Frank Breitkopf pulls his wife close and gives her a big kiss. He runs a hand through her stringy brown hair.
"Run along now, Jane. I have to talk business with old Zeke here."
She smiles adoringly at him. "Okay. How about I pick some pretty flowers for the dinner table?"
Franks grins. "That would be wonderful, darling."
He kisses her once more then watches as she leaves the room. He then turns to his new guest.
"Nice house, Zeke. Not surprised it has all the best in it, including constant electric. Quite a step up from my shack in the woods." He slowly walks a circle around Ezekiel Jareau. "Shame you couldn't have me over sooner."
"We had a plan, Frank. Why the hell did you attack early? My people weren't ready! If you had waited we'd have the electrical plant!"
"If I had waited it would have been worthless. You had plans to sabotage it. I couldn't let that happen, Zeke," Frank states matter-of-factly.
Zeke studies his partner turned nemesis. "How did you know that?"
Frank gives him a sly smile. "Do you really think your people are as loyal to you as you think? Many saw the winds of change coming. The mercenaries or the refugees. People had to choose from three sides." Frank cocks his head to the side. "Your side lost handily," he points out.
"I still run this town! People still respect me!" Zeke insists.
Frank starts to chuckle, then kicks out, knocking a crutch out of Zeke's hand. The older man crashes to the ground. Frank kneels beside him and grabs him by the throat.
"Your own people left you abandoned in an alley. Your own people left you to bleed to death from this leg wound. You are alive because I commanded it. No one respects you. You don't run this town anymore. But I don't plan to get rid of you. Yet."
Zeke swallows nervously. "Why not?"
"Because the people need an example of what life will be like under my rule. In two days you will be tried, and convicted I might add, of treason. I have letters back at the camp that are on their way here that will show you were the one that gave me and my men the information needed to attack this town without fear of defeat. I will show people how you wanted us to destroy the electric plant to keep the…oh, what was it you called them…oh, yes, the muddy, disgusting masses under your heel. You wanted to ration electricity and keep people down. My first order as new head of this town is to oversee your public execution."
Zeke pales. "You…you can't! You can't do that!"
Frank nods and pats Zeke on the cheek. "Oh, yes…I can." He stands and gestures to two men standing near the door. "Escort Mr. Jareau to the jail to await his trial. Find me 12 jurors that hate his guts. They'll sit in judgment of him."
Zeke is still screaming as the men drag him from the house. Frank wanders around. He looks at the artist's rendering of a family portrait. He picks it up and strokes a finger down each of the two girl's cheeks.
"So pretty. One of you is dead, one of you a rebel. But I bet both of you would make lovely wind chimes. If I have my way, your ribs will be alongside your father's on the front porch." He runs his finger down the face of Sandy Jareau. "If you are here, you'll be first to join old Zeke on the porch. Like King Louis and Marie Antoinette, you'll lose your heads to the revolution."
He places the picture back down and goes to check on preparations for his big announcement tomorrow. He plans to tell his people to leave the electrical plant alone; plans to extend his hand in peace to the refugees in the woods. People will love him.
And when people start being murdered, they will never suspect their benevolent leader is the one sating his bloodlust with a town full of victims.
Emily glances down at the blonde in her arms. She smiles and strokes a stray lock of hair off a closed eye. JJ smiles.
"You know, this isn't exactly how I pictured my wedding night."
Emily grins at her wife. "Never thought I'd live to have a wedding night so I guess this works for me." She gives Henry a kiss on the forehead as he sleeps in her arms.
JJ chuckles and shifts her hold on Declan. "Works for me, too. Of course, getting a chance to make love to my wife was kind of high on my list."
Emily blushes and shivers. "Uh, well, mine, too I admit." She leans over enough and they share a quick kiss. "I love you so much. And I love our sons, too."
"Mmm, same here, Emily."
Declan suddenly sits up and rubs his eyes. "Potty, Mommy."
JJ gives him a hug and helps him stand up. "Okay, Dec. Let's go potty."
She stands and takes his hand, leading him to where the outhouses had been set up. Emily looks down at the little blonde boy in her arms. She kisses his forehead again.
"Thank you for accepting me so easily, Henry. And thank you for being such a good brother to Declan. The kid needed a few lessons in how to be a kid and you've been a great teacher. Despite all this craziness, I hope you never forget to be a kid and I hope Declan keeps learning to have fun." She sighs. "I hope to hell this battle for your home is over soon."
Emily's mind strays from Henry's home to her own. Morgan had told her Hotch hated that he sent her off; hated how things ended between them. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him about anything else. How was Rossi? Her sector? Creepy old Grissom? She misses the people she had known for years but finds she doesn't miss the place itself. It doesn't feel like home to her.
"Did it ever feel like home? I know it never felt like this place felt. Hell, this place still feels better even with all the uncertainty of what happens next. Henry, I hope by the time you get old enough to pick up arms to defend this place it no longer needs defending. That is my hope and prayer for you and Declan both."
By the time JJ and Declan return Emily has followed Henry into dreamland. JJ smiles as she looks at the two of them. She lies down beside them and lets Declan cuddle in between her and Emily.
"Comfy?" she asks her son.
He smiles. "Yeah, Mommy. Very comfy. I love you."
"I love you, too, Declan. Goodnight, sweet boy."
She kisses him on the cheek and watches as he falls asleep. For an hour she just watches her family sleep, hoping their dreams have taken them to a place of peace.
Morgan smiles up at Jordan. "Something tells me you often take charge in bed."
She leans over and nips at his lip. "Something tells me you rarely give up control."
He nods. "True. In fact, only one other person ever took control of me in bed."
"I feel honored to be the second."
He rolls suddenly, putting her below him. "Who says you're going to be the second?"
She tries to roll them but he holds her firmly down. She lifts her eyebrow. "Okay, you win this round. But don't think you'll win every round."
"Well, I do love a challenge," he says with a wink then leans down to give her a deep, sensual kiss. When it ends he stares into her eyes. "And something tells me you will be a challenge I will enjoy every time."
Jordan just smiles and pulls him down once more. Yes, it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Roz stands staring out of the cave that is her war office and home all in one. Behind her on the cot she normally sleeps on her mother is in dreamland. Roz wonders about her little sister and this Emily Prentiss person. To hear most people tell it, Zeke Jareau is the only one who hates her. But can she really be trusted? She had been JJ's captor at one point. True, she seemed to really love JJ and seemed so happy to be getting married.
"But if she's a skilled liar, this could all be a ruse to…to…damn, what would her motive be? Why would she be playing my baby sister for a fool?"
She walks back into her cave and looks at the paper Emily had brought with her.
"She just happens to infiltrate the mercenary camp and find the two scraps of paper that condemn my father as a traitor. Very convenient."
"Not really," Emily says from the cave entrance.
Roz turns, surprised her sister-in-law had managed to make her way to the cave without alerting her. "Not many people can sneak up on me."
"Been training since I was a kid. Not many people I can't sneak up on," Emily admits.
"Shouldn't you be with Jenny enjoying your wedding night?"
"That was my plan. But the boys decided our first night as a family we should all sleep together as a family. Considering the upheaval in their lives, seemed like the right thing to do to help them settle a little."
The two women study each other, each one loves JJ though for very different reasons. And both would kill anyone that could hurt JJ, even if it is the woman across the way. Roz finally breaks the silence.
"So you here to kill me?"
Emily grunts. "Not the best wedding gift for my wife. I'm here to answer whatever questions you have of me. If you think I didn't notice you feigning happiness for Jennifer you're crazy. I also figured we'd need to have this talk without her around so you can be as honest with me as I plan to be with you."
Roz lifts an eyebrow. "Honest with me? Interesting." She hitches her hip up on her desk. "So tell me, Emily, why the hell should I trust you with my sister and nephew? How do I know you're not here for some other reason?"
"I nearly died to return to Jennifer. Truth is, if Declan hadn't been with me, I'd probably be dead. I'd have kept pushing on until I died. Your sister made me feel…alive for the first time since I was a kid; since before my parents were killed in front of me. She gave me hope before I even knew what that was. She made me want something I never even dreamed of having."
"Oh? What's that?"
"A life before my death." She steps into the cave. "I accepted long ago that I was a dead woman. I trained to survive, then I trained to attack, and finally I trained to kill. Hotch is the head of our clan. I was his top adjudicator for the last 5 years or so."
"What's an adjudicator?" Roz asks, though she has a suspicion.
"The clans came up with a judicial system years ago. Someone wrongs your clan leader and an adjudicator carries out the appropriate sentence. Technically an adjudicator can act without fear of reprisal but essentially we are assassins. And death is just a job hazard."
"In other words, you were supposed to be able to act without reprisal but…"
Emily shrugs. "If you died on a mission so be it. If you are captured, your sentence is death. If you do not carry out your mission, you die. Plenty of chances to die, few to live."
"But you managed to live," Roz points out.
"I am good. But my last mission something happened." Emily tells Roz about running into JJ and Garcia. "From the moment I saw her, I knew I had to save Jennifer. I should have paid with my life for not avenging Hailey."
"Why didn't you?"
"I convinced Hotch the women were worth saving because of the knowledge they had and Reid had. He agreed to help free Reid but I was left behind as payment to keep Doyle from retaliating. My life for the lives lost in a potential battle. It was a fair exchange."
Roz studies Emily. "Things are really that black and white to you, aren't they?"
"They used to be. Then I met Jennifer and nothing has been black and white since. She brought color into my life."
"Why do you call her Jennifer? Most people call her JJ. Only Mom and I can get away with calling her Jenny. She always thought JJ was tougher."
Emily smiles. "I believe that. For whatever reason when she asked my name I said Emily. I haven't been Emily since I was 14. The first time we made love, she told me to call her Jennifer. I think…in each other, we started to remember who we were and who…who we could be again."
Roz studies Emily carefully. "You hurt her there will be no second chance."
"Understood." Emily steps closer. "Now here's my warning to you: the mercenaries are going to extend an olive branch to you."
"A what?"
"Old term. Means an offer of peace. It's a trick. They've turned on Zeke, they will turn on you. I don't know if they are just sick of being nomads and want a home or if they have something else in mind but if they extend an offer to discuss a truce and for you all to return with no consequences, it's a trap."
"What makes you so sure? If they just want a place to call home why can't it be East Alleghany?"
"You think they will accept your rule? Or anyone's? You think they want democracy? You think they want anything that resembles a peaceful home? Mark my words: it's a trap. Arrange a meet if you have to look them in the eye but know if you do you and whoever is with you will probably die at that meeting. Make sure your lines of succession are known."
Emily turns to leave, satisfied Roz will keep that in mind. She is nearly to the path down to the ground when Roz calls out to her.
"Emily."
Emily turns and looks back. "Yes?"
Roz smiles. "Welcome to the family."
Emily nods and goes back to her wife and children. Roz paces in her cave into the wee hours of the morning. Her new sister is most likely right about the trap.
And it will be up to Roz to give her life to prove to the refugees that there can be no alliance with the mercenaries.
"Sometimes being a leader sucks," she mutters to herself as she starts to draw up a plan for a change in leadership.