Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: I know some of you are wondering what exactly happened to Emily. Well, she explains it in this chapter.
As Emily entered the room, she was a little surprised to see her mother there. She literally bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something stupid. This was out of her control and she could no longer predict what was going to happen. She looked at her mother, and deliberately turned away, not addressing her and looking at Strauss.
"Director? You said you wanted to see me?" She asked Strauss, sitting down when Strauss indicated for her to take a seat.
"Emily, there is something you should know." The Ambassador said, addressing her daughter who ignored her and continued to look expectantly at Strauss.
"Agent Prentiss, your mother has brought this case to our attention. It would have been better if she had just contacted the Bureau directly instead of going through the DC police, but anyhow, your past has now been laid out on the table. I will need you to tell me everything, in detail. Have you had a look at the case file?" Strauss asked Emily, who basically looked bewildered. This was growing stranger by the second.
"No Ma'am. I have not looked at the file. I was a little distressed by this and the lack of explanations and answers." Emily said, hinting that she was still waiting for answers.
"Alright, let us all adjourn to the conference room, where you will tell me and your team about your experience. Then Agent Jereau can brief the team about the case. The BAU will be taking on this case." Strauss said and stood up to leave. Emily and the Ambassador stood up also. Strauss headed out, while Emily's mother caught her arm.
"What mother? I have a case to solve, and it apparently involves me. Personally. I don't have time to chat." Emily said, with venom.
"Emily, this man, he's after you. I think it may be the same man." The Ambassador, letting the fear show on her face.
"What? Mother that is a bogus theory. He's on a whole other continent, in prison!" Emily said and she walked out, making her way to the conference room.
The whole team had gathered there, everyone was confused. They didn't know what was happening and were all hoping that this wasn't Emily saying goodbye. Emily walked in with the Ambassador after her and stood at the head of the table.
"Director Strauss has asked me to tell you what happened to me, as ominous as that sounds and that we're going to take this case." Emily said, looking at Hotch for confirmation and then at Derek for strength. She took a deep breath and continued. "This happened when I was 23. We were living in Europe and I was in a band. It was one of my rebellious things." She said, smiling at the memory and at the few snickers as they imagined uptight Emily in a band. "We performed in the local clubs and bars and we were pretty popular, performing twice or thrice a week. There was this guy who would come to every one of our gigs, and it took him a while to talk to me. He spoke fluent English and told me he liked my voice. That was our first direct interaction." Emily said, and was interrupted by Derek.
"Direct interaction? Was there any indirect interaction?" He asked and made some notes. The rest of the team was also making various notes, some about the case, some about Emily's body language.
"He would buy me drinks. The bartenders would tell me who it was from, but he didn't speak to me for a while." Emily said, looking at Rossi who had a question.
"What is a while? How long? How many gigs?" Rossi asked.
"Um, a couple months? I don't know how many gigs. Sorry." Emily said, and at Rossi's nod, she continued with her story. "After he realized that I didn't really bite, he would offer a kind word here and there and after about 6 gigs, he asked if I would like to go on a date with him." Emily said, and then was interrupted by Reid.
"6 gigs from the first direct interaction?" He asked, scribbling into his pad when Emily nodded.
"I politely declined, and he seemed to accept it. But he was back at the next gig and again he asked me out. I said no, this time a little firmer. This continued about another 5 times. It started to freak me out a little and I asked the various bartenders and bouncers not to let him in. They knew me and knew him because we performed at the same few clubs. They stopped letting him in and then I didn't hear from him for a couple of months. He had also stopped coming by." Emily said, taking a breath. This was where it got scary.
"One day, I was hanging out at the Embassy because my mother and I were supposed to go out for dinner. It was my 24th birthday. I was waiting for her to finish her meeting. Suddenly, I saw him. He was right next to me, grabbing my arm and I remember exactly what he said, like it was yesterday 'Miss me Emily? I love you. We're going out on a date. Now.' And he tried to drag me away. I stomped on his foot and screamed for all I was worth." Emily looked at Derek, drawing strength and comfort. She touched her gun for reassurance.
"I ran in the other direction, not knowing if he was following me or not and hid in one of the bathrooms. I stood on the commode, not wanting him to see which stall I was in if he found me. He came into the bathroom, calling my name tauntingly. I tried not to breathe, not wanting to make any noise, it was getting harder because he started opening each stall. I was in the middle, hoping he would check the stall at the end and go away. He opened the second stall and the doors burst open and the guards got him. I came out shaking and I almost broke down when I saw that he had a knife." Emily said, shuddering at the memory. Derek wanted to hold her badly, but he couldn't do anything in front of Strauss and Hotch.
Emily looked at the group of stressed faces and looked at the alarm on JJ's face. "And that's what happened. He was put away in prison." She concluded and looked at Strauss for further instructions.
"You may take a seat Agent Prentiss. Agent Jereau, would you tell the team about the case we have?" Strauss said, and Emily immediately went and sat next to Derek, who squeezed her hand under the table.
JJ stood up and walked to the screen. She looked at Emily with concern in her eyes and then looked at Hotch. She took a deep breath and told the team about the case.
"These three women are being stalked. The first started receiving pictures of themselves doing various things, going about their lives. Then, when they went to use public bathrooms, the stalker made himself known to them. He comes into the bathroom, finds them and threatens them with a knife and makes small incisions on their hands and then disappears. Then the whole cycle is repeated. All three women are in their early twenties, sing in a band and are brunettes." JJ said, giving Emily a significant look. Emily's breath hitched.
"We know that this case is connected to Emily, because the last time he cornered Linda Jenson in the bathroom, he spoke to her, calling her Emily and she said that he had a European accent." JJ said and stopped for comments from the team.
"What's being done about these women?" Derek asked, all the while gripping Emily's hand tightly under the table.
"They have been taken into protective custody and we're sending them into witness protection programs today." JJ said, and checked her watch. "In fact, they should be in the program now."
"So now the unsub is just going to come after Emily?" Derek said, incensed at the fact that they were literally throwing Emily out there.
"Derek! Calm down! He has to come after me. It's the only way to catch him. He wants me, I've dealt with him before and this time, I'm ready. I'm expecting it and I'm not some scared little 20 year old." Emily said, standing up. She looked around the room at the faces of her family. She looked at her mother, and for the first time, she didn't feel angry. This was her mother's twisted way of looking out for her.
"I think we should profile him, and bait him. When he goes for the bait, we'll get him!" Emily said.
"And you're the bait?" Rossi asked, uncertain of what was going to happen.
"Yeah." Emily said, and excused herself. She went to the bathroom and then went to the one opposite. If he was in town, looking for her, why make it easy. It was less likely that he would be in the FBI building, but she wasn't taking a chance. She nodded to two male agents who looked at her wide-eyed because she was in the men's bathroom. She washed her face and looked up when she saw Derek come in.
"Why make it easier for him right?" She said, her voice cracking and she hated herself in that moment. She didn't want to cry, be the weak pathetic victim.
Derek checked the stalls and went towards her.
"Don't." Emily said, holding out a hand. She looked at his hurt expression and then continued. "If I hug you, I will break down. And I don't want to. Not here. Will you come home tonight?" She asked.
He understood where she was coming from. It killed him to show weakness either and he was grateful that she was trusting him enough to want his company later, when she did break down. "Of course. I'll see you at the bullpen. You'll be okay Em. You've got me this time." He said and left her to gather herself.
She made sure she looked calm and composed before heading out. She said goodbye to her mother and promised to call every morning and evening. The rest of the day continued with paperwork and then the team decided to call it a day and head home. This time, with Emily's safety at stake, Derek couldn't care less about who saw what and he held her hand as they made it towards his car. They decided to leave her's at the office.
They made it to Emily's condo and he held her in bed while she cried, letting it all out.
A/N: That is Emily's story. I will write a bit more about the case and then we'll go back to my happy place! Thanks for reading!