Hey! My first Criminal Minds fic. Yay me. Honesty is always the best policy, so remember to review. =D
Emily Prentiss had on high black heels. Her favorites too she noted to herself. Despite a bit of a pinch, they were still her favorite. They made her legs look longer and thinner, and paired with her simple black mid thigh dress that clung to her every curve and dipped slightly low with the push up bra underneath doing its trick, she liked to believe she looked rather great. But with her bangs pushed to the side, and her hair loosely curled with her makeup done just right, she, in all honesty, felt better than words could describe.
But her opinion on how she looked needed a second approval. It wasn't like Emily didn't think herself to be not pretty, but her teenage years of awkwardness and nerdiness and the want to find her place had stayed longer than she wished, and sometimes before and during each date, she just felt self-conscious and shy. She wanted to make a great first date impression. Her dating skills had never been the best since she never picked the best guys or had the best dates.
This was important to Emily.
So she stood outside the movie theater, waiting for the date that was to show up to give his opinion on how she looked. His name was Jamie. She met him two weeks ago when she went out with Morgan, Garcia, and Reid. He bought her a drink and they talked. He was funny and handsome. Numbers were exchanged and he asked her out. But the date never happened because she was stuck on a case in Florida. Mutilated women and children was all she could think of until she took a breather and realized that her date was suppose to be twenty minutes in already. She called and apologized profusely, and explained the cause. Her profiler self heard the tone in his voice. He tried to pass it off that it was fine, but she could heard his disappointment. So she promised him another date, and tonight was the night.
They made plans to meet at the theater. It was for her convenience because she left the office after finishing paperwork before heading home to get ready. To say she was not excited would be a lie because this was her first date in months. Her work and schedule seldom allowed much of a social and dating life, so whatever chance she got, she lived it up to the fullest.
Emily leaned on the wall outside the theater and pulled her wrap slightly tighter around her and hugged her clutch to her chest. Moviegoers filing pass her as she checked her phone again. There was still time left. Her eyes shifted from the phone in her hand to the streets of a Friday night. She waited and waited. Five minutes turned to ten and the ten turned to twenty. And as if exactly the same amount of time it took her to realized how far she was to be into the date last week, her phone rang. She should have seen it coming.
"Hey." It was simple. She didn't give him much.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but I can't make it. Something came up and I can't get away," Jamie said. He didn't sound that upset.
"Um, yeah, I understand." She let out a weak chuckle.
"I'll call you tomorrow." And with that comment, he hung up. That took less than twenty seconds. There was not even a goodbye. She stood there a moment longer and stared at her phone.
She honestly never pegged him to have acted like that. She had a legitimate excuse. But he just seemed childish. She let out a slow sigh and looked down at her outfit. This was a waste. She was to look this good for a guy who apparently held a grudge against her because she was on case. All she wanted was to go home and strip off the dress and shed the heels and curl up on the couch with a glass of wine now. She shoved the phone into the clutch and pulled her body off the wall, and when she turned towards the direction to where her car was parked a few streets away, she heard her name.
"Prentiss?"
She turned and found her boss with his son in his arms coming out of the theater. Dressed in the casual wear she seldom saw Aaron Hotchner in, she thought he looked good. His eyes took her appearance in for a minute before he moved towards her.
"Hotch. Movie night?" Emily quipped as her eyes moved from him to Jack. The boy's stare at her made her smile.
"Yeah, it is. Jack, do you remember Ms. Prentiss? Can you say 'hi'?" He waved and gave her a timid greeting with his eyes remaining on her, almost as if he was studying her.
"Ms. Prentiss makes me feel old," Emily noted with a laugh. She gave Jack a smile, and she got one in return that resembled the one that is rarely, but always welcomed, on his father.
Hotch's lips curved up slightly as he set his amused eyes on her. "And you? Are you waiting for someone?" His gaze on her began to make Emily begin to feel naked. She always did like his eyes. Whether he was being gentle with Jack or harsh during an interrogation, they always remained powerful with emotion. It was great for Jack and then, but right now, not for her. She shifted her eyes between him and Jack, who was still staring at her. Like his father, Jack's stare was beginning to make her feel even more under a microscope.
She motioned to her left with her hand. "I was… it was a date, but now I'm just going to head home." She tucked her hair behind ear.
Hotch nodded slowly, and was about to say something before Jack's voice interrupted him. "Do you fight the bad guys with daddy?" His eyes directed still at Emily with the question.
"I do, sweetie." He remembered her.
"Are you here to fight the bad guys with daddy now?" Jack turned his dancing eyes to his father, who gave his son the smile that his son gave her.
"No, buddy. Ms… Emily was here to watch a movie just like you." Hotch gave a quick tickle to Jack, who let out a bag of giggles. Emily smiled at the father son exchange. He seemed so relaxed.
Hotch turned his attention towards Emily. "Are you actually leaving now? We can walk you to your car if you drove."
She smiled at his offer. "You don't have to really. It'll just be trouble for you."
"It's fine really. Is it this way?" She nodded.
Emily's eyes set forward and watched the crowd before her. Emily never would have pictured this scenario in a hundred years. She got rejected by her date, and her boss was walking her to her car after said rejection. It wasn't awkward at all. She had to stop herself from laughing out loud to herself.
"So you were on date? Did he have to leave early?" The question broke her from her thoughts, and she turned to him; his eyes on her for a moment longer than she wished before turning them downcast
"Not really. "Something came up," and he couldn't get away." She didn't mean to use the air quotes, but she did.
"Ah… the go to excuse, I see."
"I probably did should have seen it coming, but didn't, I guess," she said with a smirk and shrug.
Hotch's eyes soften a little when he lifted his eyes back on her. "How so?" Jack shifted in his father's arms, and asked to be put down. Once on his feet, Jack grabbed his father hand, as he tried his best through his giggles to maneuver through the crowd on the edges of the cement squares of the sidewalk.
Emily thought for a moment as to where this discussion was going to lead up to. Again, she wanted to laugh out loud because this kind of talk with her boss could be interesting and probably the highlight of her night. She settled for a quiet chuckle to herself. "I kinda forgot about the date last week when it was supposed to happen, but that case in Florida made me forget, and obviously it would. I called 20 minutes into the suppose date and apologized, and he sounded upset, but I made another date, which, come to think of it, I shouldn't have really because when I told him I wasn't even in the state he didn't sound so impressed, except I did and he agreed to it, but he apparently is still upset, so here I am now." She let out a slow breath.
Hotch remained silent, for a moment. "Huh. I'm sorry to hear that. He doesn't sound worth it." He offered her a smile that made his dimples slightly visible, and she liked that. This smile was rare, but whenever she got it, she never did forget it. It made her feel good before, and it was working now. His eyes stayed on her.
"Thanks. I got extra dressed up for a jerk, who more or less didn't deserve it, and hoped he would have loved it too. I feel more foolish than anything else. But it's no surprise really. Dating is just not my forte. I was terrible as a teenager and still terrible now. I can kick some serial killer's ass, but dating is just awful for me. I'm going to end up living with a dozen cats in my later years," Emily remarked with a laugh. And with her last comment, she was shocked, but pleased when Hotch, who had already offered her two smiles, gave her a chuckle.
"I cannot see that happening. Rossi maybe… and even Reid, but not you." He was trying to make her feel better.
"I'm more than sure that Reid will one day find his significant other at one of those conventions he goes to. And actually, he gets hit on when Morgan drags him out with us. As geeky as, he is a… magnet. If you ever see it, you'll get a kick out of it."
"I've seen Reid get hit on by prostitutes, so yes, he is a, as you say, a magnet. Morgan calls it, I believe, "game", right?" Hotch raised eyebrows at her for her confirmation, and he got it when she laughed. And with her laugh, he gave her another smile.
It wasn't as awkward, she thought. They fell into an ease.
"And after twenty years of dating, I still lack it myself," Emily deadpanned. "Do you have "game"?"
He chuckled at her air quotations again. "I'm on the same boat as you. I lack it myself. It's been well over two decades since I've been on a proper date. And even back then when I started dating, I was never particularly good at it either. And if the opportunity were to rise again, I wouldn't know what to do with myself." He was helping her feel better.
She teased him a little and raised her eyebrow at him. "I find it hard to believe."
"Well, you should. I cannot flirt or be smooth. I can always ask Morgan for tips though."
"Or Viper," Her comment brought a smile and a laugh from him at once. "He was quite the catch, wasn't he? I can't believe I let him get away from me," she commented sarcastically.
"I'm sure he'll be please if you ever decide to give him another chance. I think you definitely should give him a call."
Emily scoffed, but grinned at him. "When I'm really desperate and cats won't even do it for me, I'll consider your advice." Hotch held her gaze longer than she expected, and she felt it slowly burning through her, before they almost simultaneously looked down.
She made a small gesture to the right, and all three turned the corner.
"Completely disregarding Viper from my mind and any future part of my life, I think it'll be nice to have someone that gives me a sense of stability. Finding someone just simply gets harder and harder, especially with the job and rarely being home." She ended her sentence with a chuckle, before a twinge of sadness resided in her voice. "But then sometimes in all honesty, with a night like this, it might be better to not get attached to anyone. To find someone who understands my work and schedule would be difficult, and I would probably be constantly feeling guilty and selfish because I'm never there for him, but there for my job. I'd be pulled into two directions, and I don't know if I could handle it in the long run."
After the last word left her lips, she realized what it could've meant to him. He was staring at the ground. She looked at him tentatively before moving her eyes to the ground momentarily. He had lost so much for his job.
"I'm sorry. I hope that didn't…" Her eyes shifted back up to him beside her.
"It's fine." Hotch lifted his eyes back up to her, and Emily saw a trace of comfort in his eyes. "I understand what you mean. In actuality, I don't doubt that it would be nice to have someone that understands the aspects of the job. I love and loved my family, and my job was what got in the way. I don't ever regret what I had or have. I can't. But it does leave me wondering if I missed the first and last opportunity to have that consistent touch of normalcy with someone. Jack and this job is everything my life consists of now and I don't ever want to disappoint either. I wouldn't want to disappoint another aspect of my life if someone was to happen again," he said quietly. He cast his eyes down at Jack, who was still walking on the edges of the squares and looked up momentarily to smile up at his father.
It was quiet between them for a minute. Emily was surprised at his candidness, and she was certain he probably was too. He had spoken in subtext before to her, but there was none here. Words jumped and jumbled in her mind, and it took her a bit to figure out how to put it together.
"I don't think…," Emily whispered slowly and hesitantly with her eyes to her feet. She wasn't sure if she should continue or not, but she did. "You could ever disappoint any aspect. Jack loves you. You won't be alone forever. And when you get another chance, you won't disappoint. Whether it'll be tomorrow or five years from now, you'll get another chance. You'll have someone. You deserve it." She meant every word. He should be happy in whatever he wanted. Aaron Hotchner deserved it.
She turned her gaze upon him again, and Hotch looked at her intently.
"So do you."
There was no hesitation. She saw in his eyes he meant it too. Eyes fell to the ground all together again, and the quiet resumed between them. The rest of the walk to her car remained silent.
"Thanks for the walk… and talk. It was nice." Her voice remained low and soft as she turned and fixed her eyes at him.
His eyes did the same. The expression on his face was almost unreadable to her. He broke it first though and looked at Jack as Emily cleared her throat and pulled out her keys from her clutch. Hotch gently tugged on Jack's hand. "Hey, buddy, can you say goodnight to Ms. Emily?" The boy glanced up, and similar to his greeting, he waved his hand and gave her a quiet goodnight.
Emily looked down at him and smiled and said her goodnight to him before glancing back at his father.
"Thanks again. Goodnight, Hotch. I'll see you on Monday."
"Goodnight." He gave her a slight nod, eyes still lingering on one another before she bit her lip and gave him a smile and she turned away and opened the car door. Hand on the door, she was about to climb inside before his voice stopped her.
"Emily," Hotch's voice was gentle and steady. He seldom used her first name. But she liked whenever he did. Emily turned around to face him and their eyes locked once again.
"For what it's worth, you look beautiful tonight."
His voice was laced with sincerity. Emily felt the heat rising in her cheeks. The comment took her off balance inside. So, this, her entire look for the night, wasn't wasted after all. He was never the target, but he noticed. And it felt good. Better than good, she noted to herself. She broke eye contact and looked down, hoping to hide her still burning cheeks. After mentally counting ten seconds in her mind to calm her insides, she gazed back up.
"Thank you." It was almost inaudible.
She gave him one last small smile, and nodded before climbing into her car.
With the ignition turned on, Emily still saw Hotch and Jack from the corner of her eye. Hotch stood there as Jack stared up at his father, whose eyes still remained on her in the car. She backed up and pulled out of the parking spot.
And as Emily drove away, her view of them disappearing the farther she went down the street, the words that Hotch said never did.