Yay, another chapter! It's getting to the good stuff, so I hope you're all happy with how this one goes! This is mostly Elizabeth and Hotch/Emily centered, but the coming chapters will have more team, I promise! (Also, to reviewer 100, annie, I meant to put this in an A/N forever ago because I didn't know how else to contact you! Anyway, I saw your prompt and I just wanted to let you know I'm working on how to write it, and I haven't forgotten you!) Thanks guys, you are all amazing and beautiful and so many other good things!

After the dinner at Rossi's, Emily went back to the hospital. George had told her to go back to the house, but she wanted to check on Elizabeth before she called it a night. It had been so nice to see all of her friends again, and none of them had realized how late it was until they found Jack and Henry asleep on Rossi's couch. It was nearing 11pm by the time Emily stepped into Elizabeth's hospital room.

She found George in his usual spot, in a chair next to Elizabeth's bed. She pulled another chair up and sat next to him, neither of them speaking. They didn't need to; their presence was all that was needed.

After a few moments, George finally broke the silence.

"How did it go?" He asked.

"It was really nice. I wish you would have gone with me, everyone would've loved to meet you." Emily told him.

He sent her a soft smile. "Maybe soon." He agreed.

At that moment, Elizabeth stirred. It was more than just a twitch of her fingers or a tightening on George's or Emily's hand. Her entire body actually moved, as if she were rousing from sleep.

Emily's breath hitched in her throat.

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open, and she immediately began to struggle against the wires attached to her body. Emily stood quickly and gently placed her hands on Elizabeth's good shoulder, to calm her mother down. George pressed the button to call for the doctor.

"Em..." Elizabeth managed to get out. Luckily, her mother hadn't needed intubation and had been able to breathe well on her own, so she was able to speak. Emily knew that in itself was amazing news, because the doctor hadn't been sure how much damage the stroke had done, there had been a strong possibility that Elizabeth might have to learn to talk all over again.

"Be careful of this arm, Mom." Emily said gently as Elizabeth tried to fight the sling. "You have to keep it really still, okay?"

Elizabeth blinked a few times. "Emily?" She asked, obviously unaware of her surroundings.

"It's me. It's Emily." Emily practically whispered. She noticed the doctor and two nurses enter the room out of the corner of her eye. Turning her attention back to Elizabeth, she spoke again. "Mom, you've been sick for a little while, so the doctor and nurses over there are going to check you out and run some tests, but you'll be okay." She explained, her voice much calmer sounding than she felt.

Elizabeth's brow furrowed. She didn't remember being sick. She didn't remember this room. But Emily seemed to know what was going on, so finally she just nodded. Speaking took more energy than she had to spare at the moment.

Emily took Elizabeth's good hand in both of hers and squeezed it reassuringly. Then she looked toward the doctor and nodded that it was okay for him to come in. Emily and George had to leave the room, but they stood right outside the door, unwilling to go too far away. Before long, Elizabeth was wheeled out of her room, being taken to get a CT scan. George and Emily weren't allowed to go with her, so they sighed and went back into Elizabeth's room, taking their usual seats.

"Do you think she's okay?" Emily bit her lip.

"She recognized you, that's something." George offered. Emily nodded. She hated this, the waiting, the not knowing. It made her almost physically ill. During the past week, Emily had read practically every article she could find about strokes and Alzheimer's and the possibility that one could lead to the other. Despite the thousands of words she'd read, she didn't feel any more educated than she had when she began. She spent a lot of time wondering if there was something, anything she could have done to have prevented this from happening. Logically, she knew that the doctors had said there was no relation between Elizabeth's illness and the stroke. She knew that many times there were no warning signs of a stroke. There really was nothing she could have done to ensure that this never happened, but that didn't stop her from wondering.

Nearly an hour later, Elizabeth had been wheeled back into her room. Emily and George followed her and the doctor inside, eager to hear what he had to say.

After Elizabeth was settled back in her bed, Emily finally spoke up.

"Is she okay?"

"We've run some tests, and physically she's doing very well. Her collar bone is healing nicely, as are the incisions from her surgery. She seems a little unsteady, so we won't try walking for a day or two. Her speech is a bit slurred, but she does know who you both are. I'm not exactly sure how much she remembers from the fall, but when she's speaking more clearly I'll reassess. I think she's going to be just fine." Doctor Greene smiled. Emily sighed in relief, she had been prepared to hear much worse news than that.

"She'll have to stay here for a few days to be monitored, but she will be able to return to her home barring any complications." Emily and George thanked the doctor as he left, leaving the two of them alone with Elizabeth.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Emily asked as she noticed Elizabeth's confused look. She sat down on the edge of Elizabeth's bed carefully.

"This room is so boring looking. Why so hospitals insist on making everything so white?" Elizabeth complained. Her tone was light and raspy, her speech much slower than normal, but it wasn't impossible to understand what she was saying. Emily laughed softly.

"In the morning I'll bring some things for you that are a little happier, how does that sound?" Emily offered.

"That's nice, thank you Emily." Elizabeth replied, leaning back a bit farther into her pillows.

Emily smiled, happy to see that her mother seemed to really be okay. She did trust that her doctor was doing the right things and that he was telling them the truth. However, being able to actually see that for herself made Emily feel so much better.

The three of them sat together in silence for a bit, until George noticed that Elizabeth had drifted back to sleep. They knew she would probably sleep a lot the next few days; and that this really was just her sleeping. The likelihood that she would go back into a coma was very unlikely after the results of her CT scan. Even knowing this, both Emily and George were a bit apprehensive.

"There's no way either one of us will be leaving tonight," George noted. Emily sent him a small smile.

"You're right about that. I know she's actually doing really well, but…" She trailed off.

"I know," George nodded, understanding Emily's feelings.

It was well past midnight by now, and after having an early start to their days, the two of them found themselves falling asleep in their rather uncomfortable plastic chairs. Be that as it may, neither of them complained. The excitement of Elizabeth's slow but bure recovery outweighed any minor discomfort.

XxxxX

XxxxX

The next day, Emily woke before anyone else. She groaned quietly as she stretched out her muscles that were practically screaming at her for sleeping in such an awkward position.

She glanced at her watch, seeing it was barely 8am, and actually a bit later than she'd slept in weeks. Emily didn't want to wake anyone up, so she quickly left a note explaining that she would be back soon. She wanted to go back to her mother's house and find some things to make her hospital room a bit more colorful. She hoped Elizabeth wouldn't have to stay there long, but Emily intended to make her mother feel as comfortable as possible while she was admitted.

Emily made it down to the parking deck, unlocking the car and sliding in the drivers seat. She glanced to the passenger's seat and noticed her phone was there, she'd forgotten to grab it when she arrived back at the hospital.

She picked it up and flipped it over, reaching into the compartment in front of the seat and grabbing the car charger as the phone battery flashed red at her.

Once she plugged it in, she noticed she had texts from various team members. They had all basically said the same thing, that it was so good to see her and that they hope to see her very soon. The gesture warmed Emily's heart, because she missed them just as much and planned on making sure to see them all as much as possible.

Rather than reply to each person individually, Emily started a group text to let everyone know her mother had woken up, and was doing well. It was a Sunday morning, and Emily knew they would all probably sleep in, so she didn't expect to hear from anyone until later.

Then she noticed she'd had missed calls from Hotch. Several, actually. She felt bad, she hadn't thought about anyone needing to get in touch with her last night. Emily started the car and tapped his name in her phone, hoping that he was awake and would talk to her.

"Hello?" She heard his tired voice on the line. She cursed inwardly; she hadn't meant to wake him up.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I woke you. I just saw all your missed calls and wanted to check on you. Is everything okay?" Emily asked as she began to drive.

Hotch sighed. Emily knew that wasn't a good sign. "I don't know," He answered honestly.

"I can be at your place in ten minutes." Emily offered. He had always, always been there for her when she'd needed a friend. She wanted to be able to do that for him, too.

"You don't have to do that, I did get your text. You should stay with your mom today." Hotch said softly. She could practically hear the guilt in his voice.

"I was just going back to the house, anyway. George is with her. That'll be good for her. They should have some time without me hovering." Emily replied, determined to try and fix whatever was wrong.

Hotch was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke again. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Emily said with no hesitation.

"Okay," Hotch agreed as they ended the call.

Emily pressed down on the gas pedal just a bit harder as she headed in the direction of Hotch's apartment. The fact that Hotch had called her—multiple times—in one night meant that something was really wrong. Much like Emily, he wasn't one to seek out the help of other people. He wasn't the type of person to put his trust into just anybody. And even if trust had been earned, he was still leery of allowing people to see him with his guard down. So he kept his walls up, just like Emily did.

She got to his apartment complex and parked her car. She practically sprinted up to his door, eager to help him and Jack in any way she possibly could.

She didn't even have to knock on the door, Hotch had been listening for her and opened the door as soon as he heard her footsteps.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked upon entering the apartment, her tone soft and even.

Hotch motioned for her to sit down, so she did. They sat on the couch, sideways, so that they were facing each other.

He sighed. "It's Beth."

Emily nodded. She'd had a feeling this might concern her. "What happened?" She prodded, knowing he wasn't going to tell her everything right off.

"When Jack and I got back last night, she was here. She has a key, but I wasn't expecting her. I don't normally mind her surprise visits, they're nice. She understands that I can't get away easily, so she sometimes comes by on weekends if I haven't told her we have a case or something. Jack was excited to see her, so I let him stay up to see her for a little while. I shouldn't have, looking back." He stopped, taking a breath before continuing. Emily just sat patiently, she knew how difficult it was for him to talk about personal stuff, and this was about as personal as a person could get.

"She was mad at me, which I didn't pick up on. If I had, I would have sent Jack right to his room. She barely paid any attention to him. She just kept yelling at me for not making any effort as of lately with our relationship. She's never been like that before. Usually, Beth is so calm and together. But she just kept yelling and saying stuff Jack should have never heard her say." He looked down at his feet.

"Is Jack alright?" Emily asked, worried for the little boy. She couldn't understand why Beth would make a scene in front of Jack, he'd been through enough already.

Hotch nodded. "He's okay, still sleeping. He went to his room and waited for me to come and talk to him, but before he got there he heard Beth say negative things about Haley." He admitted, guilt written all over his face.

Emily felt her anger rise. She understood that couples argued, that was normal; but it was definitely not okay to say something about your boyfriend's dead ex-wife and mother of his child. There was no excuse for that.

"She said that she could see why Haley left me, that she was right to have taken Jack and left like she had." Hotch told her.

"Are you kidding me?" Emily blurted out. She was trying really hard to let him tell her everything before she started talking, but she found herself unable to stop the words from coming. "You know, I liked her at first. I really did. But…how can she say something like that? Especially when she knew Jack could hear her? Aaron, please tell me you called Garcia to…to…I don't know, erase her off the earth?" Emily stuttered, too angry to think of anything better to say.

Hotch actually smiled at that. "I don't know why she said it. I spent a really long time thinking that Haley was right to have done what she did. But I've learned that she wasn't. Haley and I may not have been on the best terms when she died, but we had moved past the divorce. We had started to forgive each other. And since then, I've come to understand her side. There are a million different ways I've thought of where I could have saved her before Foyet got to her. But I can't, it happened, and I've forgiven myself for it, because I know that's what Haley would want. And Beth knew that. I'd told her everything. I told her so much about me, about my past and how it's changed me, because I knew that she deserved to know exactly what she was getting into with me." Hotch sighed.

Emily put a hand on Hotch's shoulder. "She used that information against you, Aaron. That wasn't fair. She had absolutely no right to do that to you, or to Jack." Emily told him sincerely. She was glad Beth wasn't around right now, because she had no qualms about decking her in the face.

"I know you're going to tell me this isn't my fault. But it sort of is. I knew for so long that the relationship between us wasn't really going anywhere. She did make me happy, she made Jack happy. But it just…it wasn't enough. I'd wanted to break up with her for so long, but I couldn't find the words. She was such a light in our lives, and I didn't want to lose that. I didn't love her." He said, looking into Emily's eyes. "I wasn't in love with her," he clarified. "But I wasn't sure if I just wasn't letting myself love her, or if…" he stopped himself.

"Or if what?" Emily asked, curious. She noticed the change in eyes when he glanced up at her. He had been so sad when she came to the door, but somehow even after just a few minutes of talking he looked…so different. Not happy, exactly, but better than he had.

Hotch shook his head, rising from the couch and beginning to pace. "Nothing, it's not important. But what matters is that I didn't love her. So…so I ended it. We're not together anymore." He told her.

Emily motioned for him to come back and sit next to her, she really wanted him to hear what she had to say next.

When he sat down, she finally spoke.

"You did the right thing, Aaron. There's no point in continuing a relationship if you feel like it's not enough. I know you're worried about Jack and how he's going to handle this, but he's one of the strongest, most amazing children I've ever known. He's going to understand. Maybe not right away, but by the time he's grown he's going to realize how much you've sacrificed for him. He's going to understand that you've only ever wanted the best for him. I am so sorry that Beth said those things, and if she's got half a heart, she'll feel bad about saying them. I don't want to defend her in this situation, God knows that's probably the last thing I want to do, but I would bet that she said those awful things because she felt the same way you did. Like what you guys had wasn't enough. I don't know that for sure, and honestly, I don't really care. But I do care about you, and I care about Jack. And I know that you're both going to be okay." Emily told him, not even realizing that somehow as she was talking she'd grabbed Hotch's hands in hers and was holding onto them tightly.

He didn't say anything for a moment. They just looked at each other, reading each other's minds and understanding wordlessly what the other was saying.

At the same time, they seemed to realize that they'd both leaned into each other. Their mouths were practically touching. Emily could feel Hotch's slow breath on her face, and he could feel hers on his.

"Daddy?" They heard, causing them both to jerk away from each other and sit awkwardly next to each other.

"Yeah, Jack?" Hotch said, running a hand over his face, as if he was trying to forget what just happened.

"You and Emily look real weird." He laughed as he came to sit in between them, oblivious to the awkward situation he had stumbled upon.

Emily was glad Jack was there to distract them for now, but something told her she and Hotch would have to talk about it later.

I wanted to put this at the end to avoid spoilers ; ) anyway! I really, really didn't want to make Beth an evil person. I didn't want her to be a bitch, but I had to get rid of her somehow, and I needed a little bit of drama on Hotch's end to progress this story, so I had to. I know the majority of Hotch/Prentiss shippers seem to think Beth is the devil incarnate, but I actually like her a lot. I think, as I've probably said, she's good for him and for Jack. Of course we all know he belongs with Emily, so Beth obviously can't be perfect!