Three weeks later the team still hadn't caught the unsub. Two more people had been murdered- both college students in their early twenties who had been burned or tortured in another barbaric way. The case had pushed all of them to their limits, not only because of the sheer brutality that was involved in the killing process, but also because they had been separated from their loved ones for almost a month now.

For the first time, Emily could relate to JJ and Hotch, who tried to get a hold of their children on the phone every free minute they had. She had called Garcia and talked to Bobbie every evening as soon as the team went to their respecting rooms back at the hotel they were staying at. Every time she heard Bobbie's voice, she felt some of the heaviness the day had brought lift off of her chest and every time that heaviness was replaced with guilt and shame that settled into her gut and grew bigger every day.

"It's hard, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Emily asked, the voice to her left having ripped her out of her thoughts.

JJ had approached her. The team was in the woods, having examined yet another crime scene. A brunette girl- no older than 19- lay on a makeshift bed of branches and leaves, covered in dark red blood and earth.

"Being away," JJ said simply, "knowing that you're choosing this over being with your family." she said, gesturing to the dead body in front of them.

"Yes." Emily admitted. "It is."

A few minutes of silence passed as they made their way back to the FBI cars, the only sounds coming from the muffled voices behind them and the crunching wood under their feet.

"I don't know how I'm going to do this." it finally broke out of her. She saw JJ giving her confused and at the same time concerned look from the corner of her eye and took a deep but quiet breath, before she raised her voice again.

"Raise a child all by myself." she started, knowing that JJ would have to strain to hear her voice through the blustering wind. "My mother wouldn't have won the 'mom of the year' award, I don't know how-"

She broke off and kept her eyes trained on the ground. They were getting closer to the edge of the forest now and Emily hesitantly looked over her shoulder to see if Derek, who she had shared a car with on the drive to the crime scene, was behind them and saw him engrossed in a conversation with Reid.

"You are a great mother," JJ said, and her voice carried so much confidence that Emily felt strangely light for a second, "you will be."

"How do you know?" Emily asked. "I've only ever had to care for myself and my lifestyle hasn't been what most people would consider ideal for a child."

Both women chuckled at that, but JJ could see right through Emily's dark humor. "You're not damaged, Emily." she said quietly and regretted taking such a straight forward approach as soon as the words had left her mouth. "You are the best thing that could have happened to that girl."

"She's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Emily said and smiled weakly.

"You love her." JJ said and spoke the words that had been in Emily's head for quite some time now aloud.

"I do." Emily said, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"That's the only thing that matters," JJ said, "you'll figure out everything else in time."

"I hope you're right."

"Of course I am." the blonde joked, pulling Emily into a one-armed hug as they watched the rest of the team catch up with them.

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Garcia had insisted on watching at least two Disney movies- of Bobbie's choice- before giving in and letting the tomboyish girl watch an action movie. They were both curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them and half empty soda cans on the coffee table in front of them.

Garcia was surprised that Bobbie's eyes were still wide open, attentively watching the images on the screen in front of her- it had been a long day. After breakfast, Bobbie had attempted some of the math exercises Emily had left behind for her to work on and Garcia had done her best to help her, but they had both failed miserably. After four hours of school work, Garcia had decided that they both deserved a break and a short walk in the fresh air had turned into a sightseeing and shopping tour that had lasted for the better part of the day.

"Remember to always look for the beautiful things." She had said, when they had entered yet anther fashion store...

"I have clothes." Bobbie said quickly, when she noticed that they were heading to the back of the store, where girls' clothes were displayed. She didn't want Penelope to spend any more money on her and she really didn't want any clothing items that would make her look girlier or even pretty.

"Shopping isn't about what you need," Penelope corrected her in a stern-teacher like voice, "it's about what your heart wants."

She pulled a purple and turquoise dress from the hanger to her right and held it up to Bobbie's neck. "That would look gorgeous on you."

"I don't want to be pretty." Bobbie said, taking a few steps backwards.

"Why would you say that?" Penelope asked, the smile slowly fading from her face.

The girl remained quiet for a few seconds, nervously chewing on her finger nails- a habit that she had picked up from Emily. She looked from the dress to the floor and back up to Penelope.

"In my other foster homes... the pretty ones always got hurt the most." she said quickly. "I never wanted anyone to look at me that way."

She felt her face heat up and tears well up in her eyes. Ashamed, she turned around and acted like she was interested in some of the pants and skirts to her left.

Penelope took in a sharp breath and lightly touched Bobbie's shoulder, prompting her to turn around again.

"You shouldn't ever feel like you need to change because of other people." she said with a quiet sort of authority. "And your last foster father- those people are the monsters Emily and the rest of us try to hunt down."

"I know that" Bobbie interrupted her, "but it's not that easy to just forget everything."

"Nobody said you should forget anything." Garcia said. "I just think you deserve to feel beautiful inside and out."

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Thank you for reading. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you guys like it as well. Let me know what you think. This story is slowly coming to an end- only a few chapters left… :)