It was the first ball that the bureau held, that BAU got invited to so the whole team was all worked up, and ready to shine. Especially Hotch had done an extra effort to look good this night. And he had succeeded with an A+. All of the girls were all over him, and even the big guys could see that he was serious about this. But it wasn't all the bosses or the crowd of beautiful random chicks he wanted to shine for. He had one very special girl in his mind. And he finally wanted to be able to tell her he felt, without chicken out. To let her know that he actually cared, and never wanted her to get hurt. He wanted to kiss her. Seduce her. Make her happy. As happy as he felt whenever he was around her. He wanted to finally hold Special Agent Emily Prentiss so close on his arms that he could he could feel her heart beat in his arms and tell her that he was in love with her. He had been so close to losing her it almost hurt. He wanted her to at least know how he felt if anything happened again. He couldn't lose her before he ever had her. So he planned to either try to seduce her, and if all failed, just go up and tell her straight out how he felt! And maybe tonight was his lucky night...

"Wow! Emily, you look… wow!" JJ said as Emily walked in to the big hall.

"I really hope that's a good wow, because this wasn't very easy to pool out of the sleeve!" Emily joked and forced a fake smile onto her lips. It still hurt when she smiled, due to the wounds on her face. She was absolutely not in the mood for some kind of grandly and distinguished ball at this time, but there wasn't much of an option here. She still wanted to do her best and show as a good agent that took her job very serious, and didn't fool around after a rough week, because she was feeling a bit down at the time.

"I think that what JJ's trying to stay, is that you look absolutely stunning." Hotch said, cutting JJ off.

Emily felt her legs weaken a bit and she tried not to blush as she saw him. And he was saying that she looked stunning?

She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling for the first time since the hostage situation, but before she could thank him for thank him for the complement, he held out his hand for her to take.

"Can I have this dance?" He asked. How could he be so in control? It didn't look very like him.

"I don't know, Hotch…" Emily hesitated on wetter it was a good idea or not, but ended up taking his hand anyway. Maybe this would help her turn the mood into something lighter.

"Alright, but only one dance then."

He chuckled lightly as he let her gently out on the floor, as the gentleman he truly was. Soon followed JJ and Reid. I didn't take Garcia long either to drag Morgan onto the floor. Rossi was already out there, dancing very closely a probably random girl, a bit younger than him, who looked unfamiliar to the rest of the team.

Once out on the white marble floor, Hotch place on hand around her waist and the other gentle took hers in his. Emily placed her other hand very gentle a carefully on his shoulder. They moved in perfect symmetry around on the floor, showing their pride.

But when the tempo of the songs started to decrees, Emily got a bit nervous. But she followed his lead, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he placed both of his hands on the smaller of her back, closing the distance between them a bit more. Hotch slowly moved his lips closer to hers, but instead of responding, she laid her head on his shoulder. She still wasn't sure about this. And especially not with her bosses surrounding them. Hotch also got a bit anxious when he felt how fast her heart started to beat.

Emily hung on for a bit, but then excused herself, saying she had to go to the bathroom. When she got back, Hotch was chatting thing Rossi and Morgan. Emily just wanted to walk away. She was really having a hard time holding herself together tonight. But even so, she decided to hide in the background out of eye reach, eavesdropping on the boys' conversation.

"Do you really think so?" She quickly recognized Hotch's voice.

"Defiantly. That girl is all over you." It was Rossi speaking now. But who was the girl they were talking about? It could be someone she had heard of. But then, Hotch wasn't exactly the one who shared his private life with her.

"I don't know guys. You know Emily. Like she even cares?" As Hotch's words hit Emily, she realized it was her they were talking about! She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay and listen to the rest of it, but she had to hear what happened next.

"Dude, I wanna bet big, that you could get that girl into bed as easily as blinking!" It was Derek this time. Emily's heart crashed for a second. She couldn't believe they thought so low of her.

"A bet? You want to bet? Well I wouldn't mind having her sleeping in my bed tonight, if you know what I mean." Hotch chuckled lightly with the others. Hotch wanted to bet? Emily couldn't believe it! Was she just some kind of toy for him to play with? Didn't he know how much she loved him? But if this was what he was like in reality, he sure as hell wasn't worth it! Emily turned around and walked away.

"You're on old man!" Rossi chuckled. That was the last thing Emily heard before she left to the bathroom once more. She just wanted to lock herself inside and never come out again.

Hotch chuckled for a brief second before getting serious.

"No. No bet. Say what you want, but I actually like her. In fact, I'm in love with her. I could never do something like that to her." He said, looking down on the glass in his hand.

"Hey, Hotch. We're just kidding with you man. We've all been there, right Rossi?" Derek puffed into his arm once, still not completely serious.

"Right…" Rossi said a bit sarcastic.

Emily was sitting at an empty table. She didn't like this party at all. So just wanted to go home and head straight to bed. But she didn't feel like she could leave now. It wasn't the proper time just yet. It was still too soon.

Emily looked over at Hotch. Why was his smile so huge? He really didn't give a damn, did he? He just wanted to get in bed with her, nothing more. How nice…

Hotch glanced over at her direction and smiled when their eyes made contact. Emily tried to smile back; after all, he was her boss. But the smile quickly faded as she went to go outside to the empty garden just outside.

Hotch quickly saw her movement away from the crowd as saw it as the perfect situation to tell her about his feelings for her. He's heart was beating like hell, but he was going to stick to his plan and try to seduce her.

"Emily. What are you doing out here all alone? Are you okay?" Hotch asked in a very soft and gentle voice, as he laid his hand on her back, after approaching.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wanted to get some fresh air." Emily lied as she tried to cover a tear in her eye by smiling brightly. He seemed to believe it much to her relief. She turned around to look him in the eyes as nothing ever had changed.

"You're so beautiful, Emily… I love you." He simply said, not so much to her surprise. But she still couldn't believe that he lying her up in the face. How stupid did he think she was?

Emily tried to hold back the tears, but it was getting harder. He was so calm, it didn't make any sense. But before she could say or do anything, Hotch started to move forward, placing her hand around her waist to pull her closer to him. Emily couldn't move away, standing stiff like a rock, when Hotch lightly brushed his lips against her. Then he started to kiss her for real. Emily couldn't get herself to kiss back. She just couldn't. She simply just closed her eyes waiting for it to be over, when he started to kiss her neck. It almost made her sick, but she didn't move away. A part of her still shivered to his touch. He was so amazing and beautiful and smart and she was still in love with him… But she wanted to have some dignity left so she didn't kiss him back.

Hotch slowly made his way up to her cheek were he stopped, when he felt something wet hitting his nose… A tear…

Quickly he released her from his grip, holding her in the arms looking concerned at her face. Her eyes were shot down in denial, tears were falling down her face and her body was like a shivering rock. Hotch was beginning to feel worried.

"Emily, Emily, are you okay? Emily?" he almost shouted as she didn't reply.

Emily slowly opened her eyes looking almost frighten into his indeed concerned once, and simply ask one little question:

"Why?"

Emily breathed out and shocked her head before turning around and starting to walk away.

"Emily, Emily!" Hotch said as he moved after her. This had clearly been a big mistake. "Emily! I'm sorry!"

Emily walked to the parking lot where her car was placed. Hotch almost ran after her to get her. He couldn't just leave things unsolved like this.

Emily's heart started to beat faster and faster when she realized that he wasn't going to leave. She closed her eyes. And 2 minutes after, everything went black…