Ten Months and Twenty-Six Days Later...
It had been luck. Or it would have been, had Agent Hotchner believed in luck.
He had honestly gotten tired of all the interviews. Too many candidates, and...
Emily. He hadn't expected her answer. He understood it, God, he understood it better than any of his team. He had felt the displacement when Emily had returned from the dead, and how it just changed the team. He knew she felt it too, and he'd watched as it had slowly torn her apart.
But he'd thought, naively perhaps, that this much time having passed, she would have wanted to return.
Two years. Surely that was enough.
"I'm sorry, Hotch, I really am. But I can't return."
That phone call had decided him. He simply wouldn't interview anyone else for the position. It was a closed matter, they didn't actually need another member.
But that very morning, a new file had landed on his desk, earmarked by the Director.
Check her out. I think she has great potential. And it'd be a pity if she's stuck in undercover work for the rest of her career here.
SSA Kate Callahan had looked almost too good to be true. With an impressive success rating—she'd closed well over half of her cases—and studies that had concentrated on behavioral analysis, her landing in undercover work had almost been a fluke.
But she'd done well there. Really well. Perps were, apparently, her forte, and she was currently closing in on one who took pictures of underage girls.
Hotch read through some remarks she'd made, and a small smile came to his face. Sarcastic, bold and unafraid.
It was worth a shot. He picked up the phone.
Ten months. Ten months and twenty-six days.
Kate pulled on a pair of black, heeled boots, turning in the mirror to check out the outfit. A smart black suit, a brand new haircut (it had been a while since she'd had short hair,) and lowkey makeup. Neutral lipstick, a white camisole under the jacket. She frowned at the mirror, sighed, and took the jacket off again. She peeled the camisole off, grabbing a black scoop neck instead, and redressed.
This was better, she reflected. The white had been too eye catching. She didn't want the BAU Unit Chief getting the wrong impression.
She hadn't applied for the job. He'd called Andi, and Andi had popped into her office to let her know. "Callahan, good news," she'd said. "There's an opening in the BAU and, I've been told, it has your name on it."
Things like that just didn't happen to Kate. She'd honestly tensed up a little, wondering what she'd done differently to get noticed like this. She'd long gotten used to never being in the spot light working with Andi, and she couldn't think of anything she'd done differently.
Not recently at any rate.
Ten months ago, however...ten months and twenty-six days. Kate swallowed, her cheeks coloring as she adjusted her jacket again. She grabbed her go-bag, and ignored her thoughts she left her apartment, pretending that a certain dark haired man wasn't on her mind.
A man whose fingers had moved her, a man whose voice was like sin.
She really didn't need to be thinking about sex right now. It was truly the last thing she needed...
Kate stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor. She was mentally going over the little speech she planned to give Agent Hotchner when a briefcase was suddenly, startlingly, crammed in between the elevator doors.
"Sorry," the man to whom the briefcase belonged said, breathless. "Hi."
"Morning," she said, getting over her surprise. "Which floor?"
"Sixth, pl—mm, you too," he'd replied. She didn't recognize him as Gideon's aide, but he recognized her. She tried to get back into the zone, but that was not to be.
"Karaoke, at the Benjamin," he suddenly said, interrupting her mental speech for the second time, and startling her almost more than he had when he'd stopped the elevator.
"Excuse me?"
"You were singing karaoke at the Benjamin, the night it closed," he answered, explaining himself.
Kate felt her stomach swirl, and only years of training kept her face neutral. What had he noticed? Had he seen her leave with that guy?
Fuck. That guy. Agent Rossi hadn't invited that many different departments-
What if Aaron was part of the BAU?
Her mind entirely froze, and she wondered what the possibilities were. Surely not. Right?
"I...was. Good memory," she recovered, stumbling over her words. "Billy Joel might have died a little that night," she joked, suddenly remembering him as one of the tipsy group with Agent Rossi.
The agent hadn't registered her pause; if he had, at least, he didn't comment on it. "Sadly, he was not the only one," he replied. "He got us started, but we went on to do a six song set."
"The eighties took a fatal hit if I remember correctly," she said, finally recovering. Seemed like he just remembered her duet with Ashley; that wasn't too surprising. They had really gotten into it, after all.
As an awkward silence fell over them, she tried to get back into remembering her speech, but felt a sudden, desperate urge to keep the conversation going. She wanted to distract from her earlier silence. "Have you seen the place that took over? It's, like, techno and twerking."
"Uh, that's not really my crowd," the agent replied, and Kate tossed it right back at him.
"What?" Kate asked. "You don't twerk?"
She'd gone too far. The look on his face said it all, as he struggled to find an answer to her question.
"I was just—I was kidding," she said. "I don't twerk."
"Yeah," he said. "Well, it's nice to see you again."
The doors opened, and Kate stepped out.
"First floor, top of the stairs," he said, pointing out an office. She was almost startled, before remembering where she was.
She'd be working with profilers if she got this job. She'd better get used to the, well, profiling.
Now that she was thinking about it, she recognized the three people waiting right inside the bullpen as well. Two blondes, and a tall black man. They'd also been in Agent Rossi's group.
She felt a funny feeling in her stomach, and she tried to calm the nerves.
She saw another man, and almost jumped out of her skin, but it wasn't Aaron.
She headed up the ramp, breathing deep, and smartly rapped on the door to Agent Hotchner's office. The plaque on his door didn't have a first name.
"Come in," the voice on the other side commanded. Her hand froze on the doorknob. Deep, timbered. She shook off the worries. She knew perfectly well that many men had similar voices.
There was no way. She steeled herself as memories flooded in. A deep voice panting her fake name. Strong hands holding her together and then making her fall apart. Lips that left marks on her chest that didn't fade for weeks. A body that had been the sole focus of all of her wet dreams since then. She knew it was highly unrealistic that the man on the other side of the door was Aaron. She didn't know the math, but she knew it statistically improbable.
And yet. Agent Rossi hadn't invited that many departments. Andi's unit had really only gotten invited because of Ashley. There weren't too many other options for where Aaron could have worked. And he was obviously high up enough that the guy had backed off when he'd appeared.
She drew in one more breath, exhaled, and pasted a smile on her face as she opened the door.
Agent Hotchner was standing with his back toward her, finishing up a phone call, but she could still recognize him. She would have recognized him anywhere.
He placed the phone down, and turned around, an apology on his lips. "I'm so sorry," he said, started forward to shake her hand, but his gaze swept up her body, and the words died on his lips.
Kate tried to break the silence, but as their gazes met, she found herself just as struck as he was. She swallowed, stuck out a suddenly sweat hand, and forced herself to speak the words she should have memorized by now. "I'm Agent Kate Callahan," she said. "Sex Crimes under Andi Swann."
Agent Hotchner responded quickly, snapping out of his haze. "Agent Aaron Hotchner," he said, and she flushed deeply when he stuttered saying the Aaron.
That only made him more flustered, and she could already tell that Aaron Hotchner wasn't a man that got flustered often.
"Sit down," he said, going to his side of the desk. Kate quickly grabbed a seat as well, looking around at how massive the piles of files on his desk were.
"The piles of files aren't usually this high. Our Section Chief is overseas, and we're down an agent," he said, trying to make space on his desk to place her file.
"I heard that SSA Blake transferred back to Boston. Listen," she said, voice earnest. Thing was, she knew she could do this job. She knew she'd do well at this job.
But she couldn't take it under these circumstances. She'd never be able to stop doubting whether or not she'd been given it under her own merits. Besides, he was probably about to tell her that it was out of the question regardless.
"I think it's obvious this won't work out," she finally said.
"Why is that obvious?" He asked, gaze flickering up to meet hers, and she was almost surprised at how shuttered it was. He'd turned his emotions back off.
"Well, our...history," she said lamely, waving a hand between them.
"Per our...history," he said, no telltale flush as had been earlier. "I think we agreed that we'd not reference it if we came across each other again."
"Of course," she said, and now she didn't know what to say.
He moved some paperwork until he found her file. "You have an impressive success rating, and your supervisor speaks very highly of you," he began, and looked back up at her. Kate's breath caught. "Honestly, Agent Callahan, you were as good as hired long before you stepped foot in my office. I think you'll be a valuable asset to the team."
She worked to find the words. "Agent Hotchner, I'm flattered, and I've worked hard to get where I am, but-"
"But what?" He asked, eyes flashing with a momentary emotion. "Listen, whatever happened between us is in the past. Your eight years with the Bureau and your undercover work convince me that you'll fit right in, and I need someone like you on my team right now."
She fought the shiver at his words. Need.
"Please don't think me asking you to come on board has anything to do with-" He began, but the door to his office was burst open, and he stopped abruptly.
"I know, I'm interrupting," one of the blonde agents from earlier said, opening his door.
"Uh, Garcia, this is Kate Callahan. She'll be joining the team," Agent Hotchner said, and Kate's gaze, momentarily swung to Garcia, snapped back to the man on the other side of the desk.
"Hello! I know you," Garcia exclaimed, and Kate turned back to Garcia, forcing a smile. "He's at it again in Bakersfield," Garcia said hurriedly.
"I know, I'll be right there," Agent Hotchner said, turning back for one last piece of paperwork.
"Agent Hotchner, I haven't made my decision yet," she said.
"Call me Hotch," he said, standing up. "And there isn't time."
"I know, it's the third victim," she finished. "I was honestly surprised you hadn't made the trip yet."
"We've been consulting," he said, almost shortly, and raised an eyebrow at her.
"But you haven't made the trip to California?" She said, finding herself standing as well.
"We're about to," Agent Hotchner said. "Do you have a go-bag?"
"I am like a Boy Scout, sir," she said, another smile twitching at her lips. "Always prepared."
He turned away, and she wondered if he was flushed again. "Listen, you don't have to make any decisions right now," he said, grabbing another file. "But come out on this case, consult with us. Make your decision when we get back."
"Okay,' she said, reconsidering her earlier position. He'd made it clear that he'd planned on hiring Kate long before "Liz" walked through the door. And honestly, she owed it to herself to see if she could make a go out of this. "I'll come with you to California."
A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "Good girl," he said, and the words shocked her so much she wondered if she'd imagined them, but Hotch was already moving, leading her out of his office. He had morphed into the exemplar of professionalism, and she could tell he had zero plans of acknowledging their past after they left his office.
Which was good. Wasn't it?