JJ: The Food Is Too Hot, I Can’t Eat It.

Emily: You're a lying, cheating, piece of garbage! You're not the woman I married!

JJ: Then we'll get a divorce! And I'm taking Henry!

Henry, slowly sliding the monopoly board away from them: I think it's time we stop playing...

JJ: Why are you wet?

Emily: I knocked over a plant in the kitchen and Sergio saw it.

JJ: So?

Emily: I had to spray myself water-

JJ (confused): Wait-why?

Emily: I wanted to show him that the law applies for everyone [shrugs]

The Best Day (Emily Prentiss x Reader)

“I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you”

Summary: In which you and Emily end up coaching your daughter's little league soccer team.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.2k

As soon as Emily entered the house, she knew something was wrong. The living room was spotless, the dishes were done, fresh cookies were cooling on the stove, and the smell of her lavender bath salts was permeating from the bathroom upstairs. 

This could mean one of three things. The first was that she had completely forgotten an anniversary. Except for the fact that it was September, and Emily knew the two of you didn't have any anniversaries this month. Thank God it wasn't that, Emily thought. 

The second thing was that you were buttering her up for something. 

The third and most likely option was that you had already done something and were doing all this to soften the blow. 

She heard your soft footsteps come down the stairs before your hands were wrapped around her from behind. 

"Hi honey," Emily smiled as she leaned against you momentarily. Taking in the smell of your shampoo and reveling in the fact that it was a Friday night and she could spend the weekend with her two favorite people. 

"Hi," You answered as you kissed her on the cheek, "I just put Amelia to bed-" You started as the sound of your four-year-old bounding down the stairs interrupted you. 

"Mama!" She yelled excitedly as she collided with Emily's legs. 

You chuckled as you removed your hands from Emily so she could pick up your daughter.

"Hi baby," Emily smiled as she adjusted Amelia onto her hip. "I thought Mommy put you to bed," She said as she tickled the little girl's stomach, causing her to laugh and squirm in Emily's arms. 

"Too excited!" Amelia giggled.

"Too excited for what?" Emily asked, turning to you, but you quickly turned around and pretended to be cleaning something in the already spotless kitchen.

When Emily looked down at  Amelia, the little girl mimed, zipping her lips closed.

Emily followed you behind the counter, leaning her hip against it. "Y/n Prentiss..." Emily trailed on, "What did you do?"

"I made cookies!" You announced, ignoring the question as you picked one up and held it in front of Emily "Chocolate chip, your favorite." 

"You're deflecting," Emily commented as she took a bite out of the cookie. It was delicious, just like everything else you made, but she wasn't going to let that distract her.

"Yeah, Mommy, you're deflecting," Amelia parroted, having no clue what the word meant, but lately, she'd been Emily's shadow. Following her everywhere and copying everything she did, it was honestly the most adorable thing you'd ever seen.

"Fine," You groaned as you let Amelia have a small bite of the cookie before putting it back on the pan. "I may have accidentally agreed to something." You said with a sheepish smile. 

"Uh huh," Emily said, prompting you to continue. This hadn't been the first conversation that had started like this, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

"So you know Amelia's little league coach, Heidi?" You asked as you started putting all the cookies in a container.

"I do," Emily confirmed. She looked down at Amelia and saw the little girl giggling into her shoulder, so whatever this was, she knew about it. 

"Well, she just got a promotion at work and doesn't have the time to coach anymore." You continued.

"So?" Emily asked, already knowing where this was going.

"So I may have agreed for us to coach Amelia's team." You said, turning around with a guilty but hopeful smile.

"Yay!" Amelia cheered from Emily's arms. You were honestly surprised she was able to keep the secret that long and not blurt it out as soon as she saw Emily. 

"That's right, baby," You said as you lifted her out of your wife's arms. "Aren't you just so excited?!" You asked her, and she clapped happily in your arms. 

Emily looked at the two of you, both staring at you with pleading eyes, and she knew without a doubt that look was her undoing. It was impossible to tell you or Amelia no.

"You two are lucky you're so cute," Emily said with an amused head shake, "When do we start?" She asked.

"Tomorrow's game!" Amelia blurted out, and Emily narrowed her eyes at you, but you knew no malice was behind it.

"Surprise." You joked as you took a few steps closer to Emily and kissed her on the cheek.

"You owe me a lot of coffee tomorrow morning," Emily said seriously as you walked upstairs to put Amelia to bed again.

"Deal."

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

It was 8 am the next morning, and the three of you were heading to the soccer field. 

"I did some research last night," Emily said as she drove.

"You did?" You asked humorously, turning toward your wife. You and Emily both had on matching hats and pink coach jerseys. It took some corralling to get Emily to wear it, but as soon as Amelia walked into your room and squealed in excitement about matching with her mom's, Emily was a goner.

"I read up on some gameplays and strategies," Emily continued, and you couldn't help the dopey smile that came to your lips, "You're so cute," You giggled because if there was one thing about Emily, it's that whenever she was all in, she was all in. 

You watched the small blush rise on Emily's cheeks and couldn't help but revel in the fact that you still had this much effect on her.

You turned toward Amelia in the back seat, "Isn't your Mama just so cute," You asked.

"Yeah!" Amelia giggled excitedly.

"Okay, okay. I get it," Emily said as she pretended to swat at you. You and Amelia seemed to be partners in crime in tearing away at her walls and insecurities, and she couldn't have been happier. 

"Good. Now, what I meant to say was that they're four, so I'm pretty sure all we have to do is make sure no one runs off the field and hand out juice boxes." You said.

"Oh right," Emily said with a sheepish smile, "But if for some reason they turn out to be soccer prodigies, we have a game plan," She continued, and you chuckled in agreement. 

It was 20 minutes later when you made it to the field. You put Emily in charge of helping the kids warm up as you talked to the parents. With you being the one to drop off and pick up Amelia from practice, you knew them better than Emily.

"Alright, when I roll the ball to you, I want you to kick it!" Emily said enthusiastically as she lined up the ten four-year-olds a couple of yards away from the soccer goal. 

Of course, Amelia had volunteered to go first, the little girl had been outspoken and energetic since she'd arrived in the world. It was a trait that Emily had been reprimanded for when she was younger, her mother telling her that young girls were supposed to be passive and quiet. 

But seeing those traits in her daughter made her realize just how wrong her mother was. There was nothing about Amelia that Emily wanted to change. She was perfect the way she was.

"Alright, Amelia, you ready?" Emily asked as she kneeled in front of the goal, a small soccer ball in her hands.

The little girl nodded eagerly, and Emily slowly rolled the ball to her. Amelia kicked it, and it was nowhere near the goal, but Emily still cheered, "Yeah! Good job!" She smiled as Amelia ran toward her and gave her a high five before going to retrieve her soccer ball. 

"You ready, Chloe?!" Emily asked the next girl in line.

By the time all the girls had kicked the ball a couple of times, you jogged over to tell Emily the game was about to start.

You rounded the girls up into a circle for a short meeting before the game started. 

And when Emily heard the words, "The most important thing is to have fun," come out of her mouth, she knew she was a changed woman.

It took a few minutes to get all the girls on the field. "It's like herding a bunch of squirrels," Emily murmured to you as she kept putting the girls back in their spots since they had all tended to wander around.

"I take it we have no soccer prodigies on our hands." You giggled, bumping your hip into Emily's as you walked off the field.

"We were 0 for ten on the warm-up goals. So, maybe next year," Emily commented.

Once the game started, there wasn't much to do except stand on the sidelines and cheer.

Halfway through the game, you put Amelia as the goalie since you wanted the girls to play all the positions.

"Zoe, sweetie, you can't pick the ball up!" You heard Emily yell from beside you. You chuckled as you watched the little redhead run across the field with the ball in her hands before throwing it into the goal.

"Did you see that, Mrs. Emily?" Chloe said excitedly as she ran over to the two of you.

"I did! But maybe next time we use our feet to kick the ball, alright?" Emily said, and Chloe just shrugged before walking before you and holding her hand out, "Juice box?"

You chuckled as you grabbed one out of the cooler and handed it to her as you ruffled her hair. "You wanna take a little break?" You asked, and Zoe nodded as she walked over to the bench. 

When you turned your attention back to the field, you noticed the lack of a goalie.

"Hey, where did Amelia go?" You asked Emily, who was watching your team try to score another goal.

"What?" Emily asked as she looked to the left and saw that Amelia was nowhere to be found.

"We need to put a tracker on that girl," Emily murmured, not at all surprised that Amelia had wandered off somewhere. The little girl's attention span had always been next to none, constantly running off when something caught her eye. 

Emily would have been more worried if they were anywhere else, but the field was small, and she walked the perimeter beforehand, so she had a good idea of where Amelia had wandered off to.

"You stay here, I'll get her," Emily said as she squeezed your shoulder before jogging off the field.

"Amelia!" She called out as she walked over to the patch of flowers behind the bleachers.

She was relieved to see the little girl's pigtails peeking out. "Baby, what are you doing?" Emily asked before Amelia turned around, smiling at her mom.

"Look!" She replied, holding two tiny bouquets that she had picked in her hands. Although bouquet was probably a generous word for it. "This one is for you,"  Amelia said as she handed the crumpled bunch of flowers to Emily. "And this one for Mommy!" She said excitedly.

"Those are very pretty," Emily chuckled as she easily scooped Amelia into her arms, "But you're supposed to stay on the field."

"But flowers!" Amelia said, once again holding up the flowers at Emily's eyesight. 

"I know, but it's not safe to wander off like that, okay? Next time, you need to wait for me or Mommy to go with you." Emily said as she rubbed Amelia's back.

"Okay, fine," Amelia sighed dramatically as she flopped her head onto Emily's shoulder.

"Thank you," Emily smiled as she walked back to the field.

"How about I take the flowers, " Emily said as she put Amelia back down on the ground. "And you go back on the field," Emily continued.

"Being the goalie is boring!" Amelia pouted.

"There's only a couple minutes left of the game," Emily chuckled, very familiar with the pout that one hundred percent originated from you.

"And once we're done, maybe Mommy will buy us ice cream. But only if you play," Emily negotiated, and Amelia immediately sprinted back to the goal, going as fast as her little legs could carry her. 

Emily shook her head with a laugh as she walked back over to you. 

"Amelia picked you some flowers," Emily said as she handed you the crumpled flowers which were more stem than actual petals. 

"Of course, she did," You giggled as you grabbed them and gently put them in your pocket.

The rest of the game went by quickly. The team didn't score a single goal, but it didn't look like any of the girls cared as they ran off the field. You and Emily gave them all high fives before sending them off to find their parents.

"Ice cream time!" Amelia announced as she ran up to you and Emily.

"Oh, is it now?" You asked as Amelia tugged on your hand.

"Yeah! Mama said you're paying!" Amelia giggled, turning toward Emily with a mischievous smile. 

"She did?" You question, turning towards Emily with a raised eyebrow. 

"Uh-" Emily trailed off, pretending to be oblivious as Amelia laughed at her antics.

"C'mon!" Amelia said, trying to pull the two of you, but just staying in place as her feet slid on the grass.

"Okay, okay," You appeased as all three of you walked to the car. 

You could feel Emily's giddy smile before you turned to look at her. 

"What?" You asked, feeling the slight blush rise to your cheeks just from the way she was looking at you. 

"Nothing, I just- coaching was a lot of fun."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Emily said as she leaned over to give you a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, thank goodness," You sighed in relief, "Because I signed us up to coach next year,"

"Y/n Prentiss!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" You laughed, and Emily knocked her shoulder into yours.

"You're definitely paying for the ice cream now," Emily said as she unlocked the car and helped Amelia into her car seat. 

"We share a bank account, honey." You reminded her.

"Well then, you're paying in spirit!" 

Emily: *laying on a pool chair unconscious*

Penelope, panicking: She’s not breathing!

Derek: I’ll give her mouth to mouth!

Emily: *opens one eye* Ew no! Let JJ do it!

*closes eye*

Spencer:

Hotch:

Rossi:

Penelope:

Derek:

JJ: GET OUT OF THE WAY, MOTHERFUCKERS

Derek: Let's prep you for your date tomorrow with JJ. It's at 7pm. What time do you arrive?

Emily: Seven A.M. Case the restaurant. Run background checks on the staff. Can the cook be trusted? If not, I have to kill him. Dispose of the body. Replace him with my own guy no later than 4:30.

Derek: You're ready.

Emily: Really?

Derek: No. Everything you just said was insane, but we're out of time.

Emily: I always thought "happiness" started with an "h". So why does mine start with "u"?

JJ:

JJ: Are you dyslexic?

JJ: How high are you?

Emily: Nooo, JJ. It’s “hi, how are you?”

Diners and Milkshakes (Don't Blame Me: Chapter 8)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse and other typical CM stuff

Words: 4.3k

"Because your unsub, Y/n, is the daughter of the Wood Stalker."

"I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Derek said as the team took in the new information Gideon had given them. 

Emily frowned as she took in Derek's blunt words, "Well, she had the genetic and environmental influences of a psychopath for eight years," Emily said. She was far from Y/n's biggest fan. She probably hated her more than anyone in this room. But that didn't mean she couldn't sympathize with the little girl that Y/n was. 

"Did she even stand a chance at a normal life?" JJ asked, subconsciously wrapping her hands around her midsection. She didn't know why she felt different about this case. This wasn't the first time one of their unsubs had been a child of a murderer. Maybe it was because she was about to be a mother herself, and she couldn't imagine a world where her future child would be put into a situation like that.

Gideon shrugged, "Jill and I tried our best. We got her into therapy, but since she had no living relatives, she went into the system."

"You pulled Jill onto the case?" Rossi asked, surprise flooding his features. Emily felt like she was missing something as she watched the two older men communicating silently. "Who's Jill?" Emily asked.

"Jason's Ex-wife," Rossi said, his jaw tight. Emily could feel the tension rising in the room again. She looked over to JJ, knowing the blonde may know more since she had been on the team longer. But JJ just shrugged, also at a loss about the past being discussed.

"I brought Jill onto the case because she is the best Biological Psychiatrist in the country. She was the only one who could help Y/n," Gideon explained calmly, not trying to add fuel to an already raging fire.

"So, was Y/n her patient? Or one of her experiments?" Rossi asked as he leaned back into his chair. 

Emily's eyes widened as she looked at Hotch, wondering when he would step in and save them from whatever this argument was. Luckily, Hotch was on the same page. "Can you tell us about the first time you met Y/n?" the unit chief asked, hoping to get them back on track. 

Gideon nodded, "Yeah, it was the day after Alex Painter was killed,"

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟔, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏 

𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲, 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚

Gideon sighed as he poured another crappy cup of coffee from the police department's machine. It was another earlier morning after a late night, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stay on the case. 

He knew the brass was about to pull him off the case and send in another unit. The BAU was still fairly new, and while they had gotten results, this case wasn't. Five dead women and not a single lead so far. But Gideon didn't care about the reputation he was tarnishing; he wanted to find whoever was killing these women and give justice to their families. 

That was always what he'd been about. He didn't care about politics and how people viewed the BAU, unlike his partner David Rossi, but rather that justice was being served and trying to make the world a safer place. At least, that had been the goal.

"Agent Gideon, a couple of hikers called in and said they saw a body." Sheriff Russell sighed as she walked up to the agent. 

Gideon sighed as he massaged his temples. "Same timeline has to be our guy."  He said as he stood up and grabbed his coat. 

"That's what I was thinking. I sent a couple of cops who were close to the scene to go check it out. Told them we'd meet them there." She said as they walked outside and got into the cop car.

It was another thirty minutes before they arrived at the scene. Gideon walked up to the body and noted that the woman looked the same as their previous victims. "Did we have an ID?" He asked.

Sherriff Russell nodded as she crouched down beside him, "Alex Painter, 27, she was here visiting family."

Gideon nodded as he took in the information. But as he studied the body he couldn't help but notice the lack of strangulation marks that appeared on all the other victims. "Did the coroner figure out COD?"

"Yeah, blunt force trauma to the head," Russell said as she stood up, "Are we sure this is our guy? I mean, why would he deviate from his MO? I thought you said the strangulation was key in his killing."

"No, this is our guy," Gideon said immediately.  "Everything else is the same. If we can figure out what made her different, we'll be closer to catching him." He finished as he stood up. He finally felt like they were making leeway with the case, but unfortunately, that was at the cost of another young woman's life.

Russell was about to make another comment when they heard a branch snap to their right, followed by a small gasp. The three cops on the scene immediately pulled their guns out, but Gideon silently ordered them to holster.

"Hello?" Gideon asked as they walked closer to where the branch snapped. "Is anyone there?" He continued with his arms out to the side non threateningly. He knew it was a child, the gasp light and high-pitched in a way only a child could make. 

As he walked closer, he saw small feet peeking from behind a tree. "I'm with the police. I'm not going to hurt you." He said calmly, not approaching any further, wanting the child to come out from behind the tree on their own time. 

He saw the feet move again so that they were hidden behind the tree. "What's your name?" Gideon asked as he began to sit on the ground. His knees protested as he made it down. But he needed to appear as least threatening as possible, and if that's how he could do it, then so be it. 

When he heard no answer, he decided to keep talking, "My name's Jason. But everyone always calls me by my last name, Gideon." He continued talking for another five minutes, talking about everything and anything. 

Gideon was beginning to give up hope about the child coming out from behind the trees on their own when he saw the corner of the child's face poking out from behind the tree. Gideon smiled and continued talking, not wanting to make a big deal of it and scare the child away. 

It took another five minutes for the child's entire face to emerge from behind the tree. Gideon observed that the child was a little girl with long, unruly hair that seemed like it hadn't been brushed in a while. She had dirt on her face and a swollen right eye.

"Hi there, what's your name?" Gideon asked again but the little girl just stared at him.

"That's okay. You don't have to tell me your name, but I do want to talk to you. How does a  milkshake sound?" Gideon asked, hoping to break through to the little girl. 

The girl still stared at him blankly, not indicating that she even understood what the agent was saying. "Or we could have whatever you like. What's your favorite food?" Gideon asked, hoping to get a little engagement from the girl at least. 

And finally, the little girl stepped all the way out from the tree. Her eyes filled with hesitation as she shrugged at Gideon's question. The agent noticed her tattered clothing. Her small cargo pants had a hole at the knee and her long-sleeved t-shirt was also muddy. 

Gideon found it odd that she was wearing all black. She didn't look older than six or seven and most of the kids he met were always wearing something colorful. It made him wonder if it was by choice or not.

"I don't have a favorite food either." Gideon continued "Have you ever had a milkshake before?" He asked.

The little girl slowly shook her head as she studied the man in front of her. 

"Would you like to try one?" Gideon asked.

The girl didn't say anything as her gaze diverted from Gideon for the first time to the people behind him. She saw the cops a couple of yards away from them, all of them with their hands on the gun holstered to their hips. 

She pointed to them, causing Gideon to turn around. "It's okay, they're not going to hurt you," Gideon said softly. "They work with me, but they don't have to come with us. Just you and me. How does that sound?" He asked. 

Gideon watched closely as the girl turned around and looked into the woods for a second before turning to him and nodding cautiously. He wondered if someone else was back there and made a note for the sheriff to look into it. He didn't want to jeopardize the progress he made by asking the girl.

He slowly stood up, ignoring the way his knees cracked, and told the little girl to follow him. Luckily the police understood the gravity of the situation and stayed back, letting the FBI agent handle it.

"Do your parents know where you are?" Gideon asked as the girl walked closer to him. She blinked at him and Gideon thought she was about to speak before she just shrugged.

"Okay," He said simply, making another note to tell the Sheriff to figure out who this girl's parents were. 

They walked silently to the car. The little girl was a couple of steps behind Gideon the whole time. The agent winced every time the girl took a step on a branch. He wondered if it hurt her bare feet, but the girl was showing no indication if it did. He wondered if it was a learned response or if it just didn't hurt.

"Well, this is the car," Gideon said as he pointed to the old car. "Do you want to ride up front?" He asked, and again the girl just shrugged. Instead of asking more questions, he just walked to the other side of the car, surprised that the girl was following him.

He opened the passenger door, motioning for the girl to hop up and she did with surprising ease. "Buckle up." He smiled as he closed the door and got in on the driver's side. As he started the engine he turned to the girl and saw that the seatbelt was untouched. 

He kind of wanted to let it go, but then again, it was ill-advised to have a child that young in the passenger seat, so he had to do something. "Do you need help?" He asked.

She nodded slowly and Gideon didn't miss the way she flinched as he reached across her. She was still as a statue until the buckle clicked and then she let out the breath she'd been holding. 

It was a quiet drive to the small diner on the side of the road. He knew it was protocol to take her back to the police station, but he had a feeling he'd get more answers in a friendlier environment. In all honesty, he was surprised she'd even gotten into the car with him.

Luckily the Sheriff had been a step ahead of him and had already sent the cops to comb through the woods around them, as well as contacting a social worker to meet them back at the station when they were done. 

On the other side of the car, the girl stared out the window the whole time, her eyes barely reaching it due to her height. 

When they finally reached the diner, Gideon was glad to see it was mostly empty. He quickly turned off the car and hopped out to open the passenger door. He saw the girl pulling at her seatbelt and now Gideon was wondering if she had ever used one before. 

"You want me to do?" He asked, not wanting to go anywhere near the girl without asking first. Reluctantly she nodded and then hopped out of the car as soon as she was free.

"Jason? Back already?" The waitress chuckled as soon as they walked in the door.

"You know I can't resist your strawberry milkshakes." Gideon smiled as he stayed by the door, letting the girl take in everything before moving to a booth.

"Well, who's this?" The waitress, Wanda, as her name tag indicated, asked.

As soon as the girl realized Wanda was talking about her, she went to hide behind Gideon's legs.

"A new friend of mine," Gideon said simply. "Could we take the booth by the back?" He asked and Wanda smiled, taking the situation in stride as she set the booth up and walked away, not wanting to scare the girl anymore. 

They slowly made their way to the booth, Gideon sitting on one side and the girl on the other. The girl sat there, staring at the menu, but Gideon could tell she was reading it as her eyes went back and forth.

"I always get the Strawberry milkshake," Gideon said, breaking the silence. "But you can get whatever sounds good to you. There's chocolate, vanilla-" Gideon continued before the girl pointed at the menu.

Gideon leaned over and saw what she was pointing at. "You want a Banana Milkshake?" He asked, and she nodded her head. "Good choice." He smiled as he got up to order, but never took his eye off her. Not that it mattered, she stayed in her seat staring out the window the whole time. 

"So I told you I'm with the cops, right?" Gideon asked as he slid into his seat. The girl turned away from the window and nodded. 

"I'm actually an FBI agent. Do you know what that is?" He asked kindly. 

The girl shook her head. 

"It means that I look for bad people and catch them so they don't hurt people," Gideon said simply, "And right now, I'm looking for a really bad man. And I think you might be able to help me."

The girl's eyes widened, and she looked down at the table. If Gideon hadn't thought she knew something before, he knew that she did now. 

"I promise you won't get in trouble. All you have to do is talk to me." He continued, but the girl immediately shook her head, her wild hair flying back and forth. Gideon was surprised by the reaction; it was the most emotion he'd seen all day. 

"Why can't you talk to me?" He asked. He watched the little girl look around the diner; he wondered what she was looking for until she pointed at the pen on the counter across from them. "Do you want to write?" He asked as he stood up and grabbed the pen.

The girl nodded, and Gideon immediately grabbed the notepad out of his coat pocket. He handed both items to the girl and was surprised to see how quickly she began to write. 

After she was done, she handed over the notepad. 

𝙄𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨

Gideon frowned as he read the words. "Talking is against the rules?" He asked for clarification, and the girl nodded. "Well, do you want to know a secret?" Gideon asked conspiratorially as he leaned in closer, his eyes widened, animatedly. The girl nodded hesitantly.

"The rules don't count in this diner." He smiled, and the girl looked at him skeptically. So Gideon had to double down. "So if I wanted to stand on the table," Gideo said as he stood up and climbed from the booth chair onto the table, "I can do whatever I want." He smiled, thankful for the way the other patrons were ignoring him. 

He felt ridiculous standing on the table, but when the girl let out a toothy smile, he couldn't help but smile back. It was the first smile he'd seen from her, and he finally felt like he was getting somewhere. "See? No rules." He said as he carefully got off the table and sat back down.

"Okay," The girl said, and Gideon smiled again. Her voice was hoarse and soft at the same time. It made Gideon think that she hadn't been allowed to talk for a very long time. 

"Okay," Gideon repeated, "How come you were in the woods?"

The girl looked around the diner before scooting closer, "I got us in trouble."

"Us?" Gideon asked.

The girl nodded as she looked back down at the table, "Me and Alex." she whispered.

"You know Alex?" Gideon asked calmly, not showing any shock or surprise on his face. The girl nodded again, not saying anything else, so Gideon continued asking the questions. "How do you know Alex?"

The girl shrugged again, but the way her eyes flickered to Gideon and then back to the table indicated to the profiler that she knew more than she was revealing. 

"You can tell me anything; I promise you won't get in trouble with me," Gideon said softly.

The girl hesitated but finally gave in, "She was staying with us. She was my daddy's friend."

Oh.

Oh...

Another piece of the puzzle coming together. But Gideon hadn't been expecting this. The thought of the unsub being a father hadn't even crossed his mind. But now he was sitting across from The Wood Stalker's daughter, and he wondered if she knew what her father was doing.

"Your dad?" Gideon asked. "Does he have a lot of friends?"

"Yeah, I never get to meet them though." She said as she swung her feet, her heels tapping against the booth. 

"How come you met Alex then?" 

"I didn't mean to. I was thirsty, and I went to the kitchen after bedtime, and- and Alex was sitting at the table." She answered, her eyes skittering around anxiously. "And then daddy saw me and he got really mad."

"Is that how you got that?" Gideon asked as he pointed to the girl's black eye. She nodded as she slumped back to her seat, "I was being bad,"

Gideon felt his heart pang. He'd worked with a lot of children in his field, but it never got easier. "You weren't being bad, you were just thirsty." He said kindly. The girl just shrugged so Gideon decided to move on, "Did you see Alex after that?"

The little girl looked around the diner again as if she was making sure no one else was listening to them, "Yeah..." She trailed off but Gideon gave her an encouraging nod to keep going.

"She looked really sad when I saw her, so I waited until I heard daddy go to sleep, and then I snuck out to the basement to see her."

"Is that where all of your daddy's friends stay?" Gideon asked.

"Mhm. I'm not 'sposed to go down there but- but she looked really sad. So I stole Daddy's key and opened the door. But Alex was on the ground and- and I kept shaking her shoulders, but she was still sleeping." The girl continued.

"Did you see anything while you were down there?"

The girl shook her head, "It was dark and I couldn't reach the light switch..." She trailed off again.

Gideon watched the way the girl squirmed in her chair and decided to take a break. "You're doing a really good job, kid. Why don't I go check on our milkshakes?" He asked and smiled when she nodded in agreement. 

He walked over to the counter where Wanda was putting in another order. "I'll have your shakes out in a sec." She said as she walked toward Gideon.

"Thanks," Gideon said offhandedly as he watched the little girl.

"You know, you really oughta put some shoes on that girl," Wanda said with a knowing look.

Gideon chuckled as he shook his head, "Would you believe me if I said that would be the least of her worries?"

"I wish I didn't. Poor thing. How 'bout I add extra whip cream to her shake?" Wanda suggested and Gideon nodded at the sentiment.

It was only a minute later when Gideon carried the milkshakes back to the booth, presenting the massive shake to the girl. She eyed it suspiciously, waiting for Gideon to eat a spoonful of his before hesitantly reaching for her spoon. 

Gideon's heart warmed as he watched her eyes light up after the first bite. 

"Good?" He chuckled, although the pace she was devouring the shake at should have told him enough. 

"Mhm!" She smiled, and for the first time the little girl actually looked like a kid. 

They ate in relative silence, and Gideon noticed how the girl's smile never left her face. He knew he was stalling, but he wanted her to enjoy this moment, this brief instance of peace and childlike joy, before her whole world changed forever.

And maybe that was a good thing, scratch that, it would be a good thing. Taking her out of the hands of a serial killer was good. But Gideon knew the system and the protocols of evasive questions that lay in her future, and if he could just give her five minutes of calm, then he was going to do that. 

"Thank you for the milkshake, Mr. Gideon." The girl said after she took her last bite. Her stomach full and satisfied for probably the first time she could ever remember. 

"You're very welcome. Are you ready to keep going?"

The girl nodded as she brushed her hair behind her ears. 

"So what did you do when you couldn't wake Alex up?" Gideon asked, getting right back into it. 

"I waited. And then after a really long time I heard her start to get up. I think she was scared when she saw me, but then she was happy and said I could help her."

"How did you help her?" Gideon questioned. 

"She said I could help her go back to her family. And she was sad cause she missed them. Daddy said she was too sick to go see them, but Alex told me she wasn't sick anymore."

"Did you help her get out of the basement?"

"Mhm. But she said we had to be quiet. And I tried to be quiet, really quiet but I couldn't." The girl said quietly as she brought her thumb to her mouth, biting at her nails anxiously. 

Gideon gave her a sympathetic look, "Did your daddy find you?"

"Yeah, and he was really really mad. He told me to go back to my room and I did. But then he came back and made me go to the basement where Alex was. It looked like she was sleeping again, but there was blood all over the floor. He said it was my fault that Alex had to go away. And then he handed me the hammer and told me I had to do it." 

Gideon didn't have to ask what he made her do. "It wasn't your fault," He said softly, and the girl shook her head, "Yes, it was, it always is cause I'm bad." She said, her lip quivering.

"You are not bad, your dad is the bad one." He reiterated and wasn't surprised when she shook her head again. Years of trauma were not going to be broken by a couple of words, but Gideon's heart still felt heavy.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" The girl asked quietly, pulling Gideon out of his thoughts.

"Of course." He said as he got out of the booth and walked the girl to the corner of the diner. He stood outside the bathroom and checked his phone, flipping it open to see that the Sheriff had turned up empty on both the wood search and figuring out who this girl was. 

He sighed as he pocketed his phone, but at least he'd found the girl and could take her somewhere safe.

He waited by the door for another five minutes before he started to get concerned, "You okay in there?" He called out as he knocked on the door.

No response.

"Kid?" He knocked again, his heart rate picking up as he was met with silence.

He quickly threw the door open, ready to deal with the consequences later, when he saw the small window in the bathroom was open.

"No," He gasped, his heart dropping.

"No, no, no, no!" He yelled as he threw open every stall and came up empty.

"Fuck!" He cursed as he ran out of the bathroom, throwing a twenty on the table as he raced to his car.

The police department searched for days, every available officer deployed throughout the county, but they turned up empty.

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲

"Did she leave by herself or did her dad take her?" Derek asked after Gideon had finished the story of his initial encounter with Y/n.

Gideon shrugged, "To this day I still don't know."

"Well, when did you find her?" Emily asked, feeling uneasy.

"A year later, after she called in about her dad. But a lot happened from when I first met her to that day. She wouldn't speak to anyone for two months, that's why I called Jill in, she was the one that got her to open up." Gideon sighed as he ran his hands through his short hair. 

He was still trying to figure out how that little girl had turned into the unsub his former team was trying to catch. And although he knew it wasn't his fault, it felt a little like it was. 

"How closely did Jill work with her?" Hotch asked.

"Closely. If you call her, I'm sure she'll be happy to talk to you guys," Gideon answered.

"I'm sure she will," Rossi muttered under her breath and Emily glanced between the older men again, wondering for the fifth time about what this feud was about. But she already had too much on her plate, Y/n was enough to worry about, so she could snoop later.

"Garcia, did you have any luck contacting the author Y/n writes for?" Hotch asked, changing routes, to hopefully keep things civil for as long as possible.

Penelope nodded as she opened her laptop, "She's currently in Colorado but said she'll be back in DC by the end of the week. She said she'd be happy to answer any questions we have."

"Good. Prentiss and Morgan, I want you on that. But for now, let's rebuild Y/ns profile with the information we have now." Hotch said, and the team nodded in agreement

For the first time, Emily felt like they were actually getting somewhere. 

A/N: this chapter kind of got away from me but oh well! I promise there’s more Y/n and Emily interactions next chapter! ;)

Taglist: @laanswife @gh0sstss @unoreverselu @unexpected-character

A New Light (Don't Blame Me: Chapter 5)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Summary: Emily knew it was wrong. She knew you were the most dangerous woman the BAU had ever seen. Yet, she couldn't seem to stay away from you.

Warnings: Typical Criminal Minds stuff

Words: 2k

"How's that big head of yours?" Emily asked as she leaned against the door frame of Derek's hospital room. She had come straight from the crime scene, where Hotch had received a call that Derek was being released but needed someone to pick him up. Emily immediately volunteered, the lingering guilt still at the back of her mind. 

"Always the flatterer, princess." Derek chuckled as he packed his bag, "Doctors think she drugged me transdermally."

"Jesus. She really was two steps ahead of us," Emily sighed, and Derek nodded in confirmation, "Hotch said she struck again?"

"Yeah, she's taunting us," Emily said.

"This is my fault. I should have done more to stop her-" Derek started before Emily cut him off.

"She drugged you, Derek. No one could have seen that coming."

"I know, but-"

"Ah! No buts! Except for yours, which is about to get pushed around by me in a wheelchair." Emily smiled as she gestured to the wheelchair outside of his room.

"Like hell I am," Derek scoffed as he tried to walk out of the room but was stopped by Emily. 

"It's hospital protocol. And I'll call Dad if you don't cooperate!" Emily threatened.

Derek rolled his eyes but eventually sat in the wheelchair. Emily could be very scary when she wanted to be.

Out of everyone, he was glad that it was Emily to get him. They shared an easy camaraderie, which was exactly what he needed. 

"I don't think Hotch will approve of you calling him Dad." Derek quipped back as Emily pushed him through the halls of the hospital.

"Yeah, you're right. Mom suits him better." Emily smiled, causing Derek to laugh, "Ten bucks to say that to his face." 

"Oh, you're on," Emily said, flicking the back of his head, and their bickering continued all the way to the car. 

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

"Alright, my beautiful crime fighters," Penelope started as she walked into the conference room where the rest of the team was. As soon as Emily and Derek had walked into the bullpen, Hotch had called everyone to debrief and review new information.

"I found a whole lot of nothing with the information Derek gave us, but I did possibly find something!" Penelope said as she connected her computer to the TV. 

"I ran the name Y/n Y/l/n, and unsurprisingly, I found nada. However, I ran the name Alex Painter, Y/n's first victim, through VICAP and got this.."

The technical analyst pulled the picture up, and the team sat in confusion.

"Alex Painter was a woman?" Emily asked, extremely skeptical if this was the right person.

"And she was killed in 1991? Assuming Y/n is in her mid-20s, that would put her at about 6-10 years old when she killed Alex Painter." Spencer chimed in.

"COD was blunt force trauma to the head; I mean, even though it sounds unlikely, it isn't entirely impossible," Derek said.

"I've seen it before," Rossi added. 

"You can't be serious," JJ said defensively, causing the whole team to look at her, surprised by her uncharacteristic tone, "She was just a kid. There's no way she could have done that by herself."

"I'm with JJ," Emily said, although much calmer than her blonde counterpart, "Something's off. This is either the wrong Alex Painter, or we're getting into something a lot bigger than we thought."

The rest of the team nodded; not everyone was on the same page, but everyone knew something wasn't adding up. 

"Well, that's my cue to do more sleuthing. I will update you guys when I'm done. PG out." Penelope declared as she grabbed her stuff and made her way to her lair for the foreseeable future. 

"While Garcia's doing that, I want a new profile on Y/n, especially after last night,"  Hotch said as he motioned to the numerous boxes on the table. "Go over all the case files again; maybe there's something Interpol missed." He said before going to his office to no doubt do his own work.

"Well, this should be fun," Derek grumbled, earning a sigh from everyone else.

"Coffee, anyone?" Emily asked, knowing this was about to be a long day. Everyone gave a pleasant nod. Before she left the room, she turned to JJ when no one was looking and mouthed "tea," to which JJ gave a grateful smile.  

As Emily was brewing the coffee, she felt her phone buzz. Not thinking anything of it, she pulled it out of her pocket. But when she saw the sender of the text, her heart dropped. 

Y/n (10:23 am): Did you like the flowers?

Emily scoffed, about to turn her phone off, when another message popped up.

Y/n (10:24 am): It was hard to find them on such short notice. But only the best for you, darling.

Emily (10:24 am): I don't want anything from you.

Emily quickly typed out. She didn't know if this was against protocol, but she couldn't just not respond. 

Y/n (10:25 am): We'll see about that.

Emily pocketed her phone, leaving the conversation at that before turning to the coffee pot and filling up everyone's mug. 

"Thanks for the tea," Emily heard from behind her and turned to find JJ.

"Of course. You feeling okay?" She asked as she handed JJ her mug, "No morning sickness, thankfully. But I give the smell of coffee two hours before it makes me puke."

"I'm sorry," Emily said apologetically, but JJ waved her off.

"So, have you put any more thought into you and Will?" Emily asked, trying not to pry, but she also wanted to get her mind off of Y/n.

"I don't know," JJ sighed, "He was blowing up my phone last night."

"After you told him you were at my place?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, he was just worried," JJ said quietly. 

Emily tried not to let her emotions play on her face, but god, she couldn't stand Will. 

"Well, you're welcome to come over whenever. And if you need me to talk to Will-" Emily started before JJ cut her off.

"It's fine, Em. But thank you." JJ said appreciatively, squeezing Emily's arm. 

"Yo! Where's that coffee, princess?" Derek called from the conference room. 

"Well, duty calls." JJ chuckled as she helped Emily grab the mugs. 

When they returned to the conference room, there were files everywhere. It was going to be a very long day.

By 6 pm, it seemed as if they had made no progress. Emily's eyes were strained, and she honestly didn't think she was retaining anything she was reading. 

"This is insane," Derek muttered as he picked another file out of the box.

"What is?" Spencer asked, adding another file to his stack that was probably double the size of everyone else's.

"Her victim count. It's insane." Derek said as it was the most obvious thing.

"Why? Cause she's a woman?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Derek said sarcastically, causing Emily to throw her pen at him, hitting him right in the forehead, "Hey! I was kidding!"

"I know," Emily smiled, and Derek rolled his eyes.

"What I meant was that she's in her twenties and already has a kill count in the hundreds. What happened to her that made her into the killer she is?" Derek questioned.

"I don't know. And until we figure that out, we stand no chance of catching her," Rossi added.

Emily bit at her bottom lip. She didn't want to think about how many more people were going to die before they caught Y/n.

"Maybe I can try and lure her out again." Emily offered and was immediately met with a resounding no from everyone.

"We already did that, and it didn't work," JJ said. Not even wanting to think about sending her friend to meet Y/n again. 

"And besides, you know that's not how we work, Prentiss," Derek said.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Emily said with a small nod. But she couldn't help but think they could catch Y/n quicker if they did, except for the fact that Derek was right. The BAU didn't go undercover and lure people; they profiled and caught unsubs from an outside perspective. And that's how Emily wanted to do things from here on out. Right?

It was almost 8 pm by the time she walked into her apartment. The last two days were catching up to her, and Emily wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next 12 hours. She quickly popped a frozen pizza into the oven before going to change. 

As she waited for the pizza, she browsed through her bookshelf when she suddenly remembered that Y/n told her she was a writer. Was it possible that Emily had read one of her books? She had quite a hefty collection in her apartment, but it wasn't even a fraction of all the books she'd read in her life. 

What kind of books did Y/n write? Emily wondered. Mystery? Romance? Fiction? Fantasy?

And what got her into writing? How did she even have time to write and murder hundreds of men?

The oven rang, pulling Emily out of her thoughts. She shook her head as she walked back to the kitchen. Reading was supposed to help her get out of her head, and all she could think about was Y/n. 

She took her pizza on the couch, putting on some reality show that she didn't pay any attention to. 

After about twenty minutes, Emily pulled her phone out and went to her text messages with Y/n. She knew she should tell Hotch she was in contact with Y/n. But what if Hotch disapproved and made her end it? She couldn't get rid of the only lead they had, so maybe she should wait until she got enough out of Y/n. 

So, without thinking too hard about it, she texted Y/n. 

Emily (9:02 PM): Alex Painter.

The name was all Emily typed before turning off her phone. She knew Y/n wouldn't be able to resist talking to her. And even if the younger woman didn't give her anything, what harm could it do? It wasn't like the team was making much leeway anyway.

Y/n (9:03 PM): I thought you wanted nothing to do with me? Change of heart?

Emily (9:03 PM): No. I just want to know about Alex Painter. 

Y/n (9:04 PM): What about her?

Y/n (9:04 PM): Also, this is not the kind of late-night text I prefer, Emily.

Emily scoffed, ignoring the last message.

Emily (9:05 PM): Did you really kill her in 1991?

Y/n (9:05 PM): I don't know, did I? I thought your team was supposed to be good at stuff like this.

Y/n (9:06 PM): Also, what are you wearing?

Once again, Emily ignored the last message.

Emily (9:06 PM): You were just a kid in 1991. How were you able to overpower a grown woman?

Y/n (9:07 PM): Answer my question, and I'll answer yours.

Emily groaned as she looked down at her outfit. She knew what Y/n was doing, and she didn't want to play into her game. But if she could get an answer, it would be worth it. And it wasn't like she was doing anything illegal.

Emily (9:09 PM): An old Yale T-shirt and flannel pajama shorts.

Y/n (9:09 PM): Surprising, but nonetheless hot. Want to know what I'm wearing?

Emily (9:09 PM): No. I answered your question, now answer mine.

Y/n (9:10 PM): Bummer. If you wanted to know, I would have told you that I am taking a very relaxing bath right now and am wearing absolutely nothing.

Emily gripped her phone, cursing her brain for visualizing that for even a second. God, this was a bad idea.

Y/n (9:10 PM): And if you had said please, I definitely would have sent you a picture. 

Emily (9:10 PM): Back to Alex Painter 

Emily typed, not wanting to entertain Y/n any longer. 

Y/n (9:11 PM): Yes ma'am.

Y/n (9:11 PM): 1991 is correct. More specifically, I was 7. And to answer your question, I took the last hit.

Emily (9:11 PM): What does that mean?

Y/n (9:12 PM): You tell me. But I have to say I'm quite bored of this conversation now. We'll talk later, darling.

Emily shut off her phone, knowing the conversation was done. But what did Y/n mean by her taking the last hit?

Emily quickly went to clean her kitchen before getting into bed. 

She tried to sleep, but all she could think about was Y/n. 

JJ: That’s ridiculous. Emily does not have a crush on me.

Derek: Yes she does.

Spencer: Yes she does.

Emily: Yes she does.