A/N: Sorry for the delay. RL and illness made it impossible for me to even think much less write. Hope this chapter is worth the wait.

Chapter 23

Haley, her arms wrapped tightly around her slender body, paced back and forth outside her husband's room, waiting. She had seen Doctor Sherman go into the room not too long ago and the nurse was still inside as well. And until they emerged and updated her, all she could do was wait; wait and think and wonder. Who was Daria, and what did she have to do with what happened to Aaron? She recalled seeing the fear in his eyes as he looked at her directly as he called her by that unrecognizable name. She had a feeling this Daria, whoever she was, was somehow connected with Emily Prentiss as far as what had happened to Aaron during the time he was missing. Haley looked up at the ceiling and exhaled deeply as she slowed her pacing. She wished the team was here right now as she had so many questions.

The opening of the door to Hotch's room caused her to stop pacing and look to see the nurse and Doctor Sherman emerge. The doctor and the nurse exchanged a few whispered words; then, the nurse smiled at Haley and walked away, Sherman approached Haley.

"How is Aaron?" she asked hesitantly. "Is he all right? Can I see him?"

Dr. Sherman gently took Haley's arm and led her to the nearby bench and motioned for her to sit beside him. He could see the fear and worry in the woman's eyes. "First, let me say that your husband is fine, but we thought it advisable to sedate him considering this was the second time today he became extremely upset." He hesitated for a few minutes to give Haley a chance to adsorb what he had just said. "Mrs. Hotchner, can you tell me exactly what happened before my nurse entered the room? All she could tell me was that your husband was shouting."

Haley wiped her cheeks with the pads of her fingers. "He was having a dream or a nightmare of some kind, but he didn't seem to be in any distress so I didn't wake him. Then all of a sudden he started shouting no, no, and that's when I woke him up. He then looked at me in fear and called me Daria and ordered me to get away from him. That's when the nurse came in."

"I see. And just who is this Daria? Do you know her?"

Haley shook her head. "No. But his team might know. Do you want me to call them?"

Sherman shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I can speak with them later. But right now, I suggest you get something to eat and then get some sleep. Your husband is heavily sedated and will probably sleep through the night so there's no need for you to stay."

Haley smiled through her tears. "I appreciate your concern, doctor, but I'm not leaving Aaron's side. He was missing for three years and I just got him back. So, I'm staying right here by his side."

Sherman marveled at the devotion and love this woman had for her husband. He patted her hand. "Then at least go to the cafeteria and have something to eat. I assure you your husband will be all right while you're gone."

"Thank you, doctor," Haley said. Doctor Sherman patted her hand again before getting to his feet and walking away. Now alone, Haley lifted her eyes to the ceiling and let out a deep breath. "You're going to be okay, Aaron," she said softly to no-one. "And I don't care how long it takes." Then swallowing the growing lump in her throat, Haley forced her tired body to it's feet and headed toward the elevator bank.

The office was empty by the time the five exhausted agents had returned several hours ago. They each had a folder before them in the conference room along with cups of coffee. Prentiss finally shoved her file away from her and rubbed her tired eyes with both hands.

"I've been looking at this file for so long I can't see straight anymore," she said. "Besides, there's nothing here to indicate why Hotch would blow up at me."

"We can't give up, Princess," Morgan advised her. "Hotch lost it when he saw you for a reason. We just have to find out what that reason is."

"And considering how his memory is right now…" JJ added. "…I'm willing to guess it's something he's misinterpreted because of it. We just have to keep looking."

Looking around at her teammates, Prentiss's eyes found Rossi smiling at her. "Don't worry, kiddo, we'll straighten this all out with Hotch. Trust me when I tell you that."

Emily found herself smiling weakly as she looked at the older agent. Then with a sigh, she pulled the file closer to her, picked it up again and started going through it again.

Nearly an hour later, the team looked up to see an excited Penelope Garcia bursting through the Plexiglass doors carrying her laptop running as fast as her high heels would allow.

"I found it! I found it!" she shouted. "I found why the Boss Man lost it with our raven-haired Gumdrop!" She sat the laptop on the table and turned it around so that the screen faced the others. "Check this out," she added as she pressed a key. Seconds later up on the screen popped a photo of Emily Prentiss.

"That's a photo of Prentiss," Morgan said, not getting it. "So what?"

Garcia smiled deviously. "Wait and see my hunky chocolate God of War." She then pressed another key which caused the screen to split in half. A photo of Daria Hunt on the right, and Emily Prentiss on the left. There was silence as the tech analyst looked around at her teammates. She then rolled her eyes with a look of exasperation. "Well? Don't you see it?" she asked. Nobody said anything.

Garcia looked to the heavens and shook her head before looking back at the team. "And you call yourselves profilers?"

Morgan shook his head. "Well, like the rest of us, we must all be dead tired because I don't see whatever it is you see, Baby Girl."

"Look at their faces," Garcia said frustrated. "It's so obvious."

Reid, who was the closet to the monitor, leaned forward with eyes narrowed. "She's right," he said.

"I don't understand," Prentiss replied. "What do you see that the rest of us obviously don't."

"Look at the two photos," Reid explained. "Except for the hair and the eye color, Daria Hunt bears a slight likeness to Emily. Same shape face, eyes and mouth."

"Bingo, my baby G-man," Penelope said with a smile.

"She's right," Rossi agreed leaning forward, eyebrows knitted together, studying the photos. "You and Daria aren't exactly identical twins, Emily, but there's a close enough resemblance that Hotch could be confusing the two of you and thinking you're Daria."

"So what you're saying…" Morgan remained slouched in his chair fiddling with his pencil. "…is that Hotch may be confusing Daria with Emily." Tapping his pencil on the desk for a few seconds, he shrugged. "I suppose it's possible."

They were interrupted by the sound of a vibrating phone. Rossi reached into his jacket pocket and pulled his out, checking the caller ID. "It's mine," he said. "It's Haley." He pressed the phone to his ear. "Rossi. What's wrong, Haley? Is Aaron all right?" The others watched as the older man's expression changed to one of relief from one of concern as his eyebrows knitted and his eyes narrowed. "Okay. We'll stop by in the morning then. Thanks for calling. Take care and get some rest. Goodbye." Closing his phone, he stuck it back in his pocket. He then clasped his hands atop the table, pursed his lips, and appeared lost in thought.

Garcia, Morgan, JJ, Reid, and Prentiss all exchanged looks before Morgan finally broke the tense silence.

"We gather that was Haley, man. What did she have to say? Is Hotch all right?"

"Aaron's fine except…" Rossi didn't finish as he tried organizing his words before continuing.

"Except what?" asked Reid feeling something had happened to his boss and friend.

Rossi stroked his goatee. "I'm not really sure. Seems that Aaron had a dream or a nightmare of some kind, and when Haley woke him, he screamed at her to get away from him, and called her Daria. The doctor sedated him so he'll sleep for the rest of the night. So we can't visit again until tomorrow morning. Haley's gonna stay in his room regardless."

"Why would Hotch call Haley Daria?" asked Morgan, looking puzzled. "She looks nothing like the woman."

"Good question," Rossi remarked.

"I think I might know why," chimed in Reid.

"You do?" asked JJ.

"Rossi, did Haley say what Hotch was dreaming about before she woke him?" Reid asked.

Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "She had no idea except to say that he was extremely distressed by it."

Reid rubbed his chin. "It's quite possible his dream involved Daria Hunt, and when Haley woke him, Daria was on his mind from his dream."

"It's a possibility," Rossi commented. He then looked at Prentiss. "I think it's time we should do a cognitive interview with you, Emily. You and Morgan can use my office for privacy. We need to know everything that happened the day Hotch was taken."

"But I already told you everything that happened that day after Hotch vanished," Prentiss argued.

Rossi nodded. "I know you did. But there may have been something you forgot or perhaps might have overlooked and not realized it. Remember, you had been struck on the head."

Morgan and Emily exchanged looks before Morgan faced Rossi. "That was three years ago. It's possible Prentiss might not remember anything new from that long ago."

"I realize that. But we have to look at every angle before we visit Hotch in the morning and are able to convince him that he is wrong about Emily."

Morgan rubbed his tired eyes. "I'm not sure about this, Rossi."

"I am," Prentiss stated. "What I mean is I'm at least willing to try. What have we got to lose?" She looked to Morgan and nodded her head. She saw the black agent shrug his shoulders and start getting to his feet.

"Let's go then," he told her as he and Prentiss started to leave the conference room together.

"Think it'll work?" JJ asked the older agent.

Rossi shrugged noncommittally. "I wish I could give you a definite answer but I can't. I really don't know."

"What if it doesn't work, sir?" asked Garcia, chewing her trembling lower lip. "What if the Boss Man doesn't remember our raven-haired beauty other than he currently does? What if…"

Rossi held up a hand. "Slow down, kitten. If this doesn't work, then we'll keep working until we convince Hotch he's wrong about Emily. Regardless, everything will be all right."

Morgan, after closing the door to Rossi's office, motioned for Emily to sit down on the leather sofa while he pulled the chair from behind the older man's desk and sat down, facing the female agent. He saw Prentiss take a deep breath in through her nose and let it out through her mouth.

"You ready?" he asked studying her carefully.

Prentiss swallowed her nervousness and nodded. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

Morgan nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes and think back to that night when we entered the house looking for Traci Hopson. What happened after we entered the house?"

With her eyes closed, Prentiss could see the house in question in her mind and Hotch standing beside her along with the others. "Hotch is giving orders for you, Rossi and Reid to search the upper level of the house. He wanted me with him to search the lower level…"

Haley quietly opened the door to her husband's room and peeked inside holding a cup of herbal tea in her hand, and saw her husband still asleep; for once, a relaxed expression on his face. She just as quietly entered the room and sat in the chair beside the bed before removing the lid off her Styrofoam cup and sipping her tea.

As she did so, she again thought about what Rossi had told her when she updated him about Aaron. She had a suspicion that the older man knew who this Daria was but wasn't saying. And despite the problem with Emily Prentiss, she knew in her gut that the raven-haired woman was a friend and was a good person. But it was her own over-protectiveness right now towards her husband that probably caused her to lash out at the agent. That and Aaron's reaction to seeing Prentiss. Haley took another sip of tea and crossed her legs. Deep down, she really hoped whatever the problem was between Emily and Aaron, she was hoping it could be explained and straightened out soon. She stared at the sleeping man and allowed a small smile to appear as she studied his handsome face.

"Oh Aaron," she said softly. "I know you're in there somewhere. The you that we all know and love. Please come back to all of us. Your family needs you, both your families, not just me and Jack." She then swallowed hard as thoughts of her son came to mind and she wiped her tears away with her fingers as they rolled down her cheeks. How was she going to explain Aaron's behavior around Jack when Aaron was allowed home? He did remember their son's name but nothing else about him, and Jack would pick up on his father's awkwardness around him and it would scare him. But then again, she couldn't very well keep her son away from his father until Aaron regained his full memory if he ever did.

Sighing, she held her Styrofoam cup in her lap and looked at the liquid inside as if she hoped to find the answers she sought. Then, taking a deep breath and exhaling through her mouth, she raised her head and licked her lips. Somehow, someway, she had to believe that those problems would resolve themselves soon. They just had to.