Emily had been gone for a few months now and most of the team's contact with her had been minimal. They understood. She needed time to heal and do her thing. They knew she would be okay, that she would come back and get in touch more later on, but that didn't stop them from worrying about her traveling for so long. Dave had to admit, though, that he spent a lot of time worrying about her even if she did check in with an occasional letter or postcard. He knew she needed this and knew she could handle herself, but she was as close to a daughter as he has. So, he spent more time than he wanted to admit worried about what she was doing, where she was, and how she wa getting by.
"Pull yourself together, Old Man. Time to get back to work," he chided himself and picked up the mail that had been delivered while his mind drifted to Emily. He shuffled through them.
With a sigh, he dropped the stack on his desk and stared at the lone envelope in his hand. He immediately recognized Emily's neat printing. Dave took the time to study the front of the envelope before opening it, just as he always did. This time, he noting that the return address was her home address in DC and it bore a postmark from Georgia.
There was a slight sense of trepidation, the worry that it could say there was something wrong or that she found a place she liked so much that she's wasn't coming back, but he managed to push past that and slit the envelope with his letter opener. He smiled when a photo fell to the desk. Immediately picking it up, he noticed a small tan dog and Emily sitting on some kind of bench, the dog laying, belly up, on Emily's sprawled out legs. Still smiling, he took a moment to read over the letter. There was another photo of the dog…Geordie…with a plush purple alligator between his paws included and some details about her latest destination. It was enough to pacify his worry for now, even make him a little happier. She had a traveling companion.
Holding the letter and photos in his hand, Dave walked out into the bullpen. Everyone was around their desks doing something or other.
"I got a letter from Emily," he announced, holding up the envelope.
Four pairs of surprised eyes tuned to him. "What did she say?" Penelope asked excitedly. Then before Dave could answer, she plucked the letter from his fingers and started reading, lips moving silently as she did.
Derek chuckled. "Baby Girl, try doing it out loud. We would like to know what's going on."
Penelope did as she was asked and read off the letter, sharing the new developments in Emily's life from her current location to the dog. Everyone listened intently. They missed her, especially Derek who doubted Emily would be happy he was included in the moment.
"Aw. Look at these cute pictures," Penelope swooned, passing the photos around. "I'm surprised. She has always been more of a cat lady. She's trading species."
"They say sometimes it's the animal that does the adopting and not the person," Reid observed.
"She found a travel buddy, though," JJ added. "I think that's great."
Truly, they were all happy Emily was doing what she thought she needed, but they really did want her back with them. They wanted to support her and help her work through things, maybe patch things up with Derek. They couldn't really do that with her hopping around the country. They just had to let it play out, though, and hope she enjoyed her time on the road.
Emily was back on the road, Geordie sticking his head out the window as they hit the highway. It's been a few months since she left Big Sally and Cedartown, Georgia behind and she hasn't been able to find another place quite as welcoming. So she took to the road to see where it led her. Some of the places she had visited were major cities while others were so small that if you blinked at the wrong time you would have missed it completely. Some were quaint and some looked like they were on the verge of dying. Those that captured her attention, she stuck around for a week or two to test the waters. If it wasn't a good fit she moved on to the next one.
As to her mental state, it was better than it had been in Washington. Emily was still depressed, but it wasn't as deep as before. The change of scenery has been good for her and so has getting away from the team's worried looks. She loved them dearly, but their concern had been smothering. Of course she had good days and bad days. Those usually occurred after a night plagued by dreams of the three children dying before her eyes or accusing her of not doing enough to save them and left her holed up in her motel room. For that very reason Emily tried to pick up odd jobs as a bartender whenever she was staying put for a while. The jobs, besides supplying her with pocket money, were a form of therapy. They got her to leave the motel room everyday and get out among people.
Geordie was also a big help during those rough nights. Now she had someone she could talk to and cuddle with…he loved to cuddle…someone who offered only comfort and not advice.
Even though Emily had put her old life on hold, it didn't stop her from occasionally thinking about the team. They were her family, and, though she was trying to enjoy her travels and keep her mind in the present, she still wanted to be connected to them. She reached out, through letters and postcards, but not nearly as much as she thought about doing it. There were times that she wanted to hear their voices or talk about whatever cases they were working on, but she was wandering to fix a part of herself that always relying on them and talking about work would not help. Work was what messed her up. That case messed her up. The distance was okay, she reminded herself. She wasn't closed off nor did she cut off all communication. Still, she needed space and freedom to roam. Of course at times there were exceptions to the rules.
Emily sat at the far end of the bar quietly eating her dinner. From her perch she could clearly see all the patrons of this cozy pub. Whenever she stopped in a town for a few days, she always went in search for a bar or pub that served food. She discovered that eating by yourself in a restaurant always seemed to draw the curious eyes of the other diners. Those eyes would wonder if she had been stood up or if she was a sad, lonely woman. In bars no one seemed to care if she was alone and that suited Emily just fine. That had been how she got her jobs, sitting in a bar minding her own business.
"Pardon me. I think you owe me a drink."
She looked up to find a blonde man with a spray on tan and too white teeth leaning on the bar next to her. She put down her napkin and rested her chin on her intertwined fingers. This should be good, she thought.
"Why?" she asked with a skeptical arch of an eyebrow.
His fake smile grew wider. "Because when I saw you from across the room I dropped mine. It was a rum and coke, and my name is Brad."
Emily stared at him then burst into a fit of laughter, flashing back to Brad 'the genuine FBI agent' with the real smooth pick up lines. Apparently every bar in every city had their own version of Brad. Still laughing she tossed a few bills on the bar to cover her meal and left a befuddled Brad in her wake.
That had been the first time since the day she was shot that she laughed that hard; so hard it brought tears to her eyes. It had felt good. As soon as she had gotten back to her motel room Emily had automatically reached for the phone, intending on calling Penelope about the 'Brad' encounter. But she caught herself just as her hand was about to pick up the receiver. If she called, the analyst would start peppering her with questions that she would never get a word in edgewise, but this story was too good to be passed up. It had to be shared. Before she could change her mind, Emily punched in the number.
"Hey, PG, do I have a story for you."
Emily peered through the windshield as the fluffy snowflakes drifted through the headlight's beams. Normally, she loved to watch the snow fall, but not tonight. She just wasn't feeling so well. When she and Geordie left Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan she had felt good, but a deep ache had settled into her bones and she could feel the beginning of a headache coming on.
"I think I'm catching a cold," she confessed to Geordie who was in the backseat, but had his front paws on the center armrest so he could look out the windshield. "I saw a sign for an upcoming town. What do you say we stop there for the night?"
Geordie woofed right into her ear, making Emily wince in pain. She reached and pushed him back relieved not to have him panting down her neck.
"Glad to see you are in agreement," she chuckled and cranked up the heat as high as it would go. Emily was suddenly very cold.
He thumped his tail against the seat causing her to glance at him in the rear view mirror. She smiled at the goofy doggie grin on his face and dropped her eyes back down to the road.
"SHIT!" Emily cursed as she jammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel to the left in a futile attempt to avoid the deer that had materialized in her lane.
The car struck the poor animal dead on with a sickening thud, catapulting the carcass onto the hood and shattering the windshield. Instinctively Emily threw up her hands to shield her face from any flying glass. The car skidded on the snow and careened across the road down into a small ravine. She grabbed the wheel in a desperate attempt to steer clear of any danger, but it was too late. The airbag exploded as the car slammed into a tree.
"Shit," she swore again as she pushed the deflating airbag out of the way.
White powder from the explosion covered everything from her hair to the dashboard. Emily tried brushing it off, but only succeeded in stirring it up. She sneezed three times in quick succession before looking in back to check on her canine companion.
He looked okay, but she asked anyway. "You okay, Geordie?"
He let out an anxious whine before hopping into the front seat and sitting in her lap. Together they studied the shattered windshield, Emily automatically stroking his back in a calming manner.
"Guess we should get out and survey the damage. I hope it's not as bad as I think it is."
Not wanting Geordie to take off and get lost in the dark, she clipped the leash to his collar. As soon as Emily opened the door, he was out like a shot and jerked to an abrupt halt when he ran out of leash. With a soft grunt of pain, she released the seatbelt and eased out into the cold winter air.
It was worse than she thought. In addition to the damaged windshield, the entire front was crumpled in from the impact with the deer and tree. The car was undriveable and possibly a total loss. They were going to need a winch to get it back up to the road.
"Damn, I really love this car," Emily said sadly as she watched steam from the radiator swirling in the beams of the one still working headlight.
Releasing a defeated sigh, Emily reached for her phone to call for help. Her hand came up empty. Panicking slightly, she frisked every pocket she had, but there was no phone to be found. Then, much to her chagrin, she remembered she had put it on the passenger seat for easy access. Now after the crash it could be anywhere in the car and she had little chance of finding it in the dark. That left her with only one option. She was going to have to find some help and it wasn't going to be easy. She preferred to travel the back roads, it was night and she hadn't seen another car for the past half hour.
"Looks like we're going to have to hoof it out here," she said to Geordie who was busy trying to mark every tree within his reach.
Getting back up to the road was a slow and sometimes a painful process. The embankment wasn't steep, but her bum leg made it seem like it was. All Emily could do was to take it one step at a time. The snow, that was falling harder with each passing minute, made for slippery footing and she no longer had the use of her cane. It had been banished to the trunk weeks ago because it was a hassle to use and she thought it made her look more like an invalid that she really was. Geordie sensing her difficulty didn't pull on the leash, staying at her side.
By the time she reached the top, Emily was panting and sweating from the exertion. They should add hill climbing to physical therapy, she thought wryly as she tried to catch her breath. It's definitely a stamina builder. And here she had thought she was in pretty good condition given her situation, but she felt like the way she did during her first PT session, bone weary and exhausted.
After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Emily was rested enough to continue on. Recalling seeing lights about a mile back, she headed in that direction, Geordie frolicking ahead of her as he enjoyed his first snowfall.
The lights she saw in passing did belong to a farmhouse set a fair distance from the road. Emily was nearly numb with cold as she mounted the steps of the covered porch and rang the doorbell. She shifted from foot to foot to get warm as she prayed someone was home.
Just as she was about to ring the bell a second time, the porch light snapped on and the door swung open, revealing a tall man with unruly sandy brown hair and a matching neatly trimmed beard.
Emily was immediately drawn to his eyes. They were blue, a nice warm blue. When he cleared his throat, she realized she was staring and quickly broke it off. To cover her embarrassment, she dropped her gaze to the dog sitting at her feet.
"I apologize for knocking on your door at this late hour, but I was wondering if I could use your phone? I hit a deer about a mile up the road and now I'm in need of a tow truck to get my car out of the ravine. I would use my own phone, but I have no idea where it is. The crash sent it flying.
The corners of his blue eyes crinkled in amusement as she rambled on. "Certainly. Please come in, both of you," he invited, including Geordie. "You must be freezing."
"I am and thank you," she said gratefully and then let out a very unladylike sneeze.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"That sounds wonderful."
"Great, but first let me take your wet coat. Then you can warm yourself by the fire while I make it."
"Much appreciated," she said as he helped her out of the snow soaked coat and hug it on a peg over the bench in the foyer to dry.
She waited for him to disappear into the kitchen before moving into the living room and over to the fireplace. There she held out her chilled hands to the flames to warm them. The heat felt wonderful. Geordie wanted to explore the room, but he was also shy around strangers so he stuck to Emily's side like Velcro.
"Here you go," he announced a few minutes later, a mug of steaming hot coffee in each hand. He held out one. "This should help after your long cold walk."
Emily gratefully accepted the hot brew and took a tentative sip to avoid scalding her tongue. She immediately felt the heat spreading throughout her body and let out an appreciative sigh. "It does," she agreed, turning so that her back faced the fire.
"I should probably introduce myself," he said. "Greg Novacek."
"Emily Prentiss…and Geordie," she added with a smile, nodding at the dog practically hiding behind her legs.
"It's a pleasure." God, she's got a beautiful smile, he thought and gave her one of his own. "So you hit a deer?"
"Yeah." Her smile turned into a grimace as she thought of her wrecked car. She loved that car. "One second the road was empty and the next second it was in the middle of the road."
"That happens a lot, especially out here, and you have to be extra careful because there's usually more than one."
"I'll remember that," Emily said and sneezed.
"Gesundheit," he said, thinking she had a cute sneeze that went along with her pretty name.
"Thank you." Emily fished a tissue out of her jeans' pocket and wiped her nose. "I think I'm catching a cold."
"It's that time of the year." He blessed her two more times before saying, "I called the local garage while I was waiting on the coffeemaker. They said they could get to it sometime tomorrow. They prefer doing it during the day so they can see what they're doing."
"Oh."
She should have known that. This wasn't the city where you could call and get your car towed within an hour. She was out in the country and the nearest town might have only one tow truck that was out rescuing other people on this snowy night. Her car was definitely off the road and not a traffic hazard.
"I guess that will have to do." Emily finished her coffee and set the empty mug on the nearest table. "In the meantime I should be going. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Not a problem," Greg said, "but I don't think you're going anywhere for the rest of the night. It's whiteout conditions out there."
Emily went over to the window and saw he was right. All she saw was swirling snow that was quickly accumulating. Only polar bears and penguins would be out in this weather. Looks like she and Geordie were stranded with a stranger…a rather good-looking stranger.
"So it seems. I don't want to impose."
"Think nothing of it, Emily. I have a perfectly good guest room itching to be used."
"But I have nothing to wear," she protested, trying to stave off the inevitable. "My bags are back in my car."
"I'll loan you a pair of clean pajamas," he countered. "and I have plenty of extra toothbrushes."
Emily knew when she was beat. If she was feeling better, she could have kept the banter going for a while longer before giving in, but she wasn't. Right now a nice warm bed sounded quite appealing.
"That would work," she conceded.
"Great," he beamed. "Let me show you the way."
Greg led her and Geordie to the stairs. Geordie, as usual, had to be the first to reach the top. He bounded up the steps and waited with tail wagging for them to catch up. As Emily preceded Greg up the stairs, he frowned in concern when he saw the hitch in her step.
"Emily, was your leg injured in the accident?"
"What?" She turned to him in confusion. Then she realized he was referring to her ever-present limp. As time passed it had become a permanent part of her that she rarely gave it a second thought. "Oh…no. The limp is from a previous accident."
He sighed in relief. "Whew. I was about to kick myself for not noticing and getting you to a doctor."
"Nope. Old injury."
Issue resolved, they continued up the stairs and down the short hallway, pointing out the bathroom along the way. Once there, Greg left Emily to study her surroundings while he fetched the promised pajamas. The room was sparse with a double bed covered by a gray heather plaid blanket and matching gray sheets, a dresser, two nightstands and an armchair by the window. It was obvious the space wasn't used very often. And hanging on the far wall was an oil painting o a herd of horses galloping through a meadow.
"I'm going to apologize in advance for the pajamas not fitting."
"Well, I highly doubt you keep a pair of ladies pajamas on hand on the off chance you have a woman stranded at your house because of a deer," she said lightly, hoping to disguise the fact that he had startled her.
"You're my first," Greg said with a chuckle.
"I hope so."
An uneasy silence filled the room as the two gazed at each other, at a loss about what to say next. Greg was the first to flinch when the pressure got to him.
"I better get going," he announced, backing up toward the door. "If you need anything, my room is the second door on the left."
"Thank you. Good night, Greg."
"Night, Emily."
Emily hid her smile when Greg almost ran into the doorframe when he turned to leave. He flashed her a sheepish grin before disappearing from sight, going back downstairs to close up for the night.
"Nice guy," she said to Geordie as she closed the door. "He's given us shelter from the storm."
Geordie expressed his sentiments by thumping his tail on the floor several times and then inviting himself up on the bed. He circled in place four times, collapsing at the foot of the bed with a contented sigh. He would wait for Emily to fall asleep before creeping over to curl up in the bend of her knees. Like every morning she would wake and find the small dog in possession of eighty percent of the bed, leaving her perched rather precariously on the edge.
Emily changed into the loaned pajamas, agreeing with Greg's assessment. They were two sizes too big for her. She didn't mind that the top was too baggy; she liked them that way when she slept, but the pants were a different matter. Even though the drawstring was tied as tightly as possible, she was afraid the moment she took a step the bottoms would end up puddle around her ankles.
"Where's a pair of suspenders when you need one," she muttered to the dog.
She resolved the issue by keeping a firm grip on the waistband as she made her way to the bathroom. There she found a fresh toothbrush waiting for her on the countertop. After completing her evening ablutions, Emily limped back to her temporary bedroom and crawled beneath the covers. Normally she read or wrote in her journal for a while before turning off the light, but both books were back in her wrecked car with everything else she owned. But tonight she didn't have to energy to do anything. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Feeling colder, Emily burrowed deeper under the thick blanket, all the way up to her nose. She was definitely coming down with a cold and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The cold has to run its course. Tomorrow she would collect her belongings, find a hotel to stay in until her car was repaired and medicate herself up to her eyeballs. Her last thought she had as she let the howling winds of the blizzard slamming the area lull her to sleep was that tomorrow was another day.
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