"How did it go?" David asked as she sank down onto the sofa and curled up against his chest.

"Think of Hell and multiply it by a trillion?" she asked as she took the glass of wine from his hand and sipped at it. "It will be out of my system before I pump in the morning," she said as she handed it back to him. Letting out a disconsolate sigh, Erin let her head come to rest on his chest as she stared unseeingly at the wall. "I stepped on a victim's hair. At least, with the Amerithrax case, I didn't deal with the dead bodies. I've never witnessed that amount of violence in the flesh before. If I could, I would go to the liquor cabinet in your study and drain every bottle dry in an effort to erase the feeling of disgust I have for myself over disrespecting a victim like that. The unsub threw her out like trash, and I treated her the same way."

She started to cry a little, welcoming his hand rubbing up and down her arm in an effort to comfort her. "I won't dismiss the way you're feeling, but I want to ask you something. Did you do it on purpose?"

"No," she whispered, hating that her voice cracked on that small word.

"Then you didn't treat her like trash. You were just human." David wrapped his arm around her waist before pulling her closer to his chest so that he could lean down and press a soft kiss against the top of her head. "And if you tried to drink that much, you'd end up dead, and that would leave me alone with Elise. She needs her mammina by her side for as long as possible."

Erin nodded a little as she yawned, finding herself exhausted from everything that had happened in the last few days. "I hope that Aaron isn't too upset when he arrives home," she mumbled as she started to fall asleep on David's chest.

"Stellina, why would he be upset?"

She stiffened a little as she sat up. "Haley left him. This was the final straw for her, and she packed up some things for her and Jack before heading over to her sister's house. That's why I was even later than I expected to be, darling, since we were discussing her decision, and she was trying to convince me that Elise and I had no bearing in her decision."

Erin was about to say more when a heavy knock on their door caught both their attention. "It is ten in the evening. Who the fuck is at our door?" David asked as he got to his feet. Erin felt the blood drain from her face as she knew with sudden clarity who was there. Popping to her feet, she scurried after David, finally catching up to him as he reached the front door and wrenched it open. "What?" he growled out before realizing that it was Aaron. "Why are you here so late at night?"

"I need to talk to your fiancée," Aaron replied shortly, pushing past David to enter their home. Erin had never seen him so angry before, not even when he had confronted her about the story that she had told Director Shepperd about Elise's parentage. "What poison have you been dripping in Haley's ear while I was out on cases, you harpy?"

She shrank away from him, suddenly glad that the older children were with Alan that week, so that they wouldn't hear this argument. "I've told her nothing, Aaron. Why?"

"You know damn well why, Erin! She's left me! I went home, wanting to hold on to my son, to explain to her why I was staying in the BAU, only to find an empty house. She didn't leave me a note, didn't text me, nothing. And now she won't answer my calls! Is she here? Did she flee to one place that she knew would destroy me if she was given sanctuary?"

His voice had risen with each word as he backed Erin into a corner, and she desperately looked for David, wondering when he would be stepping in to save her. "You need to take a few deep breaths and step away from my bella Erin, Hotch. Haley is not here, but even if she was here, I wouldn't tell you that. You're too angry to think clearly."

David slowly stepped in between them, one hand extended in front of him to gently push Aaron backwards, and she gasped a little when Aaron's eyes narrowed in fury. "I am not angry!" he bellowed, and Erin closed her eyes out of reflex, praying that Elise would remain sleeping. "I am furious! You are keeping me from my wife and children! Both of you! And you're supposed to be my best friend, Dave?"

For a moment, everything was quiet, and Erin's eyes snapped open to see that Aaron and David were staring each other down. Before either one of them could answer Aaron's bitter question, Elise began to wail, and Erin's face fell as she watched Aaron's head whipped around to stare at the staircase. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl as she looked between him and David before slipping away from the wall and running up the stairs, heading straight for Elise's nursery. There was only one thought in her mind in that moment, protecting her daughter from the anger that was so clear on Aaron's face.

She was out of breath by the time she reached the nursery, and her hand fumbled with the doorknob, struggling to open it in her haste. She heard heavy steps on the stairs behind her and she sent up a quick prayer of protection as she finally got the door open and pushed her way inside. Elise had managed to pull herself into a standing position as she wailed, and Erin felt her heart crack as she went over to her side and scooped her baby into her arms, holding her close as she began to murmur soothingly in her ear, rubbing her back in small circles.

"My god, she looks like my brother."

Those soft words were the last that she expected to hear, and she turned to look fearfully at Aaron as he slowly stalked over to their sides. Once more, she shrank away from him, and he frowned at the movement, stepping ever closer to them. "I think that she looks like David's sister," she tried to lie, but it sounded weak to her own ears. From the withering look he gave her, Erin knew that the lie was fast coming to an end, and tears began to tremble on her eyelashes once more. "Please, Aaron. Don't scare her anymore tonight."

He nodded jerkily as David finally arrived in the nursery, coming over to Erin and wrapping his arm around her waist as they focused their attention on Aaron. She didn't know what he would do next, but she was so fearful that it would be something she didn't like. He had been so angry, and rightfully so, but she didn't want that anger to bleed into Elise. "And you're telling the truth? Haley and Jack are not here?"

"I wouldn't lie to you about that, Aaron," she said quietly as she pressed her lips against Elise's head, kissing it absently as she watched Aaron. He frowned, but nodded, turning on his heel and leaving the nursery. As soon as she heard the front door slam shut, she allowed her shoulders to sag a little as she cradled Elise ever closer to her chest. "I'm taking Elise into our room, I need to have her between us to sleep, David." He nodded before kissing her delicately.

"I'll go lock up downstairs and then join you. And Erin?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, and everything will be all right, I promise." She nodded, giving him a shaky smile as they left the nursery together, trying to find it in herself not to break down in tears in front of Elise, not wanting to scare her any more that night.