discovered two years ago, also in Rostov, roughly a mile away from where the original body was found, and tragically in much the same condition." Garcia told and Julia looks at the photo of the girl and her stomach twists in anguish at that.

       "The Russian police apparently spotted a suspect near the crime scene, but he eluded capture in the crowded train station." Hotch told. "Chikatilo actually confessed to 56 murders committed between 1978 and 1990." Reid said.

        "Well, the timeline and the body count probably don't matter as much as geography and the copying of the M.O.. It was the same last year in London." Hotch said.

        "It was, indeed," Garcia replied. "Three women were discovered in Whitechapel, which is a district in East London, all within a month, and all eviscerated a la Mr. Ripper."

         "The third victim was Scotland Yard," JJ chimes in. "And that's when Emily almost got him in that undercover operation."

       "If this is the same unsub, he would be incredibly rare. It's not every day you get an unsub copying four different serial killers." Julia told.

        Reid nods, "He's both criminally and forensically sophisticated, and the fact that he's been able to function and evade caption in three countries means that he's highly intelligent and almost certainly multilingual."

       "And he's got some money in his pocket, too. Travel takes financing." Rossi adds.

       "Lewis is flying in from an assignment in Atlanta. And we'll all connect with Emily in New York." Hotch decided and JJ smiles a bit, "Well, it'll be good to see her again. Too bad it's gotta be like this."

        Julia was actually kind of excited to meet the infamous Emily Prentiss she'd heard so much about from Garcia, JJ, Morgan and Reid. She wondered if she was actually as awesome as the rest of the team lead her to believe.

         They'd landed in the Big Apple eventually and walked into the precinct where Rossi greeted a tall, dark haired woman with a wide smile. "There she is!" The woman smiled, "Hi!"

         JJ gives her a welcoming hug, "Hi. We missed you! How are you?" Julia smiles at the interactions that this woman shares with the team. "Good, Good." She then moves on to Reid next to Julia. "It's so great to see you guys."

       "Oh, brainiac, I love the do." Emily says to Reid, whose cheeks fill with heat at the compliment. "Your hair always does look good." Julia added and Emily turns to the woman and holds a hand out.

        "And you must be Julia Cortez, I've heard so much from the team here!" Emily tells and Julia chuckles, "Likewise. It's, uh, nice to put a face to the name finally. I've heard great things." Julia smiles at the woman. "But they did not express just how hot you are! My God!" Julia teases, looking the woman up and down.

        Emily laughs as she looks over at the team, "I like you, already."

       The woman then looks at Hotch as she greets him in a hug, finally. "Thank you for coming." She speaks into his shoulder and he smiles at the woman, "Of course."

        They pull away from the hug as Hotch continues, "Rossi and JJ are headed to the crime scene. I'm assuming you want to join?" Emily nods at him, "You assume right."

         With that, Rossi, JJ and Emily all head out of the building to the crime scene and Tara stands there, looking at Julia with arms crossed and a laugh escaping her mouth. "You did not just tell a woman you just met that she's hot." Tara said.

         Julia shrugs in response, "It's not like I lied, she is." She then turns over to Reid, "You know if she likes women?" Reid chokes on his coffee as Julia looks at him and Tara as they break out in a fit of laughs.

        Julia then looks at Hotch, who's not laughing and looking at the woman in seriousness and Julia immediately shushes up and says — "Sorry, sir."

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         Rossi, JJ and Emily had come back from the crime scene and had discovered that there must've been two victims. Except one got away and was shot.

Julia was sitting down at the table with Hotch and JJ as Reid was setting up their board. "Oh, buddy, I remember why I missed you so much." JJ spoke, causing Julia to look up as Emily arrived with coffee.

Emily starts with handing Julia a cup and then JJ and Hotch. "Guys, I noticed a pattern. The unsub only kills between the months of March and September." Reid chimes in. "Makes sense. It's easier to move around in the summer months." Emily said as she grabbed a cup for herself.

Hotch's cell phone rang and he is quick to answer it, "Go ahead, Garcia."
"I have got absolutely nothing on my passport search. I've been trying to pinpoint travelers who were in America, the U.K., and Russia at the time of the murders. I have zero matches." Garcia announced.

"Hey, we should also look at diplomats." Emily suggested, to which Garcia began to freak out. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God, it's you, hi!" Julia smiles at the excitement in Garcia's voice of hearing her friend. "Hey, you." Emily responds with a smile on her face.

"Oh, my God! You're here! You're here here, but you're in the country here. I miss you. How are you?"
"Garcia." Hotch speaks, in a tone that tells her they're on a time-crunch. "Oh! Yes, sorry. Uh... Diplomats. Explain."

"Well, what if he's part of some kind of diplomatic envoy? Someone attached to an embassy would have money and could travel with ease." Emily stated.

"Not to mention diplomatic immunity." Julia nods. "It would also explain being multi-lingual." Reid added.

"Still would have to go through customs, though." JJ said. "I got a match," Garcia announced. "It's not really a match."
"Why not?" Emily asked.
"Because I don't think our unsub is his excellency, Dr. Sanjay Shah, 61-year-old Indian ambassador to the U.K. He was in London at the right time, but he's currently speaking at a climate control conference in Miami."

Detective Rawlings on the case then walks into the room with news. "Guys, we got a woman who was shot in the leg in the Bronx. Claims she was mugged, but she was in the area at the right time." This must've meant that she was their second victim that got away.

         Emily and JJ were sent to speak with the woman and found out that their unsub wasn't from the UK but he was an American. And later, got a tip that there was a man near the warehouse that matched the description that their victim gave to a warehouse but they didn't find anything except a couple found shot execution style in their vehicle a block over from the warehouse.

Emily and Julia were currently looking over the scene. "Victims are Trent and Rhonda Klein, both 46. Trent was a corporate lawyer, Rhonda was an ad exec. Survived by their two daughters." JJ informed Emily and Julia.

"How old?" Julia asks, almost kicking herself for asking the question. "12 and 10." JJ revealed and Julia shakes her head at that, as well as Emily.

".44 caliber." Tara walks over to the three, the shell casing in a pair of tweezers. "But he uses a Bulldog revolver. It doesn't eject shells, and it only holds 5 rounds." JJ told.

Julia then peeks her head up, "Okay, I know we need to wait for the M.E.'s report, but my M.E. experience will have to do because I count seven different entry wounds."
"She's got at least six," Tara said. "So he had to reload twice."

"Berkowitz didn't do that," Emily responds. "And he was a misogynist. The only man he shot was a guy with long hair that he thought was a woman."
"This unsub's out of control, and this is overkill." Tara said.

Julia bends down and looks at the man again, using her flashlight to find anything she didn't see before. And then she found it. Something shiny hidden in Trent Klein's mouth. "There's something in his throat." She announced, getting everyone's attentions as she hands JJ her flashlight and with her gloved hands, reaches into Trent's mouth to retrieve a watch from his throat.

JJ is quick to grab Julia an evidence bag as she places the watch in the bag. "That is unusual." Julia commented. "That is a Rolex." JJ said. "Why so angry all of a sudden?" Tara questions.

"You know, this is an expensive car. And those Princess-cut diamonds in her ears are at least a carat each, but he didn't take any of it." Emily starts. "We profiled he has money. He doesn't need those things." Tara stated.

"Yeah, but these are the first victims that actually had money. Look what he did." Emily said, causing Julia to turn back to the scene. "He punished them." JJ said. "So maybe it's some kind of self-loathing thing." Emily guesses.

"Or maybe we got it wrong?" Julia wonders. "Julia has a point. I mean, just because the guy's educated and multi-lingual doesn't mean he comes from money." Tara stated. "Maybe it's exactly the opposite. Maybe he hates people with money."

"We should deliver the profile." Emily decides and the four women decides to deliver it to the officers at the scene while Rossi, Reid and Hotch all deliver the profile over the precinct.

Julia stands in between Tara and Emily as Emily starts with delivering the profile, "The man we're looking for is a narcissistic copycat killer. Typically, copycats have identity issues and low confidence, which is why they emulate others."

"But this guy's different. He's full of confidence and he's replicating high-profile murderers and he's doing it globally." Julia continued.

"He is only active between March and September, which means he has to do something between October and February to bankroll it all." JJ added.

"Probably a cash business. That way he had to leave a paper trail." Emily said. "Given his skill set, we're thinking thief, drսg dealer, maybe even organized crime." Tara added.

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"You will not believe how many people think someone close to them is serial killer." Julia told Reid as she plopped down in her seat. She turns to the man, engaged in the board in front of him and tilts her head at him.

         It'd been a minute since she checked on Reid since Morgan left, knowing he'd taken it pretty hard. "Hey, Reid, how are you holding up?" She asked, looking up at him and Reid turns around, "Huh? Sorry?"

"It's... just... you haven't really... talked since Morgan left." Reid looks down at her words. "And... I get it. I'm hard with change, too. But that doesn't mean you should shut yourself away from us."
"I'm not shutting myself away." Reid said.
"Yeah, but you're more quiet than usual." Julia said. "I just... I wanna check if you're okay, that's all."

Reid sighs, looking down at his hands as he sits down next to Julia. "I guess I'm just used to Morgan being here, that's all. It's different now that he's gone. I mean, for... approximately twelve years, I've worked with him. And... I guess I'm trying to get used to the fact that he's gone, now."

Julia completely gets it, she knows what it's like being used to someone being there to them not being there at all. "It's not like he's dead," She attempts to softly joke. "He just... has a family now, is all. And we keep going. He's still with us, not spiritually, but like— in spirit... without him being dead... can you tell I don't do good with pep talks?" Reid chuckles a bit at that and Julia's heart warms, glad she's able to get a smile out of Reid for a moment.

"It's the thought that counts." Reid says, tucking a strand of loose hair behind his ear. "I can't help it, you're gorgeous, I get distracted and stutter on my words." Julia teases, the tip of Reid's ears turning pink at Julia calling him 'gorgeous'.

A few minutes later, Reid goes back to work, having Julia help him with his search until he finally finds something. And he goes to retrieve Emily and Rossi to tell them what he and Julia have uncovered.

"If the unsub has moved on, I was trying to discern where he might go. Based on the time of death of his most recent victims, Cortez and I were able to estimate just how far he could get." Reid tells.

"But, if he's somehow managed to get on an airplane, however, he could be anywhere in the world right now." Julia stated and Rossi nods, "Kennedy, La Guardia, and Newark are heavily covered. It'd be hard to get through that net."

"Exactly," Reid nodded. "So his most likely mode of transport would be a train, a bus, or a car. I looked at departure schedules, I factored in possible travel speeds, and it appears to me he could not have gotten past this." He trails down the circle with his finger.

"That's a lot of real estate to cover." Emily says and Rossi points on the board to the colorful post-it marks. "What's the deal with these?"

"Ah, my idea," Julia speaks. "Each of these colors represents the most famous killers of the past 150 years." She points.

"Wow, look at Chicago." Emily comments.

"Reid went as far back as the 1890s with H.H. Holmes, then William Heirens, the Lipstick killer in the 1940s." Julia listed and Reid nods, "We, of course also have to consider Al Capone and the St. Valentine's Day massacre and Richard Speck and John Wayne Gacy."

Emily nudges her head up to the board, "I'm assuming that's Jeffrey Dahmer nearby in Milwaukee?"
"Yes," Reid tells and points up. "And this is Ed Gein."

"Well, if you wanted to copycat a famous serial killer, it looks like Chicago would be the place to be." Rossi stated. "So, does this mean we head to Chicago then?" Julia asks.

"We'd have to."

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After hearing the connections that Julia and Reid made, the team decided to fly to Chicago with Emily. The team was only beginning the journey to Chicago when Emily had fallen asleep and began to mumble JJ's name. They'd let her sleep but eventually, they needed to wake her to start the debriefing.

         JJ was the one that pulled the short straw as she tried to shake her friend awake. "Emily," JJ tried. "Emily!"

         Emily had been startled awake and JJ took a step back upon seeing the shocked look on her friend's face. "I'm up. I'm up." Emily spoke and she looked around, seeing the eyes on her. "Why are you guys all staring?"

        "You were dreaming," Rossi said. "The same one?" Emily looks down and she nods, "Yeah, only JJ was in it this time."

         Julia knows better about nightmares and she knows it's often some form of guilt or something much more deeper than you even think it is when you have a recurring nightmare. And just by Emily's tenseness alone, Julia can tell this was hitting Emily much more deeply than it would.

       And so Emily finally begins to talk about it, "Tara, remember when you asked me if I was close to the inspector who was killed?"
      "Yeah." Tara responded.
      "I lied," Emily admitted. "Her name was Louise Holland, and I was the one who suggested she volunteer to go undercover. I told her it would be good for her career. And we needed more women in power positions." Her eyes grew sad as she talked about it.

       "Emily, it's--it's okay." Tara assures softly but Emily shakes her head, "But it was my profile. The whole operation, it was my idea."

       "You never told us that." JJ said. "Well, I'm telling you now. She's dead because of me." Emily says and Hotch gives her a careful look, "Emily, she volunteered. You have to remember that."

       Emily chokes on her words as she continues, "But I talked her into it. The Chief Inspector hated the idea. He thought it was too risky. And I went above his head to push it through." She looks out the window with tears in her eyes.

        Julia kneels next to her, "But that wasn't your fault. Louise... she knew what the risks were. That's not your fault." She assured, sympathetically.

        "I just... I thought we'd catch him." Emily admitted. "You almost did." Reid spoke and Emily scoffs lightly and looks down at the file before looking back through the window, "Almost."

         Before they started on the debrief, Hotch told Emily to take a moment to herself before continuing, know she definitely needed it right now. Julia couldn't imagine that in her head, feeling guilty over talking someone into going undercover only for them to die. She couldn't imagine what Emily was feeling right now, but she felt sad about it, more so for Emily.

         So, Julia watched the bathroom door, waiting for Emily to come back out so she could talk with her. And when that door opened back up, Julia quickly walked towards the back of the jet to talk to him as privately as she could.

        Emily takes a sip of water after she exits the bathroom and sees Julia approaching her, "I'm fine." She assures. Julia shrugs, "I know. But... I can tell you're holding something back, because you don't want anybody to think you're crazy. But trust me, telling your secrets to a stranger is so much easier than telling them to someone you already know. Believe me, I speak from experience."

        Emily shrugs with a small laugh, "I might have to take you up on that."
        "So, with that stranger being me... you wanna tell me what's going on?"

        Emily sighs, she was told the newbie was pushy, but like a lovable Garcia-way kinda pushy. She sighs, "Well, that night in London, he had me and he just walked away and let me live."

       "Well, you weren't part of his plan. His need to copy specific murders was an act of compulsion." Julia stated.
       "I thought that, too. And... maybe it's just the nightmare talking, but I could swear he was savoring it." Emily said and Julia furrows her brows and then comes to a conclusion. "Maybe all those near misses weren't an accident. If he's savoring the kill, he might like it when we're close."

       Emily nods, "So he's a thrill killer." She suggests. "Maybe he gets off on the adrenaline."

        The women hear as Garcia appears on the monitor and Hotch speaks up and both Emily and Julia walk over to the couch. "What have you got, Garcia?"

       "Sir, I connected to law enforcement surveillance feeds nationwide, and I used our sketch to start official recognition search. I got this, which is streaming to your tablets now. It was taken two hours ago by a Chicago PD camera outside a bus station." Garcia informs.

      "A bus left New York at 8:30 last night. It was due in Chicago at 11:00 this morning." Reid recalls from his uncovering.

      "So, I am running a search with the new image. It's a national database. It's gonna take a while." Reid continues, "Garcia, let's narrow the search by region. It's likely that this unsub grew up in an area near a high-profile serial murder, so let's concentrate on California, Illinois, and surrounding states."
      "Copy that, that helps. But this program is literally cycling through millions of faces."

      "Okay, so what-- what are we missing here?" Emily wonders. "Well, you said he was savoring it. So what if this really is all about the thrill?" Julia guesses. "It would be hard for a guy like that to just shut off over the winter, so what is he doing during his down time to feed that urge?" JJ questions.

      "Well, we profiled something criminal." Tara said. "Well, if he was a drսg dealer or a thief, don't you think he would have stolen that Rolex instead of shoving it down that guy's throat?" JJ questions.

      "Okay, then there would be seasonal and lucrative and probably high risk." Hotch tells. "He could be some kind of hunting or adventure guide. Maybe on mountain climbing expeditions or at ski resorts?" Reid suggests.

      "Okay, narrowing search." Garcia chimes in.

      "Could be an oil rig worker," Rossi listed.
"I'm pretty sure they sign short-term contracts."

      "Got it."

     "Wait a minute, the knife." Emily speaks, looking over at Julia. "What knife?" She asks. "The unsub's knife in the nightmare. It's long and serrated on one edge, and it has a leather lanyard thing wrapped around his wrist."

      Rossi speaks up, "That sounds like a Fisherman's knife." Emily nods, "Exactly. This might be a stretch, but what if he's a fisherman?"

      "Crab season is from October to February. And it's highly lucrative, considering you only work a few months a year." Reid spoke and JJ nodded, "Yeah. And it's also dangerous. Perfect for a thrill seeker

      "Got it, got it, got it, got it," Garcia says. "All right. Ssss. Technology's working. Good things come to those who wait. Don't look at toast while it's cooking. That's sort of thing. Shut the front door." (If it wasn't a serious moment, Julia would've so laughed at Garcia's muttering mental notes.)

      "I give you 35-year-old Michael Lee Peterson of Joliet, Illinois."
       "He's back in his hometown," Rossi said. "That could mean this is his endgame."

      "Tell us everything, Garcia." Hotch pushed and Garcia began to inform, "Uh, Mr. Peterson works as a deck hand on a crab fishing vessel in the Bering Sea known as 'Neptune's Squall'. He was raised by his mother, Lorraine. She died of a stroke 10 years ago. His father, Vincent was an armed robber. He died two years ago."

        "That was right around the time of those first murders in Russia." Tara said. "That could have been the trigger."

       "Garcia, where'd the father serve his time?" Emily questioned. "Uh, mostly Stateville penitentiary." Garcia answered.

       "Richard Speck and John Wayne Gacy were both incarcerated there." Reid told. "So, he's planning on copying one of them, like we predicted." Julia added.
        "Question is, which one is he planning to copycat?" Rossi asked.

        "Well, Speck systematically raped and murdered eight student nurses in their dormitory in a single night. If he's a serial killer looking for a thrill, that would do the trick." Emily explained.

       "Garcia, coordinate with the Chicago field office and put out an APB for Peterson." Hotch ordered and Garcia nodded, "All over it, sir. All over it."

         The team had luckily landed in Chicago and all headed to SUVs with FBI vests on, driving with police officers behind them. Julia was paired in a vehicle with Tara, Reid and Hotch while Rossi was paired with JJ and Emily.

       "Given his recent shift in M.O., there's a chance that Peterson may not copy every aspect of Speck's murders." Reid told as they drove. "You know, you're right. He could actually start selecting affluent targets." Tara said.

       "Speck hit a nursing home on the South Side. Most of the money in Chicago is on the North Side." Rossi said. Hotch's cell rings once more and he picks it up, "What have you got, Garcia?" He asked.

       "Sir, I got ahold of Stateville visitor logs and it looks like Peterson and his mom visited every weekend, until his dad was transferred for his own safety."

       "So, Peterson may have even seen Speck when he was a kid." Emily said and Julia's eyebrows raised, "And decided 'hey, I wanna be like you one day'?" She questioned.

      "Wait. Garcia, for his own safety? What happened?" JJ asked. "Uh, let's see. It looks like Peterson's dad agreed to testify against his former partner and he was almost stabbed to death." Reid grimaces at that and Julia's eyebrows raise.

      "Well, in prison, snitches are worse off than child molesters. Serial killers, on the other hand, top of the food chain." Tara said.

      "Kids are like sponges. He spent a lot of time visiting. Peterson probably witnessed that dynamic." Rossi said. "Which probably contributed to his idolization of high-profile killers." Julia said and Reid nods as he adds, "He wants the respect that his father never got."

      Garcia adds on, "And he was kicked out of 4 schools, all for fighting." There's then a pause. "Guys, uh, we just got a call on the hotline. It was a hang-up so it could be a prank, but apparently a student at Northeast State university spotted Peterson."

       Hotch follows his gut as he turns on the sirens and orders, "Send the location."

        The drive wasn't far and as soon as they got there, they met with the Chicago PD at the front of the building. One of the officers was quick to approach the team. "Agents! SWAT's 10 minutes out and we got more backup en route."

       "We need all the exits covered." Hotch orders and the officer nods, "You got it."

        A gunshot fires from the building. "Shots fired!" An officer announces as Rossi shouts, "We can't wait!"

      "All right, we're going in. Tell SWAT we're going in. Dave, you take the front, we'll take the back." Julia joins Tara, Reid and Hotch towards the back of the building as Rossi, Emily and JJ head towards the inside.

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          In the end, Emily had to shoot Peterson and he was dead from the blow. Emily had finally gotten her perp and he would no longer haunt her nightmares. The team had flown back with Emily on board, to surprise Garcia, that was.

         And after landing and Hotch deciding to give the team a break on paperwork due to Emily's visit, Julia was ready to go right on home. She'd found Garcia, Emily and JJ in Morgan's vacant office and knocked on the door to interrupt for a second.

         "Hey, ladies. I'm off, so I just wanted to stop by and say goodnight." Julia announces and Garcia stops her from leaving.
          "Wait! Wait! Do you want to come to dinner with us?"
         "Yeah, join us for girl's night!" JJ agreed.

         "Oh, I couldn't intrude. I should really be getting home—" Julia tries but Emily interrupts this time, "Come on, join us." She encourages and Julia looks at the pleading women and debates until she decides — "You know what? The cats can survive a couple more hours without me." She smiles.

         Garcia then cheers, "Oh! Yay! This girls' night is gonna be so much fun!"
        "Did somebody say girls night?" The women turn towards to Rossi at the door next to Julia.

        "Yes, but we'll make an exception for you!" Emily smiles.
       "Me, too?" Reid pops in with a large smile on his face. "Not a chance." Emily teases and Reid's smile drops for a moment before Emily assures him that she's just kidding.

       "Well, let's do it. I'm starving and I'm buying. And bring the bottle." Rossi tells and points to the alcohol bottle in Emily's hand. "Well, who could say no to that?" Julia questions.

       "Oh, my God. This is, uh, this is-- this is the best." Garcia mutters to herself as the group walks together down the bullpen. "Okay, so, Hotch and Lewis are debriefing, but I'll text them and tell them where to meet us. Where are we going?" JJ asks, looking towards the group.

        "Prentiss, you should pick, you're our guest of honor." Julia encourages and the woman then asks, "Mexican? Burritos in London no bueno." Julia chuckles at that and Tara and Hotch are exiting out of the bullpen.

       "Speak of the devil." Rossi points to the two. "Oh, I see Tequila." Tara tells, her eyes on the bottle in Emily's hand. "We're having family dinner. Are you in?" Garcia asks.

      "I've got some time." Hotch says.
      "You had me at Tequila." Tara tells.

      "Yes! Vamanos! This is happening. You can tell us everything about Mark. By everything, I mean everything about Mark." Julia looks over at Reid by the elevator after he presses the button and both of them furrow their brows at each other in amusement as Garcia speaks to Emily. "I want all the details."

      "I, however, do not." Rossi speaks up and Emily shakes her head, "Well, you won't get any. I'll save that for a real girls night." Reid holds the door open for the rest of the team as they all enter inside the elevator.

      And they head to the restaurant, taking seats at their table and ordering their food. For once, Julia feels a part of a team as they all chat and laugh with one another and clink their margarita glasses together. It was right then that Julia had discovered that this team was a family like no other.

Julia listens intently to old stories about Emily and the rest of the team and Julia feels a part of the family as she chats with them and talks with them — nothing like how it felt with her family, whom never showed her love such as this one.

She often catches Reid's gazes and she'd never heard him laugh in the way that he did before. She smiles at the sound of his laughter and likes that for now, during a time that wasn't as easy as this one, with Morgan's leaving, there was light within the darkness and something told her that they were gonna make it out of this funk.

hey lovelies
can't believe we're almost with season 11 😱
i'm not excited but i am excited for s12 simultaneously????? y'all got no idea what i have planned 😋

also julia was lowkey crushing on emily, y'all caught that right? 👀👀
i mean, who wouldn't? 😂

anyways
thank you all for reading
i love you all :)
-mya <333