Hey guys , thank you so much for the reviews. Particularly JiiMinds. I really appreciate them and hope you'll continue reading. There's a little less crime a little more team this chapter , so I hope you enjoy.

Mohandas. K Gandhi once said "There would be no one to frighten you if you refused to be afraid"

Its late. I'm still at the office. I'd made a mental promise to myself for sake of my sanity to be out by 9.30pm. As the clock ticks closer to 11.00 , I know I must call it a night. I need sleep and cannot function without sleep , but I'd made a vow to keep hunting him when I could. Wherever he is , whatever he was doing , I will find him so he can not harm another human being. It's only at this time , I am momentarily happy to be divorced so I do not spread the widespread fear onto Hayley and Jack like some lethal virus. It is moments like these that I can combat the shadowy malevolence with my own two hands.

But that doesn't erase the fact I am still the Chief of the BAU , and responsible for leading the team to catch this monster. And if I'm not functioning properly , it won't happen. I let out a sigh and take the empty coffee mug to the sink and gently rinse it out. Returning to the desk , I grab my bag , keys and make my way towards my car. I turn the radio up loud to keep myself awake. It is only a five minute drive , but when your in a fatigue induced trance , awareness of time is lost and I feel like I'm driving in circles.

As I pull into the carpark and make my way up to the room , I'm pretty sure my colleagues will be asleep. I passed Morgan's room and there was no sign of any conscious human. That was the same with Dave's and Reid's. I'm assuming they wanted to get a proper night's rest before briefing the media and police tomorrow. As I walked past JJ's room , I could hear the murmur of voice. I assumed she was making a long phone call to Will. I remember the constant yearning to embraced by the one you loved , to hear the serene melody of their voice was soothing to the monster of grief within yourself. Though JJ's disposition was completely different to mine , I can empathize with wanting to be with the one you loved. Or at least I could , if the woman I had loved could stand to talk to me.

Prentiss' room was the room before mine. There was a small light spilling from underneath the door. Whilst my mind was on the topic of agents not being at the top of their game , Prentiss had definitely been acting in a peculiar manner since we'd come to Boston. Her skin was looking sallow and her eyes weren't as sharp as usual. When I'd tried to apologize to her before , it was like I was torturing her. The pained expression on her face was almost unbearable. If she was not my subordinate I would've embraced and tried to show that I don't dislike or hate her. I wanted to know , why whenever she looked at me , she exhibited distress and fear. Surely I'm not that much of a prick I thought to myself. I'll talk to her about it , then maybe it will give her some peace knowing that giving her peace was not my entire prerogative. I walked up to the door , ready to knock when I heard the gentle sound of sobs. Prentiss was crying? Not that I assumed she was immune to human emotions but she was strong , controlled and often wisecracking at the best of times. This was not the Prentiss I was used to. I stared at the door. I stared for what would've been a good five minutes, intrinsically debating whether to disturb her. I gently raised my arm ready to knock. It's okay Hotch , your just seeing how she is , nothing against protocol I tried to soberly tell myself. I wanted to knock more than anything but I couldn't. I could face monsters like Foyet but I could not comfort one of my agents when they were in emotional turmoil. Where was the use in that? I hovered for about five more minutes until the light that had been lingering in the doorway flickered off. I stood my ground. Prentiss knew someone was there , she was well trained. She wouldn't be on the team if she couldn't sense my presence at the door.

"Is anyone there?" she called out. I was waiting for her to open the door. I was too afraid to response. Afraid of her questions , afraid of her possible frightened reaction. I waited until I heard the footsteps walk away from the door. Then I too , moved from my position and walked to my room and prepared myself for bed. I was sure I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow. My sleep was blissful and only woken to by the screams next morning.

I got up with a start and ran to the door and opened it in my pyjammas. JJ , Morgan and Rossi were at the door already. "How long has she been screaming for?" I asked. "She's been going for fifteen minutes , I'm surprised you didn't wake up sooner" said JJ.

"Where's Reid?"

"He went down to the reception to see if there was a spare key , he said barging in on her in the middle of a night terror would just give her to much of a fright" Morgan replied.

"Would there be anyone down there at this time?"

"Unlikely at 5.30. And he's been gone 10 minutes" mumbled Rossi. The team were obviously tired but they would refuse to leave until they knew Prentiss was okay.

"That's it I'm going in"

"Hotch you'll scare the crap out of her if she wakes up" Morgan replied

"And what's happening now? The sooner someone wakes her up the better" I answered back harshly. I kicked the door with full force and was surprised to see Emily thrashing the blanket on the couch. I ran to couch and grabbed her shoulders shaking her to wake her up. Her eyes were blood shot and filled with shear terror and she was gasping to breathe. "Emily its okay its me , its Hotch , I'm here , shh it's okay , it's not real" I tried to soothe as I embraced her and rubbed her back. She was still gasping for air as she hung on to me , crying. The others ran in and stopped at the couch to stare at us. JJ knelt down by my side and took her hand and began rubbing. " Emily , sweetie , it's okay you'll be okay" she soothed.

I arose now that JJ was there for female emotional support. The others looked shocked. JJ pulled in Emily to an embrace and looked over her shoulders at the others "It's okay she can sleep on the fold out in my room , I've got her".

As the other guys left in an orderly fashion , Emily who had regained some composure let out a tiny whimper. "Thank you Hotch". She was shaking and she didn't look at me. I looked down at her with sympathetic eyes. "Emily , I want you to take the morning off tomorrow to relax and regain some sleep. If this continues to happen , I'm going to have to send you home. Report for duty before the briefing tomorrow at 3.00 , is that understood?"

Emily gave a defeated nod and followed JJ out of the room and into JJ's. I stood there alone in the darkness wondering what demons had possessed Emily.

At 2.50 the next day Emily strode into the office trying to look stoic and brave.

"How are you feeling Em?" asked Derek kindly , putting his arm around her.

"I'm fine thanks Derek. Listen , thanks so much for last night guys , I'm just having these horrible nightmares lately and I don't know why. But I'll pencil in the time to see someone when I get back" she said clearly gracious for all that had happened last night.

"Well that's what we like to hear." Announced Rossi patting her on the back , "Listen Emily , before we go to this party tonight , I'll take you to dinner. My treat"

"Oh gees , Dave you don't have to do that" began Emily.

"No no I insist" Dave pushed. Emily smiled an appreciative smile at him. I knew Dave's intentions were purely altruistic , to try and take Emily's mind off the case. But I should be the one taking her to dinner and trying to comfort her. I was the on who twice woke her from her nightmare. I have been the only one to have seen the shear terror in her eyes.

Jealous are you Aaron? Asked the snide voice in my head. NO! I thought. My intentions for Emily were completely platonic and for interest of the team. The team couldn't function without her. I couldn't function without her.

What do you all think? The next chapter will hopefully be quite action packed. So stay tuned:)

Cheers

Love & Light

Em