A/N: Wow, guys. Things are gonna get intense. I hope you are ready! :)
Chapter 17
JJ POV
"Agent Hotchner and Jareau, this is my team," She started pointing to the team of Detectives in the precinct conference room. "Delmonico, Nunez, Olsen, and Wakowski. Normally, I'd give a more formal introduction, but we don't have time. I'm guessing they already introduced themselves," Sasha said as she referred to Rossi, Spence, Derek, and Penelope.
The rest of our team turned to look at Hotch for some direction. He explained, "Detective Tyburczy has a recording of the Manson interrogation. Apparently, Manson took an interest with Prentiss."
As Sasha set up her audio recorder, everyone sat down in anticipation. I couldn't imagine what could have been said that Tyburczy didn't want people to know about Emily.
"It's such a pleasure to sit down with you two beautiful ladies," Manson stated on the audio recording. "They wouldn't tell me why I have the honor to speak with you two."
"I'm Detective Tyburczy with the LAPD," Sasha replied. "This is Agent Prentiss with the FBI. We're trying to solve some murders. And we could use your assistance."
Manson laughed. "It's finally happening, isn't it?"
"Who?" Emily asked.
I felt my breath catch. I almost teared up on the spot. I wanted Emily in person. I shook the dark thoughts about where she could be out of my head.
After minutes of the recording, the interview ended with Manson.
"You are only a reflection of me, as I am only a reflection of you, Emily."
The audio recording stopped. There was a lot to take in. Emily gave up a lot to get Manson to answer questions. I wondered how much it hurt her to have gotten so personal with a serial killer and notorious manipulator.
"What does the last thing Manson said to Emily mean?" Derek asked the room, looking just as concerned as I felt.
I noticed Sasha open her mouth to answer, but she wasn't fast enough. Spencer already had an answer.
"One of Manson's famous quotes was, 'I am only a reflection of you.' He's basically describing how society created him. He believes that the world shouldn't blame him for committing the crime and should, literally, look in the mirror. He wanted to place the blame on others than himself," Spence informed us.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Emily?" I asked Spencer and everyone else.
This time, Sasha had the answer. "He was letting her know that they weren't so different. He was just trying to get in her head. He used her… father issues to try to get in. That was how he got a lot of his Family to join him. He broke the women down giving them the love their fathers couldn't offer."
"She never said anything," Penelope whispered. We all turned to look at my best friend who was hiding behind computers. She had tears running down her cheeks. "She never told us about her father."
I tried to comfort her by saying, "She wouldn't want us to know, Pen. You know our Em. She wants us all to think she's the badass she is."
Penelope nodded and gave me a quick smile. I returned it. I forgot that others were hurting. I forgot that people needed her just as much as I did.
"Maybe they took her because she is like the other women," Rossi theorized. "If we are looking at Family members and their 'victimology,' she matches it perfectly. A higher class upbringing, abusive father…"
"But she's in her thirties," Derek argued. "She's not seventeen."
"Which still begs the question, why take her?" Hotch reminded us.
Spencer turned to Sasha. "Emily mentioned that you have been studying the Manson Family for years now. Why such an interest?"
Sasha blinked several times. I wondered if she was trying to come up with a lie. Eventually, she told us, "I knew someone that was a victim to Manson. I just wanted to know why. I always thought this would happen. There were always people that wanted to be the next Jesus Christ. I expected that it would have happened sooner, actually. And then the DeCarlos. And the Flynns. And now Emily… This is my fault."
Her team made pitiful looks toward her. She obviously played her team well. Our team wasn't as easily convinced. But I was sure that the questioning was going to end for now. If she was lying, we'd want to catch her in one when her team wasn't around.
"So why take Prentiss?" Derek asked, bringing up the question once again. "Was it because they wanted to take someone who fit the victimology or to get to you?"
Sasha looked horrified. "You think that she was taken because of me? So I'd stop investigating or something?"
"I'm not sure," Derek muttered. "Was Manson right? Is there something more between you and Emily? Have you been working on this a lot longer than we thought?"
Sasha shook her head. "No. No, Em and I aren't together. We hadn't seen or talked to each other years before I showed up at her apartment. I introduced her the case at the same time I introduced you all to it. Emily and I… we were together a long time ago. In college. We were together for a little more than three years."
"You haven't been in contact for years?" Rossi asked. "That sounds like a bad break up. So why was she so willing to help you?"
Sasha sighed as if she was tired and ashamed by the interrogation. "We did have a bad breakup. The last couple weeks of our relationship weren't perfect or healthy. But you have to understand, Emily and I weren't just a cute little romance. We lived together. We- we might have had a bad breakup, but we still meant the world to each other."
"How?" I asked, the word falling out of my mouth before I could stop it.
She snapped her head to look at me. "Because when we ended, we weren't just ending a relationship. We were ending an engagement. Emily and I were planning on getting married."
I know that you guys want some answers about Emily, but you're just going to have to be patient! Don't worry, the next chapter will focus on Emily.
How's the team gonna handle that bombshell that Sasha ever so subtly just dropped?
Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are super welcome!