Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
AN: For those of you that care, of which there may be only one, a full Authors Note will be left at the bottom.
"Just calm down Emily, he's going to be fine."
Emily didn't care for the words, though she knew that he friend meant them to be helpful and calming, she found the solace was neither. It had been no more than thirty since their mutual confession of love, and already they were separated. Hospitals could be so rude.
Pacing back and forth, she looked at the linoleum under her feet as she slowly wore a path five ten feet long. The floor was easy to concentrate on. If she looked up every second pass of her path would have Aaron in sight, a vision of manliness and love, behind a wall of glass that she was forbidden from entering.
Suddenly she came toe to toe with a nice pair of sensible heels, heels that she knew very well because she had been on that shopping trip. Raising her eyes from the floor she came face to face with one of her best friends, and the blue eyes held compassion and understanding.
"Emily. Calm down." The words were stern and Emily was sure it was the same tone JJ used on her son when he was misbehaving, a tone that expressed more interest and love than actual discipline.
Releasing a very large sigh from the depths of soul, Emily slumped her shoulders and allowed herself to be enveloped by her friends hug.
"You're right JJ. You are right." She agreed quietly into the hug, holding onto her friend.
"Of course I am. I am always right." The laugh reverberated through JJ's body and into hers, causing her to laugh right along with her. "Come sit down, and when the doctor comes to get us, you can go see him."
Released from the hug, Emily followed JJ to the hard plastic chairs, and sank into one the unforgiving material adding to her discomfort. Though she felt exceptionally good right now, having saved the boy from the grips of a pedophile, worry laced her veins, and heart, making the success of the day dim.
It wasn't that she wasn't glad for the boy and his family, he would live a long life, happy was touch and go at the moment, but he was alive, and for that she would be forever thankful. It wasn't that long ago that she had been given a second chance at life, and she knew that as soon as that realization hit him, and his family, he would be fine.
"So how long has this been going on? You and Hotch I mean." Emily looked her friend and sighed. It was a good question. One she didn't know how to rightly answer.
She'd been in love with him for some time. Maybe before Haley had left him, maybe it was just after. She wasn't very sure if she were honest to herself. She had respected him long before that point, admired his work, and the way he handled tense situations.
She loved the way he tried to see Jack, but never wavered in his unfailing love for the boy. Even the way he cared for Haley simply as the woman he once loved and as the mother of his child, and didn't abandon her the way she had abandoned him. Though as a woman, she could see from Haley's point of view that Aaron had abandoned her, but she didn't agree with the view. She preferred his dedication to the job, and the victims, and was thus able to overlook the fact that he was kind of an absentee father.
That wouldn't be a problem for them, as they travelled together.
"Um, can you be more specific with the question?" She knew it was a stall, knew that JJ would see it a stall, but she didn't care. No matter what JJ would say Emily needed to buy herself more time to think about the question.
"Emily. Just because I'm not a profiler, like you, doesn't mean I don't notice things." Emily had a fleeting vision of a conversation with Reid and Morgan about her and Will, and another conversation with Morgan about her and Reid. As close as they were, the team noticed everything about everyone. It's what they did. Though they had a long standing moratorium on intra-team profiling, they all did it, all the time.
"What do you mean?" Disgusted with herself for the further stall Emily tried to look innocent as she looked at her friend.
"You know what I mean. Was that little confession of love in the rain the first time? Or... you know?" Emily smiled as JJ waggled her eyebrows and winked at her. She knew very well.
Her eyes closed as moments and scenes from three nights previous flashed through her, echoes of the sensations he evoked in her, rolling through her body, causing her to shiver with the thoughts.
Unbeknownst to Emily, JJ had been watching her the entire time. "So not the first time." She felt a blush warm her cheeks as she ripped her eyes opened and looked at the laughing face of her friend.
"Not, exactly. In so many ways. If you..." She trailed off lamely, knowing what was about to come next.
JJ whipped her phone out and speed dialled Garcia.
"Hello my vision. How did it end?"
"Well we are sitting in the hospital," JJ was interrupted by a gasp and a quickly shouted, indistinguishable word, "Calm down Garcia, Hotch will be fine, so will the boy we saved, but Emily is here with me, and there is something that you need to hear."
"Okay spill my visions, spill."
"You may get angry that you missed it, but Emily kissed Hotch."
"What! Did he kiss her back?" The words came out a squeal, and JJ laughed. Emily winced knowing that she was going to have to divulge the fact that Garcia's voice had so wittingly placed correct value on what had happened Thursday night. Again, the words 'booty call' rang through her head.
"Yeah. In the rain. They kissed in the rain. If it had been a movie, a grossly romantic song would have been playing and it would have been in slow motion."
"Oh sweet JJ, you've just described all my richest dreams. I want a movie kissing scene. In the rain, Gene Kelly can have my heart."
"It wasn't like that guys. It was, it wasn't, maybe you should..." Again she trailed off, hoping that the doctor would allow her to go see Aaron, and leave the crazy women she called best friends.
"Maybe, peaches, you should just tell us about the first time you and Mr Hotchner first came together, you know what I mean."
"I hate both you. I hope you know that." She got the affirmative that they both knew, and didn't care, because she was going to tell the story anyway, and sighed. Looking at the room where Aaron was, she caught him staring at her, and she smiled back, the doctor cutting him from her sight as he moved between them.
So she recounted the story for them, the scotch, the first-aid, the kiss, the almost making love, the hasty retreat, and the very unsatisfying retreat from his room. She left out how she'd almost gone back hours later. How she had avoided him for days after, and it wasn't until she might lose him again, that she decided to do something about it. They could figure that out on their own.
Finally, after the appropriate 'ooh's' and 'aah's', her story was complete and a blessed silence fell over them. It wasn't that she wanted to keep it from her friends; a very public display of affection would have made it out eventually.
"Wow. I don't get speechless often, but wow. I mean I saw it coming of course, but wow." Emily had to admit that Garcia had a way of putting things in perspective when they should probably not be in any kind of perspective.
"I know, and all this time I thought that neither of them would finally act on it."
"Hey JJ, if I recall it was me who told you to... You know what never mind. I don't care. Think what you want." Suddenly the doctor came out of the room, and Emily launched herself from the chair and towards the room. JJ stood to follow, and Emily turned quickly.
"You, stay here." JJ laughed, and so did Garcia over the phone, but she respectfully sat back down, and continued her conversation with Garcia. She knew that leaving would just open her back up to some talking, but she didn't care. The doctor had left Aaron and was coming for her, to tell her she was able to see him.
"Miss Prentiss?" The doctor's voice was thick and gravelly, and it grated on her nerves that he was trying to stall her from seeing Aaron. But respectfully she stopped, knowing that he had something important to say to her.
"Yes, that's me." She wrung her hands together, looking over his shoulder at Aaron. He was pulling his shirt back on, and the bright red scars on his abdomen stood out against his skin. She winced, and recalled feeling the smooth jagged lines on his torso as she moved her hands over his body.
"Mr Hotchner will be all right, but he had suffered a mild concussion, and will need to be woken every two hours when he sleeps tonight. Other than that, he should be all right." She sighed as his double affirmative of his health washed over her. He would be all right.
"Thank you." She shook his hand and walked briskly towards him, the urge to hold him again overwhelming. At the door she looked over her shoulder at JJ who was still on the phone, clearly giving a narrative of what was happening. A little finger wiggle, and wave towards the room, she smiled and turned back to the room.
At the threshold of the door she stopped, and just watched him. He was looking at himself in the mirror, and hadn't yet noticed her, and she was content to watch him. Though she wasn't afraid of this, the two of them, being real, the nearer she got to him, the closer her heart came to beating out of her chest. Moments, how long she wasn't sure, passed when he finally looked up from the mirror.
Their eyes caught, and she smiled, the feeling reaching down to her very core, warming her. The smiled that spread his lips was intoxicating, and the feeling it evoked in her was a completely foreign and wonderful sensation.
"Come here." His voice was a whisper, and she wasted no time in moving to him. His arms were held open, and as she nestled herself into him. A sigh escaped her as his arms were wrapped around her, and held her tightly.
The Kevlar vests gone allowed for close body contact, and she was glad that they had been shed and were no longer creating a barrier between them. She lifted one of her hands and buried her fingers in the soft tendrils of the hair at his neck.
He was sitting on the gurney, and she was cradled between his legs, and her head was nestled in the crook of his neck. His smell, the thick musky scent of cologne, soap and rain filled her and put her at ease. He was going to be okay, the phrase repeating itself over and over in her head as she held on to him.
Tears quickly built and fell from her eyes as she clung to him, and she was overcome with joy. He pulled back and looked her in the eye. His normally impassive face was smiling, and his chestnut eyes were filled with emotions to numerous and wonderful to try and decipher.
His hand moved to her cheek, and she closed her eyes as he wiped the tears away. She didn't know how long they had spent holding each other, but she didn't care. Every moment in his arms was a wonderful moment and she was committing it to memory.
"What's wrong?" His voice was again a whisper, soft and smooth, filling her with warmth. She would mourn the day that his voice stopped having that effect on her.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She whispered as well, standing this close to him, she couldn't resist leaning in to kiss him. She placed her lips softly on his, and wrapped him tighter in her arms, and relished the thought of getting to do this for a long time.
He pulled away, and she moved back into a tight embrace with him, never wanting to let go.
**
"The hard part is not passing out from the pain." The menacing tone of voice floating through his brain, bringing to light the pain, and blackness he was fighting.
Again the knife was plunged into his stomach. Pain such as he had never felt coursed through his body. He felt a moan escape his throat as the offending object was pulled out. Foyet's voice floated back to him, some dribble that he couldn't understand.
"Aaron."
The voice was still speaking, but was interrupted by his name being called. He was aware that he'd had this dream before.
"Aaron? Can you hear me Aaron?"
The voice and pain receded and he became fully aware that he was no longer living the dream again. The first sensation that he was aware of was the hand in his hair, and the fingers entwined with one of his hands. He was more comfortable than he had been in a while, and though he'd had the dream again, he hadn't woken screaming like the last time.
The sensations and feelings were dull this time around, and when he opened his eyes he understood why. The darkened interior of the plane met his eyes and so did Emily's smiling face. From the angle he was looking at her, he could tell that the pillow beneath his head was her leg, and waves of pleasure rolled through him. He couldn't stop the smile that spread his face, or the squeeze that gripped her fingers tighter in his.
"Yes I can hear you." Quickly she held her fingers to her lips and she shushed him. He found the motion funny, and he laughed. Her hand left his hand and covered his lips, stifling the sound.
"Everyone is sleeping." He could have guessed that, but the painkillers coursing through him seemed to block his ability to control himself. Her laugh reached his ears, and he laughed again, the sound stopping at her hand.
"Where are we?" He asked trying to look around. He had the urge to stand up and look around, but his head felt like it was being weighed down by cement, and the urge passed as he tried and stars swam in front of his eyes. "Whoa."
"No, just stay where you are." Her voice reached his ears, and he couldn't explain the feelings of joy that cascaded through him. He knew that he'd told her that he loved her, and she had said the same thing. Then they had hugged, and kissed, and then hugged again, but then he didn't know what had happened from then to now. Not that he cared at the moment, his head felt really heavy, but sleep was tugging at him again, and he decided to give in.
Closing his eyes, he was quickly falling asleep, when a pair of soft lips were placed on his. Enjoying the kiss, he kissed back, trying to fight the sleep that tugged at him, but yet felt himself falling into it again.
"No, Aaron. You have to stay awake for fifteen minutes, then you can go back to sleep." He pulled his eyes back open, and looked up into her beautiful brown eyes, the heaviness of his head leaving him, being replaced by a light feathery feeling.
"Why?"
"Because you got clocked on the head with a two by four, which scrambled your brain and gave you a mild concussion. You, in a moment of pure brilliance, told the doctor that I would ensure that you would wake up every two hours for fifteen minutes."
"Oh right." He laughed, and pulled the hand that he was holding of hers to his lips and kissed it. "I forgot about that."
"I'm sure you did."
"That was because I knew that you would have to come home with me." He hadn't meant to say that, and he saw the small smirk that crossed her lips.
"So in essence, you blackmailed me into following you home."
"Yes." He nodded, enjoying the feeling of being this close to her, and holding her hand.
He was vaguely aware that he probably wasn't acting himself at the current moment.
She coughed, trying to hide the smile that lit her face for a moment. "So, basically, this is coercion of a federal agent. You know, you could be arrested for that."
He nodded, letting the sleep wash over him once again. "Has it been fifteen minutes yet?"
Her fingers were massaging a nice circle on his head, the motion adding to his desire to fall back asleep. "Yes Aaron. Go back to sleep. We'll talk again in a few hours."
"Okay. I love you." He mumbled then fell into the sleep that was enveloping him.
~two days later~
Aaron awoke, the sunlight streaming in through his window lighting his face. The last few days had been a mass of pain and sleep, paperwork and snuggling. Though he'd been a bad patient, Emily had stayed with him. Morgan had deemed them take a three day weekend, and he hadn't wanted to argue.
Emily had stayed with him that first day. She had cooked him breakfast, and had woken him every two hours for fifteen minutes. They had talked briefly every two hours, then he had fallen asleep, every time her hand held securely in his. He didn't know what she did once he fell asleep, but she was always there waking him.
That had been yesterday, and today as he woke, she was in his arms sleeping. He couldn't see the clock, and had no idea what time it was. Or what day it was even, but he didn't care. He readjusted himself to the shape of her body and tucked his face into her hair, fully intending to fall back asleep.
Several moments passed, and he was no closer to sleep when her voice reached his ears, and her fingers found his at her hip, and entwined them together. "You know, you did a horrible job of not waking me up."
He groaned as she let go of his hand, and turned in his arms and faced him. He liked this look. The morning look. No make-up, no pretence of expectations for the day, and no stress or worry of their job filling her eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.
"Sorry Emily." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, covering her mouth with his and claiming her lips in a kiss. It had been a long time since he held a woman in his arms in his bed, and he was suddenly gripped by a bout of inadequacy. Not that he had any expectations of the current future. He was just a man very aware of the beautiful woman very close to him.
"It's okay. I've been waking you up for the past two days; I'll forgive you this once though. Only once though." Her voice was holding a smile, and he slipped his hand underneath her shirt and felt the soft skin there.
"Emily, can you tell what I'm thinking?" He hadn't meant to be so blunt, or forward with his words, but he couldn't stop himself from pulling her closer to him. Her body was now flush against his, and he moved his hand up her back, the soft skin sending tingling through his fingertips, towards the lower regions of his abdomen.
"Yes. Aaron I can." Her hands moved up his arms and came to rest on his biceps. She swallowed heavily and, looked into his eyes. "Can you tell what I'm thinking?"
She placed her hands on his cheeks, and pulled him in for a kiss.
(Fade to black. I don't do those X-rated scenes. So this is where you can feel free to enact your imagination.)
AN2: !!!CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!! SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5 EPISODE 8 "OUTFOXED" and SEASON 5 EPISODE 9 "100".... (You are duely warned.)
For those of you out there that care, and I know there are a lot, we need to start thinking properly. I know the episode is filmed already, I know we've all watched the promo. (What? You haven't? Go to youtube and search 'Criminal Minds 100' make sure it's a 31 second clip, and you'll be informed.) But we need to start thinking positively. Hotch will not die. He cannot. If Haley dies, which might happen, we have to be prepaird for that. Aaron is stronger than Gideon. Gideon lost it after Sarah died, Aaron has Jack. He will live past this episode.
That being said, I need you guys to know how hard this was for me to write up. I've seen the episode, I've watched the promo a hundred times, and I don't know what is going to happen. Should my worst fears come to fruitation, I don't think I can live with that. I've stopped watching three shows because my favorite characters have died. I will stop watching Criminal Minds. So what I'm asking you is this. Please, just send out positive thoughts all week, until you watch the episode. SAVE HOTCH, is my mantra. Will you repeat it with me?
There is one more chapter for this story. Depending on what happens, it may be a while. Thank you all for reading. I love you guys, and one last thing SAVE HOTCH! ~ Jessie.
