Authors Note: We don't own anything. We are huge fans of the site and read it constantly! This is our first story so and we're still getting used to the layout of the publishing end of this. Read away and review please at the end, the more reviews the better. Thanks.

Chapter 1

"What the hell is he playing at?" Prentiss muttered pacing back and forth, speaking to no-one in particular, "I mean, he could have been hurt, or worse killed! He just marched on in there, without adequate back-up, without his vest, without his weapon, and apparently without his head screwed on either!"

"Emily, calm down, he's fine. He knows what he's doing. It's Hotch, he's always got a plan" Dave's voice came from behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned instantly to face him. She hoped he was right but she couldn't do anything but worry. He kept his hand on her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes.

"You care for him, don't you" More of a statement than a question. She hesitated, the words ringing in her ears.

"Eh... I... err... uh... we all do, we're all worried for him, especially after Foyet attacked him and killed Haley. He is on a downwards spiral and Jack needs him. We need him." I need him her brain continued without her expressed permission.

"Yes, we do, but that wasn't what I said. I said you care for him. More than what we do, on a different level than what we do."

She just stood and stared, she couldn't come up with the words to counter him. She hated him for that, Dave always had a way of seeing through everyone's shields, although they made a deal not to profile each other, he had an innate ability to which he couldn't turn off. He was right though, she did care for him, more than the others, on a different level to the others. She didn't know when she started to have such feelings towards her boss; she just knew that they became more prominent to her after Hotch was attacked by Foyet. Seeing him lying in the hospital bed, so weak, defenceless and above all, actually hurt, she had never seen him hurt before, physically hurt. This was Hotch, he was meant to be invincible.

"... He said if he wasn't out in five minutes we should send in the big guys." Morgan's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She wondered if she heard that right...

"He went in, told you what he was going to do and you let him?" She didn't mean for her words to come out to harsh and sharp, she hoped that the others didn't notice. Who was she kidding? They get paid to notice things. She could feel Dave staring at her but chose to ignore it.

"Yea... why? He knows what he's doing. I know what he's doing. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing, he ran it by me first." Morgan gave her a questioning look. Emily ducked her head away, turning to stare at the house, willing Hotch to be okay.

"How long has he got left?" Dave questioned Morgan.

"About a minute" He turned to look at the SWAT team, wondering if he should give Hotch more time. No, he said five minutes, that's all he's getting. Turning to the local Sheriff, "tell your men to get ready, 30 seconds and we go in."

"Come on Hotch..." Emily mumbled to herself, never taking her eyes off the house.