I'm back! Everyone ready? I hope so. This story is what I call a stand alone, it does not pick up where my previous one left off. That one is still is in outline form. This one takes place roughly six months or so afterwards. Please don't hold me to that time frame. Things can change as I slowly connect my stories. Now for the regular new story spiel: I don't not own any of the Criminal Minds characters nor am I a shipper. There will be no relationships between any of the characters except for friendship and comraderie. Please don't ask for it, it won't ever happen. Now go read and enjoy.

"Come on, Emily. It will be fun."

Emily glanced up from the file she was attempting to read, to the blonde profiler perched on the corner of her desk. "I don't know, JJ. That's an awfully long drive."

A few minutes before Hotch had stopped by their desks to inform the two women that they had been selected to conduct a recruitment seminar at Caulfield College in the small college town of Iron Rivers not far from the Virginia/Kentucky border. JJ was excited. This would be her first as a full-fledged profiler. Emily was not. She had long ago lost count of how many she had attended over the years. Now they blended into one forgettable boring trip.

"That's why we'll take a couple of extra days. We can leave on Monday, take our time and arrive on Thursday in plenty of time to check in at the college. It will be like a mini vacation," she enthused.

"I already had a vacation," Emily pointed out, turning her attention back to the file in front of her.

"Really? When?" JJ scoffed, crossing her arms.

"When I was in Paris," she answered, not looking up.

"When you were in Paris," she echoed in disbelief. JJ took Emily by the shoulder and pushed her back in her chair. Emily tilted her head to look at JJ unimpressed. "Did you got to the Louvre?"

"No."

"The Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame Cathedral? The Arc de Triomphe?" She peppered her friend with famous landmarks.

"No, no and no."

JJ cocked an eyebrow at Emily's answer. "So you didn't go anywhere?"

"Nope." Emily shook her head, the corners of her mouth turned down in a small frown.

"So…" JJ drawled. "You hung out in your apartment the entire time?"

"Pretty much. Oh!" Emily held up a finger. "I did go to the store on occasion."

JJ smiled and rubbed her forehead. She then patted her friend on the shoulder. "I hate to tell you this, Em, but that's not a vacation. That's called hiding."

Emily scowled at her. JJ laughed which caused the scowl to deepen. She exhaled loudly. "You're not going to let up until I say yes, are you?"

JJ smiled. "Probably not. If I can outlast Henry's tantrums I can outlast yours."

Emily sighed again and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "Fine. I'll go," she said in defeat.

"Go where?" Penelope asked, popping up from nowhere, arms loaded with files.

"No where special," Emily said quickly and then mouthed 'don't' to the blonde profiler.

JJ ignored her. "Emily and I have to attend an seminar in Iron Rivers, Virginia and I got her to agree to take a few extra days and drive." Emily groaned.

Garcia unceremoniously dumped her files into Emily's lap who struggled to keep them from sliding in a mess to the floor. The tech analyst clapped her hands in delight. "A girl's night out road trip," she squealed.

"I wouldn't call it that," Emily hastily said. "It's just a seminar."

"You didn't give me much time." Garcia went on ignoring Emily. "I need to map out your route, vet all the motels and hotels for any creepy serial killer owners and compose a list of suitable eateries that won't give you food poisoning."

"Garcia," JJ said, "you don't have to do that."

"And," Garcia continued, "I need to create an itinerary that maximizes your sightseeing opportunities. I'll have all your time scheduled from the moment you get up to when you go to bed." She turned on her heels and hurried to her lair saying, "I got to get started right now."

"Penelope, you forgot your files" JJ called after her but the analyst was gone.

Emily glared at JJ. "I warned you not to tell her. Now we are going to be visiting places that normal tourists avoid like the plague. And she'll insist that we take pictures."

"Sorry," JJ said with a shrug. She hopped off Emily's desk and moved to her own desk.

Emily sighed and looked down at the mound of files still in her lap. "Why do I feel like I am going to regret this?"

On the third day of the trip JJ and Emily decide to have an early dinner. After consulting Garcia's extensive list of fine dining and finding nothing of interest, they decided to wing it. They eventually settled on a small roadside diner called the Kountry Kettle on the outskirts of Flint, Virginia.

It looked like any typical small town. The downtown was situated on the four corners of two roads with one traffic light. If you caught the green light and blinked you would probably miss it. According to Garcia's guidebook, Flint was a popular vacation spot during the summer months. There was a national park nearby which offered beautiful vistas and hiking trails. Surrounding the park were numerous campgrounds that were always fully booked for the summer. During the camping season the town's population was nearly triple its size but during the off-season, which was when JJ and Emily were traveling, it was virtually deserted except for the locals.

The door jangled as they stepped in. The place was fairly packed. A waitress breezed by with a loaded tray and told them to take a seat where ever they wanted. After a quick discussion the two profilers chose the corner booth. They slid in over the red leather benches. Before they could even reach for the menus, the waitress who had greeted them at the door stopped at their table. Her nametag read 'Marge'.

"Afternoon, ladies. Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked brightly.

"Coffee," JJ said.

"Iced tea, please," Emily said. Marge nodded and hurried off.

"I told you that old adage works, JJ," Emily said, smoothing out the red checked plastic tablecloth. "It might look run down and dumpy but if there are a lot of semis parked outside then the food is good. Truck drivers know where to eat."

JJ laughed. "I'll never doubt you again, Emily. Well at least in regards to roadside food." She opened the menu. "What are you going to get?"

"I'm not sure," she said, studying hers. "Hmmm, the open face roast beef sandwich sound good."

"It does," the blonde agreed.

Marge returned with their drinks and took their orders. Emily took a sip of her iced tea and looked around. For a diner it wasn't bad. Along the wall to the left of the food counter was an arrangement of color and black and white photographs. Though she couldn't see them well from where they were sitting, the photos seemed to depict special occasions for the town. The rest of the place was tastefully decorated with movie memorabilia from the thirties and the forties. Above their booth hung a poster for the classic movie 'Now Voyager' with Paul Henreid lighting two cigarettes at one time for himself and Bette Davis.

"I read that every woman wanted their cigarettes lit like that after that movie came out," Emily commented, pointing to the poster.

"I'm sure it was very romantic back then," JJ said looking at it. "So, Emily, are you enjoying the trip?"

She smiled. "Actually I am. I hadn't realized how tightly wound I've been of late."

"I think we all have. The last couple of cases were tough ones."

Emily brushed her hair back with her left hand. "They were. But you know, JJ, lets not talk about work. Like you said we're on vacation."

"We are."

Marge served them their orders and the two friends spent the next hour eating and talking about their trip so far.

At the table tucked next to the kitchen door the man sat there enthralled by the women in the corner booth laughing with each other over dessert. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He rubbed at his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it. He wasn't. It was her! She wasn't dead. They just told him that in a foolish attempt to keep him away from her. It didn't work. Even throwing him behind bars for kidnapping for ten years didn't stop him from constantly thinking of her. Kidnapping, he snorted. What a trumped up charge. How could you kidnap someone when they readily came with you? And that thing about her being only fifteen and him being eighteen? It made no sense. When you are in love age doesn't matter. When they had finally released him he set out to find his beloved Sarah.

Now he had. He gazed at her with longing. She was older than he remembered but it made sense, he hadn't seen her in fifteen years. People do age after all. He certainly did. He was no longer that scrawny teenager. Ten years in prison had toughened him, built him up in mind and body. He knew deep down in his heart that it was his Sarah. He recognized the radiant smile, the gorgeous eyes and the cute way she tilted her head to the side when she laughed. He smiled wickedly. Now that he found her he was never going to let anyone take her away from him again. Sarah was his.

JJ and Emily polished off the last bites of the apple dumpling they were sharing. While JJ dashed off to the restroom, Emily settled the bill at the register and gave Marge a generous tip. She then waited for her friend outside enjoying the feeling of the late afternoon sun on her face. Idly she let her gaze wander over the parking lot automatically filing away in her mind the makes, colors and models of the cars. As much as she tried she couldn't completely turn off the profiler inside of her on her days off. She chuckled at the sign on the side of a plumber's truck: 'Don't sleep with a drip, call your plumber'.

"What's so funny?" JJ asked as she stepped out into the sunshine.

"That." Emily pointed to the truck.

JJ looked to where she was pointing and groaned. "That is bad."

Emily shrugged with a smile. "It is but I bet it solicits a lot of business in more ways than one."

JJ groaned again and poked Emily playfully in the ribs. "That was even worse."

Laughing the two profilers made their way to their SUV. Just as Emily was about to climb into the driver's seat JJ paused with the passenger door open. "Look at this one, Emily." She indicated the sign on the door of a truck two parking spaces down. It read 'Chip n' Dale's Campgrounds'. "That is kind of cute. I wonder if it is a kid's campground?"

Emily looked over the hood of the SUV. "I doubt it, JJ. Look closer at the chipmunks."

The blonde peered closer. "Oh," she said when she realized the chipmunks were wearing black bow ties and cuffs. "Definitely not a kid's campground."

"Nope," Emily said with a straight face. "More likely a campground for male strippers."

As Emily drove JJ looked over the vast list of attractions Garcia had compiled for their trip. Some were traditional in nature like a national battlefield or a history museum. Others on the list were just plain odd.

"Well," JJ said, "We have a few choices left of Penelope's oddity list."

Emily briefly glanced at her. "Like what?" she asked warily.

"We can go look at hubcaps," the blonde suggested.

Emily rolled her eyes. "I am not going to look at Hairy Howie's hoard of heisted hubcaps."

JJ arched an eyebrow. "Okay. How about thimbles?"

"So not visiting Thelma and Thor's thankfully thin thicket of thumb thimbles."

"Two can play at this game," JJ said and looked back over the list. "Barbed wire," she said triumphantly.

Emily thought for a moment. "Barb de Wyre's pile of potentially pointed and prickly poultry prods."

JJ laughed and threw up her hands in mock surrender. "I give up."

"As you should."

Emily glanced at the rearview mirror. Back in the distance she could see a truck that was rapidly catching up with them. She let out a low whistle.

"What is it?" JJ asked.

"This driver is sure in a big hurry to get somewhere," she commented, looking at the mirror again.

JJ turned in her seat to look out the back window. The truck grew larger with each passing second. It ran up their rear and then swerved into the opposite lane. The driver blew past them and at the last moment it cut back into their lane.

"SHIT!" Emily swore as she jammed on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the truck.

The SUV's tires dug into the road and came to a screeching stop. The driver, apparently unfazed from the near collision, hit the gas and roared off down the road.

"That was close," JJ breathed, resting a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"Way too close," Emily muttered, releasing her death grip on the steering wheel. "The idiot didn't even look." She took a couple of deep cleansing breaths to calm her own frantic beating heart. "You okay?" she asked, turning to her friend.

"Yes," JJ said. "Just waiting for my heart to calm."

"Me too." Emily took her foot off the brake and put the SUV back into motion.

They drove in silence for the next couple of miles. They passed a sign for the Bear Lake pubic access. JJ wondered what it meant and Emily said it was where you launched a boat.

"I've been thinking," Emily spoke up a few minutes later. "Instead of finding somewhere to stay for the night why don't we continue through to Iron Rivers?" She glanced at the dashboard clock. "It's only a little after four. We would get there around eleven, midnight at the latest. We could check in, sleep late and have a leisurely breakfast. We could then explore the town before heading to the college." She shrugged. "It was just a thought."

"I like it," JJ said. "I'll call the hotel and change our arrival time." She pulled out her phone from her purse. She looked at the display and cursed.

"What?" Emily flicked her eyes from the road to JJ.

"No signal. We must be in one of those dead zones. Oh well," she shrugged. "I'll have to try later." She tucked the phone back into the purse. She looked up and screamed.

"EMILY! LOOK OUT!"

Grins wickedly. I just had to end on a cliffhanger in the first chapter didn't I? Well hope you enjoyed the first installment and please come back for more. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. I look forward to them. Until then I see everyone back next Wednesday.