A/N: I just want to say this is obviously AU b/c of what's gone down with Emily. Anyway, this is my first story, so please let me know how I did.

No copyright infringement intended. Unfortunately, CBS owns Criminal Minds.

The Lucky Ones

On the edge of a moment,
in the land that we love,
in the time that our best has to be good enough,
like all those before us, we start out alone,
we race from our schoolyards, into the unknown…

They're the best there is, they've stopped some of the countries' most ruthless serial killers. Today was no different, except they couldn't stop him from taking one more victim as he went out with a bang…

~12:32am~

Emily had had enough. She had been in bed for over an hour and still couldn't manage to close her eyes without reliving the events from that evening. As good as she was at compartmentalizing the horrors that she regularly faced, she just couldn't get the image of the 7 year old boy falling down like a ragdoll out of her head. This case had been tough on everyone, but it had really pushed her to her breaking point. She decided she needed to get out of her room. She wasn't sure where she was going, most of the team was probably asleep at this point. Everyone except for Hotch.

"Hotch? What are you thinking Emily?" she chastised herself. "How could he possibly help you forget what you've seen?"

Before she consciously knew what she was doing, she rapped three times on Hotch's door. She didn't hear anything and thought maybe he was already sleeping. She turned to head back to her room when she heard the handle of the door turn.

"Crap," she thought. "Now I actually have to tell him why I'm here."

She turned to look at him with a slight smirk on her face. Hotch just stood there for a moment, still donning his white button down shirt sans tie. He was so used to seeing the 'business Emily Prentiss' that when he saw her in a tank top and boxers he was caught somewhat off guard. He couldn't help but think that she looked damn cute.

He quickly regained his will to speak and said, "Prentiss, what are you doing here?"

She didn't exactly know how to answer that. Ok, she did, but she didn't know why she was at his door instead of JJ's. She started speaking, too soft for her own liking, but at least she wasn't standing there like some idiot.

"Umm…sir…Hotch, I…"

He cut her off, "Spit it out Prentiss."

It was evident to Emily that he didn't want to be dealing with this kind of thing right now. She hung her head slightly and said, "never mind sir, it's not important. I won't bother you anymore tonight."

He couldn't believe she thought she was bothering him. He quickly replied, "Prentiss, you wouldn't have knocked on my door at almost one in the morning if it was just nothing, now what's the problem?"

"I can't sleep. I can't shut my eyes without seeing that little boys' terrified face,"she blurted out.

"Come on in,"was all he could counter with. He knew it wasn't the best idea to be inviting a subordinate into his room, especially at this hour, but as leader of this team it was his responsibility to make sure everyone had a clear head.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and Emily plopped down in the spot next to him.

Uh oh.

He knew this wasn't a good idea. Ever since everything that happened with Foyet, Hotch and Emily had formed more of a friendly bond, but lately Hotch had been feeling a lot more for Emily than just friendship. Who was he kidding, it had been a lot longer than just after Foyet. He'd harbored feelings for her since his divorce. He never thought she could feel the same way, never in a million years, so he ignored what his heart was telling him. He was used to ignoring his heart anyway. With the kind of job they had it was hard to open your heart to just anyone.

He finally shook himself out of the thoughts flying through his head and realized Emily was still sitting beside him with her eyes down, somewhat like a puppy that had done something wrong. She looked so sad it nearly broke Hotch's heart. He didn't know what to say to help her. He just wanted to wrap her up in his arms and never let go. He decided he had to break the silence or things would get awkward and Emily would probably leave. That's the last thing he wanted.

"So…do you want to talk about it? I know this case hit everyone hard, and I'm glad you came to talk to me about your problems with it."

He carefully placed his large hand on her shoulder as a sign that he was there for her, no matter what. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his. She saw something in them that she'd never seen before. She couldn't quite place it. It wasn't just concern or worry for her well being. She gazed into his normally emotionless chocolate eyes and saw a yearning. She couldn't believe it. There was no way in hell Hotch could ever have any feelings besides friendship for her. She would have seen it, she is a profiler after all.

Maybe she's not as good as she thought…

"Emily, please, say something."

Hotch couldn't take her silence anymore. He knew if she didn't open up to him now, she probably never would, so he helped push her along.

"I'm…I'm sorry Hotch. I shouldn't have bothered you at this hour."

Emily got up off the bed and slowly shuffled to the door.

"Wait!"

Before she was completely turned around Hotch was standing right in front of her. He quickly put his arms around her and squeezed as if he was holding on for dear life. He wanted to convey to her, without words, that he could help her, if she'd just let him in.

For a moment Emily was frozen, hands at her sides, head spinning. She finally came to and reacted with her heart for once, instead of her almighty compartmentalizing brain. Her arms slid around Hotch's waist and she leaned in a bit so she could place her head on his strong chest. She heard his heart beating underneath her ear, and for a moment she was lost. Then she realized where she was, but more importantly, who she was with. She pulled back slightly to look Hotch straight in the eye.

Before she knew what was happening his lips were on hers. Once again she couldn't seem to think straight. She moved her lips slightly to allow his tongue access. They were so caught up in the passion of the moment that it was only until their lungs were screaming for air that they finally took their mouths off of one another.

Breathing heavily, they both looked into each others eyes. Neither said anything, they just shared a small smile and went back to embracing each other protectively.

After a minute Hotch pulled back and asked, "Emily, would you like to sleep here tonight?"

With her arms still around his waist, she put her head back on his chest and whispered, "Yes, I'd like that."

Searching for love,
counting steps as we go,
our parents they taught us there's no way to know,
I still hear their voices in the back of my head,
saying, "You'll do better than we ever did."

The next morning Emily woke to the feeling of arms wrapped around her. It took her a couple seconds to realize what had happened the night before. Once she was fully awake, she tried to slide out of bed without disturbing Hotch. She knew he could use as much sleep as he could get.

She heard a small, "hey," from the bed and wincing, she turned to see a rather rumpled Hotch. She didn't think he could get any sexier, but this 'morning look' threw her through a loop.

"Morning," she said back with a smile. "I wanted to let you sleep."

"Thanks, I've been up for a while anyway."

"Nightmares?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, I can't stop thinking about Jack."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave so you can call him."

"No, he's already left for school by now. Besides, I think we need to talk about what's going on between us Emily."

"Look, Hotch I understand that we kissed in the heat of the moment. If you want to just move on and forget it ever happened then I won't say a word to anyone. Thanks for being there for me last night though. It helped a lot."

She turned to leave but before she reached the door she heard Hotch say, "Em, wait, that's not at all what I was going to say."

The fact that he called her 'Em' didn't get by her, and her inner girl squealed. She slowly met his eye, not really sure what he was thinking, only hoping it was the same thing she was thinking.

"Could they possibly be together, despite all the stupid rules and her own self doubt?" she asked herself.

"Emily, last night was not a mistake. I don't ever want you to think that. Yes, I was trying to help comfort you, but I wasn't doing it as your superior. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm more than willing to give this, us, a shot…that is assuming that's what you want?"

Emily stood with her mouth agape, at a complete loss for words. She quickly got her thoughts in order and a slow smile spread across her face.

"Aaron, you don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that."

She was so lost in her 'happy thoughts' that she didn't noticed Hotch closing the distance between them. With their mouths locked in a battle for dominance, they were absolutely lost to the world. They finally split when they realized their need to breathe. With their foreheads resting against one another, there was no tension in the room, only a sense of relief and excitement at what the future might bring for them.

With our hearts in our hands,
like loaded guns,
we're taking a chance,
we're the lucky ones,
this moment is yours,
this moment is mine,
and we're gonna be fine…

Thanks so much for reading! Once again, please review :)