A/N: Sorry I didn't get to update yesterday! Life sometimes kicks my butt! At least there's coffee to save me!
Chapter 23
JJ POV
We spent the whole five hours in the hotel talking about Tyburczy. Derek thought that we should just tail her for the next day. Rossi thought that we should confront her. Everyone had a different idea on how to save Emily. Therefore, no one was on the same page. By the time we had to go to the precinct, we didn't have a plan.
Everyone showered and changed and hoped that everything would be clearer when we met back up. It wasn't.
Hotch drove us to the precinct. When we arrived, Delmonico was running toward us.
"She's missing!" He yelled out. "Sasha, she's gone."
We all shared dubious looks. We were pretty sure she wasn't taken like Emily. We were pretty sure she finally just got away.
"Slow down," Hotch told him. "What happened?"
Delmonico took a deep breath and replied, "Sasha's never late. So when she didn't come in, I went to her apartment. It was trashed like there was a struggle or something. I think she was taken just like your agent was."
Before any of us had a chance to reply, Olsen came running out of the building as well. "Nicky!"
"What is it, Olsen?" Delmonico asked as his colleague caught up with us. "Is this about Tyburczy?"
Olsen nodded. He turned to the rest of us as well. "It's about Agent Prentiss as well. Officers found a burning car twenty minutes ago. After the Fire Department took care of the fire, the officers tried to look at the bodies. They found both badges. Tyburczy's and Prentiss'."
The air felt like it was knocked out of my body. I felt like I needed to sit back down. My brain felt fuzzy and everything went partially numb. I almost swayed too far and fell, but Derek grabbed a hold of me. He kept a grip on me so I didn't fall. I looked to my side. He was holding onto Pen as well.
"Where?" Hotch asked, speaking for all of us.
Olsen looked like all the blood had escaped his body when he replied, "You guys can just follow us."
Delmonico and Olsen ran to their vehicle and we entered our own.
"We have to keep it together," Hotch said after all of us buckled. "If we were right, Tyburczy is the leader. She wouldn't be killed nor would she kill Prentiss. She doesn't know that we were on to her. She could just be trying to fake their deaths. We know she is capable of murder."
We all stayed silent except for Spence who asked, "What if we were wrong?"
None of us answered his question. None of us wanted to. None of us wanted to know if the bodies in the car were one of our own.
Emily POV
"Tell me about the memories, Mary. Tell me what came out of those boxes in your head?" Sasha asked me as she messed with the blood that was entering my body.
"What was in those drugs?" I asked her instead, not wanting to let her in any further than I have.
"You don't have to worry about that," Sasha said as she sat down on my bed. "The drugs were very safe. So, Mary. Tell me about Emily's memories. Tell me everything that made you this person."
I shook my head. "How could you pretend like everything is normal? How can you pretend like I was willing to join you? You kidnapped people. You killed people. How can you act like everything is okay?"
She smiled and brushed the hair out of my face. "Because everything is okay. You're safe here. You are loved here."
"You fucking brought up my memories!" I screamed at her, lunging even though I couldn't move. "You caused my pain. You took me away from my family! If you're looking for a reason for my unhappiness, look in a mirror, bitch!"
I struggled to try to break out of my chains. I felt the metal rip my skin open and I howled.
"Mary! Calm down!" Sasha yelled as she tried to hold me down.
"My. Name. Is. Not. MARY!" I screamed, pulling the chains off my bed.
I was about to put my hands around her neck when she injected me with yet another drug.
Suddenly, I didn't have control over my body anymore. Everything felt numb.
JJ POV
Everything was smoking. There wasn't a part of the car or the bodies that weren't charred. The smell was overwhelming. My eyes watered from the thick smoke. I looked away. I couldn't handle looking at the scene any longer.
"JJ," Spence whispered as he stood next to me. "Chances are that isn't even her body."
"But it's still a body," I argued. "Someone is still dead."
He sighed. "I know. But we have to continue to work. For Emily. We have to keep working the case."
I nodded. I turned back around and saw people drag the bodies out. I caught a glimpse of a thigh that wasn't burned to a crisp. On the supposed body of Emily. I held in the bile that rose up. But then I remembered something…
I got the attention of my team while Sasha's team huddled in a group and began to mourn for their 'friend.'
"JJ," Hotch muttered. "What is it?"
"I know for sure that the woman isn't Emily," I told them, moving my head in the direction of the woman being pulled into a body bag.
"What is it?" Derek asked, looking extremely hopeful.
I lowered my voice, making sure that no one else could hear me. "The woman's thigh is one of the only things that isn't burned. But on the upper thigh… er… Emily has a tattoo there. Of a phoenix."
They didn't ask me how I knew it. Maybe they could infer. Maybe they realized I knew Emily really well in some other ways... that isn't so professional. But none of that mattered. Everyone's eyes lit up. Now we were positive. Emily was alive.
"We need to go to Tyburczy's apartment. Maybe she has clues about where they are hiding in there," Hotch directed as we all started to move away from the group, trying to hide our relief from the other team.
As Hotch tried to BS his way through reasoning why we should check out Sasha's apartment, Rossi stood next to me.
"Thank god you were here," He whispered. "I know everyone is trying to put on a brave face. But I know how everyone is feeling. We all need Emily to be okay. And you just reassured us that we could find her."
I smiled at him slightly. He was the newest member of our team. But he was already family. And family saved family. That's just what they do. That's what we were going to do. For Emily.
I love how JJ and Em's relationship is helping the team find Emily.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome!