Prentiss
Weeks passed and my first day back at work was tomorrow. The others had already returned about two weeks ago and they were called to a case a few days ago. Jessica was out of town, so I offered to watch Jack for Hotch. Staying at Hotch's place for a few nights without him here felt a little weird to me and it was even worse when Jack would go to school and I was left here by myself. I'd just gone back to my apartment or the gym or something before I needed to pick him up.
I hung up the call with Hotch and walked back to the dining room where Jack was doing his math homework. "That was your dad; he's on his way home now."
"Does that mean you have to leave?" He frowned at me.
"I'll go back to my apartment." I nodded.
"But I like having you around."
I sat down beside him in the chair I had pulled over from the dining table before when I was helping him, "I'll still see you, Jack. I'll come and visit and I'll see you when you come with your dad to the team outings we have. I'm sure you're sick of me by now."
He shook his head, "My dad said you could stay here for as long as you want to. You can still stay with us." His eyes looked hopeful.
"I don't think your dad really wants me around that often, but thank you for offering, Jack." I smiled at him. I stood up and put the chair back under the table where it usually sat. I walked to the kitchen and began cleaning the dishes we had used tonight.
A short while of silence passed before he spoke again, "He likes you, you know."
I stopped cleaning and looked to the side, "What was that?"
"My dad…he likes you. Like, a lot. Whenever he picks me up from Aunt Jessica's house, she asks him how work was. He will tell her about it a bit and then he'll talk a small amount about the team and then he will talk a lot about you. When we go to the shop and he sees the flowers and looks at the red roses. When I ask him what he's doing, he says that he's thinking about buying them for you, but then he never does."
I didn't know what to say. I dried my hands and turned, looking at the boy in silence, waiting for him to continue.
"Aunt Jessica thinks he likes you too. She always says to me, "Jack, if dad ever comes home with Emily, let me know because they would be great together" after he talks about you a lot. One time, I saw him looking at a photo of the team and I sat down next to him. I looked at the photo and he asked me who I thought was the prettiest out of you, JJ and Garcia. I said you were all pretty, but he said he thought you were beautiful. When you text him, he gets really happy. When we go out for dinners, I always see him looking at you the most."
I heard the front door open and I looked back at Jack. I held my finger to my lips, "Don't tell him about this conversation, okay?"
He nodded and stood up as Hotch called out to him, saying he was home.
"Dining!" I called back so he'd know where we were. I turned back around and began putting the cleaned and dried dishes back in their rightful places. I heard him walk in and I took a silent deep breath.
"Hey dad." I could hear the smile in Jack's voice. Not matter how many times Hotch went away, his son would always miss him the same.
"Hey buddy, hey Prentiss." Hotch greeted me.
"Hey," I turned around, "How'd it go?"
"Not as well as it could have, but we got him, we just lost a victim in the process."
I tilted my head slightly, "Don't beat yourself up about it; I'm sure there was nothing you could have done."
"No, our hands were tied." He admitted, nodding.
"Emily helped me with my math work," Jack said to him, "She's really nice."
I bit my lip. I knew what he was trying to do. He was smirking at Hotch as he said it. I looked down and pretended not to notice the silent message passing between them. Hotch looked at his watch, "It's almost nine thirty; why don't you go get ready for bed."
Jack nodded, "Okay," He closed the book at the desk and walked passed me, "Good night Emily."
"Good night, honey. Sleep well." I smiled at him and watched him walk towards the staircase through the archway before I turned back to Hotch.
"Thanks for looking after him." He said quietly.
I nodded, "Anytime. It was actually really fun."
"And thanks for helping him with the homework. He's not great at math."
"You don't need to thank me, Hotch." I shook my head.
"Okay…well you look exhausted, so maybe—"
"Right. I should get going." I cut him off before he said "so maybe you should stay here again" like I knew he was going to.
He hesitated before following me towards the front door. My bag was near it; prepared from earlier. "Thanks again."
"It's no problem, Hotch," I rolled my eyes jokingly, "Good night." I said as I opened the door.
"Call me if you can't sleep; I'll come pick you up and bring you back here."
"I'll be okay, but thank you anyway." I smiled.
"See you tomorrow." He said quietly as I walked out the door. He watched me walk to my car before going back inside.
I woke to the early alarm and I knew I should have been waking this early again all week to train myself back into the morning routine. I turned the alarm off and contemplated closing my eyes, but I knew I'd fall back asleep if I did and I couldn't be late on my first day back. I pulled myself out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, my bathrobe over my arm.
I showered, changed, put my minimal makeup on. I went downstairs and found something to eat for breakfast and ate slowly, distracted by my thoughts. Much to my surprise, they were full of both Hotch and the conversation I had with Jack about Hotch. Jack must have misunderstood; there was no way Hotch had even the slightest bit of romantic interest in me.
I shook my head to myself as I stood up, "Ridiculous." I cleaned the dish I was using and made a coffee to go in a travel cup. I grabbed my bag and readjusted my collar over my jacket before holstering my gun and walking out the door.
I drove to the precinct and saw JJ, Garcia and Reid standing outside, waiting for me, no doubt. I saw their large smiles when they saw my car pull in. I parked in the same spot I always did and stepped out of my car. When I turned around and looked at half my team again, Rossi, Morgan and Hotch were with them. They must have come from inside.
I took a breath when I saw Hotch and looked down to the ground for an extra second before walking towards the building. I smiled when I reached them, "A welcome back committee?" I joked.
JJ rolled her eyes, "How relieved are you to be back?"
"I wouldn't know, I haven't even stepped into the building yet…" I smirked at her.
"Okay guys, chop chop…" Garcia said quietly.
"Turn back around." Morgan said.
"Oh, you're kidding. We have a case already?" They nodded in response, "But you just got back last night."
"Well the serial killer obviously didn't know that. Maybe you can tell him when you catch him; I'm sure he'll apologise." Garcia joked.
"Come on." Rossi said, walking forwards and pulled me backwards.
"I miss my desk." I pretended to cry.
I had retrieved my go-bag from my car and Hotch had insisted on carrying it for me. I let him, obviously not wanted to raise any suspicion both with him or the team. We reached the jet and I sat down beside JJ. He sat across from me and Reid was beside him.
We briefed and then sat in silence for a while as we waited for the plane to take us to where we needed to go.
"Prentiss?" Hotch asked quietly.
I looked up from the window and my eyes found his, "Hmm?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" I was confused as to why he was asking. I was okay; did I not look okay?
"You just look extra pale today."
"Well, I feel fine." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Okay." He looked back down to the file in his hands. Rossi and JJ looked between the both of us.
"Okay, that was weird." JJ said quietly.
I looked to her, "What?"
"That little exchange there between the two of you…I don't know what made it seem weird; it just was."
"Jayje, we were just talking." I raised my eyebrows.
"Forget I said anything." She looked down at the file in her own hands. Okay then…I saw Rossi watching me out the corner of my eye and I moved my eyes to his. He smirked at me, glanced at Hotch quickly before he returned to me and then looked down at his own file. I shook my head to myself and looked back out the window to the morning sky.
Hotch
The case felt longer than the three days that it was. I didn't exactly like having to work over the weekend instead of being with Jack, but you have to do what you have to do, I guess. The flight home felt extensive too, and my eyes found and stayed on Emily frequently throughout it. She was asleep right now; her eyes closed softly, her hair falling down over her right shoulder and her quiet, steady breathing that I couldn't hear at all unless I really listened, all seemed so perfect to me. My coat was laid over her; it was rather cold on the plane tonight. She was completely exhausted and she looked it, too. She had even admitted it to me after denying only twice, a rare thing for her.
"You're in love." Rossi said quietly from beside me.
I looked at him quickly, "What?"
"I know that look when I see it, and Aaron, you're in love." He smirked as he stood and walked away quickly so I couldn't deny it to him. I wasn't in love…was I? I tried my hardest to drop the thoughts about her from my mind but I was not the least bit successful. I picked up the book in front of me and tried to distract myself.
We landed just after ten pm. It was dark out and team was eager to get off the plane. JJ went to wake Emily but I stopped her, "JJ, I'll wake her in a minute. Go home."
She nodded and stood up, "Night Hotch." She said quietly as she followed the others off the plane. They had assumed that she'd wake her so they didn't bother to stick around.
I stood up and walked off the plane, taking both my bag and Emily's to the car. I went back to the plane and looked at her again. She looked too peaceful to wake; too content with how she was right now. I decided to lift her up gently. She didn't wake, fortunately, and I took her out to the car, carefully putting her in.
I had texted Jessica before we left and she said that Jack would stay up to come home with me. I drove towards Jessica's house and checked on the still sleeping beauty before stepping out of the car. I didn't close the door like any other time, I just quietly pushed it over and left it open the slightest bit. I walked up to the house and knocked. Jessica answered with a smile and I saw Jack behind her, picking up his bag.
"Thanks for taking him." I said to her.
She smiled and nodded, "Good night you two." She said as Jack walked down the path towards the car.
"Good night Aunt Jess." He called to her. I said goodbye to her and caught up to Jack. He looked tired too. I took his bag and threw it in the back. He climbed into the front and immediately saw Emily asleep across the backseat. Her back was to us so we couldn't see her face. I stepped into the car and pulled back onto the road.
"Why's she sleeping in the car like that?" Jack whispered to me.
"She was asleep on the plane but she's really tired so I just carried her out to the car. She'll stay at our place tonight."
He smiled at me, "When are you going to tell her?"
"I'm not, Jack."
"Why not?"
"Jack, not tonight." I shook my head.
He obeyed and stayed silent on the way home. I gave him the key and he went inside ahead of us, carrying his bag on his shoulder. I managed to get Emily out of the car without disturbing her slumber and I carried her inside, upstairs and to the spare room that smelt faintly of the same strawberry scent that her hair always smelt of. I assumed it was because she spent a few nights here.
Once I lay her in the bed and tucked the blankets around her, I closed the door and went back out to the car, getting both our bags and taking them back inside. I'd drive her to the precinct tomorrow to pick up her car if that's what she wished, but for tonight, she needed her rest.
