Authors Note: I hope you all enjoy the story! Comments are much appreciated! Please share if you have any ideas or comments.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds :'(

"The bruise on the heart which at first feels incredibly tender to the slightest touch eventually turns all the shades of the rainbow and stops aching. We forget about it. We even forget we have hearts until the next time. And then we wonder how we ever could have forgotten. We think this one is better, because, in fact, we cannot fully remember the time before."

- Erica Jong

She looked into the mirror and shook her head sadly. The bruise on her face was turning into a greenish- yellow lump. Yet, the cut on her lip was still prominent. She turned away from the mirror disgusted with the way she looked. A tear slowly glided down her face as she closed her eyes, but she quickly wiped it off. How could I have let this happen? She asked herself. Suddenly the phone rang cutting into her thoughts.

"Yes?" She answered, clearing her voice.

"Prentiss, are you coming in today?" Hotch's stern voice arose from the other side of the phone.

Emily looked up at the clock, realizing it was already 9:30.

"Yes, sorry Hotch, I'm on my way."

"Okay, hurry up." He hung up the phone.

Emily sighed again; she couldn't miss work for three days in a row. She walked over to her dresser and winced as she pulled her shirt over her head. It was long sleeved, so it covered most of the bruises on her arms. She slowly stepped into her pants being sure not to put too much weight on her left leg. After she had her clothes on, she brushed her hair in such a fashion as too draw attention away from the cut and bruise. Grabbing her bag she slowly walked out of her apartment and drove to work.

"Hey pretty boy, give it here!" Morgan shouted trying to grab a piece of paper out of Reid's hand. They both stopped when they saw Emily walk in to the office.

"Hey Prentiss!" Morgan and Reid waved.

She gave them a nod, but went right over to her desk and set down her bag. Groaning, she looked over at the paper work that had piled up on her desk over the past two days.

"Where've you been?" Morgan rested his hand on her shoulder. Emily jumped at the touch and turned around.

"A little jumpy?" Morgan questioned.

"Sorry," Emily apologized.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a bad case of food poisoning."

"It should be a crime; them being allowed to give you paper work while you're at home puking your guts out." Morgan joked.

Emily chuckled back, and then sat down at her paper work.

He took the queue, went back over to Reid, and re attempted to get the piece of paper he was holding.

Emily put her head into her hands. She hadn't even made a dent in her paper work, but she couldn't concentrate. God, I need to snap out of this, she commanded herself. Never had she let herself lose concentration like this. She was about to retry at the paper work with a voice said, "Prentiss?"

The voice made her jump and she quickly looked up. Hotch was standing all of but 5 feet away from her. She let out a small breath of relief.

"Are you okay Emily? You're not still sick are you?" Hotch asked quizzically.

"No, I'm fine." She answered, nodding.

Hotch gave her a look that said he didn't quite believe her, but let it slide for now.

"JJ called us to the conference room. We have another case."

Emily looked around the office and realized that everyone was gone. She stood up, muffling a groan as she walked a few feet behind Hotch to the room.

"Nice of you to join us," Morgan cracked when they walked into the room. Emily tried to laugh, but it came out more of a half cough.

"My precious! I heard you had food poisoning!" Garcia exclaimed concerned. Her attire today consisted of a red flowered skirt, red shirt, and lips to match. A red bow was on top of her head along with pigtail braids.

Emily nodded in response.

"Are you okay?"

"We should talk about the case." Emily stated, ignoring the question. Garcia looked hurt, but accepted the answer.

"Okay," JJ started, "There have been 3 bodies found. They were all beaten and then their throats were cut." The pictures of the bodies sat on the screen. Emily stared at them, finding herself not able to take her eyes away. She thought back to seeing herself in the mirror this morning. Bruises covered her body; she didn't look much different than these girls. She tried to shake the thought out of her head, but was unsuccessful.

"What do you think Prentiss?" Morgan's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmmm?" She looked up quickly. She realized that the screen had changed slides to the picture of a young girl. It looked like one that would be used for a senior photograph.

"What do you think? About the unsub?"

"Ummm…" Emily looked around the room. She had missed everything JJ had said, she needed to come up with something.

"I think," Reid interrupted the silence, saving Emily, "That our unsub is will be an alpha male, with the need to feel control. That is the reason that he would beat them and cut their throats."

Emily looked at Reid with gratification and he returned it with a questioning look.

"Okay, we'll talk more about this on the flight. Wheels up in 20." Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and JJ walked out of the room to grab their bags.

"Deary, are you feeling okay?" Garcia asked more concerned than before.

"I'm fine." Emily answered getting out of her chair.

"You don't look fine. You were a million miles away right then." Morgan answered blocking her way out of the room.

"Morgan." Emily warned him. She tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm. A shot of pain went across her face, and she winced as he grabbed her. Morgan saw her face and loosened his grip.

"Get away from me." She growled. She pushed him to the side and marched out of the room.

After she left, Garcia looked at Morgan, "You find out what is wrong with my baby."

"You know I will sweet cheeks." Morgan kissed her forehead.

The chapters are going to be a little on the shorter side, but I will update more frequently! Thanks for reading, comment if you can!