A/N: If you're offended by such things, there's a bit of explicit language in this fic. Not copious amounts, but it's in there.

Episode: Outfoxed

"I'd like to take Prentiss with me."

"Let's go."

Emily tried not to let anything get in the way of the job, but the thought of going away with Hotch for however many days sent a thrill through her that she hadn't felt since...

Since he'd kissed her that first time. Emily bit her lip as they entered the car, beginning to drive off on their way to interview 'The Fox'. It was going to be interesting, to say the least.

OoOoOoOoO

"So why wait a year to send Karl a note? Unless they were communicating the whole time."

"That's the first thing we need to find out," Hotch was quiet. Despite the fact that he and Emily were there for work exclusively, he couldn't help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he spoke to Emily, the way her sweater was tight and fit every curve of her body so perfectly...

"But Karl has a big ego," Hotch looked forward as the elevator stopped. "He's gonna wanna answer every question with a question. He'll try to gain the advantage of me by asking why I'm not wearing my wedding ring and then he will turn his attention to you. "

Emily was slightly stunned at the way Hotch could so easily profile the man. Although, she thought to herself, it wasn't as if he hadn't had ample time to think about his behaviour.

"So that's why you brought me along," Emily responded, dryly. Hotch wanted nothing more than to convince her otherwise. To tell her she wasn't just bait he was dangling there for Karl to try and bite at. But he couldn't, because if he was to be brutally honest, it had been the primary reason.

"Your presence will throw him off guard. And he's gonna wanna describe to you in graphic detail every sexual act he committed to the families."

"To freak me out?" Her voice sounded nervous and Emily barely even minded Hotch teaching her like she had never done this before.

"To pull you into the fantasy."

They shared a look as the next door slid open, Emily suddenly feeling afraid. She'd never really been in such a vulnerable position before and it was... daunting, to say the least.

"Keep your eyes forward," Hotch murmured, his voice soft. It wasn't her ex-Unit chief speaking, but her friend, the one who cared about her wellbeing and would've put it above the case. Emily wondered if that was still the case, or if he'd make her a priority in any situation. "More than anything he's going to want to see the images of the children."

"We can't give him that," Emily's voice darkened, her protective Agent self suddenly breaking through, hardening her against the criminals that lined the walkway the two moved along.

"We have to give him something or we'll get nothing from him."

Suddenly the taunts grew louder, obscenities filling the air, Emily's agent shield beginning to crack. She almost lost it when a body slammed against the wall, scaring her as she tried to remain calm.

"Isn't that, uh..."

"Derek Payne. It's reinforced glass," Hotch's voice was soft again, an apologetic tone running through it.

"Easy for you to say, he tore apart fourteen women."

Hotch glanced over at Emily, then looked down, suddenly feeling terrible. She was obviously scared, who wouldn't be in her position? She had never done anything like this before and suddenly here he was, throwing her in with the worst of the lot.

He'd definitely have to find some way to make it up to her.

They paused before stepping through the doors, Karl sitting down on the other side. He stood as they walked in, eyes barely gazing at Emily before turning to Hotch and raking over him.

"Hello Karl."

"Agent Hotchner," The man replied, standing. "I wasn't informed you were bringing a, uh..." He turned slightly towards Emily, studying her closely. Karl quickly turned his head back to Hotch, as Emily gazed back at him, challengingly.

"They just said two agents."

"This is Agent-" Hotch began, only to be cut off by Karl.

"Emily... Prentiss." Emily paled, her challenging look faltering for a second as Karl smiled. "I know all about you."

OoOoOoOoO

"You'd be astounded at all of the questions my fans ask. I have a log of all of them, would you like to read them?"

"I would love to."

"You would," Hotch clenched his jaw as Karl dragged Emily's words out, the sickness he felt as the man twisted his agent's words astounding. "love to?"

His smile was sickening, dark and manic as he continued to speak, only to Emily. "Yes. Here."

Emily raised her eyebrow, leaning forward as Karl too, leaned in, inhaling Emily's scent before Hotch cut him off, taking the file from Karl. The Fox settled back in his chair, eyes flashing as Hotch wondered if sniffing Emily was a justified reason for killing a man.

He thought it qualified.

"Maybe later," Emily shot back breezily, opening the log and beginning to skim, disturbed by the words on the page.

Karl leaned back in his chair, eyeing Hotch with a glare so lethal that the dark haired agent had to return the look, fiercely putting every ounce of hatred into his glare while still trying to not reach across the table and kill him.

Maybe he was getting angrier in his advancing age. Maybe some answers weren't so easy to find.

OoOoOoO

"I can help you with that, Agent Hotchner. I certainly can. But I'll need to see those photos. May I?"

Emily sucked in her breath and turned away from Karl, looking directly at Hotch. "A word?"

"Is there a problem, Emily?"

"There is no problem, Karl." His voice was soft again as the two turned, Emily scooping up the case file. She hated it in that room, hated how she couldn't show emotion of any kind.

Hated that she was afraid of a shackled man.

"We cannot show him these," Emily spoke as they stepped outside the room, Hotch standing close to her as they both glanced through the window for a second.

"These images will be his undoing and our way in," Hotch would've tried pleading, but knew that straight facts would appeal more highly to Emily.

"But they're not just images..." She whispered, staring at Hotch challengingly.

"That's exactly what they are," He replied calmly.

"We can't use Lucy like that."

"It's a trade-off we have to make."

"So we're using a dead 12 year old girl in a bathing suit as a bargaining chip for what?" Emily's voice was a hiss, barely audible.

"To him, it's not just a photograph, it's much, much more and we need to know what."

"I- ah, I... I have never done this before," She threw it out there and

Hotch softened, his demeanour mellowing.

"And you don't have to now," His expression was unreadable but Emily could feel the apologetic air to it, the way he was giving her an out.

"Yes I do."

"Alright. When I feel he's ready to talk, I'll leave the room. You get him talking. Whatever he does, whatever you feel, just stay on top of it. We need to know why he killed those families," They turned, entering the room again, Emily finding herself wishing she could swallow her emotions.

As they were about to enter the room, Hotch motioned for the guard to wait. He turned to Emily, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Before we go in, when I think we need to get him talking, I'll ask you if you want some coffee. Black and two sugars means you want me on the other side of this door making sure you're ok, cream and sugar means you want me to stay and milk and honey means you're fine on your own. I know you can do this, Emily, but I'm just telling you so we're on the same page."

Shakily, Emily nodded, glad that Hotch was giving her this. It meant a lot to her that, despite the fact she knew he trusted her, he still was offering her a way to stay safe.

Or, as safe as she could be in a room with a serial killer.

"Stand up," Hotch commanded as they entered the room. "You wanna see don't you?"

"Very much."

"We're gonna show you," Emily stood beside Hotch, tensing up slightly as Karl became unshackled. She lay the images down, close to cringing as she looked at them from his point of view.

"This is the home of the Downey family. They had three children."

"How old were the children?"

"12, 9, and 4, a girl and two boys."

"Where were they found?" Emily was glad Hotch was taking the lead on this. Normally she did the cognitive interviews on a case, but this kind of sick recollection was too much for her.

"Over there," Hotch replied, indicating the image on the table.

"Buried?" Karl's smile was feral, a lion stalking his prey. "Interesting."

"Laura, the mother, and the two boys were killed in the house."

"The daughter?"

Emily stared forward, numbness creeping over her. Hotch could sense her discomfort, flipping over new photos of the house this time.

"This is where the mother and the youngest son were killed. The other boy was shot in the bedroom closet."

"Where's the father?"

"Overseas," Emily replied, taking a slight lead. Karl's gaze on her was enough to make her want to shrink back, which she did until she found her arm brushing Hotch's.

"The killer knows this," Hotch spoke, not missing a beat as his senses went into overdrive with Emily's arm brushing against his.

"He knows everything about this family and he watches their every move to be sure he achieves what he needs," Karl chuckled and an identical chill ran through both Hotch and Emily, their blood turning cold. "You have no idea how he knows the father is gone or how he targets these families. And the how... that's the key." Suddenly, a flicker of bitter resentment flashed over Karl, as he continued to speak.

"The how is why he was able to catch me." Emily couldn't help feeling slightly impressed by Hotch. If he could catch the Fox, a copycat would be easy enough ... right?

"You watched the families for days..." Emily prompted. Karl frowned at her words.

"Weeks. I got to know them. But not your guy. He doesn't need weeks; if he did, he'd stay longer."

"Why?" Emily could sense a breakthrough, her confusion etched over her face. She was beginning to get the hang of this interview, sensing when to break in or prompt Karl to continue to speak. It scared her a bit that she was slipping into his mind so easily.

"So he can enjoy them," His voice was full of reverie, a longing for what their UNSUB had that he didn't and never would again. It terrified Emily, if she was to be honest. The fact that if, maybe, they hadn't taken this case, he could still be running around.

And then she remembered his copycat was still at large.

OoOoOoOoO

The call came part of the way through the interview. Hotch noted that they were winding down and he'd have to leave soon. He was just about to leave when his phone rang. Hotch pulled it out quickly, hitting the button and glancing at Emily before he answered.

"I'm gonna take this, coffee?"

"Sure, black, two sugars."

Hotch dipped his head, stepping out with a soft, 'Hotchner'. He ducked through the doors, standing on the other side of the glass, watching as Emily's gaze moved from the now closed doors to the man before her.

"He's killed again, hasn't he? Luckily for me."

"Luckily?"

"Now we're alone."

Emily took a deep breath, trying to continue on the track they had been progressing along.

"You stated that the families don't know the killer, why?"

"Now we wait, right? You and I. See if my admirer contacts me. He will."

Emily could feel it. The shift in dominance. It had changed when Hotch had left. Nobody there to protect her from his leering. She needed to gain control. She needed to give him what he wanted. Emily's gaze dropped for a second before she sighed softly and began.

"Yours was one of the first cases I studied."

"Really?" She had caught his attention and planned to keep it that way.

"Mhm. I've been fascinated ever since."

"With what?"

"You."

Hotch listened from behind the glass, his eyes unblinking, heart racing. Her voice was so soft, so subtle. It was driving him crazy and not in a good way. For a moment he wanted to barge in there and assume dominance again, fighting for the fact that Emily was his. He knew it was stupid, especially since he had pretty much told her to do this, to flirt with Karl, but still a part of him wished he hadn't chosen her.

He watched Karl smile, a low chuckle leave his throat. Emily, too, glanced down, a soft sound between a laugh and a sigh leave her lips as she glanced away from where Hotch stood, then back to Karl.

"And now," He smiled fully now, seeing through her. "You want to know what I did to the children, don't you?"

"Yes." Barely a whisper.

"I can show you. I can show you exactly what I did to them."

"Tell me," She was using that voice. That voice that drove Hotch crazy. He turned away for a moment, grabbing his phone and dialing up Morgan. He couldn't listen in on this.

Hotch watched the screen as he spoke to Morgan. All he could hear was a faint hum in his ears and the sound of Morgan's voice telling him to stay with Emily and find out what the hell was going on.

He waited for a few minutes before walking in again. Emily had been silent, a battle of wills progressing as Karl and her stared back and forth at each other. As Hotch entered the room, Emily almost jolted, instead turning slightly and glancing up at him, showing no emotion as he entered. Hotch didn't look down at Emily, choosing to stare straight ahead, ignoring her, eyes boring into Karl.

"Karl I never thought that you'd be this honest."

"It takes a good woman to make an honest man. And let's face it, she's prettier than you."

"Karl do you know why you killed all those people?" With Hotch back in the room, Emily felt more powerful, more in control of this man. She wanted to end this and leave.

"I've already told you why."

"No, you told me how, not why."

"And the reasons why in this case were very different than they were for you," Hotch added, quietly.

"Very, very different," Emily sniffed.

"And as you've so frequently been pointing out to Agent Prentiss, all of your motivations were about sex."

"Motivations you learned from your father." Hotch almost grinned as he heard Emily's profiler mind kick into action. Of course, it did help that she wasn't using that voice anymore, but still, he leaned back slightly and enjoyed the view from the passenger seat.

"You really have done your research on me, Emily. I'm flattered."

"You're also filled with feeling of extreme self-hatred."

"Must be distracting working with someone so beautiful," Hotch's heart suddenly started pounding. Had Karl picked up on him and Emily? Had he realised what was going on between them?

"You forced those men to watch their children die," Emily's voice quavered on the word die. "And here's why, Karl, here's why you are what you are."

"What I would do to you..." Hotch wanted to slam his fist on the table, screaming that that was enough. The sickening words of the Viper ran through his mind and suddenly flashes of Emily kissing him whirled around his head and Hotch had to glance away with her next words.

" By killing the fathers last, you were killing your own father, and ultimately yourself, over and over again."

Karl leaned back in his chair, showing no outward signs of emotion that he was grappling for dominance.

"This isn't over, Agent Hotchner. At least, not for you."

Hotch stared at Karl, questions running through his mind. Only when Emily uttered his name, as soft as she had the night they had kissed, did he awake from his reverie.

"For Karl it's all about the fathers. In this case it's all about the girls. They die last, they're laid out last, none of them are shot, none of them show any signs of sexual motive. What if we applied that logic to these killings?"

"Something we hadn't considered."

"Why would we, it's so rare."

"What is?" Karl couldn't help asking, despite the dip in control it gave him.

"The killer's a woman."

"A woman?"

"I'll let Morgan know."

Karl watched Emily leave, eyes trailing her body before Hotch spoke. "Karl just now you said it wasn't over for me. What did you mean by that?"

"You don't see it," Karl winked, dominance re-asserted. "But you will."

OoOoOoOoO

"I don't think this woman has anything to do with Karl." Hotch was leaning lightly on the desk, as Emily sat slumped in the chair beside him. She looked exhausted, completely drained of all emotion and ability.

"I encouraged him. I flirted with him. Made it personal." Hotch watched her as she had her moment of breakdown, glad they were in a safe room without anyone around. She needed to do this and wouldn't have with anybody else but him around. "Getting intimate with a killer is so different."

"It's what we do." He couldn't really say much else. Heart to heart conversations? Not his specialty. Especially not on the job.

"Yeah, but... there's no fixing how I feel right now, is there?"

"No," He whispered, eyes never straying from hers as he scanned her face, wondering if he'd be able to help calm her down. "But it helped the case and you did what you had to."

Emily nodded quickly, keeping her eyes down. As the sickly voice of Karl leeched through the microphone, Hotch could feel Emily shrinking back.

"Agent Hotchner? Before you go, there's one final thing I'd like to share with you."

"Let's just get this over with," Emily's voice cracked at the end, almost breaking into a cry. Hotch stepped forward, about to leave through the door before he stopped and turned around, pulling Emily gently in towards his chest. Hotch's head fit perfectly above her as he wrapped his arms gently around Emily's body, her arms coming up to rest lightly between them, palms flat against his dress shirt.

"Hey, it's going to be ok, alright? We're leaving in just a few minutes and then you never have to see him again."

"I'll still see him in nightmares," Emily whispered against his chest, closing her eyes and inhaling Hotch's scent.

"Then I'll be there to wake you up," Hotch frowned, lifting Emily's chin to look up into his face as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Don't leave me just yet, Agent Prentiss."

She smiled just barely and leaned her head against Hotch's chest for a moment longer.

"Yes, sir."

OoOoOoO

"Your guy is far from lost."

"We're done," Hotch spoke flatly, trying to turn and walk away from Karl as soon as he could.

"So is he," Karl held up the small note paper before Hotch, taunting him with it. "Look at what I have done. It's quite brilliant, y'know."

"We will find whoever sent you that note."

"No, Agent Hotchner, I rather think he's already found you."

A crease appeared on Hotch's forehead, one Emily had never seen except when he was truly and completely baffled. He grabbed the case file before him, beginning to flip through it as Emily spoke his name warningly.

"I can't believe you can't see what he's doing."

"What is going on?" Emily pleaded, trying to shake Hotch from his silence.

"He's torturing him!" Karl laughed.

"Who?" Emily demanded, but her effect had worn off on Karl, who was basking in the way Hotch was reacting.

"It's great to see you squirm, Agent Hotchner!"

"Foyet..." Emily whispered, as the familiar insignia stared back at her from around Hotch;'s face in the small clipping. It struck a deep-seated fear within her that had been placed there ever since she had seen Hotch in the hospital.

"He knew you'd come!"

The only thing Hotch could hear was the pounding in his ears, the taunts from the men that lined the walls meaningless to him as he moved down the hallway, visions of blood and shivers of pain ghosting over the scars that adorned his chest. He moved through the quickly opening doors, slamming them aside as the guards unlocked them one by one until he was out of the prison, standing outside it in the harsh sunlight yet again.

"Hotch? Hotch!" Emily's voice called for him as she dashed out of the prison, looking for him.

"He's taunting me. Fucking taunting me, Emily!" Hotch cried, throwing the case file onto the ground and running his hands angrily through his short, dark hair.

"Hotch, it's just that, a taunt. Nothing more. We can catch him if we work the profile a bit harder and then you'll be able to see Jack and Hayley again."

"I don't fucking want to catch him, Emily, I want to KILL him. I want to put him through all the pain he's put me through and I want to make him see that I can beat him," Suddenly Hotch stopped his mad pacing, swaying slightly as Emily rushed forward just in time to grab him and slow his collapse onto the ground.

"How do I do it, Em?" He whispered, moving into a sitting position, oblivious to the fact that he'd just called her by a nickname.

"You trust us to help you and find him," She whispered, stroking her hands through his hair gently, her other hand atop his.

"I just... what if something happened to them?"

"Nothing will, Hotch."

"But what if something does?" He looked up at Emily, a pleading look in his eyes, searching hers for the answers she always seemed to be able to give him.

"Then we'll be here for you. That has never changed and never will, Hotch. We're a family and you're as much a part of that as everyone else is."

Hotch closed his eyes, resting his head on the comforting place that was Emily's shoulder. Not long ago, their positions had been reversed after Emily's friend Matthew had died. Countless times they'd gone to each other for help, for support, for a smile or two when they really needed it. His mind flashed to the thought of losing Emily, of her being taken from him and not being able to see her. It panicked him how he felt the same reaction to losing Hayley and Jack. When had they gotten so close? When had she begun to worm her way into his heart and what would he do if she were in trouble? If she died or got injured on a case?

"Can we just... sit here for a moment? I'm not ready to face the team or..."

"Yeah, sure. It's too hot in the car anyway," Emily replied gently, leaning her own head against his.

Hotch opened his eyes, staring ahead, the feeling of Emily's hair tickling his neck and cheek. He realised that it didn't matter how she'd snuck into his mind and heart. It didn't matter when he'd fallen in love with her or how. All that mattered was that she stayed with him.

Which she did. And always would.

Ho-ly shit. I cannot believe this is 4000 words. Who knew I had so much to say about this episode? I didn't. I'm not going to write a fic about '100' because even if I don't ship H/H, I always feel sad with that episode. Uh, I don't really know what else to say except PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASSSSSSSSSSSSE REVIEW! It means so much, really.

Song: Save Me – We are the Grand