Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

This chapter is dedicated to nataliebianca, isabela tonks and Sierra Clearwater

**

Hotch boarded the jet, feeling as though he was a bit in over his head. A man in Ohio was kidnapping, raping and torturing teenage girls. Young teens, especially those with dark hair. His head was wrapped around Riley as the team discussed possible profiles.

"Hotch?" Rossi said, snapping Hotch back to reality.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Reid was just pointing out how sadistic the torture is. This unsub has keeps the girls for about a month before he dumps the bodies." Emily recapped.

"His signature is obviously how he kills them." Reid pointed out. The unsub had strangled the girls, then he beat them post mortem. Hotch shuddered as he looked at the pictures.

"So, four dead girls?" Rossi asked, sounding flustered. He thought the locals should have called a long time before.

"Yeah, Anastasia Gorla 16, Maisy Baker 14, Jessica Lyn 16, and Bronwyn Slate 15. All dumped in a forest close to where the girls were taken, all found a month after they were taken." Reid said.

"Now another girl is missing. Audrey Jacobs 15, she was taken as she walked home from a school dance at 9pm. Her school was literally one block from her house." Emily said.

"They waited until the fifth victim had been missing almost a month before calling us?" Hotch asked, noticing the date the most recent victim was kidnapped.

"The locals thought they had a handle on it." JJ explained.

"Apparently not." He snapped.

"Hotch, you okay?" Morgan asked after he noticed Hotch's reaction.

"I'm fine." He lied.

"Yeah, lie to profilers." Rossi said as he rolled his eyes. "That usually goes well."

"It's nothing okay?"

"It's Riley isn't it?" JJ asked. Hotch paused. He knew he needed to get his head into the case, but his thought kept going back to his daughter. Riley was the unsub's type, to a tee. If this unsub saw her, there was not a doubt in Hotch's mind what would happen. Apparently the rest of the team noticed the similarities. He cleared his throat before answering.

"Yeah. It's just kind of bothering me. I'll get over it." He shrugged. Emily looked at him, concerned. They had many cases with girls about Riley's age. He'd never acted like this before. Although, there was never an unsub that chose a type that matched Riley so well.

"Are you sure?" Rossi asked.

"I'm fine."

"Alright." Morgan said, though he knew that Hotch was lying. "Let's get on with the case." The team talked about the case for a little while longer, but Hotch wasn't really there. Sure, he contributed. He knew what they were saying, but all he could think about was calling his daughter to see if she was okay. Any teenage and child cases bothered Hotch, but this was one of the ones that really got to him. To his excitement, they all decided to stop talking about the case. Instead, they all began grilling Reid about Catherine.

"Forget it. No details for you." Reid teased.

"Come on. What's she like?" Morgan asked.

"She's great."

"Wow. That clears everything up." JJ rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"Alright, you want details? I like her. She's very intelligent. She's hilarious, beautiful, fun. It's crazy actually. I started one of my...episodes where I can't stop giving facts and I apologized but Catherine just asked me to tell her more." Reid laughed.

"Seriously?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, weird eh?"

"Super weird." Morgan joked.

"Speaking of relationships..." JJ said as she nudged Morgan.

"Oh, ha-ha. Turn it around on me."

"What's dating Garcia like?" Emily asked.

"To be honest, it's amazing." Morgan laughed. "She's totally perfect for me. I just wonder why it took me so damn long to realize. Thank Riley for me."

"Yeah, thank her for me too." said Reid. The conversations continued, but it was Emily's time to be quiet. She too had noticed the similarities between the victims and Riley. She knew that Riley was safe, but Emily was worried about Aaron. Whether he would admit it or not, this case was getting to him. In that moment, she realized how alike Riley and Aaron really were. Both hated to look weak. Riley didn't want people to see her sick; Aaron didn't want people to see him worried.

**

They landed in Ohio and got right to work. Emily, Morgan and Rossi were going to the dumpsite where the first four bodies had been found, while the others went to get set up. They were there for less than an hour when JJ got a call.

"Guys, they found another body." She sighed.

"The girl that went missing a month ago?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, it's Audrey Jacobs." said JJ.

"Are Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss still at the crime scene?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, but we're closer to the scene."

"He changed dump sites?" Reid asked.

"He had to. There were four bodies dumped in that forest. There's no way he could get another body in there without anyone noticing it." Hotch said. They didn't waste a second. They got to the dump site, a schoolyard, as quickly as humanly possible, and when they got there, Hotch was in for a big surprise. He saw the body, and turned around. He tried to catch his breath, but what he saw shook him. JJ and Morgan were shocked too. Aaron eventually couldn't take it and he left the area. As he tried to leave, he ran into Emily, Derek and David.

"Hotch? What's wrong?" Emily asked, surprised that he left the scene.

"The dress." Hotch breathed.

"What?" Rossi asked.

"The unsub, he left her body in the clothes that she was abducted in."

"Yeah, he's done that every time." Morgan pointed out.

"She's in the dress that Riley wore to the Ball." He said quietly.

"No way." Morgan said.

"I just couldn't stay in there, it looked like..." He paused.

"Hotch, maybe you should sit this case out." Rossi said.

"No, I'll just go back to the locals. I want to help, I just can't be here." He sighed. The team members stared at their usually fearless leader. In all of his years at the BAU, he'd only ever been like this one other time. That was two years ago, when preschoolers that looked like Jack were going missing.

**

It had been three days. They'd closed the case after the unsub had taken his sixth victim. Luckily, she was still alive when they found her. Apparently, all of the girls went to the same school. They were all very into the dramatic arts. Their drama teacher was the man killing the girls.

Hotch had pulled it together, and was pleased when he was the one who got to catch the unsub. Through out the three days, he must have phoned his children one million times. When he asked if Riley was bothered by his constant calls, she laughed and said it was a welcome change.

"So, Jack's hockey game is tomorrow!" Hotch exclaimed excitedly when him and Emily got in the door. "And Riley's dance competition."

"How is that going to work?" Emily asked.

"We're going to Jack's game from 8-9:30 in the morning. Riley's competition starts at 8 in the morning too, so Haley's going to take her and we're going to meet her there. You know, dance competitions are long. It's all day tomorrow, then half of Sunday. You don't have to come you know, I'm sure you'll be bored." Hotch said.

"Aaron, I'm coming with you. I don't care if the competition is all day, I want to see. Oh, but I must warn you, I get overly excited at sporting events." said Emily.

"How excited?" Hotch inquired, but he let her blushing answer his question.

"I'm a bit...over the top. Loud." Emily explained.

"Good, that's what we need in out lives. More loud." He joked. Emily laughed, but watched Hotch's face fall.

"What?"

"Two of the victims from the last case were competitive dancers. Their parents won't get to see them dance again." He sighed.

"That case really bothered you."

"All teen girl and preschool boy cases really bother me. I'm just usually better at hiding it than that. Just seeing that girl who looked so much like Riley in her dress..." He said.

"It's okay that you broke down a bit." Emily said, rubbing his shoulders.

"I hate everyone seeing me like that." He confessed.

"I know."

"It makes me feel so...vulnerable. I need to be stronger next time." He said.

"Weren't you annoyed that Riley felt like that?" Emily asked.

"Who are you? Reid?" Hotch laughed but he thought of the truth in Emily's words. "You're right."

"I usually am." Emily shrugged. Hotch laughed even more, which resulted in a scowl from Emily.

"Alright, I'm getting some sleep." Hotch said, kissing Emily.

"Good night you big softy." Emily teased. Hotch smiled, rolled his eyes, and went to bed.

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it, and please review :D