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Lacy here. Now you can ask Trisha (Yep, she was not a happy camper) and I'm sure Sarah too that when we first saw the commercials for this episode, I wasn't happy. I mean really, Hotch just buried his ex-wife and then they go and throw his emotional support off a cliff! Come on! That just wasn't right. However, did anyone else notice that when asking about Em's condition, Hotch called her Emily? That made me smile for a good fifteen minutes. Sad I know. Anywho, this episode, for the series will be Emily's last field case. She's six months along and as it is, I'm gonna start with a small argument between her and Hotch about her going on the case. Have no fear, it won't be anything big, just Hotch being, well Hotch. After the argument, I'll move to after the episode ends. And since Emily is six months pregnant, she won't be the one in the car with the unsub. Yes people, I'm tossing Austin off the cliff. Hate me later, read now. Have fun.

Emily is six months, in case you didn't catch that in the note above, though you probably did so I'll stop talking now.

Disclaimer: I would not have thrown Em off the cliff if I owned it.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Dave stood beside JJ at Reid, Morgan and Austin's desks, watching Hotch's office. The once again Boss man and Emily were inside arguing. Emily wasn't suppose to be office bound for another two weeks but Hotch was trying to change her mind.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Reid asked.

Dave crossed his arms. "Well we're dealing with two very strong people trying to get the other to see their side."

"Hotch'll fold." Morgan said. "Since Em got pregnant, he hasn't been able to stick to his arguments."

"I don't know, he seems to be doing pretty good, if you ask me." Austin said.

"Give it time," Dave said. "His shoulders will slump, he'll stop gesturing and Emily will stop looking frustrated."

"That's when we know Emily will have won." JJ said.

Garcia looked at Dave and JJ. "What ever happened to no inter-team profiling?"

Dave shrugged. "Occupational hazard."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily crossed her arms. "Aaron, I already promised to stay in the precinct. You're not getting me to stay here for another two weeks. It's what we agreed on."

Hotch sighed. "I know but Em,"

Emily could tell his wasn't about her staying because she was pregnant. He wanted one of them to stay for Jack.

"He's going to be fine Aaron." Emily said. "Jack already told you that he wants you back here. Catching the bad guys. He's staying with Jess during the day and Garcia at night. He's fine."

Hotch ran a hand over his hair and dropped both arms to his sides. "You're right. I'm sorry. This is harder then I thought it would be."

Emily stepped closer to Hotch, their office rules disappearing. "I agree, it is harder but we knew we'd have to do it at some point. We knew we'd have to leave him. If it helps, it won't be long until I'm on maternity leave and home with him while you're on cases."

Hotch took Emily's hands. "That does help." Getting the feeling of being watched, Hotch looked out his window and saw the team. "I feel like we're in a fish bowl."

Emily followed his gaze. "Think we should go tell them Mom and Dad aren't going to kill each other? At least not today?"

Hotch chuckled. "Sounds good."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"Morgan,"

Morgan looked up from the file he was reading and found Hotch calling him. He stood and made his way over to Hotch.

"What's up man?" Morgan asked.

Hotch crossed his arms. "I couldn't' help but notice while you were Unit Chief, there seemed to be tension between you and Emily."

Morgan mimicked Hotch's pose. "There was. And for good reason."

Hotch cocked a brow. "And that good reason would be?"

Morgan motioned to the near by empty room and the two stepped in.

"When I took over for you, I knew it was going to be hard for Emily." Morgan said. "She earned her place on this team through you, that's no big secret. But I was expecting that like everyone else, she'd follow my orders."

Hotch shifted his hands into his pockets. "She followed them."

"Not before looking to you." Morgan said. "After each and every order I gave, she'd look at you and I don't know what you'd do or whatever but it was only after she did that did she do what I told her."

Hotch sighed. He knew Emily did that and on his part, he did nothing to stop her. They had a flow going before he stepped down and he knew it was going to be nearly impossible for them to stop.

"I'm sorry Derek." Hotch said. "I know it was hard enough for you to take over my job but Emily and I never meant to make it harder. You're right, Emily did earn her place through me and the whole team knows how much she and I rely on each other for cases. We should have tried harder to back your leadership."

Morgan shook his head. "I get why she did it. She's your right hand, she's also pregnant. It makes it harder." he exhaled. "I think now that we're all back where we belong, it'll get back to normal."

Hotch patted Morgan on the shoulder. "I think so too."

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(A/N: I noticed, along with Trisha when I basically begged for help, it's a little confusing on how Austin ended up in the car instead of Em, so I'm gonna throw in a tiny scene to explain that. It'll just basically be Hotch sending Austin and Morgan to get the unsub. It'll clear things up for you and it'll save me from going nuts because without this added scene, the whole damn story felt off.)

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily sat herself down at the conference table. The team had just figured out who the unsub was and as soon as they all gathered, Hotch would be sending two of them out to go collect the man. Emily felt a hand rest on her shoulder and smiled up at Hotch. They had tried their hardest to keep up their professional masks but Emily knew being away from Jack was hard on Hotch, therefore, some of the rules were dropped.

"Alright," Hotch said, calling the team to attention. "Morgan, Austin, I want you two to bring in the unsub. But remember, be careful. He's dangerous."

The two nodded and after grabbing their jackets, left.

(A/N: It's not much but it helps.)

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Austin laid her head on Reid's arm as they laid in bed. She was sore all over from the crash but the pain hadn't really hit until they'd gotten home. The rush from the case had kept her going strong.

"You ok?" Reid asked.

Austin shifted with a wince. "I've never been pushed off a cliff before so I'll get back to you on the ok thing."

Reid placed a kiss on Austin's head. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Reverse time?" Austin asked.

Reid laughed slightly. "Not possible, sorry."

Austin pouted. "Damn, well then just lay with me. That'll work nicely too."

Reid wrapped his arms around Austin and scooted them down until they were laying flat in Reid's bed.

"I was scared," Reid just about whispered. "when JJ told us what happened, I was scared."

Austin nodded. "I was too. I know anything can happen on this job but sitting there in the car, trying to get my bearings back and watching the unsub kill that cop, I was terrified." she rubbed her face against Reid's chest. "It's still mostly a blur but I get the feeling it'll be coming back in my nightmares."

Reid tightened his hold. "I'll be right here the whole time. We'll work through them together."

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Emily heard the nursery door open as she moved around, putting Bethany's clothes away. She turned and saw Jack standing in the doorway, looking almost shy.

"Hey Buddy," Emily said. "where'd you leave Daddy?"

"Downstairs." Jack said. "Emmy?"

Emily stilled her hands and moved over to Jack. "What is it Jack?"

Jack stared at his shoes. "What's gonna happen when Annie comes?"

Emily frowned. "What do you mean Jack?"

Jack lifted his eyes back to Emily and she was shocked to see tears in his eyes.

"Are you and Daddy gonna forget me?" Jack asked.

Emily was floored and felt tears flooding her own eyes. She held out her hand to Jack and led him further into the room so she could sit in the rocking chair. Once sitting, she pulled Jack in front of her.

"I promise you Jack that your father and I will never forget you." Emily said, looking the little boy right in the eyes. "You are your father's son and first born and you will always have a special place in both our hearts. Do you understand?" Jack nodded. "Now why do you think we'd forget you?"

Jack looked down again and shrugged. Emily once again drew a comparison between father and son and how Hotch had used a different topic to get to his real point before the case.

"Jack, look at me please." Emily said. Jack lifted his head. "Are you really ok with your dad going back to work?"

Jack nodded. "He needs to catch the bad guys like George."

Emily's heart clenched at the mention of Foyet. "Then what's really wrong baby? Cause you know that Daddy and I will never forget you."

Jack's voice got quiet. "I scared you and Daddy won't come back like Mommy."

Emily started running her hands up and down Jack's arms to try and calm him.

"Have you told Daddy this?" Emily asked.

Jack shook his head. "No I wanna be a big boy so Daddy can catch bad guys but,"

Emily nodded. "but you're scared."

Jack mimicked Emily's nod.

Emily pulled Jack close, keeping their eyes locked. "I promise you Jack that your father and I will always do our best to come home to you and to your sister when she comes. We never want to leave you. Either of you." she placed a kiss on his head. "Ok?"

Jack nodded. "Ok."

Emily pulled back. "Now, you wanna help me put Bethany's things away?"

Jack smiled. "Yeah."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Hotch stood outside the nursery and wiped his eyes. He had been coming upstairs just as Jack entered the nursery and heard the whole conversation between Emily and Jack. He had been feeling like Jack was putting up a brave face and now he had the proof. He didn't want his little boy living in fear that he or Emily wouldn't come home but short of them both taking desk jobs, Hotch didn't know how to help Jack with that fear. He now knew having Emily on maternity leave would not only give Hotch peace of mind but it would help Jack as well. Now Hotch just had to decide whether the choice he made to go back to work was right or not.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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I kinda figured that any normal child after losing a parent like Jack did would fear the other adults in his life going away too and Hotch's part at the end had to do with the summary for the next episode where it says he's having trouble with his return to work. We'll just have to see what happens in the next one to see where that goes. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.

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