Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. This is purely for my and others' enjoyment.
Meglio un giorno da leone che cento da pecora.- Better one day as a lion than a hundred as a sheep (Italian Proverb)
Tap-tap. The sharp click of Emily Prentiss's stiletto boots echoed against the Virginia pavement. To the few passerby, she looked like one of the many business people on their way home from work, but then again, looks could be deceiving. While her stride and posture echoed a confident woman, well-assured of her place in the world, she felt anything but. There were few, if any, that knew the woman behind the mask she wore, day after day. The mask that she built the first time she had spun her web of lies, a web so entangling, she doubted if she would ever be free. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of movement among the shadows, doing little to ease her inner turmoil. Most would take this as a sign to increase vigilance, but Emily did not break her stride. Instead, she continued on to her destination, a small park in the center of the city. A nail-bitten hand placed the two coffees she was carrying down on an aluminum table while the other pulled back the chair.
With a look of exhausted weariness, Emily sat in the chair and waited. The darkness of the twilight night did nothing to reduce the anxiety building upon her. Surely he would have been here by now, she had been out in the open for far too long for him to have not made a move. Just as she was about to chalk the night as a failure, she felt an all-too-familiar hand grip her shoulder. Without turning her head she noted, "I knew you were watching me." The hand on her shoulder tightened, "What's the expression?" asked the owner of the hand. "Keep your friends close and your enemies under surveillance." "I've been here for two hours. You should know better than to keep a lady waiting." The man stood in front of her now, "It seems hypocritical," he replied, "seeing as I had to wait seven years."
As he took the seat across from her, Emily said, "Hello Ian." The man's eyes flashed at the mention of his name, "Hello Lauren. Oh, wait. Lauren Reynolds died in a car accident, didn't she?" Tremors ran up Emily's body and it was also she could do to keep her voice steady, "What do you want?" "You." With a slight smile at her look of surprise, Ian continued, "Not today. Don't worry about that. But soon." Guessing this would be as good a chance as she'd get Emily asked, "I've got a Glock leveled at your crotch. What's to stop me from taking you and the little ones out right now?" Ian smirked at this, "You'd never make it back to your car and you know it. Tell me, does the lovely Penelope know the truth about you? Or is she too busy watching movies with Derek to care? Here you are, all alone, while Aaron sits at home with his son. And why didn't Dave and Ashley invite you to their game night? Maybe they thought you'd be on the metro with Dr. Reid. That one does have some quirks."
Emily straightened at the mention of her friends, "Come near my team," she warned through gritted teeth, "and I will end you." "Why should I?" Ian snapped, "You had no reservations of coming near my team, nor my family for that matter." A slight flush spread across Emily's cheeks at the mention of family, "I was just doing my job." she murmured. Anger flashed through Ian's eyes, "Well, in that case," he murmured, "perhaps I should move on to the more pleasant aspects of my job. súil le haghaidh súil." An eye for an eye. Realizing the inner meaning of his words, Emily leaned forward, her gun pressed against his abdomen. "I thought I just told you, come near my team and I will end you." Ian chuckled, "Ah, how I have missed you Lauren. But I fear that you will be too indisposed to be a threat to me."
In the second it took for Prentiss to process his words, a baseball bat made contact with the side of her head with a sickening crack. Adrenaline rushed through her body as she turned towards her attacker, one of Ian's plethora of goons. "That should've knocked her out boss!" he muttered indignantly. Ian chuckled as he rose, "Lauren was always a fighter, just be sure she's alive when you're done with her." Dread turned the blood in Emily's veins to ice, What did he mean by when you're done with her? She drew her gun, only to realize it was no longer in her possession. "Looking for this?" the goon snarled, pistol-whipping her with her own glock. Blow after blow rained upon her face and abdomen, forcing her to curl in upon herself instead of defending herself.
As blood clouded her eyes, she noticed Ian removing her phone from her purse and dialing 911. "Hello?" he said, sounding more like a Texas cowboy than an Irish weapons dealer, "Yes, I was walking my dog through Liberty Park and noticed these three men beating this woman. I managed to scare them off before they did any more damage, but she's been beaten to a pulp. She's barely breathing and she's not conscious. Please you've got to send someone!" While she couldn't hear the garbled reply of the emergency operator, Emily knew that an ambulance would be dispatched shortly. Why was Ian calling for medical services? Why didn't he just take her while she was incapacitated, and get the just revenge he desired so much? What could he possibly have planned that would be worse than this? Between the pounding of her head and the heaviness of her swollen eye, it was all Emily could do to stay awake. She did not trust Ian to not inflict more damage to her already battered body. It was only when she heard the distinctive scream of emergency sirens did she allow the darkness to pull her away. She did not even notice the piece of scrap paper that had been placed in her jacket pocket.