Erin had always known that there would be repercussions to Aaron and Agent Jareau's actions in regards to spiriting Emily away into protection, and the ridiculously large cost that had been incurred to ensure her survival on the operating table. Still, she hadn't expected to be called before a Senate subcommittee meeting in order to justify their bringing Doyle to justice. Well, as much justice as they had been able to enact before he had been shot by one of his former henchmen. Her nerves had been through the roof ever since Director Shepperd had informed her of the time and date of their meeting, which was why she had slipped a small flask into her purse, taking a few sips from it whenever things got to be a little much.

David had given her an odd look when he noticed her slipping the flask back into her oversized purse, and she had given him a sheepish look in return before fishing out a small tin of mints. "Would you like one?" she asked Doctor Reid, holding the tin out to him. He nodded and plucked two out before popping them into his mouth. "I don't like this wait any more than you do. The longer one of us is in there, the more I worry that this time you've pushed a mile too far and there's nothing that I can do to save our team."

"Our team?" he asked as they watched Emily come around the corner with David and Agent Morgan. "Chief Strauss?"

"You got her back, at least."

"Did we? Will that last, if you're worried about the Senate breaking our team up?"

Erin took a deep breath as she tried to find the right words to say. This was where she was coming to regret drinking even the smallest bit to calm her nerves, since it was jumbling her thoughts at a time she could least afford to be muddle headed. "I have to have faith that everything will work out right for us, Doctor Reid. The Director would have sounded a little angrier with me if he thought that this was something more than just a formality. But seeing as how Agent Jareau has been in there for so long, I'm starting to think that perhaps he didn't know the full extent of what was happening behind closed doors as well."

There was a brief pause before Doctor Reid addressed her once more. "All right, but I still have to ask, when did we become your team?"

Erin fixed her eyes on the young man, allowing her mask to drop a tiny bit as she gave him a slightly feral smile. "When my fiancé rejoined Alpha, honestly. I just couldn't ever show this favoritism, because of the unorthodox nature of our team, and my needing to appear impartial."

"Well, I'm glad to know that you have our back, at least." She allowed her smile to relax as David and Emily came up to them, and she rose to her feet and went up to David, taking hold of his hand and leading him down the hall a little before pulling him against the wall.

"What is it, stellina?"

"I've made a foolish error in judgement in order to try and quell my nerves about the hearing. I need you to slip this into your suit coat pocket so that I am not tempted any further to imbibe." Reaching into her purse, she slipped the flask out as discreetly as possible before handing it over to David. "I thought that a few drinks wouldn't hurt anything, but I was so wrong."

"We've all made mistakes like this, Erin. Especially when we're under as much stress as we've been under lately." He tucked the flask into his inner pocket before reaching up to cup her chin, lifting her face so that he could look into her eyes. "I still love you, Erin, even if you make mistakes at times. God knows I've made my fair share of mistakes, and you've forgiven me time and time again."

"Because you've rescued me time and time again. What, what if this is the time that they decide the team no longer works? That you've brought too much scrutiny to the FBI, so it would be better if you were all split up into different departments? I don't want to break in a new team! I have you all fairly well trained now, especially since you and Aaron have finally started to learn how to play the game. Well, I thought that you had learned to play the game."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who decided to spirit Emily out of the country on the FBI's dime!" he teased as he took hold of her hand once more and led her back to the others. "I know that that won't look good on the team. But maybe we can use the State Department as a scapegoat?"

"I like the way you think, David," she murmured as they reached the bench she had just recently vacated. "All right, so, if things continue in this vein, Agent Jareau will most likely be in there until they break for lunch, as it is unlikely that they'll want to call a new witness only to have to break twenty minutes later. I was thinking that we could find a nearby restaurant and decompress for that short time before we reconvene?"

"I think that that sounds like a wonderful plan, Erin," Aaron replied as he gave her a small smile. "And I know that JJ will be famished after this, since she didn't have anything to eat this morning."

Erin's mothering instinct kicked in fiercely at that moment, frowning as she stared at him. "Why would that be?"

"She said that she was too nervous. So right now, she's running on caffeine and sugar. That could be a bad sign."

She nodded as she took a deep breath, resting her head on David's chest. "I know that Agent Jareau will represent us judiciously. She is an excellent agent, and her time with the State Department only sharpened her skills."

Emily gave her a sharp look, as if she couldn't believe that Erin was defending their team in such a manner. "You've been gone for a while, Emily. Sometimes, you can only see the changes that slowly happen by returning to a situation."

Aaron's gentle defense of her stole her breath momentarily, and Erin gave him a fleeting smile as she patted David's chest lightly. "I will try to keep that in mind, Hotch. So, do you really think that JJ will be in there for much longer?"

David shrugged before looking down at her. "Erin would be the best to know, but if you had to take my best guess, I'd say that yes, she'll be in there for another hour or so. I just hope that we get this over and done with in a day. But knowing bureaucracy, we could very well be looking at a two or three day affair."

"Ugh," she and Emily groaned in unison, and Erin stifled her natural reaction to giggle by turning her face into David's chest, listening to him and Hotch chuckle instead.

"Well, I guess that that's three people who don't want that to happen. And I guess you two are more alike than you'd care to admit, Emily."

"Whatever," the woman muttered as she took a seat next to Doctor Reid, though Erin was a tiny bit pleased to see that the hard look on her face had softened a little. There might be some good that came out of this hearing after all.