Hey everyone.

I do plan on posting the third chapter of this story up tonight because it picks up right where this one left off practically. I had some technical difficulties with my computer so I had intended on posting this a lot earlier today, but I had to start using a new computer so I don't have any of my old documents on this new one. Not to mention this isn't technically my computer, I'll have to get a new one (a permanent one for me) at a later date. So today's been a mess, and I haven't done any homework-thank God for study halls.

This idea came to me last night. Honestly Demonology and Minimal Loss are my two favorite season 4 episodes. I find it peculiar that no one writes anything dealing with after Demonology, especially because Emily and Hotch had some issues in that episode. So I thought, this would be perfect for a chapter! So please enjoy and review.

Time is a physician that heals every grief.

~Diphilus

Hotch had a sinking feeling that he had screwed up royally. Problem was, he hadn't the slightest idea what he had done or had failed to do.

It started Wednesday night. Hotch had invited Emily over for diner with him and Jack, but surprisingly she had refused. She said she hadn't been feeling to well and she didn't want to risk getting Jack sick. She had no desire to see the little boy sick once more any time soon. Hotch noticed how she looked a little paler than usual and agreed. He told her to go home and rest and if she wasn't feeling better tomorrow to just stay at in. He certainly wasn't going to begrudge her a sick day when all the team had been doing lately was paperwork.

Emily had kissed him on the cheek, carefully looking around for any overseers even though they were in the shadows of the parking garage. He smiled at her, but noticed how her eyes seemed a little duller than usual. It disconcerted him. He told her to call him if she needed anything. She said she would. She never did.

Hotch had tried not to be too concerned, but he couldn't help himself. Since their relationship bloomed about a month ago, Hotch had become hyper vigilant of Emily's well being. Hotch didn't get much sleep that night, nor did Jack. He had been expecting Emmy to come over and was fairly obvious in his disappointment when his Daddy told him she wouldn't be able to make it for diner. He pouted the entire was home from his aunt Jessica's and ran to his room as soon as Hotch opened the apartment door. Hotch wasn't sure what to say to comfort his son, but he did a good job of distracting him from Emily's absence.

Together father and son fell asleep on the couch watching an old back and white movie.

The next morning Hotch took Jack into work so the little boy would have the chance to see Emily, that and Jessica had to work so he'd let Garcia watch over him. When Jack caught sight of Emily he broke away from his Daddy and ran at her like a torpedo in the water.

Emily turned just in time to swoop the little boy into her arms and hug him tightly. Dave, who had been talking to Emily as Hotch and Jack entered the building, smiled softly at them and patted Emily's shoulder reassuringly. Emily thanked Dave quietly and Hotch saw him shake his head, conveying without words how she needn't thank him. Hotch was curious as to their conversation he missed, but brushed it off assuming whatever it was Emily would confide in him sooner or later.

Emily kissed Jack's cheek and put him back on the ground as Hotch approached. "Still not feeling too well?" he asked, noting her pallor and circles under her eyes. Emily shrugged.

"I've been better, but I didn't want to stay home," she said honestly. Jack looked at Emily worriedly.

"Are you sick Emmy?" he asked, remembering how unpleasant it had been for him when he had his stomach bug a while ago. Emily looked at Jack and shook her head. "No sweetie, I'm not sick." Emily promised, squeezing his hand that had reached out for hers. Hotch pondered what was bothering Emily when Garcia marched up.

"Come on mini-Hotch, let's let the grown-ups do their thing. I have a new movie for you to enjoy…" she trailed off seeing how Jack's eyes lit up at her news. Jack hugged Emily and Hotch once more before taking off for Garcia's dungeon excitedly. Emily and Hotch chuckled fondly at the little boy. Hotch looked back at Emily and saw the shadows lurking in her eyes. Before he could say anything though JJ approached, case files in hand.

"Hey, I have a few files I'd like you to look over. They're potentials, but I want your opinion," she said handing them to Hotch who extended his hand automatically. He leafed through the first once quickly, already building a profile in his head.

"I'll get right on it, thank you JJ." Hotch said glancing once more at Emily then turned to go to his office. As he sat down at his desk he saw JJ pat Emily's shoulder tenderly and say a few words to her friend before heading back to her own office. Emily managed a smile, and then buried her head in her own pile of files. Apparently Hotch wasn't the only one to notice something was off with Emily. He wondered what it was.

The morning passed by uneventful. Hotch was able to find one case out of the five JJ had given him that he thought deserved their attention. He'd present it to JJ and maybe they'd head out tomorrow. He'd have to talk to Jessica tonight if that was the case. Hotch leaned back in his chair and peaked out into the bullpen and was instantly curious as he saw Reid, who had been a little late arriving, hand Emily a cup of Starbucks coffee. So that was why he was late. Why was he getting just Emily coffee though, why not the rest of the team?

Emily smiled as she took a quick sip of her coffee and thanked him. Reid just nodded and took her hand gently in his. By his facial expression and the quick role of Emily's eyes, Hotch knew Reid was reciting some statistic he had stored up in that intelligent brain of his. Reid managed to coax a laugh, albeit a weak one, from Emily and went to sit at his desk. Emily just shook her head and paused for a moment. She turned to say something to Reid and Hotch saw the frown on her lips and her downcast eyes. Whatever was wrong was more than not feeling well Hotch deduced and it seemed like everyone was in on it. Morgan even pulled Emily aside earlier when she returned from the bathroom and talked to her a little.

Hotch was confused.

Surely Emily would've told him if something had happened. They didn't keep secrets from each other: They rarely even had before they had started dating. A knock on his door distracted Hotch from Emily, and brought his attention to his old friend standing in the doorway. "Got a minute?" Dave asked glancing over at Emily as well. Maybe Dave would shed some light onto the situation with Emily. Hotch waved his friend in and quirked his eyebrow as Dave shut his office door. Whatever he had to say, Dave didn't want to leave this room. This only fueled Hotch's curiosity and he paid Dave his undivided attention as he sat across from him.

"I'm not surprised that you forgot, but I am surprised that you let Emily come into work today." Dave said, cutting straight to the chase. Hotch looked at his friend befuddled by his words. He had forgotten something? Hotch looked back to where Emily was sitting and wracked his brain for the answer.

"Think Aaron. What is today?" Dave said trying to hide his exasperation with his younger teammate. Hotch was normally a stickler for dates and anniversaries. Hotch closed his eyes and thought hard. It was the beginning of January, but as for the significance of the date, Hotch couldn't find one. Rossi sighed, deciding to throw the poor man a bone. Dave looked out and saw that it was snowing and internally cursed. He had no doubt Emily would find herself walking outside at some point tonight.

"A year ago today we had a particularly difficult case for one of our agents and we helped her out. Unfortunately it had been one of those cases where she got a little too involved and the team was hard on her, especially you." Dave said basically spelling it out for Hotch.

Hotch's eyes widened as his brain surged with memory and he suddenly remembered what today was. A year ago today Emily's friend Matthew died thus invoking a heart wrenching case that would haunt Emily for years to come. Hotch remembered telling her he didn't want to see her in the office for a few days and how he had let her down. That was why Morgan especially had been paying careful attention to her. He had let her down as well, although she had thanked him for having her back.

Hotch felt like the biggest jerk on the face of the planet. Even more so because the whole team knew what today was and had been trying to help her. He hadn't done anything, he had forgotten. He was the worst boyfriend ever.

Dave saw the realization hit Hotch like a bus speeding on icy roads and smiled kindly at him. "I suggest you take her home early tonight." Dave said internally smirking at the almost panicked look on Hotch's face. He was well aware that Emily spend majority of her time at the Hotchner house, but he wasn't going to let Hotch know that. He wasn't a profiler for nothing after all. He did wonder how long they'd keep the team in the dark though. Sooner or later it would come out and Dave just hoped he had some popcorn handy to munch on as he sat back and watched the show.

"Thanks Dave." Hotch said mentally berating himself for his idiocy. "Don't mention it Aaron." Dave replied and slid out of his seat to go check on Emily once more. It didn't take a profiler to see how today had managed to crawl under Emily's skin and make her uncomfortable.

Emily looked up at the shadow that fell upon her desk and bit back her smile at Dave's soft eyes. He, more than the other, was keeping a close eye on her. He knew what it was like to have a case haunt you for a long time. He also knew about why Matthew had been her lifeline when she was fifteen. Emily hadn't told anyone else about her abortion; she was afraid of their reactions: Most of all Hotch's. Emily tried not to feel disappointed that Hotch didn't know what this day meant to her. He was a busy man who had suffered his own tragedy months back. She didn't blame him one bit. Still, it would've been nice if he had at least attempted to see what was wrong with her.

"I'm the same way I was thirty minutes ago when you checked up on me Dave." Emily said smiling at her older friend and confidant.

"Can't blame a guy for checking Emily." Dave replied, sitting on the corner of her desk. Reid and Morgan nodded; their eyes steady on Emily who was touched by their concern. She really had a great family.

"You know, I'm sure Hotch wouldn't mind if you called it quits early today." Morgan said looking up to see the very man he was talking about looking thoughtfully at Emily. Maybe he finally remembered. Emily followed Morgan's eyes and met Hotch's. He nodded his head and Emily's mood lightened considerably. He knew.

"Maybe I will." Emily said not seeing JJ coming over to them.

"Hey guys…" JJ said but Morgan cut her off. "Come on JJ please tell me we don't have a case," he pleaded glancing over at Emily who looked down.

"If you'd let me finish," JJ said shooting Morgan a look and he held up his hands in defense. "My bad," he said as the others laughed. Dave met JJ's eyes and winked at her, to which she playfully rolled her eyes making him grin sweetly. They had become a little more flirty since their episode at the bar a whiles back.

"What I was going to say before Mr. I-know-everything interrupted me is that maybe we should all go out for lunch with Jack to take our minds off of work and other things. What do you think?" JJ said dodging a ball of paper Morgan wadded up and threw at her causing everyone to laugh. Emily looked up at JJ and smiled softly.

"I think that's a great idea," she said as Garcia and Jack appeared out of nowhere. "Smart thinking girly, because we were gonna drag you along whether you wanted to go or not." Garcia said as Emily helped Jack with his jacket. Emily chuckled and felt her eyes tear up.

"Emmy, are you gonna cry?" Jack asked, for children are known for their blunt observations and lack of vocal filters. Emily laughed and shook her head trying to dry her eyes. Hotch was walking down the stairs when Emily looked at him. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the unshed tears in her eyes. He walked over to her and tenderly patted her arm, ignoring the beaming smiles on his teams' faces. "Lets go get something to eat." Hotch said and smiled as Emily nodded enthusiastically. They'd have the chance to talk tonight when he insisted that she come home with him. He would make it up to her somehow.

Wow Hotch, way to drop the damn ball. *laugh* I really loved writing this chapter, and the next one will be a little more emotional-dealing with grief. I can relate to Emily because when I was 13 my best friend Lainie died in a car accident, so I think I'll be able to capture her sadness fairy well. I hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Peace out.