I'm working on a sequence of stories that belong together but still stand for themselves.

This is set during 7x20 The Company.

Thanks to REIDFANATIC for Beta Reading.

Criminal Minds is not mine.

Comforting

He had called her early in the morning, closer to nighttime actually, saying he was on his way to Chicago. He added something about an accident his sister had been in, but either didn't want to clarify or simply didn't have more information. She wished he would have mentioned more details, but the fact that he had left in the middle of the night, couldn't be anything good. Work since then seemed long. The pile of files just didn't get any smaller, although she had been working on them for the past hours.

"Conference room ASAP." She looked up seeing Hotch disappearing back into his office.

"We aren't scheduled for a case." Reid spoke up, clearly not happy with the news. But he wasn't the only one who was upset about the sudden change of daily routine.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Emily muttered grabbing her tablet before making her way up the stairs. She wasn't really fond of this either, since she had been considering flying to Chicago to make sure Derek was okay. She hadn't heard from him after the hasty phone call and therefore had started to get worried. As stubborn as he accused her of being, she knew he was closing up nearly as fast as she did. She sighed as she sat down in one of the chairs waiting for everyone else to come in.

The briefing was very short only telling them they would be flying to Chicago to open some old case up. It was not until the plane was in the air that they got details about the case of Morgan's cousin. Emily was sure her face slipped for a moment as she knew how hard that case had been for her boyfriend. But by the time his voice sounded through the cabin she had herself under control again, focusing on what he was telling them. They only had limited time to look through the cases before they landed.

The day was long and, due to the nature of her assignment, she didn't even get to see him. When Hotch finally sent them off to get a couple of hours of sleep she nearly ran to her room, pulling her phone out. The moment she closed the door she had his number dialed and lifted the phone to her ear. She jumped as the familiar ringtone went off just a few feet from her.

"You must be really desperate to not even turn the light on, when you walk into an unfamiliar room." She could hear his sarcasm, although it seemed a great deal more bitter than usual. He was right though, as she rarely got over her paranoid side and entered a room without the light on or at least her gun ready. She sighed ending the call, before walking over to the little sitting area.

"Why are you not with your family?"

All she got was a bitter laugh. She looked down at him, not sure how to approach him. Sure they had been officially dating for the last week, but she wasn't sure if they were at the stage to get this personal.

"How is Desiree?" She asked quietly.

"She is going to be in the hospital for a while, but she will be fine."

So he wasn't upset about her being injured, which was a good start as everything else could be fixed, while a dead sister would just stay dead.

"So why aren't you with them?" She tried again. He didn't answer but stared at the wall. She sighed walking towards the dresser where most hotels had the little safe she could put her gun into.

"They made pretty clear what they were thinking about me lying to them."

She closed the safe, turning to face him again. The light coming through the window was dim but now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness it was enough for her to see the pain in his eyes.

"They were in shock; the accident, Cindy being alive. The reaction was natural for the flood of events happening." She tried to reason; although she knew that wouldn't do much good.

"I was just trying to protect them." His voice grew quiet. She stared at him, feeling her heart break at his sight.

"I know, babe." She walked back to where he sat. She considered for a moment the most awkward way to hug him, but then decided to just pull the other chair closer to him.

"Well they don't." She could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"They will understand." She saw how the bitter expression came back to his face, before his next words reached her.

"How would you know? You don't know them. You weren't even here when all of this started."

He saw her encouraging smile fading, immediately regretting what he had said. Although she tried hard, she failed miserably in hiding the hurt that swam over her.

"Em, I'm sorry." He seemed to have developed a pretty good skill for pissing people off today that much was clear. "I'm just going to leave. You need to get some sleep."

He made it only a few steps before she spoke again.

"You are right, I wasn't here when it started and you know very well why." She got up too, making the few steps towards him.

"I know; I'm sorry…" She cut him off before he could finish his apology.

"I know that you're sorry, but I need you to listen to me right now." She was standing in front of him, not sure how to say the next words she had on mind.

"Emily." He reached for her hands gently stroking over the back while holding them.

"Listen. The reason why I wasn't there was the same reason why you lied. We were protecting our families. Turns out lying and faking your death are not the most appreciated by those who you love and want to protect." She gave a bitter laugh. "But the point is your family will understand what you did just like mine understand." She gave his hands a squeeze before continuing.

"They are hurt and overwhelmed, they remind me of Reid and I'm sorry you have to see them in this stage, because I know how hard it is. But they will understand and they will forgive you that lie, because now you are doing everything to find Cindy and make up for it."

She was relieved when he finally moved forward pulling her into a hug. They stood like that for what felt like an eternity. A small smile crept through his face as he felt her yawning against his shoulder.

"You should get some sleep." He released her from the hug.

"Are you going to stay or go to your family?"

"I think if I showed up at this time they would think something is wrong and that's not exactly the message I want to send right now."

She nodded.

She was snuggled in his arms almost falling asleep when he spoke up again.

"You should meet them, since we're in town already."

"Meet who?" She asked quietly, fighting the sleep.

"My family."

"I did meet them, remember? Five years ago."

"Right that was Agent Prentiss talking to the family of a suspect. I would like to have Emily meet my mother and sisters."

"Well that's only possible if they don't hate you for the rest of your life."

Derek chuckled as she started mocking him with his fears.

"You know the prospect of a daughter-in-law makes up for a lot of things, when it comes to my mom."

"So you are using me for your reuniting." She looked up at him with a smile on her lips.

"Maybe," he smiled back at her.

"It's good to see you in a better mood again." She earnestly said before leaning in for a kiss. "And the Emily part of me would love to meet your family as soon as she's gotten a few hours of sleep."