Chapter 12

Emily had a tight hold of Stacey, she had been holding her while she sobbed into Emily's shoulder until finally Stacey lifted her head slightly, resting it against Emily's shoulder.

"Hey sweetheart, it's ok I have got you. How are you?"

Stacey sniffed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok I guess. You know the three men Emily?"

"Yes sweetheart."

"I can draw them for you."

Emily smiled as she kissed the top of Stacey's head.

"That would be great Stacey, Penelope has set up the tablet with a drawing app and she hoped the pen would be suitable. But for now you need to take a break, take your medicine and have a rest."

Emily gently moved away from Stacey, she still a hold of her as she whispered into her ear as Emily stood up.

"Your parents would be so proud of you sweetheart, you are so strong and courageous."

Stacey's cheeks reddened as Emily walked through to the kitchen and got them both a drink, a banana and Stacey's medicine. Slowly Emily walked back through and sat down on the couch next to Stacey. The two of them sat quietly for a few minutes as Emily watched Stacey carefully, she could see the tiredness in her young eyes as the physical and emotional pain trickled through her body. Emily reached a grabbed a cushion, placing it on her lap as she gently eased Stacey's head down onto it.

"Take a rest sweetheart, we've got to give your body a chance to heal, don't worry I am right here with you."

Emily felt Stacey's body relax slightly as Emily stroked the young girl's hair, pleased that Stacey was trusting her enough to help her get the sleep she desperately needed.

JJ sighed heavily as Tara came back into the room, they had talked to three young teenage girls but none of them had opened up to them. Tara looked and saw the frustration in her friend's eyes.

"Come on JJ we knew it was going to be a long shot to get anything."

"I know Tara but they know something and I just wish that they would trust us enough to open up."

"They have been hurt JJ, physically and emotionally, I'm not surprised, even Emily is still struggling with Stacey."

Tara managed a small smile as JJ nodded her head, they both knew that to catch the unsubs on this case it wasn't going to be easy and it was going to take a combination of Garcia's technical skills and Emily's bond with Stacey.

Emily felt the change in Stacey's heartbeat, her hand was on Stacey's arm and quietly Emily lent down and whispered into the young girl's ear.

"Wake up sweetie, it's ok, it's not real, just a bad dream."

Emily helped Stacey to sit up and kept her close to her own body as the quiet sobs slowly subsided.

"Are you ok now?"

"Yes, thank you for waking me."

"Hey Stacey, this is all going to stir up a lot of memories and I can only apologise for that."

"But it will help won't it, if I draw them for you?"

Emily smiled as she rested her head against Stacey's.

"With your talent Stacey, there is no doubt."

Ten minutes later Emily had left Stacey sitting at the kitchen table with the tablet and drawing pen, concentrating hard while Emily wandered through and set her laptop up on the coffee table and put her headphones in as she called Garcia.

"Hey Garcia, did you guys get the video interview ok?"

"Yes thanks, is Stacey ok, that was all pretty rough on her."

Emily sighed as she heard the worry In Garcia's voice.

"As good as possible considering, she is doing some sketches for us at the moment."

"Can I chat to her later?"

"Of course I think that will be a wonderful idea, have the others seen the video?"

"Yes, hang on looks who's come to say hello!"

Emily smiled as she saw JJ and Tara sitting down next to Garcia and waving at her.

"Hi guys, lovely to see you. Did you get anything from the other children?"

"No sorry, they still don't trust us, even though we have moved them into different accommodation. But we always knew that it was going to be a long shot."

Emily sighed as she listened to Tara's answer, taking a breath she almost missed the quiet voice from the kitchen doorway.

"Emily?"

Emily took out her earbuds and looked at Stacey standing nervously with the tablet in her hand.

"Yes sweetie is everything ok?"

"I've finished the sketches how do I get them to Garcia?"

Emily smiled as she clicked to unhook her headphones and gestured for Stacey to come over.

"Garcia I am going to need your help please."

Emily smiled as Stacey sat down and managed a small smile at the three women.

"Hello everyone."

"Hi Stacey, have you done some sketches for us?"

"Yes Penelope, I just didn't know how to get them to you."

Garcia smiled warmly as Emily took a hold of the tablet.

"Ok Emily if you hit the settings button in the top left hand corner and then click on allow all I can remote on and save the sketches."

Emily frowned as she concentrated and followed Garcia's instructions before she placed the tablet on the coffee table and watched Garcia, without thinking Emily reached and placed her arm around Stacey, pleased that it wasn't rebuffed and Stacey leaned and rested her head against Emily's arm.

"Ok Stacey these are great, thank you so much."

Garcia smiled as Tara looked carefully at the screen and saw the looks of tiredness in both Stacey and Emily's eyes.

"Do you two have everything you need, is there anything you need or would like?"

"I think we are ok thanks Tara."

"No worries Emily, but please don't be afraid to let us know if it changes. Why don't you two have a rest and we can check in later."

Tara smiled as Emily yawned and nodded her head.

"Thanks everyone, give me a shout if anything changes."

Emily reached over and ended the call before she lent back and rested her head against Stacey's.

"How about I make us both a sandwich and then we can both have a rest?"

"I guess that sounds good, thanks Emily."

Emily gently rubbed Stacey's back before she stood up and wandered through to the kitchen, slowly Stacey followed her, needing the security and comfort of Emily's presence.

Dave knocked gently on the open door as he walked into the round table room.

"Hey how are you three?"

He smiled softly as he sat down and looked at JJ, Tara and Garcia. Garcia was busy typing on her laptop, he looked up at the large screen which had a sketch by Stacey displayed on it.

"Wow, she is really good."

Garcia turned and looked at him and smiled.

"She's amazing, I am running the three sketches through my systems and I am hopeful that we might get a positive id."

Dave nodded as Tara pushed her laptop towards him.

"I've just finished going through the interview Stacey did with Emily."

Dave put his glasses on and sighed heavily as he read the transcript, he turned and looked back at Tara.

"How is Emily?"

"Ok, she is slowly gaining Stacey's trust and confidence, but I do worry about the two of them alone, they both looked exhausted earlier."