A/N: Thanks to Southunlady and Kathlyn4060 for the reviews! So excited to have everyone jump into the next part of the story.

Chapter 2: All the Love in the World (song of same title, by Nine Inch Nails)

Hotch ended his call with HR and sighed, leaning back in his chair. He turned around, typing his login into the computer that sat in the desk on the wall, and opened the system to check on the current backlog the BAU was currently fielding. Garcia had done a great job of cataloguing the cases that were coming in, categorizing them based on criteria the team had come up with. They were tackling the cases as a team, each agent taking on a consultation role from a distance on the cases that didn't yet meet the criteria for the team to fly out and offer support on-the-ground.

As he flicked through the files that would be allocated to each of the team members, Hotch clicked on the drop-down box that allowed him to choose which agent to allocate the case to, and he stopped when he saw her name. Maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe it was Garcia's inability to erase any memory of their beloved team member. Either way, there was her name.

Emily Prentiss.

Hotch sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his mouth as he leaned back. His eyes were glued to her name.

Emily Prentiss.

His eyes shifted up to the collection of photos on the shelves above his computer screen: his favourite photo of him and Jack; another photo of Jack with both his parents; a photo of Hotch's mother at their family home in Charleston…

Hotch's eyes settled on the one photo that he turned to in his darkest moments since Emily's "death". It was risky keeping that photo in his office, but it had become something of a talisman when Hotch's mind took him down more depressing tracks. He kept it hidden, out-of-view from visitors, but he knew it was there. And he could justify its place in his office, given it was a photo of the whole team. Nobody else had to know that his eyes were always drawn to one person, whenever he looked at the image.

The team had gone to Rossi's house for a Fourth of July barbecue, an afternoon of swimming and capture the flag and way too much food. It was just the team and their families, and after that awful case in LA, the team had needed the time to deflate. Some time to just be together without the disturbing disruptions that came with their work. It was also nice for Jack and Henry to spend time together, the boys having the common experience of being a kid of a profiler.

An uncharacteristic smile grew on Hotch's face at the thought of Emily's green face when she showed Henry and Jack how to do roly-poly's down the hill. She had stumbled back up the grassy hill and dropped next to Hotch, and he had to run his fingers through her hair to calm her rumbling tummy. While the boys continued their fun, Emily stayed with Hotch, watching over them.

Coming back to the present, Hotch reached up to take the photo in his hands, and his eyes scanned the image showing their curious family in various states of inebriation and fatigue.

JJ's nose was a little pink from time in the sun, but she was still grinning with Henry on her hip and Will by her side. On JJ's other side was Rossi, with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Rossi's free arm was casually hooked over Reid's shoulder, the young doctor's head falling back as he laughed. Reid was flanked by Garcia, who had a finger running suggestively down Morgan's singlet-covered chest. Morgan's spare arm was sitting on Emily's shoulder, his white teeth shining brightly.

And then, there they were, completing their extended BAU family. Emily held Jack on her hip, sitting him between her and Hotch. Hotch's arm was around both of them, coming to rest on Emily's waist, holding on tight. Jack's tired head was resting on Emily's shoulder, the boy getting sleepy from too much swimming and too much food.

It had been such a fun day, and no one had wanted it to end. They stayed until the sun went down, Henry and Jack slept in one of the rooms downstairs while the team sat around the fire pit sharing war stories. Morgan's tendency to flirt with everyone from local detectives to unsubs was a hot topic, and as the team shared their favourite pieces of useless trivia that Reid had spouted over the years, Hotch had held a secret hand on Emily's back, under the guise of keeping her warm. It was a day that had strengthened the ties between the members of the BAU family, all of them enjoying a rare moment of fun together. It wouldn't be long before they had to all be back in the trenches, so they tried their best to make the most of it.

As he looked closer at the image, Hotch noticed the way that Emily's head came to rest on Jack's. He had known for a long time that she loved his son. It was one of the reasons he loved her. She cared about Jack, she fought for Jack… he had no doubt she would die for Jack, like she had "died" for Declan.

But it wasn't just the big things that made Hotch sure how much Emily cared for Jack. There had been so many little things she'd done for Jack that, over time, had confirmed Hotch's suspicions. Right from the beginning of their burgeoning friendship, Emily had shown Hotch that she could be trusted with Jack. She met him on his level, debating the pros and cons of their shared favourite books and movies. She had created space in her own home for Jack, making sure that he always had something fun to keep him occupied when they visited her home.

On that last thought, Hotch realised that the signs of Zac's existence had been there all along. He couldn't believe that he had been so blind. Emily's crate of toys, the Transformers and Masters of the Universe toys that Jack had been so obsessed with… they must have been Zac's. And it had never occurred to Hotch, when he'd been watching Jack play with those toys, that they had belonged to Emily's own child.

For an FBI profiler, that was a pretty obvious clue to miss.

Reluctantly bringing himself back to the present, Hotch reached back up to put the photo back in its place. He had work to do and he really needed to get back to it. Bringing his eyes back down to the computer screen, he huffed, he could daydream when he was at home and behind closed doors.

He clicked on the drop-down menu and allocated the case consult to Reid, and moved onto the next one with a sigh.

Only 128 to go.

Garcia closed the door of her bunker behind her, checking that the door was properly closed before she headed down the hall. While she was in town, JJ had invited Garcia out for coffee, telling her that it was the perfect excuse to come and visit with the rest of the team. For her own part, Garcia loved any excuse to catch up with JJ, and she'd been jonesing for a second round of caffeine when she'd only just finished her first cup of the day.

As she neared the elevator bays, just outside the glass doors of the BAU, she heard a familiar voice and stopped in her tracks, watching the scene unfold in front of her.

"I'm not sure if he'll be free to see you," Anderson explained to his guest as they exited the elevator, "Agent Hotchner is a very busy man."

Garcia watched as the two men stopped in the elevator bay, and she examined the rather attractive male specimen who was being accompanied by Anderson. Thick, dark curls. Dark eyes. Tall and thin, with a goofy look to him. There was something familiar about him, but Garcia couldn't figure it out. Garcia checked out his green Zoo York t-shirt and matching Converse sneakers and huffed. As cute as this mystery man was, he was probably a little too young, even for her.

"I understand that Agent Anderson," the visitor replied, "But I was told by my mom and grandmother to speak with Agent Hotchner if I had questions."

"Penelope Garcia, as I live and breathe," JJ remarked, surprising Garcia as she walked up behind her. Garcia had told JJ to meet her at the office at 10, but JJ had been caught up in a meeting in DC and had been running late. She'd just stepped out of the elevator and was getting ready to start down the hall towards Garcia's office when she'd found her standing still in the middle of the walkway.

Garcia swatted JJ's arm and rolled her eyes, "You're lucky I don't carry a gun, blondie," she squeaked, pulling JJ into a tight, short-lived embrace.

"Hmm… a gun in the hands of this lunatic like you? That's a recipe for disaster," JJ joked, squeezing Garcia's side, "So… coffee?"

Garcia grabbed JJ's wrist and started to drag her towards the BAU, ignoring JJ's not-so-subtle dig at her sanity, "Not just yet missy… there's a mystery unfolding in the BAU."

JJ walked along with Garcia, and when she followed her line of sight, her eyes grew wide. Anderson was leading Zac right into the BAU. She bit her lip as the two men pushed through the glass doors, and Anderson led Zac through the maze of desks and towards the stairs.

"Who's that with Anderson?" JJ asked, wondering if she could find out how much Garcia knew, and then come up with a plan to divert Garcia's attention away from Emily's son. It wouldn't do to have Garcia digging into Emily's secrets, at least not without the woman in question being there to explain it all herself.

Garcia shrugged and shook her head, as she grabbed JJ's arm and dragged her into the bullpen, "I don't know," she replied, "But they don't call me the oracle because I mind my own business. This will require some time in my bunker…" she paused and glanced at JJ, "… before or after coffee?"

JJ shook her head, "After coffee, Garcia," she insisted, "You know you need it." She needed to find something she could use to distract Garcia from this particular "digging expedition", and while coffee would be a good start, she knew her friend. She couldn't keep her away from her bunker forever. JJ just needed to buy time until she could come up with a plan.

Even though Garcia's growing headache should have been enough to get her to run for coffee, she stayed in place, watching as Anderson gestured to Hotch's door. The young man followed the agent as he made his way up the stairs and, from where they were standing on the other side of the glass doors, Garcia gasped.

"Oh my god! Doesn't he know it's end-of-month?" she exclaimed, "The boss man is going to eat him alive!" she shrieked, as the two men reached the landing and took the final steps to Hotch's door.

JJ chuckled and shook her head, "Better him than us," she said softly, tugging on Garcia's arm, "And, in an effort to not get caught in the crossfire, we should get out of here."

Garcia gave in, letting JJ pull her away from the doors, and away from the captivating show. She took one last look as the young visitor stood by while Anderson tapped on Hotch's office door. As it opened, and the young man disappeared inside, Garcia and JJ reached the open elevator and stepped inside. Garcia smiled slyly, hoping that JJ would remain unaware of the plan Garcia was hatching. She would find out who the guy was.

Get coffee… ditch JJ… return to bunker… find out the truth.

Hotch scribbled his signature across one more write-up, breathing out as he closed the file and dropped it onto the growing pile of papers ready for records. He looked over to his inbox, the slowly-depleting pile that was yet to be approved, and he sighed heavily. He was certain that they would find him one day, buried in a mound of papers with a pen poised between his fingers. It had actually been a joke that Emily had repeated over the years, and now, she wasn't here to tell it, or to tell him to put the pen down and take a break from the work.

Jack was at a sleepover tonight, so if Hotch pushed through, he could probably get all of these approved by the end of the day. Although, that would leave more space for more paperwork to pile up again by Monday morning. A dark part of Hotch's brain wished he had made more of the opportunity to skip the paperwork when they were hunting Foyet. He really hadn't embraced that temporary change as much as he should have.

Just as he was about to flip open the next folder, Hotch heard a knock at the door, and he looked up.

"Come in."

Anderson pushed the door open and, with an apologetic face, gestured to the visitor he was escorting, "My apologies, Agent Hotchner," Anderson started, "But this young man insisted on speaking to you now. I did tell him that it's a very busy time of month but he…"

Anderson stopped when Hotch held up his hand.

As soon as Anderson had stepped aside, and Hotch had seen who he was gesturing to, his mouth had gone dry. He swallowed hard and nodded, "Thanks Anderson," he said quickly, "I'll take it from here."

Anderson nodded and stepped aside to let the young man into Hotch's office, then closed the door behind him.

Hotch was surprised at the sudden presence of Emily's son in his office. He hadn't expected this, although a part of him wondered why. Zac was very clearly the spitting image of his mother, in appearance and in personality, so it should be no surprise that Zac had inherited his mother's tenacity along with her dimples and dark hair.

Given that this was the second failure on Hotch's part today, he was beginning to wonder about his investigative skills. At least, as they applied to anything involving Emily Prentiss and her son. When it came to her, he always seemed to get things backwards, first when it came to putting the pieces together about her being a parent, and now about Zac. Hotch could assume why Zac was now standing in his office, but given his track record so far today, he decided to let the young man tell him.

He smiled and stood from his desk, "Zachery. How are you?" Hotch asked, holding out his hand.

Zac chuckled and shook the older man's hand, "Please, call me Zac. Only Grams calls me Zachery… and Mom when I get into trouble."

In that moment, when he'd briefly forgotten his new reality, Zac looked down at his feet, before clearing his throat and raising his eyebrows nervously. He had to stop doing that, bringing down the room by bringing up his mother. He still wasn't used to living in a world without Emily Prentiss, and it was proving to be a more difficult adjustment than he'd anticipated.

Hotch smiled sadly, directing the younger man to the couches in the corner and ignoring the obvious use of past tense that Zac was still getting used to, "In that case, Zac, please call me Hotch… or Aaron."

As they moved over to the other corner of Hotch's office, Zac nodded, "How was North Carolina?" he asked, "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Zac sat on the long lounge on the back wall of the room, and Hotch turned one of his visitor's chairs around to face his unexpected visitor. Hotch leant forward with his elbows on his knees, studying Zac as he looked around the room.

Hotch shrugged, "It worked out in the end," he replied, "Or… as well as we could have hoped."

They sat in silence for a moment, Hotch studying Zac's face and finding even more reminders of Emily; Zac studying Hotch's office, his eyes catching on a curious photo on the shelf behind Hotch's desk. He was fairly certain that was his mother, but he'd need to find a way to get a closer look to be sure.

Hotch cleared his throat, "So what can I do for you Zac?" he asked nervously.

Truth be told, Hotch was hoping to avoid a reunion with this young man until he knew what was happening with Emily. At least that way it was one less person to feel guilty about. But it didn't surprise him that, having just met this young man a few days ago, he was suddenly in his office, probably armed with an arsenal of questions that Hotch would have trouble answering.

Emily's status was a secret to all but a few, select individuals. And Hotch was under orders to limit any conversations about her status to the members of that small group. JJ, Clyde, and the Director.

Zac looked up nervously and bit his lip, "Uh… this is probably going to sound really strange but…" he paused and twisted his fingers in his lap, "I came back, permanently, to the States about six weeks after Mom died, and I went to Grams and Pop's for dinner. Grams gave me a letter," he explained, dropping his tone, "It was from Mom."

Hotch frowned and bit his lip, "How did your grandmother get the letter?" he asked, so many questions flooding his mind, given what he knew of his own letter, but he decided to keep them to himself.

Zac reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, tapping it against his hand, "Grams said that Mom's friend, JJ, gave it to her," he explained, holding out the envelope to Hotch, "I called her after I read the letter to ask why there were no photos left at Mom's apartment..." he paused when Hotch looked up, a confused expression on his face... "I moved in there when I came back to DC, and JJ said that she knew where the photos were, and said she'd bring them by."

"I didn't even think, but of course you moved in there," Hotch said softly, running his finger over Emily's handwriting on the envelope, "I guess that makes sense."

Zac nodded, "Yeah... you helped her move in there right?" he asked, to which Hotch nodded.

Hotch held up the envelope, "I don't want to intrude, so if you don't want me to you can say no, but... would you mind if I read this?"

Zac nodded, "Of course, Aaron," he replied, "It's why I showed it to you."

Zac watched Hotch's face carefully as he pulled out the letter and perused its contents. Zac had studied every word of the letter, looking for something that would explain what had happened to his mother. Her vagueness about her demise suggested that she had written this well before her death, unsure who it was that would come after her, but certain that someone would.

Hotch's eyes read over every word of the letter, smiling in places and frowning in others. It made him realise how terrified Emily must have been, to feel the need to keep her child a secret from the team… from him... to protect him from monsters like Doyle. She hadn't been with the team for long when Gideon had lost the love of his life to one of the monsters they were chasing. And only a couple of years later, she had watched as Hotch's family was sent away, in a futile effort to save them from another monster they were chasing.

And just a couple of months ago, when the team discovered the motive behind Doyle's murders of families in DC, she had been petrified that this monster would find out about Zac and would take him from her. Hotch knew that, as sure as he knew himself. Emily had spent her entire career keeping her son's existence a secret, in order to protect him.

Hotch had spent the time since he'd first learned of Zac's existence questioning his friendship with Emily, and here was the evidence. She did trust him. There was no doubt about it. But her fears for her son's safety prevented her from sharing this one last secret, with Hotch or with anyone else. And now that son was sitting in front of him, no doubt waiting to ask him how his mother died.

As Hotch looked up from the paper, Zac recognised a hint of emotion in his face. He wrinkled his brow, knowing that he had been right all along. His mom had loved this man. And he loved her back.

Zac cleared his throat, "In the last five years or so that Mom worked with you all…" he huffed nervously, "I got to see my mom occasionally, but she always tried to keep me away from the disturbing reality of her work. I swear she still saw me as the two-year old who was afraid to walk on wet grass…" he paused and shook his head, staring at the piece of paper that Hotch held out to him, "… I just want to know what happened. Why she died."

Hotch wrinkled his brow, thinking about Emily's words, and the pressure to find the right way to explain it all to Zac without breaking the rules. While he was running the script through his mind, Zac spoke up again.

"Of all the people she spoke about with me, she had so much respect for you, Aaron… at least in the end, if not in the beginning," Zac continued, "And like she said in the letter, you're the person she trusted to give me a straight answer."

"Have you spoken to your grandparents?" Hotch asked, "I'm sure they have something to say about this."

Zac shook his head, "I love my grandparents, but they still see me as a kid… they always will… but I'm not a kid anymore," he replied, "And Mom said to come to you. Even if my grandparents were willing to tell me what they thought happened, it would be conjecture. Only you have the answers to the questions that I have. Only you know why my mom died."

Hotch laced his fingers together and breathed in nervously, kicking himself for not seeing this coming after their chance meeting at the cemetery. He should have assumed that Emily's son would be just like his mother and wouldn't stop until he got the answers he was looking for. Hotch considered his options and realised that, if he didn't help Zac to understand, if he didn't find a way to explain what had happened, without sharing too much, Zac would try to find the answers elsewhere.

As Hotch ran through that scenario in his mind, he flashed on an image too dark to imagine. That scenario lead to more death and darkness. Zac could find himself in some pretty scary situations, and Hotch would hate to be responsible for that. He had the opportunity now to protect Emily's son, just like she had. He shook his head, Emily had been right to send Zac to him. He could find a way… he would find the words.

When Hotch finally looked up and saw Zac wringing his hands anxiously, he realised he wasn't the only one in the room who was nervous.

"Ok," Hotch said softly, resulting in Zac bringing his head up quickly, "I'll tell you what I can."

"Thank you, Aaron," Zac said brightly, a sparkle in his eyes, "You have no idea what this means to me."

Hotch nodded and pursed his lips, "We're heading to a case down in Jacksonville," he explained, "But we should be back by Friday…" he paused and handed Zac the letter, "My son is going to Delaware this weekend with his aunt, so if you want to come around on Saturday night, I think this conversation will go over a little easier if pizza and beer is involved."

Zac huffed and nodded, "I'd like that," he replied, smiling sadly and pausing for a moment before he looked up again, "What can I bring?"

"Just bring yourself," Hotch replied, "I'll call you with the details."

Zac nodded again and stood, taking out a business card from his wallet and handing it to Hotch. As the older man took the card, Zac held out his hand and they shook. Zac looked up at Hotch with a content face, satisfied that this friend of his mom's might actually give him the answers he needed, "You really have no idea what this means to me," Zac said seriously.

Before Hotch could rescind the offer, Zac tipped his head towards the door, "I'll see you on Saturday."

Hotch nodded, "See you then, Zac," he replied, watching the young man open the door and leave the office, closing the door behind him. As Hotch watched Zac through the blinds of his office windows, he walked back over to his desk and dropped into the chair behind his desk. He looked up at the photo of the team again, his eyes falling on Emily's face, and he sighed.

"What the hell were you thinking, Emily?"