One more report, just one more, and you could go home. For the past two hours, you have been repeating this to yourself. It isn't like you have anything to show for it though. Only a few sentences are evidence of the hours you have spent agonizing over this report. In your defense, it isn't very easy to concentrate when your phone is going off every 10 minutes.
You and Reid were usually the last two people in the bullpen, but he was long gone, having finished all of his work ages ago. Now it was just you, sitting alone. Most of the lights were either dimmed or off completely, leaving you in the somber darkness.
Giving up on getting any work done you put down your pen and lean back in your chair. With your eyes to the ceiling, you let out a deep sigh and run your hands over your face in exasperation. The thick silence around you feels so suffocating that before you even realize it, silent tears are running down your face. And the icing on top of the cake, your phone rings for the 8th time in the last hour.
All of the emotions you have been holding in for weeks are suddenly drawn to the surface, as you grab your phone and throw it as hard as you can toward the wall across the room from you and let out a pained yell. Your whole body is shaking as large tears are now steadily streaming down your face, and you pull your knees to your chest and bury your face in them.
You didn't hear the door open or the footsteps approaching. You didn't notice the concerned way Emily's eyes trailed over your small figure or the way her hand twitched as she fought the urge to reach out and comfort you. But you did hear as she cleared her throat.
You whip your head up in surprise and see Emily standing only a few feet behind your desk.
"Emily I am so sorry I thought that I was here alone," you say as you straighten up in the chair and quickly wipe the tears from your cheeks away.
"You don't have to apologize," she says gently, but she remains standing where she is, analyzing you.
"Please don't profile me right now Emily," you say with a sigh as you run a hand through your hair.
"I'm not," she says as she moves closer to your desk, but you just give her a blank stare. "Ok maybe I was," she admits, "but can you blame me. You are probably the most composed person on the team, and here you are in the middle of the night crying and throwing things. You have to admit it's a little jarring."
"Fine Supervisory Special Agent Prentiss, profile me. Tell me what's wrong," you say defensively as you lock eyes with her. She walks over to your desk and leans against it as she looks at the mess of papers strewn across the top.
"Well," she starts, "this report I asked you to write up about the case earlier is still sitting here practically untouched, so either you just don't want to do it, or there is something on your mind that has kept your attention away from it," she says as her gaze moves back to yours. "But knowing your work ethic, I would say that it is the latter."
You shift uncomfortably under her stare, regretting getting yourself in this situation but not backing down. She narrows her eyes as they scan over your face.
"You've been grinding your teeth together, you were doing it while we were on the case in New York too. Is this because of the case? We got there in time, (Y/N), nobody got hurt." You scoff a bit at her and shake your head.
"I guess you're not as good of a profiler as I thought," you say as you move to get out of the chair at your desk. But just as you stand up, Emily grabs your wrist gently and looks at you with pleading eyes.
"Then tell me," she says quietly. The two of you stand there for a moment before the ring of your phone breaks the silence. Emily's head whips over to find the source of the noise, and she glances between you and your phone.
"Are you going to get that?" She asks, but you just shake your head in response.
"I'll get it then," she says as she walks over to the phone.
"Em wait don't," you try to call out, but she has already answered the phone and has it up to her ear.
"Hello," she says into the phone, and you stand there holding your breath.
"This is SSA Prentiss, who is this?" She says after she gets no response.
"He's not going to say anything Em," you say quietly, "he never does." She looks at you curiously as she hangs up the phone.
"(Y/N), what is this about?" you sink back into your chair and rest your head on the desk, physically and mentally exhausted.
"I have a stalker," you mumble out. Emily's eyes widen in surprise, and she walks back over to you.
"Why haven't you told anybody? We can help you," she says as she kneels in front of your chair and tries to get your attention. You lift your head and look at her with tears brimming back in your eyes.
"He told me not to," you say your voice barely in a whisper. You open the drawer on the side of your desk and pull out the countless letters that he has sent you. Sorting through them, you pull out a photo he had sent you of your parent's house and hold it up to Emily.
"He knows where my parents live Em, I can't afford to get on his bad side." Emily looks at you with concern before she speaks slowly and gently.
"(Y/N) this man can be dangerous," she says,
"He's a lust-driven stalker Em. I don't know who he is or where he first saw me but ever since he did, he thinks that we are in love. We both know that unless I provoke him, he isn't going to hurt me."
"So what are you going to do? Walk on eggshells for the rest of your life?" You sit there speechless, unable to find the right words because there simply weren't any. Emily grabs your hands in hers and looks into your eyes.
"Let us help you," she says softly. Slowly, you nod your head as tears start to fall from your eyes again. Emily pulls you into a standing position before she wraps her arms around you and pulls you into a hug. She gently caresses your back as you take comfort in her loving embrace. Reluctantly, the two of you have to unwrap your arms from around each other, even though you wish you could stay here forever.
"I'll call the team in," Emily says when the two of you pull apart.
"No, Em, it's the middle of the night, and we just got back from a case. Please let them sleep," you beg.
"Fine, but you're not going back home alone tonight. You can stay with me."
You agree to spend the night at Emily's house, and the two of you start to gather your stuff, your reports and papers long forgotten. When the two of you are in the elevator heading down to Emily's car, you turn to her and ask her a question.
"Why are you doing this for me?" She seems to hesitate for a moment before she turns to you with an answer.
"If you are asking Unit Chief Emily Prentiss, she would say that it is my responsibility to look out for everybody on the team when they are in trouble." Emily pauses as she reaches over to you and takes your hand into hers. "But if you were to ask just Emily, it's because I care about you, so much and it would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Thank you," you say before the elevator dings and the doors open. The two of you walk to the car together, hand in hand, and for the first time in a long time, you finally feel safe.
