A/N: This story picks up a couple of months after "Things left unsaid." The team still doesn't know that Peter has left. And at the moment, Emily doesn't know the team is on their way. This was my original first story.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds. Just the stuff in my head.


"Ok Thanks Dan. I'll present the case to Agent Hotchner and hopefully…" JJ's voice trailed off before they said goodbye and hung up. She jumped out of her chair and made her way through the halls towards the BAU. She walked through the thick glass doors, past Reid and Morgan's desks, and up the stairs to Hotch's office.

"Come in," Hotch called out. He looked up to see JJ walking through the door. "What is it?" he asked. JJ forced her grin down and her face sobered. "Sorry I know it's only seven and technically we haven't started yet but… we've got a request from San Francisco. A series of child abductions. Late last night the latest one, Samuel Jacobs, age 4, was taken from the family home," she explained. The moment she'd said child abductions… or maybe San Francisco… Hotch was out of his chair, packing up his files and grabbing his ready-bag. "We'll brief on the jet. Wheels up in 20," he said, rushing out of his office. JJ took a deep breath and sighed. It was obvious it hadn't quite hit him yet.


"So has anyone spoken to Emily? Does she know we're coming?" Reid asked quietly, hoping that Hotch wouldn't overhear. JJ shook her head. "The case agent is Dan Morrissey, Emily's partner at the field office, but he said she wasn't involved with the case. He did offer to inform her when we arrived. So I took him up on it. I thought it couldn't hurt." Morgan nodded. "Not to mention it'd be good to see her again," he said. "How long since you guys have spoken?" Morgan asked JJ. She took a moment.

"Uh, it's actually been a few months… four actually, not since just after New Years. With everything going on with the last few cases, not to mention my mom being sick, I haven't really had much time to call her." As they went around the table they realized no one had spoken to her in at least four months, which was unusual. "Oh well, that can only mean this reunion will be so much sweeter," Rossi said, staring out the window. JJ glanced down at Hotch sitting alone. "For some of us maybe," she said under her breath.

Hotch was sitting in the corner of the jet. As per usual, when they were flying to the relevant city, the team spent some time going over the case as a group. Fifteen to twenty minutes of brain storming and case assignments was usually all it took. The remainder of the flight was dedicated to relaxing, preparing for an extended period of no sleep and high adrenaline, or reviewing the case files.

But for Hotch the case files weren't a distraction, nor was he able to relax. His mind kept running to the one place he was afraid of. She had left. He had thought she would be his last chance at love, his last chance to grant Hayley's final wish. He had been waiting to tell her how he felt but he was too late. He waited too long. In spite of everything the team had been through, in spite of how much they needed her and relied on her, she married Peter and she left.

Hotch knew she kept in contact with the others. JJ and her family (Will and their two boys, Henry and Adam) had visited Emily and her family (Peter and their daughter Emma) numerous times over the past two years. Morgan and Garcia had taken a few trips also, trying to spend as much time with their close friend as possible. Reid had gone to San Francisco for conventions over the years, and Rossi had gone on book tours all around the US, including Emily's new home-town. Then there were the emails and the annual Christmas visits when Emily and her family were in town to visit her parents. Phone calls for birthdays, letters, the communications between Emily and the others were endless.

But Hotch could never bring himself to call or write or visit. It had broken his heart the day she told him she was leaving. She had walked into his office, calm and collected. He offered her a seat and she obliged.

"What is it Prentiss?" he asked, using her surname as a way to remain distant, closed off, stop himself from admitting what she meant to him. She took a deep breath and that, her nervousness, should have been his first clue.

"Here," she said, holding out an envelope to him. He took it and opened it, and she'd waited. Hotch knew she was hoping for a reaction but he couldn't do it. He couldn't break down the wall. "Ok Agent Prentiss. I'll fill out the relevant paperwork. You should be officially transferred by the end of the month," he said. Emily nodded and forced a smile. "Ok. Thanks. I uh…" she paused, "I wanted you to know first. It's not because of the work. Or because of the kids. I've really loved this job and the challenges. Although I'm sure we could've done without some of it. It's because… I don't want you to think I'm being foolish" she paused again and Hotch frowned. "Emily, I could never think that," he assured her. She smiled and took a deep breath, "It's because Peter wants me to move with him to California. And this job, this life. It doesn't mean as much to me as Peter does," she explained. Hotch could feel his heart breaking as she said those words. But instead of throwing his inhibitions aside he simply stood, held out his hand, shook hers, and congratulated her, wishing her the best.

Emily smiled and nodded. She let go of his hand and walked around to the other side of the desk. As she pulled herself close to him for a hug, she whispered in his ear. "Thank you so much for your friendship Hotch. Without you, I don't think I would've lasted." Hotch frowned, hoping to suppress the tears he knew were coming. "Thank you too Prentiss. I don't know what I… we'll do without you." He hoped his faux pas wouldn't reveal him.

It was two weeks from that day that she'd packed the last of her belongings and left the office. A few months later the entire team flew to San Francisco for the wedding.

Emily was a beaming bride and Peter a handsome groom. She wore a beautiful white dress and her parents and step-mother were grinning as they witnessed her marry him. It was a small wedding and the ceremony was followed by dinner overlooking the Bay. 80 guests packed into the small ballroom. After dinner and cake the dancing started. Hotch had been miserable the whole day. He was sitting at the team's table, watching JJ and Will and Garcia and Morgan dancing. He watched as Emily danced with her new husband. Husband, he thought to himself, why couldn't it have been me? He slogged back another whiskey. Rossi looked over at him and shook his head.

A few songs later, while Peter was busy talking to his workmates, Emily wandered over to her team. "Come on Morgan, let's dance," Emily said, holding out her hand. Hotch watched as Morgan jumped from his seat to dance with her. Garcia noticed the look on his face. "C'mon sir. You're the only one who hasn't danced with me yet," she said, picking up his hand and practically dragging him onto the dancefloor. Hotch tried to resist but the three whiskeys on an almost empty stomach prevented his win. He danced with Garcia but couldn't take his eyes off Emily. She was talking and laughing with Morgan as they danced. As the song changed, Garcia dragged Hotch over to Morgan and Emily. "Ok, swapsies. I want my chocolate Adonis back," she said. Morgan huffed and took her hand.

For a moment Hotch and Emily stood there looking at each other. She sighed and started to walk away when he grabbed her hand. "Prentiss wait," he said. Emily turned and winced as he called her that. "Just one dance," he said quietly. Emily wasn't sure what to do. This was the man she had loved for so long. And this was her wedding day… with someone else. But she went along with it. She reached up and put her hand in his and placed the other on his shoulder. He pulled her tight and leant his head on hers. After a couple of minutes of silence, the only sounds coming from the song, Emily looked up. "Prentiss…" his voice trailed off and Emily stood back, dropping his hand. "Hotch, don't. I'm not Prentiss anymore. You don't get to call me that. From now on we're just two people who used to work in the same unit. Nothing more, nothing less. Excuse me but I have to go check on my husband," she said harshly, before turning and walking away. Hotch stood on the dancefloor and frowned. How could he be so stupid.

That wasn't the last time he had spoken to her, but it might as well have been. Her second Christmas home with Peter, only five months earlier, she and Hotch had avoided each other. They'd had a fight earlier that year. Hotch didn't even know what the fight was about, or how it had started. In any case, even with the one visit they'd had the Christmas after their wedding, it had been a long, lonely, two years. She and her new husband had waved to their guests before leaving for their honeymoon, after which they returned to Peter's hometown of San Francisco. Two years and only now, only in the confines of the BAU jet, Hotch was starting to realize how much he regretted his decision to stay silent. He regretted not telling her how he felt. He had lost her. To a man who could give her what she deserved.