Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
This story was written in response to the Fortune Cookie Prompt (9/24/10) at the Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum. The prompt was "A calm sea does not a skilled sailor make."
Just as she was digging her warmed ice cream scooper into a tub of Chunky Monkey, Emily heard the knock at her door. She closed her eyes and willed herself to ignore it, telling herself that it was probably just Girl Scouts trying to sell her some cookies. 'Yeah right,' her subconscious told her, 'I'm sure there are just tons of pre-teens roaming the streets of DC at nine o'clock at night just hoping to sell some of their baked goods. You know damned well who it is at the door!'
"Shut up," she mumbled to herself, realizing that it probably wasn't a good sign that she was actually holding a conversation with herself.
The firm knock came again, this time a little harder and it was accompanied by a voice, "Open the door, Prentiss," the voice of her unit chief commanded. "I know you're in there, I had Garcia track your cell signal and if you think I'm above making a scene out here, you're wrong, I'll knock on your door all night if that's what it takes to get you to open the door."
Indignation flooded Emily's brain as she flung the door open, "You had Garcia track me? Of all the low-down, underhanded abuses of power-"
"Hey!" Hotch interrupted, "I'll use whatever resources are at my disposal! That's why we have a tech goddess!"
"Whatever," Emily shot back, unable to think of another comeback. She left him standing in the doorway and made her way back to the kitchen. A few seconds later she heard her front door close and then footsteps approach the room.
"I see you're drowning your sorrows in Ben & Jerry's. Is that really the healthiest way for you to deal with things?" He asked dryly.
Grabbing the ice cream scoop, she resumed her efforts to fill the large bowl in front of her. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how my coping mechanism is any of your business!" In her anger, she dug a little too hard and a large scoop of the gooey treat flew off of the utensil and hit the opposite counter. "Dammit!" She shouted. What a waste of perfectly good chocolate!
Chuckling under his breath, Hotch grabbed the dishrag from the sink and began cleaning the mess. "Your coping methods are my business. As your unit chief, I don't want you getting out of shape; I need you to be able to chase down the bad guys. As your boyfriend, I care about your well being and I don't want to see you develop diabetes. Besides," he said with a gleam in his eye, "I can think of a much more fun way to eat that ice cream, and it doesn't involve a bowl or spoons."
Emily's jaw dropped, "You really think that after what you did today, you'll ever be partaking in those activities with me ever again? Really?" She couldn't believe the nerve of him and at that moment she was wracking her brains to remember what she had ever seen in him that made her go weak in the knees.
"Emily," he said with a sigh, "You have to see it from my point of view-"
"I did see it from your point of view, Hotch. You saw your lover getting ready to put herself in a dangerous situation and you pulled the plug on the operation!"
"I didn't pull the plug on the operation, I sent Rossi instead!"
"Exactly! You sent Rossi, a man! You sent Rossi, who has all of the tact of a bull in a china shop, in to negotiate with a teenage girl! Do you really think that was the right call?" Emily was shouting now and Hotch raised his voice to match hers.
"Yes, I do think it was the right call. Dammit Em, we got the kids out of the house and we got the girl to give herself up, all without losing any agents."
"Do you know how it looked, Hotch? It looked like you didn't trust me to get the job done! It looked like you had to protect me!"
"I don't give a fuck how it looked!" He yelled, "I was trying to keep you safe, dammit! I did the best that I could in a stressful situation and I did it without losing anyone! I think that, under the circumstances, I made the right call!"
"Rossi took a bullet to the arm! Do you really think the girl would have shot me? I could have gotten her to give up without incident! Admit it Hotch, you didn't let me go in there because I'm your girlfriend. If JJ had been with us and wanted to go in, you would have let her!"
"No, I wouldn't have, but I would have let Garcia, so figure that one out!" Even though he was pissed at her, he smiled as he watched the confusion come over her face and he took advantage of the break in her rant. "I sent Rossi into the house because, as a trained hostage negotiator, I honestly felt he was the best person for the job. As your unit chief I shouldn't have to explain the rationale behind my decisions, but as your lover, I always will if you ask me. You chose to run away from me when I tried to explain it in the parking lot and you once again jumped to conclusions. Contrary to what you, and Erin Strauss may believe, I can make decisions about you without our relationship clouding my judgment, understand?"
Emily nodded briskly, "I understand, thanks for coming over to tell me that, Hotch," she said, walking towards the door. She opened it and became confused when he didn't leave.
"Going somewhere, Emily?" He asked, with a puzzled look on his face.
"No, you are," she told him. "I figured with all that's happened today, with our fight and everything, that you'd be leaving."
"I'm sorry, but do you really think that I'm breaking up with you because of one fight?" He asked incredulously. His surprise turned to humor when he saw her nod. "When exactly was your last long-term relationship?" He asked her.
"What do you mean by 'long-term'?" She asked as she shut the door and moved back into the kitchen.
"More than two weeks," he responded, dumping the ice cream from her bowl back into the container.
Emily thought hard for a minute, "Um, my sophomore year of college," she admitted sheepishly.
Hotch looked at her in astonishment, "Really?"
She nodded defensively, "I was a brainiac in college and I joined the Bureau right after graduation and most guys are threatened by smart women in power, not to mention the horrible hours we keep."
He shook his head and chuckled, "Emily, adults don't break up after one fight; adults argue, make up and work on their relationship. Haven't you ever heard the saying "A calm sea does not a skilled sailor make?"
She shook her head, "No, who said it?"
"Well I'm not exactly sure, it was the fortune in my fortune cookie from lunch yesterday," he admitted sheepishly. He ignored Emily's indelicate snort and continued, "But what it means is that we're always going to hit rough patches in our relationship, but we have to work on them together in order to get past them. We can't just assume that we're breaking up every time we raise our voices at each other. Look at JJ and Dave, if they broke up every time they fought, they wouldn't have made it past their first date!"
"True," Emily said, thinking for a minute. "I'm sorry Aaron, I should have stayed and talked to you, this is just really new for me."
"Its okay, Em," he said, happy that she'd switched from calling him 'Hotch' to calling him 'Aaron.' "Besides, do you know what the best part of an argument is?"
She smiled, "No, what?"
A suggestive look came over his face, "Making up."
Emily laughed, "I've always heard that the makeup is usually worth the argument. But Aaron?"
"Yes Em?" He responded as he gathered up the ice cream and whipped cream.
"If you ever compare me to Strauss again, you will be physically incapable of making up with me, understand?"
The smile fell from his face and he paled slightly. He wasn't sure if she meant she'd kill him or if she meant she'd cut off an important organ of his, but it didn't matter, he knew she was more than capable on following through on her threat in either of those scenarios. "I understand Em."
She smiled, "Good, now let's see what you meant about eating the ice cream without using any bowls or spoons."
It turned out to be the best way to eat dessert.