A/N: And we're here. Doing this episode in 2 parts so don't sweat when you get to the end and it's not all closed off. Please read and review.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds.


The briefing ended with Hotch instructing that all inquiries be directed to himself or another member of the team. As the various agents dispersed, Hotch nodded to the team to join him at the front. He glanced around at his team and noted the one person missing… Emily.

"Where's Prentiss?" he asked, looking at the group. He was met with blank looks, except Morgan. "She was right behind me during the briefing," he replied, his eyes wide.

Hotch turned to the team, providing them with tasks for the time-being, before catching Morgan's eye and nodding towards his office. The two agents made their way upstairs and shut the door behind them.

Emily swallowed the tears that were pushing, "I know what the world can do to a girl who only sees beauty in it… like you," she said quietly. Garcia bit her lip and watched as her dear friend struggled with her emotions. "Somehow you… you always make me smile." Emily paused and smiled sadly, "And I don't think I've ever thanked you for that."

Hotch frowned as Morgan recounted another story from Garcia, clinching his suspcions. He sighed and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk, dropping his head in his hands. Morgan's shoulders sagged as he watched his friend, sure that Hotch was regretting his decision to not push Emily harder. After a few moments of silence, Hotch spoke up.

"She was saying goodbye."

Morgan wrinkled his brow and sat in the seat opposite his boss. When Hotch looked up and saw his face, he sighed.

"Think about it," he started, "Garcia in the bathroom. Rossi in the elevator. You in the car…" Hotch huffed, "She's saying goodbye to everyone. She's saying goodbye to her loved ones."

Morgan nodded and leant his elbows on his knees, "What about you?" he asked.

Hotch thought back to that evening in his office and he felt the tears well up. "She said goodbye a couple of weeks ago. After Louisiana," he said quietly, thinking back on the last time he'd held her in his arms.


Emily backed away, through the group of agents towards the back of the room. Just before she reached the door, she turned and pushed the glass open. She made her way through the foyer and climbed into the elevator.

As the doors closed, Garcia switched to the next camera, at the front of the building. She watched as Emily rushed down the steps and waved down a cab.

As the car drove away, Garcia zoomed in on the rear window and saw the emotion on her friend's face. "God Emily, what were you thinking?"

Garcia ran through the corridor, leading to Hotch's office. Without even knocking, she burst through the door, surprising Morgan and Hotch. "You guys need to see this."

She led them back to the conference room and brought the footage up on the big screen. When it was over, she turned and was saddened by the look of defeat on Hotch's face. He quickly pulled on the mask and with a steely voice gave her the instructions. "Find the number of the cab." He stopped and turned, walking back to the table and writing down a series of numbers, handing the paper to Garcia. He started to walk away again when Garcia spoke up.

"Uh sir?" she asked, holding up the slip.

Hotch stopped and turned in the doorway, "A list of Prentiss' current and former contact numbers," he explained, "Try them all Garcia."

Garcia nodded as she and Morgan watched Hotch storm back to his office and close the door. The two agents turned back to the screen, to see Emily's tear-stained face.


Garcia looked around the group, her eyes stopping on Hotch. "I hate to be the one to ask this but… how long does Emily have?"

Hotch sighed deeply and shook his head, "Her best chance is also the most troubling." He paused and pursed his lips, "Doyle saved her for last because he views her as his stressor. Which means he'll take his time."

The team exchanged glances as Hotch walked towards the kitchenette, his emotions seeping from his skin and making the team evermore aware of the torture he must be going through.

Hotch poured the steaming water from the jug, stirring the black liquid. This was going to be a long chase… no doubt in his mind that Doyle would make it difficult to find her… so Hotch needed to be alert. He took the first sip of coffee and thought back over Garcia's question.

He couldn't fault his friend. She was just asking what everyone else was thinking. He just hated the answer. He couldn't imagine the torture that Emily was bound to go through at the hands of Doyle. If it felt anything like what he was feeling now, he didn't know how she would survive. He had seen the photos from the villa in Tuscany, and after what JJ had found out from Langley, he knew that Emily had managed to charm him. And as the man who currently held her heart, Hotch knew what it felt like to fall in love with her.

"White with one."

Hotch was broken from his thoughts when JJ spoke up. He smiled sadly and reached up for a clean mug, scooping in the ingredients for JJ's drink. After switching on the kettle again, the two friends leant on the counter, waiting in silence as the water boiled.

"I should've seen it," Hotch stated quietly.

JJ looked over at his face, exhausted yet determined. She wrinkled her brow, "Hotch," she started.

Hotch stood up straight and shook his head. "She was distancing herself from me. Avoiding my calls, refusing to visit with Jack… she loves Jack… I should've realized." After the years of having Emily by his side, the sudden loss of that contact should've raised his suspicions. And the whole time he'd been thinking it was something else. He'd been thinking that she'd stopped loving him, when the truth was that she'd loved him so much she'd put herself in harms way.

JJ reached over and placed a gentle hand on Hotch's arm. She waited for him to look at her before she replied, "She was protecting you," JJ whispered, "She knew that if she told you, that you'd do anything to help her." She paused, "She loves you Hotch. And this was her way of making sure that you stayed safe."

Hotch shook his head as he stirred the coffee. "I should've seen it…" his voice trailed off as he handed JJ the mug and walked away.

JJ turned, her eyes following his path. She looked up at Morgan and Rossi, and shook her head. The men exchanged glances, then turned to look at Hotch, alone in the corner.


She lay on the grass, the sun shining on her face. Across the yard she could hear giggling. She looked up and smiled at the sight of her two boys wrestling in the grass. When they looked up from their game, and in her direction, both faces beamed with smiles. She watched as the man and boy stood, the latter racing to her side and lying next to her while the man wandered out of view. She and the boy sat up and watched as the man made his way over, carrying a small girl with long dark curls. The man sat next to her and passed over the smiling girl. He leant over and kissed her gently.

"I love you Emily."

She smiled back at him and ran her hand over his face.

"I love you too Aaron."

Emily's eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times. She glanced around the room to get her bearings, finally realizing where she was. She tried to sit up in the bed, but her body was so heavy. She lay back and looked at the ceiling.

The door opened and she looked up to see a woman walk in, her white coat shifting as she moved.

"Ms Hilaire," the doctor smiled, "Glad to see you're awake."

Emily wrinkled her brow and nodded, waiting as the physician checked her vitals. As she started for the door, the doctor turned.

"I'll let your friend know that you're awake."

A few moments later, the door creaked open and Emily lay still, her heart beating faster and harder. Emily opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

JJ smiled and walked to her friend's bedside, handing her a small envelope and squeezing her hand. The two women held on to each other, not knowing the right words to say.

"I can't stay long," JJ said quietly, nodding towards the envelope, "Just something to get you started. I'll contact you when you get there."

Leaning over the bed, JJ kissed her friend's cheek.

"How is he?" Emily asked timidly. JJ shook her head and a tear fell down her cheek.

"Tell him I love him," Emily whispered. JJ nodded and squeezed Emily's hand again, before turning and leaving. As quickly as she'd appeared, she was gone again.

Emily opened the envelope and looked through the documents. A passport and birth certificate telling Emily her new identity.

Charlotte Hilaire, DOB: September 9, 1971.

Also inside the envelope was a few credit cards and a slip of paper, listing a bank account. She looked at another paper, the printout of an e-ticket to Paris. Leaving in five days. She sighed and lay back on the pillow, the papers dropped to her side. She looked up and found something had dropped from between the papers and onto her lap. Sitting up, she unfolded the paper and gasped.

She ran her finger down Hotch's arm, outstretched as he held the camera up. His other arm was wrapped around her bare shoulders, holding her naked body tight into his side. Their bodies surrounded by red cotton sheets and white blankets, Emily hadn't been able to suppress her smile as she looked up at Hotch's beaming face. That morning had been perfect.

She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she turned the photograph over. On the other side, in his handwriting, was a message.

I understand. And I love you.

Simple yet clear.

Emily sighed and packed the things away in the envelope, painfully leaning over to place them in her bedside table. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander back to that afternoon in the yard…