Author Note: It is I, with another update! Because of your lovely reviews, I was able to set a new record for me, updating a story with in a few weeks! So really this for you my lovely reviewers, thank you SO MUCH!
Jane, theoriginalbritt, Anon, Sophie, pertrisha, Jenno55, JayJe, HPforever, CMFAN2009, NicknHotchfan, kimtom4eva, fanficlover, TheLuckiestOne, Kimmeke, Nala, History05, Angel N Darkness, and jessalynnGSR….thank you so much for your kind words!
Chapter 2
Emily Prentiss came to a stop. She couldn't believe how quickly she had gotten out of breath as she sucked in as much air as she could in a span of five seconds. Her chest was moving up and down trying to accommodate her heavy breathing, but her running out of breath wasn't why she came to a stop. She had stopped right before a rather steep hill and started scanning the ground. Panic had built inside, beginning to believe she had, somehow, screwed up and went off the path.
She knew she had stayed straight and caught the footprints here and there as she continued running, but then suddenly they stopped. Turning around, looking for any sign of which way they went, she then saw the weapon lying on the ground. Walking over she picked up the deadly firearm that was completely out of place in the serenity of the woods. She knew without any doubt it was Hotch's handgun and worried she was too late. Then again as she scanned the ground she found no indication that Hotch had been wounded, no blood was visible on the white glittering snow.
Staring at the spot where she had found the pistol she then saw it finally. Turning her eyes to the embankment, Emily wanted to slap herself in the head. She took a few steps down the hill and began checking for any kind of movement. As her eyes searched out what she was looking for, her heart leapt into her throat. Standing out in the middle of what looked like a field, was her boss, Aaron Hotchner. As she began moving forward slowly, she was thankful it was winter. As absurd as it sounded the clouds in the sky was reflecting back to the ground from the town off in the distance causing everything to seem brighter outside then it normally was. If it had been a summer night, she probably never would have seen Hotch standing there.
She didn't see Tony Mitchell anywhere, and she took a risk hoping she wasn't risking herself and Hotch at the same time, she yelled down to him.
"HOTCH?"
Even from where she stood she could see him glance up at her. He then turned his head back to what he was staring at. Her speed increased as she saw the gaping hole and she then realized why Hotch wasn't moving. He wasn't more then ten feet away from where it was very apparent Mitchell had fallen in. The ice was to thin in the middle, not able to support a full grown man and his weight. She stopped for just a second, as dizziness hit her once more. The hit from Mitchell coming back to haunt her as she closed her eyes and willed herself to be okay, Hotch needed her now.
When she opened her eyes again, she only had them shut for a second, she then saw Hotch had glanced back up at her and she saw his foot move back to try and take a step back from the bleeding artery that was the hole in the ice. It was then she heard it. A sound that put fear into the very depth of her soul that made her find energy she didn't even know existed. As she tried to move as fast as her legs could muster, she knew she was going to be too late. She screamed out as she watched in horror as the ice gave away underneath Hotch and he was plunged into the cold waters right in front of her. Making it to the bottom she wondered how in the hell she was going to get him out of the frigid waters without herself falling in the process.
Aaron Hotchner had never experienced anything quite what he felt when he completely submerged under the ice and fought to come back up. He had experienced cold showers before, when Haley got mad at him, or he jumped in a pool when it was freezing not realizing his mistake until he hit the water, that was child's play compared to this. As he kicked to the surface and broke to the top he found for the second time that day he had lost his breath and he couldn't find the air to fill his lungs. It felt as though every inch of his body that had any kind of warmth was ripped brutally from him and as he tried to make it to the edge of the hole it felt like he was being stabbed in every inch of his flesh.
He wanted to scream but found his voice gone, ripped from his throat. Internally he was panicking, the longer he stayed in, the less likely he would survive. Hotch had completely forgotten about Emily and the fact she was racing towards him. All his mind could process was to get out of the water, get warm, and stop the torture that was happening to his body. What he found though, as he began trying to kick his legs to get up onto the ice, was they were tired and weak. It felt like he wasn't moving them at all, which he knew was ludicrous. What was even more distressing as he started to make it up onto the ice, it would then snap under the little bit of weight he put on it and throw him back in, and a few times he went completely under again. It wasn't until he heard Emily yell at him did he stop.
Emily slowed down taking baby steps, making sure to put her full attention to the ice. She wanted to heed its warning, make sure she didn't miss the signs and end up being in the same situation as Hotch. If that happened, neither one would make it. It took everything in her not to go running to Hotch and give him her hand, watching as he struggled to get back up on the ice. Even from where she stood she could tell his whole body was shaking all ready due to the dramatic change in temperature he had gone through and she knew he wasn't thinking about anything else but to get out.
"Don't move Hotch, conserve your energy."
He could barely move, as he glanced over and saw Emily beginning to pull her coat off. He had a thought of what she was going to do, he just hoped she could do it fast for he wasn't sure how long he could keep fighting.
As she inched closer she then gently went down on her knees feeling she was close enough. "Hotch," catching his eyes as he clung on for dear life onto the edge, "I'm going to throw you the sleeve of my coat. You're going to have to pull yourself up, okay? I can't do this by myself." She watched as he nodded his head, not speaking a single word but understanding what she had said.
She then threw the coat and laid down on her back using her legs as leverage making sure to distribute her weight so when Hotch did make it back up on the ice, there wouldn't be both of their weight on the same patch of ice. Emily watched as the arm of the coat slapped against the ice and inches away from Hotch's fingers as he desperately kicked his feet to try and inch himself closer.
Cussing inside and wanting to scream every curse word known to man Emily spun around and began crawling on the cold frozen lake. Using her forearms and her tip toes she slowly but affectively got a few inches closer and tried the same process again, throwing her coat so Hotch so he could grab onto it.
Hotch watched as the coat whacked against the cold ice, he knew this had to work. They were out of options if this failed. Emily would never have enough time to make it back to someone's place before he answered the call to the coldness that was the waters.
He felt tired, like his whole body was not his own and it was slowly begin to betray him. He wanted nothing more then to fall asleep, to just give up and shut his eyes.
"NO! Hotch open your eyes!" He could have sworn he just blinked them, but he saw the panic and worry written across her features. With renewed strength he didn't even know existed, he held onto the coat, tightening his fists around the sleeve as a security blanket.
Hotch kicked as hard as he could using the garment as a rope and began the slow process of bringing his entire body out of the treacherous waters. He never felt so tired in his life, and didn't even realize he had completely made it out before he heard Emily yelling at him again.
"Hotch….Hotch….Aaron," that was the first time she had ever called him by his first name and it got his attention immediately as he opened his eyes again and saw she had moved away. In his tired and cold mind he was rather confused as to why she was moving further from him as his entire body was wreaked with spasms. He curled in on himself trying to find body warmth that wasn't there trying to control his breathing all the while watching as Emily continued to back up.
The sound of the ice complaining from the added weight did not go unheard as Prentiss watched Hotch pull himself up onto the ice. She wanted to go over and help him up, but she could not risk it. So she came up with a plan that she hoped would work. She started to move backwards, hoping the further they got away from the middle of the lake and closer inland, the ice would be stronger to support both their weights. She knew it was going to be difficult for Hotch but neither she nor he had any other choice.
"Hotch…." No movement from him as he continued to lay there, "Hotch." Still it got no reaction from him, so Emily went on a ledge hoping it would work, "Aaron." It got the desired effect that she wanted as Hotch glanced up from where he lay with confusion in his eyes. She watched as the single movement of lifting his head up seemed to exhaust him, she knew she had to get to his side as soon as possible. Not only for physical support, but mental. She was going to have to be the one to push his body to the limits she could only pray that he could take it.
"I want you to crawl towards me Hotch, come on I know you have it in you."
At first she was worried he couldn't move or that he wouldn't and she would have to find other means to get him away from the hole in the ice. With her breath caught in her throat she watched as Hotch picked himself up slowly onto his hands and knees and a bit ungracefully made his way over to her.
"Just a little further Hotch, you can make it."
She inched back a little further each time he continued moving, keeping his head down, not wanting to see how truly far he had to go. He then collapsed and Emily was satisfied the ice was strong enough and she made her way towards Hotch. The wet clothes pressed against his body, the jet black hair matted to his skull and his lips slowly becoming blue right there in front of Emily's eyes. She knew she had to get him somewhere warm and get there fast. She placed her hand on his shoulder, starting to urge him to stand up. Glancing up to the heavens she gave a silent prayer, and it was then that she realized it was snowing softly. That meant their tracks back to the house would be covered and getting back to Tony Mitchell's house nearly impossible.
The hand on his shoulder urging for him to sit up was the first indication that Hotch wasn't going to be allowed to lay there for long. Without even opening his eyes, with her help, he sat up trying desperately not to lean all the way over and curl back up into a ball. He didn't want to move though, he was just so cold and his whole body ached from it. Crossing his arms he looked over to Mitchell's last known location.
"Whuuut….bout….him?" Finding talking was very hard to do and his tongue weighed like twenty pounds while his teeth chattered at the same time. He was actually rather surprised Emily knew what he was even talking about.
Glancing over her shoulder Emily looked over where Mitchell had fallen in starting off the chain reaction in the first place and looking back at her boss. "Leave him, he's not going anywhere."
Hotch could feel a small smile reach his cold lips and as serious as the situation as it was, it was nice to find some kind of humor in the whole thing no matter how bad the joke was.
"Come on, we have to get you warm."
When he heard those words cross Emily's lips he knew he was going to hate this. Everything in him wanted him to quit, to give in, to answer to the darkness reaching with dark claws at the corners of his consciousness. Hotch knew though, he could not give into such a call that he had to fight it with every ounce of strength he had. Counting down from three he stood up. Though hunched over, with arms wrapped around his body, he began putting one foot in front of the other with Emily right beside him. Hotch felt her grab onto his one arm and swing it over her shoulder, trying to take some of his weight and give him some kind of moral support.
He didn't want to look ahead just like when he was trying to crawl towards Emily. 'Wait,' he realized, 'when did Prentiss become Emily?' Hotch then put it aside as some kind of nonsense as he tried to concentrate on anything that would make him continue walking.
It did not go unnoticed to Aaron when he felt Emily come to a stop next to him. His eyesight had been locked to the ground, only watching as each foot would step forward then other and so forth. It wasn't until he began seeing grass and tree branches frozen in place, did he realize why Emily had come to a stop. Letting his eyes move up did he realize they were back at the hill, no to him it was a cliff. He couldn't do this. There was no way his body was going to be able to get up this without bringing Emily down in the process as well.
It wasn't up to him though for Emily had all ready made up her mind and was determined, she began moving forward with Hotch following. It wasn't to long and Hotch felt his entire body scream in protest at the excursion he was asking of his body. Few steps and his footing coming out from under him and all he saw was snow. He couldn't move he was just too cold to try and get back up and continue.
Emily knew the unit chief was struggling, but when he lost his footing and brought both of them crashing to the ground she knew the little time she had left to get him somewhere warm was quickly dwindling. Throwing his arm off of her she was worried he had collapsed because of losing consciousness but when his head finally came up to get some air from the snow in his face she knew they still had time. Standing back up she placed her hand out in front of his line of sight.
"Come on, we can do this together. I'm not leaving you."
He knew better than to arguer with her in a situation like this, just like if the situation was reversed. Only he could carry her, she couldn't do the same for him. Grabbing her hand he brought himself up slowly. Few steps forward and Hotch was back on his knees again not being able to climb normally. So Hotch and Emily resorted to using their hands and knees to climb back up the hill, and though it was a slow process it was better then stopping.
It felt like hours making it finally back to the top of the hill but as a team they made it back up. Hotch's quick breaths seem to rip through the quiet night as he took each step moving slowly beside Emily. It wasn't until half way through the forest that Emily noticed Hotch's stumbling had become even worse.
"Where almost there, just keep going Hotch." She wasn't sure if that was more for him or for herself. To try and stay motivated. She wasn't even sure how many times she kept telling him that, it seemed like every other minute she was repeating herself. Her greatest fear was to get him this far and for him to give up. Joy ripped through her when she realized the trees where becoming thinner and she could see the house from where they were. They were fifty feet from Tony Mitchell's place when Hotch suddenly stopped and crashed to his knees. 'No, no, no no.' Emily's mind panicked. They did not endure so much only to stop right there.
"Get back up Hotch do you see it, we're here."
Emily glanced at the place that would be their salvation and back at Hotch. They were so close and he was quitting. He had nothing else to give and she was asking him to provide more. Closing her eyes she tried to think what she could do or say and nothing was coming to mind.
"Haley,….so….sorry." His teeth clattering barely able to get out three words without trouble.
Her eyes casted downward towards Hotch and knew from the exposure to hypothermia his mind was now playing tricks on him. She had to get him up, get him moving and she prayed to God he wouldn't be mad at her if he remembered this. Leaning down so her lips where to his ear, she spoke softly.
"You should be sorry, you're quitting. What would our son say? You're the most stubborn man I know, now," grabbing his jacket as though he was a perp, "get your ass up, AND MOVE!"
Emily got an immediate response from her boss who stood back up onto his feet, and began moving forward. It was only a minute after that did they come crashing into Mitchell's house the door slamming against the wall and bouncing back into them as Hotch took four steps into the house and then promptly collapsed bringing Emily down with him as his body hit the floor with a thud. It took some maneuvering but Emily was able to get out from under Hotch's arm and turn him over. She could see how violently he was shaking and his hitched breathing as he tried to suck in air seemed to have grown louder. Checking his pulse he found his heart beating faster then normal and Emily's mind began screaming. He was going into the early stages of severe hypothermia if he wasn't already there. Knowing he wasn't going anywhere, she quickly ran over to the door, shut it, turning the lights on and began to try and think what she could use to warm him up.
Like a bolt of lighting it came to her from out of know where, 'Sleeping bag!' Then an almost comical fashion Emily began racing around the house looking for the elusive sleeping bag, hoping the late Tony Mitchell liked to go camping. Not finding anything upstairs or downstairs she found the basement and quickly raced down the old steps, turning the light on. Her eyes scanned rapidly, moving back and forth and to her disappointment she didn't see what she was looking for, until she began making her way back up did she spot camping gear.
She came back down the stairs swiftly went over to the discarded junk and started turning stuff over until she found a blue sleeping bag that was tightly rolled up. "Perfect!." She said out loud. She then ran back up the stairs and into the living room. She undid the sleeping bag and rolled it out and then knew what she had to do next.
One of the key things they teach you in any kind of survival class, even watching a movie, you would know body heat was the greatest weapon to combat against hypothermia. Prentiss, without hesitation, began to undress Hotch, getting his shoes off rather quickly and then his socks. The jeans where harder to get off and it took some struggling to peel them off his wet body. The shirts were not as hard, but with Hotch's complete dead weight, the task was not the simplest she had ever done. It also did not help that as she continued to work on him, she felt her own fingers going numb after having touched the cold wet clothes. She stood up and glanced down at him.
The only thing preventing Hotch being completely naked was the cold wet white briefs still stuck to his body. She then had a great idea. Racing back up to the master bedroom she quickly found some boxer shorts that belonged to Tony Mitchell.
It only took a few seconds to switch the dry boxers out with the wet briefs and when she was proud of her work she rolled Hotch into the sleeping bag, she then began zipping him up and left it partially open. Proud of her handy work she then realized what had to come next. With a soft intake of breath and then letting it out slowly she began quickly undressing herself. Throwing her shoes off, then her pants, then her three layers of shirts and sweatshirt, she climbed into the sleeping bag with her boss, Aaron Hotchner.
She kept her underwear on along with her socks, to make her feel a little more comfortable cozying up to the Unit Chief. She reached over and zipped the bag up as far as she could reach and then she snaked her body around Hotch's cold frame. She could not believe how unbelievably cold his body was and as she laid there next to him she wondered if it was possible for her to get hypothermia herself. She knew it sounded ludicrous but her mind was trying to think of anything else to think about and not think she was snuggling up to Hotch.
'It was purely to save Hotch and nothing more.' Emily thinking to herself letting her eyes wonder around the living room. She knew though, if someone would have told her a few days ago she would be half naked lying next to her half naked boss she would have laughed right in their face and maybe even consider having them committed. Though she would never admit to anyone but herself, she did have a crush on the stoic Unit Chief. It felt like one of those girl crushes you get on your teacher, you know you can't have them but it was fun to dream…..to imagine. Emily Prentiss kept looking around the room trying to get her mind off of it, for fear of where her mind would wander.
Closing her eyes, she realized the headache she had been fighting had come back in full swing and she wondered when the team would realize they had been gone longer then usual. Opening her eyes again she looked to the window and saw the snow was coming down even harder then before, and the uneasiness settled into her stomach. It was possible they might be trapped there for the evening, depending on how bad the snow storm got.
The feeling of Hotch's chest moving up and down brought a comfort to Emily she didn't know she was missing until she had someone she was holding. She didn't even realize she had dozed off lying next to the very still Hotch until her body jolted awake suddenly.
When she had awoke she found two things had changed. Hotch's body had warmed up a great deal, and was not cold to the touch. Though it wasn't where it should be, it was better then before. The second, was somewhere in the sleep pattern Hotch had moved and found a way to spoon her. His arms where wrapped around her waist and she could feel his feet where entangled into hers. She could only imagine the looks on the faces of the team if they came waltzing in on them. The gossip would never end. But quite frankly if it saved Hotch's life, she would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Not to mention was this Aaron doing it knowing who was beside him, or doing it subconsciously believing it to still be Haley.
Deep down though she knew it wasn't those two things that had awakened her. She started glancing around the house, feeling something was off, something wasn't right. Taught to go off these instincts she began to move out from Hotch's grasp, when the hair on her neck stood straight up, for she heard a creek in a floor board behind them. Being on her side, and her back to the noise she had to do some changing of position and hoped she didn't wake Hotch in the process.
Emily Prentiss's heart leaped into her throat for standing over them was a man, who had a grin that sent chills up and down her very spine. She had seen similar smiles on those they fought and put away. It was a smile a predator makes before he attacks his prey, and Emily knew the man standing before her was the true unsub. Her eyes scanned over to the weapon that was laying a few feet away from them and even if she tried she would never get to it in time.
"Mitchell didn't tell me we were having guests, I'm so delighted to have you here."
She never had a chance to even try to reach for her weapon before the man brought his foot down and Emily Prentiss was thrown into the dark world of unconsciousness.
TBC…
Sorry for the cliffhanger and poor Emily just can't catch a break when it comes to her head. Poor thing, surprised she hasn't had some serious brain injuries to the result of being hit in the head so many times. Hoped you liked the chapter!