#fuckyeahhotchniss

[fuckyeahhotchniss]

🎃👻 Get ready for the Hotchniss Spooky Season Challenge! 👻🎃

Spooky season is here! And it’s the occasion for us to imagine our favourite couple during this time of the year!

From Emily’s birthday date (October 12th) to Aaron’s birthday date (November 2nd), we propose you a challenge to make them shiver!

• You can participate for all the prompts or only the one you prefer.

• Fanfics, edits or drawings are accepted.

• You can publish on Tumblr, Ao3 or Twitter. Please tag the blog in your post on Tumblr and add the #HotchnissSpookySeasonChallenge on Twitter

• You can submit your works on our Ao3 collection here https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FuckYeahHotchnissSpookyChallenge

We can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!

Have fun and get scared !

[justagirl-purplejellosg1]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Criminal Minds (US TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss Characters: Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner Additional Tags: Romance, Fluff and Angst, Birthday, Mentioned Ian Doyle (Criminal Minds), Mr Scratch storyline, season 7 onwards, Five times plus one kind of, Soft Aaron Hotchner, Soft Emily Prentiss, Sad Emily Prentiss Summary:

Written for the #HotchnissSpookySeasonChallenge day one prompt: Emily’s birthday. Five times plus one style.

Dedicated to the lovely peeps of the Hotchniss Discord

[nicodemuslily]

Spooky Season Challenge

As I don't really have much time to write other texts for the Hotchniss Spooky Season Challenge organized by @fuckyeahhotchniss , I drew a little something for some of the other prompts.

So, we've got:

14/10 - Pumpkin carving (with Jack fascinated by his father carving skills)

13/10 - Costume hunting (Emily agreed for the t-shirt, not the hat)

23/10 - Witches brew (with Emily cooking for her family and Jack encouraging her)

19/10 - Movie night (with the three... the two of them watching Hocus Pocus)

01/11 - Midnight hour (at first, there was a "Vampire kiss" prompt and as Hotch is disguised in Count Dracula, it fits well. Now, it's an illustration of the "First Halloween" prompt I've written)

12/10 - Emily's birthday (and Jack decorated the cake all by himself (and Aaron restrained himself to fix the mistakes))

Halloween is a ton of fun for this reunited family! ^^

(Don't pay attention to the wrong proportions, please. ^^; )

[the-queen-and-the-king]

Trick or treats

Summary: Jack wants Emily to go trick or treating with him and his father. She agrees, thinking that it may be the good time to tell something to Aaron.

Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss and Jack (and JJ made an appearance too)

Contents: There's a tiny bit of angst (because Aaron can be an idiot sometimes) but it's mostly fluffy-ness and idiots in love. ^_^

This text was written for the Hotchniss Spooky Season Challenge organized by @fuckyeahhotchniss ! And the prompt chosen is: "First Halloween".

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

Emily gasped as her cell phone began to vibrate on the coffee table. She was so immersed in the book she'd started the day before that she'd forgotten the world was still spinning. She looked at the screen and discovered that it was Hotch. Had a new investigation just fallen into their laps? She took the call.

“Hello, Prentiss. I hope I don’t bother you?”

“N… no. Go ahead,” she said, putting her book back on the side table.

“In fact, I called you because Jack would like you to come with us to collect candy in the neighborhood next Saturday.”

“Oh! It’s… it’s nice of him. I… I didn’t expect that.”

Absolutely not. It's true that she'd been rubbing shoulders more and more with the father-son duo since the tragedy that brought them together. She'd already grown close to Aaron after his divorce, first because the team was worried about him and they'd taken turns inviting themselves to his place to stop him pondering; then, because she enjoyed being in his presence more than going round in circles in her apartment overlooking the Capitol. Later, she'd pretended to help him in this new role for which he'd been unprepared, before noticing that she might actually be spending more time with them than at home.

“If you have something else planned, I… I’ll explain it to him…”

“No”, she retorted, far too vehemently. “No, I… I haven’t anything planned.”

And even if that had been the case, she would have found a way to cancel. It was an unexpected request, and she was glad he'd made it. She adored the little boy and was delighted to hear that the feeling was mutual. What's more, it meant she'd also be strolling the streets alongside the director, a prospect she was far from displeased with. On a contrary.

“Great! He’s going to be happy.”

She smiled, imagining the little one's ecstatic round face. Then her brain raised a question and her elation subsided.

“Is… is Jessica going to be there?”

“You want her to be there?”

“No, I… I was just asking,” she stammered, caught off guard.

“I'll call her afterwards to see if she's interested.”

Emily winced, realizing she'd probably just made a blunder. She had nothing against the giant's ex-sister-in-law, but if she joined their jaunt, it would change the whole complexion of the evening. But it was too late now, she was going to have to leave it to fate.

“O… okay. Is there… is there anything in particular I’d have to do or contribute?”

“Jack would want us in costume too.”

“Oh!”

This was even less expected, she mused, unsettled.

“Maybe I should have started with that. Sorry.”

“No, no, it's okay,” she said, thinking fast. “I… Well, I'll have to find something to wear.”

“Welcome to the club!”

She laughed, understanding that this addendum to the deal was recent. The two of them would have to find a costume in record time. The next day, she took advantage of her lunch break to browse the various websites dedicated to disguises. Of course, most of the outfits on offer were already sold out. What was left was either hideous or had measurements that were out of the ordinary and therefore wouldn't suit her at all.

“Halloween party in prospect?”

The profiler flinched in her chair, then looked in the direction of JJ, who had appeared behind her back without making a sound.

“No,” she began by denying, before facing the facts that the thumbnails on her screen spoke for her. “Uh… yes. A… I was invited to knock on doors at Halloween.”

“Is this the guy you've been flirting with for a few weeks?”

As the former liaison officer and the BAU analyst tried everything to set her up with someone, she had finally told them that she already had a target in mind. To bring more weight to her lie, she added that they'd been seeing each other for just under a month – in all fairness – and that things were going well between them. To justify the slow process, she had to admit that the man had a child from a previous marriage. She hadn't gone into further detail, fearing that her plan would be revealed. Or that they understood who she was really talking about.

“Yes. In… in fact, it's his son who wants me to come with them.”

“Good for you,” remarked JJ, sitting on the corner of the next desk.

“He wants me and his dad to dress up too.”

“With Halloween just a week away, bad luck!”

“Who are you telling?” she sighed, her thoughts turned upside down. “P… plus, I don’t know how to… what to wear. It has to be in keeping with the Halloween theme without scaring the kid, and I'd like it to be a little sexy for the dad, but not too sexy either, because we'll be surrounded by children. And it’ll be freezing to death.”

The wiry blonde's azure irises swiveled in the direction of the agency head's den – the door was closed as he was on video-conference – then returned to rest on her colleague.

“In my opinion, whatever you put on, the father should appreciate it,” she affirmed with a smirk.

“Stop imagining things,” she growled. “It’s not him. And it doesn’t help.”

“Okay. Give me some room so I can take a look.”

October 31st arrived both far too quickly and far too slowly. Like every time we dreaded as much as we waited for a certain event to happen. Together with JJ, they had come up with a list of three outfits that met all the criteria. In the end, she had bought herself a Maleficent costume – the only one of the trio that still existed in her size – which had undergone a few modifications from the original. While she did have horns on her head and a large black and violet cape twirling with her every move, she also wore a black dress highlighting her entire bust right down to her hips. A huge indentation starting at her thigh then tore through the right side of the fabric, revealing the garment's purple lining. And her legs, should her one-night stand wish to take an interest. 

She kept her fingers crossed that this would be the case, even though she knew that most of his attention would be focused on his son. A bit shakily, she knocked on the door and waited for Aaron to open. She heard hurried footsteps behind the slammer, which swung open to reveal the giant and his offspring.

“Emily!” cried the little boy, throwing himself on her.

She received him and returned his hug as best she could, engulfed in that fitted dress. Crouching down to hold the toddler in her arms, the muslin slumped to the ground, revealing much more than she had originally intended. She didn't dare look up to see if the tenant of the premises was peering or if, on the contrary, he was politely averting his gaze.

“You came! It's so cool!” exclaimed Jack, overjoyed. “Your Maleficent costume is so great!”

“Thanks. Let me guess…” - she pretended to think, wrinkling her eyelids. “Luke Skywalker?”

“Yes! And look, I also have a lightsaber!”

He immediately brandished a grey plastic cylinder, from which a multitude of other green nested cylinders sprang. In doing so, he brushed against her nose, and she avoided the impact with a welcome reflex. 

“Oh!”

“Easy with that, Jack,” warned his sire, stroking his hair. “Please don't take Emily's eye out.”

“Can we go, now?!” replied the overexcited mini-Jedi.

Children loved Halloween and he was no exception. She smiled as she imagined that he must have been harping on about this evening for days and days.

“Wait. Emily has just arrived,” he noted, before turning his attention to her. “Would you like to come in for a moment? For a drink or… go to the toilet. We are going to be outside for a while.”

“I… I'll gladly take the pit stop.”

He smiled back and stepped aside to let her in. She headed for the bathroom first, before stopping off in the kitchen for a glass of water. As she moved along, she sensed that she was being watched attentively, which didn't displease her in the least. Then she returned to the duo waiting by the door, Jack playing with his father's arm.

“Ready?” asked her Hotch.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“Yeah!” shouted the toddler, grabbing the handle before anyone else.

The trio left the apartment, headed up the corridor and landed in the street, where many parents were already surrounded by a horde of miniature monsters galloping in all directions. Aaron held his son's hand tightly until they reached a neighborhood where he wouldn't be hit by a car. He then released him, and he rushed towards the first residence in sight, where other motley creatures were already present. 

“Jess… Jessica is not coming with us?” she noticed, intrigued.

She had waited to ask the question, imagining that Haley's sister might have joined them further down the road. 

“No. She had something else planned for the night.”

“Oh. Good,” she said, trying to conceal her relief at best. “You… What are you dressed as?”

His brown hair was pulled back, plastered with gel, and he wore black pants and a blood-red shirt, over which he had slipped a gold-embroidered sleeveless vest. A long black cape with a high collar completed the ensemble.

“Count Dracula. I'm supposed to wear these too,” he said, showing her a clear plastic denture with prominent canines; “but one, they prevent me from speaking; and two, they hurt my gums.”

“Apologize accepted,” she declared, laughing. “It… it suits you well.”

It even suited him very well. She already knew he wore his suits wonderfully, but this nobler outfit suited him perfectly. Having rubbed shoulders with the cream of society throughout her childhood and a good part of her teenage years, she could see that he looked classier in this get-up than many men who had been born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Which was not his case, for what she knew.

“Given my size, there wasn't much choice,” he clarified, clearly uncomfortable.

“I think you've done very well,” she reassured him, aware that beneath this solid, strict exterior laid an insecure, self-effacing person.

Aaron Hotchner was confident only in his work. As soon as he stepped outside the walls of Quantico and put his tie back in the closet, he revealed a fragility and shyness that touched her heart. She was probably the only one of the team to know him in this way, and she intended to keep this exclusivity to herself. 

“You too,” he continued with a discreet smile.

“You think so?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that a little too… adult?”

She had hesitated to say “vulgar”, but other disguises would have been even more provocative. However, she couldn't help tugging at the flap of her dress to reduce the opening of the slit that had been cut in it. She wanted to please him, but without coming across as a tease in the process.

“Jack didn’t look shocked to see you.”

“Oh. Phew!” she sighed sincerely.

A silence settled between them, during which they exchanged a long glance. Did her eyes shine as brightly as his? With perfect timing, they turned their attention in another direction. Her cheeks were on fire and her heart leapt violently against her ribs.

“Uh… what… what are we supposed to do?” she resumed, controlling her voice as best she could.

“Walk the streets and make sure Jack doesn't get kidnapped by the first sociopath that comes along. Or don’t steal all the candy from other kids.”

The line of humor brought the smile back to her lips. Her host was the first to say that he wasn't a bit of fun, and she didn't agree with him at all. He possessed a peculiar sense of humor, which she had to guess behind his monotone and neutral expression, but to which she was sensitive.

“Okay.”

“Didn't your mother ever take you trick-or-treating on Halloween?” he bounced, eyebrows furrowed.

“I spent my entire childhood in Europe or in Muslim countries. Halloween doesn’t exist over there.”

It was also one of the reasons why she didn't have the same references as people her age in terms of music, films or TV series that she would normally have heard and seen during her childhood. That said, she was certain that even if this tradition had been present across the Atlantic, her forebearer wouldn't have deigned to accompany her on her quest for treats. She would surely have let one of her employees do it for her. She didn't mention the subject, however, so as not to spoil the evening, which she hoped would be sweet and pleasant.

“Oh. I… I hadn't thought of that,” he apologized, pained. “You… you want to go knocking on doors with Jack?”

She widened her eyelids, unsettled by this suggestion.

“It… it's not just for kids?”

“Yes. But people won't be surprised that we're with him,” he assured her with a smile. “Hold on, I’ll ask him. Jack!”

Several children turned their heads, then immediately ignored them. The only one they were interested in charged towards them, hair blowing in the wind, his Death Star-shaped bucket already full flapping on his hip.

“I got Smarties!” he exclaimed, shaking the rectangular box right in front of them.

“Cool,” commented his father simply. “Would you like Emily to go knocking on doors with you?”

“Yeah! Come on!” he commanded, grabbing her by the hand. “We’re going up there!”

Before she had time to say anything, he dragged her into an adjacent alleyway where more ornate gardens lay before them. She turned her head to Aaron for help, but he just smiled, amused by the situation. She followed the boy as best as possible, her outfit not being ideal for wild cavalcades. Finally, the three of them soon found themselves on a porch, and Jack hastened to ring the bell, clearly proud to be so well surrounded.

                They spent the next two hours criss-crossing the town, collecting sweets and congratulations for their costumes. Regularly, people imagined that the pocket Jedi was their son, the agency director's and hers; but neither the toddler nor his sire raised the slightest contradiction. As if the idea satisfied them perfectly. And she quickly admitted that the concept warmed her chest too. She'd never replace Haley – in the sense that she hadn't given birth to the little boy – but the prospect of being by his side to see him become a man suited her just fine. And if, by any chance, he should feel like calling her “Mom”, she wouldn't contradict him. To tell the truth, the thought even brought tears to her eyes.

                Nevertheless, she repressed them so they wouldn't be misinterpreted. They had stopped at a street corner to sort out a few technical and logistical problems. Jack's shoelaces had untied, and he didn't want to sit on the floor at the risk of soiling his disguise. The giant naturally knelt down to help him. Immediately afterwards, he transferred part of the evening's booty into a bag he had concealed under his cape, so that the harvest could continue without the kid losing half his profits on the way. Emily watched the duo from a distance, touched to see them so close. Several times she'd heard the colossus support the fact that Jack preferred his aunt to him, but from the way the little one nestled easily in the ex-prosecutor's big arms and looked at him admiringly, she knew it wasn't true.  

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” she replied hastily, snapping back to reality.

“Say it if you're fed up,” he encouraged her, as the skunk bounded away.

“No. It… it’s just that… I wore heels high enough not to step on my dress and...”

“Your feet hurt.”

She would have liked to answer in the negative, as she wanted to prolong this suspended moment as long as possible, but she had overestimated her resistance to pain. Her toes had stopped sending her any signal of their existence, the arch of her foot was throbbing with every step, her heels were being tortured, and her Achilles heels were burning. She preferred not to pay attention to what her knees and calves had to say.

“Yes,” she admitted, lowering her nose.

“We’ll go back home then. Let me explain the issue to Jack.”

“No, no…”

“JACK!” he hailed before she had time to react.

“No, it's all right,” she defended herself, grabbing his forearm. “I assure you. I… I’ll be gritting my teeth.”

He looked at her hand resting on him, then at her. She stepped aside, remembering that he wasn't very tactile. He thought for a moment and proposed: 

“… You can also take them off.”

She raised an eyebrow, dumbfounded. Immediately, her brain picked up on the shortcomings of this offer.

“I can pass you my socks,” he went on, very calmly.

“What?”

“You don't want to take your shoes off because you're in tights underneath and you know that walking without shoes will, one, give them away and, two, make you cold,” he unrolled, his eyes turned to an invisible point on the sidewalk. “So, I'm offering to lend you my socks. It'll protect your tights and keep out the cold.”

That was on the list of snags in this plan, along with the fact that without her heels, she was going to look like a garden gnome next to him. 

“… But… and you?” she counter-argued awkwardly. 

“I'll survive,” he replied at once, a mocking sneer at the corner of his lips.

Jack reappeared in the meantime, his cheeks rosy from the low temperatures and his mad dash.

“What?” he asked, out of breath.

“We pause for a moment. Don't wander off,” he ordered as he sat down on the nearest bench, taking care to slide his cape next to him.

“Why?” continued the little boy, watching him untie his shoelaces.

“Because I don’t want you out of my sight.”

“No, why we do a pause?”

“Because Emily's feet hurt,” he explained as he retrieved his first sock.

“Why?”

“Because she's wearing shoes with high heels, and they're not made for walking for hours on end.”

“Why did you wear high heels?”

The profiler was surprised to be suddenly the Jedi knight's target and was slow to give him an answer. 

“To… to be pretty.”

“You don't need high heels to look pretty,” he retorted without a second's hesitation.

Speechless, she turned her gaze back to Aaron, who had already put his shoes back on.

“I agree with him,” said the father quietly.

His tone was one of jest, but she smiled nonetheless, charmed by this unexpected compliment. To hide her blush, she hurried to sit beside him and take off her pumps. Intense relief ran up her leg as she dislodged her feet from these expensive prisons. At that moment, she would have given anything for someone to give her a massage. But this was neither the time nor the place, and she took the black socks her superior handed her. They were much too big for her, but by rolling them up tightly, she managed to find a compromise that would allow her to walk without having to wind them up all the time. By the time she was ready to get back on the road, Jack had already set off again.

“He's adorable,” she declared, as they walked slowly behind him.

“Yes.  His mother did a great job.”

Her heart missed a beat. It had been just over a year since Haley's decease, and the circumstances of her death had left an indelible mark on the minds of the unit's members. The tragedy had been even harder for him to digest, but she still noted that there had been more gentleness in this evocation of the young woman than pain. However, he still felt that his actions were nothing compared to what his ex-partner had done. 

“I think his father had a bit to do with it too,” she chuckled, setting the record straight.

“I doubt that.”

“Yet it seems to me that long-term memory doesn't kick in until the age of five.”

In other words, what he'd taught him over the past twelve months would shape his character far more than what Haley had once told him. He was kind and affectionate because his mother had taken care of him, that was a fact, but his caring and protective side – which she had already witnessed several times – had only one origin. What Aaron was obviously not ready to admit, as she understood when she caught sight of his discomfort. So as not to embarrass him further, she opted for a lighter reflection.

“He's a bit of a charmer too.”

“It's definitely not from me,” he joked at once.

She was also amused and relieved that she hadn't totally ruined the mood between them. They were now walking side by side on the pavement, Jack riding from one side of the street to the other, freezing only for a handful of seconds to check that they were still following.

“Reassure me, we don't have to come to work tomorrow. Because my feet are a mess, and I don't think a night's sleep is going to fix them.”

Aaron's face had darkened again, though she wasn't sure why. She stopped to question him, and he imitated her reflexively.

“Hotch? I… I’m sorry, I… I didn’t want to say that…”

“No, I'm sorry,” he cut her off, staring at the floor.

“For what?”

“I… I dragged you into this when you surely had better things to do.”

“No, I… I assure you I had no plans for this evening,” she repeated, as sincerely as she could. “I… I'm so glad you invited me.”

He looked up at his son, who was chatting with Mario, Peach, and Mulan. She noted the gleam in his eyes and the reddening of his ears.

“He… he loves you very much.”

She couldn't stop her lips from stretching.

“I love him very much too. And I love spending time with you,” she confessed, her cheeks burning. “With or without a cape.”

He smiled and raised his nose. Their eyes met and a lot happened in that instant. All at once, she had the impression that many unsaid things had been lifted, that the locks on their respective walls had been lifted, and that the same emotion had flowed through them. She brushed her fingertips against his hand, terrified that he might distance himself and push her away. But he agreed to slide his palm into hers. His skin was soft, and a pleasant warmth immediately spread to Emily's arm and then to her whole body.

                They were still observing each other, gently caressing each other's dermis blindly. They didn't dare take the final step.

“Dad!” exclaimed a small voice that made them jump. “Can we go to the other street over there?”

They'd narrowly avoided a heart attack but hadn't let go of their partner.

“Y… Yes, of course,” Hotch stammered, unsettled. “We… we are just behind you.”

The boy stormed off again and, without consulting each other, they followed in his footsteps. She was so happy that the truth had finally come out and, above all, that she'd discovered that her feelings were divided. She had her doubts, but the colossus cloaked what he thought and felt in a shell that made it difficult to perceive his feelings. Without this clarification, they would probably have missed out on their story.

“Don’t tell the others.”

“What? That we walked down the street hand in hand?” she quipped, imagining how disappointed JJ and Penelope would be if she told them that she and her lover had settled for that.

“Please,” he retorted, very serious. “I… I don’t want them to imagine things.”

“Like what?” she simpered, aware that her colleagues would imagine a lot more when they learned that she was now a couple.

Except that Aaron was visibly embarrassed by this possibility. He was still holding her hand, but he wasn't looking at her. Which was the opposite of his usual behavior. The head of the BAU stared into people's eyes without blinking; in fact, it was the first thing that struck about him. After a while, you just got used to it, in contrast to his uncharacteristic avoidance.

“That… that I'm going to give you an advantage over them. Or… the reverse,” he explained, hesitating. “And… and if Strauss finds out, I'll be out on the street in no time and... I need this job.”

His irises landed on Jack, then on her. She understood then that he was afraid. Afraid that their relationship would upset the balance of the team. Afraid to have to rebuild what had taken him seven years to build. Afraid to lose his job when he was responsible for a hundred percent of a life. He loved her, he longed for her, but he also feared losing everything by giving in to his emotions. She continued, in the same tone as him:

“Why would you want Strauss to know?”

“Not… not everybody likes to spend time with me. It’s… quite the opposite, generally.”

“Why do you say that?” she questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

“JJ thinks that I’m a bully and Derek hates me. That's already two who wouldn't mind seeing me go.”

She held back from rolling her eyes. Five years earlier, during an investigation, he had demanded that she and her teammates throw his worst flaws in his face in order to prove his theory. He had learned that his liaison officer and the ex-policeman found him, respectively, overbearing, and annoying. At the time, she claimed he was macho because he knowingly left her out. Only Gideon, present, him too, had refrained from comment. And with good reason: even though, as promised, he hadn't held it against them, it was obvious that he'd been hurt and had taken their remark for granted.

“…Okay,” she sighed, releasing his hand to place hers on his chest. “Who do you think you are to us?”

“Your... boss,” he said, suddenly doubtful.

“And… that’s all?”

“Y… yes. Well, I hope to be a little more than that for you, but for the others, yes.  What else can I be?”

“A friend,” she replied, as if it were self-evident.

This conversation was knotting her insides. Did he really think he was that different from his men? So far away from them? Did he think they invited him to their parties out of obligation? She wasn't unaware of his lack of self-esteem but hadn't realized it had come to this.

“Who would want to be friends with someone like me?”

“Lots of people,” she said, pained by the implication of this statement. “Starting with those who work under you at Quantico. Including Derek.”

“… Really?” he frowned, confused.

“Yes, really.”

He remained silent, analyzing, and digesting her words without moving. She was convinced of her position. JJ and Morgan hadn't meant to offend him by saying that. The former had only wished to point out that he was sometimes a little too frank with certain people – a trait to which his team was accustomed, but which offended the pride of many of the strangers in their service – while the latter found it hard to accept, at times, that he was not in charge and, indeed, had to obey Hotch's injunctions, however constraining they might be.

                But that didn't mean they hated him or wanted him removed, far from it. Everyone respected him and knew they could count on him if anything went wrong. Everyone understood that beneath his icy scowl lay a caring, empathetic, and humble person. He didn't have Garcia's exuberance, Derek's glibness, JJ's sweetness, Dave's ease, or Spencer's knowledge, but that wasn't what mattered to them. It was everything else and, she could bet her entire bank account on it, none of them wanted another chief in his place.

“Trust me on this one,” she continued, grabbing his hands. “You're far from being just a boss to them. And neither of them will say anything to Strauss if they ever find out about us.”

“… Do you believe so?”

“No, I'm sure,” she corrected with a smile. “But you know what?”

“What?”

“We're not going to say anything for the moment because, if we've done nothing more reprehensible than hold hands, I don't want them to interfere in our story in any way.”

“I agree with that,” he nodded.

“Great!”

She felt him relax a bit. Their eyes met once again. She wanted to kiss him and hug him at the same time. Their hands were clasped between the two of them, but it wasn't enough for her. Except that she didn't dare rush things, for fear that he would suddenly back down.

“Would… would you allow me to do something a little more reprehensible?” he finally asked.

She repressed with all her might the urge to smile. Her heart pounded so hard against her sternum that she thought it would break. Was he going to do what she hoped he would?

“… Go on.”

He then let go of her fingers, gently took her face between his palms, and leaned towards her to place his lips on hers. It was a brief moment, but a magical one. She was so happy that she was surprised not to burst into tears. Her eyes burned, but nothing more – which was fine with her, considering how long it had taken her to perfect her make-up.

“Are you all right?” he worried, as she remained motionless.

“… Would… wouldn’t you like to do it again? I didn't have time to decide whether I wanted more or not.”

Aaron burst out laughing but obeyed. He kissed her again and lingered this time. She reacted too, holding back his lips, welcoming his tongue around hers, tasting all these new flavors. With their eyes both closed, they savored the moment, drawing irrevocably closer to each other, until they found themselves in their lover's arms, with no space between them. He eventually released her for questioning:

“… And now?”

“I think that new assessments will be necessary.”

They laughed in unison and pulled away to take each other by the hand, exchanging another kiss in the process. She was already addicted to the taste in his mouth and had the feeling she could ask for more indefinitely without ever getting bored.

“You'll understand that I'm obliged to tell Jack,” raised the father after checking where his offspring was.

The change in tone made her stomach tickle. Now he'd realized that she wasn’t just a subordinate anymore to him. He'd put her in that category of people with whom he was on first-name terms. To tell the truth, he must even have put her in this unique box, just for her. Or rather, just for them. Because that was the way he worked. She would soon be the keeper of confidences he would share with her alone. She would discover facets of him that no one else knew. And this prospect delighted her to no end.

“He knows how to keep a secret?”

“As much as Penelope.”

She laughed, despite the jab he'd just thrown at the analyst. But he was right; the former hacker – like the youngest member of the team – had some difficulty holding her tongue. As long as no life was at stake, it wouldn't take much for her to express what was on her conscience. Emily mused that the toddler was still at that stage of childhood when the filter imposed by society didn't yet exist and they were far too proud to know something an adult didn't to keep it to themselves.

“Okay. So we're going to try and make the most of our quiet and only day.”

They laughed in chorus; all tension having left their bodies. She pulled on his arm so that he leaned towards her and kissed him tenderly, caressing his cheek with her free hand at the same time.

“Of course you can tell him. I… I don’t want to hide from him.”

They were already going to have to pretend they weren't together in the eyes of their mutual friends; she didn't want to push the masquerade that far. Especially since she loved being around the little boy.

“Besides, it shouldn't make much difference to him since you're already in our house all the time.”

“Hey!”

Outraged by this sneak attack, she dug her fingers into his ribs.

“Ouch!” he winced, immediately bending over.

Then she realized what she'd just done.

“Sorry,” she apologized on the spot. “I hit the wrong place?”

“If your aim was to touch my ribs, it’s good. You hit the bull’s-eye.”

Just over a year earlier, a psychopath had stabbed him nine times in the torso. It must have healed since then, but she was convinced that the marks remained more sensitive areas than the rest of his bust. But he proved her wrong by straightening up, then leaning in to kiss her gently.

“Everything's fine,” he said, his big hands warming her cheeks.

She smiled, appeased, and kissed him back.

“…I love you,” she murmured, suddenly shy.

“I love you too,” he declared, gently.

Their lips met again for a long, soft, warm kiss. Then they parted, their fingers intertwined securely, and set off again, shoulder to shoulder. Jack was only a few steps ahead of them, picking up candy that had fallen to the ground. Did he saw them? They'd find out when they talked to him later.

“Jessica really had plans for tonight?” she asked, suddenly curious.

“I don’t know, I didn’t call her.”

She turned her head in his direction, mouth agape. So, all along, he had planned to spend this evening only with her and her son. She smiled.

“You’re a naughty boy, Agent Hotchner.”

“If you only knew, Agent Prentiss.”

They laughed, kissed and continued on their way, arm in arm. Finally, for her who had grown up far from Halloween festivities, October thirty-first would now take on a very special meaning.

___

Those idiots are just so cute together! >_< I think I could re-write their first kiss and first date again and again for ages, because of the clumsiness they shared to express their feelings.

[fuckyeahhotchniss]

🎃👻 Get ready for the Hotchniss Spooky Season Challenge! 👻🎃

This October, we’re bringing the chills, thrills, and fun with a brand-new challenge that’ll test your spooky spirit!

Dare to join? Keep an eye out for the full details dropping soon. Let’s make this spooky season unforgettable!

[fuckyeahhotchniss]

Prompt : Emily’s Birthday

Writer : leavemurph

[fuckyeahhotchniss]

Prompt : Costume Hunting

Writer : Just_a_Girl

[fuckyeahhotchniss]

Prompt : Emily’s Birthday

Writer : Just_a_girl

[the-queen-and-the-king]

Promise me

Summary: Aaron wakes up in the middle of the night after a nightmare and immediately gets sick. Worried, Emily asks him what's going on.

Characters: Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss

Contents: Angst AF. Emetophobia, Talk about abusive relationship, neglectful parents, guilt. NSFW/MINORS DNI

This text was written for the Hotchniss Spooky Season Challenge organized by @fuckyeahhotchniss ! And the prompt chosen is: "Ghost from the past".

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

                Emily and Aaron were fast asleep in their hotel room. The team knew they were a couple, so they let them share the same bed despite being in the middle of an investigation. Exhausted by jet lag and workload, the lovers had collapsed like rock anyway, their heads barely resting on the pillow. He was lying on his back and she was curled up against him, one hand abandoned on his chest.

                Chest heaving in an irregular rhythm. Brow furrowed, he clenched his jaws, his limbs twitching, sweat beading on his forehead. Beside him, his lover was too deeply asleep to notice anything. She was roused from her slumber, however, when her companion jumped to his feet and rushed to the bathroom to vomit. It took her a few seconds – long seconds – to understand what was happening, then she waited, her heart clenched.

                She waited until he had finished returning the remains of his last meal and was no longer prey to nauseous hiccups. It was the first time since they'd known each other that she'd been present while he was ill, so she didn't know how he'd react if she burst into the bathroom while he was in such a weak position. So she waited; but after an interminable silence, she was surprised not to hear the water running in the sink, the bolt opening and him returning to bed.

So, defying the ban – so to speak – she got up and quietly knocked on the door.

“Aaron?”

She received no answer. Her heartbeat ran faster.

“Aaron, are you okay?”

The question was absurd, she knew it, but the aim was to force him to talk. To no avail. She realized, nevertheless, that the door was unlocked. In his haste, he had taken the time to turn on the light, but not to lock himself in. Which suited his companion.

“Aaron, I’m coming in.”

And she did, before stepping back, worried about her lover. Dizziness seized her as she discovered him on the floor, eyelids closed. She knelt so quickly beside him that her knees ached. The painful signal was drowned in her wandering thoughts.

“Aaron!”

Her fingers brushed his extremely pale face and he immediately reopened his eyes. Intense relief loosened her bowels. She slipped her hand into his and bent to kiss his forehead.

“You okay?” she murmured, settling herself more comfortably next to him.

He shook his head sheepishly, negatively. Which wasn’t surprising for her.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She didn’t want to make him to anything. Nonetheless, this kind of behavior was not to be expected in the face of a trivial event, and she was dying to know more. To help him. To reassure him. Perhaps to help him get through this ordeal. It would be a difficult time, but she expected to support him from beginning to end.

“I..." - he swallowed - "I relived a childhood memory.”

Not a good one, she wanted to add before holding back. The sound of his voice was barely audible.

“It's my father,” he said, staring straight ahead. “It’s the end of the month, he has been paid and it’s late.”

Unconsciously, he clung to Emily's hand as if she were keeping him from sinking. He had begun to tremble, subtly. She could have stretched out an arm, grabbed one of the shower towels to cover him, but knew it was pointless. He wasn’t cold.

“My mother is waiting for him. For hours. But he doesn’t care. He says horrible things to her.”

She saw tears beading at the corners of his eyelids. One crashed straight to the tile floor, while the other rolled along the bridge of his nose before falling back.

“And… and he’s getting angry. He raises his arm and brings it down on her. Multiple times. He’s… he insults her and... she does nothing. She doesn’t fight back.”

Emily tried not to flinch, but his words stirred her stomach. A hot flush came over her, which she fought with all her might. She had to hold out for him.

“And I’m scared. I’m scared for her and I’m scared for me. I'm afraid he'll come into my room afterwards and hit me too.”

“Does...?” she dared to ask.

“No. I was nothing for him. He didn’t even come to see me being born.”

A surge of rage swept through her. She felt ready to put her fist in the man's face, and then remembered that he had died years earlier. When Aaron was still a young teenager.

“I did nothing. I did nothing to protect her. To get her out of there.”

“But how old were you?”

“In… in this memory? Five or six years old. But… it went on afterwards.”

Until the end, she understood. Until her husband died.

“And I did nothing more. Nothing more than despising her and telling her how stupid she was to have stayed with a man like that.”

A behavior that seemed to hurt him more than his father's brutality towards his wife, or his indifference towards his son. Towards him.

“Aaron, you were just a kid, you couldn't know how complex this kind of relationship is.”

He nodded discreetly, sniffing as he went.

“But now that I know – now that I understand – she doesn't want to talk about it. She doesn’t want my apologies.”

Denial was a common reaction among victims of this kind of long-term trauma. All memory had reformatted her recollections to make them more bearable, more pleasant even. Forgiving her offspring meant admitting that the others had been right all along. It was an admission of terrible truth. And for a mother, it meant realizing that her children had been endangered for years. Denying reality was sweeter for her, even if it put her son through the torture of his guilt. Emily hoped that one day Ada would finally open her eyes, for both of them.

“Is it because of what we saw this afternoon that you're thinking about this?”

Of all the witnesses they'd interviewed during the day, one couple had ticked all the boxes for a toxic relationship; but as they had nothing to do with their case, they'd had to let them go. Resuming their nauseating daily routine. Clearly, this was a decision the director couldn't accept. He confirmed her intuition.

“If you want, we’ll talk about it to the sheriff tomorrow.”

He nodded, with a bit more energy. He had stopped shivering. 

“Come on, let’s go back to sleep. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

“Emily,” he called out to her as she was about to get up.

“Yes.”

“Promise me.”

A bolt of lightning streaked across her ribcage. She was afraid to hear his entire request. She didn’t stop him, however.

“Promise me that if I ever get violent with you, you'll take Jack with you and disappear without looking back.”

“Aaron, you’re not your father.”

“Promise me.”

She hesitated. She loved him so much…

“Please.”

“… I promise.”

She crossed her fingers that she'd never have to. Then they got to their feet. She flushed the toilet while he rinsed his mouth. They kissed and, hand in hand, made their way to the bed. The sheets had warmed in their absence. He wrapped his arms around her, pressed himself against her back and nestled his face in the crook of her neck. She felt him gradually relax and fall asleep. She'd never keep that promise, because she'd never have to. Aaron wasn't his father, she was sure of that.

___

For real, we don't really know how was Hotch's childhood. We know that his father was unfaithful and that Hotch became a lawyer, like his father; and that's all.

But I've got this hc that Hotch and his father were different kind of lawyer. His father was dealing with divorce and child custody, when Aaron choses criminal law, to help the victims of murder, rape, and abuse. And he fears a lot to reproduce what he lived when he was a child with the women he loves (Haley, Beth and Emily) and Jack.

[the-queen-and-the-king]

READ IT! NOW! >_<

Prompt : Emily’s Birthday

Writer : Just_a_girl