Pride and Punishment

Chapter 1

"Y/N? Can you hear me? Y/N?"

Your eyelids flutter open and you wince as the bright light hits your eyes. Slowly, the blurred images above you start to clear and form into the concerned faces of your boss and someone you don't recognize. A medic, you realize, noting the EMT jacket.

"Y/N, I need you to try to answer me. Are you okay? Can you nod or blink?" You blink and wiggle your toes, slowly stretching and testing your body for any soreness or broken bones. "What happened?" you manage to croak out. "I feel like I was hit by a truck."

"Do you know who you are? Do you know who I am?"

Your brow furrows. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm Y/F/N Y/L/N. You're my boss, Aaron Hotchner, and from the look on your face I can deduce that I did something dumb and you're mad at me."

Hotch breathes a sigh of relief, squeezing your hand so tightly you think he might crack your knuckles. "Y/N, I'm very mad at you, but we can have this discussion after you've been checked out and cleared. For now, I'm just glad you're alright."

You sit up slowly, Hotch's steady hands supporting you. The EMT slides a blood pressure cuff up your arm. "If you feel dizzy or light-headed I want you to lie back down. You took a nasty hit to the head; more than likely you have a concussion." Oh shit, that's right. Boyd knocked me out.

"Ugh, that bastard! Did we get him, Hotch? Please tell me we got him."

Hotch's lips twitch, almost betraying a smile. Leave it to you to be injured but more worried about catching the bad guy than taking care of yourself. "Yes, we got Boyd. You managed a torso shot before you hit the floor. Of course, he wouldn't have got the jump on you if you had waited for back-up as I ordered."

Aw shit, he is mad. "Oh, my head. It hurts. The pain..." you moan, hoping to garner some sympathy.

"Nice try Y/L/N. You need to rest. We can discuss this further after your head is checked out. Now, lay back down." Hotch orders firmly, his face impassive as he helps you get more comfortable.

Damn. I'm in big trouble.

A few days later you're back to work at the FBI. No sooner than you walk in the office does Hotch call out to you. 

"Y/N, a word."

"Ooohhh." Your friends and coworkers chime together, giving you knowing looks.

"Shut up, guys." You mumble, dropping your things on your desk.

"Apologize right away." Spencer tells you, tucking his hair behind his ear. "Studies show that the sooner we admit to making a mistake and express remorse, the more likely we are to be forgiven just as quickly."

"Screw that!" Derek interrupts. "Look, you messed up. We all do at some point. Point out that at least you caught the bastard and sometimes we gotta bend a few rules to get results."

JJ pipes up. "No, definitely do not do that. That's just gonna piss him off even more. Just say you're sorry and take your punishment with grace."

You flinch. "Punishment? I'm getting punished? For what? Doing my job and catching the serial killer?"

She frowns. "For disobeying an order. You know you should have waited for back-up." You scowl at her. Seeing the fury spring to your face, JJ quickly backtracks. "Derek is right, we've all cut corners for the sake of solving a case. It'll be okay."

"Thanks for the advice guys." You reply drolly before heading up the stairs to Hotch's office.

"I see you changed your tone real quick, JJ." Derek teases.