Later that evening, as Emily walked into the hotel with Hotch, Reid and JJ, she was as surprised as the rest of them to see Will sitting there waiting. She knew that JJ had had plans with Will before they had gotten called in. However, that didn't explain why he was here now.
A chill to the back of her neck started as he stood up and he and JJ walked up to each other. It was highly unusual for someone personal to them to show up while they were on a case. While Hotch had mentioned on the jet potentially trying to meet up with Sean he had mentioned that he had told his brother it couldn't happen until after they solved the case.
While Emily knew that JJ and Will were back together it didn't explain why he had dropped in on them in NYC when he lived all the way in New Orleans. There was something going on.
Emily had been sensing for weeks that something was off with JJ. Was JJ OK with him there? Or had JJ been off recently because all of them had missed that Will was controlling and his presence here was an escalation?
A quick glance showed that Reid and Hotch seemed to be of the same mindset as the three of them moved over to the couple. The concern was intensified when Will started talking about that hearing about their case caused him to take the train up after JJ had left DC because of his concern with her working on this case. As much as they all knew that JJ valued her privacy, they weren't going to leave JJ with him until they knew why he was there and JJ felt safe with him.
As JJ looked at the worry on all of their faces, she knew she had to share the news with them. News that she had planned to share with the rest of the team on Monday after speaking to Hotch that morning during their daily meeting. While this was not how she wanted to tell them, this was how it needed to be.
It was then that JJ said the two unexpected words that suddenly made Will's concern make sense to all of them – I'm pregnant. As Emily looked at her friend, the excitement about the news was just below the surface even though a NYC hotel lobby with only half the team present obviously wasn't how JJ had planned to share the news.
Emily immediately hugged her friend and congratulated her before turning to Will as the others also shared their congratulations. With worries gone of JJ's immediate safety with her boyfriend Emily turned as walked towards the elevators with Spencer and Hotch.
Just before they step out of the lobby into the hallway that led to the elevators, Emily heard JJ call for Hotch behind them. She paused for a moment before continuing to the elevators with Spencer as it seemed like JJ wanted a private moment with Hotch
####
Emily sighed as she waited for a search she was running to finish. Most of the rest of the team were out following leads though were expected back soon while Emily had stayed back to work on victimology. As she waited she thought back to the night before - JJ's surprise pregnancy announcement.
FLASHBACK
Not surprisingly a few minutes after she had arrived in her room, there had been a knock at the door. After Hotch entered the room, he paced for a couple of minutes before asking, "did you know?"
Emily shook her head, "not until tonight. I sensed something was off with her for a few weeks. But no I didn't know."
Hotch continued to pace, "I know I have been busy and somewhat distracted. JJ and I meet everyday. I don't know why she wouldn't have come to me."
Emily stood in front of him, stopping his pacing. She held onto both of his hands as she answered, "I don't know how long she has known but given the circumstances, she probably needed time to figure things out for herself as well as between her and Will. It sounded like they are still working on that second part. Knowing JJ she would want to be at a certain point with that and their plans before telling anyone, even you."
"That's her process." Hotch mumbled as he thought about how JJ generally handled issues.
Emily nodded, "exactly. Remember this is the same person who didn't let on for a year that she was dating someone. This is big news for her, for anyone. I'm sure she would have come to you soon, probably after this visit with Will."
Hotch nodded, "But all of us figured that out long before she said anything."
Emily sighed, "true and most likely one of us would have figured out she was pregnant if she didn't say something soon. You can only hide a pregnancy for so long." She paused before smirking at him as she continued, "I don't know why I didn't suspect it though I've been distracted lately too."
END FLASHBACK
Emily was brought out of her thoughts as she felt someone approach her. Turning she inwardly groaned as she noted who it was. Kate Joyner. So much for the hope that she would keep her distance while they both worked on this case.
"Agent Joyner." Emily greeted as the hair on the back of her neck stood up at the presence of Kate Joyner standing next to her.
Kate answered, "Agent Prentiss." as she walked closer before continuing,"can't say I'm not surprised to see you with the BAU."
"Oh." Emily responded.
Kate placed a hand on the counter answering, "your team must not know about your background."
"Was there a question in there?" Emily responded irritably with the only response she could. They both knew that the part of Emily's job history to which Kate was referring was classified. She couldn't talk about it even if she wanted to with anyone, even members of the team.
Kate shook her head replying, "no need to ask the question as the answer is clear. But I have known Aaron for a long time. We met when he was a new agent on his first real field assignment. We got close. Very close if you know what I mean. I think he deserves to know who he is working with."
Emily could feel her panic rising. If the truth was going to come out about that part of her life, Emily wanted to be the one to tell Hotch. And to tell him the complete story, not the biased tale that Joyner was going to spin knowing that Emily was unable to adequately refute it. "That part of my work history is classified and you know it. Revealing it would tarnish you more than it would harm me."
Kate nodded and then took a step closer into Emily's personal space. Smiling, she answered, "you are correct if I were to reveal specifics. But I don't need to do that. I would just need to drop a few specific pieces of information, unclassified of course that would have Aaron asking questions."
"Why would you do that?" Emily asked harshly.
"Oh I'm sorry to interrupt." Reid stated as he approached them feeling the negative energy but not understanding what had just happened.
"No you're not Spencer. Want some?" Emily responded as she moved away from Joyner and indicated at the coffee pot.
"Please." Reid answered as he stepped closer to Emily so she could fill his cup. As she did, he watched in confusion as Agent Joyner walked away from them.
####
Detective Cooper slowed as he noticed tension between Agents Joyner and Prentiss as he approached the bullpen. He slowed as he didn't want to walk into whatever was going on between them. It hadn't been until this case that he had met Agent Joyner. And so far he wasn't impressed with her.
The cooperation she had initially pledged on the case had been repeatedly undermined as she continually used her position to walk all over the local police departments. What had frustrated them the most were her attempts to sideline the locals at a time when tensions were sky high in their communities about the shootings that were happening.
At least that was the case until the BAU arrived. While initially he and Detective Brunson had been worried about yet more feds taking over the case and pushing them further from the investigation, what had happened was just the opposite much to Agent Joyner's dismay. He and Detective Brunson had been working almost exclusively with agents Prentiss and Rossi who had continually pushed to keep both detectives informed. Additionally, despite Joyner picking apart everything he had done since the BAU arrived, Agent Morgan had spoken up challenging Agent Joyner about a short sighted call just a day earlier.
So while Agent Joyner was still trying to keep them at arm's length the BAU was doing what Agent Prentiss had said from the beginning they were there for – to be a resource. But now he had to wonder what was going on between Agents Joyner and Prentiss. Whatever it was Cooper selfishly hoped it didn't sideline Prentiss.
####
As Dave walked back down the hall towards the bullpen to meet with the team he thought about the talk he had had with Hotch the evening before about what Joyner had said about Morgan. He continued to agree with Hotch's assessment about something being off with Morgan's name being floated. Since then Dave had been focusing on supporting the team and Morgan specifically as Joyner repeatedly lashed out at him. Given the seriousness of the case and that Joyner was lead there was only so much Hotch could do publicly as team leader at this point.
As he walked up, Dave paused as he looked towards the breakroom, taking in the current interaction between Emily and Agent Joyner. He sighs as from what he could see it was yet another member of the team bristling with Agent Joyner. However since they had arrived he had not seen anyone have a pleasant conversation with Agent Joyner outside of her immediate team except Hotch.
But this interaction was intriguing. It wouldn't be unlike Emily to defend Derek or really any member of the team if she thought they were being treated unfairly. But that was the curious part. Not only was no one else there but as he observed them, their body language clearly showed that Emily was not the antagonist in this interaction.
While most wouldn't pick up on it, he knew Emily well enough to see that whatever Agent Joyner was saying had her on edge. He would even go as far as to say distressed. Had Agent Joyner picked up on that Hotch and Emily were together? No matter their previous relationship, Dave didn't see Hotch telling Joyner about his involvement with Emily. And if it wasn't that, what was going on between the two?
Before he could consider it any further the moment was broken as Spencer entered the breakroom. As Dave walked into the bullpen and over to Emily and Spencer, he wondered what in the hell had happened.
####
Detective Cooper chuckled as he followed Agent Prentiss towards the exit of the subway. After another murder Joyner had finally conceded to go with the plan Agent Morgan had advocated to try. Cooper and Prentiss had been assigned to patrol a specific area as they were attempting to catch their UNSUB before there were any more murders.
As they had gotten off the subway she had just shared her profile of him with him. One that was eerily accurate even though she had only known him for a short time. He should have been expecting it from her as he questioned how they used behavior to catch criminals. But he hadn't.
As he watched her walk away from him, a thought came to him as he rushed and came up next to her.
"You aren't the only one who can interpret behavior Prentiss. I'm not so bad myself." Cooper boasts as he smiles as they continue walking.
"Really?" Emily questions with amusement.
Cooper nods before stating, "yes. I know that there is something going on between you and Hotchner."
"Wh.. what are you talking about?" Emily stutters over the question as she racks her brain for how Cooper would have put those pieces together when most of the team hadn't figured it out yet. Or had they?
Cooper laughs at her reaction and gestures as he answers, "as you said, I've been flirting with you. I noticed in the office when I did he sent me a look of death. So I tested it."
"Cooper" Emily responded quietly as she shook her head.
Undeterred Cooper continued, "and then after you and Agent Joyner 'talked' in the breakroom yesterday?" Emily turned and nodded at him so Cooper continued, "then at the meeting afterwards he came over closer to you for a bit instead of being attached to Joyner at the hip. What was up with you and Joyner anyway? It wasn't telling her to stay away from your man as she was the one in your face."
Emily sighed and shook her head again. She hadn't realized anyone other than Reid had seen that interaction. And while she still wasn't sure what she was going to tell Hotch after Joyner leaked her hidden work history, there was no way she was going to get into it with someone she just met. "It doesn't matter. And please don't say anything about any of it. To anyone."
"I've got you covered Prentiss but…" he joked before his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of nearby gunshots. With that instinct kicked for both of them as they immediately shifted their focus to what was going on around them.
After Garcia relayed information about the location of the shooting, they saw the suspected shooter a half a block in front of them. At the same time, the suspected shooter saw them as well. He turned and started running back the way he came with both Emily and Cooper in pursuit.
Having to dodge civilians on the sidewalk while updating Garcia had Emily a few steps behind Cooper as they saw their suspect round a corner. Just after Cooper turned the corner as well and out of Emily's sight, there were several shots fired. As she turns the corner, Emily is horrified about the scene in front of her.
####
Hotch is frustrated as he reviews the new information that Garcia had just relayed to them. Their UNSUBs had been covertly observing the scenes of the previous shootings by hacking into individual surveillance cameras. The approach hadn't triggered any alarms and thus why they were just discovering it now. Now when most of his team was out on the streets and all were potentially in danger.
He also needed to focus on something else to avoid snapping at Kate. He had been doing his best to get her to focus on this case instead of her own self interests. Fights for control with the locals PDs. Political plays with the local government and the FBI. Her adversarial interactions with Morgan which due to chain of command issues were repeatedly putting Hotch in a difficult position. Then there was whatever happened between her and Emily the day before.
Maybe it was experience or that they both changed but he was seeing a different side of Kate while they worked together on this case and he wasn't impressed. Over the last few days she was reminding him more and more of the jerk of the friend she had when they were on the task force together. Hotch hadn't been impressed with him either.
But at this point he needed to dig in to try and minimize the damage from her lack of focus on the actual case as they strove to find these UNSUBs before any more people were killed while still supporting the chain of command. As if he ignored the chain of command and there was further breakdown it would not benefit the case, anyone working it or the local civilians.
Hotch knew he would have some explaining to do when it was all over, particularly after revealing on the jet that he had had a previous relationship with Kate. While Derek had been the only one to outright confront him, he hadn't missed the looks he had gotten to his seeming support of some of Kate's questionable decisions. He knew Kate well enough to know that confronting her publicly would not help. He needed to wait until they were meeting privately and then advocated a different approach. That is how he had gotten her to agree to Derek's suggestion of having the team in the field today. But with new information about the cameras, he could feel anxiety rising inside of him.
At a flutter of activity, he walked over to discover the latest shooting had been at an ATM and that the suspect had been spotted and was being pursued. No sooner had that information been relayed before the message came across the radios that none of them ever wanted to hear,
"OFFICER DOWN"
As there was a flurry of activity around him, Hotch dialed into Garcia as he made his way with Kate to the SUV, "Garcia who was at that intersection?"
"Sir, Detective Cooper and Emily were there and pursued the suspect." he stomach dropped as he listened.
"Do we know which one of them?" Hotch questioned.
"As far as I can tell it was Detective Cooper. He was shot. Emily is the one who came over the radio with the officer down message." Garcia relayed anxiously.
Hotch let himself breath as he answered, "OK we are headed that way now."
"Check on my girl please." Garcia stated.
When Hotch and Kate arrived at the scene there were already numerous police cars and a couple of ambulances. He looked around the scene until his eyes rested on Emily. While he was relieved that she was upright and talking to other members of the team, what struck him most was how she looked. So pale, most likely in shock with blood on her shirt. While he wanted to talk to her alone, to make sure she was OK, this wasn't the place to do that.
Kate looked back at him as he stopped and followed his line of sight before saying dismissively, "Aaron, she's fine. Detective Cooper was shot, not her. We need to go and talk to…"
Hotch shook his head answering, "I'm going to go and check on my agent. You can come or you can go ahead and I'll meet up with you in a few minutes." before walking away. There was no way that he wasn't going to check in with any member of his team after what happened. That it was Emily involved made the desire stronger.
As he approaches the group, he notices in her voice how affected she is about what had just occurred. However his attention quickly transitioned to what she was saying. How she described how the whole situation had unfolded.
As Emily continued to describe what she and Cooper had experienced he could feel the hair on his neck stand up in a similar way to when they were in Chicago after Morgan's arrest. How after visiting Morgan's family how she had described what she had learned to him and Gideon in such a way that it unmistakedly put the pieces together about what happened to their colleague that he refused to talk about and who was responsible for the murders there that of whch Morgan had been accused.
But now as she explained things to the team it was as if she was working off the list that he and Dave had presented at the terrorism conference just a few weeks earlier.
####
As Dave approached the scene, he quickly looked around before noticing Emily over by the ambulances with Derek, Spencer and JJ standing with her. As he moved closer, his pulse increased as he noticed that she was paler than usual and that there was blood on her shirt. As he came up next to JJ, he asked, "are you OK?" seeing up close that she seemed dazed as well.
Emily nodded, "it's not my blood. Cooper was shot. I was holding pressure on his wounds until EMS arrived." She paused as she looked over at the ambulance before saying to no one in particular,
"I shouldn't have had to shoot him."
"Emily, he shot a cop. You did what you had to do."
"No, no, not that. I mean, he was ahead of us. He would have gotten away. But he stopped and waited."
"So he felt trapped, figured he'd shoot his way out." Morgan questioned, not sure what point she was trying to make.
"I don't know." Emily answered while shaking her head and still repeated wiping her hands on a towel. Dave noticed Hotch's arrival at the group and the concern on his face.
"Tell me about his behavior." Dave pushed seeing past the shock to the excellent profiler who was trying to make a point, just needed help putting the pieces together to get there. And what Emily was saying was as close as they had come so far in figuring out what all this case was about.
While continuing to wipe her hands and avoiding looking over at Hotch, Emily shook her head again. She was almost certain now what was going on but she needed to share the information without outright stating it was terrorism. But she couldn't look at Hotch and take the chance that he would see through her.
Looking at no one Emily responded, "his hands were steady. His eyes were dead calm. These guys have been hyper-vigilant and organized. They do presurveillance. I mean, what are the odds they would shoot somebody two blocks from where me and Cooper are standing?"
"You think he deliberately shot someone where he could be caught?" JJ questioned, not understanding what point her friend was trying to make and again wondering if Emily needed to go to the hospital as well.
"What if he did? What if they chose this spot because we were here?" Emily continued.
"What are you thinking?" Morgan asked as he and JJ exchanged worried looks.
The locals were already on edge about a Death tarot card being left at a previous crime scene after the BAU arrived. To have to confirm a civilian was killed and a cop shot because of their presence would raise the anger significantly.
Emily inwardly groaned as she saw their seeming disbelief. She couldn't let this go now. It was too important. After taking a deep breath, she stated somewhat more clearly, "He had no ID on him. He waited until we caught up to him. He was strangely calm, it's almost like suicide by cop."
"Why? Why would he do that?" Morgan asked in disbelief.
Emily sighed,"I don't know. Maybe to make us think everything was finished."
Hotch and Dave exchanged a look over the heads of the others. A look that Emily didn't miss and finally let herself relax that they at least had understood what she was trying to say as she really didn't have anything else she could offer other than to just come out and label it terrorism.
However right now was not the right place or time to make that declaration. There were too many people around and emotions were too high to unilaterally mention something that would undoubtedly cause more panic.
Hotch and Dave both nodded at her as she prepared to travel back to HQ with the others. Meanwhile, as Hotch and Dave walked over in the direction of where the shooter was still lying, Hotch stated, "we need to walk back through this profile."
Dave nodded as they profiled the scene in front of them answering, "this is not good."
Dave turns to see Kate and some other officials that had walked up near them, "what isn't good?
Hotch nodded at Dave before replying, "we think we might have a serious problem."
"What is it?" one of the officials asked, hoping the profilers had an answer to this escalation of the UNSUB by shooting a cop.
Dave took a deep breath before reviewing all the information that they knew, "we have multiple unsubs. They are disciplined. They are using counter-surveillance. They know FBI movements. There's a hierarchy. What does that usually equal?"
Hotch sighed and gave the one word answer that none of them wanted to be true, "terrorism"
The group looked at each other in shock that quickly turned to renewed determination. After a brief discussion as they acknowledged that this wasn't the right place for the discussion they now needed to have everyone agreed to meet back at HQ. Now that they had a better idea of what they were dealing with, they needed to try to get ahead of it.
As they moved away Kate's eyes narrowed as she focused on Emily who was surrounded by the other members of the BAU team as they made their way to an SUV.
What had she said to Aaron? How had she made the break in the case that Kate had been unable to despite working on it for days nonstop?
This revelation was certainly going to jeopardize her job when the higher ups found out regardless of what happened from here. Part of the reason exceptions had been made for her to be hired for this post was her experience with counterterrorism.
And now the BAU, which don't usually handle counterterrorism case is in for two days and all the sudden a member of their team broke that terror was a factor in this case. No, that wasn't going to look good for her. Nevermind that Emily Prentiss had worked within counterterrorism. However that wouldn't be acknowledged as it wasn't in her official file. And she wasn't going to let Emily Prentiss get away with jeopardizing her job.
####
When they had arrived back at HQ, Kate had pushed to reestablish control over the case. She knew she needed to be seen as a leader as they came closer to figuring out what was behind these shootings. She would not let the BAU be seen as being the ones who solved this case. Even Aaron Hotchner. She needed this win, her future in her position depended on it.
Fortunately for her, Aaron had stayed in the role of supporting her as the Agent in Charge of this case. And his team had surprisingly fallen in line. She had put forth an approach to terrorism called 'Lo-Fi' that limited first responders to additional crime scenes to minimize casualties of additional attempts at those scenes.
While the approach made the most sense from a practical standpoint, there was concern among local officials. After meeting with the local police, Hotch had given assignments to the members of his team while he was going to go with Kate to brief local elected officials. She stopped briefly after they took a step outside the building and took a deep breath before leading Aaron over toward the SUV for the trip to City Hall.
As they did, she decided that she had waited long enough to start planting seeds about Emily Prentiss' past. As Emily had annoyingly pointed out, she couldn't reveal classified information. No, she was going to need a few conversations to drop the clues she wanted. With the significant development in the case, she decided that the BAU's time here was limited so she needed to start now.
####
Hotch walked out with Kate to head off to the meeting with local elected officials. His frustration with Kate had grown over the course of the case. Though as he thinks about it the frustration is with himself as well. When they had worked together years earlier when he was a new agent, he had looked up to her, learned from her. Because of her experience and that she prevent him from being killed he had placed her on a pedestal. Then he had vouched for her with his team based on that experience.
But now as he watched her through the eyes of a seasoned agent, he saw the cracks. The politics. Her agenda. Where her priorities now were.
For the last couple of days, he had been asking himself if she had always been like this or like him had she changed over the years to someone he no longer recognized.
Whatever the reason, he couldn't wait to be done with this case. To get his team back to DC and hopefully find a way to heal the rifts that had developed, particularly with Morgan.
But first they needed to solve the case.
As they made their way to the SUV, Kate started making some random comments about Emily. As she did, his thoughts went back to her inquiry about Emily right after they arrived. He realized that unlike with Morgan she hadn't shared why she had an interest in Emily. Then there was the confrontation between them in the break room that had frustrated him, however there was little he could do about it during an active case particularly when Emily hadn't filed a complaint or spoken to him about it.
Turning to Kate, he responded firmly, "Kate right now we need to have all of our focus on this case."
Kate shook her head answering, "but Aaron there are things you should know."
Hotch paused to take a deep breath to calm himself while Kate continued walking. Just as he took a step to follow her, there was a large blast in front of him that lifted him from his feet and everything went blank.