The Precipice
Disclaimer: I wish, but no, don't own the characters/show.
Author's Note: Could it be? A multi-chaptered story? We shall see. It's at least another two-parter for sure. Happy reading!
She hadn't expected it to be easy, and it was a lot like starting over, that same awkwardness, that eagerness to earn trust, or rather to earn it back. But they wanted it, they all did, all wanted their little family of misfits to be whole once more, and that made things easier to work at. A work in progress, perhaps, but progress nonetheless.
Out of them all, however, one man specifically didn't shy away from recognizing how hard it was to reintegrate back into the team, or how many nights of online Scrabble she'd played in France. And it made her squirm in too good ways, this new, for lack of a better word, intimacy between them.
Thankfully one thing out of everything hadn't changed, and that was their ability to synchronize. As a professional pair they'd always worked well together, the case in Boise had only confirmed that, playing off of each other's strengths, able to read each other's movements and behavior to know how to react in a dangerous situation.
This latest case had been no different, chasing an UNSUB through a labyrinth of condemned buildings, the same determination to not lose him demonstrated in their steps.
He hopped fences, they hopped fences, he busted into buildings, they followed, he climbed unstable stairwells, so did they. As she brought up the rear on one said staircase, however, the weight of their UNSUB and Hotch had already done a number on the rotten steps, and her own slight build was just enough to send it over the edge.
Quite literally.
Her scream is involuntary as her feet suddenly meet thin air and she claws for a hold on the way down, managing to grab one of the remaining stairs just in time. But it's awkward, and she doesn't know how long she can keep her grip.
"Prentiss!"
She feels a shift in the staircase and looks up to see Hotch has stopped his pursuit, heading back towards her carefully, UNSUB forgotten in the wake of her scream and peril.
"Hotch, no!"
"Prentiss-"
"Sir, any more weight and this whole thing could give! Go get that bastard! I'll be fine."
"Emily, I am not leaving you behind!"
The way he says her first name stirs something up inside of her that she quickly boxes up and puts away to examine later, if ever.
"Hotch, if he gets away he's going to kill again! And even more than before because he'll think he can't be caught! Now go!"
A quick glance down tells her that if she falls there's a good chance she won't make it, they're a good three floors up and she doubts the rickety stairs they've already climbed will stop her fall, but she won't be telling him that.
But the look in his eyes tells she won't have to anyway. He knows her chances, he also knows his if he tries another few steps. He could take them both down trying to save her, and Robert Cole would still be free. The rub is that he's still desperate to try anyway.
They all knew the risks that came with their career choice, she more than most, but that look made her want more than anything to live. She knew her survival instinct was strong, but this was about more than just survival. Never had she ever wanted to live, to have her life back more than in that moment. Death again faced her, and this time she was truly afraid, because she realized how much she had to live for when she met his gaze.
This impossible man who had already done so much for her, who had so much to lose himself, was willing to come after her, because they'd already lost her once, he'd already lost her once, and he wasn't going to let it happen again. And she can't let him.
"Aaron, please…"
His given name finally seems to knock some sense into him, but as he starts to back away she can't hide the tears in her eyes as much as he can't hide how hard he swallows.
"Everyone else was right behind us, we only got a head start by a few minutes. You hold on, Prentiss, you hear me?"
It goes against everything inside of him to leave her behind, but she's decided she's going to make it, and when Emily Prentiss decides to do something, nothing will stop her from doing it.
Their entire exchange hasn't used up more than a few minutes; Hotch can still catch Cole if he follows now. He gives her a quick reassuring nod, and is gone.
The second he leaves the stair she's holding on to gives way, and she's not sure whose scream she hears as she starts to fall.