Feb. 4th: Bravado – Super Saturday word count – Pay an escalation cost for each add-on.

400 words – The Characters must act quickly! Out the door, down the road, fearlessly onward, they will meet their enemies on the field of battle!

+ 200 words – Some verbal or physical muscle flexing from the troops.

+ 200 words – An inspiring speech.

+ 200 words – Adventure awaits!

Emily Prentiss/Derek Morgan

"That was torture, Ian."

Emily's voice dripped with anger as she confronted the man across from her. His gaze was firm, his blue eyes cold. There was no trace of that piercing gaze that had sucked "Lauren" in back in the day. All she saw was hatred, for her, for Chloe, and for women in general.

Mind, Chloe was far from a saint herself, that much had become certain. But even she didn't deserve what Ian had put her through. Spending any sort of time around him was enough to fuck any woman up to some degree or another, that was just a fact.

Emily continued to hold her intimidating stance as she looked across at this man who'd destroyed so many lives. The moment she saw the slightest slip in his hard demeanor, she knew she had him right where she wanted him.

It was a damn good feeling.

Her heart raced as she donned her Kevlar vest. She couldn't believe it'd all finally come to this point. Doyle was in custody, they'd narrowed down his band of cronies and knew where to find them, she was thisclose to seeing Declan again, and she'd managed to reunite with her friends on top of it all.

It was enough to make anyone's head spin, and for the briefest of moments Emily longed to sit down, to process it all.

Now was not that time, though. Not when they were readying to confront Chloe.

"Hey."

Emily jumped slightly as Morgan's face appeared in her line of vision.

"You good?" he asked, brows up, his eyes searching hers. He'd been keeping close watch on her since the moment she walked through the doors of the conference room. Partly because he knew reliving this fight, reuniting with Doyle (albeit under completely different circumstances), could be tough. He was all too familiar with the pain that came with confronting a traumatic part of one's past.

But the other reason, the main reason, he kept watch was because he needed to reassure himself she was here. Alive. When she'd walked through that doorway earlier, he almost wanted to pinch himself. He'd lost count of how many times he'd dreamed and hoped of such a miracle these past seven months, and now that his wish had been granted, he didn't quite know how to handle it. There were so many things he wanted to do, so many things he wanted to say…

For the moment, however, that had to be put aside. When Emily didn't answer his question, he leaned in a little closer.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," Emily said. Her certainty didn't quite reach her eyes, though, Morgan noticed.

"Hey. Look at me." Morgan placed his hands on her shoulders. "We've got this son of a bitch. We're going to save Declan. This is all going to be over soon. You've got this. You saved Declan before. You can do it again." He cast a pointed gaze at her. "You're not alone this time."

That last sentence in particular had Emily swallowing a building lump in her throat. This. This sort of support was what she'd feared she'd lost over the past seven months. JJ had told her, shortly after her return, that the team had been "in shock", and she'd expected that.

She just hoped they hadn't come to hate her, too.

Emily simply nodded her thanks, and Morgan backed off, giving her a quick pat on the back. "Let's do this," he said, as the two of them headed out to join the rest of the team.

At this rate, Emily would swear she'd wind up deaf.

She tried to shield her ears from the shots firing every which way around her, but even that wasn't enough. Emily tried to fire off a few rounds herself, and in the chaos, she wasn't entirely sure whom she hit, if she even hit anyone at all.

The entire showdown felt like an eternity, but in all actuality, it lasted only a few fast and furious moments. Next thing she knew, Doyle lie bleeding on the tarmac, there were dead bodies draped elsewhere, and she was breathing a massive sigh of relief as she heard the rest of her teammates' voices piping up.

She also had Declan in her arms. He was, remarkably, physically unharmed, and speaking. Emily wondered if she'd ever hear that innocent young voice again, and took a moment to savor it.

Seeing his hand reach for that of his dying father's, though...that was an image that would wind up haunting her for a good, long while.

The weight of all that had happened in the last few days finally caved in on her, and all Emily wanted to do was sleep. The last thing she remembered was Morgan's voice calling to her, his hands helping both her and Declan up.

"I'm in."

Who knew two simple words could be such music to one's ears? Morgan wouldn't have blamed Emily one bit for refusing the offer to return to the team – if he'd been in her shoes, he would've debated the idea, too, at the very least.

But on a personal, admittedly selfish level, he was thrilled with her decision. These past seven months had given him a lot to mull over, made him truly realize what he'd initially thought he'd missed out on forever. It didn't take a genius to realize this was clearly a second chance offering on a big silver platter.

As grateful as he was for this opportunity, however, he knew he couldn't rush things. She'd been through so much, and he knew full well rebuilding their friendship alone would take some time. And he vowed to learn to treasure that bond even more this time around, too.

Morgan waited until the rest of the team had left the office, catching up to Emily as she made her way towards the doors.

"Hey, Em?" he began. When she turned to him, though, whatever else he'd planned to say had died on his lips. He took in her appearance again, and did the only thing he could think to do at that moment, wrapping his arms around her. He held back a smile as he felt her hands tentatively touch his waist in turn.

"What was that for?" Emily asked, pulling away. Her grin was hesitant, yet pleased.

Morgan shrugged. "Just wanted to say I'm glad you're back." He placed his hands on his hips. "And that all this action lately has left me kinda hungry. You wanna go grab a bite somewhere or something?"

The grin finally spread, a genuine warmth flooding Emily's chest. "I'd like that," she said.

Morgan wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in close. "Welcome home, Emily," he murmured.