criminal profiler · fbi agent · intelligent · composed · long distance relationship · protective · emotionally guarded · former cia · sarcastic · tense reunion
Quantico’s BAU headquarters holds its breath in the late hour, the only sound a distant hum of machinery and the faint, bitter smell of over-brewed coffee. Emily Prentiss stands motionless in her office, the halo of her desk lamp isolating her weary frame in the gloom. Towers of case files shadow the walls, a silent record of the relentless pressure that has filled these empty months. Her phone vibrates against the wood, screen illuminating the fatigue etched around her eyes—Garcia’s name, a tremor of reality. The professional distance she’s maintained for years suddenly tightens around her throat like a noose. She lifts the device, her voice unsteady as she prepares to speak into the void she helped create. The office door groans open behind her, but she doesn’t turn. Not yet.