Chapter 22 –

Mary sprinted out of the mall and headed over to an empty space of land, only when she was sure that she was clear of anyone else did she stop and take a breath.

"Stop!"

Mary turned and saw the woman had followed her, quickly she shook her head.

"Don't come any closer, he'll blow us both up!"

Emily looked around but she couldn't see anyone other than the terrified young girl. Emily knew that she didn't have much time and that Garcia could only jam the cell signals for a little longer, she ran towards the girl, pulling the knife from her belt as she moved.

"Just keep still for me."

Mary saw the sharp knife and just nodded her head, dropping her arms to her side as Emily cut her coat away before she managed to cut the straps and gently placed the bomb on the floor.

"Now run!"

Emily grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her away, seconds later the blast came and threw them both to the ground.

"Crap!"

Emily's ears were ringing as she pushed herself up and looked across and saw that the girl was trying to stand up and move away.

"Not so fast kid, I think you and I need a little chat."

"No!"

Kate's terrified voice filled the room, Garcia had managed to keep the CCTV feed running and had tracked Emily as the bomb had exploded.

"Kate look."

Alex grabbed Kate around the waist and pulled her towards the monitors, pointing at the two figures slowly standing up.

"Mom!"

Kate let out a sigh of relief and immediately turned to hug Alex who held her tight.

"I've got everyone back now but there's no sign of Adam Lockwood Hotch."

"Right I'm bringing everyone back, he must have been here or nearby Garcia."

"I'm on it Hotch."

"Come on Kate let's go back and wait in Dave's office, I'm sure it won't be long until your mom and dad are back."

Kate nodded her head as she allowed Alex to lead her out of Garcia's office, all that she could think about was how some kid had just tried to blow her mom up.

Emily managed to pull herself up and then she hauled the girl up, holding her close as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided.

"What's your name?"

Emily looked and saw how shaken and worried the girl was, she could hear sirens approaching but she could just about make out the low whisper.

"Mary."

"Come on then Mary we need to have a talk with you."

Emily watched as Hotch stopped the SUV in front of her, she helped the girl inside before she strapped herself in.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes thanks Hotch."

Hotch nodded his head, the rest of the journey carried on in silence, neither Hotch nor Emily wanted to say anything whilst they had a suspect in the vehicle.

Emily placed a bottle of water on the table before she left Mary sitting alone in the room, joining the rest of the team outside.

"She hasn't said a word since she whispered her name."

Emily looked at Hotch as she spoke as he turned towards Garcia.

"We need to find out who she is and how she and Lockwood know each other."

"On it sir."

"Emily, you and JJ see if you can get anything out of her, it looks as though someone has beaten her up recently, find out if Lockwood is responsible."

JJ looked through at Mary before she tapped Emily on the shoulder.

"I think someone wants to see you first."

Emily frowned until her eyes caught sight of her daughter and quickly she moved over to see her.

"Mom!"

Kate threw her arms around her mom, hugging her tightly as she babbled into her ear.

"I was in Aunt Pen's office and saw the bomb, I can't believe that that kid tried to kill you!"

"But she didn't Kate, I'm fine and until JJ and I talk to her we don't why she did it or if someone was forcing her too."

Kate slowly nodded as her mom whispered into her ear.

"Ok mom, I'll go and wait in dad's office."

"Thanks sweetie I'll be up to see you as soon as I can."

Emily kissed Kate gently on the head and watched her wander away before she turned back to JJ.

"Ok let's do this."

Mary heard the door open but she didn't look up to see who it was, she knew that she was in trouble as the FBI emblazoned flak jackets told her as she got dragged away from the blast but the voice in her head was becoming unbearable.

"Hello Mary, I'm Supervisory Special Agent Prentiss and this is Supervisory Special Agent Jareau, you look like you've got some bruises on your face do you need us to get anyone to look at them for you?"

Emily spoke softly as she tried to bend down and look Mary in the eye but the girl kept her head bowed low and showed no response.

"Come on Mary I don't believe that you strapped that bomb to yourself, you need to help us."

Mary's hands flew up and covered her ears as the tears trickled down her face causing Emily to look at JJ in confusion. JJ got up and started to walk around the table but as she did Mary suddenly started hitting her right ear causing Emily to run around and hold her hands.

"Stop them, please I can't stop the voice!"

"Whose voice Mary?"

Emily looked down at Mary, still keeping a hold of her hands but Mary shook her head and tried to slam it down on the table, only for JJ to hold onto it before Mary made contact with the hard table.

"You need to relax for us Mary."

Emily's voice was calm and steady as she watched JJ examining Mary's ear closely.

"There's something in there Emily but it's too small for me to get."

"Ok let's take her to the SCIF room, Mary?"

Emily looked at Mary but she was now completely unresponsive as Emily pulled her up and helped Mary walk towards the door.

"I'll take her to the SCIF you let Hotch know what's going on."

Emily carried on walking, virtually carrying Mary with her, not stopping to see if JJ had heard her, ignoring everyone as she walked down the corridor, using her high ranking credentials to open the SCIF before she helped Mary to sit down and pulled over a chair to sit beside her. Mary quickly laid her head on the table, placing her hands over her eyes as the sobs emanated from her body, Emily took a deep breath as she gently rubbed Mary's back, knowing that she had to give the girl some time to calm down and adjust before she tried to talk to her once again

.

Hotch knocked on Garcia's door before he walked in, it was a room that never failed to surprise him.

"Oh hello sir, I haven't got anything for you yet I'm afraid."

"We're going to need you in the SCIF Garcia, it seems that the girl has got some sort of device in her ear, the unsub has probably been communicating with her, if we can get it out and track it..."

"We'll get him!"

Hotch managed a smile as he saw Garcia's enthusiasm.

"I don't know what he has been saying but the girl is in a bit of state so the sooner we can remove it the more that she may be willing to tell us."

"He strapped a bomb to her for goodness sake, that poor girl!"

Garcia shook her head as she stood up, picking up her laptop and purse before she followed Hotch out of her office, just hoping that she wouldn't be the one that had to try and remove whatever device had been implanted into the young girl.