She had been in bed now for an hour, without waking,
which was the longest in the few nights that she had
spent alone in bed while she was with him and the rest of the team.
After JJ had called him to their hotel room in a panic when Emily had been inconsolable after a bad nightmare, he started getting them conjoining rooms. It seemed that when Emily was in the holds of a terrible nightmare it was only the firm, gentle voice and touch of their team leader that could calm her down. He would never admit to anyone that he had a soft spot for Emily Prentiss, but everyone knew. He respected her as his equal, all the way, but when she was broken and had been pushed too far after a bad case, he was always there to put back the pieces and make her feel safe.
"No... no... stop it... Stop. Help me, help me, Hotch!"
Hotch sprang to his feet and rushed over to the connecting door. She
sounded so scared. He opened the door and saw her there,
on the bed, alone and safe but she was thrashing about. She was still sleeping, still dreaming. Hotch
rushed to her side and tried to wake her gently by brushing her shoulder but as soon as he touched her she sat straight up, unable to
breathe, gasping for oxygen. Choked sobs escaped her mouth and she clutched at her shirt with her hands.
"Emily, Emily its okay honey shhh, its just a dream, its just a
dream." Hotch said to try and calm her as he held her face in his hands and smoothed her hair down. He moved a hand down and rubbed up and down her trembling body comfortingly.
"Its not, its not a dream, it happened, it happened, I can remember what happened... Why would they do those
things?" The words came out in such a rush that she
hadn't realised she was thinking them until they were
out. She was sobbing desperately, unable to control
herself any longer. Hotch pulled her up onto his lap and against his chest and she cried softly into him. He held her gently and rocked her back and forth as she sobbed. He asked her softly, "Do you
want to tell me about it?"
Her reply was a jumble of words but he was just able to
make out "No, no if I tell you it means it happened. It
didn't, it didn't happen." The rest of her words were
lost between sobs, cries and the pure trembling of her
voice. She was embarrassed by her reaction but she couldn't control it. She knew she shouldn't be crying like this in front of her boss, but she wasn't SSA Prentiss right now. She was Emily, and Emily was scared. So she let him rock her and let herself cry. She cried so hard it burned inside her chest and her eyes stung.
"Okay, its okay, Emily. You're safe now, I promise I won't
let anything hurt you again." he continued rocking
her and talking gently, trying to calm her but she showed
no sign of being able to compose herself anytime soon. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck as she clung to him, a sob got caught her her chest and she coughed it out, making her cry even harder. He realized he needed to do something. It
was so painful to see her like this. He held her tight and stood from his position on the bed. He carried her into the light of the bathroom in her hotel room, rubbing her back and whispering to her along the way. He set her bottom on the counter and she reluctantly let go of him. Hotch grabbed a tissue and began wiping her face clean of tears, shushing her gently as he went. Her sobs were slowing, and she took shaky breaths. Hotch touched her chin with his finger and made her look at him. "You're okay honey, you're safe. Come here.", he said as she met his eyes. He picked her up under her legs, her head resting on his shoulder burying her face in his neck. He sat on the bed and gently laid back with her clinging to him on top of him. He spoke softly, calming her down with
promises that he would keep her safe, and that she would
always be safe with him.