Aaron Hotchner/David Rossi

With a shaky hand, she wiped the renegade tears from her eyes as the heavy rain droplets splattered against the yellow taxi.

Prompt for: BrightlyShining

Prompt by: Bren Gail

Chapter Six

It took another few days after finding baby Jocelyn in the wall space, but the case was finally solved, and for that Aaron Hotchner could not be more grateful.

Because of some incident, he wasn't exactly sure what, Jocelyn as to remain in the custody of the BAU until the case was solved. Until now.

The weather was awful; Mother Nature had been playing nice until now, but the ominous-looking rain clouds were definitely about to burst.

'Are you ready, Aaron?' Dave appeared at the door to the Unit Chief's office, a sombre look on his face.

'Is it time already?'

The older profiler nodded. 'We have to give her over.'

'I know,' Aaron sighed, running a hand through his short hair. 'Emily, JJ and Penelope just grew so… attached to her, though.'

'So did Morgan.'

The response elicited a chuckle from the otherwise-reserved Hotch. 'I never saw that one coming.'

Dave shook his head, motioning for his boss to leave the office. 'Come on, the longer we leave it, the harder it will be.'

Unsurprisingly, Morgan was cuddling Jocelyn to his chest when they walked into JJ's office; it was her old baby gear they were borrowing, and she had the least amount of interruptions. The team looked up as they felt the room shrink with extra bodies.

JJ noticed the look on their faces immediately. 'It's time?'

Rossi nodded, grabbing the baby bag from the floor. 'Social Services will be here any minute; apparently they already have a place for her.'

'See, I told you babies are placed quickly,' Reid nudged Emily's shoulder playfully.

'Doesn't mean I have to like it,' she grumbled, rising from the bookshelf she was leaning on. 'Come on Derek, you've had your turn. I want one last cuddle before she goes.'

Hotch shook his head as his agents bickered like children over the baby, who eventually ended up in Emily's arms anyway. 'Chop, chop,' he clapped his hands together. 'The longer we leave it, the harder it will be.'

Dave smirked at the line his protégé stole from him, but held the door open for everyone anyway. Someone called the elevator, and they left the sixth floor as a group.

The social worker was waiting in the lobby for them when they arrived, an infant carrier sitting near her feet. She exchanged pleasantries with the group quickly, but was clearly in a rush to be elsewhere.

'Well Agent Hotchner, everything seems in order,' she smiled, checking through the paperwork. 'If you could please buckle Jocelyn into the carrier here, I'll be on my way.' She glared not-so-subtlely at Emily, who glared straight back. 'Agent Prentiss,' she warned.

'Okay, okay,' Emily gave the baby one last hug, crouching down to securely fasten her into the carrier. 'I'll miss you, little one,' she whispered. 'Thanks for… thanks for everything,' she looked up, sharing a look with Aaron, before clipping the last buckle.

The social worker thanked her, picked up the carrier, and turned to leave.

Aaron, Dave and the rest of them watched as Emily rushed after the social worker to the waiting taxi outside, not caring about the massive raindrops that had just started falling. It was almost a heartbreaking scene, like a mother losing a child, but they stood together and watched Emily watch the baby leave.

With a shaky hand, she wiped the renegade tears from her eyes as the heavy rain droplets splattered against the yellow taxi.

'Goodbye, Jocelyn…'

FIN

I know this was a little unrealistic, but it just... fit. Thank you for reading, and please review :)