You're Not Alone
Unknown Subject
They were off on a case the next day in Houston, Texas. A serial rapist, the Piano Man, had come back to torture his victims. This time round he was abducting his victims and killing them. They eventually found him in the house of one of his previous victims at gunpoint.
To take him into custody Emily talked her into believing he was the wrong guy only for her guy to arrest him shortly after. The woman felt betrayed as Emily took her in for her statement.
"Do you know what it's like for the man haunting your dreams to come back for you?" she asked. Emily inwardly shivered thinking about Doyle. She knew exactly what it was like. "Oh my god, something did happen to you, didn't it?" Emily wouldn't answer as she really didn't want to talk about Doyle. She was happy now with her boyfriend and didn't want to remember her past. "Tell me did you arrest him or..."
"I didn't shoot the bullet," she answered.
"But he's still dead."
She tried to carry on her job but she was still on edge. Though she had adopted his son she really wanted to forget Ian Doyle had ever existed. The only good thing that had come from him was Declan.
She went to her boyfriend's hotel room that night and when he saw her face he let her in immediately closing the door and hugging her close to him. She clung onto him and he kissed her hair.
"What is it, Em?" he asked.
"I'm having a bad day," she answered.
He led her to his bed and sat back down while she climbed into his lap resting her head on his shoulder. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.
"It was while I was taking Regina Lampert's statement. She asked me if I knew what it was like for the man haunting my dreams t come back for me," she answered vulnerably.
"Oh Em," he answered pulling her closer knowing she was thinking about Doyle. "He's gone. Doyle's never going to come back. You're safe now, honey. I'm not going to let anything happen to you again."
"I know, darling. I feel safest in your arms."
"I love you, Emily."
"I love you too, Aaron."
She never made it back to her hotel room that night. They only kept separate rooms while on a case to keep professional. She was already questioning whether she'd made the right choice returning to the BAU. She loved her job but the job had already taken her from her family once before. She didn't want it to take her from them again.
When they got home she started having nightmares of the only other monster that could come after them. A man she hadn't even thought about since Andrew Prentiss had entered her life. She shivered in his arms remembering her early years and all the scars her father had left on her.
One night she was in bed thrashing about when she screamed, "No, daddy, please. Please. I'll be a good girl. Please daddy love me." He turned to her worried as what had his Emily been through. She'd only ever told him that she could hardly remember her real father. Obviously repressed memories were coming to the front.
She was trying to run from the whip when her father let the dogs on her. They finally caught up with her and latched on her little legs terrifying the life out of her when her father pulled them off. She was thankful for her dad saving her when he started hitting her again though this time with a baseball bat instead of the whip and she started crying for her mother. Suddenly everything went black and she woke up with a start.
She looked around her and when she saw Aaron she curled into his arms trying to calm her breathing. He was scared about what could affect her so much.
"Emily, what is it?" he asked stroking her hair.
"Daddy," she wept.
"Em, talk to me...Tell me about him so I can know what's going on in your dreams and help you."
"Aaron, it's too painful to remember."
"Please tell me so I can help you." The last time she'd had dreams this bad she was being persecuted by Doyle.
"Aaron, my biological father tortured me for years whenever my mother was out physically..." he looked at her concerned. What had this bastard done to his beautiful daughter? "Never sexually but I wasn't a stranger to his fists, whips and blunt weapons. The last time I ever saw him I tried to run away from his whip when he let the dogs on me. He pulled them off when they got to me only to beat me with a baseball bat. That day he very nearly killed me and it changed my relationship with my mother forever," she wept shivering in his arms.
Aaron wanted to beat the living daylights out of this scumbag who never deserved to have the title of father. What father could do that to his child? And it wasn't just any father it was his Emily's. This man had tortured his soul mate for the first ten years of her life. He held her close to him trying to remind her he was never going to let anything happen to her again. He'd protect her till the day he died. There was no way he'd let this psychopath hurt her ever again.
"What happened to him, Emily?" he asked.
"He served time for thirty years and currently has an indefinite restraining order on him that my mother slapped on him at the same time so he could never get his hands on me again," she answered.
"I'll make my damn well hardest that he won't."
"I know," she answered wiping her tears away. "I'm so glad you're the father of my children. While I was growing up I was scared I'd end up with someone like him when I really wanted someone like dad. I'm glad I got what I wanted."
"Emily, you are Andrew Prentiss' daughter. Your birth father never deserved someone as good as you or even to have ever held the title of father."
She smiled up at him. "For so many years I thought I deserved that treatment. I believed I'd been born bad."
"You're the best woman I've ever met. You're so compassionate, caring, kind and all you want is to make the world a better place. I love you, Emily Prentiss."
"I love you too, Aaron Hotchner, and you're the best man I've ever known. You're compassionate, kind, caring, a great father and lover. You rid the world of psychopaths and sociopaths one by one."
He kissed her hair and she smiled up at him.
The nightmare kept coming and she wanted answers. She wanted to know what his stressor had been and why he had done that to her, his only daughter. She knew the only one who could possibly help her resolve her issues was her mother. She wanted to be able to put all this past her. She now had a loving boyfriend and four fantastic kids but all she could think about was Jonathan Jackson-Waters, the man who had donated his sperm so she could exist.
She headed over to her mum and Kirk's one day with her family wanting a private conversation with her mother. She really needed some help. She was even considering going through psychiatric help again but first she wanted answers to help her understand. She'd become clingy to Aaron when she'd once been independent. She had to be able to do her job without the constant fear her father would find her.
Aaron spent time with Kirk and the children while her mother pulled her into the study. Since she came back her mother and her had been building a better relationship.
"Emily, what is it? You look like something's bothering you though it seems you and Aaron are doing just fine," she said.
"Mum, since the last case I've been getting nightmares about my birth father. It's so bad I can't even sleep without Aaron. I've become completely dependent on him," Emily answered bowing her head. She hated the fact she wasn't herself anymore.
"Oh Emily dear," her mother replied taking her hand.
"Mum, I want answers. Why did he do that to me? What did I ever do to deserve that?"
"Emily, you never did anything to deserve your father's torture and I am so sorry I never took you away sooner and that it only ever took the first day I nearly lost you to do so. If I'd seen that in him sooner I'd never have been with him. The only thing I don't regret about being with him is you...and your sister."
"Oh mum..." Wait! What? Her sister? From what she knew she was their only child. "My sister?"
"Emily, you had a twin sister, Emma. She died when you were only babies."
"Is that when he started to hurt me?"
"Nothing excuses his behaviour but yes. You reminded us so much of her. I loved that you did but he couldn't stand it."
She nodded beginning to understand a little but as her mother and lover had said she'd never deserved that treatment. She wanted to see her sister's grave. She believed her mum but wanted to resolve this issue by seeing her grave.
"I want to see Emma's grave."
She nodded and took the family to it. On the way Emily explained to Aaron what she'd found out. He had a right to know the answers too after she'd told him about her birth father. She'd never consider that psycho her father. That title belonged to Andrew Prentiss.
When they got there she went over to it and knelt down by her sister's grave running a hand over the stone plaque that bore her name. Emma Catherine Jackson-Waters.
"Hi Emma, I'm your sister, Emily. Sorry I haven't visited you before but I only just found out about you. I am so sorry you didn't survive to grow up with me. I always wanted a sister. We'd have had so much fun," she said on the verge of tears whilst Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder.
A few days later she got told she could start the process to officially adopt Declan so she did and made them aware that Aaron had every intention of joining her him adopting their teenage son too. The social services acknowledged it and put their names down on the paperwork. Soon enough Declan would officially be their son. Emily had started seeing a psychiatrist like she had made Declan see one after his dad had been killed in front of him.
They were off on a case the next day in Houston, Texas. A serial rapist, the Piano Man, had come back to torture his victims. This time round he was abducting his victims and killing them. They eventually found him in the house of one of his previous victims at gunpoint.
To take him into custody Emily talked her into believing he was the wrong guy only for her guy to arrest him shortly after. The woman felt betrayed as Emily took her in for her statement.
"Do you know what it's like for the man haunting your dreams to come back for you?" she asked. Emily inwardly shivered thinking about Doyle. She knew exactly what it was like. "Oh my god, something did happen to you, didn't it?" Emily wouldn't answer as she really didn't want to talk about Doyle. She was happy now with her boyfriend and didn't want to remember her past. "Tell me did you arrest him or..."
"I didn't shoot the bullet," she answered.
"But he's still dead."
She tried to carry on her job but she was still on edge. Though she had adopted his son she really wanted to forget Ian Doyle had ever existed. The only good thing that had come from him was Declan.
She went to her boyfriend's hotel room that night and when he saw her face he let her in immediately closing the door and hugging her close to him. She clung onto him and he kissed her hair.
"What is it, Em?" he asked.
"I'm having a bad day," she answered.
He led her to his bed and sat back down while she climbed into his lap resting her head on his shoulder. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.
"It was while I was taking Regina Lampert's statement. She asked me if I knew what it was like for the man haunting my dreams t come back for me," she answered vulnerably.
"Oh Em," he answered pulling her closer knowing she was thinking about Doyle. "He's gone. Doyle's never going to come back. You're safe now, honey. I'm not going to let anything happen to you again."
"I know, darling. I feel safest in your arms."
"I love you, Emily."
"I love you too, Aaron."
She never made it back to her hotel room that night. They only kept separate rooms while on a case to keep professional. She was already questioning whether she'd made the right choice returning to the BAU. She loved her job but the job had already taken her from her family once before. She didn't want it to take her from them again.
When they got home she started having nightmares of the only other monster that could come after them. A man she hadn't even thought about since Andrew Prentiss had entered her life. She shivered in his arms remembering her early years and all the scars her father had left on her.
One night she was in bed thrashing about when she screamed, "No, daddy, please. Please. I'll be a good girl. Please daddy love me." He turned to her worried as what had his Emily been through. She'd only ever told him that she could hardly remember her real father. Obviously repressed memories were coming to the front.
She was trying to run from the whip when her father let the dogs on her. They finally caught up with her and latched on her little legs terrifying the life out of her when her father pulled them off. She was thankful for her dad saving her when he started hitting her again though this time with a baseball bat instead of the whip and she started crying for her mother. Suddenly everything went black and she woke up with a start.
She looked around her and when she saw Aaron she curled into his arms trying to calm her breathing. He was scared about what could affect her so much.
"Emily, what is it?" he asked stroking her hair.
"Daddy," she wept.
"Em, talk to me...Tell me about him so I can know what's going on in your dreams and help you."
"Aaron, it's too painful to remember."
"Please tell me so I can help you." The last time she'd had dreams this bad she was being persecuted by Doyle.
"Aaron, my biological father tortured me for years whenever my mother was out physically..." he looked at her concerned. What had this bastard done to his beautiful daughter? "Never sexually but I wasn't a stranger to his fists, whips and blunt weapons. The last time I ever saw him I tried to run away from his whip when he let the dogs on me. He pulled them off when they got to me only to beat me with a baseball bat. That day he very nearly killed me and it changed my relationship with my mother forever," she wept shivering in his arms.
Aaron wanted to beat the living daylights out of this scumbag who never deserved to have the title of father. What father could do that to his child? And it wasn't just any father it was his Emily's. This man had tortured his soul mate for the first ten years of her life. He held her close to him trying to remind her he was never going to let anything happen to her again. He'd protect her till the day he died. There was no way he'd let this psychopath hurt her ever again.
"What happened to him, Emily?" he asked.
"He served time for thirty years and currently has an indefinite restraining order on him that my mother slapped on him at the same time so he could never get his hands on me again," she answered.
"I'll make my damn well hardest that he won't."
"I know," she answered wiping her tears away. "I'm so glad you're the father of my children. While I was growing up I was scared I'd end up with someone like him when I really wanted someone like dad. I'm glad I got what I wanted."
"Emily, you are Andrew Prentiss' daughter. Your birth father never deserved someone as good as you or even to have ever held the title of father."
She smiled up at him. "For so many years I thought I deserved that treatment. I believed I'd been born bad."
"You're the best woman I've ever met. You're so compassionate, caring, kind and all you want is to make the world a better place. I love you, Emily Prentiss."
"I love you too, Aaron Hotchner, and you're the best man I've ever known. You're compassionate, kind, caring, a great father and lover. You rid the world of psychopaths and sociopaths one by one."
He kissed her hair and she smiled up at him.
The nightmare kept coming and she wanted answers. She wanted to know what his stressor had been and why he had done that to her, his only daughter. She knew the only one who could possibly help her resolve her issues was her mother. She wanted to be able to put all this past her. She now had a loving boyfriend and four fantastic kids but all she could think about was Jonathan Jackson-Waters, the man who had donated his sperm so she could exist.
She headed over to her mum and Kirk's one day with her family wanting a private conversation with her mother. She really needed some help. She was even considering going through psychiatric help again but first she wanted answers to help her understand. She'd become clingy to Aaron when she'd once been independent. She had to be able to do her job without the constant fear her father would find her.
Aaron spent time with Kirk and the children while her mother pulled her into the study. Since she came back her mother and her had been building a better relationship.
"Emily, what is it? You look like something's bothering you though it seems you and Aaron are doing just fine," she said.
"Mum, since the last case I've been getting nightmares about my birth father. It's so bad I can't even sleep without Aaron. I've become completely dependent on him," Emily answered bowing her head. She hated the fact she wasn't herself anymore.
"Oh Emily dear," her mother replied taking her hand.
"Mum, I want answers. Why did he do that to me? What did I ever do to deserve that?"
"Emily, you never did anything to deserve your father's torture and I am so sorry I never took you away sooner and that it only ever took the first day I nearly lost you to do so. If I'd seen that in him sooner I'd never have been with him. The only thing I don't regret about being with him is you...and your sister."
"Oh mum..." Wait! What? Her sister? From what she knew she was their only child. "My sister?"
"Emily, you had a twin sister, Emma. She died when you were only babies."
"Is that when he started to hurt me?"
"Nothing excuses his behaviour but yes. You reminded us so much of her. I loved that you did but he couldn't stand it."
She nodded beginning to understand a little but as her mother and lover had said she'd never deserved that treatment. She wanted to see her sister's grave. She believed her mum but wanted to resolve this issue by seeing her grave.
"I want to see Emma's grave."
She nodded and took the family to it. On the way Emily explained to Aaron what she'd found out. He had a right to know the answers too after she'd told him about her birth father. She'd never consider that psycho her father. That title belonged to Andrew Prentiss.
When they got there she went over to it and knelt down by her sister's grave running a hand over the stone plaque that bore her name. Emma Catherine Jackson-Waters.
"Hi Emma, I'm your sister, Emily. Sorry I haven't visited you before but I only just found out about you. I am so sorry you didn't survive to grow up with me. I always wanted a sister. We'd have had so much fun," she said on the verge of tears whilst Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder.
A few days later she got told she could start the process to officially adopt Declan so she did and made them aware that Aaron had every intention of joining her him adopting their teenage son too. The social services acknowledged it and put their names down on the paperwork. Soon enough Declan would officially be their son. Emily had started seeing a psychiatrist like she had made Declan see one after his dad had been killed in front of him.