A/N: There is no good excuse for not updating this for almost four months and I'm sorry for that. I hope I haven't lost too many readers and that the return of a special someone can make up for some of it.
Stalker
A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction
by Sweda
Emily slowly passed the high shelves, pushing the cart in front of her while searching for some cereal. Earlier that day, she had opened her fridge to get something to eat and realised that mouldy cheese and green orange juice were her only options, a realisation that had resulted in an unplanned visit to the store.
Since the team had insisted on either bringing her food or cooking for her since she got back home, she hadn't reflected over her fridge's horrible condition until she was left alone fending for herself.
The team had been called out on a case late last night and her suggestion that she would tag along as consult had been rejected by Hotch the second she mentioned it. They had all been reluctant to leave since there had been no progress in the case against Dylan and once they started discussing if one of them should take out some vacation time to stay with her, she had had enough.
It had been almost two weeks since the attack and Emily refused to let the possibility of Dylan showing up decide how to live her life. She was sick of other people limiting her and she had told Hotch she was perfectly fine and safe with the one officer already placed outside her home. He hadn't been happy about it, but at least he had agreed that the rest of the team would be required for this new case.
So there she was, shopping in an almost deserted store, slowly pushing her cart as she passed the shelves. Once in a while she stopped to add something to her growing pile of groceries.
She had just found the cereal she was looking for and placed them in her cart when a voice coming from behind startled her.
"Agent Prentiss? Or I mean, Emily?"
She recognised that voice. She hadn't heard it for a while but she was pretty sure she knew who it belonged to.
She turned around and there he was, a few shelves down holding a pack of flour in his hand and a plastic bag in the other.
"Josh?" Emily said in disbelief.
The man put the flour in his bag as he walked towards her. "I thought it was you," he smiled as he neared her.
Emily smiled back. "It's nice to see you, but if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"
"We moved here a week ago," he replied. "We live a few blocks from here."
Only then did she remember the move he had been talking about last time they saw each other. "Oh, that's right. You were moving."
Emily guessed he was trying to avoid looking at the almost healed cut on her cheek and her still bandaged hand but she caught him glancing suspiciously at both.
"Yeah, we're still settling in."
"Well, how do you like D.C. then?"
"It has it's advantages," he said and held her gaze.
For a moment, Emily found herself lost in those beautiful blue eyes but she was abruptly brought back by him asking her another question.
"Would you like to grab a cup of coffee?"
"Uhm," Emily mumbled and looked down at the groceries in her cart.
"I got a cooler in the back of my car," Josh said as he saw what she was looking at. "You can put them there if you'd like."
Emily looked up and smiled at him. "Then yes, coffee sounds good."
They found a small café within walking distance of the store's parking lot, which Emily had visited a few times, before and had just received their orders. Two cups of steaming black coffee were placed on the table they were seated at.
Emily, taking notice of the officer assigned to her taking a seat a few tables down, used her non bandaged hand to lift the cup to her lips and took a careful sip after having blown at the beverage.
It was midday and soon the café would be filled with lunch customers but as of now, it was only them and three other guests in there.
Josh imitated Emily and took a sip of his own coffee and grimaced as he burned himself on it.
"They always make it too hot," Emily commented.
"Yeah, and I always forget they do," he answered as he put the cup down on the table.
Emily smiled at him. "How's Danny?"
Josh's face turned into one huge smile upon her mentioning his son. "He's good. He's doing much better. Sleeps in his own bed most of the time and the nightmares aren't as many as before."
"That's good," Emily replied happily. "How about when you're outside? Does he still stay close to you?" she asked, remembering their latest conversation about the boy.
"Not as much as before. We've been at the playground a few times and there he was running around on his own but he always makes sure he can still see me."
Emily nodded and lifted her cup to take another sip. Thankfully, the drink had cooled off a bit now and she was able to enjoy the taste. She had ordered decaf so it wasn't as good as regular black coffee but at least it tasted well.
"How about you then?" she asked.
"I'm good, too," he said. "It's a lot of new things to take in but I think I'm doing okay. The GPS is currently my best friend whenever I'm going somewhere," he chuckled and Emily joined in.
"How are you then?" he questioned. "You look..."
"Like crap?" Emily suggested. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.
"I wouldn't put it like that..."
She knew she looked like crap. She had spent at least half an hour applying make up because her colourful bruises refused to be covered by the concealer and foundation. She had dark circles under her eyes from constantly waking up at night due to either having twisted herself into some weird position which made her body ache, or it was the nightmares about Dylan that woke her.
At the hospital, she had been too drugged to take any notice of that, but now her subconscious took pleasure in torturing her at night. She only hoped that the nightmares would haunt her less frequently as the time passed.
"If you don't mind me asking," Josh said and scratched his jaw. "What happened to your hand? And your face?" he nodded towards her still healing cut. "You didn't have those injuries last time I saw you."
Emily took a breath and sighed. "I came across some... trouble."
"When?" Josh dared to ask. He was afraid he was pushing the limits, not knowing if him asking would make it worse or better.
"When I got home from the case."
"After I talked to you?"
"Yeah, I sort of got ambushed when I walked inside," Emily said as she stared at her cup.
She had refused to talk about what had happened. She had given her statement, answered the questions and then she hadn't said a word to anyone. Hotch had reminded her that it was mandatory for her to get a psychological exam, which meant she had to spill her guts to a shrink, before she could return to active duty and she would.
She knew she should talk about it with someone but she didn't feel like the team was an option, not now at least when everything was still very raw. She knew her team would never think any less of her if she talked about it with them, but she also felt that they would, without intending to, analyse what she was saying and how she was saying it and so on. And right now she didn't need that. If she was to talk about what had happened, she wanted to do it without feeling like she was a victim from one of their cases.
Maybe talking to Josh was a good idea. For some reason she felt like she could talk to him without being judged. And she wouldn't have to work with him everyday, feeling like her daily mental status was being monitored.
"Do you know by who?" he asked carefully, afraid he might invade her personal space too much by doing so.
She decided that she could at least try to talk to him about it. He hadn't overreacted like Penelope usually did and he hadn't started searching for the closest wall to hit like Morgan would have. His reaction reminded her of JJ's, she always managed to stay collected and calm.
"Yeah," Emily replied and smiled sarcastically. "My ex."
Since she answered his last question he decided it was okay to ask another. "Have they caught him?"
"No, not yet. It's like he disappeared into thin air," she sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.
The part of his reaction she didn't notice was the clenching and unclenching of his hands that rested in his lap. The feelings he had felt for the agent before hadn't disappeared and the thought of someone hurting her enraged him. "Is your team working on it?"
Emily shook her head. "Officially no, 'personal involvement' they like to call it. Another team is handling it. But unofficially, yes."
Good, Josh thought. They seemed to be the best. At least they had succeeded in finding his son in time and thereby saving him from a horrible death. "They'll find him. Either your team does or the others will," Josh tried to comfort her.
"Yeah, they will," Emily repeated, not sure of how much she believed it. She reached for her cup and took another drink. "How's the move going then?"
Josh took the hint and let the subject drop.
"It's a lot of work. We've been unpacking boxes for what feels like a decade."
"I told you that you to call if you needed any help settling in," she reminded him. "And that involves unpacking boxes."
"Your hand looks like it might not be up for it," he remarked and nodded at her bandaged hand.
"It's fine," Emily said and moved it around a little to convince him that it wasn't as bad as it looked.
"Really? Then why the bandage?" He raised his eyebrows as he asked.
"Precaution so that it won't turn worse again," she shrugged.
Josh's lips turned slightly upward. "If you say so. Then maybe you could swing by this weekend to help me with the last ones?"
"It would be a pleasure."
"Great. Danny will be thrilled. He's been asking about you a lot recently."
The thought of the small boy brought a loving smile to her face. "I look forward to meeting him again."
Two hours later they left the parking lot in separate cars and Emily wondered how much of her groceries had gone bad during that time, despite the cooler.
The drive to her home went smooth and she only ended up in two minor traffic jams. She parked the car next to the sidewalk and took both plastic bags in her right hand while searching for her keys with the left.
She unlocked the door and was on the look out for another one of Sergio's constant escape attempts. When the black ball of fur bolted for the door she managed to use her foot to block him. Realising today was not the day, he turned around and walked back to the couch with his tail swaying from side to side in irritation.
Emily put her bags down on the kitchen island and opened the fridge. She then began filling it with what she had bought and tossing away the little she had before. From the looks of it, nothing had gone bad.
It took a while but when she was done, she was satisfied with her little field trip. She rewarded herself by making a grilled cheese that she brought with her to the couch where she sat down next to Sergio. He started to purr as soon as her hand met his head.
Emily reached from the remote and flicked the TV on. After zapping between different channels without finding anything that caught her interest, she turned the TV off and went to fetch one of her books placed on the nightstand in her bedroom.
After his meeting with Emily, Josh drove home and unpacked his groceries. He then made an attempt at emptying one of the many boxes but before he had made it halfway, he realised it was time to pick up Danny.
The preschool was located nearby so Josh decided to make the fifteen minute walk there instead of driving.
He had barely stepped inside before his son was embracing him in a hug.
"Hey, Buddy," Josh said and lifted up his son. "How was today?"
"Good!" Danny answered. "I made a new friend."
"That's great! What's this friend's name?"
"Julia," Danny answered and pointed at a dark haired girl that was getting help putting her jacket on by who Josh assumed must be her mother. "She's a year older than me."
"And how old is that?" Josh asked, taking every chance he got at teaching his son how to count.
"This old," Danny replied and held his hand to his father's face, really spreading his fingers.
"Five?" Josh asked.
"Mhmm," Danny nodded.
"Then how old are you?"
Danny looked at his father. "I'm four! You know that."
Josh chuckled. "Yes, I know. I was just testing to see if you did."
Danny looked at him as he was trying to decide whether he was lying or not. "I'm this old," he then said and held up four fingers for his father to see.
Josh smiled. "You are four years old," he agreed.
"Yes," Danny nodded and looked pleased with himself for teaching his father how old he was.
Josh chuckled at his son's proud expression. "Let's get your things. I have something to tell you."
"Okay," Danny replied and started running with his small legs long before Josh had put him down on the floor.
Danny had held his hand all the way home. During their walk, he had asked his father a bunch of questions such as what was written on the signs they passed and why the trees looked different here than from the ones in Utah. Josh had happily answered all his questions as he walked alongside his son.
When they had reached their new home, a small single story house with a garden, they stepped inside and Josh immediately started preparing sandwiches for Danny.
While his father was in the kitchen, Danny was saying hello to Bear after having been gone all day. He clutched the bear under his arm and walked around in his room, still exploring the parts of his new space.
The bed was placed in the corner and above the bed a few drawings decorated the wall. Among them was the picture he had drawn of himself, Emily and his dad, all of them wearing big smiles.
He had a small table with four chairs placed on each side of it in the other corner of the room. Since moving in, it had become his colouring place.
He then heard his dad call for him and did something of a mixture between jogging and walking as he moved to the table. He still had the teddy bear clutched to his chest.
Josh didn't allow Danny to have Bear sitting in his lap as he ate so the boy placed him on the chair closest to him. He made sure the bear's head was above the table and then dragged the chair closer to the table. The whole thing ended with Bear looking like he was about to be decapitated but Danny was happy with it so he started eating his meal.
"Remember I said I have something to tell you?" Josh asked as he watched Danny taking a giant bite of his food.
The boy nodded.
"Guess who's coming over this weekend to help us unpack the last boxes?"
Danny's face lit up and he quickly swallowed so that he could speak. 'Don't talk with your mouth full,' his father used to tell him. "Tommy?"
The smile on Josh's face faded a little as he was reminded of how much his little boy must be missing his friends back in Utah. "No, not him. Sorry, Bud."
He watched the excitement disappeared from Danny's face. "Then who?"
"Agent Prentiss!" Josh revealed and tried to cheer up his son's dull mood.
Danny's face turned into a frown as he tried to put a face to the name. "Who?" he asked again after failing to come up with one.
"Emily."
"Em'ly!" Danny squealed and the smile was back.
"That's right! Emily is coming over to help us."
"I like her," Danny grinned and bounced on his chair in excitement.
"I know you do, so do I," Josh said with a broad smile.
Emily woke up screaming as she shot up in bed. The nightmare had been bad enough but what made it worse was the dark silhouette standing a few feet away from her. There was someone in her room! With a racing heart she fumbled in the dark for the gun placed on her bedside table, turning away from the shadow while her instincts screamed at her not to. Once she turned back to where she had seen the human shaped silhouette, it was gone.
With trembling hands she threw off the covers and got out of bed. The air in her room seemed cool compared to the warmth her duvet had provided for her. The goosebumps forming on her arms could be from either the cold or the fright of waking up to find someone inside her bedroom, gazing down at her. Or it was the situation overall that had her freaked out.
She opened her eyes as wide as she could to search the room. It was empty. She moved on to the adjoining one with silent steps.
The next room was also dark. So was the whole house, making it hard for her to see clearly, but she didn't want to make herself more vulnerable by turning on the lights.
She drew a strangled breath as something brushed against her leg. She looked down and silently cursed when she saw Sergio's yellow eyes staring back at her, the moonlight reflecting in them. Her focus was then immediately back to completing the search of the house.
The next room was clear, so was the one after that. She kept going from room to room and soon she had cleared the whole house.
She had found no one and nothing out of place. Had it been a dream? It had seemed so real. But nothing pointed to someone being, or even having been, inside. The possibility of her dreams being so vivid and real that she thought she was still in them when awake scared her.
She had been so certain, and even now her gut screamed at her that someone had been there. But her brain argued with logic, she had found no trace of an intruder. The chance that she had still been trapped in her dream when she woke up was greater than the possibility that the person inside her home had vanished within minutes without leaving a trace.
She made a second check of the entryways. The locks on her door didn't appear to have been tampered with and she knew she had made sure to close all of her windows before going to bed.
Suddenly she felt very exposed standing there in the middle of the room dressed in nothing but her pajama shorts and tank top as the night embraced the city and her home.
Not being able to tell reality from imagination, she decided to get back to bed. It was with unease that she climbed back under the duvet and this time she didn't put the gun on the nightstand, she put it under her pillow.
She lay on her side staring at where the figure had been standing, feeling the safety of her gun below her pillow. She stared and stared into the dark and as her eyelids started closing, she fought to stay awake. After some time slipping in and out of consciousness, she stopped fighting and let oblivion take over.
A/N: There you go. I hope you liked it. Hopefully I will be able to update more frequently from now on.
