This story is dedicated to Inanna for giving me this prompt: A follow up to the H/P story 'She's a Keeper!' where Emily and Hotch are engaged to be married as soon as Emily's tenure with Interpol is up but there is a slight snag…
Get Me To The Church On Time – Chapter 1
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Clyde Easter was standing in front of her apartment door. He clenched his fists tightly on his sides; it's not fair of the Director to do this to her!
He almost walked away – to hell with Director Greene!
But he knew her; yes, he knew her very well. They had known each other for over ten years and they had been shot at, punched at, and Emily almost died in the hands of that terrorist, Ahmad Hazim while he, Clyde was almost shot and killed by Viola Thomas.
That vicious bitch deserved the bullet in her head and it was Emily who took her down.
Clyde took care of Hazim when he managed to get free and rescued Emily who was on the verge of being tortured by electricity. Clyde was able to turn the table around and gave Hazim his own medicine; he died when 200 volts of electricity ran through his head Clyde had attached a coil around him.
It was a close call, both missions but they had several successful missions too. Emily's team. She was more than an efficient leader and field agent.
And now, she was a month shy of her two-year tenure. And she had decided not to renew her contract with Interpol. She missed life in the United States, or more specifically Aaron Hotchner, the Unit Chief of the BAU, FBI.
They were to be married as soon as she returned to Virginia. The wedding plans had been set and the invitations sent and RSVP'ed. Over 100 guests were expected to be there, especially the Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss.
That formidable woman whom Clyde had met a few times while they were in Italy impressed Clyde greatly; she was an astute politician as well as an excellent negotiator of peace treaties.
Emily was looking forward to this union with Hotchner so much so he had put an embargo on the subject of wedding whenever she called.
Clyde was jerked to the present when he heard the door opened and Emily appeared, she was on her cell phone, a happy smile on her pretty face.
When she saw Clyde standing in front of her doorway, she arched her brow, "Aaron, I've to call you back…Clyde's here and something tells me it's nothing good. Okay…bye, I love you." She tucked her phone in her pocket and greeted her old friend, "Clyde? Is something wrong?"
He nodded solemnly, "Let's go back in and talk, Em."
Her eyes wide, "But I have an appointment with my…" She closed her eyes and dropped her shoulders, "Come on in." She turned around and walked into her apartment.
Clyde stepped in and closed the door.
She stood by the window and waited for him.
Clyde saw that she had begun packing her things into boxes; he felt like a louse even now.
But the agency needed her now, more than ever…
"Charlie is dead." He began straight away; Charlie Watson was one of the agency's Arabic interpreters.
Emily hung her head down; damn! Charlie was one of the best men she'd known and liked. They had known each other for over 4 years, having spent some time in Afghanistan with the red-headed hot tempered man, that was before the Ian Doyle's fiasco.
"How? Where?" she asked softly and sadly; Charlie's wife was expecting their third child, a girl after having two boys. Charlie was ecstatic as he'd always wanted a little girl…
"IED, in Afghanistan. Yesterday." Clyde informed her.
Emily shut her eyes and shook her head, "Does Polly know?"
"No, I'm heading there next."
She nodded; better him than her, she never liked to be the one to tell the families their loved ones were killed in action and most times, they couldn't give many details being that their works were mostly highly classified missions.
Snapping her eyes opened suddenly, she whirled around and faced him, "Oh no Clyde. You don't mean it." She paled.
Not looking at her, "I'm sorry Em. We're short of interpreters. Grimes and Bowers are not ready to be on their own. They have three more weeks in training classes."
"So, I'm the only one left?" She stared at him.
He nodded, "I'm afraid so, Em. The Director wanted you to personally handle it as you're familiar with the case."
She sighed heavily. "Clyde, I'm a month short. I'm getting married and …"
"Emily," he cut her off and glared at her. "For once, think of Charlie, not your damn wedding!" He uttered angrily. "I didn't want to do this to you but I don't have a choice."
She continued to stare at him, "I'm sorry for sounding selfish, Clyde but I…damn it!" She exclaimed as she turned her face towards the ceiling.
"Charlie would have…"
She turned her head fiercely back to him "Don't. Don't give me this Charlie guilt trip." She began to pace about. "It's just an extraction, right?"
He nodded.
"Who's the target?"
"An Afghan double agent, Nasir Fayad al Mujar or The Pacifier."
"The Pacifier?" Emily looked at him incredulously. "What is he?"
"Supposedly, he has information on the assassination of the Afghan President."
"And you believe that?" She arched her brow, hands across her chest.
He shrugged, "I don't know, Em. The Director has placed this mission as priority one."
"Where is he? The Pacifier?"
"In a safe house in Puli Khumri, it's about 50 miles southeast of Kabul."
"And you want him escorted to Kabul?"
He nodded, "Yes and he's not an easy person to trust. He speaks…er…Persian."
"Clyde, more than half the population in Afghanistan speaks Persian."
"And," He shook his head, "he speaks English as well as Arabic."
"My kind of man," She smiled.
"You're engaged to be married, you're off the market in a month." He grinned. "No flirting with the targets."
She rolled her eyes, "Please Clyde, as if I would."
He walked towards the door, "I'll meet you at HQ for a full briefing."
"Clyde, I better be at my own wedding or the groom is going to hunt you down and it won't be a pretty sight."
He nodded, "I'll get you to the church on time!" He sang the tune to the classic song from 'My Fair Lady'.
"You better, Clyde." She shook her head as she waved at him, and pulled out her phone, her finger on the speed dial to Hotch.
As the phone rang, she muttered, "This had better be the easiest extract mission or Clyde will wish he'd never stepped foot on my doorstep." She sighed as she stared out of the window, "Godspeed, Charlie."
"Hotchner."
"Hey honey." Emily took a deep breath.
"Uh oh, you never call me honey unless it's something bad." He said on the other side of the world, in Virginia.
"You know me so well, Aaron. Here's the deal, there's a mission in Afghanistan…."
….
End of Chapter 1
So…what do you think?
Will she get to her own wedding? Or is Clyde in a load of trouble?
