A/N: Well, I made you guys a promise, and I ALWAYS keep my promises, so here we go…

As always italics are thoughts; except for when obviously used for emphasis, however, in this chapter there's a flashback in italics – still in Emily's thoughts though – just in case you wondered.

Here we go Emily. Breathe. Just breathe.

It had been a little under an hour since Emily had woken up, and after she'd agreed – reluctantly – to be checked over, and following much persuasion aimed at doctors by JJ; and subsequently some badge-flashing on Hotch's part, Emily was now in a wheelchair being pushed to Taylor's room a few doors down. She'd refused to see any of the team until she'd seen Taylor, and even Hotch hadn't been allowed near her, the only communication between Emily and her boss being her asking – via JJ – if he could pull some strings to allow her even just five minutes with her girlfriend.

JJ was walking next to the wheelchair being pushed by a nurse, just taking I how nervous Emily looked. In all the years she'd know the woman; she'd never seen her so… not 'Special Agent Emily Prentiss'. So not a kick-ass FBI agent. So unravelled. So broken.

She was attacking her nails at record pace; her brow furrowed with the pain she was experiencing – not helped by the fact she was refusing pain medication until she'd seen Taylor because she wanted to be fully coherent. Her hair was a curly mess and her eyes were trained in front of her, carefully analysing the hallway as though she was trying to work out what room Taylor was in without being told.

'Here we are' the nurse announced, then turned to JJ and spoke quietly 'I'll be back to get her. I'll stay away as long as possible, but if her pain gets worse call for someone'

'Okay' JJ smiled and took the place behind Emily the nurse had vacated.

Leaning down to Emily's level, she asked gently 'are you sure you want to see her like this?'

Emily didn't respond, and if JJ wasn't scrutinising her so carefully, she'd have missed the slight nod. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and rolled the brunette inside.

Emily couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she took in the sight before her.

Taylor, my Taylor, was right there. Broken, but alive. She looked so small. God how cliché!?

Her light, usually straight, brown hair was tucked behind her ears; her fringe pushed clear of her face. A cannula was hooked into her nose, helping her to breathe. Well at least she's not on a ventilator. Her eyes were closed tightly in her deep sleep, and Emily just knew that this moment marked the start of the wait to see them open again, to look into those beautiful shining hazel eyes and see her soul reflected in them. To know she was fine. That they were fine.

It was only when a voice grabbed her attention from scrutinising Taylor – before it had even really begun – that Emily realised there was someone else in the room other than the couple.

'Emily' a voice gasped out. Looking up she realised it was Taylor's mom, so she plastered on a smile, however fake it may be.

'Andrea. Hi'

'Oh sweetheart.' Before she knew it, Emily was one again engulfed in a mostly one-sided display of affection, with Andrea's arms holding her tightly as though she'd disappear at any second.

'Hey, I'm okay' Emily attempted to reassure her

'When did you wake up!?' Andrea pulled back to look Emily in the eyes, cupping her cheeks in her hands

'Like an hour ago. I just need to see Taylor' Emily replied, before looking straight past her might-as-well-be mother-in-law and back at her might-as-well-be-wife.

'Go ahead honey' Andrea stood out of the way as JJ wheeled Emily the last few feet to Taylor's side.

Emily was so consumed in the sight of Taylor at that moment that she didn't notice JJ and Andrea proceed to leave the room. Taking hold of Taylor's hand, Emily took a few shaky deep breaths and after placing a kiss on her skin, she started to speak.

'So what did Doctor Moore say?'

JJ had barely shut the door behind them before Andrea began her questioning.

'I'm not really sure; she wouldn't let me stay while she looked her over'

'She wouldn't?'

'No. I'm guessing she didn't want me to know… the extent of her injuries'

'So she hasn't been told we know?'

'No, but I suppose we should see how she reacts to having the team around her first and then maybe if she pulls away from the guys we could gently let her know?'

'Oh God help her' Andrea said, more to herself, as she turned to watch Emily talk softly to her daughter.

Emily gently lowered her girlfriend's hand from her lips. 'Hi Tay' she whispered 'it's me. …I'm okay. …I just… I just need you to wake up okay? Like right now. …because the truth is I can't do this without you. …I can't live without you. …and right now, I don't feel like I can breathe until I see those eyes looking at me.'

She felt the tears begin to flow freely down her cheeks, but she made no moves to stop them. She never had to around Taylor; she was the one person she could break down completely with, right to her most vulnerable.

Growing up; she never felt any affection from her mother. Her dad had skipped out when she was nine years old, and after that her little trust in the companionship of others was shattered; not helped by the fact her mother basically turned all the blame on her rather than admit that her dedication to the job had pushed away her husband. When she met Taylor; that all changed.

She was no longer happy – content, even – with being on her own, in fact she craved to be with Taylor all of the time, 24/7… because it never mattered what she told her; that she'd been hooked on drugs and alcohol… that she'd tried to kill herself… Taylor stayed. And when she told her the real reason behind her suicide attempt; when she did the whole 'I'm gay' speech for the second time in her life… Taylor stayed. Correction – Taylor kissed her senseless, and then promised to stay, that it didn't matter, that she herself had been fighting feelings for Emily for the past four years, and that she never wanted to be anywhere else but by her side.

She'd kept that promise, that promise of 'I'm never going anywhere, Em. I'm going to love you forever' since they were twenty-two. Thirteen fucking years she'd been keeping that promise, and Emily couldn't even keep her safe for however long they'd been in that hell hole. Sure, they'd broken up for six years; but they'd never stopped loving each other, and as far as they were concerned, those years never happened, that fight had been resolved a long time ago, and she didn't want to think about that night ever again, only right now it was all she could think about. She'd broken the one promise she never thought she would.

'For God's sake. How long does it take to do a fucking x-ray' Emily mumbled to herself whilst trying to pour herself a cup of coffee with her good hand.

'A surprisingly long time' a familiar voice echoed round the empty waiting room from behind her. Frozen to the spot, Emily didn't want to turn around through fear it was who she thought it was. She was saved the trouble though, when a steady hand – made up of fingers she definitely recognised grasped the coffee pot over her own hand and poured the thick liquid into a Styrofoam cup.

'Here' that voice said softly right down her ear. Emily could feel her chest against her back, her breath on her neck, and her arm braced along her side as she put the coffee pot down to her right. 'Now what could you have possibly been doing in the middle of the night to have to come get an x-ray done when everyone here's on the graveyard shift?'

Emily swallowed audibly, trying to come up with a believable excuse. 'I fell… as I got out of my car… landed heavily on it.'

'You always were a terrible liar Emily Prentiss' she felt the woman back away a few steps and heard her sit on one of the couches behind her.

The way she said her name was all the confirmation she needed, and after gulping down a significant amount of caffeine, she turned to face her. 'Taylor' Emily said in way of a greeting, and took a seat on the couch opposite her former lover.

'Wow. Really Emily? You blew me off, we haven't seen each other in nearly six years, and all you can say to greet me is my name? Am I supposed to be happy you even remember it?'

Emily cringed at the obvious hurt still present. Hell, she was still hurt herself, but she had wanted to believe Taylor had moved on at least.

'I'm sorry; it's just a shock to see you. What are you doing here?' With the pointed look shot at her from Taylor, she realised how stupid that question was.

'I'm just here for the free coffee' Taylor deadpanned, sarcasm oozing from her voice, putting even Emily's sarcastic tendencies to shame.

'Stupid question, I get it. So you got your dream job then'

'Yep, I'm a fully qualified paediatric oncologist. Something you'd know if you'd stuck around'

Ignoring the last part of that particular statement; Emily continued her bridge-building technique 'Well good, I'm glad. So how long have you been at this hospital?'

'Can we cut the crap Emily?' Taylor's hands shot up in annoyance. 'Why don't you take a second to realise that this is our first conversation in six years; and you've not even had the decency to tell me where you've been all this time, what you've been doing. 'Cause I sure as hell don't know!'

'I don't mind going somewhere to talk with you, I really don't, but I can't talk about it here Tay, please trust me on that.'

Looking at the sincerity in her eyes, Taylor nodded.

'I get off shift at 5. Be in this room Emily or I swear to God…' she said as she got up and headed towards the door.

'I'll be here.' Emily promised as Taylor left the room.

The next two hours had been the longest of Emily's life. She'd had her wrist set in plaster – something she found to be wholly unnecessary considering it was only fractured, not broken – and then she'd been killing time in the world's most boring waiting room. Taylor had shown up promptly at 5am, and Emily would be lying if she said it hurt a little to see Taylor so relieved that she'd actually kept her promise. After a more-than-a-little-awkward drive to Taylor's small apartment, they were now sitting in her living room, with Taylor expectedly waiting for some kind of explanation from her once-girlfriend.

'What happened, Emily? Why'd you break up with me one day and take off? What did I do?'

'You didn't do anything, it's more complicated than that…'

'Then uncomplicate it'

Exhaling loudly, Emily looked up into Taylor's eyes. 'I got a phone call, not long after graduation, when you were about to go on to do your post-grad stuff. It was from the CIA. They wanted me.' Emily watched Taylor's eyes widen at the statement and gave it a few seconds before continuing. 'They said they'd seen me excel in my courses, and that I was exactly what they needed in the agency. You know I had no idea what to do after college. I mean, I've always wanted to be in the FBI. The BAU in fact, you remember? What David Rossi does?'

'That author guy you used to read nearly as much as Vonnegut?'

'Nowhere near as much' Emily muttered, making Taylor chuckle slightly 'but yeah, him. Anyway, they wanted me but they wanted me for some very specific work'

'What kind of work? Because I'm not really getting why this makes any difference to us yet'

'They wanted me undercover.'

'Okay…?'

'I never wanted you to be in danger. I could see you excelling in your dreams, and there I was stuck with nothing to do except attempt to get into the Bureau, and I saw this as an easy guaranteed job… only I didn't want to risk you ever getting dragged into it.'

'So you broke up with me? Just like that? Didn't I mean more than that to you?'

'Taylor, you don't get it. You mean everything to me. I love you so completely that I didn't want there to be any room for someone to find out about you and hurt you to get to me, it just wasn't an option, so I did what I thought was best at the time. …But I've regretted it every single day since, I can promise you that'

'Mean'

'I'm sorry what?' Emily's face was the picture of confusion.

'I mean everything to you. You love me. Present tense. Not past…?' Taylor's eyes were full of questioning and hope.

Caught off guard, Emily decided in that very moment that this might just be her second chance, and she was damn well going to grab it with both hands.

'Yes. Present tense. I love you Taylor. I have since I met you, and I always will.' Emily moved to sit next to her, holding her hands and looking deep into tear-filled eyes. 'I'm sorry for everything, and I need you back. Only I won't apologize for wanting to keep you safe. I promise that I will always keep you safe, that I'll never let anyone hurt you' and with that she captured willing lips with her own.

She'd been 31 when she made that promise. She'd just been accepted into the BAU and she wanted Taylor back in her life, she'd always been in the picture when she thought of the dream job, the dream life. That'd been four years ago, and she'd already broken that promise. Thirteen years Taylor had kept hers, and Emily couldn't keep hers for four!?

'This is all my fault. …I'm so sorry Taylor. …I have no idea why you're even with me as it is; I can't even keep a promise to you. …I promised to keep you safe and look and you.' Emily was in a state of full blown hysterics by this point, and was completely unaware of her best friend and Taylor's mother debating to go back in and console her just outside the door.

'I need you to wake up Tay… please just wake up…' Emily dropped her head down onto Taylor's arm and allowed herself to breakdown completely. She was so focused on repeatedly mumbling 'I'm sorry' against her girlfriend's skin that she only realised JJ and Andrea had re-entered when she felt a familiar set of arms close around her, and JJ's soothing voice in her ear as the blonde held her close and let her cry. Andrea sank down into a chair on the other side of Taylor's hospital bed, and watched with her own tears flowing as her daughter's partner unravelled before her very eyes.

A/N: Bumper edition or what!?

Sooooo this took a turn I didn't expect it to! I actually have the rest of this story planned out, and this chapter was initially supposed to be Emily seeing Taylor, and then Emily's initial reactions to seeing the team again; but once I get writing Emily/Taylor it usually takes a turn I don't expect, and this certainly did!

I therefore promise some Emily/Team in the next chapter; which will be up in the next couple of days now I'm in the zone for this story again.

I'd LOVE to hear about what you think on this one because I'm actually quite happy with this chapter as a whole, despite the turn it took. I wanted to thank those of you who reviewed the last chapter so fast, because it totally fuelled me to get this written today.

Until next time…