Don't let go - Emily Prentiss & y/n

Self-inflicted

TW: mentions suicide, self-harm and alludes to symptoms of an eating disorder. There's also a more in-depth description of a made up case. Please don't read if you think any of this is going to trigger you, and please reach out to someone if you're struggling.

Enjoy x

You woke to the feeling of Emily moving your arm delicately. She carefully placed your arm down behind her, before getting up slowly and looking back at you.

'Sorry sweetie, did I wake you?' She asked, concerned.

'It's okay.' You said groggily, leaning backwards from your position to rub your tired eyes. 'Are you feeling okay?' You asked, yawning afterwards.

'Yeah.' Emily stood at the side of the bed. She paused and looked down, before looking back up at you. 'I'm sorry for questioning you like that. You were right, I do keep searching for signs that you're not okay. I didn't think about how that might be making you feel.' She admitted. You propped yourself up on your elbows.

'It's okay, Emily. I just want you to feel like you can relax without having to worry about me constantly.' You said softly. Emily paused for a moment, before a small smile appeared on her face and she bent down to give you a quick kiss. When she leant back up she headed towards her bathroom, before she stopped at the doorway as you both heard your phones chime. You flopped onto your back, the thought of rushing to get up filling you with dread.

'Ugh.' You heard Emily say, 'I'm too hungover for this.' She said, before continuing into the bathroom. Emily persuaded you to leave her bed by offering you to shower with her to save time, although you spent more time kissing her than you did washing yourself.

You'd started keeping a small pile of clothes at each others' houses after Morgan recognised you wearing Emily's shirt a few cases ago. Once you were both ready, or as ready as you could be, you drove in separately again. This time you walked into the building together, aware you'd both be late otherwise.

'What have we got?' You asked, walking into the briefing. Garcia was already tearing up, so you made sure to run your hand up and down her arm to comfort her as you passed. She smiled sadly at you as you caught eyes with her.

'3 bodies, found exactly 10 miles apart from each other.' Hotch replied as you sat down and opened your file.

'Do we think it's ritualistic?' Morgan asked in Hotch's direction. '3 bodies, same distances apart?'

'It appears more coincidental. There's nothing to suggest the Unsub's methods of torture were ritualistic.' Hotch replied.

'Oh, god.' JJ remarked, causing you all to look in her direction. She looked up, seemingly surprised at herself for saying it out loud. 'Sorry. It's just... the arms.' You all looked down at the photos to see large horizontal cuts down the arms. You examined them for a moment, before sneaking a glance at Emily to check she was okay.

She couldn't seem to move her eyes from the photos as the rest of the room seemed fall away. You tried to bring her out of her trance by placing your hand over the photos in front of her. She looked up at you, before registering that you'd noticed her attention slip. You dropped your head as if to ask her if she was okay. She nodded and smiled politely, trying to reassure you she was okay.

You looked up to join the room again and noticed Hotch looking subtly at you both. The rest of the team seemed fixated on their files, and Garcia on maintaining her strong composure. To distract Hotch, you jumped to find something to say.

'It says here they were self-inflicted, and supposedly the cause of death?' You questioned, confused as to why this was a murder investigation.

'Yes, but alongside the other torture wounds, they're currently being considered coercive suicides.' Hotch informed you. You looked back down at your file, finding the photos of the other torture wounds.