A/N: Wow. This has turned into something VERY different than what I had planned. A very big thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this little story. I really appreciate it! =)

Three Months Later

Monday morning Emily stepped off the elevator and walked into the BAU, suppressing a yawn. Having the weekend off hadn't done anything in terms of fixing her fatigue. She still couldn't sleep without nightmares, and she spent the better part of her weekend staring at case files.

Either way, she was exhausted. As soon as she passed through the glass doors, she made a beeline to the coffee machine in the break area. Reid was already there of course.

"Morning," she mumbled, pulling out a mug. Reid gave her a small smile.

"You look tired."

She let out a dry chuckle. "Do I? Wouldn't have guessed."

Reid frowned. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

"Not too long ago…" she started to say, but Reid's look stopped her. "Not since… You know."

A look of understanding crossed his face, and he nodded. "I don't think anyone has," he admitted.

"I can't stop looking at the files," Emily sighed. "I keep hoping there was something we missed, something that could help us."

"We all do," Reid said as he sat down at his desk. "We've all tried."

"All tried what?" a kind voice said. JJ walked into the bullpen with a file in her hand.

"Looking at some files," Reid said simply. JJ furrowed her eyebrows.

"Any files in particular?"

"You know which ones," Emily said, picking her finger nail. JJ's shoulders sagged slightly, then straightened a second later.

"That's actually why I'm here," she said quietly, glancing around the busy bullpen. She tightened her grip on the folder in her hand. "Where's Morgan?"

Emily and Reid exchanged looks before nodding up to the office at the top of the stairs. It had been someone else's office for a long time, but recent events led to it being vacated. Morgan, being their new Unit Chief, was forced to take it after Strauss put her foot down. She wanted every memory of its previous occupant gone.

As JJ hurried up the stairs, Emily spun around to face Reid. "What do you think this means?"

"I don't know," he replied, watching JJ disappear into the office.

"Do you think she found him?"

Reid looked at her. "Emily, we don't even know if there's someone to find."

Emily bit her lip and forced herself to go back to work. She knew that, but she never truly gave up hope. She refused to, and she only would if she saw his body herself.

Three months ago, the day after Hotch disappeared, there was news of a car crash off the highway leading out of Virginia. It appeared that the car had been run off the road and smashed into a tree. The damage done to the car was incredible, and the police could only use the back plate to track the car's owner: Aaron Hotchner.

There was no body pulled from the remains, and the police began to investigate, though they weren't interested in seeing who ran the car off the road. They just wanted to find Hotch. At first the BAU didn't know why, but they quickly found out. Hotch's DNA had been found at the crime scene from the day before, and he was their prime suspect.

The team believed in his innocence, but no one else did. The evidence against their Unit Chief began to stack up against him, and the BAU was forbidden from working the case. DC police offered a reward for anyone who had information on Hotch, and Strauss was more than happy to provide Hotch's personnel files.

However, as the weeks ticked by, other cases required DCPD's attention, and they let the case drop. They assumed Hotch was their culprit and left out a BOLO in case he resurfaced. Other petty crimes that had a connection to the first murder were linked to Hotch, and the FBI terminated his agent-status. As far as they were concerned, he was a wanted criminal. Jessica became Jack's official guardian.

The team was put under surveillance, and they were forced to undergo psych evaluations. The brass wanted to make sure they weren't in cahoots with their Unit Chief. After a few weeks, they all passed with flying colors, and they were allowed back in the field. To everyone else, they were a team of profilers who had suffered a terrible loss and were trying to move on.

In secret, however, they continued to investigate Hotch's disappearance. They refused to let the situation drop, and they were determined to prove his innocence.

Only a few days after the team returned to being unsupervised, Garcia dug (unwillingly) through Hotch's phone and credit card records. Aside from making several calls to team members and Jessica Brooks, there was nothing strange with the phone records. However, Garcia found several instances when Hotch used his credit card at a gas station far away from his house. Normally this wouldn't have raised any eyebrows, but the team knew Hotch, and he wouldn't go to get gas that far from his apartment.

Morgan and Emily drove over there one day and found a seedy bar across the street. After prodding the owner, he admitted Hotch came in there a lot in the weeks leading up to his disappearance. What he did there, they didn't know. The owner wouldn't say.

That wasn't enough for the team. Garcia's digging told them he used the gas station on weekends he was in town, so the next weekend they had the opportunity, Rossi and Reid went to that bar. At first there was nothing out of the ordinary, but when Rossi heard laughter coming from a back room, he was able to put the pieces together: Card games.

The owner was still reluctant to give them information, but Rossi had pulled out his badge, and they got the full story. On weekends men came in and played poker. They bet money, and at times the games could get very serious. Hotch never participated in the games, just stayed out front with his drink. However, one night, he had to. The group was missing a player, and because they always saw Hotch alone, they dragged him in.

At first he tried to say no, but the leader of the group, Damian Finch, forced Hotch to play. The owner didn't say how, but Rossi knew it was of violent means.

As the night wore on, Hotch won countless rounds thanks to his skills and unbreakable poker face. When he tried to leave, Finch blocked his way.

"Finch hates losing," the owner said wearily. "Your friend was too good."

Things got worse when they discovered Hotch was an FBI agent. The owner said a fight almost broke out, but he stopped them before it escalated.

Garcia looked up Damian Finch and discovered that he had a history of arrests due to battery and theft. One more crime and he would be put away for a long time.

The man who was killed the day Hotch disappeared was Finch's right-hand man, Carl Henderson.

"He wants to take Hotch out," Rossi announced. The team looked troubled.

"Then let's bring him in," Morgan said angrily.

"We can't," JJ replied. "We're not even supposed to be working this case, and we don't have a legitimate reason for arresting him."

"What we can do," Rossi said, "Is keep an eye on Finch and his buddies. If they try to track down Hotch or frame him again, we'll know."

"Do we even know if he will look for Hotch?" Reid asked.

"He will," Rossi answered firmly. "Finch is a narcissist, and Hotch beat him. He'll have to find him."

And so the team was forced to pretend like nothing was wrong while everyone around them assumed Hotch was guilty. They couldn't bring the real criminal in, but they never gave up hope. They continued to look for their friend using every available means without getting caught.

Out of everyone, Emily was the one who searched the most. Hotch's last words to her were a profession of love, and she would be damned if she couldn't say it to him herself. The man she loved needed her, and she would sooner die than give up.

That was why her heart sped up when JJ said she may have something. Emily was tired of reading the same things over and over. They needed something new.

A few minutes after JJ entered Morgan's office, the two of them came out. They looked at Emily and Reid, who had both looked up as soon as the door opened. Morgan walked over to Rossi's door and knocked. When it opened, he said, "Garcia's office. JJ's found something."

No one needed to be told twice, and they hurried out of the bullpen as fast as they could without drawing attention.

Once they were all gather, JJ spoke. "In Sand Lake, New York, there was a fire at the local school. Most of the students were evacuated quickly, but there were two kids stuck in a supply closet. Apparently they were getting printer paper for the library.

"The fire department was trying to think of a way to save them when a dark-haired man just ran straight in. He managed to get the kids out before things got out of hand."

"No one knows who this guy is," Morgan said. "No one's ever seen him around town before, but they think he's someone who's moved into a cabin nearby the lake."

"He's been described as being over six feet tall, white in his late forties," JJ continued. "The cabin he lives in was sold about two months ago, which is how long they assume he's been there."

The team was silent for a long time. They didn't want to get their hopes up, but…

"Hotch once ran into a burning building," Reid said quietly.

"Do you really think it could be him?" Garcia whispered.

"It's the best we've got right now," Morgan said.

"Doesn't his brother live in New York?" Rossi asked. Morgan nodded.

"It certainly seems like him," Emily said hopefully.

"How do we know for sure?" Reid asked.

"Someone could go to Sand Lake for a visit," Emily suggested.

Morgan looked at her. "Em, we don't even know if it's him."

"Then we go to find out! We won't know if we don't." She looked around at everyone. "I'll go by myself so no one suspects anything."

"Look, Emily," Morgan said. "We know how you feel about Hotch. You want nothing more than to think he's okay. We do too. But we can't just run blindly into something like this."

"We don't want you to get your hopes up only to be crushed," Rossi put in.

Emily shook her head. "I don't care. I'll go crazy if I don't find out, and I know all of you will too. We're a family, and Hotch is a part of that." She looked around at everyone. "I need to know. Just let me go up for one weekend. If it's not him, alright. Fine. We keep looking. If it is, we bring a friend home. I think that's too good to pass up."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they weighed each choice. They wanted nothing more than to bring Hotch home, and it really looked like this guy could be him.

"You'll be careful?" Morgan asked, locking gazes with Emily. She nodded.

"I'll call when I get there, when I've seen him, and when I leave."

Morgan sighed. "Baby Girl, can you get Emily a plane ticket?"

"I can get her a place to stay too in a few moments," Garcia said, a smile spreading across her face. She spun around to face her computers and began tapping away.

Morgan turned to Emily. "One weekend. That's it. You're home Sunday night."

"Got it," Emily said, hardly daring to believe her luck. "And if it is him?"

Morgan allowed a small smile to appear. "Then you bring him home."

Emily could barely focus all week. The prospect of possibly seeing Hotch was making her nervous and excited. For the first time in weeks she managed to sleep through the night.

JJ made sure they weren't called away on a case before the weekend. Thankfully no one desperately needed their help at the moment.

Friday afternoon, Rossi drove Emily to the airport. The team wanted to come as well, but they figured it would draw too much attention if they all went to see her off.

All he said to her as she got out of the car was, "Be careful, kiddo."

"I will," she promised.

Now she was flying to New York, and she felt nauseous. What if it wasn't him? What if it was and he didn't want to come home? What if Finch's goons already found him and killed him? What if…

The plane touched down only an hour or so later, and Emily forced her fears into little boxes. Now wasn't the time to think of things like that.

She rented a car at the airport and checked into her hotel room. A glance at the clock told her it was nearly eight o'clock. It was too late to head to the cabin. Sighing, Emily flopped on the bed and turned on the TV, though she absorbed none of it. Her mind was too preoccupied.

Somewhere between then and six-thirty she fell asleep on top of the blankets. After stretching her arms and legs, she took a warm shower and changed into jeans, a red long-sleeve shirt, and a fleece jacket. It was chilly in the early morning.

While she was eating breakfast Morgan called to check on her. She rolled her eyes before telling him everything was okay, and she was going to the cabin after she ate.

And she was. She followed the directions Garcia gave her the day before, driving further into the small town. It was very pretty, though the landscape did little to calm her down.

When she found the small cabin, she didn't leave the car for several minutes. She reread the address multiple times to confirm it was the right one. Once she was sure, the struggled to gather the courage to get out. Her fears were bubbling up again, and it was getting harder to put them away.

Finally she replayed Hotch's last words in her head, and that caused her to open the door and climb out. A few steps later and she was standing in front of the wooden door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

There was no response of a moment, and Emily's heart sunk. She knocked again with more desperation, but when there was silence she took a step back. She was about to turn back to the car when the door swung open.

A rough beard covered the lower half of this face, but there was no denying those brown eyes.

"Hotch?"

OOOOO. I hope you liked that! More to come soon! =)