Broken Wings Chapter 1
A/N Hey Everyone, this is just a story that I have had in my head for a while. I realize I still have another story to finish and I have not forgotten about it. I'll try to work on both at the same time. Like the other story I don't know how often I'll update, but reviews definitely keep my motivation up to finish the story.
As the raven haired beauty walked through a set of glass doors, she paused taking a deep breath and looked around. A smile graced her face as she took in the bustle of the work place before her. A dark skinned agent was throwing scrunched up paper balls at the head of a young lanky man who was dressed as if he was an old college professor. An eccentrically dressed woman was standing at a desk giggling and talking to a blonde haired blue eyed woman who was leaning back in her chair. Stepping forward she made her way through the maze of desks and up a small flight of stairs, stopping in front of a closed door she knocked. Hearing an acknowledgement, she turned the handle and walked into the office.
Hotch looked up as a knock sounded at his closed office door. After saying "Come in" the door opened revealing a tall and beautiful dark haired woman. Frowning as he realized that the woman was familiar but he just couldn't place her face he spoke "What can I do for you?"
"Hi I am Agent Prentiss and I am reporting for my first day of work." Emily said walking forward holding out her hand.
Hotch ignored the outstretched hand saying "I think you have the wrong office I haven't hired anyone."
"But Chief Strauss said that she consulted with you about my hire and that you were expecting me this morning. " Prentiss said brow furrowing as she realized that Erin Strauss had lied and had hired her for her own political agenda against Agent Hotchner. How she hated politics, she really thought she got hired this time based on her skill and work ethic not on her family ties or her ability to piss of the man in front of her.
Aaron sighed realizing that at the same time that Erin Strauss had hired Agent Prentiss as a pawn in whatever game she was playing with him. "Well we are about to go out on a case and since I didn't know about your hire I will deal with it when I get back. I will call you when we get back and I will sort out all the paperwork to have you start here, for right now go back home and wait for my call." Hotch said as he dismissed her from his office.
Walking towards the door to exit the office, Emily paused in her steps turning around to face the unit Chief. "I think there is something you should know before you start my paperwork to work here. There might be times where I need to leave work early or step out during the day. Also I may have emergencies where I need to leave an out of town case."
"What are you saying?" Hotch asked with a frown.
"Well something I didn't tell Strauss was that I have a four year old son, Jaime, and he has some specific medical concerns that may cause me to have to take off work to take him to doctor's appointments or look after him."
"What kind of medical concerns?" Hotch asked, seriously reconsidering if letting her work here would be in everyone's best interests.
"He has osteogenesis imperfecta it's a genetic condition that causes his bones to be considerably brittle. The smallest bump could break a bone and he has already had 29 broken bones in his short life." Emily explained, trying to portray it in such a way as to not scare her potential boss off. However she felt she owed him to at least give him a head's up that her personal life could pull her away from work.
"I'm sure that must be difficult and I will try to work around your schedule as much as possible. However, I implore you to think long and hard about this decision and whether this job is the best fit for you. The BAU is called away frequently and I know how difficult it is too raise a son with such a schedule, I can only imagine what it is like to raise one with medical issues." Hotch said, his brown eyes boring into hers making sure she understood the sacrifices of this job.
Emily did not flinch under the intense stare of Hotch, instead she gave her own severe glare set in her decision to join the BAU. "I assure you Agent Hotchner that I have thought long and hard about how this job will affect my son. However, I believe that having a mother that is passionate and who loves her work is better than a mother who hates her job but is able to be home at five o'clock every night."
"Very well as I said I need to go brief the team on a very time sensitive case, but I will call you when we get back and work out your start date." Hotch said getting up from his desk and showing his visitor to the door.
"Thank you." Emily responded while walking back through the maze of desks ignoring the curious stares thrown her way.
The next three days were anxiety filled as paced in front of her cell phone waiting for it to ring in between caring for her son. She was able to set up a nanny for Jaime that was able to look after his medical needs while she was at work. She had found a young woman named Charlotte that was taking classes online to become a nurse and needed the job to pay for her tuition.
Hearing the phone ring Emily pounced answering after only one ring. "Hello, Emily Prentiss speaking."
"Hello Agent Prentiss, this is Agent Hotchner, we are back in Quantico after our last case and I was wondering if you were able to come in tomorrow and meet with me to finish all of your paperwork to get you started here."
"Of course, I can be there at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning." Emily rushed out excited to finally be starting in the department that she worked so hard to get to.
"Great see you tomorrow." Hotch said hanging up the phone.
Emily smiled closing her phone dreaming about what it would be like to work and contribute to such an elite unit.
The next day Emily walked back into the BAU this time taking the time to look around and imagine which desk was going to be hers. Not realizing how long she had been standing there she heard a throat clearing behind her. Turning around she met the eyes of Aaron Hotchner.
"I thought we could meet in my office, a little more private than out here don't you think?" He said, his eyes twinkling as he caught her daydreaming.
Emily blushed realizing that her moment of woolgathering was caught by her section chief. Following his lead into his office she shut the door behind her.
Down below in the bullpen Morgan and Reid looked up at Hotch's office where a tall and slender woman just entered. Seeing the closed doors and blinds their curiosity was peaked as to who this lady was. "Do you think it is Elle's replacement?" Reid asked as he looked over at Morgan.
"I don't know but if she is, it puts a stop to my plans to ask her out." Morgan said leaning back in his chair.
"What do you mean ask her out, you don't know the woman she could be married for all you know." Reid said with a perplexed look on his face, not being able to fathom asking out a complete stranger.
"Well you got to take a chance when a lady as fine as that walks by." Morgan replied with a smirk on his face.
At that moment Garcia and JJ walked up standing around the two agents desks. "Who's in Hotch's office that is so top secret he closed his blinds and door?" JJ asked sitting herself atop of Spencer's desk.
"We don't know, but she is one fine specimen of a woman." Morgan answered.
Garcia hit Morgan on the shoulder "Keep it in your pants my chocolate Adonis."
Just then Hotch's office door opened revealing Hotch and a raven haired woman with big brown eyes. Walking down the stairs the duo made their way over to the group of agents gathered around Reid's desk. "Everyone this is Agent Prentiss she is replacing Agent Greenaway and is starting today. Agent Prentiss these are Agents Reid, Jareau, Morgan and Garcia. Agents I'm sure you will make her feel welcome." With that Hotch walked away going back to his office and shutting the door.
Looking back at the gazes focused on her she introduced herself "You can just call me Emily, it's nice to meet you guys." She said while extending her hand.
Garcia pulled her into a hug instead "Oh no need to be so formal, we are all like family to each other and now you're just another member of our big happy family."
Prentiss was a little bit shocked by the straight forwardness of the eccentric blonde but didn't break the hug. When the blonde pulled away she was left standing there with a shocked expression on her face. JJ laughed at the new agent's reaction "Don't worry we are all not that touchy feely, just Garcia. I'm Jennifer Jareau but everyone calls me JJ."
Emily smiled already taking a liking to the petite blonde. Reid waved from his spot behind his desk simply saying "I'm Spencer." Emily waved back and gave a smile to the young man who seemed strangely innocent.
"I'm Morgan, but all you need to know is that I'm single." Morgan said sidling over to stand beside Emily.
Emily snorted at the blatant move made by the dark skinned agent. "Yeah I think I'm going to stick with Morgan."
Morgan shrugged sitting back down at his desk. The others began to disperse, allowing Emily to get acquainted with her new desk.
The next three days Emily fell into a comfortable pattern with her co-workers. She would harmlessly flirt with Morgan, JJ was fast becoming a confidant who she could go to for girl talk, she viewed Reid as a sort of younger brother and Garcia as a loud older sister. Even though she had started to establish relationships with her co-workers she had yet to tell them about a very important part of her life, Jaime. She was reluctant to tell everyone about her son because she knew that once she explained about Jaime she would get the customary pitying gazes and she wanted to avoid being pitied by her co-workers at all costs.
It was nearing the end of the afternoon and Emily was finishing off the last of her paperwork trying to rush so she could go and spend some time with her son tonight. When all of sudden she heard a familiar voice crying "Mommy!" Emily's head sprang up at the sound looking around to see where it came from. Spotting her son powering his way in on his wheelchair Emily was confused as to why he was there. Charlotte the nanny was hurrying behind him looking quite frazzled.
"I'm sorry Emily I didn't know what else to do, but I just got a call from my mom saying that my grandma was in the hospital after she was found this morning on the floor. I hate to do this to you but I have to go and fly out to be with my family. I hope you can look after Jaime until I'm back." Charlotte rushed out looking very close to tears.
"It's fine Charlotte, I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother. Take all the time you need Jaime will be just fine." Emily said pulling the young girl in for a hug then leaning down and ruffling her son's hair. As Charlotte began to walk away Emily turned around to face her shocked co-workers.
"Everyone this is Jaime, he's my son." She said carding a hand through his soft brown locks. Jaime feeling a little shy with all the gazes focused on him turned his face into his mom's side trying to hide.
''Hi Jaime I'm JJ and I work with your mom. That's Reid over there with the long hair and the other guy is Morgan they work with your mom too." JJ said kneeling down so she could be at eye level with him.
"Those are some pretty cool wheels dude." Morgan said walking over to stand closer to Emily.
Jaime looked up with big brown eyes and said "Yeah I can even do donuts in this thing want to see?"
Emily piped up trying to stop her son from tearing around the office "Maybe another time buddy, why don't me and you head home huh? I'm mostly done my work anyways."
Just as Prentiss was packing up her bag, Hotch made his way over with a stressed expression on his face. "Hold on, you can't go home yet I just received word of a case that is in desperate need of our help. Especially you Prentiss there is going to be a lot of translating. Everyone meet in the conference room in 10 minutes and we will debrief."
As everyone began to disperse Emily pulled Hotch aside "Hotch I can't go with you guys on this case, my nanny just had a family emergency and I have no one to watch Jaime."
"Is there no neighbour or friend that you can leave him with for the next couple of days we really need your help." Hotch asked, his brow furrowed in frustration.
"No one that can care for his medical needs, I told you when I started that there will be times that I have to stay back for Jaime."
"Well we have no one else that can translate Arabic that can help us on this case. The case isn't too far away, how about you can work from the hotel room and Jaime can come along with us and stay at the hotel with you."
"I don't know Hotch, I can't very well keep him cooped up in a hotel room for days on end. Also I don't have anything for him here, I'd have to go home and get all of his stuff." Prentiss said feeling unsure that bringing Jaime along for a case was a good idea.
"It's not very far from here so you can go home and pack up whatever you need and meet us at the hotel. And you don't have to be working the entire time so you can take Jaime outside, if you're needed at the station one of us can relieve you. Prentiss I wouldn't usually be pushing this hard, but the majority of this case focuses around diaries written in Arabic and I have no one else that can translate them for me." Hotch pleaded.
"Fine, but I need to talk to the team after the debriefing so they know how to take care of Jaime if they are going to be babysitting on this case." Prentiss sighed giving into Hotch's pleading.
Turning around Emily made her way over to her son's side kneeling down so she was on eye level with him. "Hey bud, so mom has to work this weekend but you get to come along with me on this trip and we may even get to go out and do some fun things when I'm not needed to work."
"It's okay mom, I understand. I can bring my new model airplane and finish putting that together it'll be fun." Jaime said leaning forward and patting Emily's hand.
"Thanks buddy, you're such a great kid you know that right?"
Jaime laughed pulling Emily down into a hug "You're a great mom too."
Emily pulled out of the hug placing a kiss on her son's forehead "Okay I need to go into the conference room and get some information about this case, but you can stay down here at my desk where I can see you through the window. Do you have anything to keep you busy?"
"Yeah me and Charlotte went to the library today and I checked out a book on airplanes. It's in my backpack now I can read that."
"Sounds great bud, if you want to get out of your wheelchair my desk chair is pretty fun to spin around in." Emily said picking up her case file and heading into the conference room. As Emily was debriefed about the case which involved a terrorist group out of Syria targeting some American politicians. Journals were found in one of the group's headquarters but unfortunately they were all written in Arabic. This was where Emily would come in and translate all these documents to see if they held any plans. At the end of the debriefing Hotch stood in front of everyone and announced that Prentiss wanted to speak to them.
"So since I am the only one that can translate these documents Hotch has convinced me to tag along on this trip with Jaime. We made a deal that I would do as much work as I can from the hotel room, however if I need to go to the station one of you will switch out with me to babysit Jaime. Before I let anyone look after him, I need to tell you a few things first. " Looking around Emily could see that she had everyone's undivided attention. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for what she was about to say.
"As you all can see Jaime is different than other four year olds. He was born with osteogenesis imperfecta which is a brittle bone disease, the slightest bump or fall can break a bone. He has already had 29 broken bones and that is with us being as cautious as we can. He doesn't need a wheelchair all the time, he can walk with the aid of a walker however it has to be smooth ground where there isn't any chance of falls. He only uses his wheelchair when he wants to go faster and when he is unsure of how the terrain is going to be. If he is outside playing with his walker he must wear a helmet at all times, we have already had a broken skull I don't need another. Otherwise he is like any other little boy and right now he has a fascination with airplanes and anything that flies." Emily took a deep breath after finishing her long rant, looking around at the expressions on everyone's faces. Most were a mixture of shock and empathy, but no one seemed to be pitying her which she appreciated.
"Emily, you can trust us to take the best care possible with your son. I know that we don't know each other well but you are already a part of this team, and this team is like family to each other." JJ spoke up from her position across from Emily.
"I appreciate that JJ, and I do trust you guys with my son I was just making sure that you were all aware of his needs." Emily said sitting back down in her chair.
"Well not that we have been updated on everything we need to get moving we are going to drive instead of fly because of the close proximity so everyone meet at the parking garage in 15 minutes with your go-bags." Hotch said standing up and dismissing everyone in the room. Turning to Emily who was making her way out the door he spoke "I really appreciate you doing this, I know I put you in a difficult position but I really need your help."
"I understand Hotch, and it shouldn't be too bad. Jaime seems up for the adventure at least. I'm just going to swing by my house and pack a few things for him and then I will meet you at the police station." Emily replied to Hotch with a warmth in her eyes.
Hotch nodded leaving the room with her and closing the door behind him.
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Emily parked in front of Williamsburg Police Station and looked into the back seat of her SUV, her eyes softened as she took in the sight of her son sleeping peacefully. Needing to go into the police station and gather the documents that she needed to translate but not wanting to leave her son in the car asleep Emily gathered him up in her arms and walked into the police station.
Weaving through the desks of the officers to get to the back room that was being used as their conference room, Emily got quite a few stares. She was sure that many of the officers there had never seen a young child in their workplace before. Especially one that was being carried by his FBI mother. She was sure that gossip would soon begin to spread about the team and the type of people they were to subject a young child to their work. Being used to being the center of gossip growing up Emily paid them no mind. Stepping into the conference room where the team was set up, Emily placed Jaime down on the couch in the room and walked over to the table where the evidence was spread out.
After organizing all the evidence onto a board and setting up a map to begin the geographical profile. The team decided to call it a night, the day was beginning to wear on everyone and it showed on their faces. Ordering the rest of the team to go to the hotel and rest Hotch turned towards Emily. "How about I carry Jaime out to the car and you can grab the journals that you can translate tomorrow."
Emily gathered the ten journals that she would have to read through the next day following behind Hotch with Jaime in his arms. Looking at Hotch carrying Jaime Emily felt a pull in her heart, they looked so good together like a real father and son. Emily tried to make up for the lack of father in her son's life but she could only do so much, he needed a real male's presence in his life. Jaime's father took off before he was even born and Jaime was better off without him but that didn't mean he didn't need a good male role model to look up to.
Opening the car door, Emily watched as Hotch gently placed Jaime into his car seat. Turning towards her Hotch spoke "If you need help tomorrow don't be afraid to call, even if it's that you just want five minutes alone I'll have someone come out to help you."
"Thanks Hotch but Jaime and I are used to doing it on our own, I'm sure we'll be fine."
"Just because you have been doing it on your own for last few years doesn't mean it has to continue, we are all here for you Emily." Hotch said looking into her eyes with sincerity.
"Thanks, Hotch that means a lot." Emily looked into Hotch's eyes getting lost in the chocolaty depths that were showing such rare emotion. Leaning closer Emily was pulled out of her trance when Hotch cleared his throat.
"Well you better get some rest, you have a lot to go through tomorrow." Hotch said turning back towards the police department.
Emily shook her head trying to clear it "Get it together Emily, you can't start falling for your boss." She quietly scolded herself stepping into the SUV and reversing out of her parking spot.