never grow up, criminal minds

037. donuts

"Oh, come on. Aunt Em's coming back to work, at least part time. I wanna see her." Clara says.

"She'll be here for a while. You can see her later." Spencer says.

"But I want to be one of the ones to greet her on her first day." Clara whines. "I'm her favorite kid."

"How do you know that?" Spencer asks.

"She said so." Clara grins. "She also said she likes me more than you."

"She did not." Spencer argues. Clara simply shrugs, letting him decide for himself, and Spencer rolls his eyes.

"Clary, you have school." Spencer says.

"I can miss the first one or two classes." Clara insists.

"Clara--"

"Come on. It rarely happens. Besides I did it for Uncle Derek's welcome back to work party." Clara says.

Spencer sighs, looking at her puppy dog eyes.

"Please, daddy." She begs. Spencer huffs.

"Fine." He relents making her grin.

+++

Clara is sitting at Spencer's desk, on the opposite side of him since he doesn't let her see his work. She's spinning around in her chair, going until she gets dizzy.

"Some things never change." Clara's head whips around to the familiar voice.

"Aunt Emmy!" Clara grins, shooting to her feet and running over.

"Hey, you!" JJ greets.

Clara's careful when she takes note of the large pink box in her aunt's arms, dodging it as she tightly hugs her. Emily ruffles her hair.

"Hi." Emily smiles. JJ loudly kisses Emily on the cheek.

"Welcome back!" Spencer exclaims, Emily letting out a yell as he hugs her. "Donuts? Wait, did you happen to get--" He takes the box from Emily.

"Chocolate frosted with sprinkles?" Emily asks. Clara gasps, those also being her favorite. "Yes. How could I forget your favorite?" Emily laughs.

Spencer opens the box and takes one of said donuts out, biting into it.

Clara reaches into the box, grabbing one of the same donuts and immediately digging in.

"It is so great to see you." JJ says, taking the box and getting a donut for herself out. "Even if it's only temporary."

"Well, when Hotch told me the director tapped him for special assignment, I wanted to help out. More so when he said you guys still have escaped serial killers you have to catch, on top of your normal caseload?"

"Lewis is going to be sorry she missed you." Spencer says.

"Oh, yeah, me, too." Emily frowns. "Bigger question -- what are you doing here?" She questions the tween.

"Dad let me come to see you." Clara grins.

"Puppy eyes?" Emily asks and Clara nods with a proud smile. Emily smiles in amusement at Spencer who shakes his head at his weak self. Emily softly laughs at the two, putting her bag on the desk by her.

"That's actually Luke Alvez's desk." Spencer informs.

"Really? It looks empty." Emily comments, putting her bag on the next desk.

"Uh, well, he travels light." JJ says, putting the donut box on her own desk.

"Garcia said he was ex-Army." Emily says. "Came over from fugitive taskforce?"

"Yeah, you're gonna like him." Spencer says.

"You know, the lack of personal effects on his desk could stem from his days as a fugitive hunter." Emily says, sitting on Luke's desk. "He probably felt like he was never one place long enough to dig in. I mean, no family photos, no significant others."

Clara watches a man, she assumes is Luke, walk in and stand behind Emily.

"Not even a plant to over water." Emily says as Spencer motions for her to cut it out, but she's not looking at any of them. "I mean, this Alvez could be a real loner type. Somebody could have done a real number on this guy. An ex, maybe." Emily says. Spencer attempts to clear his throat. "I mean, no doubt the Army taught him order and discipline, but a desk like this could mean he has commitment issues."

Emily finally looks at her friends, seeing their expressions. She looks at Clara who is giggling.

"He's behind me right now, isn't he?" She asks. JJ winces and nods.

"Luke Alvez, meet Emily Prentiss." Spencer smiles. Emily stands up, turning to him.

"Hey." Emily awkwardly greets. "Nice to meet you." She shakes his hand.

"Hey." He greets.

"Emily used to be part of our team, and now she's the unit chief for Interpol in London." Spencer informs.

"Yeah, she's agreed to help us out while Hotch is off on a TDY and Lewis works on her research." JJ says.

"I'm on temporary duty, so I'll be in and out. I'll be working on and off." Emily says. "I'm on today. Obviously. I'm just-- I'm really happy that I could, uh, come back, you know, and help-- truth be told, it's pretty hard to resist putting the band back together again, so--" She nervously laughs. "Yeah, so, I'm here to help."

"Well, we have a lot on our plate." He says.

"Mm." Spencer puts his hand on Clara's head, moving her so she's in front of him. "Luke Alvez, Clara Reid."

"Hi." Clara waves, biting into her donut.

"Ah. Infamous Clara Reid." Luke notes, giving her a small smile.

"Infamous?" Clara asks.

"Oh, yeah. All your dad talks about non-work related." Luke chuckles.

"Yeah. He doesn't have a life outside of you guys or me." Clara remarks. Luke, Emily, and JJ immediately try not to laugh.

"Hey." Spencer frowns, nudging her shoulder.

"It's not a lie." Clara reasons.

"Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear." Penelope mutters to herself as she walks to the round table room.

"Speaking of lot on our plates, looks like we have a case." JJ points out.

"Go to school. Call or text me or Penelope when you get there." Spencer orders, kissing Clara on top of the head.

"I can't stay with Aunt Penny?" Clara frowns.

"No. Go to school." Spencer orders making the girl pout.

+++

"Why can't I go with you to see grandma?" Clara asks.

"It's more of a business trip than a fun trip." Spencer says. "Trust me, you'll be better off here."

"But--"

"Clara, you're staying." Spencer states.

"Oh, come on. We both know you don't like leaving me. Why do it when you don't have to?" Clara asks.

"Why do you suddenly wanna see your grandma so badly?" Spencer frowns.

"Why would I not want to see her? She's mentally ill, we only have so much more time together." Clara says.

"Clara Reid." Spencer warns.

"Okay, fine, I have a giant science test in a couple of days." Clara admits.

"Oh. Well, that's all the more reason to stay here." Spencer smiles.

"Dad." She whines.

"You're staying. You just have to do your best and I'll be proud." Spencer assures. Clara quietly groans, accepting her fate.