A/N: Here we go again!

Stalker

A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction

by Sweda

After weeks had gone by and there had been no sign of Dylan, Hotch reluctantly bowed to Emily's request that they pull off her security detail. It had been her argument that it was manpower spent unnecessarily that caused him to make the decision. The team still considered Dylan a threat to her safety, as did the team handling the case, but it would be illogical to spend their resources protecting her, a trained agent, when others, lacking training, was in need of the same kind of protection.

That was not the only thing that changed for Emily, after passing both the physical and the psychological evaluation, she had been cleared for active duty. Her first case back on the streets had been trying, the long hours and lack of sleep affecting her more than usual. During her time stuck on desk duty, she had become accustomed to working regular hours and a minimum of six hours of sleep each night, counting the time she lay awake in bed after the nightmares woke her. Although, it hadn't stopped her from doing her job and in the end, she had been the one to tackle the UnSub and fasten the cuffs around his wrists.

A consequence of her work schedule getting back to what Emily and the rest of the team considered normal was that she could no longer spend as much time with Josh and his boy as she had before. Despite this, her relationship with Josh had only grown stronger. Since their first date at the restaurant, they had been out on three more. They had also spent a lot of time together between the dates, cuddling up on the sofa while watching a movie, Josh teaching Emily how to cook what he called 'appropriate meals' that actually contained some nutrition compared to what she usually had for dinner. Most of the time, Danny was with them, snuggling with them while the movie was playing or helping out in the kitchen, but once he had gone to bed, the grown-ups had given in to their attraction and allowed hands to wander and lips to lock.

One Thursday night, after Josh had cooked her the best Indian chicken curry she had ever had, Emily had suggested they do as she'd promised back in Utah and show the Bentleys the city. Both father and son had happily agreed and they had then decided on Saturday, as long as she didn't get called out on a case. After helping with the dishes, Emily said goodbye and returned home where she began planning their upcoming trip.

After a long day spent in various locations, among them the zoo, her favourite bookstore and an ice cream parlour named Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream, the three stepped inside Emily's home. It was the first time either of the Bentleys visited so she decided to begin with a tour, just like Josh had done the first time she visited.

They started off in the foyer, moved on to the kitchen and then ended up in the living room. As they reached said room, something sparkly high up on a shelf caught the little boy's attention. He moved closer to the bookcase, placed his hands on a lower shelf and stood on his tip-toes to get a better look. Once he saw what it was, a huge smile spread on his face.

"It's the card I made for you!" he exclaimed, excitedly pointing at the card Emily kept on the shelf next to a pile of worn books and an old photo of the team.

"It is," Emily confirmed. "I like it so much that I placed it on my special shelf." She walked closer to the where Danny stood and once he was within reach, she scooped him up and placed him on her hip, holding him so that he would be able to see the items placed on the shelf more properly. "You see, this is the place where I keep my favourite things," she told him.

"My card is you favourite." He beamed as he turned to look at her, his soft curls tickling her chin.

"That it is," she confirmed and returned his smile.

After that, the rest of the tour went quick and when they had covered all the rooms, Danny tugged at the leg of his father's jeans. Josh crouched down so that Danny was able to whisper in his ear. "Sure thing, Buddy," he said as he stood up. "He needs to use the bathroom," he explained as he began leading his son towards the door he remembered Emily having said lead to the room.

"I'll be in the kitchen, making something for us to eat," Emily answered and began moving towards the dining area.

The duo returned just as Emily placed a plate of sliced fruit on the table next to the three glasses, a plastic cup for Danny, filled with ice water already standing there. "Since it's been warm all day and I didn't have much else to choose from, I prepared some fruit."

"I like apples," Danny said as spotted the apple slices while he was climbing onto on of the chairs.

"Fruit's perfect," Josh said and took a seat next to his son.

Emily sat down opposite him and reached for a fruit slice. Silence filled the room as they all munched on their fruit slices and enjoyed the cold water making its way down their throats as they drank.

A few minutes into their meal, Sergio decided he was entitled to some attention. Jumping up on the table, a place he was aware he was not allowed from Emily constantly shoving him down whenever he made the move, led to the desired effect.

"Sergio, get off the table!" Emily ordered and ushered him down.

"A cat!" Danny squealed in delight as the furry ball jumped down and landed with a soft thud. The black cat had been sleeping in the laundry room when they got there, therefore the boy had not seen him before. "Can I pet him?"

"Sure, just finish what you're eating first," Emily replied, sounding very much like a mother without intending to. She looked up to find Josh looking at her with a tender expression. He didn't appear to be bothered by her unintentionally mothering his child.

The blond boy quickly shoved what was left of his orange into his mouth and chewed with all his might, making juice slip out of his mouth and drip down his chin. When he was done, his father helped him wipe his face and hands, wetting the paper in order to get rid of the stickiness. All cleaned up, Danny climbed off the chair and went to the black cat who was currently sitting on the floor next to the table.

"What's his name?" Danny asked as he stroked the black cat, Sergio not moving from his spot despite being unfamiliar with children.

"Sergio," Emily replied.

"Sejo?" Danny asked, scrunching up his face.

Emily smiled. "Not quite. It's Sergio," she said, slowly pronouncing it.

"Sero... Ser.. That's hard to say," Danny sighed. "Is it okay if call him Sir until I know how to say it?"

"Sure, Sweetie."

While his son was occupied with the cat, Josh reached across the table and laced Emily's fingers with his. "He's never gonna stop calling him that, you know. Not even after he's learned how to pronounce it."

Emily gave his hand a little squeeze. "I know." Her eyes then sought out the boy and watched him as he was trying to capture the black cat in a hug. She then turned her gaze back to Josh with a fond smile, "I think he deserves to be called 'Sir' once in a while. I usually just call him something much less noble."

Josh laughed and shook his head in amusement.

"I don't think he likes hugs," Danny pouted as Sergio slipped out of his grasp.

"I'm sure he'd love to get a hug from you some other time. Right now, I think he's still a bit grumpy about not being allowed on the table," Emily replied. "But I do know someone who would like to get a Danny-cuddle," she continued and opened her arms for him.

Danny happily abandoned the cat and moved straight towards Emily. When he was close enough, she picked him up and placed him sideways on her lap. Feeling his arms wrap around her, she tightened the hold she had around him, giving him a small squeeze back. Her hand that was not securing him to her went to smooth down the wild locks on his head that was standing in every direction, but soon gave up and admitted defeat as they refused to stay down.

"Em'ly?"

"Yes, Honey."

"I like your hugs too," the boy said and snuggled closer to her.

A warm feeling spread through her, a feeling she had only once experienced before due to another blonde little boy, and she held him closer. Even though she still had some problems accepting her feelings for the boy's father, she had no problem with the love she felt towards the bundle of joy she was now holding in her arms.

She placed a kiss on the top of his head and then rested her cheek against it, breathing in his scent. "Good, because I plan on keep stealing hugs from you whenever possible."

Experiencing the feeling of being watched, she shifted her gaze and found Josh looking at them with an affectionate smile.

The lights changed from red to green and as the car started to move, Emily's phone rang. Morgan glanced over at his partner as the sound erupted but quickly returned his gaze to the road as he was the one driving.

"Prentiss," Emily answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Emily! I need your help!"

"Josh? What's going on?" She once again felt the eyes of her partner on her.

"I don't know how to do this. It just keeps falling apart!"

"Josh, I don't understand what's going on." Her imagination conjured one horrible scenario after another, a knot forming in her stomach.

"Just get over here!"

"I can't. I'm on my way to a crime scene. Josh, you need to tell me what's going on," Emily said in exasperation. As she turned to look at Morgan, they made eye contact. He then mouthed an 'Everything okay?' She didn't get the chance to answer him before Josh was speaking again. Her focus immediately went to what he was saying.

"I bought this new bookshelf for Danny from IKEA and I can't put it together!"

Emily felt herself relax into her seat, the worry leaving her body, She then let out a huff in a mixture of relief and amusement. From the way he had sounded and his urgency to make her come to him, she had expected something much worse going on than his inability to put together a bookshelf.

"Just follow the instructions," she told him.

"I am!" Josh exclaimed in a high pitched voice that reminded Emily very much of Reid's when he got excited.

"Well, if the little guy in the picture is picking up a screw, pick up a screw. If he screws two of the pieces together, then do that. Just do exactly like he does and everything will be fine."

"Why do they have to make comic books out of it instead of just simply writing down the instructions. It's much less complicated," Josh sighed, partially in frustration and partially in defeat.

"I think you're the only one with that opinion," Emily chuckled.

"Yeah, right," he said dryly. "Okay, I'll try doing it your way, but if it doesn't work, you'll have to get over here and help me. Danny has been nagging me about a bookshelf ever since we went to the bookstore last Saturday and you bought him all those books. He says he needs a 'p'oper place' to put them."

"You make it sound like buying him books is a bad thing. You should be happy he likes to read," Emily commented.

"I am. Just not when I have to interpret a comic book to put together a bookcase."

His words had her chuckling. "Let me know how it turns out," she said and ended the call, putting her phone back in her pocket.

"What was that all about?" Morgan questioned as soon as she had finished the phone call.

"Josh's inability to read the instructions from IKEA," Emily grinned.

"Really?" Morgan asked in disbelief. "It's the simplest instructions I've ever come across."

"Yeah, I know. Me too. He always makes it much more complicated than it has to be."

"You don't say," Morgan chuckled, bringing the car to a stop next to their crime scene.

Shortly after the partners had arrived at the crime scene, which was the fourth of the case they were working on, they had received a call from Hotch telling them to meet the rest of the team at another address once they had finished at their location. Garcia had managed to uncover vital information regarding the case and thanks to her and her amazing computer skills, they now had a location for their UnSub.

Emily and Morgan finished up at the scene as quickly as possible and then hurried to the car. Once they had reached their new destination, everything leading up to the arrest had went smoothly. The suspect had surrendered after coming to the realisation that there was no way she survive if she didn't. Morgan had been the one to cuff her and after that, the CSU had been called in to process the scene.

The case had been a local one and after a few hours, they were back at the office, readying themselves to go home. Just as Emily was stepping onto the elevator, she received a second call from Josh. Apparently the assembly of the newly purchased furniture had not been successful and now he was begging her for help with the uncooperative bookcase. The change of plans had her driving to the suburban neighbourhood of Alexandria instead of home to her place in Georgetown.

She barely had time to ring the bell before the door was opened. She was greeted by a very frustrated Josh. "Thank God!"

He gestured for her to move inside and she did. Always a gentleman, he helped her off with her coat.

"I'm going crazy. It won't go together."

Emily did her best to cover up the smile forming on her lips, but apparently it wasn't good enough. "Oh, laugh all you want. Next time it'll be you who's begging me for help."

"I'm sorry," she apologised and put a comforting hand on his upper arm, though the smile still remained. "Let's get this thing taken care of." With those words, she began moving towards Danny's room, only making a quick detour to the kitchen to say hello to the boy who was sitting at the table, colouring. Josh followed behind her and as they entered the boy's room, a mess of screws, shelves and various tools greeted them.

"You have the instructions?" Emily asked as she sat down in the middle of the half moon pattern that had been created by the different building parts scattered around the room.

"They're useless," Josh said as he handed her the, by now, very wrinkly piece of paper.

"We'll see about that." Emily reached for the first piece of wood and began the assembly of the bookcase.

An hour later, the case had been fully put together. They had also managed to place all of Danny's books in it, among with other things such as a few toys and framed photos of the boy. Danny had happily assisted them in decorating the bookcase. When they had finished in Danny's room, the trio had moved to the kitchen where they cooked dinner. Moving around in the kitchen, chopping, stirring and pan-frying they created a meal much appreciated by both the younger and the older Bentley, namely spaghetti with meat sauce and some vegetables.

The dinner conversation had mostly consisted of Danny babbling about his day and how he had told all his friends about the trip the trio had made to the zoo earlier that week. Josh and Emily exchanged a few words whenever Danny fell silent, either because he was taking a sip from his glass of milk or because he was too focused on twirling spaghetti onto his fork, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he did.

When they had finished dinner, Emily offered to take care of the dishes while Josh helped Danny take a bath.

She had just placed the last plate in the dishwasher when she heard Josh calling out for her. She wiped her hands on the grey kitchen towel before walking to the bathroom, stopping just outside the slightly opened door.

"Yes?" she spoke through the gap.

"Danny wants to show you something," came the reply from the other side.

Emily pushed the door open and stepped inside, her eyes instantly drifting to the bathtub.

In the bathtub sat Danny, a smile forming on his lips as he saw her enter. The boy was quite a sight, surrounded by bubbles and having used shampoo to get his hair to stand upright in a line on his head. "Em'ly, look at me! I'm a rooster!" he exclaimed and mimicked the animal.

"I can see that," Emily said with a chuckle.

"I made it all by myself. Daddy didn't help me at all."

"That's impressive." She glanced at Josh and found him sporting the same wide grin as her, finding the boy's antics just as amusing and adorable as she did.

Since Josh was seated on the floor next to the tub, Emily sat down on the closed toilet lid facing Danny. "You know what I used to do when I was a kid?" she asked. The boy shook his head no. "Whenever I took a bath, I used to make two little mouse ears, like the ones Mickey Mouse has."

"Like..." Danny paused as he separated his hair and made two round 'ears' on his head. "... this?"

"Exactly like that," Emily smiled.

"It feels funny," he said while moving his head from side to side, making his 'ears' bounce around.

The two adults laughed at the boy. Danny was grinning from ear to ear as he found this new part of bath time funny.

Josh let Danny play for a while until he thought it was time to finish up before the water got too cold. While Josh helped Danny wash away the last of the bubbles, she asked Josh where she could get a towel. She returned to her seat with the towel just as Danny was done. Emily gave the fluffy, white piece of fabric to Josh who then immediately wrapped his son in it, lifting him out of the tub. The towel was way too big for him and made him look like a tiny baby wrapped in a huge blanket.

Coming to stand in front of her, he looked up through wet eyelashes. "Can you help me get dressed?"

"Sure," she replied and stood up. Danny lead the way to his room, wearing the towel as a cape, which made it drag across the floor.

"Where do you keep your pajamas?" Emily asked as she put him on his bed, wrapping the towel around him to keep him from getting cold. He pointed at the dresser placed across the room. She walked to the other side of the room and pulled out the top drawer, getting the right one on the first try. "What do you want to wear?"

"I want to wear Batman."

Emily began searching for the requested piece of clothing. It didn't take long for her to find the black T-shirt with a front-print of the superhero and the dark blue bottoms with tiny bats all over them.

She returned to Danny, who hadn't left his seat on the bed, carrying the pajamas and a pair of clean underwear. They boy abandoned his towel that had once again turned into a cape while she had her back turned to him, and when Emily had made sure he was dry, she helped him on with his clothes.

A few minutes later, they walked out of his room and met Josh back in the bathroom where he stood ready with his son's toothbrush.

"Daddy says I'm old enough to hold the brush now," Danny told her proudly as he spotted the brush.

"Really?"

"Uh huh," he said and nodded.

Having figured out that things went more smoothly if his son was able to see what he was doing, Josh placed the children's step stool in front of the sink. Per usual, Danny stepped onto the stool, gripping the edge of the sink to keep himself steady. Facing the mirror, he reached for the toothbrush his father held out for him.

He put the brush in his mouth, smearing some toothpaste onto his lower lip in the process. Josh then placed his hand over the boy's and guided him through the process.

It was then time for a bedtime story. Emily kissed Danny goodnight and decided to wait in the living room for Josh to finish reading. She took off her slightly heeled boots, folded her legs beneath her and made herself comfortable on the couch. As she began to relax further into the soft cushions, she felt her eyes drifting shut, the case and the rest of the afternoon having drained her of her energy.

She woke up feeling a light pressure on her upper arm and a soft voice coaxing her out of her slumber. "Wake up, Sleepyhead."

Emily groaned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Once she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into Josh's ocean blue. "Long day at work?" he asked her though her falling asleep on the couch was answer enough.

"Yeah," Emily replied groggily and began pulling herself up into a sitting position. "Sorry."

"No need to apologise."

Once Emily had made it into a seated position, Josh sat down next to her and held out his arm for her in an invitation to lean against him. She scooted closer and placed her head on his chest. When she had settled in, Josh began playing lazily with her hair, causing a smile to grace Emily's lips.

Neither said anything, but simply enjoyed each other's company and the piece of quiet. The longer they stayed that way, the more tired she became. The way Josh was running his hand through her hair, lightly massaging her scalp, did not make it easier for her to stay awake. When Emily felt herself drifting off to a state between awareness and unconsciousness, she realised it was time to go or she would definitely fall asleep behind the wheel while making her way home.

"I should get going before I fall asleep again," she mumbled as she reluctantly began untangling herself from Josh.

He stilled her movements by gently tightening his hold on her. "You could sleep here if you'd like," he murmured into her hair, placing a kiss there once he had finished talking.

Despite her effort, Emily could not stop herself from tensing slightly. She knew Josh was a great guy. During their time together, he had never pushed her, never went beyond the gentle touches and caring kisses, but regardless of that, she was afraid there would be expectations if she agreed. And she was not sure if she was ready to fulfill those expectations just yet, despite him being a great guy. The Dylan-incident remained fresh in her mind and the memory of his hands all over her prevented her from moving on to the next step with Josh. He must have sensed her hesitation though, and guessed what it was about, even though he didn't know the full story of what had transpired between her and her ex, because before she had the chance to decline, he was addressing her worries.

"I expect nothing else but the chance to hold you through the night, Emily. I promise."

She then felt him press a kiss to her temple and it was that small gesture of affection combined with the way he had addressed her fears without even knowing of them that led her to make up her mind. She would stay the night.