Sorry for waiting so long… But there's this thing called life. Unfortunate I know, but I had to work around it.
Chapter 10
Someone To Watch Over Me
"Night Superman," Emily grinned and gave Aaron a hug when she was about to go to bed. Aaron held her elbow to stop her from turning around.
"Why don't you come and sleep in my tent?" He asked softly.
"I can't." She replied looking around at everyone else who was still awake – which was the whole group apart from the kids.
"Why not? You really scared me today, Em. I need to know you're all right. Please?" Emily nodded softly, knowing what his need had surfaced from.
"Okay." She whispered, and he pulled her into another hug, needing to feel her against him. Alive. Breathing.
Not giving a damn as to who was watching, Emily stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips to his. They were single kisses at first, but then it grew into something deeper as Aaron granted Emily's tongue permission. Emily's arms wrapped around Aaron's neck and his arms pulled her body flush against his. They stood there needing to feel the other alive, wrapped up in the passionate embrace when soft cheers emitted from the team behind them.
Immediately recognizing what the noise was for, Emily groaned and hid her head in Aaron's neck. Aaron didn't need to even look at her to know that she was blushing. He leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"See honey, they don't care." Emily chuckled into his neck, then pulled back and rolled her eyes.
"Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the tent, ignoring the group still cheering behind them.
HOTCHNISSHOTCHNISSHOTCHNISS
Emily woke up when she felt something prodding her cheek.
"Em'ly, you awake?" She could sense that Aaron wasn't on the air mattress with her, so he must have woken up early and be outside already. She chuckled.
"Nope, sorry buddy." The continuous prodding didn't abate.
"Then why are you talking?" She could hear the frown in Jack's voice. It sounded exactly like his fathers.
"Well why are you so inquisitive this morning?" She asked, opening her eyes and pulling Jack down with her. He didn't answer her, instead rested his head on her shoulder.
"How long have we got until we go home Em'ly?" Jack asked, tracing little patterns on her stomach with his fingertips.
"We've still got three or four days left, buddy. Why? Do you want to go home?" She looked at him.
"No! I don't want to go home." Emily chuckled.
"Oh, well sorry Stinky. I can't help you there." She sat up slowly, "I guess I'd better get up then." Jack grabbed her hand and they walked out of the tent together once Emily had slipped a pair of trainers on.
"Jack, I told you to stop waking Emily up all the time." Aaron warned as the pair walked over to where he was sitting by the fire with everyone that was already awake. The group looked over in amusement at what Aaron had said, since it was surprisingly domestic.
"Don't worry Aaron, it's fine." She dropped a kiss on his cheek as she sat down and Jack climbed across and sat on both of their laps, "I was going to have to get up at some point anyway." She smiled.
"Coffee, Em?" JJ asked her as she was pouring out a cup for herself.
"Yes please, Jayje." Emily smiled gratefully at the blonde as she gave her the liquid caffeine, "Thanks." Jack looked up at the adults.
"What are we doing today?"
"Anything but going to the lake." Emily said dryly, rubbing her leg subconsciously. Aaron frowned at the action.
"Is your leg all right?" Emily looked down at her leg, not realizing what she had been doing.
"I think-" She stopped when she pulled her socks down to reveal a bruise wrapping around her ankle. "Maybe not… That seaweed was really tight."
"Does it hurt much?" Aaron asked her and he could see the concern in his eyes.
"Oh, no don't worry. It's not that bad. It doesn't hurt when I walk or anything," Emily looked up to see Aaron's concern mirrored onto the faces of the team and Will, "Seriously guys, it's fine." Thankfully they dropped the subject, but she could still see them giving her looks when they thought she wasn't looking.
HOTCHNISSHOTCHNISSHOTCHNISS
"Hurry up, slowcoaches!" Jack shouts to Garcia, Reid and Rossi who are falling behind. The littlest Hotchner had proposed that the team go on an adventure, and since Aaron was pretty sure that there wasn't anything particularly adventurous around apart from the woods, they decided to go for a small hike. And with Jack and Henry's small legs they had settled for a walk to the top of the small hill near their campsite.
"Jack, you're not exactly one to judge." Emily points out, since she had been giving the boy a piggyback ride from the bottom of the hill. Aaron had offered to take him off of her, but she had insisted she was fine. What harm could a good workout do anyway?
"Em'ly?" Jack asked her as she hitched him up a little higher while they were waiting for the others to catch up.
"Yes?" She mirrored in the same tone of voice.
"Why is it called a piggyback ride? You're not a pig, are you?" He began poking her cheek, as if to check his point, and Emily glared at Morgan as she heard him laugh through the cough he had tried to cover it with.
"Not since I last checked, buddy." Reid had sped up when he overheard Jack's question and hurried to answer it.
"Actually, Piggyback rides are called Piggyback rides because in the old language of Anglo Saxon, babies were called piggies. As you may or may not know Anglo Saxon infants were carried on their parent's backs-"
"Reid. He's just a kid." JJ patted the genius on the back; she had seen the wide eyed look Jack had assumed when Reid began to share his fountain of knowledge.
"Oh," Reid smirked, "Sorry."
"Reid!" Emily mocked annoyance, as she jiggled Jack up and down and looked at his face, "You broke him!" Jack tried to keep up his façade, but failed miserably when he started giggling into Emily's shoulder.
And as everybody knows: laughter is infectious.
Garcia was still chuckling when she felt a droplet of water hit her forehead. She frowned for a second as she looked up to the sky.
"Guys, is it raining?" The whole group paused for a second, each of them silently deliberating the possibly unfortunate weather, not wanting it to dampen their plans. A sudden smattering of raindrops drummed against the dry ground, pushing the mismatched group into action as they all bee-lined towards the trees, although a couple of raindrops penetrated the tree canopy. Emily winced as she felt the cold water drip down the back of her neck.
They stood under the semi-cover of the trees for a few minutes to see whether the rain would dissipate or not. When the droplets began thrumming against the ground so heavily that they had to raise their voices in the hope that they would be heard, Emily sighed.
"I really don't think it's stopping." The group's matching downcast faces reflected Emily's sentiment, "So do we run back, or wait to see if it stops anytime soon?"
"I don't do: run." Garcia spelled out for them in her usual Garcia fashion, "I think I'll wait for a while.
"And I second that. Unless it's after an unsub, running isn't my forte." Rossi remarked, seeing Garcia shooting puppy eyes at Morgan.
"I guess I'll stay here too." Derek relented, but smiled when he heard his baby girl's happy squeal.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I am running back now. It might take ages to stop." Emily pointed out.
"I'll go with you, I don't fancy waiting here for hours on end when I could be in my tent." Aaron said, "You coming Jack?" He asked his son who was now standing beside Emily with his arm wrapped around her, who nodded eagerly, "Is anyone else coming."
"I will," Reid stepped towards them, "It seems like we're going to get soaked either way. Might as well get it over with."
"I second that!" JJ announced, then placed her hand on Will's arm, "You coming honey?"
"I think I'll wait it out with Henry, Cher. You go ahead, though." The blonde leaned forwards and quickly pecked him on the lips.
"Okay, I guess I'll see you later, then."
"Are we ready?" Aaron asked.
"I guess so." Emily looked at the two Hotchners and took Jack's hand while Aaron took the other, "Okay. 1…2…3…Go!" The group ran out from the tree's protection and felt like she'd immediately been hit with a bucket full of ice-cold water. They were drenched almost immediately.
Since Jack's running speed couldn't meet the rest of the adults' on a good, less rainy day, Emily and Aaron were forced to move at a slower pace for the little boy. It was only a few seconds before JJ and Reid were out of sight.
They were nearing the bottom of the slight incline that they had previously hiked up, and Emily's shoed foot slipped on a wet rock. Thankfully she righted herself before she tumbled to the bottom of the slope. That was until another rock loomed. Taking her by surprise again… and winning. One second Emily had been not-so-enjoying a hurried run down a small hill, the next… she plummeted rapidly down to the sludgy ground. Thankfully, Jack had reacted quickly and released the death-grip he had previously held on her hand or he would have joined her rolling down to the bottom of the hill, bouncing every couple of rolls as gravel dug into flesh.
Aaron's heart had almost stopped when he saw his lover tumbling down the slight incline. Thank God he'd reacted quickly enough to stop Jack from joining her, but the world seemed to be moving in in slow motion as Emily bumped on the protruding rocks on her way down. It took him a few seconds to gather himself, but then he quickly scrambled to her sodden form with Jack in tow. When he reached her he stopped momentarily… Was she crying?!
It took the man a few moments to realize that Emily was not in fact sobbing feverishly, but rather rolling about on the muddy ground and laughing hysterically. Aaron balked at the unusual sight for a moment, and his mask slipped. A dimple became visible… Then another… And when Jack started giggling unrestrainedly and almost fell over himself… He flipped. The usually straight-faced Aaron Hotchner slipped over in the mud, flopped onto his back and began laughing uproariously.
They were still there when the rain abated and the rest of the team found them thirty minutes later.
Since I had left this story for so long before uploading I don't have anymore written out yet, so I'm not sure when the next update will be.
Feel free to PM me or Review with possible ideas, because they would be a world of help.
There is a fanfiction that I read on this site a few months ago that I cannot find again for the life of me. Rossi, Prentiss, Morgan and Reid go hiking in the French Alps (I think) and there's someone in the cabin that they hiked to and tries to kill them. If anybody had any ideas as to what this fic is called I would really appreciate it.
Thanks. Please Review.