Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Author's Note(s): As always, a big thank you to my readers and reviewers – tearbos, didi2909, smokeylove, Carla-Leigh and RavennaNightwind :) Thank you for being patient with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Easier to Lie
Chapter 10

Hotch collapsed onto his bed as soon as he closed the door to his hotel room. It had been a long and tiring day.

After spending hours examining yet more mutilated corpses, Hotch and Emily had gone back to base to help Morgan, JJ and Reid. Having finished that, they split the list into most likely suspects, and then presented them to Emily's friend, who claimed that she recognised no one. They then showed her all the people they thought least likely to have committed these crimes which again had proved useless. Eventually, they had left Charlie with a sketch artist so they could attempt to draw their suspect and JJ had conducted a press conference. The rest of the day had been spent searching the area for anything that might be useful and talking to the people the lived nearby, who conveniently had seen nothing. Not a single one of them.

His eyes were closing of their own accord now. He wanted to get up and have a shower but the bed was just so comfortable…

Knock knock.

Hotch bit back a groan. Maybe whoever it was would just go away…

Knock knock.

Or maybe not. With great difficulty, he heaved himself onto his feet and opened the door, doing his best to keep the look of annoyance of his face. It was Morgan.

"Hey, Hotch. Can I come in?"

"Of course," replied Hotch politely.

Morgan shuffled into the room and perched himself on the end of Hotch's bed. Hotch picked up the chair in the corner of the room and turned it to face the other man. Morgan was looking at him expectantly.

"Is there something I can help you with?" asked Hotch, curiosity winning over.

Pausing for a few moments, Morgan seemed to be collecting his thoughts before he answered.

"I think one of us needs to talk to Emily," he said finally.

"By 'one of us', I assume you mean me?" said Hotch raising an eyebrow.

Morgan grinned sheepishly, "Yea, I would talk to her myself but I don't think she'd listen to me."

"What makes you think she would listen to me?" Hotch folded his arms and peered at Morgan searchingly.

"She responds to authority," Morgan observed.

Hotch couldn't deny that Morgan was right. Even after all this time she still called him sir which showed that she was still keenly aware that he was her superior.

"Why now?" said Hotch suspiciously, "I was going to wait until this case is over."

"We have nothing to lose by talking to her now. She's trying but her mind just isn't on the case. Before I was talking to her and she just stopped speaking mid-sentence and started staring off into the distance," Morgan shook his head wearily, "We should talk to her now. This isn't healthy."

"Why Emily? JJ has been struggling too, and there's obviously something going on with Reid," replied Hotch in a low voice, he didn't want to risk Reid, who was in the next room, hearing them through the wall or something.

Of course, Hotch knew the answer to this. Something had happened between them the night before, and whatever their problems were, Hotch had full confidence that they would work through them together. He just wanted to make sure that Morgan was of the same opinion.

"JJ and Reid have each other," Morgan responded simply.

Satisfied, Hotch nodded. "All right then. I will go and talk to her now."

Looking intensely relived, Morgan smiled half-heartedly at him and bade Hotch good night before leaving the room.

Deciding not to delay the inevitable, Hotch took a quick drink of coffee, wishing it was something stronger, and then left his room and walked down the corridor to the room he knew Emily was staying in.

With only slight trepidation, Hotch knocked loudly on the door. He heard a creaking of springs and Emily making her way across the room. There was a distinctly puzzled expression on her face when she opened the door and came face to face with Hotch.

"Has Bryson called? Do we have a lead?" she asked, casting her eyes around Hotch as though she was expecting to see someone else behind him.

"No, not yet. It's only a matter of time though," Hotch assured her, "I came here to talk."

She hesitated, before opening her door wide enough for him to enter the room. Hotch lip twitched into an almost smile as he walked in and sat down in the same chair he had been sat in whilst in his own room and talking to Morgan. Apparently the people that designed this hotel weren't very creative, all the rooms where set out exactly the same.

He took a moment to scan the room. Emily had placed her gun on her bedside table, no doubt so it was in reaching distance at all times. Her television was switched on to what appeared to be a comedy programme judging from the overdramatic laughter he could hear at the end of every line. He recognised the programme as Friends, one Haley used to watch sometimes. There was currently a man running down the street shouting after a woman who was jogging.

"That woman looks like you," Hotch observed.

Glancing at the TV screen, Emily raised an eyebrow, "I would never have that hair cut."

Almost smirking, Hotch listened to the woman on the TV speak; she seemed to be called Kathy. "She talks like you too."

Emily smiled slightly, "I suppose we do have the same accent. I've never really noticed before."

As she gazed at the television, Hotch took a moment to study her. Her hair was damp, she must have just got out the shower. It was then that Hotch realised how much makeup Emily had been wearing lately, without it he could still see the yellow bruises that covered more than half of her face, almost healed but not quite. He could also see the faint white scar across her forehead from their first case after Gideon had left, when she had been hit over the head with a plank of wood. He felt a pang of distress as he remembered that it had also been the day that Haley had left him.

She became aware of him staring at her and folded her arms, it was a typical defensive stance.

"I assume you didn't come here just to talk about my likeness to a fictional character?" she said warily.

"Sit down, please," said Hotch, in a voice that suggested that what he had said wasn't a request.

Pursing her lips, Emily did as she was told and sat down on her bed to face him. Morgan was right, she did tend to respond to authority.

"We need to talk, Emily," Hotch said.

Other than her shoulders drooping almost imperceptivity, Emily's demeanour remained completely impassive. She was far too good at hiding her emotions. Even Hotch struggled to read her and that was not something that happened often.

"About what?"

Not willing to play this game with her, Hotch simply narrowed his eyes at her until she looked away, clearly uncomfortable.

"All right," she said, shifting nervously, "What about it?"

"I would like you to talk to someone about what happened. You clearly aren't coping as well as you pretend to and it's beginning to affect your work," Hotch told her, deciding to get straight to the point.

Emily's lips thinned, a clear sign that he'd hit a sore spot. "I can deal with this by myself. I just need a little time to adjust and then I'll be fine."

"You've had a little time already," Hotch pointed out.

"A little more time then," replied Emily, obviously trying hard to keep her irritation in check.

"You know, Emily, we're all here if you want somebody to talk to," said Hotch in the kindest voice he could.

"I know, and thank you…but I'd prefer to sort this out by myself," replied Emily, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Hotch could tell that she was far less sure of herself now than she was at the start of the conversation. Maybe if he could push her just a little more…

"Emily, you were abducted," he said sternly.

She flinched ever so slightly, "Yes, thank you. I recall."

"You were beaten senseless."

The flinch was more pronounced this time and Emily's face turned an interesting shade of grey, "Do you think I don't know that?"

"JJ was almost raped in-"

"Stop! All right, Hotch! I know," Emily interrupted desperately, her eyes glassy.

Hotch fell silent, but continued to stare at her unblinkingly. She was looking anywhere but at him. It took him a moment but he made up his mind quickly.

"Emily, if you don't sort yourself out by the end of this case I'm going to suspend you until you seek professional help," said Hotch, quietly but seriously. Her eyes snapped down and bore into his.

"You wouldn't-"

"Yes I would, and will," said Hotch quickly, in a voice that booked no argument. He stood up and tried to ignore the horrified look on her face. "I'll see you in the morning."

Then without looking back, he left the room, desperately hoping he had done the right thing.

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Author's Note(s): Yay Criminal Minds! I watched half of the first series this weekend and whilst I am not suddenly struck with adoration for the programme again, I'm getting there. Random note: I forgot how much Elle really annoyed me. I was so pleased when she got replaced.

Anywho, I digress. Will update as soon as possible and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)