(Hii so in this story it's not following the season timelines and all storylines as it's AUish, and Haley isn't going to die in this story but I think I'm going to add in the Doyle storyline I'm not sure yet, but the minimal loss ep is kind of going to happen in this chapter just not as in depth as it was in the episode and it's not going to be word by word of what people said. Hope you enjoy :)

Emily and Reid were being held in the La Plata county., they had gone on an undercover mission and things hadn't gone to plan. She had faith in the team and in Hotch. After their heart to heart in the hotel room, they hadn't spoke much, not because they were trying to avoid each other but just because they didn't know what to say to each other.

Hotch and the team had arrived just outside the county, when he had heard Emily and Reid was being held captive he had not hesitated to get the team down there as soon as possible. Mostly because he was worried about Emily, he had heard some people were shot inside the place and was praying it wasn't Emily, or Reid too.

"It's gonna be alright...they'll sort it." Emily whispered to Reid. Reid nodded, "I know. We just need to act like we're one of them..not agents." Emily nodded in agreement, they both turned as they heard Cyrus and his gang walk in.
"Which one of you is FBI?" Cyrus shouted, taking out his gun. They both looked at each other and stayed silent, "Sorry, what?" Emily asked, trying to act oblivious. "There's an agent in here. I want to know which one of you it is before I blow his brains out and then yours!" He shouted to her.
Emily raised her hands, glancing at Reid before turning to Cyrus, "Okay..it's me. I'm the agent." She sighed.
Cyrus grabbed her hair, she gasped trying to not show pain, "Your coming with me!" He shouted.

By this point, they had installed secret audio footage so the team could listen in to what was going on. Cyrus dragged Emily into a room, as he started carelessly, brutally beating her. She groaned as she was thrown into the wall, followed by a knee to the stomach.

Hotch could hear Emily getting beaten, he was holding the headphones as he kept taking them off, unable to listen to Emily being hurt. He couldn't stand this. She was getting hurt and he was going to kill the man himself once he got hold off him. His eyes watered, as he held in his emotion, putting the headphones back on even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.
He could hear Emily's cries in pain, as he had finally finished beating her.

Hotch hurried to Rossi, "We need to go in. Now." He said, in a serious stern tone. "Aaron..we need to wait till it's night. That's our only chance of element of surprise." He said calmly, this wasn't the first time he had seen the pair of the, get overly emotional about one another. But he had always dismissed it, it was none of his business.
He nodded, "Okay. We need a plan." Rossi nodded, "There's a chance..they may not make it out of this alive." Rosie admitted, with sadness.
Hotch shook his head, "That's not happening." He said as he walked off.

Emily was on the bed, trying to signal to her team that 3AM they were going to attack. She held in the pain in her ribs as she sat up trying to signal, she just hoped they'd realise in time. Before they knew it, 3AM hit and they knew they all had to leave. Emily was helping getting people out as she saw Morgan, she hugged him quickly. "I'm glad to see you." She said with a light chuckle. He nodded, "You need to get out of here, where's Reid?" He asked. Emily widened her eyes, "I- I'm not sure. I think he's with Cyrus.." she sighed, she was scared for Reid. "Just get out of here, I'll find him." Morgan reassured her.

Hotch was standing outside with a gun, waiting in case Cyrus came out. He was anxious, he'd not seen Emily come out yet and wondered why. Had they already killed her for being an agent?
Suddenly, he saw the whole place explode into flames, and his eyes widened. "Is Prentiss still in there?" He exclaimed to Rossi, panic in his voice. Rossi shrugged, he felt fear himself for both agents and Morgan who had entered, "I don't know." He admitted.

Aaron started scamming the place for any signs of her coming out, all he saw were members of the cult. Then he saw her wandering around, her top was bloody and her hair was a mess, he could tell from here that all her face was bruised. Emily was searching around for anyone she knew, and then she saw Aaron, "Aaron.." She exhaled, as she ran over to him and wrapped her arms right around him. He pulled her into his embrace, holding her tight, "I thought you were gone." He whispered, letting out a sigh of relief as he stroked the back of her hair.
She nodded, "I'm here.." she said softly, not letting go.
As soon as she saw Reid and Morgan, she ran after Reid to hug him tight. She was so glad he wasn't hurt.

They had all landed home and Emily was exhausted, not to mention in pain. "Let me drive you home." Hotch said, taking her bag as he insisted on doing.
She nodded, she was too tired to drive anyway, "Okay." She said and walked with him. "Aaron..can I- stay with you tonight? I don't want to be alone.." she said with a shrug, "It's okay if not.." although she could of gone to Kierans, he wouldn't of understood anything she'd been through the past few days and she didn't want to be with him tonight, plus he was working night shifts so he wouldn't be there.
He shook his head, "No, of course you can."

As they arrived at Aaron's, he opened the door for her as they both walked in, he placed the bags down and turned to her. "Do you need anything? A drink maybe?" He asked, softly. She nodded slowly, "Some water would be nice." They walked to the kitchen and he poured her a glass of water, taking out some painkillers and handing them her. "You may want these too." He said with a small smile. She smiled, "Thanks" she said before taking them.
There was a silence as neither of them spoke, both not knowing what to say and both reflecting on what had happened.
"I never asked you..are you okay?" He asked, breaking the silence.
She nodded, "Yeah..I don't regret trading myself for Reid. It just hurts." She said with a shrug. He nodded, "The painkillers should help, and I'm sure some sleep will." He added.
"I don't know if I'll be able too." She admired, "I never can after a case"
He nodded, "Me neither."

They both decided to go into the living room, neither of them wanting to sleep yet. They were both sat on the sofa, Emily had a blanket over her and her thoughts were racing through her head. "Aaron?" She said softly, breaking the silence they had made from watching some show that was on tv. "Yeah?" He raised a brow, pausing the TV.
"When Cyrus was attacking me, the only thing that was distracting me from the pain was..you. I couldn't stop thinking about you." She admitted, looking into his eyes. He moved to face her more, nodding as he listened. "I lied to myself..and to you, the other week. I do love you, of course I do. I've never stopped and..I tried to distract myself with Kieran, and he's a nice guy..but he's not you." She said, not breaking eye contact with him.
He widened his eyes a little, he wasn't expecting that, he truly thought he had lost her forever. The words kept replaying in his eyes, she loved him. "Emily-" he was cut off by Emily leaning in and pressing her lips against his softly. He kissed her back, placing a hand on her face as he deepened the kiss, after a minute he pulled away "I love you too." He chuckled, tucking a strand of her hair back. Emily smiled, "Good...because we're not being apart ever again" she said, as she kissed him once more before resting her head on his chest.
She was happy, she had finally realised what she had wanted and she didn't want to ever be apart from Aaron again. She had missed this and them together more than anything. Of course, she felt bad on Kieran, she genuinely did like him but he wasn't the man for her and they didn't work well together.

—
20 years earlier-

It was New Year's Day, the pair of them were nervous to what Elizabeth was going to say. They had gone to Aaron's that night to give Elizabeth time to cool off, but they had to face her today.
"Can we not just run off for like..the rest of eternity, until my mother cools down?" Emily asked, as she sipped her coffee. "We have to face this." He said, kissing her head, "I mean, as much as that idea probably sounds the most safe thing to do" he chuckled. She laughed a little, "I guess it's time we face the music" she sighed, grabbing her bag.

As they arrived at Emily's, Elizabeth was waiting in the hallway, her arms crossed. Emily had seen this posture before, and that face. It was not a happy one. "Mother." Emily nodded, as she walked in. "Emily..Agent Hotchner." She said, looking a them both, with a stern voice. "Did you give a thought to what I said?" She asked, swallowing. "Because- take this out on me..but not on Aaron. This is his career" she pleaded.
Elizabeth sighed, "I should have already fired him by now.." she said, letting out a sigh. "But...I listened to what you had to say, and although it's not..what I like. I've seen a change in you over the months, Emily. Your motivated for once, instead of going out partying like you usually do. And now I realise..that's probably to do with you." Elizabeth said turning to Aaron.

Aaron looked at her, nodding, "I'd never do anything to hurt your daughter..or stop her from what she wants to do."
Emily smiled a little, looking up at Aaron before turning to her mother, "Does this mean..your not going to fire him?" She asked. Elizabeth shook her head, "No. But if this affects your ability to guard my daughter-" He shook his head, "It won't. I can assure you." He said with a nod. Emily smiled widely, hugging her mother, she was so sure she was going to end Aaron's career. This was the first time her mother had done something for Emily, not for herself.
They could finally be open with relationship, and she was going to take full advantage of that. A part of her was worried though, in a few months Emily would be going to Yale and Aaron would be starting training for the BAU. It was constantly on her mind that Aaron could be accepted permanently and they'd have even less time together, she was worried that distance would ruin them.