I'm shocked.

Jack is only seven years old and yet he just asked a question I'd expect from a teenager or an adult. While I was in Rome, the team, minus Aaron, had explained to Jack that I had to go to Rome to spend time with my mother and had to 'leave quickly to catch the right plane'. No one knows what his father had told him, which in all truth doesn't matter. Right now, Jack is standing in front of me, expecting an answer.

"Oh! Um…" I stammer. Behind me, no one says anything, much to my dismay. Aaron opens and closes his mouth, unsure what to say. It's the most shocked I've ever seen him.

"Did you leave 'cause of my dad?" Jack repeats when I don't give an answer.

Beth places a hand on Jack's cheek and asks, " Sweetie, what makes you think that?"

"On the day that Auntie Emily left, I was walking to the bathroom when I saw her slap my dad," Jack states. "And when Auntie Emily had the nightmare, she wouldn't let my dad hold her and I heard her say that she didn't think that my dad likes her-"

I'm past speechless on how to respond to this.

I really should just say that Aaron's behavior towards me was a big factor in me leaving, but I don't want destroy Jack's perception of his father. Aaron is the boy's superhero and it's something that should be kept that way. I start to think of the best thing to say, but Will steps in to help.

He kneels in front of Jack. "Jack, your auntie has been having some problems in her life and needed a break. She lost some friends, she's been sick, and there's a grown up problem going on between your dad and her. Emily slapped your daddy because she got so mad at something mean your daddy did. And about your auntie saying that your daddy didn't care about her….sometimes when people are fighting, one person gets so mad that they wonder if their friend is really their friend at all."

Jack nods at Will's explanation and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. For a brief moment, we think that the problem is solved. That moment ends when Jack asks,

"Is that why everyone else got to talk to Auntie Emily and my dad didn't?"

Everyone reacts in similar ways to Jack's question. Penelope's hands fly to her mouth, Spencer's gaze falls to the ground, Rossi and JJ exchange shocked looks, and Morgan tenses up. Beth lets out a loud gasp and Aaron takes a step back from his son and looks up to us, heartbroken.

"It was just me you shut out," Aaron says faintly to me. None of us know if our Unit Chief is going to scream, yell, or just plain lose it. Will takes this in account and makes a quick decision. He picks up Henry in one arm and takes Jack's hand in the other.

"Jack, I'm going to get you and Henry some food and then you can ask as many questions as you want, okay? Let's let Emily, your uncles, and your dad talk," Will states before walking the boys away from the group.

And then out of left field, Beth explodes.

She doesn't look over her shoulder to check if Jack, Will, and Henry are out of earshot before yelling, mainly towards me, "Are you telling me that my fiancée was worrying out of his mind about Emily's welfare and you all had contact with her the entire time?"

I step forward. "It was my decision, Beth. I asked everyone to keep him out of the loop."

"Why?" Aaron stammers. He takes a step towards me and like before, I take a step back. I don't trust him to come near with me. Aaron catches this and exclaims, "Why on earth would you do that? I was concerned-"

"Are you asking me on your behalf, Aaron, or mine?"

"There's no need to be defensive-"

I'm now pissed and standing inches away from Aaron. Two weeks away from his as-of-late irrational reasoning wasn't long enough for me to build a tolerance to it. "I have every right to be defensive! Throughout this entire process, you keep treating me like I'm just business!

"Look-"

"You don't get to ask me why I shut you out!" I don't care that people in the airport are beginning to stare at us. "You are hurting me every time you look and talk to me! I love you and I'm sorry if that comes as if that's some kind of inconvenient for you, but you're making me question every good thing that I've known about you."

"If everything is so hard for you, why don't you just leave the team?" Beth replies. She takes a breath and calms down. "Maybe if you leave, things can get better for you. It might even get better between you and Aaron."

In ways, Beth has a point. I've given the same advice to say many people- if something is hurting you, get away from it. Leaving the team would be logical because it would get me away from Aaron and my currently ruined reputation as a rational, strong agent.

But I'm too stubborn to walk away.

I had to fight like hell to get to even get onto this team. I'm not going to walk away from my family just because of one person's behavior.

"Emily's not going to leave the team," Derek suddenly says as if he's reading my mind. "I have known Aaron for almost 10 years, Beth. He's one of the strongest, most caring people that I've ever met. I know that you love him and are so excited to marry him, but you don't know him like we do. And if we think something's wrong, something's really wrong."

Derek takes my hand and continues to speak, "We're all supporting Emily because she needs to be loved and cared for. If that makes us bad friends to Hotch, then so be it."

Aaron steps forward to Derek. "Morgan, I'm fine-"

Derek sighs and turns to Aaron. "I don't want to hear I'm fine. Something is seriously wrong with you, man- I don't know if it's medical, some deep psychological problem or just a plain burn out. But if you keep hurting Emily, you will lose this team because neither I nor the rest of the team will stick around for this. Got it?"

At this moment, Derek's ultimatum sparks a miserable thought in my head. If I leave the team either by force or voluntarily, the team will follow me.

And if that were to happen, I'd be the sole cause of breaking up the team, essentially- my family.