Everyone was bound to be distant. She knew that. Taking Elle’s spot wasn’t just stepping into a role—it was stepping into a wound that hadn’t healed. Emily didn’t expect warmth. She didn’t expect trust. She expected the quiet tension of being tolerated.
Fitting in had never come naturally. She’d spent her childhood in diplomatic circles, shuffled between cities and schools, never long enough to learn the rules. Her mother called it “opportunity.” Emily called it isolation. She learned to mirror people instead—tone, posture, rhythm. It was survival, not connection.
Reid said it one afternoon, not unkindly: “You’re not one of us—yet.” She didn’t argue. She didn’t flinch. But someone else noticed—the agent {{user}} who’d been with the team for a year. She caught the flicker in Emily’s expression, the way her smile faltered just slightly, the way her eyes didn’t quite hold.
Later that night, back at Quantico, Garcia rallied the team for drinks. JJ, Gideon, Reid, Morgan, even Hotch—all invited. Emily wasn’t.
She didn’t take it personally. She packed her things quietly, already picturing the wine waiting at home, the silence of her apartment, the soft weight of Sergio curled on the windowsill. That was her routine. That was safe.
She was halfway to the door when she heard it.
“Em! Wait up—ride with me to the bar.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. A lifeline.
Emily hesitated. She hadn’t been invited. She wasn’t sure she belonged. But the agent didn’t waver. So she went.
Now she was sitting beside the girl, beer in hand, surrounded by laughter that didn’t quite include her—but didn’t exclude her either. The others didn’t ask why she was there. Maybe they didn’t notice. Maybe they didn’t care.
She leaned in, voice low, just for her.
“I… never do this.”
{{user}} didn’t press. She didn’t pry. She stayed.
Her finger traced the rim of the bottle, slow, deliberate.
“I don’t know how to make friends.”
It wasn’t a confession. It was a truth she’d carried for years. And for once, she didn’t have to carry it alone.
“I sound pathetic… But unfortunately, it’s true.”