Hours later, Emily felt the car slow to a stop. She opened her eyes, as she hadn't actually managed to get any sleep. She glanced down at Gabby, who had fallen into a restless sleep about an hour ago. Gabby was sitting sideways, her head resting against Emily's side, her legs bent at the knees in front of her. Emily smiled briefly, then turned her attention to her surroundings. The warehouse. Ian had brought them back to the warehouse. She had expected it, and she only hoped that Hotch would recall where everything had taken place a decade ago, and lead help to them.
Suddenly, Emily felt the door open roughly.
"Out," Ian said, pulling her by the arm.
Emily pulled away, unbuckling her seat belt then unbuckling Gabby's as well. Gabby stirred, opening her eyes sleepily.
"Hi," Emily smiled. "We're here,"
"'Kay," Gabby replied.
"Come on," Emily said, sliding out of the car, holding a hand out for Gabby to take.
As soon as Gabby hopped out of the car, Ian led them inside, Paul right behind them. Emily looked around the familiar place. It honestly hadn't changed much in ten years. It looked older, and it smelled of mold and dust, but appearance wise, not much had changed. She hated it here. She hated that she was familiar with it, and she hated that Gabby was being exposed to it.
Ian stopped abruptly, looking right past Emily to Paul. Ian nodded his head and Paul grabbed Emily's arms while Ian pulled Gabby out of Emily's grasp, and picked her up. The nine year old immediately began to kick and scream in protest.
"No! Ian! What are you doing?" Emily screamed, trying to fight her way out of Paul's grasp. "Gabby! It's gonna be okay, honey," She said, knowing her attempts to calm the terrified girl wouldn't work.
"Now, now, love. Don't worry," he smirked, turning to walk away, still carrying a hysterical Gabby.
"If you hurt her, I swear to God-" She started, before being cut off. Paul was strong, he had managed to wrap an arm around her neck from behind her, making her basically immobile.
"I'm not going to hurt her, I'm going to hurt you," he said again. The next thing Emily knew, Paul held a gun to her head. She didn't even know where he had gotten it or how long it had been in his possession. He spun her around, and started leading her the opposite way Ian was taking Gabby.
She continued to hear Gabby's cries, and began to cry herself. She didn't know what was going to happen, she didn't know where he was taking Gabby. All she knew was she was defenseless, something she wasn't used to feeling.
It was silent, except for the sounds of Emily's small sobs. Paul led them into a room, and released his grip on her, pushing her out of the way. Emily stumbled a little, but kept her balance.
"Why are you doing this?" she choked out. "What's he doing to her?" she was panicking. Her body was shaking, and she knew if she didn't calm down, she would be sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry," Paul said. He sounded sincere, but Emily didn't trust him for a second. "He's not going to hurt her, he promised me,"
"Why would he promise you that?" Emily sniffled, using her wrist to stop her now running nose.
"Because I tried to get out after we tried to take her the first time. She got away from me. I figured she was pretty smart, so I let her go. I got a niece and a nephew at home, and I'm not real close to either of them. But I kept thinking about them, what if somebody took them away like that? Didn't set right. I tried to get out, but he came back to DC and found me. Threatened my sister and her kids, so I had no choice. I have to help him. But I made him promise not to hurt the girl,"
Emily raised an eyebrow at him. "You just held me at gunpoint, how do I know you're not lying?"
"Just trust me," Paul said, quickly putting his gun away.
"I don't trust people, Paul. Not that easily. Get her back to me, and we'll see," she said. She didn't trust him. She might never be able to. She had been a profiler long enough to tell when someone was being truthful, and she could tell he was. But she wasn't about to let her guard down, not for a second.
"I'll see what I can do, okay? Just go with it for now," Paul said quietly.
Emily said nothing. A few seconds later, an angry Ian burst through the door.
"That kid's definitely yours," he said lowly.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked. "What did you do to her?" she said louder, another round of panic sinking in.
"I took her to a different room. She's fine," he said before extending his arm to Emily, revealing a nice set of red marks, obviously left from Gabby's fingernails.
Emily smirked, gaining some confidence. "Serves you right," she said simply.
Ian shot her an angry look before turning his attention elsewhere. "Is it ready?" he asked Paul, who nodded. "Good,"
Then, Ian set a computer screen in front of Emily. It was blank, but the light at the top was flashing green.
"What's this for?" Emily asked.
"You'll see," Ian said, pushing Emily down into the lone chair at the center of the room.
"Seriously, Ian?" She asked, rolling her eyes. "You're trying to recreate that night, aren't you? You're not going to win, Ian. Not this time,"
"I don't consider our last encounter as a win," he commented, tying her hands behind her back before moving to tie her legs down, too.
"I do, I had to leave everything and everyone I loved. And you know, technically, I did die," she said.
"But of course, that fighting spirit brought you back. Face it, Emily, we're both older now. But no one's looking for you. You don't have a team to get in the way this time. And, I have the person who means the most to you locked up in another room. Which, by the way, explains the camera. She can see you, but you can't see her,"
"Ian, no. Please don't let her see-" she was cut off by Ian's hand over her mouth.
"The more you fight me, the worse it gets for you, which means that's more she has to watch you suffer,"
"I hate you," she spat when he removed his hand.
"Feeling's mutual, Love," he smirked at her.
"Stop calling me that! Lauren Reynolds was your love. I'm not. I never was," she said bitterly.
"Whatever you say. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Take your pick,"
"Just get me out of this damn chair," Emily said.
"Still got a mouth on you, hmm? Do you talk like that around your daughter? You never spoke like that around Declan. When we were together, though-"
"Ian!" Emily yelled. "Shut up,"
"Bad idea, Love," he said, as he brought his hand forcefully to her cheek. Emily could tell without looking he'd left a hand print there, but she didn't let it phase her.
"What do you want?" Emily asked. "There's got to be a reason for this nonsense. Why are we doing this? If you want me dead, then go ahead. Kill me. Aaron will find Gabby. Then, he'll kill you," Emily said. The last thing she wanted was to die. She had been prepared for that ten years ago. She had went willingly to find Ian knowing she wouldn't make it out alive. She was honestly surprised when she had. But now, she wasn't ready. She didn't want to leave Gabby, but she wouldn't let Ian see it. She would continue to appear strong in front of him.
"I'll let both of you go, if you tell me one simple thing," Ian said.
"What?"
"Where's Declan? If he's really still alive. I spent so long searching for him, and I couldn't. Where is he?" Ian asked, bringing his face within centimeters of Emily's.
"I don't know," Emily said, receiving yet another hit to the face from Ian.
"Stop lying to me! You know where he is!"
"No, I don't Ian. After you found me ten years ago, I had him relocated. Him, Louise, and the father who raised him," Emily stressed the last few words, knowing it would set him off, but also knowing it would distract him, maybe to the point of messing up to give Emily an opportunity to run.
"Where did they go?" Ian said again, obviously angered, gripping her shoulders tightly in his hands.
"I don't know," Emily said again. "I called and told them to move, and they did. I don't know where they went. Besides, Declan's grown by now. You won't be able to manipulate him to do what you want anymore," Emily said again.
"He's my son. He's not yours. He never was,"
"I'm aware, Ian," Emily said back.
"Well, if you want to play it like this, then we will. Neither you nor the girl leaves here until you tell me where my son is. She doesn't leave the room she's in, and you don't leave this one,"
Emily said nothing, not wanting to give Ian the pleasure of watching her break down. Not yet. She bit her lip to keep herself from either speaking or crying.
"Silent treatment, huh?"
Emily continued to bite her lip.
"Have it your way, Love. The longer you continue to be stubborn, the longer you and the girl stay here,"
"You know," Emily spoke up. "She has a name. Her name is Gabby. You never call her anything but the girl and it's rather annoying,"
"Don't change the subject. I assume, you would do exactly what I'm doing right now, if you were trying to get your precious Gabby back. Would you not?"
"No," Emily said quickly. "No, because I'd never ask anybody to raise her to become a terrorist. I'd never let her be exposed to anything like that. Just like I wouldn't let Declan be a part of that life. I'd never be in your position," Emily said bitterly.
"Answer me this, and I'll consider untying you," Ian said after a long moment.
"What?" Emily asked, sitting up a little straighter.
"Is Declan even still alive, or were you lying to me to buy yourself some time?"
Emily stared at him before she answered. "He's really alive, Ian. I'd never kill him. I sent him away to protect him. I told you that. I wouldn't lie to you about his existence. I'm also not lying when I say I have no idea where he is. That was kind of the point, you know," she finished.
"I don't believe you don't know. You lied about a lot before. Lying's a hard habit to break," he taunted.
"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you Ian? You were particularly good at lying to Declan, weren't you? For someone who wanted to raise his son to be a warrior," she mocked his description Ian had once used, "you sure kept an awful lot from him. Admit it. You didn't want him to be you, did you? You wanted him to be anything but you,"
"Shut up!" he yelled, hitting her repeatedly. "Stop talking! You don't even know what you're talking about! I love Declan. He's my son. You don't have any idea what I went through to even have him be born in the first place!" He continued, his rage only increasing.
Rather than untying Emily from the chair, he simply cut all the ropes, grabbing Emily by the shoulders and throwing her against the wall, pinning her against it with his body. She felt her entire body start shaking, her heart felt like it might beat right out of her chest, but she didn't show it.
"I don't doubt that you love him," Emily said, surprised at how calm she was able to sound, despite her fear. "I never doubted that. But, Ian, it's been almost twenty years. He's lived a completely different life. Just let him be," she pleaded.
Ian pulled Emily forward, before throwing her up against the wall again. She sank down to the ground, hiding her face, unwilling to let him- or Gabby for that matter- see her tears.
"Like Hell I'll just let him be!" Ian screamed, letting out another yell of frustration before kicking Emily's side. Without another word, he stalked out of the room.
When Emily was sure he had left, she peeked out from behind her hands. She tried to control her rapid breathing as she lifted the hem of her shirt. Her side was already beginning to bruise. She didn't even want to think about the condition her back was in. She forced herself to stand up, biting her lip to keep herself from crying out in pain. She slowly walked to the chair, and sat herself in it. It was rather uncomfortable, but it was better than sitting in the floor. The concrete floor and brick wall would only hurt her back more, she decided.
She had forgotten Paul was still in the room, and she jumped a little when he cleared his throat.
"You really pissed him off," Paul said, breaking the silence, she noticed he was unplugging the laptop that sat on the table in the room, but she didn't ask questions.
"Really? Didn't notice," Emily said, leaning back into the chair as best she could. "Where is he going? He's not going to hurt Gabby is he?"
"Doubt it. He doesn't want to hurt her, he just wants to hurt you,"
"Go make sure," Emily said quickly. "Please. I can't go check on her,"
"Okay, I'll be right back,"
"Thank you," Emily said sincerely. She still wasn't sure if she should trust him. She wasn't sure she wanted to. But she had to try to find some positive in this situation, and if Paul happened to be her one outlet to possibly getting the hell out of there, then she supposed she would use it.
He came back a few minutes later. Emily instantly shot up in her seat, wincing as she did so at the movement.
"So?" Emily asked.
"Good news," Paul said. "Ian left. The car's gone. I can bring her in here for maybe five minutes or so,"
"Really?" Emily breathed. "I can see her?"
"Quickly. I don't know when he'll be back," he said. "I'll go get her,"
Emily shook her head, and forced herself to stand up.
"No, let me go to her. She might not come with you. I need to be the one to go to her," Emily said. She was a bit skeptical, she wasn't completely convinced Paul was being truthful. But her mind was solely focused on Gabby. So, she followed Paul to the other end of the warehouse, her body sending a shooting pain through her with each step.
Paul opened the door Gabby was supposedly in, and Emily walked in slowly, glancing back at Paul. He nodded his head, motioning for her to keep going.
Emily took a breath, and looked around for Gabby. She found the girl hiding under the table her own computer was placed on. The one Emily knew Ian was making her watch from.
"Gabby?" Emily said softly, making her way over to the frightened girl.
Gabby's head shot up at the sound of Emily's voice. "Mama?" she asked as she crawled out from under the table. "Mommy!" she said, as she stood and ran into Emily's awaiting arms. Emily stumbled a little at the impact, her body still screaming at her, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms tightly around Gabby, wishing she had the strength to pick her up, to run away and never look back.
"It's okay, baby. I'm okay," Emily said, trying to calm Gabby down.
"No you're not. I saw what he did," Gabby said, burying her face in Emily's shirt.
"I know, I'm so sorry," Emily fought back tears. "I'm really okay, though,"
"Are we leaving now?" Gabby asked hopefully.
"No, sweetie. We're not leaving yet. Ian took the car, so Paul brought me here to see you. I can't stay very long, though,"
"Isn't he a bad guy too?" Gabby asked, looking up at Emily.
Emily but her lip, but shook her head. "No, honey. But Ian thinks he is, so we're going to pretend he is, too. Around Ian, anyway. So don't tell Ian I was here,"
"Okay," Gabby said, tightening her grip around Emily's waist. They stayed like that, until Paul said Emily should leave now.
Emily pulled away from Gabby's embrace to bend down to her level.
"I have to go back now, okay?"
Gabby shook her head, throwing her arms around Emily's neck. "No! You just got here,"
Emily rubbed a hand up and down Gabby's back. "I know, I know. But I'll be back whenever I can. We'll just have to get through this until someone finds us," Emily said, wishing it wasn't the case, wishing they could just go home.
Gabby sniffled, but Emily felt her nod her head against her. Gabby pulled away from Emily. "We need a sign," Gabby said quickly. "So I know you're okay. If he... if he hurts you again,"
"Okay," Emily agreed. "That's a good idea. What do you want the sign to be?"
Gabby thought for a moment. "Do this!" she said finally, touching her finger to her nose. "Jack showed me that. He said he did that when he played baseball. He was the catcher," she said proudly.
"I didn't know Jack ever played baseball..." Emily said.
"Only for a couple of years. Then he stuck to soccer," Gabby informed her mother.
Emily smiled for the first time since they had been taken. "Okay. I'll do that so you know I'm alright," Emily promised. She gave Gabby a kiss on the forehead, before standing and following Paul out of the room. Leaving Gabby scared and all alone in that room was probably the hardest thing Emily had ever done. But she couldn't shake the feeling that they wouldn't be here long. She knew Aaron Hotchner, and she knew he would stop at nothing to get her and Gabby back.
She went back into her own room, and sat down in the chair as Paul plugged the camera back up.
"Thank you," Emily said. "That means a lot,"
"Sorry I can't do more than that," Paul said.
She nodded, letting him know she understood. She leaned back into the chair as much as she could without feeling any pain, and closed her eyes. She knew she'd never be able to sleep, but she hoped the few minutes of quiet would somehow renew her strength.
A/N: You didn't think I could be mean the whole chapter, did you? I'm not even that mean ; ) Also! The next chapter will probably solely focus on Hotch, JJ, and some other team members as they try to find Gabby and Emily : )