The Hunting Hour - A Criminal Minds Fiction

Chapter 30: Paris

JJ had left DC around 7:45pm. She got in Boston and headed straight to Emily's hospital room.
"Hi. Sorry I'm so late. I got packed at work" JJ said walking in.

"It's alright. How's everything?" Emily asked.

"Doing okay I guess" JJ said.

"How is she?" Emily asked talking about Bella.

"Getting better" JJ said.

Emily stayed quiet.

"Well, how are you?" JJ asked.

"Getting better" Emily said making a face.

"Are you ready for the trip?" JJ asked.

"I guess" Emily said now serious. JJ could see her friend was upset.

"Hey. It's just temporary" JJ said.

"I know. It's just.." Emily said.

"Bella" JJ said.

Emily just stared at her and JJ knew that was exactly why she was upset.
Jennifer tried to put herself in Emily's shoes and think about what if it was her leaving Henry behind. She truly hated what she was doing but as she put herself in Emily's shoes she knew she would leave Henry too. Because she knew it would be their best chance.

Two nurses and a doctor walked in and discharged Emily. JJ drove to the airport and they had a jet waiting for them.
Emily sat and JJ sat next to her.

"Would you like some water?" JJ asked.

"Yeah" Prentiss said. JJ got a bottle and handed it to her and took the seat next to Emily. Emily drank some water and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe she was leaving the country. She couldn't believe she didn't have her daughter with her.
She took a deep breath as she felt her heart race.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked as she noticed Emily's face.

"Yeah" Emily said as tears filled her eyes.

JJ reached inside her pocket and took a piece of paper out and handed it to Emily.
Emily opened it and asked confused "what's this?"

"It's your online scrabble name and password." JJ said. "And this one is mine" she said pointing.

Emily looked at her a bit confused.

"They have a little chat thing. We can talk and no one will ever know" JJ said with a small smile.

"Thank you" Emily said.

"I promise I'll answer as soon as possible" JJ said and Emily nodded. She was really thankful her friend found a safe way to keep in touch.

Emily stared at the paper.
"Cheetobreath... This user name is sooo you" Emily said and JJ laughed.

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(Tuesday)

The jet landed in Paris and they headed to different hotels. JJ gave Emily a name of a cafe so they could meet there later at night. So when Emily got to the hotel she decided to rest a little. She wasn't able to find a comfortable position to sleep on the plane so she was truly exhausted. She laid down on the big hotel bed and couldn't help but feel a big lump on her throat. She couldn't believe she was really doing that to her daughter. She thought about the promises she had made, she thought about their plans and all of that broke her. She started crying. She took a pillow close to her face and cried herself to sleep.

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In DC, Bella had a good day at school. Derek picked her up and they went to get the paint. Bella was nervous about going out but she wanted to get the room fixed so she put on a brave face and went. Later they meet Penelope at a furniture shop and picked out her things. Derek suggest stopping by Emily's apartment so Bella could see if there was something she wanted but the girl said she didn't want to, so Derek asked if they could just stop by after school the next and she said she would think about it. So they went to the mall and go some bedding, she picked out a light grey and light pink chevron theme. Penelope agreed it would look amazing with the light blue walls.

"Can we go now?" Bella asked as they walked out of the shop. She was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything. It was like one moment she was fine and then images of her mom and Doyle would feel her mind and she wouldn't feel well.

"Do you want to stop there first?" Garcia asked pointing to the Disney store. Bella took some time to think and nodded yes. Penelope smiled, grabbed Bella's hand and they walked to the store. In there, Bella picked out a big Cheshire cat tsum tsum and a big Marie tsum tsum to match her room. Garcia picked out a Cinderella fleece throw that matched the blue walls, a light blue Cinderella lamp, and new pajamas for Bella.
They headed home around 4:30 and started preparing to paint the room. They took a bunch of things out of the room and started painting. All three of them.
Bella liked it but after 15 minutes she got bored.

"This takes so long" she said.

"Why don't you two put the furniture together while I finish painting?" Derek said.

"Sure" Bella said handing him her paint brush. Garcia laughed and they went to the living room.

After a lot of work Derek finished painting and went to the living room to help them. They had put together the desk and were half way through the book shelf. He helped and they finished it up pretty quickly.

"All done?" Bella asked looking tired.

"Yes" Derek smiled.

"I need a shower" she said and Derek and Penelope laughed.

"I need food" Morgan said.

"You go shower and I'll order pizza" Penelope said and Bella went to get pajamas.

While the girl showered Garcia ordered food while Derek threw all the trash away, then they sat to wait. After a while Bella got back and they started watching tv. The pizza got there, they ate and midway through a movie Bella was out.

"You guys can sleep in my bed tonight. I'll have the couch" Derek said.

"I'm sure she'll want you there too" Garcia said and Derek laughed.

"Sure" he said. "She wants or you want?" he joked.

"Ha ha. I won't deny or confirm anything" Garcia joked.

"Well, We are already raising a child together" Derek said and they both laughed.

"You know Garcia you should really move in" he said. Penelope stared. "I can build you a room" he said.

"Really?" She asked a little unsure.

"Yeah. I mean we really are raising her together now" he said.

"But what if you get a girlfriend or ... I don't know" she said not really sure of it.

"We'll figure it out when that happens" he said. "She wants you here" he said.

"Okay" Penelope smiled.

"Alright. So let's go to bed. I need to rest cause I have a new bedroom to make" Derek said and Penelope laughed.

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In Paris, Emily headed out and she felt scared. She knew that there was no way Doyle could know she was still alive but she felt scared anyways as she walked outside by herself for the first time.
She got to the restaurant and JJ was waiting.

"This has to be quick" JJ said. She got a folder from her bag and put it on the table as Emily sat down.

"Everything you need is here. Passports, bank details, everything." JJ said and Emily took the folder.

"Thank you" Emily said.

"You know what to do" JJ said and then stood up.

"Yes" Emily said.

"Good luck" JJ said and simply walked away. Both knew they couldn't just sit there and talk for hours. They knew they had to be careful.

Emily sat there for a while as JJ walked down the street. When JJ turned the corner Emily headed back to her hotel. She took her small bag and her purse and checked out. She knew she had to disappear. She got a cab and went to another hotel. She checked in with one of the fake passports and headed to her room. She placed her things on a table, ordered some food and sat on the bed to wait. She stared at the window and saw all the lights in the city. She started wondering what Bella was doing, how Bella was. She missed her girl so much. Her eyes watered but she refused to cry again. She walked to the bathroom, washed her face and just pushed all those thoughts away. She had to be strong. She had to.