Lean On Me
Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds, but I own the series on DVD.
Summary: Hotch reacts to Emily's near death experiences after the San Francisco case and her interactions with Mick Rawson
A/N: This chapter takes place post "The Fight" which had always been a favorite episode of mine. So here's the story.
Thanks for reading, I hope you like it enough to leave a review.
"If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang." Charley Reese
Hotch set down the beer he had sipped on, and looked up and saw his team relaxed, joking around with Sam Cooper's team.
They were a bunch of great agents and he liked them all except for one. His eyes narrowed when he when he saw Emily chuckle at something Mick Rawson said.
Walking past the small group he heard the younger man's British accent say, "This one's going to have a hard time getting over men."
"Like kicking a virus." Emily retorted, in a witty manner.
That brought a small sense of relief in him, she didn't like him.
But he paused when he heard the underlying tone as they talked. The man saved her life, he shouldn't have any reason to not like him. Except he did, they had chemistry, it was plan as day.
He had overheard JJ earlier, make a passing remark about Emily and Mick being perfect for each other. And that nearly caused Hotch to have a massive heart attack on the spot.
"Hey, Hotch" Morgan called out pulling him from his thoughts, "We're thinking of going out to grab a bite, you in?"
"No, thanks" Hotch said, "We've got to catch the jet early in the morning. Everyone rest up, ok?"
"All right" Morgan called out with a shrug.
Hotch noticed both Dave and Cooper shoot him a look, seeing his attention was on Emily and Mick.
"Princess, you in?" Morgan called out, seeing her frown, "We're going to grab some dinner."
Looking at Mick, she shook her head, "Nah, I've got to ice up my back."
"What happened to your back?" Reid asked.
"She decided to play chicken with the car and lost" Mick teased.
Emily raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, but who was chasing a suspect while someone was sitting their butt up on a roof?"
Morgan chuckled at that, "Oh ho. My princess for the win."
Morgan high fives Emily, who turned to give Mick a smug look only to notice Hotch's eyes watching her intently.
She internally gulped at that, 'Yep, Prentiss. Hotch will plan to give you a long talk about getting hit by cars.'
"All right, you guys have fun" Emily said, "JJ, I'll see you when you come back to the room."
"I'll try not to wake you up" JJ told the brunette after the others out to the SUV.
Emily looked briefly around and noticed that Hotch wasn't there anymore, she sighed. She had avoided the long talk for now.
"So, what do you want to do to pass the time?" Mick asked putting on his coat, "We can order some dessert and a little adult entertainment."
Emily raised an eyebrow as she tossed her beer bottle away, "I told you, I'm going to bed..."
"Really?" Mick said smirking.
"Alone." Emily added, "See you on the jet in the morning."
Emily walked out of the elevator, pulling her hotel key card out and opened her door.
She winced when she pulled her coat off of her, she tossed it on the chair next to her.
All she wanted was to ice up her right hip and back, then get some much needed sleep.
Pulling her sweat pants and tank top on, she looked around for the ice bucket and hurried out of the room looking left and right seeing the coast clear.
As she passed the long hallway, she could hear the faint sound of kissing and looked over to see a maid and a bell hop engaged in making out causing the brunette to sigh and wonder if she'd ever find anyone of her own.
The brief thought of Mick, and smirked at the younger man's numerous flirting attempts. She didn't know if she did want to take him up on his offers but it was nice to be wanted and asked.
Another face popped into her head, but she shook it off, it was never going to happen.
To her there was no use in thinking about it. The most she could settle on was friendship, nothing more.
"Excuse me" a woman said from behind Emily, causing the brunette to turn around quickly, "May I?"
"Oh, sorry" Emily replied, grabbing her small ice bucket and walking back to her room.
As she clicked the key card to her door, she heard a distinct throat clearing causing her to turn around slightly startled.
"Jeez, Hotch" Emily said holding on to the ice bucket, "Give a girl a heart attack."
"Are you ok?" Hotch asked noticing her rubbing her side.
"I'm fine" Emily told him, turning around to place her key card in when he said something that caused her to turn around.
"Do you want to come in?" Hotch asked her.
"What?" Emily asked surprised.
"In my room?" Hotch asked her, "You look like you don't want to be alone."
He felt his heart tighten as she ponder the invite, nodding her head, accepting the invitation.
Stepping aside as she walked in, he briefly smelled a trace of vanilla from her lotion and his heart nearly leap out of his chest at the scent.
"Take a seat, while I get you a towel." Hotch said closing his door, and walking over to the small bathroom door.
Emily sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering what she was doing in here. He was her boss, they were barely even friends and now here she was sitting in his room.
"Here," Hotch said taking the ice bucket from her.
As he set it down on the small table folding up the small hand towel he pulled out a Ziploc bag and poured some of the ice into the baggie then he wrapped it up in the hand towel making her an ice poultice.
Turning to her, he sat beside her and lifted up her tank top.
"Hotch" Emily said startled by his forwardness, "It's ok, I've got it."
Hotch couldn't remove his eyes from the dark bruises on her lower side and hip bone. It was worst than he had imagined.
He had read from the incident report, and knew that while she and Mick had been chasing a suspect, she had been hit by a car but kept on chasing the suspect. Not even stopping to check herself out until the next day.
That impressed Hotch, and worried him. Her strength and dedication, it matched his own. He never realized how much they were alike until now.
It's what unknowingly drew him to her and makes him want her, and he doesn't want to lose that. He doesn't want to lose her especially not to some smug, cocky thirty year old British agent.
"Hotch," Emily said louder, pulling him out of his reverie.
He didn't even realize he had traced the bruised hip, going lower on her hip bone until he saw the confusion on her face.
"Are you ok?" Emily asked him, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"I just realized that I could have lost you twice on this job," Hotch said shaking his head, "You get hit by a car then the next day you nearly get shot by a deranged sociopath. I don't think I could have handled that."
"Hey," Emily said placing her hands on his cheeks, causing his breath to stop, "I'm fine. I promise, I'm fine."
"A matter of seconds..." Hotch said his hand tenderly placing the poultice back on her skin, "A few brief seconds and you wouldn't be here."
Emily bit her lip, and nearly felt her hand jump when he placed his free hand on hers, stroking the skin lightly, making her blush at the contact.
"You don't know how relieved that you're ok." Hotch whispered, he licked his lip.
Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his chest and she could feel his racing heart, beating erratically. She didn't know why it was, but it made her feel somewhat relief at that.
"Emily," Hotch said bringing his hand up to his lips, lightly feathering her soft hand with kisses, "It wasn't just worry for my agent or friend."
"Hotch" Emily said, her own heart beating fast, "What do you want from me?"
"Seeing you with Rawson..." Hotch said his eyes darkening briefly at the other man's name, "Seeing the way he was flirting with you..."
"What?" she asked, her eyes narrowed at that, "Wait, were you jealous?"
"I was," Hotch admitted, "I don't like seeing him around you. Flirting with you like he has that right. And you were engaging him."
Emily bit her lip, "Why?"
"Because I wanted it to be me," Hotch said looking down at the dark bruise on her hip, touching it lightly, "I wanted to be the one that got to flirt with you, joke with you. I want to be the one that saves you from nearly getting killed."
Emily placed her hand under his chin to look into his eyes, she could see it. The honesty in his words, the sincerity behind them.
But she could also see the need and desire and that made her give him a reassuring smile. He really wanted her.
"Aaron" Emily said softly, not missing the way his eyes searched hers at the sound of his first name being spoken from her lips.
Leaning in, she gave him a soft kiss on the lips, which caused him to drop the poultice and grasped her shoulder bringing her in for another kiss.
As he deepened the kiss, he felt relieved that she wrapped her arms around his neck as he brought her down on to the bed.
His left hand went to the strap on her tank top, his mouth moved to it, nipping and lightly biting at the tender flesh.
Her moans of pleasure didn't deter him as her hand moved up to the back of his hair, lightly tugging on it. Her mouth seeking out his while his hands went to the hem of her tank top lifting it up and running his hands over her warm stomach.
"Aaron" Emily's husky tone, moaned out.
He chuckled as their tongues battled for dominance, to which she willingly gave into.
As he slowly raised her tank top up, pulling it from her frame, his hands went to her waist to pull off the sweat pants and he halted when he heard the whimper escape her lips.
Pulling back he saw how his hands gripped her waist and instantly hated himself for the action.
"Are you all right?" Hotch asked, looking in her eyes.
"I'm fine," Emily told him, cupping his cheeks, "Just a little sore but I'm fine."
Hotch dropped his head to her shoulder, "I guess this wasn't such a good idea..."
Emily tensed, "You regret this?"
Looking up at her, "No, never. I want this, you, more than anything in the world. But..." Hotch said lifting his head to look at her, "We shouldn't rush into this. I want this to be special and about us."
Emily smiled, as she ran her thumb across his cheek bones, "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, Aaron."
Hotch dropped his head into the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent that was all her.
"I think you're right" Emily said softly, "As much as I want to do this, and I really, really do I think it'd be better until my hip gets better."
Hotch looked up at her, rolling over to lie beside her, "I think so." Hotch pulled her into his arms, "But that doesn't mean we can't do this."
Emily laughed as Hotch brought his mouth back down to hers, "Mm, now that's an excellent idea."
The two finally felt a sense of what they had missed for so long, and how complete they felt now that they were safely content wrapped in each others arms.
George Bernard Shaw said, "Waste not jealousy on a real man: it is the imaginary man that supplants us all in the long run."
Until Next Time...
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