On My Own Too Long

Reid and Prentiss

Chapter Five

September 2011

"All the airports within five hundred miles were put on alert as soon as the truck was discovered," Hotch told the team as they sat on the plane flying to Iowa to search for Emily "so they couldn't have escaped by air."

"Getting on a bus or train would draw too much attention," JJ said. She had recently returned to the team as a profiler.

"They've got to be traveling by car. Probably an SUV or van," Rossi said. "Garcia, check satellite images for the area during the time of the incident."

From her lair, Penelope Garcia, whose face was on the computer screen said "Already on top of it, sir, there was in fact a black SUV spotted passing a truck stop not five miles away from where the marshal was found. I zeroed in on the license plate and got it to the local cops."

Morgan said "They will have changed vehicles or hid that SUV by now."

"If they're hiding out it has to be in a isolated area nearby," Rossi said.

Reid was already looking at his map, trying to figure out where Emily could be.

Morgan said "If it was me I'd get her as far away from there as quick as possible. Then when I have her all alone where I know we won't be interrupted I can take my time with her."

"Doyle isn't a patient man, though," Hotch said. "High risk doesn't bother him either. He just wants what he wants and he wants it now. He won't be able to wait to take her far away. Driving that could take days to get far enough away for the heat to be off. He'll hole up nearby and try to extract the location of his son out of her."

JJ asked "The marshals with Declan know about this, right?"

Hotch said "They've been informed but Emily won't give up Declan's location. She'd rather die first."

His throat scratchy from emotion Reid said, while still staring at his map and drawing circles on it, "Emily is not going to die! We'll get there in time. We're here family and she's counting on us." After another moment he looked up "And I know just where to start looking."

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She knew if her babies were born six weeks premature in a filthy barn with no medical care that it would be a miracle if they survived. All she wanted was to hold off the births till help arrived but her body wasn't listening to her plan.

The pain was so intense there were times she thought she would pass out. Whenever Doyle kicked her, she would hunch over and try to protect the babies. When he grabbed her around her throat she worried about her oxygen supply getting cut off not because of her own life but because the babies would die if they were still inside of her when she died.

He decided to water board her to get the answers out of her about where Declan was. Every time her face was shoved under the water she felt like this was it, her and the babies would die, but then he would pull her back up, let her spit out the water and ask her again where Declan was. She couldn't tell him right away, no matter how much she wanted the torture to end, because once he knew he might kill her without letting a doctor deliver her babies first.

So Emily endured the torture until Doyle tossed her onto the ground and started to walk away, saying "When I come back you'll have your last chance to tell me where my boy is and if you don't then your babies die with you today, Lauren. They would probably grow up to be lying whores just like their mother anyway."

She moaned in pain and clutched her stomach.

Long ago she had come to terms with the fact that her life may end because of Ian Doyle but from the moment she had learned she was pregnant she knew she had to safely get her baby into the world before Doyle found her but she hadn't even been able to do that much for her kids. The doctor had deemed her pregnancy high risk due to her age and it being multiples but the doctor had no clue that his patient with the fake name, Karen Wright, was high risk for many more reasons than that.

Just as her eyes started to close, in complete exhaustion, Emily heard the sound of gunfire in the distance. She was too weak to even crawl to safety. When the barn door opened again she heard heavy footsteps running toward her but she could barely focus on the faces before her.

Relief stole through her though when she heard "POLICE! FREEZE!" right before she passed out.

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The area that Reid had decided would make sense for Doyle to hide out in was woodsy with farm houses that were mainly abandoned due to the rough economic climate of the last few years. There were a few properties within a half hour radius that had the kind of privacy Doyle would need.

Between the BAU team, local FBI agents and the police they split up to search the properties. Reid wasn't at the property where Emily was found so once he heard about her rescue he rushed to the hospital to meet up with all the team and see about her health.

Last time Doyle had branded her and knocked her unconscious, left her for dead. What did that bastard do to her this time?

Reid had already learned Doyle was killed in a shoot out but that was cold comfort when Emily could be fighting for her own life right at that moment.

Reid was out of breath by the time he burst through the doors of the hospital, which was located more than an hour away from where they had been searching for Emily. Looking around, he spotted some of his team members- JJ and Hotch- and hurried over to them.

JJ immediately reached out to touch his arms, holding him steady. "She's in surgery, Spence."

"Surgery? For what?"

For a moment it seemed like JJ wouldn't answer and then she said "For an emergency c-section."

All the air was sucked out of his lungs and he felt like he might pass out. Hotch eased Spencer into a nearby chair.

"She's pregnant?" Reid asked "Did either of you know?"

"No one knew," Hotch answered. "No one has had contact with her since she went into the program."

Reid bounded back to his feet. "I need to speak to her doctors."

He was storming toward the nurse's station when Morgan came in with Rossi. Seeing the look on Reid's face, Morgan jumped in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid, calm down and talk to me. What's going on?"

"Emily is in surgery and someone around here is going to give me some answers!" Reid pushed past Morgan and went up to the nurses, announcing he was a doctor who worked with the FBI.

Morgan walked up to JJ and Hotch. "How bad is it?"

Hotch sighed. "Emily was beaten somewhat, it appears, and , from what I understand, she was soaking wet when she was found. There was a large wooden tub nearby where Doyle was most likely simulating drowning her. But the biggest concern right now is the fact she was in labor when she was found."

"Prentiss is pregnant?" Morgan asked, in shock, his eyes turning back to look at Reid, who was arguing with the nurses while Rossi tried to smooth things over. "Whoa." Shaking his head, Morgan went off to call Garcia because he had promised to keep her informed.

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Reid had an unsatisfied look on his face when he finally walked back over to Hotch and JJ. "I hate hospitals."

"All we can do now is wait," JJ told him "and pray."

"She was alone all this time...and pregnant. Its not fair."

"No, its not," Hotch said "but the worse is over now."

"Is it?" Reid asked, knowing he wouldn't take an unpainful breath again until he heard that Emily was all right and so was her baby. Then maybe his headache would ease some...and maybe he could start to ask the other questions he needed answers to.

For now his mind swirled with worries about how far along Emily was, what that would mean for the health of her child, and if her body could survive the emergency c-section after all the stress Doyle had put her through in the last twelve hours. For now he couldn't worry about himself or what any of this meant for him, for them, if anything at all, because all he could think about was Emily's well being.

Now he knew what it was like to make another person the center of your world because Emily was the center of his.