A/N: It's angst all around! Hope you enjoy.

"What the Hell was all that?" Morgan demanded. He was furious. His best friend was hurting, mourning the death of her fiancé and Hotch was trying to make a move on her?

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Morgan." Hotch's tone was as cold as an Arctic wind. "I asked Emily to begin compiling a list of suspects who might hold a grudge against her."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," the younger man snapped. "You're acting like you're involved with her. Like, like, her boyfriend." He took a step towards Hotch. "She's in mourning, man! What are you doing?!"

Already a private man, Hotch would not have tolerated such insolent questioning from anyone, let alone one of his subordinates, on a typical day, but with the fear he felt when he realized Emily was in danger and he had no idea where she was still coursing through his body, he was even less inclined to listen to prying questions about his life.

"At this point, the state of Emily and my relationship is irrelevant. Our main goal is to find who killed Jonathan Russell and is potentially targeting Emily. We need to concentrate on protecting her and that is the only thing that matters." This time, Hotch took a step towards Morgan and in a voice that allowed for only one response to his next question, said, "If you are unable to do that, Morgan, then you need to leave. I'll stand for nothing but complete focus in finding our unsub."

Morgan was boiling. It was clear to everyone he was struggling to say something, but his concern for Emily's actual life warred with his concern over her emotional state. Rossi settled the issue by stepping between the men.

"Hotch is right," Dave interjected quietly. "Right now we need to make sure Emily isn't in danger. Other matters can wait until we know she's completely safe."

"Depends on your definition of safe," Morgan spat out bitterly. He knew how much Emily loved Jonathan and how devastated she was when he died. He thought Hotch was the most honorable man he had ever known, but he was insinuating his way into her life when she was at her most vulnerable. And what about his girlfriend? What about Beth? The way he held Emily, cradled her against his body, the stark fear on his face when he didn't know where she was, Hotch was clearly a man, if not in love, definitely infatuated. And he didn't see Emily pulling away from their supervisor. Derek saw how she leaned on him, looked to him for answers. There was definitely something there on both their sides. However, while Emily was an emotional wreck and in mourning, Hotch should have known better. If he truly cared about her, he would allow her to heal, not confuse her even more, not take advantage of her fragile state.

"Morgan," Rossi murmured. "Think of Emily."

That was what he was doing, but he knew what Rossi was driving at: Emily's safety was their priority right now. The dark man nodded sharply but the look he sent Hotch told everyone that this was all far from over.

JJ and Reid had been watching the events unfold in wide-eyed silence. With Morgan at least at a low simmer, Hotch began to dole out assignments. One hard stare had the two younger team members scurrying off to complete their tasks. Morgan stared back at Hotch but turned towards his desk to complete his assignment. Hotch faced Rossi who merely looked back at him with a mixture of concern and exhaustion in his face.

"We're all just concerned about Emily," Dave said quietly.

"And I'm not?" Hotch bristled.

"We're also concerned about you too, Hotch." Rossi shook his head. "It's clear to everyone you're in love with her, but she's in a place where she's not sure what she wants. None of us want to see her hurt anymore and we don't want you hurt either."

"I'm a big boy, Dave, I can take care of myself."

Rossi sighed but knew his friend was a stubborn bastard. It was one reason he liked Aaron. However in this situation, the older man had a sinking feeling that his friends were about to face some very rough seas.

"And that's the last name from your CIA days?" Garcia asked as her fingers typed in one last name.

Emily nodded. "Most of my time there was spent on the Doyle mission so I really didn't have many cases with the CIA." She sighed and Garcia sent her a compassionate look. The blonde tech reached over and squeezed Prentiss' arm gently. "We'll find who did this, Em, don't worry."

"That's not what I'm thinking about," the brunette said in a soft voice. "If Jonathan was killed because of someone from my past…" Tears filled her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie! Don't even begin to blame yourself for any of this!" Garcia cried out in a distressed tone. "The only person who deserves any blame is the creep who did this. Jonathan wanted to save the woman he loved. He wanted you to live, Emily. Don't think about anything else but how much he loved you."

Garcia meant to be comforting but Emily couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt as she remembered making love to Hotch. She loved Jonathan, she truly did and she would have been happy married to him, growing old, raising a family. However, she couldn't help but remember how Hotch made her feel when he held her in his arms, when he made love to her, how he filled her, made her feel safe and warm. She remembered every touch, every murmur, he made. She just buried the man she thought she would love for the rest of her life only to find herself being drawn and developing feelings for a man she had known for years.

No, no matter what Garcia said, Emily couldn't help but feel guilty. She was guilty of dismissing Jonathan's sacrifice and his love because she was falling in love with Hotch.

Emily's movements were mechanical as she stood in the tiny kitchenette they used as the break room, pouring herself a cup of coffee. It had seemed ages since Reid found her in the park, but in reality, only a few hours had passed. She was exhausted, mentally, emotionally and right now, physically. The only time she had slept soundly in the past few weeks was the night she and Hotch made love.

Her cheeks flushed brightly as memories of that night washed over her. She had told him the next day that they could never do that again, that they couldn't be together no matter how wonderful they had made each other feel. She wasn't ready and while she wasn't certain of Hotch's feelings for her, she couldn't let him feel anything more for her than friendship. She wasn't certain if she could give him what he needed and he deserved more than a shell of an indecisive woman. He deserved a woman who could love him completely with no guilt eating away at her.

And Hotch definitely didn't deserve a woman with a target on her back.

No, she needed to make sure he kept his distance because any man involved with Emily Prentiss would only get hurt and she'd rather die than see Aaron hurt.

"Are you okay?"

Emily started and spun around. Standing before her watching her with that soft look on his face was the man she had been thinking about as she mindlessly stirred her coffee.

Hotch had been watching her for a while, knowing the pensive look on her face that Emily was getting a little too deep into her head. He decided to snap her out of it. He stepped so close to her they could feel the heat of each other's bodies. Her full breasts brushed against his suit jacket and he could hear the quick little hitch of her breath. Emily looked up at him with her luminous eyes.

"I'm fine, or as well as can be expected."

He tilted his head to the side to regard her carefully. "I got clearance on your CIA cases so there's no need to worry about the names your revealed. But I suspect that wasn't what you were thinking about just now."

Her head dropped and he stepped even closer, drawing her to him with his hands on her shoulders. He felt Emily tense, but he didn't let her go.

"You know you can tell me anything, sweetheart."

"You need to stop that," she burst out suddenly, shrugging off his hands and trying to take a step away from him, but found herself bumping against the counter behind her. Emily sighed and ran her hands through her hair, mussing up the straight locks slightly. "What happened between us, we agreed it couldn't happen again, but you, the way you look at me, the 'sweethearts', you have to stop it."

Hotch stilled and though his face remained impassive his heart was beating a mile a minute. He swallowed thickly. "Do you really want me to?"

"You have to," she whispered. Emily looked up into his face. "You deserve better. You don't deserve a messed up woman mourning a man she loved. Hotch, you definitely don't deserve someone who appears to have a target painted on her back. It's better for you to just stay away from me."

He regarded her with inscrutable eyes his heart suddenly feeling better. One thing she hadn't said was that she didn't feel anything for him. That she regretted what had happened between them. She was afraid for him, but not afraid about them.

"Are you finished?" Hotch asked quietly. At Emily's nod, he moved even closer to her until she was completely pinned between the counter and his body. "I understand, you're not ready. I get that. I'm willing to wait until you are, because you are definitely worth the wait. I told you that I won't be going anywhere, Emily, and I meant it. You're too important to me." He dropped a small kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering against her soft skin. He heard her soft sigh and felt her body sway towards him. "You deserve so much more than you think, Emily. Just give me a chance to show you that."

Tears threatened to strangle her and she choked out a, "Hotch, please…" too emotional to say much more.

He smiled and kissed her forehead again. "I understand, but what I said stands. I'm not going anywhere, and when you're ready, I'll be here." He stepped back and with one last soft look at her turned around and left the room.

A tear finally fell down her cheek as she watched Hotch walk away and Emily realized her resolution to keep Hotch at arms' length was a little less stronger than it was a few minutes ago.