A Second Date (Don’t Blame Me: Chapter 9)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Warnings: Typical CM stuff

Words: 4.4k

It was late by the time Emily arrived at her apartment complex.

She'd been the last to leave, pouring all her attention into digging through the Wood Stalker case files.

She didn't even realize she'd stayed hours after everyone until the janitor walked into the bullpen and started vacuuming. She took that as her sign to call it a night.

As she waited for the elevator, the bag on her shoulder became heavy. But for the first time in a while, the weight on her shoulders was an object, not a metaphor. The team was finally progressing in the case, closing the steps Y/n had been creating.

The elevator ding pulled Emily from her thoughts as she walked in. It was a quick ride to the fifth floor and an even quicker walk to her door. She pulled her keys from her bag, and as she inserted them into the slot, the door opened before she could even turn it.

Emily's heart dropped, her hand immediately reaching for the gun on her hip. She knew she had locked her door that morning, something she always triple-checked, even after JJ had teased her for it, calling her paranoid. But it was moments like this when she was glad her CIA training still lingered in the back of her head.

She opened her front door as quietly as possible, her gun trained in front of her, before she peered into the apartment. She noted that the hallway lights were off as she stepped in, silently closing the door and placing her bag by the doorway.

She paused for a moment, attempting to detect any sounds in her apartment, but it was silent, no sound out of the ordinary. So she proceeded to walk through the hallway, staying close to the wall.

The first room she cleared was her small mudroom to the right. No one and nothing was out of place in her living room either. But as she made her way to the kitchen, her nose picked up the scent of... Thai food?

She was quick, with no hesitation or second thoughts as she turned into the kitchen, her gun trained in front of her. Emily practically growled as she realized who was sitting at her kitchen counter.

"Took you long enough. It's rude to keep a lady waiting." Y/n grinned as she turned around on the barstool, her legs crossed over another as she twirled one of Emily's kitchen knives in her hands.

"Place the weapon on the counter and then put your hands up." Emily glowered as she walked closer to the younger woman, her gun not wavering for a second.

Y/n rolled her eyes. "Put your gun down first."

"You know I'm not going to do that."

Y/n sighed as she stood up, and Emily's finger immediately went to rest on the gun trigger. "You are so dramatic." Y/n chuckled as she walked around the counter, putting the knife back into the holder. "And besides, if I were going to kill you, I would have done it already." Y/n smiled, feeling nothing but satisfaction at the tense look on Emily's face.

"I'm not going to tell you again. Put your hands up," Emily said, her jaw clenched as she watched Y/n.

"Why? You wanna cuff me?" Y/n grinned as she leaned against the counter. "I can't say I'm opposed to that," Y/n continued as her eyes raked over Emily.

Emily scoffed as she quickly made her way to the other side of the counter; only three feet stood between her and Y/n. "You have ten seconds before-"

"Before what? You shoot me?" Y/n chuckled as she walked closer to Emily, the gun now inches away from Y/n's chest. "I mean, I'm not going to stop you. But when you can't find that friend of yours, Rossi is his name, I believe, then don't blame me." Y/n shrugged, staring Emily right in the eye, not even wavering at the gun that could go off any second.

"What?" Emily blinked, thrown off momentarily as she took in Y/n's words.

"His name is Rossi, right?" Y/n frowned as she tapped her chin. "I didn't have time to ask him, the chloroform took him out pretty quick."

Emily glared at the younger woman. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out if Y/n was bluffing or not. It wouldn't be the first time, but just as the last time, not believing her could come at a risk. And Rossi's life was not something she could gamble. "What did you do to Rossi?" Emily gritted her teeth.

"Ah, so I did get his name right! How funny would it have been if I accidentally got the wrong old guy? I mean, you don't have a shortage of those in the FBI," Y/n mused, reveling in how she was getting under Emily's skin.

"What did you do?" Emily asked again as she took a step closer to Y/n. Her gun was less than an inch away from the younger woman's chest. But Y/n didn't waver; if anything, she looked even more amused. "Well, I waited till he made it to the parking lot and then put a rag of chloroform over his mouth. Honestly, I thought he would put up more of a fight, but I was wrong," Y/n recounted, her eyes gleaming as she strung Emily along.

"Then I hauled his old ass into my car and put him somewhere no one would ever find him. So, you can shoot me if you want, but he only has 12 hours left of oxygen before he dies. Your choice, Emily." Y/n smiled.

Emily studied Y/n for a moment. She knew all of this was a game to Y/n. She wasn't naive enough to think she was getting out of this unscathed. But she had options.

On one hand, Emily could easily shoot Y/n and plead that it was self-defense; the younger woman had broken into her apartment, after all. But on the off chance, Y/n wasn't bluffing and Rossi, the man she looked up to like a father, died because of her... Emily would never be able to forgive herself.

On the other hand, Emily could play along. And hopefully, distract Y/n for long enough to get the upper hand. It was a reach, but she didn't have any other choice, did she?

So Emily clicked the safety on the gun, slowly lowering it with her glare still trained on the younger woman. "What do you want?" She asked as she put her gun back into its holster.

"Dinner and a conversation. A second date, if you will." Y/n said simply as she took a step closer to Emily. The agent scoffed, ignoring how Y/n's light perfume filled her senses. "A date. You did all of that for a date?"

Y/n shrugged as she reached her hand out, tucking a loose piece of hair behind Emily's ear. Emily quickly caught Y/n's wrist, holding it tight as she moved it away from her face. A faint smile curled on Y/n's lips as she shrugged off Emily's hand before walking over to the fridge.

"Well, I've never planned a date before, so I'm not familiar with standard etiquette," Y/n said as she pulled out numerous containers of Thai food from Baan Siam, Emily's go-to restaurant.

Emily scoffed again as she watched Y/n walk to the microwave and start heating the food as if this were her apartment. "I think breaking into your date's apartment and kidnapping their friend is kind of a no-brainer of what not to do on a date," Emily said as she leaned on her counter, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Good to know. I'll plan accordingly for next time." Y/n winked as she grabbed the steaming food from the microwave.

While Y/n was occupied, Emily debated on whether or not she could discreetly pull out her phone and send some sort of signal to Hotch. But as if reading her mind, Y/n suddenly appeared in front of Emily, steaming containers of food in her hand. "If I even think you've sent some sort of message to your team, I will not hesitate to slice your pretty neck up." Y/n smiled, her calm tone not at all matching her words.

"How do you know I haven't already?" Emily countered easily.

She genuinely wasn't worried about Y/n killing her. Hurting her? That was another story. But all Emily had done for the past week was dig into the younger woman's past and learn about her triggers and behaviors. She knew Y/n didn't kill women.

And as long as Y/n was entertained and not trapped, she wouldn't kill Emily.

Y/n chuckled as she walked around the agent. Bringing the food to the kitchen table and pulling out a seat for Emily. "You must be distracted, Agent Prentiss. Because if you didn't already notice, I jammed your phone signal before you walked in."

Oh, well, Emily hadn't noticed that. This was not off to a good start.

"Well, now that we've gotten all the pleasantries out of the way, please take a seat." Y/n smiled as she motioned to the pulled-out chair. "Derek mentioned that Thai food was your favorite."

"I'll make sure to thank him the next time I see him," Emily mumbled under her breath as she took a seat in the chair Y/n had pulled out for her. The younger woman pushed her chair in, apparently very committed to the whole date thing, before taking the seat next to Emily.

Emily watched as Y/n loaded her plate, not making a move until Y/n took the first bite.

The younger woman rolled her eyes as she realized what the agent was doing. "I didn't poison the food," Y/n said as she took a bite of the Pad Thai. "Again, if I wanted you dead, I would have done it the second you walked through the door. And besides, death by poison is such a boring way to go, you should have higher standards for yourself."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Emily muttered as she put food on her plate.

There's a silence before the younger woman speaks again, "So, how was your day?"

Emily looks up from her plate of food with a scoff. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," Y/n said with a smile as she poked at her food.

Emily fought the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that the faster she played along, the faster she'd be out of this situation. "It was long, thanks to you."

Y/n laughed as she looked at Emily. "Me or Gideon? I know his stories can get long-winded."

Emily shouldn't have been surprised that Y/n knew Gideon had been to the BAU today. But she couldn't help but feel caught off guard for a second before managing to mask her reaction, "Well, the only reason Gideon came back was because of you."

"You're not too fond of him, are you?" Y/n said with an eyebrow raised as she studied the agent in front of her.

"You could say that," Emily shrugged.

"Yet... you're fond of Rossi?" Y/n observed, and Emily hated the way her eyes practically bored through her. "What are you trying to get at?" Emily frowned at the younger woman.

Y/n chuckled as she put more food on her plate. "Nothing. Just probing to see how far Gideon got on his side of the story."

Emily knew it was a baited statement. And she wanted to ignore it; she did. She knew anything Y/n told her had to be taken with a grain of salt. But she also knew that there was undeniable tension between the two older men, something having gone on way before anyone else joined the team.

"You can ask. I know you're dying too." Y/n smirked, pulling Emily from her thoughts.

"And trust what you'll say over them? Over my dead body." Emily said, even though she wanted to ask, she wasn't about to give the upper hand. And besides, she knew this was Y/n's tactic, to make the team distrust each other and lose sight of the actual goal, apprehending Y/n.

"You're loss, darling. Just know that digging into the past isn't always pretty." Y/n shrugged, and again, Emily fought the urge to roll her eyes at another ominous yet vague statement from the younger woman. "That's rich coming from you."

Y/n just chuckled, and if Emily was trying to get under her skin, it wasn't working. "And not you? I'm sure you have some skeletons in your closet, darling. And wouldn't it be oh-so-fun to dig them up?"

Emily gritted her teeth. Logically, she knew her time at the CIA was classified. And Y/n hadn't shown any Garcia-level hacking abilities. So, she knew the threat was just a blanket statement, but she couldn't help but wonder what she would do if Y/n had that information to hold over her.

"Geez, you are such a worrier," Y/n chuckled as she noted the stern expression on Emily's face. "No need to fret, I won't dig unless I have to. I prefer things to come naturally."

"You're deluded if you think I would willingly tell you anything about me," Emily said seriously.

"Well then, I guess it's a great day to be a psychopath."

Emily let out a huff. She'd walked right into that one, hadn't she?

"Okay, just tell me what you want," Emily said as she put down her fork. She'd tried to play along, and she lasted a good 5 minutes before wanting to pull her gun out. "You're here for more than just a date."

"And here I thought we were getting somewhere." Y/n sighed dramatically as she leaned back in her chair. "I was bored."

Emily blinked. "What?"

"You and your team have been taking so long-

"It's only been a week!"

"And I've left you two bodies and a gift!"

Emily shook her head, fighting the urge to rub the headache out of her temples. "I don't understand. You went years without being on anyone's radar. Why are you giving us the chance to catch you?"

Y/n hummed as her fingers tapped on the table. "First of all, I'm not giving you a chance to catch me. Secondly, I have no elaborate scheme or endgame," Y/n said in air quotes, "to explain why I put myself on your team's radar. I simply saw a beautiful woman at a coffee shop and had to have her. Call it the romantic in me."

Emily couldn't even process what she heard as the younger woman winked at her. "The only romance you're capable of is a self-serving one." Emily shook her head.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. You're not the first psychopath I've encountered, and you won't be the last."

Y/n just smiled as she wet her bottom lip. "What if I want to be the last?" She said as she stood up, watching how Emily's hard eyes never left hers. The younger woman slowly approached Emily, standing a couple of inches away from her as she used her foot to scoot the Agent's chair toward her.

"You won't," Emily said as she stared up at the other woman.

"How can you be so sure?" Y/n asked as she knocked Emily's right knee with her own.

"Because you're not as special as you think you are," Emily said, and if she was trying to get a rise out of the Y/n, it was failing by the way Y/n's small turned upward.

"I don't know..." Y/n started as she gracefully draped herself in Emily's lap. Her weight was placed on Emily's right leg as her arm snaked around Emily's neck. The agent unconsciously held her breath as Y/N's hand rested on her lower neck. Emily's hands were clenched by her side as she fought the urge to shove the younger woman off of her.

"I felt pretty special when you kissed me back in the bar." Y/n smiled, her breath hot against Emily's ear.

Emily refused to show any emotion as she stared straight ahead. She pretended she couldn't feel Y/n playing with the baby hairs on her neck or the way Y/n's lips had grazed her ear.

"When you pinned me against the wall in the bathroom." Y/n continued as her other hand splayed against Emily's torso.

Emily turned her head, her face now inches away from the younger woman as she looked her dead in the eye, "I was doing my job."

Y/n just chuckled as she leaned closer, the tip of her nose almost brushing Emily's. "Was it part of your job to enjoy it?"

"It's part of my job to make it believable. Don't flatter yourself." Emily shot back, and Y/n just laughed as she brought her hand up from Emily's stomach to rest softly on the older woman's cheek. "You keep telling yourself that."

Emily immediately pulled the younger woman's hand off her cheek. "You can keep telling yourself that this," Emily said as she dug her dull nails into Y/n's palm and moved their hands back and forth, gesturing between them, "Means something. But really, you'll just end up being another tally in the number of people I've put behind bars."

For the first time that night, Y/n was silent. And honestly, the silence was more unsettling than anything the younger woman had said. Emily couldn't tell if Y/n was about to choke the life out of her or break into deranged laughter.

But instead of doing any of that, the younger woman just sighed with a small pout on her lips, "I see we're still not on the same page."

"You think?!" Emily yelled before she could control her mouth.

"Okay," Y/n nodded as she squeezed Emily's hand softly before untangling it from the older woman's grip. Honestly, Emily hadn't even noticed she was still gripping onto Y/n's hand.

"Okay?" Emily repeated back as Y/n got off of her lap and went to sit back down in her seat.

"I acknowledge that you want to take things slower," Y/n said with a smile as she leaned back in her chair.

"That is not what I said," Emily said incredulously.

"And I'm completely fine with taking this at your speed."

"There is no speed at which I would do anything with you," Emily said pointedly.

"They say the first stage is denial," Y/n said as she started to gather the takeout containers on the table.

"Of grief. Denial is the first stage of grief." Emily corrected as she watched the younger woman flow seamlessly through her kitchen, putting all of the containers back in her fridge.

"Love...grief... you can't have one without the other," Y/n said as she returned to the table to collect the plates.

When Y/n reached for Emily's plate, the agent quickly stood up, grabbing the younger woman's wrist tightly before she could touch it. "And how would you know? You don't have the emotional capacity to experience either of them, " Emily said in a low voice.

Y/n rolled her eyes, "Says who?"

"The person who has spent the last week digging through your life. The second my team and I are no longer a challenge, you'll get bored and move on. You're textbook, you're not special, and you're not capable of being in a relationship of any kind." Emily answered back easily as she stared at Y/n. She hadn't even realized how close they were until she saw Y/n's eyelashes flutter and a small smile curl on her lips.

"How did you know degradation was my kinda foreplay?" Y/n smirked, and Emily scoffed as she dropped Y/n's wrist and took a step back.

Honestly, Emily was at a loss for what to do. Nothing she said or did seemed to faze Y/n at all. She thought she could find what made the younger woman tick, find a way to throw her off balance. But so far, she'd found nothing, and it was not working to her advantage.

Although... she did have one advantage over the other woman.

Emily quickly reached for her gun, clicking off the safety as she pointed right at Y/n's forehead. The younger woman's smirk turned into an eye roll as she crossed her arms, but made no action to move away. "Dramatic much?"

Emily scoffed as she held the gun steady, "You kidnapped my friend and broke into my apartment because you were bored."

Y/n just shrugged.

"Unless... you didn't kidnap Rossi. And all of this," Emily said as she waved her gun around, "Has been a waste of my time."

"Time spent with me is never a waste." Y/n countered back, but all she was met with was a cold glare from Emily.

Y/n sighed when she realized Emily wasn't going to say anything, "May I reach into my pocket without you blowing my brains out, Agent Prentiss?"

"Depends."

"I'm just grabbing my phone, nothing scandalous. Unless you want it to be," Y/n said smoothly as she reached into her back pocket for her phone. Emily didn't entertain her with a response as she watched the woman unlock her phone and scroll for a bit.

When she turned her phone around, Emily was met with a sight of a video.

Not a video, as Emily observed closely. It seemed to be live streaming, and in the center of it was none other than an unconscious David Rossi in an unrecognizable, dark room.

"See? You know, I'm kind of offended that you thought I was lying about kidnapping him." Y/n said as she pocketed her phone once again.

"Where is he?" Emily gritted out.

"Some place only the two of us know about," Y/n said wistfully, and Emily couldn't get a read on her.

The 'two of us' she was referring to had to be about Y/n and Rossi.

But Rossi didn't even know Y/n existed until this case... right?

"I can see the cogs turning in your brain, darling." Y/n taunted, "Ask me, I know you want to."

No, Emily was not going to ask her. She was going to get this information out of Rossi first, if there was even anything to know.

"Tell me where he is," Emily repeated.

"What if I don't want to?" Y/n said with a sly smile.

"Then I'm going to pull this trigger and find him myself."

Y/n chuckled as she took a step closer to the gun, bending down slightly so the gun could rest in the middle of her forehead. "Do it then,"

Emily bit the inside of her cheek. Wow, Y/n really was insane.

"That's what I thought, all talk and no play," Y/n smiled as she stared up at Emily.

"Now, here's what's going to happen," Y/n said as she got up from her slightly crouched position and made her way back to the table to grab the plates, "I'm going to wash the dishes, because how awful of a date would I be if left you a mess to clean up?!"

"I'm pretty sure you made it into awful date territory when you, again, kidnapped my friend and broke into my apartment." Emily felt like a broken record as she followed the younger woman to the kitchen sink, her gun still raised, but that didn't seem to faze Y/n at all.

"Okay, I get it. Already noted it for next time. No need to keep dredging up the past." Y/n said over her shoulder as she turned the sink on and grabbed the sponge.

Emily didn't know why it was the sight of Y/n scrubbing her plates that set her off. Y/n had done so many things in the last hour, but maybe it was Emily's exhaustion or the sound of soap squeaking that had gotten on her final nerve.

"Stop washing my fucking dishes and tell me where Rossi is!" Emily yelled as she closed the distance between her and the sink. Her shoulder knocked into Y/n as she reached across and turned the water off.

"Okay, geez. No need to raise your voice, darling." Y/n chastised as she reached for the towel on the counter to dry her hands.

"Then give me the address, I'm done playing games," Emily said as she waved her gun at the younger woman.

"Fine," Y/n sighed, "But you don't get to hold these dirty dishes over me, I was more than willing to clean them," Y/n said seriously.

"Ah, yes, because leaving dirty dishes in my sink is the worst crime you've committed," Emily scoffed.

Y/n just shrugged, and Emily slammed the gun down on the counter, "Rossi," She said, one word, but it was enough to get them back on topic.

"Okay," Y/n surrendered, as she dramatically put her hands in the air. "I'll send you the address after I walk out of your apartment."

Emily shook her head, "Not a chance in hell."

Y/n just laughed as she leaned against the counter, "Then I'm not sending you the address, darling. There's only one good outcome here, and it doesn't end with me in an interrogation room."

"You think I'm just going to let you go?"

"I don't think, I know," Y/n said as she pushed off the counter and took a step closer to Emily. "Because just like you've been studying me, I've been studying you." Y/n continued, eyeing the other woman as Emily glared at her.

"Your loyalty is your biggest weakness, and you would go to any lengths to keep those you love safe. You look up to Rossi like a father, probably because your actual father-"

"Don't," Emily gritted, and Y/n just raised an eyebrow. "Fine. But you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if anything happened to him. So, you're going to let me go because you know I don't kill mostly innocent men. But if I'm locked up in an interrogation room, then I couldn't care less if David Rossi dies.... So what's it going to be, darling?" Y/n said, and if Emily could shoot the smirk off of the younger woman's face, she would.

Because Y/n had won, and there was no solution or outcome where she didn't. Y/n understood Emily just as much as she understood the younger woman. And Emily knew Y/n was telling the truth; if she brought Y/n in, she was signing Rossi's death sentence. The team didn't know enough about Y/n's past to find Rossi, and Y/n was playing on that.

Emily didn't want to give. She didn't want to accept defeat, didn't want to lose to Y/n again. But what other choice did she have? She would not gamble Rossi's life or anyone on the team.

"Fine," Emily said through her teeth as she clicked the safety on the gun and put it back in the holster on her belt. "But don't think this is the end," Emily threatened, although it held no weight if the smile on Y/n's face was any indicator.

"Oh, this is just the beginning," Y/n smiled as she walked up to Emily, planting a soft kiss on the older woman's cheek. She reveled in the way Emily didn't tense or flinch like she had earlier.

"I'll send you the address once I get to my car. I assume Garcia will be getting the message, too, since you don't understand privacy anymore." Y/n pouted as she walked to the door. Emily had to force herself to stay put and do nothing as Y/n walked away.

"I'll see you soon, darling," And with that, Y/n was out the door.

Taglist: @laanswife @gh0sstss @unoreverselu @unexpected-character @leftoverenvy

A Special Gift (Don't Blame Me: Chapter 7)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Warnings: Typical Criminal Minds stuff

Words: 3.2k

EMILY WAS the first to arrive at Howard Barnes's apartment. She waited outside the door with her gun in her holster. Hotch had given her clear instructions to wait for SWAT and the rest of the team.

Emily had planned to wait, but when Hotch felt the need to reiterate it, she couldn't shake the feeling that she might be in serious trouble with her boss.

Was it deserved? Probably.

But as long they caught Y/n, Emily couldn't care less about the consequences that came her way from doing so.

"Geez, you got here quick," JJ panted as she jogged over to Emily. The three flights of stairs were enough to make her break a sweat, something that had never happened before she'd gotten pregnant.

"It was only ten minutes away from my apartment," Emily started as she turned to her friend, but was taken aback when she saw a deep gash from JJ's forehead to her eyebrow. A bandaid covers most of the cut. "Oh god. What happened, JJ?" Emily asked as her finger hovered over the bandaid, blood starting to seep through the fabric.

JJ quickly pushed away Emily's worried hands, "I was putting away the dishes and accidentally dropped a plate on my face while reaching for the top cabinet. I'm fine, Em, I didn't have time to glue it." JJ said softly.

"Okay," Emily nodded skeptically, "I have some medical glue in the car, I'll fix it after we're done here," Emily said, and JJ just nodded silently. Emily wanted to ask more, but she could hear the rest of the team from down the hallway, so she decided to save her questions for later.

The SWAT team came, and when they cleared the apartment, they let the BAU in.

"Howard Barnes, a 28-year-old science teacher at Saint Luther High School." Penelope relayed on the phone from her lair at Quantico.

"Well, it was Y/n," Derek crouched down by the body, "Single gunshot to the head and the angel wing," Derek continued.

Spencer was crouched next to Derek, noting the body's warmth and lack of rigor mortis, "Time of death had to have been less than an hour ago," Spencer added.

"Damn, we were close. Did the neighbors call it in?" Rossi asked Hotch.

Emily looked up from the body and saw Hotch staring at her blankly. And honestly, that look was scarier than his usual frown.

"I called it in. I was on the phone with Y/n when she shot him." Emily said, earning a resounding "What?!" from everyone.

"Why do you still have her number?" Derek asked.

"Why would she call you?" Spencer added.

"I'll explain later. Can we focus on the case, please?" Emily asked a slight pleading in her tone.

"Prentiss is right, let's focus on the case," Hotch told the rest of the team before turning to Emily, "Well, talk later."

Emily nodded, happy to delay the berating for later.

"Can you see if any of the students or staff filed a complaint or reported him," Emily asked Penelope as she recalled her phone call with Y/n.

"Hmm, let me check... Three years ago, a student anonymously reported Mr. Barnes for sexual harassment. Oh geez, the school didn't even look into it, they just swept it under the rug. Good thinking, Em." Penelope said as her fingers typed over the keyboard.

"Well, he fits victimology," JJ noted as she looked anywhere but the body. The nausea in her stomach started to roll at the sight and smell.

"How does she find all these guys, though?" Derek asked.

"Well, there's never a shortage of perverts in DC," Emily muttered, causing Hotch to send her another look.

Derek ignored Emily's comment as he gestured to the body, "I mean that this guy and all her other victims look perfect on record. Does she background-check every guy in the cities she kills?"

"Approximately 47% of the DC population is male, with a total population of 591,833-" Spencer started before Hotch abruptly cut him off. If the statistics had been relevant to the conversation, Hotch would have kept Spencer talking. "Garcia, would it be possible for her to create a computer program like that?" Hotch asked the technical analyst over the phone.

"I mean, it is possible. But hacking into sealed documents is a whole other ball game. Especially when its government sealed like some of the victim's files," Penelope answered.

"Okay, I want you to look deeper into that. See if there are any online forums that she could be using to find her victims," Hotch told Garcia before hanging up the phone.

Emily had been looking around the apartment, unintentionally tuning out the team's conversation, when her eyes landed on the kitchen counter. She'd completely forgotten that Y/n had left something for her.

The brunette walked over to the counter and saw a small gift bag and what looked to be a manuscript.

Emily picked up the papers, flipped through them, and noted that there had to be at least 300 hundred pages of words. She felt someone walk up behind her before she heard Derek's voice, "What's that?" he asked as he looked at the papers in her hand.

"Something Y/n left for me," Emily sighed as she handed it to Derek and reached over to grab the gift.

"Her next book?" Derek asked as he started to read the words on them, "Huh, I thought her being a ghost writer was a cover," Derek muttered to himself, referencing back to the first night they'd come in contact with Y/n.

Emily hummed in acknowledgment as she took out the tissue paper and saw a small gold charm at the bottom of the bag. She pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket before grabbing the charm.

She held it at eyesight and noted it to be some kind of bird. The embedded diamonds were shining from the kitchen light, and Emily knew this had to be expensive.

"It looks like a blackbird," Spencer said as he walked up next to her. "Blackbirds symbolize transformation, inner strength, and freedom," He continued as he observed the charm for himself.

Emily frowned as she stared at it, was it some sort of sign? Did the symbolism have meaning for Y/n, or was this something else to throw the team off? Or maybe Y/n just wanted to impress Emily with something shiny.

The brunette was still trying to piece it together when she heard a gasp from behind her. She and Spencer quickly turned around to see JJ flipping through the manuscript, "Oh my god," JJ said as she held the papers up to the team, "I know this book series! Will's nieces love it," JJ continued.

"Nieces?" Derek asked, practically voicing everyone's surprise that Y/n wrote novels for kids.

"Yeah, I think this is the fifth or sixth book in the series," JJ said as she recalled looking at the novels on the little girls' bookshelf, "The series is about an orphaned teenage girl named Angela, who's trying to solve her parent's murder. Or at least that's what I got out of the synopsis on the back. " JJ finished as she put the manuscript back on the table.

Hotch nodded as he took JJ's words in, "Do you remember the author on the covers name?"

"Ana Wells," JJ responded as she pulled her phone out and scrolled through her photos. "She's a real person, too," JJ said as she showed a picture of Will's nieces with a middle-aged woman at a bookstore meet and greet.

"I'll have Garcia look into it more tomorrow," Hotch said as they all stared at the manuscript.

"I'm sorry, but this is just crazy." Derek scoffed, breaking the silence. "How the hell does she have time to murder hundreds of people, taunt us, and then also write what looks to be a best-selling children's book series."

"She's like serial killer Barbie," JJ muttered, her exhaustion and hormones enough to loosen her usual professionalism. Derek chuckled but was cut off by Hotch's sharp gaze.

"She left all this for you?" Spencer asked Emily, getting the group back on task.

Emily nodded, "Yeah, but... I don't know why. Providing us with the manuscript and the name of the author she writes for benefits us, not her."

"Well, maybe she's trying to tell you something with the manuscript and the charm." Rossi pointed out, and Emily just shook her head, "But what?"

"That's what we have to figure out," Hotch said, "But it's late, so we'll pick up tomorrow. Luckily, I was able to get a hold of Gideon, so he should be by tomorrow morning. Hopefully, With his insight, things will start making more sense." Hotch said before dismissing the team. Emily tried to escape, hoping Hotch wouldn't remember, but when she heard her last name ring through the apartment, she accepted defeat and turned around to meet Hotch's disappointed eyes.

"A word," He said, gesturing for her to follow him into the hallway.

She nodded, instructing JJ to wait by her car so she could tend to her cut after her hopefully brief conversation with the unit chief.

"Why did you not inform me you were talking to Y/n?" Hotch asked, getting straight to the point.

"I was going to," Emily swears, "I just wanted to get enough out of Y/n before telling you." As she said it aloud, she realized how bad it sounded. But in her defense, it wasn't as if anything crazy had happened.

"But that's not your call to make." Hotch said shortly, "For this team to work, I have to trust the people on it."

"And you can trust me. I just couldn't risk you cutting contact with the only lead we have."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at Emily's argument, "So, I can trust you, but you can't trust me to make the right calls for this team?"

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"Prentiss, if you're too close to this case, I will not hesitate to remove you from it," Hotch interrupted.

"I am not too close to this case," Emily argued back, trying to keep her voice down and not yell like she wanted to. "I apologize for not telling you, but I'm getting somewhere with her, Hotch. And if you pull me off the case, chances are Y/n is just going to move on," Emily said.

Did Emily feel slightly conceited saying that? Yes.

But was it true? Also yes.

Y/n may have been toying with the whole team, but it was mostly Emily that she showed interest in, and Hotch and the whole team could see that.

The Unit Chief thought silently for a moment before relenting. "Fine, you can stay in contact with her. But I want past and future conversations relayed through Garcia. And I want to be briefed every day."

Emily nodded, relief filling her chest, "Yes, sir."

Hotch studied the brunette momentarily, hoping he made the right call, "If you do something like that behind my back again, I will remove you from this case. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir," Emily nodded again before her boss dismissed her.

Well, that had been easier than she thought. Honestly, she'd expected a lot more pushback from Hotch. But right now, they needed as many leads as they could get.

A slight shiver ran through Emily as she headed to her car. The moon and the stars illuminate the parking lot, and Emily's reminded once again how late it is. " He read you the riot act?" JJ asked as she stood perched on the hood of Emily's car. Emily chuckled as she unlocked the car, "If it were any other case, he probably would,"

JJ hummed as she watched Emily pull out a medical kit from the passenger seat compartment. Emily motioned for the blonde to take a seat as she pulled out all the items she needed. "Jesus, JJ." Emily gasped as she carefully pulled the bandaid off and realized just how deep the cut was.

"Maybe we should go to the hospital-" Emily started before JJ cut her off. "It's fine, Em. Just bleeding a lot." JJ insisted sharply. Emily held her hands up in surrender as she dabbed the cut with disinfectant.

"I thought part of being pregnant meant your partner does everything for you," Emily said, trying to lighten the mood, and to her relief, JJ chuckled a little. "We both work full-time jobs and if I left everything up to Will, our house would be a wreck."

Emily hummed, adding another tally to the reasons she disliked Will.

"Well then, let him put away the dangerous dishes," Emily smiled as she pulled the medical glue out of the bag, "We can't be ruining our money maker," Emily teased as she held the cut together. "Ass," JJ muttered under her breath, and Emily smiled.

She worked quietly as she patched up JJ's forehead. She was lost in thought when she felt JJ's eyes staring at her. "What?" Emily asked, not liking the look on her friend's face.

"It was Y/n calling you earlier, wasn't it," JJ said, her voice soft and lacking judgment. JJ didn't understand why Emily hadn't told them. But she trusted her friend and knew that there had to be a good reason for not telling the team.

"Yeah," Emily sighed as she finally put the bandage over the glued cut. "I know it was stupid; you don't have to tell me," Emily defended, an instinct even though there wasn't a hint of judgment in the blonde's eyes. "Did I say anything?" JJ chuckled, used to Emily's ways by now.

"Sorry. I just... I know what I'm doing."

"Again, did I say anything?" JJ said with an eyebrow raised.

"No, you didn't" Emily shook her head, "Sorry, I just really want this case over," Emily muttered as she squeezed JJ's shoulder, signaling that she'd finished tending to her cut.

"As do I. But I have a feeling that's not going to happen anytime soon." JJ said as she hopped out of the car. Emily hummed in acknowledgment before saying goodbye to JJ. She made sure her friend was safely in her car before heading out for the ten-minute drive back to her apartment.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

It was 7:30 in the morning when Emily walked into the BAU. Usually, she was the one to cut it close, barely arriving to work on time. But she could barely sleep last night and couldn't stand the eerie silence that had fallen over her apartment. Hence, her being the first one at work.

Although, when she arrived at her desk, she saw three people in Hotch's office. The unit chief, Rossi, and what looked to be Gideon were deep in conversation, looking at case files. Emily's eyes widened at the sight of them.

She knew Gideon was coming obviously, but it was still a shock to see the man. She was dreading the awkward reunion that was bound to happen in a couple of hours and decided to keep herself busy.

Last night she had texted Y/n asking where she'd gotten the blackbird charm and about the manuscript.

But to her surprise, the younger woman never answered. Usually, Y/n would get back to her within 5 minutes, so what was going on?

A part of her wanted to believe that it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she'd told Hotch about their contact. But she wasn't naive enough to believe that it didn't have anything to do with Y/n not answering her back.

She decided to put her phone away and focus on the other case files that she'd neglected since coming across Y/n.

It was about an hour later when the rest of the team slowly filtered through the bullpen.

"Gideons here?" Derek asked as he sat at his desk, the surprise in his voice mirrored Emily's earlier in the morning.

"Yup," Emily nodded. "I honestly didn't think he was going to come so soon."

Spencer scoffed, something so unlike him that Derek and Emily couldn't help but pause their conversation as they stared at the youngest profiler.

Wow, this was going to be a long day.

"Well, whatever he knows must be important if he's coming out of retirement to consult with us," Derek said with a shrug as they all stared at Hotch's office. The blinds were pulled down but the three senior profilers were still in there, none of them having left since Emily arrived.

Spencer scoffed again, "It also means that he's been close this entire time. We just weren't enough for him to want to come back."

"Spencer-" Emily started with an empathetic sigh.

"I'm getting coffee," Spencer said, pushing his chair back forcefully as he practically stomped to the kitchenette, ignoring the concerned glances thrown his way.

"I take it your guys's talk yesterday didn't help." Emily sighed as she turned towards Derek.

"What do you think," Derek said as he gestured to Spencer who was furiously adding sugar to his coffee.

Emily hummed when suddenly Hotch's office door opened. "Conference room. Now." He said as he headed down the walkway with Rossi following after him. Gideon gave Emily and Derek a small nod of acknowledgment before following after the two men.

"This should be fun," Emily sighed as they headed to the round table.

"Tell me about it," Derek murmured as he took his seat next to Emily. Spencer came in and sat as far away from Gideon as he could.

As soon as the two blondes took their seat Gideon rose. "I know I'm not here under the best circumstances," He said and if it was possible, the room was even more stiff and awkward than it was before.

"But I'm here to help you guys, and even if you don't want it, you're going to need it," Gideon said as he grabbed a small box from the floor next to him and put it on the table. "I was the one that sealed the case in 1992." He finished as he handed the files over to the team.

"Why would you seal an unsolved case?" Derek asked, the confusion written over his face.

"Because it's not unsolved. We found the Wood Stalker in March of 1992, dead in his cabin from a single gunshot to his head." Gideon explained.

"Why isn't that in any of the files?" Penelope frowned.

"It's not in any of the files because I wanted to protect the person that turned him in" Gideon sighed as he ran a hand through his short hair.

"Who turned him in?" JJ asked.

"His eight-year-old daughter. Who was also the one that killed him." Gideon answered.

"What?" The rest of the team said in unison.

"I sealed it for her, she didn't need the whole world knowing what she'd done just to stay alive," Gideon said honestly.

"And everyone was just okay with that?" Spencer asked snarkily, notable not about the case and more of the fact that it was Gideon he was talking to. "The brass was different back then. The killer was gone and that's all they cared about. Other agencies backed my decision, although I didn't understand their reasoning why."

"What agency?" Emily asked with a frown.

"CIA. And I still don't know why, but I think we're going to find out soon." Gideon said and Emily looked at him skeptically, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because your unsub, Y/n, is the daughter of the Wood Stalker."

A/N: If I were to do a tag list, would anyone be interested in being on it? Thanks for reading!