Disclaimer: Same as all other chapters, I own nothing.
Summary: takes place sometime around season 3ish, Emily is still settling into her own life and life at the BAU after years of undercover work, but a case related to her past reminds her that she can never get too comfortable. Emily is super queer, potential jemily explored, past relationships explored. Polyamorous/open relationships described. LGBTQ Relationships described. Mostly it's a heavily Emily focused case fic
The Protector Chapter 4
"You'll tell me all about it when you're ready" she sounds confident and trusting yet the words take Emily back to another time and place. Another identity. Lauren Reynolds sounded just as confident and trusting when she turned her glassy doe eyes on Ian Doyle and made the same sentiment. Trust isn't something she's used to giving or receiving freely. JJ notices the mounting tension in her friend's body and softens the moment with a flirtatious smile "or you'll tell me when I get you drunk and flirt you into spilling all your secrets" Emily can't help but laugh softly. She squeezes the blonde's hand in a silent thanks then finally pulls the car into traffic.
"The first three victims weren't street workers" Morgan gives his report to the team with his usual efficiency, detailing his and Reid's movements throughout the morning "the local PD saw solicitation charges and didn't look much further but the ME report shows they were well taken care of, dental work, cosmetic procedures, and their clothing was high end"
"Can confirm" Garcia pipes up from behind her laptop "they were each connected to online escort services geared to the upper echelons of wealth and power in DC"
"So what were they doing in seedy hotels on the edge of town" JJ asks. Emily watches her team spitballing ideas but stays quiet, even when Hotch turns his stern eyes on her having noticed the change in demeanour since meeting with her ex-husband for breakfast.
"We knew the Unsub likely abducted, killed, and dumped these women in separate locations. Maybe it's a forensic countermeasure" Reid adds. His hands wringing together as his spectacled eyes stay fixated on the board in front of him. It's as if the genius hopes the answer will just jump off the board. Though to be fair it often seems to happen where the young doctor is concerned.
"Do any of the women or the services they work for have connections to Clarke?" Rossi asks. It's directed at Garcia but the rest of the team seems to consider and Hotch confirms he'd like the analyst to look into it.
Emily knows this line of inquiry is a waste of time but she can't bring herself to say so. Somewhere between breakfast and JJ's reassuring hand in hers, and the comfortable quiet of the car ride back to the office, Emily has been set adrift. A younger her would defend Sam, Emily Clarke had doted on her husband and thrown herself into his public image; Lauren Reynolds would use this accusation as a distraction to misdirect and confuse; now Emily Prentiss doesn't owe Sam Clarke a damn thing, and she's falling into Lauren's instinct to hide and manoeuvre. Suddenly the team is looking at her expectantly and she realizes she's stopped listening. She raises an eyebrow at JJ, knowing the blonde will help anchor her back in this room and this identity.
"Sam Clarke seems genuinely concerned about the victims" JJ says, taking the lead on reporting their findings, though Emily can feel Hotch and Rossi's eyes on her. They've noticed something and she knows they won't let it go. "He reported that Jessica Grande was feeling unsafe enough to consider purchasing a hand gun prior to her disappearance"
"Do you think she knew she was being targeted?" Hotch asks, he's directed the question very clearly at Emily and she knows she needs to step up.
"Maybe" she clears her throat when the word comes out roughened by her extended silence. "Sam's having someone send over the hate mail. Jessica staffed him personally as a communications intern which could have made her a target, particularly to a man who's got this much rage for women. She would have been responsible for diverting unwanted attention from Sam or cutting off conversations that went too long"
"What about the name of his secret security love" Garcia asks innocently. Emily smiles at her, a beacon of light and colour in this dark place.
"Ben Simmons" JJ answers, again shielding Emily. "He's extremely nervous about being exposed and I cannot stress enough that no one can know you're looking into him in relation to this"
"Are we sure Sam Clarke isn't our guy" Morgan pushes, his trust issues rival Emily's and she's grateful for his checks and balances. "Guy's got a lot of secrets and a lot of motive, what if he's been using sex workers to explore tougher fantasies and moved to women closer to him when they found out about his male partners?"
"It just doesn't fit" JJ answers firmly "Sam Clarke is distraught by what's happened, he shows clear empathy and was incredibly concerned about the pain Jessica could be in right now. A sadist wouldn't care, wouldn't be able to empathize" she's not a profiler but Emily thinks not for the first time that she'd make an amazing one some day.
"And If he was a sadist in the classic sense I would most certainly know" Emily added "he's never been interested in pain sexually, he's got a few kinks to be sure, but pain isn't one of them" Rossi of all people sniggers at her lame attempt at humour. The meeting breaks up so that their bubbly tech analyst can put her system to work tracking their first three victim's clients, and Ben Simmons. Only Rossi and Morgan linger with Emily in the briefing room. All three still thinking over what they know.
"Those searches won't be easy" Rossi says finally "even for Penelope, there must be some other lead we could follow because Jessica Grande has less than 24 hours left and every minute she's with this guy she's in pain"
"What if we ask to interview the security detail" Morgan asks. "We wouldn't tell them what we're looking for, just ask for their cooperation since their agents are trained to see everything and they may have seen something that could lead us to our unsub"
"We could try" Emily concedes. "The request should go through Hotch but I've got a contact over there. like I've said before though, secret service can only do its job if their protectants trust them and that means never revealing intimate details about their lives"
"Jessica and Clarissa weren't their protectants though" Rossi reminds them. The older man suddenly stands, his roughened hands running over his salt and pepper goatee as he thinks "we already know they were sleeping with Clarke, it's not exactly the campaign's best kept secret, so anything they divulge to us about Jessica and Clarissa doesn't have to be about Clarke at all" Emily knows it's a stretch but she nods along anyways.
When Rossi rushes out to ask Hotch to request the interview. Emily's eyes settle on her field partner. The more she gets paired with Morgan the more she likes the man. He's intensely focused, first in last out, and she finds she doesn't mind trusting him to have her back while they're chasing down unsubs. She sees doubt in his eyes when he meets her gaze and knows that she's unlikely to ever receive the same kind of trust in return. Morgan knows she's capable and trusts her professionally, but his resistance to taking her word about Sam Clarke proves that his trust ends once the buildings are clear and the unsubs are handcuffed.
"I never took you for the marrying type" he says with a small grin. She laughs with him.
"I'm not" Emily insists. She doesn't know how to explain herself and decides she doesn't have to anyways. Morgan leans forward and places his elbows on his knees while he watches her closely.
"I had Garcia quietly pull what she could about yours and Sam's marriage" he reveals, Emily shifts uncomfortably in her seat as anxiety pushes into her chest. "Guy like that has a lot of ink devoted to his public persona, and I found an article about how one Mrs Emily Clarke filed for divorce shortly after an incident on a diplomatic mission to Iraq"
"Please don't" Emily whispers around the lump in her throat. "Morgan please, it's not relevant to the case" the agents dark eyes look apologetic even as he pushes her.
"You were taken from the envoy, held for 48 hours, and returned in a prisoner exchange with rebel insurgents" he pauses for a moment as Emily sucks in shaky breaths and wills her hands to stop shaking. "Now, five years later, Sam Clarke has had not one put two more women close to him taken and tortured each for 48 hours. It feels relevant and I just want to give you a chance to tell the team on your own terms." Morgan gives her an empathetic look before he leaves Emily alone at the round table.
In the quiet of the empty room she stops resisting the shaking of her hands, and quickly the quaking overtakes her whole body until she is shivering violently as though standing in a winter snowbank without a coat instead of warm in the BAU offices on a sunny day. Glancing at the clock she gives herself two minutes. For two minutes she will let the adrenaline consume her, and the memories of cold unending water over her face blocking air from her screaming lungs, of electricity seizing her muscles painfully taught as though they may snap, of fists snapping ribs and fracturing her jaw. For two minutes she lets the despair and hopelessness overtake her. When the two minutes are over she blinks rapidly, pulls her shivering limbs close to still them and clenches her chattering teeth. In seconds she dons a mask of careful professionalism and walks out into the bullpen where the team minus Garcia and Morgan are going over possible leads.
"Clarissa and Jessica aren't the only women in Sam's life who've been taken and tortured" she announces, as though she's commenting on the weather. "Just over five years ago, on a diplomatic trip to the Middle East with my husband, I was taken and held for 48 hours until a prisoner exchange got me out" Emily watches this knowledge settle into their faces and turn quickly to concern. She looks away, and blows out a long breath knowing their compassion will only weaken her in this moment. "That is public record, what some may read between the lines is that the US government would never have agreed to a prisoner exchange for some young politicians wife, or even an ambassador's daughter"
"They would only go to that length for an asset" Hotch finished when Emily's voice had trailed off. "Someone reading between the lines may realize that you were gathering intelligence"
"If we were to add paranoia to what we already know about our unsub, it all comes together" Reid jumped in. His speech picking up speed to catch up with the dots his brain was connecting. "If the unsub thinks these women are spies, it explains why the torture is so meticulous. It's not about gratification, it's about extracting information and when they can't give him what he wants, what he thinks they have, he's enraged"
"How does that explain the previous victims?" Rossi jumps in, mentally rearranging the pieces to try and make them fit. As if in answer Morgan rushes in with Garcia teetering on her heels close behind him.
"Before moving to Sam's detail, Ben Simmons was assigned to the Secretary of Defence, who it turns out has quite the taste for high end call-girls. I've connected each of our first three victims to him through - well best not to tell you how at the moment" the analyst looks triumphant as she continues, providing the final pieces to make the picture clearer. "Prior to that, Ben wasn't secret service at all, he worked for the CIA as - get this- an interrogation specialist"
"So he has connections to each victim and very likely the skills needed to abduct and torture" JJ puts it together. "The question is why? What triggers a guy with this much experience and proven loyalty to start killing American citizens in cold blood?"
"That's why" Emily says, the strength of her own voice surprising her. "He's spent his entire adult life professionally suspicious of everyone around him, he's then tasked with the singular mission to protect the men he's been assigned to. You can't just turn off that kind of hyper-vigilance, maybe he started making connections and seeing threats that weren't there"
"With what trigger?" The team goes quiet at Hotch's question as they each turn over the profile in their mind. It's Reid who gets there first.
"He fell in love with Sam Clarke" the young genius offers. The others nod along.
"He was assigned to Sam's detail just over a year ago" Garcia confirms.
"If he became infatuated with Sam he would have dug into everything he could find on him" Morgan says. "He found the story about the incident in Iraq…"
"And read between the lines" Rossi concludes "he realizes Clarke's ex-wife was gathering intelligence and suddenly every women close to the men he's protecting is suspicious"
"So he goes back to the ones he knows from his time with the defence secretary, he would have seen them multiple times over the course of the year he was there. He may have convinced himself they had intelligence he needed or intelligence that would threaten his protectants" Hotch nods along. "It fits".
"The spike in anger directed at Clarissa fits too" Morgan agreed "if he's in love with Sam he may have let jealousy take over, which means we have to find where he's taken Jessica before he loses control again"
The team moves into action now that they've got a solid lead and Emily watches the controlled chaos around her as if she's in a dream. She's painfully aware that this is exactly what Sam had been afraid of. Once Ben became a viable suspect all deals were off. This is tragic but so is the realization that once the press finds out about Ben they'll leave no stone unturned and somehow someday an ambitious tabloid reporter will find the house on the cul-de-sac in Reston. Her heart lurches in her chest at the realization and her mind races for solutions. She should warn him but knows she hasn't permission to do so, and that it could potentially put Sam and others in danger. She's still standing by her desk staring into space when Garcia finds a secluded storage container in Ben's mothers maiden name, and Hotch starts discussing tactical strategy with Morgan. When she turns her head toward the team, she's met with JJ's bright compassionate blue and it's all she needs to spark action.
"Stop" Emily says firmly. "Wait, all of you just a minute" Hotch looks about to argue but he must see something in her face that makes him reconsider. "I want to get Jessica out of there but I want to know how we protect Sam. How do we explain Ben's connection without outing a very public figure's sexuality against his will"
"I don't know if we can, Emily" Hotch says, though his voice has dropped its usual stern tone.
"This will ruin him" Emily pleads "this will end his presidential run and maybe cost him his career" her eyes sting with desperation. "He'll lose everything, and it won't be long before it exposes T…. before the media frenzy that follows puts others at risk" The Unit Chief loses none of his determination but gives Emily a moment of pause.
"JJ and Emily, go to Clarke and work with his team on a strategy to control this story" Hotch finally concedes. "If we can keep the media at bay and classify our investigation maybe we can save them both"
The panic won't leave her even as she follows JJ to a fleet SUV and the blonde takes the wheel. When they arrive at Sam's home Bruno greets them and listens seriously while JJ explains what's happening. As expected the strategist jumps into damage control, happy for JJ's help but his eyes also show worry for the man who's life could well be torn apart in the coming days. He meets Emily's eye and silently nods toward the staircase leading to the second floor. Sam is no-doubt buried in an office somewhere working to avoid the anxiety of giving up one of his secrets that morning.
Emily is surprised to find him in an ornately decorated master bedroom instead. Seated against the headboard in his robe with a few files and a laptop in front of him. He looks worn, older than he had that morning over breakfast. She stops in the doorway and waits for him to notice her. She knows her face tells him what he needs to know when he finally meets her eyes and as his body sags back into the headboard she goes to him. Their bodies curl together automatically, body memory drawing them into a comforting embrace amongst the papers and cell phones and computer on the bed. Emily strokes his hair and hums contentedly when his hands settle low on her hips.
"Ben Simmons is responsible for all 4 murders and the abduction of Jessica Grande" she tells him softly and feels his body shake next to hers. "We think he found out about what happened to me, and read between the lines. He's ex CIA so he knows that the government wouldn't have agreed to a prisoner swap if I wasn't working intelligence. We think he started to see all women close to his protectants with suspicion and his mission to protect drove him to believe he had to find out what they knew and remove the threats. He went back and started with women from his last assignment, then zeroed in on Clarissa and Jessica" Emily let's this all sink in for Sam, feels him shake his head in denial before collapsing into her in despair. She presses her lips into the crown of his head and pulls him closer. "Bruno and JJ are downstairs strategizing to control the story, and the FBI is working to classify our investigation to protect the nature of your connection to Ben. My team are on their way to where we think he's holding Jessica. I should know within the hour if she's alive" Sam nods and pushes his face into her shoulder and they settle into silence while they wait.
Emily takes the time to take in the room, both achingly familiar and yet far away from herself. It smells like him, and the soothing scents of the aromatherapy he uses to relax and meditate. She used to tease him about his gay new age shit, but really she admires his dedication to carving out space to nurture his true self in a world where he wore so many masks. The colours of the room are darker than she ever would have agreed to but comforting and not oppressive. She smiles when she spots an old copy of Les Miserable in French on the bedside. It must be hers, left behind in those foggy desperate days following their return to the states. she wonders if Sam always keeps it close or if he'd brought it out to reminisce when it became clear the world was putting them in each others path once again. She contemplates Sam's weight against her and is beginning to wonder whether he's fallen asleep in her arms when her phone starts to buzz in her jeans pocket. Before she can move for it, Sam's hand is digging into her pants, intimately sure of himself so close to her body, and he hands her the small device. It's Hotch.
"We've got Jessica Grande, she's alive, but there's no sign of Simmons" he reports in clipped tones. "Processing the scene will take a while, when you and JJ are finished there I'd like you to meet Jessica at the hospital" Emily disentangles herself from Sam and confirms the details before hanging up.
"They've got Jessica, she's alive" she tells him
"Thank god" Sam runs his hands over his face in relief. His voice is gruff with disuse.
"There's no sign of Ben though" Emily's voice is apologetic. "I'll make the case to my unit chief that a media release won't help to catch him since he's trained to go to ground. It'll buy time"
"Thank you" he says as he closes the distance between them again, this time pressing a kiss to her brow. She tells him she has to go even as her body lingers against his, tells him what to do if Ben shows up here, promises to check in with him soon. When she finally leaves she sees JJ and Bruno with their heads together finalizing a strategy and tells the media liaison that she'll meet her at the car. Emily reminds herself that she can care for Sam without taking on the weight of his grief, he is more than capable of caring for himself and she's not obligated to stay and comfort him. She is no longer Emily Clarke and while she still loves him in a way, Emily Prentiss has more pressing problems.
Emily is lost in thought when suddenly her world goes dark. A heavy bag blocks out the light of late afternoon and a large muscled body is deftly pulling her into the shadows between two garages on neighbouring properties. She does her best to put up a fight, dropping her weight and kicking her legs but the strong arm around her throat silences any call for help she might make. She can feel herself becoming lightheaded, the dark world under the bag on her head becomes blurry so she does the only thing she can with the consciousness she had left and subtly slips her watch from her wrist. She hopes JJ will find it and know that something's gone terribly wrong then she passes out under her attacker's choke hold.
The next thing Emily knows she's being wrestled into a vehicle of some kind with her arms and legs held painfully immobile with thick zip ties. She hears a deep voice muttering about infiltration and conspiracy and her blood runs cold.
TBC
