Chapter 15 realisation
Emily felt strange. Her head hurt like hell, her ribs were pulling every time she took a small breath, and her leg felt heavy like it had a cast on. Her mind felt like it was stuck in thick mud. She had small fragments of memory of being arrested by Morgan with JJ and the SUV crashing. Why had she been arrested? Everything was fragmented, just out of reach. She could feel someone holding her hand, rubbing circles on it.
'Come back to me please, Emily, I-I C-Can't live without you, PLEASE COME BACK!' The voice begged again. She recognised her heartfelt voice, all warm and tingly, but WHO was it?
Emily screamed out again, "Anybody there?" Into the darkness, but nobody replied. Frustrated, she laid down on the floor to wait. Her eyes felt heavy. Closing her eyes, she entered a dream state.
EJ
Emily was in her hospital bed after being involved in a road traffic accident on the way to the precinct. They had been hit by a delivery truck missing a red light rolling their vehicle. Emily had been trapped by her legs in the back, suffering severe head trauma and a broken lower leg. She had been unconscious for three days now, and her doctors had told her wife it was just a matter of time before she woke. Tracey and JJ hadn't left her bedside since she arrived. JJ suffered a broken left lower arm in the accident.
Morgan and Hotch walked into the room. "Any change?" Morgan asked
"No, she still sleeping," JJ answered
"Hi ", Emily croaked from the bed, instantly getting everyone's attention
Tracey grabbed the water glass and put the straw into Emily's mouth, allowing her to take a drink to help soothe her throat
"Hello sweetheart, don't worry, I'm fine. We'll apart from a brass band playing in my head." She smiled at Tracey.
JJ looked on confused, "Emily, your married to me; Tracey is our friend unless you divorced me in your coma." JJ told Emily
"NO! I'm your police partner. I married Tracey 12 years ago in England; I've only known you for five years. Sarg tells them." Emily desperately asked Morgan
"Princess, we are partners in the FBI. We are both supervisory special agents. We have been partners for eight years. Come on, Princess." Morgan replied
"No, stop messing about Sargent Morgan. You are a Sargent in the NYPD. The same as Hotch is a patrol officer in the NYPD. Please don't play with me. Where are Vanessa and Ellie?" A very distraught, Emily told Morgan.
Emily's vital signs monitor went into alarm and started beeping loudly. Her nurse and doctor ran in and checked Emily. The nurse injected Emily with a sedative as her heart rate was dangerously high. Within minutes the alarm stopped as Emily entered a drug-induced slumber.
"Mrs Prentiss, it is common after substantial head injuries for the patient to wake up confused. They tend to dream about things that incorporate their friends and work colleagues. Do you know who Vanessa or Ellie is?" Emily's doctor told JJ
"I don't know any Vanessa or Ellie. We have talked about adopting over the last couple of months." JJ replied
JJ had managed to stay strong for Emily while she was unconscious, but listening to Emily's confused state had broken her heart. She excused herself and walked out of the room, tears streaming down her face.
'Get yourself together. She's awake, confused but awake.' She thought to herself as she rushed out of the hospital. She stopped at the entrance and sat down on the bench 'she doesn't love me anymore.' Her heart just shattered. Her soul mate had gone. JJ was lost in her mind when she felt the hand on her shoulder. She jumped in shock. Looking up, she saw the worried face of Garcia.
"Gumdrop, everything is going to be ok. Her love for you will break through, trust me. After all, I am the love queen of Quantico, and if it doesn't, we will just have to hit her on the head again. Come on, let's go back." Garcia told her, pulling her up from the bench.
"Thanks, Pen. I need coffee. First, the biggest and strongest they brew." JJ gave Penelope a small smile.
EJ
Emily slowly became aware of her surroundings as the sedative had worn off. She was more confused than before. 'Am I married to Jennifer? No, I love Tracey with all my heart. It cannot be true.' Emily was thinking she kept her eyes shut, feigning sleep. Emily felt devastated. Vanessa and Ellie were figments of her imagination. The hole in her heartfelt was genuine.
'This is too much. Can't I stay unconscious? I cannot deal with this. I don't know what's real and what is not.'
"I know your awake, Emily, and you have a small tick above your eyes because you are confused. Please open your eyes sweetheart, I know you must be so confused. Please open your eyes and look at me, please," JJ begged
Emily opened her eyes and looked at JJ and smiled, but JJ didn't need to be a profiler to know it was for show. JJ didn't think it possible, but her heart shattered once more at the sight of Emily's face. She was stuck with her comatose reality. JJ pulled out her phone and opened the photo app, and passed her phone across to Emily.
" the doctor mentioned if you looked at pictures and I explained them to you, and it could help you regain your proper memories," JJ explained to Emily as she flicked through the photo's
"To me, he is my Sargent. He even got so pissed at us both he made us dress as teddy bears. Hotch is his partner." Emily smiled
JJ smiled at the thought of the two of them dressed as teddy bears. "Hotch is our section chief. He is your boss." JJ told her wife
"This was Lt Strauss. She was our platoon commander, and she hated me." Emily smirked
"That's our ultimate boss, and she hates you with a vengeance, so no change there." JJ smiled, gently squeezing Emily's shoulder.
"That's Captain Rossi. He was in charge of our Precinct. He was a very nice man." Smiles Emily
"Rossi is a profiler on our team. He is an author and fantastic cook who thinks of you as a surrogate daughter. He wants to come and see you but is afraid it might hinder your recovery." JJ tells her wife, feeling her eyes starting to tear up. Her emotional state is getting worse the longer Emily is not responding to her as her wife.
Emily smiles as she looks at a picture of her, JJ and Garcia singing in a bar "she was a CSU tech for the NYPD. She was your best friend who you introduced to me after we partnered up. She was the life and soul of the party." Emily smiled, thinking of the fun nights before the girls.
"This is Commissioner Reid; We met a few times together. He also made us was wash cars dressed as teddy bears. He was fair a geek but smart with a great memory. I liked him." Smiled Emily
"He is also on our team as a profiler, and you think of him as your little brother because your both geeks. You hide it better. When you go all nerdy Emily, I think you so sexy, you both love sci-fi your favourite is Doctor Who." JJ tells Emily with tears streaming down her face.
"Thank you, Jennifer, but I love you, but only as my partner. Tracey is my wife of 12 years. I'm sorry if it's all from my dream world, but it feels real to me. I remember feeling petrified before I asked her to marry me, our honeymoon touring America. I remember saving Vanessa and Ellie from two creepy guys that we both killed, fostering them both before we adopted them." Emily was hyperventilating, thinking about the loss of her two daughters.
JJ started running her fingers of her uninjured arm through her wife's hair, whispering into her ear, slowly calming her. Emily's breath slowly calmed down, exhausted she fell asleep in her hospital bed.
EJ
JJ had left her sleeping wife and wandered around the hospital corridors, eventually stopping in front of the hospital chapel. Not being a very religious person, surprisingly, she found her hand reaching for the chapel door and entering. JJ took a seat and rested her arms against the seat in front, and bowed her head.
'I'm ever going to get her back. She's devastated over the loss of her daughters that never existed.' JJ thought to her self closing her eye starting to cry again.
'Please help me. I don't know what to do?' JJ asked herself.
JJ jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss, maybe I can help," the priest asked JJ
The priest looked down at the upset blond with highly red eyes surrounding lifeless blue eyes. The priest thought to himself those eyes looked soulless.
"I'm sorry about your problem, is it your wife? Your request for help wasn't silent; you spoke them aloud, Child." The priest offered a kind smile and sat down next to JJ
JJ gave the priest a sad smile and told him about the car accident and Emily's comma and confused memories, including her utter despair over the loss of Vanessa and Ellie. JJ sighed after finishing her tale and dropped her head back onto her outstretched arms.
EJ
A worried Garcia and Morgan sat outside Emily's empty room. Emily had slipped out unnoticed by the nursing staff. JJ had gone radio silent and was missing. "You don't think they would do anything stupid?" A concerned Garcia asked Morgan
"No, they aren't suicidal. They are both very lost for different reasons. JJ thinks she has lost her soul mate, and I don't think she could handle only being in Emily's memories for 5 Years that would break her heart forever. Emily is confused. The doctor said 90% of patients regain their memories within two days of waking. If she is one of the 10% that never regain her old memories, we will support her as she is family. They are both lost souls needing a bright light to guide them home." Morgan replied, placing his arm around her, gently hugging her PDA be dammed.
"Come on, Sargent Morgan! Let look for our girls." Smirked Garcia
"Yes, Ma'am." Morgan offered her his biggest grin and walked off to start the hunt for the ladies Prentiss.
EJ
Emily had wandered around the corridors aimlessly like her wife earlier, her headache getting worse; Emily put it down to all the stress. She came to a stop outside the multi-denominational chapel in the hospital opened the door on hearing voices. She slipped into the chapel quickly and quietly and sat on the back row listening when she recognised one of the voices as Jennifer. She listened to her tell the priest about her current situation; listening to JJ pouring her heart out, Emily felt a slight ache in her heart.
Without thinking, Emily got up and moved across to JJ and sat down next to her, taking her hand into hers and gently squeezing it. " I might not remember you as my wife, but my heart does. It's breaking seeing you distraught because of me." Emily smiled
"I'll take any small piece of you, and I don't care if it takes years; I want my Emily back. I fell head over heels for you the first day I met you. I could hardly concentrate on briefing you. I got lost in your chocolate eyes and your silky hair. I thought you caught me looking at your chest too often. I was so embarrassed at being unprofessional, but you have always done that to me. Please come back." JJ just collapsed into Emily's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
The priest quietly left the chapel as he was confident the love they had for each other would shine through. He smiled to himself, thinking God does work in beautiful ways.
Emily gently rubbed the back of JJ, telling her everything would be ok. "It hurts so much, sweetheart," JJ sobbed
The two Prentiss ladies stayed silently holding each other, why they both cried eventually, they both drifted off into a dreamland of sorts.
EJ
Morgan and Garcia gazed down at a sleeping pair of Prentiss's in the hospital chapel. JJ was sat in Emily's lap, her head resting in the crook of her neck Emily's head rested on top of JJ's head. Both looked peaceful, but they had both been given an idea by the friendly priest.
"Emily, JJ, wake up! Wake up, girls." Morgan gently shook their shoulders
"What? Oh Derek," JJ yawned and stretched, looking down at Emily. Emily slowly opened her eyes and looked a little confused.
"Hotch wants us," Garcia told everyone.
"Sweetheart, you haven't mentioned anything about Elizabeth from your comma?" JJ asked her wife.
"I was hoping you were not going to ask this question. I've always known who she was since I came too. You married my mother, a younger nicer version, but you were still a horny pair. Shame on you, Jennifer." Emily laughed at JJ's shocked and reddening face. "Jennifer, your mouths open."
"That's just so wrong on so, so many levels. Come on, and Hotch needs us." JJ announces, almost sprinting out of the chapel.
EJ
The group of four meet Hotch on the children's ward in the particular area reserved for abused children. Hotch smiles at Emily "glad to see you up and about. How's your memory?" He asked
"Still missing so much memory headaches like a bitch, but the doc said time will tell. What do you need, boss man? Bearing in mind, I can't remember any FBI stuff." Emily answered while JJ held her hand.
Hotch smiled and indicated for everyone to come with him. Stopping in front of an observation window to a special interview room for children, he motions Emily to come over.
"OH MY GOD! THAT'S THEM, JENNIFER VANESSA AND ELLIE!" Emily screamed. Suddenly Emily grabbed her head and collapsed. Emily would have hit the floor if she hadn't been caught by JJ and lowered to the floor gently.
"Emily, are you all right?" JJ asked with concern
"Oh my god, that hurt, Ahh I remember everything now!. The doc said my brain could just reset but forgot to mention the skull-splitting pain. I remember everything, Jennifer." Emily leans in and profoundly kisses her wife." Hotch interrupted the love fest with a cough.
"Sorry, boss man." Smirked Emily
Hotch handed Emily a file from the NYPD about Vanessa and Ellie they had passed on to her for opinion. The two girls had been rescued in a dinner by two female patrol officers from two sex offenders. No one had been able to get them to talk or interact. They only held onto a teddy bear, each dressed as NYPD police officers.
"So that's who they are. Could Jennifer and I have a go at speaking to them? I think I have an idea?" Emily asked Hotch
Hotch nodded, and Emily smiled and whispered something into JJ's ear. JJ looked bemused at what Emily just whispered but nodded.
"Woman, if this is a wind up I'm moving in with my comma dream wife." Emily physically shuddered
"Don't joke." Emily slapped JJ playfully on her shoulder
EJ
The whole BAU team are happily standing outside the observation window, except for Emily and JJ. Hotch's phone rings, and after listening to the caller, he hangs up without uttering a single word.
"Morgan, Garcia, I need your cell phones, please." He held his hand up for both devices. Begrudgingly Garcia hands over her phone, as does Derek
"Hotch what the..." Morgan stops dead and bursts out laughing, as does the rest of the BAU team.
"Ingenious Emily." Rossi and Reid announce
Emily and JJ are dressed in borrowed NYPD teddy bear suits carrying their heads. Emily has just managed to get her casted leg into the costume.
"Derek Morgan! Not a single word or I will bury you in files for the remainder of your concise life. Do you understand me?" JJ wagged her brown-furred paw in front of his face.
"You are a scary woman, JJ, but I just can't help myself." Taking his life into his own hands, he rubs JJ's belly.
"Oh, Derek, it was so nice knowing you." Smirked Emily.
EJ
Standing outside the interview room, Emily and JJ fasten on their teddy heads and enter the room.
"Hello, my name is Emily bear, and this is my wife, Jennifer bear. Could we come and sit down next to you girls?" Emily asked
"It's ok. We will sit opposite and not touch you. You are both safe here. We will not hurt you." JJ told Vanessa and Ellie. Both ladies sat down opposite the young girls out of reach.
They sat in silence for a few minutes letting the young girls get accustomed to them and gain their trust. Both Vanessa and Ellie are still looking at their bears but casting the occasional glimpse at JJ and Emily.
JJ reaches across and pulls Emily closer to her, and they link arms. Both girls looked up at the cuddling bears, and both crawled through, and one climbed into JJ's and Emily's lap and hugged them. Emily smiled to herself inside her bear head and gently rubbed her head. Vanessa started to pull away but stopped and then cuddled back in, not feeling any danger from Emily.
"If you want to move, I will not stop you, and I'm here to help you. We will never hurt you, but we need your help?" Emily told Vanessa in a quiet voice
"Can I see your face, please?" Ellie asked from JJ's lap, "what, this isn't my proper head?" JJ joked
"No, silly." Smiled Ellie for the first time since Emily and JJ had met her.
Emily and JJ removed their bear heads and showed the two young girls what they looked like. Vanessa traced her fingers around Emily's bandage around her head and then down her cheek. She suddenly stopped pulling her hand back, fear in her eyes waiting to be hit.
Emily slowly and deliberately raised her injured arm and lifted Vanessa's hand back onto her face, and smiled, "I will never hit you. Don't be afraid of me."
Over the next three hours, the two girls walked Emily and JJ through what had happened to them over the past three years since they became orphaned. The state had handed two young, innocent girls over to their predatory uncle and his friends. The two seasoned FBI agents wanted to kill the girls' uncle, but that would be over far too quickly.
The two exhausted girls now slept in Emily's and JJ's lap in the particular interview room.
"I want them, Jennifer, Please sweetheart, we can show them love and give them a good life," Emily begged her wife
JJ carefully leaned in to kiss Emily so she didn't wake Ellie. "No need to beg Emily, you beat me to the punch. Whatever it takes, let's talk to CPS once we put them to bed and ask Penelope to watch them. I don't want them to wake up alone. They know her from her food deliveries." JJ smiled at her wife
EJ
Emily and JJ sat opposite a social worker from child protective services listening to a mandatory brief before they could go any further with the fostering of Vanessa and Ellie.
"You do realise it is highly irregular to receive permission to become foster parents so quickly you must know some very powerful people. You cannot take the two girls outside New York for the first six months, and I'm sorry that it no one can change that. Do you still want to go ahead?" Miss Deleuze asked the couple
"Oh god, yes!" JJ replied
The social worker handed over a tower of paperwork to each agent to start the fostering process. While they completed the forms, she handed over two folders containing the adoption process in them. Both Emily and JJ had huge smiles plastered on their faces while completing the mountain of paperwork.
After spending the best part of two hours completing the documentation, they sat in a taxi talking on the way back to the FBI office.
"So it's decided then we both go and ask Hotch for the transfer to the New York office. I will go back as a media liaison and you to normal none serial killers ass-kicking." JJ checked with Emily
"Yes, I know we are being a bit hasty as we haven't even checked with the two girls yet. But god Jennifer, they were just so.." Emily sniffed, "broken like I was before I met you. We can work our magic on them, don't you think, momma?" Emily smiled
"Oh, I do like the sound of that Mother Prentiss." JJ smiled
"Hey, it was you that married my mother in my coma dream world." smiled Emily
EJ
Walking into Hotch's temporary office, Emily and JJ took a deep breath. "Hotch, can we ta..." Emily was interrupted by Hotch raising his hand
" before you carry on, I need you both to sign these." He passed two forms across the desk to Emily and JJ. Both women read the forms and looked aghast at Hotch
"How did you know we wanted to foster the two girls?" Emily asked
He smiled " I'm a dam good profiler, plus watching how you both gained their confidence and trust. I did not doubt your choice your both very special with humongous hearts. I am putting you both TDY to the New York office for 18 months, which will give you enough time to foster and then adopt them both whilst training agents here. I still get to keep you in the unit, and you will do consults here, and we will brief twice a week by teleconference. Once your family is complete, you will return to Quantico." Hotch even managed a smile while telling them.
Both Emily and JJ decided to ignore the FBI's rules and hugged Hotch tightly, giving their thanks to the best way they could think.
EJ
"Girls, can you come over here please?" Emily asked, patting the settee where she sat with JJ
Vanessa and Ellie walked over and climbed into their laps, and cuddled into them.
"We are going to ask you a fundamental question, and we need you to answer honestly with what you want and not what you think we want to hear, Ok," Emily tells the two girls
Both Vanessa and Ellie nod in acknowledgement and wait for the question.
"We would both like to be your mom's if that is ok with you?" Emily paused to take a steadying breath " we would live in New York for 18 months. The first few months would be to see if you like us and would like to live with us. I must warn you your Momma (points to JJ) will steal all your ice cream. If we all like each other, we would love to adopt you to become your mothers and then live in Washington." Emily feels JJ grab her hand and gently squeeze, waiting for the girls' answer.
"We get Ice Cream?" Two excited girls asked
"Yes, and your toys and clothes. Would that be ok?" JJ asked
Neither girl answers verbally. They hug their future mother's and kiss them on their cheek.
JJ has lost control of her emotions and is crying. Looking across at Emily, she notices her wife has her face buried in Ellie's hair, whining like a little girl.
"Don't cry, Mommy," Ellie tells Emily as she starts to cry
Listening to her, Emily starts to cry harder. "I'm not sad, sweetie. They are happy tears. You have made us happy parents." Emily chocked out
The whole Prentiss family are emotional wrecks. The remaining BAU team watching through the window have not got a single dry eye even Hotch has a few sniffs at the sight of the new family as he does not doubt that Vanessa and Ellie will both become legally Emily's and JJ's
Thank you for reading