Saved: Concrete Angels
Emily was standing in the briefing room watching the rain fall down. It was as if the rain knew that today was a bad day, that it was a sad day for her. She looked out the window whilst listening to her music and watched the world go on below her.
Emily was so caught up the song 'Concrete Angel' by Martina McBride that she didn't hear the rest of the team enter the room. She startled when she felt the hand come down on her shoulder. "Crap! Oh JJ I'm sorry I didn't hear you guys come in." JJ stared in Emily's eyes. She had known Emily for almost three years now and they have been together for a year. JJ could see the tears in Emily's eyes and wonders what was going on. "Are you okay Em?" Emily nodded her head and then goes over and sits at the table sighing and then saying, "What do we have?" JJ quickly shook her head before flicking the photos up.
"Four dead children between the ages of 6 and 9, they were abducted and held for three weeks before being killed." Hotch was sitting in his seat looking at the rest of the team, when his eyes settle on Emily. He can see how red her eyes are and that she is still looking at the pictures of the children.
"Emily? Are you okay?" Hotch asks, looking directly at her. Emily swallows, knowing that everyone's eyes are on her, "Yeah…they just look like someone I used to know…" Emily cut herself off before she could give too much away, after all they were all profilers. Spencer was about to give some statistic on how people we know look like the victims when Emily stood up and walked out of the room. Rossi and Morgan looked at JJ and then Morgan asked her, "What was that about?"
JJ just shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, but something's up…I'll find out later." JJ looked out the window into the bull pen in time to see Emily hang up the phone and walk out towards Penelope's office. JJ turned back to the team and then said to them, "I think we're going to have to work on this one without Emily guys….something is seriously wrong today."
Rossi just shrugged his shoulders, "Shouldn't be too hard….we can always call her in later." With that the team set about coming up with a profile for this guy.
Meanwhile, Emily knocked softly on Garcia's door before entering. "Hey Em, what's going on with you?" Garcia said with her chirpy attitude. "I need you to do me a favour without asking questions okay?" Garcia knots her brow but nods her head. "I need you to go back into a case three years ago…would have been June just before I joined the team." Garcia nodded her head and searched her computer, it wasn't too long before the information came up.
Victims name: Hannah Jane Prentiss
Age:3
D.O.B: 12/06/2003
Cause of death: B.F.T to the head, torso and upper body.
Suspect: Julie Zeiot, children's babysitter for two years.
Mother was working when neighbours heard screams from the Prentiss household. Police were called and on investigation discovered Hannah lying at the bottom of the stairs. Babysitter says she fell but evidence suggests otherwise.
Garcia gasped with tears in her eyes and looked up at Emily who also had tears streaming down her face. "I need to know if she's still in jail…" Garcia nodded before bringing the information up. "They let her out almost six months ago…" Emily interrupted.. "When the killings started up again…..where does she live now?" Garcia looked before saying, "923 Freebird ave….you're not going to do anything stupid are you? Emily…." Emily shook her head and then said to her, "Give me five minutes then let the team know." Garcia nodded her head. As soon as Emily was out of the office she called JJ and let her know about the suspect. She didn't tell JJ about Emily though…that was for her to do.
Emily knocked on the door. When she heard no answer she kicked it open. She could hear the cries from upstairs and she knew. She knew that it hadn't stopped, that she wasn't better, that she would never change. She couldn't let it happen to anymore children. She quietly crept up the stairs and headed towards the room. She pulled her gun out ready and then rushed through the door.
The rest of the team had arrived not five minutes after Emily had. They headed up the stairs where they heard shouting coming from. They stopped outside the door. Morgan looked at Hotch and said, "I thought Garcia said there was only one unsub." JJ had a bad feeling about what she was going to find and she voiced it. Rossi shrugged it off and they opened the door. They were stunned at what they found.
Emily was standing in front of Zeiot with her gun pointed at her and there was two young children hiding behind Emily. "EMILY!" JJ cried out. "What are you doing?" Emily turned to face them with tears pouring down her face, "She doesn't deserve to live….she can't survive with everything she did…to them…to me, she doesn't DESERVE TO LIVE!" Zeiot just stared at Emily, "Look lady I don't know who the hell you are anyway…what did I every do to you!" Emily screamed and hit her across the face, "Think back you bitch! Three years ago….Washington! You killed her!" Emily was sobbing and her hold on the gun was wavering.
JJ knew she had to get the gun off Emily, "Who did she kill Em…baby tell me…" Emily sobbed and the team saw recognition dawn on Zeiots face. "No!" The team was still wondering what was going on when Emily turned to Rossi, gun still pointed at Zeiot, "Back pocket…the picture." Rossi understood and pulled the picture out before showing the team.
It was a picture of a toddler, about three years old. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes. The team saw the similarities.
"She killed my baby…she can't live!" At that moment Emily's phone rang.
JJ pulled it out of her pocket and put it on speaker, "Hello…Emily's phone…"
"Um hey this is Alina…can you let Emily know that I'll bring Liza to the club at like 9 tonight…let her know I'm sorry, for today." The person hung up.
The team looked at Emily who had lowered her gun and had stopped crying. She bent down towards the two children hiding behind her.
"It's going to be okay…,you get to go home now…you're safe." Emily then stood up, looked at Spencer and said to him, "Make sure they get home safely, I have to be somewhere soon….come by later….Garcia will give you the address but I need to get out of here." With that Emily was gone.
Later on that night, the team showed up at Jack's Shack, a bar that had night time performers on Thursday nights. They scoured the room looking for Emily but they didn't see her. They didn't notice the person on stage until they heard her speak.
"Hey, I'm Emily and this is for someone who was incredibly close to my heart but was taken too early." With that Emily began to sing.
She
walks to school with the lunch she packed The teacher
wonders but she doesn't ask Through the wind and the rain she stands
hard as a stone Somebody cries in the middle of the night Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a
stone A statue stands in a shaded place Through the wind and the rain she
stands hard as a stone
Nobody knows what she's
holding back
Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday
She
hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh
It's hard to see the pain behind the
mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes
she was never born
In a world that she can't rise above
But her
dreams give her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's loved
concrete angel
The
neighbors hear but they turn out the light
A fragile soul caught
in the hands of fate
When morning comes it will be too
late
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give
her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's loved concrete
angel
An angel girl with
an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken
heart that the world forgot
In a world that she can't rise above
But
her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place
Where she's
loved concrete angel
By the end of the song, the crowd and the team were in tears. They watched Emily walk off stage and knew they had to follow. They found her talking to the Bar man. They were about to interrupt when they heard someone call out, "Mama! Mama!" they turned to see a young girl of about nine fly into Emily's arms. They heard the young girl whisper, "Hannah would have loved it." They saw the tear make its way down Emily's face before she noticed them. She whispered to the young girl and then lead her over to them.
"Guys I'd like to introduce you to my oldest daughter Elizabeth Jane Prentiss. She's one of my main reasons for living now. Liz…I think you know JJ…but the others…Rossi, Hotch, Reid, Morgan and Penelope." She smiled at the team as they talked to Liza. She felt JJ hug her from behind and knew that everything was going to be okay.
