a/n: Hi all. After a long hiatus, I have returned to the writing 'scene' so to speak. I recently rewatched the episode Honor Among Thieves. At the end, Emily and her mother go out to dinner. This is what inspired this fic.
This story is beta'd by my good friend Molly. Check out her tumblr: .com. Her blog is awesome, and she's hilarious and beautiful, so if you have a tumblr, you should follow her. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, show, etc. Blah blah blah.
Read, review, && enjoy! Thanks guys!
.oOo.
The case was finally over, and though it had not transpired exactly as everyone had planned, the team of FBI profilers from the BAU were relieved that it was all over. The newest member of the team, SSA Emily Prentiss, had proved once again to be a useful addition, as her knowledge of the Russian language, and her mother's job as an Ambassador to Russia, had helped a great deal in closing this case.
Though she was the newest, she was far from an outsider. She had been well integrated into the team, though her superiors had doubted her credibility. Her knowledge of languages and other cultures, as well as her impressive profiling skills made her a good addition to the team. Her sense of humor, her drive and passion, and her kindness had helped her easily fit into the group. She was even in a relationship with one of the members of her team, although that was technically not allowed. Overall, Emily Prentiss was fitting in just fine.
Emily had finished telling her mother how the case had ended, and was ready to go home, satisfied by the cold, awkward silence, and thick tension within the room. To say her relationship with her mother was strained, was an understatement.
Her mother's postings and her diplomatic, political persona had had a negative impact on Emily's life growing up. Her childhood had been filled with statements that had turned the innocent child Emily had once been, into a strong willed, objective woman, who's greatest defense was her ability to compartmentalize. Though Emily had not turned out all too bad, she felt angry about her past, and jaded.
Her mother had taught her not to cry in public, because what the public thought of you was important, and to not let her emotions cloud her judgement. She was taught to 'think with her head, and not with her heart'. Wearing her heart out on her sleeves was not something a Prentiss would do, and by the time Emily was eight, her compartmentalization methods were advanced, far more than any third grader's should be.
Her mother had not shown much affection to Emily; they were not close at all when Emily grew up. Emily couldn't remember the last time her mother had hugged her, or told her she loved her. She could remember more clearly the times when her mother had said, 'Emily this is silly to get upset about,' or, 'Emily, what would people say? What would people think?'
Though she would never say it, and would absolutely never show it, it pained Emily to think about her childhood. It hurt to think about the normalities of a childhood that she missed out, because she was constantly moving, due to her mother's postings as they changed. It made her sick to think about how broken her family really was; her father and mother rarely spoke to each other anymore, usually only small talk, about superficial matters at the dinner table. They wouldn't dare divorce: What would people think? Emily tried to think back to the last time she had spoken with her father. It had been the Christmas before last, maybe even another year prior. Had it really been three years since a proper conversation with her father?
That had to change. Emily was sick and tired of missing her family. She wanted to make up all that lost time. She had to fix the mess the Prentiss's were in. So, sitting in her mother's office, Emily made a split second decision.
"Would you like to go to dinner with me?" Emily asked suddenly, shocking her mother and herself with the question. Her mother gave a surprising smile, one that was not filled with political fakeness, but a genuine one, unsure, but true none-the-less.
"My treat?" Emily's mother suggested.
"Definitely," Emily said with a small chuckle.
"I'd like that," her mother said nodding. So Emily stood from the chair she was sitting in, and she and her mother walked out the door in silence together.
.oOo.
Emily sat in the driver's side of her Prius, and her mother in the passenger's seat. They sat quietly, Emily focusing on the road, her mother looking in her lap. Emily cleared her throat.
"Erm, how has father been?" Emily asked, breaking the silence.
"Father? He used to be 'daddy'," Elizabeth said, chuckling, and Emily gave a half smile.
"He's doing well. Plays a lot of golf with the McCarthy's," Elizabeth said.
"Oh. Good. I haven't spoken to him in a while," Emily said quietly, with a hint of guilt in her voice. Elizabeth smirked at that. More silence followed that exchange. After several minutes, Elizabeth spoke up.
"You know, when I asked you if you were enjoying your job, I hadn't meant it quite as you took it. It's been a while since you and I have really spoken, and I just was trying to…" her voice trailed away.
"What were you trying to do?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's silly, really," Elizabeth said shaking her head.
"Mother," Emily pried.
"To get to know you better. How crazy is that? I'm your mother and I feel like I don't even know you anymore," Elizabeth said exasperatedly.
"Have you ever really known me?" Emily asked quietly.
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"How much do you really know about me?" Emily asked again.
"I know you are thirty six years old, you live in an apartment overlooking the Mall, you-" Elizabeth listed, but Emily cut her off.
"What's my favorite movie? My favorite song? My favorite ice cream flavor?" Emily rattled off.
"Emily, I-" Elizabeth tried, but Emily cut her off.
"I bet you didn't know that I'm in a relationship now," Emily added, "Even more so, I bet you didn't know it was a woman. It's Agent Jareau, as a matter of fact. And we're very happy together. But I know that what the public thinks will come first, not my happiness, but just know, mother, that I-" Emily began, but this time Elizabeth was the one to cut her off.
"How long have you and Agent Jareau been…?" Her mother's voice trailed away.
"Two months now," Emily said matter of factly.
"And you're happy?" Elizabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The happiest I've ever been," Emily said shrugging.
"Then there isn't a problem. I'd like to get to know Agent Jareau better," Elizabeth said.
"Mother, you think that you can just-wait. What did you say?" Emily asked.
"If you're happy, then I don't see a problem…besides maybe some work related protocols," Elizabeth said shrugging. She was acting rather cavalier about the whole situation.
"You've never…" Emily murmured.
"I know…but that doesn't mean I haven't wanted to," Elizabeth said, "I put my career ahead of my family when you were a child, and that wasn't fair to you. That was absolutely horrible of me," Elizabeth said in disgust, "And Emily, I'm so sorry."
Emily pulled into a parking spot at the restaurant they were at. Elizabeth took Emily's hands.
"Emily, do you hear me? I really am so sorry," Elizabeth said quietly.
"Yeah…yeah….I uh, thanks," Emily said quickly. She shut the car off and climbed out of the front seat hurriedly, followed by Elizabeth.
"Emily," Elizabeth began, and then Emily's phone rang, "I'll get a table. You take that," Elizabeth said with defeat, and left a quiet Emily in the parking lot.
Emily sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment, before answering her phone.
"Prentiss," Emily answered.
"Don't you look at your caller ID?" The voice on the other end teased.
"Hey babe," Emily said with a small grin.
"Hey to you too, babe," JJ said laughing, "What are you up to?"
"I'm actually gonna have dinner with my mom," Emily said, biting her lip.
"Honey, that's great," JJ said excitedly, "I'll let you go then. Call me when you can."
"Will you come over tonight when I get home?" Emily asked hopefully.
"Oh I don't know. I have to check my calendar," JJ teased.
"Oh okay, excuse me. Check your calendar, and since I know you're not booked, I'll see you at my place later. I'll call you," Emily said laughing.
"Alrighty I'll see you," JJ chuckled, "Bye."
"Bye, baby," Emily said and hung up. She put her phone on silent and entered the restaurant.
The hostess led her to a table in the back, where her mother was waiting.
"Everything alright, Emily?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah, yeah, that was Jen," Emily said with a smile.
"So tell me about her," Elizabeth said softly, and she watched as Emily's face lit up talking about Jennifer.
"And I really really care about her," Emily finished. Elizabeth smiled.
"I can see that," Elizabeth said smiling.
.oOo.
Throughout dinner they made a lot of small talk, careful not to delve too deep into serious waters, as the bridge between the two was nowhere near repaired, but it was getting there. Emily hadn't even wanted to bring up JJ, and now she felt guilty because she had only said that to try and spite her mother, even though she had gotten the opposite response.
Emily arrived at Elizabeth's house and got out of the car to bid her mother goodnight.
"Thank you again, for dinner, mother," Emily said with a smile.
"No, Emily thank you, for letting me have this opportunity," Elizabeth said.
Emily stood quietly for a moment not sure exactly what to do. Elizabeth looked over her daughter for a moment.
"You really turned into a beautiful woman Emily, and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you to see it happen," Elizabeth said sadly.
"Well nothing we can do about it now except forget about it and move on," Emily said dryly, with a hint of compassion.
"I guess you're right," Elizabeth said, "Good night, Emily," she said, and gave a small awkward hug, that Emily was reluctant to return. After the exchange, Emily got in her car and drove away, calling JJ to come over as she drove.
.oOo.
"It was just weird, Jen. All of a sudden she's this apologetic, loving, motherly new person, who was interested in my relationship with you, and how I was doing at work and 'oh emily you're beautiful' this, and 'emily i'm sorry' that. It was just….I don't know," Emily's voice trailed away as she buried her head in the crook of JJ's neck. The two were cuddle on the couch, and JJ was holding Emily, stroking her hair.
"You told her about us?" JJ asked surprised.
"I'll admit, at first it was just because I was angry, and I wanted to see her squirm, and I thought telling her I was in a relationship with another woman would do just the thing," Emily said guiltily.
"Em," JJ began, slightly hurt at Emily's approach.
"But then she wasn't upset. She was curious, and she asked questions and I got to tell her all about you and I just love to talk about you," Emily explained excitedly.
"You do?" JJ asked surprised.
"Of course I do," Emily said grinning, "Jen I love you," she said, suddenly unsure and self-conscious of her words.
"You said love," JJ murmured.
"Yeah, I know, and if it's too soon for that then I'm-" Emily began.
"Please don't say you're sorry," JJ begged, "because I love you too," she whispered. Emily gently caressed her cheek with her hand, and leaned in and kissed her gently.
"My mother wants to meet you," Emily said quietly, snuggling closer to JJ.
"I would very much like to meet her," JJ said smiling, "What about your father?" JJ asked.
"I haven't spoken to him in over three years, so I'm not there yet," Emily said with a chuckle, which caused JJ to giggle.
"Maybe this weekend your mother could come over for lunch," JJ suggested.
"You think my apartment is nice enough for Ambassador Prentiss to eat in?" Emily teased.
"I think if you cleaned and I cooked," JJ said laughing.
"What's wrong with my cooking?" Emily asked, feigning offense.
"Nothing. It's wonderful," JJ said sarcastically. She kissed Emily's forehead, and then kissed her lips, wrapping her arms around her neck. Emily lay down on the couch, and JJ on top of her.
"I'm just worried she has some ulterior motive," Emily said breaking the peaceful silence.
"I know, but maybe she just really wants to try to fix things," JJ murmured, kissing Emily's cheek.
"Maybe," Emily said quietly.
"I love you, Em," JJ said.
"I love you, too," Emily said. They cuddled together close, and feel asleep in each other's arms.
a/n: are you liking this? should i write more? review pleaseeee! xoxoxo.