Hola! Hey guys, a new chapter today! Welp, it's about time we cool off with everything that was going on this story so far. Here is chapter 34 for you all. Don't forget to leave a comment about the story and/or chapter so far. Any thoughts, questions, suggestions, and predictions are welcome. The next chapter will be posted September the first so don't forget to be on the lookout. Enjoy and be safe.
Chapter 34
"About your past working undercover. Is it because you don't trust me or something?"
"No, honey. That was never the reason. I trust you with all my heart," Emily said while placing her hand on Dani's lap, silently begging the girl to look up at her. "My life involving Ian Doyle was one of the darkest chapters of my life. It was hard so I tried my best not to look back. I wanted to start fresh with a clean page. After a while, I decided to leave the BAU and move back to London. I worked there for a couple of years but I always missed the team. After a while I realized that DC was home to me because my family was here," she told her. "Then I met the most beautiful and important person in my life. I met you. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. I just wanted to bury my past and focus on my future."
Dani looks at Emily with a sympathetic expression. She understands why Emily didn't tell her about her past as an undercover agent. She went through a lot of tough things that Dani couldn't have ever imagined. She noticed how they are both alike. Both wanting to move on from their past. To stride away from the pain they felt before.
"I understand," Dani said with a nod. Emily looked at her, trying to figure out if Dani was being honest or if she was trying to play it out. As a profiler, she can easily read when a person is lying or not. Easily being able to interpret body language that gives off signals who are giving untruthful information but the profiler didn't want to have to profile her own daughter. Dani isn't a criminal that Emily has to crack down on. She's her kid. There are times where she profiles her by accident as if profiling is second nature to her. She hopes the teen is talking to her sincerely, not holding back anything on her mind.
"Sometimes we just go through hard situations which we rather want to forget. To move on, trying to push through everything we went through in order to get a sense of happiness," said the young teen.
Emily was surprised by how wise the girl sounded for her age. She knows that wisdom is not gained by age, it's gained through life experience. She knows that the teen has been through so much hardship and pain. The girl was never given a chance in having a normal childhood.
The agent sees that Dani does understand her reasons for not telling her.
Emily scoots in closer to Dani and wraps her arm around the teen's shoulder. "You helped me reach my happiness and that's because you are my happiness," Emily said while kissing the side of her daughter's head. "I want to help you reach yours."
Dani looks at Emily and smiles. "I have a good feeling about that," she said while reaching out to Emily for a hug. This catches Emily in surprise but then she wraps her arms around the teen, holding her closely. The brunette lets out a sigh of relief knowing that after everything that has happened her daughter is safe.
The embrace lasted for a while until a question popped up in Dani's mind. She lets go of Emily and looks up at her.
"Ummm… about your life as an undercover agent. Is that over?" she asked nervously. "No more aliases. No more shady stuff. You're just the person I know you as. Emily Prentiss, head of the BAU and a badass foster mom," she said with a small smirk.
Emily smiles at the teen's remark. "That's right, Dan. I'm not about that life anymore," she confirmed with a nod. "Do you really think I'm a badass?" she asked with a smug face. For the most part, Dani would playfully call Emily a nerd or a bookworm. Most nerds aren't really considered a badass.
"Is an ex undercover agent now FBI agent head of the coolest team I know considered a badass?" Dani questioned sarcastically. "You get some cool points on your chart."
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An hour passed by and Dani fell asleep in the living room. The girl was lying on the couch with her head resting on Emily's lap. Emily was running her fingers through the teen's dark brown hair while watching TV in a low volume. Emily looks at Dani peacefully sleeping and smiles sadly. The reason why the teen fell asleep on the couch was that she took the medication that the doctor prescribed for her. The pill made her drowsy until she fell asleep. It took a while for Emily to convince her to take it. The teen was very hesitant in taking the medication, saying that she felt fine and didn't need it. Emily had a good idea of why Dani didn't want to take the medicine. Emily knows that this has to do with how Dani's biological mother got hooked up on drugs. Sofia, Dani's mother, got addicted after being prescribed strong pain reliever medication after suffering a car accident when Dani was just five years old. This is the reason why Dani didn't want to take her medicine. Due to fear of falling in the deep void of addiction just like her mother did.
Emily continues to run her fingers through the teen's smooth hair. It's a way to calm the brunette down, knowing that her daughter is safe with her and no more harm can be done. She watches as the teen sleeps and soon enough, the agent falls asleep too. Both of them were in need of good sleep. They slept for the remainder of the afternoon.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Emily's phone was ringing, startling both her and Dani out of their sleep. The teen's head shot up, alarmed by the ringtone. She then noticed that it was just Emily's phone and shakes her head with a small chuckle.
"Damn, that thing almost gave me a heart attack," Dani said while rubbing her eyes.
Emily gives her an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, hun," she said while rubbing the teen's shoulder. Dani smiles at her, saying that it's all good. Emily reads the caller ID on her phone and sees that it's JJ. "It's J. I'll be in my office while you stay here and rest. I'll be back in a few," she said while getting up from the couch.
"Aye aye, captain," Dani said in response. "Oh. Tell JJ I said hi."
"Alright," Emily said with a smile. She smoothes the teen's hair and walks towards her office, answering the phone.
"Hey, JJ," Emily said as she sat down at her desk.
"Hi, Em. How are you and Dani doing?" asked the blonde agent on the other end of the phone.
"Pretty well. We were both pretty tired. We took a well-needed nap," Emily replied. "Oh, she said hi by the way."
"That sounds great," JJ said with a smile. "I can't wait to see you both. I just wanted to talk to you about Declan."
"What about him?"
"He was attended to for his injured arm. Right now he is under custody. He will go under psychiatric evaluation. He would be behind bars for a while," JJ told Emily.
Emily rubs her face in a tired manner. "How did this happen?" she asked. "Doyle is dead. How the hell did he manage to get to him?" She said in defeat. "This is all my fault. If would've known that-"
"Hey, Em. Don't do that. Don't slam your head against the wall blaming yourself. None of this is your fault," JJ insisted. " Doyle had everything planned out, including what should happen if he were to die. He left instructions to his men explaining what they should do if one day death caught up to him. They eventually found him and talked to him. Doyle even made a video where he explains his version of the story."
"And that's where Declan took the bait," said the brunette.
"I know you did everything you could to help Declan. You were determined to do anything to help him out of that life. Sometimes things happen that we have no control over. This was one of them."
Emily sighed. She knows JJ is right. There was no way she could have avoided this. Something so unexpected can't be stopped. "You're right. I couldn't have avoided this even if I tried. I'm just glad Dani is okay."
"Did you explain to her why this all happened?" asked JJ.
"Yeah. I told her everything. I didn't want to lose her trust so I explained everything. About me working for Interpol and about Doyle. She knows everything." Emily told JJ.
"How did it go?"
"She looked a little overwhelmed at first," Emily started. "And then I saw her trying to distance herself away from me. I convinced her to open up. That I would answer any questions she had without hesitation. She asked me why I didn't tell her about my past, sounding quite hurt. I explained to her that it was because I wanted to leave the past behind. She understands why I did it. I saw it in her eyes."
"She's very smart and understanding. I'm sure she still trusts you with all her heart," said JJ.
"I just hope it stays that way," said the brunette. "It took me months for her to trust me. I don't want to lose it. I don't want to lose her."
"And you won't, Em," JJ assured her. "You're a great mother to her. Determined and loving. Trust me when I tell you that you won't lose her."
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The next day rolled by pretty smoothly. Emily was cleaning up the kitchen while Dani was watching TV. For the majority of the day, Dani was resting while Emily was keeping a close eye on the teen. She noticed that Dani was behaving more introverted than usual. The teen would usually talk with Emily about almost anything that came out of her mind. Conversations would range from anything from school anecdotes to Dani's interests like Emily's job and cases she would work in. Dani admires the work tactics of the BAU. The way they use psychology in order to capture wanted unsubs always fascinated the young teen. It sparked an interest in taking psychology classes for her sophomore year. Emily is glad in knowing that her daughter admires her work title but she would always limit the amount of information she would tell her. The agent would just give her a summary of the cases, avoiding any gruesome details that no child should hear.
Dani was sitting down, watching a random telenovela she found while scrolling through the channels. Her energy bar was not at its highest peak. The medication and her overall physical state wouldn't allow her to feel energized. She hated feeling worn out. It just wasn't her. She is a pretty energetic person, always looking for something to do in hopes of a fun adventure. Now she is stuck at home in hopes that she would recover soon.
Emily stepped out of the kitchen and headed towards the living room where Dani was watching tv. She walked to the back of the couch where the teen was sitting and wrapped her arms gently around her neck.
"What are you watching?" Emily asked while placing her chin on top of Dani's head.
"This random telenovela I found. Not really sure about the whole plot premise but what I do know is that no one should mess with the protagonist," she said while pointing out the actress on the TV. "They call her La Doña. She is authoritative and pretty intimidating. Kind of like you."
"What do you mean? I am a very nice person," Emily said while looking at the TV. The teen was right. The actress was a tall, attractive, slender woman. She was wearing a medium length red dress with black high heels. Her body posture reflected dominance and superiority. One of a successful businesswoman. "She looks pretty scary."
"You are pretty nice," Dani said while glancing up at Emily. "Im talking about Agent Prentiss. She can be pretty scary. Especially with her badge and gun in hand," the teen pointed out. "But that's a good asset for your job. I feel kinda bad for the criminal who doesn't cooperate."
Emily lets out a small chuckle. "I guess you are right about that," she told the teen. She had to admit, when it came to solving a case, Emily had to change from a nice, outgoing person to a more serious and determined person, following the steps of the ex-unit chief, Aaron Hotchner. She knows she could never be as serious as he is but she uses him as an example to follow.
Both ladies hear the doorbell ring. "I'll go get it," the brunette said while dropping a kiss on top of the teen's head. Dani looks back where the door is, wondering who could it be.