"You seem very ok with all this." Said Emily to Will. They were on a coffee break, no one else was in the break room.
"Do I wish she was home with Henry? Of Course, but this job, this team, means so much to her, I couldn't have stopped her from going. Besides, what would Henry do if his Auntie Emily disappeared again? You mean so much to him." Said Will.
"His mom means more." Said Emily.
"If you had gone in, you'd be dead for sure, it's the same crew you tried to take down last time, you said so yourself. JJ sees you as a sister, we both do. All she's risking right now is a beating, she'd take that over losing you again any day, we all would." Said Will.
"She really sees me as a sister?" asked Emily, before Will could answer someone behind them spoke up.
"She's not the only one." It was Reid.
"Reid, how long have you been standing there?" asked Emily.
"Long enough." Said Reid "Emily you can't blame yourself for what JJ decided to do on her own. She knew that you were at risk, more then she would be, and she decided to risk her life rather than lose you again. That's it, that's all there is to it." finished Red when Morgan poked his head into the break room.
"He's right Princess, it was JJ's choice, she made it, and she can take care of herself. Now come on, y'all need to hear this." Said Morgan before leaving, everyone dutifully followed out. Emily was the last to leave, when she did Morgan pulled her close and kissed her.
"You don't have to do everything you know, JJ's fine." Said Morgan.
"I know." Said Emily before giving Derek a soft smile and grabbing his hand, together they walked into the conference room.
"What's happening?" asked Emily.
"JJ's getting her punishment for fighting earlier. We wanted you to hear what the Unsubs are saying, particularly since it's in Greek." Said Hotch with a pointed look at Emily.
"You speak Greek?" asked Morgan, Emily nodded.
"I spent a couple years in the islands. Play it." said Emily. Garcia re winded the tape from her office in Quantico "It isn't pretty" she said before pressing play.
The team went silent as they listened, after a minute Emily began to translate what was said.
"There not really saying anything, just throwing in random words like 'baseball', 'tiger'' and 'swimming'." Began Emily.
"Then why talk at all?" asked Morgan.
"It's a scare tactic, if the victim doesn't know what's being said he/she becomes scared because they don't know what's gonna happen to them." Explained Reid. Suddenly Emily froze, a horrified expression on her face for only a moment, but long enough for the rest of the team to notice.
"Garcia!" said Emily hurriedly.
"What do you need?" asked Garcia.
"Erase all of JJ's files from the FBI and any law enforcement databases, everything." Said Emily
"Why what's going on?" asked Rossi.
"Done! I backed everything up on my computer where no one can find it so I can put it back later." Said Garcia.
"Prentiss what is going on?" asked Hotch.
"They snapped her picture and are going to run it through a new computer program they have. They said that they couldn't take any chances after the last time." Said Emily.
"When you were undercover" said Morgan a=in realization. A few tense moments later Emily breathed a sigh in relief.
"It worked, she's safe, good job Garcia." Said Emily.
"Not a problem, Raven. Anything else I can do for our gumdrop?" asked Garcia. No one answered her at first, the team listened as JJ was roughly shoved into a room.
"There's nothing we can do for her. She'll be kept in isolation, away from the rest of girls and she won't be put up for sale until all the bruises fade so she just bought herself a week." Said Emily.
"What kind of evidence does she need?" asked Reid.
"Something tangible, I called my old team in when I found heroin. She's gonna need to find something like that. The girls will be too scared to testify and JJ can't because it will destroy her cover." Said Emily.
"Does JJ know what she's looking for?" asked Hotch.
"Yeah we discussed it." said Emily.
"Alright, there's nothing we can do, everyone get some rest, that goes for you too Garcia." Said Hotch.
"I'm already at my car, buh-bye!" said Garcia before hanging up.
"Will you can get a room in the same hotel as us, we'll put it on the Bureau tab." Said Hotch.
"Sounds good to me" said Will.
A week later JJ was let out of isolation and placed back with the other girls.
"That was stupid, you shouldn't fight them." Said Melissa.
"I beg to differ, if you don't fight then how will you survive?" asked JJ.
"If you fight again they will kill you, it's happened before." Said Melissa.
"That mass grave that the police discovered a few weeks ago…" said JJ, Melissa nodded.
"They told you that they killed those girls?" asked JJ.
"They didn't have to. They showed us the news coverage to scare us. Told us that that's what happens when you step out of line." Said Melissa.
The team was just walking into the station when Garcia called Morgan.
-Who's the best girl in the world? Asked Garcia.
"Uh that would be you, Babygirl, if you have something for me." Answered Morgan.
-Put me on speaker. Said Garcia.
"What do you say?" said Morgan.
-Please! Said Garcia.
"Are you going to behave?" asked Morgan.
- Said Garcia.
"Are you going to behave?" asked Morgan.
-Yes said Garcia after a moment.
"Alright you got the team and the officers with you." Said Morgan after he put the phone on speaker.
-Finally! I found something big! Said Garcia.
"What?" asked Hotch.
-so I took the liberty of having a different ME examine all the bodies. So the girls were strangled with the Unsubs' bare hands. They were squeezed so hard they left a fingerprint. Said Garcia.
"How did the other ME miss that?" asked Morgan.
"We really had fingerprints the whole time?" asked Rissi.
-Well, thumbprints, but yes! Five different ones in total. Said Garcia.
"Garcia run the prints, see if you get a match-." Said Hotch.
-already done. There were no matches. Said Garcias
"And find out who did the autopsy and missed the prints" finished Hotch.
-ok?
"The ME was Bobby Lanhart and he's been doing autopsies for 30 years. Are you implying that he doesn't know how to do his job?" Said one of the Officers.
"I'm not implying anything." Said Hotch.
"Hotch!" exclaimed Emily. Hotch looked at Emily.
"Everybody makes mistakes, we don't need to get this guy fired over a small one. The even if we had them earlier, the prints wouldn't have helped us and JJ would have still gone in." said Emily.
"We don't know that for sure." Said Hotch.
"And we never will, so we should just move on." Said Morgan.
"Looks like this team needs to sort out some issues, let's go on a lunch break guys." Said the lead detective, all the locals filed out.
"Aaron I think you need to take a break. You're too stressed out" Suggested Rossi.
"I'm fine" said Hotch.
"Aaron, get some fresh air and call your son." Said Rossi forcefully, going over and holding the door open for him.
"No, we need to get JJ out of there." Said Hotch. There were a few tense moments before Rossi nodded and shut the door.
"Well it'll be at least an hour before they get back." Said Morgan, indicating the officers.
"Now that we have the finger prints, can we get JJ out of there yet?"
"No we don't have enough evidence which will stand up in court, it's not even enough to get a warrant" Said Hotch. Suddenly JJ's voice came through the comms unit they had set up.
-Guys I think I found something she said, the whole team froze and listened to her next sentence I think it's heroin finished JJ.
"What are the odds she finds the same thing you did?" asked Morgan, Emily shrugged.
"I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Said Emily.
"I'm pretty sure that's enough to go in" said Will
"It is, but we have to get as many girls as we can out first, one by one otherwise they'll all be killed once the Unsubs realize what's going on." Said Emily.
"How many girls can we get out before they stop selling?" asked Rossi.
"Only a couple" said Emily.
"Let's get JJ out first" said Reid. Emily nodded in agreement.
"That's the best way, if only so the girls will get to see a familiar face when they get out, so they won't be scared." Said Emily.
"But won't JJ fight again?" asked Morgan.
"No, we discussed every possibility. She knows not to fight now." said Emily.
"We should call the Officers, at least tell them what we are doing." Said Reid. Hotch nodded and dialed the lead detectives cell phone.
-Brown answered the officer.
"It's Agent Hotchner, we have some new developments so I will put you on speaker." Said Hotch.
After Emily had acquainted the Detective Brown with what JJ had found and their plan, Detective Brown had a question.
-Excuse me, but you said that you've done this before and it didn't work, what makes you think that it'll work this time? Asked Brown, his voice held a lot of contempt.
"Do you have a problem with what Agent Prentiss is suggesting?" asked Morgan.
"Morgan, it's ok. I was rude, I should've asked if you had any suggestions, since you know more about this area then I do." Said Emily. Brown didn't respond, there were a few moments of silence before he grudgingly said.
"I don't know." Said Brown.
"Ok, moving on. Will, I assume that you wanna be the one to get JJ?" asked Emily, pulling out her cell phone.
"Yeah, how does it happen?" asked Will.
"They're waiting for you at a motel about thirty miles from here. They'll pick you up, put a bag over your head and take you to where they're keeping her, it will cost you anything from three to five hundred dollars." Said Emily.
"We can use Bureau funds, I already withdrew some before we left Washington." Said Hotch.
"Alright I'll be back soon" said Will before he left.
"Good luck." Called Reid after him. Will waived his hand in acknowledgement.
JJ jumped when the sirens sounded again.
"Let's go!" shouted the man. All the girls stood as one and lined up obediently. No one said a word. They were each given a number as they walked into what's known as the bidding room. After a few minutes, a door to their right opened and one of the Unsubs, Lizard, led a man into the room. The man had a sack over his head, JJ gasped lightly when it was taken off, thankfully no one heard her.
"Well, here is your selection sir, feel free to walk among and inspect them at your leisure." Said Lizard.
"Thank you" said Will, who proceeded to make a show of inspecting all the girls. After a few minutes he stopped in front of JJ.
"You're a beautiful thing to behold." Said Will. Lizard stepped in.
"Anastasia is beautiful yes, but we are having trouble controlling her temper, perhaps Michaela instead?" suggested Lizard.
"No, I like a challenge, I'll take Anastasia." Said Will.
"Very well sir, let me get someone to drive to your motel." Said Lizard.
"Thank you" said Will, Lizard nodded and led the rest of the girls out of the room. In less than a minute Will and JJ were alone. Will opened his mouth to speak but JJ shook her head slightly. JJ knew that there were hidden cameras everywhere, they couldn't risk even the smallest conversation. A minute later a different man, Snake, came in and put sacks over their heads and led them out of the room and into a van. It was a good hour before the van stopped at the motel. Snake came into the back and took the sack off of their heads and handed a piece of paper to Will. Will jumped out of the van, JJ following behind. Snake got back in the driver's seat and stuck his head out the window.
"Call that number when you're done, I'll be back to pick her up in two hours if you don't call." Said Snake before driving away. Will waited until the van disappeared around the corner, as soon as it did Will pulled JJ in and kissed her.
"Are you ok?" he asked when they broke apart, JJ nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. Will pulled her back in for a hug while pulling out his cell phone and calling the team.
"I need to talk to Emily." said JJ, Will nodded and handed her the phone, kissing her on the top of the head.
Emily was alone in the conference room when her cell rang, she looked at the caller ID and immediately answered.
"Will! Is everything ok?" asked Emily.
-Em? It's me. We're ok, I just have to ask you something.
"Thank God. What do you wanna know?" asked Emily.
-Was it them? Asked JJ.
"Yes, it was" said Emily with a sigh,
-So you would've been killed. Said JJ.
"Yes" answered Emily. There were a few tense seconds before JJ spoke again.
-My second question is, rather than just disappearing, would it be better if we made it look like I attacked Will and ran? Asked JJ
"JJ the two of you should just get out of there." Said Emily.
-That doesn't answer my question. Said JJ, Emily sighed.
"Put me on speaker, please, I'll do the same the team just got in here." Said Emily before taking the phone off her ear.
"We Have JJ and Will" said Emily.
"Are they ok?" asked Morgan.
"Yeah, but JJ has a different plan." Said Emily.
"What is it?" asked Hotch.
-What if we make it look like I ran off. Like will told me to tie him up and after I do so I steal his keys and car….and wallet. said JJ.
"Admittedly it could work." Said Emly.
"Will what do you think? Since it involves you being at the mercy of the Unsubs." Said Reid.
"They won't hurt you, you're a client who could spread word about being mistreated." Said Emily.
-I think it's a good plan. Said Will.
"Just in case you need a ride I'll swing by in a few hours, when is the guy supposed to back to pick up JJ?" asked Rossi.
-Around one, and thanks. So we all good? Asked Will.
"Yeah, go ahead with the plan guys." Said Hotch.
-Ok, thanks Hotch said JJ.
"Glad you're safe JJ." Answered Hotch before hanging up the phone.
A little while later JJ walked into the station and was immediately greeted by Emily.
"Oh I'm so glad you're ok!" said Emily, rushing forward to give JJ a hug.
"Me too." Said JJ.
"Come on. Let's get you to the hotel so you can shower and get a change of clothes." Said Emily.
"God bless" said JJ. Emily laughed and the two left the station.
At one o'clock on the dot. Snake came back to pick up JJ. He noticed that the client's truck was gone so he used his key to unlock the door, expecting his bitch to be locked inside like the client was instructed to do. Instead he found his client half naked and tied to the bed, a gag in his mouth.
"Shit!" cursed Snake as he went to untie Will.
"What happened?" asked Snake.
"I asked her to tie me up but once she did she stole my key's, wallet and truck." Said Will, as he put his shirt back on.
"Dammit. I guess I didn't beat her hard enough" Said Snake before he left. Will followed after him, anger coursing through his body.
"Hey! Aren't you gonna give me my money back? I didn't get any services!" shouted Will angrily.
"Shut it you idiot! No refunds!" said Snake, his face inches from Will. Will took the opportunity and punched Snake in the face.
Rossi watched from his car as the two men fought. Will won easily, Rossi watched as Will took something out of the man's pocket and jogged over to Rossi's car once he saw it.
"The bastard's unconscious." Said Will when he stepped in.
"I didn't realize that part of the plan involved you kicking some guys ass." Said Rossi as he started up the car.
"It wasn't until I learned that he's the one who beat up JJ. I got the money back too" Said Will, showing Rossi a couple hundred bucks.
"Well done" said Rossi.
"JJ got back safe right?" asked Will.
"Yes, she and Prentiss went back to the hotel so JJ could clean up." Said Rossi, Will nodded.
"So what now?" asked Will.
"Morgan's lined up to go buy someone tomorrow, me the day after assuming all goes well." Said Rossi.
"Alright then." said Will.
"Do you wanna go to the hotel and clean up?" asked Rossi, noting how Will's face was covered in blood from his nose.
"I'll clean up back at the station." Said Will, shaking his head.
"Ok, try not to get any blood in this car, it's new." Said Rossi, handing Will a few napkins. Will accepted them and put them on his nose.
"I'll do my best." Answered Will.
The whole team was waiting in the conference room when Rossi walked in.
"Where's Will?" asked JJ.
"Bathroom." Answered Rossi.
"Rossi. What happened is he ok?" asked JJ.
"I think he should answer that question." Said Rossi as Will walked in.
"Will! What did you do?" asked JJ as she got up and looked closely at Will's bruised face.
"I'm fine. Why didn't you tell me that that bastard was the one who beat you up?" asked Will.
"You never asked. Did you fight him?" asked JJ, Will nodded.
"How did you manage that without blowing her cover?" asked Morgan.
"I pretended it was over the money that I paid him for JJ, I got it back by the way." Said Will, throwing the bills on the table.
"Who won?" asked Reid.
"I'd say Will considering the bastard was unconscious when we left." Said Rossi nonchalantly.
"Nice job." Said Morgan.
"Thanks" said Will.
"You knocked a man unconscious because he beat me up." Said JJ.
"Exactly, the bastard deserved every punch." Said Will.
"Hey Em do you remember t9he guy who beat you up?" asked Morgan.
"Derek that was years ago." Said Emily.
"So?" asked Morgan.
"So, it doesn't matter anymore." Said Emily.
"That doesn't answer my question." Said Morgan.
"I'm not going to answer your question because I don't need you to go beat him up for me, I plan on doing that myself if I run into him when we go in." said Emily.
"Fair enough." Said Morgan, shrugging. Suddenly Emily's phone buzzed in her back pocket.
"It's Clyde" said Emily before answering, Clyde had been her liaison throughout the whole case.
"Morgan your appointment's been cancelled, they're shutting it down and moving. We have to go in now otherwise we'll lose them for good." Said Emily when she hung up the phone.
"Alright, let's move." Said Hotch. The team got ready to go.
"JJ go back to the hotel and get some rest, we can't blow your cover." Said Hotch, JJ nodded and gave Will a hug.
"Good luck" said JJ as they left.
Reid, Emily and Morgan were in the same SUV, following behind the others headed to the warehouse.
"Remind me again why JJ still needs to keep her cover? She's out of there now, why does it matter?" asked Reid.
"It's an insurance policy, just in case not everyone is at the warehouse or some escape. If JJ's with us they'll know who the mole was and they'll hunt her down. it's better if they don't know." Said Emily.
"How was your cover blown?" asked Reid.
"Clyde was an idiot, he took the team and barged in before I was out, and then he handed me back my gun and badge in front of everyone. As I said earlier a few of the men escaped. A month later I was undercover trying to get intel off Ian Doyle." Said Emily.
"Wait so the guys who escaped, did they ever find you?" asked Morgan, Emily nodded.
"While I was with Doyle, by then Doyle considered me his property, when he noticed a guy from the crew following me I acted all scared and claimed that he was a crazy ex-boyfriend who wouldn't leave me alone. The next day the tail was gone." Said Emily.
"What happened to him?" asked Reid.
"I had Clyde do a search when I got back, his body was discovered inside a car which had crashed into a nearby lake. Autopsy found a bunch of alcohol in his system, the death was ruled an accident." Said Emily. By then they had arrived in front of the warehouse.
"We need to make a soft entrance, try not to let them know we're here until the last second if possible." Said Hotch, the whole group nodded and began to walk swiftly towards the entrance of the warehouse.
Inside the warehouse, the teams split up immediately. The warehouse is single story with several rooms but no windows that they could see. The team and a small group of officers cleared the rooms in pairs; Hotch and Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss, and Reid and Will. They knew that they couldn't wait for the officers to finish their lunch, so Hotch left a message on Brown's cell since he had evidently turned it off.
A few minutes later, Morgan and Prentiss reached the last room.
"Ready?" asked Morgan, his hand on the knob, Emily nodded.
"One…two…three" said Morgan softly, he pulled open the door on three. Emily went in first, Morgan following close behind. They found the girls huddled in a corner and crying.
"It's ok, we're FBI, where are your captors?" asked Emily. One girl pointed to a door that leads to an adjoining room.
"Guys we got 'em, last room on the left, girls are in there and according to them the Unsubs are in an adjoining room.
"We'll be right back, don't be afraid, we're gonna get you out of here." Said Emily as she and Morgan moved to the door. Morgan opened it on three again and Emily walked in first, Morgan following immediately behind. They found a group of men of playing poker.
"Freeze! Put your hands where I can see 'em!" shouted Morgan. There was a gun on the table, one of the men moved to grab it.
"Don't even think about it." warned Emily, she recognized every man in that room, the one who reached for the gun was the same man who beat her up those years ago.
"You!" shouted the man angrily.
"Me." Said Emily calmly.
"Em?" asked Morgan.
"Yeah." Said Emily, Morgan nodded. The guy charged and swung at Emily, who blocked it and hit him in the stomach. The fighting continued as Morgan moved around and spoke to the other men.
"Move and you get a bullet in your chest, now keep your hands in the air." There were three other crew members in the room. He didn't have enough cuffs for them, but he did have enough flexicuffs. The men wisely stayed quiet.
"You have a right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you. You have a right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand your rights?" asked Morgan as he cuffed them, each man nodded.
Emily grunted as she got thrown up against the wall. She knew this guy was big and stupid; she had to fake him out. Emily feigned left and instead went to his right side, flipping him over and onto his stomach. She cuffed him and read him his rights, standing and pulling him up with her.
"You alright Em?" asked Morgan, looking for any signs of blood on her body.
"I'm fine" said Emily with a small smile, when she saw Morgan's expression she amended her statement "I might need some ice though" said Emily.
"We'll get you some when we get back to the station." Said Morgan just as everybody else filed into the room. Hotch took one look at the unsub that Emily was holding and gave Emily a questioning look, noting the blood slowly dripping out of her nose and her scraped knuckles.
"It was self-defense, he swung first." Said Emily, Hotch nodded.
"Have you read them their rights?" asked Rossi, Morgan nodded.
"Are you ok Emily?" asked Will, Emily nodded.
"I'm just ready to get home" said Emily as the team filed out, bringing the Unsubs with them.
"You and me both" said Morgan.
Hours later, after having interrogated each member and gotten each girl somewhere safe for the night, the team was boarding the jet back to Washington. Everyone but the leader who got beaten up by Emily, Josh Campbell, and his associate, the one who Will beat up, Robert Turner refused to give confessions. But the other two men gave the cops everything they needed to know to put the ringleaders in jail for life with no opportunity for parole, the two who pled guilty only got thirty years with option for parole in twenty. Which means they would be about sixty years old when they got out. The team chose seats on the jets, Emily lying down on the couch, an ice pack under her lower back. Derek sat near her. JJ, Will and Reid sat around one table, Reid pulled out a deck of cards. Hotch sat in the back of the jet, Rossi joined him.
"Spill" said Rossi.
"About what?" asked Hotch, staring out the window.
"Whatever has you so distracted that you can't do your job, is Jack ok?" asked Rossi.
"Jack's fine" said Hotch.
"Is it Beth?" asked Rossi.
"I wanna marry her." Said Hotch.
"That's great! When are you going to ask her?" asked Rossi.
"I was going to the Saturday before we left on this case, but then she told me that she got a job offer on Hong Kong." Said Hotch.
"Is she accepting?" asked Rossi.
"I don't know" said Hotch.
"And you don't want to ask her now because it might look like your just trying to get her to stay." Said Rossi.
"Exactly, I need to wait for her to decide before I ask her." Said Hotch.
"So I assume you have the ring? I hope you didn't use the same diamond from Hailey's ring, I know from experience that women hate that." Said Rossi.
"Yes I bought a ring." Said Hotch.
Morgan and Emily were talking quietly, holding hands.
"How do you feel? Can I get you anything?" asked Morgan.
"Derek, I'm ok. When we get back I can start to pack up my stuff." Said Emily.
"Pack? What do you mean pack?" asked Morgan.
"Well I was only staying with you because of my stalker from the last case, I just didn't have time to pack before this one." Said Emily.
"Just because that case is over doesn't mean that you have to move out. I want you to stay with me." Said Morgan.
"Ok" said Emily.
So um…this chapter is over 4x longer than usual… that's a good thing, right? Just please don't expect chapters this long. This is in part to make up for the long break in between chapters, I hope everyone liked it! please leave a review!
Thanks so much for all the support, I love you guys!
-daughterofathena2
