Hi there! Thanks for yor nice reviews, and here's the second chapter. (I told you it would be up pretty fast :P). Anywhoo, this one's from Emily's PoV, and it picks up from where Garcia's left off. Enjoy!

Helpless

Chapter Two: Brave

Pov: Emily Prentiss

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three gunshots. I hear gunshots all the time in my line of work. It doesn't scare me, doesn't even startle me anymore. I am numbed to them, usually. But not today. Today, these gunshots rip through me like the gun was aimed at me instead of her. Just hearing the sound is almost physically painful because the poor, poor woman on the recieving end of them happens to be close to someone I am very close to. And I know that with those shots, part of his life is ending too.

I turn my face towards the windows and try to hold back tears. JJ is not so stoic. I see one roll down her cheek. No one breathes. Time has stood still. Morgan closes his eyes. Rossi bows his head. Reid seems frozen in shock, his eyes wide. I hear Garcia gasp thorugh the phone. I don't hear Hotch at all. Most likely he hung up. But not, I know, before he heard those shots.

My mind starts spinning crazy explainations as to how she could still possibly be alive. Foyet wants to torture Hotch. Maybe he fired into the air just to scare him. He did it with Hotch... right before he used his knife. It hits me that if Haley is alive, she won't be for long, and she'll go slowly and painfully. I know what we will find when we get to Hotch's house. I hope suddenly that she went quickly with the first bullet, and didn't feel any pain.

After an eternity, we arrive. His car is pulled into the driveway crookedly, a door still open and the key still in the ignition. He's here, and he was in a hurry. My heart seems to leap into my throat as I realize that, although there's almost certainly no hope for Haley, it's possible that Jack is still inside, scared or hurt or even...

Please not dead. That would destroy Hotch.

Morgan in the lead, we enter the house. Time still seems suspended, until we hear a loud crash, then thumping coming from another room. Everything goes into warp speed. We follow the sound, all the time my heart hammering in my chest, hoping, praying that Hotch and Jack are okay. That we won't find their bodies here.

My prayers are answered. We rush in the door, and I'm right behind Morgan, so I get a good glimpse of it.

The room is in shambles, no piece of furniture left unbroken or unused as a weapon. There is blood eveywhere, most of it coming from what used to be George Foyet's head, but now just resembles a chunk of ground beef. Someone is kneeling over him, sobbing and smashing his head against the floor. This is not Hotch. Hotch is in control, Hotch would not condone this. But Hotch left when he heard those three gunshots over the phone. This man is not Hotch. This is a man driven by blind rage and greif, and the need to protect his son. This is a man who has had everything taken away from him. This is a man who is out of control. I don't know who he is, but he is not Hotch.

Morgan pulls him off Foyet. He fights at first, but then gives in, falling back into Morgan's grip and sobbing. But only for a second. He pulls away and stumbles up the stairs. The threat is gone. Jack is safe, hopefully. I think Hotch knows where he is. We all follow him up the stairs. With all his injuries, I'm surprised he can make it. But his body, fueled by greif and adrenaline, is capable because his mind is entirely focused on his son. When we get up there, I can see a body in one room. It's Haley. I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Hotch breezes past that room, heading for the end of the hall to what used to be his office. I linger in the hallway, and Reid and JJ follow Hotch. Morgan and Rossi stay with me. I walk into the room to get a better glimpse of Haley, but I have to look away. She's beautiful, even in death. Rossi takes one look at her, turns, and tells Morgan he'll go downstairs and wait for backup. Morgan nods, and walks softly over to Haley. He puts two fingers to her carotid artery and waits for a second. Then he looks up at me, his eyes filled with sadness, and shakes his head.

I need to get out of here. Morgan seems to understand. He's still kneeling beside Haley. I don't know where Hotch or the others are. I turn and go into the hallway. A young crime scene tech walks by me. I stare at him without really seeing. I walk down the stairs, and almost go out the front door, but I turn and walk into the dining room instead. Big mistake. This, I can tell immediately, is where it happened. This is where she stood bravely as he put three bullets in her head and chest, stopping her heart and killing a part of Hotch that he would never get back.

I remember their last words, Hotch's final promise to teach their son about love. I realize that this was her way of telling him that she loved him still, despite everything they went through, and my heart breaks again. If she had survived, if we had gotten here sooner, maybe they would have had a real chance to love again. But there is no bringing her back. She had left him for good this time. I stare at the blood on the floor, on the walls, and remember a woman that I hardly knew. I remember the night of the Superbowl three years ago and how happy Haley had been then. I was new back then, only with the BAU for a couple of months at the time, and I remember how shocked I was that Hotch was actually smiling. He looked so happy when he was with her, almost like a totally different person.

The person he'd been that night wasn't my boss Hotch. That person had been Haley's husband Aaron. The person that he would never be again. The person who was barely holding on, and would be lost completely if not for the little life somewhere upstairs that tethered him to her, the woman he'd loved and lost.

I can't be in this house anymore. Compartmentalization be damned, this is too close to home to be objective. This is the spot where the mother of my friend's child was murdered, not for anything she had done, but because she was just a pawn in the cruel game of a sadistic narcissist with a grudge. This is where her heart stopped beating, where her story came to an end. This was where she had hugged her son goodbye, too tight, and where she had forgiven her husband with her last few words. This was where she had cried bravely as he killed her.

Tears in my eyes, I rush out the front door as JJ comes out with Jack. Not a scratch on him. He smiles at me and waves hello, and I know that as much as it hurts right now, Hotch will go on, because this child needs him. I know the despite the horror we've all seen today, there is hope. There is a future full of light and love. I remember Hotch's last promise to Haley. I look at her son, their beautiful, smart, brave, wondeful son and I vow to honor her last request, because love really is the most important thing. Love is the only light to counteract the darkness that we throw ourselves into, love is what gives us a future.

I only wish Haley could be here to see that future.

Finito! Sorry is was so short. Had to shove that little moment of optimism there at the end... I can never write truly angsty stuff, it's something I shall have to work on. Anywhoo, REVIEW s'il vous plait! Oh, and the next chappie will be Reid. So... um.. yeah. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!