Anote: The chapters will be more related to each from now on unlike the previous stand alone chapters

Chapter 21- Be brave

Being two alpha personalities, the pair naturally fought to be the first one to speak the moment that they stepped out in the hall corridor. They babbled on incoherently for a few moments before falling silent.

'Don't whisper,' Hotch advised. 'Jack will not wake up until morning not unless he has a bad dream.'

Emily peeked in once again to reassure herself and sure enough her darling boy slept on. It made her stomach twist to see his small dark head on her pillow.

'I can't believe you brought him out at this hour,' she commented in one part awe the other part reproach. Reproach, because he was driving with Jack at this dangerous hour of the night and awe because Hotch considered speaking to her in person to be so important. The young agent took advantage of his silence to plunge into a heartfelt apology. However, she only got out a few words before his hand whipped out to cradle her chin. She cringed a bit as he gently tilted her head towards the night light in the corridor.

'I knew you were mad,' he remarked observing her red eyes and tear stained cheeks, 'but if you were this upset you should have called me. I would come to you no matter what is happening between us.'

The dark haired woman pulled away from his touch and he scowled at the flash of pride he saw in her eyes.

'Prentiss,' he snapped, 'our friendship and our work relationship is balancing on the edge of a knife. Do you really think that attitude is going to be helpful?'

The lead agent dragged her to the staircase and took a seat, glaring as she hovered over him. With a small grimace of annoyance she sat next to him. He could be so irritating at times!

An uncomfortable silence fell over them as they stared down the darkened stair way that led into the living area. Emily leaned over and hugged her knees as she started to shiver in the morning chill pervading the apartment.

'Firstly, I would like to thank you for opening the door,' he said in a grateful and humble sort of voice.

She frowned at him in amusement. Did he think she would have turned him away?

'Secondly,' he started and then stopped letting out a huge breath as if uncertain where to begin.

He turned slightly towards her before asking, 'is there anything you want to ask me? Anything at all?'

'What's the point if you are not going to tell me the truth?' she responded letting him know that for her at least this was the crucial point of the entire incident.

'I will tell you the truth,' he promised. 'I have been living in fear for the last few weeks and this is unacceptable. Ask me your question.'

Fear? Was he afraid of her? Afraid of something else? Was he regretting his attempts to build a different sort of relationship with her? Oh god, did he come here to tell her that?! She started to feel a little sick as her heart thundered out of control pushing blood thought her veins at a nauseating pulse. Why couldn't they beat around the bush like normal people for a bit? The weather was an absolutely riveting subject to discuss if you put your mind to it.

The young woman closed her eyes as he curled an arm around her back and squeezed her shoulder gently.

'Be brave with me Emily Prentiss,' he begged her, leaning down to softly kiss her temple.

She took in a big gulp of air at this unexpected bit of tenderness in both word and manner. Hotch was pulling out the big guns but she couldn't fold now. Not until they came to a clear understanding.

'Alright…alright. Tell me why you wear my grandfather's ring?' she blurted out a bit more loudly than she had intended under the stressful circumstances.

She hugged her knees even tighter as she felt him pull away in surprise.

Good. She had caught him off guard, which was what she had intended. She planned to find out what he was lying about because she knew in her heart she couldn't survive if he did it again.

The female agent watched furtively as he fingered the ring on his left hand with his thumb.

'I wear it because it makes me feel close to you,' he admitted in a matter fact sort of voice. 'And I so badly want to be close to you, Emily.'

The woman regarded him with a shocked expression before rising hastily to her feet and disappearing into her room.

The older man didn't follow and sat studying his shoe tips absentmindedly. Although he didn't like the fact that she had run away from him, anything was preferably to the look of complete fear that he had seen in her eyes during their altercation in Detroit. Knowing that she had been afraid of him had almost made him throw up.

However, he should have known that she would not ask the question that he thought she would ask. For god's sake HE was the one that had taught her to do that during interrogations in the first place! Foolishly, he had expected her to ask what he had lied about. He would then explain that he believed it to be dangerous for them to be in field missions together because of the potential to be distracted and emotionally comprised. This would have dovetailed nicely into the current status of their relationship and hopefully they would have thrashed out enough of the sticky bits to keep them going for a little while longer until they could find a quiet free day to hammer it out in its entirety.

He swiveled his body around to gaze uneasily at the closed door behind him, struggling to think of a way to get the conversation back on track. More exhausted than he should feel after having already slept on the jet for three hours, he climbed to his feet and walked to her bedroom.

'Emily?' he called softly, tapping gently on the piece of wood.

His fingers closed around the door knob and he was relieved to find that it was unlocked. Taking this as a good sign he pushed open the door and peered into the room. His eyes narrowed when he didn't see her and he stepped through the door anxiously.

The man didn't see her because he was looking into the room not realizing that she was sitting a few feet on his left propping up the wall with her back. She called to him lest he shouted for her waking up Jack who was sleeping on the bed.

The sight of her sitting on the floor next to the door curled in a tight ball froze him to the spot.

He had been wrong. She didn't feel the same way about him and now she was obviously too appalled to even speak.

No. That was incorrect, his mind reassured him. He was a trained profiler. It was inconceivable that he had misread her attentions to him and his son.

'Emily?' he called again but this time with some apprehension.

She held out her arms to him and he pulled her up.

'I'm fine. I'm fine,' she said calmly. 'Your words took me by surprise.'

Holding hands she pulled him out of the room and back into the corridor.

'Was it a good surprise?' he asked in a small voice, unsure about the chilliness he detected in her voice.

Her quick smile made him light headed with relief, 'Yes it was a good surprise. I liked what you said very, very much.'

Surely it was unseemly for a man his age to be so absurdly happy.

However, the smile slipped off his face when she turned around to face him, crossing her arms across her chest and scowling in a pretty fair imitation of him.

'Okay, I am listening,' she snapped.

'Errr….what are you doing?' he wanted to know.

'I am compartmentalizing,' she replied tapping him sharply on the shin with her foot, 'we'll talk about grandfather's ring later. Tell me the real reason why you wanted me to partner with Rossi.'

The man snorted gently in amusement. Was there any doubt that this was the woman for him?