A/N: I can't believe how close we are to the end. This has been a crazy journey. :)

Chapter 31

"I didn't tell this to Hotch," I muttered to Penelope as she started to pour us two glasses of wine. "But Em is more unstable that we all thought. She was pretty wasted when I got to her apartment. Almost like she was trying to drink herself to death. When she made me leave, she promised me that she would stop drinking, but I'm not sure."

Pen rested her head on my shoulder and took a sip of the alcohol. "She's going through a lot. I think we are just going to have to give her a break."

"When has Emily Prentiss ever taken a break?" I asked her, taking a long sip. "It would be one thing if she was sad, but this is like nothing I have ever seen before."

"We have no idea what happened to her or that day that she was with a group of serial killers. It's going to take some time for her to be normal, stubborn, sarcastic, badass Emily Prentiss."

I nodded, but I didn't feel reassured. Pen wasn't there with me. She didn't hear the kind of language that Emily was using.

"We should do something for her," I told her. "Find something that can make her feel better."

"Like what? What makes Emily happier than catching bad guys?"

And that was the question I couldn't answer. Em wasn't a straightforward person. Besides, there wasn't a specific thing that I could pinpoint that could magically make her feel better.

I shrugged. "I don't know. We should think about it. Maybe the others would have some idea."

Emily POV

The knock on my door the next morning wasn't unexpected. Reid told me that he would pick me up so that I wouldn't have to drive to work. I was actually grateful. If he didn't actually come to pick me up, I wasn't sure I would have gotten up from my couch to go to work.

He waved shyly when I opened the door. The awkward greeting almost made me smile.

"Hey, Reid," I said and opened the door wider so that he could come through. "Thanks for coming by."

He looked around my apartment as if he was searching for something in particular. Maybe JJ told him about the drinking. I hoped not. I already tossed all the bottles so that he didn't know what I did last night.

"Did you eat any food this morning? Or… had a shower?"

I wanted to lie to him, but I could tell that he already knew the answers. I shook my head, feeling a little ashamed. He now knew that I wasn't capable of taking care of myself.

He nodded as if he wasn't surprised at all. "So have you sat down and done nothing for the past twelve hours?" I nodded again. "That's okay," He said calmly. "I did the same thing. I'm going to make you some eggs, hangover food. And while I do that, you're going to shower."

I appreciated his directions. "Okay."

I walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. I waited until I saw the steam drift out of the shower. I put my hand into the water and moaned at the burning touch. The hospital shower never got this hot.

Slowly, I climbed into the small space and pulled back the curtains. I felt the water scorch my skin. It felt good against the aches of my body. Though nothing was seriously injured in the car accidents, my body still felt like one large bruise.

After cleaning my hair, I turned around but flinched when the water stung my healing wound.

"Fuck," I muttered and had to turn the water down to a cooler temperature. Everything there still hurt. The pain was still fresh. I looked down and stared at the wound that could have killed me. I don't know what I hated more: the fact that wound still hurt physically or how it was a continuous reminder of the woman who inflicted it.

Sasha. As her picture entered my vision, my breathing became shallow. The room started to spin. I gripped the damp walls and tried to stay steady.

"Reid!" I called out, trying to get his help. I had no idea what was happening. "Reid!"

The door opened and I heard him come over. He pushed back the curtains and turned off the water. He watched me for a few seconds and then grabbed my arms and let me collapse on top of him. He quickly wrapped me in the robe hanging from the door.

"Breathe in 2, 3, 4, out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6," He repeated over and over again. I followed his directions as I laid on top of him. Eventually, everything stabilized. "Good. Good, you're okay, Em."

"What the hell was that?" I asked as I could finally get up. I squeezed the warm robe around my body tighter. I was so embarrassed that he had to help me. Especially when I was naked.

He took the towel and dried himself off. But it didn't help much. His whole sweater was soaked.

"Panic attack," He said and then looked at me carefully. "Thank you for calling me."

I shook my head. I didn't have panic attacks. "It wasn't a panic attack. And, you're welcome… I guess. And now you've seen me naked."

He shrugged as if that was unimportant. "It wasn't like that was what I was paying attention to. And yes, it was a panic attack. But that's okay! A lot of people have them after experiencing tra-" He stopped once he saw my grimace. "We both know what you went through was traumatic. What happened before you started… losing your breath?"

I crossed my arms. "I thought about her…"

He nodded. "That makes sense. Get dressed. Food is ready."

And just like that, he left the bathroom, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sighed and put my clothes on. Though I would never admit it, especially to Reid, it was nice to be taken care of. I definitely wasn't used to it.

"What the hell happened to you, Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked as Reid and I both entered the bullpen.

Reid blushed and looked down at his damp clothes. "I helped-"

"Reid tried to fix my sink," I interrupted with a lie. "But it totally broke on him and got all over him."

Morgan laughed and replied, "Good one, genius. Why didn't you ask me, Princess? I could've fixed it in probably ten minutes."

I faked a smile and told him, "Next time, Morgan."

"Emily," A voice called from behind us. Recognizing the voice immediately, I took a deep breath before turning around to look at the blonde. "How are you?"

"Spoiled," I told her and the rest of the team. "Reid made me breakfast this morning. He's already treated me better than most dates."

Morgan snorted and said, "That's a low bar, Princess. Maybe you need to spend some time with me, then." He winked at me playfully, causing me to smack him. The interaction almost felt real. But that didn't last long.

"I'm sorry, guys," JJ interrupted. "But we have a case."

If you guys have read any of my other stories, this chapter is almost similar to one in "Not A Fantasy, Not A Dream, It's Just You and Me" (hella long title). So if you really liked this chapter, you should check that one out, lol.

Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are super appreciated!

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