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Derek watched as Emily reached behind to pull the zipper up. He had been quiet the whole time she was getting ready, just making sure that he was in her face, with a look of disapproval on his.

"Derek, if you're just going to stand there and sulk, you might as well help me with the zipper on this." Emily huffed. She was getting tired of the sulky routine and she needed him to snap out of it and be there for her. She was scared. All said and done, she was scared shitless and she didn't really want to hold Reid's hand for strength.

"Fine." He said and zipped the dress. He went back to sitting on her bed.

"Oh for God's sake. Derek. I'm scared. As much as I want to do this, I'm scared and you're not helping. You're my boyfriend for the love of God and I don't care if it kills you inside, you will hold my hand, tell me I can do this and be there for me if I can't. I cannot deal with you just sitting there, looking at me like that! Either you're in or you're out." Emily yelled. She had had it with him.

"Em, I'm scared too. I'm scared that that sick bastard is going to get you and I'm not going to be able to do anything. I hate that you're putting yourself out there like this. I hate that and I need you with me here. I need you to be safe." Derek said, crushing her to him. She meant so much to him, and now, he couldn't imagine anything bad happening to her.

"Just hold me. I'll be okay, but I need you to hold me." Emily said, her voice muffled because she was burying her head in his chest. She drew strength and comfort from the strong arms around her and the smell of him. She kissed his chest and she drew back. She smiled at him and he was taken aback by how gorgeous she looked.

She wore a mid-night blue strapless dress. It was clinched under her breasts with a silver belt of sorts and the dress fell just below her knees. It was simple, but she looked like a queen with her personality and the silver jewellery. He leaned in and kissed her.

"It's show time!" She said, with fake enthusiasm as they made their way to her car. When they arrived at her mother's house, she took a deep breath. He leaned in and kissed her again in the car and they headed into the house. She found Hotch and nodded at him. She then separated from Derek and went to find her mother to repot for duty. Derek made his way to where Hotch stood.

"How are you feeling?" Hotch asked the taller man. Derek looked at Hotch and said "Perfect."

Rossi came towards them.

"I saw Emily just now. She looks lovely. You're lucky. Make sure you hang on to her." The older man said, looking ahead in the direction that Emily had gone.

"I know I'm lucky and I value that. And I'm going to hang on for many more reasons than 'she's lovely'" Derek said, irritably.

"Touchy." Rossi remarked to Hotch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. This whole thing just has me on edge and I know I should be professional and I can ba. I'm sorry Rossi, Hotch. It won't happen again." Derek said, genuinely.

"You're allowed one slip up. This was it though." Hotch said, with a faint smile on his face.

About two hours later, the team and the police had taken their positions. The bidding was about to begin and they had decided that Emily go first, because they wanted to avoid causalities incase the unsub got impatient. The emcee called out Emily's name and she came forward on the stage. She walked up and down and she struck a pose.

The bidding started at a hundred dollars and went up to five thousand dollars in the space of a minute. Derek was shocked. He didn't think that this kind of money would be in play. Just as he was recovering, he heard the emcee say "Then thousand dollars! Do I hear eleven thousand?"

Rossi came up to him."Ah, people with money and a beautiful woman." And just to irk Derek, Rossi shouted "Eleven thousand here!"

Derek looked at the older man like he wanted to throttle him. He was about to say something when he saw Emily flinch. He looked at the next bidder who was bidding for fifteen thousand dollars. He was a man in his forties, definitely foreign looking and was making Emily uncomfortable.

"Rossi, that's our guy. Emily flinched when he bid." Derek said, and started to march towards him.

"No, wait. We cannot let him know that we are onto him." Rossi said and raised his had saying "Sixteen here!"

"Are you insane?" Derek asked furiously. Rossi was calmly bidding on a date with his girlfriend, while her psychopathic stalker sat mere feet away from them.

"Calm down. I texted Hotch with the seat number. We need to distract him." Rossi explained and shouted "Twenty!"

Just as Derek was about to say something, there was gunfire. Derek saw Emily fall on stage, while Rossi went after the undub. Derek leapt over everyone, shoving people out of the way to get to his girlfriend. His eyes were glazed with panic. He jumped up on the stage and gasped at the blood he saw, staining the side of her dress. He knelt down and lifted Emily's head.

"Hey! I'm okay. I think the bullet grazed my side. A bad graze and it's burning like hell, but nothing life threatening. Did they get him though?" Emily asked, her voice weak, focusing on controlling the pain, or at least her reaction to it. Derek turned around to see Hotch cuffing the guy.

"Yeah, they got him. Are you sure you're okay? You don't look too well." Derek asked, nodding at a cop who told him that the ambulance was on it's way.

"I'm fine. Just in pain." Emily said, through what sounded like gritted teeth.

Derek leaned in and lightly kissed her on the mouth, not caring who saw or who said what. He smiled at her and said "Well, as soon as you get all fixed up, you better prepare yourself to hear 'I told you so' about a million times." Derek said, laughing, his eyes bright with tears.

"Don't tell me you're crying! Derek Morgan, crying over a scrape? That is something I'm going to hold over your head for a very long time!" Emily said, wincing when he het her lie back down for the paramedics to load her onto a stretcher. She had lied when she said it was a graze. The bullet had gone through her side.

Derek looked at her unhappily and she said, with more strength in her voice "I'm fine! Ride with me though?"

Derek laughed and followed the paramedics and Emily. He stopped to tell Hotch what had happened and that he was going to ride in the ambulance with her. Hotch nodded and told him that he would see them at that hospital.