Okay so I know I usually apologise at the beginning of every chapter because of how long it takes, just please accept an apology now for all of the future chapters I write because no doubt it will take me a while between posts. Honestly I've been feeling like shit lately. I've had a chest infection, a head cold, had all four wisom teeth removed so I am in a world of pain at the moment but somehow I managed to spit this out in a matter of hours. Also my heart is broken because Jack Kenney creator of Warehouse 13 killed off Mrs Fredric, Jinksy, and most importantly HG Wells. Oh and he destroyed the warehouse.
So this chapter touches on Christmas Day an the confrontation with Reid. Note: ideas and phrases have been borrowed from episode 2 of season 7 because honestly, in my mind, it couldn't have been written any better. Although it has been changed around to fit in with Emily instead of JJ.
PS How good have the first three episodes of season 7 been? Episode 1 and 2 specifically.
By an unofficial albeit common definition, Christmas Day is a time to spend with the family and friends you love, to feast on platters of food and thoughtful exchange gifts. It is a day considered to be relaxing and carefree and is supposed to contain no stress whatsoever. And that is true...if you are a child who still believes in the magic of Santa Claus. For an adult however, it is the complete opposite ninety percent of the time. There is the stressful time of shopping for presents, wrapping them and then hiding them so the kids don't know that their parents are actually Santa, of setting up the kitchen to accommodate the hours of visitors that no doubt will arrive, the weeks of cleaning because there are always a few bits of wrapping paper hiding in plain sight.
That is what it was like for the family of profilers and lone technical analyst, with an added bout of tension thrown into the mix as well, as they all sat down in the living room of Aaron Hotchner. Reid had refused to meet the eyes of JJ and Emily from the moment they entered the apartment; he was still silently fuming over their betrayal of the team, but he wasted no time in greeting his Godson playfully. The two women and the hyper three-year-old were the last to arrive at the family event, being swarmed with warm hugs. Henry disappeared almost instantly with Jack, to check out the older boys own toys and JJ yelling after them to not make a big mess.
As Hotch offered them both a glass of wine each and disappeared into the kitchen, an awkward silence settled in over the remaining members of the team. Garcia was cuddling up to Morgan in the corner of the three seater. JJ and Emily had taken the remaining space next to them; neither of them had been game enough to sit next to Reid as he pushed himself as far into the corner of the two seater as he could. It was as if just being in the same room with them was suffocating him, and simply causing the tension to build dramatically. Hotch returned a moment later with two more glasses and a full bottle.
As he went about opening the new bottle, he turned to the newest arrivals. "So how was your Christmas morning with Henry?" Even though it was a pretty straightforward question, all Emily heard was 'how did brunch go with the Ambassador'. It was like he knew that Emily was going to be tortured earlier in the day, but at the same time he didn't know.
"Yeah, it was good. He went straight for the wrapping paper as usual," JJ laughed, taking a sip of her wine. "Just a nice quiet family morning."
"Yeah until my mother showed up," Emily joked, as she swallowed a rather large gulp of her glass.
Derek let out a hearty laugh, knowing full well that Emily's relationship with her mother was strained beyond belief. "And how did that work out for you?"
"Oh it was great," she replied sarcastically. "Especially when she found out that you guys knew I was alive before she did. She slapped me, Henry became rather defensive, and then we had an argument out in the street because she left her keys in the house."
"That's gotta hurt though," said Garcia, sympathising with Emily's mother for the betrayal and Emily for the slap. "Wait, Henry became defensive?"
"Yeah, he saw Elizabeth slap Emily. We all thought he was still going through his new toys. He yelled at her for hurting Emily," said JJ.
"Aww, that is so adorable, and so sad at the same time," Garcia said, raising a hand to her heart.
"If you think that was bad," JJ started, "You should have seen her face when we told her..." JJ looked at Emily briefly with a questioning expression. They had yet to really discuss their engagement with each other, to talk about when they would tell everyone and how. Emily's mouth quirked into a silent shrug of agreement; they were having one of those conversations without actually saying anything.
"Told her what?" Garcia asked impatiently.
"That we're...getting...married," Emily trailed off. She had never been ashamed or embarrassed about herself in anyway, but there was something rather difficult about telling the team of her impending nuptials.
The tech analyst was on her feet immediately, shoving her own glass into Derek's hands and pulling the two women to stand for a hug. "Oh my God! I need details right now! Who proposed? How? When? Does Will know?"
"Baby girl, calm down. How about we start with a 'congratulations' first?" Derek suggested, smiling proudly at JJ and Emily, pulling them into a warm hug. He pulled back jokingly. "How did your mother take it?"
"She almost fainted," Emily admitted with a laugh.
There was a small round of smiles and congratulations from the three other people sitting in Hotch's living room; Rossi had been unable to make it due to a previous engagement with one of his ex-wives. Not all of the praises were happy ones. Reid had muttered the single word with venomous sarcasm, not bothering to lift his gaze to theirs when he spoke. Both women chose to ignore it, and the rest of the group didn't comment on it.
Garcia was practically screaming. "Congratulations. Now give me the deets!"
Emily and JJ had never been ones to be open or to brag about their relationship with each other, or with any of their previous partners, but when it came to telling the team the specifics of their engagement, it felt like such an intrusion to their personal space. Garcia would have worked one of them over until they caved, and neither one of them would have minded, but Hotch was there. No one, not even their boss gave away details such as that. Derek would have simply made a crude comment about needing a new wingman to pick up women.
In the corner, Reid huffed loud enough for everyone to notice. They were definitely not giving away any specifics now.
"Spence, is there something you want to say?" JJ asked. She was fed up with his attitude despite the number of times she had apologized to him, despite the number of times Emily and Hotch had apologized to him. It seemed like nothing would bring them over.
"Yeah, there is. She betrays us all, comes back from the dead after we mourn for her, and you just let her back into your life like nothing happened," he whispered harshly. He didn't want to risk the boys hearing them yelling on Christmas day. "She's back for less than a week and you're already engaged, for Christ's sake!"
"If you want to be specific Reid, we've been engaged since the day she died."
"Ahh, my chocolate God, that is so romantic," Garcia whispered, having sat back down with Derek.
Hotch disappeared back into the kitchen for two reasons. One, to check on the turkey and two, to make sure the boys were staying in Jack's room. He ducked back in momentarily hoping to defuse the possible situation. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." JJ, Emily and Reid weren't paying any attention as Derek pulled Garcia out of the living room to help Hotch finish setting already crowded table.
"Alright I get it Reid," said Emily. "You hate the way it was all handled. You hate the fact that you couldn't tell that I was really alive, because JJ and Hotch managed to hide their expressions from you."
"No, all they managed to hide, was you. I trusted both of them, that is the only reason they were able to hide anything from me," he snarled. The harsh attitude didn't suit Reid at all. "Tell me, JJ, have you told Emily about all of those nights I showed up at your house crying because I didn't understand how to deal with losing a friend? All of those times, not once did you have the decency to tell me that she was alive!"
Emily risked a look at JJ to try and understand just how much had gone down after her death. The blonde had stood up from her seat in Emily's lap, trying to show more confidence than she really had. It was true that Reid had showed up at her house, late at night with red rimmed eyes. She hadn't been able to turn him away, even though she feared she would spill her secrets. "I couldn't."
"You couldn't or you wouldn't?"
"No, I couldn't!" she stressed.
"If I had started taking Dilaudid again, would you have told me then?"
JJ stumbled over her words at the accusation, and fell back onto the couch. "But, you didn't."
"Yeah, well I thought about it," he replied, before stalking off down the hall.
"Spence, I'm sorry, alright."
He turned and shrugged at her, "It's too late."
Everyone knew that a confrontation had been on its way, they just hadn't expected it to be on Christmas day, let alone for Reid to admit he had contemplated risking his sobriety due to his overwhelming emotions.
"Yo Reid! Where are you going?" Derek called out.
"To say goodbye to Henry and Jack," came over the Doctor's shoulder. "I'm leaving."
Emily shook her head and stood from the couch, to chase after their resident genius. "This is ridiculous."
"Hey Prentiss!" Morgan tried, and failed; she brushed him off before he had barely finished calling her name.
She caught up with Reid swiftly and easily, seeing as he had purposefully slowed his pace to give himself enough time to calm down before facing the two boys. It had already been a miracle that neither Jack nor Henry had come running down the hallway to one of their parents, frightened of all of the yelling. Emily however beat him to it, and dragged him through the first door she came across. She had managed to close it without making the latch sound, before Reid could even form a sentence. It was only when he managed to get his balance back, did he actually speak.
"Emily!"
Her voice was quiet and casual, but at the same time he could hear the anger laced with her words. This was the steely faced Emily Prentiss that he had come to know and occasionally fear. He knew he had stepped in it big time, but Reid was unwilling to bend to his feelings of being deceived by his family.
"Don't be childish. I've apologized over and over. Just accept the fact that I'm not dead and be happy about it. Stop picking fights because you were left out. You have no right to dump your ideas of losing your sobriety onto JJ's shoulders. You have no idea how guilty she feels about your addiction in the first place. It was my choice to leave. So please just accept it," she pleaded with him. He simply glared at her.
"I know that you're mad at us, and I'm not going to try and make excuses for the way we handled it. I understand your anger and frustration at none of us telling you. But if you walk out of here tonight, before the night is finished, and you believe only one thing any of us have said, let it be this: 'When I tell you we had no choice, I mean it.'"
He looked away with a slight sense of guilt and shame. Coming from Emily, the friend he had lost and cried over, the friend who was really alive and making his emotions even more difficult for him to comprehend, it just made it all that more real.
"You mourned the loss of a friend, Reid. I know how that feels," she said. Reid looked up to see her strong facade gone, leaving her with an emptier expression. "But I mourned the loss of six, the loss of a fiancé, of a child, a home. I lost everything. I'm just trying to get it back, but I can't do that if you don't help me."
Silence consumed them, and Henry could be heard showing off his engine sounds in Jack's room.
"So now you need my help?" he threw out. Almost immediately, Reid regretted it; he saw her shoulder's slump just a little bit more. All JJ, Emily and Hotch had done was respect his wishes of needing space and time. Or at least given him as much as they could despite the limitations of their desks being next to each others at work.
"Reid, you're family," she breathed out. "I'll always need your help, with something, anything. Right now, it's this. I made my choices and I have to live with them until the day I die. Now, you have to make your own choice right now. Either you stay or you go."
And with that she walked out of the room that appeared to Hotch's bedroom. Her head popped around the doorjamb of Jack's room and spotted them playing with some cars and trucks, completely oblivious to everything going on. "Are you guys having fun?"
Their heads whipped around to take in the sight of the older woman watching them, of Jack's dad's bedroom door slipping shut and their Uncle Spencer shuffling around behind her. Henry was up from his place and running to Emily as fast as he could, jumping into her arms the moment he reached her. "Mummy! Jack has the most bestest coolest toys ever!"
"Oh he does, does he?" Both boys nodded incessantly. "Well maybe you can tell everyone all about them during dinner. Which will be ready in a few minutes, so you need to clean up Jack's toys and go wash up okay?"
Henry struggled down from his mother's arms and hurried back over to Jack to help him put his Matchbox cars back into the container and haphazardly folding the map they had been playing on up. Within seconds the box was pushed back into Jack's closet and the two of them were speeding into the bathroom to use the small set of steps to reach the sink.
Reid mumbled under his breath, barely loud enough for her to hear, but she still heard it. "I think I'll stay."
"Okay." Her voice was a hush above a whisper but they had come to an understanding.
The two of them finally allowed for their eye lines to meet. "You won't push me?" he asked with uncertainty.
"I won't, neither will JJ or Hotch. Not if you make some kind of effort."
Reid simply nodded and followed Emily back out into the living room, Henry and Jack running ahead of them. They were barely halfway to the dining room when they heard Derek yell out, "Soups on, kids!"
Due to the smaller size of the table, both kids had to sit at the coffee table after their parents had dished up their meals. A Christmas cartoon was playing on the TV, keeping them occupied.
"Is everything okay?" JJ asked Emily as they made their way around the kitchen for last minute necessities.
"Not even close," the brunette admitted, "But it's will be eventually."
"Alright. I believe you," JJ smirked, pressing a chaste kiss to her fiancé's lips.
"Hey, my lovely love birds, hurry up! You still have to give me the details," Garcia pleaded with them.
They chuckled at their resident tech analyst's usual behaviour, and went to head into the room, the smell of food wafting throughout the apartment teasingly. JJ pulled back suddenly, her eyes wide in realisation. "Can we maybe leave out the fact that I was wearing nothing but a sheet when you popped the question?"
Well how did you like it? I felt it was a rather productive chapter with an adorable moment in there as well.