Disclaimer; I don't own criminal minds or anything else, like at all, I'm a broke uni student, even the thoughts in my head are costing me a fortune in student loans. Plus if I did own criminal minds, Morgan and Prentiss would have definitely gotten together. Atm I'm hoping for her to get with Alvez but they'll probably never give her a long standing social life if history is anything to go by. Okay, enough ranting.

So this is set after 3.04 (Children of the dark) when Emily offered to take the teenage survivor whose family had been killed in a home invasion, I've remembered that storyline vaguely for years and I wanted to do something with it. In the episode, her family in California is contacted so Emily doesn't take her, but in this there was no family in California, I might backtrack a little and use some dialogue from the episode. Anyway, it's eventual Demily and I hope you guys like it.

...

The unsubs had been caught, two dangerous, damaged men taken off the streets and yet as Emily and Hotch were packing up the case files at the precinct, she couldn't help but feel like the job wasn't finished, like there was something more she should be doing to help repair some of the damage that had been done.

"I could take her" Emily couldn't help herself, once she had thought about the possibility there was no going back, this was it, the way that she could do more.

"take her?" Hotch looked up puzzled.

"Carrie. To DC."

"you mean to live with you?"

"yeah"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"well, I have room, money. Plus, she's smart, two three years she goes to college"

Hotch's face became serious, even more so than usual "Prentiss, this is the job, I need to know you can be objective."

"and I need to know that I can be human" Emily was warring with her emotions to try and keep them in check. "besides, what's the alternative, Foster care? Because we all know how that went for those two guys looking at life in prison"

"not all foster homes are like that"

"no, some are even worse. And even if they aren't, we're really okay with that poor girl being placed in a home with 5 other kids, none of whom she knows, with no support system? Her entire family was just killed in front of her, I can't just forget about her and hope for the best."

Hotch sighed, "trust me I get it but we can't just take in children wherever we go, it's a huge responsibility"

"I know that, she's not a stray dog, she's a 15-year-old girl who deserves to live somewhere where the people aren't just doing it for money from the state, somewhere where she's wanted, somewhere with the resources to help her through the worst thing that will ever happen to her, and I truly believe I can give her that." Emily was succeeding in convincing him she could tell as his face was softening, and was doing a pretty good job at convincing herself in the process.

"alright, I see your point, besides I'm not sure if social services has found somewhere for her yet. I will support this idea on a temporary basis, not that you really need my endorsement, there's not a lot I could do to stop you considering she is now a ward of the state and I have no pull in that particular branch of government"

Emily sighed in satisfaction "I know, I just thought it would be helpful to show them that my boss is on board with the idea. I have to talk to Carrie about it anyway, I'm not going to force her to move state if she'd rather stay here where things are familiar."

…

Emily walked through the bullpen looking for Carrie, she noticed someone sitting in a darkened office and went over, knocking on the door gently and pushing it open. Carrie was sitting with tears rolling down her face, wiping them away as she looked up. "hey." Emily said softly.

"hey" Carrie sniffed "so, what happens now?"

"well" Emily sighed "they're in custody, and they won't get bail so you don't need to worry about that, then they'll be put on trial, if they don't make a deal that is, and they'll never see the light of day again." Emily moved to sit next to her with her hands placed on her knees, unsure of whether she should try to be more comforting.

Carrie nodded in understanding and took a soothing breath "and what about me? Where do I go now?" she turned to look Emily in the eye, preparing for the news she feared would be coming next.

"well, I actually wanted to talk to you about that." She took a deep breath to try calm her nerves, suddenly worrying whether Carrie would actually want to live with her, to move away from everyone and everything she knows, to a strange city with someone she met only days ago. Emily's mind started to race, what was she thinking? Of course she wouldn't want to live with her, but by this point there was no harm in asking, the worse that could happen was that she would say no, and while Emily would undoubtedly be crushed, she could take solace in the fact that she had offered help to a young girl in desperate need of support. "It's protocol in situations like these that a minor like yourself would be placed in a foster home temporarily, until something more permanent could be arranged." She saw Carries face drop and hurriedly followed it with "however, It is possible for a third party to gain temporary foster carer status in unusual cases, which yours most certainly is… basically, what I'm saying is that if you would like, I could be your guardian."

Carrie looked back up at Emily, mouth open with a million different emotions registering on her face. She went to speak but her words caught in her throat. Carrie couldn't help but feel relieved and grateful, happy even, until she remembered why this was happening, why a beautiful kind woman was offering to bring her into her home. The reason came flooding back to her in images, the memory of her parents being beaten with a fire poker in front of her, seeing her 7-year-old brothers body lying on his bed, waking in a drug haze and falling over her parents' bloody bodies, wandering the streets until a good Samaritan saw her and called 911. She thought about the house she had grown up in, the school she had gone to since junior year, she thought about leaving all of that behind and felt sick. Then it occurred to her that she would be leaving her childhood home and all the memories that came with it no matter what, and there was no guarantee that she would be placed in a home close enough to go to the same school, she could be placed on the other side of the state and never see her friends again as it was. All bets were off and there was no such thing as normal anymore, no matter what her life would never be the same. She was snapped out of her reverie by Emily's phone ringing. She looked at it and shut off the sound with a quick apology and Carrie was brought back to the present where suddenly a million questions filled her mind. "where do you live?"

"DC" Emily was relieved, she didn't know where Carrie's mind had gone just then but she knew this was an incredibly complex situation and was just glad that there hadn't been a flat-out rejection right off the bat. That meant she was considering it, which meant Emily still had a chance.

Carrie mulled this over for a few seconds before asking "and you can do that? Just become a foster parent? Isn't that super complicated?"

"usually, yes, but in special cases someone can be granted temporary custody, plus I'm an FBI agent, which makes me somewhat more trustworthy than the average Jo who just wants to give fostering a try. Besides, with what you've gone through child protective services wants to do what's in your best interests psychologically as well as physically"

Carrie turned and asked "can I think about it?"

Emily was shocked she'd even considered it this long, replying "O-of course, this is a big decision." She placed a hand over Carries and reassured her "I just want you to know though that it's completely up to you and while I can't guarantee where you would end up in the system, you'll always be able to give me a call if you need anything or just want someone to talk to, this isn't an all or nothing situation." She wanted to put her mind at ease as to not corner her into feeling obligated to say yes. She looked at her watch and was shocked at how much time had gone by, it was almost 7. "unfortunately, my team has to leave in the morning, I managed to get them to stay the night but we would need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible so there isn't that much time. I don't wat to rush you though, I can only imagine how difficult this is." She stood up and placed a hand on Carries' shoulder before stepping out of the room. She leaned against the door to the office and let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

…

11:34pm

Emily was sitting in the conference room she had been tidying hours before, the team had gone back to the hotel to get some sleep, leaving her to wait for an answer from Carrie. JJ, Morgan and Reid had all volunteered to stay with her at some point but she told them to get some rest, besides, she needed her stuff from the hotel anyway and wasn't sure she would get the chance to go back before the morning. She was just dozing off, resting on her arm on the table when Morgan came in with both their go bags and a cup of hot chocolate.

"what are you doing here? I'm fine, really, you should be asleep in a comfy bed right now."

Derek offered her the cup which she took, smiling. "and what kind of friend would I be if I let you sit here all night waiting for a potentially life changing decision all on your own. Not to mention, PG would kill me." He offered with a smirk.

"Ah I see" she nodded

"no but seriously, this is such a great thing you're willing to do for this girl, possibly crazy, but great" Derek's eyes softened and he offered a reassuring smile.

Emily looked down at the cup in her hands, unable to look at him anymore. This sincere side was rare with him, he was serious at work, she knew he was whip smart and quick on his feet, and she knew the cheeky side he shared with Penelope but the heartfelt guy sitting opposite her was rare for her to see. Of course, she knew it was there, she'd seen it before when he'd spoken to the homeless woman in Kansas City, even earlier that day with the boy they had to take back to the foster home, and subsequently had to talk into giving up a loaded gun, she just wasn't used to it being directed at her.

"Emily" she looked back up at him "you know I'm here if you need anything, we all are. You're not doing this alone."

"thanks, really. But I'm not sure if I'm doing this at all at the minute"

It was just then that Carrie appeared in the doorway, Emily sat up straight, placing her cup on the table, trying not to show just how nervous she was about the answer she was about to receive, not wanting to put any more pressure on the girl in front of her who had just lost her whole world. Everything seemed to slow, it was as if time itself was standing still wanting to hear her decision.

"Yeah, Lets do it, if you'll have me."

Please read and review, any suggestions or corrections are welcome :)