A/N: Hello, this is Amanda again, I hope you enjoy JJ's next installment of her story, she's in Paris until Sunday and this is the last chapter she left me so you probably won't hear more from her until Monday at the earliest. She wanted me to know that there are only two more chapters after this one but she IS working on some other stories. She thanks you for all your kind words and she is looking forward to reading your reviews when she gets home! Oh and she also wanted me to say that everything that happened with Doyle happened pretty much the way it did in the show, this is after it is all over. And if you have questions please message her. She hopes you all like the chapter!

Chapter 26: Difference Is Time (Conor Oberst)

Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. ~ Tryon Edwards

September 2012

The team arrived back in the BAU that night, everything was finally over, Ian Doyle was actually dead and Emily was really alive. For the first time in seven months the world felt like it was spinning on its axis again.

Everyone was being debriefed and starting to fill out their paperwork, but Emily, who had been back for over twenty-four hours, just wanted to go home and see her daughter. They hadn't told Ella that Emily was back in fear of something going wrong with their plan to finally get rid of Doyle.

Emily stood in the bullpen, everyone around her was moving but she felt frozen to the spot. It was so strange to finally have this all behind her, she could live her life without being afraid of Ian Doyle. She looked up at Hotch's office, he was there discussing their course of action with Strauss.

She didn't know what she was going to say to Ella when she saw her, would she be upset? Would she be scared? Would she hate her for putting her through so much? Or would Emily just get lucky for once and have her daughter just be happy to have her back? She was getting anxious, now that this was all over the only thing she wanted to do was get to Ella.

She then heard the unmistakable sound of Ella's voice; she whipped her head around and saw her. There was Ella, her tiny hand grasping JJ's as they walked toward Emily.

Emily felt the tears start to fall from her eyes; she couldn't believe she was actually seeing her daughter again.

JJ was hunched over so that she was at Ella's height, her mouth to Ella's ear, she was probably explaining what was happening to her, that was when Ella caught sight of Emily.

Her face lit up and she dropped JJ hand and bolted toward Emily, "MOMMY!" She practically screamed as she jumped into Emily's arms.

Emily clutched Ella tightly in her arms, never wanting to let the little girl go again.

"Oh baby, I've missed you so much." Emily said through her tears.

"Mommy, please don't ever leave me again." Ella said, sobbing as well.

Emily and Ella just held on to each other as if they were trying to make sure the other was really there.

Emily pulled back to look at Ella, she had definitely grown, she was a few inches taller and definitely heavier, her long brown hair was even longer than it had been, and she was starting to grow into her features. She was four now, Emily couldn't believe it, her little girl was four years old already. As she looked at Ella and realized how she had missed seven months of her daughter's life, she promised herself that she would never again leave her no matter what the consequences.

JJ sat on a desk across the bullpen, watching the entire encounter between Emily and Ella with a big smile on her face.

She was so engrossed in the sweet scene between Emily and Ella that it took her a moment to realize that Hotch was standing next to her.

"Hey." She said, turning to him, brushing away some of the tears from her eyes.

Hotch smiled in response and took a seat on the desk next to her. His face broke into a huge smile as he watched Emily and Ella talk to each other.

JJ turned back to watch Emily and Ella's reunion, she smiled as she watched their interactions.

"I never thought we would get to this point, I never thought we'd get her back." JJ said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Me either." Hotch said, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him.

"Getting her back really makes you think, doesn't it? I mean, we're getting a second chance, how often does that happen?" JJ looked over at Hotch, still unable to stop the tears from falling from her eyes.

Hotch looked over a JJ for a moment, silently reading her eyes and then turning back toward Emily and Ella.

JJ knew he was thinking about what was in store for their future. "Hotch, you get a second chance. This thing you two have, whether you want to admit it or not, it's real. You two have child together, are you really just going to let things go back to the way they were? Hotch, you two get to start over and the best part is you can do it together. Everything is on the table, what do you have to hid? This is your chance, you both deserve to be happy." JJ said, looking at Hotch.

Hotch took a deep breath and turned back around to look JJ in the eyes, "I know, I've been thinking about this non stop since we decided that she should come home, I just, I don't even know where to start. We've missed so much together, how are we supposed to just put everything that's happened behind us?" Hotch asked her, clearly distraught.

"Hotch, you start by telling her you love her. It's as simple as that, you love her. What else is there to say? Sometimes I think we see so much violence and pain and suffering that we forget that people do heal, we can put things behind us and we can move on, especially when we have someone to love and share that pain with. You love her, don't deny yourself that healing, and Hotch, she loves you too." JJ said, staring him down as if she was looking right into his soul.

Hotch finally made eye contact with her, "How do you know?" He asked, for the first time JJ sensed fear in his voice.

JJ stifled a laugh, "Hotch, she left Ella with you. She loves that little girl more than anything and you know Emily, she didn't leave Ella with you just because you are her father. She trusted you with what was most precious to her because she knows who you are, she knows what a wonderful and loving person you are. If she didn't love you then she wouldn't have trusted you enough to leave Ella with you, she wouldn't have risked the possibility of hurting Ella by telling you both the truth if she didn't have total faith in you. Hotch, Emily spent her life feeling like she was unable to trust the people closest to her, Ella means more to her than absolutely anything in the world, there literally isn't anything she wouldn't do for her. Emily trusts you with the most important thing in her life, not because you're her father, but because she loves you."

Hotch sat there, staring off into space and thinking about JJ's words, a half-smile on his face.

"I guess, you're also wondering how I know you love her." JJ said, smiling sheepishly. "I've known you for over eight years, I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at Emily." JJ said, patting him on the leg as she got up to walk away. "Go tell her how you feel, Hotch. We have so little time when it comes down to it, our lives pass by so quickly so don't waste any more time. You won't regret saying it, but you will regret it if you don't. " She said, smiling at him as she stood up and started to walk away.

Hotch thought for a moment and then turned around, "JJ," he said, as the blonde agent turned around to look at him again, "Thank you."

JJ smiled and responded, "Be happy, Hotch. You deserve it."

What children take from us, they give, we become people who feel more deeply, question more deeply, and love more deeply. ~ Sonia Taitz

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