Emily's P.O.V.

"Spencer?" I watched as a woman walked in, staring blankly at his motionless body lying on the bed. I immediately recognized her as his mother, and I felt sorry for her. She did have schizophrenia, so it would be even harder for her to comprehend that her son was most likely not going to wake up.

I could stand my train of thought, so I slowly, silently, shook them out of my brain. I needed to help him. And sitting around sulking wasn't going to get him that.

I looked over at Aaron. He had that same glowering look donned upon his face; like always. Which made it really hard for me to tell how he was getting along with this. He definitely looked better than the first time we had been told Spencer was in a coma, but he wasn't exactly happy, either. In fact, I could probably be able to name about three times that I've actually seen Hotch smile. 'It's so rare, it can cure cancer,' I used to joke with J.J.

My thoughts were racing through my mind; days spent over at Rossi's with the team, long days at work, only to have a long flight home. J.J.'s wedding. Staying up late at the office just so I could spend a little longer with them. I almost smiled, but before I did, I knew the bad memories were going to catch up.

And they did.

Reid's first kidnapping, with this one to top it. J.J.'s torturer. All of the times we had been hurt, held captive, or stretched to our limits. I, most of all, remembered Doyle. I could still remember the look on his face as the wooden stake made its way through me. I recalled every moment of tape Hankle had sent us, just so we could witness the death and revival of one of our own.

Spencer's mother wasn't exactly looking the greatest, either. She had bags under her eyes, and a crazy look in her eye. She was fidgeting, and I was sure she was waiting to find out what had happened to her son, and who had caused it. I was about to tell her, when an image of Spencer ran through my mind again. This time, I couldn't stand seeing the gunshot wounds that he had received over the years, all with working this job. We all had been hurt a couple times, but I had to say, Reid probably had it the worst. What with having the eidetic memory and all.

I stood, feeling the tears begin to well, threatening to fall any second. I glanced at Hotch, then nodded slightly towards the hallway. He nodded slightly back, and I walked out. I started towards the doors that separated the rest of the world-the good parts of the world-from our team. I had almost reached them when I heard Hotch step out into the hallway. I glanced back at him, then opened the doors.

Hotch's P.O.V.

Where was she going?! I thought she meant just outside the door to Spencer's room, not all the way outside of the hospital! But I followed anyways, even if Aaron Hotchner doesn't chase girls.

As soon as I stepped out of the doorway, I located Emily sitting on a bench a few yards from me. I put on one of my 'poker face's (as Rossi said once, even if I never got the joke), and made my way over to her. She had her head in her hands, so I couldn't see her face. I sat down beside her, though, which obviously made her loosen up a bit.

"How're you coping?" Emily asked, making me jump slightly. She smirked lightly at me, making me blush for acting like that. Especially in front of her. "I mean, you don't look like you've been through this past week. What're you doing?"

I sat for a moment. What exactly was I supposed to tell her? If I told her what my answer would be, it would change our friendship forever. And I certainly didn't want it to be for worse. So, I decided to be half-truthful.

"Well . . ." I started. How was I supposed to put this? "There's this girl . . . she's beautiful, smart, and definitely courageous. She's got the prettiest eyes and a smile that could kill. I can't keep my mind off of her. She's even blocked out all my thoughts and worries about both of our teammates."

"Both of your teammates?" Emily asked. Crap. I let that slip.

"I-Well, you see . . ." I tried, but she gasped before I could continue.

"Dude . . . she's taken." She said. My heart dropped for a moment, before I realized that she couldn't possibly know who I was talking about . . . right?

"By whom?" I asked, confidence slowly coming back into my voice.

"Derek or Kevin. They're both kinda on and off." She said, smirking.

I gaped at her. "No. No way. I do not have a thing for Penelope Garcia." I said, allowing myself to use her full name instead of just her last.

She groaned. "Then who is it?!"

"I don't know." I played, earning an exasperated glare from her.

I was about to suggest heading back inside, when a devilish smirk came onto her face. Even worse than the last one.

"What?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, you say you don't have a thing for Penelope, you said 'our teammates', suggesting that it's not J.J., since she was included in that group, and it's obviously not me, since you'd have the balls to say it to my face. Or at least, I think you would. Am I right?"

Dammit. Now I'm stuck. It's almost like she was waiting for this to happen. It sounded almost scripted.

"What?" I faked surprised. "I fail to understand what you are getting at, Prentiss." I used her last name, so hopefully that will get her off my back for a while. Or at least, the next few minutes.

"You know exactly what I'm getting at." She said, staring at me, almost expectantly. Did someone tell her? Or what if I haven't been that subtle about it?

"I do not. I am very subtle about things like that." I explained, not sure what I even meant by that.

"Oh, so you do like someone!" She said, straightening. "I am totally asking Rossi."

With that, she took off into the building at the fastest pace I've seen a woman in heels go. I had no choice but to follow her inside if I didn't want Rossi telling her.

As I stepped into the hospital, I could see Emily already beckoning Rossi into the hallway. I was stopped by a nurse, asking who I was, before I was allowed back. I held up my badge, earning immediate access. I glared at Rossi and Emily, who already were having a conversation. I couldn't hear them, but I could tell Rossi was about to spill my biggest secret.

I watched as Rossi leaned in to Emily's ear, whispering something I could only hope wasn't what I thought it was. But since Emily looked genuinely surprised, then turned to look at me in confusion, I could tell Rossi had told.

I didn't have time to tell Rossi what I was thinking at that moment; which would probably be a good thing, since it would get me kicked out with all the children around. Instead, Emily grabbed my hand, and before I knew what she was doing, she leaned up and planted a small kiss on my cheek.

"I like you, too," she whispered in my ear, before letting go of me and walking back into the room.

Spencer's P.O.V.

I was surprised to see Emily kiss Aaron. I know they had been liking each other for a while, but I mean come on! It was about dang time. It was starting to get boring around here without some love triangles going on. Not that I'm a fan of them . . . they cause too much of a distraction . . .

I smirked as an idea came into my head, and as soon as my mother had left, and the entire team had gathered back, I wrote in the biggest letters I could manage on the board;

HOTCH X EMILY FOREVER XD

This caused everyone to look at the two in shock (minus Rossi), and I cracked up laughing. I didn't care if they couldn't see me; it was just too funny not too. Especially with how red their faces were getting. Eventually, the others came to their senses, starting to laugh as well. They were loud, and I could see some of the nurses looking in with curiosity or glaring in our general direction for disrupting them.

I yawned, and noticed the rest of the team was obviously tired as well. Bags under their eyes, sharp movements just to stay awake; just like my mother had looked when she first walked in. I saw her doctor come in and escort her away, saying that she could visit some time tomorrow after lunch. She needed to get used to the new area, anyways, since we didn't have time to fly back home yet.

You guys go get some sleep. I'll be fine here overnight; I'll probably start tricking the doctors or something for entertainment. You look like you need it. I wrote, earning nods from some of the group, even if they were skeptic. I watched as they slowly stood, but as they were about to step out, I saw Hotch slip his arm around Emily's waist. I chuckled, thinking about how I could maybe do that to J.J. after all this was over . . .

I came back to reality, where there was no Reid and Jareau, and saw that the team had left. I took to erasing the board, even if there was nothing left on it. After that, I saw a doctor walking past, so I stuck out my foot, tripping him. He caught himself at the last moment, but as he looked around frantically for whoever did that, the look on his face was priceless.

I now realized, that even if everyone else in real life was looking tired from a long day of work, worrying over the state of a loved one, or whatever they have had happen to them in a span of one day, that I wasn't tired. It was almost like, in this parallel universe or wherever I was, I didn't need to sleep, eat, or even breathe-no, wait. Still had to breathe.

I plopped myself in one of the biggest chairs in the waiting room, waiting for the sun to come up.

Hotch's P.O.V.

When we arrived at the hotel in our cab (we were all too tired to drive, and the last thing we needed was a car accident), I helped Emily out of the car, but before I could help, Garcia got out of the other side. I sighed, but neither of them seemed to notice. I saw Morgan and Rossi pull up behind us, and they soon joined us on our way inside.

"What may we do to help you?" The clerk said from behind the desk.

I slowly pulled out my badge, though I was still faster than the others. "We'll need . . . how many rooms?" I asked, turning to count them.

"Uh, five rooms, please." Emily said. Then she looked at me. "If you don't mind."

I could tell if she was talking to me or the clerk, but either way, I didn't object. I saw the man hand us the keys, and, noticing how tired we all were, let us go on our way. I figured he would talk to us on the expenses in the morning. I've never really took much thought into how people always took extra precautions to help us, like delaying conversations if we were doing something at the moment or too tired or busy. I always noticed, yet here I was, another person trying to help.

"Thank you," I barely got out before I was lead out of the room and into an elevator with the rest of the team. As soon as we were about to step off, I realized something.

"What's our room number?" I whispered to Emily, hoping that she had been paying attention.

"394, Hotch." Morgan looked at me with a smile, and was obviously holding back some laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked, noticing that Garcia was freely laughing, and Rossi and Emily were holding back some, too. "What's the significance of the number 394?"

Garcia answered. "You don't know?"

I shook my head, making them all laugh harder.

"Okay, Snape." Rossi said, cracking everyone up again.

I rolled my eyes. Of course. Some stupid reference. Again.

As we broke off into our room after the elevator stopped, I immediately woke up. Emily was holding my hand, guiding me towards our room. I said goodnight for both of us, then kicked the door closed.

What happened next surprised me; Emily locked our lips together so tight, I barely had time to process what she was doing. I personally agreed, working with her to prepare for something great. As I glanced over at the clock-2:48-I made a mental note that that would be the time both of our lives changed. For better or worse, I didn't know yet, but I had her with me.

That was enough for me.