Does Strauss come through for the team?
It was 12am when an uniformed police officer knocked at Hotch's hotel room door. Strauss had made some strategic calls and had managed to get the San Francisco D.A. to put enough pressure on the captain of the narcotics division to release the tape to Hotch. The captain of narcotics had expressed his concerns to Strauss that it would compromise and effectively end a three-year ongoing investigation. In turn Strauss had expressed her concerns that Emily Prentiss was a federal agent and he could "go fuck himself." Hotch had yet to tell the team, other than Rossi, about the tape. They wanted to watch the tape before the rest of the team, worried about what it would contain.
"We can't show this to JJ" Hotch said as he opened the envelope and looked at the contents inside. The envelope contained a prepaid cellphone and a USB flash drive with the initials LN written in black marker on it. "LN?"
"Name? The unsub must be confident that he can't be found."
"Or even worse, he's not scared if he is" Hotch remarked as he plugged in into the laptop port.
"I agree that JJ shouldn't see this, but the rest of the team needs to see it Aaron" Rossi firmly stated as he sat down at the small table with Hotch.
"I know Dave but, what if it's…" Hotch drifted off before he could finish his thought. However, per usual Rossi knew what he was getting at.
"Even if it is there might be clues on the tape that we don't pick up on. He's had her for 17 hours now. It's almost been an entire day, even if she's still alive the body can only take so much stress."
"Okay" Hotch said as he began the video, which showed Emily being water boarded.
"Shit" Rossi mumbled as he ran his hands through his hair. The video only lasted forty-five minutes but it felt like it went on for days. Emily already looked terrible and they knew that the video must have been hours old. How could she last any longer than that? "Mentally she still looks strong, but physically…"
"She's deteriorating" Hotch finished. He hated how clinical they had to be when talking about their teammate, their family, but they needed to distance themselves from the case. It was Emily's only chance. They knew that JJ, Garcia, Morgan, and even Reid wouldn't be able so, therefore, it fell upon them. "W-what did we see?" Hotch asked in an abnormally shaky voice.
"She was shaking and you could see his breath at some points, the room must be very cold."
"I doubt he's feeding her, he's starving her as well."
"Hey body already looked bruised so he's been beating her since he kidnapped her. Our unsub isn't English, he's lying about his identity" Rossi added as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. "He sent a phone. He's going to call, he wants to make contact. We need to get to the precinct and stay with Polovski, coach him through how he needs to communicate with our unsub."
"Dave he's not going to talk to us."
"That's why we need Garcia."
Hotch nodded as he fixed his tie. "I need to call Strauss, she was concerned about the tape. She really saved our ass this time. Get the video to the rest of the team." Rossi didn't feel the to respond as he left the room and headed to the other one across the hall.
"Elizabeta?" the unsub asked in a kind voice as he entered through the basement door. "Elizabeta?"
"Yes" Emily croaked as she opened her eyes.
"Elizabeta I missed you" he said as he looked at her longingly and approached her frail body, stroking up and down her stomach. It wasn't rape but it felt just as violating. She shuttered as he leaned into to her, brushing his nose against her neck. He felt her body tense and immediately pulled back. "Do I disgust you?!"
"No, it just, it isn't right" Emily pleaded as she saw his eyes flare with hatred.
"Is it not right for a man to make love with his wife?!"
Emily flinched at the phrase. She was not going to 'make love' with anyone but JJ, there would be no compromise. "We aren't married anymore. I left you remember?" Emily firmly said, hoping that was what had happened in his fantasy.
"OH I REMEMBER! I FUCKING REMEMBER YOU BITCH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he slapped her across the face. "YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID TO ME BECAUSE OF YOU?!"
"Yeah I know" Emily replied unapologetically. She knew that there would be hell to pay, but she needed to get him disinterested in her sexually.
"FUCK! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT THEY DID TO ME!" He shouted before bringing his hands to head and pacing around the room in circles. After calming himself down he smiled in a sinister fashion before he walked back to where Emily was chained, speaking in a calm voice. "What I have done with you is just the beginning. I have to do some shopping but first I have an another idea. You see Elizabeta prisons are full of drugs. You know this. But did you know that they get you addicted to the drugs so you will be willing to give anything of yourself to get a fix? You're willing to give any favor of yourself" he stated as he ran his gun over her left cheekbone. "And when I am done with you, you are going to be begging me to fuck you." Emily let out deep breath when he left the room, but she knew he wasn't going to be gone for long when the music didn't start up again. A few minutes later he returned with a needle full of a dark liquid. She squirmed as he brought it closer to her body. "Try to enjoy this darling" he ordered in an almost loving voice as he injected her.
"You're okay, you're okay, you're okay" she repeated to herself internally as the drugs started to take effect, causing her to lose her herself. She didn't know what he had injected her with, but she knew it was strong. She hated the feeling it gave her. She hated how the drugs made her hallucinate as every horrible memory, the abortion, Matthew's death, JJ and Will, Ian Doyle, everything came rushing back to her at once, compounding into one harrowing nightmare.
"JJ you need to sleep" Reid gently insisted as he sat down next to JJ on the bed. He felt uncomfortable sitting on Emily and JJ's bed, as if he didn't belong there. That was the bed the couple shared and he didn't have a place in it. But he knew he had to be there for JJ, he knew that was what Emily would have wanted. It IS what Emily wants Reid internally scolded himself, loathing how he had just used the past tense to describe his friend.
"I can't" she admitted as he moved closer to her. She couldn't even fathom the idea of sleeping without Emily, not while she wasn't safe. Morgan and Garcia had already fallen asleep, opting to take a quick nap so they could be fresh when new information came in. Morgan had offered to sleep on the floor but Garcia said she didn't mind sharing. Garcia would have offered to sleep with JJ, but the blonde had just wanted to be alone. No one wanted to go back to their own room. They all wanted to be in the same place, hoping that new information would come in, needing to be present when it did.
"I'll wake you up."
"Thanks Spence but it's, it'd rather wait."
"I don't know what to say" Reid meekly confessed as he tried to tuck JJ in. JJ couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the words before getting a pained look on her face. "What?"
"I just keep thinking that the only one who would know what to say in this situation would be Emily" JJ softly said as she looked over to Emily's bag once again, as if it was an extension of the brunette. The only piece of her she currently had in her possession.
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
The quiet conversation between the two friends was interrupted by a light knocking at the door, which to the surprise of Rossi was opened by JJ. "Hey kiddo shouldn't you be resting?"
JJ cut to right to the point, "What's going on?"
"We were sent a video."
"What is it?" JJ asked, Rossi noted that her normally bright blue eyes were dull and any ounce of calmness and humor had left her body, with Emily.
"JJ you don't want to see it" he said firmly as JJ prevented him from entering the room.
"You're right. I don't want to see it, but I know you watched it and I need to know what was on the video. I need to know what he's doing to her, I need to know she's okay."
"He's torturing her JJ" Rossi simply confirmed with a soft voice. "It's hard to watch but I need the team to watch it and I need Garcia to run a few things for me so I can help Emily."
"What do you need her to run?"
"JJ you're wasting time" Rossi snapped.
"Just tell me what the fuck is going on!" JJ ordered with her hands on her hips. She ran her hands over her tired eyes and wanted to scream.
"He's going to call and I need leverage to make the guy he wants talk."
"I'm coming with you."
"No JJ."
"I need to hear her voice" JJ pleaded.
Rossi sighed and crossed his arms at the statement, scanning the hallway for the reinforcements he didn't have. Reid was standing next to JJ, offering her all of his support. In his mind JJ should get whatever she needed in this situation. Morgan and Garcia had also woken up, but they stayed out of the argument, with Garcia setting up her computers so she would be ready to run whatever search she needed. "She might not even be able to talk to us. JJ you are too close to this. I agree with letting you know what is happening but you cannot work on this investigation."
"We're all too fucking close Rossi!"
"Not as close as you. JJ you are in love with her."
"We all love her" JJ shot back. She had to know Emily was alive. She needed to hear her voice, because JJ could always gauge what was going on from Emily's voice and only she could do it. Rossi was right, JJ shared an unmatched intimacy with Emily and as a result only she was the only one who could read the brunette.
"Yes we all love her but you are in love with her and do not tell me that doesn't make a difference. You cannot sit in on the call and that's it. Now I need to have Reid and Morgan watch this video and I need Garcia to find everything we have on Vladimir Polovski so we can save your girlfriend."
During his rant neither Rossi nor JJ had seen Hotch exit his nearby hotel room. Hotch watched JJ's nervous form and thought to how he would feel if it was Haley. He thought about how badly he would want to, no need to, hear her voice. JJ needed to hear that Emily was still alive, and he couldn't take that away from her. He knew it wasn't the best decision as a team leader, but right then JJ needed a friend more than anything. It was out of character for him but he couldn't help but feel compassion for the broken woman in front of him. After watching the video Hotch needed to hear Emily's voice himself and he couldn't imagine how badly JJ needed to. And maybe there were things that only JJ could pick up on during the call. "She can sit in" he said in the same professional monotone he always used before walking down the hallway, hinting that Rossi and her should follow him.
"Garcia I need everything you can find on Vladimir Polovski, anything we can use to get him to talk. Morgan, Reid, you need to watch this" Rossi instructed as he handed over the flash drive and followed JJ and Hotch to the SUV.
Hotch stood beside JJ as they both watched Polovski wait for Rossi in the small interrogation room. "JJ what happened to Emily was not your fault. You need to know that. You need to remember that" Hotch said firmly as they both stood staring straight ahead.
"I know."
"I can see it in your eyes, the blame. You need to stop blaming yourself. JJ what happened to Emily happened and the only person that falls on is our unsub. Not Meyer, not anyone else, and especially not you. The things we do, the risks we take, that's just the job and no one knows that better than Emily. And she would be devastated if she thought you were feeling any other way."
JJ sighed, "I know. I just keep thinking, if I had done the press conference maybe…"
"You can't think that way."
"I shouldn't, but until she's safe I can't help but feel responsible." JJ stretched as she stifled a yawn. She still felt tired and achy, but she wasn't going to tell anyone else that. She wasn't going to abandon Emily just because of the flu. "It's already been 22 hours. How much time do we get?"
"I don't know" Hotch admitted as he took a deep breath. "But we will find her JJ. I promise you that I will bring her home."
JJ moved away from the glass panel to walk towards the door, only stopping to softly speak to her team leader, "You know the last time someone promised me something it was Emily, and she promised me she'd always be okay. It's not fair for me to ask those sort of promises from you."
"Well good thing you didn't ask" Hotch simply stated before JJ left the observation room in favor of the conference room.
"Well, I bet you didn't think you would find yourself here again did you Vlad?" Rossi inquired sarcastically as he sat on the other side of Vladimir Polovski, a short overweight bald man who was wearing a polo shirt and khakis. "Did I disturb you from a game of midnight golf of are you always dressed like this?"
"I am sorry about your agent" Polovski offered with mock politeness in a Russian accent.
"You look devastated."
Polovski just grinned and shrugged, "What is one more agent huh?"
"We heard about your package, the one you didn't want to hand over."
"I don't respond well to threats, more so when it involves helping federal agent."
"You do know that you are required to cooperate."
"I am not required to do anything. America is free country" Polovski chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
As Hotch watched the battle of wills through the interrogation room glass he received a phone call. "Hotchner."
"Sir I found something to help you with your Russian mobster. After some digging I found out that he is a federal informant. I just kept wondering, he commits all these crimes and never get in trouble right? Well it turns out he struck a deal where he turns in other mobsters and he stays out of jail, like his very own get out of jail free card."
"Thank you Garcia that helps. Did Reid or Morgan see anything on the video?"
"Reid thinks it maybe be a basement, it looks too small to be a warehouse. I'm checking property records with basements against unemployed or self-employed men in our age parameters but it's a bigger list than you'd think."
"Keep working on it Garcia. Send Reid down to the precinct to sit with JJ" Hotch requested as he pocketed his cell phone and entered into the interrogation room to whispered something Rossi's ear.
Rossi smiled at the news and leaned forward to close in on the space between him and Polovski, "So let's talk about that little get out of jail free card of yours that is about to expire."
A big clue was in this chapter and all is revealed in the next chapter. Last chance for predictions.
Clue: this is NOT a crossover.
