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To her credit, Emily does remember correctly about things she knows about hospitals. The antiseptic smell, the bright white lights, the beeping sound of heart monitors. And to her discredit, she was again back in a hospital. She was now lying on one of the empty beds in the E.R., staring at the clean white ceiling while Spencer informed the head nurse about her condition.
The nurse went out of the room, as Spencer smiled down at Emily with a worried look. He softly tapped her left forearm, the only part of her body that doesn't have a visible bruise, and said, “she'll be back with some ointment and bandages. Thankfully you don't have any ruptured bones. The team is also on their way here.”
“Okay,” Emily said, smiling a little as she nodded. Wrong move. She could feel her head start spinning and she quickly grabbed the bed rail in distress.
Spencer was about to call the nurse when someone (some crowd) rushed inside the room, quickly surrounding Emily's bed with concerned looks on their faces. “She's still dizzy from the gas but she's basically still in one piece,” Spencer announced, smiling a little as the crowd nodded in relief.
When the nurse returned and started to patch up Emily's right arm, she said, “Nothing to worry about, just bruises and some scr–”
“Nooo,” Emily, JJ, Spencer, and Penelope moaned in unison. Dave and Luke just glanced at each other, as Matt shook his head with a pout at the nurse.
“They'll heal pretty quickly,” the nurse continued, finishing up with some other bandages around Emily's left ankle and right elbow, and sticking a bandage on her right temple. “All done. You can rest here for a few hours and you're free to go.”
Spencer and Matt followed the nurse outside, saying they'll visit Tara in her room, and Emily just dismissed them with her hand gesture. Penelope was staring down at Emily, with her big hazel eyes full of tears. “I want to hug you so bad, but I don't want to add more bruises to your already hurting body. But you should know I am, right now, in my mind, hugging you real hard.”
“Thanks, Penelope,” Emily answered sweetly with a smile, reaching Penelope's hand, “and I'm hugging you back right now.”
“Oh my God,” Penelope gasped. She frantically moves her gaze towards JJ, Dave, and Luke in panic, “She's in so much pain. She's not herself! She even said she hugged me back! Should I call the nurse?”
“I'm fine, Garcia,” Emily scoffed, speaking with her serious boss tone and retrieving her grasp on Penelope's hand. She rested her head comfortably on the pillow and closed her eyes. “You're all dismissed. Go home. Get some rest. All of you.”
“Oh,” Penelope squeaked, “I'll stay with you.”
“No, go home.”
“But–”
“That's an order,” Emily said with her stern voice, not even bothering to open her eyes.
“Okay then, see you soon, Prentiss,” Luke said from the door. “Glad you're okay.”
“Thank you Agent Alvez. Really, I'm thankful for today,” Emily said calmly.
“Rest well Emily,” JJ said, brushing a hand over Emily's hair. “So glad you're okay.”
Emily smiled and opened one eye to look at JJ. There was a bandage on her temple too. “Thanks, JJ. Hope you're recovering well too.”
JJ nodded, lightly hugging Emily's shoulders, and went out of the room.
With a smug smile Emily looked back at Penelope. “Go home you.”
“I don't want to,” Penelope whined, rubbing the back of Emily's hand with her forefinger lovingly. “I don't want to leave you.”
“I'm fine,” Emily said, sitting upright with a smile. “See? I'll just stay here for a few minutes. You, go home. Get some sleep. I know you must be exhausted today. And I'm not talking physically.”
“Huh?”
“Your mind must be overworked too, today. After what happened with Spencer, and without any break you have to save me too. I'm always grateful you got my back. Thank you, Penelope.”
Tears started pooling in Penelope's eyes, and it looked like her self control fell apart as she hugged Emily with a little bit too much force for Emily's preference for tonight. Penelope lovingly ran her palm back and forth on Emily's back, “I'm so glad you're alive, Emily.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Emily patted Penelope on the back and slowly pushed her away. She looked at her with a stern look. “Now, go home.”
“Alright.” Penelope gave Emily's fingers a gentle squeeze for a few seconds before finally went out of the room.
Dave was the only one left, and Emily knows him too well, that even with her “boss tone” she would never could make Dave go away if it's not his own choice. So Emily just stared at him, with her legs dangling off from the bed. She looked at how limp he was standing next to the door frame and gestured to him to join her. So now Dave seated on the corner of Emily's bed, stared back at her.
“What?”
“You dismissed everyone except me,” Dave stated, his eyebrows knitted together when Emily smirks. “What?”
“You must have heard me earlier. I said ‘everyone’ and that includes you,” Emily answered, then looking at him skeptically. “Why do you exclude yourself from ‘everyone’?”
“Don't you want to ask me something first before I get going?”
Emily innocently blinked her eyes. She was still a little bit dizzy, and actually the throbbing in her arm and knees started to hurt more than she anticipated, but still she doesn't want to have any more pain killers in her system. She already had enough fake –or real, she didn't know– pain killers from a monster and she won't take anymore of them even if her arm felt like it was beaten to a pulp. And actually she preferred to have a clearer mind rather than to take medication to lessen her pain. The pain actually took a big part to keep her mind clear, so that's good.
“You miss him, don't you?” Dave asked softly, smiling at Emily with arms crossed over his chest.
“Huh?” Emily tilted her head in confusion. She was just focusing on her pain that she forgot what she was talking about with Dave. “Who are you talking about?”
“Aaron,” Dave deadpanned, smiling a little bit wider as he noticed the blush on Emily's cheeks.
Oh. Yeah. “I just…” Emily mumbled, paused for a few moments to think as she stared at her bandaged elbow. “I do want to tell him the good news as soon as possible. But I can't call him. I don't have his current number. And it would be nice if I could tell him in person.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Ah, would be even better if I could persuade him to take back his old job,” Emily said with a small cheeky grin. But Dave was looking at her with a face full of regret and sorrow, so she quickly added, “I'll just be back to SSA Prentiss.”
“I'll take you to him,” Dave suddenly said, standing and pointing to the door with his chin. “Come on.”
“No, no, no,” Emily quickly shook her head and looked at Dave in disbelief. She pointed at his leg, then looked at his eyes sternly. “You can't drive with those legs. We don't even know his address. And you definitely need some rest.”
Dave shook his head and gently patted Emily on the shoulder, “I didn't say I'll drive you. I'll take you. And even if we don't know his current address, I know someone who does.”
Tara looked very relieved when she saw Emily and Dave walk into her room. She was still bound to her bed because she had a small fracture on her shin bone, but otherwise she was all smiley, and Emily was so glad Tara was okay. They talked for a while, then Emily and Dave said goodbye to Tara, Matt, and Spencer. They got into a SUV and the driver immediately started driving.
“We will be there in a few hours,” Dave informed Emily, as he pulled out a duffel bag from behind his seat and put it on the seat between them. “I got your bag.”
“How?” Emily curiously rummaged through her bag and pulled out a neck pillow from it.
“Jennifer,” Dave said, and closed his eyes. “Let's take a nap for a moment.”
“We'll wake you up when we arrive,” the officer who sat next to the driver chimed in.
So Emily closed her eyes and a moment later she felt someone tapping her knuckles and her eyes shot open. She found Dave smiling at her and pointing to a two-storey house on his left. “Get your bag and get out.”
“Okay,” Emily shoved her neck pillow back into her duffel bag and opened the door. She turned to Dave with a question mark written on her face. “You're not coming?”
“I can meet him later.” Dave gave Emily a quick kiss on the cheek before “gently” shoving her off the SUV. “Now go. I'll pick you up in the morning.”
Emily just stood dumbly for a few minutes in front of the house Dave pointed, thinking where on earth was she now. She thought they'll have a few hours until they arrived, and she felt she just dozed off for a few minutes. She pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket and stared at the screen for a moment too long. It's almost 3 AM. She could feel shivers down her spine. 3 AM! How was she supposed to ring a bell at her former chief's house at 3 AM? He must be asleep now. Now that he is a full time father, he must have the same schedule as his son. She definitely doesn't want to disturb them. So she turned back to the front gate.
Some rattling sound and the front door opened. Someone stepped out on the porch. “BAU Unit Chief Emily Prentiss.”
Emily turned, looking at the man who was standing on the porch with his hands in his trousers pockets, smiling at her.
“Don't say you want to leave without greeting me.”
“Hotch,” Emily took a few steps towards Aaron, smiling apologetically, “I didn't mean to disturb you in the middle of the night.”
Aaron shook his head, shrugged. “I was expecting you.”
“You…did?” Emily blinked and realized something. “So…you already know what happened?”
“No. I haven't.” Aaron gestured to Emily to follow him inside the house. He closed the door behind her and continued. “My agent called me, saying that someone will come to explain something about my WITSEC status. So I was expecting someone. Didn't know it's gonna be you.”
“Oh.” Emily nodded, absent-mindedly staring at Aaron, until he slowly opened his arms. Emily dropped her bag on the carpet and took a quick step forwards. She hugged Aaron's middle, sighed comfortably when she felt his arms around her shoulders. She noticed when he lightly stroked her hair and pressed a gentle kiss on the side of her head. His gestures made her really grateful she was alive.
When Emily pulled back, Aaron let her go but he didn't let her move away from his zone. He looked at her from head to toe. “Did he…”
“Yeah, he held me hostage,” Emily said lightly, walking towards a couch in his living room and settled down. She dragged her bag and left it next to the couch. “Drugged with the gas.”
Aaron quickly took a seat across Emily, sitting on the one person couch with his elbows on his knees. He looked at Emily intently, encouraging her to continue.
“He told me I broke my right arm and my legs, that I was paralyzed and won't be able to run from him.” Emily palmed her forehead in disbelief, hanging her head low. “Thankfully I noticed some strange things about the situation and I did run away from him.”
“How did you manage to notice that you were hallucinating?” Aaron softly asked, but when she looked up at him, he looked terrified. “Did you–”
Emily nodded. “Dead.”
“Oh, Emily…”
Emily shook her head with a smile. “I'm fine, Hotch. I was actually glad that he ‘killed’ me. I have no regrets knowing that I can keep my mouth shut about you and Jack until the end, and get the bonus of realizing I was hallucinating.”
“I'm so sorry.”
“Nothing is your fault.” Emily smiled reassuringly with a shrug. “And I have come to bear the good news that you and Jack are now free to go anywhere you like without worrying about him anymore. He's dead.”
A sense of relief flashing in Aaron's eyes. “How did he die?”
“Luke was chasing him on the roof. He fell.”
Emily and Aaron looked at each other without saying anything for about 20 seconds, just simply enjoying the quietness and relief that the monster that was hunting their team finally got terminated, when suddenly they heard light steps walking down the stairs.
“Dad..?”
“Hey Buddy,” Aaron waved at his son with a wide smile, pointing to Emily. “Look who's here.”
“Emily!” Jack ran from the stairs and stood close in front of Emily. He looked so concerned for a 13 year old boy who just woke up in the middle of the night when he was scanning her face. “Are you hurt?”
“Nothing a shower and proper sleep couldn't fix,” Emily answered with a smile, opening her arms, “But, I definitely need a dose of hug to get better faster, though.”
Jack smiled widely, gently positioning Emily's arms around his middle and he hugged her shoulders carefully. He whispered in her ear, “I missed you.”
“Oh, I missed you too,” Emily rubbed Jack's back gently. She smiled when she felt his hand playing with her hair. She looked up, met Aaron's gaze, and he smiled too. “So happy I can finally meet you again.”
“I'm happy I can see you. You're too good at hiding.”
“What?” Emily softly pushed Jack away from her and met the boy's eyes. “You noticed?”
Jack nodded eagerly. “I could feel you when you were watching me. A few times in the last 3 years, I think? But when I looked around I could never find you.” A little pause. “Now I can feel my dad is staring at me.”
“Yeah, Buddy. I'm looking at you.” Aaron said, laid his back on the sofa backrest.
“And he will say I need to go back to sleep,” Jack continued, gaze fixed only on Emily. “And that you're gonna take the shower and proper sleep you desperately need now.”
“Yeah,” Emily giggled, glancing at Aaron who was smiling proudly, and looked back at Jack. “I think you're right.”
“Okay,” Jack said, smiling. “So you're gonna spend the night here? Don't worry, dad already bought me a noise canceling headphone, I'll use it tonight.”
Emily could feel her face heated up and she couldn't dare to look at Aaron's face right now. “What?”
“I'm 13,” Jack said with such grace like he was a pastor in the middle of his sermon. “I understand more than when I was 10 and don't worry, you're the only woman who has the privilege to spend the night in this house.”
“Umm, thank you?” Emily said in confusion –and embarrassment– and braced herself to peeked at Aaron. He was holding his laughter, and the happiness that beaming on his face made her heart warm. She looked back at Jack and ruffled his golden hair affectionately. “Thank you Jack. Have a good night.”
“You too, Emily.” Jack planted a kiss on Emily's cheek, quickly picking up a water bottle from the kitchen counter, then running up the stairs. Before he went inside his room, he yelled at Aaron, “Don't forget to lock your door, Dad!” Then he was gone.
Aaron smiled at Emily, “he's growing up so fast.”
“Yeah,” Emily said, reminiscing the days when she saw Jack when he was a baby, a toddler, and a little child, then feeling her face heated up. “And now he knows too much.”
“That's true,” Aaron laughed, looking at Emily fondly. “But he would never do anything that we considered ‘inappropriate’.”
Emily scoffed. “You're really enjoying bragging about him, don't you?”
“Can't help it. He is a good boy.”
“You raised him well,” Emily genuinely complimented Aaron and his smile widened. “He's got the gentlemanly manner exactly from you.”
Aaron's ears turned a little pink when he held out his hand to her. “Let me take you upstairs.”
“Oh.”
He must be noticing the blush crept on Emily's face because he was –obviously– trying to conceal his widening smile. “The guest room is on the second floor by the way.”
“Oh,” Emily accidently let out a squeak –again– and if she wasn't already embarrassing herself enough, she almost fell back on the couch when she stood up too quickly and made a cracked sound from her ankle. Aaron was standing close to her, and before she could fall, she was already in his arms. He carried her bridal style and nonchalantly walked up the stairs with her duffle bag on his shoulder. Emily squirmed apologetically, “I'm fine–”
“I know.” Aaron gently whispered in her ear as they walked almost past Jack's bedroom. The door was slightly open. They silently peeked inside, and exchanged a smile as they noticed Jack really was wearing his noise canceling headphone while sleeping. Aaron put his mouth close to Emily's ear. “I don't need to whisper, but this feels nice.”
Emily shuddered when Aaron kept whispering into her ear and to stop him, she laid her head on the crook of Aaron's neck, hiding her ear from his mouth. And that resulted with him laughing at her and putting her down on her feet. He smoothly passed her duffel bag from his shoulder to hers.
"We have arrived at the bathroom. You can use the towel inside the cabinet over there.” Aaron pointed at the cabinet far inside the bathroom, then pointed to a room on the end of the hallway, “the guest room is over there.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Emily quickly got into the bathroom, strip, and into the shower stall. Her head was spinning for a moment when the water directly hit her head, but after that she was fine. She put on a black tank top and sweatpants and got out of the bathroom while doing a towel bun on the top of her head. Maybe because she was too focused on the bun, she nearly jumped when she noticed Aaron was standing next to the bathroom door, smiling at her.
“Thought you may need some assistance with your injuries?” He offered as he showed her an open bag with a variety of ointment, medicine, and bandages inside it. “Jack always gets hurt, because he loves outdoor sports and I just need to keep many types of ointment for the accidents.”
Emily nodded with an understanding look and pointed to the guest room. “There?”
Aaron nodded.
The guest room wasn't big, but it was cozy, with a king sized double bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, a table and a chair, and a big window facing the backyard. Emily sat on the corner of the bed and tossed her duffel bag next to the nightstand, as Aaron switched on the lights on the ceiling and the lamp on the nightstand. Aaron glanced at Emily's arm and started digging inside his bag.
“This room is nice,” Emily complimented, running her palm on the soft bedsheet. “I can't remember the last time I properly slept on a comfortable bed.”
“Glad you like it,” Aaron said, pulling out an ointment tube and some bandages. He gestured to the bed, and after Emily nodded, he sat next to her on the bed and started to apply the brown colored ointment on her arm.
Emily winced a few times, and every time she winced, Aaron would say sorry and continue his work in a more gentle manner. It wasn't like he was rough at the beginning, but Emily noticed every time she winced, he also mirrored her expression like he was hurting too, and it made her feel loved.
“How's work? Tiresome?” Aaron suddenly asked, when he lightly applied a transparent gel ointment on Emily's cheekbone and temple.
The question felt like he was trying to avert her attention away from the pain, and she sighed in gratitude. She smiled when she noticed Aaron was so focused on attending her injury. His brows knitted together and his lips pouting. Cute. “Yeah, loads and loads of paperwork. That's why I rarely slept on my bed. Don't even have the time to drive home anyway. I was hoping you can help me with that.”
“I'm so sorry you're that tired.” Aaron smiled, finishing his job by closing the ointment tube. “But you'll be just fine without me.”
“Hmmh,” Emily pouted. “But I would be better with you around.”
Aaron just let out a little laugh, gently pulling the towel bun off Emily's head and rubbed the towel on her head. “I'll dry your hair so you can enjoy this comfortable bed as soon as possible.”
Emily nodded with a smile. Aaron went out to take a hairdryer and when he was back, he plugged in the hairdryer and positioned himself kneeling behind her on the bed. He was skillful and gentle and his fingers on her scalp made Emily dozed off a few times. He finally finished his handwork by combing her hair.
“I can smell my shampoo on you,” Aaron suddenly whispered, and Emily's sleepy eyes immediately shot open. “It's nice.”
Emily let out a nervous chuckle. He was actually flirting with her since she complimented him about Jack, and Emily didn't know how to respond. She felt honored, and she definitely felt the butterflies in her stomach, but… “Yeah. It's nice. Thank you for the shampoo, and for letting me stay the night.”
“Sure.” Aaron jumped off the bed and quickly took his belongings before standing next to the door frame. “Good night, Emily.”
“Good night.”
And with that, Aaron turned off all the lights and left Emily alone. But Emily didn't fall asleep immediately. She was still thinking. He just casually flirted with her, but didn't make the next move. Not like she was hoping he would do something –well, screw that, she actually hoped he would do something, anything– but still, maybe he really doesn't have any plan other than teasing her.
Maybe he only sees her as a younger sister. Well, he definitely didn't try to sleep with her either, even when his own son suggested it. Emily squealed in embarrassment at the thought. Jack, that boy, even told his dad to lock his room. What was he thinking? Oh, Jack, please don't grow up too fast. At the end of her train of thought, Emily let out a long sigh and made peace with her mind, pulled the duvet up till her chin, and closed her eyes.
A scream made her body shake awake. She rubbed her eyes, noticing the tears on her eyes, and her forehead sprinkled with cold sweat. Emily tried to remember where she was, when a coiled shadow on the top of her bruised ankle suddenly slithered closer on her thigh, and stopped on the top of her stomach. The shadow showed her its eyes. Green, with specks of yellow. The shadow licked her on the cheek and started to purr–
“Emily?” Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Aaron, who sounded so terrified, rushed inside. “You okay?”
Emily wiped the sweat on her forehead before turning her head towards Aaron. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I also heard someone screaming.”
“You did?” Aaron sighed heavily as his hand reached down and turned on the lamp table. He sat on the edge of Emily's bed, staring at her worriedly. “You were screaming and crying for about 5 minutes. You started with a low whimper and mumbling, but eventually turned into high pitch screaming.”
“I'm sorry,” Emily sat when the shadow jumped off her and coiled next to her hips on the bed. She hugged a pillow on her chest. “Is Jack still sleeping? I hope I didn't disturb him.”
“He's wearing his headphones,” Aaron smiled and reached to brush a strand of hair from Emily's forehead, but he pulled back and fisted the bedsheet instead. “You're really okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.” Emily answered reassuringly with a cheeky grin. “I know Jack was prepared to hear some screaming, but I think he didn't know it was screaming for an entirely different reason.”
Aaron didn't smile, even when Emily said ‘different’ in a joking manner. He looked at Emily with a serious look. “You didn't tell me everything he did to you. It's more than just the ‘paralyzed’ idea he planted on you, doesn't it?”
Emily sighed, put away the pillow on her lap to her side and pulled the black cat to her lap. As she felt the soft fur under her fingertips, she finally nodded. “He was holding me on the bed with steel cages around my knees to my ankles, with enormous needles piercing through my flesh.”
“Oh my God…”
“And I was in pain, he said,” Emily continued with a stoic face. “He said I'm in a LOT of pain if he didn't give me shots of morphine. And stupidly I believe it.”
“It's not stupid–”
“Well, I almost believed that I couldn't handle the pain anymore and I almost sold Jack out. Because the only thing I really knew was Jack's school.” Emily gritted her teeth. “I didn't know your current number, I didn't know your address, and I only knew Jack's school because I just needed to check if he's okay in his new school. And the thought of giving up the school name made me feel so guilty that I was actually relieved when he ‘dozed’ me with amphetamine.”
“I'm sorry.” Aaron finally stopped being so careful and he cradled Emily's head on his chest. “I'm so sorry.”
“It wasn't your fault,” Emily said calmly, clutching the back of Aaron's t-shirt with one hand. “I'm so glad you're safe and finally free from him.”
“Thank you,” Aaron whispered, he gently held Emily's head with one hand and her shoulder with another. “Thank you, and I'm so sorry.”
Emily nuzzled Aaron's shoulder and smiled. “And actually I saw something else when I was ‘dead’. And I think I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It was you,” Emily put down the cat on the bed and turned her body towards Aaron, hugging his body closer. “I'm so happy I can finally see you again. In person.”
“Yeah, I missed you too,” Aaron said, kissing the top of Emily's head, then freezing.
Emily let out a laugh. “We're too cuddly right now, aren't we?”
“Mmhmm. Do you want me to stop being cuddly?”
“Nah, I think I'll take the cuddles for tonight.” Emily buried her face on Aaron's chest. “Oh, and I didn't know you had a cat? I think the cat slept on my bruised ankle, that's why I screamed.”
“Oh, sorry for that. She usually sleeps with Jack, I don't know why she's here.” Aaron gently positioned himself to sit on the bed next to Emily, his back leaning on the headboard. He put Emily's arm circling on his waist while he used his arm to spoon her body. Emily's head on his shoulder. “Her name is Millie, by the way.”
“Ohh, Millie,” Emily cooed, and the cat jumped back on her lap and curled up. “My name is Emily. Hmm. That's strangely similar.”
“Jack named her after you,” Aaron said, rubbing Emily's arm gently. “He said she reminds him of you.”
“Aww…”
“The first time we found her, she was wandering on the street, skinny, bald–” Aaron stopped talking for a moment when he caught Emily giving him a glaring side eye look, and barked a laugh. “Trust me, we didn't call her Millie at that time. We actually made an agreement that we will just nurse the kitten until she is well enough to survive in an animal shelter.”
“Hmmm.” Emily gave Aaron a smug smile, then her gaze back to Millie, who actually will pass as Sergio's twin.
Aaron nuzzled Emily's cheek, made her giggle and looked back at him. “But Jack grew fond of her and when he realized she was sweet, beautiful, and had an oddly similar personality with you, he asked me if we could keep her, and I said yes. Theeeen, he started calling her Millie.”
Emily snorted. “So when you realized she was sweet, beautiful, and had a hot temper you agreed she was my spirit animal and kept her?”
“Yeah, probably,” Aaron shrugged and kissed Emily's temple. Then he froze again. “Umm, you're okay with kisses, right?”
“Yeah. I'll take as much as you are willing to give.” Emily giggled, rubbed her cheek on Aaron's chest. “I have a comfortable bed to sleep on for tonight but I don't want to sleep.”
“So don't sleep,” Aaron whispered, leaning down on Emily's face. “Let's not sleep tonight.” And captured her lips with his.