#hotchniss one shots

[thewulf]

Did You Just...? || Aaron Hotchner

Summary: Request - What about a young!Hotch x reader and they’re best friends crushing on each other?? Idk if you remember that TikTok trend where you call your crush or film a video and kiss your best friend and they don’t know what’s going on?... Read Rest Here

A/N: PURE FLUFFFFF. Loved this. Hope you guys enjoy :) This is a Young Hotch set in present day :)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Y/N

Word Count: 3.0k

“Okay but you’ve been on the app right?” You asked Aaron after sitting down at his desk filled to the brim with paperwork that needed to be completed but never had the time to do. He peaked his eyes over to you once you sat down with a huff.

Amusement danced in his gaze as a small smiled played on his lips at your overt casualness with him. It was remarkable to witness you go from the scared and timid profiler hired right out of school to chatting his ear off at lunch every day in a matter of mere months. See, he was in his third year at the BAU and thought he had figured it out. That was until you came along and rocked his world.

He used to come to work, get some paperwork done, put his head down and go home after a long day. It worked for him. He was ‘friends’ with his coworkers as best as he could be, but he was the young pup of the group. Then you were onboarded. Gideon hired you the second you graduated after blowing him away in one of the classes he taught at Georgetown. You came in like a hurricane that he wasn’t quite ready for but knew the team needed.

You were so different than Aaron’s other coworkers. You actually talked to him and got to know him. You weren’t afraid of his intimidating gaze but instead found it a fun challenge to try and get him to break his facade. It annoyed him at first. He went to work to work, not socialize. But leave it to you to sway his opinion on the matter. Aaron didn’t want to admit just how much he had grown to love and adore your smiling face greeting him every morning. He really didn’t want to admit how much he looked forward to your early morning coffee chats or daily debriefs when Gideon was being a hard ass. You were the sunshine of the group. The one that brought the optimism while the rest of the team turned terribly pessimistic.

He'll never forget the first time you caught a killer. He almost had a heart attack when you quite literally jumped on top of the man, surprising him and taking him to the floor without a second thought. You smiled right up to him after he was in cuffs and whispered a, “One down. A hundred more to go.” To him. He knew right then and there that you’d be in his life for a long time.

“What app?” He set the pen he was writing with down as he turned his attention to you.

Sighing you opened your phone showing him, “Don’t play dumb with me Hotchner.” Your eyes glowered at the man with a subtle smirk resting right on his face, “Tik-Tok.”

He leaned back watching the videos you’d saved. He assumed they were ones you thought would convince him to download it. He was right of course. You’d saved the funniest ones in hopes he’d download the damn app. You’ve been trying for weeks to get him to do it. But then again, it almost took you three entire months to convince the man he needed to upgrade from his prehistoric iPhone 5.

“You know that’s likely spyware and the government…”

You cut him off with another long-drawn-out sigh, “Okay dad. But it’d not banned. So, download it.”

Aaron could mess with you, and he knew it. And enjoyed it. He didn’t dare want to admit just how happy he got when he got you to blush under his gaze. You’d quite literally waltzed in and rocked his absolute world. He knew he couldn’t catch feelings for you and yet here he was. On the brink of falling in love with the funnier than ever coworker who knew him better than he knew himself. How cliché.

He leaned back in his office chair crossing his arms over his chest, “You know. I don’t think I will.” He watched your face closely. You were far too easy to read. Something he was working on with you. You gave away everything on your face. His smirk only grew when you raised your eyebrows in slight surprise. It wasn’t often he didn’t bend over backwards to make you happy. He would of course download the stupid little app to make you happy. Just like he got the latest iPhone once you saw the horrifying state of his almost 10-year-old phone.

You leaned back in the same manner he had, “No need to be so obstinate Hotch.” Giving him a playful push, you couldn’t help but to giggle at his amused grin. It was easy to forget the two of you were at work of all places. It was just so easy to forget with him. He made you want more with him, so much more. A much easier case to crack than you originally thought. He was an utter softy under the rigid exterior put on for the team.

He knew he should get back to work but he just couldn’t shoo you away. He looked forward to moments like these. Little moments where he got to steal some of your time and attention, “Look at you. Using your big words.” His smirk deepened as he watched you register his words in real time. He was playing around with you. He’d gotten so comfortable with you he was beginning to mess with you right back. You’d grown used to teasing him and only getting an eyeroll or snicker in return. You weren’t used to this. And you had to admit you loved it. A subtle change you’d grown to adore.

“Didn’t go to school for nothing.” You winked at him knowing the double negative would set him off.

He shook his head, “You’re something else, you know that?”

Wiggling your eyebrows at him you nodded your head, “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Relenting, he fished his phone out of his pocket. He opened it up knowing damn well he didn’t download the app but he’d sure as hell let you do it. He’d truly do anything for you, “You’re right.”

Ignoring the flush that rose to your cheeks you grabbed the opened phone from his hands. You knew you shouldn’t be having these thoughts for your dangerously attractive slightly older and much more put together coworker. But damn. You had all the thoughts and feelings.

You sighed, “Just as I suspected.” Shaking your head in disapproval you handed the phone back to him, “Now, I need you to make an account to night. Let me know when you do! I have so many to share with you.” You grinned knowing he was going to give in one way or another.

He took it back, “That’s a lot of work.” He spoke with a grin that meant he was just teasing you. Two could play that game.

“Yeah, because you’re so anti-technology. But I promise you can do this. Who else am I supposed to send TikTok’s too?” You widened your eyes as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“You’re other friends?”

You shrugged, “I do send them. But these are for you.”

Aaron couldn’t help but to smile at your ever so quick comebacks. One of the many reasons he had fallen for you so quickly, “I’ll do it. But…” He paused letting it linger in the air for a moment.

“But what Hotchner?” You raised your eyebrows, ever so curious as to what his stipulation could be.

His smile widened seeing your impatience for him grow, “Only if you come over and show me how.” He’d never really been so bold before. Sure, you’d been over to his place a few times in passing, once for a team dinner. Gideon’s genius idea to have somebody from the team host once a month. You’d rather come to enjoy the gatherings. Especially when they were at Rossi’s place. The wine and food pairings never ceased to amaze you. You on the other hand always insisted on taking the team out when your month rolled around. It was a little too embarrassing to have the entire team over at your rather small one-bedroom apartment.

“Propositioning me now Hotch?” You challenged back to the man you were head over heels with knowing it’d throw him off his game. The smile that immediately dropped let you know you did exactly that.

This time it was his mouth that dropped as his cheeks turned an adorable violet. Oh, you got him this time. You wished you could take a picture. He was just too cute when he thought too hard. If you were at home you would’ve risked a picture, but you didn’t want to cross the line at work. You’d never dream of putting him in an awkward position here. The both of you worked way too hard to blow it up now.

“You know I would never ever…” He started rambling. It would’ve been adorable had he not been actually freaking out a little bit. Of course, you knew that. You really were just messing with him.

Shaking your head, you stopped him, “I’m teasing you Aaron. I’d love to come over and show you how to make a TikTok account.”

He let out a strangled sigh of relief, “You’re killing me.” He loved it when you called him by his first name. It sounded too good coming out of your mouth.

Biting back a smile you stood from the chair, “I’ll be over at 6?”

You watched as he leaned forward grabbing his pen once more. Turning to you with that smile you’d grown to adore he nodded, “Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dare Hotchner.” Shooting him one last wink you walked away briskly letting your heart get far, far away from the man who was causing it to beat right out of your chest.

“You’re making this so much harder than it needs to be Hotchner.” You giggled itching to take the phone away from Aaron.

He shrugged giving you a wicked grin, “We’re not all technologically savvy Y/L/N.” He chided back knowing he might’ve been taking his time so that you didn’t have an excuse to leave. He took his time making dinner, not starting until you made it over. Taking his time cleaning up and getting dessert out. Pretending not to know how his phone worked. He wanted to steal your time away. Not that you minded, not in the slightest.

Rolling your eyes, you finished setting it up for him, “You could say that again.”

A small chuckle rolled off his lips. He put his phone back down before turning his head back to you. You were watching him with all the love in your eyes. You’d tried so hard to hide it, but it was becoming an impossible task. He was so easy to fall in love with. How were you to blame?

Feeling bold you decided to move forward with your plan. Picking up your phone you clicked the video player to record and angled it towards you and Aaron.

With scrunched brows he observed you, “What are you doing?”

“Since you’ve never opened the app you’ll never get it. But we’re doing a video. I’ll post it. It’d trending right now.” You said as nonchalantly as possible trying not to let your voice waver. You had to be confident

Curiously we watched as you scooted closer to him, “Trending?” He asked with a hint of amusement lacing his voice.

You nodded not daring to meet his curious gaze, you’d surely lose the confidence to actually do it, “Mhmm,” You hummed, “If you’ll let me that is.”

He grinned, “Be my guest.”

It felt like your heart was about to leap out of its chest. Now or never, really, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He smirked seeing you finally look him in the eyes, “Do your worst then.”

It was really now or never. You grabbed either side of his face and decided to go for it.

His eyes widened in pleasant shock as you pressed your lips to his. He could’ve sworn his heart stopped then and there. That was bold, even for you. But then again you always had him on his toes. Another one of the many reasons he knew that made him fall for you. It took him a second to long to respond to this kiss. But once he did he wasn’t going to let you go.

Once you needed air though you did have to pull away. Adrenaline was now coursing through you as you realized you really just kissed not only your friend but your coworker as well. There was truly no going back now.

“Did you just…?” His mouth bobbed open and closed like he couldn’t believe what you just did.

You watched as his face went from shock to realization to… satisfaction? A fast and hot blush erupted on your cheeks as you realized he was watching you too, waiting on an answer to his very own question.

“I did.” Biting your lip, a wave of anxiety washed over you as you waited his answer.

You didn’t get one as he leaned in this time. You felt as his hand wrapped around the back of your neck and up through your hair. Carefully he pulled your head towards him as he kissed you with a little more dominance this time. He was in charge. He wanted to kiss you. You didn’t fight the way your body melted right into his. Feeling him smile as you folded into his touches like putty, you didn’t dare break away. You’d dreamed of this moment for far too long. Almost six months too long now.

He pulled away gently, leaning his forehead on yours, “Thank God you did.”

Your heart was hammering so hard in your chest you only could hope he couldn’t hear it being so close, “Yeah?” You asked, a hint of insecurity in your voice.

He moved away from you only so he could look you in the eyes. His hands landed on your shoulders giving them a gentle squeeze, “I’ve wanted to do that for a while now.” His usually unreadable face broke into a light blush, one you probably wouldn’t be able to see if you weren’t so close to him.

“Why didn’t you?” The smile on your face let him know it was all in good fun. You just loved teasing him. And he loved teasing you right on back.

He shook his head with the saddest smile, “Would it be too cowardly to say that I didn’t want to mess it all up? I didn’t want to make a mess of it if you didn’t feel the same.” For the first time you’d seen a side of him you’d really never have seen before. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t have an answer. He looked to you for the next step.

A quick shake of your head brought you back to the present, “I’d never think of you as a coward Aaron.” You reached for his hands that landed back down at his side, “And I’m certainly glad I didn’t make a mess of it.” You giggled feeling relieved that he clearly felt the same way. You didn’t think he’d kiss you like that if he didn’t.

“Go out with me tomorrow? On an actual date? Where I can actually woo you. You weren’t supposed to do that by the way.” He pinched your side lightly loving the way you squirmed under his touch, “But then again. You always seem to take me by surprise.” He clarified leaning back in wanting so desperately to kiss you once more but needing to hear your answer first.

“Do I now?” If your heart could speed up it certainly did as he leaned closer and closer once more.

“All the time.” He placed a gentle hand on your cheek, his thumb gingerly brushing on the apple of your cheek. A shiver you tried to stop erupted from your body at the lightest of contact with him. You were a goner, and you knew it.

“Good to know.” You grinned before leaning in and giving his nose a quick kiss, catching him off guard yet again, “And yes, I’d love to go out with you.” You continued after sending his brain into a tizzy. You truly would be the death of him.

He didn’t waste a second more before bringing you in for a much slower kiss this time. He too was in utter disbelief this was going on. Sure, he’d daydreamed about it on far too many occasions, but it was actually happening. He was kissing you.

When he pulled back for air he gave you a once over again, “I haven’t told you how pretty you look tonight.” He knew that’d draw that pretty blush he loved so much.

You pushed at his chest lightly giving him a soft laugh. You turned your head spotting the phone you’d set up to record about five minutes ago.

“Oh crap.” You pulled yourself off of him to grab at the phone quickly ending the video. A soft smile graced your face as you thought about watching that later.

He grinned, “Are you going to post that?”

Shaking your head quickly you saved the video before closing out of the app, “No, I don’t think I will.” Looking back up with all the love in your eyes you scooted closer to him, nearly on top of him now, “Think I’ll keep it just for you and I.”

He pulled you onto his lap, getting the hint, “You’re a sap.” Brushing your now messy hair, thanks to Aaron, out of your face he leaned down to give you a gentle kiss on your forehead, “A cute sap at that.”

You grinned while cuddling into him rather thankful your uncalculated risk paid off in an incredible way, “Only for you Aaron.”

He wrapped his arms all the way around pulling you in close, “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Aaron Hotchner/Criminal Minds: Permanent Taglist (Message me or comment below if you want to be added!): @loving-and-dreaming @kmc1989 @memeorydotcom @matisse556 @buckylov3r @taygrls @ah-blossom @daily-evanstan @hardballoonlove @14buddy22 @rosiahills22 @djs8891 @mrs-ssa-hotch @panandinpain0 @viscade

[dirchristophernolan]

there are quite a few hotchniss episodes that prove my theory of them being soulmates but my favorite will always be 3x02 because that’s the one episode where everything Shifted between them: emily preferred to literally resign from her dream job rather than become strauss’ birdie and snitch on hotch (this despite hotch being a bit awful to her since her joining the team) and hotch 1. realized he had always been wrong about this little smartass charming brat, 2. had the worst fight with his wife, 3. right after, went straight to emily’s to convince her to join him for one more case, 4. said ‘I WANT YOU ON THAT PLANE WITH ME’ to emily, 5. most likely flew commercial with her bouncing off ideas re the case and strauss’ trashy strategy to get rid of both of them, 6. defended her and her idea to get into david smith’s house and 7. swore that her return to the bau would stay official even if his wouldn’t be. AND THEN, we see parallel shots of them at their respective house/apartment looking off into the distance, satisfied about being back but sad about their ill perceived loneliness.

in this other essay i will-

[elsie-talisman]

some of my favourite criminal minds fanfictions (they’re mostly hotchniss)

please comment yours

a good cat never goes far - criminalmindsgonewrong

a beautiful piece written from the perspective of sergio. truly devastating! i had to call my friend sobbing and when i explained to her it was over fan fiction, specifically from the perspective of a cat, i was definitely judged. however, i made her read it and it struck her down too. one shot.

illicit affairs - criminalmindsgonewrong

my favourite taylor song, so I went into this with high expectations and was not disappointed. this has inspired many fics of my own. over 100k. incomplete.

phantasmagoria - criminalmindsgonewrong

this is a really beautiful and well written piece. the writing is truly so wonderful that it evokes so much emotion!!! beautiful and yet so simple of a concept. one shot.

coffee at midnight - criminalmindsgonewrong

when it’s a taylor title you know it’s going to be good. this story has all the angst and hints of trauma you want in a fanfic, but it’s dressed in such a fun and lighthearted idea. over 50k. completed.

impact - criminalmindsgonewrong

i remember waiting weekly for this one’s release! a gripping story! i don’t want to spoil this one. the team themselves are written so well in this, and whilst i love anything and everything to be hotchniss i will always enjoy a fic that develops the team interacting with hotchniss themselves! completed. over 30k.

hotchners future au - criminalmindsgonewrong

this is actually a series. very well written. emily and aaron are parents and with properly flushed out children, one of the best depictions of the hotchners as parents i’ve read. gripping with hardships and the daily struggle that comes with children, hints of humour. the team and hotchniss romance still very prevalent. seven works.

if you can’t tell criminalmindsgonewrong is my favourite fanfiction author! she’s so smart and knows the characters so well! specifically what she writes is exactly what i want to read, hurt/comfort, emily and hotch with children etc, if you love a good mix of well written fluff and trauma this is definitely the author for you! (if you’re a jemily stan i think she’s written one or two for you guys too!!)

burning chrysalis - wildingflowers

one of my favourite hotchniss fanfictions. it is very dark, but probably one of the most plausible, canon aligned, introductions of this specific trauma and very well written. hotch comforting emily through a trauma and eventually we see their story develop. almost 100k. incomplete. i do check this fic often for a random resurrection.

falling in love with a girl - sienna27

boy. can you say slow burn? i found this fic whilst it was being slowly transferred from fanfic.net to ao3, so this fic did help me discover ff.net, but at what cost? i read all of it, the ending is very unexpected. there may or may not be a sequel. very well written. the characters are slightly different, nothing too drastic, but moments you realise they’re altered to what, perhaps, you’d expect, this definitely is subjective though! over 450k. complete.

slipping through my fingers - sequinsmile

for your perfect momily fix. i love sequinsmile writing. it’s not overcomplicated, but still very compelling, and gripping. three chapters. incomplete.

sequinsmile has written over 450 hotchniss fics and she’s still going. there’s definitely way more that i’ve loved. i have even subscribed to her for post notifications, so if you want a hotchniss fic she probably, definitely, has something that you would enjoy no matter how niche your interests. her writing is similar in all her fics, brilliant and interesting whilst not trying to be too drastic, everything’s believable and realistic. i would highly recommend.

twin flame - ssa3milypr3ntiss

guys this is a demily fic. because i don’t find them that implausible, i even believe season two was considering them. an amazing au surrounding emily and derek as childhood friends, emily’s mother is the complete opposite of elizabeth is terms of status, and derek helps her through this. this idea has inspired some of my own favourite fics that i’ve written, usually making it hotchniss though. just under 10k. incomplete.

let’s presume this is a part one

[minswriting]

overall fics masterlist

hello! this post contains all of the one shots i’ve made and their dates to help navigate fics. this post doesn’t include all of the blurbs i’ve created. please check out my extensive masterlist in order to see the blurbs! all content is nsfw and 18+ so minors do not interact.

2024:

5/24: our little secret - aaron hotchner

6/5: fear of loving you - spencer reid

6/6: dirty impulses - spencer reid

7/13: no higher being than you - spencer reid

7/19: west coast - aaron hotchner

11/24: do i wanna know? - spencer reid

12/9: addicted - spencer reid

12/27: winter wonderland - aaron hotchner

2025

1/13: what happens in alaska stays in alaska - hotchniss x reader

1/18: hidden affairs - spencer reid

1/23: different kinds of treats - spencer reid

1/25: colds and cuddles - aaron hotchner

1/27: unmarked territory - hotchreid x reader

2/2: lunch - emily prentiss

2/5: head empty, no thoughts - aaron hotchner

2/13: only need me - spencer reid

2/22: marked territory - hotchreid x reader

3/1: medicine - spencer reid

3/3: die with a smile - spencer reid

3/9: nailed it - spencer reid

3/12: bikinis and martinis - aaron hotchner

3/17: illicit affairs - aaron hotchner

3/18: leotards and stretches - aaron hotchner

3/22: quarantine - spencer reid

3/23: closet rendezvous- spencer reid

3/25: tongue tied - hotchreid x reader

3/29: bored - spencer reid

4/8: show me who you are - aaron hotchner

4/9: back of the car - spencer reid

4/17: drop the attitude - spencer reid

4/20: bunny love - aaron hotchner

4/24: poker face - spencer reid

4/30: daylight - spencer reid

5/16: have you ever tried this one? - spencer reid

7/25: home - 11th doctor

8/4: pawn - daemon targaryen

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Could you do a hotchniss x daughter reader where they have a teen daughter and she sneakily has a boy over and aaron and Emily come back from a case and they catch him leaving her room and aaron goes into protective dad mode

Aaron Hotchner X Emily Prentiss X Teen Daughter reader

Request: Could you do a hotchniss x daughter reader where they have a teen daughter and she sneakily has a boy over and aaron and Emily come back from a case and they catch him leaving her room and aaron goes into protective dad mode 

Third person pov...

Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss had just returned from a particularly intense case in upstate New York. As they stepped off the plane, both agents were exhausted and eager to get back to their home in Virginia.

Little did they know, they were about to face one of their toughest challenges yet - parenting a teenage daughter.

Currently 16 year old Y/N was home alone, not entirely alone she had invited over her boyfriend, David to watch a movie knowing her parents would be on their way home.

They had already called to let her know they would be landing soon, the two had lots of fun spending the day together doing nothing but watching movies and raiding the kichen for snacks.

"Thank God we're back" Emily sighed as they made their way off the jet "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed."

Aaron chuckled, 'You and me both. I just hope our daughter hasn't wrecked the house while we were gone.'

Emily shot him a look, 'Our daughter is a responsible young lady. I'm sure she's been just fine without us.'

Say8ng goodbye to the rest of thw team they got into their car and drove home, but as they walked through the front door of their home.

They were met with a sight that made both of their hearts sink. In the living room, their 16-year-old daughter, Y/N, was cuddled up on the couch with a boy.

Aaron's eyes narrowed in an instant, and Emily could feel his protective instincts on high alert. The couple slowly made their way into the room, trying not to disturb the teenagers who were watching a movie.

As they got closer, they could see that the boy was not just any boy. It was David, a troublemaker from Y/N's school who they had explicitly told her to stay away from.

The teens where cuddled under a blanket, infront of them on thr coffee table were snacks and drinks, playing on the TV was (Favourite movie) Y/N never watches her favourite movie with just anyone.

The black haired woman looks at her husband and could reqd his mind, "Aaron" Emily whispered, trying to calm him down. 'Let's just talk to her." She took his hand in hers and held it.

This made the man relax slightly but a murderous look still on his face.

But before they could say anything, the movie ended and David stood up to leave, Y/N gave him a smile and stood up to hug and kiss him goodbye and sat back down on the sofa, neither teen had seen the two adults in the doorway.

The boy had a love sick grin on his face As he walked towards the door, Aaron stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron's voice was low and menacing.

David, who previously exuded confidence, now looked like a deer caught in headlights. He mumbled something incoherent and quickly scrambled out of the house.

Emily took a deep breath and turned to her daughter, who was now standing, she had jumped up from the sofa when she hear heard her dad shout, she looked scared and guilty.

Emily crossed her arms and looked at her daughte "What were you thinking, Y/N?" She said, trying to keep her voice calm.

Y/N nervously played with her hands, not looling up at her parents and thwir disapointed look, "I'm sorry" Y/N replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I just really like him, and I knew you wouldn't approve" she sais tears running down her face.

Aaron let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "That doesn't change the fact that we specifically forbid you from seeing him. He's not a good influence, and you know that"

Y/N shook her head, surprising her parents. "But he's not! He's actually really sweet and not at all like he appears! You always told me not to judge people and here you are doing it!" The teen yells.

She collapses onto the sofa her head in her arms. The adults looked at each other before at their cryjng daughter, they had judged the boy by appearences like she said.

Emily sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry Honey, you arw right we did judge him but appearance, but it still doesn't make if okay for you to sneak boys inside" she explains to the girl gently.

"Really" Y/N sniffled, wiping at her tears. Aaron knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. "We love you, Y/N. We just want what's best for you" he says gently to the girl.

Y/N nodded, "I promise, he isn't all that bad, just meet him yourself and you'll see!" She insisted.

The two look at each other then back down at their daughter. She does have a point they don't know anything about the boy.

Aaron sighed at the look his wife gave him. "Okay, we will get to know him, but if he hurts you in anyway tell him I've got a gun and knkw how to use it" Says Aaron a not happy smile on his face.

This made the girl laugh, Emily shakes her head at her husband. The couple hugged their daughter and assured her that she was forgiven.

As they talked and cuddled on the couch, Aaron couldn't help but feel grateful for his daughter's honesty and decided to trust her.

'We're going to have to keep a closer eye on her,' Emily said, sipping her tea. 'She's still young, and we can't afford to let her make mistakes like this.'

Aaron nodded, 'I know. It's just hard to believe that our little girl is already sneaking boys into her room.'

Emily chuckled, 'We were teenagers once too, Aaron. We can't expect her to be perfect. We just have to guide her and hope that she learns from her mistakes.'

As they sat in comfortable silence, both agents were reminded of the challenges of being parents to a teenager. But they also knew that they were a strong team and would do anything to protect their daughter, even if it meant going into protective dad mode every now and then.

The end!

Hope you liked this oneshot, sorry for thr wait on this request. As usual sorry for grammar and Spelling mistakes.

Requests are open!

Word count : 1133

[sequinsmile-x]

Goodnight My Love

Emily, Aaron, and a series of goodnight kisses.

A one shot in my series of unrelated kissing prompt fics

-x-

Hi besties,

This is a gift for two groups of people:

Those who have a birthday in April (there are a LOT in the Hotchniss fandom) and those who need to read something fluffy post the 911 nonsense this week. (It's doubly for people who fall into both categories...)

Of course, I hope everyone else enjoys it too <3

This fulfils the prompt 'goodnight kisses.' It's soft and silly, and exactly what I needed to write after a long weekend with my family haha. I hope it's exactly what you needed to ready <3

The last chapter of Flickers Like a Streetlight will go up tomorrow, which I think still counts as being on time for Easter since it's somehow STILL Easter weekend.

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: None, but I'd suggest flossing afterwards because of all the fluff

Words: 3.2k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

She was nervous. 

She wasn’t used to it. It made her feel like a teenager again, like she was young and unsure of herself, anxious when he smiled at her, as if she would find happiness somewhere in the curve of his cheek or in the dip of his dimples. It made her feel stupid. Foolish. And if she didn’t love him so damn much, she thinks she’d hate him for it.  

She’d waited for him. Waited for him to ask her on a date, because she knew it was important for him to be the one who asked, and when he finally did, when months - years, if she was honest - gave way to their friendship tipping over into more, it was a relief. Like she could breathe for the first time in a long time, her head above water as if he was her dry land.  

The only thing that made her feel better was that he was nervous too. He was just as anxious as she was, just as aware of how important this was. The last first date. The last first kiss.

The last time they’d fall in love, the thrill of it just as addictive as she remembered. 

It takes a couple of weeks for them to find the time, for work and for everything else to line up so they go on their date, and it’s perfect. She’d worried it would be awkward, that they’d overhyped it, made it more than it should be, but it’s just like any other time they’ve spent together. They talk about anything and everything, but this time, as he tells her about Jack and what he’d done at school, they aren’t sitting on opposite ends of his couch, but snuggled up together in a booth in a restaurant, her hand in his as he runs his thumb back and forth over the heel of her hand. 

Aaron is sweet, kind, and annoyingly gentlemanly, and he’s everything she knew he would be. He shows up at her place with flowers and a nervous smile, and she doesn’t fight him when he gets out his wallet to pay for dinner, doesn’t insist that she pays for half, because she knows it’s another thing that’s important to him. She sinks her teeth into her lower lip to try and contain her smile when he helps her put her jacket on as they leave the restaurant, his fingers chasing the shiver he causes when they skim her shoulders. A taster of what she hoped was to come.

He drives her home, their hands linked over the centre console, the press of his palm warm against hers, and she feels the same nervous excitement she’d had before he picked her up bubbling in her stomach again. He walks her to her door, because of course he does, and she smiles when she turns to look at him, her lips pressed together as their eyes meet. 

“Want to come in?” She asks, nodding towards her front door, losing her nerve a little when his eyes flash with something close to anxiety, “For a drink?”

He smiles, and clears his throat, “I…I don’t want you to think I’m expecting something if I do come in-”

She kisses him, her hand on his cheek as she holds him in place, cutting off his adorable apprehension with a simple press of her lips against his. She pulls back just enough to talk, her lips pressed together as she chases the taste of him still lingering on them.

“I want you to come in,” she says, stroking her thumb back and forth over his cheek, knowing he’ll catch the double meaning, “As long as you want-”

He kisses her this time, gently and all too briefly, before he pulls back and smiles at her, taking his turn to be the one doing the reassuring. It was a give and take. A perfect example of what their relationship always had been and always would be, their love for each other laid out in how they cared for the other. 

“You said something about a drink?” He says finally, his eyes soft as he looks at her as if she hung the stars in the sky herself. She nods and she digs through her purse for her keys, the warmth of him at her back overwhelming as she turns to unlock the door. 

They step into her apartment. He helps her take her jacket off, purposely running his fingers over the same spot on her shoulders he’d accidentally discovered in the restaurant. She gasps, narrowing her eyes at the delight in his eyes, the way they sparkle in a way she would have once thought they couldn’t. 

“Scotch or wine?” She asks, swallowing thickly to pretend her voice isn’t shaking, and he leans in to kiss her cheek. 

“Whatever you want,” he replies, his tender teasing giving way to open affection as she leads him to the kitchen, neither one of them sure who had reached for whose hand. She pours them both a glass of wine, and they go to the living room, snuggled together on one end of the couch as they exchange kisses like the sweetest candy. She isn’t sure how it happens, but she ends up in his lap, her arms around his neck and his around her waist as they explore each other, hands skimming hills and valleys they’d only ever imagined before. She hums his name against his lips, her forehead against his as she pulls back, her breath skipping across his face. He squeezes her hips, “Em…”

“Bedroom?” She asks, and she doesn’t know how he has this power over her, how he can make her so nervous, but then she pulls back to look at him, and she can see he’s nervous too, that he’s just as aware as she is about what this means to them. It wasn’t just sex, it never could be between them. It was the start of the rest of their lives together, the night they’d look back on fondly for the rest of their lives, the night they’d tell their children a PG version of if they ever asked about their first date. 

She presses her thumb against his lower lip, and he kisses it, smiling softly as he nods at her, “Bedroom.” 

He follows her, his hand wrapped around hers as she leads him down the hallway, only breaking away from her when she picks Sergio up off of her bed and leaves him out in the hallway, both of them smiling when the cat meows at them from the other side of the closed door. 

They take things slowly, exploring each other and skimming gentle fingers over scars they’d only ever read about in each other's files. She thinks with anyone else, she’d be self-conscious, that she’d be all too aware of the starburst of scar tissue on her abdomen and the brand mark on her breast, but it’s different with him. She sees the beauty in his scars, sees how they are made of him, that they are evidence that he’d survived to make it here to her, and for the first time, she knows hers aren’t any different. 

Afterwards, as they lay together in her bed, his chest against her back and their linked hands tucked under her chin, she sighs contentedly, dropping a kiss to his knuckles. 

“You okay, sweetheart?” He asks, and she hums, turning her head just enough to look at him.

“I’m more than okay,” she replies, stamping her lips against his, chuckling when it turns into a yawn, “Tired though. You wore me out.”

He laughs, but his cheeks go red, a blush rushing down his neck and chest, and he kisses the corner of her mouth, “We should get some sleep.” 

She nods and kisses him again, her nose rubbing against his jaw, “Goodnight.” 

He kisses her cheek, then her brow, before she rests her head on her pillow again, another yawn lost into the peaceful darkness of her room. 

“Goodnight, Em”

___

They were the last two left in the office. 

Aaron had told them all, including her, that they could go home a couple of hours ago, but she’d stayed, not wanting to leave him alone. She’d stayed, had used the excuse that she had paperwork to catch up on when the others had asked her if she wanted to go for a drink with them, as if they didn’t know she was staying to keep an eye on her boyfriend. She looked up at his office now and again, her heart clenching in her chest every time she did so, his stress obvious even through the window and partially closed blinds. 

Eventually, when her own exhaustion creeps up on her, when she can no longer deny just how tired she is, she walks up to his office, determined to see if she can convince him to leave with her. He smiles when she knocks on the door and opens it, the first smile she’d seen skip across his face all day, and he puts his pen down, his tired eyes meeting hers as she walks over to perch on his desk.

“You heading home?” He asks, his hand heavy and warm on her thigh as he squeezes, and she nods in response, placing her hand over his and linking their fingers together. 

“I was wondering if I might be able to convince you to come with me,” she says, stroking her thumb back and forth over his hand. Home was, as of a month ago, the house they’d bought together. It was perfect. Everything they’d been looking for and more in the months they’d been searching, and she loved it. She loved that after all this time that she finally had somewhere to call home, although she knew that more to do with the man and the little boy she loved than it did the five bedroom, three bath house on Dupont Circle they now lived in. She reaches out and runs her fingers through Aaron’s hair, her eyes flicking to the dark circles under his eyes, “You look tired, honey.” 

He chuckles dryly, “Thanks, sweetheart.” 

She rolls her eyes lovingly at him and stands, smiling when he doesn’t need encouragement to roll his chair back just enough for her to join him, and she climbs into his lap. They usually weren’t affectionate at work, usually respected the firm boundaries they had in place, but they were the only two left in the office, so she was allowing herself this, a moment of him before she knew she’d inevitably head home alone. 

“You know what I mean,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck, scratching her nails against the base of his scalp, catching against hair that was a little longer than usual. “It’s been a long day.” 

“It has been,” he replies, his eyes drifting to his desk and the pile of paperwork, “I still have a lot to do.” 

She knows him, knows he wouldn’t be saying it if he wasn’t true - that he didn’t use work as an excuse to stay here if he didn’t need to. She also knew it was something that weighed heavily on him, that every time he had to stay late, he felt like he was letting her and Jack down, a weight that he’d carried from his marriage to Haley and what he perceived as his failures heavy on his shoulders. 

“I’ll go get Jack from Jess’s,” she says, “And I’ll get something for dinner and make sure I leave you some.” 

He nods, looking down at their linked hands in her lap. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no,” she says, cupping his cheek to make him look at her, “You don’t have anything to apologise for.” She rests her forehead against his, “If anything, I should probably apologise - I think I’ll be asleep by the time you get home. I’m so tired, I think I’ll fall asleep the second I lie down.” 

Aaron chuckles and kisses her, “I’ll do my best not to wake you up when I get back.” 

She frowns as she pulls back to look at him, coming the closest she thinks she’d ever come to pouting, and she reaches out to touch his tie, focusing on adjusting it unnecessarily rather than him, somehow still shy about her love for him after all this time. 

“You have to wake me up,” she says, as if they both don’t know she’d grumble at him if he did, “Otherwise we won’t have our goodnight kiss.” 

He smiles at her, love and affection flowing off of him like a cologne, sweet and enticing, as she leans in towards him as if drawn like a moth to the flame. “Well, you know how we can avoid that, don’t you?” 

She presses her lips together in an attempt to hide her smile from him, and she hums, “Enlighten me.” 

He stamps his lips against hers and pulls back just enough to speak, “We have our goodnight kiss now.” 

She smiles, no longer able to hide it, and she cups his cheek, dragging him into a kiss, tasting coffee and the candy she’d hidden for him in his drawer on his tongue, “I guess that’s acceptable.” 

She kisses him again, and then once more before she pulls away, standing up and extracting herself from his embrace, the chill in the air of his office replacing the warmth of him. 

“Goodnight, honey,” she says, kissing him one last time before she steps back, throwing him a wink that makes him smile.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” he replies. “I love you.” 

She turns to look at him, “Love you too,” she grasps the door handle but looks at him one more time, “I wouldn’t be mad if you woke me up when you get home anyway,” she says, and he smiles, “I can never have enough goodnight kisses from you.” 

He nods, unable to fight his smile despite his exhaustion, her love for him the balm his weary soul always needed. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

___

He stops her the moment she has the key card in their hotel suite door. His hands are insistent on her hips as he turns her in his arms, his arms tight around her waist as he draws a laugh out of her when he leans in to kiss her. 

“Honey,” she says, mumbled against his lips, laughing again when he pulls her closer, holding her so tightly he almost lifts her, “What are you doing?” 

“Trying to carry you,” he says matter of factly, his smile softened by love and the champagne they’d been drinking all evening. “It’s tradition.” 

“Maybe if we were 20 years younger,” she hums as she pulls back, the sound turning into a full bodied laugh and then a squeal when he manages it, her arms tight around his neck as he hooks her arms around his neck, securing herself to him, “Careful of your back.” 

“Like I said, it’s tradition.” He walks into their suite, kicking the door closed behind them and replies, “I’m carrying my wife into our hotel room on our wedding night.”

She can’t help but smile, her cheeks aching with it, before she leans in to kiss him, humming at the taste of champagne and the expensive chocolate dessert Dave’s caterers had served them lingering on his tongue. It was strange to think it was all behind them now, that the day they’d planned was over, the rest of their lives together laid out in front of them. It made her giddy, made love and everything she couldn’t find a name for swirl in her gut. 

Everyone always joked that she could talk him into anything, that all it would take was a flutter of her eyelashes and a smile, and he’d be putty in her hands, but no one ever seemed to realise that it worked both ways. That all it took was a flash of his dimples and the crinkle of the smile lines around his eyes, and she’d give in to anything, every part at his mercy as he was at hers. 

She thinks that must be why she simply holds on tighter despite her concern for his back, because she wants to live in this moment for as long as she can, to bask in his affection and adoration of her. 

“I love you,” she says, kissing him one more time, not missing how he readjusts his gait, how he tightens his hold on her, “So much. But you should put me down now.”

“I love you, too,” he replies, kissing her once more before he sets her down, not letting her drift too far, his arms tight around her back as he holds her close. She yawns and he laughs, gently stroking his knuckles down her cheek, “Want to lie down?”

“Oh God, yes,” she says, toeing off her shoes before he leads her over to the bed. She immediately lies down and he sits next to her, untying his laces and leaving his shoes neatly by the bed, and then he lies down with he. She snuggles up against him, her face pressed against his neck as she sighs contentedly, “I’m so tired.” 

He hums and kisses the top of her head, “It’s been a long day.” 

She pulls back to look at him and smiles, reaching for his hand and linking their fingers together. Her smile gets wider when she feels the cool metal of his wedding ring pressing against her skin, and she runs her thumb back and forth over it. Ever since she’d slipped it on his finger a few hours ago, she’d been obsessed with it, seeking it out by touching it or staring at it - something that had made Penelope make fun of her when she caught her doing it. It was a sign for the rest of the world that he was hers, and she didn’t think she’d ever tire of seeing it. 

“It’s been a good day, though,” she says, lifting his hand to kiss it, her lips catching the edge of his ring. 

“The best.” 

The wedding had been small, much smaller than she ever would have imagined her wedding when she was young, but she didn’t think she’d have ever imagined him either. It was perfect, just them and the people who meant the most to them, and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Staying in the hotel for the night was his idea, something to make the night special, to make it stand out from every other night of their lives. 

She yawns again, and she thinks any plans she may have had for their suite for the night might be short-lived. 

“You’re not going to be mad if I fall asleep, are you?” She asks, settling against him again, humming contentedly, “I know wedding nights are meant to be for sex until we fall asleep from exhaustion.”

He laughs and kisses the top of her head, “Wedding nights are meant for whatever we want them to be for,” he says, running his hand up and down her back, “Haley and I ate leftover cake in bed and fell asleep.”

She chuckles against his neck, the vibration of her joy warming him from the inside out, “I like the sound of that.” 

She’s falling asleep already. He can tell from the sleepiness in her voice, in how she gets heavier against him, and he knows they likely won’t even change out of the clothes they married each other in, the satin of her dress soft and cool beneath his palm as he runs his hand up and down her back. 

“The cake is here somewhere,” he says, looking around the room to see if he can spot the belongings that the concierge had brought up for them. “I’ll find it later.” 

She hums, “Okay.” 

He smiles and stamps his lips against her forehead, “Goodnight, sweetheart.” 

She hums, almost fast asleep, and she turns her head to kiss him, her lips missing his as she catches his chin instead. “G’night.” 

[cloudlessly-light]

[criminalmindsgonewrong]

a run down would be appreciated😭😭 and i sure hope coffee at midnight is a happy fic bc that one i did start reading and its my current obsession, i wont be able to take it if something bad happens to my babies

I won't spoil Coffee at Midnight, but I'm glad you're loving it!!

My other fics, though, I'm going to try and put into categories.

The Multichaps

A Fine Line will take you through every emotion. It's smutty and angsty and stressful but it has a happy ending!

illicit affairs is an ongoing multi-chap that's nowhere near finished. emily and aaron sleep together before her first day on the job, when neither knows who the other is. the affair they begin has consequences for years to come.

touchy subject is complete and is an emotional journey. a teenage emily aborted aaron's baby without telling him, and deals with the consequences of that decision in the decades that come after.

impact married Hotchniss are in a car accident that leaves emily in a coma.

the price we pay. I'll start by telling you that Emily's dead. that's not a spoiler, i literally tell you in the comments. this fic sees JJ try to come to terms with her death and her unresolved feelings for Emily at the same time.

Nodus Tollens is annoyingly incomplete. A complicated fic based on the Arizona-Callie-Mark triangle n Greys.

The One-Shots

The Five Stages of Grief are a Myth is a journey, but it does have a happy ending!

phantasmogoria - emily struggles with the trauma of having spent seven months in isolation, with only her own mind for company. hotch is her lifeline.

found family is a cute little fic i wrote for the 'accidental baby acquisition' tag for criminal minds week 2023. the team find a baby.

built a home and watched it burn may or may not stay an angsty one-shot. it's the first chapter of an unfinished fic i took down a while ago, in which emily and aaron are getting divorced.

Eulogy is an angsty af one-shot of JJ and Hotch telling Emily about the Paris plan.

You'll Always Be My Person is angsty Jemily fluff that I woudn't say has a happy ending, but it's sweet and short.

Habits is a cute little Jemily drabble.

in love with you is Emily POV Jemily angst.

twelve things that didn't break aaron hotchner and the one that almost did is Hotch angst with a happy Hotchniss ending.

The States Game is a cutie team fic based on That Friends Episode.

The Smutty One-Shots

Heat is the only 'only one bed' fic i've ever written. it's just pure, unadulterated, shameless, steamy Hotchniss smut.

every lover's game is what happens after you send the girl you fancy in to flirt with a creepy guy called Viper. it's pure filth. it's great. probably my favourite filth i've written. you're welcome.

trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat is angsty Hotchniss smut. like I earned the angsty smut tag on this one.

when it rains, it pours - more angsty Hotchniss smut. back from Paris, emily is struggling. then comes a storm.

Coming Home is wholesome Jemily smut.

Stress Relief and Debriefing are just pure Emily/Luke smut.

Hotchner's Future Au (in chronological order)

technically these all have a happy ending because emily and hotch are married and trying to cope with parenting x

nature vs nurture after having her first child, emily struggles with her mother's first visit and her criticisms.

a good cat never goes far - proceed with caution if you love Sergio. that's all i'll say. but also read it because i'm proud of it <3

the last first day - emily struggles with her last baby starting school

good intentions, bad excecution - livvy hotchner is a menace, but she's also a great big sister.

red-handed the kids catch emily and aaron in a...compromising position. based on a request to write a hotchners future au fic inspired by the modern family episode 'caught in the act'

my mama's in the kitchen worrying about me - emily struggles with having a teenage daughter who's exactly like her.

Good Crazy - jack announces that he and his girlfriend are expecting. emily and aaron temporarily lose their minds, but what's new?

[snowivyimconfusi]

Okay I'm going to try because nothing else has worked. I've been looking for this fanfic I read on FFNET, probably three years ago. It was a hotchniss one shot where Hotch uses his gun on Emily (iykwim) when they're in a hotel room. I can't find it anymoreeeee. Please help. Thanks

[justagirl-purplejellosg1]

Hotchniss one-shot, standalone story.

Oblivious - in which Sergio comes to the rescue and Dave tries to talk some sense into Aaron:

[whump-town]

saw the hotchgon and was craving hotchniss after 🥹🥹🥹

I have seen more than one request for Hotchniss in my inbox and I swear to god I have been thinking about writing it for ages but I am sometimes very slow and very unmotivated... nonetheless, here we are --

Ask

Hotch gets shot, Emily has too much time to worry

Word Count: 5k

This is already on A03 if you'd prefer to read it there!!

Emily’s been conflicted. Uncertain about the one thing that she knows without a question of a doubt. That’s the problem with knowing the right answer but not having the bravery to do the right thing. Is this the right thing? There isn’t even such a thing. No way to know except when it’s somehow obvious, but only when it’s wrong. How would Emily even know if this was right? It only appears right, but mirages exist solely in confoundment, in the vulnerability of need. 

Hotch leaves socks everywhere. His nightstand always has at least three glasses of water and various other things stacked atop its small surface – Hotch’s glasses precariously at the top. He shaves in the sink and “cleans” it but there’s always little hairs everywhere. He uses three-in-one soap in the shower. Snores. Hogs the covers. Sweats in his sleep. 

But… Emily has never needed Hotch, he’s always been there. She couldn’t explain the feeling because it isn’t just one. It’s like a live wire connects them, courses from one of them to the other in a constant exchange of energy. Which makes it a physical matter, her body knows his well in this exchange of equal parts. She had felt a disturbance in her chest, like her heart couldn’t quite work as well as it wanted, before she had found Hotch in the hospital after Foyet’s attack. Her body stung with the burns from the near severance, the entry and exit of burning high voltage through delicate skin. The wire throws sparks, sizzles and arcs a bright white heat but it stays connected. 

Toe to toe, lip to lip. A give and take of equal parts, understanding until her hand moves to the sore spot on his side or his rough thumb exactly where the throb is in her head. The shivers of desperation and adrenaline, cold lips. The smell of sterility and medicine. The taste of salty tears or copper blood. Love in only desperation, love without bravery and dedication. Love as it exists rawly. 

She knows that he loves her. It soothes her aching heart just a little to consider the warmth. The way that he extends his fingers out to her, waiting for her to take hold of him. Never speaking, never needing to. He looks at her the way no one else ever has – understanding her. Knowing what she wants, how she needs it. There is never a hint of annoyance, of inconvenience. He wants to love, and god Emily hopes she’s shown him the same.

He could die and she will never know or he may live and she still doesn’t know how to change it. Mostly, she can’t. 

She sits. Pacing becomes taxing, her legs now trying to shake embarrassingly with adrenaline now useless but ever present through her. Reid doesn’t seem to mind that she chooses the chair beside him. He’s chosen to sit right beside JJ, and now Emily is forced to hear the trance-like information in his dry, never fluctuating monotone as if all he is stating is merely facts. Devoid of the attachment they all know Reid has for Hotch. But Hotch has been on blood thinners for years, all kinds of medications that Spencer could recall with incredible accuracy and no hesitation to bridge the gap between prescription names and the duty they fulfilled. These things accounted for how Hotch had panicked, why he had fought them so ceaselessly as they tried to slow the rapid dumping of his blood onto the floor. He was in shock. 

The team is already in shambles. Uneasily, none of them know where or how to stand by each other. Trust is such a delicate thing, such a tricky feeling to have alongside love. And that’s what the problem is – love. And if Emily dying and now suddenly being alive was not challenging enough, Hotch has made it worse. He’s made it impossible to feel petty. Forced open again were the roles they know instinctively with one another. Reid and Morgan had kneeled down beside one another, calling to JJ for help on the radio as Hotch lay crumpled on the floor. It didn’t matter that Hotch had lied to them, his warm blood spreading beneath their fingers had warned of distance with permanence. He wouldn’t be across the ocean this time, technically only one emergency phone call away. And so they placed their hands over the wounds, trying to ward off the black closing in Hotch’s vision.

It’s haunting imagery even as Reid recounts it so factually. 

Somehow, it makes the doctor’s news go down more smoothly. Emily’s thinking about how the surgeon looks very much like a nonsense kind of military guy, seems very trustworthy, like the perfect guy to be working on Hotch. It takes a moment to hear the doctor and she frowns, “what?”

“We’re going to take Agent Hotchner up to surgery but the operation room won’t be ready for another twenty minutes.” The doctor says this slowly, watching Emily’s face still mixed with confusion. “He’s asked for you, I can take you back to his room.”

Dumbly, Emily onlys nods. Her numb lips mumble out, “Yeah, okay.” 

They go just down the hall, turn and the doctor motions her forward into a room. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity – not a single trait she possesses at this moment. Professionalism stripped. Masks out of place. The fear of losing Hotch sits immensely on her chest, enough that she can’t stand the reality of seeing him. Had he faltered in her doorway like this? Too afraid to see her attached to machines, in moments so intimate and tense Emily’s mind has wiped them from her memory. It scares her that she might see through him here, feel his weak heart and his dying breath. 

Still, she can’t resist seeing him. Emily has spent so long without them all but even now Hotch feels so far away. She can see that parts of him are not here, have not arrived yet from the plane overseas. Maybe he can see that about her too. 

Emily’s stomach sours at the familiarity of the sight of Hotch laying still. His head turns ever slowly towards the noise at the door, his lips cracking upward feebly. Unable to stop herself, Emily smiles at Hotch. 

“Em–” he mouths the rest of her name and Emily moves faster to him, around the other side of the bed to take his cold, clammy hand. He opens his mouth again and Emily presses her lips to his, preventing his voice from catching on her name. The oxygen canal under his nose is wedged between them, plastic digging into the skin of their faces but deterring neither. Emily moves just enough to touch her forehead to his, their breath hot against the other’s face and still Hotch tries to tip his head up. “Emily,” her name is so loose on his tongue that it’s no better gargled out but it’s her’s. 

“Shh,” tears finally fall down her face and Emily stands back up, hearing the distressed noise that leaves Hotch. She wipes her eyes and when her hands move from her line of vision, his pale fingers are stretched up in search of her. Emily doesn’t think about taking his hand, wrapping both of hers around his, so gentle and mindful of the wires and lines poking under his skin and monitoring his body. His grip is delicate but desperate, her own possessive.

They say nothing. Tears wedge from the corners of their eyes. Uselessly, Hotch opens his mouth and weakly his voice tries to obey his mindless command to say her name. It seems the only thing he’s capable of, the only thing he needs or wants to say. She brings his hand to her lips, first to kiss and then gently pressing a little bit of warmth back his fingers. Emily holds his hand to her face, closes her eyes and relaxes into the feeling of his fingers gently spreading to touch her cheeks, the corners of her eyes, her nose. 

Overcome by some sort of sorcery, Hotch lies perfectly still, his unseeing eyes are aimed at Emily, fingers loosely woven in her’s as the doctor’s prepare to take him to surgery. Emily knows any sort of separation between them would snap him from wherever he’s sunken to, because she knows he’s only kind of here with her. Tethered by the curl of her fingers around his. She watches his eyes sink as sedatives swirl into his IV, the moment that he becomes tired and fights it. 

Irritatedly, Hotch tries to shift and he groans, not feeling pain, but his body is still aware of the injury. His fingers clench and Emily steps a little closer, watching his face as she holds his hand tighter, their palms together. His face relaxes against his will, eyes sinking and hardening in intensity for the briefest moment on her. 

“Don’t go–” he chokes out, she feels a fleeting strength in his grip on her hand. Where his fingers press into the skin of her hand, trying to keep her here. There’s a sharp clarity in the request, in his eyes. He knows what comes next, knows this feeling, he wants to wake up and find her here. He wants her holding his hand. He wants… her.

“I–” her voice is no stronger than his, it breaks more tears from her eyes. I can’t – but she can. She could. Emily is here now, she could be here when he wakes again. She stands watching him watch her, the neverending stream of tears following the soft lines of age in the corners of his eyes. Stray tears that slide down the tip nose. But she’s not brave enough to love him like this when he’ll remember. 

“Emily.”

“Relax,” Emily manages, her voice wet and suddenly Hotch’s hand is so very heavy. “You’re going to be fine,” she says gently, moving her grip to hold the weight of his arm. Mirroring tears fall from their eyes as weakly Hotch tries one last time to speak her name. Only his lips move, his eyes on her until they finally shut, tears falling down his face. His fingers give a twitch and Emily squeezes his hand back quickly.

She can’t let him go. His hand is limp in hers, tears that Emily caused are fat and damp on his dark eyelashes. She hears the doctors and nurses preparing to move him, she knows she needs to place his hand back on the bed, but she holds it. Maybe he is still awake, still fighting desperately to twitch his fingers again, to move his slackened lips to form her name. She squeezes his deadened fingers and this time it’s his name that goes unanswered. “Aaron?” Emily reaches to touch his face, not hearing a nurse trying to direct her out. “I love you,” mindlessly, Emily brushes a tear from his eye. “Aaron?” 

It feels as though there is nothing to say. Dreadfully, aimlessly Emily walks back to the waiting room. The floor… the walls… tile… She moves on feet that just seem to know where to go because her head is empty. Stuffed, almost, with soft cotton like a doll. She can feel the soft, dry edges touching her skull. Maybe it’s just bellows of smoke, nothing solid at all but graciously containing quantities of heat in bursts. 

Whatever it is – it hurts.

—----------------

The knife bites under the side of Emily’s chin and burns where her skin splits under the blade. Blood rushes in her ears, drowning out Ian’s grumbled monologue, the hairs on her arms painful pinpricks. Ian stays close, his hot breath burns her cold skin as he breathes her name, Lauren, against her neck. He comes up, lips brushing above the bleeding cut on her jaw, to her ear. Emily can hear Ian’s smile as he whispers into her ear, making her twitch, trying to flinch away from proximity. “That looks like it hurts.”

Emily takes a shuddering breath, stills herself, and looks over to Ian. Her lips tight, her voice hissing as she reminds him, “You’ve done worse.” She looks into his eyes, unnerved by the knife point touching her skin at one sharp point. Ian had hurt her worse, putting his hands on her too many times to count. Their relationship was always real, regardless of the details. Years ago, she loved him too much, stood in his kitchen with tears in her eyes, glass shards in her hair, and around her feet. Ian would come back a few days later with purple lilies the same shades as her healing bruises. 

Ian smile sours, twists into a snarl. He grabs the back of Emily’s hair, jerking her head back, and Emily shouts at the sudden strain, her toes pushing at the floor as much as she can as he pulls for her to move further than she can. Ian puts the knife back against her throat, against where her throat bulges at the angle, but Emily doesn’t look away. There is no fear. She’s not afraid of him. When Ian sees it, he releases her with a chuckle. Emily rocks back down with a thud, she leans forward, dropping her hair over her face as she wills her tears to go away. She can’t cry. She can’t.

Ian crouches down in front of her, putting his hand on her knee and guiding it up until he’s touching her side. He’d bound her arms and legs to the chair, knowing how clever his Lauren could be when presented with a challenge. He just looks at her, taking his time, she can’t go anywhere. Ian reaches up from her side and touches her cheek with the back of his hand. He smiles when she leans her head away. Shaking his head, Ian sighs. “I wasn’t talking about you,” he says sweetly. She’s startled and doesn’t flinch when he reaches up to push his hand through her hair and hold the side of her head. Bringing her close to him. “I know what you can take, Lauren.” Emily flinches as Ian stands too suddenly, his hands coming down, and grabs the sides of the chairs and jerks her around. “I was talking about him.” The spin startles her, making her unable to gather her bearings for a moment. Staring through a spinning room full of black dots, it takes her a moment to realize what she’s looking at. Who she’s looking at. 

Laying semi-conscious on the floor in front of two of Ian’s men is Hotch. Emily tries to keep a straight face, seeing his drained complexion and his mouth hanging open to suck at laborious breaths while his eyes rest aimlessly on the concrete below.  

Ian gives a silent gesture and the men nod, hauling Hotch upright. One grabs Hotch by the hair, pulling his fallen head up, and places the blade under Hotch’s chin, drawing blood. 

Hotch’s face is pale, white and his throat bared to her as one of Ian’s men holds Hotch upright by his hair. She can see the whites of his eyes. Hotch makes a small sound, a ragged breath, and Emily watches his eyes move. But his efforts get him nowhere, his chest moves faintly with his shallow breaths, his blood just keeps rushing down his front. His pants are soaked. The floor's puddle is only growing. He’ll bleed to death, Emily realizes. He's going to die. Stop. Stop. Stop. Emily sets her eyes forward. Ian starts talking again but she can hardly think, let alone hear. Foyet had Hotch for an hour, at least. Video footage, she’d watched it all, and Hotch had survived each slow-moving second. Survived. She glances over at Hotch again, watching his eyes slowly roll forward again, his consciousness fleeting but there. Still there.

Caught in Hotch’s deadened glaze, Emily sits perfectly still. She can’t look away from him. She watches blood trickle down his neck, slipping down below his collar to gather and soak into his shirt. 

Ian says nothing. The man with the knife smirks and nods his head. 

“No!” Emily yelps but it’s too late. 

Hotch clutches at his throat, not pain twisted on his face but confusion, and he’s looking right at her. His mouth opens and Emily tries to scream his name but she can make no sound, suddenly doesn’t have the breath to.  The men release their hold on him and Hotch falls limply forward, head hitting the ground, and he lays on his stomach. 

Emily watches as he twitches and shakes, as the blood begins to puddle out and slowly stops. 

It isn’t until Ian steps between them that Emily truly believes what’s in front of her. 

“Tell me where Declan is, sweetheart. Don’t make his death senseless.”

Death. Hotch is dead. He’s really dead. Emily’s eyes rake over his prone form, waiting, until she realizes that he has fallen completely still. No longer shaking or twitching. She’s the one shaking, that she has snot and tears soaking her face.  She can’t look away from the back of Hotch’s head, all the short hairs on the back sticking this way and that. All Emily can feel is pain, bright and heavy from her shoulders to her stomach. The nevers. All the things that will never happen again. The fact that she’s sitting here and he’s… and he’s gone and all she wants is for him to come back already. The weight of it sucks at Emily’s air, her hope to live right now bled to death in front of her, and no matter how she gasps for it, every breath isn’t enough.

“Emily!” Ian is in her face in an instant. “Emily!”

Emily suddenly finds her arms free and wildly, eyes pinched shut, blindly she swings at him. Her shoulders are grabbed and Emily jerks with the hard shake she’s giving. Opening her eyes, Emily finds herself inches from Dave, his too-tight fingers holding onto her arms. “Emily?”

She blinks, eyes adjusting to the darkness in the room. Looking at Dave all she can think of is Hotch on that floor. Dave would be devastated, and Emily realizes she’s still crying, still sucking at the air – she’s devasted. Dave says nothing more, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest. His hand rests atop her head and he sways them gently. Emily clings to him, her fingers aching with her hold on his shirt. 

“Oh sweetheart,” Dave whispers, rubbing her back. “I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and worrying myself gray over that man for the last twenty-years.” Pressed against him, Emily can feel him take in a deep breath and shake his head. “Showed his age a little today, huh?” He shivers a little at the thought. Aaron had shuttered, laid there for moments far too long, too still. Even when Aaron had opened his eyes, his mouth had opened to and the only noise to leave was ragged, gasping breaths he took greedily like the air in the room had been thinned out. 

Emily hides herself against him for a moment, knowing immediately that her dreams must not have been very silent. That she must have screamed for Hotch like she had tried in her dream.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She’s there again in an instant, Hotch’s ashy face looking back at her. “No.” Emily sits up, turning her head away as she wipes at her face with the end of her t-shirt. The weight of the grief is still there, it’s pressed and wedged itself up under her ribs. And any thought of it brings another wave of tears and she can’t keep them at bay. 

Dave looks at her softly, “alright.” He knows even if she won’t say – he doesn’t know but he is correct in the educated guess he’s made. She was dreaming about Hotch, not a happy dream. “He’s probably awake,” Dave offers, “old habits die hard.”

Hotch is an insomniac. The coffee he consumed never helped but Hotch is a nocturnal man, Emily knows he’d normally be awake. The hospital had released him with medication, cocktails of things that should certainly put Hotch to bed early tonight, but that is dependent on him taking them as prescribed and… Emily knows he hasn’t taken them. 

“They checked him over good,” Dave reaches over and wipes a tear from the side of her face, “he’ll be moving slow for a while, but he’s okay.” Dave pats Emily’s leg, “might wanna splash some water on your face.”

Emily nods and stops, narrowing her eyes a moment at the ground. She looks at Dave for a moment, compulsively going to question how he’d made the assumption she was going to leave their room and go look for Hotch, and then deciding better. She wipes at her face with her hands again and moves with Dave to stand. Her legs shake beneath her but Emily rights herself, finding them not weak just unstable. All of her is shaking. As she walks to the bathroom, Emily can hear Dave opening the hotel door, peaking outside. 

He comes to the closed bathroom door and gives a soft knock, “He’s getting something from the vending machine.” 

“Okay,” Emily says back. She doesn’t look closely at herself, just under her tired eyes to make sure she really got her mascara off before. Checking the water with her fingers, Emily bows her head and splashes some water over her face, an immediately regrettable decision as she closes her eyes and there he is again. Pale bloodless face and all the white’s of his eyes. The back of his head and the cowlick he can never tame. 

She can’t keep seeing him like this.

Emily says nothing to Dave as she leaves, attempting to look inconspicuous without any hope. Nothing she has done in the last forty-eight hours has been very low profile. Most of the first day is blank. Vividly, Emily remembers the hospital but after she left Hotch’s room she had just moved like a robot. For the team she scraped together a few words, Hotch was conscious but too weak to speak. And then she went to the precinct, picked up all the paperwork she could find, and has been cooped up in her hotel room since. Which has been fine because Rossi has stayed at the hospital except tonight Hotch is in the hotel too, waiting with the rest of them on arranging travel plans in the morning.

Emily steps out into the cold and she sees Hotch immediately. He’s at the end of the hall, leaning on the last bit of railing against the brick. She hasn’t seen him since she’d gone back before his surgery. 

He looks better than he had before. He’s back in his own clothing, only a t-shirt and what looks like pajama bottoms. Naturally, she thinks, he wouldn’t think to grab a coat. Emily tries to make her eyes wander, she scans miscellaneous trash scattered along the ground, cigarette butts left nearby but seldomly within pots that likely once had flowers but not recently, but she looks back up. 

Hotch backs up from the rail, holding onto his chest, and his head down. 

Only a few steps away, Emily moves her foot out and nudges a flowerpot. She smiles when Hotch’s head snaps up. The pain is quickly hidden behind by accusing squinted eyes, “Sneaking up on me?”

Emily rolls her eyes, “if you weren’t going–”

“What?” Hotch interrupts, loudly.

“Nothing,” Emily puffs. She was going to say deaf, if you weren’t going deaf… He should have heard her coming. He needs to get his hearing checked again. “Nevermind. What’re you doing out here?” 

Hotch painfully straightens himself up and nods his head toward the vending machines humming in the alcove. “Snack,” he answers simply. “I could ask you the same,” he cocks his head to the side in a way that very much means that he is asking. 

Emily hums, stepping around him, and nodding her head toward the machines – she expects that he’ll understand her silence, as that’s how it’s supposed to go – but he stays right where he is, that gloomy glare all the more frightening without any lights to soften it. “What?” she asks, finally. 

Hotch shifts himself carefully, his hand never leaves the railing, “Why are you awake?”

Emily huffs, “That was not the question we agreed on.”

Silence. 

More gloomy glare. 

Emily sighs, “I’ll tell you, alright?” She motions her hand toward the machines, “But I need a snack first.”

Hotch accepts the bargain with a nod and his face tenses, jaw clenched as he drags himself forward a step, releasing his grip on the railing, his safety. The next step is stuttered, stiff –

Emily mutters and steps up beside him, wrapping her arm around his back. “Thought you got shot in the shoulder, not the leg.” She can think of no better excuse to invade his personal space and Emily finds comfort in the feeling of the muscles in his back constricting and pulling. Emily can’t help but look up at him, wondering if this is a good excuse in his mind too. 

“I’m bruised head-to-toe,” Hotch manages slowly, wrapping his arm around her, each word spoken one by one. “My head hurts…” 

The sound that comes from Emily is wet, a little less dismissing huff than she would have preferred. She can just see his eyes losing their focus as he thinks, it’s half a laugh and half… not. His pain is unbearable, worse than her own somehow. 

Hotch looks at her, steps not exactly moving in a straight direction and therefore reliant on Emily to keep them going forward. Drugs have made his tongue loose in his mouth, and without his normal filter, Hotch raises an eyebrow, “that can’t be why you’re awake.”

Emily repeats the noise and she can see it’s even more confusing for him, and still an unconscious confirmation. She rolls her eyes, “no.” 

“Very convincing.”

“Not everything’s about you, Aaron.” Looking at him, Emily can’t help but smile and he can’t seem to help it either. Emily turns to the bright lights of the vending machine, slipping out from under Hotch.  “I need chocolate. What’re you getting?”

Hotch leans against a machine, looking at his options. “Pretzels.”

Emily makes a face but makes the selection, watching his treat fall to the bottom of the machine. Her eyes rake over the options, consciously ignoring Hotch’s even gaze on her.

“I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon Tuesday.”

Emily gets a Snickers, puts in the code, and bends down for the snacks.

“It was a relatively clean shot. The bone should heal on its own without a second surgery.” 

Emily’s lip twist, “not very clean.” It leaves only a whisper but when she stands, she can tell he’s heard her. He’s looking at her with a flat, interpreting gaze, like he’s right inside her head, floating around with her racing thoughts. “It wasn’t.” Her voice is tight, her whole body fighting his invasion. “You–” her voice cracks. She’s not fighting him, she’s fighting the tears that have been trying to fall all day. 

Hotch steps forward and Emily throws her hand up. “No,” she says, firmly but softly. “Please…” her voice is still shaky and he stands still, waiting patiently as she takes a deep breath. Emily clears her throat and wipes her eyes, she looks up at him with a smile. Eyes still wet, she laughs, “I can’t handle a hug right now just–” 

Hotch nods, understanding. 

She smiles tensely, forcing another laugh, trying to shake the rest of the feelings away. “God, Hotchner,” she scrubs her hand down her face, “why do you always do this to me?” 

Hotch’s lips tighten. 

Emily takes another shaky breath and she rolls her eyes at the expression on Hotch’s face. “Your face is going to get stuck like that one these days,” she says, raising an eyebrow at him.

His dark eyes keep seeing right into her, his silence strong. With the release of a breath he relaxes just a little, “how do we know it hasn’t already?” 

“Good point,” Emily agrees. “It does usually look like that.”

“Mmm,” Hotch hums. Seeing the face he’s making, Emily already feels annoyed before he speaks. “I can only assume you have more on your mind tonight besides my face being stuck like this. It’s never kept you up before, at least.” 

Emily narrows her eyes, smiling, “you’re relentless.” He seems unbothered by the accusation. Emily’s smile falls into a tense grimace, “it has nothing to do with– … you.” She really wants to finish the sentiment strongly but she meets his eyes. Lying is fun, it’s easy. When lying can also hide her carefully behind the safety of its shade, there’s nothing she would rather do. But she doesn’t want to lie, not when she’s looking right at him. 

“It’s just dreams,” Emily’s voice surprises herself, how softly, tentatively she speaks. 

“They’re never just dreams.”

Does he know? Somehow, Emily thinks he can see right to the dream itself. A strange mirroring image of the man standing over her now and the one on his knees – both looking at her, waiting on her. “It was a different dream  tonight,” her eyes dart between his, “but the same thing always happens…” 

He has to know. He’s looking at her like he can see himself, like he can see her thrashing in her imaginary bonds. “What happens?”

His voice is too soft, he’s too gentle. Emily doesn’t want to cry but her lips are bunching up, betraying her with an ugly cry building itself up. She can’t look at him. “I lose you,” her voice breaks.

“Emily.” Does she say his name like this? There’s little time to wonder, eyes closed she goes where he tips her chin up, knowing he’ll taste the tears falling down her face when his lips press to hers. “Emily,” she can feel his breath on her face. She could hear him say her name over and over. He says it like no one’s ever spoken her name before. The thrill is like hearing your mother language in a foreign country. Like hearing it for the very first time. “I’m here. I’m here.”

“I know,” she complies miserably, “I know.” She cries anyway and he comes closer. Emily realizes that she’s leaning into his side. His side because his arm is strapped securely between them, bound to his chest. His hand on the back of her head until she’s done, left with only a little embarrassment. 

“I have something for you,” Hotch says and Emily laughs wiping at her face. 

“What is it?”

Emily feels with giddy excitement to take Hotch’s hand to go back down the hall to try and silently slip through the room he’s sharing with Reid without waking him. She’s surprised the genius is sleeping at all but the last few days have been exhausting, she doesn’t know how she’s awake. Hotch opens the door to the little porch connected to the room. “Wait,” Hotch whispers, easing the door shut.

She waits anxiously outside, shivering with excitement encouraged with the chill of the wind. It’s all of a minute and the door is opening as Hotch comes back out. Emily can see at once that Hotch’s nerves have taken him over, making him unsure of himself. 

 “It’s… kind of strange,” he says, not meeting her eyes, and she finds the gift curled in his fingers. She moves her hands close to his to accept it into her hand. “The bullet chipped my collar bone,” his cheeks are flushed, red with embarrassment. “You don't have to keep it. I thought… I thought you might want it.”

Bone, his bone. A chip of his bone. Emily closes her fingers around it, squeezing it in her palm. When her fingers open the bone feels so different. Her thumb strokes it curiously. “I love it,” she says, examining it between her thumb and forefinger.

“Y– You do?” Emily looks up – he seems so surprised. Surprised and then warm, something incredibly warm shines over his eyes, changing the way that he’s looking at her. “I love you.” 

Emily opens her mouth, she’s only more confused by Hotch’s certainty. He makes no move to take it back. No nerves. He’s looking right at her and he knows it, he’s just telling her. It’s more than that. She can tell it’s more. He knows she loves him too. 

“You were all I could think about.” 

He had asked for her in the hospital. Had he been saying her name all that time before she’d come back? The same persistence or worse than what she’d seen when she had been right beside him holding his hand. Emily looks all the way up at him as he stands closer and closer. Her lips part for his and she lets him kiss her again, barely restraining from leaning fully into him.  

“I couldn’t stand the thought of dying without seeing you one last time,” he whispers against her lips, looking deep into her surprised eyes. “You’d better be the last thing I see before I die.” 

Emily’s breath stutters, her eyes dart down to his lips, before coming back up to his eyes. “Ask for me,” she whispers.

“I’ll always ask for you, Emily.”

[luhwithah]

get to know your moots better tag game

tagged by: @ssaemhotchner

currently watching: episode 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty

currently reading: a bunch of one shots of hotchniss

last song: Why is she still here? by Reneé Rapp

last song you sang out loud: SOS from Mamma Mia

currently craving: I´ve been craving since the last week a Maruchan :(

coffee or tea: COFFE!!!!!!! I hate tea, don´t ask me why but i can´t drink that think

earbuds or headphones: honestly, both, i like a good pair of earbuds that doesn´t fall of my ears and i LOVE my wired headphones whit all my heart, i've had the same headphones for 7 years and they still work

last place you went other than home: The grocerie store yesterday

favourite crisps/chips flavour: I don´t usuallly eat chips but here (México) people sell chips on the street and those are my favorites

colour that looks good on you: Ive been told that i look good in dark red, navy blue, baby blue and black lol

currently working on: I want to make anothers insta posts (hotchniss ofc) but idk about what, if soomeone have an idea please tell me

tags @midnightsandwriting @kateacademy @hotchnissonly (and everyone who wants to do it)

[elsie-talisman]

prepare for a mind dump… but if anyone wants to make these ideas into fan fictions please do so, and send me the link xxx

i have always been a hotchniss shipper, and i always will be.

BUT….

i have just seen an edit, and i dont know why its never clicked this way before, but i was slightly more convinced of canon gay emily

now don’t get me wrong! I love canon gay emily i truly have watched, and enjoyed, enough jemily, temily, penemily edits to be convinced that our girl likes to taste the rainbow! even when she was up in spokane with the ranger and her cameo in the spin off are a lil fruity

and we all know emily was written (or was planned to be a lesbian originally) which after watching this edit made me wonder when exactly this idea was squashed

i remember once reading they were going to have a scene of her waking up with a woman as the reveal (but i can’t remember if this was a fan idea or actually the plan)

but now I want to know if paget played emily with her sexuality in mind for a while … the scene in the edit from 2x12 seems like she’s actively against going with this detective (although one could argue this is purely from a post lauren/doyle perspective)

plus the scenes with the ranger and her scenes with derek in the early season could be re-read obviously (as people have done, especially with the ranger)

now sadly in 2x16 emily says her date was with a man, so the fantasy is slightly lost, but she could’ve been lying. we know she was raised with her cold/ strict upbringing. im sure emily knew from an early age her sexuality would be rejected by her family, and maybe like our girl frankie dart she liked to keep it all separate!

with the 2x16 deleted scenes in mind too i would’ve loved if they explored the demily romantic relationship, but with emily as a closeted lesbian

(side note, but those scenes and a few more early demily scenes have definitely lead me happily down that rabbit hole)

anyway imagine it….

derek doesn’t believe he’s good enough for emily, as he told reid, he finally shoots his shot and she turns him down

he’s hurt, she’s embarrassed and it’s basically awkward as fuck and the team aren’t sure why

eventually derek goes to emilys house to clear the air and she opens the door wide eyed and clearly scared of something, pretending she’s fine (this is still emily prentiss)

clattering heard from within her apartment and dereks like… oh, do you have company?

suddenly, a woman comes from the kitchen calling out to emily (probably calling her babe for the whole cliche)

emily is panicked derek goes wide eyed and the woman notices he’s there saying hello as emilys in full internal panic and then derek being the great guy he is exhales and introduces himself

fully accepting this significant fact about his friend without even blinking

…now he’s in on the secret

(we could even have a break up the team don’t know it was a girlfriend not a boyfriend then some jemily yearning)

(or instead of emilys apartment and some random girlfriend it could be the ranger in spokane in emilys hotel room)

[thehuntss]

TRY ME

The day Emily pushed the limits too far by risking her life on a case and Aaron struggled to keep his legendary calm.

•

Hi guys !

Just a wee hotchniss shot to start the week, enjoy :)

No warnings.

She didn’t see it coming. It came too fast and it was too dark around her. She was paired with Derek, everything was going fine and they were about to arrest the killer. But when Derek ran out of bullets, she couldn’t wait for him to refill his Glock and went straight after the man, who raped and filmed his victimes before killing them, showing the tapes to his next victims.

Around a corner, she checked everything but the second she turned out, he had jumped on her, slapping her in the face so violently she saw stars for seconds. She could hear Morgan yelling in her ear, just like Aaron.

“Prentiss! God damn it ! Wait for backup!”

She felt the knife penetrating her arm, and she tried her best to muffle a painful moan. Then she heard the gunfire shot. And the dead body of Paul Logan crushed her on the ground like a carpet. Derek, who basically saved her ass, appeared in a halo like Holy Jesus.

“What the fuck Emily ?!” He groaned next to her, pulling the corpse away from her. “Couldn’t you wait for me ? You almost got killed. Hotch is furious…”

Morgan was blank and staring at her, helping her up. She didn’t look that traumatised, but he wasn’t sure she would be the same once Hotch would arrive.

Speaking of the devil.

She could see the way his jaw clenched, his eyes darker than usual. He was also blank but she could notice how angry he was, and she immediately felt bad. Bitting her bottom lip, Emily didn’t look at him first, wanting the ground to open and swallow her. She left her thoughts when his hand reached her chin, lifting it up so he could catch her eyes. Aaron silently examined her face, then her arm and turned away, fist clenched that strong they turned white.

In the plane he didn’t talk to her either, didn’t even check if her arm was ok, didn’t bother to ask what the medics had said about it. Nothing. He didn’t even look at her and Emily knew the night was going to be hard. Back in the Quantico’s bullpen, she thad tried her best to keep quiet, even though his behaviour was starting to irritate her.

“Let’s go home.”

He didn’t stop, making his way to the elevator without waiting or asking to carry her stuff as usual. Even if she always refused his help, today she maybe would have considered the offer. But it didn’t happen. The drive home was silent and she was bitting on her nails, feeling dizzy because of the longing pain in her arm.

“How long are you going to ignore me ?”

She couldn’t handle it anymore. She knew her husband and she really was in trouble. He stayed quiet until they finally got home, closing their door. And only once his coat had been hanged he faced her, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.

“Do you realise what you’ve just done Emily ?”

That was just a whisper. And she could hear all the anger and disappointment in his voice, but also the fear. The fear of loosing her. He had told her millions times, he couldn’t handle her loss, just like she wouldn’t.

He opened his eyes to look at her, and she saw the darkness. They were filled with angst, but also some lust. He wanted to make sure she was alive, she knew it. But they couldn’t just fuck like nothing had happened. That wouldn’t solve their problems and they had this weird way to fix everything with sex. But not tonight.

“You were lucky. You could be dead, imagine if he had cut your carotide ?”

He was mad. She swallowed hard but didn’t stop looking at him.

“He didn’t.”

He did it again, pinching his nose and suddenly he slammed his fists against the wall, sending a shiver down her spine. “Jesus Christ Emily! You’re a federal agent, not a trainee. You acted like one, you disobeyed a superior order and you put everyone in danger. When I say stay paired with your partner, I mean: stay together. Am I clear enough ?”

His ton was polar and even though she knew she’d committed a mistake, she didn’t like the way he was talking to her.

“Am I clear, Agent Prentiss ?” He asked a second time, this time louder than the first one.

“Yes. Yes agent Hotchner, loud and clear.” She finally answered, annoyed, rolling her eyes and making her way toward the stairs. She didn’t want to debate, not here, not right now, not after a week away from their heaven place.

But Aaron didn’t want it to end this way and grabbed her good wrist with strength. Except his arm, he didn’t even move, this bastard. She felt even more humiliated. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“Let go of me.”

“No, we need to talk. I want to know why you did not wait for Morgan. And what the hell were you thinking when you just ran to your death. If you didn’t think I would be devastated by your death, did you even think of the kids ?”

He was still holding her and she knew she could do everything, he wouldn’t flinch. “I said, that I’m sorry, now let go of me Hotch, don’t force me to do something I don’t want. And I don’t want you to say I did it selfishly without thinking of you or the kids, I did it for the case because we had to stop this bastard!”

“Don’t force me either Em…” he was intimidating, almost threatening, and she tried her best to erase some flashbacks. She was thinking how much he loved her, that he had never hurt her and would never. Even when the anger was unbearable. He had never used his strength against her, not unless she was begging for it in their intimate times. “Now, talk to me.”

“Let go of me, now. Got it ?” She spitted, trying to free herself. It felt so humiliating, he was still not moving, holding her with so much ease.

But he didn’t move. Their eyes crossed each others and in a second their lips crashed into another. There was no love, no feeling, just desire and lust. He made sure not to hurt her more, and in one swift move her back was banging loud onto their entrance wall.

“Let go of me.” She begged this time.

She knew how it would end but she couldn’t stop being mad at him, just like he couldn’t. His stare, god, she was frightened but couldn’t let him know. She tried to free herself one more time and he let her go, stepping back.

“Em….I’m not trying to boss you. But I think you didn’t realise the danger, you didn’t realise how scared I was. I can’t lose you, not today, not ever.”

He broke into a sob. All the anger she felt disappeared in a second, she had never seen him break down this way, he was always so strong, this wasn’t their first fight. But he’d never broke. And she felt her heart breaks into pieces into her chest.

“Aaron.”

He didn’t move. He looked devastated, tears slowly running dow his cheeks, the whole world he was always carrying on his shoulders was gone. She felt the urge of protecting him at all costs, and she realised how stupid she had acted. The thought of leaving him and the kids alone and breaking his heart again suddenly appeared in her mind. Fuck.

“Honey, look at me. Please.”

It was a pleading, her voice ringing like a sweet music ringing to his ears. He looked at her and she threw herself into his strong arms. She was sorry, but the words were stuck in her throat. He didn’t need to hear them, he knew. Aaron buried his face into her hair.

“I thought I had lost you forever. I saw myself in front of your grave.”

It appeared crystal clear to her, he was relieving her funeral, but this time knowing she was really dead. Leaving him alone with kids at charge, for the second time of his life. Emily felt like shit, finally realising her fiery action made her husband relieve the worst times of his already so bruised life. “I’m so sorry Aaron…”

She gently pressed her forehead against his, both of their eyes closed, and then kissed him slowly, letting him know how sorry she was and how much she loved him. “Don’t ever think I would ever let you or the kids down. I’m never been as happy as I am now, since we got together. I can’t imagine my life otherwise. And if I have to die, I don’t want it to happen on a case. Believe me when I say it sucks a lot dying on the floor, especially when it’s cold out there.”

He let out a shy smile, sipping off the tears off his eyes. “You did not just made a joke about your first death huh?”

Emily winked at him, giving him this outrageous look. “No I didn’t, it’s all in your mind honey.””

“You’re the worst.”

“But you love me.”

He smiled, guiding her to the living room. “I do, and I will, now and for the rest of our lives.”

At this very moment she thought she couldn’t have hoped for a better husband, he was all she ever needed, the most perfect man a woman could expect in her life. “Honey?”

“Yes ?” He simply answered, apparently searching something in the kitchen. He came back seconds later with a glass of water and some painkillers in his hands. She looked at him with wide eyes, but inside of her Emily knew she shouldn’t be that surprised, he had always been very thoughtful and he knew her more than herself.

“How did…you…”

“Figured that you might need pain-meds at some point ?” He finished for her, addressing her a small wink. She slowly nodded, looking at him. “Because as strong as you are and wants to look, I know you, I know pain can be hard to handle, and I also spoke with the EMT.”

She should have known that, even mad at her he could never stop caring about her. “Thank you. I love you.”

“Love you too sweetheart.” Giving her the water and meds, kissing her forehead. “Take this and then we’ll go get a shower, change your bandages and maybe get something to eat.”

She couldn’t help but smiled. “You’re so bossy, Agent Hotchner.”

[ten-cent-sleuth]

4, 10, 15 and 16 for the writer asks please! :)

Coming right up! :)

4. A story idea you haven’t written yet?

I answered this here as well, but I’m happy to trot out another one. It’s not like I’ll be running out of unwritten ideas any time soon. xD

Since you’re like my Hotchniss mutual (😜), here’s the entirety of a plot bunny I jotted down in a Doc literally just titled “Hotchniss Idea”—

Prentiss is always joining groups. Growing up and moving around, she was categorically, methodically The New Girl. When she joined the FBI, her colleagues frequently iced her out because of her mother and she had to wriggle her way into their dynamics. She often (or at least twice: Doyle and Hotch) dated men who had already experienced marriage and fatherhood. One day, an unsub somehow picks up on this (or he’s been stalking her? or she tells him all this by herself to build rapport?) and—in front of the whole team, naturally—urges her to pick him instead and for once to get to build something. “You’ve always had to fight for approval and justify the space you take up. Affection from your mother, friendship during your youth, trust from your team—it’s never been free, has it? With me, it would be, I swear to you. My love would be unconditional.”

This would, of course, lead to some fluffy team reassurances aaand Aaron getting to comfort Emily about any legitimate lingering insecurities. Welp, it’s not the most fleshed-out idea, and I don’t know that I’d ever get around to writing it, but there we go. :3

10. What is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

Ooh, I’m glad you asked this one because interestingly, my answer changed a couple of months ago!

The oldest WIP that I still haven’t shelved as “probably not going to finish this” is an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Secret Service AU, which I started in like 2020 and which I still consider my baby, my pride and joy, my pet project. However, I suppose the question is more about a draft that has by now been completed, so I will instead say—

—this sucker ☝🏽☝🏽 sat in my drafts from June 12, 2023 (or, uh, June 13 at 04h00 😅) to September 30, 2024. Less than a year and a half might not be too long a wait for a multichap, but this was a 2k-word one-shot! For me, short stories get written within a week or not at all: those tend to be spun out of a whirlwind of feels rather than forged out of conscious outlining, so the heart of the story will decay after too long. Not in quality necessarily, but in vitality—in what it means to me, you know? So I was astonished and thrilled with my muse for making an exception here (and must once again thank @queen-vessaraia-ashlynne for giving that muse its direction again). ;P

15. Favourite weather for writing?

I had never given this thought before! During the summer, I seize the opportunity to write outside, so I suppose perfect walking weather would be perfect writing weather. If I’m indoors and comfortable though, I don’t really notice! In general, I love cloudless sunny skies and a good snowstorm, so maybe those can also be my favourite weather(s?) for writing in particular. ;D

16. Favourite place to write?

Idk if I have one! I’ve written in the bathtub, on the bus, during class, at the hospital, underneath my desk (floor time for those who like to hide and vanish 👍🏽), literally inside the closet, on hills and beaches……and honestly, I’ve found that as long as I am writing, I’m incomparably happy.

Maybe my old dormitory though? I felt very alive and productive there in general, thanks to my first contact with the beautiful intersection between convenience and independence. I’ll probably never see it again though, lol!

Click on the link to send more fic writer asks! 👻

Thank you so much for the questions. <3

[sequinsmile-x]

I Knew You'd Linger Like a Tattoo Kiss - Short Pecks

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A series of unrelated one-shots and mini fics about the many types of kisses Aaron and Emily share.

-x-

Hi besties,

Just some very soft Hotchniss for you all.

I hope you're still enjoying this little series - let me know if you'd like me to carry on! I'm about a third of the way through the list now. If there are any you'd like to see that I haven't done yet please see the list on the master list and send me an ask!

Please see the master list for a full list of tags, and the list of prompts for this series.

As always, let me know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 1.8k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily groans as the alarm wakes her up, the sound mixing with her husband’s laugh as he reaches over her to switch it off, his hand landing on her hip as he settles back down and pulls her closer. He presses his chest against her back as he kisses her cheek, breathing her in as she hugs his arm to her chest.

“Morning sweetheart,” he mumbles, his voice hoarse from sleep. Rough and deliciously hers as he kisses her cheek again. 

“Morning, honey,” she hums and turns her head to kiss him, her lips briefly stamped against his before she pulls back to smile at him. He was gorgeous first thing in the morning, rumbled by sleep and their sheets, his face as relaxed as she ever saw it in the safety of their bed. She kisses him again, unable to stop herself, as she presses a quick, gentle, kiss against his lips before she rests her head back on her pillow. Somewhere along the way, in amongst all the kisses she and Aaron shared - the gentle hesitance of that last first kiss, the passion filled kisses as they grasped at each other's skin, the comforting ones they’d exchange when the other was sad or hurt - this kind was her favourite. The kind they exchanged without thinking, a stamping of her lips against his or his against hers that they’d shared countless times, a soft hello or goodbye, or anything in between, that she now couldn’t imagine living without. “Do we have to get up?” 

He chuckles, huffing out a breath over the top of her head, “Unfortunately.” 

She grumbles and turns in his arms, letting him help her without complaint, before pressing her face against his chest as she snuggles in impossibly deeper, not quite ready to leave the sanctuary of his arms and their bed. As soon as they got up, they’d be pulled in different directions. They’d get the boys ready for daycare and school, Aaron would take Issac and Emily would take Jack, and then they’d go to work - him to the BAU and her to Counterterrorism where she’d moved to when they got married. 

Outside of here, of their bed, there was so much to be done. Here they could just be Emily and Aaron. They weren’t Mom and Dad, or Prentiss and Hotch. They weren’t unit chiefs. They were just them, all expectations left at their slightly ajar bedroom door, the light from the hallway filtering into their room. 

“I’m so tired,” she says, her voice muffled against his t-shirt, “Let’s just stay here all day.” 

He hides a smile against her hairline and rubs a circle on her back, “We could do that. The team could survive without me,” he says, his smile getting wider when she groans against him, the way she lightly pinches his back letting him know she knows he’s making fun of her, “Your team will be fine too,” he kisses her forehead, “And the boys can fend for themselves. 8 months old and 7 are the perfect age to learn how to-”

“Okay,” she says, chuckling as she pulls back, “I get it,” she runs her fingers through his hair, smiles as it flops back down onto his forehead, “I just miss you…this…that’s all.”

He stamps a kiss against her lips before he rests his forehead against hers, “I know. Me too,” he tucks some of her hair behind her ear, “Why do you think I set the alarm for this time every morning?” He kisses her again, “So we can do this.” 

She presses her lips together to try to contain her smile, love for him blooming in her chest, the flowers of it taking up space where her lungs should be and making her breathless.

“You are so-” She’s cut off by the baby monitor crackling to life, Issac’s familiar cry coming down it a second behind his actual cry from the next room. She sighs and stamps her lips against Aaron’s, taking what she can from it until she’s here with him again at the end of the day, and then she pulls back, sitting up and getting out of bed, “Duty calls.” 

He winks at her as he climbs out of bed too, and she smiles before she heads out of their bedroom, ready for another day of her beautifully ordinary life. 

___

Emily hums a nursery rhyme as she paces back and forth in the nursery, Issac in her arms, his face pressed against her neck as she rubs circles on his back. She feels his breathing even out as it skips across her skin, and she tilts her head down, smiling softly when she sees he’s fast asleep. She kisses his temple and whispers her love for him in every language she knows before she lays him in his crib, taking a moment to look at him, to admire his features - her nose, Aaron’s lips and furrowed brow. He was perfect. Perfect and beautiful in a world that was anything but, and she’d do anything to protect him and Jack from it. 

She runs her fingers through Issac’s dark hair, “Goodnight, sweet boy. Mama loves you.” 

She’s quiet as she walks out of the nursery, pulling the door closed gently as she steps out into the hallway. She smiles as Aaron steps out of Jack’s room at the same time. Divide and conquer was their rule with bedtime when Aaron was home from a case. They would take it in turns with each of the boys, would swap between singing Issac to sleep and reading Jack a story each night. Then they’d head downstairs and share a glass of wine whilst watching a movie or just snuggling on the couch. 

When Aaron was away on a case, Jack would help her with Issac. He’d splash his toys in the water in front of him whilst Emily bathed him, drawing out sweet giggles from his little brother. Then she’d put Issac to bed and then Jack. She’d occasionally fall asleep in his twin bed with him, would wake up a couple of hours later with a cric in her neck and her eldest son’s drool on her shirt. She loved the simplicity of it, the softness she never expected to experience, and it made her happier than she ever thought possible. 

Aaron wraps both of his hands around one of hers, sandwiching it between his, squeezing gently as he tilts his head towards the stairs, “Glass of wine?” 

She kisses his cheek, the first signs of his stubble rough against her lips, “It’s like you read my mind.” 

He insists she sits down, patting her on the ass as she goes, a cheekiness to his smile that felt like it was just hers and the boys when she playfully shakes her head at him. He’s with her within a couple of minutes, a glass of red wine in hand as he sits on the couch with her, his arm around her shoulders as he passes her the wine. 

“Thanks, honey,” she says, smiling at the purple staining at the corner of his lips, a sign he’d had a sip of the drink on the short walk to the kitchen. She leans in to kiss him, tasting the wine on his lips, and she hums as she pulls back, “Oh, my favourite.”

He chuckles as she takes a sip of the wine and passes him the glass, “Me? Or the wine?” 

“Both,” she replies, throwing her legs over his lap as she leans against his side, scratching at the nape of his neck with her spare hand, “Definitely both.” 

The rest of the evening passes by quickly. The time melting away around them as they simply enjoy each other’s company. They talk about their days, about the things they missed by no longer working together, and about the boys. She tells him a story Issac’s daycare teacher told her, a second-hand version of events about their little boy laughing repeatedly at peek-a-boo. Aaron sees the tension in her frame as she tells him, the guilt pressed into her smile and her dimples because she doesn’t need to say that she feels bad she wasn’t there. He already knew, had held her hand and kissed her forehead whenever she cried about feeling like a bad mom because she wanted to work, her worries about becoming her mother never too far away, the weight of them pressing down on her chest. 

She did the same for him too. Returned the affection he gave away easily, gave it back to him just as simply whenever his monsters came calling. Whenever he told her he felt guilty about what happened to Haley, or whenever Jack would forget a little bit more about the woman he got his eyes from. 

She’s half asleep, her eyes slowly drifting shut as she’s lulled into it by his fingers trailing up and down her arm, when he kisses her temple, “Bedtime?” 

She hums and nods, chasing his lips to stamp a kiss against them, “Bedtime.” 

They get ready for bed around each other, the routine a dance of sorts they’d perfected years ago. He slips past her, his hands on her hips as she does her skincare routine, so he can grab his toothbrush. She smiles at him in the mirror as she brushes her teeth too, winking at him before she spits into the sink, kissing his jaw as she mumbles against his skin that she’ll meet him in bed. 

She sinks into bed, lets the scent of him on their sheets wash over her as she pulls the covers around her. She shivers at the cool press of them against her skin, but then he’s there, warm and hers and chasing away the cold. 

“You’re comfy,” she mumbles, tucking herself against his side, her face pressed against his neck, “And warm.” 

He runs his fingers through her hair, lightly scratching at her scalp as he holds her in place - as if there was anywhere else she’d rather be than right here with him, “So that’s why you keep me around?” 

She pulls back just enough to look up at him, “That,” she says, kissing him quickly, “Among many other things,” she yawns, “I’m so tired. Today was a long day.” 

He smiles and hooks his finger under her chin, encouraging her to kiss him. She hums into it, her forehead resting against the bridge of his nose. “Ready to do it all again tomorrow?” 

She nods and kisses him, her lips briefly against his before she pulls back to smile at him, “Always.”