Summary: Emily is unsure of her abilities in the field after being away for so long. When in pursuit of an unsub, Emily must muster all the courage she can, or fall victim herself.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Criminal Minds. I'm just borrowing a few characters and promise to return them alive and unscathed, for the most part.

Overcoming Fear-

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."-Mark Twain

Heart racing, arms pumping, Emily Prentiss willed herself to move faster. The brunette profiler's head spun, her mind racing in fear as she pursued the unsub. Even after she had completed all those hours of training with Morgan, at times Emily still felt as a hindrance in the field, that no matter what she did, she would never be as good as she was before the whole Doyle saga. Of course the thought was preposterous, each member of the team having told her on more than one occasion. But still, Emily Prentiss feared for her team. The same team she almost died to protect, the team that was as close to a family that she was ever going to get.

Weaving through the densely populated forest's pillars, Emily's mind wandered to the time that didn't seem so long ago when she was lying dying, on a warehouse floor. She had told Morgan to let her go, but he wouldn't do it. Would this, could this become a repeat performance? This unsub was certainly dangerous enough. Fear engulfing her body in a tight embrace, Emily slowed to a stop. She couldn't continue. She, the fearless FBI agent quit, the fear to great for her to continue. Maybe she didn't have the ability to do this job anymore. Maybe her nightmares were finally coming rue. The she, having worked so hard for this job would up and leave like Jason Gideon or Elle Greenaway without so much as a goodbye.

Sinking to her knees,tears cascaded down her milky white cheeks. When her vision became blurred, from the salty tears, Emily wiped them away. Get up Emily! A tiny voice in her head yelled. There is no time to be a coward. Your friends need you! Grabbing the trunk of a nearby tree, Emily prepared to pull herself back to her feet, when another voice sounded. Who are you kidding? They don't need you. They did pretty well for themselves while you were hiding in Paris. Face it, Emily Prentiss is a has been. Removing her hand from the trunk, Emily couldn't help but think that the second voice was right. If she left, the team would still be the team and they would still be able to do the job they both loved and hated at times. They had gotten along without her before, and they could do it again. Anger bubbling within her now, Emily banged her fists on the soft ground. "I can do this!" she shouted out loud to herself, willing herself to continue. As scared as she was at this moment, she could not leave her team, her friends, to battle this monster alone.

Faster and faster, the raven haired beauty pushed herself, her fear driving her to finish the job she had started. Her side aching from running so hard was nearly enough to make her quit. That was until the rustling of leaves and a flash of a human being caught her attention out of her peripheral vision. Ignoring her aches, the profiler changed her direction, pushing herself harder and faster in hot pursuit of the unsub.

"I got him!" she panted into the communication device, praying that someone was nearby to intercept and catch the unsub unawares.

"Jeffery Hamilton!" Emily shouted after him to get his attention. "This is the FBI!" whether the unsub heard her or not, he didn't stop trying to escape the federal agents hunting him. Breathing labored from the hot pursuit, Emily wanted nothing more than a long guzzle of water and a rest. However, her newly found courage pressed her onward to take down the son of a bitch. When the dense forest was coming to an end, Emily could hear the sound of cars whizzing past as the speed of light on the highway. This was the end of the line for the unsub and with his erratic behavior, there was no telling what he might do. Still in the forest, but not far from the highway, the pursuit ended and Emily was finally able to catch her breath. "This is the end of the line, Jeffery!" she said to him.

"No, no, no, NO!" he shouted back at her, pulling the small pistol from the waistband of his pants. Instinctively, Emily drew her glock, keeping perfect aim on the unsub.

"Drop the weapon!" she shouted in an authoritative voice. When the unsub refused to comply to her orders, Emily repeated herself, louder. "I said drop it!" Still the unsub did not comply to her order and set his aim on her. Although she was grateful for the bullet proof vest, fear still kept its hold on her, trying to paralyze her. With the amount of courage she built up, Prentiss weighed her current options in her head. Authority did not work on him and Prentiss couldn't shoot him, though she wanted to, to finally end this nightmare.

Jeffery Hamilton lunged forward, knocking her weapon away from her in the process. His attack was so quick that Emily didn't have time to fully process what was happening before her instincts took over. His fists were as fast as lightening and as hard as steel as he immobilized the FBI agent. Feeling a black eye forming and blood gushing out of her nose, Emily crossed her forearms in front of her face to block any more attacks to that area. Aiming lower, the unsub made contact with her abdomen. Doubling over in pain, Emily screamed feeling the impact on the wound inflicted on her by Ian Doyle. Fear began to overtake Emily once again, keeping her blind to what was now happening. Feeling herself hit the the tree, Emily prepared for more of the abuse to come her way. Instead it didn't come. The muzzle of a gun to her temple split open the skin from being pressed so hard against it. Closing her eyes tight shut, Emily prepared herself for the worst,trying not think about her brains being splattered around the forest floor. Instead, a great weight of lifted off her. Afraid to open her eyes, Emily slowly breathed. Forcing her eyes open, she saw the unsub immobilized by Derek Morgan who had him handcuffed. Hotch and Rossi ran to assist Morgan, leaving JJ and Reid to attend to her.

XXX

Upon being cleared by the paramedics, Emily wanted nothing more than to fly home to Washington D.C. and forget this whole ordeal. The first step to that would be to down a few shots and avoid any member of the team that was bound to bring the subject matter up. On the tiny jet, that was impossible, Emily realized noticing Derek Morgan stride over to the vacant seat across from her. Quietly, he took a seat, not offering to say anything leaving them in silence to think about the days events.

"I can't do this job," Emily said, breaking the silence, surprising herself just as much as him.

Surprised, Morgan raised his eyebrows. Leaning in closer to her, penetrating her bubble of safety, Morgan said, "Yes you can, Emily." Now it was her turn to raise her eyebrows. "I know you can, Emily."

Shaking her head in disagreement, Emily stopped him. "I can't Morgan," she replied. "All I could see or think about was the whole Doyle thing playing out again. How can I continue to do this job, if that keeps being thrown in face? Morgan, I was so overcome by fear, that I got my ass kicked. I can't do this job as effectively as I used to."

"Emily Prentiss," Morgan said, grabbing her hand, forcing her to look at him. "You are the strongest woman I know and if anyone can do this job, it's you."

From there, the friends retreated back into silence, keeping the contact as if it were a lifeline for them. Grateful for the compliment, but not exactly moved by Derek's words, Emily wondered if she was as strong and brave as Derek believed her to be. Although fear wasn't absent, Emily hoped in time she could prove to herself and to others if need be that she was still fully competent to do this job effectively. With one last look at the man seated across from her, she smiled at him in thanks. The physical contact ended and both leaned back into the leather seats, retreating into their own thoughts.

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."-Mary Anne Radmacher