Chapter 15

December 15, 2008

--

Monday felt odd. After spending days with Emily, after pinning her to the ground the previous day, it felt weird to be sitting in his office going about his work, knowing she would walk in any minute. Especially with the dreams he'd had the night before. He'd had a blast with the kids. Even Emmeline seemed to be at the very least warming up to the idea of him being around. She wasn't wary of him, even being the little minx that had managed to get snow down his back.

But it had been all worth it to see the happy smile on Emily's face, to see the laughter in her eyes. Jack made everything worth it, but the feelings that seemed to be popping up every time he was around Emily were worth so much more. So much, in fact, that he was currently debating the best way to deal with them. Policy said shove them down and forget about them, but he wasn't sure he was ready to do that. He'd been taught, trained, forced into following policy his entire life. Yet, he was also the man that had joined a play, regardless of how terrible an actor and singer he was, just to get his first wife.

He looked up at the sudden knock on his door, unable to suppress the small smile that flitted across his face. "Good morning."

"To you too," Emily replied, closing the distance between them, her arm outstretched. "Miscellaneous paperwork. End of my Bozeman report, expenses from that case... the usual."

He nodded, accepting the pages. "Thank you."

She shrugged. Then paused, chewing her lip. "We're having a consult brainstorming session in the conference room after briefing," she said. "You're welcome to stay and work with us."

He remembered her telling him about these sessions they often had, a way to make the time go faster and the added bonus of having someone around to bounce ideas off of. Hadn't they had their own two weeks before? "If it's not intruding."

Emily actually rolled her eyes. "You're part of the team too, as much as you seem to want to deny it. By definition it's not intruding."

There was something else he'd noticed with her. Much like with Dave and Derek, she had taken a different attitude with him. Saucy, spunky, much different than the reserved woman he was used to. He could only think of it as her becoming more comfortable with him. She seemed more likely to show her annoyance at him. "Okay."

"Great! Derek should be walking through that door in three, two, one," she said, not even glancing up as sure enough, Derek strolled through the glass doors on her count. "So I will see you in ten minutes."

Once again, Hotch couldn't stop the smile that blossomed over his face as she turned to leave. Regardless of how borderline insubordinate she was becoming, he knew it was all Emily Prentiss. When it came time for her to do her job, she would follow orders without trouble. In the meantime, he didn't mind the spunky woman who had just reminded him that he was as much a part of the team as she was.

And what a part of the team she was. Elle had never fit, not like Emily did. He didn't often like to compare the people in his lives, but it was human nature. Emily seemed more in tune with the needs of her colleagues. Hotch liked that. He liked that they seemed closer than a family, even if he'd felt on the outside of that family for some time. Nevertheless, and as usual, Emily had made a good point. The only reason he was on the outside was because he wanted to be, because he'd never put himself in a situation to show the team otherwise.

He flipped open the expenses folder, eager to get that signed off and on its way. But something surprised him before he could even pick up his pen. A picture sat tucked into the file of him and of Jack. He remembered Emily getting out her camera the day before, when they'd all made their way back to her condo. He could remember her shy admission that she was a shutterbug, because Anne missed things and Emily wanted to document them, but he didn't remember this particular picture. He was sitting on her couch, Jack on his lap, son looking up at father with the most awed expression on his face while his father smiled. He couldn't even remember what was going on.

Hotch flipped the picture over. Thought you'd like to see this. You're a fantastic father. – E.

It was totally and completely settled. Emily Prentiss was going to be his, even if he had to manipulate Christmas to do it.

She'd been sniffling all morning and it was driving her nuts. Emily Prentiss did not get sick and she wasn't about to break that rule now. So she'd mentally catalogued everything she could quite possibly do to pre-empt this bout of the sniffles.

"Girl, are you getting sick?"

Emily glared at Derek. "Of course not," she replied. "Why would you think that?"

"You've been sniffling since we started," Reid said, in that voice that made him sound like he was simply spouting facts. "Plus the tea, which is not usually your drink of choice at the office."

"I drink tea all the time," Emily contradicted. "I'm not getting sick."

"Mentality is half the battle," Hotch murmured from beside her.

She smiled triumphantly. "Exactly. I'm not sick. This guy, however, could be."

"Oh?" Hotch asked, abandoning his own report to glance over her case. "Two profiles."

"Nuh uh," she contradicted, shaking her head and ignoring the brief smell of him that wafted into her nose. "Multiple personality disorder."

"Pass it here," Derek ordered.

Emily did, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs, tea mug in her hand. She felt a thrill when she caught Hotch's gaze running over her in her peripheral vision. She could remember feeling him straddling her yesterday. She could still taste the anticipation on her tongue. She was sure he was going to kiss her, right there in the snow, and while it wasn't her ultimate fantasy kiss, it came pretty damned close. Something was changing in her unit chief and it completely surrounded her. They were doing a new and different dance, a change from the strictly-supervisor-subordinate one they'd been doing since her transfer, and even slightly altered from their quasi-friendship that had grown after New York.

"I'm with Hotch," Derek said, shaking his head. "Two profiles, two UNSUBs."

Emily blew out a breath as she took the pages back. "Just once I'd like to be right."

"You usually are," Dave spoke up.

"Thanks Dave," she responded wryly, pulling herself back to the table. "Tell me yours is more interesting."

She almost smiled when it took Hotch a few minutes to realize she was talking to him. However, he surprised her by simply switching the files. "This guy isn't even a serial killer."

"No, but some police like the cushion they think a profile gives," he said.

"You're patronizing me." She almost stuck out her tongue.

"You wanted to see my consult," he pointed out.

--

Derek watched the volley back and forth with interest. Something was changing with his best friend and his boss and it was changing rapidly. He hadn't noticed it right away, hadn't even noticed it their first few days in Bozeman, but he had noticed it the morning after the power went out. They'd all basically crowded around the only woman in their midst after she'd won the argument and Reid had curled up on the couch. It was an unconscious habit for all of them not only to protect Emily, but to protect JJ too. He'd heard her tossing and turning and couldn't really blame her. A slip of a woman like her was bound to get cold in the night.

He'd also heard the hushed conversation she'd had with none other than Hotch in the wee hours of the morning. He hadn't been able to see much in the dark, but he heard rustling and shuffling, enough to clue him into the fact that his best friend and his boss were probably currently in a very compromising position. It had given him pause and, more than that, resulted in him watching closer than he had before. There was an ease and comfort about them the next morning. He'd wandered out of the conference room intent on the bathroom to find them chatting away in the break room, both of them with mugs of coffee, Hotch turned towards his dark-haired companion.

If he was honest, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He wanted his friends to be happy. He always wanted his friends to be happy and, in many ways, he felt no one deserved it more than Emily did. And he wasn't stupid. He knew, despite the seminars and regulations to the contrary, fraternization was not a new thing to the FBI. In fact, he could name two or three relationships off of the top of his head that had worked out in Quantico alone. That, however, he chalked up to the fact that many of the specialized departments of the Bureau were located in Quantico.

The BAU was one of them. He knew they saw some of the most horrific things one person could do to another and so, he knew how important it was for an agent to have someone to talk to. JJ and Reid talked to each other, closer than close, siblings in their own right. He talked to Garcia, always and constantly and she had the uncanny ability to get things out of him without really trying. He'd always assumed Emily talked to Garcia as well, at least when she didn't talk to him. But he had no idea who Rossi or Hotch talked to. He had no idea if they talked to anyone at all and in their line of work, relationships, platonic or otherwise, were more like a lifeline.

He'd have to keep an eye on them. Because if their body language was any indication, they were both aware of the attraction between them. What remained to be seen was what would come of that attraction and whether or not it was hot enough to potentially tear the team apart. He certainly hoped not. He loved Emily like his sister. The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt. If Hotch's gaze was anything to go on, or Emily's blush for that matter, Hotch was one man for the potential to hurt her. And really, he didn't want to have to hit his boss.

I have nothing to say except to point out that I am finished my last final tomorrow. That is all! Now review!