When Nothing Goes as Planned


Week 20

Emily was pacing the floor. She had called Hotch 8 times, but he still had not called her back yet. She had tried calling some of the others too, but they did not pick up either. Why wouldn't they tell her what was going on? She just wanted to know what was happening! Emily grabbed her bag and jacket and walked out of the small office. If no one was going to tell her what was going on then she would just have to go see for herself. She had both Louise Campbell and Eric Clark's addresses, so the only thing she needed now was a car. Emily looked around the precinct and quickly her eyes landed on the dark haired M.E. "Dr. Carter!" Emily said walking with fast steps over to Jade, who looked confused at her.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I need to borrow your car."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have a car and I need to go somewhere," Emily said a bit annoyed. Why could she not just let her borrow her car? Emily did not have time for this. She had to find out what was going on, she had to find Simone. "Can I borrow it or not?"

"I will drive you," Jade said, turning on her heal, walking out of the precinct.

Walking after her quickly Emily said, "You really don't have to. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't it mean that I can't drive myself."

Jade looked over her shoulder at Emily. "I'm not letting you go to the house of possible kidnapper by yourself."

"How did you know?" Emily asked. Jade did not say anything she just rolled her eyes and kept walking. Emily hurried after. "But I won't be alone; my team will be there too."

"Yeah right," Jade just said and then opened the door for Emily, so they could walk out on the street. They headed for the car, a little old yellow Fiat bubble. "Meet Gray," Jade said proudly as she unlocked the small car.

Emily opened the passenger door and got in. There was not much room for her pregnant stomach and if she had just been a little bit bigger then she probably would not have fit in the car. "You have named your yellow car Gray?"

"Yes," Jade said as she got in the car and closed the door. "Not after the color of course, but after Henry Gray author of 'Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body'. It was my most used book in medical school."

Emily smiled. It was kind of cute that this grown up woman had named her car. Maybe she would name her car too or let Jack do it for her. That thought made her smile again. She missed that little boy and she could not wait to get home and see him again, but first they had to find Simone. Emily toke her phone out of her pocket, found the message from Garcia and then typed the address to Louise Campbell's home into the GPS. Emily thought that would be better than going to the home of the guy they believed to be a serial killer. She did have the babies to think of.

"Let's go then," Jade said as she pulled out of the parking space and unto the road.

/

Simone twisted her hands, but the rope that held them together just cut deeper into her writes and she could now feel blood running down her left forearm. She hoped that none of it would get on her dress, if it did then the man, who wanted her to call him dad, would just get mad. And if dad got mad, then bad things would happen; like they had when they were still in the house.

After dad had introduced Simone to her "mommy" he had asked her to go back down to her room and get her things. He did not say why, but Simone did not care, she just quickly ran through the hall and down to the basement. She grabbed her backpack and went back up the stairs, but instead of going right to the living room, Simone headed left. She quickly opened the first door she saw and went into the dark room, closing the door after her as quietly as possible. For a moment Simone just stood in the dark, her backpack over her should and the only sound she could hear was the beating of her heart. She was just about to start panicking. What was she going to do now? She stepped forward and let her hands run against the walls, hoping to find a light shift. They moved across the tiled wall and quickly found the small shift next to the door. Simone flipped it and light filled the room showing to her that she was in a bathroom – a bathroom with a window! In three quick steps she ran to the other side of the small room and with both hands she got the window open. But Simone was not tall enough to get through the window from the floor, so she stepped up on the edge of the bathtub and leant over to look out. There was only about 5 feet to the ground, so she did not have to worry much about getting hurt from jumping out the window, but when she moved to get one foot out she heard the door open.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled, running over to Simone and grabbing her ankle, pulling her down from the window, before she got the change to jump out. Her leg that was still on the side of the bathtub was jerked away from under her and she fell down hard and slammed her chin against the floor. Her teeth grind together and she bit the inside of her right cheek. Simone felt blood pool in her mouth and she spat it on the floor.

"You're not going anywhere, my doll," dad said, grabbed her legs and pulling her across the floor to the doorway.

"Slip mig!" (Let go of me!) Simone screamed and twisted and kicked with her feet. When they got out of the bathroom she succeed in hitting dad in the groin. With a loud moan of pain he let go of her legs for a moment and Simone was able to turn from her back to her stomach and crawl away. But he recovered too quickly and before she even had the chance to get back on her feet, dad was over her and wrapped his arms around her waist and she was pulled of the floor. Simone tried to hit him with her hands and kick him with her feet, but nothing seemed to help until swung her head back. She heard his nose crunch and felt his arms letting go for her. At first she thought that now she would be able to get away, but when she fell to the floor her head hit wall beside them on the way down. Simone tried to get up from the floor she almost passed out. She could not help but think that this could not be good for her head. It was her third time in only two days that she had hurt her head this badly. Simone closed her eyes and after that everything got kind of blurry.

Simone remembered him calling her a bad girl, she remembered him carrying her somewhere, tying her hands and feet together and then placing her in some dark box. And that dark box was where she was now, but it turned out it was not a box, it was the trunk of a car. Simone could feel it by the movements and the way she was sliding back and forward every few minute. She did not know where they are going or if the woman she had seen at the house was in the car too.

Suddenly the car came to a stop and Simone heard the engine being turned off. She waited and after a moment she heard first one car door opening and closing and then another. She lay silently, afraid of what would happen next and after, what felt like an eternity, the trunk was open and a dark face was looking down at her. "We are finally home, Julia."

/

Jade pulled up in front of the dark house. The place seemed scary or maybe it was just because they were not supposed to be there. Emily got out of the car and walked the path line to the front porch. When she took the first step up the porch light turned on. Startled she stepped back and waited a moment to see if everyone came to the door, but nothing happened. Emily walked the rest of the way and was just about to knock when she saw the white business card sitting in the doorway. Morgan had been here. Emily took the card and then knocked on the door. No sounds came from the other side.

"Clearly no one is home, so shouldn't we just go back to the precinct?" Jade asked nervously from beside her car. She was not one to usually get scared of things, hell she worked with dead people, this – standing on a dark street outside of a house where a serial killer might be – was too much for her. "Agent Prentiss?"

Emily ignored her questions and instead tried the door handle. The door was not locked and when she pushed it, it silently opened.

"Emily, I really don't think this is a good idea," Jade said, sounding a bit desperate.

Emily turned around, so they were facing each other. "I will just go look around for a bit and if something happens I have my gun," she said, "but like you pointed out, no one is probably home."

Jade sighed. "What about me? You want me to go inside with you or stay here?"

Emily looked around the front yard. "Why don't you take a walk around the house and then look in the garage, see if there a car?"

Nodding, Jade pushed herself of the side of the car and started walking away. Emily watched her till Jade was out of sight and then she pushed the front door fully open. Slowly she walked inside, debating with herself if she should or should not turn the lights on, but as she got further into the living room, Emily was convinced that the house was empty, so she fumbled her way to the nearest light shift. When the light filled the room Emily covered her eyes with her right hand. She had not expected it to be this bright.

"Emily?" A voice behind her whispered. With her heart in her throat, Emily turned around quickly, seeing Jade standing in the doorway. "Sorry for scaring you, but isn't your team looking for a dark green car?"

"Yes we are, why?"

"Because there's one packed outside in the garage."

"What?" Emily said, taking a step towards Jade, but she stopped quickly when she heard the sound of someone walking right over her head. They both looked up and waited for the steps to die out and then Emily tripped over to Jade. "Call Hotch," she said and then nearly pushed Jade out the front door.

"But I don't have his number," Jade whispered.

"Then call someone else that can help us and I'll call Hotch," Emily whispered back, walking towards the staircase.

Jade walked after her. "What the hell are you doing? This isn't safe!"

"That's why use should go outside and call for backup," Emily said taking her gun from the holder on her right hip. She did not check to see if Jade actually did what Emily had told her to, she just walked slowly towards the staircase, listening for more sounds of movement.

As Emily got further up the stairs she also got farther away from the light and her eyes did not adjust to the darkness as quick as she would have liked them to. When she reached the top she stopped. She looked up down the hall and with the help of the light shining through the window at the end Emily could make out 4 closed doors and another staircase which probably led to an attic. She looked at the door right next to her and was pretty sure that the steps she had heard had come from this room. Emily lifted her gun, quietly walking to the door and turning the door handle. As she pushed the door open she heard something move. With her gun held high and ready to shot Emily stepped into the room with her heart beating quickly under her ribcage. No one was there. Confused, she looked behind the door and in the closet, but there was no sign of anyone there. Was it the wrong room? Or had she just imagined the whole thing? No, Jade had heard the footsteps too.

Emily looked around the room and first now really realized what room she was in. It was a girl's bedroom. Bed, someone could be under the bed. With much difficulty she got down on all four and pointed her gun at the piece of bedding hanging of the bed, hiding what could be under it. "Reach your hands out and slowly come out from under the bed," Emily said firmly, even though she could feel the fear inside of her.

"I can't," a low tearful voice answered. "Please don't hurt me."

Emily lowered her gun as crawled closer to the bed and when she reached it she lifted the bedding. In the darkness laid a person, knees drawn to the chest and crying softly. Emily got her cell phone out of her pocked and let the light from it shin on the person's face. Even though the face was half turned away and hair strings of was covering it, Emily could still see that this was the girl they have been looking for since yesterday. This was Simone. But before Emily was able to say anything to the girl, then her phone started ringing. She quickly answered it, hoping that the sound had not made it out of the room, seeing as she still did not know if someone else was in the house, but there probably was given that Simone was hiding under a bed with her hands tied together. "Hello," she whispered and noticed the girl looking at her with a terrified expression on her face.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Hotch?"

"I told you to stay at the precinct!"

Emily could hear the panic in his voice. "I know, but-"

"But what?"

"But I found her," Emily whispered, a smile slowly spreading on her face.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm in Louise Campbell's house."

"I know you are in the house, Dr. Carter called the precinct and told us what happened," Hotch said with a sigh. "We are on our way and should be there any minute. Is anyone else in the house?"

"I don't know I haven't looked. I only just found Simone." Emily said, noticing the girl moving closer to her. Did the use of her name make her trust her? "But I can ask her?"

"Do that."

Emily moved her phone from her ear and held it between them, both to give them some light, but also to make sure that Hotch could hear what was said. "Sweetie, my name is Emily," she whispered and lay down on her side as close to the bed as she could. "I'm a FBI agent and my team and I have been looking for you. The others are going to be here soon, but right now I need you to tell if anyone else is in the house. Do you understand?"

Simone nodded. "He told me to be a good girl."

Emily could see a tear slowly falling from the girl's left eye, over the bridge of her nose and down to the darkness of the floor. "Is he in the house?"

"Yes, but I don't know where," she whispered through tears. "I think the woman is with him."

"Louise?"

"I don't know her name, but he wanted me to call her mommy." Simone sniffled. "I want my own mom."

"Emily?" Hotch said and Emily picked the phone of the floor. "Yes?"

"We are here now." She could hear him get out of the car.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to stay where you are. No matter what happens then you don't leave the room you are in now. You don't go anywhere till I come and get you myself. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Emily, I mean it," Hotch said, his voice sounding much softer now. "I don't want anything to happen to you and the girls."

"I'll stay here and keep me, the girls and Simone safe. I have my gun, so we should be okay."

"Good, we are going in now."

"Okay," she whispered, "I will see you when it's all over." She hung up the phone, but she did not put it back in her pocket, instead she squeezed it in her hand afraid of letting it go in case something should happen. Emily rolled onto her back and measured if she would be able to fit under the bed. There would just be enough room for her. She turned her head to the side. "Can you move over a bit?" she asked Simone in a low whisper. The girl did not say anything, but did as she was told and Emily slid next to Simone under the bed. This way they would both be hidden if someone came into the room.

"What's happing?" The girl asked scared.

"My team and the police are here."

Her voice got thick. "I'll get to go home?"

"Soon," Emily said, smiling even though she knew that Simone could not see it. A small moment later she could hear doors opening, running steps on the staircase and loud voices and yelling. Emily felt a little panicked from not knowing what was going on out there and she really wanted to go against Hotch's words, but then she heard the fast breathing coming from the girl next to her. Emily pressed a random button on her cell phone, making the display shine bright under the bed. The light made it possible for her to see Simone again. She was silently crying and she looked completely terrified. No matter how much Emily wanted to, she could not leave the girl. She put her phone away and then wrapped her arm around Simone. The girl panicked and tried to move away. "Sssssh, it's okay," Emily said running her hand up and down her back. "It's going to be over real soon and then I will take you to see your mom."

Simone sniffled. "My mom is here?"

"Yes she is. I talked to her earlier today. I also met your brother and sisters."

"Really?" Emily could actually feel hope coming from the girl, but then Simone let out a loud scream, making Emily jump when the sound of two loud shots were heard. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Emily said and this time she did not whisper, because a lot of yelling and running was going on right outside the room. "I'll go check."

"No!" Simone said desperately. "Don't leave me!"

But Emily did not get a change to either say or do anything, before the door to their room was opened and someone walked inside. Both of them lay quickly holding their breath, not sure if they should be afraid or not. "Emily?"

As if an elephant moved of her chest Emily finally felt like she could breathe again. "Hotch!" The room was filled with light and then the bedding was moved away. Emily turned her head to the right and smiled when she saw Hotch's face looking back at her. "I'm so happy to see you!" she said excitingly and with a smile.

But Hotch did not smile back at her. "I'm angry with you."

"I know." Emily sighed and looked away in shame. She knew that what she had done was stupid, but she found Simone, and therefore also the UnSub who they might not have would for another 12 hours or more, because they already had searched the house and found nothing. But who knew what might have happened to Simone and Louise doing does 12 hours? Emily sighed and looked back at him. "I'm not sorry for what I did. I found Simone now instead of maybe tomorrow."

"Yeah, but you were extremely lucky that nothing happened."

"But nothing happened." Emily moved her legs a bit, trying to make the numbness in her butt go away. "Can we please stop talking about this till I have gotten out from under this bed? My back hurts from lying on the floor."

Hotch smiled and reached his arms out to her. "Here let me help you." Emily moved a little to the side and then let Hotch pull her the rest of the way out. Her legs shook as she got up from the floor and Hotch had to put his hand on her shoulder to steady her, so she would not fall over. "Where is Simone?"

"Down there," Emily said, pointing her finger at the bed. "I think she is scared and even though I would love to convince her to come out, but I don't think my back can handle it."

Hotch nodded and then lower himself to the floor. When on his stomach he moved to the edge of the bed and looked under it. There he saw the girl curled up like ball against the wall in the darkness. He could not see her face right or if she was even looking at him. "Hi, my name is Aaron Hotchner, I work with Emily here, who you have shared this small space with under the bed." He waited a moment for her to react, but she did not move or say anything. "I know you are probably scared, but it's safe for you to come out. The man who kidnapped you can't hurt you anymore." Again Hotch waited and again Simone did not react. She did not even move, which made him worry. Hotch reached out his hand and lightly shook the girl. "Simone?" She did not react. "Simone?" he said again, shaking her more violently.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked concern from just over him.

"She isn't responding," Hotch answered, reaching out for the girl and pulling her out from under the bed. Her eyes were closed and her skin pale. "Get the paramedic!" he told Emily and she quickly ran out of the room. Hotch leant over Simone's face and placed his right hand on her chest, trying to find any signs of breathing. He sighed in relived when he felt a slight wind on his cheek and movement under his hand. It was there, but it was not strong. Hotch sat up. There was not anything he could do, but wait for the paramedic to come and hope for the best.