Side by side || Emily Prentiss

19.

«When it comes to settling conflicts,
it's always better to be rational.»

When they were all seated in a chair of their choice Emily turned on the computer to allow Garcia to introduce the case to them. Daisy smiled as she was greeted by Penelope's smile that was able to illuminate everything even through a screen.

"My beautiful colleagues, we have been reported to a mass hostage situation in a Catholic Christian cult in Des Moines. The leader of the sect is Francis Kepner, born and raised in Iowa, moving around the state a bit before settling down and creating the sect." - said the blonde from the computer

"How did we get this report?" - asked Daisy

"A call from inside, the girl that called identified herself as Cassidy, no last name, and she told the police officers that no one has been allowed out for two weeks and that some worshipers are disappearing. "

Daisy hated religion even though she grew up in a strongly religious family. She, on the other hand, had never been a believer. She couldn't really call herself a woman of science, but she didn't believe in anything other than that and she had made peace with the fact that it was all a calculation of probability and that everything revolved around the principle of cause and effect.

Daisy Johnson had always been reassured by the fact that for every cause there was an effect and was particularly convinced that even if there were situations in which she, nor anyone else, could grasp that connection, it did not mean that it did not exist: it was just still too hard to explain.

"Have we had any other communications with the interior?" - asked Rossi

"No, but when the police showed up at the door yesterday afternoon for a check they were denied access and Francis declared that he would not allow any negotiations to get his faithful out when they asked to talk to the people inside." - Penelope replied

"What do we do then?" - JJ asked

The situation was actually particularly complicated and they didn't have any suspicious data on Francis and the cult. Everything seemed in order until that moment and the reasons for that particular violent behavior were unknown to everyone.

"There is something more, however, that Francis declared: he said that infidels are welcome inside, whoever they are."

"It's an invitation to send some of us inside." - said Emily

"We can do that?" - asked Tara

Everyone already knew the answer: a person couldn't be sent inside without putting their lives at risk, but there was probably no way to unblock the situation otherwise.

"Can't we try to negotiate? He wants a government hostage because he knows we'll never raid the facility if one of our own is inside but maybe we can ask him to let the kids go." - Luke said

"They are also a protection for him, we can ask that our agent enters not armed but with a microphone" - added Daisy

"For the moment it seems like the best of the alternatives." - Dave agreed, giving her a proud look

Emily, however, as always, didn't seem to agree with putting a team member at risk. She knew very well how dangerous cults could be, a little better than anyone who was present at the time because she herself had enormously risked her life within a very similar cult many years before.

"No, we have to find another way. I already know that you will propose to me to enter the sect yourself and I won't let you. We already risked a lot and we were lucky last time when a gun was pointed at you." - Emily said turning to the youngest of the agents