Chapter 2

The briefing room at the BAU was a flurry of activity as agents, victims' family members, and local LEOs came in and out, adding their information to the case. Emily had been conducting interviews all day, and didn't get a moment to herself until late afternoon. After grabbing her lunch from the fridge, she walked into an empty meeting room and pulled out her cell phone.

Sitting down in one of the office chairs, she scrolled through her contacts until she found John's name. Although hesitant to annoy him, she pressed call and held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring. After seven chimes, his voicemail finally picked up. "Hey John, it's Emily. Um, call me back when you can. Nothing's wrong, I just want to ask you a quick question. I'm at work, but just…call me. I'll pick up."

Dejected, Emily hung up and set the phone down hard on the table. She opened the salad that she had packed that morning and angrily stabbed at a piece of lettuce. Just as she took an overly large bite, JJ knocked softly on the door and poked her head in. "Hey. Was that John?"

Em held up a hand and was chewed furiously as JJ smirked. "I got his answering machine. He's probably out looking for jobs or something."

"Probably," she agreed. "I know you just sat down, but Hotch wants to give a preliminary profile." As Emily rolled her eyes and stuffed the lunch back in the bag, JJ grabbed her arm. "Are you sure you're okay? This John thing seems like it's pretty important. I could cover for you if you want to take the rest of the day and go find him."

"No Jayje, it's fine. I'll try him again tonight." Emily picked up her cell and turned the volume all the way up so she could hear if John tried to call her.

Three hours later, Emily finally sat down to the lunch she never got to eat. Morgan, Reid, and JJ had ordered in food from a Chinese place down the street, and the four agents were sharing a quick meal in the bullpen during a lull in the case. Hotch and Rossi were still in the briefing room, poring over new evidence that had come in. They were already exhausted, and it felt like they weren't any closer to catching the Unsub.

"God, I'm starving." Emily said, stealing a bite of Reid's meal.

"Hey!" He exclaimed indignantly, batting at her fork. "Get your own stir fry!"

"A salad is not enough to satiate me!" Emily said dramatically. "One cannot live on rabbit food alone." Her proclamation elicited chuckles from Morgan and JJ as she took another big bite of lettuce, spilling a drop of ranch dressing on her shirt. "Crap." She put her fork down and walked to the bathroom. She dabbed at her shirt with a damp paper towel, but gave up in desperation as the wet mark only grew. Making a mental note to take the top to the dry cleaners, she walked back into the bullpen, greeted by the sight of two men in uniforms talking to Reid, JJ, and Morgan.

"Sorry boys, the kung-pao chicken is spoken for." She sassed, sitting back down at her desk.

"Ma'am, are you Agent Emily Prentiss?" The middle-aged officer's face was serious, but revealed little emotion.

"I am," Emily responded, immediately standing back up. The other three stood up as well, flanking her. Her guard was up, her reflexes tightening in time with the tension in the room.

"Is there somewhere private that we can talk?" Hotch and Rossi noticed the commotion and walked out of the briefing room, watching the scene unfold from the catwalk.

"Regarding what?" Emily asked defensively. "Do I need a lawyer present?" The mention of an attorney compelled Hotch to join the group, and he quickly walked down to stand authoritatively in front of Emily and the rest of the team, Rossi following behind. They clustered around Emily in a united front, ready to protect her at the first hint of harm.

The officers looked shocked. "What? No, ma'am. We're here regarding a man named John Cooley," the elder one said. The other policeman, young and apparently fresh from the academy, shuffled the papers in his hands and looked down at his feet.

Emily's face drained of color, and JJ put her hand gently on Emily's back. "Come on; let's go into my office…" Her voice was gentle and calming, but Emily cut her off. "What happened to John?"

"Agent Prentiss, we should really—" The young officer's voice was soothing and also a bit nervous; he desperately wanted to avoid a scene in the bustling room. Stares from other agents flickered to the group as the tension grew, and the background noise began to turn into a myriad of whispers.

"Tell me now." Emily's own voice was becoming panicky, in a way that scared the other agents. They had seen many sides of Emily Prentiss, but this disposition had never been revealed. Even when they were investigating her friend Matthew's death, her sorrow was subdued and internal, and she had never lost control.

"John Cooley was found dead in a DC hotel room late this morning. You called his cell phone six hours later, when we were checking it in to evidence, and left a message for him to call you back. We just have a couple of questions for you."

Emily froze, her face a mask of shock and leftover indignation. JJ began to guide Emily into her nearby office when she seemed to come to life, slapping her hand to her mouth as she lurched towards the nearest trash can, before vomiting up the limited contents of her stomach. The team sprang into action, ushering Emily into the office and murmuring soothing things. Morgan and JJ shut the door behind them, leaving Reid, Hotch and Rossi to speculate and reassure the crowd that had gathered.

In the office, JJ sat Emily down into a chair as Morgan stood behind her, one hand protectively on her shoulder as JJ rubbed her knee in slow, soothing strokes. She wasn't crying, but the pained look in her eyes was enough to belie her feelings. The officers remained standing, not sure how to proceed. "Agent Prentiss?" One of them ventured. "Can you tell us why you were in contact with Mr. Cooley?"

"He was an old friend." She responded flatly. "I just saw him last night, and I…I was worried about him."

"And why was that?" The man asked, pulling out a notepad.

"Um." Emily gulped. "He told me that he had just been fired from his last job, and he was looking to move down here to DC. Something just seemed off about him."

"Was there anything specific that you can remember?"

"No, I…I don't think so. How did he die?" Her voice sounded lost, like she didn't know the right questions to ask.

"Our medical examiner believes that he overdosed on heroin." The older one responded, double checking his notes.

"Heroin? No, John doesn't do drugs." Emily mumbled, trying to work out the puzzle in her brain. "There must be some kind of mistake." Morgan stepped forwards as the officers paused their questioning and looked back at Emily.

"Guys, can we do this later? We can come down to the station if needed, but right now is not the best time for this." His firm voice offered no space for negotiation, and the officers did not seem to mind backing down.

"Of course." The elder officer drew a card from his pocket and handed it to Morgan, sympathetically glancing at Emily. "Please call us when she's ready to talk more."

"You have my word." The officers left without another word, and Morgan followed them out to update the team.

Garcia had joined the men outside, her face stark. "Oh God, I just heard. Is Em okay?"

"Not really." Morgan confessed honestly. "JJ's with her now, I think giving her some space is the best call right now." Peeking back at the office, he lowered his voice. "We all met him. John Cooley, Emily's old friend from Rome. He's the one who pushed Em to investigate the exorcism case, and the last victim of the priest."

"Cause of death?" Hotch asked.

"Heroin overdose. But Em said that he didn't do heroin. Hotch…I don't want to be the one to suggest this, but what if it's linked to our other case all those years ago? Matthew, the first victim, was an addict."

Suddenly, Emily's quiet voice piped up from behind them. "John never did drugs, and he wouldn't start now. This has nothing to do with Matthew." Her eyes were red, and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, as if she were holding herself together.

JJ stood off to the side, holding her and Emily's coats. "We're going to go see the body." She explained in a low voice. Their gazes all shifted to Emily, who was rapidly regaining what was left of her typically brusque demeanor.

"John would never do drugs." Emily repeated, confronting the team. "I know him, and he wouldn't do drugs."

"Are you suggesting he was murdered?" Morgan asked incredulously. Emily stood mutely, refusing to answer either way. "Emily…think about it. John wasn't the kind of guy to have enemies."

"You didn't even know him Morgan!" The raw emotion behind her indignant outburst made them wince, Morgan especially. JJ laid a hand protectively on her shoulder, guiding her towards the doors.

"Let's go, Em. You don't need to be here." All at once, Emily tensed, and then deflated, allowing herself to be led out of the room by JJ's soft grip.

As the two agents left, the rest of the group let out a collective breath and look warily at Hotch. "Do we investigate?" Rossi asked, asking the question on all of their minds. Hotch paused, a wrinkle between his brows the only sign of indecision.

"Rossi, find what you can about John Cooley. If it's a murder like Emily says, we'll investigate. If it's not, I hate to say it, then it's either accidental or intentional suicide. Either way, Emily deserves the truth." They all nodded, but no one moved. "That's it. We have a case to solve." Rossi was the first to step away from the circle, and Morgan took Garcia by the hand to lead her back to her lair. Reid was still standing next to Hotch, a lost look on his face. "Reid?" Hotch started, looking closely at the young agent. "What are you thinking?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I've just…I've never seen Emily act like that. Her behavior doesn't match what I knew about the two of them…her and John, I mean. She hasn't talked about him since Matthew Benton died." Words bubbled out of his mouth seemingly without conscious thought, but Hotch wasn't about to stop him. "The closest situation to this was actually when Benton died…she was reserved. I mean, we saw all the obvious markers of grief and sorrow, but I don't recall her ever showing this much…fervor."

"Reid, I doubt that I need to tell you that losing someone affects us all differently. There's more to this, more than Emily was able to tell us." Reid only nodded mindlessly, staring out the glass door where Emily and JJ had disappeared. "Reid, I need you on this case, right now. We'll help Emily out any way we can, but we have another unsub to catch."