As From Discretion Comes Isolation
Chapter 11

A/N - Wow. I'm in post-finale emotional breakdown mode. At least the chronology is almost right for this story now and all the characters in it survived! Revision is also killing me slowly but writing helps - enjoy!


There was little difference between the scene that Reid had left in the conference room in the Lyell Centre to the one he returned to hours later. Both teams were situated around the round table and the photographs of the victims were staring back at them from the large screen which was projected onto the wall. They were arranged in chronological order with the date of their death reduced to a caption below, showing how each of them had had their lives cut short over the past year. Garcia had successfully connected her laptop to their system as well as reviewing the records on Emily's laptop from her office, while J.J. and Nikki were busy scribbling notes on the whiteboard.

Reid placed his brown satchel on the table and was about to continue his revelation which he had discovered at the hospital when a tall man in a suit who looked like he was in his fifties with his serious, weary look and greying hair walked through the door.

"Harrison" Leo said looking up in surprise, "what are you doing here? These are Agents Hotchner, Rossi, Reid, Jareau, Morgan and Garcia, they are aiding the investigation."

The man took a seat at the end of the conference table and looked down at the unfamiliar faces, "so I am aware" he stated in his usual monotone voice, "I took a call from James Kelson of Interpol this afternoon explaining that friends of Emily Prentiss from the FBI were now consulting on this case so I thought I would come and meet these new consultants and hear their opinion"

Hotch looked at the man. He was just like the Police Chiefs and Sheriffs he had met so many times before who felt like their authority was being undermined by the big guys from the FBI when all they were trying to do was help.

"I just hope" Harrison added snidely, "that your friendship with Emily won't blur your outlook on the case."

Hotch kept his face neutral as he could see his team becoming annoyed by this man's comments, "I can assure you, we are treating this case with the up most professionalism"

Harrison grunted slightly in response and looked around, "well you seem to have everything covered here, keep me informed of any new leads" he said briskly as he left the room.

Garcia looked above her sparkling glasses, "he doesn't like us much"

Jack laughed, "he doesn't like us much either!"

Hotch looked across the table to Reid who was sat quietly, "what did you learn at the hospital?"

Reid was jerked out of his worried thoughts by the sound of his unit chief's voice and turned quickly to face the teams technician "oh yeah, Garcia would you be able to pull up an outline of the human body?"

"In my sleep my precious" she said simply and within a minute of him asking the pictures of the victims was replaced with the image Reid had requested. He walked over to the screen looking at the picture of the notes he had taken on his phone.

Morgan frowned at the screen, "what have you found kid?"

"Could you now please highlight the right hip, left shoulder and the lefthand side of the chest?" the group continued to look at what he was constructing, confused of the point he was trying to make, "that's great, finally can you put up any of the M.E. photographs showing the victims at full length"

As they saw the comparison their frowns deepened, "what's the connection?" Jack asked, "what's the significance of the highlighted areas on the outline?"

Reid pointed to the screen at the left shoulder and then to the right hip, "according to her notes at the hospital, these are the exact locations where Emily's tattoos are"

They all looked at him horrified, Garcia brought her hand to her face and shook her head slowly, "what does this mean? Why are they doing this?"

Leo narrowed his eyes in concentration as he looked at the images, "and what about the the chest? What does that represent?"

"Doyle" J.J. began quietly the BAU team closed their eyes as they knew what that man had done to her, how deeply he had scarred her, physically and emotionally. They were unsure of the detail Emily had disclosed to her new friends about her past life. If she had been secretive about France then it would not be surprising if this was new information to them. "He branded her with a clover when he held her captive but if this is about Emily and the signature does represent where her tattoos are he would have had to have known her before last year when Doyle branded her because if so he would've cut there too"

Nikki nodded beside her, "so whatever connection Emily had with the killer, she knew him before she arrived in London"

"Garcia can you find out when the last time Prentiss spent time in London was before now?" Hotch asked, keeping up his collected front although he too worried for Emily's safety. The unsub had made it clear that this was not the end of her suffering and he wanted to protect his friend as much as he could.

Penelope began typing furiously on Emily's laptop, her frown deepening as she wished desperately that she had the luxury of her own programming in her lair back home in the BAU, "just give me a moment this system is ancient!"

Morgan leant over her shoulder and grinned at her as he watched her becoming increasingly more annoyed, "is it too ancient for you Baby?"

She snapped her head up to him and snorted, "ha! I could work my way around Windows 97, it would be horribly painful, but I could do it!" she continued to type with force, "just give me a minu- oh this looks promising. In 2004 Emily spent six months in London when she was working with Interpol the first time round before she was placed with Doyle in France"

"Is there any further information about that time?" Rossi asked from the other side of the room.

Garcia shook her head, "nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose we'll have to wait until she wakes up."

Hotch looked up from his phone which had just began vibrating in his pocket, "we won't have to wait much longer. James has been in contact, Emily's conscious."