Wow, sorry it's taken me so long to update. Good news is I'm officially a college grad with 2 degrees. I have some time this summer so I'll definitely be updating much sooner than last time. Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy the update. Feel free to drop me a review or even send me a message if you have any comments!
Chapter 14
Three safe-houses in four months. Rhodes and Cavill insisted that it was simply precautionary but every time they had to pack up their belongings and start new, Leila felt uneasy. While the two Marshals were more than kind to her, the teenager couldn't help but treat them with a fair amount of hostitilty from time to time. Whether it was because she was still grieving the loss of her sister- and by proxy, everyone she had grown to love- or simply because she hadn't slept more than three or four hours since being placed with them, Leila was unsure. Regardless, she marveled at their patience, especially Cavill who, since day one, had been trying to form some kind of relationship with her. Leila could tell that the agent was genuinely interested in befriending her and that the interest stemmed from nothing other than legitimate concern, but she still found it difficult to open up. As they drove to their fifth location, Leila glanced towards the woman who was fast asleep in the passenger seat of their newly acquired sedan. Occasionally, when he thought no one was looking, Adam Rhodes would sneak a glance at the woman. Leila couldn't help but roll her eyes every time he did, irritated at how obvious their attraction for one another was. It didn't take long for the teen to notice their subtle, intimate touches and glances that lasted slightly too long. One day, in an effort to entertain herself, Leila had asked Cavill about it. The woman had fumbled with her words, caught off guard at the fact that Leila had initiated a conversation to begin with. Within seconds, Leila confirmed her suspicions and knew that the two were exclusive. Amy had all but begged Leila to keep it secret, seeing as it was a far cry from acceptable and would have them both fired. Leila merely laughed.
"Who do I have to tell, anyway?"
The question had sobered the moment, bringing both women back to their present, not-too-joyful situation. Now, as she watched Adam sneak glance after glance at his partner, Leila felt nothing but jealousy. She missed Jackson. She missed everyone but the thought that she didn't even get the chance to explain what was going on to her boyfriend made his loss sting almost as bad as JJ's. Leila frowned at herself and quickly rerouted her thoughts away from the blonde as she always did. Pulling the headphones out of her ears, she scanned her brain for possible conversation starters to avoid thinking of her dead sister. She and Adam hadn't exactly spent extended amounts of alone time together and Leila found it hard to relate to anything the man said. However, she was bored and needed a distraction.
"So, where are we going this time?" she tried hard to keep the annoyance out of her voice, knowing that Adam wasn't nearly as patient with her as Amy was. The man shot her a quick grin.
"You know I can't tell you." He whispered, glancing once again at his partner turned lover to make sure she was still asleep.
"I don't even know what state we're in, let alone where anything is." Leila huffed. She hated being kept in the dark for so long while her family risked their lives to protect hers.
"Want a soda?" the agent offered, reaching back and handing her a can of Pepsi without taking his eyes off the road. Leila crossed her arms.
"I don't drink soda." She mumbled. You would think that after spending a consecutive 132 days together, he would know that.
"Right." He nodded once and returned the can to the cooler they had stored by Amy's feet. The woman shifted in her sleep and Adam placed a gentle, reassuring hand on her thigh which settled her.
"Do you love her?" Leila found herself asking, unable to stop the question before it came out. Adam's eyes danced from the rear view mirror back to the road as he pondered how to respond.
"I have very strong feelings for her, yes." His voice was even lower than before, as if Amy would suddenly awake. Leila scoffed, earning herself a glare from the man.
"You love her." It was no longer a question. "Tell her. Before it's too late."
"I'm pretty sure she already knows." Adam admitted, a blush taking over his cheeks. Had Leila been the person she was 6 months ago, she would be overjoyed for them. Now it was difficult for her to feel even a relative shadow of happiness, let alone outright joy.
"Doesn't matter." She insisted. "Tell her every chance you get. Take it from someone who knows." Adam looked back at the girl who had returned her earbuds to her ears and once again, felt a powerful wave of pity for her. She was too young to have lost so many loved ones- too young to have to deal with this. As Adam shook his head, he was too busy waiting for Amy to wake up and pondering what the teenager had told him to notice the black SUV that had been tailing them for the last ten miles.
Emily felt a pair of hands on the small of her back, rubbing in an attempt to make her feel better. It didn't work. As the brunette emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl in front of her, Garcia continued to try to comfort her.
"Morning sickness doesn't last forever." The blonde said. "It'll get better eventually." Emily simply groaned in response.
"It's not morning sickness, Pen." She said once the heaving stopped. "That goes away after the first month or two. Besides, it's not even morning."
"Then what is it?" Penelope frowned. "Tell me and I'll send it straight to the firey pits of the Underworld."
"It's your oh-so-lovely Chocolate Thunder is at fault." Emily almost smiled when Garcia gasped audibly. "Feel free to take him straight to Hades."
"Wh-No." Garcia shook her head." I can't do that, sorry hun. What did he do? Did he flip his eyelids inside out again?"
"No," Emily wiped her mouth as she began to stand, her slight belly giving her some pause, "he brought a ham sandwhich for lunch."
"Is that like, a no no?" Garcia handed the woman a few wet paper towels and waited for her to rinse her mouth out. Emily raised an eyebrow at her as she did.
"It's been a no no since the second month!" she cried. "And this is the third time he's done it so do me a favor and send him straight down."
"Well, you know I can't do that but what I can do is give him a stern talking to that involves a whole lot of arm waving and chest poking. Good enough?" Garcia noticed that Emily had stopped listening halfway through her sentence. The woman was too busy staring at her baby bump in the bathroom mirror. Although she hadn't gained nearly as much as she had anticipated, it was still unsettling for the brunette. She questioned her abilities to be a mother almost every day, whether the team knew it or not. Garcia could tell that she had been uncomfortable with the situation from the start. Her own mother wasn't exactly winning any "Mother of the Year" awards. She had tried her best to reassure the agent but she knew that what Emily needed was someone who had been there before- someone who could tell her that she had felt the same way and that everything worked out fine in the end. Someone like JJ. Garcia placed a gentle hand on Emily's shoulder and squeezed, doing her best to ignore the single tear that rolled down a pale cheek.
"Sorry." Emily mumbled. She hated being so emotional and off edge. On top of that, Hotch had benched her immediately after their return from Texas and she was slowly losing her mind chained behind a desk. With about two months to go, Emily wasn't entirely sure she would remain sane until the baby came.
"You don't have to apologize." Garcia hugged her tightly from behind, wary of the woman's stomach. "I miss her too."
"It's just-" Emily sighed. "It's just so shitty, you know? It's been almost five months and we've got nothing on him and Leila…who even knows where Leila is."
"I'm sure she's being well taken care of." Garcia insisted. "Besides, having her here wasn't a good idea. We all agreed on that, remember?"
"Yea but now I'm starting to think that maybe the bad idea was sending her away in the first place. At least if she was here, we'd know how she was doing."
"If she was here, he'd probably already have her." The tone in Garcia's voice- one typically used for cheerful and uplifting comments- surprised Emily. She turned her head slightly and nodded once, forcing herself to believe her friend. As the two women exited the bathroom, they saw Morgan making his way towards them. Garcia took a step in front of Emily and crossed her arms.
"You, my dear, have to remain at least fifty feet away at all times. New rules." The blonde frowned. "Until you brush your teeth that is. We don't need any more of that smell making poor Emily sick again."
"I'm really sorry, Em." Morgan offered her a smile. "I promise, I'll remember this time."
"That's what you said the last two times." Emily raised an eyebrow, crossing her own arms as she enjoyed making the man feel bad. "I suppose I don't have a choice but to believe you."
"I promise, I'll remember. You'll see." Morgan went to hug the agent only to be ushered back by her ever-present bodyguard. Emily returned to her desk unharassed by the smell of ham and Garcia gave her a quick kiss on the head before returning to her lair.
"The two of you have gotten pretty close." Rossi observed. "I'm glad you have her." Emily offered the older man a thin smile. "Not to say that you don't have us. We're just not exactly able to accompany you to the ladies' room every time Morgan messes up."
"Not to mention the fact that I'm not really sure I want to know everything that's discussed in there." Reid frowned as he thought of any conversations involving pregnancy.
"You're like what, thirty?" Morgan folded his legs on top of his desk as he chuckled. "You'd think pregnancy and babies wouldn't freak you out so much."
"They don't freak me out." Reid defended himself. "I just think that there are some details I'd rather not know, especially when my friends are the ones going through them."
"You'll feel differently when you have one, kid." Rossi insisted, waving a hand in dismissal. Reid seemed unconvinced.
"She hears you talking about her." Emily informed them, a hand pressed against her belly. The men offered her confused looks until she grabbed Reid's hand and placed it in the exact same spot hers was. The youngest member of their team nearly jumped out of his seat when he felt Emily's baby place its foot against it. The others chuckled.
"Doesn't that…hurt?" Reid seemed almost afraid to ask. Emily shook her head.
"It's actually kinda cool." She admitted.
"Only you would describe bringing life into this world as 'kinda cool'." Morgan shook his head, taking his turn to feel the baby kick. The brunette simply shrugged.
"I think I'm a little more worried about what comes after she's born." Emily admitted.
"Do you mean breastfeeding?" Reid asked innocently. "I heard that even though they don't have teeth, a good percentage of babies actually end up drawing blood during their first few attempts at it." Emily's face contorted into one of discomfort and anxiety as Morgan slapped the back of Reid's shoulder.
"Thanks. Again." Emily said sarcastically.
"Sorry." Reid's naivety made it easy for Emily to forgive him. "I remember when JJ was pregnant with Henry and she let me feel him kick."
"Yea and you said that it freaked you out." Morgan chuckled.
"Only for that very baby to come out and become your godchild." Rossi smiled at the memory. The others smiled along with him, remembering the months of JJ's first pregnancy and just how happy she had been. Now, everything had changed. A sad silence fell over the group as they each recalled one memory or another about the blonde. They were jolted out of their thoughts a couple seconds later when Hotch's voice called to them.
"We've got something." The Unit Chief announced, causing all four agents to spring to their feet and rush toward the conference room. "Lieutenant, tell my team what you just told me."
"Right." The voice coming from the speakerphone cleared his throat. "About an hour ago a few of my officers were patrolling a highway rest stop. They saw a man, matching the description of your APB, checking the place out."
"What do you mean 'checking the place out'?" Emily questioned, her hands on her hips.
"Stalking the place, you know." The officer said. "I ran the name on the credit card he used to buy a few things: Jay Mall Pierre. Mean anything to you?" Reid was already writing the name on the whiteboard, his mind working overtime to confirm what he believed.
"Jay Mall Pierre is an anagram for Jeremy Parilla." The boy genius announced to no one's surprise.
"Emily, call your contact at the Marshals. Find out where Leila is and if Jeremy's closing in on her." The woman had begun dialing and was already halfway out the door by the time Hotch finished.
"Hotch, if she's there…" Morgan's concern was evident but Hotch couldn't risk a panic if there was no cause. The group thanked the officer and waited for Emily to conclude her phone call. When the brunette burst through the door, eyes wide, it was clear that Jeremy had found her.
"That rest stop is less than fifty miles from the next safehouse they're taking Leila." Emily told her team. "If he's there it means he knows…and if he knows then it's already to late to stop him from taking her."