A/N: Sorry for the longer wait for an update, but here it is… I might not be able to update as often, but I intent on continuing this story, so please if there is anyone still here to follow it, just let me know okay?

Any reviews are welcomed.


If life has its decisive moments, the things that really made a difference for Emily were the details. The suck of breath before the sob; the helplessness of the shining eyes before the fallen tears; the silence before the screams. Those were the details she remembered now, while she watched over a – finally – asleep little girl. More than her crying and screaming for her sister to wake up, what stuck with her more was the softer-spoken words; the little hands in hers seeking comfort; the questions formed with that sweet little voice, "will you stay" and "will she? Wake up?".

The simplicity and innocence of a little girl, just trying to understand what was happening around her, trying to grasp into some sense of normalcy. But things had never been normal for that child before, and that day they were anything but. All she could think about was the blue-shining eyes that haunted the profiler, looking deep into her own eyes while she tried to sooth her; she had coached her to breathe slowly, to try and calm down because her breathing was erratic and the adult was worried she would pass-out, when the little blonde, with a little red nose, squeezed her hands and pleaded

"Please, make them let her go? Please Emmy" and at that moment, as much as she wanted to be strong for the girl, Emily had let more of her own tears fall. It was the first time Jennifer had called her like that, but like her other milestones so far, it was so bittersweet.

"Hey, are you okay?" she heard Kate's voice, and looked up at her. They were at the hotel, where they managed to help Jennifer calm down, so they could get her showered and changed for the travel, while Hotch made sure the jet was ready, and they were good to go. Rossi and Reid went by the precinct to make sure they were finished with their commitments, since they decided to go home as soon as possible after how the memorial ended up for little JJ. None of them wanted to see her suffer anymore and being around that place would only make more harm than good.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said, a little smile on her lips

"Em" Kate said, sitting by her side on the couch and resting her hand on her shoulder "You're crying" Emily reached her face with her fingers to wipe the stubborn tears away "You know, all of this is really intense and…"

"I'm fi…"

"And" Kate kept talking, not allowing her friend to say she was fine once again "Even when she gets older, and these wounds turn into scars, it'll always be intense. Lemme tell you, as a mom, feeling their pain is the worst thing we can feel… I know how it feels, you just want to be there for her, but believe me… To do that, you'll have to learn to accept help yourself" Emily looked at her and took a deep breath, knowing her friend was right. She sighed, and Kate pulled her into her shoulder, what Emily accepted, laying her head into her friend, not saying anything for the moment.

"Ughh" she mumbled after a little while, lifting her head again "It'll always be intense, is it?" she asked, and Kate smiled down at her

"Well" she shrugged a little "I hope that not like this, but it will. There's no scaping that"

"Oh great" she joked, "Thank you" Kate nodded, but before she could say anything Garcia got back into the room, knocking on the door quickly before coming in

"Is she asleep?" she asked, while entering the room silently

"Yeah, she's exhausted" Emily said, "Are we good to go?" she asked, as the blonde walked closer to the bed where the little girl was sleeping, holding her dolly close to her face. Garcia smiled sadly at her, and nodded

"Ready to go"

"I really wish I had the time to talk to her about her going with us" Emily said, now looking at the girl too "I mean, this feels wrong, just taking her like that"

"I know sweety" Garcia said "But you're doing what you feel it's best. Staying here longer would be worse, I mean, all those people approaching her, is just…"

"She's right Em" Kate agreed "Besides, there's been too much information for her to process in too little time. I don't even know how much of it she actually understands, you'll have the time to explain everything to her later" Emily's phone vibrated, and she looked down at it

"It's Hotch, wheels up in twenty"

"It's okay my wonder woman, let's just go home" Garcia told her, leaning down kiss her on the cheek "And just remember, her language is simple, she doesn't need much to understand what you tell her" Emily smiled at her best friend

"And when you learned all about child psychology?" the blonde stuffed her chest proudly, a smile on her face

"I'm a natural"

"Oh please, she knows because she's a kid herself" Kate said, and they all laughed.


Prentiss didn't want to let the small child away from her arms. She carried the small girl all the way through the airport up to the jet. She looked around, in the first minutes of flight, at the almost silent jet. Hotch just by her side, while JJ still slept on her arms; Reid and Rossi played the chess; Derek stared out the window while listening to his music and Kate and Penelope sat across from her, talking lightly.

It was a trip none of them would ever forget. Even though it was Emily's choice to take the little girl in, they were all emotionally involved with her somehow. Of course, they were family, their kids were all a part of that, but this time? This time it was something more, this time they were accomplices; they were all her protectors. And none of them would be the same now, and in all honesty, none of them wanted to.

Emily could feel a smile creeping into her face as she looked around and listened to the small talk between those people who she loved. How lucky was she? She looked down at the sleeping girl brushing the hair out of her face, still feeling the pain in her heart for everything that had transpired to such an angel, but at the same time she felt strong for the first time. Not only because she knew she was doing the right thing, but because she could feel the strength her family gave her, through it all.

She got dispersed from her thoughts when JJ's big blue eyes shot open, looking at her and her smile grew.

"Hey, my love" she said, and the attention was all on the girl once more, while she looked around a little confused as to where she was. Emily helped her seat straighter in her lap as she looked around "Did you sleep good?" she nodded shyly and laid her head on Emily's chest, as it became automatic to her more often then not "Are you hungry?" she shook her head. Emily sighed, frustrated to see the girl going back into her shell, her words lost for the time being. She could feel Hotch's hand in her knee, feeling he was there for support, but once again who could reach the girl was Penelope.

The blonde analyst noticed how Emily felt at lost. She knew her friend wanted to protect and care for that little girl more than anything, but she still couldn't let go of her rational side and it made her more frustrated with everything.

"Hey there Sugarplum" she said, and JJ looked at her who was seating across from them "Do you know where we are?" she shook her head, and Emily looked pointedly at her friend, not knowing if she wanted to address the topic of the move just now, but Garcia nodded at her friend slightly, letting her know it was okay "Look" she said excitedly, pointing to the window.

JJ raised her head, trying to look out the window, but not quite reaching it

"Come look" Garcia offered her hand, the girl looked up at Emily, a little unsure

"Go on" she assured her, smiling, so JJ slipped down her lap and stood in front of the window, between the seats

"Look Jayje, this is the sky" Garcia said, "We're flying over the clouds, can you see?" the little girl looked out and touched the window with her little hand. JJ had never seen anything like that before, it was beautiful "Pretty great, huh" she nodded again, now a little more excitedly

"See, you're flying pretty girl" Emily said, following Garcia's lead, as she noticed it really worked. JJ looked back at her, big eyes and a little smile

"Really flying?" she asked, her little voice filling the air and bringing a smile to all of their faces "Like Supergirl?"

"Better than Supergirl, shorty" Derek, who had taken his earphones off, said, smiling back at the little blondie. The girl looked at him, but before he could say anything more, the plane took a turn, and she lost a little her balance

"Come here baby" Emily said, reaching her and holding her again, caressing her face with the upmost care, feeling her skin a little hotter than she would like

"Everything okay?" Hotch asked, noticing her little sigh after feeling her skin

"I think she might be coming down with a fever" Hotch nodded, and reached to feel her forehead, but the girl flinched, and he stopped, knowing that from all of them, he was the one with who JJ felt the least comfortable, and that broke his heart, but he wasn't about to show it. "It's okay love" Emily assured "How do you feel?" the girl shrugged and tried to look back through the window, still enchanted with all the clouds.

Emily felt her anxiousness grow, as she felt the need to address the situation with her… tell her what was going on, where they were going, but she was afraid she'd be overloaded emotionally with all the changes. She recalled what Garcia had told her earlier and took a deep breath; just keep it simple. And be honest, that'll be enough she thought.

"Hey honey, you know why we are flying?" the girl looked at her again, thinking about the question before shrugging "Because, well…" she tried, looking ahead at her friends, who nodded encouragingly at her "You needed a new house, and someone to take care of you, you see… And, well…" the girl kept looking at her, taking every word in attentively

"Will you?" the little girl asked, surprising everyone. Her voice was low, uncertain, but her gaze was still fixated on Emily's eyes "Take care of me?" Emily cupped her face, smiling down at her

"Do you want me to?" she nodded immediately. Emily felt her heart flutter, taking a deep breath to control her tears and her emotion. "I'll be good, I promise" she said, a little more unsure once she noticed the woman didn't say anything right away

"Oh my love, I know you will" she assured her "I'll be happy to care for you, I promise" JJ relaxed a little at that "It'll be okay, I promise okay bug?" she nodded and leaned over Emily's chest once more "We're going home, and everything will be okay"

"Okay" the little one said simply, and Emily held her closer

"Okay" she said and gave her a kiss on the head.


Things started to get real that night. Reality set in for Emily once she was back at her house, alone with the little girl. For the first time... For the first time she could feel the weight of having a kid. There were no nurses, no doctors, no social workers, no team members; just the both of them. Suddenly she wished Penelope would stay with them, to distract the girl, or maybe Kate to help her with understanding all the things that went through her mind with this new role.

She looked down at the girl standing next to her and could easily see they shared the nervousness. She smiled at her and crouched beside her, as she looked around the new environment.

"Do you like it?" she nodded "Do you wanna see where you'll sleep?" another nod "Alright" she offered her hand and walked to the guest room, opening the door and turning the light on. JJ looked around, it had a double bed, with two plain nightstands and a writing desk with a few books in a shelf above. "We'll make it your own, I promise okay?" the girl stepped inside "We can get your things and place them here for now, I can help you" Emily said, noticing the girl made her nervous-talk like she never had before. She had packed JJ a few things, a couple change of clothes, her dolly, the portrait she had with Roslyn in her room… as well as a few things she found in Roslyn's room, such as her diary, her computer and photo albums.

JJ walked closer to the bed, and placed her dolly in it, as if she was putting her to bed, making Emily smile at her.

"She likes it here" the girl said, not looking back at her guardian

"She does, huh" Emily relaxed a little, leaning on the doorframe "I'm glad she did. I bet she's hungry though, isn't she?" she watched as the girl's shoulders dropped, but she still didn't turn to look at the agent, just caressing the hair of her doll instead, just like Emily had done with her so much the past few days. The brunette walked closer and sat at the edge of the bed, watching her closely. JJ stood by the bed, looking at her doll, caring for her "Well, she looks hungry to me" she tried again "She's crying, we need to feed her Jayje" JJ looked at her, then back at the doll

"She's just sad" the girl said, taking the doll in her arms

"Well, what you do to help her when she's sad like that?" the shrugged, still looking at the doll in her arms, rocking her

"Just love her" she said, her voice so quiet that Emily almost missed it.

"JJ, come here" she said, opening her arms at her. The girl looked up at her and walked closer to the woman, who took her up into her lap "You never told me your dolly's name" she asked, while looking at the rag doll on the girl's arms

"Lacy Macey" she said, and Emily smiled. She could remember holding that same rag doll when they found out JJ had been taken by her father. She was so scared at that time, the doll in her own hands being a little line of connection with the girl.

"That's a great name" JJ looked up at her "Really, who chose it?"

"I called her Lacy and Jimmy started calling her Lacy Macey" Emily nodded slowly, knowing Jimmy was one of Jessica's brothers. Roslyn had told her they were friends, and Emily felt even worse for the girl. She had lost everything, even though her previous life hadn't been very good to her, the few good things she did have were now taken away from her.

"Well, you know sometimes I get sad, just like Lacy Macey is right now?"

"Really?" she nodded

"Really, it's normal to be sad sometimes. Sometimes I get scared too"

"And then what do you do?" Emily put a strand of blond hair behind her ear

"I talk to someone who loves me… And they help me. Like you do with Lacy Macey, when you love her right?" she nodded, looking down at her hands

"I get sad too"

"Are you sad right now?" she nodded shyly, still looking down "It's okay to be sad my love. I won't leave you alone, I promise okay?" Emily hugged her and heard her sweet voice again:

"You too" she separated from the embrace so she could look at her

"What's that honey?"

"When you're sad" she explained "I won't leave you alone too"

"Oh baby" Emily said, hugging her again.


"So, how is everything?" Hotch asked her over the phone later that night. Emily sighed, taking her glass of wine and walking back to the couch in the living-room.

"She's asleep. We had a nice moment, but I'm worried Aaron… she doesn't want to eat, and she's still a little feverish" she put her feet up, thanking the moment to relax finally

"Well, Reid said psychological fever is normal with…"

"With traumatized kids, I know, I know" she said "What about you? How's Jack?"

"So happy I came home, we ended up having a slumber party" Emily smiled, she loved that man and that kid so much "He asked me about you… I told him we could all get together to a barbecue here Sunday, you think it'd be a good idea?" she thought about it, tilting her head a little look to JJ's door, making sure it was all okay

"I think so… I think this next couple days will be enough to get her settled. Then it'll be nice to have a nice afternoon with everyone, get her to meet Jack and Meg"

"I thought so too. Do you need anything?"

"I'm okay honey, thank you. It's weird having her here though, it makes everything that much real" he laughed a little at her

"Well, welcome to the team"

They talked a little bit more before Emily getting into a long, much needed, hot shower and got into her comfortable bed. She hadn't gotten good sleep in days, and only now she noticed how tired she really was. Taking a look at her cell, before putting it the nightstand, she saw the messages she had missed until now. The entire team had sent at least one message, asking how things were, how JJ was doing. She smiled at this. They had been together only a few hours earlier, but they seemed just as invested and concerned as she was. She replied everyone, putting her phone aside and turning the lights off.

As she closed her eyes though, her mind was racing. Getting sleep would be harder than she thought, even if her body was begging for it. She had gotten a few days of leave from work, so they could settle in their new routine. A list of never-ending things to do kept crossing her mind: doctor visits, social worker meetings, shopping, enrolling JJ at school, finding a good psychologist…

And with all those things in her mind, the most important thought she remembered before drifting off to sleep was: please, don't mess this up Prentiss.


A/N: So, they're finally home… now their life together can start. What do you think? This is a litle bit shorter, because I needed to patch things up between this and the next chapter, without making it too long.