As From Discretion Comes Isolation
Chapter 16

A/N - Thank you to every single person who has read, followed, favourited or reviewed this story over the past few months, I truly appreciate it so I hope you enjoy the conclusion to the story and please keep an eye out for the future. Much Love xxxxxx

It was four days before Emily was finally discharged from hospital and she grumbled as she, J.J., Garcia and Nikki packed up her things.

"Rest! I've had enough rest being cooped up here!" she moaned taking her belongings and putting them in her bag, "you didn't all need to be here for when I got discharged you know" she looked up at the three women.

J.J. shook her head slightly, "we're going home tomorrow so we wanted to spend as much time as we can with you seeing as James is being discharged today too, I doubt we'll see you this evening"

"I've ruined enough of your vacation, I'm spending the rest of it with you guys, I've got the rest of my life to spend with him" she smiled picking up the carseat which her daughter was sat in.

Nikki looked at her watch and gave the other two women a knowing look. It was 12.00pm and unbeknownst to Emily, her wedding would be commencing in just under an hour.

"Right we'd better go for our celebratory lunch!" Garcia cried heading towards the doorway.

Emily frowned, "what are celebrating?"

"Your engagement silly! And your full recovery so come on let's go" she said pulling her towards her and out of the stuffy hospital room.

She pulled a face before signing the forms at the front desk which meant she could finally go home and waited for the nurse to fetch her medication, "I think I just want to go home for a bit, I've been stuck in here for days"

J.J. nodded, "we understand we'll take you home and then we'll go out"

"You're not getting the hint, I'd prefer it if we could just hang out at home"

Penelope put her hands on her hips, "it's not everyday one of your best friends gets engaged so we are going to celebrate it, ok?"

Emily frowned slightly not quite understanding why they were so adamant that they had to go out, "fine, but can I go home and get ready, you all look really well dressed and I look like the local tramp, I smell like it too!"

"Of course" Nikki replied as they walked out into the car park. She hoped Jack and Leo were having a better job convincing James than they were.

Jack smirked from the seat beside his friend's bed. He had never been great at keeping secrets and to be honest he didn't know why he had been asked to come with Leo for James' discharge. Unfortunately he was still on crutches after the bullet had damaged his leg so he watched amused while the other two men packed away James' belongings.

"Cheers mate" James began sarcastically as he folded up his dressing gown and placed it on the top of his bag, "you've been a great help, thanks for being here"

Jack held his arms out, "what can I say? I'm always here for you"

Leo shook his head and glanced up at the clock on the wall, he knew they had to keep to strict schedule, "right we're taking you out"

"Oh no, I really just wanted to see my girls and go home" James replied

Jack stood up and balanced himself on his crutches, "you've got your whole life to do that, right now you're going to come out for a drink with us"

James sighed, he knew he wasn't about to win the argument, especially when Jack was his opponent, "fine"

Jack beamed and clapped him in the back, "good boy!"

James frowned as he looked out of the car window. The tall, grey industrial buildings of London Town were soon being replaced by the greenery of the suburbs. He was unsure why Leo was taking him out of the city when there were plenty of nice places on the route between the hospital to his house. Yet he did not have the energy to dispute the fact, though he had physically recovered from his attack, he still felt exhausted and quite lifeless but he put that down to the lack of sleep that had gotten whilst in hospital. He noted that the green scenery was becoming more frequent as he had tuned out of the frivolous conversation that Jack and Leo were having in the front of the car. As much as he had become close with them over the past year, all he wanted to do was be with his fiancé and his daughter who his time with had been severely limited recently.

Closing his eyes briefly he could see Emily in front of him, her sweet scent being blown towards him by a brisk wind, her thick brown hair falling perfectly just below her shoulders, the corners of her soft, pink, luxurious lips being drawn upwards to reveal her pearly white teeth in the most beautiful smile and those eyes; the smile reached all the way up to her twinkly chocolate brown eyes. His mind, subconsciously, was recreating the first time he laid eyes on her. He had been walking towards the Interpol building when he saw her stood outside in her black suit with her handbag over her shoulder and a very troubled look on her face. Her eyes then connected with his and he smiled at her and without any hesitation she smiled back. It was a moment that had gotten him through the past year, despite all the trouble, he loved her.

James soon felt the car slowing and his eyes slowly flickered open. He could see they were pulling into the entrance to a large estate where cars filled the long cobbled driveway. Leo parked behind a dark green Land Rover before exiting the car. Jack soon followed his lead as he grabbed his crutches and hobbled out of the door.

"What's going on?" James asked, the rare summer sun steaming down on his face as Leo opened the boot of the car.

Jack pulled out two black garment bags and smiled to himself, "oh sorry did we not mention..." he began handing his friend one of the bags, "...you're getting married"

At 12.45pm Nikki parked her car behind Leo's at the grand, countryside estate. They had all gotten changed into their nicest clothes at Emily's house before travelling to their destination.

Two days earlier J.J. and Garcia had taken a trip to Oxford Street and had bought new outfits for the secret wedding as it had not been a necessity to pack in their suitcase before they had arrived. They spent most of the day fighting the crowds but they finally managed to buy beautiful dresses for the occasion as well as new smart pants and shirts for Henry and Jack who, unlike the other men on the trip, had not packed formal clothes and a baby bridesmaids dress for Bella. The final, and most difficult, item on their shopping list was a wedding dress for Emily. Unlike J.J., Emily's mother could not tear herself away from her busy schedule to attend her only daughter's wedding let alone lend her her wedding dress so it was up to her best friends to find one for her. It was hard to find the perfect dress but once they saw it both women looked at each other and knew they had found it. The dress was now hidden in the back of Nikki's car which they would be revealing to their friend in a very short amount of time.

Emily shielded the sun from her eyes as she looked around, "where are we?"

Penelope took hold of her shoulders and directed her towards the entrance as J.J. grabbed the dress and Nikki picked up the baby, "that would ruin the element of surprise dearest Emily"

As they walked into the grand entrance hall the realisation hit her, all the secrets, the sneaking around, talking in hushed voices, the vagueness of their plans and now being beautifully dressed in a mystery location.

"Oh God, you haven't?" she said looking around aimlessly.

Garcia smiled innocently, "I haven't done anything!" she exclaimed.

"Neither have we!" J.J. called as they entered the hall handing her the garment bag her secret dress was hidden inside.

Emily rolled her eyes and tried to stifle a smile, "Rossi!" she cried.

"You've only got ten minutes, you had better get dressed!" Nikki said pushing her slightly towards the toilets.

Still dumbfounded she carried the bag into the ladies. She carefully hung the hanger onto the top of the cubicle door and pulled the tab downwards to reveal what dress her friends had picked for her. Emily gave a small gasp and took a step backwards as she laid eyes on the ensemble.

The white material was simple and traditional, the dress had three quarter length lace sleeves and flowed elegantly to the floor. She slipped it on easily and noted the matching shoes and accessories which were at the bottom of the bag. Once she was ready she turned to the full length mirror and brought her dark hair forwards from behind her shoulders, curled slightly it fell nicely over her chest making her look simply beautiful.

Once she left the bathroom the only person Emily could see in the grand entrance hall was Derek Morgan holding her baby daughter who was now wearing a purple and white bridesmaids dress and she looked adorable.

"What's going on?" she asked placing the empty bag and her clothes down on a chair at the edge of the room.

He bounced Bella slightly in his arms which caused her to give him a toothless smile, "I would like to do you the honour of walking you down the aisle, if you'll have me"

She carefully lifted her daughter out of his arms and smiled up at him as she linked her arm around his, "I couldn't have picked anyone better"

He gave her nod and a wink, "we better do this then Prentiss"

Emily looked at him and then to her daughter who was busy playing her favourite game of 'tugging on Mommy's hair' and mirrored his nod, "it's about time"

The lights were dimmed low and all eyes were on the dance floor. Garcia smiled as she watched the newly married couple move slowly in time with the music for their first dance while their little daughter bounced happily on her lap.

"No way man! We are not having this conversation" Morgan laughed from beside her with his arm in its usual place, firmly around her shoulder.

Jack shook his head, "I don't even know how glorified rounders can be classified as a sport! Football is an internationally loved and recognised game"

"Baseball is no less loved just because it's not loved internationally" he looked around the table for some support from his colleagues, "J.J. you're into sports, which do you think is better baseball or soccer?"

J.J. turned and stroked Henry's long hair who was sat on her knee before jumping off to play with Jack, "I'm sorry Morgan you're forgetting I went to college on a soccer scholarship so I'm kind of biased, but it is the better sport overall" she laughed seeing Morgan getting mad over his lack of support and he began to sulk slightly.

The music soon began to fade out as Emily and James left the dance floor hand in hand and walked towards their friends' table. She soon placed her arms around Rossi's neck giving him a backwards hug, "thank you Rossi, this is incredible! If the BAU doesn't work out then wedding planner is always an option"

"Don't even mention it and I'll bare it in mind!" he chuckled before sipping his glass of scotch.

Another song began playing and Jack could see Nikki tapping her foot and humming along silently. He stood up and took her hand, "would Madame like to dance?"

Her pale cheeks flushed slightly but she gave him and smile and nodded before he led her out onto the dance floor.

Penelope handed Bella over to her parents before leaning over Morgan towards the right end of the table, "Leo, why are they not together?"

He sighed and shook his head as he watched his friends laughing as Jack balanced on his crutches while they tried to dance, "Nikki is still recovering after Harry left, but hopefully they'll see sense soon enough"

Emily looked at her family and saw one person was missing from the table. The one person that she hadn't had a chance to really speak to. And the one person she really needed to speak to.

Reid.

She looked around the room and located him playing magic tricks with Henry and Jack in the corner of the room. She walked over as he was doing his classic pen through the paper trick, she was still clueless at how he could do it but she loved that he could.

She crouched down and placed her hands on the boys' shoulders, "hey guys are you having fun?"

"Yes Auntie Emily!" Henry cried.

Prentiss laughed, "good! Well do you what's going to be on the table soon? Cake! If you want to get some you'd better go now"

Immediately the two boys ran back to their seats leaving Emily and Spencer alone.

He looked down at his laced, slightly scuffed black shoes letting his long hair fall in front of his face, "I can't believe I've got to say goodbye, again" he said quietly.

Emily pulled him into a tight embrace, tears sparkling in her eyes, "I am so sorry I couldn't be there for you, Garcia told me all that you've been through and I wanted more than anything to pick up the phone and tell you that although it hurts, and God it does hurt, that you need to trust in your family to help you get through it because they all understand. Every single person sat at that table has lost someone very close to them and they know exactly what you are going through, you couldn't ask for a better support network"

"I know" he whispered into her shoulder, "I wished more than anything that you'd been there, I wanted to tell you about her when we first started corresponding but I thought because you had only sent short replies to my other messages that you were too busy and wouldn't want to be burdened with my frivolous information. Obviously I now know it was now because of Sutton..."

She broke apart still clutching his hands, "...but you thought you were losing your friend and that added to the hurt as you were mourning Maeve" he nodded slowly his chest feeling tight at the mention if her name, "I felt as if I was back in Paris again, the limited information and contact with my family, I felt I was losing you all again. I tried to postpone your visit because of the danger but Hotch wouldn't have it but after seeing how much you are still willing to do for me, I know that I'll never lose you, you'll always be my family"

Reid gave her a small smile, "thank you Emily"

She nodded and linked her arm through his, "come on genius, lets see if they left us any cake"

"Did you know the ritual of the wedding cake in Britain can be traced back to medieval times, when it would have been made of wheat and, it was actually thrown at the bride as a symbol of fertility?" he said as the began to walk towards their friends.

Emily laughed, "it's good to have you back Reid!"

The table had become emptier as Morgan and Garcia had begun dancing closely on the dance floor as had J.J. and Henry while James had gone to speak to his family.

"So you're expecting me to believe that there is nothing between those two?" Leo scoffed looking towards the dance floor as Morgan kissed the top of Penelope's soft blonde hair.

Rossi shook his head, "that's what they expect you to believe, we've been waiting six years-"

"-Seven years!" Emily cried sitting down.

"-Nine years!" Reid and Hotch both exclaimed.

Leo laughed, "and I thought Nikki and Harry were bad!"

The dancers then began to disperse as the song ended but J.J. and Garcia began beckoning Emily to the floor. She laughed as she joined her best friends and then held hands and began dancing in a circle just as they had done the previous year. It was as if no time had passed.

Emily knew she was extremely lucky. Not only did she have a beautiful family of her own, she also had the most incredible extended family, both in London with her new family members which she'd found in Nikki, Jack and Leo and her BAU team who would always be her rock, no matter what happened.