Note From The Author—Okay, here's my first Criminal Minds fanfiction. I hope everyone enjoys it because I had a good time writing it. It's my first try with Criminal Minds but I think it turned out okay : )
Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of Criminal Minds
Emily Prentiss had been desperately trying, to no avail, to figure out how in the world she'd gotten herself into the mess she was in. She was usually so vigilant, so careful and cautious. So how the hell had she wound up head over heels in love with her boss? It was a question she'd been turning over in her head for months and she still didn't know the answer. The one thing she could say for sure was that it hadn't been a gradual process. She'd just tumbled headlong over some cliff and straight into love with him, and the sudden stunning nature of it made the experience all the more jarring.
Try as she might, Emily couldn't make her feelings for Hotch go away. Oh she had tried, but the man just made it so damn difficult. There was something about his dark brooding looks and whisky smooth voice that had grabbed her and refused to relinquish its hold. She was completely gone over him; but even though his divorce had gone through over a month before he was still her boss. She didn't think that was a line he'd be willing to cross, and even if he was she wasn't sure he'd ever given her more than a passing thought outside of the work place, at least in that way.
So there Prentiss was stuck with a dilemma, with no idea how everything had gotten so out of her control and burning from the inside out with love for a man who was virtually untouchable. Silently she sent up a prayer that she would be able to do something, anything about it.
"Damn it," she swore softly, rubbing her hands over her face. She looked up and was surprised to find the object of her ruminations standing there. "Hey Hotch."
"Hey, go home and get some sleep, it's been a long couple of days."
Emily nodded and watched his retreating back as he left the bullpen. She almost jumped out of her skin when Morgan came up behind her. "A little noise would be helpful," she told him.
Morgan chuckled. "Sorry. You should tell him," he told her.
She looked up at him with slightly wide eyes. "Tell who what?"
"Hotch," he said, leaning on her desk. "And you should tell him how you feel about him."
"Morgan…"
He grinned and shook his head. "I'm a profiler remember? I notice things; we all do. Everyone but you and Hotch notices." He walked over to where Garcia was waiting for him. "I catch him looking at you all the time too. Think about it." He took Garcia's hand and with a slightly mischievous smile from both of them they were gone.
Shaking her head, Emily grabbed the rest of her things and headed out. She brushed past Reid, mumbling to herself. "I swear I used to understand the world."
"Goodnight!" the young doctor called after her.
Emily got home and gratefully shed her jacket and stripped out of her button down shirt, exchanging it and her slacks for sweats and a t-shirt. She went to pour herself a glass of wine and couldn't help but turning her mind again to what she'd been thinking about so often lately, this time what Derek had told her earlier. Then the doorbell rang. With a sigh she left her glass on the table and went to see who was there. She felt her heart stutter a bit when she saw who was there. Feeling a bit shaky, Prentiss opened the door to Hotch.
"Hotch, hey. Is everything okay?"
He nodded. "May I come in?"
She nodded and stepped aside to let him walk in. She turned to face him and smiled. He was the Hotch version of messy with his tie and coat missing and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Mostly he looked tired. "I was just pouring myself some wine, would you like a glass?"
He shook his head. "I'm fine thanks."
"What's going on Hotch?" she asked as she took a sip of her wine, forcing her hands to quit shaking so the glass wouldn't go crashing to the ground.
"I've been thinking all day about something Morgan said to me earlier," he told her.
Her glass stilled halfway through its second trip to her lips and she lowered it. "What was that?" Emily asked cautiously, watching him carefully.
Hotch shook his head again. "He said, well... he told me…" He paused for a second to regain his composure. "I'm usually much better than this when I speak aren't I?"
Amused at how flustered he seemed, she nodded. "Yes."
"Well I…" He trailed off momentarily and in the silence they just stared. "Maybe it would just be better if I did this."
In an instant he had closed the distance between them. He carefully removed the wine from her un-protesting hand and set in on her table. Then he took her in his arms and suddenly he was kissing her. For a moment she was so stunned she didn't know what to do, but only for a moment. Soon enough the delicious sensation of his mouth against hers penetrated the haze of surprise and she began to give and take hungrily. When they broke away from each other, only out of necessity for oxygen, she felt as if her legs had turned to jelly. She clung to him out of sheer necessity to stay upright, because for the first time she knew how it felt to have Aaron Hotchner's hands and mouth on her, and God it was just as amazing as she had dreamed it would be.
Smiling Hotch looked down at her with those unfathomably dark eyes. "Considering what we do for a living we've both been clueless," he commented.
Emily nodded. "Completely clueless."
"I wonder if I could get Morgan a raise," Hotch mused.
Her laugh was cut off abruptly when his lips met hers again. Surrendering to sensation she thought that Derek deserved more than just a raise; a sports car maybe. Hell she'd get him a pony if he wanted one. Anything to thank him for finally shoving her and Hotch in the right direction; but Derek quickly floated from her mind to be happily replaced by the incredible Agent Aaron Hotchner. Finally something had been done about it. Hallelujah.