She's Back

Falling Apart

* in the writing groove today! hope you enjoy ;)

 Meanwhile, Emily was having a fantastic time at the Piggly Wig. She decided to go there, since it was the bar that caused all these problems with Aaron in the first place. God, that man infuriated Emily like no one else. She knew she overreacted when she punched Aaron in the face, but it had felt so good to let him feel some of the pain he caused her when she thought he had disappeared. She was just so damn worried and scared that when she saw him standing there in the parking lot, completely fine, that all those emotions turned to pure rage. Rage at the fact that he was so careless, so inconsiderate of how other people might have reacted if he had been seriously hurt or worse, dead.

But as she was driving to the Piggly Wig, that rage towards Aaron turned to anger towards herself. She was angry that she still cared about what happened to Aaron, even though he had a girlfriend to do that for him. She was angry that she couldn't stop thinking about him, even when she wasn't.

Emily had decided to try to drink away those feelings for Aaron Hotchner at the Piggly Wig bar. So far, she was doing a good job - she was already 5 shots and 3 margaritas in. To top it off, Emily was having a great time talking to the fellow bar goers. There were a variety of people who had also decided to come drink on a Wednesday night at 7:00; from what Emily could tell, some were there just to spend time with friends, while a few others were there for the same reason as Emily: to escape their problems.

Emily was having a particularly fun time talking to the older man next to her. She learned his name was Bob, and he was a widow of 3 years who had decided it was time to get back in the dating game and came to the Piggly Wig to do so. Bob was in his early sixties with salt and pepper hair and piercing green eyes. Unfortunately for Bob, there were no other women his age at the bar. However, Emily made it her drunken mission of the night to at least teach him how to interact with the ladies again - it'd been a long time since he had to do any flirting!

"Okay, now the one thing you MUST ALWAYS DO is to look the woman in the eyes. You have such great green eyes, you have to use them to your advantage!" The alcohol was letting Emily speak freely, which was something that amused both her and Bob. Although he hadn't said anything, Bob was wondering what had made a young, intelligent, beautiful woman get drunk on a Wednesday night in a small town like this. He just laughed and nodded though, since she was giving him good advice.

Bob checked his watch - it was now 8:00. He really needed to get home to let his dog out, but he was uncomfortable leaving this woman alone. There was a young man who was sitting at the opposite end of the bar, Shirley Temple in front of him, just watching Emily. The man hadn't done or said anything to Emily, but Bob felt a strange sense of foreboding whenever he made eye contact with him. Still, Bob thought as he looked around the bar, there were at least 15 other people at the bar. The guy wouldn't risk doing something stupid in front of so many people. Bob decided it was okay for him to leave.

"Emily, my dear, it was a pleasure getting to know you, and I especially thank you for all your dating advice! I'm sorry to say that I have to cut our lessons short, however. I really need to get home to let my dog out; poor thing's been alone all night. Are you okay if I leave?" Bob needed to hear Emily say it was okay for him to leave, that she was going to be alright.

Emily made a sad pouty face for a split second, but then smiled from ear to ear. She put her hand on Bob's arm as he stood up. "Of course! Bob, I wish you the best of luck," Emily said sincerely. He smiled at her, grabbed his coat, and headed to the front door. He glanced back one last time at Emily; she was talking to a new woman who had been on the other side of him. The creepy young man was still watching them, but hadn't made a move or anything. And with that last reassurance, Bob left.

Emily had yet to stop drinking. As soon as Bob said goodbye, her mind drifted back to Aaron and his stupid ego. Therefore, she ordered 2 more shots each for herself and her new friend Laila, who had been sitting on the other side of Bob.

The 2 women were both sufficiently drunk by the time 9:00 rolled around, so the bar owner called them a cab. There was no way the owner was going to let the 2 of them try to drive back to their homes in the state they were in.

Emily just laughed when the owner said he called a cab to take them home. That's going to be hard, considering I live across the country! Emily thought to herself. She and Laila decided to go to the bathroom before the cab came to pick them up. They stumbled and giggled towards the back of the bar, where there was a separate hallway that led to the bathrooms. By that point, the strange young man Bob had seen decided to leave. He paid the owner, tipping him an extra 20%, and then left.

Emily and Laila had just finished washing their hands when the bathroom door opened. In what seemed quicker than humanly possible, the strange young man that had been sitting at the bar all night had his arm wrapped around Laila's waist and a handgun pointed at her head.

"If you scream or say anything, I will blow your friend's head off. Do you understand me?" the man hissed at Emily. Emily instantly sobered up. She put her hands up in the air and slowly nodded, never breaking eye contact with Laila's confused face.

The man grinned back at Emily; some of his teeth were missing, others were yellowing with decay. Emily cringed internally. "Good. Now you're going to come with me," he said in a gravelly tone. He shoved Laila out the door and then Emily, placing the gun at the small of her back. By now, Emily had realized that this was the unsub her team was looking for; she could only hope that they had identified him by now.

"No silly business. Go out the door to your right and get in the truck," the man ordered, keeping his voice low so the owner wouldn't overhear. Laila looked back at Emily with fright in her eyes; Emily nodded her head reassuringly at the woman.

The man pushed Emily forward with the butt of his gun, causing Laila to stumble out the back door of the Piggly Wig. Emily looked around: they were on the side street of the bar, and there was no one outside she could call out to for help. The van was parked at the front of the street, closest to the entrance of the bar. He's deteriorating, Emily thought as they walked forward. That was not a good sign for her and Laila.

Emily tried to walk as slowly as she could, but the unsub kept shoving her forward with the butt of his gun. She was trying to think of ways to get out of this situation, but the alcohol had muddied her brain too much to actually come up with a good plan. For the first time in her life, Emily Prentiss didn't know what to do.

*A/N- muahahaha, have fun with this cliffhanger!