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Lacy here. The difficulty of even coming up with a story for this episode is right up there with Rush to Judgment from CSI: NY. For all those who don't know, Don screws up with Jess by sticking his foot down his throat. In this episode of Criminal Minds, Hotch plays hardass boss first and friend second towards Emily. Thankfully Dave is there for her. Now I'm going to keep the episode the same and not change anything. This is going to pick up at the end of the episode and given that I have Em and Aaron together, he has to now fix what he messed up. Let's see what happens. Have fun so doesn't fit here.
Disclaimer: Nope, got nothing this time.
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Dave stopped as Emily walked away and ran over to where Hotch and Morgan were.
"I'll go with Derek." Dave said. "You go after Emily."
Hotch shook his head. "I'm the last person she wants to see right now."
Derek stepped up. "Man you're the only person she wants to see right now. Go, Dave and I have this."
Hotch sighed and after one more look from Dave, went off to find Emily in the direction that Dave had pointed. Dave and Morgan watched him go.
"Think he'll be able to fix this?" Morgan asked.
Dave nodded. "I have no doubt. Emily will understand why he played hard and Aaron understands she's too upset to see it right now. They just need time and that's what we're giving them." he turned back to the SUV. "Let's get this SOB out of here. He's caused enough problems."
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Hotch stopped about twenty feet away from where Emily stood in front of the church. He knew she needed a minute and well so did he. He needed to figure out how he was going to fix their relationship. To say he had screwed up would be a huge understatement. True he had to play the role of boss and he knew they both knew that but he could have tried harder to be there for her. Been a little more of the boyfriend she needed and a little less of the boss she didn't. He saw her reach up and wipe her nose. He figured the stress of everything, him included had caused her nose to bleed. It happened from time to time.
"I know you're there Aaron." Emily said, keeping her back to him. "You're not very good at stealth."
Hotch approached Emily. "Did you think maybe I didn't want to hide that I was following you? That I wanted you to know I was here if you needed me?"
Emily snorted. "Now you want to be there for me. It's a bit late Aaron."
Hotch shook his head. "No it's not. You're angry and upset and I got frustrated with everything and I did not mean for it to appear that I wasn't there for you."
Emily faced Hotch. "That's just it Aaron, it didn't just appear that you weren't there, you actually weren't. You kicked me out of the office, you didn't trust me."
Hotch stepped closer. "I have always trusted you Emily and I will never stop trusting you. But you were getting too emotionally involved to work the case. You know that."
Emily took a deep breath. She knew Hotch was right but it still hurt.
"I do know that but I also know that I didn't need my boss to be the one to send me home." Emily said. "If anything I needed it to be the man who loves me to pull me back and tell me that I was too close. That I wasn't thinking straight." she met Hotch's eyes. "And for the first time, he wasn't anywhere to be found."
Hotch felt like someone had reached into his chest and put a vice grip on his heart. He could see the broken look in Emily's eyes along with the tears and knew it was his fault they were there.
"I'm here now." Hotch said. "And you have no idea how sorry I am that I hurt you, that I let you down." he took Emily's hands in his own and was so relieved when she didn't pull away. "I only have one thing to ask."
Emily closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "What?"
"Let me fix this. Let me show you that I really am here and that I won't ever leave again." Hotch said.
Emily looked into Hotch's eyes and saw the pain from causing her pain. She saw the sincerity and knew he meant what he said but she still needed to hear it.
"Promise?" Emily asked.
Hotch nodded. "I promise Emily."
Emily swallowed. "Then there's something you need to know. It'll explain why this hit me so hard."
Hotch tucked her hair behind her ear. "At home, not here."
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An hour later, Emily was tucked safely in Hotch's arms as they sat on her bed in her apartment. She had just finished explaining to Hotch what she had already told Dave about Rome when she was fifteen. Now she was waiting for him to take it all in and for him to say something.
"Who was the father?" Hotch asked finally.
Emily sighed. "John."
Hotch frowned. "The last victim?"
Emily nodded. "Yeah him."
"Did he know?" Hotch asked.
"He knew but he couldn't handle it." Emily said. "That's why Matthew was the one who helped me." she laughed a little. "The three of us, we were inseparable but that broke us. We were never the same."
Hotch ran his fingers up and down Emily's arm, knowing the motion calmed her. He knew there had to be something besides Matthew being her friend that had caused this case to be so personal but he never imagined that she had been pregnant at fifteen. It just wasn't the Emily he knew. Though, now that he thought about it, it was probably the cause of the Emily he knew.
"You're being really quiet." Emily said, worry evident in her tone.
Hotch looked down at her. "I'm just thinking about everything you said. Don't worry."
Emily bit her lip. "Are you disappointed in me for having the abortion?"
Hotch shook his head. "Of course not. You were young, your mother wasn't the best person to go to for help and it really was your only option. There is no reason for me to be disappointed. You proved just how mature you were and are by making the choice. If anything, I'm very proud of you."
"Really?" Emily asked.
Hotch nodded. "Really."
Emily settled her head back on Hotch's chest. "Ok."
"Do you want to go see John before he gets out of the hospital?" Hotch asked.
"Just to make sure he's going to be ok." Emily said. "And if it's alright with you, I want you to be there with me. Facing him alone is still really hard."
Hotch placed a kiss on Emily's head. "Wherever and whenever you need me Emily, I'll be there."
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John looked up from the newspaper he was reading as his hospital room door opened. He was happy to see Emily but was surprised to see another man that he didn't know coming in behind her.
"Hey John." Emily said, her voice quiet.
John smiled. "I was hoping you'd keep your word." he nodded to Hotch. "Who's this?"
Hotch stepped up beside Emily. "Aaron Hotchner, Emily's boyfriend."
John nodded. "Nice to meet you Aaron." he looked at Emily. "I thought you'd be by last night."
"I had things to do." Emily said. "Aaron needed to know why the case was so hard for me."
John frowned. "Why did he need to know?"
"Because he's also my boss." Emily said. "And he needed to know."
"You're dating your boss?" John asked.
"She is." Hotch said. "Is there something wrong with that?"
John shook his head. "No, nothing."
"I came to make sure you're ok." Emily said. "That you're going to be ok."
"I will be." John said. "Once I get out of the hospital and back home."
Emily nodded and bit her lip, looking back at Hotch. Hotch gave a subtle nod that John didn't pick up on.
"We have to go." Hotch said.
"Are you going to come back?" John asked Emily.
Emily shook her head. "No I'm not."
Before John could say anything, Emily let Hotch lead her out with a gentle hand on her back. John watched them go.
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Emily stopped ten feet from John's room and let out a breath.
"Are you ok?" Hotch asked.
Emily met his gaze. "I will be, I just need time."
Hotch gave her a kiss. "You've got it Em, as long as you need."
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Well there's that. I think I had Hotch fix things pretty well and Emily will be ok. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.
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Sarah here! Argh! So this was supposed to be up last night, but it wasn't edited. I'm SORRY!!!!!! *blows kisses* oh, FYI, won't be here tomorrow from 6-10. I be at a friend's holiday party! YAY! *happy dance* Then I have a shit load of homework. Whoo. Hoo. :P Okay, Adios! Kisses~Sarah