Here's chapter 20! enjoy!
Emily pulled up to her brownstone. Nicole's rape kit was over, and the two of them were finally able to leave the hospital and go back to Georgetown.
"Emily?" Nicole hadn't spoken since they'd left the hospital. The teen clutched the small bag of toiletries that the hospital had given her. "Do I have to go to bed? I'm not tired." The teen's body language said differently but Emily decided not to push going to bed. From what she'd heard the bedroom held unspeakable memories for Nicole.
"You can stay up and watch TV if you want," Emily suggested as she guided the car toward the curb of the brownstone.
"Thanks." Nicole breathed a sigh of relief.
Emily parked the car and got out; she glanced behind her when she heard another car door closing. It was Penelope Garcia who was carrying more than a few shopping bags.
"Hey sister!"
"Hey PG," Emily said taken aback by the bags in Garcia's hands. "Dare I ask what you have up your sleeve?" she wondered as the group made their way up the steps toward the main door.
"I'm here to help. Hey teen angel," Pen greeted Nicole. "I've got chocolate fudge, ice cream, fuzzy socks, DVDs, nice smelling shampoos and nail polish. Let's make ourselves pretty and forget about this whole case for the night."
Nicole smiled hesitantly. "Sounds great."
Emily led guests into the brownstone and shut the door. She threw the deadbolt.
"I've got some really nice shampoo and conditioner for you to use when you take a shower." Pen set the bags on the coffee table and rifled through them.
"Is it okay if I take a shower right now?" Nicole asked Emily. "I feel really dirty."
"Yeah, of course," Emily said quietly.
Pen pulled a brightly colored loofah out from one of the bags. She pulled the toiletries out and turned to Nicole. "We will wait for JJ. But right now, try to concentrate on only getting yourself clean physically. No matter how many showers you take it takes time to feel clean emotionally."
Nicole nodded and grabbed the items. She hesitated. "The bathroom is upstairs on the right. There should be towels on the bar," Emily directed.
"Okay." Nicole went upstairs.
Emily turned toward her friend. "You didn't have to do this…"
"Yes I did. We usually don't get the chance to help victims like this, so I jumped on it."
"Did you buy out Wal-Mart?" Emily asked noting the blue lettering on the side of the bags.
"Nope. But the team pooled their cash and Agent Hard-ass told me to go shopping and spoil Nicole."
"Thank you." Emily sat down on the couch and helped the tech analyst unload the bags. A soft green pillow came out first, along with a pair of fuzzy green socks. "What are you, Mary Poppins in disguise?" Emily asked incredulously as she took out a couple more pairs of fuzzy socks, only these where pink, blue and purple.
"I'm her fairy godmother brought to life," Pen said brightly as she pulled out a box of popcorn and a gallon tub of ice cream from another bag. "The team wanted to do something to help and I had the idea of having a girls night sleepover. JJ is doing the paper work for you to stay at home until Nikki is no longer needed by the FBI. She will bring it over in a little bit, you will sign it and then she'll stay until tomorrow."
"PG…" Emily began.
"Do not argue with me," she interrupted, "it's already been decided upon. We're having a girls night with a sleepover. JJ and I can take separate edges of the couch, and incase you don't have the bedding, I bought a few blankets."
"I'm not going to stop you Garcie." Emily sighed as she looked at the items. "During the rape kit, I was wondering what I would do with Nicole tonight."
"I'm glad I could help with this." Pen pulled the stack of DVDs out of a bag.
"What all did you buy?" Emily asked, seeing that there were still quite a few bags to unload.
"Junk food for the mind." She stacked the DVDs on the corner of an end table, Emily could see the titles, Joan of Arcadia, Beauty and The Beast, Unaccompanied Minors, Full House season 1 and A Perfect Day were only a few of them. "I got her some things to help her feel more like a teen-ager."
The blonde moved busily around the living room, placing the remaining bath items in another bag and placing them on the floor by the couch. "I also bought some lotions and body sprays. You and Nicole can fight over them later," she said. "I got some bed stuff to help personalize her bedroom. According to Mr. Dayton her favorite color is green so I got lots of that."
"Pen, this is so much," Emily said, touched by the outpouring of love from the computer tech.
"I don't usually get to help out a victim like this," Pen repeated what she'd said earlier. "So I bought a lot."
While Emily and Penelope were setting out the bowls for ice cream sundaes talk turned toward the earlier events.
"I hate Jared…or what ever his name is," Emily snapped, nearly slamming the bowls down on the counter.
"That bad?" Pen asked as she arranged the toppings. She had to keep her hands busy or else she would try to choke the bastard who was sitting down in the city jail.
"Yeah, I mean we were there for a rape kit so I didn't really expect any good news. However, during the physical, the doctor uncovered some evidence that absolutely shocks me I don't know if I can even talk about it, it's so horrific."
There was silence between the two women before Emily spoke again.
"I don't know if I can do this Pen," she whispered.
"Yes you can my little globe trotter," Penelope said, hugging Emily "And even if you don't think you can, please try."
Emily nodded, turning when they could hear Nicole coming down the stairs.
"Hey, what was in the bags?" Nicole asked. Her hair was wet but clearly cleaner than earlier.
"Gifts. Go out to the TV room and look," Garcia chirped excitedly. "We're having a girl's night tonight and you get to choose the DVDs! Go in and decide while we get the stuff ready."
Nicole grinned and went into the TV room just as the doorbell rang. Emily answered it and found both Dave and JJ at the door.
"I've got paperwork for you to sign; Rossi offered to take it back to the BAU so I don't have to worry about it." JJ handed Emily a pile of papers.
"I've got this. Why don't you go back and help Pen get ready?"
JJ smiled and quickly went to the back of the house to the kitchen.
"How are things going?" Dave asked quietly. "How'd the rape kit go?"
Emily blew out a breath. "Not right now Dave." She shot a quick glance in the direction of the kitchen and spoke quietly. "Nicole can hear; we'll talk later tonight."
As Emily turned back to sign the paperwork, she could feel one of Dave's hands grabbing a lock of her hair and twisting it between his fingers.
"Nicole, JJ and Garcia are in the next room," Emily sang playfully, although she didn't move out of reach of Dave's touch.
"I've got an eye out for them." Dave sang right back. Emily slowed down as she signed the paperwork. Usually she wasn't much of a touchy-feely person but she loved it when Dave played with her hair.
"I've got something for you out in the car - when you're done with the paperwork come out there with me."
Emily nodded and quickly signed her name to the last paper. Straightening, she turned into Dave who pressed a hand to the small of her back as he guided her out the front door.
"What is it?" she asked as Dave led her around to the far side of his truck.
"This," Dave said mysteriously. He took the paper work from Emily, opened a door and tossed it in. He closed the door, pulled Emily into his arms and pressed his lips to hers in a quick kiss. "You look like you could use a hug," he murmured after he pulled back. Emily sighed deeply and laid her hear on Dave's chest.
"I hate him." Her statement was low and deadly and Dave didn't ask who 'he' was.
"Do you want to talk about it now?" Dave's hands made lazy circles on her back.
Emily shook her head quickly. "Give me a minute." She wanted to forget everything and in Dave's arms, it was so easy.
"Take your time," he offered.
Emily wrapped her arms around Dave and didn't hide the tears. "Jared took…" her voice was shaking with anger, "the sweet innocent little Michaela that I knew and transformed her into a teenager that I can hardly recognize. Michaela loved snuggling with me when I knew her." She blew out a breath in anger. "Now Nicole can hardly stand to have me touch her. During the rape kit, she kept looking at me like I was supposed to do something to comfort her, but whenever I reached out to touch her she pulled away."
Emily brushed tears away as she kept speaking. "I finally stopped trying to comfort her so we could get the rape kit done and get back here as fast as possible."
Dave pressed a kiss to Emily's hair as he took hold of a lock and began twirling it around between his fingers. "Em, I wish there was a way for me to make this situation easier on you," he said as he continued to rub Emily's back.
Emily pulled back a little so she could see his face. "Too bad you can't stay the night," she said quietly. "I love the support the girls are showing, but having you here is different."
"I've got an idea." He cupped her face in one hand. "How about we kiss each other goodnight, I get in my truck, and drive home and then I'll text you something, but I don't want you to open it until you really need to. Then after you open it, reply to me so I'll know that you read it, then I'll send you another supportive text for the next time you need it, okay?"
Emily couldn't help but smile. "Okay," she said. She went onto her tiptoes and Dave pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short and gentle, ending almost as quickly as it began. "If I kiss you much longer then Garcia and JJ will find out about us," he explained quietly.
Emily nodded and stepped back. "I understand."
"Good night." Dave looked into her eyes. He gently caressed one of her cheeks with a thumb before bending to press a chaste kiss to one cheek.
"Good night," Emily whispered back and let him go. She watched as he slammed the door and started the engine.
Emily backed up to the small porch and waved as Dave pulled away from the curb. She waited until his truck was out of sight. At that, Emily turned and went back inside her brownstone. She picked up her cell phone and stuck it in her pocket; she wanted to have it close by whenever she needed to read Dave's texts.
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