Chapter 8
December 8, 2008
--
They'd thought they had a lead and so had worked long into the night, each of them swapping off an hour of sleep when ordered. They'd been up for almost 48 hours and still they couldn't connect anyone to any of the 5 deaths. Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair, forgetting she'd pulled it into a ponytail hours before. She growled to herself, pulling the elastic out to put it back in again. The lights flickered, distracting the whole team. An officer poked his head in.
"Sorry. Bad snowstorm. We've got back up generators that should kick in should the power go out. This wouldn't be the first time the power's gone out because of a bad storm."
Hotch nodded. "How bad's the storm?"
The officer smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid no one will be coming in or going out tonight, sir."
Emily sighed as the lights flickered again. Another night without a bed to sleep in. Then the lights went out. She leaned back in her chair, waiting for the generators to start up. Minutes passed and nothing happened. Then flashlights flickered on in the bullpen. The same officer poked his head in again, bearing a flashlight.
"I'm so sorry-"
"The generator failed," Derek finished. "Excellent. Just what we needed."
The officer looked extremely apologietic. "We have no idea why the generators failed."
"There's nothing you could have done," Emily told him with a smile. She sighed as he turned to leave, flipping her file closed. With no light, there was no reason for the files, no reason to work. She heard other files flip closed around her as the officer went back to the bullpen. She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable in the dark, as she always had been. She knew Reid was too and mentally counted down to Reid's inevitable spewing of facts.
"Maybe we should think of a flashlight for ourselves," the good doctor said, voice coming from her left.
"Why? Afraid of the dark?" Derek teased.
"Nyctophobia is more commonly found in children," Reid replied, almost indignantly, though his voice shook.
"It happens in adults too," Dave pointed out.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Let's try and get some sleep," Hotch suggested, interrupting the oncoming argument. "There's no work we can do tonight."
Emily sighed for the millionth time that night, resigning herself to sleeping on the floor. And probably wrapped in less blankets than she'd like considering the power was out. She was suddenly thankful she'd made Derek bring her ready bag back from the hotel instead of going there herself. She'd wanted to freshen up without the added time of going back to the hotel. Now, she was extremely thankful for it, if she could find the bloody thing. Her eyes were adjusting slowly to the dark, though, and she could just make out the shapes of her colleagues all still sitting around the table.
"Em, you take the couch," Derek said, standing up.
"Nuh uh," Emily replied. "Reid can have it."
"You're the only woman here," Reid contradicted.
"Uh huh, but trust me, I'm fine on the floor," Emily replied. "And if someone could find my bag, it would be even better."
"Over here, Emily," Hotch's voice sounded, lifting the offending object.
Emily put her hand on the wall to guide herself around the room. She smiled as she took the bag from his hand. "Thanks."
"Sleep," he said, eyes still fixed on hers.
She was the one to look away first, preparing for bed.
Hours later, Emily was still awake and definitely shivering. Along with no lights came no heat and even under her winter coat and the spare blanket she kept in her ready bag for the plane, she was freezing. She could feel her entire body shaking and sighed as she rolled over on the floor again. She'd been tossing and turning for hours because she couldn't find a position that kept her warm.
"Emily."
If she could have jumped, she would have. She jerked instead. "Sorry. I didn't know anyone else was awake."
"I am."
Thank you, Captain Obvious. She was always cranky when cold. She'd ended up settling down not far from her supervisor. His voice was quiet, loud enough for her to hear but not the others.
"And freezing."
"Unfortunate side effect of having no heat," she said wryly.
--
Hotch knew what he wanted to do. Logically, it was an excellent idea. After all, there was nothing better than sharing body heat. He took a deep breath, preparing for her resistance. "Come here."
He saw the surprise in the way her body stiffened. "I beg your pardon?"
"Body heat, Emily. You need to sleep and you can't if you're freezing," he argued, appealing to her better logic. His hand raised the edge of his long winter coat.
"Hotch, I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Sharing body heat is a logical way to keep warm," he told her. His voice was extremely calm. "There is nothing inappropriate about that."
The ensuing silence told him he'd been smart to appeal to her better logic.
"My coat, your coat, your blanket and body heat has to sound better than freezing over there."
She sighed and sat up, scooting over until she was beside him.
"I forgot about your travel pillow," he admitted quietly as she arranged herself against him. He wrapped her coat closer to her, tucking the blanket in between them before tugging her right against him. He could feel her shaking slowly subsiding.
Emily, for her part, had tucked her hands between their bodies, right against his chest. He could feel them, like ice, against through his Oxford shirt, clenched in fists. Her hips were pressed into his, her legs tangling easily with his. She smelled like berries and mint and he knew it was a mix of her shampoo and the toothpaste she'd used – and let them all use – from her ready-bag. She felt fantastic pressed against him like she was, like he'd always known she would be. It would haunt his dreams, that much he knew.
"Hotch?"
His arms went about her, pulling her, if possible, even closer. "Emily." He tried to ignore the way her fingers had started stroking the buttons of his shirt. Her body wasn't shaking as badly anymore and he could feel her fingers warming between them.
There was silence for a moment. "Thank you."
"For what?"
She smiled. "Chocolate."
He chuckled, shifting and moving until he was on his back, his head on her pillow and hers on his chest over his heart. It took some doing, but eventually she was pressed against his side, one of his hands behind her shoulders, playing with the ends of her hair, the other wrapped around her hip. Emily didn't seem to mind. If anything, she relaxed even more. "Why do you like them?"
"Because they're so much better than Smarties."
He had to focus, had to find some way to get his mind off of the way she'd snuck a hand under his winter coat and suit jacket when they'd shifted, obviously to keep herself warm. "That's not an answer."
She laughed softly. "That's the best I can give you."
"You have no idea why you like M&Ms?"
"I thought we were going to try to sleep," she replied.
"We were, but now I'm curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"But satisfaction brought him back. I don't see how M&Ms are superior to Smarties." He raised his head when she gasped, swallowing thickly when he realized her head had shifted so she was looking up at him from where her head rested over his heart. It would be too easy to lift himself up and press his lips to hers.
"I can't believe you said that."
Her voice brought him out of the fog as he let his head drop back again. "You still haven't given me a good reason why M&Ms are better."
"There's more chocolate," she exclaimed quietly. "Smarties are all candy, no chocolate. M&Ms are candy covered chocolate."
"And that makes them better?"
"Hotch?"
His eyes opened, staring at the ceiling. "Mmhmm?"
"Go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am."
This is shorter than usual and, now that I read it back, maybe a little OOC, but it needs to happen. And for those of you who are nice and annoyed with how often I may say the characters are acting a little crazy, I promise I'm trying to remember that any softer side of Hotch is one we don't see so it's going to be OOC no matter which way you look at it because we don't know much about that side of him.
Loves!
