Mid-November 2007

Hotch had noticed how Prentiss' complexion had changed from a healthy pink flush in her cheeks to an extremely ghost-white all in a matter of seconds. Then, he watched as she rushed from the observation room, holding her mouth tightly and almost bowling over an officer in the process. Confliction overwhelmed him as Prentiss simultaneously bolted, and the Priest launched at the unsub in the interview room.

Having to choose quickly, he helped Rossi and Morgan pull the Priest off the unsub before dragging him out of the interview room. Hotch took a step back as Morgan and Rossi calmed him, helping slow his breathing down. Seeing as though the other two agents had things under control, Hotch walked back into the observation room. JJ stood there, white as a sheet, not having moved since moments earlier.

"JJ…" The blonde shook her head, not removing her eyes from the unsub, smiling smugly to himself. "JJ?" He asked a little louder, trying to distract her out of the nuance.

"Hotch… I…"

"It's okay… I already know what you are thinking. You don't have to say anything."

The blonde finally ripped her eyes away from that monster, instead crossing her arms and staring harshly at the floor, "He… chopped her up- "

"JJ…" Hotch interrupted, not wanting to imagine anything more.

"I'm sorry… I just…"

"I know." He paused, closing his eyes and scratching the back of his head, "Can you please check on Prentiss in the bathroom? She didn't look too flash…" Hotch would have gone and checked on her himself but being in a female bathroom on the job wouldn't have given him a good look.

JJ simply nodded, understanding exactly what he meant and made her way into the women's bathroom. As she walked in, silence filled the room. However, only moments later did she hear the remnants of gagging and spitting into the toilet bowl. "Emily?"

The brunette leant up against the toilet stall wall, feeling the nausea spiralling around in her gut. She didn't feel great at all, even after throwing up the entire contents of her stomach. Closing her eyes, Emily carefully rubbed her brow before getting the courage to stand up and flush. She emerged from the stall, with that sickly aftertaste of vomit making itself home in her mouth.

JJ glanced at her, worried, wanting to reach over and comfort the woman. She watched as Emily sauntered over to the sink, swishing around water in her mouth. The blonde always carried mints in the pocket of her jacket, and she handed one over to Emily, who gladly took it. "You okay?"

No, she wasn't okay—the thought of all those people eating that 'food' would not leave her any time soon. Emily didn't think she'd be able to even stomach food for a few days. So, she shook her head, attempting to push back any remaining bile that threatened to further make itself known.

Figuring that a breath of fresh air might help, JJ suggested stepping outside for a while. In any other circumstance, Emily would have fought, being as stubborn as she was. However, the nausea crippled her, and she had no energy to resist, so she agreed.

Thankfully the warm Florida air seemed to ease her stomach. JJ stood nearby as Emily sat against the stone wall, attempting to control her breathing and ground herself. The breath mint had disintegrated, and she could still taste the foul odour on her tongue. The blonde felt terrible and gave her another one. "I know you don't typically like to talk about these sorts of cases… But I feel like you need to…" JJ motioned.

Emily immediately shook her head, making eye contact with the blonde's bright blue eyes. "JJ… I honestly can't at the moment." That had been the last thing on her mind. Emily just wanted to forget about the previous few days- especially the last fifteen minutes. They were minutes that would haunt her for days to come.

Hotch emerged from the building holding a plastic cup filled with water with his gaze intently focused on the brunette. Her skin still looked as if all her blood had drained away and from the way she leant up against the wall with her cheek resting upon the cold, he could tell that she still didn't feel great. JJ turned to shake her head to Hotch, and his chest dropped. He'd never seen Prentiss like this at all. To see her entirely out of whack and literally sick gave him the oddest feeling that he couldn't describe.

No matter what, he felt a strong sense of obligation to make sure she would be okay, and the jet initially would be leaving at first light tomorrow. However, anybody experiencing what the team witnessed today would want to be home as fast as possible. He definitely did… So, he passed her the cup of water and quickly pulled out his cell phone, making a call to the pilots. Thankfully, they agreed to fly out in a couple hours.

In the meantime, Hotch agreed with JJ that Emily needed to at least stay away from the station. She'd done enough work for the day, and the others were perfectly capable of sorting out all the necessary paperwork.

He offered to drive Emily back to the hotel a couple blocks away. In the corner of his eye, Hotch cautiously glanced over at Emily, already starting to drift off to sleep. Exhaustion probably played a role in why she felt so ill. As Hotch thought back over the last couple days, he hadn't seen Emily have a break at all, which irritated him.

The woman just couldn't switch off sometimes.

No words were spoken between the two of them as he helped Emily up to her hotel room. It surprised him that she was not fighting him or saying that she could walk up on her own accord- which he imagined she would usually say had she not been so unwell.

He watched as the brunette crashed on the blue sofa, burying her face into one of the pillows. Hotch found a blanket and draped it over her. He even poured her a glass of water and placed it on the coffee table nearby in case she needed a drink. "Please call me if you need anything, Prentiss. I'll come and get you if you aren't awake by the time we need to go."

She whispered a thank you before closing her eyes. Hotch's gaze lingered over the brunette a moment longer than needed before he pushed himself to leave. He needed to let her rest.

When Hotch returned to the station, he helped the rest of the team finish sorting out the necessary paperwork, and much to his relief, the cannibalistic son of a bitch was out of sight. Hotch hoped he'd never see or hear of him again. He collapsed in a seat at the conference table, bringing a hand to his head. Even in full blast air conditioning, the sticky Florida air stuck to his skin like a piece of chewed-up gum under a desk.

It was the first time in the last few days where Aaron had a chance to think without some sort of distraction, and the exhaustion was beginning to manifest. From dealing with a 'satanic' case to the horrid realisation that a victim had literally been eaten, Hotch felt braindead.

Rossi strolled in with two cups of coffee and took a seat next to him, "you look like you could do with caffeine. You okay?"

Hotch breathed a heavy sigh before taking the cup, "thanks. You know, I've never had a case involving cannibalism before." Well, at least none as memorable as this.

David leant back, intertwining his hands behind his head, "there's a first time for everything." Pausing, he glanced over to Hotch, "Prentiss okay?"

"She didn't look too good when I dropped her off," Aaron muttered, making eye contact with the polished floor. "We've all worked our asses off on this case, but Prentiss… Prentiss gives everything a hundred and ten per cent."

Nodding, Rossi sipped his drink, "She's a valuable agent. How long has she been with the unit?"

"A year."

Hotch immediately flashed back to their first meeting twelve months ago. Their friendship had flourished into one of trust, integrity and honesty, and it made him wonder what life would've looked like if he had flat out refused Prentiss' transfer. But he just couldn't seem to imagine it.

She was the breath of fresh air the unit needed to keep working at its best.

Rossi noticed the younger agent in a deep train of thought, "Prentiss reminds me a lot of you when you first joined the unit. Determined, hard-working, dedicated."

The comment made Hotch glance over to Rossi with the smallest possible smile, "really? I would have thought your first memory of me was being a pain in the ass."

"There were moments," the older agent joked causing the two of them to giggle like small children. "It was pretty obvious from the beginning that you had great potential. Gideon and I used to talk about it all the time and now look at where you've come."

"Thanks." Twirling the warm cup in his hands, Hotch mentioned, "it's weird to think that one day I'll have to pass this job on to one of you guys." Not that he planned to be abandoning the job so soon, but it was inevitable.

Rossi immediately held out his hands in front of him, "oh please… NOT me for the love of God."

"What's the matter, Dave? You don't want another turn on the throne?"

The older agent whispered under his breath, "I'm still struggling how to use these weird… smart cells. How can I be unit chief if I can't even properly use the technology?"

Hotch nodded, raising a brow, "duly noted. And they are called smartphones by the way."

"Same difference."

Placing four sharp knocks on the brunette's door, Hotch yelled out to Prentiss. When he heard no footsteps or a response to her name, it took all of Hotch's resistance to not karate kick the piece of wood to the ground. Instead, he pulled out the key card from his pocket and tiptoed his way inside Prentiss' room.

She practically hadn't moved from when he left her.

As he got closer to the sofa, it relieved him to see the gentle rise and fall of her chest as well as the sound of quiet snores. Strands of Prentiss' dark hair shrouded her cheek, and her arms were neatly curled up underneath the fluffy blanket Hotch had found for her earlier.

Aaron stood there for a whole five minutes hoping that his presence would simply cause the brunette to wake up, but to no avail, it didn't work. The thought of arousing Prentiss from such a peaceful slumber seemed so cruel. However, it had to be done. Otherwise, they risked missing the flight that was due to leave within an hour. So, he gently shook her shoulder a few times, whispering her name.

Emily's eyes slowly fluttered open, and it took her a few moments to remember where she was; that often happened sleeping in so many different hotels. She spotted Hotch standing beside the sofa and memories from earlier on in the night came flooding back to her. Thankfully the bit of sleep she got had rid her of the nausea. "How long was I out for?" Emily asked groggily as she sat up and sipped the glass of water.

"Couple hours." Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't realised how much this case had knocked out of her. "How are you feeling?"

The brunette shrugged her shoulders, "better than before I guess… Just tired and embarrassed. I haven't been sick like that in years. It kinda just… Got to me all at once."

Hotch took a seat on the sofa opposite and nodded, "we all have days like that. You didn't take a break today at all, did you?" He asked out of curiosity. The woman in question pursed her lips together, obviously wracking through her brain.

"Of course I took a break, I had lunch." Emily reasoned after a few moments.

"But the lunch break only lasted half an hour, didn't it?"

The brunette shook her head as she shrugged, "why does it matter how long it lasted? I took a break, Hotch, that's all that matters."

Aaron stood up, his hands in the pockets of his trousers, "it matters because you are exhausted. And both of us know that one half an hour lunch break isn't enough to keep us going for a case. From now on I'm making a rule that you need to have a whole hour to yourself as well as a lunch break."

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Emily said, "Hotch I… It wasn't the amount of time I spent working that made me sick. I've worked on less fuel and sleep before and survived. This case was just… Plain awful." She really didn't need to reiterate the details, they'd both witnessed what'd happened in that interview room.

"I know. But if you want my honest opinion, Prentiss, the lack of breaks and your exhaustion contributed to that." Had she more energy, she would have tried to further convince him otherwise that she was okay with her schedule the way it was. But deep down, she knew Hotch was right, and that pissed her off. "I'm going to partner up with you for the next few cases to make sure you have mandatory breaks, and I'm going to tell the others too."

Emily sighed, shaking her head. There really was no talking Hotch out of this one. "What the hell am I supposed to do on my 'mandatory breaks'? Read horoscopes in the newspaper?"

"If that is what it takes to prevent you from working for an hour, then yes." He watched as the brunette screwed her face up. She may have been able to talk him out of the situation with Garcia a couple weeks ago, but there would be no way in hell that she'd talk him out of having breaks. It was a necessity she had neglected for all too long. "I'll be waiting downstairs when you're ready. Plane leaves in an hour."

No words were spoken as Hotch left the room and Prentiss moped on the sofa with her head in her hands. The anger inside of her threatened to explode at any moment. She didn't want mandatory breaks. She just wanted to get the job done and leave, not sit around and have tea parties with the local cops. What also annoyed her was Hotch assuming she had overworked herself. He may have been an excellent and sound profiler, but he didn't know her body inside and out like she did.

After tidying herself up in the bathroom and changing into something more comfortable for the flight home, Emily gathered all her belongings and made her way to the hotel lobby. Hotch stood nearby the doors with his usual stern expression observing everybody that passed in and out of the building. He could have been mistaken for a security guard for all she cared with his suit still on.

"Where are the others?" Emily asked, noticing that everybody else were nowhere in sight.

"They hitched a ride with Rossi, so it's just us."

Great. Just what she needed to be cramped in a car with someone that had just ordered her to take breaks. "Let's go then."

Hotch could tell the brunette wasn't ecstatic with him by the way she positioned her body in the passenger seat. Emily's legs were squished against the door as much as possible, and her head could almost have been superglued to the window. It amused him, but also made him wonder why she was having such a hard time accepting the new tradition.

"It will be beneficial for you, Prentiss." He muttered, knowing full well it would irk her.

Emily wanted to whip her head around and pass him a cold glare, but she resisted. It was already embarrassing enough as it was being sick on the job, and she didn't want to make a fool of herself being stupid towards Hotch.

"Look. I understand that I may have had a bad day today. But please, Hotch, I really can take care of myself. I don't need to be taking constant breaks, and I definitely don't need people to supervise me."

Hotch simply retorted back, "you will be supervised having breaks until I trust that you can take them on your own."

"It's not going to get the job done any quicker," Emily added, knowing that it would make Hotch stop and think for a moment.

"It will if your mind is sharp and rested."

Emily scoffed to herself. She turned to face Hotch for the first time since they'd got into the vehicle. "What about you? I hardly ever see you take a break." It was true. Each time she'd seen Hotch 'rest' had literally been never. He was always occupying himself in some way whether that be completing stupid paperwork or reviewing notes.

Aaron wanted to laugh as Prentiss turned the situation onto him. Hotch had to admit, he was probably just as bad as Prentiss was, if not worse. But at least when he completed paperwork in his office late at night, he sometimes poured himself some scotch or whiskey. Or whatever he felt like on that particular day. Not only that, but Hotch knew his limits, and he happily took breaks in private when he needed to.

"This is not about me, Prentiss. This is about you."

Wow. She wanted to turn around and say that's absolute bull. This was just as much about Hotch as it was her. "We work as a team, don't we? Why haven't any of the others had their breaks enforced? Why is it only me?"

He glanced over to her; the ire evident in her dark eyes amongst the harsh moonlight. She did have a point. "Because Prentiss… I need to know that you won't faint or throw up or hurt yourself because you overworked yourself. Don't get me wrong, I know you have excellent stamina, but it's obviously exhausting you. So, something has got to give."

"Okay. I will follow these 'breaks', but on one condition." Hotch sighed, preparing himself for an onslaught of more excuses. "You need to take these mandatory breaks with me."

Maybe then he'd see that this was all a sack of shit and they could go back to normal. Emily observed his reaction for a moment. Silence. That was precisely what she was aiming for.

"Deal." He spat out after a moment. Emily sent a smug smirk his way before repositioning herself into a more comfortable position.

She would find a way out of these stupid enforced breaks no matter what.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that little chapter. I really enjoyed writing some bonding between Hotch and Emily. The next episode focuses on Penelope getting shot so the next chapter will take place at the hospital. Thanks for reading guys! And leave those reviews if you can!