Loving You Forever is What I Need Chapter Ten
"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge- William Shakespeare
Alina paced around her room anxiously as she tried dialing the number again, she had been trying to get a hold of Emily for the past few hours and her phone kept going straight to voicemail. Okay granted Alina knew very well Emily was an important Interpol Unit Chief, she had far more important things to do than just being on her phone all day long.
"Dammit Emily answer the phone" she said as she tossed her cellphone on the coffee table.
Under any other circumstance she wouldn't have been so worried about Emily not answering, but it was now past midnight and she had not her from the brunette. She had dropped her off at her flat a while back, the team had also gone to the hotel to take a break for the rest of the night.
Emily was supposed to talk to her boyfriend, get a shower and maybe some decent sleep if she was lucky enough, logically she knew the brunette could be asleep too. But it was highly unlikely, she had texted her around ten o'clock to remind her about a case file from a separate case Interpol had work the prior month, something to do with the Italian Mafia.
Additionally, Minister Chapman needed Emily's signature for some documents. That was the most alarming part, Emily knew perfectly well that when the London Minister needed something it had to be taken care off right there and then. For Emily not to answer something regarding the minister, wasn't good probably a good sign. Alina also knew that Liam and Emily were supposed to be talking and fixing their issues, of course there was always the possibility they could be well busy. But knowing Emily from years, she knew that with Hotch being in the country and their history together, the last thing on Emily's mind would be sex. Something was wrong, the European woman picked her cell phone again, and dialed her one more time, it went straight to voice mail. She then tried Liam, maybe Emily's phone was out of battery or something, Liam's phone went straight to voice mail as well.
"Fuck" the blonde woman said walking towards her the door, grabbing her car keys and throwing a jacket over her arms.
The team was staying at a Hotel that was just a few blocks away from Alina's place, Emily and Alina had tried to get something closer to Emily's place or the Interpol building. But given the area both places were located at, everything was booked by the time they knew the team was coming. Alina practically jogged all the way to the hotel, she figured it would be easier to walk than navigate around the still somewhat crowded streets. She walked inside the hotel lobby, walking towards the elevators. She didn't need to talk to the reception desk, she had made the reservations for the team, she knew very well who was in which room. When she arrived to the door she was looking for, she raised her knuckles somewhat desperately, the nagging feeling on her stomach only growing stronger.
A few seconds later she was face to face with the stoic unit dark haired man, she was surprised to see him fully dressed with a tired expression on his face.
"Alina" Hotch said looking at her frowning it was quiet a surprise to have her show at his hotel door.
"Is Emily with you?" She asked basically walking inside his room and looking around, not waiting for invitation to go in.
"What?" Hotch asked confused "No she is not here, what is going on?" how dare she to just barge into his room like that.
"When was the last time you talk to her?" She asked turning around to face him, reflected tiredness and worry.
"Alina what is going?"
"I can't get a hold of her" she finally said her voice almost breaking
"What do you mean? I though you took her home?" now it was Hotch who was starting to feel something at the pit of his stomach.
"I did, a few hours ago, and now she is not answering"
"Maybe she is asleep, wasn't her boyfriend supposed to stay with her?" Hotch's mind immediately went to a place he had been avoiding since he got there. She is just sleeping, he tried to convince himself.
"No she is not sleeping trust me" Alina said as she faced him "Something is not right Hotch, Liam isn't answering either"
"Did you tried Clyde?"
"Hotch if Scratch...,,." Alina hardly finished her eyes already filling.
"Let's go..." Hotch said without even thinking reaching for his weapon and keys and following Alina out hallway.
"Dave meet me at the lobby with the rest of the team please" he said into his phone as they rushed towards the elevators
"Are you sure she is not busy with Liam or really sleeping?" Hotch questioned, although he knew the answer to that. He knew better than anyone Emily wasn't the time to sleep through her phone ringing, none of them really were given their jobs
"No, she is not, I been calling her for a few hours now, the minister wanted a signature and he couldn't get a hold of her either"
Hotch's stomach turned again, Dammit, he should have known better than to let her go home alone. How could he have been so stupid and reckless, if something happened to Emily he would never forgive himself. As soon as they stepped out into the lobby Hotch pulled out his phone dialing another number.
"Eastern" the British man said in a sleepy voice
"Please meet me and my team at Emily's apartment" Hotch stated trying to maintain a bit of decorum.
"What happen?" Clyde was up immediately "Is she okay?"
"We don't know; she is not answering just meet us there please"
"What is going on?" Morgan said walking towards them with the rest of the team following them
"Emily isn't answering her phone" Alina explained concern growing on her voice
"I thought she was with Liam?" JJ said as the same feeling of fear took over her body as well
"I can't get a hold of him either, I have been trying for a few hours now"
"Alina you can drive one the trucks, and I will drive the other one" Rossi ordered since he was the only on the team with enough experience driving on London
"Lets go" Hotch said praying to God that Emily was just sleeping, hell even is she was in bed with Liam, he didn't care, he just wanted her to be fine.
When they arrived to her flat they rushed in to third floor where her door was located at, Hotch's world crashed in front of him, when they realized her door was already ajar. This couldn't be true, please God, don't let it be true.
"Oh my god" Alina covered her mouth, drawing her weapon and following Hotch and Rossi inside Emily's place.
Her purse and cellphone were in the kitchen counter, her coat was draped of her couch, other than that; there was no other indication that the brunette was there. It wasn't until they were about to walk into her room, that Morgan noticed Emily's weapon on the floor, next to a baseball bat, with a small drip of blood on it.
"He has her" he said in a whisper turning to look at the team and picking Emily's gun from the floor.
"Oh my god" JJ's eyes filled with tears, she should have asked Emily to stay at the hotel with her
"What the hell happened?" Clyde barged in followed by Liam, he had been phoning the Irish guy non stop after Hotch's call, and ask him to meet at Emily's place.
"Scratch has Emily" Alina said as she tried to maintain calm.
"You were supposed to stay with her, why did you left her" Hotch said furiously shoving Liam away, if something happened to Emily he will kill him, he was supposed to stay with her and keep her safe
"Aaron calm down" Dave reached for him this wasn't the time for another testosterone match.
"I was with her, we got into a fight and I just figured she wanted some space" Liam replied feeling guiltier than ever and glaring back at Hotch
"You got in a fight and you left her? Are you bloody stupid?" Clyde turned to question angrily, he could not believe what he was hearing
"She said Scratch wasn't after her anymore, I just wanted to give her space...I just wanted her to rest"
"If something happens to her..." Hotch was inches from his face, he was sheeting and he wanted nothing but kill him with his bare hand "I will kill you with my own hands...you should have never left her alone"
"This is all your fault Agent Hotchner you came here and brought this bastard...if you have never called, she would be fine" Liam said unable to contain himself, but before he could add anything else Hotch's fist collided with his face sending him to the ground
"You fucking coward" he spat "She is your girlfriend, what kind of piece of shit leaves her alone because of a fight" he was going to go after for him again but Morgan managed to hold him
"Hotch stop man this isn't going to solve anything, we need to go and find her"
"Agents you both need to calm down, our priority is finding Emily" Clyde said assuming charge of the situation
"You two idiots fighting over who was supposed to do what is not going to help find her"
" And Liam next time you get angry with your girlfriend, go take a shower, you knew she was a target, you should have never left her alone" The message was loud and clear, Clyde hated Hotchner more than anyone else including Liam, but he had clearly fucked up by leaving her alone at all.
"I don't understand why he took Emily, I thought it was Beth who he wanted" Spencer said looking around for any sings that could indicate where he Scratch had taken Emily
"Maybe he wants Hotch to trade Emily for Beth?" JJ suggested her own eyes stinging with tears
"There is something on that profile we are missing, there was a reason why he left Emily's picture at that crime scene...he wants to hurt Hotch but Emily means something for Scratch as well"
"Of course she does" Alina finally snapped "She is the only woman Hotch is ever loved"
"What?" Morgan asked confused, Spencer and him were probably the only ones that didn't know the full story about Emily and Hotch, well Garcia didn't know either but she wasn't there right now. Okay JJ knew because she was Emily's best friend and she had a pretty good feeling, and Rossi just knew everything, but the team had never really know about their relationship or what had happened with them for the past eight years.
"Emily and I were together for a very long time before she left"
"Are you serious?" Morgan asked angrily "And you didn't think it was important for us to know this?"
"Morgan"
"No" Morgan shouted "He is here to hurt her because of you, all this time you know how Emily fit into the profile and you didn't think it was important to tell us"
"It was Emily's decision not to tell you guys" Hotch explained "When I started my relationship with Beth and she moved here she wanted to keep that from you guys, I know..."
"You knew Scratch will go after her sooner or later, and you didn't say shit you are just as cowards as her boyfriend..." Morgan barged outside of the apartment angrily
"We need to stop arguing over who did what or not" JJ intervened her eyes full of tears "Blaming everyone else isn't doing anything...Emily is out there and..."
"Lets get back to the Interpol building, we need to start our profile again" Clyde agree leaving the apartment as well, with JJ and Rossi following after him.
"Alina..." Hotch turned around to face her
"I know is not your fault..." she said in soft tone "We need to focus on finding her nothing else matters anymore"
Alina wasn't mad at Hotch not really; she was angrier with Liam for leaving Emily alone. She knew very well the story behind their relationship, she didn't really blame Hotch, she knew there had been a lot more than just his wife between them, Emily stubbornness for once. They both loved each other deeply and tried to get out of each others way by hurting the other. Only to leave themselves hurting and yearning for the other.
"They just found another body" Clyde said meeting everyone at the reception area of Emily's apartment complex.
"Oh my god is...?" JJ couldn't even form the words
"I don't think so" Clyde assured them "Metro PD said it was a male" Hotch just nodded feeling a sense of relief wash over him.
"Dave why don't you go back to Interpol with Morgan, JJ and Reid, we need to search on Emily's office and her computer"
"Okay, just meet us there when you are done with the crime scene" Rossi agreed heading out the door as well.
When they arrived to the crime scene, Hotch, Alina got out of the car, they approached the police officers.
"What do you have gentleman?" Clyde asked looking over the body that was now covered by a white sheet.
"Male on his fifties, a single shot to the head, execution style" The younger blond guy said
"This doesn't fit our profile" Hotch interjected
"Are you sure?" The gentleman asked "It looks like he was tortured, they cut out his fingers and then they carved something onto his chest" the guy said uncovering the body. But Alina and Hotch gasped when they read the words "Love is pain Hotchner" carved into the mans chest.
"Oh my god" Alina covered her mouth when she recognized the death make on the floor, Clyde turned to look at her frowning in confusion
"Do you know this man?" He asked
"Yes" she said emptily "Emily and I know him, we used to work with him"
"He was a CIA Agent" the dark skin guy told them
"Alina" Clyde said looking at her question "What is going on here?"
"I need to make a call" she said walking away from them and talking on her phone
"Is there something I need to know?" Hotch questioned
"Your guess is as good mine Agent Hotchner" Clyde said with the same confusion look, something was definitely going on
"Agent Hotchner" Alina returned to the scene "Can you have the rest of your team meet as at Interpol Building?"
"What is in going on?" He questioned seriously
"I don't know just yet" she vaguely answered, Hotch however grabbed onto her arm
"Emily is missing, if you are hiding anything from us that might help..."
"I think I know why took Emily okay" Alina responded looking at Hotch seriously "Just please listen to me, there is someone meeting us down there, I can tell you here..."
"Alina" Clyde started knowing as well how important it was to know every single detail about the case.
"Dammit Clyde just trust me please...we don't know if Scratch is listening or who he works for him right now"
"Fine then, lets go" Clyde agreed, as both agents followed her into the SUV, Alina drove all the way back to the office lost in thought. Hotch kept watching her warily, the longer it past, the lower the possibilities they had of finding Emily alive. He could only pray Scratch had just taken Emily with the intension of blackmailing him and not to really hurt her, they needed to be out there looking for her.
When they arrived to Interpol, Alina escorted them to the nine floor, none of them had really been there. In fact, Clyde was one of the few people that had actually been there in a few occasions, the nine floor of the Interpol building was reserved strictly for governmental meetings were presidents, ambassadors, and ministers usually met regarding security issues between governments. It was a protected chamber, against terrorist attacks, were government officials could be kept safe in case a government attack took place, they hardly ever let anyone else access that room. Clyde frowned looking at Alina but opened the door either way, the rest of the team was already their waiting for them, and so was another older gentleman, it was the same man Alina and Morgan had gone to see their first day in London.
"Archibald" Clyde said smiling at shaking the older gentleman's hand, Clyde had already crossed paths with the older guy on the past.
"A pleasure to see you Clyde"
"Alina darling" Archibald gave her a gentle hug
"Thanks for coming Archi, this is Agent Hotchner and the rest of his team"
"A pleasure to meet you" He said shaking everyone's hands "Archibald Vichada" Hotch's mouth almost dropped when he heard the name
"I heard of you" he stated shaking the older man's hand "You did security jobs for the NSA"
"He has taken down almost every terrorist group in Europe" Clyde added "He doesn't just do security jobs..." Clyde continued as they sat down
"He is the Black Sparrow"
"What is Black Sparrow?" Spencer questioned
"The biggest secret agency on Europe, and even America" Rossi said still unable to believe he was standing in front of this man
"They have put people in protective custody you have never even heard off" Rossi continued shaking the man's hand
"Can you tell us why are we here?" Hotch asked growing more concerned, how in the hell did Alina and Clyde knew this man, that could only mean that Emily knew him as well.
"The man that was murdered is Luciano Martin" Alina started "He worked for NSA and CIA a while back, that is how Emily and I meet him, he was never a part of the JTF-12 Force, but he was keeping tabs on other cases specially on the Irish mob, he has been working for Black Sparrow since then"
"Okay how is he related to this case, and more importantly to Scratch?" Hotch asked still not understanding, Alina turned to look at Archibald, who cleared his throat and began speaking
"Black Sparrow doesn't just do any protective services" He said looking out the window "We have kept very serious people identity protected, Walter Hallstein, Charle DeGaulle, Winston Churchill, and many others including some of the most dangerous people you cant even imagine"
"The reason Black Sparrow was created it was because we believed the security of our country was compromised many times, protecting people wasn't just about putting them into protective custody, it was about more than that...there was a time when the Italian Mafia was able to break through our most trained agents, and still get the information they wanted on the people we kept under protection., so we developed a new system that wasn't as easy to decode if one of our sources became compromised."
"I don't understand"
"Black Sparrow uses a set of coordinates, and codes to encrypt the location of whoever we have under custody, those coordinates and codes are then broken into three smaller codes, each code is assigned to different undercover agent, people that have absolutely nothing to do with Black Sparrow or the victims"
"Luciano had one of the codes for where your family's location is at Agent Hotchner" Alina said
"So that is why Scratch kill, he was part of the code" Morgan interjected
"Who else is part of the code?" Hotch asked although he already knew the answer
"He usually don't reveal the identity of our Agents, for their own protection and for our client's protection" Archibald said in a long whisper "But given the circumstances...I have no choice but to tell you that information. The second man is being tracked down by my man right now, we have not been able to locate him yet, his name is Russell Norway, until we find him death or alive we have no way of knowing if his part of the code has been compromised"
"Who is the last code?" Rossi asked
"Emily..." Alina said unable to help herself
"What?" JJ asked shocked "Emily was part of the code? Why would she do that? And why would you let her? This is too personal for her"
"Because she knew very well even with all of our security measures, the man you are looking for has managed to break into the NSA, FBI, SWAT and Interpol data base before" Archibald said
"She made herself part of the code because it was the only way to keep your family safe" Alina said tears already forming on her eyes again.
"She was trying to protect Beth and the kids" Rossi said finally catching on "Scratch already killed one of the man that are part of the code, is only a matter of time before he breaks the other one and gets the second code, she made herself part of the code because she knew even if Scratch managed to find the other two agents she would never reveal her part code"
"Do you guys know what Scratch is capable off?" Morgan asked unable to believe what he was hearing "If Emily is part of that encrypted information he would not stop until he gets what he wants from her"
"Emily would not break in that easily" JJ said her heart was breaking just to imagine what Scratch was capable of doing she could only pray that Emily was fine. "She would not just tell Scratch that easily"
"She will if he tortures her enough" Morgan continued "He has done horrible things to others just to make them talk, he can break anyone he wants to, he could break Emily too"
"No he wont" Hotch said convinced feeling his heart brake even further, he knew very well how strong Emily was he knew that Scratch will never be able to crack her down.
"Hotch he could kill her...you have no idea what he is capable of doing if he..."
"He will never break her" Archibald said looking at them "I have never seen anyone with the strength and determination Emily has"
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked
"I have work for Black Sparrow for two decades, I have seen agents come and go, most can even handle the training..." he began explaining
"What Black Sparrow has to do to protect the confidentially of our information isn't easy, moist agents wont even survive training, in order to assure these agents would protect Black Sparrow they are subject to very stressful training scenarios, including mock torture..." JJ's eyes filled with tears as she listened to the man talk.
"In the twenty years I have work for them only three women have survived the training...and made it all the way to the end... Emily is one of them, that is why she made herself part of the case"
"Emily was part of Black Sparrow?" Hotch asked
"She was when she first started at the CIA, she was to good for this job and she joined the JTF-12 task force, she is the strongest woman I have ever know the man you are looking for will never brake her no matter what he does" Archibald said with a mixture of pride and sadness
"So that is a good thing right?" Spencer asked "I mean not that he has her, but that he wont be able to break her that easily.? I mean she is strong"
"Yeah she is strong which means he will have to kill her, and even then she wont tell him where they are at" Aaron concluded feeling real fear for the first time in a very long time, if Emily had intentionally made herself part of the code, it meant she already knew what Scratch was after
"What is it Aaron?" Rossi asked
"Is not Beth who Scratch wants" he said all of the sudden "He wants Jayden"
"He wants your son?" Alina asked
"He was talking about adultery and sin all this time, the connection isn't how Beth remind him of his mother... is what my son represents for him. That is why Emily make herself part of the code, she knew he will try to go after my son" he ended feeling for the first time in his life that he wasn't alive himself.
"Scratch wants you to chose between Emily or your son" Dave concluded with the same look of fear on his face.
"Death is terrible for anyone. Young or old, good or evil, it's all the same. Death is impartial. There is no especially terrible death. That's why death is so fearsome. Your deeds, your age, your personality, your wealth, your beauty: they are all meaningless in the face of death."
― Sunako Kirishiki Shiki