Episode: Exit Wounds

"Looks like we'll have to double up," Hotch kept his face blank as he scanned the faces of his team.

"I'm not sleeping with Reid."

"Dibs," Garcia responded, grabbing Morgan's hand.

"I'm not going with Emily," JJ sighed, looking up from her spot on the couch. "She talks in her sleep."

"Does she?" Rossi glanced over at Emily, who rolled her eyes. "What does she say?"

"Oh it's all just gibberish. At least, except for the stuff about men. Wow, did I ever learn a lot about this one guy who-"

"OKAY," Emily cut in, not making eye contact with Hotch. She knew his eyes would be fixed on her and she knew that if she looked at him she would freeze up. "So who's bunking with whom?"

"I call the one single room," JJ replied, picking up her suitcase and bringing it upstairs. Emily glanced back at the remaining three men who she could room with. One definitely stood out more than the others.

"I'm not bunking with Rossi," Emily sniffed, scanning the last two men with thought. "Or Reid."

"What, why me?" Reid cried, his gaze flickering between Emily and Rossi.

"Sorry, Genius Boy, Derek told me about your dirty little secret of reciting formulas to get to sleep at night. And Rossi, you mutter in Italian. As far as I know, Hotch doesn't do either of those things and is probably neater than you two anyway."

And with that decided, Emily grabbed her own suitcase, brushing past Hotch with a smirk at the dumbfounded and awestruck look on his face.

It was going to be a long night.

OoOoOoO

Emily stepped out of the bathroom to the rather appealing sight of Hotch in a t-shirt. Of course, she'd seen him in a t-shirt before, but there was just something about the single layer between her and that chest that looked hard enough to bounce a freaking quarter off of that she just couldn't shake.

"So who gets the floor?"

"As the leader of this team I think it's only fair that I be very well rested and on my game to the best of my ability."

"Nice try," Emily snorted, rolling her eyes. "You can't play the leader card when the suit comes off."

"But I'm still the AIC!" Hotch's face was almost in a pout and Emily had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the mental picture of him throwing a tantrum.

"And I'm still the lady here and therefore get priority."

"No way," Hotch raised his eyebrows at Emily, a smirk playing across his face. "Are you really playing the damsel in distress act? It's going to be a few nights sleeping on the ground or on a sofa. You're hardly going to die."

"No but the ebbing guilt and shame that you made me sleep on the floor while you got this nice, soft bed will destroy you and probably drive you to drink."

"Thanks but I sleep like a baby and don't dream. No terrible gnawing guilt for me."

Emily was about to reply that she was pretty sure dreamless sleep and a lack of guilt was a common trait among serial killers when a knock on the door made the pair look up, glancing at each other, Hotch moving to the door. As he opened it, the figure of Rossi looking positively irate as he leaned in the doorway, eyes flashing and nostrils flaring, growled into the room at large,

"Justgoddamnsleepinthesamebed ." He spoke quickly, almost unintelligibly and before either of the pair could comprehend him, he had already turned to enter his room. But being who he was, as an afterthought, he called behind him, not giving a damn who heard,

"Or I swear to god I will force you!"

The silence was even more than deafening.

"Do you think they all heard us arguing?"

"Probably."

"I don't think either of us is going to sleep on the floor, are we?"

"Doubtful."

"Left or right side?" Hotch was thrown by Emily's question, but as she dropped onto the left side, whether she preferred that side or somehow knew that Hotch liked the right better, all that was left to do was lie down and get some sleep.

He was nervous as he slid into the bed, immediately rolling over and facing away from Emily's body. Hotch knew that nothing was going to happen, but her warmth was inviting and suddenly he was wondering why he was only in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

It was Alaska after all. The cold was numbing and he wanted desperately to cling to Emily's warmth. Purely because of the cold, obviously. Hadn't he leant her his jacket just a little while ago?

But suddenly all thoughts flew out of his mind as Emily rolled over, making small sounds as she slept. Slept. She was already asleep? He hadn't been lying when he'd said that he slept like a baby, but it did take him a long time to get to sleep. Hotch had always been plagued with over thinking and analyzing and generally all the things that made him a great profiler.

But damn if they made it hard for him to get to sleep at night.

Take right then for example, what with Emily curled up into a ball beside him, making soft sounds and whispery little murmurs as she slept, completely oblivious to the effect it was having on Hotch right then.

But what could he do? He had to admit, the idea of kissing her so hard that those adorably fantastic noises she was making stopped had a rather appealing air to it. But then again, kissing someone in bed late at night had the kind of strings attached manner that Hotch most definitely did not want to imply.

So he settled for lying there, purposely facing away from the woman with the dark hair and the big eyes and the skin that he just knew was practically shimmering in the moonlight that was streaming through the window and oh god...

He was almost glad when Morgan came to the door, so panicky about Garcia and another victim was he that he didn't even notice Emily still sleeping in the bed that exactly 1 and a half minutes earlier, Hotch too had been occupying.

"Okay, thanks Morgan. Make sure Garcia's alright and I'll wake up Emily. Gather the police and meet us at the crime scene in 15."

Morgan dipped his head, trying desperately to take his boss seriously in a tight black t-shirt and sweatpants. When Hotch firmly closed the door to Morgan's face, he barely made it down the stairs before cracking up, much to Garcia's chagrin.

Fortunately his description of their boss lightened her mood a bit.

Hotch pressed his lips together, creeping onto the bed and leaning over Emily to check for signs of her being awake. Sensing none, he sat back and shook her very lightly. A soft grumble of protest caused his heart to begin thumping heavily, his mind beginning to wander as he shook Emily's arm again, his own hand trailing down to meet hers where it lay hidden under her face and propped up on the pillow.

"Wake up, Agent Prentiss, I do believe we have another case to solve."

Emily mumbled something that sounded akin to, "Should've bunked with JJ." But as Hotch grabbed his suit from earlier and went to the washroom to change, he heard the familiar noises of Emily waking up.

Hotch wondered if he would have legitimately been able to survive the next few hours until daylight.

OoOoOoO

"I think you're giving this guy more credit than he deserves. It's like Emily said on the plane, he's all over the place. The victimology's inconsistent, the methodology's evolving, the first kill was sloppy, hesitant and unplanned."

Emily winced as Hotch said her first name, glancing around at her teammates, ready to defend him with the fact that it was still quite early in the morning. She was glad to see that none of them seemed affected by his words, instead choosing to continue to listen.

"It'll be light soon, let's uh, get everybody together and go over what we know." Hotch looked up at Emily, who dipped her head, falling into position behind him. After only a few moments of scuffling after each other, though, Derek grabbed Emily's annoyingly puffy sleeve and tugged her off to the side. He glanced back quickly, but Hotch and Rossi were in deep discussion and Reid was off in his mind palace, trailing behind the two slowly.

"Were you planning to kill me via frostbite or...?"

"Some sleepover, hm?"

Emily rolled her eyes and was about to cut him off before his raised his hand to stop her.

"Emily, I'm not blind." Derek paused; deciding to get down to the brunt of what he was saying right off the bat. "And I can see what's going on between you and Hotch."

Before Emily could protest, though, Derek cut her off again and continued. "I'm happy for you, ok? But I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"Derek, I don't know how to say this but... nothing's happening between us. We're just friends and yes, maybe there's a little bit of mutual attraction there, but there is nothing set in stone. "She snorted. "And certainly no hurting going on."

Derek paused, studying Emily for a moment longer before turning and beginning to walk slowly back to the lodge.

"You sure?" He asked softly, touching Emily's sleeve one more time. She pressed her lips together, glancing over at Hotch who was now staring up at the sky, roughly running his hand over his faint 5 o'clock shadow. He looked like he was distressed, which was absolutely nothing new to him.

"Yeah, positive."

The lies flowed slower than they had at first.

OoOoOoO

"Aaron, you are the truest form of an idiot if there ever was one." Rossi stepped forward beside Hotch, looking back quickly to see Derek pulling Emily off to the side as they departed the newest crime scene.

"Hey remember that time you were nice to me?" Hotch gave Rossi a sideways look. "Me neither. Stop starting our wonderful rom-com heart-to-heart chats with calling me names."

"I thought it was the truth."

"I'll have you know I am the Agent in Command of one of the most elite units of the FBI."

"I know. I heard you bring that up in your little dome of domestic bliss."

"What's your point, Dave?" Hotch was getting irritated by the self-righteous air of Rossi's words.

"You're both in love with each other." It was a statement, not a question so Hotch let it pass with no denial or acceptance of the fact. Rossi continued.

"You're so in love with each other that all I can really say is don't screw this one up, Hotchner. Ask her before its too late."

"I know all that, Dave, thanks."

"I heard her and JJ talking about Mick Rawson on the plane."

"Yes, I'd think you of all people would know that women occasionally talk about men, Dave."

"JJ was trying to get her to ask him out for drinks or something."

"Oh?" Hotch's interest was piqued, to say the least.

"Emily continuously shut her down. No explanation why except that he was arrogant."

"God knows she never has to deal with that at the office," Hotch deadpanned, giving Rossi a glare.

"Ask her out, Hotchner."

"Mind your own business, Rossi."

The older man raised his hands in defeat, turning to talk to Reid about the case while Hotch turned away, staring up at the sky for a few seconds, feeling a contemplative mood overtake him. Everything Dave had said was true. Every damn detail and the man wasn't shy in any way about waving it in Hotch's face. He bit his lip, lowering his gaze to Emily who was currently talking on her satellite phone, probably to JJ.

A sigh escaped his lips and rose with a puff in the air. Friends. Friends is what they were and friends is what they would be. Friends.

He turned away, calling the police and his team to meet in the main part of the motel, wondering to himself for the millionth time if he had lost his chance.

In a bullet-proof vest
with the windows all closed
I'll be doing my best
and I'll see you soon
and in a telescope lens
and when all you want is friends

See You Soon – Coldplay

I AM SO SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG. I just randomly got no new inspiration and the only thing that prompted me to finish this chapter today was the Tumblr page HotchandEmily. It's great, go check it out! Anyway, I included those lyrics at the end because I really wanted to make the chapter title something to do with bullet proof vests and I'm still mad about the idea so I think I'll change the Fic name to 'In a Bullet Proof Vest'. PLEASE TELL ME IF THAT CHANGES ANYTHING IN RELATION TO THE PEOPLE FOLLOWING THIS FIC, I HAVE NO IDEA (Like if I change the name, if it makes it so people have to re-follow it).

Anyway, as usual I want to thank you all for bearing with me and this fic. I love you all and it would mean a lot if you reviewed! Seriously though, I live for those things.

Ta!