I just want to say I totally planned this. I totally planned not updating for two and a half years and in no way got busy, forgot I started this story and only remembered after having to check my backup email's spam folder.

JUST A REMINDER- this story was always meant to be sad. Read the synopsis and keep in mind it's a tragedy and includes a character death.

I'm sorry for taking actual years to finish this, but I did and I'm uploading everything at once. Sorry I didn't have a chance to proofread. The only thing that takes longer than writing a story is writing half a story and trying to find all the plot hints you left and tying it all together years later lol.

Thank you again for reading and commenting.

"It's fine."

"I just thought it might be awkward given the circumstances."

"Yeah, I know. It's fine JJ."

"Is it really?"

"Yes," Emily laughed, but it's a bitter one. The laugh Emily gives her mother when she's irritated, or a man who won't stop hitting on her, or an unsub she's about to get firm with. JJ can see right through it, but then again what can she really say? It's an awkward situation. Normally things end and you cease to see the other person, or at least see them less. That didn't happen with Emily. She remembered the look on Emily's face when Will showed up to the case in New York and announced JJ was pregnant. She remembers that look every time someone mentioned Will, or the baby, or moving in together, or even shopping. She remembers Morgan scrambling to explain why he wouldn't be able to help them move in together- determined to be on Emily's side no matter what. She remembered it all.

There was nothing JJ could really say in those situations. Should she apologize? JJ didn't even know for which part, and then there was the fact that she was hormonal and not exactly in the right frame of mind to comfort Emily. And that brought her to the original question: What would even comfort Emily at the point? It wasn't like she really wanted to be Henry's godmother anyway. JJ would bet more money on Emily not wanting to see the child ever again. No, Emily wasn't upset about that. She was upset about everything else.

Minutes pass and the machines beeping are the only sounds in the quiet room. Will had gone to the nursery to see Henry. JJ was supposed to be resting.

"I'm glad you're okay," Emily breaks the silence with a small smile, a genuine one.

"Thank you," JJ responds warmly. "I wasn't sure you'd care."

Emily rolls her eyes as she finally sits on the chair besides the bed, "Don't be ridiculous. I always want what's best for you. I always want you to be okay. You know that."

"Do I?"

JJ watches as Emily's hands reach for her own before the brunette changes her mind and jerks them back, tucking them awkwardly under her knees. She looks so young, so vulnerable in that moment. "I don't really know what to say," Emily admits in a barely discernable voice. It wasn't often that JJ saw Emily like this. It wasn't often that Emily let JJ see her like this.

"That's okay," The blonde says, and just like that Emily is already rising from the seat beside her.

The brunette walks to the door before stopping under the frame. 'In ten seconds I'll say it,' she challenges herself.

One one thousand, say it.

Two one thousand, Emily come on.

Three one thousand, be the bigger person.

Four one thousand…"Emily?" JJ questions staring at Emily's motionless figure in the doorway.

The brunette turns around and takes in a small, steadying breath, tilting her head and offering a warm smile, "I really hope you're happy."

"Yeah?"

Emily briefly looks up at the ceiling. The paint job was so smooth, unlike her apartment where she could clearly she the grooves. She looks back down and refocuses on JJ and offers a "Yeah," before walking out the door. Morgan is waiting for her and tries to reach out to touch her arm. She calmly shrugs him off as she continues walking away.

Emily Prentiss knew she had many faults. First of which was her inability to show her true emotions. She was so guarded, so careful about who she let see what. She resented her mother and was endlessly annoyed by her need to project a certain image to the public, and perhaps what she resented most about that was that she saw the same qualities in herself. It was a coping mechanism. The way to deal with painful situations without speaking about them, because speaking about her own problems was hardly a Prentiss-like quality.

So in that Virginia hospital, for the first time since meeting her, Emily decided that maybe it was best, out of self-preservation, that JJ be one of the public. That JJ would be one of the people who would no longer see Emily Prentiss the person- only Emily Prentiss the image.

The night had been thoroughly uneventful. The three profilers and Garcia had crammed into a corner table at the Virginia bar. Emily had wanted to go to Dupont, but had lost on a 2-2 vote that Henry tie-broke. She knew she would never win when it came to Henry. They had spent the past two hours talking about recent cases. Emily had floated an idea about buying a house, prompting JJ to excitedly give her tips about neighborhoods, as if Emily hadn't lived in the area most of her life.

But to be fair, she had only rented before so maybe she could use the advice. Morgan switched to water around the hour mark, noticing Garcia was doing her part to support the family owned establishment, and deciding that he should leave his car there and just drive her home. It was that sharpness that enabled Morgan to pick up on the little signs between Emily and JJ that would've gone unnoticed otherwise.

He watched as Emily leaned towards JJ, scooting along the leather booth closer to her. It was the way JJ raised her arms to make a point, and then lowered one behind Emily's shoulders. It was the way they periodically looked at each other, like they both had a joke or secret that only they knew. It was the way Emily gave him a sharp look just as he was about to mention that he saw Ashley Seaver at a training a few days before. It was the way Emily checked her phone, confirming the time and how tired she was, with JJ offering to walk her out because she needed to get home as well. It was the way JJ's hand hovered over Emily's back as the brunette got out the booth. It was the way Emily offered her own hand to help JJ get out of the leather seat herself.

It was the million little things that they did for each other that made Derek Morgan wonder if they were really over, or if they ever really would be.

"So what's the over/under baby girl?" Morgan asked as he watched the two women depart.

"What?"

"How much we betting on JJ and Emily getting back together?"

Garcia chuckled as she sipped on her drink, "I don't think that's happening. Not this time." Morgan gave her a confused look so she decided to elaborate, "I think it's different now." Garcia leaned closer to Morgan, almost as if she was concerned someone would show up and overhear her, "When Emily got back I was convinced it was on. I'm talking a journey to the center of the earth everyday if you get what I mean," Garcia winked exaggeratedly, making Morgan start laughing uncontrollably before sipping on his water.

"Penelope Garcia-"

"Anyway," Garcia began much louder than before, "I don't know what happened with them between Emily getting back and now, but I don't think it's happening. I talked to Jayje and it looks like she's sticking with Will," Garcia said with a shrug.

"Look, I like Will as much as the next guy-"

"Ha," Garcia objected as she hit the wooden table with her palm.

Morgan chuckled before rubbing his temples, "Okay fine I'm not the biggest-"

"You hate him!"

"I don't," Morgan defended before taking another sip of water. "I don't hate Will. I like Emily more. I can't deny that he's an objectively a good guy."

"Exactly."

"I admit it. I wish he were a prick. It would make hating him easier," Garcia nodded in agreement. That was probably what made the Will-JJ-Emily triangle so difficult from an outsider's perspective. Will wasn't a bad guy. In fact, he was a pretty good guy. Sometimes he would do something unsupportive or say something cruel and Garcia would feel that was it. That was the proof. That was why JJ was so unfaithful to him, but he would always apologize. It always sounded sincere. He never hurt her. He never cheated on her. He never disparaged her. He was an innocent.

Then there was Emily- poor Emily, the perpetual backup. She would hate it if she knew what her partner and best friend thought of her, they way they pitied her. But the entire situation was pitiful; waiting around for whatever JJ was going to give her because a flash of them was enough to sustain her. Emily had only dated one other person since meeting JJ, and she happened to look just like JJ…

And then there was JJ. If Morgan was honest with himself he would admit that he had allowed the situation to influence his view of her. In many ways, Morgan thought that he and he alone was Emily's person. JJ never filled the role in his opinion, constantly hurting the other woman by tossing her aside every time she felt plagued with guilt about her relationship. But then Morgan had seen JJ after Emily was gone. He had witnessed how broken she was, which made sense when he thought Emily was dead. But after finding out Emily was alive he revisited his memories and visions of JJ during those months, and they didn't make sense. She was short with everyone. She had lost weight. She wasn't the same warm, friendly JJ as before. Morgan had just assumed she was grieving and he right. She was grieving because she needed Emily. She needed to see and touch her everyday. And when Emily was gone she lost a piece of herself.

It was then that Morgan finally realized the extent of the blonde's affection for Emily. She had hurt Emily more times than he could count, and that wasn't something that Morgan could forgive, but he also had to acknowledge that it was complicated. It wasn't black and white. It wasn't like giving up her life would be easy for JJ. It wasn't like she was just dating Will, just the two of them. There was a child involved. Once she got pregnant everything became more real. There was something about that- there was just no going back from there. She wasn't a young FBI agent harboring an unprofessional crush on her older, same-sex coworker. She was a mother. "It's complicated, isn't it?" Morgan asked as he broke the silence.

"I think- I know that we look at Em and we see what she has gone through, but I think that sometimes we forget that JJ has issues too."

Morgan nodded in agreement. He remembered first hearing about JJ's only sister. JJ was the only person her mother had left. Every expectation and hope of fulfillment rested on her. "I think she just wants to make everyone happy. That's at the base of it all," Morgan played with the unused straw in his glass of water. He stirred the drink as he watched the water funnel start to appear, "That if she does everything right everyone is going to be okay. She overcompensates because of her sister-" Morgan stopped himself and looked at the technical analyst, afraid that he might've overstepped. Emily has always belonged to him, but Penelope had JJ.

"I think it's a big part of it," Garcia agreed before the waiter leaves the check, Garcia casually sliding it over to Morgan. "Be nice to her, okay?"

"I am nice."

"You pick sides," Garcia scolded with a look Morgan's mother had taught her.

Morgan raised his hands in surrender, "Hey, I'm just here to pay for the drinks."

"What a gentleman," Garcia teased as she grabs her small, bedazzled leather purse and rose from the booth.