A Moment For All Time

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner & Emily Prentiss

Spoilers: A/U Season Five – Set During Exit Wounds

Sequel to "A Moment Out Of Time"

Rating: M

Summary: Epiphanies come at the strangest of time and in the most unlikely of locations. When Hotch has his it's set to change the course of his world forever... sequel to "A Moment Out Of Time".

Author's Note: This stories is done with a special dedication attached to it. A couple of months ago I was certain that I was pretty much finished with writing Criminal Minds Fanfiction. Then I met this woman who asked me to join a prompt that she was organizing and then proceeded to poke at me about it often enough that I couldn't forget. Not wanting to disappoint her, I struggled with the idea for a bit and came up with "A Moment Out Of Time" for her Christmas Prompt.

Without TigerLily888's gentle encouragement (at times) and rampant excitement (at others) I might very well have given up. On an almost daily basis her enthusiasm for writing, both mine and her own, reminded me how much I enjoy doing it. She will be the first to tell you that she had nothing to do with my continued writing but she's very wrong.

So it is with extra special thanks that this story is written just for you my dear friend (seemed appropriate since this universe was created because of your prompt), fellow author, and general all around crazy nut. You're presence in my life, even from a half a world away has enriched me so much and I'm so very grateful to have met you.

This story is a work of fiction by an amateur writer and is for entertainment purposes only. The writer is in no way associated with Criminal Minds nor anyone connected to the program. No Copyright infringement is intended and no monetary compensation has been received by the creation of this story.

All publicly recognized characters and storylines are owned by The Mark Gordon Company, Paramount/Viacom, Touchstone Television, CBS Television Studios, ABC Studios, and their related entities.

All original characters, settings and/or storylines are Copyright protected ( Rev. Brandywyne L. Walker 2003 - 2012) Any duplication or distribution of this story, in whole or in part, expressly prohibited without written consent of the Author.

A Moment For All Time

(Sequel to "A Moment Out Of Time")

Emily slowly blinked her tired eyes open as she heard the gentle snuffling coming from her companion for the night. This had been happening ever since they went to bed the night before and she could almost count it down at this point…

Three…

Two…

One…

With a violent jerk JJ flipped herself over in the bed, jarring the other occupant out of her somewhat restful sleep. The young woman was likely not going to admit it but she was catching a cold. Over the last five years it was something that Emily managed to figure out, when JJ started to get sick she always did this strange thing in her sleep. She supposed that her friend was trying to find an easier position to breath in but was too tired to actually wake up to do it.

Normally other than an acknowledgement of how her roommate was sleeping it never really bothered her before… at least until they came to Franklin, Alaska and she had to share a bed with her.

With a sigh Emily rolled herself into a sitting position and allowed her feet to rest of the soft fur rug next to the bed. Without conscious thought she curled her toes in the soft fibers and felt a gentle smile tug at her lips with the tickling sensation.

As JJ shifted again Emily gave up trying to get anymore sleep and stood from the bed, instantly regretting it as the chill of the air attacked the bare skin of her arms. When she had first gone to bed a tank top and loose pants had seemed like enough but over the course of the night the temperature in the room had gone down, bringing with it a bite you only ever felt in the air his far north. Reaching over to the chair next to the bed she pulled the fleece blanket off and shook it out, wrapping it tight around her frame.

Turning back to the bed she made her way around to the other side, making sure that JJ was tightly wrapped up in the blankets so the chill in the air wouldn't reach her. Carefully, she brushed her hand over the other woman's face, pushing away the wisps of hair that had draped across her nose and feeling for a temperature. Emily smiled before giving a short nod that everything was still okay with her friend, then she turned and silently paddling out of the room in her sock feet.

As she reached the top of the stairs she could smell the fragrant aroma of fresh coffee coming from below. Emily tipped her head to the side and listened intently before making her way down the stairs to the main floor. The Inn was dead silent and there didn't appear to be a single soul stirring.

Heading over to the machine on the back counter she held her hand to the side of the pot and smiled at the welcoming heat. Obviously someone had been awake recently and she wasn't going to question her good fortune. Grabbing a cup from the shelf she poured a measure before bringing it up to her nose and taking a deep sniff, reveling in the way that it woke up her senses.

Shuffling the containers on the counter she found the little jar that contained the Splenda packets Reid had managed to find for her their first day there. Shaking out a couple, she carefully stirred them in and took a slow sip, grinning at the way it warmed her from the inside out.

Emily tugged on the edges of her blanket, making sure it was still tight around her and headed for the couch where Penelope's computers were still all laid out, including her dark red one that had all of her games on it. She did a little jig of excitement cause Pen's personal laptop had some of the best games on it and all of them had the password to get onto the "team gaming account".

She started to head over with the intent of a couple of hours of mindless fun before she stopped at the last moment, noticing the heavy wood door leading to the back deck was open. Unable to contain her curiosity and wanting to make sure that it wasn't Penelope that was upset and awake she crept over to the closed screen door and peaked outside.

There, leaning against the deck railing, in the early morning glow of the sun, arms crossed over his chest and nursing his own cup of coffee, was Hotch. He was dressed similarly to what he had been in all week. Dark jeans, hiking boot and that same soft dark brown pull over as the day before.

Before she could stop it she felt a fluttering in her chest at the sight of him.

The last six months had been hard for her, watching him cope, wanting to reach out and help him but knowing that this was something he had to do on his own.

Standing back and waiting, just as she had promised.

But damn he looked good.

For once he hadn't tamed his hair into submission and there were bits sticking out here and there and she had to curl her fingers tighter around her cup from the urge to smooth them into place.

But the thing that surprised her most was the look of calm, of peace on his face, something she hadn't seen in such a very long time. For so long his face had been lined with stress and worry but in this moment they were all gone. His frame which had been tight and tense for the past year had lost all of its tautness, making him look less like an FBI Unit Chief and more like a man enjoying an early morning on vacation.

He was looking out over the majestic mountain expanse that was showcased by the framing of the back porch and for a moment she allowed herself to be distracted.

She was in awe of the vision that met her eyes. There was no other way to put it. The sun had started to peak over the tops of the mountains giving everything a muted glow. The green of the trees were deeper but the soft snow caps glowed with a type of purity you never got to see anywhere else. It was humbling to be in the presence of such untouched beauty.

When she allowed her eyes to turn back to Hotch she jumped slightly, almost sloshing her coffee over the side of her cup, when her eyes connected with his.

"Emily." His voice was soft and low in deference to the peace and tranquility of the moment but it was the sound of her given name crossing his lips that caused shivers to dance down her spine.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb you." She shuffled from foot to foot. "I was just wondering who was up and who I had to thank for the fresh coffee."

She carefully pushed open the screen door and came to stand at the opposite end of the ten foot railing, praying that she wasn't over stepping. For the last while she hadn't been too sure how to approach him at the best of times but this was something completely different for him.

She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so relaxed.

"You should still be sleeping." She almost smiled at the tone in his voice, always the boss, worrying over his team.

"JJ's catching a cold." She grinned over at him, knowing he would understand.

"Aaahhh, so she's doing that odd flipping thing of hers?" Emily smiled with amusement and nodded her head as Hotch continued. "I always wondered how she managed to do that on the jet and not fall of the bench seats."

"It's all a part of the wonder that is JJ." Clearing her throat quietly she attempted to broach the subject of why he was awake at six in the morning when he was the last of them to go to bed the night before. "So… what has you awake this early?"

For long moment he just gave her a deep, penetrating look and it had her unnerved. She didn't know how to read him right now and it was startling, especially after having him so open to her for the last six months, even if he never intended it.

"I was just thinking." He tipped his head and gave her a look as if he was trying to see inside of her soul.

Emily shiver slightly with the cold, attempting to pull her blanket tighter around her slim frame and Hotch rose to his full height, pulling away from the railing and resting his now empty cup on the hard wood.

"Come here Em." He held out his hand to her. She didn't even hesitate, she dropped her own cup and without a thought, or care, she rushed into his embrace.

Aaron wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. He rubbed his hands along her back, trying to generate some heat, and closed his eyes as his cheek rested on top of her head, feeling such peace at having her in his arms again.

For several minutes, Emily selfishly ignored all of the thoughts pushing at her mind and enjoyed the warmth of Aaron's embrace, shutting out everything else. Before too long though the thoughts she was attempting to ignore pushed their way to the front and she started to pull away from him.

Hotch simply wrapped his arms tighter around her, refusing to let go.

"I should go back inside." Her voice was soft and he could hear the indecision in it, the desire to stay just where she was. "Several of the reasons for not doing this, six months ago, are still there."

"Sshhh…" he pulled her in tighter to his chest and rubbed his cheek on the top of her head, "just say like this for now, just let me hold you. We can talk in a minute."

She remained stiff in his arms for a moment before surrendering to the feeling of his embrace and relaxed, melting into his strong, comforting arms.

All week this was what he had wanted, all he had been thinking about. When he came outside to drink his coffee he started to obsess over it, turning the thought over and over again in his mind. Of how much he missed her since that one night six months ago, and how tired he was at not being able to have her, of only having the memory of the comfort and passion he found with her that night.

Every plan he had been thinking about, every conversations he had over the last six months flowed through his mind. He looked up at the mountains, at the untouched beauty around him came to a startling realization. Dave had tried to tell him a year ago. He had heard the words uttered by his older friend but he hadn't really understood them then, not like he was now.

But standing here in a place that was so untouched by the rest of the world, he finally understood the message Dave had been trying to tell him. A hundred years from now, this place would still be here, likely just as untouched as it was now and all of the work he did, how much he sacrificed, how much he had lost, didn't matter.

The world would carry on just as it always had.

As the sun had first started to rise and he took in the awe inspiring vision all he wanted, in that moment, was to have Emily here with him, just like she was now, sharing this with him, and he finally came to a decision and it felt right.

All of the hesitation he felt six months ago was completely gone and he knew he was making the right choice. When Emily first came out of the door and was finally in his arms he felt… happy.

He tipped his head down and whispered softly in her ear, smiling in anticipation of her reaction. "When we get home… I'm going to retire."

Her body jerked violently and he had to hold his hand to her head to prevent her from clipping his chin when she jumped. Chuckling lightly he let go of her head so that she could pull back enough to look up at him.

Her eyes were filled with confusion and wonder as she met his. "What? Why?"

"Two reasons." He reached up a hand and trailed the back of his fingers down her face, reveling in the ability to do so.

When he didn't say anything, just stood there staring at her she gave him a gentle prodding. "Okay… what's one?" Her brow was heavily furrowed as she attempted to figure out who the man was in front of her and what he had done with Hotch.

"Standing here this morning, I kept thinking about all of the things I'm missing with Jack because I'm away so much. Things like this, he would love to visit a place like this and there is never time to do it."

He let out a sad sigh and looked back over the expanse of mountains in front of them. "I thought I could do it. Do both this job and be his father but Jessica is turning out to be more his parent than I am. Even with the little things all of you are doing to help, I'm still not at home enough."

She looked down and nodded her head, unable to argue with that point. Out of all of them she probably spent more time watching him and knew exactly how long he was still spending at the office.

"Okay… reason the second?"

Hotch tipped her chin up with a single finger and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, soft and lingering, holding on until he felt her relax against him and sigh.

Pulling back he smiled before saying simply, "You."

For a moment she looked adorably confused before her eyes widened in understanding and she started to shake her head frantically. He might have been hurt if he hadn't been expecting exactly that reaction from her.

"No…no… I'll wait… I said I'd wait." She looked panicked and he reached up and cupped her face, tipping her head back so that he could look clearly into her eyes.

"What if I don't want to wait anymore?" When she didn't say anything, clearly looking for some kind of explanation, he continued. "This job… its cost me so much… is continuing to cost me. I don't want to wake up one day and find its cost me you."

"That's not going to happen, Aaron." She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes in pleasure, both from her touch and from the sound of his name on her lips for the first time in six months.

"You can't know that for certain." When she went to interrupt he pressed a finger to her lips. "You might wait… even so long as it takes for the natural end to my time with the FBI to come, or yours, but I don't want to wait that long. And even if I retire, you will still be at risk because of this job. I want to be with you, not find one day that you are gone or that I am and that we never even had the chance."

Emily let her eyes close and dropped her head to rest against his chest. Rather than push at her to keep talking about it, Aaron wrapped his arms around her and let her mind process everything he had said. She turned everything over in her head and couldn't find it in herself to argue with him because he was right on so many counts. They were both repeatedly in danger and regardless of the fact that she would wait for him as long as it took she couldn't promise that nothing would happen.

She wasn't anywhere near that naïve.

Snuggling in deeper to his embrace, she wrapped her arms around his back, blanket and all, cocooning them inside the warmth.

"What will you do?"

"I have a couple of possibilities lined up. I have been talking with Strauss about the possibility of becoming a civilian consultant." He almost laughed at the distrustful look on her face at the mention of the other woman. "I wouldn't be field agent anymore but I would still come in and help with the more difficult cases and at times where there is a backlog of consults to be done as there always is. The best part of it would be that I would choose when. She seemed to think the idea had merit."

He tucked her head back under his chin and continued to tell her about all the lines of inquiry he had made in the last few months. "I've also been discussing with Dave the possibility of setting up some kind of a civilian contracting firm that teaches profiling to other branches of law enforcement, the FBI doesn't have the man power to keep up with all the requests and between the two of us we know at least a dozen people who have retired that would enjoy doing it. Honestly, there are so many things I can do."

He tipped her head back to look at her and noticed the stunned look in her eyes. "This final decision might have come this morning Emily, but I have been thinking about this, working on this, since that morning I had to leave you naked in bed."

She blushed lightly at the reminder of that night and because he couldn't resist it any longer he cupped the back of her neck and kissed her.

This time rather than the burning passion of their previous kisses, this one was filled with warm acceptance, of coming home. Aaron took his time, mapping her lips, her mouth, reveling in the feeling of her tongue tangling with his own, remembering her sweet taste and just enjoyed being with her.

The sound of a throat clearing over Emily's shoulder caused her to attempt to jerk away, the impulsive reaction that said they were still doing something wrong, something that would get them into trouble. Hotch tightened his arms around her, refusing to let her pull away but looked down at her, chuckling lightly.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the side of her face as he whispered in her ear. "Sshhh, relax sweetheart, it's only Dave."

Emily groaned and thumped her head on his chest in embarrassment of having been caught in the moment, not realizing that Dave already knew about them, had known since shortly after the Christmas party when Hotch first came to him with his ideas.

Dave carefully made his way over to where they were standing as Emily turned to face him. He gave them both a devilish grin when he noticed that Hotch gave her enough room to turn but wouldn't release his hold on her.

"So… you've decided then?" Dave's voice was tentative, even though the proof of Aaron's decision was in front of him.

"Yes." Simple and direct, there was none of the questioning uncertainty that had followed their conversations about his leaving in the past.

"And you are sure about this?"

Hotch looked down into Emily's upturned face and felt that same calm peace he had felt when he finally made the decision in the early morning hours. "I'm absolutely sure."

As the three of them stood there, looking over the mountainous expanse before them, there was a feeling of change in the air.

In one moment, and with one decision, everything was going to be different now.

And perhaps it would be even better.

The End

Author's Note: So there you have it… my bit of light hearted fluff.

For any of you who were hoping for a multi-chapter that would explore the changes that would come if they entered a relationship, I decided to forgo that idea for this universe.

I decided to go the simplest route for this one, mostly because I have two other plotlines in the work for stories that will explore those ideas and issues from different directions. And in the end, this universe was only ever supposed to be a one-shot but this idea bit me while watching "Exit Wounds" and wouldn't let go.

I hope you all enjoyed reading and if you have a moment, feel free to tell me what you think.

Blessings, Brandywyne