I do not own Criminal Minds or the characters. I merely write fictional scenarios between the characters. I do, however, own some of the characters created to give life to this story. In this particular story, Violet is a product of my imagination.

Summary: Emily and Hotch are divorced and have a beautiful five-year-old daughter. How do you get by in life when you love someone so much it physically hurts? He never thought he would divorce the love of his life, or how can he keeps living when his life is falling apart in front of his eyes.

The Face of Love: Chapter One

"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it."

― Ann Landers

The soft breeze caressed his skin as he ran across the park to get the ball; he could feel his cheeks flush from happiness and maybe even exhaustion. They had been playing at the park for a few hours now, but these moments were an absolute treasure to him. No matter how many hours he spent with her, he could never get tired. Her sweet laughter and her smile were his world. He grabbed the ball and turned around to face the little girl running toward him. A smile grew on his face, his dimples deeply showing, and the light in his eyes reflecting endless love. Her soft curls flew around her porcelain skin as she ran toward him, and then those eyes, the ones that had captivated him so long ago focused on him like a spark. Those beautiful dark eyes he could never say NO to, not those of the little girl in front of him, nor her mother.

"Daddy, daddy, I won again," The little girl sang as she bounced happily around him. He reached to pick her up and swing her around, while laughing and tickling her stomach as her merry laughter filled the air.

"I see that, sweetheart, but you always win. You know why? Because you are daddy's princess." He smiled as he pressed a soft kiss on the little girl's nose.

"Can we play a little bit longer?" The little girl asked as she bit her lip and pouted. She was so much like Emily in so many ways. He resisted the urge to laugh at how identical they were sometimes.

"Not now, sweetie, we have to go, mommy is waiting."

Violet pouted sadly but then a tiny smile reached her face. The five-year-old ran toward the car as soon as her dad set her on the ground. Hotch followed her closely, a lingering feeling of nostalgia and sadness on his face.

"Be careful Violet, you've got to wait for Daddy before you cross the street." He called to the little girl chasing after her.

"I know, I know, I'm a big girl." The five-year-old responded turning around and placing her hand on her hips with a look that could only be described as pure defiance. This time he was unable to stop himself and smirked, shaking his head as he approached his daughter and held her hand.

Together they crossed the street toward his SUV; he carefully placed the soccer ball and lunch bag they had taken to the park in his trunk and proceeded to help Violet into her car seat. His daughter smiled, and he couldn't help but place a kiss on her forehead. He closed the door and walked over to the driver's side of his truck.

"Daddy, when is Jack's soccer game?" The five-year-old asked as he pulled away from the parking lot across the street from the park.

"Next week, baby." He replied as he focused on the road.

"Can I come and watch him play again?" She asked, already excited.

"I'll ask mommy, okay? I'm sure Jack would love to have you there." He responded with a small smile.

This information didn't seem enough for the little girl; he watched her through the rear-view mirror, as a sad face covered her sweet, innocent face. He felt his stomach drop…he wished he could make her happy always and give her everything she wanted, but sometimes that was impossible.

A little while later, he pulled up in the driveway in front of the two-story house, the place he once called his own. He parked and watched as Violet unlocked her seat belt and saw her face light up a bit. Hotch got out to help his daughter down from the truck and to grab her weekend bag. Violet ran to the front door smiling, and her little fingers reached for the doorbell as she rang it impatiently.

A few seconds later, the door swung open and his daughter's face lit up completely as she threw herself into her mother's waiting arms.

"Mommy, mommy, we're here!" Violet said as her mother picked her up and held her tightly.

"Hi, baby, I missed you so much." Emily said and kissed the little girl's face and smiled happily since she felt incomplete without her child nearby. She softly placed Violet down in the foyer watching her fly up the stairs excitedly. Emily smiled softly and turned to look at the man who once held her heart, and maybe he still did.

"Hey, sorry if we are a little late…we got distracted playing soccer, and I didn't even realize what time it was." Hotch apologized looking at the woman who would always be the love of his life.

"It's okay, no problem, I understand. Hey, where is Jack?" She asked looking back at his truck hoping to see the little boy she still loved, even if it was just for a few minutes.

"Haley picked him up earlier at the park, she wanted to go see her parents before the weekend was over." He explained nervously…it had been a while since the brunette had that effect on him.

"I hope he had fun, give him a kiss for me next time he comes by." Emily said genuinely because Jack would always be a second child to her, even if he wasn't her biological son.

"Of course, I'm sure we can arrange plans so you guys can hang out soon." Hotch said knowing full well Emily loved Jack so much since she had helped him raise his son for at least five years.

"That would be wonderful, I really miss him." She said with a small hint of sadness in her voice.

"We'll figure something out." He repeated, then gazed at the driveway where his truck was parked. He had never felt like this before when he was near her; this emptiness and sadness.

"Hey, listen, may I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, looking back at her nervously staring at those beautiful dark eyes that would always make his stomach jump, those same gorgeous eyes Violet had inherited.

"Sure, come in." Emily replied, moving out of the foyer and letting him into the house.

He followed her inside into the living room, watching as his five-year-old daughter came running down the stairs with a coloring book and a fistful of crayons in her other hand. He smiled and sat down watching his ex-wife help Violet onto a cushion near the coffee table as the little girl settled to color near her parents. Watching Emily nearly broke his heart again, he would never understand what made her decide to divorce him.

Hotch always thought their marriage was nearly perfect and that they had everything they both wanted. But apparently not because less than six months ago, Emily asked him for a divorce. He was aghast; he never would have thought she would want to divorce him. Sure, they had issues, what marriage didn't, but he didn't think their relationship was so bad it had made her want to divorce him. Even until today, he still wasn't sure why she had asked for a divorce, even with their rough patch.

Emily had been forced to leave the BAU and take over the Counter Terrorism Unit, it wasn't exactly what the couple wanted but it was for the best. After Strauss had left the Bureau, it left a mess of things for Hotch to deal with as the current Section Chief. Also, for Matt Cruz who was now the Deputy Director of the FBI, and it was his suggestion that Emily leave the BAU and join a different team. Given that Hotch and Emily's relationship had been a secret to the Bureau, the couple couldn't exactly object to this decision. It was either their career or their relationship and Emily would never forgive herself if Hotch lost everything had ever worked for and loved.

Emily left the team and joined the Counter Terrorism Unit; doing that, she would be able to go home everyday at a decent time and be with her children. Although Hotch would have liked for her to just stop working altogether, he respected her decision because she loved working for the FBI. The thing with her going to the Counter Terrorism Unit was that she would be more directly working all the time with Matt Cruz. Hotch wasn't exactly a fan of Cruz since the Deputy didn't exactly have the best of the reputations when it came to women. He had watched him look at his subordinates in a way Hotch would never allow himself to do…well, maybe he had with Emily, but in his defense, he had subsequently married her.

However, JJ often told Hotch he was being paranoid, that Cruz was such a good guy. He suspected the blonde had a crush on Cruz to begin with, but it really didn't help that Emily started spending a lot of time around Cruz, and no matter how many times she told her husband there was nothing going on with them, he couldn't stop himself from feeling tremendous jealousy. In the end, it was Dave who convinced him there wasn't anything going on with his wife and the current Deputy Director, and that if he didn't stop acting like a fool he was going to screw everything up.

Things only got worse as Emily changed in a span of a few weeks. She started not acting like herself and acting differently like something was bugging her. Hotch knew she was hiding something, especially when she started losing weight, the dark circles under her eyes were evident, she was always jumpy and paranoid, and they started fighting almost daily. In the end, it was Emily who asked for a divorce; she stated there was too much going on, and she simply couldn't deal with it anymore. As much as it pained him, Hotch agreed to the divorce, but there wasn't a day since that sad night six months ago that he didn't miss her. He knew he would never stop loving her.

"So, what's going on?" Emily asked, avoiding eye contact with him, and it pained him to see them acting like two complete strangers.

"Jack's soccer team is playing again; Dave and I have been coaching them, and they are actually doing pretty well." He stated as he watched a small smile dance across his ex-wife's lips.

"I'm really happy, Jack must be very excited." Emily replied, she knew how much soccer meant to the little boy.

"Anyway..." Hotch continued as his eyes landed on his daughter who was concentrated on her coloring book, "the next game is this Saturday…I know it's your weekend to have Violet, but I was wondering if she could come for the game, at least, it will really mean a lot to Jack if she was there."

"I understand if you already have plans with her, but…" He started, but she cut him off almost immediately.

"No, it's okay, you can take her, it's fine with me." Emily responded with a small smile, despite everything going on, she knew he was a wonderful father; she would never get tired of saying that.

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose on your time with her."

"It's okay, Aaron, I'm sure she would love to go, and Jack will really love for her to be there, too." It really pained her to see her children separated. Even if Jack wasn't her real son, he had loved and protected Violet since she was born. At ten years old, Jack would do anything for his little sister, and Emily couldn't be happier to have Jack in her daughter's life.

"Thank you so much, Emily, this really means a lot." Hotch said, truly grateful, even if they weren't together any longer, he and Emily would always work together giving their children the very best they could. Hotch was about to thank her and leave, but he watched her carefully realizing his ex-wife looked more and more withdrawn with each passing day he saw her.

"Are you okay?" He asked without being able to stop himself. Emily looked more than exhausted and even thinner than usual. She had always been slim even after having their daughter, but now, she was really bordering on being underweight. The bags under her eyes were darker than before and prominent, and he could see that she was biting her fingernails again. That really worried him, even if they weren't together he would always care for her.

"Me?" She asked, surprised, and quickly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I'm fine." She quickly said, silently praying he hadn't noticed her odd behavior.

But, her micro expressions were so familiar to him, he hadn't missed the way she clasped her hands nervously, or the way her eyes looked in another direction like she did when she was trying to avoid something.

"Emily, you know that no matter what happened in the past, I will always be here for you, you know that, right?" HHe asked, making direct eye contact with her.

"Yeah, I know, I'm okay." She responded with a small smile that barely touched her lips.

"Emily..."

"I am fine, Aaron, really…I haven't been sleeping well, it's nothing."

He nodded, though not fully convinced, because he also knew Emily had been acting differently for a while now. Perhaps, even before they got divorced, he wondered if there really was something between Cruz and her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just that she wasn't herself, it wasn't the Emily he had fallen in love with.

"Okay, I have to go, but just know that if you ever need anything, I'm here." He stated and leaned down to kiss his daughter goodbye promising her that he would be there next weekend to take her to Jack's game.

Then he was gone, walking toward his car as his beautiful daughter and ex-wife disappeared behind the door. He drove away feeling empty and lost. Hotch had never stopped loving Emily; even if she didn't love him anymore, he would never be able to stop loving her as much as he did. He would do anything possible for him to do to get her back, to win her forgiveness, but even he knew that Emily's decision had been final.

Inside the house, Emily asked Violet to put her books and crayons away and to wash her hands for dinner. Violet happily bounced up the stairs to get ready for dinner, especially since mommy had promised she would play tea party once dinner was finished, and her school stuff was prepared for next day.

As the little girl disappeared into the second floor of the house, Emily watched as her ex- husband's truck vanished down the street. Her eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed her eyes closed because this situation hurt too much, the pain was so unbearable. The ringing of her cellphone almost gave her a heart attack. She looked at the caller ID and couldn't stop herself from shaking her head as she closed her eyes again answering the call.

"Hello." She answered, acting as normally as she could hoping her voice didn't betray as badly as she felt.

"Hello, Beautiful." The man who caused nightmares in her dreams said in a cold voice.

"What do you want?" She asked bitterly, unable to control herself.

"Relax, Love, I'm just checking on you...it looks like Agent Hotchner is still in the picture, doesn't it; that wasn't our agreement." He said coldly.

"He is her father, I can't deny him the right to see her." She barked back.

"Well, it seems as if he was there for more than just a fatherly visit. Now, you don't want to anger me again, do you, Love?" He asked. Emily felt like she wanted to throw up.

"I did what you asked." She replied, biting her lip cursing him in her mind.

"Not quite, but soon, Love, soon." He hung up, and Emily wished she could throw her phone across the wall.

She closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself down, but tears clung to her eyelashes. She wanted this nightmare to end, but he wasn't about to let her off that easily.

"Mommy, come on...come help me with this." Violet called from upstairs.

"I'm coming, baby." She said, wiping her eyes and heading upstairs to help her daughter. She stepped inside the bathroom and saw that Violet had the sink covered in bubbles and her hands and dress covered with soap, as well.

"Vi, what did you do?" She couldn't stop herself from smirking at her daughter.

"I was washing my hands, mommy." Violet replied innocently as she played with the bubbles in the sink.

"Oh, Violet, now you need a shower, honey." Emily said as she walked in and turned off the faucet, laughing as her daughter blew bubbles from her hand to Emily's face. No matter what she had to do, she would always protect her family. She would do anything it took to protect Violet, Jack and Aaron even if she meant she would lose her own life.

True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice. Sadhu Vaswani