Okay first of all, 300 reviews? I'm so thankful you guys love this story as much as I do! So because you're all so awesome, I managed to crank out another chapter before I got back to real life! This deals with the backstory on Emily's father. He's never mentioned on the show, that I recall, so I took a lot of creative licensing here. From what I've inferred, it just doesn't seem like he was around at all. I know Hotch asked how her parents were when she first joined, but I don't think anything about the whereabouts and happenings of Emily's father have ever been discussed. I hope you enjoy it! XO!

XxxX

The drive back to the Prentiss house was silent. Emily was too busy trying to conceal her anger, Hotch was too worried about her to say anything, and Jack was just confused.

Finally, after Hotch's fourth turn down a back road, Emily spoke up.

"He knows where the house is." She said quietly, keeping her gaze out the window.

"Well, then I'm just buying us time." Hotch replied, reaching out to grasp Emily's hand in his while keeping the other on the wheel.

"We didn't invite him." Emily whispered.

"You know, you've never really talked very much about him. And that's okay, I know you have your reasons. But if you do want to talk about it, I'm right here." He said as he ran his thumb across the back of her hand.

Emily took a breath and let it out slowly. No one except Elizabeth and George knew the whole story surrounding Emily's father.

"His name is Howard Barnes." Emily said finally, knowing she was going to have to explain the difference in surnames. "He and my mom met in college and right after they graduated they got married. He was a very powerful lawyer; he only took in the wealthy politicians and other people in authority as clients. He was friends with everyone; he could get anyone out of anything. My mom said when she found out she was pregnant with me he started to distance himself from her. Apparently he never wanted children, and he was even more disappointed when I was a girl and not a boy. Guess he wanted a son to carry the family name on." Emily relayed gently, she had never spoken any of this out loud before, and it felt strange to be doing so, but she knew there was no turning back now.

She bit her thumbnail for a moment before she continued. "He didn't even want me to have his last name. So my mom told him that if his own daughter wasn't worthy enough to have his last name, then neither was she. So she went back to her maiden name and that's the name I was given. Divorce didn't really happen, they were both raised pretty Catholic, but they mostly stayed together for appearances. Divorce didn't look good in the news. So they were legally together even after they were pretty much over. My mom threw herself into her work and as soon as she thought I was old enough to travel, we took a posting in Spain. I was probably like, five or so. Her career took off, and I guess he was jealous because she was making more money and gaining more success than he was. It was kind of unheard of for that time, I guess, for the woman to be the breadwinner. But it's not like he was broke, you know? They were both successful in their respective fields, and you'd think that would be enough for him. He was always kind of in and out of our lives. When I was fourteen, they finally divorced. I haven't heard anything from him since he officially moved out." While she was talking, her hands had clenched into fists in her lap.

"Not even once?" Hotch asked.

Emily shook her head. "When I was younger, he'd bring me presents as a peace offering and I'd forgive him for yelling at me or for being gone for days at a time. But after I was old enough to understand that he wasn't sorry for anything, I stopped accepting the stuff he gave me. Once they divorced, I knew I'd never see him again." She finished finally.

"I'm sorry, Emily. You didn't deserve that." Hotch told her sincerely.

Emily shook her head. "It was a long time ago." She shrugged it off. Though it had been thirty years since she'd really thought about her father, seeing him brought back all those emotions she thought she'd worked past. She hated that he had so much control over her feelings, because she knew he wasn't worth it. She knew that, and yet here she was, hardly able to see through her anger.

"I just don't know why he thinks he can just show up out of nowhere, especially today." Emily added softly. How could he think Emily would want anything to do with him? How could he feel like he was entitled to even be at the funeral? She hadn't seen him in the church or at the burial, but she also knew that was only because he didn't want to be seen.

"You owe him nothing, Em. Absolutely nothing. I'm so sorry he came here and made everything worse." Hotch said.

"We can go back now… to the house." She said, knowing the team was there and probably wondering where they were. Maybe her father would have the gall to show up at the house, but she really wanted to see her friends right now. She knew they'd take her mind off everything.

"You sure?" Hotch asked her. He'd been driving in circles for the past few minutes to give Emily plenty of time to talk to him.

She nodded. "I'd like to see everyone. Besides," she shrugged and turned in her seat so she could look at Jack. "I think I heard Jack's stomach growl, so we should probably get some food in him, huh?" She winked at the boy.

Jack smiled at her before his face turned a bit more serious. "Are you okay Emily?" He asked her, his little face full of worry.

Emily reached back to put a hand on Jack's knee. "I'm okay, I promise." She smiled at him, and he nodded back. She wished Jack hadn't had to see her so upset, and she made it her mission to prove to the boy that she really was okay. She didn't want him to worry.

They made it back to the house a few minutes later, and sure enough an unfamiliar car was parked outside. Emily didn't know what kind of car her father drove, but she knew no one on the team had anything that expensive and shiny. She knew it was her father, and she knew he was still waiting in the car, because there's no way George would have let him within a hundred miles of Emily if he had anything to say about it.

"That's him." Emily said softly, nodding toward the black car as Hotch parallel parked.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked, prepared to take her anywhere so long as it made her feel safe.

She shook her head. "He's obviously pretty determined. I don't want to avoid him forever. I just want him to go away." She admitted, wringing her hands in her lap.

"I could go speak to him, see what he wants. You and Jack can go inside and I'll distract him." Hotch suggested, willing to do whatever she needed.

She took a breath. "I don't want you to have to do that."

"I don't want you to have to deal with him right now. He has no business just showing up like this." Hotch reminded her gently.

There was a gentle knock at Emily's window; neither she nor Hotch seemed to notice the man in question had taken matters into his own hands.

The only reason Emily refrained from swearing aloud was because Jack was sitting in the backseat and she didn't want to teach him the explicit string of words she was currently thinking. She nodded at Hotch to roll down the window, knowing she had to deal with this now unless she wanted to sit in this car for the rest of her life.

"What?" Emily asked as soon as the window was down and they could talk. Somehow, the barrier of the car door made her feel better. Her father wasn't a violent person, he'd never actually physically harmed her or her mother, but she was still afraid of what he had to say.

"I'm sorry to just show up like this, but I knew you'd never return a call or an e-mail." Howard Barnes said, stepping back a bit from the car to give Emily her space.

"Okay, what do you want?" Emily asked firmly.

"I just wanted to extend my condolences to you, I know you and I have never been close and I know that you haven't heard from me in years, but I'm still very sorry you've had to go through all of this." The tall man said.

"Okay," Emily said slowly. "Thanks, I guess."

"You don't have to be so hostile toward me, Emily." Her father said seriously.

She just stared at him.

"I have not heard one word from you in thirty years and you're going to tell me how I should act toward you?" Emily challenged.

"You mother told me I couldn't see you." Howard defended himself.

"Do not talk about her. Do not make her the bad guy. I was fourteen, if she thought I was better off without you then she was probably right. And besides, once I turned eighteen, you could have contacted me and she couldn't have said anything. But you didn't. And I truly don't want to hear any excuses." Emily said honestly.

"I'm not here to give you an apology or try to be part of your life." Howard informed her.

"Okay, then what? You thought I wasn't going to be upset enough today?" Emily questioned.

"No. Look, it's fine if you hate me. I don't blame you. I know I was a terrible father, but I'm not… I just wasn't cut out for that life. The whole family thing." He said, his put-together composure faltering slightly.

"I know that." Emily said honestly.

"When I heard about your mother, I wasn't going to go to the funeral. But something just didn't feel right about not going. I know I didn't get a formal invitation and I shouldn't have imposed. I wasn't going to speak to you at all, because I knew you wouldn't want to. But when I heard what you had to say about your mother I just…I had to see you. I'm sorry I did nothing but hurt you, and I'm sorry I wasn't a father to you." He paused, and Emily nodded, signaling that he could continue if he wanted.

"I just wanted to tell you that I am proud of the person you've become. You carry yourself with the same grace and confidence your mother did. I know I can't just swoop in here and fix what I ruined, I understand that. But I had to tell you that." The older, gray haired man said finally.

"Thanks," Emily said sincerely, but still somewhat reserved.

"And you have a beautiful family." Howard added.

Emily's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. "Uh, we aren't…he's…" She tried.

"Emily and I are just friends. That's my son." Hotch supplied, glancing in the back at Jack and sending the boy a reassuring smile. Emily sent Hotch a grateful look before staring down at her hands. She was fighting every desire to bite her finger nails.

"Oh," Howard replied awkwardly. "I'm sorry…I just…I just assumed. I only googled you once and there weren't any mentions of a marriage or children, but…you three just seemed like…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

"You googled me?" Emily asked. She'd thought about looking him up before, but she decided not to. What did it matter?

Howard nodded. "I did. You've made a great life for yourself, Emily."

"Okay," Emily said, not quite sure how to respond.

"That's all. I won't bother you again, I'm really sorry about your mother." He reiterated.

Emily just nodded and watched as he walked away and got back into his car. He drove away, and Emily hoped that was the last time she'd ever have to see him. She didn't hate him, but he didn't feel like her father. She didn't feel any connection to him. She didn't even look that much like him, really. She'd never thought about that before. She looked so much like Elizabeth that she never really paid attention to any of her father's features she may have inherited.

"Are you okay?" She heard Hotch ask. She looked up at him, her eyes glossy with fresh tears. She really wished she would stop crying. She felt like that was all she'd done for days.

"Yeah, I am. That was just…weird." Emily said, rubbing at her eyes, hoping to stop the tears.

"Do you think he'll leave you alone?" Hotch wondered.

She nodded again. "He's not interested in getting to know me. I could tell. I'm just glad that's over with." She turned to the backseat, where Jack had been sitting quietly. "Are you okay, buddy?" Emily asked. Jack nodded.

"Let's go inside, everyone's probably wondering what's taking us so long." Emily said as the three of them finally filed out of the car.

Once they got inside, they were greeted with smiles and hugs from everyone. Emily wondered if they'd noticed the car out front. She hoped they didn't because she didn't really want to talk about it.

Everyone was inside preparing food and laughing and having a nice time, so she didn't think anyone was going to bring it up. She was busy playing a game with Jack and Henry that she was pretty sure they were making up as they went along, when George called her over to him. She told the boys she would be right back and headed to the corner of the room, slightly away from everyone else so he could talk to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. He'd sensed something was a little off, but he didn't want to call her out in front of everyone.

Emily bit her lip, no sense in lying to him. "Um… I don't know." She answered honestly.

"What happened?" George asked.

"Well, um, Aaron and Jack and I were still…" she didn't want to say at the gravesite. "You know," George nodded so she continued. "And my um…my…Howard showed up." Emily said. He didn't feel like her father so she didn't really want to call him that.

"What?" George asked, alarmed.

"We left, but he met us here and he just…well, he didn't really say anything except that he was sorry and that he was proud of me. But I don't know why he thought I would care. I don't know why he chose now of all times to just…show up." Emily confided.

George hugged Emily close to him, making sure no one was watching them. He didn't want her friends to know Emily was this upset, because he knew the crowding and coddling would just make her more upset. "I'm so sorry, Emily. If I had known…"

"No," Emily shook her head against George's shoulder. "Don't be sorry. I think it was more of a guilt thing on his part. I don't want anything else to do with him, I really don't." Emily said honestly. "But.." she trailed off, unsure of exactly what she was feeling.

"I know," George said gently as he hugged her just a bit tighter. "It's okay, Em." He told her.

She nodded against him and finally pulled away from his embrace. She smiled at him, feeling a little better after talking to him. She was glad she told Hotch, but George was really the only one that would truly understand how she felt. He'd started working for Elizabeth right before the divorce, so he had more inside knowledge than anyone else.

She went back over to Jack and Henry, and felt a little happier and more positive than she'd felt just a few minutes ago. She looked around the room and knew all these people loved her and would go to the ends of the earth for her. She'd do the same for them.

XxxxX

Hotch stayed at Emily's house again that night. Henry wanted to have a sleepover with Jack, and JJ and Will had happily agreed. After everyone left for the evening, Hotch went home long enough to grab some clothes and other necessary things before picking up something for Emily, George, and himself for dinner and heading back to the house.

Emily still seemed down, not as much as she had after the initial shock of seeing her father again, but more sad than Hotch would like. After dinner, the three of them watched a movie and then retired to their rooms for the night.

Currently, he and Emily were sitting on the bed in her bedroom. They were leaning back against the headboard, Hotch had his arm protectively around her and her head was resting on his shoulder. They used to sit like this all the time, when one of them needed comfort after a tough case or a bad day. It wasn't weird for them, it seemed completely natural. Emily thought sometimes it was like they were meant to be together. Platonically, of course. He was truly one of the best friends she'd ever had and sometimes she just couldn't believe she had someone so willing to do anything in the world for her.

"Do you want to talk some more?" Hotch asked gently, his hand rubbing slow curcles on her back.

She sighed. She did, but she didn't know what to say. "I don't know." She settled on saying, moving from her position to sit up straighter and look at him properly.

"It's okay to be upset, you know. We're all supposed to have two parents." He said, his tone hushed.

She nodded. "I know in the long run it was better than he wasn't around. I know that it's better that I don't ever see him again. But part of me just…feels like maybe I did something wrong. You know? I know I didn't. But it's hard when your own parent doesn't want you to feel like it's not somehow your fault. Does that even make any sense at all?" Emily asked, her brow furrowed.

"It does. It's not your fault, but you can't help but wonder about how your life would have turned out if you'd had a different father." Hotch supplied.

Emily nodded slowly. "It's dumb. I didn't really think it affected me that much, but…well, I guess it did. And that's what makes me the most furious. He shouldn't have this much control over me. He shouldn't be able to make me feel fourteen again." Emily huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at the ceiling.

"You know I had my own issues with my parents, I think most people do. That's just part of life, I guess. They always seem to have a hold on us, no matter how good or bad they were to us. It sucks, but it makes us who we are." Hotch offered. "And I think you're one of the greatest people I've ever known, and I'm glad you're you."

She looked up at him and smiled, for once she didn't even feel like crying.

"That was so cheesy." She laughed lightly.

He feigned hurt. "That's just mean."

She bumped her shoulder with his gently and laughed again, something she was sure she'd never do again. Leave it to Aaron Hotchner to prove her wrong. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're kind of great yourself. And I'm really glad you're my friend." She told him honestly.

He smiled at her. "Back at you."

She got back into her original position, using his chest as her own personal pillow. She felt safe with him, like nothing in the world could break her as long as she had him. She closed her eyes as she breathed in his familiar scent. In this moment, she didn't care how he was in her life; she just wanted him in it.