CHAPTER 118
I AM WHEELS UP TOMORROW
"What the-…" Emily murmured, barely opening her eyes, long after her nose had already detected something alarming, the morning after Angela spent the night at her apartment.
She got up and put a robe on before entering the kitchen.
"Bonjour!" Angie smiled brightly, holding a pan in one hand and a non-stick spray in the other.
"Please tell me you have jam…or Nutella…or anything sweet." She asked.
"Pff, come on. It's like you don't know me at all!" Emily rolled her eyes and laughed while walking over and opening a pantry.
"Good Lord!" Angie's jaw dropped.
There were jars of just about anything that could be found in the supermarket. Apparently, Emily Prentiss had a sweet tooth.
"Woman, how do you even work all the calories off?" She questioned.
"Eww, no. Scratch that. I do not want to know." She corrected herself, after realizing her mistake, as she watched Emily's brow rise, with a cheeky smirk on her face.
"I was going to say boxing." Emily replied innocently.
"Uh-huh. If your idea of boxing is tackling someone over in your bed, butt naked, and not letting go of him until he's completely beat, then yeah, boxing it is, alright…" Angie rolled her eyes one more time.
"I thought Angela Hunter was a prude…" Emily was a bit confused.
"Only when it comes to her own rendezvous. Or, the lack there of." Angie shrugged and it made Emily's smirk grow even wider.
"So, how's it going with Mr. French Boy-Toy?" The girl then asked casually, wondering if he had been 'used and disposed of' already, as she had heard the legends of Emily Prentiss' dating life.
"None of your business…" Emily looked away, biting her bottom lip to prevent a tiny smile from appearing.
"Oh, mon Dieu! You…" Angie's pointy finger started poking Emily's shoulder, backing her up to a corner of the kitchen.
"Emily Prentiss has a boyfrieeeeeeend!" She added, in sing-song tone.
Emily's cheeks were now matching the color of that wild strawberry jam that Angela had picked out just seconds ago.
"Show me pictures! Come on, I wanna be the judge. I'm a great judge! I mean, when it comes to other people's love life anyway. I wanna rate his cuteness and other things, in case we're at this point of our relationship where you show me the uncensored version of your naughty little chats."
"Oh my God! We don't do chats like that!" Emily was scandalized at what Angela was suggesting.
"Seriously? That's too bad. You have lots to offer the eye…" Angie eyed Emily, who, so far, had felt extremely comfortable with her robe revealing a deep décolleté.
"Stop!" Emily suddenly felt self-conscious and she adjusted the robe with one hand until it covered, well, most of what had been on sight.
"I'm just saying. French men like the upper area more than, you know, certain parts down South. At least in pictures."
"And how exactly did you come in possession to that conclusion, young Daredevil?" Emily blew off some air, after addressing that question. She wasn't sure if she was upset that she even had to ask, or if she was surprised or rather – shocked. Or all of the above.
"What? We've been through this. I'm a good girl…"
"Mhm, good girl, my ass." Emily muttered. She knew Angela way better than that, already.
"Okay, fine. I may or may not have had some prior experience…"
"What!?" At that moment, Emily felt like she choked on her own saliva. She could not take a breath and her heart was racing.
"Relax! It's not like that. It was strictly text. And uh, maybe a video chat…on occasion." Angie blushed.
"Oh my God!" Emily cringed. This was too much for her to hear.
"Dude, relax. It's not what you think."
"Oh, no? What if those photos and videos come to bite you in the ass one day?"
"It's not…" Angie smirked. Oh, if Emily only knew. "It's not like that, okay? Nothing could be traced back to me. Relax."
"Said every other young and gullible girl…" Emily sighed.
"Oh, shoot!" Angie darted back to the stove when a thick smoke hit her nose.
"Are you trying to get us both killed!?" Emily hissed.
Apparently, Angela thought of herself as second generation Master Chef material, so she had been frying pancakes with two pans. One was in her hands, to be sprayed up, while the other one was left unattended, on the stove, which was on the highest temperature it could possibly be switched on to.
"Oh, noooo!" Angie frowned, now holding a pan with a very burnt pancake.
"I wanted to surprise you…" She added.
"Well, I'd be surprised if you didn't burn those." Emily laughed and removed the hot pan from Angie's hands, placing it in the sink, under cold water, to cool off a bit.
"Hey, it's the thought that counts." She reassured Angie who was now looking like a guilty, unhappy child.
"Plus, we still have the other pan. Come on, let's get to work." Emily smiled and urged her to help out while she took the lead with the breakfast making. Not that she was any closer to being a Master Chef herself, anyway.
"Should we just call for pizza?" Angie suggested.
"No! I'm cooking you breakfast and this is going to be a good one. Come on, spray this thing already." Emily said, holding the pan out, for Angie to spray.
"So, is he moving to the States?" She asked casually, a few minutes later, bringing back her favorite topic of conversation.
"No. He lives in Paris, he works there." Emily replied while trying to look cool, tossing a pancake. Weirdly, she almost succeeded at it.
"What's his job?" Angie was back to being five years old and full of questions.
"I have no idea and I'm fine with it."
"How are you dating someone whose job you don't know anything about?"
"I'm not dating anyone! It's just…casual. And it only just started, so I don't even know what to call it."
"Does he have any siblings?"
"I don't know."
"Is he your age?"
"I guess so…I mean, he looks like it."
"You do know you don't look a day older than 39, right?"
"Angela, I already like you. You don't have to compliment me so much." Emily smirked.
"Oh, I know. I'll make up for it by being inappropriate, whenever I find fitting."
"I'm sure you will." Emily put the first good pancake on the tray and poured enough mix for the second one.
"Have you met his friends? I mean, you can tell a lot about a person, judging by his friends."
"No. Like I said, this thing only just emerged and we're taking it slowly…" Emily started to doubt herself.
It sounded like she knew absolutely nothing about Richard, but it also felt like she wanted absolutely nobody else, other than Richard. It was a weird mix of feelings.
"Does he have any kids?"
When Emily took too long to reply, Angie spoke again.
"What? It's normal for someone your age to have kids."
"Yup, and this is you, making up for your compliment from just seconds ago." Emily sighed. Angela was brutal sometimes.
"Pretty much, yeah." She said innocently, before adding the rest of what she needed to say now. "I mean, I'm sorry if you got this wrong and I most definitely do not mean to offend or upset you…"
Well, at least the girl was a straight shooter. Emily appreciated that.
"I never asked if he had any. He did ask me, though…" Emily trailed off and watched Angie shiver.
"Does he live in a house or a flat? I hate houses!" Angie changed the topic instantly.
"I don't know. I haven't been to his place…yet. And it's not like you're invited, whether he has an apartment or not." Emily chuckled.
"Boy, he must be really good in bed…" To Angie it felt weird that someone would be in a relationship with a man they knew nothing about. The only plausible reason why Emily could be with him was what she had just hinted at.
'Mhm…" Emily nodded, with a small on her lips.
"Oh?" Angie was now even more curious.
"Oooooohhhhhh!" Angie repeated, this time louder and in a much more dramatic tone.
"Spray!" Emily commanded, handing her the pan once again.
"Oh, someone wants to change topic?" Angie teased.
"Someone needs to get done with this breakfast and go to work. So, spray!"
"No! I want details! Or else…" Angie held the cooking spray threateningly. It sure would have ruined Emily's robe, if she pressed her finger against that button.
"You wouldn't dare!" Emily spoke too fast. Before she knew it, Angie had sprayed.
"No! Angela! NO!" Emily tried to put her hand in the air, between them, to block out any further attempt of retaliation.
"Details!?" Angie insisted.
"Okay. Okay!" Emily sighed.
She leaned forward and whispered a few things to Angela who put her hand against her mouth, to prevent herself from squealing.
"Woaaah!" She exclaimed after hearing it all. "Dude, I told you, French men know what they're doing!"
"Yeah and I'm pretty sure if you tell me anything more about that, I'd die from a heart attack!" Emily laughed, disarming Angie from the spray, now that she had received what she wanted.
"You? Die? Like, for real? Ha!" Angie chuckled before she realized how her joke had come off.
"God, no. I didn't mean…I just, you know, because you…everyone says you die and you come back and…ugh…"
"Relax, I know what you meant." Emily put her hand on Angie's shoulder, preventing her from hyperventilating.
"Pancakes are taking too long. We should have had the pizza." Angie whined. The sweet smell was making her even hungrier and she did not handle hunger well.
"Shh. You trust me, right?" Emily said, already placing the fourth pancake in the pan.
"Always have!" Angie nodded.
"Good girl." Emily said contently.
Bryan woke up early that morning. It was a Thursday, which meant their PFT was going to be half an hour longer than usual. He now had enough time to take a shower and eat something before hitting the training field.
And yet, Angela was nowhere to be seen.
"Girl, if you get your ass kicked out because you've been a dick these past couple of days, I'm going to haunt you until the rest of your life!" He murmured to himself, while entering the bathroom.
He'd hate to see Angie leave, but then again, she wasn't acting like she wanted to stay in the Academy anymore. And she sure as Hell did not look like she deserved it, either.
After his shower he put his training clothes on and went for a run, hoping he'd see her somewhere around campus.
She was nowhere to be seen.
The only consolation prize for his conscious was the fact that her precious pink glitter box, with all of her bows and her mini Eiffel Tower statue, were still intact, under her bed. She would never leave without those things and he knew it.
But the question now was: What new dumb thing she'd do today?
"Oh no!" Emily groaned when the sixth pancake was in the pan.
"What happened?" Angie walked over.
She had been setting the table and making coffee while Emily finished up the last two pancakes, so that each one of them would have a total of three, for breakfast.
"Well, I don't know…I was just…doing this last one and…it...I mean, it happened so fast, I turned around for like two seconds and it was burning…" Emily stuttered. Since when does Emily Prentiss stutter?
Angie held out her hand, expectantly.
Emily gave her a guilty look, but then surrendered, placing her phone in Angie's hand.
"Damn it, you're a great profiler!" Emily muttered unhappily.
Somehow Angie had figured out that Emily had been distracted by texting, instead of paying attention to their breakfast.
"Woah, wait a minute! Is that your phone? Like, your real phone?" Angie shot a rhetorical question, but Emily still nodded.
"Haven't you learned anything from life!? You never use your real phone for sexting!" Angie rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't…" Emily bit her bottom lip. "I just texted him good morning…"
"It's 4 o'clock in the morning over there, Emily! The only way he'd have a good morning is if you texted him a little more than just that!" Angie smirked. She most definitely had a dirty mind and mouth.
"No, I really just texted good morning…see?" Emily unblocked her phone and showed Angie the screen.
"Oh my God! Can I spy on everything?" Angie smiled.
It was nice that this woman felt so comfortable to share such a personal thing with her.
Emily nodded and let her read the whole chat, since they had started texting days ago.
"Woah, you're like…brutally honest with each other. That's weird…" Angie stated, handing the phone back after she was done reading.
"How is that weird?" Emily put the five good pancakes in the middle of the kitchen table and sat down. Thank God Angie had already set everything else up.
"Well, you are clearly very much into this man and he is clearly a suspicious guy, but also, clearly a good one. And, as previously established – a beast in bed…" She trailed off, allowing Emily a second, to throw a scrunched paper towel at her across the table.
"And yet, you saved his number under 'Patisserie', followed by a kissy emoji. Please tell me you, at least, know his real name?"
Angela had hoped to learn his real name from the chat, but then again, it was the perfect excuse for her to continue coming up with inappropriate nicknames for this mysterious French guy.
"Oh, that's precautions against Garcia's endless snooping and stalking. In fact, I should be deleting the entire chat before she decides to widen her search. She kind of thinks I'm dating, but she doesn't know any details."
"Really? All those years at the FBI have taught you nothing!?" Angie dramatized in a funny way. "First of all – you and your sexy French baby daddy need to communicate through a burner phone. Come on now! And secondly, deleting something will make Garcia even more suspicious, but not any less able to find out exactly what has been said in that chat. So, you and I are now going to eat our breakfast quickly and we are making a stop at the Mall before work."
"I'm afraid to even ask why…" Emily sighed, placing three pancakes in Angie's plate, but only two in hers, since the last one had gotten burnt.
"Because Emily Prentiss needs a burner phone. Stat!" Angie looked down at her plate and frowned. "No, we should split that fifth one…"
"No, it's okay. Two are enough for me anyway." Emily smiled.
Truth was - she would have gladly destroyed seven of those, if she had had the nerves to prepare as many. But now, she'd happily sit back and let Angie have that extra one.
"Alright. I suggested, so now my conscious is clear. Although, I knew you'd say no anyway." Angie smirked and her fork sprawled jam all over the top pancake.
"You're a Devil child! No wonder you like that bar, with the same name." Emily waited a bit too impatiently for Angie to be done with the jam, so she could have some too.
"Oh, wrong. I'm the Devil's child." Angie corrected her.
"Semantics…" Emily laughed, finally grabbing the jam and feeling absolutely content.
"Hey?" Emily called out after Angela as soon as the girl got out of her car, near the Academy training grounds later that morning, as she was dropping her off.
"I know. I knooow…" Angie turned around, like a grumpy teenager, rolling her eyes at Emily.
"I'll be good. I won't do anything stupid. Not until Friday and not after Friday, either. I promise!" She continued.
"That's my girl." Emily smiled, waving at her.
"Eww, don't say that! Bryan already thinks we're in some sort of a very inappropriate relationship, with the way we talk."
"Ohh, my day is ruined!" Emily covered her ears and drove off shortly after.
"You enjoy that burner phone, though!" Angela yelled at the top of her lungs, when the car pulled out of the parking lot.
It really wouldn't be her, if she didn't do her absolute best to make sure someone would feel uncomfortable.
"Oh, goodie. You're here!" Garcia welcomed Emily and hurried to walk her into the meeting room.
"Garcia, the roundup is not due for at least half an hour…" Emily was confused, but she let herself be dragged anyway.
"Yeah, Ems…we have a case." JJ announced as soon as the team was complete, now that Emily had entered.
"Oh, no…" Emily had been praying to be case-free until Saturday, but unfortunately she found herself in a very awkward situation at that moment.
JJ went over the case specifics. She had hit the gym early that morning and she had spent an hour at the BAU before the first one of her colleagues even walked in, so she had enough time to read up and get familiar with the case.
"Well, this sure doesn't sound like something we can solve until tomorrow morning…" Emily muttered after she heard everything the local police knew about the case so far.
She had to make a hard choice and she had to make it quick.
"No, are you kidding? This would easily spread over to next week. I just hope we will be able to catch this guy." Tara replied.
The case sounded complicated and there was not much certainty that the police had to share. Everything was speculations and theories, which really did not help the FBI at all.
"Alright, listen up. We are going to shake things up a little, for this one. Guys, wheels up in 30." Emily said.
"What's the 'shaky' part? You guys are always wheels up in 30!" Garcia stated.
"Well, they are wheels up in 30. I am wheels up tomorrow." Emily elaborated a little, making everyone confused.
"I have the meeting with the Director tomorrow and it cannot be postponed. It's tomorrow or never, so…" Emily's tone of voice changed a bit, it softened up, it cracked a little bit, allowing for a more emotional attachment to her statement.
"You go, Prentiss, and you tell that man what you want and you don't back down, no matter what he says, do you understand?" Rossi encouraged her.
"Yeah, we back you up 150% on this one, Chief!" JJ nodded.
It was weird for Emily to see how invested JJ was in this personal project, given how little she had been involved in it, so far. Everyone else had a plausible reason to want Emily's request to succeed, but not JJ. And yet there she was – building Emily up and backing her up, no matter what.
"Yes, Sir!" Angie called out when her PFT trainer yelled something for her to do.
All morning she had kept her head held high and she trained her ass off, like she had never done so far, at the Academy.
Bryan was confused. Was this the same girl who had been completely uninterested in the Academy, just the previous day? Was she on drugs? Why was she so extremely motivated now, kicking everyone's ass with the assignments they were being given during the group trainings?
"Hunter, suck it up and jump higher!" The trainer yelled at her again.
"Yes, Sir!" She replied one more time.
Yes, she was most definitely on drugs. Bryan had no other plausible explanation for her sudden motivation.
"Hunter, stay behind and do the exercise again, with the next group!" The trainer was kicking her ass, but all she did was stay quiet, push harder and obey every single word yelled said to her.
"Yes, Sir!" She said, loud and clear, before taking a tiny sip of water and wiping sweat off her forehead, getting ready to go out there, to run and jump, to crawl and climb, until she'd drop to the ground at the end of the race, after that Finish line.
And that was exactly what happened.
Dan had walked over when she was halfway done with the second group and he could not believe his eyes.
"You better test her for steroids." The PFT trainer shrugged. He had seen this girl, acting like she was dead out there, just 24 hours ago, and she was now being a complete warrior, ignoring the pain and tiredness, so she could do whatever this man instructed her to do. And she did it with a smile.
"Oh, you bet I would." Dan sighed and walked over to Bryan who was now chilling on the ground after completing his own exercise.
His group had ten minutes of chill time before they'd be assigned a new thing to do.
"Don't ask me. I'm just as surprised." Bryan didn't even wait for Dan to ask his question, before he replied.
"Make sure she keeps this up. No more acting out like a baby, alright?" Dan urged Bryan.
"Yes, Sir. I will do my best to keep her in check. I don't even know what was going on with her yesterday. She's not that person. I really hope this doesn't look badly for her, on Sunday, for the cuts."
"Don't worry. Nobody is cutting Hunter. You, on the other hand, need to get up and go prove yourself. Go!" Dan smirked. He loved pushing Bryan's buttons, too. But Angela would always be his favorite toy to play with.
REVIEW REPLIES:
"rmpcmfan" Good, that's the vibe I was kind of going for. Angie is a bit confused and now that she keeps hearing how she can NEVER be part of the BAU (which is the ONLY thing she wants!) she just feels discouraged, like there is no reason for her to keep working so hard when there is nothing for her, at the Bureau. However, as you just read in this current chapter, Emily was able to give her a bit more motivation :)! I like your analogy with 'dad' Dan, 'uncle' Morgan and 'mom' Emily. LOL although come on, Morgan and Emily as siblings would be wrong for all those times we all inevitably squealed when we saw Shemar and Paget's cute and funny backstage pics together :P As for the book you mentioned - I've never heard of it. Guess I just made a reference to something super similar, super randomly hehehe. Angie is just crazy about cheese, so Emily used that to point out that even if she ate something else, she was still happy with it. Sounds like a cool book, btw! And your suspicions were confirmed with the ending of this chapter - hyper Angela is back! No chance in Hell she'd be dumb enough to disappoint Emily, after promising her to stay put and after Dan yelled at her for possibly ruining Emily's career, since Emily is going a bit rogue in her attempts of...well, you'll read it in the very next chapter *wink*!
"sweetkid45" LOL, keep in mind that there might be a good reason for Dan to scream those things at Angela. Emily's meeting with the Director is the very next chapter, yay!
