Disclaimed!

The story so far:

Emily and Will were caught in bed together by JJ when she came home from work one night. Upset, she took Henry and turned to Hotch for friendship and support, (no romance yet, come on she just found her partner in bed with her best friend). Hotch got them both drunk and suffered the next day. That morning, Garcia confronted Hotch, needing to know JJ and Henry were all right, what he didn't know was that Garcia already knew about Will and Prentiss after Morgan caught them together at Rossi's New Year party.

However, Garcia did tell JJ she knew something had happened between the pair, and JJ stormed into briefing. The liaison attempted control her feelings but her emotions got the best of her and she snapped at Prentiss who admitted she and Will, had been sleeping together for five months. Hotch calmed JJ down and dealt with Will when he showed up and here we are...

Let me know what you think!

...

Hotch made his way back to the quietness of his office, after pausing next to JJ in the kitchenette to inform her Will was gone from her office.

She gratefully thanked him and passed him a coffee and some aspirin, before moving back to her now empty office. The rest of the team, except for Prentiss, were in the roundtable room going over the case files.

The unit chief finally entered his office slowly, after noticing a female figure hovering at the other side of the door. "Why aren't you going over the DC case, with the others?"

"Hotch, I need to apologise." Prentiss replied quickly. Her arms were tangled tightly around her body and for the first time the supervisor realised just how run down, his other female colleague looked.

Nodding, Hotch placed his coffee mug on his desk and took a seat. He waited for the brunette to take a seat opposite him before he spoke. "I'm not the one you should be apologising too."

"JJ's upset. I don't want to make things any worse than they already are and I'm pretty sure, me crowding her, is not what she needs right now. You saw what happened in briefing." Prentiss responded tiredly.

Hotch noted the dark circles under his colleagues eyes and her nerves as she continuously tapped her fingers against the arm of the seat. "I'm not judging you Prentiss. What you do in your personal time, is your own business. But I need to know my team is working to the best of their abilities without any distractions. What you did to JJ not only affects her and Henry, it affects all of us. We are supposed to be a team."

"I know Hotch and I feel as though the world should just open and swallow me up. What happened with Will, should never have begun in the first place and honestly, I'm not sure how exactly it did all start. But I can't change what has happened, Hotch. No matter how hard I wish." Prentiss stressed, her eyes misting up at the memory of JJ's evident pain, the night before.

"So what's your next step?" Hotch asked but was met with a confused expression. "Is your relationship with Will over or is it a more permanent thing?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, it's complicated. We have things to sort out and, Will needs to talk to JJ first." Prentiss bit her lower lip as she mumbled over her words.

Hotch lowered his gaze to the dark liquid inside the blue FBI logoed mug. "I suggest you tread carefully, Prentiss. JJ doesn't need any more pain in her life, not right now."

Emily breathed in deeply and looked to her hands as they tapped against the leather. "I wish it was as simple as leaving Will, Hotch, I do. I never want JJ to feel again the way she feels right now. I really do love her. She's been like my sister for years now."

"And yet you still betrayed her." Hotch replied solemnly.

"I know I did." Prentiss met the unit chief's eyes uncertainly. "For the next case, I should sit out. I think it'll be best for everyone if I concentrate on desk work instead of being out in the field."

Hotch watched the profiler gage his reaction, as he leaned back in his chair and kept his expression as neutral as possible. A deafening silence quickly fell over them as he thought over Prentiss's request. Finally he straightened and nodded. "I agree. Go back to your desk."

In one swift moved, Prentiss nodded and stood to leave the room but froze at the door. Turning back to face the unit chief, Prentiss bit her lower lip nervously. "Hotch, how is she, really?"

Hotch put down the pen, he previously had picked up to sign some forms. "I wouldn't expect her forgiveness any time soon, Prentiss. You need to give her space."

"I honestly never meant to hurt anyone." Prentiss exclaimed genuinely. When the profiler didn't reply, the brunette nodded at his obvious disagreement to her statement and wandered aimlessly back to her desk.

...

Any thoughts? Let me know!

Thank you for reviewing; deeda, stefi, Cikun, egoofy34, schokokaffee, Berlian, Afuy12, Myspaceisdaocean, Flames101, mummacass, crazyobsession101, JJandHotch4ever96, Hotch Fan and Melissa Larkin... you're all awesome!