Shattered. [Aaron Hotchner + Emily Prentiss]

Chapter 9.

"Hey, you're awake." Emily came into the child's room dressed and ready for the day, snapping her out of her intrusive thoughts of losing yet another person she cared about.

"Yeah, I'm a morning person."

"I can tell. What do you want for breakfast?" Emily asked as they walked out the room together, heading towards the kitchen only to find it completely clear. No wine glasses or dishes unwashed, trash taken out. Maybe Aaron did it?

"Uh, toast?"

"Yeah, we can do that. Later, when we get back from the BAU, we can go shopping. I have to get things for dinner anyway." Emily put two pieces of bread in the toaster.

"Oh, yeah, Aaron and his son are coming. I forgot." The mini brunette said nervously.

"I can cancel if you aren't up for it? It's your choice."

"No, no, he makes you happy. I'm not going to ruin that." There was a small pause between the two, and just before Emily went to speak, the toaster popped up, causing Leila to flinch backwards.

"Hey, you're safe, ok?" Emily reassured her. The girl nodded, looking as if she was going to burst into tears. "Here..." She passed her the plate "...and if you want me to cancel, I can. I won't push you into doing something you don't want to."

In reality, it was Emily who didn't want to have dinner. She loved Jack, and she was sure Leila would too, but the idea of talking to Hotch about 'them' scared her. She wanted him so badly, but she wanted to put the child, in her custody, first over everything.

"No, I want to meet Jack. He might become my brother one day." She said smirking, as she grabbed the butter from the fridge and put it on the warm bread slices.

"Be quiet, you!"

"So what did you and Aaron do last night?" The mini one said, taking a bite of toast.

"He, uh tried to fix the table."

"Tried?"

"Yeah, he's not as handy as he seems."

"So, what? He gave up and went?"

'He went somewhere with his hands, just not the coffee table.' She thought. "Uh, yeah. He did." She hated lying to the kid, but Leila was still too young to hear 'No, we slept together and he left this morning.' Obviously, Leila already knew about everything, and she knew the only reason Emily would lie to her is to protect her. Hopefully, this was protecting her. "Eat up, we have to leave soon."

-

The two brunettes made their way to the BAU, running into Derek on the way into the elevator. "Mini Princess, how are you?" He said, scruffing her hair up a bit.

"Mind the hair, agent. But I'm ok, how are you?"

"Spectacular. I went bar hopping last night and met-"

"Derek." Emily interrupted, sternly, shooting him a look causing both Leila and Derek to laugh as the doors pinged open at floor 6. "I need to talk to Hotch for a second, but go find Penelope, she'll be in her 'lair' by now. I'll come get you when Reid comes in."

"Oh la la, don't have too much fun." The child teased.

Emily shot her a stare, and started walking, hearing muffled conversations throughout the bullpen. One of which was Derek and Leila.

"Hey, mini Princess, what do you mean 'oh la la'?" Derek said, chasing after the little girl as she headed to Garcia's area.

"Uh, I don't know if I can say." She opened the door. "It's confidential."