Unforgettable Nights, Unforgivable Mistakes
Chapter 12: Heartbroken
If you had asked Emily what would be the least possible thing happening in her life, returning to the BAU would be that. She had left for a reason, she had run away because she hated it there...well, that wasn't the complete truth...she didn't hate it, she hated a certain someone, but even that was a lie. The fact of the matter was she had left that job for a reason, the very same reason that had made her make the decision to return: Aaron Hotchner, only this time, she returned with a big secret, and she wasn't sure when or how she would be able to reveal that secret. But, Emily knew she needed to be close by him, she just prayed that God would give her the strength to face him and tell him the truth. She didn't know when or how she would do it, but at some point she knew she had to, so her first move was to return to the BAU and maybe build a relationship with him even if it was just professionally, but at least it would be something, then she would find a way to tell him. For now, returning to the BAU was good enough. As she stood inside one of the elevators of the BAU, she could feel her hands shaking, she was truly nervous since no one knew of her return, not even her closest friends. She hadn't really wanted it that way, but Strauss had insisted it was necessary; Strauss told her that she would brief her that morning and then inform the team of her return, and they could carry on with their usual briefing of cases. Emily smoothed her hair nervously, as she had made sure her personal appearance was very professional, and she wanted to look her best as she greeted the team. Perhaps there was another reason she wanted to look more than just professional, but she wasn't going to admit it, even to herself. Emily was wearing a dark brown suit with a pencil skirt, a nice light beige top and beige heels that matched the shirt...she look very professional, but slightly sexy. As the elevator doors opened, she took a deep breath, she had to do this...she knew she had to do this for her Bay. She stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the section chief's office. Emily knocked on the door softly and heard the 'come in' behind the door.
"Good morning, Ma'am." She said nervously, when she realized the Director of the BAU was also in there.
"Agent Prentiss, Good Morning, come on in, please." Strauss said, smiling widely. Emily smiled and stepped in.
"You remember Director Crammer, right Agent Prentiss?" Strauss asked, smiling.
"Yes, it's a pleasure to see you again, Sir." Emily shook the Director's hand.
"It's a pleasure to have you back, Agent." Director Crammer said, smiling at her.
"Well, Erin, I'll let the two of you debrief. I'll be in my office if you need anything." He said, standing up.
"Thanks, Tom. I'll be down as soon as I finish with Agent Prentiss, and I take her to the team." Strauss said, walking the Director to the door as Emily sat down across from Strauss's desk.
"After we're done here, I'll take you down to finish your paperwork and for you to get your badge and gun, then I'll take you to the team. By the time you're finished, they'll be meeting to talk about the new case." Strauss returned to her desk.
"That sounds good, Ma'am." Emily said nervously.
"Agent Prentiss, it's a privilege to have you back, you have no idea how happy this makes me." When Strauss smiled at her, her smile made Emily somewhat uncomfortable, and Emily didn't know why. Strauss wasn't very well-liked around the BAU, but she was genuinely nice to Emily, she always had been, and while she knew that Strauss's attitude toward her might have something to do with the fact that Emily's mother was an important ambassador, Emily knew she could be tricky and sneaky sometimes, and for that reason alone she felt uncomfortable.
When they were finished in Strauss's office, they both went down to make sure Emily had completed all the paperwork necessary for her position; there was more paperwork than usual, but Strauss just told her it was protocol, Emily also realized her salary was much higher than she was expecting and even higher than her salary once was, but then Strauss told her it was a raise, and they had changed things around. After she took her pictures for her badge and got her glock along with everything else she needed to be able to work in the field and be safe, they returned to the elevators to go to the floor where the team and her old desk was. She was really hoping she could get the same desk she once had because she wanted to be near her friends, and she also hoped things could be the same way they were when she was there. She knew the girls will be insulted for her not telling them she was coming back, but Strauss had begged her not to say a word because she also wanted it to be a surprise. So, when they arrived at the sixth floor, Emily could feel her heart start beating a thousand times a minute, and her hands started shaking too; she wasn't sure she was ready for this. She had not seen Aaron in a very long time, well, she had, but he had pretended she wasn't even there the few times she stopped at the BAU, so basically the last time she had even said a word with him, was the night they slept together. Goddammit! Why did she have to think about that night just now, her mind started playing with her, and she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to concentrate. They stepped in the doors and started walking through the bullpen, old memories sifting through her head; none of the guys were around or even the girls, but then again, they would probably be in the conference room by now. As they walked by her old desk, Emily couldn't stop the small smile that escaped her face. She was back, and although it wasn't under the best circumstances, she was glad she was back...she missed everyone, she truly did, and she exhaled, convincing herself she had made the right decision, just as they stopped outside of the conference room and Strauss knocked on the door softly.
The entire team was gathered around the round table in the conference room...they all knew they needed to discuss the case, but Hotch had also said Strauss was going to stop by and make an announcement; that probably explained his grumpy behavior that morning, and the team could feel the tension. The truth was there had been a lot of tension at the BAU lately, Strauss and Hotch had always hated each other, but over the last few months that hatred had intensified; they had gotten into several altercations and none of them had ended well. They all knew Strauss wanted Hotch out of the BAU, not because he wasn't a good Agent, but because he was much too good as a competition for her. Everyone knew very well Strauss eyes were on the position of Director of the BAU one day, but they also knew there were whispers and rumors and everyone believed Hotch would get the position before Strauss did, and she desperately wanted him out of the way. Therefore, every time she had an opportunity, she tried to use it to get Hotch out of the BAU, and nothing had really worked so far, because the directors really liked Hotch; however, over the last couple of weeks, there had been a lot of problems with the Unit Chief. Even the team was surprised, Hotch had been acting recklessly on cases and going against protocol...hell, he had even walked into a gunman situation without a Kevlar or a gun, and he had truly put his life at risk several times. Strauss wanted him fired on the spot, but the directors had opposed that; they had suggested a temporary suspension instead, not from the team but from his current position, and even Hotch had agreed that the best way to keep the team together was if he stepped down and then promote internally again, something the directors approved. Hotch suggested Morgan take over his spot, but Strauss had refused that claiming she would find a temporary substitute, so they allowed Hotch to stay in his current position until they found him a substitute; so things had been very stressful at the BAU for everyone. When they heard the knock on the door, everyone had tensed suddenly, exchanging looks with each other.
"Sorry to interrupt, I just have an announcement to make." She said, as Emily walked in behind her. Everyone was in shock when they saw the brunette, everyone...even the unit chief.
"I'm sure everyone remembers Agent Prentiss, right? She will be returning to work with us effective immediately." Strauss said firmly, addressing everyone.
There was shock and a few gasps coming from the team, but they quickly turned to smiles, at least in JJ's, Penelope, Derek, Reid and Dave's case. They knew they couldn't say much to her with Strauss there, so they refrained and just smiled widely...except for one person, of course.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I don't think we need any more profilers on the team...we're at full capacity as it is." Hotch said, glaring at Strauss, avoiding Emily's eyes. She could feel her heartache knowing he still hated her as much as he always had.
"Actually, she won't be profiling, well, she will, but Agent Prentiss returned to take over the Unit Chief's position, so effective immediately, you're no longer in charge of the team Agent Hotchner, she is." Strauss dropped the bomb and with that, everyone's mouth dropped...even Emily's.
"What!?" She asked, looking at Strauss aghast.
"I beg your pardon?" Hotch said, standing up from the chair he was sitting in, unable to say anything else.
"You heard me, Agent Hotchner, Agent Prentiss will be the new Unit Chief starting today, do I need to remind you that you have been temporarily demoted, and we were waiting to find a substitute, well, we found her. So, that's all that needs to be said." Strauss said harshly.
"Ma'am, can I have a word with you?' Emily said, interrupting.
"Is there a problem, Agent Prentiss?" Strauss asked rudely.
"Yes, no, well, I just really need to talk to you in private." Emily said nervously...she could feel the eyes of everyone on the team on her, everyone was in shock. Strauss looked at her, and it was obvious she wasn't very pleased, but she stepped out of the conference room with Emily.
"What is the matter, Agent Prentiss?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's just, I, when you offered me the job, you told me I would be profiling. I was expecting to be doing my old job." Emily was furious, Strauss had set her up, she had never ever mentioned that she would be taking over Hotch's job, otherwise, Emily would never have accepted the job.
"No, Agent Prentiss, I asked you to return to work for the BAU, I never said what your position would be, if you didn't ask and just assumed, that is on you, not on me." Strauss said, looking at her firmly.
"But..." Emily started.
"Agent Prentiss, I hope you understand I just wasted half of my morning bringing you back, and I don't need to remind you that you signed a contract with the BAU not less than half hour ago, you have officially committed to the job, now if you will excuse me, I want to finish talking to the team and get back to work...something you also need to be doing." She added, walking away from Emily and returning to the conference room. Emily was aghast, she should have known better, she should have seen this coming. She cursed herself internally for trusting Strauss as she walked back into the conference room holding back the tears.
"I'll let you guys get comfortable with each other again, and you can take today to discuss things with your team, Agent Prentiss. You'll be flying out to your first case tomorrow. I'll send you those cases later today, now, if you'll please excuse me, I have work to do." She said, walking away. When she was at the door, she turned again to face everyone.
"One more thing...Agent Hotchner, if you will please empty your office so Agent Prentiss can get comfortable in there, I'll really appreciate it." With that, she turned around and walked away leaving everyone beyond shocked.
Emily stood there nervously without knowing what to say or do. She could feel her cheeks getting redder by the minute from the embarrassment. She was rooted to the spot, she had been set up, and now she was standing in front of the entire team feeling humiliated and without knowing what to say. The truth was the team didn't know what to say or do either, they were in the same shock as she was in. She glanced to see Hotch as he stood up angrily taking the files from the table and storming out of the conference room, sending her an evil glare as he walked by her.
"Hotch, wait, please..." She said, going after him and following him into his office. He angrily picked up some boxes and began throwing the contents of his office into the boxes.
"Hotch, I didn't know, I swear...she set me up, I didn't know." She said with a shaky voice.
"You couldn't stop yourself, could you?" He asked harshly.
"What?" What was he talking about.
"You saw the opportunity to finally take vengeance against me and you took it right away." Emily could see the anger and fire in his eyes.
"No, I didn't know, I swear when she called me she never mentioned this, I just thought I would get my job back. I thought you knew about this." She explained meekly.
"She finally convinced you to alienate against me, and you couldn't help yourself to see me taken down. Do you really hate me that much?" He asked harshly.
"No, what are you talking about? You need to listen to me, please." Emily explained.
"Why the hell did you even come back." Now, she could feel a stab in her heart, this wasn't fair, this wasn't fair at all.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Her voice was breaking.
"We were all fine without you, you were fine there, or wait! Did you manage to break someone else's heart and run away, because you're an expert at that." What the hell was he talking about, she didn't understand anything.
"Well, you can be happy now, you got what you wanted. Prentiss, or wait! Should I call you boss." He picked up the last boxes from his office.
"Hotch, wait...please." She tried to stop him.
"You should have never returned." And with that, he stormed out of the office leaving her alone standing in the office, with tears rolling down her face and a broken heart. She wanted to run, to disappear because this wasn't how she had expected things to go today, this wasn't how she wanted things to work at all. Emily wanted to get close to him so they could maybe become friends and one day maybe she could tell him that her little girl, her beautiful baby girl was his, he was the father of her daughter. But now, now he couldn't even stay in the same room as her, he had not stopped hating her and she was sure he would never stop. Maybe she had made a mistake by returning to the BAU, maybe he was right and she should have never returned.
