Hotch was nervous.
Like she’d promised, Emily had texted him her flight information and he’d tracked her flight just to make sure it was in on time. But still, when adding time to get baggage, he was left waiting in the arrivals lounge. Still, that wasn’t what was tying his stomach in knots. There were a few things that he was nervous about. For one thing, he had no idea how she was going to react to seeing him.
He’d made a conscious effort over the last few days to reach out to her, to check up on her and on Leah, but he had no idea how she’d felt about that. Linguistics was her expertise not his. He read human behaviour and it was difficult to do that over the phone. He’d caught some of the little nuances of her voice, but it wasn’t exactly perfect. He’d much rather see her.
Which he was about to do in only a few minutes.
His entire attention was on the doors that kept opening and closing, on the people who kept finding and hugging their loved ones, people who came to pick them up. He could tell who was happy to be there and who was there for professional reasons. He could tell by the hand shakes, the hugs, the squeals and so his mind was in overdrive trying to figure out how Emily would greet him. And how he would greet her.
He wanted to just pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her tight, to kiss her hello, to be able to tell her that he’d missed her in the five days she’d been away. He wanted to take her home, to keep her close and not let her go. He’d never expected to miss her as much as he did, but the moment he couldn’t turn to her in the plane to ask her a question he’d realized that he was more used to her than he’d thought.
So he’d reached out, unsure of whether or not she’d respond and she had, in earnest. Much like she confided in him during the case, she confided in him now, telling him about her shopping trip with Leah, about the girl’s difficulties adjusting to the fact that it was possible for her to live a normal life now. He’d been ecstatic that she was talking to him, texting him, responding to all of his messages.
So where part of him was sure of her affections, the other part of him, the part that tried to rationalize everything, told him he was looking for something where there was nothing.
Then he saw her come through the doors, ready bag slung over her shoulder, laptop on the same. He watched her searching the faces in the crowd for his, then felt his heart rate speed up at the way her face lit up when she saw him. He found himself moving before he’d even realized he was, his pace quickening with hers. They stopped right in front of each other, barely a breath of air between them. He saw something shift in her eyes before she was against him completely, her hands cupping his face and her lips on his.
It didn’t take much persuasion on her part to get him to respond. One of his hands rose to her neck, cupping and angling her head as he took over the kiss. This time, he wasn’t going to be caught off guard and he was going to show her exactly what he wanted to do to her. His other hand splayed across her back, pulling her lower body into his, feeling her chest up against his own. It didn’t take much to coax her mouth open with his tongue and she responded in kind.
Eventually, they had to pull away and he watched as a delightful blush rose to paint her cheeks red. “I don’t know what the Bureau would say if we said hello like that in the office.”
Emily laughed and he found himself smiling. She had an uninhibited laugh when she wanted to and he’d never really noticed how free it sounded. “I’m sure we can restrain ourselves.”
Hotch’s hand was still around her waist, hers were still around his neck. He slipped his other hand into her hair, stroking the back of her neck with his thumb. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“I’m glad to be back,” she responded with a softer smile. “Thank you for picking me up.”
He kissed her forehead. “Anytime.”
“Take me home?” she asked.
He slipped her ready bag from her shoulder, throwing it over his own before linking his hand with hers. “Anywhere.”
He hoped she liked that idea as much as he did.