Hope you enjoy this next part of the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Around 10:30PM, Emily receives a text message.

Meet me at my office at 8:30AM tomorrow morning.-AH

Emily responds with an acknowledgement of his text message. She was at the BAU before then every day so she didn't anticipate it being a problem. However, she wondered what the meeting was concerning. Hopefully there wasn't a problem with the profiles she had been writing up.

The next morning she arrives in the bullpen at 7:45. From the light visible through the blinds, it was clear that Hotch was already at the BAU and was working in his office. After placing her bag and coat at her desk, Emily headed to the break room in search of her morning coffee. The upcoming meeting wasn't going to start well if she already hadn't had some coffee. Thankfully, there was some fairly fresh coffee in the pot. After pouring herself a cup and dosing it with the necessary amount of Splenda, she started a new pot for the next people to arrive.

Back at her desk, Emily decides to organize her files and paperwork instead of digging into pile as she would on any other day. Not wanting to admit it to anyone, she was nervous about whatever this meeting was about. Enough so that she knew that she would not be able to focus if she tried to work on files. Or if she should be working on files if she had been doing something wrong with her consults. But organizing her desk would distract her for the next 20 minutes as well as allow her to be more productive once she was back at her desk.

At 8:25, Emily stood up and straightens out her clothes. Organizing the files had been the best idea to distract herself. Now everything was arranged into one of three piles. Before moving away from her desk, Emily drank the rest of the coffee in her cup. Placing the mug back on her blotter, she sighs and walks up the stairs towards Hotch's office. She knocked and was greeted with "come in". Entering just a couple of steps into the office and she says, "you asked to see me this morning, sir".

Hotch looked up and noticed her standing nervously just inside his door. "Prentiss, yes, we are going to the Academy tactical range and then to the Bureau gun range this morning." Hotch said as he stood up and walked around his desk after looking at the clock. "Now actually." He suddenly realized that the morning was going by quickly and it was later than he thought.

"Sir, I just passed my firearms qualifications two months ago." Emily interjected, annoyed as she brought her arms up and cross them over her chest.

Hotch sighed, knowing he should have expected the pushback. "Prentiss, I am aware of that. However, as Unit Chief, I need to evaluate each team member's abilities in all areas. I need to see for myself what you can do before I send you into the field. Is there a problem with going to the range? Anything I need to know?"

"No sir. Let's go." Emily says resigned. She walked out of his office and down the stairs, heading out towards the elevators, not really paying attention to how close he was following.

####

When they reached the tactical training area, Hotch had them working through various areas, pleasantly surprised about how well she was handling the scenarios.

Finally they came to the last, and to him, the most important tactical exercise that Hotch wanted her to complete.

As a profiler, the particular program he would chose in this area was the most telling about how an agent would handle stress in the field. Gideon used chess to gauge new agents. Hotch had created this specific tactical program for the same purpose.

Unlike most Academy programs, success was not the sole desired goal. What Hotch was look at was how each agent would approach the challenge that this particular program would present. And how the agent would respond in the field to the extreme stress. If someone wasn't able to handle stress, he would rather know in the simulated environment of a training facility than when they were actually in the field.

####

A few minutes later, Hotch and Prentiss were both pinned down, outgunned and taking heavy fire. Each was behind a barrier separately about 10 feet apart.

Emily looked around and took in their surroundings. After being momentarily freaked out, she could feel her training take over.

Evaluating their current predicament, Emily knew they couldn't stay where they were for much longer without their position being taken over and the exercise being over. Being a tactical test, she wasn't going to sit around waiting for that to happen. If she was going to be tagged out, it was going to be doing something to change their circumstances.

The best move she could determine was to move to another barrier 15 feet away though it was moving back from the simulated shooters. Based on their current positions, it only made sense for her to go. After getting Hotch's attention, she signaled to him where she was going and for him to cover her.

On a countdown of three, she moved to the new location and then regrouped, realizing that she had taken a hit in the arm. Considered minor for training purposes, she could continue with the exercise.

In order to get behind the closest shooter, she would need to crawl to avoid detection. Knowing that Hotch, her partner for this exercise, was still pinned down and taking heavy fire, she started to move as quickly as possible to the vantage point she had determined would give her the best opportunity to take out the first shooter. Once that one was eliminated, she could take over his position and easily take out the second shooter as well.

As she was moving forward, Emily heard Hotch call her name but ignored him. An answer from where she had travelled would compromise her new position. She just hoped he would trust her a bit longer and didn't call an end to the exercise before she got her shots off.

A few seconds later, Emily had reached the point where she had a decent shot at the plywood cutout that was the stand in for the shooter. She turned so she could maintain her cover while she took three shots, taking out that shooter.

One down, one to go.

Turning back onto her stomach she continued with her crawl to the point she had chosen to take out the second shooter. Once there, it was an easy shot because she was behind the target. Another three shots and that target was out too.

After confirming that they were the only shooters, she yelled 'clear' and almost laughed at the stunned look on Hotch's face when he stood up and walked out into the open.

####

Having been through this tactical program before, Hotch wasn't surprised when the hail of paintballs started to be shot at him and Emily. They both made it to cover though not together. Letting Prentiss take the lead on what their next step should be, Hotch covertly observed her. It wasn't long before he noticed her motioning to him that she was moving and for him to cover her on her count.

After she switched positions, Hotch lost contact with her. The new barrier she behind shielded her presence from him.

If this had been an actual firefight, he would have been concerned that she was severely injured or killed when she didn't check back in with him. But today, they were using paintballs.

However that didn't explain why she hadn't re-established contact. His frustration grew when she didn't reply when he called out to her.

He worried that she may have froze. He started shaking his head. He couldn't take an agent into the field that would freeze under fire.

Just as he was going to stop the exercise, he heard the volley of three shots about 20 feet in front of his position. He paused, wondering what had happened. It was followed by another volley less than a minute later.

Shocked was an understatement on how he felt when a few seconds later when he heard Prentiss yell 'clear'. He looked up at the screen for the exercise which was flashing 'Mission Successful'.

He walked out from behind the barrier and verified the kill shots on both targets. As he walked up to Prentiss, Hotch noticed a smear of color on her arm.

"You're hit." Hotch says to her, pointing towards her left arm.

She smiled, rubbing her arm. "Yeah, felt that. But it's minor. We both would have been in worse shape if we had been pinned down in the same places for too much longer."

"True but why did go after the shooters by yourself, especially if you were injured." Hotch enquired, looked at her in awe of what she had just accomplished.

"I knew I could get to the second barrier if you covered me. And I did, well except for the arm. You were further away from additional places to move. There would have been a greater risk if you tried to move anywhere else. However, if you had indicated that was what you wanted to do, I would have covered you." Emily replied with a slight smile.

"Why didn't you answer when I called to you?" Hotch asked, really needing an acceptable answer to this question. He couldn't have an agent who wouldn't check in in a situation like that.

"Ideally staying in communication is what you want in the field. When you called I was closing in on the first shooter." Emily replied, pointing to the spot on the field she was at when Hotch has called to her. "Given how outgunned we were, surprise was my only advantage. If I would have answered, that advantage would have been compromised."

Hotch nodded, agreeing with her assessment and rationale. "I see. Good job by the way. You had kill shots on both targets."

"Of course. I wouldn't have said we were clear if they were still a threat." Emily said, slightly annoyed.

Sensing her annoyance but decided to just let it go at the moment, Hotch replied. "Last stop is the shooting range before we can head back to the BAU."

"Aren't we missing the morning briefing?" Emily questioned looking at the time.

"Not today. We are meeting at 1 instead of 10. Gideon is teaching at the Academy, Reid is doing research, and JJ needed to be at a meeting this morning. Morgan is the point of contact for any urgent cases until all of us return." Hotch explained as he motioned for her to walk with him.

####

As they are finishing up at the shooting range, Hotch complements her shooting.

In passing Hotch mentioned that the rest of the team will be disappointed that more of them didn't bet on her.

"Excuse me, did you saying the team placed bets?" Emily said, stunned.

"Yes, you are coming from a desk position so there was uncertainty how you would perform on these skills." Hotch replied.

"So all of you placed bets. When did all this happen since I only found out this last night that we were even doing this?" Emily said incredulously while pacing back and forth in front of Hotch.

"Yesterday" Hotch answered. He watched intrigued as she paced certain if she was a cartoon she would have steam coming out of her ears right now.

"OK, well let's see if this helps anyone with their wager." Emily replied, seething.

She walks up to a target shooting station, place her ear covers on, waited for the range officer to clear her to make the shots before quickly fires off the 3 remaining shoots in her gun. She then took off the ear muffs, re holsters her gun and walks off without another word or checking her target.

Hotch watches her as she walked out. There was no doubt that she was royally pissed off. Before leaving, Hotch decides to check her accuracy on those last shots. He pushed the retract button to bring in her target closer to him.

While studying the target, he finds a center headshot and a center heart shot. Both would pass as kill shots. He was pleased with her accuracy particularly at the quick fire of her three shots. He stops and looks at the target again.

Prentiss fired three shots. He heard them.

He then looked back confusedly at the target for the third shot. It was then that he notices the third shot was a center groin.

He swallowed hard and looked again in the direction she had just walked. He had jokingly asked the previous year when Spencer made a similar shot if Elle had taught him. Hopefully Spencer wouldn't ask Emily for help before his next qualifications.

Taking off his ear muffs, Hotch pulled down the paper target and also walks out to head back to the BAU.

####

Being the only one in the bullpen had made for an extremely boring morning. Downtime to this extent was almost unheard of in the BAU.

Even on paperwork days, there was generally a consult or meeting or something that would break up the monotony of the day. But so far today, none of that.

And Morgan was seriously getting ready to climb the walls. Reid wasn't even here to prank. If it wasn't that Morgan was point of contact for the unit, he would have gone down to the gym to workout.

And in a final desperate attempt for interaction, he had approached a very surprised Anderson in a conversation in the break room. It had been a good idea in theory. But it had taken only two minutes to remember the reason he didn't have conversations with Anderson. The man was incredibly dull.

After what seemed like an eternity, Morgan noticed that the newest member of the team had returned. He watched as she passed through the glass door and walked over to her desk. Once there, she picked up the coffee mug sitting on her blotter and walked over to the break room.

Morgan immediately tried to engage her in conversation when she returned. He sighed dejectedly at her repeated clipped responses.

Apparently Prentiss wasn't going to be the one to break the boredom in the bullpen. As far as he could see she was completely focus on the consult in front of her.

It also seemed like she wasn't going to be the one to reveal how she did on Hotch's field tests. Given her demeanor since she returned, Morgan was starting to wonder just how poorly she had done. Gideon was the only one that bet that she would pass without a problem.

About 10 minutes later, Morgan observed the Unit Chief enter the bullpen. Morgan noticed that Hotch looked somewhat stressed and his frown was more pronounced. After looking around the bullpen, Hotch climbed the stairs to his office and closed the door.

It seemed like Hotch wasn't going to easily reveal the outcome of the tests either. Damn. The whole team had money down on the results and Morgan wasn't getting a sneak preview of who made money.

Giving a frustrated sigh, Morgan returns to the consult in front of him. It took a few minutes until he realized that with Hotch back, he could leave the bullpen.

With that realization, Morgan stood up from his desk and headed for Garcia's office. There was no doubt in his mind that his Baby Girl could break up his boredom.

####

When Hotch reached his office, he considered what he should do next. He had known as soon as he mentioned the bets, that it had been the wrong thing to say to Emily.

The team took bets on various events and topics as normal course. He had underestimated how poorly it would come across to her as a new agent to the team.

And it was clear that she was angry when she walked away from him at the shooting range.

Then he noticed that she had tensed up when he had walked into the bullpen. Whatever progress they had made over the last week seemed to have dissipated.

One step forward, two steps back.

Pushing back from his desk, Hotch profiled Emily's performance today. Overall he was impressed. And shocked that she had been successful on the program he created. No one else from the team had. Even JJ, Morgan and Elle who had all come to the team from an assignment of an active field agent hadn't been able to take out both shooters.

And that wasn't surprising as it was designed for them to fail. It tested each agent's process not the result. And Hotch couldn't find fault with either process or result in Emily's performance today. Her process had been sound.

He thought back to how Gideon had described her strategy when playing chess. She was taking risks but they were calculated, she knew what she was trying to accomplish, what her goal was. Hotch hadn't fully understood what Gideon was saying, until he had seen it with his own eyes today.

####

It was early evening and Emily was just returning to her desk after needing to pick up a notepad from the supply room. As she approached her desk, she smiled, noticing that the 3 piles that she had arranged her files in that morning were significantly lowered. Even with being distracted when she first arrived at the office and then being out at the training facility with Hotch for over an hour. Taking the time in the morning to organize had resulted in her being more efficient for the rest of the day.

As she approached her desk, Emily noticed something on her blotter than hadn't been there when she walked away from her desk less than 5 minutes before. Stopping to look around, taking in her surroundings, Emily contemplated what to do next. That question was answered when Morgan turned around in his chair, following her gaze to the unexpected item that was now on her desk.

"Hey Prentiss, not sure what that is but Gideon dropped it off on his way out." Morgan said looking over at Emily who had stopped several feet from her desk. She looked paler than she had just a few minutes earlier.

"He left?" Emily said after look at the box and then up to Gideon's darken office. She let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. No danger from the mystery object just something from a coworker.

"Yeah, just now. It is almost 6. Are you almost ready to call it a night?" Morgan closed the file in front of him and straightened up his desk.

As he did that he tried to covertly observe his colleague as she approached her desk. Morgan was trying to profile her sudden skittishness. It was almost like she was scared when she first saw the box, but why?

Morgan shook his head. Prentiss had proven to be incredibly hard to read. In some ways harder than even Hotch. But he was relieved that she was conversing with him again. The afternoon had been very quiet in the bullpen.

"Not quite. I just want to finish this one file and then I'm done." Emily said with a small smile.

"OK, but don't stay too late. Cases have a way of sneaking up on us when we least expect them. Make sure you get some sleep."

"I will. Thanks Derek. I should be done in the next 15-20 minutes and then I'm out of here." Emily said as she pick up the box and card and slipped them into her bag. She would wait until she was home to open it.

"Sounds good. And Prentiss. Great job today. At the range." Morgan said before he noticed Emily looked back up at him, annoyed.

"Thanks." She said dismissively as she remembered all the sudden the bets the team had made.

It was clear when she had arrived for the morning briefing though today it had been the early afternoon briefing that Hotch had filled them in on how she had done. She could tell from the expressions that greeted her which way the bets had gone. Morgan had bet against her.

"Hey, don't be like that. Just think about how you will soon get your chance to pay me back when we do your hand-to-hand sign off." Morgan said lightly. He could tell bringing up the subject had rehashed the hurt she had felt earlier.

"Do you know when we are doing that?" Emily asked, grateful for the change in subject.

"I know Hotch wants to do it soon." Morgan said.

"OK. You do have some Bengay yes?" Emily asked smirking.

"Don't be getting too confident yet, Prentiss. You may be the one needing the Bengay." Morgan replied with a wide smile.

"We'll see." Emily said as she turned back to the file in front of her. She wasn't going to get out of here tonight if she didn't get back to work.

"On that note, I'm outta here. Goodnight." Derek laughs and he picks up his bag before walking toward the glass doors to leave.

"Goodnight."

####

Later than evening, Emily was sitting on the couch in her apartment reading a book. Suddenly, she remembered the box and card that she put in her bag before she left work.

Curious about what Gideon would have left for her, she put the bookmark back into her book before moving over to the kitchen counter where she had left her bag after arriving home.

She placed both the card and box on the counter and examined it. The box was about the size of a brick only significantly lighter. Opening the card, Emily read what Gideon wrote:

Emily,

Good work today. I knew you could do it. Try to not get discouraged about the others. They will catch on...or become very poor.

As a token of my thanks for my financial gain, please accept this gift. I heard these are your favorite.

-Gideon

Emily smiled, feeling better about the happening of the day. Gideon was right. The rest of the team could continue to bet against her but it was at their peril. She just needed to continue to do her best and hope they would eventually come around.

Untying the bow and pulling the top off the top of the box, Emily laughed when she saw what was inside. A box of her favorite Belgian chocolates. Taking the top off the chocolates, she briefly wondered if it had been Reid or Hotch that had told him after her comment in Nevada before she took one out and put it in her mouth. 'This makes it entirely worth it.'