Dress

the limo

"Hotch, Rossi, can we expect to see you at the hotel later?" Derek asked with his usual shining, goofy smile.

"I attended that gala back in the 80s. I know exactly what goes on at that thing, so I think it's best if I just stay home. I don't need any more ex wives," Rossi says, earning a chuckle from the group.

"And I promised Jack I'd be home for dinner tonight. But all of you have fun," Hotch says. He turns his back to the round table and takes a few steps toward the exit before stopping and turning around again. "But not too much fun." He points at Morgan with a raised brow, remembering the aftermath of last year's gala.

As Hotch and Rossi leave, Emily enters the room. "What was that all about?"

"The annual FBI gala tonight," JJ explains as the brunette sits in the spot next to her.
"Oh, yeah, I was thinking about going," Emily shrugs.

"Oh, Emily. You have to go!" Penelope exclaims. "It's so much fun!"
"Really?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, Prentiss. A few hundred agents with pent up energy from always being caught up at work, it's pretty wild. Open bar, amazing food, dancing," Morgan sells the night to his partner.

"Other things," JJ adds on with an aura of mystery, causing Morgan and Garcia to giggle.
"Reid even met a few girls there last year, right pretty boy? How many numbers did you get?" Morgan asks.
"Four, and two of them were even real. I'm not usually into big social events," Reid admits.
"Shocking," Emily says in her classic sarcastic tone.
"But the gala is a lot of fun," Reid finishes his thought.

"Okay, well, if you guys insist..." Emily says.
"We can pick you up at 8," Garcia says.
"Hope you're ready to bring it, Prentiss," Morgan says.
"Oh, don't worry about me, Morgan," Emily shoots back. The five young agents make their way to the elevator as they head home to get ready for the FBI event of the year.

Derek, Spencer, and Penelope walked off to the left side of the parking garage toward their vehicles, while Emily and Jennifer continued straight to theirs.
"Are you sure you want to go tonight? Penelope and Derek didn't pressure you, did they?" JJ asks.
"No, of course I want to go. It sounds like fun," Emily smiles.
"Okay, good," JJ smiles back. "Do you have a dress in mind?"
Emily paused for a moment as she subconsciously bites her lip. "Yeah, I've got something in mind."
"Great!" JJ looks down at her watch. "I'm really excited to have you there tonight. It's seriously quite the event."

"It sounds like trouble, Morgan in a room full of eligible women, men getting sloppy drunk and then hitting on us..." Emily says.

"That's part of the fun, Em. C'mon, I know you're really a party girl at heart. Just live a little tonight," JJ responds. "I know I'm going to." As she says that, she licks her lips and glances up at the brunette flirtingly.

"Oh yeah?" Emily flirts back.

"Uh, well, I'll see you in a couple of hours," JJ says. Her hand grazes past Emily's before she gets into her car and drives off.

As the 8 o'clock hour approaches, Emily's stomach fills with butterflies in anticipation of the rest of her BAU friends arriving to pick her up for the gala. Why was she so nervous? She looked at her reflection in the mirror as she finished applying her eye make up, her hand shaking as she applied her mascara, nearly ruining her entire look. As promised to Morgan, she was bringing it. She ran her fingers through the lose curls in her dark hair, and when she was happy with how it was styled, she walked over to her closet and dropped the towel that was covering her freshly cleaned body. She ran her finger down her short row of party dresses, momentarily debating calling the whole thing off and opting for a loose floral pattern instead. But she as hard as her self doubt tried, she couldn't get that dress off her mind. She pushes all her other dresses out of the way, and grabs her newest purchase from its hanger. She sets it on her bed and grabs a pair of scissors to remove the price tag from the inside. There was no going back now.