Chapter 144
AN: I really hope you like this chapter. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS CHAPTER.
A while after she talked to Penelope Emily has once again checked on all the kids, and checked to make sure the house is secure, and is finally heading to bed. However, as she lays in bed Emily can't help but stare at Penelope's side of bed; and miss her wife.
After lying in bed for a while, thinking about Penelope, Emily gets up and walks over to Casey, checking to make sure she is okay. As she watches Casey sleep Emily hears the to the bedroom open, and so she quickly turns around and due to the light being on she sees Connor; who must have climbed out of his cot; which is something they might have to change to prevent.
"Connor? What's wrong sweetheart?" Emily asks concerned, walking over to him.
"I had a bad dream," Connor reveals, and Emily picks him up.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetheart," Emily says, hugging him. "Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asks, and Connor shakes his head. "Do you want to sleep in here tonight?" Emily asks, and Connor nods. "Okay," Emily Says, taking Connor over to the bed, and placing Connor on the bed, tucking him in, and making sure he is secure. "You're okay, I'm right here," Emily promises, kissing his head.
After a night where she didn't get much sleep because she kept checking her phone for messages from Penelope, and checking on the kids, Emily, who is fully ready for the day, is in the kitchen with Connor and Casey.
"Here you are bud, yummy breakfast," Emily says, putting food Infront of Connor who is in his highchair. Once Connor starts to eat Emily starts to feed Casey her bottle. "Yummy?" Emily asks Connor, who has started to eat.
"Yummy," Connor confirms, and as he does Emily's phone starts to ring. Very much wishing she had another hand Emily sees that it is Penelope and so she puts the phone the phone on speaker.
"Hey, you're on speaker with me, Conor and Casey," Emily tells her wife.
"Oh hey, hey Connor, hey Casey," Penelope says, joy in her voice.
"Penelope!" Connor says.
"Yeah Bud, Penelope," Emily tells him. "Pen, are you okay? It's really early in San Fran," Emily says, sounding concerned.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," Penelope admits, not wanting to worry Emily by telling her about the flowers and phone call.
"Yeah, I didn't sleep well either," Emily admits. "How's Joy, Kai and Shawn?" Emily asks.
"Good," Penelope answers. "How our incredible kids doing?"
"Okay. Connor had a nightmare last night, and he ended up sleeping in our bed," Emily explains.
"Oh no, is he okay?" Penelope asks worried, wishing she was there.
"What do you say, Connor? You okay?" Emily asks.
"Yes!" Connor says, and as he does Emily notices the time. "Hey Pen, I've got to go. I've got to get Noah, Kenz and Mads up," Emily tells her wife.
"Oh yeah, you do," Penelope says, realizing the time difference. "I love you," Penelope says.
"Love you too," Emily says, before hanging up, and once she hangs up she takes Casey over to the bassinet, where she puts her down. "Connor, I'll be right back Bud," Emily says, before heading upstairs, moving quickly so that she doesn't leave Connor and Casey alone for long.
A while later Emily have gotten all the kids up, made them breakfast which they have eaten, made their lunch, and gotten them off to school; all on time. After getting the kids to school and day care Emily has headed into the BAU and because of everything she had to do she is arriving at work just as the team are giving the profile, that she knows about.
"The unsub we're looking for is hoping to inflict as much fear and damage as possible in Arlington's business community," Rossi says and as he does Emily walks up and stands next to him.
"These victims and their businesses symbolize wealth, success, growth, and development…" Emily explains. "All things he may feel are out of his reach," Emily says, actually feeling flustered but knowing she did not give that away.
"He derives pleasure in knowing that his victims are experiencing a cruel and painful death and that his crimes may cause widespread panic," Tara explains.
"We call this ripple effect terrorism, and examples of it would be the Tylenol tampering case in the eighties or the Anthrax-laced letters post 9/11," Luke explains.
"Those who poison tend to be non-confrontational, bottling up inside what they deem to be injustices. They use these imagined sights as justification to harm their victims," JJ explains.
"Lacking empathy with an exaggerated sense of entitlement, a poisoner cares only about their own wants or needs, which would explain the indifferent and heartless nature of these crimes," Matt says.
"Poisoners believe their calculated plans, their cleverness allow them to kill and walk away. So far he's been able to do that," Rossi says.
"The unsub uses food as a method to mask the rat poisoning. He might be comfortable doing this because he works in the food industry," Luke explains.
"There's no indication he'll stop, and his next target could be even larger. A food festival, a supermarket, a school cafeteria," Tara explains.
"We will be issuing a release to the media urging all eateries and bars to closely monitor their food. Customers will be reminded not to leave their food or drinks unattended or consumed anything they're unsure about," JJ says.
"And the antidote to rat poison is phytonadione, but it needs to be administered immediately by medical personnel," Tara explains.
"As a precautionary measure, all area hospitals, clinics, and EMTs should make sure to have ample supplies on hand," Emily instructs. "Thank you all," Emily says, and the group dispenses.
"How'd it go this morning?" Rossi asks Emily curious.
"It's was chaotic, a lot of rushing around, but I got everyone fed, and dressed, and to school with everything they needed," Emily explains.
"Sounds like a success to me," Rossi comments, and Emily laughs.
"Yeah," Emily says. "Catch me up on what I've missed here?" Emily requests, as she only go the highlights.
"Of course," Rossi says, and as they head up to Emily's office Rossi explains everything.
In San Francisco Penelope has made an excuse to Joy and Stephen about needing to do something alone and is sitting on a bench in a park. As she sits on the bench Penelope is scrolling through pictures. She smiles a she looks at many pictures of her and Emily, and the two of them with the kids, a picture of her and the team, and one of her and her Dad. As she keeps scrolling Penelope gets to a picture of her, her mother, and Santiago.
As she stares at the picture Penelope remembers back to the night they died. She remembers arriving home, way past curfew, and finding the note on the stairs that told her that her mother and Santiago were looking for her, then before Penelope could even start to climb up the stairs she saw the lights from the police cars and her world was changed forever.
"Are you Penelope Prentiss?" a voice says, snaping Penelope out of her thoughts.
"Colette?" Penelope asks, and the women nods.
"Mind if I sit?" Colette asks, and Penelope moves her bag so that the women can sit down next to her. "I was surprised you called back and wanted to meet. You said we didn't have anything to talk about," Colette admits.
"Yeah, I did," Penelope confirms. "And then I called Saint Paul's cemetery and they told me you've been sending flowers to my mother and stepfather's grave all these years," Penelope says.
"They're not from me. They're from my brother, Jesse," Colette explains.
"What?" Penelope asks, feeling both shocked and incredible pain.
"He can't do it, so I handle it for him. He pays for them with the money he earns in prison," Colette explains.
"Why is he doing that?" Penelope asks, not being able to understand that.
"Jesse's sorry for what he did. He didn't mean to kill your mother and stepfather. It was an accident," Colette explains.
"No, that's not what an accident is," Penelope says, tears coming to her eyes. "He chose to drink and then he chose to drive, and he changed my life forever," Penelope says, her voice breaking.
"He was just a kid. He was only eighteen," Colette informs Penelope.
"Yeah, I was only eighteen, too," Penelope says.
"Didn't you ever do anything stupid when you were younger? Like make a bad decision or take a dumb risk that you later regretted?" Colette asks. "All I ask is that you talk to Jesse before you pass judgement," Colette says. "Please, can you find it in your heart to forgive him? Won't you give Jesse a chance to start his life again?" Colette asks, and when she does Penelope stands up.
"When are my mom and Santiago going to be able to start their lives again?" Penelope asks, before walking away, with tears running down her face.
At the BAU Emily is in her office working on paperwork, and work for the case she has to do, as she works her cell starts to ring. Seeing Penelope's name on the caller ID Emily cannot help but smile as she presses answer.
"Hey You," Emily says, smiling slightly.
"Em…" Penelope starts to say, and as she does Emily can tell that her wife is crying.
"Pen, what's wrong? What's happened?" Emily asks, and she can hear Penelope hyperventilate. "Okay, Babe, just listen to my voice, and breath Babe, okay, just breath Pen," Emily says, feeling her panic rise. "I got you," Emily says. "Just listen to my voice, and breathe, in and out," Emily says. "On your postcard wall, you've got one from LA, from when you were eight…" Emily says, purposely getting the details wrong.
"Nine," Penelope corrects, still breathing heavily.
"Yeah, nine, that's right," Emily says. "Your Dad and Gideon were there for over three weeks, so he came and visited you on weekends," Emily reminds her wife, listening to her wife breathe and trying to calm her down as she speaks.
"I remember," Penelope says, and Emily hears her take several deep breaths.
"Do you think you can tell me what happened?" Emily asks her wife.
"I just met with the sister of the person who killed Mom and Santiago," Penelope explains, and as she does Emily closes her eyes, very much wishing that she could be with Penelope, but she knows their kids need her.
"Oh Pen, why?" Emily asks.
"She called me, and I found out she had been sending flowers to their graves," Penelope explains, clearly still upset. "But they weren't from her, they were from him, and she wants me to forgive him, to talk to him, and she says he was only eighteen…" Penelope says, starting to hyperventilate again.
"Pen, it's okay, just keep breathing Babe," Emily says, very much wanting to be able to hold her wife and comfort her in person, and over the next few minutes Penelope calms down. "Pen, listen to me, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You don't have to talk to him, you don't have to forgive him; the choice is yours," Emily says, as even though she knows that forgiveness could help Penelope she isn't going to push her into it. "Okay, you're in control here. Just keep breathing Babe," Emily says, knowing that she has no intention of hanging up with her wife until she is sure Penelope is okay.
A good half an hour later Emily has hung up with Penelope, once she was sure that Penelope was okay, and is walking into the roundtable room where Rossi and Tara are.
"Hey Tara, can you give us the room?" Emily asks curious.
"Sure," Tara says, wondering what is going on, as she heads out of the room, but being able to tell from Emily's behavior that whatever is going on isn't good.
"What's going on?" Rossi asks concerned, once Tara is out of the room and the door is closed behind her.
"I just got a call from Pen… she's not okay, Dave," Emily reveals, pain in her voice as she hates that her wife is in such deep pain.
"Is this about tomorrow, the hearing?" Rossi asks concerned.
"Not exactly," Emily admits. "She met with Jesse's sister," Emily says, knowing that Rossi will now exactly what that means.
"Why?" Rossi asks confused.
"She found out that she had been sending flowers to Debra and Santiago's grave, she wanted to know why," Emily explains. "Turns out Jesse has been paying for them and his sister has just been sending them," Emily reveals. "She wants Pen to talk to him, to forgive him," Emily explains. "She's handling it about as well as you'd expect," Emily admits.
"Damn it," Rossi says worried. "I should have gone with her," Rossi says, feeling very much like Emily is. "How worried should I be?"
"I'm extremely worried," Emily admits, and once she does Rossi pulls his phone and Emily knows exactly what he is going to do, she heads out of the room.
"Hey Kiddo," Rossi says, once Penelope picks up.
Hours later, Emily who has spent most of the day worrying about her wife as she works the case, knows that she has to leave. So, after packing up her office Emily heads to the roundtable room where the rest of the team are.
"Hey, so I've got to go," Emily says to the team. "But keep me updated, I can help via phone," Emily admits.
"No problem," JJ says. "We'll see you tomorrow,"
"Say Hello to the kids for us," Tara says.
"I will," Emily says, before leaving.
A little while later Emily is at home with the kids, moving around the kitchen as the kids eat the pizza, with healthy sides, that she brought home. Due to what she has been through in her life Kenzie has gotten pretty good at being able to 'read' emotions and body language and so she can tell that Emily is tense, and seemingly worried about something.
"Emily, do you need help with something?" Kenzie asks.
"No, I'm alright Sweetie," Emily tells her.
"Is everything okay?" Maddie asks. While she isn't as good as her sister at reading people her sisters question tells her that there is something going on that she doesn't realizes.
Hearing the question Emily internally debates for a few moments about what to do, but then she realizes that if she and Penelope want the kids to be honest with them then they should try to be as honest as possible with them, something may be difficult due to their lives. So, Emily walks over so she is closer to the girls.
"Tomorrow is going to be a really hard day for Penelope," Emily admits. "So, I'm concerned about her," Emily explains, trying to explain in the simplest way possible, and causing the girls to exchange looks.
"Can we call Penelope?" Maddie asks curious.
"You know what, I think that's a good idea," Emily admits, as while she knows she won't be able to have a real conversation with Penelope it will help to at least see her.
A couple of minutes later Emily has collected her tablets and all the kids are sitting on the couch. Just like the night before Emily places the call and hands the tablet to Kenzie, who is in the middle, but she also stands behind so she can see Penelope properly.
"Hi Penelope," Maddie says, once Penelope answers.
"Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi," Penelope says, saying hi to each of the people she sees. "How were your days? How was school? I want to hear all about it," Penelope says, and the kids start to explain. As they do Emily realizes that Penelope is trying to seem like she is okay, but Emily knows her well enough to be able to tell that she is not.
A little while later Kenzie and Maddie are up in their rooms doing different things while Emily, who has been texting with the team, is on the couch with Casey, Connor and Noah.
"And then the magic science rocket that Spencer made went flying though the air…. Woosh, and then it landed right by Hotch's feet, we thought he was going to be so mad but he smiled," Emily explains, and as she does, to her utter amazement, Casey laughs. "Casey, you laughed, you've never laughed before," Emily says amazed. As she sounds amazed Emily realizes that Penelope is missing it and so she quickly pulls her phone and starts the recording. "Okay, Casey, can you laugh again?" Emily asks, and that doesn't work. "Okay, another story," Emily realizes. "Once, Morgan gave a whole lot of people Spencer's number and for days Spencer keep getting calls. So finally Spencer made it so that when Morgan tried to listen to music all he heard was Spencer yelling, and then he thought Penelope was calling him but it was just Spencer yelling again; It was really loud," Emily says and to her absolute joy Casey laughs, but so do the boys so after filming Casey she puts the camera on the boys as they laugh. After making the recording Emily sends it to Penelope and cuddles with the kids.
A couple of minutes after she sent the clip Emily's phone rings and she isn't at all surprised when she sees Penelope on the caller ID.
"Hey You," Emily answers.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! She's adorable!" Penelope exclaims.
"She really is," Emily confirms, looking at Casey.
"I can't believe I missed her laughing," Penelope says, feeling guilty.
"You'll see it so many times in the future, Babe," Emily assures her. "I thought the video would help," Emily admits.
"It has, God Amore, it has. Our kids are incredible," Penelope tells her wife.
"Yeah, they are," Emily confirms. "How are you really doing?" Emily asks concerned.
"I don't know," Penelope admits. "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Penelope reveals.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Babe," Emily says. "I know I'm not there with you, but I am here for you," Emily assures her. "What can I do?" Emily asks.
"Can you just stay on the phone for a little while," Penelope requests.
"Of course," Emily responds.
After spending a while just sitting on the phone with Penelope Emily got all the kids to bed and went to bed herself. However, like the night before, Emily often got up and checked to make sure the house was secure, and the kids were alright.
It's early in the morning and the kids are having breakfast while Emily is drinking coffee as she has already fed Casey and Connor.
"Emily, is Penelope going to come home today?" Maddie asks curious.
"I'm not sure if she'll be home tonight or tomorrow," Emily admits. "But she'll be home soon," Emily says, and Maddie nods.
"Finished!" Noah suddenly says, and so Emily walks over to him.
"Good job, Buddy," Emily says, as she collects his plate. "Do you want to go put your shoes on?" Emily asks.
"Yes!" Noah exclaims and he hurries to go and get his shoes.
A little while later, in San Francisco Penelope, Stephen, and Joy are leaving the diner that means so much to Penelope, the one she goes to whenever she is in San Francisco.
"This place is really good," Joy says amazed, as she has never been here before.
"I've always thought so," Penelope admits.
"So, it's a few hours away. Have you figured out what you're going to say?" Stephen asks curious.
"No," Penelope admits, shaking her head. "No, I don't even know if I should go," Penelope admits, as she is feeling very conflicted.
"You have to," Stephen says.
"Stephen…" Joy starts to say, but he cuts her off.
"Rossi, I was too young to face the man who killed my Mom, but you can face the man who killed yours, make sure he pays as much as possible; get justice for both of us," Stephen says, and Joy can't help but frown as it seems like Stephen is making this more about himself than Penelope.
"Stephen, you might be right, but it's Penelope's choice," Joy tells him. "Whatever you decide, I'm here," Joy promises her sister.
As Stephen and Joy bicker Penelope tunes them out as she remembers back to the night that her mother and Santiago were killed. She remembers all the guilt she felt, and still feels, because it was her fault; they were out looking for her. As all the feelings, and the memories, come back to her Penelope knows what she has to do.
"I've got to do something," Penelope says. "I'll see you both back at the house," Penelope explains.
"Where do you have to go?" Joy asks confused.
"Just something I have to do," Penelope says. "Love you," Penelope says, hugging joy. "Love you," she says, hugging Stephen.
"We can come with you," Stephen says as Joy and Stephen exchange confused looks.
"No, It's fine," Penelope says. "I'll see you later," Penelope says, before running off, to the confusion of both Joy and Stephen, both of whom wonder where Penelope could possibly be going.