Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay; real life friends and family came to visit.
So, per many requests, this is the team's reaction to Emily's return.
Thanks to HGRH35 who without her I, this story would not be this great! (patting hers and my back! )
So, without further ado, enjoy!
Disclaimer: yeah, I do not own CM or its characters!
…
The Long and Winding Road
Part 1
No one had seen Emily since her sudden appearance in the BAU unit. After the shock had worn down, she sat down and told the team of her ordeal and the necessity of deception to the team.
Penelope was walking up towards Hotch's office; she needed to talk to someone. She felt as if something was wrong.
She remembered sadly, as she passed by Derek's desk, how he reacted when he saw Emily standing by the doorway, as if she was a ghost. She was so happy that Emily, her friend, was still alive. She had stood up and rushed over to the brunette and enveloped her into a fierce hug that ended watery; both women were crying. It had meant a lot to Emily to see that she was not offended at the deception.
But the surprise was that after Emily had finished explaining, Derek, without a word, left the conference room.
Instead of she or Emily went after him, it was Reid who did that.
Emily felt awful; she knew right away she had angered her friend and teared.
Then, Penelope and Dave were taken by surprise when Hotch came around the table and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. Emily reached up and grasped his hand and together they held on. It was as if he was giving her strength and she absorbing it.
Penelope remembered her surprise, as well as Dave's, at their display of closeness. It was a very un-Hotch movement.
Half an hour went by when Reid came back. The team looked behind him but there was no one else.
Disappointment ruled around the table.
As Reid sat down, he looked around and saw that they were staring at him expectantly.
"He is still angry. I tried to tell him about forgiveness and he punched the wall half an inch from me."
They gasped; they knew Derek had anger management issues but they trusted him to control it. To know that he almost deliberately tried to hurt Reid was shocking.
"I'm sorry," Emily said softly.
"Hey kid," Dave looked at her pointedly, "It's not your fault. You were put in a position where you couldn't say no because you were still a very young agent and saying 'no' to an assignment would have put a black mark against you in your personal file. If it were me, I would have gone along as well. They knew your strength. You signed up for…"
"Dave, that's bullshit!" Hotch glared at his friend. "Don't ever say that. She didn't sign up to be a…a…" he was so mad at his friend that he couldn't think of the word."
"Mata Hari." Penelope uttered.
Hotch stared at her as if he was ready to read her a riot act but Reid in his usual philosophical self began to recite, "Mata Hari was born in the Netherlands in the later 1800s. She was accused of being a spy for Germany, found guilty and executed by firing squad. Actually, there was no solid evidence that she was a spy. She was really just an exotic dancer who married well and thus afforded to travel freely because of her country's neutral status as well as wealth. And in the second World War…" He stopped his recitation when he realized he had done it again as several pairs of eyes were on him.
He clamped up immediately and looked down on his lap.
"Thank you Reid, and Garcia. But I don't think Emily appreciated being called that."
Emily smiled a little, "No I don't. Considering the way she died. And I'm not into dancing and stripping."
"You're right, Hotch. She didn't deserve being seen and judged by what was done. Interpol was only interested in one thing at that time; Valhalla who turned out to be Doyle himself. And Interpol didn't care how they captured him."
Hotch nodded to his friend; thank you.
"Look guys, I know what I did then, and that I didn't tell anyone; I didn't have a choice and I was not authorized to give out this information. Of course, I knew that you guys could put two and two together and Penelope could dig out the Earth's core if she need be."
Garcia blushed at the compliment.
"Emily," Reid began, "I believed you. There is no need to explain yourself about the past. I'm sure we each have secrets kept from each other…"
"I don't even want to know what kind of secrets you have, Spencer." Garcia had lightly punched him on his upper arm. "Wait, I know! You have the biggest collection of Smurfs and your favorite character is Papa Smurf and that you had a thing for him."
It broke the somber mood.
Reid blushed much deeper than Garcia but they knew that they had reached an understanding where Emily was concerned.
"So what now? Is she back to being Emily Prentiss?" Garcia wanted to know.
Hotch had moved back to his seat and not looking at anyone he replied, "I think it is safe to do so. CIA did not detect any factious movement in Ireland or upper Britain. Right now, she will have to go through psych eval. And re-qualify her weapons license and all. And the board of inquiry will want to interview her in regards to the Doyle case and her personal involvement."
Nods went all around the table; everyone knew about the board of inquiry which was standard procedure. And the fact that so many agents from the Interpol were dead because of Doyle and she had single handedly took care of the scumbag, Hotch knew that it would be a slap on the wrist for her and then they would approve to reinstate her. Of course, Hotch and JJ would be attending the inquiry as well, to lend a supporting hand and to verify her actions.
…
Penelope knocked on Hotch's door before she walked in; the door was opened anyways, so it was just politeness and professionalism to knock.
"Come in." Hotch said automatically. Penelope saw that he was working on a case file.
Walking up to his desk, she placed the files on his desk and sat down, uninvited, on a guest chair.
Hotch, realizing that Penelope was still here and that she was quiet, looked up from his work.
"Problem?" He could see her questioning looks.
"I…can I be honest? I mean, off the record?" She asked in a nervous and serious tone.
Hotch curved an eyebrow, "Garcia, this office does not have a camera and there is no audio recorder. Besides, you know that already."
"I know but I just want you to know anyways that I have some really personal questions." She said, now her features looked almost begging.
Hotch placed his pen on top of the file and leaned back against his comfy chair.
Without waiting for a reply she began, "Where's Morgan? I've not seen him since…"
Hotch nodded, "He asked for some vacation days; he's in Chicago."
Penelope nodded, slightly hurt that Derek, whom she thought she was closest to, would have told her already. He always did and many times, before he headed to Illinois, he always talked about her going there with him so he could introduce her into his family. She would be a perfect fit to his family, Derek had told her.
"I see. I thought…never mind." Suck it up, Penelope; he really had some issues he needed to deal with before he faced Emily again.
"Emily. Is she doing okay? The psych evaluation, how did she do?"
Hotch frowned at her; why did she come here to ask me? Why not go to the main source?
As if reading his mind, Garcia went on, "I'm asking you this because it also ties in with my next very nosy question. You and Emily? Are you…you know…an item? I…I mean I know it's very personal and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to but…I…cared about Emily and you…I mean as my boss. Not that kind of caring which is where Kevin comes in and you are my boss and I looked to you as you're part of my family…"
Hotch grinned slightly; nothing could escape her eagle eyes.
"Garcia…"
She was still talking.
"Garcia!"
That worked and she jumped slightly before looking at him wide eyed; expecting him to tell her off.
"Yes, sir?" she straightened her posture.
Usually, he would be defensive and told her to mind her own business but those past few days, spending time and talking with Emily had really opened his eyes about what family and friends really meant.
"Yes. Emily and I, we are…I like her a lot and I want to get to know her better and vice versa."
Garcia couldn't smile any wider.
"Oh! How cute!"
"Garcia, we're just now taking things nice and slow. And you can rest assure that we are not going to let our…relationship affect the team and our work relationship."
Garcia nodded eagerly, agreeing with him. She and Kevin, although they did not work in the same place but there were times when they did. And they made every effort to be professional.
She knew that both Hotch and Emily were very strong and focused individuals and that what Hotch said, he meant it. And she believed him.
"Anything else?" He asked softly; he could see she had understood him completely.
Standing up, she shook her head. "No. I think you'd covered it. Thank you. Now, we have to work on Derek getting off his high horse."
She walked out of the office after a wave.
Hotch watched her leave the office and down the stairs but he was really looking at her, he was remembering Derek and the meeting.
Derek had approached him the next day after the bombshell. He was still angry.
As he sat down on the chair opposite Hotch, he began to talk. He repeated what he had told him when Hotch was evaluating him after Emily's supposed death.
Hotch then asked him, "Why do you hate her?"
Derek stared at Hotch, "Hotch! I don't hate her!" he couldn't believe Hotch put him in that corner.
Hotch quietly said, "Ever since you learned of her involvement with Doyle, how close she had to be in order to gain trust, you have been condemning her of her moralities. You have been disgusted at the fact that she had stooped that low to achieve the means."
"Hotch, I…" Derek knew Hotch had painted an accurate picture of him, he was ashamed at how he felt but he couldn't help it. Throughout his childhood, he was taught to feel pride and self worth, to not give in to such low morals.
"Come on, Derek. You sneered with derision when you heard about it. You had already condemned her."
Derek stood up, his anger on the edge. "Hotch, be careful what you're accusing me of."
Hotch remained on his chair; this needed to be aired out. "I do know, Derek. You are pretty pissed because she didn't come to us, to you, about this problem. She had inside information about Doyle but she didn't say anything. That really got you, didn't it?"
"Hotch…" Derek's eyes flashed more angrily, trying to warn his boss how closely he was threading the accusation line.
But Hotch knew there was no backing off.
"What about you? You had your secrets but you didn't say anything." He was referring to Derek's past which, brought to the present and made him confront that horrifying ordeal he went through when he was young. And how more boys were in his place and went through the pain before he could stop it.
It was low of Hotch to bring that up again.
"That was personal. That was not supposed to be out in the open…"
"Is it? Look at how many young boys suffered in the hands of Carl Buford? If you'd spoke up sooner, those boys might be saved, they could still be alive."
And that snapped Derek as he shouted on top of his voice, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare remind me! That was a very personal ordeal! I was not undercover! I didn't volunteer! She did, knowing what she had to do! She fucking slept with a murderer! She knew who he was!"
Hotch knew what he was doing was awful but Derek had been keeping it all to himself, bottling up until something snapped.
"Damn it Hotch! You don't know what you're talking about!" He made for the door.
"Derek," Hotch called after him.
Derek turned around.
"She had no choice. Have you thought about that?"
Derek paused for a moment before he said, "I'm taking some time off."
And he left.
Okay, Hotch thought as he watched Derek stalked out of the unit without stopping at his desk, that went pretty well.
…End of Part 1…
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thank you!
Lizzie
