Hey! It's Doctor Dave and wanted to try a CM fic. This will be focusing on Prentiss and Hotch's budding relationship while he was head of Ambassador Prentiss' security, and Emily being home for a summer from Yale. Keep in mind, this is before the BAU, before they had a lot of their training... they still have a lot of things to learn along the way...Enjoy. :)
Chapter 1: Wise Choice
Emily Prentiss let out an exaggerated sigh as she flopped on her king sized bed. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders and she stared at the mahogany paneled ceiling. She was supposed to meet her mother in the common room at 2:00 pm sharp, and was not very ecstatic about it. A meeting to greet your own daughter? Seriously? She looked at the clock. 2:07.
Her mother, Elizabeth Prentiss was a U.S. Ambassador currently in France. All of her life she had spent moving from country to country and living her life the way her mother ordered. Even while she was home for the summer from Yale, her mother still found ways to move her around, like a pawn in a chess game. Frankly, she had thought after she had graduated high school and proved she could be an adult in a prestigious college her mother would have learned to let her become her own woman...how foolish she was.
So, of course, every chance she got, she found a way to rebel. Today, was no exception. How could she piss off her mother today, she thought. She was in no mood to play the Ambassador's political games, so she sat up quickly, and decided to escape the confines of her room.
She looked around and smiled wickedly to herself. Her brown eyes caught the window and she hurried over to it. Someone would be coming by her room any minute to come drag her down to the meeting, and there was no way she was letting that happen.
She wrenched the french windows open and peered around. The mini balcony was only wide enough for one person to stand. Emily closed the window and swung her legs over the balcony and lowered herself carefully down to the nearest slope of shingles her feet could touch. Silently, she tiptoed around the corner and made her way to a tall lattice with ivy that had grown quite successfully for the past 2 years they had resided there. She carefully began descending down the lattice work.
Emily Prentiss had used this ivy many times to sneak out of the estate, and knew very well it would handle her weight. As she carefully made her way down, she paused every few feet to observe the ground below for anyone looking for her.
Her hands and feet were working systematically down the ivy when she heard a snap. Her hand felt the wood give, and felt her body teeter too far from the lattice.
"SHIIIIIIIIIT"
Her fingers brushed against a few leaves when she found they were clawing at nothing and she was falling the rest of the way down. Emily gasped and prepared for the hard landing.
"Ooof!"
She felt her back collide with the ground, and the breath was knocked out of her.Emily gasped for breath and opened her eyes. Twigs and wood trickled down from above, and she slowly sat up spitting leaves out of her mouth. That was graceful, she thought.
All of a sudden she felt the ground moving, and an angry groan emit from below her. Emily's eyes widened to see a man underneath her, and she was unceremoniously thrown aside.
The young man huffed and stood, not bothering to help Emily up, and furrowed his eyebrows. The glare he sent her would have been intimidating, if he wasn't brushing blades of grass, and twig's off of his suit. He seemed to quickly gather his stoic composure and arched an eyebrow. "Is there a reason why you're skulking around the roof, instead of using doors like normal people?"
Emily stood quickly, brushing herself off as well, and fixed her hair into some sort of presentable fashion, missing a few strands sticking out ridiculously from her head. She glared back.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." She stated simply, but immediately cringed inwardly when she realized how immature that sounded. Ignoring her last comment, she tried salvaging her image.
"But since I know you agents are always so nosey..." She said slowly, looking up from where she fell. Her eyes quickly searched the roof for a plausible answer, "I was...checking the integrity of the roof."
His facial expression remained unchanged, and his eyes bore into her. Her composure was starting to crumble. You are getting your criminal justice degree ,damnit, Emily. Do not show weakness...She slowly took a deep breath and met his gaze, staring him down. After a minute, she began to sweat, and a lump developed in her throat. Fuck...deflect!
"Why were you out here in the garden? I've never seen you here before, and the Ambassador rarely changes out her security team."
Getting a better look at him, he was younger than the other men that were part of the security team. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and his dark hair was short, with a few bangs falling down above his dark eyes. Most importantly, she noted, it seemed like his sense of humor rivaled a potted plant's.
"I'm Special Agent Hotchner, head of Ambassador Prentiss' security detail." He stated matter-of-factly.
Emily scoffed. "Head of security? Your joking, right?" She snorted, and waited for his expression to change, until after a few long uncomfortable minutes...it didn't.
"O-oh..." She stammered, "Seriously?"
"I believe you have a meeting with the Ambassador..." He said, his jaw clenching.
Emily's cheeks grew hot. What was she doing? She wasn't even back home for 20 minutes, and she was already making a fool out of herself. She should have just gone to the stupid meeting. She brushed some dirt off of her pants, and plucked a twig from her hair, until she felt her cheeks quit burning "Yes. Yes, I do."
She straightened her white blouse and quickly walked past him toward the main entrance, saving what little self-dignity she had left while the agent followed close behind. She grew annoyed when she heard him trailing behind her, but ignored him. She probably wouldn't see him again anyway...
Hotch stared at the back of her head, lost in his thoughts as he followed her to the common room. He had been looking for the Ambassador's daughter since she was late for the meeting after he had gotten an earful from one of the many Ambassador's adviser's about her missing from her room. He was heading toward the grounds when he heard a cry from above, and apparently was suddenly graced with her presence.
His neck hurt, his headache was now raging, and his back screamed with every step. As he continued to follow her, he had to silently remind himself why he had accepted this job in the first place. His first priority was always the Ambassador, and this was the first time he had ever met her daughter since she was off studying at college, but he noted gratefully that he probably wouldn't be having to interact with her for very long. It seemed she was already hazardous to his health.
He noticed for as awkward as their previous interaction was, she walked with poise and seemed to slip into her politician facade quite quickly as her hands that were still scratched up from the ivy confidently turned the brass door handle.
Emily opened the door quickly and looked up at the Ambassador. She was standing in the middle of a richly decorated room, surrounded by a handful of advisors, and a few agents. Her thinly manicured brow arched up, and she turned to face her daughter.
"Emily. It seems that the college life has spoiled your ability to arrive on time..." She stated, looking none too pleased. Her perfectly styled brown hair swayed with the disproving shake of her head.
Emily glared back at the Ambassador. "I didn't realize I had to come to a meeting to be greeted by my own mother..." She said coldly.
The Prentiss' stood there staring each other down. Everyone in the room stood in an uncomfortable silence, and even saw a few agents act as if they were getting information through their earpieces and whirled around, hurriedly walking to the other side of the room pretending to be busy.
"Emily, while you are not on official business, I do expect you to arrive on time when you are on these grounds." The Ambassador said with finality. "Since Special Agent Guerrero retired as head of security, I was going to introduce you to our new head, but...it seems you two have already met..." She stated with disapproval.
Emily turned around, and glanced at Agent Hotchner, his face still the same stoic, impassive expression. "Yes, we have. Amazing sense of humor,he should fit right in." She muttered, turning back to face her mother.
"Don't mutter, Emily, it's unbecoming."
Emily could feel a bubble of rage build in her stomach. She had one more year of college until she got her criminal justice degree and she could get the fuck out of dodge. She most definitely did not want to step foot here again. She didn't even want to be here now, it was when the Ambassador had sent a few agents to collect her on campus when she realized she was being left with little choice in the matter. The lack of freedom she possessed was beginning to wear on her.
Emily willed the bubble to dissipate, and made her face impassive. The Ambassador would not rile her emotions up and win. She gave a tight smile, "Yes...we met briefly."
The Ambassador scrunched her eyebrows up and cocked her head, "What...is in your hair?"
Emily cringed. She didn't want to be here anymore. She felt herself shrinking a little under her mother's scrutiny. She wanted to sink in the floorboards. Everyone was staring at her.
Even though Special Agent Hotchner was facing her back, he could sense her embarrassment wafting off of her in waves. He didn't approve of her scaling over rooftops, but he didn't think she deserved to be berated in front of everyone in the room. Ambassador Prentiss could be quite critical, and wasn't the easiest person to work for, but he was also the one that applied for the job. He signed up for it, but Ms. Prentiss didn't have much of a choice. He noticed her silently picking at her thumbs.
Emily opened her mouth to speak, when she heard the agent behind her interject.
"The gardener was maintaining the ivy on the outer walls, and must not have realized Ms. Prentiss walking underneath. I've already spoken with him about being more aware, Ambassador." He said, smoothly without skipping a beat.
What? Emily stared at her mother, and watched as her mother slowly nodded and gave both of them another disapproving look.
The Ambassador huffed, and stalked off, leaving the room, and instantly the room felt lighter. Emily let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Everyone trickled out going their separate ways. She turned around and saw Agent Hotchner turning to leave, when she grabbed for his arm. He stopped abruptly and turned to look at her.
"Thanks-" She said quickly, "For covering me."
He stared at her for a couple minutes and nodded. "Perhaps sticking to walking on the ground might be a better choice for you."
She almost glared at him until she saw the corner of his mouth barely raise. She scoffed, and shook her head, not being able to hide the light smile that grew on her face.
"I think that's a good idea." She agreed, absentmindedly rubbing her back. "Sorry for falling on you."
"Don't mention it. I guess I will just have to look up a little more often. Enjoy the rest of your day, Ms. Prentiss."
He turned around to walk out the door they had walked through earlier, but stopped before he reached it and turned around, "Really. Don't...mention it to anyone." He said, and disappeared.
Emily was slightly amused watching his quickly retreating form and sighed.
Okay... she thought. How hard could it be to get back in the swing of things?
She didn't realize how much she took for granted at school. She was free to go where she wanted at school and off campus at Yale, but now, like her whole life growing up, she was stuck being monitored 24/7 and expected to hold herself with dignity and poise. Dignity-shmignity...This was Emily Prentiss' summer, and not even the Ambassador was going to ruin it.
Hotch made his way up the stairs toward the Head Security office. He opened the door and found Special Agent Wade Manelli spinning circles in his chair next to the various monitors displayed on the wall. He was Hotch's secondary agent in charge of the security office.
"That's productive." Hotch quipped, shutting the door and looking at Manelli expectantly.
"It helps me look at all of the cameras at the same time! Work smarter, not harder, sir." He said, his thick Brooklyn accent coming out.
Special Agent Wade Manelli was a bit older than Hotch, and shorter. He looked like a typical Italian, tan skin and dark hair, and had an intriguing sense of humor. He was quirky, but extremely reliable and a reliable agent. Hotch had heard he had served in the U.S. Army as a combat medic for a few years and something about an Ebola outbreak in Brazil pushed him into getting out and entering the law enforcement route, and somehow found himself on the Ambassador's doorstep.
Hotch continued to stare at him, and Manelli sighed dramatically, standing up and removing himself from Hotch's chair. Manelli adjusted his tie and walked over to some monitor's on the far wall. He started tweaking the direction of the cameras slightly.
"I uh...saw you found the Ambassador's daughter..." He said, slowly. His brown eyes darted to his boss, unable to hold the smirk forming on his face. He watched as his boss' back stiffened before he sat down in his chair.
"Come again?" Hotch challenged, their eyes meeting.
"I'm sorry, I mean...she found you." After a few minutes of silence, Manelli rolled his eyes. "You're no fun, ya know that? I never get any reaction out of you. Takes all the fun out of it."
Hotch's mouth turned up ever so slightly, "That's the point isn't it?"
After a few quips, the agents got back down to business.
"I don't know Ms. Prentiss very well, or her usual habits." Hotch began, "Were you working here when she still lived at the estate?"
Manelli thought for a moment, "I started here shortly before she left for Yale, if I remember correctly."
"Is this usual behavior for her?
"You mean like running around on the roof, or slipping security, or sneaking off estate grounds, or-"
Hotch raised his hand in the air, "Okay, I get it..."
Manelli smiled, "Hey, in all honesty boss man, she's a good cookie. Granted, she was a lot of work for us, but she's smart. Getting her criminal justice degree I think."
Interesting. "What precautions would you suggest we take?" Hotch asked.
If Emily Prentiss was staying for the whole summer, like Hotch was informed of last week, then he was going to need to get a little more imaginative in keeping an eye on her. He had heard stories from some of the old guard of her perseverance in escaping and he could tell his headache was not going to be going away any time soon.
Manelli smiled wickedly, "All of em, sir."
There's the first chapter, I hope you enjoy it! Read and review! For some of my readers that have read my Bones fic you will recognize Manelli! Haha, I thought it would be fun sticking my favorite OC in here. He's got a great sense of humor while Prentiss is usually so sarcastic, and Hotch's is so...dry. Lol. Anyway, thanks for reading and tell me what you think! I never specified any age's so try not to get caught up in that too much. ;)