CHAPTER 10

April 2002

Clyde Easter stood in the corner of the director's office eyeing the brown eyed brunette who had just been shown into the room. He had spent weeks searching different agencies for someone that met the requirements for the Valhalla operation and had given up hope of finding someone that had everything he needed until he saw her. Dark haired, brown nearly black eyes, alabaster skin that she wore with confidence and poise. Physically she met all of the requirements, and when he heard her chattering away in French he'd started digging trying to find out who this woman was.

Emily Prentiss, linguistics analyst and hyper polyglot, plucked out of the FBI Academy and loaned to the CIA. Spent her entire career in Langley as a linguist and translator, early on it had been noted that she had a knack for reading people so they sent her back to the FBI to take their behavioural analysis training. David Rossi had tried to get her back into the mainstream bureau for eventual transfer to the BAU but had been blocked at every turn. She was too valuable to the CIA.

She spent her day's analysing footage, translating both the words and the people.

She could sniff out a liar better than any of the other linguists there which is why the higher ups didn't mind keeping her in Langley, she had turned down several assignments to field offices which her direct supervisor was happy with but there was grumbling that she was being wasted there.

There was talk of building a team around her skill set but it was impossible if she didn't get any field experience.

JTF-12 would be a massive step forward for her and if successful would give her the clout she needed to do exactly that.

Ultimately she had all the building blocks he needed to make her into what Ian Doyle wanted.

"Sir, I'm going to have to decline…" he did a double take as did the Director.

"And why is that Agent Prentiss?" none of them missed the iciness in the directors tone.

"On paper this assignment is a good one, it utilises all of my current skill set and gives me the opportunity to add more. However there are a number of aspects that make it unappealing for me. Strike 1 it's a Joint Task force and based out of Interpol's London Gateway office. Strike 2 the training for the undercover OP has me at an undisclosed location for at least 3 months. Strike 3 the OP itself you stated will take anywhere from 4 to 6 months. Finally strike 4 it will involve a lot of traveling between different cities around Europe and the US…"

Clyde couldn't see the problem.

"… What should I to do with my daughter?"

Daughter…?

"I won't allow her to be part of the cover and I can't leave her behind." Emily's gaze flickered between the two surprised men. "You did read my personal file and know I have a dependent right?"

"There's no maternity leave in your file." The Director stated weakly, they had skimmed it for skill set and evaluations, she didn't keep any pictures on her desk or wear a ring so they assumed she was single and childless.

"There wouldn't be, she was born before I joined, she's 15."

Clyde nearly choked on his own spit when he did the math and then took the next several seconds to consider where the conversation could go from here. On one hand they needed Prentiss for her knowledge, skills and looks and on the other he would much prefer for the agent they used to be single and childless and he didn't like the idea of giving her an ultimatum.

The Director had no such compunction.

"Agent Prentiss this is the fourth task force you've been invited to work on and you've refused the previous 3. If you turn this one down no more invitations will be forthcoming and without the experience it gives you no advancement is possible... The choice is yours, take 48 hours and then let us know what your decision is."

That night after dinner Emily wandered aimlessly around the house, unable to settle. The decision should be clear cut, she was the single mother of a 15 year old... and yet. Knowing she wouldn't get anywhere without talking it out she picked up the phone, dialed her mothers private line in Brussels and when Elizabeth picked up the phone poured out her entire day.

"It's not an impossible choice Emily. Saying yes to this isn't the same as saying your career is more important than your child."

"Mom…" Emily sighed as she curled up on the couch legs tucked under her, her mother wasn't saying anything she hadn't already considered.

"I'm not going to take a job that could be worse for Fleur in the long run… she's happy at GDS and she's got a good group of friends that I don't want to drag her away from. It's a year long operation with a lot of travel… I can't leave her here and I can't take her to London with me because while it'll be my base of operations I won't be there 90% of the time"

"Emily… your father and I would be happy for her to come and stay with us for however long you need." Elizabeth knew Emily had turned down opportunities in the past because of Fleur, they were honestly impressed with how much Emily had sacrificed since Fleur's birth.

"I know and if it was only for a couple of weeks I wouldn't hesitate but over a year… you do remember my 15th and 16th years don't you? Imagine me at 15 with a cell phone?"

"I… um… oh dear…" Elizabeth stuttered, that was not a pretty thought.

"And Mom, this isn't a criticism but I remember 15, and I remember how much it sucked to leave all my friends behind and I don't want to do that to her. I had some amazing experiences but every move was a battle that I didn't always win."

"And we didn't help… we just assumed you'd be ok with move after move because you didn't know anything else…" Elizabeth sighed "Em, talk to her. Be honest about the pros and cons for your career as well as the opportunities she has by coming to stay with us in Brussels. I'm sure GDS will let you maintain her enrollment as an exchange student. You've given up so much for her, she's old enough for you to be a little selfish."

"Hmmm…" Emily was non-committal her brain flickering through the options.

"Emily, tell me again what turning this down means for your career."

"I'm at the point where I've turned down too many task forces, if I don't do this one I won't get another chance which means I'll never get the field experience to be promoted beyond where I am. By the time Fleur is in college it will be too late for me..."

"Do you want to do it?

"I really do."

Fleur stood in the hallway listening and wondered what else her Mother had given up for her, Missy had once said when they were in high school her mom only went out to places she could take her...

"Mom..." she didn't often interrupt when Emily was on the phone "I think a year in Brussels will be really good. I'll get to improve my French and German and maybe even learn Dutch..."

Emily looked over her shoulder and stared open mouthed at Fleur for several long seconds before her brain caught up with the offer her daughter was making.

"Let me call you back Mom."

June 2002

Less than 24 hours in and Emily was already regretting her choice.

The task force Clyde Easter had pitched to her was a JTF with agents from DCRI, BND and himself from the SIS. Interpol had set them on the trail of a weapons dealer that they couldn't get close enough to to ID and they'd been wholly unsuccessful at getting any men into the organisation so someone had decided to try a completely different track.

They wanted her to go in, bat her eyelashes, flash some cleavage and see if that got her past Ian Doyle's defenses.

She was the first to admit she had a fantastic cleavage, but she'd never been a eyelash batting type.

Coming to a decision she pulled up the dossier on Ian Doyle and started to work through what they knew about his habit's, proclivities and preferences. Once that was done she went back to the Lauren Reynolds file noting they had matched her to him perfectly.

Anything he liked her new persona would like, they'd created the perfect woman for Ian Doyle.

Rolling her eyes she glanced at the name at the bottom of the file. Jeremy Wolff, BND.

She was working her way through, tweaking Lauren Reynolds to make her a little less perfect, a little more mysterious when Clyde walked through the door.

"Jeremy Wolff is an idiot..." she barely glanced up from her work.

"Your point?" Clyde slumped down in the chair opposite her.

"I really don't feel like coming out of this in a body bag... so I'm making Lauren Reynolds a real girl..." she waggled her eyebrows at him causing Clyde to chuckle darkly. He'd honestly come to like Emily in the last few months, she had a wickedly dark sense of humour.

Clyde watched Emily work in silence for several minutes before speaking again.

"Are you planning on informing the rest of the team of your connections in Brussels?"

Her pen paused and for several long moments and she stared at the piece of paper considering her answer before looking up at him.

"No..." she replies flatly "At my request the director removed all reference to her from my file. As far as the Agency or Interpol is concerned she doesn't exist."

"Who doesn't exist?" Clyde smiled slightly, telling her he would support the lie.

February 2003

Clyde looked at her… he could understand why she wanted to go into the mainstream Bureau, the Doyle mission was supposed to be a quick get in identify Valhalla and get out again he'd thought 2 maybe 3 months maximum. He'd purposefully overshot the estimate to everyone. Instead Emily had ended up spending 8 months running around Europe and the US with Ian Doyle as she peeled back layer after layer of the arms market. Every time they met up Clyde could see more and more of that funny, quirky woman being stripped away. She'd been forced to play a part they hadn't prepared her for.

"Ok, we're re-writing your history. Same job but strictly Bureau, no CIA and no Interpol. Your BAU training stay's and we're redacting everything else as classified behavioural linguistics, on paper you'll have been in Chicago for the last 18 months, and as requested your transfer back to DC won't be official until August so you've got some downtime before you start at the Hoover Building in the JTTF and as soon as a spot's available you can apply to the BAU. I've made sure your file says exactly what it needs to say to get you there."

"Thank you…" Emily's gaze drifted off into the distance, focusing on a boat meandering its way down the Thames.

"I've also created a false trail through the CIA, same name, different work history and she's going to be killed on an op next week and another in Interpol different name same job. She's retiring to the Alps next month. If anyone comes looking for you that's where they'll look. It should be enough to keep someone off your trail."

"Clyde… I need you to promise me something"

"Anything" There were maybe three other people in the world Clyde would do anything for, he'd never expected Emily to be the fourth.

"You'll protect Fleur, if anyone does find me you get to her and you get her safe… I can take care of myself as long as I know she's ok." She finally turned her head to look at him and for the first time ever he saw fear.

By the time they'd realised that Doyle wasn't just a high ranking lieutenant but was in fact Valhalla she was already in too deep to be pulled out and all they had been able to do was watch from afar.

She had been magnificent, had the potential to be one of the most successful undercover operatives Clyde had ever seen except for one thing. She didn't have the heart for it, so he was letting her go back to Washington.

"With my life"

Nodding her thanks Emily stood up and walked away from Clyde Easter hoping she would never see him again.

Her bags were already packed and in the rental car. The drive to Heathrow and flight to Brussels passed in a blur, a car was waiting for her at the airport to take her straight to the Embassy.

She'd called her mother that morning to let Elizabeth know when her flight landed, Emily has also made Elizabeth promise not to tell anyone she was coming, if something happened she didn't want Fleur to be disappointed if she didn't show up as scheduled.

It was her 16th birthday…

The car pulled in just after 2 in the afternoon, Fleur wouldn't be home from school until four which gave her just enough time to shower and get in a power nap.

She hadn't expected her mother to be waiting at the door for her but there she was, a big smile on her face and arms open.

Stepping into her mother's arms Emily relaxed for the first time in 10 months.

"Op's finished…" she whispered in Elizabeth's ear.

"Good." Elizabeth pulled back and looked Emily up and down noting the hollowed out cheeks, prominent collarbones sticking out of a sweater that a year before hadn't swam on her, the tightly cinched belt done up in a handmade hole, a cut healing on her lip and bruise fading on her cheek "we'll talk more tonight, for now go have a nap and a shower"

Elizabeth led her up to the family suite and into a bedroom before leaving her to relax, poking around she found an empty closet and a door to a shared bathroom, peeking through the adjoining door she found Fleur's bedroom.

She heaved a sigh at the sheer amount of stuff her daughter had accumulated in the last year. From the amount of clothes strewn across the room along with the TV, DVD player and stereo it seemed her parents had taken advantage of her absence and spoiled Fleur as much as they could.

'Dad, promise me when she's 15 ... you can be strong and say no?'

It was going to be a bitch getting it all back to DC, shaking her head Emily closed the door and stripped down to shower.

Pulling on a pair of comfortable sweats and t-shirt she set the alarm for 3:30 and lay down in the bed quickly dropping off into a light sleep.

All too soon the alarm was buzzing, redressing in a pair of worn jeans and red tank Emily wandered down through to the offices in search of her mother. Just before four she finally managed to find her and nearly laughed at the scandalised look on the secretary's face at the sight of her, bruised and dressed in inappropriately casual clothes. Tapping lightly on the door Emily slipped inside at Elizabeth's soft "Come in".

"Well you look slightly better..." Elizabeth commented leaning back to get a better look at her daughter. Time would take care of the injuries and weight loss but Elizabeth had a feeling the emotional cost was higher than anyone had expected.

The timing of Emily's return couldn't be more perfect, not only was she here for Fleur's 16th birthday but it was the last day of school before spring break which would give the two of them a whole week together. Hopefully by the time school started up again some of the darkness would be banished.

Seeing a lounge by the window Emily curled up comfortably in the afternoon sun and stared down at the courtyard wondering how she was going to look Fleur in the eye after everything she'd seen and done in the last 10 months.

Somewhere out there was a little boy wondering why his Dad wasn't coming home and it was all her doing.

On the other hand there were a lot of children out there whose parents weren't coming back because of the weapons Ian had sold... there were a lot of parents who were now childless for the same reason.

Pushing the dark thoughts away Emily turned to her Mother.

"Do we have any plans for tonight?"

"Officially no... Fleur wouldn't let us organise anything without you there, after getting your call I booked a table for the four of us at a small restaurant down the road that Fleur enjoys. We'll organise something big for when school goes back after Spring Break."

"Sounds perfect."

Elizabeth went back to her paperwork as Emily continued her quiet contemplation of the courtyard. Just after 4 the sight of Fleur wandering in through the gates caused her to sit up and lean closer to the window. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and wondered again if it had been worth it. She'd missed nearly a year of her daughter's life.

"She'll come straight here to say hello..." Elizabeth murmured "I make sure I never have anything scheduled for the half an hour after she's due home..." Emily understood immediately her Mother's reasons, while her parents hadn't been overly restrictive with the teen they had been much more attentive with Fleur than they had been with Emily. The last thing any of them wanted was a repeat of Emily's 15th year.

"And she's been happy at school?"

"Yes, she's made a good group of friends both local and diplobrats and she's in the top 5 of her grade."

Emily nodded, and watched the door anxiously. After another few minutes of silence a light tapping sounded and the door slowly opened Fleur stuck her head through with a smile.

She'd been putting on a brave face for her Grandparents all week, all she really wanted for her birthday was for her Mom to be there but she refused to admit that to them.

"Fleur, come in..." Elizabeth waved the teen into the office and walked over to her, from the door she couldn't see Emily nearly vibrating with anticipation on the couch.

Wrapping Fleur in her arm Elizabeth whispered in the 16 year olds ear "Close your eyes une fille adorable" (lovely girl).

Stepping behind her Elizabeth covered Fleur's eyes just in case she peeked.

"J'ai une surprise d'anniversaire pour toi" (I have a birthday surprise for you) she guided her granddaughter over to stand in front of Emily.

Emily swallowed past the lump in her throat and drank in the sight of Fleur, reaching up she gently caressed Fleur's cheek as Elizabeth removed her hands.

"Happy Birthday baby girl..." it came out as more of a sob than anything else.

Fleur's eyes flew open in disbelief and immediately threw herself at Emily... just this morning her Maman and Papa had confirmed that they hadn't heard from her Mom in a few weeks. If she'd been able to make it she would have called.

"I called after you left for school... I wanted to surprise you." With Fleur in her arms and for the first time in months Emily felt something slide back into place. The feeling of wrongness and incompleteness started to fade now she was back with Fleur.

"How long can you stay?" Fleur's voice trembled quietly in her ear.

"It's all done, except for going back to DC to get the apartment ready I'll be here until school's finished for the year then we're going home and we're staying." Emily reassured her daughter.

When Jules came into the office an hour later he found his wife seated on the couch by the window Emily's head on her lap, with Fleur stretched out on top of her mother, all three of them dozing in the late winter sun. None of them could be comfortable but he knew they didn't care.

Crouching down next to them Jules ran gentle fingers through Emily's hair, tired eyes popped open immediately.

"Hi Daddy..." she smiled tiredly.

"Mon petit amour, accueille la maison" (My little love, welcome home) he whispered before leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead.

The following week was perfect as far as Emily was concerned, she and Fleur spent lazy mornings eating breakfast in bed. The afternoons were spent meandering through Brussels, eating their way through the street stalls, making up stories about the people they saw bustling their way through the city.

Emily stayed in Brussels another 3 weeks after Fleur went back to school before feeling comfortable enough to head back to DC for a few days.

She stayed long enough to check on Louise and Declan at the house in Reston, open up the apartment and give it a thorough clean, go into GDS and confirm Fleur's enrollment for the following school year and stop by Georgetown to see if it was too late to enrol to get her masters in psychology.

She was fortunate the Dean of admissions was willing to sit down with her. Officially their intake was full, but he laughed when she showed him her transcripts from Yale and her fabricated work history and gave her a list of the classes she'd need.

"Sign up for the individual classes and we can officially take you into the Masters program mid year and credit the classes to you."

When she arrived back in Brussels Emily knew she needed to speak with Fleur and her parents in general terms about what she had been doing for the last year as well as the cover story. Waiting until Fleur is in bed the night she gets home Emily decides to tackle her parents first in the hope that they can help her decide what to tell Fleur.

Once the three of them are settled in her Mother's private study with drinks poured Emily takes a deep breath before speaking.

"When I graduated from the Academy, I was immediately loaned out to the CIA..." she starts and is relieved to see her parents aren't surprised at the admission.

"I've been a linguistics analyst out of Langley for them until last April when as you know I was asked to join a task force. They needed someone with my language and behavioural analysis skills to bring down an arms dealer for Interpol. When we get back to DC I'll be rejoining the mainstream Bureau doing for them exactly what I've been doing for the CIA. Officially I'll have been in Chicago since last April on special assignment. They're building a classified Bureau work history for me and I'm going to work on getting my Masters in psychology. By the time I've done that Fleur should be finished with high school and I'm going to apply for the BAU."

"Behavioural Analysis?" Jules relaxed back into his chair, relieved Emily was finally getting out of the CIA "that sounds like a really good fit for you."

They didn't go straight back to DC once Fleur finished school for the year.

Knowing this would be one of their last opportunities before Fleur went to college Emily rented a car and drove them down to Dormillouse with stops in Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Bern and Geneva on the way.

Emily's heart broke a little when they arrived at Le Bijou to the news Max had passed the previous winter and Valerie was unable to manage the inn on her own. Sometime in the last few months it had been sold and the kitchen door was locked.

Wanting to preserve as much of her family's time in the alps as possible Emily took Fleur all over the mountain that summer and photographed the most important places writing down what she could remember about her Maman and Papa's lives there. The day before they left she had copies made of all the photo's and the two of them built a scrapbook of the recent family history and left it on the kitchen table of the chateau with a note for whoever came to visit next asking them to add their own memories and stories.

END CHAPTER 10