I can't believe we've passed 250 reviews! That's insane! Having such motivational readers has definitely helped with getting this written, though! (And I know I promised reviewer 100 a oneshot and haven't gotten that up yet, but I will, since you didn't have an account this was the only way I could contact you to tell you I haven't just ignored you!) I know these past couple of chapters have been super sad, so thanks for sticking with me on this crazy ride! : )

XxxxX

When Emily woke the next morning, the first thing she felt was a dull ache in her head. Without even looking in a mirror, she could tell her eyes were swollen. She almost wished she could just lie in the same spot all day long. The idea of facing anyone seemed too incredibly daunting. But she heard Hotch and Jack talking and moving around quietly, and she knew she couldn't hide out in Hotch's bedroom forever.

She got up slowly and changed out of Hotch's clothes back into the ones she had worn the day before, so that she and Hotch wouldn't have to explain why Emily was wearing his dad's clothes. Before she went to find Hotch and Jack, she went across the hall to the bathroom. She found a note on the sink along with a Spider-Man toothbrush, and she almost smiled as she read the note. Almost.

Emily, Jack made me promise to keep this toothbrush around especially for you. You're welcome to hide out in my room as long as you want. Aaron. And Jack!

Right before he signed his name, he drew a smiley face. Jack had signed his own name after Hotch's in bright red crayon. That's what almost got her to smile, but then she remembered why she'd even stayed at Hotch's apartment last night and suddenly she felt like smiling would be wrong. She brushed her teeth and pocketed the note, not really wanting to throw it away, hoping that someday it would be able to make her smile.

She took her hair out of the messy bun she tossed it up in the night before and ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled it back up into a slightly less messy ponytail. She avoided the mirror; quite certain she wouldn't like whatever it was she saw. Though she'd much rather go curl up under a pile of blankets for a few more hours, she also really wanted to see Jack.

She ventured quietly into the kitchen, where she found Jack and Hotch busily getting ingredients out of the refrigerator and cabinets.

Before she'd even made it into the room all the way, Jack met her and threw his arms around her tightly.

"Hey, buddy." Emily said gently as she hugged the young boy.

"Hi, Emily." Jack replied. Emily could tell by Jack's voice that Hotch had already told him about her mother. Normally, Jack was always so excited to see her, he practically yelled his greeting to her, almost knocking her down with the force of his hug. But today, he was a little more reserved, his voice was soft and understanding and he approached her slower than usual.

"We didn't wake you up, did we?" Hotch asked from across the room, standing by the stove with a metal spatula in hand.

"No," Emily shook her head, running a hand over Jack's sandy hair.

"Well, Jack wanted to make you breakfast. Which means he actually wants me to do all the cooking, it should be done in about half an hour." Emily just nodded. "Do you want me to get you anything for now?" Hotch offered.

Emily shook her head, she honestly couldn't imagine eating anything right now, but she was going to try for Jack.

"Wanna come watch a movie with me, Emily?" Jack asked sweetly, his arms still around her.

Emily glanced to Hotch and saw him nod.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Emily replied as Jack led her over to the couch in the living room.

"Okay, you sit here and I'll get a movie. You wanna pick it?" Jack asked her.

Emily sat down and shook her head. "You can pick, you always make really good decisions." She said, knowing she probably wouldn't be paying very much attention to whatever he chose.

Jack nodded and ran off to his room, returning with a movie, a pillow, and a blanket.

He draped the blanket over Emily and handed her the pillow. "These are for you." He told her shyly, turning to put the movie in the DVD player before Emily could respond.

Emily felt her eyes burn with tears, Jack was so thoughtful. She hoped that her mother's death wasn't going to upset him and bring back memories of his own mother's death. If Jack was anything like his father, which he definitely was, then Jack was taking extra care of Emily to avoid his own sad feelings.

"Jack," Emily called soothingly. He turned to look at her, and she pulled the blanket off, motioning for him to come and sit by her. "We can share." She managed a small, weak smile.

Jack nodded and picked up the remote before settling down right next to Emily. She pulled the blanket tightly around them, as if the protection of the fabric would be enough to shield them from any negative emotions.

"It'll be okay, Emily." Jack told her as he leaned up against her and pressed the play button on the remote to start the movie.

Emily didn't respond, because she knew if she did, she would start to cry. She didn't want to worry Jack, so she just slid her arm around Jack's small shoulders and hugged him to her. She hated that he had experienced losing a parent at such a young age. She could barely sort out her emotions now as an adult, and Jack had barely been four when Haley had died. Haley's passing had made him more aware of all the negative things in life and more empathetic to others than most children his age. She knew that Jack was right, though. It would take a lot of time, but eventually, it would be okay.

XxxxX

Later that day, Emily and George had decided to go back to the house. Neither of them wanted to, but they knew they couldn't avoid it forever. It had taken Emily nearly twenty minutes to actually walk inside after they arrived. She stood at the front door, too afraid to open it. George patiently waited with her, never once acting annoyed with her antics.

Walking inside had been strange. It had only been a couple of days since anyone had been inside, but the house somehow seemed like no one had inhabited it in weeks. It seemed smaller and darker than usual. It almost seemed foreign, like maybe it was a completely different house altogether.

After finally making it into the house, Emily spent some time just walking around the first floor. It was strange to her that Elizabeth would never have another conversation with her in the sitting room. She would never have breakfast in the kitchen, or holiday dinners in the dining room. She'd never read a book on the bookshelf. Surprisingly, Emily didn't cry.

Eventually, she made her way up the stairs in search of George. She found him in Elizabeth's room. He was sitting on the floor, several boxes from her closet were situated around him. He wasn't looking through them, he was just quietly sitting. Emily knew he had been waiting for her.

"Hi," She announced her presence evenly.

"Hi," he returned the greeting. "I know you don't want to think about this now, but we should probably go through these things and figure out what you want to keep and what you'd like to put into storage or something." George replied with a weak smile.

Emily nodded, knowing he was right.

She sat on the floor next to him, returning his smile with her own slight one.

They looked through things in the boxes silently. They were mostly pictures and other little keepsakes that they'd looked at recently.

Emily pulled another box closer to her and began to look through it. She pulled out some pictures like before, but near the bottom of the box she found a blue ribbon. She pulled it closer to her, reading the words first place printed on the slightly frayed ends.

"What's that?" George asked her, noticing her interest in it.

Emily bit her lip and smiled through a wall of tears.

"It's from my fifth grade science fair." Emily revealed.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" George asked, though Emily was sure he probably already knew. She told him anyway, hoping talking would help.

1982

Twelve-year-old Emily was annoyed. Actually, she was way more than just "annoyed." She was angry. She had just spent the past two weeks working on a project for her school's science fair. She was one of the youngest students entering, and Elizabeth wasn't coming. Although the ambassador had promised Emily she would come. Just before the Prentiss' chauffeur was about to drive Emily and Elizabeth to the school, Elizabeth told her daughter that she could no longer attend. So Elizabeth sent someone from her staff to watch over Emily.

So, here Emily was, with a neatly decorated tri-fold board and a project at a table in her school's gymnasium. She was all by herself, because she'd more or less told the staff member Elizabeth had sent to get lost, because she wasn't a child and didn't need any supervision, thank you very much. Emily had created a self-inflating balloon using an empty water bottle, vinegar, a funnel, and a small balloon. All she had to do was fill the water bottle halfway with vinegar, then use the funnel to fill the balloon with baking soda. Then she stretched the bottom of the balloon over the opening of the bottle and simply poured the baking soda in.

It was pretty simple, but everything else Emily had come up with her teacher had said was either "too advanced," or "too dangerous." She still couldn't figure out why trying to make her own rocket with real fire was considered dangerous. It wasn't like she was going to use a lot. So, she'd settled for this experiment she found in a book her teacher had given her with "appropriate" project ideas.

Emily was going to be demonstrating her project in ten more minutes. She didn't really even want to do it anymore; her mother had kind of sucked all the fun out of this night for her. It would have been okay if Elizabeth had just told her "no" from the start. But for the past two weeks, Emily had thought her mother would be there. And then Elizabeth waited until it was basically time for the science fair before she told Emily she wasn't coming.

She sighed impatiently; she couldn't wait to get this over with so she could go home.

Finally, the group of people she was going to be demonstrating for came to her table so she could start her presentation.

It only took about five minutes, but for Emily it felt like much longer. She explained the actual science behind her experiment very articulately, earning a round of applause and genuine smiles from the people around her. She politely thanked them for their time and almost immediately turned around to start packing up her stuff.

Before she could, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned and was met with her mother's smiling face.

"What…are you doing here?" Emily asked, obviously confused.

"I told you I'd be here, didn't I?" Elizabeth replied.

"Well, yeah, but then…but you sent somebody else." Emily accused, not necessarily angry but still very confused.

"I know, but then I felt very bad about that. You haven't looked that upset with me in a long time, and I knew I'd disappointed you. I got here just in time to see you present your project, but I stayed back a bit so you wouldn't see me and get confused." Elizabeth explained, reaching out to smooth Emily's hair.

Emily just stared at her mother for a moment. Who are you, and what have you done with my mother? She wanted to ask.

"I'm sorry." Elizabeth offered. "I should have never backed out on you."

"It's okay." Emily had to smile as her mother began to help her pack up her stuff so they could go home. She was still a little annoyed at Elizabeth, but she knew that would pass in time. She'd at least kept her promise, and that was enough.

Present day

George smiled as Emily finished telling him about that night.

"I was so mad at her, and then when I saw her standing there I just wasn't anymore. I couldn't be." Emily confided.

"She loves you, Emily." George said.

"Loved." Emily corrected bitterly.

"No, loves," The older man stressed. "I don't believe the love one has for others just fades away when a person dies. She still loves you, and she always will."

Emily shook her head slightly, biting her lip and taking in George's words. "I can't believe she kept this. I won it for having the best presentation out of everyone there." Emily told him, changing the subject a little.

"You've always been her first priority, Emily. I know you probably didn't feel like it sometimes, but it's true." George said, knowing for a fact that it was true. He'd talked about it with Elizabeth just recently.

"I always felt like she was never there, that was always my excuse for why our relationship was so strained." Emily admitted. "But the truth is, she's always been there for me." She said, letting out a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sob as she gently placed the ribbon back in the box.

George didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. Nothing he could think of seemed appropriate for the situation. He pulled Emily close to him and let her cry on his shoulder. He knew that was all the comfort she needed for now, and he was glad he could at least give her that.