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. 10th muse.

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Criminal Minds

.La Vie en Rose.

Chapter 2

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(Crushing on Derek)

Hotch did not like their interaction but he could not deny that at the same time, they worked very well as partners; Morgan and Prentiss were a reckoning duo, they had an unspoken understanding that usually took many years to work in tandem but for these two, it took less than two months to work out their body language and eye contact.

Hotch felt somewhat jealous and partly proud of what they had achieved. Because of that, they were able to apprehend many serial killers and enable them in closing many cases and won the admiration from the local sheriffs and co-operations which many times the upper agency/bureau came upon when they are confronted with, and even JJ had problems with.

The stereotypical misjugement of blondes really made JJ's job hard to work with some of the men until Emily stepped in to help.

Reluctantly he had to admit he was glad Prentiss was part of his team.

"Daydreaming or gathering your thoughts?"

He turned to see Gideon standing by the doorway with an amused look and a mug of coffee in his hand.

With a shake of his head, Hotch refused to answer his friend.

"Ah..." Gideon walked into his office and sat on the chair, "I see you're still obsessed with her." He mused.

"Something I can help you?" He skirted the issue as he picked up his pen and continued his work on his report; he realized he had not even begun on it!

Gideon shook his head, "Oh...no, nothing much but it seems you're quite distracted by a certain brunette."

Giving his friend a twitch of a brow, "Jason, you know I prefer blondes and for your information, I'm very happily married."

Holding his hand up in surrender, Gideon continued to smile, "I'm sorry Aaron, I can't help but contradict you, even though you're a happily married man, you hardly call Haley like you used to."

Hotch looked up and stared at Gideon, "Jason, Haley is busy taking care of our son." He sighed when he realized he'd been ribbed again. "Will you give it up?"

Gideon stood up, "Again, you're too easy to tease, my friend. And besides, we have a case, I'll see you in the conference room." He turned to walk out of Hotch's office and headed to the conference room with his coffee, joined soon by JJ.

Hotch frowned and sighed in defeat as he too, stood up and walked around his desk and out of this office and almost bumped into Emily!

"Oh! I'm sorry, Hotcth!" She grabbed his arm to steady both of them before she quickly released her hold when she felt him stiffening.

"It's okay, Prentiss." He said stiffly.

She looked at him and frowned, "Yeah...yeah."

"She's made of sterner stuff, that's my Princess!" Morgan patted her affectionately on her shoulder before he walked on towards the conference room, she hesitated a moment before she followed after Morgan.

Hotch observed her whose eyes never left Morgan as soon as he was in the picture. In fact it brightened.

He sighed as he continued on and realized they'd become a three-way circus. He wondered if there was anyone watching them too?

…..

"Hey, Princess, just think about it this way," Morgan was grinning as he leaned close to her and whispered, "after we bagged the UnSub, we've got a three-day weekend." He wriggled his eyebrows for effect.

They were leaning against the back of the wall, waiting for Hotch's signal, Emily smiled, "Any plans?"

He beamed her with his pearly whites, "Of course! Three days...three ladies in waiting!" He chuckled in low tones.

Emily tried to join him but it came out weak, "Oh...that's great. Sounds like you're pretty booked."

He nodded, "Fun in the sun, like I always do!" He nodded.

Emily turned her head away from him and tried to look cheerful. "Yeah, fun in the sun..." She took a deep breath and blew it out.

Movements in the house, get ready everyone! It was Hotch's voice coming in from their ear plugs.

"Roger that." Morgan and Emily nodded before he answered and nodded. "Ready, Princess?"

She smiled, "Anytime you are, sweet cakes."

He grinned before he slid silently followed by Emily stealthily.

Taking the lead, Morgan jumped out and stood before the door as he shouted, "FBI! Conner Treadway, open the door!"

There was no answer.

"We know you're in there, Conner! This is the FBI!" He called out.

No answer.

"Hotch," Morgan key'ed into his earpiece. "He's not answering."

"Morgan! I heard noise...screaming...woman...a woman screaming!" Emily looked at him.

"We're going in, Hotch!" Morgan relayed his message before he kicked the door with his boot.

Moments later, the two of them shot their serial killer Conner Treadway as he was about to slash his latest victim's throat.

"I think my bullet hit him first." Morgan grinned as he stared at the dead man on the ground.

The paramedics had led the traumatized but relieved woman away to the awaiting ambulance.

Emily frowned as she shook her head, "Uh no...I beg to differ, Cupcake." Morgan looked up at her. "I think I shot him first."

They began to argue back and forth until JJ stepped in and stopped them.

"Break it up, kids. Try acting like you're a year older than Reid?" She grinned as she walked away from them.

"Hey!" Reid leaned in, "I'm rather more mature than most adults of my age, and than some." He nodded before he retreated and moved away from them.

Morgan chuckled, "Out of the mouth of Reid." and stepped out of the room. "I'm gonna get some air..." He waved at them.

"Dr. Reid, mind you." Emily grinned at the young doctor. "You earned those doctorates."

"Thank you, Emily!" Reid called out from 10 feet from them. "Hey...look at this, guys." He turned and held out a book, "I think this is his diary." Hotch walked over to Reid and began to look over the desk full of books and things. "Treadway must have been learning about his family past. Try to get something from these books, Reid, maybe we might some clues about the missing victims."

Reid nodded as he began to speed read and was soon engrossed in it as Hotch continued to look over the curio and shelf next to it for more clues, Emily came over to help.

"Hmm...need a hand?" Emily offered. "Maybe we'll be able to figure out what made Treadway the way he is...was."

"It's written in Spanish." Reid held the book out to Emily, "Some of the diary is."

Emily frowned again, "Oh? I didn't know he's Spanish? Or of Latino descent?"

Reid nodded, "His mother's grandmother was from Madrid, Spain, and they immigrated to the United States when she was a little girl." He recited from the front of the diary.

Emily continued his tread. "And Conner wanted to preserve his heritage, so he took up Spanish..." She turned to the desk Reid found the diary, and looked around and picked up another book, "Look at this, here's one on genealogy and an old copy of someone's portfolio or something..." She trailed off as she opened the book and began to read it.

Hotch tried to concentrate on his part of the investigation but with her so closely next to him, he found himself watching her more than he was looking at the evidence before him.

"Hotch?"

"Hotch..."

"Hotch!"

Blinking a few times, he stared at her, "Yes? Did you find something?"

She frowned slightly, wondering if anything was wrong with him, it felt slightly uncomfortable with him staring at her so intently. "Uh...yeah, he underlined the names Piedro and Umanzor, I think there might be some significance to these names."

He nodded, "There may be, sounds Spanish to me...we'll have to take them back to the lab for further analysis."

She nodded, "Roger that, Hotch." She began to place the books into the standard plastic bags and marked them as evidence when she stepped on a switch on the floor board and it clicked.

In an instant, Hotch and Reid turned to stare at her as Emily turned pale, "Oh my gosh!"

…..

End of Chapter 2