An hour later, Rebecca was sitting with a no nonsense young woman who took one look at the bruises on her back and her hand and declared x-rays were required.
Her heart rate immediately sped up in fear.
"Umm, I…" she swallowed hard "you should probably check something else first" she really didn't want to say it out loud after what had happened yesterday.
"Rebecca, if there's something else you're concerned about tell me now." there was no judgement in the Doctor's eyes, only concern.
"I'm pregnant" she whispered "about 7 weeks…"
"Ok, so first question, any cramping, bleeding or spotting?"
"None." That was the only thing that had kept her calm.
"That's a really good sign… when we do the x-rays we make sure the little one is protected and once we're sure mum is ok, then we'll check on them. Looking after you is looking after them."
Two hours later, her bruised ribs were wrapped, fractured fingers splinted and she was staring at a sonogram print out. It wasn't much to look at right now, a small blob, but according to the doctor everything was where it was expected and only time would tell if the events of the previous 24 hours would cause any problems.
Out in the waiting room, Emily had spoken with Garcia and confirmed Rebecca's phone was cleared of the very well hidden tracker and all other information was backed up. She'd also managed to sneak in a 30 minute nap before Clyde had arrived.
"Honestly, I doubt she knows anymore now than she did 5 years ago." Emily admitted to him "but, I think I need to come clean to her, it might make her more open to sharing things she might not even know are important."
"Hmmm" Clyde stared at her, trying to find the brilliant and focused operative he had worked with for so many years. She was still brilliant and focused and always would be but that edge that had driven her to the darker side of their occupation had been softened. 5 years in the BAU had stripped away much of the darkness and she was no longer willing or possibly able to wade through that particular muck.
"It could put you in a terribly dangerous position." he hedged, "but I'll leave the disclosure on your Lauren Reynolds cover up to you but I will say that she can't know about any of the others. None of your covers or anyone you worked with and only the barest of basics on the case."
"Agreed." Emily nodded just as the Doctor slid out of Rebecca's room and closed the door behind her.
"We've patched up everything we can and she's resting. Everything is documented and photographed, we'll set you up with a standard evidence file. If she's asleep, leave her be."
"Thanks" Emily pushed herself up out of the chair "I'll probably nap in there as well if she is resting."
Tapping lightly on the door before pushing it open, Emily was relieved to see Rebecca did in fact appear to be asleep. Her eyes were closed and for the first time that morning her face was free of tension.
Settling herself in the armchair by the window, Emily let her mind drift off and her own eyes slide closed.
She dreams of a little boy with bright blue eyes and white blonde hair… the last time she saw him.
I look good for a dead kid
When she wakes, a glance at her watch shows several hours have passed. In the bed across from her Rebecca is whimpering as her own sleep appears to be disturbed. Pulling the chair closer, she reaches out and takes Rebecca's uninjured hand, trying to offer some comfort without waking her. Emily doesn't know if it's the dream or the touch that forces Rebecca to wake.
Pale green eyes fly open and dart quickly around the room looking for any threat.
"Hey" Emily puts herself directly in Rebecca's line of sight "You're ok, it's just me here"
It takes several long moments for Emily's words to penetrate but eventually Rebecca meets her eyes and nods.
Emily puts off any talk by hitting the buzzer and asking for a meal to be brought, rightly assuming Rebecca hadn't eaten in quite sometime.
Once the meal is finished and Emily has another coffee in her hand she sits back down by Rebecca's bed and takes a moment to fortify herself.
"Before you tell me anything. I think you need to know who you're actually talking to" she starts and Rebecca's eyes widen in surprise before she nods her assent for Emily to continue.
"My name isn't Lauren Reynolds. My real name is Emily Prentiss and when we met I was working for Interpol as an undercover agent. A few months after we last saw each other I retired from undercover operations and moved to the FBI. I've been based out of D.C. ever since." she paused to give Rebecca a moment to take it all in.
"I'm telling you this because I need you to know that while the name wasn't real the friendship was. If it hadn't been, I would not have returned your call and dropped everything to fly over 7 hours to help you."
Emily let the room drop to silence, waiting for Rebecca to process and ask any questions she might have. Questions that will take days for Rebecca to finish asking
"Was umm… was Rupert part of the investigation?" Rebecca finally breaks the silence.
This is where Emily needs to tread carefully "He wasn't my target…" she begins "but he had and still has a number of associates that are people of interest and he is very good at using his legitimate business interests to cover anything illegal he may or may not be involved in."
There is so much behind what Lauren… no Emily is saying and not saying and Rebecca doesn't have the wherewithal to unpack it all at that moment so she decides to push it to the back of her mind for now.
"I'm pregnant…" she says instead "it's something I've been wanting for years but Rupert kept putting me off, originally claiming it wasn't something he felt we were ready for. We were too busy for children but over time it changed… Instead of us being too busy it became not something he was sure he wanted to do. We wouldn't be good at it, then I was too selfish… not mother material…"
Emily didn't interrupt, let Rebecca go at her own pace.
"He just wore me further and further down, mentally, emotionally and physically. I think I just started sleepwalking through it all… it became so constant and every day and… normal. When the Doctor told me about the baby it was like the fog started to lift… not all the way but enough for me to I don't know… have hope for the first time in a long time. I knew Rupert was leaving for Spain so when I got home from the Doctor's… I thought, I thought he'd be pleased. I mean it was no longer a theoretical discussion on should we or do you want to… they're real and on their way… I wanted to save the memory, for them… show them one day how happy Mummy and Daddy were that they were on their way so I…" she unlocked her phone and opened an album full of videos before handing it to Emily "watch the last one".
Emily's face remains stoic as she watches the 15 minute video of Rupert Mannion's violent reaction to Rebecca's news.
"Okay…" she sits back "Before we even think about the next steps, what did the Doctor say?"
"They want me to get some fluids and rest but once the IV bag is done I can be discharged, then I'll come back in a week to make sure everything is healing and the baby is still safe and sound in there."
"Do you want to lay charges against him?" Emily really wanted to nail his arse to a wall, but Rebecca shook her head as fresh tears sprang to her eyes.
"Ok, I have a flat out in Gravesend. It's off the books and not in any name that can be traced back to either Emily Prentiss or Lauren Reynolds. Let's take some time, you can hide out there, start healing and processing and make a decision on what to do next."
If she was honest, Rebecca was too tired and in too much pain to make any big decisions right at that moment and being able to hide away somewhere where Rupert, where anyone really would be unable to find her sounded like the best thing she could do right now.
She doesn't speak on the drive over there, or when Emily gives her a tour. The trip had exhausted her, so she let Emily excuse herself and lay down in an attempt to get some more sleep.
The sun has set by the time she wakes again and when she tries to get up she realises the painkillers the hospital had given her had worn off and her body had stiffened up to the point that she couldn't move.
"Lau… Emily?" she calls quietly hoping the other woman is close enough to hear and doesn't mind giving her a hand. Almost immediately she hears Emily's voice
"Give me a minute guys…"
The brunette pokes her head through the door and seems to see the problem immediately, smiling softly as she lifts the phone that is pressed to her chest back to her ear "I need to take care of something. I'll call back when I can…"
The phone is slid into her pants pocket as Emily moves to the bed and gently helps Rebecca sit up.
"I took a beating during a case a couple of years ago…" she murmurs "4 cracked and 3 bruised ribs. Doing anything for weeks afterwards was an absolute bitch. A friend… the same friend who cleaned your phone up in fact stayed with me for a couple of days. I needed help with everything from sitting up to showering, it'll get easier." She paused at the grey pallor of Rebecca's skin.
"Do you need to puke or pass out?"
"Umm" she honestly isn't sure, multiple Emily's are swimming in and out of focus but it seems she's well versed in this type of thing as all she does is hold Rebecca steady.
Eventually the two Emily's merge into one and she's ready to try moving again.
In the hour it takes for them to get Rebecca fully upright, showered, ribs re-wrapped and dressed again there isn't one moment of judgement on Emily's face.
Over the next few days Rebecca finds herself in a fugue trying to process everything that has happened, not just recently but the 10 years of marriage that turned into a torturous hell.
She considers calling Sassy or her mother but something stops her. It's been years since she spoke to either but she's not ready to face the questions or even the judgement.
Emily keeps busy, always awake and working on something when she wakes up or manages to get herself out of the bedroom. The calls are wrapped up or placed on hold as soon as Rebecca makes herself known but she occasionally gets a glimpse of a woman with bright red hair or a severe looking man. The voices rotate, sometimes it's just one person and sometimes it seems to be a group back and forth of some kind.
The first time she hears specific details, she's very grateful that Emily has always been quick to cut off any call or conversation when she comes within hearing distance.
Rebecca really didn't need to know the different reasons one might have for burning someone else alive…
Day 5 hidden away sees much of the fog lifting. She can sit up without assistance, the swelling in her face has gone down enough and the bruising isn't quite so stark.
It's also the day she starts to make some decisions and reaching out to the people she'll need to get the outcome she wants.
She starts researching solicitors that specialise in divorce. Once her face is publically presentable she'll start to make appointments and put together the best team she can to take everything she can in the divorce.
Sitting at the dining room table feeling more centred and more herself than she has in years she starts to ask some of the questions she now hopes she's ready to hear the answer to.
"You were very circumspect when speaking of your investigation." Rebecca starts "I understand that I was really fucking fragile at that moment, but I've rallied and I'm not going to break. What didn't you tell me?"
Emily leans back, legs crossed at the knee, hands sitting in her lap as she studies Rebecca.
"First of all, I didn't lie when I said we can't prove Rupert has been involved in anything illegal. We've been watching him for years and we're positive he's been using the club as a cover. It gives him an excuse to travel all over the world, it's the perfect way to clean money and his decisions as owner since taking over tell us he doesn't want the business looked too closely at or doing too well. He's done nothing to build the club up, he gutted the development programs and the women's programs, he goes after the occasional star but more often than not all those scouting trips result in very little player movement, just enough to minimise any suspicion. The club itself brings in a lot of cash but none of it is used to improve the facilities or buy more players. We also think that a number of the investors and sponsors are using the club to clean their own money but…"
"You have no proof?"
"Nothing actionable…"
Rebecca taps her formally well manicured nails on the table.
"I've been thinking about ways in which I can destroy Rupert's life." she starts "I have a few idea's but if he has been involved in anything illegal, I want him arrested and jailed. I want him to feel every moment of pain and torment that he's put me through and I want to watch as everything he loves is destroyed." a dark smile crosses her face "I'm fairly certain I can do it legally and it may help your investigation in the process…"
"What's your idea?"
Weeks later, Rebecca is seen in public for the first time in nearly a month when she steps out of her chauffeured Jaguar and walks into the offices of Jones and Noble.
She had spoken with them a number of times over the phone, unwilling to be out in public while still healing and hiding in Emily's flat but now she was well on the mend and had set herself up in a temporary flat in Hammersmith she was ready to start making moves.
That afternoon when she had told Emily she wanted to take Rupert down, the other woman had questioned her gruellingly, talking about her motives, her idea, how she would react when she eventually came face to face with Rupert again. How she would cope, if it turned out they were wrong and Rupert wasn't involved in anything illegal.
Emily had also confirmed Rupert had been cheating on her almost since the moment they started dating. That had hurt but the hard won clarity of those days she'd shut herself away meant she hadn't been overly surprised.
He'd cheated on his previous wife with her…
The evidence Interpol had provided would just be the first nail. She had enough evidence to have Rupert arrested for assault and battery if he didn't cooperate.
She also had Georgina Noble on her side. The woman had built her practice on this type of divorce, and Rebecca could hear the glee in her voice when she had explained over the phone that there was no prenup but the evidence she had guaranteed a very big settlement.
Rebecca had his balls in a grinder and they all knew it, but Rupert was a creature that fought when cornered. He would use everything at his disposal to win this fight, Emily speculated that he would fight dirty, use the press and public opinion, perhaps even fabricate evidence.
A part of Rebecca wasn't worried but another part was absolutely terrified.
It takes two more visits to the solicitors for someone to recognise her and the first tweet goes out that night from the Sun.
The speculation is rife, but with Emily having organised the lease on the flat through a proxy no one could find where she was currently living without following her home.
She hides out during this time, Emily had returned to the US and the plan was for her to be back in the UK by late March and this time to stay for several months. While they had been silent on the details, Rebecca understood that there were many moving parts to the investigation and operation, she was also not naive enough to think this would be over quickly.
Clyde Easter was the one who had questioned her in regards to the things she had seen and heard throughout her marriage, Emily declaring herself too close to the situation to be objective. He was now her contact when Emily was not available. Clyde had told her to expect the full investigation to take years.
The divorce though… they hoped to push that through fairly quickly but Rebecca knew her demands would slow things down. Georgina had been surprised by Rebecca's refusal to accept anything but the terms she had decided on and her refusal to attend any type of mediation.
"The absolute last thing Rupert will want is me standing in front of a judge and showing the evidence I have against him. He will fight it at first until he realises the only way to shut this up quickly and quietly is to give me what I want."
That was the beauty of having a behavioural analyst on speed dial. Emily had broken down each step and how Rupert would most likely react and what button's Rebecca would need to push to get the result she wanted.
If he happened to hang himself along the way all the better for her.
END CHAPTER 2
123a456e and functionderivatives: Thanks for the review and for giving this a go despite going in fandom blind for Ted Lasso. I'm so thankful for my regular readers and reviewers.