**TRIGGER WARNING -
mention of adoption, mention of bruising, processing trauma
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*BAU*
Emily pulled the car up to the front of the BAU. "Honey, do you want to wait here?" Emily turned around in the front seat to see Eva fast asleep in the back of the car. "She needs her sleep I guess. I'll only be a minute." Emily whispered to herself. She grabbed her badge from the passenger seat and quietly exited the vehicle. She jogged in to the building and got on the elevator. "Cmon, cmon" Emily chanted nervously as the elevator slowly went up. When the doors opened Emily exited quickly and ran over to her desk. Not noticing that her team was working at their respective desks around her, she grabbed her bag along with some files and paperwork. The team noticed how frantic Emily was acting. They all looked at each other and then back to Emily.
"Hey Em, how's our little fighter?" Reid asked, startling Emily who still hadn't noticed her team around her.
"Sorry, she's asleep in the car. She doesn't know I'm in here. I gotta go I don't want her to wake up and I'm not there. Talk later!" Emily shouted across the room as she made her way back to the elevator.
~Meanwhile Eva wakes up~
"No! No! Mom!!" Eva started shouting, hurting her ribs. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. "Emily!!" Eva continued to shout. "Ah, ouch!!" Eva yelled as she fell to the ground, forgetting about her ankle injury. She started to cry. "Mom, where are you?" Eva pleaded quietly through her tears.
"Oh my god! Eva!!" Emily shouted when she exited the building and saw Eva on the ground. "Eva! Are you okay?" Emily asked as she knelt down by her daughter.
"I thought something happened to you. I woke up and you were gone, I didn't know where you went." Eva said still crying.
"Honey, I am SO sorry, I just ran inside to get my things. You were asleep and I was only gone for a few minutes. I am so sorry that I scared you." Emily said as she picked the fragile girl off the cement.
"Can we just go home now? I wanna go home." Eva asked Emily as she placed her in the car.
"Yes Sweetheart, of course we can." Emily kissed Eva's forehead and ran around to the driver's side. The entire drive home Emily kept turning around to check on Eva. She had fallen back to sleep. Emily noticed that her sleep didn't look restful. Eva was jerking and moving her head back and forth quite a bit. Emily pulled into her driveway and parked the car in the garage. She turned around to wake Eva up, but she had woken up as soon as Emily stopped moving the car. "Sweetie we're home now. I'll come over and help you get out okay?" Emily asked Eva. The girl just nodded in reply. Emily gave her a small smile which the girl returned. As soon as they got in the house Emily sat Eva down on the couch and grabbed her a blanket and a glass of water. "I have to run back out to the car to get my stuff from work, okay? I'll be right back." Eva nodded and Emily ran out to grab her belongings. When she came back in she threw the bag and files on her counter and walked back over to Eva. "Are you hungry at all?" Emily asked.
"Not really, I'm just tired. Can I go to my room and sleep?" Eva asked Emily.
"Of course you can. Can I help you to your room?" Emily asked, not wanting to make her feel like she couldn't do it without her help.
"Yes please, my ankle is still really hurting." Eva surprised Emily with how willing she was to accept her help. Emily helped Eva walk to her room. "Wait, stop." Eva said as she stopped right outside her bedroom door.
"What's wrong, did I hurt you?" Emily asked stepping back but not letting go. She looked at the girl who was staring into her bedroom.
"I, I, I can't go in there." Eva could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. Emily looked at her and could tell that she was panicking. Emily held on to Eva and moved in front of her. Putting herself between Eva and the doorway.
"It's okay. You don't have to go in there. Not yet anyway. I can go in and get you some pajamas to change in to. Is that okay?" Emily asked making sure Eva was looking at her and not the room.
"Yes please. I'm so sorry." Eva let her tears drop. "I don't know what's wrong with me. You probably don't even want me anymore. You can put me back in the system. They'll understand." Eva said through her tears. She stared at the floor and didn't pick her head up once.
"Eva, Sweetheart," Emily bent down to her level and gently lifted the child's head. "Look at me Honey. You are dealing with a trauma right now. There is nothing wrong with you at all. I love you and I won't stop loving you. You are allowed to take as long as you need to work through the trauma. I have no problem helping you. At all. I will be right here with you the whole time, okay?" Emily said still holding the child's face. She gently wiped Eva's tears off her cheeks and kissed her forehead. "I wasn't going to tell you this yet, but I am in the process of getting the papers to officially adopt you as my daughter. I will NEVER put you back in the system. Okay? I want you to be in my life forever. Is that okay? Would you like to be my daughter?" Emily asked the girl who was calming down. There was a long pause.
"Okay." Eva said. Emily didn't expect anything more from her. Emily stood up.
"Okay, good. Now, you wait right here. Hold on to the wall. You'll be able to see me the whole time. I will get your pajamas and then we'll walk to the bathroom so you can change." Emily helped Eva lean against the wall in the hallway and walked to the child's dresser to grab her pajamas. Once she had the clothes in her hands she and Eva walked to the bathroom down the hall. "Okay, here's your PJs. I'll wait right outside the door, okay?" Emily assured the worried girl. Eva nodded and closed the bathroom door. Emily leaned against the wall across from the door.
"Emily, I need help, I can't get my shirt on." Eva said barely loud enough for Emily to notice. "I'll turn around and you come in, but don't look okay?" Eva stated as Emily began opening the door.
"Sweetheart, how am I supposed to help you put your shirt on if my eyes are closed?" Emily asked the girl. She opened the door the whole way and saw Eva standing with her back to her. Emily put a hand over her mouth. Eva had deep bruises covering her entire back, along with her protruding spine. Emily composed herself and took the shirt from Eva and gently helped her put it on. She turned Eva around "I will love you no matter what you look like. I promise you." Emily said as the girl looked at her feet. "Ya know, Reid asked me how you were doing when I went in to get my things earlier. My team is already starting to treat you like family." Emily informed the girl who then looked up and locked eyes with her.
"He did? What did you tell him?" Eva asked with a small smirk and curious eyes.
"Well I didn't answer his question, I told him that I'd talk to him later because you were asleep in the car." Emily let out a small chuckle and smiled at her daughter. Eva yawned. "Why don't we get you to bed, you need to rest." Emily said.
"Where am I going to sleep if I can't even walk into my room?" Eva pursed her lips together.
"I figured you could sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the couch. Is that okay with you?" Emily asked, not wanting to make the girl uncomfortable.
"Um, yeah. I guess that's okay." Eva answered and Emily helped her to the bedroom.
"I'll get you settled into bed and then I'll grab my pajamas and use my bathroom really quickly and I'll be out of the room so you can sleep." Emily said as she helped Eva get into bed. She covered the small child up with the blankets. She walked to her dresser and got her pajamas out and walked in to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. When she came out of the bathroom, Eva was sitting up in the bed. Emily walked over to her, "Goodnight sweet girl. I will be on the couch. If you need me just yell and I will be right here okay?" Emily kissed the girl's forehead once more and walked out of the room turning the lights off. She got a few steps down the hallway when she heard Eva call for her.
"Mom!" Eva shouted very quietly regretting it almost instantly. She didn't want Emily to get annoyed with her. Emily walked into the room and turned the light on.
"What's wrong Honey?" Emily asked with worry and concern in her voice. Emily could never get annoyed with her daughter needing her help.
"Um, do you think, maybe, you would, you could" Eva couldn't bring herself to ask Emily for what she really wanted. But Emily already knew what she was trying to ask.
"Of course I will stay with you. You don't have to be embarrassed to ask. When I'm scared, I don't like to be alone either." Emily assured her daughter. She turned off the light and got in to bed next to Eva. To Emily's surprise Eva curled right into Emily's side. She placed her arm around the girl and held her gently. "Goodnight sweet girl. I'll be right here with you when you wake up." Emily told her. Little did she know how many times the child would wake up that night.
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Word count: 1738