Aaron felt like he was abandoning Erin, even though he knew that he had to continue going on cases, since unsubs never adhered to a strict Monday through Friday schedule. Still, it was now two weekends in a row that he hadn't been to see Erin, and he wondered how she was doing. "I'll visit her as soon as we get home," he muttered beneath his breath as he looked at the board they had put together.

"Who are you going to visit?" Reid asked as he approached Aaron, an open expression on his face.

"A friend. We were supposed to meet up this weekend, but this case has put a stop to those plans."

"That is one of the worse aspects of our job, yes. Though couldn't you call your friend? I'm certain that she would understand, if she knows about the job that we do."

Aaron nodded absently as he continued to stare at the evidence that they had strung together thus far. There seemed to be something that they were missing, something simple that would solve the case so quickly, but was tantalizingly out of reach. "You're right, I should give her a call. And we're going to head back to the hotel now and get some rest. If we keep going round in circles, we're going to continue to miss the obvious. Some rest, and a good meal, will make things clearer."

"I'll let the others know to head back."

Aaron nodded absently as he turned from the board and began to pack up his briefcase, knowing that he would ignore his own advice and continue to study the available clues and evidence until he finally fell asleep. Once that was done, he left the room, turning off the lights as he made his way out to the waiting vehicle. Morgan was behind the wheel already, and so he climbed into the passenger side, stowing his briefcase at his feet as he buckled his seatbelt while the other man took off into the night.

"We decided to stop for Chinese food before heading to the hotel, Hotch. JJ, Emily, and Dave are already on their way to the restaurant, to get us a table."

"Good choice," he replied, still feeling removed from the scene, his mind split between the current case and worrying about how Erin was doing. This had also been an issue when Haley had been on forced bedrest while pregnant with Jack, so he knew what to expect from his brain, he was just surprised that he was feeling that divide when it came to Erin.

The meal didn't take long, and he allowed himself to relax as much as possible in his team's presence, knowing that he did need to relax a little. Dave, though, seemed to notice his disconnect, as he kept glancing over at him in concern. After they'd finished, Aaron followed everyone to the parking lot, keeping to the back of the group as he tried to think of a good thing to say to Dave when he inevitably asked him where his mind was.

"Hey, Hotch, wait a second," his best friend called out as he went to get back in his vehicle. Pausing, he turned to look at Dave, trying to keep a neutral look on his features. "Why is your attention divided? Is something happening between you and Beth?"

He shook his head. "No, but I am wanting to be home so that I can go see her. I couldn't last week, since Jessica was on a girl's trip, and I don't want to introduce new people to Jack so quickly, so we had plans for this weekend. And I feel like we're missing something on this case. I just need to get some sleep so that we can start fresh in the morning."

Dave seemed to buy that explanation, as he nodded a little before reaching out and clapping Aaron's shoulder. "I can understand that. Why don't you call her when we get back to the hotel?"

"That was actually the plan," he replied, watching Dave give him a knowing smirk. Shaking his head a little, he pointed towards the other vehicle. "JJ is waiting for you."

"I didn't say a word!" his friend protested as he went over to the other vehicle, and Hotch shook his head once more before climbing into the passenger seat and allowing Morgan to get them back to the hotel, hopefully in one piece. There were times when his driving was a little scary, especially when he just wanted to be done with the day, and this was one of those nights. Still, it saved them a few minutes, and after Morgan had parked, Aaron was out of the vehicle and headed in to his room.

Once safely alone, he collapsed on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to find the energy to call Erin. His phone buzzed against his thigh, and he frowned a little as he pulled it out, wondering who was calling him so late, even though he had been thinking about calling Erin just moments ago. Not recognizing the number, he accepted the call before answering gruffly, "Hello?"

"Aaron?"

Her voice instantly soothed his heightened nerves, and he nodded as he scooted back on the mattress, resting against the pillows as he answered. "Yes, sorry, I didn't recognize this number."

"I'm using the phone in my room, we're not allowed to have our personal devices until the last month that we're here. I just…"

"Yes?" he asked quietly, knowing that something was wrong. Her voice had been too clinical until those final two words, which had trailed off into silence.

"I needed to hear a friendly voice. I, I got into a fight with Karen Thursday, after she had used her own time to come visit me, and now none of my children are accepting my calls, and you didn't come visit, for the second weekend in a row, and even though I can't expect that you'll magically appear every time I need you, I was still hurt. Lauren could tell that I was desperately craving, that I needed a way to drown these feelings, and she tried to get me to open up to one of the people here, but there's no one that I'm close to. They're just so different from me, that I can't find any common ground."

"Well, I'm glad that you reached out to me. This case is dragging on too long, which is why I didn't come by this afternoon. I'm going to stop by as soon as I'm back."

"I would really appreciate that. But in the meantime, do you think that you could tell me something happy? At least I know that your relationship with Jack isn't strained like mine with my children, so you must have some good stories of him to share. If you want. I don't want to impose."

"This isn't an imposition, Erin. We're very obviously heading in a direction that would lead to our personal lives colliding, and so it makes sense that you want to hear more about Jack. When it's not so painful, I'll want to know more about your children."

"I will keep that in mind." He could hear that her voice was thick with unshed tears, and the gentlemanly side of him wanted to be there to hold her and tell her that it was all right to cry, that there was no shame in tears. "So, Jack?"

"Is growing, though I think that he's going to be short like his grandfather. I was discussing it with his pediatrician at his latest checkup, and while he isn't lagging too much beyond the norm, it is clear that he'll just be shorter than average. He more than makes up for that in his intelligence, and not every man has to be some tall Adonis."

"Exactly. Alan is on the shorter side for a man, too, though Bruce is on track to have my father's height. Is he still into soccer?"

"Yes, but there is no league for him to play with in the winter. He'll start back up again in April." Once he started talking about his son, he found it easy to just keep going, letting Erin into their inner life, knowing that this comfortability was something that would have to be addressed in the future, when he was there to do so face to face.