Emily walked briskly into the bullpen, her coffee in one hand, and a file she'd taken back to her house in the other. There was no excitement around her area of work, letting her plop right down into her seat with a sigh.
"Looks like Princess had a rough weekend."
Emily smirked as she balled up a piece of paper, flinging it at her coworker's head. It hit him square in the face, making her giggle as he gave her a mock hurt look. "That was cold, Princess."
"Oh, just shut up."
Morgan smiled wide as Emily quickly opened up a file, before clicking on his computer.
Everything was quiet, other than the rustling of papers and the bickering of other agents when Emily looked up to her boss' office. She hadn't seen him all day, and as unusual as it was, the blinds were closed as well. So, grabbing a finished file from the day before, she quickly marched up the stairs to Hotch's office, and softly knocked on the door. "Hotch?"
When she got no answer, she knocked again. A little louder this time. "Hotch, are you there?"
She slowly opened the door, seeing his desk lamp dimming. "Hotch?"
He was sitting at his desk, his head staring down at the phone. When his eyes slowly made their way to Emily, she could see the tears, and anger, in his eyes. She quickly rushed over to him, kneeling by his side and setting the file on the desk. "Hotch? What's wrong?"
Hotch's eyes focused on hers, his strong hands gripping her shoulders while hers rested on his knees. "Jack… they took Jack."
Emily's eyes widened as she stood, helping Hotch stand too. "Who's they? Where did they take him?"
"I don't know… they took him from daycare." His eyes began to blur as he stared into Emily's. "Somebody's taken my son, Emily."
Emily noticed he was in shock, and quickly sat him back down in his chair. "Ok, sweetie stay here for a minute. I'll be right back."
She ran out into the bullpen as fast as her legs could carry her, earning stares from the other agents.
"Emily, what's wrong?"
"Jack! Somebody's taken Jack."
Morgan's eyes widened as he and Reid went over to her. "Who the hell is 'they'?"
Emily flung her hands in the air as she felt her heart beat into her ears. "How the hell am I suppose to know, Morgan? But he's gone! Ok? Somebody's taken a boy, who's like a son to me, and Hotch and I have no idea where he is!"
Reid walked over to her and brought her into a hug, seeing her eyes beginning to tear. "Shh, Em, we're gonna find him."
Hotch ran through the door of his office and down to Emily's desk, his cell phone in hand. "They're on the phone. They called, they asked for you."
Emily's eyes widened as she pulled back from Reid, grabbing the phone from his hand and shoving it against her ear. "Hello?"
"Oh Ms. Prentiss, so nice of you to join our little chat."
"Who is this?" Everybody could see the angry tears in her eyes, as Rossi and JJ came into the bullpen.
"Emily, you better not use that tone with me. I was just calling because someone wanted to talk to their mommy and daddy."
Emily's eyes narrowed as she looked at Hotch. "I'm not his mother."
"I thought I just heard you say he was like a son to you."
Emily immediately spun around, looking at every agent in the bullpen, hearing JJ on the phone with Garcia. Everyone was either on their computer, on their phone, or working on a file. She watched them all with fury in her eyes as she spoke.
"Who the hell is this?"
"Emily, what did-"
"WHO IS THIS?"
"Tsk tsk Emily. Jack only wanted to say hello."
Emily's eyes softened as she felt a lump form in her throat. "I want to talk to him."
"Put the phone on speaker, Emily. He wants to talk to his father too."
Emily pulled the phone away from her ear and held it between Hotch and her as she pressed the speaker button.
"Miss Em'ly?"
Both Emily's eyes and Hotch's watered at the sound of a scared Jack. "Jack, baby it's me. Are you ok?"
"Yeah Miss Em'ly I'm ok. I'm not hurt, if daddy was thinking' that."
Hotch felt his tears trickle down his cheek as he listened to his son. "Jack, it's daddy."
"Hi daddy!"
His voice was broken, just like the day he lost his wife. "Hey buddy. How many bad men are there with you?"
There was a moment of silence before Jack came back to the phone. "Two! But daddy, one's a lady."
"Jack, it's Emily. I need you to listen to me, baby."
"Ok, Miss Em'ly."
"Do not say a word unless asked, ok? I don't want you getting hurt, sweetheart."
"I know Miss Em'ly. You love me just like daddy!"
Emily nodded as she felt a sob escape her throat. "Yes I do. I love you very much." She sniffled, feeling everyone's eyes on her. "Buddy, can you tell me where you are?"
"No, Miss Em'ly."
"Why not baby?"
"They said I can't tell you."
"Can you tell me why?"
"I could get hurt."
Emily felt anger rush through her veins as the man returned to the phone. "We'll be in touch soon."
The line went dead.