"Alright, I've got one coming out now, so tell your boys not to shoot." Bill's sarcastic voice came over the line at Jimmy Temple.
"Okay, we're ready." Temple shot a look at Cheryl, who nodded, and gestured at Frank, to take his team over.
Frank and two HRT agents walked almost silently over toward the door, just as it began to open. Emily walked out, looking disoriented, and unaware of her lack of attire. She closed the door behind her, and looked around until she found the HRT agents right in front of her.
Frank spoke into his mouthpiece. "Cheryl, we've got her. She's half-naked, have someone grab a windbreaker, and uh, get the paramedics ready."
"Why paramedics?" Cheryl's alarmed voice came back at him.
"She looks stoned, I'm thinking shock." His nodded to his men, and they hustled Emily away from the door.
Cheryl met them at the stairs, and helped Emily into a windbreaker that would have fit Frank better. Under the circumstances that wasn't a bad thing, it covered her butt, which had otherwise been exposed—not that she seemed to care.
"Emily?" Cheryl addressed her, but the negotiator didn't respond.
Like Frank had said she look stoned, her eyes completely unfocused on anything. She didn't even seem cold, which she should have been, as her legs were bare except for her stockings. It was as if she wasn't there. Except her red eyes, her sore eyes said she'd been present for something, and cried through it.
Cheryl looked at Frank, who looked somewhere between worried and pissed. If the HT hurt one or both of his friends, he was not going to be gentle taking him down. He wasn't quite thinking what Cheryl was though.
No, when she heard half-naked followed by shock, Cheryl had one particular fear on her mind. When she saw Emily red eyes, it went from a fear to a possibility. Provided he had Matt restrained, it wouldn't have been hard for the HT to…in Emily's lack of attire, it wouldn't have be hard for him to…to violate her. Cheryl shuddered at the thought.
"Emily, talk to me please."
The negotiator didn't make a sound, didn't turn her head.
"Emily, did the HT hurt you? Did he touch you?" Cheryl kept her voice low, no one else needed to hear her questions.
Frank's wide eyes suggested he had though. He went to speak, but Cheryl shook her head. He could be in denial later, right now, Cheryl needed to know what happened in that room.
She was about to ask again when they hear gunshots, two of them.
"Frank, go!"
"Bravo team is a go, Delta team is a go," he announced into his mouthpiece as he took off toward the room, his men behind him, guns drawn.
Emily finally moved on her own. She slid down the wall closest to them, sinking to the floor, tears streaming out her eyes.
Cheryl glanced at her, but couldn't be her friend right then, not with the ongoing crisis. They heard two more shots, followed by three shots from Frank or one of his men. They all knew what HRT guns sounded like.
Binder knelt down beside Emily, who'd pulled her legs up to her chest, and he rested a hand on her shoulder. She didn't flinch, but then, she didn't really acknowledge him at all. She may have moved, may have cried, but she still wasn't really there. He waved over the paramedics, and they tried to talk to her.
Emily ignored them as she had everything else. None of it mattered. She'd walked out of that room, and left him to die. Not a goddamned thing mattered right then. They waved a flashlight in front of her eyes, but she didn't really see it. They took her blood pressure, and for once Emily couldn't feel the cuff squeezing the hell out of her arm. One of the two EMTs asked her questions, but Emily didn't hear any of them.
HRT boots came into her view, and then disappeared with the paramedics. Binder waved a hand in front of her face, but Emily just kept staring at what something he couldn't see.
Brown eyes. Beautiful chocolate brown eyes. If she focused on that one image hard and long enough, she'd never forget it. She needed not to forget it. That image had to last her for the next fifty years.
Brown eyes were suddenly in front of her, not his though. Cheryl's eyes. Her boss and friend was in front of her talking, but Emily didn't hear a word she said. She just kept staring ahead, as if she saw straight through Cheryl's eyes to the back of her head. Then hands were on her arms, and pulling her off the floor.
When would they realize that nobody was home right then?
There was a lot of activity around her, and talking, there was a lot of talking too. It was like a buzz in the back of her head, and the movement, just alternating light and shadows. Lia was suddenly there, looking worried, almost scared. Didn't matter to Emily right then, no one was going to get through to her.
Then someone did.
The brown eyes suddenly weren't just in her head any more, they were in front of her. The skin in between them was wrinkled with worry, as he studied her. She saw his lips then, they were moving, and suddenly, his voice began to break through the barrier in her head.
"Em? Emily?"
How…? Did he keep his promise? Was he a ghost come back to haunt her? Did he really find her already?
She reached out hesitantly, and her fingers brushed his very solid chest. A small gasp escaped her mouth.
Then Cheryl's voice. "Matt, what's wrong with her?"
Her voice squeaked as she managed to whisper. "You're not dead."
Matt shook his head. "He missed."
"How?"
"Turn's out, I'm pretty good at ducking and keeping my ass out of the way."
"Not a single bullet?"
"He was a really shitty shot."
Matt had been on his knees, ready to take a bullet to the back of the head. When he heard the gun cock, he half-leapt, half-rolled the hell out of the way. That was Bill's first two bullets. They went into the floor. The second two went into the wall by the bathroom. The three HRT bullets all made it into Bill.
Suddenly, Emily seemed to lose all her bones, as she fell against him, her face in his shoulder. Fresh tears rolled off the FBI windbreaker Duff had given him to wear, so he wasn't just in boxers. That had been a bit embarrassing, at least for the five minutes until Frank told him that Emily was acting all messed up. After that he wouldn't have noticed if he was naked.
Emily's angry voice suddenly stunned the buzzing hallway into silence, as she pulled away from Matt to look at his face. "You son of a bitch, you ever ask me to do that again, and I'll be the one pulling the trigger on you, so help me god."
"I'm alive," he offered uncomfortably.
"Don't even…" She let her warning trail off. Then she turned to their boss, and spoke as if she hadn't been scarily absent minutes ago. "Cheryl, can we put clothes on before we give our statements?"
"Uh sure, but the paramedics are going to look at both of you." Cheryl wasn't sure what to make of her friend, but really, really wanted a qualified medical person to give her some answers.
Emily nodded, and Cheryl had a couple HRT agents retrieve Emily's dress and Matt's suit from what was now the crime scene. The hotel manager opened an empty room for them to be examined and change in.
Matt helped Emily back into her gown, and she buttoned his shirt for him, while he got his pants back on. Matt slid back into his jacket, but handed the windbreaker back. Emily put her windbreaker back on, hoping to stave off the chill that bit at her bones.
This time she followed the EMT's flashlight, grimaced when the blood pressure cuff clenched around her arm like a vise, and even answered all of his questions. Everything was normal, even her temperature, which he took when she mentioned the chill.
Matt would have done better during his exam, if he'd actually paid attention to the EMT, instead watching Emily. She seemed fine now, but he was worried. She'd been completely non-responsive to everyone, and that wasn't even in the realm of normal. Needless to say, the EMT examining him had to ask him questions repeatedly, but followed his distracted gaze enough to know that he wasn't in shock, just worried about his girlfriend.
He made his way over to her.
"You two going home together tonight?" Emily's EMT asked.
Matt nodded. "Yeah, we will be."
"Good. Alright, Emily, I'm not going to suggest you go to a hospital overnight, because I get the feeling I'd get a hell of an argument. But, you need to rest. If that chill keeps you up, you need to go to a hospital and see a doctor." He turned to Matt. "If she zones-out again, you need to take her to a hospital. Shock is very serious and can be deadly, so if you have any concerns at all—either of you—go to the hospital."
The negotiators nodded obediently, and wandered back out to the hallway. Cheryl was still there, of course, directing the scene, and signing paperwork. The ME's office was finally wheeling the HT out in a black body bag, headed toward the elevators. Duff was off to the side with an arm around Lia, who was dumping a disc into an envelope, and signing the front. Undoubtedly, that was all her intell for the case. Frank was filling out his own paperwork, his men packing away all their gear. Temple and Binder were discussing something, Temple holding a clipboard between them.
It was like the end of every negotiation, clean up time. Everything got packed away, put back in it's rightful spot, papers were filled out and signed, and adrenaline slowly dissipated, leaving the CNU members exhausted. It wasn't really like every negotiation though.
"Hey, how are you?" Cheryl approached them, eyeing Emily nervously.
"I'm fine, sorry if I freaked you out a little."
"Understatement, but don't worry about it. Would you two like to tell me what went on in that room?"
"Before or after we were interrupted by the psycho?" Matt didn't smile at his own joke. His adrenaline was fast dissolving.
"How about you start at when he came in?" She led them over to the makeshift command center, and motioned Temple and Binder over to get their statements.
It was an awkward story to explain, because it began with them having sex. No one wants to talk about their sex life with their coworkers, even when those coworkers were friends. If Matt had been telling Cheryl that Emily was the best he ever had, well that would have been different. At least for him, though probably still awkward for Emily, if she knew.
It got easier for a while, and then hit the mega jackpot of awkward when they got to their discussion. That was a very personal, very emotional conversation for both of them. Sex is uncomfortable to talk about, but some things are more personal, so personal, you don't talk about them with anyone.
They actually had to fill Emily in on what happened when she came out, because she'd been pretty much deaf and blind to everything except the gunshots. Those she still heard echoing through her head. Matt explained how he'd dodged bullets, and managed to survive the HT without one hit.
Finally, finally it was all over. They were given back their awards, which barely escaped becoming evidence, and sent home. They were to relax over the weekend (Cheryl took them off call), and if they needed Monday, they had it. She reminded them that the Bureau had plenty of shrinks, if they should need someone to talk to.
At Matt's apartment, Emily couldn't get her dress or expensive lingerie off fast enough. She never wanted to see it again, afraid of the memories it would carry. Matt got undressed slower, without Emily's hang-ups about his clothing. They both slept naked though. They needed the reassurance of each other's presence, and flesh on flesh was the most basic form of that.
They eventually drifted off to sleep with the sounds of gunshots and tear-strangled promises still echoing in their heads, both knowing they would not be attending another FBI function for a long time.
I'm still working on Falling, I swear. I'm just a little blocked concentration-wise right now. Until then, I hope this suffices. Thanks for reading, and please review!
