Longest. Chapter. Ever.
XXIII
"Can you please go lay down before you topple over?" Rossi directed to the blonde on his right.
"Rossi's right JJ." Emily placed her hand on her friend's arm and was slightly surprised to see how warm it felt. "You have a fever and haven't slept in over 24 hours."
"You have one too." The blonde said defensively.
"But she also has a concussion." Hotch joined in. He had been waiting for someone to call the woman out, knowing full well that if it had been him she would have just brushed it off.
"We'll wake you the second we find something." Emily promised with a smile and watched as JJ seemed to weigh her options. She did feel like shit and it's not like they had gotten any closer to finding Mackenzie in the past two hours. Sighing, JJ stood and made her way to the couch in the corner of the room.
"Happy?" she asked the group in front of her who chuckled in response. Emily came and sat next to her, placing the back of her hand to the blonde's forehead.
"Not really." She frowned. JJ had had her temperature taken at the hospital- under Hotch's orders- and it had been a steady 99.7 degrees. Now, three hours later, it was easily over 100. "I'm going to get a thermometer." Emily left the room in search of the precinct's first aid kit.
"I was going to go get some food." Hotch stood and ignored the look on the blonde's face. "I'll pick you up some medicine." Emily returned and held out the thermometer with a scowl. Rolling her eyes, JJ opened her mouth and placed the device underneath her tongue. It beeped and Emily read the results.
"102.4?!" she cried. "Why didn't you say anything?" JJ shrugged.
"I feel-"
"If you say 'fine', I'm going to break your fingers." The brunette scolded her like a child as she practically forced the younger woman to lie down. "You don't have to hide from us, Jay."
"Look who's-" the woman yawned. "talking." Emily rolled her eyes dramatically, took the coat Morgan offered her and tucked it around the woman's thin frame. She felt JJ shiver at the warmth and shook her head.
"Just take a little nap. You'll feel better when you wake up." She murmured softly, watching as the blue eyes started to close.
"M'kay Mom." JJ shifted slightly and Emily got up to give her more space. Within seconds, she was fast asleep, breathing heavily as she curled into a small ball.
"She's almost as stubborn as you." Morgan pointed out and Emily punched him lightly in the shoulder.
"You mentioned food?" Emily turned to Hotch with a smile.
"Hungry?"
"Famished." She nodded. "I don't even remember the last meal I had."
"Well why don't you come with me and we'll bring something back?" Hotch asked warmly.
"What'd you guys want?" she turned and asked the rest of the team.
"Something greasy." Morgan stated and Rossi and Reid nodded in agreement. The dark haired couple nodded and headed towards the exit when they were stopped by a pudgy man.
"Agent Hotchner?" the two immediately released one another's hands and nodded. "I'm Sergeant Riley. I heard there was some…trouble regarding one of my officers? Waters?"
"There was." Hotch remained placid as Emily frowned in confusion. Surely they weren't talking about the incident in the precinct?
"I just wanted to apologize on his behalf and inform you that he will no longer be a part of this unit." Riley extended his hand and shook Hotch's firmly.
"Thank you Sergeant but I believe the apology should be directed to Agents Prentiss and Jareau, not myself."
"Of course, I'll let him know you think so." Riley made way for the two to depart and headed back towards his office to berate his now ex-Detective.
"What just happened?" Emily whispered as they wove their way through the cluster of officers and detectives.
"Waters was demoted." Hotch stated plainly.
"Not what I meant." Emily pinched his hand as he tried to envelope hers with it.
"I'll tell you in the car." He promised as he held the door open for her. She smiled knowingly and buckled her seatbelt, already drawing her own conclusions as Hotch drove to the nearest burger joint.
"You've got to be kidding me." Emily nearly choked on her iced tea as they gathered their order and returned to the SUV.
"I'm not." Hotch chuckled softly. "Apparently she had him almost in tears." Emily laughed wholeheartedly and Hotch's heart fluttered at the sound.
"That's my girl." The brunette adjusted herself before feeling her boss' gaze on her. Turning to meet it, she took in the slight twinkle in his eyes. "What?"
"You really don't know how beautiful you are, do you?" he asked her softly, reaching over to cup her cheek. Emily blushed and shifted her gaze to her lap but Hotch titled her head upward so that brown met hazel. She swallowed hard, not used to being looked at with such…longing.
"Aaron." She whispered, leaning in closer to inhale his scent. She saw his Adam's apple bob quickly and placed her hand on his chest to feel his racing heartbeat.
"Yes Emily?" he asked innocently and narrowed the distance between them.
"I'm sorry I-"
"Shh," he stroked her cheek with one hand while the other rested on her thigh. "You haven't don't anything wrong."
"Yet." She lowered her gaze in embarrassment and sighed. "I'm going to mess this up, I know I am."
"There is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you." Hotch said, his voice full of confidence and promise. Emily shook her head in disbelief.
"How did I get so lucky?" she asked herself aloud and Hotch chuckled, the vibrations passing through both bodies.
"I should be asking you that." He assured her, taking in just how insecure Emily Prentiss actually was. It baffled him how such a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman could see herself as just another grain of sand. "You're one in a million Emily." Her blush intensified as she wracked her brain for a decent response.
"You know that that makes me exactly like seven thousand thirty-"
"Emily?" Hotch interrupted her.
"Mhm?"
"You talk too much." He informed her and quickly closed the small space between them, pressing his lips against hers in a desperate hold. Momentarily startled, it took Emily a second to reciprocate the kiss but once she did, the battle for dominance began. Wrapping her uninjured arm around his broad shoulders, Emily yanked him closer to her, not caring about the objects in between them. Hotch obliged and crossed over to the passenger side of the car as quickly as he could, lifting Emily up slightly so he could get underneath her. Now straddling him, Emily finally had the opportunity to return the detailed attention Hotch had given her at the precinct days ago. Desperately trying to ignore the fire that ran through her as Hotch's hands roamed her body, Emily removed her lips from his, causing the man to groan in disapproval. The feeling didn't last long as Emily leaned forward and latched her lips onto his neck. The second her tongue met the sensitive skin, Hotch's body reacted and he groaned again, this time in anything but disapproval. Feeling the response he was having against her inner thigh, Emily smiled against his burning skin. She ground her hips forward, eliciting a throaty growl from the man. During her treatment, his hands had not been idle, currently caressing the soft skin of her lower back and moving upwards with ferocity. He ran his hands along her sides and Emily smiled in approval as she moved against him once more. He gripped her waist roughly and she shut her eyes at the feeling of his short nails digging into her bare flesh.
"Emily." He groaned and opened his eyes, taking in the sight of her which only caused his desire to increase. She chuckled, her eyes still closed, as she twitched her lower body again. He hissed in response.
"Aaron." She murmured in his ear, astounded at the response she was eliciting from the man. He seized her hips, stopping the motion from happening again and drew her in close.
"If you do that again, I don't think I'll be able to control myself." He whispered against her neck, causing tremors to pass through her as his warm breath met her already hypersensitive skin.
"Maybe I want you to lose control." She darted her tongue and flicked his earlobe with it, causing him to buck slightly beneath her. She felt him press against her center and her breathing hitched immediately.
"Not here." Was all he managed to mutter. Emily understood and a part of her agreed. Both wanted their first time together to be special and not in the back seat of a government issued vehicle. Reluctantly, Emily removed herself from Hotch's lap and felt a shiver pass through her shortly after. Hotch made his way back to the driver's seat and the two simply looked at each other and blushed. When was the last time either one of them had made out in a car? The same thought crossed both their minds and they couldn't help but laugh at their actions before heading back to the precinct; the bags of burgers crumpled and all but forgotten.
"What took you guys so-" Morgan shook his head as he took in the couple. "Never mind, I don't wanna know."
"Oh, grow up Morgan." Emily rolled her eyes at him as she passed out the bags of food. Glancing towards the corner of the room, she took in JJ's still figure, now completely enveloped by jackets.
"She was shivering." Reid explained before digging into his meal. Normally, the genius would never consume food that was so unhealthy for him but today was different.
"We got her some Tylenol." Hotch placed the bottle on the coffee table by JJ's head and took a second to examine her. Her forehead was sweaty; blonde hair stuck to her skin from the perspiration, her eyes darted around beneath closed lids and despite the pile of coats, Hotch still noticed the slight trembling. For the sake of his sanity, he removed his own coat and placed it gently over the blonde's uncovered legs.
"Garcia, what'dya got?" Morgan's hushed voice asked as the techie appeared on the screen. The woman in pink frowned at the sight of JJ asleep, knowing that she would never do so if she didn't absolutely have to.
"What's wrong with my Sunshine?" she demanded immediately, her own voice kept low lest she wake the woman in question.
"Just a fever, Garcia." Emily assured her friend with a small smile.
"Aw, my poor love cake." Garcia pouted. "She looks so cute with the whole no gun, no 'I'll break your hands' thing." Everyone shared a small chuckle as they glanced over at the blonde.
"Got anything for us Baby Girl?" Morgan turned the attention to the second blonde.
"Would I be calling if I didn't, Stud Muffin?" she arched an eyebrow.
"Probably." He replied with a smirk.
"Too true. Now," Garcia took a deep breath. "I need you all to remain calm. What I'm about to tell you is not…good news." Emily's heart caught in her throat.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, the fear evident in her voice.
"Exactly 7 minutes ago someone began hacking into the system." Garcia told them, a slightly panicked expression on her face. Wide eyed glances were exchanged as they each opened their mouth to ask a question. "Before you all go Assassin's Creed on me, I'd just like to point out that they haven't gotten very far."
"What's 'very far', Garcia?" Hotch asked, a number of scenarios playing through his head; none of which he particularly enjoyed.
"Well for me to be notified they had to have gotten past at least a dozen firewalls and-"
"A dozen?!" Rossi cried only to be shushed by the rest of the team. JJ stirred and everyone waited for her to resettle before continuing.
"Calm your goatee, my love." Garcia said evenly. "The Bureau has over 14,000 firewalls and then they'd have to actually enter the system which you cannot do unless you have access to a username and password which, as I'm sure you all know, are changed monthly."
"She could just hack through that too." Reid crossed his arms in thought.
"You think this is Mackenzie?" Garcia asked the group.
"Who else?" Morgan shrugged. "She's doing it for Hail, we just don't know what they're-"
"If Mackenzie's behind this then the only reason is because Hail is forcing her." Emily defended the girl.
"Regardless, what could he want?" Rossi asked.
"There's thousands upon thousands of bits of information they could steal if they actually managed to get in." Garcia explained. "But after I had my seemingly annual nervous breakdown I made sure to reroute everything they do to my personal laptop."
"What does that mean?" Hotch asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Anything they do or gain access to, I'll know."
"But that won't stop them from taking it." Morgan pressed and Garcia shook her head.
"Can you track it?" Hotch asked and Garcia lolled her head from side to side.
"I can try but to even get past those dozen- well now, three dozen, firewalls the equipment she has access to has to be just as high tech as mine." She sighed. "But if you guys manage to find out exactly where she is, I can shut it down within- what the hell?!"
"What happened?" Emily cried as they watched the analyst frantically bash the keys of her computers.
"Garcia?" Hotch demanded her attention.
"That clever little-"
"What is it Garcia?" Morgan asked as Penelope's eyes darted from one screen to another.
"She tricked me!"
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"Her cloaking program not only hides her location but the exact time she started trying to get in!"
"Come on Baby Girl, we aren't all-"
"It means that she isn't hacking the 50th firewall; she's on number 12,543!"
"Which means that-"
"She can have access in less than 4 hours."
Hope the length warrants some extra special reviews! :P My laptop is still not fixed & I only have 1 chapter left in the doc manager so if I don't update for a while please don't hurt me