January 15, 2011- Oakland, California- 20 minutes from San Francisco

"Ok, so that was a waste of time. I can't believe the family forgot that we were coming," Prentiss growled as she climbed into the front seat of the SUV while JJ climbed into the driver's seat. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket while Morgan hopped in the back seat. Prentiss answered her phone while JJ started the vehicle and drove onto a main street towards the downtown San Francisco area.

"Hello? Hey, Rossi. Wait, I'm going to put you and Reid on speaker phone," she answered. Prentiss pushed the speaker phone and held the phone between the two front seats where all three agents could hear Rossi.

"Hey, so we need to figure out what to do about Hotch," Rossi stated. "We have to get him home without him feeling like we are bossing him around. "

"Is there any way we could call Jessica and see if she could talk him into it?" Reid asked.

"No, that will still upset him. He doesn't want anyone to think that he is weak, especially Jack," Prentiss stated with a nod from JJ.

JJ turned the SUV on to a side street and said, "I think he knows that we are concerned about him, but Hotch won't admit. I actually don't think his depression has to do with just Haley's death alone- I think it involves Foyet as well. Foyet tortured him not just with the stabbing, but mentally as well."

"Yeah, back when he was in the hospital after Foyet stabbed him, I asked him if he wanted to talk about what had happened and he told me that he didn't remember much. But the look on his face told me that he was lying," Prentiss added. "Did he talk to you about it, Rossi?"

"No. I have tried to ask him about, but he got incredibly defensive towards me."

"Alright, enough. Here is what we are going to do," dictated JJ, "when we get back to the police station, we calmly tell Hotch that we need to have a team meeting. We then calmly tell him that we are concerned about his health and that he needs to go to a hospital or go home. If he denies anything, we will calmly try and talk him into leaving."

That won't work- he's stubborn, Morgan thought. "What if that doesn't work?"

Prentiss glanced up and eyed him suspiciously, "What do you mean?" Almost immediately after, Reid added, "What are you suggesting?"

"Hotch isn't going to back down even with all five of us begging him to leave. He didn't stay home for long after he ended up in the hospital four days ago. He only took a month off after Foyet stabbed him nine times!"

"Yeah, but if we walk in and scream and yell, he might out of his dark mood fire all of us for subordination and I don't know about you, but I really like my job!" Prentiss exclaimed.

"Never mind," Morgan snapped and turned his attention back to the window. JJ shot a quick glance to Morgan. What are you hiding from us, Derek….. she wondered.

Back at the police station, Hotch stretched his arms out after looking through four boxes of evidence.

"Agent Hotchner?" a young police officer called from the conference room entrance.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" Hotch answered. A stomach pain suddenly hit him, causing the agent to grimace in pain.

"Are you ok?" the young officer asked in a worried tone. Hotch forced his usual stoic expression back onto his face. "Yes, I'm ok. What do you need?"

"Well, Agent Rossi told me that at 4:00, I need to make sure that you take a break and get something to eat. There is a Subway next door. "

"No, I'm ok. I'll just grab something from the vending machine." Suddenly the thought- You don't deserve anything, Aaron. You don't deserve your job, your son, or the team. You should have let Foyet kill you when he had the chance…..- flashed through Hotch's mind.

The young officer watched a fearful expression spread onto the agent's face. "Agent Rossi told me not to take no for an answer." When Hotch did not move or reply, the officer slowly approached Hotch watching the fear grow in the agent's eyes.

In Hotch's mind, it seemed as if an angry voice had taken over his mind. Worthless! Haley deserved so much better than you! You shouldn't have to right to even see your son.

"Agent Hotchner?" The young officer touched Hotch's shoulder. It was if the man had fallen into a trance. He gently shook Hotch's shoulder, which caused the agent to nearly jump out of his seat. "What…what?" Hotch panted as he slowly gained awareness of his surroundings.

"Agent Hotchner, do you want me to get some help?" the officer asked. Hotch brushed away the sweat from his brow and gasped, "I'm ok. Um….I-I'm…ok. You were saying about food?"

"Sir, do you want me to get help? You look really sick."

"No….I'm- just give me a minute." Hotch buried his head in his hands while the officer stepped back allowing him some room. Hotch felt like screaming, but felt like his tongue was tied in a knot. He felt his chest tighten as he thought- I don't know if I can do this anymore…