Chapter 1
Sipping her mug of coffee as she started reading her second file of the day, sitting behind her desk in the bullpen. Watching Reid stirring his coffee to death as he reads the horrific police report looking like he was reading one of his favourite graphic novels. Morgan was flirting as usual with the new girl from the pastry cart in front of the building. Who brought him his favourite danish each morning.
" briefing room team, we have a case," announces Hotch as he leaves Rossi's office with his friend in tow
Emily watched as her old team collected their iPads and walked into the conference room for the team brief. JJ strolled along the catwalk; Emily looked down away from the piercing blue eyes trying to burn a hole in her chest. The smile missing from her ex-girlfriend's face since that night six months ago, Emily suddenly told her soul mate, " this isn't working for me, Jennifer. Let's stay friends." Emily emotionally told Jennifer, her girlfriend of five years.
Jennifer hadn't taken the break up very well. Subsequently, Emily had been subjected to a tirade of profanity followed almost immediately by a furious Penelope Garcia on the phone, threatening to send her credit into the toilet. A threat she gladly completed overnight. Penelope had gone all psycho on Emily. It had taken her weeks to restore the damage she had done for 'ripping her friend's heart out.'
With her concentration broken, Emily walked to the kitchenette to make herself a fresh coffee. She added the cream and started to daydream whilst she slowly stirred the contents of her mug
Flashback six months ago, Strauss's office
Taking a long slow, steadying breath, Emily Prentiss knocked on her section chief Erin Strauss's door.
'Come', she heard through the door
Emily entered the office and walked toward her desk
"SSA Prentiss, what can I do for you?" she asked the woman she hated the most in the BAU. Emily had refused to spy on Hotch and her team. Emily refused to give her anything foiling her plan to break Hotchner's team-up.
Handing over her request form, she sat down, waiting for her to read the request.
Strauss rereads the request twice to make sure what she initially reads is indeed correct. She slowly looked up at Emily
"You mean you want to leave SSA Hotchner's BAU team with immediate effect?" asked a puzzled woman
"Yes, Ma'am, I have just broken up with my long time girlfriend and feel I can no longer function on the same team. As I ended our relationship, I think it is only fair to move. I would be happy to work in the bullpen; I know you're short of experienced agents." Emily tells a visually shocked Strauss
"Have you told your unit chief?" asked a curious woman
Shaking her head, "no, Ma'am, he would have tried to talk me out of my decision to the team's detriment. That's why I am going over his head to you." answered a very serious profiler.
She was sitting quietly as she mulled things over in her head. A devious smile appears on her face. " agreed with immediate effect. I think you can stay at your current desk save you moving everything over a few desks." Strauss thought she could rub the entire team's nose in things looking at Emily still sitting at her desk
Standing Strauss indicated for Emily to follow. Strauss walked with a new swagger as she headed to break the great news to her nemesis. He might be her subordinate, but he always seemed to ride a rough shot over her plans all the time, but today the first tiny hole in his special team had opened up without her meddling.
" Today is indeed a great day to gloat." a happy section chief said to herself
Walking straight into Hotch's office without knocking, knowing he hated it
"SSA Hotchner, Prentiss has been withdrawn from your team with immediate effect." a very smug Strauss told her unit chief
" I will not allow you to break my team-up," Hotch warned her
"Prentiss requested to be removed herself." Strauss smugly told him
He turned to look at Emily with a what the hell look on his face.
" I couldn't stay after finishing with Jennifer; it's not fair on her. I went above your head to stop you from saying no." Emily answered.
EJ
"Tell me it's not true?" demanded an annoyed Derek Morgan. As he walked across to Emily's desk
Not meeting his angry eyes, Emily just nodded her confirmation.
"You won't even look me in my eyes, partner? Is that it after ten years of kicking down doors together?" Morgan asked, getting angrier
Fortunately for Emily, the team got a case. Taking out her cell phone, she typed a quick text message
Jareau - completed as instructed. bastard
BAU - completed as instructed
Please don't hurt anyone; I'm doing as instructed. Hurt me if you need to.
Once she had gotten the read receipt, she picked her Go-bag up and went home
EJ
End flashback
Realising she had zoned out, Emily picked her now lukewarm coffee up and returned to her paper consults. Kevin Lynch, the replacement for Penelope Garcia after she had been arrested four months ago, placed some search results on her desk and walked away without uttering a single word. People on the BAU floor only spoke to Emily if necessary after she was responsible for Garcia going to prison for illegally hacking her life in revenge for breaking up with JJ.
Emily hid it well as she had been taught as a child by her mother, but she had never felt this alone in her entire life, not even as an American child in various foreign schools. Six months ago, her life was beautiful about to ask Jennifer to marry her, then that damn skype call turned her world upside down.
Flashback Garcia
Placing her wine bottle on the counter to pay, Emily handed the cashier her debit card to pay.
"Your card has been declined. Do you have any other form of payment?" asked the embarrassed teenager
A very embarrassed brunette shook her head and quickly walked out of the store. She sat behind the wheel of her mustang when slowly she realised the cause of her sudden financial issues.
"Garcia! Damn you." yelled a hurt brunette
Pulling out her cell phone, she pressed speed dial three only to find her call blocked. Garcia was not accepting her calls.
Garcia was pissed at her for her sudden break-up with Jennifer, her best friend. Deciding it could wait until the morning, " how bad can it get?" she asked herself out loud
She found out ten minutes later when she was laid face down on the road handcuffed by Metro PD. Her number plate had set off a number plate recognition camera on a police cruiser. The officers thought Emily was a wanted drug dealer with a bench warrant.
After three hours in a holding cell, she was finally released after the FBI had confirmed her identity.
Driving home from the police station, she heard her phone beep, indicating she had received a new text message. She sat on her couch, wrapped up in three blankets keeping warm as Garcia had cancelled her utilities. She opened the message to read.
' Emily, you will report Penelope Garcia to Section Chief Strauss and FBI cybercrimes immediately.
You have one hour to fulfil my order; failure to comply with my order in time will have painful consequences '
Emily jumped as her cell phone buzzed, indicating a Skype call; as instructed, Emily answered immediately.
A live video appeared showing Derek Morgans, mother and older sister, pushing a shopping cart around the market.
"Who will it be, Emily youth or experience?" asked the electronic voice.
"Please leave them alone I will do what you want." answered a furious brunette agent.
EJ
She contacted the Assistant Director of cybercrimes and arranged to meet in her office. With a heavy heart, Emily knocked on the door of Dr Avery Ryan and walked in. Spending over an hour with Dr Ryan answering her questions, Emily left feeling ill after what she had just been forced to do. Garcia, at best, would just be sacked from the FBI; at worst, she would go to prison.
Emily realised she was screwed either way; destroying Garcia would protect Derek's family from serious injury. Everyone would hate her on the BAU floor for hurting Penelope.
"Well, old girl, Jennifer hates you and wants to kill you. You have just ripped Penelope out of her perfect job. You are one evil bitch. You're protecting your friends and their families. If you tell yourself that enough, Emily, you might believe it yourself." she repeated to herself, hoping she would eventually believe it.
EJ
The following morning at the 10:00 team meeting, the assistant director of cybercrimes with her agents walked in, interrupting the meeting, arrested Garcia, escorted her out onto the catwalk. She turned and glared at Emily at her desk.
"Happy! Prentiss?" was all she said as she walked away in cuffs
Unbeknownst to Emily, Penelope was going straight to prison for breaking her agreement with the FBI on her unauthorised hacking. The blonde had gotten carried away, forgetting how addictive her old hacking days were. She had hacked Emily's accounts five times and the Metro PD once,
End of Garcia Flashback
Emily could see the broken man sitting behind his desk, absentmindedly flicking pages on the file he wasn't reading. His mind was on his missing wife and son, who disappeared on the way home from kindergarten five months ago with no trace. No ransom had ever been received for Haley or Jack Hotchner. The one fact Hotch was holding on to was no bodies had ever been discovered.
Her heart was breaking for her former friend and boss; she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out the little velvet pouch containing Jennifer's engagement ring and slid the ring onto her little finger, turning the diamond inward-pointing toward her heart. Forced to break up with her soul mate, Emily often wore her engagement ring, enabling her to feel close to the blonde.
Her cell beeped, indicating she had received a new text message
'Don't dawdle on your way home. The Skype call commences at 19:00 sharp don't make me wait, Emily. You know the consequences' read her message
EJ
Emily answered the Skype call immediately, the screen split into three segments. The top segment contained Declan Donaghy, the son of Ian Doyle and Chloe Donaghy, whom Emily had saved whilst undercover and hidden away in the United States with his nanny. Sandy Jareau, JJ's mother, appeared next to Declan on the top row. Haley and Jack Hotchner sat crouching together in the usual dirty room.
The electronically disguised voice started, " Pick one, Emily. Who gets hurt? You didn't follow the rules." chuckled the disguised voice.
"I did everything you told me; this is not fair," she shouted at the TV screen
"Emily, Emily, my train set my rules. For that outburst, you will be punished. Now. Pick!" shouted the metallic voice
The last six months had taken a significant toll on Emily. Her profiler side knew not to antagonise the UnSub, but her life had systematically been taken to pieces by this disembodied voice. It had all started with the death of a 59-year-old welsh lady called Gwen.
Only known to four people, now three with the death of Gwen, Emily Prentiss had a son born in Italy when she was only just turned 17. David Prentiss, now aged 19, suffered from meningitis as a one-year-old resulting in severe brain damage after a late diagnosis and treatment. Gwen and her daughter looked after David's needs around the clock in a purpose-built bungalow outside Washington.
Emily managed to send David and Abigail, Gwen's daughter, away to safety as her FBI gut told her something was not right. Emily's son was safe, but that had just enraged the UnSub. The following day she had seen Hailey and Jack Hotchner tied to a chair with guns to their heads.
From that moment on, she followed her instructions to the letter. Asserting their dominance over her periodically, one of her friends had a minor accident breaking a limb or required stitches.
"Me! Hurt me," answered Emily
" Very well, Emily. Time for a bit of fall down the stairs. Follow the instructions I send to you, or I will choose next time." instructed the metallic voice
Just over an hour after her Skype call, Emily was in the ER after her downstairs neighbours found her at the bottom of a flight of stairs with her left lower leg broken.
EJ
JJ sat waiting for her friend; Garcia smiled as the corrections officer escorted her to the table in the visitor area.
"How are you cupcake?" Garcia asked her sad friend.
"Furious, I spoke to your lawyer this morning. He is hopeful of getting the charges dropped; he needs Prentiss to..." Penelope didn't need to be a profiler to know JJ was still furious at her ex-girlfriend. " drop the charges, but that selfish bitch just refused, telling him you deserve everything your getting for what you did. If I could get away with it, I would kill her for what she's done to you." snarled the furious blonde
" I did this to myself, JJ. I got a little bit carried away with my electronic revenge. I was furious with her, JJ. I let my resentment of that woman who shall not be named take charge." smiled Garcia. "It's not that bad; it needs a few more colours to brighten things."
The two blondes talked until the corrections officer returned to take Garcia back to her cell.
EJ
Emily struggled with the glass doors into the BAU, finding it difficult while using her crutches. Her left leg was encased in a black fibreglass cast up to her knee.
Flashback to Emily's condo last night
Without uttering a single word, Emily let the man and woman into her condo. The brunette woman handed a cell phone to Emily
" Follow their instructions to the letter Emily or I will pick someone to have a nasty car accident like sweet little Elizabeth. How is her broken hip, by the way?" laughed the electronic voice
She just returned the cell phone and waited to be told what to do. To her surprise, she was handed a large glass of tequila. The woman told her to drink it all down in one go. After she repeated the process three more times, Emily was very drunk.
Taking her purse and coat, they escorted Emily to the stairwell and, without warning, pushed her down the first flight. Quickly the male flicked his wrist, opening his metal baton, striking Emily's left shin twice before he heard a satisfying crack.
Satisfied, they quickly walked away, leaving Emily screaming in pain from her broken leg. Emily's downstairs neighbours discovered her and dialled 911
EJ
" This is Emily Prentiss, an FBI agent who was found after falling down a flight of stairs left lower leg broken. She smells of alcohol, admits to drinking heavily after work. Fell while going for more tequila. She keeps asking for us not to inform her supervisor at work." The Paramedic told the ER doctor.
After a complete examination and x-ray, the doctor confirmed that she had broken her tibia and fibula bones in her lower left leg. Being a straightforward fracture, she would be in a cast and protective boot for the next two months.
" Agent Prentiss, I had to inform your supervisor. I'm sorry, it's hospital policy for federal agents." smiled the male nurse as he handed her discharge papers over.
End of flashback.
Her fellow agents stood back and watched her struggle with the door until Erin Strauss held the door open.
"Agent Prentiss, My office, please, I think you know why," Strauss told Emily
"Yes, Ma'am." replied a contrite agent.
She was carefully following Strauss on her crutches to her office. Strauss helped Emily sit on her office couch
"How long have you been drinking heavily, Emily?" asked Strauss with actual concern
"Five months since I split with Jennifer, sorry, Agent Jareau." replied the humiliated brunette, not knowing how much more shame she could take from her metallic UnSub.
"I need your service weapons agent, Prentiss. I will book you in to see the psychologist for substance abuse counselling. I will have all your recent casework evaluated to check it reaches the BAU's high standards. That will be all agent, Prentiss." Strauss dismissed her
Returning carefully to her desk, Emily could see the smirks on her fellow agent's faces. Without warning, JJ pushed Emily to the floor and straddled the surprised brunette agent.
"Bitch! She's dead, and it's all your fault." JJ yelled into Emily's face. The furious blonde grabbed Emily by her lapels, pulling her closer.
An utterly shocked Emily eventually managed, "Who died?" asked Emily carefully
"Penelope!" yelled the furious blonde
"Enough! Agent Jareau. Agent Hotchner, take charge of your agent now." yelled their section chief
"Agent Prentiss, I think under the circumstances, a few days of vacation time might be the best thing," instructed Strauss
TBC