unedited

TWENTY FIVE. DAISY, UNDERCOVER

DAISY GRUNTED AS SHE SLIPPED THE DRESS SHE'D WORN IN VEGAS OVER HER HIPS. She looked in the mirror on the wall of the locker room, shrugging in it a little to flatten out any creases. She looked hot, sure, but the fabric clinging to her skin reminded her of...

"Alvarez?" a knock at the door was followed by Hotch's deep voice. Daisy froze, one hand between her boobs to shift them properly into place. She pursed her lips, trying to figure out exactly what to do. She looked over at the closed door and pulled her hand out, brushing herself off. 

"Uh, come in," she called back. 

The door swung open and her superior stepped inside, his eyes falling on her. He didn't speak for a moment, taking in her figure. She was incredibly beautiful, this he already knew. But to see her in the dress he'd rejected her in - the dress she'd be wearing as bait to attract a predator...it didn't sit right with him. He cleared his throat, watching as she put in a pair of hoop earrings. "You're okay with this, right?"

Daisy looked over at him for a second, her brows furrowed. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Hotch didn't appear entirely convinced. 

Daisy climbed over the bench and reached into her locker for a pair of high heels one of the women at the police station had lent her. They looked incredibly uncomfortable, especially for a women who wore sneakers most of the time. She was dreading having to spend the night in them. "Listen, Hotch. I've dated people worse than this Viper guy."

"Wow," Hotch muttered, though he lost his train of thought as Daisy approached him and turned around, revealing her bare back. 

"Can you zip me up?" she asked, her heels in one hand and a tube of lipstick in the other. She briefly glanced over her shoulder, waiting for the man to respond, but he seemed to be struggling to find the words. She chuckled softly. "Earth to Hotch?"

"Sorry," Hotch mumbled, reaching out and taking the zip between his finger and thumb. As he zipped up her dress, his hand accidentally brushed against the skin of her back, causing goosebumps to rise. Daisy involuntarily shivered, and Hotch apologised once more. Before the dress was full done, he caught a glimpse of a fading scar on her shoulder. "Is this from-"

"Yeah."

"Right," he said quickly, completing his task and stepping away. "Sorry, again."

"It's okay," Daisy replied a little awkwardly. She couldn't deny that she missed the warmth of his hands as he pulled away, but she composed herself before she spun around. 

She didn't realise how close they were, as when she turned, her face was only mere inches from his. A few seconds of silence hung over the pair, both of them sneaking glances at each others lips. Hotch began to lean in a little, but Daisy took a step back. 

Hotch swallowed. "I'm sorry-"

"Stop apologising," Daisy grumbled, shutting the locker door and cursing as she put the heels on. She took a step and wobbled a little, instinctively reaching out for Hotch's arm. She lifted her gaze from the ground to his face, and she scowled at the slightly amused expression he held. She pointed at him as he helped her out of the room. "Don't you go getting the wrong idea here, Hotchner."

Hotch managed a chuckle, which brought a smile to Daisy's face. "You wound me, Alvarez."

★☆

"That's him?" Daisy nodded towards the man who was speaking with Emily. Jordan Todd nodded with a soft chuckle. They two had hit it off pretty quickly, both of them sharing a distaste for Hotch. Jordan was accompanying her and Emily in the field at the latter's request, which got no complaints from the former. "He looks like a washed up magician."

"The only trick he knows is getting girls to disappear," Jordan muttered sarcastically, and Daisy grinned just as Emily waved them over. 

The atmosphere of the club was intense, but not as sweaty as Daisy had expected. The music was loud and the bass thudded in her ears, but she wasn't complaining. She'd always liked nightlife. 

The two woman strutted to the small table in the middle of the nightclub, and Daisy felt rather exposed as the Viper's eyes soaked in her body. It was strange - Hotch had done almost the same thing not even an hour ago, yet she didn't feel so repulsed as she did now. She felt sick to her stomach as she approached the man who was thinking dirty things about her, but she plastered on a fake smile and leaned against the table. 

"Well, hello," the Viper grinned down at the two women, though his eyes lingered on Daisy a little longer. "Who might you be?"

Daisy giggled, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. "Is this the guy you were telling us about?"

"Viper, meet SSAs Daisy Alvarez and Jordan Todd from the BAU," Emily introduced them, and Daisy held her hand out for the man to kiss. Her smile twitched slightly as he slobbered over her, and she quickly pulled it back, trying to act like she was into it. "Daisy, Jordan, this is Viper. God's gift to women!"

"Wow," Jordan chuckled, taking a sip from her glass. "God sure has a sense of humour."

Daisy bit her lip to hide her laugh. The Viper hummed dryly, looking back at Emily. "You brought friends."

"You promised if I met you on your turf, you'd show us something special," Emily insisted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The Viper didn't seem to pick up on it. "So, let's see it."

"Yeah, Viper," Daisy leaned forward a little, a smirk playing at her lips. The Viper stared down at her with a lustful hunger in his eyes, which were constantly flickering down to her mouth. "Who gets pushed and who gets pulled tonight?"

The Viper smiled in a way he must have assumed was attractive. He lifted his finger and curled it, as if to summon the agent. She held in a sigh, playing along. She maintained a stare with him, and he seemed to want to use this to his advantage. "You see, eye contact is a very powerful gauge. It's why you tend to look away from someone you're attracted to, because you know instinctively what a dead giveaway is. But your brain goes there anyway. Images, fantasies."

Daisy didn't break eye contact. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart."

"The eyes don't lie," the man didn't back down. "They dilate. It's a chemical response. We can't control it."

"Okay, fifteen seconds," Emily cut in. Daisy looked over at her, opening her eyes wide. 

"See anything?" she asked, and Jordan peered over, almost over-dramatically. 

"Nope," she chimed. "No change, no dilation. I guess chemically you're not a match."

"Only because you have someone else on the mind," the Viper shrugged, looking away. Daisy faltered a little, but she quickly regained her composure. Luckily, no one caught her slight slip up. "Once that happens, the attraction centre in the brain shuts down."

Emily laughed. "Paul, I'm baffled."

The Viper's smile vanished at the use of his actual name. 

"I can't figure out what the Unsub could have learned from you," Emily shook her head with an amused smile. 

"What do you mean?" the Viper straightened up. He spun around, showing off his unnecessarily flashy outfit. It was a bright purple shirt with the collar turned up, a black trench coat with gold buttons, and several piercings decorating his ears. That, and the off-brand-Tony-Stark looking goatee slithering around his mouth, wasn't exactly a panty dropper. "He took my look, my words, everything that makes me successful to the opposite sex."

"Really?" Jordan quirked an eyebrow. "Because that guy can get beautiful women into his apartment. I wouldn't let you on my Facebook page."

Daisy perked up. "Oh, you're on Facebook?"

Jordan beamed. "Yeah, you should friend me!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" the Viper cut in, unhappy with the fact that he wasn't at the centre of attention anymore. "I gave him the routines that made him what he is."

Daisy frowned, almost teasingly. "It must all be in the salesmanship, then. Cause we've been watching all the women in the club."

"And not one of them has looked at you," Emily finished, pouting her painted lips. "So, who do you really go home with, Paul? Or...or do you go home alone?"

The Viper seemed taken aback by her statement, but began to laugh it off. It was clearly forced, and it didn't fool any of the women. "That was really good, ladies. That was really good. Don't you think I know why you're here? One of my students copies my moves, and you're here to get inside my mind? Don't you see? I confronted my queen bee a long time ago."

"What's a queen bee?" Jordan asked. 

"You are," the man didn't waste a second in replying. "And so is every other confident girl in here who's loud when she's drunk."

"Or maybe they're just having fun," Daisy pointed out, tilting her head. "Maybe they're not here for you. Maybe they're here to come out and have a good time with their friends. It's not a menu, Paul. These women aren't slabs of meat. The sooner you learn that, the sooner these stupid tricks of yours might do you some good."

He couldn't even look her in the eye now. 

"They're social butterflies," Emily pressed on. "Alpha females."

"Every student who's ever taken my class has had one in his life," he was incredibly persistent, they had to give him that. "And the first exercise my students have to complete is to confront their queen bee. It could be the girl who cheated on you, or the prom date who stood you up. But you find them, and squash them."

The women exchanged unimpressed glances, before they all grabbed their drinks and walked off, leaving the self-proclaimed 'pick-up artist' alone. 

★☆

okay ummmmmm 

two updates in a day??? basically i need some distance between hotch and daisy's make out sesh because ~sexual tension~ 

hopefully it wasn't too bad a filler lmao