It wasn't half an hour later when the rest of the team, sans Hotch, walked back into the room and handed JJ their case files. They noticed the grins on the two womans faces but didn't want to say anything just in case. They had all noticed the shift between the two and figured that they had finally acted on their very obvious feelings for one another.
"Hey ladies, Hotch says the jet is fuelled and ready to go when you are." Morgan said, looking between the two, trying to figure out what was going on between the two, what had changed since they left them a little over an hour ago.
"Something is different here. You two seem much happier. One or both of you got good news." Reid stated, forgoing a question.
"Guys, do you three mind sharing one of the SUV's with Hotch, we have a stop to make on the way to the airport." JJ asked, trying to ignore Reid's statement and the piercing eyes of the three men in front of her.
"Of course we don't mind. Is everything okay?" Rossi spoke up for the first time, concern evident in his voice. Hotch chose this moment to make his entrance and Emily thought that it was finally time to tell the rest of the team, she had to do it at some stage anyway.
"You're going to find out soon anyway but I may as well tell you all now. I'm just going to conference in Garcia, she'll kill me if she's last to know." With that Emily pulled out her phone and speed dialed one of her best friends. "Hey Pen, I'm putting you on speaker, I have some news for everyone."
"Oh my God, is everyone okay? Please tell me everyone is okay?" was all anyone heard on the line once Emily put it on speaker.
"Pen, relax, everyone is just fine," Emily replied with a breathy laugh. "As I was just saying to the boys, myself and Jayj have to mae a stop on the way to the airport because, well I've applied to foster Carrie Ortiz and I've been approved to take her back to DC today if she wants to. We would have a home inspection and interview during the week with DC Social Services."
"Way to go Prentiss! We're all here for whatever you may need, you know that right? We're all delighted for you." said Morgan with a huge grin as he pulled Emily into a bear hug.
"Thanks guys, that means a lot to me. Hotch, I'll need some time off."
"Already taken care of, just let me know how long you'll need."
"Wonder Woman, is there anything you want me to set up before you jet-setting crime fighters come back to the nest?" Garcia asked, causing a round of laughter from the whole team.
"Thanks Garcia but I think I just want to talk to Carrie first and see if she wants to move across the country before I get my hopes up, I don't want to pressure her into anything she doesn't want. She may find foster care in a familiar city better and that's okay." From the look on Emily's face the whole team could tell that it wouldn't be okay.
"Alright guys," JJ said, putting a comforting hand on the small of Emily's back "We better get going, we'll see you on the plane."
After a quick round of goodbye's and good luck's the two women made their way towards the SUV.
"Jennifer, what if I'm no good at this?" Emily started to panic as she parked the car outside of Carrie's temporary foster home. "I don't know the first thing about raising a teenager. I mean look at my upbringing! Look at my Mother! Oh no, my Mother! What am I going to say to my Mother?" The look of horror that crossed Emily's face would have been comical if JJ didn't know how serious the older woman was freaking out. She rarely called her Jennifer and even then it was usually in the confines of one of their homes.
"Emily Prentiss, look at me," she only continued once she had the brunettes attention "You listen to me and you listen to me good. You are already a great role model in that girls life. The way that you're talking about her already tells me that you care and you're invested. Those are the main things. The fact that you're this worried right now tells me that. Now I'm not going to lie and tell you that this isn't going to be hard or that you're not going to screw up. Every first time mother does and you're unlucky that she has gone through so much the past few days. But I know you and I know that you can do this. I will be right beside you all the time, for whatever you need, so will the rest of the team. Now are you ready to get in there and talk to her?"
Upon Emily's nod she moved to get out of the car but was stopped by the brunettes hand around her wrist. Emily leaned over the centre console and placed a short kiss on JJ's lips, the first one outside either of their bedrooms.
"Thank you." Emily said as she looked into the blonde's eyes. It was only two short words but JJ knew the depth of meaning behind them. Thank you for being here. Thank you for stopping me freaking out. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for being you.
"Anytime Em, anytime." And Emily knew that she meant it. With that the two got out of the car and walked towards the house.
"Hello, how may I help you?" Asked a friendly-looking woman who opened the door but after everything that happened in this case neither woman was inclined to trust her.
"Hello, we're Agents Jareau and Prentiss from the FBI." JJ introduced as the two flashed their badges, "Ma'am would it be okay if we had a few words with Carrie?" She was in her 'Agent Jareau' mode and the question came out with not much room for debate.
"Of course Agents. She's in her room. It's up the stairs and the last door on the right. She hasn't said or eaten much since she got here, she also woke up in the middle of the night screaming. She didn't want to talk about that either." The woman said with a worried look on her face. 'Maybe she was one of the better ones' thought Emily as the two ascended the stairs, the woman giving them some privacy.
JJ saw Emily taking a deep breath before knocking on the door and put her hand on the small of the profilers back for a moment, trying to calm her lover.
"Go away, I don't want to talk about it." came the muffled reply from within the room.
"Carrie, it's Emily and JJ from the FBI, do you mind letting us in?" Emily asked gingerly. After a brief moment the door opened slowly "Hey, do you mind if we talk to you for a little bit?"
"Is it about my Aunt and Uncle?"
"That's part of it." That's all it took for the young girl to let the two agents in. Emily sat on the bed with Carrie while JJ stayed standing at the end of it.
"Will I be going to LA?" Carrie asked in a small voice. The girl looked younger, the sleepless nights and not eating taking their toll on the teenager. Emily didn't know how to reply and looked to JJ for help, she was the one who worked with words for a living. Seeing how much she was struggling JJ took over.
"Carrie, I was talking to your Aunt and Uncle earlier on today. I'm very sorry Carrie but they believe at this time that they would be unable to take care of you properly. They think that after everything you've been through that you deserve more attention and love than they can give you."
"I had a feeling this would happen. I guess it's okay." A tear ran down the teenagers face as she dropped her head. The broken look on her face was killing Emily and she just wanted to pull the young girl into her arms. One look at JJ and she could tell the younger woman felt the same. "Will I be staying here then?" Carrie whispered, barely loud enough for the agents to hear.
"About that, I think I have another solution," With that the two brunette's eyes met. "Now know that you have every right to say no but if you want to say yes then it has been approved and is all above board okay?" Carrie nodded and Emily continued "What would you say to coming to DC to live with me. I have been approved to become a foster parent. If you agree to come there would be a home inspection and interview during the week."
Crushing silence fell in the room and a fresh set of tears ran down Carrie's face, both of which compelled Emily to continue. "I live alone in an apartment in the middle of DC so it would be just you and me. You would have your own room and my family has quite a bit of money so that would never be a worry-" Emily was cut off by the teenager throwing herself into her arms and the feeling of hot tears on her neck.
"You mean you would want me?" Carrie whispered just inches from the brunettes ear, causing tears to run down Emily's face too. JJ didn't know what Carrie had said but she knew it hit Emily hard.
"Of course I want you." She replied, knowing the teenager was very vulnerable right now.
"I'm going to go downstairs and get everything sorted, call Hotch and Social Services." JJ said, wanting to give the two some privacy, to which Emily just nodded.
"My team are flying out tonight but if you want to stay an extra few days then that's okay, get your stuff together, say goodbye to your friends, any other arrangements you need to make, I'll stay with you."
"No, I just want to get out of here as soon as I can, try and forget everything that happened in this stupid city, I already have all my stuff, I went yesterday to get it." Carrie said, nodding to the corner where Emily saw ten or so boxes. "What time is the plane leaving?"
"Whenever we get there, or if I call ahead to say we want to stay a few more days." Seeing the confused face on the young brunette Emily added' "We have our own private jet."
Whatever Carrie's reply was going to be got cut off by JJ sticking her head in the door, phone in one hand, her other hand over the bottom half, signaling she was on to someone. "Hotch wants a rough timeline."
Emily looked at Carrie who just asked "Can we make one quick stop and then I'm ready to leave."
"That's okay," Emily said, having a feeling she knew where Carrie wanted to go "Tell Hotch we should be good to take off in about an hour and a half." JJ nodded and left to finish her call "Right kid, lets start moving these boxes to the car." With that her and Carrie took a box each and made their way down to the SUV. On their second trip JJ joined the other two and it didn't take the three women long to complete the task.
Twenty minutes later Emily pulled the SUV up outside the local cemetery and turned to face Carrie in the back seat, "Do you want one of us to come with you or would you like to be alone."
"Can I be alone please?"
"Of course, we'll be right here if you need anything." With that the young teen got out of the car and made her way into the cemetery to say one last goodbye to her family. She knew it would hurt too much to come back anytime soon.
"Hey Mom, Dad, Danny. I have some good news. Well I think it's good news anyway. I'm moving to DC. One of the FBI agents who worked on your case, who helped catch your killer, wants to foster me. Can you believe that? Me! Aunt Angela and Uncle Cruz said they couldn't take me. I don't blame them, they have their hands full as it is.
"I'm going to miss you guys, being so far away, but don't worry, I'll never forget you and I'll think about you every day. Emily seems like a great person and from the way I've seen them interact I think the whole team is really close. I'll have good people looking out for me. I'll come back and visit you guys when I can.
"I love you so much, I'm going to make you proud, I promise." By now there was tears streaming down her face as she placed a kiss on her fingers and touched each head stone before getting up at walking towards the car.
Meanwhile, in the SUV, JJ could tell that Emily was stressing about the young girl and the whole situation in general. Reaching across the console she took the older woman's hand in hers, feeling more confident about casual little touches since the kiss they had shared earlier. "What are you thinking?" she whispered into the silence.
"That that young girl deserves so much more than what happened to her in the last few days and I'm worried that I wont be able to give her what she needs."
"She needs someone who will care about her, give her space to grieve but talk to her when that's what she needs. Emily you're amazing and I know you can do this. We're all right behind you."
"You're too good to me, you know that?" Emily said with a smile as she squeezed JJ's hand.
The two pulled their hands apart quickly when they heard the back door open as Carrie climbed in and said "I'm ready." They knew better than to ask her if she was okay, they knew she wasn't.
As the SUV pulled up beside the plane, the four men descended the stairs and silently started helping the women with the boxes. With all of them they were able to get everything on the plane in one trip, Morgan, Hotch and Rossi all taking two boxes.
Once on the plane, Emily introduced the guys to Carrie. She had already met them but only in a professional capacity "Carrie, these are Derek, Spencer, Dave and Aaron. You'll probably see a lot of these guys, we're more like a family than a team." She said as she took her usual seat by the window
"Hey kid, we're all here for you okay?" said Morgan. Carrie just nodded, quite overwhelmed by the situation, and took the seat beside Emily, much to the profilers delight and JJ took the seat opposite. The rest of the team, seeing how uncomfortable the teen was, dispersed around the plane to get some shut eye after the long case.
"I'm just going to put in my headphones, is that okay?"
"That's not a problem." Emily said as she pulled a book out of her bag and gave the teen a smile as they all relaxed in for the long flight, eager to be home and apprehensive at the thought of moving across the country.
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