AU – I think I'm taking my last breath

Emily isn't quite sure why it was her family who possessed their so called "gift," if anything it was more like a curse. She isn't sure why this time is different than all of the rest, why her body was struggling to recover. She isn't sure why she can feel her heart rate increase.

The first time it happened Emily was twelve.

The Prentiss family were in Paris, celebrating Michael Prentiss' 38th birthday at an event. Being an only child in the Prentiss family was tiring, especially since her mother and father dragged her to most of their events. Emily was sitting at a table by herself, watching her father and mother mingle with the guests when an older boy sat at her table.

The encounter ended with Emily following him outside of the catering facility and allowing him to escort her to the beach nearby. The two quickly threw themselves into the ocean, laughing as the waves crashed into their faces. If she had to admit, she had a lot of fun with him.

Sometime after, two adults, who she assumed to be the boy's parents, came to bring him home, though that didn't stop Emily from enjoying herself. About fifteen minutes after he left, a horrifyingly large wave crashed into her, knocking her down. She could feel herself panicking as more waves kept coming. As she attempted to swim towards the surface, she realized how far out she swam and eventually gave up.

So why was it that moments after she stopped breathing, that everything went black that she could see her hands?

There was no more water, no more wet clothes (in fact she was naked), no more beach, no more sounds and ambient noise. She kept looking around, trying to see if she was moving in this void.

Then she realized that she wasn't breathing, and hadn't been for at least two minutes. She floated around in the void for more moments until she noticed a light. It wasn't white like how most movies and TV shows portray it as and as she floated closer to it, it wasn't a light at all.

It was the outside world, she could then see water and made out the starry night sky. After this identification, her movement sped, more and more details started to become apparent and then,

Her eyes opened. She could feel her lungs enflame as she kept trying to swim towards the surface. As soon as she picked herself up she breathed in and out rapidly, moving to get out of the water.

She fell backwards onto the dry sand and reveled in the feel of its texture. After her breathing fell back into its normal tempo. She brought her hand over her heart and closed her eyes. After a few moments, her eyelids snapped opened and she gasped.

"What the fuck!" she yelled. She examined her body, shouting the phrase. She ran her fingers through her hair. What the fuck just happened, she thought to herself. Shit! My parents!

A few days after the party, she was in her room drawing conclusions about what exactly what happened to her. She had died… then she came back? Does that make me dead? Does it make me alive? Did I really die, though?

She still had no idea what to tell her parents. She couldn't focus on anything except for researching what happened, which caused a slip in her grades, bringing her A+ to a B.

"Emily, dear," her mother called from her study, "Can you come here please?" Oh no. Did she find out? No, obviously not. Who would've told her, there was no one there. Her thoughts raced as she pushed open the door. Her parents were sitting down on the couch, and gestured for her to sit in front of them. She attempted to hold her signature "calm and collected" persona but it was no use.

"We received a call from Mr. Bon," Elizabeth informed in her normal stern tone. Emily swallowed. "Your grades have dropped drastically in the span of a week. What's going on?"

Great. Mother's on the case, and Father is too… Think Emily, you've lied your way out of countless situations. But maybe, they'll be understanding about this? No. Who could possibly understand this, I don't even understand this and it happened to me! I should tell them… No I shouldn't. I should. I shouldn't. I-

"I died!" Emily blurted out, her heart pounding in her chest. Michael shot a look of concern towards his wife before giving her a gentle head nod.

"When?" was all her mother asked. Why is it that she seems… unfazed?

"Last week. During Father's birthday event." Emily said, still incredibly confused as to why her parents were taking this incredibly lightly. After all, it isn't everyday your daughter tells you that she's died. "Mother, I don't understand. Why am I still here? I drowned."

"Your mother and I have always told you that it's a privilege being in this family." Her father told her. Don't I know it, Emily grimaced. "We're special people, Em. I know that just because you are young, that doesn't mean you're stupid so, I'll spare you the details. We can't die. Well, not unless it's an extreme circumstance."

Emily didn't know what to think. Sure, she had shouted that she had died, but she still was shocked about the revelation. Her parents studied her wide-eyed expression and dismiss her to her room.

After the second time, Emily develops a fear of the dark.

She knows it's ridiculous, she had died before so it wasn't anything new, but in some ways, it was different.

Cause of death was car accident, a drunk driver slammed his car into her car, causing it crash into other cars. Everyone involved had died, (minus her due to her circumstances).

When her eyes opened and she was greeted with the darkness, the void she experienced when she was twelve, she felt genuinely terrified. She searches for the glimpse of life that she noticed before but cannot find it and all she can do is panic. Float around and panic.

It takes what feels about thirty minutes for her to notice the barely noticeable light. She attempted to get closer faster, making moves as if she were swimming, but she barely moves. It takes a few more moments before time speeds up and she's back to the present, gasping for air with her back pressed into the street.

She looks around at the demolition, the horrified expressions on passerby's faces. She attempted to walk towards the car of the person she hit, using her smashed car as a handle. Emily has to physically hold in her tears and vomit and the aftermath of the innocent driver.

It's the face that haunted her dreams for months.

Her family moved shortly after the accident and it's the first time Emily's actually happy about moving. She vividly remembered the conversation she had with her parents, about their "gift." All she felt was guilt.

Why is it that I got to survive when the others didn't? She thought to herself one night. Elizabeth informed her that she was a single mother of two children, and that she had already paid them thousands of dollars of "compensation."

From age seventeen to twenty-five, Emily only felt guilt and anger.

In the span of ten years, Emily dies a total of five times. She knew she was being reckless, that she should probably move and that people would probably be catching on, but she had solid roots in Washington DC and she could rely on her "gift" to keep it that way.

Or so she temporarily thought.

She didn't know what she was thinking when she decided to go after an unsub on her own, without her team. All she thought about was that a young girl's life was at risk. She had managed to break into the man's house and help the girl climb out of the window she entered in.

She pulled out her weapon and carefully searched the first floor of the house. It was only until she reached the living room when she heard movement from upstairs. She walked up the stairs, looking around the area in her range and continued to follow the sound she heard.

She kicked open the door, being met by the chilling face of the unsub. Minutes passed and the two fought. His fists came into contact with her face, knocking her to the ground. She attempted to crawl towards her gun, which had fallen due to the collision, but the unsub was quicker than her, lunging towards the gun and shot her twice, once in the stomach and the second in her shoulder.

Emily didn't know how long she had been lying there. She could hear her breathing intensify, her heart attempting to keep up and she's genuinely surprised, this hasn't happened before.

Emily hears the front door being kicked in, and within seconds she smells the infamous scent of her best friend, Jennifer Jareau's, perfume. JJ is on the ground in seconds, attempting to press down on both of Emily's gunshot wounds.

"We need a medic!" she yells to the other teammates. "Em… Emily stay with me, okay? You've got to stay with me."

"Jennifer, I can't," Emily breathes, her breath increases as does her heart rate. "Jennifer, I'm dying. I'm actually gonna die." Her eyelids are falling and there's nothing she can do to stop them.

"No, Emily don't say that!" there's a pause until JJ yells, "Where is the medic?!"

"Jayje, this hasn't happened before." Emily opens her eyes and notices that JJ is crying. Maybe she realizes I'm a goner too.

"Em, stop talking, you need to preserve your strength… Please keep fighting." JJ tries to calm her friend down but can't, as she herself was freaking out.

"Jennifer." Emily mutters weakly, "I have died so many times… I think this is it, I think I'm going to die… and remain dead." JJ's eyes widen, but she doesn't push. Emily knows that she's obviously shocked, but she's starting to feel incredibly light headed.

JJ is full on sobbing now. It's almost as if she understands that she can't save her friend. Her friend that she's been through so much with. Her friend who supplied her companionship, friendship, and love. Her friend who she's in love with.

Instead of calling for Morgan and Hotch, she moves to cradle Emily in her arms. She sniffled as she felt Emily turn into her and smile. Emily Prentiss, the woman who is dying in her arms is smiling.

"It doesn't hurt." Emily whispered. "I feel weak but… it doesn't hurt." She looked up at JJ and propped herself onto her elbows, using her remaining strength to press a soft kiss to JJ's lips. JJ is sure Emily could taste her salty tears on her lips, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She knows that she should tell her she loves her the final time but she freezes. Her brain blanks, the words can't come to her mind. The fog only clears when she feels Emily go limp in her arms and she physically watched the life disappear from Emily's eyes, for good.

"No," she barely whispers at first. "No… No!" she weeps. Unbeknownst to JJ, the team had been standing in the doorway, silently watching the last heart shattering five minutes, and everyone shed a tear while hearing JJ scream, "Emily, I love you. Please, I love you," over and over again.