A/N: Hey all! This is a pinch hit fic written for jltmysterylover for the CCOAC Writers of the Silver Screen Challenge. The prompt is the movie The Matchmaker, and the pairing is Emily/Rossi. This story will be about five or six chapters. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 1: The Proposition:

Emily Prentiss winced as she received the evil eye from her co-workers for her seventieth—at least—sigh of the evening. She couldn't really help that the sight before her was completely long-suffering sigh-worthy.

Currently, she was sitting at a table in a bar with three of her friends and co-workers: Rossi, Reid, and Garcia. Morgan was off somewhere strutting his stuff, but that wasn't the cause of her wistfulness. The sight that was causing her some distress was that of Hotch and JJ standing and playing around the pool table.

There they were, laughing with each other, giving each other little lingering touches and taps on various parts of each other's bodies. Her eyes were glued to the scene as each of the pair took turns 'teaching' the other how to play pool. It felt like a punch in the stomach each time she saw them press their bodies together.

God, get a room already, she thought pettily.

On her next breathed out sigh she actually scared two of her friends away.

"Come on, Reid," Penelope suggested. "Let's um… go play some darts."

"Ok!" she heard Reid reply, as eager as she'd ever heard him and this was at the prospect of playing a sport.

She guessed she couldn't blame them. She knew she wasn't the best company that night. But she couldn't help it. Emily just could not get the fantasy of a life with Aaron Hotchner out of her mind. Not since that one drunken night they had together two months ago. He'd been in her head ever since. Even though it wasn't long after that she'd overheard a bit of conversation he'd had with Dave about that night and he'd said he'd thought she was JJ, and even though he'd apologized profusely to her for that one night, she still wanted him. And who wouldn't.

Hotch was tall, dark, and handsome. A kid person, as evidenced by his total devotion to his son. And he was a loyal person, too. Hotch would never cheat on you, never even think about leaving you. He was perfect, the ideal candidate for a boyfriend. And Emily, who'd never had that, wanted it desperately.

Too bad about him wanting JJ, instead. She watched on as JJ took Hotch's hand, leading him towards an exit without even a word's goodbye. There was no doubt in Emily's mind about what they were about to be up to.

Sigh…

Emily caught a movement to her right. Dave was getting up to sneak off. Great. Not only was the man she'd been fantasizing over for months currently on his way to fulfil his own fantasies with a certain blonde. But now all her friend's decided they didn't want anything to do with her either.

"Great," she said mostly to the air. "Am I really that horrible to be around?"

She was surprised when Dave let out a little huff of his own. Then the next thing Emily knew was he was coming around the table to take a seat directly in front of her.

"Dave," she said unsurely.

"Look, Em," Dave began. "No one likes to see you like this. You don't do mopey well."

She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest; she leaned back in her chair attempting to stare right past him.

Well, sorry for living, was her inner childish response. Come on, no one wanted to be audience to the flirtations of the guy you were totally crushing on, especially when it was with one of your closest friends. The way Emily saw it she had every right to be mopey.

"I'm not being mopey," she contradicted herself.

Rossi gave her an incredulous look. "Emily…" he began.

She put up her hands quickly for him to stop. She was not in the mood for a lecture. Emily stood up. She'd had enough for one night. "I'm just going to take me and my mopiness home."

She hadn't even taken a step when Rossi firmly replied, "Sit," giving her what she liked to call 'the Rossi stare down.' Soul piercing and all knowing that's what you believed him capable of when he looked at you liked that.

She sat down, gulping down her sudden trepidation. "What?" she said, lacking the conviction she had wanted to infuse into that one word.

"Emily… you've got to know," he said slowly; she was hanging off his every word. "There's more in this world than Aaron Hotchner."

Her instant reaction to his statement was to blush. God, he knew what she'd done. He knew that Hotch had just slept with her over a case of mistaken identity. That could potentially be humiliating.

And then, she let his statement sink in. The snort of incredulity that she let out was completely unladylike but she didn't care.

"Like who?" she said bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a wry grin. "That's for me to know and you to find out…"

"Oh, so you're going to be my own personal matchmaker now, huh?" she said jokingly.

His face took on a solemn look. "If you'll trust me…" There was not a hint of joking anywhere on his face.

She stared at him long and hard. She already trusted him with her life. But, what about with her heart? Something in his gaze said that if she did this, if she let him help her out of this funk, then her heart would be in good hands, as well.

"I trust you," she said surely.

He stood up to go. "Good, I'll talk to you later," he said suddenly jovial.

"Wait," she called to him. He paused. "Where are you going?"

"If I'm going to do this, I've got to get an early start," he said, grinning. "You know, I've got my work cut out for me."

He laughed and she picked up a ketchup covered fry, throwing it towards him. Sadly, it missed. But she laughed, too; she truly believed he had her best interests at heart.

Now, she'd have to wait and see if best interests equalled perfect dates…

Well that's it for the first chapter. I hope you'll let me know what you think.

And here's a little note from the mod's of Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum: Tonnie and ilovetvalot are diligently working toward the nomination ballot on the second annual "Profilers Choice Awards" hosted by Chit Chat on Author's corner forum. The tentative date to release the categories, informational post and NOMINATION BALLOT is 8/28/11. One week, guys. So, put on your reading hat and look for those stories and authors you adore.