And If I Fall, Let Me Part I: At Your Service - A. Hotchner x OC & Jemily

Nobody likes politics

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Seneca

Day 1 - Secret Sevice Unit, Washington D.C.

Apart from a slightly different room layout, and a seemingly nicer kitchen than theirs, Emily couldn't observe a big difference in the offices of the Secret Service when Tyler Chen lead them towards a spacious corner.

"I set up what you asked for on the phone," he said in their general direction, gesturing towards the boards, "Do you need anything else?"

Emily watched Hotch shake his head.

"No, is Agent Ev-" he started, before a female voice interrupted him. With raised eyebrows, Emily looked over to the woman coming out of the office, pocketing her phone.

"Look who the cat dragged in," she directed at Hotch, smirking. To her surprise, she watched as her boss' lip twitched in what was suspiciously close to a smile. Now that was unusual. She couldn't remember ever having seen that woman.

"Surprised they let you work somewhere you can't shoot your way out or blow something up," Hotch gave back dryly.  Emily's eyebrows disappeared further under her bangs, and she exchanged a surprised look with Morgan. It was rare to see Hotch smirk, was he actually bordering on flirting?  The blonde only chuckled.

"Maybe I will start again, just to annoy you," she said, crossing her arms, "But my track record has been fine the last years."

Agent Chen, who had busied himself with the boards, threw a dirty look her way. "She's crushing cars now," he muttered under his breath. He only earned a lazy smirk from what Emily assumed to be his boss before the woman shrugged.

"As usual, my team loves my subtle way of doing things. I'm assuming this is yours?"

Her eyes glided over the BAU unit, and when hers met Emily's, the brunette couldn't help but give her a small smile back. She had met a lot of different people on their assignments, and from the first few seconds, the agent in front of her fell into the 'easy likable' category. What would come later was always a game between guessing, profiling, and circumstances. 

Hotch nodded, introducing them. With every name came a nod from the other woman.

"And this is Alexandria Evans, head of this Secret Service Unit."

Alexandria huffed a little at the mention of her full name.

"Alex is fine, or Evans, whatever you prefer. It's nice to meet you, I'm glad you're here," she gestured towards the corner, "If you need anything, please tell me, or Tyler. If I'm not here, he is responsible."

Hotch, back to his usual behavior, furrowed his brows. "When is the next gala?"

Giving them an exhausted look, Alex held up four fingers. "Friday night at six. We're already running out of time, I'm guessing?"

Judging from the three dead politicians, Emily would argue Alex was right. Reid, who had followed the whole exchange with mild interest, nodded.

"From the previously targeted events, the probability he chooses this one is quite high. Unless there is another gala with domestic and foreign diplomats at the same time, or within the next week in DC," he added. The blonde agent looked at him.

"No, that's the only one," Alex shook her head, gesturing toward the people in the room, "The next big thing isn't for another three weeks. We have five people prepping right now."

Hotch gave her a questioning look. "Only five?"

Alex didn't give away if the question offended her in any way.