Hi! Welcome to this collection of Hotch/Prentiss short fics. They're from various timelines, but the first 4 were written to work together, starting here, post-Angel Maker. Please take a moment to review if you can :)
He hands over the brownies, admits he shouldn't be flying and agrees to take a couple of days off. He hears the concern in their voices, especially in hers, and there's something about it that makes the thought of the drive, of a few days with no work to distract him, a bit more bearable. He gets into the SUV, closes the door as gently as he can and leans his head back. The pain is approaching unbearable right now, pounding from his ear into his brain.
Then the passenger door opens, and he turns slowly. He knows who it's going to be before he opens his eyes.
"I brought you this," Emily says, offering him a brownie wrapped in a napkin. She closes her door gently too, fastens her seatbelt and looks at him with a challenge in her eyes.
"You're flying," he says firmly, but she just raises her eyebrows and he can't help smiling.
"And you're driving all the way to DC by yourself," she says, nudging his hand with the brownie. He takes it and she smiles. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
"Prentiss -"
"And if you let me drive, I'll be on the side of you with the working ear," she adds, and the way her voice softens a little shuts him up. "Seriously, Hotch. You're obviously in pain. Let me drive."
He doesn't know what makes him do it. If it was anyone else, he'd turn to the road and start the car. If it was her a few months ago, he'd have done the same. But he doesn't. He sighs, hands over the keys and gets out. He opens the passenger door, meaning to let her out, but she's already clambered over to the driver's side. She smiles as he gets in, that smile he can't not respond to.
As soon as he gets his seatbelt on, she starts the car, and he leans his head back and closes his eyes, breathing deeply, trying to get a handle on the pain. "Bad, huh?" she says, and he nods, assuming she's looking at him. Then he feels her hand on his arm, just squeezing lightly, quick comfort, and his heart starts pounding so hard he can feel it in his throat. The instant she takes her hand off him he feels the loss, and he's left with the uncomfortable realisation that his feelings for her might be getting out of hand.
"Emily."
She doesn't answer for a second, and he realises he might never have used her first name before. He opens his eyes, watches for her reaction. She's a closed book, just a small smile as she glances over to acknowledge him. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for being…" He regrets it the second he opens his mouth, because there is no good way to end that sentence. For being you. "Concerned," he says, after too long.
She glances over again with a smile that gets his heart going all over again. "Get some rest."