Outside the bathroom Derek, the principal and the nurse could hear everything.

"How is Bella doing with all of this?" The principal asked.

"She's a strong kid" Derek said.

.

After a while, Bella calmed down.

"Can we go now?" Bella asked.

"Yes" Emily said and they got up. "Wash your face" Emily said and Bella went and did that. Once done, she grabbed her mother's hand and they walked out. Instead of walking to Derek looking for comfort as Bella had done for so long now, she just hid behind her mom.

"Is everything okay?" The principal asked and Emily said "yes".

"Let me get her bag" the man said and walked to the girl's classroom.

Derek walked closer to Bella and asked if she was okay and she just nodded. Her eyes filled with tears again so Emily wrapped her in a hug.

The principal asked Chloe to get Isabella's bag and then he gave it to Derek and they headed to the car. The girl sat on the back with Emily as Derek drove home.
When they got there, Bella went straight to her bedroom. She didn't even stop to talk to Penelope who had been waiting worried for them.

"Is she okay?" Garcia asked and Emily shook her head no.

Derek followed Bella to the bedroom while Garcia hugged Emily. Derek walked in to find Bella laying on the bed with Lulu.

"Princess, It's not bed time" Derek said and Bella ignored him. "Bella out of bed right now. Come on, you can sit with us in the living room" he said.

"No!" Bella yelled.

Emily heard and rushed in.
"Let me" Emily told Derek and he walked out. He hoped Bella would listen to Emily because he knew that her wanting to stay on the bed meant trouble, meant hard times.

"Bell." Emily said sitting next to the girl on the bed and taking a deep breath. Bella didn't move.
"Honey. Being here and being upset is not going to help" she said. Bella sat up and sat on her lap.

"I'm tired" Bella said and the tears started falling.

"Tired of what baby?" Emily asked as the girl got in a comfortable position.

"Of feeling bad" she cried.

"Oh honey" Emily said and tightened the hug. Emily stayed quiet for a while and just let Bella cry. She never liked when Bella held the tears in.
"Look" she said after sometime. "I know it's a lot for your little head, baby. I know it's a lot... and we can't just expect you to be fine and okay with everything. But you know that I can't let you pull away. And I'm not going to. Ever. Neither will Derek. He loves you and he wants you to be okay too" Emily said.

"I'm just not ready for all of this. I can't go to school, mom. I just... People keep looking at me and they know what happened. And I keep thinking about you and where you are. I'm not ready, mommy. I can't do it" Bella cried.

"Baby, there's just two weeks left of school. You have a bunch of tests now. I know it's hard but you're a big girl and I know that you understand how that works." Emily said. "Bella, you know that you might fail if you miss the finals" she said.

"Can't I just be homeschooled?" Bella asked.

"No honey. It's just two more weeks and then it's done"

"I wanna stay here. I don't wanna spend the whole day there" Bella said crying.

"I know Bella" Emily said feeling bad.

"Can't I just go and do the test and come home? I don't want to be there all day" Bella said.

"I don't know if you can do that" Emily said.

"We can ask the principal" Bella said crying.

"Okay. We can ask him, alright?" Emily said. "We'll ask him. Mommy will ask him, okay?" Emily said wiping Bella's right cheek.

"I just wanna stay with you" Bella said and hid her face.

"I know" Emily said and started rocking the girl.
Emily just sat there till Bella calmed down several minutes later. Emily looked at the dog laying on the bed and had an idea.

"Are you alright now?" Emily asked Bella and the girl said yeah. "So why don't we go walk Lulu?" Emily asked.

"No" Bella said shaking her head.

"Please! Just you and I?" She begged.

"No" Bella said.

"Please" Emily said. "We can go get donuts and surprise Derek and Penelope with some" Emily said with a smile.

"Okay" Bella said. She wasn't sure she was ready to do that without Derek but it was Emily, it was her mom, so she told herself she could do it and went for it.

"Go wash your face so we can go" Emily said and Bella went to the bathroom. Emily went to the living room and told Derek they were going for a walk.

"Just you two?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah. I wanna try that" Emily said and Garcia smiled happy.

"Anything just ring me and I'll run to you guys" Derek said. He was happy that Bella wanted to go. He wanted Bella to have that same amazing relationship she had with Emily before it all happened.

"Be careful with the owner or you'll walk out of there with a date" Penelope said and Derek laughed.

"Oh, I met him" Emily said and laughed too.

Suddenly Bella walked in with lulu.

"Let's go?" Emily asked and the girl nodded yes. They could see she looked nervous.
Emily grabbed Lulu's leash and they went to the door. As soon as they walked outside Bella grabbed Emily's right hand and held it tight.

"You're okay. I'm right here" Emily told her and Bella nodded looking nervous.

"I can do it" the little girl said in her head.

And they walked to the bakery.

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"Hey you... and the pretty lady again" said Joey, the owner, when they walked inside.

Bella couldn't help and smiled.

"What did we talk about young lady? No dogs allowed inside." Said a woman that worked there.

"Sorry" Bella said. "Can we just get the donuts really quick?" She asked and the woman smiled.

"Classic and chocolate?" Joey asked.

"Yup" Bella said.

"I'll take it for you guys outside" he said and they walked out. They took a seat around the table and Bella sat next to Emily who tied Lulu's leash on her seat.

"They are really nice here" Emily said.

"Yeah" Bella said looking around and seeming to be a bit nervous.
Emily noticed but didn't mention it.

Suddenly Joey showed up with their donuts. He placed the box on the table and took a seat.
"So, aren't you going to introduce us?" He asked Bella, who smiled.

"This is my mom. Emily" the girl said.
Joey's jaw dropped.
"Yeah I know" Bella said letting out a little laugh which made Emily smile.

"Wasn't she..?" He said.

"She was hiding from a bad guy" Bella said now a bit more serious.

"Did you know?" He asked. He had seen the girl upset and crying so many times at that bakery because of her mother.

"No" Bella said.

"That's crazy" he said in disbelief.

"Well, she's here now" Bella said and grabbed the chocolate donut and took a big bite. She didn't like to talk about that.

"I'm happy for you Bella" Joey said and Bella smiled and took another bite.
Joey stood up and said "welcome back Emily" with a smile and walked back inside the bakery.
Emily smiled at Bella.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Isabella asked. Emily could see the girl was still nervous. She took a donut too and started eating it.

After a while Bella noticed a woman basically staring at them and murmuring things to a guy across the table. She started to get really nervous and scared. Bella tried concentrating on her food and the dog but it wasn't helping. So she just got up and sat on her mother's lap.

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked surprised.

"Not really" Bella said putting her donut down as she felt her heart starting to race.

Emily placed her hand on the girl's back and said "hey calm down. There's nothing here to scare you like this. We're just sitting outside eating donuts. It's okay"

"They are staring at us" Bella said as her eyes filled with tears.

"That doesn't mean anything, baby. They are just eating like we are" Emily said and kept running her hand on the child's back scared a panic attack was coming.

Suddenly the couple got up and started walking to them.

"Mom" Bella said now really scared.

"It's okay" Emily said grabbing the girl's hand and squeezing it.

The couple got to their table and said "excuse me"
Emily looked at them but Bella avoided eye contact and kept squeezing her mother's hand.

"Yes" Emily said.

"Sorry to bother but we noticed your golden retriever, and we are looking for a boy for our little Clairy. Does yours happen to be a boy?" The woman asked.

"No. This is Lulu" Emily said with a smile as she felt Isabella breathing out relieved.

"Oh. Thank you anyways. And she's a lovely dog" the lady said and the couple walked away.

"See. I told you they were just eating like we are" Emily said and Bella looked embarrassed.
Emily gave her a tight hug. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"No" Bella said and shook her head.

"Just breathe. Everything is okay" Emily said as she kept hugging Bella. After a while she asked again "are you okay now?"

"Sorta" Bella said letting go of the hug. "I'm sorry I freaked out" she added.

"It's alright, honey. But you're safe now. He's gone. Far far far away. No one is going to hurt you" Emily said and hugged Bella again.
That hug took longer than usual and after a while Bella said "mom, I think I wanna live with you now"

Emily smiled and kept hugging the girl.
"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

"I think so" Bella said and let go of the hug. She sat up straight and faced Emily. "I love you and I wanna be with you"

"Oh baby. I love you too" Emily said wiping a tear that escaped the child's left eye.

"Look. I just don't want you to rush things. Are you sure you're ready?" Emily said.

"I'm sure I want to be with you I just..." Bella said.

"You're scared?" Emily said and Bella nodded.
"It's okay to be. It's normal. But are you sure you're ready to move?" Emily said.

"I guess. I just don't know if I'm 100% ready to go the apartment" she said and looked down.

"I think you don't have to go to the apartment, baby" Emily said and Bella looked at her.

"What do you mean?" the girl asked confused.

"I was thinking that we could buy a house. A really nice house with a big backyard" Emily said smiling.

"Really?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. Lulu is gonna need a big place to run around" Emily said looking happy.
Bella smiled big and hugged her again.
"Do you think you're ready for that?" Emily asked.

"Yeah" Bella said sounding more excited now. Suddenly tears started falling. Emily let go of the hug and saw it.
"What's wrong?" She asked worried.

"I'm just happy you're here with me" Bella said and Emily hugged her tight.

"I'm happy too, Bells" Emily said with a smile. "I love you, monkey" she said.

"I love you too mom" Bella said and sat up straight again and started wiping her face.

Emily helped her and then said "Alright, let's finish this and then get some donuts for Morgan and Penelope" Emily said and Bella nodded yes. She stood up and Emily pulled her back. "Stay here with me" Emily said and Bella smiled.

They finished eating, got more donuts and then walked back to Derek's house.
Emily and Isabella walked back inside the house to find Morgan on the phone with Hotch. Hotch explained that the team was under investigation and had a court meeting on Monday. Derek turned the phone off and told Garcia and Emily what was going on.

"We got donuts" Bella said when they finished talking.

"And how was the walk?" Derek asked.

"Okay" Bella said with a small smile.

"Good" Derek smiled. He took a donut from the box and started eating.

"I'm gonna shower" Bella said and ran out.

"She looks happy" Garcia said.

"She does" Emily smiled and Derek smiled too.
Now that Bella was away Derek went back to the other subject.

"Hotch said he still doesn't know exactly what is going on but he's going to speak to Strauss tonight." He started.

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Later that day, they finished dinner and decided to sit to watch an episode of Doctor Who. After the show was done, everyone could see Bella was really sleepy.

"It's bed time, come on" Emily said.

"What? I don't have a bed time" Bella said.

"You're almost asleep" Derek said and laughed.

Bella got up and Emily grabbed her hand. The girl changed into pajamas and laid down. Emily went to tuck her in.

"No" Bella pushed her away looking scared. Memories of Emily doing that on the day they were taken filled her mind.

"It's Okay, Bells" Emily said feeling sorry. She knew exactly why Bella pushed her away. She got on the bed and laid next to Bella. "It's okay" she said and started to pull the covers up.

"Mom?" Bella said as Emily covered her up.

"Yes" Emily said.

"We need to tell Derek" the girl said.

"I'll talk to him. Don't worry" Emily said.

"I think he's going to be upset" Bella said looking a bit sad.

"Oh honey he won't." Emily said. "uncle Derek loves you so much. I know that he's happy for you. He's happy I'm here with you. And just because you're going to stay with me, doesn't mean you won't see him. I'll let you come here, you guys can have your movies nights and sleepovers, okay?"

"Okay. I just... I just don't want him to be sad" Bella said.

"I know. He won't be" Emily said and placed a kiss on the girl's forehead. "Goodnight pretty girl" Emily said.

"Goodnight" Bella said.

Emily got off the bed, turned the nightlight on and the ceiling light off and closed the door. Bella turned to the right and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes again and saw Lulu on the dog bed in the corner.

"Come here" she said tapping on the bed and the dog jumped and cuddled up to her. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

.

Emily walked in the living room.

"Is everything okay?" Derek asked noticing her serious face.

"We need to talk" she said sitting next to Penelope on the couch and Garcia looked a bit scared and worried.

"What happened?" Derek asked worried.

"We were at the donut place and Bella asked to live with me" Emily went straight to the point.

"She did? That's wonderful" Garcia said with a smile while Derek and Emily stayed serious. Penelope noticed and said "why aren't you two happy? That's improvement. I know we'll miss her but..."

"Are you sure she's ready for that?" Derek asked.

"I'm not sure" Emily said worried.

"I don't think she is. She hasn't been in that place for over 3 months" Derek said.

"I'm not taking her back there. We need a fresh start. I'm thinking about buying a house with a backyard for Lulu and her to play." Emily said.

Derek still looked serious. Of course he was happy for Bella because she always said she just wanted Emily back and there she was now. But he was sad too, because he got a family in those last 4 months and that seemed to be ending now. And he didn't want that to happen.

Emily noticed his face and said "Derek, Bella is really worried about leaving you. And she doesn't want you to be upset that she feels ready to go. But I think that we have to. We both need a fresh start to make things work again and I promise you that she won't be leaving you. She loves you and she loves you too Garcia. She loves both of you so much. And I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for what you did for her. You are her family too. And I want both of you in my daughter's life forever."

"And we want to be" Garcia said with tears in her eyes and a big smile.

"She'll always have a room here" Derek said with a small smile.

Emily got up and hugged him.

"And you too. You both are family" Derek said.

"Thank you... so much. For everything you did" Emily said. "I couldn't see better people than you two to look after her"

"It was our pleasure, mama bear" Garcia said and hugged them both.

Suddenly Bella walked in, rubbing her eyes. She could not sleep.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Penelope asked letting go of the hug when she saw the girl.

"I can't sleep" Bella said and they all sat up straight.

"Come here" Derek said and the little girl walked to him. He pulled her to his lap and said "your mom was telling us about her plan to get a big house"

Bella looked down a bit nervous.

"Hey" he said and touched her chin so she looked at him. "I'm happy you're ready for this. And no matter what happens or where you live, you'll always have a room here. You're my girl, Okay?"

Bella nodded yes as her eyes filled with tears.
"You're not mad?" Bella asked holding her tears.

"Of course not" he said. "I want you to be happy and I know you'll be really happy with your mom. And just because you won't live here it doesn't mean you won't have to put up with me. You'll never get rid of me, kid" he said and everybody smiled.

"Good" Bella said letting out a laugh together with the tears, and hugged him.

They hugged for a while and then Emily said "let's go to bed then? I'm kind of sleepy"

Bella let go of the hug, kissed Derek's cheek and said goodnight.

"Goodnight princess" he smiled. The girl got up, hugged Penelope and said goodnight.

"Let your dreams be filled with unicorns and chocolate bars" Garcia said as she wiped the girl's tears.

"Amen" Bella smiled and let go of the hug while Derek and Emily laughed.

"Goodnight guys" Emily said and they went to bed.

"She's ready, right?" Garcia said a bit insecure. Derek walked to her and hugged her.

"I hope so." he said. He didn't want Bella to leave but he knew he had to let her go.
He had to let her have the life she always wanted.
A life with her mom right there by her side.

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Saturday was a chilled day at Derek's house. They just hung out all day.

After dinner Hotch stopped by.

"Come on in" Garcia said when she answered the door. Aaron walked in to find everyone in the living room. Bella was sitting between Emily and Derek and she looked away when she saw him.

"Hi. I just came to explain to you what exactly is going on with the bureau investigation" he said.

"Have a seat" Derek said and Hotch sat on the couch. Derek turned the tv off. As Hotch explained the reasons why they were doing an investigation and why they had to go to a court room on Monday, Isabella refused to look at him.
Once they were done talking, Hotch invited everyone for lunch the next day.

"We'll meet you there" Morgan said.

"JJ and Rossi will go too" Hotch said. Hotch looked at Bella and the girl looked mad.

"Bella" he said walking to her. She looked away as he kneed down in front of her.

"I know you're mad at me. I'm okay with that. But I'm not okay with you being angry at JJ. I didn't give her a choice. I made the decision to do this, not her. I told her she couldn't tell you. It's not her fault, sweetheart. It's mine. So if you're angry at someone don't be angry at your mom or Jennifer. Be angry at me" he said.

She just sat there and looked away.

He stood up.
"I'll see you tomorrow" he said and left. Morgan followed him to the door.

"I'm going to bed" Isabella said and ran to her bedroom, Lulu ran after her.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Penelope asked.

"No. It's alright" Emily said and went to the girl's bedroom.
She walked in and Bella wasn't there. She checked the bathroom and Isabella was brushing her teeth. Emily sat on the girl's bed and waited for her. After a while Bella walked in all ready for bed.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked as Bella got under the covers next to her.

"Yes" Bella said serious.

"Hey" Emily said and the girl turned around and hid her face on her mother's leg. "Do you understand what he said? Did you even pay attention?" Emily asked.

"Yes... But I just don't get it" Bella said.

"Sit up" Emily said and Bella did that.

"I understand you had to go away mom. I understand that. But what I don't understand is why no one told me. No one told the team. We would have faked it like Hotch and JJ did. It's just not fair that we had to go through all of that. It's not fair I had to" Bella said and tears started falling. Emily pulled the child to her lap.

"I know baby. I'm sorry" Emily said.

"I know you are" Bella said. "I'm not mad at JJ, mom. I'm just sad"

"You're just sad?" Emily said.

"Yeah. Because she was here when I was crying for you... she was right here and she did nothing, she didn't tell me" Bella cried.

"Baby look at me" Emily said and Bella sat up straight still crying.

"I know we've told you this before and I know you're old enough to understand." She started. "If Hotch had let her tell you, you would have our lives in your hands. They couldn't rely on a nine year-old to lie about something like that." Emily said calmly. "Bella, Doyle was watching everyone"

"You don't know that" Bella said crying.

"I know him. And that is what he does. He watches the suffering he creates. And Bella if he had seen you not grieving, he would have known something was up. And he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted." Emily said.

"Bells, if I'm here today. If we are together today is because he saw your pain. And I wish you didn't have to go through any of that. But if we hadn't lied I wouldn't be here right now" Emily said as tears fell from her own eyes. She hugged Bella and held the girl's head on her chest. "I wouldn't be here to hold you, and hug you. I wouldn't have met Lulu... and who knows what else we'll get to do in the future." She said.

"I know it was hard and really unfair... But that lie... saved my life. Saved our lives. And Hotch... and JJ, they did everything they could to make sure I'd be okay and I'd be able to come home. ...They saved my life Bella" Emily said and just stared down at the girl in her arms, who had many many tears falling quickly down her cheeks.

"It was really hard" Bella said really low.

Emily hugged her tight and said "I know". She didn't know what else to say.
Emily just held Bella till exhaustion took over and the girl fell asleep. She put Bella down on the bed and covered her up.

Suddenly Isabella slightly opened her eyes.

"Go back to sleep baby" Emily said pushing hair away from the girl's face.

"Can Henry come over tomorrow?" Bella asked almost whispering.

Emily smiled big and said "of course he can". She placed a kiss on the child's forehead. "Goodnight" she said.

"Night" Bella whispered and drifted back to sleep.
Emily turned the light off and went to the living room.

"How is she?" Garcia asked.

"I talked to her and she cried a bit. She's asleep now." Emily said and Derek nodded understanding that all the lying was still a hard subject for the girl.
"She asked if Henry could come over tomorrow" Emily said with a small smile.

"She did?" Derek asked surprised.

"Yeah" Emily let out a little laugh.

"Well, you better call JJ right now!" Garcia said excited.

They all laughed.
Emily called JJ and told her. The woman felt happy that Isabella wanted the boy around. She hoped the girl would be okay with her soon.
After the call Emily decided to go to bed. Derek and Garcia finished watching a movie and then went to bed too.