A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hope you like the chapter (and the fact there wasn't a two week wait!). Let me know what you think :)
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JJ, Rossi and Spencer arrived at the house within the hour, armed with gift bags and more balloons, to keep up the pretence that they were visiting the new baby. The cheerful greetings which took place on the doorstep did not however endure, as they joined the other half of their team and crowded around the kitchen table. A tense silence filled the room, punctuated by only the occasional crackling of the baby monitor and the hiss of the kettle.
"What's going on?" Rossi asked, when the atmosphere between Emily and Morgan and Hotch became too uncomfortable to ignore.
"There have been some developments," Hotch answered, his glance towards Emily ruining the neutral tone of his response.
"Emily?" JJ pressed with a concerned frown. It had only been a day and they'd already broken their carefully planned communication protocol. Something serious had to have happened.
"I met with Sophie's sister last night. She'd been beaten by a client and she was ready to give me information," Emily began, trying to ignore the surprised expressions of those who were as yet unaware of her off book activities. Regaining everyone's trust after she'd returned had been difficult enough and she hated that she was risking what they'd managed to rebuild. "Marissa - Sophie's sister, she approached me a couple of days after Sophie died and I've been trying to maintain contact since then. I promised I'd keep Lucy safe..." She trailed off as she tried to slot the rest of the story into an order which would make sense.
"In exchange for information?" Reid asked, with a hint of disgust at the thought of such an arrangement. Had Emily really imposed a condition on protecting the child?
"No, it wasn't like that," she replied quickly, trying not to think of the bribe of a photograph that she had placed before Marissa the night before. Even if Marissa had been entirely uncooperative she'd have made sure that Lucy was safe. Even if there was no hope that it would lead to Doyle's men, she'd still have chased after the assignment with the same fervour.
There was a time, not so long ago, where she'd have had no doubt that those answers were the complete truth.
"Of course it wasn't in exchange for information," Morgan stepped in, sounding angry that Reid could even make the suggestion. "Emily's risked her career, and her life, for that kid. She didn't ask to be put in the middle of this."
Reid, taken aback by Morgan's aggression, fell silent but turned to Emily with an apologetic expression. She shook her head, in a gesture which told him she hadn't taken the same offence as her partner. JJ glanced between the members of the team, frowning once again at the palpable tension. It wasn't often that the atmosphere grew so fraught between them.
"Emily, what did Marissa tell you?" she asked, trying to divert the conversation back to the facts. They had to remain objective and focus on the job in hand.
Grateful for the blonde's intervention, Emily began to explain all that she knew.
"So it wasn't Doyle's men who killed Sophie?" Rossi asked when she had finished, seeking confirmation of his interpretation of events. "They were trying to protect her and the baby?"
Emily nodded, feeling an uncomfortable reluctance to do so.
"But they're still trying to get to Lucy and they're dangerous organised criminals who are deeply involved in this," she replied, her insistence on those facts sounding almost desperate.
"I'm not doubting that," he assured her gently, taking over JJ's role as peace-keeper.
Hotch, who'd remained silent for most of the discussion, sensed that it was time to take charge and get their next steps in place. The case was precariously balanced on the edge of their jurisdiction. It had always been that way, but Emily's fixation on Doyle and her own personal motivations made it even riskier.
"We need to find out what Valhalla involves, and the identity of the two groups we're dealing with. Reid, you and Rossi head down to the precinct and find out what you can from organised crime. Check for anyone who could have connections to Sophie and Marissa, or to Doyle. Morgan, you and I will return to the area Prentiss visited last night. JJ, I want you to stay here with Prentiss until I arrange for agents to be placed outside."
Emily wasn't the only one who noticed her absence from the division of roles but no one made a comment. Practically, she supposed someone had to stay with Lucy, and it made sense that she would be the one, but they all knew Hotch had other reasons for keeping her out of the field.
"Prentiss?" he said, turning to her as the rest of the team discussed their assignments. "I need a word."
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She hung back as the others set off, the feeling of dread which she knew was there being consumed by whatever else was going on in her head.
"If it was an option I'd be taking you off this case," Hotch told her as soon as they were alone. "You're too involved, and right now you're a danger to yourself and the rest of the team."
She remained quiet, staring at the ground and nodding slightly.
"But Marissa is our best way in and you already have a rapport with her."
Jerking her head so that she was looking directly at him, her expression twisted with surprise. Was he still willing to trust her?
"I need you to get in touch with her and convince her to meet with JJ," he instructed.
She almost exclaimed that there was no way Marissa would speak to anyone else, but a stern glance from Hotch made her think twice.
"I know it won't be easy to convince her," he continued. "But you are not to leave this house without my permission, am I clear?"
She nodded, unsure if she was agreeing because he was being reasonable or simply because she didn't have the energy to protest.
"I mean it," he warned. "I'm giving you this chance to prove I was right to trust you. Don't let me down."
"I won't, sir," she responded, feeling almost relieved when the whimpering noise which stirred from the baby monitor gave her an excuse to leave. "I should go." Lucy's cries grew stronger, making her reason to get away even quicker.
"Go and see to her," he nodded, watching as she hurried out of the room and feeling slightly better now that the conversation was over. He didn't like to pull rank or play the role of the hard-nosed boss unless he absolutely had to.
Once Emily was upstairs, JJ stepped back through to the kitchen. She'd been waiting in the living room, catching every word but keeping well out of their way.
"Did you hear all of that?" he asked, wanting to be completely certain that everyone knew what they were doing.
JJ nodded.
"Do you really think Marissa will agree to meet with me?" she frowned, having seen the same flaw in the plan that Emily had.
Hotch sighed: he really didn't know. It was going to be a long shot but he couldn't see a better option.
"Just keep an eye on Emily," he told her, keeping his voice low on the off chance his agent was able to hear over the sound of the screaming baby.
"Of course," JJ agreed. She hadn't really needed her boss's instructions to know that was what she needed to do. Their friend's behaviour was worrying them all.
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Lucy settled quickly, but Emily didn't much feel like going back downstairs. She perched on the end of the bed and leaned forward, rubbing her aching temples. A week and a half of this mess had left her exhausted. And it still seemed like she was far from finding her way out.
"You could have called me."
She looked up to where JJ had entered the room and was closing the door. The blonde wore an expression of hurt and concern - one which she'd managed to hide while they were all in the kitchen.
"Last night. I would have come with you," she continued, just in case her friend had missed the point.
"I know," Emily sighed, barely looking up from the remains of her frayed nails.
"What's going on with you?" she frowned, taking a seat beside the other woman. "I'm worried."
Emily didn't know what to say. What was going on with her? Doyle was the short answer. Doyle and his ability to infiltrate everything good in her life until it started to crumble around her. Her relationship, her friendships, their investigations. The way the world he'd worked in continued to poison the lives of everyone it touched, even after he was cold and in the ground. Doyle. Valhalla. Why, when there was so much more at play, could she see no further than his ghost? Her obsession was getting dangerous.
"I guess I am a little too involved with this case," she answered. "I'll be fine once Marissa and Lucy are safe."
JJ offered a small, understanding smile. She was far from convinced that Emily was telling the whole story, but they didn't have time for her to prise the truth from the closed-off woman.
"We'll figure this out soon," she assured her, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze.
"I should try to call Marissa," Emily stated, pulling away from JJ's touch and reaching for the cellphone she hadn't lost. Unfounded reassurances weren't going to get them anywhere.
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"Marissa, what the hell is taking you so long in there?"
He was angry but, for now at least, he needed her alive. She glanced in the mirror one last time and sighed. She'd been applying layer upon layer of concealer and foundation for the best part of half an hour, but the bruises still shone through. And no amount of make-up would hide the fact her right eye was swollen almost completely shut.
"I'm coming!" she called, slamming the bathroom door as she headed to where he waited.
He scoffed as she appeared in the kitchen. She was dressed and made-up as though she was going to work. But there was no way anyone would touch her while the evidence of his beating was plastered across her face.
"I'm not sending you out looking like that," he muttered.
"Then what are you doing?" she replied. The fact that she wasn't currently disposable was making her brave.
A smirk crossed his lips in his amusement at her sass. Before he could respond, her cellphone, which was now kept safely on his person, started to ring. He frowned at the unknown number on the screen.
"Answer it," he commanded, thrusting the device towards her.
"Emily?" she asked, at the sound of the familiar voice when she answered the call.
He almost laughed at the luck - the timing couldn't have been better if he'd planned it himself.
"I'm okay," she said, in response to Emily's question about her wellbeing. Her eyes searched his for instruction and he signalled to her to keep talking, as he pulled out his own phone to cash in a favour owed by a cop.
She did as she was told, anxiously feeding the agent irrelevant information and asking for updates on the baby.
"Why can't I see you?" she asked when a meeting with another member of Emily's team was proposed. She didn't like the idea that it was a stranger who would be involved.
He indicated that she should wind up the call.
"Okay, I'll be there at four," she agreed, her heart beating faster at the thought of what she was about to undertake. Could she really get away with playing everyone in this way? Maybe not if she cared about surviving, but if she didn't...
The call ended and he took the cellphone from her hand. It couldn't have gone any better.
"Get upstairs and wipe that muck off your face," he instructed. "And change your clothes. You're not going to get much sympathy looking like a cheap hooker."
As always, she obeyed without question. But as she climbed the stairs, the thought that she only only had a limited number of his commands to follow filled her with a strange warmth. Dead or alive, she'd make sure they all paid for what they did to Sophie. And she'd be free.
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"That was too easy," Emily muttered, repeating her concern once again as JJ pulled on her coat. "You could be walking into a trap."
"I'll be careful," the blonde insisted, checking her gun one last time.
"I should be the one going."
"There's no way Hotch would allow it," JJ reminded her. "And I'm not lying for you on this." There was too much at stake to go against Hotch's orders here. "There are two agents in the silver car across the street - they'll know if you try to leave," she added with a slight laugh.
Emily still wasn't happy with the situation. She didn't like that JJ was the one going to the meeting, while she remained in a safe house, under the guard of federal agents. And it made her uneasy that Marissa, who had previously run at the sound of sirens, was so willing to meet with an unknown member of the team.
"Please be careful," she urged.
JJ smiled at her concern.
"I'll be fine. You need to take a bath and relax. Maybe try to get some rest while Lucy's asleep?" she suggested.
Emily chewed her lip anxiously - sleep was not something she foresaw as coming easily.
JJ headed towards the front door. She knew there was something off about the meeting but she'd have plenty of agents and police officers covering her and she knew to be extra vigilant.
"Wait!" Emily called.
JJ sighed as she turned around. If she didn't leave now she'd be late.
"Take this," the brunette said, grabbing a photo of Lucy which had been printed to be placed in a frame in the house. "I promised."