Emily Prentiss Your Friendly Matchmaker
Part 1
"Come on," Emily Prentiss urged her friend Penelope Garcia. "We are going to be late for the play if we don't hurry."
"I don't know how you talked me into this," Penelope protested. "You know I don't like to go places where there's going to be a lot of alphas."
"You need to get over your fear that one of them is going to try to claim you without your permission," Emily scolded her friend. "I can't really blame you though, considering it's nearly happened a couple of times."
"Don't I know it," Penelope snorted her contempt for those alphas obvious. "Some alphas think that they can have anything they want whether or not the Omega wants it and I admit that both times those alphas were drunk. I know I managed to get away, because I was prepared for such an encounter, but it doesn't mean, I want to place myself, in a possible situation where it could happen again. I doubt very much that if I do encounter an alpha they are going to be drunk in this instance and you know how aggressive some of them can be when they want something."
"Yes, I know," Emily agreed. Emily was an alpha herself, though certainly far nicer then a lot of them. "That's why I came with you. Alright, it's also your birthday and I was coming anyway, since I'm the one that bought the tickets to see the Miracle Worker, but still, I understand your fear. You barely escaped both times Alphas made advances that you didn't want them to make, advances they probably would've regretted when they sobered up."
"And by then, I'd at least be pregnant," Penelope snorted. "I'm due to go into heat any day now and you know we should have put this off. You know our kind can only get pregnant when we go into heat, which is why I usually stay home whenever I know I'm about to."
It was true that Penelope was only days off from going into heat, which was when a female whether Alpha or Omega could get pregnant and the rest of the time they were infertile, so could make love without protection. This always happened every three months like clockwork for any female of their species, which basically meant they could only get pregnant about four times a year. However, once a female was pregnant their heats stopped until after the birth of the babies she was carrying.
"Yes, I can smell that you're going to go into heat soon," Emily admitted.
Penelope gave her friend an annoyed glare, which Emily just accepted, as she didn't want to admit that she was attempting to play matchmaker. She hadn't bothered to inform her friend about the matchmaking attempt, as that would only make Penny angry. She was the one that had insisted on getting theater tickets for Penny's birthday, because she knew her friend loved all types of plays. It was all part of her master plan for Aaron and Penny to meet and hopefully, mate. She and Aaron Hotchner who owned this theater had been friends for years and she knew that Aaron was lonely. He had dated and he had even been mated at one point, but unfortunately, that relationship hadn't worked out and they'd never managed to have children, so Aaron didn't even have that to distract him. Even if Aaron had managed to have some children, that wasn't enough to keep one of their species from being lonely, because for one thing children grew up got their own lives.
She admitted if only to herself that she was lonely too, because she really wasn't that much younger then Aaron and she had dated quite a bit and yet had never met anyone that she clicked with enough to consider getting mated to. Alphas never got mated to each other, because both were just too strong willed and besides, it went against their species. No, alphas, always mated to Omegas if they stuck to their species and the only exception was if they mated to a human.
"If you can smell that I am about to go into heat then we definitely should've waited, because if you can smell that other alphas and Omega's will to, though it's not the Omega's I'm worried about," Penelope said glaring at her friend.
"You still have a few days," Emily said. "I would estimate three, possibly four, so you won't be able to get pregnant until then."
"Well, that's something anyway," Penelope sighed. "I'm glad you're always around help me with my heat, as I don't know any male that I trust enough to do so."
"Be glad that toys were invented that will relieve your heat. However, having an alpha do it for you would be much better, even if they are only a temporary partner."
"As I said, I don't know one that I would trust enough to not disobey me and enter me without a condom when I'm helpless, as it's not like I'm capable of fighting off an alpha when I'm in heat. I don't want to end up pregnant by some alpha that should have known better, as I'm sure they would demand at least visitation rights for any children," Penelope said.
"And what are you going to do if I happen to get mated someday?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I know I can trust Alex and since she's also not mated, I'm sure she wouldn't mind taking over for you to help me relieve my heat, well so long as she wasn't in the middle of her own," Penelope said.
Dr. Alex Blake was another friend.
"I would ask Kate, but she got mated a few years ago. I would prefer you since we've been best friends ever since we were kids, but I do have other good friends that I trust."
Kate Callahan another friend.
"Well, I see you have it all worked out," Emily said smiling. "Of course, you might actually get mated sometime in the next few years."
"Doubtful," was all Penelope said, but Emily understood the subtext.
Penelope had absolutely no confidence that she would ever find a mate of her own and have children, so she had resigned herself to being alone. Emily well knew that Penelope would like at least a dozen and since their species usually had multiples that was more than possible, but she wasn't willing to have them by some random Alpha who could possibly demand parental rights. Emily couldn't really blame her friend for that, because a lot of alphas would demand parental rights, even though they weren't mated to the Omega in question and had been stupid or arrogant enough not to use a condom.
Emily didn't bother to argue, as she knew it wouldn't do any good.
Both women entered the theater and Emily led them unerringly to their seats.
"Well, this is really nice," Penelope said relaxing, as they were in one of the private boxes.
"It is," Emily said smiling.
"This must've been expensive though," Penelope said in a scolding tone.
"Not really, as I have a friend in the theater that let's me use his private box whenever I want," Emily explained. "I checked with him to make sure that he wasn't using it and since he wasn't I decided this would be the perfect birthday present for you. I have season tickets and I usually sit right here in this box unless my friend is using it for guests."
"Well, it's nice to have such friends," Penelope said smiling.
"Yes, it is," Emily said grinning in the low lighting, making sure her friend couldn't see it, as she would immediately suspect she was up to something if she did. If only her friend knew what her plans were for after the production, though she had to admit, it was a good thing she didn't, because she knew what a fight Penny would put up against it. Her friend was determined to spend the rest of life alone and unless she did something that would be the likely possibility. She couldn't allow that to happen.
The two fell silent as the play started and Penelope watched avidly as she had been wanting to see this for sometime.
"So what do you think so far?" Emily asked at the intermission.
"It's excellent, but then I saw the movie a long time ago, so I already knew it was a good script and that it's based off a true story makes it even better," Penelope said enthusiastically. "Of course, I know they made some changes for the play, but still, it's really good."
"Well, I'm glad you think so, and I admit I'm enjoying it is well," Emily smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "Let's go use the restroom while we can as there's still the second half to watch."
"Good idea," Penelope agreed smiling, as she and Emily exited the box.
The two of them strolled to where the bathroom was located and used it quickly before returning to their private accommodations just before the intermission ended.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~
"Penny, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine," Emily began gesturing at Aaron. "This is Aaron Hotchner. He owns this theater."
The play had ended and Emily had insisted that she meet a friend of hers, before they headed home. She had certainly be willing because any friend of Emily's would at least be polite or there's no way her friend would put up with them. Yes, rudeness had its place and Emily was a master at being rude when it was required, but there's no way that Emily would put up with one of her friends being rude to another friend. If she had thought that this friend of hers would be rude then Emily wouldn't have suggested that she be introduced.
"It's nice to meet you," Penelope said politely shaking Aaron's hand trying not to blush for she thought that Emily's friend was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen and she was definitely attracted. Unfortunately, there is no way that this Aaron Hotchner would be interested in someone like her so she didn't even bother to flirt.
Emily rolled her eyes when neither Penny or Aaron was looking and knew exactly what her female friend was thinking. It was clear to her however, that Aaron was indeed interested as she could tell by the look in his brown eyes, by the way he stared intently at her friend and in the attention he paid her. Emily admitted though that the attention was very subtle and if she didn't know Aaron so well she never would've been able to tell that he was interested in her beautiful friend.
"It's certainly nice to meet you," Aaron said in a flirting tone of voice, which Penelope ignored, probably because she didn't realize that Aaron was flirting. "Perhaps, you ladies would care to join me for dinner and drinks?"
"Absolutely, that sounds splendid," Emily said before Penelope could say anything at all, because Emily knew that her friend would turn Aaron down, not wanting to get too interested in him. Penelope would be sure that no one like Aaron Hotchner would be interested in somebody like her as anything other then a friend, at least not while he was stone cold sober. She knew very well that her friend considered herself plain at the very least if not downright ugly, which was so far from the truth that it was ridiculous, but she had been told that often enough by Alphas who hadn't cared that they'd hurt her with their words that she had started to believe it, untrue though those words may be
Penelope glared at Emily when Aaron wasn't looking and Emily just looked back innocently.
Penelope knew that she would have to go to dinner now, as it would be impolite not to do so. She would at least have to look like she was enjoying herself, since Emily had roped her into it. It was going to be a long night, Penelope thought sullenly.
"It's not the end of the world," Emily told her once they were alone again waiting for Aaron to finish up his duties, so he could join them.
"Did you bother to ask me if I wanted to go to dinner?" Penelope pointed out her voice rather sharp. Normally, there's no way she would talk to another alpha in such a tone, but she and Emily had known each other forever.
"Why not?" Emily asked giving her an innocent look.
"You know why," Penelope said inwardly seething, which was very unlike her, but she hated being put in these types situations, even by her best friend.
"Please," Emily said not bothering to hide the of her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with going to dinner no matter what you think. It's only for a few hours before you can go home again."
Penelope sighed and gave up her anger collapsing for she knew Emily was right, even if she didn't really agree with her friend.
The only problem she saw was that she could get very interested in one Aaron Hotchner if she spent any amount of time in his presence. Just meeting him had been bad enough, as she had struggled not to blush and stammer when she had first laid eyes on him. The Omega in her had certainly sat up and taken notice and she had wanted to offer Emily's friend her neck so that he could bite her mating gland and claim her. She had never had such a strong reaction to another Alpha and she knew that she and Aaron would go well together. She also knew however, that drop dead gorgeous Alphas like Aaron Hotchner, didn't notice someone like her at least when it came to having sexual thoughts, so she was just going to have to endure dinner before she could escape.
After tonight though, she was never going to accept another suggestion such as this from her friend again, because Emily was too sneaky when she wanted to be and she suspected that her friend was trying to matchmake, though she could be wrong. She didn't think she was though, because she knew her friend too well. It wasn't that she wouldn't love to get mated and have some babies, and this was the first alpha that she felt she could truly fall for, but unfortunately, she knew that such dreams were doomed so she didn't even bother to flirt.
"Ready to go, ladies?" asked Aaron, as he strode towards them powerfully, his gate smooth, almost gliding.
Penelope nearly drooled at the sight, but managed to prevent herself—barely.
"Yep, let's go, though we can't make it too late, because I have to work tomorrow," Emily said.
"So do I, so no worries we'll make it a early evening," Aaron promised with a charming smile that was directed in Penelope's direction, though she pretended not to notice. In fact, she internally sighed and knew suddenly that the evening was going to be even longer than she had originally thought, as there was no way that Aaron could know what his smile did to her. She had no doubt that he didn't even know how charming it was or how it made her melt on the inside or how the part of her that was Omega was just panting obviously wanting more then Aaron's smile to be bestowed on her. Something that was never going to happen she knew. He probably smiled like that at all the ladies, Penelope thought rebelliously, feeling just a little sullen and a lot out of sorts.
Why me? she wondered as she followed the two alphas out the door. What have I ever done to deserve this type of torture? Torturing me with something I can never have? This is just your fate, get used to it, Penelope told herself, as she climbed into the passenger seat of Emily's car. She didn't even know where they were going, as she hadn't been paying attention. It didn't matter she would just eat her meal and make some excuse to leave as early as politeness allowed, as she could only take so much torture at one time and she didn't really care at the moment how upset Emily was going to be at her rudeness.
The whole car ride was made in sullen silence as that fit Penelope's mood perfectly and Emily was smart enough to not say a word to her the whole way to the restaurant.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~
Penelope surprised himself by enjoying dinner with Aaron and Emily. She had put her attraction to the back of her mind and tried to look at him as one of her brothers and once she did so she really started to enjoy herself. Eventually though, she finished said she was going to go powder her nose and when she had disappeared and looked at Emily.
"Tell me what I'm doing wrong?" Aaron asked not begging, as that wasn't something an alpha did. "I'm very attracted to her, but she's not responding to my usual way of getting a women to notice me, so what do I do."
"It's not you, not really," Emily sighed, making sure she kept an eye out for Penelope, as she didn't want to be overheard by her friend, knowing that her friend would be rightfully angry if she was talking about stuff that involved her. "Penny has this idea that no one like you would ever be interested in someone like her. She's trained herself not to flirt with someone like you, as she's too afraid of having her heart broken."
"Why ever not?" Aaron asked in astonishment
"She has a very soft heart and she believes every negative thing someone says about her when it comes to her looks anyway," Emily explained without breaking any confidences. "She's been hurt by other alphas in the past that insulted her or just women like her not caring about those women's feelings. That what these alphas have said was untrue is something I can't convince Penny of no matter how many times I pointed out that their opinions are suspect considering their general attitude and very narrow view of the world. Finally, I think she just decided to go after those she thought were obtainable, but who she will never fall for in romantic sense, as the ones she does date have no chance of touching her heart. Believe me, Penny's interested, though you can't really tell, unless you know her well and I do. If truth be known, she's more than interested, but still, she's resisting because she thinks that someone like you can never be interested in someone like her."
"That's ridiculous. She's not an ugly hag, she's very beautiful," Aaron nearly shouted, but managed to contain himself in the last moment, as he didn't want to attract attention.
"Believe me, I agree with you. Yes, she is a very beautiful woman, though Penny doesn't see it that way. Alright, so she's not skinny or at least doesn't have one of those hourglass shapes that most men go for and I know a lot of men don't go for someone of her size, but she's hardly fat. If you're interested you're going to have your work cut out for you," Emily warned. "She's going to resist all your efforts, as she's not going to want to get her heart broken. It's likely going to take something very special to get her to even listen to you."
That was all Emily had time for, as she saw Penelope coming back from the bathroom and she gestured at Aaron not to say anything else.
Aaron got the message and cut off what he was about to say as he knew that if Emily's friend overheard them talking about her she would be very upset at least, and then he would have an even harder time getting her to go out on a date with him.
Penelope sat back down and conversation resumed, as if everything was normal. Aaron did his best not to shoot the Omega he was interested in looks throughout the rest of dinner, but it was difficult, as he had never been this interested in someone not even his ex-mate.
"I really must get home," Penny said, after they had lingered over glasses of wine for a few minutes.
"And what do you have to do that so important?" Emily asked, as teasingly as possible. Emily knew that Penelope just wanted to escape and that she really didn't have anything to do except go home and mope over someone she believed she could never have.
Emily sighed mentally and knew that Aaron had his work cut out for him.
"Oh, this and that," Penelope said vaguely, but knew she wasn't fooling her friend at all, as it was a very weak excuse and she knew it. She was afraid though if she stayed any longer she would jump Aaron right here in a public place and the wine she had consumed wasn't helping, as it lowered her normal inhibitions and she'd had only a couple of glasses.
Really, she was at least afraid she blurt out her growing feelings for Aaron and that would be beyond embarrassing and the omega in her had far less restraint when she was drunk. The fact, that her inner omega in her really wanted Aaron did not help the situation.
"Are you sure you okay get home by yourself," Aaron asked solicitously.
"I have to call a cab anyway, because Emily drove us here," Penelope said trying not to blush at Aaron's genuine concern.
"I really should be going as well," Emily said. "I have to work tomorrow and it's getting late."
"So do I, but I hate to break up such pleasant company," Aaron admitted.
"I'll just pay my bill then and I'll see you tomorrow," Penelope told Emily.
"I've got it. I haven't had such a relaxing evening in a long time," Aaron said firmly and Penelope was ready to protest, then snapped her mouth shut at Aaron's glare that told her she would not win.
"Thanks for dinner, Aaron, I really enjoyed it," Emily said cheerfully without bothering to protest, as she knew that her friend could more than afford it. Her friend owned several theaters and raked in the dough.
"You're more than welcome," Aaron smiled. "Shall I escort you ladies to your car?"
"You may," Emily answered before Penny could knowing that she would deny Aaron the pleasure, just because she didn't want to continue to be close to him for even a few more minutes. She suspected that her friends feelings were growing, something she was sure, Penny was trying to prevent, because she was sure it would only end in heartbreak.
Emily mentally sighed again, because her friend was so stubborn and refused to see that Aaron was interested in her. She had built a wall between herself and the rest of the world at least when it came to romantic entanglements. She was literally preventing herself from truly falling in love and while she could understand her friends reasons, it was only going to hurt Penny in the long run.
Penny knew this of course, but it hadn't prevented her from building the wall that kept out people, so she wouldn't get hurt again.
Aaron waved over their waiter and paid the check before rising to his feet and putting on his jacket. Emily and Penelope did the same before the waiter came back and handed over Aaron's credit card, which he took putting it back in his wallet before he escorted the two ladies towards the front entrance and then outside.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~
"I should be so mad at you," Penelope began as soon as she and Emily were safely in the car with the doors shut.
"Hey! I didn't do anything," Emily protested.
"What a load of crap!" Penelope nearly exploded. "You forced me to accept your friends dinner invitation for one thing."
"I did no such thing," Emily told her firmly. "You could've backed out at any moment and you know it. Yes, it would have been rude, but still, you could've done so."
Emily knew there was little chance of Penelope doing something like that unless it was someone she really detested, as she was usually very polite, but that was mostly because Emily knew some alphas could be temperamental and took offense at every little thing.
Emily admitted that she kind of had forced the situation, but for her friend's own good, as the sexual sparks between Penny and Aaron were practically visible and you'd have to be blind not to notice them. She had technically, used her knowledge of her friend, against her. Emily knew that Penny was unlikely to protest when she had accepted Aaron's dinner invitation and had known that she would very likely go along, just so she didn't create waves in front of a virtual stranger. A stranger that her friend was strongly attracted to if she was any judge. She also knew that Aaron was very interested in Penny, though her friend hadn't seen that because of that wall she had created.
"You knew I wasn't going to accept your friends dinner invitation, so you spoke up before I could," Penelope accused.
"And what was so horrible about dinner?" Emily asked logically, trying to get Penny to see that it had not been a horrible experience at all. "I thought you enjoyed yourself."
"I did, that's the problem," Penny said her anger dissipating.
"And what's so bad about enjoying yourself?" Emily asked.
"It wasn't that," Penny said quietly. "It was the fact that, I nearly jumped him towards the end and that I enjoyed myself too much and now I'm going to have to find a way to get over your friend."
Emily rolled eyes in the darkness
"I'm going to have to find a way to not think about him every second, since I know nothing can ever happen between us," Penelope said.
Emily sighed loudly in exasperation this time and Penny looked over at her.
"Yes, I know very well what you're thinking, but it would never work between us and you know it. Alphas like Aaron Hotchner are not interested in Omegas like me, except in fiction. I learned my lesson the hard way years ago."
"Penny your view of yourself is so warped that it's nowhere close to reality," Emily said in an exasperated tone. "You're hardly an ugly hag. You're a beautiful woman with a warm, bubbly personality that would attract alphas left and right if only you would get rid of that wall you built around your heart. Just because some idiot alphas hurt you in the past does not mean every Alpha in the entire world is like that. You're so afraid of being hurt that you are denying yourself a chance to truly fall in love. Even I could see the attraction between Aaron and you, as it was nearly visible and believe me, Aaron was showing an equal amount of interest, but since you've walled off you're heart you didn't see it."
"I think you're imagining things," said Penelope her voice strained. "There's no way an alpha like Aaron Hotchner could possibly be interested in me as he's gorgeous, successful, seems nice and likely has females swarming all over him. No, he could have any female he wanted whether Omega or human at a snap of his fingers and I'm sure they would literally fall at his feet if he did so."
"Not every male in the world is a scoundrel or a louse," Emily tried, but Penelope looked stubborn. "Aaron isn't like that and he never has been, as I've known him a long time," Emily tried again to break through her friends stubbornness, but it was clear that Penny wasn't listening to her right now and she knew that the alcohol contributed to that stubbornness.
Finally, Emily sighed again and gave up for the moment anyway. She started the car and drove in silence back to Penelope's apartment complex.
"I'll see you in a few days," Emily said once they had arrived. "Make sure you let me know when you're heat has started and I'll be there."
"I will," Penelope promised, as she got out of the car and shut the door.
Emily watched as Penelope walked just a little bit unsteadily into the doorway of her apartment building and once she was sure her friend was inside she drove away, though what she really wanted to do was hit her head on the steering wheel again and again.
~~~Aaron and Penelope~~~