A/N: This is my contribution to the Halloween Masquerade Challenge. My pairing was Hotch/Prentiss and my assigned costume was the Bride of Frankenstein. I only had to make sure that the costume appeared somewhere in the story and that Hotch and Emily were the main characters. This is a two-shot and there's a healthy dosage of the entire team in the first part, with sprinklings of Hotch and Emily. They play a more prominent role in part two. Hope you enjoy!
Aaron Hotchner resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes as yet another slightly, maybe more than slightly, inebriated agent jumped unsteadily from behind a desk, which had done nothing to hide the would be prankster, to yell, "Boo!"
Hotch simply looked at the offending agent, dressed this time as a Teletubby, and moved on. The drunken agent giggled and scurried back behind his "hiding" place to leap out again at the next passerby.
He really hated these office holiday parties. Normally, steady, reliable agents got drunk and made complete asses of themselves; wandering hands, both male and female, became weapons of sexual harassment suits; and for weeks afterwards, agents who had worked well together before the party were suddenly uncomfortable and awkward around each other as they dealt with repercussions of a drunken one night stand with a colleague.
Fortunately, Hotch never had to worry about his team. None of them ever got drunk at these events and for the most part, aside from Reid and Garcia, both of whom loved Halloween, his agents hated the costume party. Prentiss and JJ tolerated it, but Morgan, Rossi and himself never dressed up. Morgan, in fact, hated the holiday and the party with an even greater fury than Hotch.
At the moment, he could see his two Halloween-loathing colleagues over by the refreshment table, looking suspiciously at a display of cake lollipops.
"A cupcake I get," Hotch heard Rossi saying as he walked up to the two men. "But a cake lollipop? There's something definitely wrong about that." He was holding a little ghost cake pop and examining it with all the intensity he would a suspect in interrogation.
"Like I said, Halloween brings out the freak in everybody," Morgan sniffed as he tentatively took a bite out of a pumpkin pop. He made a grimace, but politely swallowed the piece in his mouth. However, he threw the rest of the dessert into a nearby trash can. "Little greasy tasting. Dry and hard cake."
Hearing Morgan's words, Rossi warily put his own cake pop back on the table. "And that is why these things are so wrong," the gourmand sniffed. "It takes a very seasoned and talented baker to get the proportions right." He turned his head, hearing Hotch's approach and nodded at the younger man. "Aaron. Where's your costume?" Dave teased.
Hotchner rolled his eyes this time and shot back at his old friend, "I can ask you the same thing."
Without missing a beat, Rossi picked up a cowboy had that had been lying on the table and said in a deadpan voice, "Yippee, kai-yah-yeah."
Morgan chuckled as Hotch let out a snort that passed for a laugh. He looked inquiringly at Morgan who raised his eyebrow at his Unit Chief.
"I don't do costumes," the impossibly chiseled agent replied flatly. "As Reid will tell you, Halloween is all about being somebody you aren't, and there is no reason in the world I would want to be anyone else but me."
"Why pretend to be someone else when you're a perfect god already?" a voice behind them called out.
They turned to greet Garcia and were momentarily stunned when they saw her.
Each man had prepared themselves for some over-the-top costume from their flamboyant tech analyst, but when they saw her, they were surprised by her choice. For Garcia, it was pretty sedate. She was clad in a large, voluminous ball gown made of yards and yards of cream tulle and chiffon. Sequins and beads winked brightly on the dress itself and were mirrored in the high crown she wore on her blonde head. She held a wand that ended in a large star with streamers tied underneath it.
Morgan tilted his head to the side as he looked at her. "Glinda the Good Witch?" He knew Garcia had been on a "Wizard of Oz" kick.
"Correctamundo, my handsome holiday party pooper," Garcia replied.
"It's only Halloween I've got issues with, Baby Girl," Morgan responded.
"Why Glinda?" Rossi asked.
The woman beamed at them. "I thought this year I should be spreading around a little magic for my favorite crime fighters."
The men looked at each other warily. "Garcia," Hotch said in a slightly severe tone. "You will not be spiking the punch."
Garcia snorted in derision. "Please. That type of 'magic' is for mere mortals." An evil gleam came into her eyes. "I can actually work real magic."
"Magic? Did someone say magic?" an eager voice made them look up as Reid came hurrying towards them, JJ just a few steps behind.
Reid was wearing a long grey caped overcoat and a deerstalker hat, a pipe was clutched in one, bony hand. JJ wore a sweet blue and white shepherdess costume complete with frilled cap and white crook.
"Sherlock Holmes, I presume?" Rossi asked the young genius in amusement.
Reid's head bobbed up and down. "It wasn't my first choice, but I couldn't decide on which incarnation of Dr. Who I wanted to be. Should I go with the original, William Hartnell, or maybe someone more recent like David Tennant's Dr. Who since he might be more familiar to people today?"
"Sweetie, I think you made the right choice," Garcia said patting Reid's arm and looking at the others with a pointed look that said, 'No matter which Dr. Who he picked, likely no one would have gotten it.'
"Shepherdess or Little Miss Muffett?" Hotch asked JJ.
The blonde shrugged. "Take your pick. I just had to make sure Henry and I had related costumes since I'm taking him out in an hour to go trick or treating. He's dressed as a lamb this year."
"Awwww, the little lamb chop! Remember to take lots of pictures!" Garcia gushed.
"As if I wasn't going to!" JJ huffed out.
Hotch glanced around the room. "Has anyone seen Prentiss?"
JJ and Garcia exchanged knowing looks. Since the other woman's return to the BAU, Hotch had been keeping closer tabs on the brunette that went beyond supervisor or even friendship concern. Neither woman had missed the intense looks he had sent Emily's way nor how his voice seemed to soften just a touch when he was speaking to her, the few times those two actually spoke to each other. The other thing JJ and Garcia had noticed was that their friend seemed to be avoiding their supervisor like the plague. They would have put it off as Emily trying to ease back into her life after her ordeal yet she seemed to have no problems interacting with the rest of the team.
The two women knew that Emily's behavior did not go unnoticed. Besides the intense looks Hotch had been giving her, they also detected flashes of confusion in his eyes when he watched Emily laughing and talking with the other men, and seeking them out while not doing the same with him. They knew Hotch was as bewildered by her behavior as they were. Considering the lengths Hotch had gone to protect Emily, forcing several agencies to conspire and carry out her fake death, making sure anyone's anger would be focused on him, they thought the two would be a little friendlier. But Hotch and Emily's relationship was as cool as it was when she first joined the team, only this time, Emily was doing the freezing out.
But despite Hotch's confusion and concern, the team leader refused to approach Emily. He was likely waiting for her to make the first move, but at this rate, that wasn't going to happen in this decade. Garcia decided to hurry things along.
When Garcia explained her plan to JJ, the former media liaison stared at the other woman in silent disbelief. JJ's first instinct had been to vehemently shoot down the plan, but the more Garcia explained it as she kept piling JJ with mojitos, the more it made sense to JJ's increasingly drunken brain until the rookie profiler turned inebriated conspirator had loudly agreed, "That's a GENIUS plan!" She then proceeded to leap up on a table at the bar they were at and belt out an off-key rendition "The Greatest Love of All". All of which Garcia had caught on tape.
JJ had to admit though, as the day of the Halloween party slowly approached, she became more excited about the plan and thought, in some crazy way, it might just work. At least, it would probably get Emily and Hotch talking again, though if they ever found out that she and Garcia had orchestrated things, JJ knew she and her fellow conspirator would be in for a world of pain.
"She should be here any minute," JJ replied calmly.
"Yes, she was just putting the finishing touches on her costume," Garcia replied.
Reid stared at her. "Emily is dressing up? She never wears a costume for this party."
Garcia grinned evilly. "She agreed to it this year."
Hotch eyed the tech analyst suspiciously. "Garcia…"
Garcia the Tech Goddess shrugged. "She did it as a favor to me." She didn't add that she played the, "You faked your death and I mourned you for months, so the least you could do is this one lousy favor for me" card. She hadn't done that before, but she quashed her own feelings of guilt knowing that it was for the better good: l'amour.
"So you know what she's coming as?" Morgan asked, an amused glint in his eye. Sometimes people forgot that behind his pretty face was a sharp profiler. His Baby Girl and JJ were up to something and as long as he wasn't the intended victim of their plot, he was happy to sit back and watch.
"Of course, I picked out the costume," Garcia replied airily.
"Shall we guess?" Rossi asked in amusement, also noticing the two women's barely concealed excitement. "I'm going to say…Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz to go with your Glinda costume."
Garcia shook her head with a smile. "Nope, not that."
"Princess Leia in the slave girl outfit," Reid blurted out.
Everyone turned to look at Reid in surprise. He turned bright red.
"Spence, should we be worried that was something you imagined seeing Emily dressed in?" JJ asked doubtfully. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Hotch scowling darkly at the young man.
JJ wasn't the only one who noticed the look as Rossi looked on in amusement. As Reid tried to stammer an explanation, Rossi smoothly defused the situation by saying, "It's because we know she would look magnificent in the outfit, right Reid? I mean, we all know Emily can carry it off."
Hotch's frown swung towards Rossi, but the older man had long since become immune to the famous Hotchner glare and simply took a sip of his spiked punch.
Morgan, also catching some of the undercurrents among the group sent Hotch an evil look and added his guess to the pile, "I know, you got her to come as Lady Godiva." He wiggled his eyebrows naughtily at Garcia and noticed the look on Hotch's face darken even more.
Garcia playfully swatted Morgan's arm with her wand. "Stop that! It's a very nice costume and I think we're all in for a very wonderful surprise. I know what it is, but even I haven't seen her in it."
"So not animal, vegetable or mineral?" Rossi teased.
Garcia shook her head with a smile. "Nope, we haven't seen Emily like this before." She tilted her head and frowned at the men. "You know, because she's such a kick ass agent, I think you guys sometimes forget she's a woman."
"Hey, I don't," Morgan protested, holding his hands up defensively. "I always know Prentiss is one hot babe." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hotch frowning at him and the younger man couldn't resist the urge to poke the bear a little. "Yes sirreeeeeee," he drawled out with an appreciative grin. "Even when she hides everything underneath those suits and jackets, that's one smokin' body under there."
"I do not think it's appropriate to be speaking about a lady, especially our team mate in such a way," Hotch's cold voice snapped out.
JJ and Garcia exchanged pointed looks while Rossi gave Morgan one that said, You're either very brave or very dumb.
"I agree," Reid said in a prim voice, giving Morgan a sharp look.
"Hey kid, I wasn't the one who imagined Emily in Princess Leia's slave girl outfit."
Reid's face turned bright red again and to hide his embarrassment he grabbed a cake pop and bit into it. His eyes lit up in appreciation and he declared, "Hey! These are good!"
The conversation then switched to Reid's lack of taste buds as Rossi ranted on about how people shouldn't be subjected to such bad food. Everyone's preoccupation with the refreshments allowed Hotch a few moments to himself as he wondered what Emily's costume could be.
Hotch's curiosity was now piqued by Garcia's intriguing comments. Reid and Morgan's guesses also conjured up some very nice mental images for him. However, those thoughts were probably best left to when he was alone later that night and not at a party filled with FBI agents. It was just two more fantasy images of the lovely brunette that he could add to his mental collection that had been growing larger and larger with each passing day.
"And speaking of the woman in question," JJ said softly, her eyes on the doorway.
Hotch and the others turned to look in that direction. At first, Hotch was wondering why Garcia would be excited about Emily dressing up as the Bride of Frankenstein, but then he realized that wasn't Emily. Prentiss was actually right behind the Bride. Hotch blinked his eyes, not sure if he was mistaking the blonde bombshell for his brunette agent.
Emily Prentiss was dressed as THE Blonde Bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. She wore a blonde wig and the iconic white halter dress that Monroe had made famous in The Seven Year Itch. White, peep-toe high heels, a sparkling rhinestone bracelet, red lipsticked lips, a fake mole on her check and extra mascara on her insanely long and thick eyelashes completed the look. They watched Emily enter the room and look around, an uncomfortable expression on her face.
Rossi let out a low wolf whistle and Morgan grunted in appreciative agreement. Hotch's head snapped around to glare at both of them, his eyes narrowed in territorial jealousy. JJ and Garcia grinned at each other, quietly exchanged high fives, but with their hands down low.
"Wow," Reid said. "I never thought we'd ever see Emily as a blonde, but it looks good on her. She makes a great Marilyn Monroe."
"She's got the rack for it," Garcia agreed.
"How on Earth did you get her to agree to wear that?" Rossi asked the tech analyst.
"Oh, I just asked," she replied. "Just thought she needed to do something different this Halloween." She sent a sly look at Hotch who was still watching Emily. "And that this would likely have most of the male agents here falling at her feet."
And it did indeed. Emily Prentiss was already sought after by quite a few male agents at the Bureau. However, dressed now as Marilyn Monore, exposing more skin than she ever had before, the men were beginning to salivate and several of them were converging on her in a hungry pack.
Hotch visibly tensed when he saw this happening. JJ and Penelope were feeling fairly satisfied with themselves, having elicited the desired reaction in the unit leader: jealousy. They were especially gratified when he swore and bolted from them to hurry to Emily. The two women were exchanging triumphant looks when they heard Rossi swear too.
"Shit," the older profiler spat out, a note of concern in his voice.
"What? What's wrong?" JJ asked in confusion. She looked at Rossi who was focused on the little drama unfolding across the room as Hotch hurried over to where a group of men had surrounded Emily and were now crowding her into a corner. JJ saw a slight look of panic in her friend's face and an uneasy feeling descended upon her.
"Emily's been on high alert for the last few months when she was hiding out from Doyle," Rossi explained. "She hasn't had time to fully decompress."
"And she's been skittish about being in crowds," Morgan added as he started to take a few steps forward, ready to start pushing the men around away from her to give her some space. "They're freaking her out."
"Should we go help?" Reid asked as he too watched them.
"No," Rossi said and he began to relax again. "Hotch is there now."
Hotch had reached the group and effectively cut a swathed through them to stand next to Emily's side. One glare sent a few of the men scattering. He said a few words that had a few more slinking off. Two men were either too drunk to realize how angry Hotch was, or they had a death wish. These men Hotch ignored altogether and with a hand on Emily's back, he led her away.
Garcia sighed. "Well, it wasn't exactly what we were going for, but mission accomplished all the same."
Rossi stared at her. "What? What mission? You mean you planned all this?" A note of anger had entered his voice. "Why did you want to put Emily into that type of situation?"
"Rossi, back off," Morgan said, his protective instinct where Garcia was concerned automatically switching on. "I'm sure that wasn't what Penelope had planned."
"Of course not!" the tech analyst said defensively. "I would never try to make Em feel uncomfortable. I didn't know she was feeling nervous about being in crowds and I didn't think those guys would just surround her like that."
"Then what exactly was your plan?" Rossi pressed, still not happy about what was going on.
JJ sighed. "I was in on it too," she admitted. "We've noticed the one person Emily hasn't seemed to re-connect with since she's been back is Hotch and we also noticed he's been feeling a little hurt by that, but he wasn't going to say anything to her. You know his 'give her space and time' excuse. We thought if Em got all dolled up he would approach her if only because he didn't want any other guy being around her."
The three men looked at them in disbelief.
"You're joking," Morgan asked. "You guys think making Hotch jealous was a good plan?"
"Why would Hotch be jealous?" Reid asked.
Four pairs of eyes regarded him incredulously.
"What?" Reid squawked. "What am I missing?"
Rossi shook his head, ignoring the young genius' questions and watched as Hotch and Emily left the party. He assumed his friend was taking her some place private where she could gather herself together. While he greatly disapproved of their methods, Rossi had to admit, if this pushed Hotch and Emily closer together, that might not be a bad thing for either of them or the rest of the team. He just hoped Emily was ready for it and if she wasn't, that Hotch would be patient with her.
A/N 2: I got the idea for Emily to dress up as Marilyn Monroe when I saw a picture of Paget in a blonde wig. Plus in that white dress, she would be the complete opposite of how the team and the entire Bureau typically see her. And of course the title comes from a riff on Monroe's movie, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".