#young hotchniss gets me

[sunlightgalaxy]

heating up in here

hotchniss alaska au

warnings: smut, case talk, the usual

a/n: this got looooong oops ! for the sake of the story we’re pretending they weren’t matchy matchy and that she is in fact wearing his sweater

(gifs by @aaronwhorechner )

**

“i’m not sleeping with reid.”

emily stifled a laugh, watching as penelope instantly claimed dibs on sharing with morgan.

“come on, spence, we can share.” jj spoke, placing an arm around the young agent to turn him towards the stairs. and then there were three.

rossi wordlessly looked between emily and aaron before sticking his hand out for a key. 4 rooms, 7 people; the math wasn’t hard, there was one single room. and dave knew he had it to himself.

“guess it’s you and me tonight,” hotch said, picking up his bag and making his way towards the room. emily followed in tow, doing her best to keep up.

“you think they have heat?” she asked as she trailed behind, arms rubbing against herself as best she could to keep warm. emily was a cold woman. not emotionally, well, not anymore, but physically cold almost all of the time. needless to say, she was not doing too well in the alaskan weather.

“let’s hope,” hotch said, stopping at the hotel room door. he unlocked the lock, taking a little longer than emily pleased.

“what, did you forget how to open a door?” she teased.

“it’s an old hotel, prentiss,” hotch sighed, finally pushing the door open. “the lock probably hasn’t been changed in decades.” he walked in, flicking on the light and stopping in his tracks. which, naturally, caused emily to walk straight into his backside.

“ow, hotch!” emily yelped, her hand reaching for his shoulder to steady herself. she was about to ask why the hell he stopped walking two steps into the room when she noticed what caught his attention: the lone, king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

“you can have it,” hotch said, moving in further and digging clothes out of his go-bag. “you get cold.” emily rolled her eyes, grabbing her own pajamas from her bag.

“don’t be stupid, there’s no couch and you’ll kill your back laying on the floor every night.” she reasoned, watching him make his way to the bathroom. “we’re adults, we’ll be fine.”

“yeah,” she heard hotch call as he shut the door. emily dug through her go-bag, grabbing her pajamas and groaning. the case had been called in hours after they returned from their previous one, meaning she hadn’t had time to properly pack her bag. which meant she had no sweatshirt. sighing, she threw on her sweats and t-shirt and waited for hotch to be done in the bathroom.

he walked out moments later, breath catching in his throat when he caught sight of emily. his eyes flitted down to her chest, nipples visible through the fabric of her shirt. clearing his throat, he looked back up at her and spoke. “no sweatshirt?”

“forgot to pack one,” she mumbled, walking into the bathroom and closing the door. splashing water onto her face, emily sighed as she resigned herself to sharing a bed with her boss. her very attractive boss, no less.

stepping out, her eyes landed on hotch, sitting in bed looking over the case file. he looked up, eyes meeting hers momentarily before reaching behind him. “here,” he said, tossing his brown quarter-zip sweater towards her. “it’ll keep you warm tonight.”

emily smiled gratefully, pulling on the warm fabric and watching it pool around her arms. “thank you,” she mumbled softly, climbing into the bed next to him. “goodnight hotch.”

“goodnight prentiss,” hotch replied, taking a moment to look at her before shutting the light off. god, she looked so good in his sweater. he laid there for a moment, the darkness and silence of the room really putting into perspective his situation. he was sharing a bed with his subordinate, arguably his most attractive one, in the middle of alaska. truly not how hotch had expected his day to end.

emily, meanwhile, had the same thought about her boss looming in the back of her mind. however, she couldn’t bear to focus on that, instead channeling all of her energy into not shivering. as warm as hotch’s sweater was - and fuck, it was warm - she was still freezing. arms wrapped around herself, doing her best to not hog the covers, emily tried her hardest to keep warm and still.

it was no use though, hotch could feel her body twitching every so often. plus, her teeth were chattering so frequently that he thought they would chip. he debated for a moment whether he should sacrifice his own warmth and give her the blanket, or cross the line and give her his embrace. and as much as he wanted to just give her the blanket, he didn’t want to be cold either.

she felt the bed dip first, feeling hotch roll to his other side. then, she felt the warmth encapsulate her body as his arm wrapped against her. finally, she felt his body directly against her back as he pulled her flush to him. oh. she was definitely warm now. their close proximity meant that when he whispered to her, his words went straight to her ear, hot breath tickling her skin. “think you can sleep now?”

no. absolutely not. “yeah,” she whispered back, making a feeble attempt to relax her body and find a comfortable position. instead, however, she found her ass pressed directly against him. she was sure her skin was fucking boiling at this point, cursing herself internally for even moving half an inch. she felt hotch breathing heavily against her, and all she could do was pray he was asleep and close her eyes.

he was not asleep, instead focusing everything on trying not to get rock hard against emily’s ass. unfortunately for hotch, no amount of steady breathing could stop his dick from growing harder. feeling the sudden warmth on her ass, emily smirked to herself. “think you’ll be able to sleep now?” she whispered, stifling a giggle.

“emily,” hotch groaned, his tone somewhere between a moan and a warning. keeping her lower body in place, she turned her head around to meet hotch’s eyes. the smirk fell from her face when she was met with nothing but lust from the man in front of her. gasping, she felt hotch’s hand wrap around her waist, snaking its way up bottom of the sweater.

“aaron,” she whispered, a moan catching in her throat. her free arm wrapped around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer. she could feel his breath on her lips, inches away from making contact with her own.

and that’s when they heard a scream.

***

“his name’s craig ramey. fisherman.”

the team gathered around the latest victim, all clad in their pajamas and jackets. as the discussion about the unsub’s accelerated schedule picked up, emily’s attention only strayed further. she could practically feel hotch’s eyes boring into her cheek, and if she was still enough, she could almost feel his breath on her skin.

aaron was doing all he could to maintain his professional manner in this moment, but all thoughts led him back to emily. he forced his eyes on the victim in front, around the team, at the cops, but they always found their way back to her.

“it’s still late,” hotch spoke suddenly, clearing his voice. “i’m sure none of us got much sleep, why don’t we all take a couple hours to rest and get ready for the morning?” it wasn’t a question, and he knew there wouldn’t be any rest in his room.

the team trickled apart, each making their way back to their respective rooms. emily stopped at hers, waiting for aaron to make his way from back of the group. he opened the door, and when emily stepped inside it was only a matter of seconds before the door was locked and she was pressed against it.

“aaron,” she gasped, arms wrapping around his neck to stabilize herself. he looked into her eyes, pupils blow.

“what, sweetheart?” he asked, voice about a whisper.

“kiss me.”

and kiss her he did. lips against each other, breathy moans traveling from emily’s throat to aaron’s mouth. she could feel his stubble against her face, turning her on more than she already was. his hips pushed towards her, causing emily to gasp when she felt his cock press against her pulsing core. aaron pulled back, lips beginning to nip along her neck. one hand braced her hip against the wall, the other finding its way through her layers of clothing.

“look so fucking good in my sweater, baby,” he muttered, eliciting a moan from emily as he twisted her nipple. “gonna fuck you so good while you wear it.”

“aaron,” she whined, his name apparently being the only word her brain could form. she released one hand from his hair, bringing it down to fumble with his jeans. before she could even get them unbuttoned, however, he was pressing his hips forward, cock straining against her hand. “fuck,” she groaned. “need you so badly.”

“is that so?” he asked, emily practically feeling the smirk radiating off of him. “take me then.”

she didn’t need to be told twice. she had his pants and boxers dropped in seconds. eyes blowing wide at the size of his cock. emily sunk to her knees, taking her time to work him with her hand. “emily,” hotch moaned, almost as if it was a warning. it was then she wrapped her lips around him, moaning at the string of curses he muttered while she swirled her tongue around his tip. inch by inch, she took him in her mouth, jaw aching from the size of him. she bobbed back and forth, increasing speed ever so slowly and wrapping a hand around what couldn’t fit.

hotch looked down, pupils blown at the sight of emily beneath him. he let out a groan, even more turned on when he felt her gag around him. they locked eyes, emily watching his expressions as she moved back and forth. it became too much, then, hotch tapping her cheek twice as a sign to release.

“too good at that,” he murmured, thumb wiping away the stray tears that fell from her eyes. “would’ve cum if you kept going, and i’m saving that for when i’m inside you.”

it was emily’s turn to groan, which no sooner turned into a squeal as hotch swept her off her feet and placed her on the bed. true to his word, he removed all her clothing, save for his sweater. taking of the remnants of his clothes, aaron climbed on top of her and pressed two fingers to her lips. instinctively, she opened her mouth, sucking the digits nicely until he pulled back.

within seconds those same fingers delved into her wet, soaking cunt. emily moaned, to which aaron placed his free hand on top of her mouth. “can’t have you being too loud, can we?” she shook her head, mouth opening and closing against his palm as aaron’s pace picked up.

“aaron, oh my god,” emily whispered, nearly biting his palm to keep from screaming. he smiled, planing a kiss to her head as he added a third finger inside her. she groaned, head pushing away from his hand and dropping to his shoulder. “fuck, aaron, please,” she whined, feeling herself getting closer to the edge.

“come for me, baby,” he muttered in her ear, groaning softly as he felt her tip over the edge. “good girl, so good for me.” he fucked her through her orgasm until it was too much, emily removing his hand and panting into his chest.

“holy fuck,” she breathed, slowly catching her breath. she looked up at hotch, meeting his soft smile with one of her own.

“you okay?” he asked.

“yeah,” she said. “so okay.”

“good.” he didn’t waste a second before pushing her back onto the bed, spreading her legs as he followed and lined up inside her. she gasped, locking eyes with him.

“please,” she whispered, staring at his hard, leaking cock at the edge of her equally soaked cunt.

“oh god, emily,” he moaned, watching his dick disappear under his sweater and into her pussy. “so fucking tight, so fucking good.”

“aaron,” emily whine, relishing in how good the pain was as his dick stretched out her cunt. she didn’t even want time to adjust to his size, she needed him to fuck her. “move.”

he wasted no time, fucking her with a rapid pace. “oh, emily,” he moaned, a string of curses following under his breath. emily groaned at the sensation, his tip hitting her perfectly. aaron looked up and felt himself getting closer as he watched emily, her mouth agape as she bit back a whimper. “so good for me,” he said, leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss. “i’m so close.”

“inside,” she responded, no hesitation. “please.”

“of course,” he whispered, picking up the pace and moving impossibly faster. he felt emily’s orgasm before she did, her moans combined with the clenching around his cock pulling his own. he spilt into her, stilling as they came down from their high.

he pulled out, laying down next to emily and turning to look at her. she turned to him, a soft smile on her face that matched his. “what?” she asked.

“you’re beautiful,” he responded, pushing her grown-out bangs out of her face. “pretty girl.” she blushed as he planted a kiss to her cheek, pulling her into his arms.

“you’re not so bad yourself,” she spoke, her voice muffled against his chest. “can i keep the sweater?” she asked a moment later, feeling his chest vibrate with laughter.

“for the rest of the trip, sure.” he said. “i have others i can wear. but i want it back, that’s my favorite one.”

“yeah,” emily sighed. “me too.”

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Could you do a hotchniss x daughter reader where they have a teen daughter and she sneakily has a boy over and aaron and Emily come back from a case and they catch him leaving her room and aaron goes into protective dad mode

Aaron Hotchner X Emily Prentiss X Teen Daughter reader

Request: Could you do a hotchniss x daughter reader where they have a teen daughter and she sneakily has a boy over and aaron and Emily come back from a case and they catch him leaving her room and aaron goes into protective dad mode 

Third person pov...

Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss had just returned from a particularly intense case in upstate New York. As they stepped off the plane, both agents were exhausted and eager to get back to their home in Virginia.

Little did they know, they were about to face one of their toughest challenges yet - parenting a teenage daughter.

Currently 16 year old Y/N was home alone, not entirely alone she had invited over her boyfriend, David to watch a movie knowing her parents would be on their way home.

They had already called to let her know they would be landing soon, the two had lots of fun spending the day together doing nothing but watching movies and raiding the kichen for snacks.

"Thank God we're back" Emily sighed as they made their way off the jet "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed."

Aaron chuckled, 'You and me both. I just hope our daughter hasn't wrecked the house while we were gone.'

Emily shot him a look, 'Our daughter is a responsible young lady. I'm sure she's been just fine without us.'

Say8ng goodbye to the rest of thw team they got into their car and drove home, but as they walked through the front door of their home.

They were met with a sight that made both of their hearts sink. In the living room, their 16-year-old daughter, Y/N, was cuddled up on the couch with a boy.

Aaron's eyes narrowed in an instant, and Emily could feel his protective instincts on high alert. The couple slowly made their way into the room, trying not to disturb the teenagers who were watching a movie.

As they got closer, they could see that the boy was not just any boy. It was David, a troublemaker from Y/N's school who they had explicitly told her to stay away from.

The teens where cuddled under a blanket, infront of them on thr coffee table were snacks and drinks, playing on the TV was (Favourite movie) Y/N never watches her favourite movie with just anyone.

The black haired woman looks at her husband and could reqd his mind, "Aaron" Emily whispered, trying to calm him down. 'Let's just talk to her." She took his hand in hers and held it.

This made the man relax slightly but a murderous look still on his face.

But before they could say anything, the movie ended and David stood up to leave, Y/N gave him a smile and stood up to hug and kiss him goodbye and sat back down on the sofa, neither teen had seen the two adults in the doorway.

The boy had a love sick grin on his face As he walked towards the door, Aaron stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron's voice was low and menacing.

David, who previously exuded confidence, now looked like a deer caught in headlights. He mumbled something incoherent and quickly scrambled out of the house.

Emily took a deep breath and turned to her daughter, who was now standing, she had jumped up from the sofa when she hear heard her dad shout, she looked scared and guilty.

Emily crossed her arms and looked at her daughte "What were you thinking, Y/N?" She said, trying to keep her voice calm.

Y/N nervously played with her hands, not looling up at her parents and thwir disapointed look, "I'm sorry" Y/N replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I just really like him, and I knew you wouldn't approve" she sais tears running down her face.

Aaron let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "That doesn't change the fact that we specifically forbid you from seeing him. He's not a good influence, and you know that"

Y/N shook her head, surprising her parents. "But he's not! He's actually really sweet and not at all like he appears! You always told me not to judge people and here you are doing it!" The teen yells.

She collapses onto the sofa her head in her arms. The adults looked at each other before at their cryjng daughter, they had judged the boy by appearences like she said.

Emily sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry Honey, you arw right we did judge him but appearance, but it still doesn't make if okay for you to sneak boys inside" she explains to the girl gently.

"Really" Y/N sniffled, wiping at her tears. Aaron knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. "We love you, Y/N. We just want what's best for you" he says gently to the girl.

Y/N nodded, "I promise, he isn't all that bad, just meet him yourself and you'll see!" She insisted.

The two look at each other then back down at their daughter. She does have a point they don't know anything about the boy.

Aaron sighed at the look his wife gave him. "Okay, we will get to know him, but if he hurts you in anyway tell him I've got a gun and knkw how to use it" Says Aaron a not happy smile on his face.

This made the girl laugh, Emily shakes her head at her husband. The couple hugged their daughter and assured her that she was forgiven.

As they talked and cuddled on the couch, Aaron couldn't help but feel grateful for his daughter's honesty and decided to trust her.

'We're going to have to keep a closer eye on her,' Emily said, sipping her tea. 'She's still young, and we can't afford to let her make mistakes like this.'

Aaron nodded, 'I know. It's just hard to believe that our little girl is already sneaking boys into her room.'

Emily chuckled, 'We were teenagers once too, Aaron. We can't expect her to be perfect. We just have to guide her and hope that she learns from her mistakes.'

As they sat in comfortable silence, both agents were reminded of the challenges of being parents to a teenager. But they also knew that they were a strong team and would do anything to protect their daughter, even if it meant going into protective dad mode every now and then.

The end!

Hope you liked this oneshot, sorry for thr wait on this request. As usual sorry for grammar and Spelling mistakes.

Requests are open!

Word count : 1133

[sequinsmile-x]

Edges of Your Soul

She blows out a slow breath, desperate to try and calm her nerves, to try to quiet the voice in her head that had been berating her since she first realised she might be pregnant, a repetition of how can you be so stupid to be here again less than a decade after the first time getting louder with each passing second. 

A Young Hotchniss AU

-x-

Hi friends,

I always get requests for pregnant Young Hotchniss, and I posted this Instagram series telling that story just over a week ago, and it went down so well I knew I had to write a fic to go with it.

As always, this got away from me massively and got very long. Just a note that this is pretty canon divergent so I could use characters we know and love <3

I really hope you enjoy it, and cannot wait to know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 9.1k (it really really got away)

Warnings: accidental pregnancy, mentions of abortion, references to miscarriage

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Fuck.” 

She brings her hand to her face, half capturing the curse as she covers her mouth, her fingers shaking as they press against her lips. She picks up the pregnancy test with her other hand, lifting it so she can have a closer look, staring it down as if the pink plus sign looking back at her would change. Her stomach rolls and she drops the test, the plastic clamouring against the sink as she grips the edge of the counter. She blows out a slow breath, desperate to try and calm her nerves, to try to quiet the voice in her head that had been berating her since she first realised she might be pregnant, a repetition of how can you be so stupid to be here again less than a decade after the first time getting louder with each passing second. 

She jumps at the knock on the door, her best friend and roommate’s voice partially muffled by the thick wood, “Emily? Are you okay? You’ve been in there a while.” 

She blows out a breath again and picks up the test, unlocking the door and shoving the test into JJ’s hands at the same time, walking past her so she doesn’t have to see her face when she finds out, “It’s positive.” 

It’s silent as Emily flops down onto the couch and grabs a cushion, holding it tight against her abdomen as she tries to breathe. JJ walks over and joins her on the couch, making a point of not touching her and giving her as much space as she can, “How do we feel about this? Are we excited? Or considering exercising our right to choose?” 

Emily huffs out a desperate laugh, nothing short of furious at herself for the tears that flood her eyes, her vision blurry as she looks at her friend, “I…I don’t know.” 

Last time, it had been clear-cut. No matter how scared she’d been, how terrified the prospect that any of it had made her, she knew she wasn’t ready to be a mother yet. She had only been 15. A kid herself faced with making choices she’d even then were difficult for adults to make. Matthew had helped her, he’d held her hand as he tried to fix what another boy had broken, but she’d still felt alone. Left to deal with the consequences of what had been nothing more than a fumble in the back of John’s parent’s car one evening. A few minutes that had changed everything. 

This time she didn’t know what she wanted. She had a boyfriend. A loving man who was good and kind and nothing but wonderful to her. It made it more complicated, the thought that this would be where they would probably head one day anyway, even if when she had let herself think about a future with him kids had been far far down the line. 

“Aaron is a good guy, Em,” JJ says, as if she’d been able to read her mind, “You should talk to him about it.” 

She scoffs and wipes tears away as they slip past her lashline, “His ex-fiance broke up with him because she wanted kids and he wanted to wait.” 

When they met he was heartbroken, a sad edge to his professionalism as he worked at her mother’s estate that had intrigued her and drawn her in. At first, he was merely something that had piqued her interest. He was younger than the rest of her mother’s security staff, but did his best to fit in by being overly serious. His frown aged him, and his slightly poorly fitting suit gave away that he didn’t quite belong in the place he’d found himself. 

It was only when she got to know him, a friendship he’d often joked since that she’d somewhat forced on him by sitting in his office all day and asking him questions, that the draw towards him became more than just giving her something to do in her summer between her undergrad and her master's degree. For someone in their late 20’s, he’d already achieved a lot. He’d graduated from Harvard Law School, had worked as a prosecutor for a couple of years until he pivoted to private security with the hope of joining the FBI. When she asked him why he’d made the change, she’d expected some bullshit answer about wanting to nip the crimes he’d been prosecuting in the bud, to help stop them at the source, but instead, he said he’d done it for his ex. That it had been a last-ditch attempt to salvage his relationship with his high school sweetheart, but that it had been a wasted effort in the end, that they’d broken up anyway when they continued to argue about fundamental things. Emily had apologised, her cheeks burning as she worried she’d upset him, something she wondered why she cared so much about, but he’d waved it off, his smile soft as he told her it was fine. 

Not long after that, things shifted between them, their friendship moving into more one night when she kissed him. They’d agreed that it would just be a summer thing, that her move to Yale would signal the end of whatever this was, and looking back on it she knew they were both lying - more to themselves than to each other - if they truly thought this thing between them could ever just be sex. 

They made long-distance work. He came to visit her as much as he could and she went to DC to visit him whenever she could. She hated it, hated that he wasn’t as close as he had been during those fleeting months over the summer, but she was getting used to it and she knew he was too. She was happy for the first time in as long as she could remember, excelling in her classes and surrounded by good people for once, and then she started to feel nauseous. A familiar exhaustion started to sink into her bones that made her wonder if her Labour Day Weekend with Aaron had left her with more than the memories of three days alone with him. 

“Emily,” JJ says, drawing her out of herself, her expression firm and her touch on Emily’s arm kind, “Whatever you choose to do you need to talk to him,” she smiles, “You two love each other - it’s kind of disgusting actually,” she laughs when Emily chuckles, pleased with herself for pulling it out of her, “Talk to him. And if he’s a dick about it, which I don’t think he will be, I’ll drive down to DC and egg his car for you.” 

Emily laughs again, full-bodied this time, and she sighs, a little bit of the tension in her chest easing, “You’re right,” she says, leaning into her friend's side, grateful for the hug she immediately provides her, “I’ll talk to him. But I might go down for the weekend,” she scrunches her nose up, “I don’t want to tell him over the phone.” 

She calls him when she goes to her room that night, grateful for a couple of hours with JJ where they’d drank mocktails made out of whatever sodas they’d had in the fridge, their trusty bottle of tequila untouched for once, and she can feel her heart in her throat when she calls him, a picture of the two of them staring at her from her nightstand. 

“Hi sweetheart,” he says, answering on the first ring, “I was just about to call you.” 

She smiles, curling up on her bed, wishing she was with him, “Great minds think alike,” she quips, her stomach churning with nerves, “Do you have any plans this weekend?” 

“No,” he replies, “Dave said he’ll make sure we don’t have any cases. Whatever that means.” 

She chuckles, “I was thinking…I might come down and see you.” 

“I’d love that,” he says, his reply immediate, “I miss you.” 

She presses her lips together, tears she thinks she might have to get used to flooding her eyes, “I miss you too.” 

“Are you okay, Em?” He asks, and for a moment she hates that he’s so intuitive, a skill that had quickly earned him a place on the BAU unit at the FBI shortly after he passed out from the academy. She clears her throat and nods even though he can’t see her. 

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she assures him, swallowing thickly against the lie, “I’ll leave first thing tomorrow. I’ll be with you by lunchtime.” 

“Okay,” he replies, clearly not entirely believing her, “I’ll make sure I have all your favourites in. Including that awful beer you like.” 

She chokes on a laugh, her hand drifting to her stomach as if on autopilot, “You’re sweet.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, sweetheart?” 

She closes her eyes and wipes away a tear that falls as she does so, “I’m sure,” she says, “Now tell me about work.” 

She listens as he tells her about the case he is working on, guilt for the fact she was about to change the landscape of his life bitter on her tongue until they eventually hang up, the promise that they’d see each other tomorrow ringing in her ears until she falls asleep.

___

The next morning, it’s all a little clearer. 

The drive to DC gives her time to think, the music she’d agonised over choosing for the journey barely registering as she considers the two futures she has in front of her, wanting to make sure she felt a little more on steady ground before she spoke to Aaron. 

She wanted to do this. 

It was something she’d somehow woken up knowing. Forced out of bed by nausea that sent her running to the toilet, spitting into it as she thought to herself that she hoped this only lasted for the first trimester. A done deal that she’d be pregnant long enough to find out something that her subconscious had seemingly decided for her. The closer she got to Aaron’s apartment, the more sure she was, her hand low on her belly as she thought about the fact it wouldn’t be easy, that she was still in college for fucks sake, but that she wanted this baby. That this time she could do it and, no matter what Aaron said, she would do it. 

For the first time ever, she’s nervous when she knocks on his front door, part of her worried this would be the last time she’d do this, that he’d want nothing to do with her or the baby. It disappears the moment she sees him, his lips against hers as he scoops her up into his arms, his arms tight around her as he turns them, placing her back down onto the floor in his apartment. 

“Hi,” he says, kissing her again, “You made good time.” 

“Hi,” She hums, dropping her bag to the floor so she can wrap her arms around his neck, “I was up early so I just left as soon as I was ready.” 

He kisses her, his hands firm on her lower back to hold her in place as he pulls back to look at her, “I got started on brunch,” he says, “All that’s left to do is cook the eggs and it will be ready.” 

Her stomach lurches before she can even tell herself to not think about eggs, or the smell of them, and she wrenches himself from his embrace and runs to the bathroom, making it just in time as she throws up into the toilet. He’s behind her in a second, one hand on her back and the other holding her hair back. 

“You’re okay, Em,” he says, rubbing her back, “You’re okay,” she grunts as she sits back, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, leaning against the bathroom wall as he reaches over her to flush the toilet, “Do you want some water?”

She nods, unable to speak yet, and he smiles softly before he leaves the room. He’s gone for less than a minute, returning with a glass of ice water and a kind smile as he sits on the floor next to her. She takes a sip and clears her throat, “Sorry.” 

“You don’t have to apologise, sweetheart,” he says, his eyebrows pinched together with concern, “Are you okay? Are you sick? I could go to the pharmacy-”

“I��m not sick,” she assures him, cursing her stomach and her sudden aversion to most food she usually enjoys for putting her in this situation, for forcing her to make this admission sitting on his bathroom floor, “I’m pregnant,” she says, her lips pressed together as his eyes go wide and he clears his throat, making a conscious effort to school his features, “That’s why I wanted to come to see you, so I could tell you.” 

“Oh,” he says, “When did you find out?” 

“Yesterday,” she replies, “I had a feeling…” she sighs, and shakes her head, “So I bought a test and it was positive,” she says, watching as he opens his mouth to say something else, but she cuts him off, “Is it okay if I brush my teeth and we go sit somewhere else to have this conversation?” She asks, her smile wry, “When I practised this on the drive here this isn’t exactly how I pictured it.” 

He smiles and nods, standing up before her and offering her a hand, “I got a toothbrush for you to keep here,” he says, nodding towards the counter, “I’ll meet you in the living room.” 

He stares at her for a beat longer than usual, his eyes drifting down to her belly before he leaves, and she blows out a slow breath the moment she’s alone. She makes quick work of brushing her teeth, relieved that the taste of the mint toothpaste seems to settle her stomach rather than make it worse, and she steps out into the apartment, smiling softly when she sees her bag neatly placed on the kitchen counter. 

“I have some ginger ale,” Aaron says, drawing her attention to where he’s sitting in the living room, a can of the drink on the side table next to her usual spot on his couch, “I thought it might help.” 

His kindness makes her ache, love for him filling her lungs as she smiles and sits down next to him, leaving more space between them than she usually would, “I’m sorry that’s how you found out,” she says, wringing her hands together on her lap, “I was going to sit you down and tell you everything…but then you mentioned eggs and the morning sickness kicked in,” she shivers in disgust, “Which is the most poorly named thing ever by the way, I’ve been throwing up all hours of the day.” 

He smiles, his hands tight in his lap so he doesn’t reach out for her, wanting to follow her lead, “How long have you thought you might be pregnant?” 

“A couple of days,” she admits, shrugging one of her shoulders, “I was sick and I felt…awful,” she grimaces, “And I felt like I’d run a marathon after every class I went to. Then it clicked in my head and I couldn’t think about anything else.”

“You could have told me,” he says and she smiles at him, “I could have been there with you.” 

“I even made JJ wait on the other side of the door whilst I peed on the stick, honey,” she says, her smile wry, “If I’m not peeing in front of her I’m not peeing in front of you.” 

He laughs, the sound ragged as it catches in his chest, “Good to know,” he jokes, clearing his throat before he carries on, “Do you know what you want to do?” 

It was an inevitable question, she knows that, but it still makes anxiety swirl in her gut because she knew this was it. The defining moment of her relationship with him.  

“Yeah, I do,” she says, holding her own hand tightly so she doesn’t press her hand against her belly, “I know we haven’t been together long,” she says, swallowing down the thought that the five months she’d been with him were among some of the best of her life, “So I’m giving you an out.” 

“An out?” He asks, his brows knitting together as he tilts his head at her. 

“It’s up to you if you want to be involved,” she says, looking down at her hands, “But I’m doing this.” 

It must only be a matter of seconds until he responds, but it feels like an age, two paths of what the rest of her life could look like mapping out in front of her, “Of course, I want to be involved,” he says, and she looks up so quickly her neck pulls, the pain barely registering as she furrows her brow. 

“Really?” 

He smiles and reaches for her hand, linking their fingers together and squeezing, desperate to try and press some reassurance into her skin, “Really. I love you, Emily. And if you’d wanted to not carry on with the pregnancy I’d have held your hand the entire time, but if you want this I do too, and we’ll do this together.” 

She finally lets herself sink into him, his embrace warm and comforting as he wraps his arms around her, “I love you too.” 

He kisses the top of her head, “I should make you something to eat,” he says, pulling back to look at her, “I’m assuming eggs are off the menu for a while?” 

She grimaces and buries her face in his neck, letting the smell of him overwhelm any kind of growing nausea, “They might be permanently off of it.” 

___

When she heads back to New Haven only a day later, she feels lighter. They talked about everything all night, barely getting any sleep as they lay there, both their hands on her still flat stomach as they spoke about the future. They knew they still had to do long distance for a while until she finished college and whilst it wasn’t perfect, that they both wanted to be with each other more than ever, they knew they could make it work.

He comes up to visit for her first doctor’s appointment, his hand tight around hers as the doctor shows them their baby on the ultrasound screen, everything suddenly so much more real for her when she saw the tiny, life-changing, image in front of her. They jokingly start calling the baby Bean because that’s what it looks like in the pictures they have printed. The doctor confirms that she’s got her dates right, that she’s as far long as she thinks she is, and Emily laments that it means she’ll be very pregnant when she graduates and that it will make dress shopping for the occasion so much harder. 

They do make the distance work for about a month, only arguing once when he clumsily attempts to propose, something she turns down because she doesn’t think having a baby is a reason to get married yet. He’s hurt, she knows that, but he understands, his love for her, for them, in no way diminished by her no that he understands is really a not yet. The distance works, but she hates it, and she starts to look into transferring to Georgetown for her next semester, not wanting to go through any more of this without him by her side. 

The tentative happiness she’d built up around herself comes crashing down around her when she wakes up only a couple hours after falling asleep, pain burning in her back and blood on her thighs and bed sheets. She doesn’t remember calling out for JJ, or her friend helping her into clean sweatpants and then into her car. She doesn’t remember calling Aaron, tears streaming down her face as she choked out that something was wrong, a phone call JJ took over for her when she became a little too hysterical for Aaron to understand. Everything is a blur until she speaks to a kind-eyed doctor who performs an ultrasound and tells her everything is okay, his smile patient as he points at the baby on the screen and plays Emily the heartbeat, using words like subchorionic hematoma like they meant anything to her whilst he explains what has happened. 

The doctor admits her to the hospital, assuring her that it was just for the night so they could monitor her and the baby, and she willfully agrees - wanting to make sure she is in the best place in case anything else happens. She tries to send JJ home but she refuses, steadfastly sitting by her bed as she keeps her company for hours until there’s a knock on the door. The relief she feels when she sees Aaron come into view as the door opens is palpable. 

“Em,” he chokes out, his eyes almost as wild as his hair, a sure sign he’d made no attempt to tidy himself up after her call pulled him out of bed, the fact he was still wearing his pjyamas - a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants - only confirming her theory, “Are you okay? Is the baby…” he trails off as he makes it to her side, pulling her into a fierce hug as he sits on the edge of her bed. 

“We’re okay,” Emily assures him, holding him back just as tightly, gripping the back of his t-shirt with so much force she’s surprised it doesn’t rip, “We’re both okay.” She knows he wants to ask more questions, but they lapse into silence, content to seek out the comfort they’d wanted from each other for hours. 

“I should get going,” JJ says as she stands up, her soft voice reminding the couple they weren’t alone. She smiles at Emily when she pulls back just enough from Aaron to look at her, her tight grip on her boyfriend obvious even where JJ is standing, “Let me know if you need me to bring you anything when you get discharged.” 

Emily nods, her smile shaking, “Thanks JJ.”

Aaron looks at her too, “Thanks for looking after her until I could get here.” 

“Anytime,” she replies, “Although, I hope we don’t have to do this again.”

The moment they are alone Emily sinks into his embrace again, her cheek against his shoulder as he holds her close. He kisses the side of her head and she feels his chest shudder, “Em…what happened?” He asks, squeezing her tighter, “JJ told me some of it, but on the phone you…” he swallows thickly, “I’ve never heard you sound like that. You were terrified.” 

She blows out a shaky breath and pulls back to look at him, her eyes searching his as she runs her fingers through his hair to try to flatten it, “I woke up and had some back pain. It felt like…” she presses her lips together, “It felt like before.” 

She’d told him all about Rome a few weeks ago. Not because she felt like she needed to, but because she wanted to. She wanted to share that part of herself with him, to let him know just how much it meant to her that he had been so perfect throughout all of this. He’d been understanding, because of course he was, and told her how she was the bravest person he knew. Something she was sure was bullshit given that he was in the FBI, but it was a badge she’d wear with honour. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” he says, not needing her to say anymore to understand what she thought was happening, that she’d feared the same thing he’d spent the entire drive here thinking about. He reaches out to wipe a tear from her cheek and she leans into his palm. 

“Then I realised I was bleeding,” she blows out a shaky breath, “I called out for JJ, I think I must have scared the shit out of her,” she chuckles humourlessly, “She was only out in the living room studying so she was in my room in a second. She brought me here, they showed me the baby and told me it’s okay,” she scrunches up her nose as she thinks about it, how she’s sure she barely made sense when she cried down the phone to him, “I’m sorry that I scared you.” 

“Sweetheart, no,” he says, pressing his forehead against hers, “You have nothing to apologise for. I’m glad you’re both okay,” he says, a hand on each of her cheeks as he pulls back, “What did they say?”

She sniffs, “I have something called a subchorionic hematoma. It should sort itself out but I’ll have another scan in a week to make sure everything is still okay,” she disconnects herself from him and reaches for the pictures on the nightstand, “They printed me some pictures,” she says, passing him one of them, “Bean doesn’t look much like a bean anymore.”

He smiles in relief when he looks at it, the baby actually looking like a baby this time, “Look at that,” he chokes out, clearing his throat, “Bean looks like you already,” his smile eases a little when she chuckles, and he reaches for her hand, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” 

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” she says, kissing his cheek, “It’s what we agreed we’d do,” she kisses him to stop him from saying anything else, not wanting to get into logistics right now, “Come here and snuggle with us,” she says, smiling softly before she kisses him again, “We can talk about the rest later okay?” She asks and nods, not arguing for a second before he slips off his shoes, frowning as he looks down at them, “What’s wrong honey?” 

He shakes his head at himself as he stands up to encourage her to move enough to let him slip into bed with her, “I put on odd shoes.” 

She laughs and looks down at the floor, one brown and one black shoe looking back at her, and she laughs harder, shaking her head at him as she sinks against him once he’s under the covers with her. She grabs his hand and rests it on her belly, her bump still practically non-existent, only noticeable to the two of them, “Did you hear that Bean?” She asks, her voice shaking as all the emotions from the last several hours catch up with her, “Daddy rushed to see us so quickly he put on odd shoes.” 

He kisses the top of her head and holds her close, running his hand up and down her arm, he hears her sniff, feels her warm tears against his skin as she presses her face into his neck, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” 

“I just…” she chokes on a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, “I don’t think I realised how much I wanted this until I thought I might lose it.” 

He holds her closer, making sure she’s gathered against him, “I know baby,” he says, cupping the back of her head, scratching lightly at her scalp, “I know. But we haven’t lost anything. We’re all still right here.” 

She nods, sucking in a deep breath as he tries to calm her down, talking to her about anything and everything until she finally falls asleep against him. She’d discharged a few hours later, sent home with instructions to be on bed rest until her appointment the following week, the beat of irritation she feels calmed by the embarrassed look on Aaron’s face when the doctor tells them no sex in that time. She’s settled into her bed, gratitude she thinks she might drown in when she realises JJ had changed her sheets for her, when Aaron walks in, still wearing the clothes he’d rushed to her in, his cell phone in his hands. 

“I spoke to Dave,” he says, walking over to join her on the bed, “I’m staying here until your appointment next week,” he smiles when she tries to interject, “There’s no point in arguing, I think if I hadn’t suggested it when I explained everything he would have fired me.” 

She narrows her eyes at him, “Does he even have the power to do that?” 

He chuckles, “I think he likes to think he does,” he reaches for her hand and squeezes it, “I’ve been thinking about work. I’m going to take a leave of absence-”

She sighs, “Aaron, honey-”

“I don’t want to be apart from you. Either of you,” he says, cutting off her interruption, “That phone call was…terrifying, Em. I drove here not knowing if either of you were okay,” he says, as firm as he ever was with her, and he presses his lips together as he shakes his head, “I want to be here for you. For all of it.” 

She stares at him, her tongue peeking out to lick her lower lip, “I spoke to my professors a few days ago,” she admits, “I’m planning on transferring to Georgetown next semester.” 

He frowns, “No, you love Yale. You worked so hard to get here-”

“I love you and Bean more,” she says, linking their hands together, “And you love your job. It makes more sense for me to do this. We’d always end up back in DC in the long run.” She explains, sure of her decision, and he sighs, squeezing her hand as he searches her face for any sign that she’s lying, “Hey, don’t profile me. You know me, honey. I can’t be made to do anything I don’t want to do.” 

He smiles, nodding as he shifts closer, his lips stamped against hers for a moment, “As long as you’re sure.” 

“I am,” she replies, kissing him again, “As long as you’re ready for a roommate,” she smiles, “Or two.” 

His smile gets wider, his dimples carved out in his cheeks and he nods, “There’s nothing I’d want more,” he says, kissing her firmly, tugging her closely so she’s all but sitting in his lap, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.”

He rests his cheek on top of her head, and she can feel his smile, “Is it still too early to propose?”

She shakes her head and pinches his side, “Aaron.” 

___

Dinner with her mother had been her idea, but the moment they arrive she regrets it. What was supposed to be an evening with just her, her mother and Aaron had turned into much more than that. Elizabeth had invited several of her friends too, and Emily felt her plans to tell her mother about her transfer to Georgetown and her pregnancy slipping away from her. It makes her grateful that it’s winter and she’s wearing a stylish but baggy sweater, her now undeniable bump hidden from view. 

She has to bite back several comments as her mother continually makes a point of explaining to her friends that Aaron had worked for her the previous summer and that was how he and Emily had met. She also makes a point of saying that Aaron had just turned 30, the reason Emily was actually in town, as if the age gap, half the size of the one she and Emily’s father had shared, would bother Elizabeth if he was one of the many men she’d tried to set Emily up with over the last couple of years. 

As the evening whittles down, Elizabeth’s friends leaving one by one, Emily feels tense, Aaron’s arm around the back of her chair doing nothing to calm her calm her down. 

“I just realised I never asked about how things are going at Yale,” Elizabeth says as she sits back down, taking her place opposite them at the table even though it was just the three of them left, “How are you finding the programme?”

“It’s good,” Emily says, smiling tightly, her hand on Aaron’s leg under the table, “Finals are next week but I’m managing,” she looks up at Aaron and he smiles encouragingly at her, his hand resting over hers on his knee, “I need to tell you something.” 

Elizabeth purses her lips and looks back and forth between the two of them, “That sounds ominous.” 

“It’s not bad, Mom,” Emily says, blowing out a slow breath, “I’m transferring to Georgetown after this semester is done,” she says, carrying on when Elizabeth just stares at her, “It’s been approved by my professors and I’m registered for classes at Georgetown already.” 

Her mother sighs as she takes a sip of her wine, still looking back and forth between Emily and Aaron, “Why?” She asks, “Yale is an Ivy League college, Emily.” 

“I know,” she replies, irritation starting to spark in her gut, “Georgetown is amazing though, and I wanted to be closer to home.” 

Elizabeth hums, raising her eyebrow, “And I assume you’re going to live with Aaron when you move back.” 

“Yes,” Emily says, her mother’s tone causing her irritation to catch fire, anger burning in her veins, “Considering he’s my boyfriend and the father of my child I thought it would be best if I live with him.” It’s only after she’s spoken, when she feels Aaron’s hand tighten around hers and watches her mother’s eyebrows shoot up her forehead, that she realises what she’s said, “Mom…” 

“You’re pregnant?” 

Emily sighs and nods, “Yes, I am,” she says, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it to come out like that,” she adds, “But yes, I am pregnant.” 

They fall into silence and it’s cloying. Thick and overwhelming as it lays over them for a moment before Elizabeth shakes her head, “How could you be so stupid?” 

“What?” Emily exclaims, her anger returning in a second.

“You’re 23, Emily. You have your whole life ahead of you and you go and get yourself pregnant by someone you hardly know.” 

“Now wait a minute-” Aaron says, chiming in to defend her, but Emily cuts him off, squeezing his hand so tightly she’s sure she might cut off the circulation. 

“I didn’t plan this,” she says, suddenly glad she’d kept what happened in Rome to herself, that she’d never told her mother. Sure that if this was her reaction now when she was an adult and in a relationship, it would have been so much worse back then, “But I want this. And I get that it’s a shock, okay? But you don’t get to call me stupid for making this choice.” 

Elizabeth sighs, her jaw tight as she clenches her teeth, and she nods sharply, “You’re right,” she says, clearing her throat, “But I hope you’re prepared for how much a child will change your life. There will be so much you’ll want to do that you now won’t be able to.” 

She swallows down the hurt at her mother all but calling her a burden, something that had negatively changed her life, and she nods, “Mom, I know-”

“But there will also be so much you’ll do that you never would have expected,” she says, her smile wistful in a way Emily rarely saw, “Like take a thousand photos the first time they smile.” 

Emily presses her lips together at that, the flash of her mother’s maternal side rare and painful like it always was, chased by the question of why can’t it always be like this, “We stare at the ultrasound as often as we can,” Emily says, looking up at Aaron, “Don’t we honey.”

“We do,” he replies, reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, “We brought one to show you.” 

Elizabeth softens even further when she’s passed the grainy picture of her grandchild, and by the time they leave her house, Emily is more sure than ever that everything is going to work out. 

___

“I’m never going to find anything to wear,” She huffs in frustration as she stands back from the rack of dresses, her hand coming to rest on her bump, soothing a circle back and forth over where her daughter kicked and rolled. She sighs as she throws a look at her boyfriend over her shoulder, “This sucks.” 

Aaron wraps his arms around her, tugging her back against his chest as she leans against him, their hands linked over their little girl, “You’ll find something, sweetheart,” he assures her, steering clear of mentioning it would be easier if she at least looked at the maternity section after he’d learnt his lesson the hard way last time, “Why don’t we go get something to eat and try again after?” He offers, kissing her cheek, “I’ll get you and baby girl a pretzel.”

She hums and smiles, her irritation at not being able to find a dress for her graduation fading a little as she turns her head to kiss him, “You’re really speaking my language right now.” 

He laughs and kisses her as he shifts so he’s standing next to her, his arm hooked over her shoulders, “Which one?” 

She fake laughs and rolls her eyes at him, letting him lead her out of the clothing store they were in and towards the food court, “Very funny.” 

“I thought so.” 

Sometimes it all felt a little too easy. In the five months since she’d moved to DC, she and Aaron had settled into their life together. She’d found new friends in her college classes here, an exuberant woman called Penelope, who had claimed her as a friend the first day she walked into class, was now somehow friends with JJ. The two of them, and Aaron, had conspired to throw her a baby shower - something she’d insisted she didn’t want until she was sat there surrounded by people who cared for her and her daughter, a village she knew she could never have dreamed of when she was 15. 

The apartment that was once Aaron’s was now theirs, and his old spare room was now a nursery for their daughter that they’d decorated together. She was due to graduate in a few days, and she’d put off buying her outfit until the last possible moment so she could find something that fit - her little girl and therefore her bump growing by the day now. She was due in just under a month and now she was done with college she was just focused on having her baby, all thoughts about what she’d do for a career on hold until her little girl was in her arms. 

She knew Aaron was excited too, the look of joy he’d had on his face when they found out they were having a girl something she knew she’d remember forever. Dave told her Aaron talked about her and the baby to anyone who’d listen at work, a rare insight into his personal life he would never have allowed anyone before she’d cracked his tough outer shell. 

“Can I have two pretzels?” She asks, smiling as she looks up at him, “One for me and one for-”

“Aaron?” 

He freezes, his body tense against hers as he turns in the direction the voice had come from. She frowns and turns too, swallowing down a shocked gasp as she comes face to face with a woman she’d only ever seen pictures of.

“Haley,” Aaron says, making a point of not letting go of Emily, his arm still around her, “It’s…good to see you,” he adds, clearly unsure what to say, taken aback by seeing his ex-fiance. Emily thinks it’s likely that however shocked he is, Haley’s shock must be worse, her eyes zeroing in on Emily’s bump. 

She clears her throat and introduces herself, “I’m Emily,” she says, mentally cursing herself when she offers her hand out to the other woman, letting it drop to her side when Haley doesn’t take it.

“Right, sorry,” Aaron says, his hand squeezing her side, “This is Emily, my…my girlfriend,” he looks down at Emily, “This is Haley.” 

She nods, smiling tightly at him, the awkwardness making her skin crawl, the rise in her blood pressure making the baby kick more than usual. She looks back at Haley and notices how she’s still looking at her belly, poorly disguised fury on her face that makes Emily place a hand on her bump, something that seems to draw Haley’s attention away from it and back to their faces. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Emily says, the politeness that had been instilled in her since she was old enough to talk taking over, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Haley chuckles humourlessly, “I’m sure you have,” she says, her smile forced, “So,” she says, pressing her lips together as she looks back and forth between them, “How far along are you?” 

Whatever Emily had expected her to say it hadn’t been that, and she bites the inside of her cheek before she answers, “37 weeks.” 

Aaron sighs, anticipating where his ex was going with this, their last heartbreaking conversation swimming around in his head, “ Haley-”

“Wow,” she chokes out, cutting him off, “That’s…wow,” she looks up at Aaron, “You really didn’t hang around did you?” She crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head, anger she thought she’d got over months ago finally flooding to the surface, “We’ve been broken up 13, 14 months? And since then you’ve what?” She looks Emily up and down, clearly trying to clock her age, aware she was younger than the two of them, “Knocked up a college student?”

“Haley, you don’t get to-”

“Oh hell no,” Emily says, cutting off Aaron’s more reasoned response, anger and hormones and love for him flooding through her, “You don’t get to talk to him, or me, like that. You broke up with him,” she says, crossing her arms over the top of her bump, “And your loss is my gain, but you don’t get to stand here outside a fucking clothing store and try and diminish my relationship because things didn’t turn out how you wanted them to,” she turns to look at Aaron, “I’ll leave you to it, I’ll wait for you in the food court.” 

She makes a point of kissing him before she walks away, not proud of herself for the pettiness but unable to stop herself nonetheless. She doesn’t get very far, only halfway to the food court, when Aaron catches up with her, grabbing her attention by calling her name and then jogging to her side, his hand slipping into hers. 

“What are you doing?” She asks, looking back over her shoulder to see if she can still see Haley.

“Buying my girls a pretzel each,” he says, his smile tight, his emotions still all over the place after their brief encounter with his ex. 

“Aaron,” she says, coming to a stop, linking her fingers through his, “I’m sorry I kind of blew up at her, but I really don’t mind if you talk to her. There must be things you want to get off your chest.” 

He shakes his head, “I said everything I needed to say,” he says, his smile turning wry, “Well, you said most of it.” 

She grimaces, embarrassment rushing through her now she’d got over the anger, “I’m so sorry-”

“No, don’t apologise,” she says, lifting their linked hands to his lips, “It’s sweet,” he kisses the back of her hand, “You went into Mama Bear mode.”

She narrows her eyes at him, “Call me that again, and you’re not having sex until baby girl is in high school,” she hides a smirk, “Maybe college.” 

“Yes, dear,” he says, kissing her hand again before he lets their hands drop back down, “Now, let's get you that pretzel.”

“Pretzels. Plural.” ___

She was exhausted and sore in ways she hadn’t thought was possible, but so deliriously happy she barely noticed, content and happy in her little bubble with her baby girl asleep on her chest. She strokes patterns over her daughter’s dark hair, smiling as she follows the swirling patterns. 

Ivy Hotchner came into the world on her due date, screaming loudly as she protested being born, something that only quietened down as she was passed into Emily’s shaking hands. Emily knew she could live a hundred years and she’d remember everything about that moment. That first press of her little girl's skin against her own, the weight of her on her chest. The tears shining in Aaron’s eyes as he cut the chord that had connected them for 9 months. 

“Daddy will be back in a minute, sweet girl,” Emily says quietly, kissing the top of Ivy’s head, “He’s gone to call grandma and all your friends,” she runs her knuckles back and forth over her daughter’s soft cheek, “You have so many people in your corner, Ivy.” 

There’s a quick knock on the door and when she looks up Aaron walks in, his shoulders as relaxed as she’d ever seen them as he slips his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, “How are my girls doing?” 

“We’re good,” she says, looking back down at her baby, “Right, Ivy?” She smiles at Aaron as he gets into the bed with them, helping her move forward just enough that he can slip in behind her, his chest supporting her back, just like it had her entire labour, as she lays against him, “Did you speak to my mom?”

He hums, his lips against her temple as he looks down at Ivy, “I did, I told her we’d let her know when you’re up for visitors,” he says, smiling as she turns her head to look at him, “And I spoke to Penelope and JJ, they both demanded pictures as soon as we can send them.”

She chuckles, “I got a cute one of you kissing her cheek when she was laying in the bassinet,” she says, scrunching her nose up, “Might take a few days to get a cute one of me.” 

“You're beautiful,” he says, kissing her when she rolls her eyes, “I mean it. Both of you are beautiful.” 

She chuckles disbelievingly, “She is, I’ll give you that,” she says, turning her attention back to their daughter, “I can’t believe she’s here. We’ve been planning and planning for months and now she’s just…here.” 

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to put into words how it felt. How she and Aaron’s relationship had grown alongside her belly, blooming as their daughter did beneath her skin. She knew they weren’t together because of Ivy, but she knew their little girl had made them closer, tangling them together like vines as they learnt everything there was to learn about the other, so much a part of each other now she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. It was part of why they’d chosen the name they had, an acknowledgement that they were who they were now because of the baby they both couldn’t imagine life without. 

“Me neither,” he says, kissing her shoulder before he rests his chin on it, his gaze fixed on their little girl, “She’s…real,” he says, and she laughs at him, her lips against his cheek when they flame with embarrassment, “You know what I mean,” he mutters, “She was inside of you kicking up a storm and all of a sudden she’s here.” 

“As the person she tunnelled out of I wouldn’t say all of a sudden,” she quips, kissing his cheek again before she looks back down at Ivy, “But I know what you mean,” she rests her head against his, “Aaron?” 

“Yes, sweetheart?” 

“I’m so glad you came to visit that Labour Day Weekend and knocked me up.” 

He chuckles, kissing her cheek, smiling when she turns her head to capture his lips in a kiss, “Me too,” he says, kissing her again. They lapse into contented silence, the only sounds in the room the small noises Ivy made in her sleep, and when he eventually speaks, it takes a moment for his words to register, “Can I propose to you yet?” 

She laughs, and Ivy squirms against her for a moment before she settles back down, and then Emily turns to look at him, “Not yet,” she replies, her smile soft and full of love, “Not whilst I’m wearing a diaper.” 

He nods, aware she wouldn’t have said yes right now anyway, and he holds his girls close, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

___

One Year Later 

“Did you have a good birthday, Ivy?” Emily asks, bouncing her daughter on her hip, smiling when the little girl beams at her, her tiny hands hooked in the neckline of her mother’s shirt, “Did you have fun with all your friends?” 

It never failed to make her happy when she thought about all the people Ivy had in her life. Their home had been full of family and friends. Penelope had baked Ivy’s birthday cake, and JJ had shown up with arms full of toys. Emily and Aaron’s friends from work had come too, and something about watching FBI agents being bossed around by a one-year-old as they played on the floor with her had made Emily laugh. 

Even her mother had been caught up in the festivities, crawling into the playhouse she’d bought her granddaughter, any doubt she’d had about Emily’s choices gone the very first moment she’d ever held Ivy. 

Ivy grumbles, pressing her face against Emily’s chest, “Mama!” 

Emily hums, rubbing her hand back and forth on her daughter’s back, “I know, sweet girl,” she coos, “I’m always sleepy after a party too.” 

“That’s because you’ve usually had tequila.” 

She turns and looks at her boyfriend, unable to hide her smile as she narrows her eyes at him where he is standing in the doorway to the nursery, “That’s a lot of talk for a man who Derek and Dave had to carry up to our bedroom a few weeks ago after a night out.” 

He smiles and walks towards her, pressing a kiss to her forehead and then Ivy’s, “Is she okay?” 

Emily nods, walking the short distance to the small loveseat they kept in the nursery, “She’s just sleepy,” she says, sitting down and keeping Ivy secure against her, “I don’t think we’ll have the usual bedtime fight tonight.” 

He sits next to them, his arm looping around Emily’s shoulders as she continues to rub circles on their daughter’s back, “I can’t believe she’s one.” 

“Me neither,” Emily says, the closest she ever comes to pouting, “She’s growing up too fast.” 

She wanted more children with him, she knew that, but she wanted to wait. She’d joined the FBI academy when Ivy was six months old, the desire to start her career too strong to ignore any longer. Once she’d passed out from the academy she’d joined the counterterrorism unit, only one floor below the BAU, where she did translation work. It was a start, a good place for her to grow her career from and she was happy with it. They had time to have more kids, something she’d told Aaron when he asked if she wanted more. She really liked the thought of doing it all again a few years down the line, a decision she’d make next time instead of being one she’d fall into, Aaron and Ivy by her side as they grew their family. 

Right now, she was content. She had Aaron, and their little girl. The house they’d just recently moved into. A career she was proud of already and friends she wasn’t sure she could live without. 

“She’s asleep,” Aaron says, and she looks down, smiling at the sight of Ivy fast asleep, “Want me to take her?” 

She nods, kissing Ivy’s head, whispering her love for her against her skin, before Aaron lifts her from her chest. She watches as he says goodnight to Ivy, holding her with such reverence it makes her ache, and they walk out of the nursery hand in hand, the baby monitor picked up by Aaron as he walks past. 

“What shall we do for dinner?” She asks as they head for the stairs, “I’d say cake, we have enough of it, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“I’ve organised dinner,” he says, an unreadable expression on his face, a spark in his eyes that makes her stomach flip. She presses her lips together and smiles, letting him guide her downstairs.

“What are you up to, Mr Hotchner?” 

“Do you trust me?” He asks when they get to the bottom of the stairs and she nods, only partially surprised when he covers her eyes.

She huffs out a breath as he leads her towards the living room, “Aaron, I swear to god if this is some kind of ploy into getting me to help tidy up…”

She trails off when he uncovers his eyes, the room that had been a mess of wrapping paper and balloons when she’d last been in it transformed entirely. There were candles on every surface, providing the only light in the room. Illuminating photos from their life together that ranged from their first actual date, to her at her Master’s graduation, both of their hands on her bump, to pictures of them and Ivy. Snapshots of their lives scattered around the room interspersed with rose petals and bunches of wildflowers, containers from her favourite Chinese takeout on the coffee table. 

“Aaron…” she gasps, her voice trailing off again when she turns to look at him. As unsurprised as she is to find him on one knee with a ring box in his hands, she still feels tears press at the back of her eyes, love for him clogging her throat. 

“You’d think considering how long I’ve been trying to do this I’d have prepared what to say,” he says, emotional himself, his eyes shining in the candlelight. He opens the ring box and the tears she’d been suppressing slip past her lashline, “I love you, and I love Ivy and our life…” he swallows thickly and she can’t think of anything to do other than to kneel in front of him, so she does that, making them eye level, “And I really hope you say yes this time.” 

She chokes on a chuckle and reaches out for him, her hand hooking around the back of his neck, “For me to say yes, you need to ask the question.” 

She watches every moment they’ve shared flicker in his eyes. Their first kiss. The moment they’d agreed they would long distance. When she told him she was pregnant and everything that had happened since, and she knows what her answer was going to be, knows what the only answer could be. 

“Emily, will you marry me?” 

She nods, barely getting her response out before she’s kissing him, holding him close as he sinks into her with relief and happiness. 

“Yes.” 

[em-prentiss]

Since I’m joining you down the H/P rabbit hole, do you ever wonder about the other FBI agents who would have known Hotch when he would have worked for Prentiss’s mom and met Emily for the first time. Maybe an agent who also worked the same job. And for whatever reason, years later their paths cross with the BAU and the find out that Hotch and Emily now work together. What do you think the rest of the BAU’s reaction would be to finding out that baby Aaron and Emily were once acquainted? Imagine if that agent had photographs of baby H & P and maybe one of them together that even they didn’t know was taken.

Hmm I actually never thought of another agent seeing young hotchniss like that, mostly because I think many agents would scatter after that position, you know? But I can imagine an old colleague of Aaron’s who used to work the same shift with him one day coming into the BAU for whatever reason, maybe asking for help, maybe just wanting to catch up. He’d see Emily and recognize her instantly—because how could you work for the ambassador and not hear of or at least cross paths with Emily?—and he’d be like oh wow what a coincidence, never thought I’d see the two of you together again and the team would be like….what are y’all talking about. It’s such a fun idea, it would be wonderful as a fic.

I definitely think if anyone from the BAU knew about them, it would’ve been Dave, whether Aaron told him about her or he somehow saw them together back in the day. Even if he didn’t, I don’t think he’d be surprised to know that they knew each other—she’s just so different with him than everyone else, you can’t help but wonder. Obviously they’d all be shocked, but I think JJ and Penelope would be delighted of course and they’d immediately dig for details—and demand (lovingly) of Emily why she hadn’t told them. Morgan would be interested to know what Hotch was like back then and Reid would be completely disinterested in the whole thing lmao, but I think this extra piece of information would make sense of what he’s seen from them (nothing concrete, but a subtle comfortableness they seem to have with each other).

I also lowkey love the idea of them being in a newspaper or something. Like in one of the ambassador’s parties Emily is at the center and you could just catch a hint of Aaron standing next to a door. Or someone would snap a picture of them as they’re sitting on the edge of a balcony, legs dangling (he’d tried to get her down from it, but it proved fruitless so in the end he just joined her), free smiles on both their faces as she maybe told him a story of the stars (I am so obsessed with young hotchniss and stargazing, don’t even get me started). I can just imagine the way the ladies would gush over them, their brows raised in disbelief at Aaron’s relaxed posture and his smile—omg I’m cutting myself off here, but WHAT IF his jacket was around her shoulders to protect her from the breeze, because even though it’s summer her short dresses barely covered much. In conclusion the ladies would lose their minds, much as I currently am right now, and the guys would be subtly interested to know who exactly their old boss was.

Also I think it would somehow be even sweeter if hotchniss wasn’t established at that time. They were simply friends—lightly teasing, a little flirtatious—but at the core of it they found each other and just bonded deeply. 

This is such a lovely idea and it sent me into outer space, thank you xx

[meet-me-in-the-pouringrain]

Superman.

Summary : A taylor swift inspired one shot that centres around Mutual Pining and Young!Hotchniss. Based off ‘Superman’ by Taylor Swift!

Tw : Non!

Wrote this in just over an hour after staying awake like an eejit for SPTV. Enjoy! :) Read below the cut.

- Bold are lyrics :)

Tall, Dark, and Superman.

That’s what a obscenely hungover and still wearing a sequinned dress 22 year old Emily voices aloud when Elizabeth begrudgingly introduces her to the new head of security. He’s older than her, there’s frown lines forming around his eyes, the knot in his tie is practically strangling him and he’s staring at her in sheer disapproval. She normally would cringe at her abrasiveness but the migraine she’s sporting makes her unlikely to care.

“Agent Hotchner” Emily manages to get out in between waves of nausea. She doesn’t try to shake his hand and he doesn’t extend his. “Nice to meet you too” When she’s in her right mind she’ll mull over the way his eyes widened at her outfit and racked over her body. She’ll also register the briefcase and papers in his hand and wonder if he thinks he’s genuinely saving the world like superman would by combing through all of the staff members tax reports.

She doesn’t think much off him after that, trudging back to bed and landing face first in the goose feathers. He thinks of her, though, a lot more frequent that should be appropriate.

She doesn’t think of him at all, if we’re being honest, until she lands bridal style in his arms after he catches her from falling out of the apple tree her grandfather planted when she was a little girl. Emily climbs it like she always had done since she was 5 years old until her foot catches on a weakened branch and gravity does it’s thing. Aaron bolts over from his post halfway down the garden and catches her with ease, looking panicked.

Emily just giggles and pats his cheek. “I was right.” She says smugly. Aaron doesn’t move to put her down. “You are a Superman.”

And you smile and say “How are you?”

It’s 4th of July weekend and Emily - unusually - doesn’t have any plans. Elizabeth is somewhere in Belgium, despite promising her daughter that they’d fulfil their only tradition of watching the fireworks from the 2nd floor guest balcony because it had the best view, and the staff had the holiday off so she was alone.

Well almost.

Aaron - ‘Hotch’, She had dubbed him after a bickering incident ensued where he caught her sneaking out again. She’s 22 dammit. - whistles as he comes into the kitchen, pausing when he spots her sitting crossed legged on the kitchen island in denim shorts and a low cut red tank top, her hair in a top bun and damp from the pool. She’s eating strawberries and he forces his eyes away from the way her lips close around the bud. Instead they find a water droplet from her hair and he traces the liquid as it falls between the valley of her mocking breasts. He clears his throat and announces his presence.

“Miss Prentiss” Aaron greets formally, going to the fridge. He smiles at her as she raises her eyes from the magazine.

“Hotch” She returns, haughtily. “How many times do I gotta say to you to call me Emily?”

Aaron chuckles. “Apologies, Emily. It’s a habit.” He shrugs and flashes a smile at her that makes her belly tighten and face flush. “How are you?” He says, tilting his head.

Emily licks her lips of any remanent strawberry. “Just fine” She says casually, taking a wicked delight in the way his eyes focused on her tongue.

She had a plan, she was going to tell him how she felt about him. How their constant bickering and tension has enraptured her and slowly but surely Emily can feel herself falling for this man.

She had a plan, she was going to go do it. But she always forgets it when he smiles at her like that. She hops of the counter and accidentally knocks the vase of blue orchids off the island. Hotch’s quick reflexes save the day again and he catches it, calmly putting the vase back where it belongs.

Emily exhales her breath. “Nice going, Superman.” She grins. “Nice save” He laughed at her nickname and directs her away from accidentally recommitting the same crime with a hand on her lower back and a smile on his face.

I watch Superman fly away. Go save the world, I’ll be around.

Aaron stays only a summer. Just a summer and he’s gone. He gets an offer from Dave Rossi. One he cannot refuse and will never refuse. So just as quickly as he came into her life, he’s gone.

She never did tell him.

Not even when they gave into their urges for one night for wild untamed fun. No, she laid in the aftermath and watched him sleep peacefully. She studied the frown lines around his eyes in a new perspective, traced his features with her eyes, laid her hand on his chest and felt the rise and fall of his lungs.

He never told her either.

Tall, Dark and Beautiful. He’s complicated and Irrational.

Emily thinks the first part when she opens that door and excitedly spouts his name. Not for the reasons you think. It’s been over 15 years, she’s moved on and boxed up that summer, leaving it behind her. Since that one night, she’s been through hell and back numerous times and he’s apparently married with a baby.

Emily’s happy for him. Truly, she is. Though a pang of green eyed jealousy reads it’s ugly head when she sees the picture on his desk.

She thinks the second part, bitterly, as he leaves her standing in his office like a pathetic child, moving quickly as if her mere presence burned him from the inside out.

When Aaron gives her the job she smiles and packs up her box, she had left waiting in his office out of spite and bits her lip with once last glance. She can feel his eyes on her as she saunters out and a small part of her has a fleeting, childish hope that someday he’ll take her away before she shuts it down with a reminder that they’ve both moved on.

He’s not all bad like his reputation.

Penelope consoles her after Aaron reams Emily out for an innocent question. JJ nods sympathetically next to the tech woman. Both women are nice and welcome, much like the rest of the team. It’s Aaron and Gideon who refuse to warm up, stubbornly.

Emily wants to laugh and scream that she knows. That she knows the *true* Aaron. That she’s seen it for herself, that she knows this job and Jason Gideon are the reason her Superman is jaded. That his reputation doesn’t mean shit to her because she can’t hear a word they say.

But she doesn’t. She nods and fluffs her hair with a loud sigh.

Life moves on and Emily catches glimpses of the man she used to know. When he hugs Spencer after saving him from Hankle, when he cracks a smile at one of Morgan’s jokes. When Dave ribs him about something that happened when they were younger.

A lifetime ago, it seems sometimes.

She doesn’t truly see her Superman until well after his divorce is signed and the ink has dried. She spots him when she comes out of the compound, bloody and covered in glass and debris. He looks at her with something deep in his brown eyes, something that gives her pause momentarily. It’s gone as quickly as it flashed and she’s too busy holding Spencer to care at that moment in time.

I loved you from the very first day.

Aaron Hotchner says quietly to himself, running his thumb over Emily’s discarded badge. He stares down at her solemn and stern face as the rest of the team disperse and try to figure out just who exactly the fuck Ian Doyle is. He’s never admitted it, never allowed himself too. Not when he left, certainly not when he married Haley.

Now she’s gone and there’s a real chance he’ll never get to tell her at all.

Ian Doyle won’t take that privilege from him.

Emily Prentiss - Amèlie Dumas - sits in a one bedroom, beige, sad apartment somewhere in Paris, tracing over her new name with her gnawed, broken, fingertips. She sits in a dark spot away from the singular window she has in the apartment, even though it’s already covered my a black sheet (and her cabinet is pushed against it) She laments aloud in a language that’s neither French or English, about her plight. She wonders what Superman is doing now, if he’s hurting as much as she is with Emily Prentiss’ death.

Come back, I’ll be with you some day.

Aaron vows to himself as the coffin stuffed with rocks lowers into the ground. He stares at the name on the headstone, blocks out the cries of Garcia, Reid and Morgan, ignored the sorrowful look off Rossi and the guilty one off JJ. His fist curls and he gets the urge to smash the shit out of the stone for even daring to bear her name.

He makes a silent promise. To finally give in, to throw caution to the wind and finally do what he should have done 17 years ago.

Stayed on the ground.

And I hope you don’t save another girl.

Emily watches through she hungover haze and large sunglasses as Hotch jogs up to a brunette woman. She returned a few months ago from the dead and was slowly integrating back into the team. She holds back bile as Morgan cracks jokes about Hotch finally ‘getting some’ and complains that she wants to ‘get some too and by some, i want something greasy’. She doesn’t turn back as ‘Beth’ speaks to Jack and Hotch smiles at her in the way that used to make Emily’s stomach tighten and her cheeks flush red.

Then she gets the offer from Interpol and she’s gone again. She’s far away, across the ocean now, but at this point she thinks she can’t let him go.

Especially when flowers from one of the British guys she’s spoken to recently show up at her door to her flat in London and she smiles. Blue Orchids. She rips open the card only to find they’re from Clyde as a housewarming gift. The disappointment she feels is immeasurable and the flowers end up in the trash.

Aaron finds himself mindlessly waiting by the phone, getting irrationally angry when the caller ID shows a US number and not an international from London. He picks up the phone one night when it was quite early in the morning, thinking it was her when it was actually a scam called from London.

‘Cause I’ve loved you from the very first day.

When Emily returns stateside for JJ’s 35th birthday, Penelope forces her to attend a BAU party night at Casa Rossi. She meets their newest team member Alex Blake and smiles tightly, feeling awkward around a replacement. They play board games until JJ goes home to her baby, giving a lift to Alex, Derek drives Penelope and Spencer home, Dave bows out with a nefarious look in his eye and goes to the other side of the house. They all finally leave the two stubborn brunettes alone.

Later, they would realise that was Penelope’s scheme all along.

They drink and they talk and they reminisce. On what could have been. On what should have been.

Hotch makes the first move and kisses her tentatively, snaking a hand in her hair to deepen it when she doesn’t pull away. What happens next is a flurry of clothes flying, breathy moans, whispers of affections and blinding pleasure.

“What about Beth?” Emily asks with baited breath as his breathing started to even out in her bed. There’s more frown lines on his face than she remembers and his chest is bumpy and scarred 9 times over but her hand still rests in the spot under his heart, moving with the inflation and deflation of his lungs.

Aaron wraps his hand around hers and kisses her knuckles. “She’s not Lois Lane material” He says lightly and that silly reference makes her laugh and sob at the same time. When the laughter dies down, he looks at her seriously. “Emily-“

“I won’t leave London” She interrupts sadly, cupping his cheek. Emily knew where that was going and she couldn’t hear it because if he had finished, she would say yes in a heartbeat. But She can’t leave London. Not right now anyway and she tells him as such. She’s just got settled and Easter needs her. He understands - of course he does - and doesn’t push her into it.

“I’ll be around” He says, planting another kiss on her fingers. “Forever and Ever”

Emily pushes herself up from the warmest bed she’s felt in YEARS with a tired sigh. She has a flight in 4 hours. “I swear” She says, turning to look at him. “I’ll be with you someday” She vows softly and kisses him gently on the lips. She redresses with tears in her eyes and leaves for the airport with a lump in her throat. When she lands in London, she sees a new text sent minutes after her flight takes off.

“I’ll be right here on the ground, when you decide to come back down. Superwoman.”

Wordcount : 2222 ( 😜)

Taglist : @velvetblackness @loriprentiss @hannahcarbaugh @maritierra @cynbx

If you would like to be added or removed from my taglist just either DM or send in Ask box :).

[lonelychicagos]

the 1

Part of a Hotchniss one-shot series based on Taylor Swift's album, folklore. Can be found here: breathe again

The moment his name fell from her lips, Emily knew she made a big mistake. Six pairs of eyes turned to her, including his own, and she had to take another sip of her margarita to keep her from adding another comment that will ruin both of their reputations in the BAU.

Emily could blame it on Penelope. After all, it was her question that started it. "If you weren't dating anyone, who would you be dating from the BAU?" The technical analyst pointed a painted fingernail at her, whisking everyone to turn to her as well.

"Hotch," she said without a doubt. Emily could also very well blame it on the margarita concoction she'd been drinking all night, but she really wasn't that drunk for her to make baseless accusations on a lifeless, harmless drink.

At that second, everyone turns to her.

Then, to him.

He sported the usual Hotch glare, but this time, there was this intensity in his eyes only reserved for unsubs, Strauss, and apparently, her. Emily had been a part of their team for almost two years now and he still treats her like a stranger. Sure, they covered each other on the field and treated each other with the utmost respect in conference rooms, but once the clock hits 5, whatever warmth Hotch extended turns icy cold.

Not a single word escaped any of their quick and witty mouths for what seemed hours—not Rossi, not JJ, and certainly not Penelope. Thankfully, Morgan cleared his throat and attempted to make a joke. "You wound me, princess."

Penelope chirped this time, taking over the deadly silence that fell over their table. "So, why bossman?"

Knowing that deflecting is not an option, Emily answered. "Just because...and we already knew each other way back. Less time getting to know someone new."

"What do you mean way back?" JJ's eyes glinted mischievously and with genuine interest.

Now, how could she explain the mess they were once in? She could make up a lie or water down the truth, but Emily was far too drunk to come up with a believable alibi that Hotch would agree on as well. After everything she put him through, she can't bind him to another lie.

"I worked for the ambassador before I started in the FBI," Aaron said.

He made it sound so trivial, so minuscule, that Emily felt a pang of anger with the way he said it. He made it sound like he didn't spend weeks on her bed, tracing those three words on her naked back as he waited for her to sleep before making his escape. He made it sound like he didn't almost jeopardize his entire career because he got caught sneaking outside her bedroom after she had a bad day. He made it sound like he didn't make her wait for months to visit her in Connecticut, only for him to send an email that he's getting married in August.

Emily Prentiss may be a liar, but Aaron Hotchner is a fucking coward.

"How come we never found out about that?" Rossi asked as he poured scotch into his glass.

Hotch shrugged as he downed another glass. "It never came up," he dismissively answered.

Most of them let it go, Morgan and Penelope already heading their way to the dance floor as 'their' song plays on the speakers. Rossi took to Reid, engaging the young man in a conversation about his latest book. JJ, on the other hand, gave Emily a long look that said, 'We'll table this discussion for next time.' Emily didn't even think to glance at her unit chief. She simply wasn't interested.

The dark-haired agent excused herself and grabbed the empty coupe glass as she headed toward the bar to get a refill. Sipping cocktails all night was not exactly the brightest idea she's had in days, but they have a four-day weekend, and recent revelations deserved an extra glass or two in her system.

"Sorry about that," Emily quipped as she felt Hotch sit on the empty stool beside her. She planned on running away, or at the very least, giving him a cold shoulder, but guilt overcame her. After all, it was her answer that opened a hidden chest of buried histories and emotions from them.

When he didn't say anything, she continued. "My brain's a bit foggy now." Perhaps if Emily blamed it on the alcohol, she could get away with the consequences. She doubts it.

"Obviously," he said. Just then, the bartender returned with the margarita she ordered. But before Emily could even grab the glass, Hotch already cut her off. He called the bartender's attention again, ordering a glass of whatever non-alcoholic concoction for her.

Emily pouted. "I was still drinking that."

"You're drunk," Hotch stated. Drunk, but apparently not drunk enough for her not to hate him.

"Whatever," she muttered in defeat.

"Garcia will ask questions," Hotch turned to look at her, then to the pair of dancing FBI employees on the dance floor.

Emily nodded. "And JJ. And Reid. And Morgan."

"And Rossi," he continued.

"And Rossi."

"I'm surprised they didn't dig up my background the moment I stepped into your office two years ago," Emily mused.

"My name doesn't exactly show up on your resume." The unit chief quipped.

"Wouldn't it be funny, though? Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner's fuck buddy," she flashed a smile as he grimaced at her response. "I think that's what they call it now. Lover seemed to be a bit too intimate for what we had."

They both knew she was wrong; that in so many ways, they were more like lovers than anything else. She loved him so much, it left her breathless. Not in a way that left her in awe of him, but in a way that what she felt for him constricted her airways and punctured her lungs. It was thorny, but it was good.

"I think I really am drunk now, sorry," Emily apologized, her head hanging low and her eyes fixed on the glass of club soda Hotch ordered for her.

"It's uh, fine."

A beat passed. No one spoke a word.

"You can leave now if I'm making you uncomfortable," she offered. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she made him uneasy. She could still remember how his eyes glazed over the moment she stepped foot in his office years ago. He unwillingly and uneasily welcomed her to the team. The air between them hasn't changed much, and she doubts a loud nightclub and alcohol will.

He nods, offering her a silent farewell, but she was quicker than him. Without much thought, Emily grabbed his arm, "No, wait. Let me ask you a question first."

"Maybe we should table this discussion for another day."

She shook her head. "I know you and I know me. we won't ever talk about this again, so just humor me while it's out in the open."

"Okay."

Emily didn't even know what she'd ask him. Scratch that. Of course, she knew what she'd ask him. It's been making a home at the back of her mind for almost a decade now. Deciding that this might be her only chance at asking him, she decided to go for the jugular. After all, she wasn't known for being subtle. "If things were different back then, would you have pursued me?"

"I love my wife and I love my son—"

Emily seethed, "Not relevant to my question, Aaron." She could hear the gears running inside his head—cranking, screeching, scratching to look for a viable answer that won't end up hurting Emily or Haley or him.

It took him a few good seconds before answering, "If things were different back then, you know I would have."

But she didn't know. How could she have known? Here's what she knew, then:

Emily was the summer fling, and their time together would soon be forgotten as soon as she steps on the plane en route to Connecticut, but;

Aaron loved her and promised to visit her, but;

Aaron broke said promise and instead of surprising her with his presence and bouquet of flowers, he surprised her with a short email announcing his upcoming wedding to his high school sweetheart, Haley Brooks.

There was no way she could have known, but she didn't want to dwell on the thought tonight. Tomorrow, maybe, when she's sober enough to process his answer. Another week, perhaps, when she's alone in her apartment and the ceiling starts to become an interesting work of art. A month from now, probably, when her birthday rolls by and she adds another year to her age, and it hits her how it could have been her waking up next to him every day.

She doesn't love him anymore and she could breathe more freely now, but sometimes, she yearns for him.

"Okay. That's enough for me." She let him go then, not even noticing that she had her palm on his arm the entire time.

He nods, again. "Will you be okay out here?"

She almost shakes her head no, but decides against it. "Yeah. Thanks for the talk."

Emily watched as his tall frame disappeared in the crowd, unknowingly taking her heart again, with him. Perhaps, another time.

[blackbirdsaltzman]

sleepy little!jj who refused to have a nap and is now just refusing to let go of emily because she is tired... these asks are so random but im just in the mood to read soft jj fics😭

Sleep Amor ~ Little!JJ x CG!Hotchniss

“JJ it’s time for bed baby.” Emily whispers as the little girl tightens her grip on the woman’s shirt. JJ shakes her head sucking on the pacifier. The girl had refused a nap earlier. The parents had tried to put her down but it resulted in tears and screams.

“Princess, you need to sleep.” Emily states as Aaron comes into the nursery with a bottle.

“She’s refusing to let go.”

“Do you want me to try?” Hotch asks setting the bottle down to reach for the blonde but JJ automatically starts to cry when he tries.

“She’s not going to let me put her down. I know we should have made her take her nap.” Emily sighs softly rocking the girl.

“Emily she was screaming for twenty minutes. She wouldn’t have stopped so there was no point in us just listening to it.” Hotch states eyeing the young girl. She didn’t need to sleep with her pacifier but he knew it would be a whole other battle to get it from her.

“Mama.” JJ whines rubbing her eyes.

“I’m right here baby girl. What if we both lay down for a little bit, hm?” Emily whispers hoping her plan works as it was already an hour past the girl’s bedtime.

[reidsaurora]

Make. Me. Write!!!

i was tagged by: @writer-in-theory

Rules and Regulations:

Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on (It’s fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count)

Tag anyone you think might also enjoy this game (No pressure of course)

Whichever WIP title gets the most votes write 1 sentence for every vote. If it gets more votes than your comfortable with, feel free to swap to words.

If somehow that completes the fic or reaches the end of the chapter, move to the WIP with the second highest votes and continue where you left off on your sentence/word count. Repeat until you reach your goal.

(Optional) Share what you wrote in a new Tumblr post with a link to your original poll or attached it to a reblog

idk why but i feel the need to give a lil backstory or explanation of some sort for each one so you know what you're getting into 🫡

backstories and np tags under the cut 🫶🏻🧡

Cowboy!Steve Harrington wip

this one's self explanatory, you can go read the first three fics in this series over on my nsfw blog, @hornyhornyhimbos 🖤✨️

JBU (Reidaway)

so, i teased this series a little bit when SYGB ended but i never really fully committed to writing it because i have a set beginning but i have no clue what to do for the ending 😬

i'm not gonna spoil it because y'all know me, i'm a writer and i have to tease everything but let's just say it involves forced proximity, sorta work rivals to maybe lovers, and black cat!elle greenaway x golden retriever!spencer reid <3

Eat Your Young (Spencer Reid)

i can't explain this much other than that i was extremely h word when i came up with the plot for this and i was playing "Eat Your Young" by Hozier on repeat when it happened

I'm Too Pretty For This (Warren Rojas)

this was a request i got like two months ago when i first announced i was gonna be writing for DJATS characters and i got like two paragraphs in and i hated it so i never finished it 😂

basically something happens between the band members of the group that are opening for DJATS on the Aurora tour and it somehow makes their lead singer realize she might have a thing for Warren 😏

AFTR (Steve Harrington)

this will be my first serious Steve series. i know that the Loriverse exists and the Cowboyverse exists but this one is actually a serious series that i wanted to write for the summer and i just never did

a brief summary without giving too much away is that Stancy happens but doesn't last and somehow Reader/FMC (haven't decided which yet) ends up spending the summer as Steve's rebound of sorts?

LMLAF rewrite (Hotchniss)

so, a few of you may remember this series i posted back in February of 2022. i was extremely depressed and lonely so i did what any normal human would... i wrote a story about Hotchniss being friends with benefits.

however, that story was posted on this account, where I do not post smut. well, other than that one chapter of SYGB but we don't need to go there rn akshksjsjsj

anyway, basically this would be the spicier rewritten version of that where i don't leave readers in the dark about what went on between Hotchniss after Haley died ;)

All Your Being, pt 2 (Spencer Reid)

another fic i wrote where i tried desperately to keep things closed door until now when i decided i don't care about that anymore 😂

in case you guys don't remember this fic, i'll link it here but basically Spencer and midsized!reader have been together for six months but have yet to do the nasty because she's afraid of what he'll think about her body. this part two would basically just be him saying f!ck it and showing her that every body is a beautiful body 🫶🏻

Tolerate It (Spencer Reid)

just go listen to "tolerate it" by Taylor Swift. it would be easier for you to do that than for me to tell you about the dark sh!t that ensued in this fic... i was at my lowest low when i wrote this and you'll see that if i ever post it 🥲

well now that that's over with, how bout some no pressure tags!! 🥳🎉

@reidsbookclub @dungeons-are-too-cold @nomajdetective @bejeweledmunson @rupsmorge @reidselle @lukeclvez @lcvingprentjss @serenity-lattes @writingquillsandpainpills

[aew-kun-age-regression]

Same anon as last one for little!jj, I’ll take all our thoughts. I absolutely love little!jj especially when she’s regressed young or even older and her with Hotchniss as her caregivers. She’s just a smol little princess but I feel like causes trouble also.

I feel like she's definitely cheeky when regressed. She's a well behaved little don't get me wrong but she is also happy to break harmless rules. Bedtime at 11 o clock? She's pushing it to 12. No sweets after 6? She's sneaking into a cupboard to get some.

If she's regressed smaller whilst at work someone has to be with her. On more than one occasion Luke has been sat with JJ colouring.

Speaking of her friendship with Luke, I can guarantee you that he will pick her up if she doesn't want to walk/can't walk.

When it comes to her caregivers as I said her main ones are Hotch and Emily. Both are very protective over JJ and have got rules for her however as I said the more minor rules JJ tends to break quite often. Neither Hotch or Emily are overly worried about the rules she breaks though as they know she's a smart girl and wouldn't put herself at risk.

Playdates with Garcia include baking and arts and crafts, it's always something that can get messy. And I promise you with Penelope there it will get messy.

Playdates with Spencer include reading, normally him reading to her. And puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.

So I'm trying to cover all big characters so this might not make full sense due to timelines so pls just bear with me 😅

Derek would take JJ to parks. If she had too much energy Derek's getting called over to take her to chill and use her energy running around.

Rossi has money and spends a decent amount on JJ. He will buy her anything she wants, he cannot say no to her. 😂

Speaking of Rossi, he brings JJ lunch because he will not let her eat bad food. It just simply won't do.

Im hoping this ramble made sense lol 😅

[sequinsmile-x]

hiiiii i think this was me!

I wrote a fic called By Design, which is young hotchniss and emily admitting she kind of manufactured them getting together!!

i’m going mad or was there a hotchniss fic based on mastermind by taylor swift? or was it x reader ?

[jetaime-jespere]

Prompt #200/105

Aaron never expected to run into his boss’s daughter in a dive bar.

But then again, Emily Prentiss was never exactly predictable.

It’s a Tuesday, the first night off he’s had in almost ten days. He’s learned quickly that working for an Ambassador is glamorous in name only. In practice, it’s typically uneventful, sometimes almost mind-numbing and boring. But it’s a foot in the door, the salary better than what he was making at his last position, and for the time being, he has to ride it out. Bide his time, climb the ladder until something better comes along.

But after ten days of work, he’s over it. Aaron expected he’d get a decent buzz when he slipped through the doors of the smoky bar alone, after yet one more fight with Haley. Their marriage has morphed into one cyclical argument, centered around a myriad of topics ranging from money and mortgages to kids and intimacy. It’s anyone’s guess what the topic of the day will be. Tonight, money was the lucky winner. Tomorrow, something else entirely.

So, if there is anyone in need of a night off, it’s Aaron. He drinks a beer in a record amount of time and then milks one more, feeling the effects of the alcohol start to kick in as he contemplates ordering a third.

What he didn’t expect was to see a slightly familiar face on one of the stools a few feet away from his own.

Aaron has seen her around before - she’s hard to miss. Emily, the Ambassador’s college-aged daughter, is the exact antithesis of her ridiculously uptight mother, and something tells him she takes great pride in that. He knows little about her, just that she’s a student at Yale with the mouth of a sailor. Around the mansion, she’s typically aloof, her face perpetually shielded by a pair of dark sunglasses that he suspects are to conceal a hangover or the aftereffects of an all nighter. She seems to always have an agenda, somewhere to be, and she doesn’t even seem to realize he exists. She appears to have time for no one, but Aaron suspects her flippant demeanor is a ruse for something else entirely. Insecurity, perhaps?

Without the sunglasses hiding her face, he gets a chance to steal a few glances from his own spot at the bar. She’s wearing a lot of makeup, clutching a drink in her hand. Emily nervously tucks her hair behind her ears every few minutes, glancing over her shoulder in what he calculates to be fifty-second increments. She’s looking for someone. Or waiting for someone. Either way, she looks nervous. So Aaron orders another drink - this will be his last - and figures it’s not worth making his presence known. Technically, he isn’t supposed to fraternize with the Ambassador or her family outside of work, anyway. A conflict of interest, they say. But something about seeing her there tells him he should stay. He subtly thanks the bartender and keeps her in his peripheral vision, distracting himself with a mindless game on the TV.

There’s a hesitant tap on his shoulder a few moments later, and when he lifts his eyes from television he’s not even watching, he’s almost surprised to see her on the stool next to him.

Emily.

“Excuse me,” she says in a low voice, the concept of personal space all but lost on her. She’s almost pressing herself right against him, as if they’ve been doing this for years, and something tells him it’s not just because the bar is crowded. “But you seem like a guy who could help me out.” She smiles, and up close like this he can’t help but think she’s stunning.

Not that he expected otherwise. “I beg your pardon?” He takes a quick sip of his beer, and then another. Liquid courage, he supposes.

“I could really use a favor,” Emily continues, batting her long eyelashes. Clearly she has no idea who he is, and Aaron has to remind himself they’ve never formally met before. He’s only ever seen her from somewhat of a distance, and of course, heard the whisperings from the other agents. He’s never much believed in rumors, though.  

Aaron opens his mouth, ready to identify himself because something tells him this could go downhill very quickly before she cuts in, throwing nervous eyes to the door once again. “What are you -”

“Please pretend to be my boyfriend.”

He nearly knocks the beer bottle over, blinking as if he didn’t hear her correctly. “I beg your pardon?”

Emily smiles apologetically, talking just a little faster than before, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I know it sounds ridiculous. I’m here by myself, and for the last half hour, there’s this guy who won’t leave me alone. I told him my boyfriend is coming but -” she glances at her feet, her cheeks flushing a shade of pink. “I don’t have a boyfriend, and he’s persistent. I’m pretty sure he spiked that drink too.”

Aaron sees the untouched drink by her place at the bar, next to the one she just finished. Just what is she doing in bars like this, by herself, at night? Where did this guy come from? Has the bartender not noticed? He has questions, but there isn't much time for answers. “Where is he?”

“Outside smoking.”

Something else crosses his mind. “I’ve been sitting here all night. You don’t think he’s already seen me?”

“He’s had his back to you the whole time. Plus,” Emily points toward the door. “The people next to us just got up and left. I highly doubt he saw you.”

Aaron wants to ask why she didn’t just get the hell up and leave with them, but her fingers tighten around his jacket sleeve, her eyes never leaving the wall of liquor bottles on the bar. “He’s coming back. At least pretend you like me, okay?”

There’s the heavy drag of shoes on the ground, a heavy odor of smoke and cigarettes permeating the air behind them. He feels Emily flinch when a large hand clamps down on her shoulder. “You’re still here” the guy leers, getting just a little too close. But then he spots Aaron, immediately pulling his hand away, his face twisting into a scowl. “So your boyfriend finally decided to show up.”

“Oh. Hi, Drew.” Emily tosses back lightly, throwing her arm around Aaron’s shoulders, leaving a kiss on his cheek. He gets a whiff of her perfume when her lips brush his skin, and for a brief moment, his mind blurs. Focus, he tells himself. “Traffic, you know.”

“You mean this is your boyfriend?” The guy, Drew, asks in disbelief, as if he doesn’t fully believe Emily. He gives Aaron a poorly concealed once-over, one that holds nothing but judgement.

“This is him,” Emily chirps, and for good measure, runs a hand through Aaron’s hair adoringly. Focus, he reminds himself. But she’s good at this, Aaron observes, wondering if she’s done this before. “You want something to eat, babe?” She reaches for a bar menu, pretending to study it.

“I’m starving,” Aaron says, hoping it’s convincing, reaching for her hand to prove a point. He squeezes her fingers, conveying the notion he’ll play along as long as she needs him to. “Whatever we got last time we were here was good.”

Emily nods approvingly, smiling sweetly at Drew with a wave of her hand. It’s a dismissal in the clearest sense. “It was great meeting you, Drew. Have a good night.”

“Yeah, you too,” he grumbles, clearly not convinced and undoubtedly annoyed at Aaron’s sudden presence next to her. “I guess I’ll see you around, Emily.” He stalks off, his footsteps heavy, disappearing into the crowd.

“Thank you” Emily says with relief once he’s fully out of earshot, but Aaron notices she doesn’t move her chair away from him. “Persistent little fuck, wasn’t he?”

“Definitely.” he twists a straw wrapper in his fingers as she orders another drink, draping one long leg over the other. His eyes linger on her legs for a split second too long. He shouldn’t be this close to her, let alone have drinks with her. Yeah, this could be bad if it got out. Aaron can only imagine the reactions of his coworkers if they found out.

“So, what’s your name?” Emily asks quickly, smoothing her hair over a shoulder, visibly relaxing in front of him as she lifts the glass to her lips. “I never did ask you, did I?”

“Hotchner,” he says out of habit, only realizing his mistake when she laughs.

“Are you some kind of cop or something? Your first name, genius. You’re my boyfriend, remember?” Emily gives a slight roll of her eyes. “We should probably be on a first name basis.”

That gets a laugh from him, too. “My first name is Aaron.”

“Mine’s Emily,” she says, narrowing her eyes and studying his face carefully, as if she’s trying to place him. “You look familiar to me for some reason.”

“I know what your name is.”

Her eyebrows nearly disappear into her hairline.

“I work for your mother,” Aaron says softly, wondering if it’s the right move to make. But it’s summer; she’ll be around for the next several weeks, and if they don’t clear the air now, things could get awkward the next time their paths cross. He probably shouldn’t mention that her reputation precedes her, and he fumbles for what to say next.

Emily hand flies to her mouth, eyes widening as she processes his words. “You mean you  - you’re one of the security agents. That’s where I know you from.” She places him quickly, suddenly looking embarrassed and utterly self-conscious. “Fuck.”

“I only started last month,” Aaron offers, sensing her discomfort, yet not quite ready for her to get up and leave. “I haven’t been around very long.”  

“Yet you knew who I was,” she says suspiciously.

“You’re hard to miss.” He wants to bring up the time he witnessed the day she got home from Yale a few weeks ago, surrounded by mountains of luggage in the driveway. Her mother had been less than thrilled, and it started quite the argument between the two of them that could be heard from nearly anywhere on the front grounds.

Emily laughs loudly this time, her head tilting back with effort. “I guess I’m doing something right, then.”

He resists the urge to push the stray piece of hair from her face. Don’t even think about it, he tells himself. “Definitely.”  

“My mother is all about appearances,” she quips. “But I like to keep things interesting.”

“We could use a little bit of that around there for sure.”

They slip into a witty banter that comes easily to her; he tries to keep up with her endlessly sharp wit. Emily watches him from the corner of her eye, studying him casually as they drink. And while she’s still a bit guarded, there’s something about the way her walls slowly peel back that tell him he’s doing something correctly.

“How about a shot?” she asks out of the blue, her eyes suddenly glittering. “If you’re up for the challenge.”

Aaron briefly considers the fact that taking shots with his boss’s daughter definitely isn’t the best idea he’s ever had. He isn’t even certain she’s old enough to be drinking. But it’s too late because Emily has already flagged the bartender down with a determined wave.  

“Two tequila shots, please,” she says sweetly, even as she tosses a devious wink in his direction. “Consider it a thank you for your services tonight.”

He swallows, fully aware Emily could most likely drink him under the table and probably will.

“Let me guess.” She slides one of the small glasses towards him with a devious grin on her face. “You don’t drink very often.”

“Got me there,” Aaron retorts dryly. He can’t remember the last time he and Haley spent a night out at a bar.

He’s about to make her a deal - the next round is on him - when he realizes she isn’t looking at him anymore. Instead, her eyes are locked on the thin gold band on his left hand.

“I didn’t realize you were married.”

*I have to thank the wonderful @cmhotchniss-blog for a little inspiration with this one! 😘

[sequinsmile-x]

Even Statues Crumble if They’re Made to Wait - Part 4

She can't stop thinking about the fact she isn't even meant to be here. That she's still supposed to be at home on maternity leave instead of sitting in a church in Colorado wondering if she'd ever see her husband or her little girl again.

A Minimal Loss AU with a Young Hotchniss twist.

Part 4/4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

-x-

Hi friends,

Sorry for the slight delay on this last part. Work has been kicking my ass this week (the return to corporate Vic after Era's Tour Vic was a rough one haha) but I really hope you like this last part of this.

I got an ask on here asking if I'd consider making this a little universe of its own - and it specifically mentioned this version of them going through LoFi/Mayhem and Demonology. Let me know if that's something you'd like to read because I *love* writing young them, and would use the opportunity to do flashbacks to get more detail about their life together.

As always, let me know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 3.7k

Warnings: Injury/canon typical injury

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

September 2004

“I just don’t see it.” 

Emily chuckles as she sips her cocktail, the burn of the tequila at the back of her throat satisfying as she shakes her head at Penelope.

“Well, we’ve been married almost 11 years,” she says, smiling as she thinks about her husband, how he was already on his way to pick her up from the bar because he didn’t want her to get a cab home, and she feels her cheeks warm up with her love for him, “So I don’t know what to tell you, Pen.”

Penelope sighs as she shakes her head, resting her chin on her hand as she looks intently at Emily, “You’re just…so different.” 

JJ laughs, smiling wryly when they both look over at her, “Trust me, the longer you get to know them, the more it makes sense,” she says, her smile only getting wider when Emily narrows her eyes at her, “What? I was confused as hell when I met you too. I thought Rossi was kidding when he said you were Hotch’s wife.” 

Emily rolls her eyes and has another sip of her drink, “David Rossi is prone to exaggerating.” 

“Exactly,” JJ says, “So when he told us Hotch’s wife was a spy at Interpol we thought he was lying.”

“I am not-”

“You’re a spy?” Penelope asks, her eyes wide as she looks back and forth between her new friends. She’d suggested this night out to JJ a few days ago, trying to get used to her new job and the people around her, and JJ had in turn suggested inviting Emily. It was only when they got here she realised Emily was her new boss's wife. 

“I am not, never have I been, a spy,” Emily says, raising her eyebrow at JJ, unable to stop her smile as she shakes her head before she turns her attention back to Penelope, “I used to work in intelligence gathering at Interpol-”

“Spy.” JJ fakes a cough to cover what she’s saying, her smile wider when Emily carries on as if she hasn’t interrupted her. 

“I recently transferred to the FBI in the counterterrorism team.” 

Penelope tilts her head curiously, “Not the BAU?”

Emily smiles, sighing as she shrugs, “Hopefully one day. But there was some concern about me working for Aaron. I guess I have to prove myself first.” 

She knew Aaron was furious when his request to add her to his team was denied. Gideon had certainly had something to do with it, his doubt in Aaron’s ability to be level-headed when it came to Emily well known. She was angry too since she’d had her hopes up about joining the team, but she was happy to take it one step at a time. 

“Did you work abroad when you were a spy?”

Emily smiles at her new friend, “No. I did domestic intelligence only. I was offered a covert role in Tuscany, but I would have been away for months, potentially years,” she smiles wryly, her cheeks going pink as she thinks about her husband again, “I didn’t want to spend that much time away from Aaron.” 

“Oh that is so cute,” Penelope exclaims, seemingly waiting until Emily takes a sip of her drink before she carries on, “So, when are you going to have kids?” 

Emily does a spit take, choking as she covers her mouth to stop it from going anywhere. She feels her cheeks flame in embarrassment as JJ and Penelope laugh at her. 

“One day,” she says simply, unable to fight her smile at the thought of it, “We’re not in any rush. We always said we wanted plenty of time just the two of us before we started having them.” 

It was something they both knew they wanted but they both wanted to be more established in their careers first. She knew some people found it odd, especially since they’d married so quickly, but it was right for them. As soon as she had children she’d prioritise them, make sure they were at the centre of her world and that they knew it. She wouldn’t stop working, she wasn’t sure she ever could, but she’d make sure she was home as much as possible. It was why she wanted to be part of the BAU as soon as she could be, well aware that both she and Aaron couldn’t be once they had a baby. 

She hears the bell over the bar’s front door ring and she turns, her smile getting wider as she spots Aaron walking in. She jumps down off of her stool, only realising how tipsy she is when she stumbles a little. 

“Aaron!” 

He smiles as he wraps his arms around her, his eyes flicking to JJ and Penelope as he stamps a quick kiss against her lips, “Hi sweetheart.” 

“Thank you for coming to get me,” she says, cupping his cheeks and dragging him in for another kiss, “You’re the best husband in the world.” 

He chuckles and hooks his arm around her shoulders to lead her back towards the table, “Thanks, Em,” he replies, smiling politely at JJ and Penelope, “Do either of you need a lift home?”

They both shake their heads and Penelope looks at them back and forth, her smile nothing short of delighted as she watches them, her eyes fixed on how Emily leans as closely to Aaron as possible, “I get it now.” 

Aaron frowns, his confusion only deepening when Emily laughs, the sound hidden in his neck as she presses her face into it, “Get what?” 

“I’ll tell you later, honey,” Emily soothes, kissing his neck before she pulls away, “But first, take me home. Via McDonalds.”

He nods and waves goodbye to JJ and Penelope before he turns his wife around to lead her to the exit of the bar, “Whatever you want, Em.”

___

The explosion almost knocks her off her feet. 

She stumbles, reaching out to grab at something that isn’t there, every cracked rib screaming at her as she finds her footing, the breath she sucks in scraping harshly against every bruise. Her ears ring, all other sound fading out until all she can hear is her own heartbeat and the shaky sound of her breathing. Time slows down around her as she turns to look at the church with wide eyes, backing away from it slowly, the flames almost cruel in their beauty as they destroy everything and everyone that hadn’t made it out. 

She’s brought back to herself, time speeding back up around her, in a split second. Someone lays a hand on her, a soft grip on her arm that makes her jump, flashes of the last time someone touched her, the violence of Cyrus’s skin against hers, forcing her to try to pull by instinct. Her body acting against the exhaustion she could feel in her very bones. 

“Em, sweetheart, it’s me.” 

She looks up, her eyes wide and shining as they meet his, and it feels like her chest collapses in on itself, all of the stress and trauma over the last few days finally making it give way, “Aaron?”

He nods, the hand not on her arm cupping her cheek, his thumb gentle as it scrapes along damaged and swollen skin, “Yes, baby. It’s me. It’s Aaron.”

Something about the way she looks at him makes him think of when they first met. When she was 22 and full of fire that had never dulled in the time they’d known each other. He never could have known then how important she’d become to him, how his very happiness would rest on her shoulders, how his home would be somewhere he found between her collarbone and her heartbeat. He’d come far too close over the last day or so to losing her, to having to accept it as a reality, and knows it would have broken him. He would have picked himself back up, would have done his best for his daughter, the little girl with her mother’s face who would always remind him too much of the love he’d lost, but he never would have been the same. 

How could he have been, when the only person who knew where all the pieces of him went would have been gone.  

“I love you so much,” he says, kissing the top of her head, holding her as tightly as he can without hurting her. 

“I love you too.” She collapses against him, her head against his chest as he gathers her as close as possible. He presses his face into her hair, the smell of smoke and sweat replacing the usual lavender scent that followed her around, and he breathes her in, feels her shaky, uneven, breathes pass from her chest into his as she grasps at the back of his shirt. She pulls back to kiss him, her lips firmer against his than he expected. “Where’s Alice?” She asks, wrenching herself from him, her eyes nothing short of wild as her eyes meet his, “Is she okay? What-”

“She’s fine, she’s at the hotel with JJ,” he assures her, cupping her face in both of his hands, pressing his lips against her forehead, ash and sorrow passing from her skin to his, as he tries to convince himself that she was really here, that all of his worst fears from the last few days had been unfounded, “JJ said she’d bring her to us as soon as you were safe.” 

She nods, her grip on him tightening as she turns around, guilt flooding through her as she thinks of Spencer, immediately chased away by relief when she sees him standing several feet away looking every bit as shell-shocked as she feels. He smiles at her, a quick flash of a thing, and in different circumstances she knows she’d limp over, that she’d break his usual embargo on hugs and pull him into her arms, their shared experience something that no one else could understand. But she can’t bring herself to pull away from Aaron, to remove herself from the warmth she had longed for since she’d last seen him. 

The compound hadn’t had air conditioning. It was stiflingly hot in the room she’d been kept in, their air thick and cloying, making it even harder to breathe, her lungs burning with it against fractured ribs she knew would take weeks to heal. It was the opposite of the heat that came with her husband. His was a comfort. Something she’d reach out for even on the warmest days of the year, opting to curl around him with the covers bunched up at the end of the bed, his heavy arm laid over her waist better at helping her drift off to sleep than any high-count thread sheets ever could. 

“Can we go?” Emily says as she turns back to him, “To the hotel?” 

Aaron shakes his head, running his thumb back and forth over her jawline, “We need to get you seen by at least an EMT first,” he says, his eyes flicking to the dried blood on her sleeve, the bright red skin and cut visible beneath the torn material, “Maybe even a doctor.” 

“No,” she mutters, shaking her head, the desire to see her daughter overriding anything else, “I’m fine. I don’t need to see anyone.” 

He’d never been very good at saying no to her and she knew it, but he knew he had to put his foot down, that he had to make sure she was okay, “Sweetheart-”

“I’m fine-”

“I heard everything,” he says, his voice firmer than it usually would be with her. It stops her from arguing, her insistence that she was fine stuck in her throat, “I heard him beating you, Em. So I need you to let someone look at you, okay? Can you do it for me?” 

He knows it’s playing dirty, that using her love for him against her was unfair, but he knows she’d never do it for herself. She presses her lips together and drops her head, sighing as she shakes her head, her teeth clenched together before she nods, a short, sharp thing that gives away her irritation. 

“Okay,” she says as she looks back up at him, “Let’s get this over with.” 

___

The paramedics make her go to the hospital. 

She’s momentarily furious at her husband for making her speak to them in the first place, anger she knows he doesn’t deserve licking at her insides. If it was him that was hurt, when it had been him that was hurt, she’d done the exact same thing. It wasn’t all that long ago, when she was still pregnant and when he’d been hurt in the explosion that had killed Kate Joyner, when she’d yelled at him for trying to leave the hospital just because the case was still ongoing. The stress of it all, of briefly not knowing where her husband was, if he’d died in the explosion, started contractions that kept her at home once the case was over. A dramatic end to her time in the BAU, to working by her husband’s side, that had taken her a while to get her head around. 

She shifts in the bed she’s lying in, propped up by pillows to relieve some of the pressure on her ribs, the scratchy hospital gown she’d been forced to put on rubbing against her sore skin. She felt on edge, every one of her nerves fraying as she waited for Aaron to come back. He’d stepped out of her room, pausing the vigil he’d started to keep over her, to meet JJ in the waiting area. He’d called her as soon as Emily was admitted to the hospital for the night. She was connected to IV fluids for her dehydration, something she’d only agreed to when she was told her milk supply would be at risk if they didn’t rehydrate her, and antibiotics the doctor had insisted on the moment he saw the cut on her arm.  Aaron knew if he didn’t get Alice here to see her his wife would leave against medical advice, that she’d tear the cannula delivering her meds from the back of her hand and walk back to the hotel herself if she had to. 

Emily looks up as the door opens. The relief that floods through her when Aaron steps in, Alice held against his chest and her diaper bag over his shoulder, is palpable. She thinks if she wasn’t lying down she would have stumbled because of it, the thought that she might never have seen her again suddenly so heavy she can’t breathe. 

“Look, Princess,” Aaron says, dumping the diaper bag on a chair in the corner, “It’s Mommy.” He adds, and Emily tries to sit up but winces, her hand pressed against her chest as she breathes through it, “Careful, Em. I’ll bring her to you.”

She nods, frustration at her own body, for it not working as she wanted it to, flaring through her. It’s immediately chased away as Aaron sits on the edge of her bed and adjusts his hold on Alice so he can lay her on Emily’s chest. She places her hand on her baby's back and presses her face into her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo, “Hi, sweet girl. Mommy missed you.” 

Aaron places his hand over hers on Alice’s back, providing the support she’d never ask for, already seeing the tension in her shoulders that the embrace was already creating, “She missed you too.”

Emily hums, the sound giving way to a chuckle as Alice starts to root, her face rubbing against her chest, her tiny fists clasping and unclasping, “Well, she missed part of me.”

He stamps a kiss against Emily’s lips, “Need any help?”

She wants to say no, to prove to herself that she’s fine, but the desire to do so fades when she looks up at him, lingering fear shining in his eyes. She nods, her smile tight as she nods. 

“Can you untie this?” She asks, pointing to the ties of the gown on her shoulders, her arms not cooperating with her, every movement of them that brought them above chest level enough to make fire burn through her chest, the flames of it catching on each fracture Cyrus had left behind on her ribs.

He springs into action, his touch delicate as he unties the small bows, impossibly gentle with hands she knew could be capable of so much more. It was one of the many things she loved about him. His gentleness, how he’d worked so hard to be soft after his childhood, intent on being everything his father wasn’t. On chasing the violence he’d grown up around out of the world. She watches as his jaw tightens when the bruises on her abdomen are revealed as the gown falls open, his shock no less evident than it had been when he’d helped her shower just an hour ago. She knows he blames himself, something she won’t be able to talk him out of yet. She wouldn’t get anywhere with it until they were home, safe and content in the house they’d bought together, so she simply smiles at him when he looked back up at her face, a failed attempt to cover his reaction forcing a smile onto his. 

“Can you help me get her into position?” She asks, even though she’s sure she could do it herself. He nods, immediately helping her shift their daughter into place. Emily winces as she latches on, blowing out a shaky breath at the sensation, “Jesus. At least the antibiotics will help with any infection I guess,” she says conversationally, stroking her fingers back and forth over Alice’s back as she eats. Emily looks up at her husband and watches as he rubs at his ear, something he’d done for weeks after the explosion in New York, and her eyes go wide, guilt for not thinking of his damaged hearing sooner, “Crap, the explosion. You should get your ears checked.” 

He shakes his head, “It’s fine, Em. Just a little sore-”

“No, your eardrum could have burst again,” she says, speaking over him as she reaches for the call button, “We’ll get a nurse to-”

“Em,” he says, firmer this time as he squeezes her knee, drawing her attention back to him, “It’s fine. If it carries on hurting I’ll speak to my doctor when we get home okay?” He squeezes her knee again, his grip tight as he reassures himself, “You’re the one who was…” he clears his throat, shaking his head at himself as he looks down at the bed, “I’m fine.” 

It hangs in the air around them, everything he hadn’t said but they’d both heard filling the room, making the silence heavy and thick. 

“It’s not your fault, honey,” she says, reaching out with the hand that wasn’t securing Alice to her chest, squeezing as hard as she can as she links their fingers together, “None of this was your fault.”

He looks back up at her and the bruising on her face makes his stomach swoop. The swelling and mottled skin somehow looks worse in the lighting of the room and he feels nauseous, flashes of a life he had left behind appearing over the life he had now.

“I’m the one who asked you to go.” 

She sighs and tugs him closer. There’s hardly any force behind it, her body exhausted and sore, but he follows anyway, never having to be asked twice to get close to her, “The person responsible for this is dead, Aaron. He’s dead. I need you to know I don’t blame you for any of this.”

He wants to believe her, knows she hasn’t lied to him before, but he can’t get past the heavy rock of guilt low in his stomach, something he knows will fester. Something that would take root and grow over the next few weeks, with no chance of going anywhere until all of her bruises had faded, something he’d think about in years to come when he looked at the long silver line on her arm that the cut would one day become. 

He nods despite himself, swallowing thickly, because he knows now isn’t the time, that he simply wants to spend time with his girls when, not that long ago, a part of him was convinced he’d never get to do so again.

“Okay,” he says, pressing his forehead against hers, “Okay.”

She stamps her lips against his, “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

Alice cries out from between them, her face screwed up in a frown as she pulls away from Emily, making both of her parents laugh. 

“We love you too, baby,” Emily says as Aaron rearranges her gown for her, leaving the ties slightly looser than they had been before so she can pull them open herself. “I think we can convince Daddy to lay with us for a bit.” 

He frowns, already shaking his head before she’s finished speaking, “Sweetheart, I don’t want to hurt you.”

She looks at him with wide eyes he’d never been able to say no to, and she angles Alice to face him too, the baby already half asleep, “Please.”

He sighs and stamps a kiss against Emily’s forehead and then the top of Alice’s head as he stands up, “The day she masters that look too I’m never winning an argument in our house again.”

She laughs, wincing as it makes her ribs jump and she lightly shakes her head at him to let her know she’s okay. 

“Oh honey,” she says, shifting just as much as she can to let him slip into the bed behind her. She leans back against him, sighing contentedly as she finds true comfort for the first time in days, settling into his embrace as he wraps his arms around her and Alice, “When was the last time you did win an argument?” 

-x-

Tag List:

@ssa-sparks , @ptrckjcne , @lyds102 , @glockleveledatyourcrotch , @hotchnissenthusiast , @danadeservesadrink , @ssamorganhotchner , @emilyprentissisgod , @notagentprentiss , @freesiasandfics , @emilyshotchniss , @thecharmingart , @paulitalblond , @hancydrewfan , @camille093 , @whitecrossgirl , @moonlight-2-6, @rawr-jess , @florenceremingtonthethird, @jareauswife , @ms-black-a , @beebeelank , @aubreyprc , @zipzapboingg, @psychopath-at-heart , @criminalmindsgonewrong , @fionaloover , @kinqslcys , @prentissinred , @ccmattis-22 , @denvivale317 , @thrindis , @hotchsguccitie , @cmfouatslota77 , @alexblakegf , @aliensaurusrex, @prentissxhotch , @emobabeyy , @victoiregranger , @stormyweatherth , @wanderingdreamer009 , @ssablackbird , @luhwithah , @lex13cm , @prentiss-theorem, @dont-emily-me , @mrs-ssa-hotch , @joccycreation, @itsmytimetoodream , @hotchnissgroupie, @controversialpooh, @capsshinyshield , @canuck-eh

Join my tag list here!

[lilacprentiss]

𝐢 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 <𝟑

taglist: @reidsacademia @sadgirlml @reidselle @delicatespencer @hancydrewfan @themoontaxi @anastasiahotchner @fightingdragonswithreid @hotch-girl @jaspxr @reidslibrarybook @everyonesfavoritepipecleaner @buckleyhans @eveljerome @hotchneer @5raysofsunshine @samuel-de-champagne-problems @lil-stark @reneeblack6230 @ssamorganhotchner @asmi-bae @hotchs-bitch @ropoto @slightlysstuff @angelictimelord2 @ssahotchie @milla984 @ofwilliamandwalter2 @paulitalblond @jupiterstxrs @malindacath @serenity-lattes @reidsbookclub @nomajdetective @sandalwoodreid

taglist link -> here

[jjtheresidentbaby]

⚽️ here, thanks for getting to the last request so quick!

to me, hotch is the team’s dad for sure (minus rossi, he’s like the single rich italian uncle or grandpa). age order for his kiddos would be emily, morgan, penelope, jj, and reid, which I think is most accurate given their ages in real life? point is, based on that age order, reid is the baby of the family, which is normally how their family is written but jj is the youngest GIRL. and when it comes to the youngest girl in the family, you can bet everyone is protective, esp the dad. so I thought:

jj didn’t have the best father figure growing up. her parents were fighting on the verge of divorce when her sister died. and it’s canon that her father remarried to someone young. so hotch becomes her father figure early on in the seasons, esp when she’s regressed. that’s his little girl and he’d do anything for her, on and off the field. even during cases, he makes sure she’s either with him, safe at the station, or if heaven forbid he has to send her into the field, she’s paired with one of her brothers or rossi.

he doesn’t care if she regressed at work or on the plane bc he’s always prepared for it. a special thing he does is make a cozy safe place for her under his desk, after finding her hiding away in it one particularly hard day. she was anxious and rocking back and forth. he wasn’t able to coax her out but he still had to get his work done, so he let her stay and calm down at her own pace with him close to her. and eventually she does calm down, quietly hugging his legs from underneath the desk.

after that day, he starts adding to that small space: foam letter tiles, a blanket, some soft toys. just so she’d know she was safe and allowed to be there whenever she needed it, whether he was there or not. of course she loves it, clutching onto a soft toy in one hand, her other arm and legs wrapping around her dada’s legs. and even hotch would admit this soothes him too knowing she’s safe with him, even though her being regressed at work isn’t ideal.

but after hotch gets put into witness protection, jj doesn’t have this anymore. she doesn’t have her dada anymore and she hates it. but when Emily is named new unit chief and discovers this space under the desk, she knows right away it was for jj when hotch was still there. it explains all the times jj disappeared into his office for long lengths of time. and as jj’s remaining caregiver, emily keeps the space, even adding more to it: pictures of jj and hotch taped to the walls underneath the desk so jj could have her dada close to her when she needed him. it takes awhile before jj eventually uses the space again on her own but emily quietly reassured her that it’s hers and will always be there for her, that she may not be hotch but she cares for jj and wants her to be safe and happy no matter that headspace she’s in. and it helps emily too bc she misses hotch, the missing 1/3 in their trio, but she’s not alone so even if her and jj miss him, they can miss him together.

and yes, jj does the same thing to emily, hugging her legs from underneath the desk while sucking on her fingers. emily would reach under with a pacifier for her bc “no thumbs, sweet girl. that’s yucky.” She’d stroke her hair, sometimes asking her for her opinion on things while she’s hiding under the desk. sometimes jj responds, sometimes she doesn’t. but emily is just happy to have her there.

Under the Desk | Jennifer Jareau x Emily Prentiss x Aaron Hotchner

find on my ao3 here

a/n: everyone praise ⚽️ anon for having the best ideas!! this makes me wanna sob uncontrollably but also it is so so smart and I love it so very much. and me answering quickly is because my inbox is extremely empty and criminal minds has been in my brain so much (also hotchniss being Jj’s parents? Yes. Immediately yes.)

warnings: mentions of Hotch leaving (no Jack in this), mentions of scratch, angst, crying, anxiety, Hotch being referred to as ‘dada’ & Emily as ‘mama’, pet names in general

───°˖✧✿✧˖° ───

-

Emily bows her head into her hands with a deep sigh, looking down towards the small area under what once was Hotchs desk, she knows what it’s for and why it’s there but she can’t help but wonder if it’ll ever get used the same way again.

The floors padded with a few fleece blankets, both Halloween ones that Prentiss recognizes are taken out of Hotchs old hall closet, stuffed animals line the back wall, a bunny, a dog, a polar bear, and a small tiger. A small box accompanies the toys, filled to the brim with hair accessories and a plethora of different pacifiers.

It looks perfectly untouched from the last time the little girl Emily knows sneaks under there was in this office, she always stands akwardly at Prentiss’s door now, not daring to even set a toe inside. Although Emily has remodeled a bit, setting up pictures of her and the team on her new desk, putting a few of her beloved cat aside them, it still feels wrong for her to be behind this desk.

It should be Aaron. Perfect Aaron who spent his weekends with Jj and Emily, taking them anywhere they wished, holding Jj close to his chest whenever she wanted, Emily knows it’s not the same for either of them. It’s incomplete, not only the team but their trio, two black haired people and a blonde that no longer sew together seamlessly like a hand made quilt.

Instead they’ve all drifted, Emily and Jj not being able to contact Hotch for any reason until Scratch is found, Aaron all alone god knows where, doing god knows what, it pains Emily, though she thinks Jj might be in more anguish.

Jennifer looks close to tears anytime Hotch is mentioned, Prentiss knows she longs for her Dada. A nickname she’s only heard through passing phone calls on late night cases, when Jj thinks Emily is asleep and isn’t listening in to how soft Hotch sounds when Jj mumbles out random things while she laid on her side with her phone on speaker.

It makes it all that much harder to stare down to the crook of comfort that Emily keeps from when Hotch was here, she can’t bring herself to change a single thing, not until Jj tells her it’s okay at least. That day may never come and Prentiss has that gnawing thought at the back of her head daily, that Jj may never slip again, may never be able to step foot into this office without crying.

The days pass deathly slow, ticking second by second, at least that’s how it feels anytime Emily is in the office. Not hers, she can’t refer to it as her own, even with her name on the door and belongings in the drawers, it’s still not hers and she feels out of place, like an intruder of the space.

-

Weeks go by and nothing changes. It’s still horribly painful to talk or think about Hotch too much, there’s still that look of disappointment on Jj’s face every time Prentiss walks out of the office and not Hotch, the shared looks of concern from the other teammates only growing stronger as the days go on.

Emily feels at a loss for what to do. How to help. Can she? Is there a way to help a little girl who’s dada just got ripped away from her without warning? She tries to find scratch, fighting her way with higher ups to get help with the search, it’s not enough.

None of it works or help or does a single thing, not that Prentiss had high hopes, she knows the only thing that will fix this is having Hotch back. Even a phone call would do more than all the tricks Prentiss is trying, just for Jj to hear his voice again, something other than the small recording Emily has caught Jj listening to on her phone as tears slowly drip down the blondes cheeks.

“Jj? Do you need something?” There’s a swell of hope in Emily’s chest when Jj shuffles into the office, actual feet inside, almost directly in front of the desk.

“Can- can I um…” The girl trails off with a fidget of her hands, pulling at her fingers and avoiding Emily’s eye contact. Prentiss has to remind herself to school her expressions, she’s well aware how Jj acts when she’s slipping, endless fidgeting and a mumble prominent in her voice.

“Would you like to sit under the desk?” The doors already closed, same with the shades, so Emily just gives a soft smile when Jj nods shyly then shuffles herself to the space by Prentiss’ legs.

“Jj?” Jennifer holds the stuffed polar bear up to her chest, legs crossed on top of the blanket, but what looks like tears building in her eyes.

“I- I miss Hotch. I miss him so much Em.” She chokes on her words, burying herself into the soft toy to conceal the tears and wetness in her tone.

“Oh sweetheart, I know, I do too. I wish he was here every day.” Emily’s heart cracks when Jj shifts to wrap one of her arms around Prentiss’ leg, hugging her knee to her face and keeping the bear between them.

“D-dada would- would let me hold onto him when he did paperwork, it’d make me feel better but- but it doesn’t make me feel better. I want him, I- I need him.” Jj begs quietly up to Emily, her head tilted up against Emily’s pant leg, tears staining the faded black material, Prentiss can only choke back her own tears while leaning to rest her hand in Jj’s hair.

“I know, I know, sweet girl. I don’t know how to help you, I wish I could go get him for you, I’m so sorry.” Emily stresses out the words around her own heavy breath.

“It doesn’t feel the same. I- I don’t feel the same.” A sob cracks free of Jj’s chest, the stuffed animal gets dropped out of her arm, instead she wraps around the fronts of both of Emily’s legs, crying high pitched against the black haired girl.

“Shh, Shh, I’m right here. I know it’s hard, nothing feels the same because it’s not. Hotch isn’t here, things are bound to change, to get messy, but I’m here. I’ll always be here, even if we can’t see Hotch.”

They stay in that position for a while, Emily bending to rub at Jj’s back, Jennifer wailing against Prentiss til she exhausts herself, Emily stays perfectly still when Jj eventually falls asleep against her legs, crying herself once the silence overtakes the room, pleading with nobody that Hotch will magically walk through the door and fix this disaster.

-

It never happens, a few more weeks and Hotch still can’t come back, it’s still Emily’s job to be in charge of the team and she still cries almost every time Jj slips under the desk to whimper to Prentiss about missing her Dada.

When they’re on a case or in front of the team it’s different, both are good at masking how torn up they are about everything, Jj has gotten quieter but nobody says anything, just like how nobody mentions how closely Emily has come to stick to Jj’s side.

She can’t help it, it’s what Hotch would do if he knew his little girl was upset. Aaron would assure Jj over and over til the blonde had no choice but believe him. It’s more difficult for Emily to get Jj to stop crying or to get her to do anything aside from staring at pictures of Hotch when she’s small, but she’s trying, they both are.

“Emily! Prentiss it’s Jj!” Emily can’t speed out of the office any quicker at Luke’s frantic yell from the round table room.

A million thoughts race around Emily’s head throughout the minute long sprint to the room, none of them come close to the image of Jj sobbing on the floor beside Reid. She’s curled into herself, head stuffed into her knees, arms over her head, body shaking with a small tremor, and sobs echoing throughout the room.

“What happened!?” Emily’s knees hit the floor in front of Jj in seconds, her worry overflowing as she looks helplessly over to Reid for an explanation, who looks up to where Garcia is staring down wide eyed.

“Garcia, what happened?” Emily’s voice is firm and serious, not meaning to snap but unable to stop herself.

“I- I was talking and- and we were talking about birthdays and today is Hotchs birthday and I didn’t think anything about it when I said it- but- but Jj started to cry and-.” It’s Hotchs birthday.

Prentiss knew that, she had meant to bring Jj into the office early today, they don’t have a case, just a paperwork and maintenance type of day, it should’ve been fine, but it slipped Prentiss’s mind and now she feels frozen in place listening to Jj cry.

“Okay, okay, all of you guys go to your desks, give her some space.” Emily orders after a beat of her mind reeling into how she hates that Jj has cried so much lately, almost never ending.

“Jj? Sweetheart, can we go into the office?” Emily asks in the softest tone she can muster with the lump in her throat, she wants to scoop up the girl in front of her, drive to wherever Hotch is staying, break his door in and force him to come home. Back to Jj. Back to them.

“I- I- I want Dada.” The blondes throat forces a strangled noise after the words that shatter Emily’s heart into nothing but dust.

“I know, we can go look at his pictures, I added a few new ones.” It’s about the only thing Prentiss feels comfortable changing, she’s taped some pictures of Hotch and Jj up on the walls of the small area under the desk, there’s one of all three of them that Emily added only a few days ago and Jj hasn’t seen yet.

“I don’t want you to leave.” Jj creaks, lifting her head the smallest amount to blink up to Prentiss, her wet eyes seeming younger than Emily has ever seen, she nods instantly.

“I won’t leave, I’m not leaving, we’re just going to go into the office and try to relax.” A hum before Jj stands on shaky legs to take Prentiss’s hand, clinging to her side as they move down the hall slowly, Emily trying not to look at how the team is standing down in the bullpen with concern plastered across their faces.

-

“See, this one’s new.” Emily pulls the picture down, handing it over to Jj who sniffles the faintest smile onto her face.

It’s from one of the many aquarium trips the trio took before Hotch left, Jj’s on Hotchs back for a piggy back ride, her face a bright smile over Hotchs shoulder, while Emily stands pressed into Aaron’s side, they all look equally as excited to be there. It’s where Jj acquired the polar bear stuffed animal, Emily honestly wouldn’t be surprised if all of the toys were from a trip that the trio had been on.

“Do you think Dada looks at pictures of us?” Jj tips her head to Prentiss, smiling a little more when Emily nods. There’s no doubt in her mind that Hotch has a lot of pictures he’s been staring at, he did that before he left so she can only imagine what he’s like now.

“Of course, I think he has boxes filled with pictures of us.” Prentiss throws an exaggerated tone to her voice that makes Jj giggle, a significant improvement than her past crying.

“He always took lots of pictures.” Hotchs phone storage was perpetually clogged from all the times he pulled out his camera to capture moments of the girls or all three of them.

“He sure did sweetheart, and I bet he misses us just as much as we miss him, probably even more.” Prentiss has overthought a million times about what state Hotch could be in, definitely not a good one, not when he has absolutely nobody, at least Jj can lean on Emily or vice versa.

“He’s not coming back is he?” Jj asks in a whisper, Emily quickly shuffles farther under the desk with the girl, cupping a hand at her cheek.

“I don’t know darling, I wish I could give you more of an answer. But I do know that he is your Dada, no matter what, he will always love you and care about you.” Prentiss rubs her thumb against Jj’s cheek, relishing in how the blonde leans into her touch.

“And you’ll always have this space, we can always think about Aaron down here, with all his pictures and things he got you.” Emily keeps going, her eyes training over to just how many pictures of Hotch are displayed, even one of his ties is taped up after Prentiss found it in the desk drawer.

“Dada was right.” Emily hums confused to Jj, tipping her head for the girl to continue.

“You’re a really good mama, just like Dada says.”

[blackbirdsaltzman]

cgs!hotchniss dealing with an autistic!little jj in everyday life and especially when she’s having a bad brain day. just helping her with her routines, making sure her senses aren’t overwhelming her at all times and looking after her when she’s too tiny to even really say anything and not engaging/going nonverbal

I’m so sorry this took forever!! Also I hope you like this, I’ve been struggling with writing recently.

You’ll Always Be Our Baby ~ Jennifer Jareau x CG!Hotchniss

(CW: autistic meltdowns, nonverbal behavior/aggression, cussing)

Aaron walks through the house mentally checking to make sure they have everything. The girls are supposed to be home soon and he knows his daughter has had a rough day at therapy. After checking over for the third time, he waits by the front door for the two. He smiles as Emily comes in holding the blonde as she looks around.

“Let me have her.” He states to his wife as she nods.

“Come here baby girl.” Aaron smiles as the little girl whimpers being moved. She continues to whimper as Aaron walks through the house knowing the girl was probably uncomfortable in her daytime clothes.

“You want to put on your pjs? Afterwards we can curl up to watch Mickey Mouse as Mama prepares dinner.” He states softly as he reaches the nursery where he already has her clothes laying. He makes quick work for getting the young girl ready for the night before they get settled onto the couch. The family had the same routine every night during the week to help keep JJ’s meltdowns at the minimum. They get through two episodes before dinner is ready and Aaron can tell the blonde is fighting sleep but she has to eat.

“Pumpkin, you have to eat.” Emily speaks up after watching the young girl play with her food using her hands. JJ shakes her head not looking up.

“Jay that wasn’t a request, you have to eat.” Emily tries again still soft. JJ ignores as the parents sigh knowing there has to be consequences resulting in the father grabbing the young girl’s hands so Emily could feed her. JJ squirms as tears start to fall when she realizes she can’t move.

“Pumpkin it’s okay, mama is just going to help you out. You’re safe and not in trouble.” Aaron whispers as JJ resorts to biting his hand.

“Shit.” He cusses letting go as JJ fully starts sobbing and flinging herself backwards.

“JJ you know you aren’t allowed to bite people. Do you want a chew toy?” Emily pipes in as the girl whimpers reaching out. Emily quickly gets a toy handing it to the blonde before taking her into her arms.

“Baby girl you still need to eat a little bit but afterwards we can take our bubble bath.” Emily whispers brushing the girl’s blonde hair. The girl slowly calms down laying her head against the woman’s chest.

[criminalmindsgonewrong]

a comprehensive list of songs im annoyed they never used in criminal minds because their emotional impact might have killed me and/or songs and the scenes i wish we’d had pt 1:

*yes i’m aware some of these songs have since been released since cm finished filming (perhaps they’ll use them in s16+ but im not betting on it. i don’t care.

1. Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Raign.

mama take this badge from me, i can’t use it anymore... mama put my guns in the ground, i can’t shoot them anymore... feels like i’m knocking on heavens door.

Think around season 13. I see this as a team scene, perhaps when someone (preferrably JJ or Emily let’s be honest) has been captured/taken hostage/kidnapped, and they’re close to death after being beaten. The vibe is very 200. It’s a slow motion scene, when the music quietens and slows, when we see the team barge in, in the background. The captured character, lets say JJ, is close to unconsciousness and in focus in the frame, while everyone else is blurred in the background. We see, but don’t hear, Emily scream for medical as Reid kneels at JJ’s side. Luke checks her over, then scoops her up in his arms. She’s hurt, weak, but safe. This is my favourite one.

2. Youth by Daughter. 

most of us are breathing through corrupted lungs... setting fire to our insides for fun... one day we’ll reveal the truth, that one will die before he gets there... it was a flood that wrecked this home...

It could be anywhere in the middle of the series, but the scene takes place in the BAU. A scene like the one in Mosley Lane, where the children are reunited with their families. The camera pans from one team member to the next as we see their reactions; they’re happy, but heavy. They know that, for every day like this one, there are ten that don’t end well. Emily and Morgan exchange glances with each other, knowing that nobody quite understands the way the rest of the team does. JJ passes them, folder in hand, on her way to Hotch’s office. They have more work to do. The rest of the team follow her up the stairs and into the round table room, as we see the reunited families hugging their loved ones.

3. Neverland by Zendaya

we can sail away tonight on a sea of pure moonlight... we'll be young, that's how we'll stay... picture a land you'll never have seen where life is eternal and evergreen future of happiness all in your hands, all in this place I created that I call Neverland

Not a happy ending, like the one above. The team at a funeral, I see it as the funeral of a little girl they couldn’t save, perhaps. They’re there to pay their respects. Of course, it’s a voice over scene, probably Hotch speaking. The camera pans across them, standing in a line, perhaps back from the rest of the congregation. All of them in black, all of them in sunglasses. I’m picturing Reid with his crutches, so somewhere at the beginning of s5. 

4. Already Gone by Sleeping at Last

all our memories, they’re haunted... we were always meant to say goodbye...

looking at you makes it harder, but i know that you’ll find another... started with the perfect kiss, then we could feel the poison set in....

One for my shipper heart. Could be Jemily, Hotchniss, anyone. But it doesn’t work out. If Criminal Minds were Grey’s is the vibe of this one.  Alternatively, could have been used either when JJ left the team, or when they thought Emily was ‘dead’. 

5. Girls by Cardi B, etc. 

you know i tamed it, and then I named it. i put the lion in the cage and then i laid with her all night... red wine, I just wanna kiss girls....

Totally self indulgent, I just wanna see a team night out where this song happens to be playing while the girls are on the dance floor. No further comment, your honour.