"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺

"I HEARD..." Liv says as she throws an arm around Noah's shoulder, "That you went to a party with Parker."

They are making their way down the school hallway on the way to their last class.  Their classrooms are next to each other, so they always meet up before class.

"Oh, no, whatever you're about to say—"

"Just hear me out!" Liv exclaims, "There's a party this weekend and we're all going."

"You got Jess to go to a party?" Noah says with a smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Well, no, I figured you'd be the one to convince her?" Liv says in the form of a question.

"There's no way—" Noah chuckles.

"Hey, you never know!  She seems to be taking a liking to you, so maybe she'll come if you do." Liv exclaims and tries her best to get through to Noah.

"Listen, I'm down, but don't count on me being able to convince her." Noah agrees.

"It's this Friday night after the football game," Liv says happily.

"So, I have to go to one of the games now?" Noah asks with a smile.

"You got a thing against football?"

"No, but Parker has been begging me to go to a game and I've refused to give in."

"Now you get to see the 'Reef' side of Parker," Liv says with a look of disgust.

"I think I got a big idea of that when we went to the party." Noah giggles.

"How was that by the way?" Liv asks.

"The party?"

"No, you and Parker hanging out alone."

"Oh, it was fine.  I mean, we've done it before.  We just talk about normal stuff." Noah says with a shrug as they get to their classrooms.

"Interesting," Liv smiles and heads into her classroom,  leaving Noah confused.

The teen just shrugs it off and walks into her last class; math.

—

"C'mon, Jess, it'll be fun!" Noah pleads.

Jess has refused the invitation to the party ever since they have been walking.  She adores Noah, but not enough to give in to the party.

"I don't have fun at parties." Jess simply explains.

"You've never been to a party with me," Noah adds with a smirk.

"Noah, I'm serious.  Every time I've given in, they all leave me behind and end up having fun while I sit in the corner and wait for one of them to drive me home."

"Would I ever leave you behind?" Noah asks.

"No, but—"

"No buts!  I would never do that to you, you know that." Noah says and looks Jess in the eye, "Just trust me.  I will try my best to get you to have a good time.  And if you don't," Noah continues, "Then I'll let you plan a whole day of anything you wanna do.  I'll come along and I can't complain about a single thing."

"And you'll play chess with me every day after school for the next week?" Jess suggests.

"Can we start that part of the deal on Monday?"

"Sure," The blonde agrees and holds her hand out.

"Then yes...deal," Noah smirks and shakes Jess' hand.

"I can't believe you're convincing me to do this."

"You're over-thinking," Noah notes and throws an arm around Jess' neck.

"And you're under-thinking everything that could go wrong." Jess giggles as she sneaks her arm under Noah's backpack to hold Noah's waist.

"Relax.  It's just an after-party for the game."

"I don't even wanna go to that," Jess says.

"Yeah, me either.  But we don't have to sit in the student section." Noah offers and peers down at Jess.

"Thank God." The blonde smirks and releases her hold from Noah.  She walks ahead of Noah and begins walking backward, "I have a proposition for you."

"Go on...?" Noah trails off.

"Next weekend my Mom is having a dinner party..."

"Mhm," Noah hums.

"And she said I can invite a friend...?"

"Oh, fun, who you gonna choose?" Noah asks. Jess stops and playfully punches Noah's shoulder.

"Stop playing around!" The blonde giggles, "Will you please come?"

"It's a bit early to be meeting your mom." Noah continues to joke around.

"Shut up," Jess beams and pushes Noah with her shoulder.

"I'll be there," Noah assures the blonde as they near the bookstore.

"Good, 'cause I need someone there who won't be over thirty." Jess chuckles and stands in front of the door.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Jess says and gives Noah a hug.  After they pull away, she watches Noah wave to her and walk down the street.

Noah walks into the building with a smile on her face.  It even grows wider as she sees Emily waiting for her. Emily is standing at the front desk, leaning against it and looking down at her phone.

"Em!" Noah exclaims as she hugs the woman. Emily looks down in shock at the sudden embrace.

"Hey, sweetheart!" She beams, "I was waiting for you longer than I usually do."

"Sorry, me and Jess walked a bit slow today."

"It's okay, I was just worried," Emily says as she puts an arm around the teen. She walks them to the elevator and listens to Noah talk about her day.

"And we got our tests back in Spanish and I got a 96!"

"Oh, good! I'm proud of you." Emily beams and ruffles the teen's hair.

"Is Penelope here today?" Noah asks with hope.

"No, I'm sorry, honey.  She's actually getting reinstated today." Emily answers with a sad face.  Whenever Penelope is gone, everyone loses their splash of color.

"Oh," Noah replies as they get to Emily's desk.

Everyone seems to be closed off.  Derek is staring at his work, Spencer seems busy as he reads his files, JJ is nowhere to be found.  The teen looks up at Hotch and Rossi's office; Hotch is intensely working and Rossi is sitting at his desk, gazing off into space.

"I'm gonna do some homework," Noah says and walks off to the steps that lead up to the short balcony.

Noah cautiously makes her way over to Rossi's office.  She knocks on the door and hears a voice allowing her in.

"Rossi?" Noah asks as she opens the door.

"Hey, kid," David replies with a small smile.

"Room for one more?" Noah asks, "I figured I could hang out with you today."

"Ah, you've finally come to your senses." He says and gestures for Noah to take a seat in front of his desk.

"I wanna hear all of David Rossi's famous stories." Noah happily sighs as she sits down.

"There's so many, I don't even know where to start."

"How about the late seventies?" Noah asks.

"So, you want the BAU story?" Rossi asks and sees Noah eagerly nod. He smiles to himself and takes a deep breath.

"Well, it was 1977 when Jason Gideon and I began the Behavioral Science Unit.  They used to call us the B.S. Unit..."

—

"And then 2007 rolled around and I came out of retirement," Rossi says as he closes out his story.

Noah listened to his every word as closely as she could.  Hearing the origins of the BAU was much more interesting than she originally thought.

"How come?" She asks.

"Because I wanted to make a difference again," Rossi claims.

"And you needed the money to keep up with your mansion's bills." Noah finishes his sentence.

"I don't need money, I just enjoy it." Rossi gloats and hears Noah lightly chuckle, "But that's the story of the BAU."

"And the rest is history..." Noah giggles and sees Rossi smile as he shakes his head.

"Send these over to Hotch for me, will ya'?" Rossi asks as he holds up a small pile of files.

"Sure." Noah agrees.  It is the least she could do for the person who entertained her this afternoon.

"Hey, Hotch?" Noah asks as she knocks on Aaron's office door.

"Come in," She hears his reply and opens the door.

"Rossi wanted me to give you these." Noah says and holds out the files, "I guess I'm responsible for running his errands now."

"That's what you get for wanting to hang out in his office." Hotch chuckles.

"I thought it'd be a vibe in there." Noah defends her decision.

"What'd you expect?"

"Lots of wisdom, some tickets to a Mets game, a promised tour of his mansion, and maybe even my first swig of scotch." Noah exaggerates with a wide smile.

"Well, your first mistake was assuming that Rossi is a Mets fan," Hotch says.

"Sorry, the Red Sox—"

"The Cubs," Hotch corrects her with a smirk.

"Right." Noah murmurs, "Anyways, here are the files." She brushes it off and places the folders on Hotch's desk.

"I heard that you beat Morgan in a race." The man says as he picks up the first file.

"Yeah," Noah awkwardly replies.

"Well, I've been working on my running for a while." Hotch says, "Maybe we could race too sometime?"

"I'd like that." The teen agrees with a wide smile.

"But long-distance; I don't sprint."

"What are we thinking?" Noah asks, "A mile? Two miles?"

"A 3k." Aaron answers.

"A 3k?!  Hotch, that's a day-long event." Noah whines and folds her arms.

"Not when you know how to pace yourself." Hotch debates with the teen.

"Well, can you at least show me the ropes? One day of practice and then we can do it." Noah suggests and sees Aaron think about it for a moment.

"Sure," Hotch says with a smile. Noah nods and walks out of his office, heading to Rossi's again.

Aaron watches Noah with a smile still painted on his face. He sees something in Noah; maybe it is strength or maybe it is charisma or maybe it is both. Nonetheless, he sees something; something that he hopes Jack grows up to have as well.

—
𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺'𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

"Finally home!" Noah sighs as she slumps into the couch with Sergio in her arms.

"Did you get all your homework done?" Emily asks from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Noah replies, "In-between taking files back and forth from Rossi to Hotch's office."

"He told me that he liked spending time with you," Emily says, referring to Rossi.

"It was nice to talk to him.  He reminds me of my grandfather." Noah replies with a smile.

"How so?" Emily asks.

"Big goals, likes a nice drink, plays a lot of poker and blackjack, has more stories than I will ever have in my lifetime, and a bit of a player when it comes to the ladies." Noah laughs to herself, "The only difference between them is that Rossi's rich."

"I never realized you had extended family in Seattle."

"I had grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins..." The teen trails off, "I was only close to my grandfather."

"Your Mom's Dad?"

"No, my Dad's."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Emily inquires as she sits next to Noah on the sofa.

"A little before what happened to Gia." Noah answers and sees Emily's curious expression, "Just because my Dad left doesn't mean his family did too."

"They still visited you?"

"The social worker told Gia it was good for me; having extended family members present in my life."

"Do you miss them?"

"Only my grandfather.  We had a strange relationship, but I trusted him.  He was the only one I was somewhat comfortable around other than my Dad and Nick." Noah explains with a sad face.

"How was it strange?"

"We never hugged or anything like that.  We were close because of how we would talk to each other.  He would give me advice, kind of like how Rossi does.  And he would always have stories from the war."

"Which war?" Emily asks.

"World War II."

"My Dad fought in the Gulf War." The woman says as she remembers her father.

"Is that when he...?" Noah cautiously asks.

"Yeah,"

"I wish they'd come back," Noah complains as she slumps into the couch.

"Who?"

"My Dad and your Dad." The teen answers and looks over at Emily.

"My Dad?" Emily asks with a confused face.

"Yeah," Noah says, "I wish I could have met him.  And I wish you could have met my Dad.  He would've really liked you."

"My Dad would've liked you too." Emily adds with a grin, "Do you think you'd be here if your Dad hadn't left?"

"I don't know.  He and my grandfather always wanted what was best for me.  I'd like to think this is what's best for me; being here with you." Noah chimes.

"Me too," Emily agrees.

The teen pauses, wanting to say something, but not knowing if she should.

"I never told you this, but my grandfather was the one who sent me that email," Noah admits.

"What email?"

"The one with the pictures of me, Gia, and Nick."

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Emily asks.

"I didn't want to scare you."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want you to think that I wanted to go back," Noah explains with a small smile.

"Well, even if you did, you're stuck here with me and there's nothing you can do about it." Emily giggles as she grabs Noah by the neck.  She pulls the teen closer to her and kisses her head.

"Hey!" Noah beams as she pushes Emily off of her, "Will you play Guitar Hero with me?"

"Yeah, as long as you're setting it up," Emily replies and watches Noah skip over to the Xbox that is connected to the living room TV.

Noah hands Emily one of the guitars and wraps the other's strap around her neck.  She clicks play and takes control of all the buttons.  Noah used to play the same game with Nick and even remembers some of the songs by muscle memory.

The two play a couple of songs and Noah cannot help but laugh at Emily's scores.

"You need to learn how to use the blue button!" Noah snickers as she compares her and Emily's scores.

"The blue one is too far away!" Emily complains.

"You need to put a finger on each button." Noah tries to help the woman.

"What about the orange one?" Emily asks for the millionth time.

"I told you...you only use that one on the hard and expert level." Noah replies, "Look," She says as she stands in front of Emily's guitar, "Put your fingers like this." She explains as she places Emily's fingers over each button.

"Keep them there and put the corresponding finger down when it comes up."

"What about the orange one?" Emily questions the teen again.

"Do you listen to anything I say?" Noah challenges her.

"It's only on the hard level." Emily answers her own question, "I only asked 'cause you're funny when you're annoyed."

"You're making this less fun." Noah pretends to whine.

"I'm making this funny. You take it very seriously." Emily corrects the teen and watches as the new song starts to play.

"I can't have you ruining my high scores," Noah says as she gets ready to play the song.

—

"Goodnight, love." Emily quietly says as she strokes Noah's hair.

The two of them spent the night playing Guitar Hero, making dinner together, and doing some individual reading in Emily's bed.  After an hour, Emily finally convinced the teen to put her book down and get some sleep.

"Goodnight," Noah peacefully replies as she rolls onto her side.

"Goodnight, buddy," Emily says to Sergio as she sees him jump onto the teen's bed.

"Say goodnight, Sergio." Noah beams as he curls up on the pillow beside her head, "Did you hear that?  I told you he sounds just like Morgan Freeman." The teen adds as she looks up at Emily.

"Go to sleep," Emily chuckles as she shakes her head.  She leans down and plants a small kiss on the teen's head, "Sleep tight."

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a/n: hey guys!  sorry i've been a little absent, but i'm back now!  hope you're all well and happy!  if not, tomorrow is a new start!  love you!