A/N: And here is part two of the story. A little bit of humor in this part. Please let me know what you think if you have a moment. Thanks!
At the moment, Derek Morgan and Harry Brown were neck and neck on Emily's holiday hit list while the Unsub they were seeking had fallen to third. Scott Brown, the Unsub, at least had the excuse of a crappy father and a psychotic break, but right now, general asshole-ness were the only reasons for Morgan and Brown's behavior.
While Emily could believe that Morgan had no choice but to rent the flirty, sexy Mrs. Claus outfit she was currently wearing, she didn't need to listen to his comments and jokes about said outfit in her earwig. Blessedly, Hotch sharply cut off the younger man and told him to focus on the job or Morgan would find himself sitting outside in the snow guarding one of the many mall exits, just in case the Unsub slips by the numerous law enforcement officers currently stationed inside.
That shut Morgan up, but Hotch could do nothing about Harry Brown or his many attempts to inappropriately touch Emily, like sneaking a hand up her skirt.
At least he was discreet about it and didn't scar any of the many kids that were lining up to see Santa. As lecherous as the old goat was towards Emily, he was jolly and kind to the hundreds of little children who came to see him that afternoon and what had turned into early evening. Emily had to shake her head at the polar opposites the man presented. He took his Santa duties very seriously and was adamant about maintaining the spirit and magic for these children who were strangers to him. But where his own son, Scott, was concerned, he could have cared less.
It was just one of those times that you simply couldn't predict or understand the many various and variable turns a human could take. They made their careers out of studying this behavior and trying to understand it, but even if they all lived to be a hundred, they would never get beyond scratching the surface of the human psyche.
Emily shook herself, wondering why her thoughts had turned to something so philosophical and morose. She knew why, because otherwise they would be homicidal and violent as Brown once more tried to pinch her ass as she helped a young child off his lap and started to usher him towards his mother. For those few seconds her back was turned to "Santa", the old pervert had tried to sneak his hand onto her butt.
With a sixth sense honed after many years of avoiding lecherous hands, Emily managed to scoot out of the way just in time. As soon as the child was out of earshot, she whirled on Brown and hissed, "You try that one more time and I'll break your hand!"
"Now, now, Agent Prentiss," he smirked at her. "You're supposed to be nice to me. After all, your job is to protect me, not hurt me. And we don't want the kiddies to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus fighting, do we?"
Emily swallowed the words she was about to hurl at Brown, knowing he was right. At the moment, he had her at a disadvantage, but as soon as this was all over, she intended to give him a piece of her mind. She plastered on a smile as she turned to the next child waiting in line, an adorable little girl who looked like a mini-version of JJ. As she helped the child onto Brown's lap, she couldn't help but notice the change that came over the man as he became this jolly, kindly elf. Emily sighed in exasperation and moved off slightly to the side where she scanned the crowd, looking for their Unsub.
JJ murmured comfortingly over the comm. unit. "Hang in there Emily, it's almost over and you can be far away from that creep."
"JJ's right, Princess," Morgan chimed in, his voice colored with anger. He had spent most of his time on the outside edge of the crowd so he hadn't seen what Emily had been going through the past few hours. However, he did witness the last incident and was furious that his friend was being treated this way. "As soon as it's over, I'll hold the bastard down and you can pummel him."
"We all will, kiddo," Rossi's gruff voice responded.
"I'm sure Garcia and I can think of many ways to make his life complicated," Reid chimed in.
Emily smiled listening to her friends express their indignation over the treatment she had to endure from the man they were protecting. She waited to hear what Hotch would say but was disappointed to hear nothing from the man. She still hadn't figured out why he seemed to be angry at her and she swore she caught him looking disapprovingly at her several times when they happened to make eye contact as he milled around the crowd surrounding the small roped off area for "Santa".
It was a miniature wonderland of fake snow, a large throne for Santa to sit on with the mall's huge Christmas tree as a back drop for the photographs the children would be taking with him. A small white picket fence ran around the square area set aside for Santa and piles of gaily wrapped presents were artfully arranged in pyramids in a few spots. Three foot long plastic candy canes stuck out in various places and two animatronic reindeers festooned with lights sat in one corner, delighting children as they moved their heads and tails and said things like, "It's cold in the North Pole!" "Santa knows who's been naughty!" To complete the holiday atmosphere, the glee club from a local high school was performing Christmas Carols off to the side and were currently singing, "Winter Wonderland".
Her anxiety over having made Hotch upset was slowly being replaced with annoyance. If he was bothered by something she did, she wished he'd just be upfront about his feelings and tell her instead of looking down at her with that superior air he sometimes got. She spotted him standing at one of the corners of the little greeting area the mall had set up. Prentiss moved over towards the side to go talk to him. As she approached, she saw him frowning at her again.
"What are you doing, Prentiss?" he asked in a low voice as his eyes continued to scan the crowd. "You need to stick close to Brown."
"Hotch, one or two things will happen if I stay close to him. He's either going to physically assault me or I'm going to beat the crap out of him. Me, being over here saves the FBI a lawsuit." She was stung by his comment. Always about the job and not one word of sympathy regarding what she had had to endure from Brown. Even with Viper, Hotch gave her the option of pulling out that operation if she was uncomfortable. Why wasn't he being that considerate now?
It had taken every ounce of Hotch's control not to stalk up to Harry Brown and beat him senseless. He had had to endure hours of watching Emily fend off that masher's hands. The first time he had spotted Brown trying to cop a feel he had actually started moving towards them before he stopped himself. He couldn't do that, not here, not now though every instinct in his body was telling him to go protect Emily and show Brown and every man around them she was his.
Oh yes, he hadn't been blind to the lustful looks the men around Santa's North Pole Station was throwing his comely agent. Even if he hadn't noticed the looks, he couldn't ignore the comments. "Hot", "gorgeous", "babe" were some of the cleaner remarks. He wanted to snarl at every man he heard discussing Emily and tell them to back off and be more respectful. But once again, he couldn't.
When he came up with the idea for Emily Prentiss to go into hiding from Doyle, Hotch didn't realized how much he would miss her. He missed her a lot and during that time, he came to a realization, he felt something more for her than he really had any right to feel. In that Boston hospital as Emily fought for her life, he fought for hers too. He acted on pure instinct, without any consideration of consequences or fallout, one thought driving him: Emily must be protected at all costs.
Later, as the dust settled some what, he had wondered at what pushed him into his actions. Of course he would have protected each of his team members, but the lengths he had gone, the drastic measures he had taken to ensure Emily's safety, he knew it was beyond what he would have done for anyone else. Had it been another teammate, he would have simply put them in protective custody and kept them there until Doyle was captured or dead. It was the rational, logical thing to do.
But this primal need to protect Emily had driven him to act to the extreme. He was taking no chances with her life in any way and if everyone else had to suffer to ensure her safety, so be it.
And that was when Aaron Hotchner knew he felt for Emily Prentiss in ways he really shouldn't have. So when she returned, he tried to distance himself, even going so far as to date other women, Beth lasting the longest. But none of that worked. He found himself still thinking of Emily and comparing the other women to her. None of them made him forget his beautiful agent, none of them were her.
But there rules, there was the team to think about so he didn't act. In those moments of pure honesty though, Hotch knew he was simply making excuses. The fraternization rules were not ironclad and he suspected the team would be fairly happy if he and Emily did get together. But the one possibility he did not want to face was that Emily might simply not be interested in him.
He knew she cared about him. During his worst times Emily was the one who was there constantly, but she was like that with everyone she cared about. He loved to think Emily Prentiss cared about him personally in the same way he cared about her, but he simply wasn't certain and he didn't think his heart could stand being told otherwise. That was why he stayed in this limbo because not knowing for certain and holding out for some hope was better than knowing there was nothing on her side.
At the moment, from the glare on her face, Hotch could well believe that Emily had no other feelings for him other than annoyance.
"You did volunteer for this assignment, Prentiss," he said in a stiff voice.
"Under duress," she huffed out. Some of the anger seemed to leave her and she let out a sigh. "Come on, Hotch, I just need a breather from him."
His gazed turned sympathetic as he took in her weary features. She did have a tough assignment and he wasn't making it any better telling her to concentrate on the job just to cover up his own inappropriate thoughts and feelings. "Go take a break, we can watch Brown."
Emily shook her head. "No, there's just two hours left. I'll be okay." She looked up into his face and was relieved to see a warmer expression there. Maybe it was just this case that had him on edge the entire time and whatever was bothering Hotch had nothing to do with her.
She started to perk up a bit and was about to say something else when a handsome, blond man in his forties sidled up next to Hotch and gave Emily the once over. "Wow, no wonder Santa only wants to leave the North Pole one day out of the year. If I had you waiting for me at home, I'd never want to go anywhere." His gave Emily an openly admiring look.
Emily rolled her eyes at the cheesy attempts by the man and then she looked over at Hotch. He was frowning at her again. She gaped at him. Surely, he wasn't thinking she was encouraging men like this?
Before she could say anything, Hotch looked her in the eye and said, "Ma'am, I think Santa needs your help. There's a job you could be doing instead of flirting with men." He glared at the blond man who looked at the two of them in confusion, but in the face of Hotch's hostile stare, slinked off.
Emily's mouth closed shut with an audible snap as she swallowed her anger. Hotch was clearly telling her to get back to work and stop flirting. She wasn't doing anything! She didn't know what bug crawled up Hotch's ass, but she was frankly tired of it.
"Yes, sir," she snarled out giving the "sir" her best "screw you" tone. The meaning she could convey with a one syllable word was envious. She turned around, the skirt of her red velvet dress rising slightly, revealing even more of her legs and she stalked off, hips swaying with each step.
Hotch suppressed a groan as she walked away. He knew he had made her angry, but the angry flush in her cheeks and the way her ass moved as she walked, not to mention the oh so delectable flash of thigh he had gotten as her skirt lifted when she spun around, his concern over her anger towards him was miniscule compared to the lust she was inspiring.
Hotch didn't know how much more he could take. He was going to have to reveal his feelings soon or his control was just going to snap and he was going to physically just take her. The thought of pouncing on Emily, having her underneath him as he plunged over and over again into her soft body was causing his pants to tighten uncomfortably. Hotch tore his gaze away from her and forced himself to look around the crowd once more for Scott Brown.
They had begun to doubt Scott would actually show up so when Hotch did spot him, it took him a few seconds to realize who it was. As soon as he did, he began swiftly make his way towards the Unsub as he spoke quietly into his comm. unit.
"Suspect sighted," Hotch murmured into his wrist as he threaded his way through the crowd. "He's near the front of the line in a red jacket and black scarf. Begin to move people quietly away from the area. My team, start to move in. Prentiss, make sure the children are away from Brown."
As pre-arranged, the local law enforcement officers began to move the crowd back as the BAU team began to move in. What they hadn't anticipated though was the unwillingness of the crowd to move. After waiting almost an hour to see Santa, these people did not want to lose their spots in line and many of them began to argue with the cops.
Hotch and the rest of his team ignored the uncooperative parents as they made their way steadily forward. He could see Emily cutting the little girl's time with Santa short and handing the child back to her mother. Prentiss spoke quietly to the woman who hastily moved out of the way. The agent then began to ask the families near the front of the line to begin moving back, keeping one eye on Scott Brown who stood a few feet away.
Suddenly, without warning, Scott Brown pushed through the crowd, shoved Emily aside and lunged for his father. As large as he was, Harry Brown could move fast and he dodged out of the way of the knife that his son was trying to drive into him. Harry scurried around to the other side of the chair as his son's knife lodged into the seat cushion.
The crowd began to scream in terror and people started to run, blocking Hotch and the others' way. The police tried to gain some order before someone got trampled and the high school glee club continued to sing "Silent Night" as chaos reigned.
"You made me stop believing in Christmas!" Scott screamed at his father as he pulled the knife out of the chair.
"You still haven't learned to grow a pair, have you son?" Harry snarked back as he tried to put some distance between him and his homicidal offspring. "I was trying to toughen you up!"
"At five?"
Emily regained her balance and saw that the rest of her team was still trying to fight their way through the panicked crowd. She could hear over the singing Hotch bellowing, "Federal Agent! Out of the way! Out of the way!" She saw the Browns doing some weird dance of stab and dodge and realized it was up to her to stop this.
Seeing Scott pause for a moment Emily launched herself into the man's back. She had no weapon and needed to physically disarm the Unsub. She vaguely registered Hotch calling her name while she was in midair. She landed on top of Scott, their momentum sending them flying into one of the piles of fake presents. The suspect provided her with a soft landing so she wasn't hurt, but she felt a suspiciously cool breeze on the back of her thighs and her butt. She wouldn't realize until later she had just given the crowd a free peep show where everyone clearly saw the word "naughty" emblazoned on her well-toned ass as well as the garter belt and tops of the stockings she wore.
Emily ignored it, more concerned about securing the Unsub. He had dropped the knife and she jerked both of his hands back and tied them with a long piece of plastic ribbon from one of the presents they had landed on. She was still on top of the suspect, her knee pressed into his back as she held his hands behind him, reading his rights when Hotch and the others skidded to a halt by her side.
"Prentiss! You okay?" Morgan asked anxiously.
"Fine," she replied. "Just glad this whole thing is over now." She got to her feet and Morgan and Rossi took care of Scott Brown. She looked up at Hotch who was glaring at her. She saw him open his mouth, but then closed it again and without another word he spun around and stalked off after the other two men.
Emily stared after him in shock as the choir finished up "Silent Night" and one of the animated reindeers declared, "Santa knows who's been naughty!"
A/N 2: And the next part will be the smutty section.