Hotch was the first one in the car and waited for Y/N. Y/N entered the car and buckled her seat belt without saying anything, and refusing to look at Hotch. It seemed Y/N was in a bad mood. Hotch too remained silent, hoping the quiet of the car would prompt Y/N to start speaking. Because if there was one thing Y/N had difficulty handling it was silence. And sure enough, Within a few minutes Y/N broke the silence, still without looking at Hotch.

"Rossi thinks I burnt myself on purpose" Y/N blurted out. Hotch took his eyes off the road to throw Y/N a look. So that's what the yelling had been about.

"mm-hmm," Hotch said, prompting. A small pout appeared on Y/N's face and she burrowed deeper into the seat, still looking out the window.

"I didn't though" Y/N said, "I was just... I was just testing something and it's not fair for you to get mad at me!"

At the end of Y/N's little rant Y/N was looking really upset. And Hotch immediately realized she had burnt herself on purpose. He had also realized Y/N was probably hurting, emotionally and physically, and that she was tired and that all of this made him what in what a child would be cranky.

"Mm-hmm." Hotch repeated, which earned him a glare from Y/N who seemed to want some sort of response to her words.

"And i'm not silly!"

Hotch frowned in confusion. "Never said you were." he soothed, but it didn't seem to calm Y/N down.

"Rossi did." Y/N muttered angrily, Infusing the name with as much vehemence as she could muster. Hotch gave her a stern glance, Because although Rossi could be annoying, Y/N shouldn't be speaking that way about a superior. Y/N sighed in reply to the censuring glare. "It's not fair."

"What isn't?" Hotch inquired mildly.

"That you want to get mad at me for nothing!"

Y/N's voice was shrill and upset, And Hotch had a feeling that unless he wanted a full blown argument with her, He would have to calm down Y/N quickly.

"Calm down, Y/N." he ordered. "I never said I was mad at you, I don't even know if you did anything wrong."

That silenced Y/N, And for a while, There was no sound except for the car's engine.

"Dave told me what happened." Hotch said after a moment.

"Nothing happened." Y/N muttered.

Hotch threw Y/N another look.

"So," Hotch began after a few minutes of more silence as they were getting closer to Hotch's house. "Did you burn yourself on purpose?"

"Eh...Maybe?" Y/N ventured, and the shrill note in her voice would have immediately given her away if Hotch hadn't already guessed.

"Why?" Hotch asked calmly, because over the years he'd realize that Y/N responded better to calm, reasonable questions than angry lectures.

Y/N bit her lip. "I feel a little... A little bit like I failed."

Hotch glanced at her waiting for her to continue.

"I'm watching all my friends move on with their lives and they're all.. Moving forward and it's like I'm stuck here, standing still." Y/N said looking out the window.

"I've got nothing left to loose. Nothing can hurt me anymore." Y/N says with a chuckle to hide her pain. "My life is nothing but a comedy. And i'm tired of pretending it's not!" Y/N says with tears in her eyes. Hotch pulls into the driveway. "You need rest Y/N. Let's go inside."