Author Note – Spoilers for Valhalla and Lauren.

A Mother's Dream

'A Mother's dream is to raise up a child who will grow up and be a blessing to the entire world.' - Terry Mark

It was late in the evening, and Elizabeth sat on the small balcony off of her office listening to the last strains of the music she had put on. She was about to give up on the book she was reading, the words beginning to blur. Placing her favourite worn bookmark in the fold of the book, pausing on the photograph her father had taken of Emily just an hour after she had been born. Elizabeth had been enthralled by the tiny girl in her arms to capture the moment but her father snapped the camera before she realised what was happening.

She smiled as her thumb caressed the creased black and white image. This was her daughter's first photo. Elizabeth smile grew as she remembered all of the firsts that came after, first smile, first laugh, first word, first steps which led to the first major tantrum. Elizabeth laughed at the memory of a fourteen month Emily standing in the short space between her and her ex-husband, vehemently shaking her head to refuse the offer of a hand to walk to either parent, wanting to do it all on her own. 'So independent, even at such a young age,' Elizabeth thought.

Gazing at her daughter's infant features, Elizabeth's smile slowly disappeared to be replaced by a frown. It had been so long since she had spoken to Emily. Elizabeth had been in Italy for months now, and Emily was busy with work, neither of them found the time to connect. Her heart grew heavy and a sense of foreboding came over her as well as the urge to call Emily.

Looking at the clock on her desk she noted it was nearly two in the morning. Any phone call she made now would put Emily on edge. She didn't want Emily to worry with wondering why she was awake in the middle of the night. It could wait till the morning. Elizabeth shook her head, trying to shake the ominous feeling that was welling in the pit of her heart. Resolutely she stood one last glance at the image of her beautiful daughter before she shut the book.

Stepping through the patio doors of her study, Elizabeth shut and locked them. Her head of security had been overly cautious of late, drafting extra guards, extra cameras, and he had ordered renovations to various areas of the house, only saying they were part of a security overhaul. He also sternly reminded her to be vigilant in her rare private moments. The lock clicked into place and Elizabeth turned to shut of her desk light only to jump at the sight of her head of security hovering in her doorway. Her heart beat quickened Elizabeth lifted her free hand to her chest. "Charles, you scared me," she scolded lightly.

He had been a part of her security team for nearly twenty years, ex-military, and damn good at his job. Elizabeth trusted him and he was a close confident, knowing when to listen and able to judge when his input was needed. Elizabeth frowned at his dejected posture as he ducked his head, pausing in the doorway looking at her with nothing but concern.

"You never linger Charles," she prompted as she placed the book on her desk, extended her other hand to gesture him into the room.

He approached with trepidation, as he drew closer to the other side of her desk Elizabeth's concern grew when she saw the drawn look on his face and the unshed tears in his eyes. He came to halt on the other side of the desk just looking at her sadly.

"I'm sorry Ambassador, I thought this would be better coming from me than the night security," Charles cleared his throat. "We just received contact from the FBI," he stated gruffly.

Elizabeth's breath caught, her heart ceased beating for a moment as she waited for him to inform her of the inevitable, her eyes dropped fleetingly to the illuminated photo of an adult Emily on her desk. Charles continued to relay the conversation he had with Agent Hotchner but Elizabeth barely heard anything he had to say. She only registered snippets. The phone call she had always dreaded, the one that haunted her nightmares had come. Emily was hurt.

"Lost too much blood."

Elizabeth braced the edge of her desk as she thought she might fall. Tears filled Elizabeth's eyes, the image of her daughter blurring. She was her precious little girl.

"The doctors did everything they could."

They gave up on Emily. They couldn't have. Emily wouldn't have given up; she would have fought to the end. She was stubborn, just like Elizabeth. But Emily was stronger than Elizabeth was. She remembered the day Emily informed her of her career choice. Elizabeth was outwardly aghast at the prospect of her daughter going into law enforcement, hoping it was a passing fad and Emily would grow tired of the tedious hours. As she listened to Emily's reasons for choosing, protecting people with no regard for her own safety, Elizabeth realised it wouldn't be and was secretly proud of her daughter for doing something she believed in, for going against the expectations that society had put upon her from birth.

"Died on the table."

A silent sob escaped as the tears began to fall, and Elizabeth crumbled into her desk chair. She mutely listened as Charles began to give his condolences for her loss. Her body shook as the tears continued to fall. Wrapping her arms around her own waist, Elizabeth felt alone.

Her mother had passed away before Emily was born. Her father had showered her with affection in the wake of his wife's death, affection which was extended to his granddaughter when she was born. She hadn't spoken to Emily's father, Andrew, for nearly twenty years, since Emily was a teenager. Even then the only words she exchanged with her former husband had been through a lawyer.

Emily was gone. Dead. Emily had left her alone in the world.

She had no one. No grandchildren left behind who she could comfort, nor seek comfort from, no one to regale with tales of their mother when they grew older and started asking questions. She had so much left to say to Emily. About how proud she was of her, how much she loved her.

"They're doing everything they can to locate the man who did this."

Elizabeth stilled as Charles spoke. Someone had taken her daughter away from her. Sitting up straighter, she wiped her tear stained cheeks with the back of her finger. Choking back her sob she raised her still blurred vision to Charles.

"They know who did this?"

"Yes Ma'am," Charles ducked his head.

Elizabeth breathed out. Anger rose within her, wondering how anyone had allowed this to happen, wondering what kind of monster could do this. She blinked to clear her eyes. Arrangements needed to be made. Every part of her being felt like giving up, giving in to the tears that threatened to spill, but she wouldn't cry again till she was in private and she could mourn her daughter in the way she wanted. She would be strong for her daughter.

"Thank you for telling me," Elizabeth's strained voice fought to conceal her heartbreak. "Could you start making arrangements to leave for Washington first thing in the morning?" She stood and stepped out from behind her desk only to halt when Charles stepped forward, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," he told her softly.

Elizabeth frowned. "I need to make arrangements for her funeral," she told him fiercely, her eyes watering.

"It's not safe for you to be in DC right now," Charles started to explain. "The man who did this is still at large. He killed several agents, as well as their families, before he went after Emily. Agent Hotchner believes you could be in danger if you go to the States. He also threatened the other members of his team."

"Who murdered my daughter?"

Charles nodded. "He was an arms dealer your daughter put in prison years ago."

Elizabeth looked up sharply. "No one is going to stop me from saying goodbye to my daughter. He killed her, why would he want to hurt me now that she is gone?"

Charles stared at her for a beat. "Emily thought he would," he said. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed when he swallowed nervously, but she waited for him to continue. "She phoned me several weeks ago, asking if anyone had shown an unusual interest in your security, or if anyone had noticed anything out of the ordinary. She ordered me to be overly cautious, and increase your personal security without your knowledge." His lips lifted into a half smile. "She even made me aware of a few ways she used to sneak in and out of here when she was a teenager, to help me fill the gaps in our perimeter. I must say they were inventive."

Elizabeth smiled fondly. She had been well aware of her daughter's preferred method of entering and leaving the property during her rebellious faze.

He turned serious again. "I tried to trace the call, but she used a disposable cell. She was scared Elizabeth. I tried to get more information out of her, but she wouldn't tell me only made me promise to protect you, made me promise not to bring you to the States if anything happened to her."

Elizabeth's lips trembled as she tried to verbalise her thoughts. Emily had known someone was coming for her. This man had hunted his daughter out of twisted sense of revenge. She could barely imagine what her fearless daughter had been through, scared for her life, looking over her shoulder for what had apparently been weeks. In her fear, she had tried to ensure Elizabeth's safety from this man.

Casting a glance over her desk, the pictures there, Elizabeth sighed. Allowing her grief to show briefly she looked at Charles, seemingly giving up. "Fine, I will abide my daughter's wishes. But as soon as her murderer is caught," her lip quivered and she thought she would give into the tears, but she resolutely bit them back. "I better be on a plane within the hour," she ordered Charles, who nodded his acceptance of his task. Rising to her full height, she appraised him again. "Good, now I would like to be left alone."

His gaze searched her face, and for a moment Elizabeth thought he would refuse. She swallowed and allowed a few tears to escape as she picked up the discarded book from the desk, folding her arms over it and the treasure hidden within as she held it protectively to her chest. She slid into her chair, turning away from him, sniffing back the tears as she did so.

Elizabeth heard him shuffle hesitantly, and she thought he wasn't going to leave out of and obligation to fulfil Emily's final command.

"If I'm not going to be able to say goodbye to my daughter, please leave me alone so I can grieve for her."

Seconds later Elizabeth heard his retreating footsteps, and the door click behind him. She waited for several minutes as he hovered outside of the door. Once she was confident he wouldn't be returning, Elizabeth quietly grabbed the handbag which she had dropped beside her desk hours earlier. Relieved it was a fairly large bag, she put a sweater and her book along with Emily's photo tucked securely inside into it. Opening her draw she retrieved her passport and her purse, placing them into the bag as well.

Shouldering her bag Elizabeth tiptoed to her patio doors, silently hoping Emily had omitted one of her escape routes. No one was going to stop her from saying goodbye to her daughter.

Author Note –This has been going through my head for a few weeks now, well at least the second chapter that I have planned has. It came to me when I was writing my last story. This chapter is just easing into that. I hope you enjoyed it. I would love to know what you think of it, especially what you thought of how I portrayed Elizabeth. If you have the time, please let me know.