Chapter 9
Athena got off the plane in Boston. She made her way through the airport, grabbing her few bags, and to the rental car counters. She quickly got a modest car, wanting to blend in, and she knew if she took the job that she would be buying a new car with her specifications from one of her many contacts. For now, this would do. She quickly made her way to the car and used the GPS to get her to the Boston Police Department.
She quickly parked on the street and paid the meter. She made her way inside and signed in. She gave her name to the officer at the desk and asked to speak to the lead detective concerning the Prentiss case. He looked at her strangely and she just assumed that it was the accent. He picked up the phone and made a few calls. A few minutes later, a uniformed officer came to the desk to retrieve her.
"If you will follow me," the officer said.
She looked at him and just shook her head. She shook it as they passed the desk, she was handed a visitor's badge and they entered the elevator. She wondered what all the security was really for. Then, she thought about it. This was Emily. There was always too much security when it came to her. The woman didn't know how to do anything simply.
The doors to the elevator opened and the officer motioned for her to follow him. They walked across the hall and through some double doors. She immediately started scanning the area. She didn't see Emily and she wasn't sure that she was going to like the answers she was about to get.
A dark, curly haired detective stood up from her desk and glanced over Athena. Normally, she would take an affront to that, but she realized that the detective was sizing her up. She must have looked a sight dressed in a simple white t-shirt with a very faded logo and pair of cargo khaki shorts. And, she was sure that the flip flops she was wearing gave the detective pause. She didn't look like she belonged in the police station, much less Boston. She knew that she gave a strange Californian air, and she was glad that people had a problem placing her, but it was always her thick Irish accent that would give her away.
"I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli, the lead on the case," Jane said offering Athena her hand.
Athena took her hand and shook it. Her grip was tight and she measured that the detective was good at her job. She could also tell that she didn't take shit. This was a good thing to Athena. It meant that Emily was getting a fair investigation.
"You're working the Prentiss case?"
"Yes, the Meagan Prentiss case," Jane answered.
"Meagan? Where's Emily? I need to see Emily," Athena replied.
"Pretty sure she went to check into her hotel with her FBI team and deal with her son. Is there something that you can do to help the case? Or is there something that you need to tell me?" Jane asked her suddenly very curious about the Irish woman in front of her.
"No, nothing about the case. I need to talk to Emily. I don't know what's going on, but I know I don't like it," Athena answered.
"Well, ma'am, I don't either. Emily's team is in town working on another case. Her wife was murdered in front of their son and seems to be random. But, at this point with all the connections that the family has, I can't rule out anything. So, I'm going to need to ask you some things," Jane told her.
"Like what?"
"What's your name and why are you here?"
"Emily called me. She said it was urgent. And, my name is Athena Callaghan."
Jane just shook her head. She wasn't sure why Emily would call this woman, but whatever the reason, it must have been important to Emily. Knowing a little bit about Emily's background due to their off the record discussion, she couldn't help but wonder if Athena was a contact or former associate from her undercover work with Interpol. Jane made a mental note to have Nina search for her and to have her contacts with the FBI do the same thing. She couldn't help but wonder about her Doyle connections, too, with her being Irish. She knew that it might be nothing, but she had to look into it.
"Well, she's not here. Her team isn't here, either. I am not sure what to tell you either. I don't know what hotel she's in either," Jane stated.
"I'll find her. Thank you, detective. I'm sure that we'll be in touch," Athena told her as she turned out of the bullpen and back towards the elevators.
Emily woke up and immediately went into the other room of her suite. She was checking on Declan. He was still asleep and looked at peace. Seeing him like that brought back many memories of him sleeping in the villa in France when he was little. She wanted to stay with him then, but she knew that Ian was trouble and dangerous. She couldn't have been the mother that he needed when she was so busy trying to protect him while trying to get Ian for all of his crimes. It was a catch 22 for her and she hated it. It was one of the reasons that she made sure to get him and Louise out after the raid happened.
She left his room and walked back to hers. She grabbed her cell phone. She saw that she had missed calls from the BPD, JJ, and her team. She knew that she needed to be in touch with them all, but she had other things to worry about, too. She decided that she would call them after a shower. She needed to feel clean first. She needed to wash off her dreams and then she would call everyone back. She'd start with JJ. And, then maybe she'd call Jane to see what news she had about the case.
She kept the door cracked to the bathroom as she took her shower. This was for two reasons. One being a way to let the steam escape because she knew that she was going to take an extremely warm shower and the other was so she would hear when Declan got up.
She stepped into the shower and felt her body relax. Her muscles were screaming at her before, but were now quiet and happier. Her mind however hadn't stopped since she woke up. She knew that JJ would have a flood of questions and then there would be the team. And, whatever JJ didn't ask, she knew that they would or Garcia would as soon as she got into contact with the bubbly blond computer analyst.
She sighed as she leaned further into the jet streams of the multi-nozzled shower. Her mind kept going back to the night before and the look on JJ's face when she found out that Declan was legally Emily's son and that Meagan was her wife. She knew that JJ would have questions. She expected it. She just wasn't sure that JJ would like her reasoning. But, the longer she pondered over JJ's possible questions, the more she realized that she hadn't really grieved for Meagan. She was sure that it would come, but she didn't know when. She did know that when it hit her, it would hit her hard.
But grieving for Meagan was just one of the issues she was trying to deal with right now. Knowing that Declan had witnessed her murder and that they were on the run at the time was making her more nervous. She didn't know who killed Meagan. She was actually going to leave that up to locals for now. And, she didn't know why she was murdered. Then there was the fact that someone had found them in New York and knew more about Declan than they should.
Her body coiled. Muscles were tensing and getting ready for a fight. She tried to calm down but she couldn't. Some how someone had managed to threaten Declan and no one threatened her son. She tried to breathe through the anger, but only felt herself getting more riled up. She needed to calm down. She needed to think clearly. Declan was her priority now. The case about Paddy Doyle, which was a farce on her part, could wait for her attention. The team could handle it. Meagan's case could even wait for her attention, because she knew that Jane would find a way to solve it. None of that mattered to her anymore. Normally she'd have been the first one at the station this morning with a tray of coffees as she sorted through whatever information that Garcia had found by running her computers all night. She'd already be at the murder board trying to figure out links and other information to follow up on so they could make an arrest. Instead, she was worried about the teenager in the other room asleep. He was her case. He was her salvation in the darkness of undercover. She owed him more than he knew and she promised him that he would be safe. She would make sure that he was safe.
She got out of the shower and dried off. Stepping lightly back into her room, she pulled out some jeans and a light blue v-neck. It wasn't exactly dressy, but it was enough for her if she felt like making a visit to the precinct. She reached for her phone and noticed more missed calls. Maybe putting it on silent the night before hadn't been the best option.
There was another one for JJ. She didn't sound worried. She was upset that Emily had just cut them all off and gotten a suite at the Four Seasons. She needed the space and as much as JJ didn't want to admit that. She knew it was true. Emily needed time to think, to plan, and to push past her grief for Declan's sake. There were calls for Garica this time. And, she sounded upset that she didn't know that Emily had adopted Declan or gotten married to Meagan until that morning. She was threatening to "do a thing to her" if Emily didn't call her back soon so they could talk. But, it was the call from Jane that had her stop everything and take notice. Jane just said simply that a strange woman with an Irish accent named Athena had been looking for her and she didn't seem to know what was going on. She was asking for Emily to call her back so they could discuss it and maybe the case. She was also questioning if Athena had anything to do with the case as well.
She dropped her phone. Athena had come and come quickly just as she promised. And, if Jane knew that Athena was in town, then Athena knew that Meagan was dead. Athena wouldn't need to know anymore. She would start hunting down Emily to make sure that Emily safe. Emily had called her and people close to Emily were dead. Athena wouldn't need any more of a reason. She would be startled to know that Emily had been married to Meagan and that Declan was with her, but she would get over that in her search for Emily. And, knowing Athena, she'd be at her doorstep soon. She needed to wake Declan and let him know that they would have security with them soon. She didn't trust many people. Everyone on her team was on that list. But, those who weren't members of her FBI team on that list were slowly dwindling. Most of JTF 12 was dead because of Doyle. Meagan had just been killed. Emily wondered how many others were in crosshairs at that moment. She sighed. Athena was there. She'd figure this out. They both would and Declan would be safe aga
She wondered what Athena would do when she found out what she wanted from her. She'd promised Declan to take him back to DC. She promised JJ that they would figure it out. Athena wouldn't be a stand in for Emily this time. She would be there to protect them both. She would make sure they were safe. Emily wasn't afraid to ask for help anymore. Doyle trying to kill her because of Declan and her hiding out in France while she looked for him cured her of that. She also wasn't going to let things get so bad that she'd have to go into hiding. Hotch had done that and she wouldn't. She would keep Athena by her side, but more importantly she would be there for Declan when she wasn't. Now, she just needed to make sure that Athena took the job. She knew that money wouldn't entice her. She needed to think of something and quickly. Athena would find her before she was ready and sooner than she had an answer for the other woman. Maybe Garcia could help.
JJ gave up on Emily calling her back after her fourth unanswered call. She knew that Emily was worried about Declan, but that didn't mean that she had to go to another hotel to stay. She knew that Emily wanted Declan to be comfortable, but how comfortable could he be in a hotel when he was still hiding and on the run. He'd watched the woman that had been caring for him since his birth parents' deaths. Meagan was his mother, too. How was he supposed to be comfortable when Emily was being distant? Didn't she see that JJ was there for her? She huffed and gave up on that train of thought.
She had other things to worry about that were a little more pressing. It was Emily's fault they were there, but now they had work to do...still on two fronts. They had a case to work on and JJ knew that she would be pulling double duty while they were in Boston. She wondered how much she should tell the team before Emily did. She sipped the coffee that she'd bought on her way to the precinct. She was staring at the murder board that Jane had started. She knew that they had already given them the conference room to deal with Paddy Doyle, but that didn't stop her from looking over the other case.
"See anything I don't?" Jane asked her as she came up behind her.
"No, I don't think so."
"This isn't going to be an easy case," Jane stated.
"No, I doubt that it will. Especially with Emily's connection to it. It looks so random, but with Emily's background..."
"You can't help but suspect that it was a hit?" Jane questioned.
JJ gave a self-depreciating laugh. She took another sip of her coffee. She turned around and met the detective's gaze full force. It was more intense than she remembered it from the night before. And, there was something about it that reminded her so much of Emily. She took a sip of her coffee to hid the small smile that she made about her thoughts of Emily.
"With Emily, I can't rule out anything. Her mother is a prominent ambassador for the government. She comes from money. She works for the FBI in one of the most elite units and has put more psychos behind bars then you want to know about. There is no telling when it comes to her. But, a random robbery homicide doesn't even faze her. If that is what this turns out to be, she'll wonder for days how she could have prevented it. She'll believe that it is her fault because she sent them here to what she thought was relative safety. So, it really doesn't matter what the outcome of the case is, she'll blame herself or her connections for it," JJ told her as she took another sip of her coffee, watching the detective for any sign of information.
"Does she have an idea who did this?" Jane asked her.
JJ knew it was to rile her up. She could tell that the detective was just doing her job, but it still stung. She knew that she could be used against Emily. They were close. They were closer than they possibly should be at times, but they understood the issues with being who they were. They got each other on a level that others just didn't get because of their time undercover and working government projects that were on the lines of legality. They knew each other's exit strategy. Hell, in some instances, they were each other's exit strategy. But, JJ knew that there were things that even she didn't know about Emily.
"No, she doesn't and that bothers her more than she is letting on. She wishes that she knew who it was because then she would just take care of it. Legality be damned. No one hurts the people she loves," JJ answered.
"Sounds familiar," Maura said as she walked into the bullpen.
JJ and Jane turned to face her. She could see the depth of love between the two. There was a ease between them and it wasn't as frightening as JJ thought it might be. She knew that she had the same ease with Emily. They were intimate with each other, but their intimacy never spilled over to the bedroom.
"I get her, JJ. Don't worry. I am not going after her. I am just trying to figure this out and possibly keep her from doing something extremely stupid."
"Thank you for that."
"Do you think that she'll do something?" Jane questioned.
"Without a doubt. She is a Prentiss and no one threatens a Prentiss without recourse. I pray that you find out whoever did this to Meagan before she does. Because if she finds them, we never will," JJ answered and took another drink of her coffee before throwing the empty cup away in the nearest trash can.
Maura and Jane watched her go into the conference room to sit with her team. They saw the sadness and determination in her demeanor. They knew that JJ loved Emily, but she didn't know how to help her right now. She wanted to be there for her, but Emily was pushing her away. Emily was trying to be safe.
"I'll talk to Emily," Maura said.
"I'll stay with JJ," Jane replied.
"They'll figure it out," Maura stated.
"Before Emily doesn't something stupid like shooting herself in the gut to get the bad guy?" Jane inquired.
"As you would say, I pray that it doesn't come to that," Maura said and then gave her a quick kiss before turning to leave.
"Do you know where Emily is?"
"She's at the Four Seasons. I already checked. I'll go see her. But, don't tell anyone that she's there yet. She needs her privacy. She needs to work through this before she comes out to her team. There are going to be a lot of questions and it isn't just herself that she has to think about," Maura told her.
"I know she has a son now."
"And, Declan is going to be her first priority right now," Maura added.
