A/N M'kay, i realise this does not answer any questions. And will only prove to confuse you all more and question what you originally thought. But kepp going with it...Things will be resolved. This chapter is just setting up the whole story. lol. p.s. I''e taken some small liberties with Emily's working past. but hey, thats whta famics for right?

It's a flashback, to about a year before Emily moved to LA. She's a negotiator, but hasn't been negotiating long.

Hope you like:D

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3 years earlier

"Jonathon, you need to listen to me" pleaded Emily, listening to the now quiet man on the phone. "Jonathon. Are you there?"
"Listen" was the gruff reply "you don't know what it's like trying to raise a family. You don't know how it feels having everything you love and care for taken away, okay!"

"Your right Jonathon" agreed Emily "But hurting your wife and daughter, that's going to hurt you a lot more than anything you've gone through yet" she said calmly, hoping to reach the man on some level.

Jonathon Thompson, high class business man with quite an amount of wealth, had taken his wife and young daughter hostage earlier that morning. Emily had been one of the first on the scene, only living a few streets away, and had taken up primary before her partner even arrived. 2 hours and many phone calls later she was still there, trying to defuse a human time bomb on drugs who was convinced his wife had cheated on him.

"No!" he yelled "you don't know what it's like to find out the people you love have been lying to you for years okay. So don't bloody try and understand it because you can't" he ended, slamming the phone down.

Emily sat back in her seat, closing her eyes momentarily to find some peace amongst the chaos.
"Emily" called her boss "we aren't getting anywhere with him"

"No" pleaded Emily "just five more minutes"

"Emily" sighed her boss "you've been speaking to him for 2 hours without getting any where. Any other time I would allow you to continue, but there's a child in there. We can't risk her life"

Emily's head dropped in defeat. Her boss was right, he was always right she thought grimly.

"Fine then" she relinquished. "Send them in"

"Good" nodded her boss "Malcolm get me the two ways" he called, ready to send tactical in.

"Here ya go" replied the young intern. "Anything else you need sir?" He asked eagerly. It was his first negotiation and he was trying to make a good impression.

Emily's boss smiled sharply in return. "No, I'm good Malcolm, though coffee would be nice" he added in as an after thought. Got to love interns he thought, smiling ruthfully.

His smile faded quickly as two clear shots rang out through the air.

Scrams of 'down!' filled the air as everyone hit the ground on instinct.

"Sh" muttered Emily.

"We have a hostage down, I repeat hostage down" came the hurried voice over the two ways.

"Do we know who?" asked Emily's boss, clambering for the radio.

'Not the girl' pleaded Emily 'anyone but the girl'

"Ahh" came the crackled reply "the wife sir"

Emily let out a quick sigh of relief before reality set in. She had lost a hostage, her first one. She could hear her boss sending tactical into the building, could hear the sounds of sirens as more police and ambulances filled the scene. She could hear the crowd wailing and yelling for information while others tried to keep them back. She could hear all of it and it made her feel sick.

"We have a problem sir" came the voice of the tactical leader a few minutes later.

"What do you mean we have a problem?" asked Emily's boss, frustration evident in his voice. No one liked losing a hostage.

"He's got a gun to himself. Telling us he's going to shoot if we come closer" was the reply.

"Dammit" sighed Emily's boss, running a hand through his short hair "Okay tell everyone to back off" he ordered gruffly.

"Guess your back on" he added, turning to Emily.

Emily stood in front of him, still slightly shell shocked by the day's events.

"Sir I don't know if I can" she blurted out.

"What?" he asked.

"I mean" she sighed, trying to understand herself "I think I'm too far in on this one. Max can take over" she decided, gesturing to her partner.

"Your sure about this?" asked her Boss.

"Yes" she nodded "Jonathon's angry enough at me as it is. I don't want anything to happen because of that"

"Okay then" nodded her boss. In all truth he was proud of her for admitting she was too far in. It just meant they had to practically start negotiations again, letting Max and Jonathon, get to know each other almost.

Emily sat back as her partner Max took over negotiation. He was more than capable of handling the situation, yet Emily still felt uneasy watching him talk. She had started this and she felt the overwhelming responsibility to end it.

"Emily" called her boss, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Your phone" he answered, nodding towards the vibrating mobile laying beside her.

Emily flipped open the device, wondering momentarily who on earth would be calling her. Her parents never did, her brother was at work, her friends knew not to call when she was at work, and as far as she could remember she had broken up with Pete last week, unless for some reason the man could not understand a slammed door. 'Though' she pondered 'there was every possibility he did not'

"Hello" asked Emily, hoping it was not important. She wasn't supposed to be on the phone during a negotiation for any reason other than life or death. And she highly doubted this was either of those.

"Mama" came the sobbed reply.

Emily sat back in confusion.

"Who is this? She asked softly, no wanting to upset the obviously distressed child on the phone.

A soft cry of mama was her only reply.

"No sweetie, this is Emily" she soothed. She looked over at the negotiation board, skimming down to the information on the daughter.

"Sybella, is that you?" she asked softly.

"Yes" came the muffled reply "Where's my mama?" sobbed the small child.

'She'd be no older than four' thought Emily with disgust. That young and she had had her mother taken from her by her father's gun, and was most likely about to lose him as well.

"Sybella, sweetheart, I need you to listen to me, okay?" asked Emily." Where are you?"

"My room" sniffled the young girl. "Dad told me to go there when mama fell"

"Okay then, How did you get my phone number sweetheart?" was her second question.

"Dad's phone said it. I didn't mean to ring" answered Sybella quickly, fear rising in her voice.

"Its okay sweetie" soothed Emily "I'm glad you called me"

"Emily" whispered Sybella "When can I come out and see my mama?" she asked, sniffling back the tears.

"Oh sweetie" sighed Emily, her heart breaking for the young girl on the other end of the phone "Soon, I promise" she replied. She thought about the weight of what she had said. She had no way of promising she would be out soon, or that her father would be alive, or that she would see her mother. She couldn't even promise if she would get out at all realised Emily, though she pushed that to the back of her mind. She couldn't bear the thought of such a young soul being stolen that way.

"Emily" sniffled Sybella

"Yeah sweetie" she prompted

"Don't go" was the whispered reply "I'm scared"

"I won't go sweetheart" whispered Emily in return.

She would make sure Sybella felt safe among the chaos.