Emily stood in front of the gravestone, a little behind Ruth, while the girl laid flowers on the ground. It was comfortable weather, warm even, though the air was damp from the rain they'd had yesterday. It didn't seem to bother Ruth, who knelt in front of the stone, and traced her fingers over her sister's name. Sasha's was one of five matching headstones that stood in a row, and hinted at some tragedy to passersby. The stones were simple, with names and dates carved in, and a few words toward the bottom. For Sasha's stone the inscription was only four short words.

Sisters don't need words.

Casey's parents were the only ones who took responsibility for their child, leaving the other five victims of Jason Filar to be buried by the city. There was no question that Emily would bury Josie and Sasha; they were her daughters after all. And as a mother, she couldn't let the other three girls go into pauper's graves, marked only with numbers, so she had signed the papers for their remains as well. The five young women were buried all at once, and Ruth sat beside Emily that day, her tears falling freely down her face. The other girls in Haven all hugged and welcomed her, and Emily was grateful to them and proud that they could think of someone else even in their own grief.

Ten months later, Ruth was doing well. She still frowned more than she smiled, but she was getting good grades in school and she was well-behaved at home. Emily had her in the twin bedroom, and Ruth had begun to show and accept more comfort and affection. But she still desperately missed her big sister. And Emily couldn't blame her. The child had not had a happy or easy life.

Emily had healed, albeit slowly, from the injuries and trauma inflicted by Jason Filar, and she and JJ had taken each other as confidants, talking to each other about the things they would never say to anyone else. JJ had opened up about the fear and betrayal she'd felt from her husband's abuse and her fear of trusting another man. She'd recently begun a long distance romance with a detective from New Orleans, who had come to New York for an extradition and charmed the blonde. But her fears were prominent and the slow pace forced by the long distance seemed to be the saving grace for the relationship.

Emily had not heard from Derek. Not a phone call, nor an email. Not even a text message.

She knew to expect that, hell she had expected that result, but it hurt nonetheless. She had flipped onto football games a few times, and seen him running around the field and speaking to reporters. He looked well. Emily was grateful for that, but part of her still ached at being forgotten so easily. She ached when the news stories began a few months ago, about Pittsburgh Quarterback Derek Morgan walking with a young man into court, supporting him as he testified against his abuser, the man who ran the youth center in their neighborhood. She ached when Derek stood in front of the cameras and admitted that he had been abused by that man as well. She had wanted to be there for him, but knew that was impossible, even if he hadn't forgotten her.

Ruth got up from the ground and walked back over to Emily, standing close to her. She wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Ruth had wanted to visit Sasha today, because Easter had always been her favorite holiday. It was the last holiday they'd had with their parents before they died. Emily had excused them from the Easter festivities at home, stopped to get fresh flowers, lilies, for all the graves, and took the girl to see her sister.

"Are you ready to go?"

Ruth nodded against her. "Spencer said he'd show me magic tricks."

Emily smiled. Spencer and Dave had come back to New York for a visit. Spencer was now a consultant to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, working with Aaron's team, and slated to enter the next academy class so he could become an agent. Apparently, Aaron had somehow gotten Spencer cleared, even with his criminal record. And Dave was sober for the first time in years, and was writing again, or at least trying to write. He went to AA religiously, and was still living down in Virginia, spending time with old friends. They spoke on the phone often, and Emily knew he was still struggling a lot. She was trying to encourage him into grief counseling as well, but he was resistant. She was just glad that he was still going to AA.

She had not spoken to Aaron Hotchner since he'd left New York, and she was certain that was the best thing for him and his wife. For her as well. Seeing him was closure on a hurt she'd carried with her from long ago, and now it didn't hurt so much. Like she had originally surmised, Aaron was a good guy, but he was never meant to be her good guy.

She smiled at Ruth as she parked the car on the street behind the club, and locked the doors. She had plenty of family and friends, and an entire building full of young women and girls that she loved dearly.

"Oh good, you're back," JJ smiled, shutting her cell phone, as they walked in the door. "The kids want to start the Easter Egg hunt."

"Did Cooper and Maria get here yet?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

Ruth ran off to go find Spencer, and Emily glanced down at JJ's cell phone, still held in her hand. She smirked. "Was that Will?"

"It was," she said, slightly embarrassed grin on her face.

"Good. He seems like a nice guy."

JJ shrugged. "So did Brent."

Emily slid her hand into JJ's and gave it a squeeze. The other woman offered a slight smile of thanks, and they walked to Mother Night, where the Easter egg hunt had been arranged.

The place was packed.

Most of Emily's charges returned for the holidays, especially Easter, when fewer had other family commitments, and she also invited the local working girls to bring their kids for the egg hunt. A lot of churches and homeless shelters offered festivities for the poor and homeless, but here was the only place most of the working girls could go and not feel judged. Having been in that position herself, Emily knew the feeling well. Penelope and Kevin had even made an appearance earlier, bringing Easter-themed cupcakes. They hadn't stayed too long though, the crowd was still a bit much for Penelope.

She quickly found Cooper and Maria and walked over, greeting and hugging both. Cooper had been out of work for a month and a half, and then on a desk for another month and a half. But he'd healed and looked great today, and full of energy. After a few minutes of chatting, Wendy got everyone's attention and began the Easter egg hunt. Cooper ran out with Ethan, while Maria walked around with baby Jordan. Jordan watched the other kids running around, and clapped her hands and giggled at the excitement.

Dave appeared next to her, smiling and seeming to enjoy the commotion. "You've got to love the innocence of youth."

"You certainly do."

"Speaking of youth, where's Danni?"

Emily squinted as she surveyed the crowd. "No idea. In the building somewhere."

"And how's that going?"

"Good, I think. She comes here on almost all her breaks. She has a lot of questions though, that are not easy to answer."

He raised his eyebrows. "Like?"

"Our lives when she was little. My life after I left her with her grandmother." She turned her eyes toward the ground. "I don't want her to know most of that."

Dave wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple, but said nothing. Emily appreciated it all the more. There was nothing to say anyway.

"Mama."

Emily turned, moving partially out of Dave's arm at Carla's voice. "Yes?"

"There's a visitor for you by the game room."

Emily frowned. "Who?"

Carla shook her head. "I said I wouldn't tell, it's supposed to be a surprise."

Emily thanked the girl, and tried not to be outright annoyed by whoever felt compelled to surprise her. In her business, surprise visitors usually didn't bring good news. Surprise visitors were more broken and abused girls that needed shelter and safety, or angry pimps, family members, gangbangers or drug dealers demanding the return of their "property". Her last good surprise had been Danni, and she had no other long lost children to come home.

She pushed through the door to the private area and stopped dead in her tracks. His back was to her, but it was hard to hide a figure like his. Emily swallowed and walked calmly toward his back, stopping a few feet from him, when he finally turned at the sound of her footsteps.

"Derek," she said, "good to see you."

His face split in a wide smile. "Princess, you are a sight for sore eyes."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you expecting me to swoon and leap into your arms?"

Derek frowned. "Well no, but I did expect you to be a little happy to see me."

"After ten months of nothing? How do you know that I haven't moved on?"

It would have been too gentle to say that his face fell. His entire demeanor suddenly sagged in disappointment, and his eyes just looked…devastated. All he said was, "Oh."

Emily resisted the urge to shake her head at him. "I didn't say that I had moved on, Derek. But seriously, ten months?"

He still looked crestfallen. "I was going to wait a year. I wanted to have my 1 year chip from NA to show you, but I just couldn't wait anymore."

"You've been clean this whole time?" She asked, feeling her resolve begin to crumble.

He nodded, a little bit of pride returning to his face. "I had some things to deal with in Chicago, and I made things right with my mother and sisters. But I stayed clean, Emily. No coke, no roids, I haven't even touched alcohol."

Emily stepped closer then and wrapped her arms around him, tightening her grip, fingers digging into his upper back muscles when she felt his arms go around her. "I'm so proud of you," she said.

He tightened his hold on her in response. "You thought I forgot about you, didn't you?"

She swallowed, suddenly feeling silly. "Maybe."

Derek pulled away then, his eyes burning into hers. "I told you, Emily, I could never forget you."

Emily leaned forward and kissed him then, her lips sliding over his, her eyes drifting closed at his familiar taste. When they broke the kiss, they remained close, foreheads pressed together.

Emily sighed then. "How long can you stay?"

"We don't start back in training until late July."

"And then I don't see you again until January?"

He smiled. "Yeah, but then you're stuck with me permanently."

"What do you mean?"

"This is my last season."

Emily backed up so quickly, they both stumbled. "What?"

Eyebrows raised and twisted artfully, Derek shrugged. "It's too damn hard to stay clean if I'm playing ball. There's roids all over the locker rooms, and coke, booze and god only knows what else all over the after-parties. I don't want this life anymore. To be honest, I never wanted this life. I was going to be a cop."

"And now?"

"I don't know. I'll figure it out."

Emily moved back, so her body was pressed against his, wrapping her arms loosely around him again and sighed. "Well, I can't really offer you a normal life, but maybe we can make each other happy for a while."

"Sounds good to me."

"Right now though, I'm needed at an Easter egg hunt. Want to join me?"

He grinned. "Of course, I do."

I had this story in my head for so long and agonized over the timeline and characters so long that it's kind of surreal that it's now officially over. I don't think I've felt this with any other story I've written, it just feels weird that it's over. So, thank you everyone that read and took this little journey with me, it's been kind of awesome and wonderful having you all along for this ride. And thank you everyone that reviewed, I really appreciate all your kind words. I have a half an idea for one-shots focused on Emily's relationships each with Wendy, Danni and Morgan, though they'll of course feature many of the other characters as well. I can't and won't offer a timeline on those though. Naked Soul is in line first; I'll start posting that again next weekend and I'll be trying to keep to the same once a week schedule that I have been, but be warned the American holiday season shows no mercy toward anyone's attempts at scheduling. :)

Thank you all again for reading and reviewing!