A/N: Slowly but surely updates are being made. Sorry about the pace but things are just not slowing down. Yes, into each story from me some angst must fall. I don't think I'm a particularly interesting Tweeter, but if anyone wants to follow me, my handle is Tigereye77a. I might have some interesting tweets to make this weekend though.

Emily shifted restlessly in her sleep as she tried to find a more comfortable spot on Hotch's tiny office couch. She shivered with cold. Something being draped over her woke her from the light sleep she was in and she opened her eyes, blinking blearily.

"Hotch?" she rasped out, her voice slightly hoarse from sleep.

"No, it's me, Em."

"Derek?" she asked in a confused voice as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

The light in Hotch's office was dim. She had started to tire, the countless nights of little to no sleep finally catching up with her and Hotch had gently steered her towards his office to take a nap on his couch. It was late in the evening, but they were still all working hard, trying to find out who could be targeting Emily. She thought the Unit leader was still in the office with her and was surprised to find her partner there instead.

"Where's Hotch?"

"He's talking with Rossi about something," Morgan replied, his thumb jerking in the general direction of the oldest member of their team's office. He had been passing by and saw Emily shifting restlessly on the couch. When she had shivered, he had draped the blanket Hotch kept in the office over her.

She wrapped herself up in the blanket, almost as though she was shielding herself not only from the cold, but from whatever Morgan had to say to her as he obviously wanted to talk. In the dim light, Hotch had only left on his desk lamp, it was hard to make out Emily's features, but Morgan could feel the anxiety radiating off of her.

"Was there something you wanted to speak to me about?" There was a weary, resigned sound to her voice and Morgan hated himself for being the cause of it. She expected to be attacked and by him. He loathed that she felt that way and that she was right in feeling it.

"Emily, what's going on between you and Hotch?" he asked gently.

Her first instinct was to deny anything was going on, but her conscious pricked at her. "He's been good to me, Derek. He's been there for me when I really needed someone. He's been wonderful."

"I get that. He's helped you a lot, but is he going too far?"

"What do you mean?" she asked sharply, her guilt making her defensive.

"I mean you two seem close, very close. Dammit, Em, Hotch is all over you, protecting you and daring anyone to get near you. If I didn't know better, I'd think you two were involved." He looked at her questioningly.

She pulled the blanket closer around her. "Derek, Jonathan is barely in his grave. What kind of person would I be if I just got involved with Hotch right now?"

"Stupid," was his firm reply as he gazed piercingly at her. "Emotionally, you aren't in the right place for a new relationship. You'll only wind up getting hurt and hurting him."

It was obviously a warning and a large part of Emily wanted to tell Morgan to butt out and mind his own business, but he wasn't saying anything she had not already thought herself. She began to pick at a loose thread on the blanket. "Hotch is a wonderful friend and that's all he is. We both know that."

"Good," Morgan nodded. His face softened. "Emily, you've been through Hell and now is not the time to take on additional complications."

She let out a short, bitter laugh. "What does it say about us when some cares about you and we call it a 'complication'?" She sighed softly.

Morgan felt equal parts sympathy and exasperation with his friend. Life was so hard already and their jobs left them isolated in so many ways that to find someone who would understand that part of your life, to be able to share it with him, it was as rare as ice in Death Valley. But this was Hotch and Emily! They were supervisor and subordinate! Emily had just lost her fiancé! Hotch just broke up with Beth! Neither of them were ready to begin a new relationship and definitely not with each other. What would that mean for the team? How could they function?

Emily saw all these emotions and doubts flitting across her friend's face and she smiled sadly. "Don't worry, Derek, I don't think there's much chance of anything happening." Her head dropped and she looked at her hands in her lap. "I'm not exactly the type of woman Aaron Hotchner would ever be interested in."

Morgan stared at her in disbelief. Did she really not see it? Did she not see how Hotch looked at her? How frantic he was when he thought Emily was in danger? Not interested? If Morgan was any judge, he would say Hotch was more than interested in Emily, the man was in love with her.

"Is everything alright?"

Prentiss and Morgan jumped at the sound of the voice from the doorway. Rossi stood there peering intently at both of them, trying to decipher what had been going on before he entered the room. "You okay, Emily?"

She attempted to give him a reassuring smile that fell far too short. "Fine. Was there something you needed, Rossi?"

The older profiler looked intently at her and then shifted his gaze over towards Morgan who looked somewhat abashed, as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have been. Rossi gave the other man a long look and then finally returned his attention back to Emily. "Hotch sent me to get you," he turned to Morgan and added, "And to find you. We might have a lead."

Emily got up from the couch, dropping the blanket back onto it. Silently, she and Morgan followed Rossi to the small conference room they typically used for briefings. When they walked in, she saw Hotch look at them sharply. She tried to keep a neutral expression on her face, but over the last few weeks, she had come to realize she was simply an open book to Hotch. It was something that both thrilled and terrified her.

As Emily slid into her seat, Hotch watched her, noting she was trying to hide something from him. Something or someone had upset her and his eyes went immediately to Morgan who had followed her into the room. The Unit Leader's eyes narrowed at the younger man who stared defiantly back at him. Derek sat down on the opposite side of the table between Reid and JJ.

Hotch bent over Emily and asked her in a low voice, "Are you okay?" He ignored the looks Rossi and Morgan were giving him. He didn't give a damn what the others thought, his main concern was Emily.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm okay. Thanks for letting me catch a few winks in your office."

He gave her a warm smile and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She had to resist the urge to rub her cheek against it. "Anytime," he murmured, feeling the gaze of the other team members on them.

"Sorry I'm late," Garcia announced as she bustled through the door carrying her laptop. "But I think I might have found something useful." Hastily she set her laptop down and began to type furiously on it. A few seconds later, a police file was projected onto the screen.

"Meet Jack Peterman, hired gun," Garcia announced. "He's wanted in connection with three murders for hires that span five years. DC police managed to connect the gun used in Jonathan's murder to the murders connected to Peterman. They all happened out of state which is what took them so long to link the crimes together."

"A hired gun?" Rossi asked in surprise. "But hired by who and why?"

"No chance it was Jonathan who was the intended victim?" Hotch asked quietly. That earned him a hard look from Emily which he ignored.

"Uhm, no. Completely clean. No patient complaints or anything," Garcia said with a quick apologetic glance at Emily.

"Dig deeper," Hotch ordered the tech analyst. "We need to eliminate the possibility this attack had nothing to do with him." He continued to ignore Emily who was gazing angrily at him.

"We have bulletins out to local law enforcement in the surrounding states looking for Peterman, but he's likely long gone," Garcia continued.

"Expand the reach," Hotch told her. "I want it up the Eastern Seaboard. Morgan, JJ, Reid, hunt down known associates. Rossi, you still have sources along the East Coast. This guy has remained strictly on this side of the country. See if any of your contacts have ever crossed paths with him before."

The others left, but Emily remained seated and Hotch had spun around to look at the screen that still had a picture of Jack Peterman on it.

"You didn't have to dig into Jonathan's life," Emily said in an angry voice. "I could have told you there's nothing there. There's no reason anyone would want to kill him."

"We need to be certain," Hotch remarked quietly without turning around to look at her. "We can't rule out that this had nothing to do with you, that it was about him."

She was out of her seat in a flash and standing behind him, bristling with indignant anger. "You know this is about me! Jonathan wouldn't have done anything to make anyone angry enough to try to kill him!"

"None of us are saints, Emily. You need to stop idealizing him," Hotch shot back, finally spinning around to face her. He spoke quietly, but couldn't help let a slight edge slip into his voice. He was sad that Jonathan was dead, he had been a good man, but Hotch could not deny he was thrilled that he had a chance with the woman he loved. Aaron knew it had been a short time since Jonathan was killed and Emily was in no way ready to embark on a relationship, but he still couldn't help but feel jealous.

"That just tells me you never really knew Jonathan, never bothered to try to get to know him," she snapped. Her eyes began to fill. "He was such a good man and he didn't deserve to die for me. He, he was better than me…deserved better…" Emily had begun to sob.

"Emmy," Hotch said softly, angry he had let his jealousy over a dead man show. He moved towards her and tried to take her into his arms.

"No," she whimpered, pushing him away. "We can't. I can't. It's wrong." She rushed out of the room leaving Hotch to stare worriedly after her.

A/N 2: For those who are looking for the Profiler's Choice nominees and how to vote, you can find it at:

topic/ 74868/73609377/1/ 2012-Profiler-s-Choice-CM-Awards-FINAL-VOTING-BALLOT-HERE

Just remove the spaces. There are a lot of very good authors/stories nominated so show your support by voting!