RUNAWAY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE...!

❝ BETTER , SEASON
SEVEN ❞

THE THING IS, Jennie never really loved airports.

Which was pretty ironic, considering she would find herself in one at least twice a month, after flying to and from Quantico to visit from college. But really— she never was fond of them. With people running around around her in hurries, to the endless announcements on the overhead speakers, she grew to become annoyed at the chaotic mess of airports.

But, this time, when she spent her time waiting in lounge, while skyping her dad, she was a little less annoyed.

"And then— she marks off points on my exam for not showing my work." Jennie ranted to her father about one of her professors, popping a skittle in her mouth, "Like— if she can't see how I got my answer, maybe she just shouldn't be a college professor."

Her father chuckled, "Maybe."

"Anyways," Jennie switched the topic of the conversation to something about how the task force he was assisting, in Pakistan, was going, "How's it over there, in the desert?"

"Hot."

Jennie chuckled, popping another candy in her mouth, "Figured."

"So, Jessica took Jack to Hershey Park for the weekend. Are you going to be okay by yourself at home?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll probably just be hanging around the team anyways." The girl told him, "What did Jack think of the beard?"

"Not a fan. Said it made me look like Scar from Lion King."

Jennie laughed, throwing her head back, "He's not totally off."

"Yeah, okay." He rolled his eyes at his daughter, but had a small smile on his lips, "Listen, I have to get back on the field soon. But, text me when you land, okay? I'll call you as soon as I finish."

"Okay, sounds good." Jennie told her dad, throwing the packaging of her skittles away in the trash can near her, "I'll see you later. Love you."

"Love you. Bye."

When the call ended, Jennie sighed, placing her phone down for a minute. She took a sip of her water from her bottle, before opening it back up again. This time when she opened it up, she noticed a notification from seven minutes prior.

VOICEMAIL - PENELOPE G.

She furrowed her eyebrows, clicking on, and bringing it to her ear.

"Hey," Jennie heard the woman let out a breath, "You weren't answering your phone so I just resorted to a voice message. Um— I don't really know how to say this. I don't even know if I should say this, but—"

As silence filled, Jennie's concern grew, before finally, Penelope spoke again.

"See me once you land in Quantico. I have to show you something."

—

        JENNIE HAD ARRIVED at the BAU office only half an hour after she landed in Quantico. 

When she walked through the glass doors to get into the BAU Unit, she was met by a familiar face, "Hey Jennie."

Jennie turned to see a man walk up to her, "Oh, hey Kevin. Uh, do you know where Penelope is?"

"Just in her lair. As always." Kevin told her, munching on the snack in his hands, before offering some, "Cheeto?"

"Oh— uh, sure." Jennie gave him a small smile, taking one. As she began to walk away, she took a bite, her eyebrows furrowing as she turned back to the man, "Kevin, how old are these?"

"I just found them in the BAU's pantry."

"That'll do it." Jennie grimaced, throwing the half bitten cheeto away in the trash near her, "That thing hasn't been restocked since I got my wisdom teeth taken out."

The man looked at his snack bag, before back at Jennie, "Which was...?"

"A year ago, Kevin. A year ago."

—

JJ and Hotch walked up to each other, as the two spoke.

"Hey, got your message."

"It's time."

"Why? Morgan may be able to break Doyle without her."

"Declan tried to make a call. She's on the way."

"...Alright. I'll get Morgan."

"I'll tell the others."

—

     JENNIE KNOCKED on Penelope's office door, giving the blonde a smile as she walked in.

"Oh, JenJen." Penelope went over to give the girl a hug, "How was your flight."

"The same as always." Jennie shrugged, as they pulled away, "At least this time I didn't sit next to a screaming baby."

"Oh." The blonde let out a faint chuckle, but as her smile dropped quickly after that, Jennie furrowed her eyebrows.

"Pen, what's wrong?"

"Um— okay, okay," Penelope began, moving back to her computer screen, "So, you know how I like to dig into things, right? And sometimes, I dig a little too deep that I find out things that ultimately make me want to tell other people?"

"Penelope—" Jennie let out a soft, but nervous chuckle, "You're kinda freaking me out right now. What did you find?"

Garcia only looked at the teen for an extended moment, before clicking her mouse, allowing something to pop up on her screen.

Jennie furrowed her eyebrows, squinting her eyes slightly to see what was on the woman's computer. And when she realized what it was, her face dropped.

"Oh."

Penelope's eyes immediately darted to the girl, " 'Oh'?— What does that mean? Oh God, should I not have shown you this? Did I overstep? You're being weirdly quiet right now which gives me the impression that I overstepped."

Jennie's eyes seemed to be glued to the screen for a moment, but eventually she turned to her friend, letting out a slight chuckle, "Penelope, it's fine. It just— caught me off guard I guess."

The blonde let out a breath of relief, a small smile on her lips, "Oh, good. So— are you going to do something about it, or do you need me to work my magic—"

"Penelope, no. It's fine." Jennie told the woman, forcing another chuckle.

"Are you sure? Because, I'm very talented. I can get you contact numbers, emails—"

"Penelope— we weren't even dating. Grayson being back in Quantico doesn't affect me."

The words took a lot more strength to say than Jennie had presumed. It was the weight of trying to convince Penelope that she didn't care, while also attempting to convince herself, that caused the words to be so heavy.

The room was silent for a moment, before the blonde spoke up, "Are you sure?"

"At least I don't want it to affect me." Jennie admitted to the tech analyst, "Thank you for finding this out, and thank you for telling me. But— it's been a hard year as it is. With Emily dying and everything— I just don't want to give into another opportunity that's probably going to hurt me more."

The blonde looked at the girl for another extended moment, before tilting her head to the side, some emotion to her voice.

"When did you get so grown up?"

Jennie laughed at her comment, the two smiling at each other for a second, before Penelope's phone had vibrated. She checked it, and then turned to Jennie.

"Your dad wants us in the briefing room, stat."

As Penelope began to walk to the door, she turned back real quick. She was hesitant to do what she was doing, but finally walked back to her desk, handing the teen a slip of paper she had wrote on earlier.

"His new number."

Jennie shook her head, "I don't need it."

"I know. But— just in case."

Jennie paused for a moment, before giving her a soft smile, as the blonde walked passed her to get to the briefing room.

"Thanks."

Jennie was about to follow her, but she only stood in the same spot for a second, looking back at the computer. Her smile faded slowly, only focusing on the screen. She stared at it for a moment, before Penelope's previous words processed in her brain.

She turned around to the door, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Wait, my dad's here?"

—

        JENNIE SAT on the edge of the BAU's briefing table, as Penelope and Spencer talked near her. They all were alone in the room, until Derek, JJ, and David came in.

The teen gave them a small smile, and a wave, as Spencer nodded to them, "You get anywhere with Doyle?"

"Doyle doesn't think Getafe has the guts to take him on."

"But, that's definitely Gerace on the tape." Penelope spoke, before Aaron walked into the room.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Jennie would've made a joke about how Jack was right about him looking like Scar from Lion King.

"Welcome back." Derek told the man.

"Thanks. Everybody have a seat."

As Jennie slid off the edge of the table, moving to the couch in the back of the room, Derek looked at him slightly confused.

"Why? What's going on? Everything alright?"

The teen sat on the couch, still holding the slip of paper Penelope gave her, written with Grayson's number on it. She had looked down at it, more times than she'd ever want to admit.

However, her father's words began to snap her out of it.

"Seven months ago, I made a decision that affected this team." Jennie's father began,
"As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle."

The teen furrowed her eyebrows, as Aaron took a short pause.

"The doctors were able to stabilize her, and she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda. Her identity was strictly need-to-know. She was reassigned in Paris, where she was given several identities, none of which we had access to for her security."

The room filled with silence, everyone besides JJ looking at the Unit Chief with widened eyes.

Jennie was the first to break the silence, her voice shaken.

"She's alive?"

Spencer looked at the man, "But— we buried her?"

"As I said, I take full responsibility for the decision. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed towards me."

"Any issues?" Derek repeated, with a small scoff "Yeah, I got issues."

Before anyone could say anything else, or express anything else — their anger, their sadness, anything, they could sense someone walking through the door.

They all turned around.

"Oh my God."

There she was.

Emily Prentiss.

Alive.

—

       LONG, TIGHT HUGS were given out shortly after the announcement of Emily being alive took place. As she pulled away from her hug with Spencer, Emily spoke up.

"I'm so sorry. I really am. Not a day went by that I didn't want to—" Emily's eyes landed on Derek, his expression hurt, "Really, I— you didn't deserve that. And I'm so sorry."

The woman hugged the man, his expression not changing. As she pulled away, her eyes landed to Jennie, who was still sitting on the couch. The woman's expression softened at the sight of the girl.

Emily crouched down, meeting the girl at eye level. She reached over, a hand pushing away a strand of hair from the teen's face, before cupping her cheek.

"I am so sorry."

With that, the woman pulled Jennie into a hug, squeezing her tightly. And the teen girl returned it. Jennie was almost positive this was the tightest she had ever hugged another human being.

As the two remained in each other's embrace for a moment, Jennie's memories start to flood.

She remembers the nights after they caught Foyet. How she'd laid in bed, tears falling from her eyes as she replayed her moments with Grayson in her head.

She remembers the nights after Emily's death. How she'd also laid in bed, tears falling from her eyes as she reminisced about her moments with Emily.

And now both Grayson and Emily were back.

Why didn't she feel any better?

—

AUTHOR'S NOTE |

this chapter was so craycray

i also cannot stop saying 'craycray' and it's to the point where i must say it in every conversation

word count .
1973.