Hey guys, thanks so so much for everything, I love writing these stories. This is the penultimate chapter. I was wondering whether or not I should do a sequel where Henry and Stella have started the BAU, what do you guys think? Anyway enjoy, more will be revealed.
Thoughts whizzed through my mind as I ran faster and faster. It had been three days. Three days since he left me. For the first two, I mainly stayed in my room, only coming out when needed. Emily had stayed with me the whole time and she was the only person I was comfortable talking to. The whole team had come over, but they didn't stay for long. Henry had been round with JJ and Will but I hadn't seen him since. I guess it was hard for him to, dad was around more for Henry than he was for me.
Today was the first day I left the house since it happened. It was hardly leaving the house, I was just out for a run, but it was a start. I ended up going so fast that my lungs began to burn. But I didn't want to stop, I felt like I deserved to feel some pain. I flew down the street, and started heading back to the apartment. I sped around the last corner, completely oblivious to what was going on. Well that was until I smacked into someone; I had a habit of doing that.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, it's my fault." I sighed. I stood up and assessed the damage, apart from a grazed elbow I was fine.
"You're a speedy little thing." Came a familiar voice. I looked up to see Derek, he had a small smile, but you could tell that it was fake.
"Oh, hey Derek, what are you doing here?" I asked, I wasn't really in the mood to have a conversation, but it was only polite.
"Thought I'd check up on my favourite god-daughter." He smiled. Usually I'd comment something along the lines of, 'But I'm your only god-daughter', but like I said, I wasn't in the mood.
"I'm fine." Was all I could think of to reply.
"Stella, you've been through hell in these last two and a bit months. You're obviously not fine, but if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here. Whether it's another trip to the shooting range, or a midnight driving lesson, I'm here." He said seriously.
"Thanks Derek." I replied in mono-tone. I didn't want to process these words because I didn't want to break down again.
"Now what say we clean up that cut." He suggested, gesturing to the apartment complex. I nodded and followed him inside.
I ran a brush through my knotty hair. Derek had left an hour ago, leaving me to have a shower and get ready for another day in my room. My appearance had gone severely down hill in these last couple of days, and it was a miracle to even get me to brush my hair, let alone do anything with it. It was the same with my clothes, for these last couple of days I lived in my sweatpants, a vest and dads shirts. After getting angry at a particular knot, I gave up and threw my hairbrush against the wall. The throw had a lot more force than I intended and it ended up knocking over a mug on my bedside table.
"What was that?" Emily asked, swiftly entering my room.
"My hairbrush." I sighed.
"And what's your hairbrush doing on the other side of the room?"
"I threw it, because I couldn't get these stupid knots out of my stupid hair." I murmured angrily.
"Here let me." Emily said softly. She retrieved the brush and sat at the edge of my bed, whilst she brushed my hair. I felt like I was five years old, but for some reason I didn't want Emily to stop.
"Hotch rang, he wants everyone at the BAU in an hour." She told me.
"I don't want to go." I stated, I really was in a foul mood today.
"Stel, we don't have to stay for long, he said it was important. If it gets to much just tell me and we'll go back." She said calmly.
"Fine, I'll go." I sighed.
"Good." Emily smiled. She finished brushing my hair and placed the brush on my bed.
"Henry didn't ring did he?" I asked. I'd been wanting to talk to him for the last few days, but I didn't have the guts to call him.
"Nope, sorry he didn't ring. Maybe you should just ring him, or text him." Emily suggested.
"I'll just talk to him when I see him." I said glumly.
"He doesn't hate you. He gets that you didn't mean what you said." Emily tried to say. But I shook my head. I placed my head in my hands and tried to blink away the tears forming in my eyes. I hadn't cried for two days, which was pretty good given the circumstances.
"Come on Stel, there's no need to cry about it." Emily said bringing me into a hug. I was so grateful that I had her, even though I didn't tell her, I thought of her as my second mum.
"It's not that." I sniffled.
"What is it then? Come on, talk to me." She asked gently.
"I know I shouldn't be but I'm jealous of Henry. He's got a mum and a dad who love him so much, and I just wish I had that. He even knew dad better than me. Whilst I was living in Alaska and only saw dad twice a year, sometimes less than that, he saw him nearly everyday. I know it's bad, but when I think about Henry I become so envious that I hate him. But I don't hate him, because I love him." I sobbed. Emily listened quietly to what I said.
"It's okay to feel like that. I get it that you think it's unfair. I know it's hard but, you can't always compare your life to other peoples, it never ends well. Maybe just have some distance from Henry until you get your thoughts together, you do see each other an awful lot." Emily said, everything she said was right, but I knew that it would take time.
"Thanks Em, I love you." I said, wiping away the tears.
"And I love you too Stella." She replied.
Emily and I got to the BAU early. I was really dreading going, I just couldn't face the sympathetic looks. The team had come over one by one, never all together and the thought of all of them in one place overwhelmed me slightly. As I walked through the bullpen a stab of grief hit me. Dads desk had been re-arranged exactly how he left it, the photos had been re-framed, but a computer was still missing. Hotch was waiting on the catwalk, which was unusual for him as he was usually in his office.
"Stella, Prentiss, I'm glad you could come." He stated in his usual tone. "Stella if you wouldn't mind there's someone in my office who would like to see you."
"Oh, okay." I replied, not knowing what else to say. I already knew that it would be some bereavement councillor, who would get me to talk about my had told me that Hotch was going to do this. Grudgingly I walked up to Hotch's office. I didn't even bother to knock, I didn't even want to talk to a stupid councillor. With my head down I entered the room.
"I don't want to talk to you about my feelings, I can deal with what's going on, I don't need some stupid councillors help." I stated, making my feelings very clear. I didn't want to offend them to much so I looked at a spot on the floor, so they couldn't see the pure hate in my eyes.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Came an over familiar voice which caused my head to bolt up.
"Dad." I breathed. There standing before me was Spencer Reid. He looked pretty good for someone who fell off a building only a few days from the crutches and the bandages, he looked not too bad. But I didn't really care about his appearance, not that I could take it in that well seeing as my eyesight blurred over. Without thinking I ran over to him and hugged him tightly. I had to know that he was real.
"Stella." He smiled, tears forming in his own eyes.
"I hate you, I hate you so much. But I'm too scared to hate you, I don't want to loose you again." I sobbed. It was true, I was feeling so conflicted. I hated the man, but I was too scared that he would be taken away from me again.
"I'm sorry Stella, I'm so so so sorry. I didn't want to do this to you, but it was the only way." He tried to explain.
"Why though? I thought you were dead dad, I thought I was alone." I sobbed harder, this made his grip tighten around me.
"I'm sorry Stel, I couldn't let her ruin your life any more. I had to trick her." He said. Why was I finding it so difficult to hate him?
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? You could of told me." I sobbed.
"I only got discharged this morning. I was out cold until two days ago. They weren't sure if I was going to make it. I wasn't even sure. I couldn't just leave you not knowing, without closure. I only wanted to tell you when I was sure that I was finally going to be alright." He replied.
"So Hotch was in on this to, who else knew?" I asked angrily, Hotch got to know and I didn't.
"Just Hotch, Anderson, the paramedics and only the top of the FBI." Dad replied calmly, he knew I was getting angry.
"ANDERSON KNEW AND I DIDN'T, FUCKING ANDERSON." I shouted at the top of my voice.
"Stella, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. What if I didn't make it and you were waiting for me to come back, what then? I couldn't let that happen to you. Please calm down and we can talk about this." He suggested. But my anger only increased, the worst thing to say to me when I was angry, was to calm down. But I wanted to try. As much as I hated what he did, I did understand why he did it. I turned away from him and breathed slowly.
"Just give me a minute." I said, a lot quieter.
"Take as long as you need." Dad said, he sounded pleased that I had calmed down.
"I'm going to go get some air." I finally decided. I dried off my face and walked towards the door.
"I understand that this will take time, just know that I love you." Dad said, I nodded and walked out of the office. By this time the whole team were in the bullpen, and they were staring intently at Hotch's office. I got the impression Hotch had given them the news.
"Stel is it true?" Morgan asked.
"He's all yours." I sighed, heading towards the elevator. The team were completely shocked. It actually worked in my favour, as it gave me a distraction to leave. I was about to go through the glass doors when Hotch intercepted me.
"Your father did this for you, he hated what he was doing and nearly didn't go through with it, but he did it for you." Hotch said, his expression not changing.
"You could of told me." Was all I could think of to reply. I pushed past him and made my way through the door and into the escalator. Once I got outside the building, I wasn't to keen sitting on the steps. Especially since Dad had 'fallen to his death', a couple of days beforehand. Deciding to get away from the BAU for a bit, I made my way across the street to the coffee shop. Luckily I had some change, and after paying for a very strong coffee, I sat down at one of the tables and slowly drank it. I couldn't believe it, he was alive. Part of me felt like screaming with joy; my dad was finally back. But another part of me was hurting from the lies I'd been told. I know he'd only been gone for a few days, and it wasn't nearly as long as Emily, but they had been the worst days of my life. I had been a bitch to Henry, to the whole team in fact, all because I was grieving over someone who wasn't even dead. My phone buzzed and I looked down to see it was Dad. I don't know why but I answered it.
"Hey."
"Stella, where are you?" He asked concerned.
"I'm fine, I just went for a walk, I'll be back soon." I replied, I didn't want to come back straight away, I still needed time to clear my thoughts a bit.
"Okay. Just take your time. I love you." Dad replied awkwardly.
"Yeah, love you too." I said before I hung up. I looked around unsure what to do. Just then the coffee shop door opened, and a familiar figure walked in. They looked pretty flustered and nervously ran their hand through their hair. After ordering a coffee, they turned and scanned for somewhere to sit, that's when our eyes met. I gestured Henry to come and sit down. For the first time ever, I was actually nervous to speak to Henry.
"Hey." He said, sitting down across from me.
"Hey." I replied. For a while we just sat in silence not quite sure what to say to each other. Never before had things been this awkward between us. Henry hadn't even touched his coffee, and just traced patterns in the sugar.
"I'm sorry." I finally said, I couldn't bare the silence.
"Don't be Stel, I've been an idiot, I should of checked up on you more. He was your dad, is your dad." Henry said, he had to correct himself on the last bit.
"No Henry, I've been a bitch. I didn't mean what I said. I love it here at Quantico, if I hadn't of come I wouldn't have met the team, or you. And I love the bracelet, in fact." I put my hand out on the table and showed him the charm bracelet on my wrist.
"Well I guess it shouldn't matter any more, we wasn't even dead." Henry sighed.
"How'd the team take it?" I asked.
"Let's see, Rossi had an inkling, Garcia was relieved, Emily and Morgan were pretty pissed, and mum was both relieved and pissed. But I guess Emily and Mum can't be mad, they kept Emily's death from your dad for months." Henry replied.
"And how did you take it?" I asked
"I- I don't know. I love it that he's back, but I just wish he'd of told me." Henry sighed. I gave him a sad smile, it was weird that we were feeling exactly the same.
"Shit, there I go again. I'm sorry, I'm acting like this is all about me, sorry. How are you feeling?" Henry asked genuinely.
"I-uh, I'm pretty much feeling the same as you. I hate him, I hate him so much. But I love him at the same time, I love it that he's back." I replied sadly.
"I know, it's going to take time, but we'll get there." Henry said, giving a small smile. I nodded in agreement.
"We should really get going." Henry suggested.
"Can I have your coffee?" I asked, it was a shame to see good coffee go to waste.
"You really want my cold coffee?" Henry asked. I nodded eagerly.
"My strong, cold, crappy coffee?" He asked, he was just teasing me now.
"Just give me the coffee." I stated, I don't play games when it comes to coffee.
"Only if you give me something in return?" Henry asked.
"What?"
"Forgive me for being a dick and a shitty boyfriend. Give me a make-up hug, and help me prank your dad, Hotch's, and Anderson's sorry arses." Henry offered.
"Deal." I replied snatching up the coffee. I downed it in a few gulps and followed Henry out of the cafe.
"I'm thinking we super glue down everything on his desk." Henry suggested, we were in the elevator and thinking of ways to get back at Hotch.
"Yeah, but I think that's as far as we should go, the man scares the living daylights out of me." I admitted.
"Same. As for Anderson, I think he deserves a bit more." Henry smiled mischievously.
"You are evil." I laughed. It had been the first time in days.
"And you still haven't given me my hug." Henry smiled. I rolled my eyes playfully and hugged Henry tightly. Somehow that hug managed to turn into a kiss. A pretty passionate one. We were quickly separated though, when the elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the BAU. Everyone was gathered around the bullpen. Henry and I entered through the glass doors and were greeted to everyone's stares.
"You're back." Dad said relieved.
"Where else would we go." I replied sarcastically. I didn't mean it and instantly regretted it.
"We should get going." JJ said to Henry.
"Same." Dad agreed. I said goodbye to everyone, especially Emily, and followed dad to the doors.
"Again, I'm sorry. I understand if you hate me, if I were you I'd hate me too, but please try to understand why I did it." Dad said, before he quickly turned to the doors. We waited in silence for the elevator to come to our floor.
"Reid! Wait." Came Morgan. Dad turned to face him.
"Listen, Prentiss and I don't hate you. We just need time to adjust." Morgan stammered. Emily followed him through the door and stood behind him.
"I agree with Morgan Reid. Don't for a second think that I hate you. But please understand that you put Stella through hell, give her time to. I also understand how hard it is to come back to the team and re-gain their trust, so I'm not going to be hard on you. But I wasn't leaving my daughter behind." Emily stated. Dad nodded, understanding everything that they were saying.
"I'm sorry guys, it was hard on me. You're my family, and I hated what I was doing. Thanks for understanding though." Dad replied, I could tell the pain in his voice.
"It's fine pretty boy. But if you pull a stunt like that again, I'm going to have to kill you for real." Morgan warned. Dad nodded and said goodbye again to everyone. We hopped in the elevator and headed to a SUV, seeing as Dads car was still at the apartment. The whole journey home was in silence, I didn't even know what to say to him. When we finally got to the apartment, I couldn't bare the uneasiness any more.
"Dad, I forgive you for what you did, but please just give me some space. These last couple of days have been hell" I stated.
"Thanks Stel, and again I'm sorry." Dad replied with a small smile.
"Well you're not off the hook that easily, paybacks are a bitch." I quoted Derek. Dad rolled his eyes playfully and brought me into a hug. It was nice to be in his arms again.
"I'm going to get changed, but how about we get a take out?" Dad suggested as if it was a normal day.
"Sounds good." I couldn't help but smile, it was just so good to have him back. Dad wondered off to his room, whilst I checked my phone. Henry had text me.
Hotch- Super glue desk.
Anderson- False file, make him look like a prat.
Spencer- Make a complete and utter fool out of him.
Just reading Henry's little list made me laugh a little. It was nice to have things back to normal-ish.
"Stel, where are all my shirts gone, and why is my bed such a mess? Coming to think about it my computer at the BAU is missing as well, and the pictures have been re-framed."