Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods.

Samuel P. Huntington

*~*

Three weeks later,

Hotch was preparing for the day's work when he saw Emily come into the bullpen. It was her first day back and he already knew they'd have a case. JJ had told him about it the evening before. It would be a dozy. He was half tempted to request she stay behind with Garcia but that wouldn't go over well. Just a week ago she had tried to convince him to let her come back early, but she was still in crutches.

"So?" She had argued. "You let Reid."

"Reid had been shot. That's a much longer healing time then an ankle. My final answer is no. Take it easy and come back next week."

"I'm not saying let me go out in the field. Just let me do paperwork...or something. I'm going out of my mind with boredom." She pleaded.

Hotch wavered for a moment. Putting her on desk duty wasn't going to hurt her. But then, what if Strauss came around and started questioning her. A re-assignment was still possible. He had overheard the Unit Chief of that particular team complain to his buddies about her injury, which seemed to be so sudden and convenient. Almost pre-emptive. If Strauss starting hunting around while he was gone and he couldn't stop it; he'd never forgive himself. His team was supposed to stay intact. Ever since he refused early retirement she seemed even more out to get him.

"I'm sorry Emily. But my answer is still no. I thought your mother was visiting you. In from, where was it? Moscow?"

"Ha. Yeah. Thank you for that by the way. Just what I needed, my mother." She huffed, eyes narrowing at him. For a moment he thought she knew. Then that look passed and everything continued normally.

It's just your imagination. She's doesn't remember anything.

Hotch hoped it was true. So far, she gave no indication she remembered their...moment. Mistake. Same thing. She had told him she definitely remembered falling, waking him and him being there. But after the hospital was 'all blurry and it's really annoying because, I dunno, I feel like I'm missing something and I don't like it.'

Their conversations for the past three weeks had been limited, purposely by Hotch. He didn't want to be around too much, in case it jogged her memory. He had visited twice, both in the accompaniment of David Rossi or with his son. The team had been good with making sure she was alright. Garcia stayed with her the first few nights, taken over by Morgan until she could climb stairs. At least one team member checked in every evening. Another reason why the team had to stay intact. They worked the best together. That's why they were the best.

Bringing himself back to the present, he watched her amble through. She was greeted by Reid and Morgan, hugged by all. Then she came up the stairs and knocked on his office. He cleared his throat roughly, straightening his back and said, "Come in."

"Hey." She said hands up showing him she was without crutches. He just gave her a look.

"Good to see you back Prentiss," He used her last name as if to distance himself from her. It was bad enough he had begun to think about 'Emily' outside of work. In the car; in the elevator, before going to bed....

"It's good to be back. Ready to jump right in." She grinned.

"How's the ankle?" He asked. He noticed a little limp as she was walking.

"Fine. I went to the doctor last week and he gave me a brace to wear in case it starts to get sore. I'm cleared to work." Emily added.

Hotch stiffened but tried to hide it. Had the doctor told her she should have only been out a week? That was the problem with lying. You had to spend copious amounts of time covering it up and worrying about being found out. The truth was easier. But he had no choice but to lie to keep her safe. If she ever found out, and he hoped she didn't, she would at least be able to see his side of things.

"...And Strauss said..." Hotch was to wrapped in his own thoughts and didn't catch what Emily had just said.

"What? What did Strauss say?" He interjected. Had Strauss circumvented him?

"I was saying that she wanted me in her office this afternoon." Emily said, her features narrowing. She knew Hotch hadn't been listening.

"We have a case. We'll be leaving in an hour." That wasn't true either, the briefing wasn't until an hour and then it depended on how long it took to get ready. He didn't share this information with her.

"Oh. Well, I'll email her now then." She said. Hotch was now thinking of moving the briefing up early. JJ might not be ready though.

You're the boss. A voice reminded him.

"I need to finish this report. Please tell the team briefing in a half hour." He dismissed her and dialled JJ. His media liaison impressed him by telling him she was ready when he was.

*~*

"Phoenix, Arizona has had three murders in the last two days. Two were women in their late thirties, one man in his late forties. They all appeared to be drugged and drowned. All the bodies were found along highway 60, deep into the desert. Local police can't track this unsub. They have no idea how he's getting in or out without leaving tire tracks, footprints. Nothing." JJ recited.

"Who are the victims?" questioned Hotch.

"The victims haven't been identified yet. Some of them have been attacked by wild animals preying on food. They think one of them is Candace Berson, and the man might be James Daren. There have also been 4 reported missing people in the last 24 hours."

"Phoenix has had an 18% decrease in the amount of crime just since November 2009. Car thefts and murder had drastically declined in the last five years and missing persons is average around 2 daily. Four people going missing on the same day would be rare, but not improbable." Reid added.

"When did the last victim die?" Morgan asked.

"Victim number 3, possible James Daren died 12 hours ago. Second victim, died a little over 24 hours ago and victim number one, almost 48 hours ago. Also there was no sexual assault on any of them."

"So roughly a 12 hour turn over. Sounds like a disorganized devolving killer to me." Rossi said.

"It says here there is no DNA or anything left on the victims. That speaks organized."

"Alright, an organized devolving killer." Rossi quipped.

"JJ is there anymore information?" Hotch asked.

"Phoenix is still sending me more as they get it."

"Okay. Wheels up in 20 minutes. I know it's not a lot of time but we have 12 hours until he should kill again."

*~*

On the plane, Hotch divided them up into smaller teams.

"Reid, you and JJ head to the precinct to set up. Reid, start on a geographical profile with whatever you can get. JJ, as soon as the victims are identified, get it to Garcia so she can trace back three days. Morgan, Dave you check out the latest crime scene and the second. Prentiss and I will go to the first and then meet Reid and JJ back to the precinct to go over victimology." They all nodded and got down to business.

*~*

I shouldn't have brought her, Hotch thought to himself. The Phoenix heat was almost unbearable in his black suit. It was well over 100 degree Fahrenheit, and he could feel himself sweat just walking out of the airport to the car. Great job on wardrobe choice, he berated himself. Why did he choose black all the time? Emily had the right idea and wore a white blouse with three quarter inch sleeves, with beige slacks. He noticed she hadn't been wearing it this morning. He hoped the heat wouldn't make her feel sick like he felt.

"What?" She asked, pulling her hair up into a neat ponytail. He had been staring to long.

"It's hot." He said lamely.

"Ick, god I know. How do people live here?" Her voice dropped so she wouldn't offend the official who was walking up.

"Hi y'all. I'm Deputy Steedler. I'm driving you folks out to the crime scene." They all shook hands.

"SSA Hotchner and SSA Prentiss." Hotch introduced. He wanted into the SUV, where there was sure to be air conditioning. He guessed wrong.

"Sorry folks, but our AC has been busted and most of the working cars are already out on the road. I hope you don't mind."

Hotch had to stop himself from groaning. "Not at all." Emily answered for him. He got into the passenger seat and Emily got into the back. His shoes were already dusty. Emily offered him a water bottle, which he gratefully took. He hated Phoenix already.

Emily's cellphone rang. "It's JJ." She said and put it on loud speaker.

"Two out of the three victims have been identified. James Daren was the male but Berson turned herself in this morning. The second victim had been identified as Rosa Huanca and one of the missing persons this morning was found by family members. There are still three missing."

"Tell Morgan and Rossi after visiting the crime scenes to go to the morgue."

"Oh yes, the coroner sent me the autopsy files. All victims were drowned but no signs of defence or strangulation. No signs of struggle."

"We'll they were drugged weren't they?" Emily put in.

"Yes, but not to the point of paralysis."

"Anything else JJ?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, the coroner added that James Daren had a slight blow to the head."

"Slight?"

"Yeah, not a whole lot of force was used. Like a tap with a bat."

Hotch made a mental note to go over those files immediately when they got back. JJ had forwarded the reports to his phone but they were almost at the crime scene.

The sun was beating down on them when they got out of the SUV. Hotch decided to take off his suit jacket in favour of a blue shirt. "It's about a 100 yards in." The deputy said. Christ, Hotch thought.

"Can you drive any further?"

"Nope. Not with that piece of crap. Got stuck yesterday. It's mostly surrounded by shrubbery and then about 20 yards in turns to just desert. Damn dry dense desert." They started to move forward.

This time Hotch's cellphone rang. "Hey Hotch, it's me Morgan. We're lost out here. Not even this detective can find the crime scene."

"Deputy?" Hotch asked. They could not waste time on this. It was already mid afternoon. Time was running out.

"I'll head back. It's not far. Course the second and third crime scenes are more hidden. Guy must gotten better at hidin' them. Just keep heading straight. You can't miss it." The Deputy left them to go on.

"Lovely." Emily said sarcastically.

"Come on." They walked farther. Hotch rolled up his sleeves so he could wipe his forehead with his forearm and not his shirt. From the distance of 30 yards he could see the outline of tape.

"The bodies weren't buried, correct?"

"Correct." Emily answered, slipping on some gloves. She took a sip of water. Hotch regretted not saving some from his water bottle.

"Drink?" Emily offered after seeing his longing look. He nodded and took it.

Her lips had just touched this...Hotch nearly choked at that thoughts. He wasn't supposed to be thinking of Emily in that way.

"Okay?" Emily asked. Hotch just nodded.

They reached the edge of the tape. He could barely see the highway from here. He kicked some ground with his foot as he bent down to examine the area where the body lay. Emily was over on the other side.

That's when he heard a crack.

Emily looked up. "What was that?" She asked confused. Hotch didn't know but he started to get the feeling something bad was about to happen.

The ground beneath his feet shifted. Emily was walking over towards him. He should not have brought her here. The ground shifted again and cracked louder, Emily quickly rushed towards him, trying to grab his arm and pull him away while he tried to push or even throw Emily to safety.

The desert ground underneath them crumbled into one big hole and then—

*~*

Short chapter I know (espeically with a cliff hanger) but I hope you liked it. I'm not a big case-writer so i hope it was followable. I wasn't sure where I was going with this (as I had not previously had a plot line further then the last chapter) but now I have a pretty good idea. Please let me know if you liked it!

Also, I wanted a vote: Should Hotch and Emily try a relationship between or not? You never know what might happen ;)

Until Next time,

~Lemony~