Chapter 4

Emily inspected herself in the mirror just before she had to drive to work. The make-up was covering all of her bruises on her face and she wore a long sleeved turtle neck to hide her arms and neck.

She had fought back last night. A right hook, kicked him where it hurt the most and scratched his arm. Injuries that JJ had to see and ask about. Or Emily hoped she would. He had given her some too, though. Her stomach was black and blue and the back of her head had bled, making her wonder if she had a concussion. She hadn't dared to sleep in case she wouldn't wake up again.

This time he had stayed off her face though. Seeing the bruise he had left the first time, he knew he couldn't leave marks that were hard to hide. Because he expected her to do just that. Hide them all.

He had threatened Garcia while he was giving her a kick to the abdomen. That she would be so much easier to have some fun with. The happy, colorful blonde would be too scared to do anything. Then he would make sure that she wouldn't tell anyone. He would get into her brain and Emily would never see that same energetic woman again.

It was true. If Will ever laid a hand on Garcia, she would be broken. So Emily had stopped fighting him, not that she could anyways. Her whole body had hurt. She had been around long enough to know that she didn't have any broken ribs, but it didn't change the fact that every part of her body was throbbing in pain.

Today she was going to tell though. She couldn't let it go on like this. He had promised to come back in a couple of days, but she swore to herself that all of this would end before that.

Deciding that she looked representable enough, she grabbed her things and left her apartment. She took the stairs down, but regretted it immediately. The limp was evident as she took the last couple of steps. That was something they were definitely going to notice. She prayed to God that they wouldn't get a case today because frankly, she shouldn't be in the field like this.

Emily stepped inside her car and drove down her street. She kept on going over how to tell JJ what had happened. Would she just go up to her and say 'Hey, you're husband raped me. Twice.'? No she had to say it better. It wasn't just something you brought up. And what would people say? Would JJ even believe that her husband could do something like that? If they would have asked Emily a few days prior, she wouldn't have believed Will was capable of such cruelty.

Was she the one to trigger it?

Shaking her head at her inner conversation, she turned into the parking garage. She remained sitting for a couple of minutes, checking herself in the rearview mirror several times before daring to step out of the vehicle. With her head held high, she walked in a slow pace towards the elevator. The previous limp seemed to disappear if she didn't walk too fast.

The ride up went too fast for her taste. Now she had to face her team and she wasn't really sure if she could do it. After taking a deep breath she finally stepped out of the elevator and walked through the glass doors. Reid was already sitting on his chair talking with JJ who was sitting on his desk.

"Hey, guys," Emily said, casually, as she sat down at her desk, holding back the grimace from her limbs aching.

"Hey, had a nice day off yesterday?" JJ asked with a smile.

Emily returned the smile, masking everything she was feeling, "Yeah, very relaxing," Emily lied. "How about you?"

"It was really nice. We went to the zoo," JJ said.

"Really? The whole family?"

"Yes, we finally got a day to ourselves," she said.

Emily nodded and looked at Reid, "What did you do?"

Reid started his long story about what he had done on his free day, effectively drawing the attention from JJ. She knew she was an expert on masking her feelings, but until lunch she didn't want to risk anyone wondering how she really was. Emily tried to concentrate on his words but there was a constant worry at the back of her mind.

"Is this where I come in and save you from Reid's rambling?" Morgan's voice came from behind them.

"Yes, thank you," Emily joined the teasing, winking at Reid to let him know that she was just messing with him.

For a moment it almost felt as if nothing was wrong, that everything would be okay. She knew that was just wishful thinking. A way for her to avoid telling JJ about Will. She dreaded lunch already.

Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the pile of files in front of her. This would definitely take her mind off things. Or so she hoped.

The room seemed to get warmer by the minute as she read through the files, glancing ever so often at the clock. She knew she could do nothing to cool herself down. The thick material of her turtleneck made it impossible.

When it was nearing lunch and she knew she had to go to JJ's office soon, the heat was overwhelming. She didn't know if she'd ever been this nervous. Maybe the time when she had an abortion or when she was taking on Doyle by herself.

But this was worse. This would hurt JJ. This would ruin a once happy family.

Emily stood up from her seat and looked up to JJ's office, but instead of walking towards it she walked in the opposite direction to the bathroom. She needed some time to think and gather herself. Walking in as a nervous wreck wasn't the best idea.

She leaned against the sink, closing her eyes, playing a conversation with JJ up in her head. The conversation she would have with JJ soon. She could do this. Everything would be okay.

Taking a deep breath, Emily opened the door to her best friend's office.

"JJ, I really need to talk to you," she said as soon as she entered, knowing that she just had to get this done.

"If you want to ask my wife to lunch I already beat you to it," the voice that now gave her chills said behind her. She turned around, hating the way her wide eyes looked back at him.

"Ehrm, hi, I didn't think anyone was in here," Emily said, turning back to JJ.

"Will came over to take me out for lunch to make up for his absence yesterday," JJ said, looking at will in mock annoyance.

"Absence yesterday?" Emily stammered, already guessing where Will had gone.

"Yes, a colleague of mine wanted to grab a beer," Will said behind her.

Emily chose not to turn around and look at him as he spoke, not wanting to see that wicked grin on his face.

"And he forgot to mention got in a bar fight," JJ scolded him. Of course Will had managed to talk his way out of the bruises Emily had given him.

"So what did you wanna talk to me about?" JJ asked with a smile as she gathered her files to a neat pile.

"Oh what he said.. But I guess I was too late," Emily said, forcing a smile.

Will stepped forward and placed a hand on Emily's lower back, sending chills up her spine, "Maybe you could try with Garcia. She'd probably love to go out for lunch with you."

Emily knew what those words meant. He knew what she came there to tell JJ and now he was making sure she understood that he meant his threat to Garcia.

Emily sighed, "Yes, I'll go check on her. Have a great lunch."

Emily turned around and rushed out of the office, but not before meeting Will's eyes one more time and seeing him wink at her.

"Are you okay, princess?" Morgan asked almost as soon as she came out.

She wanted to tell him no, but instead she gathered herself enough to show him a smile.

"Yeah, just peachy," she told him, hoping he wouldn't see through her thick facade.

"Good," Morgan nodded. "So what do you say about lunch?"

Emily shook her head, "No, I think I'll just stay here. I have some things I have to do."

Emily's eyes followed the married couple who exited JJ's office and walked out through the glass doors.

"You have to eat," Morgan argued.

Emily sighed, her eyes returning to the man in front of her, "Then you can bring me something."

Morgan's eyebrows rose at the annoyance in the other woman's voice, "You sure you're okay?"

Emily brought a hand up to her mouth and chewed on her thumbnail, "Yes, sorry... I just have a lot on my mind." She paused, looking at her partner to see if he was going to let it go. He didn't mention anything so she continued, "I'd love for you to bring me something." Her tone was a lot happier this time, hoping it would keep Morgan from pressing further.

She could feel his eyes looking right through her, but luckily for her he decided to let it go and after a quick promise to be right back, he left.

Emily let out a breath of relief as she watched Morgan's retreating form. She made her way over to her desk again and Reid looked up briefly at her before returning to his files.

Emily didn't know if she was being paranoid, but she kept feeling like everyone knew about what was happening. That everyone knew something was seriously wrong with her. It felt as if everyone wouldn't stop staring.

Glancing at the clock, she saw it had barely moved since the last time she checked. She just wanted to go home and sleep the rest of the day, but as Hotch exited his office with a stern look on his face, she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. They had a case.