Quinn meets with Carrie. What about Emily?
"Hey PG, Hotch said you needed to talk to me" Emily hinted as she stepped off the plane in Montana and called up the perpetually positive technical analyst.
"How's it going, stranger?" Garcia asked in a bubbly tone.
Emily smiled, "Oh, I'm a little tired."
"Yeah, a love triangle will do that to a girl. And is it going to get a little more interesting because this call for you from a Sean McAllister came to my phone accidentally. He sounded very hot and very important."
Emily clutched the phone a little harder at the mention of the name. "Did he leave a message?"
"No. But it's from Paris. A Scottish guy calling from Paris. Know this, Emily, even if he is ugly, Scottish guys are hot. It's the accent. Remember this when considering your vast options of brooding men after you."
"I'll keep that in mind" she chuckled.
"So what's the skinny? Is he an ex? International booty call?"
Emily rolled her eyes at the assumption, "No. He's a friend."
"A friend looking to enter your little brewing love rectangle."
"Love rectangle?"
"Duh, Hotch, You, Quinn, and now this sexy Scot!"
"Bye Garcia" Emily hung up as she wondered what Sean McAllister was trying to contact her about. She shrugged it off and entered into the obligatory black Bureau SUV to be brought to the next crime scene.
Quinn walked into the quiet Virginia café to meet Carrie Mathison. She looked tired, with dark bags under her eyes. Her hands rested on her pronounced pregnant stomach.
"You look good" she greeted warmly as Quinn sat down on the seat across from her.
"Is it safe for you to be traveling?" He asked, his voice laden with concern.
"I'm staying in the states until I have the baby. My sister wants me to have the baby here and it makes sense. I think it's better this way…" She trailed off as he picked up on what she was saying. She was leaving the baby with her sister and father, and was planning on returning to her post overseas without her child.
Quinn drank a sip of water before speaking up, "So you're spending your maternity leave here and then heading back to Istanbul?"
"Yeah, but that's what I need your help with" she informed him in a more frantic voice as she leaned forward. "I think there's a connection to something going on in Pakistan. I don't know what it is yet, but it's there. I want you to come with me."
Quinn took a deep breath before answering, "Carrie I can't do that. Not this time."
"I checked with Lockhart, you aren't on any new cases yet. He promised me that he wouldn't reassign you. Quinn I need your help." It was a sentence that she had uttered before, a sentence that immediately prompted Quinn to aid her, even when no one else believed in her. That was what Carrie appreciated about Quinn, he never doubted her, even though he knew about her mental health issues.
"Carrie, this time I can't."
"So you want to stay in D.C.?" She asked in disbelief. Quinn didn't turn down assignments, especially with her. "You hate working at headquarters. Why?"
"I can give you some names of a few agents that I know won't fuck you over but…"
Carrie lifted her hand to interrupt him, "Who is she?"
"What?"
"Who is she?" She questioned in a quieter and less accusatory tone.
"She works for the FBI."
Carrie scoffed, "That's a little pedestrian."
"She's not" he defended adamantly, his arms crossed across his body. "She's smart and she's good. She's good at what she does." Quinn ran his hands over his eyes before he continued, "It's different with her."
"Are you in love with her?"
"I don't know yet, maybe."
Carrie rolled her eye at the statement, "Are you fucking her?"
"No."
Carried chuckled at the admission, "Well then you must actually like her."
"I do" Quinn confessed in a quiet voice before getting firmer with her. "Carrie you are fucking amazing at your job and whoever is by your side will realize that within ten seconds of working with you. You will find whatever you are looking for, if it exists you will find it. I'll always be your friend, but this time…I can't just run off with you this time."
"Okay" she nodded. "What do you think about the other thing?"
"The baby?" Quinn inquired as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah. You think it's a mistake?"
"I do, but maybe it's a mistake you have to make" he said as he got up from the chair. "Don't ever doubt your skills. You don't need me there to do your job. You were right before I came along and you'll be right even when I'm gone" he assured as he patted her arm in a comforting manner. "And I meant what I said a few weeks ago. You can be a mom. Don't fuck everything up like I did. Be better than me."
After finishing the case in Montana, Emily walked into the small dark D.C. bar and smiled when she saw her old friend Sean McAllister sitting a leather booth.
"Sean, how are you?"
"Good."
"So, I was gonna call you back. I just got busy on a case."
"I had to be in D.C. anyway." He briefly paused before speaking again, "Ian Doyle vanished from prison. Interpol can't find him."
"What, what are you saying?"
"He's off the grid, Emily."
"Do you think he's headed here? Am I in danger?"
"We all are" he said ominously as Emily closed her eyes and slightly gulped. She had been living on borrowed time, and she knew it. Because no one stopped Ian Doyle and got away with it, not even Emily Prentiss.
Emily left the bar in a daze. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, Ian Doyle had escaped. Ian Doyle was going to come for her, it was only a matter of time. Only a matter of time before he found out she wasn't Lauren Reynolds. Only a matter of time before he found out that she wasn't really dead. Only a matter of time before he found her, Emily Prentiss.
She shuddered at the thought as she entered into her dark and empty apartment. She heard her phone ring and quickly ignored it when she saw the name Peter flash across the screen. She couldn't think about Peter Quinn right then, she had to remain focused on the task at hand. She checked each room, scolding herself internally for being so afraid, for not believing that Interpol's protocols could protect her. She was fine, right?
But if she was so fine why did she jump when she heard a knock at the door. She chuckled at the thought of Ian Doyle knocking at her door. When he came for her he wasn't going to be as polite. She quickly got off her living room sofa and opened the door to find Hotch standing in her hallway.
"I should have done this last week" was all he said before his lips crashed against hers. Emily stood partially in shock as Hotch kissed her, his lips firmly pressed against hers. She awkwardly moved her hands to his chest, confused about whether she wanted to push him away or deepen the kiss. She was perplexed by this recent development. Mainly because when she kissed Quinn she wanted to deepen the kiss immediately, but with Hotch there was this sense of reluctance. Maybe it was because he was her boss, or maybe it was the Doyle situation. He pulled away from the kiss and gave her a small smile, but all Emily felt was guilt. She couldn't help but compare her kiss with Hotch to her previous kiss with Quinn, and unlike her kiss with Quinn it hadn't been as intimate or as passionate. This kiss was urgent, and, granted, a bit more fitting for the mood Emily was in.
"I'll see you tomorrow" Hotch assured as he gently stroked Emily's cheek and walked down the hallway.
He was proud of what he had done. He was proud that he had taken the risk, and the kiss was good wasn't it? Maybe Emily wasn't into it as much as he was, but she was probably just tired. But then Hotch wondered if he was as into the kiss as much as he thought, or if he was just trying to convince himself that he was. But he concluded that it was Emily and he would make it work regardless. It was a first kiss, those didn't always go perfectly right? It was going to take some time for them to find their rhythm.
However, as he walked down the quiet D.C. street he wondered if he should have just left like that. Should he have stayed? What would other men have done in a situation like that with Emily Prentiss? What would Peter Quinn done in that situation? What would Hotch have done if Emily was Haley? Hotch shook the thoughts from his head as he approached his car and headed home to Jack.
It had taken some time, and unfortunately some fresh bodies, but the BAU had finally solved the serial killer case in Montana the day before. However, both unsubs were left dead and when Hotch was called into Strauss' office the next morning he expected that was what the conversation was going to revolve around. But his assumption was wrong.
"Ma'am" he greeted coldly as he entered into Erin Strauss' large office and opted to stand rather than sit.
"Aaron we need to talk…"
What could the conversation with Strauss be about?
Any predictions? Here's a small hint, it involves Peter Quinn.
Additionally, just a head up, this isn't a Doyle/Emily love story of any kind and the Doyle storyline is primarily used to set up the ending of this work. If you were hoping for Doyle/Prentiss interactions I'm really sorry, but I hope you continue reading on anyway.
Thanks again for all the reviews and predictions. I hope everyone enjoys reading this regardless of who Emily picks at the end. She makes her pick in the next chapter.