The first two months weren't so bad. Emily Prentiss was happy to finally have a job as part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Her boss was a hard ass, he wasn't letting up or giving her a break for a second. But she didn't care. She knew that eventually he would see how hard she was working and that she deserved her place on the team.

She had to admit, it did seem suspicious, the way she had just landed a place on his team, without his approval. She wasn't too sure how it had happened herself. In any other job, most people wouldn't have questioned her unexpected arrival. But here, surrounded by a team of some of the best profiler's in the world, she could understand their hesitation to warm to her.

So she didn't let anything that was thrown her way get to her. Every time her boss entered the room and greeted everyone except her, she let it go. When they were working a case and he'd tell Gideon or Morgan to 'take Prentiss with you,' like she was some sort of nuisance that needed babysitting, she let it go. If she made a comment with regards to a profile and he immediately shot her opinion down, she let it go. When another member of the team suggested the same thing later and he agreed, threw gritted teeth, she let it go.

She'd always been good at compartmentalizing and she knew that eventually things would get better. The team would accept her. He would accept her.

But it didn't. Two months into the job and things still weren't changing. Not with him anyway. The rest of the team all seemed to have accepted her. None of them went out of their way to get to know her a great deal, but they were friendly enough. Smiled at her, greeted her in the mornings, asked how she was doing, asked if she wanted coffee if they were making it anyway, said goodbye to her before they left for the day. All normal behaviour between colleagues.

With the obvious exception of Mr Dark and Gloomy, Emily was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. She put everything she had into her work and hoped that he would finally see that she deserved to be here.

But if anything, his distrust and dislike for her seemed to be increasing.

The first time Emily knew for sure that the Unit Chief had a strong hatred for her was when his wife and son came in to visit.

"You remember the team, I'm sure." Hotch spoke to his wife fondly. "Derek, Spencer, Jason, JJ and Penelope." His smiled dropped as Haley's gaze fell upon the brunette female. "Oh, and this is Prentiss. She's new."

New? Over two months working for him and he still considered her new. Emily considered calling him out on his comment, but deciding that maybe he just meant she was new to Haley, once again, she let it go.

Further into the Hotchner's visit, the team all fussed over Jack, who was stumbling around the bullpen, not even remotely shy from all the attention. The happy little toddler gladly accepted all the cuddles and kisses from everyone, finding himself drawn to the brunette lady who smiled at him but made no effort to interact with him. Who was this interesting person, he did not recognize and why was she not cuddling him like everybody else? How dare she?

Curiosity got the better of the toddler and once Penelope had placed him down on the floor, he quickly scurried over to the sitting woman, tripping over his own feet just before he reached her and stumbling to the ground.

Without hesitation, Emily scooped the little boy into her arms. "Hey buddy, you're okay." She soothed, gladdened by the fact that he didn't seem at all hurt or bothered by the fall. Instead he beamed at her with a grin she couldn't help but return.

"Give him here." The voice of her boss hissed out quietly, as he practically snatched the child out of her arms.

Concern overwhelmed her as she took in the angered stare he shot her way, once he had returned to his place bedside his wife, handing Jack to her. What the hell had just happened? Emily knew that Hotch didn't really like her and didn't trust her as a part of his team. But the way he had just snatched his son off of her and the way he was glaring at her now… it was as if he thought of her as some kind of pedophile. What did he think she was going to do his son? What the hell was his problem?

She glanced around and none of the rest of the team seemed to have noticed his outburst or the look he had shot her way afterwards. Instead they all had their attention captured by the sweet little boy, pulling silly faces at them from his place on his mother's hip.

Maybe she was reading into this too much. Maybe he hadn't been bothered that it was her holding his son. Maybe he was just concerned that his son may have hurt himself when he fell. Yeah. That had to be it. Didn't it? Was she thinking unfairly of him? Was this all just in her head?

The team said their goodbyes to the mother and son, Emily offering a small wave from her desk, before Hotch escorted his family to the elevator, saying his own farewell to them at the metal doors.

In the meantime, Gideon, JJ and Garcia all made their ways back to their offices. Morgan and Reid had settled back down at their retrospective desks and Reid had picked up from where he had got to on the file he was currently working on, while Morgan began to eat a sandwich.

Emily's gaze, however, remained fixed on Aaron Hotchner. She was still confused and a little in shock over what had just happened. The female profiler continued to stare as her boss kissed his wife and son goodbye, before making his way back through the bullpen. As he headed past her work-space, towards his office, his glare locked onto her again. And she didn't need to be a profiler to see it.

He hated her.