Sequel to 'Beneath The Silence.' At 18 years old, Brooke Hotchner has just walked across the graduation stage-but instead of heading off to college like most of her classmates, she's chosen a different path. The daughter of BAU Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner, Brooke has never lived a normal life. Between losing her mother young, battling chronic illness, and surviving more trauma than most adults, Brooke has learned that healing doesn't follow a schedule-and neither does life. While her friends scatter across the country for dorms and degrees, Brooke stays behind in D.C., navigating the uncertainty of what comes next. She takes time to breathe, to rest, and to figure out who she is outside of trauma and expectations. As she explores jobs, passion projects, and therapy, Brooke begins to rediscover her strength-on her own terms. With the support of her fiercely protective father, her BAU family, and a few unexpected new friendships, Brooke learns that choosing not to go to college isn't giving up-it's choosing to live. This is a story about second chances, slow healing, and the courage it takes to write your own future.

SSA Aaron Hotchner leads one of the FBI's most elite profiling teams, facing the country's worst criminals with precision and control. But his toughest role isn't at the BAU - it's being a single father to five-year-old Brooke, a bright, stubborn child left in his arms after her mother walked away without warning. Years later, Aaron has built a life for them - steady, guarded, functional. And then came Haley. Compassionate, grounded, and unexpectedly brave, she steps into the role of Brooke's stepmother with quiet strength, slowly helping stitch together what Brooke's biological mother shattered. But no amount of love can keep the outside world from seeping in. As Brooke begins to ask questions about the woman who left her - and the job that takes her father away far too often - Aaron is forced to reconcile the life he chose with the family he's trying to hold together. And when a case hits too close to home, the balance he's fought so hard for begins to unravel.

"Doing your dirtiest work for you. It's obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together." CRIMINAL MINDS (Season 3-?) Emily Prentiss x fem!oc

"Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend. Somewhere along in the bitterness. And I would have stayed up with you all night. Had I known how to save a life."~Grey's Anatomy *Starts from Season 2 Episode 9-Onwards*

At twenty-four, Jade Chen joins the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit straight out of Quantico-brilliant, young, and already carrying the ghosts of two mothers and too many mistakes. Under the watchful mentorship of Emily Prentiss, Jade learns that profiling isn't just about understanding killers-it's about understanding herself. "You don't have to be okay to be good at what you do," Emily tells her. From small-town murders to the forests of Washington, Jade faces the monsters outside and the ones in her memory. When tragedy strikes home, she learns that family isn't always who you start with-it's who stays when everything falls apart. "Sometimes," Jade says softly, "surviving is the bravest profile there is." Years later, healed but never unchanged, she looks around the BAU-the place that broke her and built her-and whispers, "Let's go home."

Emily Prentiss has built a life around control. Around distance. Around never needing anyone enough to risk losing them. As a senior agent in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, she's spent years mastering the art of walking away-after cases, after danger, after people. Alex Moreau doesn't ask Emily to be less guarded. She doesn't demand answers or promises or permanence. She simply stays-steady, patient, and unwilling to disappear when things get hard. What begins as a professional collaboration slowly becomes something neither of them planned for: a connection built not on urgency, but on choice. On late nights, quiet understanding, and the courage to stop running. As the job threatens to consume everything Emily is, she must decide whether love is another liability... or the one place she can finally come home to. Staying is a slow-burn, deeply intimate love story about choosing presence over fear, softness over solitude, and the quiet bravery of letting someone stay.

𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐗 𝐅𝐄𝐌!𝐎𝐂 | 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖 𝙃𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨, trusting her instincts to guide her through life-and-death crises. But a trial run with the BAU pushes her into a world where empathy and intuition collide with logic and precision. 𝙄𝙣 𝙖 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚, Talia must balance instinct and logic, forge new bonds, and confront the personal cost of stepping into the unknown-especially when Emily Prentiss, with her sharp mind and guarded nature, begins to challenge Talia in ways she never expected. ⊹˚₊‧─────────────────────‧₊˚⊹ "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗜 𝗮𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲." - 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗥𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 ⊹˚₊‧─────────────────────‧₊˚⊹ 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒔, 𝑰 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔. Started: 10/01/2025 Finished: N/A Noteable rankings: #2 in Emily Prentiss #6 in Jason Gideon #10 in Penelope Garcia #6 in Jennifer Jureau

Avery Monroe, a fiercely determined former Navy SEAL, has spent years running from the ghosts of her past - the unsolved murder of her sister and the scars of a broken family. Now working alongside the BAU, she's confronted not only by the darkest minds but by a chance at something she never expected.... love

Emily Prentiss must work with Y/N, a private security consultant and ex-military strategist the team distrusts. Sparks fly-in combat, in strategy rooms, and in stolen moments between danger.

Mackenzie Miller, an ambitious agent-in-training, joins the BAU to assist on a cold case-one that ultimately secures her a permanent spot on the team after graduation. As she navigates the challenges of becoming a full-fledged FBI agent, Mackenzie is forced to confront her dark past with the BAU's unwavering support. Though she unravels long-buried secrets that threaten to consume her. Emily Prentiss takes on both roles of a mentor and sometimes mother-like figure as she guides Mackenzie through the emotional and professional trials of the job-helping her find her place on the team while pushing her to face the truth she's been avoiding. As Mackenzie grows into her role, she must learn to balance her relentless drive with the vulnerability that comes with trusting those around her. Contains swearing, violence, and light gore (describing crime scenes and victims) **This story takes place in an alternate universe. Some story lines will be inspired by cases from the show but the timeline does not follow the show.** Also on AO3 - Same Title!