It was almost 3 in the morning when Isabella woke up from a nightmare.
Her eyes shot open but she didn't make a sound. She stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath trying to push Doyle's face out of her mind. She turned to the side and faced Emily who was fast asleep. She stared at her mother and suddenly felt an enormous need to listen to her heart. She sat up on the bed, got closer to Emily and laid her head on her mother's stomach. She concentrated and smiled when she heard it.
Suddenly Emily woke up.
"What are you doing?" Emily asked worried.
"Sorry" Bella said sitting up. She was clearly embarrassed.
"Were you listening to my heart?" Emily asked and the girl shyly nodded yes.
Emily smiled and said "come here. Let's find a comfy position."
Emily laid down on her left side and Bella got really close to her and laid down. Emily pulled her closer and hugged her tightly and kept holding Bella's head on her chest.
"Can you hear it?" Emily asked.
"Yeah" Bella said.
Emily smiled. "Now close your eyes. Try to go back to sleep, baby" Emily said and Bella did just that.
Emily stared at the sleeping girl for a while and then fell asleep to, happy to have her baby right there.
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Emily woke up at 8:34am. She looked at Bella and the girl was fast asleep hiding her face on Emily's chest. Emily smiled and pushed hair away from the girl's face.
She heard Lulu bark and decided to get up. She got out of the bed, pulled the covers up on Bella and then went to change. She changed into jeans and a pink blouse quickly and went to the kitchen where Garcia was making pancakes.
"Good morning, Mama Prentiss" Garcia said with a smile.
"Good morning" Emily said making a face as she smelled some deliciousness.
Suddenly Derek walked in.
"Did We wake you up? Sorry but I had to finish working on this" he said holding up a wooden box. He was working on that in the backyard and thought that all the noise woke her up.
"What's that?" Emily asked curious.
"Gavin's birthday is coming up and Bella asked if I could make him one" he said. "I made one for her a while ago."
"That looks amazing" Emily said taking a seat.
"Thanks" he said and suddenly the doorbell rang.
"That must be JJ!" Penelope said excited, flipping a pancake.
"This early?" Emily asked pouring some coffee for her.
"She texted me saying she would bring some donuts and fresh watermelon juice for us" Garcia told Emily as Derek walked to the door.
"Should I wake Bella?" Emily asked.
"Let her sleep a little more." Garcia said. "Poor thing. I bet she keeps waking up, doesn't she?"
"Just sometimes" Emily said. "But she'll be okay" she said.
Suddenly Henry ran inside the kitchen.
"Auntie Penny!" The boy said running and hugging Penelope's legs.
"Hi big man" Penelope said lifting him up.
"Where Bella?" He asked.
"She's sleeping but she'll wake up soon" Emily said.
"I wanna play" he said.
"Let's eat breakfast first and then play" JJ said walking inside the kitchen.
"Hi" Emily said standing up and hugging her friend. "How are you?"
"I'm good. You?" JJ said.
"Amazing" Emily smiled and JJ smiled back.
"Let's have a seat! Pancakes are done" Penelope said. Derek put the juice on the table and said "I'll get Bella" and headed to the girl's bedroom.
"Hey, Princess, wake up" he said running his hand on her back. She opened her eyes and he said "we have pancakes, donuts and watermelon juice waiting for you"
Bella sat up and asked "are they here already?"
"They who?" Derek played. "JJ?"
"Yes" Bella said.
"Yeah. Come on. I'll take you" he said and stood up. Bella stood up on the bed and he gave her a piggy back ride to the kitchen.
"Look who's awake" Emily smiled as Derek walked in and let Bella down.
"Morning" Bella said still sounding sleepy.
"Good morning" JJ and Penelope said in unison. Bella took the seat between Emily and Derek.
Breakfast went great even though Bella didn't really say a word to JJ.
After eating, Bella let Henry playing in her bedroom while she took a quick shower. She walked out of the bathroom wearing navy blue leggings, a black shirt with tiny pink bows on it and her hair dripping wet. She went to her bedroom and dried it with a towel then brushed it.
"Let's go to the living room Henry" she said and went. The little boy followed behind carrying a few stuffies.
"Mom, can you?" Bella asked holding a brush out. Emily smiled and Bella sat between her legs on the couch. Emily did a French braid and tied it with a pink hair tie Penelope handed to her.
"Thank you" Bella said and ran to her bedroom. Henry ran after her holding all the toys.
While the grownups talked about how Bella was doing and the FBI investigation, the kids played all morning till Penelope walked in to get them.
"We gotta go to the restaurant now. Get your shoes on and your jackets cause it's raining, guys" Penelope said. Bella grabbed her navy blue jacket and her black doc martins. She put it on and then helped Henry with his black sneakers.
"Let's go?" Penelope said.
"Yup" Bella said grabbing Henry's hand and they headed out.
They walked to the door to find JJ holding Henry's jacket. Bella let go of him and JJ dressed him and then they all got in the car.
The lunch went great.
They headed home after and the kids sat to watch a movie while Garcia and JJ tried out a new cookie recipe, and Derek and Emily looked for houses for sale on the Internet. Emily wrote some addresses and phones down and then they sat to eat the cookies and watch another movie with the kids.
Bella didn't talk to JJ all day but that changed when Emily asked if she wanted to walk Lulu right after the second movie ended.
"Yeah" Bella said.
"We can show Henry the donut place" Emily said with a smile.
"Okay" Bella said not sounding very sure about them going too, but they got their jackets and headed out the door. Derek stayed in the house finishing Gavin's gift.
Bella held Emily's right hand all the way to the bakery while JJ walked beside Emily, and Henry walked with Garcia in front of them.
They got to the bakery, got their donuts and sat outside. The rain had stopped but it was a little cold and sadly the tables inside the bakery had people already.
So they sat outside and ate.
Bella was quiet the whole time. Emily couldn't help but notice the girl peeking at JJ from time to time like she wanted to say something.
So when everybody finished eating Emily said she wanted another one and made a face at Garcia who then went and said she wanted another one too.
"Me too" said Henry.
"JJ ?" Emily asked.
"No thanks" Jennifer said.
"Bella?" Emily asked.
"Chocolate please" Bella said.
Emily smiled and said "chocolate it is". She stood up and Garcia stood up too. Penelope picked Henry up and they walked inside leaving Bella alone with JJ.
They were quiet for a while.
Bella was twisting her fingers nervously because she was on the verge of speaking.
Suddenly an "I'm sorry" came out of JJ's mouth.
Bella looked up surprised and just stared at her.
"I really am" JJ said as her eyes filled with tears.
Bella stood up and hugged her.
"Thank you for making sure she was okay so she could come back" Bella said as her eyes filled with tears too.
"I'm sorry I lied to you. I know it wasn't fair" JJ said.
"I know. But she's here now. That's what matters, right?" Bella said.
"Right" JJ said and pulled Bella to her lap.
"I'm upset about the lying but You and Hotch saved her life" Bella said and she really meant everything. She truly believed that and as much as she hated the fact they lied she couldn't deny the fact that her mom was there with her and she was totally fine, she was safe and okay, because of them.
JJ kept hugging Bella and suddenly Emily, Garcia and Henry walked back to the table.
"Is everything okay?" Emily asked a little worried.
"Yeah" Bella said letting go of the hug and sitting back on her own seat.
"Are you sure?" Garcia asked noticing both had tears on their cheeks.
"Yes" JJ said and wiped hers, Bella did the same and then grabbed her chocolate donut and took a big bite getting chocolate all over her lips.
Everyone laughed and Emily handed her a napkin.
"Thanks" Bella said with a smile.
They finished eating and then walked back to Derek's house. When they got there JJ decided to head home so she gathered her things and said goodbye.
"Bye Bella" JJ said.
"Bye" Bella said with a little smile. JJ smiled and said "say goodbye Henry"
"Bye" the boy smiled and waved. They headed out and left.
"So... why don't we watch a movie now?" Garcia asked.
"Sure" Bella said and they sat in the living room.
They watched tv and later ordered pizza for dinner. After eating, Bella started to get sleepy. She was sitting on the big couch between Derek and Emily as they went on and on about a text Hotch had sent them regarding the Investigation.
"Uncle Derek" Bella said looking tired.
"Yes" Derek said turning to face her. "What's wrong?" He asked when he saw her face.
"My back hurts" she said sounding sad.
"Come here" he said and pulled her to his lap. He made her lay down a little resting her head on his chest. "You're okay" He said and he kept running his hand on her back and went back to talking to the women about the investigation.
After a little while Bella fell asleep.
When Penelope noticed the girl was out she said "it's been almost a month since the last time she did that"
"Yeah" Derek said pushing hair away from Bella's face as she slept peacefully in his arms.
"Did what?" Emily asked confused.
"She says her back is hurting when she wants attention" Derek said.
"What? Bella doesn't.." Emily said and suddenly stopped. She knew the girl did change a lot since her father died.
"Yeah. She was never this kind of kid, I know but..." Derek said. "We've taken her to get checked and the doctor told us that there's nothing wrong with her physically. She also told us to pay attention to when and where she would say she was is pain and after we did that we noticed that it happened every time something like this happened." Derek explained.
"Something like what?" Emily asked.
"Like, us talking about work while she just sits here quietly. It was every time." Derek said.
"Oh" Emily said now realizing.
"The doctor said that she probably saw that when it was in fact hurting she would just tell us and we would be there making sure she was okay. We wouldn't leave her side. So when she felt alone or was upset she saw that as a way of getting our attention" Garcia said. "And then when we saw what was going on we just stopped doing that, we stopped talking like this when she was with us and the back pain suddenly went away" said Penelope.
"I bet you were just like that when you were little" Derek told Emily and Emily laughed.
Bella woke up with the noise.
"Shuuuu Go back to sleep" Emily said holding a laugh.
"Let me take her to bed" Derek said smiling. He stood up and carried Bella to her bedroom. He placed her down on the bed, covered her and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight princess" he said but he didn't get a goodnight back. The girl was out.
He turned the light off and headed out.
He walked back in the living room to find Emily and Garcia hugging in the other couch.
"Goodnight" Emily said.
"Night night First Lady Prentiss" Garcia smiled and Emily laughed.
"Goodnight" Derek smiled as Emily walked to the child's bedroom.
"I'm gonna head to bed too" Derek told Garcia.
"I need candy" Penelope said and ran to the kitchen.
Derek burst out laughing.
"You do you. Goodnight baby girl" he said and went to his bedroom.
He was happy Isabella was doing better with the whole situation but he was also scared. He already loved that girl before Emily left but once he started taking care of her his love just grew and grew. He felt like that was how a father loved a daughter. He felt protective of her and most of the time he was scared she would get hurt, and he wanted anything but that. He knew how vulnerable that little girl could be and he felt like as her father, in a way, he had to be there for her, making sure she was safe and okay.
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Monday morning Derek woke Bella up and she refused to go to school. He tried talking to her but she just cried and refused to get up.
"It's okay. I'll call the principal and I'll talk to him. It's fine" Emily said and Derek walked out.
"Come here" Emily said opening her arms to the crying girl on the bed. Bella got up and hugged Emily. Emily sat on the bed and pulled Bella to her lap. "I know it's a lot, baby" Emily said feeling bad. She didn't want Bella to miss school but she knew that everything that had been happening was a lot for a little kid.
After a while Derek walked in again.
"I called May and she'll watch you, okay?" He told Bella.
"What? Are you going to work?" Bella asked facing Emily, she looked clearly scared.
"We have a meeting, remember?" Emily said.
"That's right now?" Bella asked as more tears filled her eyes. She didn't want to be away from everyone.
"It's at 9. So we gotta get ready" Emily said pushing hair away from Bella's face.
"I don't wanna stay with May" Bella said.
"You can either stay with May or go to school" Derek said.
Bella looked down.
"May has churros, you know" Derek smiled and Bella looked up and when she saw his face she couldn't help but smile too. She thought he was mad at her for not wanting to go to school but she saw right there that he wasn't.
"Alright. May it is. So let's get ready" Emily said and they stood up and went to get ready.
After they were done they sat to have breakfast and took their time. Around 8:10, they headed out the door. Bella got in the back with Emily and refused to let go of her hand. She was okay with staying with May now but she was still nervous about leaving her mom.
Derek parked the car in front of the churros place and Bella got out with Emily. Derek followed them inside the shop.
"Hi. Thank you for keeping an eye on her" he told May. The woman was 62, and was a very nice lady.
"Hi my darling" she told Bella who walked to her and they hugged. "So you must be Emily?" May said.
"Yes" Emily said with a smile and shook her hand.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of this one" May said throwing one arm around Bella.
Emily and Derek smiled but when Emily looked at the girl she could see Bella was trying hard not to cry. Emily walked to her and hugged her.
"Be good for May, okay?" Emily said running her hand on Isabella's back. "We'll be back soon" she said and let go of the hug forcing herself to smile. Bella took a deep breath and let go of Emily.
"Today I'll teach you how to make that ice cream with the churros cone!" May said sounding excited and Bella gave her a little smile.
"Bye" Derek said.
"Bye" Bella whispered and they walked away. Her eyes filled with tears. May saw and hugged her.
"I know it's hard. But they'll be back soon" she said with a smile. She let go of the hug and said "you're gonna have a lot of fun today. And I promise you can eat all the ice cream you want" May said.
Bella laughed.
"That's much better" May smiled and they walked to the kitchen.
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Emily got in the car and her heart was pounding. She also was not that great with being away from the girl.
Penelope noticed she looked worried.
"Hey you, Mama bear" Penelope said and Emily looked at her. "Don't worry. She loves that place. She's gonna be fine. May is awesome and treats Bella just like her grandkids. She's gonna be alright"
Emily nodded and gave her a small smile.
"I bet you 10 bucks they're gonna cook something crazy good for us" Derek said smiling and Penelope and Emily laughed.
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Derek drove to the meeting and everyone was nervous when they got there. They all knew so much could change in that meeting.
Everyone talked alone with the comity and then they went back in together.
"What I find interesting is that you are the experts in behavior and find nothing wrong with yours" a man said as the team just stared.
"May I?" Emily asked and the man gave her a nod.
"The journey was not traditional... But this team neutralized 4 international criminals and saved the lives of two young children in the process" Emily said.
"You started a war with Ian Doyle years ago that this team and the US government had to finish" he said and Emily looked serious.
"The rest of you are dismissed. Agent Prentiss, we are not done" he said.
The team walked out and Emily just sat there. She could feel her heart pounding in her head, she was so nervous.
Outside the team went to a bench to wait for her. Penelope and Reid sat down and the others stood. JJ went to sit beside Spencer and he stood up.
"Spence" she said noticing his face.
"I'm going to the restroom" he said and just kept walking.
Penelope held JJ's hand. "He'll come around" Garcia said and JJ gave her a nod.
They waited for about 20 minutes and then Emily got out.
"How was it?" JJ asked.
"Fine" Emily said not sure of what to say.
"When will we hear from them?" Garcia asked.
"Today. Probably in a little while" Strauss said. "You can go back to BAU" she said.
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At the BAU, everyone went separate ways to their desks and offices.
Emily stood in front of her picture in the hall. She never thought she'd see one of the team members on that wall but there was her picture. She felt such sadness as she once again imagined their pain.
Suddenly she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. She turned and it was Penelope.
"We need to take this out" Garcia smiled.
Emily tried but it was screwed in.
"I'll be right back" Penelope said with a smile and walked out.
Emily just kept staring at the picture.
Rossi walked in and saw her there so he walked to her. He got to her and said with a smile "I never thought we'd be taking one of these down" and she let out a laugh.
He went to take the picture.
"I already tried. It's screwed in" Emily said.
"Are you kidding me?" Rossi said.
Suddenly Garcia walked in.
"I got it" she smiled holding up a screw driver. Rossi got it and started unscrewing it. Garcia wrapped her arm on Emily's arm and smiled excited. Hotch and JJ walked there together and JJ was smiling. Reid and Morgan walked in and stood right next to them.
Emily smiled seeing her team together.
Morgan looked at her and her smile faded as Derek walked away. Hotch noticed that Derek looked very serious and upset.
"Morgan" Aaron said and went after him.
Derek stopped close to the elevator. All the talking about what had happened and hearing Hotch and JJ explain everything, made him more upset that he didn't know Emily was okay.
"I know what you've been through. I understand that you're angry but I hope that you understand that this was not about you or me. This was about saving Emily." Hotch said as Derek just stood there very serious.
The conversation was interrupted by Strauss walking in.
"We need to talk" She told Hotch. Aaron looked at the team and they all followed him to another room.
Once they were all inside she started.
"The comity made it clear they will not support a rogue team." She said and took a deep breath. Emily looked down. "Agent Prentiss..." She said and Emily looked up. "...convinced them you are not that" she said and everyone let out a breath.
"They will be watching you closely so I suggest you play by their rules" Strauss said.
"So we're okay?" Penelope asked.
"Suspension is lifted from everyone. You can come back on Wednesday" Strauss said.
"Thank you ma'am" JJ said looking relieved.
"There may be more paperwork considering your... situation" Strauss told Emily. "But the team is lucky to have you"
Emily looked a bit confused.
"If you're interested" Strauss said.
Everyone stared at Emily.
"May I think about it?" Emily asked and Derek kept staring at her.
"Of course" Strauss said.
"Thank you" Emily said looking a bit relieved. She didn't know if she should go back to that job but she had a child at home who needed to eat so she knew she would need a job again.
"Welcome back" Strauss said and walked out.
"Emily" Derek said. "What did you tell them?" He asked.
"The truth" Emily said with a small smile.
Everyone smiled too, including Derek and Reid.
The team stayed for a while longer at the bureau getting some paperwork they had to fill out. Once they got everything, they went to their homes. Emily and Garcia drove with Derek to pick up Bella.
"Look who's here" May said walking inside the kitchen where Bella was helping make churros. The girl smiled when she saw Emily right behind May. She put the flour bag on the table and ran to Emily.
"You took so long" Bella said as Emily hugged her tight.
"Are you ready to go?" Emily asked.
"We need to get their gift" Bella told May. The girl looked excited.
"Go on. You know where everything is" May said and Bella ran to the fridge. She opened it and took some chocolate ice cream out.
"This is heavy" Bella said making a face and Drake, one of May's grandkids that worked there, went to help her. He put it on the table and went to get the cones they had made.
"I made these all by myself" Bella said. "Well... umm kinda" she said and everybody laughed.
"I fried them 'cause she was scared to do it" Drake said. Drake was 20 years old and helped his grandma whenever he wasn't busy with college.
"They look delicious" Emily said.
"We're gonna set it up so you can eat it" Bella said excited.
"Okay" Emily smiled.
"Where's Derek?" Bella asked.
"In the car with Garcia" Emily said.
"Drake, could you go get them?" May asked knowing Bella wouldn't want Emily to go anywhere. The girl had been asking for her mom for a while before she got there.
"Sure" Drake said and went.
"Alright. Let's do this. Here" May said showing Bella what to do.
"Come learn, mom" Bella said and Emily went and stood behind her. May showed how to fill the cones and then they tried to fill one each. Once they were all done Emily and Bella carried the four ice creams cones out.
"Hi" Bella smiled when she saw Derek and Penelope siting on a table outside. "I made these" she said.
"Uhmn this looks..." Penelope said holding hers. "Oh God" She said after she took a bite.
They ate and everyone was full of complements about the treat.
"You should come here more often if that's what will happen every time" Penelope said and they all laughed, including Bella.
"She does have some talent in the kitchen" May said and Bella smiled.
"You should see her baking cakes." Derek said. All these months Garcia and Bella tried on a lot of recipes together. Bella loved it and Penelope too. Garcia also saw it as a way to keep the girl's mind busy with something.
They finished eating and decided to head home.
"Any time you need just bring her. We love having her here" May said with a smile.
"Thank you" Emily smiled.
"Bye darling" May told Bella.
The girl hugged her and said smiling "bye, I had a lot of fun".
"You're always welcome in my kitchen, okay?" May smiled too.
"Okay. Bye" Bella said and took her mother's hand and walked to the car.
They got in, Emily on the front with Derek, and Garcia went on the back with Bella.
"She's such a nice lady" Emily said.
"Yeah" Garcia said.
"She said I can call her Grandma May, like Drake does, If I want to" Bella said and everyone smiled.
"Can I?" Bella asked Emily.
"Of course you can honey" Emily smiled. She felt bad that Bella never really had a real grandma. Her mother never agreed with any of her decisions regarding the girl and never really showed any interest on getting to know her.
Suddenly Garcia's phone started ringing so their conversation ended and Derek started the car and drove away.
Penelope picked her phone up and it was Hilary.
"Hello" she said answering the call.
"Hi. It's me Hilary"
"Is everything alright?" Penelope asked because usually Hilary texted.
"Yeah. It's just that Chloe told me what happened with Bella at school and today Chloe texted saying Bella didn't go so I got really worried" Hilary said.
"Oh everything is okay. She's alright." Garcia said looking at Bella.
"It's just a lot, right?" Hilary said understanding.
"Yeah" Penelope said.
"I'm glad to know nothing serious happened" Hilary smiled. "Do you know if she'll go to ballet today?"
"I'm not sure. I'll see and I'll let you know" Garcia said.
"Okay. Send my love to everybody" Hilary said. "Bye"
"Bye" Penelope said and hung up.
"Who was it?" Derek asked.
"Hilary wanted to know if Bella was okay" Garcia said.
"See people get worried when you miss school" Penelope told the girl throwing one arm around her. Bella smiled shyly.
"She wants to know if you'll go to ballet today?" Penelope said.
Bella shook her head no.
"Why not?" Garcia asked. "You love it so much." Penelope said and Bella just looked down and remained quiet.
"You have the recital coming up before summer break. You were so excited about that" Garcia said.
"I just don't wanna go" Bella said really low.
"What if I go with you?" Emily asked and Bella looked up. "I'm sure they'll let me watch" Emily said with a small smile.
"Yeah! Doesn't Hilary stay there sometimes with Millie watching? Your mama can stay too" Garcia said.
"Okay" Bella said.
"Alright!" Penelope smiled and hugged Bella. Derek looked at Emily and both smiled.