Leah glanced up as Emily and her boss �“ bosses? �“ exited the office. Emily headed down the stairs towards her, but Leah’s gaze remained on the two intimidating figures walking away from her. She almost jumped when Emily’s hand settled on her head, stroking through her hair.
“Hey you,” Emily greeted, soft affection in her voice. “You find something to do?” She hadn’t been gone ten minutes, but Emily knew Leah. They were almost too much alike. Leah couldn’t sit still when something was bothering her.
“Smart girl,” Derek spoke up, answering the question. “Reminds me of you.”
Leah blushed, taking it as one of the highest compliments before tilting her head back to look at Emily. “So?”
“They want to talk to you,” Emily replied. “Now.”
Leah’s eyes held something akin to fear. “By myself?”
“Not by yourself,” Emily reassured. “I’ll be in there. You’ll be fine.”
Both young women made their way up the stairs, Leah still clutching Emily’s hand like a small child. It wasn’t often that Leah lost any of her nerve. The girl was one of the strongest young women Emily knew. You had to be to overcome violent crime like she had. Emily almost sighed as she looked at the picture Hotch and Dave made, sitting side-by-side on one side of the large mahogany table. Sometimes she wished their agent sides had a little bit more compassion for the victims.
“Leah,” she said, deliberately using the name her parents had given her. “This is Agent Hotchner and Agent Rossi.”
Leah waved nervously. “Hi.” She took the seat Emily pulled out for her, some of the tension in her body relaxing when the brunette took a seat right next to her.
“We’d like to talk to you about what happened the night your family was killed.”
And this was why Emily wished she and JJ were doing the questioning. She respected both of the agents across the table and trusted them with her life �“ and with a chunk of her secrets, surprisingly �“ but when it came to questioning a young girl, a child for all intents and purposes, they often came up a little bit short.
Leah, however, straightened her spine, reaching over to grasp Emily’s hand. If she was going to do this, she wasn’t going to cry. Emily’s quiet strength was a massive reassurance.
“I was eight when it happened,” she said. “The night itself was pretty normal. We’d come home from my brother’s soccer game, a game he’d won, and pretty much went straight to bed. It was late and Sam and I had to go to school the next day. Mom and Dad tucked me in, and went downstairs. The next thing I remember, is waking up to pain and someone looming over me.”
This was where it always got hard and her grip on Emily’s hand tightened a little bit. “Um… I remember thinking about the other families. We always had the news on during dinner, so we’d heard about the other murders. But you never think it’s going to happen to you and I guess… I guess I just sort of knew. He slit my wrists. All I could remember thinking was ‘Please, let him go away’,” She continued, her hand subconsciously moving to rub across the skin of her scars.
“I guess I passed out, because when I woke up again, it was to a really loud bang. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I could hear footsteps racing up the stairs, so I hid in the closet. And I stayed there, trying to fight against the pain and the dark and… everything.”
Emily knew this part of the story and found herself closing her eyes and squeezing Leah’s hand. This was the part where she came in. She’d found Leah in that closet as they searched the place. It had been a fluke that Leah’s brother had arranged to be picked up early the next morning by a friend. When no one had come at the family’s knock, they’d called police. The police had called them when they’d discovered the dead bodies.
“Do you remember anything distinctive about him?” Dave asked when Leah had finished her story. “Anything?”
Leah considered the question for a moment before shaking her head slowly. “It was dark. I was barely awake and in pain. I don’t remember anything other than passing out.”
He wanted to watch them die.
The thought raced through Emily’s head at the same time she saw the spark light up in Dave’s. She knew both of the men were thinking the same thing. He needed to watch them die, needed to control it. But he never tortured the children. Except Leah, who he’d inadvertently tortured for eight long years.
“Did he ever contact you? Even call, e-mail, a letter?” Hotch asked.
Leah looked up at the agents around her, the first time she’d made contact with any of them since she’d started telling her story. “Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Other than the other families. He’s after me, isn’t he?”
“Hey, hey,” Emily said, interrupting to focus Leah’s attention on her. The sixteen-year-old had almost started hyperventilating, tears leaking out of her eyes. Emily would let the questioning go on only as long as Leah was up for it. She didn’t want to put the poor girl through much more. “You’re going to be fine.”
Hotch shot her a look that was blatantly ignored. He felt his stomach do a flip, though knew the evidence of it was carefully hidden. Emily didn’t become the unpredictable agent.
“I promised you and I promised Bob that nothing would happen to you,” Emily was saying softly. “I promised him, Le. When was the last time you’ve known me to break a promise?”
“Never,” Leah sniffled, her hand squeezing Emily’s hard.
Emily ignored any discomfort. “I most certainly don’t plan on breaking this one.”
Leah nodded, her attention turning back to Hotch and Rossi. “He never contacted me. At least not directly. Not when I was in Seattle and not when I was in Chicago. If there’s a letter, a note, anything, I’ve never seen it.”
“No e-mail? Phone call?”
The pause was enough. Even Emily’s hands tensed on Leah’s. Leah knew she was caught and turned apologetically to Emily. “I’m sorry, Aunt Em.”
“What happened?”
Leah’s breath hitched as fresh tears pooled in her eyes. Still, she held surprisingly strong and took a deep breath. “It was the day I left. I logged onto my e-mail, the one I’ve been using for the last eight years and there it was. It didn’t look like an advertisement…. It was addressed to me. Not Anabelle, Leah. That was when I knew.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
Hotch could hear the tremor in Emily’s voice that betrayed her anger. Leah, apparently, could not.
“I couldn’t. You have enough with all of the people here and the cases you deal with…”
Emily glanced to the two men, wordlessly asking permission to continue the line of questioning. It was Rossi that gave a nod. The dynamic between them fascinated him. He’d take Hotch’s wrath if it came.
“It was something I had to know, honey.”
“I know that now,” Leah promised.
“Did you send them to anyone?”
Leah shook her head. “I almost sent them to Agent Spring, but… the e-mail said not to contact anybody.” The tears were back in full force now as the full extent of what was going on hit her. “He… He blamed me. Said that if I hadn’t gotten away, he wouldn’t need to kill so many people to get to me.”
“What did he sent you?”
“Pictures, mostly. The first one told me not to notify anyone but…”
“Le, you’ve got to be specific, sweetie. Pictures of what?”
“Of dead people,” Leah said, her voice a squeaky whisper. “Of dead people.”
It didn’t take Reid to see that the pictures he’d sent her had no doubt been of the bodies he’d killed since her family’s brutal murder eight years before. This was exactly the thing Emily had been afraid of and she took Leah’s hands. “Hey. Look at me.”
Leah did, without having to be asked twice.
“It was not your fault.” Emily said emphasizing each word. “What happened, those people he killed? He killed them because he had to and it wasn’t because he had to get to you. You are a prize, a trophy at the end of a really long competition. Everything else is practice, okay?” She knew the words were harsh, bare, but Emily hadn’t lied or sugar-coated for the eight-year-old, she wasn’t about to do it simply because this was all coming back. Leah was no spring chicken and she most definitely wasn’t stupid. Regardless of what Hotch or Dave said following this, she wasn’t about to cushion Leah now.
“He’s practicing?”
“I already promised he wouldn’t get to you,” Emily reminded the sixteen-year-old seriously. “He won’t. But you need to know what’s going on okay? You need to keep an eye out in case he manages to track you here.”
“Do you think he will?” Leah asked fear in every line of her body, every lilting note of her voice.
“No,” Hotch said strongly. “E-mail tells us he hasn’t had a chance to actually find you, that he’s tracked down the e-mail account you use, but not the name. You have a separate account you use to talk to Emily?”
The brunette tried not to jolt at her first name. As much as he’d been using it lately, he tended not to when they were facing a witness or a suspect.
“I do,” Leah agreed nodding. “For this reason.”
There was praise in Hotch’s gaze as it was directed towards her, but only for a split second. Then it was back to the emotionless dark eyes.
“That’s smart,” Rossi said, voicing the praise Hotch wouldn’t. “It means he can’t track your friends or your family.”
“But he can track Aunt Emily?” Leah asked in a panic. “Can he track Aunt Em from this?”
Emily knew the answer and both men could tell. It was a distinct possibility.
“It’s not likely he will. If he has, he probably realizes that she’s across the country and of no use to you. And he probably doesn’t know she works at the FBI,” Rossi explained. “Your Aunt Emily will be fine.”
Emily sent him a dirty look as he stressed Leah’s name for her.
“Your account was anonymous too?” Rossi asked innocently, covering his bases as much as deflecting her anger.
“Of course,” Emily said, though her tone indicated that she took no offense to the question.
“Then I’m even more sure you’re fine,” Rossi nodded.
Hotch took control again. “Is that all you can tell us?”
Leah nodded, sniffling back the last of her tears. “I’m sorry.”
“You’ve done well,” Hotch praised, though his face didn’t change. “Do you think you could meet with our technical analyst and pull up those e-mails?”
Leah nodded, wiping at the corners of her eyes. “Yeah.”
Rossi nodded. “Good, thank you. I’ll put in a call.”
Emily and Leah followed him out, Emily intent on her young charge. “C’mon. I’ll take you home.”
Leah looked up at her, almost identical brown eyes shining. “Can I stay here just a bit longer? Agent Rossi’s calling your techie, right? Wouldn’t it be better if I was right here so I can pull up the e-mails?”
“She’s right,” Derek spoke up. They’d made it down the steps and within hearing range by the time Leah voiced her opinion. “It’ll be easier for Garcia if she’s here.”
Leah flashed him a thankful smile as she sat down in Emily’s chair. Emily sighed but nodded, heading over to the kitchenette in the corner for coffee. She was going to need it at this rate. She missed Derek following her.
“You okay?”
She was thankful she didn’t jump. “Peachy.”
Derek leaned a hip against the counter, observing his friend and colleague. Emily was family and he worried about her. This time even more so. “Come on, Em. You’ve gotta talk to someone.”
“And you’re offering an ear? Fantastic. Then what? You go talk to Hotch and tell him I’m too emotional to handle this?”
He blinked, not prepared for such a violent lashing out.
Emily sighed, setting down the carafe beside her cup and clenching the counter in front of her. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re emotional, I get it.”
“I shouldn’t be,” she argued listlessly. “The one case that I think is oh so important and I can’t get a handle on myself.”
Derek looked at her seriously, eyes dark and penetrating. “Can you do this?”
Emily knew he was one of the teammates she trusted from the bottom of her heart, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to expose her feelings like this. “I want to do this.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Derek argued.
“No, but the answer to the question you asked…” She shrugged.
Derek understood what she didn’t say. She wasn’t sure she could handle the case without emotion but there was nothing she would allow to stop her from being there either. He knew Emily well and was pretty sure he had her pegged. “What are you going to do?”
Emily sighed. “Go to Seattle. Find him and catch him this time. I can’t… I have to.”
“Objectivity? Hotch?”
“Derek, what do I care? Leah is what matters.”
“That’s going to get you killed,” Derek said. “And kicked off the case. You know you have to focus on this as another case, another unsub,”
“But it’s not,” Emily argued, dark eyes determined. “This is about a sixteen-year-old girl who lost everything because of this bastard. I won’t let him near her.”
“I got it,” Derek promised, and he did. “But then maybe you’re better off here, where you can see her, stay with her, keep an eye on her. Seattle’s across the country.”
“And go stir crazy? I can’t sit back and watch Derek. No this one, not this time.”
Derek was still concerned. Very concerned. Emily compartmentalized and she had a poker face like stone. He’d never seen her express emotion during a case and couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen emotions like the ones that were written across her face now. Leah hit more than a chord in her. This guy was almost an obsession.
“What are you going to do with her while you’re gone?” Derek asked.
Emily finally got around to pouring that cup of coffee, trying to keep her hands busy. “She’s old enough to stay by herself.”
Derek handed her the cream, bumping the fridge shut with his hip. “Uh huh, so what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted on a sigh. “Protective custody?”
“Over-react much?”
“You said it yourself. I’m not leaving her alone,” Emily pointed out. “But I can’t say here knowing he’s out there.”
“And if Hotch says ‘no’?”
Emily looked at him, eyes hard. “Then I’ll find a way to do the case. Even if it’s commercial.”
Derek would believe it.
Dave wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, Emily was a seasoned agent, one he would most definitely trust with his life in any situation. There were very few people he could say that about. So as He’d observed his colleague in the conference room and in Hotch’s office, he’d been carefully watching her. Heck, since she’d mentioned knowing the case. She’d managed to stay stoic through the case details. She seemed comfortable with Leah and very much like a mother.
And that was what worried him. She was already emotionally attached to the case and with what they dealt with, compartmentalizing was one of Emily’s best strengths and something they all relied on. It meant she was able to see things with a different perspective. It meant the world to the team. It meant the world to Hotch and Dave knew it.
It had surprised him to watch Hotch’s relationship with Emily change. Emily’s perspective was something Dave was sure they all took for granted but recently Hotch had been turning to her more and more. Dave had shrugged it off, originally chalked it up to Hotch realizing that Emily was more than a valued member of the team. Emily was the rock of the team, the foundation, the one that brought them all back from the brink of insanity with a word or a gesture.
Hotch seemed to take advantage of that more often than not. Dave had watched his younger colleague while they were interviewing together. Hotch’s definite concern about Emily’s objectivity was something that had startled Dave. He wasn’t prepared for Hotch’s definite reaction to Emily’s emotions on the case. He seemed rattled and definitely concerned. It wasn’t like Hotch to question objectivity, especially when it came to Emily.
But both men knew that this was going to be one of those cases that completely changed each and every one of them. What scared him was how Emily’s behavior in Hotch’s office and the conference room had seemed to deepen an almost miniscule wrinkle in between Hotch’s eyes. Which was incredibly surprising. Hotch worried about his teammates, that much Dave knew, but the distinct questioning of Emily’s objectivity before Leah arrived was what set him off.
He didn’t knock as he stepped into Hotch’s office. Dave rarely knocked when he was stepping into the office of his protégée. “So?”
Hotch looked up from the file, an eyebrow raised. “So what?”
“What do you make of this?” Dave questioned.
“The case?”
“That too.”
There was a raised eyebrow in response. “What else?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about Hotch. Is Agent Prentiss coming to Seattle with us?”
“What do you think?”
Dave wanted to arch an eyebrow at the question. Even more, he wanted to ask about the lines that were forming around the edge of his mouth even before they’d even left Quantico. But if there was anyone Dave thought he could be honest with �“ other than Emily, who had discovered an array of things about him since they’d started working together �“ it was Hotch.
“I think she can handle it.”
“Protocol says she stays in Quantico,” Hotch answered, glancing down at the pages in front of her.
Dave scoffed. “I didn’t ask about protocol, and screw protocol. If she’s the one that knows this case I want her at my back.”
“That’s not the way it works, Dave.”
Hotch’s voice was calm, almost cold and yet Dave knew that it was one of his defense mechanisms, one of those things that he did to make sure that any emotion he was feeling wasn’t shown to his teammates. “I don’t care about how it works, Hotch. I care about who’s going to have my back out there on the field. I care about who knows this case and if there’s no one who knows it better than Prentiss, she should have the honour of being on the case.”
“She’s emotional, Dave. We can’t have her on the case.”
“You’ve been emotional before. We’ve all been emotional before.”
“And if it ruins the case?”
“Oh come on!” Dave knew he was probably over-reacting. In fact, he was sure of it. But it hadn’t been that long ago Emily and the rest of the team had followed him to Indianapolis on a twenty-year-old case. If this was something she needed to do, Dave would support her every step of the way. He took a deep breath. “Look, Hotch, this is Prentiss we’re talking about. If there’s anyone that can know the case and be objective about it it’s her.”
Hotch knew Dave made an excellent point. It was terrifying. He wanted her there, he did, but he also didn’t want to have to send her home if something happened in Seattle. He couldn’t have her compromising the case. Especially one that she was so anxious to see solved. “And if she compromises the case?”
Dave shot him a look. “I think we both know she won’t.”
“So she comes to Seattle.”
The elder man nodded. “So she comes to Seattle.”