Narrator POV:
The Behavioral Analysis Unit rarely received calls from places like East Millbury, Vermont.
A town of fewer than 3,000 people, buried deep in the folds of the Green Mountains, it was the kind of place where people didn't lock their doors and had their own chairs at the local diner. The case file that landed on Hotch's desk that morning was thin. Three missing persons: a mother, Olivia Parker, and her two daughters—ages six and nine. Disappeared from their cabin during a weekend getaway. No signs of forced entry. No ransom. No leads.
But there was something else.
A single shoe left on the front step. Children's fingerprints smeared across the inside of a broken window. The family car, still in the driveway. The mother's purse on the table.
The kind of eerie stillness that didn't feel like an accident.
And so, the BAU prepared to fly out.
**********************************************
Emily Prentiss arrived early that morning, coffee in hand, already reviewing the preliminary photos on her tablet. The cabin was nestled in a dense wooded area about twenty minutes outside town. One main road in. A few logging paths. Snow still crusted in the tree line—unseasonably early, even for Vermont.
The disappearance had occurred sometime after dinner and before sunrise. No witnesses. The neighboring cabins were empty—off-season rentals. Whoever took the family knew the land. Knew their routine. And waited for isolation.
She'd seen cases like this before. Enough to know it never ended well.
Still, something about this one sat wrong. Not just the location. Not just the missing children. It was the silence of the scene that lingered in her chest. The precision. Like a ghost story come to life.
As she moved through the bullpen, Hotch gave a nod. "We leave in twenty. Jet's being prepped."
"Everyone else on board?" she asked.
"They will be."
She followed his gaze. Across the floor, JJ stood by her desk, face unreadable, staring at the photo of the two little girls. Her fingers were clenched so tightly around the file that her knuckles had gone white.
"She okay?" Emily asked quietly.
Hotch didn't answer. Just met her eyes.
She got the message.
**********************************************
The jet was silent.
Emily sat near the back, scanning terrain reports while the others occupied themselves in hushed ways—Reid reviewing a topographic map, Rossi flipping through crime scene photos. Hotch sat with his ever-present folder, jaw clenched tight.
And JJ—JJ hadn't said a word since boarding.
Emily could feel the tension vibrating off her like a radio frequency. Too sharp to ignore.
She wanted to say something. To ask if JJ was alright. But years of shared history had taught her that JJ didn't always answer with words. She answered in patterns. In withdrawal. In how often she reached for her necklace. In the way she kept glancing at her phone—never checking it, just looking.
Henry, probably. Or Will.
The reminder that she had a family—one that existed outside the jet—felt heavier than usual.
Emily looked away before JJ noticed her staring.
The silence stretched on until Vermont finally came into view.
**********************************************
They landed in a narrow valley surrounded by dense forest. The town looked like something out of a postcard—steepled church, red-brick post office, and clapboard houses spaced apart by generations of familiarity.
Two black SUVs were waiting on the tarmac. The local sheriff, an older man with a broad face and downturned eyes, met them with stiff politeness.
"We've never had anything like this here," he said. "It's shaken folks up."
Hotch nodded. "Walk us through what you know."
The sheriff explained that Olivia Parker and her daughters had checked into the cabin Friday night. Her ex-husband was supposed to pick them up Sunday morning. He arrived, found the cabin empty, and called 911.
The cabin showed no struggle. No blood. Just emptiness. Like the forest had swallowed them whole.
Emily exchanged a glance with JJ, who was staring out the SUV window as the trees thickened around them.
"Any history of domestic issues?" Emily asked the sheriff.
"Divorce was clean. Guy's wrecked over this. He's been ruled out."
"What about strangers in the area? Visitors? Seasonal hunters?"
"A few. But nothing unusual. We get hikers, campers, leaf peepers. But no one sticking out."
JJ finally spoke, voice low. "Then whoever did this knew exactly when to come. And when to leave."
**********************************************
The cabin stood at the edge of a private path, perched above a small, winding stream. The front door was unlocked. The firewood stacked neatly. Bowls still in the sink.
Rossi and Morgan moved through the structure while Reid cataloged the GPS data on nearby trails.
Emily lingered in the living room. Her hand brushed the half-packed duffel bag lying near the couch. Inside: coloring books. Pajamas. A picture of the girls with their mother, mid-laugh, caught in a moment of joy.
She swallowed hard.
"Anything?" she asked as JJ entered behind her.
JJ shook her head. "Nothing that screams a break-in. But look at this."
She gestured toward the back window. A child's handprint smudged in dust. The window slightly ajar.
"Emergency exit?" Emily asked.
"Maybe." JJ crouched low. "Or someone trying to get out. Not in."
Emily watched her work, trying not to focus on the tremble in her voice.
She wanted to reach out. But didn't.
Not yet.
A/N: Guys so I re wrote the chapters because it wasn't working in my head so I re started but ima post a bunch of chapters tonight much love!!!
Kait<3
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The Quiet Between Us
FanfictionWhen a series of ritualistic murders draws the BAU into the forests of the Northeast, Emily Prentiss and JJ Jareau find themselves unraveling more than a case. A long-buried truth begins to surface between them - a connection forged in silence, stre...
