Author's Note: Picks up immediately from the last one.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Hotch led Emily into the waiting room and paused for a moment. He hadn't introduced a woman to his brother since he'd brought Haley home on break. That was twenty-four years ago.

Sean was eleven.

Thinking back to that day, Hotch remembered that his little brother had barely so much as glanced at his future sister-in-law before he went back to watching television.

He was watching the A-Team and it really wasn't a good time to disturb him.

And as Hotch eyed his brother staring up at the flat screen hanging from the wall, he hoped for the same complete lack of interest today.

It wasn't that he didn't want Emily and Sean to get to know each other. He did! Well, eventually he did.

He just didn't want to answer a lot of questions right now.

Given how he and Emily hadn't had a chance to really talk yet themselves about what was happening, or where things were going, he didn't want to inadvertently force the discussion by making up answers about their relationship in the middle of a hospital waiting room.

That seemed a surefire way of screwing things up before they'd really even had a chance to get started.

When Hotch paused them walking for a moment, Emily began to quickly scan the room to see if she could figure out which one was his brother.

It wasn't as easy as she would have thought.

The waiting area was a pretty decent size, and there were maybe twenty or so people sitting in little clusters around the room. Even though only about half of them were white males, that was still a lot of faces to catalogue in a split second. But then her gaze caught on a man sitting alone and she knew instantly that he could only be a Hotchner. The same jet black hair, the same piercing dark eyes and high cheek bones. It was clear that he and Hotch came from the same gene pool.

Of course it went without saying that he was very attractive.

Though . . . Emily glanced at the man to her left . . . Hotch was definitely the handsomer of the two. Now granted, she might have been a bit prejudiced but she still felt on an objective aesthetic scale, that Hotch would win two to one in a poll.

That was about the point where Emily realized that her brain had wandered down a somewhat insensitive path given the nature of her visit to the hospital today.

Focus Emily . . . she berated herself as they began walking again . . . they have a seriously ill mother! Even if they didn't know what she was thinking, it still seemed wrong to have such shallow thoughts.

"Sean," Hotch called out as they approached his brother, "this is my . . . my . . ."

And he stammered for a split second as they closed the last few feet, unsure of how exactly to introduce Emily. He didn't want to say girlfriend. Though it was probably the most apt term, everything was still a little too new for him to be entirely comfortable making that initial pronouncement to a room full of strangers. And in that split second he decided that the simplest truth would do.

Nothing else would.

So as they stopped in front of Sean he smoothly finished the sentence, "this is my Emily."

If nothing else, her unsolicited appearance today assured him that much was true. She was his Emily.

The rest, the labels, they could sort out later.

Emily felt a flood of happiness at Hotch's introduction. Actually, she had to clamp down on her lip to hide the smile that wanted to blossom onto her face. Again, given the circumstances it wasn't the time for such behavior.

But later . . . she squeezed his fingers . . . later, she'd show Hotch how much that declaration had meant to her.

Sean's eyes widened in surprise as he stared up . . . his Emily! Since when the hell did his brother have a GIRLFRIEND?!

Not important right now Sean! Be polite!

Right . . . he quickly slapped on a smile as he stood up and put his hand out . . . polite.

"Sean Hotchner."

His brother definitely had good taste, he'd given him that. Even with the circles under her eyes she was beautiful.

Emily gave Hotch's brother a little smile as she shook his hand.

"Emily Prentiss."

Otherwise known as 'Hotch's Emily,' a happy little voice in her head added. Now if only she'd known that she was 'his' Emily two days ago it would have saved her a lot of needless heartache.

There was a slightly awkward pause after the two of them shook hands. And as Sean sat back down, Hotch could tell from the look on his face that he had questions. But Hotch had already decided that he didn't want to stand around and answer any questions at the moment. So now that the basic introductions had been made, he moved on to the sole reason that he'd returned to the room four minutes after he'd left it.

He dropped Emily's bag at Sean's feet.

"Watch this one too."

Given the eyebrow his brother was giving him, Sean deduced that this woman also shared Aaron's horrible job. And though he felt pretty solid about his assumption, Sean's brow still quirked up as he looked over at the attractive brunette.

"I take it yours is packed with little nightmares as well?"

Might as well get confirmation on the work connection on his own, because it was obvious that Aaron wasn't about to spill his guts.

Man . . . Sean thought to himself . . . where was Ileana when he needed her?! She would have just flat out asked this Emily woman everything. In two minutes they would've already known her job, her birthday, if she had any children, and whether Aaron slept on the right side of the bed or the left.

Emily gave Hotch's brother a sheepish smile.

"Uh, yeah, sorry."

Yes . . . Sean congratulated himself . . . confirmation! Ileana would be proud.

And while Sean internally patted himself on the back, he simultaneously shot Emily a wink as he tucked her bag under his chair.

"It's okay, I'm getting used to playing nanny," he looked up at Aaron, "you're taking her to the caf?"

At his brother's nod, Sean started digging into his pocket.

"Can you get me a coffee and a muffin please?"

Since the accident, they'd been leaving for the hospital every morning at an ungodly hour. And when he wasn't in the midst of family crises, Sean was in the restaurant business, which meant he usually slept until at least nine.

Six am this morning had been WAY too early for him to even consider food.

"Of course," Hotch said before waving his hand, "but put your money away Seanie, I'll get it."

On average he saw his little brother three times a year. The least he could do was buy him breakfast.

Sean tipped his head.

"'K, thanks. Corn if they have it, blueberry if they don't."

That was nice of him. Though now that he was thinking about it, Sean realized that not once in his life had he ever paid for ANYTHING, if Aaron was in the room when the bill arrived.

He huffed to himself . . . big brothers.

"Okay," Hotch nodded as he took Emily's hand and turned to give her a faint smile, "come on, let's go get something to warm you up."

Her eyes crinkled.

"I really just want some coffee," then, seeing saw his eyebrow going up, she quickly added, "but food sounds good too."

The eyebrow went back down and with it came a squeeze of her hand, so Emily knew that acquiescing now on the food issue was definitely the way to go.

Then just as they started out of the room she called back over her shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you Sean."

He nodded.

"Ditto. And my wife will be here soon," he shot his brother a smirk, "you two can chat."

Take that big bro. They'd had a shitty few days and a little lighthearted family gossip was just the thing they needed to take their mind off things.

Hotch rolled his eyes as he tugged Emily towards the door muttering to himself, "pain in the ass."

Emily chuckled softly at his comment, because it was really nice to see Hotch in such a domestic role. She'd never seen him with his son so she didn't know what he was like as a dad, but now at least she was getting to see him with another part of his family.

It was sweet.

And after they'd stepped back into the main corridor, they started for the elevator that Emily had just exited shortly before. The slight bit of irritation Hotch had felt for his brother began to fade away as he felt the warmth of her hand in his.

Just having that little bit of contact with her was lightening his heart.

Even though nothing had actually changed with his mother's situation, things didn't seem quite so bad with Emily now there with him.

It was easier to keep the good thought that she mentioned when he didn't feel so alone.

Theoretically, being around his family should have helped make him feel more connected, but it had actually made things even worse than when he was at home. At least there he had Jack. But here, seeing Sean now had the life that he had lost, well, it had only served to make him feel more isolated.

More, alone.

Not only did seeing Gabby make him miss his son like crazy, but seeing Ileana fussing over Sean had made Hotch miss Emily even more too. Beyond that though . . . as much as he loved Sean . . . being with his little brother was like being at work. It was expected that he was in charge. That he would make all of the decisions.

That he would take all of the responsibility if things went wrong.

But that was okay . . . he nodded to himself . . . he was the oldest. That was his job, to look after Seanie. That was not something that he resented.

It was just his life.

Sometimes though, he just wanted to let go of all that for a little while. Being the boss, being the dad, being the big brother, it was hard always being in charge. Always wondering if the choices you were making were the right ones, if you were making them for the right reason.

If you'd regret them later.

Father, chief, agent, brother, uncle, ex-husband . . . his eyes stung for a moment . . . son. Those were the roles he filled for everyone else. But with Emily, he'd discovered that he didn't have to play a part. She was accepting of his short comings, and she never made demands on him. Emily lessened his burdens, she didn't add to them. And he felt like maybe, with her help, he could once again figure out who he was outside of all the hats that he wore.

That would be nice.

After he'd pressed the button for the elevator, he looked down at her . . . and to think he'd almost passed up this opportunity.

What a fool he would have been.

As they waited for the elevator to arrive, Emily tipped her head over onto Hotch's shoulder and sighed.

God she was tired.

The doors slid open then as she thought that maybe when they got back upstairs, she could rest her eyes for a few minutes in the waiting room. After all, it was literal brain surgery, so it had to be at least a few more hours before they finished. The most important thing was to be there for Hotch when he needed her.

And she wouldn't be much good to him if she fell unconscious JUST as the surgeon came out to give him the prognosis.

They stepped inside the car, Hotch punched the button for the ground level, and then he turned to look over at Emily.

She was biting her lip as she stared up at him with a faint, sleepy, smile.

The corner of his mouth quirked up in return.

So beautiful.

And so long as they were alone . . . he leaned down to kiss her . . . he might as well take advantage of the opportunity to try on that Chapstick again. Because really . . . his tongue slid past her lips as he backed her against the wall . . . you could never get too many kisses from beautiful women that tasted like strawberries.

As Hotch's tongue started doing some wonderful things to her mouth, Emily hooked her leg around his thigh as she began to moan.

He was SOOO good at this!

But then suddenly she heard the door bounce back and her eyes popped open . . . somebody else had just joined them on the elevator.

Shit!

Immediately, she broke the kiss and with a jerk of her chin, she whispered urgently, "Hotch!," so he would ALSO focus in on the audience they now had watching them!

Disappointed at the sudden disappearance of Emily's lips . . . damn it . . . Hotch shot a hard look over to the person he had just heard step onto the elevator.

There was a man around their age smirking at them as he said jovially, "sorry to interrupt, there!"

And even though he knew the guy hadn't actually done anything wrong, Hotch still scowled at him as he felt Emily duck her head against his chest.

Not only had this jackass screwed up the first few genuinely enjoyable minutes Hotch had had since he'd gotten to do this with Emily three days earlier, but he'd also made his girl uncomfortable! And that . . . he set a full glower until the other man dropped his eyes . . . was reason enough alone for Hotch to despise him.

Bur once the interloper was staring firmly down at his shoes . . . he'd definitely gotten the hint . . . Hotch sighed as he tucked Emily back against his body.

He knew that she was embarrassed to be caught making out on an elevator, so he was trying to put her at ease again. Although he also wasn't a fan of overt public displays of affection, he most definitely wasn't embarrassed about what had happened. He rested his chin on top of her head as he watched the red numbers count down.

Because really, what straight man in his right mind would ever be embarrassed to be caught kissing Emily? That would be nuts. Besides that though . . . he ran his fingers soothingly down her back . . . the guy had walked in on a private moment.

That wasn't the same thing as them choosing to suck face in the middle of a room full of people.

Feeling the blush climb her cheeks, Emily buried her face fully into the fleece of Hotch's jacket.

GOD! She had just been caught MOANING in front of a stranger! That was SO embarrassing! Kissing in front of strangers was one thing, kissing was okay. But moaning . . . she chewed lip in agitation . . . moaning was something else ENTIRELY!

And now she was STUCK on the frigging elevator with this guy!

Though she appreciated Hotch's efforts to shield her, she really just wished to be anywhere but there. And as she tried to disappear entirely into Hotch's embrace, she sent up a little prayer.

'Please God, just get this guy OFF the elevator!'

Apparently though, God was busy with more important matters . . . understandable given their location . . . because the guy stayed with them all the way down to the ground level. Though fortunately, they did at least pick up a few more passengers along the way, so it wasn't just the three of them in an awkward silence.

The extra passengers helped a little.

And as the minutes ticked by she started to feel less unnerved about the whole thing. But still, as Hotch guided them off the car her fingers clenched his jacket as she whispered, "please let him go ahead."

She might have worked in a profession where she routinely had to ask people the most intimate, invasive details of their intimate relationships, but Emily still had been raised a good Catholic girl. And lapsed or not, she still felt some things were private. Moaning was most definitely private.

And really, she just wanted the guy to go away.

At Emily's plea, Hotch stopped walking and looked down at her with a little smile, "Emily we're adults who were sharing a private moment," then he ran his finger along her cheek as he continued softly, "there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

She pouted.

"That's easy for you to say. You weren't the one who was moaning in a public place."

Hotch's mouth quivered for a moment. But then his amusement faded when he saw that she was still genuinely bothered about what had happened. It was true that for as outgoing as her personality was, Emily was pretty conservative in many other areas.

This was apparently one of them.

And who was he to tell her that she was wrong to feel that way? He was a man, what the hell did he know about a woman's feelings on something like this?

Not a damn thing.

All he knew for sure was that she was bothered about something. And whether or not he entirely understood the reasons that she was so bothered didn't really matter, because he knew that it would take very little to make her happy again.

And her being happy was all that did matter.

So he moved them over to the side of the corridor. And as he hugged her to his chest he whispered into her ear, "we'll let him get a little further ahead." And when she murmured back a relieved, "thank you," he kissed her temple.

She was happy again and he got full body contact out of it.

That was a win all around.

His eyes closed for a moment.

And on the upside, it was at least nice to have another moment alone. Not that they were actually alone, alone, people were streaming past them. But they didn't know anyone here and nobody was paying them any attention.

And that's when he realized that they wouldn't have this when they went home.

DC was a small town and it would be nearly impossible for them to be out together. Certainly like this, like a regular couple expressing affection for one another.

The heaviness began to settle over his heart once more as he realized how hard this was going to be. Until they figured out what they were doing long term, it would definitely be best if their relationship remained completely private. Which was probably going to cause a strain.

Because obviously no woman wanted to be treated like a dirty secret.

He tipped his head down to rest against hers before he whispered, "are you really sure about this relationship Emily? You know it's going to be hard," he was quiet for a moment before his voice came back slightly husky, "and I just don't want you to wake up six months from now regretting your choices."

If he tried to build something with her, it would kill him if she grew to resent him for the life they were forced to live if they wanted to be together. If that was a really possibility, as painful as it would be, he'd rather end this now before he fell even harder and became more attached.

For a moment Emily had a stab of fear that Hotch was the one that was already regretting his choices. But then she took note of the sadness in his voice and she realized that he was afraid.

He was worried that once the two of them moved past the newness of their relationship, that she'd leave him just like Haley had.

Poor thing. His life really had sucked for a long time now.

So she tipped her head back and leaned up on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. And then she gave him a soft smile.

"My only regret would be waking up six months from now and not having you next to me." As she saw his expression brighten slightly, she quirked up her lip, "besides, I've always wanted to be involved in a clandestine love affair. It's on the bucket list."

Hotch's expression softened.

Leave it to Emily to see the positive when he could only see the negative. He saw keeping their relationship private as a dirty little secret . . . she saw it as a clandestine love affair.

Who had the better outlook on the world?

He sighed . . . and what kind of man did he want to be for her? The kind that only ever saw the negative? Or the kind that could take her positive spin and make it his own?

If he wanted to salvage any joy from his life, the choice to follow her lead seemed clear.

So a shadow of a smile crossed his lips as he looked back down.

"A clandestine love affair does sound pretty good," his eyebrow went up, "does that mean I'll get to see some manner of silk stockings and garter belts? Because that's usually what you get in the movies."

For her he would try.

After all . . . he tucked her hair back behind her ear . . . she might be his last chance.

"I think that can be arranged," she answered with a smile, "though," she intertwined their fingers at his side, "if you're getting stockings and garter belts, do you think that I could get some roses and the occasional trinket wrapped up in a little bow?"

If they were going to have to hide this, it wasn't going to be something that they were ashamed of. They would make the best of it. They would make it romantic.

It would make some of the hard parts easier.

Feeling his depression begin to lift again, Hotch leaned down to kiss her before he murmured against her lips, "roses and trinkets I can do."

They stared at each other for a moment before he gave her a little smile.

"So we're really going to try?"

This was it. This was the conversation that they needed to have before he answered any questions for Sean.

Emily nodded, "yep, we're going to try."

And if she had anything to say about it they were going to succeed. She was already at a point where she couldn't imagine anyone else. And if she'd already fallen that hard, this fast, how far gone would she be six months from now?

Exactly.

"Okay," he hugged her tightly as he breathed a little sigh of relief, "okay."

They were going to try. That was all he wanted, just the opportunity to be happy again. And he wouldn't make the same mistakes he did with Haley. If he just tried hard enough he was sure that he could get this one right.

Just then he looked up to see their elevator companion passing them with a cup of coffee. Of course when he saw Hotch looking at him, he immediately turned his head the other way.

Once the guy was out of earshot, Hotch's lip quirked up as he whispered in Emily's ear.

"The coast is clear."

She smiled against his chest, "good, then let's go get some coffee."

With Hotch's arm around her waist, they started walking again as he said firmly, "you need more than coffee, Agent Prentiss."

She frowned at him, "you're going to make me eat hospital food?"

Though she'd decided upstairs not to fight him on this, she hadn't actually considered the quality of the meal he was going to force her to eat.

If she was sick to her stomach she wouldn't be much help to him either.

His eyes crinkled slightly.

"It's actually not that bad. We've been eating here the past few days and everything's been quite edible," he squeezed her side, "I don't care what it is, but I want you to eat something substantive."

Her head rolled onto his chest as she sighed, "you're the boss."

"That I am," he kissed the top of her head, "and as this is probably the last day you'll acknowledge that fact off duty, I'm going to take advantage to get a hot meal into you."

She chuckled as they stepped through the entrance of the cafeteria.

'Yeah, they were going to be just fine.'

A/N 2: The next bit here will be a bit angstier. I figured I'd give them both a little break from their respective issues before I made them deal with reality again.