"𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢"
ɴᴏᴀʜ
𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦
"MATTHEW BENTON," I whisper to myself. I am stiff in my spot.
"Did Emily ever introduce you?" Penelope asks.
"No, she didn't," I mutter and slide off her desk. I walk myself out of the office and go to the round table room, finding it empty.
"Shit," I mumble and sit in one of the chairs.
I grip my knees tightly, watching my knuckles turn white.
"You have to stay calm," I think to myself.
I take a deep breath and grab my bookbag. I pull out my book and take the post-it note out of the last page. I stare at my own handwriting, the name Matthew Benton written with confidence.
Maybe that's why Emily is so concerned about the case. Maybe she knows something I don't.
No, she definitely knows something I don't.
Why else would she care so much about it? She hasn't spoken to him in years. She said he was a mess.
But what if that mess was my father?
—
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶
Emily walks into the interrogation room, quietly sitting across from Father Paul Silvano.
"Explain to me why you were the last person in the room when three men died," Emily snaps, not having any patience left to give.
"I'm a Priest, I was there for them spiritually,"
"They weren't on their deathbeds," Emily argues.
"Not physically," The man replies.
"Did you kill them?" Emily asks.
"No," Father Paul quietly says.
"But you're not sorry any of them are dead," The woman is quick to think of a way to get Father Paul to crack.
"Physical death is always sad, but now their souls are in Heaven. For that, their families have peace."
Emily glares at the man. How can someone be so cynical? To believe that people must die because their souls were 'possessed'. Emily left religion behind too long ago to understand.
Father Paul reveals that he told Mr. Benton he could relieve Matthew of his evils. This infuriates Emily further.
"What did you tell the other family members?" Emily badgers him, "After you watched their sons die? That it was God's will?"
"I've never laid a hand on anyone with malice in my life."
"Then explain these deaths to me!"
"You know the power of evil." Father Paul tells her, "You've been fighting it a long time."
"Preghi ancora? (𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆?)" Father Paul asks Emily.
"Questo non riguarda me. (𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲.)" Emily replies in quick Italian.
"Be strong," Father Paul advises, "The storm's almost over."
—
Noah finds solitude in JJ's office. She saw the team heading towards the round table and quickly rushed off before any of them could speak to her. One word from her mouth and they would know she knew something she is not supposed to.
The teen hears angry footsteps in the hallway. By the sound of them, she knew they were Emily's everyday heeled black boots. She watches the woman blow past the office, an angry Hotch right on her heels.
The teen tries to shake it away but is curious nonetheless. How can she not be when it involves someone who knows something about her adoption.
Noah turns back to the book in her hands. She tries to read, but every time she gets to a long paragraph, her mind wanders elsewhere and she has to start over.
Meanwhile, in Hotch's office, Emily is in trouble.
"Are you actually accusing the Italian government of authorizing this man's assassination list?" Hotch asks Emily as he steps up to her.
"He admits that he was present at every death!" Emily defends herself.
"The case is over," Hotch informs her.
"You said you'd give me leeway."
"And I did," Aaron states with a nod, "I understand your frustration. There are some things that we cannot control. Take some time off."
"What?" Emily gasps.
"I don't wanna see you in the office for the next few days," Hotch slightly raises his voice, needing to stand his ground.
Emily walks off as she huffs. She gathers her things, preparing herself to find Noah and go home. But Dave stops her.
"You up for another drive?" He asks and holds his keys up.
—
Noah grabs Emily's laptop from her desk. It is the laptop from home, so no one in the FBI would be checking to see what is in the search history.
The teen sits it on JJ's desk and begins by typing in Matthew's name. She is able to find a search tool website to find some information about him. Just by knowing his name, she has his Facebook profile, phone number, email address, and practically his whole family tree. But none of it points to her. The only connections between Matthew and Noah is Emily and her birth certificate.
"Excuse me, is this the media liaison's office?" JJ asks with a giggle as she walks into her office.
"Sorry, Jayge," Noah fakes a smile.
"It's okay, you can stay,"
"No, that's okay," Noah resists, "I really need to finish my homework," The teen makes an excuse and shuts the laptop. She takes all her stuff and walks out of the office before JJ can get a word in.
The teen finds herself alone at the round table again.
Noah gives up on her search. There is no use in looking for something when the person she sleeps across the hall from has all the answers.
—
𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘺'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦
Emily and Derek speed down the street of John's townhouse.
Emily and Dave were able to find the truth. John never heard from Matthew's parents, he knew Matthew was in danger and he knew who was causing it. With John getting the FBI on Father Paul's tail, he is the next target.
Once inside, Emily and Derek hear a commotion upstairs. There are voices screaming religious sayings and screams coming from a man. Emily and Derek whip out their guns from their holsters and walk upstairs.
"You're a murderer! Murderer!" John screams from the bedroom.
"I abjure you in the name of the spotless—" Father Paul shouts.
"Step away from him!" Emily exclaims as she opens the door, holding her gun up to Father Paul.
There lays John, strapped to the bed, sweating and bleeding from the nose.
"Tremble and flee..." Father Paul continues.
"Step away from him!" Emily repeats herself even louder.
Derek grabs Father Paul from behind as John shouts. Emily holsters her gun and rushes to John's side. She tries to calm him down, but it is like he is in a vicious delusion. Father Paul throws a liquid towards John, still reciting some sort of scripture.
"John," Emily frets as Derek escorts Father Paul out, "Shh, I want to untie you but I need you to calm down."
"Look at me, it's Emily,"
"Emily?" John asks as he looks up at the woman.
"Alright, I'm gonna untie you, just stay calm, okay?" Emily explains calmly, hearing John cough and gasp for air. She unties John from the bed, to which he pulls her into a hug.
—
Emily walks John out of the home, insisting he go to the ambulance. The snow falls all around them as the moon sits high in the sky. John tries to object, but she tells him he needs it.
"Emily, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." John suddenly says, "In Italy."
Emily flashes him a short smile.
"And the time after," John adds with a frown.
"Okay, just let them do their job," Emily sighs as she gestures towards the ambulance.
John places a small kiss on Emily's cheek. He would do anything to go back in time and do the right thing.
"Goodbye," He murmurs and turns to walk away, but stops to look back at Emily again, "And Emily?"
"Yeah?"
"She's a beautiful kid," He says with a smile, "And if she's anything like you, she must be strong."
With that, John walks away to the ambulance. Emily stares off into space until she sees Hotch.
"If you want my badge and gun, I understand." She says to her boss.
"There's a plane ticket in your name to Rome." Hotch says to Father Paul as Derek brings him over in handcuffs, "Agent Morgan and I will drive you to the airport."
"You have no right to deport me," Father Paul argues.
"The Vatican intervened," Rossi speaks up, "The Italian government has rescinded your diplomatic status."
"They'll do with you as they see fit when you're back in their jurisdiction," Hotch adds.
"You've all just made the world a much more dangerous place." Father Paul says, "Possa l'amore di Dio essere con te. (𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝗱'𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂.)" He snarls at Emily.
"E con te. (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂.)" Emily replies and watches him walk away.
She avenged Matthew's death. After all, he owed it to her.
—
Emily walks down the streets of D.C. It is freezing, but her hands in her coat pockets are the best she can manage.
She finds herself in front of the church. She pulls out a picture of herself, John, and Matthew. She had always kept it, no matter how far they all parted.
The snow is beautiful as it floats around Emily. People say snow represents a new beginning. A layer of white that covers the ground; a clean slate.
A red dot drops upon the picture in Emily's cold hands. She realizes it is from her nose.
John had pulled her into an embrace. The "holy water" that Father Paul had thrown over him was laced. None of the deaths were called for; Emily was right all along.
Emily puts her hand to her nose and examines the blood. She thinks back to Noah's first night with her. They have come so far from that moment, yet there is still so much to come.