This story takes place after the season 6 finale, but before the season 7 premiere. JJ is not back yet as the BAU's media liaison and they are still working full time! NOT A CASEFIC! Betaed by REIDFANATIC and SkyWriter9!
Author Jean de la Fontaine said, 'Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.'
"So Hotch, you and Seaver will take this?" Garcia asked, pointing toward the screen.
"Yes. It's a relatively small case, so the Pittsburgh PD only requested two people." Hotch surveyed the team sitting around the table. "Morgan, you and Reid are needed here just in case something bigger comes up, and since Rossi is subbing for Agent Strauss for the next week, Seaver and I are the only ones free to go."
"Makes sense Hotch." Morgan nodded.
"Is that all?" Reid spoke up, staring around the table.
"No statistics for us Reid?" Morgan smiled at the younger agent, hoping the joke would lighten Reid's mood.
Reid said nothing, then stood up and walked out of the room.
"I'll talk to him, sir." Garcia stared after Reid's retreating back. "He hasn't really been the same since..." The words hung heavily in the air around the team. Even without having to say it, the team knew what she was talking about.
"None of us have, mama." Morgan sighed and looked at Hotch. "I should get back to it though. I'm doing some research. Speaking of the research, Pen, I need your help. Are you good without us Hotch?"
"No problem, my amazing chocolate warrior." Garcia smiled.
"Yeah, go ahead. We'll coordinate with Agent Lynch for this one. Seaver, we're driving. I'm planning on heading out in 20." Hotch nodded at Seaver.
"Sure, see you then." Seaver followed the retreating Morgan and Garcia down the hall toward the bullpen, leaving Hotch alone.
Shaking his head, Hotch rose and headed toward his office. Since Prentiss's 'death', his team hadn't been the same. They were withdrawn and quiet, and rarely talked during the day. He guessed they just felt a void there and he really couldn't blame them. Peering out the window toward the bullpen, Hotch watched Reid working in silence, then looked at Morgan's empty desk. Maybe another grief counselling session would be good for all of them. But, Hotch mused, it would have to wait.
...
"So, what do you need from the Queen of all Knowledge, sweet cheeks?" Garcia leaned back in her chair and turned to face Morgan, who was leaning on her desk.
"I don't know, baby girl. I mean, ever since Doyle, it just hasn't been the same around here. Reid seems to have just retreated into himself again, and I feel like I never really knew Emily at all. Rossi just stares at us, and Hotch never smiles."
"Hotch never smiled before." Garcia interrupted.
"I mean he never smiles any more. Not even one." Morgan paused. "And then there's you."
"Me what?" Garcia glanced at Morgan with a puzzled look on her face.
"Mainly you pretend that everything is okay. You miss her, but you know not to talk to us about her. Then, when you smile it never quite reaches your eyes anymore."
Garcia shrugged. "It just hasn't been the same around here without her. I mean, JJ is gone, and now Emily is gone. They were my friends, and it's lonely here without them."
Morgan's eyes shifted to Garcia's face, and a hurt look slid onto his handsome face. "I thought I was your friend." He teased.
Garcia laughed. "They were my only girlfriends. You'll always be my chocolate Adonis."
"You know it baby girl."
"Now I'm the only girl here. Seaver too, but having her isn't the same as Emily and JJ." Garcia's lips turned down a little, and her eyes drifted to the floor.
"I know what you mean. She was my partner too."
The two agents lapsed into silence, remembering their friend.
"I know I'm not supposed to speak badly of the dead, but I don't understand how she could keep that much of her past from us. I mean, she told us she worked a freaking desk job with Interpol. Then next thing we know, we're under attack, and Prentiss runs away, and just as we find her, she dies. All because of a terrorist who she helped put away, because no, she didn't work a desk job, she was a spy!"
"Derek," Garcia's voice took on a warning tone.
"She was with me that day, when we found Tsia Mosely dead. She knew who had done it too. And then when we were giving the profile, she didn't even bother to speak up. She whited her name off that list. In the end she didn't trust us enough. And it got her killed." Morgan sighed and sat down in a chair Garcia offered to him.
Garcia reached out and grabbed on to Morgan's hand.
"I feel like I didn't even know her." He muttered.
For once, Garcia didn't try to smile, or lighten the mood. "I know; me too."
After sitting in silence for a moment, Garcia turned toward the door. "Well, I should go talk to our junior G-Man like I told Hotch, and you should get back to your work."
They both stood up, facing each other. Garcia quickly pulled Morgan into a hug before walking out of her office, leaving a quiet Morgan to follow her back to the bullpen.
...
The rest of the day dragged on in silence, with Morgan working at his desk and Reid periodically staring into space. Once in a while Garcia popped in, hoping to lighten the perpetually dreary mood that seemed to hang around the team in the weeks since Prentiss's death. As soon as the clock hit five o'clock Reid stood up and walked out of the bullpen without a word to Morgan, who was trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on his work.
"He's gone?" Garcia's cheery voice rang through the bullpen, startling Morgan from his thoughts. "Good, I love our boy genius, but I need to talk to you alone, and I can't do it with him here."
"Why?" Morgan looked puzzled.
"Just in case," Garcia smiled.
"Mama, as much as I would love to, I don't think now is a good time."
"You'll think now is a perfect time as soon as you hear what I have to say." Garcia put her hands on her hips and stared at Morgan.
"Is it dirty?" He grinned.
"You'll never find out if you don't come with me." Garcia turned and shot a look back at Morgan.
"Alone in your office? It just keeps getting better!" Smirking, Morgan stood up and followed the analyst to her office, where she shut the door after quickly glancing down the hallway.
"Okay, Derek, where are you?"
"In your office?"
"No, but where is my office?" Garcia rolled her eyes.
"Baby girl, are you sure you're alright?" Morgan asked with a confused look on his face.
"Morgan. I'm a hacker. We work for the FBI; we have access to literally anything we could want to know! There are no secrets here." Garcia waved her hands around, waiting for Morgan to understand.
"I still don't get it Penelope."
"You said you feel like you didn't know Emily. Maybe now we can." Garcia gestured at her computer.
"Mama, are you suggesting we misuse our power and authority to dig up dirt on Prentiss?" Morgan stared at Garcia.
"No!" Garcia exclaimed. "Well, yes, maybe."
"Sounds good to me," Morgan pulled out one of the chairs in Garcia's office and sat down. "What sort of things do you think we can get from this?"
Garcia too sat down, deep in thought. "Medical reports, police reports too, anything internal, and anything that has been reported to the Bureau. And then there's the news articles, social media, blogs. We could get a fair bit of stuff."
"If anyone found out, would we get suspended?" Morgan wondered out loud.
"Depends on who found out, and where we were looking at the time." Garcia sighed. "More than likely we would get reported to Rossi, because he's filling in for Strauss. He may understand."
"He may."
"We should probably stay away from anything that will get us in major trouble, unless we have a pretty good excuse." Garcia eyed Morgan.
"Before she left, Strauss assigned me to go over some of the details of the Doyle case, and try and figure out where he might have gone." Morgan suggested. "Since Emily was involved in that case, we could use it."
"Are you sure you're okay with this, Derek?" Garcia's face lost a little bit of the cheer that had been growing on it upon seeing Morgan becoming happier.
"I'm going to have to do it anyway mama, so it's better now than later."
"Well then, my lovely choco-god, let's get started!"
...
Spencer Reid was having a pisser of a day. It had started early, with headaches keeping him up half the night, and had only snowballed when he arrived at work, finding Prentiss' empty desk and a broken coffee machine. Again. So, without his daily fix, Reid faced a job that was depressing as hell, as well as not actually furtive looks from Morgan, Hotch, and Garcia. Then, once their morning meeting was over and they headed back to work, Morgan would NOT stop sneaking glances. And though he knew she meant well, Reid had not been pleased when Garcia had tried to talk to him. They needed to understand that he wasn't a little kid, or a baby, and that he could handle himself.
So, when he saw the clock on his computer hit five, Reid had stood up and left the bullpen without a word to either Garcia or Morgan. With another pile of work to go through, Reid had made his way to his favorite coffee shop in town, ordered two of the largest coffees that they had, and after a moments break, headed back to work. Coffee in hand, he made his way through the glass doors of the bullpen, only to find it empty. He surveyed the desks for a moment before heading down the hallway to Garcia's office, where he was sure he would be able to find Morgan. The voices floating toward him only confirmed what he had already known.
He wondered what they were talking about; certainly not their jobs, him maybe? Reid wouldn't put it past them to whisper about him behind closed doors after he had left. A tinge of curiosity edged at his depressing mood when he arrived at Garcia's office to find that the door was closed. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying and inched closer, only to jerk back a bit as Morgan's laugh boomed out of the room. As the laughing continued, Reid quietly opened the door and stepped in, peering at the contents of the screen that both Morgan and Garcia were laughing at. He recognized a picture of Prentiss, the one that he and Garcia had laughed at and teased Emily about three or four years ago.
As their laughter died away, Reid spoke up. "What are you doing?"
Garcia and Morgan whipped around, tipping Morgan's chair over, and causing Garcia to gasp loudly.
"Holy shit!" Morgan exclaimed, while Garcia said, "Reid!"
Reid stared at his coworkers as Morgan righted the chair and sat back down in it.
"What the hell, man? I thought you left!" Morgan glared at Reid.
"I, like 54% of Americans, needed my daily fix." He held his coffee up where the other two could see it. "So, I took a break and went to the coffee shop."
"Well, my junior g-man, I think that it probably goes without saying that we were not expecting you back." Garcia smiled at Reid.
"I could see that. But," Reid gestured to the computer screen, "you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing?"
Garcia and Morgan looked at each other, and then back at Reid. "Well... We all miss Emily. So Derek and I just thought that maybe if we looked at some pictures..."
"And you chose that one, Garcia? What are you actually doing?" Reid stared at the tech analyst. "I'm a profiler Garcia. I know guilty behavior when I see it."
"I hate profilers." Garcia pouted.
"Reid, if we tell you it's none of your business, will you leave it alone?" Morgan gritted his teeth.
"No," Reid responded.
"Fine," Garcia looked Reid in the eye. "Since EP died, we've all been feeling like we never really knew her. So, Derek and I are getting to know our friend Emily."
"What do you...?" Reid paused. "Garcia, you aren't. You're actually using your computers to dig up all of Emily's secrets?"
"When you put it that way..." Garcia trailed off.
Despite his better judgment, Reid felt his horrible mood disappearing, and his curiosity growing as he realized exactly what Morgan and Garcia were doing.
"But- But- That's a gross invasion of Emily's privacy. She- How would you feel if we were doing that to one of you?" The pitch of Reid's voice steadily rose. "What- What?"
"Spencer, honey, she's gone. She's not coming back, no matter how hard we wish she was. Maybe we can make peace with that if we feel like we actually knew her."
Reid's mouth gaped in shock at his friends.
Morgan sighed and turned to look at Reid. "Do you want in?"
"Yes." The word slipped out of Reid's mouth before he had time to stop it. "I mean... Yes, but... I shouldn't."
"Well then, my lovely genius, go get a chair." Garcia exclaimed before turning back to the computer screen.
"No one has to know." Morgan too turned away from Reid.
Reid grabbed another chair and sat down on the other side of Garcia, cradling his now lukewarm coffee.
"We really were just looking at pictures. We were going to get into the heavier stuff later." Garcia informed Reid while pulling up two other pictures onto the screen.
The three photos on the screen were so drastically different that all three had to lean forward, surveying the face in the pictures to ensure that they were, indeed, all of the same person.
The first photo showed Prentiss at maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, Garcia estimated, wearing a blue t-shirt with long white sleeves. Her long dark hair was pulled back with a cream coloured head band, and she smiled at the camera, her face still displaying the signs of her youth.
The second photo showed a slumped over and smiling Prentiss, face pasty white and hair spiked out, clothed in a fully gothic outfit.
And the third made Reid's heart clutch, ever so slightly. She looked to be in her early to mid twenties, and she was majestic, graceful and a little sassy, with her dark hair pulled up into a high bun and hand on her hip. She was dressed up, maybe for a party at her mother's, in a cream top and skirt. She was young, happy and vibrant, exactly the way that the three FBI agents who were transfixed by the photo wanted to remember her.
"Wow." Garcia breathed.
"She was holding out on us." Morgan smiled and leaned back in his chair. He reached out and hit Reid's back. Reid, who had been staring at the picture jolted, jiggling his coffee. Morgan glanced at the younger agent. "You okay there, man?"
"I'm fine." Reid shook his head and leaned back, sipping his coffee as Garcia brought up another picture of Prentiss.
The picture that popped up on the screen was so unexpected that Reid choked on the sip of coffee he had just taken, gasping for breath as Morgan whistled at the screen. Between the two men, Garcia raised her eyebrows before taking in the reactions of her two friends.
The picture was surely taken professionally, with Prentiss lying on a bed, staring into space outside the frame. She was wearing grey pants, and two large black stars covered her breasts. It was their friend without her defenses, before the days of Ian Doyles and spies and serial killers. Seeing both the men transfixed by the photo, Garcia clicked x.
"Sorry boys, but I do not want that photo up if Rossi chose right now to check on what we're doing."
Both profilers had leaned back in their seats and were now watching Garcia. "Probably a good idea," Morgan admitted, as Reid stared at the two in silence.
"Shall we keep looking, my lovelies?" Garcia gestured to the computer screen.
"Are there going to be many more pictures baby girl?"
"Well, there are on average 52 billion photos taken worldwide per year. Multiply that by 40 years and we get just over 2 trillion photos taken in Prentiss' life. I'm sure we can find more than four of her." Reid, who had seemingly recovered his voice, interjected.
"Okay then," Garcia brought up a search field on the computer. "Let's keep looking."
"You know, I never did find out what a Sin-To-Win weekend in Atlantic City was." Morgan mused.
Garcia looked confused. "What?"
"A Sin-To-Win weekend; there was one case where Prentiss complained that she had to give up her Sin-To-Win weekend in Atlantic City. I asked her what is was, and she told me that if I had to ask, then I couldn't handle it." Morgan laughed. "I never did figure out what it was after."
"I remember that. It was that case where she beat me at poker." Reid nodded.
"Excuse me?" Garcia sounded incredulous. "Are you telling me that Emily Prentiss beat you, the great Spencer Reid, at poker?"
"Yeah, she never told you?"
"No."
"It was pretty amazing. The poor kid was so confused." Morgan grinned.
"She drew three cards to a full house. The odds of that are 97-to-1."
Garcia smiled too, "Impressive."
"She beat me other times too, when we used to play poker and chess when there were no cases."
Garcia looked a little surprised. "Oh." She thought for a minute. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "Once, I think it was a little after Emily joined the team, she, JJ and I went to a bar, and there was this guy there. Emily went to get us beer, and this guy hit on her. And, of all of the pickup lines that he could have used on her, guess which one he chose."
Morgan thought for a moment before his face lit up. "He didn't."
"Oh, he did." Garcia chuckled.
"He what?" Reid looked at his friends, confused.
Morgan and Garcia glanced at each other quickly before Morgan spoke up. "He told her he was an FBI agent. You'd be surprised how many chicks fall for that one."
"But not Emily," Reid assumed.
"Not Emily, no, she brought him back over to us, and introduced him as... I can't remember his name. Ben, or Brad or something, but anyway, she introduced him as Ben or Brad, the real FBI agent, and we played along before she totally destroyed him by pulling out her badge. His face was priceless, and that was the moment I knew that we were going to be friends for a long time."
Both Reid and Morgan laughed.
"Emily confronted me when I was acting different, after Hankel, and I told her to back off. I was horrible to her, and I never apologized." The smile suddenly dropped off Reid's face.
"Trust me, she knew you were sorry." Garcia turned to Reid. "We talked about it once, and she told me. She knew."
"And in Cyrus' compound, she was willing to get beaten rather than see me die."
"We know, kid." Morgan touched Reid's shoulder.
"And she was the one who made me realize that Gideon really did care about me after he left."
Morgan and Garcia nodded.
"I wish we had noticed." Reid whispered.
Both Garcia and Morgan knew immediately what Reid was referring to.
"So do I." Garcia responded as Morgan nodded.
"I asked her to a movie before..." Reid broke off. "She thought Morgan had put me up to it, but once she figured out it was just me asking, she said no. She said she was hanging out with Sergio."
"Who?" Garcia jolted upright for a moment.
"Her cat," Reid clarified, and Garcia relaxed again. "But she thanked me for being me, and when I told her that that was the only person I knew how to be she said that was what she loved about me." He smiled.
"She loved you." Garcia murmured, and both Morgan and Reid turned to look at her. "She loved all of us, and we loved her too."
"She was pretty amazing." Reid looked at the screen and smiled slightly.
"That she was." Morgan added.
"For sure," Garcia turned back to the computer. "Let's keep looking. I want to see her face again."
In agreement, Morgan and Reid turned back to the computer as well, and together they started searching for pictures of their friend.
...
Almost an hour later, the three agents had compiled a timeline of photos of Prentiss and were studying it intently.
"Well, for a person to go from her," Morgan gestured at the first photo of a young Prentiss in blue, "to her," he gestured, "indicates that she might have experienced some sort of trauma between the two."
"I'll cross check her medical records for anything major around that time." Garcia pointed her feathery pen at the screen.
"I don't see any other indicative changes there. Do either of you?" Morgan looked between his friends.
"I see nothing." Reid shrugged.
"I do." Garcia scrolled through the pictures until they were more recent. "Here, in the pictures that were taken around the time she got back from being undercover with Doyle and some from before that, you can see that she looks really miserable, no matter how much she's smiling. And it doesn't go away until about here." She poked at a picture of the entire team from about 5 years ago. "She looked really happy there with us."
"She really did." Morgan leaned back in his chair.
"She ran to protect us. Doyle was killing families, and we were hers, no matter what she kept from us." Reid muttered.
Both Morgan and Garcia turned to look at him, then each other. "We need to remember that." Garcia smiled a bit and reached out to hold Reid and Morgan's hands.
The moment was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.
"Shit." Morgan breathed.
"Close them. No, minimize them. Or turn off the screen. Anything," Garcia hissed at the men. Then, louder, she called out, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Garcia." Rossi's voice came through the door. "Open the door, now."
Garcia bounced up and flung the door open. "How can the Oracle of Quantico and her lovely minions help you Rossi?" She smiled brightly at the older agent.
Rossi brushed past her into the room and shut the door. "About ten minutes ago, I had a report from someone down in Internal Affairs, telling me that one of my tech analysts was hacking into another agent's records without authorization. Since I only have one analyst, I can only assume that he was referring to you. Would any of you like to explain what you are doing so I can tell IA that everything is alright?"
"Ah-"
"It's my fault Dave, sorry. I'm researching the Doyle case, and I needed Garcia's help getting information on his victims. We just got stuck on Prentiss." Morgan shrugged apologetically.
"And Reid is here why?" Rossi raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
"Well, I went out for coffee, because the machine is broken, again, and when I came back the bullpen was empty, and-" Reid's rambling was interrupted.
"Relax Reid. I know exactly what the three of you are up to."
"Dave-"
"And, while I can't exactly say that I approve; I can't deny you the closure that you, that we all need." He breathed deeply before continuing. "But I have to warn you. No matter what Emily Prentiss kept from you, no matter how hurt you were because you feel like she didn't trust you, you still have her placed on a very high pedestal. Now, should you find something that you don't like or don't approve of and it affects the ways you see her... Well, it's a long way down from where you are holding her right now. So, before you start this, be very sure that it is what you want. Once you know everything, there is no way to forget and just remember Emily Prentiss as the woman you knew."
The small office was silent. "Think before you do anything rash." Rossi turned around and opened the door. He paused with one had on the knob. "I'll tell Internal Affairs that you are authorized to view any and all information pertaining to Agent Emily Prentiss within your access level. And remember what I said."
With that, Rossi slipped into the hall, closing the door behind him.
After a moment of silence, Garcia spoke up. "He's right you know. We never thought of what would happen if Emily's past was bad."
Morgan and Reid nodded silently in agreement.
"Here's what I think we should do. I'll set up a filter and put everything that the computer digs up on Emily into a folder. I'll print three copies at home. We each take one and read it if we decide that we want to know." Garcia paused. "Keep the information or destroy it, it's up to you my darlings, but no matter what we never talk about this again. No asking if we read the folder. No discussing what was in it."
"Mama-"
"No Derek, we never talk about this again. These are Emily's secrets, and while I want to know her for who she was, I don't think we should talk about it."
"I agree with Garcia. Studies show that many people regret learning about their loved ones pasts and discovering unsavory information. It taints the way they see each other. If we do find out Emily's secrets, they become our secrets to keep. Just because we all know them doesn't mean that we should talk about it. We each need to come to terms with Prentiss on our own."
"Seconded, junior g-man."
"The kid has a point." Morgan sighed. "We should probably get this filter thing set up and head home."
"And hope we don't get called for a case." Reid muttered.
"It will be fine. I'll have the files waiting for you first thing in the morning. It'll be a Happy Friday present." Garcia beamed at her friends. "Now, it's almost ten. Go home, I can handle this myself."
"Are you sure baby girl?" Morgan peered at Garcia.
"I'm sure Derek. You and boy genius here should go get some rest."
"Thank you Penelope." Reid stood awkwardly and stared at Garcia.
"Give me a hug you cutie." Garcia enveloped Reid for a moment before stepping back. "We're going to be alright"
"Goodnight, baby girl." Morgan smiled before turning to follow Reid out of the room.
"'Night hot stuff!' Night Reid!" Garcia called after them before turning back to her computer.
She slowly went about setting up a filter that would put all of the information her babies could gather on Emily into a file; one small file that would contain so much power.
Penelope Garcia leaned back and surveyed her room. She had a decision to make.
...
The morning came much too quickly for Spencer Reid's liking. Feeling almost refreshed for the first time in recent memory, he swung his legs out of bed and began to get ready to face the day ahead. Doubtful that anyone would have fixed the coffee machine, he stopped at his favorite coffee shop and ordered himself a coffee, then one each for Morgan and Garcia as an afterthought. He pulled into the parking lot at Quantico a half hour later, and rushed up to Garcia's office. Finding the door ajar, he pushed it open to find the analyst slumped in her chair fast asleep. Vaguely, he noted that she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
"Garcia." He nudged her. "GARCIA."
"I'm awake, sir. Please don't fire me." Garcia jolted awake.
"It's just me, Garcia." Reid sat in the empty chair beside her.
"Oh. What time is it?" Garcia rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"It's almost 7:30." Reid glanced at the clock. "Garcia, have you been here all night?"
"I have, my little genius." Garcia spun around to face Reid.
"I brought you coffee." Reid held out the large cup to his friend who immediately brightened up.
"You're sweet." Garcia took the drink from Reid and took a sip. "Mmm. Heaven."
Reid also took a sip of coffee and the two sat in silence for a moment.
"Is Derek here?" Garcia asked.
"I haven't seen him, and since he hasn't come to see you yet I can only assume that no, he isn't here yet," Reid shrugged.
"It's just as well, I guess." Garcia turned to her computer and began to click around. "I fell asleep before I could print out the files."
Once the printer had whirred to life and began spitting out sheets, Garcia turned back to Reid. "You look better than you've looked in weeks. Good night?"
"Well, on average I've been getting two to three hours of sleep per night for the last month, but last night I slept pretty soundly from eleven until five, which is much closer to the eight hour average that most adults need to function well. I feel better as well." Reid explained.
"That's great! I guess there's something to be said for getting the closure that we needed." Garcia gestured to the printer, which was still chugging away.
"What do you mean?" Reid's face took on a hint of confusion.
"You haven't been sleeping well since March, but last night you slept well. I guess you needed to know you were getting closure too. I haven't slept as well as I did last night in a while either, and I would be willing to bet that Derek would say the same thing if we asked him."
Suddenly the door swung open and Morgan strode inside the office.
"Morning mama. Hi Reid." He smiled.
"Hi Morgan." Reid replied as Garcia waved happily at Morgan.
"Who's the extra coffee for?" He immediately spotted the third cup, which was sitting on Garcia's desk.
"You, if you want it." Reid picked up the cup and offered it to Morgan.
"Thanks kid." Morgan smiled at Reid.
"Printer's done!" Garcia exclaimed before pushing herself over to the three small stacks of paper which sat on the printing tray. "Can one of you grab some folders?"
"Of course," Morgan passed three plain folders to Garcia, who began sorting the papers into each file.
"Thanks hot stuff."
She worked in silence for a moment before turning toward the two men who were watching her. "Here you go!" She handed them each a file.
Both Morgan and Reid started to peek into the folder, but Garcia stopped them with a quick noise. "Uh-uh. No peeking until you get home." She waited for the two to close the file before continuing. "There are six pages. It's just basic stuff, like a medical summary, and some jobs she worked before she worked with us, but hopefully you'll feel like you know her better if you choose to read it."
Morgan and Reid nodded. "Kevin sent me a message earlier that Hotch and Seaver finished up their case and are heading back this morning, and Rossi is going to be here soon, so you two should head into the bullpen and get started on your work." Garcia finished.
"Okay, talk to you later mama. You too kid." Morgan headed out the door of Garcia's office toward the bullpen.
"Bye Garcia." Reid turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "And thanks," he offered a tentative smile before heading back toward the bullpen.
"You're more than welcome. And Reid, I'm here any time you need me!" She called after him.
Out in the bullpen, Reid and Morgan both slipped the inconspicuous file into their bags and shared one look before settling down to do their work, each absorbed in thoughts of the woman whose secrets lay just out of their reach.
...
The rest of the day dragged on for the three agents, and when eight o'clock rolled around each got up, said their goodbyes and rushed out of the office.
Derek Morgan arrived home and promptly dug out the file, laying it carefully on his table before sinking into a chair. There was so much that he wanted to know about Emily Prentiss, his partner, his friend. The woman had been like a sister to him, but yet there were parts of her lying on his table now that he had possibly never known before. Yes, there were some secrets she would take to her grave. After all, Garcia's computers could only do so much. Up until that exact moment, he had been sure of what he was going to do with the file that Garcia had compiled for them. Until then, he had been 100% sure that he was going to read the contents of the file, and finally be at peace with Emily Prentiss.
But now he wasn't so sure.
...
Meanwhile, Penelope Garcia had made it home and had collapsed on her couch, still clutching the file. Deep inside, she knew that she had made the right decision. Relaxing slightly, Garcia placed the file on her coffee table. Ever since JJ had walked into the waiting room and confirmed their worst fears, Garcia had felt like a piece of her heart was missing. She missed her friend, missed when they used to laugh together and missed their nights out. She missed talking to Emily. She could accept that Emily had done what she did to protect her family, but she couldn't accept that she had been punished for protecting the only family she had ever had.
Slowly, Garcia opened the file and spread out the six sheets contained in her file.
...
Spencer Reid, unlike the others, had discarded the file the moment he had arrived home, dumping it unceremoniously onto his couch and sinking down beside it. He looked out his window, over the lights of the city, and thought about Emily Prentiss. She had meant so much to him, to all of them, and it wasn't fair that she was gone. He thought about what Garcia had said earlier, about how Emily had loved them all. Deep down he knew it was true, and that they had loved her too. They might not have known all of her, but they had loved her for who she was. After all, she had loved them, flaws and all.
Knowing for sure what he was going to do, Reid picked up the folder.
...
Morgan reached down and brushed the file. Slowly he realized that Rossi was right, the file contained information that could possibly destroy his memories of Prentiss, good and bad. She may have lied to them, but she had her reasons for doing so, just like they all had reasons for hiding their secrets from the others. Morgan rose from the couch and headed toward the kitchen, then returned holding a pair of scissors. He slid the paper out of the folder and flipped it over to hide the words it contained before he attacked the papers with the scissors, cutting the words into small pieces until he felt the last bit of anger he was holding on to toward Prentiss ebb away and disappear altogether. In that moment, as he surveyed the ruins of some of the secrets of his dead friend's life he knew one thing for sure.
He was finally at peace with Emily Prentiss.
...
Garcia studied the words, a smile slowly spreading over her face as she took in the gibberish that covered them. It was a mess of random letters and numbers, which she had printed out and stuck in her own file. After Rossi had left the day before, she had known that there was no way she would ever be able to read the contents of the file. She might have been a bit of a gossip queen, but some secrets were meant to be taken to the grave, and she wasn't going to be the one to dig them up. However, she wasn't sure about Morgan and Reid. Garcia hated to see her boys sad, and so she had given them their files, hoping they would choose not to read them. Still she wasn't sure, and she would never know.
Garcia stood and moved toward her desk, grabbing the sparkly purple shredder beneath it, before heading back to the couch. One by one she fed the sheets to it, destroying the nonsensical words on the page. As the last page was gobbled up, she leaned back and grabbed a picture off the table beside the couch and smiled as she saw the smiling faces of her team. One happy face in particular stood out to her. Emily Prentiss stood with her arms around Morgan and Reid, beaming out of the frame. Garcia smiled and brushed her fingers over the glass. Emily Prentiss might be gone, but she would live on forever in their memories of her.
...
Reid, still holding the file, walked toward the wall across from his couch. One hand reached toward a button on the wall, which he turned. With a loud click, the fire in the fireplace flicked to life, and Reid returned to his couch, still clutching the file in one hand. Halfheartedly, he watched the flames grow, and felt the warmth of the fire heating his small apartment. Looking at the file one last time, Reid flung it into the fire, watching as the pages curled and the smoke darkened. The pages slowly started to fall apart, with small charred pieces floating about in the fireplace. Reid smiled slightly. Emily's secrets would stay hers alone, and he could finally remember his friend as she was.
"Goodbye Emily." He whispered softly.
And, long into the night, Spencer Reid watched as Emily Prentiss' secrets disappeared, spiralling into the night sky.
Russell Lynes once said, 'Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we want to conceal.'