Sorry for the lateness, but this song prompt really kicked me hard! After sitting and trying to see the song from the view of four different pairings, I realized that I could never make any one ship happy. So, I decided to think out of the box and do something original and unexpected. I hope you like and enjoy. Leave a review or a PM and tell me what you think!
She's In Love With The Boy
Emily Prentiss was in love with the boys. And there was nothing she could do about it.
As the moonlight cast a soft eerie glow in the room, Emily let out a heavy and rolled over. It had been a long day and an even longer night, and now that she had come to the realization that she was in love, her mind refused to shut off. It wasn't as though she had never been in love before, but not like this. And never with so many people all at one time.
One or two she could handle, but all four? At the same time?
Come on Em, she chided herself. You've only been around them constantly for four years. It's only natural that you should feel something for them.
Em sighed heavily. Again.
She really wanted to deny it so she could make it go away. So she could go back to the way things used to be. "Yeah, right!" she muttered under her breath.
Another sigh.
Face it girl, you got it bad. Really, really bad, her mind chastised. But where to start to analyze? Maybe the most obvious:
Aaron Hotchner.
The epitome of 'still waters run deep'. Cool, calm, and usually collect on the outside, it was a rare moment when he showed how a case affected him. And it was an even more rare moment when he cracked a smile. Forget about a laugh ever passing his lips. But, there was no denying the man was handsome and he had a look that could pierce a soul…or a heart.
Of course, what wasn't there to love? He was a loyal and trustworthy man who stood by his friends and family and was willing to go to the edge of the world for them. And he was willing to kill who ever tried to hurt the ones he loved. And he had. Literally.
In that moment, he had gone from a mysterious figure who wore an invisible suit of untouchable armor, to her hero. He was Superman in an FBI suit. And there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. She would never turn and roll on him. Nor would she ever hang him out to dry. He wasn't perfect, but he was pretty darn close in her book. Especially when after all was said and done, she knew the real reason why he did it all: Jack.
Hotch's one true love. His world. The reason he got up every morning and donned that generic black suit and went from crime scene to crime scene looking at images too unfathomable for the human mind to comprehend. One's heart could almost break realizing that sometimes all their efforts seem to be in vain. And although he had been given the chance to leave and maintain his sanity, Hotch couldn't…or maybe it was that he wouldn't.
He had seen what the worst of life could offer. He had lost nearly everything to evil. When any other man would have hung up his badge and gun and taken a desk job, Hotch knew that he had to make the world a better place - not only for Jack, but for all the children out there.
And for that reason alone, she loved him.
But what about the next man on her list?
Ah, she smiled to herself, the one and only Dave Rossi. Definitely one and only…
The exact opposite of Jason Gideon on so many levels it was almost impossible to believe that they were the founding fathers of the modern day BAU. Detached where Gideon was involved, more involved with the team than he should be, and more caring than one would ever believe, Dave was a walking, talking contradiction.
Cold when he had to be, distant when it suited his need, and behind his friends one hundred percent when the chips were down, Dave was the man you wanted on your side when the odds were stacked high and impossible. But he was also the man you didn't want when the long arm of the law came around. She had seen the bitter, hardened, vindictive side that many never saw. She had seen him break an UNSUB down with nothing more than a couple of words.
But she had also seen the grief he tried to hide when the UNSUB had made one last gesture before succumbing to the grim reaper for his judgment. She understood why Dave had done what he had; the taste of revenge had been too irresistible. But it had changed him.
He became more cautious and drew closer to the team. He had no one but the people he worked with; they were his family. Just like they were hers.
But there was something about him that she still couldn't figure out. Yes, he was arrogant and cocky and he had no trouble stepping on toes when the need arose, but that was just the surface. Deep down he cared more than the law allowed. She had seen him weep at Haley Hotchner's funeral. She had seen him turn around and walk away in defeat when all hope was gone. And she had seen him comfort a grieving friend…or two.
Maybe that was his secret for drawing them in. But what was his secret for not being able to make a marriage last? At least he was willing to admit that he could make mistakes. And to top it off, the man looked great in a tux and jeans.
How could she not love that?
Running a hand over her eyes, Em prayed for sleep, but her brain kept spinning until it settled on the next person on her list:
Derek Morgan.
More of a contradiction than Hotch and Rossi combined; he was the man she could easily fall for in a New York minute…if he wasn't such an asshole. Maybe it was the Chicago cop attitude, or that he still had lingering scars from being abandoned by the ones he loved and trusted. Whatever it was, it was the only thing that prevented her from even going after him.
Still…how could one resist that smile and the lost look in his deep brown eyes? Or the way he walked across a room that screamed "Look at me!". The ladies lined up for blocks to spend five minutes with the man they thought he was. Little did they know that deep down inside was a little boy still struggling to come to understanding why his father had been murdered and why life just dumped on him. His temper and the need to be in control was the line in the sand for some.
But if she could over look those tiny flaws, she could see the nerd he tried to hide. The guy who did what he could to make the world a better place. A guy who desperately wanted to know why evil and good had to occupy the same area. No one could ever know the man who took charge that fateful day and made the decision to go after Foyet even though in the end so many lives lay in ruins. No one could know how much he beat himself up for not making the right call. But she knew. She could read him like a book. They were two of a kind on many levels. And he knew what the term 'Sin to Win' meant.
He was close to his mother and sisters, and would lay his life down for the ones he loved. That was a kind of loyalty that couldn't be manufactured or bought. It was a rare gift.
Besides, he loved the same books she did.
How could she not love that?
That left the last, most intriguing person on her list: Spencer Reid.
Genius, child prodigy, lost little boy in the shell of a man. Reid was the brother she never wanted and the guy she would never have given a second glance if he hadn't worked at the FBI. But underneath that cautious exterior lay a man so fiercely driven that it could take one's breath away.
He had broken codes that computers couldn't. He had taken torture so hellacious the devil himself would have wept. And he had seen so much loss it was a wonder that he wasn't insane. If schizophrenia was inherited, then he should be one, but it couldn't because he had a strength his parents never had, and the will to survive was his life line - along with the BAU.
He had too much to prove to too many people who expected him to fail. No one could be that smart. No one could be that gifted. No one could be that innocent. Or maybe he could be. He had no reason to trust anyone. His father abandoned him. His mother - although her intentions were good - abused him. Gideon left him. He had no one. Even she had pushed him beyond the point of no return.
Until that moment when it came down to his life or hers. She didn't have to think; it came naturally to place herself in front of him. He was her partner. Her friend. Every blow she took was for him because she cared. And when they emerged alive from the bowels of hell, he had let her hug him. He had forgiven her. And she found that she too could trust someone. They had both learned something.
And he let her in.
How could she not love that?
She glanced at the clock: 5 am. She could try to get some sleep, but it would backfire. She could stay awake until she had to go in. Besides, she wanted that little extra time to relish in the fact that the impossible had happened:
She was in love with the boy.
And it felt good.