AN: Please read the important AN at the end of this chapter.

Having paid his respects, Dave started walking back towards the entrance at Arlington National Cemetery. Since his discharge from the Marines, he had regularly come to pay his respects to those with whom he had served that hadn't made it home and were now buried here. Given his work schedule, he hadn't been by as much as he liked since rejoining the BAU. But today he had taken advantage of the team's late start the week before Memorial Day to come.

As he walked along the familiar path, Dave noticed that others that were also visiting. It was as he looked around that he noticed a familiar face. It was then as if she could feel that someone was watching her, that her eyes met his leaving Dave feeling uneasy as he continued walking. At least until he observed Emily nodding at him and gestured for him to join her. He nodded back before crossing over on the next path.

"Good morning." Dave stated as he walked up next to Emily

Emily smiled as she answered, "good morning, I see we both had similar ideas of what to do today."

"Yes I've been coming to pay respects for years however I hadn't been since coming back to the team. I thought it was time." Dave explained.

Nodding, Emily agreed, "the schedule makes it complicated." before pausing. Looking back down, she continued more subdued, "his birthday is soon. Didn't want to risk missing coming by because another case came up."

Dave followed her glance down to the gravestone immediately noticing the fresh flowers that Emily had placed just in front of it. It was then that he saw the name and dates listed. Turning to look over to her he asked, "your …"

Without pulling her eyes away from the gravestone Emily finished for him, "my father, yes."

They both stood silently as Dave carefully observed all of the information on the gravestone. As his eyes rested on the death date listed, he gasped.

He had learned afterwards that a son-in-law of Breckenridge had died in the embassy attack. Information that he had forgotten even after he met Emily. Her file had only listed that he was deceased and the year. Maybe he should have been paying closer attention to what Gideon had been telling him about the team instead of fixating from the file picture on how much Emily looked like Emma when Gideon had come by his cabin. "He was there? At the embassy?"

Emily nodded, "yes. It was just where he happened to be assigned at the time." Emily paused before continuing, "so was I until about three days before the attack."

Dave nodded, "you and your mom would have been evacuated with other families."

Emily sighed, "no, it was just my dad and me there at that point. Over a year earlier, my mother had requested and was given her own separate assignment. She had never been at this location with us as my dad and I moved there just a few months before all this happened.

Due to his position at the embassy and that he was a former naval officer he was one of the essential few that were required to stay. An embassy staffer was assigned to travel with me to the evacuation point. She quickly moved on once we arrived while I waited at the airport for my mom.

I must have been forgotten in the chaos as it wasn't until hours later that someone came over to talk to me. Let me know my mom couldn't come. It was then that they assigned a Marine to stay with me. Later he flew with me to Germany where my grandparents met us. I flew back to the States with them.

After the funeral, I started to live with my mother, at least most of the time, until I came back to the States to attend boarding school the last couple of years of high school."

Dave cleared his throat before replying, "I knew back then that your grandfather had lost a family member in the attack. I didn't see much of him after that. Then he retired and then I didn't see him again after he moved away. I saw in your file that your father had died but that wasn't included. I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Emily answered.

####

As they were walking out of Arlington together, Dave offered Emily a ride when she said that she had left her car at what he knew from the address had once been her grandparents house.

"You don't live there?" Dave asked when Emily mentioned stopping by to check on the house.

"No" Emily answered, "I have an apartment in the District."

"But you own the house?" Dave clarified.

Emily nodded before explaining, "well yes. When I moved here to start at the BAU, the house was being rented. Well most of the house. What was the office is always secured when it is rented out. Then by the time that lease had expired I realized just how much longer from here it would take to get to the interstate compared to where I am now. It would have added significant time to my daily commute down to Quantico."

"So what are your plans for the house? Are you going to rent again?" Dave asked.

Emily shrugged, "I'm not sure. I definitely don't want to sell. I can still feel his presence in the house. I guess I'm hoping that one day the universe will make it work for me to be here again."

"The commute won't be as much of an issue after Aaron retires." Dave added.

Emily smiled as she looked around. She had thoughts along similar lines. If it worked out she would love to raise a family with Aaron in that house. To watch Jack and any children they were blessed with playing in the same yard that she did as a child. Given her parents' work this house was the closest she had to a childhood home.

Turning back to Dave, she replied, "that's true."

"Have you met Jack?" Dave asked.

Emily nodded, "yes, a few times. I've had dinner with Aaron and Jack a few times including when Sean was here. I met up with them at the park this past weekend for a couple of hours. But most of the time I don't so that Aaron and Jack can have 1 on 1 time. Aaron and I see each other just about every day and he only gets so much time with Jack. I don't want to infringe on their time."

"Is that going to continue with the change in your relationship?" Dave asked.

"We haven't talked about it yet. I would think at some point I would spend more time with them. I just don't want Aaron to feel like he has to choose between the two of us or be the cause of any new issues with Haley." Emily explained.

####

Dave pulled his car into the driveway and parked next to what he knew was Emily's car. As he climbed out of the car, he looked up at the house where he hadn't visited for many years.

On the ride over, Emily had invited him to come in for coffee as a thank you for the ride. Walking around the car, Dave followed her up onto the front porch and into the house. As they entered, Emily stated she was going to work on their coffee.

As Emily walked into the kitchen, Dave wandered around the first floor of the house taking in the changes that had been made in the years since he had last visited. He paused when he came to the open door of the home office. This had been the room where he had spent the most time during his previous visits.

Walking into the room, Dave noticed all of the pictures throughout the room. While many of them were family pictures there were also a significant number of pictures taken with colleagues, many of them familiar. It didn't take long for his eyes to rest on a picture of him and Gideon with Breckenridge. He smiled as he remembered back to the day it was taken. The day that Breckenridge had introduced him and Gideon. So lost in the memory he didn't hear Emily approach until she said, "coffee's ready."

Surprised Dave turned to her before he walked over to her and responded, "thanks" as he accepted the mug.

They quietly stood together in the room until Emily stated, "there are a few more pictures of you with him."

Dave nodded remembering that they had taken several pictures together in the years Breckenridge had mentored him. Turning to her he asked, "you knew who I was when we met that first day."

Emily nodded slightly, answering, "well somewhat. I knew your name from your books and have seen the pictures over the years. I didn't hear much about you directly from him. I was young when he was still working with you and after he retired, he didn't talk about work or people he knew from work. Most of what I knew about you was from the research I did."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Dave asked curiously.

Emily sighed before responding, "because I wanted you to get to know me as me. Who I am and what I am capable of doing. When you started I wanted you to get to know your teammate not your former mentor's grandchild if that makes sense.

For most of my life I was seen as his granddaughter or one of my parents' child. Once I started my professional life I wanted to establish myself based on who I was and what I can do. Of course I still have the Prentiss name but I want people to see value in what I can offer not just on to whom I'm related. It's why I went through the admission process for Yale for graduate school. I could have been easily admitted as a legacy to Brown since most of my family went there.

Plus I had a rough start on the team with both Hotch and Gideon because they were suspicious of me though for separate reasons. Gideon and I came to an understanding just before he left. Hotch and I had just gotten to a good place a few weeks before you started. I didn't want to go back to things being awkward."

Dave nodded. As much as he wished he had known or had been listening when Gideon had most likely mentioned it, he could understand Emily's reason for not bringing it up to him. BUT about her comment about things becoming awkward, "so Prentiss if you were that worried about things being awkward, why all the pranks?"

When Emily looked up at him, she noted the smirk that matched the teasing tone of his question. She laughed as she had needed the lighter topic. The morning had become heavier than expected with their conversation after the trip to the cemetery.

Smiling back at him, she responded, "ah come on Dave. They aren't awkward. You love the pranks. At least most of them."

Dave nodded. Most had been harmless while some had been annoying particularly in the beginning. They had all apologized for one prank that had seriously frustrated him. "I wouldn't say I love them. Just know that I know how to prank as well."

Emily laughed, "Hotch mentioned that." She paused and turned serious before continuing, "though just know that if you don't back Reid up in the field again you are going to have bigger issues than glitter. And Italian leather or not, your boots will go through some stuff."

Dave sighed and shook his head. As it had turned out, not helping Reid out of that ditch hadn't been his best decision. But he hadn't deserted the kid. He had watched Reid as he had walked a couple of hundred feet to where the incline was lower and Reid had been able to climb out himself on his own.

He hadn't thought too much about it as he drove them back to the station. Reid had never been in danger and Dave had never lost sight of him. In all the added time for Reid to find a way out was about five minutes. That was until Reid had made a passing comment about what happened once they were back with the team. He had gotten pushback from the team about it. But no more so than from the woman in front of him.

Looking over at her, he asked, "so what is going on there?"

Emily looked back at him confused, "I don't understand the question."

Dave sighed before asking a question that he had had for months, "with Reid. All of you dote on him like a little brother. Look out for him. But with you it is something more than your shared nerdy tendencies. You obviously aren't involved. So?"

Emily laughed before answering, "maybe obvious to you but it wasn't to everyone. Strauss thought we were and started an investigation. Got other people involved."

"Then what is it? Or am I wrong?" Dave followed up on his initial question tabling the Strauss issue for now.

Emily didn't say anything for a couple of minutes before nodding, "no you're not wrong. A few months after I started with the team even before Gideon left, something happened. While all of us could see the change afterwards, I'm the only one that pushed back. Eventually he came to me and I helped him."

"What happened?" Dave asked, hoping to gain greater insight into the dynamics of the team.

While the rest of the team knew about Reid being held by Tobias Henkel, she wasn't sure aside from Hotch(and Gideon) who knew about the Dilaudid. As much as she wanted to trust Dave there was still so much she didn't know about him.

Would he be supportive?

If it turned out he wasn't supportive, it wasn't just her that would face consequences. In fact both Reid and Hotch would face stricter consequences up to and including potentially losing their jobs.

"It isn't my story to tell." Emily answered.

Disappointed yet not surprised at the answer, Dave asks, "does Aaron know what happened and how you helped him?" From what he had observed Hotch kept a close eye on the team's youngest profiler.

Emily nodded as she recalled that uncomfortable conversation between her and Hotch in the car on the case in San Francisco, "yes. Hotch knows everything. Well now he does though he didn't when I first started helping Spencer. Both Spencer and I have spoken to him about it. Other than that I'm not sure how much the others know other than the original something that happened."

Dave sighed as he realized that he wasn't going to get anything else on the subject from Emily. He didn't push back at all as whatever it was was significant and he should really wait to speak to Reid or Hotch about whatever it was. He also didn't want to sabotage her uncharacteristic openness this morning, particularly on the subject of Breckenridge. He was hoping that openness would stay in place for a bit longer as there was something else he needed to discuss with her.

Looking over at her, Dave asked, "so Strauss tried to investigate you and Reid?" as he circled back to her earlier comment.

Emily glanced up, a look of surprise briefly betraying her that he had dropped the subject of what had happened to Reid too easily. At least it wasn't any secret on the team that Rossi and Strauss didn't get along at all.

Rolling her eyes, Emily replied, "yeah but it didn't go anywhere as we were able to show that we were in the planning stages of publishing together and Reid was helping me with part of my dissertation. We had a list of topics we had considered for publishing that we showed them. Then I let Reid be Reid on explaining the changes he suggested in my dissertation and they quickly closed the investigation."

Dave chuckled at her explanation before turning serious as he stated, "I'm sorry. I am at least partially responsible for a lot of the fraternization rules the FBI now has."

Emily shook her head, "it's fine Dave. The meeting was less than a half hour."

Dave sighed, "yes with Reid it wasn't an issue as you weren't involved. But you and Aaron are just starting a relationship. One with a chain of command aspect that you aren't planning to report to HR. I'm sorry that my past could cause some real issues for the two of you. Since Aaron told me about the two of you it has been weighing on me. I have thought of ways I can help and lessen the blow if someone does find out."

"Have you spoken to Aaron about this?" Emily asked not remembering him mentioning ideas that Dave had for them.

Dave shook his head, "not yet. I wanted to get your opinion before I did as one of the topics is going to be a hard sell. If you aren't onboard, it doesn't make sense to bring it up as Aaron will need assurances from you if he is going to agree."

Emily nodded, "OK, what do you suggest?"

"That Aaron allows me to take over as your supervisor and handle all of your evaluations going forward. If anyone brings up why he can explain it as it will give him more time to focus on leadership training for Derek which Strauss is pushing for him. I know Strauss has been fighting Aaron about doing the same for you even though we all have witnessed that you know how to lead the team. Strauss will be less likely to try to micromanage me and we can find other aspects of leadership for you." Dave explained.

Emily responded, "OK, so you want to be my supervisor. I can get behind that. It makes sense and will help Aaron if someone finds out about us before he retires. But it also sounds like you are seeing a larger role than my evaluations. Are you suggesting that you become my … mentor?"

"Yes, would you be OK with that?" Dave answered hoping that he hadn't gone too much too fast with the suggestion. The idea had been simmering in his head since he and Hotch had spoken in Boston. The unexpected experience of being in this house alone with Emily made it feel like the right time to ask her.

Emily smiled back at him replying, "I'd be honored Dave. If you are sure. As long as you…"

Dave waved as he stated, "... I know. I know. Be nice to Spencer. I will do my best."

As Emily looked over at the wall as she laughed at his response, she noticed the time. Meeting up with Dave and their conversation had taken more than she had thought it had. Pointing to the clock, Emily stated, "we'll need to leave soon in order to make it to Quantico before the team meeting."

"It is later than I thought it was. That is what happens sometimes with good conversation.' Dave stated as he continued to look around the room before turning back to Emily and asking, "is he buried here in DC as well?" as he gestured back to the pictures of her grandfather.

Emily shook her head, "no. We buried him in France. That is where my grandparents retired. That is where he buried my grandmother. It was where he was at peace."

Emily had stopped herself from being more specific, remembering how annoyed she had been with herself after mentioning the cabin in the French Alps on the jet over a year earlier. Enough time had passed she hoped the rest of the team had forgotten about the reference. She didn't want to give away her hiding place to anyone else.

"France. Was that who was ill? When things fell apart with Hotch?" Dave asked as this part seemed to match up with what Aaron had told him about the circumstances of how they lost touch with each other.

Emily nodded. Given this conversation she was relieved that Hotch had told her all that he had shared with Dave about their past as part of what they had discussed in Boston. While initially concerned with him knowing, she quickly agreed with Hotch that going forward it would be helpful for Dave to know their shared history.

"Yeah. I was so worried when I heard that he was sick. My grandfather had been there for me so many times over the years. I will forever regret that I didn't take the time to talk directly to Aaron. I was on an early morning flight and didn't think I had the time. The note I left for Aaron was removed before he saw it. He didn't know where or why I had suddenly."

Emily took a deep shuddering breath before continuing, "I was with him in the hospital when he died. After the funeral when I came home, Aaron was just gone. Apartment was cleared out. Phone was disconnected. No words about where he went, at least from him. The grapevine said he had gotten a position on an international taskforce. Something I knew he wanted. I wasn't upset that he made a decision to further his career but that he just seemingly disappeared without a word.

It was a rough time. I don't know if I can ever forgive my mother for what she and my stepfather did. Particularly since they haven't shown any remorse."

The room as silent as Dave didn't know what to respond to that. It was unusual for Emily to open up and even rarer to see her wiping the corner of her eye.

Standing up, Dave stepped towards her as he said, "that would be hard kiddo. What they did hurt both of you very much. The good news is you found each other again and you have the chance now to be together. Embrace that."

As he was talking to Emily he thought about his own lost love Emma. They had similarly lost contact and had never had the opportunity to reconnect. Emma's death almost a year ago had made it impossible for them to ever be together again. It was why he was determined to do all that he could to help Aaron and Emily now that they had found each other again.

AN: OK first the next chapter finds them in NYC. Second, apologies that it took so long to post this chapter. Over the last 6 weeks I have repeatedly had troubling logging onto this site. On two separate occasions I couldn't log in for an extended period of time no matter how many times I ID'd planes, boats and buses. After the first time, I thought I fixed the issue on my computer however when I tried to post last week, it happened again. I hope I have the issue completely fixed this time. I will continue to post chapters here if I can and am determined to complete this story.

I'm mentioning it in case at some point in the future I can't log in anymore. If that happens, I have an account on another site- A O 3 where I have the same username. As of right now nothing is posted there as I've been trying to focus my limited time on working on writing my stories.

Hope this makes sense.