"𝙳𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕊𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘

     "NOAH!" Emily calls for the teen up the stairs.

"Yeah?!" Noah asks as she opens her bedroom door.  She looks at the bottom of the steps and sees that Emily is not there.  The teen walks into the kitchen and finds her.

"I invited the team over for dinner." Emily tells the girl.

"Everyone?" Noah asks, a bit shocked.

"Well, Hotch can't make it because he wants to spend time with his son—"

"Aaron has a kid?" Noah questions.

"Yes, Aaron has a kid." Emily giggles, "Since when do you call him Aaron?" She asks.

"He told me to." Noah defends herself.

"Well, he can't make it." Emily sighs and watches the teen grab a glass from the cabinet.

"A son?"

"Yeah, his name is Jack." Emily informs Noah.

"He isn't married." Noah mentions as she pours some orange juice.

"No, he's not." Emily agrees.

"He's not a widower, is he?" Noah asks and Emily finds it adorable how the teen is worrying about her teammate.

"No, him and his wife are divorced." Emily says as she sits down at the breakfast bar.

"So, Jack lives with his Mom?" Noah keeps asking questions as she leans against the kitchen counter across from the woman.

"Yeah," Emily replies, "How'd you know Hotch isn't married?"

"He doesn't wear a ring." Noah says and Emily wonders why Noah notices things such as that.

"Hey," Emily gets the teen to look at her, "How are you?"

"I'm okay." Noah replies and smiles at Emily.

"Are you getting enough sleep?" The woman asks.

"Yeah." Noah reassures the woman, "Uhm, do you mind if I use your computer?" She asks to change the subject.

"Go ahead, it's in my office." Emily tells her.

"Okay, thanks." Noah beams and puts her now-empty glass in the dishwasher.  The teen walks to the office and sits down at the chair.  She realizes that she needs the password, so she calls for Emily.

"Emily?!"

"Yeah?!" The woman shouts back.  Before Noah can shout again, Emily appears at the doorway.

"You need the password." Emily says, already knowing what Noah was about to ask.  She leans over the computer to type the password in and opens the desktop.

"Thanks,"

"You're welcome." Emily chuckles and ruffles Noah's hair, "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Okay." Noah says and waits for Emily to leave the room before opening the browser.

—
𝟛:𝟘𝟘 𝕡.𝕞.

"Hi," Emily beams as Noah sits next to her on the couch, "What have you been up to?" She asks, seeing as the teen has been in her room for hours.

"I was reading." Noah answers.

"Annotating too?" Emily asks.

"Hm?"

"You annotate your books." Emily says with a small smile.

"Is it something I do that helps you figure out these obscure things about me?" Noah asks and hears Emily laugh.

"No, I saw your book on the nightstand that first night you came to stay with me." Emily explains.

"Oh," Noah says, feeling a bit embarrassed because Emily found out a dorky quirk about her.

"Have you always liked reading?" Emily asks.

"Yeah," Noah says, "I always felt like it took me to a different world."

"That's what books are for." Emily adds as she puts her own book that she was reading down.

"Even when I read my history textbook, I could picture it all in my head; I always liked the story of Paul Revere." Noah opens up to Emily.

"That's a good one." Emily agrees.

"I always felt like I could see the lanterns that he set up and his famous ride." She tells the woman.

"It's like a history movie in your mind." Emily mentions and sees Noah let out a yawn.

The teen leans her head on Emily's shoulder, making the woman smile.  Emily realizes that Noah's eyes are closed, so she opens her book to keep reading. After reading another chapter, Emily wakes the teen up.

"Hey," Emily quietly says, "Why don't you go take a nap in your bed?" She suggests, wanting the teen to be comfortable.

"Okay," Noah says and stands up.

"I'll be down here if you need anything." Emily adds.

"Okay."

"Goodnight." Emily jokes and sees Noah smile. She watches the teen go upstairs and continues reading her book.

—
𝟟:𝟘𝟘 𝕡.𝕞.

The doorbell buzzes throughout the apartment, making Emily rush to the door. She quickly unlocks and opens it, finding JJ and Penelope on the other side.

"Hi!" Emily greets her friends and gives them both a hug.

"Uh, Rossi and Reid were right behind us." JJ mentions as she looks out the door.

"Hey! Hope we're not too early." Reid says as he hugs Emily.

"Not at all, you're right on time." Emily replies as she hugs Rossi as well.

"Where's the munchkin?" Penelope asks as she looks around for Noah.

"Oh, she was taking a nap. JJ, do you mind waking her up?" Emily asks as she realizes that she has to get back to cooking in the kitchen.

"No, I got her." JJ says and rushes off to the stairs. The blonde walks down the hallway and knocks on the teen's bedroom door. When she does not hear a response, she lets herself in.

"Hey, Noah?" JJ whispers as she sits next to Noah on the bed.

"It's time for dinner." JJ coos and watches Noah open her eyes.  Suddenly, Noah snaps and backs away from JJ.  The teen brings her knees to her chest and JJ can see the fear in her eyes.

"Noah, it's just me — it's JJ." JJ softly speaks and puts her hand on Noah's arm.

"I just assumed you were Emily." Noah says as she becomes a bit embarrassed about getting scared.

"Do you want me to go get her?" JJ asks.

"No, I just need to change then I'll be down." Noah tells the blonde to shoo her away.

"Okay," JJ says and walks back downstairs. She finds Emily in the kitchen and feels as though she should say something.

"Hey, Em, can I talk to you for a sec?" She asks the brunette.

"Yeah, what's up?" Emily says as she walks to the living room with JJ.

"I just went to wake Noah up and she got a little freaked out." JJ tries to explain.

"What do you mean?"

"She curled up in a ball and backed away from me.  She thought I was you, so when she realized I wasn't, she freaked."

"Hold on, I'm gonna go check on her.  Will you watch the food?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, of course." JJ answers and goes to the kitchen with Rossi to help cook.

Emily walks up to Noah's bedroom and finds the door open. She walks into the room, but sees no one there.

"Noah?" Emily calls for the girl.

"Yeah?" The teen answers and walks out of the closet.

"You okay?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"JJ said you got scared when she came to wake you." Emily explains, making Noah realize that JJ talked.

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting it to be her." Noah tries to mask her fears.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Why you got so scared." Emily attempts to get through to the teen's head.

"It was nothing, I promise." Noah reassures her.

"Can I have a hug?" Emily asks with a smile.  Noah let's a smile crack through her lips and falls into Emily's arms.

"Do you trust JJ?" Emily asks as they walk out of the room with their arms around one another.

"I trust everyone on the team.  But I'm closest to you," Noah replies.

"Well, I would hope so — we live together." Emily giggles as they walk down the steps.

"I trust her, I just—"

"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Emily cuts her off as they start to hear everyone's voices.

"Okay," Noah answers in relief.

"Munchkin!" Garcia exclaims as soon as she lays her eyes on the teen. Noah smiles wide and rushes towards the woman.

"You look so pretty!" Penelope beams and places a kiss to the teen's forehead.

"So do you." Noah compliments the woman and looks behind her shoulder to see Morgan let himself in.

"Hey, kiddo!" He exclaims and opens his arms.

"Morgan!" Noah chimes and rushes to hug him. Emily smiles as she watches the teen interact with her team.

"Hi, Dr. Reid." Noah giggles and looks at the tall man. Spencer playfully nudges Noah's shoulder, making her laugh.

"You can call me Spencer." He tells her.

"I know," Noah says with a laugh, "But doctor sounds cooler." She adds and looks over at Rossi.

"Rossi, I gave Emily an Italian recipe for dinner." Noah excitedly tell the older man.

"Atta girl." Rossi chuckles and gives Noah a high-five.

"You can all sit down wherever." Emily says and watches everyone make themselves at home. Emily stays behind in the kitchen to keep cooking and notices that Noah stays with her.

"Hey, you're supposed to be my entertainment out there." Emily jokes.

"I have to make sure you don't overcook anything." Noah says and looks around at all the food Emily prepared.

"If you set the table for me, then I can focus on not burning anything." Emily hints and watches Noah shake her head with a smile. The teen goes to set the table and then makes her way to tell everyone that dinner is ready.

The team gathers around at the seating areas. Emily sits at the table with Rossi, JJ, and Morgan while Noah happily sits at the breakfast bar in-between Penelope and Reid. They all eat and chat about random subjects that come up. Somehow, Penelope finds herself in the middle of a conversation about history with Reid and Noah.

"Do you know anything about Paul Revere?" Noah asks Reid.

"Oh! I know this one!" Penelope gasps, "Fun fact: Paul Revere actually didn't warn the British."

"What?" Noah says with an expression of disappointment.

"Paul Revere actually set out to Concord with Samuel Prescott and William Dawes." Reid says and sees that Noah is genuinely interested, "They were all detained by a British patrol, but Prescott escaped and was the only one who succeeded in reaching Concord to warn of the British invasion." He explains and notices Noah's shocked expression.

"But, the textbooks—"

"Elementary, middle, and high school textbooks are typically quite vague. They are also biased, not in the way that they are factually wrong, but they are very selective with their facts and moral judgements." Reid rambles on.

"How'd you know that, P?" Noah asks.

"I'm actually very smart, you know." Penelope boasts and pokes the teen's side.

"Hey, I already told you that the team would be nothing without you." Noah giggles as she takes a bite of her food.

"I agree," Reid beams and smiles towards Penelope.

"So, have you visited the school yet?" JJ asks Emily.

"Uh, no, we're actually going on Monday." She replies as she watches Noah continue to talk to Reid and Garcia.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Morgan asks.

"She seems excited, but I haven't told her that they wear uniforms, so that might change." Emily jokes and sees her friends laugh.

"She'll be okay, she's a likable kid. She'll find some good friends." Rossi reassures Emily, knowing that she is nervous about Noah's adjustment to the new school.

"Yeah, get her to join the track team." Morgan proposes.

"If she ran circles around Morgan, she definitely needs to join the team." JJ says with a wide smile.

"Okay, let's get it straight, she did not run circles around me." Morgan sets the record straight.

"She outran you." Emily says.

"You're only saying that 'cause she's your kid now." Morgan argues and watches the rest of the table laugh.

"Emily?" Noah asks as she comes to stand behind the woman.

"Hm?" Emily replies.

"Are you done?" She asks, referring to the woman's plate.

"Oh, yes, thank you, honey." Emily beams and gives the teen her empty plate.

"JJ?" Noah asks and collects the blonde's plate as well. Emily watches as Noah and Penelope walk to the kitchen and begin to clean up.

"And she helps around the house?" JJ asks, shocked at the teen's good behavior.

"You've got yourself a good kid, Emily." Rossi says as he stands and goes to the kitchen to help clean up.

Emily smiles as she watches Noah start washing the dishes. Somehow, she got lucky with such a sweet kid. Emily has always known she wanted kids, but never thought she would have the time or would meet the right person. Turns out, Emily does not need anybody's help and she is perfectly fine taking care of Noah on her own.

"Anybody up for a game?" Reid asks as he holds up a deck of cards and walks into the living room.

The group gathers around the coffee table as Reid sets up the deck.  Noah sits next to Emily, suddenly feeling vulnerable with everyone sitting together.  Emily looks down at the teen and watches her with an endearing smile.  Noah wraps her arm around Emily's and scoots closer to her.

"Alright, may the best man win." Rossi announces and starts the game of poker.

The team play, chat, and laugh for almost an hour.  Emily notices that every now and then, Noah would move closer to Penelope or leaned into the table more.  It is the body language of someone who is becoming comfortable.  Emily cannot help but smile to herself and glance over at Noah every couple minutes.

"Fold," JJ says and leans back against the couch.

The action leaves Spencer, Dave, and Noah in the game.  Rossi folds as well and looks over at Spencer.

"Three of a kind," Spencer beams and boastingly shows his cards to the group.  As Spencer gets confident, everyone else groans.

"Hey," Noah stops him, "Last time I checked, a straight beats a three of a kind." She says and lays down her cards.

"What?!" Spencer exclaims and huffs in disappointment, "How did you...?" He tries to do the calculations.

"Stop doing the math and take the defeat, doctor." Noah says and takes the M&Ms that they were using as their chips.

"Noah!" Emily beams, "How?" She asks, in shock at the teen's amazing poker skills.

"I told you, I learned from my brother." Noah defends her skills.

"A straight?" JJ asks, impressed.

"I'm calling cheats." Derek says.

"Guys, I've been sitting next to her and I have to say, my precious child didn't cheat." Penelope giggles and bumps her shoulder with Noah's.

"Alright, well I've gotta get outta here." Morgan says as he checks his watch.

Everyone starts gathering their belongings and grabbing their coats.  Noah and Emily hug them all goodbye and wish them a safe drive home.  Emily goes to the living room and starts tidying up the space.

"JJ left her jacket." Noah says and holds the coat up for Emily to see.

"Can you run it out to her real quick?" The woman asks.

"Yeah," Noah complies, "JJ!" She calls out for the blonde as she opens the front door.

"Oh!" JJ says with a smile and rushes up to the teen, "Thank you!" She beams as they meet on the sidewalk.

"Uhm, about earlier—" Noah begins.

"You don't have to say anything." JJ sighs.

"I want to." Noah insists, "I'm not scared of you, I'm just trying to adjust—"

"Noah, really. It's okay. I didn't take it to heart." JJ says and puts a hand on the teen's shoulder, "I'll see you later, okay?" JJ asks.

"Yeah," Noah beams and gives JJ a hug. The woman strokes Noah's hair before walking away to her car.

Noah watches JJ get to her car, thinking to herself about how good of a mother she would make.

"Noah!" Emily calls from the front door. The teen turns around and rushes up to her.

"Come inside, honey." Emily says, not wanting Noah to be out in the dark all alone. Emily puts her arm around the teen and closes the front door behind them.

The teen sits down on the couch and Emily sits beside her. They both relax into the cushions and Noah wonders who will start the conversation first.

"So, what happened with JJ earlier?" Emily asks.

"I don't like people in my room when I'm sleeping." Noah answers.

"I understand."

"I'm workin' on it." Noah says, hoping to make it a little better.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Emily asks and looks into the teen's eyes.

"Can I?" Noah asks, surprising Emily.

"Of course you can, honey." The woman replies and grabs Noah's hand, "All I'm gonna do is listen."

"Uhm, when I was a kid, my Mom woke me up in the middle of the night.  She made me get in the car and drove to an alley a couple blocks from our house.  She forced me to get out of the car and get a bag from this man." Noah tells her story slowly and with caution.

"I did that for her every two weeks." She adds, "One time I looked in the bag and I thought I saw sugar." Noah says, which makes Emily understand what was happening.

"How old were you the first time she made you do it?" Emily asks.

"I was eight." Noah admits, "I didn't even know what drugs were.  I thought it was sugar." She says and feels tears come to her eyes. Being stripped of her childhood is the one thing Noah will always regret.

"Two years ago, after my Dad left, I found out that the reason she never paid was because I was the payment.  He was on the sex offender list — he fantasized about me." Noah tells Emily, putting all of her trust in her.

"When I found that out, I started locking my door at night.  You know how I knew she was addicted?  She came to wake me up and broke the lock on my door.  And Nick stood in the hallway and watched her drag me away to meet a pedophile!" Noah goes on and eventually stops to realize that she is breaking down into tears.

"Honey, c'mere—" Emily sighs and takes the hysteric teen into her arms, "You know I would never do anything like that to you, right?" She comforts Noah and strokes the teen's hair.

"Promise?" Noah asks as she looks up to meet Emily's eyes.

"I promise, Noah.  You're safe now."