CHAPTER 23
After a few hours, Dani was finally discharged out of the hospital. A great relief for the girl.
The dull atmosphere and endless medication are not a good fit for her. She hopes she doesn't step into a hospital again anytime soon.
Emily passed by the pharmacy to pick up Daniela's prescription and now she is driving back home.
She is also glad to leave the hospital. Both ladies need to properly rest and there is no better place to do that than in the comfort of their home.
The woman glances at Dani who has her head against the window. She is looking outside, her eyes watching the various buildings in the city pass by.
"Hey, do you want me to pass by somewhere in order to get something to eat?" Emily asks the teen.
The girl was given a breakfast meal courtesy of the hospital. It didn't look too bad. The meal consisted of cereal, a bagel, a cookie, and fruit. The teenager didn't eat much of it, only eating the cookie and half the bagel.
"No. I'm not hungry," Dani responds.
She doesn't have an appetite to eat right now. All she wants to do now is get home and rest.
Emily nods and looks back up at the road. She reminds herself to have Daniela eat something later. She can't have the girl running on an empty stomach.
After a smooth drive, they finally arrive back at the apartment. Emily parks her car and steps out of the silver Benz.
She walks to the passenger door and opens it, helping Dani out of the car. She knows the girl is still drowsy and she doesn't want to risk her falling.
Daniela has enough injuries to be adding more strain to her body.
Emily wraps an arm around the teen's waist. She has a firm grip but is careful not to hurt her. Dani would normally protest, telling the agent that she can walk on her own but the girl knows that isn't true.
She feels weak, all compliments of the hospital medication. Walking on her own isn't exactly the best idea at the moment.
"I walk like a person who is on their twelfth beer," Daniela mumbles, annoyed that she can't even walk by herself.
"I hope you aren't saying that from personal experience," Emily said while waiting for the elevator door to open.
"No. I am saying that from what I have seen" Dani replies.
"C'mon now, Em. I'm not a fool. I know my drinking limits."
Emily looks at Dani and stares at her with a slight frown.
"I should probably keep my mouth shut," the girl says rather awkwardly.
She just ratted herself out on drinking. She has to keep her mouth shut before she says something else.
"Mhmm," Emily simply replies as the elevator door opens.
Dani chuckles lightly as they both enter.
They arrive at the apartment unit, Emily unlocks the door and guides, Dani, to the living room.
The teen sits down on the couch, relieved that she is now in a more comfortable environment.
"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Emily asks while sitting on the arm of the couch.
"I'm not really hungry," Daniela replies.
"Okay. I will let you rest here for a while but I need you to eat something in an hour. I don't want you to run on an empty stomach, okay?" she tells the girl.
Dani nods in agreement while leaning on the side of the couch. It was way more comfortable than the hospital bed she was in before.
Emily stands up and grabs the remote control that that is on top of the coffee table. She turns on the TV and hands the remote to Dani.
"Does Ms. Jones know about this yet?" The girl asks nervously.
"I did. I informed her the first hour that the team and I were aware of your kidnapping," Emily explains.
"She is aware of everything, just like she is supposed to. She sent me a report I need to fill out and send back."
"When is she coming here to start investigating?" Daniela asks.
She knows how the procedures work inside the system. She remembers all the times her foster parents had to fill an incident report each time she would get hurt or when she harmed someone else.
A report was written on behalf of the foster parents and then her social worker would come in person and investigate the events that led up to the incident.
It's not a matter of if her caseworker is coming. It is when she will come.
Her caseworker coming in as a routine visit is one thing. It's just a regular check-in and the girl doesn't have anything to worry about.
This case is different.
Her caseworker will have to come and see the severity of the situation she was in. She would have to re-evaluate Daniela's placement and see if it is still considered safe for her to stay.
In simple terms, there is a possibility of her getting placed into another home.
She feels her body recoil just at the thought of it.
"She told me that she is occupied trying to find an emergency placement for another child. Once she finds somewhere to place them she will come directly here," the woman answers.
Daniela nods in understanding.
"That can take a few days. It's hard finding a last-minute placement and it takes a while to get everything settled."
"I'll let you know when she will come," the woman tells her.
The girl nods and runs her fingers through her hair. She is tired and now is on edge thinking about her caseworker's visit.
It feels like she can't catch a break.
Emily can see that the girl is worried and she knows well why. She places her hand gently on Daniela's shoulder, getting the girl's attention.
"Don't worry about Ms. Jones right now. She seems to be a fair and understanding person," she tells the girl, meeting her eyes.
"The only thing you have to do right now is to relax and get better. I'll take care of the rest, okay?"
Daniela looks at Emily, still having the cloud of doubt floating around her head. Emily told her not to worry but she can't help to do so otherwise.
However, she wants to trust the woman's judgment.
"Yeah. I know," she simply replies.
"Everything will be okay. I promise."
Emily smiles, ensuring the girl that everything will be okay. She didn't say her words just to say something. She means it. She will somehow make sure that the teenager stays with her.
She has to. After everything the girl went through because of her, Emily owes it to her.
"I need to work on some paperwork for a while. You rest here while I'll go work on it. Anything you need, do not hesitate to call out for me," she tells Dani.
"Will do," Dani replies to the brunette.
Emily leans down and places a quick kiss on the teen's forehead.
"I will be right in my office," the agent informs her as she stands up, walking out of the living room.
She goes to the end of the hallway and enters her office, leaving the door open halfway just in case Daniela needs something.
Part of her wants to stay with the teenager. After everything they both went through, keeping Daniela close eases the tense nerves the profiler has.
It's the best way to ensure that the teenager is safe.
But she knows Daniela needs some time alone in order to process what happened. The girl hasn't had the proper chance to do so yet.
The agent knows that Daniela doesn't want her to see how all of this affected her. She does this to protect both of them from getting hurt.
Emily knows that Daniela deals with her emotions similar to how she does. Part of her hates the fact that the girl does this but at least she can get an idea of how the girl feels.
Scared, confused, and maybe even hold remorse.
The woman is especially worried about Daniela holding any type of grudge against her.
Though other people including Daniela herself have told her repeatedly that what happened isn't her fault, the woman has her thoughts all over the place.
It's understandable why the girl would feel angry towards her. It's her fault that all of this happened to the poor girl.
Emily sits at her desk and pulls turns on her computer in front of her.
She has so many things revolving around her head. She is thinking about how Doyle managed to get to her even after his death.
How she let her guard down after seeing his death, confident that the final chapter with Ian was written and sealed.
She couldn't even imagine that Ian would get in contact with his son, especially if he died. The man was always two steps ahead of her.
He knew his days were numbered so he planned accordingly. She just wondered how exactly did Ian do this.
How did he manipulate Declan to fall for his trap?
Emily sees that your past always comes back to bite you. In her case, it's more than one round.
When Ian escaped from prison in order to look for her, he was targeting the people she was close to. He threatened her with the lives of her team.
He knew exactly which strings to pull in order to make Emily do whatever he wanted.
He taught Declan the same thing. He said it himself, he saw that Emily took in Dani and knew this would have made Emily suffer more.
The worst part is that he was right.
When Ian took her, the agent was scared of dying but at least she knew that her whole team was no longer in danger.
This time was different.
The child she took in was the one being held, hostage. She saw her get hurt and in pain without being able to do anything to help her.
Declan managed to do something that no other person has done in her life. He managed to terrify Emily to the core.
Emily has known Dani for two years. In that period of time, the brunette has grown very attached to the teen.
The process of Dani warming up to her was a slow one but she slowly opened her heart out to the woman allowing her inside.
Anytime Emily would get even an inch closer to Dani, her heart would burst with joy in knowing that Dani was starting to love her too.
Emily never quite understood how a stranger could steal someone's heart. The logic didn't make much sense to her at the time.
How can someone that you hardly know take over your love?
She now notices that without attempting, Dani took her's. Emily loves her unconditionally without any doubt.
She would do anything for her. All because she loves her.
But she knows better than anyone else that with great love comes deep pain.
Watching someone about to take away her daughter's life was a stab through her heart. This traumatizing event will scar her for the rest of her life.
Both her and Daniela.
Emily tries to get herself together, shaking off the negative feelings she has. It's all over. No one can hurt her anymore. She is safe.
The agent constantly repeats these words to herself as a way to compose herself but deep down she knew that these words are not all true.
Yes, they were rescued and Declan would be placed behind bars. He is no longer a threat to them anymore. They should be alright now.
Emily is worried about how this whole situation affected Daniela emotionally. Even though the teen tried her best in looking brave, Emily recalls seeing pure fear in her eyes.
She could only imagine how scared the girl was when she had a gun pointed at her face.
No one should ever go through something like that, especially if you are just a kid.
Emily can't help but wonder how the teen would look at her from now on. She had learned a part of Emily's past that she never knew about.
The teenager was probably confused but avoids asking anything in regards to the subject. The woman knows that the teen would start to question everything about Emily.
The agent was afraid of the trust that she had built with Dani would start to crumble.
Emily knows she needs to tell her what happened. She has to tell her about her past with Doyle and try to explain everything that led up to this point.
It's a lot to unravel for the teen but she needs to be as open to her in order for Dani to fully understand what happened.
Emily hopes that the teen would understand why Emily didn't tell her about her time she was an undercover agent.
She did it to protect her not to hurt her.
The brunette let out a tired sigh as she runs her palm through her hair. She rubs her temple and looks at all the paperwork that she had to complete.
"Well, this isn't going to finish by itself," she tells herself and started to work on them.
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An hour passes by, with Daniela sitting on the couch comfortably while watching TV.
She has the channel on Cartoon Network, showing reruns of the show Steven Universe.
This show is one of Daniela's favorite so seeing that it was on during this time came to her as a good thing.
After everything she went through lately, watching cartoons can help ease up the tension she has.
Plus, what is better than watching a show about gay rocks with a good soundtrack?
She is currently watching episodes from the first season, with one of her favorite episodes currently playing.
It mainly focuses on Amethyst, Daniela's favorite character. She loves the character's personality, fun-loving and carefree.
Though the Amethyst greatly differs in personality from her, Daniela can relate to the purple gem's deeper and hidden emotions.
Amethyst tends to mask her insecurities with her strong personality, making her seem unbothered by anything that happens or is said to her. Dani tends to do the same thing.
She hears footsteps approaching her and turns her head around, seeing Emily walking inside the living room.
Emily looks at the teen and smiles as she enters.
"Hey. I'm done with all my paperwork for today. What do you want me to cook up for you?" she asks while leaning against the wall.
Dani looks down, no longer seeing the woman eye to eye.
"I'm not that hungry," she said in a low voice.
She doesn't want to be difficult nor does she want to worry the agent more but she really doesn't have an appetite right now.
Emily tilts her head slightly sideways.
"Hun, you need to eat something," she said with worried eyes.
"You have to at least try."
"I know," Dani said, looking back at Emily. "Can I just eat yogurt for now?"
"Add in a fruit and you have a deal," Emily said, hoping the teen would agree.
"Deal," Dani replies with a nod.
Emily smiles and goes inside the kitchen in order to get the food.
Dani stays in the living room, waiting for Emily to come back. She really isn't hungry.
Maybe the medication was also affecting her appetite?
Whatever it is, she will try her best in eating most of the food. Mostly for Emily's sake.
Emily returns from the kitchen with two yogurts and an apple in hand. She sits down next to Dani and hands her yogurt and a spoon.
"I got you the vanilla flavored one. I know how much you like it."
"Thanks," Dani said while opening the yogurt.
She takes a small scoop of yogurt and eats it. Emily accompanies the teen and both are eating while having small talk.
Emily made sure Dani finished eating all the yogurt before she could start talking to the teen about everything that was happening lately.
She places her cup down and turns her body completely, looking at Dani.
The teen noticed the change in posture that the agent had so she looked up to her, curious about what the agent was going to do or say.
"Dan, I need to explain to you what happened," Emily said while looking at Dani.
"About how your kidnapping is involved with my past."
Dani looks at Emily and nods, not completely sure of what to say. She wanted to ask about what happened earlier.
Why did Emily have a completely different identity? Who exactly was her kidnapper?
She had a bunch of questions revolving around her head but didn't have enough courage to ask her.
The main question that kept on reappearing is, why? Why didn't Emily tell her about her past? Was it because Emily didn't trust her?
Part of her is scared about the answers Emily would give her.
"I promise I will explain everything to you. I just need you to bear with me, okay?" Emily tells Dani while taking a deep breath.
She knows she has a lot of things to say. She doesn't like recalling her past with Doyle but the woman knows it's the only way to explain to Dani what happened.
After all, after everything the teen went through she has every right to know what happened.
She had to tell the girl the truth.
"Alright," Dani replies with a nod.
She is nervous about where this conversation would lead to but she was determined to stay and listen to the answer to her questions.
Emily begins to explain to the teen about her hidden past.
About how she used to work in Interpol back in the day. How she had to go undercover for two years in order to arrest an arms dealer, leading to her meeting the Doyle.
She explained to the teen that both of them knew her by her undercover alias, Lauren Reynolds.
A name that she has deep hate and resentment for because it converted her into the person that she isn't.
She told Dani about the arrest of Ian Doyle and what she had to do in order to keep Declan and herself safe.
How she had to fake both of their deaths in order to live without the fear of Ian ever returning.
She then told the teen about her re-encounter with Doyle. Of how he managed to escape the North Korean prison in order to fully act on his thirst for revenge upon everyone who has wronged him.
Emily was at the top of his list.
Daniela was listening attentively as Emily was telling her how Doyle managed to find her and nearly killed her.
That part was not only shocking, but it also scared the teenager to the core.
Emily tried her best not to confuse the teen with twists and turns while explaining about her past.
She knows that Dani is smart but her story can be very confusing to anyone who is bombarded with this information like the teen was.
Emily explained the fall of Ian Doyle. How his bad actions caught up to him and ended his life.
"He was shot by Declan's birth mother. He died in the scene," Emily said while rubbing her face.
"After his death, we closed the case. His son was sent under witness protection just to make sure that any other enemy of Ian had wouldn't get to him. I haven't heard from him for years..."
"until now," she said while looking down at the floor.
She wouldn't have ever imagined her re-encounter with Declan the way it happened. She still can't believe that Declan took over what his father left behind.
Just like Doyle, he is cold-blooded and calculated. Knowing exactly where to hit in order to cause the most pain.
"That's why he wanted to kill me. To avenge his father," Dani said while glancing at Emily.
Now that she knew everything it all made sense. He wanted an eye for an eye.
Doyle's death goes down with her own.
Emily looks at the teen, feeling tremendous guilt when hearing Dani say those words.
"Yes. That is why he took you," she quietly says.
"I never thought anything like this would have happened to you. Dan, I swear to you that I never wanted you to get hurt."
"It's alright. None of this is your fault. There is no way you could have known," Dani replies with a reassuring smile.
"I just..." she pauses abruptly and looks down She shifts a few centimeters down at the edge of the couch, distancing herself away from her.
Emily noticed that the teen moved away from her. It was subtle but she still noticed.
The agent was afraid that everything she told the girl would cause her to distrust her. It took a while for Emily to build a bond of trust between her and Dani.
It required a lot of time and patience in order for the agent to land in the small circle of trust that Daniela has.
Emily didn't want to lose that.
Because if she loses the girl's trust, she would lose Daniela too.
"Dan, you can tell me or ask me anything you want. I promise you that I will answer truthfully," Emily tells her daughter in hopes that she would open up.
Daniela glances up at Emily and takes a deep breath.
"Why... why didn't you tell me?" She asked the brunette with a slightly hurt tone.
"About your past working undercover. Is it because you don't trust me or something?"
"No, honey. That was never the reason. I trust you with all my heart," Emily said while placing her hand on Dani's lap, silently begging the girl to look up at her.
"My life involving Ian Doyle was one of the darkest chapters of my life. It was hard so I tried my best not to look back. I wanted to start fresh with a clean page."
"After a while, I decided to leave the BAU and move back to London. I worked there for a couple of years but I always missed the team. After a while I realized that DC was home to me because my family was here," she told her.
"Then I met the most beautiful and important person in my life. I met you. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. I just wanted to bury my past and focus on my future."
Dani looks at Emily with a sympathetic expression. She understands why Emily didn't tell her about her past as an undercover agent.
She went through a lot of tough things that she couldn't have ever imagined.
She noticed how they are both alike. Both wanting to move on from their past. To stride away from the pain they felt before.
"I understand," Dani said with a nod.
Emily looks at her, trying to figure out if Dani was being honest or if she was trying to play it out. As a profiler, she can easily read when a person is lying or not.
Easily being able to interpret body language that gives off signals who are giving untruthful information but the profiler didn't want to have to profile her own daughter.
Dani isn't a criminal that Emily has to crack down on. She's her kid. There are times where she profiles her by accident as if profiling is second nature to her.
She hopes the teen is talking to her sincerely, not holding back anything on her mind.
"Sometimes we just go through hard situations which we rather want to forget. To move on, trying to push through everything we went through in order to get a sense of happiness," said the young teen.
Emily is surprised by how wise the girl sounds for her age. She knows that wisdom is not gained by age, it's gained through life experience.
She knows that the teen has had her fair share of tough life experiences.
The agent sees that Dani does understand her.
Emily scoots in closer to Dani and wraps her arm around the teen's shoulder.
"You helped me reach my happiness and that's because you are my happiness," Emily said while kissing the side of her daughter's head.
"I want to help you reach yours."
Dani looks at Emily and smiles.
"Now that was kind of cheesy," she tells the woman with a small smirk. Emily just shakes her head with a smile.
"But I have a good feeling about that," the girl said while reaching out to Emily for a hug.
This catches Emily by surprise but she quickly wraps her arms around the teen, holding her close.
The brunette lets out a sigh of relief knowing that after everything that has happened, her daughter is safe.
The embrace lasts for a while until a question popped up in Dani's mind. She lets go of Emily and looks up at her.
"Ummm... about your life as an undercover agent. Is that over?" she asks nervously.
"No more aliases. No more shady stuff. You're just the person I know you as. Emily Prentiss, head of the BAU and a badass foster mom," she said with a small smile.
Emily smiles at the teen's remark.
"That's right, Dan. I'm not about that life anymore," she confirms with a nod.
"Do you really think I'm a badass?" she asked with a smug face.
For the most part, Dani would playfully call Emily a nerd or a bookworm. Most nerds aren't really considered badass.
"Is an ex undercover agent now FBI agent head of the coolest team I know considered a badass?" Dani questions out loud.
"You get some cool kid points on your chart."
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Time passed by with Daniela falling asleep in the living room. The girl is lying on the couch with her head resting on Emily's lap.
Emily is running her fingers through the teen's dark brown hair while watching TV in a low volume.
Emily looks at Dani peacefully sleeping and couldn't help but to smile in seeing how relaxed the girl is.
The reason why the teen fell asleep on the couch was that she took the medication that the doctor prescribed for her.
The pill made her drowsy until she fell asleep. It took a while for Emily to convince her to take it.
The teen was very hesitant in taking the medication, saying that she felt fine and didn't need it.
Emily has a good idea of why Dani didn't want to take the medicine. Emily knows that this has to do with how Daniela's mother got hooked up on drugs.
Sofia, Dani's mother, got addicted after being prescribed strong pain medications after suffering a hit & run accident when Dani was just five years old.
This is the reason why Dani didn't want to take her medicine. She fears falling into the deep void of addiction just like her mother did.
Emily continues to run her fingers through the teen's smooth hair. It's a way to calm the brunette down, knowing that her daughter is safe with her and no more harm can be done.
She watches as the teen sleeps and soon enough, the agent falls asleep too.
They slept for the remainder of the afternoon.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Emily's phone is ringing, startling both her and Dani out of their sleep.
The teen's head shoots up, alarmed by the ringtone. She then noticed that it was just a phone and shakes her head with a small chuckle.
"Damn, that thing almost gave me a heart attack," Dani said while rubbing her eyes.
Emily gives her an apologetic look.
"Sorry about that, hun," she said while rubbing the teen's shoulder. Dani smiles at her, saying that it's all good.
Emily reads the caller ID on her phone and sees that it's JJ.
"It's J. I'll be in my office while you stay here and rest. I'll be back in a few," she said while getting up from the couch.
"Aye aye, captain," Dani said in response. "Oh. Tell JJ I said hi."
"Alright," Emily said with a smile.
She smoothes the teen's hair and walks towards her office, answering the phone.
"Hey, JJ," Emily said as she sat down at her desk.
"Hi, Em. How are you and Dani doing?" asked the blonde agent on the other end of the phone.
"Pretty well. We were both pretty tired. We took a well-needed nap," Emily replied.
"Oh, she said hi by the way."
"That sounds great," JJ said with a smile.
"I can't wait to see you both. I just wanted to talk to you about Declan."
"What about him?"
"He was attended to for his injured arm. Right now he is under custody. He will go under psychiatric evaluation which will determine if he goes on trial," JJ tells her.
Emily rubs her face in a tired manner.
"How did this happen?" she asks, both to herself and the blonde.
"Doyle is dead. How the hell did he manage to get to him?" She said in defeat.
"This is all my fault. If would've known that-"
"Hey, Em. Don't do that. Don't slam your head against the wall blaming yourself. None of this is your fault," JJ interjects.
"Doyle had everything planned out, including what should happen if he were to die. He left instructions to his men explaining what they should do if one day death caught up to him."
"They eventually found him and talked to him. Doyle even made a video where he explains his version of the story."
"And that's where Declan took the bait," adds the brunette.
"I know you did everything you could to help Declan. You were determined to do anything to help him out of that life. Sometimes things happen that we have no control over. This was one of them."
Emily sighs. She knows JJ is right. There was no way she could have avoided this. Something so unexpected can't be stopped.
"You're right. I couldn't have avoided this even if I tried. I'm just glad Dani is okay."
"Did you explain to her why this all happened?" Asks JJ.
"Yeah. I told her everything. I didn't want to lose her trust so I explained everything. About me working for Interpol and about Doyle. She knows everything."
"How did it go?"
"She looked a little overwhelmed at first. Which is to be expected," Emily starts.
"And then I saw her trying to distance herself away from me. I convinced her to open up. That I would answer any questions she had without hesitation."
"She asked me why I didn't tell her about my past, sounding quite hurt. I explained to her that it was because I wanted to leave the past behind. She understands why I did it. I saw it in her eyes."
"She's very smart and understanding. I'm sure she still trusts you with all her heart," said JJ.
"I just hope it stays that way," said the brunette.
"It took me months for her to trust me. I don't want to lose it. I don't want to lose her."
"And you won't, Em," JJ assured her.
"You're a great mother figure to her. She knows you care about her and I know she loves you too. Trust me when I tell you that you won't lose her."
