This is stoy is AU. This is not my first story but it is my first CM fic. There is not a team story. Aaron and Emily are not in the FBI, they are just teenagers. WARNING: Character death, the song doesn't leave me much choice. It's sad but it's one of my favorite songs and when it came on the other day I instantly thought of H/P. The song is 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam. Story is unbetaed so please go easy on me. I tried to read through and make sure there were no errors. Reviews are appreciated.
Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss had been dating for two years. They met in high school. Aaron was a senior while Emily was a sophomore. Theyhad no friends in common and never would have spoken to each other if it hadn't been for one fateful moment in time.
Aaron had just left school. The rain started just before he pulled out of the parking lot and was now coming down so hard that the wipers couldn't clear the windshield fast enough. That's when he saw her, walking across the street with her jacket pulled tightly closed and squinting to see through the rain. Her long dark hair was plastered to her face. As she stepped up onto the sidewalk he pulled over, rolled down the window and offered her a ride.
Emily looked weary at first, but then noticed the school books in the backseat and the varsity jacket he was wearing. She opened the door, got into the car and turned to thank this nice guy who took pity on her. That's when she recognized him, the star quarterback of their football team. She had been watching him for two years, cheering him on from the stands; she'd always had a small crush on him but knew she never had a chance. He dated blondes, always blondes.
First it was Haley Brooks, she was a year ahead of Emily, nice enough but that hadn't lasted. Haley wanted Aaron to change. He was the star athlete with a scholarship to Harvard, the son of a Superior Court judge and a United States prosecutor. He was expected to be great and often put his school work or practice before Haley and she couldn't stand it. Next came Kate Joyner, a transfer student from Great Brittan, she seemed to understand Aaron better than Haley, but she had only been in Boston for a semester when she left to go back home. Aaron was heartbroken, but hid it well. Finally was Jennifer Jareau, she was a senior like Aaron. The relationship was purely physical and Aaron always knew that JJ, as he called her, was still in love with her ex. That relationship didn't last either. Little did Emily know, Aaron had always noticed her too, but what chance did he have? She was the daughter of a two US Ambassadors, she'd seen the world. What would she want with someone as plain as him?
The car ride was quite, they would each sneak looks when the other wasn't paying attention. Finally as he pulled up in front of the mansion she called home, she thanked him and started to step out, but his voice stopped her.
"Emily would you like to have dinner with me Friday night?" he asked in a small shy voice, not at all the way she usually heard him speak.
"I would love to" she responded calmly with a huge smile. On the inside she was doing flips, but growing up in a political world, she had learned to control her emotions very well. In fact she considered herself an expert in compartmentalizing and she knew from past experience that the first rule when going out or dating is that you can't give the man all the power. You can't let him see how much power he really has over you. Two days later they went on their first date.
Now it was two years later. Emily had just graduated. She was off to Harvard in the fall; they planned to move in together in a small apartment off campus. Aaron had a special date planned, he was going to propose. So with a small box in his pocket, he picked Emily up in his father's Mercedes and headed for her favorite restaurant. They were talking and laughing just enjoying being in each other's company while driving down the old country road.
It was starting to rain, just a light sprinkle. That's when Aaron spotted the car stopped in the middle of the road just ahead of them. The idiot didn't even have his flashers on to warn people and by the time Aaron spotted him it was too late. He slammed on the breaks but on the wet pavement the tires where still sliding, so he swerved to the right. The passenger side tires slid off the road and when they hit the wet grass, the car began to roll down the hill, flipping side over side. Aaron didn't know how many times it flipped as everything seemed to be going in slow motion. All he could focus on were Emily's screams and the glass breaking all around them. It finally came to a rest upside down, but Aaron couldn't hear anything anymore, he was being surrounded by darkness.
We were out on a date in my daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road, up straight ahead
A car was stalled, the engine was dead
I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass
The painful scream that I heard last.
Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.
When Aaron came to he looked to his right but he didn't see Emily. He unfastened his seatbelt and hit the top of the car with a thump as he fell from the seat. "Emily" he yelled. But he got no response, that's when he noticed her seatbelt had ripped. He climbed out of the car and stood up, still lightheaded and a little shaky. He looked up to the road and saw people standing up there, talking on their phones, most likely calling 911. He felt the warm blood running down his face but he didn't care, his main concern was finding Emily.
"Emily…Em, where are you?" he yelled again. Finally he heard a weak moan coming from a few feet past the wrecked car. He ran over to see if she was okay. What he saw broke his heart. She was bleeding from the side of her head. Her breathing was labored and slow, her pupils were dilated and her gaze was fixed straight ahead. "Aaron" she moaned weakly. He knelt down beside her.
"Tell me where it hurts baby." He said softly.
"It doesn't hurt, I…I…I'm…just…cold" she said slowly. That's when Aaron realized how bad she really was. It was eighty-nine degrees out, if she was cold that meant she was in shock and if she was already in shock, he knew she either had a massive head injury or she was loosing more blood from somewhere that he couldn't see. Maybe even both. "Hang on baby, help is on the way" he said as he heard the sirens in the distance.
"Will you please…..hold…me?" she begged
"Em, baby, I don't want to move you, that's dangerous."
"Please…not going to make it….much…longer"
"Yes, you are Em, don't talk like that" he said as he finally lifted her head into his arms. "You're going to be fine, we're going to get married and have long life…together. Would like that, do you want to get married? Will you marry me?" he asked, it wasn't the way he planned on asking but at this point he would trying anything to keep her awake just a little longer, as he held her closer.
"Yes…will marry you…love you….but….want you….be happy…if I…don't…" she said barley conscious now. He could feel her slipping away as he pulled the ring out of his pocket and put it on her finger. "I love you too, only you….always." he said as he kissed her one last time. He pulled back and she smiled, then she took her last breath. The tears were flowing freely from his eyes by this point. "Come on Em, don't leave me. Please baby wake up" he begged as the emergency vehicles were arriving.
After what seemed like an eternity the paramedics and firefighters were running down the hill toward them.
"Sir, I need you to step back so we can work on her" the first medic said. Aaron looked at him with tears in his eyes. By this time the second ambulance had pulled up and they were heading towards Aaron.
"Oh…okay, please save her, her name's Emily" Aaron said, still in shock his self. The two medics shared a knowing look with the other crew.
"We'll do everything we can" the second medic said "She's in good hands; right now I need you to come with me. You need to be checked out too, that's a pretty good cut on your head."
"I'm fine, take care of her" Aaron said as he stumbled back a few steps before falling down.
"Sir you're not fine. She's in good hands let me take care of you." The man said as Emily was already being loaded into the back of an ambulance as the medics and a fire fighter jumped into the back and another firefighter climbed into the driver's seat.
"Fine, but you're not putting me on one of those stupid boards and I want to ride with her." He said.
"There's no room in that ambulance, but I promise, we'll be right behind them."
"Fine let's go" Aaron said as he stepped up into the ambulance. Within less than a minute both ambulances were pulling off scene with their light and sirens.
When I woke up, the rain was pourin' down
There were people standing all around
Something warm rollin' through my eyes
But somehow I found my baby that night
I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
"Hold me darling just a little while."
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I would miss
But now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night.
They arrived at the hospital less than ten minutes later. The doctors worked on Emily for almost an hour but they never got her to start breathing again. She was gone. Aaron was admitted to the hospital with a severe concussion and a subdural hematoma. He was released two days later in time for Emily funeral. Both of their families recognized him as her fiancé and no one blamed him for what happed but he still blamed his self.
Well now she's gone
even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life, that night.
From that moment on Aaron vowed that he would be good, he would do everything in his power to make it to heaven so he could see her again. He followed in his father's footsteps, becoming one of the top US prosecutors on the east coast and when he felt that he wasn't making enough difference anymore he decided to stop the crimes before they reached his desk. That's when he joined the FBI; he started out with SWAT and earned the nickname 'Hotch'. He threw himself into his work as usual and a few years later he took behavioral classes and was hand picked by David Rossi and Jason Gideon to join the elite Behavioral Analysis Unit. By the age of 40 he was the Unit chief of the top team. He even got a small surprise when Jennifer Jareau's application landed on his desk. He dated occasionally through the years but the job just didn't leave much time for a real relationship. Even if it did he knew he would never be truly happy with anyone else. But he was happy because he loved his job, he loved making a difference and most of all he knew was doing everything he could to see Emily again someday.
Oh where, oh where, can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I've got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world