This was written for the CCOAC challenge #14- All the Colors of the Rainbow
The sentence I had to use was: Sighing over the loss of yet another person close to her, she watched the horizon as the fiery red- orange of sunset gave way to the pearly gray of dusk.
I got the sentence from pandorabox82- I hope this lives up to your expectations!
I'd love to hear what you think- please leave a comment!
And well, I hate to ruin the story, but I feel as though I should let you know...
Warning: Character Death
I do not own Criminal Minds
"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever."
-Keri Russell
Emily heard her cell phone ring and checked the caller ID. It read Quantico, Virginia. Only one person from the United States knew her number.
"JJ?" Emily answered the phone. She didn't know why JJ would be calling her. They had strictly decided that no contact would be best.
"Not quite darling." Doyle's cold hard voice told her.
"Doyle?" Emily couldn't help but keep the shock out of her voice.
"You can imagine I was just as shocked when I found out you survived. Running away is something I would expect Lauren Reynolds to do, not the oh so proud Emily Prentiss you claim to be." He mocked her.
"What do you want?" Emily asked with her jaw clenched.
"I don't think it's so much what I want, but more of what this beautiful blonde woman I have wants."
Emily stared out the window from her bed. She saw the sun rise over the trees and birds were chirping, like they had the right. Hotch and JJ had kept her apartment just as it was when she left. She stood up, her eyes red and puffy from the night of crying. She stiffly walked to her closet and pulled out the black dress she had only worn once- to Haley's funeral.
"Doyle, what do you want me to do?" Emily was already scrambling around her apartment getting passports, her gun, and the go bag she always kept next to her door.
"I want you to come back and fight. You are a coward, and soon your friend will have to die for that." Doyle told her.
"Where? Where do you want me to go?" Emily closed her eyes, but only allowed herself to for a second.
"Fly to Quantico. I will give you instructions from there."
Emily was already out of her apartment when Doyle hung up the phone.
Emily looked at herself in the mirror. She had lost weight since she had left. Her dress was low cut, and she could just barely make out the four leaf clover that Doyle had branded on her. She walked over to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. But her eyes stayed red.
"Okay Doyle, I'm here." Emily said into the phone as she ran out of the Quantico airport.
"I assume it goes without saying that you are not to call in the rest of your team. This is on you, and involving them will force me to kill JJ." Doyle's voice was void of emotion.
"Where do you want me to go?" Emily asked trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
"There is a warehouse on 175th street west. It is exactly ten minutes from your location. If you are any later the blonde dies."
Emily felt her lungs tighten. She looked at the picture that rested on her book case and brushed her fingers across it. It was a picture of her, JJ, and Garcia on one of their girl's nights. They had gone bowling, but hadn't actually bowled really at all. They spent the time gossiping and checking out guys butts as the bent over to roll the ball. Emily almost laughed at the memory, but then she remembered that it was something that they would never do again. The three of them would never get to go bowling. They would never talk about mindless things, they would never smile again.
Emily jumped out of the car she had stolen and grabbed her gun from the passenger's seat. She ran into the warehouse not taking the usual precautions she would have in any other situation. Looking up and down the hallway she spotted a shadow coming from a room. She tiptoed down the hall with her back to the wall. When she was finally standing outside of the doorway she held her breath. She peered into the room and saw JJ tied to a chair in the center. Her face was dirty and her hair was matted to her face. This made her think back to when she had been captured by Doyle.
Emily brought her gun close to her and entered the room. Before she knew what happened it was knocked out of her hand and Doyle was holding it.
"I thought you were a better agent than this Emily dear." The sound of Doyle's voice made her want to vomit. "It must have been those months in hiding. You got out of practice."
"Don't worry, I'll have enough time practicing on you." Emily sneered.
"Not if you want JJ to survive. She too has already expressed her urge for me to die, which is why I deemed it necessary to place a gag on her."
"Doyle, you can do anything you want to me, but this isn't about JJ. This is about us." Emily looked Doyle squarely in the eyes.
"Which is why if you cooperate, I may let her go. But we both know that you are not going to get out of this alive." Doyle said.
"I know." Emily tried to keep her voice strong.
Emily dared a glance over to JJ and her heart broke. This was the first time she had seen her friend in months. JJ's eyes were filled with fear no matter how hard she tried to hide it, but they were also filled with determination, the will to live.
"Sit." Doyle pushed Emily into another chair and bounded her hands behind her back.
"I will do anything you want," Emily whispered.
Emily felt numb as she stepped into her car. The seat was already adjusted perfectly to her height. She felt her eyes water and she pulled out of her driveway. The city felt so foreign to her even though she had been here just months ago.
Her mind was elsewhere as she drove down the road. She didn't want to be thinking about where she was going.
"Where is he?" Doyle shouted.
"Who?" Emily asked innocently, playing dumb.
This just angered Doyle more. "Where is Declan?"
"I didn't tell you before, what makes you think I would tell you now?" Emily asked.
"Because I have something that you value more that your own life." Doyle approached JJ and removed her gag. "I want you to hear her scream."
Doyle pulled out a knife and pressed it against JJ's face.
Emily struggled against her ties, but they wouldn't budge.
He carved from JJ's ear to her chin.
"Where is he?" Doyle growled.
"Emily, don't tell him." JJ spoke for the first time.
Emily looked over to her bleeding friend and gazed into her deep blue eyes.
"I will never tell you. I care too much about Declan." Emily said, her chin shaking involuntarily.
"So, are you saying you don't care about JJ? Then I guess you won't mind when I do this." Doyle moved the collar of JJ's shirt down and used his knife to cut across her chest.
JJ grimaced in pain, but she refused to cry. She would not let Doyle have that. And she would not make Emily see it.
Emily pulled harder and harder against her restraints. Her heart was beating in overtime and she was having a hard time keeping in her tears. She wanted to cry out to JJ, but letting Doyle hear that would just make him enjoy what he was doing more.
"Now tell me where he is." Doyle demanded, threatening JJ with the knife again.
"He's-" Emily started, but JJ cut her off.
"Emily, don't. You need to protect Declan. You have already done so much for him and I am so proud of you."
"JJ I missed you." Emily let a single tear fall.
"I missed you too Em. We all did. But you did all of this for him, and you cannot let Doyle have that. You were willing to give up your life, and so am I." JJ looked firmly into Emily's tear filled eyes.
"Shut up!" Doyle yelled. "If you do not tell me where he is now, I will kill her!"
Emily looked past Doyle and at JJ. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
"Don't be." JJ said back. "This is not your fault, remember that. I do not need you taking the blame for this. But promise me one thing Emily. Promise me that you will kill him."
"I promise." Emily croaked, barely able to form words.
"This is your last chance!" Doyle shouted and held up his knife for Emily to see.
"Emily I love you. Be sure to tell the rest of the team I love them too. Tell Garcia I'll miss her humor, how she always brightened my days. Tell Rossi thank you for always being so supportive. Make sure Morgan knows there is nothing he could have done to prevent this. Tell Hotch that too. And tell Spence I will always remember that Redskins game with him." JJ smiled faintly.
The smile died on her face as Doyle thrust the knife into her abdomen.
"NO!" Emily screamed.
Doyle's smile sickened her. Emily turned her head away; she couldn't look into the dead eyes of her friend.
Doyle thrust his knife into her again.
He then walked up to Emily. He took her head in his hands and forced her to look at JJ.
"This is what you have done. Tell me where Declan is or I will kill everyone else on your team. Then I will kill your mother and your father. Then Hotch's family. Then Reid's." Doyle demanded.
Emily just shook her head. She was crying too hard to make any coherent words. She didn't even care anymore. She just wanted to die. She wanted to die with JJ.
She looked up at Doyle through her blurred vision. "Then kill me."
"You're not getting off that easy." He cocked his hand back and punched her across the face.
Emily just sat there limply, taking whatever Doyle decided to give her.
Emily pulled into the cemetery and saw no one else was there yet. She had purposefully come early so she could have time alone. JJ's body would be carried in a casket by the members of the team later, but her headstone was sitting on the ground next to a hole. Tears filled her eyes once again, as she could no longer do anything but face the facts. JJ was dead. She was gone. And it was nobody's fault but Emily's.
Emily kept tugging at the tape that was holding her hands together behind the chair. Finally she got it to come loose. When Doyle turned to the side to pick his knife back up Emily swung the chair she was sitting in to the side and hit Doyle in the back. He stumbled forward and lost his balance. Emily used this as a chance to hit him again.
"I am not going to die." She told him. "I am going to live so I can tell the team what JJ said. So I can kill you." Her voice was venomous.
She stood up and reached for a gun Doyle had on the table in the room, but he grabbed her hand before she had the chance.
"You are not getting away this time."
He punched Emily with the hand he wasn't using to hold her. But Emily managed to get out of his grip. She took a step back and regained herself for a split second. She then ran forward with all of her might and pushed Doyle into the wall behind him. He stumbled to the ground and Emily used that time to pick up the gun. She leveled it out and without any hesitation emptied the clip on Doyle.
When she was sure he was dead Emily ran over to JJ. She collapsed next to her friend and felt for a pulse- there was none. Nonetheless she started to perform CPR.
"JJ you can't die," Emily moaned. "You can't"
Tears started to fall from her face and collapsed onto JJ's pale skin.
"JJ!" Emily cried out and pulled her friends limp body into her arms. "Please, oh God please."
Without knowing what to do Emily pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number out of memory.
"Morgan." He answered.
"Morgan." Emily choked out.
"Who is this?" Morgan asked.
That's when Emily remembered; she was dead.
Emily choked out a sob. "Morgan, its Emily Prentiss. I know you don't understand. But I need you to come to the warehouse on 175th west."
"What are you talking about? Emily is dead."
"I know that. Morgan please, I need you to come. It's Doyle…" Emily let out another sob. "He killed… he-" She stuttered, not able to get the words out.
"I'm on my way. I'm bringing the rest of the team." Morgan said still clearly confused. All he knew was that this had something to do with Doyle.
Emily hung up the phone and gripped JJ's porcelain face in her hands.
XXX
Hotch explained Emily's situation to the team as they raced down the streets to the warehouse. Morgan was angry, but he was more worried by the phone call he had gotten from her. When they made it to the warehouse the door was open. Morgan ran in with his gun cocked up. He was silent for a second and heard a faint sobbing coming from a room down the hall. He signaled to Hotch and they walked down the hall. When Morgan looked in he saw a sight that he would never forget for as long as he lived.
Doyle was lying dead on the ground. Gunshots wounds covered his body.
Emily was kneeling on the ground sobbing with JJ's limp body in her arms.
Morgan froze outside of the room. Hotch was the first to react. He ran in and checked JJ's pulse. His face grim he turned and shook his head to the rest of the team. Then he walked over to Doyle and checked his pulse. He too had none.
Finally Morgan was able to move from the spot he had been rooted to. He ran over to Emily and JJ. Hotch had explained why Emily had faked her death, but it still didn't make any sense. Morgan kneeled down next to Emily and stared at JJ's motionless face.
"I'm so sorry." Emily whispered.
Emily collapsed next to the grave. She felt empty inside; like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. She heaved dry sobs, and didn't even try to stop them. What was the point? Nothing else mattered anymore. Doyle had taken the most important thing away from her- her family. She heard another car pull up in the road behind her. She turned her head and saw it was Morgan. When her legs felt like they could support her, she stood up. She turned away from the grave and walked towards him. She still had to fulfill the promises she had made to JJ.
XXX
Emily looked out of her window. Sighing over the loss of yet another person close to her, she watched the horizon as the fiery red- orange of sunset gave way to the pearly grey of dusk.
"I did it Jayje," She whispered, "I killed him."
"If death just meant leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character… Would you slow down? Or speed up?"
-Chuck Palahniuk
I hope you enjoyed the story, and it would be absolutely amazing to hear what you think :D
