BREAKING THE TEMPEST | cm

Chapter One

   Chapter One: The Cut That Always Bleeds

   Emily Prentiss and Spencer Reid were not replaceable nor expendable. Both agents were extremely skilled in what they do and they're viable assets to the team. They're intelligent and useful. Most importantly to the task at hand, they're high-risk targets because of their skills. That's what Aaron Hotchner thought to himself three months ago as he stared at the brutal crime scene photos.

Three months ago, Emily told him she was considering leaving. Still, they proceeded to make it a good time, despite the ache in Aaron's heart - he didn't want to lose her again, but he understood. He knew Morgan and Reid would take it the hardest, and so did Emily.

That's why the day after JJ's wedding, despite her nasty hangover, she offered to hang out with Spencer. They got dinner, watched a movie in its original form just the way Reid liked it- and that's where their tracks stopped. Their team, local PD, and detectives were left with a bloody crime scene and that was it. No suspects, no cameras, no DNA. Just a pool of blood and a red handprint on the sidewalk which they could confirm was Reid's.

Three months ago the BAU gradually fell apart. A month after their abduction, their case went cold. They couldn't argue against it, for they still had nothing but a crime scene. They were presumed dead, even held a memorial for them, and nailed their photos to the wall. The team knew they were still alive. They couldn't prove it, but it was their mutual gut feeling. The team was forced to move past it quickly, though, for the sake of saving other victims' lives. Emily and Spencer would want that.

Hotch walked out of the elevator and into the office. It was quiet, besides the tapping from computers in the bullpen. A paperwork day was always quite relaxing for him. Even if a case were to come in, he cherished the time he got where there was no chaos, no life-threatening situations, or talking an unsub out of killing somebody. He found that after Reid and Prentiss went missing, he liked paperwork days a lot more. He could think about them more instead of clearing them from his mind to focus on a case.

He met Morgan in the breakroom, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Morgan had taken the abduction just as hard as they expected. Emily and Spencer have both been kidnapped before - by Hankle and Doyle, but his anger then was only a fraction of how he felt now. It was as if each passing day he got angrier and angrier. He wanted nothing more than to ring whoever took his best friends' neck.

"Morning." Derek greeted quietly.

"Did you sleep?" Hotch asked as Morgan handed him the coffee pot.

"Yeah," Hotch could tell he was lying, but he brushed it aside for the time being, "Did you?"

However, he didn't sleep either, "I did."

That was how conversations went now. Lies about how they were doing and nothing but small talk. Even Penelope couldn't spark an entertaining conversation. She had changed a lot. She maintained her style but her personality was a lot duller than it was. She would trade anything to get Emily and Spencer back alive. Her heart constantly ached.

Once Morgan exited the break room, JJ entered. The blonde sent a quick smile towards him before filling a coffee cup with water. She placed it in the microwave with a teabag. 

"No coffee?" Hotch asked.

"I'm making tea for Garcia. She's having a rough morning." She sighed, leaning against the counter.

There were a lot of rough mornings. Penelope expressed her rough mornings a lot more than the others did, though. Despite her own pain, JJ made sure to comfort her every chance she had. Morgan seemingly no longer checked on her every morning. He had isolated himself. Still, Morgan and Garcia talked to each other on the phone and loved each other more than anything. They just needed some time.