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Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

Author's Note: Hello! I am sorry this took FOREVER!!! I have been working hard on finishing my final year of high school, so I have not been able to find the time to write as of late. . . . BUT I managed!!!! Here is the next chapter!!!

Chapter 5

"What is the plan?"

Emily, Dave and even Aaron had wasted no time brainstorming and creating the ultimate in subterfuge. Their plan was simple, yet creative. Each player knew their part and had worked out the best way to execute it. All they were waiting for was the perfect moment to strike.

The day after the trio's evil ploy had been formulated, the BAU's top team caught a case. A killer was exacting revenge upon a group of high school football players due to the bullying he experienced at the hands of his school's old football team. It wasn't as though the case itself was hard to profile, it was the UNSUB that had caused so many problems. The UNSUB knew exactly how to hide from the officials, which was why the case had taken a little over two weeks to wrap up. The BAU's top team wanted to see the case through; they were not going to leave the local police to try to find this killer on their own. On top of that, the Chief of Police had asked them to stay longer so that they could create a profile to help catch the son of a bitch. As tiresome as that had been, between the team and the local police, they had been able to catch the UNSUB. Once they had done so, the team had wasted no time picking their stuff, and jumping on the jet the minute it arrived.

The plane ride back from Utah had not been an extremely interesting one. Rossi, Morgan, Reid, JJ and Garcia had all planted themselves at the front of the plane to play a game of Rummy. Emily and Hotchner had sat at the back of the plane. While they had both decided to share the table, Emily was casually reading Dracula, while Hotchner was reading a case report. Big surprise.

"You don't think Hotch is really gay, do you?" Reid asked the other four, their card game long forgotten.

"I gotta say, I think he might be," JJ replied, getting quite a few shocked looks, "Come on, did you all miss what happened with Chief Cardoza? Hotch was totally hitting on him!"

They all thought back to that day.

It had been an extremely hot day. The temperature had been in the high-nineties and, after being sent out in the field all day long, Morgan, JJ, Rossi and Reid were about ten minutes away from stripping right down to their underwear. Morgan had completely given up on his shirt and had stripped down to his wife beater, JJ had rolled up her pants, pushed up her sleeves and undone a couple buttons on her shirt, Rossi had copied JJ with his shirt, and though Reid had not removed any layers, he had most definitely stepped under a sprinkler on their way back into the station. All of these things had helped them cool down, but none of them could make up the fact that they had left the very air-conditioned station to look at a bunch of dead ends. To say they were unhappy was the understatement of the year.

The four stormed back into the station, ready to give Hotchner their lack of report, when they met up with Garcia.

"Baby girl, please tell me you have some good news for us," Morgan begged Garcia.

Garcia nodded at them, "I just found something. I was about to tell Hotch."

The group all started walking into the back office, chatting about nothing in particular as they went. It was obvious to everyone that the air-conditioning had stopped working in the station. Though the team knew that this was not ideal, it was still cool enough that no one could complain too much. It was not as though the heat could possibly affect anyone's behavior. Or so they thought . . .

No one could have predicted that they would see what they did. Chief Aiden Cardoza, Hotchner and Emily were all lounging around the back room table doing what seemed to be no work at all. Emily had obviously found clothes to change into because she was sitting at the table wearing a white racer-back shirt, deep red short shorts with black trim that perfectly matched her open-toe shoes that were on her feet, the same feet that were resting on the table. The two men were absolutely no better. Both of them had completely rid themselves of their shirts, leaving their perfectly sculpted, sweat-glistened chests bare for all to see. Although they had opted to keep their pants on, the police and BAU unit chiefs had removed their socks and shoes and had followed Emily's example by resting their legs on the table as well.

"Come on, Agent Prentiss! What attributes do you fine attractive in a man?" the Chief had been goading Emily every since the men had removed their shirts.

Emily chuckled at his question, "You mean what do I find sexy in a man's body, and do either of you have what I like. Was that what you were really trying to find out?"

"Of course."

"I guess I like well-toned guys. You know, not too buff, but not scrawny. I mean, if a guy can pick me up and hold my weight and his own without capsizing, that's good enough for me," the three of them laughed.

"Does that mean you liked being pinned against the wall?" the Chief asked cheekily.

"Always," Emily replied, feigning innocence, "I cannot stand hairy chests, though. There is just something about them that I really don't like. You two are actually pretty good," Emily leaned over to inspect the two men further, "Actually you both have almost perfect torsos, in my opinion."

Both men smiled at her as the rest of the team gawked at the scene.

"Unfortunately for you, Hotch, the Chief has nicer arms," Emily commented.

Everyone else in the room thought that that would pretty much end the conversation; Emily had described what she found attractive on a man's body, which answered Aiden's question. They were obviously wrong.

Hotchner sat up in his chair and looked Aiden over, mentally assessing the situation. Then, without warning, Hotchner leaned over and caressed the other man's bicep gently. The older man took his time examining and admiring the Chief's arm, while the others gaped at him.

"Emily is right," Hotchner said to the Chief, "Everything about you is so . . . rigid."

The Chief chuckled at Hotchner's statement, "I guess it's a good thing that I am a naturally well-endowed, then."

Hotchner smiled at the other man, "That is very good to know."

The entire group had almost keeled over when they had heard Hotchner say that to the other man. Hotchner was not one to flirt ever, let alone with another man; it wasn't right, at least not for him.

"Maybe he's bi-curious," Garcia suggested, "He was married to Haley."

" Maybe he is trying to mess with us," Morgan stated, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Or maybe he isn't the gay one," Rossi said.

That seemed to have gotten everyone's attention.

"What on earth are you talking about?" JJ asked.

"Ignoring the thing that happened with Cardoza, I have seen Hotchner have a couple very straight moments during this trip," everyone leaned closer to Rossi, "When Emily, Hotch and I went to talk to the law firm, I wasn't alone in checking out the secretary's fine ass."

"So, what are you saying?" Garcia asked, "That a man who not-so-subtly felt another man up and made some very sexy innuendos, might not have in fact propositioned him? Rossi, we were all there. We all saw it go down."

"I never said that, I just meant that Hotch and I weren't the only ones to check that secretary out," Rossi stated.

"WHAT?!?" everyone said a little too loudly, causing Hotchner and Emily to look over.

JJ continued in a harsh whisper, "Emily's not gay, Rossi. She likes men."

Rossi smirked at her, "She may like men, but she was liking that woman too. For all we know, Emily could have been deflecting when she mentioned Hotch being gay."

Morgan shook his head, "Nah, man. One of the first personal conversations Em and I had was about a guy she had had a date with. Emily Prentiss is straight."

'Reasoning,' Rossi thought, 'They are doubting themselves. They aren't sure if Emily is gay or if Hotch is gay. . . or both. At least they have completely forgotten about the proposal.'

"I don't believe you, Rossi. The Emily I know is completely straight," the others nodded in agreement with JJ, "Hotchner, I am no longer sure about, but Emily? There is no doubt in my mind."

'Well, won't they be in for the shock of their lives,' Rossi thought, desperately trying to keep the knowing grin off of his face.

* * * * *

At the other end of the plane, Emily and Hotchner were sitting and reading . . . . at least that's what everyone thought they were doing.

In actuality, the pair were trying to stifle their incessant laughter. It had started out innocently enough. Emily had been thinking aloud about how funny it was to watch all of their faces as Hotch felt up Aiden's arm. Then the pair's laughter had quietly escalated from there.

"Did you see Reid?" Emily whispered, "He was actually twitching!"

Hotchner chuckled along silently, "And Garcia was going between, 'Aww that is soooo cute!' and 'I CANNOT believe that Hotch is feeling up another man!' That was not an easy feat."

"I have to say, Aiden played his part to perfection!" Emily thought back.

A week into the case, after Hotchner and Emily had been trying desperately to get a few moments alone with the Chief of Police, the opportunity arose. Hotch had sent the rest of the team out into the field, giving Chief Cardoza, Hotchner and Emily a chance to talk.

"Hey, Chief! Can we talk to you for a minute?" Hotchner asked as he and Emily closed the door to the back room.

"Of course," Aiden motioned for the pair to sit down.

"We have this situation," Emily started, "We need the team to believe that Aaron could possibly be gay. And right now, the only way we could do that is with your help."

"How do you need my help," Aiden asked, "Scratch that. Why do you need your team to believe that?"

"You cannot tell anyone," Emily said as the Chief nodded, "Aaron proposed to me in his office last week, and the team was eavesdropping and were shocked because they hadn't even realized that we were dating. They then tried to get the me to admit it by saying that they thought Aaron was gay," Aiden looked slightly concerned, "So I ran with their lie. And we want to continue running with it . . . . which is where you come in."

"We need to create a situation where you and I could 'flirt'," Hotchner informed the Chief of Police.

Chief Cardoza nodded slowly before responding, "Would it be casual flirting, or some seriously heavy stuff? Because it will only be good if it's heavy."

Emily looked at the man surprised, "Does that mean you'll do it?"

"Hell yes!" the Chief smiled, "This will be the most fun I've had in months. So, do you two have a plan or something?"

Emily gave the two men an evil smile, "This is what we are going to do . . . ."

"I can't believe that worked," Hotchner said.

"I knew they would believe that," Emily replied, "The one we should really be concerned about is the next part of the plan."

"Yes, the next part that will be taking place in less than half an hour," Hotchner commented, as he noticed that the plane was landing.

* * * * *

The team slowly walked back into the bullpen. After the trip they'd had, all anyone wanted to do was to go home and sleep in their own beds.

"Just go home," Hotchner announced, "We can do the paperwork on Monday."

Everyone cheered as they started to quickly pack up. JJ and Garcia were going to see Henry, Reid was going to the bar with Morgan, and Rossi and Hotchner were going home. It was an excellent way to end the case.

"Well I am very glad to hear that your boss does in fact have a heart, Em," a very posh British accent came floating into the bullpen.

The entire team turned around to see a beautiful woman walking towards them. She was dressed in a perfect grey suit, with her brown hair draping down around her shoulders.

"He has his moments," Emily replied as the mystery woman came up to her and trapping her against her desk.

"Good, I'm glad."

And there, in front of the rest of the team, the newcomer made out with Emily.

Everyone's stood there gawking until Morgan broke the silence.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!?!"

So .. . there it was. I hope it was worth the wait! I am part of the way finished the next chapter, so don't worry! You will not be waiting forever again.

And for all those who read "Don't Hate Me", that will be up VERY soon!!!!!

XOXO ~ Sid