Long clammy fingers wrapped around a hot mug of tea. Emilia swallowed as she tried to focus on anything other than her pounding headache. She stared straight ahead and waited for Jack to come into the office. He was going to ask about what happened at the Hobbs house, she knew he was. Unfortunately her memories of that day, though less than 48 hours ago, were foggy. She leaned back in her chair and took a sip of the warm tea. Letting her hazel eyes drift close she mentally grasped at what memories she could of that day.

The large SUV barreled down the dirt roads leading to the Hobbs residence. Emilia sat in the back, wedged between the door and Abigail Hobbs. Doctor Alana Bloom sat on the other side of the young girl. None of the women spoke, neither did the Doctor driving the vehicle or the agent in the front seat, making the ride seem longer and quite uncomfortable. As they got closer to the house, Emilia could feel Abigail start to tremble. She reached over and put a gentle hand on the girl's knee. Wide blue eyes looked pleadingly back.

"Don't worry, Abigail. We're all here for you..."

Emilia groaned as her headache pounded harder against her skull. There had to be more she remembered. Abigail had been hesitant to enter the house, with the blood of her mother still staining the front porch. The group had sat in the living room going through odds and ends in an uncomfortable silence until one of Abigail's friends came in. Once the young girls had left to chat outside the group dispersed around the house.

The brunette agent stood in the kitchen of the house, looking at the barren counters and cupboards. Her eyes stopped on the fridge. She'd never really noticed before if any pictures at the crime scenes had been flipped around. She'd looked at photos in houses turned crime scene, even taken some as evidence, but she never paid attention to if they'd been turned around. The thought left her with a weird feeling. It was like trying to erase the life from the house, along the horrors that had happened, so that people could just focus on their job there. It made sense, but it also fell almost rude. Emilia pulled one of the pictures off the glossy surface and turned it to face her. It was Abigail and her father, on a fishing trip it seemed. They looked happy. They looked normal. Abigail appeared relatively identical so it couldn't have been too long ago. The woman pinned it back to the fridge and reached into her pocket. Withdrawing her badge she squeezed her fingers behind the plastic ID and slide out a small folded piece of paper. It was a photograph. Emilia's own hazel eyes shone back brightly, her hair cut just below her chin and a dark red. Beside her in the photo was Ashley. The blonde girl had her arms wrapped around Emilia's shoulders and her mouth was open mid laugh. Her bright eyes seemed to sparkle even through the faded photo.

Emilia held the photo up to the one on the Hobbs' fridge. The girls looked different, dirty blonde ringlets verse dark brown waves, but they had the same eyes. Bright and shining with a carefully curated happiness. An illusion, only given away by the faint dark circles under their eyes from sleepless night and the slight tightness in their smiles. These were the eyes of people who knew a terrible secret, but we're bound by love to live a life of false happiness.

Life never ends well for people like that.

Emilia opened her eyes and stared into her dark mug. Not a day went by that she didn't miss her sister, but ever since her path crossed with Abigail Hobbs her heart she felt like she got a piece of Ashley back. Abigail was someone who trusted her, who she could protect and help. She had seen so much bad through her job, so much innocence lost, was it the worst thing if she wanted to protect one person from experiencing more of that? The young girl didn't ask for any of this. It was her own father after all. If going to the Hobbs' house had done anything, it had made her realize how much Abigail needed her help. The young girl knew exactly what her father was doing, and she wasn't going to be able to keep up that act forever. She was going to slip, like Ashley did.

Of course she couldn't tell Jack any of this. So she had to find something she could tell him. Their relationship was a bit strained as of late. After sneaking behind his back to visit Abigail, he had been short and aggressive with her. She knew he had been fighting a lot with his Bella recently and a small act of insubordination definitely didn't help. He wasn't feeling in control of his life, which Emilia knew he hated, and the woman felt bad to have to keep him out of the loop. But Jack knew the same thing Emilia did deep down about the Hobbs girl, and he saw her how a lot of people would if it got out. An accomplice.

Jack and Emilia weren't the only people who knew Abigail's secrecy though...

As the brunette walked back into the living room, she ran her hand along the large stone fireplace in the centre of the Hobbs house. She traced her fingers along the mantle and over the stones behind it. She thought back to Abigail's words, 'whatever is left of those girls is is probably holding piped together'. That would certainly be an ideal way to hide any evidence. Not many people, other than those familiar with hunting and uses for animal remains would look for evidence of a murder in the construction of a house. Then again, not many people would be as calm as the young girl was when coming to the realization that they were living in a house held together by murdered remains. Emilia tried not to focus on that though. Abigail was still in stock, that's what she had to tell everyone.

"Strange isn't it" said an accented voice behind her. "To think that behind these walls are girls just like Abigail."

"It's sad" the brunette replied. "Sad we couldn't get there in time. At least we saved one right?" She kept her eyes focus on the stones in front of her.

Dr. Lecter continued. "Most people would flee at the thought of standing in a room held together by corpses, yet Ms. Hobbs didn't do much as bat an eye. Strange isn't it?"

Emilia frowned, but refused to show the man her concern. "I doubt Abigail is really aware of what she said. She's still trying to comprehend everything. I find it all the time in my line of work. People say things without really knowing that they said or mean after a tragedy." The agent didn't really believe that. Abigail knew exactly what was behind the walls, she probably even helped with it. But only because she was a young girl influence by love and fear into acting against what she knew was right. She wasn't sure if the Doctor would see it that way however. "She needs time to reflect and process what happened. Unfortunately that has to be done on her own. Poor girl has no one left. I feel bad for her."

As she turned she was surprised to find the Doctor right behind her. "You have quite an interest in Abigail Hobbs" he said, maroon eyes looking above her at the stone wall.

"She's a young girl lost in the world, her life has been turned inside out. I just want to help her get through this."

Finally his maroon eyes met her hazel ones. His warm breath fanned over her cheeks as he spoke, making the woman's stomach flip. "How altruistic of you, Ms. Monroe. Although, I tend to find in my line of work that no one is truly selfless when looking out for someone else."

Doctor Hannibal Lecter. He always seemed to know something no one else did. Always waiting before speaking, and choosing every word carefully.

The agent was pulled out of her thoughts by the chair across from her being pulled back and a body taking the seat. "Agent Monroe" Jack sternly as he leaned his elbows on the desk. Letting out a sign he ran a hand over his tired face and spoke earnestly. "Jesus Christ, Emilia. What the hell happened? Was bring Abigail home really that big of a misstep?"

Emilia shrugged and put her half empty mug on the desk. "No one could have seen any of that happening. I still don't really know what even happened."

"You gotta' give me something, Em. I've got reporters going wild, parents livid, and nothing to show but another dead body and a possible killer on the loose. Please... think of anything I can used to shed some light on this circus." Worn brown eyes stared at her, and Emilia knew Jack needed her help.

She ran a her fingers over her lips. "I know as much as you do up until the corpse in the cabin. After you sent Dr. Lecter, Dr. Bloom, and myself with Abigail back to the house the reporters were all over the place. They both stayed outside to fend them off, especially Lounds."

A large fist pounded the table, "Damn it! Lounds was there?"

"Like a fly to garbage."

Jack sighed again. "Fine. What else?"

The two girls sat together on the couch, the older with her arms wrapped around the younger. "It's okay Abigail" Emilia cooed softly. "Everything's going to be okay."

"It's all my fault" Abigail said in an almost shriek. "Whoever killed Marissa did it because of me."

She hugged the girl tighter. "It isn't your fault. There's nothing you could have done. We don't even really know who did it or why."

Before either of the girls could speak again, a male voice sounded from around the corner. Startled, hazel eyes darted to the source of the sound and were surprised to see Nicholas Boyle.

"I'm not going to hurt you..." he said in a shaky voice. A voice that surprised Emilia. Either he was a really good actor, or he was genuinely nervous. He then went on to try and say he didn't kill Marissa, and something in Emilia's gut believed him. Either way, she could see his presence was shaking Abigail and the man seemed unstable even if he was scared. Boyle took a step closer, attempting to round the couch, and Abigail let out a small yelp. Slowly, the agent rose to her feet. She had to get Abigail out of here, there was still a chance this man was a murderer.

"Abigail go get the others" Emilia said in a strong voice, stepping between the girl and Nicolas Boyle. The man opened his mouth to stop her and Emilia spoke over him. "Abigail I said go now!"

Boyle lunged for the Hobbs girl as she turned to leave the room. The agent stepped in-front of him and shoved him back. The man grabbed her arms and twisted to get around her. Emilia lost her balance as her leg hit the table but grabbed Boyle's jacket as she fell back. As both bodies hit the ground the brunette launched herself over and on top of the male intruder. She tried to pin his arms down with her knees but she looked up to see Abigail Hobbs standing still standing by the door.

"ABIGAIL GET THE OTHERS" Emilia shouted at her, breaking her concentration for just a second. Which was just enough time for Boyle to free an arm and land a punch on the agents jaw. The woman fell to the side, hitting her head against the same table that had tripped her. As her vision blurred she swung her left leg out, catching Nicolas Boyle's foot and causing him to fall to the floor again. Emilia turned to see if Abigail had left, and her heart sank as her gaze was met with frightened wide blue eyes. Before she could call out to her, a clammy hand grabbed a fistful of dark hair and slammed her head into the neighboring wall.

"... then everything went black."

Jack said nothing for a moment once Emilia finished her recollection of the night. After a few minutes he leaned back in his chair ad let out a long breath. "Okay... so Boyle did try to attack Abigail. At least we have an eye witness account of that. Now the only question is, with you passed out what stopped him? I doubt Abigail Hobbs made him run away on her own? That's the missing information we need to get out of the Hobbs girl. Think you can do that or me?"

The brunette nodded, "I can try."

"I need better than try, Monroe. I need you on your A game for this. Visit Porthaven tomorrow. Dismissed, go home and get some rest."

Emilia rose from her seat and exited the office. She wouldn't go home, not yet. She had one stop to make first. The young agent hadn't told Jack Crawford everything. She hadn't told him that she hadn't blacked out right away and that she saw Abigail Hobbs step forwards and plunge a knife into Nicolas Boyle's stomach before dragging it across, effectively gutting him. Nor did she tell him that she had come to moment later, long enough to see a certain doctor kneeling in front on a dead man and talking to a very scared girl.