No strings attached

Part nine

You were avoiding Hotch for a couple days now, heading to a hotel in your latest case you try to do the same but he catches up to you and hands you a key for his room.

"Please come tonight" he pouts "I miss you"

"I'm really tired Aaron" it takes every inch of your body not to give in

"We don't need to do anything, just come be with me"

"How about we wait until the case is over?" you needed some time away from him to figure out you what to do. You were catching feelings and he obviously just wanted this to be a casual thing.

"Wanna talk about something?"
"Not right now" you kiss him in the cheek and disappear into your room.

Agent Hotchner, a word please" the blonde detective calls him for the fifth time today, you look at her smiling and flirting with him, what a bitch. "Don't forget to call me" she says walking away

The unsub had freaked out and made a hostage inside a gas station.
"We go in fast and strong do not give him chance to think" Hotch instructs

"Hotch no! He has a hostage inside, we cannot risk it!" you say

"We don't have time to waste y/n"

"This doesn't mean we have to be fucking reckless" you voice is now slightly raised

"That is final agent. If you keep on being stubborn you are more than welcome to stay here" his voice matches your volume and the whole team stands there in confusion. You and Hotch almost always saw eye to eye during cases, and if you disagreed you would talk to him nicely about it.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you!" you spit out and walk away

"Y/n" Emily runs to you "what was that?"

"It's fucking stupid Prentiss, too big of a risk"

"We have to trust Hotch, he knows what he is doing" she hugs you "I don't know what's going on with you but don't lash out on who doesn't deserve it ok?"

"I'm sorry Em"

"It's ok. And hey, I love you, but you are a bit of a hothead sometimes" she walks back towards the convenience store "you coming?" the whole team hears and looks at you

"Of course" you approach them but Hotch isn't there "hey guys I'm sorry for that" they all say there's nothing to worry about.

You raid the store and after some negotiation Jj manages to secure the hostage, as she is escorting him out the unsub snaps, he raises his gun and shoots you, hitting your leg, Hotch jumps on top of him, punching the gun out of his hand absolutely enraged. Morgan cuffs him and takes him away.

"You ok?" Spencer holds you to keep you from falling "for what i can see it's just a flesh wound so you'll be fine"

"I'm fine Reid, it just hurts a little" you look at Aaron, he is standing there not saying a word.

"Paramedics are here" Rossi says

I

n the jet the vibe is tense, the whole team looks at you and Hotch like you are a ticking bomb ready to explode. And they all freeze when he walks up to you.

"Y/n" he looks at you softly "I am sorry. I should have listened to you."

"Hotch, you were right. I was a bitch for yelling, I don't know what got over me. Your strategy was smart and worked perfectly, we got him and the hostage is safe."

"You got shot" the sadness can be heard in his voice

"Barely. And it wasn't nobody's fault but the unsub's ok?" you sigh "I really am sorry for yelling guys" you say turning to the team that pretends they weren't listening to you both.

"Hey baby girl, we all have our days."

"Yes we do" JJ ads "besides, families fight all the time" she jokes and everyone laughs, even Hotch.

Aaron arrived at your apartment after leaving the plane and you just stood there looking at him.

"What are we doing Aaron?" you finally have the courage to ask him

"What do you mean?" he asks concerned

"This. I don't understand what is going on. One minute you look at me and swear this is not a relationship, the other you are taking me to dinner. I see you hitting on that detective next thing I know you touch me in front on the team and kiss me in public." you feel tears form in your eyes "I can't do this Aaron anymore. You are my boss, our job is too complicated and I just complicated it more! This was a mistake."

"Y/n please"

"No" you cut him off "please just leave. Let's stop here, before we say something we'll regret. I love my job and so do you, whatever this is it has affected our work dynamic and it has to stop" you are now are now full on crying "Just go ok? I'll see you tomorrow Hotch"

"I'm sorry y/n I didn't mean to hurt you" he kisses you one last time "I'll see you tomorrow"

You close the door and sit on the couch. Why did you let yourself get carried away? You weren't supposed to, it's unlike you but Aaron managed to mess with your head, the way he made you feel it was unlike anything you ever felt.

It was an uneventful week, the team didn't seem to notice the tension between you and Hotch, you were a mess but hid it very well and focused even more on each case.
You spent the weekend alone taking care of yourself and Monday came way to early.
"Please tell me we have a case" you ask Jj playfully "I can't take any more paperwork. I swear I will die Jeniffer"
"Well lucky for you we do" she offers you her arm as you walk to the round table, giggling. Hotch looks at you but you ignore it

"This one is rough" Garcia says turning to the pictures "someone has been targeting law enforcement in Atlanta, we've got six deaths ranging from uniformed officers to a police captain yesterday. All found dead in the streets, severely beaten up."

"They took this long to call us?" you scoff

"Yeah, that's why we need to hurry." Hotch looks at you "Wheels up in 20"