Coming Home Ch 2

It had been half an hour since Hotch and Rossi had delivered the news about Emily. The three agents hadn't appeared to ask anything of them.

"I'll go find them." Rossi said, unnerved at the silence.

"You want me to come with you?" Hotch asked, knowing what the answer would be. If there was any anger today, it would levelled at him.

"No, it's ok Aaron. I just want to make sure they're ok."

Rossi gently knocked on Garcia's office door and entered….. "You guys ok?"

Garcia looked up and nodded. He face was devoid of any make up, all washed away by the tears not doubt. Her eyes were puffy and her skin pale. She attempted a smile, but it wouldn't come…."Is she really coming home?" She asked, her voice quivering.

"Yes Penelope…..Look guys, I know you must be feeling all sorts of things right now and I have no doubt one of those things is anger because we were lied to and we will deal with that, but we need to prepare ourselves for her coming back. She'll be back in a couple of days. This is going to be difficult for us all."

"No, no….." Garcia started, "….I can't wait for her to be back, I just can't believe it… I can't allow myself to until I know for sure. I feel like I'm going to wake up and this will all be a dream and for a split second I'll believe she's alive and then I'll remember she isn't. I've had those dreams over and over again and I can't feel like that again. I can't feel like I've had her ripped away from me again." Her voice and her tears came again.

Rossi looked to Reid who was just staring at the floor. The boy's reaction was worrying. Emily's loss had definitely affected him the most and this news hadn't gone anyway to appear to help.

"Morgan...?" The Agent looked up at Rossi with a pained expression in his eyes. Rossi signalled to him to leave the room with a nod of his head. Morgan looked to Garcia and gently placed a reassuring hand on her back. He got up and left the room following Rossi into a side interview room.

"How you holding up Morgan?"

Morgan looked him straight in the eyes. He was clearly holding back his tears and there was a mass of emotion swirling around.

"I…..I don't know how to feel Rossi." It was almost as though he was begging Rossi to tell him how to feel.

"You're not pleased she's alive?"

Morgan's expression changed immediately to anger.

"How can you say that man? How could you think I wouldn't want her alive?"

"I'm sorry Derek, of course….. Tell me. Tell me what you're feeling."

"Why didn't they trust us? Why didn't they tell us she was alive?"

"You know why…..you know that was for everyone's protection. You saw what Doyle was capable of."

"I know, but….JJ and Hotch, how could they watch Garcia and Reid go through this?"

"You remember what you saw when Emily was being worked on by the paramedics? What you told me and Hotch?"

Morgan nodded, a solitary tear running down his face that he quickly wiped away. He thought back to that day. That day he had tried to forget about but the one that kept coming back to him in his nightmares. Nightmares that kept him awake every night. The brand on her chest… an image he could never forget.

"You said we shouldn't tell JJ, Seaver, Garcia and Reid. You did that to protect them."

"That's not the same Rossi and you know it. Not telling them that stopped them from feeling worse about what happened….. Knowing that Doyle had tortured her. They didn't need to know that. But not telling them she was alive? I've watched two of my best friends break over the last few months. Garcia beats herself up every day for not finding Emily sooner. She cries every single day thinking about Emily going through that hell all alone in the last few weeks of her life….. and Reid? I can barely get him to talk to me unless we're working a case. He walks around like a zombie because he feels empty. How do you just undo the damage that this has done to someone's soul in just a few minutes? I just wish… I just wish they'd of trusted us."

"And what about you? What have you gone through?"

Morgan shook his head, "I don't care about me man, I just want to get them two through this."

Rossi wanted to push him a bit more, but knew Morgan would resist. He had resisted since the day Emily left them in the bull pen.

"Well, you have to help us prepare them for seeing her. That will help them."

Morgan nodded his head and then looked down to the floor.

"What you thinking?" Rossi asked, seeing he was deep in thought.

"What about Emily? Is she ok? That wound was bad. Has she been alone all this time?"

"I don't know…Hotch doesn't know anything about what's gone on with her since that day at the hospital. I guess we'll find out in a couple of days."

Knowing how fragile his team were, Hotch managed to dodge any cases for the next few days, passing them on to other teams. He didn't give them the time off though. He felt they needed to be in work. It was some sort of distraction, but he also felt it was important that they were together.

Garcia proceeded to ask a whole host of questions that Hotch just couldn't answer over the few days. She appeared to be the one getting through this the best. Her mood had picked up and although the laughter and the quirkiness hadn't resurfaced, she at least had some colour back in her cheeks. Each day she seemed a little more excited to see Emily, but there was still an air of hesitancy, almost as if she believed something else was bound to go wrong.

Reid was slightly more talkative, although it was to only ask questions about Emily's medical state. He was confused at how she was at death's door one minute and was then whisked away under cover the next. Hotch couldn't answer that but knew someone who could…JJ. But he wanted to shield JJ from this, even after dealing with the last six months himself, he still tried to protect her. He knew she would have enough on her plate bringing back Emily.

If Garcia or Reid were angry with Hotch and JJ they didn't show it…..Hotch figured the anger would come later. Right now he was sure all they could think about was seeing Emily. Morgan was a different story though. He had avoided Hotch for the past few days, speaking to him only about cases. Hotch felt enough was enough and called him to his office.

"Take a seat." The Unit Chief said as Morgan walked in.

Morgan did as he was told but said nothing.

"Morgan, I understand that you are angry with me and JJ right now, but you have to understand we did this for all the right reasons. We had no choice."

Hotch prepared himself for a tongue lashing from the agent, but it didn't come.

"I know." Is all Morgan said.

Hotch looked confused, but continued.

"It was the deal Easter gave us. It was the only way I could get information from him…. The information that eventually led us to her and that led to you saving her life."

Morgan looked up at the chief. "I know. I get that….. Will that be all Hotch?"

Hotch thought he preferred the angry, ranting Morgan. At least he knew that way what he was thinking.

"No. It won't be all. I once told you that I would trust you with my life and that you couldn't afford me the same trust…. You remember?"

Morgan nodded.

"That is still true. I would still trust you with my life. This wasn't about trust. We will all have to find a way to get through this as a team and you are an integral part of that. If you give up on it, it will fall apart. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I just….." Morgan was unusually solemn. "…. It'll be fine Hotch."

Morgan got up and walked to the door. As he reached for the handle Hotch stopped him, "Morgan. I'll ask you one thing. If you were in my position, would you have done anything differently? To save Emily's life and to protect the rest of the team?"

Hotch didn't know if he was asking to make a point to Morgan or for validation for his decisions.

Morgan shook his head, "No Hotch, probably not."

The day finally came when Emily would be coming back to Quantico to see her friends again. She sat outside in the car with JJ.

"You ready?" JJ asked softly, looking at her friend sat next to her. A friend she last saw in Paris not knowing whether she would ever see her again. She had wanted to hug her back then and never let her go, but she couldn't. Instead, she had to sit and watch her walk away. Walk away all alone in the world. It broke her heart.

"No JJ. I'm not ready. I don't know what to say to them. I've hurt them so much. May be I shouldn't of come back." He voice was shaky and she was panicking.

JJ placed her hand on Emily's.

"Em, they will all want to see you more than anything. There may be some anger or hurt along the way, but we'll get through that. For now, let's just get this bit over and done with. One step at a time."

They walked together through the corridors towards the briefing room. Emily felt like hundreds of eyes were on her as they made their way through, but she just looked forward. A few people may have even said hello, but she didn't acknowledge it. She was so focused on her team. If she let that focus slip, she thought she would turn around and run away…..run away again.

Hotch, Rossi, Morgan and Reid were all sat at the round table. Legs were tapping on the floor, fingers were knocking on the table. Garcia was pacing the room. To say that everyone was nervous was an understatement.

They all turned as they heard the door opening. JJ walked in first, tentatively. She knew that her friends wouldn't be too happy with her right now. Emily, shuffled in behind. They all stared…..it was their Emily, but she looked different. She looked so small and so fragile. She was pale and thin and had an unbelievable sadness in her eyes. Her sadness was for them not for herself though. She hoped she could tell them….. that she could convince them of that.

Garcia ran to her and threw her arms around her. Emily winced in pain as she did, the wound in her chest still healing, but she tried not to show it. The feel of Penelope Garcia enveloping her in a hug was something she'd dreamed of for months.

"Emily, I can't believe you're here. Is it really you?" Garcia said, barley being able to get the words out through her sobs.

"It is Pen. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Emily said, breaking down herself. The warmth of Garcia made her feel safe and when she was safe, she allowed herself to cry. There was nothing that could hurt her in that hug.

"Emily Prentiss, don't you ever, ever leave me again. Do you hear me? I will be your shadow forever. You will never escape me again."

"I won't I promise."

Emily looked up remembering the rest of her team were in that room. As she looked up she saw Reid standing next to them. He looked like a lost child waiting for his mommy to come find him.

As hard as it was, she broke out of the hug with Garcia and moved in front of Reid. She held her arms out to him and he walked into her embrace.

"Hey Spence. You ok? I missed you."

"I missed you too….Why did you leave me?" She heard his voice breaking, at the same time she thought she could hear her own heart breaking.

"I didn't leave you Spence. I was just taken away from this for a while. I had to be. I'm sorry."

The word 'sorry' just didn't seem enough, but it was all she had.

Next in line was Hotch. He looked tired and stressed. Even more stressed than normal if that was possible. She knew that she, Hotch and JJ would have to deal with their lies to the rest of the team together over the coming weeks and months.

"Hotch, I know what you have had to do over the last few months, and I can never make that up to you. Please know that I am so so thankful. I know it will have been awful for you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The next face she saw was Rossi. She felt a sigh of relief when she saw a huge, warm smile on his face. This man had done so much for her over the years and she could always rely on him. Now was no different. She smiled back at him. The first time she hadn't had to force a smile in a long time.

"Emily, you have no idea how good it is to see you. Come here." And she got another hug that made her feel home and safe again.

As she was in the hug with Rossi she opened her eyes to see Morgan stood in front of her. His eyes were looking at the floor and he was fidgeting on his feet.

She walked to stand in front of him….. "Hey, Derek….? You saved my life you know? I thought I was going to die….. I wanted to…" She stopped mid sentence as remembering was too difficult. He continued to look at the floor. She moved her hand up to his face and cupped his cheek in her hand causing him to look at her. At that moment she saw the hurt swirling in his eyes. She knew he didn't know what to do and that doing this in front of everyone would be too hard for him.

"…..Everything you said… that kept me alive. Kept me fighting."

She moved into him for a hug. It felt awkward, but she just heard him whisper, "I meant it all."

"Right then….." Rossi began, breaking the tension, knowing that no-one would probably know what to do now. "…I don't know if this is appropriate, but I have bought a bottle of something in to celebrate."

"Dave, you know we can't drink on duty." Hotch shot his friend a glance.

"Well, in that case, we all just knocked off for the day… Emily, here, you have the first one."

He handed her a glass of wine. She looked down at the bottle and saw that it was her favourite.

After handing everyone a glass, Rossi held his in the air. "Guys. Let me just say a few things….. The last few months have been what can only be described as a living nightmare for everyone in this room, but I think that goes to show how much of a bond we all have and what each and everyone means to each other. It will be that bond that gets us through the coming weeks. Please don't lose sight of that. For now, I want to welcome Emily back home where she belongs. Let's just enjoy this moment."

Everyone raised their glasses and took a sip….. after a few minutes of awkwardness there was some chatter amongst various people in the room.

Garcia wouldn't let go of Emily's hand and was bombarding her with questions. As she did, Emily noticed Morgan wasn't talking to anyone….. he put his glass down and slipped out of the room quietly, she thought, hoping no-one would notice.

"So, where are you staying tonight Em?" Garcia asked

"JJ's sorted me a place."

"What on your own?" Garcia looked horrified.

Emily shrugged, "I guess."

"No way missy. You're staying with me….. Spence, you coming…..? Come on… we'll have a sleep over." Garcia was grinning. It was the first time she had felt anywhere near herself since Emily left. Right now she felt on top of the world and nothing was bringing her down.

"Ok." Reid replied and he too had a smile on his face. Not quite as big as Garcia's, but at least it was a smile.

Emily looked around the room and her friends. She did feel at home, more than she could have ever hoped for. There were a few knowing glances exchanged between herself, JJ and Hotch, conscious that they were going to have some difficult questions to answer, but here in this room, with these people around her, she knew they'd get through it. She would speak to Morgan on his own. She knew they had their own stuff to sort out. Right now she was just happy to take in the sight of her friends all together…her family.

Ok, I've completed this story, but I will be doing a sequel so that Emily and Derek can sort their stuff out and may be some of the others. Thanks for reading and thanks for the comments.