𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟖𝟕

"𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚅𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚟𝚎𝚛"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘

"WELL, THAT WAS A SHORT CHRISTMAS BREAK," Noah frowns as she gets into the passenger seat of the car.

"Welcome to the life of an FBI agent," Emily sighs as she starts the car.

"I mean, it's the day after Christmas and you're going into work," Noah complains as she buckles her seatbelt.

"I said you could stay home and sleep in," Emily reminds her daughter.

"I know, but I wanna see everyone," Noah mutters and leans her head on the window. She closes her eyes, hoping to get some more sleep before they arrive.

Emily makes sure to make the ride a little less bumpy as she notices Noah had fallen asleep. She takes the curves and turns slowly and leaves the radio off. When they pull into the parking garage, Emily gently shakes Noah awake.

"Get your bag from the back," Emily coos and kisses Noah's head. The teen gets out of the car and grabs her backpack full of things to entertain her.

They get on the elevator and make their way to the sixth floor. Noah heads straight to Penelope's office, wanting to know everything the tech queen did on her Christmas day. They talk for what seems like hours before Noah goes to greet everyone else.

"Hey, kiddo," Morgan says as he gives the teen a fistbump, "You asked for this," He says and holds up a gift.

"Oh, you weren't lying," Noah giggles as she takes the gift and sits atop his desk. She pulls the wrapping paper off and opens the box. She pulls out the box and looks at the picture on it, "What is this?"

"That is a fitness watch," Morgan says with a smile, "It will track your steps, help you pace when you go on runs, track your calories when you workout, and tons of other stuff."

"Woah," Noah says as she opens the box and takes out the watch, "It has a touch screen?"

"Yep," Morgan beams, "I got you the good one."

"Oh, Morgan, you didn't have to do that," Emily says as she smiles at the man.

"I told you I got you covered, shorty," Morgan chuckles. Noah looks at him and smiles, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Derek," Noah says and shows her mother the watch. Morgan watches the teen with a wide smile, seeing her living the life that he wanted as a kid and trying his best to be the mentor he once needed.

—

"Noah, you ready to go?" Emily asks as she peers down at her daughter, who is sitting beside her chair on the floor playing with her Nintendo.

"Uh, yeah, are you still driving me to Jess'?" The teen asks.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna drop you off too late, so we gotta go now," Emily replies.

"Okay," Noah says as she stands. She gets all her stuff together and slings her bookbag over her shoulder, "I'll just be one minute," She says as she walks up the steps to Hotch's office.

The teen knocks on the cracked door and opens it a bit. She sees Hotch look up at her and nod, gesturing for her to come in.

"Hey," Noah says as she closes the door behind her.

"Hi," Aaron replies, still looking at his files.

"Do you have a sec?" Noah asks.

"Yeah, sure," Hotch answers as he puts his pen down.