Note- Thank you all for reviewing. I'm excited! I started to work on a new Reid/Prentiss mature rated story last night but I have to wait and see if the muse lets me finish it before I start posting. This story (The Zero Hour) is completed on my computer.
The Zero Hour
Reid and Prentiss
February 2011
Chapter Eight
"Hey," Derek said to Emily, when they were alone together after the briefing about Doyle. "When were you planning to clue the team in about this guy?"
"When and if need be. Right now, there's no proof Doyle is even in the States. His letters are postmarked from Canada."
"If he's not around here yet then he's on his way here. You know he's gonna escalate. His letters tell you that. They are our best clue into his thinking right now. We need to see the ones he sent to your other former teammates to see what they reveal too."
"I'll make some calls." She started to walk away.
"Prentiss."
She stiffened and turned back.
Derek said "When you're in trouble, we're all in trouble." His tone was gentle.
"That's the problem," she said, before walking away. She didn't want to cost any of them their lives. She wanted to handle this herself. She always handled everything herself.
Maybe it was time to accept she really didn't have to be so independent and self sufficient. Something about the idea of being vulnerable, appearing weak, a victim the team had to protect made her shut down inside. It triggered something deep in her past...some instinct to not let anyone see her fall apart...and made an internal war within herself.
The only man who saw her show any weakness at all in years had been Spencer. Did he really how meaningful that was to her? How telling.
Did he get how big it was that she went to him and let her wall fall a little bit? But not all the way. She wasn't ready for that yet.
XXXXXXXXX
Reid fumed as he read the threatening letters that Doyle had written Emily. It was while reading and re-reading those letters that Reid came to sense the depths of his growing feelings for her.
It made him see red to know this unsub was out to mess with her mind and ultimately take her life. Never before had Reid wanted to kill anyone with his bare hands but today he did.
Today he wanted Doyle beneath his fingertips. He wanted that man to know that he was dying because he had dared to threaten Emily Prentiss. Dared to try and take her away from this world...from Reid's life.
"Hey, boy genius."
Reid jerked out of his thoughts and looked up at Garcia, as she walked into Rossi's office. Reid was using it to read the letters in solitude. He noticed Garcia was carrying a cup of coffee.
She said "I thought you could use a refill." She passed him the cup.
"Thanks."
"A brick load of sugar, just how you like it." She looked at the letters. "A real sickie, isn't he?"
"He appears to have a narcissistic personality disorder characterisized by a grandiose sense of
self, a serious miscalculation of one's abilities and potential that is often accompanied by fantasies of greatness. In his case he believes the women he was murdering in Russia deserved it and the police interfered with his ridding this world of vermin. He's a cleaner. But now he has changed his M.O. to seek revenge against the people who halted his cleansing rituals. He won't stop till he's arrested, dead or everyone on his hit list has suffered to his satisfaction, either by dying themselves or living with the knowledge that their actions or inactions have caused the death of their loved ones, like Doyle has to live with each day in regards to his wife and children."
"But we're gonna get him before he can hurt our girl, right?"
"She has to let us help her. Why do you think it is that she's resisting involving us? What could she be hiding that is worth her life?"
"Oh, you naive man. It's probably not so deep as a big, bad secret as much as our girl just hates to look weak and in need of help. She's used to being the one who helps people. I remember when I was shot. I knew I needed the team but I didn't want to be seen as a victim. We see those everyday here and there's something demoralizing and uber creepy about becoming the face on the screen yourself."
"But if it saves your life then its necessary."
"Necessary but not easy."
Reid nodded.
XXXXXXXXX
Emily couldn't get a hold of one of the women that used to be on the team with her. Garcia tracked her down living in Boston. But when they spoke to her landlord they found out she had been murdered just days before.
The local police faxed the pictures from the murder. The team gathered in round table room and looked at the photos.
Rossi said "He uses a knife to torture before he kills."
They kept talking about the unsub and growing their profile until Hotch gave them all new assignments to undertake with their research and the meeting ended.
He looked at Emily. "You'll have agents at your apartment until this is over."
"The bureau can't afford that waste of manpower! Besides who knows when this will end? What if I refuse?"
"You can refuse to let them in but they'll be in the hallway in that case." Hotch gave her a stern look and left the room. The rest of the team had already gone, leaving just Reid and Emily.
She groaned. "I hate this!"
"At least you'll be safer now. It has to be hard for you to sleep knowing Doyle wants to hurt you. I know its hard for me to sleep knowing that."
Emily stared at him for a long moment. "I'm sorry I ever dragged you into this, Reid."
"I'm not."
She smiled slightly. "And here I thought you didn't have any game. That was pretty good."
"Game? What game? Are we playing a game?"
She gave him a blank look. "Game, as in men and women who are...you know what? Forget it." She walked away smiling and shaking her head.
Reid smirked a little as he watched her go but his eyes were still laden with concern.