RED

murder boards, coffee, and hospitals

chapter 2!!! i'm not entirely sure where i'm taking this, but it's going somewhere lol

word count: 1151

Something was wrong. Derek Morgan and Emily had assisted the Dallas police in arresting the unsub earlier that day, catching her mid-ritual with her latest victim. She was an assistant in the medical examiner's office and had a psychotic break following the death of her abusive ex-boyfriend. Looking into the interrogation room that held Hotch, Derek, and the unsub, Emily paused.

"Spencer, we're missing something," Turning to Dr. Spencer Reid, the youngest, and possibly the smartest, member of the BAU, Emily continued. "Why would she keep the victims for so long before starting the torture? It's been three days since he was first seen leaving with her on security footage, but she only kept the others for 24 hours at most."

Walking towards the case board, Spencer frowned. "Maybe he was a surrogate? Uh, he looks similar to someone else in the file." Flipping through dozens of pages that littered the table behind them, he paused. "I found it! The latest victim was the roommate of the ex-boyfriend. He sat and watched as the abuse happened, and even encouraged it."

"That's why there were two rings - one for the ex and one for him." Emily knocked on the glass, drawing Hotch out. Entering the room, Spencer handed him pictures of the two individuals.

"Hotch, her latest victim? He helped the ex-boyfriend with the abuse. All of the others were surrogates and practice runs." Hotch looked between Emily and the board and started piecing together what he just said.
"Reid, go tell the others. We need him in an interrogation room as soon as possible." Before Hotch could finish his sentence, Reid was out the door.

Her brow furrowed as she stepped away from the board. There was something else off, she could feel it. I wonder if Hotch - I wonder if Hotch what? Emily's train of thought brought her right back to reality. She didn't know what got him into her thoughts, but she knew one thing - he hadn't left since last night. There was something about Hotch that was different last night, like he was the most unburdened he had been in years. Whatever it was, she felt drawn to it, like fire to oxygen. She didn't know that he felt just as drawn to her.

Looking out at the scene in front of him, Emily by the murder board and Spencer talking to the others in the bullpen, Hotch was confused. He had been praised for his ability to focus for as long as he could remember, but today was different. He found his thoughts trailing when she looked at him and spoke, hell, even when she took a sip of coffee. She had always been in the back of his mind, but after the night they shared on the roof, Emily Prentiss was all he could think about. Something pulled him towards her, like how the tendrils of a fire try to draw someone in. Thinking back to the previous night, he looked down at his hands. As he did, he felt that same shock run through his hand, with lingering warmth. The faintest hint of red graced his cheeks, and he stilled. What is this? What is drawing me towards her? Questions raced through his mind, leaving him without answers.

Walking into the office, David Rossi noticed immediately that something was different. Something was pulsating in the room, and it seemed to be coming from Hotch and Emily. Almost electric, it felt like the air was alive. Bringing the both of them back to reality, he spoke. "The latest victim, the friend, is still at the hospital. Spencer and I are heading over now, see if we can catch him before he goes into surgery."

"Take me with you," Emily started. "She and I have similar features, it'll unsettle him to see me with you."

Hotch started to speak but paused. "I'm coming too. Morgan, and JJ can handle it here, I want to observe his reaction when Prentiss walks in."

Half an hour later, the four of them were standing in the hallway, just outside his room.

"Kid's name is Steven Thomas. Garcia's combing through his records now." Emily stowed her phone in her jacket and paused. "Hotch should wait with me while you two talk to him. He'll reveal more if we walk in together, he's only expecting two of us."

Rossi nodded as he and Reid started walking toward the room. "Wait for my text. I want to see how much trust we can build first."

Hotch nodded and turned to Emily. She met his gaze, and for a moment - the world seemed to narrow to just the two of them. There was an unspoken understanding between them, a tension that neither could quite define but both felt keenly.

"Coffee?" Emily suggested, breaking the silence. Without waiting for an answer, she turned and started toward the lobby. Hotch hesitated for a fraction of a second before following her. As they walked, the silence between them was comfortable but charged with an underlying tension. Emily stole a glance at Hotch, noticing the subtle tension in his jaw and the way his hands were slightly clenched. She wondered if he was feeling the same pull, the same confusion that had been gnawing at her all day.

Finally, they reached the small café in the hospital lobby. Emily ordered her coffee, and Hotch followed suit. They stood at the counter, waiting for their drinks, the silence growing heavier by the second.

"I've been thinking about last night," Hotch said suddenly, his voice low. Emily looked up at him, her heart skipping a beat.

"Me too," she admitted softly. There was no need to elaborate—they both knew what he meant. The rooftop, the quiet conversation, the shared moment that had somehow shifted everything between them.

"I don't know what this is," Hotch continued, his eyes searching hers. "But I can't seem to stop thinking about it. About you."

Emily felt her breath catch in her throat. She had always admired Hotch—respected him, trusted him—but this was different. This was something deeper, something she hadn't anticipated. "I feel it too," she whispered, unsure of what else to say. "But I think we should take it slow." Hotch nodded, relief evident in his eyes. "I agree. We need to figure this out... carefully."

Just as the moment seemed to deepen, Emily's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a text from Rossi.

"They're ready for us," she said, looking up at Hotch, the connection between them momentarily interrupted. Hotch nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Let's go."

As they walked back toward the hallway, side by side, the unspoken tension remained, but there was also a sense of understanding between them. They didn't need to rush—whatever this was, it wasn't going away. And for now, that was enough.