"For this child, I prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart." – 1 Samuel 1:27
Emily should've been an actress. She could be a social chameleon, changing her personality when she needed to. It was easy for her to change from pining temptress to hard cop to serious boss. Usually at least. But today she found herself pacing around attempting to calm herself. "We have now less than 24- hours because you decided to hold that information from us." She told the parents of Chase Reamers, the missing child. She was ready to unleash another torrid of comments when she felt a soft touch at her elbow. Matt.
"Emily, go take a break." He said, his voice soft and gentle.
Her hands were fisted at her side and she looked up at Matt who just nodded. Releasing the breath she didn't even realise she was holding, Emily turned and walked out of the precinct. They were just outside of Missoula Montana and the air was crisp and clean. Sitting down on the bench, she leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she stared out into the mountains. After a few minutes she heard footsteps and felt someone sit beside her.
"Derek told you, didn't he?"
Matt leaned back on the bench and nodded. "Yeah, he did. But only because he's worried about you and he wanted me to keep an eye out for you." He said quietly.
Grunting softly, Emily kept her eyes on the mountains in front of her. "Does it get easier?"
Laughing softly, Matt nodded. "I assume so. Right now your body is flooded with every hormone possible. And this is your first case with a child."
Emily sat up and raked her fingers through her hair and stayed silent. After a few moments she sighed. "I just didn't think it would be this hard or that I would react like this." She gave her subordinate a tight lipped smile. "Is it that obvious that I'm pregnant?"
"No. Well, besides the pregnancy glow."
She shot him a glare that he deflected with a nonchalant shrug and a smile. "Four kids, three pregnancies, remember?"
"So the pregnancy glow is real?"
"For some women more than others. But I have to say, you are glowing Emily." Getting to his feet, Matt extended a helping hand. He sized her up before taking a leap of faith and wrapping her into his arms in a gentle hug. "If you or Derek need anything, please call me and Kristy, okay?"
Taken aback momentarily, Emily gently returned the hug. He tightened it gently and held her for a few moments before pulling away. Wiping her eyes, Emily gave him a watery smile. "Damn you for making me cry."
Matt laughed softly and gave a shy shrug. "Sorry. You okay, though?"
Nodding, Emily wiped her face with her hands carefully. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just going to take a few more minutes before I head back inside."
"Sure thing." He jogged inside, but tossed a look over his shoulder. Emily stood, legs shoulder width apart, her hands lax beside her and her head facing the sky, eyes closed. With the backdrop of the mountains and the sun washing over her, she was radiant. Matt smiled and headed inside shutting the door behind him.
"Is Emily okay?"
Matt looked over at Reid and smiled. "Yeah, she needed a few minutes to compose herself."
The younger man frowned and ran his fingers through his mop of hair. "We have dealt with many cases to do with children and this is the first time Emily has reacted like this. I wonder what the change is?" He mused.
Shrugging, Matt sat down and looked at the geographical profile, refusing to speak. Reid stared at him for a few seconds before returning his shrug and examining the board in front of him.
A few hours later they all strapped on their kevlar vests, Emily biting back a groan as it weighed heavily on her chest. She felt three pairs of eyes on her and she gave a curt headshake. She needed to be there. Climbing into the SUV with Rossi at the wheel, Emily held onto the handle as they ripped out of the parking heading towards an abandoned cabin. Matt and Tara went through the front, Luke, Reid, and Rossi covered the immense stretch of land that was the backyard, while JJ and Emily headed around the building to the backdoor.
"Don't do anything stupid." JJ mumbled under her breath as they reached the door.
Emily glared at her before listening for Matt's voice and the telltale sign of the door being kicked down. She did the same, both of them their guns drawn as they entered the building.
"Prentiss, JJ, he's coming your way." Tara's voice crackled in their earpieces and Emily sprung into action before JJ could stop her. The unsub tore around the corner and Emily dropped her center of gravity and lunged at him, the two of them falling to the floor with a loud thud. With her knee in his back, Emily wrestled his arms around and was able to clip the handcuffs on.
"Go...help Lewis and Simmons with...the kids." She spit out, trying to distract herself from the pain. The unsub wriggled under her and Emily stayed on him until Luke, Rossi, and Spencer came through the back door. Rossi stared at her before nodding to Luke to handle the unsub.
"Really?" He questioned, his hands on his hips.
Emily stood up, her legs shaky and bolted for the door. Her whole body hurt, the adrenaline flowing through it did nothing to heal the pain. The pain mixed with the hormones created the unmistakable feeling of nausea and she lurched forward emptying the contents of her stomach on the grass. She felt a gentle arm around her that she knew to be JJ and the other woman's hand was rubbing small circles on her back. "It's okay." She whispered softly until Emily had finished throwing up.
Dave came with a bottle of water and passed it to Emily before stalking off in silence. JJ stayed with Emily and gave her a withering look. "That was stupid."
The older of the two women stayed silent as she took a tentative sip of the water and swished it around in her mouth before spitting it on the grass.
"Derek is going to kill you."
Shooting a glare JJ's way, Emily shrugged off her vest, tears in her eyes. "Stop, JJ." She ordered, her voice having the strength she didn't.
JJ sighed and helped Emily to a fully standing position. "Are you hurt?"
"My breasts feel like they're about to explode." Emily mumbled as she wiped her hands on her jeans.
After a few long seconds of silence, JJ wrapped her arm around her friend's waist and they walked towards the SUVs. "You're a dumbass, you know that?"
Emily laughed gingerly and nodded. "Yeah, I do." JJ helped Emily into the back of the SUV and climbed in, unsurprised to find Rossi at the wheel. Matt climbed in the passenger's side and looked at the other two agents and the three exchanged a silent conversation before looking back at Emily.
"No more takedowns." Rossi said stiffly. "Your hubby doesn't work for us anymore, so let one of the other assclowns do it."
"Assclown?" Matt mumbled before looking at Emily over the back of his seat. "Regardless of who's an assclown and who's not, you're gonna have to be more careful. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but you have to worry about more than just you, Prentiss."
Emily looked at JJ and raised her eyebrows. "And what about you, Jayje? These two have said their piece."
Gently JJ placed her hands on Emily's almost flat abdomen and stayed silent for a few long moments before looking up. "Just be careful, okay? You have a lot to be worried about now, it's not just you."
The silence enveloped them, JJ's hand still on Emily's abdomen as they drove to the airstrip. Finally in the plane, JJ quietly went and got Emily an ice pack from the freezer and she sat back down beside her best friend.
"This should help." She said softly.
Emily gave her a pained smile and pressed the ice pack to her breast, wincing slightly. She was glad that JJ, Rossi, and Matt all chose to sit around her, shielding her from prying eyes.
"It's okay, Mama. You can sleep." JJ draped a blanket over Emily and gave her a smile. "We'll keep watch."
Nodding, Emily closed her eyes and tried to relax against the seat. The three other agents exchanged glances. It was going to be harder than they expected to keep one Emily Prentiss in control.
She slept restlessly before waking at landing. Emily rubbed her eyes and gave the other three a tight smile.
"Can you drive home, Emily?" Matt asked politely as the jet touched down on the tarmac. Emily gave the man a tight lipped smile and shook her head.
"I'll be fine, but thanks, Matt." She waited for the plane to clear and she grabbed her bag and climbed into her car. She drove back home, her head throbbing and her chest aching. Derek was up when she got in, a gentle look on his face.
"Matt called you?" She whispered, dropping her go bag in the entrance.
"Rossi." He replied gently wrapping his arms around her. "I have a bath drawn." Derek was trying to keep his emotions under control knowing that it would set Emily off further.
Emily nodded silently and inhaled deeply, just trying to keep herself emotionally stable, her hands fisting in his shirt. "Will you come with me?"
His hand raked through her hair, Derek nodded, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. "Of course, Princess." He let her hold onto him, a drowning woman to a lifepreserver, before they headed up to the washroom. He helped Emily strip off her clothes and he tossed them in the laundry hamper before doing the same with his own. Climbing in first, Derek held his arms out for Emily to climb in. Her baby bump was obvious, still small but he couldn't take his eyes off of it. Lowering herself into his waiting arms, Derek wrapped his arms around her midsection and just held her.
"You okay? Like...not in a stupid amount of pain?"
"Define stupid amount of pain." Emily retorted, sadness in her voice. "My chest hurts."
"Usually happens when you try to football tackle an unsub." He replied, his fingers softly massaging her hair.
"You tackle unsubs all the time. So do Alvez and Simmons."
"We don't have breasts." He answered. "And aren't pregnant. With twins."
He knew she was on the verge of crying when her breath caught with a hitch. "Hey hey, I'm just happy you're alright."
Emily sniffled and shook her head. "But...what if that was our baby, Derek? What if it was our little boy or girl that was abducted? Went missing? What was I supposed to do?"
Sighing, Derek pressed a few soft kisses to Emily's shoulder. "That will never happen, Em. Ever. Our babies will be safe because we're going to love them forever. They will have so many strong role models to watch over them."
Tears ran down her cheeks and Derek softly held her in the warm water, his hands massaging her lightly. "You're going to be the best mother, Emily. Our babies will have the best life. We're going to give them the best life."
Emily nodded softly, gasping slightly as Derek's hands landed on her still sore breasts.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." Interlacing their fingers, she pulled them down to her abdomen as the hot water swirled around them. Once it started to turn tepid, they climbed out, Derek wrapping her in the fluffiest towel they had and carried her to their room. He dried her gently and helped her into her pair of fluffy unicorn pyjamas pants. She wore them when she wasn't feeling well and he knew this was one of those times. Grabbing a shirt from his dresser, he gently pulled it over her.
"Is this okay?"
Nodding, Emily cuddled into their mattress and pulled the heavy duvet over herself. "It's perfect. Come into bed with me." She requested softly.
He tugged on a clean pair of boxer briefs and climbed into bed with his wife. "Can you promise me you'll try to be careful out there? Because if everyone is looking out for you because they're scared of what you're going to do, they're going to fuck up and someone will die, Emily." He whispered. "You're the BAU unit chief, they're always going to look out for you. But you have to start looking out for yourself."
"I know. I promise you I'll try." She whispered, cuddling into his arms.
"That's all I ask for." Derek pressed a few soft kisses on her head. "Now sleep, Princess. You're growing two other lives in there. It's a lot of work."
Emily nodded and gave a soft smile. "It is."
"I love you, Princess."
"I love you too, Derek." Emily whispered, just happy that they made it through another day without a fight or injury or worse.