Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and characters do not belong to me.

Authors Notes after the story.

One More Case

"You knew my bag would still be packed," Emily said, during the flight to Milwaukee.

Hotch looked up, a mild look of confusion in his eyes. She could tell his mind had been elsewhere. "Yes, I did," he said after a pause.

"Then, it wasn't a fair deal. There wasn't any risk." That was true beyond the mere fact of her ready bag being packed. That was easy to predict. He probably also knew that she had attempted to unpack it twice, but hadn't been able to bring herself to actually do it. But he had also known that she wouldn't be able to say no to a request to do the job again, despite her protests, now that it wasn't contingent on being a pawn.

"No, there wasn't," he readily agreed. "I'm glad. This sounds like a difficult case and the team could use your skills. The BAU could use them as well, and I'll try to make sure you can stay. I may still be able to do that."

"Thank you, sir," Emily said, pleasure and gratitude causing her to smile for a second. But, she couldn't help notice the gloomy sound of his voice. Or the way his gaze drifted off to the side. He was distracted again. And, troubled. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that it had to do with more than the case. "Is something wrong, sir?"

The second the words were out of her mouth she wanted to kick herself. It wasn't her place to ask that. She wasn't his confidant, even if she had gained some hard won acceptance from him. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to pry. It's just- if there's anything I can do to help," she said, awkwardly.

"I appreciate the offer, Prentiss. But, no, this is something I'll need to work out on my own."

Emily knew he wasn't going to divulge anything else. There was no sting in that, or that he had refused her offer to help. She thought the answer would be the same if another member of the team had asked the question. She simply nodded, silently letting him know that she understood and that her offer of help was still there if he ever wanted to use it. The silence continued for the rest of the flight.

End

Author's notes: As always with my Criminal Minds stories, this is gen. And, as always, comments and constructive criticism are appreciated. This is set during the episode "In Birth and Death" (alternately titled "In Name and Blood")