𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟕𝟑

"𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘

"EM—" Noah says as her mother flies past her.

The teen is sitting at the kitchen counter, eating the breakfast her mother made. Emily's phone had rung upstairs, so she quickly ran to get it. The woman came back in a rush and in a different outfit.

"Hey, I have to go—" Emily says as she runs around.

"How am I supposed to get to school?" Noah asks as she watches her mother's frantic state.

"Garcia's picking you up in a few minutes — I gotta go!" Emily exclaims as she grabs her purse.

"Will you be home tonight?" Noah asks.

"I think so," Emily replies, "I love you." She adds as she walks over to the teen and kisses her cheek.

Emily quickly walks to the front door. The teen hears the door shut and slumps in her spot, frowning to herself.

"Love you too." Noah mumbles.

—
𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘻'𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

Emily takes a deep breath as she walks into the building. The team has been called into another case, but it is local. Morgan seems to be a little agitated, probably something to do with the little amount of sleep they all got.

Emily is not as bothered, seeing as Noah woke her up this morning, asking her to make breakfast. The mother has learned how to live off of very little sleep recently.

"You guys remember Detective Walker?" JJ says as she sees the team has made it.

"Thanks for being here," The detective says as he shakes Derek, Emily, and Dave's hands. JJ has been at the scene for a bit and Reid joined her quickly after.

"Who's the victim?" Rossi asks as he peers down at the body covered with a yellow tarp.

"His name is Nelson Martinez," Detextice Walker informs them, "From what we can figure, he answered his door, was forced into the apartment at gunpoint, and then shot in the chest. It was all pretty sloppy."

"No disrespect," Morgan starts, "But I don't understand why you need us here."

"Two days ago, a local doctor named Tom Barton found a note addressed to him at the hospital." Detective Walker says, "It said the person was planning to kill his son. If Dr. Barton tried to keep his boy hidden, one person would die every day in his place."

"And you think this is connected?" Emily asks, trying to process the terrible negotiation.

"The note is signed L.C." Reid mentions.

"Yesterday, we had another victim." The detective continues, "Multiple gunshots outside the apartment. The shooter wrote L.C. in white chalk next to the body."

Rossi pulls the yellow tarp up off the victim's face, revealing L.C. written on the floor next to the dead man's head.

"Now, unless Dr. Barton puts his son in harm's way, we're going to keep having a victim a day," Reid mentions.

"Where's Barton now?" Rossi asks.

"He's at home," JJ interjects, "He doesn't know about this victim yet."

"Where's Hotch?" Emily asks as she realizes that their Unit Chief is not in the room or anywhere to be seen, actually.

"He's not answering his cell," JJ replies, "I assume it's on vibrate. He'll get the message when he wakes up."