A/N: Would you believe if i said that I dreamt about this? It was bugging me for a week and I just had to write it. It's not long and it's sweet and I loved writing it. I hope you guys love reading it too.
It's based on Emily's return in 7x01. It's unbeta'd, so I apologize for any errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own CM.
PARIS
It was finally over.
After almost eleven months of hiding she was finally free. Ian Doyle was dead and Declan was safe.
She entered the conference room with the team after they got back from the crime scene and sat at one of the chairs she never thought she would sat again.
The team, minus JJ and Hotch, was still trying to absorb the fact that she was indeed alive, that the funeral they attended, the coffin they carried, everything was fake. They were still struggling to believe that three of the people they most trusted in the world had deliberately lied to them, hiding the fact that she had survived from Doyle's attack.
She could see the joy mixed with the hurt in their eyes. Some of them held also anger and fear. Anger for being betrayed and fear that she would disappear again.
But she wouldn't.
She couldn't. Not anymore.
Aside from the fact that she had missed her family terribly, missed her job, her home, her cat, she also had a new factor that wouldn't allow her to leave again.
"So, now that he's gone, what's going to happen?" Morgan asked the question that was in everyone's heads.
"Well, the Committee will want to talk to us. Probably an investigation will be open to judge our conducts and see what kind of punishment we will suffer. Strauss said that we're all suspended for now. We still have to take care of Emily's situation…" Hotch said.
"You mean the fact that she's dead?" Morgan asked bitterly.
"In paper, yes". Hotch answered.
Emily got up and cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I wanted to talk to you guys before you leave, please…" She started quietly. When she saw she had everyone's attention she looked at her team with sorrow. "I just wanted to say that I'm incredibly sorry… I'm sorry for putting you guys into this mess and for choosing to fight this alone. I should have known that you guys would never let me go easily and that you would have gone after me. I should have trusted you all and asked for help, but I couldn't…" She started with a shaky voice.
"Couldn't or wouldn't?" Morgan asked.
"I couldn't, Derek. He knew all of you…" She said shaking her head. "We met one night at a coffee house. He said he would come after me and take everything that was important to me. He knew all of your names. He knew where you all were. He had eyes on all of you. He knew about Jack…" She said with a quiet sob looking at Hotch. "If I had asked for help and told you everything about him he would have gone after all of you… I couldn't let him… so I went after him. I went after him to finish what I started and keep you all safe…"
They looked at her in silence while she wiped her tears and controlled her breathing.
"About the lies involving her death please don't hold it against her. Or JJ. It was my decision, my plan. When Emily woke up in Bethesda, alone, everything was already settled and the funeral was done. There was nothing she could have done besides go with the plan. And JJ just followed my orders. I had to use her contacts in the State Department and that's the only reason why I involved her, otherwise I would have done everything alone". Hotch said. "And I don't regret it. I am sorry for hurting you all but if I have to I would do it all over again…" He completed and saw rage in Morgan's face.
"Are you serious?" He asked incredulously.
Hotch just looked at him for a second before answering. "Are you seeing Emily, Derek?"
"What?" He asked confused.
"Are you seeing Emily here, alive?"
"Of course I am!"
"Then how can you expect me to regret the decisions that brought us here?" He asked and the dark-skinned agent went quiet. "She's alive. She's safe and most important she's here, with us again… So no, I don't regret anything, even knowing that I hurt my family. Because I know it was the right thing to do. Not for me, not for the team, but for Emily".
Emily looked at him and for the thousandth time that day felt the need to fall into his arms. This man was the reason she was still sane and alive. The memories of his touches and kisses and his whispered love words on her ear kept her breathing during all these months. It was the fact that she knew he was waiting for her, here, to come back to him and to start their family together that kept her strong.
"I'm just so happy that you're alive…" Garcia whispered with tears in her eyes and hugged her.
"Thank you, PG… I'm so sorry for making you cry…" She whispered to her. "I am so so so sorry…"
"It's okay… as long as you promise me you'll never leave again…" She said and Emily made eye contact with Hotch before answering.
"Never… I'm home… I'm finally home…" She said through her tears.
There was a knock on the door and an agent opened it to pop his head in. "Excuse me, Agent Prentiss, there's a woman here looking for you. She said her name is Anne Porter".
"Could you please send her in?" She asked and the agent nodded.
"Who is she, Em?" JJ asked.
Emily looked at them apprehensively, lingering her eyes on Hotch. "There's… there's something that happened while I was away…" She said quietly.
"What do you mean?" She asked with a frown.
There was a second knock on the door before she could answer and she opened it to reveal a blonde woman holding a small pink bundle in her arms. "Hi Miss Emily…" The woman smiled at her and Emily grinned at her and the little baby.
"Hi Anne… hi sweetie…" She whispered to the little girl. "Is she okay? Has she eaten already?" She asked the woman and she nodded.
"Yeah, I gave her a bottle half hour ago. She just slept the whole time... she's changed and clean too". She answered passing the baby to Emily's arms.
"Hey honey… did you miss mommy?" She asked the baby and she looked at her with big hazel eyes. "Yes, you did, yes, you did… I missed you too, my princess…" She cooed the little girl, smiling. "Thank you, Anne… I'll take her from here…"
"Okay, Miss Emily. If you need anything you can call me…" She said before leaving.
"Emily?" JJ called her and he took a deep breath before turning around to look at her team. They were all looking at her with curious eyes but one of them had shock all over his face.
"Guys… this is Paris. My daughter…" She explained.
"Oh my gosh, she's such a cutie!" Penelope beamed at the little girl.
"Daughter? You were pregnant?" Derek asked shocked.
"No… I got pregnant after everything…" She said quietly.
"After? You mean she's…" He started asking but she cut him off.
"No! God, no! She's not his. He didn't touch me like that". She said with a shiver. Just the thought of it made her feel sick.
"Then…" He started again but this time it was Hotch who cut him.
"She's mine". He said with an unstable voice. He walked closer to her, his eyes fixed in the little girl. "She's mine…" He whispered again with glistened eyes. There was a silence in the room interrupted by only the baby's gurgles. His eyes were fixed at the little girl and he traced her cheeks with the tip of his fingers, smiling when she gurgled at him. "Hi, sweetheart…" He whispered at her and chuckled when she caught his finger with her hand. "Can I?" He asked looking at Emily and gesturing at the baby.
"Of course you can…" Emily whispered smiling and passed the bundle to him carefully. "Go with daddy, princess…" She said to the little girl.
"Hey you…" Hotch smiled at her. "You are so beautiful… you're just like your mom…" he whispered caressing her head.
"She has your eyes…" Emily said to him and he smiled at her.
"Just that. But she's all you… so beautiful…" He said to her.
"I really tried to contact you but they wouldn't let me… I begged and asked and implored but they said it was too dangerous. Especially because of her…" She explained to him with a pained voice. "I even wrote you a letter but they caught it before I could send it…"
"It's okay, it's okay…" He wiped her tears with one hand while the other held their daughter. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this all alone, love…" He told her cupping her cheek and leaned in to kiss her.
She hummed into the kiss and cupped the back of his head, running her fingers through his black hair. They pulled apart and she gave him one last peck before opening her eyes. "Thank God… oh, thank God… I thought you would be angry…" She said with a sob and kissed him again. "I missed you so much… so, so much…" She whispered when they pulled apart.
"I missed you too, sweetheart. Every single day…" He whispered back wiping her cheeks. "And I could never be angry with you. Especially not for this…" He said to her. "I'm so happy… this is the best gift you could give me…" He said looking at the little baby.
"Can someone explain what's going on here, please?" Rossi asked and the couple remembered that the rest of the team was in the room with them.
Hotch looked at Emily and she nodded at him. "After Emily was relocated to Paris I flew to there to meet with her, to give her the new identities and the money she would need. JJ would do it but Henry got sick and I went on her place. We met at my hotel room and…"
"And I kissed him". Emily finished. "The moment I saw him I kissed him… I thought he would freak out but thankfully he kissed me back…" She smiled at him.
"And did some other things too, from what I can see…" Dave said and they chuckled.
"Subtle, Dave. Very subtle…" Hotch said shaking his head. "I only stayed for two days. I couldn't raise any suspicions and after that we didn't speak with each other until now…" He said with a sigh.
"Five weeks after that I found out. I was terrified. They practically locked me up and I had a doctor who would see me at home. They said that with the baby I was even more vulnerable and they couldn't risk it…" Emily explained. "It wasn't an easy pregnancy. I was too stressed and it reflected on the baby. She was born in the middle of my seventh month. It was hard. She didn't cry at first and I thought she was… she stayed at the incubator for twelve days. She just made eight weeks…"
"And it was okay for her to flight?" Hotch asked concerned.
"Yes, the doctor gave the all clear. We have to take her to a pediatrician soon for a check-up but she's okay… she's strong…" She said smiling.
"Just like their parents…" JJ said.
"So, Paris?" Garcia asked smiling and asked for the baby, making Hotch frown and Emily chuckled.
"She won't run away with her, Aaron…" She said and he sighed passing the baby to the tech analyst, who beamed at her. "And, yes. Paris… I thought it was appropriate…" She said smiling at Hotch.
"I loved it…" He said kissing her forehead, his arms making their way to her waist.
"Paris Amelia Hotchner…" Emily said and he looked at her surprised.
"You gave her my last name…"
"It was another fight. I knew I couldn't put my own name at her birth certificate. It has Sophie LeMarion as her mother but I couldn't put another name as her father and neither leave it blank. I argued with them saying that I want her to have her father's name like she deserved it. I needed that. I needed a reminder that you were her father. That she was yours and you were waiting for us here…" She explained.
"Thank you so much…" He said hoarsely.
"When everything gets cleared we can change her mother's name to Emily Prentiss…" She said and he shook his head.
"I don't want that…" He said and she frowned.
"What? What do you mean?" She asked with a feared voice.
"I want her to have your name, Emily. The name that will be yours for the rest of our lives…" He said pulling a small box from his pocket. "Your real name… Emily Hotchner…" He explained opening the velvet box to reveal a beautiful white gold ring with a princess-cut ruby.
Emily gasped at him and he knelt down in front of her, holding her hand. "Aaron…"
"The same day I got back from Paris I bought this. And since that day I keep it in my pocket to remind me that you were coming back to me and that we would start our family together… I promised myself that I wouldn't wait. I wouldn't waste any other minute. I promised myself that the minute you got back to me I would ask you to be mine forever… So, Emily Ann… could you please give the honor of calling you my wife? Marry me, sweetheart?" He asked and she nodded at him quickly.
"Yes… yes, of course, yes…" She nodded repeatedly as he placed the ring on her finger. He got up and captured her mouth in a fierce kiss that made her knees go weak. "I love you so much…" She whispered at him and he whispered his love back to her.
The team watched the scene with smiles and tears, seeing how hard it had been to them to stay apart all this time, without contact, without any news, nothing that could give them some peace. It was just their love that kept them strong to go on. The confidence that they were waiting for each other and that one day they would be together again to live their love.
Paris cried a little and caught their attention again, going straight back to her father's arms. "Hey beautiful… it's okay, daddy's here…" He cooed the girl until she calmed down. "Your brother is going to freak out when he found out about you…" He said smiling.
"Do you think he'll be okay with this?" Emily asked apprehensively.
"He'll be thrilled. He always wanted a sibling…"
"Do you want to tell him tonight? I'm staying at a hotel because my place was sold…" She started but he shook his head.
"You're insane if you think you're going to a hotel tonight. You're going home. Our home…" He told her.
"But Aaron…"
"But nothing. You have to see our new house… it's beautiful…"
"You bought a house?" She asked shocked.
"Of course I did. I had to have everything ready for when you got back. It has even a nursery, although we have to fix it properly for our little princess…" He said and she beamed at him.
"I can't believe you did this…" She whispered.
"You're home, Emily. You're finally home and I'm never letting you go…" He told her and kissed her to seal his promise.
As she savored her love's taste and touch she sighed happily. She was finally home, with her daughter and her future husband and step-son.
It was a new chance for her, a new beginning after so much torment.
And she could barely wait to start living her new life.
THE END.
A/N: I have some ideas for a prequel. I'd like to write about how they got together in Paris. What do you think? Please, reviews are appreciated.