Author's Note: Another challenge story. You can read this completely as a stand alone one shot.

But if you're coming at it from CM, this is an offshoot of Universe A, aka the main Girl 'verse. It takes place in late Season 3. There's nothing to say they didn't take this trip some random day after Hotch got divorced and before he got blown up.

Prompt Set #2

Show: Gilmore Girls

Title Challenge: Emily in Wonderland

Wrong Turn

Emily sighed as she turned to watch the scenery go past the side window.

Nothing but trees . . . they were lost.

They'd actually been lost for well over an hour, but Hotch hadn't asked for directions yet. He wasn't usually stubborn about that. He wasn't a typical guy. And given that they did travel to so many new places all the time, it would be completely ridiculous to expect that he'd ALWAYS be able to find his way around easily.

But today . . . for some inexplicable reason . . . he hadn't pulled over even after it was apparent that they were just going around in circles.

And now she was thirsty and hungry, AND she had to go to the bathroom. She'd always that thought it was just cruel that you could be both thirsty and have to pee at the same time. Of course she knew that they were completely unrelated bodily functions, but still, it just seemed like karmicly, one should cancel the other out.

And she so badly just wanted to ask Hotch to stop and take a five minute break so she could pee and break into a couple of vending machines, but he was starting to that little twitchy thing over his eye. And on top of everything else, she didn't want to start a fight.

But she really . . . she fidgeted nervously . . . REALLY had to pee!

Damn it.

Okay . . . she took a breath . . . she'd give it ten more minutes. Then she'd risk the fight.

Better that than risking an embarrassing accident.

/*/*/*

Hotch winced slightly as he noticed Emily squirming in her seat.

Okay . . . he sighed to himself . . . they were going to have to stop. He'd been putting it off, but clearly . . . if she was ACTIVELY squirming . . . she couldn't wait much longer to use the bathroom. Really he was kind of amazed that she hadn't said anything yet! That wasn't like her. But since she'd tossed that useless map onto the floor a few minutes ago, she'd just been staring out the window.

Grrr! God damn construction! They just HAD to hit that detour on the Interstate. Otherwise at this point in their day, things would have been going just fine.

Or at least going much more smoothly.

The two of them had flown up commercial that morning into TF Green for a consult in a small town in eastern Connecticut. The sheriff that they were meeting with had sent the BAU a letter asking if he could get their opinion on an unusually high number of animal remains that had been found around town, one strange suicide, and a series of small fires that had been set.

All of these events had occurred over the span of the last eight months. And the sheriff didn't know if it was just a series of terrible coincidences . . . teenagers acting out perhaps . . . or if maybe he had the makings of a real psychopath on his hands.

Unfortunately Hotch hadn't been able to make a conclusion off the mutilation photos and the autopsy report of the suicide. But he'd decided that the potential risk for a serial killer in the making . . . especially one who getting this busy in such a short period of time . . . was high enough to warrant a quick day trip up north. But he didn't want to drag the whole team along on just a brief consult.

Still though, they rarely went anywhere alone, so he'd decided to take Emily up with him. It should have been an easy day trip.

And it would have been an easy day trip, if not for the damn detour.

He knew that he should have stopped for directions forty-five minutes ago, but it was just the principle of it. The sign CLEARLY said which way to go to get back around to the Interstate. And he wasn't an idiot, so he should have been able to follow the sign. And once he'd realized that perhaps he really was an idiot . . . because obviously he HADN'T been able to follow the damn sign . . . well, at that point he didn't much want to admit the truth of his idiocy to anyone else.

And by 'anyone else' he was referring to, of course, Emily.

But as he saw her shifting again, he knew that it was past time for him to suck it up. It was just mean to make her wait for no other reason than his own stubbornness.

So he cleared his throat.

"Let me know the next time you see a sign for a town." His eyes snapped over to hers, "we'll stop so that you can go to the bathroom."

Emily shot Hotch a grateful smile, "thanks."

Of course she also knew that meant they were stopping to ask for directions, but they were doing so SOLELY under the guise of attending to her needs. Her lips twitched slightly . . . that was fine. She had no desire to give him crap about this little wrong turn. It wasn't his fault that they had to get off the right road.

He had just waited a little longer than he should have before admitting that he couldn't get back on the right road, that's all.

But it actually was a beautiful day for a ride through New England. And perhaps if she'd had a drink . . . and had thought to stop and go to the bathroom at the airport . . . then she might actually have been enjoying the spring weather. It was cooler up here than back home. Probably high 60s, but it was sunny and the trees all had those new little green buds on them.

She bit her lip . . . it was really pretty out.

So she decided that after they'd stopped, she attended to her business and hopefully got some water . . . or even better, coffee(!) . . . she'd just try to make the best of it. She and Hotch were generally quite companionable on car trips. They'd certainly taken enough of them over the past year and a half. And a depressing review of a cold storage of animal carcasses notwithstanding, this could be a "nice day" if she just made the effort.

And that's when she suddenly saw the sign.

"Oh!" she flapped her hand towards the window, "there's a town! Stars Hollow. Next exit right up ahead."

Nodding that he saw it too, Hotch hit his directional.

"Got it," he murmured as he checked over his shoulder to change lanes. A few seconds later he made the turn off the exit. And once they were off the byway that they'd been circling for the last hour, they traveled through some fairly dense trees for about a mile, before hitting a speed limit drop down to 25 mph. And then finally they broke out into what Hotch assumed was the main street of this little hollow.

As they approached what was clearly the town square, he heard Emily exclaim from beside him.

"Oh Hotch, this place is ADORABLE! Look," she pointed, "they even have a gazebo!"

His eyes crinkled slightly as he glanced across the front seat to see her smiling out the window.

Emily could always find something good even in a bad situation. That's why he'd started partnering up with her more often. She was always the glass half full one.

And sometimes . . . more times than he'd care to admit . . . he needed somebody to actually put something in the glass for him. And now that she'd found something that had caught her eye, she'd definitely perked up.

She patted his arm excitedly.

"Oh, pull over there. I see a coffee shop."

Hotch slowed and then pulled into a parking spot on the corner of the street. After he'd turned off the engine, he squinted as he looked out the windshield.

"It says Williams Hardware on the front."

Emily tipped her head the other way. "Yeah . . . but," she frowned, "the little coffee cup sign is new, and the hardware store one looks old, so I say coffee shop."

With a fairly indifferent shrug, Hotch undid his seatbelt, "if you say so."

Either way, as long as they were an establishment open to the public, she'd be able to pee and he could ask somewhere the highway was.

Emily bobbed her head as she slid off her own belt.

"I do say so," she said as she opened her door, "but as long as they have a bathroom, I don't care if they're selling leather whips and fuzzy handcuffs in there."

They got out of the car and Hotch made a face as he looked at her over the roof.

"Would you really want to use the bathroom in a store like that?"

Getting an extremely unpleasant visual in her head of some freaky doings in a public bathroom, Emily shuddered as she walked over to join him on the sidewalk.

"Eww, no I guess not." Then she stood on her tiptoes to peer in the windows of the hardware store/coffee shop.

"But this does appear to be a dining establishment, so I don't think I have to worry about anything icky in the ladies room."

Hotch's mouth quivered as they continued down the sidewalk . . . Emily Prentiss was the only FBI agent that he knew who regularly used "eww" and "icky" in conversation.

Upon reaching the entrance to the little diner, Hotch pulled open the door and stepped back so that Emily could enter.

As he followed her inside, he noticed three things right off. First that it was definitely a diner, second, that it was doing pretty decent business for the post breakfast/pre-lunch hour, and third . . . his brow inched up . . . that the entire room had gone silent when they walked in.

Everybody was staring at them . . . so he stared back. And as expected . . . nobody held his gaze for long . . . they all quickly looked away.

Though they still kept sneaking glances. That was fine though. They could be curious, he just didn't like to be gawked at.

He and Emily then almost simultaneously slipped off their sunglasses, tucking them into the front pockets of their black suit jackets. And that was the fourth thing he noticed . . . they were the only ones wearing black.

Or suits.

Emily led them across the small room and over to the counter being wiped down by a scruffy looking guy in a baseball cap.

He was the only one in the place that was completely ignoring them.

After a moment of him continuing to pretend like they weren't standing there, Emily cleared her throat.

"Uh, excuse me. Can . . ."

He cut her off without even looking up. "What can I get for you?"

Slightly taken aback at the rough tone, Emily blinked. She would have thought that in a little town that looked like this one, that people would be friendlier.

But before she could open her mouth again, an attractive woman sitting on the stool to her right, piped up.

"Don't mind him. He's always grumpy," she said cheerfully. Then she gave Emily a big smile as she put her hand out.

"Hi, I'm Lorelai. I assume you guys are lost? Because you definitely don't look like you're from anywhere around here."

Emily blinked again as she looked down at the outstretched hand.

Okay, she wasn't expecting anyone to be quite that friendly either. Then she realized that she was being rude, the woman was being nice to her. So she gave her a pleasant smile in return as she put out her own hand.

"Uh, hi, yes actually we are lost. We need to get back on the Interstate." Then . . . figuring that this woman would probably be able to help her out with her other problem . . . she gave her a sheepish smile.

"And I really need to go to the bathroom."

The Lorelai woman smiled at her again before turning to point down the hall.

"Sure hon, right through there."

The guy behind the counter immediately piped up with an indignant, "Lorelai! That bathroom isn't for the public."

And then Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Luke. The woman needs to pee. Get over it." She turned back to Emily with a reassuring smile, while tipping her head to the side, "ignore him, just go on back."

Emily looked back and forth between the only two people that had spoken to them. Then she decided that regardless of who was standing behind the counter, body language clearly said that the woman was in charge here.

So she nodded.

"Thanks." Then she turned to Hotch, who had been silent during that whole exchange. She gave him her best sad face.

"I know that we're already running late, but can we please get something to eat?" She pouted slightly, "I'm really hungry. We had to get up so early I haven't eaten anything since five, and you know . . ."

Hotch cut her off with a roll of his eyes.

"I know. Believe me, I know."

Emily was always hungry. And she'd somehow forgotten her little snacks which she usually carried in her bag. And he knew this because she'd mentioned it twice at the airport and three times in the car.

Still though, they were in a hurry and needed to get back on the road. But as he stared into her eyes, he wondered if she knew how hard it was for him to say no to that face. Then he snorted to himself.

Of course she knows, that was why she was making that. And, he acknowledged to himself with a faint twist of his jaw, he was a little hungry too.

"Fine," he sighed, "we can get something to eat," then he shot her a glare, "but it has to be quick."

Before Emily could respond, Lorelai exclaimed.

"WOW! Best . . scowl . . . ever! I thought Luke was the hands down reigning champ of the Eastern seaboard but clearly there is a new king." She turned to the guy behind the counter, "hand over your crown bub."

Both Emily and Hotch just stared at her in astonishment for a moment before Emily lost it. She snorted . . . and then she laughed out loud. And when turned to see Hotch giving her a dirty look, she half chuckled, half shrugged.

"I'm sorry, but that was funny!"

This Lorelai woman was the only person besides Emily herself, who had ever openly commented on Hotch's infamous glare, to Hotch himself. Emily was definitely starting to like her.

Then she saw the guy she'd called Luke, roll his eyes as he dropped down two menus on the counter in front of them. He tipped his head over to the brunette.

"Just ignore her. She's out on a weekend pass from the institution."

Hotch looked back and forth between the man and woman, before finally shaking his head . . . he wasn't getting involved in this. He shot Emily a look.

"Prentiss, go find the bathroom. While you're gone, I will order you something, then we will eat, we will get directions and we will leave. We still have a long day ahead of us and we can't hang around here too long."

And with that, he dropped down on the stool and picked up the menu.

Emily's lips twitched at Hotch's 'attempting to keep control of the situation' speech. Then she noticed Lorelai frowning at him before she turned to stage whisper to Emily.

"He's kind of bossy."

Seeing the indignant look that Hotch shot Lorelai, Emily had to bit her lip to keep from laughing again. But then she quickly schooled her features.

Even if this woman was amusing, Emily's loyalties were to Hotch first and always.

"Uh, yeah," she smiled at Lorelai, "that's because he's my boss. Kind of comes with the title. Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can find that bathroom."

Hotch watched Emily take a few steps before disappearing behind the curtain in the corner. That's when he flipped the menu.

He was trying to decide what to order for her. They might not have another chance to eat later, so it needed to be something substantial enough that it would tide her over until dinner.

"Get her the burger."

When Lorelai's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts, Hotch's head snapped up in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

Who was this woman? Well, he knew that her name was Lorelai, but seriously who WAS this woman? He'd heard less from Emily in the last hour than he had from 'Lorelai' in the last two minutes.

And then she leaned over to point at something on his menu.

"Get her the cheeseburger and fries," she nodded and tapped the plastic, "it's really good."

Hotch looked back at the menu, then down at his watch.

It was a little after eleven, he supposed that was late enough for a burger. Especially given that she'd already been up for seven hours. He looked up to see the guy . . . what was his name . . . Luke, holding a pen and a pad of paper.

Oh . . . light dawned . . . Luke! Of Luke's diner. He must be the owner. Well, that explained the attitude, he was the boss.

He could be as cranky as he wanted to be. And to that end, Hotch saw him raise an annoyed eyebrow at him.

"You decide yet?"

Hotch raised his own eyebrow in response to the attitude, before looking down at the menu.

"Uh yeah, the cheeseburger and fries, a grilled cheese and two coffees please."

"Got it," Luke grunted as he scribbled down the order. Then he yelled their orders over his shoulder to some guy named Caesar before turning around to take down two huge coffee mugs.

As he started to pour, Lorelai turned to Hotch again.

"Luke makes the best coffee this side of Seattle," she looked up at Luke with a little smile, "right hon?"

Hotch noticed Luke rolled his eyes again, but this time his mouth twitched slightly. So Hotch looked down, and that's when he noticed the diamond ring and gold band on Lorelai's finger. His eyes snapped over to the hand holding the coffee pot.

A matching gold band.

His lip quirked up . . . huh. Married. Even though he read behavior for a living, he definitely would not have called that one. Though it did explain why she had the run of the place.

She was Mrs. Luke's Diner.

Hotch reached down to pick up the cup Luke had just filled, blowing slightly on the hot liquid before taking a sip. Then he licked his lips.

Wow! That WAS really good coffee.

Just then Emily came back out and he tipped his head as she sat down next to him. When he saw her face light up at the giant mug, his eyes crinkled slightly.

It took very little to make her happy.

"Oh! Coffee!" She turned to gave him a grin, "thanks."

She'd forgotten to ask him to order her some, but he knew what she liked. Though as she picked up her cup, Hotch shot her a look.

"It's hot. Be careful."

"'Kay," she responded with a little smile. So then she took a little sip, rather than the gulp which Hotch had known she was about to take.

As the rich flavor flooded her taste buds, she exclaimed.

"Wow! This is really good coffee!"

Hotch's mouth twitched slightly at Emily's echoing of his own thoughts. And then he saw Lorelai nodding firmly as she took a sip from her cup.

"Yep," she placed the mug back on the counter, "my man does make a fine cup o'joe."

Emily snapped her gaze over to Hotch to see him mouthing the word, 'married,' as he tipped his head down to Lorelai's hand.

Her eyes widened when she saw the ring. Then she looked up at the taciturn man behind the cash register.

Talk about opposites attracting.

When she looked back over at Hotch, Emily's brow wrinkled to see him scowling at his phone.

"What's the matter?" She asked softly.

With a sigh, Hotch slipped his cell back into his pocket.

"Text message from JJ." He gave a pointed nod at their surroundings, "we can discuss it in the car."

This really wasn't the right locale to go over the cannibalistic murder case out in Oregon that Strauss had just asked them to monitor.

"K," Emily said before took another sip of coffee. As she put her mug back on the counter she asked, "should we try calling the sheriff again?"

After a quick check of his watch, Hotch shook his head.

"No, it's all right. I'd told him that we'd be there by one. There were supposed to be thunderstorms this morning in Virginia so I'd allotted for a flight delay." He rolled his eyes, "we had a driving delay instead."

"It's okay," Emily gave him a little smile, "it's a nice day for a drive."

For her attempt at making him feel better, Hotch flashed Emily a dimple in gratitude . . . he knew she'd been miserable for the past hour. And he was just about to turn and ask Luke for directions, when Emily beat him to the punch as she turned to Lorelai.

Who . . . Hotch realized then . . . probably would be the better choice anyway. She might be a little bit 'friendlier' than he was used to, but she certainly had been quite helpful. Plus Emily seemed to like her, and she was a good judge of character.

Emily turned to the pretty brunette next to her.

"Excuse me Lorelai, could you tell us how to get back to the Interstate?"

"Of course," Lorelai nodded before grinning, "but would you answer one question for me first?"

Surprised at the request, Emily snapped her jaw shut.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Sure. What's the question?"

Lorelai leaned forward conspiratorially. "What do you people do for a living? Because you're dressed like either undertakers or backup singers for an Osmonds family reunion."

Emily's lips twitched as she glanced over at Hotch. He just rolled his eyes and looked back to his coffee.

So she wasn't the only one who had noticed that they'd ended up in matching outfits today. They had on nearly identical black suits and his tie perfectly coordinated with her royal blue shirt. Then of course there was the black hair and the brown eyes.

But they couldn't do anything about that.

Emily slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her badge, discreetly flipping it open for her new acquaintance.

"We're FBI agents. We're in Connecticut on business and got a little turned around at a construction detour."

Lorelai's eyes widened in excitement as she looked down at the shield.

"You're FBI agents! Cool beans!" she pulled out her phone "hold on, I have to tell my daughter."

Emily pursed her lips in amusement as Lorelai started texting, simultaneous to passing along quite detailed directions back to the Interstate. As she talked, Hotch scribbled the major landmarks down on a napkin that he then slipped into his pocket. By the time Lorelai was done talking, her phone was ringing. And to Emily's great amusement the ring tone was Who Can it Be Now by Men at Work.

Just then, Luke dropped their plates down in front of them and jabbed his thumb at the NO CELL PHONES sign.

"TAKE IT OUTSIDE!" He yelled.

Emily furrowed her brow at him before looking over at the man's wife. But she just waved her hand dismissively as she flipped open her phone. "Hey snookums . . . no really, I saw the badge." With a grin, she looked over at Emily who was popping a fry into her mouth.

"My daughter wants to know if you know Mulder and Scully."

"No," Emily chuckled, "sorry. Tell her I haven't had the pleasure." Lorelai laughingly passed along her answer before turning away to continue her conversation a bit more quietly.

"Who are Mulder and Scully?" Hotch asked with a poke to Emily's arm. And she gave him an indulgent smile as she picked up her burger, "I'll tell you in the car."

Hotch's brow furrowed slightly before he turned back to his sandwich . . . did he know those people? The names sounded familiar. Well, whatever. And with a shake of his head, he went back to his early lunch.

The food was as good as the coffee. Then he glanced over to Emily who was scarfing down her burger. His eyes crinkled slightly.

"Good?" He asked while gesturing towards her plate.

Still chewing, she nodded and then swallowed. "Yeah, really good. Nice choice." Hotch looked over her shoulder at Lorelai, "actually it was her suggestion so thank her."

Lorelai . . . having just snapped her phone shut . . . realized what they were talking about and smiled.

"The burger is my favorite," she looked down to Emily's shoes, "and I figured anyone who wore black leather boots like that, was bound to have good taste in other areas as well."

Emily looked down at her boots and then looked back up at Lorelai with a grin. "You suggested a burger for me because of my shoes?"

At Lorelai's serious nod, Emily picked up her napkin and wiped her fingers off. Then she put her hand out with a bright smile.

"Emily Prentiss. I don't think I introduced myself earlier."

In fact she knew that she hadn't. She generally sidestepped introductions unless they were formally identifying themselves, which they had not wanted to do. Then she tipped her head over to Hotch.

"And this is my boss, Aaron Hotchner."

Looking up in a slightly disinterested fashion, Hotch gave Lorelai a polite nod before he turned back to his meal.

Lorelai's lips twitched.

"Oh, we're officially introducing Grumpy 1 and Grumpy 2?" She pointed over to Luke who was busing one of the tables down back. "That's my husband Luke Danes. He owns the diner, and I own one of the local inns."

Emily swallowed her bite as she looked over with interest, "oh that's so cool." Then she frowned, "it's too bad that we're only on a day trip. It would be nice to stay somewhere, well, nice."

Most places with the best government rates weren't exactly five start establishments.

Lorelai started digging into her purse. "Well just in case you do need to stay over, here," she put one of her cards on the counter, "the directions from the Interstate are on the back." She winked, "and we do have a government rate."

Emily gave her a soft smile as she slipped the card into her pocket, "thanks."

This lady was being really nice to her. Maybe she could . . .

The thought faded as she turned towards Hotch and bit her lip.

'Please,' was the unspoken request.

Having also taken note of Lorelai's kindness to them, Hotch . . . after staring at Emily for a second . . . gave her a barely perceptible nod.

Go for it.

Her eyes crinkled at him before she turned to pull out one of her own cards. She passed it back to Lorelai.

"If you're ever in Washington, give me a call and I'll give you a tour of the FBI Academy."

Lorelai shot her a brilliant smile.

"My daughter would LOVE that! She's at the Kennedy School getting her Masters in Public Administration." Lorelai continued while tucking the card into her wallet, "she got a job covering the presidential campaign three days after graduating from Yale. And after a year of doing that, she was really interested in government and public service."

Impressed . . . and surprised, Emily looked over wide eyed.

"Wow, that's really great! You must so proud of her. And that's so funny actually because Hotch went to Harvard and I went to Yale."

What were the odds there?

Lorelai's eyes crinkled, "that is funny." Then she gave a proud smile, "my little girl always wanted to be a reporter but," she tilted her head, "given the state of journalism now I think it's good that she's found something else that excites her. I guess ideally maybe she could combine the two, but for now, I'm just happy that she's happy."

Then Lorelai brightened up as she looked over at Emily who was polishing off the last bite of her burger.

"And actually we've been talking about taking a trip down to DC. She went when she was in high school but I've never been."

Emily wiped her mouth as she nodded, "well I'm serious about the offer, so please don't hesitate to call if you do come down." She tipped her head over to Hotch, "we do travel a lot but if I'm in town I'll definitely give you the tour."

Hotch cleared his throat softly, "if we're away Garcia could do it."

At his unexpected contribution to the conversation, Emily looked over at her boss.

He was suddenly very engrossed in the last of his French fries.

Her face softened . . . avoidance technique or not, that was really sweet of him to offer Garcia's services as a tour guide. She knew Lorelai's friendliness was initially a little off putting to him, but she was glad to see he'd come around. She seemed to be a really nice person.

And they so rarely met nice people under NICE circumstances.

This was actually the first time that they'd been to a new town where Emily could remember not having to go see something horrible or meet someone who had done something horrible.

She turned back to Lorelai.

"Uh, yeah, there is one woman on our team who doesn't travel much, so she could show you around if we're away."

Lorelai stood up, and as she was walking around the counter she pursed her lips as she asked, "so what exactly do you guys do?"

Emily's nose wrinkled slightly, as she gave Lorelai a sad smile, "you don't want to know."

This was clearly a woman who lived in a much brighter, happier world than they did. There was no reason to bring any of their darkness into it.

Lorelai stared hard at her for a moment, and then she nodded, "I'll take your word for it."

Then she started bustling around behind the counter and Emily turned to Hotch as he pulled out his wallet. After checking over the bill, he put down twenty bucks on the counter. Even with tip it only came to fifteen, but they'd certainly gotten above board service.

Ans As he stood up, he looked over expectantly at Emily, "you ready?"

She popped her last cold French fry into her mouth.

"Yep, though I'd like to get a coffee for the road."

Hotch nodded . . . and was about to ask Luke to get her that coffee . . . when Lorelai suddenly plopped two cups and a bag down on the counter.

"On the house. Two coffees and a bag of donuts." Her eyes crinkled, "that is what cops eat right? Because that's what Sipowicz ate, and Sipowicz has never lied to me."

Emily laughed openly at the joke, while Hotch's mouth twitched as he looked over at the friendly brunette.

"That's very nice of you Lorelai, but we can pay for them."

But she was already shaking her head before he had even finished his sentence.

"No really," she smiled, "I insist."

Then Luke came up behind her and put his hand on her back, "seriously man, it's fine. Coffee and donuts on the house."

Emily and Hotch looked at each other, and then back to the couple behind the counter. Finally Hotch tipped his head.

"Okay then, thank you. Thank you very much."

Then Emily put her hand out to Lorelai again.

"It was nice to meet you. And thank you for all of your help." She smiled, "hopefully I'll see you again sometime."

Lorelai quirked her lip up, "It was very nice meeting you too Special Agent Emily."

At that new moniker, Emily grinned and one of Hotch's dimples appeared. As he reached over to grab their gift he looked up at Luke and Lorelai, "please do call Prentiss if you're ever town." He shook the bag slightly, "and thank you again for the food. We probably won't get a chance to stop and eat again today so this is much appreciated."

Luke tipped his head and Lorelai gave him a little smile, then Hotch looked down to Emily.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Emily waved goodbye and as they headed out the door Lorelai yelled, "drive safe! And don't get shot!" The last thing they heard as the door shut was her saying, "wow, never got to say that anyone before."

As they got back out on the sidewalk they stopped and looked at each other. Both of their mouths were twitching. Then Emily grinned, "well, that was something."

Hotch nodded slowly, "it certainly was."

They started walking towards the car as Emily said, "they reminded me of someone but I don't know who."

He passed her the donuts as he dug the keys out of his pocket, "yeah I know what you mean. They did seem vaguely familiar." Hotch unlocked the doors and as they got in he noticed Emily was already poking her head in the bag of donuts. He scowled at her.

"Prentiss, what are you doing? You just ate a half a cow!"

She huffed, "I'm just LOOKING. I want to know what my options are for later." Shaking his head at her, he started the engine and pulled back onto the street.

Emily sighed as she looked out the window at the diner going passed.

"I really wish I could figure out who they reminded me of."

A/N 2: Kavi picked this prompt (we each pick 3) and I got the idea for this crossover story when I thought about the actual episode "Emily in Wonderland" where Lorelai's mother takes a trip to Stars Hollow. And I sort of semi-joked to Kavi that I should have our Emily go to Stars Hollow. And then I decided I liked that idea so much that I actually wrote it.

This is presently just a one shot. But I am maybe, sorta considering extending it. One way would be to do the same scene from Luke & Lorelai's point of view, because if you notice I very specifically did not do anything from their thoughts. Beyond that, I could make their little day trip into a mini case that they have to stick around for, and maybe they could stay at the Dragonfly. Again, nothing in the main story would preclude this little trip having taken place.

And the bit when they first arrive at the diner, when their tipping their heads looking out the window, I was picturing that scene from the GG credits where Lorelai and Rory are doing it :)

Please do let me know what you think about this one. It's my first cross over ever, and it's my first in another fandom. I've never written Luke & Lorelai before, but as I started doing it I sort of saw Lorelai as being similar to Emily but more lighthearted and outgoing. And Hotch and Luke shared some obvious personality traits anyway. Coupling wise, the chemistry was the same, hence the echoing of the relationships between the couples throughout the story.