Emily gasped as a few bullets slammed into her back, causing her to fall forwards with their force. Thank goodness for that vest, she thought, though by the feel of it, she'd have some pretty impressive bruises.

She immediately moved behind a nearby car with a grunt of pain. The gunfire hadn't ceased, and she wondered where everyone else was (though they were probably wondering the same thing regarding her). She had been on the lookout at her post on the second floor of the parking garage when she had sensed danger. She probably shouldn't have started shooting the unsubs without any backup in sight, but it was way too late now. Bad idea, she chided herself. She had had only seconds to make the decision, hurriedly informing the team of what she about to do before running off toward the victim's screams.

"Emily, you good?" Morgan asked through the comms.

"Just peachy," she replied back with just enough snark to assure them that she was fine. Well, as fine as one can be when they're being shot at by a group of serial killers.

She peeked over the car and shot off a few more rounds, somehow managing to hit one of them in the shoulder. Great. One down, six to go. That's not too bad, right? She shifted, preparing to shoot again when there was suddenly shooting coming from her right. She looked to see her team hiding behind various columns and taking down all the unsubs without a second thought. If they hadn't been doing that to protect her, she would've thought they were serial killers themselves.

When the gunfire had ceased, she laboriously stood up again, leaning against the car (a car with a bunch of tiny bullet holes in it) for support. Sure, there was no blood, so she wasn't seriously hurt. But why did it hurt so damn much?! She was fairly certain vests were supposed to protect you, not cause you more pain.

"Emily!" Reid ran toward her. "Are you hurt? We were so worried when we realized you weren't where you were supposed to be."

"Just a Code V," Emily said, trying to reassure him. "That...was probably not the greatest decision of my life."

She watched as Rossi and Morgan handcuffed everyone while JJ called for ambulances and Hotch checked on the victim: a young girl of about 20. She was unconscious, blood covering her abdomen from multiple stab wounds. It wasn't a pretty sight. She held her breath as Hotch felt for her pulse. After a few seconds, he looked up at her and said, "She's alive, but barely."

And she felt that she could breathe again. Well, the bullets were kind of hindering her breathing and her bruises were throbbing, but if that's all she had to endure to save this one victim (out of the 15 that had already died), then it was worth it.

She didn't miss JJ's concerned looks or Rossi's scrutiny, nor did she miss Hotch's blatant disapproval of her actions.

Internally, she laughed nervously. She'd have to deal with those things later.