Ink Veiled Sins

i.

ever since my baby went away, it's been the blackest day

It started with a simple purple freesia.

A pure white box, long and wrapped with a ribbon around it had been placed against her front door. The sight had confused her at first, as she'd made her way down the hallway of her condo complex. Packages didn't usually come directly to tenants doors but this had and it unnerved her. Emily could sense there was something about the box as it rested there, carefully picking it up cautious of what could be inside it.

Giving it a gentle little shake, she barely heard anything from inside it, just some faint rustling. It seemed innocent enough and as she made her way inside her condo she was fairly confident that it wouldn't blow up in her hands. At least she was hoping it wouldn't. Still, she set her things down quickly, placing the box down on her sideboard as she slowly pulled the lid up and off of the box, breath caught as she anticipated what could be inside.

Her eyes widened slightly, mouth parting a little to exhale silently. A single purple freesia was placed delicately inside, surrounded by tissue paper, to protect it in some form. The sight of it had her mind racing, they were her favorite flower but no one could've known that…at least not anyone from her current life could've known that. Emily glanced around frantically, looking over the box to see if there was some kind of note to go with the flower. There wasn't.

After several moments of looking she had to admit to herself that there wasn't anything else with the flower that she could rely on to tell her who sent it. Not that she needed to be told whom the flower was from; she knew, already, her body tingling with the thought. She had just wanted some kind of confirmation on the fact, even if she didn't need it. Not at the moment at least.

With slow, delicate movements, ones usually unlike her normal self, she picked the flower up bringing it up to her nose. She sniffed at the flower; eyes closing for a moment, letting it take her back to a place she hadn't thought about in over 5 years. A Tuscan villa, a dangerous man and a gorgeous little boy and a time that changed her life forever.

It was sign. Of that she had no doubt.

As far as she knew though, he was still stuck in a North Korean prison but…if he was finally making contact with her after all this time. Maybe he wasn't. It'd explain the multiple calls she'd received from Clyde and from Sean. If he'd escaped, which she was almost certain he had now, then they'd want to warn her – even though her cover had essentially been killed years ago. In their minds there'd be no reason for Ian to be looking for her, not when Lauren Reynolds was dead.

What they didn't know though was that Lauren Reynolds had barely ever existed with Ian Doyle. She'd been playing a dangerous game and one that hadn't quite worked out the way she wanted it too. By the end of it, she'd been pulled out without her knowledge; apparently it'd started to become apparent she was compromised and if her team had only waited a few more weeks, she'd have disappeared completely.

Still holding the flower, Emily sighed as she moved through her apartment, looking for a vase to put the single flower in. She rested it on her kitchen bench, searching through her cupboards before finally finding something to put it on and filling it halfway with water. Carefully she picked the flower up again, slowly dropping it into the vase, watching it eagerly settle in the long glass container.

Emily looked at it curiously on the bench, considering leaving it there for a moment before biting her lip. A thought occurred to her that it didn't belong on the bench and she picked it up gently, holding it steady as she made her way to her bedroom, placing it on her bedside table. It seemed rather more intimate then anything else in her apartment; all cold and well organized, a sign she was rarely home enough to pay much attention to making the condo seem like a home. With a satisfied smile, she leaned in again, smelling it one more time before exiting her room.

i.

The flowers came every few days from then on, just as they were starting to wilt and for Emily it was enough to know that Ian was watching her, or at least having her watched. She had always thought the idea of being watched would be disconcerting but when she knew it was Ian, it truly wasn't at all. In fact, she felt a sense of safety in the idea that he was watching over her; like some sort of dangerous guardian angel.

With the flowers still came the calls from both her former colleagues and eventually she couldn't put off answering either of them. She felt bad at the relief she felt when she organized to meet Sean instead of Clyde; the Englishman could always read her better then their team leader and for this, she'd need to play on the fact that Sean just couldn't read her as well.

It was why, walking into Murphy's Bar, a place on the outskirts of DC but still fairly popular, Emily did her best to look confused and concerned. She spotted the other man easily, despite how long it'd been since they'd last seen each other and made her way towards the booth he was sitting in; by the back and away from the crowd of people. Emily wasn't surprised by his choice at all.

"Emily," he greeted, his accent still strong as he looked up at her, face heavy with age and stress.

"Sean," she breathes as she slides into the booth, not even taking off her jacket as she looks at him seriously. "You know I'm not part of the CIA anymore," she told him, an eyebrow quirking upwards; head tilting, as she looked him over.

"I know. That's not why I've been trying to get ahold of you," he told her gruffly. "Doyle's escaped," he told her almost solemnly.

Emily tried not to let any emotions show, schooling her features into a neutral look. She knew already, of course, that Doyle had escaped – the flowers wouldn't be being sent if he were still in prison. But, Sean couldn't know that; couldn't know Doyle had been contacting her in any way, even as obscure as sending flowers was.

"How…long ago?" She asked after a moment, tongue swiping along her bottom lip as she deliberately gave the impression of being unsettled. If things were to work out and she was going to keep people unsuspicious, she had to play her part.

"About 3 weeks. If he is out, then the teams in danger," he told her, the worry clear and evident in his voice and across his face. He must have seen the way her brow creased momentarily because he started speaking again. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, he has no clue who you are remember? As far as he knows, Lauren Reynolds is dead. Just, be careful Emily, just in case. Okay?"

Emily bit her lip, glancing away as she nodded slightly before looking back at him with concern. "How did he even get out?" She asked, voice dropping a little, shifting in her seat. "He should've been…in there for life," she stressed the words, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed as she maintained the concerned demeanor.

"I know, but we always knew Doyle was smart. Guess he's still got people loyal to him," Sean scoffed, shaking his head as he finished the drink that'd been sitting untouched in front of him since Emily had sat down.

"I guess he does," she murmured, biting her lip for a moment again. "I need to go but, keep me informed Sean. I…don't want any surprises," she told him, nodding her head insistently.

"I'll try. Just be careful, Emily. We don't know what he'll do next," Sean told her as she slid out of the booth, standing easily.

"Alright. Bye Sean," Emily told him, giving him a quick little smile as she headed for the exit of the little bar.

She didn't look back as she walked away, hands shoving into the pockets of her coat, letting Sean's words mull over in her mind. He was clearly worried, and Emily knew he should be, there was no way Ian was going to escape and just let the people behind it off without any retribution. It wasn't his way. Theoretically, she was safe, on all fronts; Ian knew her, knew the real her and even if he didn't, her cover of Lauren Reynolds was dead. There was no way he could know she was Lauren if she hadn't already told him.

Slipping into her car, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Closing the door, she shifted in her seat to get her phone out of her pocket, eyebrows furrowed as she wondered who or what it could be. The message that popped up on the screen made her smile, she couldn't help the automatic reaction, though she knew she should. 'See you soon, love.' Sent by an unknown sender but Emily didn't need to have a name to know who it was; and she certainly hoped she would.

AN: So, this is new. And it's been a long, long time since I've written a Criminal Minds fic. But I've been getting into it again lately and I've always wanted to write an Emily/Ian fic. Here it is! Please, please, let me know what you think!

I'd love to know any criticism or feedback you've got for me. Please read and review! :) LittleTayy.