Hey Guys! I'm back. I'm sorry I was gone so long. I didn't even realize that I hadn't updated this in so long.
So thanks to CriminalMindsLuver4ever for reviewing and telling me you missed this story and that I should update. I had a lot of this already written and got stuck at one point and then forgot to get back to it - as I of course did some other writing.
The lesson is: if I've been away for awhile drop me a line and let me know you miss this (or any) story and I'll probably get on writing another chapter.
Here's the last part of Aftermath.
Aftermath Finale
"I heard all the hostages were released safely." The Ambassador continues before Emily can interrupt. "And Rachel? She made it out alive. I also heard you saved someone who wasn't even in the bank. It sounds like you being in the BAU made all of that happen. It may have turned out worse if you weren't."
"But I lost Rachel because of it. She —." Emily stops pacing and looks at her mother. "Are you telling me the truth? This isn't part of some scheme because you need from me?" Emily stares into her mother's eyes.
"No, Emily," Elizabeth says plainly. Emily hears a bit of hurt in her mother's voice but doesn't dwell on it.
"Okay." Emily drops back onto the couch. She leans her head back and runs both hands over her face. "She loves me and I failed her."
"Do you love her?"
"Yes. She doesn't even know. Because I'm a coward."
"You've never been a coward, Emily. Never."
Emily scoffs at the statement. "I was with this." Emily turns her head toward her mother. "I don't know what to do, Mom," Emily says broken.
The Ambassador thinks. "Have you spoken to her since you rode off?"
"No."
"Call her."
Emily shakes her head on the back of the couch. "No, she wants space."
"Did you have your phone off?"
"Yeah."
"Did she call you?"
"Yeah, she left a few messages."
"Then call her," the Ambassador says simply and seriously.
"It's not that simple. I really messed up." Emily covers her faces with her hands as her head falls back on the couch.
"Let her make that decision, Emily." The older brunette looks at her daughter and internally shakes her head as she sees her in a new light. Emily wanted this woman, loved this woman. And she knew it, but she was holding herself back.
The Ambassador couldn't help but feel guilty. This was was her daughter and she wasn't able to grab the good things in life, what she wanted most, with everything she had. She hadn't taught her how. Well, not in her personal life. Sure, Emily grabbed every professional opportunity presented to her, even if it meant distancing herself from her family, especially if it meant distancing herself from her family and coming by everything on her own, but she couldn't accept that her relationship—love—didn't have a scoreboard where you could lose points or an edge because of mistakes. She hadn't taught Emily that. She hadn't made her feel it.
"Emily."
Before the older woman could add anything more, Emily startles her by hopping off the couch.
"I have to go." This is too much. These last two days have been too much. She can't take her mother on top of that. Not after the curveball she has just thrown her. And her tone when she said her name. There are certain things Emily knows are going to happen when she and her mother get into the same room. That tone isn't one of them. She has no idea what that tone means. There's something there she can't decipher. She's never heard it before from her mother. This is too much.
Elizabeth shoots up from the couch at her daughter's words. "Emily."
Emily cuts her off as she's already heading out of the office door. "I'm fine." Emily calls over her shoulder as she rushes down the hall.
Emily pulls out her cell phone and scrolls to a name. She couldn't do it. Not yet. She needed to be ready. Emily puts that thought out of her head as she gets into her car.
She scrolls up her contact list and makes the call.
"Emily, I didn't think I would hear from you again so soon." Hotch's voice sounds in her ear.
"Garcia and JJ said I still have a job. Is it still available?"
"It was never unavailable, Prentiss."
"Thanks, Hotch," Emily smiles. At least she has her job.
"Emily," Aaron says, "you can spend some time away. Let things calm down a bit."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Hotch," Emily says. "I'm fine now."
Emily ends the call and leans her head back on the headrest. She takes a breath before starting the car and driving around the driveway and through the gate away from the Ambassador's house.
Outside Rachel's Apartment Building
Emily looks up at the apartment building as she sits in her car. No more putting this off. It's time to right the ship. She deserves this.
Emily pulls out her phone and taps the name she needs.
Rachel's Apartment
Ashley and the Montgomery women had finished the movie and were now searching through Netflix and Rachel's DVD collection trying to decide what to watch next.
"Brown Eyed Girl" silences the debate about which movie to watch next. Rachel reaches over to the nightstand and snatches her phone.
"Emily?" She says with panic.
"I got your messages." Emily answers.
Rachel finally exhales. The rock in the pit of her stomach gets a little smaller and every part of her body is thudding in rhythm with her heartbeats as she finally hears her girlfriend's voice. Had it really only been a day? If there was any doubt that she was in love with Emily Prentiss, this immediate reaction is clear evidence that she does.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm outside. Can you come down?"
The fact that Emily didn't answer her question was not lost on Rachel. "Yeah, sure. I'll be right there."
"Thanks." Emily hangs up. Rachel jumps into action looking for her shoes.
"What going on?" Ashley asks.
"Emily's here. I'm going out to meet her." Rachel slips into a pair of sneakers and walks out of the room. Her mother and Ashley follow.
"I'm coming with you." Ashley moves toward the door where her shoes are.
"Ash, no." Rachel can see a protest coming. "This is between Emily and I."
"She disappeared on you," Ashley says outraged.
"Ash, please. Just stay here." Rachel grabbed a jacket from the front closet and was out the door.
Rachel smiles as she sees Emily leaning against her car with her arms crossed. She can tell something's up, but she chooses to ignore it for the moment. Emily was here. And she was safe.
"Hi," she says as she reaches Emily's car.
"Hi." Emily's fingers tighten on her bicep. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you —"
"Rachel. I need to tell you something." Emily pushes herself off of her car. She stands tall in front of Rachel.
"What is it? Are you okay?" Rachel steps closer and rubs Emily arm.
Emily inhales and blinks slowly. Rachel this close and being herself is making it difficult for Emily to tuck her feelings away in a tiny box in her mind. It doesn't help that her body betrays her by skipping a beat as soon as Rachel touches her arm.
"We need to end this."
Rachel's hand stops moving up and down Emily's arm, but she doesn't remove it.
"What?"
"We need to break up. I can't - we can't be together."
"What? Emily, you're not making any sense. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Rachel. We just need to end this."
"No. The doctors say I'm fine. Everything is okay. I don't blame you for what happened. What's going on?" Rachel demands.
"I don't know what else to tell you," Emily says sullen and helpless.
"Give me a reason! A real one. Why are you doing this?
Emily looks away from Rachel.
"Emily."
Emily steels herself. She mentally strengthens those boxes meant for everything she needed to keep away.
She looks back at Rachel. Even though she doesn't want to, and it would be easier if she didn't, Emily looks at Rachel.
"I cheated on you." And it's like Emily can see everything in Rachel stop. She hates it. But she has to do it. "I kissed someone."
When everything jumpstarts in Rachel, her hand flies off Emily as she takes a couple steps back.
"I'm sorry. It just happened. But you don't deserve that." Rachel can't meet Emily's eyes. "I'll just go."
"Yeah," Rachel whispers.
Emily crosses to the driver's side of her car and gets in. She glances at Rachel. Rachel hasn't moved. Emily feels pressure behind her eyes and jams the key into the ignition and starts the car before any tears can escape. She can't break down. Not yet. Not here.
Rachel takes in a shaky breath at the sound of the car coming to life. She doesn't want to cry. She doesn't want to do this again.
Emily concentrates on looking out her front windshield instead of side view mirror where she knows she'll be able to see Rachel.
When Emily's car turns off of Rachel's street she exhales sharply. Her lip quivers as she tries to hold in her emotions. She covers her mouth as an added layer against the emotions trying to escape.
"Rach?" Ashley's voice asks from behind her.
Rachel takes a deep breath before she turns to her friend. "Did you guys pick out a movie?"
"What happened?"
"Let's just watch the movie." Rachel walks past Ashley to her apartment building.
Derek's Apartment
Derek opens his apartment door. He sees the smile, but knows it's fake. His observation is confirmed when the case of beer is brought to eye level.
"I brought beer," Emily says.
"I'll never say no to that. Come in." Derek moves out the way.
Derek and Emily lounge on his couch pretending to watch something on TV. Emily's already finished 2 beers and works on a third. As Derek works on finishing his second, he's decides that enough is enough.
"How much longer are we gonna pretend this is a normal hangout?" Derek asks.
"It is," Emily says, not daring to look away from the TV.
"No, you don't want to be alone, so you came here hoping that we wouldn't talk about anything. But I can tell something's really wrong."
"Everything's fine."
Derek looks at Emily. Her eyes are focused on the television. "You broke up with her, didn't you?"
Emily eyes cut to Derek. "You're profiling me?"
"So, that's a yes."
"Stop."
"I've never seen you happier than when you were apparently with her, you know since you didn't bother telling me." He says the last part jokingly.
"She deserves better than me and this job. I chose to accept the danger and everything that comes along with this job. She didn't." Emily cuts off Derek's protest. "If it wasn't that bank, it would have been something else. You know how it is, everyone around us is a target."
"I don't believe you. You love her."
"And I need to keep her safe, even from me. I don't want her hurt again."
"What'd she say when you told her?"
"Nothing."
Derek shakes his head. "I think you're making a mistake."
"Okay," Emily ends the conversation simply.
BAU - Next Day
Emily walks off the elevator slowly with her go bag over her shoulder. Normally, she could function for a few days on little sleep—occupational hazard—but the last couple days of emotional and mental stress were definitely making their effects known. She can't even remember a time when she felt this exhausted or off-kilter.
She dropped her bag at her desk before heading to the kitchen area for a strong cup of coffee. She could feel eyes on her as she made her coffee on autopilot.
"Yes?" She asked without turning.
"You're back," Penelope's voice answered.
Emily leaves her coffee and faces the analyst. "Yeah." Before Emily can say anything else she's pulled into a fierce hug.
"Don't you ever disappear like that again," the blonde says into Emily's ear.
"I'll try not to."
Penelope pulls back. "You better do more than try, Missy."
Emily can't help the upturn at the corner of her lips.
"Hey," JJ's voice cuts in. "You okay?" She asks Emily.
"Yeah," Emily answers as she turns and grabs her travel mug from the counter.
"You want to try that again?" JJ questions. Both blondes look at Emily expectantly.
"I've been better. But it's fine."
Penelope and JJ glance at each other quickly.
"Guys, I'm fine," Emily reassures them. Though, she's not sure how well that works. "I'll see you in the conference room."
Emily walks past them and goes to her desk. She opens her drawer and freezes. Emily looks into the drawer.
The embossed letters that spell out 'Rachel Montgomery' stare back at her. Rachel's book. Emily had just started it the night before this mess.
She grabs her gun and shuts the drawer with a little more force than necessary. Emily clips the holster on and makes her way to the conference room. Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss is back on duty.
All eyes turn to her when she enters the room. Everyone's already there. Emily sighs. "I'm fine, guys."
"You could've taken time off," Hotch says.
"Yeah, no one would fault you for that." Rossi adds.
Emily looks to Reid. He's got that concerned look on his face. She's knows he's about to jump in with a statistic of some kind. She beats him to it.
"Yes, I know I could've taken time, but I don't need to. I just need to get back to normal. So," she turns to Penelope, "let's just get started with the case." Emily takes a seat next to Morgan.
"Alright," Garcia says. "So, you all are heading to sunny Florida, where some very, very not so sunny things have been happening."
Garcia briefs the team on the case and they are miles in the air on the BAU plane within the hour.
So you've made it to the end of the chapter. And the end of this part of Rachel and Emily's journey! (You know they get back together, don't worry)
Let me know what you think! As most of you know I always respond to every review so I really want to know how you guys are feeling about all this. Talk to me! (lol).
Next chapter: I'm thinking is gonna be one that's earlier days of their relationship.
Review.
TVCrazed (It's good to be back)
