We went three weeks with no case, and we were bored. We usually had so many cases that we needed to decide which was more urgent and put them in order of priority. It was like the serial killers were taking a break.

We had an FBI party tonight that they throw for stupid reasons. I think it was really just an excuse for the agents to get dressed up, drink, and dance. I tried to get out of it when Garcia first mentioned it but she was very adamant that I had to go.

I got dressed into a tight red dress that hugged all my curves perfectly. I curled my hair and wore the same simple makeup as I always do. I slipped my heels on and grabbed my clutch, and then went out to wait out the front for Hotch to pick me up. Rossi and Morgan were already in the car but both in the back. I got into the front seat and thanked them for picking me up.

"You look hot, Princess." Morgan leant forwards and kissed my cheek from behind me.

"Thanks." I smiled. Hotch shook his head with a small smile and Rossi flicked his ear playfully.

We pulled up at the venue right beside Will's car. He, JJ, Reid, and Garcia were already standing beside the car, clearly awaiting our arrival.

"Impressing Rawson tonight, are you?" JJ smirked as she looked at my dress.

"This is just how I dress…" I hadn't even thought about the fact that Mick would be here tonight. I prayed he wouldn't try to ask me out again in front of the team. "Oh, honey no." I looked at Reid and shook my head. He did not dress well tonight.

"My god please fix it." JJ said quietly, hugging herself to Will.

I pointed to his vest, "Take it off," I looked at the men and settled on Hotch. I quickly undid his tie, flicked his top button open, and put the tie around Reid's neck, tying it for him. "Better. Hotch, dressing down will turn out better for you tonight."

Garcia pushed us to walk inside and we headed in after she handed the tickets to the guards out the front. She explained that there were no designated tables, we just needed to pick one. We followed her until she chose a table and sat.

Rossi got the first round of drinks and we talked amongst ourselves while the salads were brought out for us. We only occasionally talked to someone outside of our team when they approached us, but otherwise we stayed seated at our table.

I saw JJ and Garcia smiling behind me and I knew instantly who was there, "No." I said, turning and looking at Mick.

"Can I talk to you, please?"

"No." I repeated.

"Fine I'll do it here. Why would you call someone over for a booty call, just to kick them out because you aren't "ready", whatever that means? And then ignore them afterwards?"

"She was raped recently." Reid said matter-of-factly. I suppose he thought he was helping the situation.

I turned to him quickly, "Do you want me to knock you out?" I saw his eyes widen and I spoke again quickly, shaking my head, "That was overly aggressive. Sorry." I turned back to Mick, "Go away."

He ignored me, "You know I don't just want sex, right?"

"And I said I couldn't offer you any more than that. What else is there?"

"What are you so afraid of?" He seemed to be getting irritated. I didn't understand why he was still trying. I guess he wasn't used to being rejected.

"She has major abandonment issues, and she hasn't dated seriously since Ian Doyle about five years ago." Reid spoke again.

"Dude, stop." Morgan spoke to him before I could. I glared at Reid; he looked like he shrunk back into his body when he met my eyes.

Mick nodded and then looked back to me, "I'll catch up with you later after you've had a few more drinks. Happy birthday for yesterday." He winked and left swiftly.

"Oh my god!" Garcia almost squealed, "We missed it! You're 36!"

I groaned and rolled my eyes, shaking my head. I held my hand up before she continued and shook my head, shooting her a warning glance. I hated my birthday; it was just a celebration of another year I spent alone, having nothing to even consider putting before my career.

I glanced at Reid again and hit him on the back of his head. "If you were anyone else, i would punch you so hard right now." It wasn't exactly playful, but it wouldn't have been too painful. Morgan chuckled quietly.

After many drinks and our main meals, Hotch made me drink two glasses of water to keep me in a respectable state. Will was keeping an eye on JJ's state, and Garcia had moved to soda a few rounds ago.
Morgan danced with me for a few songs before Reid took his place, and then I saw Mick approaching. I held onto Reid's hand tighter when Mick asked if he could cut in, trying to convey that I wanted Reid to decline. He gave my hand over with a smile and left me with Mick in the middle of the dancefloor. I sighed inwardly when I met his eyes. He danced with me, leading. He didn't speak at first, only swayed me to the music and spun me around, smiling every time my eyes met his.

"See, isn't this nice?" He finally spoke.

I rolled my eyes, "Please stop."

"Let me take you out. One night, and if you still don't want to see me, then I won't bother you again. Just one night. Please." He pulled back a little bit so he could look at me seriously.

I shook my head and was saved from replying when JJ touched my elbow lightly, "Sorry Mick, I've got to take her." He looked disappointed when I turned and walked away with JJ. We had been here for almost three hours now and I wondered when we were allowed to leave. I wasn't having fun anymore; I was just tired. "We're ditching, going to Rossi's to keep drinking." She explained as we reached the rest of the team. Morgan held my bag and coat out to me.

"Hallelujah, let's go." I walked out with them quietly, walking a step behind them. I reached Hotch's car and got into the passenger seat again. We had been driving for about fifteen minutes before I had enough of Morgan and Rossi looking at me every so often as they spoke quietly together. "What?" I turned and waited for one of them to reply to me.

"Is Rawson taking it too far? Do you need me to step in?" Morgan asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Settle down, big guy. I can handle myself."

"Emily, it wasn't very long ago that you were—"

"I'm going to stop you right there and tell you that if you ever bring it up again, I will hurt you." I cut him off before he could bring up my rape. How was I supposed to move on when I was reminded of it constantly? I heard him apologise lightly and I met Hotch's glance, "What?" I asked.

"Miss attitude." He mumbled, looking back to the road.

I looked back out my window and thought about my dance with Mick and his proposal. I bit my lip as I thought. I wanted to go out with him. I liked him. But I didn't date, and Reid was right when he said that I hadn't dated seriously since Ian; it hurt that little bit too much.

When we finally arrived at Rossi's and were seated with drinks, JJ kept looking at me out the corner of her eye. "What?" I looked at her. Why was everyone staring at me instead of speaking to me.

"Are you going to accept Mick's offer this time?" She seemed hesitant to ask. I shook my head in response. "Maybe if you went out with him then you could let go of Doyle…" She spoke quieter now; that's why she was hesitant. She had a point. I thought about it for a second before I looked at her again. She raised her eyebrows and I reached for my phone on the table. I saw her smirk out the corner of my eye and Garcia let out a small squeal of excitement.

I opened my messages with him and thought for a second before sending the simple text,

"One date."

JJ read it out to Garcia before I could turn my phone away from her and I rolled my eyes. "Topic dropped. I don't want to hear about it again tonight."

"Okay, we'll wait for tomorrow." Garcia smirked at me. I narrowed my eyes and sighed as I sat back. I heard my phone receive a text and they all looked at me expectantly. I left it on the table and resisted checking it.

He picked me up at seven and took me to a fancy French restaurant with dimmed lighting, candles, and soft classical music. The conversation flowed easily at first, mostly because it was just about work. When our appetizers were brought out, he told me a story about his younger self that had me laughing.

Just as we finished our main meals, my phone rang. I saw JJ's contact and ignored the call, silencing my phone. I gave my attention back to him, apologising. It rang against almost immediately. "JJ, I'm—"

"Case, extremely urgent and bad. Airstrip in twenty. Will you get there?"

I looked at my watch; I wouldn't have time to go upstairs and change; only enough time to get to my car. "Yeah." A sigh lingered in my voice when I hung up the call. I looked back to Mick and gave him a guilty expression, "Duty calls."

"I know how it is." He smiled. Maybe working in the same profession wasn't so bad; at least he understood the crazy, demanding hours. "I'll drive you home." He stood and called for the cheque as I stood and grabbed my coat. He walked out with me and drove me home, taking a few turns that ended up making the trip shorter.

He got out of the car as I did and I smiled at him, "I'm so sorry. I did enjoy myself…so maybe if you call me sometime, you can take me out again…" I went to turn before he grabbed my arm and pulled me back, kissing me hard. I melted into it before he let go of my arm and pulled back. "…Thank you." I turned quickly and walked to my car, getting in and driving off almost immediately.

When I got to the airstrip, the others were already on the plane. Morgan whistled as I walked on. I sat down in the seat left open for me beside Rossi while Hotch threw my bag in the overhead compartment for me, and we got right into the case.

When we finally finished discussing it and were now left with the two hours remaining on our flight, JJ got my attention, "I'm sorry for interrupting your date."

I looked up at her and spoke before I could stop myself, "He kissed me…and I said thank you."

She tried to hide her smile and hold her laugh back, "Well that was very polite of you." She nodded. I heard Morgan and Rossi also laughing. Reid was reading a book and didn't seem to be paying attention. Hotch had a small, rare smirk. "…Did you thank him after sleeping with him, too?" JJ asked, laughing now.

I rolled my eyes, "No."

"You do realise that you like him, right? I mean we can all tell, but can you?"

"Of course I can, JJ," I shook my head, "Doesn't matter because I don't date."

"You dated tonight."

"And I thanked him for kissing me!" I laughed now, "I hate myself." They all laughed again and I sat back, dropping my head against the headrest and shaking it.

I needed to stop thinking about him and about thanking him, or this case would not have my full attention, which is absolutely needed. Three women raped, tortured, murdered, and dismembered within five weeks.
I was praying that Hotch would keep me away from the rape details as much as he could. This was my first case involving it since Jay.

I heard the computer trying to connect over Skype and then JJ spoke before Garcia could, "Pen, let me tell you what Emily did." She was laughing before she even got to it.

A/N

This story is not going the way I originally imagined, and I am losing the interest in writing it, hence the dull writing.

A flop, this one is.

I currently have 22 chapters written. I may just upload these and leave it unfinished. Of course if there is enough interest, I will do my best to finish, however I don't think this will be the case this time around.

-A xx