Back to you - Hotchniss

mess her up

"Oh, please", Emily rolled her eyes as she discovered that Hotch was talking to Beth on his phone again. They had literally just gotten off the jet and it had taken her a second to call him.

As JJ turned her head in her direction, she quickly grabbed her bag and followed the others. Her jealousy was showing again, and she really had to watch out before it would overcome her completely.

"How about some pasta at my place?", Rossi suggested as they entered a while later.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

"I'm in!"

"Definitely!"

Within a second, everyone had accepted Dave's invitation, apart from Emily and Aaron, as he had disappeared in his office already and she was avoiding to give an answer to that question. She had found an excuse for every invitation they had offered her in the past few weeks, but she was slowly running out of plausible excuses.

As she placed her travel bag next to her chair, she discovered an envelope on her desk. The addresser was familiar to her, so she checked if anyone was watching before carefully ripping it open.

Before she had even finished reading the letter, Hotch appeared on the staircase to his office. "Prentiss, my office."

Emily ignored the questioning looks of the others as she clutched the letter in her hand and quickly made her way up to his office.

"I suppose you got a letter, too?", Hotch asked as soon as she had closed the door behind herself.

"I did", she replied and lifted her hand, which was holding it.

Hotch tried to read her facial expressions, but he failed. The last thing he had expected to find on his desk after this case had been a letter from Interpol London, informing him about an offer for Emily to return and have a even higher, better paid position.

In the past few weeks, he had tried everything possible in order to distance himself from her, and it had worked - but in that exact moment, the panic of having to watch her leave again made his blood boil. However, he remained calm and collected on the outside.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know", Emily replied. "I literally just read it about a minute ago, this isn't something one decides within in the split of a second."

They both remained silent after these words, remembering how it had happened the last time: they had received the same letters, and in the beginning, Emily had been completely opposed to the offer - but the more she had thought about it, the more it had changed. Hotch had supported her, not aware of the fact that they'd ruin their relationship with it, as he knew that she only deserved the best after all these years of hard working.

Many late night conversations had finally led to Emily accepting the offer, and Hotch had known that this would be the right choice for her - work-wise at least.

However, this time, everything was different. They weren't together, it would be bold to assume that they were even close friends in the current situation, and if Emily was honest with herself, there was not a lot that held her in Quantico at the moment.

Nevertheless, feelings were feelings and actually neither of them wanted to be apart from the other again, both of them knowing how painful it had already been two years ago.

"They want to know until next week", Emily sighed. "So I still have some time to think about it."

"Right", Hotch simply nodded, a pained expression written all over his face. There was something odd in her behavior, however, he couldn't tell what it was. She didn't even seem to be surprised about the new offer.

Silence started to surround them again, so Emily turned around and walked towards the door again.

"I think we'd all be happy if you stayed", he then spoke up, and she stopped, with one hand already on the doorknob. "We just got you back, after all."

She gave him a small smile before opening the door and leaving him alone in his office. If she had spoken up, he might have heard how hard she was trying to hold it together. A conflict was raging inside of her like a thunderstorm, and there was no way she could let it show.

"What was that about?", Derek asked as she walked into the bullpen again.

"Nothing", she quickly replied and shoved the letter down her bag before quickly starting to write her report, giving the others no chance to ask any further questions.

Hotch watched her with furrowed eyebrows through the blinds, his mind still spinning. She had literally just returned to their team about six months ago - why would Interpol ask for her back so quickly, all of the sudden? It just didn't make sense to him.

"Come in", Erin Strauss' voice replied sternly after he had knocked on the door to her office rather harshly.

"Agent Hotchner", she then said sourly after she discovered him entering her office with the envelope in his hand. "I suppose Agent Prentiss and you received the letters from Interpol."

"Yes", he nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Did she already accept?"

"She's still thinking about it", he replied.

"Why would she think about it?", Strauss asked, rather confused.

Hotch furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, as well. "Why wouldn't she? This is a tough decision."

"Obviously", the Section Chief sighed. "I just expected this to be a no-brainer for her."

"And why would that be?", he asked through gritted teeth. He knew that Strauss had never been a fan of his previous relationship with Emily, and that she had probably been the first one to say 'I told you so' after she had learned about their break-up.

"Because as far as Agent Easter has informed me", she replied and leaned back in her chair. "Agent Prentiss herself asked for an offer to return to Interpol."