Hey guys. Here's a little one-shot that wouldn't leave me alone.

Enjoy.

Detour to Boston

Red and blue lights crash against the would-be beautiful sunset. She sits on the back of an ambulance as a paramedic tends to her arm. He's speaking to her, she knows it, but she can't hear a word he's saying. She can't help but get a little lost in the sunset beyond the trees. She sees Hotch come over. Time to snap out of it.

"How's she doing?" Hotch asks the paramedic.

"Just a graze. Clean and wrap is pretty much it," the paramedic answers.

Clean and wrap? Did he already do that? She looks down at her left arm, and sure enough, there is wrapping around her bicep. She didn't even feel it. She felt nothing. No sting from the antiseptic, not the tightening of the wrap around — Hotch is talking to her.

"Prentiss," Hotch tries to get her attention.

She looks up. "Sir?"

"If you need to rest at the hotel, we can head home tomorrow."

"That's not necessary sir."

"Emily."

"Hotch, I'm fine," she says hopping from the ambulance bumper. "Just a graze."

"Okay," he says. They both don't believe her. "Locals can handle everything here. We'll gather our belongings from the hotel and then head to the airport."

"Sounds good." She tries to muster a smile, but she knows it came out as a grimace.

The ride back to the hotel with Derek and Reid was silent. Or maybe the two men shared some words, Emily couldn't be sure, or maybe they tried to talk to her. She definitely didn't know. She was in her head. She didn't want to be stuck in her head, but she didn't want to talk either. She looked out the window, watching the streets pass quickly.

Gathering her belongings in the room was worse than the silent car ride. She shared a room with JJ and their was no escaping her concerned looks through a window as they grab their go bags and make sure everything is packed.

She plays with her cellphone during the elevator ride in an attempt to not notice JJ's sideway glances. Once the two reached the lobby, she knew there was no way she would be able to handle to looks for a whole plane ride. She didn't want to.

She stops behind the group as they make their way to the hotel's exit. "Hotch." Everyone stops and turns back to her.

"I'm gonna, uh —." She has no idea what to say.

"Guys," he addresses the team. They all leave the hotel. Hotch and Emily are alone.

"I think I'm gonna take that rest after all. I'll head out tomorrow. You guys don't have to wait for me."

"The team has the weekend off rotation. If you need time, you have it, Prentiss."

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"Alright. Take care of yourself," Hotch says before he turns and leaves the hotel.

Emily turns to the concierge when Hotch is out of sight. "Is there anywhere I can rent a car nearby?"

An hour and a half later, Emily's driving on the highway, bobbing her head to music on the radio. It's a welcome sound, compared to the silence of her last car ride. She even finds it in herself to sing along to a few songs.

Half an hour later, she parks the rented car and walks to her destination. She hasn't been here in a while, too long if she's honest.

She jogs up the steps of Boston Police Department Headquarters. Once Emily, her badge, and gun make it through security, she sees a refreshingly familiar face in the station cafe. Angela Rizzoli. The woman is organizing cookies in the countertop pastry window.

"Any M&M and chocolate chip?" Emily asks as she makes her way into the empty cafe.

Angela's head shoots up at the voice. She lets out a surprised shriek at seeing the profiler. As soon as Emily makes it to the counter, Angela pulls her across the counter into a hug. A smile springs up on Emily's face at Angela's excitement.

"Emily Prentiss, what are you doing here? What happened to your arm? Are you okay?" Angela asks.

She'd actually forgotten about her arm. BPD and her music-filled drive was all that she'd thought about since making the decision to head for Boston. She hadn't thought about—

She shakes her head. "Just a little graze. I'm fine."

"I swear, between you, Janie, and Frankie, I don't know what to do." Angela looks in Emily's eyes and doesn't like what she sees. But Jane and Emily are alike. You have to wait for them to come to you if they want to talk. "How long are you in town, honey?"

"I leave tomorrow, was just in the area."

"That's too soon," Angela says. "Well, you have to come over and I'll whip up one of your favorites for dinner."

"Angela, you don't have to."

"I am, and that's that. Now, go see Janie. I'm sure she'd love to see you." Angela shoos Emily away.

Emily smiles. "Yes, ma'am."

She rides the elevator to the homicide floor, glad that she has it to herself. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and sees that she has voice messages from Garcia, JJ, and Derek from hours ago. She had put her phone on silent when she was talking to the concierge. She takes it off silent as the elevator doors open.

As she nears the homicide bullpen entrance, she hears Jane groan, "Ugh, Ma says she has a surprise for me." Jane's back is to the entrance, facing Korsak and Frost.

"It's nice that she wants to surprise you, Jane. You really should be more appreciative," Maura says from her perch against Jane's desk.

"Yeah, Jane," Emily says entering the bullpen. "Especially, when that surprise is your best friend."

Everyone in the room turns at Emily's voice. "Yeah, well, Maura's standing right here, so, not that big of a surprise," Jane says with a smirk from her chair.

Emily punches Jane's shoulder. "Ass." She feels the sting of her wound when she reaches to the other side of the desk and touches Maura's arm, "Hey, Maura."

"Hello, Emily. How are you?"

"Fine," Emily says with a small smile. "Hey, guys," she addresses Frost and Korsak.

"What's with the arm, Em?" Jane asks.

"Case. Just a graze." Emily's hands go to the top of her thighs with a light squeeze as she leans on the side of Jane's desk.

That was Emily's tell. Jane saw the movement for what it was: an attempt not to pick at her nails. Jane catches eyes with Maura. She saw it too.

Jane gets up from her chair. "Alright, I'm going to head out," she announces. "No doubt, Ma, will want to have a dinner for this one." Jane gestures to Emily. "Wanna hit the Robber before dinner?" She asks Emily.

"Of course," Emily answers. "Maura?"

"I think I'll head home and help Angela with dinner," Maura says.

"We'll be there in a few hours," Jane says. They all bid the guys goodnight and then go their separate ways. Maura finds Angela closing down the cafe and Jane and Emily head to the Dirty Robber.

The Dirty Robber

Jane and Emily sit across from one another in Jane's favorite booth with a beer in front of them. The bar isn't crowded, but there are just enough people having their own conversations that they all mesh into one another. It gives their conversation the anonymity that they both like.

"So what's up?" Jane asked.

"Can't I come see my friend? I was in the area." Emily takes a swig from her beer.

"Yeah, sure, but you usually don't stay in the area once a case is wrapped." She gestures to Emily's arm. "And I know you weren't in Boston, so that means you went out of your way to get here. Detective, remember?" Jane smirks.

"Profiler." Emily narrows her eyes at Jane in a playful challenge.

Jane gives a disbelieving chuckle. "You can't keep anything from me. Never could. You're almost as bad as Maura, Em."

"You can't keep anything from me either," Emily accused.

"Yeah, but we're not talking about me." They both sit in the silence comfortably.

Emily breaks the silence. "I was in Lexington for a case. It was— the UnSub conned this kid into being his partner. He was 14." Emily stops.

Jane leans into the table. She's listening, but doesn't offer anything. She knows she has to let Emily get this out at her own pace. Lord knows, she hates when she's pestered to keep talking when she doesn't want to, especially if it deals with a tough case.

"He wanted the approval of the only person who he thought gave a damn so bad. He wanted it so bad, Jay." Emily tightens her grip on her beer. "And the asshole gave him up the first second he got," Emily pauses again to take a drink. "He was holed up in an abandoned house. The house the UnSub trained him in. He was behind a door during the sweep and locked it as soon as I was in the room. Derek was right behind me, but the kid was quick, as soon as I cleared—."

Emily shakes her head and takes another sip. Jane does the same.

"He had a gun, of course," Emily laughs bitterly. "He was angry we took his best friend. He was there, angry and concerned about the UnSub, and his 'friend' was running his mouth about how everything was this kid's idea. We knew it wasn't. I was talking him down. I really thought I was, but then he asked—." Emily smacks her fist down on the table. "He raised the gun, Jay, and I had to—He was fourteen." Emily rubs at her eyes to deter the tears building up behind them.

Emily and Jane each take gulps of their beer. Jane knew this was hard. A kid dying from a crime was hard, incredibly hard, but a kid dying by your own gun? That was painful on an incomparable level. You wish it had been you to take the bullet to spare the child's young life.

"I'm going to tell you something. And you're going to hate it," Jane starts. "But I'm going to say it anyway, because you said it to me, and you were right." Jane makes sure to look her friend right in the eye. "You did nothing wrong, Emily."

"Jane —."

"No. Listen to me, Em. What happened really fucking sucks. And it was unfortunate. But you didn't do anything wrong. When I called you after I shot Doyle, what did you say?"

Emily sighs. "I said 'you did nothing wrong. He would have shot you. It was either you or him,' but Jay, this is different. He was a kid."

"Who had already killed people, Em. Once the gun is raised, it's you or him. And he got a piece of you, "Jane says gesturing to Emily's arm.

"It's just a —."

"Just a graze. Yeah I know," Jane cuts in. "It was you or him. Just like it was me or Doyle."

"God, I hate when you're right," Emily says.

"It's even worse when it's your own words, isn't it?" Jane says with a smirk.

Emily laughs. Genuinely. "Ass."

"I'm sorry that happened though, Em."

"It's the job." Emily shrugs.

"It's still messed up. You on leave?"

"Unofficially. The team has the weekend off."

"You gonna stay here?"

"Don't know." Emily's phone beeps. She pulls it out of her pocket. She can't stop the smile that springs up on her face when she looks at the screen. Emily tries to school her features in front of Jane, but it's just not possible to shut down the smile as she looks at the screen and rereads the message.

"Wait, what is that?" Jane says. "Do you have a special someone back in DC?" Jane teases.

Emily types out a quick message and then replaces the phone in her pocket. "Careful, Janie, you're turning into your mother," Emily teases back.

"Shut up. I'm just an oh-so-curious friend. Come on, tell me."

"Fine. Yes."

"Is this Ma-safe information? You know she'll ask, but I just want to know if I'll be throwing you under the bus or not when I deflect her mentions of my relationship.

Emily laughs. "Sure. I think it's my turn to be thrown into the Angela fire."

"Damn right. Last time, you ratted me out and then ran away to DC." Jane looks at her watch. "We should head to the house. Ma and Maur should be about done with dinner."

"Let's go. I'm starving."

The two brunettes settle their bills and then head out. Emily actually feels a little better after her talk with Jane about what transpired.

Heading to Boston was definitely a good idea. Her team was great and she trusted them, but they were too close to what happened today. Seeing Jane and Maura and Angela was a welcome break. While she knew they were all concerned, the magnitude of their concern compared to the team's was less. She needed to process what happened without the constant concerned glances. Here in Boston, they let her deal on her own terms. And she was grateful for that. She was grateful for all the years, all the trust, and all the love between her and her Boston family.

Hey you've reached the end of this one. Tell me what you think. I wasn't sure about the characterization, so if you have any thoughts on that, please let me know.

If you like this, check out my other Criminal Minds stories.

Thanks for reading.

TVCrazed.