A/N: This is my new story and it's inspired by Good in Goodbye by Carrie Underwood. Please leave reviews and ideas! I'm going to try and upload chapters at least once a week or maybe more! Hope you guys enjoy this. Thanks for reading xo
Prologue
It was a freezing, snowy, February day when Emily Prentiss stepped foot in the Quantico Field Office for the first time. She took a long, selfish breath as she pushed through the glass doors leading her into the BAU bullpen. She paused, taking in her surroundings of young agents scrambling around the floor with manila folders piled sky-high in their arms while coffee brewed in the distance and people typed furiously on their computers.
It should of been overwhelming but all Emily felt was relief. She knew she belonged here. She could sense the feeling of belonging tingle throughout her entire body. After moments of analyzing and taking in as much detail as she could she finally laid eyes on an office that said 'Aaron Hotchner' across the front of the door. She finally persuaded her legs to move and made her way up to the office.
She quietly knocked on the door and entered the office after hearing a mumbled "come in."
"Hello. Agent Hotchner?" Emily inquired.
"Yes, hello. What can I do for you agent?" Hotch responded monotonically.
"Hi. I'm Emily Prentiss."
"Oh! Hello! Nice to see you, agent." Hotch reached out his hand in a warm welcome. "Prentiss, as in the ambassadors?"
"Yes, sir. They're my parents," Emily responded bluntly. An awkward silence overcame the room while they both waited for the other to begin speaking.
"So may I ask why you are here?" Hotch finally decided to break the silence.
"Uh.. yes, I was hoping you could tell me where to put my stuff," Emily said while placing transfer papers upon the man's desk.
The confused look that overcame the older man's features as he tried to sort through all the thoughts going on in his head did not go unnoticed by the younger agent. They stared at each other for a few moments before a knock on the door interrupted them. Emily whipped her head around at the sudden interruption and was frozen in her movements as she laid eyes on the beautiful blonde standing in the doorway.
"Hotch, we're ready to begin briefing in the conference room," the blonde stated firmly before taking a glance at the unfamiliar brunette in the office of her boss. Hotch nodded in affirmation towards the blonde as he mumbled a response to Emily.
"Agent Prentiss, there must be a mistake. I never approved a transfer. I have to go now but I will get to the bottom of this. It was nice seeing you again, agent," The blonde and him then made their way out of the office and towards the conference room leaving a stunned brunette in their wake.
It had been about 4 days since Emily last step foot in the BAU. She had heard Agent Hotchner's team would be returning from their current case tonight so she took it upon herself to wait in the man's office. She knew they needed to continue their conversation from earlier in the week and she could not put it off any longer.
The brunette made herself comfortable in the small office and waited for the arrival of her future boss. I hope she thought to herself. She let out an exasperated sigh just as the door to the office opened.
Emily rose from her position on the couch, slightly startling the older man who now faced her.
"Please tell me you haven't been there for the past four days," he stated bluntly but with a hint of humour.
"Listen, sir. I belong in this unit. I know you may think this is just someone deciding they want to profile or you may think that my parents pulled some strings, which they didn't by the way, but I am meant to be in this unit," Emily stated firmly, getting straight to the point.
"Agent, I can't make any promises but I will look further into this. I don't know why a transfer would be approved without my consent but our team meets at 10am to brief on new cases. You can ask maintence for a place to put your things." Hotch responded, knowing he would eventually lose this battle.
Emily smiled brightly not bothering to contain her excitement.
"Thank you, sir. I promise you won't regret it," she stated as she exited the office.
Emily made her way down the steps of the bullpen slowly looking around for where she could find maintenance. The floor was quiet considering it was just a hint before 10:00pm. Most agents would be home with their families by now, trying to unwind from the things they had seen that day. A few agents moved about, all looking they had important things to get done so they could head home for the night. Emily looked around trying not to seem out of place as she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She whirled around to see the beautiful blonde who had interrupted her meeting from earlier that week.
"Hi. You look a little lost, anything I can help you with?" The blonde asked.
"Uh-yeah, hi. I was hoping someone could point me to where maintenance is? I need a desk to put my things at…" Emily responded.
"Oh! You can just put your things on that desk right there. It used to belong to one of our agents but she left a few weeks ago so it's been vacant since then. I'll just inform maintenance in the morning that you took the desk," The blonde smiled as she pointed towards the desk behind them.
"Oh thank you. I really appreciate it. I'm new here and things didn't really start off on a good note so I didn't want to bother anyone."
"It's no problem," The blonde smiled, truly meaning what she was saying. "I'm Jennifer by the way. Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me JJ."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Emily, Emily Prentiss," The brunette reached out her hand towards the younger woman in a warm gesture. They both smiled at each other before saying their goodbyes and heading their separate ways. Emily smiled to herself as she watched the blonde leave. She instantly felt a connection to this woman and was grateful the blonde had been so sincere in helping her find her way around the bullpen.
It had been 3 months since Emily joined the BAU and she was truly starting to get comfortable with each of the team members. Penelope had immediately befriended her and the two had instantly become close friends. Reid had been impressed by Emily on her first day and the two continued to bond after sharing stories and statistics on certain subjects. On her first day, Emily was paired with Morgan and he was really welcoming. The two got along really well and had already formed a great friendship. Although everyone was being so nice, Hotch was still giving her the cold shoulder, believing she had an agenda for her time here at the BAU.
Then there was JJ. Emily had immediately connected with the younger woman and the two became fast friends. They were close. The pair would go out to eat some nights after long days at the office or head to the bar after rough cases. Sometimes Emily would even spend the night at JJ's after returning from a case because JJ's apartment was so close to the office. All of that lead them to the moment they were in now.
Emily sat on the small leather couch in JJ's apartment as the blonde sat on the opposite side. They had gotten home from a case three hours ago and Emily was staying at the blonde's that night knowing they had to be in the office early the next morning. It was a few minutes until midnight and the two had spent the last three hours just talking, not wanting to admit that neither of them wanted to go to sleep after the horrific case they had just been on. The conversation that the two had been engrossed in had dissipated and now they sat together on the couch, in a comfortable silence. Emily smiled as she studied the blonde's features from the crease of her eyes to the hint of pink in the younger woman's cheeks. She was really starting to fall for her.
JJ changed her position as she turned to face the smiling brunette looking at her. JJ giggled as she realized Emily was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the way the blonde had shifted closer to her. The laugh that had erupted from the blonde brought Emily back from her thoughts and she laughed at the way the younger woman was laughing at her. As their laughing died down JJ began to lean closer. The two were only centimeters apart when Emily leaned forward and kissed the blonde. As their lips met JJ instantly deepened the kiss, finally getting to kiss the woman who had completely invaded her thoughts for the past three months.
The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever until the two parted needing to catch their breath. JJ's eyes fluttered opened as she looked into the brown orbs staring back at her. "So?" She questioned. "Are we a thing now?" She winked at the older brunette.
Emily laughed and nodded her head before pulling the blonde back in for another kiss. They were together.