She could feel his eyes on her as she leaned back against the cool leather of the couch. He'd been watching her all night. Looking up, she met his dark eyes briefly before he looked away, feigning interested in JJ's conversation with Morgan. They all sat in Emily's living room, with the exception of Rossi who was putting away the last of the dishes from dinner. He'd made them Bucatini all-Amatriciana, constantly remarking at Emily's lack of cooking utensils and ingredients. What could she say? She lived on takeout.

"Aaron?" Emily whispered his name, aware that the rest of her team was engaged in other conversation. His head snapped up immediately at the utterance of his name. Crossing the room in only a few steps, the older man knelt beside the brunette, his eyes searching her face. She could read the concern in his face and offered him a small smile of reassurance. She hadn't had a chance to speak to him about the other night, and she could tell he was uneasy.

"Are you staying with me tonight?" As she spoke, her eyes jumped between her team members, making sure she wasn't overheard. Her supervisor shook his head, still searching the brunette agent's face for any sign of grief.

"No, I think Reid's staying with you tonight. That's what was decided. I have an early appointment tomorrow so I'd have to leave you by 6. Is that okay? I could try to find someone to take over for me then if that would make you feel better?" He frowned, running a hand through his dark hair.

"No, that's fine." Smiling reassuringly, Emily suppressed a yawn.

"Why? Is everything okay? Are you hurting?" His concern was clear in his voice, his forehead creasing in confusion.

"Everything's fine. I'm just a little tired." Suppressing a yawn, Emily ran a hand through her silky black hair.

"I can still help you, Emily."

"No, it's alright. I think I'm just going to go upstairs and lie down... I don't want to disturb anyone." Carefully bracing herself against the arm of the couch with her good arm, Emily pushed herself up slowly. Aaron's hands found her hips and helped steady her as he eyed her uneasily. Looking up, Emily suddenly noticed her entire team had fallen silent and was staring at her and Hotch.

"H-hi?" Blushing, Emily pushed Hotch's hands away from where they lingered. Realizing he was being watched, Aaron backed away from Emily, returning to his previous perch.

"Where are you going?" Spencer spoke first, his voice quiet - careful.

"I uhm... I was going to go upstairs and lie down. I didn't want to disturb anyone." Emily forced herself to smile, still slightly irritated from earlier.

"It's getting late anyway. We should probably leave you to rest." JJ smiled and looked between the other adults in the room, all of whom nodded in agreement, looking around for their belongings.

"No, it's alright. I can stay down." Unable to suppress it, Emily yawned and wrapped her good arm around herself. Everyone laughed, but began to shrug their coats on.

"I'll see you soon, my raven-haired beauty. Feel better." Penelope came forward, wrapping her arms around Emily a little too tightly, causing the brunette's breathing to hitch.

"You gotta share her, babygirl." Seeing Emily's discomfort, Derek intervened, waiting for Garcia to let go before carefully wrapping one arm around his partner, "Be good, Princess."

"Take care, Bella." Taking her hand in his, Rossi squeezed her hand softly. Emily stepped forward, wrapping her good arm around the older man's neck:

"Grazie. Dal momento che siamo tutti abbracci, tu ed io potrebbe pure."

"I hate when you two do that." Whining, Garcia looped her arm through Morgan's and followed him to the door. With a laugh, David followed them out after giving Emily a final reassuring smile.

"I'll check on you tomorrow." Offering a rare smile, Hotch stroked her bicep gently before moving out the door.

JJ was the last to go, pulling her brunette friend into a warm hug:

"Go easy on him, Emily."

Emily nodded and stood awkwardly, watching her best friend go, closing the door behind her. She was highly aware of Spencer, standing a few feet away, staring at her. Without a word, the injured agent turned and slowly made her way to the stairs.

"E-Emily!" Running after her, Spencer caught her elbow. "JJ said not to let you walk up the stairs... It'll stress your injuries farther."

"Spencer..." She turned to face him and saw the determination on his face. She was too tired to argue. "Fine. Whatever."

She set her jaw and wrapped her good arm around Spencer's neck, letting the lanky man lift her off the ground and cradle her against his chest, one arm around her back and the other behind her knees. He was stronger than he looked, carrying her easily. But he didn't put her down at the top of the stairs. He carried her farther, into her bedroom and to her bed, where he let her rest against the mattress.

"Can I have some privacy? I need to change." Emily spoke quietly, her teeth biting at her bottom lip.

"Uh huh." And with that the young genius disappeared, shutting Emily's bedroom door behind her.


Emily sat on the edge of her bed in a pair of boxer shorts and a black sports bra. She'd managed to unwrap the bandage from her stomach, but she'd fumbled around for a few minutes, unable to clean the wound or rewrap it. She groaned, laying back on the bed.

"Spencer?" She yelled her caretaker's name, forcing herself to sit back up. This was degrading. She hated this. She heard his steps as he ran up the stairs before he opened the door to her bedroom. Seeing her without her usual level of clothing startled him, and she blushed when he stared at her pale body.

"Can you help me?" She cleared her throat and gestured to her uncovered injury.

"O-oh, uh... yeah." His blush amused her as he looked away and came to crouch in front of her. He pressed the damp rag around her injury carefully, looking up at her sadly.

"What?" Her tone was harsher than she'd meant for it to be and the man quickly looked away from her. Dammit. Sighing quietly, Emily tried again, her tone softer this time, "What're you thinking?"

"I'm trying to think of something to say to make you laugh. Typically laughter relieves anger." He paused his motions, looking up at the brunette, "I'm sorry for earlier."

"It's... it's alright, Spencer." Sighing, Emily laid her hand on the genius' shoulder and offered him a small smile, "You're a profiler. It's not the worst thing in the world that you profiled me. Just... it's never a good idea to try to diagnose someone with PTSD, Spencer."

"I know. I just..." He shook his head and carefully rewrapped her stomach before moving to sit beside his friend. He shook his head and slumped forward, holding it in his hands, "I want to be there for you but you never talk to me."

"Oh." Nodding slowly, Emily looked at the man beside her sadly.

"I wanted to be the one you confided in. But I was childish and moody. I made you work harder and gave you more to worry about." His voice sounded so small it broke Emily's heart.

"Spence..." Sighing, Emily made a decision she was sure she'd regret later, "You want to be the one I confide in?"

He nodded, looking up at her, confused.

"Then let's talk."