Emily woke up to see her mother not in the bed beside her. She got up and padded out of the room. Elizabeth was looking out a window and drinking coffee. She spotted her daughter come in and turned to face her with a smile, "I've always loved Paris."
Emily poured herself coffee, "I know. I've missed it. Even though the last time I was here was not… a positive experience, growing up here was lovely." Emily sat with her mother and watched the city start to wake up. Emily turned when she heard the doorknob click to the girls' room. Lola walked out with a tired frown that looked a lot like JJ's. "Good morning. Did you get some sleep?"
"Not much. Eloise sleeps like a clock. The rolled around all night and somehow ended upside down on the bed." The teen grumbled. "Can I have coffee?"
"I guess. I think you might need it."
Lola took the first sip and groaned, "Ugh. That's so bitter! How do you drink that?"
Emily and Elizabeth laughed, "An acquired taste, I guess. There's no creamer or anything here. You may just have to fight through it."
"Okay. What are we going to do today?" Lola asked, choking down another gulp.
"After Ellie gets up, we'll go get something for breakfast. Then, you guys will go explore while I get the rental car. We'll probably meet up for lunch and see where the day takes us. I have my first meeting tomorrow." Emily answered.
Emily was sending a text to JJ when Ellie woke up. "Alright. Let's get dressed for the day. Lola it will be hot and humid here, dress lightly."
"Got it." The girl said before wandering off.
Emily dressed Eloise in a sundress and put her hair in two pigtail buns on the top of her head. It was the only thing Emily could do but having it up and off the girls back could help with the heat. Lola was wearing shorts that reached her mid-thigh and a halter-top tank. Emily wore shorts and a white blouse. Elizabeth wore a similar outfit with a blue blouse. Emily stopped as she looked over her mother.
"What?" Liz asked, sensing the scrutiny.
"I've just… never seen you so casual." Emily replied.
Elizabeth laughed. "Let's just get going, shall we?"
Emily got Ellie into her stroller as the group made their way out.
At the café, Emily ordered for Ellie and Lola in French.
The waitress watched the interaction, noting the younger girls' English. "Americans?" She asked. Emily laughed lightly and nodded. "Well, your French is perfect." The woman remarked.
"Thank you, I grew up around the world, French was actually one of my first languages." Emily smiled.
"Ah. A woman of many talents. My kind of woman." The woman said, switching back to her native language.
Elizabeth nearly spit her water out, before narrowing her eyes at the waitress. Emily simply laughed and brushed the comment off.
Lola watched the interaction. She didn't even need to speak French to guess what the waitress had said. "What did she say?"
"She was flirting with your mother, dear. Apparently, even as a married adult woman, the entire country of France still wants to marry Emily." Elizabeth answered.
"Still?" Lola clarified. "Oh, I need to hear this story."
"It isn't one story." Liz laughed, "It is too many to count. Emily is very beautiful; she could find someone to date in any country. But, for some reason, every time we were in France, she was flirted with anywhere we went. There was always someone trying to court her every time she'd leave the Embassy housing." She finished.
"Mom, it was not that bad!" Emily whined.
"I beg to differ. I watched your father have at least three boys escorted off the property in one night. You were a hot commodity."
Lola laughed, "Boys?"
Emily rolled her eyes, "A few boys didn't have gaydar." The group laughed until breakfast was served. Emily paid as they finished. Once outside, Emily checked her watch. "Okay, I have to go. I'll meet up with you guys. Mom I'll call when I'm done. Take good care of them please?"
"Of course. See you soon." Elizabeth grabbed the stroller from Emily. When her daughter disappeared down the block. "Alright ladies, what should we do first?"
"Well, I want to get some pictures. I promised JJ I would document everything for her. Maybe we can find some scenic stuff?" Lola suggested.
"Or, we can go shopping? I know a spot free from the tourist areas." Liz countered.
"Oooh, yeah let's do that!" The teen answered in excitement.
Liz lead the way through the crowded streets to a large courtyard. It had an elegant fountain spraying in the middle. Lola pulled out her camera and snapped a few shots of the courtyard. Liz led them to a couture shop. At the chime of the shop bell, the owner looked up. Her eye widened before a smile broke onto her face.
"Liz? My god how long has it been?" She asked before greeting her old friend.
"Marie, dear it has been too long. The shop is looking great!" Liz answered with a smile.
"That is all thanks to you. Who are these lovely girls?"
"These are my granddaughters Lola," Elizabeth pointed to the teen who smiled before leaning down to tickle Ellie, "and this little doll is Eloise."
"Ah, Emily had children? How lovely!" The woman turned, "Come, come. I will give you the VIP treatment!"
Liz laughed lightly but followed. Lola looked to her grandmother. "How do you know her Grams?"
Marie interjected, "Oh, Liz saved my shop a few years back. She always came here for her Gala Gowns. When she heard I was struggling to keep the shop afloat, she wouldn't allow anyone in who did get their outfit from me. It was part of her campaign for local businesses that were being pushed out by big companies. She is quite remarkable. I made a fortune that month." She told the ladies in perfect English.
"Wow! Grams, that's wonderful!" Lola was in awe.
"I have many stories. Many Emily was not around to see. Why don't we start with you? Tell Marie what you like aesthetically, and she will design an outfit, and tailor it to you before we leave." Elizabeth gloated.
"Yes! Come Lola. You are first." Marie gestured to the platform in front of a large mirror. "Tell me about your style and we'll begin."
"Okay," The teen answered as she stepped on the platform. "I like to play with lots of colors and different patterns. I like really light clothing; I don't like feeling stuffy. But I also want something true to French culture, so I have a fun story to tell my friends."
"That sounds wonderful! I will be right back." She stopped before she was gone, "What is your shoe size?"
"American women's seven."
"I will wow you. Stay put." She disappeared through a curtain.
"She is… quirky." Lola said to her grandmother.
"Yes. She is, but she is also a dear friend so I couldn't hate it if I tried." Elizabeth said as she sat in a nice chair across the room.
"Grandma Liz!" Ellie said quickly getting her attention.
Elizabeth leant closer to the stroller, "What is it, dear?"
Ellie looked down and whispered, "I have to go potty. Real bad."
"Oh. Oh my. Okay. Come here." Liz answered as she picked the girl from her stroller. Elizabeth was walking quickly to the nearest restroom. Liz barely got her to the bathroom before the toddler wet herself. Thankfully the avoided an accident.
Elizabeth was walking Ellie back to the group. "Eloise, you need to tell me sooner when you first think you have to use the bathroom. Do you understand?" Liz scolded.
"Yes, Grandma. I'm sorry. I didn't want to int'rupt." The toddler tried to say 'interrupt' the best she could.
"I know, but just tell me sooner."
"Okay."
Elizabeth sat back down with Ellie when Lola spoke up. "Usually Emily just profiles her. When she first needs to go, before she ever asks, she bunches up the clothes in front of her hips. It's like a tell." Lola informed.
"Thanks for letting me know." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "It's Eloise's responsibility to tell me when she has to go, not my responsibility to just know. You couldn't have told me her tell sooner?"
Lola shrugged and giggled, "I wasn't paying attention."
"Grandma?" Ellie asked. "Can I play on my tablet?"
"Of course. Your momma said you need to practice your numbers, so you have to do that first." Elizabeth said as she pulled the tablet out of the bag tucked in the stroller.
"Okay, will you help? I'm not good at the numbers."
Elizabeth helped Eloise as Marie came back. "Okay, Lola. I have this fun and flowy floral skirt. I paired it with this rich green blouse. The final touch are these shoes. They're cream lace flats with ribbons that you strap up like ballet slippers. Go try on in that room and come back out. I will adjust anything."
"A lovely choice as always, Marie." Elizabeth noted.
When Marie was finished tailoring, she wrapped the outfit in a beautiful package. She handed it to Lola and walked the group back out to the front.
"It was a pleasure to see you again, Liz. It was even better to meet your lovely family." Marie said as they group set off.
"Thank you for your help, it was absolutely wonderful seeing you again. I'm very pleased to see the shop doing so well still." Elizabeth thanked Marie before the group embarked on the rest of their day.
Emily joined the group for lunch, and they spent the rest of the day exploring. As they were heading back from their late dinner, it was getting dark, and the city was getting ready for bed. The Prentiss' were dead tired as they walked. Emily was talking about something with her mother when Lola stopped suddenly in front of her.
Emily was about to ask her what caused her to stop, but she saw the look of horror as the teen looked down a dark street. Emily followed her gaze and her former training kicked in.
"Mom, take the girl back a few blocks." Emily said, forcing Lola to move.
"Emily what's-" Elizabeth was interrupted.
"Mother! Now! Get them out of here now!" Emily snipped. Elizabeth nodded turning the stroller around and forcing Lola to walk with her. Emily called behind them, "Call emergency services. Say we need police at this location. If they ask what's going say you witnessed an assault." Emily took off down the dark street.
She could hear the three men surrounding the young woman speaking American English. 'tourists' she thought to herself.
They were surrounding the girl. She tried to fight her way out, but she was no match for three perverted men.
"I think she wants it, huh boys?" One disgusting man said while the other two grabbed and secured the young woman.
She screamed, "Hey! Let go of me!" The girl cried in French.
"Sorry darling," Another of the vile men answered, "We don't speak French."
So far, Emily hadn't been noticed by any of them, and she fully planned to use that to her advantage. She first took out the man not holding the girl. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back and swept the man's feet out from under him. As he fell, Emily felt his arm snap in her hand and heard his scream of agony.
This happened so fast that the others in his group didn't even have time to process what was happening. The looked at her dumbly, still holding the crying woman. She grabbed one of each of their hands and forcefully pulled them away from her. She performed the same move on each of them at the same time. With her doing two at once, it was less affective, so their arms were still intact. All the men looked at her with mixed expressions of fear, and seething rage.
"I'm FBI and you assholes just royally fucked yourselves. So, I guess you did get fucked tonight after all." Emily spit at them. "Do not move or I swear to god I'll break your legs like I broke your buddy's arm." She turned to the woman, "Are you okay?" she asked softly in French.
"They were going to rape me!" She cried.
Emily stepped towards her and the girl fell into her arms, clinging on for dear life. "Shhh. I know. The police are on their way." She turned them so the girl didn't have to look at her assailants and so Emily could keep an eye on them. She was surprised they were all still sitting on the ground, they must have taken her threat seriously. "What's your name?" Emily asked the girl softly.
"Léa." The girl answered softly.
Emily could hear the siren of the police. "Hi, Léa. I'm Emily. The police are coming right now. We'll get it sorted out." She held the girl until they police got there.
"Miss? What happened here?" One officer asked Emily.
"I witnessed these three men assaulting this woman. I am a former American FBI agent, so I used my training to take these men down." Emily answered.
The officer turned his attention to the young woman still holding on to Emily. "Miss? Can you tell me what happened?"
"They tried to rape me. Emily came and got them off me. She saved me." Léa explained.
Emily stood and told the police in detail how everything went down and gave them her contact information as well as the personal line to Hotch if there were any issues. The police let her go as they loaded the men up in the car and had another called to escort the girl to the station.
Emily made her way back to her family. Lola was staring off into space, so Emily ran a gentle hand down the teens arm. Lola's eye shot up as she found Emily's. She immediately fell into Emily's arms as the sobs overtook her.
"Emily." Elizabeth warned in a language Lola didn't speak, "What happened?"
Emily continued to soothe Lola, "Three men tried to rape a young woman. Lola saw it first which is why we stopped. I had to help her. Mom, I had to." Emily finished as her voice broke.
"Let's go get some sleep, yeah?" Elizabeth offered.
The group walked back to their flat, Emily holding Lola the whole way home. Emily helped Ellie get ready for bed. "Mom, why don't you and Ellie share our room tonight?"
"That sounds fine dear." She offered her hand to her granddaughter, "A girls' sleepover is always fun. Right, Eloise?"
"Yeah!"
As they walked into the room, Emily knocked lightly on the door to the other room. "Come in." Lola answered quietly. Emily walked in and crawled into bed with her daughter. "Where's Ellie?" She asked, turned away from Emily.
"She'll sleep with my mother tonight. I thought you could use me more." Emily said softly.
"You're right." Lola hiccupped as a sob escaped. "I could use you more." Lola turned into Emily's waiting arms and let herself breakdown.
Emily stroked her daughter's hair, "Shhh, honey. It's okay. I'm right here." Emily cooed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Lola shook her head into Emily's shoulder. "Okay. That's okay. I'm right here if you need it. I'll be here all night." Emily moved and Lola held on tighter, "I'm just going to turn the light off. I'll be right back."
Emily shot Jennifer a text 'Call me if you can. I think Lola needs you.'
Lola could talk more about her PTSD with JJ. Emily suspected that it was because Jen already knew every gory detail, so Lola could talk about her feelings without describing the trauma. Whatever it was, Emily was just glad she talked to someone. Emily of all people knew how much keeping it in could kill someone's soul.
Emily had just crawled back into bed when her phone began to ring.
"Hey, baby. I'm here with her. Let me put you on speaker."
Once Emily had the phone on speaker, Lola made her presence known, "Hey mom." She said, her voice sounding so sad, so broken.
"Hey baby. Want to tell me what happened?" JJ asked softly.
Emily noticed Lola hesitate, "I can go if you want to talk to her alone." Emily suggested.
"No!" She almost shouted, she took a deep breath and spoke calmly, "No. Don't, don't leave me alone right now." She whimpered.
Emily settled back in with bed with her daughter and placed the phone on the pillow besides them.
"We were walking home," Lola started, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice. "I was in the front. I heard a loud noise down a street and looked towards it. This woman she was fighting with three guys. I just- froze. I couldn't look away, even with Emily running into me, even with her dragging me away. I just didn't feel like I was there anymore. I was reliving my own shit."
Emily raised her eyebrows at curse. She'd never heard the teen swear before, but she also knew now wasn't the time to talk about it.
Lola continued, "I didn't know what to do. Thankfully Emily made Liz take me and Ellie away and call the police before she went after them."
Lola was cut off by JJ, "She did what?"
"She went and fought them off the girl." Lola said nonchalantly while Emily whispered 'oh shit' to herself.
"Emily, take me off speaker." JJ demanded.
Emily did just that and put the phone to her ear. "Yes, darling, my sweet wife, the love of my life?" She tried kissing up to avoid their usual 'be safer' argument.
"Cut the shit. You went and fought off three probable rapists by yourself, at night, in the dark, and you expect me not to be upset?" She asked exasperated.
"Baby, I had to. That girl was defenseless. She was trapped. I couldn't let that happen. Come on, Jen, you have to understand why I did. My training just kicked in. I had to protect her." Emily reasoned.
JJ groaned, "Fuck, I hate it when you do the noble thing and I look like the asshole."
"You don't look like the asshole. You were worried. It's okay, I didn't even break a nail." Emily joked.
JJ laughed, "Okay. Put me on speaker again." Emily did, "Okay, Lola. What's going through your head right now?"
"I'm still scared. I still feel like I did when my stepdad would come into my room at night. I feel like I did when I knew what was coming and wished I could die instead of deal with him over me again." Lola choked on a sob as it escaped her lips.
Emily ran a hand down Lola's arm, soothing her and pushing her own nausea away. JJ spoke through the phone again, "What does Dr. Harper say to do when you feel triggered like this?" JJ asked, referencing Lola's therapist.
"She told me to focus on some grounding techniques to clear my head so I can think about the situation more rationally." The teen answered.
"Okay, do you want to do 5-4-3-2-1 with me? That way you can tell me what Paris is like."
"Okay." Lola answered and took a deep breath before laying back into the pillows.
"Okay, give me five things you can see." JJ started.
"The city lights. The clouds rolling in. The Eiffel Tower, just the very tip of it. I can see a cat on a window seal to another building. And our bags piled in the corner of the room." Emily could feel some of the tension from the girl melt away.
"Good. It sounds beautiful. Four things you can hear."
Lola closed her eyes. "I can hear cars moving through the city. I can hear people laughing. I can hear music from the shop down a few buildings. I can hear Emily breathing."
"Emily does breathe pretty loud doesn't she?" JJ joked.
"Hey!" Emily called.
"Okay, three things you can smell." JJ moved on.
"I can smell rain. Emily's perfume, and the sheets smell like detergent."
"Great. At least you know they're clean." JJ said, earning a chuckle from the teen. "two things you can feel." She continued.
"Emily's really warm, and the sheets feel starchy."
"Seems about right." JJ chuckled. JJ loved how Emily was her own personal furnace at night, but when it was already warm, she suffocated from the heat. "Okay, one thing you can taste."
"The cherry popsicle I had before bed. I can still taste it." Lola finished.
"Good job, sweety. How do you feel now?" JJ asked softly.
"Better. I feel more present."
"Good, now try to get some sleep. Do you remember the rule?" The blonde asked.
"Wake up you, well Emily, if I need you in the night." Lola answered studiously.
"Good job. Now you ladies get some rest. I love you both." JJ ordered.
"I love you too."
"Love you baby."
Emily hung up and they settled in for bed. Emily held Lola as they slept, thankfully, they both got a good nights sleep.