The next morning, when I got downstairs, there was a note from Emily saying that she had gone for a quick jog and would be back in half an hour. I stood for a minute, looking out at the view again as the sun came up. Life here had just begun, but it seemed like it was going to be good. I'd gained big sisters in Emily, J.J. and Garcia, brothers in Derek and Reid, and uncles in Hotch and Rossi. Somehow, I'd never imagined having one brother who was so suave and handsome and another who was so nerdy and cute.

After a few minutes of pondering more thoughts about getting a new family so suddenly, I decided to fix myself some breakfast. Emily's kitchen supply was limited to non-perishables and very little else. I had learned to cook as a young girl. My mom had taught me because she said every true Southern woman needed to know how to fry her chicken and cook her biscuits.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and poured some milk into it, contemplating things as I ate. When Emily returned, the noise of the door opening scared me and I jumped again, spilling some milk.

"It's just me!" she called, as if anticipating the fact that any unexpected arrival might scare me.

"I've got to talk to Reid soon," I muttered to myself. Living in constant fear of people coming and going, getting practically no sleep due to terrifying nightmares, and thinking that every man I saw was probably plotting how to kidnap and kill me was unbearable.

"Good morning," I greeted a sweaty Emily. She was reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Morning. Phew!" She wiped some sweat from her brow. "I pushed myself this morning."

"I didn't know you ran, but I guess the FBI likes their best agents in good physical condition, huh?" I commented, pushing what was left of my breakfast around in the bowl.

"Yes, we have to pass examinations yearly. It's a pain in the ass, in my opinion. Seriously, one look at Morgan and anyone can tell he's obviously in great shape," Emily pointed out, gulping down her water.

"Hey, I was thinking, when we go shopping, think we could get a few groceries? I'm a fair cook, and I'll have to eat while you're gone on cases," I told her.

"Sure. We can get whatever you want." Emily went to the garbage can and threw away her empty bottle. "I just keep things that won't go bad on me while I'm gone. Some of our cases can last for a week at a time."

I nodded understandingly. "My last foster family—they loved packaged meals. I've never seen anyone buy so many Hungry Man dinners at one time. Even when I mentioned to Susan that I knew how to cook, she refused to let me. She said eating that way was easier."

"I have been known to buy a few Lean Cuisines," Emily admitted, getting a bagel out of the cabinet and the cream cheese out of the fridge. "But I'd love it if you used my kitchen. I cooked dinner for J.J. and Garcia one night, but that's about it."

After breakfast and showers, Emily and I once again headed out to do some shopping. We got paint for my bedroom and bathroom, along with plenty of materials at a nearby Home Depot and then stopped at WalMart for groceries.

"When can talk to Reid?" I asked as we walked through the store. "My nightmares are pretty unbearable."

Emily looked at my sympathetically. "Sure. I'll call him as soon as we get home. You two could go out for coffee and talk about it maybe."

I looked up sharply, surprised that Emily would just let me go out with someone I'd just recently met. Then I remembered that she'd been a part of this team for quite a while now; she trusted them all implicitly.

"That'd be nice," I commented. Sure, Reid was a little awkward, but so was I, so why should I be scared to go out with him?

Later that day, Emily gave Reid a call. She knew she could count on the younger FBI agent to help her with Stella's PTSD.

"Yeah, Reid," he answered his cell phone.

"Hey Reid, it's Emily. I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Stella is having nightmares from her kidnapping and she's really jumpy. I was wondering if you might be willing to take her out for a cup of coffee and talk to her about it, since you went through something similar," Emily requested. Silence filled the phone for several seconds and she knew she was causing Reid to think about something he, no doubt, tried to forget as best as he could.

"I…guess…I could do that. I'm not really sure what to say, though, Reid admitted.

"Just tell her what helped you get through what happened to you." Emily ran her fingers through her hair. "To tell you the truth, I'm really not sure what to do about it. She woke me up last night because she was sobbing so loud during her nightmare."

"Okay. I'll uh…come by around six?" Reid finally said.

" That's fine. I'll let Stella know."

Emily had said that Spencer would be coming by around six, but I still wasn't convinced I wanted to go through with this. How was I supposed to tell someone about exactly what had happened to me? How I had been tied up and gagged for what seemed like years. How I had had to listen as he brutally stabbed my foster parents in their bedroom. How I had fought back during his heavy beating. I didn't want to tell anyone about that; not now, not ever.

Still, Emily had insisted that this would help me. She assured me that talking to Reid would help, since he'd gone through a similar experience. When she'd said it thought, she'd winced visibly. I wanted to know why. I imagined that every member of this team had a history. I faintly wondered what Emily's was.

While I was getting dressed, I looked around at all the nice things Emily had bought for me—clothes, bedspread and throw pillows, toiletries, and paint for the bedroom. Nobody had ever been that generous, at least not since my parents had been alive. It seemed like she was serious about adopting me. At first I'd been a little wary of her ideas. It wasn't everyday that an FBI agent met me, then decided to adopt me twenty-four hours later. I wasn't a stunning seventeen—well, almost eighteen—year old. I had light brown hair that hung down to my shoulders in a generic haircut. My eyes were plain green and my complexion was slightly tanned. I wasn't special looking in any way at all. Why would anyone want to adopt me?

Okay, so I'm going to get to work on the Stella/Reid relationship ASAP, but I need to put a little filler in there to pass the time and make things flow. I probably won't post very much in the next couple days. My wisdom teeth being cut out kept me close to the laptop, but now I'm better(yay me!) and I'm going to an airshow tomorrow!