"𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶
"DON'T YOU JUST LOVE Saturdays at the BAU?" Noah huffs as she sits her coat down on Emily's desk. Her mother laughs as she walks up behind her and Derek smirks at the teen's mood.
"What's got you so upset?" Derek asks. "Hotch kick your ass in your run this morning?"
"Hey, I won fair and square today," Noah boasts. "I had to after we let him and Jess win at the field day."
"You two let them win?" Emily asks, not believing the two of them could put their egos aside.
"It was the right thing to do," Derek mentions and Noah nods in agreement.
"We were just trying to support them," the teen adds.
"By lying?" Emily tuts.
"By letting them have a moment of victory to feel better about themselves. Everyone could use a little ego boost every now and then," Noah explains and looks to Derek, who agrees with her.
Before Emily can say anything else, Penelope comes through the bullpen and gathers everyone to meet in the round table room. Noah sits at her mother's desk and puts her feet up. She reads a book for a bit until she decides to run to the bathroom real quick. When she's coming back down the hallway, she sees an agent with a little girl.
"Excuse me, do you know an Agent Derek Morgan?" the agent asks.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Noah replies as she eyes the girl.
"She's looking for him," the man says.
"I can take you right to him," Noah tells the girl and nods towards the bullpen, making the girl follow her. "Thanks for bringing her up," she says to the agent, who leaves to go back to the elevator.
Noah walks the girl into the bullpen and wonders where she came from.
"So, uh, what's your name?" the teen asks.
"Ellie," the girl sheepishly replies.
"Ellie? That's a very pretty name," Noah replies as she bends down to the girl's height. "I'm Noah. My mom works with Agent Morgan. The man said that you wanted to see him?"
"He saved me," Ellie says.
"I'm sure he did," Noah smiles. "He saved me once too," she adds, making the girl show a small grin.
The teen shows Ellie around the bullpen until the team's meeting is over. She doesn't want Ellie to become a distraction and she doesn't understand why she's here either. Strangely, there's no parent with her, but out of anyone, Noah can understand how those sorts of things happen.
As Hotch calls wheels up in thirty, Emily gets up from the round table and looks out the window. In the bullpen, she sees Noah showing Ellie around. Her mouth falls open and she turns to Derek.
"Hey, Morgan," she calls him over. He looks out and sees the girl he's been keeping in contact with ever since he saved her a couple of cases ago.
Noah peers down at Ellie and sees that she is looking elsewhere. She peers up and sees her mother and Derek watching them through the window. Ellie waves to Derek before he quickly comes to see her.
"Ellie," Derek says as he shakes his head. "What're you doing here? How did you get here?"
"I flew," Ellie replies quietly. Noah's eyebrows go up in shock and she looks at her mother, who is shocked herself.
Derek takes Ellie with Emily and Noah to Penelope's office. The bullpen is overwhelming and no place to talk about this kind of stuff. Noah closes the door behind them and stands beside her mother, who is sitting on the arm of the couch that Derek and the girl are sitting on.
"Ellie, how did you get past airport security?" Derek asks her.
"I stayed real close to this family. Nobody asked. If they had, I would have said I was twelve...'cause you can fly by yourself—"
"This is not alright," Derek reminds the girl. "You can't just run away like this."
Ellie tears up at his words. "But that house is awful. The older boy tries to watch me in the shower."
Noah takes a deep breath, knowing the feeling all too well. Luckily, her brother never did anything like that, but he certainly wasn't innocent. Noah doesn't have to imagine the things going through Ellie's head, she knows exactly what she's thinking.
Emily peers over at the teen and puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in assurance. Penelope walks into the room, making Noah turn around to look at her.
"Hey, it's way early in L.A., so I left a message with Child Protective Services, but I haven't heard—" Penelope tells Derek, but Ellie cuts her off.
"You can't send me back there!" Ellie exclaims.
"Ellie, you're a missing kid," Derek calmly replies. "We have to let them know you're safe."
"I didn't know where else to go," Ellie cries.
Derek nods. "I know. Listen, this is one of my very good friends, Penelope. She's gonna look after you while I'm gone," Derek says to the girl.
"Hi, Ellie," Penelope softly chimes, making the girl peer up at her.
Ellie tries to hold in her cries. Noah can tell. She hears a small quiver come out of Ellie's mouth and sees that Derek doesn't exactly know what to do. He's a federal agent, he can't make any promises. Ellie running to him is probably inappropriate within itself, but Derek was only trying to make sure she was okay.
"Penelope will take good care of you," Noah adds as she bends down to look Ellie in the eye. "When my mom's gone with Derek, she looks after me too. And I promise he'll come back. My mom always does," she tells the girl and looks up at Emily, who nods with a smile. They're just trying to assure Ellie that everything will be okay.
"I'll come back as soon as I can," Derek reassures her more as he wipes her tears away.
"C'mon, Ellie," Penelope says.
"Go ahead," Derek tells her and nods his head towards Penelope. "It's okay."
"You must be hungry," Noah says as she holds out her hand. Ellie is hesitant, but she takes it and stands up from the couch. "I'll show you where they keep the good snacks."
Noah goes to walk the girl out of the room and Emily smiles. Before her daughter can pass her, Emily kisses her cheek and then lets her go. Noah takes Ellie to the
"What are you gonna do?" Emily asks Derek as they're left in the room by themselves.
"I don't know," Derek sighs.
—
Noah watches the girl eat lots of snacks. She just keeps agreeing to eat more and more. Noah's heart breaks because she knows that the girl must have been starving.
"Ellie," Noah says in a soft tone. "I know that the house must've been scary and I know that you'll never understand how things ended up that way. I know about all of it because I was just like you once."
"You were?" Ellie asks.
"Mhm," Noah nods. "I lived in a house that was scary and bad things happened there. But, if you're lucky, you'll meet someone who will take you out of it. No one can make a promise, but I can assure you that everyone here will try their hardest to help you. They helped me," she tells her with a smile.
"Really?"
"Really," Noah chimes. "For now, let's just get you fed."
Ellie nods and keeps eating. When she's finished and seems full, Noah makes sure to throw all the trash away. She comes back to the table Ellie is sitting at and watches her yawn.
"I know the best place to take a nap here," Noah says. "You wanna see where?"
"Yeah," Ellie nods as she rubs her eyes. The teen walks Ellie to Penelope's office and shows her the couch.
"It's special nap time, P," Noah giggles and sees the woman smile.
"Grab whatever you need, my loves," Penelope replies and turns back to her computer screens.
Noah grabs one of the throw pillows and puts it down on one end of the couch. She grabs a blanket from the basket beside the couch and spreads it out. Ellie sits down and leans to lay her head on the pillow.
"Okay," Noah sighs as she puts the blanket over Ellie. She makes sure that the girl is covered and sits on the other end of the couch. "Whatever you need, you let me know, okay?"
"Okay," Ellie nods with another yawn. She gets comfortable under the blanket and seems to fall asleep pretty quickly. Seeing that the girl is settled, Noah puts her headphones in and opens her book.
—
Noah opens her eyes as she feels someone shaking her shoulder. She peers up and sees Penelope looking at her with a smile.
"Hey, munchkin," she chimes. "Looks like the team won't be back by tonight, so we have to take Ellie somewhere where she can sleep better than that."
Noah peers over at the girl and sees her slouched in her spot, still fast asleep. Noah nods and stands, thinking about what to do.
"Your place is smaller, though. Do you wanna take her and I'll stay at the apartment by myself?"
"No, you're not the youngest right now, but that doesn't mean I should stop looking after you."
"Why don't you take her and I'll stay with Jess?"
"Are you sure?" Penelope asks.
"Yeah," Noah says and smiles at Ellie. "She needs a fun night with you."
Ellie starts to wake up and peers around the room. Noah walks over to her and sits next to her on the couch. "Hey, Ellie. Listen, you're gonna stay with Penelope, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"You're not coming with us?" Ellie asks.
"Well, no, but you'll be with Penelope. She'll make sure you get some good sleep and a fun time, okay?"
"I want you to come," Ellie pleads and grabs Noah's arm. "Please."
Noah looks at Penelope, who nods her head. "Okay," the teen agrees and puts an arm around Ellie. "C'mon, let's go. There's a really good pizza place down the street. We can have some dinner."
The three go to the pizza place to have dinner before heading to Penelope's apartment for the night. Noah lets Ellie take a shower and stands behind the closed door, seeing as she promised her she would guard the door. After, they all gather in the living room and put on a movie.
Noah looks at her phone as it vibrates on the coffee table. She picks it up and sees that it's a call from Emily coming in. Noah walks out of the room and to Penelope's bedroom, answering the phone.
"Hey, Em," Noah says.
"How's she doing?"
"Good, just watching a movie with Penelope. She's scared, though. Can't say I blame her."
"Thank you for keeping an eye on her. Morgan's really upset about the whole thing."
"I know," Noah replies. "When will you guys be back?"
"No telling right now," Emily sighs. "Sorry the cases keep coming back to back," she adds.
"It's not your fault," Noah assures her. "I just miss hanging out with you," she says as she sits on Penelope's bed.
"I miss hanging out with you too," Emily chimes. "I'll let you guys get back to it, okay? Thanks again for looking out for her."
"Alright, I love you," Noah says and it sort of shocks Emily. The teen is never usually the first to say it.
"I love you too, honey. Talk to you tomorrow."
"Okay, bye."
Noah hangs up the phone and walks back to the living room. She smiles at Ellie, who gives her a worried look. The teen can tell that being alone with another adult is scary for her. There's a certain comfort that Ellie has found in her and Noah feels like she has responsibility on her shoulders to protect her. It's what she would've wanted when she was that young.
—
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘
"How is it that I spend most of my weekends here?" Noah asks Penelope as they walk into the BAU with Ellie.
"Welcome to being a federal agent," Penelope giggles.
"This is ridiculous," Noah says and walks to Emily's desk, putting her overnight bag beside the chair.
Penelope walks Ellie back to her office and Noah finds her way there as well. She thinks of something for Ellie to do but comes up blank. She wonders what Penelope used to do to distract her and comes up with an idea.
"What kid doesn't love a Nintendo?" Noah asks Ellie, who smiles. The teen hands her the Nintendo DS that Penelope gave her and lets her pick a game from the case.
Noah leans back on the couch and talks to Penelope while she works. A few hours go by of Noah going back and forth between watching Ellie play games and reading her book. The only reason she gets through so many books these days is because of all the time she spends waiting for Emily to come back from a case.
Noah walks out of the office to stretch her legs and heads to the bullpen.
"Ellie loves the Nintendo," Noah giggles as she walks up to Penelope, who is making a coffee in the kitchen. "Any update from CPS?" she asks.
"We found her mother," Penelope says. "She agreed to come meet her and take her home. She had no idea any of this happened."
"How did she seem?" Noah asks.
"Nice," the blonde smiles. "And genuine. She seemed excited to see Ellie."
"Good," Noah chimes and sees a hesitancy in Penelope's eyes.
"I'm scared it may not be a good idea," Garcia frets. "What if she's only pretending? Or what if she's excited now, but won't be in a few months anymore?"
"Ellie's a great kid," Noah calms Penelope's nerves. "Her mom's gonna meet her and realize that she missed out. But I'll bet she'll make sure to not miss a single thing in Ellie's life again."
Penelope smiles as she realizes that that must have been what Emily felt when she met Noah. And how she's never seen Emily happier or met a teenager who gets so excited when her mother is around.
"Let's hope," Penelope sighs. "She'll be here any minute."
Noah nods and goes to Penelope's office. She tells Ellie that she needs to come to the bullpen and prepare to meet her mother. She walks the girl to the kitchen and sits her down at the table.
"Listen, Ellie," Noah says before taking a deep breath. "I know that this isn't what you had in mind. I know that it's frustrating and you feel like you won't be able to trust her. And I'll be honest, you won't at first, but...it will all come with time."
Ellie sits in silence and Noah figures that she needs to be alone. She walks over to the desks, where Spencer is packing up his things. No one else seems to be around yet.
"Heading home, Doc?"
"Yep," Reid replies. "See you next week for the movie?"
"You know it," Noah chimes and waves him off.
Noah sits at her mother's desk while she waits for Emily to come in. She watches as Morgan talks to Ellie's mother. She knows he'll be uneasy about sending her away with the parent who left her in the first place, but there's always an explanation for those things.
The teen continues to read her book until she sees Ellie and her mother leave. The girl looks back at Noah and gives her a small wave. Noah smiles and waves back, hoping that she'll find the same happy ending that she has.
Noah sits up as Derek makes his way over to his desk. The teen watches him gather some of his things before he heads home. She closes her book and walks over to him, sitting on his desk.
"How're you doing?" she asks.
"Alright," Derek quietly replies.
"I know it was hard, but Derek," she says, making him look at her. "You have to let her go. Being with her mother will be the best thing that's ever happened to her. Trust me."
Derek nods slowly. "I know."
"And every day, she'll think about you and how you helped her. She'll remember you and all the conversations you had. She won't forget you, just like you won't forget her."
"Thanks, kid," Derek replies and throws his arm around the teen, pulling her into his side.
"You know when she first walked in asking for you, I thought it was gonna be the kid you didn't know about suddenly looking for you," Noah giggles and sees Derek's smile fade.
"You wanna make jokes right now," he says with a sarcastic laugh. "I thought we were having a bonding moment."
"We bond enough. I still have to make fun of you at least twice a day," Noah laughs before feeling her hair being ruffled as she's in a loose headlock. She shrieks for him to stop, but he keeps going until she completely taps out and can't breathe from laughing so hard. "You're annoying!" she says as she pushes him away.
"Welcome to my everyday," Emily says, making the teen giggle and Derek roll his eyes. "C'mon, Noah, there's a pizza and three new episodes of our show calling our names."
The teen goes to stand beside her mother, feeling a warm arm around her shoulder. Emily and Noah get on the elevator and head to the parking garage. Noah buckles her seatbelt in the car and peers over at her mother.
"Em?"
"Yeah, sweetie?" the mother replies as she starts the car.
"Thank you," Noah says.
Emily giggles softly as she furrows her brows. "For what?"
"For bringing me home."
The mother smiles at her daughter and caresses her cheek. "No, thank you."
"For what?"
"For being my home."