Where does the white go when the snow melts?

Anonymous

Mixing and Joining.

Tobey charged at the dark man holding his woman. He ranted and raved, pulling the three Police officers off-balance as he struggled to get closer to Snow White.

"Stop, please." Emily's voice rang clear over the noise.

Everyone stilled, even Tobey O'Conner.

"Get away from him." He snarled. More so at the man than at Snow. She moved away from the man a little, the man's confused features bolstered Tobey's confidence in the love Snow White had for him.

"I have to leave now." She told him, calm and serene.

"No, you're mine. We'll be together always." He began to struggle against the men again.

"I'm sick, Tobey."

"No!" he replied indignantly.

"I have to go to the hospital."

"When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" The genuine concern in his voice shocked Morgan, shocked most of the men in the clearing actually.

Could he really not see the mottled bruises lacing Emily's neck, the raw mess around her right ankle. Could this man truly not see the damaged he had inflicted to her leg, when he had so viciously attacked her with the belt and buckle?

"You wanted to be married." She answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Tobey nodded, of course she would put his happiness above her own needs. At that she turned around again, she tried to walk back to their house.

Morgan was staring at her incredulously. How had she managed to calm him with so little effort? Her words had stopped him when three fully grown men could not. Because he had been staring at her, he was the only one to see her wilt, like a flower ending its attempt to stay upright in a vase, then fall. He had seen the blank look enter her eyes. He managed to catch her, before she hit the ground but after she had lost consciousness.

"Morgan!" Hotch yelled as he raced toward them. To his fallen colleague. To Emily. His feet skidded through the snow, pushing little walls of frozen water to the sky. He dropped to one knee and cradled her face, checking her pulse.

Morgan couldn't move he was still grasping Emily around her waist, holding her as upright as he could. He was bent over, her legs had pretty much fallen straight out from under her. He had wanted to check for her pulse but he also didn't want to let her body touch the snow, she was already freezing to the touch. He was relieved when Hotch had arrived, seen the small nod signify life.

Rossi had one hand on Tobey O'Conner's shoulder the other grasping the gun still sheathed in it's holder. He was watching Emily though. Making sure she was alright, Hotch nodded. She was breathing. His grip tightened on Tobey's shoulder, "Come on, you're under arrest for the abduction of two women."

"Is that all?" Asked one of the other Police Officers, with a look close to murderous rage.

"For now."

They had flown Emily by Emergency Flight Helicopter to the nearest Hospital, it ended up being the same one Claudia Hawkner was in, St. Agnes'. There was no immediate danger regarding blood loss or extensive physical damage – life-threatening damage but hypothermia was a very real risk, and the hospital was deemed the safest place for her. They had escorted Tobey O'Conner to the Station in one of the SUV's, everyone vying for the opportunity not to be in the same car as the crazy. As one particular Officer had said a little too loudly for Hotch's taste.

Roughly three hours later, Tobey O'Conner was sitting in the interrogation room. Silently and unmoving. Morgan was tiring of his stillness and the silence. He wanted nothing more than to break this guy's nose, then his arm, then his right arm, then his leg, then his toes. No wait, on second thoughts, start with the toes and work my way inwards toward the body. He glanced toward the mirror, he wanted out. He hadn't even been to the hospital yet to check on Emily. It didn't matter that she was awake yet, he just wanted to be there for her. Penelope and JJ had immediately left the building and arrived at the Hospital just in time to see the helicopter setting down, and the unconscious Emily moved inside. Hotch had ordered Rossi and himself to accompany Tobey to the station to start the interrogation as soon as they arrived. They needed every detail they could get. There were still bodies to be found. And that was the only reason Tobey O'Conner wasn't sitting in this room, right now, with a lot of blood escaping him.

Hotch had ordered Reid to accompany Emily in the helicopter. He desperately wanted to go with her himself, but he still had a job to do. He left two Police Officers in the clearing to gather and/or protect evidence, and took the remaining three to the house. The O'Conner house, to search it for evidence and the place Emily must have been kept in. About two hours in, Sheriff Coulter approached him and in a round-about way implied that he was free to leave the house, to check up on Agent Prentiss. Hotch took it without question and barely a congenial smile. The house was completely normal, no signs of a holding place, only slight scratches on the floor and some around corners of doorways. There were more of them in one particular room, and specifically on one side of that room. Hotch sighed wearily, as he reviewed what they had found in the house, on his way to the hospital. He was going to have to make Emily return to that house.

Reid handed a Styrofoam cup filled with bitter and slightly sludgy coffee to JJ. She hadn't stopped crying since she'd first seen Emily. He had to admit, the bruising did look bad, the blood hadn't helped the situation either. But that didn't explain the almost co-dependent state JJ was displaying. After a short conversation with Penelope, Reid had decided JJ's emotions were simply letting themselves out. Her guilt and misplaced sense of responsibility were finally dissipating. After Emily had been cleaned up and settled in one of the rooms, they had been allowed to come in. But only three at a time. Thankfully at that point Morgan, Rossi and Hotch were still outside the hospital finishing up on the loose ends of the case. Later though, all three had turned up. The whole team had been rotating in and out of that room like the working entertainment parts of a giant morbid Glockenspiel clock.

Sorry, if it seems short, but I'm trying my hardest to get this all out.

And hey, :) Emily's been saved... yay!

Arc