This takes place at Season 2, Episode 11 (Sex, Birth, and Death)
- I do not own the TV series Criminal Minds or the characters from the show.
Criminal Minds
.La Vie en Rose.
Chapter 1
.
(Jerk Boss)
"I don't appreciate being questioned in front of other agents."
"It was not my intention, I'm sorry." She said.
He cut her off by holding his hand up. "What were you and Congresswoman Steyer talking about the other day?"
"She stopped by to say hello, she worked for my mother...I've known her since I was a kid."
"Did you tipped her off about this case?"
Stunned by the accusation, she shook her head, "No!"
"This team can't function if I don't trust the people on it."
Still stunned, "Sir, if I touched a nerve out there today, I'm sorry but I don't deserve this."
"You mysteriously showed up in the BAU after one of my team was involved in a questionable shooting." He watched her closely.
She looked thoughtfully, "Right." She nodding her head.
"You done good work, I'm not questioning that, but I will not put up a political agenda." He stated clearly to her.
She nodded again but inwardly she was pissed and sad at the same time; what a jerk, she thought as she watched him. "My mother is a career politician, you worked with her," She said with an angry tone. "Did you like her?"
"She's an impressive woman." He replied neutrally, but honestly.
Emily huffed slightly, "Well, I think politics make people distrustful, I think it makes them hate themselves, I think it makes them tears family apart."
He watched her words and saw something broke within her, something she was trying to hold back but it came out in force momentarily before it was closed but he felt that force.
"And damages people." He swallowed hard; was she one of those damaged people?
The look in her eyes had answered.
She has had enough of this bull crap! "So if there's nothing else, I'd like to get back out in the street and find out who's there killing those women... Sir." She added the last with full meaning and she didn't care what he made out of it!
She stood up and left his office without giving him a chance to reply.
Not that she cared what he thought of her anymore.
As she waited for the elevator, she mentally counted to fifty and thought about the conversation again; it was not fair of him to get on her case, she was just being curious, just like any one else. After all, she did know Congresswoman Steyer, and she had genuinely thought the woman had come to see her!
Not everything is about politics!
Emily huffed as she watched the lights on the numbers crawled; she was calm now, she was compartmentalizing the whole situation into her mental box marked 'jerk boss'.
She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her boot on the tiled floors.
"Prentiss."
She turned around at the voice, it was Morgan, she smiled brightly, "Hey, what's up?"
"Everything okay between you and Hotch?" He was digging.
She shrugged, "It was enlightening."
"Enlightening?" He leaned over to her, "That's it? No screaming, no yelling?"
"You know that's not his style, Morgan." Finally, the doors opened and she stepped in but Morgan remained where he was, his expression was still the same; disbelieving.
"Trust me, Morgan, nothing happened. I'm heading out canvassing, you up?"
He stepped into the elevator with her, "Always...Princess." He grinned.
"Princess? Why that nickname?" she blew a sigh of relief; she had seen Hotch coming towards the elevators too, and closed her eyes; an image of jerk boss popped into her mind. Her eyes flew opened as she willed the entire figure of Hotch back into the box, shoving him angrily into said box and into the furthest corner of her mind. "Jerk." She muttered as she and Morgan stepped out of the elevator and towards the SUV...
"If I'm Princess, what makes you? Prince Charming?" She smiled at him as he started the ignition.
…...
She sat in the conference room with the prostitutes the next day, waiting for Congresswoman Steyer. Emily watched them as they talked quietly among themselves.
"You think she'll show up?" Reid asked Morgan and Emily.
Emily nodded, "Oh yes, Hotch threw that gauntlet down, and she's not one to back off."
"You know her well?" Morgan turned to face her.
"Not much, just during social gatherings, my mother knows her more than I do."
"She seems to be determined to hang Hotch." Reid looked slightly worried.
Emily stared at him for a moment than shook her head, "Hmm, no...I don't think so, you know him better than I do, and correct me if I'm wrong, he used to be a prosecutor?"
Reid nodded.
Emily continued as she saw Hotch walking with Steyer, "Then you're about to watch a show-down."
Morgan gave her an odd look before he smiled at her, "She's gonna wish she didn't throw that gauntlet, right Princess?"
Emily smiled at him, "Let's hope you're right."
"I'm buying dinner if Hotch wins." He whispered.
"Deal, if she wins, I'm buying." She fist bumped him before they returned their attention to Hotch.
…
Much later, after they had caught the real killer, Reid was leaning back against his chair, "You know, Emily, you were right."
Emily turned around to face him, "What was that?"
"About what you said earlier about Hotch matching wits with Steyer."
"Oh...that." She nodded her head. "He knew what he was doing or he wouldn't have gambled on bringing all those prostitutes."
"Yeah, it helped; if it weren't for that, we wouldn't have gotten our killer."
She stood up and picked up her things, "In the end, no one really lost or won. Good night, Dr. Reid."
"You're leaving already? "
She nodded, "Oh yes, I'm done with my report, and I had better leave before he," she indicated above her and towards Hotch's office, "finds something for me to do."
Reid frowned, "Hey, what's with the two of you...did he chew you out?"
She shrugged, "It's nothing...just stepped out of line, that's all. But everything's fine. I'm outta here, night." She waved at him and left quickly.
As she left, she saw Garcia escorting the kid towards Reid and waved them as well as she exited.
She was unaware that Hotch was observing her leaving the bullpen, his eyes following her all the way till she walked out of the double glass doors.
Hotch frowned when he saw Morgan joined her at the elevators; since when had he began watching her?
He shook his head and returned to his file and noticed that he still had her personal file on his desk.
He picked it up and read it over again; it was a generic typical file.
Her name...
Her birth date...
Her birth place...
those above, he remembered from many years ago when he worked for her mother, at that time, Emily was about to enter college, he had not paid any attention to her.
Now? He read it again, she had completed Yale with a Masters Degree in Criminology, that in itself was no small feat. Why did she choose that particular field in Yale?
Then she entered the FBI and passed with flying colors. She was the IT girl.
Hotch read her profile again, that couldn't be right, no one passed Quantico with such high marks, he himself was skewered royally by his instructors when he was a trainee and he studied hard!
He looked at the small clock on his desk; it was a little too late to make calls but still he did, taking the chance some of his older instructors still haunted about the place like ghosts.
He struck gold with his ethics instructor, good ol' Gary Beene. He was still around teaching ethics.
"Emily who?"
"Prentiss, she was in class of..." he glance at the date and told him the year. "She was a very excellent student, you should remember her, scored really high in her ethics grade." Hotch said.
"No...I don't think so and I do remember the bright ones, Aaron, and you're one of them." Greene replied.
"As I recalled, you gave me a B- on my final grade." Hotch admitted.
"Ah...well, yes, as to that, you were not very persuasive in your argument."
"Not persuasive?" Hotch frowned, "I wrote five pages arguing why Hamilton deserved reprieved...but," he shook his head, "this is not about me, it's about Agent Prentiss."
"Yes, yes...Prentiss...no, no...I'd remember a star trainee like you but I certainly don't remember her."
"Well, that's ….okay. Thank you for taking up so much time with me, Professor Beene."
"Not a problem, glad to help an agent, any time, any time, have a lovely night." He ended the call before Hotch replied.
"Stranger and stranger." Hotch muttered as he continued to stare at the piece of paper. He sighed as he recalled her walking with Morgan, their faces were laughing and very friendly-ish.
He placed the paper into the folder and returned to his work.
…...
End of Chapter 1