Name: Thunder and Lightning
Rating: K+
Content: Someone upsets Emily, but Hotch puts him in his place. Afterwards they need to talk.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Just having some fun.
A/N: Many thanks to CK for beta reading.
Emily Prentiss pressed her lips together. She was angry. Hell, she was angry. And she had every reason to be. That damn bastard of a sheriff had been a total ass to her all day all because she was a woman! In his version of the world women, if they had to work for the police at all, had to stay behind their desks, answer the phone and do everything they were told to do. Women working for the FBI and being superior to him were something not acceptable. That damn guy had either ignored her completely or questioned every thing she had said. Just when she was ready to explode, Hotch had stepped in. A part of her wished he hadn't, so she could have handled that jack ass herself, but her rational side knew that Hotch had done the right thing. It was his team. If somebody messed with a member of the team, they messed with him. He was the boss. So he had quietly asked the man for a talk in his office. There had been no yelling. Not with Hotch. But the white face and the body language of the sheriff when they came back, had been enough for Emily to feel at least a little bit satisfied.
They had left soon after that. Now Hotch and she were driving back to the motel they were staying in. The rest of the team was already there. Emily shot a glance over to Hotch. It was easy to tell he was not happy with how things had went today. His face did not show any emotion, but his hands cupped the steering wheel so hard, that his knuckles turned white. Working with the local law enforcement was always a tricky business. Sometimes people would just not realize they were there to help, not to step on someones toes. It was important to Hotch to work well with the locals, but there were bounds and that blockhead had overstepped them.
Emily felt restless. With all the anger and frustration in her, it was hard to sit still. She was glad when they reached the motel. As soon as they had gotten out of the car she had said her goodbyes to Hotch and went to her room. She knew what she needed now. So she put on black running pants, a baby blue tank top, her sneakers and left for a run.
The air was cool and smelled like a long summer day that was nearing its end. There was also a bit of humidity in it, foreshadowing oncoming rain. Emily jogged down the highway, turning every bit of anger into energy. Only when the rain started she stopped and looked around. Dam, she had left all buildings behind her. She could just turn around and go back, she thought, but changed her mind when she saw the first lightning in the sky. She needed a place to hide. There were trees, but standing under a tree during a thunder storm, was not a clever thing to do. That was when she saw it. Half a mile back from where she had come from were some tall trees and parked under neath them was an old rusty truck with an canvas cover. Emily ran over to it. First she checked, if anyone was in the front. Since nobody was there she tried to open the doors, but without luck. Then she went to the back. The canvas cover was pulled open, and she could see, that nothing was inside. Perfect, Emily thought and climbed in. Just when she was about to sit down on the dusty ground she felt someone behind her. Ready to attack who ever it was, Emily turned around in one swift motion.
„Emily! It's me", Aaron Hotchner called while he climbed in behind her. For a moment Emily was confused about what he was doing here, but then she noticed his blue running shorts and gray t-shirt. Figuring he had been out running just like her, she sat down.
„I saw you over here and thought I better follow" Hotch explained, while he looked her over from head to toe. Emily knew what she was probably looking like. Sweaty, with wet hair pulled into a pony tail and her shirt clutched to her body.
Hotch looked for the best place to sit down. Since he could only choose between sitting where it was "really dirty" and "just dirty", he optioned for just dirty and plopped down next to Emily. None of the two knew what to say now. Simple small talk seemed wrong. They hadn't talked about what had happened this afternoon and the atmosphere on the ride back to the motel had been quite tense. Hotch was not a man to make senseless small talk anyway.
Emily sighed. Uncomfortable or not, they had to talk about it.
„The guy was an ass." she started.
„I know."
„I could have showed him, what happens when someone pisses me off."
„I know."
„I should have showed him, what happens!"
„No, you shouldn't have. And you know that."
„I know." They both had to smile, when Emily used what seemed to be his line.
„Men! They are such cave men sometimes" Aaron looked puzzled at her.
„Not you. But some examples of your gender are still stuck in the dark age!"
„Well I guess they feel threatened. They feel unsure of themselves and their place in society when a beautiful woman like you is much smarter than them." It took Emily a moment to realize what he had said. He had referred to her as beautiful.
„It's just frustrating. We don't have time for this."
„I'm certain Sheriff Tripp won't be a hindrance anymore."
„What did you say to him?"
„That you are an important member of my team. That you are one of our best agents and if he doesn't accept that, I will use all my power to get him off this case and make sure everyone will get to know that it was because of is inability to work with others."
„Thank you, I guess."
„Your're welcome."
The next minutes passed in silence, both of them lost in their thoughts. The rain kept pouring and hammered in a rhythmic beat on the cover. It was dark outside. The only lights were occasional car lights on the highway and the lightning followed by loud thunder. Emily felt the Adrenalin leave her body. It had been a long day.
„You are shivering." Hotch announced suddenly. Emily looked up to him. His brown eyes were trained on her and his face was full of worry.
„Uhh, I'm fine" she answered, knowing that is was an obvious lie.
„No, you're not.....Come on over here". Hotch lifted his arm. Emily watched him doubtfully, but his stern eyes told her, that he was serious about it. So she slid over to where he was sitting and Aaron wrapped his body around her. Emily closed her eyes. All she wanted to do now was to go back to the motel, take a hot shower and then tuck herself into bed.
„I hope we can leave soon." she said.
„The rain will stop sooner or later." Only when he spoke, Emily noticed how close their heads were. She could actually feel his warm breath on her neck. She was sitting right between his legs, his arms wrapped around her, to share as much of his body heat as possible. His hands were resting on her bare arms. She felt comfortable. Tired, wet and still a bit cold, but comfortable in his company.
„I only like thunderstorms when I'm at home, curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate."
„Maybe I should tell Sheriff Tripp that, so he knows that you are not Super woman,"
Hotch joked. Her response was to move away from him. She sat in front of him, so she could see his face.
„Hey! Not fair. Even Super woman can have a sweet tooth. Besides, if I'm Super woman, who are you then?" she demanded to know.
„I.....don't know. I never was much of a comic book guy," he confessed.
„Mm." Emily smiled and studied him. His eyes were on her. She always had liked how intense they were. His hair was as wet as hers and it was a bit tousled. It made him look even more handsome. She was beginning to feel a warm sensation in her stomach. She wanted to look away, but couldn't. Her body was telling her to get closer to him and it took all her power not to do so. She closed her eyes to get her composure back. When she opened them again, he was watching her.
„Are you alright?" It was his gentle, caring tone that made her shiver. She opened her mouth to say something, but no word came out. She stared at him and all she could think of was kissing him. Then she saw it. He had noticed the desire in her eyes.
„Emily..." he started to say, confusion in his voice. With her eyes wide she stared at him in panic. Before Hotch could say another word, she left.
In one quick motion she jumped up, off the truck and ran. She could hear him shouting her name through the rain, but she did not stop. She knew he could out run her at anytime and half expected him to show up at her side at any moment. But he never came. She ran and ran till she reached the motel. She was soaking wet when she collapsed onto her bed.
What on earth had happened? She had made a total fool of her self. Once more she saw his face before her and once more she felt the desire for him. No doubt about that. Her body yearned to be with his, so much it almost hurt. Emily went to the bathroom and turned the water on. Only when she was standing under the hot spray she allowed her thoughts to wander. She had always considered Aaron Hotcher to be an handsome man. His smarts, his determined fight for justice and his powerful charm had attracted her. But never had she thought more of it than a mild crush. Now she was wondering, if her feelings for him were more than that. On the other hand it could have been her hormones going off as well. While drying her hair Emily came to the conclusion that it didn't matter what the reason was. What mattered was, that she had made a big fool of herself by running away like that.
She did not sleep well; uncomfortable dreams kept visiting her. She either dreamed about Hotch telling her he could not work with her anymore after what had happened or Hotch and her doing the horizontal tango. At five in the morning she decided she had enough and got up. She put on a white blouse and black pants, than got her notes she had taken on the case and went to the 24h diner across the street. She just had her fourth cup of coffee when Rossi and Reid joined her. JJ and Morgan soon followed. Since they talked about the case, Emily forgot about what had happened with Hotch. But when he sat down beside Rossi, it all came back to her. She shot him a quick glance. Everything seemed normal. She made up her mind, deciding to talk to him and apologize as soon as possible.
For now she needed to focus on the case. An UNSUB was killing off young man, who all had been doing honorary work of some kind.
It took them another two days, but then they got him. A travel agent in his late thirties, was their man. Obviously he had killed the boys because they reminded him of a younger man, who he thought was responsible for the death of his dominant mother.
On the flight back to D.C. Emily felt it was time to talk to Hotch. He was sitting at one of the tables all by himself, looking out of the window. Before she went over to him, Emily checked what the rest of the team was doing. JJ was sleeping, Morgan had his earphones on and Reid was having a conversation with Rossi.
Emily sat in the seat across from him.
„Hey" she said . A small smile on his face told her that she had his attention.
„Listen, I wanted to talk to you. About that other night." She put her hands on the table. Why was she so nervous?
„I want to apologize. It was kind of stupid to run away like that." She waited for some kind of reaction from him, but he was only staring at her.
„I...," she started again, not sure what else to say. But then it was his turn to talk.
„You have nothing to apologize for. I...... It was my fault." He avoided looking at her. Emily was confused. His fault? What was that about?
„I don't... what was your fault?" Were they talking about the same thing?
„I should have gone after you." Emily still wasn't sure, what he meant.
„Why?" This time he looked right into her eyes. Emily shivered. It was that look again. This look that made her what to kiss him. And then it dawned on her. He had wanted to kiss her, too!
Overwhelmed by the new insight, she whispered once more.
„Why?" She wanted to be sure.
Before Hotch could say anything Morgan came over and plopped down in the seat next to him, ready for a talk. Emily gave Morgan a quick smile. The moment between her and Hotch was gone.
When the plane had landed Emily stepped out in the dark night, thankful for the cool, fresh air. She took a deep breath. Things that had happened and not happened where whirling around in her head. She watched her colleagues heading for the cars. Hotch was the last in the group.
„Hey! Wait for me!" she called out and hurried over to her friends. She exchanged one last knowing glance with Hotch. The both knew they needed to get used to what they had found out about each other - and what it mend for their professional and personal relationship.
„Do you think McCallan's still open?" Morgan asked no one in particular.
McCallans had become their favorite place for a drink after work.
„I'm sure it is" Rossi answered.
„Who is with me?" Morgan looked from one to the next.
Whatever, Emily thought. A drink was probably just the right thing now.
„I'm in," she said.
The others agreed, too. Morgan was pleased that everyone was coming. Even Hotch.
„Okay, then. Let's go!"
End