Emily felt jittery. Downright joyful. Above all, she felt peace and relief. She felt loved. Jesus Christ had just come and taken away the burden of guilt for her sins, and He loved her still.

Once she and Kayla had calmed down – despite their state of quiet excitement, they still hadn't drawn anyone's attention – Kayla asked, "Can I share a story with you?"

Taking a bite of her now-cold food, Emily nodded.

"There was a hymn-writer in the 1800s – a blind woman named Fanny Crosby. In 1859, she and her husband had a baby. Later that year, the baby died. Soon after, Fanny wrote the hymn, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus." That hymn has been a helpful reminder to me about where my baby is now; maybe you should look it up."

Emily nodded. "I will; thanks."

"You're welcome," Kayla answered with a smile. "Now, let's get you over here with everybody else."

Emily was still smiling as she stood and grabbed her plate, abandoning her case file as she let Kayla drag her over to Victoria Mitchell.

"What are you doing?" JJ asked curiously as she settled on the second bed in their shared hotel room later that night.

Emily looked up from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her phone. "Looking up a hymn."

"A hymn?" JJ repeated.

Emily nodded.

"What sort of a hymn?" JJ asked, crouching on the bed beside Emily.

"'Safe in the Arms of Jesus.' Kayla suggested it."

"'Kayla?' Lieutenant Hayes' wife?"

"Mm-hm."

JJ leaned over her shoulder, mumbling the lyrics of the song as Emily read them silently. Once they had both read it, JJ asked, "Why did she suggest that one?"

Emily bit her lip, finally saying only, "It's complicated."

JJ looked surprised at her secretiveness, but she said, "I saw the two of you talking a lot tonight; what about?"

Again considering her options, Emily eventually settled on admitting, "God."

"Religion?" JJ asked, seeming more confused and intrigued. "I noticed that they all prayed before they ate. Are they pretty religious, then?"

Emily nodded. "Baptists."

"But you're not, right?" JJ asked. "Religious or a Baptist?"

"I don't know…" Emily mused, leaning back against the headboard. "Before today I wasn't, no, but… something happened to me there when I was talking with Kayla. I think it's what they call salvation by grace…" she squinted, trying to remember Kayla's exact words. "…through faith in Jesus Christ."

"Yeah… I was friends in high school with a girl who believed like that. What was it like, the… experience you had?"

"I can't explain it," Emily said. "It was just… like a weight was lifted right off of my shoulders. Like my past didn't matter anymore."

"Really?" JJ asked curiously.

Emily nodded again, not knowing how else to describe it.

"Huh, maybe I'll look into it then."

"You really should," Emily encouraged her eagerly.

JJ nodded, and Emily noted the odd look in her friend's blue eyes. It occurred to Emily that her friend might well be wierded out by their conversation – after all, she knew it was highly unusual, basically unheard of, for her to talk about anything even remotely related to spiritual matters.

JJ left Emily's bed and headed for the bathroom with her pajamas, saying, "Well… good night, Em."

"'Night, JJ."

When JJ emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, she jumped in surprise. Her raven-haired friend was on her knees at the end of her bed, head bowed in prayer.

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion as JJ crawled in bed and turned off the lamp beside her bed. Emily praying was a very unusual occurrence, and it made her wonder all the more what actually had happened to her friend in that muster room. Whatever it was, JJ got a feeling that it must have been life-changing.

"Can I come in?"

Emily and JJ were alone in the back room of the sheriff's department the next morning when a voice that they had become familiar with the previous night landed on their ears again.

"Kayla!" Emily said. "Your husband isn't here right now."

"I know; I came to see you."

"Oh. Okay," Emily looked surprised, but after a split second, she said, "Just hold on a second, okay?"

The African-American woman rolled her eyes as Emily and JJ closed all of the open case files that littered the room and then turned the evidence board around so that Mrs. Hayes couldn't tell what was on them before she gave her the go-ahead to come into the room.

"What can I do for you?" Emily asked, as JJ took a step back and subtly watched the two of them interact.

"I just wanted to make sure that you had one of these."

Emily and JJ both instantly recognized the book that Mrs. Hayes held out as a Bible, albeit a worn one. JJ kept quiet and watched, wondering how her friend was going to handle this and if she realized how expensive a Bible she was being offered. Once before, she had seen the way her friend had handled things when two young Church of Christ men had stopped by her house while JJ was there, and it hadn't been pretty. Would this be any different, perhaps because of what she claimed had happened the night before?

Apparently so.

Emily reached out and took the book, happily saying, "Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome," Mrs. Hayes replied with a friendly smile. "You know… today's Friday, and if you're still here on Sunday, we'd love to have you come to church with us."

"Well, hopefully we'll be gone by then." Emily paused before bursting out as she realized what she had said, "I mean that in the best way, of course!"

"Of course," Mrs. Hayes nodded graciously.

"But if not…" JJ watched curiously as Emily thought it through, and decided that her friend must be trying to find a way to turn Mrs. Hayes down without hurting her new friend. But then Emily said, "I think I'd like that."

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Hayes said cheerfully. "Well, I guess I'd better let you ladies get back to work. I just came here to give you that Bible."

"Thanks," Emily said once again as Kayla disappeared around the corner.

Still standing in the middle of the room, Emily flipped through the Bible, smiling to herself. The smile suddenly began to slide from her face, and JJ watched in utter bafflement as she hurried out of the room.

"Kayla, wait!" Emily called out, catching the woman at the end of the hallway.

"What's wrong, Emily?" Kayla asked in confusion.

Emily pointed to one highlighted passage with plenty of notes in the margins, and then another and another. "This is really well-loved. Is it yours?"

Kayla shrugged. "I gave it to you, so it's yours now."

"Kayla, I can't take this from you," Emily said with a frown. "Not when it's obviously been so important to you."

She tried to give it back, but Kayla shook her head, gently pushing the outstretched hand away. "Listen, Emily… do you know where there's a Baptist church in D.C.?"

"No."

"That's what I figured. Considering your job, your schedule isn't very conducive to regular church attendance either, is it?"

Emily frowned as she shook her head. She hadn't considered that yet.

"Then that's why I want you to have that Bible. It's got a great reference section in the back, and I've put in more than enough of my own notes in the margins over the years. Even though nothing can replace actually sitting in a congregation, if you take it with you on trips, you can read it even on the Sundays where you find yourself unable to attend a church service or two. Consider the margins sort of words of advice from yours truly if you want to."

Emily smiled as she found herself reaching forward to hug her new sister in the faith. "Thank you, Kayla," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome." With a final squeeze of her hand, Kayla walked out of the sheriff's department.

I'm not sure where this came from but I do know that it's going to be very Emily Prentiss-centric in the first chapters, although we're now getting more into JJ's part of it. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter! Reviews (and votes on my poll) make my day! Thanks!:)