CHAPTER 10

While meeting with Strauss and Donaldson about a previous case, Hotch sat and listened as they were arguing points among themselves. He had been wondering for the last 15 minutes if his presence was still necessary.

Assistant Director Donaldson was a political appointee who had never been an FBI agent or even worked in law enforcement for that matter. He had been successful in the private sector and looked at everything through that lens which didn't always line up with FBI best practices.

As they spoke, Hotch's attention shifted to Emily. He was relieved that she had started to open up to him about how she was feeling. The last few days the tension at their house had risen. They usually spoke about everything so to have this between them was stressful.

From the short discussion they had in the car, it was clear that she wasn't upset with him. After the revelation about their families' feud followed by Emily curling in on herself, he wasn't sure where it left them.

He had known about the feud since he was a child from stories his mother told him. He had never made the connection with Emily or her connection to the Breckenridge family. However even if he had it wouldn't have changed his feelings about her. He had been hoping that she felt the same way. All indications from their earlier talk were that the feud wasn't going to be a factor going forward.

With that fear out of the way, Hotch thought about everything that they would need to talk about from her adoption to how she wanted to handle to inheritance to the revelations that the lawyers and her stepfather had made.

Hotch knew that there had been friction in Emily and the Ambassador's relationship, even before their conflict over his relationship with Emily. However, he hadn't realized until the meeting in the lawyers' office just how deep the animosity was. And from her reaction, Emily hadn't realized the depth either.

Hotch was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. Strauss stood up and walked over to the door and after a few words with her assistant, opened the door wider as the subject of his musing stepped into office.

Emily quickly walked into the office and Strauss' assistant shut the door behind her. Meeting the eyes of her superiors, Emily said, "Chief Strauss, Assistant Director Donaldson, I apologize for the interruption but I need to talk to Agent Hotchner."

Hotch's attention was immediately peaked as Emily would have only interrupted this meeting for extenuating circumstances. There was either an emergency with one of the kids or an urgent case.

Before he could say anything, Donaldson said condescendingly, "Agent Prentiss, we are in the middle of a very important meeting. You will need to wait to talk to your husband until we are through."

Hotch glared at him though Donaldson couldn't see as he was facing the other direction still looking at Emily. As much as Hotch wanted to say something, he knew that Emily wouldn't want him to do it.

Before they made their relationship official, she had been clear that at work she was an FBI agent and needed to still fight her own battles if she was going to be taken seriously. If he started defending her against even guy that criticized her, then the Bureau would separate and reassign them. But this wasn't the first time that Donaldson had verbally chastised Emily in front of others in addition to opposing her promotion.

After everything she had been through over the last couple of weeks, Hotch couldn't help but want to protect her. However when he looked over at her, he relaxed. From her somber demeanor to her body language, he could see that his wife had this under control. He could also see that whatever her reason for being here, it was serious.

Emily stated, "sir, I am here in my official capacity. It has to do with the escaped prisoners in Peoria…"

Donaldson interrupted her harshly, "Agent Prentiss, all of us are well aware of the prison break this morning and so should you if you had been the mandatory meeting this morning." Ignoring that he had spoken to her in the meeting, dismissing her concern for the safety of those inside the search radius. He had also refused the suggestions of several others about precautions that should be taken stating that it would be a burden on the local business community.

Donaldson huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before continuing. "Work is being done on the ground now and we will have a briefing in an hour."

Emily stood up straight and looked him in the eye. She knew that he was trying to belittle her and they did not have time for that right now. He was already wasting valuable time with his posturing. Thankfully the team was preparing to leave and the jet was already being prepared because she was certain that her husband was going to want to take this case as soon he hears what it is.

Emily continues on firmly, "Yes sir, I was in the meeting this morning. There has been a significant development that Agent Hotchner need to be made aware of because his team is needed on the ground." When she said that, Hotch and Strauss could tell from her tone that what she was going to say was going to be unnerving.

With all three looking at her, Emily continued, "A report just came in that a school bus carrying elementary school children has disappeared within the search radius. When the bus didn't reach the school as expected, the staff called 911. When the local police investigated they found the driver's body on the side of the road." As she finished she could hear Strauss gasp and Emily handed Hotch the file as he moved closer to her. Donaldson came up next to him.

"How many children were on the bus?" Strauss asked as she moved to Hotch's other side to look at the file.

"41. They have confirmed that the bus made its last pickup on the morning route and was heading for the school. The clock is currently between 40 and 55 minutes." Emily answered quickly after looking at her watch.

Donaldson looked at her as he asked, "Don't we have a closer team? Didn't Cooper's team just finish a case in Nebraska last night?"

Emily responded calmly yet forcefully, "yes sir. However they are still wheels down due to the blizzard." Donaldson nodded while still looking at the file. Emily then continued, "That's another reason we need to get a team on the ground as soon as possible."

All of them looked up from the file to look at Emily before she finished her thought, "The storm is heading east and the National Weather Service is expecting dropping temperature throughout the day and blizzard conditions in Peoria in 10 hours." The temperature of the room dropped and Donaldson looked a few shades paler. He handed Hotch the file back and said,

"Agent Hotchner, we will continue this meeting when you return." He turned and looked at Emily pointedly, "Agent Prentiss, I expect your team to provide backup from here until those children are found."

Emily had to use all of her self control to avoid rolling her eyes in response to his comment. She knew the role that her and her team had for cases with this level of urgency. She had been involved in writing the protocols that the teams were currently acting under for a priority 1 case.

Emily had known as soon as she looked at this case, even before she knew that her husband's team would be taking it, that her team would be working on this case until they found the kids. There was a moment of guilt knowing that neither of them were going to be there for bedtime which rarely happened after she had stopped traveling.

For Emily, it was hard to be away from them at all right now. However, her kids were safe and warm and being well cared for by people who loved them. She was going to do her best to find those missing 41 children. They all wanted to do what they could so that these children could safely be returned to their parents and sleep in their own beds tonight.

Deciding to let the dig go so that they could be dismissed and Hotch could get to the jet, Emily said in her most polite 'fuck you' tone,

"Yes sir. I was meeting with Agent Rossi when the case was brought to me and he is gathering the team. The are on standby waiting for the official word. The jet is being prepared for immediate departure. My team is already setting up continuous feed with TA Garcia and the CARD team on the ground in Peoria per protocol." Donaldson nodded at her response before turning to Hotch. Emily sent a quick 'go' text message to Rossi which he immediately acknowledged.

"Good luck Agent Hotchner." As he finished he walked out the door of Strauss' office. Hotch and Emily nodded to Strauss as she waved them out.

As they exited Strauss' office, they quickly walked towards the elevators. "Rossi was grabbing your bag. The team is already on the move."

Hotch nodded to her and keep walking past the entrance to the bullpen, heading for the elevator. He stopped when he noticed that Emily had stopped walking at the end the hallway that led to her office. He walked back up to her and asked earnestly, "Come with me to the airfield."

Emily looked at him and then towards her office and then back to her husband. She looked torn and looked back down towards her office. But there wasn't much they could do until the link was established and she had left Walker in charge of getting that set up. It wasn't the first time he had been through this process and Garcia could temporarily walk him through any problems until Emily got back. Teaching how to set up the link was a skill that he still needed to be signed off on and today he was going to get his chance.

Emily nods and says, "Let's go" as she walks towards the elevator.

####

"I'm sorry we're not going to get to talk tonight." Hotch said as he drove the SUV heading for the airstrip. The rest of his team had already left when Emily texted Dave that they were taking the case. Hotch was torn about having to leave now that Emily had opened up to him however there was no way he could say no to this case

Emily sighed and nodded, "We'll talk when you get back. This morning helped and I know I need to get it out." She hadn't wanted to delay either now that she had made the first step.

Hotch looked over at her before turning back to the road, "What was the meeting with Dave about?"

Emily looked over at her husband as she quipped, "He was just checking in since I haven't been over to the bullpen this week. Apparently it is something that profilers notice." She stopped and chuckled, drawing Hotch's attention to her.

When she caught his eyes, she said. "He seemed relieved that we were going to talk tonight since according to him, we've both been out of sorts this week." He laughed at the remark. Thinking back, he would agree that he had been off in recent days and Dave had already come to talk to him.

"Did you tell him what was going on?" Hotch asked tentatively.

He knew that the elder profiler had an uncanny ability to get Emily to open up and talk about things. However in this case, Hotch wasn't sure what answer would make him feel better. He knew she needed to talk and had been ready to this morning. And if the person they both trusted implicitly got her to open up, it could only help her to get it out and be a sounding board for for their talk.

However, as her husband, Hotch wanted to be the first one she talked to about how she was feeling.

Emily shook her head as she responded, "No, I told him I needed to talk to you first. He just said that he was there when I was ready." She was looking at her husband as she said it.

They came to a stop in the parking area near where the jet was kept. Looking at the cockpit, they could see the pilots doing their preflight checks. They both exited the SUV and walked around to the front. Hotch gave Emily a hug and whispered in her ear, "OK. You and me and some wine the first night I'm back." She rubbed his back and nodded before releasing him. Emily smiled at him and said, "It's a date. Stay safe and stay warm. I love you." She then leaned in and his lips met hers. He brought his hands up and cupped her face, not wanting to let go.

They were startled when the engine noise increased, knowing from travelling as much as they do, that it was an indication that the pilots were at the end of their checklist for takeoff. Hotch pulled back, hands still on her face as he said, "I love you too," before giving her a small kiss before walking to the plane and jogging up the stairs.

Emily went around to the driver's seat and climbed in. She took a quick look at the jet which had started it's taxiing towards the runway. She placed the SUV in drive for the short drive back to the BAU.

####

Inside the jet, Morgan was on the phone with Garcia, their conversation in the bullpen having been cut short with the arrival of Rossi and his announcement that they were going to be on the move. Once they heard what the case was, Garcia had headed back to her lair while the rest paced until Rossi got the text from Emily.

It had been a welcome sight to all of them that Emily had ridden over with Hotch. As soon as he saw her in the SUV when Hotch approached, Morgan had called Garcia to let her know.

"Baby girl, she came over to the airstrip with him. They just kissed on the tarmac. I still don't know what is going on with them but they are just as close as ever." Morgan said excited as he saw Hotch jogging up the stairs onto the jet.

Garcia sighed as she exclaimed, "Oh that is sunshine on this otherwise horrible day. Stay safe. Same to the rest of my loves. I will update all of you in route when I have more information. Garcia out."

AN: The next chapter is almost done and will be uploaded around New Years'. Coming in the chapter: we find out who Natalie's favorite members of the BAU are and who is upset to not being the favorite, someone makes an innocuous comment that hits Emily in a sensitive place leading the team to find out what has had her out of sorts.