AN: Here is the next chapter I hope you enjoy it.
I also have a story note. I'm going to be adding a 2nd companion story. It should be fairly short(~7 chapters). It will be a Prentiss/Reid friendship piece that will focus on the time between Jones and Ashes and Dust. I have already started writing it and will post as soon as it's ready. The title will be Secrets, Half-Truths and Statistics
Emily rolled onto her back onto the mat, exhausted. She laid her arm over her eyes while she took a few deep breaths. She had just spent the last couple of hours finishing her hand to hand evaluation with Morgan. Or at least she was hoping they were finished.
She had gone into it with her full focus wanting to complete this last step that Hotch had been saying he needed to fully have her in the field. She was ready, had been ready to be back in the field. Hopefully now that they were done Morgan felt the same so Hotch would give her the green light.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Morgan say, "you OK, Princess?" She rolled her eyes internally at the nickname. He had been using it since they arrived to rile her up. That was until she pinned him on the mat. This was the first time he had used it since then.
The nickname had started when she went out with Morgan and Garcia the previous Friday evening. That evening out had come about after Emily and Garcia had coffee shortly after they returned from Connecticut. Garcia had spent much of the 15 minutes apologizing and Emily recognized that she was sincere. Before they headed back to the BAU that day, they made plans to have lunch a couple of days later. It was at lunch that Garcia had invited her out with her and Morgan.
While out, the two had informed her that they were bestowing her with her team nicknames. That each of them had them. When Emily left that night, she had the nicknames of 'princess' and 'gumdrop' though she had been told that Garcia reserved the right to change or add to them at any time so she could end up with even more as time when on.
With her arm still over her eyes, Emily responded, "Yup. I'm good" though she didn't move.
Morgan huffed and then said gruffly, "I'm off to shower before we head back. You may want to do the same. Hotch is expecting us back." before she heard him walk away.
Taking her arm off her eyes, Emily could see Derek limping as he walked towards locker room.
Emily sat up and sighed, hoping that she hadn't messed things up with Morgan. Shaking her head she stood up and headed for the locker room.
####
Hotch was sitting at his desk looking down at the bullpen. The only person from the team that he saw was Reid sitting at his desk, doing something. What he wasn't sure. Hotch shook his head as he thought about how Reid had been off since he came back to work after Georgia. He was giving Reid time to work through what happened to him along with the mandated psych and medical sign offs that were needed.
But as time went on, Reid did not seem to be improving or working through what happened to him. He wasn't talking to anyone on the team about it either. If anything he was becoming more irritable and erratic with everyone however his most frequent target had been Prentiss.
So far she hadn't said anything to him however if things continued as it had over the last week or so, it was only a matter of time. And when she did, he would have no choice but to address Spencer's behavior with him.
Hotch looked down and rubbed his face. He had been avoiding confronting Spencer as had Gideon. They had both let him know they were there for him however hadn't gone any further.
Honestly he was hoping that Spencer would come to one of them. After what happened with Elle, he was worried if they confronted Reid right now, he would just up and quit as well. And if he left, they couldn't help him.
Looking back out of the bullpen at Reid, Hotch's thoughts were interrupted when Emily entered the bullpen.
Morgan and Prentiss had been scheduled to spend time that afternoon at the gym for Morgan to finish assessing her hand to hand skills. Hotch could see that Emily could handle herself from the limited role he had allowed her in the field however her file said she had worked a desk job. That transition could leave holes in a person's skill set. The results from these assessments gave Hotch the necessary information about capability of all team members to ensure he did not place someone into a situation in the field they wouldn't be able to handle.
He watched Emily walk over to her desk and greet Reid. He looked up at her and said something before looking back down at his desk. Hotch did not miss how Emily's shoulders dropped at whatever he said. He watched as she shook her head and walked over the break room, returning a couple of minutes later with a coffee cup. She took her gym bag that she had placed in her chair when she first arrived at her desk, placed it under her desk and sat down, getting back to work.
After 30 minutes, Hotch notices that Morgan still hadn't returned to the bullpen. This was unusual as he had always came to Hotch immediately after the skills sessions to give his assessment of the team member's field abilities.
But today that hadn't happened. And generally if he was held up in the gym he would send a text message. And, looking at his phone, Morgan hadn't done that either. Hmm. Hotch knew they went to the gym. He had seen them leave together, bags in hand. Starting to get worried, he sending a message off to Morgan.
####
Derek Morgan hadn't been this sore in a while. The shower and Motrin had helped but his butt was still dragging. As he got up to walk out of the locker room, he noticed that he had a limp. Thankfully it was not the leg that he injured in college.
He sighed. All of this was his own fault. He had underestimated Emily Prentiss and now he was paying for it. He had seen this beautiful vivacious woman who he outweigh by around 60 pounds and had 5 inches on. Looks can be deceiving. As far as he knew she hadn't worked in the field recently. So he messed with her a bit while also lowering his guard. That had been a monumental mistake.
He decides he needs to take a walk to loosen up his muscles before heading back. If he walks into the bullpen limping this much, he will never hear the end of it. He also needed to decide what he wanted to tell Hotch. It was clear to him that she could handle herself with hand to hand even against someone significantly bigger. Yes, she had gotten the better of him but he knew he hadn't been putting up much of a challenge at that point. UNSUBs weren't going to do that.
With weapons, she had also done well. On more than one occasion he had been glad they were using props and not real knives. As he was pulling together his thoughts and heading back to the BAU, his phone beeped with a message. From Hotch. Asking if everything was OK and when he was coming back. Morgan quickly send a brief response letting Hotch know he should be there shortly.
####
As Morgan walks into the bullpen, Hotch notices the limp. He chuckles to himself as himself as he realizes that it probably had something to do with Morgan's delay in returning to the bullpen. He watches Morgan drop his bag at his desk and walk past a now very nervous Prentiss. Interesting.
After Derek entered his office and sat in one of the visitor chairs, Hotch walked over and closed his blinds the rest of the way. He walked back to his desk and sat down.
"So how did it go?" Hotch asked.
Morgan shook his head as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of Hotch's desk before saying, "she can hold her own in the field, Hotch." He quietly chuckled.
Hotch nodded as he said, "Good. Any areas of concern?"
Morgan shook his head as he said, "no, she did well" without elaborating.
Hotch smirked before asking, "How did she get you?"
Morgan looked up at him surprised before chuckling as he shook his head before he asked,"that obvious?"
Hotch nodded before he answered, "the limp and her worried look gave it away."
Morgan shook his heading knowing he should have expected his boss to pick up on the limp though he hadn't noticed Prentiss looking worried when he walked through the bullpen, "well, the limp is better. And it is totally my fault. I underestimated her and wasn't prepared. I wasn't expecting her to be that skilled."
Hotch shook he head and then looked right at Morgan as he said sternly, "and that type of assumption can be dangerous in the field."
Morgan nodded and held his arms up as he answered, "I know Hotch. I know. I've been kicking myself for the last hour over that. Like I said, it is totally my fault."
Hotch looked at his closed blinds before looked back at Morgan and asked, "Did you tell her that?" as he gestured towards the blinds with his head, curious as to what the answer would be.
Morgan nodded as he answered, "yes, but she may need to hear it from you too. I just wasn't expecting that level of skill from a desk jockey." He remembered that she had done well last time before he stopped the assessment however how she did today was so far beyond just proficient.
Hotch sighed before asking, "how did she react when you were prepared?"
"She can hold her own." Morgan said not adding that she had froze initially when he had her down on the mat the first time before continuing, "she passed my test."
Like Hotch and Gideon, Morgan had his own test within a test that he used with each new agent. For him it was to see if the agent would give up when pinned before tapping out. With Prentiss, he had her pinned with her hands pinned over her head. When she froze, he had loosened his hold slightly and then before he knew it she had turned the tables on him and he was looking up at her with the upper hand.
Hotch nodded before replying, "Good."
Morgan then remembering something that he hadn't expected next said, "she knows about pressure points. At one point, I had her in a lock. She reached up and pressed on my shoulder. When I started losing feeling in my arm, she pulled free and resumed a defensive stance."
Hotch looked at him confused before asking, "so she didn't try to take you down while your arm was numb?"
Morgan stopped and thought before he shook his head and said, "not right away, when I was starting to get feeling back, she did attack and take me to the mat. I definitely wasn't expecting that, it isn't even SOP in FBI training."
Hotch nodded before saying, "well that may be true but the job isn't the only place to learn hand to hand. She grew up with all over the world surrounded by embassy security. She started with defense training in her early teens so she could protect herself. I don't know if she continued with the defense training, though it appears she did, after she refused her parents' security when she turned 18." He remembered her mother lamenting that Emily had refused security when he started working for her not realizing at the time that the daughter she was talking about was the beautiful woman he had met two months earlier.
Morgan rolled his eyes before responding, "that would have been helpful to know before we went today.
Hotch nodded as he said, "maybe. But you still shouldn't have underestimated her or in the future anyone else for that matter. More times than not we're not going to know that information on UNSUBs either."
Morgan sighed and nodded before saying, "true. She also did well with weapons."
Hotch nodded remembering how well she had also done at the gun range a few weeks earlier, "Good. Any concerns?"
Morgan shook his head and stood up before saying, "no. Feel free to partner her with me anytime. I have no worries about her being able to cover my back."
Hotch nodded and then said, "OK. Thanks Morgan. Would you send Agent Prentiss up?
"Sure Hotch" Morgan said before he walked out the door.
It was a couple of minutes later when he heard a knock on his still open door. Hotch looked up to see Emily standing there attempting to look confident however he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. Gesturing her in, he said, "Come in."
"Derek said you wanted to see me." Emily said as she walked into his office.
"Yes, come in and have a seat. How did you gym session go?" Hotch gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk as he asked her the question.
Emily shrugged as she said, "OK"
Hotch tried to remain serious however a smirk became slightly visible as he said, "Just OK. The team's field training agent just came back a little worse for wear after your gym session. And you think it just went OK."
Emily sank down in her seat before saying quietly, "I didn't mean to hurt him."
Hotch nodded and then said sincerely, "I know. And you shouldn't have been able to, at least not the way you did. He underestimated you. You did what you were trained to do, he didn't. He knows that now and I don't anticipate him repeating it. And don't worry. I think the only significant injury was to his ego."
"Understood, sir." Emily responded relaxing as she could see that Hotch wasn't angry with her. This was very different than similar meeting she had had with him when she first started at the BAU.
Hotch was pleased that Emily had relaxed. He paused and then remembered the question that had come to mind when he was speaking to Derek so he said, "a question. Morgan mentioned you utilized pressure points to get out of a lock."
She nodded as she said, "yes, he has about 70 pounds and 4 inches on me. I knew how to do it without causing injury."
Hotch nodded and then continued, "When he released you he said you went into a defensive posture rather than use the weakness to your advantage to take him down. Why?"
Emily nodded as she realized where he was going with the question before she answered, "with an UNSUB, I would have used it to my advantage and had him or her in cuffs before the arm had feeling again. Today, I made the tactical decision to get free and be able to protect myself until his arm started to wake up."
He nodded but pushed her to fully answer the question when he asked, "But why. These sessions are suppose to be simulating real takedowns. Why did you do something different?"
Emily sighed before answering, "I knew I was next going to take Morgan to the mat and pin him. It was going to put him off balance and he was going to try to catch himself with his arms. I had just made his arm numb. I didn't want him to hurt or break his arm because he couldn't feel it. Pressure points aren't textbook. I didn't want to have him out of the field or handicap the team for 8 weeks because a training accident using a non textbook maneuver, something he wouldn't be expecting."
Hotch sat back in his seat and looked at her sternly as he asked, "then why did you do it."
Emily sighed and shook her head before answering, "instinct. When I found myself in the lock I just did it. Gut reaction. If I was going to attempt to take him down after doing that, it would have to be something we discussed and agreed upon beforehand."
Hotch looked at her for a couple of minutes making Emily nervous about what his reaction was going to be. Then he nodded and said, "I appreciate you honesty."
Emily let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding before asking, "so, am I good?"
Hotch nodded before saying, "yes. And I'm now comfortable putting you in the field. And to illustrate there are no hard feelings, Morgan has said that he would partner up with you anytime."
Emily smiled back at his words. This was what she had been waiting for. She nodded and said, "Thank you."
Hotch looked over at her and said, "OK, agent back to work." as he stood up behind his desk.
Emily stood up and said,"yes, sir." before walking over to the door, opening it and walking back down to the bullpen.