Emily woke with a start. The air was ice cold as if she were in a refrigerator. She looked around in terror, her eyes were the only part of her that moved. One second was pure panic, was she paralyzed? Was she dead? The next second, it hit her. The overwhelming ache. It wasn't exactly painful, but in no way did it feel pleasant. She opened her mouth but only a faint, scratchy noise escaped. She used all her remaining strength to muster up the quietest "help". "Help," she managed to say a little louder. She still couldn't move her arms and legs but she could sure as hell feel them. Her eyes reached as far to the left as they could, far enough to see a dull light emerging from what seemed to be an open door.

A nurse stood in the doorway, filling out a chart from her previous patient. She was far too enveloped in her work to hear Emily's desperate cry for help. It was only when Emily managed to push her hand over far enough to knock the cup off her nightstand, that the nurse glanced in her direction. The nurse, or "Ava," as her nametag read, immediately set down her chart when she realized what the noise was. She hurried over to the side of Emily's hospital bed and looked down at her intently.

Emily was still disoriented. The last thing she could remember was someone calling her name, or was that a dream? She couldn't think straight. "Where am I?" she asked, already on the verge of a full blown panic attack.

"My name is Ava. You're at Bethesda Medical Center, there was an accident. You're okay now."

I'm okay now? Emily thought. She didn't feel okay and she most certainly didn't comprehend the situation. She had a weird sense that Ava wasn't fully letting on to her what happened. "What happened?" She asked.

"Like I said, you were in an accide—"

"No, I mean, what really happened." Emily demanded.

"You came from Boston. I believe you were working a case with, uh, Ian? Ian Doyle? There were complications and you landed yourself in the ER. Quite a nasty injury, really. You took a table leg to the abdomen or something. Just about bled out on the table. Your heart stopped twice but they were able to revive you. As soon as you were in stable enough condition for transport, you were airlifted here, the leading, world class recovery center for severely injured ve…" Emily tuned the rest of her words out.

She know what Bethesda was, she just couldn't quite wrap her mind around why they would bring her there instead of taking her somewhere closer to her team. Her team. Where were they? They would surely be waiting for her to wake up, she knew them. But they weren't there.

"Where are they?" She asked Ava.

"Where are who?"

"Where is my team?"

"Oh. That's what I needed to tell you. Your team doesn't know you're here."

"What? What do you mean they don't know I'm here, of course they do. The hospital called them, right?"

"See, that's the thing. I don't know the details but I can page someone who does." Ava looked down at her pager and nonchalantly typed in some numbers. "Hello? Emily Prentiss is awake. Report to room 206, East wing, immediately."

The minutes couldn't have gone by more slowly. Emily, bedridden and hardly able to move stared up at the ugly white ceiling as Ava stood awkwardly near the door, tapping her foot. Finally, there was a tap on the doorframe as two tall men dressed in all black entered the room.

"Emily Prentiss. I'm glad to see you're awake. My name is Mike Hilton and this is my partner Tobias. We were sent here on behalf of the Bureau to talk to you about the unfortunate circumstances that just took place and still are, taking place, rather. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, we're only here to help."

Mike looked over at Tobias which prompted him to start speaking, "You were taken captive by Ian Doyle, you probably know that but I'm just going to start there as I don't know how much you remember. While you were being held, the two of you seemed to have gotten into a physical altercation, and, he stabbed you with a jagged, broken off table leg. One of your team members, Derek Morgan, found you in an abandoned warehouse. He immediately called for an ambulance but we were losing you quickly. As Ava most likely told you, you lost a copious amount of blood, it's a miracle you lived at all. Now, the tricky thing is...we need to keep you safe from Doyle. Ian has men out there that are still hunting you and my God, those men won't back down until you're dead. Which is why they've backed off now."

"Why would they back off now? I'm still alive, aren't I?" Emily questioned, bewildered.

"Yes, you're alive, you're here, you're breathing. Technically." Mike chimed in. "Emily Prentiss, however, never left that operating table. She died the second it was deemed that your only hope would be to stay dead."

"You're losing me, I'm not quite sure I know where you're going with this," Emily shot back.

"This is what I've been dreading telling you, but trust me when I say there was no other option. We leaked a story to the national media that you died at the hands of Ian Doyle, that way him and his posse wouldn't come looking for you. It was the only way. Unfortunately, your team knowing this would completely sabotage the operation. The only people who know are me, Tobias, a select few doctors, Aaron Hotchner, and Jennifer Jareau."

Emily's head spun. That had been enough information to boggle her for a lifetime, much less a few minutes. She couldn't get a word out of her mouth before the tears came. She felt odd. Almost guilty. She didn't feel bad for herself, she felt bad for the team. What would Derek think? She could imagine the look on poor Spencer's face as he was delivered the devastating news. She was his big sister. She felt awful. Why would they mourn her? She had completely betrayed them. It wasn't fair. She felt bad she was the cause of their grief. Why couldn't she have just died in that warehouse? It would've been better for them to know the truth. It's the least they deserved.

As soon as she could muster up the strength to wipe away her tears, she did. The first thing out of her mouth almost startled her, it seemed so vain and self-serving, something Emily Prentiss would never ask. But she wasn't Emily Prentiss anymore. "What is my name?" she managed as she choked back the lump in her throat.

"Abigail. Abigail Sutton. We'll have you working a temporary assignment at the NYPD for at least a year, but most likely longer."

This came as a shock to Emily. She'd never worked a job like that as she was part of the Bureau, not the police department. She didn't realize it was even possible. Apparently it was. "When do I start?" She asked.

"As soon as Ava clears and releases you. We have some papers and legal documents here for you to sign if you're ready."

It all went far too quickly. Emily wasn't even sure she agreed with what was happening. She wanted to go back to her team, tell them it was all a rouse. Who cared if Ian killed her? At least she'd have the chance to say a proper goodbye, to tell her closest friend what they truly meant to her instead of just leaving them in shock and bewilderment.

"Just sign the papers. The few years will be over before you know it, it's for the best," Tobias urged.

Emily reluctantly reached her stiff arm over, it was a struggle to even lift the pen to the paper but she managed. As soon as she finished her eighth signature, she dropped the pen. "Thanks, Ms. Sutton," Tobias said as he gathered up the documents and nudged Mike to follow him.

"At least call me Detective Sutton," Emily said as the two men walked out of the room and shut the door behind them, leaving Emily alone to process the mess which was her new life.