So I'm conflicted on whether I should change Blake's name or not in the next story.
Some people are saying that I should change it to Daniel and others are saying that it's not as confusing anymore because I use first names which means Alex Blake will always be Alex and not Blake and Blake James will always be Blake and not James.
Anyway, I would really like some more feedback so I can put it to a vote, so let me know :)
Now, here's the 10th chapter xox
"You're right," said Gibbs quietly. Emily was sitting outside on the bench she had previously occupied days before "About everything,"
"No, I wasn't," Emily replied with a shake of the head as he sat down next to her "If it wasn't this, it would've been something else, he would've ended up in jail, it was inevitable," she looked across at him "I'm sorry for what I said, about you and..."
"Don't apologize," Gibbs cut her off "You know the rule,"
"Yeah, I know the rule," Emily replied "But what happens when I think those rules are stupid?"
Gibbs smirked "Think of them more as laws," Emily chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence before Gibbs said quietly, almost whispering "I know it was you who gave it to her,"
"Gave what?" Emily asked, slightly puzzled.
"The phone," he replied "The day you snuck out of the lake house, I was off with Shannon and you stayed home with Kelly, you gave her the phone I found under her pillow," he told her "I found her clenching it as she slept one night,"
Emily shrugged "She was the only thing I couldn't take with me to Rome," she looked down at the pavement with her hands in her khaki, fur hooded coat pockets "That I needed anyway,"
"She looked up to you, you know," Gibbs said and looked over at her "On your fifteenth birthday, you told me you wanted to go to college and do something great with your life, you didn't want to be one of those bored socialites. Your mother wanted you to do something in politics, knew you wouldn't do that, you hated her job for ten years by that time. That night, I was tucking Kelly into bed and she looked at me and said 'Daddy, when I finish high school can I go to college too?'." Emily smiled slightly, as her eyes started to burn "I always knew it but from that moment...that sentence was proof that you were the only friend she needed to do anything she wanted. She could grow up to be the amazing person she would've been today,"
"She would've, wouldn't she?" Emily smiled as the salty water escaped from her eyes "I miss them,"
"Me too kiddo," he said as he pulled her closer, leaning her head on his shoulder "Me too,"
Blake, JJ and Rossi were packing up the case files in the board room, sorting them into the boxes for storage when JJ asked "Do you love her?"
Rossi looked up intrigued and smirking as Blake kept his head down on the files "That's a good question, Jennifer," Rossi added.
"Why thank you, David," JJ replied and then looked over at Blake "Well?"
Blake stammered a bit before getting out "It's been a month,"
"That doesn't answer the question," JJ quirked an eyebrow at him as she put the lid on the cardboard box.
Rossi smirked as Blake sighed and replied "I don't know, maybe. but like I said," he looked up at them "It's been a month,"
JJ smiled brightly as she looked over at Rossi who was, of course, still grinning.
"Well," said Reid as they all met in the bullpen. NCIS sat at their desks as Morgan lent against Ziva's, Emily and Blake lent against Tony's and the rest just occupied the middle "It's over,"
"It is never over," Ziva said as she swiveled slightly in her chair.
"Yeah, we've still got hearings, trials, testimonies and lawyers to deal with," said Emily "Not to mention they're going to grill us on the fact that we're related,"
"Only by blood," said Morgan "They can't prove you knew about Cryer, let alone set out to put him in prison,"
"Still," Hotch said "It's going to be a bumpy ride for all of us," he stated just as his phone rang "Excuse me," he stepped away before answering "Hotchner,"
Emily sighed "Well this wasn't something I was hoping to come back to,"
"Amen to that," they heard from behind them. They turned around to see Alex walking into the bullpen with Declan and a limp. She could tell all the agents were about to protest when she cut the, "Don't worry I'm fine, it's just cuts and bruises,"
Emily looked over at Declan expectantly when he raised his hands in defense "I tried but she said she was either going to leave with me or without me, so I chose the first of the two options,"
"And people say I'm stubborn," Emily muttered.
Blake rolled his eyes "You are stubborn," earning a look from Emily and a chuckle from everyone else just as Hotch came back.
"That was Strauss," he said "She's happy everyone's alright and that we finally got the guy," he paused.
"But...?" JJ asked.
"Who says there's a but?" Hotch replied.
Emily rolled her eyes "There's always a but,"
Hotch sighed before saying "She's ordering us to take two weeks vacation, and she spoke to your supervisor Agent James...you're required two weeks paid leave as well,"
"Oh come on!" Blake said "She can't do that, can she?"
Emily laughed "Yeah, like she can't do it, do you know exactly how much power she holds in the bureau?" she asked rhetorically "It is ridiculous,"
"Yeah, she ordered the Deputy Director to take leave once and I don't know how she did it," JJ added "And she had hold in the Pentagon too,"
"I think killing her is next to impossible," Rossi added.
"Cat with nine lives that one is," Leon said as he walked down the stairs and into the bullpen "Good work agents," he nodded "The case is now closed and we can all now sleep easy, which all of you haven't done in days," he looked around at all of them "Gibbs, DiNozzo, David, McGee, I don't want you in here for the next week," he said and turned to Hotch, shaking his hand "Thank you," and turned to everyone in the bullpen "All of you," and walked back upstairs to his office.
Emily looked over at Alex who was looking between Gibbs and herself, trying to figure out a connection, and smiled before saying "I was four years old and my mother was stationed here in D.C, just off the military base," she started, catching everyone's, including Alex's attention. The teams know how Gibbs and Emily knew each other but not how they met "She was working and I got so bored,"
"At four?" Alex raised her eyebrows.
"At four," Emily nodded her confirmation "I caught the bus to see what I could find and I saw all these people dressed in uniforms, I read the sign and it said 'United States Marine Core'. So I decided that that would be a great place to check out,"
1982
"Hey kid, are you sure you should be by yourself?" the older bus driver asked her as she was about to step off the bus.
"I'm fine," one tiny, independent, four year old Emily Prentiss told him with a bright smile "Thank you," she waved at him as she jumped off the last step. Her blue backpack bounching off her back. Men in uniforms marching and running around an obstacle course caught her attention. She walked up to the fence and walked to where a small hole cut down the bottom, just big enough for her to fit through. Bushes obscure anyone from seeing her and her them. Moving around as quietly as she could, she sat herself behind a bush, in direct line of sight of the monkey bar looking things.
A man swung from bar to bar with ease until his foot got caught on the edge of a mat, sending him tumbling down and rolling towards the bush where she sat. The four year old brunette couldn't help but giggle quietly at the man's mistake though quickly stopped when she saw him look in her direction. The man shook his head and she let out a breath before she felt something crawling on her arm. She looked down and saw a giant ant on her arm, she quickly flicked it off and knocked the bush, making it rustle.
'Uh oh' she thought as the man looked straight at her. She held her breath for what felt like forever until he walked away 'That was close!'
She continued to watch the people run and march when she heard someone whisper "Cool, huh?" she whipped her head around and saw the same man sit next to her with a smile on his face.
"Yeah," she replied, not sure if she was going to get in trouble or not.
"I'm Jethro," he said and stuck out his hand.
She smiled and shook his hand as best she could "My name is Emily Prentiss,"
"Prentiss, huh?" he asked, making her nod in return "I went to school with a Prentiss, you know? We were best friends. Her name was Elizabeth,"
"Elizabeth?" Emily asked with wide brown eyes "That's my mom's name!" she whispered.
"Really?" he whispered back, making her nod eagerly "So, Emily Prentiss, what brings you out here?"
Emily shrugged "I got bored,"
"How'd you get here?" he asked, keeping the questions rolling.
"Bus," she replied simply, and seeing him open his mouth again, she shook her head "My turn," she said, making him smile "Are you married?"
"Why yes I am,"
PRESENT DAY
"We talked for hours,"
"Yeah, I was made to do that course three more times because of you," Gibbs smirked.
Emily laughed at him before saying "Apparently, Mother was pretty cool in high school before she became this uptight b-"
"Hey!" Gibbs cut her off making her roll her eyes.
"Whatever," she said "From then on, I caught the bus there everyday and just watched until we talked and I saw him building a birdhouse. We would spend hours making wooden toys in our free time, and three years later he had a daughter with his wife Shannon," Gibbs smiled at the memory of a seven year old Emily holding a tiny baby in her arms "Kelly was like the little sister I never had,"
Gibbs smirked "You two were inseparable from when she was born," Emily smiled at the memories before Gibbs said "Have you called your mother, Emily? Because I think she'd be interested to know what has happened in the last week,"
"Oh please, I don't even think she knows I'm back from London," Emily said with a roll of her eyes "She wouldn't care, as long as I'm not dead,"
"Em," Blake cut in as he leaned in slightly "I don't really have a lot of experience with this sort of thing but...I don't think it really works like that,"
Emily rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in surrender "Fine, I'll call her,"
"Why don't you go see her?" Rossi asked, knowing that's the last thing she'd want to do.
Emily held her hands up "Woah! I think we're moving a little fast here, one step at a time. It's hard enough being in the same country but in the same building? I don't think so,"
Gibbs rolled his eyes "She's your mother,"
"And we work better apart," Emily nodded "Preferably as far apart as possible,"
"I don't think this is a good idea Jethro," Emily said as they stood outside double marble doors "You know we're like cheese and chalk,"
Gibbs looked at her "That's why I'm here, you'll be fine, she loves you,"
"Yeah, not as much as you may think," Emily muttered, receiving a head smack from Gibbs "Ow! Fine! Jesus Christ!"
He knocked on the door and after hearing a 'come in' he opened the door and let her through.
Elizabeth Prentiss sat with her reading glasses on, staring confused at a computer screen like it was an alien life force of some kind. Her brown hair was neat, in a business-like bun as she wore a white blouse and dark grey pants-suit. The older Prentiss stood up when she saw who had walked into her office, a bright smile greeting her face "Emily, my dear!"
"Mother," Emily smiled back as Elizabeth walked around the desk and enveloped her daughter in a hug, to which she was not expecting. When they pulled back, she held onto her daughters biceps and did a once-over.
"You look beautiful," she said, then frowned "But, my god, you're exhausted,"
Emily smiled slightly at her concern "Yeah, it's been a rough week,"
Elizabeth looked empathetic for her daughter then looked at the other man in the room "Leroy!" she smiled and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek "What a lovely surprise," Elizabeth and his father were the only ones to call him that, everyone else knew him as Gibbs or Jethro, depending on who they were.
"Mother," Emily said once their embrace was over "There's something we need to discuss," she said tentatively "It's about Gerald,"
Elizabeth's expression fell to neutral at the mention of Emily's father "Well, have a seat," With a nod of her head, Emily and Gibbs took a seat as Elizabeth sat back at her desk, clenching her hands and leaning forward in interest "What about Gerald?"
Before Emily could talk, Gibbs said "She knows,"
Elizabeth's back straightened even further and she stiffened "How?"
"I told her,"
"Why?"
Emily stepped in before they got into a fight "I was being hunted,"
Elizabeth's head snapped wildly fast back to her daughter, her eyes ablaze with alarm "Excuse me, what?"
"An unsub, killing marines," Emily said.
"Joint investigation," Gibbs added.
"The unsub would leave letter for me, disturbing letters," said Emily as she shifted in her seat "And then he kidnapped two FBI agents, we were sent a video and at the very end he said..." Emily paused for a moment before continuing "A proud Prentiss is a good Prentiss."
Both agents saw the blood drain from the older Prentiss' face as she recognized the line "Gerald..."
"No," Emily shook her head, stopping her from the thoughts that she knew was running through her head "Gerald wasn't the unsub,"
"Then who...?"
"Matthew Cryer," Gibbs said "Also known as Matthew Whitmore,"
"His son," Emily said softly.
Elizabeth looked genuinely confused "But why would he...?"
"Because he believed that I thought I didn't ever want to know him, that I thought he was trash," Emily said "His victims were replicas of me mother," she said calmly.
Elizabeth looked at her daughter with sorrowful eyes "Oh Emily..."
"I know," Emily cut her off, no smile, though was genuine "You do what you think you have to do," Emily lent forward on her elbows against her knees "Mother you need to realize that you could've handled it a lot better than you did, he went almost twenty two years thinking he was nothing but a waste of space and angry at the world, all that anger had to go somewhere, unfortunately it went into those women,"
"I didn't mean-"
"I know mother," Emily said, cutting her off again "I know, and I'm not blaming you, because he was always going to be a troubled kid, but you have to understand that that was your anger and not mine,"
Elizabeth just nodded as her eyes softened and she shrunk a little in her seat "I'm sorry Emily," she almost whispered.
"Me too, Mom," she replied just as softly. The look Elizabeth gave her at the name 'Mom' made her realize that there was still hope for them, and maybe she couldn't change the past, and she can't set the future, but for now, they're just where they need to be.
And now we know how they know each other :)
There we go, please, I would love some feedback
It would be much appreciated
Love, Me. xox