A/N: This kept me awake most of the night. I don't know where it came from, like the most of my stories, but suddenly everything was written and ready in my mind and I just had to go with it. It's written in Emily's POV and it may seem a little confusing at first because there're a few key elements missing but we'll understand more in later chapters (if you guys are interested...). I wasn't planning on writing something new but I was reading about Paget's return in the next season and I was so excited and my mind works crazy when I'm excited. I thought about letting it go but I knew that it'd keep bugging me until I explored it, so... here it is. I won't be a big multi-chapter fic. Probably no longer than a fiveshot. But, who knows...
I sincerely hope you guys like it. I'm sorry for any errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
OF VILLAINS AND HEROES
When I was a little girl, I remember my granddaddy telling me stories about damsels in distress, horrible villains and brave heroes who always came just in time to save the day. There were white horses and blades and beautiful dresses and long capes and I was always infatuated by the magic and beauty in those stories. At the time I wanted nothing more than to meet my own hero, my own prince who would rescue me and take care of me and we would live our happily ever after together.
I was ten when I figured it out that these kind of things weren't real. Princes and heroes didn't exist and there wasn't anyone to come and get me from my personal horror. Grandpa was gone, my father had left and I caught myself alone in a life I didn't want, in a home I didn't feel safe and happy, with people who didn't care about me. In that moment I realize I would have to be my own hero and there was no one but me who was capable of getting me out of that place.
When I was fifteen I found out that even if the heroes are a myth, the villains are pretty much real, and they're just waiting for the best chance to catch you and turn your life upside down. I realized that the villains are people who make you think they're on your side and they do their best to gain your trust and even make you love them, but when you least expect they sweep you out of your feet and take all your faith and your trust. The villains are real people and their betrayal is the worse thing in the world because it makes you start doubting of everyone and everything and that forces you to be on your own, because it's easier than trying to figure it out who is good and who is not.
After I left for college I made a new discovery. It was a discovery that changed my life and changed who I was. I found out that the villains are indeed real and they are everywhere, all the time and they attack anyone they want, without even needing to know them. But, I also found out the heroes are real too and that I could be one of them if I wanted. I could dedicate my life to catch the bad guys and put them away. I could save people and help those who suffered in the hands of the most terrible villains. I could use my strength and my mind to keep the world safe from them.
So that's what I did. I prepared myself and I grew stronger and smarter and I focused my efforts to make the world a better place, to keep the villains away from the good people, to make them pay for all the hurt and harm they've done and to give people hope, a hope I didn't have when I most needed.
I put two years of my life dedicated to save a little boy from a terrible destiny and to save the world from one of the worst villains I'd ever seen.
I started to work with one of the best heroes of the world and together we fought tooth and nail against the worst of the worse.
I didn't let anyone to dictate how as I supposed to do my job.
I didn't let anyone to make me hurt innocent people just to get what they wanted.
I didn't blink before putting myself between a villain and one of my best friends.
I didn't hesitate before allowing myself to get hurt just to protect those who couldn't defend themselves.
I didn't think about my own scars when I had to save my own villain from the hands of another.
I didn't think twice before staying beside my leader when he had to kill one of the most unscrupulous villains I've ever seen.
I didn't think twice ever.
I guess that's why I did what I just did.
There was this time when I was just six years old and still believed in white horses and dragons, and I was sitting on my grandpa's lap while he finished a new story. I remember perfectly when I looked at his brown expressive eyes and asked him why did the heroes put themselves in danger to save the others? Why weren't they scared? Didn't they think before jumping in front of a dragon?
I remember my grandpa chuckled at me and caressed my hair before answering.
"Sometimes, Emily, sometimes your need to save someone is so strong that your mind doesn't work. Sometimes you don't think because it's so important to save that person that you don't think about yourself, about dying. You don't have time to be scared. You just jump."
I remember my childish response, saying that it was stupid. I remember clearly saying that I would never do something like that because dragons were too scary. And I also remember my grandpa's answer to that.
"For the right person you will, Emily. For the right person you won't think about your fears. For the right person you'll be brave enough."
And now I know what he meant. Now I know what he was talking about. Now I can finally understand. Between Morgan's shout and the murdering eyes of that man, pointing a gun right to his chest, I didn't think. I couldn't think. The thought of him dying was so painful and unbearable that I didn't think about me, about dying.
He was the only thing I could see. His unprotected chest and his gunless holster.
It took exactly five seconds for me to decide. Five seconds between a shout and a gunshot. Five seconds for me to jump.
The pain isn't what I am focused in now. In fact, I can barely feel it. It's in his eyes that I am focused. It's those two hazel orbs looking at me with panic and worry. The chaos is installed around us, there are screams for help and the unsub's laugh echoing through the room and the only thing I can think about is how beautiful those hazel eyes are.
Right before the darkness swallows me I smile slightly at the memory of my grandpa's words and how he was right.
The right person will make you loose the fear.
The right person will make you stop thinking.
The right person will make you jump.
And he was indeed right. Now I know because I did it.
I jumped.
A/N: Reviews are incredibly appreciated.
