Emily had spent the night at her boss' apartment. She fell asleep on the couch and Aaron covered her with a blanket, before making his way to his bedroom.
Despite his best efforts, the Unit Chief had found it impossible to allow sleep to consume him. His mind was on overdrive, thinking back through everything that had happened.
She had invited him out for a drink. She had spent her Saturday evening cheering him up. She had called him 'Aaron' again. She had agreed to come back up to his apartment. She had kissed him. She had been willing to sleep with him. She had stayed with him when he asked her too.
The optimist in him listed off all of these things, before the self-hating little bastard in the back of his mind, took over his line of thought.
She invited him out because she felt sorry for him. She spent her Saturday evening with him because she most likely had nothing better to do. She called him 'Aaron' because he whinged about her calling him 'Sir' again. She came back up to his apartment because he most likely looked like he was going to cry if she didn't. She kissed him because… well he wasn't sure why she did that, but it was clear she regretted it. She had been willing to sleep with him because she was confused about her emotions. And she had stayed only because he had broken down like a child and practically begged her not to leave him on his own.
His mind ran though the events of the evening over and over again, until the sun came up and Hotch heard movement coming from the lounge.
Things were slightly awkward between the two as they greeted each other that Sunday morning and they barely spoke a word when Emily drove Hotch to pick up his car.
Aaron really wanted to talk to the female agent about what had happened between them the entire ride over, but he refrained, unable to come up with exactly what he wanted to say.
"Thank you again, for last night." The male finally spoke as she pulled into the parking space next to his vehicle.
"You're welcome. I had a good time." Emily kept her gaze fixed ahead of her, staring out of the windscreen.
"I really appreciate you going out of you way to cheer me up and I'm really sorry for…"
"Let's not talk about it, Hotch." She cut him off, a wave of embarrassment flooding through her.
"Okay." The Unit Chief let out a long sigh, concern overwhelming him as she refused to cast a glance in his direction. "Things are okay between us though, aren't they?"
"Of course." Emily finally turned her head and offered him a small smile. "We're good. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
It wasn't the most convincing admission, but Hotch knew better than to question her. It was clear to him that she didn't want to talk about it and he had to respect that. "Okay. See you tomorrow."
Monday morning hadn't gotten off to the best start for Aaron Hotchner. Erin Strauss had dragged him into her office for a 'brief chat' that ended up lasting best part of two hours. He struggled spending lengthy periods of time in the presence of the Section Chief at the best of times. But first thing on a Monday morning, before he'd had a coffee and after a weekend of very little sleep, he was ready to beat his head against her office wall just ten minutes in.
She had 'bit picked' at him and his team for almost two hours, so it was fair to say that he wasn't in the best of moods when he left her office. That would most likely explain why he had bitten David Rossi's head off when the older profiler had informed him that Emily Prentiss had phoned in sick.
He had been with her the previous day and she seemed just fine. Rage flooded him at the idea that she was avoiding coming into work because she was embarrassed about what had happened between them over the weekend. A part of him was angry with himself for putting her in a position where she was too uncomfortable to come in and do her job. Another part of him was angry with her, however, as he considered her lack of professionalism in the situation.
It was with these thoughts in mind that the Unit Chief had ended up excusing himself from work and driving over to her apartment. He paced outside her door for a short while, trying to calm himself, before lifting his fist and knocking firmly on the solid wood. There was a small wait and then the door swung open.
"Hotch, what are you…?"
Without giving her chance to finish her inquiry, the male agent strode passed his subordinate into her apartment.
"Please, come on in." She let out sarcastically.
"Over eighteen months working for the BAU and you've not taken a single sick day." The male stated calmly. "If what happened this past weekend has made you feel uncomfortable around me, then we need to talk about it, because I need to know that I can rely on your professionalism when…"
Hotch's speech was cut short as the brunette female slapped her hand to her mouth and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Aaron's eyes widened in shock at the sound of retching come from the small room. He stood frozen for a moment, before snapping out of his confused daze and heading in the direction of the unpleasant sound.
He cautiously stepped inside the small white room, concern flooding him as he took in the sight of his subordinate emptying the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl of the toilet.
The male agent took hold of a hair bobble he spotted on the side and without a word gripped her raven locks into his hands gently, pulling her hair together and tying it up into a loose pony tail, before he exited the bathroom and made his way to the kitchen.
He returned moments later with a bottle of water in hand, gladdened by the fact that her heaving seemed to have eased a little. Kneeling down next to her, he began to rub soothing patterns on her back.
The pair stayed like this for a short while, until Emily was confident that she wasn't going to bring anymore fluids up for a little bit at least.
The female profiler slowly leaned backwards from the toilet, turning to rest her back against the adjacent wall, before pulling her knees into her chest, as her gaze locked on to the concerned stare of her boss.
"You really are sick." Hotch stated, more so as confirmation to himself, as he fully took in her lounge attire, ghost white complexion and reddened eyes.
Emily chuckled a little at his revelation, in spite of her ill state. "You really are some profiler, you know that."
Hotch smiled at her, despite the worry he was feeling, as he held out the bottle of water. "Here drink this, you need to keep yourself hydrated."
"Thank you, Dr Hotchner." The female spoke, accepting the drink and taking a few sips before returning her full attention to the man in front of her, shooting him a bit of a glare. "You know, I don't appreciate the accusation that I would skip work because of what happened between us. I was under the impression that you thought more highly of me than that?"
"I do." He informed her, hating himself for questioning her sickness at all. "I'm really sorry. I've had one hell of a morning with Strauss and I was already in a bad mood. I just misread the situation and once again acted like a jackass." There was a pause in the conversation before he continued. "I never should have doubted you, I know that. But you did seem off with me yesterday."
"I was embarrassed, Hotch." She answered honestly. "I threw myself at you and you turned me down."
"It wasn't that I didn't want to, Emily." He rushed to assure her. "You know how I feel about you. If you hadn't have told me, five minutes earlier, that you wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath afterwards, I probably wouldn't have had as much self-control. I only said no, because I thought you'd regret it."
"I know, but that doesn't make the situation any less embarrassing for me. That's why I was a little off with you yesterday. But you should have known that I would never let something like that effect my ability to remain professional at work."
"I know, I just wasn't thinking straight." He admitted. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"
"I'll consider it." She smirked slightly, holding her hands out for him to help her up.
Once on her feet, Emily washed her hands and face and rinsed out her mouth over the sink before attempting to exit the bathroom. She began to feel somewhat light-headed, as she made her way towards the doorway. This didn't go unnoticed by Hotch, who wasted no time wrapping an arm around her securely and assisting her with her journey to the couch.
The female agent settled down on the sofa, again pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly, as a violent shiver passed through her.
"Are you cold?" Hotch frowned at the sight of his poorly subordinate, before placing his hand to her forehead. "You feel like you're burning up a little."
"I'll be fine, Hotch honestly." She let out unconvincingly. "I just need to sleep it off. There's a lot of little 24 hour bugs going around at the moment. I expect I'll be fine by tomorrow."
Aaron wanted desperately to do something to help but he didn't know what. "Can I get you anything? I can make you something to eat if you like?"
"No. Thank you, but I'm really not up to eating right now." She told him, grabbing hold of the blanket that she had been wrapped up in before Hotch had come over.
The Unit chief sighed as he made his own way to her couch, before flopping down next to her, resting his right arm on the back of the sofa behind her head. "Okay, I won't force you to eat if you don't want to, but make sure you're drinking plenty of water."
"Yes, Sir." Emily sang out with a smirk as she took hold of the bottle he had handed her earlier and had a few more sips. "You can go, if you need to get back to work. I'll be fine, Hotch, honestly."
"I will in a minute." He informed her, before helping to wrap the blanket around her.
Against her better judgement, Emily took advantage of his movement and found herself cuddling up to her supervisor's side, as another shiver ran through her.
Aaron didn't hesitate to slouch back and wrap an arm around her as she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes.
Emily could feel herself beginning to drift off as Hotch embraced her tired and weak body. She let out a content sigh as his hand that wasn't holding her came up to lightly brush against her hair. "You make a really nice pillow." She mumbled out, before a big yawn escaped her.
Hotch chuckled quietly at that. "Try to get some sleep, Emily."
"Can't believe you saw me vomiting." Emily was so tired now, she wasn't even sure if she was speaking out load or inventing the conversation in her mind. She tried to open her eyelids, but they were too heavy to lift. "Do you still find me attractive now?" She somehow managed to ask sleepily.
She heard her boss snicker and felt him vibrate against her. "Yes, now get some sleep."
"You still think I'm pretty like this?" She mumbled softly, on the verge of nodding off.
Sick and sleepy Emily, was coming across a lot like Hotch would imagine a drunk Emily would be like. "Yes, I do. Now go to sleep, pretty girl."
The female felt the corners of her mouth tug up into a small smile, as she tried to snuggle impossibly closer to the man beside her. "Okay."
Emily Prentiss opened her eyes, surprised to find Aaron Hotchner still lounging on her sofa. She slowly lifted her head from his chest and glanced up at him.
"Hotch?" She inquired groggily as her vision came into focus. "How long have I been out?"
"A couple of hours." The Unit Chief answered, keeping his arm around her, but loosening the tightness of the grip enough for her to sit up.
"What are you still doing here? Don't you need to get back to the office?"
"I called Dave not long after you drifted off and let him know that a personal matter had come up that I needed to attend to. The BAU can survive without me for one day."
"Hotch, you really didn't have to do…"
"I know." He cut her off. "I wanted to. I wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"I'm fine." She assured him with a soft smile. "You know, David Rossi is potentially the best profiler in the world. Aren't you worried he's going to figure out where you are?" She questioned tentatively.
"I imagine, he knows exactly where I am." The male informed her matter of factly. "Especially considering I bit his head off this morning when he told me you'd called in sick and then I stormed out of the office."
Her jaw dropped at the image. "Doesn't it bother you that he might work out how you feel about me?"
"He already knows. He literally figured it out on his first day back with the unit."
Emily's eyes widened at that piece of information. "Wow and… you don't care? That he knows, that is."
"No, why would I?" He let out a long sigh. "Emily, I'm done hiding and fighting the way I feel. I understand that you may never fully return my feelings and I'm okay with that. But I can't change the way I feel about you. I tried to fight it for ten months and I ended up really hurting you. I don't want to risk doing that again. I know I should, but I genuinely don't care who knows anymore."
She stared up at him in awe for a short moment, unsure of what to say.
"How are you feeling anyway?"
"Better." She answered honestly. "I still feel really drained and a little lightheaded, but I don't feel like I need to run to the bathroom and hurl. Not at the minute anyway. Oh god, I can't believe you saw me like that."
"Don't worry." He flashed her a reassuring smile, before jabbing her lightly in the side. "As we established before you fell asleep, I still think you're pretty.
"Nooooo. Did we actually have that conversation?" Emily held her head in her hands at the thought. "I thought I made that up in my head."
Hotch chuckled. "You're amusing when you're sleepy."
The female profiler elbowed her supervisor lightly in the side, offering him a smile, despite the small wave of embarrassment within her. "Hey, I wanted to ask, did you manage to speak to Jack yesterday?"
The Unit Chief grinned at the fact that even in her unwell state, Emily still had his and his son's well-being on her mind. "I did, yes and I've promised to make up for missing out on spending time with him by taking him to National Zoo this weekend coming up."
"Oh he'll love that. I used to love going to the zoo."
"Why don't you come with us?" Hotch questioned, without much thought to the offer.
"No, Hotch. I couldn't. I wasn't fishing for an invite when I said that."
"I know."
"I don't want to eat into your time with your son. Please don't pity my spinster lifestyle."
"Jack enjoys your company." He told her, before adding. "I enjoy your company. This isn't a pity invite, Emily. Either way, Jack and I will have a great time, but I imagine my son will be especially happy if 'Emmy' comes along. Please don't let that pressure you into accepting if you don't want to though. It's completely up to you. But the offer is sincere, if you would like to come."
In all honesty, Emily would have loved nothing more than to spend her Saturday at the zoo with Hotch and his son. But there was a little niggling feeling in the back of her mind that was holding her back from simply accepting the invitation without hesitation. "Look, the truth is, I don't want it to seem like I'm leading you on. I'm still really confused about my feelings for you. If I say yes to this, I'm accepting the offer to come along as your friend, Hotch. Nothing more."
"I know." He smiled softly at her. "I am extending the offer to you as a friend. Believe me, if I was attempting to romance you, I would hope you would expect more of me than a day at the zoo with an over-excited toddler."
Emily snickered quietly. "In that case, yes. Providing I shift whatever bug I have right now, I would love to come along to the zoo with you and Jack on Saturday."
"Perfect."