Chapter Text
The woman woke up with a jolt. She glanced around the room and found her phone as she rubbed her eyes.
7:41 am.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" she cursed as she pulled the blankets off of her and ran towards the bathroom. "God I'm going to fucking get killed."
The entire room fell silent as the doors opened. All the agents kept their eyes forward until they saw the agent walk past them. Both sides of desks were filled with people shamelessly checking out Emily as she walked to the front.
"Good morning everyone. My name is Agent Emily Prentiss," Emily said as she threw her bag down onto the desk. She gently placed down her coffee mug on at the corner as she circled around to the other side. "Spelled P-R-E-N-T-I-S-S. Fairly simple, but you'd be amazed at the various of spelling errors I get."
The class laughed softly as Emily grabbed the marker from the whiteboard and wrote down her name. All the new coming agents watched as she turned back around and leaned over her chair. Emily's eyes scanned the room as she tried to both intimidate and befriend some in the crowd with a single glance.
"Welcome to Profiling one-o-one," Emily said before standing up straight. She forced a smile as she closes the marker in her hands. "As most of you know, I'm the Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit here at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Meaning, I'm in charge and highly respected across all different departments in the FBI. I wouldn't screw up this opportunity if I were any of you. Now, we will b—"
Emily's eyes landed on the doors that opened up. She noticed a young woman trying to slide her way into the room without much detection. When the two locked eyes, Y/n knew she had been done for. She was the only one that came in late.
"How nice of you to join us, Agent," Emily said and clasped her hands together in front of herself.
"I'm sorry, Agent Prentiss," Y/n read off the board. "I overslept and I couldn't—"
"You and I will talk afterward," Emily said as she tapped the marker against her hand. Y/n gulped as she nodded her head. Emily didn't take her eyes off of her as she sat down in an empty seat in the front of the class. "As I was saying, before we begin I'd like to do some class introductions. You all need to know each other very well if you're going to get through this training."
Emily walked around her desk and grabbed her coffee. She took a small sip before locking her eyes on Y/n. "Let's start with you. What's your name, Agent?"
"Y/n. Y/f/n," she said and didn't look away from Emily's eyes. The raven-haired woman ran her tongue over her bottom teeth before averting her eyes. She inhaled sharply as she nodded her head.
"Alright, let's continue," Emily said as her eyes landed on another agent.
The class continued on with this awkwardness in the air. The only one really to blame would be Emily since she stared at Y/n a little too long from time to time. The younger woman was screaming on the inside each time she felt eyes on her. She wanted to know what was bothering Emily enough that she couldn't let the tardiness go. She'd have to sit here in agony forever now.
"Thank you very much, Agent Clark," Emily said and smiled genuinely at the young male agent. He smiled right back as he sunk back into his seat. "Well, I don't want to keep you longer than necessary. You're all free to go. I'll see you all on Wednesday."
The entire class couldn't wait to pack up everything. Maybe they too felt the tension in the air. Y/n was just thankful she wasn't called out in the middle of the class.
"Agent Y/l/n, may I speak with you for a moment?" Emily asked as she packed up her things in front of her. The dark brown eyes now didn't want to meet hers. The other agents all started whispering to each other. Y/n sighed softly as she zipped up her bag.
"Maybe don't come in late next time," Eric Clark said. No doubt, he'd be the kiss ass of the group. He would nod his head at everything Emily said without question. "You know, just friendly advice."
Y/n clenched her jaw as she watched him walk out with two other agents. The younger woman turned and saw Emily there with her hands clasped in front of her.
"Agent Prentiss, I'm sincerely sorry for coming in late. I have a very demanding job where the hours are very late at night into the early morning—"
Emily held a hand up which instantly made Y/n stop in her tracks. "We all have jobs, Agent Y/l/n. I would be having this same talk with any of the other agents. Tardiness isn't a good look on anyone. Your job is important, yes, but so is this training. If the tardiness happens again, I'll call the directors myself to have you removed from the program."
"But Agent Prentiss—"
"I'm trying to build the best team of the BAU. What do you think would happen if we were late to a call? Someone's life could depend on it. Set two alarms, hell, even set three. Just do whatever it takes so you can get here bright and early," Emily said and clenched her jaw. "Do we have an agreement, Agent? Have I made myself clear?"
"Crystal," Y/n said and forced a smile. She grabbed her bag and turned as she saw some other agents standing at the door. She hated being lectured like she was a child. It was even worse that people had to hear it. Y/n walked out to the room without another word.
JJ, Tara, and Penelope all looked over at Emily with their eyebrows raised. The three of them practically saw the smoke coming off of Emily's body. She was nearly fuming.
"Who pissed in your breakfast cereal this morning?" Tara asked as the group all carefully made their way down to Emily's desk.
"I hate new coming agents who don't take this training seriously," Emily mumbled as she shut her eyes tightly. "Is it so hard to be on time for something?"
"Oh come on. Cut her some slack, Emily!" JJ said and waved Emily off. The raven-haired woman glanced up at JJ as she packed her bag.
"We're trying to raise the next generation of BAU agents. I doubt you'd want some young, tardy, incompetent agent coming around and replacing you at your job," Emily said and rolled her eyes. She stopped and scrunched her face up. "Who, for some reason, had glitter on her arms and legs."
"Maybe she's a single mom and now you just sound like an asshole," Tara said and pointed her finger at Emily. The raven-haired woman shook her head in annoyance before zipping up her bag. "Let's go out tonight. You drastically need to unwind if this new agent is pissing you off this easily."
"Wine night at my apartment?" Penelope asked and wiggled her eyebrows.
"No, no, no, no, no! If Emily is going to be all grouchy with her profiling one-o-one class, then we need to go somewhere really fun to take her mind off of it," Tara said and placed her hand on Penelope's and Emily's shoulders. "I'll take us out tonight."
"The last time you were in charge of that, I couldn't walk outside while the sun was out for three days," JJ said and tilted her head to the side. "And that was after I woke up from being black out drunk with my hand in a toilet bowl and a frozen solid burrito in the other."
"No Long Island Teas this time. I promise!" Tara said and started bending her knees, pleading with all the other women in the group.
"And no more Fireball. I nearly saw Jesus earlier than I'd like to," Penelope said and stuck her tongue out in disgust. Tara nodded her head fast as her eyes flicked from woman to woman.
Emily sighed softly as she looked between Penelope and JJ. The two women shrugged their shoulders, leaving Emily the one to make the decision. The raven-haired woman hung her head low for a second before picking it up and looking at Tara. "Okay fi—"
"Yes! I'll start making some calls!" Tara said and clapped her hands together in victory. The three other women instantly started to get nervous. JJ and Penelope both shook their heads as they followed after Tara. Emily sighed as she tilted her head up.
Maybe she'd regret that later.
After a few hours and one wave of anxiety later, the four agents made their way towards a red brick building in the middle of downtown Washington DC. Emily, JJ, and Penelope all glanced around, trying to find any clues about what this place could be.
"Where are you taking us?" JJ asked and looked around at the buildings. Tara smiled widely as they made their way to the front of the door. There was a very tall man standing at the entrance dressed in all black.
"Name?" he asked and looked over at the three other agents.
"Tara Lewis. We're here with Shirley," Tara said and smiled softly as she tilted her head. The man nodded his head and immediately opened the door for the four women. They all thanked him as they walked in. "Welcome ladies to drinks and a show!"
"What is this place?" Penelope asked as the red lights and low lighting focused on one main stage towards the back. Emily glanced up and saw the second story of tables and chairs that were packed with people. The whole place was nearly at capacity. How the hell did Tara do this?
"Well, feast my eyes on the tall beauty herself," a woman said as she sauntered up to the group. The three other woman all raised their eyebrows as a blonde woman in a bikini top and short shorts walked up to them.
"Well, hello to you," Tara said and held her arms out. The two women embraced in a tight hug before pulling away.
"She's beautiful," Penelope mouthed to the two other women.
"Who is she?" Emily asked softly.
"Everyone, this is Jane. Jane, this is Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia, and Emily Prentiss," Tara said and gestured towards each woman. The tall blonde woman smiled at each one of them. "Everyone knows her as Shirley."
"Welcome everyone," Shirley said in her rather thick country accent. "Come and sit in this booth I saved for y'all. Once this place gets crowded there's hardly any room to breathe. James! Get me those drinks and bottle I put in my reservations!"
A young man behind the bar nodded his head as he grabbed everything with the help of another bartender. The two of them quickly made their way through the crowd to get to the table.
"What is this place? Some kind of strip club or something?" JJ asked and furrowed her eyebrows. Shirley turned to her and hung her mouth open.
"Honey, I should wash your mouth with soap for even suggesting that. This is no strip club," Shirley said as she waved for the agents to follow after her. The four women followed after her and slid into the booth reserved for them. It was off the left side of the stage and fairly close as well. "This is a burlesque club."
"Burlesque club?" Emily asked and furrowed her eyebrows. "Like a less showy strip club?"
"In simple terms, the dancers come out and lip sync to all hit songs from each decade with choreography and sexy outfits. Far different from a strip club. You'll never see a boob pop out intentionally here. Every dancer that works here has the option to wear one of those masquerade masks to hide their face as much as possible," Shirley said as she slid right next to Tara in the booth. "There's also no raining of money. That thirty bucks admission you paid for was barely even one percent of a dancer's paycheck. They make a pretty penny here."
"So that's why you asked for thirty bucks from each of us?" JJ asked as she chuckled. Tara nodded her head as she relaxed into the booth. "They just sing and dance?"
"Well it varies from dancer to dancer. You see, the woman running this club, Dallas, laid everything out for the girls to be successful. This isn't a club you can walk into off the side of the street. You need to have status to be allowed in here to see the dancers. Or you'll have to know someone from the inside," Shirley said and gestured to herself. "The dancers do their scheduled dances and get a cut. The girls have the option of scouting for extra payments, if you're picking up what I'm putting down. We have private rooms for that in the back."
"So everyone around us are—"
"Powerful CEOs, multibillionaires, scummy politicans, you name it," Shirley said and shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed one of the martinis that was brought to the table. "If you know someone, you get a lower price. You're welcome for sparing your pockets a big hug. Usually admission price is five hundred. Dallas worked hard to have the prices be that high. Secrecy is a luxury when there's money involved."
Emily furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes glanced around the crowd. Thankfully they were close to the main stage that had semi better lighting. Her eyes could now make out smaller details. Emily's eyes continued to wander until they landed on a gray-haired woman standing close by the stage. She tilted her head slightly as she obvious checked out the dancer.
"Shirley? What's her name?" Emily asked as she pointed towards the gray-headed woman who was talking to another dancer. For some reason, Emily was instantly attracted to her.
"That gray-haired one?" Shirley asked before she took a sip of her martini in front of her. Emily nodded her head as she couldn't take her eyes off of her. "Her name is Grey with an E."
"Grey? Like the color?" Emily asked and rolled her eyes at the oversimplification. "It cannot be more effortless than that."
"In case you haven't noticed yet darling, none of the workers here use their actual names. They all go by aliases. Like the little one Grey is talking to," Shirley said and gestured towards the white woman dressed in a bright red outfit. "Her name is Candy. She got that name since she's paler than all the other girls and gets these bright red cheeks when she smiles real hard. She reminded everyone of a candy cane. But Grey? Good luck with her. She's a tough one to crack."
"What makes you say that?" Tara asked and grabbed a martini from the bunch.
"She does what she needs to and leaves. None of the other girls know her personally. She's the only dancer here that doesn't do scouting," Shirley said and nodded her head. "But good luck trying to get her attention my darling. She's the most wanted woman in this damn club."
"Nobody has ever gotten to her before?" Penelope asked and tilted her head to the side.
"Nobody! The woman is untouchable. Dallas said that she's the reason this club is still floating. Everyone wants to be the one that changes her mind about scouting and taking extra money from them. Rumor is that she charges a pretty penny to talk to her. Unless you are the richest woman in the world, you probably won't be able to persuade that woman into sleeping with you. Or at least that's my guess," Shirley said and shrugged her shoulders. "There's only one dancer that's seen her face fully and that is Candy. The two are practically at the hip with everything here."
Emily watched as the two of them made their way through a door on the side. She felt her shoulders fall as the mystery woman was out of sight. She grabbed her own martini and zoned out of the conversation with the other women.
The red lights flickered slightly before the entire club's lighting dimmed. Emily glanced over at the stage that now only had a single spotlight on it. Immediately everyone's attention was turned to the stage as the music of an electric guitar was played throughout the club. Each dancer walked out in their own signature outfit.
Grey made her way to the other side and towards the five women. Emily's eyes raked up and down the outfit that she was currently wearing. It was an all black corset bodysuit, black stiletto boots, a black mask on her face, and a silk black robe that didn't try to hide anything. The raven-haired woman took a sip of her drink as her eyes didn't leave Grey.
The gray-haired woman held her hands out and two men gladly helped her onto the table. The other dancers in the club were doing the same as individual spotlights shined on them. Each person sitting at the table quickly move their drinks out of the way. The dancers all sank to their knees on the tables and leaned in towards one of the people sitting there.
Grey smiled widely as the man tried to lean in closer. She swiftly slid off the table and walked around him. Her hand never left his chest the entire time. Each dancer got off the tables and went further from the stage. Grey's eyes locked onto Emily as she got up on the table closest to them. Her hands ran right over her chest before she grinded her body to the sound of the music.
"I think Grey likes you," Tara said to Emily and tilted her head towards the dancer. Sure enough, the red contact eyes were locked onto Emily and didn't leave while she danced.
Unfortunately, when she moved her hand fast, a ring slipped off of Grey's finger and onto the floor in front of the table. Emily quickly got up and grabbed the ring. The music dialed down as the dancers slowly got off the tables and made their way towards the stage.
"Excuse me, miss," Emily said and clearly got the attention from the dancer. She turned and locked eyes onto Emily as she knelt down onto the stage and bent over. Her face was merely a few inches from Emily's. The red eyes stared back into Emily's like she was going to snatch her soul from her body.
"Do you need something?" Grey asked and licked her red painted lips slowly. Emily nearly combusted at the sound of her sultry voice and seeing her lick her lips.
"Is this yours?" Emily asked and gestured to the ring in her hand. Grey glanced at the ring before locking onto Emily's eyes.
"It is," Grey said softly. Emily couldn't help but move her eyes down to the obvious cleavage on display before going back up. Grey caught it and tilted her head slightly. "Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to stare?"
"Yes she did. I just can't help that you're the most beautiful woman in this club. I can't take my eyes off of you," Emily said and tried to keep cool. The raven-haired woman smirked slightly before leaning forward. She handed Grey the ring but didn't move an inch. "Let me get you a drink after the show."
"Nice try," Grey said softly and shook her head. She slipped on the ring while she didn't break eye contact with Emily. She stood up without another word and she walked off.
The gray-haired woman quickly made her way backstage and down the stairs. She was feeling frantic as she made her way to her dressing room. She had to be dreaming. There was no way that this could be happening.
"Grey, what's wrong?" Candy asked as noticed the younger woman spiraling. Grey didn't say anything as she quickly got into her dressing room and shut the door.
The young woman ran up to her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She tore off all of her jewelry and fanned herself to calm down. She quickly took off her eye contacts, but it wasn't registering that she was staring back at herself. She felt like she was living a fever dream.
Y/n let out a shaky breath. "This isn't happening. This cannot be happening."