Lead the Way - Chapter 017 - Bigger Issues
Alirght Ladies, Monday is here! I know that ever since Prentiss' hands shook with anger outside of Cooper's barn you have been wondering why Emily was slightly ooc when I had little to no trouble with JJ. This explanation was on my mind all along and I hope you'll be happy with it.
Lead the Way - 017 - Bigger Issues
“Ahhh Agent Prentissss! I have been waiting for you.” Cooper smiled broadly at her.
“Sit down you Son of a Bitch!”
His smile froze and he leaned back, ready for her attack. Her fists on the table she leaned in closer.
“We found her, you bastard! We found her, plastic bag still over her face.”
Cooper started laughing again in his eerie high pitched way.
“Stop laughing!” Emily yelled at him, getting angrier by the second. “We found Rascal too. Did he die while you were in custody for your second rape charge?”
Suddenly Cooper had stopped laughing. His face red with anger he looked grimly at his opponent.
She straightened her back and looked down on him. Much calmer she continued: “That’s it, isn’t it? She was supposed to take care of him, but he died.”
The profiler could see the veins on his throat popping out, the clenched fists in his lap. Feeling she had hit a nerve, Emily decided to turn the knife around in the wound.
“I bet you cried when you came home and found him dead. Must have been horrible. Was that the reason you kept wetting your bed, when you hadn’t in prison?”
“I swear to God, shut your fucking mouth or I’ll make you eat every word you stupid cunt.”
Emily ignored him. She let out all the anger every single Unsub had caused her over the last two and a half years. Deep down she knew what she did was unprofessional but she finally found a weakness. Finally one of them could be hurt the same way he had hurt his victims, and she wasn’t about to let him off the hook.
She breathed in and said calmly: “Or maybe she killed him. Did it ever occur to you that she might have enjoyed torturing your little buddy like you tortured all these innocent people?” Cooper bit down on his lip so hard it started to bleed.
“Killing her had felt good, but not as good as you thought it would. You realized you were doing something wrong when killing Karen didn’t even come close to giving you that same release. She was good for something though, she helped you realize what your mistake was.”
He was now positively spitting with rage, but Emily wasn’t done just yet.
“Dear, sweet Rose brought down to your level. Begging, crying and bowing down to your will. That’s all you ever wanted. Suffocating Rose with that plastic bag, you didn’t even hear her scream and beg for her life, did you? Forgetting to enjoy it, got to you. So after Karen, your parents had to go, because they would get in the way of your new found purpose in life.”
“SHUT UP!” He burst out.
“But you narcissist couldn’t even admit to yourself that you had made a mistake so you convinced yourself that Rose was still alive. Every brunette born in 1969 could be Rose. That’s why you spent months stalking them. It made the fantasy more real, when you knew everything about their families. Pretending to be a part of their life made turning them into Rose easier.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID WHORE!” Unimpressed Emily went on, her voice condescending and full of spite:
“You thought if you could hear these women beg you, you might find what you had lost that day. And when they were done begging you, you let them walk so they would share your pain of losing someone and having been too weak to stop it from happening.”
“You’ll regret this!” he panted out.
Emily turned around and walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before going into the police department Emily took a few minutes in the black SUV to get her pulse down. For the first time in her career as an FBI agent she had let her emotions get the better of her.
In the moment, it had felt great to get all that rage out and watch Cooper suffer from each blow. She had enjoyed watching him squirm under her questions. She hadn’t been afraid of him, she hadn’t felt pity. It had been contempt. Now, Emily wondered if there was an Unsub in everyone.
Agent Prentiss shook her head vigorously. She didn’t commit a crime, she had just lost control. And that thought was even scarier. Losing control was her worst fear. This week had been one of the hardest since she joined the BAU.
Her first custodial interview had led to the halting of an execution, a lot of red tape and she had enraged a convicted serial killer. She was fully aware of the bull’s-eye on her back. Deep down, Emily knew why she had messed up.
Usually, when she was out in the field, at some point she was alone in her hotel room. She would shut the door to all the harsh truths out there - Victims, crimes, killers, straight JJ, the impossibility of a happy relationship and so many other things that haunted her during the day - and go to her happy place.
In her happy place everything was possible. JJ was gay and madly in love with her. There were no psychopaths that needed to be caught and no discrimination against anyone. Emily would turn on the shower and rest on her bed. She’d pretend that JJ was just in the bathroom and in a couple of minutes she would come out, smell heavenly, kiss her and hold her. For a few minutes a day Emily managed to believe the lie herself and she was at peace with the world.
Then she had to get up, get in the shower herself and pretend that the tears streaming down her face were actually just water. She needed those minutes to be her collected self during the day. Sharing a room with JJ had been a death sentence for her defenses.
She couldn’t hide out any longer. Emily got out of the car and made her way into the TPD. After all, no one ever had to find out about her little showdown with Cooper. He would be executed after the trial for Rose’s murder and she would be miles and miles away.
At the police department, Sheriff J.B. Smith was giving a press conference announcing that Cooper’s execution had been stayed pending his new trial for the murder of Rose Cooper.
Emily ducked to the side and met Reid in the interrogation room. Why the Sheriff had chosen to invite the entire population of journalists into the small department she didn’t know. Apparently the interrogation room was the only quiet one.
“Where have you been?” Reid asked.
“I wanted to tell Cooper in person that we unearthed his treasured memory.”
“He wasn’t pleased, I take it?” Even Reid sounded a little more confident.
“Not exactly. Where’s JJ?”
“Out there with the wolves.”
“Is she angry?”
“A little.”
Emily nodded.
Later JJ came in to tell them that it was over and they could now head back to the hotel. Emily apologized for running out on them and much to her surprise JJ was eager to forgive her. Little did she know, JJ had far more pressing issues on her mind.
JJ had no intention of sulking around; they were going on their first date ever, even if Emily had no idea. She wasn’t going to let that get ruined by staying angry over an abrupt exit.
AN: I believe in giving credit where credit is due and this chapter certainly wouldn't exist in the form it does today had it not been for my trusted beta and inspiring friend syccas . A while ago she accepted a challenge of writing a short piece on "Personal Hygiene". In her story Emily was taking a shower and someone was knocking on the door. Now to everyone else it was just a story about two women, but we knew better. In fact, she wrote that story for me. I was so touched and the story was so beautiful it inspired me to give you this explanation for Emily's behavior. I would like to thank syccas again for allowing me to draw from her story. I feel it makes for a splendid insight into Emily and her take on things.
Lead the Way - 017 - Bigger Issues
“Ahhh Agent Prentissss! I have been waiting for you.” Cooper smiled broadly at her.
“Sit down you Son of a Bitch!”
His smile froze and he leaned back, ready for her attack. Her fists on the table she leaned in closer.
“We found her, you bastard! We found her, plastic bag still over her face.”
Cooper started laughing again in his eerie high pitched way.
“Stop laughing!” Emily yelled at him, getting angrier by the second. “We found Rascal too. Did he die while you were in custody for your second rape charge?”
Suddenly Cooper had stopped laughing. His face red with anger he looked grimly at his opponent.
She straightened her back and looked down on him. Much calmer she continued: “That’s it, isn’t it? She was supposed to take care of him, but he died.”
The profiler could see the veins on his throat popping out, the clenched fists in his lap. Feeling she had hit a nerve, Emily decided to turn the knife around in the wound.
“I bet you cried when you came home and found him dead. Must have been horrible. Was that the reason you kept wetting your bed, when you hadn’t in prison?”
“I swear to God, shut your fucking mouth or I’ll make you eat every word you stupid cunt.”
Emily ignored him. She let out all the anger every single Unsub had caused her over the last two and a half years. Deep down she knew what she did was unprofessional but she finally found a weakness. Finally one of them could be hurt the same way he had hurt his victims, and she wasn’t about to let him off the hook.
She breathed in and said calmly: “Or maybe she killed him. Did it ever occur to you that she might have enjoyed torturing your little buddy like you tortured all these innocent people?” Cooper bit down on his lip so hard it started to bleed.
“Killing her had felt good, but not as good as you thought it would. You realized you were doing something wrong when killing Karen didn’t even come close to giving you that same release. She was good for something though, she helped you realize what your mistake was.”
He was now positively spitting with rage, but Emily wasn’t done just yet.
“Dear, sweet Rose brought down to your level. Begging, crying and bowing down to your will. That’s all you ever wanted. Suffocating Rose with that plastic bag, you didn’t even hear her scream and beg for her life, did you? Forgetting to enjoy it, got to you. So after Karen, your parents had to go, because they would get in the way of your new found purpose in life.”
“SHUT UP!” He burst out.
“But you narcissist couldn’t even admit to yourself that you had made a mistake so you convinced yourself that Rose was still alive. Every brunette born in 1969 could be Rose. That’s why you spent months stalking them. It made the fantasy more real, when you knew everything about their families. Pretending to be a part of their life made turning them into Rose easier.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID WHORE!” Unimpressed Emily went on, her voice condescending and full of spite:
“You thought if you could hear these women beg you, you might find what you had lost that day. And when they were done begging you, you let them walk so they would share your pain of losing someone and having been too weak to stop it from happening.”
“You’ll regret this!” he panted out.
Emily turned around and walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before going into the police department Emily took a few minutes in the black SUV to get her pulse down. For the first time in her career as an FBI agent she had let her emotions get the better of her.
In the moment, it had felt great to get all that rage out and watch Cooper suffer from each blow. She had enjoyed watching him squirm under her questions. She hadn’t been afraid of him, she hadn’t felt pity. It had been contempt. Now, Emily wondered if there was an Unsub in everyone.
Agent Prentiss shook her head vigorously. She didn’t commit a crime, she had just lost control. And that thought was even scarier. Losing control was her worst fear. This week had been one of the hardest since she joined the BAU.
Her first custodial interview had led to the halting of an execution, a lot of red tape and she had enraged a convicted serial killer. She was fully aware of the bull’s-eye on her back. Deep down, Emily knew why she had messed up.
Usually, when she was out in the field, at some point she was alone in her hotel room. She would shut the door to all the harsh truths out there - Victims, crimes, killers, straight JJ, the impossibility of a happy relationship and so many other things that haunted her during the day - and go to her happy place.
In her happy place everything was possible. JJ was gay and madly in love with her. There were no psychopaths that needed to be caught and no discrimination against anyone. Emily would turn on the shower and rest on her bed. She’d pretend that JJ was just in the bathroom and in a couple of minutes she would come out, smell heavenly, kiss her and hold her. For a few minutes a day Emily managed to believe the lie herself and she was at peace with the world.
Then she had to get up, get in the shower herself and pretend that the tears streaming down her face were actually just water. She needed those minutes to be her collected self during the day. Sharing a room with JJ had been a death sentence for her defenses.
She couldn’t hide out any longer. Emily got out of the car and made her way into the TPD. After all, no one ever had to find out about her little showdown with Cooper. He would be executed after the trial for Rose’s murder and she would be miles and miles away.
At the police department, Sheriff J.B. Smith was giving a press conference announcing that Cooper’s execution had been stayed pending his new trial for the murder of Rose Cooper.
Emily ducked to the side and met Reid in the interrogation room. Why the Sheriff had chosen to invite the entire population of journalists into the small department she didn’t know. Apparently the interrogation room was the only quiet one.
“Where have you been?” Reid asked.
“I wanted to tell Cooper in person that we unearthed his treasured memory.”
“He wasn’t pleased, I take it?” Even Reid sounded a little more confident.
“Not exactly. Where’s JJ?”
“Out there with the wolves.”
“Is she angry?”
“A little.”
Emily nodded.
Later JJ came in to tell them that it was over and they could now head back to the hotel. Emily apologized for running out on them and much to her surprise JJ was eager to forgive her. Little did she know, JJ had far more pressing issues on her mind.
JJ had no intention of sulking around; they were going on their first date ever, even if Emily had no idea. She wasn’t going to let that get ruined by staying angry over an abrupt exit.
AN: I believe in giving credit where credit is due and this chapter certainly wouldn't exist in the form it does today had it not been for my trusted beta and inspiring friend syccas . A while ago she accepted a challenge of writing a short piece on "Personal Hygiene". In her story Emily was taking a shower and someone was knocking on the door. Now to everyone else it was just a story about two women, but we knew better. In fact, she wrote that story for me. I was so touched and the story was so beautiful it inspired me to give you this explanation for Emily's behavior. I would like to thank syccas again for allowing me to draw from her story. I feel it makes for a splendid insight into Emily and her take on things.