Emily paced the waiting room, chewing her nails anxiously.

They'd taken Jayde for an x-ray and, in Emily's opinion, it was taking far too long. She was just about to demand the charge nurse let her back in the room when a woman in a suit approached with a clipboard. "Miss Prentiss?" the woman asked.

"Yes?" Emily said slowly, suspicious.

"Erin Strauss," she introduced herself, "CPS. Can I speak with you for a moment?"

Fear made Emily blanch. "CPS?" she repeated. "What... What do you want with me? I haven't done anything..."

"Relax, Miss Prentiss, I just want to talk with you," Strauss said. "Please, sit down."

Reluctantly, Emily obeyed. "I really don't know what you're here for," she insisted, "I haven't done anything."

Strauss flipped through the files, then affixed Emily with her best approximation of compassion. "How did Jayde get hurt today?" she asked.

"She and Henry were playing in the park," Emily said, "They were playing tag and Jayde stumbled on a tree root, she fell on her wrist." She gestured vaguely to show that it couldn't have been helped.

"And who is Henry?" Strauss asked.

Emily heaved a sigh of frustration. "Henry is Jayde's best friend – he's my roommate's son."

Strauss glanced at the file again. "Your roommate being Jennifer Jareau? Another dancer at La Giolleria?"

Emily's eyes narrowed. "If this is about the fact that I'm a stripper..." she started, fury in her voice.

"No, this is about the fact that your daughter has made two visits to the ER in two weeks," she said pointedly. "Miss Prentiss, have you ever physically hurt your daughter?"

Emily stood suddenly, pacing frantically for a few moments, then rounding on Strauss. "How dare you!?" she demanded. "I love my daughter and I would never lay a hand on her!"

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Strauss replied.

"Meaning what, exactly?"

Another pointed look. "You're a smart woman... Surely you know what the next step is here?"

Her eyes widened. "No!" she shouted. "No! You're not taking my daughter away from me! You can't!"

"Please control yourself, Miss Prentiss, or I'll be forced to call the police. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Tears spilling down her cheeks, struggling to stifle the urge to scream out her anger and her fear, Emily dialed JJ's number. If there was one person who could talk her down off the ledge right now, it was her...

JJ picked up on the first ring, which surprised her, given that she was usually too busy doting on Henry to answer her phone immediately. She barely had time to get out JJ's name before she was cut off with a furious shout of, "What the fuck did you do!?"

Emily had never heard that kind of anger in her friend's normally serene voice. "I-I'm sorry?" she stammered, having no idea what it was she was talking about.

"They took Henry from me!" she hissed, voice breaking on a sob. "They just took him!"

Emily had been hoping that at any moment she would awake from this nightmare and find herself in bed, snuggling her baby girl, the light of the day chasing away the fear. But it was starting to look more and more like that wasn't about to happen.

"A woman from CPS showed up at my door telling me some bullshit about it being for his own safety," she continued her rant. "So, I'd really love to know what the fuck you told them that means I need supervised visits with my own fucking son!"

Emily let out a shaky sob. "JJ, I swear, I'll do everything in my power to get our children back," she vowed. She wasn't sure JJ believed her though...

Emily regretted her decision almost immediately after knocking on the door. She needed someone to talk to, though, and the only person who wasn't currently pissed at her was, unfortunately, Derek...

"Emily!" he exclaimed, obviously surprised to see her. "What are you..." He paused, trailed off upon noticing the expression on her face. "Is everything alright?"

She shook her head once, twice. "No!" she choked out. "Nothing is okay! They took my little girl away from me!" Tears spilled freely down her face in spite of her best attempts to keep control over her emotions in front of him.

He swept her inside his apartment, gently guiding her to the couch. "Tell me what happened," he urged. His hand rubbed up and down her back and, though she normally would have shrugged away from the contact, in that moment she said nothing. "Who are they?" he asked.

"Child Protective Services," she said tremulously.

For a few moments, he said nothing, merely blinking in stunned silence. He couldn't imagine a better mother than Emily and he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through in that moment. "Alright," he said, faking confidence he didn't feel. "Here's what we're going to do... We're going to get some sleep and, first thing tomorrow morning, we'll go down to CPS and find out how we can get this situation resolved." He attempted a reassuring smile.

Emily nodded, stare vacant, but a forced smile on her lips.

"Do you...umm...do you want to sleep here?" Derek stammered. "I have an extra bedroom if you don't want to go back to your place."

"Thanks," she said softly. "I'd appreciate it... I have a feeling I'm the last person JJ would want to see right now."

He moved as if to stand, then faltered, turned back to Emily. "Do you... I mean... Would you like a hug?"

For a moment, it seemed like she was about to refuse the offer, but only briefly before she nodded, surged forwards into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him as if her very life depended on it.

As he wrapped his arms around her back, her entire body heaved with sobs as if her heart were breaking. He had a feeling it truly was.