Prologue

Why was he looking at me like that? I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me. I am completely fine. In every sense of the word. Those were just some of the thoughts running though Emily Prentiss's brain as she stepped into her boss's office to find a man in a business suit smile slightly, his way of greeting her she presumed.

"Prentiss," he said, rising slowly out of his seat to greet her.

"Hotch," her reply was stiff and formal. Controlled and not like the woman she used to be, he mused sadly.

"Why don't you have a seat?"

Prentiss looked at him wearily, what did he want?

"I'd rather stand thank you very much."

"Prentiss ... Emily," there was a new voice this time, a much gruffer voice. Emily turned to look around and came face to face with not one, but two men.

"Rossi, Reid. What are both of you doing here? Better yet, what am I doing here?" she asked, startled by the sight of three of her closest work colleagues, whom she hoped she could still dare to call her friends.

All three men knew what was going to happen, what had to happen and all three knew that it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Emily, I really think you should take a seat."

"And I really think I shouldn't." If she sat, she'd be more vulnerable, she couldn't escape, she had to escape if things got messy. She'd find a way, but she couldn't take them on, maybe she would have stood a chance individually, but not as a group.

"Emily, are you even listening to me?"

"Well Hotch," she sneered his name with as much contempt as she could muster, "why don't you tell me why I'm here instead of babbling on about some stupid nonsense that happened in the past."

Hotch looked over at the two men sitting on the couch. It was now or never, he just whished he didn't have to be the one to deliver the news.

"Emily, it's over. We know."

"Know what." They could all see the confusion on her face, but they could all see the underlying guilt and panic that hid in the depths of her eyes. She had become too easy to read. Not a good thing when confronted with three highly intelligent profilers.

"We know about your addiction."

And with that declaration, Emily Prentiss fainted.

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