Title: Puppy Love
By: realityaskew
Pairing: Hotch/Prentiss
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing from CM.
Summary: Prentiss finds an abandoned puppy. Pure fluff ensues.

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Emily Prentiss fished her keys out of her bag as she walked through the parking garage. Her pace was a quicker than usual, she hated parking garages at night when they were practically abandoned. She saw something scurry past out of the corner of her eye and she froze.

"Hello?" She called out to the empty concrete walls but was only answered by her echo.

She shook it off as nothing but nerves and continued on to her car. While she was walking she couldn't help but feel that someone was watching her. Something scurried past again and she stopped.

"I know someone's there." She was almost ready to draw her gun when she turned and caught herself from falling over….a shaggy little puppy.

Emily let out a breathy laugh and shook her head in relief. A tiny black lab was the intruder watching her.

"You scared me half to death little man." She said bending down to scratch the puppy behind the ears.

The puppy melted in her hands and jumped up bathing her face in kisses. "Where did you come from?" She asked the puppy.

She noticed that he didn't have a collar or any tags and the poor thing looked hungry and cold. Emily didn't have it in her heart to just leave the tiny creature there so she scooped him up in her arms and decided to take him home with her. She would figure out to do in the morning besides she could use the company.

After only half an hour of being at her apartment the puppy had broken a crystal vase, chewed up a pillow on the couch, eaten two cans of dog food Emily had picked up on the way home, drunken four bowls of water, gone the bathroom on the floor, and was now resting easily on the carpet underneath the coffee table. Letting out a worn out sigh Emily dumped a pile of broken crystal into the trash.

"You're lucky you're cute because you are a complete moose." Emily smiled knowingly deciding to call the little animal just that.

Just as she was about to finally crash on the couch there was a knock at the door. Emily let out a loud groan and went over to the door. When she looked through the peephole she was surprised to see Hotch standing on the other end. She unlocked the door and stepped to the side to let him in.

"Hi." She said wondering why he had shown up at her apartment.

"Hi." He took a few files out from his coat and handed them to her. "Garcia left these on my desk and I thought you might want to look over them too. We were both kind of working on the same theory so you might find it interesting."

Emily smiled and flipped through the files quickly. She stopped when she saw the sticky note in Garcia's handwriting, "Show these to Em for me." Garcia had been pushing them together ever since she found out that Emily had quit for him a few months ago.

"Thanks." She said putting the files on her kitchen counter. A loud crash and the sound of glass breaking filled the apartment and Emily flinched.

"What was that?" Hotch asked surprised at the sudden noise.

"That would be the new man in my life." Emily couldn't be sure but she thought she might have seen disappointment flash through his eyes.

The puppy innocently trotted out into the open and Hotch sighed with relief. Emily picked up the puppy and scratched the back of his neck. "What did you break this time buddy?" The puppy started squirming wanting to go to Hotch.

Hotch reached out for the little animal and let out a small laugh when it started licking his face.

"So this is the new man in your life?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah and I think he likes you better than me."

"I was actually thinking about getting a dog. I just moved into my new apartment and I always wanted one."

"Seriously?" Emily asked.

"Yeah."

"Would you consider taking him?"

"But isn't he yours?"

"Not really. I found him tonight and I think he was abandoned. I'm not really supposed to have any animals here so I smuggled him in. I was actually going to try and figure out what to do with him in the morning but if you want him he's all yours."

"I'll take him." Hotch said.

"Okay you can have him but under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to cal him Moose."

Hotch laughed. "I think I can do that." He put the puppy down and it started running around in circles. It new it had a new home.

Moose slammed into the back of Emily's legs causing her knees to buckle and she fell right into Hotch's arms.

"Sorry." Emily said her face turning red with embarrassment.

Hotch didn't say anything but still held her in his arms. Deciding to just go for it he leaned in and kissed her. Emily was surprised he actually went for it and she kissed him back. She could feel Hotch smiling against her lips.

Emily Prentiss would never fully believe it but a post it note written by Garcia and a puppy named Moose had brought her and Hotch together.

THE END

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