Disclaimer: I do not own anything Criminal Minds related. Characters are merely borrowed and will be put back later. ;)

Title: Fight for Her

Prompt: The Case of the Punch in the Nose

"There is some good in this world, and it is worth fighting for."

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

The music was pounding and the room was dark; chairs and tables had been abandoned in favour of the dance floor, now full of people, and the bar, which had gotten relatively empty when the lat song came on.

And so here they were. Another team night out. Aaron hated team nights out. He always felt somewhat overshadowed- and he knew that Reid at least felt the same way. Rossi did well with the ladies- even the ones that were years younger than him. Derek Morgan was most definitely a ladies' man; a fact that everyone was willing to embrace. But he knew that he was not so easy to talk to or to understand.

As for the women... Well, JJ had Will and was simply out for some fun and dancing with Garcia, who was going out with Kevin and so was happy to simply dance the night away with her friends. And Prentiss... She was by the bar, talking to a guy Aaron didn't like the look of. He shot the man angry looks across the room, and it didn't take long before he noticed and mentioned it, apparently, to Prentiss, who turned to look at who he was talking about, saw Hotch, and quickly turned back to him; doubtless, Aaron felt, explaining that he was her boss- and a hardass boss at that.

He sighed and downed his drink, listening to Reid chunter on about murder rates in Manhattan- where they had just come from- and sighed again. Reid was definitely one of a kind. Surrounded by women and he was so awkward that all he could talk about was statistics.

Rossi came back to the table and sat next to Hotch, who looked very down in the dumps, his eyes focused sharply at someone across the room. "Hey, Hotch. What's up?"

"Nothing," Aaron murmured, "Just tired I suppose."

Rossi was a lot of things; blind wasn't one of them. "I think you should fight for her Hotch," he muttered so that only Aaron could hear. Hotch looked back at him, surprised. Does everyone know?!

He nodded, but said nothing, knowing deep down that Rossi was right. But knowing also that he would never approach her to tell her how he felt.

Either way, he was more than happy when Prentiss turned away from the guy at the bar and began to walk back towards them- towards him?- a put out look on her face. She'd turned him down! His mood improved ever so slightly as Emily came closer, heard Reid talking statistics half to himself, and slapped him lightly on the arm. "Please. There is no way you will get a girl that way. Morgan told me about the magic tricks. Go try that again. But please, God, stop talking about statistics!" she laughed.

Reid shrugged and decided that though he would not be going after any women that night, he would nonetheless talk to Emily, who got along well with him. At least, that was his intention before Morgan approached the table and over the pulsing music, pulled Reid away and talked into his ear. Emily smiled at their retreating backs, knowing that Derek Morgan could talk Reid into anything at all that might get him talking to another girl. She smiled at looked back at Hotch and Dave, the former looking somewhat out of sorts and the latter looking at his watch.

"I have to go, the dog hasn't been fed in a whole day," Rossi said to them, and grabbed his jacket, waving at Garcia when she noticed him leaving. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes to him and sat at the table in silence for a bit before a waiter came along and put a glass on the table. "From the gentleman at the bar," he said to Emily. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Hotch surveyed her and when she noticed that, she said, "What? He was a creep."

"Oh," Hotch said, and realising that that was lame, continued on. "I saw you talking to him." That sounded just as lame.

"Yeah, I know. He thought you were giving him dirty looks. Creep," she said, stoutly ignoring the guy who watched her from the bar and turning her back on him to face Hotch.

Aaron felt mildly appeased; she didn't like the guy at the bar and had no interest. Nonetheless, the fact that Aaron might be interested in her had not crossed her mind either- and he was neither drunk enough nor stupid enough to tell her at that moment.

"I think he's coming over," he noted. This guy was not taking no for an answer.

"Aw, crap," Emily intoned. "You'd think he'd get the picture."

She turned wearily and waited for him to get closer. She was fully expecting to have to use harsh words to get rid of him, but before she could think about what to say, his hands were on her sides and his lips were crushed uncomfortably against hers. He kissed her mouth and neck while she struggled to get away- but it was a futile effort on her part. Hands held out in mid air, she tried to pull back- and she visibly flinched when his hands crept down her body and pulled her legs around him. Emily pushed her hands against his shoulders and tried to push him away, but it made no difference. And Hotch snapped.

He got to his feet and reached over, pulling the guy's hands away from her body before managing to step in between them. "She's not interested," he said angrily. When the man cursed at him and tried to push him out of the way, Aaron grabbed his arms. "I said, she's not interested," he said slowly, his eyes flaring.

Emily swung away from them and got down from her seat. As she tried to move away, her admirer reached out for her and caught her blouse sleeve, pulling her toward him.

Hotch had officially had enough. Emily pulled her arm away and wished she had a gun, but Hotch didn't need one. He pushed the man back and he stumbled against a table, falling to the floor in a flurry of movement. The entire bar seemed to notice and members of the BAU stopped and looked up. Morgan looked at Garcia and they all thought the same thing. Hotch, in a bar fight? No way.

Ignoring the fact that the bar was watching him, Hotch turned back to Emily and took her hand. "Are you alright?" he asked sincerely. "Yeah, I-"

And right before she finished, Hotch slammed into her, his body crushing her against a wall. She wasn't sure what had happened, but the rest of the bar could see that the guy he had just pushed had gotten back to his feet and ran at the two of them, determined to get his revenge. He pushed Hotch and unawares, Hotch fell into Emily. "I'm sorry," he said into her ear and turned around to face their nuisance once more.

In a few seconds, it was all over. As Hotch turned, he felt lights explode behind his eyes as their attacker punched him hard across the face. But Aaron Hotchner was not, and never had been, a pushover. He regained his senses quickly and retaliated in anger, striking out at the man who had caused so much trouble. He fell to the floor, his nose a mess of blood, and within seconds, security had grabbed him and thrown him out.

Hotch turned back to Emily, who was biting her lip. "You're bleeding," she said, as the bar returned to normal and the team began to make their way to the table where Hotch and Emily stood. "It's not important," he said.

But to her it was. She leaned up and kissed his cheek softly. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," he said quietly.

They smiled at each other for a few seconds, not really hearing the music get louder and the chattering talk of the bar return to its normal pace and activity. The team struggled to get through the crowd to make sure that Hotch and Emily were okay.

She reached out and touched his other cheek, wiping some of the blood away. And then she moved her hand to his mouth and cupped his jaw gently, seeing a splash of blood on his lip. She leaned closer to him and wiped it away with her blouse sleeve, not caring at all that she might stain it. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"It wasn't your fault," he said, leaning closer to her in turn. She allowed her arms and drop down and rest against his waist while one of his hands balanced against the wall behind her. She could feel the soft tickle of his breath on her cheek- and not for the first time, she wanted to kiss him. As his face lowered to hers more and more, she allowed herself a moment of weakness and attraction, letting her emotions take over as she prepared to kiss him.

"Hotch!" came the voice of Derek Morgan as he arrived beside them. "Hotch!"

Hotch closed his eyes and groaned. Emily blushed. They had been so close...

"Yeah?" Hotch said hoarsely, turning to face his right hand man.

"What happened man?" asked Morgan.

"Nothing," he said, knowing that Emily wouldn't want the team to know about it, "We're fine."

The team crowded around them, asking questions, and Emily cut across them all. "You know, I- I think it's better if we get a taxi now," she said. "I feel like going home." She grabbed her bag and jacket, taking Hotch's with her, and left the bar.

The team allowed them to depart, waving quietly, wondering what the hell had just happened.

And once they were outside the door, she pushed Hotch against the wall and kissed him tenderly, knowing that if she didn't do it right then, she never would. Her tongue battled with his and his arms wrapped around her, warming her against the cold night air.

When she pulled back, she cupped his face in her hands. "Thank you," she whispered.

"My pleasure," he said, just as softly.