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emberfrostlovesloki · 2 months ago

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Leave Me Whole, and Let Me Be Untouched by the Sun [Emily x Reader]

Photo credits: Left (@fear0phobia) Center (@@noseysilverfox) Right (@mysterygoo)

Prompt: An unsub is strangling people in New Orleans, and he keeps escalating. Once he gets Emily as a victim, the team, and the reader, will never be the same again, but they have no idea what will happen to their teammate and friend and how it will hurt them.

Pairing: Emily x BAU-Reader

Category: Angst/Whump

Word Count: 8.8K

Content Warnings: Major character death, many forms of suffocation, mention of OD’s and a shooting, depression, and despair, brief mention of food and alcohol. If I missed any, please let me know.

A/N: Hi all! I hope you are all doing very well! Here is the second whump fic after October is over (uh-oh)! I know the month is over but from me the whump will continue a while longer as I have four other whump fics planned. My writing this took some time but I was happy when I was writing rather than stressed, so I think that’s a good thing. That being said, thank you to everyone who has kept up with me, or to any new readers or followers! Please be kind to yourselves this week and do something you love, you are so special. If you enjoy this fic, likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated! Love Levi - ❤️

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y/n = your name

The case started out as a normal one. The team packed into the briefing room with Hotch giving the details and Penelope running the tech. Then on the jet ride to New Orleans, the BAU tossed ideas back and forth like a tennis ball at the Grand Slam. The killer had a surprisingly high kill count. Derek and Spencer had been shocked that they hadn’t been called in sooner. The MO had one tie-through for all of the victims. Suffocation, or loss of air until expiration.

There had been five drowning in the Mississippi, and the police had attributed it to drunkenness after a late night on Bourbon Street. New Orleans had a lot of drowning each year. Then there there had been three victims that had OD’d and asphyxiated on their own vomit. It wasn’t until more traditional methods of strangulation were used that the police started putting some of these ideas together. Those methods included wire around the neck, use of the hands, suffocation with a pillow, and the most dramatic was when a man had been hung from the roof of a building with his arms tied behind his back. The victim was blindfolded and had a note attached to his chest reading: The Night Breather Strikes Again! To say the scene had caused panic and uproar in the city was an understatement.

y/n was looking over her file and said, “So he’s escalating. I mean that last victim looked like someone from an Eli Roth movie. This unsub wants attention and the media is giving it to him. I just don’t know how the paranoia of the city is going to help him.” Emily smiled. Even though y/n was pretty new to the team, she had picked up so much, not to mention that she had fallen madly in love with the slightly younger agent. Em cleared her throat and said, “It probably doesn’t, but he has to have the attention and validation to feel anything anymore about his kills. But how do you escalate past that?”

y/n looked up and caught Prentiss’s eye, there was a warm flicker of desire there and y/n blushed slightly, looking back at her case file until she looked normal again. Hotch hadn’t really approved of their relationship, but he hadn’t stopped it either. He’d only issued an ultimatum, “No PDA of any sort on cases. What you do with the rest of your time is up to you, I guess.” When he added that last epitaph, y/n, and Emily had to hold back peals of laughter, it was something they joked about often now. Despite their relationship status, they still were always locked in on cases. It hadn’t been an issue for either of them yet, and they planned on keeping it that way. After all, they were both adults and no matter how head over heels they were, the job came first.

New Orleans was abuzz with activity when they landed and headed to the police station. Mardi Gras was a week away and businesses were prepping for the hoard of tourists and outsiders that the festivities would bring. Rossi looked at the lead investigator on the case and asked, “What are you doing to prep for the Mardi Gras crowd?” The younger male huffed and said, “Well, we’ve left fliers at all the bars and restaurants, and we’ve told the owners to call us immediately if they see something off, but after Katrina, this, summer and Spring Break are our busy season, and I doubt anyone is going to want to scare away business on those nights. I’ve also assigned teams of officers apart from those just on the street for the parades to be on the lookout, but I don’t know if it will do any good.”

Dave nodded and said, “We’ll have one of our agents create a geographic profile, it might give you a better idea of where to concentrate your officers instead of just using manpower. Officer Stevenson nodded and looked like he hadn’t understood anything that Rossi had just said. Dave turned to Spencer and shouted, “Reid, can we get a geographic profile in a few hours?” Spence nodded and moved toward an officer to get the files he needed to make the profile.

While this was all happening, Aaron, Morgan, y/n, and Emily were en route to two of the scenes. Hotch and Derek were taking the first and would be dropped off. The second scene was only a few blocks in the other direction, so they all figured they’d ride together and if anything interesting came up at either site they’d phone each other. The two men arrived at their destination and hopped out, and then Em and y/n were driven to the next scene. A lot seemed to be going on at the site, but y/n realized that some construction was happening near the yellow tape. There was a backhoe and a concrete mixer standing still and y/n turned to the officer and asked, “Did you stop this construction once the body was found?” The officer who had driven them nodded and replied, “Yes, ma’am. It was actually the lead on this project that found the body and called us.

Em looked at y/n with interest and said, “Can you give us the name and number of the man? We’d like to speak to him.” The officer nodded and replied, “Sure, I just need to look it up in the case notes. It’ll only take a minute.” Emily stopped the man from returning the cruiser and asked, “What is it they’re doing here construction-wise anyway? No offense, but this doesn’t look like a spot that needs to be repaired much.” By that statement, Emily meant the small plot of land they were standing on looked like a small tornado had passed through only a few nights ago. The officer gave a chuckle and replied, “None taken. If you can believe it or not there’s a hidden bunker behind the storm drain. It’s a decent depth down. Seven feet or so. It’s the remnants from the Cold War, but of course, it was never needed and after Katrina, well you can imagine what it looked like inside after that. y/n, who had been listening in asked, “So what are you doing to it?” y/n was a bit of a history nerd, and a small part of her would love to go down and see what the inside looked like now.

The officer looked between the two women, surprised by this diversion, but replied, “Well, a lot of the homeless used it for shelter for a good while, but last month two high school kids OD’d down there on meth, so the city saw it fit to fill in the entrance with concrete. That way no one else could get hurt down there. I’ve never been down myself, but I’ve heard some wild stories like allegedly the lights still work. It can’t be real, but it’s fun to talk about.”

Em raised an eyebrow as the man got excited. He noticed her expression and excused himself to get back to the cruiser and find them the information they had asked for. Once the man was gone, the agents moved to the real scene but didn’t find much that was helpful. It was a very isolated and lowlight area which might help with a profile, but other than that there was no important information to gain. y/n sighed; she had hoped for more. Despite this, she stayed cheerful and said, “Once we have that info let’s walk over to Hotch and Morgan. Maybe they could use some help and we can tell Hotch the new information.”

Em nodded and said, “Plus we can get a sense of where the car must have come from to drag the body here. I wish we knew if they were killed on the scene or dropped somewhere else.” y/n furrowed her brow and replied, “Let me call Garcia and get the lividy from this victim of this scene, that will give us a better idea.” Prentiss smiled and replied, “And this is why I love you, you always know who to call.” y/n smiled back and replied, “You’re too nice to me, you know that right?”

Back at Hotch’s scene, y/n told him about the man who had found the fifth body. He nodded remembering when the officers had told him about it at the precinct. Apparently, he had nothing to add, but y/n asked, “Mind if I meet with him again? I just think he could be one of those people who want to be part of the investigation. This killer needs validation and what’s more validating than reporting a crime you committed?�� Aaron nodded and said, “Go for it. Have Spencer in the room with you. I’d like two people in there in case either of you misses something.” y/n agreed and moved back to the police station to set up the interview while Emily was chatting with Derek about this scene.

A few hours later, y/n was sitting next to Spencer and across from Tim Baldwin in an interrogation room of the police building. There was something very odd about the man as if he was putting out waves of cool emotion. It made y/n shiver for a second before she composed herself. This wasn’t an interrogation, after all, just getting information. However, Reid had suggested the room as an intimidation tactic and y/n had agreed.

“Mr. Baldwin, could you explain the scene you came upon when you found the victim? Please be detailed and tell not only what you saw, but how you got to work that morning.” Tim looked up from the metal table and started rhythmically tapping the side of his chair He said in a slow, deep voice, “I told the police already, but if you ask., I arrived at 6:20 AM at the construction site. The work day starts at 7:00 and I was getting ready for the other boys to pull up. I had some coffee in my truck. My headlights were on and I noticed a strange pile of blankets that hadn’t been there when we’d finished up yesterday.” y/n nodded along taking some notes. “I stepped out. I thought it might be a homeless person. We’d cordoned off the area and I was gonna try and get them to move. When I moved the blanket, I wasn’t ready for what I saw.”

The man seemed to slow his cadence which was very monosyllabic and monotone for someone with such an interesting voice. Spencer asked, “Can you describe what you saw and what you did next?” The man nodded and replied, picking at a hangnail on his thumb, “Well there was a feller’ and his face was white and blue. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I moved back real fast. Kinda gave me a shock.” From the way the man said it, it didn’t seem like he was shocked at all. Baldwin continued, “Then I called up the cops, and texted the boys to wait for an hour to come in. I figured you didn’t all need seven other brutes kicking up dust on someone so important. I heard of those other kill’ins, figured this was one of ‘em.”

y/n nodded before asking, “How well do you know this city, Mr. Baldwin?” Tim seemed slightly surprised by this question but finally answered, “As well as any native-born I ‘spose. It’s a big city with lots of places, but I can give directions as well as anyone.”

y/n knew she’d never ask this man for directions. There was something inherently off about him. Reid then asked a few questions, and after they let him go. Once he was out of the room, y/n looked at Spencer not even sure what to say. Spence let out a sigh and said, “Well, he’s a character at least.” y/n nodded and said, “I always thought the ‘characters’ would be the easiest to read and they’re not.” Reid nodded and said, “I don’t think it’s him. He was just so clinical about the whole thing.” y/n bit the inside of her lip and said, “Let’s see if Garcia can pull up some medical records on him. I’m wondering if he’s on the spectrum. Not that means anything, but it might explain some of the behavior.” Spencer agreed and said, “I think that’s a good thing. Let’s gather some thoughts for Hotch and Rossi, they’re going to want to know what we found out.”

Later that evening, late, the team was back and working at the precinct. y/n had slipped off to get another coffee when Emily snuck in behind her. y/n yawned widely and Em said, “Can I help you with that?” y/n whipped around with her cup which sloshed a bit of hot coffee on her. “Shit, fuck” y/n whispered as she set down her cup. Emily’s eyebrows furrowed and she stepped forward grabbing some napkins and patting her girlfriend's hands saying, “I’m sorry, y/n. I didn’t know you were holding something.” As Em kept patting her hands and looking into her eyes. y/n leaned in a pecked the brunette woman’s cheek before saying, “It’s okay, Em. I think I’ll survive.” Prentiss gave one of her beaming smiles leaned against the counter and let out a breath. There was a soft moment of silence between them as y/n raised her cup to her lips and took a hesitant sip of caffeine.

After a moment, Emily asked, “Have you ever been to New Orleans before?” y/n turned her head to look at Em and replied, “Only on a layover when I was kid, but I’ve always had this stupid dream about it.” Prentiss turned and asked, “What stupid dream?” y/n chuckled and replied, “Well when I was young I thought it would be fun to have a lot of money. Enough money to fly out here on a private jet in the middle of the night and go to Cafe Dumont and get a coffee and beignets at 2:00 AM by the river. Just be in a city like this whenever I wanted. In my mind, I was always wearing a blue ballgown and ludicrously high heels, which are really impractical for this city.” Emily took y/n’s hand and gave it a squeeze. It was always nice to hear her inner thoughts and dreams that she rarely shared. Em said, “Hey, maybe one day we can do that. I’m not sure about the private jet, but the rest of it. We could make that happen.” y/n smiled and said, “You’re so romantic. I love you.” Em booped y/n’s nose and replied, “I know. Now, we’d best get back to work.”

The next two days were relatively quiet. Interviewing friends and family. Building out the profile. The team had decided that the man killed his victims in one place and dropped the bodies in another. The wait for something to happen was making the team's skin itch. No new developments could mean a few things like the unsub had gone back into hiding, the unsub was planning, or the killing spree was over. The first and last options were the best, but the most unlikely. With the unsubs escalation, it could be moments before they struck again. That theory was proven correct as the next morning again at 5:00 AM a dock worker pulled a flatbed into a deep freezing unit where the young man was shocked and horrified to find three bodies, frozen, mouths agape as if gasping for air.

Derek was pacing as usual outside the crime scene as the victims were identified. These, unlike the first slew of the dead, were older or elderly folks. Morgan turned to the ground and said, “The escalation means the unsub kills more than one person. Not just three random people in three random places, but three people that he brings together. Maybe those folks even knew each other.” Hotch nodded and replied, “Sounds about right, but let’s not jump to whether they knew each other or not. Only a solid ID will tell us that.” y/n was biting her nail, a bad habit of hers when she chimed in, “But these victims are older. So the unsub can kill more people, but they can’t all be young or strong. So that tells us something about his physicality at least.” The rest of the group nodded along and continued talking as they waited. Surprisingly, much of the job was infuriatingly waiting, waiting, and more waiting.

The scene and the cops ramped up and kept ramping up until the first night of Mardi Gras. Being able to have any control was very hard. The team was working on Bourbon Street, as were most of the Police force. Things were crazy and the amount of ambulances for people getting alcohol poisoning and ODing on drinks and drugs was astronomical. y/n was in the fray with Spencer and she shouted over a very loud jazz band saying, “This is madness. Why would anyone choose to come here for this.” Reid wasn’t handling the drunken crowd any better than y/n and replied, “Beat’s me. I don’t know how we’re supposed to be doing anything useful right now. We don’t need an unsub when we’ve got this going on.”

On the other side of the square, Emily was with JJ and noticed something fishy by the corner of the Catholic church. Em’s continued gaze to the far corner of the square caught JJ’s eye and she asked, “What do you see over there, Em?” Prentiss fixed her earpiece and replied, “I think something might be happening over there. Someone’s down and I can’t figure out if the person standing over them is a friend or a stranger.” The liaison nodded and asked, “Should I inform the team?” Em shook her head no and stated, “Nah. They wouldn’t get here fast enough anyway to help. Let me just go over there and see what’s going on.” JJ didn’t like that idea, however, she didn’t object as Emily quickly moved away from her. JJ’s eyes never left Prentiss’s form, but it started to get harder to see her as the crowds swarmed around her.

There were a few loud pops and a bang from the center of the square and JJ’s head whipped in that direction. It took a few moments to realize that some fool had just set off firecrackers, but the police were now running toward the situation to hand out a ticket most likely, and others were fleeing, afraid that there might be a gun somewhere. By the time JJ had figured this out, she let out an annoyed breath and moved back to look for Em, but she was nowhere to be seen. Concerned, the blond liaison started slowly moving through the crowd toward where she’d last seen Emily. When she got to the spot, a pool of dread opened in her when she saw Prentiss’s badge, earpiece, and cell phone, all smashed like they had been stomped on hard. “Shit,” muttered JJ before getting the team on comms and saying urgently, “Y��all, we have a problem. I lost Emily and now I found her badge, phone, and earpiece on the ground.” There was an oppressive moment of silence before Hotch crackled on the line with his full authority, “JJ, what’s your location?” JJ responded and then Aaron continued, “We all meet at JJ’s location stat.” With that, the line went dead.

y/n felt her world reel at the information that Emily might be gone. Taken by the unsub. She took five deep breaths and started pushing through the most crowded part of the plaza. She had to remind herself that despite her fear, it could be something else. Also, Emily still had her gun, and Emily with a gun was a bad day for any unsub. y/n thought, ‘Emily is smart and capable. She wouldn’t intentionally get taken. If she was, I know she’s putting up a hell of a fight’ It took y/n far longer to get to JJ’s location than she wanted, but she was the first there. She was already pulling on gloves as she saw JJ. y/n just nodded at the liaison before kneeling down to look at Emily’s things. She didn’t touch them because there might be evidence on the items. y/n looked up at JJ and said, “Let’s try and start to set a perimeter. We need this scene as clean as possible. It will make finding Emily easier.” The two women just started that task when Morgan and Hotch sprinted to them. As the team gathered, there was nothing in y/n that thought she wouldn’t get to see and hug Em again, She was sure, more sure than she’d ever been that they’d find her. With that hope, the start of the long four days began. It was also the start of the rest of y/n’s life; she just didn’t know it yet.

When Emily woke it was dark and musty smelling, like rot and petrichor. She tried to roll onto her back but found it impossible to do. This limitation woke her more. She must have been out, as she had no conception of what time it was or where she was. Prentiss opened her eyes and everything was a bit blurry. There were some old yellow-brown lights above her that looked like they’d come from a science lab in the 60s. She also realized that the scent of earth moss and earthy wetness was correct as she was lying on a large patch of what must have been a greenish-brown moss that was slippery to the touch. She was handcuffed to a lab table that was bolted to the floor. She tried at the cuffs a few times, but for now, she couldn’t see a way out of them. Part of the room seemed to be slightly cleaned, but most of it seemed at least a decade old. One notable thing about the room was how cold and clammy the air was. Emily suspected that she might be underground in a hideout somewhere. Perhaps the unsub was keeping her here until he felt like killing again. Killing a federal agent would up the escalation factor for sure.

Finally, after Em’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness beyond the faint halogen square of light around the center of the space, Em noticed the most interesting, and horrifying part of the room. All along the floor and even on crudely built shelves on the wall were the bodies of at least fifty dead bodies in various states of decay. Prentiss leaned to the side and vomited. She spat to clean her mouth and pulled a cuffed hand to get the spittle off her chapped lips. There was no mistaking it, this must be where the unsub strangled his victims.

Why these bodies hadn’t been displayed Emily couldn’t know. She hoped she’d get to ask the unsub about it. Perhaps he was a perfectionist and these people hadn’t died “right?” Emily knew that talking was her best weapon right now. She didn’t have her gun, she was confined, she didn’t know what time it was or how long she’d been there. The last thing she remembered from the packed square was leaning down next to somebody who had been shot, and then feeling a cloth over her mouth that smelled funny. Then it was lights out.

As all of this was coming to Emily there was a loud rumbling noise above and to the side of her like she was sleeping under a very high bridge. Em tried to scream for help, hoping whoever was above her might hear her. However, her cry was more cough than sound. Prentiss found her mouth and throat very dry from the cold and whatever had been used to knock her out. Clearing her throat again, Em shouted, “Help, please, HELP ME. Can you hear me?” Even if Emily’s plea for aid could be heard above the rumble of the trailer holding the concrete, the man driving the vehicle wouldn’t have been inclined to help her.

In the light of some worklamps, and against the orders of the police, Mr. Baldwin readjusted his hard hat as he turned on the flow from the concrete mixer. The flow of the building material was slow, like lava. This would be his piece de resistance. Now all he had to do was keep those pesky FBI agents away for at least a week. He had things timed to a T, so every three hours he very carefully placed wrapped packages in the slowly pooling grey sludge. He’d already rigged the top of the old bomb shelter, he was just making sure that if he was found out before the concrete was mostly dried, that nothing could be done. Tim had taken down the police barrier and he assumed with the whole force working on Mardi Gras patrol, there would be less attention paid to places decently far from the city center and far off the main road.

Once the Chief of police had asked him to fill in the old bomb shelter the idea had come to him. He was so obsessed with showing off and looking at his collection of bodies that he’d even moved his old kills into the shelter. He’d put up caution and his work zone sign tape and no one questioned him as he moved in the early morning. But like all great masterpieces, they could be easily ruined by a careless teenager getting high, or a homeless person finding his creation. So he was taking precautions. He was putting a top coat on his work to keep it the same forever. Sure he’d be unable to go back inside the see the bodies, but it’d only be so long before he got asked to do something like this again. Katria had opened many doors for contractors and he was one of the best independent workers in the city. His rates couldn’t be beat, which meant he was invited everywhere.

Fourty-two hours later, y/n hadn’t slept a wink and was pacing. Her eyes were red and looked slightly crazed. Morgan was looking at her from across the room and she snapped “What Derek? For the last time, I’m not going to take a nap. Now can you look somewhere else?” Derek dropped his arms and y/n’s shoulders fell as she put her head in her hands. Derek moved over to her and gave her a small embrace, patting her lower back as y/n composed herself. y/n sniffled and she rasped, “I’m sorry Derek. I don’t know what to do anymore. What to think.” The team had started the first hour strong looking for Emily. The police had cleared the square, but that had taken over an hour. The people that seemed suspicious had all turned out as dud leads.

Not only was there that, but three more bodies had shown up around the town leaving the police and the BAU struggling for manpower and resources to handle everything going on. Rossi had suggested that y/n and Morgan stay behind and keep looking for Em while the rest of the team went to handle the new scenes. Rossi thought he was doing y/n a kindness by letting her look for Emily, and y/n was glad, but at the same time, it was driving her crazy that she couldn’t do more. A hair had been found on Emily’s wallet that wasn’t hers, but the testing was taking what felt like forever. There were no fingerprints on Prentiss's items except her own. There were no texts or calls in Em’s logs from Verison’s report either.

Chief Kranic walked into the room where y/n and Morgan were holed up. He was holding his notepad and walkie. Once he knocked on the door and stepped inside, y/n pulled away from Derek and stood for more of attention. Morgan looked over to the portly man who’d seen one or two muffaletas in his day asking, “What is it, Chief?” Kranic looked worried and said, “Now we have an off-duty officer missing. The men think it might be your unsub ‘fella and they’re getting anxious.” y/n nodded and asked, “Where was the last scene?” Mogan’s head snapped to y/n and he said, “You’re not thinking of going out on the field right now, are you?” y/n let out a tiny huff. They didn’t need to be arguing in front of the officer. She replied neutrally, “We can talk about it once we have more information. Chief?” The large man took a few minutes to relay the information and both agents took notes. Once Kranic was out of the room y/n said, “Derek, please. I can’t keep staying here. I’ll go crazy with worry over Emily. Please let me do this.”

Morgan almost said, “You know that’s what JJ said to Em before she got taken, right?” But he stopped himself just in time. He tried to think of himself in y/n’s shoes and he understood. Finally, he gave a sharp nod and replied, “Go with a team of officers, and y/n, don’t do anything stupid out there. I’m going to call or text you every hour, alright.” y/n nodded. There was a hint of thanks in y/n’s eyes and as she brushed past him to grab her gun from the table, she gave his shoulder a small pat before moving out the door.

Emily had fallen asleep and when she woke up again it was much darker this time. The lights were still on, but with how gloomy the space was now, she realized that she must have woken during the day or there had been some opening to the outside somewhere, but all was darkness now. The air also felt more stifled and musty. Her nose had become slightly adjusted to the scent of rot, though it was not a pleasant smell. In the darkness, she could just see a few parts of the bodies in the room with her. Pointy noses and chins and feet barely lit up. Skulls looking back at her. Emily closed her eyes and shuddered. She could break. She could let this situation break her, but she knew the team was looking for her. That y/n would be sick with worry for her. Emily couldn’t leave her love like that. She had to get back to y/n so she wouldn’t be so worried. It was for y/n that Em held strong.

A little while later, Em woke from her trance-like state when a crackly voice came from the ceiling asking, “Are you still alive in there you little pest? You’ve got lots of air and I think I need to speed this up.” Emily coughed surprised that any kind of intercom would be in whatever place she was in. There was a small laugh as the man speaking to her said, “I hear you coughing in there. Wanna chat? It will be the last one you’ll have.” Emily grit her teeth and replied, “Don’t count you’re chicken’s before they’re hatched.” There was another laugh and then the hardly audible reply, “Humans are always so confident. They are so sure that everything will turn out for them, well I know, you’re not making it out of this one Agent Prentiss.”

This scenario of speaking with the unsub was not how she expected it to happen. Speaking face to face could give lots of clues, but a faceless badly modulated voice from a speaker from the ceiling was much less easy. Emily settled for just getting a handle on her situation. The man had spoken about her having a lot of air, and she worried about what that meant.

Putting on a strong voice Emily replied, “You certainly like playing god, so tell me, am I on an ark? My team will find me eventually - where exactly am I? You’re so confident that they can’t save me, you can tell me.” There was a prolonged pause, and Emily was afraid she might have pressed too hard. Thankfully there was a reply. The man seemed as confident as ever, “You Agent Prentiss are in an ark, an ark of concrete that is slowly drying. No way in or out. You will soon become like those other pretty people on the walls. I hope you’re comfortable because you’ll be here for a long time. And speaking of time, I think I’m going to speed up the process a little.” There was a swishing sound like a small fan or vacuum which, to her dismay, Emily realized was sucking air out of the mid-sized room. Prentiss felt the panic rise up in her again and she started hyperventilating. Tim assumed that Emily was doing what she was doing and said one last thing: “You’d better stop doing that, Agent, you’ll kill yourself faster. Now if I were you, I’d get comfortable with your gods.”

The next day after more bodies were found but no clues toward Emiy’s location, the team was haggard. Hotch was leaning against a desk rubbing his eyes. He was just as tired and worried about Emily as the rest of the team. He was close to an officer when their radio went off. The message was: “This is Unit 72. We have something strange on Lockwood.” The officer at the desk clicked his radio and said, “This is Fernandez, please report, over.” “Well, Mr. Baldwin and some of his equipment are out on lot 3. He seems to be sitting in his truck. Looks like he’s finished the job and I just went over there last week to tell him to hold off on construction.” Hotch furrowed his brow. Lockwood sounded oddly familiar and so did the name of Baldwin. He had a feeling in his gut and he turned to y/n asking, “y/n didn’t you talk to a Baldwin a few days ago?” y/n looked up from the file she was reading and nodded her head saying, “Yeah, Tim Baldwin. He was a contractor. He seemed very odd, but nothing came up.”

Hotch stood up straight and said, “I think we have something. Get the rest of the team, we’re going to Lockwood and wherever the hell lot 3 is.” The BAU rushed to where Tim was sitting in the cab of his pickup truck. Aaron, a few officers, and Morgan took point. Chief Kranic pulled out a mic and leaned out the door of his cruiser saying, “Mr. Baldwin, put your hands on the wheel of your car and don’t move. We have seven guns on you right now. Nod your head if you agree.” y/n, Spencer and Rossi watched as Baldwin nodded his head. Kranic continued loudly, “Good, now slowly place your hands on the wheel.” The unsub did as he was told and as soon as his hands were safely on the wheel the team rushed in. An officer opened the door and Hotch pulled the working man from his car and onto the ground where Rossi cuffed and read him his Miranda Rights. The second it was over Aaron said, “Where is Agent Prentiss!” The unsub laughed and pointed his chin toward the newly poured concrete saying, “Down there mister.”

y/n was now by the group's side and her eyes widened. Hotch still didn’t fully understand and barked, “What does that mean?” y/n stepped in front of Aaron and replied, “There’s an old bunker down there. Emily might still be alive. He’s just locked her in.” A small glint of hope crossed over Aaron’s eyes until there was a shout from Spencer over on the side of the lot. The BAU left Tim in the hands of the police to put him in a car as they all rushed to Reid’s side. There was a vent and cool air was coming out of it. y/n became more panicked as she saw this and turned to Spence asking, “How do we stop it? How do we get the vent to cycle air back into Emily.”

Reid bit the inside of his lip and said “I don’t know if this has a return value it might be a ventilator only. y/n started pacing and said, “So what do we do? Em’s down there.” Aaron looked at y/n and his stern gaze calmed her slightly as he said, “We’ll get a tech out here and see what can be done. If not getting air in, then stop the flow out. We’ll also get some construction workers and a civil engineer to see what we do about the concrete or digging her out from the top. Rossi nodded and said, “I’ll call Garcia, she’ll get people out here faster than legal.”

Aaron nodded and moved toward Spencer who was still standing by the vent. Hotch looked at the young genius and asked, “Any clue how much air she might have down there?” Reid shook his head and said, “I can’t say unless I have the specifics of the room, how long Emily has been down there and how long this vent has been on. My guess is that she has a few hours left, but that’s just a very very unsubstantiated guess.” Hotch didn’t like those odds and he moved over the the police car and opened the door to see Baldwin. Without hesitation, Aaron grabbed Baldwin by the collar and said, with his face an inch from the unsubs, “How big is that room? How long has Agent Prentiss been in there for?” The unsub seemed unphased and replied, Oh I don’t have exact stats on the room, but you’re girls been in there for about three days now. She was still conscious last I talked to her which is surprising given she has no water. Maybe she’s been drinking her piss.”

The statement from the man-made Aaron was so mad that he dropped him and slammed his hand so hard into the side of the car that he was sure he hurt something. Hotch was seething with rage at Emily being spoken about so callously even if there might be truth in the statement. After a few breaths, Hotch looked back at the man and said, “You’ve talked to her, how? And if you don’t give me a straight answer in less than one sentence I’ll make sure you get the death penalty. I’ll bring up everything you’ve ever said and done that looks sideways, so how? Did. You. Talk. To. My. Agent?”

Tim chuckled again at Aaron’s anger. He didn’t say anything for an instant, not sure if he should reveal his secrets, but then again, having the other agents talk to their friend, and hear her die would be priceless to watch, so he honestly replied, “There’s a HAM radio built into the building via the speaker. I rigged one to the table you’re agent’s cuffed to always be open. I did it in case I ever got trapped down there myself. Just a precaution, but it was fun talking to the soon-to-be dead. Like speaking to a ghost.” Hotch couldn’t even be mad as he shoved Baldwin back in the car and moved over toward the unsub’struck. He asked the first officer combing through the vehicle, “Have you seen a HAM radio set?” The woman nodded her head no and Aaron called JJ and y/n to help him search. After using a police cruiser's radio, y/n shifted through all the frequencies until she found one with no sound. She played an alarm sound and Hotch was able to find the radio in the boot of the unsub’s car under the spare tire well. Thankfully the frequency hadn’t been changed and Aaron said, “Emily, it’s Aaron, we’re right outside. Can you hear me? Emily, can you hear me?”

There was a pause that felt like an eternity before there was some coughing from the other end of the line and a small, crackly voice that was Emily’s saying, “Hotch? Is it really you?” Aaron let out the biggest sigh of relief he had in his life and he signaled to the team that he had Emily on the line. Everyone, especially y/n sprinted over. Aaron smiled and bowed his head, replying, “Yeah, it’s me. The whole team’s here. We’re gonna get you out of there.” There are excavators and bulldozers along with as many civil engineers as Gacia could find on their way. There was another very long pause before in a defeated-sounding voice, Em said, “You can’t Hotch.” Aaron looked at y/n who was clenching her fist so hard she was drawing blood. He handed the mic over to her and y/n asked, “Em, what do you mean we can’t? There’s a plan and everything. It might be close, but we think it can be done. Spencer has all the calculations and stuff now.”

There was a soft sound of defeated laughter before Emily said, “y/n, I’m so glad to hear you’re voice. I never thought I was going to get the chance again. Oh God it makes me glad that I could hear you once more.” y/n was holding back tears and she repeated Hotch’s question, “Darling, why are you talking like this, We’re getting you out of there.” Prentiss was honest this time as she said, “The unsub, he set mines, lots of them. There’re some in the concrete and some in the ground above. If you try and dig me out, if you even get an excavator on top of this place the vibrations will make the whole thing blow. Not only would I be mincemeat but anyone nearby could die or be injured too.” There was a break as the whole team absorbed the news. It was devastating. Unbelievable. As they were all trying to reckon with this knowledge, Emily continued, “y/n, I don’t want to die in a thousand pieces, and I don’t want anyone else hurt. The air is already thin in here. There isn’t going to be time for you to save me.” Spencer took the mic from y/n’s limp hands and said, “Em, it’s Spence. I’m going to lead you through some breathing techniques that will save you air. Can you just follow my breath?”

“Oh Spencer, you always were so, so, so very smart. I’m happy I got to be on the team with you. But I don’t want to do any special breathing things I want to talk to you each if I can, and then be with y/n. Please, just let me go.” Hearing this, Morgan had had enough and he moved back to Baldwin to have him tell him where all the bombs were and what kind of bombs they were. Deep down Derek knew that there wouldn’t be time to de-arm as many explosive devices as Emily implied, but he refused to admit it to himself. There had to be something he could do. But Baldwin had nothing to say. He was enjoying watching the BAU fall apart. The cherry on top of an already wonderful day for him.

Finally, the construction team, a bomb squad, the civil engineers, and anyone else Garcia could think of arrived, and as Rossi and Aaron spoke with them and described the situation y/n JJ and Spencer all heard as Emily’s breathing got more and more labored. She left some final words for the other members of the team, knowing they would fight for her till the end. After this, Em’s voice changed. It was the one she used when y/n and she was alone in bed. Not in the office of the bullpen. She asked, with difficulty, “y/n tell me what it looks like out there.” JJ and Spence exchanged glances and took a few respectful steps back. This wasn’t about them anymore.

y/n looked around and tried to see something, anything pretty around her. She stepped forward and sat on the edge of the tall grass just next to where the curing concrete was. She took a breath and said, “It’s a beautiful day. The… the sun is out and there are tiny white flowers in the tall grass. The wind…” y/n was choking up tears and sobs but managed to say, “The wind is stirring the grass and I’m right here with you, Em. Always will be.” y/n could hear crying from Emily too which only made her sobs worse. They stayed that way for a few minutes and Em said, “That’s my girl. Don’t be sorry about anything ever, y/n. I’m not. You’re the best thing to happen to me.” y/n’s body was wracked with sobs as she nodded her head into the ground and tried to vocalize, “I love you.” Her vocal cords weren’t having it and she was so overcome with grief but unable to move as she heard Emily’s breathing labor more and more until it was extinguished in a gurgling gasp and slow release of a life-ending.

The whole team looked over to y/n as she stood and left the HAM radio where it had been on the ground. They knew it was over now. They wondered what y/n would do, but seemed too afraid to move. After a second Derek thought y/n might collapse but instead she opened her mouth and screamed the loudest she’d ever screamed. y/n screamed out her head and her heart and her spirit and any other part of her that hurt so bad that she wanted to die herself. After she had screamed herself mute, y/n closed her eyes and felt light like a feather. The team watched as y/n swayed forward and backward, Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan all moved forward with Morgan grabbing her before she fell to the ground. Rossi had pulled out his phone to call 9-1-1 and Hotch took off his jacket so he could cover y/n with it and keep her warm as she seemed to go into shock. Aaron’s heart was breaking, everyone’s was, but he would keep it together, for now, he vowed to not lose another agent. Not today.

It was two days later that y/n woke. She’d gone into shock the the hospital was worried about her waking up fully distressed or panicked. Having the option of time taken away would help her not have to think about all the current events. y/n was still pretty heavily sedated as she came too in her hospital bed. Rossi and Morgan were sitting at her bedside as the doctor recommended she not be alone when she woke. y/n lulled her head to the side and asked in a tired voice, “Where am I? What day is it?” Rossi sat forward and said, “You’re in the hospital, y/n. You’ve been here for two days.” y/n squinted her eyes and asked, “Why? Did something bad happen to me?” Rossi looked over at Morgan who sat up and replied, “Yeah, something bad kind of happened to all of us, but you took it really hard. That’s why you’re in the hospital.” Even more confused, y/n asked, “What happened?” Rossi gave y/n’s arm a pat and replied, “We’ll tell you later. For now, why don’t you get some rest.” y/n weekly nodded and before her head was even back on the pillow, she was asleep again.

It took a full two weeks before y/n could be safely dismissed and the doctors and psychologists didn’t fear that y/n would do something to possibly harm herself. Early on, when she had been told the news again, and the grief was fresh and new like a new cut, y/n had asked Aaron, who was sitting at her bedside, “Have they gotten Em’s body yet?” Hotch looked up from the book he was reading and set it aside before saying, “No. We called Emily’s mother and she flew down from Istanbul where she’s currently working. I described everything that Emily said to her and she heard the whole explosive situation. Mrs. Prentiss decided that it would be most respectful to honor Emily’s last wish and let her stay where she is. The bomb squad did figure out that if only one of the bombs were to go off it would likely blow up the whole structure and everything inside.” Aaron looked at y/n carefully to see how she had taken the news.

It was clearly a blow to not be able to see the one you loved again, ever. But in some small way, he hoped there would be some comfort in knowing that Emily would stay as she was the last time they’d seen each other. The last Aaron had seen the two of them together they’d been sitting close in the hotel lobby. Legs touching they whispering and laughing between themselves. The memory hurt and made Hotch glad they had had each other. y/n didn’t end up responding much, just said, “Oh,” and closed her eyes again.

A month later there was a funeral honoring Emily’s long service to the BAU and to her country. She was put to rest and it felt like the earth had been split in two with such a great loss to all who knew her. The service was formal and as the Priest gave the eulogy, y/n almost wanted to believe in God for Emily’s sake and for her own. After the metaphorical casket was buried, there was a small remembrance gathering at Rossi’s.

y/n was standing on the far side of the room when a voice called her name. Pulling out of her daze, y/n saw Mrs. Prentiss and she stood straighter saying, “Ma’am, I’m so sorry for your loss.” Mrs. Prentiss nodded and said, “I should say that I’m sorry for your loss as well. I hear Emily was very fond of you.” Tears pricked at y/n’s eyes and she wiped them away. y/n supposed that was the closest Mrs. Prentiss would come to saying, ‘So, you were my daughter’s girlfriend.’ y/n spoke with honesty and replied, “I miss her so much that it’s hard to breathe sometimes.”

Elizabeth Prentiss nodded in understanding and said, “I was never very close with my daughter though she was brilliant, but I wish I had known her better when she was with you, I bet she just shone brighter than anything.” y/n smiled and said, “Yes, she did. Always.” Elizabeth nodded and said, “I’ve gone through all of Emily’s things and sent out the appropriate things to the right people. A box should be coming for you tomorrow. However, in the kitchen, I found this old bottle of wine. I’m not much of a drinker myself and besides, it should be enjoyed like she’d have wanted to have it, with you young folks. So I thought I’d give it to you.” y/n took the bottle and nodded. Clearly, Mrs. Prentiss was not huge on emotions, but at least there was this.

y/n found herself flying and driving to New Orleans much more often now. Any chance she could get as long as she could spend two nights there? She’d always go to Emily’s “grave and bring flowers.” The first time she saw that graffiti had been painted over the now-dried concrete she got so mad she called Derek and he let her let out every cuss word she knew until there was nothing more to complain about. y/n had washed it off an hour later. However, as the months elapsed, she started to see the chore of washing off any vandalism as a small way of keeping Emily alive. Like she was cleaning Em’s front entryway. It didn’t make any sense, but it kept y/n going. It kept her sane.

On what would have been their three-year anniversary together, y/n considered flying down and drinking the bottle of wine from Prentiss’s apartment at her grave, but Mrs. Prentiss had been right. That’s not what Emily would have wanted. Instead, she invited the team over and everyone brought something that reminded them of Em, and they shared the wine and told stories from the past and remembered. They kept her alive in their hearts. As Garcia started what appeared to be a very funny story and y/n sipped from her glass, she thought, ‘You’ll be alive with me for as long as I live Emily, I promise.’

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