Side by side || Emily Prentiss

16.

«My peace is more important
than a lot of things.»

When they landed in D.C. that evening. everyone ran away home deciding to postpone the case report until the next day, but Daisy couldn't go home, she didn't want to. The walls of her apartment now seemed to her like a cage of madness.

She needed to stay in Quantico a little longer to further delay her entry into her personal prison, so she decided to sit down at her desk and start looking at all the paperwork she had to still compile.

"How are you?" - Daisy almost fell out of her chair in fright when Rossi asked her that question from behind her

"Oh my god, that was fucking scary. What are you still doing here? I thought I was alone." - replied the younger agent trying to catch her breath

"I hate going home straight after a case, I like to stay and think here for a while so I don't have to take it with me. What about you?" - said the man, sitting on a desk next to hers

She knew that David Rossi clearly wanted her to talk and she hated how everyone on that team was obsessed with verbal communication. Daisy had never been a great communicator: she wasn't good with comforting words, she wasn't good with admissions, with confessions, with outbursts and with anything that involved opening up to others.

"Have you ever had one of those moments where you just want to disconnect from everything? Literally?" - she said to make him understand that she didn't want to continue that conversation for long

"Put down everything you're doing." - the man said, earning a questioning look from Daisy

He just motioned for her to follow him into his office and Daisy accepted without thinking too much. If she had analyzed Rossi well she knew what was going to happen and it was all she needed, so she just did as the old profiler was telling her.

"Welcome to my office, tonight we will listen to jazz and drink eighteen-year-old scotch." - he told her after closing the office door behind them and motioning for her to sit down.

"You're a blessing, you don't know how much I love scotch" - Daisy said in a particularly excited voice, which made Rossi smile

"I'm starting to think you are the best here." - said the man, pouring two glasses and sitting on the chair opposite to Daisy's

As soon as the young agent brought the alcohol to her lips her taste buds went into heaven, she had to admit it was probably the best drink of her entire life, and she had always drunk a lot. She must have made an ecstatic face because Rossi looked at her with the proudest expression that Daisy had ever seen.

"So? How are you adapting at the BAU?" - Rossi asked after a while of silence

"I really like it, both the work and the environment." - she replied trying to be as vague as possible

"And how are things with Emily?"

Daisy tried not to blanch at that question. She knew that it was legitimate, that her and Emily's behavior, especially moments of hatred, were visible to the entire team and everyone was affected by it: if there was any problem between her and Emily, their boss was always in a terrible mood.

"I don't know what to tell you." - she finally replied, because she really couldn't explain anything of what was happening

"I don't want to mind your business, and I don't even care, but certain things can't escape the eyes of an old profiler like me." - said the man

"I don't know what you're talking about." - said Daisy, who absolutely would not admit anything

Rossi's eyes looked at her boredly. Daisy knew that they all had an idea about what was happening and she also knew that none of their ideas could come even remotely close to the reality of the facts, but that didn't mean she would give in.