Garcia's jaw nearly hits the floor. "Are you serious? All weekend?"
"We barely got our clothes on in time to welcome Henry home," JJ says smugly.
"Oh, you guys just make me so damn jealous!"
"Why? Don't you and Kevin have fun?"
"Yeah, but, you know guys are kind of limited in how many times they can do things and then they just want to nap after." Garcia sighs and slumps down in her chair. "I wish I was a lesbian."
JJ busts out laughing. "Well, I can't help you with that one, Pen."
"Ugh, then stop coming in here and bragging!" She pleads jokingly. She then gets a bit serious. "But she's okay, right? I mean, except for the leg?"
"She seems to be. She hates being on desk duty and it tore her up when we left for those last 2 cases but she's going to be fine."
"Tore her up? Drove me crazy, more like," Garcia grumbles.
JJ laughs. "Yeah. Sorry about that."
Garcia shoos JJ out and gets started on her Monday reports. As JJ walks into her office, she glances towards the bullpen and sees Emily already engrossed in one of the case files JJ had dropped off earlier. JJ's smile widens as Emily, sensing JJ, turns and smiles at her. They exchange a wink and JJ heads into her office.
Emily is trying to figure out how to tell a local detective that the 4 cases he had linked together are actually the work of 4 different people. It was hard to come up with a way to shoot down theories without crushing the spark that can sometimes lead to a true BAU case. But this time the cases were so different she can't even find the string he used to tie them together.
"I swear, sometimes I wish we'd screen who attends our seminars better," she mutters, rubbing a hand across her eyes. A shadow falls across her desk and she looks up into the stern face of Section Chief Erin Straus.
"My office, Agent Prentiss. Now."
Before Emily can respond, Straus spins on her heel and marches out. Emily glances at Morgan and Reid, shrugging. She grabs her cane and hobbles after the bane of their unit. JJ is on the phone but sees Emily following Straus down the hall. JJ's eyes widen and she also gets a shrug from Emily.
In the chief's office she points to a chair, which Emily sits in gratefully. The chief looks at her secretary. "We are not to be disturbed." She closes the door and moves behind her desk. She stares at Emily for an uncomfortably long time. Emily, a master at compartmentalizing her emotions, betrays nothing. Finally, Straus sits forward.
"Agent Prentiss, can you tell me why you would leap off a cliff into icy water without proper safety gear?"
Since 4 weeks had passed since the case in Alaska, Emily doesn't understand why Straus is just now questioning the actions that were taken. "Yes, ma'am. Marielle Rogers had been a prisoner for 3 days, her hands were bound in front of her, and she was wearing a bikini. Considering the icy water you mentioned, I felt what I was wearing gave me a better chance of saving her than just leaving her fate to the river."
"There were rescue boats ready to deploy," Straus points out.
"And they did deploy. And they saved both Rogers and me so I'd say they did a good job."
Straus had been chewing on the arm of her glasses, something she only does when she has already made a decision. She stares at Emily a moment, more then lays the glasses down, folding her hands in front of her. Emily fights to keep her face neutral.
"Agent Prentiss, I am becoming concerned with the state of your team."
"Becomingconcerned," Emily says before censoring herself.
Straus takes a deep breath, looking down her nose at Emily. "Yes." She picks up a folder and hands it over. "You're new assignment."
Emily stares at the folder as if it's a snake ready to strike. "Excuse me? My newassignment?"
"Yes. White collar crimes. They expect you later this morning."
Emily does not take the folder. She stands. "Then they can keep expecting me. I'm a profiler and my place is in the BAU on this team. And you will have to find a reason otherthan me saving someone's life to move me out."
"Very well then," Straus stares into Emily's eyes. "You have broken the fraternization policy. Turn in your badge and gun and be prepared to leave the premises. Any personal effects will be sent to you."
The two women stare each other down. Emily slowly leans over onto the desk. Her voice is deadly calm as she speaks, belying the turmoil inside of her. "Never in my life have I asked my parents to intervene in my career. But I swear to you, Chief," the title is said with distain, "if you try to split up this team I will make one call and you will be running the office in Fargo, North Dakota. And if you don't think I will do it, try me."
Emily finally takes the folder and rips it in half. She drops it back on the desk. Straus stares at her in shock. Emily picks up her cane and leaves the office.
Straus reaches for her phone, planning to call security to have Emily removed. But her hand hesitates over the handset. She looks out the door at the back of the profiler. Emily pauses at the door as if she knows Straus is watching. She slowly turns and looks over her shoulder. The look in Emily's eyes is murderous. Straus brings her hand back from the phone. She lifts up the torn file…and throws it in her trash can. Emily raises an eyebrow, turns and continues back to her desk.
As she enters the bullpen, Hotch gestures to her from just outside his office. Emily takes a deep breath and heads up to see him.
"Is everything okay?" he asks quietly.
Emily forces a smile. "Yeah. Of course. She just had a question about Alaska."
Hotch raises an eyebrow at her, staring into her eyes. "Then how come Chief Norton from White Collar called me to thank me for allowing your transfer?"
Emily takes a deep breath and gazes away from Hotch. After a moment she looks back. "It's been handled. You're stuck with me."
Hotch slowly nods. "Good. I may have been pissed when Straus first shoved you on this team but you've proven yourself a fine profiler, a great agent and a perfect addition to this team. I'll fight for you if I need to."
Emily nods and lays a hand on Hotch's arm. "Thank you. But let's save that for another day. Okay?"
He nods and she heads back to her desk. She nearly laughs as Morgan and Reid both immediately come over to her.
"Prentiss? What's up?" Morgan asks.
"Oh, Straus just wanted my recipe for Baked Alaska. She heard it's delightful."
"You're not going to tell us, are you?"
"No, Reid, I'm not. Just know all is fine," Emily reassures them. "Just fine."
The two men reluctantly go back to their desks. Emily is not surprised to get a text, she is only surprised how long it took.
"Everything okay?"
She smiles. "Everything is okay, Jen. I promise. I'll tell you about it later. Love you."
Emily starts to go over the file she had been working on before her meeting with Straus. She is only working on it 10 minutes when her next distraction crops up.
"Hi, Emily."
Emily freezes when she hears the voice. She slowly turns her head and looks up into eyes she hasn't seen in over 5 years.
"Oh. My. God."
The green-eyed woman smiles down at her. "Yeah, I thought the same when I heard you worked here, too."
Emily's eyes widen. "Too?"
"Yeah. I'm with the Anti-Terrorism Task Force. I'll be working right upstairs."
"Wow, that's, um, great."
"Maybe we can go out for drinks some time. Catch up. Relive old memories. Maybe make some new ones," she says with a wink.
Before Emily can answer, a voice comes from behind the woman. "Agent Prentiss? We have a case."
Emily looks beyond her ex-girlfriend and sees her fiancé storming towards the conference room. She looks over at Morgan, who just gives her a wide-eyed, 'you've stepped in it' look. Emily looks up at Caroline Weston.
"Uh, thanks but, um, I'll have to get back to you. Congratulations on your new assignment."
Caroline nods and steps back. She raises an eyebrow when she sees the cast on Emily's leg. "Whoa! What happened to you? Not another motorcycle accident?"
"Uh, no. Cliff diving," Emily says as she eases past the woman. "Well, duty calls."
"Cliff diving? You always were the most interesting woman I ever…knew," she says, suggesting "knew" really meant "slept with". "See you, Emily. Hopefully soon," she flirts before heading out of the BAU.
Morgan catches up to Emily just before the conference room. "When all else fails, grovel," he advises in a whisper.
As they walk in Emily looks at JJ. The tips of the media liaison's ears are bright red, a sign she is not happy. Emily sighs and looks at Morgan. "I will. But you know I didn't even do anything wrong."
"Does it matter?" he asks with a grin.
Emily looks at JJ then back to Morgan. "Not if I ever want to sleep with JJ again."
Morgan laughs and takes his seat.