Hotch was lying in his bed, trying unsuccessfully to get some sleep. Instead, all he was doing was tossing and turning, and thinking...Thinking about Emily, and about what he had probably done to their friendship. He knew he couldn't deny his feelings any more, but now he didn't even have the chance to keep them hidden. How was he going to deal with this? He respected her too much to try and brush it off by blaming alcohol or exhaustion. So what was he going to do when he saw her on Monday morning? When he had to face her every day? He rolled over, punching his pillow and closing his eyes. He was going to do the only thing he could do. Pretend it never happened.

Emily had reached for her phone more times than she could count all weekend. She didn't want to admit it, but she was hoping for a call a text, or anything from Hotch. There was nothing. Part of her was frustrated with him - he was always so intent on keeping up his cold emotionless facade. That night, for just a little while, he let his guard down and showed his true self. The other part of her just couldn't be mad at him. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel his hands and lips on her, feel that kiss was so full of emotion. Brief as it was, she had never been kissed so passionately in her life. She had waited years for that moment, dreamed of it more than she cared to admit. And in an instant he took it all away.

After years of working with him, she knew that it wouldn't do any good to push him. He had to figure this out on his own, and make the first move. And if he didn't, well maybe it was time she just went on with her life. As if it were going to be that easy.

When Monday morning came, Hotch strode into the BAU offices, taking a quick glance to see if anyone else was there yet. He had told them they didn't have to be in until 9, since they were supposedly not going to be called out all week. He thought the team needed time to regenerate, but right about now, he was wishing for the distraction of a case.

He began to work on case files that had been piling up over the last month. Maybe if he got these done, he would actually be able to make it to Jack's soccer practices this week. Before he knew it, an hour had passed. Glancing out his office window, he saw Prentiss talking to JJ, and wondered briefly if he was the topic of conversation.

"So Emily...how did it go Friday night?" JJ asked, smiling.

"Yeah about that...why did you bail on me? You knew I needed a ride home."

"Well you're wearing different clothes, so I'm going to assume you didn't have to sleep here all weekend."

Emily noticed the smirk on JJs face and suddenly it all became clear.

"You did it on purpose!"

"Look, whatever problem there was between you and Hotch, you needed to work it out. It was going to start to affect the team."

"Oh, so you were worried about the team."

"Well did you?"

"Did I what?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Work it out."

"I don't know," Emily shrugged. "He gave me a ride, we talked a little. There really wasn't anything to work out."

"Sure didn't seem that way on the jet."

"Look, you were right, I over reacted. He had other things on his mind. Hotch is just the cold brooding type and I need to not take it so personally. He was just being Hotch."

JJ eyed her a little suspiciously at first, thinking she detected a strange tone in her friend's voice. Seeing Emily just sit down and start working on some paperwork, though, she was satisfied with the explanation, and headed to her office.

Prentiss had been working for almost three hours straight, so engrossed in her work that she didn't even hear the footsteps coming towards her desk. A woman cleared her throat loudly, finally catching her attention. She looked up to see her mother, of all people, standing right in front of her.

"Mother?" she stood up and gave her mother the obligatory embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax, Emily." she smirked. "I'm only here for one night. I have a dinner to attend tonight in DC, and my flight back doesn't leave until early tomorrow. I wondered if you were free for lunch."

Emily glanced at her watch, then back at the files on her desk.

"Unless you're too busy on a case." her mother offered, as if to give her an out.

"No, it's not that. I just didn't even realize it was almost lunch time. We actually don't have much going on today. Let me just get my coat, and let Hotch know that I'm leaving."

She gathered her folders, putting them in her drawer, then turned to get her coat off of the back of the chair. When she turned back around, she saw that Hotch was already coming down the stairs. He smiled as he approached Emily's mother, his hand extended.

"Ambassador Prentiss, to what do we owe this honor?"

"Agent Hotchner...Don't worry, I'm not here on business. I'm just in town for the day and thought I would try to catch up with my daughter. We were just heading to lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"Thank you, but I can't." he answered, not skipping a beat. "I have a meeting in a little while."

"Oh that's too bad. Well, I will try not to keep her gone too long."

"Contrary to what you may have heard, I'm not a slave driver." he smiled again, then glanced at Emily. "Prentiss, feel free to take as long as you need."

"Thank you, Sir."

She had countered his "Prentiss" with the "Sir" just to see if she could detect any reaction. Damn it. Stoic, as always.

"Nice to see you again, Ambassador." he said, then turned and headed back up the steps to his office.

Elizabeth Prentiss gave her daughter a side eyed glance, then looked back towards Hotch.

"Hmm. Still no wedding ring. I can't believe that someone hasn't laid claim to that man yet."

Emily shook her head, then grabbed her purse.

"Don't start, Mother. Come on, let's go get that lunch."

[*] [*] [*] [*]

It was an exhausting lunch. Her mother had spent most of conversation grilling her about her personal life, and about her ambitions. She thought that Emily had been in one place too long, and there was never going to be any room for advancement if she didn't get out of there. That was classic Elizabeth Prentiss. Emily tried, without much success, to explain to her that she had no political agenda or aspirations, and was quite happy with her BAU family. Even though the things that she saw and did on this job was the stuff that nightmares were made of, the people she worked with made it bearable.

Emily threw her coat and purse down, and pulled the folders out of her desk. She was actually almost caught up, and it was only Monday. She thought about asking Hotch to take a day off, but the truth was, she had nothing she really wanted to do, and nobody to do it with.

"How was lunch with your Mom?" It was Garcia, coming up behind her. "Should we plan to go out for drinks now, or should I just pull the bottle out of my desk?"

"Garcia, you don't really..."

"Kidding! I'm kidding!" she laughed. "Oh hey, it looks like you weren't the only one to have a lunch date today."

"Huh?"

"Wow, you think that's why Boss man has been acting so uptight? You think he's going down that road again?"

"Garcia, what are you talking about?"

She glanced up to see Garcia looking in the direction of Hotch's office. His blinds were open, and she could see the woman walking out of his office. It was Beth. Hotch followed her to the doorway, seemingly still in the middle of a conversation. She saw him smile, and lean in to give her a hug. Emily's mouth dropped open in disbelief...was this why he was so conflicted the other night? She couldn't believe that she had even let herself believe that there was a possiblity. And even though she had never had him, she couldn't help but feel that she was losing him to Beth....AGAIN.

"Hello, earth to Emily..."

Emily snapped out of her trance, and turned her attention back to Garcia.

"You know what, count me in on those drinks." She said, getting up and walking towards JJ's office. "I'll see if JJ wants to join us."