Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Emily felt out of place. Although she'd finally convinced Agent Hotchner to let her join the team at the BAU, he was still cold towards her. It was odd because when she first walked into his office the other day, he'd been so kind and extremely polite. He even remembered her being Ambassador Prentiss' daughter when she said her name. He even smiled.

She hadn't known any different at the time, seeing as how she wasn't the one working with him before and he hadn't acted much different or didn't seem like it at least.

She'd known him before, not too well, but she'd known him. This time, she was just trying to figure out where her desk was to set down the box she was holding filled with some of her belongings in. And he remembered her too... quite well.

Seeing as how he was so confused as to why she was there, her nerves got the best of her. His demeanor immediately changed towards her once she told him that she was there to start a new job. She couldn't believe that he just said there must've been a mixup with paperwork, thanked her for her interest, and walked away. She couldn't just let that be. She knew she had to fight for what she deserved. So she came back after a case was over that they were on.

Sitting in his office waiting for him to return, she became almost scared. Not knowing what was about to happen when he walked through the door.

Although she grew impatient the past few days waiting to get to talk to him, it gave her time to think of what she was going to say to him. She knew she was prepared to defend herself, she just had to keep reminding herself of that.

Now lost in her thoughts, she wasn't aware of the footsteps approaching until the door opened.

Hotch walked into his expectedly dark office carrying his briefcase in one hand. But a lamp was on, making it dimmed but not black. He knew he didn't leave the light on and almost reached for the gun still on his holster but then turned his head and saw Emily Prentiss sitting on the couch. She immediately sat up, with a look of fear and determination in her eyes. He understood that look.

There was something about her... he couldn't quite place it but something made him not look forward to this conversation they were about to have but was also glad to see her again. He didn't know why. Although these mixed emotions flowed through him, he was still dreading what he know was about to come out of her mouth.

He was so exhausted from the case and flight. All he wanted to do was go home after he finished writing up the report but now he had something else to deal with first.

"Agent Prentiss. Don't tell me you've been waiting here for four days.", he said, no amusement in his voice.

"No sir, I heard you were returning tonight. I've only been here about a half hour.", she replied, hands shaking a bit, heart pumping fast.

He started walking over to his desk, saying, "Listen I know what you're going to say and I appreciate your interest in joining the bureau. But you can't just walk in here and ask for the job. I'm sorry but you'll have to apply just like everyone else.", as the words came out of his mouth, he felt guilty.

He didn't mean to make her feel bad and almost apologized but didn't quite have the energy to and knew he probably wouldn't see her again anyways.

He sat his briefcase down and took a breath, hands on his hips.

She walked over to his desk, opposite side from him. "With all due respect, sir, I think you may be mistaken. There wasn't any mixup with paperwork. I did apply and was supposed to start on Monday.", she said, handing over some paperwork to him.

He reached one hand hand for it and kept the other on his hip. He looked them over, growing more and more confused. Seeing this confirmation that she was to be a part of their team now, excited him mildly but also made him feel uneasy. He'd been rude to her and it wasn't like him to disrespect anyone especially in the professional field.

"Alright, I see that now, I apologize. Although I am impressed with the work you've done for the FBI already, you have no experience in profiling or behavioral analysis in general. I don't see how this would be a good fit for you. Your skills may be put to better use in another field.", he handed the papers back to her and bent over just a bit to grab his own paperwork out from his brief case, not quite sitting down yet.

Not ready to give up, Emily decided she needed to prove herself. She set her papers down and started to speak, "The family murders in D.C. They all happen on a Friday night. All of them are a family of four. Mother, father, daughter, and son, both under 10 years old. He's a family annihilator. First, he goes to the kids rooms and kills them, leaves them with their arms crossed and tucked in their beds. That shows signs of remorse. He's somehow able to do all this without waking the parents who would normally pose as the greatest threats. So he probably has experience with this already, meaning there's more victims than we already know about. Then he somehow subdues the parents and brings them into the children's room to show them what he'd done and kills them right there in their room. Now, that says that he wants them to suffer the loss of their children because he takes their lives before the parents. Probably because he lost his own children at the hands of someone else and wants other parents to feel the same loss he experienced. He's sadistic in the way he kills and probably feeds on that. He's got a lot of anger but probably a lot of sadness built up too."

Hotch looked puzzled but he wouldn't let her know he was impressed at her profile so far.

"How would you proceed in narrowing down the search?", he asked, now crossing his arms in front of him, analyzing her body language and other behaviors and expressions.

"Uh- well, I would try and find a list of men in their late 30's who have suffered the loss of 2 children under the ages of 10, now divorced or widowed, then cross check that with the event happening on a Friday night around this time of year. Try and think of a potential trigger. And go over it with the team about why now and why does he choose these families. Take it from there...", she paused waiting for a response from him as he stayed looking at her with now one arm crossed at his chest and the other elbow resting on his arm with his hand on his chin and head slightly faced down to look at her.

He seemed to be thinking, concentrating, processing all this.

She could barely stay still with her hands together in front of her as she was waiting for a response from him still, her eyes wide.

"Alright. You can take the empty desk down there, next to Agent Morgan's. It's the only empty one. You can start tomorrow. Be here by 9:00 am and we'll go over everything else then. It's late and you should get some rest. I know I could use a bit of that." he sighed.

"Thank you so much sir, really, I will not let you down!", she perked up.

He couldn't help but show a small smile, suddenly feeling a bit more confident in the choice he had just made. And her excitement had some sort of effect on him, he couldn't quite explain but never having felt it before, it definitely wasn't bad.

She stood there for a minute as they just looked at each other. Suddenly, she felt butterflies and couldn't help but catch a sparkle in his eyes and began noticing his perfectly chiseled jawline and his dark eyes so intense as he stared into hers. She thought the way that his short hair had flopped to the side a little bit, slightly messy and out of place was kind of cute and made her want to walk over and fix it. Smiling back at him and holding his gaze, she realized what was happening and quickly snapped out of it.

She dropped her hands to her side and looked down quickly as he did the same and back up to refresh her mind.

"I'll uh- see you tomorrow.", she said, now heading for the door. She stopped in the doorway and turned around to look at him again. Feeling a sense of calm and peace this time, she said, "Thank you again sir.", pausing for a moment and then gave him a slight smile when he replied with a half nod and one of the corners of his mouth turned up a little bit.

As she turned back around and walked out, he couldn't help but his eyes linger after her walking down the steps and eventually the hall to the elevator.

Bringing his eyes back to in front of him in his office, he stared straight ahead and closed his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. He to redirect his thoughts. He felt a twinge of guilt creep up. What was he doing? What had just happened? He all of a sudden, couldn't get her out of his mind. It had been so long since he had seen her and he remembered the last time he had, he couldn't get her out of his mind then either.

Taking in a deep breath through his nose and out his mouth, he opened his eyes and sat down in his chair. He rested his hands on his desk and pulled himself closer and began writing the report, trying to keep himself focused on it and not let his mind wander elsewhere. He had to finish his work so he could get back to his wife and son at home.

Emily was riding down in the elevator and for once, felt her heart rate come back down to normal for the first time in days. Yet there was a strange feeling in her stomach and she all of a sudden, noticed she was smiling. She dropped her head down, almost embarrassed even though she was alone. She couldn't tell why.

Without trying to question it too much, her mind immediately went to Agent Hotchner. She wondered what made him change his mind about her so quickly. Why she felt warm inside when their eyes met and kept contact for what seemed like forever but not in a bad way. Why it felt so nice.

She noticed what was happening and she couldn't allow herself to get to that point. He was her new boss. She couldn't let herself pine after a married man with a baby who was in charge of the unit she was now a part of at the FBI. No, she had to shut it down, she told herself.

Once she got to ground level and the elevator dinged, she got off and walked out of the doors to the parking lot and got in her car.

She sat there for a moment and looked back at the building wondering, when does he go home? Does he just live here? How does he have time to be a family man when this job is his life? He's been married for a long time so he must be able to make it work.

She found herself impressed and oddly enough, jealous of his wife. The fact that she got probably one of the last decent men out there.

She noticed she was thinking about him again and shook her head as she put the keys in the ignition, started the car and drove off. Thinking about him some more as she drove home, knowing full well she wouldn't get much sleep that night, nervous enough about starting a new job tomorrow, now she had to keep herself focused on work and not him.

Little did she know, he was thinking the exact same thing.