CHAPTER 116

I AM AN IDIOT AND I BELIEVE YOU

Wednesday morning – Emily now only had two more days until her meeting with the Director.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she checked the number of people who have signed her petition. It was astonishing what some good networking could get her.

She was amazed at how many restaurant employees had given feedback, or even known the subject of this petition. Same could be said about the library staff.

At least her day started off with a smile. Those numbers were really good, but she had more in mind. And she still needed more reassurance that she would be granted her wish, by the Government Genie in the FBI bottle.

And then one more thing made her smile.

"Good morning, ma chérie. Have a good day."

That text was accompanied by a photo of flowers. It was the closest thing to Richard, sending her real flowers. He would have, he just didn't know the address.

"Bonjour. It must be lunch time for you right now, so bon appétit. I'll be busy during the day, I may not reply."

She texted back, just making sure he understood why she'd seem distant.

"You don't owe me an explanation, Emily. Reply whenever you wish. I'm not a possessive guy."

He replied quickly, followed by a winking emoji.

Emily smiled, thinking to herself that defied the odds – at their age they still very much enjoyed an emoji or two, while texting. He always used the smiling ones, while she was more daring and her favorite was the one sticking the tongue out and if she didn't use the actual emoji, then she sometimes simply typed :P out and allowed him to figure out what it meant.

After that, he sent her a photo of his lunch, on a chair, right in front of their fairy tale fountain. It made her smile again.

"Ah, I am so jealous right now! I'll be stuck in my office, working all day. And during my lunch break I have to go beg people to help me out with something."

She rolled her eyes. How was it that his life was so awesome and hers was boring, despite the insane amounts of adrenaline on a daily basis?

In reality, Richard was still in the hospital bed. The photo he had sent was from several days ago, before he had gotten himself into what had then almost gotten him killed. Again.

"Honestly, this is an old photo. I just wanted to see your reaction. I knew you'd be jealous. Plus, I'm surely going to be the more miserable one today, at lunch. Don't worry."

He laughed at the irony of his own text. Looking down, he found a tray of some disgusting soup and a piece of bread next to it, with some mashed potatoes and sweet corn as the main course and of course, jelly for dessert. He hated hospital food and he was not allowed to eat anything else at the moment, otherwise he would have bribed Victor into sneaking something yummy into the hospital.

"Well, then you are in luck, because I am just preparing myself a breakfast and I need company to eat it with, so I guess you won't be too lonely during your lunch after all. I can text a little more, before I have to drive to work."

Emily smiled, she kept on smiling all morning.

"What are you wearing? :P" He teased, using her favorite emoji with the tongue. He never really enjoyed emojis before, but texting with her recently made him appreciate those tiny cheeky ones a little more.

"Oh, just something with a flag on it…" She teased right back, because she wouldn't be herself if she did not.

He remained silent and she could only imagine what was going on in his mind at that moment.

And then, since she wouldn't be Emily Prentiss if she wasn't a complete dork who would screw it up, she fessed up.

"Ok, fine. I'm wearing an oversized t-shirt that one of my colleagues left behind, when he slept over a while ago."

"Oh, he slept over?" Richard smirked. He could not care less if a guy Emily worked with had slept over. He already knew she was super close to her 'team' and that they were always together, even after work. But he wanted to push her buttons, it would make the sad hospital lunch a bit more enjoyable.

"Yeah, we had a great time, him and I." Emily poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed some biscuits, to nibble on. She had plans of stopping by the donut shop and getting some for the whole team, for a second breakfast in just about an hour.

"Oh yeah? Tell me, what did he do to you?" Richard rolled his eyes. Why was it so hard to push her buttons? She was so chill and so perfectly able to take the piss out of herself, instead of acting offended, like all the women Richard had ever dated. She was definitely something else.

"I could tell you…but I could also show you…" Emily chuckled, sending him a screenshot of a flight to Paris, two days from now.

"What!? You're coming in two days? But…that's…soon…" He panicked and sent that message without much thinking.

"Wait, that would be Friday and you said you are doing something important to you, at work, this Friday. Can't believe I fell for that!" He added this text, seconds later, when he realized it was not a screenshot of a ticket, but just the flight details.

"I like a man with good analytical skills. And no, sadly I can't be sure if I can make it to Paris before the end of the month. A lot of important things are happening here and I need to do some extra work and training. I've been indulging on some sweets lately and I haven't hit the gym as hard as I should." She said honestly, feeling a bit too lazy lately.

Richard had to put his phone down and cool off, before he would send her a text with what was on his mind – that if she came over to Paris, he'd give her a workout. Or two. Or more.

"Would it be too forward if I said I was curious to see a bit of your house? I want to know where you live. Not the address, I mean, but how you live, what your kitchen looks like…" He was a dork and his words made Emily chuckle.

She sent him a photo of the kitchen, only after removing last night's take away food boxes from the counter, so that it would look neat.

"Wow, that is one clean and tidy kitchen!" He texted back.

"Mhm, in the photo, maybe. Hahaha! Although, I was recently told I am a maniac when it comes to tidiness and that I live in a vampire home. I'm not sure how much she intended to offend me with those words. She's a brutally honest kid." Emily rolled her eyes, thinking of what Angela had said about her home.

"Oh, you have a kid?" Richard typed out instantly. For his own reasons, he hoped and prayed she'd reply truthfully.

"Uhh, sadly, no…" Emily bit her bottom lip while replying, making sure she'd leave it off with a bunch of mysterious dots. There was a lot she could tell, when it came to that topic. She just was not ready to share such intimate details of her past, even if she had hinted about some of it, from her teenage years. For her own reasons, she needed Richard to know what she had been through and maybe, just maybe, he would then understand why she was being so cautious and distrusting when entering in this new relationship.

And then again – was she really being cautious and distrusting? In her mind, yes. But in reality, she gave him a power over her, she gave him the trust she would only give to her team. Subconsciously, she was rather curious, than cautious. She was rather impatient than distrusting.

She sighed, receiving the 'Read' notification. What would he make of those words? It was a simple yes or no kind of a question. Why did she have to go and complicate things? And yet, his question had come right after the subject of her previous text had been Angela. In the weirdest of ways, Emily felt certain things, when it came to that girl. And yet, there was no way she could talk to Richard about it.

Anyone would be lucky to have Angela as their kid.

And any kid would be lucky to have Emily as their mother.

She did not dare ask if he had a child, though. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear that answer.

"What car do you drive?" He asked, clearly wanting to know a lot more about her.

She found it endearing, how curious he had been and how random his questions were.

"I am ashamed to reply honestly to this question. I mean, you have two amazing cars and I drive something that has dents on it. Granted, I dented it myself, but still, it doesn't look anything like your cars." Emily blushed.

She hated her car with passion. She couldn't stand it, yet she didn't want to spend money on a new one and she sure as Hell was not going to apply for a new Bureau car. She was in no position to ask for any special treatment…more than what she already was doing this week.

"Yeah, being an illegal gangster pays off, right?" He added a laughing emoji, making sure she knew he was teasing her about those suspicions of hers.

"Ugh. Fine. I deserve that low blow…" Emily sighed. Had she maybe offended him by alluding to the possibility that he was into illegal affairs? Or was he only joking? Or was it a mixture of both?

"If you gave me the chance to explain everything, we wouldn't be in this situation." He meant to sound neutral.

And yet, she chickened out. She closed off completely and her first instinct was the usual…run!

"Oh, look at the time! I'll be late for work. Talk to you soon. Bye." She texted quickly before she threw her phone in her bag and continued having breakfast, trying to calm her nerves down.

Why was she so scared to hear his truth?


That day, Emily parked her car a bit further from her assigned parking lot. She was now in front of the Academy, walking over to the training field.

Her eyes scanned the perimeter, looking for the most hard working and motivated one of them all.

What she found, however, was troubling.

Angie was sitting on her ass, on the sidelines, playing with a strand of hair while gazing into the nothingness that was in front of her.

"Oh God…" Emily exclaimed, as soon as she found Dan and sat by his side.

"Yeah, it's bad…" He shrugged.

"How about class?" Emily asked.

"She completely screwed up her laboratory experiment yesterday and, during the theoretical class, she did not raise her hand, not even once." Dan told her, unsure which statement surprised him the most. Angela loved the labs, but she also loved being the one with the answers and she wasn't ever shy to put that hand up when she wanted to speak up.

"She's doing this intentionally. She promised me to stay here until Friday, but she is making sure she'd be cut on Sunday anyway. This way she won't be disappointing me and she'll still be getting exactly what she wanted." Emily shrugged. It was way too easy to read that girl, now that she had gotten to know her better.

"Trust me, there is no way anyone is cutting Angela Hunter from the Academy. If anything – I'm going to keep her here, against her own will. But I cannot stop her from leaving, if she wanted to. That's where you come along…" Dan said.

"Me? Why me?" Emily raised an eyebrow. It was a weird thing for him to come out and say.

"Because it is obvious you two made a connection and she trusts you. Like you said – she doesn't want to break her promise to you and let you down, so if there is one person in the world who could make her stay, it is you."

"Well, I'm working on it." Emily sighed.

Angela was so zoned out that she didn't even notice those couple of minutes when Emily was there, on the training field, talking to Dan.

But someone else noticed her.

Bryan shot a glance at Dan when Emily was walking away. After receiving a nod from Dan, Bryan left the training field and ran after her.

"Agent Prentiss?" He called out, really careful not to let 'Hotness' roll off his tongue, as it came natural to him by now, after all the teasing from Angela.

"Hello Bryan." She greeted with the fakest of smiles.

She was under lots of pressure, he could tell.

"I think we should talk…" Bryan trailed off.

Even if he only meant good, he felt like he was betraying Angela, in a way.

"And we would. Just not now. Go back to your training. Give it your best." Emily was bitter. If Angela wasn't giving it her best, at least she'd urge Bryan to do so.

"But I-…" He started off, but he didn't know Emily Prentiss and her mind games.

"My office after lunch. Goodbye, Bryan." She said silently before walking away.


"Good morning to you too, Prentiss." Tara sighed when Emily waltzed by her side, on her way to her office.

Emily shot back a muffled 'Hi' before she closed herself in her office for the entire morning.

It took her four and a half hours and seventeen drafts until she was finally somewhat happy with her masterpiece – a speech that could move anyone, any time.

While going over it for the sixth time, she heard a knock on the door which had, suspiciously, been kept closed all morning.

JJ invited herself in, as she usually did, and she went straight for the computer screen.

"This is really important to you, isn't it?" JJ almost whispered.

Emily's only reply was a hesitant nod before she switched the computer off and grabbed her bag. It was lunch time, surely being nosy was not the only reason why JJ had barged into that office - she must have also wanted to make sure Emily was having lunch with the team, as usual.

During lunch Emily kept to herself. She was more quiet than usual and everyone could kind of guess the reason why. They had all received that mass spam e-mail and they could imagine how much stress she had put on her shoulders, especially after she had shared the news that she was meeting the Director on Friday.

She had only said that in a moment of temporary insanity, when she had to give a plausible reason for not being able to attend some sort of a crash course that Garcia had planned for the team, wanting to explain some basic tech stuff so that everyone would be able to use her gadgets independently, if needed.

Rossi noticed how little food Emily had consumed. She was never a fussy eater and she never played with her food, pushing it around the plate with the fork, making it look like she had eaten more than what she really did.

"Everything alright, Chief?" Luke walked by Emily's side when they were exiting the restaurant.

"Mhm…" Emily smiled.

Unfortunately for her, Luke was a great profiler and he also knew Emily. 'Mhm' was her patent, for whenever she wanted to get rid of a topic she did not like or wish to discuss any further.

"I'm going out with a few friends tonight, you know, some drinks, at some bar, maybe some dancing. Wanna join?" He offered.

"What? Hanging out with a bunch of 30 year old hunks? Me? Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, never stopped you before!" Luke shrugged.

"Offer still stands, if you change your mind." He called after her, as she hurried to catch up with Matt.

Emily figured that if there was one sane person in that bunch, someone who wouldn't grill her, it would be Matt. So she'd stick by his side until she could close herself in her office again.

"Hey, Prentiss." Matt smiled wide, now walking next to his boss, towards the main FBI building.

"Hey, how's Kristie? How are the kids? I've been meaning to ask you, but it never seems to be a good time." She smiled apologetically.

Sometimes she felt like she only ever brought up JJ's kids and that was surely unfair to Matt. He, however, had never noticed any such discrimination. If anything, whenever Emily asked about his family, he was more than happy to reply and he genuinely appreciated her interest.

"Everything's good. Kids are happy. We just took them to the zoo last weekend and they were having the best time. Honestly, you should have seen the smiles on their faces. There is something so rewarding when you do something for a young one and then you see their smile…" Matt trailed off, unsure if he should push it further or if she got the message.

Emily got it, loud and clear. Why was Matt bombarding her with reverse psychology as well?

For the rest of the walk back up to the offices, she walked grumpily, on her own.


"Agent Prentiss, there is a very insistent young man, waiting for you in your office. He says you have a meeting, but your schedule-…" An employee let her know, as soon as she stepped out of the elevator.

"It's okay. It's not on my work schedule. This is personal. Thank you." Emily said, dismissing them and walking up the stairs.

She sighed, finding Bryan sitting on a chair, waiting for her.

"Hello again, Bryan. I'd say 'take a seat', but…" She smirked. It was fun to push his buttons.

"Oh, uhm, I was uh…I mean, I've been waiting for a while and I just needed to sit…" He stuttered and Emily finally laughed.

"It's alright. I'm just messing with you." She spoke as she sat in her own chair.

"Wait, you've been waiting for a while? Lunch break just finished…" She raised an eyebrow at the words she heard him say.

"Did you skip your lunch to come here and wait for me?" She cracked a tiny smile, happy to know that someone was so worried about Angela, that they'd skip the one good thing they had during their day. Lunch break was that one hour when Trainees could breathe and relax, sleep and recharge. And Bryan had gladly given it all up, for her.

He nodded, looking at the floor.

"Do yourself a favor…" Emily spoke with authority. "Chin up. Speak up, loud and clear. Never back down and never show someone you are intimidated by them. Understood?"

"Understood." He said, still a bit too shyly.

"I don't think I heard that loud and clear, Trainee." She pushed his buttons again. This boy had huge potential, but he needed to stop second-guessing himself.

"Yes, Agent Prentiss, understood!" He spoke up this time and it was finally good enough for her.

"Now, pour it all out. What did you want to talk to me about?" Her facial features softened a bit. If she was fishing for the truth, she could not have him be a ball of nerves, if she continued to intimidate him.

"Well, she's acting up. She missed PFT on Monday morning and today she's slacking and yesterday in class it's like she was there physically, but someplace else mentally." He said hesitantly.

"You do know that by saying those things you are putting a target on her back, right? I can now shoot Dan an order to keep her under strict surveillance and she'd be sent packing on Sunday, during the next Academy cuts. Right?"

"Yes, Agent Prentiss." Bryan kept on nodding to it all while she spoke.

"This is why I came to you." He added, now grabbing her attention.

"I could tell how important you are to Angela, and I bet that she's important to you, too. So I figured, if anyone could knock some sense into her, without any of this hurting her and compromising her stay at the Academy, it's only going to be you." He finally said it.

"Nothing and nobody could knock sense into that girl. She will do as she pleases. She's an adult now and we have to respect the choices she makes for herself." Emily could not help but think that she sounded like a psychology manual, saying those words to him.

"However…" When she opened her mouth again, it gave Bryan some hope. "I'm not okay with her throwing her dream away. She has wanted this her whole entire life and not only that, but she has also worked very hard, to be here. So, if she's throwing her little tantrums now, it does not sit well with me and I will not allow her temporary insanity to cloud her better judgment. Her ass is staying in the Academy, whether she likes it or not."

"Woah, what!? She wants to leave the Academy!? Since when!? Woah!" Bryan went into full on panic mode and Emily rolled her eyes.

He could not help but notice the way she did it – one and a half eye rolls, followed by a sigh. Where had she seen that before?

"Do this Government a favor and never apply for a profiler position, please." Emily laughed out loud.

Bryan was bright and so very able, but he was not profiler material. Hell, he ate, slept, trained and breathed alongside Angela 24/7 and he still wasn't able to read her?

And then again – Angela was an extremely hard person to decipher. So far, only Emily had managed to do it…and maybe one more person, who was still lurking in the shadows and waiting for the best moment to strike, with their wisdom.

"She has her papers ready and she wants to leave, first thing Saturday morning." Emily informed him.

"No…she can't leave!" He shook his head. Denial, it figures, that was the first reaction Emily usually saw in people when she broke some harsh news to them.

"I only said she wants to leave." She acted calm and collected.

"But, if she wants to leave, she will leave!" He argued, now feeling anger stepping in.

"Over my dead freaking body." Emily smiled and still looked calm.

"Does this have anything to do with that e-mail?" Bryan looked up at her expectantly. He hoped that she had a plan.

"And not only…" She replied vaguely, this time with a smirk.

"I did some digging…and I mean, hopefully this does not get me into trouble, but I figured out that your Unit can't even accommodate an Intern this year. And, yeah, Angela never specifically came out and said that, but I know that's what she really wants. So, is that why she wants to leave?"

Emily nodded.

"But, is there anything that can be done?" He kept on asking eagerly. It was clear to Emily how persistent he was, how much he cared about Angela.

"No. Not really. This is a decision that cannot be overruled. Moreover, the request came from my office, mind you – without my knowledge, so there really isn't anything that could possibly be done to undo it…"

"But…but you said…"

"Oh, Bryan, you don't know the lengths to which a Prentiss would go, in order to get what she wants." Emily smirked. She did not only mean herself. She was speaking more about her mother and, weirdly, at that moment she felt a lot like her – determined, headstrong, powerful, merciless until she'd be granted her wish.

She might have spent her entire life hating the Prentiss legacy, but in times like these she reminded herself how good it was to be a ruthless bitch until the last breath.

"Yeah, I mean, I read that e-mail and…woah…" He kept on trailing off. Somehow he figured he didn't need to use many words with that woman. She already knew. She was an evil genius in his eyes and he had nothing but an insane amount of respect for her.

"Thank you for that personal note you included, along with your signature. Every word counts." Emily smiled. "And, this goes without saying, but Angela cannot see or know about this e-mail, okay?"

"Oh, absolutely." He promised.

"Good. Now I need you to give her a reason to stay. And it cannot be about her, because she already wants to leave. This has to be personal and, if I may give you a piece of advice – the easiest way to bribe Angela is to make her feel like she needs to help someone out. It's when she is most vulnerable. You can kick her, beat her up, shoot her, set her on fire and she'd be fine. She'd smile, with her chin up and she'll tell you she's okay. But the second you make it about someone she loves, it's when she cracks and lets her 'tough girl' guard down. So, don't focus on her. Let her be. She's going to throw all the tantrums she wants. Make this about someone else, about something she would want to be involved in, to help. Because this girl has an incredibly tough shell, impossible to crack, but she has a tender heart, easy to manipulate. And don't you ever dare use that information, in order to hurt her…or I am coming for you, along with seven other BAU members!"

"Understood, Agent Prentiss!" He said, loud and clear, just like she had asked him to speak, at the beginning of their conversation.

"Good, now get out of my office and let me do my scheming, will you?" She stared at him dismissively.

Her work with Bryan was done. Now it was up to him to find a way to get through to Angela.

She now needed to focus on her project, to spend hours, obsessively perfecting every word, every dot, every metaphor, until she would be absolutely sure that the final product was Prentiss-approved, on the spectra of schemes and manipulation games.


Evening came and Emily entered her apartment, holding a bag from the grocery store.

Hell must have frozen over, because the Emily Prentiss, the universal Queen of take-away, had brought back home fresh produce.

She knew she was all sorts of screwed up the second she put that lettuce in the fridge. And tomatoes? What was she thinking?

The first thing she needed was a shower. After that, she was back in the kitchen, wearing comfy clothes and choosing her food options. She ended up making a salad bowl which, weirdly, tasted kind of good. It surely cost her way less than the take away place where she usually ordered her salads from. Plus, she didn't have to wait for the delivery and – best of all, she wasn't supposed to give a tip.

Maybe grocery shopping wasn't all too bad, after all.

Eating her salad, she realized two things.

One, it was way too quiet and she did not like it that way. She was used to her colleague's voices all around her, all day, every day. Up until recently she had loved being at home, on her own, able to relax and to hear nothing but the silence. But it now depressed her.

Two, she had been quite rude to Richard with her last text, cutting him off and never texting him again, the entire day.

It would now be past two o'clock at night, in Paris, and she was torn between wanting to text him and not wanting to be a pain in the ass by waking him up for a second night in a row.

"Hey, I hope this text does not wake you up. I'm sorry for earlier. I'm not the best communicator, which is weird, because that is pretty much all I ever do, at work, and I'm great at it. But I don't know how to do it…in relationships. And that's why I never really had any important ones. But I don't want this to be the case with you, so I just need you to know that I'm trying and that I will screw up and when I do, it wouldn't be because I don't care about you, but because I am an incredibly dorky idiot who does not know when to shut up and how to act normal. Ok, that's all."

She found herself typing that text. It was supposed to be a rough draft, one that she would obsess over, analyze all night long, correct and re-write until it would be a socially acceptable time, in Paris, to receive a text message, in the morning.

However, something about how rough it came out, that first draft, how honest it was, how new this was to her – to come out and say things like they were…something about all that appealed to her and she found herself hitting the Send button as soon as she finished typing it.

Almost instantly, she was notified that the other person was already typing their reply. And that made her smile.


Richard had spent the entire day on his own, still in a hospital bed, with doctors running million tests on him and reassuring him that he would be just fine. He was sick of hearing those words. Everybody knew who he was and they were just overcompensating. Nobody could guarantee him that he would be 'just fine' and that was the harsh truth. He was sick of hearing a sugarcoated version of it. No, he didn't feel like he was in top shape, like one of the doctors had told him at the end of the evening shift. He felt like his entire body was broken, his jaw felt somewhat dislocated and he was sure half of his face was purple and the other half – blue. There was blood, soaking through the surgical tape that was rolled around his waist and whatever it was that the doctors had spread on him, it sure did not feel like Nutella on a toast. It left that pinchy, burning sensation on his skin, but he would not admit to that, even after the doctors asked him specifically, five times, if it hurt. He kept his head held high and said he was okay, each time.

Victor was left alone in the office, working on that project that had gotten Richard into a hospital. They now needed a different approach and fast, but Victor had requested that Richard would have no further say in what they were doing. Yes, it had been Richard's project, but Victor was now working on it, alone. In his mind, that would give Richard the time he needed to heal. In Richard's eyes, however, it was annoying, disrespectful and unnecessary to be kicked out of his own project. But he knew he could not do anything about it. Yes, he was the big boss and Victor was his right hand, but he was also his best friend and like a brother to him, so if he wanted Richard out, he had to back down and surrender. He knew it was for his own good.

That day had given Richard twelve long hours of misery, alone time, silence – besides the sound of different hospital apparatus ticking; and most importantly – time to think about Emily's last message.

He had efficiently bribed one of the nurses into bringing him a bar of chocolate, before the evening shift ended. It only meant that he destroyed that chocolate in the matter of seconds, which resulted in him being unable to fall asleep at a normal hour and that only meant one thing – more hours of being awake, thinking about her.

And then finally, she texted again. It took him seconds to get to his phone, expecting her to say just about anything. She was unpredictable, that was why he liked her so much. But it was also kind of scary. At any given time, she might send him that text 'I'm done with you' and he knew he would not be able to do anything, to argue his case, even if that was exactly what he did on a daily basis, at work. His tactics would not work with her, for sure.

Her text surprised him. It felt like it had been written in a hurry and he appreciated the rough honesty. Finally, someone was telling him the truth!

"I understand. And we both know I'm not the best at person-to-person communication either. It's something I'm working on. It's kind of hard to tell people what you think, how you feel, when you've spent your entire life lying and pretending. But I don't want to lie to you. And I want you to feel comfortable sharing your thoughts with me, too. I'm sorry if I pushed earlier, I just really want you to know the truth, but I realize I should have respected your request to hold off on that. Je suis vraiment désolée. Just remember that it is extremely hard for me to keep the truth from you right now. One day you'll know why. And also, remember that first and foremost – I really, genuinely like you, Emily. That's part of my truth and to me that's the only part of the truth that matters. Also, you did not wake me up. I couldn't fall asleep tonight."

He texted back, much like her, sending the rough first draft of whatever it was that came out after he started typing.

A doctor then checked in on him and kept on telling him all sorts of wonderful positive results, but he wasn't feeling any better. The pain was not going away and that might have been because he denied being given any sort of pain killers. Richard could handle the pain like a champion, but not when it came to someone else's pain. It was then that he'd crack, especially if it concerned someone he knew and loved.


Emily finished her salad bowl quickly before she received Richard's reply. She read it over twice, carefully analyzing every word. Yes, he was not the best communicator if he dumped her ass in a hotel room, with a note. But it was also obvious how sorry he felt for that and how much he was trying to make up for it.

Sometimes Emily felt like Richard was two people. She had started feeling this way back in Paris, right after they had met. At the time, she thought it was paranoia, because she was being two people at the time, herself. She thought this was the Universe's way of teaching her a lesson, by giving her hints and making her think that Richard had two faces, as well.

But then, the more she thought back of that week, after she returned to the States, the more she realized that there had most definitely been 'two Richards' with her.

One was the amazing man that she liked so much – gentle, caring, a bit of a nerd too.

And the other one was cautious, silent, he seemed like he was drifting into thoughts often and he felt somewhat distant when his gaze would play around, checking their surroundings as if he was paranoid about something.

The Richard that she liked would kiss her and hold her when they were alone, but he would be cold and distant when in public. And that only happened in Paris, because he had no problems being the loving version of Richard when they were in the small countryside towns, on their way to Lyon and St. Tropez.

The second Emily decided that Richard was only one of the versions – the loving and caring one; she also remembered the way her ex Interpol colleagues have reacted when they had seen him. Two huge and tough undercover agents had walked off, as if they had seen the Devil. They hadn't dared say a word to Emily. They had just disappeared.

But then again, how bad could it be? Surely, if Richard was the Devil, the guys would have found a way to warn Emily about it. They had worked undercover together and she didn't need to hear words, they could have sent her a different kind of signal and she would have known.

But they had ran…

Why had they ran like that?

Two huge muscular men, perfectly capable of defending themselves. And they had chosen to run off?

"I know I have asked you before, but I need to ask you one more time – is Richard a good person?"

She texted in reply, because her paranoia was now reaching new highs and it scared her how freaked out she could feel.


Richard had spent the few minutes in between texts, watching some old videos on his phone and going through some photos.

He was a bit of a neat freak, so he kept all of his photos organized in folders, by days or by occasions. He had albums for birthdays, work stuff, weekends away. And he noticed the one constant person in all of those was always Victor.

In the different albums, he'd either be on his own, while his colleagues were with their better halves at social events and bar outings, or he'd be accompanied by a different woman. He played a game, challenging himself to remember the names of everyone on the photos.

Up to a certain point, he was great at it. He knew the names of all of his colleague's husbands or wives, their children and sometimes even their pets. He knew random facts about them and he even know most of their birthdays by heart.

But then, looking at the women by his side, in some of the albums, he could not recall a thing.

Yes, he remembered a name or two. He also knew that some of those were blind dates that Victor had forced him on. He was now being paranoid, wondering how many of those might have been escorts.

But other than that – he remembered nothing about them.

And then – Emily's text appeared on the screen.

He closed his eyes for a long moment, after he read her question.

"Damn it, this thing is screwed before it even started…" He muttered to himself, feeling a sharp pain, but not in his bones this time. It was in his heart, instead.

With his eyes closed, he found it so incredibly easy to recall different things about her. He could not only put a name to that woman, but he could put two! He also knew what her perfume smelled like and he knew how she smiled. He knew exactly how tight she held him, while crying in his arms. He would be able to pinpoint her exact height, up to half an inch of a difference. He recalled a lot of small and seemingly insignificant facts about her. It wasn't the multiple names that made this woman so special. He couldn't care less about the name. It was the heart. It was who she was…whoever she might really be, after telling him her truth.

"Yes, Emily. With my hand on my heart, I swear to you that Richard - the man you spent the night with, is a good person who would never do or say anything to hurt you."

He texted back, swallowing hard. He felt so incredibly guilty.

He didn't lie…

He just might have omitted some truths, but he consoled himself with the fact that she had begged him, continuously, to not tell her the truth.

Richard, 'the man she spent the night with'? Wasn't it weird that he specified which version of Richard he was talking about? And which exact moment he was referring to?

What about the Richard that Emily had caught, looking over his shoulder, back in Paris?

What about the Richard who was stone cold to her, in public?

What about the Richard that dumped her via a note?


Emily had all those questions, and more, in her mind, after she read his text.

She was now much more confused than before. And yet, deep down in her heart, she had a new gut feeling – a good one, even though she could not shake all those suspicions that his text had basically confirmed.

For a moment she contemplated whether it was a good idea to open a bottle of wine. She knew she wouldn't stop at just one glass, so then she dropped the idea completely. She was Unit Chief and she could not afford drinking every night and possibly going to work with a headache the next morning, not when her team's well-being depended on her and not when a lot of people's lives depended on her team's actions.

Emily was an incredibly tough woman. She would suck in a breath and take it in – all the pain, all the torture, everything. She had done it with Doyle, she could do it again. She'd get beaten up, with her poker face intact. She'd be soaked in her own blood, but she'd still have it in her to make a smug ass comment about someone or something. She'd be taking her last breaths, but she'd never back down, to anyone, she'd never show weakness and she'd never admit defeat. That was who Emily Prentiss was.

And yet, the moment she saw someone else in pain, she'd put her entire life on hold and she'd give that person her undivided attention. She'd shower them with affection, because that was what Emily Prentiss did best – she cared about the people she loved and she protected them – always has and forever will!

"Ok, I'm not even drunk here, but I'm going to be completely transparent – a LOT is riding on this. On us. I'm putting aside a huge number of red flags, because I am an idiot and I believe you…and I don't even know you. I know this is not ideal – time and space have it out for us. But I'm more than willing to try and make it work. Call me crazy. For some reason, I feel like I trust you. And I never trust people I don't know. Hell, I don't even trust the people I do know! But you…you're different. And don't get me wrong, I mean, I trust you and all that cute stuff, yeah. But lie to me, deceive me or hurt me and I will end you!"

She sent that text fast, before she'd think it through and realize how dumb of a decision it was, to say something like that.

The last time she had used those famous closing words of hers, had been with Ian Doyle. And then she had, literally, ended him. So there was no doubt now that she could and would do the same to Richard, if he deserved it.


Richard laughed out loud when he read it. This woman was tiny, with her well toned legs and her tiny waist and hands. Did she seriously think she could threaten him?

And yet, he had absolutely no doubt those threats were real. She would definitely be able to 'end him', that was sure.

"Ok, I deserve that, I admit it. I need to be transparent as well – we are starting this relationship, pretending. So, how much of a good thing can we expect, if both of us are contributing to a shaky base and a non-existent core to this relationship? I was ready to tell you everything, when you first texted me. Remember that. Hell, I would have been honest with you the second I saw you by the fountain, nearly two months ago, but I simply could NOT. Remember that too. And I'm not okay going into this, not being able to be myself. The more you wait before giving me the green light to speak, the more my truth will hurt. I'm sorry, it is how it is. I hope you can dish it, but you can also take it, because I needed to say this, from the get go. And no, this does not change the way I feel about you. Nothing does. Nothing ever could…"

He sighed. Were they arguing? Or were they simply being super honest with each other?

He hated texting, he was never able to figure out the tone of the other person. Maybe she was being sarcastic, not bitchy. Or maybe she was being rude?


'Nothing ever could'

Emily raised an eyebrow.

What did that even mean?

Ever? Wasn't it too soon to call it 'ever' if it had been less than two months since they had met?

"I can take it, don't worry. I actually appreciate your honesty. And my denial to hear your truth has nothing to do with you and everything to do with my own insecurities. I've already told you that I have an extremely important and demanding job, so I can't handle the thought of having to juggle more truths and more responsibilities…especially at this moment. I'm working on something very dear to my heart and I'm pouring all of my time and energy into it. But, despite my best efforts, I may get turned down for the millionth time and that scares me, because it does not depend on me. So, if I could control one thing, I chose that to be your truth. That also means that if I have one thing good in my life right now, it is you. And yes, it scares me to hear that your truth will hurt, but I know I can take it. Just not now. I need time. I don't want your words to be the end of this. I want to hear them when I'm ready to fight back for what I want, despite how ugly the truth might be. Because I'm not a woman that backs down. I'm a stubborn one and I'm a real piece of work. Remember that :P"

She yawned, looking at the time. It was very early and yet, her body was telling her she needed to relax and get some sleep.


Richard was starting to feel sleepy, now that the effect of the chocolate was finally wearing off. Plus, this much honesty via text was draining out the little energy he still had in him.

"I respect your decision, Emily. And by the way, are you talking about the thing you have to do on Friday? I hope it goes well for you. You keep mentioning it and I can tell it is important. For the record, I know you are a piece of work. I wouldn't have you any other way, Emily. You are perfect, just the way you are and I really want to know more about you – whatever you are willing to talk about. I should probably get some sleep now. Goodnight and good luck with your project. Bissous."


Emily yawned one more time, which was a clear indication that she needed sleep, asap.

His text made her realize one thing – she wasn't as chill about long distance as she thought she would be. Yes, it was fine, texting and all. But when he signed his last text with 'kisses' she could not help but frown, unable to feel his lips against hers, before bed.

"Thank you, for everything you said. And especially for being transparent. You have no idea how much it means. I spend my days talking to people who lie while I try to figure out the truth. I'm glad that at least with you I can relax and be calm. And yes, it's the Friday project I was referring to. I really need to win this one. It's a life changer! Goodnight, I'm off to bed as well. It's been a long day, lots of complications and I just need to close my eyes and relax. Talk to you tomorrow, when I can. Bissous."

She was forced to send him fake kisses, too. It was less than ideal, but it would have to be enough, until the next time they'd meet when she was planning on making up for all those missed opportunities to kiss and do other wonderful things.


REVIEW REPLIES:

"rmpcmfan" Texting is all they have...for now. I won't make it easy for them, lol. Long distance is hard, let them figure it all out. We'll just sit back and enjoy their struggles (I'm mean to my characters, oops :P) Richard lets a LOT slide and he doesn't question Emily about things that other people would find alarming. That's why Emily keeps opening up more and more - she feels like she receives zero judgment and zero nagging for more explanations...like, he gives her the liberty to share ANYTHING she wants and he's just there for her, without smug comments and remarks. That's what works best for Emily. But...why is Richard so understanding? :) I mean, it is kind of alarming if someone tells a person they've died twice already. Hmmm! As for Angela, she will be finding out, the hard way. It's a huge secret from her, for now, and she was quite possibly the only person at Quantico who did NOT receive that e-mail. BTW the actual text from the e-mail will be available in a future chapter, if you're curious :)! And I agree: if only Angie knew she was sooo worth it! Emily would stop at NOTHING, just to welcome her to a place that Angela might want to call 'home'. Also...I couldn't refrain myself from replying on inbox, as well :P sorry, I'm bubbly hehehe!

"Ducksdragonfly" This story is the product of many things - love for the characters, huge respect towards people who are real life superheroes and save other people on a daily basis, pent up tension and anger for not seeing Emily (on TV) with a man sooner lol (btw I ship Prendoza and I'm super happy things happened the way they did. I just started writing this story before Andrew Mendoza was even on the show, so now I ship Emily with both him and Richard, haha, on the show and in writing, respectively.) And oh yes, this is also a product of insane amounts of wild imagination and passion for MYSTERY and things turning out to be completely different than what we believe, plot twists and turns, secrets, stuff like that :P hehehe! Also, you're absolutely right that in order for Angela to get stronger, she'd have to open up, break down a little bit, trust someone, talk about her trauma...but she is absolutely unwilling to do any of that. Maybe...just maybe, she'll find different things in the different people around her - someone to go party with, let loose, trust them not to take advantage of her when she's drunk; someone to nerd out with and not feel the need to hold back on her intellect, so she'd look more 'normal'; someone to be silly with and talk about girly stuff; someone to worship with all of her heart; someone to build a relationship from something that started off sooo wrong; someone to have in her life forever. She has the weird power of connecting to people and making them like her. Hell, even JJ likes her, lol! Ufff, I won't spoil anything, although it is tempting :P

"sweetkid45" JJ is Emily's rock, at work. They rely heavily on each other and Emily feels most comfortable talking to JJ, when it comes to her personal stuff now, too. It used to be Morgan, but he's a dude and sometimes Emily just needs a woman to confide in and hear her point of view, maybe get some advice. They do love each other, just not in a romantic way...which won't stop Emily from making a couple of suggestive comments, later on :P! As for what Emily is up to...all I can say is that it is a rand scheme, involving Angela's placement. For now I intentionally don't say exactly what's going on, but I eluded to it all, so everyone can figure it out on their own :)! Also, you best believe some of those comments on her shared document are going to be read out loud, when the time comes, so the readers will know exactly what has been said and by whom. JJ backing Emily up on this is huge, as nobody would have expected her to be so passionate and helpful with that, given who it concerns.