The Hunting Hour - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 1: Joyfull Season

Washington DC, USA...

It had been 3 months since 9 year-old Isabella had seen her half-brother for the last time.
She remembered that weekend he spent with her after her school choir performance. They had so much fun together.
She had talked to him on the phone a lot but he was very busy working in the hospital and at the practice and couldn't go visit her again till that Christmas Eve morning.

She was sitting on the couch with Penelope Garcia, waiting for his arrival.

"They should be here anytime." Emily Prentiss, Bella's Mom, said walking in the living room and handing a cupcake to Bella and one to Penelope.

"Mom, who's coming exactly?" Bella asked and took a bite of her cupcake. The petit brunette was really excited to have people over.

"Hilary with Chloe and Millie, Your brother and Marley... And the team" Emily smiled.

Suddenly the buzzer rang. Bella smiled and ran to answer.
"Who is it?" She asked.

"Santa Claus" Jeremy said and she laughed.
Losing her dad was not easy and it was made worse by what her brother had tried to do, that custody battle broke her, but she was glad she was with her mother now and she was happy to see him. She really loved him.

"Come on up Jeremy" she said smiling and buzzed him in.
It wasn't long till he knocked on the door. Bella opened it and gave him a big hug. He lifted her up. "I missed you" Bella said.

"I missed you too" Jeremy smiled and put her down.

"Hi Marley" Bella said and hugged her brother's girlfriend.
They said hello to Emily and Penelope and started helping in the kitchen.
They had a great day cooking together.

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Around 5:30, they all went to get ready since dinner was meant to start at 7:45.
Bella showered and got dressed.
She walked downstairs and everyone smiled at how cute she looked. She had black tights, black Mary Janes and an adorable red dress on. Her hair was down with just a red ribbon tied on the top of her head, just like Matilda's in the movie.

"What?" She asked as she noticed everybody smiling.

"You look gorgeous, honey" Emily told her with a big proud smile.

"Thanks" Bella said with a shy smile and walked to her mother.
They sat to watch tv while waiting for the guests. Everyone was concentrated on the Christmas special they were watching but Emily couldn't take her eyes away from the Christmas tree that stood in the corner of the living room.
Bella had chosen the place and they had so much fun decorating it.
It was the first Christmas tree she ever had in her own house.
Emily smiled as she remembered the day they put it up.

Suddenly she heard Isabella laughing and she remembered the girl's first Christmas.

**** 9 years ago... New York City.

It had been a month since Emily had left Bella for the first time. It was a hard decision to leave the girl in America with John, Bella's dad, so she could work for Interpol and her daughter would be safe.
She tried focusing on her work other than the fact her daughter was so far away from her. She had to go back undercover. She tried calling John whenever she could using a disposable phone and mostly at night. She said she was going to try to see them around Christmas. She really didn't want to miss Isabella's first Christmas.
John always told her that Isabella was doing fine but the truth was that the child was missing her mother. She would get fussy when she was hungry and refused the bottle sometimes and just cried.
For John, in the first few weeks the crying was the worst part. He would have to walk around the house bouncing and almost dancing to be able to calm Isabella down. While with Emily all she needed to do was hold the baby close.
For John's luck one day He had a friend over, Shepherd, and Isabella started crying. John was cooking dinner so Shepherd went to get the girl. He placed her head on the left side of his chest and just walked downstairs. When he got to the kitchen she was barely making a sound.