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"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered"
--Nelson Mandela
Surprise
"Shouldn't she be here by now?"
"Jake you're complaining more than my four-year-old daughter." Giuliette sighs rubbing her head.
"For an SSA, she's really not punctual," Jake replied lifting Lia up and on his hip. Lia cuddled into his neck as the trio sat waiting inside the airport for Emily.
"As for a police officer you're impatient. I know you're tired we all are, but maybe she was held up at work. She'll call soon." Jake nods and settles down with Lia on his lap. Giuliette smiles at the sight of the two.
Jake has been a great help since Lia was born. If Emily was busy it was always him. He played with Lia, changed her diapers, fed her, and was always there for her.
Jacob asked her out on many occasions but she always rejected him. She never felt that spark with him and told him that, he's just not one to give up. She told him about Spencer and he swore that he would never be that stupid, but men lie. After a long conversation, they settled with being best friends but did it ever change his feelings for her? No. He's still very much in love with her.
When Emily called her she never would have guessed that it was going to bring her back to Virginia. But hearing that Spencer knows about Lia is really hard to ignore. She knows he deserves the truth, but she doesn't have the heart to tell him.
"Giuli..." Giuliette looks up and sees the one the only Emily Prentiss. She quickly runs to her and hugs her tight. It's been a while since the two have been together and they missed each other like crazy.
"Auntie Em!" The little girl jumps off Jake's lap and squeezes her way between the two women. Emily lifts her up and hugs her tight.
"How's my little nugget? Look how much you've grown." Emily smiles down at the little girl and her smile dropping slightly seeing the man behind them. "What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too Prentiss. Next time try not to be twenty minutes la-"
"Jake..." Giuliette's stern voice stops him midsentence. She never knew what happened between the two. First Emily and Jake got along fine and then within weeks, they were both at each other's throats.
Jake met both ladies because of the Interpol in London. He's one of the police officers working there, but he called out for a few days to go with Giuliette and Lia to Virginia. He knew she was going to need support.
"We can catch up in the car. It's a long drive back to my place so let's start heading down." Emily adds as Giuliette grabs onto Lia and walks out leaving Emily and Jake to glare at each other. Emily rolls her eyes and walks towards Giuliette and Lia while Jake is left to take the luggage.
***************************
After they got settled at Emily's house it was about midnight and both Lia and Jake were exhausted.
"I think I'm going to put this one to bed. This little one is already knocked out."Jake said as both women looked at a barely awake Lia. As Giuliette went to stand up Emily grabbed her arm. She needed to talk to her.
"Giuli and I have to talk about some stuff and because you're sleeping on the couch in this living room, you should put Lia to bed until Giuli goes up. Then when we are finished you can come back down." Instead of arguing Jake nodded knowing dam well, he was going to lose anyway.
"I'll go up soon," Giuliette adds making him nod and say goodnight to Emily. He then picks up the sleepy girl and walks up the stairs.
"You know I really don't understand why he's here," Emily whispers as Giuliette rolls her eyes.
"Emily he's here to look after Lia. I'm not leaving her with a stranger." Giuliette adds sitting in front of her.
"And I wasn't expecting you to. She could've stayed with Garcia and the tea-"
"Why am I here Em? You could've just tricked him into thinking that unsub was lying to him or that was just a random name that slipped out." It was Emily's turn to roll her eyes.
"He's her father. He has the right to know why that crazy bitch said Lia's name. Do you know how hard it was to lie to his face? He was confused and lost. He was going mentally insane Giuliette. Insane. You don't know what that guy went through." Emily snaps as Giuliette runs a hand down her face.
"What do you want from me, Emily? What did you think was going to come out of me coming here?" She crosses her arms blinking away the tears that threaten to fall.
"The truth Giuli. I just want the truth to come out." Emily grabs her hands making the genius stare at her. "He deserves to know the truth. He deserves answers."
"What does he know? Did he figure it out yet?" Giuliette stutters as Emily sits back on the couch.
"No, he hasn't. At least not yet. He's thinking about it a lot Giuli. He can't concentrate fully on cases because her name is at the top of his mind. You and I both know he's not going to stop until he finally connects the dots" Giuliette wipes the tears that escaped quickly.
"Emily-" Giuliette tried to speak but Emily was having none of that.
"He went to prison. He was beaten and stabbed. His mind got destroyed there. He's spent months there for a crime he didn't commit. He finally got set free from that hell hole to then find out that the crazy unsub who fucked with his head before kidnapped his mom. He had to relive all of his painful moments to get her back. Lia's name brought so many questions to his head and he deserves to have some answers." Emily says watching Giuliette fiddle with her fingers. She never knew that Spencer went through all of that. Even though a part of her thinks he deserves it, another part, a bigger part feels sorry for him.
"Does the team know I'm here?" Emily shakes her head.
"I kept everything a secret until whenever you were ready." Giuliette nods.
"I'm not here just for that right? There's something else?" Emily tried to shake her head but Giuliette's a profiler she knows when she's being lied to. "Tell me."
"Before I left...I knew there was not a big chance of going back to London. It was good there. New. Perfect, but I missed them. Yes, I had you and Lia, but I missed them. All of them. So when I heard they needed a new Unit Chief. I stepped up. I knew I was going to miss you and Lia a lot. So I got selfish and I made the Steffany from Interpol hand me your transfer papers." Giuliette snaps her head straight to Emily. She hopes Emily doesn't say what she thinks she's going to say.
"What does that mean Emily?" Emily looks straight at her feeling a little bit guilty for doing everything behind her back. She knew if she asked Giuliette, she would never accept it. It was the only way to bring the team back together.
"You start tomorrow Giuli. Welcome back to the BAU."
