Garcia caught up with Derek the moment he stepped off the elevator. "I wouldn't go into the bull pen." She warned, lurking just out of her office. JJ poked her head out of her office as well, followed by Reid.
"Why not?" He asked.
"Hotch went ballistic on Emily about ten minutes ago." JJ informed.
"Why did he go all ballistic?"
"We don't know. He just flipped out. They're in his office right now." Garcia piped up.
"She must have really ticked him off though. I haven't seen him that mad in a while." JJ added.
"Well baby girl I have work to catch up on. If I'm late it will make Hotch even worse." He kissed the top of Penelope's head affectionately and walked into the bull pen. Rossi sent him a look from his office. Other then that the bull pen was quiet, everyone trying not to (or to) listen to the conversation up the stairs.
*~*
"Complete disregard for the policies set in place here. This is not a personal playground Prentiss." In her mind she congratulated him on his use of alliteration. Besides that, she wished he would choke on his lunch. Or tie.
Her day had started out well enough. She rose early, watched the sunrise from the park and was extra early for work. Last night she figured Hotch would have a battle ahead of him and she thought why not be cordial and friendly? It couldn't hurt. Apparently, it could. Her attempt at friendly landed her in this chair, being ripped from limb to limb.
Emily still had no exact idea of why she was suffering this barrage of insults. She was losing self control very fast. Hotch had nothing to berate her on; yet somehow he managed to bring to her to boiling point. He was talking about nothing of real value. Just nit picking and bitching. She had, had quite enough.
"If you are here, in this department, to—"
"I am here to do my job, sir." She nearly spat out.
"Then do it well." He retorted.
Emily jumped up fuming. "I do my job just as well as everyone else. You, of all people, know that. You have never once complained about it before." She pointed out vehemently. It was all completely true and his face almost lost the professional mask and twisted into anger. Almost. Hotch was still a master of disguise. She was a little less masterful. She did not want to see the angry look on her face right now. Hotch had totally stepped out of line.
"If you're done with your little tirade here; I have work to do." She turned on her heel.
"Do not disrespect me." He said lowly.
"Apparently, everything I do is disrespectful or inappropriate to you. My behaviour has been inexcusable, so you say. I'm reckless and not objective enough. Yes, you've said that again and again. You've made your point, Sir. However wrong that is." She added spitefully
They were at a standoff. Emily was shaking; she was so wound up.
"Leave, now" He looked wound up to. But this fight was not over in Emily's book.
*~*
Hotch sipped his coffee ever so slowly. Emily had stalked out of his office hours ago and he was still furious with her. She went on to do a day's work in the quiet bullpen and he fumed in his office. He got nothing accomplished; just kept going over in his head the confrontation.
What he hated most was that she was right. He technically had nothing to call her on. That pissed him off even more. He despised being the 'fool' and it spurned him to know what an ass he had been. Just knowing how stupid he had been played by his agent made his stomach turn into all sorts of knots. He couldn't stand her at the moment.
Dave had attempted to speak to him but he refused anyone. Only admitted his superior Erin Strauss who spoke of budgets and procedures. So by six o'clock most of the entire bull pen had emptied. Emily was still there, arguing with some chief of police. He stalked down to her desk.
"Look, Sheriff Throff, I can get you a profile by the end of the week." She was saying. Hotch took the phone from her hand. "What are you doing?" She mouthed to him, glaring harshly.
"Sheriff Throff, this is SSA Aaron Hotchner, Agent-In-Charge. My Agent will have that profile to you by the morning. Thank you. Enjoy your evening." He hung up on the grateful officer.
"What the hell was that?" The venom was not hidden in her voice.
"Excuse me Prentiss? Do I have to help you think as well?"
"No, I could have done that." The word 'jackass' was on her tongue. "But now I will be up all night working on it. And I have three other cases to work on as well. He would have been lucky to get it by next week."
"I thought you were the best at your job." He turned her words on her.
She did not back down. "I am. Although you seem to be going downhill."
He did not know whether that was just a slip of the tongue or deliberate. All the emotions he had carefully gotten control over flared again.
"I do not care for your tone." He managed to say slowly.
"I don't care for yours either. Any time you have a personal problem, you take it out on me. Well I am done with that. I am not going to let you walk all over me." She pointed her finger at his chest.
"First, you know nothing of my personal life. Don't get it mixed in with your problems. Secondly, you are here to do a job, no matter how long it takes. So get to work. If you can't take it; then you shouldn't even be here."
"I earned my way here!" Their voices were very loud now.
"You did not. Strauss only put you on the team to spy on us. And now she has you here because of budget cuts." He said viciously. He wanted her out of his site and hearing. He wanted her to be just as hurt as he was.
"What?" Her voice dropped four levels.
"What?" He questioned the funny face she was making. He could hardly remember what he had last said, he was so angry. Something about her being a spy?
"She's getting money from me being here?"
"What?" To his knowledge they had only received the one donation. He didn't care to mention that. He needed time to cool off. He was way too stiff. "Just get out, Prentiss."
*~*
Emily felt like she had been slapped. All this time she had believed she had worked hard to be accepted into the team and smart enough to be here. Now she found out it was all a lie. They were only keeping her to get money. This was why she hated politics. It was so misleading.
'If you can't handle it; then you shouldn't be here.' Echoed in her mind. Could she handle this? The answer was no. She could not handle being used and degraded like this. Day in, day out. This was not how the job was supposed to be. Especially now with all that had happened in her life. She was barely feeling whole now. How would she be in five years? Two years? Six months?
She slowly turned back to Hotch, who was angrily grabbing case files. "If you think I should leave..." She trailed off. All of her previous anger had temporarily vanished.
"You should." He snapped.
"Then I quit. I'm done. You win whatever this was. I don't want to be a part of it." The words were out faster then she could think and she was placing her gun and badge on his desk and walking out. Out of the bullpen, building and Quantico. Soon she was driving toward Washington, having not grasped the full extent of what she had just done.
*~*
Hotch had never been so floored in his life. "I said leave; not quit." But he was saying it to the door She had already left. He stood up; watching her forlorn form, leave.
"Leave; not quit! Prentiss!" He hollered after her. She did not turn back.
"Fuck!" He whipped the case files in his hands at the door. It was very unprofessional; but the consequences could be dire. Whatever he had said before had been said in anger. Emily was an integral part of the team. He could not lose her. His cellphone rang. Maybe it Emily calling. No such luck. It was Gloria.
"What?" He answered.
"Hi." She sounded surprisingly timid. He waited. "So, I'm really sorry about last night. It kind of got out of hand."
"Emily just quit. Happy now? Everyone is miserable." He told her, flipping through his address book looking for her home phone number. Her cell went immediately to voicemail.
"Oh my god, why? She loved the FBI." Thanks for rubbing it in my face, he thought angrily.
"We had a disagreement. I'm busy Gloria. Please do not call me again."
"Over what? It wasn't about what I said last night, was it?" Gloria asked cautiously. Hotch stood straight. What was going on? He thought.
"Perhaps."
"Oh." That did not sound like a good 'oh'.
"Gloria." He used his famed interrogators tone to get the truth out of her.
"Well, it's just; I may have been a little vindictive last night. I mean, Emily really didn't know you've been secretly in love with her, I just said that so you wouldn't like her more than me." Gloria spoke so fast, but the childish logic was so clear. Why had he not seen through the smoke and mirrors of the Gabbana dress and seen the immature girl she was? Oh right, he only saw Emily in her.
Hotch hung up the phone. This relationship was officially over. He tried calling Emily's cell again. He grabbed his coat and sped out the door intent on finding her and bringing her back. The first place to look was her apartment. He remembered the address.
"Agent Hotchner." The Section Chief's crystal clear voice called him back.
"Yes Ma'am?" He did not have time to chit-chat. Strauss approached him form outside her office.
"I just received a very interesting phone call from Ms. Prentiss. She tells me she has resigned and that you have her badge and gun." Strauss waited for him to confirm it. Hotch was caught between lying and the truth. If he could postpone her resignation no one would have to know about this entire mess. But he always did the right thing. He nodded.
"When I asked her why; she said you could tell me. Did something happen today that I should know about?" Her tone was deadly.
His words had to chosen so carefully. Her tone meant every misstep could cost him dearly. "Agent Prentiss and I had a disagreement. Any decisions were made in haste. I am presently going to rectify that situation. Ma'am."
"Good, good. Because, you see, Agent's like Emily Prentiss are very valuable to our agency. They bring prestige and above all else, they provide security through monetary funds." She spoke very bluntly.
"And that is exactly what Agent's like Emily oppose. They are not bank deposits. They are people."
"Regardless if she is a person, she is very good at her job, as you were telling me last week, and she has a considerable amount of investors willing to invest again in the agency. We do not lose these kinds of assets. You understand this don't you?"
Hotch could not believe that the Section Chief could be so malevolent and shrew. What exactly was she saying? She saw the question in his eye.
"Either get Prentiss back in this office in 48 hours or your job security may come into serious question." She spoke lowly but he could roughly translate. Either get Emily back or your fired.
"Always a pleasure Ma'am." He exited to the elevator. Just as the door shut he heard her add,
"And we never had this conversation."
*~*
Emily pulled over to the side of the road. She was so going to throw up. She went from cold chills to hot rage in seconds. What was she thinking? Did she really just quit? Could she be dreaming?
A part of her wanted to crawl back to the safe haven the BAU had been. But it would never be the same again. She could only move forward. It was still painful to think of what she had done. It felt wrong. But she was a Prentiss. And Prentiss' did not go crawling back to their former bosses who treated them inferior. I can find another job just as rewarding, she thought, straightening her back.
Why, last month she had been offered an exceptional job in the South of France. She had laughed with the friend from college about it but gracefully declined. Now she needed a job; why not start fresh? The rational Emily would say she needed time to think and breathe. Which she did; but unemployment did not suit her at all. Maybe what she needed was a vacation.
She could take a vacation while looking for a job. South of France was already the destination. She owned a house in the mountains. She could fly there tomorrow. She just needed out of this wretched city and space to relax. Now that she had a plan in mind it made leaving easier to put out of her mind. Not entirely possible; just easier.
She called the airline and was surprised to find a flight leaving in a few hours. What did she really need to bring with her? A few changes of clothes and some personal items. She was charged with energy, so she packed. Nearly her entire closet. It was so much baggage she needed the doorman to help her.
"Moving out?" He questioned.
"No. Just going on an impromptu vacation. Can you call me a cab for the airport Walter?"
"Sure thing Miss." He disappeared.
"I'm really going to France." She said to herself, disbelieving her recent actions. Maybe she was dreaming. It certainly felt like it sometimes.
*~*
Hotch raced into the Capitol Hill neighbourhood. He needed to convince Emily to come back. It could jeopardize the team and his career. He worried more about the team and Emily herself, then his own career. He knew he would always have law to fall back on. It just would really suck if he lost his job. He ran into the building.
"Has Emily Prentiss come home?" He shouted, quite unintentionally, to the doorman reading the evening newspaper.
"Ms. Prentiss? Yes, but she just left for the airport almost a half hour ago. Some kind of vacation she said."
"What?" Emily was already gone?
"Did she say where she was going? What time she was leaving? Anything?" The poor doorman shrugged not being able to answer any of his questions.
"I really need to find Emily." He said, exasperated.
*~*
"United Flight 8833 departing from Washington DC to Frankfurt, Germany is now boarding. Please go to Gate 10."
That was her flight Emily realized. In less than 24 hours she would be in her 'house'. She hoisted up her heavy carry on and headed towards the gate.
Settling down into the comfy first class seat with her pillow she looked out the small window. It was still dark out. It couldn't be past midnight. She still had a connecting flight in Frankfurt going to Marseille. It would be a long night and day.
*~*
Will Hotch get the girl? Stay tuned to find out.
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