Criminal Minds

Meeting Marcella

Chapter 1

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She stepped into the BAU with her; it had been a long time since she was last here.

Of course the last time, her daughter was an official member of this elite team and though she had never outright told her, deep down she was proud of her and her achievements and how far she had pushed herself.

The hustle and bustle of the FBI 'drones' working and walking around her as they ignored her had not irked her, she knew they were busy but she was used to being acknowledged immediately...

"May I help you?" An agent walked up to her.

She turned to the young woman, "I'm waiting for Agent Aaron Hotchner, I need to talk to him." She smiled politely; dear me, was her daughter ever so young when she started? She tried not to dwell..

"You are...?" The very young agent asked her, a very puzzled look on her face.

"Elizabeth Prentiss." She produced her credentials.

Her eyes widened, "My apologies, Madam Ambassador! I'll let Agent Hotchner kno..." She was interrupted when Hotch came out from the coffee room, a cup in his hand.

"Ambassador Prentiss?" He looked surprised. "This is an unexpected visit."

Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss smiled at him, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything...?"

Hotch shook his head, "No...no, not at all...I was just not..." It was then he realized she was not alone. He glanced down at the little girl and his breath hitched.

Ambassador Prentiss noticed his reaction, "Perhaps we can talk somewhere?"

Hotch glanced up at her and nodded quickly, "Yes...my office..." He indicted above, "You know the way," She nodded as she held the little girl's hand and they began to walk, followed by the stunned Unit Chief.

Once they were settled into his office with the door closed.

Hotch smiled, "How are you, Ambassador?" He asked politely.

She returned his smile, "I'm well, Agent Hotchner. But I won't waste your time with the politeness." He nodded; he knew she was not the type who was known for polite chit-chats. She was just like Emily. "I'm sure you're curious to know why I'm here."

"The thought is foremost, Ambassador."

She looked at the little girl and indicated, "This is Marcella Prentiss-Hotchner."

Hotch stared at the Ambassador and at the little girl and at the Ambassador again, "Pardon?"

"Marcella is your daughter, and my granddaughter." She gave him a small smile. "She is yours and Emily's daughter."

Hotch was stunned, "I...she...Emily's? Ours?"

"I'm sure you know how things worked, Agent Hotchner. And I'm not going to question about yours and my daughter's relationship." She shook her head and held her hand up when she saw he was about to interrupt her. "Please, let me finish. All I know is that I love Marcella. I'm very glad for her in my life." She glanced at her granddaughter's way affectionately.

Hotch was watching the little girl who had so far kept to herself and her little doll.

"How old is she? Two?"

"Yes, she was born on December Twenty-third, in London about two years ago."

Hotch nodded; it was after the time when they rescued JJ and Chief Cruz.

"Why has Emily not tell me?" Hotch said angrily. "I have the right to know, and I'd have done the right thing by her."

"Agent Hotchner..."

"Please, Ambassador, call me Aaron. She's my daughter after all." Hotch nodded. "This is going to take me some time to get used to it...I have a daughter..." he muttered.

She nodded, "Fair enough, Aaron. And thank you, I'm not sure what are her reasons for keeping her pregnancy and the birth of Marcella from you. I'm sure she'll tell you..."

"Where is she? And why are you here, instead of her? I mean, no offense, not that I'm offended by your presence here, on the contrary, I'm glad you are."

She smiled at him, "Well, thank you Aaron. I think Emily has made the right choice. And as to why she's not here herself is exactly the reason I'm here." She frowned; the look of immense worry on her face.

Instantly alerted to her emotions, Hotch leaned forward, "What's happened to her?"

"You're really perceptive, Aaron. I...I'm afraid I have bad news. She's missing."

"Missing? How? What happened?"

"She had sent Marcella and her nanny to my place for the weekend when she received a call, she had an emergency meeting with one of her INTERPOL agents, and that was the last time we spoke. That was a week ago. I could not get a hold of Clyde Easter, her supervisor. INTERPOL would not give me any information at all. But Emily had told me once if something had happened to her and Easter, I could come to you." She smiled sadly, "So, here I am."

Hotch nodded, "She's right, you can rely on us. She has helped us on quite a few occasions." He was thinking of the times when she helped with saving JJ and Cruz and two other top secret missions. "It's time we return the favor."

She nodded, "Thank you Aaron, I was hoping for that."

"No thanks is necessary." He stood up and came around the desk and knelt on one knee before the little girl, "I'm doing this for my new found daughter. Hello, Marcella."

The little girl to ignore him as she continued to comb the dolly's hair.

Hotch looked up at the Ambassador questioningly.

"Aaron, Marcella is born deaf and mute. She can't hear or talk normally." Elizabeth tapped Marcella gently who looked up at her.

Elizabeth signed, "Marcella, say hello to your daddy."

The little girl nodded as she placed the doll and comb on the seat and turned to Hotch, "Hello, daddy, I'm Marcella."

Hotch was dumbfounded, as he felt a pinpricked of tears welled, "Hello, Marcella." He was looking at the mirror image of Emily...

…...

It was that evening when the team gathered at their usual club celebrating the success of their mission; they had found JJ and Chief Cruz. Of course with the help of Emily who had flown in from London.

"Emily, how much longer do we have you?" Hotch had asked her.

Looking down at her watch, she glanced up at him and said regretfully,"Ah...um...six more hours."

He nodded as the others groaned and complained about lack of quality time with her, Hotch left them and walked to the bar to refill his drink as he continued to watch his team interact and enjoyed their downtime. A few minutes later, he felt her beside him but he didn't turn to look at her, he didn't need to.

"This is quite a turn out." She said quietly as she nodded to the bartender for a refill.

He nodded, "Yes it is. Thanks to you."

She shrugged, "Hotch, no thanks is necessary. I'd done it for you any time."

"You've changed, and yet you've remained the same."

She smiled, "Is that a good thing?"

"It is."

She looked at the mirror of their reflection, "The team is as solid as before."

He nodded, "They missed you."

She turned to stare at him, "I missed them, too."

He raised his brow as he stared ahead, "And? There's an 'and' to that."

She turned to look at him this time. "You know me so well, Hotch." She took a sip of her whiskey and coke.

"Emily, I've known you for a long time, what is it?" He had turned to watch her too.

She nodded and smiled slightly, "But you still don't know the real me."

He tilted his head slightly, "The real you?" He stared at her uncharacteristically which suddenly jarred her off her seat. "I think I know the real you, Emily." He leaned in closer than normal as he continued, "Have you forgotten whom you once worked with?"

She returned his piercing stare, "No." She was mesmerized by his brown eyes, they were dilated. Fully. "Hotch..."

He nodded, without another word, he left some notes on the bar counter and they left the bar stools quietly and left the building.

"Where's Jack?" She had to ask as they rode in his car.

"At his friend's, a weekend sleepover." He answered without turning to glance her way.

She nodded. "Oh."

It didn't take him but ten minutes to make it his place.

As soon as he set his security alarm; yes...some things are hard to break.

But Emily didn't mind as she came up to the back of him as she wrapped both hands around his waist.

He closed his eyes to savor the feel of her, and when she placed a kiss on the back of his neck, he groaned out loud.

As soon as the alarm beeped indicating that all was set, Hotch turned around, holding her arms around him and kissed her directly on her lips.

She opened her mouth and soon they exchanged their tongues and began to strip their clothes as he led them to his bedroom.

Laying her down on his bed, he looked at her and said, "Not to sound cheesy and cliché, I've always wanted to do this for a very long time." He leaned down and kissed her deeply.

When they separated for some air a moment later, Emily breathlessly said, "Wow! It's not cheesy at all. I have to confess something to you, I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time too."

Raising his brow, in his typical quizzical look, "Oh? How long?"

She bit her lip, "Since that night when I kinda brought you home from that assignment, after the Foyet attack."

He thought for a while before he nodded, "I remembered that night, I told you that you didn't have to come up with me."

She nodded, "Yeah, and I said, it's not a problem but I had to make sure you were okay but," she hesitated.

"But?" He prompted.

"I did hope that you'd invited my to stay."

He stared at her for a while, "You should have told me...I did have that feeling you wanted to say something more that night."

She gave him a knowing look, "You knew?"

He nodded, "I did, and I wasn't sure."

"I hesitated because, you were not fully healed."

He shook his head, "I was fine, in fact, I had forgotten about it. I just didn't want to push too far."

"Push?" She frowned. "I don't get it."

He leaned down and began to kiss her neck, "Do we really have to talk about that night?"

She shook her head, "No...no...it was in the past, and I want to make the most of now." She reached up and ran her hand through his hair, "And this is something I've been wanting to do for the longest!" She laughed.

He shook his head slightly, "What?"

"I love your hair, it's always so...perfectly combed. And I wanted to see it messed up." She began to rub her hand all over his soft hair till it stood on ends. "There, that's better. You look more like a regular person...and if you don't mind the cliché, mine for the night."

His dimples deepened, "You're really a strange person, but that's what I really like about you."

She chuckled, "You're so...stoic. You need to loosen up."

Looking insulted, "Stoic? Come on, Emily, I'm loosen up...except for something halfway south of me." He pointed to his anatomy. "Care to..." He kissed her. "continue what we," kiss, "started?" Deeper kiss.

She responded to his kisses with ardor by wrapping her legs around his waist, "I'm so ready!"

He chuckled deeply in his throat, "Yes, you are!" and he took her to a whole new level of depth she never knew he was capable of!

It was an evening of new discovery for them as they came together and as one.

…...

A few hours later, it was time for her to leave, Hotch and Emily were reluctant to say good bye, of course.

"I had the best of time." She leaned over and kissed him in the vehicle before she left, heading for her jet. But she turned around and smiled, "Don't forget, anytime you need help, I'm a phone call away." She winked at him.

"Same goes for you, I've yet to return the favor, Emily." He grinned, his dimples deepened as he waved at her.

"Oh, you might have, Hotch," She gave him a mischievous wink. "But really, I had the best evening, Hotch."

He shook his head, "When are you ever going to call me Aaron?"

She laughed as she walked backwards, heading to her plane, waving..."When we connect again...if you know what I mean!"

…..

End of Chapter 1