Chapter Two: Secret Admirer

Aaron Hotchner handed out the current case files to Reid and Morgan as they entered the conference room and took a seat. J.J. grabbed one from him as she hurried through the door and Hotch hesitated a moment before he handed the last one over to Prentiss. She quickly averted her eyes away from him and purposely sat down at the end of the table next to Reid because it was the furthest possible way she could distance herself from him when they were in the same room. Ever since their little "incident" the week before things had become strained and awkward between the two agents.

They had all arrived back at Quantico late after a particularly heinous case in Little Rock, Colorado; but any case involving young children was always harder. Everyone on the team was drained and still slightly shaken up so they decided to head out a little early and grab a drink before heading home for the night. Prentiss and Hotch had stayed late to finish up some paper work. Prentiss knew that Hotch was especially disturbed by the case that they had just wrapped up because he had a little boy who meant the entire World to him. After finishing up her work she gently knocked on his office door and found him with his head hung low and a defeated look on his face.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked him tentatively.

He simply let out a loud sigh and looked up at her shaking his head with false certainty.

"Look sir, I know these particular cases are really hard for you because of your son but we caught him. He's behind bars and will most likely receive the death penalty.

"It doesn't matter that we caught him because there will always be another one just like him out there. Do you know how many children go missing every single year?" He let his head drop down again, crushed. "I just miss him so much and now Haley is talking about moving to New York and I don't know how I'm going to see him. God, I'm the crappiest father out there."

Prentiss couldn't help but feel bad for her boss and she was also slightly surprised because she had never really seen him act this way, so broken. He was always calm, cool, collected, and in charge. He had just gotten over a messy divorce with his wife and his son meant everything to him and now there was a chance he could be taken away. Aaron Hotchner wasn't made out of stone and he had to break eventually. Emily just never thought she would be the one to witness it all.

"Sir, you are a great Dad and a great boss who is incredible at his job. You love your son and you would do anything for him. Trust me, we both know what kind of monsters out their have children and you are a good guy. I know that you'll get through this. The whole team is here for you whenever you need us; I'm here for you too.

Hotch looked up and gave her a crooked smile. "Thank you." He whispered quietly.

Prentiss gave him a sad smile in return and walked over to his desk to hand him her paper work. Just as she was about to turn around to leave she felt his hand cover hers. "Sir?" She asked, a confused expression spreading over her face.

"Emily, thank you; really."

Prentiss quirked an eyebrow somewhat surprised. Hotch rarely called her by her first name. In fact she was pretty sure that she could count on one hand how many times he had called her Emily.

Hotch locked gazes with her and suddenly the air in the room had changed. He slowly stood up from his chair, never letting go of her hand and a bit unsure he inched his face closer to hers until they were only centimeters apart. He had absolutely no idea why he was doing this. It was just that for the first time in a long time he felt like someone finally understood him and actually gave a damn about him. Hotch, never taking his eyes off of hers, reached up with his left hand and gently cupped the side of her face in his palm. He sweetly caressed her cheek with him thumb and let out a breathy laugh before closing the tiny distance between their mouths.

Emily couldn't believe what was going on. Her boss was kissing her and for some reason she couldn't comprehend at the moment she was kissing him back. The kiss may have started off slow and hesitant but it quickly grew deeper and more fervent. When Emily's brain finally registered the fact that she needed oxygen she mentally slapped herself and roughly pulled away from him, panting for air and her lips somewhat swollen.

Hotch finally realized what he had just done and his eyes grew wide with shock. "Oh my God, Emily I'm so sorry. That was completely unprofessional. I guess that I just…."

"Don't worry about it." She cut him off right away. "I know you've been going through a rough time and it was a mistake and means absolutely nothing." She turned away from him and rushed out of his office as fast as possible.

As soon as the door was shut behind her she paused for a moment and touched her fingers to her lips before leaving. She asked herself why she had kissed him back. Inside his office Hotch stood frozen in his spot still completely shocked at what he had just done. Sure he had been going through a rough patch and he did get caught up in the moment but part of him knew that he had wanted to kiss Emily Prentiss for quite some time. He carefully pressed his fingers against his now puffy lips and fell back down into his chair as a million thoughts began racing through his mind.

"What do we got Hotch?" Morgan asked, briefly flipping through the case file.

Hotch cast one quick glance in Emily's direction before booting up the lap top and grabbing the remote, pointing it at the white screen behind him. Four crime scene photos popped up onto the screen with perfectly taken portraits of each victim during a much more innocent time hung above them.

"Jenny Masterson, Claire Owens, Stacey Michaels, and Britney Stevens all in their mid 20's to early 30's. They all had well paying jobs and lived around this area. Their bodies were all dumped in the woods beside the highway and were all discovered within 48 hours after their murders; all except Jenny Masterson who wasn't found until two months after her murder. The coroner reported that they all died of strangulation and had high trace amounts of morphine in their systems."

"Okay so we know that the unsub definitely has a thing for tall attractive brunettes. And look at all three of them except for Jenny Masterson. It looks like he put make up on them and combed out their hair and dressed them in nice cocktail dresses that show off their legs, almost like he was grooming them and taking care of them. He injected them with morphine and strangled them to death too which suggests that these murders weren't done out of rage but possible lust." Morgan said.

"You know Ted Bundy used to wash his victims' hair, bathe them, and put make up on them after he killed them. Sometimes he would even paint their nails. The fact that the unsub is also doing something similar to this tells us that he is obviously attracted to these women and wants them to look beautiful when they are eventually found. I'm betting he also keeps them alive for a while until he eventually murders them." Reid chimed in, closely examining each crime scene photo.

"Well I think it's pretty obvious that the unsub isn't exactly great at relationships." J.J. said, flipping through a few pages in the folder that she was holding. "Also he took really good care of the bodies after he killed them and made sure that he left their bodies in a presentable way instead of just dumping them out like they were pieces of trash which says that he probably had a strong affection for these women."

"What do you think Prentiss?" Hotch asked her.

She briefly glanced up at him and sucked in a deep breath before speaking. "I'm guessing that the unsub is most likely in his mid to late 30's. He's probably handsome, sweet, and charming which is why these women would probably feel safe and unthreatened by him. He could be inserting himself into their lives somehow or maybe stalking them for a while before making his move. We won't really know more until we speak with the victims' families."

"Okay, Reid and J.J I want you two to go talk with Britney Steven's, the latest victim's family, and find out everything that you can about her from them. Morgan I want you to get Garcia on the phone and have her get all the information he can on these four women. Prentiss you and I will head over to the latest crime scene and see what we can find out."

Emily visibly flinched and shifted in her seat uncomfortably at the idea of partnering up with Hotch. She didn't want to make things anymore awkward than they already where.

"I'll meet you out in the parking lot in five minutes; we'll take my car." Hotch called over his shoulder as he left the conference room.

J.J. and Reid gathered up their things and left and Morgan got more comfortable in his seat as he flipped open his cell phone and hit speed dial instantly connecting him to Garcia.

"Baby Girl I need you now more than ever."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." Garcia answered with a cheeky smile as she sat in front of all of her computer screens.

"No, no just you sweetness. Listen I need you to get me all the information you can get on Jenny Masterson, Claire Owens, Stacy Michaels, and Britney Stevens. I need to know where they worked, who they associated with, the types of places they frequented, if they were married, divorced, had any children, and anything else those magic fingers of yours can find.

"Trust me these magic fingers can do that and much more." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Morgan could practically see the sly smile through the phone.

"Don't tease me like that baby girl you know what it does to me."

Emily couldn't help but smile and shake her head at those two. She picked up her case file and left the conference room only to run straight into Hotch's chest

"Oh, sorry." She apologized, staring at her shoes instead of him.

Hotch took a quick look around before tugging on her elbow and leading them away from prying ears.

"Look Emily we have to talk about what happened between us last week."

"Sir, I know it was nothing but a mistake. We both had a moment of weakness and it will never happen again."

"Emily…."

Before Hotch could finish one of the secretaries interrupted them. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but you have a phone call Agent Prentiss."

"I'll meet you out by the car." She told him before pulling away and walking towards her desk.

Hotch ran a hand through his short black hair and let out a frustrated sigh. He needed to tell her that their kiss had been anything but a mistake.

When Prentiss got to her desk she picked up the telephone and hit the flashing button labeled line four.

"This is Special Agent Prentiss." She paused, waiting for a response but she got nothing. She knew that there was somebody on the other end but they weren't answering her. "Hello?" She asked and then the line went dead.

She simply shrugged it off and figured that whoever it was would probably just call back. She grabbed her things off her desk and went to take her badge out of her bag only to find that it wasn't in there. She rummaged around the bag for a few moments with no luck. Her badge wasn't on her desk and it hadn't fallen onto the floor so she had absolutely no idea where it was. Finally she gave up and looked at her watch. She had to meet Hotch out in the parking lot and ride in a car with him, alone. This was definitely going to be unpleasant but she decided that she would just focus on the case and not let him get off topic.

Clutching onto the pay phone he had just hung up. Jonas Lincoln smiled to himself and closed his eyes letting the sound of her voice linger in his head.

A/N: Sorry, I didn't mean to delete the story so I'm putting it back up. I meant to fix some spelling mistakes and screwed up. Now here's the second, slightly longer chapter that I promised. It's up a little later than I promised but I got it up none the less. Thanks for the reviews!!!! I love them and they keep me motivated to keep writing more for all of you good people.