Chapter 10

"So, you really did it, huh? Settled down and tied the knot. With Emily Prentiss of all people. Who would've thought?" commented David Rossi with a dry chuckle to the still form of Derek Morgan on the bed.

It had taken all of Reid, JJ and Hotchs' combined best efforts to convince Emily that she needed to leave Derek's side and have a decent meal somewhere other than the hospital cafeteria. Rossi had volunteered to accompany Derek until she got back.

"Hiding it for over a year from a team of profilers was no mean effort too. I suppose Penelope's help was invaluable. But maybe we all did see what was happening but just never connected the dots. You two were already pretty close so it was just probably less different since you flirt with each other all the time anyway.

Now Aaron on the other hand. He's wound up so tight with his squeaky clean by-the-book posture that he can't quite hide it when something changes on a personal front with him. It seems that love is in the air. I can't wait to see Erin's face when she finds out," continued Dave, with a smile. Then he sighed as he looked at his friend.

It had been five long days and for some reason Derek had not woken up yet. The doctors could not say why. He was breathing by himself and off life support. He was now only on a drip for fluids, a nasal cannula for extra oxygen and some monitoring leads. Emily was looking more lost and despairing with the passing of every moment.

"You need to wake up, Derek. We're all worried for Emily. She's not looking too good. And when you're up to it, we can go and find out from Penelope who won the pool for JJ and Hotch getting together. I'm pretty sure the date was the night before, I've made a note of it," Dave continued to talk as he sat by his friend and waited for him to wake up.

CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM

"So how close are you guys to catching this guy?" asked Emily with a tired sigh. The rest of the team at the table traded glances uncertainly.

"Look, guys. Last I checked, I was still on the team. You dragged me out here to take a breather from the hospital so I guess we're not talking about that. There's not a lot to say about the weather and there's really nothing else I'm up to date on that we can chat about so unless someone else can come up with another congenial topic to talk about, this is it," said Emily, frustration evident in her voice.

"And stop looking at me like that," she added in irritation as they all gave into sheepish and apologetic expressions aimed towards her.

"Uh, right. So today we did find out where he held some of the couples and there are teams out searching the premises to see if we can find their remains," Reid grimaced as he heard himself speak, belatedly realizing that maybe he should have eased into the topic rather than blurt all of that out.

"What about clues to where he's holding the pair that are now missing?" asked Emily, not missing a beat.

"Garcia is working on algorithms that we've discussed but so far not much. He can't be far though, the problem is that this is a decent sized town and there are a lot of areas nearby that he could be holding them," mused Reid.

"And so far he hasn't given up much," added JJ.

Emily frowned. There had to be something else that she could remember that would help.

"We'll find him, Prentiss. You've done as much as you can. You are not to blame for any of this," said Hotch in a warning tone as he took in her expression.

"The sketch I gave didn't really help much, did it?" said Emily.

"It was pretty average and had no unique identifying markers," started Reid, before he caught the warning look on JJ's face. He stopped abruptly.

Emily let out another frustrated sigh.

"Emily, stop it! Hotch is right. This is not your fault in any way. You need to concentrate on Derek, right now. We'll handle this," insisted JJ, placing a hand on the brunette's arm.

Emily turned even paler at her words and pushed her plate of food away.

"I'm going for a walk," she managed, before leaving the table as fast as possible.

"Emily, stop!" protested a stunned JJ, unsure how her words were affecting her friend.

Reid just stared, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"I'll talk to her. Try to eat more dinner," said Hotch firmly, quickly rising from his seat. He took a brief moment to meet JJ's eyes and give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, then hurried after his team member.

Hotch did not try to overtake Emily as he followed her. He simply kept her in sight as she strode on. Eventually they ended up at a wide intersection and Emily simply stopped. She dropped down on the curb. At first Hotch was alarmed about her being hurt but then he saw that she had simply flopped down as if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Hotch took his time approaching her. When he was several steps away, he called out to her to make sure that she knew it was him. He knew better than to startle her, he had heard what had happened to Morgan when he had snuck up on her.

Emily didn't react to the call. She simply sat there, looking down. Her arms were by her side and she was just sitting there. Not a sound or a sob, just sitting.

"Every day, I think that I should have been able to do more. It is my job after all, to figure out the clues faster, to catch him sooner. So that he wouldn't kill her. Every single day, over and over and over, it's something I think about. It's something I have to live with," said Hotch in a low voice. He was then silent. He sat down next to her on the curb.

After a few minutes, Emily whispered, "You did everything you could to save Haley."

"And you're doing everything you can do for Derek and to help us find this UnSub," stated Hotch.

Emily hugged herself.

"He won't wake up and nobody knows why. Even the doctors say that he should have by now and they don't know why. What if it's because he doesn't want to come back anymore? What if it's because he's given up and he thinks that he's better off, not living anymore?" said Emily softly, Hotch could hear the heartbreak in her voice. He could hear the rejection that she felt overlaying her words. She was afraid that Derek didn't want to come back to her anymore.

"Emily, you know that's not true. You're feeling tired and lost and down. Derek will wake up it's only a matter of time. I know that he'd always fight for you, I'm sure that he's doing everything that he can to get back to you. Emily, listen to me, the man loves you. I've seen it in his eyes and in hindsight, in everything that he's done for you.

I'll admit that looking back, it's been evident for a while now that he loves you. We just didn't call it what it was because it was probably easier that way. Please trust me, Emily Prentiss-Morgan. Your husband loves and adores you and he will come back to you," said Hotch with gentle conviction. He placed a hand on her shoulder lightly, just for reassurance. They sat there.