Author's Note: To be perfectly honest, I've had this story in mind since '200' aired. It took me a long time to write this story because I could never figure out how I was going to write the middle until recently, but I always knew how I was going to write the beginning and the end. Anyway…there's not much to say other than I loved the places my plot bunnies took me with this, and I sincerely hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.


"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer


Six hours.

It was all Hotch could think of as his gaze landed on Emily, who was sharing a laugh with Alex, JJ, and Garcia. A laugh he had miss for so long…and the last time he had heard that laugh of hers was the night before she had moved to London.

Oh, dear God did he ever miss that beautiful laugh of hers.

Hotch was too busy staring at Emily, that he didn't even notice Rossi standing in front of him and trying to offer him a glass of whiskey. After about a minute later he finally noticed Rossi and took the glass of whiskey from him, and handed it in his hands, but within seconds his gaze was back on Emily.

"Who are you thinking about?" Rossi asked his best friend, obviously already knowing the answer.

Hotch turned his attention away from the one person he has been looking at and looked at Rossi. "Emily." He answered and finally taking a sip of his glass of whiskey.

"What about Emily?" Rossi asked as he took a sip of scotch from the glass he was holding in his hands.

"I just miss her." Hotch said shaking his head, his gaze eventually finding Emily once more.

"I think it's more than missing her," Rossi said, as he took another sip of scotch from the glass he was holding. There was a brief pause. "You have feelings for her."

Hotch sighed. "Dave…"

"All I'm saying is that, I've seen the way you look at her, you know." Rossi said, raising his hands in defeat. "You should go and talk to her before she goes back to London," he suggested to the younger man, just before slowly waking away.

Hotch just stood there, but he knew Rossi was right that he needed to go and talk to Emily before she leaves for London.

~.~.~

Emily was talking to Alex, JJ, and Garcia when Hotch approached her.

"Can we talk?" Hotch asked her, as he gave her a small smile.

"Sure." Emily answered him, with a small smile of her own.

Following her former boss outside of the bar, she didn't know what he wanted to talk to her about.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" she asked, once they were outside.

"I don't know how to say this, but I'm just going to come out and say it to you," Hotch said, as he looked into her brown eyes. "I have feelings for you, Emily and I want you in my life."

There was a brief pause, as Emily stood there with tears glisten in her beautiful brown eyes. "Oh, Aaron, I feel the same about you," she revealed to him, as her tears rolled down her cheeks.

Hotch pulled Emily close to him and he carefully wrapped his arms around her. "Hey don't be upset," he whispered to her, as he continued to comfort her in his arms.

Emily pulled back from Hotch's warm embrace and looked into his handsome eyes. "I'm not upset. These are "happy tears"," she said with a tiny gorgeous smile.

"Well, I guess you don't need this hug then, since you are not upset." Hotch said with a tiny handsome smirk on his face.

"Don't you dare undo this hug, because if you do then I really will be upset." Emily said, as her tiny gorgeous smile soon turned into a sad one.

"I won't." Hotch said, as he pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Good." Emily said, as she smiled and rested her head on his chest.

~.~.~

Three minutes had lapsed between the two of them, and still with his arms tightly around her, Hotch finally asked her, "Do you want to go back into the bar?"

"No." Emily simply answered.

"Then what do you want to do?" he asked her, as he smiled at her.

"I want to go somewhere," she said with a smile, as she broke the hug and took one of his hands into one of hers, and leading him over to his car.

Being the gentleman that he is he opened the passenger side door for her, once she was inside the car he shut the door for her and went over the driver side and got in.

"Where would you like to go?" Hotch asked her, once he was inside the car.

"Um…your place." Emily answered with a smile.

"My place?" he asked a little stun because he would have taken her anywhere she wanted to go.

"Don't sound so surprise, Aaron." Emily teased.

"I'm not, Emily." Hotch said with a smile, as he shook his head at her. "Are you sure you don't what to go have an late night dinner and see a late night movie?" he asked, before starting the car.

"Yeah, I'm sure because we can have an late night dinner and watch a movie at your place." Emily said with a beautiful smile.

Hotch gave her a handsome smile back. "Okay, then."

~.~.~

Arriving at his apartment with Emily by his side, they entered his apartment together.

"What would you like to have for an late night dinner?" Hotch asked her, as he set his alarm.

"It depends on what you have to eat." Emily said, as soon as Hotch finished putting in his alarm code.

"Let's go and find out," he said with a smile, as he took one of her hands into one of his, and walked into the kitchen with her.

They looked in the refrigerator together, and both of them decided that a cheeseburger and curly fries sound good.

"Why don't you go pick a movie out that we can watch, while I cook dinner?" Hotch suggested to Emily, as he pointed towards his rack of DVDs.

Emily strode over to Hotch's rack of DVDs and pulled one off the shelf, when her eyes landed on it. She always did love this movie. The movie was: The Count of Monte Cristo.

She walked back into the kitchen with the DVD in her hands, just before Hotch had finished cooking the food.

"What movie did you choose? Hotch asked her, as he placed the cheeseburgers and curly fries on the two plates.

"I chose The Count of Monte Cristo; it's one of my favorites and it has one of my favorite actors in it." Emily answered with a smile.

"I did not know that Jim Caviezel was one of your favorite actors." Hotch said amazed about the fact, as he smiled at Emily.

"He's just such a wonderful actor and he's so excellent in the TV show Person Of Interest as John Reese." Emily said, as she gushed over her favorite actor.

Hotch couldn't help but smile at Emily. "I have yet seen an episode of Person Of Interest," he admitted to her. "I've been wanting to watch it, but haven't got a chance to."

"Well when you do get a chance to watch it don't skip any episodes," she told him, as she ate a curly fry. "I think you're going to love it."

"I will keep that in mind and I think I will love it, too." Hotch said, as he picked up the two plates. "How about we go and sit down and enjoy this amazing food, and enjoy watching The Count of Monte Cristo?" he asked as he walked into the living room and took a seat on his couch.

Emily put The Count of Monte Cristo in the DVD player, and soon joined Hotch on the couch.

They enjoyed their food as they watched The Count of Monte Cristo.

~.~.~

The movie was now over with, and Emily had just falling asleep against Hotch's side.

Hotch gently got off the couch, so he wouldn't wake Emily. He couldn't help but stare at her lovingly as he proficiently took her into his muscular arms, he carefully carried her into his bedroom, placing her on his king-sized bed covering her with the dark navy blue sheets and the coverlet. He gently kiss her forehead, before walking back into the living room to sleep on his couch, after all he was a gentleman, and he wasn't going to sleep in the same bed with Emily not until he has permission to do so.

He had just got settled into his couch, when Emily walked in.

"Aaron, why are sleeping on your couch?" she asked him, as she came up to him.

Sitting up on the couch, he grabbed one of Emily's hands and sit her on the couch next to him, he then looked into her eyes and answered her question. "Because I gave my bed to you to sleep in."

"You don't have to sleep on your couch, you can sleep in your bed with me. I don't mind at all." Emily said, as she gave him a tiny smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, as he continued to looked into her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure because I'm always alone in London, and I really don't want to be alone right now." Emily said, as tears was forming in eyes.

"I will sleep right next to you, then since you don't want to be alone right now." Hotch said, as he took one of her hands into his and got off the couch.

"Thank you," she said, as she gently squeezed his hand, as they both walked into his bedroom.

They both got into the bed and Hotch pulled Emily close to him, and within minutes she was asleep in his arms.

Hotch laid there awake watching her sleep and he knew in a few hours she would be on a plane back to London. With a final kiss to Emily's temple, he finally fell asleep holding her in his arms.

~.~.~.

Emily gently moved out of Hotch's warm embrace and gently got out of bed, so she didn't wake him, but it didn't matter because he woke up anyway.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her, as he pulled her back on his bed with him.

"I'm thinking that I'm going back to London," she said, as she smiled at him.

"You were just going to leave without waking me up?" Hotch said, as he pulled her closer to him and placed a kiss to her lips.

"Yeah, because I don't want to say goodbye, because I don't like it." Emily admitted to him, as she sniffled.

"Then don't," Hotch said, as his expression softened, and his reasoning so painfully simple.

Emily had tears forming in her eyes. "Aaron…"

"Not like that, Emily," he corrected instantly, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I know you have to get back to London. You know I respect your decision to go back to London, Emily." He rested his forehead against hers. "We're both going to miss each other that's a guaranteed, but our hearts will just grow in love for each other in the meantime. So what I mean is…we don't have to say 'goodbye' to each other when we could say 'see you soon' or 'see you later' to each other."

Emily's lips curved into a perfect smile. "Are we going to see each other again?"

"That depends on if I get a chance to take off work and go to London to see you." Hotch said, as he once again placed a kiss to her lips that early morning day.

"I would like that very much." Emily said against his lips.

"I know," he said with a smile. "Do you want me drive you to the airport?"

"Well since you are awake from your beauty sleep, I guess you could drive me to the airport," she teased, as she smiled at him.

Hotch couldn't help but shake his head at her.

~.~.~

Hotch drove Emily to the airport that morning.

Emily was about to aboard the private jet, when she turned around and asked Hotch a question, "You promise that we will see each other again?"

"Yes." Hotch assured her, as he gave her a kiss once more that morning.

He watched her board the private jet, and he couldn't help but wonder when he would see her again.


"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~Elisabeth Foley


THE END.

Author's Note: Welp? What do you think? I'd love to know! Please drop me a line; your feedback and reviews always make me smile. Thank you in advance! Oh, and just in case any of you were wondering I was watching The Count of Monte Cristo, while writing this story and that is why it is mentioned in this story, and it is one of my favorite movies and it has one of my favorite actors in it, and also Person Of Interest is my favorite TV show of all time and that is why it is mentioned in this story, too. Thank you again for reading!