A/N: This chapter takes place a few weeks after the last one. Carrie's been at school for a few weeks and Emily still hasn't gotten up the courage to ask JJ. Also, for the sake of the story, Carrie has hung out with the team a few times (the team and their families are also a lot closer) and Hotch and Haley stay together.

Chapter 9- Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have

Emily awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing on her bedside table. She silently cursed it, hoping it hadn't woken Carrie as both the teenager and herself still had a silent agreement that both would keep their doors open during the night.

"Prentiss." She answered the phone groggily, pushing herself up in the bed.

"Prentiss, I'm sorry to wake you but we caught a bad one." Emily sighed as she knew Hotch was referring to a case. "Someone's targeting politicians' children. We need everyone working on this one."

Emily bit the inside of her mouth, deciding what to do. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was already 5:37am, and knew that Carrie would be getting up in half an hour for school anyway.

She sat on the edge of the bed and spoke quietly. "What about Carrie?"

"I've already spoken to Haley and she can stay with her and Jack."

Emily hesitated, trying to determine whether or not Carrie would be comfortable enough to spend a few days with Hotch's family as she knew the young brunette was still unsure about being on her own. "Let me ask her first?" She asked hopefully.

"The jet leaves in an hour, but if you're not on it, I'll understand."

Emily smiled at the father side of her boss. "Thank you, sir." She replied before hanging up and sighing.

Emily pulled herself out of bed and creped into Carrie's room, bending down beside the sleeping teenager and placing a hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

"Carrie?" Carrie stirred, blinking a few times as she tried to focus on Emily. "Good morning." Emily whispered, smiling.

"What time is it?"

"Twenty to six. I'm sorry to wake you."

Carrie pushed herself up in bed and looked tiredly at Emily. "That's okay. What's up?" Her voice was hoarse with sleep.

Emily sighed and sat on the edge of Carrie's bed. "Hotch called. We have a case."

"Okay…"

"It's in Maryland."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Listen, Carrie, I don't have to go…"

Carrie shock her head and forced a smile. "No. You should go, I mean, I've already taken you away from too much work. I'll be fine."

Emily nodded and stood up as Carrie pulled herself out of bed. "Well I don't want you staying alone." Emily could see Carrie visibly relax at this statement. "Usually, Garcia would come and stay with you but she's going to be coming with the team. So how would you feel staying with Haley Hotchner?"

Carrie nodded and smiled. "Sure. I love Jack. That's okay with her?"

"Of course. You know they offered last time we had dinner together." Carrie nodded. "And at least this way you'll be close to school." Carrie groaned jokingly and Emily laughed. "Which you'll attend everyday."

Carrie turned from her dresser and faced Emily, a grin covering her face. "On one condition." Emily raised her eyebrow in anticipation. "You finally talk to JJ."

Emily rolled her eyes and sat on the edge of Carrie's bed, watching the teenager pack a few pairs of clothes into an awaiting bag. "Carrie..."

"What, Emily? Come on. You've been putting this off for weeks. You promised."

"Hey, no I never promised." Emily smiled to show she wasn't angry. "We're co-workers, Carrie. And friends. I can't jeopardize that."

"But what if she feels the same way?" Carrie almost whined. "I know she does. The way she looks at you, how protective she is of you, everything. You can't just ignore it."

Emily sighed, hoping more than anything that Carrie was right. "We'll see." She stood up and walked towards the door. "I'm going to go shower quickly. We need to be gone in 15 minutes okay?"

Carrie nodded and continued packing. "Okay."

Emily and Carrie pulled up to the Hotchner's twenty minutes later and Emily grabbed Carrie's bag from the boot.

They waited for a few seconds before the door was thrown open by a five year old, Jack.

"Carrie!" The little boy exclaimed and Carrie laughed, picking him up.

"Hey, Jack." Emily smiled at Carrie and Jack's interaction.

Jack smiled and waved happily. "Hi, Emily."

"Jack! What did I tell you about opening the door?" Haley scowled as she came rushing from the kitchen.

Jack shrunk a little under Haley's gaze, leaning closer into Carrie. "I knew it was Carrie." He mumbled and Haley frowned amused.

"What did you say?"

Jack looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, mommy."

"That's okay." She smiled and turned to Carrie and Emily. "Hey, Carrie. Em." She greeted.

To be honest, Haley had been terrified when Emily had joined the team, worrying that Hotch would spend more time with yet again another woman than he would herself, but since Emily's confession that she was gay, they had become close friends.

"Hi, Haley." Carrie smiled.

"Hey, Haley." Emily frowned apologetically. "I'm really sorry to just drop Carrie and leave but I'm already running late." She looked down at her watch briefly for emphasis and Haley nodded.

"Of course." She smiled and placed a hand around Carrie's shoulders. "We'll be fine, won't we Carrie?"

Both Carrie and Jack nodded though Jack was more enthusiastic, and Emily found herself doubting her decision to take the case for the hundredth time that morning.

"Don't worry, Em." Carrie nodded assuring, her smile not meeting her eyes.

Emily hesitated and sighed, but placed Carrie's bag on the floor anyway and took the young girl into her arms once Carrie had put Jack down.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Carrie nodded. "Don't forget your promise."

Both Emily and Carrie smiled and pulled back. "Be safe." Carrie spoke softly and Emily nodded, rubbing her arm reassuringly.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Emily turned to Haley. "Thank you so much for this, Haley."

Haley smiled. "Oh, it's no problem. Carrie's an angel."

Both Emily and Carrie smiled at the compliment. "Jack, you'll keep an eye on Carrie, right?" Emily smiled jokingly at the young boy whom nodded enthusiastically making all three women laugh.

"I'll see you soon." Emily said goodbye to Carrie once more before rushing back out to her car and heading to the airport.

"So, Carrie, I'm making pancakes. Are you hungry?"

Jack ran over to Carrie and took her hand, leading her eagerly into the kitchen. "Mommy never makes pancakes unless it's a special occasion or there are people here or it's Sunday." Carrie laughed.

"Well then I guess I better have some then." She answered both Haley and Jack.

After breakfast, Carrie offered to look after Jack while Haley showered, knowing neither had had a chance to get ready before she had been sprung on them.

"Daddy gave me this." Carrie sat on the floor opposite Jack as the young boy proudly showed her an old version of Hotch's FBI badge. "He said that if I ever missed him or wanted to tell him something then I could just hug it really tightly and he would know."

Carrie smiled slightly, tracing the badge with her fingers just like Jack had. "You dad's away a lot, huh?"

Jack nodded sadly. "Uh huh. He's got a very important job though. He puts away all the bad guys. Just like your mommy."

Carrie smiled a little. "Yeah." She agreed, not sure how she wanted to or could react.

"Hey, guys." Haley smiled from the door. "You ready to go?"

Jack jumped up happily and smiled. "Yeah! Carrie, guess what?"

"What?" Carrie laughed as he jumped up into her arms excitedly.

"I get to go to school today!"

Carrie laughed. Jack had told her multiple times about his adventures at "school" and no matter how many times she heard them, they never ceased to make her smile. "That's great, buddy." Jack squirmed out of her arms and ran down the stairs as she turned to Haley. "I wish I was that excited about school."

Haley laughed. "Only two more years." She comforted and Carrie groaned jokingly.

She grabbed her schoolbag from the guest room she was going to be staying in and made her way down the stairs beside Haley. "You're great with him, you know?" Haley complimented and Carrie blushed.

"He's a good kid." She breathed in shakily. "He reminds me of my brother."

Haley smiled and nodded sadly, placing a hand on Carrie's shoulder comfortingly as they made their way out to the car and headed to school.

Emily arrived just as the jet was boarding and found herself flushed by the time she had taken a seat.

Seconds later, JJ was handing her a bottle of water and taking a seat beside her while Emily blushed, making her face turn a deeper shade of red. "Carrie okay?" JJ smiled seemed more flirtatious than concerned.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, I think she's a bit nervous about being alone but hopefully she'll be okay with Haley and Jack."

"She loves Jack. She'll be fine." JJ assured and Emily nodded, frowning as she was clearly still concerned. JJ placed a hand on Emily's arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, Em. She'll call if she needs anything."

Emily nodded as Hotch began to debrief the team, tearing her attention away from everything else as they concentrated on the newest case.