The Usual Rules

Chapter 33

Rachel kicked her legs back and forth and glared at Morgan as he walked into JJ's hospital room. He looked to Emily in confusion and she mouthed 'time out' to him. He nodded and promptly ignored Rachel. He knew the little girl had been giving Emily and JJ a hard time the last few days – hell he had a small bruise on his shins as proof – but she was hard to stay annoyed with. Everyone could tell she was acting out because she was worried about JJ and seeking attention. Luckily, they were checking JJ out right now, Morgan was so ready to go home.

"Doc says you gotta go in the wheelchair, hospital policy." Morgan informed JJ. She glared, but lowered herself down into the seat while Emily finished packing their things. The doctors and nurses at the hospital had been wonderful and helpful their entire stay. Kelly, JJ's most regular nurse, came in and handed Rachel a lollipop with a silent smile as she past over to JJ. Checking her vitals and stitches one last time, she nodded in satisfaction.

"You guys are good to leave. Its been a pleasure to know you." She said with a grin.

"Thank you for everything Kelly." Emily said gratefully, sticking out her hand and smiling at the younger woman. Morgan grabbed on of the bags and threw it at Reid catching him in the chest and laughing. Emily began pushing JJ's wheelchair out of the room. "Come on Rach, time out's over." She said to the little girl.

Morgan threw another bag over his shoulder before bending down and scooping Rachel up. She was eyeing her sucker longingly, but had yet to open it, knowing she was still in trouble. She knew she was being bad, she knew JJ and Emily were mad at her, but she couldn't help it. Maybe Frankie had been right when he told her she was a bad person. Maybe there was nothing she could do about it. Rachel wrapped one arm around Morgan's neck and let the strong man carry her outside and strap her into a car seat in silence. She fiddled with the sucker the whole drive to the airfield, not at all liking the fact that they had to get on an airplane again. The two she had been on so far had been horrible. Rachel looked over at JJ, the blonde had her eyes closed leaning against the back of the seat, one hand clasped together with Emily's. Rachel liked it when they did that.

As the team boarded the jet Rachel began to panic a little. At least with this plane, she knew everyone on it and the seats looked better than the ones on the big planes she had been on. Rachel moved ahead of Morgan and went to the back of the jet, climbing onto one of the benches and looking out the window. Everyone made themselves comfortable and Rachel stayed away from them, she was making JJ worse and all she ever did was make Emily mad now. The sucker in her hand was red, Rachel's favorite, but she didn't deserve it. Rachel quietly crawled forward and set it down on one of the tables then crawled back into the corner and squinched her eyes shut as the jet started up. The noise of the engine frightened her and she tucked her knees up to her chest, dropping her forehead into them and desperately trying not to cry.

A minute later Rachel felt arms around her. Her first instinct was always still to tense up, but she relaxed once she recognized Emily's touch. "I'm sorry." She said immediately, hoping to stay out of trouble if possible.

"For what?" Emily asked calmly as she adjusted Rachel onto her lap. Rachel simply shrugged. For whatever she did wrong, for everything she did wrong, for being a brat, for being herself. Emily noticed Rachel's hesitation and sighed. She was not about to let her revert to how things were before. The hospital had sucked for everyone but they were going home and things were going back to normal. "Rach, you know I love you right?" Emily whispered as she wrapped her arms around the little girl tightly. Rachel nodded. "You're not in trouble anymore sweetie. You had time out, its over, behave and lets have a nice day, sound good?"

"Okay." Rachel whispered.

"How come you didn't eat that lollipop? Last I remembered red was your favorite."