Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, or anything associated with the show.

The nightmare had left her exhausted. She had managed to cover the dark circles left under her eyes with concealer this morning, but there was only so much concealer you could put on before it looked more like war paint.

Going against his gut, Hotch dropped Emily off in the parking lot outside her flat and told her to get some sleep. His eyes searched her face for any hesitance; any nervousness in her countenance. He knew something wasn't right, but he had no proof. He wanted to help her, but he had no proof. As a man, and an agent he had never felt as powerless as he felt now. But, Emily had only smiled and told them that they too needed to get some rest.

As they drove off, Emily cursed as she realised she had told Hotch to drop her off at her apartment and not his house. She was supposed to cook for him tonight; he had told her so on the plane. Emily rummaged around in her bag for her phone in a blind panic as she pulled it out she found, to her dismay, three voicemails waiting to be checked. She was torn between the need to sleep and the need to check the messages, but she knew that in the end if she didn't do the latter, she wouldn't get the former.

With a slight shake in her hand that hadn't been there before she held the phone up to her ear.

"Emily, where is my dinner?"

The first message was only brief, but she knew there was worse to come.

"Emily, Emily, Emily. I have told you repeatedly to not disobey me. Now we both know what happens when you do. I'll be waiting."

The second message sent shivers down her spine. The last time she had disobeyed him was a few days ago when her skin was still tender from the knife he had used to cut into her skin.

"Emily..."

She had to bite her fist to stop herself from whimpering. Prentiss' didn't whimper. She would have preferred a message detailing what he was going to do with her because not knowing was worse, the silence was worse. One time he had locked her in a cupboard for days with only the bare minimal needed in order to survive. She had had to wear baggy clothes for weeks to hid the fact that underneath her clothes was little more than skin and bones.

A new message had come through; one that she automatically recognised, it was the standard message to get their buts back to Quantico for a new case. She snapped to phone shut and headed over to her car.

Emily decided not to go back to him just yet, they had a case, and she needed time to heal from the last beating, even if it was only a few hours.

The rest of the team arrived back at Quantico, only to be pulled in for another case. Normally if another case presented itself they all went home to sleep and to re-pack their bags, but time was of the essence in this case, and they all knew it. So 10pm found them sitting round the conference table with case files in front of them. Hotch had told JJ not to call in Emily, she needed the rest and truthfully, he didn't know how her behaviour was going to go down with Strauss.

"I know you guys have just come back, but..."

Hotch took over, when JJ trailed off, the previous case had been hard on her. Hell, it had been hard on all of them. He glanced at each of his team members and he could see the strain on each of their faces. Normally they could do back to back cases, but this time they wouldn't have Emily and Emily was the driving force behind them. She was their mother, their sister, their confident, and their friend all in one tiny person.

"...we have another case."

"No shit, Sherlock!"

The team looked shocked at Morgan's outburst. It wasn't often that his temper got the best of him, and like Hotch all the team knew that if Morgan didn't get whatever he wanted to get out of his system they were all in trouble.

"Morgan." Hotch's tone was stricter than any of them had heard in a long time, and as such the team knew not to interrupt the battle going on between the two men.

"No, Hotch. I want the truth; do you know what's going on with her?"

"Morgan now isn't the best time for this."

"Really Hotch? Well then, when is the best time? When she comes to work with a broken nose, or when you get a notice for a new employee?"

The statement bordered on grounds for suspension, but under the circumstances he figured that he could let it slide.

Hotch looked at his team, he really looked at his team.

Spencer looked lost, that was the only term that seemed to fit with his current facial expression. All the team knew that after his abduction he had leant on Emily more than Jason; she had become his best friend, his confident and Hotch was sure that he looked at her as a mother figure.

JJ had an expression that bordered between angry and upset. The team knew that it wasn't wise to keep something team related from her, JJ was the glue that kept them all together and if she didn't know something, she couldn't help, and if she couldn't help, members of the team fell out. Hotch also knew that JJ and Emily were as thick as thieves.

Garcia looked like a wounded puppy; she obviously had caught on to what the two men were on about and Hotch felt sorry for her, she had seen so much horror, had dealt with things even he had never touched upon, and yet she still brought a smile to his lips. After she had been shot Emily had stepped in where Morgan couldn't, she had provide the support and gave back Garcia the courage to be herself again.

Rossi was silent and Hotch couldn't fathom what was going on behind his cool exterior. He knew that Dave often confided in the younger agent but to what extent he didn't know, he also didn't know if that confidence went both ways.

And then there was Morgan. Morgan looked pissed off. That was the only way he could describe it. He had relied on Emily when Garcia was shot, he had doubted himself for the first time; he was worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of Penelope and that he would let her down. Emily had reassured him every step of the way.

They all needed Emily. They all relied heavily on her, and even if they didn't realise it she was the missing piece of the puzzle. She was family, and family didn't keep thing from each other.

Hotch and Morgan both knew why Emily had snapped at the unsub, but they didn't reveal to her that they knew. During her sleep in the car she had called out for someone to help her, they both were helpless as they both knew that Prentiss would not accept help from anyone even in sleep Prentiss would be horrified at the thought of appearing weak she wouldn't ask for help, Emily might have, but not Prentiss. They also knew that they couldn't force Emily to tell them what was wrong. She would tell them when she was ready, but at the same time they both knew that she would never be ready to admit what was happening to her wasn't normal, and that something had to be done.

"Morgan, my office. Now."

"No."

Hotch looked ready to murder someone. The team could see a battle of wills taking place, they didn't know who would win, but they did know that the worst was yet to come.

"Morgan."

"Hotch. Are you going to tell them or am I?"

"Morgan, I won't tell you again."

His tone of voice carried the promise of a confrontation if Morgan kept pursing the topic of Emily.

"Tell them what?"

All the team looked around, and in the doorway stood Special Agent Emily Prentiss.