weeklyhotchniss

[weeklyhotchniss]

I Knew You'd Linger Like a Tattoo Kiss - Neck Kisses

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

-x-

Hi besties,

Just another short, very sweet, thing about our two idiots.

This fulfils the 'neck kisses' prompt.

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: 1.1k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

They rarely had the chance to just exist. 

There was always something going on. There was always a soccer match on a Saturday morning, or an invitation to a night out from Penelope. There were always chores and things to do around their, new,  house.  

There was always work. Their jobs were hectic, the nature of their work as unpredictable as it was busy, and it took up more of their time than she thinks either she or Aaron would like. She saw it in his eyes sometimes, saw the guilt that would linger there if he told her he’d have to stay late, and she knew it was a hangover from his marriage to Haley, a lingering fear that he was repeating the mistakes of his past and doing damage to their marriage, too. It was something he struggled with even more now that she no longer worked for the FBI. She’d started to work for Interpol again shortly after she and Aaron became official. It was the right choice for them, not just because of the rules they’d broken to be together in the first place, but because she didn’t feel like herself anymore after everything with Ian. The job change had been what she’d needed, and it had allowed her to be the partner she knew Aaron deserved. 

She grimaces as another wave of nausea rolls through her body, and she sips her ginger ale, hoping it will settle her stomach even just a little bit, and she smiles, her hand low on her still flat belly as she rubs her thumb back and forth below her belly button. They’d only known she was pregnant for a few days, and the disbelief hadn’t quite worn off. The feeling that this wasn’t real, that she’d wake up from a dream alone and in Paris, dead to almost everyone, still lingering under her skin, making her itch in a way she hoped would never fade because she never wanted to take any of this for granted. 

Life was about to get even busier, and she couldn’t wait. 

She loved their beautifully hectic life; she wouldn’t want to change it for anything, but when she had the chance to spend a lazy day with her husband, it was an opportunity she always grasped with both hands. 

Jack was away at camp for the weekend, so they had the house to themselves, and Emily intended to make the most of it. 

“You okay, sweetheart?” 

She turns to look at him, smiling at his slightly rumpled hair and the sleepy look in his eyes. They’d got out of bed hours ago to make breakfast, and they’d been snuggled on the couch ever since, wrapped up around each other as they watched movies they’d seen countless times before. She hums and sips her ginger ale again before she puts the can down on the coffee table and lies back down, snuggling up against him again, her back against his chest. 

“Your kid hates me, I think,” she grumbles good-naturedly, turning her head just enough to stamp a kiss against his lips, “I feel like crap.” 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, his lips against her neck as he presses a kiss there, “Is there anything I can do?” 

“I’ll be okay,” she says, reaching for his hand and placing it over her stomach, “It will all be worth it in the end.” He kisses her neck again, and she can feel his smile against her skin when it makes her shiver. “Don’t get any ideas, mister,” she says, tilting her head to look at him, “Sex is what got me into this mess in the first place.” 

He chuckles and kisses her neck again before stamping his lips against her cheek, “We should tell Jack soon,” he says, thinking out loud more than anything, “He’s going to notice you’re sick.”

“When he gets home?” She offers, smiling as she thinks about it. Jack had been asking for a baby brother or sister since before she and Aaron had even discussed it themselves. He’d asked her when they told him they were together, his expression hopeful as he asked if it meant he’d be a big brother one day. She still laughed when she thought about it - about the look of panic that had flashed in Aaron’s eyes at his son’s question, about how he smiled at her when their eyes met over Jack’s head. 

She’d always wanted this, had always wanted to be part of a family like the ones she always used to look at with envy, and now she had it, and it was everything she always knew it would be and more. 

“He’ll be so excited,” Aaron says, and she nods, humming in response as she settles back against him. 

“I got him a t-shirt,” she says idly, twisting Aaron’s wedding ring around his finger, “It says ‘big brother’ on it,” he pulls back to look at her, love and adoration she still wasn’t quite sure she deserved painted across his face, the way he felt about her stitched into every fine line and his dimples. It makes her blush, but not with embarrassment, but joy because she knew she looked at him the same way too. “I saw it in the store and couldn’t resist. I thought we could give it to him when we tell him.” 

“He’ll love that,” Aaron replies, kissing her shoulder and then her neck, smiling when she rolls her eyes at him, “I love you.” 

She captures his chin to hold him in place, to stop him from tickling her neck again, and she kisses him properly, putting everything into it that she hoped one day she’d find the words for. Nothing ever seemed to be enough, never seemed to capture just how much she did love him, three little words were all she had, but inadequate for how she felt. 

“I love you too,” she says, kissing him again before she pulls back, “Now, let's watch another movie.” 

He salutes her and grins when she rolls her eyes again, and then he reaches for the remote. “You take our lazy days very seriously.” 

“Well, we are about to have even less of them,” she says, getting as comfortable as she can while he flicks through the movie options on the screen, “I don’t think a newborn would make this any easier.” 

“Worth it though, right?” He asks, even though he already knows the answer, and she squeezes his hand and lifts it to kiss his knuckles. 

“Totally worth it.” 

[weeklyhotchniss]

ekphrasis (1/3)

Read on AO3 here!

ekphrasis (noun): a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art. Or, Hotch, Emily, and five artists who bring them closer together, plus the one that is their favorite.

It’s just a brush of her lips against his cheek, not unlike the painting; and perhaps it’s because of this similarity or perhaps it’s because of something else entirely, but when she pulls away with a demure “see you around, Aaron,” he reaches for her instinctively, his hand catching her wrist. “Emily.” “Yes,” she answers—not in question, but in permission.

[weeklyhotchniss]

💜 Fic Recs: June 15-22

songs of innocence and of experience (G) by @ssaemilyhotchner chapter 1/1 tags: retirement, domestic fluff, evolution hotchniss, post-ep: s18e04

She always tells him not to, but he’s waiting up for her when she arrives home a few hours later. Sometimes it still takes her breath away to know that this is her life, that he is her life: a book open in his lap, reading glasses low on the bridge of his nose, the sum of him impossibly soft in the dim living room light.

“Hi,” he says in a low rumble, crossing over to greet her.

She melts readily into his embrace, humming lightly at the slow press of his lips to hers. “Hi.”

“Go get settled,” he urges after a few more lazy kisses. His hands skate up and down her sides as he holds her, and he smiles at her ensuing shudder. “Your wine is breathing.”

“God, I love you.”

exposure (M) by @duchessas chapter 5/5 tags: young hotchniss, idiots in love, love confessions, longfic

Of course that’s how it appears. Aaron and Emily have never spoken to anyone about their past, keeping it between the two of them. Just another little secret. What's one more secret between us? Emily had asked him all those months ago. At the time, the clandestineness had seemed like the best option, but now - well. 

With a considerable effort, Aaron stops pacing and looks from Dave to Morgan and back again, finding expectation written in both of their expressions. They are waiting, waiting for Aaron to explain himself. They don’t understand the depth - the history - that binds Aaron to Emily. They don’t know that Emily Prentiss has held Aaron’s heart in her small, capable hands with her bitten, picked at nails for longer than Aaron has been their Unit Chief. They don't know that Aaron Hotchner, so restrained and reserved, burns for Emily in return.

exit wounds (T) by @leavemurph chapter 1/1 tags: alaska, getting together, only one bed, episode: s5e21

"Let's get you warmed up, shall we?"

And oh. Oh, that is so unfair. Emily's been trying. Really trying. To stay neutral. To stay sane. To keep her libido in a box with seventeen locks. But that sentence? In that voice? In that proximity? Yeah. No. She's toast.

"Hotch," she breathes, laugh cracking at the end. "Jesus, you're... wow. Okay."

“I have warmer clothes than that,” he says. It comes out too fast, too defensive. Her mouth is against his neck, her breath caught somewhere between a chuckle and a pant. “That’s what I meant.”

You've Got a Friend in Me (G) by @sequinsmile-x chapter 3/3 tags: domestic fluff, pregnancy, sergio prentiss

She chuckles as she feels Sergio’s purr vibrate through her chest, and she looks at him, curled up next to Rose with his chin resting on her tiny back as Emily holds her in place with her hand on her bottom. 

She wasn’t the only one who was happy. 

Sergio had been obsessed with Rose since they brought her home just a few hours ago. He’d sniffed her, his expression curious as he gently booped her sleeper covered feet with his nose, and ever since he’d seemingly determined she was the same creature he’d been in love with for months, he’d been stuck to her side. 

TRACKING #WEEKLYHOTCHNISS ❖ NEED A FIC REC?

[weeklyhotchniss]

hiii do you have any fics (or more so oneshots) about hotchniss + jack? maybe hotch finally telling jack he’s dating em or smth idk lol

Hi! 💜 I couldn't think of specific fics in which Hotch tells Jack that he and Emily are together, so to make up for that, here are some of my favorite takes on Hotchniss + Jack.

i hear her voice in the morning hour (NR) by @leavemurph

"Turn that... thing down, it's... really loud," she manages to get out, the words tumbling awkwardly, her tongue tripping over itself. The only word that lands with any clarity is ‘loud’. Kid doesn't look away from the TV but raises a single hand in acknowledgment. A wave? A swat? A dismissal? Hard to say. "Jesus, mom. One sec. Top ten situation here." Top ten situation. Okay. Now that makes so much sense why his face is so... familiar. And why the house is familiar. And why is it that everything seems perfectly in place—everything except her? Mom, he said. She's someone's mom? What happened to her. She forgot her own son? God, this feels weird. Loud. Noisy in ways it shouldn't be. Maybe she needs to sit down. Or just—lie down? Five minutes. Five minutes of eye shut. Things will be fixed then.

Building Blocks (G) by @sequinsmile-x

He’d started calling her mom years ago. A slow transition from calling her Emily into the moniker that meant more to her than she’d ever care to admit. Even now it still warmed her from the inside out, made her feel happy in a way she thought she was never destined to experience. They’d tried to add to their family, tried to give Jack a little brother or sister, but it had never happened for them. It still made her sad sometimes, the slightly out-of-focus image of a child that was half her and half Aaron always just out of her grasp. It made her relationship with Jack, the little boy who she knows she couldn’t love more even if she had carried him herself, all the more precious to her. “He actually wants to talk to you about something,” Aaron says, a knowing smile on his face that makes her stomach flip. It was how he’d looked at her before he proposed, a nervous edge to it as if he’d thought she’d ever say anything other than yes. She frowns in confusion as he tucks some of her grey hair behind her ear, and it only makes his smile wider, “Come on, he’s in the living room.”

Just About Jack (G) by innerslytherin

"I don't know how to do this," he blurted, looking at her. Emily stared at the flowers, then up at him. She felt a smile spread across her face. Had it really been this easy all along? "This is a really great start," she said, taking the flowers. She curled her other hand around his, pulling him into the apartment. As soon as he closed the door behind him, she slid her arms around his neck, pulling him close. She pressed her forehead against his jaw, drinking in the scent of him. His arms closed around her, gentle and strong. "I couldn't believe Dave when he said..." Aaron murmured. "What?" she prompted, lifting her head to look at him. "You...don't just want Jack?" he said hesitantly. "You want me too?"

+ some extras

I try not to plug the same author more than once per post, but I'd be remiss if I didn't say that SequinSmile does pivotal moments in Emily's relationship with Jack (and therefore, in Emily's relationship with Hotch) so well. Building Blocks is just one example of that - there are plenty more feel-good, fluffy, 'first time calling her mom', sick day comfort fics where that came from!

Also, you specified oneshots and I already broke from that with leavemurph's fic (I just had to! It's so unique and sweet!), but should you feel like reading something equally as long, I love the way @eyesontheskyline writes Jack in every right thing. It's a 5+1 that fits into her reckless universe, and trust me - that +1 will make your heart ache in the best way.

Happy reading!

[weeklyhotchniss]

Solace

She’d convinced herself pregnancy would be easier this time around, that because she’d done it once before, there would be fewer surprises this time around, that she’d be more prepared. Then the doctor had told her she was looking at two babies on the ultrasound scan, and all of that confidence disappeared. 

A one shot in my series of unrelated kissing prompt fics

-x-

Hi besties,

This is another edition of 'Vic learnt something horrifying about pregnancy that she didn't know before and decided to do it to Emily'.

This is them being soft idiots in love with each other and their family, and is exactly what I needed to write on overly warm, long Tuesday <3

As always, let me know what you think.

-x-

Warnings: pregnancy

Words: 2.2k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Mama, head hurts.”

The whine in the toddler's voice makes Emily ache, and she turns her head to kiss Lucas’s head, breathing in the smell of his strawberry-scented shampoo.

“I know,” she says, tucking him as close to her side as she can. She presses another kiss against his hairline, hoping it soothes him like it used to when he was a tiny baby curled up on her chest. She tries to smother a cough, but fails, and she sighs as she pulls back.“I know, baby.”

Lucas had picked up a cold from daycare, a bug that had swept through the children, and now their house, like wildfire. Emily knew it was inevitable she’d catch it. The two-year-old had been all about her since the second he was born, but Lucas was even more all about her when he was sick. He’d desperately burrow into her side in a way that Aaron always joked was him trying to climb back inside of her, seeking out the love and comfort she always had waiting for him, for all of her Hotchner boys. 

“I not baby,” he says, frowning as he pulls back to look at her, and she has to press her lips together to stop herself from smiling too widely. He was exactly like Aaron, a carbon copy of his father, right down to his dimples and his frown, and she loved it. She loved seeing her husband’s smile flit across her son’s face, a version of the smile she loved so dearly unburdened by trauma and pain, innocence pressed into the very corners of it that she’d burn the world down to protect. Lucas places his hand on her belly, his frown breaking into the smile she loved so much as a foot kicks against his tiny hand, “They the babies.” 

Twins. Twin girls, no less. 

She and Aaron had decided they wanted another baby when Lucas turned one. Time hadn’t necessarily been on their side, and it had taken a long time for her to get pregnant with Lucas. This time around, it took less time, but still long enough to make her worry it never would. When she finally found herself looking at a positive pregnancy test, the mix of shock and happiness had made her burst into tears in their bathroom. Aaron had rushed in, ready to comfort her like he did every month, but she’d smiled at him and he knew.

She’d convinced herself pregnancy would be easier this time around, that because she’d done it once before, there would be fewer surprises this time around, that she’d be more prepared. Then the doctor had told her she was looking at two babies on the ultrasound scan, and all of that confidence disappeared. 

With Lucas, they hadn’t found out what they were having. Emily had been resolute, determined that it would be a surprise when the baby was born, and Aaron was - as ever - happy to support her in whatever she wanted. The moment she found out, the moment Lucas was passed to her and she was told they had another son, it was everything she’d ever wanted it to be, everything she’d waited for through every difficult moment, worth it the second she felt her little boy’s skin pressed against hers. With the twins, she wanted to find out as soon as possible, quipping to Aaron that finding out there was more than one baby growing inside of her was surprise enough for one pregnancy. 

She was 7 months along now and exhausted, but excited for this next stage in their life and, she thought, it would be nice if at least one of the girls looked like her. The doctors had told her to stay as relaxed as possible and Aaron took the order seriously, it’s why he was in the kitchen with Jack making dinner and she was curled up on the couch with their youngest - their youngest for now, letting him snuggled against her as she tried to make him feel better. 

“Sorry, sweet boy,” she says, kissing his temple again, hiding a smile in his hair. “You’re right,” she pulls back to cough, groaning when she feels her whole body shudder with it. She coughs again, barely recovering from the first one, and a sharp pain spreads through her side, making her breath catch in her chest as she places a hand over the place where it hurts. “What the fu…” she trails off, just about present enough to stop herself from cursing in front of her two-year-old. For a second, she thinks it’s faded, that the pain was a weird quirk of having one of her daughters pressed right up against her lungs, but then she breathes in and it happens again. She presses her lips together, desperate not to freak out her little boy, and she runs her fingers through his hair, “Why don’t we go see what Daddy and Jack are up to?”

He nods enthusiastically and jumps up off the couch, already running towards the kitchen before she's even up off the couch. The pain is sharp as she straightens out, and she places her hand on her side, rubbing against it in an attempt to soothe the pain to no avail. She’s about to call out for Aaron, not wanting to worry either Lucas or Jack, but then he’s there, walking into the living room with a smile on his face. 

“Lucas seems to be feeling a little better at least…” he drifts off when he sees her, his smile melting into a frown as he walks over, his hand on her elbow, “Sweetheart, are you okay?” 

“I don’t know,” she says, wincing as the intake of breath to speak makes the pain briefly worse, “This pain came out of nowhere.” 

“Is it contractions?” He asks, and she loves him for being calm so she doesn’t have to be, her port in a storm as the waves started to lap at her ankles. 

She shakes her head, “No, I don’t think so. It’s…too high up?” She tries to explain, tries to place the pain that feels familiar but she can’t name, her eyes wide as she looks at him, “I have no idea what it is.” 

He nods and squeezes her elbow, leaning forward to stamp a kiss against her forehead, an attempt to sooth her just like she’d been doing for Lucas for days, “Okay, I’ll call Jess and see if she can come sit with the boys, and then we’ll go to the hospital to get you and the Mini Prentiss’ looked at.”

She smiles despite her growing concern, and her lower lip trembles, “Mini Hotchners,” she corrects, and he winks at her.

“I don’t know, causing trouble before they are even born seems like Prentiss behaviour to me.” 

___

Her anxiety is made a little better when an initial exam in the emergency room lets them know the twins are okay, and that Emily isn’t in labour. 

The pain doesn’t stop, though, it’s sharp and consistent, made worse by breathing or moving too quickly. The thing that keeps her grounded is Aaron. His hand in hers and his presence a comfort she had once lived without but knew she never could again. She turns to look at him as he kisses her knuckles, one of her hands sandwiched between both of his as he sits in the chair next to her bed, and she sighs, wincing again as her chest hurts. 

There’s a knock on the door, and the doctor walks in, a different one than the one who’d checked the babies were okay. Her smile is kind, and what Emily thinks is supposed to be reassuring. 

“I’m Doctor King,” she says, walking over towards the bed Emily is sitting up on, “I’ve been told you have acute pain?”

“Yeah,” Emily replies, “It hurts here,” she says, placing her hand on the spot in question.

“Is it okay if I examine you?” Doctor King asks, and Emily nods. She winces when the other woman presses her fingers lightly against the source of the pain. “Does it hurt more when you breathe?” 

“Yes,” Emily grits out, squeezing Aaron’s hand tightly, “And if I move,” she coughs and whimpers, a sound she can’t deny because of how much it hurts, “And when I cough.” 

“Were you coughing before the pain started?” She asks, and Emily nods, making a knowing tight smile pass across the Doctor’s face, “I think you have a fractured rib,” she says, moving her hand up slightly further, nodding when Emily winces again, “Maybe two.” 

Suddenly, it clicks into place. The familiarity of the pain she knew she’d felt before, a pain she’d felt countless times over the years, but it had always happened because of trauma. Because of a takedown gone wrong, or the violence of men with nothing more to lose, but she hadn’t hurt herself. 

She’d been sitting on the couch with her son. 

“Fractured ribs?” Aaron asks, sounding as incredulous as she felt, “How is that possible? She didn’t fall.” 

Doctor King sighs and nods, “It’s rare, but it does happen in some pregnancies,” she points at Emily’s bump, “One of your babies is quite high up, and the internal pressure on your ribs means that something as simple as a cough can make them fracture.” 

“My cough made me fracture two ribs?” Emily asks, choking on a laugh and then wincing, “That’s…ridiculous.” 

Doctor King hums sympathetically, “Pregnancy really is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?” She quips, “It feels like two fractured ribs, the only way to absolutely confirm is with an X-ray, but with your pregnancy-”

“No, that’s okay,” Emily says, cutting off the offer before the doctor can finish it, “I’ve had fractured ribs before, this feels like that, now that I know it’s possible.” 

“Then you’ll know how to deal with it,” she replies, “Tylenol, ice packs, breathing exercises, avoiding strenuous activities.”

Emily laughs disbelievingly, “No strenuous activities?” She asks, “I’m meant to give birth to two babies soon, and they could come anytime from six weeks from now.” 

“One thing at a time, Emily,” Doctor King says, her kind smile making a return, “Ribs can heal in anything from three weeks, as long as you rest,” she flicks her gaze to Aaron, “And are maybe weighted on hand and foot.”

Emily hums, nodding as she tries to calm herself down, “He does that anyway,” she says, wiping some tears from her cheeks, “He and our boys don’t let me do anything.”

“Then you should heal up in time to have your girls the way you want to,” she replies, smiling at her one last time, “I’ll go fill out your paperwork for you, and then you’ll be good to go home.” 

Emily nods, mumbling a thank you that is drowned out by Aaron’s more enthusiastic one. She huffs out a breath and clenches her teeth when it hurts. 

“You were right.” 

Aaron kisses her knuckles and smiles softly at her when she turns to look at him, “About what, sweetheart?” 

“They aren’t even born yet and they are causing trouble,” she says, unable to fight her smile at the thought of it, “Like mother, like daughters, I guess.” 

He stands up and kisses her forehead, then her cheek, and then the corner of her lips, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

___

“She’s kicking.” 

Aaron smiles and turns to look at his wife, his attention immediately on her and her bump, “Which one?” 

“Baby A,” she says, scrunching her nose up at the nickname the doctors had assigned the twins. They needed to come up with names, two names, soon. A book that was supposed to help was on her nightstand, post-it notes -  green for her, yellow for Aaron - spread throughout it to mark out names they liked. The page with the name Lucas on it was still dog-eared from last time, a fold she would never unfold so she could remember that moment, the second she knew she’d found their son’s name. She looks at Aaron and tries to smile, “I think she can feel the cold from the icepack.” 

He smiles sympathetically at her and shifts closer, careful not to jostle her as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, “Are you okay, sweetheart?” 

It was a question he’d asked multiple times since they left the hospital, and it was one she didn’t know the answer to. She’d put on as brave a face as possible, had slipped back into old habits when they got home, and Jack was still awake way past his bedtime, concern painted across his features as he asked if she and the babies were okay. She’d told him yes, had hugged him, her eyes and teeth clenched tight to hold back the wince when he unintentionally pressed against her fractured ribs. 

“I don’t know,” she answers honestly, shrugging ever so slightly, “I’ll let you know when I do, though.” 

He smiles and nods, kissing her temple as he breathes her in, “I’ll be here when you’re ready.” 

She pulls back just enough to kiss him, her hand on his cheek as she holds him in place, “You owe me for this, you know,” she quips, “Not only am I giving you two more children, but I’m literally breaking bones to do it.” 

“You’re right, I owe you,” he laughs, bright and beautiful, and he nods, his forehead against hers, “ But I owe you everything anyway.” 

[weeklyhotchniss]

exposure - duchessas - AO3

Chapters: 5/6

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Rating: M

Warnings: no archive warnings apply

Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss

Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, Elizabeth Prentiss, Jason Gideon, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Penelope Garcia, Haley Hotchner, Jack Hotchner

Additional Tags: Young Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Smut, young Emily being an absolute diva, some references to cannibalism lol, you know which episode I’m talking about, references to infertility, discussion of abortion, past child abuse

“You remember what I was like as a teenager, right?” Emily asks him, raising an eyebrow. “You must know I wasn’t - and still am not - the easiest.”

Aaron turns this over for a minute. “We don’t just love people because they’re easy.”

Some love stories are beautiful. Some are cautionary tales. For a few people, they are both. A young Hotchniss AU that spans from the summer of 1990 to Season 4.

A summertime miracle. Thank you so much to everyone who’s been reading along with this story and encouraged me when I couldn’t see a way to finish it - I really hope you like this last chapter! I’ve written a little epilogue that will be posted next week. Enjoy 🤍

[weeklyhotchniss]

songs of innocence and of experience

Read on AO3 here!

Emily’s conversation on the jet with Tyler motivates an important decision. Post-ep for S18E04.

They’re a well-oiled machine by now: when Emily returns, dressed down in airy cotton pants and his Georgetown Dad shirt, Hotch is back on the couch, a space made for her between his legs. She nestles in with her back to his chest then stretches to grab the glass from the coffee table. “Tough case?” he asks, his arms wrapping snugly around her waist once she’s had her first contented sip. Her eyes are still closed when she answers. “Yeah.”

[weeklyhotchniss]

A little piece of paradise - 25

Summary: Aaron's departure of the FBI is near and he's time now for him to put his resignation letter on Strauss's deck.

Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss and Erin Strauss.

Contents: pregnancy (remember, Emily is still pregnant), light angst, mention of alcohol.

This text will be an AU with a sudden canon-divergence. I wrote it when I was rewatching the show, so many chapters will be directly related to some episodes of season 4. There will be 28 chapters.

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

Read on AO3 / lire sur AO3

___

Aaron walked down the corridor, his head full of a jumble of confused thoughts. He had his letter of resignation in his hand and was about to place it on his superior's desk. The emotions he was feeling at the moment oscillated between two poles. On the one hand, he knew he was doing it for a good reason: to ensure that his unborn child would have everything it needed for their well-being; but on the other, a nagging wrench was growing in his chest as the fateful date approached.

Despite its many drawbacks, he loved his job, he enjoyed his position, and he cherished his team. Finding the same fulfillment elsewhere seemed impossible, and he gradually resigned himself to spending five days a week, eight hours a day, doing a thankless job that gave him no satisfaction. He was also preparing to have to relearn everything from his colleagues, to force himself to apply what social conventions expected of him as a newcomer, and to pretend to ignore the suspicious glances and frowns of those strangers who would be unsettled by his weird behavior. He was going to have to memorize a new route, get his bearings back, re-establish his automatisms while managing an infant he would surely have to look after alone at times. And then he was going to unravel the ties he'd forged with his men, aware that they would naturally drift away from him as time went by, so that they'd only see each other once or twice a year.

These were all concerns he kept to himself, so as not to stress Emily, who still felt she should have been the one to leave. He reassured her that everything was going to be fine, that she didn't need to worry about it – her mind was already occupied with the impending birth – but he wasn't sure he could quite manage it. She knew him better than anyone and was not fooled by his lack of sociability and adaptability. He could see she was watching over him more than ever, spying on his reactions and constantly repeating that he was smart and good. Instead, he tried to divert her attention to their very near future, with varying degrees of success.

     In fact, he wasn't feeling particularly serene at this hour, as the section chief's office loomed on the horizon. How was she going to react? He had imagined several scenarios, most of which involved her more or less ostentatiously savoring her victory, but anything was possible and, frankly, it didn't matter. All the steps had now been taken, and nothing she could say would change the content of this letter. The only thing that bothered him in the end was that he'd have to swallow his pride and take the glint of glee that would shine in her eyes. A scene he wished he'd never had to experience.

“Chief Strauss,” he greeted her, knocking on the half-open door. 

She looked up from the document she was reading, raised an eyebrow and closed the pouch.

“Hotchner? What brings you here?”

“This.”

He stepped forward and handed her the envelope with her name written on it. She took it with her fingertips, cautious.

“What is it?”

“I leave you the pleasure of discovery. Have a nice day.”

He turned his back on her without further ado, ready to set off again.

“Aaron!”

The peremptory tone froze him in place, but he didn’t turn around anyway.

“Get back.”

Rolling his eyes, he obeyed and camped in front of her, stiff as a board. He had hoped to escape this face-to-face encounter. He wished he'd had time to go back to his own office, where he'd have known how to wait for her. Instead, he had to maintain his position in enemy territory and witness a spectacle that would displease him.

“What's this?” she asked, holding up the white rectangle as if it were covered in mud.

“Good news,” he replied with a mock sneer at the corner of his lips.

“But still?” she grumbled, not enjoying this guessing game.  

He had no desire to make things easier for her, and even less to announce orally what he had already struggled to write.

“Open it and you’ll see. Let me reassure you, it won't do you any harm.”

She frowned and hesitated before finally trusting him. Grabbing a letter opener, she tore open the envelope, retrieved the letter it contained and read the subject of this unexpected correspondence. She immediately abandoned her reading and turned her gaze on him.

“Is that a joke?”

“No.”

She didn't seem at all pleased with the gift. On a contrary. Surprised, he tried not to show it.

“Why?” she wanted to know.

“I have found better elsewhere.”

It was a lie. He hadn't yet found anything to his liking, but the search was on. He was only keeping his fingers crossed that it would come to fruition before the baby was born. In any case, this was of no concern to the fifty-something, who continued dubiously:

“Better than the agency you founded!”

“Agents Rossi and Gideon founded the BAU.”

“Not as it exists today,” she pointed out, with good reason. “So, I ask you again: why?”

“I thought you'd be pleased,” he countered, evading the question.

“Pleased?” she repeated, confused. “Why should I?”

“You've been trying to kick me out ever since I took this job...”

“And you fought every time to stand up to me,” she rebounded, indignant. “Why give in all at once?”

Her astonishment was understandable – he would have had the same reaction as her if he'd been in her place – but he wouldn't give her the answer she was looking for.

“Maybe I'm tired of fighting every day just to do my job.”

“And you're ready to give up on the team you've been defending tooth and nail for years?”

“They're ground up, they can look after themselves,” he declared as his throat tightened.

She sat back in her chair, didn’t say a word for a moment and then, with wrinkled eyelids, said: 

“And, of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that Agent Prentiss is due to give birth in a few weeks.”

“I don't see why there should be a causal link.”

“Are you kidding me?” she belched, sure of her deductions.

“No.”

She glared at him again and he didn't blink. Despite her great strength of character, she diverted her attention to an invisible point in front of her, and he observed some signs of unease in her. A situation he hadn't anticipated and didn't want to have to deal with.

“Can I go now?”

“Who will take over from you?” she asked, ignoring his request.

“It's not decided yet, but I know the names of at least two candidates. And, if it makes you feel any better, neither of them will make it easy for you.”

Strauss didn't appreciate the humor. Deep in thought, she remained silent for a long moment, biting the inside of her lip. For the first time since he'd met her, he saw her searching for words, undecided about what to do. Considering how aggressive she'd always been towards him he couldn't understand the origin of this sudden placidity.

“… Is there anything I can do?”

“For what purpose?”

“To make you give up this idea.”

He thought he'd misheard, but her expression was quite explicit. She seemed upset.

“Why would you do such a thing?” he inquired, not understanding her intentions behind the question. 

She inhaled and sighed, leaning back on her desk in a position conducive to privacy.

“… Hotch, we've had disagreements, but I see your agency's results. Sure, you're expensive and your methods are off the tracks, but you're effective.”

 “And this will continue to be the case after my departure. The good results didn't come from me, but from the team, and they'll stay in place,” he argued, confidently. “You don't need to worry about that.”

Clearly, this was not the answer she was hoping for from him. She looked even more defeated than when she started.

“Can I go now? I still have a bit of work to do before I leave.”

She nodded vaguely, not looking him in the eye, and he didn't linger. A little unsettled by the way the interview had turned out, he went back down to the sixth floor and to his own office. He immediately sent a message to Emily to tell her that he had accomplished his mission. He didn't even have time to put his mobile back on his desk pad before it started vibrating. It was his partner calling. He picked up the phone with a smile on his face.

“How did she react?” she questioned him at once, dodging all polite formulas.

“Not quite as planned,” he confessed, not knowing what to make of this face-to-face encounter.

“Why?”

“I thought she was going to break out the Champagne, but she looked... disappointed.”

He wasn't sure he'd found the right adjective to describe her attitude, but there was a bit of it. Except that he didn't see how she had a problem with him leaving, given all the dirty tricks she'd pulled on him since she'd been made branch manager.

“And yet it was what she wanted,” pointed out her companion, who had herself paid the price for this war of corridors.

“I think cutting her off was not what she had imagined. I guess she wanted to drag me out herself.”

It would have satisfied her ego like never before, that was for sure. By leaving on his own, he was depriving her of a pleasure she would have cherished for the rest of her life.

“Or maybe it was all a facade and she'll miss you,” Emily imagined.

“She's definitely going to have to find herself a new punching bag,” he continued, strongly doubting that she felt anything other than hatred or contempt for him. “But I'm not too worried about that, she'll find another one soon enough.”

His companion laughed briefly and asked:

“How are you doing?”

“I'm fine,” he answered honestly. “I don’t think I fully realize it yet. I… I'll do it at the end of the week, when I have to clear everything away for the next one.”

“I’ll be there to help you.”

“I'd like to remind you that you're supposed to lie still.”

From the outset, the profiler had argued that she would work until the end of her eighth month, even if it meant staying at Quantico, helping her colleagues from a distance as JJ had done when she was expecting Henry. But blood loss during the seventh month had prompted her obstetrician to arrest her and advise her, in the strongest possible terms, to remain bedridden for as long as necessary. Since then, she'd moved in with him – his apartment was on one level, unlike hers, which had a staircase between her bedroom and the living room – and spent most of her time commuting between bed and sofa, brooding over inaction. The weeks seemed interminable, and she did everything she could to escape this monotonous routine.

“As often as possible doesn't mean all the time. I could help you sort your pencils.”

“I can't wait to see you in action.”

Emily was an intelligent, beautiful, and empathetic woman, but in terms of organization and tidiness, she was his exact opposite. She easily left things lying around on the floor, piled up dishes in the sink for days on end, and accumulated documents randomly wherever there was room. He therefore had some difficulty visualizing her packing, especially with the imposing belly she now had. That said, he'd still appreciate having her by his side that day, if only so he didn't leave the office alone.

“Meanwhile, I can’t wait for you to come home. I’m bored.”

“Did you finish reading Spencer’s books?”

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” she scolded, not at all amused. “Especially from a guy who hasn't read them either.”

“At least, I tried.”

“I’ve seen that. And you slept very well on page two.”

He laughed and guessed her smile on the other end of the line.

___

First chapter >> https://www.tumblr.com/the-queen-and-the-king/771016298484334592/a-little-piece-of-paradise-1?source=share

[weeklyhotchniss]

💜 Fic Recs: June 8-15

Tenere (G) by @sequinsmile-x chapter 1/1 tags: established relationship, insecurity, emotional hurt/comfort

For a moment, it’s everything she wants it to be. She sighs contentedly into the kiss as he pulls her closer, but not as close as he had downstairs to avoid hurting her, and she thinks that she might just be able to do what she so desperately wants to do. 

Then his hand slips under her shirt, the warmth of his palm against her back a brand, and she pulls away entirely against her own will, as if her body has taken over.

darling, let me love you (T) by @bloomingsentiments chapter 2/? tags: ficlet collection, fluff, canon divergence

on some days, those hard and tired days that does a number on his mind and body, hotch wishes he wasn’t like this. he wishes he could close his eyes without the worries and find peace in his sleep for a little bit longer. but then on the other days, most days really, just like the present, he doesn’t mind because every minute of sleep is exchanged for this.

you (G) by @leavemurph chapter 1/1 tags: first dates, getting together, lauren arc

She’s looking him dead in the eye, too long, too steadily, and he’s rapidly running out of reasons to enjoy these workplace-appropriate silences.

“Is…” he ventures, pen pausing mid-click. “Can I help you with something else, or…?”

“You remember those not-exactly-legal fake death papers I had?” she blurts.

See No Evil (T) by @caladeniablue chapter 1/1 tags: bisexual aaron hotchner, jealousy, past relationships; crossover: lucifer

Emily had never seen Aaron tongue-tied before. Or blushing that shade of red, for that matter. The man before them oozed self-confidence, vanity and expensive clothes, one hip nonchalantly leaning against the side of a desk as if he owned it and the entire district office too.

She usually avoided such people, having met too many of their ilk at her mother’s receptions over the years. And she knew how Hotch could smell them a mile away and cut them down to size with a glare. Instead, SSA Hotchner, head of the FBI BAU unit, looked the very image of a schoolboy caught smoking behind the toilet block.

TRACKING #WEEKLYHOTCHNISS ❖ NEED A FIC REC?

[weeklyhotchniss]

do you have any fic recs of the team finding out about them being together?? thanks, always love your recs :)

So many! I'm so glad you asked! 💜

collect the moments one by one (i guess that’s how the future’s done) by flowersinapril is one of my favorite concepts for a fic ever. I especially love the “How long have you been in love with her?”/“You love him, don’t you?” parallel that precedes the relationship reveal.

I'm a sucker for the team gradually finding out one by one as opposed to a big group announcement, and if you are too, then check out Reading the Signs by IndigoButterfly and the way that you glow by @em-prentiss!

Run to You by @justagirl-purplejellosg1 is what every Hotchniss shipper wanted out of Hotch's marathon training storyline. We could have had it all!

And for a real treasure trove, search @sequinsmile-x's AO3 profile for the Secret Relationship tag!

As always, keep an eye out for any additions in the comments. Writers, feel free to plug your fics, too! Happy reading!

[weeklyhotchniss]

You've Got a Friend in Me

She takes a step forward and stumbles, chuckling under her breath when she looks down to see Sergio at her feet, his head tilted to the side as he looks up at her, something she thinks might be curiosity written across his face. He’d been all over her recently, even more so than usual.

AKA - the one where Emily is pregnant and Sergio is obsessed with the baby.

Part 1/3

-x-

Hi besties,

You might be asking yourself, how has Vic turned this into a 3 parter? And that's a valid question, but after I made a comment about loving the idea of Sergio being obsessed with the baby to some friends over on twitter I couldn't stop thinking about it. And here were are.

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: pregnancy, difficulty conceiving

Words: 2.1k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily groans as she steps into the house, her shoulders slumping the second she’s over the threshold. 

She was exhausted, her tiredness almost bone deep as all pretence that she felt fine disappears as she shrugs off her jacket and toes off her shoes. She’d felt like this for days, like she was on the edge of being ill but never quite tipping over into it. She wished she could just get it over with, that she could spend a few days lying on the couch, being fussed over by Aaron and Jack, and then feel better. She groans as she hangs her jacket up, her arms heavy and uncoordinated as she misses the hook on her first attempt. 

“What the fuck is wrong with me,” she grumbles to herself as she shakes her head, hoping on some level it clears her head. Any irritation over how terrible she feels is stamped out by the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen, Aaron’s booming, goofy, laugh followed by Jack’s slightly higher one. 

She loved coming home to this. Loved turning into the driveway and seeing Aaron’s car already there, loved how he’d leave the porch light on for her when he inevitably got home from work first. She’d left the BAU shortly after she started her relationship with Aaron, a decision she’d made long before they ended up where they were now - married and raising Jack together in the house they’d bought - because she knew it was the right choice for all of them. She’d asked Clyde if he had a job for her in DC when she turned down his offer in London, and without missing a beat he’d told her he did and made a joke about her relationship with Aaron, and how he didn’t want to piss off the man who’d once threatened him over her welfare before they’d ever even kissed. 

There were times when she couldn’t believe that this was her life. She couldn’t believe that she got to come home to this every evening. A home bustling with so much joy and love, she thinks it must have seeped into the foundations, holding them and the home they loved together. She smiles when she hears them laugh again, and she pushes the feeling of feeling like crap to the back of her mind. 

She takes a step forward and stumbles, chuckling under her breath when she looks down to see Sergio at her feet, his head tilted to the side as he looks up at her, something she thinks might be curiosity written across his face. He’d been all over her recently, even more so than usual. He sought her out constantly, would curl up against her chest in bed and sit in her lap whenever she was sitting down, his head against her stomach as he would growl if Aaron attempted to wrap his arm around her. 

“Hey buddy,” Emily says as she scoops up Sergio, smiling as she scratches his chin and then behind his ears, “Almost tripped over you then,” she kisses his head and smiles when he headbutts her cheek, “Lets go see what’s so funny in the kitchen, huh?” 

Aaron turns to look at her the second she walks into the kitchen, and he smiles, abandoning his task of preparing dinner immediately so he can kiss her, his hand on her cheek and his lips against hers. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” he says, kissing her again, “I thought I heard the door.” 

“Hi Emily,” Jack pipes up from his place at the kitchen counter, his homework spread out around him and a small plate of snacks next to him.

“Hi sweetie,” she says, chuckling when Sergio growls at Aaron from her arms, drawing her attention back to the two of them. “Stop growling at him,” she says, the kiss she drops to the cat’s head at odds with the accusatory tone in her voice. She places him on the ground and looks over at Jack, “Do you want to feed him?” 

Jack nods enthusiastically and jumps up from his seat, “Come on, Serg, it’s dinner time.” 

As soon as Jack is distracted by feeding the cat, his tongue stuck out as he concentrates on pulling the top of the sachet off, Aaron wraps his arms around Emily, his lips against her forehead as she willingly melts against him. 

“Still not feeling great?” He asks, and she groans, resting her forehead against his shoulder as she replies. 

“No,” she grumbles, looking up at him, “I wish this bug would just get it over with,” she says, huffing out a breath, “I hate feeling like this.” 

He smiles curiously at her, an edge to it she can’t quite read, but before she can say anything, Jack is back in the room, and Aaron squeezes her hips, “I should finish dinner.” 

She swallows back a grimace but nods, and she’s so distracted by trying not to think about how awful just the idea of food has made her feel the last few days, that she forgets the fleeting look Aaron had given her. The evening passes them by in a way it always did - they ate together, she helped Jack with some of his homework, they watched some TV, and when Jack went to bed, she snuggled against Aaron’s side on the couch. It’s only when they go to bed themselves, when she feels so tired she collapses onto the mattress fully clothed, her arms wrapped around Aaron’s pillow, that he looks at her like that again, and she frowns at him. 

“What?” She asks, sounding a little more irritated than she’d intended, and he clears his throat, doing his best to look casual as he shakes his head at her. 

“What?” He replies, repeating her question back at her, and she rolls her eyes as she sits up, using what feels like all of her energy as she presses her hands against the bed to lift herself. 

“You keep looking at me like that,” she says, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly when he shakes his head again. 

“Like what, sweetheart?”

“Like you know something I don’t.” She replies, and he blows out a breath as he walks over, joining her on the bed. He reaches out for her hand and squeezes. 

“I think,” he starts, clearing his throat as he chooses his words carefully, doing everything he can to not upset her, “I think you should take a pregnancy test.” 

Her eyes widen, and she tenses, her shoulders so tight she half expects her collarbone to crack, and she clenches her jaw, swallowing down anger she knows he doesn’t deserve before she responds. 

“I’m not pregnant, Aaron.” 

They’d been trying for months, for long enough that the hope of it all had turned sour. Bitter and heavy on her tongue every time she found herself staring at a negative test, another crack added to her fractured heart whenever she was faced with a single line. She’d stopped taking the tests a couple of months ago, determined that she’d only take them if she felt any symptoms. 

“Em,” he says, sandwiching her hand between the two of his, his expression soft and full of love she wasn’t entirely sure she deserved, “You’ve been exhausted for days, you feel sick,” one corner of his lips flickers into a smile she had spend months idly hoping she’d one day see on their baby’s face, “You’re pushing your food around your plate instead of eating it, not to mention that Sergio is all over you-”

“What's that got to do with anything?” She asks, the bite from her voice gone, treacherous hope blooming in her chest, the flowers of it pressing against her lungs as she struggles to suck in a breath. 

“I looked it up online,” he admits, his cheeks pink with embarrassment that makes her love him even more, “Apparently they can smell the change in your pheromones or something.” 

She chokes on a sound she thinks must be a laugh, and she shakes her head, holding his hand so tightly her blunt nails dig into his skin, “You’ll be right here?” 

He nods and leans in to kiss her, resting his forehead against hers, “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” 

She blows out a shaky breath and nods, kissing the corner of his mouth as she stands up, only letting go of his hand when she’s far enough away that she has no choice. She stops when she grabs the handle to the ensuite door, and she turns to look at him. 

“When it’s negative, you’re getting me a glass of wine,” she says, unsure if her smile or her voice is shaking more, “A large one.” 

“Whatever you want, sweetheart.” 

She nods and walks into the bathroom, giving herself a moment to try to remember to breathe as she leans against the door. She looks at herself in the mirror on the medicine cabinet, sees the nervousness on her face, how it’s seeped into the laughter lines around her eyes, and she worries it will make them disappear. That it will fill the gaps she didn’t want to fill, smoothing away the happiness she had because she’d been so lost in it all, so selfish, that she wanted more. She opens the cabinet and pulls a test out from where she’d hidden them behind a box of tampons. She takes the test and clicks the lid into place, once again reminding herself to breathe as she washes her hands and slips the best back into the plastic wrapping. 

She smiles tightly as she places the test down on the nightstand. She sits next to him, “We’ll have to set a timer.” 

He holds his phone and shows her her timer on his screen, “I set it when I heard you flush.” 

She hums and rests her cheek against his shoulder, her eyes fixed on the test. “Do you…do you really think I might be?” 

He turns his head and kisses the top of her head, breathing her in as he tucks her against his side, “I think you could be,” he says, kissing her against before he pulls back to look at her, “But what I know is that I’ll love you no matter what it says.” 

She smiles at him, her first real smile since his gentle suggestion, and she nods, stamping her lips against his, “I love you too.” 

They sit in silence, the three minutes Aaron had set on his phone some of the longest of her life, and even though she’s expecting it, she jumps when the timer chimes to signify its end. She tightens her grasp on him, her arms wrapped around one of his, as she stares at the test. He waits her out, just like he always did, and eventually she looks up at him, her eyes shining as they meet his.

“I can’t…”

“I’ll look.” He nods and kisses her forehead before he leans forward to pick up the test. She closes her eyes and turns so her face is pressed against his arm, blocking out any chance she’ll see the test herself, not sure she could take it if it were negative. She feels Aaron tense, feels rather than hears his sharp intake of breath, “Em…”

She sighs and pulls back, “See, I told you…” She drifts off as he holds it up, as she sees two lines staring back at her, and she gasps, choking on it as she reaches forward and takes the test from him, looking at it even closer as if she expects the second line to disappear. “Holy shit, I’m…”

“You’re pregnant, sweetheart.”

She looks up at him, and his eyes are shining, tears he doesn’t shy away from gathering at his lashline, and she nods, tears slipping down onto her cheeks. “I’m pregnant.” 

She isn’t sure who hugs who first, but she’s against his chest with the test squished between them. “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too,” he says, kissing her temple, her cheek, anywhere he can reach, “I love you so much, sweetheart.”

She lets herself sit in it, lets herself enjoy this moment she was starting to think she’d never get to have. She eventually pulls back to look at him, and she cups his cheek, shaking her head in disbelief, a laugh caught in her chest. 

“I…” she drifts off and shakes her head again, her lips shaking as she tries to contain her joy, laughing when she hears Sergio meow from the other side of their closed bedroom door, a sound followed by him scratching at the wood. “I can’t believe the fucking cat knew first.” 

[weeklyhotchniss]

💜 Fic Recs: June 1-8

you've been locked in here forever and you just can't say goodbye (G) by @em-prentiss chapter 1/? tags: lauren arc, emily prentiss is dead, supernatural elements

Aaron is dizzy. The chill settles at the base of his spine; a sweat breaks out on his temples, cooling his skin further and making him shiver under his thin shirt. His arm jerks from her phantom grip, only spreading more ice through his body as he makes contact with her—her something. Chest, shoulders, he doesn’t know. He can’t look away from the wall.

“Hotch, what am I?”

Real is the word that presses itself into his throat. Ghost is the one that flashes in his head.

Birds of a Feather (G) by @sequinsmile-x chapter 1/1 tags: bisexuality, coming out, family fluff

Emily feels like she’s in two places at once. Like she was here with her daughter, the confession she’d clearly been mulling over for weeks filling the air around them, and she was back in Aaron’s old apartment almost 20 years ago when she told him the very same thing about herself. Everyone had always told her how similar she and Lucy were, and it turns out no one had any idea how right they were. 

When the Night is Over, Lover (Don't Let Me Down) (NR) by @topazangle chapter 9/? tags: friends to lovers, getting together, slow burn, longfic

“Were you trying to make me jealous or angry with the flowers? What sort of reaction were you hoping for?”

Emily swallowed nervously and pursed her lips. She glanced down his face and back up. She shrugged barely and responded with a whisper. “Both.”

He smirked, just barely, and lifted his brows. Then he stepped back. “Well, it worked. So, will you please go to lunch with me, so that I can selfishly indulge in the fact that I have your attention?”

kiss the cook (M) by @ssaemilyhotchner chapter 14/48 tags: young hotchniss, goodbyes, long-distance relationship, longfic

Tomorrow. Emily shivered and it had nothing to do with the crisp January air. Was it really that time already? They’d known her last three weeks in D.C. would pass in a blur, but they’d gone faster still. Hotch’s case meant ringing in the new year alone, a portent of things to come. He’d returned from Albuquerque the next day—January second, like the punchline of a joke delivered a beat too late—and to make up for not kissing her on the stroke of midnight, he kept her in bed until she was little more than a pile of limbs, embers smoldering after a fire.  

TRACKING #WEEKLYHOTCHNISS ❖ NEED A FIC REC?

[weeklyhotchniss]

Hello ♥️ just rewatched the Alaska episode hehe, do you have any fics based on that ep? thanks ((:

You know I do! "Only one bed" tropes aplenty!

To ease you into the Exit Wounds headspace, @ssaemilyhotchner has a <500 word ficlet in her collection alpha & omega that builds out the episode through the specific lens of the five senses.

Speaking of fives, @eyesontheskyline and @sequinsmile-x have beautiful relationship-spanning 5+1s that include the ep. See chapter 4 of could i rest here for a while? (M) and part one of Nestle (G), respectively. (But be sure to read the full fics!)

Fixated on that sweater? Then heating up in here (E) by @sunlightgalaxy is for you. Or were you, like Morgan, struck when Hotch slipped up and said "it's like Emily said on the plane"? @em-prentiss includes that iconic moment in her oneshot strange what desire will make foolish people do (G).

As always, I'm sure I'm missing fics on this list, so keep an eye out for any additions in the comments. Thanks for asking, and happy reading!

[weeklyhotchniss]

💜 Fic Recs: May 25-June 1

Small (G) by Alpha_Echoe chapter 1/1 tags: lauren arc, protective aaron hotchner

He steps forward and catches her gaze, even as the doctor rests a gentle hand on Emily’s shoulder. It’s the wrong choice, because they all see when she flinches violently away from the light touch, eyes locked on Hotch like he’s her lifeline. Pain and fear radiate from her even as her breathing shakes in a telltale way that says tears might only be second away from flowing. But she's staring at him like he's the sun and oh.

We Embroidered the Memories (G) by @sequinsmile-x chapter 2/2 tags: secret relationship, emotional hurt/comfort, post-ep: time to say goodbye

“Sweetheart,” he says, his voice firmer than it usually would be with her as he cuts over her, desperate to stop the spiral he’d caused. He places his hand over hers on his cheek and links their fingers together. “I’m okay. It’s just a headache.” 

She chokes on a sound he’s never heard her make before, and she collapses in on herself, her chest concaving under the weight of everything she’d felt in the last few weeks. “It wasn’t just a headache for Will.” 

pas de deux (M) by @ssaemilyhotchner chapter 1/1 tags: young hotchniss, ballet, getting (back) together, smut

For all the tension that has been crackling between them, the kiss is surprisingly gentle. Tentative even, like they’ve well and truly never done this before. And they haven’t, really—the man Aaron Hotchner presently is, with all his physical and emotional scars, has not ever kissed Emily Prentiss, the culmination of everything she has survived to this point. It’s sweet, she’s sweet.

Until she isn’t, because then she takes his bottom lip between her teeth and the groan it pulls from deep in his chest leaves her no choice but to climb on his lap. 

Marksmen (M) by @caladeniablue chapter 1/1 tags: bisexual aaron hotchner, past relationships; crossover: NCIS

“Who do you think taught me how to shoot long range?” he said. “I could already handle a rifle, of course, but he showed me how to check my sight alignment, maintain proper trigger control and follow through after hitting the target.”

She smirked at the not-so-subtle innuendos. “He ‘showed’ you all that?”

His grin widened.

TRACKING #WEEKLYHOTCHNISS ❖ NEED A FIC REC?

[weeklyhotchniss]

Do you have any Hotchniss fic recs where Aaron and/or Emily are bisexual? This bi girl in a straight passing relationship thanks you 🏳️‍🌈

Oh, I love this ask - yes! 🩷💜💙

Last week I highlighted @caladeniablue's new series Hotch and all the others (M), which features bisexual Hotch in an established relationship with Emily, recounting past flings with male characters you may recognize from other crime procedurals like CSI and NCIS.

@ssaemilyhotchner has a gorgeous Hotchniss 5+1 fic titled wrapped around your finger (M) where one of the parts takes a look at bisexual teen Emily's love for Fiona Duncan (who later appears in s12 as Reid's defense attorney).

@sequinsmile-x has a tenderly done fic that was written during bi visibility week last year, The Past is Never Far (G), in which Emily comes out as bi to Aaron after they run into an ex of hers.

If you're looking for smut, there's there's things I wanna say to you but I'll just let you live by @marestomars (E; Hotch gets jealous after seeing Emily flirt with a woman) and To give to you by @cloudlessly-light (E; Emily usually prefers topping women "but then she joins the BAU and meets Aaron Hotchner and everything changes.")

And to round this list out with some more bi Hotch, a bottle of red, a bottle of white (T) by voodoochild is a Hotch/Emily/Rossi vignette that packs a lot of poly domestic happiness into fewer than 200 words.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of bi Hotchniss fics out there, so I encourage people to leave more recommendations in the comments! I hope this is a good starting point for you - and happy pride month!

[weeklyhotchniss]

pas de deux

Read on AO3 here!

There’s something wrong about seeing the ballet slippers in his grip, Emily thinks, but it’s an intriguing kind of wrong, seductive even, light pink leather in coarse hands that once pummeled a man to death.

She blinks. Contemplates offering him the easy way out and asking how could you be sure they’re mine, surely there’s another EP in the Bureau.

Instead, she invites him in.

In ballet, a pas de deux is a duet performed by two dancers, typically a male and a female, showcasing their skills and coordination. The pas de deux is more than a love dance. It is "the coming together of two people who carry with them all kinds of intense emotions, including love, grief, fear, deceit, joy, and longing . . . It is a fascinating window into the complexity of feelings that can arise when two people interact with one another intimately.” (x)

[weeklyhotchniss]

We Embroidered the Memories

When Penelope asks about the flowers, Emily calls him Hotch because she thinks if she says Aaron, she’ll give herself away, that she’ll pull the lid off of the secret she’s been keeping for far longer than she ever intended to. It doesn’t work, because she hears how soft she sounds at the mention of him, how her own voice betrays her as she thinks of the man she loves who has stayed states away at her insistence.

Emily, Aaron and the relationship they've kept secret for a little too long.

Part 1/2

-x-

Hi besties,

Am I writing a 3rd fic about Will's funeral? Yes. Will I stop at this one? We'll see but I'm not making any promises.

I haven't seen the new episode in it's entirety, but I have watched probably most of it at this point in clips on TikTok. The Hotch mention in 2025 - a moment that lasts 5 seconds - has created this whole new fic and set my mind whirring.

As always, this got away from me so this is going to be two parts, and part two will be up in a few days.

Let me know what you think <3

-x-

Warnings: Grief, loss, CME spoilers

Words: 2.3k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily sighs as she takes a step back from the mirror to check her reflection, running her hands down the black material of her dress to smooth it out, focusing on wrinkles in the fabric she knows aren’t there rather than where she’s about to wear it. She closes her eyes as a breath shudders through her chest and she places her hand against her sternum, a physical attempt to push all of her emotions back down into her gut, all too aware that if she started crying, she didn’t think she’d ever stop. 

Will was too young to die, too young to leave his family behind. She couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair it all was, how cruel that a man as good as he was, a man dedicated to his wife and children, was gone just like that. Here one minute and dead the next, his life snuffed out in an instant because of something no one could have controlled or changed. It was a reminder, one she hadn’t needed or wanted, about how fragile life could be. 

Her phone rings from where she’d dumped it on the bed, and she knows who it is without even having to look. She smiles as she picks up the phone, comfort washing over her at the sight of his name.

She and Aaron had accidentally bumped into each other coming up on two summers ago. He and Jack were in town touring Georgetown, and she’d seen them when she was out on a walk, desperate to get some fresh air and get away from everything rolling through her head. She’d almost walked straight past them. It was Jack she saw first. He was tall  - a giant of a thing who towered over Aaron - and looked nothing like the young boy she still pictured him as, even though she knew he was about to start college at the time. Then she saw Aaron right next to him, drawn in by the smile that had haunted her for years, the smile that was painted across all of her what-ifs like a watermark, present in every one of them as she thought about the life she could have had. 

She was furious when she realised he was standing right in front of her. She’d hugged Jack first, and then Aaron and then she’d told him off, demanded to know why he was there and hadn’t told her. He made fun of her for it now, gentle in his teasing as he exaggerated her reaction. He’d apologised on the spot, told her that he didn’t want to bother her - as if he ever could - and then said he’d make it up to her by taking her to dinner if she wanted to go. It was one of those moments where she could look back and see that it had all changed there and then. A simple acceptance of an invite to dinner and a smirk on Jack’s face when she did so, something she now knew was his way of saying ‘I told you so’ to his father, had changed everything. Aaron kissed her as he walked her from his car to her front door that night, and it was an answer to a question she’d had for close to two decades. 

She’d invited him in to talk, too aware that both of them could be hurt by this if they didn’t think it through. They lived in different states, they lived different lives now, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want to be with him, however difficult it might be. They figured it out, talked out the details as they sat hand in hand on her couch like they’d held hands a hundred times before, and when he and Jack left DC a couple of days later, she knew she’d miss him but that it wouldn’t be long until she saw him again. Against all odds, they’d made it work. She’d visit him when she could, and he’d come to see her even though Jack had settled on Harvard in the end. It made her feel more secure in their relationship at the start, something she knew even then was love unfurling in her gut at the thought of him coming to town just to see her. 

No one knew about them other than Jack. It was something that had been by design at first, something that allowed them to get used to their relationship themselves, but it had stuck and now she wasn’t sure how to unstick it, how it would ever be the right time to tell everyone that she and Aaron had been together for 18 months. She knew they had to, and that there would be questions, but right now, in the wake of Will’s death and JJ’s grief, it wasn’t the time. 

“Hi honey,” she says as she answers the phone, “I’m just about to head to JJ’s.” 

“I wanted to check in before you left. I’d ask how you’re feeling, but that seems stupid,” he replies, “I got the notification my flowers arrived.” 

“They were at the front when I went to the church earlier,” she says, looking at herself in the mirror one last time before she grabs her purse from the bed and heads out of the bedroom. “They look lovely.” 

“Did you figure out what you want to say in your eulogy?” 

She blows out a shaky breath as she walks down the stairs, “I think so, I don’t know. Nothing seems…enough. I keep thinking about when I was in the bank with him.” She says, chuckling sadly when Aaron hums, the memory one that was sharp for both of them even after all this time, “He said to me that the first thing he was going to do if he got out of there was marry JJ.” 

“And he did.” 

“Yeah,” Emily sighs, blowing out a shaky breath, “He did.” 

They fall into silence for a moment, and then he sighs, “Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want me there?” 

She laughs, “Honey, you live a five hour flight away, you’d never make it in time,” she says, “Besides, we agreed you shouldn’t come. The last thing we need is for a room full of profilers to realise we’re together when we should all be focused on JJ and the boys.”

She wanted him there, she wanted to bask in his comfort so much that it took her breath away, but it felt selfish to want that when JJ would never have the same from the man she loved again. She knew they’d be caught out, that in a room where the air was thick with grief, they’d be drawn together, the need to comfort each other overriding the decision to keep their relationship a secret. 

“I could be at yours by the time the funeral is over, Em. If you want me.”

“I always want you,” she says before she can stop herself, no longer able or willing to hide how much she loves him from him. “But it’s okay. I’ll come to visit you next weekend as planned,” she sucks in a deep breath, “I’m going to give you one hell of a hug at the airport.” 

“I’ll be ready and waiting,” he replies, “Call me later?” 

She nods even though he can’t see her, “Yeah, of course. I love you. So much.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.” 

It’s a sentiment she carries with her to JJ’s house. It’s somehow light and heavy all at once, a reminder of what she had and what her friend had lost. The day seems to move by in a blur, the echo of Connie’s slap across JJ’s face still reverberating around Emily’s head when they make it to the church. 

When Penelope asks about the flowers, Emily calls him Hotch because she thinks if she says Aaron, she’ll give herself away, that she’ll pull the lid off of the secret she’s been keeping for far longer than she ever intended to. It doesn’t work, because she hears how soft she sounds at the mention of him, how her own voice betrays her as she thinks of the man she loves who has stayed states away at her insistence. Penelope doesn’t notice, she simply smiles as Emily carries on and points to Derek’s bouquet and then Spencer’s. 

She wonders when this became her role, when she became the person who called when someone had died. She did the same for Dave when Krystall passed, took the burden of letting their friends know, so it was one less thing on his plate. She knows she and Aaron have to come clean soon, that they can’t stay secret and long distance, because it makes her ache to think of him getting a call from someone to say she’d died. A member of the team unceremoniously letting him know his girlfriend had passed away. He deserved better than that. They both deserved better than that, and if losing Will in the way they did had taught her anything, it was that she didn’t want to hide from it all anymore.  

When she stands at the front and addresses JJ during her eulogy, when she talks about the kind of love Will and JJ had, she can’t help but think of Aaron and the love they shared, and how she wished it had come around earlier for them than it had. 

___

She doesn’t think she’s ever got off a plane quicker. 

He meets her at the luggage carousel. He has a bunch of flowers in his hands that are outshone by his smile, the smile that all the photos she had of him never seemed to do any justice to. She’s running towards him before she can stop herself, her arms tight around his neck as soon as she’s close enough. She holds him tightly, her shuddered sigh passing from her chest to his as the flowers get squished between them. She’d be embarrassed about how she buries her face in his neck, how she almost cries just because she’s finally in his arms, but she knows this airport terminal has seen countless reunions and goodbyes. That it’s borne witness to joy and sadness in equal measure, and she can’t bring herself to care that strangers are seeing this too. That they see how tightly he holds her back, how he lifts her ever so slightly so her toes skim the ground.   

“Hi,” he says, his lips against her hairline as he stamps a kiss there, and then another for good measure. There’s a desperation in the way he holds her too, an apology for not being there for the funeral - for something she asked him to do - pressing from his skin into hers. 

“Hi,” she replies as she pulls back, swallowing thickly, her throat sore and torn open by everything she wanted to say. Her chin trembles as she sniffs, a desperate attempt to hold herself together as she cups his cheek and drags him in for a kiss. “I…”

She doesn’t know what she wants to say. Doesn’t know whether to say she missed him, or that she loves him or that she’s afraid to lose him. But he knows, because of course he does, and all he does is nod and kiss her again, one of his hands on her cheek to wipe away a tear she hadn’t realised had fallen, the comfort of having him close enough to let her start to fall apart in the ways she hadn’t allowed herself to when she was back home. The first cracks in her facade had started to show the moment she was with him because she knows he’ll help her fix them, that he knows where all her pieces go if she does break. 

“I know,” he says, and he kisses her one last time as the luggage carousel comes to life, the churn of metal making them break apart just enough that he can grab her hand and lead her towards it. The now crumpled flowers are in his other hand, and she rests her cheek against his shoulder as they wait for her case. 

“Sorry, I crushed the flowers,” she says, lifting her head to look at him, “They were sweet.” 

“Don’t worry,” he says, winking at her, “This was the decoy bouquet.” 

She furrows her brow and tilts her head at him, “Decoy bouquet?”

He shrugs, “You said you were going to give me one hell of a hug, I didn’t want to show up to the airport without flowers like a bad boyfriend,” he holds up the flowers and some petals fall away and float through the air before they land at their feet, “Hence the decoy bouquet. Your actual flowers are at mine.”

Every time she thinks she couldn’t love him more, she is wrong. He always found a way to outdo himself, to be the person she thinks she might have always been looking for, even if she hadn’t known it. She leans in to kiss him, and she rests her forehead against his when she pulls back. 

“I’m so lucky to be loved by you.” 

He smiles and rubs his nose against hers before he pulls back just enough to kiss her forehead, “I’m so lucky to be loved by you, too.” 

She sees her suitcase on the carousel out of the corner of her eye, but she makes no attempt to get it, content to stand here with him for a little while longer as it goes around again, another moment between the two of them witnessed by strangers and the bright white walls of the airport terminal.