Emily Prentiss x Reader
Warnings: Typical Criminal Minds stuff
Words: 3.2k
EMILY WAS the first to arrive at Howard Barnes's apartment. She waited outside the door with her gun in her holster. Hotch had given her clear instructions to wait for SWAT and the rest of the team.
Emily had planned to wait, but when Hotch felt the need to reiterate it, she couldn't shake the feeling that she might be in serious trouble with her boss.
Was it deserved? Probably.
But as long they caught Y/n, Emily couldn't care less about the consequences that came her way from doing so.
"Geez, you got here quick," JJ panted as she jogged over to Emily. The three flights of stairs were enough to make her break a sweat, something that had never happened before she'd gotten pregnant.
"It was only ten minutes away from my apartment," Emily started as she turned to her friend, but was taken aback when she saw a deep gash from JJ's forehead to her eyebrow. A bandaid covers most of the cut. "Oh god. What happened, JJ?" Emily asked as her finger hovered over the bandaid, blood starting to seep through the fabric.
JJ quickly pushed away Emily's worried hands, "I was putting away the dishes and accidentally dropped a plate on my face while reaching for the top cabinet. I'm fine, Em, I didn't have time to glue it." JJ said softly.
"Okay," Emily nodded skeptically, "I have some medical glue in the car, I'll fix it after we're done here," Emily said, and JJ just nodded silently. Emily wanted to ask more, but she could hear the rest of the team from down the hallway, so she decided to save her questions for later.
The SWAT team came, and when they cleared the apartment, they let the BAU in.
"Howard Barnes, a 28-year-old science teacher at Saint Luther High School." Penelope relayed on the phone from her lair at Quantico.
"Well, it was Y/n," Derek crouched down by the body, "Single gunshot to the head and the angel wing," Derek continued.
Spencer was crouched next to Derek, noting the body's warmth and lack of rigor mortis, "Time of death had to have been less than an hour ago," Spencer added.
"Damn, we were close. Did the neighbors call it in?" Rossi asked Hotch.
Emily looked up from the body and saw Hotch staring at her blankly. And honestly, that look was scarier than his usual frown.
"I called it in. I was on the phone with Y/n when she shot him." Emily said, earning a resounding "What?!" from everyone.
"Why do you still have her number?" Derek asked.
"Why would she call you?" Spencer added.
"I'll explain later. Can we focus on the case, please?" Emily asked a slight pleading in her tone.
"Prentiss is right, let's focus on the case," Hotch told the rest of the team before turning to Emily, "Well, talk later."
Emily nodded, happy to delay the berating for later.
"Can you see if any of the students or staff filed a complaint or reported him," Emily asked Penelope as she recalled her phone call with Y/n.
"Hmm, let me check... Three years ago, a student anonymously reported Mr. Barnes for sexual harassment. Oh geez, the school didn't even look into it, they just swept it under the rug. Good thinking, Em." Penelope said as her fingers typed over the keyboard.
"Well, he fits victimology," JJ noted as she looked anywhere but the body. The nausea in her stomach started to roll at the sight and smell.
"How does she find all these guys, though?" Derek asked.
"Well, there's never a shortage of perverts in DC," Emily muttered, causing Hotch to send her another look.
Derek ignored Emily's comment as he gestured to the body, "I mean that this guy and all her other victims look perfect on record. Does she background-check every guy in the cities she kills?"
"Approximately 47% of the DC population is male, with a total population of 591,833-" Spencer started before Hotch abruptly cut him off. If the statistics had been relevant to the conversation, Hotch would have kept Spencer talking. "Garcia, would it be possible for her to create a computer program like that?" Hotch asked the technical analyst over the phone.
"I mean, it is possible. But hacking into sealed documents is a whole other ball game. Especially when its government sealed like some of the victim's files," Penelope answered.
"Okay, I want you to look deeper into that. See if there are any online forums that she could be using to find her victims," Hotch told Garcia before hanging up the phone.
Emily had been looking around the apartment, unintentionally tuning out the team's conversation, when her eyes landed on the kitchen counter. She'd completely forgotten that Y/n had left something for her.
The brunette walked over to the counter and saw a small gift bag and what looked to be a manuscript.
Emily picked up the papers, flipped through them, and noted that there had to be at least 300 hundred pages of words. She felt someone walk up behind her before she heard Derek's voice, "What's that?" he asked as he looked at the papers in her hand.
"Something Y/n left for me," Emily sighed as she handed it to Derek and reached over to grab the gift.
"Her next book?" Derek asked as he started to read the words on them, "Huh, I thought her being a ghost writer was a cover," Derek muttered to himself, referencing back to the first night they'd come in contact with Y/n.
Emily hummed in acknowledgment as she took out the tissue paper and saw a small gold charm at the bottom of the bag. She pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket before grabbing the charm.
She held it at eyesight and noted it to be some kind of bird. The embedded diamonds were shining from the kitchen light, and Emily knew this had to be expensive.
"It looks like a blackbird," Spencer said as he walked up next to her. "Blackbirds symbolize transformation, inner strength, and freedom," He continued as he observed the charm for himself.
Emily frowned as she stared at it, was it some sort of sign? Did the symbolism have meaning for Y/n, or was this something else to throw the team off? Or maybe Y/n just wanted to impress Emily with something shiny.
The brunette was still trying to piece it together when she heard a gasp from behind her. She and Spencer quickly turned around to see JJ flipping through the manuscript, "Oh my god," JJ said as she held the papers up to the team, "I know this book series! Will's nieces love it," JJ continued.
"Nieces?" Derek asked, practically voicing everyone's surprise that Y/n wrote novels for kids.
"Yeah, I think this is the fifth or sixth book in the series," JJ said as she recalled looking at the novels on the little girls' bookshelf, "The series is about an orphaned teenage girl named Angela, who's trying to solve her parent's murder. Or at least that's what I got out of the synopsis on the back. " JJ finished as she put the manuscript back on the table.
Hotch nodded as he took JJ's words in, "Do you remember the author on the covers name?"
"Ana Wells," JJ responded as she pulled her phone out and scrolled through her photos. "She's a real person, too," JJ said as she showed a picture of Will's nieces with a middle-aged woman at a bookstore meet and greet.
"I'll have Garcia look into it more tomorrow," Hotch said as they all stared at the manuscript.
"I'm sorry, but this is just crazy." Derek scoffed, breaking the silence. "How the hell does she have time to murder hundreds of people, taunt us, and then also write what looks to be a best-selling children's book series."
"She's like serial killer Barbie," JJ muttered, her exhaustion and hormones enough to loosen her usual professionalism. Derek chuckled but was cut off by Hotch's sharp gaze.
"She left all this for you?" Spencer asked Emily, getting the group back on task.
Emily nodded, "Yeah, but... I don't know why. Providing us with the manuscript and the name of the author she writes for benefits us, not her."
"Well, maybe she's trying to tell you something with the manuscript and the charm." Rossi pointed out, and Emily just shook her head, "But what?"
"That's what we have to figure out," Hotch said, "But it's late, so we'll pick up tomorrow. Luckily, I was able to get a hold of Gideon, so he should be by tomorrow morning. Hopefully, With his insight, things will start making more sense." Hotch said before dismissing the team. Emily tried to escape, hoping Hotch wouldn't remember, but when she heard her last name ring through the apartment, she accepted defeat and turned around to meet Hotch's disappointed eyes.
"A word," He said, gesturing for her to follow him into the hallway.
She nodded, instructing JJ to wait by her car so she could tend to her cut after her hopefully brief conversation with the unit chief.
"Why did you not inform me you were talking to Y/n?" Hotch asked, getting straight to the point.
"I was going to," Emily swears, "I just wanted to get enough out of Y/n before telling you." As she said it aloud, she realized how bad it sounded. But in her defense, it wasn't as if anything crazy had happened.
"But that's not your call to make." Hotch said shortly, "For this team to work, I have to trust the people on it."
"And you can trust me. I just couldn't risk you cutting contact with the only lead we have."
Hotch raised an eyebrow at Emily's argument, "So, I can trust you, but you can't trust me to make the right calls for this team?"
"That's not what I'm saying-"
"Prentiss, if you're too close to this case, I will not hesitate to remove you from it," Hotch interrupted.
"I am not too close to this case," Emily argued back, trying to keep her voice down and not yell like she wanted to. "I apologize for not telling you, but I'm getting somewhere with her, Hotch. And if you pull me off the case, chances are Y/n is just going to move on," Emily said.
Did Emily feel slightly conceited saying that? Yes.
But was it true? Also yes.
Y/n may have been toying with the whole team, but it was mostly Emily that she showed interest in, and Hotch and the whole team could see that.
The Unit Chief thought silently for a moment before relenting. "Fine, you can stay in contact with her. But I want past and future conversations relayed through Garcia. And I want to be briefed every day."
Emily nodded, relief filling her chest, "Yes, sir."
Hotch studied the brunette momentarily, hoping he made the right call, "If you do something like that behind my back again, I will remove you from this case. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir," Emily nodded again before her boss dismissed her.
Well, that had been easier than she thought. Honestly, she'd expected a lot more pushback from Hotch. But right now, they needed as many leads as they could get.
A slight shiver ran through Emily as she headed to her car. The moon and the stars illuminate the parking lot, and Emily's reminded once again how late it is. " He read you the riot act?" JJ asked as she stood perched on the hood of Emily's car. Emily chuckled as she unlocked the car, "If it were any other case, he probably would,"
JJ hummed as she watched Emily pull out a medical kit from the passenger seat compartment. Emily motioned for the blonde to take a seat as she pulled out all the items she needed. "Jesus, JJ." Emily gasped as she carefully pulled the bandaid off and realized just how deep the cut was.
"Maybe we should go to the hospital-" Emily started before JJ cut her off. "It's fine, Em. Just bleeding a lot." JJ insisted sharply. Emily held her hands up in surrender as she dabbed the cut with disinfectant.
"I thought part of being pregnant meant your partner does everything for you," Emily said, trying to lighten the mood, and to her relief, JJ chuckled a little. "We both work full-time jobs and if I left everything up to Will, our house would be a wreck."
Emily hummed, adding another tally to the reasons she disliked Will.
"Well then, let him put away the dangerous dishes," Emily smiled as she pulled the medical glue out of the bag, "We can't be ruining our money maker," Emily teased as she held the cut together. "Ass," JJ muttered under her breath, and Emily smiled.
She worked quietly as she patched up JJ's forehead. She was lost in thought when she felt JJ's eyes staring at her. "What?" Emily asked, not liking the look on her friend's face.
"It was Y/n calling you earlier, wasn't it," JJ said, her voice soft and lacking judgment. JJ didn't understand why Emily hadn't told them. But she trusted her friend and knew that there had to be a good reason for not telling the team.
"Yeah," Emily sighed as she finally put the bandage over the glued cut. "I know it was stupid; you don't have to tell me," Emily defended, an instinct even though there wasn't a hint of judgment in the blonde's eyes. "Did I say anything?" JJ chuckled, used to Emily's ways by now.
"Sorry. I just... I know what I'm doing."
"Again, did I say anything?" JJ said with an eyebrow raised.
"No, you didn't" Emily shook her head, "Sorry, I just really want this case over," Emily muttered as she squeezed JJ's shoulder, signaling that she'd finished tending to her cut.
"As do I. But I have a feeling that's not going to happen anytime soon." JJ said as she hopped out of the car. Emily hummed in acknowledgment before saying goodbye to JJ. She made sure her friend was safely in her car before heading out for the ten-minute drive back to her apartment.
●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●
It was 7:30 in the morning when Emily walked into the BAU. Usually, she was the one to cut it close, barely arriving to work on time. But she could barely sleep last night and couldn't stand the eerie silence that had fallen over her apartment. Hence, her being the first one at work.
Although, when she arrived at her desk, she saw three people in Hotch's office. The unit chief, Rossi, and what looked to be Gideon were deep in conversation, looking at case files. Emily's eyes widened at the sight of them.
She knew Gideon was coming obviously, but it was still a shock to see the man. She was dreading the awkward reunion that was bound to happen in a couple of hours and decided to keep herself busy.
Last night she had texted Y/n asking where she'd gotten the blackbird charm and about the manuscript.
But to her surprise, the younger woman never answered. Usually, Y/n would get back to her within 5 minutes, so what was going on?
A part of her wanted to believe that it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she'd told Hotch about their contact. But she wasn't naive enough to believe that it didn't have anything to do with Y/n not answering her back.
She decided to put her phone away and focus on the other case files that she'd neglected since coming across Y/n.
It was about an hour later when the rest of the team slowly filtered through the bullpen.
"Gideons here?" Derek asked as he sat at his desk, the surprise in his voice mirrored Emily's earlier in the morning.
"Yup," Emily nodded. "I honestly didn't think he was going to come so soon."
Spencer scoffed, something so unlike him that Derek and Emily couldn't help but pause their conversation as they stared at the youngest profiler.
Wow, this was going to be a long day.
"Well, whatever he knows must be important if he's coming out of retirement to consult with us," Derek said with a shrug as they all stared at Hotch's office. The blinds were pulled down but the three senior profilers were still in there, none of them having left since Emily arrived.
Spencer scoffed again, "It also means that he's been close this entire time. We just weren't enough for him to want to come back."
"Spencer-" Emily started with an empathetic sigh.
"I'm getting coffee," Spencer said, pushing his chair back forcefully as he practically stomped to the kitchenette, ignoring the concerned glances thrown his way.
"I take it your guys's talk yesterday didn't help." Emily sighed as she turned towards Derek.
"What do you think," Derek said as he gestured to Spencer who was furiously adding sugar to his coffee.
Emily hummed when suddenly Hotch's office door opened. "Conference room. Now." He said as he headed down the walkway with Rossi following after him. Gideon gave Emily and Derek a small nod of acknowledgment before following after the two men.
"This should be fun," Emily sighed as they headed to the round table.
"Tell me about it," Derek murmured as he took his seat next to Emily. Spencer came in and sat as far away from Gideon as he could.
As soon as the two blondes took their seat Gideon rose. "I know I'm not here under the best circumstances," He said and if it was possible, the room was even more stiff and awkward than it was before.
"But I'm here to help you guys, and even if you don't want it, you're going to need it," Gideon said as he grabbed a small box from the floor next to him and put it on the table. "I was the one that sealed the case in 1992." He finished as he handed the files over to the team.
"Why would you seal an unsolved case?" Derek asked, the confusion written over his face.
"Because it's not unsolved. We found the Wood Stalker in March of 1992, dead in his cabin from a single gunshot to his head." Gideon explained.
"Why isn't that in any of the files?" Penelope frowned.
"It's not in any of the files because I wanted to protect the person that turned him in" Gideon sighed as he ran a hand through his short hair.
"Who turned him in?" JJ asked.
"His eight-year-old daughter. Who was also the one that killed him." Gideon answered.
"What?" The rest of the team said in unison.
"I sealed it for her, she didn't need the whole world knowing what she'd done just to stay alive," Gideon said honestly.
"And everyone was just okay with that?" Spencer asked snarkily, notable not about the case and more of the fact that it was Gideon he was talking to. "The brass was different back then. The killer was gone and that's all they cared about. Other agencies backed my decision, although I didn't understand their reasoning why."
"What agency?" Emily asked with a frown.
"CIA. And I still don't know why, but I think we're going to find out soon." Gideon said and Emily looked at him skeptically, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because your unsub, Y/n, is the daughter of the Wood Stalker."
A/N: If I were to do a tag list, would anyone be interested in being on it? Thanks for reading!
Emily: Marry someone who looks sexy while disappointed.
JJ: [Glares at her]
Emily: See?
-masterlist
[♡]-fluff
[✯]-smut
[𓆸]-angst
EMILY PRENTISS X READER: ONE-SHOTS
Matilda [1.8k] ♡
In which Emily Prentiss comes home to her wife and daughter after a week-long case.
How You Get the Girl [2.8k] ♡
In which Derek and Hotch give you advice for your first date with Emily.
TV [1.2k] 𓆸♡
In which you're grieving your dead wife. But is she actually dead?
Halley's Comet [1.2k] ♡
In which Emily is having a hard time falling asleep, so you keep her company.
The Best Day [2.2k] ♡
In which you and Emily end up coaching your daughter's little league soccer team.
EMILY PRENTISS X READER: SERIES
Don't Blame Me 𓆸♡✯
Summary: Emily knew it was wrong. She knew you were the most dangerous woman the BAU had ever seen. Yet, she couldn't seem to stay away from you.
Angel of Death: Chapter 1
Don’t Tempt Me: Chapter 2
Until Next Time: Chapter 3
See You Soon: Chapter 4
A New Light: Chapter 5
Three Steps Back: Chapter 6
A Special Gift: Chapter 7
Diners and Milkshakes: Chapter 8
A Second Date: Chapter 9
Emily: *laying on a pool chair unconscious*
Penelope, panicking: She’s not breathing!
Derek: I’ll give her mouth to mouth!
Emily: *opens one eye* Ew no! Let JJ do it!
*closes eye*
Spencer:
Hotch:
Rossi:
Penelope:
Derek:
JJ: GET OUT OF THE WAY, MOTHERFUCKERS
JJ: I feel like doing something stupid.
Emily: I’m stupid! Do me!
"And that's how it works. That's how you got the girl"
Summary: In which Derek and Hotch give you advice for your first date with Emily.
Warnings: None
YOU STUDIED the chessboard in front of you, happily occupying your thoughts with the number of moves it would take to checkmate Gideon rather than your most recent case. If you played it right you would be able to take him down in five moves.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you." Gideon said, pulling your attention away from the board as he handed you a small, wrapped gift. "Forgot to give it to you at the party." He added as you took it from him.
"But you don't give birthday presents." You said as you looked down at the box and then back at him with a soft smile. He just nodded and gestured for you to open the gift, so you did.
You pulled the ribbon off and ripped the gift wrap before opening the box. When you looked inside you saw a sheet of paper with reservations to the nicest French restaurant in DC.
"Wow. Thank you." You smiled as you looked up at him. It was not what you were expecting but you were excited nonetheless.
"You're gonna love it," Gideon said with a rare smile.
"We are. You're coming with me right?" You asked.
"No. I hear someone else on the plane is a huge French food connoisseur." He answered.
"Who?" You questioned quietly.
"The only person that willingly watches those cheesy romance movies with you." He said with a chuckle which caused your eyes to widen. "Emily?" You questioned nervously as your fingers began to tap on the box.
It was no secret to anyone that you admired the brunette.
You were often caught staring at her which resulted in endless teasing from everyone else. The only problem was that you didn't know how Emily felt about you. Sure, she was flirty with you and very protective, but that was the case with everyone else. So it was safe to say you were in the dark about what the brunette felt for you.
"She spent the summers up there with her grandfather," Gideon said calmly, which was the complete opposite of what you were feeling at the moment, "Wh-what should I say?" You asked anxiously as your eyes darted from Gideon over to Emily, who was sitting in the window seat absorbed in her book.
When you looked back he just raised his eyebrows. You sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to help you. Gideon then gave you a small, encouraging nod, so you took a deep breath before standing up and walking towards Emily.
As soon as you sat down in the seat across from her, Emily looked up and closed her book, "Hey birthday girl," She said with a big smile. She had been calling you that even though your birthday was a couple of days ago. But you were in no rush to tell her to stop because, in all honesty, you loved the way her voice sounded when she said it.
"Hey," You said softly, matching her smile. "I- uh- wanted to ask you something.' You said nervously, as you rested your hands and the box on the table.
"Okay," Emily said softly she clasped her hands together on the table and leaned forward with an encouraging smile.
"I have reservations for that French restaurant downtown on Friday night. So, if you aren't busy I was wondering if you wanted to go with me? I mean, no pressure at all if you don't want to go but I just thought it would be nice and-" You rambled trying to avoid eye contact with Emily before the brunette spoke up, "Y/n!" She interrupted, causing your gaze to finally land on her.
"I would love to go with you." She smiled and your eyes lit up excitedly, "Really?!"
"It's a date." She chuckled.
"A date," You repeated, biting the inside of your check to try and hide your elation.
Emily reached across the table to give your hand a small squeeze that sent butterflies through your stomach.
"I'll pick you up at six?" You asked, trying to hide your nerves and surprise at the fact that she said yes.
"Sounds perfect." Emily smiled before removing her hand from yours and reaching for her book again. You couldn't help but bite your bottom lip to keep you from smiling as you turned your attention from Emily to the window. Although, if you had been looking, you would have noticed that Emily was more invested in watching you than the book in front of her.
●・○・●・○・●
It was Friday morning and you were tapping the kitchen counter waiting for your coffee to finish brewing. "There you are, lover girl!" Morgan said with a grin as he walked over to you. "You ready for your date tonight?" He asked, giving you a friendly bump on the shoulder as he stood next to you.
"Uh-huh," You said unconvincingly as you poured the coffee into your mug.
"What do you mean uh-huh? You've been following Prentiss around like a lost puppy for the last year and now you finally have your chance to win her over!" Derek asked raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know, I'm just..." You trailed off as you finished pouring your coffee. "Just what?" Derek asked confused.
"I want Emily to know how I feel about her." You said which only caused Derek to chuckle. "Trust me, she knows, you aren't exactly subtle."
You glared at him before stressing your concern, "But I'm not good at all the 'dating stuff'. I get nervous and don't know what to say," You continued with a sigh as you poured the coffee into your mug.
"Hold up! am I hearing this correctly?" Derek asked with a cheeky grin.
"Hearing what correctly?" You asked confused.
"Are you asking THE Derek Morgan for dating advice?" He said cockily as he pointed to himself dramatically.
"I- what?! No!" You spluttered.
"Ah ah, I think you were babygirl!" Derek said as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder teasingly. You were about to protest when you realized that maybe Derek could help, even if it was by a long shot, probably a very long shot.
"Okay fine," You muttered as you removed his arm from your shoulder, "But if you tell Emily, I swear to god I'll kill you."
"My lips are sealed." He said pretending to zip his lips closed. You rolled your eyes at his theatrics, "Alright, where do we begin?"
"Where do we begin what?" Your boss's voice said from behind you.
"I'm giving Y/l/n dating advice." Derek grinned and you sighed in embarrassment because once again your business was being aired out to the entire team.
"You're taking dating advice from him?" Hotch asked, only furthering the flush on your cheeks. "I- um." You started before Derek cut you off, "Of course she is! Who wouldn't want Derek Morgan's step-by-step guide on 'How You Get The Girl'?" He said cockily.
"Maybe you need to make a guide on How You Keep The Girl," Hotch said as he poured the coffee into his mug.
"Ouch, bossman," Derek said feigning pain while you laughed.
"I could give you some pointers, Y/n," Hotch said and you and Derek both looked at him in surprise.
"What? It's a slow day." Hotch said with a shrug. You knew the files on his desk would say otherwise but the fact that he was willing to help you despite being busy brought a smile to your lips. "Yeah, I would like that."
And that's how you found yourself sitting on Hotch's office couch while he and Derek stood in front of you, giving you pointers from the opposite ends of the spectrum.
"You don't need to rush anything, it'll come organically. Just enjoy yourself and don't put too much pressure on the night." Hotch said.
"Be bold. Women love that." Derek said.
"Just be yourself." Hotch added.
"You have to reel her in, but leave her hanging a little bit at the end so she'll come back on the next date wanting more." Derek said and your brain was starting to spin a little bit.
"Wait, so am I supposed to be bold or be myself? Because those two can't happen at the same time." You questioned.
"Be boldly yourself." Hotch said causing you to furrow your brows, "What does that even mean?"
Before anyone could answer the question you heard a knock on the door before Emily's head peaked through the door. "Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting but I have some casefiles," Emily said to Hotch as she walked in and looked at the three of you slightly confused. You immediately sat up straighter and Derek had to stifle a laugh.
"Hey, Emily." You said nervously. "We were just- um- you know..." You started, already mentally chastising yourself for your lack of words.
"We were just giving Y/l/n some pointers for her firearms requalification next week." Hotch said, easily lying and you let out a sigh of relief for his quick thinking.
"Uh huh." Emily said she put her files on Hotch's desk and immediately walked over to you on the couch. You could feel your heart rate pick up as she stood less than a foot away from you. "You know I could give you some pointers at the range this weekend. I find a hands-on approach usually works best for me." She said with a smile as she reached out to squeeze your shoulder.
"Yeah! I would like that." You said, probably way too quickly as you felt your cheeks go red at the thought of her doing a hands-on approach.
"Great, I'll see you later tonight. I'm excited" She said quietly as she used the hand that was on your shoulder to brush a stray piece of hair out of your face.
"Y-yeah me too." You stuttered which earned a small chuckle from the raven-haired women. She gave your shoulder another small squeeze before heading back to her desk.
"A Hands-on approach, huh? Can I join?" Derek teased, pulling you out of the trance that you were in.
"Shut up," You groaned as you fell back onto the couch, "Now back to the advice please."
Derek began to open his mouth but you held your hand up, "Preferably from the man who has years of marriage under his belt."
"You both wound me." Derek said as he mimed his heart being stabbed.
●・○・●・○・●
You blew out a deep breath as you stood in front of Emily's apartment door. Derek and Hotch's advice felt like they were moving a hundred miles per hour in your head. You tried to push them down as you knocked on the door.
Footsteps gradually got closer to the door before you heard the doorknob turn and were met by Emily's smile. You couldn't help but stare at her as she opened the door completely. "You look beautiful." You murmured as you admired the way her floor-length red dress clung to every curve perfectly. Her hair was curled and sat above her collar bones that were on display.
"And you look gorgeous." She said softly as she closed her door and grabbed onto your arm so you could lead her to the car. You had chosen to wear a suit to dinner, and you had never been more thankful for your intuition that you decided on a red corset underneath your blazer.
The car ride there was peaceful, chatting about work and other random things. That was one of the things you loved about Emily, even though she could turn you into a stuttering mess, she could also put you at ease better than anyone else ever could.
When you got to the restaurant you were shocked by how fancy it was. With your job you rarely had time to go out, especially not to somewhere like this. You both sat down but frowned as you opened the menu. "It's all in French." You stated with a small frown as you looked at words you didn't know the meanings of.
"Well, luckily for you, I'm fluent in French." Emily said with a wink and you decided that you truly never had been luckier.
After you both had ordered and almost lost consciousness at Emily speaking French, she reached over to grab your hand.
"Can I ask you a question?" She said.
"You just did, but you can ask me another one." You said with a teasing smile causing her to roll her eyes playfully.
"What were you doing with Hotch and Morgan, earlier?" She asked intrigued.
"Oh um, I thought we already told to you." You spluttered and the tiny hint of confidence you had two seconds ago was completely gone.
"You're a perfect shot, Y/n. If anything they need pointers from you." She chuckled and you just looked up at her, cheeks red from embarrassment.
"Well, the real reason is slightly humiliating." You muttered
"You could never humiliate yourself to me." Emily said with a small squeeze of her hand.
' I beg to differ' You thought.
You started to think back on Derek and Hotch's words from earlier, 'Be boldly yourself' was what Hotch said and you decided it was now or never.
"I really like you, Emily!" You blurted out and you saw Emily's smile grow so big her dimples were popping out. "Should I be offended that you think liking me is humiliating?" She asked.
"I- Oh my god! No! That's not what I meant-" You rushed out before Emily let out a deep laugh, "I'm kidding. Take a deep breath, honey."
The way the pet name easily fell from her lips almost made you forget what you were even talking about. Eventually, you were pulled back to your senses when you felt Emily gently playing with the rings on your finger.
"Promise me you won't laugh." You said seriously.
"I would promise you whatever you want." She smiled and if hearts could melt, yours would have in that moment.
"Well, Hotch and Derek were kind of giving me dating advice..." You said with a wince and watched as Emily fought off a smile.
"You said you wouldn't laugh!" You practically whined and Emily shook her head.
"I'm not laughing!" She said, "I just happen to find you so adorable I can't help but want to smile."
"You think I'm adorable?" You questioned, hardly believing that Emily could feel the same way you felt about her.
"I think you're a lot of things. And I happen to like all of them." Emily said with a smile so big her nose scrunched a little.
The rest of dinner couldn't have gone better. You couldn't remember the last time you had laughed or smiled this much. By the time you left the restaurant, you were both a little tipsy so you decided to take a walk in the park to sober up a little bit. It was spring time so the flowers were blooming and you two were surprisingly the only people out.
"Say something to me in French." You giggled as you clung to Emily's arm.
"Je n'ai jamais eu autant envie d'embrasser quelqu'un qu'en ce moment". Emily murmured as she looked at you.
"What does that mean?" You asked softly as you gazed up at her.
" I said 'I have never wanted to kiss someone more than I do right now.'" Emily repeated as she stopped walking so she could fully admire your features.
"What's stopping you?" You asked as you glanced down at her plush red lips.
You smiled as she pulled you closer, her soft hands cupping your cheek as your lips met. You could taste the champagne you both had from earlier and the smallest hint of her coconut chapstick as you deepened the kiss. You pulled her in by the waist, trying to get impossibly closer as you both smiled into the kiss. It was passionate, but soft, a kiss that took all of your worries off the weight of your shoulders.
Eventually, you pulled away with a smile on your lips. "You know," You started as you moved your hands from your waist and wrapped them lazily around her neck, "Derek said that I should leave you hanging a little bit so you'll come back on the next date wanting more." You smiled as she pressed a couple of quick kisses to your lip.
"Does this mean there's another date after this?" She asked as she wiped smudged lipstick off your bottom lip.
"Only if you speak French" You giggled as you admired the way her eyes shone in the moonlight.
"C'est un rendez-vous alors" (It's a date then). She said as she placed another kiss on your lips.
"I hope that was a yes." You murmured and Emily smiled, "Of course it was. How could I ever say no to you?"
JJ: Why are you wet?
Emily: I knocked over a plant in the kitchen and Sergio saw it.
JJ: So?
Emily: I had to spray myself water-
JJ (confused): Wait-why?
Emily: I wanted to show him that the law applies for everyone [shrugs]
Emily Prentiss x Reader
Summary: Emily knew it was wrong. She knew you were the most dangerous woman the BAU had ever seen. Yet, she couldn't seem to stay away from you.
Warnings: Typical Criminal minds stuff, mentions of death
Words: 2.8k
Emily could feel the migraine forming behind her eyes. After hours of staring at the same case files, she still couldn't find anything. She let her head drop to her desk, hoping it would just swallow her whole and then spit her out when they made a break in the case.
"...Prentiss," At the sound of her last name, her eyes flitted to the person leaning on her desk.
"Your phone," JJ finished as she pointed to the buzzing device on Emily's desk.
"Oh, right," Emily mumbled as she gave JJ a small smile of appreciation before picking up the phone.
When she saw Y/n calling her, she returned her phone to her desk.
"Your mother?" JJ asked as she perched on Emily's desk.
"I wish," Emily muttered. Then, cursing under her breath as her phone started ringing again.
"Someone worse than your mother? Yikes." JJ said as she tried to discreetly see whoever was calling Emily as the brunette completely shut off her phone.
"You could say that," Emily sighed as she tossed her phone to the back of her desk.
Emily looked up and saw JJ still perched on her desk, giving her the look. Emily hated that look because it meant JJ was about to pry, and she did not want to tell the team that she was talking to a serial killer.
A small part of her knew she should at least tell Hotch, but she couldn't risk him cutting off her only means of communication with Y/n.
"Did you need something, JJ?"
"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted coffee, but now I want to know who was calling you," JJ smiled, making herself comfortable on the brunette's desk.
"It's no one," Emily rolled her eyes, "And if you're going out for coffee, I'll take my usual."
"Em, come on, who else other than your mom would make you glare at your phone like that?" JJ inquired, completely ignoring Emily's request about the coffee.
"You want a list?" Emily snarked back.
"Oh! Oh! Was it, Hannah?" JJ asked, even more interested now.
"Wait, Hannah, as in your ex-girlfriend Hannah is calling you?" Spencer chimed in from his desk across from Emily's.
"I thought she ghosted you," Derek added from his desk.
The two women whipped their heads around, not even realizing that Spencer and Derek had been listening to their conversation. The glare Emily shot the younger agent made him wish he'd never spoken in the first place. Derek, on the other hand, was more than amused.
"For the fifth time, Hannah did not ghost me! It was a mutual breakup!" Emily huffed.
"Whatever you say, princess." Derek smiled, earning him another glare from Emily.
"The term ghosting became popular in 1990's hip hop- Ow!" Spencer yelped as Emily launched the stuffed animal cat that Penelope bought her right at Spencer's face.
"I wasn't ghosted! And I'm done talking to you guys!" Emily frowned as she turned her chair back to her desk and ignored the three other agents.
Derek and Spencer chuckled at her antics while JJ rolled her eyes.
"I'll be back with your coffee, Ms. Grouchy," JJ said as she pushed off Emily's desk, earning a small grumble of gratitude from the brunette.
JJ was halfway to the door when Penelope came full speed through the doors, "BAU Assemble! I've got something!" She yelled, running surprisingly fast in her high heels to the conference room.
"I guess that means no coffee," Emily grumbled as they all made their way to the round table.
As soon as everyone sat down, Penelope turned the TV monitor on and passed out numerous case files.
"In 1991, there was a serial killer that operated in rural Virginia at the same time and place that Alex Painter was murdered," Penelope explained as she pulled up pictures of about 15 women on the TV. They were all of different races but looked around the same age.
"All of these women were kidnapped, held for a week, and then dumped in the woods. They were all beaten, barely recognizable by the time their bodies were found." Penelope continued, making a point not to look at the crime scene photos.
Rossi looked between the case files and the TV when a spark of recognition came to his eyes, "I remember this. Gideon was the lead profiler on the case. They called the killer The Wood Stalker"
Back then, the BAU members worked solo, only using each other as consults rather than working on cases as a team. "I helped Gideon build a profile, but he never found the guy." Rossi finished.
"That's right," Penelope agreed, "In March of 1992, The Wood Stalker vanished. And with no leads or suspects, the case went cold."
Emily frowned as she looked over the case. There was something off, but she couldn't put her nose on it, "So how does Alex Painter tie into this? She's not in any of these files."
"Ah, right! Thank you for the segway, my brooding brunette," Penelope said, and no one even batted an eye, used to the technical analyst's ways by now.
"While you guys are the profilers and I am the mere but mighty technical Goddess-"
"Garcia." Hotch intervened, raising an eyebrow to keep the blonde on task.
"Right." Penelope nodded, "I found it odd that Alex Painter wasn't mentioned in any of the files, especially since she matched victimology."
"Why did they rule her out as one of his victims then?" Derek asked as he flipped through the case file. "I mean, we know now that Y/n killed her. But if all I was looking at were these files, I'd agree that The Wood Stalker killed her. It seems negligent to not even investigate her death."
"That's what I was thinking! And we all know Gideon is very thorough." Penelope said, and a slightly uncomfortable wave washed through the room.
"That's one way to describe him," Spencer muttered as he stared down at the table.
Rossi was about to say something in his friend's defense, but Hotch shook his head, not wanting to further the conversation.
It had been less than a year since Gideon left without a word, and the team had mostly moved on. But it was still a touchy subject, especially for Spencer.
"So, who investigated Alex Painter's death then?" JJ asked, and everyone was thankful that she had cut the awkward silence that had fallen around them.
"Well, this is where things get even more odd," Penelope said as she pulled up the picture of Alex's file. "Detective Anthony Scott was the lead on her case. So I did some research on the guy, and to an untrained eye, he seems normal."
"Well, you are far from normal, baby girl." Morgan complimented, and Penelope smiled. "Very true. Anyways, I dug a little deeper and found that Detective Anthony Scott doesn't exist."
"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" Emily asked, a skeptical brow raised.
"I mean that someone very tech-savvy created Anthony Scott. I'm talking bank accounts, birth certificates, marriage licenses, and more." Penelope continued.
"Why would someone go through all of that trouble to cover up who investigated Alex Painter's death?" JJ asked. And once again, the team felt like they were getting into something a lot larger than they were hoping for.
"Could it have been Y/n?" Derek asked.
"Why would she try to cover up something she already told us about?" Emily countered, more defensive than she would have liked, but she would think about that later.
"Yeah, and there's no way Y/n could have created an identity that thorough. There's only a handful of people I know that could do that, but they wouldn't have any reason to." Penelope agreed.
Emily bit her bottom lip in concentration; she knew what this sounded like. Fake identities that seemed too good to be true. Seemingly unimportant cases swept under the rug...this had CIA written all over it. And if the CIA was involved, it meant that whatever information they had now was all they were going to find.
But how on earth did the CIA get connected to all of this?
Maybe she could make a couple of phone calls. Contact some of her old handlers and see if they could find anything pertaining to this case.
"Why aren't Gideon's notes in here?" Hotch asked, pulling Emily out of her head as she realized she had missed whatever the rest of the team was talking about.
"Well, since it was before I came to the BAU, his notes weren't digitalized. And when I went down to the archives, almost everything about this case was gone." Penelope said regretfully as she took a seat, having no more information to give the team.
"His notes should still be in there, though. The case is still classified." Spencer said, and it affirmed even more to Emily that the CIA or some other agency has something to do with this.
"I feel like there's dead ends everywhere we turn with this case," JJ muttered, and the team silently agreed.
"I know we all feel a little discouraged, but we are further than we were yesterday. I'll call Gideon and have him come in as soon as possible. Hopefully, he can provide us with more information. But for now, let's get back to work," Hotch said quickly before dismissing himself to his office, leaving the team in a little shock. Hotch was never one to give a pep talk, so maybe this was even worse than they imagined.
"I'll give Gideon a call, too," Rossi said as he left for his office, not wanting to see the other agents' reactions. It was an odd situation, the complex feelings he had for his friend were different than those of the younger agents.
But Gideon was also one of Rossi's oldest friends, and after everything they'd been through, he still had respect and loyalty to him. So, he did not want to hear what the other agents had to say about him.
"Has anyone talked to Gideon recently?" Penelope asked in the conference room, trying to break the ice since the topic of Gideon was now unavoidable.
"Since he left all of us with a note?" Spencer asked sarcastically, a tone that surprised everyone, "No," He continued as he gathered his stuff and practically stormed back to his desk without looking at anyone else.
"I was just..." Penelope trailed off sadly, not having predicted that reaction from the youngest profiler.
"It's not your fault, Pen, it's just a hard subject for him," JJ said as she squeezed Penelope's shoulder.
Emily had stayed relatively quiet on any subject that involved Gideon. She shared vastly different opinions on the older agent than her friends did.
She knew that Gideon didn't like her. In fact, everyone knew, because it wasn't like he tried to hide his disdain.
Towards the end, he tolerated her, but the way he left and the effect it had on everyone just solidified her dislike of him, not that she would ever voice that aloud.
"I'll go talk to him," Derek said before leaving the room and leaving the three women to themselves.
It was silent for a moment before Emily's phone started to buzz. She sighed and ignored the look JJ sent her as she picked up her phone.
Y/n (1:34 PM): Call me back tonight. I have a surprise for you.
Emily (1:34 PM): I don't like surprises.
Emily typed back before pocketing her phone. She heard her phone buzz again, no doubt another text message from Y/n, but she did not want to deal with this right now.
"What was that?" Penelope asked as she motioned her hand towards Emily.
"What was what?" Emily played dumb with a shrug.
"Don't even try, Pen. She's been like this all day." JJ rolled her eyes.
"Who is causing you to glare at your phone like that?" Penelope pressed, ignoring JJ.
"It's no one," Emily said as she grabbed her case files and started to stand up, not looking at either blonde.
"Emily! Indulge me in something that is not this case!" Penelope begged, always the one to get into people's business.
Emily scoffed, finding it quite ironic that the person she was texting was the reason for this case. "It's a personal matter."
"Even better!" Penelope continued, earning a stifled laugh from JJ.
She rolled her eyes, knowing that no one was going to give this up any time soon, "Fine, you know what? It is Hannah! Now, can everyone just mind their own business?!"
"Hannah unblocked you?!"
"What? How do you know she blocked me?!" Emily gaped at Penelope and then instantly realized that was a stupid question.
"Never mind. I'm done talking. And stop hacking into my phone!" Emily practically growled before exiting the room, leaving the two blondes wide-eyed.
"Well, we know it's not Hannah," Penelope said, earning her a slap to the shoulder.
"She's going to kill you," JJ said as she gathered her stuff, and Penelope just shrugged it off. Emily had always been all bark and no bite. She was a secret softie once you got to know her.
"Where are you going?" Penelope pouted, not wanting to be left alone.
"I'm going to buy her a coffee before she kills me too."
●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●
It was after eight by the time Emily unlocked her apartment door. The team had been working nonstop for hours, but it felt like the more they uncovered, the more questions that arose.
Eventually, Hotch sent everyone home, stating that they should just wait for Gideon to tell them everything he knew before jumping to conclusions.
But Hotch and Rossi were having trouble reaching Gideon, and if they couldn't contact him, then this shitstorm of a case was going to take even longer to solve.
So when Emily fell onto her couch, she didn't even have the energy to take off her shoes, let alone cook anything. She stared at the ceiling for a solid five minutes before remembering Y/n's text.
She reached for her phone and opened Y/n's text from earlier in the day that she never looked at.
Y/n (1:35 PM): I promise you'll like this one.
Emily sighed as she debated whether or not she should call the younger woman.
Ultimately, she gave in, knowing, at the very least, Y/n would reveal something new.
She quickly dialed her number before she could talk herself out of it.
"I was wondering when you were going to call," Y/n answered after the third ring, a cocky smile evident in her face.
"It was a long day at work, thanks to you," Emily answered shortly as she sat up fully on the couch, crossing her legs under her.
"To me? So you're thinking about me all day long?" Y/n grinned. Something was going on in the background of wherever Y/n was, but Emily couldn't decipher what it was.
"Don't flatter yourself. The only reason I'm thinking about you is because you've murdered 300 people." Emily scoffed.
"300 men, not people." Y/n corrected.
"What about Alex Painter? She wasn't a man."
"Really? Is that all you've got on her so far?" Y/n chuckled.
"Pretty much. And you knew that the information you gave us would only lead to dead ends." Emily remarked.
"Alls fair in love and war, darling. And besides, I thought the BAU was the best. I have to say, you guys are disappointing me."
"Disappointing you?! That's rich," Emily scoffed and was reminded once again that she was talking to a psychopath.
"It is rich! Because I'm starting to get bored, and you know what happens when I get bored." Y/n started, and Emily heard the sound of a door slam on the younger woman's side of the phone.
"What was that?" Emily asked as she sat up a bit straighter, a knot starting to form in her stomach.
"It's your surprise! Or did you forget why I told you to call me?" Y/n smiled.
"I told you, I don't like surprises." Emily gritted out as she heard the sound of a scuffle on the other end of the phone.
"Oh, you'll like this one!" Y/n chuckled, and then Emily heard the sound of a gunshot.
"Y/n!" Emily gaped as she stood up, hoping this wasn't what she thought it was.
"His name is Howard Barnes. Oh, wait! My bad, his name was Howard Barnes." Y/n chuckled.
Emily was frozen for a moment; her usual fast thinking was nowhere to be found.
"Don't worry, Emily. He's not your gift. He's just some perv that needed to die before he hurt anyone else. Your surprise is on his kitchen counter; I think you'll like it." Y/n smiled as she branded the angel wind behind the dead man's ear.
"I'm going to find you," Emily said, finally out of her frozen state as she shrugged her coat on and grabbed her gun from her safe.
"You have such a way with words," Y/n laughed, "Also, say hello to Gideon for me. And tell him I'm not afraid of the dark anymore." Y/n finished, and with that, she hung up.
Emily paused as she took the words in.
Y/n knew Gideon?
So Gideon had to have been involved in Alex Painter's investigation. Further proving that someone wanted this case covered up.
But why?
Christ, everything is even more confusing now, Emily thought as she dialed Hotch's number.
"Hotch." He answered on the first ring.
"Y/n killed again. We need to figure out where Howard Barnes lived," Emily said quickly, trying not to think about the future conversation she was bound to have with Hotch, explaining all of this.
This was going to be a huge mess.
Emily: Time for plan G.
JJ: Don't you mean plan B?
Emily: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip plan C due to technical difficulties.
Spencer: What about plan D?
Emily: Plan D was that separate disguise attempt half an hour ago.
Rossi: What about plan E?
Emily: I'm hoping not to use it. I die in plan E.
Derek: I like plan E.
Hotch: We need to talk about-
Emily: The house was already on fire when I got there.
Emily: What?
Hotch: What?
"You can start a family who will always show you love"
Summary: In which Emily Prentiss comes home to her wife and daughter after a week-long case.
Warnings: None
EMILY LET out a sigh of relief as she walked into her house and dropped her to-go bag. After a week-long case, all she wanted to do was curl up in bed with her wife. She made quick work of putting away her gun and credentials, trying to be quiet so she didn't wake anyone up.
She was in the kitchen filling up a glass of water when she heard soft footsteps walk into the kitchen.
"Mama!" Charlotte said as she ran over and wrapped her arms around Emily's leg. Emily smiled as she put the glass down and bent over to pick up the three-year-old.
"Hi sweet girl," Emily said as she kissed her daughter on the head, the smell of her shampoo already calming her senses. She smiled as she saw Charlotte's pink onesie, ever since the two of you bought it for her, she refused to wear anything else to bed.
"What are you doing out of bed?" Emily asked as she tickled the little girl's stomach. Charlotte giggled as she threw her small hands around her mother's neck.
"I'm thirsty." She said as she looked up at the raven-haired woman.
"Well, let's get you some water, and then you can go back to bed." Emily smiled as she opened another cabinet to grab a small plastic cup.
"I want apple juice." Charlotte pouted as she looked up at her mother.
She knows she shouldn't, but she could never say no to the perfected pout of her daughter. Emily knows it's because that pout is one hundred percent inherited from you.
"Don't tell Mommy, okay? It'll be our secret." Emily says as she holds out her pinky.
"Our secret!" Charlotte giggles as she wraps her pinky around Emily's. Emily adjusts the little girl to sit on her hip as she grabs the apple juice from the fridge and pours it into the light pink cup.
After Charlotte was done Emily left the cup on the sink to clean tomorrow.
She carried Charlotte upstairs and wasn't surprised when the toddler was starting to fall asleep in her arms. She smiled as she tucked her daughter into bed and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before heading to her bedroom.
As soon as she walked in she saw your sleeping frame curled up against her pillow. She smiled as she immediately walked over to you and gently brushed some hair out of your face, not wanting to wake you but needing to feel the warmth of your skin. You unconsciously nuzzled your face into her hand. "I love you," She whispered, knowing that you were still asleep, but if she had learned anything from you, it was that she could never say those three words too many times.
She quickly changed out of her work clothes and into shorts and a sweatshirt before heading to the bathroom. When she came out a couple of minutes later she saw Charlotte curled up next to you with her small arm protectively on top of your five-month pregnant belly.
Emily's heart melted at the sight.
She never thought that this would be her life.
She never thought that love like this could come so easily.
That being loved was so easy.
"You're back." You murmured as you slowly sat up, carefully placing Charlotte's head onto the pillows without waking her up.
"I am." Emily smiled as she quickly got into bed and pulled you in for a soft kiss. Your lips tasted like home and Emily never wanted to leave.
"I missed you." You mumbled sleepily against her lips.
"I miss you too," Emily said as she rested her forehead against yours. "How's the little one?" She asked as she placed her hand softly onto your stomach.
"Good. She was hungry for a new combination this week though." You yawned and Emily raised her eyebrows. "Oh, she was?"
"Mhm. She insisted I eat tuna and peanut butter every day."
Emily wrinkled her nose at the thought, "Gross."
You just shrugged as you leaned your head against Emily's shoulder, "How was the case?" You asked quietly, knowing that Charlotte could sleep through anything but not wanting to take any chances.
"Let's just say I'm very happy to be back with my girls," Emily murmured as she rested her cheek on the top of your head. You knew this meant she didn't want to talk about it yet, so you didn't push. You remembered what it was like returning from a case, the heaviness in your heart making you want to do nothing but curl up with the people you love.
You still worked at the BAU, but after having Charlotte you decided you didn't want to be in the field anymore so you mostly worked on cold cases and consults over the phone.
"I love you." You said as you fought to keep your eyes open. You wanted to spend time with your wife after not seeing her for a week but your exhaustion was getting the better of you.
"I love you more." She smiled as she kissed the top of your head. "Why don't we go to sleep? We can talk more in the morning." Emily murmured and then immediately heard your soft snores from her shoulder.
Emily held back a laugh as she gently laid the both of you down on the bed. Your ability to fall asleep anywhere and anytime had surely been passed to Charlotte.
Emily buried her face into your neck as she lazily put her arms over your stomach. She never slept well without you, so as soon as she inhaled the scent of your body wash her eyes drifted closed.
●・○・●・○・●
Emily's eyes fluttered open to the feeling of small hands on her face.
"Mama." Charlotte's soft voice whispered.
"Mhm," Emily said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up. The little girl immediately crawled into the brunette's lap and looked up at her excitedly. "Pancakes!"
Emily chuckled as she brushed wild hair off her daughter's forehead. "You want pancakes?"
"Yeah!"
Emily happily agreed, knowing that the two of them could surprise you with breakfast in bed since you were still fast asleep.
By the time they got downstairs, Charlotte was already chasing Sergio around the kitchen. The black cat had taken a long time to warm up to the little girl, but now he was at least tolerant of her antics.
Emily put on soft music as she got out all of the ingredients. She easily whipped together the batter in minutes and then went to find Charlotte so she could put in the chocolate chips.
"Char! It's chocolate chip time!" Emily called out as she walked into the living room.
As soon as she saw the two of them she couldn't help but laugh. "Very pretty, Serg," Emily said as she looked at the pink crown Charlotte had put on his head.
"He needs a dress!" Charlotte said excitedly as she bolted from the living to the playroom and came back with a pink, doll dress less than thirty seconds later.
"Why don't we play dress up after breakfast, okay?" Emily said as she scooped the little girl up, giving Sergio time to knock the tiara off with his paw and scamper upstairs.
"Okay," The toddler sighed dramatically, another thing that Emily claims is all you.
By the time they get into the kitchen, Charlotte has already forgotten about the dress and is squirming in Emily's arm to reach the chocolate chips.
"Remember, not too much," Emily says as she hands the bag to the little girl.
"Not too much," Charlotte repeats before dumping almost half the bag in.
"Well, it's a good thing you and your mommy love chocolate chips." Emily chuckled as she took the bag from her. Before she could put it away Charlotte stopped her, "Do the trick mama!" Charlotte says excitedly as she claps her hands.
The trick was just Emily seeing how many chocolate chips she could throw into her mouth but Charlotte was insistent that she do it every time they make pancakes.
"Okay, let's see if we can break the record, Char!" Emily smiled as she placed the toddler in her high chair next to the counter.
"Yeah!" She cheered. Emily's current record was 27 consecutive chocolate chips thrown into her mouth. It would have been more if they hadn't run out of them last time.
"Alright," Emily said as she grabbed one out of the bag and then tossed the chip high and easily caught it in her mouth.
"One!" The mother and daughter counted at the same time. The game went on for another three minutes, Charlotte had stopped counting at 20 but right when Emily threw the 27th one into the air, Sergio scurried passed Emily's leg causing her to fall backward and land right on her ass, missing the chocolate chip.
"Ow," Emily grumbled as shot a glare at the cat who looked smug as he ran away. The brunette could have sworn that was the cat's payback for letting her daughter dress him up.
"Mama hurt?" Charlotte asked as she looked down at Emily with sad eyes.
"I'm okay, sweet girl." Emily smiled as she ignored the crack in her knees as she stood up. "We'll beat our record next time, yeah?" She said as she gave her daughter a high five. "Yeah!" Charlotte giggled.
Thirty minutes later, all the pancakes were done and Emily had cut up some fruit and made you tea. She put everything on a tray as she and Charlotte walked up the stairs to surprise you.
"You want to wake up Mommy?" Emily asked and Charlotte nodded excitedly.
"Surprise!" Charlotte said as she ran through the room and jumped onto the bed, shaking your shoulders with her small hands.
"Mmm, good morning Char," You mumbled as you rubbed your eyes.
"We made breakfast!" She said excitedly as she pulled on your arm for you to sit up.
"Oh, you did?" You said as you looked over and saw your wife holding a tray with a big smile.
"Mama let me put in the chocolate chips!" Charlotte said as Emily gently placed the food onto the bed and then crawled next to you.
"Wow, they look good, Char! You and your mama are the best!" You said as you gave her a quick kiss on the head before turning to your wife.
"Thank you." You smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before carefully pulling the tray onto your lap.
"Always," Emily said as she placed her chin on your shoulder. She watched lovingly as Charlotte burrowed into your side, stealing fruit from the tray as you cut the pancakes.
The three of you spent the rest of the morning in bed rewatching Charlotte's favorite movie for probably the fifteenth time. But neither you nor Emily would have had it any other way.