Chapter Text
Sitting alone in her apartment with a black coffee in hand, Emily is pouring all of her energy into finishing the case files in front of her. She’d woken up far earlier than she would’ve liked but that was becoming increasingly more common recently. After tossing and turning all night she would wake up before the sun had risen, eventually giving in to being awake where she’d make a pot of coffee and finish some extra casefiles before heading into work at what others would consider an appropriate time. It had become her routine and this morning was no different.
She closed the file she had been working on and looked up at the clock on her microwave. 6am. Great, she's already been at this for hours so she can finally get on with her morning by getting ready for work. She gets in the shower, bracing herself for another day of paperwork since the team is off rotation. Not that she hates her job by any means but the paperwork can get very monotonous especially for days on end but the team is super behind and Strauss has been breathing down their necks about it so it was a necessary evil.
As she grabs her keys and says goodbye to Sergio who had thankfully been keeping her company. She decides she’s going to stop at that little cafe the team all love on her way in, maybe she’ll even buy everyone coffee. It’ll be her good deed of the day, a way to bring a little bit of joy to the uneventful day ahead.
She was itching for something to do, something to break up her days besides work. Maybe this is why people date, she thought to herself. Someone to spend time with, to share space, a reason to leave the house that wasn’t for work. It all sounded nice but like a lot of commitment.
It's not that Emily was unhappy, quite the opposite actually, she had a job she loved, a genuine group of friends and of course Sergio. So maybe she was content with life right now, doesn’t mean she couldn’t flirt a little with the barista at her local cafe while they made her large coffee order for the team.
By the time she actually walked into the bullpen on the sixth floor of the FBI headquarters she might have been a little late. She couldn't help that the free croissant she was given had been a little distracting but she doubted anyone would mind, she came bearing coffee after all. After receiving a free croissant she thought maybe today wouldn’t be such a bad day.
She walked over to her desk to put her bag down before joining the team in the briefing room but a hot pink post it note immediately caught her attention. ‘Strauss wants to see you - URGENT’ written in purple glitter pen courtesy of Penelope. She looks around and sees her desk is the only one with a note and the rest of the team looks to be in the briefing room meaning it must be just for her. Emily groaned and sank into her chair. Whatever Strauss wants couldn’t be good.
She pulls up her email quickly to see if there's any sort of sign as to what Strauss could possibly want. What she finds might be her worst nightmare. It's an email from her immigration lawyer. Her eyes skim over the long email in a panic. Fuck. She missed a deadline while they were away on a case and her visa had been declined. How was that even possible?
Emily is frozen at her computer, wide eyed and mouth agape trying to process what this meant. At least she had figured out what Strauss wanted but there was no way she was ready for that conversation. Hotch must’ve seen her just sitting at her desk and calls her in to join them. Her body seems to act on autopilot as she picks up the tray of coffee and walks into the briefing room.
She puts the coffees down and everyone grabs one, thanking her for the much needed caffeine if the huge stack of casefiles in the middle of the round table was anything to go by. Emily still looks in shock and hasn’t sat down which causes the others to get a little concerned for her. She felt a soft touch on her arm that seemed to help pull her out of her head. She glanced down at the hand before looking up and meeting concerned blue eyes.
“Hey, you okay?” came softly from the blonde media liaison. Before Emily could reply Penelope entered the room, bubbly as ever, probably just excited that she wasn’t alone in the office for at least the next few days.
“Hey what did Strauss want? It sounded pretty urgent” she asked, not realizing that Emily hadn’t actually gone down to see their section chief yet. All eyes turned back to Emily as they sat around the table waiting for an answer. It was uncommon for Strauss to see anyone on the team other than Hotch so they were hoping it wasn’t bad news like a transfer.
Emily groaned as she sank into her chair and buried her head in her hands. When she finally spoke it was barely audible, she was still clearly in disbelief.
“I’m being deported”
Everyone let out various gasps and confused breaths. How was that possible? Penelope ran over and immediately hugged Emily before climbing into the chair beside her desperate for more information while also close enough to reassure the brunette.
“I haven’t been up to Strauss yet but I can’t imagine it's about anything else”
Emily sighs and looks up at the ceiling. When she finally looks around at her team she’s met with a lot of confused faces. She realizes that she's never really explained that she isn’t an American citizen so they must all be extremely confused as to how she could be deported, or where she’d even be deported to. With a humorless chuckle she explains to the group.
“I was born in France. At my grandfather's home in the french alps. I moved around a lot as a kid because my mother is an ambassador but I never stayed anywhere long enough to need permanent residency. And while I did spend a lot of my life in the states I joined interpol right before I planned on applying for it. I guess I’ve never stuck around anywhere long enough for it to have been a problem. Until now that is” she finishes with a shrug. There is a moment of silence before anyone speaks, all processing what they’ve just learned. They’ve known Emily for around three years at this point so they were surprised this had never come up.
“But how is that possible? Your mother is an ambassador and you work for the US government. Why would they deport you?” Derek asks looking so confused, like the pieces aren’t lining up in his mind. His questions are met with nods as they look back at Emily. JJ and Penelope haven’t been able to take their eyes off the brunette. JJ’s eyes fill with tears as her heart breaks at the idea of losing her best friend and Penelope holds Emily’s hand like it's her lifeline.
“I didn’t get some of my paperwork in on time while we were on a case. I’m honestly not sure why any of this is happening. I don’t want to leave, believe me if there was a way I could stay I would but I have to be back in France in the next two weeks and I can’t return to America for a year”
“No! That’s unacceptable. There has to be something we can do. I’ll hack into the immigration office and stop it” Penelope states as she stands from her chair and goes to leave for her office but Emily tightens her grip on the technical analyst's hand not letting her leave the room.
“Penelope it's too late, it's already happening” she whispers. She truly can’t believe her life has fallen apart so suddenly. Today was meant to be a good day and now everything has changed because of one stupid email. It wasn’t even 10:30 in the morning. Her spiraling is interrupted by a quiet suggestion from the other side of the room.
“You could get married”
It was said so softly Emily almost thought she imagined it but by the way everyone else in the room turned to look at Spencer she knew he’d actually said it. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy so he continued, a little louder and more confident this time.
“If you really don’t want to leave you could get married. If you get married, you would get a green card and nothing would have to change” He finished his thought with a sip of his coffee while everyone processed this suggestion. It was definitely crazy but it would solve Emily’s problem. She took her hand back from Penelope who had sat down again so she could pick at her nails. A bad habit and she knew it but it was that or a cigarette right now so this would have to do. She chuckled to herself for a moment before looking back at Spencer.
“And where would I find someone willing to marry me, knowing it was fake, on such short notice. I can’t even remember the last time I went on a real date”
She could see the cogs turning in his head which made her laugh more. This whole idea was ridiculous. She should just make peace with leaving, it’s what she’s good at after all. I mean this whole problem only exists because she is constantly running when things get real and just because she finally feels stable and like things are going right for her doesn’t mean she deserves to stay. The way she has lived her life until now is proof that actions have consequences and that she doesn’t deserve to be happy.
“I’ll do it” breaks the somber mood of the room. Brown eyes met blue. Emily's eyes widen as she’s searching JJ’s face. This isn’t just a small favor for a friend, JJ just literally offered to marry Emily so she could stay in the country. This day just keeps getting more and more confusing. Emily’s mouth falls open as she continues to stare at JJ.
“Are you sure Jayje?” Penelope asks which breaks Emily out of her stupor. Emily nods agreeing with Penelopes question, words managing to escape her. JJ breaks eye contact and addresses the group, attempting to brush it off as no big deal.
“I mean yeah, why not? It makes sense it would be one of us but I’m the only single one so it just kinda makes sense that it would be me. Plus Em is one of my best friends and I don’t want her to leave either.” She attempts to be nonchalant but Emily can tell that's not the case. She's always been able to read the blonde better than anyone. Despite all eyes on them she needs to know that JJ is okay with it so she decides to ignore the rest of the room and address JJ directly.
“As long as you’re okay with it, seriously, it's okay if it's too much,” Emily whispers, trying to make eye contact with the blonde. JJ avoids eye contact but flicks her eyes up to Emily’s face for a split second “It's fine. Honestly” she nods reassuringly.
The moment is broken by Hotch clearing his throat and sending Emily up to finally see Strauss. Emily has left her waiting long enough. They had a basic plan now so hopefully she wouldn’t be turning in her gun and badge at the end of this conversation. She leaves the team in the briefing room with their mountain of paperwork before taking a steadying breath and stepping into the elevator to go to Strauss’ office. The weight of the plan is starting to hit her but before she can freak out or second guess the doors open and she is sent straight in to see Strauss.
Erin Strauss is an intimidating woman and while Emily has come face to face with people much worse than Strauss, she can’t help the knot forming in her stomach. She puts on her best game face, relying on her interpol undercover training to make it through lying to her boss's boss.
They had never interacted one on one before so Emily wasn’t entirely sure how this would go down. Erin stands and shakes Emily’s hand before gesturing to the chair across from her. They sat for a moment in silence, almost as if they were sizing each other up before Strauss finally spoke.
“I assume you know why you’re here?” her voice firm, technically a question but spoken as a statement
“Yes ma'am”
“Look you're a good agent, Agent Prentiss but you are not above the law. Your immigration attorney contacted me and said your visa was denied and that you are no longer legally able to work in this country” She pauses, clearly not happy about having to deliver this news. She shoots Emily a small smile. “It's a shame to see you go, Agent but I will be needing your gun and badge before you leave here today.”
“I understand that ma'am but just so you are aware, my circumstances have changed. I'm getting married soon so I won't have to leave the country” Emily explains, hoping that she wouldn’t be asked for more details.
“Hmmm.” Strauss hums in consideration of this new information. Lips forming a tight line as she picks up her pen for a moment before putting it back down. “Okay agent, do whatever you have to do. Just make it legal. Until then you will be suspended from duty while this gets cleared up, I'm sure you understand.”
Emily nods. It's not the result she hoped for but at least she wasn’t fired outright. She hands over her gun and badge before thanking Strauss and heading back to level six. She approaches her desk to pick up her things. The team must’ve seen her coming because they’ve all left the briefing room and moved to meet her in the bullpen.
“Suspended from duty while this all gets cleared up” she states in anticipation of the question they'll all want to ask. The team all nod slowly, still processing the fact that one minute everything is fine and the next Emily is suspended and waiting to learn if she would be kicked out of the country.
Penelope goes up and hugs Emily. She’s not usually a hugger but under these circumstances she wasn’t in a position to turn away comfort from one of her favorite people.
“Girls night tonight?” Garcia asked while still holding the brunette. If Emily was going to be snatched away then Penelope would take all her Emily time while she could get it. Emily nodded eagerly, the infectious joy the blonde exuded was one of the things she’d miss the most if this didn’t work out.
“Well” Emily says with a deep breath as she pulls away from Penelope and looks over the group “Since I’m not really supposed to be in here anymore I guess I’ll head to the immigration office and try to get this sorted”
“JJ go with her” Hotch said with his usual authority as if he were handing out roles on a case. She turns and leaves for her office to grab her things and the rest of the team send sad smiles towards Emily before moving back to their work. This wasn’t the end of her time at the FBI and with the BAU, at least she hoped it wasn’t. Hotch smiled at her and handed her a small stack of case files to which Emily returned a strange look but took the files regardless. “In case you get antsy while at home”
In that moment JJ returned with her bag and jacket so Emily thanked Hotch and the two women moved in silence though the bullpen, into the elevator, through the carpark and into Emily's car. The silence was only a little awkward which was a surprise considering the situation. It also felt strangely comfortable, like they didn’t need words right now and they could just be, just exist in each other's presence. They pull out of the FBI car park and head to the immigration office, both completely unaware of what they’ve actually signed up for.