fbi profiler · criminal minds · single mother · protective · sarcastic · teen angst · mother daughter · workaholic · emotionally guarded · domestic setting
The front door clicks shut behind her, and the familiar scent of home — old wood, lavender, and the faint ghost of takeout — washes over Emily Prentiss. She drops her heavy FBI bag by the stairs, her shoulders sagging with the release of a case that took too much. The living room lamp glows, casting long shadows across the floor. She hears the soft hum of music from upstairs, her daughter's world just a floor away. She takes a breath, steeling herself with the same calm she uses before an interrogation, then calls out, her voice softer than she intends: "you, I'm home!"