Work Text:
You can seldom stand men. You deal with them enough at your job, so generally you avoid them in social settings. Luke Alvez, however, is one of the very few exceptions to this. You met the agent at the office gym when the floor was full, and you had no choice but to ask to work in with him. You struck up conversation about BCAAs and protein, and eventually a routine was born.
Loathe to admit it, it was nice finding someone to talk to. You had joined the cold case division a few months prior, and the work made for very little socializing outside of your unit. Luke was like your sweet, slightly annoying older brother, and you challenged each other: One more set, two more reps, “Oh sorry, I thought you were stronger than that,” and so on.
On some Friday, Luke turned to you on the treadmill with a question on his lips, “Would you be interested in coming out for drinks tonight with my team? Will will be there with Jj, so you’ll know more than me.”
He took some breaths as he ran on. “It could be fun? I’ll introduce you to the rest of my team.”
Luke spoke highly of the BAU. So did Will. You knew who they were, and you’d seen them on a few crime scenes, but never had any reason to talk to any of them.
Although going to a bar where you knew less than half of the people sounded like a unique form of punishment, Luke was looking at you with so much hope in his eyes you couldn’t help but give him a nod.
“Sure. Why not?” What do you have to lose?
The day passed at its usual pace, and you head for the bar straight after. As you enter you find it much louder than the quiet, moody atmosphere you’d assumed this would be. It’s a blessing that you hear your name hollered from across the bar, and that you can see Luke’s hand waving you over.
Shoulders squared, you slowly approach the two high tops pushed together to accommodate the party. All pairs of eyes are trained on you. Analyzing.
Do they know they do that? Size up the newcomer? You’re no better than them, but you thought they’d be more discrete about it.
You break the silence, “Luke, is your whole team tall and pretty except for you?” An accompanying look shot his way.
The tension seems to be broken in that instant.
“Oh I like her.” You hear a blonde whisper, giggling at Luke’s blush.
“Me too.” A grey-haired man agrees.
“Har har. For everyone who doesn’t know, this is Y/N. She’s in cold cases with Will, and she’s the gym buddy I’ve been telling you about.” You take that as your cue and extend your hand to make your way down the row of agents.
First is Tara Lewis who gives you a warm smile and polite greeting.
Next is Penelope Garcia, the blonde you heard earlier, who excitedly greets you.
“Hi! I’m so glad you could come have drinks with us.” She hands you a chilled glass of beer, freshly poured from the pitcher in the middle of the table, by way of welcome.
“Now that you’re here I’d like to formally thank you for your service. It isn’t easy putting up with Alvez every day.”
Your face gets stern as you gratefully grab your glass, and you lean in closely to stage-whisper your response, “If it takes fighting a war for us to meet it will have been worth it.” Which earns you a laugh from the table.
Next is Dave Rossi. His handshake firm, eyes soft but clever. “It’s a pleasure.” He says, as you nod and meet his gaze. “Likewise. I love your books.” Your tone cool, hopefully disguising how excited you are to meet him.
Maybe he gives you a response, maybe not, but you don’t register it due to the palpable heat of a searing gaze coming from the woman to his right.
You turn your head to face her, her dark brown eyes are trained on you. Ah, her.
You had felt her studying you while you got introduced to the others, but meeting her gaze now, her expression changes to something more polite from whatever it was before.
You lean closer to offer her your hand, which she takes. Grip strong but not stifling.
It takes a beat too long for you both to realize that neither of you have said anything at this point, just a poor excuse for a handshake and silence.
Appearing to remember herself, the woman breaks out into a perfect smile. Political.
“Nice to meet you. Emily Prentiss.” Her voice is low, authoritative without even trying.
“Nice to meet you, Emily.” You know your own smile is maybe a little too big.
Reluctantly, you tear your eyes away as Penelope grabs your attention to discuss…something. You blink a few times to focus your attention to her from whatever…that was. And thus, the night commences.
As expected, you really like the team.
You and Alvez play pool against Rossi and Will (only to get proper demolished).
You save Penelope from a mostly unwanted suitor from the bar.
Jj and Tara hustle men in a game of darts as you sat back to laugh, still feeling a little out of place among the tight knit team.
At some point in the evening, you find yourself at the table across from Prentiss. You tell yourself this was a mere coincidence, but you’d been paying attention to her the whole night. As per your usual course of action with women you find attractive, though, you had avoided her up until now.
And now, you’ve found yourself not only standing in front of Emily, but it appears she’s entertaining you for the time being as she nods to the seat across from her. Few had gone to talk with her all night unless in hushed, serious tones, likely talking about work.
At this point she looked available exclusively for conversations which excluded work.
“Looks like you got dragged out here.” She speaks first, her tone low. You watch her eyes scan down your body, then back up to your face.
“You too.” You say quietly once she meets your gaze.
“Salude,” you said in unison, her eyes now locked solidly on yours as you knocked your beers back.
The conversation is easy, and…is she flirting? Her eyes are so soft while they’re trained on you. They certainly weren’t doing that when she spoke with her team earlier.
Huh.
One refill in, you’re talking when a man sidles up to the table with clear intentions toward Ms. Prentiss.
“Hey there.” His breath is wet and smells of stale beer. He makes sure his shoulders are square to her, separating the two of you.
“Besides being beautiful, what else do you do for a living?”
The man’s back nearly falls victim to your recent swig of beer. Using all your willpower to swallow your drink instead, you peer around Tall Guy to watch her size him up. You watch a tongue peek out to the corner of her mouth. Then her eyes narrow, going in for the kill. With the way she smiles at him, her teeth almost look sharp.
“And why would I entertain a question from a man whose one and only brain cell is too busy trying not to forget his shitty pickup line such that he fails to notice I was already here with someone?” And she waits.
The man, looking affronted, turns slowly to you. You return his dull stare with a wave of your fingers.
“Bye Paul”
“That’s not my na-”
“Goodbye. Paul.” She drives home. Voice lower, and louder than his. He walks off in a huff.
“Oh I could just kiss you.” You say through your smile once he’s out of earshot. You’re a sucker for people advocating for you. Normally you speak up for yourself, but when someone can do it, does do it, before you get the chance? Well. It’s very hot.
She looks down almost sheepishly. “Don’t smile at me like that,” she mumbles. As if the weight of your gratitude was too much.
You rest your cheek on your hand eyes still trained on Emily. “Whys that?”
She looked like she’s going to answer, her drink paused right in front of her lips. Instead, she looks down to your mouth for what feels like too long to be friendly, then tips the rest of her drink back in lieu of a response.
“I am curious about something.” She says once she’s sat her glass down.
You quirk your eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. She nods her head toward the group across the bar and continues, “I’ve watched you tonight with everyone here. You get along well with them. You blend in with everyone you speak to. And you’ve spent the longest with me. Why is that?” she pauses and takes a sip. Slowly analyzing your reaction as if you’ll give her an answer before you have a chance to hear all of what she has to say.
“Is there something you need from the unit? Some information you’re trying to get from us. From me?”
You look at her incredulously. Have you not been moving toward something the whole night? She can’t be serious??
“What’s your plan here?”
Apparently, she is. You take a sip of your own drink and pin her with your gaze.
“My plan? I stand by what I said earlier,” you shrug, the alcohol in your system pushing you toward honesty. “I plan to kiss you tonight. Just not yet.” Instead of waiting for a response you gently tip your glass to her and stand up from your chair to join the rest of the team.
-
The music of the bar thrums in your chest as you dance with Garcia, Alvez, Jj, and Tara. The Jackson 5’s ABC has you all singing offkey into your beer, your own performance hindered by the smile on your face. You knew you’d like this team, but tonight is just what you needed. You couldn’t remember the last time you could relax and laugh with good people. You’d have to thank Luke later for the invite.
Meanwhile, Emily sits back with Will and Rossi. Tuned out of their conversation, her dark eyes are trained on you as she processes through the last interaction you shared. It had been a long time since a woman approached her with such obvious interest. Men at work, sure, but that was a regular annoyance of the job. But you. You were no man.
Emily takes a swig of her beer and sighs. She knew of you for months, largely through stories from Alvez, but she had this version of you in her mind that was very different from the confident, clever, woman on the dance floor.
She makes her decision as the song begins to fade, and she watches you break away from the group to head for the restrooms. You’re none the wiser as she stands up and follows close behind.
She finds you’re the only two in the hallway waiting in line as she slides up to stand behind you.
“How would it go?” She asks by way of greeting. Leaning gently against the wall blocking your view of the bar.
You turn around look up at her curiously.
“This plan.”
You lean into the wall to mirror her to think about her question for a moment before you respond.
“Something like this probably.” You wave your glass around loosely, gesturing at the situation “It’s just the two of us, having broken away from the throng. I’ll know by that point whether or not you think I’m cute, and I’m not just totally misguided.”
“And how would you know that?” She chuckles, quirking a perfectly arched brow.
“I’d pay attention.” You take a swig as casually as you can. Pretending you aren’t as eager as you are for this to go right. For you to be right.
“To how often you watch me.” One step toward her. “How you watch me.” Another.
You set your beer on the table to your side, your eyes locked on brown, glinting in the dim light.
She hums then, “that’s all you need?” A smirk plays at her mouth. You’re so close you can feel her breath on your lips. You smile up at her and nod because it is all you need, and she knows that.
You begin to lean forward just enough for her to close the distance. You feel the barest hint of soft, lipstick-stained lips touch yours and-
“Hey Y/n! Where’s the men’s room? Figured you’d know, bro.” Alvez jokes as he rounds the corner of the dividing wall.
You shoot away from each other as if burned.
“The other side of the bar, you jerk.” You say as you roll your eyes.
He turns the corner and looks between the two of you, a shit-eating grin slowly spreading across his features.
“Agent Alvez I suggest you turn around and find your way.” Prentiss snaps.
“Of course. I’ll leave you two to…it.” He says over his shoulder to avoid the piercing glare coming from both women.
After he leaves you release a breath, running your fingers through your hair.
“You okay? Was that weird for you?” Cheeks slightly flushed, you turn around to check on Emily, but before you can strong hands catch your shoulders and push you against the wall. The softest lips you’ve ever felt are close behind and suddenly you’re being kissed within an inch of your life in a dark corner of the bar.
On instinct your fingers grab at the sides of her blazer, pulling her closer to you.
And the kiss is good. Because of course it is.
Maybe it’s the tension building all night, but it’s almost embarrassing how weak in the knees this kiss is making you. You’ve been kissed before, kissed plenty, but not like this.
It seems she feels similarly as she sighs and slips a knee between your legs. You think about how easy it would be to just let her have her way with you. To pull her impossibly closer until you feel sharp teeth and tongue, until you’re gasping her name. But as much as you’re (really) enjoying this, you’d rather do this privately.
The kisses slow and you pull back with a smile only for one to be trained on you in return.
“Can I see you again? Maybe tomorrow I could buy you coffee?” You ask just knowing how you’re looking up at her absolutely love-struck. If you were a cartoon, you’d have big ole heart eyes.
“I’d really like that.” Her nose lightly brushes yours. “So you’d like to see me again…starting tomorrow?” She clarifies, sliding her hands up to hold the sides of your jacket, her nose brushing yours again before moving down.
“Yes,” you nearly moan as her teeth find your neck. “Tomorrow.” You say with your last shred of self-control. She pulls back, her nod discrete, complete with a sweet, dimpled smile that graces her features. God she’s beautiful.
She starts for the bar’s main floor, but you grab her wrist to pull her back to you.
“Just one more though,” you mumble as your hand slides back up her neck to pull her into another kiss.
-
Meanwhile on the other side of the bar one could hear the distinct clinking of glasses.
“Hell yeah! I totally called it. I knew this would work.” Alvez cheered, standing proud.
“I have to hand it to you, Alvez. You did in fact call it.” Tara replies.
“You’re still paying for all my drinks. Took some serious coaxing to get Emily out tonight,” Rossi chuckles.
“Oh Dave. Stop being a grouch. It’s young love!” Penelope sighs.
-
You two never go back to the table. Turns out Emily can be very convincing.