Author's Note: This is a fic to Jekkah's prompt "It ends tonight". Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
"No, stop,"
"Please, don't. No, no…"
"NO!"
Aaron Hotchner bolted upright in his bed, then wincing as he realized he could've woken Beth who was sleeping soundly next to him. Neither was clothed, but that was the least of his worries. Besides, he hadn't remembered anything that had happened. He ran his hands through his hair. He was having another bad dream about Emily.
These were generally how his nights went. He would tuck Jack in and kiss him goodnight, he and Beth would mess around, and then he would fall asleep, having his nightmare. His dream was always the same: Emily and Ian Doyle were physically fighting. Just when things looked good for Emily, he would stab her in the stomach with the wooden stake. He couldn't stop thinking about how quickly she'd come back to the team. He looked down at Beth's sleeping figure. He really wasn't all that into her, but Jack seemed to like her a little. He wasn't as crazy about her as he was with "Emmy" though. Emily had come to babysit Jack once in a while if Jess wasn't available, and Jack loved it when Emily played with him. Hotch took a deep breath, wondering how his subordinate was coping.
Meanwhile, Emily squirmed in her bed, clad only in a tank top and boxy underwear. She woke up with a cold sweat breaking out across her forehead.
Hotch wasn't the only one with nightmares. She'd been dreaming about the possibility of Doyle finding her family; the people she loved. This had been going on even since Paris, and had carried on back in D.C. She breathed heavily and Sergio leapt gracefully from the paneled wooden floor into her lap, his claws gently scraping against her cold, bare skin. She ran her hand down from the middle of his ears to the tip of his limp tail. He purred in content as she held him close to her chest. She picked up her phone and scrolled through her colleagues' numbers, noting that it was 3:30 in the morning. She narrowed down her choices. Morgan was probably getting lucky, Rossi was most likely working on Wife #4, there was a high chance that Garcia was in bed with Kevin Lynch, JJ was spending quality time "sleeping" with Will, and Reid was, well… Reid. That left one person other than Spencer who wasn't engaging in… *ahem* certain activities. That one person just happened to be Hotch.
His phone vibrated on the nightstand next to him. The very person he had been thinking about had called him.
"Prentiss?" he answered softly. Beth stirred.
"Hotch, did I wake you up?" she asked worriedly.
"Oh, no, you're fine. I was actually awake. What did you need?" he asked, hoping for an excuse to get out of bed with Beth.
Beth finally awoke.
"Aaron? Who is that?" she asked, slightly grumpy that her "boyfriend" was talking to someone else at three thirty in the morning. He held an impatient finger up, signaling he was listening to something. She let out a huff and rolled over. Hotch discreetly rolled his eyes.
"Hotch, if you have other things to do…" Emily led on in an amused tone.
"No, Emily. It's fine," he assured her.
"Emily? Who the fuck is Emily?" Beth asked.
"Beth…" Hotch started.
"Don't 'Beth' me! Who the hell is that?" she demanded.
"Hold on, Emily. This is going to take a second," Hotch warned. He held the phone to his shoulder, trying to block out the noise.
"Get out of my house," he said blatantly. He'd had enough of Beth and her bitchy attitude. Every damn time the phone rang, she had to know who it was. She was relentless. At first, Hotch had thought her concern was slightly paranoid, but it escalated to annoying then downright obnoxious.
Beth was now fully dressed, staring at him in disbelief, hands on her hips.
"Excuse me?"
"Beth, I do believe you are not deaf. I know you heard me," he smirked. Beth gasped.
"Oh my God, Aaron," she huffed, scrambling to grab her belongings and shoving them in her over-sized tote bag.
"You'll regret this. I know you will," she spat angrily as she slammed the door.
"Hotch? What was that?" Emily asked, bewildered. He'd almost forgotten about Emily.
"It was nothing. Now what did you need?" he asked as Jack came into the room.
"Daddy, what was that?" he asked sleepily while rubbing his eye.
"Nothing, buddy. Come here," he said to Jack. He climbed into his father's lap and snuggled into his shoulder.
"Aaron, I just need to talk to someone," she mumbled.
"Okay. I'll be over," he promised. He did this on a weekly routine. They would both have their nightmares, he would slip out of bed to make sure she was alright, always careful not to wake Beth. Only, just Emily spoke about her nightmares.
She interrupted before he hung up.
"Wait, can you bring Jack?" she asked. Hotch smiled.
"Of course," he said softly.
-At Emily's apartment-
Hotch knocked softly on the door as not to disturb the other neighbors.
Emily opened it and peeked through the crack. Realizing it was Hotch with Jack in his arms, she opened the door with a smile.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Hello, Emily," he grinned back. He slipped inside and closed the door behind them. He then proceeded to place Jack on the couch, but Emily shook her head.
"Can I carry him?" she pleaded. Hotch handed Jack to her and she accepted him softly. She cradled him as if he were a baby, with his feet sticking out over the edge of her arms.
He looked at her with deep feeling. Beth had hardly paid attention to Jack, let alone watch him on her free time or carry him in her arms like Emily was. He studied her.
She'd make a good mom, Aaron, he told himself. He smiled inwardly and pictured a heavily pregnant Emily lounging on the couch and engulfing a bag of potato chips.
"Aaron, did you hear me?" she asked, snapping him out of his daze.
"Hmm?" he asked, still slightly entranced.
"He's waking up, I said," she smiled. Jack stirred.
"What? Oh, yeah, he fell asleep in the car, but he was excited to see 'Emmy'," Hotch grinned. Jack blinked sleepily and rubbed his eyes. Emily brushed Jack's unruly blonde hair out of his tired face.
"Emmy?" he asked immediately, a smile gracing his face.
"Hey, buddy. Morning," she grinned. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Emmy, Daddy, how did I get here?" he asked, confused. Emily giggled lightly.
"Daddy brought you here because I was… Um… I was having a bad dream, and I wanted to talk to someone," she explained. Tears were welling back up in the tired mocha orbs.
"Oh. Well, you're okay now. You can talk to me," he said sweetly. Her tears were quivering at the edge of her eyes.
"Emmy, what's wrong? What was your dream about?" Jack asked curiously.
"Jack," Hotch warned quietly.
"No, Aaron. It's okay," she smiled.
"What was your dream about, Emmy?" he asked again.
"Well, a bad guy got me, Jack, and I couldn't escape. I was scared."
The tears finally spilled over.
"Oh. Well I'mma get that bad guy and squash him!" he cried, a large smile creeping onto his face. Emily smiled. Jack grinned back. Emily sat on the couch and placed him next to her, stroking his hair. Hotch sat down next to Emily, leaning forward on his knees.
"Do you still want us to stay?" he asked, reaching to wipe a tear from her cheek.
"Yes, please."
The End!