Emily had fired as she dove behind a trash bin beside the tracks. She prays it's enough to protect her from the nails and other shrapnel inside the bomb. As the rumbling from the explosion starts to ebb, Emily pats herself down.
"No injuries. Good…maybe," she tells herself.
She slowly eases out from behind the trashcan and looks around. There is no sign of shrapnel.
"Oh, fuck…not good. So fucking not good." She finally registers that she can hear JJ's frantic voice from her dangling earpiece. She quickly puts it back in. "Prentiss here. I'm fine. But we have a problem. The bomb didn't contain shrapnel."
"What do you mean?" Morgan asks, jogging over.
She gestures. "Look around. Nothing."
"That doesn't make sense," Morgan says as she sees what she's talking about.
"It does if- -"
"Bomber spotted at the House Station!" Garcia interrupts.
Morgan and Emily stare that direction, as if they could actually see what is happening. The muffled sound of an explosion tells them the bomber had detonated himself. They hear Hotch come over the earpiece.
"Suspect down. Continuing evacuation."
Emily's eyes widen. "Evacuation…oh FUCK!" She hits her mike. "STOP THE EVAC! SHELTER IN PLACE! REPEAT: SHELTER IN PLACE! LOCKDOWN THE CAPITAL! NO ONE IN OR OUT!"
She takes off running towards the exits, Morgan right behind her. "What's going on in that head of yours, Prentiss?"
"No shrapnel in these bombs. They want us to do exactly what we're doing: putting a huge crowd of people with their pulse on our laws out in the open."
"Where the terrorists with shrapnel laden bombs can do an insane amount of damage. FUCK!"
Emily keys her mike. "GET EYES ON THE CROWDS! WE NEED THE SNIPERS OUT THERE! NOW! SUICIDE BOMBERS WILL BE TARGETING THE CROWDS!"
Emily and Morgan burst out a side door. Emily stops long enough to look at one of the Capital police officers.
"No one in or out until the all clear signal is given by me or your captain. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"HEY! What the hell is going on, Emily?"
Emily stops and stares at a man she's known most of her life. "Senator, you'll know when we do. For now, stay here and stay safe."
"You get back here! I don't take orders from- -EMILY!"
Emily just ignores his blustering and follows Morgan out into the courtyard where passengers on the rail had started to gather. She races to a small wall and climbs on top, giving her a slightly better view of the scene.
"Teams 2, 3, 4, report your locations," she orders.
"Team 2 just exiting the building," Hotch reports.
"Team 3 already outside and trying to find a vantage point," Reid responds.
Team 4 nearly out there in same area as Team 3," Rossi replies.
"We know 6 of 10 are down," Emily tells them. "Keep your eyes open. Take them out before they detonate. Capital Police, try to get the civilians to disperse. The larger the group the better the chance they become targets."
The next 5 minutes go excruciatingly slowly. Suddenly Reid screams out over the earpieces.
"TWO SUSPECTS IN THIS AREA!"
Emily tenses as she hears gun shots ring out. She starts to scan the dwindling crowd harder, knowing that they probably deployed 2 to the center of the Capital where Reid and Rossi dealt with them. That left 1 to either end of the building.
"PRENTISS! THERE!" Morgan yells.
Emily spins, staring where he is pointing. She sees the man running towards a crowd of young interns.
"RUN!" She screams as she pulls her gun and leaps off the wall, racing towards the crowd. "SEPARATE! SEPARATE! NOW!" She stops and levels her gun at the man, realizing Morgan is right beside her. "FREEZE! FBI!"
The suicide bomber sees his targets have scattered. With a scream he turns towards Emily and Morgan. The agents stand shoulder to shoulder.
"LAST CHANCE!" Morgan screams.
With a war cry, the man moves his hand towards the button flopping at his shoulder.
Emily and Morgan fire into his head lest they hit the bomb, sending him to his God before his mission is accomplished. They clear everyone away from the man in case the bomb goes off anyway. Emily keys her mike.
"We need bomb techs."
"Moving in now," JJ tells her.
"Good. Teams 3, 4, status?" Emily asks.
"Bombers down," Rossi replies. "Farrelli took a bullet in the shoulder but medics are already with him. Team 3 is working to keep the crowds away from the bodies."
"Good. Team 2?"
"Just not seeing the tenth bomber," Hotch replies. "It's getting chaotic here. We need more eyes."
"Copy. Team 1 on our way."
Leaving the police and Secret Service in charge of that area the two agents take off at a run towards the other end of the building. They pass the scene in the middle that Rossi had reported on, glad to see a bomb tech already securing one of the bombs.
As they reach the other end of the building Morgan steps up on a bench to get a better look at the crowd. He sees police trying to escort people from the area.
"Where are you, motherfucker? Where the fuck are you?"
Emily had run on a little farther and climbed up on a different bench. She is also scanning the crowd as her earpiece comes to life.
"PRENTISS! THREE O'CLOCK!" Hotch yells.
Emily spins in that direction and sees the man smiling at her. She'll never get her gun up in time.
"EVERYONE COVER!" She screams dropping down onto the bench as the man detonates himself.
Her arms cover her head as she hears the nails and other pieces of the bomb slamming into the bench she lays upon. After just a few seconds, it's over. She leaps up and looks towards Morgan's position.
"DEREK!" She races towards him as he sits up from the bench he had taken cover behind. Blood stains his shirt. "OFFICER DOWN!" She drops beside him. "Where are you hit?"
He looks down at himself. "Not mine."
Emily is still running her hand over his arms. "What? Where are you hit?"
He takes her hands and stills them. "It's not mine. It's the fucker that killed himself."
"Are…are you sure?"
He nods. "I'm sure."
Emily breathes a sigh of relief. "Come on. Let's see who needs help."
She stands and pulls him up. They walk off to help control the scene…
…together.
In the control room, JJ takes out her earpiece and tosses it on the desk. She lets out a huge sigh of relief. Garcia takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes.
"That royally sucked," the analyst says.
JJ nods. "I second that. How many do you think are hurt down there?"
"Not as many as there could have been. Shit, Jayje, if Emily hadn't figured out that the bombs inside were to get people outside…"
JJ smiles proudly. "She's good."
"Hells yeah, she is."
JJ stands. "I'm going to the bathroom. When I get back I'll put in my earpiece and head out to see if I can help. Let her know if she contacts you."
"Will do, Jayje."
JJ slowly makes her way to the bathroom, rolling her neck to try to ease the pain and tension within it. In the bathroom she steps into a stall. When she lowers her pants she freezes.
"Oh, my God…that's not…not spotting…"
She drops down onto the toilet. A few days before she had thought it might be for the best if the insemination didn't work. As she lets out a sob she realizes she'd just been lying to herself.