Author's Note: Hello! This is just a little thing I came up with when I was sitting here like a no-life watching NCIS. This kind of follows the plot of the CM episode "Children of the Dark". But yeah. Not tryna' rip nothing off of anything. Funny, a Criminal Minds fic spawned from an NCIS episode… Huh. Who woulda thunk? Haha :) Enjoy!

***WARNING: LIGHT mentions/vague parts from Season Six***

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But if I did, I would FORCE Paget Brewster to stay. JUST sayin'.

"Guys, we have a case," JJ said grimly, following as the rest of the team filed into the briefing room. They each took their seats at the table, unexcitedly awaiting the grisly scene ahead of them. Penelope hurried into the room and shut the door behind her, aiming an apologetic look at Hotch.

"All five members of the Hernandez family were murdered last night in Santa Fe, California. Their neighbor found them, the parents with their throats slit and the children were…" Penelope trailed off.

"All three children were found dismembered," Rossi said grimly. Emily's breath hitched in her throat. JJ touched her arm gently.

"You okay, Em?" she whispered as Penelope carried on.

Emily nodded, feeling her lunch rise up in her stomach.

"The CSI's determined that the family was killed at approximately midnight, giving the UnSub a huge amount of time to, uh, clean up his mess and get far, far away from there," Penelope carried on.

"Clean up his mess?" Emily asked, finding her voice.

"Yes, my pet. He, um…" Penelope cleared her throat, "he doesn't leave a, well, a mess when he, you know," Penelope drew her thumb across her neck. Emily raised her head in understanding.

"Okay, guys, I'm going to put up the pictures now. Excuse me while I leave the room," Penelope muttered, scurrying out once the pictures were displayed on the screen. They showed the two parents, both sitting on the couch, with indeed, their throats slit. Then, the children showed up. That really got Emily. She stood up and rushed to the bathroom. Once she arrived, she didn't bother to close the stall door behind her. She immediately held her hair back and threw up the contents of her stomach.

JJ burst into the bathroom after her.

"Emily!" she gasped, shocked by the older, more compartmentalized profiler.

"J-JJ… I-I think… I-I think I'm o-ok-kay n-now," Emily stuttered, wiping away the throw-up from her mouth. She then proceeded to rinse her mouth out in the sink. JJ pulled out a tin of mints from her pocket and rubbed Emily's back.

"Emily… I've never seen you like this before," JJ said, surprised.

"I-I know. I-it's the k-kids," she moaned, catching her breath. JJ rubbed her back once more and gently massaged Emily's shoulders on the way out.

"Guys, wheels up in thirty. You all need your go-bags as well. Penelope, you are coming with us," Hotch informed them. Reid, Morgan, JJ, Garcia, and Rossi all hurried to collect their things. Emily followed suit, but Hotch stopped her.

"Prentiss," he said briskly.

"Oh, yes, sir?" she asked, turning around. Her eyes were cloudy and tearing up, but other than that, she looked fine.

"Prentiss, are you sure you'll be alright on this case?" he asked, concerned for one of his best profilers.

"Y-yes, sir," she said nervously. She knew she wasn't going to do well on this case. She just didn't want to give up so easy.

You see, children were Emily Prentiss's soft spot. Anything happened to her team or kids, she turned into a monster. Literally.

"Okay. Just making sure," Hotch said suspiciously. She nodded and headed to grab her go-bag.

-On the jet-

"Princess, here's the case. We had to keep briefing when you were absent," Morgan said, handing Emily a manila envelope with stacks of documents inside. She took it graciously and sifted through them.

About an hour later, she decided that she couldn't handle it anymore and shoved the papers quickly back into the folder. She smacked it down on the table and moved to the couch, curling up with tears trickling down her face.

"Emily, help me!" a young girl screamed. Emily couldn't make out her face, but she knew she had to help the girl. She looked around, finding that she was in a graveyard. She looked at the tomb closest to her. The words were blurred, but she could make out the epitaph. It read: 'No child, so sweet and ever so innocent, should meet something so gruesome as early death'. Emily nearly puked.

"Emily! Hurry! Please!" the girl screamed once more. As she ran to help her, a black, cloaked figure swept down in front of Emily, blocking her from aiding the girl.

"No… NO!" Emily screamed as the beast feasted on the girl's body.

"No… NO!" Emily screamed.

"Emily! Emily, wake up!" JJ shook her best friend's shoulder. Emily jolted and shot upwards, tears streaming down her face.

"J-JJ," she sobbed. Rossi came up to her and patted her shoulder in concern.

"Prentiss," Hotch said gently. JJ and Rossi immediately scattered back to their seats and made like they weren't paying attention.

She didn't respond. He placed his large hand softly on her knee.

"Emily," he whispered. She snapped back at the sound of Hotch's voice saying her name.

"Y-yes, s-sir?" she asked, twitching under his touch. He removed his hand and sat next to her.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

"I-I think so, now that I'm awake," she confessed.

"Emily, what did you dream of?" Reid questioned curiously from across the jet. She tore her gaze away from Hotch and directed it towards Reid.

"What? Um, I was in a graveyard, and this little girl was calling for me to help her, but this… I don't know… This, this thing blocked me from helping her, then it attacked her…" she trailed off.

"According to statistics and general experience, dreams or nightmares taking place in a graveyard or in front of a tomb tend to mean that the person dreaming of them indicates that person has some sort of sadness or unresolved grief. It may also represent one's 'dead' past," he said, saying the last part with light malice. Emily blushed and looked down.

"Emily, is there something you're not telling me?" Hotch whispered once more.

"W-no, Sir. I-Do you really think I wouldn't…" she asked in disbelief. She got up in a huff and sat down next to JJ, and they conversed quietly.

Hotch took a deep breath.

Nice going, Aaron. You just screwed everything up, he told himself. He shrugged it off and leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.

-In California-

"Good afternoon, Detective Bronwen. I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, and this is SSSA David Rossi, SSA Derek Morgan, SSA's Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jareau, our Tech-Analyst Penelope Garcia, and Dr. Spencer Reid," Hotch gestured, introducing everyone.

"I'm glad you're all here. Do you really think we've got a serial killer on our hands?" Detective Bronwen asked nervously.

"I honestly hope not," Emily mumbled.

Author's Note: Do you see that lonely little review button? Yeah, that one. He needs a friend. Why don't you keep him company? I'll try to update soon!