Taken Chapter One
Disclaimer: I don't owe Criminal Minds
"The Most Painful Goodbyes Are The Ones That Are Never Said And Never Explained..."― Bilal Nasir Khan
"Ally can you come to clean this up please?" Emily Prentiss asked as she leaned over to clear the huge pile of books from the living room.
"I am doing something" she heard the girls' voice coming from her room
"Oh really? Are you in the middle of an important conference call with the president?" Emily asked sarcastically at the twelve-year-old.
"Hold on, I am doing something mom" was the only response she got.
"Come on Aaliyah" She called about ten minutes later when there were no signs of her daughter yet, her voice a little firmer than usual.
"Gee I said I was coming..." the girl responded as she appeared in the living room looking at her mother with annoyed eyes
"What were you doing? An important business call?"
"Girl stuff" her daughter mumbled shrugging her arms and giving her mother an exasperated look. Emily tilted her head giving her daughter a questioning look.
"Whats girl stuff?" Emily asked knowingly
"Just stuff mom, why did you call...?"
"What did I say about leaving toys all over the house? If you want me to stop treating you like a kid, you need to do a better job Ally" Emily told her daughter pointing at the pile of books thrown all over the carpet and living room.
"Those aren't toys," the girl said unimpressed "They are books...and I was reading them"
"Then why are you in your room?" Emily asked placing a hand on her hip, not moved by her daughter's sassy attitude and smart remarks.
"Because I have things to do..."
For a moment they glared at each other, and Emily almost laughed at how serious and annoyed her daughter could look, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
"Just clean them up okay?" Emily said smirking and giving in first
"I am cleaning them up now Emily"
"Ally," Emily said in a warning tone, biting back the smile, but not fully able to conceal it
"Fine mother" the girl finally sighed giving her mother her best innocent look
"I am just kidding...gee"
Emily rolled her eyes again, running and hand trough her daughter's long dark hair.
"Are you hungry baby?"
"Nope," the girl said placing all the books back into the bookshelf, "I thought dad was coming to pick me up...?"
"He is honey, I am just asking if you want to eat anything before you leave..."
"No I am okay, we are supposed to get pizza and ice cream..."
"Okay then, please don't eat to much sugar..." Emily said touching her daughter's cheek, placing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I won't, are you sure you don't want to come with us? Dad won't care..." The last thing Emily wanted right now was to spend time with her ex-husband.
"Thank you, baby, but you go have fun with dad... maybe you and I can do something later this week..."
The young girl bit her lip just like her mother did when she was questioning things, or when she didn't agree with something. Even though she had not said anything out loud, she missed her parents being together and having an actual family.
Just about two years ago, her parents separated and until today she didn't understand why. They loved each other deeply, or at least she thought they did, she didn't think she could recall a time they were fighting or unhappy. She used to think she was the luckiest girl and she had the best parents in the world. Maybe she still had them, they just weren't together anymore.
"Are you gonna be okay alone?"
"I not alone honey, Sergio is gonna be here with me," Emily said pulling her daughter in a hug.
"Sergio is a cat mom"
"Yeah, but I like him better than most people," that wasn't a lie
"Even better than me...?" the kid asked giving her a big smile
"Not a chance" she laughed tickling her daughter and kissing her
"Staaaap" the girl murmured annoyed trying to get away from her mother's hold
"Go finish packing your stuff, dad's going to be here soon," Emily said smacking her kid playfully
"Ok, hey can I take my iPod?"
"You can, but ..."
"I have to be careful and I have to watch my screen hours..." her daughter said annoyed as she walked away from her, Emily just smiled shaking her head.
Her little girl wasn't a baby anymore, she remembered a time when Aaliyah was so small that she could hold her in her arms, now she was becoming such a young lady and it really terrified Emily. She wasn't ready to watch her daughter grow, and become a woman, she wished she could keep her small forever where she could guarantee she would be safe and never leave her sight, but that was not possible and she knew it.
The doorbell rang bringing her back from her thoughts.
"Aaron," she said politely as she held the door open.
"Hey" his response was just as formal as her greeting
"She is almost ready" Emily as she motioned for him to come in
"She is finishing packing now, do you want water or anything?"
"No thank you," he said glancing around
"I was actually wondering if I could talk to you for just second?"
"Oh sure," she wasn't actually sure she wanted to hear what he had to say, but she agreed anyway.
"I was talking to Beth last night" Of course, it was gonna be about her Emily thought bitterly
"She wants to take Ally and the kids to the science museum in New York, but you are refusing to let Ally go"
"She is right," Emily said crossing her arms over her chest defensively "I don't want Aaliyah to go"
"Can you tell me why?" he asked not wanting to start another argument with his ex-wife.
"Because I don't trust her that is why"
"You don't even know her," He said defensively
"You are right I don't, that's exactly why I am not about to let my kid go with some random stranger to New York"
"She is my fiancee, Emily"
"Then you go with her to New York, but Ally is not going anywhere," Emily said defiantly
"Why are you doing this? Why are you making everything so hard" Hotch still could not believe Emily and him were divorced, and that she was acting as if he was an unsub or worst.
"She is my daughter, Aaron, not a car or a toy that you can just borrow..."
"She is my daughter too, and Beth will never hurt Ally"
"I never said she will hurt her, but I don't trust her to watch after my daughter, especially if she is going to take her to another city "
"Beth is really trying to make things work, and I wish you could try to make things easier as well"
"My job is not to make things easier for you or her Aaron," Emily said angrily
"My job is to take care of my child, and I don't think is safe for her to go to New York with someone we hardly know. I am sorry if that offends you, or your girlfriend but is not my job to make thing easier for her"
"Dammit, Emily this isn't about her, you are supposed to care about me..."
"Oh. like you cared about me, two years ago when you walk out?" she said fury in her eyes
"You kicked me out," he said raising his voice
"You were gone long before that..." she said in the same tone
"Are you two fighting again...?" Ally asked interrupting them and looking at them nervously
Emily just glared at Hotch furiously, the last thing she wanted was to upset her daughter.
"Sorry Ally" Hotch apologized coming closer to his daughter "Mommy and I are just talking..."
"Then why are you yelling?" The parents just exchanged worried looks, it there was something they could fully agree on was they did not want their kids witnessing any of their arguments.
"Do you have everything you need?" Emily asked trying to get her daughters attention away from the fight she just witnessed
"I think so, oh hey can I take iPad your charger?" I don't know where mine is" her kid replied stuffing her hoodie into her backpack.
"Yes you can, is probably somewhere under that mess you call room," Emily reprimanded but her daughter was already racing towards her mother's room to get the charger.
"Is there anything I can say to get you to change your mind...?" Hotch asked at his wit's end
"I am sorry Aaron, my answer is final," she said crossing her arms over her chest before he could answer Ally came out of the room with a smile on her face.
"Okay got it, we can go daddy"
"All right say bye to mom honey"
The twelve-year-old ran into Emily's arms hugging her tightly
"I love you, mom"
"Love you too" Emily wanted to hold into her longer but she knew she had to let go eventually
"Be good baby"
"Bye Mommy" Ally said once last time
"Bye," the brunette said waving at them as they left the apartment.
"Goodbye Emily," Hotch said no really sure how they ended there. There was a time he and Emily couldn't keep their hands off each other.
Until today he wasn't actually sure what led to their divorce, he used to love Emily more than anything else in the whole world, she was the love of his life, she probably still was.
They had the perfect marriage, everything Hotch ever dreamed of, but one day the fights became more usual, they did not talk about things anymore, Emily thought he was keeping secrets and missing the most important moment in their daughter's life. Then he started traveling a little too much, way more than usual. After Foyet, he distanced himself even more from Emily, and it wasn't that he didn't trust his wife anymore, he just didn't want to bring her into the nightmares and the pain Foyet had caused.
When he came home he didn't talk about the cases anymore and Emily thought that he keeping secrets and acting shady when he was just trying to keep her away from all the darkness. Okay yes, Emily was part of the team once and she knew what it was like, and she probably understood better than anyone. But there was a reason why she quit her job and started teaching, there was also a reason why Hotch wanted to keep Emily away from the BAU, his job had already cost him Haley's life, he wasn't about to lose Emily in the hands of an unsub.
One day Hotch realized they were acting like to complete strangers raising a kid together, and rather than dealing with it, he just buried himself with work like he always did. Emily asked for a divorce soon after that, she was convinced Hotch was having an affair and after all the pain he had caused her, that was the least he could do, give her the divorce and let her live in peace.
Now two years later they were here still raising a kid and trying their best to keep their child away from their issues. Not too long after their divorce, he met Beth, at first she was just a distraction from all the pain he saw on a daily basis, and after that, it just became a way for him not to be alone.
Naturally, Emily wasn't happy that he was dating especially since according to her, Beth pretty much had stalked him and followed him around at the park. A part of her was of course hurting, after all, they had been together for ten years. It was painful for both, but then Emily started dating as well and he realized maybe he should just let her move on and be happy, so he proposed Beth, thinking he will be able to stop loving Emily so much but that only made things worse between him and his ex-wife, now they could hardly be in the same room without killing each other.
"Daddy can we get a new case for my game," Ally asked as he drove them to a pizza restaurant.
"Uhm sure" he responded glancing at his kid through the rearview mirror
"If you promise me that we are gonna have some family time and you are not gonna be playing Gameboy all the time"
"It is not a Gameboy dad," she said laughing "And mom already told the same"
"Well, maybe you should listen, and I am not really sure I like the idea of you playing videogames all day, maybe we could find you something more educational"
"Is Minecraft is about the most educational game you can find. Ask uncle Spencer"
"Is it about fighting?" the girl laughed glancing at him with a look that he had only seen in Emily's face before
"Is about building blocks daddy"
"Like legos?"
"Yeah exactly, but it is harder than that, is about problem-solving and creativity..."
"Okay, I still want you to watch your time on the games and the computer.."
"I know" he watched again as his daughter's attention went back to the game. Every time he looked at his kid he saw Emily in every sense of the word.
"Hey, daddy?"
"Yeah, sweetheart?"
"Do you not love mom anymore?" The question caught him so off guard that he almost swerved off the road.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because you guys fight all the time...you don't make her smile anymore.."
"Ally I love your mother very much and I always will, I am sorry if we are fighting a lot lately... "
"Why did you move out?"
"Because it was not fair for you guys to see us fighting all the time..."
"Jack and I fight all the time can I move out...?" Hotch knew very well that Ally was asking this question just to test him, after all, she was Emily's kid.
"That is different baby, you guys are siblings and you don't live together anyway..."
"You guys were husband and wife doesn't that mean anything...?"
"It does," he said carefully knowing that whatever he was about to tell the girl would not affect her the rest of her life.
"Honey mom and I decided it was better to no be together because we just did not understand each other, that had nothing to do with you or Jack...we love you very much. But we just became two different people... but our love hasn't change not even for a second "
"I know," the girl said looking out the window "I just miss having you home..."
"I miss you all the time too" the last thing he wanted was to affect his kids with this
"And I promise you mom and I are gonna do better okay?"
"Okay"
"Come on sweetheart we are here," Hotch said killing the engine "Let's get some pizza"
Later that evening Emily was in Aaliyah's room folding up laundry and cleaning around some. God did she had this much crap when she was twelve. It wasn't that Ally's room was dirty, it was just messy, she had clothes all over the place, and books, and different sets of legos all over the place.
Emily remembered when she was pregnant with Ally, she used to imagine what her room would look like, and she pictured a pink room covered in princesses and fairies.
But she was her mother's daughter after all, and she wasn't the kind of girl who wore dresses and played tea parties. Ally was extroverted and smart, but she was more like a tomboy, who played with legos and spend hours immersed in and science books, and trivia games, anyone who didn't know her, would guess that Ally was Spencer's daughter and not hers and Hotch's.
She folded the last round of jeans and she carefully placed them in her daughter's drawers, making a mental note to take Ally shopping soon since most of her clothes were already too big for her. She was putting the last pair of pants away when her cellphone started ringing, in her jeans pocket.
"Hey baby" she answered
"Hi, mom, we just got home and dad told me to call you before we go to bed"
"Did you guys had fun?" Emily asked setting the empty laundry basket down in the bed
"Yeah we did, mom can I ask something please?"
"What's up?"
"I know you said no, but I really want to go to the science museum with Beth tomorrow"
"Ally we already talked about that" Emily said sitting down on the bed taking a deep breath
"I know but I really really want to go, and I have been really good at school and everything...my grades are very good"
"I know baby, this has nothing to do with your school performance...I am just worried about you going alone to New York with Beth"
"But we are not going alone, Jack is going and Thomas" Thomas was Beth's six-year-old son, and Ally already cared about him as much as she cared about Jack. "And daddy said he was gonna come after he got off from work and meet us in New York"
"I will be really careful, pleaseee mom" Ally begged
"I don't know honey..."
"Mom! come on," The girl said already fighting the tears "I never ask for anything just please let me go..."
Emily sighed biting her lip and running a hand through her hair, it wasn't like her to deny things to her child just because. But she was genuinely worried about her child going on a trip so many hours away from her, with a woman she didn't really know yet or even trust.
"Please mom we don't even have to get any presents for my birthday this year, and uncle Spencer said he would go if it made you feel better "
"Spece said he would go?"
"Yeah, he did, he said that if he went you won't be so worried because he is my godfather...and you trust him"
"And your dad is okay with letting Spencer take the day off...?"
"Yeah he said cuz um it will make you less worried"
"Okay, Aaliyah let me talk to dad first okay?"
"K' hold on" she heard the girl racing out of the room and calling Hotch
"Hello?"
"Spencer is going with them?" was her way of greeting him.
"Yeah I mean Reid said he could take the day off since he has wanted to go to the same museum forever"
"Are you going to meet them in New York?"
"Yeah I am, Jack is going as well, he will make sure Ally is safe" Jack was now sixteen and he had taken the role of big brother very seriously, he always watched after Ally, they teased each other greatly but he loved his sister so very much.
"I only have to work half-day tomorrow, I will take the whole day off but I have a meeting with Strass so I will meet them there as soon as I can, I was actually gonna get a hotel down there and just have us come back Sunday"
"Is four hours away Aaron"
"I know Emily they are flying from here first-class and I am gonna fly there as soon as I can...it will be like a small vacation Ally has been stressed out lately it would be good for her, Jack is her bother he will be there and so will Spencer"
Emily rubbed her forehead frustratedly, knowing that she was about to lose this particular argument.
"I want Ally, Spencer or Jack to call me every hour, no matter what they are doing. Are you listening"
"I promise you..."
"Okay let me talk to Ally" she hadn't t actually say yes and she could hear her daughter screaming happily on the background
"Mommy I love you so much..."
"You are gonna call me every hour I don't care what you are doing. You call me, do you understand ?'
"Okay mom"
"And do what Spence and Jack tell you no matter what?" Emily warned already regretting her decision.
"Yes, I promise you... you are the best..."
"Ally please be careful okay?"
"I will love you so much"
"Love you too baby," Emily said as her daughter disconnected the call.
She wasn't really feeling easy about her decision, but she could not bring herself to say not to Aaliyah, she truly was such a good kid, and lately, things had been messy between her and Hotch. She wanted her daughter to get her mind away from her parent's nasty divorce, as much as she hated the idea of her kid going to another city with her ex-husband current fiance, she will feel so much better is Spencer was with them, at least she could trust him with her daughter.
Is just a day.. she told herself
The following day, Aaliyah made sure to call her mother several times during the morning, and even as soon as their plane landed, she also made sure that Spencer called her as well.
Now they were at the New York Hall of Science museum, and Reid was showing the kids some exhibit about women and space, while Jack was on his phone texting his father and his friends. Ally was having a wonderful time, if there was something she truly loved it was science, it was a good thing her father's fiance knew so much about museums, so she could show them around. Ally genuinely like Beth, she made her dad smiled and she was good to him, even if she missed her parents being together.
"There is a very cool exhibit about mathematics Ally do you want to go see it?" Spencer said as he looked around the museum flayer.
Spencer had also bought spaceship hats, Thomas and himself were happily wearing the hat, even Jack who was a teenager now was happily wearing a hat. Of course, only, Ally had refused to wear one, claiming she looked ridiculous on it. So Beth happily strolled around the museum with the hat plastered on her head.
Ally had been texting her mother almost every half hour, and she was currently replying to another message where Emily asked her to call her as soon as her father was with them. Ally wiped the phone on her jeans and then her attention was back on the flyer and exhibits offered that day, there were so many cool places to see, she didn't think they will have enough time.
"Look Spence there is a rocket park?" she said biting her lip and frowning in deep concentration
" I think there is show starts at 2:30," Jack said checking the flyer again
"We can go after we eat something?" Beth said smiling at her, the woman was really trying to have a relationship with her fiance's kids and it was very hard when his ex was making things very difficult.
"Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom can Spence take me ?" Thomas asked looking at Spencer "I really need to go..."
"Yeah we can buddy" Spencer smiled at Beth "Is okay I can take him"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, there is a bathroom downstairs right next to the foodcourt.," Spencer said taking Thomas hand
"Good then we can all go eat something, I am starving" Beth agreed joyfully
"I will go with them too," Jack said following after the guys and leaving Ally and Beth alone
"Come on honey let's go wait for them by the food court," she said placing her hand on Ally's back
"Beth, do you think we can convince dad to let me a telescope for my birthday?" Ally asked as she watched Spencer and the boys disappear towards the bathroom doors.
"I am sure we can do something about it..." Beth said with a smile
"You know what? I have lots of magazines, I think I have one about the space and telescopes, maybe we can do some research and see what you want so we can come up with a plan to ask your father"
"Really? You would help me? " her face lit up
"Yeah of course honey, I have so many books from work, I will bring you a few next time you come over"
"Cool thanks so much" Ally replied giving Beth a hug, even if her mother did not like her, Beth was nice to her and Jack, and she really believed her father's girlfriend was a good person
"There is supposed to be a spaceship somewhere here?" Ally said looking around
"Okay honey, we can check that after we eat, we still have time"
"Mommy, can you tie my shoe?" Thomas came running towards her
"Why are your hands wet and where is Spencer?" Beth asked crushing down to her knees
"In the bathroom," Thomas said shrugging his arms, just then Spencer came running after him
"Baby you cant run around by yourself," Beth said worriedly
"Why did you run away Thomas, I told you to stay with me" the genius reprimanded softly clearly worried
"I needed my shoes tied?" he said stamping his sneakers on the carpeted floor
"Okay, but you cant run by yourself it was the rules remember..." Reid said looking around
"You have to listen to Spence or me okay honey?" His mother asked
"Okay mommy
"Hey Tommy you left your hat in the bathroom, buddy," Jack said as he joined them.
"Where is Ally... ?" Reid asked
"She was just here..." Beth said turning around to empty spot Ally had been seconds ago
"Ally" Jack called scanning around the food court.
"She was just here I swear," Beth said searching around the crowded museum "She wanted to see the spaceship"
Jack and Spencer began to search around the museum for the girl, she could not have gotten that far
"Aaliyah" Reid called begging to panic and searching around, he took off running looking for the girl, Jack on his tale
Beth chased after them grabbing hold of Thomas; her heart begging to race rapidly. All of a sudden Reid stop running and he leaned to picked something from the floor
"It is her phone," he said showing the device to Beth and Jack "She would not just leave her phone"
"We need to call Hotch and Emily," Reid said with a panicked face the color leaving his face.
"Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul."― Dave Pelze