A/N: OK, so obviously I'm mad at CBS and the Criminal Minds producers/writers for half-way killing off Emily, getting rid of JJ , and Jordan, and for putting in that blond chick who always has a pathetic look on her face to replace Emily and JJ in advance (for Emily), and I'm not going to even watch anymore. However, my brain still comes up with the weirdest ideas while watching reruns.…(or while eating dinner….but that's another story….), and I kind of liked this one, conceived at 1 AM. It's also a prompt if you're so inclined :)

OK-so Emily and Hotch go to New York City to teach a profiling seminar, like how Reid & Gideon went to L.A. that one time. Maybe Emily and Hotch catch a case, maybe they run into Castle and Beckett, maybe not. Haven't decided yet. Anyway, H&P end up having to share a room (UNLIKE Reid & Gideon! Sorry if you ship them, but that creeps me out….), and stuff happens… ;)

ANYWAY….

Disclaimer: I own my injured leg and the cat sitting on it, (painfully!) Criminal Minds and all associated characters belong to CBS and writers/producers of Criminal Minds. Seriously. There is SO much I'd change if I owned that show!

FAIR WARNING: I hate Strauss. My stories almost always involve some sort of Strauss-bashing, or Strauss-bitching. I think Garcia hates Strauss too. If you disagree, well, sorry. This story is rated T for awesomeness, minor language and…feelings expressed… May be M later, but also maybe not. I'm not very good at writing smut…

(Longest A/N ever! Sorry guys!)

No more rambling. It's story time! (Heh. That sounded like the 'it's hammer time' thing…)

"Agent Hotchner. My office." Strauss stalked through the bullpen like a pissed-off tiger. Hotch handed the file he was discussing with JJ to her and sighed. The team gave him sympathetic looks. "You too, Agent Prentiss," Strauss called. Emily smiled wearily at Morgan, and followed Hotch up to the Cubicle Of Hell, named by Garcia, who usually just called it COH. This sounded enough like a cough that Strauss never figured it out.

"Yes ma'am?" Hotch was always a gentleman.

"You've been requested to give a talk at a seminar in New York City."

"Ma'am-"

"I've thought it over and I feel it's a good idea. You need a break and we need to build a relationship with our New York counterparts."

"Ma'am-"

"This is not a discussion, Agent Hotchner. Your team can manage without you. Agent Prentiss, you will accompany him. Your flight leaves tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock."

"Yes ma'am," they both said. Really, they didn't have much choice. Erin Strauss truly was a force of nature, if a slightly malevolent one.

"Hey Garcia." Emily walked into the tech genius' self-named 'lair of knowledge'.

"How'd your meeting go?"

"How- Never mind. I don't want to know. Um, Hotch and I are going to New York for a few days to give a talk, thanks to Strauss, so if you guys catch a case you can reach us on our cells."

"Oh? You and Hotch huh? Unsupervised?"

Emily rolled her eyes at Garcia's matchmaking attempts.

"It's for work."

"Mmm-hmm. Well, you two might have some unexpected fun." She leaned toward Emily and whispered conspiratorially "Bring sexy underwear."

Emily laughed.

"It's Hotch!"

"Exactly. See you later Peaches, I have work to do."

"Why does that scare me?"

Garcia just grinned and shooed her away.

Emily left Garcia's lair and walked toward the break room with a sense of foreboding. Garcia had been trying to set her and Hotch up since Emily had accidentally revealed, under the influence of a LOT of alcohol, that she had a crush on Hotch. He was a great guy, after all. Beneath that stoic exterior she knew he had a sense of humor, and he was an awesome dad, and…..he was pretty hot, especially in those suits….

She blushed and spilled some of the coffee she hadn't even realized she was pouring.

"Ow!" Her hand was probably burnt.

"Everything alright, Prentiss?"

Crap! Hotch!

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. I'm just a little….distracted." By you, she thought.

"Prentiss." He walked over, gently took the coffee cup out of her hand and handed her an icepack from the freezer. "It's 9 o'clock. You should go home, not have more coffee." He smiled at her. "We've got a flight to catch in the morning, remember?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. G'night Hotch." She yawned. She really was tired.

He hid another smile. "Good night, Prentiss."

As she walked downstairs, she ever wondered if someday they would be less formal with each other. She could call him Aaron and he could say 'Good night Emily.' Yeah, right, she thought. Don't kid yourself, Em. He's never going to date you. He has a child from his dead wife, he's your BOSS, and he's never shown any sign of being interested. Still, it would be nice to spend some time in New York with him. Maybe she would bring that sexy underwear, if only to appease Garcia.

(Little did she know that in less than 24 hours, they would take that step…..)

*Upstairs…..*

Hotch grabbed the coat off of the back of his chair, and was about to head out of his office with some case files when he saw Emily downstairs, packing up (and locking up) her desk. He remembered the bruises Morgan had collected when he agreed to spar with her after he'd eaten her chocolate. He couldn't walk straight for a few days, which Dave found hilarious. Besides the physical pain, Morgan had replaced her chocolate, and brought her flowers. Hotch smiled and shook his head. Emily could be very persuasive when she was mad.

He reflected on her reaction when he walked into the break room. He'd seen the blush, but he'd pretended not to. Had she been thinking about him? Was that she and Garcia had been talking about?

Hotch shook his head. Yeah, right, he thought. Like she would ever be interested in you. You have too much baggage, and a kid. Although, she really did love Jack, and he loved her back…..You're her BOSS, he thought. And not a very nice one at that. He cared about his team, but he was pretty cranky at times. He vowed to be nicer to Emily on this trip.

*In the Lair Of Knowledge….*

Garcia watched Emily and Hotch talking in the break room on the security cameras. Sure, hacking the system wasn't REALLY legal, but damn was it useful. She grinned at Emily's blush, and smiled when Hotch took care of her automatically. And….was that a smile? From the stoic bossman? Huh! Maybe she really would set them up on this trip. Nothing too big, just enlist the team, change a few hotel reservations…..Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner should work nicely…..

Cue the spooky music….*Dunh-dunh-dunh-duunnnhhhhhh…...!*

Ok, so not really much of JJ, Rossi, Morgan or Reid in this story. Sorry. Maybe they'll appear later. We'll see. Drop a smile if you like the beginning! Sorry for the outrageously long A/N!