Not Everyone || Emily Prentiss

Prologue

«I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.»

"Don't be ridiculous, April. Everyone at some point of our career is forced to do things we will never be able to forgive ourselves for. You're brilliant, you will live with it exactly as I lived with many things. We are much alike." - Emily's words were tormenting April's mind

BAU unit chief, Interpol ex agent, faked her own death, stubborn, brilliant, arrogant, demanding. April repeated those words in her head as she exited the elevator and walked swiftly down the hall of their hotel in Atalanta, digging around in her purse for her room key.

She could still smell the heady mix of blood and the leather of the SUV upholstery. They were smells that, no matter which city she was in, had become synonymous with her entrapment.

Stepping out of that crime scene and going away had felt an awful lot like freedom. Everyone had been right about that job all along: it was soul consuming. Never had she needed to do something as cruel as killing a child. The look on that little armed boy's face would stay with her for years after that.

An unwanted little voice reminded her that she needed to do that even as she pushed it to the back of her mind and swiped to get into her room. It looked like a hurricane had swept through that morning, but she had little time to waste unless she wanted to come face to face with Emily as she fled the scene of the crime.

She moved quickly, efficiently splitting the clothes and the FBI equipment. She grabbed one outfit for the road and tossed it onto the bed before swooping into the bathroom and throwing her products carelessly into her toiletry bag, pausing only long enough to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She looked borderline insane. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide. She had just committed career suicide, but she had to admit she felt more alive than she had in months. Alive, and terrified. The fear snapped her back into action; things were a little easier since she had only a single task to complete: get out of Atlanta and away from the fucking FBI.

She grabbed her carry-on and threw the toiletry bag inside, along with the second outfit, and her underwear. She took a quick glance down at what she was wearing and pondered whether or not Emily would have her arrested. She had sold her soul to the Devil, and she hated to think that perhaps her parents had been right all along: she should have gone for medicine university.

Well, what was done was done.

She dropped her carry-on on the bed before moving to the desk. She flipped open her FBI MacBook and cleared out her personal files before hedging a glance at her watch. She didn't have long before Emily was due back from the police station and she would rather swallow a handful of razor blades than run into her in the lobby.

April pulled open the drawer of the desk and pulled out a piece of hotel stationery. She scribbled a quick note to explain the contents of the luggage and added a request that her gun and vest be passed on to JJ. She couldn't give her best friend a proper goodbye, but it was at least a start. She folded the note and scribbled JJ's name on the front before grabbing another piece of paper intended solely for Emily.

Her thoughts drifted to the woman in question, and decided that something short and blunt would suffice:

Emily,
Not everyone.

She wrote quickly, ignoring the tremble in her hand before dropping the pen and leaving the note where it lay.

She surveyed the room quickly, satisfied she'd done what she could before moving towards the door, subconsciously straightening the edge of the bed as she picked up her bag.