When Prentiss leaves - Garcia can't bring herself to say dies - that absence leaves a hole. For a while, looking at the picture that hangs in the BAU helps. But then, nothing , really, should Garcia be surprised? She has been through this before. With her own parents. In a way, when JJ left. The thing about death is that it's so final that Garcia has needed to seek out ways to connect with Emily. Not like seances or any of that nonsense. Just little ways she can feel close to Emily's , she goes to the coffee shop she used to frequent with Emily and JJ, when Garcia was not the sole female on her team. She buys what Emily might have gotten. She sits and muses about simple things. What they might have spoken about. Sometimes it hurts, but sometimes it helps, , it lets Garcia believe that Emily is still out there somewhere. It is in the small things - stars lighting up a night sky - or an adorable black cat. Or a paperback novel. Or even the way the breeze catches her hair on a given is all these things and more. Because sometimes, Garcia falls headlong into the loveliest dream. One where the team is reunited. Where Emily walks back through the doors of the BAU, unharmed and loves those dreams, and often wakes sure that she has just felt her friend's embrace.