Wow, awesome! So I wound up with 9 reviews so that makes me happy. I will again say the next chapter will also be held unless I get, lets go with 5 reviews, which shouldn't be a problem. You know, I really wasn't expecting anyone to like Daniel. I was trying to make him cool and I'm glad I suceeded. To Kate, I know exactly what you mean but it helps if it's only just a few words of encouragement..and I tried to get Kilgore in there but I really couldn't find a spot...I haven't finished Slaughter yet while I've made it through Hichhickers a few times ;) Anyway, on with the show...Also This is way longer than the first chapter, I wasn't sure where to break this one so it goes until my logical break...enjoy :)

Emily saw Derek, Reid and Penelope already in the conference room. She'd rushed to work, that morning, as soon as she got the text message saying they had a new case. She was relieved that Hotch and Rossi weren't there yet because she hated being the last one to the meetings.

"So how did your date go last night?" Penelope asked, grinning from ear to ear at Emily as she came into the room. She immediately regretted telling Penelope about the date but couldn't help the smile from forming on her face. "It was that good, huh? I want all the steamy details."

Derek grinned from his chair and sent out a wolf whistle. "Some one got laid." Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

Penelope nudged Derek from her place perched on the table. "The only thing that puts a smile like that on a woman's face is whipped cream and morning sex." Penelope replied then added, "And usually both, at the same time."

"Actually, if you must know; we talked about the books we like and movies. Nothing else happened." She answered truthfully. She knew they wouldn't believe her with the grin on her face but she couldn't make it go away. She looked to Reid hoping he would cut in with anything that would stop the line of questioning but the young agent only looked amused at their antics.

"There is no way 'nothing' put a smile like that on your face." Derek replied doubtfully.

"Seriously, guys." Emily started as she took off her suit jacket and put it over the back of her chair. "He was a perfect gentleman. He pulled out my chair for me and gave me his coat when he walked me home." She sat down and pulled the electronic case file towards her.

"At least tell me you gave him a long kiss good night?" Derek asked at the same time as Reid looked up from his chair at the table while Hotch and Rossi entered the room.

Her reply was lost when Hotch took a seat in the chair next to hers, his face in his usual grim expression. She hadn't really wanted to go into her date before but now it seemed even more wrong talking about goodnight kisses in front of Hotch. She turned her focus to the case file and avoiding looking at him.

"Awe, common! You didn't even kiss him?" She saw Derek shake his head out of the corner of her eye, he seemed truly let down.

Emily caught Rossi glancing between her, Derek and Hotch, she noticed the wheels turning, as he tried to connect dots even though she tried to remain nonchalant. "Gave who a kiss?"

Morgan chuckled, "Our Em, here, had a hot date last night."

"And she was going to give us full disclosure on the night's events." Penelope replied looking love struck.

"I was not going to disclose anything because there is nothing to disclose." Emily said forcefully.

"A beautiful woman should be kissed well and often. If I'd taken you on a date I would have given you something to talk about." Rossi said raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Emily sighed in frustration. "Come on, guys. It was not like that…"

"Can we please get to the case?" Hotch cut in but she didn't know if she should have been grateful that he saved her or embarrassed because they were acting like teenagers while people were dying.

"Oh my, yes!" Penelope stuttered trying to make a smooth transition to professional. She clicked a button and a picture of a smiling woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes came up on the screen behind her. "Alice Perry, age 37 was found two weeks ago, raped and strangled in her Georgetown apartment. There was a large letter A pinned her to shirt. The police didn't think anything of it because her name starts with an A. The police couldn't find any leads" She clicked again and another woman's face came up next to the first one. This woman had dark hair and brown eyes as well. "Kate Timmerman, 40 was found raped and strangled in her townhouse very early this morning by her best friend. You can see those yucky pictures on your tablets." She indicated the electronic files on the table. "The same size and colour letter was found pinned to her. That's when the police called us."

Reid frowned down at his paper file. "The A being red obviously represents the Scarlet Letter which was a literary work by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The Scarlet Letter was worn by Hester Prynne as a badge of shame after being accused of adultery."

"Were either of these women married, or in a committed relationship?" Rossi asked cutting Reid off from what would be a full summary of the novel.

"Alice's mother said her daughter had been seeing someone but had never met the guy. The police that checked her home couldn't find his name or anything that proved he even existed." Penelope replied, "Kate's friend Helen tagged her in a picture, two nights ago, on Facebook with a guy that Kate said she'd been seeing for about two weeks." She clicked the button again and a dark picture from a club came up of a smiling Kate pulling on a dark haired man's arm trying to get him in the frame. There was enough of his face in the picture to make an ID.

Derek pointed with his pen. "Do we know the name of the boyfriend?"

"Not really, the picture was tagged as Johnny. No last name and he wasn't friends with Helen on Facebook to get to his profile, if he has one." Penelope answered.

Emily had her head down looking at the crime scene photos but when she looked up at the picture she paused, an uneasy feeling forming in her gut. It must have shown on her face.

"What is it, Prentiss?" Hotch asked with an almost indiscernible hint of concern in his tone.

She shook her head in disbelief. "He told me his name was Daniel Fitzpatrick." Everyone's eyes were on her. "He was my date last night."

"Now that you mention it, Emily does bare a striking resemblance to the victims." Reid said which caused everyone to look away from Emily to him then to the pictures of Alice and Kate. The young profiler was right, they could all see it.

"Oh, come on." Derek broke the silence. "What are the chances? I mean, really?" He waved off Reid from actually telling him.

Emily shrugged and absentmindedly rubbed her lips feeling nauseated by having kissed their Unsub. "It's him. It makes sense now."

"Wait, what does?" Rossi asked leaning forward in his chair. "I know this is awkward but you need to tell us everything, where you met him and about your date last night that would make you think he's our guy."

She wasn't insulted that he thought she might be wrong, she understood, because she was emotionally involved. She chanced a look at Hotch, his eyes were on her but she couldn't read anything in them. He was impassive as ever. She blew air out between her lips as she tried to figure out what to say. "I met him at a book store. We actually bumped into each other and dropped our books." She would have smiled warmly at the memory but now it tasted sound in her mouth. "He had the same books as me." She rolled her eyes. "He asked me out at the check-out, I wasn't going to say yes but he smiled." She avoided Hotch's eyes as she thought about the dimples that had changed her mind. "He was so charming. He didn't use any bad pick-up lines." She sent a pointed look to Derek before continuing. "We went to that new little place in Georgetown, a few blocks from my condo. He pulled out my chair for me and ordered merlot"

"He doesn't sound very terrible, hell if he paid I'd go out with him." Rossi remarked.

"It wasn't the meeting or date that makes me think he's the guy. It was…after." She felt her cheeks going red and kept her eyes down, looking at the smiling face of Kate. "I suggested we walk to my place and I, uh, asked him to come up."

Derek gasped mockingly. "On the first date?" He was obviously trying to lighten the mood but Rossi kicked him in the shin under the table. "Ow!"

"Shut up, Morgan." The older man replied.

"Anyway." Emily continued, wondering if she could possibly feel any more humiliated. "He declined. I didn't think much of it at the time, he had been the perfect gentleman the rest of the night, so it only fit but now when I look back..." She shrugged she didn't know how to explain the feeling she had. He'd been too good to be true. He had the exact same interests, even a true crime novel, which now that she thought about it should have tipped her off in the first place.

Hotch nodded. "Do you have his number? Even if he isn't our Unsub we could bring him in for questioning for at least having known the last victim."

"No, I gave him my cell phone number though, he said he would call me today." Rossi and Derek gave her a look to suggest she not hold her breath waiting on the guy. "With the way this guy acts, he will call me. And if I'm right about him, he only as two weeks to make me feel comfortable enough to ask him into my apartment." She flicked the tablet to show the crime scene photos, non-verbally telling them what he would do then.

"Why didn't he go up when you asked last night?" Penelope asked then gasped at what she was inferring.

Hotch closed his file, lacing his fingers together and resting his hands on it. "He has a time frame that works for him that lets him go unnoticed by the victims' families. He already had a victim in mind for last night before he asked Prentiss out, if he had taken her up on her offer, instead of killing Kate, he would risk getting noticed for what he was by Kate or her friends and family." His jaw clenched and he avoided her eyes. Emily got the impression he was disappointed in her, that she should have been more cautious. "We have two weeks before this guy kills again. If Daniel Fitzpatrick is the Unsub and Prentiss is his next intended victim he shouldn't be hunting anyone tonight. Garcia, I want you to check on the name Prentiss gave you." He said standing up. "Rossi go with Reid to Kate's apartment. Morgan, I want you to go to the police station to ask them if they have anything else on Alice's murder." He waited for them to nod before packing up his files and leaving.

"Wait, what do you want Em to do?' Derek asked from his chair. She too did not miss her not being addressed or assigned to do anything.

Hotch stopped at the door frame, he looked at her. "Wait for his call but pack your bags. He knows where you live and if he decides not to wait two weeks you could be in danger." His flat tone didn't betray any feelings he might have had. "Do you have somewhere you can go?" He looked around the room to the rest of the team, asking one of them to volunteer their homes.

Emily stood up. "I am not hiding." She said irritated.

"I'm renovating." Derek replied.

"I have a roommate." Penelope said, her eyes going to Derek, which no one commented on.

"Unless there's sex involved no women enter my house." Rossi said but he had posed it as a question to her. She rolled her eyes.

All eyes went to Reid. He looked lost. "I uh, don't have a couch." She wasn't offended that they didn't seem willing to help her. Instead she knew they thought she could handle herself.

Hotch frowned, his jaw flexed painfully. Emily thought she could hear his teeth grinding together. "Fine. You'll stay with me."

"No!" Emily said firmly. "I am not hiding. If I do that, he might get frustrated and find someone else."

"I'm not using you as bate." Hotch said his eyes locking with hers. She didn't look away, she wasn't backing down. Not when he was acting like it was her fault and she knew she'd done nothing wrong.

"You're gonna have to." She stated, daring him to argue. All eyes were on him, as they waited for his reaction. She could almost taste the tension on her tongue.

"Take the rest of the day off, Agent Prentiss." He said low, his tone stern and unwavering.

Seething, Emily grabbed her coat and moved through the shell-shocked expressions on her team mates faces. No one moved and she was forced to brush, chest to chest, with Hotch as she went through the doorframe. His eyes flickered slightly at the contact, she read it as disgust and it hurt but she wasn't going to let him see that.

She said nothing to the others as she walked through the bullpen and didn't even look at them as the elevator doors closed in front of her.

To Be Continued...?