Side by side || Emily Prentiss

17*

«You were like coming up from fresh air.
It's like I was drowning and you saved me.»

When they were all at the ballpark Daisy wanted to do anything but being there. She hated seeing people laugh happily when she felt like she was dying inside. The only reason she was staying was the huge rivers of alcohol Emily had brought.

Soon after they were all drunk, including Daisy, but her alcohol tolerance threshold must have been far higher than everyone else's, because they were all visibly drunk while only she and Rossi were just a little tipsy.

She was however surprised by how suddenly Emily's phone started ringing and, from the very serious conversation the woman had after answering, Daisy deduced that it was a work call; she would never have been able to handle it so well if she had been as drunk as Emily.

"Look at the how Prentiss stays serious even though she's very drunk." - Rossi joked, making everyone laugh immediately

"Your mom would be really proud of you." - Garcia said to Emily and at that moment everyone started laughing even harder

Daisy allowed herself a single shy smile because she knew how Emily's mother had always been absent only unofficially, the older woman had never told her about it. Seeing everyone there, laughing about it together made her feel like a stranger for the umpteenth time.

She wanted to go away, she wanted to go home and sleep so all that bad mood would go away from her.

"Okay, thanks so much for the evening, I'm going home." - she said when everyone's laughter had calmed down

"It's actually getting very late." - JJ said looking at her clock

"No way, we're not here to hurry, we're here to play baseball." - Luke told them

Tara began passing beers to everyone, as if they weren't already drunk enough, and Daisy was shocked by how much they were all capable of drinking and how much alcohol Emily had decided to bring.

"Sorry guys, but I'm going home" - she said when Tara tried to pass her a beer

"No fucking way, you'll have fun." - Rossi told her, putting a helmet on her head and passing her a baseball bat

Emily was already in position with the glove behind Daisy, ready to catch any ball that the younger agent wouldn't hit. The brunette hadn't played baseball in years, not since college, when after every exam she and her classmates went out to play and drink, just as her colleagues were doing now.

"Now hit the ball." - her boss told her with a reassuring smile

"I don't feel like it, come on." - she replied

Rossi, however, had already activated the ball-throwing machine and the first of many had already been thrown towards her while she was
complaining and had been caught by Emily in her glove, and she was now cheering like a happy little girl.

"What are you trying to do?" - Daisy said nervously, turning to the oldest profiler

"Come on, you need to stop thinking about what's going to happen. Focus on what's in front of you and hit the fucking ball." - he told her aggressively, making another one be launched by the machine

That time Daisy hit it perfectly, maybe a little too hard, but she didn't care. The alcohol that was circulating in every inch of her body made her feel like the happiest person in the world for having been able to play baseball after years and she began to scream and celebrate, ending up hugging Rossi.