Episode: Last Word

It had taken Hotch a moment, sure, but something told him that in his entire life he would never forget her face. He had tried to hedge the conversation forward in an attempt to get her to remember him. He even brought up the whole security thing. But she didn't recognize him. All Prentiss did was nod slightly, listening to Hotch babble on in the most incoherent state that he'd ever been in. If he was being painfully true, it broke him a little bit The awkward lulls in conversation finally prompted Hotch to finally blurt out what he needed to.

"What can I do for you?"

"Uh, well, I- I guess I was hoping you could tell me where to put my stuff."

"Sorry?" Hotch's heart began to beat faster and a panicky feeling rose through him. He remained still, though, fighting the urge to yell, 'NO' and make her leave. He wondered if he could call security without her noticing.

"I- I'm supposed to start here ... today, at the BAU."

No. Mental images of working alongside this woman daily flashed through his mind. Sitting in close quarters on the plane, hotel rooms, dinners and drinks with the team.

He definitely would not be able to handle that.

"There's been a mistake."

"I don't think so, sir." Hotch shrugged off the small bite of sadness. Prentiss was the one who had given him the name Hotch, and yet here she was calling him 'Sir'. He hated it.

"There's definitely been a mistake." He murmured as JJ entered the room, flashing a quick smile at Prentiss.

"Oh, excuse me. We're getting started."

"Thank you, I'll be right there." He was almost glad for the case at that moment, to escape from his sudden onset of feelings.

"I didn't approve this transfer, Agent Prentiss," Hotch began slowly. "I'm sorry for the confusion but you've been misinformed. Excuse me, it's ... very good to see you again."

At least he had meant the last part.

As Hotch left the room, joining up with Gideon, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something bigger at play here. A kind of sick, twisted, karmic fate for him that would end up never going away.

One thing he could say about this job, it certainly helped take his mind off things.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Hotch was exhausted. It was one in the morning and all he wanted to do was put away his stuff and go home to Hayley and Jack.

But there she was.

"Please tell me you haven't been there for the last four days." He sighed, ignoring the slight jump in his stomach when he saw Prentiss sitting there.

"I heard you were flying back tonight." She spoke with an air of dejection and it pained him that he couldn't give her what she wanted.

"Heard? How- How could you have heard a thing like that?" Prentiss ignored the question, distrust rising unpleasantly in his belly.

"This was dropped off today." Hotch noted the fact she was trying to establish trust between them by giving him the folder. He wondered how long she'd been waiting in his office.

"I appreciate your interest Agent but," He paused for a moment, noting that he had just called her Agent. "Profiling is a specialty. We can't just let anyone who wants to give it a whirl."

"The I-80 killer? Co-eds in Indiana?"

"Yes, I read it on the plane." Hotch was avoiding eye-contact now, willing her to leave. But he had heard the spark in her voice. He knew what was coming.

"They aren't blitz attacks," He looked up, frowning. Maybe he hadn't known what was coming. Maybe ... he could hear her out.

"This guy's organized. He's a white male, early thirties. And a smooth talker, because even after eleven victims, he can still convince educated women, who know there's a predator out there, to get into his car."

Hotch studied her for a second. He was impressed. He had drawn much the same conclusions himself. "How would you advise the police?"

"I would stake out 'The Ranch House', a nightclub in Gary, they have a very popular ladies' night on Thursdays." His mind began to switch over into profiling mode and he wondered how soon they could get onto the case. Thursday was only a few days away.

"If you look closely you'll see that eight out of the eleven victims went missing on a Friday morning, so something gets this creeps' motor running on Thursdays."

There was an intense silence as Hotch pondered this information. She had gotten all that from just a few hours of reading over the file. Suddenly, he threw all feelings and emotions out the window. She had the paperwork, she had the skillset and from what little he knew of her, she had the personality to get along with the team.

"This isn't a whirl, Agent Hotchner. I don't know how the paperwork got screwed up or maybe you think my parents pulled some strings which they didn't, by the way. I belong in this unit and all I'm asking you for is the chance to show you that."

Hotch could feel the passion in her voice. He could see her unwavering expression staring him down, waiting for an answer.

"I still need to look into this, I'm not promising anything." His barriers began collapsing as Prentss breathed out a "Understood."

"We brief new cases every morning at 10 AM, you can see Facilities Management about a desk."

"You won't be sorry."

Hotch ignored the last comment, choosing to turn away instead and only looked back as she grabbed her box of stuff and left his office. She was moving quickly, excitedly and for a moment his mind flashed back to when he had first met her. The memory washed over him and he closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to get caught up in it.

Emily Prentiss was now part of his team.

Hope you guys found this realistic! I watched those two scenes so slowly that I barely knew what was going on. Also: I'm naming the chapters after song lyrics that I think represent each chapter :) If you have any suggestions for songs, possible future chapters, or just want to give me a review (hint hint) then check out the big box below this!

Song: Find You by Brianna Gaither