Her fingers tap gently against her desk as she sits in the practically empty bullpen. The case they were working on has been wrapped up, the unsub safely in custody without any more fatalities and the team finally on their way home. It's the sound of footsteps making their way towards her which bring her out of her thoughts and cause her to glance over her shoulder.

'Hey, P...' She says softly causing the blonde to smile as she gently squeezes her friend's shoulders before sitting down on the edge of her desk.

'How are you doing? We're all going to head out to O'Keefe's when they get back for some drinks. Are you coming?' Penelope asks.

'Mmm... Yeah, I'll come for a bit. I don't think I'm going to drink tonight though.' Emily admits and Penelope nods her head.

'Okay. Do you want to stay at my place tonight instead of that hotel?' Penelope asks.

'It's okay... I'm actually moving to a short time rental until I find somewhere more permanent. I got my keys this morning so I need to finish packing tonight.' Emily replies causing the blonde to smile.

'Oh that's good, isn't it? Somewhere for you to settle and to feel like home.' Penelope says and Emily nods her head.

'Yeah, it'll be good to feel a bit more settled instead of feeling like I'm just visiting.' Emily admits nodding her head.

'Have you tried meditation? Or breathing exercises?' Penelope asks.

'Huh? What for?' Emily asks.

'The nightmares...' Penelope replies softly.

'No, I haven't. My therapist suggested breathing exercises I've just not got round to trying them yet.' Emily says.

'You should try them. Sometimes if we've had a particularly hard case with particularly awful pictures, I do some breathing exercises when I get home or sometimes even here in my office. They don't always help but sometimes they do.' Penelope admits and Emily nods her head, a small smile on her face as she glances up at the blonde.

'I'll give them a go then.' Emily replies quietly.

'Prentiss, a word in my office.' Hotch says walking past both the brunette and blonde as he immediately makes her way upstairs. Nodding her head, she glances at the others making their way into the bullpen before following him upstairs. She knows she wasn't on the ball during this case, hell she didn't even know they'd got the guy because she was asleep on Penelope's sofa where she'd spent most of the past three days.

'Have a seat.' He says gesturing to the empty seat as he closes the door behind her. Following his instructions, she sits down and watches as he sits down across the desk from her.

'How are you?' He asks.

'I'm okay.' She replies quietly causing him to sigh.

'Okay. I'm gonna ask you again and this time I'd rather you tell me the truth... How are you?' He asks.

'I feel like I'm free falling and I'm just waiting to hit the ground.' She admits, tears filling her eyes.

'What about some time off? I can arrange for you to have a week off?' He suggests and she shakes her head.

'Please don't make me take time off... Coming here is the only thing that's keeping me going at the moment, Hotch. I'll go insane if I have to sit at home all the time doing absolutely nothing but going over everything in my head.' She says.

'Did being here with Garcia help?' He asks passing her a tissue and watching as she nods her head.

'It meant I was able to have my scheduled therapy appointment instead of having to cancel.' She replies.

'Okay then I want you to continue to do that. I want you to keep helping Garcia out and I want you to stick in at therapy. You're one of the best we have. I don't want to lose you, Emily.' He says.

'How has she been?' JJ asks as they all stare up at Hotch's office.

'She's like a completely different person. I don't know how we can help her.' Penelope admits shaking her head as Derek rests his hand on her shoulder.

'Has she left here at all over the past three days?' Derek asks.

'Just to go to a therapy session. She has slept a few times on the sofa in my office. I know I probably shouldn't have let her but I could do it on my own and she just looked so peaceful... Plus she said she's only getting like two or three hours sleep a night. Please don't tell Hotch.' Penelope says glancing at Rossi who shakes his head.

'Hotch knows. We seen her sleeping on one of your calls... We all know she's struggling, Garcia. We all just want what's best for her.' Rossi replies.

'Have you thought about medication, Emily? Even just to help you sleep?' He suggests moving to sit on the edge of his desk closer to her.

'My therapist spoke about it. I just- I don't want to lose my job, Hotch.' She almost whispers as she glances up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

'Please do not worry about that. Your job is safe... We all knew there would come a point where you would break because everything that has happened would hit you all at once. Did you have therapy after being undercover with Doyle?' He asks and she shakes her head.

'I had one session but that was it.' She replies shrugging her shoulders.

'Then you're dealing with all of that as well right now, aren't you? You were never able to work through that all those years ago and now you are needing to process that along with everything else.' He says watching her raise her eyebrows.

'I- There's nothing to process with that. I went undercover, I did my job and then I went back to being me.' She replies shrugging her shoulders.

'For all intents and purposes, you were in a relationship with Ian Doyle. You were being a step-mom to that little boy even if he didn't realize it at the time. You had a family; you built a life together, Emily.' He says.

'I had to keep them separate. There was Emily Prentiss who would never do half the stuff Lauren Reynolds did and there was Lauren Reynolds who well-' She says watching him nod his head.

'But they weren't separate. Yeah, everything about Lauren Reynolds was different but when it came down to it, it was me. I got in way over my head.' She admits and he instinctively reaches for her hand.

'You did what you had to do.' He says softly.

'I got pregnant.' She almost whispers and silence fills the room until he gently squeezes her hand.

'I had an abortion. I couldn't bring his baby onto the world.' She adds and he nods his head.

'This is why you should've had proper therapy afterwards. You need to process things like that instead of pushing it all into a little box.' He says.

'Well I'm in therapy now, thanks to you.' She replies quietly.

'What are your plans for tonight? Are you coming out for drinks with the guys?' He asks.

'I told Penelope I would but honestly I just want to get my stuff moved out of the hotel and into the apartment.' She admits.

'Why don't I help you? Move your things I mean? It'll take less time.' He suggests.

'You don't have to do that... Aren't you going for a drink with everyone?' She asks.

'I can go after I've helped you move.' He replies causing her to smile.

'Thank you.' She says softly.