Finale Fix

BONUS PROMPT: Surprise (Buffy)

CHAPTER TWO

Impatience

As a general rule, Emily hated waiting rooms, but she'd long ago come to the conclusion that there was nothing in the world worse than a medical waiting room. At fifteen, she'd waited in one for the doctor to say the two most life-changing words she'd ever experienced. Now, she was going to be waiting on the news on the condition of a man she'd come to respect admire, and above all else, care for deeply.

"Hey," Cami's voice broke through her thoughts. "Don't get all pessimistic on me now. He's going to be fine."

Emily's arm linked through her daughter's surprisingly highly comforted by her presence. Derek was a few steps ahead of them, his stride longer and more intent than hers. The elder Prentiss forced herself to take a deep breath, stamping the panic down with everything in her. Panic would do them absolutely no good and she knew JJ and Garcia would be panicking enough for all of them. It was only superior self-control that slammed her mask into place. Concern and worry replaced the outright fear and panic just as they rounded the corner. Dave paced in that sterile white waiting room Emily hated so much.

"We're still waiting for news," he said as soon as he saw them. His eyes met Emily's instead of Derek's, a testament to how far her relationship with the Unit Chief had come since she was assigned to his unit. "All we know is that he was shot and they took him into surgery."

"We have nothing?" Derek asked.

Dave shook his head. "No one's been out. I have no idea when they took him in."

"JJ? Reid? Garcia?" Emily asked, her voice calm and steady.

"I called them," Dave reassured. "They know."

Emily nodded. "Okay." What else could she say? There was nothing for her to do since everyone had been called. She met Dave's eyes again. "Haley?"

The look he shot her answered that question and really, she already knew calling Haley would do no good. There was nothing they could do, nothing they could tell her, so there was no reason to call her until they could give her some sort of good or bad news. Either way, she was going to be the one to break it to a four-year-old boy.

"I was just about to check with the nurses," Dave offered.

"I'll go."

Emily squeezed her daughter's hand as she looked over at Cami. "It's okay, sweetheart."

Cami shrugged. "It can't hurt. And what else am I going to do, sit here?"

Good God, Emily reflected, Cami couldn't have sounded more like her.

"Hotchner, right?" Cami asked to clarify, squeezing her mother's arm.

"Aaron Hotchner," Dave spoke up, the curiosity in his voice despite their tense situation.

Emily couldn't resist her smile at the way Cami squared her shoulders. Even if she was mostly Emily, in looks and largely in attitude, there were parts of her that were just so Matthew, despite their lack of blood relation. Then, Cami was gone, and Emily dropped to one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs.

"You know," Dave said, "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was your twin."

Emily chewed her lip. She didn't want to talk about Cami, even to Dave. She'd illuded to her pregnancy during the Father Silvano case, but it had been Dave who made any and all subsequent conclusions. She was still reluctant to give any details and yet, she knew it would be a distraction, something to talk about that wasn't cases or Hotch's possibly critical condition. And she knew it was her story to tell. Derek wouldn't say anything without her express permission.

"Close," she relented finally. "Daughter."

Dave's eyes widened. He never thought he'd meet the result of that conversation on teenaged pregnancy. "How old?"

"Twenty-two," Emily answered. She knew Dave would be able to make the necessary connections.

The elder profiler nodded slowly. "You never mentioned her."

"I never had a reason to," she replied, rubbing her hands together as she leaned forward in the uncomfortable seat. Hurried footsteps had her looking up as JJ raced into the room, followed by Will who carried Henry and the baby bags that came with him.

"What happened?" the blond asked immediately, eyes trained on Dave. "Is he okay?"

"We don't know," Dave responded, catching her by her upper arms. "We know he's in surgery for a gun shot."

"Well what the hell is that supposed to do to help us? Why isn't anyone trying to find out more information? Why the hell aren't you there badgering the nurses until they give us information?"

Even Will's gentle hand on her shoulder couldn't calm the raging JJ. She and Hotch had their own special relationship and Emily knew the blond held a soft spot for him. Nothing romantic, but she cared about their supervisor. It was the scene Penelope and Reid walked in on, then Cami, looking rather confused. Emily couldn't stop the hope fro curling in her chest as her daughter took a seat beside her. No one else had noticed the brunette's return since they were so focused on JJ's explosion.

"News?" Emily asked.

"Uh, kinda," Cami replied, her face still twisted in confusion. "They're going to send a nurse in to check."

"What's wrong?" Cami's confusion still hadn't dissipated and it worried Emily.

"Kay," Cami said, facing her mother, the way she'd always do when it was something that Cami couldn't understand. "So, I guess one of the nurses got a good look at your Hotch when he came in?"

Emily ignored the possessive. "Okay..."

"Um... 'cause one of them totally thought he was my dad."

Oh. Emily hadn't thought of that. With Cami's colouring identical to her own, it wouldn't be that much of a leap, especially since Emily and Hotch had such similar colouring. It wouldn't be the first time a child was mistaken as biologically theirs instead of sharing DNA with only one of them.

"Do you have a picture of him?"

It seemed like such an odd question considering where they were and what they were doing and Emily scrunched up her nose as she dug out her phone. She had no idea if she had a picture of her unit chief. In her experience, he tended to avoid them at all costs, even when they weren't on the clock. And since New York, they had been spending much more time together than usual. But maybe... aha! She smiled unconsciously as she brought the picture up on the full screen of her phone.

"Is that his son?" Cami asked as she looked over her mother's shoulder.

"Jack," Emily agreed.

Cami took the phone from Emily puzzling over the picture. She tilted her head to the side, then she shot a look at her mother. "Ever been mistaken for the kid's mom?"

Emily nodded, her cheeks heating in embarrassment.

"Explains a lot. I can see why the nurse thought I was related."

As if cued, a nurse bustled their way. "Hotchner?"

That shut JJ's ranting up quick and all eyes turned to the young man. "That's us," Dave spoke up. No one missed the authority in his tone.

Still, the man gave them an apologetic smile. "We're only supposed to talk to family."

Emily looked to her daughter, as the younger woman grasped her hand.

"They are family," Cami spoke up.

The nurse seemed to consider her a minute, then nodded. "Mister Hotchner is still in surgery. From what I could get, he's lucky he's not dead now."

Emily unconsciously tightened her hand around Cami's.

"The good news is… it's reparable. It's going to take time and he's going to have to have a hard-core yearning to stay alive," the nurse continued.

"There's bad news?" Emily was glad Cami's voice was calm and steady. Despite her previous clamping down on her emotions, she doubted she would be as steady.

The nurse sighed. "We've had bad luck with blood donors and we're running low on blood."

"Where do I sign up," Dave said immediately.

"Me too," Morgan agreed.

Penelope was already rolling up her sleeve, exposing her arm, JJ shedding her jacket. The nurse seemed absolutely floored by the way the team rallied around each other.

"Um… we're going to need to do a few tests, see if any of you are compatible."

Emily smiled inwardly as Cami sat back. Apparently, she'd noticed how easily Dave took charge and she seemed happy enough to be out of the spotlight role.

"Then let's get you set up," the nurse said, waving them back.