Deception - Hotchniss

Chapter 16

"Emily, how are you?"

The woman was quickly greeted by her aunt, Ila, upon entering the house after their run. She turned towards the woman and smiled widely. "Hey, Aunt Ila!"

She reached out to hug her aunt, who happily hugged her back. It felt like it had been ages since they'd seen each other.

She was a tall woman with dark, almost jet black hair, and tight, red lips. She certainly bore resemblance to her sister, Elizabeth.

"And who is this handsome suitor of yours?" she asked, gesturing towards Aaron, who was standing behind them.

Emily backed up and wrapped an arm around him happily. "This is Aaron. We work together at the BAU."

"Good to meet you, Aaron," Ila said and shook his hand. "I believe I've heard about you before. Mr. Hotchner, right?"

"Yes, that's me," he said, somewhat surprised by her recollection, given that they had never met before.

"So when did you fly in?" Emily asked.

"Oh, just last night, shortly after your mother."

Emily's eyebrows raised quickly. "Oh," she said, hiding a small gasp. "I didn't know she was here so soon."

Ila smiled warmly at the two. "Yes, well, I'll let you two clean up then."

As her aunt walked away, Emily turned around slowly to Aaron and cleared her throat. He looked down at her, lowering his eyebrows slightly as she shot him a confused, yet irritated glance. He followed her upstairs, still slightly confused by her behavior.

As soon as the door to their room was closed, he gave her a look that expressed his want for an explanation.

"I, um, didn't know she was going to be here so soon. Actually, I didn't know she was going to be here at all. I was thinking, well, hoping that she wouldn't show."

"And, you don't think she's going to approve of—" he gestured with his eyes between them, "us?"

Emily scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Hell no."

She began pacing around the room in front of him, thinking of what exactly it was she was going to say to her mother when they talked. She had rehearsed it so many times in her head, and now she had to finalize the plan. The plan. There wasn't really a solid plan. Pretend like you're dating him; that was the plan.

"Emily," Hotch started, taking a step closer to her.

"No, wait," she said, raising one hand. "Maybe I can use this to my advantage. It's totally going to piss her off; the fact that I'm dating my boss. She's going to be confused at first. Shocked, even. She's going to think that it's all some big power grab."

"Or-"

"She's going to hound me with questions. Who, what, when, where, why. I'll finally have the control."

He stared at her disapprovingly. He knew about their feud, but really? "Emily, I think there's a simpler solution to this whole thing," he stated, smiling softly at her conspiracies.

She cocked her head at him slightly. "What? We show her how much we really love each other? All of that lovey dovey stuff that couples do?"

Hotch simply stared at her. "Well, yeah," he said, and then smiled. "Isn't that why I'm here?"

Emily stared at him. His soft, hazel eyes continued searching hers. "I don't," she stuttered, and he took a step closer to her. "I don't want to make you do anything you're not comfortable with."