Episode: Lessons Learned

"I think you should take Prentiss with you to Guantanamo."

Gideon looked up at his friend, surprise etched over his face. "S'cuse me?"

"She could be of help." Of course, Hotch didn't mention that he wanted to distance himself somewhat from her. He loved Hayley and wanted to keep things that way, despite the disagreement they had had earlier.

"I don' know enough about her abilities. There's plenty for her to do back here."

"Well I don't know what she's capable of either; we've got to find out sooner or later."

"It's an interrogation, not a training exercise."

"She's the only member of the team fluent in Arabic."

"Well there're other translators."

"Yeah but they haven't studied behaviour."

"She even have her ready bag yet?"

Hotch glanced over at Prentiss' desk, noting the woman's standing position and her hands clutching said bag.

"My guess is there's not much this woman's unprepared for."

Gideon eyed him for a moment and Hotch wondered how much he was profiling about himself. Hotch tried to distract his friend by glancing over at Prentiss, who was trying to look like she wasn't listening in.

Gideon turned away, walking down the stairs and brushing past Prentiss with a brusque, "Car leaves in four minutes." Prentiss practically beamed at him, calling after his retreating figure with a quick,

"Yes, sir!"

She turned to follow after Gideon, but not before flashing Hotch a quick grin of thanks. Watching as she darted after his friend, Hotch vainly attempted to tamp down the butterflies that sprung up in his stomach. He pressed his lips together to prevent himself from smiling and turned to head back into his office.

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Emily froze as Gideon spoke. They had been right. There had been a trap. Suddenly, her mind flashed to the Morgan, the man she had exchanged exactly two words with. What if he had died? What if he just completely disappeared from her life without ever really being in it? Even more than that, what if Agent Hotchner died? It wasn't as if she and him had a strong emotional connection (or any connection at all) but he had heard her out about the Indiana case. He had allowed her to join the extremely exclusive team and had convinced Gideon to let her come along. You don't do all those things for someone you don't particularly like, do you?

Emily's mind flashed even farther back to the summer before she had gone off to college. She had remembered Agent Hotchner. Remembered that she had seen him around her house a few times that summer. Remembered she had called him Hotch. She quickly directed her attention back to Gideon, who at that moment, spoke,

"One SWAT agent died,"

Emily felt horrible at the momentary relief that flooded through her. She forced her mind to move off the subject of Hotch and back onto the case.

"Was there any sign of anthrax?"

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His breath caught in his throat as he ran up the stairs and into his and Hayley's bedroom. Jack was playing with some stuffed animal and for a moment he paused to take in the scene. They had waited to take the pictures. They had never been in danger. Hotch leaned down, feeling like he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. No case had ever hit this close to home before. He prayed no case ever would again. Hayley's hand ran through his hair and he waved a toy in front of Jack as his mind momentarily flashed to Prentiss. In that moment he realised that he couldn't feel the same. Wouldn't ever feel the same. She was a colleague and Hayley was his wife.

"Is everything ok?"

"Everything's perfect."

Ok, so this kinda gave me feels and I'm so sorry these are so short, but I'm writing these as I watch the episodes and I just really want to get inspired which is proving difficult. Anyway, so I hope you drop me a review and tell me how I'm doing! Hopefully this whole fic will get better as I go on.

Song: Sunshine in your Eyes - Oh My!