Chapter Text
Emily sighed as she reached for the next case file piled on her desk. It was already nearing 1 in the morning after a long day so she figured this would likely be it for the night. She was relieved to find that the file she had chosen was fairly thin so she could hopefully get through it without much of a hassle. As she began flipping through the crisp pages she found herself skimming through a majority of the file. It was a cold case that had somehow managed to find a pulse again, and from the details, it seemed to have found and ended more than a few pulses over the last 6 years.
Her eyes narrowed as she realized just how many confirmed victims there were listed in the case file. They were all men who seemed to only be directly connected by the way their lives had been ended. They were all shot once right between the eyes. It was an interesting signature for sure but not necessarily something she had never seen before. However, based on the extent of the damage on their faces, it seemed the shot was delivered with the barrel of the gun pressed right up against their faces. The unsub no doubt captured their final moments of vision before their lives were cut short. What an end that was, your last memory being the person stood opposite you pulling a trigger. She shuddered at the mental image it brought her. This was…personal. Just as she began to flip to the next page detailing where the bodies had been dumped, her phone began ringing. Surmise to say she was a little happy to have a break from looking at the grotesque photos. Her relief however was cut short when she read who it was that was calling her, the Director. The director of the FBI could only want one thing from her at this hour of the night. There goes that glass of wine and day off tomorrow. She hesitated before swiping to answer the call.
“Agent Prentiss,” She answered before going silent hearing what the person on the other side of the line was saying. “I’m actually looking over the case now.” At least she was able to get somewhat of a head start rather than jumping in blind like usual. “Ok, so the victimology was the same, married man, 40’s - 60’s, and living in a metropolitan area.” She continued to listen to the director on the other line as she was informed that in addition to the typical victimology that this most recent victim was employed by the government, not just any janitor or office worker though but one of the top directors at the CIA. “Why would they go for someone who's so important after strictly going after lower-level corporate workers this far?” She hadn’t meant to ask that aloud but it was almost 2 at this point and she’d had devolved to talking aloud to herself about cases as the night had gone on.
“I think you’ll find that that’s your job to find out Agent Prentiss, this case is now the BAU’s top priority, in fact, it is now your ONLY priority effective immediately.” The director said though now with a hint more annoyance than previously. Emily wasn’t that tired however and she knew when not to unnecessarily pick a fight over something.
“Of course ma’am, sorry to imply otherwise,” She was not in the mood to get the BAU’s status put on the line again.
“Since this recent hit was pulled off in DC you don't have to immediately head to the scene, the CIA would prefer to keep this under wraps, your team is expected to meet with them first thing tomorrow to discuss the next steps in solving this.” Emily was only slightly relieved to know she could get at least one more night of proper sleep in before beginning to tackle this, though she hadn’t finished reading the file she could tell this was going to take more than just a couple of days. So far there had been a good deal of forensic countermeasures taken despite the bodies not seeming to have been disposed of in a way that concealed them from being found. In fact it seemed to almost be the opposite, the were prominently displayed in the victims' places of employment. She reckoned she could begin to build the profile off that.
“And one more thing Agent Prentiss…” Emily couldn’t believe what she had just heard. There was no way in hell that she was serious. Despite the fact Emily didn't always agree with the director's calls she could at least see the reasoning behind them even if it was sometimes hard, but this? This was on another level entirely. Not just another level but in another continentant on a mountain, a mountain that quite frankly Unit Cheif SSA Emily Prentiss was not in any state to even consider attempting to climb. She wasnt sure if she should laugh or just spare herself the added embarrassment and hang up entirely. Nothing was going to make her go along with this, she couldn’t in her right mind make her team deal with such an utterly ridiculous demand. Despite her own instincts, she managed to hold herself back from laughing or hanging up.
“You’re not serious right now, are you? After everything that they’ve already put this team through? There has to be literally anyone else you can put on this case.” Her job be damned she wasn’t going to just sit back and let this happen. She was too much of an asset to the BAU for them to seriously consider letting her go at this point and to be honest, she didn’t really mind losing her career to fight for this.
“I’m extremely serious Agent, now I’ll leave you to inform the rest of your team about everything, all new and existing files pertaining to this case have already been sent to your technical analyst.” Emily was not about to let this slide, she would not watch the director ruin someone's life like this.
“Can I request-”, Emily attempted to ask before being interrupted.
“Agent Prentiss, you have more than overextended your requests over the years and this simply isn’t something I’m willing to argue with you about. Goodnight Agent Prentiss, hopefully you’ll have come to your senses more by the morning.” And with that, the director hung up on her. This was far from how she was hoping for this conversation to have gone, she threw her phone back onto her desk not caring to see where it had landed, and leaned back in her chair. How on earth was she meant to deliver this information to her team? She could hardly believe it herself. I mean, of all the possible people they could’ve possibly wanted to have as consultants on this case.
Returning to the first page again. She let out a sigh as she massaged the area of her forehead above her nose. Surely the director was joking, right? There was no way they actually expected her to go along with this.