A Blessing in Disguise

Juliet Christine Mills

"Can you hand me that wooden spoon please?" Prentiss asked. Juliet gave her the spoon and watched as Emily mixed the pasta and then the sauce. Prentiss got out two bowls and poured pasta and sauce in both. She put the meatballs in a separate bowl and set them on the table as well as the other two bowls. Juliet got out forks and knives and put them to the side of each bowl. Then she got her glass of water and sat down. Emily got her drink and joined Juliet at the table. They both began to eat their meal and Juliet said, "Thanks for diner Emily."
"No problem. And thank you for helping me," Prentiss replied as she smiled at Juliet. Juliet smiled back and they continued to eat their dinner. Throughout the meal they talked about the BAU because Juliet wanted to learn about the other members of the team. Emily told her about how almost every one of them was kidnapped at one point. Juliet wanted to know when Emily was kidnapped, so Prentiss told her about Doyle and her whole situation. Ian Doyle was a touchy topic for Emily, but she wanted Juliet to feel like she could talk to her about anything. Juliet was surprised at how Emily faked her death. Her mood suddenly changed. She thought that if Emily could lie to her best friends about being dead, then what's to stop her from lying to Juliet. Emily could sense something changed about Juliet when she told her about faking her death.
"What's wrong? Did I say something?" Prentiss asked worried. Juliet lied,
"No everything's fine, I guess I'm getting tired that's all." Prentiss knew she was lying and thought this was the time to talk to her about her situation. "Remember, I'm a profiler and I know when people lie to me. So why don't you tell me what's really going on?" Juliet knew she couldn't lie again so she said,
"I just don't understand how you could let your team think you were dead for seven months. Didn't it bother you that they thought they were never going to see you again?"
Prentiss replied softly, "Of course it bothered me. Everything single day I thought about them and how I was hurting them. When I came back I had to work extra hard to gain their trust again. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it." Prentiss knew Juliet was worried about something else, so she said,
"You don't have to worry about me leaving or lying to you if that's what's bothering you. I told you I would always be here for you, and I meant it. I learned my lesson the hard way and I vowed to never make that mistake again."
"Promise?" Juliet asked.
"I promise," Emily replied. They finished their dinners and to lighten the mood Emily offered to watch a movie. Juliet agreed happily. While Emily did the dishes, Juliet dried them and they talked about what movie to watch. They both agreed on watching The Wizard of Oz. Juliet took a seat on the couch while Emily put the movie on. When the previews started Emily walked into the kitchen to get some ice cream. She returned shortly with two cups of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Hey that's my favorite kind of ice cream," Juliet squealed as Emily handed her the bowl.
"Mine too," Prentiss said as she smiled and took a seat next to Juliet. They ate their ice cream and watched the movie in silence. After they finished their dessert, Emily put their bowls on the coffee table in front of them. Then, she got a blanket for her and Juliet to share. Juliet snuggled up to Emily, who responded quickly by putting her arms around the girl. For the first time in a long time, Juliet finally felt at home and safe again, and she hasn't felt that way since her parents died. About  halfway through the movie Juliet drifted off to sleep and Prentiss could feel her breathing steady. Emily looked down to find Juliet fast asleep. Emily continued to watch the movie because she didn't want to wake Juliet up by moving or something. When the movie was over, Emily turned the tv off and scooped Juliet up in her arms and carried her to the guest room. Emily placed her on the bed and tucked her in. She quietly left the room and kept the door open just a crack so some light could go in. Then, she proceeded to finish cleaning up dinner and their ice cream bowls. Once she was done, her phone screen lit up. Emily walked over and got her phone only to find she had 3 missed calls from Garcia and 10 text messages from her. Emily call Garcia back.
"Greetings," Garcia said happily as she answered her phone.
"Hey Garcia, sorry for not calling back earlier. Juliet and I were watching a movie and then she fell asleep so I didn't have time to check my phone," Emily said apologetically.
"No worries, I just wanted to let you know I found a lot of information on your girl."
Emily was speechless.
She was happy Garcia found her, but scared of what she might learn.
"How about you go on your computer and I can show you?"
Emily snapped out of her thoughts and replied,
"Okay one second."
The brunette sat back down on the couch and opened up her computer to find Garcia already in control of her screen. A picture of Juliet popped up on her screen. Penelope read,
"This is Juliet Christine Mills, born on March 25, 2000. That would make her 11 right now being its November 2011. Juliet is currently in sixth grade. She was the daughter of Lana and Ken Mills." Then Garcia pulled up a newspaper article. "This is where it gets sad. On August 27, 2005, Lana and Juliet got into a really bad car accident. It was a drunk driver. Juliet suffered from a mild concussion, but her mother died on the scene." Next, Garcia pulled up a death certificate and newspaper article. "Juliet's father killed himself almost two years after her mom died. Juliet came home from school and found her dad dead in his room. He shot himself and left a note for Juliet."
"Oh my god, that's awful," Prentiss said with a disgusted look on her face. "That's not even the worse part. Juliet had one aunt and uncle that were supposed to take her in, but they backed out at the last second, so she went into foster care," Penelope explained.
"So she's been in foster care since she was seven? What's that, 4 years?" Prentiss wondered.
"You are correct. Here I have a list of every foster family Juliet has been with." The sheet showed up on Prentiss screen. Penelope continued talking, "Juliet has been with 9 different foster families in the four years she been there. Some were as long as 8 months and some were as short as 1 week." "When Juliet was at the hospital the doctor said it looked like she was abused. Can you find any medical records for her?" Prentiss asked hopefully.
"One second, let me check," Garcia responded. Prentiss took a deep breath, taking in all the information that was being thrown at her about Juliet. She wondered how so much bad could happen to such an innocent child. Her thoughts were again interrupted by Penelope's voice.
"Look what I found."
Prentiss looked at her screen. It showed multiple counts of Juliet being admitted to the ER with bruises and some broken bones.
"Wow, Garcia this is a lot. Thank you for finding all of this. It really helps. I really appreciate it," Emily said over the phone.
"No problem. Try and get some sleep tonight and I'll see you at the crack ass of dawn tomorrow!" Penelope said. Emily smiled as she hung up the phone.