Secrets

      Everyone stands frozen at the glass watching their friend get taken away in handcuffs in front of them. The shock apparent on all of their faces, Garcia’s and JJs included. Hotch and Strauss walk into the conference room but no one moves as they all watch Emily get escorted out. Emily doesn’t look in their direction at all, instead she looks down at the ground the whole time. 

     “I’d like everyone to take their seats please.” Hotch says pulling everyone’s attention away from the situation unfolding in front of them. They all turn and head towards their seats except Morgan who is just staring back at Hotch. 

     “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on right now.” He says louder than expected. 

     “We will just sit.” Strauss says, waiting for him to take his seat before she starts. “Agent Emily Prentiss has been arrested for suspected murder.” JJ looks over at Garcia. 

      “What murder?” Reid asks. 

      “We have probable cause and reason to believe that she is the unsub in the cold case we just covered.” Hotch says looking at his team. 

      “Hotch you have got to be kidding me.” Morgan starts but is stopped by Strauss sticking up her hand. 

      “There was DNA recovered at multiple scenes which have matched Agent Prentiss.” She says looking at them. 

      “Of course there was! She was working the case. Our DNA is left on many of the crime scenes we leave. This is ridiculous.” Rossi says, started to get worked up. 

     “They were at scenes that she worked on but also ones she did not.” Hotch says looking at Rossi. 

      “Someone could have placed it there.” JJ says trying to help. But her mind is too blurred to focus, it is like everything is happening around her but she can’t understand a second of it. 

       “That’s what we are going to try and find out. But until then Agent Prentiss will be held without bail.” Strauss says. 

       “Where are you taking her?” Derek asks eyeing Strauss. 

        “She will be held at the prison.” Strauss says plainly. 

       “That’s not safe for her. You know that, hell she put the worst of the worst in there and now you are just dropping her in there!? She will be killed by morning!” Derek screams. 

       “Agent Morgan, I assure you she will be safe.” Strauss says calmly. 

       “Let us detain her.” Rossi says, staring down Strauss. 

       “I can’t.” Strauss says. 

       “We want her for questioning so legally you have to allow us to have access to her.” Reid says. Hotch nods and looks at Strauss. “He is right.” 

       “I will have to pull some strings but I can try and get her back here by tomorrow.” Strauss says. 

        Tomorrow, that would be too late. JJ thinks to herself, she needs Emily back tonight. “She was undercover.” JJ blurts our to no one in particular. Everyone turns to look at JJ, Garcia eyes her unsure of where she is going with this. 

     “What?” Hotch says looking at JJ. 

      “Emily was undercover when these killings happened. I saw it in a file when you made me pull stuff on Emily for you during the doyle investigation. A lot of what I saw was redacted and it was a confidential file but the dates line up.” JJ says looking at the group, hoping they would buy it. “So you have to let her go. It is not in your jurisdiction.” JJ says glaring at Strauss. 

       “I would need to see those files before I could release her and clear her of charges.” Strauss says emphasizing could as if she knew it wasn’t true. 

      “I will have to make some calls.” JJ says getting worked up. “The second you get them you better let her go.” JJ says sternly standing to meet Strauss level. 

      “Understood.” Strauss says heading out the door followed by Hotch who heads up to his office. 

      “JJ you better get those files fast.” Morgan says looking at her concerned. 

      “I know.” JJ says standing up and heading to Garcia’s office with her. 

       As soon as the office door closes Garcia turns to JJ. “Garcia, how long will it take you to make these files that will hold up to Strauss level scrutiny?” 

      “With just the two of us it could take a couple days.” Garcia says honestly. 

      “That’s not fast enough. Strauss won’t let us hold her for that long.” JJ says thinking out loud. “What if we got a couple more sets of hands?” 

      “We could probably have it done in 24 hours with a couple more people. But it will be tight.” Garcia says thinking. 

      “Okay give me a minute.” JJ says heading out of Garcia’s lair. Not to her surprise she finds Morgan and Reid sitting at their desks looking at Hotch's door. JJ looks at both of them and nods towards Garcia’s office. Morgan notices and heads over grabbing Reid to come along. JJ opens the door for them and closes it behind them, locking it. 

     “What is going on?” Morgan says looking at Garcia who is furiously typing on her computer. 

     “We need your help.” JJ starts grabbing both of their attention. “I lied. There is no classified file, but we need to make one. Are you guys in?” JJ says pleading with them. 

     “Why don’t we just clear her name then? Why go through all this trouble to create a falsified file?” Reid says, looking confused. 

     “Because she did kill those people.” JJ pauses seeing the look of shock on Reid’s face but not much on Morgan’s. “She was undercover with Doyle before she was approached by the CIA. Look I don’t have the time to go over all of this right now but I need to know if you can help us or not.” JJ said, looking them dead in the eyes. 

     “I’m in.” Morgan says heading over to Garcia’s computer. Reid stands there for a moment processing the info before heading to the computer. JJ looked at him trying to read his thoughts. 

     “She would do it for all of us. So I will for her.” He said. “Now what do you need us to do.” Reid stays looking at JJ and Garcia. 

      The four younger agents all sit around the table in Garcia’s lair coming up with a believable mission she could have been on that would have had these victims as targets. JJ tells them how Emily said they were all apart of a sex trafficking ring so if they could find the ties to that they could use that towards their advantage. As the three agents take through the made up case Garcia starts working on a small paper trail. Seeing as it is a classified mission there doesn’t need to be as extensive as one. 

      Meanwhile Rossi steps out of his office and notices the bullpen is empty. Confused, he decides to go out and look for the agents. After checking around the office he realizes they’re probably all in Garcia’s office. He decides to go join them. 

     “Alright so what key things are we missing?” JJ asks looking at Morgan and Reid. The four younger agents are so busy they don’t even hear the door open. 

     “We need some sort of unit chief that worked with Prentiss on this mission. It has to be someone Strauss and Hotch would be able to talk to about the mission. It has to be someone believable to, they have to have experience and still be working in the field in some manner. If we can get that then we are good. But getting someone else to also lie for us has its risks.” Reid says. 

     “Damn that's going to be hard. Does anyone here have any connections or someone that owes you or Emily something? Because if you do now is the time to use it.” JJ says leaning over the table and running her hands through her hair, starting to look more stressed. 

      “I do.” Rossi says closing the door behind him. The four younger agents turn to see Rossi standing at the door. All of them looking at him shocked, Garcia quickly switches the computer screens off and JJ flips over the legal pad she had been writing on. 

      “Rossi…” JJ says looking at him, there isn’t many times the former communications liaison was at a loss for words but was one. “We were..” JJ starts to stammer again. 

      “We are just trying to get a hold of her file, that is all.” Morgan says standing up straighter. 

      “No you’re creating it.” He says walking over to the table and looking down at the papers on it. He stays silent for a minute before looking at each of them. They all avoid his eye contact feeling like little kids who have been caught. All expect for JJ, she is staring him down, he can’t tell but it feels like a threat. 

      “I know a few people who have owed me some favors throughout the year. If you want this to be more believable I suggest you use all of them and not just one person.” Rossi says grabbing the legal pad from JJ and writing their names and numbers down. “If you get me up to speed I can have them ready by tonight.” He says looking at JJ. 

      “Okay so this is what we have got so far.” JJ says showing Rossi their plan. 

Meanwhile across town at the federal prison

     Emily had been stripped of her clothes and forced to walk through a shower before being tossed her bright orange jumpsuit. She quickly got into it and was escorted to her cell. The walk to it wasn’t long but she couldn’t help but notice everyone stare at her, even the guards. A few probably recognized her but everyone looked like they wanted a piece of her. They stopped in front of a cell waiting for it to open. The door slid open and Emily fell forward as the guard pushed her inside. She looked around the room and saw 5 sets of eyes staring back at her. All smiling and cracking their knuckles. One thing was for certain in Emily’s mind. This was not her cell. 

      Emily stood still as the first women came over and punched her right in the face. She stumbled back a little but caught herself on the door. Each women took their turn beating Emily until finally she couldn’t stand. Emily crumbled down to the floor and each women went to grab a limb to hold down as the last women stripped her naked. Emily didn’t even fight it, she just wanted it to be over. One of the women climbed on top of Emily and wrapped her hands around her neck, choking her. This is it , kill me. Emily thought. There was a knock on the cell door and all of the women jumped off Emily. The door opened and the guard pulled a Emily off the ground. He walked her down a few corridors before stopping at a small door. 

     “Welcome to your new home. Agent Prentiss.” He said as he threw her into a small solitary confinement cell and slammed the door behind her. Emily didn’t have the strength to walk or even crawl to the bed. Instead she just laid there on the cool cement, wishing she were dead.