SECRET LOVE, hotchniss

11

(S2 E14)

They hadn't been tasked to a case for about two weeks despite being on call, meaning they had spent their days in the office finishing paperwork and doing general consults on smaller cases for small police departments. In all honesty they needed these two weeks to decompress, this month had been both physically and emotionally exhausting.

But today was Friday, and Penelope had been practically begging everyone all week for a night at the local bar. She couldn't have been more thrilled when Derek told her he would go with her after work, and once she had convinced him, it was easy to convince the rest of the team to join them. Jason said he would give it a miss which didn't surprise anyone, he wasn't big on bar nights. However when even Aaron said he would come, and bring Hayley, Penelope's excitement threatened to burst out of her.

As much as Emily had been excited to hit the ground running, this two week break was exactly what she needed to really settle into the team. Derek and Spencer had really taken her under their wings and shown her the ropes, explaining the solo case consults and showing her where all the good snacks were hidden within the small kitchenette. Spencer had seemed displeased when Derek showed her the "super special snack drawer", which was really just the top drawer of Spencers desk. But once the secret was up he began excitedly explaining why each type of candy was his favourite and she learned that each one had an occasion for when it was "best to be consumed". Emily smiled, she recognised that his initial displeasure was probably due to the fact that he didn't know her that well - well enough to be sharing his treasured snacks anyway - but as his excited explanations came she realised that maybe he was beginning to trust her more than she had realised.

As the days had gone by she was trusted by them to do some profiling consults on her own, but she always ensured to drop them onto one of the men's desks before sending it off. Though she was confident in her abilities she wanted them to be confident in her too, so while allowing them to double check her work seemed like she was back at school she figured that was a pretty small price to pay.

However all focus had been pulled from work this afternoon, it was nearing 4:30pm and Penelope had been floating between desks for at least the last hour pleading for them to finish so they could head to the bar.

It was only about 15 minutes later when she finally lost her patience and began removing pens from hands and closing open case files. She was rounding up the troops, and even Agent Hotchner wasn't safe. Emily could hear his "okay, okay! I'm coming" from across the bullpen.

"We meet here in 15 minutes!" Penelope called across the bullpen loud enough for her words to echo into Agent Hotchners office, before she grabbed Emily's arm and began leading her out of the room. They arrived in JJ's office seconds later and she hollered for her to follow. The three women were headed to the locker room where Emily and JJ changed into something a little more casual and Penelope donned a different brightly coloured dress before heading to meet the rest of the team.

Penelope had explained that the bar they were going to was local, just down the street from headquarters, and this meant that it was basically crawling with FBI agents wanting to relax after work. It was the teams usual rest stop after cases or long days but they hadn't had a chance to go since emily had arrived. She hoped that this bar would become as homely to her as she could see it was to the team, a safe space to decompress with friends.

Once everyone had been corralled by Penelope, they walked as a group down to the bar. As they walked through the doors the older man behind the bar waved at them, eagerly welcoming them inside. They clearly frequented this place and knew most of the staff working tonight. As they headed to the bar to get their drinks Derek introduced Emily to the man.