Chapter 38 – Mu

JJ quietly shut the door and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she was sure that there was no more sounds emanating from the bedroom, only then did she slowly walk down the stairs.

"Sleeping?"

"I don't know about that, but they are quiet and not throwing pillows at each other anymore."

Dave sniggered at the thought, he knew that having Jack and Henry sleeping in the same room would lead to a few shenanigans.

"So what did you threaten them with?"

JJ sighed as she sat back down, fed up of being a yo-yo, she just wanted to sit still for five minutes and relax.

"You."

Dave just raised an eyebrow as he poured a deep rich red wine into the two glasses, on another night he would have joked about it but after spending the afternoon and evening at the warehouse he knew that it would be the wrong move to make.

"Here you go cara."

Dave smiled as he passed the wine across to JJ who gratefully accepted it, taking a long sip before she curled up her legs and rested her head on Dave's shoulder.

"It's nice to be finally able to relax, at one point I thought that it was never going to end."

"You and me both cara, I hadn't predicted that he would go after the Ambassador, I don't think I could have forgiven myself..."

"Shh Dave."

JJ reached across and put her fingers on Dave's lips, she knew the guilt that he felt as she carried the same burden.

"Let's not talk about it anymore, if we carry on like this then neither of us are going to get any sleep, I know for one that I'm going to struggle enough."

"Ok but I bet that I can find a way of getting you to relax!"

Dave winked at JJ as he put his glass of wine down and bent across to kiss her gently on the lips.

"Hmmm but we'd better wait until we're sure the boys are definitely asleep before we think about anything like that!"

Dave pouted his lips so much that JJ couldn't stifle her laughter and gently prodded him in the ribs.

"Ok cara I'll wait!"

"Do you think they'll be alright?"

JJ sighed heavily as she nestled in closer to Dave who nodded his head.

"They just need some together, as do we."

"I just hope Tasha is ok, what she did in the warehouse..."

"Was to be expected really, she is definitely Emily's daughter, though she'll need some time."

"I'd like to check on her in the morning."

"Good idea cara, it'll allow Aaron and Emily to have some time together then, I can handle the boys."

"Thank you Dave."

JJ smiled as she crawled up slightly and kissed Dave tenderly on the lips.

"The boys?"

"I'm sure that they are asleep by now Dave!"

Tasha stood up and stretched her arms, she glanced at Hotch who was asleep in the chair next to her, the clock on the wall by the nurses' station told her that it was the middle of the night. Her tired legs had wandered over to the door and Tasha saw that her mom was still awake, quietly she opened the door and smiled at the tired looking figure.

"Hey."

Tasha's voice was a whisper as Emily smiled back at her daughter.

"Aaron's asleep outside, why don't you two go home and I'll stay her with grandmother?"

Tasha moved quietly towards the chair which Emily was occupying and gently rested her hand on her mom's shoulder.

"Are you sure?"

Emily lent her head against Tasha's hand, as much as she wanted to stay with her mother she was exhausted, she and Aaron needed some time together and she also knew that her daughter and her mother needed to talk to each other in the morning.

"I'll be fine mom."

Emily nodded as she slowly stood up, carefully extracting her hand from the Ambassador's and allowed Tasha to sit down and put her hand into her grandmother's.

"I'll be back in the morning."

Tasha nodded as she bent forward slightly but she still felt her mother's touch as Emily kissed her tenderly on the top of the head and then heard the door close as Emily went to find Hotch so they could go home, together.

Tasha wasn't sleeping deeply, the chair and the surroundings were part of the reason, the threat of the nightmares returning another, so she was sensitive to any movements that her grandmother made and her eyes shot open when she felt her fingers being gently squeezed.

"Grandmother?"

Tasha lent forward and smiled meekly at the older woman, whose face was still pale and gaunt, worry lines under her eyes seemed to have appeared over night.

"Natasha."

The word was slow and raspy, it was obvious that Elizabeth was struggling as Tasha stood up and moved closer, using her spare hand to bring a glass of water to her grandmother's mouth and helped her take a few sip.

"Thank you."

"It's ok, take it easy, do you want me to get the doctor?"

"No, Natasha please."

Elizabeth gestured for Tasha to sit down and sensing the emotion in her grandmother's voice Tasha obediently did.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did Natasha, I didn't deserve it."

"Of course you did, nobody deserves to suffer like that, and I meant what I said in there, I forgive you."

The tears were flowing freely from both of them as Tasha reached across and clasped her grandmother's hands tightly.

"I'm so sorry about your father."

"He wasn't my father."

"What I meant was I was sorry you had to find him."

Tasha closed her eyes and nodded her head, the only thing she shared with Chris Petersen was some of her DNA, but it still had been a shock to find him dead.

"You know then when you leave you're coming home with us?"

"Your mother did mention something, but I wouldn't want to impose, my house and staff are not far away."

Tasha couldn't hold the laughter back, no matter how hard she tried.

"Yes but we're your family grandmother, we want to look after you, plus you can help us pack as we're moving."

Elizabeth moved her head slightly, she tried to sit up but couldn't quite find the strength to do so.

"Moving?"

"Yes well hopefully, if Aaron and mom finally get some time to sort everything out!"

"Oh."

Elizabeth opened her eyes fully, she had no idea that her daughter was in a relationship and that she was finally happy.

"They are good together, he makes her happy."

"That is all a mother can wish for her child."

Tasha smiled and nodded her head, it finally felt as if things were returning to normal.

Emily opened the door to her condo and walked into the kitchen, throwing her keys onto the table as she listened to Aaron lock the front door before he joined her, wrapping his arm around her waist before leading her up the stairs towards the bedroom.

"I'm exhausted."

Emily managed a faint smile as she sat on the bed and pulled off her boots, throwing her jacket onto the floor before lying on the bed.

"Aren't you even going to get undressed?"

Aaron smiled as he stripped down to his boxer shorts.

"Too tired!"

"Hmm if I realised that you were that much of a slob I wouldn't have invited you to live with me."

Aaron's smile grew broader as he undone Emily's pants and pulled them off her body.

"So now that this is all over you still want to do this, for me and Tasha to move into your house?"

Emily shifted her body so that she was sat up slightly as Aaron crawled up the bed to be beside her.

"Of course, I know how hard this case has been on you and Tasha but it's over now and I just want to hold you, to protect you."

Aaron leant over and kissed Emily softly on her lips as she closed her eyes.

"But my mother, I told her that I would look after her."

"Don't worry, I understand, anyway we need to do some renovations first before you can move in. I'll have a word with Derek in the morning and see when he can get started."

"Thank you, I don't know how I could have got through this case without your support."

Emily smiled as she moved her head down onto Aaron's chest, closing her eyes as finally she managed to get some sleep.