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Lacy here kids. Alright, we're at the second to last A&E. And I hate to say it but if you thought the last few put us through the emotional ringer, these last two will be worse. Tissues needed big time. We all know what happens in the episode so I'm just gonna get to it.
Disclaimer: I own Bethany and Mallory.
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Aaron stood just behind Emily with a comforting hand on her back as she checked them into a hotel in DC under false names. They'd arranged to meet Clyde and Tsia there so Aaron could finally meet Emily's former teammates and so Clyde would stop bitching about Aaron knowing what was going on. Emily knew if Clyde saw how protective Aaron was, he'd back off and realize Aaron would be a great help.
"Thank you," Emily said to the desk clerk with a smile. She turned to Aaron. "they're already here."
Aaron nodded. "Alright, let's head up."
The elevator ride was mostly silent. Emily leaned heavily against Aaron and he kept his arm tightly wrapped around her. Since her meeting with Doyle, Emily hadn't left Aaron's side once and she was constantly checking on Richard and the kids, who were now in Disney World. It was Aaron's idea, mostly to give Emily peace of mind, but mainly because he didn't want them anywhere around if Doyle decided to come after the people closest to Emily.
The elevator got closer to their floor and Aaron looked at Emily.
"You ready for this?" he asked.
Emily looked up at him. "Are you?"
Aaron nodded. "I know they're working to keep you safe. That's all that matters to me."
Emily smiled. "Fair warning, Clyde is going to be an ass until he's sure you're okay."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "From the way you've talked about him, Em, I get the feeling he'll be an ass even after that."
Emily laughed a bit. "Yeah, probably." she sighed. "He's just worried."
Aaron rubbed Emily's side. "We all are but we're going to make it through this. All of us, together."
Emily nodded. "I know." she exhaled as the elevator doors opened. "Let's go."
Taking Emily's hand, Aaron followed her off and down the hall to the correct room. Sliding the card into the lock, they waited for the little green light before Emily pushed the door open. Clyde had booked a suite for the four, which made no sense to Aaron since they wouldn't be there that long. Walking in, they found Clyde and Tsia sitting in two of the chairs, Clyde was staring blankly out the window and Tsia was flipping through a book.
Clyde turned as they came in. "About bloody time."
Emily glared at him. "We can turn around and leave."
Tsia waved a hand at Clyde as she stood. "Ignore him." she smiled at Aaron and held out her hand. "Tsia Mosley. Cranky over there is Clyde Easter."
Aaron shook her hand. "Very nice to meet you." he nodded to Clyde. "Both of you."
Clyde stood. "Yes well that has yet to be seen."
Emily stepped up to Clyde. "I'm warning you now Clyde, back off. Forget the fact that he's my husband, he's one of the best trained profilers and FBI agents there is. Either you accept his help or he and I go it alone. Those are your only two choices."
Clyde gave Aaron one more look before nodding. "Let's get to why we're here."
Emily nodded as well. "Ian Doyle in here, in D.C."
"How can you be so sure?" Clyde asked.
"She met with him two nights ago." Aaron said.
Tsia was shocked. "What?"
Clyde turned on Aaron. "How could-"
"He had nothing to do with it." Emily said, stepping between the two men. "I went before telling him. He couldn't have stopped me." she sighed. "He said if I warned my team or told anyone, he'd kill them."
"Why didn't he kill you?" Tsia asked.
"And more to the point," Clyde said. "why didn't you kill him?"
"He's not working alone." Emily said.
"Then he's just playing with you." Tsia said.
"No, not him." Aaron said. "From what Em's told me, he's not the type to play games."
Clyde nodded. "He's right."
"He's meticulous," Emily said. "he plans everything down to the last detail."
"Yeah, that last detail being you." Clyde said.
Aaron narrowed his eyes at the man. He was way to casual about the way he said that.
"Maybe you should tell your team." Tsia said. She looked at Aaron. "Well, the rest of them."
Emily shook her head. "No, no way. This isn't their fight. And we won't take that risk."
Aaron took Emily's hand. "She's right. We won't put them in that kind of danger."
"If we stay together," Tsia said. "we can get him."
"We already tried." Emily said. "Look how that ended up."
"Wait, wait," Clyde said. "when you went undercover, I promised no one would harm you."
Emily met his gaze. "I'm not undercover any more. D.C. isn't his comfort zone, it's mine. This ends here. "
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After checking over the vic with Dave, Aaron's first, and only, thought was Emily and making sure she was okay. She had sounded shaken on the phone, which given what had happened was understandable but Aaron picked up on something else that had shaken her. Once he caught sight of her and her of him, they moved away from everyone so they could talk.
"They blew a hole through the kid's tattoo." Emily said. "And I think I know why."
Aaron connected the dots before Emily even laid them all out. "It was Doyle."
Emily nodded. "Looks that way."
Aaron sighed and ran a hand over his face. "What do you want to do? Tell the team or let them figure it out on their own?"
Emily bit her lip. "He told me not to tell and I won't risk their lives by doing so but if they figure it out, it'll be his own fault."
Aaron nodded. "Alright, then that's what we'll do." he exhaled. "Would you be able to get information from Tsia and Clyde if it would help the team?"
"Yeah, probably." Emily nodded. "A lot of it would be classified but I could still get them something."
"Okay, let's get back to them." Aaron said.
"Wait," Emily said. She waited for Aaron to face her again and hugged him. "I don't care who's watching, I need this."
Aaron held Emily tight. In all honesty, he needed it too.
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Aaron saw Emily's face as she left with Morgan to check out the double homicide. He knew about the call she made to Tsia and Clyde and what she told Tsia to do. And the text he'd just gotten from Emily confirmed what he thought.
'It was Tsia'
Doyle had taken out Emily's friend. If it wasn't personal before, it was now.
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Emily stood back, just behind Morgan and listened to Aaron and Dave give the profile of Doyle. Her mind, which had been racing, froze. She knew what she had to do. Looking from side to side, making sure no one was watching her, Emily started to move backwards, tears filling her eyes with each movement. She took a second to collect herself and glance at her husband one last time before turning completely and walking out of the bull pen.
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Aaron was glad Dave was the one talking because he was all of a sudden hit with a horrible gut wrenching feeling and it stole his breath. Frantically, his eyes searched the faces in the room but the one he was looking for, the one he needed to be there, was gone. Emily had left, most likely to face Doyle alone. Aaron couldn't breathe. At that moment, he was hit with the very real fear that he might never see his wife alive again.
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I know, I know, shitty place to leave you. I'm sorry. For the ending, for any tears. *sighs* Only one left after this. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.
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