She's Back

Chapter 13

Helloooooo! I was bored enough to finally start writing this fic again! Please excuse any errors I may have, grammar or content-wise. Also, please be advised that this may be a tough chapter to deal with in terms of trauma/PTSD. I am no expert on matters such as these in real life, so this is just how I imagined them happening in regards to this story. I hope you enjoy and I hope I will keep writing! Thanks for 1.1k reads- that's honestly crazy.

 "Well, that was unexpected," Rossi joked, trying to ease the tension in the air. "What just happened?" JJ wondered out loud. She had never seen Garcia act like that in the 10+ years they had been friends.

Aaron's mind was racing. It was clear that Garcia knew what happened to Emily, but something - or someone - was stopping her from telling the rest of the team. He doubted that it was just Emily who asked Penelope not to tell anyone; no, something more complicated and dangerous was at work here.

Rossi whistled, getting everyone's attention. "Guys, I know we all have questions. I do too! But I think the best thing for us to do right now would be to go make sure our friend is okay," Rossi said. Everyone nodded in agreement. They picked up their stuff and started to make their way down to Room 123, where Emily was. Hotch was at the back of the group, feelings of anxiety and dread and guilt suddenly assaulting him.

Spencer appeared by his side. "It's not your fault, you know," he said quietly. Hotch looked at him. "What did you say?"

"It's pretty obvious that you're blaming yourself for what happened tonight. I just wanted to let you know that tonight's not your fault, and neither are Emily's injuries," Spencer repeated. Hotch looked at him and smiled softly; he was so proud of the person Spencer was becoming. "Thanks, Reid," he replied.

Just at that moment, a very loud noise came from the vicinity of Emily's room. The 5 agents whipped out their guns almost instantly, their years of training and field experience causing them to always be ready for anything. Since it was so late at night, no one else was in the hospital corridors. They had just turned down the hallway to Emily's hospital room; the lights in all of the rooms were off except for the furthest one at the end of the corridor - Room 123.

What they weren't expecting to hear so late at night were the panicked, strangled screams coming from her room.

Derek and JJ, who were at the front of the group, broke out into a full sprint. Emily's room seemed like it was a million miles away as Hotch ditched Reid and Rossi to catch up to the 2 younger agents. All he could think about during those 10 excruciatingly long seconds was that those screams sounded too similar to the voice of the agent he had been in love with since the moment she walked into his office all those years ago.

Hotch quickly skidded to a halt outside of Emily's room, bumping into Derek and JJ as he did so. They barely noticed Hotch; they were too focused on what was happening inside the room. JJ's mouth was partially open in shock, her eyes wide and beginning to tear up. Morgan had his fists balled at his side and his mouth was set in a firm line, his eyes the only showing the only sign of pain for what he saw inside Room 123. Hotch only stared at the two of them, afraid to see his fear become true.

Aaron slowly, finally turned to look inside Emily's room as Reid and Rossi arrived, slightly out of breath.

Aaron was right that it was indeed Emily screaming, but he never could have imagined the scenario that was in front of him. Not even in his worst nightmares.

Emily was sitting with her back up against the wall on her hospital bed, knees drawn tight against her chest. She was clad in the standard hospital gown and had an IV attached to her arm, but those were the last things to be considered normal that were happening inside the room.

In her right hand she clutched a rather large pair of silver scissors and a scalpel in her left hand that a nurse or doctor must have forgotten to take away. She was holding them threateningly towards a man whom Aaron presumed to be another hospital doctor on the opposite side of the room. Penelope was standing in between the two of them, gesticulating in a non-threatening manner towards Emily, trying to convince her that this man would not hurt her.

It didn't seem like Penelope's efforts were having much of an effect on Emily, though. Despite her wielding the hospital tools like they were guns, her eyes were wide and panicked, not really seeing what exactly was happening. Hotch could tell she was hyperventilating as he - and the rest of the BAU team - stood outside Emily's room, confused by what was going on inside it.

The door to the room was slightly ajar, allowing the team to hear the conversation inside it.

"Emily, Emily, please. This man here, he's a doctor. I promise you, he is not going to hurt you. He just wants to make sure that you are healing okay from the surgery. He is not going to hurt you, Emily. Emily, please believe me. I promise you. Just please put down the scalpel and scissors, okay?" Penelope pleaded. The doctor nodded at what Penelope said, shaking slightly in fear as he pressed himself up against the wall. "I swear, I just want to make sure your vitals are okay! Then I will go!"

Their words barely seemed to register with Emily. Her grip on the hospital tools barely loosened as she said in a strangled and fearful voice, "I don't believe you! Just leave me ALONE. I promise I won't tell anyone where we are! Just please please please, don't hurt me anymore." It finally clicked into the place for Hotch as Emily spoke. It was clear that her being in this hospital room triggered some sort of trauma - he didn't want to think about what exactly it is - for Emily that was causing her to act this way. He had to go in there and get Emily to calm down - or at least give the doctor enough time to give her more drugs to go back to sleep.

Hotch pushed past the rest of his team, who were all still slightly shocked and horrified, and opened the door further into Emily's room.

Emily's head immediately whipped toward the door at the sound of its opening. Penelope released a small sigh of relief as she saw her boss enter the room while the hospital doctor continued to cower in the corner.

Hotch looked directly into Emily's eyes and saw nothing but terror and pain in them. His heart cracked a little further as he gently but firmly said to her, "Emily, please calm down. You are safe. You are in the hospital. You were shot, but you saved someone's life and stopped the unsub. You are okay. You are safe." Hotch refused to break eye contact with her as he slowly made his way toward her bed.

"It's me, Emily. It's Aar- Hotch. It's me, you are okay," he repeated, stopping just a couple feet from her bed. At the sound of his name, Emily seemed to become more aware of her surroundings. Her grip on the hospital tools lessened slightly, and she stopped breathing so heavily.

"Aaron?" Emily asked in a small voice. "You're, you're really here? This isn't some sick, cruel ploy to get me to confess?" Aaron's heart cracked a little further at the raw emotion in her voice as he moved closer to her bed.

"It's really me, Emily. I promise this is all real, and you're okay. Will you just please give me the scissors and scalpel so no one gets hurt?" Aaron bargained in a soothing voice. He took a few more steps and then was suddenly right at Emily's side, still looking only into her eyes. He couldn't let himself think about why Emily was acting like this and whether or not it had anything to do with all those scars and tissue damage the surgeon had mentioned earlier. No, all he could do was focus on the task at hand - getting those hospital tools from Emily and making her calm down enough to realize she was safe and surrounded by her closest friends.

Emily broke eye contact with Aaron and loosened her grip on the hospital tools, which dropped onto the ground with a loud clang! When Emily dragged her gaze back up to Aaron's, the fear and pain that had occupied her eyes earlier were gone; he could only see relief and recognition in them now.

Everything and everyone was completely silent for a moment. The world's most prolific team of behavioral analysts had no idea what to do or say, possibly for the first time in their careers. They were all shell-shocked and heartbroken, Aaron most of all.