Guest1/EP/Siophiefandom/GirlfromGermany/Guest2/whoopsidaisies: Thank you so much! Hope you like the next update!
DarkBlueMint: I'm not too sure how surprised you'll be when the ending comes BUT I do think it'll make perfect sense. Thank you for always reviewing! As for pll, I think I should follow your lead…unless I could use that frying pan.
Pailyshark: Thank you for the help! I loved thinking up the whole date scene! I'd melt too! Thanks for the review!
Sofiadc66: lol! I needed at least one chapter of pure pailyness…it's only fair! I was thinking of making Claire's part last longer buttttt she did get the point I needed across. Not only for Emily to get that push she need but I think you'll see why in this chapter. AH, I should have warned you about the flashback scene…there's only one left. Love makes us act out of character sometimes. We can't help it. We can only try to explain. So she'll be owing Paige favors for some time. Thank you for the review and PM!
Thecatfromaliceinwonderland: Hahaha, well I guess we'll have to see. I needed to make sure there was at least one chapter where the girls could finally come clean about everything. They've been hinting at certain things throughout the story, but I figured it was only fair for them to have an honest conversation. I liked Claire too! But she diddd have another purpose besides getting Emily all riled up. Lol! I don't know why I just find it so fascinating to hear stories about the night sky. The small myths surrounding us. I can't help it! Glad you liked it as well. There was a Stars Wars moment!? I haven't seen the new one yet! STOP THAT! What was it!? OOOO I'm kinda shipping Spaleb too! But that's all I really find curious about the show anymore sadly. I'm shipping the 100 a bit more. Thanks as always for the review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or any of its characters
"McCullers. Is that a smile I see?" a tall lean man greeted the auburn girl as he spotted Paige walking toward the front door.
Paige knew she had been smiling since she picked up Emily for their date tonight. There was no denying how content she was by the mere thought of the brunette. Thinking maybe she could hide it from her team for a while, Paige was immediately mistaken when her own doorman that she only knew for two days could tell how happy she looked. "You're a funny man Kinley" she stated as she took off her hoodie in the large lobby. Despite feeling the heat rise in her cheeks as a young man managed to call her out about the way she was feeling, Paige pressed the escalator button before looking around; realizing there was no officers guarding the entrance. Paige quickly grasped something was wrong. "Where are the other officers?"
"They left about 2 hours ago" Kinley answered. "I believe they were trying to get in touch with you but weren't able to get through" the young man stated as he took off his gendarme hat. "If I'm not mistaken, they left you a few voicemails"
Hastily taking out her phone to take a look at her screen, Paige didn't recall feeling or hearing any calls or messages come in. Paige knew they were in the middle of the wilderness along with the fact that they were at the peak of a mountain; any type of signal normally received for cell phone service would be out of reach. "Shit. They're messages are coming in now. Do you know what it was about?" she asked as she began dialing Aiden's number as she saw she missed 7 calls from the lead of the team.
"I'm not positive ma'am. But they did keep saying the name 'Caminiti'" the slender man informed the beauty as he looked on as Paige held her phone to her ear.
"Aiden, it's me" the brown eye beauty addressed.
"Finally" the team lead acknowledge; relieved as he heard Paige's voice. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for the past few hours"
"I was out of cellphone range. What's going on?" Paige asked as she her demeanor suddenly became professional.
"Hastings told me Emily is with you" Aiden stated. "Please tell me she's still by your side"
The statement alone sent a surge of panic through the auburn girl as she quickly exited the building. "She was, but I just dropped her off back at the safe house. Why?" she asked as she headed directly for her SUV.
"Head over there now" Aiden calmly ordered. "Spencer and Hanna are at the base with Dylan and Skylar"
Paige knew by the tone of her team member's voice, something was wrong. She could feel her heart pounding even more at the fact that Emily was left alone back at the safe house. "What's going on?" she asked as she entered her vehicle.
"We'll explain once you get there" Aiden acknowledged. "The rest of us are in the middle of getting back to base but we'll re-route and meet you at the safe house. Don't panic P"
Paige felt as though she couldn't breathe. The second she saw the safe house front door cracked open, she knew something was wrong. Immediately arming herself with her side gun, Paige looked around for the other three officers that were supposed to be watching the house as she carefully entered the area. Pushing the door open, Paige felt her jaw clenched tight as the entire area in complete disarray. Paige knew the worse scenario had happened. Emily was taken. What started off as one of the best days in her life, was going to end as one of her worse.
"Em" was all Paige was able to get out as she felt her throat go completely dry. Slowly at first, the auburn girl made her way room by room; frantically looking around at every closet and cabinet for the brunette. Paige began to feel the severity of the situation dawn on her before she began screaming out for the girl. "Emily! Emily!" Carefully unlocking the pantry door in case any was hiding in there, the young officer ran upstairs as she dialed back to base. "This is officer McCullers back at the safe house on Carey Drive. Send back up immediately" she ordered. Pushing open Emily's room door, the sudden appearance of two of the three officers that were supposed to watching over the safe house came into view as they were unconscious on the floor. "Officers down and a civilian has been taken"
Everything Paige was afraid of was coming true. She didn't even have a day of being in bliss knowing she had Emily. Instead, the brunette was taken the second she managed to drop her home. She should have went in to make sure everything was safe. But Emily didn't want that. The brunette insisted they should at least have just one day to act as though everything was normal. The two had just went out on their first magical date together. After hours of total and utter ecstasy, Paige would take Emily home. Kiss her good night. Wait until she went in. And then drive away. This was why Paige always convinced herself of why she could never be in a relationship. "Emily! Emily!" she screamed out yet again.
Paige felt her throat constrict as her eyes began throbbing. She wanted to scream and shout, but knew she couldn't. She had to keep calm. She had to think practically. Emily was depending on her. Thinking to herself, Paige suddenly thought about the third officer. Where was he? Paige remembered holding his eye contact as he kept watch after dropping Emily off. He had to be there. Running back outside to find the officer's SUV, Paige slowed her pace as checked around the vehicle for any traps before finally opening the driver's side of the door.
As the officer's body gradually fell to ground the second the door opened, the auburn girl could see the blunt force drama to his head. He must have been the first one attacked. Gasping at the scene, Paige knelled down to see if she could a feel a pulse; closing her eyes as she couldn't. Taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves, the brown eyed officer ran back inside; making her way back to Emily's room as she tried looking for any clues the brunette might have left her. Paige knew Emily was focusing on surviving given how messy and thrown everything was displayed around the entire house. It looked as though she was taken once she got in her room. Trying to get out of the kidnappers clutches, Paige could see she had ran over to the bathroom but the culprit managed to break open the door to drag her out, through the kitchen and out of the house.
After leaning down for a few seconds, the auburn girl managed to spot the old crochet Batman she had given Emily a few years ago. Picking it, the auburn girl clenched her jaw as she suddenly heard her name being shouted from downstairs. "Paige!"
"What the hell is going on?" the auburn girl asked shakenly as the appearance of her team stood before. "Was Caminiti's men watching us this entire time?"
It was obvious Skylar was beginning to get just as emotional as the auburn girl. With tears filling her eyes at the distress her team member was in, the hazel eye beauty walked a bit closer to the team's co-lead; confirming her fear. "It seems that way"
"What did you guys find?" Paige asked the team tech directly as she glared directly at Skylar.
"We had gotten a hit off of one of the locations Claire mentioned to you" Aiden stated before walking toward his co-lead. "That's where we were. It turned out to be Caminiti's main repository"
Swallowing at what was just revealed, Paige tried to keep composed. "What exactly did you find?"
"You" Aiden revealed earning a confused looked from the auburn officer. Watching as Paige's body became rigid at the statement, he continued. "Pictures upon pictures of you" he explained as he took out a vanilla envelope of a few of the pictures and handed it over Paige. "Pictures of when you were younger. Pictures of when you in college. Even pictures while you were with Claire". As Paige looked closely to all the pictures from her past, Aiden needed to point out the obvious. "Which is why we had a feeling he was going to take Emily next"
Licking her bottom lip to control her pulse, Paige needed to know more. "Where exactly did he take her?"
"Georgia" the well-built team lead acknowledged. "That's as far as we have so far but our team in Georgia is working on it as we speak. Our Boeing is set to go to the Navy Base to meet Commander Murphy. His men are currently looking for any sign of Caminiti. We also placed officers around your parent's house back in California as a precaution"
Nodding in agreement, Paige knew they needed to move fast as they only had a bracket of time in order to get Emily back. Paige could only feel her body moving on autopilot as her ears were ringing in complete fear. Everything around her was happening in slow motion. She watched as officers ran passed her to get to the brunette's room to check on the two unconscious officers. She watched as there were a few others taking pictures around the house. She watched as the SUV siren lights were reflecting off of everything outside the house. In that moment, only one question was in her mind. What did I do?
"We're going to find her" Skylar calmly stated as she looked at the auburn girl who seemed to be in a complete daze about the entire situation. Skylar had gotten closer to Paige more than any other officer on the team. She knew all the looks Paige had. She knew when she was determined and focused. And she knew when the girl was scared and restless. But only recently had she began to see a different side of the auburn girl. A side only Emily had seemed to bring out of the girl. Skylar could feel it the moment they were near each other. She knew how deeply Paige had cared for Emily. And she knew the officer was probably beating herself up about the situation. After watching Paige walk back from talking to Emily outside of the award ceremony, Skylar knew she could not just have the girl walk away from the love her life. Hinting to Emily where Paige would be that night, the hazel eyed officer told the rest of the team the two girls needed to work things out. She was overjoyed she did. The look on Paige's face when she came to work the next day was something Skylar never seen before; and completely loved. Grabbing the girl's hand gently, Skylar continued. "Paige. Look at me" the hazel eye beauty pleaded as she gently cupped Paige's cheeks. "We're going to find her"
As the team made their way out of the plane, Aiden was immediately greeted by what seemed to be the commanding officer of the base. "Officer Weaver I presume?" the burly man welcomed as he walked up to the Boeing plane that just landed. "Good to see you"
Aiden stretched out his hand to give the commanding officer a hand shake as he responded. "I wish it could have been under different circumstances. Have you found anything on our suspect yet?"
"Possibly" he answered earning him the attention of Paige. "When you guys left we continued searching and found the location of a house Caminiti could possibly be staying at. However, we don't have any verification he's actually there"
"Where is it?" the auburn girl demanded from behind Aiden.
"John's Creek" Commander Murphy replied. "It's about an hour away by plane heading north"
"Do we have any information of who or what is actually in there?" Dylan asked as he tried to get as much information as he could as the team eyes. The team had no time to waste. Any information they could gather as they were getting set for their next mission they needed to use to their fullest advantage.
"My men noted movement of about 5 people" the middle aged man answered.
Aiden was taken aback by how unsecure Caminiti seemed to be. "Are you sure? That seems significantly low if this happens to be the location of Caminiti; a man running from the law. Did you verify if there were any other secret entrances or rooms or anything to the house? "
"Given our time constraint, we weren't able to confirm anything" the commanding officer replied. "But I do believe this is a trap"
"Trap or no trap we need to get there" Paige ordered.
Scrunching his brows at the sudden outburst of his co-lead, Aiden had to put the officer back in place. Turning around he gave the auburn a scowl look. "McCullers"
"Did you not see that house?" Paige countered. "Emily had to have put up one hell of a fight for that to go down. We need to find her"
"And we will" Aiden simply replied. He knew Paige was getting worked up, but he also needed her to see the situation at hand. "You need to calm down and think straight. We can't just go barging into a trap and get gunned down" Aiden tried to explain. "What good are we to Emily if we're killed in the process? She's depending on our experience to get her home safely"
"Then let me go there. At least we'll find out if that is where they're being held" the auburn girl replied coldly.
Aiden was more than frustrated with Paige's demeanor. This wasn't the girl he knew for the last few years. This was the Paige who initially signed up to be an officer. The Paige who was a confused little freshman who had no direction of where she wanted to be. Paige was acting as though she forgotten everything she was trained for. Two steps away from ordering the auburn girl to stand down, Aiden knew he couldn't do that to her. So he became a bit more direct as he fully turned to face the girl. "Hey. You need to follow protocol. There's a team for a reason. We'll get Emily out of there safely okay?" he asked as Paige looked at him with distressed eyes. "It's obvious they're going to use her against you so they're not going to kill her. You need to trust us. Trust your team. We've been through far worse situations where the five of us were separated. We'll get Emily back. I promise you that. Right now thought, you are the target. Caminiti is going after you and we don't know why. Aria, Emily's dad and Emily were taken because of their connection to you"
"Then trade me for them" Paige suddenly stated.
"Paige!" Skylar yelled as the team couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"I know it sounds senseless, but it could work" Paige began as she defended herself. "If they want me, let them have me. I have the knowledge and skills to be in that situation. And at least we know what we're working with"
Turning to the rest of the team, Aiden took in a deep breath to try to figure out if there was another way to get Caminiti. But there was no time to waste. "Suit up. We'll stake out the area" he instructed. Turning to the first officer on his right, the team's lead began giving his orders. "Dylan, we need eyes and ears inside and out of that area. Find out who exactly we're dealing with in there and what exactly they have. Dave, find our way inside and our escape plan. I need to know if there's a trap door in the basement or if there's a tunnel that leads to some park. We need to make sure no one is going to sneak up on us or use to our advantage to get out of there. Skylar, locate all tech inside that building we could use against them. We need to make sure we could shut off the lights if need be or turn off their way of communicating with anyone outside that house" he simply instructed. "We're getting back our civilians today"
With the team completely surrounding the house at all angles, Aiden watched thoroughly from the front of the house with his binoculars knowing they needed to get into that house; hoping everyone they were looking for were all in there. "Eagle come in" he commanded quietly as he hid on the top of a large tree by the front of the house. "Do you have eyes on the target?" he asked as he couldn't see anyone from his angle.
"Eagle to Lion" Dylan acknowledged quietly as he hid himself from view behind a large bolder located at the far right side of the house. "No sir. We have movement but no verification it's Caminiti" the team eyes replied as he kept searching for any sign of the mass trafficker from his view. "But I do only see the five men initially indicated. Firearms on each have been detected"
Aiden knew they couldn't stay outside the house for too long. If they were going to attack, this was the time. After a few more minutes of not having any verification Caminiti was in fact inside the house, Aiden began thinking it was possible Caminiti had a hidden room he was keeping the civilians. "Lion to Eagle and Wolf, find aim" he ordered Dylan and Skylar. Watching as Dylan had his shot bow aimed inside one of the large windows to the right of the house and Skylar take aim with her axe pistol to the left side of the house, the team lead continued passing orders. "Lion to Jag and Shark, get in position" he ordered Dave and Paige as he watched the two begin to slowly and quietly enter the house from two different windows on the second floor. "Lion will go through the back. Team, be careful and remember…we got each other"
As the team locked onto their respective targets, they each gave Aiden their validation.
"This is Shark" Paige initiated. "Eyes on first target. Upstairs guest bedroom"
"This is Jag" David followed. "Eyes on second target. Upstairs master bedroom"
"This is Eagle" Dylan continued. "Eyes on third target. Lower level dining room"
"This is Wolf" Skylar trailed. "Eyes on fourth target. Lower level living room"
And then finally, Aiden gave his own validation. "This is Lion. Eyes on fifth target. Backroom den" he confirmed before finally giving the order his team awaited for. "Remember, we need them alive. On my count. 2…1"
With that order, the team pursued their intended targets. Paige immediately hurled four throwing knives at her target to try to disarm the gunman which worked brilliantly. Using her skills of martial arts, the auburn effortlessly did a flying back kick into the muscular man's side which brought his hands up defensively which Paige managed to use to her advantage as she follow with a Brazilian kick to the gunman's head; causing the man to be unconscious upon impact. Paige was satisfied she didn't need to arm herself with her machetes as she was easily able to put the culprit into handcuffs. "First target disarmed" she indicated into her earpiece.
Following behind her, Dave easily used his double blade staff along with his skills of martial arts to take down his own target. After shoving the gunman back with his staff, the raven hair man managed to disarm the gunman. Performing a palm strike directly to man's chest, David followed up with a side kick to the man's ribs; easily breaking them to bring the suspect down. "Second target disarmed"
"Third target disarmed" Dylan soon indicated as two of his arrows when straight into his target's hands to not only disarm the gunman but brought him to his knees as the team's communicator handcuffed the perpetrator.
Tossing her axe pistol to the wall near the fourth culprit, Skylar managed to distract the gunman before coming in swiftly with a knee kick to the man's chest before performing a few direct punches toward the man's upper body and finally finished him off with a direct upper punch to the man's throat. "Fourth target disarmed"
After a few seconds of not hearing Aiden, Paige took over command. "Aiden report" she ordered into her earpiece. As the line remained silent, the auburn girl looked toward Dave before they each brought their targets downstairs near Skylar and Dylan before arming and positioning themselves to find Aiden.
As the team made their way into the den, they soon found themselves walking back to where they came from with their weapons locked on a new target; a target currently holding a blade to their team lead's neck. "Dark auburn hair. Big brown eyes. And a body that would drive any man…or woman absolutely crazy" the gauntly man described as his eyes narrowed onto Paige. "You must be Ms. McCullers. I've heard a lot about you"
"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking too?" Paige replied as she held four throwing knives in her hand; ready to attack. "I know you're not Caminiti"
"You would know given you were the one who brought him in. No wonder he paid so much attention to you. He does like them a bit…lively" the middle aged man answered with a smile. "But I can take you to Caminiti. I know he would love to see you again"
Taken back by the offer, Paige straightened her back as she looked directly at Aiden at the proposal. This was in fact a trap. It was all a rouse to get to her. Parting her lips for a split second, Paige tightened her jaw before licking her bottom lip. She soon heard Aiden speak on her behalf. "The only place you're going to is a dark hole"
Laughing at how brazen Aiden seemed to be with a knife being held to his neck as his other arm was folded behind his back, the lean man had to admit the young officer was bold. But he wasn't here for him. "I'm not here for your team. I'm here for you" he revealed as his attention focused solely on Paige. "If you would like to take me back to base, I guess you won't be able to rank your eyes over that delicious body of your girlfriend's again. Emily right?" the man continued as the auburn girl's eyes widen at the mere mention of Emily. "Too bad. But I'm sure a few of my friends will help keep her warm at night to fill that void"
That was all Paige needed to hear before with withdrew her weapons.
"McCullers, don't!" Aiden shouted just as 30 men came rushing into the house holding their weapons; each directed at one member of the team; forcing all members to withdraw their own weapons. As the man holding Aiden shoved the muscular officer away from him, the men surrounding the team began focusing on Aiden as well. The gauntly man simply gave Paige a small smile along with a nod to follow him out the house.
Taking in a deep breath before she followed, Paige looked at her team members one last time. Tightening her jaw as she looked each one in the eye at her decision, the auburn girl needed them to understand why she was doing this before following the man outside. She didn't know what she was getting herself into, but she knew the team's best bet was for one of them to get kidnapped so they had at least one person by their targets. With her head down, Paige walked out the backdoor without a second glance back.
"Paige!" was the last thing the auburn girl heard from Skylar right before hearing Caminiti's men began to attack the other members within the house.
Emily was beyond petrified. She didn't know where she was or who took her; but she knew she couldn't show any fear in her eyes for the sake of survival. The only thing keeping her steady was the notion Paige would be looking for her. Looking around at the vast empty space before her, the brunette squinted her eyes as she began realizing the area seemed to be an old abandoned cafeteria. Hearing firm footsteps from behind her, the beauty held onto the arms of the chair tighter to control her distress.
"Wow, you really are more beautiful in person. No kidding Paige would fall for someone like you" the middle aged man stated with a small smile. If Emily didn't know any better, she would have probably seen this man down the street and not have a second thought he would be behind an attack like this. But after seeing his pictures endlessly for weeks, the brunette knew exactly who was speaking to her. "Despite those bruises. They look like hurt a bit" the built man stated a little concerned as he pointed out the gash above the brunette's right eye and lower lip. "I'll talk to my men and make sure they go easier on you next time even if you do try to fight back. After all, you aren't the one that I want. You just happened to be a bystander" he continued. "Where are my manners? I'm Caminiti, I'm pretty sure you've heard a thing or two about me"
"Where is my dad and Aria?" Emily simply asked as she looked Caminiti directly in the eyes.
"Your dad? And Aria? Oh right right, your friend. Back at Rosewood right" the blue eye man asked with a smile before standing up. "I'm pretty positive they should be the least of your worries right now"
Refusing to show any sign of fear, Emily continued to look directly at the man who was the reason for this entire case. "You think I'm scared of men like you?"
"Oh no" Caminiti replied with a small smile. "That's not what I meant. I'm sure you've had your fair share of sleaze ball men after you" he continued before walking over to a small table toward the right side of the room to pour himself a drink. "I only meant your dad and your friend should be the least of your worries" he stated taking a sip. "I just picked up someone who'd kind of trump all of them"
Emily's eyes widen as she realized the meaning of the man's statement. Paige. Immediately thinking to herself that the auburn girl was possibly attacked the same way she was, Emily knew Paige would have easily brought herself out of a situation like that. "I doubt that"
"Really?" the man in charged said with a wide smile. "You have that much faith in that girl taking me down?"
"I do" Emily answered without hesitation.
Taken aback by the honesty of the brunette, Caminiti simply nodded. "Well how about this? What do you think about the fact that your Paige just surrendering to me at the mere mention of us grabbing you?"
Emily could feel her heart drop at the possibility of Paige doing that. Licking her lips with a hint of despondency in her eyes, Emily knew Paige would do anything to make sure she was safe; especially after everything they've been through recently. Feeling her eyes begin to fill with tears, the brunette tried to keep herself at bay. "She wouldn't do that. She has a team. They follow protocol"
"Well lucky for me, I know her weakness" the middle age man said in happy whisper. "But don't you worry. Just sit tight. You'll be seeing her in no time" he simply stated before making his way back out the room; leaving Emily to contemplate the possibilities of what may happen to her.