Ok, you know i love the reviews. I love the support. So keep it up please and here is Chapter 4...
Henry was fast asleep in the cramped closet. The confined space made it really warm and the little boy was starting to sweat. It was obvious that the poor boy was uncomfortable. But his dreams brought him to a peaceful place. He dreamt of mommy and daddy walking with him in the park. He dreamt of Aunt Penny and Uncle Derek buying him lots of presents on Christmas. He dreamt of Uncle Spence rattling off about trains. But the dream he remembered and noticed the most was the dream of Princess Emmy, saving him and then taking him out to ice cream and bought him a monkey. That last part was what convinced him that he was really dreaming, but he didn't want to wake up to reality, so he kept his eyes shut and dreamt.
Natasha Katchora sat behind the same wall she has been sitting behind for two and half hours now. She was starting to worry about her little boy. When she heard someone mention Sun and Hat in English, she quickly had discarded the item and hide it in a random trashcan. Worry was gripping her conscience. She hadn't meant to be so harsh with her son. She just didn't want anyone finding him and he was acting as though he didn't know her.
She was so deeply lost in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice the police officer walking towards her. He started to speak gibberish, which she quickly recognized as English. She tried desperately to hide her face with her hair and just ignore him. He continued to get her attention, so she risked it and let out in a heavy Russian accent. "No, English." Through her bangs, she saw that the officer had looked puzzled, then nodded his head and told her something really slowly. Like that helped. When he walked away, she started wondering what she was to do when he came back. Deciding she couldn't just leave her son alone, while she might be taken, she made a split second decision and took off toward the back of the mall.
The three BAU women were huddled around Garcia's laptop, JJ and Prentiss were trying to work out a profile for Garcia to type in, but she always came up with the same people, and the same people always had an alibi.
Emily let out a strong sigh of frustration. "We aren't getting anywhere looking for the unsub on file. Garcia, why don't you take JJ back to the security room and look at every angle you can get on every camera and see if you can find anything there."
"You coming with us, Princess?" Garcia asked, curious of why she only said Garcia and JJ.
"No, I'm going to go out and look for Henry. I need to be active." Emily said. "I can't just sit around, no offence Garcia."
"None taken," Garcia shrugged it off. She knew that the profilers hated sitting around, because it reminded them of paperwork and who likes paperwork? "But Hotch ordered you to stay with me." she pointed out, not wanting Emily to get into anymore trouble.
"You have JJ to help you and if I have to stay here one more minute I'm going to explode." Emily laughed off even though she was some what serious. Maybe she wouldn't explode literally, but she would probably burst and do something irrational. "Let me know if you find anything." she went to walk away.
"Emily!" JJ yelled out, finally speaking up. Emily turned around and was thrown backwards by JJ's hug. "Take care of yourself, I have a really bad feeling." she whispered in the taller woman's ear, worried about what might happen.
Emily hugged the blond back. "I will, and you too." she whispered back. They let go and took a step back. Emily tried to give a reassuring smile, but the worry in JJ's eyes made the smile rather weak. "Hey, nothing is going to happen." She said instead, emphasizing the word nothing.
JJ nodded and then turned back to Garcia and the two walked towards the security room, while Emily set off to find anyone on her team to help. As much as she loved JJ and Garcia, she really needed to be out and about. She needed more action and plus, there really was nothing she could do to help Garcia. As she spotted Morgan, she changed direction to head towards him. On the way over one of the Police detectives on the case had run up to them, before they could get a word out in greeting.
"Hey, I think we are going to need a translator for one of the witnesses." the detective said more towards Morgan.
"What language?" Emily asked. They might not need a translator if it was a language she knew and the chances that it wasn't were very slim.
"I think Russian." the detective said, slightly shrugging her off and looking at Morgan again. Both profilers worked out that the man was sexist, but had respect for authority so he would never directly undermine Prentiss, but was subtle doing so anyways.
"I'll handle him." Emily said. She knew Russian enough to understand it and speak it a little. It wasn't her most fluent language, but she was sure she could manage.
The detective looked her up and down, but didn't voice any of his skepticism. Morgan noticed and was starting to get irritated, but seeing Emily's calm, almost non responsive demeanor told him that it shouldn't be made a big problem at the moment. "She's down the corridor, near the bathrooms, just passed the Men's clothing store." The detective told Prentiss, pointing behind him. She nodded and started to head out that direction, glad to have something to do.
Garcia had pulled in another chair for JJ to sit on while looking at the footage. While JJ did stare at the screens, Penelope could tell that she wasn't really registering what was on them. They sat in silence, while Garcia worked out how to get any trace of the mystery witch, but ultimately did find much. She looked over at her friend and was dying to know what went on when she left the two alone. But now wasn't the time.
JJ was sitting on a hard plastic chair that was very uncomfortable and stared at the screens in front of her. But no matter how hard she tried, her mind was elsewhere. She kept thinking of Emily. Emily was so sweet and caring. She was a natural mom and a born leader. She knew when to be soft and when you need to get your ass in gear. She knew how to hold JJ so gently, and the soft kisses on her forehead when the brunette thought the blond was asleep, that one time. JJ thought of how she wished she could just kiss those lips with her own. She wanted to taste Emily Prentiss. In more ways than one.
RIGHT THERE! Stop those thoughts JJ. She told herself. You have your son to think about and your not getting any closer to finding him if you keep up those fantasies. The blond sighed and finally started to actually try to help Garcia.
Emily was walking towards her intended objective, preparing herself and reminding herself the Russian phrases that would be of use. When she turned the corner, where the detective had told her that the woman would be, she saw a blond streak running through the hall. Emily immediately knew that this had to be their unsub, or at least someone with useful information. She couldn't let this girl go and call the others. Plus she might be heading to Henry, so Emily made a last minute decision to run after this woman, but not to be seen.
Once she had gotten to a comfortable distance, she slowed down and stalked the woman carefully and quietly. They walked down a long hall, then turned a sharp corner toward the back of the mall. Emily saw the woman walk down a flight of stairs that headed to a storage unit. She quickly got out her cell and dialed Hotch.
"Hotchner." he answered, still annoyed.
"Storage unit number 5." Emily said, and hung up without another word. She slowly crept after the mysterious blond, anticipating what lies down the dark stairwell. She took a deep breath and stepped off the last step and looked around the corner into the storage unit.
"Prentiss, what are talking about?" Hotch said into the phone, but got no reply. He looked at the screen and saw that the call had ended. "Damn it, Prentiss." he hissed, then dialed another number. "Garcia, where is storage unit number 5?" Hotch said without waiting for her usual introduction.
"Uh, it's near the back of the mall, by the JC Penny." She replied, shocked at the urgency of her bosses demand. "Why? Is that where Henry is?" This caught JJ attention.
"I'm not sure, Prentiss just called and all she said was the unit number." Hotch replied, already heading towards the JC Penny. "I'll let you know."
"Okay, be careful." she whimpered out. And with that, Hotch hung up and took off faster, calling the rest of the team for back up. Back in the security room, JJ had grabbed her gun and badge. "What do you think your doing?" Garcia said, although she had an idea.
"Don't lecture me right now, Garcia." and in seconds, JJ was out the door. Leaving Garcia scared and worried for everyone.
Emily saw that the Russian's back was to her so she tip toed out more to get a better look. Once she saw the woman move some boxes out of the way to reveal a hidden door, she knew she had found Henry. She moved further out and slowly made her way into the room. She witnessed the woman open the door and she saw Henry waking from a slumber. When Henry had looked pass the woman and saw Prentiss, his smile grew.
Emily went to put her finger to her lips, but was too late. The woman turned around and spotted Prentiss. The FBI agent reached for her gun, but again was too late. The stranger reached for her coat pocket and revealed her own gun. It all happened in slow motion. Emily felt her fingers graze against her Glock, but the unsub was faster and whipped hers out and fired two shots. The next thing she knew, Emily was falling back from the impact on her chest. Everything was quiet, but then she heard Henry scream. There was a harsh voice that spoke in Russian, telling him to be quiet, and then another shot.
JJ was closest to the unit, so she wasn't surprised to find that no one was there yet. She rounded a corner and found the giant letters stating: UNIT 5. When she looked up to read the sign on the wall, she heard two gun shots. Immediately, she whipped out her own gun and ran down the steps. Once she hit the bottom, she saw through the archway, Emily lying on the ground, bleeding from the chest. Anger boiled inside her and she heard a little boy scream. She quickly recognized it as Henry.
"Henry!" She yelled to the boy, staying hidden behind the corner. He stopped, but tears still spilled over on his face. "It's Mama!" His eyes widened with hope. "I need you to cover your ears and close your eyes." The boy did as he was told, while the blond Russian had her gun trained on the opening.
JJ crouched low and bent around the corner and fired, without hesitation. The bullet from her gun traveled through the air at top speed and lodged itself right in between the Russian's eyes. She stood for one full second, then fell to her knees and then to the ground. Once JJ had confirmed the kill, she ran towards her son. He flinched at first, when he felt arms grabbed him, but opened his eyes to his real mom. He grabbed her with all his might and cried into her shoulder. His tears matched those of the woman's holding him.
At that moment, Hotch and the rest of the team had gotten down to the scene and took it all in. JJ was holding Henry across the room and the two looked as though dynamite couldn't separate them. Just three feet away from them was a blond woman, lying face down on the ground in a puddle of blood. Then their gazes hit what was right in front of them. Emily was lying on her back, clutching her chest with her eyes squeezed shut. Rossi was the first to step up.
"Officer down!" He yelled into the radio. "Send emergency care to storage unit 5." he rushed over to Emily and dropped to his knees. "Stay with me Em." he said as he applied pressure to the wound. "Emily, come on, open your eyes." he begged. Just then her eyes barely parted. "That's good." he smiled in relief keeping the pressure on her chest.
"He… Henry?" she gasped out.
"Shh, Sh. He's fine. JJ is with him right now. I need you to stay with me." Right then, the hard rock, David Rossi, finally shed a tear. Emily had become one of his close friends, almost like a protégé. She gave a small nod, but was slowly slipping away.
At that moment, Henry pulled away from his mom and ran over towards Rossi and Prentiss. JJ was shocked at this then remembered about Emily lying in blood and followed after her son. Henry had dropped to his knees like Rossi had done and looked at her pale face. He reached a hand out to touch her cheek, and noticed how cold it was.
"Thank you, Princess Emmy." he said. JJ had stopped behind him and watched this interaction. Upon hearing Henry's voice, Emily had opened her eyes once again and mustered up enough energy to crack a smile. Then quickly squeezed her eyes at another wave of pain. JJ took position like the other two and grabbed Emily's bloody hand.
The paramedics had rushed in and pushed the three aside so they could work on Emily. JJ was reluctant to let of her hand, but Hotch's light, but firm grip told her to let the doctors do their work. She walked over to her son and lifted him onto her hip and watched as the three men inspected Emily's wounds and lifted her onto the stretcher. As they were lifting the stretcher, she ran over to Emily. "Em, you have to fight, because I got something very important to tell you. But you have to fight to find out." JJ said, in hopes of raising the chances that Emily would make it through surgery. With that said, the paramedics took her up to the awaiting ambulance and drove off. Leaving the six team members staring off at the retreating vehicle. Finally they decided to get into the closest SUV and follow her to the hospital.
In the waiting room, JJ was holding a sleeping Henry on her lap, staring off into nothing, much like she had done when Garcia was shot. Her mind was on high and was turning through all the things she would do if Emily came through… No, when Emily came through. She tried to keep her hopes up, stay positive. She couldn't help but wish that Emily was here to hold her hand again. But right now she had to take solace in the little boy lying on her lap.
In the seat across from JJ was Rossi. He shared a similar posture as JJ did. He was staring off without emotion. But if you looked in his eyes deep enough, you would see that his heart was racing and he was beyond worried. He had seen a lot of lives lost in his job, but he wasn't sure how he would handle if he lost Emily. He would be too lost. Then he looked over towards the woman across from him. He sighed. How would she handle if Emily doesn't make it? How would Henry deal? He's too young to lose someone close to him. He was too young to witness first hand what they did in their jobs.
Next to Rossi was Reid. He found little comfort in his statistics and it was rare when he didn't have an answer to something. He started to think of his past with Emily. She was a smart profiler, one of the best he's seen. Because of that, there was a point in their friendship, that was a challenge. She was the one to notice when his drug use got too bad and it made him angry at the time. He started to wonder if he ever thanked her for showing concern, and if he ever apologized for being such a jerk. His brain was moving a mile a minute and it showed on his face. That was his way of dealing.
Hotch was sitting next to JJ. He had on his emotionless mask, but on the inside was reacting just like all the others. He was worried, terrified. He may have had a rough start with Emily, but she more than proved herself through out the years. He wasn't just worried about Emily, but about everyone else. They had all grown a personal relationship with the fierce brunette. He feared how the results to the surgery could effect his entire team.
Morgan was standing with Garcia at the end of the group. He held on tight to his baby girl, whispering reassuring words into her ear. But he still had his doubts. He didn't know how he would handle it if Emily didn't make it. She was like a sister to him. He felt like they could be twins. He always thought that the two were proof that you could be hot, bad ass AND be nerdy. At this thought a few more tears had stained his face.
In his arms, Garcia wasn't holding up much better. She was thinking of JJ and how she was so close to admitting to happiness. Garcia was a firm believer in the fact that everything happens for a reason, but she couldn't see anything good coming out of this.
Just then the doctor walked in. "Prentiss, Emily." he read off the chart. Everyone stood up and looked at him expectantly.
"Is she okay?" Rossi got out first, although everyone's eyes said the same thing. Everyone hoping for a good answer, but fearing that it wouldn't be.
The doctor looked up at each of them, "She's…"
There you go, a cliff hanger. Thought i could use one. You know what i like to hear. Good or Bad? Oh, and FYI the next chapter might take longer to update because i got a lot of ideas for it, but please try not to get your hopes up too much, i hate to disappoint. Thanks again. :)