Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

The Hangover

Emily rolled over with a loud groan and covered her ears with her pillow when her alarm began to buzz as 6:15 a.m. Reaching blindly in the direction of the offending object she attempted to hit the snooze button but only succeeded in knocking her alarm clock to the floor with a loud clatter. She threw the blankets over her head in an attempt to block out the noise but the continuous beeping snaked its way under the blankets and irritated her further. Finally unable to tolerate the obtrusive beeping any longer she rolled off the side of her bed landing in a heap with the blankets still wrapped around her. She fumbled with the alarm for a few moments before just pulling the cord from the outlet, finally silencing her wake up call. She curled up in a ball on the floor and lay like that until she was forced to get up again by the nauseous feeling that began to stir in her tummy. She suddenly felt the urgent need to vomit, bolting upright quickly and running in the direction of the bathroom. The sheets tangled around her feet causing her to trip and hit the floor with a loud thud, the sudden drop causing her stomach to flip. Before she could stand again she lost her stomach contents all over the carpeted floor. "Just great," she mumbled to herself as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Getting up slowly to ensure there were no more sudden urges to vomit she wandered into the bathroom and grabbed a towel and cleaner before spraying the carpet and wiping it. The smell caused her stomach to turn but she finished the job without further mishap. She looked at the clock that hung over the door frame and realized she was going to be late for work. Without further ado she jumped in the shower and began to ready herself for work, she could tell already that is was going to be a very long day.

Morgan sat leaning over one of the many files he had to get finished today groaning when the pile never seemed to get any smaller. He looked at the clock and noticed that Prentiss was late for work, very unusual. He grabbed a few folders from the top of his pile and very slyly wandered over to her desk, placing them on top of her already mountain high pile of files. Reid raised an eyebrow skeptically but didn't say anything. Morgan turned back towards his desk just in time to see a very tired looking Emily Prentiss. Large, dark sunglasses covered her eyes, her wet hair pulled back in a pony tail as her she dragged her feet across the floor. She dropped in her chair, placing her head in her hands and let out a sigh.

"A little hung over today are we Princess?" Morgan asked with a cheesy grin plastered on his face.

"Shut up Morgan," Prentiss mumbled through her hands.

"I'll take that as a yes. Date last night Prentiss?" Morgan asked continuing to pester her.

"Conference room in five," Hotch called as he himself made his way in that direction. Morgan frowned.

"I guess we will have to continue this conversation a little later," Morgan said with a wink as he made his way towards the steps.

"Oh joy," Prentiss muttered as she put all of her energy into standing up without vomiting.

The team was heading to a small town only an hour and a half from Quantico and so they had the joy of driving the short distance instead of boarding the jet. Prentiss opted not to be stuck in the same vehicle with Morgan so she now sat in the passenger's seat of the SUV that Hotch was driving. Reid was sitting in the back spitting out random facts about every town they happened to drive through. Emily thought it might be less painful to bang her head against the window then listen to Reid babbling in her ear for the next forty five minutes. Hotch took a sharp turn onto a gravel road causing her stomach to turn a little. Just as it began to settle down, the SUV hit a large pothole. Emily threw her hand to her mouth and yelled for Hotch to pull over. He obeyed and before he even came to a complete stop Prentiss had the door swung open and was emptying her stomach for what felt like the millionth time that day. Reid scrunched up his nose in disgust before beginning to spout out random facts about puking and hangovers.

"Did you know that headaches are the most common symptom of a hangover? If you eat honey before a night of drinking, its high concentration of fructose can be used to neutralize the amount of congeners in most alcoholic drinks. 42% of people…."

"Reid," Prentiss half yelled somewhere between up and chuck. He quieted immediately and leaned back in his seat to distance himself from the smell. Hotch just shrugged and waited for Prentiss to finish. She sat up and slammed her door shut before digging through her bag for a mint or something. Hotch leaned over and opened the glove box pulling out a pack of gum and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Prentiss mumbled as she placed the gum in her mouth. Reid reached around the seat and handed her a bottle of water. She narrowed her eyes at him as she yanked it out of his hands, causing him to slink back in his seat, but she drank it none the less.

"Long night?" Hotch questioned with a smirk. Prentiss threw her water bottle towards the floor before crossing her arms across her chest in a pouting manner. Hotch laughed before he was cut off by a dirty look from Prentiss. The rest of the ride was completely silent.

Reid jumped from the car the moment it came to a stop happy to get away from a grumpy Prentiss. It was just past noon and he hoped she would be over her hangover soon. Dealing with a grumpy Prentiss wasn't on anyone's wish list, she could be just downright mean. She stomped past him, hitting him with her bag as she slung it over her shoulder only proving his point further. "Ow," Reid whined as he rubbed his arm where her bag had come into contact with it. He watched as she struggled with the door pushing on it even though it clearly said pull. She began kicking it as a slew of expletives left her mouth. Morgan walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?" she yelled as she turned to face him.

"It says pull there Princess," he said as he pulled it open and held it for her.

"I can hold my own damn door," Prentiss huffed as she grabbed it from him and let it swing shut behind her. Morgan raised his eyebrows in amusement as Reid walked up to him still rubbing his arm.

"She better not be like this all day," Reid said as he opened the door and headed into the station.

JJ sat bent over a folder, her pencil tapping the table repetitively as she read. "Can you stop that JJ," Prentiss bit out. JJ's hand froze as she continued to read not even bothering to look up. Within two minutes the pencil was tapping the table again without JJ even realizing she had started again. Suddenly the pencil was jerked from her hand and whipped across the room hitting Dave as he walked in the door. Dave raised his eyebrows before seeing the scowl on Prentiss's face. He took that as a warning and turned around deciding it would be best not to enter the room that currently red lion's den. "What!" Prentiss snapped. "I asked you to quit tapping your fucking pencil."

"You didn't have to throw it," JJ mumbled as she continued on with her reading.

Reid looked up as Prentiss came storming through the front of the station wearing a clearly pissed off face. Reid looked up at the clock. 3:32. This was the longest hangover he had ever had to endure and it wasn't even his hangover. He sucked in a breath as she walked past, preparing himself for her berating. Luckily she walked right passed him and headed towards Hotch.

"Why in the hell did you send Dave to the crime scene with Morgan when I was supposed to go?" Prentiss hissed.

"I thought you would prefer to be at the station until you were, you know… uh, feeling better?" Hotch stumbled over his words as he tried to find the best way to explain without pissing her off further. Even Hotch was afraid of an angry Prentiss and it took a lot to scare Hotch.

"I could have managed perfectly fine Hotch. I have a hangover not a missing limb, I'm not an invalid."

"I'm sorry Prentiss. Next time you are hung over, which honestly I hope is not for a very long time, you can go to the crime scene."

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well it's just you aren't the easiest person to deal with when you aren't feeling well."

"Fuck you! I am perfectly delightful all of the time." With that she turned around and marched back out of the station. Hotch's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe she had just cursed at him. Any other day he would reprimand her for it and point out it was his decision to make but he didn't think that would go over so well today.

Emily scowled at Dave and Morgan when they entered the station after visiting the crime scene.

"How was the crime scene boys? Lots of fun I bet," Prentiss glowered. Morgan looked at Rossi who just shrugged.

"How is victimology going?" Rossi asked innocently as he looked over her shoulder to see what she was working on. She slammed the file shut and slapped his hand away when he went to reach for it.

"If you're so interested in victimology maybe you should have stayed her and worked on it instead of going to the crime scene."

"Nah, crime scenes are always more fun then victimology." Reid looked up panic written all over his face. What in the hell was Rossi doing? Did he want her to chop him up into tiny pieces and eat him from dinner?

"Don't you think I fucking know that? I was supposed to go the crime scene not you! I hate doing victimology."

"Why didn't you go to the crime scene then?" Rossi asked trying to hide the smile that was trying to make an appearance.

"I wanted to! Ugh stupid Hotch. Stupid you. Stupid everything. Why in the hell is everyone so fucking stupid today?"

"Maybe it's the weather, or the excessive amount of alcohol you consumed. Hard to tell," Rossi answered as he pretended to ponder over it. Prentiss snatched the file up off the table smacking Reid with it as she passed.

"Why are grumpy women so abusive? And why does she have to hit me when you are the one she is mad at?" Reid whined. Sometimes he really just didn't understand women. Rossi chuckled as he sat down at the table.

Reid eyed to clock for the hundredth time that day. 8:46. He hoped Hotch would dismiss them soon. Emily was sitting across the table glaring at him as he worked on the geographical profile. She had been doing that for 7 long minutes. Just sitting there glaring at him and it was really starting to scare him. Finally Hotch gave them the go ahead to go back to the hotel. Reid leapt from his seat before Hotch even got his whole sentence out. Longest day of his life was just about over.

Prentiss looked in the mirror tracing the bags under her eyes with her finger. She leaned over the sink splashing water on her face, the cool water feeling good on her head. She couldn't believe she had felt like absolute shit all day. She went and curled into the fetal position on her bed. Maybe next time before a night out she would have to eat some honey.

A/N: Just a little one shot. Hope everyone enjoyed. Please let me know by leaving a review!