A/N: Let me know through a review what you guys think of this chapter. Enjoy!
It was the sound of heavy rain slashing against the windows that had woken Madison up from a deep sleep. She glanced up to see Bailey sprawled out across her sheets on her stomach, gently snoring away.
She loved hearing the rain. It had that sort of calming sensation of tranquillity. Nobody expected you to go anywhere, nobody expected you to go outside. She could just stay at home in bed and read as many books as she wanted.
Closing her eyes, Madison tried to lull herself back to sleep, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Why was it that when she woke up in the morning that she could never get back to sleep?
Deciding that it was useless trying to fall back into a slumber, she tiptoed into the guest bedroom, wanting to snuggle with her mother. When she saw that Emily wasn't in her bed, Madi furrowed her brow in confusion. She walked into the living room, wondering if her mother was drinking coffee and reading a book.
She wasn't there.
She wasn't in the kitchen either. Where the hell could she be?
Madison even knocked on the door to the bathroom, and there was no response. Panic started to surge in her chest. Did something happen to her mom?
She barged into her father's room, and her mouth dropped open in awe as she saw both parents in bed together, fast asleep. Her father had one arm draped over her mothers' shoulder, while his head buried into the back of her neck.
A broad smile creeped out. Feeling extremely happy that her parents had sorted out whatever differences they had, she sprinted as fast as she could back to Baileys room, shaking the poor girl out of her deep slumber.
Bailey groaned in protest and rolled over so that she was sandwiched against the wall. It was too early, and she was too tired to get out of bed. "Bailey! Bailey! You have to come and see this!"
But her sister wasn't having any of it. Madison rolled her eyes as Bailey shoved a pillow over her ears. Was she the only early-bird in the house?
"Mom and dad are snuggling together…"
That seemed to do the trick, Bailey sat up in bed faster than she could say dinner and sprinted with Madison to their father's bedroom, tiptoeing as they entered the room. Bailey's face erupted into a huge smile.
Bailey whispered under her breath, "Oh my goodness…"
"Do you think they kissed?"
"Oh, I bet you they definitely did!"
"What if mom had a nightmare?"
"Wait…" Bailey held up a finger. "What if… Mom got scared of the dark?"
Her sister scoffed. "She's not scared of the dark, silly. You're the one that's scared of the dark."
This statement offended Bailey, who glanced over at her with wide eyes. She muttered under her breathe, "I am NOT… Scared of the dark."
"You so are…" Madison recalled the night they had spent camping in the woods back at swim camp. Squirrels were digging around their campsite, making little noises here and there which had been scaring Bailey. She was afraid they were going to burrow into their tent.
"Listen… I only screamed because there was a loud noise. Not because it was dark."
Madison nodded her head sarcastically, not really believing her sister's account. Their mother hummed in her sleep, and they slowly tiptoed back out the door, not really wanting to ruin the moment and wake them up.
They looked so peaceful in their slumbers.
It took a moment for Emily to register where she was before she remembered the events of the previous night. Her eyes flickered open and closed, blinking away the sleep stuck in the corners of her eyes. Then, she smiled as she felt his arms draped over the curve of her waist.
She didn't want to move.
Emily heard muffled giggles outside the door, and as she glanced at the hinges, she noticed minor movement. So much for keeping their relationship under wraps.
Rolling over so that she was facing Aaron, her hands traced over his smooth skin. His eyes fluttered open, and he gave her a breathy smile. "I didn't think I would be waking up to a view like this, this morning…"
Emily pursed her lips together, kissing him gently on the lips. He wrapped his arms gently around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his body.
He had missed this. He had missed her.
Pulling apart for air, he smoothed wisps of her messy hair away from her face. "I think we have visitors…" She whispered, gesturing to the door.
The girls crept into the room, jumping on the bed and cuddling into each of their parents. "You're in love!" Bailey announced happily, kissing each parent on the cheek. Emily cracked a smile, scoffing.
There were still a lot of things that she needed to discuss with Aaron, a lot of which probably needed to be addressed sooner than later. However, right now, she was in her happy place. They were all safe. They were all together, and that was all that really mattered to her.
"Yes… We are in love!" Emily replied in the same tone of voice.
"Can we go swimming today?" Madison asked innocently.
Aaron shot Emily a worrying glance. "No Madison… It's not safe at the moment." He said calmly. Both girls pouted, and their eyes saddened.
"Why?"
"Because…" Aaron sat up, leaning his body against the wall behind. "You both know how two bad guys are trying to get us?" The girls nodded in response. "Well, they haven't been caught yet. And if they haven't been caught… It's dangerous to go anywhere."
Bailey furrowed her brow, "Why haven't you caught them yet?"
"Dad's boss told us that we weren't allowed…" Emily began to explain. "Because, sometimes when you work on a case where your family is involved, you can make a lot of mistakes, and people can get hurt."
The girls nodded, and the gears in their heads were visibly turning as they tried to make sense of the situation. "So, who is catching them now?" Madison inquired.
"Another team at the BAU…" Aaron said, placing a kiss on top of Bailey's head.
"But I wanna go outttt…" Bailey drawled. She was getting sick of being stuck inside for the last few days. Even just to go for a brisk walk would satisfy her needs.
Emily nodded and hummed in response. She felt exactly the same way. "I know honey… It won't be for much longer, I promise." Bailey's bottom lip sank, and she buried her head into Aaron's chest, pouting in disappointment. "But I thought… Maybe we could do something fun today…"
The girl's eyes popped up. "Like what?" Madison asked.
"Like making some banana muffins and cake. You do have the ingredients, right?" She asked, looking over to Aaron, who squinted his eyes in response.
He had never baked much with Jack and Bailey as they had grown up, purely because he was away so often with his job. But he knew they had cooked with Jessica a lot. "I'll have to check, if not we can always get an agent to drop off some ingredients to us."
Emily nodded. "Sounds like a plan then."
"Dad?"
"Yes, Madison…"
"I want pancakes for breakfast…"
"Hmmm… Yes." Bailey agreed, feeling her mouth watering. "Can we cook bacon as well and dump lots of maple syrup on top?"
Aaron nodded, looking down at Emily, who had a content smile on her face. "What do you think, mom? Pancakes for breakfast?"
She nodded enthusiastically, "they sound delectable."
"Alright then, Bailey, go show Madison where all the ingredients are."
"Okay!" Both girls ran off, leaving Aaron and Emily alone together again. He lay back down next to her, enveloping her in kisses.
"Wait, wait…" Emily announced, slightly pushing him away. He looked at her with concern in his eyes. Had he done something wrong?
"Em?"
She closed her eyes before biting her bottom lip. "I don't want to rush back into this… Into a relationship." Aaron furrowed his brow and then nodded. "I'm sorry… I just- "
"No… Don't apologize." He said comfortingly as he traced around the outline of her face. "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression..."
"No, it's not you… It's just… I can't properly relax when I know that these guys are still out there. I don't want to rush because…" Emily swallowed. "I'm afraid I'll lose you… All over again."
His eyes held nothing but concern and sadness for her. "Emily… You're not going to lose me…"
She shook her head. "Aaron, I almost lost you with Foyet. You almost lost me with Doyle. We lost each other for 10 years…The fact of the matter is that our relationship is a vulnerability. It always has been and always will be."
Aaron couldn't argue that. She was right. They had the riskiest relationship one could ever ask for, add to the mix children and things became complicated. He silent for a few moments, contemplating her words. Emily continued, "What I'm trying to say is… I don't think I could carry on any longer if I lost you again."
"Em, we both know there are always going to be people out there who want to destroy our relationship."
"These blackmailers destroyed it."
"It would only be destroyed if we never got back together… Even though they kept us apart, we never stopped loving each other. Did we?" Emily gazed into his hazel eyes and shook her head slowly, before leaning into his touch and letting him plant a kiss to her lips.
He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers. "I'll wait for as long as you need me to wait if that's going to make you feel better…" Aaron whispered. "But I'm not going to leave you anytime soon. That's a promise I intend to keep."
Emily nodded, feeling tears wanting to roll down her cheeks. They were tears of happiness. "Thank you…"
"Are you gonna help me make breakfast or what?" He asked playfully. Emily wiped the corners of her eyes and smiled.
"No. That's why you've got two minions in the kitchen waiting."
The delicate smell of banana muffins and chocolate fudge swirled around the apartment. Jack and the girls were hanging out in the kitchen, licking the leftover chocolate mixture from the beater and talking about different sorts of dinosaurs that roamed the planet.
The sound of shrill rings came from the home phone sitting upon the table. Emily- who happened to be on her laptop catching up with work from Interpol- answered the phone in a heartbeat, figuring that it was either Clyde or another agent from the FBI checking up on her.
But what happened next sent her nearly flying out of her seat. It was a deep voice with that hint of evil—a voice whom she didn't recognize. "I have Penelope… Come to me alone, or she dies."
The pace of her breathing increased, and she could feel her heart pounding in her head. She knew that she was in a compromised position. She desperately wanted to save Penelope, but she knew that if she left the apartment or even told Aaron what was going on, he'd never let her live it down.
Before she made any more decisions, she needed more information. "If you really have her, put her on." Her nerves were getting the best of her, and it took all her might to not say something that she would regret.
Emily heard the guy scoff, and she immediately wanted to jump through the phone and strangle him to death. She thanked mercy that Aaron walked in, leaning against the doorway and watching her body language in curiosity.
He could tell something was up.
With her increased breathing rate, shaky voice and tears bundling at the corners of her eyes, there could have only been one person on that phone.
One of the unsubs.
"Put on Penelope, you son of a bitch!" She screamed into the phone. Aaron literally sprinted over, snatching the phone from Emily and putting it on speaker.
"This is Aaron Hotchner from the FBI, I request that you do as the lady says." Everyone who knew Hotch well knew that tone of voice. It was the sort of tone that was calm on the outside, but you could sense the anger bubbling beneath. He motioned for Emily to get Agent Davies on her cell phone.
Emily's hands fell over her mouth as she heard muffled whimpers and moans over the line- coming from Penelope. "Or what? You'll kill me?"
"Listen… Your ass is going to be hunted and thrown into jail as soon as we find you, so I suggest that you put Miss Garcia on the line."
There was a moment of silence before the unsub muttered, "You have two minutes. Then I hang up." Aaron took the phone off speaker mode, as to not cause concern for the kids in the next room.
The muffled cries and whimpers grew louder as the phone got closer to Garcia, "Penelope? Penelope, can you hear me?"
"Yes… Yes… I can hear you." She answered between gasps of air.
"Okay… Listen to me very carefully. You are going to be okay. We are sending help to you, but to do that, you have to describe in detail where you are."
"I… I… I don't know!" She cried. "They blindfolded me…"
"What smells are there? What do you hear? Even just the littlest thing might help."
"I can hear… Sirens."
"That's good Penelope… Really good. What about the temperature?" He could hear the woman hyperventilating.
"Cold! It's cold."
Aaron nodded, "Okay. I need you to just take deep breathes with me, alright. You can't show this unsub fear… He thrives on it. You need to be strong, and I know that seems like a difficult thing for you to do right now, but I need you to be. Think about the happy times in your life… Think about all your Godchildren and the joy they have brought. Tell me you understand Penelope…"
He felt a sense of relief when he heard the pace of her breathing slow. "Yes… Please come quick… Please!"
"Time's up…"
The line died, and Aaron threw the phone down on the table in frustration. The loud noise frightened one of the twins in the other room. "Daddy?" Madison asked with fear embedded in her eyes. He shook his head and motioned for all the kids to go back into the kitchen.
Jack furrowed his brow, knowing that expression from his father. "What's going on?"
They could all hear Emily frantically rushing the agents on her cell phone to go save Penelope. Both the girl's eyes widened. "What's happened to Penelope?" Bailey inquired with panic rising in her chest.
Aaron knelt on the carpet, holding one hand in Bailey's, while the other one held Madi's. "I need you guys to stay in here for a while."
"But what about Aunty Penny?" Bailey said with tears rolling down her cheek. "Daddy! What's wrong with her?"
Aaron closed his eyes, not wanting to tell his children about the incident. But he knew that he couldn't lie to them any longer, they deserved to know the truth. All of them did. He released a shaky breath before saying, "Penelope has been taken by one of the bad guys…"
Madison's hands covered her mouth and her eyes watered, while Bailey threw herself around Aaron's shoulders, startling him. He rubbed circles over her back, trying to calm her down.
He had never seen the girl so hysterical.
"No!" She cried. "Not Aunty Penny! Dad… Go save her!" Aaron closed his eyes before reaching out to Madison and Jack, who were standing there in shock.
"I can't help princess…" He whispered.
Emily hung up the phone call with Agent Davies and immediately noticed the sombre expressions on all the kid's faces. Her heart ached for all of them, they didn't deserve to witness something as horrid as this. "Mom…" Madison whispered, burying herself into Emily's shirt.
"Listen to me…" She whispered. "Dad and I need to have a discussion; I need you to go and play down in Bailey's room for a while so that we can save Penelope… Okay?" The girls reluctantly obeyed Emily's order and sombrely walked down the hall. Leaving Jack, Aaron and Emily.
"What can I do to help?" Jack asked. Emily tilted her head to the side, so grateful for the young man Jack had grown into.
"Can you go and watch the twins please Jack… Make sure that they are okay?" Emily asked. He nodded and walked down the hall.
"What did Davies say?" Aaron asked after making sure all the kids were out of earshot. The brunette shook her head and sat down at a chair.
"They've got police and agents patrolling the city, but apart from that they can't do anything…" Her voice trembled at the end, but surprisingly, she held herself together. "There is only one solution to all of this…"
Aaron's brow furrowed for a moment before the realization hit. "Emily… No!"
"Aaron! Before you bite my head off, let me explain… This isn't Penelope's fight." She took in a deep breath. "This is my fight. And it has been for the past 10 years! I'm not about to let someone close to me get hurt just because someone is obsessed with me."
Hotch held his hands behind his head and paced around the room, trying to control his breathing. All of it sounded like a terrible idea. Emily continued, "Davies and I agreed that I should be the one to go in."
"Emily. That is ridiculous. There are other solutions, we could get a SWAT team to come in along with a sniper-"
"You know as well as I do that those aren't going to work… Whoever this guy is called because he wants me! He isn't going to kill Penelope, but he will if I don't show up…" Aaron made eye contact with her bloodshot orbs, gazing into them concerned. "Please…" She begged. "I need to do this… I need to end this once and for all…"
He shook his head, furrowing his brow and gasping for his breath. He didn't like this idea at all. "What about the girls? What about Jack? What about us? What about the discussion we had this morning about not leaving each other?"
Emily closed her eyes, sucking in her bottom lip. "Sometimes, there is no other way. This is what is going to save them… I'm the one who has caused them pain their entire lives. They'll be better without me."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Aaron… Trust me."
"I'm not about to let you walk in there killing yourself! Yes, you may have caused the girls pain throughout their lives, but you are everything to them! You can't just leave them now! They need you Em…" She released a shaky sigh as she rubbed her pants.
"Penelope also needs me." Emily stood up, picking up the phone and dialled the number. Aaron stood there frozen, knowing that there was no talking her out of her mind. He knew that this was going to be the way that things turned out. For better or for worse…
The line picked up after three rings. "Where am I meeting you?"