Thank you for the reviews, they really help motivate me:) Hope you continue to enjoy. All words not in english I got from google translate, so if they are wrong, I apologize.
-I don't own the characters sadly:(
Garcia was in trouble. She knew this, had known it while she was getting herself into trouble, and knew it now as she walked towards her impending doom, but it couldn't be helped. So she would get yelled at, small price to pay for helping a friend right? Hopefully. She thought. After taking a deep breath, she knocked on JJ's door and then opened it after hearing a 'come in' from the other side.
"So I did a thing." Garcia spat out nervously.
JJ's eyes narrowed as she looked at her friend clutching a manilla folder to her chest. "What kind of thing?"
"A thing I was told not to do."
"Garcia..."
"I found her!" Garcia yelled out excitedly. "I know I was given specific instructions to drop it, but a baby Emily! I just, she's been so sad lately, and I couldn't stand it and..."
"Penelope, what are you saying?" JJ said, her voice dangerously calm. Garcia gave a small frown and then held the folder out to the glaring blonde in front of her. JJ wrenched it out of her hands, and tore through the folder. She let out a gasp as she saw the photograph tucked inside. "Oh my god she..."
"Looks exactly like a tiny Emily!" Garcia squealed as she ran around to look over JJ's shoulder. "Well, sort of, I mean, you can see the similarities. Same dark hair, but its curly! How cute is that? Same pale skin, stoic, gorgeous face, you can tell she is stubborn as hell, just like her mama! Only real difference is her eyes. Blue, and a bit of green. So precious, I just want to hold her forever. Look at that sad little face Jayje."
"She...her name is Calla. Calla Lily Pierce. God..." JJ said staring at the photograph of the young girl in front of her. It was amazing.
"Her adoptive parents died Jayje. When she was six. She's been in foster care since. She..."
"No!" JJ yelled. "Garcia, I told you not to do this! Emily doesn't want to talk about it."
"Because she thinks Calla already has a loving family, she doesn't want to ruin her life, but she doesn't. Look at that face Jayje, that is a lonely little girl. They need each other."
"Penelope..."
"You know I'm right Jayje. Don't bother saying otherwise. Will she be mad? Probably, but if this helps get them together the I am fine with her being mad at me for a while."
JJ sighed. She couldn't really argue with that logic, but she couldn't help the pit feeling in her stomach. Emily wouldn't just be a little mad for a while, she would be furious. Emily held on to her privacy tightly, she had let up a bit since coming back from the dead, but her life was still her life, this went beyond a small invasion. "Garcia, how did you even find this? Aren't foster care records private?"
"Well, yes, and this one very much so. Em's mom must have pulled some crazy tight strings in this adoption, it was a bitch to work around. That's why it took me almost two weeks. But, I am amazing, so..."
There was a small knock on the door. JJ and Garcia both looked up quickly and JJ shoved the folder under some other papers quickly. Hotch gave her an odd look, but ignored it. "Conference room, five minutes. We've got a case." Both blondes nodded to him and he walked out.
"You do not say a thing." JJ said in her mom voice. "I mean it Penelope, Not. A. Damn. Thing. Until we talk more about this."
"I promise."
"Garcia."
"No, I really promise, not like before. I promise. Truthfully, I would be too scared to tell her alone. The girl knows her way around a gun."
JJ actually gave a laugh at that, but brought her face back to a frown before both women headed off to the conference room.
Emily had been avoiding the team as much as possible in the last two weeks. She could feel their eyes constantly on her. Just as that had begun to stop – they had been keeping her in their eyesight at all times since she came back from Paris – it started again. It was beyond infuriating. She just wanted life to be normal again. On good terms with the team, catching bad guys, going home to sleep. She needed that normalcy back and she needed it now. The constant worrying looks, everyone walking on eggshells around her, she was ready to explode.
"We've got three dead men. All college students, all drowned. We're going to Chicago. Jet's up in half an hour." Hotch said.
Emily looked over the file in front of her and could feel JJ staring at her. She did her best to ignore the blonde but her concentration was shot. Sighing, she stood up and told them she was going to grab some coffee before they headed out. JJ quickly jumped up and said she would join her.
"How have you been?" JJ asked as they made their way to the coffeepot in the bullpen. "Haven't seen much of you in the last few weeks."
"Fine." Emily said curtly.
"Garcia and I were talking earlier, we were thinking that we are long overdue for a girls night. How about once this case is finished?"
Emily poured some coffee into a mug and added one packet of splenda. She looked up at JJ's smiling face and grinned. "That sounds good." Finally, it felt normal to be making plans to hang out with Garcia and JJ. Truthfully, she had really missed hanging out with them after work. They hadn't had a proper girls night in forever. JJ had always been busy with her new job, Will and Henry, and then Doyle, and then Garcia thought she was dead...it would be nice to have the girls back together again. "That sounds great actually. Could we make it a night in though? I'm not really in the mood to go out."
"Sounds perfect. I'll let Garcia know, then met you in the jet?"
"Okay." Emily watched JJ run off and smiled. Finally.
JJ burst into Garcia's lair causing her to squeal. "We're gonna have a girls night when we get back from this case, you, me, Emily, night of pigging out on pizza, wine and bad chick flicks."
"And possibly telling our friend we found her long lost daughter?"
"You found. I stayed out of it."
"JJ!"
"Yes Garcia. I gotta go." JJ moved in and gave Garcia a quick peck on the cheek and a slap on the arm then ran out to meet the team.
Dragging herself up to her apartment, Emily unlocked it and dropped her go-bag onto the floor. She sighed and opened her fridge, empty as usual. They had been gone almost a week, Emily learned a long time ago not to keep too many foods that would expire quickly in her fridge. Grabbing the phone, she ordered a small cheese pizza and jumped in the shower. The case had been draining. She was thankful it was over. She let the hot water run over her body for a few moments before even moving to wash her hair. It calmed her down. She was supporting a nasty bruise on her arm from chasing the unsub. Bastard had the gall to whack her with a two by four. She seemed to be the designated team member to get hit with pieces of wood. She turned off the water and yanked on a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. Hearing the doorbell ring, Emily grabbed her purse and went to great the pizza delivery boy only to be met with a smiling JJ and Garcia instead.
"You are not the pizza boy." Emily stated.
"No we are not. But we did order pizza!"
"So did I."
"We ordered more. You will have leftovers." Garcia said with a smile as she shoved her way into Emily's apartment. JJ gave her an apologetic smile and a hug as she followed her in.
"I thought we were having girls night tomorrow." Emily said as her friends sat themselves down in their usual places around the countertop. "JJ don't you want to see Henry and Will?"
"I did." JJ said with a smile. "Will is on a case of his own and they just got a breakthrough and Henry is now asleep at my mother's. Very happily I might add. She spoils him rotten. Worse than Garcia."
"Now that's not possible." Emily said giving her first real smile of the night.
"I cannot help it if I love my godchild. Its my duty to spoil him." Emily and JJ shared a look and both stifled laughs. "Speaking of children..." Garcia began. JJ looked like she was about to throw up and Emily instantly became nervous. She was not liking where this was going one little bit. Getting the feeling that the girls night had simply been a ruse she was becoming angry. So much for things getting back to normal.
"Penelope..." JJ warned.
"Do you want to tell us about it Emily? It might make you feel better." Garcia pressed on.
Emily clenched her fists – something that did not go unnoticed by JJ – and sighed deeply. "Is that the only reason you guys are here?" She asked attempting to keep her voice calm.
"No, of course not babe. We are sorely lacking in the girls night department. We love you, and want you to know you can talk to us – about anything – and this is a big thing. That's all."
JJ watched as Emily visibly relaxed a bit. It appeared to be more out of defeat and exhaustion than anything else. "Maybe your right." Emily practically whispered. Garcia beamed and looked to JJ excitedly. JJ stalled her with a look before she broke out into a squeal, or a dance, or something else wildly inappropriate that would cause Emily to shut down. "We're gonna need to break open that wine." Emily muttered. JJ moved to open it as the doorbell rang.
"I got it!" Garcia screamed as she ran to pay the delivery boy. Emily flopped down into a chair and gratefully accepted her glass from JJ, who sat next to her. Garcia bounded back, arms full of three boxes of pizza and began preparing plates. "You were saying?" She prompted gently.
Emily took a long sip of her wine and began playing with one of her rings, not really looking her friends in the eye. "Well, he was my best friend, you guys met him actually. Remember the case we had where my friend Matthew died?"
"Oh honey, he was the father?" Garcia asked sympathetically.
"No. Matthew and John were both my best friends. We lived in Italy. John was...he's the one who told me about Matthew. That's him."
"Oh." Garcia handed both Emily and JJ plates and JJ happily used the pizza as something to do with her hands. Emily barely touched it as she continued with her story.
"Well, we were both too young, I was gonna have an abortion, but it was too late. My mother was...furious doesn't even cover it. She took me out of school, said I was sick, forbid me from telling anyone, even John. Matthew knew because he had gone with me when I tried to have the abortion. My mother arranged the adoption. I didn't really have much of a say in it. I actually kinda wanted to keep her. Once I knew it was too late. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but...my mother never would have allowed it. I have no idea who adopted her, my mother just said it was a respectable couple who would take good care of her. Then she put me back in school and we both pretended it never happened. She worked very hard to make sure no one else ever knew. The family was sworn to secrecy, they signed a contract, I know that. She made Matthew sign one too when she found out he knew. I told John years later, he was angry, but he had never been interested in being a father. Still isn't. He usually calls or sends me a letter on her birthday though. That's it. Now you know all my secrets." Emily faked a smile and downed the rest of her wine.
Both Garcia and JJ were quiet. JJ had reached out and begun rubbing Emily's back about halfway through the story on instinct. Initially, Emily had stiffened but now she relaxed and let JJ take care of her. She needed it. Emily's stomach growled and she turned her attention to the pizza in front of her, missing the silent communication going on above her head. Finally, Garcia cleared her throat.
"Em?" She nervously gave the knives next to her a shove away towards the wall. "I did a thing." She began.
Emily instantly froze up. JJ's hand stopped rubbing circles on her back, but remained there. Sentences that came out of Garcia's mouth that started with, 'I did a thing' almost never ended well. "What thing?" Emily asked, her voice tight.
"Well..." Garcia began, looking everywhere but Emily's face. "When I found out you had a daughter...I didn't plan on it. Not exactly, but I'm in front of the computer all the time, and I have access to records and..."
"Penelope, please tell me you did not do what I think you did."
"I...I can do that if you want me to, but I would be lying a little bit."
"GARCIA!" Emily screamed as she jumped out of her seat. Garcia quickly – and smartly – moved backwards keeping the knives behind her and praying that Emily's gun was far out of reach. Emily whipped around to JJ. "Did you know about this?" She yelled.
"After the fact." JJ began, Emily cut her off as she turned her attention back to Garcia.
"I cannot believe you would...no, you know what I can. You can't stay out of people's business for one second. This is unbelievable." Emily stood up and began pacing back and forth muttering to herself. "Inacreditável, inacreditável porra."
"What is she saying?" Garcia asked JJ.
"I dunno, sounds like spanish, or portuguese. Its not good though Pen."
"I know!" The two women let the brunette pace for a few moments. She uttered various words that both of them figured to be not so nice and then finally stopped after a good five minutes. Garcia shied away from her glare. "Do you wanna know what I found out?" She almost whispered.
"No! Yes...no!...I don't know. I haven't decided whether or not to kill you yet."
"If you kill me you won't know what I found out!" Garcia quickly yelled. Despite her anger and frustration, the look on her face caused Emily to burst out into laughter. JJ and Garcia joined in and they three women let out their anxiety and frustration with a five minute long fit of giggles that made them feel like slap happy teenagers. When they finally calmed down Emily was still gasping for breath.
"I guess I do. But I am gonna need a hell of a lot more wine." Emily said grabbing the entire bottle and making her way to the couch. JJ and Garcia nervously followed and each sat down on one side of the brunette. Garcia had taken the file from her purse and clutched it to her lap as Emily lifted the bottle of wine and took a very long swig. JJ gave her a small frown. "What!" Emily snapped. "Sorry..I just..."
"I get it." JJ waved away the apology. Both women looked to Garcia, who was nervously playing with the corners of the file.
"Well, do you want me to tell you, or do you just want to look at the file?"
"Start by telling me. I can't read that yet."
"Her name is Calla."
"Calla?" Emily asked.
Garcia nodded and continued on. "Calla Lily Pierce. I've got a picture. A few actually. Do you want to see them?"
Emily shook her head. "Not yet."
"Okay. Well, your mother was right, she found a really good family. The Pierces were well off, but not quite as rich as you, her father's name was Eric, he was a college professor, he taught mythology. From what I can tell, he was very good at his job, all the students loved him. Her mother's name was Caroline, she was an architect. Very well respected in her field."
"You keep saying was." Emily whispered. JJ quickly moved to put her hand on Emily's knee and rubbed it gently to comfort her. Emily barely felt the contact, she couldn't really feel much of anything right now.
"Yes." Garcia shared a look with JJ before pressing on again. This was much harder than she thought it would be. "Well, from what I can tell, they lived happily together for six years, but there was a car accident, and Eric and Caroline both died. Neither of them had any other living relatives, and Calla was placed in foster care."
"What?" Emily said in a tiny voice.
"She's been in foster care for the last nine years. She lives in Boston."
"Gimme the file." Emily desperately demanded. Garcia slowly handed it over. "Will you guys leave me alone please?" Emily practically begged.
"Are you sure Em?" JJ asked gently. Emily only managed to nod. JJ looked over at a distraught Garcia and nodded her head towards the door. "Call, if you need anything. Do you hear me Emily Prentiss?" JJ pulled her face to her, to make sure Emily heard her. Emily nodded. JJ gave her a small kiss on the cheek and stood up to meet Garcia. "Anything Em." She was met with another curt nod. Sighing JJ stood up and pulled Garcia with her towards the door. They had put the pizza away while Emily had been talking earlier.
Garcia turned back to Emily. "Em...I..."
"Please leave. I'm not mad." The desperation was evident in her voice. Both blondes finally turned and went out the door. After hearing the final click that the door was shut, Emily took a deep breath and opened the file in her lap. She gasped and tears began to fall as she looked at the photograph in front of her. Her daughter. She was finally seeing her daughter. She looked exactly like Emily. But she had John's blue-green eyes. Emily broke down into sobs as she stared at the photograph for what felt like hours, until she finally fell asleep, on the couch, clutching the photograph and a bottle of wine.