Shock And Awe

Similarities?

A/N: Please note that other triggering content (self-harm and suicide will be discussed) throughout the story. Please be forewarned and take precautions if these are troubling for you.

A/N: These first several chapters are to provide you all with the backstory for these lovely ladies. Since the story begins midway through season 7, I want to make sure that I give you as much information as possible about what has happened in the five years they have known each other as possible, so that when the story kicks into high-gear and previous interactions or situations are mentioned, including the introduction of new characters and storylines that were not part of the original show, upcoming chapters will be make more sense.

I hope you enjoy the story...and please review...Now on with the show!!!

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"Consciously or not, we are all on a quest for answers, trying to learn the lessons of life. We grapple with fear and guilt. We search for meaning, love, and power. We try to understand fear, loss, and time. We seek to discover who we are and how we can become truly happy." ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"Everything that happens today is like something in the past, but it's also unlike things in the past. We never know until an event happens if it's the similarities or differences that matter more." ~ H. W. Brands
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Chapter 10

I realize that I have been staring at Emily for the past few minutes, but she doesn't seem to have noticed. She's pulled a blanket up around herself, as if she's trying to shield herself from everyone's view. It looks, from here, like she's absent-mindedly holding her injured arm. I'm not entirely sure if that's to shield it from view or because it's hurting. I've seen her act this way before. Rosalyn used to do the same thing once in a while. Seeing Emily behave in a similar way just heightens my concern. I remember being concerned about Emily before, when she reminded me of Rosalyn for one reason or another. But, every time that happened, she always deflected or something came up and the subject was changed, so I was never able to figure out what was going on. This time, I'm going to find out.

I remember when I first started to make the connection between Rosalyn and Emily and their similar behaviors. We got a case in Wyoming. As soon as they contacted me I knew that I would struggle with it. I just never thought that I would find myself thinking of Emily in relation to the case as well. I hadn't really talked about my sister to anyone, other than Garcia, before that case. She knew, but never told anyone else, or brought up my sister to me either. Garcia was there to listen if I needed to talk, but otherwise, she just never mentioned it. Talking or even thinking about my sister was just too painful.

I had thought about talking to Emily about Rosalyn over the years, but the timing just never felt right. Besides, it's not exactly easy just randomly discussing suicide. What was I supposed to say? How was your weekend? Oh, did I ever mention that my sister killed herself when I was 11 and I was the one that found her? It's haunted me for years since. Hey, could you pass the Splenda. Yeah, that would have been an interesting conversation in the breakroom. Especially considering how complicated our relationship was the past few years. That all changed with this case.

I had to convince Hotch to take the case in the beginning. I had a gut feeling something was wrong. Call it intuition or just a weird case of déjà vu. Something inside told me that the kids in this case weren't killing themselves, even if it looked that way to everyone else. I unfortunately knew a lot of the warning signs for suicide, and in this case, the kids just didn't seem to have them.