Anote: I wrote this while listening to Melissa Etheridge's song, Meet me in the dark.

In it she sings (I paraphrase):

I know everyone has their unspoken fear
That eats away their senses and their humanity
They carry all their secrets every night down to the river
And they try so hard to drown them

Meet me in the dark
Meet me in the shadows
Past the old graveyard on Eisenhower road
Meet me where the storms
Blow out on their own dear
Meet me in the dark
Never let me go

Chapter 29- Meet me in the dark

The older man crossed his arms over his chest and let his cell phone ring out as he had already recognized Emily's distinctive silhouette on his office blinds.

'Hi?' she began unsurely as she stuck in her head. 'Can I come in?'

He waved her in before she had even finished her question.

'Despite the fact that I am sitting in the dark, I am alright,' he reassured her with a small, sad smile.

She was standing before his desk now but he could barely manage to see her face in the weak light coming from the corridor.

'It's ten o'clock. Who's with Jack?' she asked tugging a visitor's chair around to the back of his desk where he sat.

'He's with Jessica. They went to get his grandmother from the airport,' he informed her in a quiet voice, not wanting to be overheard by other night owls who might be stalking the bureau's now practically deserted offices.

He exhaled heavily as she laced her small hand in his. What was she still doing here? He hoped there was nothing wrong because he had more on his plate than he could handle at the moment.

'Any alcohol in this room?' she inquired as casually as if she was asking him what the time was.

The lead agent squeezed her hand involuntarily in surprise before getting his bearings.

'No. No alcohol. Thanks for asking,' he answered softly.

She used her free hand to pull out a couple of the drawers closest to her to see for herself.

'Are you sure? Do I need to smell your breath?' she pressed running her hand over his chest and across his jacket pockets looking for a tell tale shape.

'I would rather you taste it,' he added in such a blasé manner that it took her a few seconds to catch on.

The young profiler snatched her hand away as if his clothes were on fire.

Smiling she relaxed into her chair. Hotch was down tonight but not out of the game.

'You would like that wouldn't you?' she teased him back gently and was pleased when she heard his snort of laughter.

'So did you draw the short straw?' he asked instead, inching his chair across so that her arm could drape more comfortably on his lap.

The older agent grinned as she laughed quietly. He was so glad that she had come to him tonight. His whole mood was changing only after a few moments in her company.

'No I did NOT pick the short straw. The entire team's worried about you. You should be SO glad it's just me in here and not the five of them' she replied.

That admission quickly wiped the smile off his face.

'Tell me!' he commanded her, anxiety tingeing his voice.

He heard her sigh and he squeezed her palm supportively; sorry that he was placing her in this position between a rock and a hard place.

'Well we have everything from JJ cleaning out her guest room for you to stay the weekend with her and Wil,' she confessed with a wave of her hand, 'to Reid camping out in his car outside your apartment building.'

She watched as Hotch's eyes almost bugged out his head.

'Are you kidding me? It's forty degrees out there! Where's Reid now?' he yelped almost incoherently in his distress, grabbing his phone to try and locate his young charge.

She raised her hand in a placating gesture to try and calm him down.

'Easy Hotch. You don't think your girl would let the situation get out of control did you?' she reassured him. 'I managed to talk everyone down, well everyone except…'

He leaned forward uneasily as she stared off into space with an apprehensive expression.

'Emily?'

'What? Oh sorry…everyone except Garcia. She's hiding in her office and she is going to follow you home and then text everyone when you go inside your building,'

The unit chief sat back with a grimace seeing a flaw in that plan.

'Err…she's going to follow me in that orange behemoth of hers?' he inquired in concern.

Emily shook her head with another small laugh, 'No we are going to use my car. So pretend to look in the next direction, if you see us by mistake.'

He nodded his head as a silence fell between them.

'Emily you looked worried a minute ago about Garcia. Could you ...I am asking as a friend, is there anything I should know?' he said diplomatically. He didn't want her to break a confidence but he needed to know if there was something amiss with his team's life line.

'I think we should seriously consider putting Garcia in some therapy,' she blurted out baldly as if relieved that she could share this fear with someone.

He frowned but ran his thumb gently across her hand to let her know that he was listening.

'I don't think we really understand what she goes through sitting here in Quantico and listening to Unsubs do their best to kill us. She was here all by herself when Foyet…'

He pulled her quickly on to his lap as she broke off her sentence with a gasp of horror.

'It's okay. I can hear his name. I am not going to fall apart,' he commented quietly, rubbing her arms vigorously as she started to shiver at the topic she had almost brought up in his presence.

'I'm sorry,' she choked out. 'I guess it was on my mind, you know with the memorial service tomorrow.'

Hesitantly she looped her arms around his neck and he drew her forward so that she would know that yes, he wanted her to hug him. When did he NOT want her to hold him?

He felt the tension drain out of him when he heard her small sound of contentment as she relaxed in his arms. The senior agent nuzzled in her hair as they enjoyed the warmth and life that the other possessed.

'Are you going to take the whole day tomorrow?' she muttered to the side of his neck.

He used the opportunity to steal a small kiss from her lips before burying his face gratefully into her strong shoulders.

'I wasn't planning on going,' he mumbled quietly.

As he expected she withdrew from his embrace so that she could see his face.

'What? What happened?' she asked incredulously with a flabbergasted expression and he shifted uncomfortably under her intense stare.

'Hayley's mother is here to be with Jack,' he muttered staring unseeingly at the shadow of the lamp on his desk. 'She doesn't want to see me.'

The young agent scowled at this response. What did that have to do with anything? Haley was his wife and he should be part of the ceremony.

'Did she say something to you?' she asked sharply, going on the offensive so quickly that she resembled a small warrior ready to do battle on his behalf.

'She didn't need to,' he said dismissively pinning her with the familiar blank look he used to keep his emotions in check. 'I'll go with them to the grave when they are laying flowers.'

The pair stared at each other for a long moment before resuming their tight embrace, drawing strength for the day to come.