Hope for the Hopeless [Jemily]

Beyond the Wreckage

May 12, 2007
— Emily's POV
Who would have thought my life would actually spin around and do something damn good for me for once? Having Jennifer come back into my circle was the last thing I ever would've imagined happening, but I guess all that hoping and praying paid off. Working alongside her has been an absolute dream even though it's only been a week, but another worry has crossed my mind: the fact that a couple of friends is all we might ever be. She and I were currently meandering by the coffee machine, reminiscing about Paris. I loved doing that with her, because it brought back the teenagers in us.

"Do you remember when we ate like a dozen croissants each at that bakery?" Jennifer asked me as she stirred her creamer in.

"Remember? I still have my receipt!"

"You do not!"

"Yeah! I swear to god!"

"Dig that up for me when you get home, I wanna see it."

"Anything for you, my sweet." Jennifer smiled shyly and blushed red, like she always did whenever I used a pet name on her or gave her compliments.

She cleared her throat and quietly asked, "Emily are you um... H-Have you thought about that conversation we had with Garcia? At my place last week?"

"Yeah, occasionally." I think about that conversation at least 10 times a day. I told Jennifer we should just "see what happens" between us but that was really just the first thing that came out of my mouth-- I wish I could take it back now.

"O-Oh. Yeah, me too. Occasionally."

"Why, Jen?"

"Just wondering... I uh, I was thinking about 'where we left off' and where we are now and I think you're right."

"About what?"

"That it might be best to take things slowly. Naturally. See where it goes from here." Damn it. That's exactly why I wish I hadn't said that.

I stammered, "Yeah uh, yeah I th-think that's good. I-If you agree, I mean." I'm totally making this worse, aren't I?

Jennifer smiled, "Good. It's good to know we're on the same page." Are we though? She leaned up and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back to her office. I'm never washing that cheek again.

Hotch stepped out of his door and yelled into the bullpen, "We have a case." I groaned and set my coffee mug down, grabbing my go bag and heading into the roundtable room. I walked inside and saw everyone seated and ready to go except for Derek.

"Where's Morgan?" I asked Hotch.

"That's the dilemma. He's been arrested."

Spencer squeaked, "Arrested? Why?"

"He's in Chicago, we're dropping everything and flying there until this is resolved."

JJ nervously questioned, "What do they have him in for?"

"Homicide." Our faces turned white as fear swept over us. We raced to the jet and debriefed the case on the flight. I was pretty new to the team but I really liked Morgan so far, and I just hoped we'd be able to get him out of this.

Several hours later

"Yeah, well, it wasn't for free, was it?!" Hotch, Rossi, and I heard yelling coming from Carl Buford's office in the youth center. It sounded like a heated Morgan. We crept up outside and listened in, remaining unseen.

"I pulled you out of the gutter!"

"I pulled myself out of the gutter! All the way to the FBI! I did that!"

"You sayin' I had nothin' to do with making you who you are?!"

"No, Carl. Actually I'm saying you have everything to do with making me who I am. Because of you I'm somebody who gets to spend the rest of my life making sure guys like you go down."

"Look, Derek... I never hurt you. You could have said no." My heart sunk at hearing that. No one should ever have to experience what we all now knew Derek went through, especially a child.

Detective Gordinski walked into the room and calmly stated, "You're under arrest, Carl.

Buford tried to defend himself, "I've helped a lot of kids," but they were already dragging him away, as they should. The three of us stepped slowly into the room where Derek was, seeing him visibly distraught and in tears. We drove him back to the station and let him attend to some other personal matters at home before heading to the airstrip with him to go back to DC. I walked onto the plane and saw Derek sitting alone, staring out the window.

I gently sat in front of him and comforted, "Hey uh, I-I know I'm new here and everything but um... if you ever wanted to talk to me about anything I'm here and I'll listen."

He nodded in understating, "Thanks, Prentiss." I got up and surveyed where I should sit. Jennifer was curled up in a seat near the back, looking in need of a shoulder to lean on.

"You okay?" I walked up to her and worriedly asked.

She shrugged, "Rough case."

"Of course... Can I sit?" I motioned to the open seat at her side.

"Mmhmm."

"You wanna talk at all? About today?"

"Not really." Jennifer was a talker, so I knew any minute that mouth would open up again. Sure enough, "It's just... it was really hard... learning all of that about Morgan. Derek."

"How'd it make you feel?"

"Like we shouldn't have known. Like we were invading his privacy and now he's ashamed around us."

"I know. We just have to be there for him and give him the support he needs. Reassure him it's nothing to be ashamed of and we just wanted to help him."

"Yeah. You're right." She nuzzled her head on top of my shoulder, letting it rest against me. I froze a little at the contact, but only because it was Jennifer and I didn't expect that kind of affection. She looked up at me with her ocean blue eyes, "You don't mind if I put my head here, do you?"

"Not at all. Make yourself comfy."

"Thank you, Em. You're very comfy." She nestled back down and within a matter of minutes I saw her eyelids get heavy and droop shut, signaling that she was asleep. I smiled lovingly as I watched her, brushing some stray hairs away from her face every once in a while. She was so effortlessly beautiful, I could look at her all day like a piece of artwork.

Taking a risk, I moved forward and pressed a featherlight kiss to her forehead-- I couldn't resist it. About 30 seconds later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and tore my attention away from Jennifer only momentarily. Hotch was standing over me, holding out a blanket that he dug out of the overhead and insinuating that I should put it over the sleeping beauty next to me. I mouthed "thank you" as I took it from him and carefully draped it over Jennifer. My sleeping beauty, indeed.

A/N- this chapter contains dialogue from Season 2, Episode 12- "Profiler, Profiled"