AN: This will be the first part covering the time while Hotch was suspended. The second part will be the next chapter and will focus on Hotch. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The bullpen was quiet as Morgan, Reid and Emily worked on paperwork at their desks. When they arrived back from Flagstaff earlier that day, they had finished their reports and handed them into Hotch before starting on their other paperwork.
It had been over an hour since Hotch left the bullpen saying he was going to his meeting with Strauss.
They all turned to look when they heard the glass door to the bullpen open. An uneasy feeling passed over the bullpen as they saw Strauss walk into the bullpen alone.
As she approached their desks, she said, "there will be a meeting in the conference room in five minutes. Please inform Agent Jareau and your technical analyst." before she walked away.
As they looked at each other, Reid stated, "that doesn't sound good."
Morgan shook his head before saying, "no it doesn't. I'm calling Babygirl. Can you get JJ?"
Spencer nodded as he picked up the phone before having a brief conversation. When he hung up the phone, he said, "she's coming."
Emily listened to what they were saying as the dread grew inside of her. Where was Hotch? And what was Strauss up to?
####
They all sat on the edge of their seats as Strauss stood before them talking for the last 15 minutes without coming to the point that she had them there. It still wasn't clear where Hotch was.
All of their attention was piqued when she shifted to the complaints she had received from Flagstaff. All of them glanced over at Morgan as she mentioned that the officials there had reported that even the team haven't agreed with how the case was being handled.
When Morgan starts to interrupt, Strauss stops him by saying, "after meeting with him, given this information and reports all of you submitted, Agent Hotchner has been suspended for two weeks. During that time, Agent Prentiss will serve as Acting Unit Chief.
There were various looks and exclamations of surprise from around the table at the declaration. Before Strauss could continue, Morgan angrily asked, "what about Gideon?"
Strauss nodded before responding, "Agent Gideon requested some time off. And given his role in the breakdown during this last case, we will be taking a closer look at him as well. Now you all are dismissed. Agent Prentiss, please remain."
As the others got up from the table to leave the conference room giving her looks ranging from concern to suspicious to wary. Through the window, Emily saw the rest of the team gathered at the trio of desks observing them through the window.
After closing both doors, Strauss came around and stood in front of her, blocking them from prying eyes in the bullpen.
Before Strauss could say anything, Emily says, "what was that? You didn't even ask me."
Strauss grasped her hands in front of her before responding, "well Agent Prentiss if you don't want to act as Unit Chief then I can bring someone in to lead this unit."
Emily shook her head. Bringing in someone else to lead the BAU would be a disaster. Given that they did their work as a team it was going to be challenging enough without Hotch and Gideon. Adding a new person into the dynamic, particularly a Strauss appointee would impede their work.
Additionally Strauss had already been clear that she wanted Hotch out of the BAU and her bringing in someone would make it that much more difficult for Hotch to reclaim his position in two weeks. "No I'll do it. I just would have preferred to have had a heads up before this meeting. To have been asked before an announcement was made."
"Think of this as a trial run Agent Prentiss. As we have discussed previously, I want information on Aaron Hotchner. You have been here for several months now and must have something you can report.
If I get what I need then I will consider making this ascent permanent. However, if you continue to hold out, then in two weeks you will find yourself being transferred. But rest assured, Aaron Hotchner's career will come to an end either way."
"I've already told you I don't know anything like that." Emily responded. She did feel ready to take on a leadership position within the FBI. But she wasn't going to do it this way. If she was going to be promoted, it would be because of her abilities, not by allowing herself to be a pawn in Strauss' political games.
Strauss frowned and then said sternly, "think harder. Your decision is your future Agent. Now some guidelines. At this point, you are the ACTING Unit Chief. All potential cases MUST be cleared with me before you can accept them. Keep your team in line and complete your paperwork on time. I will be checking in with you frequently. Any questions, come see me."
Strauss then turned and opened the door before walked out onto the catwalk with Emily a few steps behind as she was heading for her desk. Before she reached the stairs, Hotch walked out of his office holding his briefcase having returned from HR while Emily and Strauss were meeting in the conference room.
When she saw him, Strauss smiled as she walked to him and said, "Agent Hotchner, Agent Prentiss will be taking over as Unit Chief for the BAU."
Although he has also identified Emily as the best option to take a senior position in the BAU, however for him it was in anticipation for after his promotion that now wasn't going to happen, something wasn't right. He took in the smug look on Strauss' face as well as the impassive one of Emily's.
Why was Strauss acting so smug? She had been serious in her office when they were meeting. It felt like she knew something he didn't as he remembered her words when she took his badge about if she had her way he won't get them back.
Had he been right the whole time about Emily being there to spy on him and the team?
He had believed her eventually when she had denied it but had he been right?
Had he let go of what happened in the past between them too soon?
If this was the case then he was done in the FBI. There were several areas that could call his judgement into question. A couple of which Emily Prentiss know enough about to give Strauss the ammunition she needed to remove him from his position.
The largest and most damaging would be how he handled what happened the Reid. The guidelines with substance abuse was very specific and he had not followed those guidelines. And Emily, as the person who had helped Reid as well as the person who reported it to him, would be ideally placed to report his failure to follow the guidelines.
But he didn't want to believe it.
He would expect a power play such as this to come from the Ambassador but never from Emily.
When he heard Emily say, "Hotch", he looked up at her and noticed that Strauss was no longer there. He saw the remorse on her face which he mistook for guilt. He could feel his anger rise as he interrupted what he anticipated was an apology for talking to Strauss.
He took a deep breath and tamped down his anger before saying, "good luck" before turning any walking out of the bullpen, not trusting himself to say anymore.
As he waited for the elevator, he thought of the last words he said to Strauss earlier that day:
And if you think that you can find a better person for the job, good luck.
He sighed as he realized with as much time as he invested into his work how quickly he had been replaced.
####
Day 1 of 14
Emily sighed as she packed up to go home for the night. She hoped that the next two weeks didn't continue how today had gone.
Strauss had come through the bullpen two more times over the course of the day to check in while continued to push for what she expected from Emily.
But that wasn't what her so troubled as she walked out to the elevator. No it was that she hadn't been able to get the look Hotch gave her when Strauss announced that Emily was acting as Unit Chief. The various emotions that crossed his face - anger, betrayal, fear before he had masked his features.
After Strauss had walked away Emily had tried to talk to him. Explain that she was surprised by the announcement as well. That she had his back. But it must have been too soon as he had cut her off before walking out of the bullpen
She couldn't really blame him. She had been in Flagstaff and the rationale Strauss gave for the whole suspension was BS.
While the case hadn't ended well, she had heard Gideon and Hotch go up against the locals about Tubbs, the last murder being done by a copycat and they still decided to release him.
Then from what Strauss had said earlier now the locals were putting the entire blame for what happened on the BAU refusing to take responsibility for their own role in how the case played out.
And instead of Strauss supporting the BAU, she had essentially accepted that the team was at fault. Why? Because it allowed her sanction Hotch who she had already made clear to Emily she was trying to have removed from his position.
After Hotch had left as he did, the others on the team keep looking at her as they attempted to figure out what had just happened and what was going to happen over the next couple of weeks.
As she reached her car, Emily thought maybe she should call or send Hotch a message. To let him know she wasn't helping Strauss and wouldn't stand in his way of coming back.
She had been planning to talk to him about what happened between them 13 years earlier since she had learned what really happened. But now she didn't know if she would have to opportunity. And even if she did would he even be respective. Only time would tell.
Before she left the parking lot she sent him a text message and just hoped that he would read it.
####
Day 3 of 14
Emily sat in the conference room working on paperwork. Over Strauss' insistence, she had been avoiding using Hotch's office. She was willing to do the work to keep the BAU functioning however she was making it clear that she wasn't taking over Hotch's job.
Not surprisingly, the gesture had helped smooth things over with some of the team. The first couple of days had been challenging and she suddenly felt as if she was having to prove herself all over again.
Like the rest of the team, Reid didn't know what was happening but he had trusted Emily's intentions from the first day. He had gone as far as to defend her a couple of times when Derek started pushing too hard about why Hotch was suspended and why she was in charge.
Surprisingly, JJ had been the second team member to make it known that she was throwing her support behind Emily. The next time they were alone reviewing files that she said that she had doubted Emily long enough and wasn't going to do it again without reason. Then commented that she couldn't wait for Hotch to come back.
As Emily looked at her, she understood the veiled message in what JJ said. That she was trusting that Emily wasn't there to hurt the team and that she wasn't doing anything to prevent Hotch from returning.
Emily sighed and looked down before responding sadly that she was looking forward to him returning to the team as well, even though it would be marking her own departure.
She hadn't heard back from him about the tet message she sent however it did appear that he had read it. Now she just hoped that he trusted her enough to believe it.
####
Day 5 of 14
As Emily was walking back towards the bullpen after a meeting, she turned a corner and ran into Garcia.
Of everyone on the team, she had been most disheartened by the lack of usual warmth in her interactions with Penelope. Emily hadn't realized how much she counted on Garcia's typical bubbliness until it had been diminished over the last few days.
And Emily couldn't say she was surprised given the distance between her and Derek since Hotch was suspended. She knew how close Garcia and Derek were. She had even benefitted from their closeness a few months earlier when Derek had challenged Garcia about gossip about Emily.
But at the same time for the last day to day and a half, she had begun to see Garcia waiver. More than once she had caught Garcia looking at her with sad eyes, torn between discord between two of her good friends.
But she had held back from approaching Garcia. She didn't want to cause any tension between Derek and Garcia. She would accept contact but won't initiate it.
After a polite greeting, she had only taken a couple steps when Garcia called out to her. Turning around, Emily gave her a small smile and waited to see what Garcia would say.
Coming up to her, Garcia started gushing at her excitement about her new office space with it's new map that she had spent the morning moving into.
When she started to thank Emily for it, Emily stopped her to say that her thanks was misplaced. While she was pleased that Garcia loved her new office and looked forward to coming and seeing it, she had had no role in it. She let her know that Garcia should direct her thanks to Hotch when he returned.
At with that, Garcia just stopped and looked at her for was starting to become an uncomfortably long time. Emily could see the various thoughts and emotions going across her face before Garcia grasped her arm and pulled her into a tight hug.
After she profusely apologized to Emily for the strain between them, Garcia invited her to lunch. With wanting to smooth things over with her friend, Emily agreed.
####
Day 9 of 14
As she walked out of Strauss' office, Emily could feel her anger rise. While she didn't relish an additional interaction with a person who had been making her life miserable over the last few weeks, there was information about a potential case that she had wanted to discuss with the Section Chief.
After collecting the information she had into a file folder, Emily had walked down the Strauss' office. It appeared to her that Milwaukee had a serial killer. Women were being found dumped with the trash after having their hearts cut out.
The sticky point was that so far Milwaukee hadn't requested their help with the case. Before Emily went to Strauss, she had doubled checked with JJ on that point.
And while she understood that in order to be involved, the team needed to be invited, she had gone to discuss with Strauss about contacted Milwaukee to offer help and see if an invitation came from that.
Strauss had completely dismissed Emily's request to contact Milwaukee PD and refused to look at the information that Emily had collected and brought with her. She stated that the team had enough work without having to go look for more. She then dismissed her.
Unlike Hotch, Emily didn't have the flexibility to just make the call because according to the guidelines Strauss had given her, approval for all case needed to be made by Strauss. And as frustrating as that had been given that everyone on the team had more experience in choosing cases than Strauss, that was where they were at.
So far, no case that indicated an onsite consult had come to JJ since Hotch was suspended. There were a couple of cases where they had done phone consults but overall they had just been working on written consults.
But at some point, that would change. The team rarely went more than a week without being called out for a case. Now the question was if they were invited in on this case or a different one, would Strauss allow them to take it and go into the field?
####
Day 11 of 14
Emily sighed as she walked towards Strauss' office after being summoned.
Meeting with Strauss had been occurring multiple times a day since she started covering the Unit Chief position for Hotch. And each of these meetings no matter what the originating reason included Strauss pressing her for damaging information about Hotch.
And as time went on Strauss was becoming more forceful on her pressure to Emily. It would be just a three more days before Hotch was back in the BAU. She just needed to make it through that time and then she would give him her letter of resignation. The same letter that she had written up and prepared to give him when they arrived back from Flagstaff.
And she was waiting for him to come back before resigning. It wasn't only because she didn't want to leave the team without a leader though as she came to realize she was only a figurehead as it was.
No, she needed to give her resignation to Hotch as a clear sign that she still recognized him as her supervisor. After everything that happened 13 years earlier to what Strauss was trying to do now, the gesture was the least she could do before she walked away from the FBI.
When she reached Strauss' office, her assistant had Emily wait for a few minutes before letting her know that Strauss was waiting for her.
As Emily walked into the office, Strauss gestured for her to sit before she said, "Agent Prentiss, over the last several weeks I have given you many many chances to share information about the dysfunction on your team as a result of poor leadership. You have refused all of these opportunities.
I had faith in you. I brought you into the BAU over objections. A position that you were very determined to get. Then I had enough faith in you to put you in a leadership position for your team with consideration of it being permanent.
And even with all of that you refuse to follow through on a simple request. Do you have anything to say?"
"No ma'am."
"Very well. Agent Hotchner will be returning from his suspension in three days' time. That morning at 11 we will meet for the last time. You will either give me the information I need or you will be transferred before the end of that day. I already have your transfer papers ready. Take a look." Strauss held out the papers which Emily took and her eyes widened as she noticed the receiving unit: OPR in New York City. This was worse than what she expected.
"Since you are reluctant to do the right thing and identify poor practices on your team, your new role will be investigating your fellow FBI agents. Maybe that experience will have you understand why what I have been trying to do here is so important."
Strauss hid the smirk as she saw the reaction of the agent in front of her. She had dummied up the papers the night before hoping it would be enough pressure to finally get the information she needed to get Aaron Hotchner out of the BAU.
In actuality, Strauss couldn't send her to OPR at least not long term.
There had been requests from Counterterrorism since Prentiss came to the BAU for her to transfer given her skill set. Requests that Prentiss had steadfastly refused each time. If Prentiss was going to transfer out of the BAU, the higher ups wouldn't agree to her going to OPR, citing it as a poor use of her skills. No as soon as the transfer was in the system the Unit Chief of CTU would be calling the Deputy Director to have her transferred there instead. And he would be successful.
But Prentiss didn't know that now and in the next three days, Strauss hoped that all of her planning would come to fruition.
####
Day 11 of 14
Spencer Reid was nervous as he walked off the elevator and down the hall to Emily's apartment. He had noticed that she appeared somewhat shaken when she arrived back in the bullpen after a meeting with Strauss earlier that day.
The next time he went to the break room he had been surprised when she had pulled him aside and asked if he would stop by that evening. He had quickly agreed to her request wondering what had happened.
It had been 11 days since Hotch was suspended. He was supposed to be back in three days' time. In that time, Gideon had also not been in the office as he was still taking time grieve his friend. Spencer had finally been successful in his attempts to reach him. They were planning to play chess the evening before Hotch returned.
The absence of both team leader had been difficult on the whole team. Emily's efforts lead the team had been affected by both the subtle suspicion from members of the team about why she had been chosen given her short tenure with the team. That had all resolved in the last few days with Derek having been the last holdout. Additionally Strauss was keeping close tabs on her and the team including wanting to be briefed on all the cases referred to the team.
He had noticed especially over the last few days, Emily's stress levels were increasing. He wasn't completely surprised that she asked to talk to him, though he hoped that she wasn't cutting again.
Hotch's suspension couldn't end soon enough so that the team could go back to normal.
He knocked when he reached the door and it was quickly opened by his brunette colleague. As he entered her apartment, he stomach dropped as he noticed a packing boxes with books in the living room.
Turning to her he stated, "you're moving."
Emily nodded before saying, "yes. That is part of what I need to talk to you about tonight" before she led him into the living room and they settled on the couch.
As soon as he was seated, Spencer continued, "tell me what Emily? Hotch should be back in a few days. Gideon should be back by then as well. The team can go back to normal after that. Why are you leaving?"
"I was going to leave this apartment regardless. It belongs to my parents and I can't be here anymore, especially with what my mother did the last time you were here." Emily responded.
Spencer nodded and took a deep breath before he said, "OK, I thought you were going to say you were leaving the team."
Emily sighed as she had been dreading this conversation with Spencer for weeks. She had been hoping to have more of a plan beforehand but she hadn't had too much time to focus on her next steps yet. Looking at him she answered sadly, "I am Spencer. I need to. I'm going to give my notice as soon as Hotch gets back."
Spencer quickly stood up before responding loudly, "Why Emily? I know things have been stressful since you have been acting unit chief but you don't need to leave."
Emily remained seated and quiet until he sat back down next to her. Once he did, she took his hand and said, "yes I do. Strauss came to me the day after Gideon's friend Sarah was killed. She made it clear that she was the one that hired me for the team. Now it is pay back time and if I want to keep my position on the team, I need to give her information that will damage Hotch's position and status in the Bureau."
Spencer considered what she had said before asking, "did you know about this earlier?"
Emily shook her head and answered forcefully, "no, of course not. I thought I had earned my position on the team but that obviously isn't true."
Spencer took in the sudden look of sadness and he considered what Emily had just revealed. He didn't have any doubts that she belonged on the team. He hated that Strauss had put that doubt back into her mind as she had grown to be a strong member of the team.
"Can you just tell her that you don't know of anything?" he asked.
But they both knew that there were things she did know. Information that would not only damage Hotch's career but could ruin Spencer's as well. It wasn't just Hotch she was protecting.
Emily shook her before responding, "I've tried but she keeps pushing."
They sat there in silence before Spencer said quietly, "I don't want you to go Emily."
Emily sighed before answering, "I don't want to leave either. For years I've wanted to work in the BAU but I won't further my career by destroying someone else's."
"Further your career?" Spencer questioned.
Emily nodded before answering, "yeah, she has hinted that depending on the information I provide, I could remain as Unit Chief of the BAU. But even that I'm not sure about since she has been very non committal about it. But it's a moot point because I won't do it."
"So it's a no win for you either way." he answered
"Yeah."
As he looked around her apartment, Spencer asked, "so what are your plans?"
Emily gave a small chuckle before answering seriously, "I don't know yet. I'm moving out of this apartment in 10 days. That was planned before any of this happened. I'm still working out where I'll go."
"Are you staying local?" Spencer asked.
Emily sighed before saying, "I don't know. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you personally. I was hoping to have more of a plan at this point. But regardless, I wanted you to know the why of my leaving.
I also wanted to have some time to build up your support system for your recovery. Regardless of where I go, I will do my best to be available to you at least by phone but you should have someone local as well."
"It won't be the same." Spencer said sadly.
Emily nodded in agreement before responding, "no it won't. But at this point, it for the best."
####
Day 12 of 14
Emily was once again sitting in the conference room trying to make it through all of the paperwork in front of her after she sent the rest of the team home. With what she had in front of her, she was going to be there until the wee hours of the morning.
Hotch was scheduled to return to the BAU in a couple of days. Since one of the first things he was going to be greeted with was her resignation, she wanted to have all the team's paperwork up to date. She didn't want him greeted with piles of unfinished files to be signed off.
After working for a while and making a significant dent in the piles, there was a knock on the door. When the door opened, she was surprised to see the haggard looking man on the other side. Standing up, she said, "Gideon" softly as she gestured for him to come sit down.