Safe now ( Emily prentiss )

Elle and Addie

They entered the living room: Elle, Jj and Emily on the sofa and Addie lurking in the doorway. She wasn't sure of Elle and didn't know the rules to behaviour around her, so hiding in the hallway was perfect to observe. Emily and Jj seemed to not mind her standing back. Elle and Jj caught up and Emily watched them as she scrolled through the movies on the tv. Occasionally, Jj would include Emily in the conversation but Elle would swiftly turn her attention back to Jj.

After half an hour, Emily decided to start dinner. Walking past Addie she took the girl's hand and lead them both to the kitchen. Addie quickly detected a harshness in Emily's movements and stayed at the edge of the kitchen, almost hugging the walls. "Addie, do you want mac and cheese or pasta?" Emily spoke. "I don't mind," the small girl whispered. Emily's steps quickened and she gave Addie some cheese to grate. "Here." She barely acknowledged Addie. They both chopped, cooked and cleaned in silence. "Addie can you set the table?" Emily said, taking the food out the oven. "Mhm." Addie grabbed the cutlery and placed it accordingly. The plates were higher up and she had to reach to get them; as she grabbed the next plate with her good arm her ankle twisted slightly and lost her balance. The plate smashed instantly, scaring both Addie and Emily. "Addie!" Emily shouted. The older woman was about to continue when she realised the small girl was trembling. She paused and took a deep breath.  "I'm sorry for yelling..." she started but Addie's small voice interrupted, "I'm sorry. I'm didn't mean to." She repeated, frantically trying to clean the mess. Emily stopped her, picked up the broken pieces and sweeping the floor quickly, continuously glancing at the frozen girl. After clearing the floor, she slowly went over to Addie and placed a hand on her shoulder. The girl violently flinched back, her glassy eyes blank. "Please don't! I'm sorry," she weeped and moved away from Emily. "Addie, I'm not going to hurt you ok?" "Please?" She begged. "Addie, you're bleeding. Did it cut your hand?" Emily attempted to approach again. "Please...I'm sorry." The girl whimpered. Addie had three options: fight, flight or freeze. She chose flight and hurried to her bedroom, aware of Emily's gaze. Jj walked in and questioned her girlfriend about the noise she and Elle had heard. Emily explained, "can you go help Addie? She cut her hand and wouldn't let me look at it."

Addie was backed up in the corner of her room, arms around her legs as she silently cried. Jj entered quietly and walked over to her. "Addie?" She asked, patiently waiting for an answer. Addie looked up at the blonde, "I'm sorry. Can you tell her I'm sorry? I didn't mean to..." she muttered, looking back at the floor. Jj sat down next to her. "I was trying to be helpful; she looked mad...I don't know. I'm really sorry." She whispered, barely loud enough for Jj to hear her. "It's okay. She knows you didn't mean to. She shouldn't have yelled at you... She said you hurt your hand? Can I see it?" Addie had forgotten about the small injury on her palm and looked at Jj quizzically. Jj slowly reached out and took her hand, assessing the damage: it wasn't too bad but it needed to be cleaned to avoid infection. Pain shot through Addie's palm, "ow," she hissed. "I'm sorry. Let's get this cleaned up, yeah?"

They entered the bathroom and Addie let Jj gently clean the wound; The disinfectant pungent in the air. "There, all done!" Jj finished applying a plaster. Addie whispered a 'thank you', keeping her eyes glued to the floor. "Emily isn't mad at you, okay?" She waited for Addie to nod, "let's go eat dinner."

At the table, Emily sat next to Elle and Addie next to Jj as they ate. When the food was brought out, Addie looked to Jj before grabbing a fork to eat. Jj, figuring Addie was asking for permission, nodded. Jj realised the shouting impacted Addie more she thought because she had gone back to asking for permission for simple things. The girl ate silently and watched the rest of them make conversation.

When they finished they decided to watch a film. Elle and Emily agreed to a watch a thriller or horror but Jj - firstly, didn't think the ones they would pick would be appropriate for a fourteen year old to watch and secondly, like horror films all that much - said they should watch a romance or comedy. Addie's face contorted into disgust as Jj said romance and so they picked out a family-friendly action/comedy.
Half way through Emily caught sight of Addie yawning and asked if she wanted to go to bed. Addie barely glanced at Emily and shook her head. On the sofa, Addie was between Elle and Jj and Emily noticed her leaning on Elle, slowly opening and closing her eyes. Surprised Addie was so close to her, Elle gently repositioned herself so Addie could be more comfortable.

Jj beckoned Emily to the kitchen, away from the two others. "We've got a case. And..." she was interrupted by Emily. "I'll stay with Addie." "Hotch thought you might say that. The people that need interviewing speak various languages that the team doesn't. And yes, Reid tries his best but we really need you for this. Penelope has offered to stay. I'm not sure how Addie will feel about that though." Jj finished. Emily huffed and turned to look at Addie. "She seems comfortable with Elle," Emily said sourly. "I can ask Elle stay with her? The case shouldn't be long - a few days at max." Jj mumbled. "Yeah...sure. I'm gonna go back my go bag and head to bed." Emily said, leaving Jj in the kitchen.

The movie came to an end and Addie was struggling to stay away. Jj walked back in and sat down next to Elle, careful not to move too much. "Elle, Emily and I have a case and we were wondering if you would stay with Addie. We would have asked Pen but Addie hasn't met her yet. It would only be for a few days."  Elle looked at the small girl tucked into her shoulder. "Sure...but you have to promise that when the team gets back we'll all go for drinks."  "Deal."  "When are you leaving?"  "Tomorrow morning." Jj said. Elle hummed in acknowledgement. "Oh, there's a few things you should know before we leave. Number one, Addie gets nightmares sometimes, she might wake you up. And if she looks to you before eating it's because she's asking for permission. And there's medicine in the cupboard if she gets a fever. It's been happening more recently, I think it's from stress. But if she looks hot or flustered check her temp." Jj rattled off. Elle nodded, "I've looked after a child before."  Jj reddened, "yea, of course. It's just Addie is..." she fumbled for the right word, "not like a regular teen," she managed.

Authors note
This is super short but I wanted to post something again. I don't really have many ideas so chapters might be slow.