Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

Prologue

Darkness descended across the cracked pavement as the sun sank below the horizon. A light breeze whistled in his ears as he jumped over an upturned garbage can before picking up speed. Hotch struggled to catch his breath as he ran through the alleyway, the unsub only mere meters in front of him. The unsub was agile, moving easily around the many obstacles that lay in her path. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she ran, matching the steady beat of Hotch's breathing. Hotch was quick but the unsub was quicker and Hotch could feel himself slowly falling behind her. He kept running though, it had been a long week of sleep deprivation and dead ends, there was no way in hell he was letting this unsub get away.

They had read and reread every detail about the case, and yet never had they considered that their unsub would be female. Now however, there was no doubt in Hotch's mind that the unsub he was currently chasing through the dark alley was indeed a woman. She was tall and slender, her dark hair flowing behind her as she ran.

He turned the corner of a building nearly running smack dab into a tall, wire fence. His eyes climbed the fence to where the unsub was nearing the top. Hotch grabbed her boot, tugging hard, causing her to tumble on top of him, both hitting the ground with a loud crash.

He grabbed her wrists and rolled her over unto her back, snapping the cuffs on her with practiced ease. He pulled her from the ground turning her towards him, and for the first time in his life, Hotch was speechless.

Hotch paced back and forth in front of the interrogation window, trying to calm himself before he entered. He wiped the beads of sweat from his brow as he prepared to face her. He sighed as he pushed open the door to the interrogation room, tension oozing from the walls as he sat down across from their latest unsub.

Hotch looked up at her, her dark eyes glued to his as she followed his every move. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest, clearly uncomfortable. He had no idea where to start, what to ask. If he was being completely honest with himself, she intimidated him.

She sat, a perfect mirror image of him, slightly slouched with her arms crossed. Her face remained stoic and unreadable, but she couldn't stop her foot from taping the floor rapidly, a nervous habit she had picked up long ago. She was disappointed in herself. She had planned every murder to the last detail, made sure that nothing could go wrong. She raised her eyebrow at him urging him to say something, but he remained silent. She moved her gaze from him to the one way window. For a brief moment she wondered who was standing on the other side, wondered if they were looking at her with the same disappointed face as Agent Hotchner was. If only she hadn't slipped up, life could have gone on like normal. She cursed herself internally as she refocused her gaze on his. If anyone could get her out of this mess it was him.

Hotch was halfway tempted to go find Morgan and make him do the interview, but he couldn't. This was his job and this was his team. He felt responsible in a way. Responsible for the fact that she was sitting in front of him right now, that he hadn't questioned her about her change in behaviour, or her constant fatigue. This was somehow his fault, and he needed to fix it. He needed to make sure the woman in front of him wasn't destroyed. But what could he do? Unable to put the questioning off any longer, he asked what he had been dying to know since he had handcuffed her.

"Why did you do it Emily?"

A/N: So I have rewritten this prologue about a million times and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it. Please let me know your thoughts and I will try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible :)