Alright fans and fools, this is the last chapter of this story. I hope you guys like it. Personally I'm glad I'm done with the story so I can work on the million that are running through my head at the moment! So feel free to tell me what you thought if you have the time. Until next time…

As Hotch watched her walk out all he wanted to do was follow her and make sure she was alright, but as he turned his gaze back towards the whimpering man on the floor he knew that wasn't an option. He had to get Arnold back in a cell where he belonged so he couldn't hurt anyone else.

Emily walked briskly all the way to the BAU. She knew where Arnold was and she was going to enjoy her walk in the day light. She noticed the strange looks she was receiving and when she finally looked down to check the damage of her skirt she gasped when she saw some of the buttons on her shirt were missing. She wondered when that happened and how she didn't notice. She held the flaps of her shirt together tightly in her hands.

The actions of what happened ran through her mind and she started to shake. What if Hotch didn't come in when he did? What would Arnold be doing to her at this very moment? Tears filled her eyes as she picked up her pace. She just wanted to get to work and be around people she knew loved her.

She walked through the front door fifteen minutes later and made her way to her floor. She saw Morgan and Reid already at their desks so she made a quick right and headed for the bathroom. When Emily opened the door she heard three different voices so she let the door shut behind her as she began to search for somewhere else to go. Emily walked quickly then ran into the supply room when she saw Strauss coming. If there was one thing Emily didn't need it was for Strauss to question her on her apparel, because if she questioned her outfit, marks, and blood on her then Emily would have to tell her about Karl and then Strauss would be pissed off at Hotch for not telling her about what was happening and she couldn't let that happen.

Taking a seat on a box of paper Emily tried to smooth her hair down and her hand came back with blood on it. A flashback of Arnold slamming her head against the floor came rushing back and she quickly wiped her hand on her skirt trying her hardest to get the blood off.

Her eyes drifted from her hand up to her wrist and she started to cry. Fingerprints were placed along her wrist. Of course she'd been beaten up before, occasionally she still had nightmares about Cyrus, and she's had a 2 x 4 aimed at her head. There have been car crashes and so much more but she's never been attacked somewhere that she was comfortable in. Hotch made her at home in his place. He did everything right, kept her safe and gave her plenty of things to keep her happy, and yet it only took a split second for all of that to fly away. A split second to take away all the laughter and good times and replace it with fear. The only thing she knew for certain, without any doubt, was that she needed Hotch.

The entire ride to the prison Hotch had to ignore all of the things Karl had to say about Prentiss. It went from how beautiful he thought she was, to how feisty she would be in bed considering how much fight she had in her. He talked about how he longed to run his hands all over her and Hotch found himself speeding up to hurry the process along. He needed to get away from him as quickly as possible so he could find Emily. Hotch had no doubt that she went to the BAU, and he needed to see her. To make sure she was okay. Hotch felt the need to tell her how very sorry he was for leaving her alone to go back to grab the file. The overwhelming desire to say he was sorry filled him up as he practically pushed Karl into the prison then rushed back to his vehicle.

There should have been a medal for how quickly Hotch made it from the prison to the BAU. He pushed the gear into park quickly then hopped out, sprinting his way towards the steps. There wasn't a chance in hell he was going to wait for the elevator. A feeling swept over him that made him want to find Emily immediately. He didn't know what it was, but it made him hurry. He finally pushed through the glass doors and saw that Emily's desk was empty. He made his way quickly over to it.

"Have you two seen Prentiss?" Hotch asked the two profilers quickly.

Morgan stood up. "No, is she okay? Why isn't she with you?"

Hotch watched as panic started to cross over both of the agents faces. He didn't want either of them worrying about her. There was no chance that Karl had her and he needed to be the one to find Emily, he needed them to relax so he could find her on his own.

"She's fine. I'm sure she just stopped in the bathroom. No need to panic. I'll get her." Hotch shot Morgan a look and he watched as the younger agent slowly took a seat reluctantly. After sending them both a nod Hotch headed towards the ladies room.

Without caring if anyone was in there he barged in and called Emily's name. Luckily there was no one in there, but that also sent his heart into his throat since that meant she wasn't in there either. Hotch gazed into the mirror and thought for a second trying to think of where she would have gone. Not coming up with anything Hotch walked out of the bathroom and started checking all the rooms he passed for the brunette.

His eyes finally settled on the door of the supply closet. He saw the light was off under the door but he pushed it open anyway. The sight before him broke his heart. Emily was sitting on a box of paper and her head was down but he could see tears glistening off her cheeks from the light from the hallway. Her shirt and skirt were both ripped and she looked broken. He quickly shut the door and rushed over to her, grabbed her arms and pulled her up into a hug.

"Why did you disappear? I was so worried about you. Are you alright? You need to get check out!" he blurted out quickly as he wrapped his arms tighter around her body with each sentence.

"I'm fine," she mumbled as she stepped out of his hug.

"No you aren't." Hotch watched her as she turned away from him. "Talk to me Emily."

"There is nothing to talk about," Emily whispered as she gazed intensely at the pens and papers on the shelf not caring what she was looking at.

"If there is nothing to talk about then why are you sitting in the dark in a supply closet?" he questioned. He didn't want to upset her even more but he knew she needed to talk about what happened. Still not receiving a response from her he continued to push. "You were just attacked Emily. There is blood in your hair, your clothes are ripped and you're shaking. All I want is for you to talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling."

Emily quickly turned around to face Hotch. She folded her arms defensively across her chest and her face was scrunched up in anger as she stared at the man before her. "You want to know what I'm feeling? I'll tell you how I'm feeling Hotch. I wanted you to protect me!" she yelled. "I wanted you to keep me safe. That is what you said that you would do and you let me get attacked in your own home! I don't even want to think about what he would be doing to me right now if you hadn't shown up. But the fact that you weren't there beside me pisses me off. You told Morgan you'd protect me and you didn't!" Emily marched right up to Hotch and slapped him in the face. The moment her hand made contact Emily let out a loud gasp and quickly covered her mouth. She couldn't believe she just hit her boss. It wasn't his fault and she was acting like it was. "I'm so sorry," she began but was cut off.

"Don't apologize. I deserved that," Hotch mumbled as he rubbed the stinging spot that he knew was now a red hand print.

"No you didn't." Tears started to escape the brunette's eyes and she quickly turned around to face the wall again. "I don't know why I did that. I'm just scared that's all, and I don't know how to deal with it, and I guess I'm taking it out on you. But Hotch I'm so sorry," she cried as she quickly ran her hands over her flushed face to remove the tears. "It's funny," she scoffed out loud, "before you walked in here the only thing I wanted more than anything in the world was for you to come find me. To make me feel safe, and then the second you walk in here I attack you…for something that wasn't even your fault." A long pause filled the room. "I'm so messed up," she whispered before biting her lip.

"Emily." Emily turned around and was taken by surprise when Hotch grabbed her face and pulled her into him for a breathtaking kiss. He felt her relax immediately against him as she returned the kiss. He felt a smile creep onto his face when a tiny moan escaped her lips. Hotch wrapped his arms tighter around her and he felt everything fall into place when she snaked her arms up around his neck holding him in place.

They pulled away from each other when air became a necessity. Emily ran her hands lightly through his hair. "Do you forgive me?"

Hotch ran his thumb across her cheek then placed a gentle kiss there. "I was never mad. I understand Emily. I didn't protect you like I should have and I apologize. It will never happen again. I promise you that. So I guess the bigger question should be do you forgive me?"

Emily pulled him into another bear like hug as she placed her chin on his shoulder and held on for dear life. "I never should have hit you. There is no need to apologize to me. You didn't do anything wrong, I'm just a wreck and I took it out on you even though my anger should be aimed towards Karl. It was never you." She quickly turned her head and placed a kiss on his neck.

Hotch let out a sigh of relief as he hugged her tighter. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it Emily? I'll listen to anything you want to talk about. Did he…"

"No, he just bruised me up a bit, but other than that I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm just a little shaken up, but I'll be fine. You're here." She leaned back slightly so she could look into his eyes. "I guess this means I get to go home now."

"Yes, I guess so," Hotch said sadly. "But you can always stop by any time you'd like. I enjoyed your company very much." Silence passed between them again before Hotch continued. "Although I guess you might not want to come over again. I'd understand if that's the case. We can always go to your place."

A smile came over Emily's face. "Mine isn't so great either," she reminded him, "I'm sure I'm still going to get the feeling that he's watching me when I go there." Emily sighed deeply then placed her head on Hotch's chest as he ran his hand soothingly over her back.

"Well there is something I've wanted to talk to you about for a while now, but I didn't know when the right time would be, but I think that time is now."

"What is it?" Emily listened to the way Hotch's heartbeat sped up as he tightened his grip around her.

"I wanted to know if maybe you um…do you think…did you want to go out with me some time?" he finally mumbled out.

Emily chuckled softly against his chest. "Well Agent Hotchner I kind of thought we were already dating."

"We are?" he wondered out loud. "We are!" he confirmed with confidence as he placed a kiss on the top of Emily's head. "Okay then, so then I have another question which I guess I have to revise because of what happened."

Emily leaned back and looked up at him then ran a hand over his chest. "Ask away."

Hotch took a deep breath then began. "I figured since we already know what it is like to live with each other, and aside from the fact that we couldn't go out anywhere, which we can now, we got along pretty well. Jack is in love with you, he talks about you all the time which I'm sure you noticed. So I was thinking, well wondering I guess you could say," he rambled on, "if maybe you wanted to move in together." Hotch watched as Emily's eyes widened in surprise and he saw a little bit of fear so he quickly continued. "But I figured we didn't need to move into either yours or my place, we could find a place together. Where we are both comfortable. Where we can make new memories together. It doesn't really matter to me where it is, or what kind of place it is, all that matters to me is that I'm with you."

Tears quickly rushed to Emily's eyes as she stood on her tip toes and placed her lips against Hotch's. "I would love to."

"Really?" he asked in disbelief that the woman in his arms really wanted to be with him.

"Yes," she beamed. "But there is one condition."

"Anything."

"You take me on a date. One with dinner and dancing and…"

"Alcohol?" he guessed remembering back to her outburst at his apartment about the things she wanted to do.

"Yes, alcohol," she giggled before kissing him again. Emily pulled back and cupped his face in her hands. "Thank you. For everything. You keeping me safe was probably the only thing that kept me sane the entire time. I owe you for that and I will forever be in your debt."

Hotch placed his forehead against hers. "I would do it all over again if you needed me to. I'll never let anything happen to you Emily. I promise." He fused his lips onto hers again and he knew that regardless of what happened earlier that day, Karl Arnold was locked away again and he was never going to come near Emily again. Not as long as Hotch had anything to do or say about it.