AN: I've been spoilt by AO3 because I had forgotten how horrible fan is when it comes to publishing a new story. Why can't you guys just let me format my own document the way I see it?
Rant aside, this story is set after S14E6 and is Luke/ Prentiss although the whole thing's more of a drabble. I'm not a fan of the whole Luke/ Lisa pairing but I did like the chemistry between Luke and Prentiss in S12E3 and then in S13E4 but nothing ever came of it.
AU because I'm assuming JJ and Prentiss knew Luke before he joined the team
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"Everything all right?", Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss of the Behavioural Analysis Unit asked her colleague and friend, Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi when she found the profiler hovering in the doorway
"You know it's funny", the white-haired senior member of the team said entering the office and seating himself at her desk with his usual flair. "I was about to ask you the same thing. I mean, it's close to four – AM – and I know your paperwork can't have taken you that long. So what's going on with you?"
Prentiss's stare said, 'You're still here', but Rossi didn't take the bait. He knew her well enough to avoid her traps. Her eyes shifted to the bullpen despite herself and Rossi turned in the direction to see lamps turned on in two of the desks, one of which was momentarily unoccupied
"Kid's just gone for coffee. He's got Luke", he said noticing her concern
"I know". Not willing to prolong the agony she caved. "I suspended him Dave and demoted him. I wasn't satisfied with taking his gun. I turned him back into a Special Agent"
"If you hadn't OPR would have", Rossi said but knew that was only a part of it; a miniscule part of it, he suspected. "You feel like a hypocrite"
She nodded. "Unfortunately he's not the first person in this team to go off the rails. We've all had our personal causes"
"You won't get any arguments from me", Rossi said raising his hands defensively. Off the lot of them he had been and still was the worst at following orders. "But this team you know well can't afford further scrutiny"
"I know", Prentiss repeated. "I mean with Reid's arrest and then everything with Barnes… ironically enough I could've gotten him out of it. I mean after Barnes, I don't know the brass could've technically given me a bit of leeway, especially considering an Agent died"
"Then why didn't you?", Rossi asked settling back, legs crossed, fingers wrapped around one knee.
Prentiss' eyes had gone back to the forlorn figure of Special Agent Luke Alvez. Tall and dark, Luke normally had a cheerful, laughing face and kind brown eyes which twinkled when he was amused. But Prentiss had been an undercover agent first and later a profiler. She had learnt to look past appearances and to her those brown orbs had always held a shadow of pain and darkness in them. Luke was dangerous, this she understood. Hell she was dangerous. They all including bookish genius Dr. Spencer Reid and the grandfatherly Rossi knew too many different ways of ending the life of a human being
Luke Alvez had also been an undercover agent, with the fugitive task force of the FBI. He was as he had once confessed to Rossi, a man hunter, able to blend in with the worst of the worst in order to bring them in. He had an enviable record, one of the reasons her former boss Aaron Hotchner had wanted him in the team. That and his dedication to justice. Dedication, which she had seen go out the window when he went after Jeremy Grant with a tenacity that had scared her
"He lied to you"
Rossi's words, a blow to her gut, she knew were true but that wasn't what had her sitting in her office at 4 AM. She didn't hate the fact that he had gone after Grant. She had expected him to and his excuse to her after Phil's death had been weak. She didn't even hate the fact that she had figured out what he wanted immediately but had taken the time to give Garcia her instructions. After all she hadn't wanted to believe that straight-edged army ranger Luke Alvez would disobey a direct order
"Technically I never gave him an order", she found herself saying only realising she'd been answering her own question instead of Rossi's when he raised an eyebrow eloquently
"You told him he couldn't be a part of the case"
"Yes I did. But I didn't make it an order"
Rossi seemed amused more than perplexed. "Well, if it helps I'm sure he knew what you meant"
The conversation paused as they observed Reid bring Luke a coffee. That finally seemed to distract Luke from the fascinating file he'd been staring at for more than ten minutes. Lifting his head up and rubbing his tired eyes, he flashed the young genius a shadow of his normal grin as a thank you.
"I never thought Reid would let another person in after Morgan left", Rossi observed.
"They don't share the same relationship". Seemingly distracted she played with her fingernails a clear sign she was upset or nervous. Rossi was willing to bet on both.
"Yeah I know", he said and she could hear the smile. She was avoiding him and they both knew it
"Luke's a protector too but he doesn't smother Reid like Derek sometimes did. He respects Reid"
"As evidenced by the fact that he will listen to Reid drabble on for hours", Rossi said dryly. "You can't be jealous cos you know neither of them's gay"
"What?", Prentiss squeaked more surprised that Rossi had brought the subject up now. She had expected him to figure it out at least after her suspension a few months ago. "I bet on Garcia", she said with a rueful smile. "JJ", she added answering the unasked question
"C'mon Luke can't be that stupid. I mean she's more discrete than… even you. And if it helps I don't think Garcia knows"
Prentiss shrugged. "We've been careful enough with calls and messages. And we make sure to never meet outside too much". She shook her head when he looked saddened. "We were both undercover long enough. Paranoia's natural for both of us"
"Doesn't mean it's right". He hadn't expected an answer so he moved on. "He doesn't care that you're the boss?"
"C'mon Dave, he's not a misogynist. I couldn't have fallen for him if he was"
"That's not what I meant"
"I know". She paused as if gathering her thoughts. "He's never had trouble following orders. Under normal circumstances in any case. He took me out to this great place in the countryside to celebrate when he found out", she admitted with a nostalgic smile that had Rossi feeling happy. He saw the entire BAU team as his children but Prentiss, Garcia, JJ and Reid were always going to hold a special place in his heart
"So he treats you right then? Cos if not… Wait what about Mark?"
She hesitated. "We've broken up a few times and Mark was… one of those times"
"But you were serious about him"
"Yes", Prentiss admitted. "Luke and I had hit a rough patch and Mark was there for me"
"So how long have you been dating?"
Somehow she'd been expecting that question. She chuckled and stood up. She'd just seen Reid leave, there was just the custodial staff and Dave now and she was tired of hiding for once. "I'll see you tomorrow", she said gathering up her bag.
Rossi saw her go to Luke and say something. Whatever the suggestion was, Luke rebuffed it but the senior profiler reserved judgement. Luke had been through the hell of not just losing a fellow soldier but a close friend and Rossi could cut him some slack. Prentiss looked both disappointed and resigned when she straightened. With a glance at her office and a reassuring smile she exited the double doors.
"All nighter then?", he asked Luke a few minutes later and the normally observant man jumped
"I thought everyone left". Rossi could literally see the wheels turn and decided to spare him the trouble.
"You were hovering after Scratch's death. You hid it well mind you, cos I didn't see it at the hospital but once we got her back…"
Luke smiled shyly out of the corner of his lips his eyes back on what Rossi noticed was a closed file. "I bet on JJ"
"I know. Emily told me". Luke shifted and Rossi sighed. "Break her heart and I'll kill you"
"Dave", Luke said quietly
Rossi hesitated usually not one to spare anyone when they were being stupid. "Look kid, I know it's none of my business and I know you're a good person but…" He knew he needed to choose his words carefully. "Pushing people away is not the answer". Luke's jaw clenched and Rossi knew he was somehow both right and wrong. "I'll see you tomorrow son", he said surprising Luke with the endearment.
"Good night Dave"
Rossi really hoped the greeting didn't mean what he suspected it meant
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"You needn't have stayed up", a tired Luke said finding Prentiss on the couch at 7 AM
"If I go to bed now it'll mess up my sleep schedule", Prentiss said nodding at the bag
"Bakery down the street. Figured you might be hungry". His smile was small but real; even if the brown eyes still seemed haunted. "I'm guessing we have the day off", he said all but collapsing next to her
"The next couple of days actually. Director's orders"
"Yeah ok. Roxy's still at the sitter's?" He was filling up the for once uncomfortable silence. "I can go pick her…"
"I'm not gonna approve a transfer request", she said firmly and he sat back down
"I thought you might not want me back on the team". His words were a knife to her gut. "I disobeyed a direct order". And he was twisting it in now. One look at his face though and she knew he really did mean it. He wasn't being cruel. He had just read her wrong
"Yes to both", she said far more hurt than she wanted to be. She tried to tell herself that Luke was for once off his game because his head was elsewhere. But the thought that he hadn't trusted her nagged at her. "But that doesn't mean the BAU should lose a good profiler"
His head snapped up his shock plain. He had hurt her so she had hurt him back but he was seeing it only now. And what about us, he seemed to ask. Her lack of answer had him standing up. "I'll go pick Roxy up". She didn't stop him this time
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"It's 6 AM, Em and it's our day off", Special Agent Jenifer 'JJ' Jareau said finding Prentiss at her office the next morning. "Garcia called me", she said at the question she could read. "Said she wanted to talk to you but didn't know if she should bother you or not…"
"So she tracked my phone first". Prentiss rarely saw what Penelope Garcia, the team's technical analyst and genius hacker extraordinaire did as an invasion of privacy but certain days… "I couldn't sleep. Figured I'd get ahead of the paperwork for once"
JJ sat down at the desk her eyes going to the bullpen. "I never noticed how quiet it is… All right fine I'll spare the small talk", she said with a chuckle when Prentiss looked annoyed. "No I didn't know for certain. Yes I suspected just like Dave. And if it helps Reid, Tara and Matt are definitely clueless. Garcia I'm not sure of. Although Will knows", she said referring to her husband William La Montagne Jr.
"Why did she call you then?", Prentiss asked and JJ shrugged.
"I wasn't asleep either. I was out on a run. Yes Will and I are fine. No you're not changing the subject. Is he mad at you? What word travels fast and everyone knows about the disciplinary action?"
Prentiss sighed. "He's mad at himself", she said giving in. She needed someone to talk to and Luke had shut her out. "He thinks he's disappointed me"
"Has he?"
"Yes. But not for the reason he thinks"
"You were worried he'd get himself killed"
"We can all get ourselves killed anytime we walk out that door", Prentiss retorted far more heatedly than she should have
"You didn't just take his badge Em, you took his gun"
"OPR took his gun". Her hand went to her face. "I hate profilers", she mumbled drawing a small laugh from JJ. "He scared me to death but I never… I've never doubted he could come out on top JJ, not in a fight"
"You thought he'd really kill Grant", JJ realised leaning forward. "You really thought he'd break the law, break his oath"
"Yes", Prentiss said softly her mind suddenly far away. "I judged him JJ. After everything with… I judged him far more harshly than he deserved"
"So tell him that", JJ said with another casual shrug instinctively knowing it wasn't that easy for Prentiss. She paused parsing the sentence. The light bulb went off. "You've been together since Doyle"
"Yup, I definitely hate profilers. I knew he was the one you got the ID from. How did you know him anyways?"
"State Department", JJ said after a long moment. "Luke was in Iraq the same time I was and he had good contacts. Contacts outside the bureau that Hotch and I didn't have."
"You were in Afghanistan", Prentiss said
"Yes I was"
"JJ"
"Emily". Prentiss gave up. JJ had never been completely honest with anyone about her days with the State Department. She doubted even Will knew. JJ's hands played with the necklace at her throat, her tell
"Will?", Prentiss asked noticing the design
"And the boys. I'm lucky to have him"
"Oh we all know", Prentiss said with a teasing smile. "You guys make me jealous"
JJ blinked. "Will and I make it work Em and I literally mean work. Relationships take work. You know all you gotta do is talk to Luke"
"It's not that easy Jayje and for the record, he's worse than me"
"He's a guy". That drew an unexpected laugh. "But he's also a good guy Em. He cares. About everyone. He's one of those people who wants to save the world in a good way"
"If you'd done this a day earlier I would've owed him a hundred. Rossi", she said at the confused look and JJ chuckled
"Not too surprising. Go home Em. I know I was never your boss but as your friend… that's an order. Go home and talk to him. Before it's too late for the both of you"
What if it's too late for us anyway?
Prentiss went back to her paperwork
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"I didn't think you'd come", Luke said and Prentiss had to acknowledge that this time his statement had been valid
"Your truck was home and I thought you might need a ride"
He turned back to look at Phil's family still huddled around the priest, making sure everything would be ready for the service to be held two days later. "I'm taking the next few days", he said at last and she shrugged. She did not want to discuss the BAU here. "Gimme a sec", he muttered exhausted and nervous. She shot him what he hoped was a reassuring smile and his face softened. "Gotta say goodbye"
She unlocked the car as an answer and watched him jog back to the others. The small talk and the easy smile was so Luke. Though she had never met his family – not for lack of insistence on his part – she could imagine this was how he was with them as well. The darkness surrounding him seemed less claustrophobic, his manner seemed more open, he seemed more human. Or maybe it was just the nostalgia talking. She shook herself. Meeting families wasn't her. They worked cos he got that and didn't push after a point
She paused JJ's words getting to her. They worked, she knew, suspected, because he did most of the work. Not that she didn't care, but she could be closed off, cold if she wanted to
The passenger side door opened and she startled taking in his tired profile. Her heart went out to him. He was grieving, hurting badly. Phil had been important to Luke – Grant had gone after him for a reason – but she hadn't known just how much till now
Suddenly she knew she wasn't the only one closed off
What if it's too late for us anyway?
The question refused to let her go.
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The BAU team attended the service as a group. Phil Brooks hadn't just been an agent of the FBI. He had been for all intents and purposes Luke's family and Luke was theirs.
And the team had always put family first.
They all went back to Rossi's afterwards, even Luke who had been chased off by one of Phil's sisters with orders to the entire team to make sure he got some rest. 'And some lovin'', she had said with a kiss to Luke's cheek. 'Phil would've wanted nothing less than your happiness'
For once Luke drank like a man dying of thirst. Rossi had left a few choice bottles beside him and gone to cook for the rest of the team, with Reid and Garcia helping. Prentiss whose skills in the kitchen were minimal at best – and Luke was worse which meant they lived off restaurant food and the occasional home cooked meal Garcia supplied her boss – had joined Matt and Tara in the back.
"I can't get him to talk to me", she heard Tara tell Matt. Tara and Luke were close. Not surprising considering they had joined the team one after the other. Luke especially with the shadow of Morgan hanging over all of them had found it easier to partner with the African-American who had known Morgan the least and didn't feel the loss the rest of them did.
"He needs time Tara. There's no other magical cure", Matt Simmons a former soldier who had unfortunately seen more than his share of funerals said. "Luke's tough. He'll bounce back"
"He cared about Phil, Matt. They were close", Tara retorted. "Luke once told me Phil was the brother he'd never had"
Prentiss stiffened, her eyes close to filling up, her face crumpling. Her emotions surprised her. She'd never been the jealous type and she knew what Luke and Tara had was only friendship. But Luke had talked to Tara, actually talked. Told her about his relationship with the man who she now suspected meant the world to him.
Probably more than his family, probably… definitely more than her
"You all right?", JJ asked from behind her and she jumped. She wondered how long the blond had been standing there. "Been calling your name five minutes."
"I… I need to get out of here", she said hand searching for her keys. "I'm gonna go home and…"
"Emily what's wrong?", JJ asked suddenly worried. Her friend looked… she looked worse than Luke and that was saying something
"Nothing… I… I'm just tired and…"
"And if you leave now everyone's gonna know something's wrong"
"They already know", Prentiss said curtly. "I'll see you at work".
JJ's sigh followed her out
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She refused to let him in when he turned up at her house close to ten PM. She told herself that he had to be drunk and she didn't want to see him like this. He called her thrice, left her two voice mails and left after one last quiet knock. She didn't cry herself to sleep only because she didn't fall asleep
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They had one iron clad rule. No talk about themselves at work. Not even in private, even if no one was around, even if they knew they were outside camera range. She had broken the rule the night of Phil's death but knew Luke was far more disciplined than her. So when he walked into her office at noon the next day under the pretext of dropping a file off she really was surprised.
He never said a word. Never opened his mouth. But his expressive eyes did all the talking.
She read the hurt and the betrayal clearly. "Thought you were taking a few", she said to fill the awkward silence when he just stood there and he blinked. He had been looking through her to God knew where
He mumbled an answer she didn't hear and walked off to his desk
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The dance lasted three days before Garcia called her out. "Newbie's hurting". She sighed at the stab of pain Prentiss didn't cover up. "C'mon Emily he went after the guy who killed… that's not why you're mad at him".
"Do we have a case?", she asked Garcia her tone cold but the blond knew all of her defence mechanisms well enough to not bother
"No but I…"
"Garcia", she said curtly and Garcia gave in even if she wasn't happy about it
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While Garcia attacked Prentiss head on, Rossi tried Luke, but had to acknowledge defeat when Luke kept his comments to his trouble at work. Whatever problems with his life at the moment though he still gave it his all for the case and Prentiss saw enough to put him in the field when she needed him. For once she didn't feel like she was cutting him some slack. They were all running out of time and bodies and he was more useful chasing the bad guy.
Mendoza she knew had gotten under her skin. The guy was handsome, charming and just as brave and foolhardy as a certain army ranger she knew. Luke might not have been as stupid to literally put himself in the killer's hands but he would've tried to do everything to get the hostage out alive too. Mendoza almost got himself killed for it and Prentiss feeling the pinch of guilt even if it was her temporary partner's decision decided to pay him a visit before she went home
And he handed her a bombshell when he asked her out. She should've declined his offer immediately. She was still technically with Luke after all and she definitely wasn't the cheating type. But she found herself agreeing to drinks after work one day lying to herself that it was just something between friends
It didn't take Luke long to find out about it either. Gossip in the FBI wasn't too bad but they were all humans. He didn't talk to her about it, was still friendly enough to her and still treated her with the same respect he had the day she'd been promoted to Hotch's role. But she knew without even saying the words that they were somehow done
That it was too late for them