Emily Prentiss One-Shots

Emily/Tara

Title: Promotion - PagetPrentiss_is_hot (Ao3)

Summary: Emily and Tara have been fucking but Emily calls it off once she's promoted to Unit Chief. Emily's communication skills are lacking however so it's pretty messy!

Rating: Not Rated

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Tara checked her phone for the tenth time that afternoon despite it sitting still and quiet on her desk, no notifications sounding to indicate the reply she was waiting for. She glanced up longingly towards the Unit Chief's office before catching herself and refocusing on her computer screen. She couldn't pay attention to her work however, her frustration growing into anger that Emily was so blatantly ignoring her. This wasn't new: she'd been ignoring her for weeks now, ever since she'd accepted the promotion to Unit Chief. But until today she'd least had the decency to fob her off with the excuse of an increased workload. Today she couldn't even be bothered with that. Did Emily really think so little of her that she wouldn't even explain the cold distance she had imposed between them? A cold distance that was in stark contrast to the heated intimacy they had shared on multiple occasions only a few weeks prior.

Tara checked her phone again. Nothing.

"Waiting on a message?" asked Luke, nodding towards her phone.

"Oh," responded Tara, suddenly flustered. "Just waiting on a delivery notification," she lied. It was a lame excuse, but she hoped he'd drop it. She was on edge, and she didn't want to lash out at Luke, which is what she expected would happen were he to push it.

Luke smirked and raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying that she was so worked up over a parcel. He could tell she didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her though, so he let it slide, asking instead if she were ready to go and offering to buy her dinner in the hopes that might take her mind off of whatever was bothering her.

"Thanks Luke, but I'm nowhere near finished this report," she replied. It was true she was behind with her work, but that wasn't why she'd be staying late. Unfortunately, no matter how late she stayed she knew she wasn't going to get the report done. Her nerves were wracked as she increasingly feared rejection from Emily. There was no way she could focus on paperwork until she got the chance to speak with her. She wasn't going to let her ignore her any longer. She'd stay here until her co-workers left, and then she'd demand the answers she needed whether Emily wanted to talk or not.

...

Emily gritted her teeth together as the expected knock on her office door reverberated through the quiet office. She'd clocked over an hour ago what Tara was doing: waiting out everyone else leaving so she could force her to talk to her. She knew it was her fault it had come to this. Tara had offered many opportunities for them to talk. Just today she'd received a text asking if they could grab lunch together tomorrow, which she'd ignored. So, she knew it was her fault that Tara was here, cornering her in in her own office, but she still resented Tara for it. It was easier to be angry at Tara for demanding dialogue than to hate herself for having nothing to say.

"Come in," Emily said in a detached voice, fitting for a Unit Chief addressing a subordinate but inappropriate given the other relationship between the two women. The relationship that she knew Tara was here to discuss.

"Chief Prentiss," responded Tara dryly, Emily's tone only serving to further aggravate her anger towards her.

Emily didn't even look up from her paperwork until Tara was sat in the chair opposite, waiting expectantly. When Tara didn't say anything, Emily put down her pen with a sigh and leaned back in her chair, finally making eye contact with the woman in her office.

"What do you want?" she asked, fighting to keep her tone even. She hated herself that this was the best she could manage. A demeaning question said with an even tone. Tara deserved better. She wondered briefly if she could justify her behaviour in recent weeks as a form of honesty: she was showing her the bitch she could be. Maybe the kindest thing to do was to show Tara why she shouldn't want to be with her and cut this thing between them off before she could get hurt further.

Tara let out a derisive snort before spitting her question back at her: "What do I want? Really, Em? I want you to acknowledge my existence! I want you talk to me!"

"I thought our professional relationship and communication has been adequate, wouldn't you agree?" Emily knew she was being infuriatingly obtuse. She didn't really know why she said it until she saw Tara's eyes flare with anger and Emily felt a fire stir in her stomach in response. She wanted Tara to be angry at her. She could handle anger. She deserved it. She'd pulled Tara into the mess of her life knowing she'd hurt her. If Tara was angry at her maybe Emily would be shielded from seeing her hurt.

"Fuck you, Emily" she spat, shaking her head slowly as her eyes bored into Emily.

Emily let out a humourless grunt. Fucking Tara is what had gotten her into this mess. "I can't," she stated simply. "I'm your boss."

"And last time you were someone else's girlfriend but that didn't stop you."

Emily took a sharp intake of breath, shocked that Tara would take such a low blow. It hurt, having Tara throw her mistakes in her face. But she knew she deserved it. It was her fault they weren't talking this out. She was being a bitch.

"You're right. But I'm stopping it now." Emily stated, focusing on holding Tara's eye contact. She'd said it. The thing that needed to be said. They couldn't fuck each other anymore. Couldn't be together like that, not now Emily was her boss. She wished she could have told her more kindly. Wished she were a better person that would have handled this messy situation with more care. But at least she'd said it now.

"And if I hadn't come in here, did you plan on ever letting me know?" Tara scoffed.

"It's not like we were ever together," Emily said softly, her words serving as a reminder of when them, together, had seemed like a possibility. The loss of that possibility cutting into her heart. Emily wondered if she should have rejected the promotion. Chosen to pursue Tara over her career. But there would have been no point. She'd have ruined it eventually and hurt Tara even more than she was now. At least by taking the position she was doing right by Hotch and doing what was best for the team. These thoughts brought her no solace in the moment however as she felt her own self-hatred reflected back at her in Tara's eyes.

"Fuck you, Emily" and this time Emily flinched at the venom in her voice. Tara rose from her chair, almost knocking it to the ground as she shoved it roughly away in anger. Reaching the door, she looked back at Emily, tears threatening to overspill her eyes. "I thought you were better than this."