It has been a month since Emily returned from the Doyle saga. The last eight months have been hell for everyone. Everyone except JJ and Hotch has avoided her, even Garcia. Reid was pissed at JJ for keeping this a secret. The bullpen was quiet every day. Derek did not pick on Reid. No more jokes were being said, and people laughing at them. Everyone was basically there to do their job and then leave. Emily felt guilty for tearing this team apart. They were not the same, and she was not the same. In the kitchenette, leaning against the counter, Emily held a cup of coffee. She was kind of watching everyone going about their business. Derek walked over and grabbed the coffee pot to pour more coffee.
"Prentiss, you good?" Emily looked over at him, surprised he said something.
"We are actually talking? I did not think we were doing that." Emily said, looking away. Derek put his cup down and turned and looked at her.
"Emily..." Before he could say anything, Emily cut him off.
"You know what, nevermind Derek. Forget I said that." Emily turned and walked off. Derek frowned. He was beyond confused. He could not keep up with that woman. She was so secretive. He will admit that he has not spoken to her in a while because he was mad that she did not trust him. It crushed him that she could not trust him with her past. He has noticed that she has been acting a little bit weird lately. He would make a point at some point in the day to talk to her. Actually, talk to her.
It was late. The day had flown by, and Derek had yet to talk to Emily. He was swarmed with paperwork. He walked out with his bags and checked to see if she was still there. If she was, he would talk to her. If not, he would try to catch her tomorrow. He looked into the bullpen and saw that Emily was preparing to leave. He was happy that she was back and that she was okay. He was just going through things like everyone else.
Emily picked up her bag and headed to the glass doors. She looked up and saw Derek standing there waiting for her. She was unsure why he was waiting and had not just left. She left the door, and Derek said, "I figured since we were both leaving we could walk out together and talk." Emily looked at him for a second before saying, "Sure." They both walked over to the elevator, and Derek hit the button. They stood there for a few minutes in silence.
"Emily, I am sorry I have not really talk to you since you got back."
"Derek, you do not need to apologize."
"I do. I am happy that you are back." Emily turned and looked at him and said, "Are you, though?" Derek frowned at her statement.
"Yes, Em. Why would I not be?"
"I do not know. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we do not talk, and you do everything you can to avoid me. Not once have you asked if I am okay? I asked you and got met with silence. I get it. You need space to think. It is a lot for everyone." Emily turned and looked at him and continued, "But try living it. Waking up in a hospital with no one you know and the only people you know and love think you are dead. The number of times I wanted to pick up the phone and call one of you but knew I could not. There was a lot of shit that happened in London that not even Hotch or JJ know. I know everything that happened here, but none of you know what happened there."
The elevator dinged and opened. They stood momentarily before Emily said, "I'm going to talk the stairs." She turned and left him standing there perplexed.
"Emily..." She had already walked through the stair door. It slammed shut moments later. He shook his head. He walked into the elevator quickly and hit the button to go down. He was kind of hoping that he would beat her, but he did not know.
The elevator doors opened as Emily walked by. "Emily, wait." He leaped out of the elevator and gently grabbed her arm. She pulled away and turned around too fast and hurt her side. Her right arm wrapped around her waist. She was trying not to show that she was in pain.
"Your hurt?!" Derek said concernedly. He could tell that she was in pain.
"I am fine." She went to turn, but Derek stopped her and said, "No, your not. Please tell me what is wrong."
"Can we not talk about this in the parking garage?"
"Yeah," Derek chuckled and said, "Your house?" Emily nodded reluctantly. Derek knew that Emily would talk better in her own place. She felt more comfortable. They both left the parking garage and headed for Emily's place.
They got to Emily's, and Derek grabbed Emily's bag to bring in. She was not impressed that he would not let her carry in her own bag.
"You know I can carry my own bag."
"I know you can...but you just told me you were still hurt."
"I did not say that."
"You did not have to, I know." Emily looked down and smirked sheepishly. Derek kept looking over at her as they walked to her door. She hated to admit it, but he knew her the best on the team. They both could tell when one of them was mad or upset. They had a pretty special bond, but lately has been strained. Emily unlocked the door, and they walked in. Derek set her bag down, and they took off their shoes and coats.
Emily walked into the kitchen, and Derek followed her.
"Would you like some water?"
"I'm all set, but thank you." Emily nodded and proceeded to grab herself a glass from the cabinet above the counter.
"Emily, I am sorry for everything."
"Derek, I am the one that should be apologizing. Not you."
"No, I should. You were right. I was avoiding you. I should not have, and I am sorry."
"It's okay. I should not have freaked out on you earlier."
"I kind of deserved it."
"No, you did not."
"Emily, I did. I never thought about what you went through. I was too selfish to see that this whole thing affected you more than me. We lost you, but you lost six people. Now you want to tell me what happened in London that nobody knows? It kind of makes me concerned." Emily looked down and away from Derek. Derek could tell she was trying to figure out how to tell him.
"It's me, Em. You can tell me anything."
"I know. That's sometimes the problem." Derek looked at her, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"You care a lot about me, and I just hate telling you things because they are not all good. I guess I do not want you looking at me any more differently than you already do. I could tell when I got back that you were not impressed with some of the things I did. I do not blame you."
"Emily, I was not impressed by some of your actions. You are right. I was madder at the fact that you did not trust me enough to tell me though. I want you to be able to tell me anything. If I get a little irritated, it is only because I care about you, and I hate to see you hurt or upset." Emily meekly smiled at what he said.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being you." They both smiled at each other briefly.
"When I was in London, I got sick from my injury. It got infected from the flight over, I guess. It made me pass out, and I hit my head pretty hard when I did. I ended up needing another surgery to fix everything. When I woke up, I did not remember anything. I had no clue where I was or what had happened. There were many strange people, and I had a tube down my throat, which sucked coming out. I was in the hospital for a few weeks. I eventually got out, and I remembered where I lived. That was about it. I still did not remember anything else. Over the next few months, I slowly remembered different things. It came at random times. I remembered all of the good things during the day, like you and the team traveling to different places and you picking on Reid. I did not remember any of your names for the longest time. I was confused about why I remembered people I did not know for a while, but I eventually figured it out. Nights sucked. I did not sleep much, to be honest. It took me about four and a half months to remember everything. There are still probably a few things I do not remember, but for the most part, I remember everything. My injury still is not fully healed. The doctors are unsure why it is not healing as it should. That's about everything." Derek looked at her more concernedly than before. He walked around the island and pulled Emily into a gentle hug. He did not want to hurt her any more than she already was. Derek was a little lost for words, which did not happen often.
Emily had been off for days now. She is not entirely acting like herself, and Derek knows why now. She is still sick. Which concerned him entirely. They pulled apart for the hug, and Emily looked out of breath and looked like she might pass out.
"Emily hey, you okay?" Before she could answer, she passed out, and Derek caught her and gently laid her on the floor. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed 911. He was checking to see if she was breathing, which she was just barely.
"911, what is your emergency?"
"I have a federal agent down at 1 Kimberwick Lane Stafford. She passed out and is barely breathing."
"Okay, an ambulance is on the way. Please stay on the phone until they get there."
"Hang on, Emily."
The ambulance arrived five minutes later. They came in and started asking Derek a bunch of questions, like if she was on medication or had any medical diseases. Derek quickly realized he did not know her that well since she returned. If this had happened before she left, he could have told them no to most of the questions, but now he had no clue. They got her on the stretcher with an oxygen mask on. Derek jumped in his car and followed the ambulance to the hospital.
Derek grabbed his phone and called Aaron. "Pick up the phone, Aaron! Come on." A tired Aaron picked up the phone and said, "Derek, what's up?" It was 11 o'clock at night. "It's Emily! She passed out...ahh, hospital."
"I'll meet you there." They hung up the phone.
They got to the hospital and rushed Emily into an examining room. They made Derek wait in the waiting room for her. About ten minutes later, Aaron and JJ hastily entered the emergency room. Aaron walked up to the front desk, and before he could say anything, Derek said, "Aaron, Jay." They both turned and looked at him. They could clearly tell that he was a little shaken by the events that just went down.
"What happened?" Jay asked him as she and Hotch walked over to where Derek was seated.
"I...We were talking, and she looked like she was out of breath. I asked if she was okay, and then she passed out." JJ nodded, and Hotch frowned. Derek could tell they were both worried.
It was about an hour and a half later, and the rest of the team showed up. They were probably there for about ten minutes before the doctor told them what was happening.
"Family for Emily Prentiss?" The whole team stood up and walked over to him.
"How is she?" JJ asked the older gentleman.
"She is stable for now. The injury she sustained about nine months ago is the root of all these issues. It has not healed. The hospital in London put her on antibiotics for an infection, but the medication they had her on was doing little for it. So the infection got into her bloodstream and caused Septicemia. We have her on strong antibiotics, so she will be pretty tired. I recommend that she is out of work for at least three weeks."
"Thank you!" Hotch told the doctor. He nodded and then said, "You can see her now. I will let the nurse take you there." They all started following the nurse before the doctor stopped Derek.
"You are the one that came in with her right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I am going to tell you this. I recommend that Agent Prentiss is not alone in this."
"She will not be. She's family, and we all care about her deeply." The doctor nodded. Derek turned to catch up with the rest of the group before they noticed he was missing. He found Emily's room. He hesitated outside of her room for a brief moment watching everyone interact. Emily was awake but looked pretty tired. The team was talking, and Emily was in on the conversation before she saw Derek standing outside, off to the left side of her room. Emily could see him through the wall windows. She frowned and turned her head slightly at him. Derek saw her looking at him and walked into the room's doorway. He leaned against the door frame, trying to figure out what they were discussing. Emily had not been paying attention for the last two minutes of the conversation until Garcia said, "Right, Em?" Emily turned confused and said, "I'm sorry, what?" They all looked at her, concerned. Emily was usually pretty good at figuring out what they were talking about, even if she had not been fully listening.
"You okay?" JJ asked Emily.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just was not paying attention."
"Well, it does not matter anyways," Garcia said, "We should probably let you sleep."
"Yeah. All of you should go back to sleep too. You guys did not need to come."
"Are you kidding, kiddo? Of course, we were coming. You are part of this family if you like it or not." Dave told her. Emily smiled and looked down.
"We will leave you to get some sleep, Emily," Aaron said to the group.
Derek had moved out of the doorway to let everyone out. Everyone had left the room before Derek asked, "Em, do you mind if I stay?" The team could hear him ask that question, so they left him behind.
"Yeah," Emily said, nodding, "You okay?"
"I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that!" Emily looked at him unimpressed.
"Derek!?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Talk." He looked at her like really. "You make me, so I am making you, Derek. That is one thing we have in common."
"Fine. I...I thought I...We were going to lose you again but this time for real. I did not know what to do. This whole time I have been an ass to you, and that's how it was going to end, me being a jerk. Emily, I am genuinely sorry. I am not just saying that because you are in the hospital. I do not want to lose you. I do not know what I would do if I truly lost you. During the seven months you were going, I was going crazy. I definitely was not myself." Emily looked at him with a guilty look.
"Derek, I am really sorry I put you through that."
"Em, I know why you did it. You do not have to be sorry. All I ask is that you do not do it again, please!" Emily smiled and said, "I do not plan on it."
They both fell silent for a few minutes before the nurse came in to check on Emily. She was checking everything was good for Em when she looked at Derek and said, "Do you want me to get you a comfier chair? That one will hurt your neck if you are going to sleep in it." Derek looked at her and said, "No, I am okay. Thank you, though." She nodded and left the room.
Emily turned and looked at Derek and said, "Come here." Derek looked at her, confused. She scooted over in the bed and looked at him. "Derek, we are both adults. I think we can share a bed without making it weird. Plus, the nurse is correct. You are going to hurt your neck while sleeping in that chair." Derek looked at her, got up, and lay in the bed next to Emily. He wrapped his arm around her. "Derek, you can relax. You're not going to hurt me. I am good." He relaxed a little, but he was still worried about hurting her. Within the hour, they were both asleep. It had been a long night that was now morning. It was around three o'clock.
It was three hours later, and Derek woke up. Emily was still asleep next to him, which was good. Derek was lost in thought when Emily jumped awake. Derek could tell that she had a nightmare.
"Hey Em, you're okay." Emily breathed a little heavily, nodding her head. Derek rubbed her arm to smooth her a little bit.
"I'm good." Emily said, nodding her head.
Derek sat up to see her whole face and just looked at her. He could tell she was not precisely as 'okay' as she was saying. He would not push her because he knew she would shut him out if he did. Derek stood up out of bed and grabbed his phone.
"Got somewhere important to be?" Derek turned and looked at her. He smiled and said, "Yes." Emily looked at him, confused. "Here." Emily smiled and then looked down. Before she could say anything, the doctor came in. "Good Morning. I have some news for you."
"Hopefully good?" Emily said with a little bit of a worried look on her face.
"Yes, it is good news. I know how much you do not like hospitals. We are going to check everything to make sure you are good. If everything is okay, I do not see why you can not be home resting in your bed." Emily smiled and said, "Thank you."
About twenty minutes later, two nurses checked to see if everything was good. They asked her question and everything.
"Everything looks good. You feel fine, right? Your not just saying that."
"No, I'm good. I feel fine."
"Okay, I do not see why you must stay here. I will go and get your paperwork so you can leave."
"Thank you."
It was about an hour later, and Emily was finally about to leave when the nurse walked in and said, "Before you leave there is someone here to see you." Emily turned and looked at the nurse, a little confused, and then looked at Derek, who was equally as confused.
"Okay."
A few seconds later, a woman walks in and says, "Emily, dear." Emily turned and looked at her momentarily, not moving or doing anything. "Mother." Emily said, looking over at Derek. He had a surprised look on his face.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in London?"
"Well, when I learned about the whole back from the dead thing, I was not too impressed. I had no idea anything was happening, so I'm sure you can figure out how happy I am about that. Then I learned you were sick and almost died again, and I got nothing. No phone call, text, nothing," Elizabeth paused for a second before saying, "These people are trying to kill you." Before she had said that last part, Emily looked as though she might feel guilty for not telling her mother about what was happening, but now she was mad at that last part she said.
"No, THEY are not trying to kill me."
"Emily, you don't..."
"Elizabeth, I am fine. No need to worry."
Emily returned to packing her bag until Elizabeth said, "Your father is not happy."
"When is he happy? Also, if he was so bothered by this he would be here but clearly he's not."
"He had business to take care of."
"Of course," Emily paused and looked at Elizabeth, pissed, "There is always business to take care of. You are here because I'm business and that's all. You do not actually care." Elizabeth and Emily locked eyes momentarily before Elizabeth said, "That is not true."
"You hesitated for a moment. Trying to see how you can play this one off."
"Emily, stop it." Emily went to go pick up her bag, but Derek stopped her, and he took it from her. She would have put up a fight about the bag, but at the moment, all she could think about was leaving. Emily went to walk out, and Elizabeth stopped her and said, "Don't do anything stupid like you did years ago. I don't want that phone call, Emily." Emily looked away, pulled away from her mother, and left the room. Derek stood there looking at Elizabeth, worried about what she had just said. "Take care of my daughter. She needs someone too." Derek nodded and walked out of the door to catch up with Emily.
They got to Emily's, and Derek was curious about what Elizabeth was discussing. He had put her bag down by the stand by the front door and followed Emily into the kitchen.
"What was your mother talking about?" Emily turned and looked at him and said, "Nothing."
"Emily, I know that is not true. She seemed pretty worried at the end there."
"Well, that's my mother acting all worried."
"Emily," Derek grabbed her arms gently, looked at her, and said, "Talk to me. What did she mean?" Emily pulled away from him and looked down.
"Derek, there are somethings that we keep to ourselves and this is one of those things."
"Emily, we've already been down this road of you keeping things to yourself. Not happening anymore. So please tell me, because I am worried."
"Fine, you want to know, I'll tell you. What do I have to lose? My parents never paid really any attention to me. I practically raised myself. I was always trying to fit in, and it never worked. My father got mad at me one day, which was nothing new. He threatened me, which, again, was nothing new. But you can only take so much shit before you snap. I finally snapped, and I told him that I was done. I was done with everything. I did not want to be here anymore." Emily paused and then continued, "He walked over to the stand in the living room, pulled out his gun, and handed it to me. He told me he was not going to stop me. The thing was, there were no bullets in the gun because he had taken them out earlier. He reached into his pocket, pulled a bullet out, handed it to me, and told me I had a choice. My father told me that if I chose the short end of the ladder, I needed to do that outside because he did not want to clean the mess." Emily paused again, still not looking at Derek. "That's what my mother is talking about. She's telling me to not be stupid and do something I will regret. As much as her and I do not get along, I agree with her on that one. I was very close that day; my father did that to choose the short end of the ladder, but I did not." Emily looked up to see a perplexed Derek.
"Emily, I..." Emily held her hand up and said, "You do not have to say anything. That was a long time ago. I was young and stupid. I would never intentionally hurt myself on purpose. Now when I am in the field and in the moment, that is different. But now you know the kind of relationship I have with my father. Not a very good one." Emily went and walked out of the room. Derek stood there for a moment before turning and following her out.
"Derek, I'm good. I am going to go shower and then go to bed. You should go home and do the same. If I need anything I know I can call you." Derek looked at her, distraught.
"Emily, I..."
"Derek."
"Please, let me finish." Emily nodded for him to continue.
"I do not know what I would do if I lost you. I almost truly lost you yesterday and am still trying to wrap my head around that. Then your mother says what she did at the hospital, and you tell me that story, and I just can not leave you here by yourself. Not because I think you will hurt yourself but because I care about you so much, and I need to know that you are okay. You can call me selfish, but I need to do this for myself. There have been too many times in the past that I left when I should not have. I left knowing something was wrong. I can not bring myself to do that anymore. So if you mind or do not mind, I am staying here tonight. Tomorrow you can have this place to yourself, but tonight you are stuck with me."
Emily looked at him, slightly surprised at what he had just said. As he had mentioned, he would have just left and not stayed. Emily was not exactly sure what to do at this moment.
"Ahh...okay. Well, I am going to take my shower. The guest bedroom is upstairs. Feel free to use it. Uhh, yeah." Derek smiled and chuckled a little.
"What?"
"You."
"What about me?"
"You start acting all weird when someone says something you do not know what to do with. Like me saying that I am staying here." Emily frowned and looked away for a second. Then she smiled and turned back. "Yeah, okay I..." Emily sighed and just stared at Derek.
"I like it when you are speechless," Derek said, walking towards her, "That does not happen often." He wrapped his arms gently around her waist. They both looked into each other's eyes briefly before Emily looked away. Derek took one of his hands and moved Emily's head, so she was now looking at him. "You are beautiful, you know that?" Emily huffed slightly at what he had said. She pulled away and went to walk up the stairs, but Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "You are, Emily. I am not just saying that." Emily finally looked up and met his gaze. They were like that momentarily before Derek leaned down and kissed her. At first, Emily did not kiss him back, but after a second, she did. They pulled apart, and Derek looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, I..."
"It's okay. I think we were both thinking the same thing." Emily smiled and turned and left him standing there. A smile crept across his face as Emily descended from him.