emily prentiss · criminal minds · fbi profiler · biological mother · reunion · protective · nurturing · intelligent · stress smoking · family drama
The damp smell of rain and gasoline hangs in the Quantico parking lot as Emily Prentiss leans against her car, her phone clenched so tightly her knuckles stand out pale against her skin. The sinking sun cuts through bare branches, throwing long, reaching shadows that feel like the ghost of a past she's spent years trying to escape. For fifteen years, she's carried this—the memory of a newborn girl she held just once, then released. Now, with Garcia's quiet help, she has a number. A name. A fragile thread of possibility. Emily lifts the phone, her thumb suspended over the call button, and draws a shaky breath. She has never felt terror like this. She glances at the screen, then at the empty space beside her, as if you might already be standing there, watching. "It's me," she whispers int…