Title: The Will to Live.

Pairing: H/P

Prompt: Oz - Next Stop, Valhalla

A/N: So I used a combination of this prompt and an interesting article I read online the other day and this is what I ended up with. That means it should have been easy for me to write this one but it wasn't. I blame that completely on my evil twin though because she kept taunting me with dares to kill Hotch off and I kept having to pause from writing and yell at her that I couldn't do that. Believe me it was a scary sight, anyways enjoy and as always don't forget to review.

The Will to Live

It is estimated that 100 billion people have died since humans began that's a fact Emily Prentiss had learned all on her own, not from the mouth Dr. Spencer Reid. What she also knew is that if she had anything to say about it Hotch, her boss and as of three weeks ago her lover, would not be adding his name to that list of people anytime soon and with that in mind she took a deep breath before entering his hospital room.

As she wearily made her way further into the room the buzzing and beeping of machines he was hooked up to greeted her and another statistic she knew without Reid's help entered her mind 80% of people that live in the United States die in a hospital. Again though if she had her way he wouldn't be one of those people Emily thought as she took a seat in the chair beside his bed. He remained completely still, fighting for his life, unaware of what a hero he had been today. He'd taken three bullets meant for the four year old boy they'd been looking for all week. Without a second thought he had thrown himself in front of the little boy in Morgan like fashion blocking the bullets from striking there intended target.

Afterwards Morgan had apprehended the bastard because Emily's only focus had been Hotch and while all of this was going on a somehow still conscious Hotch was making sure that the little boy was okay. However by the time she had extradited the boy out from underneath him and handed him off to Rossi the shock of getting shot had hit him. She could tell he was fading fast as she yelled at him to keep his damn eyes open. He hadn't been able to do that though and Emily had spent the next 10 minutes trying to stop the bleeding before the ambulance arrived.

She and the rest of the team had followed the ambulance to the hospital and had spent up until thirty minutes ago anxiously awaiting news about their boss's condition.

"He's lucky no major damage to his spinal cord," The doctor had informed them all before going on to explain, "The first two bullets struck blood vessels around his left kidney and the third actually struck his kidney. We were able to stop the bleeding and repair all of the blood vessels as well as the tear in his kidney."

"So he's going to be okay then, right?" Emily had piped up and asked when the doctor paused.

"Right now he's stable but still very critical," Was the doctor's answer, "He's lost a lot of blood and there's still a chance we'll have to remove that kidney if the antibiotics we have him on don't work."

They had all nodded solemnly when the doctor had then proceeded to inform them that they would be moving him soon and then they could see him. Once the doctor had left it was decided that Emily would go in to see him first and that's why she was the one in with him now. Rossi meanwhile went off to call Haley and Morgan had left with JJ because someone had to finish up things at the police station.

"You did a good thing today Hotch," She said softly as he took his hand in hers, "Because of you the Milton's got their son back. Now all you need to do is keep on fighting and recover from this okay."

Emily continued to talk to him off and on over the next couple of hours even as nurses filtered in and out checking his vitals and whatnot. During that time there wasn't much of a change in his condition and Emily found herself just about to drift off to sleep when she felt a hand a hand on her shoulder.

"How is he," Morgan asked as she shook herself back awake and turned to find him standing beside her.

"No change," Emily answered.

Morgan nodded before saying "There's food in the waiting room for you, do me a favor and go eat. I'll stay here with him."

'I'm not hungry," She replied to quickly for Morgan's liking.

'Yes you are," Morgan argued back, "And you're tired too just like we all are"

She still refused to budge until Morgan said the one thing he knew would get her give in, "Em he'd want you to take care of yourself so if you don't want to do it for yourself do it for him."

"Alright but come and get me if there's any change," Emily said as she slowly stood up and with one lingering look she left the room.

That one final look before she left spoke volumes to Morgan as he sat down where she'd been sitting and looked at his boss. Was it possible she had feelings for the man, he wondered. Sure they were all concerned about Hotch but she appeared to be even more so.

Twenty minutes later Morgan wasn't at all surprised to see Emily reenter the room. Standing up he made his way over to her and gave her a small hug before asking, "Do you feel a little better now?"

Emily nodded and leaned against him for a second before saying, 'I'll admit you were right I needed to eat something."

"Good because the last thing I need is for boss man to kick my ass when he first wakes up because you were being stubborn," Morgan teased.

'I wouldn't have let him," Emily reassured with a small grin.

Morgan nodded, "Do you need anything?"

"Not at the moment but if you could stop off at the hotel and bring me a book or two from my bag later, I'd appreciate it," Emily answered knowing all to well sitting around here waiting for Hotch to wake up was driving him nuts.

"No problem, give me a call if there's any change," Morgan replied before he headed out.

As soon as he was gone Emily sat back down and retook Hotch's hand in hers. "You know I think Morgan's starting to suspect something," She said, "It looks like we might have to let the team on our secret when you wake up."

After she said that her mind drifted back to the day three weeks ago when their relationship had forever shifted; it was a Friday and she hadn't been at all surprised to find the light still on in his office at nine o clock at night. She herself had left the office about three hours before to have dinner with JJ and Garcia, something they tried to do at least one Friday a month. About halfway home after dinner she had realized she'd forgotten a file and had decided to head back in to grab it real quick. Out of just plain curiosity she'd decided to poke her head in his office for a minute and when she'd found him there tackling paperwork all she could do was shake her head and let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny," He'd asked after looking up and noticing her.

'Nothing sir," Emily had answered, "other than the fact that I'm almost positive you've forgotten how to have fun."

"Why would you think that," He'd asked next with a raised eyebrow.

"Because you're here doing paperwork on a Friday night," Emily had informed with a smile, "That sir is a tale-tell sign that you've forgotten what fun is."

It was then his turn to shake his head before he said, "And what if I told you that you were wrong."

'I'd tell you that you would have to prove it to me," She'd replied.

He'd come back with, "And how exactly would I go about that Prentiss?"

She'd paused to think about it briefly before taking a chance and saying, "You could drop what your doing right now and come with me."

To her surprise he had agreed and before she knew it she'd gotten him in her car and driven them straight to a bowling alley. Several beers, two games of bowling, and a couple of arcade games later Emily had been certain of two things. One being that she had been wrong he was still capable of having fun and the second one being that she was very fond of the fun side of him.

Outside in the parking lot around midnight though he'd admitted to her that it had probably been years since he'd had a night like this and then he'd done the most unexpected thing he'd kissed her.

That kiss had been a very pivotal moment for them and it had happened again and again over that weekend. On Monday they left the Aaron and Emily they had been behind and put back on the professional masks of Hotch and Prentiss.

Emily couldn't help but smile as those memories flashed through her mind. It was because of them that she was here keeping her vigil, urging him to hang on, to keep on fighting, so if for no other reason that they could make a few more memories like that together.

Sometime later that night Morgan showed back up at the hospital with more than just the books she'd asked him to bring. He walked in with not only them but a pillow and a blanket as well claiming, "I figured the chances of getting you to go back to the hotel and get some sleep were pretty slim so I figured I'd just make sure you were comfortable here instead.'

He had been right on target with that assumption so she had taken them from him with a smile before using themselves to make herself comfortable soon she'd fallen asleep and woke up the next morning to learn that he hadn't opened his yet so she hadn't missed a thing. After informing her of that Morgan had handed her a cup of coffee. This remained a pattern for the next three days. Emily stayed at his bedside for the most part except for fleeting moments when Morgan pulled the "Hotch would want you to" card out and she would leave to shower or eat.

Each day his vitals grew stronger according to the doctor but he still remained unconsious that is until mid-way through her first cup of coffee on the third day after he'd been shot. That's when she and Morgan heard him groan as his eyes slowly fluttered open. Leaving them alone Morgan had quickly run off to get the doctor and tell the rest of the team he was awake. That left them alone and as soon as Emily had set her coffee down she'd leaned down to him and whispered, "Don't you dare scare me like this ever again," Before kissing him. She only lingered for a moment before pulling away and it was then her first tears since he'd been shot began to fall. She'd gotten her way because he was going to leave this hospital with her, no Valhalla for him just yet.

.