Emily sat down on her couch with a glass of wine looking forward to a relaxing evening with Hotch. Their talk in New Mexico had helped Emily feel more secure in that they could make a relationship work between them. She was both relieved and overwhelmed at the amount of thought Hotch had given to the topic of what he wanted for the future. Both his own and how he saw their shared future.

During that conversation and since they had returned home, she could feel the final shreds of her resistance breaking. For a long time she's wanted to be with him. Even after she thought he had walked away from her she had been unable to move forward with someone else.

After they discovered the truth about their breakup, given their current professional relationship, it made sense to take their time and be certain before jumping into anything. But now with Aaron explaining his vision for them was what she wanted as well she had to ask herself what was holding her back from taking the last couple of steps forward?

After that conversation she knew she needed to make that decision. And soon. She needed to make peace with what was holding her back or walk away from him forever. Where they were wasn't fair to him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aaron walk into the room with his wine glass before he came and sat down next to her. Turning towards her, he started, "I need to talk to you about something before I announce it tomorrow."

Emily shook her head, "that sounds ominous."

Hotch laughed as he replied, "no but I did need to talk to Strauss and …"

"...why did you need to ruin the mood of the evening by mentioning her name." Emily interjected.

Hotch laughed before continuing, "I apologize. As I was saying. You know that Dave was asked to go speak at the terrorism conference later this week."

Emily nodded as she took a sip of her wine, "ah yes. The FBI utilizing the name recognition from his books to get more attendees. Even though profiling terrorists is different than profiling serial killers."

Hotch sighed before nodding as he answered, "yes there is that. But I've seen the presentation. He knows what he is doing."

All of the sudden Emily sat straight up asking, "wait, are we talking about this because you are sending me with him?" As much as presenting with Rossi interested her, doing it at a terrorism conference was really the last thing she wanted to do. Particularly in Boston.

While they were generally attended by those in the law enforcement community who wanted to learn more to protect their communities. However with Rossi presenting she was certain that attendance would increase to include those in the current counter terrorism community. Potentially people who would know her background.

People like the chief in counter terrorism at Quantico who had been trying to get her on his team since she returned to the FBI. He had been pushing for her to do similar undercover work as she had done with JTF12. Work she wanted to stay as far away from as possible.

It wouldn't take more than one or two veiled comments or observations from any of the attendees who knew her unofficial background to ignite Rossi's curiosity. And being between her responsibility with regard to the classified entries not listed on her CV and Rossi's curiosity was not where she wanted to be.

Hotch looked at her briefly confused before remembering that it had been noted in her file that she had taken the profiling courses with Interpol. Why was it a fact that he hadn't broached with her. There must be a story as to why but it was not relevant to the current conversation. He shook his head as he answered,"No. I've been asked to go and present with him."

Emily nodded and quickly responded, "Oh OK."

"You will be in charge of the team while I'm gone." Hotch added.

Emily looked over at him surprised. As she placed her wineglass on the table she raised her eyebrow as she stated, "really, I'd think it'd be Morgan." Recently it had always been Morgan.

Hotch sighed before answering, "well that is what Strauss wanted. But Morgan is already committed to helping at the Academy for part of the time we are gone so it's not feasible. Besides I've already discussed with her that both you and Derek should be working on team leadership."

Emily chuckled as she responded sarcastically, "yeah. I'm sure she has been supportive of that given how she feels about me."

Hotch gave a half shrug before replying, "Well about what you'd expect. But she is limited in what she can do. One of my roles as Unit Chief is to give both of you leadership opportunities. If she was to formally object she would have to explain why and I don't see her wanting to do that."

Emily nodded "true." She looked over at Hotch and stated, "OK so I'm in charge." Hotch nodded. "And you and Rossi will be out of state." Hotch nodded again. Emily stood up and started to pace the room as she rubbed her hands together while smirking at him and stated, "Hmm, the possibilities."

Hotch shook his head answering, "I'm going to echo what you said earlier. That sounds ominous."

Emily laughs in response.

####

Hotch and Dave sat around a table in Hotch's room as they made last minute preparations for their presentation at the conference the next day. They had planned on doing it shortly after they arrived however Dave had been pulled into a Q&A session almost immediately.

As they were finishing up, Dave sat back in his seat looking at Hotch as he said, "so tell me…"

Hotch rolled his eyes as he wondered where the elder profiler was going with the inquiry. From his experience with Dave, it could be anything though it did have his suspicions this time. "Tell you about what?"

Dave sat back in his seat carefully observing the Unit Chief as he answered, "you and Emily. What is the story there?"

"Dave." Hotch replied. He knew from Sean that Dave believed that they were together. He had suspected the topic would come up and at least Dave had waited until they were alone to ask. However Hotch was uncertain about what to reveal given that they had left things unsettled after they spoke in New Mexico.

"What?" Dave questioned. "There is certainly something there between you. If I'm being honest thinking back it was there since the day I started though things have changed recently."

"Why do you think I would tell you?" Hotch asked

Dave sighed before responding, "because if you two are together it is going to affect the team. The dynamics are going to be different. I'm not saying don't do it. But please be careful for both of your sakes. I know first hand how a relationship with a colleague can affect your reputation. And Emily will get it worse because she is a woman and your subordinate. Plus I know how Strauss is and she already has it out for the two of you."

Hotch nodded as Dave explained before answering "we are being careful and taking things slow. We are still talking about how we can make it work. Something you should know…" as Hotch then goes on to share with Dave his plans to retire once eligible not only for Emily but to have more time with Jack. He explained his plans for BAU when he was ready to step down.

Dave nodded, recalling how challenging it had been with Hotch's current visitation schedule. He had made the decision to retire years earlier for a change though the reason had been different. "Hotch it is still a significant amount of time before you can retire. I agree that Derek should be ready by then to lead the team though Erin may overrule the promotion."

"True but I'm still going to try." Hotch answered.

"Are you going to tell the team?" Dave asked.

Hotch shook his head, "At the moment there is nothing to tell them. Emily still hasn't officially agreed to give us another go. I think she will but we're not there yet. I don't know how we will handle the team yet. I don't want to spook her at this point by bringing it up."

Dave brow shot up at the disclosure as he questioned, "another go? When?"

Hotch smiled and nodded as he answered, "Yes. It was 13 years ago. We met…"

####

JJ closed her door and sat at her desk, for now ignoring the piles of files in her office. She touched her pocket and when she felt the movement of the paper, her eyes teared up.

She had finally gotten to her follow up appointment with her doctor earlier that morning. While she had been cleared from her head injury, she had shared her concern with her doctor and this paper confirmed what the home test she had taken while the team was in New Mexico had indicated.

She was pregnant.

And she had no idea what she was going to do.

Given the nature of their relationship, her and Will hadn't talked about kids. She had no idea if he even wanted kids. It had only been a few months earlier that she and Will had agreed to continue working on their relationship.

Before she had run into Will while the team was on that case in Miami, they had been drifting apart for weeks. The unpredictable schedule of the BAU combined with the pressures of a long distance relationship had JJ questioning whether there was a future for them. It wasn't that she didn't feel something for Will but they each had their respective careers hundreds of miles apart and neither of them had broached changing the status quo. However her pregnancy would upset the status quo whether they were ready for it or not.

How would Will react to the news?

Did she even want to tell him before she had made up her mind what she wanted? No, she needed to decide on a plan of action before she told him. Before she told anyone. She needed to consider her wants and needs before involving others since it was her future that was going to be affected more than anyone else's.

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts and back to the work of the BAU. A file about a stalker case was handed to her with the message that the woman being stalked had an appointment to see her later that morning.

As she looked at the file there were some concerns. And with the woman coming into the BAU, she needed to get input from the team. Generally she would take it to Hotch however he had announced the previous day that Emily was in charge while he and Dave were presenting in Boston.

Picking up her phone, she called Emily to see if she could come over to her office.

####

Dave sighed as he sat in his seat on the plane on the way back from Boston. The conference itself had been successful and their presentation had been well received.

As the conference had been wrapping up, they had been approached to consult on a local case. What had been expected by the local prosecutor to be a straightforward opinion from the profilers had ended up being anything but. A fact that even the prosecutor realized in their last interview with Audrey Henson just before Dave and Hotch left to fly home.

But the consult itself wasn't what had Dave concerned right now. No it was a comment he made when talking to Hotch about Audrey Henson when he had essentially put his foot in his mouth. As they were discussing the case, Dave had become so focused on his own experiences with marriage that he had commented…

Well, I mean I might have tried harder if there were children involved.

As soon as he saw Hotch's face after he said it, he knew that the younger agent had taken the comment personally even when it hadn't been intended that way. Dave had not even thought that trying could have improved the outcome for Hotch and Haley. Hotch had said enough to him since Dave had been back about Haley's demands about his career as well as her adultery.

Unfortunately the comment had landed squarely on topics Dave had found were stressful for Hotch. Since that conversation even while completing their work Dave noticed that Hotch was out of sorts. And he didn't know what to say at this point that would not make the situation worse.

This conversation had also come shortly after Hotch had opened up to him about his past and current relationship with Emily. Dave was now frustrated with himself as he didn't want his words to have Hotch second guessing what he was trying to revive with Emily. The two of them were going to have enough obstacles particularly for the foreseeable future.

He was fairly sure that he had convinced the Unit Chief not to leave the BAU in the short term, even offering to pick up more administrative responsibilities to help give him more time with Jack.

Dave looked across the cabin at Hotch. Even while looking at paperwork, Dave could see that he was still troubled.

####

Hotch could feel Dave looking at him however he was lost in thought right now. The more he thought about his failed marriage, the more he wondered what he could have done to prevent the divorce.

Could he have been happy staying with the terms Haley had laid out for him?

Could he have gotten past her infidelity?

The answers were no and no. He had made the right decision. As much as he hadn't wanted Jack to grow up as a child of divorce trying to stay together would have made them all miserable.

####

JJ sat back in her chair, taking a break from working on her report for this case. She touched the lab report from her doctor's office that she still kept in her pocket. She still wasn't sure what would happen but what she was now sure she needed to do was to tell Will that she was pregnant.

She hadn't missed while on this case the look in Ryan, their victim's boyfriend's, eyes when he walked in while they were interviewing Kari and learned that she had previously been pregnant with his child and had an abortion without ever telling him.

By the time the case had wrapped up there had been less tension between them however there was no way to miss that the omission of that fact had jeopardized their relationship. Given her current situation JJ could understand it better than she would have even a couple of months earlier.

JJ still wasn't sure what the future held for her and Will as a couple. But she didn't want to risk being responsible for the demise of their relationship if he was to learn that she had been pregnant and not tell him. An omission of that magnitude would be difficult to work past.

Although this pregnancy was unplanned, she wanted to believe that Will would support her in whatever choice she made. One of the qualities that had drawn her to him was how much he cared about people. While she wouldn't let him make demands and force her hand perhaps hearing his perspective would help her decide what next steps made the most sense. For her and for them.

Having had a couple of days to process this information, she was ready to talk to someone about it. And as her boyfriend it makes the most sense that Will should be that person. Right now she wasn't ready to talk to anyone on the team about what was going on. She wanted to have made a decision before considering bringing any of them into it.

She was brought out of her thoughts at the knock on her door. At her answer, Emily stuck her head in asking if JJ was going out with others from the team for drinks. She didn't miss Emily's concerned expression and questioning if she was OK. It wasn't the first time in the last few days that Emily had looked at her concerned.

JJ answered honestly that she was OK though without verbalizing her confusion and nervousness at the moment. For a few seconds JJ contemplated telling the other agent what was going on. If she was going to tell anyone on the team at this point, it would be Emily. Though they had gotten off to a rocky start, their friendship had grown over the last year. But the moment passed and after exchanging goodbyes Emily was on her way.

Once her footsteps had completely faded, JJ pulled the lab report out of her pocket and unfolded it, looking at the information on the sheet once again. After taking a few deep breaths she picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number. Within a couple of rings, she heard Will's greeting. Nodding to herself, she asked if he was busy before continuing that they needed to talk.

####

Hotch and Dave were exhausted as they stepped off the elevator. As they stepped into the bullpen they were surprised to find it unexpectedly empty at this time of day.

The rest of the team had finished the stalker case Emily had agreed to take the day before with an arrest by the Silver Springs PD. As far as either of them had heard, the team was planning on completing paperwork and consults in the office today except for Morgan who had been scheduled at the FBI Academy.

As Hotch looked around the bullpen wondering where his team was, Dave nudged him and pointed up to his office. "It looks like your temporary fill in has taken over your office." Dave said with a grin on his face.

Looking up at his office, he too noticed the light was on along with movement at the desk. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at Dave and started towards his office with Dave following closely.

Before he left, he had offered his office to Emily while he was gone. After thanking him, she stated that she would be fine down the bullpen. Now he was wondering what changed her mind.

As they reached the door, Hotch observed Emily at his desk completely focused on the stack of files in the front of her.

Realizing that she had not noticed their arrival, Hotch and Dave looked at each other before stepping into the office as Hotch said, "is that how serious I look behind that desk?" as Dave asked, "Did you miss us?"

Emily barely raised her eyes to look at them before lowering eyes back to the files as she continued writing as she said humorlessly, "well I see you both decided to grace us with your presence again."

Dave smiled as he sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Meanwhile Hotch had walked into the office and closed the door but was still standing up. As Emily continued working, ignoring the two of them in front of her, Dave asked cheekily, "what brought you up to work in Hotch's office? Are you angling for the job permanently?"

Emily looked up at him with a look of dread on her face before she said, "God no. As soon as I finish these files, I will happily hand all of them over along with the chair of command back. I'm done." before flipping off the file in front of her as she closed it and placed it in a separate pile.

Both Hotch and Dave chuckled at her response before Dave teased, "It's a lot harder to be in charge of the chaos instead of one of the chief mischief makers, isn't it?" which resulted in Emily glaring at him. Hotch laughed to himself as he watched the two of them before sitting in the other chair next to Dave.

"Well, perhaps it'll help if I explain to you how my day was since it was the only full day we spent in the office." Emily said as she sat back in the chair and inter-wound her fingers in front of her.

"My sometimes partner. My supposed friend. A guy who I trust to have my back in the field came in early this morning for the sole purpose of removing all the Splenda from the break room before he left for the Academy." Both men grimaced when she said that knowing that Emily needed the two packs of Splenda in her coffee the way Reid needed half a cup of sugar in his.

Wondering what had gotten into Morgan, Hotch asked, "why did he do that? Morgan doesn't use Splenda."

Emily rolled her eyes before answering, "he was getting me back. Some of us went out last night. He lost a bet and didn't like the price.

That and since he wasn't going to be here this morning, he thought it would be 'funny'. So before I even had a cup of coffee I needed to go back to the elevator and go downstairs to the cafeteria to get Splenda since someone locked the drawer with the requisition forms." She looked at Hotch as she said that.

He just huffed and shook his head at her. There was no way he was going to leave requisition forms available while he was out of the office. There was no telling what he would find in the bullpen when he returned. Or what he would need to justify in next month's budget meeting with Strauss. Somehow he didn't think Strauss would look favorably on additional Splenda being requisitioned to the BAU while he was away.

She took a deep breath before continuing, "so then I have my coffee WITH Splenda when I get back off the elevator. I decided to stop by to see our lovely tech genius to check on my searches she did for us on the stalker case that I needed to finish the file. And let's just say, there are things you can't unsee."

There was no way that Emily was going to tell them, especially Hotch, that she had walked in on Garcia photo-shopping Morgan in chaps. While she wasn't scared of Morgan she didn't want to risk the wrath of Penelope who could do much worse than hide her Splenda.

Emily quickly continued before either of them could ask questions, "so I headed back to the bullpen." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "I found out later that since Hotch wasn't here and I wasn't in the bullpen Reid decided to take a break from his paperwork and brought out the physics magic." She paused and crossed her arms over her chest and looked at both of them before saying, "and guess what happened?"

Hotch sighed, having known exactly where this was going since she had said "physics magic" He shook his head as he answered, "you got hit with a rocket."

Emily pushed her bangs away from her forehead to reveal a cylindrical red spot on her forehead. Pulling her hands away and letting her hair fall back to her forehead Emily confirmed, "I got hit in the head with a rocket. AGAIN. I've only worked here for 18 months and I've been hit with those damn things how many times now?"

"Several." Hotch answered before he sighed and shook his head before hesitantly asking, "what did he do when it happened?"

In all the time that Reid had been doing physics magic with film canisters as rockets, Emily was the only one who had actually been hit by them. There had been a few near misses with others walking through the bullpen which was one of the reasons Hotch had initially talked to him about it.

It had been a surprise for everyone the first time Emily had been hit with it. She had quickly shrugged and showed interest in how he got them to work. However that interest had dimmed over time as she continued to be hit with them.

On some of those occasions, she was in the bullpen while other times she wasn't when he started however almost as soon as she would reenter, would inadvertently be hit. With this latest incident, Hotch knew he was going to have to talk to Spencer again.

Emily rolled her eyes and sighed before answering, "he ran off to JJ's office after I threatened to shove the canister up his…."

"Emily!" Dave interrupted loudly.

Emily stopped and glared at him, already worked up, before saying, "don't Emily me, Rossi. You weren't here and have never been hit by a canister. That flying piece of plastic hurts." She paused and took a deep breath before answering a bit calmer, "JJ already called me out on threatening Spencer. Said if we didn't stop she was going to ground both of us. She also yelled at him and made him go get me coffee and my favorite muffin from the coffee shop. I apologized when he came back."

Despite the confrontation, Emily was relieved to see JJ more… centered and relaxed today. Over the course of the case, Emily had grown concerned about her friend. She hadn't been kidding that JJ had been acting off since the last case the team had been working. Maybe JJ had been right and all she had needed was some sleep, however Emily's gut was telling her there was something more going on with her.

Hotch looked at her and asked hesitantly, "I don't know if I should ask but how did the rest of the day go. It sounds like all that happened before 9AM."

Emily nodded before saying, "Before 8AM actually." She paused before continuing, "it got better for a while. JJ went back to her office while Reid and I got started on our paperwork."

She stopped again before crossing her arms over her chest and said, "you forgot to mention that the Section Chief has developed a paperwork fetish since the last time I did this job." She paused as they both looked at her in shock before laughing out loud. Hotch quickly looked over at the door, relieved that it was shut as that was not a comment that Strauss needed to overhear given that she had been against Emily being in charge of the team while he was away.

As they both calmed back down, Emily said, "I swear when she wasn't over here 'checking' on us she had to be sitting in her office creating yet more paperwork that 'needed' to be completed. I don't remember all of these documents from when I was in charge of the team before. Each time I thought I almost had a file done, she came over with yet another document that needed to be completed. I mean how many documents do you really need that have the same seven pieces of information on them." She was gesturing at all the paperwork on the desk in front of her.

"Is Strauss the reason you came up here?" Hotch asked, hoping there wasn't any conflict since there was still some tension between the two women.

Emily chuckled and shook her head before saying, "No, there were just a lot of people around today. I wanted to just get it done before you got back so I needed to focus and that was best done in a quieter area particularly with all of the extra documents Strauss dropped on my desk."

"Where is the rest of the team now?" Hotch asked because there was still no one in the bullpen.

"Reid was going to hang out with JJ after he handed in his files. Morgan got back a couple of hours ago. He's not quite done his paperwork yet. He said he'll finish it when he gets back." Emily said.

Hotch looked at her confused when he asked, "Where did he go?"

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes before saying, "Garcia dragged him off to watch Days of Our Lives with her a few minutes before you got here."

Dave perked up as she said that as he said, "it's Young and the Restless." while he looked at his watch, said 'oh' and walked out the door without another word in the direction of his office. Hotch looks at him confused and Emily rolls her eyes.

"Where did he go?" Hotch asked, not sure what just happened.

"Ever since Indianapolis, when it's not busy, he goes and watches the show with them. Haven't you noticed that he disappears at the same time everyday when we are in the office?" Emily answered.

Hotch shakes his head.

Emily smiles as she said, "apparently one of Rossi's guilty pleasures when he was on retirement was daytime dramas."

Hotch looked up at her surprised as he said, "not him too."

Morgan and Garcia regularly watched it when the team was in the office. Hotch couldn't see the appeal of the show but didn't say anything as long as they weren't busy and got their work done.

"Yup" Emily said, popping the 'p' before pausing and giving him a mischievous look while continuing, "don't worry, he'll be back in a minute."

Hotch took in the look she was giving him and asked, "what did you do?", knowing that whatever prank it was was going to annoy Dave.

Emily just smiled before looking down at the file in front of her before saying, "just wait...6...5...4...3...2...1 and then they heard a pop followed by Dave yelling "Prentiss" a couple of seconds later.

"What was that?" Hotch asked as looked over at the door.

Emily looked up at him before looking back down at the files as she said, "you'll see and for the record, it wasn't me."

With that, Dave walked back into the room and glared at her as he yelled, "Emily, what the hell?" as he was brushing pieces of multicolored confetti from his hair and jacket.

Emily looked up at him with a poker face while internally wanting to laugh at his appearance before she deadpanned, "we missed you Dave and wanted to do something to show you when you got back."

Dave suddenly stilled and looked at her stunned for a minute before bellowing, "and making a mess in my office is how you show me that you are happy to see me?"

Emily shook her and smiled before saying, "we didn't make a mess in your office. You did," before she looked back down and started writing in the file in front of her.

"By walking in the door!?" Dave said heatedly, wondering how it was his fault for just walking into his own office.

Emily looked back up at him and shook her head before saying, "it wasn't me and you should be thanking me."

Dave said irately, "thanking you?! For what? Teaching the others to pick the lock to my office."

A couple of months earlier, Dave had come back from a meeting to discover Emily and Morgan teaching other agents how to pick a lock using his office door. When he confronted them, they had innocently replied that knowing how to pick locks was a necessary skill for field agents to have. Strauss, who had walked into the bullpen after him had smirked at his annoyance and walked back out of the bullpen without a word to Morgan and Emily.

"No." Emily said smirking before continuing, "I agreed that we should take that stalker case so today was the only full day we've been in the office since you left." She paused and then said, "and the others wanted to use glitter or slime."

She had quickly nixed both, telling Garcia that it would be too much for their neat freak colleague even with Garcia's outrage after Reid had shared with them that Dave hadn't helped him out of a ditch while they were out in the field together because he didn't want to damage the Italian leather on his new boots.

As she said that, Dave looked at her with wide eyes and a look of horror on his face before he said quietly, "but you stopped them."

Emily nodded before saying, "I stopped them but I'm wondering if I should have since you locked the cabinet with the scotch."

Dave shook his head before looking at her and said indignantly, "it's my scotch! And it seems like the rest of you were getting into enough trouble without any added alcohol."

Emily cocked her and thought about it before giving a slight nod, conceding the point. She had just been teasing him about looking for his scotch; however it didn't surprise her that he had locked it up.

Just then Rossi stalks out of Hotch's office, muttering in Italian.

"What did he say?" Hotch asked as he watched Dave stalk through the bullpen and out the door.

Emily shook her head before saying, "I'm pretty sure I don't want to know." before looking back down at the file open in front of her.

With the last needed signature in her piles of paperwork, she closed the file. Emily wanted to get all the paperwork done for the stalker case knowing if she left without finishing it, even if she planned to complete it the next morning, that Hotch would stay late to finish it for her but wouldn't be able to turn it in until she signed off on it.

As she did Emily noticed Hotch was still staring down into the bullpen. Standing up, she walked around the desk and over to close the door that had been left open with Dave's departure before returning to the desk and sitting down in the chair next to Hotch.

She sat there and waited for him to look over at her. When he did a couple of minutes later, she looked at him as she quietly asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" She had heard something in his voice the last couple of times she spoke to him on the phone and could now see that something was bothering him.

Emily let out a breath in relief when he slowly nodded. She nodded and then stood up and said when Hotch looked at her curiously, "what do you say we get out of here. At least for a while. Except for Morgan's file, the paperwork is done for the case."

Hotch sighed before nodding. Picking up his briefcase, he placed it on the desk and took out some files that he put in his desk before closing it and picking it back up then they walked out of his office.

####

Later that evening, Emily walked into her apartment stopping first in the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of wine. After leaving the bullpen, Hotch and Emily had gone to his apartment so they could talk about what happened in Boston to upset Hotch.

Emily had let a breath out that she didn't know she was holding as he summarized the terrorism conference. Though given some of the people he mentioned it was good that she hadn't been there as there were a few of them that she wanted to avoid.

It hadn't surprised her that the issue hadn't been with the conference. When she had spoken to him and Rossi towards the end, there hadn't been anything in his tone or words that would have indicated there was an issue.

She quietly listened as her heart broke as he described the case on which they had been asked to consult. Given their recommendations she was pleased that they had stayed and been able to change the trajectory of Audrey Henson's life.

As he continued with what he and Dave discussed privately, it was then that he shared the comment that Dave made that was staying with him. Emily felt for him as he shared how he was feeling. A part of her was now itching to text Garcia and give her the green light to glitter and slime Dave. However, as much as she wanted to be angry with Dave, the more rational part of her could see that Dave had been talking about his own life specifically. That Dave's own marriages had not worked out for him.

As they talked she could see some of the tension leaving Hotch. As they sat on his couch, she looked at him and stated, "Aaron you put effort into everything you do. You are an exceptional person…"

"...but" Hotch interrupted.

Emily shook her head, "no buts. If anything this conversation has given me the last push that I needed."

"Oh?" Hotch questioned.

Emily looked at him and put her hand over his, "Aaron. I want to be with you. I know it is going to be hard particularly in the short term. But I know you are going to try as much as I am to make it work. And that is all I can ask."

"Emily. I will do everything I can to make us work." Hotch answers as they both stand up. They kiss passionately but before he can get lost he pulls away and rests his forehead against hers.

He looks sadly at her as he states, "I'm supposed to take Jack to dinner…"

Emily gave him a peck on the cheek before stepping back as she responded, "then you should go. You've been away for the last several days and I'm sure he misses you. I want to be with you Aaron but I won't try to come between you and Jack."

Hotch sighed with relief."Thank you. You don't know how hard it is to walk out of here right now." he had been waiting for this moment and he was torn that he needed so quickly.

Emily nodded as she wanted over and picked up her stuff, "I know. I should go as well. We'll figure it out."

"Yes we will. Soon." Hotch answered as he walked over to her and kissed her again.

"Goodnight. Have a good time with Jack." Emily answered as she patted his cheek and opened the door.

"Good night." Hotch had responded and she started to walk down the hall.

Now that she was home Emily felt like a weight had been lifted from her. And as much as she wished that they had had more time together tonight, it was important to respect his time with Jack. She had been overthinking and overanalyzing for weeks. This was the right decision for her. For them.

AN: Next chapter will focus mostly on Dave and Emily. The chapter after that has the team heading to New York.