Just something came to me and I thought I'd get it written before it flitted away…

I do not own CM or its characters.

Enjoy!

…

The Disappearing Acts of the BAU team

It was one of those times where the thought was spending some time at the office was abhorrent to all.

This was the time for the BAU team. They had been 'granted' a stand-down time after two months of being out in the field. Three separate cases took them to Idaho, Nevada and Ohio. It seemed the serial killers from the northern states decided to 'act out'.

It was a relief to all they came through. Getting back to Virginia couldn't happen fast enough for them and when they did and their reports turned in, one by one they left.

Dave Rossi was the first one to disappear; he professed that his dog, Mudgie, was in deep depression due to the lack of outdoor activities he was used to; duck hunting, squirrel hunting, quail hunting and his personal favorite was rabbit whereby Mudgie himself caught them without the aid of Dave's hunting guns.

So, a very happy Dave scurried out of the unit as if the banshee in the name of Erin Strauss was after him.

Next were Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia. Morgan was given a pair of tickets to the latest Broadway play, 'Wicked'. It was one show Penelope Garcia had wanted to see and squealed with delight when he, her chocolate God, her Brown Sugar, had asked her to accompany him.

So, a very happy Penelope Garcia and pleased as Punch Derek Morgan happily skipped out of the unit and town to enjoy New York and this special play, again, before the actual Wicked Witch of the FBI in the name of Erin Strauss decided to take away Garcia's Ruby Red shoes!

Then came Spencer Reid who breathed with a loud sigh of relief when he learned that their down time coincided with THE Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Of course, a visitation with Mom was a bonus. He quickly made some arrangements with his 'trekkie' fans to meet in Las Vegas that evening and promises of deep discussions of Spock vs. Data were the hot topic he had been making copious notes for his arguments. It promised to be a very long and satisfying weekend.

So, an eager Spencer Reid hightailed out in case the BAU Borg Queen aka Chief Strauss grounded him to the 'Cube'.

JJ smiled when she watched most of her team left hurriedly. She had made sure that they did not have any priority cases before she assured them that they could, for just one weekend, imagined that they were not profilers but regular white collar workers.

She herself had made plans with Will; Dinosaur Land and Six Flags for Henry. It was his birthday this weekend and he was very into dinosaurs and Will loved roller coaster rides. Her two kids were looking forward to spend some family time with their mommy. She missed her fellas as she looked at a framed photo of Will and Henry. Three weeks of not being able to hold her son had her feeling cross but hopefully within the hour she would be able to hold and smell her son. Henry still had his baby smell; baby talc, baby shampoo and just Henry himself. She thought there should be a way to bottle that smell. Now that would make millions…

"Hey JJ!" she turned to see Emily standing by the doorway of her office.

"Hey, what's up?" JJ asked smiling at her friend.

"You, Will and Henry, have you made plans for the weekend?" Emily asked.

JJ nodded her head as she outlined the family outing and what Will had in line for them.

"Why?" JJ saw a deflated Emily when she was finished.

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, nothing then. My mother had bought extra tickets for the children's fund-raiser benefitting juvenile cancer. The tickets are to the Cirque Du Soleil presents the Circus Act."

"Oh! But…" JJ looked regretful; who could refuse Cirque Du Soleil? But family time was more important.

Emily shook her head, "Don't worry a thing. Enjoy yourselves. I bet you're going to have a better time than this anyways! So, I'll see you next week!" She waved to her best friend and walked back to the bullpen.

JJ watched her friend walk out and sighing, she moved out of her desk, turned off the lights and walked towards the elevators.

At the same moment Emily sat down, wondering what to do with the tickets, she heard laughter and followed it and saw that the sound was from inside Hotch's office.

That's right! Emily thought; Jessica had dropped Jack off earlier. Jessica had a date that evening and wanted to get an early start preparing for her date.

Standing up, she steeled herself and walked up to his office.

"Hey Jack!" She greeted the little tyke.

"Hi Emmy," he replied shyly. Jack had stopped playing with his toy animals and watched Emily with his head tilted to a side; he had always had a fascination towards the brunette since his mom died and often times, Jessica would bring him to his dad in the evenings, he had a chance to get to know more of his dad's colleagues. Emily was his favorite as she talked to him as if they were equal.

"Prentiss," Hotch looked up from his work. "What are you still doing here?" His head was slightly tilted to the side as well.

Emily took a double take at their similar traits and began to smile.

She explained to Hotch about the tickets and placed them on his desk.

"The circus?" Jack marveled.

Emily nodded to Jack, "Yeah, this is a special showing about clowns and it has a lot of performing animals. It's supposed to be one of a kind performance."

Jack's eyes widened and rounded as Emily began to tell him about various animals besides the usual elephants, lions and bears performing. There were lemurs, birds of paradise and pigs.

"Piggies! They have piggies? Oh daddy can we go? Please?" He begged his dad with his best puppy eyes.

Hotch shook his head; he didn't have any plans lined up for them except maybe the zoo but they had gone there a month ago.

"Are you sure, Prentiss?" Hotch felt uncertain accepting such generous gifts. He had heard about the fundraiser and the exorbitant ticket price but it was for a great cause.

"I don't have any kids and JJ had made plans already, I'd hate for it to go to waste. Please take them and enjoy it!"

"Thank you. I'm pretty sure we will," he said as he looked at his son who was jumping up and down whooping with glee.

Emily laughed as she watched him and was very glad that she did it. She liked to see him happy. No child should go through what he did a year ago. Hotch had mentioned that Jack still had nightmares and asked about his mother although not a lot lately but still he did had low days.

"Well, I'll be off now, I'll see…oof!" She almost fell over when a small body hit her in a bear hug around her legs.

"Thank you Emmy!" Jack said shyly as he buried his face into her legs.

Emily looked down and smoothed out the blonde hair and felt a rush of emotion within her.

"Oh Jack! You are so welcome! I hope you will enjoy it!"

He nodded, still wrapped into her legs.

Suddenly she bent down and picked him up and gave him a proper hug. She teared as she felt his hands wrapped around her neck.

"Jack," Hotch had stood up and walked around his desk and was now standing in front of them. "I think Miss Emily is ready to go home."

Nodding, Jack pulled away and Emily, regretfully, let him down. He went back to his toys.

"He is so loveable, so unconditional…" she couldn't go on, tears threatened to spill.

"Pre…Emily, are you okay?" Hotch tried to look at her expression but her hair had blocked the view as she looked down to her shoes.

"Yeah Hotch, I'll be fine. I have to go."

Then it struck him, "Emily, what about you?"

She straightened up and looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"You sound as if you'd enjoy the show yet you're giving the tickets away."

Emily shrugged, "I think Jack will have a much better time and he's spending it with you. Whereas I…"

"You'll be alone." He stated simply.

"Yeah, but I do have things to do this weekend; house work, laundry…" Emily admitted lamely.

"Why not come with us?" He suggested, his breath suddenly stopped as he waited for her answer.

She shook her head, "Oh I can't impose! You two rarely have time to yourselves. No Hotch."

His shoulders slumped. Why did it matter to him?

Because of who she was. It hit him that it mattered. He liked her. Not only as a colleague but as a person.

They had been partnering in those three cases. He had gotten to know her a lot more than previously. And what he knew, he liked.

And he wanted to know more about her, personally and away from work.

And he remembered Jessica's admonishment just earlier when she brought Jack.

You need to start dating. My sister is long gone. She wouldn't want to see you alone. Even with Jack, you need more.

Hotch had shook his head, "Just because love is in the air for you, doesn't mean it's for me. You don't look like cupid…too much curly hair and you're too tall."

Jessica had laughed; she was glad that at least his teasing was still there.

With that reminder, he ventured on.

"You're not imposing. You know more about this show and it would be really wonderful as you can relate with him over this. I'll be giving him an encyclopedic explanation if he were to ask me about the acts and really take the fun out of it for him."

Emily looked at him; he was being honest. And yes, she knew he would do it. That was one part of him that she found interesting, and she liked it.

In the last three cases, they had partnered together and Emily had gotten to know him more than before and she had a chance to see a humorous side of him on a few occasions despite the seriousness of the cases.

She wanted to see more of that other side of him as it opened his facial features, deepening those damnable dimples she was attracted to.

This would be the perfect chance.

With Jack, he laughed more. He was more relaxed around his son and what perfect chance to see that side of him?

Finally she acquiesced.

"You sure I'm not in the way?" She had to ask.

Hotch wanted to smile widely when he saw her nod; Yes!

But he maintained his seriousness, after all, they were still at work, and he was still her boss.

Once they were out of the office building, he would be just Aaron and she would be just Emily. And Jack.

Hotch nodded and turned to Jack and informed him of the new plan.

Jack jumped up from where he was kneeling, "Yippy! Emmy's coming too! Emmy's going to see the monkeys! And so is Jack!" He began to run circles around her and his dad.

The adults shook their heads and smiled.

Then Jack stopped.

"I'm hungry daddy." He said suddenly. And sure as he had said it when they could hear his stomach rumbling loudly.

Hotch curved an eyebrow at his son, "I guess I'll have to feed the hungry hippo, right buddy?"

Jack frowned, "I don't have a hippo, daddy."

"No buddy, I'm just joking. But let's pick up your toys first and we'll go." Jack nodded and then watching Emily he continued, "What about Emmy? Are we going to feed her too?"

"If Emily wants to come along." He said, watching her.

"Yes! I want Emmy to come too!"

Emily nodded. "Okay, Jack. I'm hungry too."

"You're always hungry," Hotch said to her.

"And you do try to be funny." She shook her head.

"I'm trying and it's the truth. How many times we had to stop by and pick up junk food when we're on the field?" He grinned slightly as he grabbed his briefcase and Jack's bag of toys.

Emily blushed as they left his office and walked down to her desk for her purse.

Together, the three walked out of the unit. Each looking forward to the weekend.

…

Half an hour later, Section Chief Strauss walked into the BAU and looked around.

"I thought the team was on a stand-down and it's only after 2pm?"

She looked up to Hotch's office which was dark.

She had wanted the BAU team to work with Special Forces at the Firing Range.

Oh well, it was not that important, she thought as she turned around and left the deserted unit.

…THE END…