Danger from home

Disclaimer : I don't own Criminal Minds and make no money writing. English not my mother language, so excuse any mistakes.

Chapter 2: The morning after

The boy looked through the half closed blinds of the dressing room, but all he could see from this angle was the wooden floor of the master bedroom and the blue carpet. In the semi-obscurity, his ears had taken over his eyes, and he concentrated on the noises around him. It was going on pretty hard downstairs, from the shouts that echoed through the staircase. When the big man had raised the first hand over his mother's head, Aaron had fled upstairs to his usual hiding place. He shut his eyes close when the too familiar sound of his father's footsteps came to his ears. He knew the big man would be coming for him.

Aaron's eyes shot open right when the 'big man' was reaching for the doorknob of the dressing room. It took him a few seconds to comprehend his environment and realize that he was no more the fearful child he had once been. He was no less than a trained and overworked FBI agent who had fallen asleep on his sofa, from pure exhaustion. Rubbing the sleepiness off his eyes, the dark-haired man looked at his wristwatch to realize that it was almost six. He had come home just after four, after driving around for over half an hour to clear his mind, thankful that Jessica had agreed to come over and watch his son. The man got up from his uncomfortable sleeping position, trying to erase the last traces of the nightmare that had filled his restless sleep. It had been years since he had last dreamt of his childhood, probably since the death of his mother, six years ago. And all it had taken was to see Emily Prentiss with her swollen face and look of shame. He wasn't sure he would be able to face her today. She reminded him too much of his own past, and he couldn't bear to see her become victim to another man.

Xxx

"What do you think you're doing?" her voice was harsh. It took her a long time to let a man enter her apartment and feel comfortable around someone else in her own home, and he was ruining it all. She didn't like another person sneaking in her personal belongings. Let alone her gun.

"Calm down, Em, I just wanted to have a look…" Devon's voice had a funny tone. He obviously wasn't taking her seriously. So she took a step forward and grabbed the weapon out of his hands, to make herself clear.

"It's the job, Devon. No one is supposed to touch this. It can be dangerous…"

A whistle escaped the man's lips although the dark look in his eyes told another story. He was pissed.

"Oh, dangerous, eh? Emily, you are so defensive. Why don't you let anyone in for once? I am not a god damn child!" The brunette looked at her friend, frowning at the angry voice. She had never heard him this serious and hostile before.

"This is not a game. And why are you shouting?" Unconsciously, Emily had crossed her arms on her chest in a protective mode.

"I am angry because you are so proud to be independent that it becomes impossible to keep up with you… You, your job, your colleagues, where do I fit in?"

Emily looked with bewilderment at Devon. This outburst was so sudden and irrational that she was at a loss for words.

"Why… I don't follow you… What are you talking about?"

She merely reacted when Devon's fist collided with her jaw, making her waltz to the ground with a bump. With her face lying flat against the ground, Emily gasped for breath. She didn't move for a lonely second, and her training kicked in. She lifted her body from the ground and turned around, ready to fight. But Devon hadn't moved from his spot, merely staring at her with bewilderment. At his own actions, at Emily's fearless reaction, she didn't know. When the silence had become too unbearable, the brunette finally stepped forward, her raised finger not leaving any doubt to her visitor.

"Get the hell out of here." She hissed, trying to hold his gaze as long as she could. She couldn't break down in front of him.

"Emily…"

"Get the hell out. Now." Her voice had risen and her eyes were shooting flames. But she was caught off guard when he plunged forward to grab her throat.

Emily briskly sat up, opening her eyes and immediately closing them to protect them from the bright light of her desk lamp. She frantically looked around her, not quite sure of her surroundings, until she realized that she was sitting at her desk, in her living room. Brushing a hand over her face, she was painfully reminded that the nightmare she had just had was not a nightmare. After a minute, she dared to open her eyes again and let her left hand wander over the wooden board to turn off the aggressive lamp. Surprisingly, it was already daylight outside. Her fingers wandered over the desk to finally find her cell phone, and Emily realized that it was well past seven. She had absolutely no idea of when she had fallen asleep. She just remembered sitting down with a couple of reports to write, but there was hardly any writing on the paper under her eyes, so she must have blacked out fairly quickly. Raising a hand to her swollen eye, the brunette got up and reached her bathroom to check the disaster. The corner of her eye had turned into a blue mass, although the bruised lip looked a little better now. Maybe she should have put more ice on the injury the evening before. She would definitely have to wear sunglasses today.

"You look awful…" Hotch raised his head to find David Rossi standing in the doorframe. The man was hiding a smirk.

"Thank you, Dave. Have you come in here just to tease me?" The impatient tone in his voice was nothing new to David Rossi, who merely closed the door and came to sit on the edge of the desk.

"Actually, JJ wants us in the conference room in fifteen."

"So why are you making yourself comfortable in my office?" Hotch asked lightly without raising his eyes from the paper he was scribbling on. Another damn budget report.

"What's eating at you? You've not even got out of your office for your usual coffee, what's the matter?"

The pen made a clicking noise when the dark-haired man put it down on the desk, before joining his hands. David Rossi was observing his every move, and Hotch's body language was only confirming that there was something bothering him.

"I didn't sleep a lot last night."

"You never sleep a lot at night. That's not all, is it?"

"I was over at Emily's." He simply said, not quite knowing how to slip in the uneasy information.

"Oh, did you finally make a move?" the grinning man simply asked, although his grin disappeared when Hotch raised surprised eyes to him.

"What? Oh, no, not like this." Although, deep inside, he couldn't help wondering why he felt so overprotective of his agent.

"So what were you doing in the middle of the night at your agent's house?" The sarcastic tone in Rossi's voice could not be mistaken.

"Her neighbor called me because she had heard strange noises coming from the apartment. Apparently Emily had a fight with her boyfriend."

Rossi looked around him, not knowing where to begin. Emily Prentiss had a boyfriend? Emily's neighbor had Hotch's number in case of emergencies? They had a fight? He decided against interrupting his friend, and waited for elaboration.

"He hit her, Dave. I don't know who this clown is, but you should have seen her face…" There was undeniably fire in Aaron's eyes, a fire Dave had no more seen since Foyet. He frowned at the thought.

"Somehow I guess we'll see it soon enough… What did she tell you?"

"That she kicked his ass out and could take care of herself."

"That's my girl." The light tone of Dave's voice made Hotch raise his head once again. He was obviously waiting for an advice. "You know Emily. If she needs help… she won't say it. We'll have to keep an eye on her."

The dark-haired agent nodded without saying a word, and waited for Dave to free the corner of his desk to stand up himself. He had to find a way to get his mind off his agent, and focus on the case.

Emily refused to stop at any mirror to check up her appearance, before walking into the elevator. She had done her best with the make-up, and had even put on large sunglasses to hide most of the damage, but questions would undoubtedly arise. Her best chance was now to do as though everything was fine, to at least reassure the others, if she couldn't quite convince herself. She had spent the whole drive to Quantico wondering whether she should tell the blunt truth or make up a lie. Maybe her getting mugged in the street was less frightening to her colleagues than her occasional boyfriend hitting her in her own apartment. She was still busy with her thoughts when the elevator reached the fifth floor and the doors revealed the busy corridor leading to the bullpen, full of people at almost all times of the day. She quickly reached the glass doors to the open space, grateful when she saw that not many of her colleagues were there to witness her entry. Derek was just getting seated at his own desk, probably back from another coffee trip, while Reid was looking intently at the newspaper he brought with him each morning. But neither JJ, Rossi or Hotch were in sight.

"Hello, guys." The brunette called out, throwing her handbag on her desk and getting seated. She was intending to act as normal as possible, although it felt hard with the throbbing of her head, that had not stopped since she had woken up.

"Hey, Prentiss." Derek answered while Reid only greeted her with a smile. From his particular angle, he had a clear sight on her face, and Emily was not a bit surprised when he took his feet off the desk, where they had been resting, to approach her.

"Hey… What happened to you?" The young doctor had always had a very soft voice but it was now filled with panic and concern, as he came to sit on the corner of Emily's desk, silently demanding that she let him see the damage. Suppressing a sigh, the brunette finally took off her sunglasses, only to have her two male colleagues gasp in shock.

"God, what's with your face?" Derek Morgan let out, accompanying his question with a frown.

Emily tried to smile but it turned into a horrible grimace because of the split lip.

"It's not as bad as it looks, guys. Let's say my last boyfriend was not the right one."

"Boyfriend?" JJ's voice echoed from the staircase, where she had frozen, witnessing the whole scene from the distance. When Emily turned her head to locate the origin of the question, the blonde agent's mouth dropped open. She hadn't yet had the opportunity to see all the damage.

"Oh God!" For a brief second, Emily thought that JJ was going to drop her files, but her female colleague quickly regained control over her movements and jogged down graciously the few steps with her high heels. "Did he hit you? I didn't even know you had a boyfriend!"

"Well, it's better you don't know him now, isn't it?" Emily said sarcastically, before turning back to the fuming Morgan and the questioning Reid. "And it suffice to say that he is no longer allowed near me. Don't worry guys, these few scratches will heal…"

With that, she met their colleagues' eyes, to make sure that each of them had gotten the message and would drop the subject. She didn't want to lie to them, but she was not willing either to go too much into details.

"Prentiss, a word?" Before any of them could react, the familiar figure of Hotch appeared in the doorframe to his office. He had a stern look, the same that he had worn the night before, only he seemed a little calmer. Emily nodded and walked upstairs without a look backwards. She could feel her colleagues' eyes linger on her.

"Why is it that Hotch doesn't seem surprised?" Morgan turned to the others when the couple had disappeared in the office. By then, David Rossi had joined them in the bullpen, hands in his pockets and unusually calm. Of course, he was not about to hand Hotch's confession over to his colleagues, although he could understand their confusion.

"Why is it that you don't seem surprised?" Reid continued, looking straight into the elderly agent's eyes.

"People, the best we can do now is give Emily some privacy and get back to work. Apparently she has dealt with this as she thought necessary." He said calmly, looking respectively to the three younger agents.

"Did you know about this?"

"Hotch told me."

"So Hotch knew? How? Do we know the name of this son of a bitch?" By the way Derek Morgan was balling his fists and the angry tone in his voice, everyone could tell that he was pissed. They had better keep him away from the man if they wanted to avoid a bloodshed.

"If Emily wishes to share more details with any of us, she will do it herself. Until then, it is preferable that we assure her of our support rather than harass her with our questions. Understood?"

Rossi was rarely authoritarian, but there were times when his team members needed someone to bring them back to reason and keep them in the line.

"Briefing?" he added with a raised eyebrow, looking at JJ.

"Yeah. I'll be ready in five." Reluctantly, the blonde liaison officer turned her heels and directed her steps to the conference room.

Hotch waited for Emily to penetrate his office before quietly closing the door behind them. He could see that she was a little uneasy around him, and just hoped she didn't resent him for bursting into her home the night before.

"I just wanted to save you from the tons of questions…" he said with a smirk, although his face always kept its seriousness.

"Thanks, you indeed got me out of an embarrassing situation…" she tried to smile in return but quickly dropped it, deciding for a nod instead.

"How is the head?" He was looking at her injuries with such concern and softness that it almost made the brunette uneasy. She was not used to protective gestures.

"Sore." She grimaced to make her point.

"Are you sure you should be here today?"

"It's just a bruise. Besides, I think we have a case…" Indeed, the numerous files and serious look on JJ's face had not escaped Emily as a sign of an upcoming case.

"True. Have you gotten any sleep last night?"

"Kind of. The boring reports knocked me off." She smirked although the nightmare that had filled her sleep was still too vivid for her likings. Hotch was about to tell her that he himself had been caught by sleep in the most uncomfortable place of his apartment, but decided against it. He wasn't supposed to let it get to him so much.

"You're a weird person." He finally said, sniffling. "They're probably waiting for us. Shall we?"

The brunette nodded and turned to lead the way to the conference room, where the other profilers were already seated around the circular table. Only JJ was still standing, and the remote control in her hand told them that she was ready for the show to begin. She had the courtesy to wait for her superior and friend to sit down before shooting.

"Philadelphia was the theatre to a series of murders targeting young females in their twenties." The blonde pressed on the remote control until different pictures had filled the screen. Before-after images showing smiling young women and horrid crime scenes to match.

"Young females are a recurrent target. What makes local police think that these cases are linked?" Reid intervened, pointing his pen at the screen.

"The MO. Although the position of the bodies does not show this at first, each victim had the word 'liar' engraved into their chest, pre-mortem. Though they didn't immediately connect the first and last two, because the cause of death changed." JJ continued, displaying some more detailled images of the carvings and various injuries. "Marion Bayers, first victim, 23, was suffocated, as was the second victim, Maureen Gravin, 21. Then the unsub changes his method and goes for repeated beating. The third victim died of head trauma while the last had a ruptured spleen which caused internal hemorrhagy." By the time she had finished her report, their colleagues' faces had taken a strange white turn, as they stared blankly at the multiple pictures.

"He really took it out on the last two…" Emily noticed, flinching as yet another image of the last victim's bruised body came to her sight.

"Were they raped?" Morgan asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"All four, yes. Strangely, there are no marks of ligature on their wrists or ankles, and few defensive wounds."

"So the unsub must have used something to knock them out." Morgan followed JJ's reasoning.

"Did the toxic exam show anything?" Reid asked. His eyes had shifted to the stack of papers the liaison agent had handed over to each member of the team.

"Apparently they found traces of GHB in their blood. The unsub went for drugging them."

"That's quite strange." Emily's eyes narrowed as she spoke out loud her thoughts. "Given the amount of violence used, you would think that the unsub feeds on the fear of his victims. He shows how strong he is, how he can overpower them. This makes no sense if they are already knocked out."

Hotch nodded, considering the point the brunette had just raised.

"She is right there. This murderer is clearly sadistic. He wants his victims to suffer, to cry out their pain, to realize that they are going to die from his hands. Why would he play around while they are unconscious?" he added, looking over to Emily as he so often did, to get her impressions.

"Hang on a second. What do you say about the change in MO? The message doesn't change, neither does the type of victims, but he switches from a 'soft' death to the most violent action." Morgan looked at the round.

"Maybe we are looking at two killers? Maybe it is a copycat who killed the third and fourth victims?" Reid raised an eyebrow, but was cut off short by JJ.

"Unlikely. The detail about the word engraved in each victim's chest was never released to the public."

"Then two unsubs working together?" However improbable this sounded, the young doctor didn't want to let any option untouched.

"As you probably know, statistics show that two unsubs working together are a very rare thing. And when they do, their targets are more random." Rossi intervened, staring with a funny look to Reid. He was quite surprised that the young agent had not yet thrown in some of his well-known statistics. "I think we are facing one unsub, but something triggered his change of method. What we have to find out is what was that trigger."

Silence fell upon the group, until Hotch raised his head and silently nodded to JJ. They had grown into the habit of understanding what each of them was thinking without a word, so the blonde immediately began gathering the different files.

"Anyway, I think this is a case for us. Grab your ready bags, wheels up in twenty." With that, he stood up and was out of the room before anyone could even close his notepad.