Warriors Baby

Inner deomons

A few months flew by and November became December, Emily and Irene spent it that year just the two of them. Next December became January where Hotch and Emily agreed to celebrate New Years as a couple. JJ and Reid offered to watch the kids while the two went to dinner, then dancing, and back to Emily's just in time for the New York ball drop. JJ returned later in February and the tension escalating between her and Rossi was very noticeable by the team, Valentine's Day was spent as a team gathering in a pub just outside of Washington. And before they knew it March had rolled around. It had been a hard few months, Hotch had a hard time moving on from the call girl who committed suicide all of that could have ended different if someone had taken time to just care about her. Rossi felt the everlasting guilt of blowing off collage student Zoe which resulted in her much too soon death. Now it was Emily's turn to feel the pain of a case.

........................
"There are better places to take a girl for coffee you know?" Emily stated as she paced in a small circle.

Rossi ignored her comment. "Have you ever seen the exorcist?" He asked.

"Yeah,"

"It all started here. The fire department actually burned down the house themselves. The authorities referee to the boy as Robbie Dell, he's still in the DC area today."

Rossi looked down into his coffee. "Why did you bring me here?" Emily asked quirking an eyebrow.

"A whole lot of effort went into burning a house for a kid who probably had onset schizophrenia or turrets syndrome."

"I'm not following you." Emily replied gritting her teeth.

"You're sure he was murdered... So what's the story?" Emily started walking away. "If you don't want to talk about it-"

Emily sighed Rossi just always knew... "Matthew knew the bible inside and out, and he started to guest ion everything."

"Why?"

Emily choked back what started out to be tears. "We moved around a lot when I was a kid. Cause of my moms postings. It's hard to get accepted and when you're fifteen that's all you want. You'll do almost everything-"

"You got pregnant." It was a statement not a question.

"Yeah," the tears were getting harder to keep away.

Rossi nodded. "Was Matthew the father?"

"No." It almost sounded like a scoff. "I didn't know what to do... I couldn't tell my mom and Matthew suggested I talk with our priest..." Rossi's face showed real signs of shock.

"What did he say?"

"He said that if I had an abortion I wasn't welcome in his congregation. Matthew found a doctor... He took me there... He stayed with me... That Sunday when we got back to Rome... He held my hand and walked me back into the church. Father Gamino actually stopped his sermon but Matthew told me to hold my head up and we walked to the front pew. He and Matthew just starred at each other, it was like a battle on wills. Then suddenly Father Gamino went back to his sermon. Matthew saved my life... He made me feel like I was worthy... Of love... And friendship..."

Rossi rested his hand on Emily's shoulder. "But that's when his anger and questions started."

Emily nodded her head. "Yeah, he started doing drugs... And when that melded with his religious questionings you could understand why his parents started to believe he was possessed by something evil. It's my fault Matthews life unraveled."she let out a breathe the tears physically started to hurt to hold back.

Rossi stepped closer to the younger agent. "Garcia uncovered some information it's possible Matthew and the others killed someone in Spain."

Emily shook her head. "No... I dint believe that."

"I'm just saying if we keep fishing you have to be prepared for what we might discover."

"I need Matthew to rest in peace, I owe him that."

"Let's go give a profile."

"The police haven't invited us in."

"The police aren't going to do us any good on this one anyway."

.................................

Emily trudged her way through the fresh snowfall. Ironically she found herself outside of a church, sighing she pulled out an old photo on her and her friends. It almost seemed unreal... Unbearable... The drops of red that had fallen onto her pictures dragged Emily out of her thoughts. Her nose was bleeding from the cold weather and the sudden need for some comforting from Irene had appeared.

..................

"Okay sweetie how does crackers and a movie sound?" Emily asked Irene as she unlocked the door. The one years old grabbed onto her mother's shirt and nodded her head. Irene understood everything her mother said to her but she had only spoken a few words that consisted of Mama, and Baba. Both Prentiss girls changed into their pyjamas and set out in the couch in front of the television, Irene in her purple onesie munched on some crackers and cheese while drinking apple juice. While Emily in her plaid pyjama set ate some popcorn with a less than half a glass of red wine, together they watched The Bee Movie. Emily couldn't tell if Irene really understood any of it but the colours were bright and her daughter seemed to laugh every time someone made a funny face.

When bedtime rolled around Irene went down without a fuss... Except for the fact that she was laying in Emily's queen sized bed. Just as Emily was about to sleep her phone chimed.

Hotch: I hope your night went well.

Emily: It went great Irene and I had a fancy dinner then a movie, and now we are headed to the bedroom.

Emily send a photo of Irene fast asleep in the huge bed.

Hotch: I'm glad you two had a great night. I'll see you Monday.

Emily: Goodnight Hotch.

Emily wrote the words "I love you" then quickly backspaced then before sending her text... Given the circumstances... Now really wasn't the best time...