Sometimes Emily wishes she could be more like her mother. The stern, non-sensitive woman that everyone is afraid to double cross. She wishes she could present herself as less approachable, more rude, and less caring. No matter how freezing cold her DNA is, she can't be like her mother. She's willing to fight genetics if it means a chance of doing things right. So she tries to be a shoulder you can cry on, gentle, and show that she cares. Everything her mother lacked, she tried to build up without a proper foundation. The only thing that she can say that for sure she got from her mother was her ambitions. Emily didn't want to rule the world, but maybe someday rule her own department. To stay as far away as she could from meetings and people with political science degrees. Maybe that's why she chose a field kind of similar to her mother, in the sense that she wanted to help her country, and not sit on the iron throne.

Erin Strauss shared some similarities to the woman she grew up with. There is something in both women's eyes that made them almost look human at the same time that one look was enough to turn their enemies into stone. Emily didn't need her mother or the chief, ironically, Strauss needed her. At that chair in her section chief's office, she realized how foolish she's been in allowing herself to believe that her talents had been on the higher-ups' radar enough to land her on her big job. Emily had proven herself on a couple of missions, but nothing BAU worth it. She taught that someone saw beyond what she already was. The only thing they saw was her ability to turn people into pieces, one of the few traits her mother gave her. She was just a tool brought into the team to destroy him.

Why of all people it had to be him? The one she wanted to keep close to her chest at the same time she wanted to never see again. She would've never considered doing it to any other member of them, but him? Just the mere thought of causing him any harm would make her chest heavy. She could never hurt him. Emily feels guilty enough for tearing apart his marriage, but his career would be too much. His job was his everything, his true passion, the only thing that comes after his son. She couldn't do it. One night over some beers and listening to A Case of You over and over again, she decides that it's time to go.

Her whole body is telling her that she is doing the wrong thing. It's the kind of mistake that manifests itself as physical pain, a certain type of body ache that she can't pinpoint a place. She just knows that it hurts everywhere. However, it won't kill her, she will be able to walk away with her conscience intact and a heart shattered so bad that it would protect her from ever getting that involved again. It's for the better.

She doesn't even properly set foot out of the elevator before she hears someone approaching. "Emily Odette Prentiss, stop right there!"

"How do you know my middle name?" Emily stops walking as she is surprised that Garcia could find something she made sure was completely off her record.

The blonde stops right in front of Emily's face, invading her personal space a little bit too much. "The same way as I know the stupid mistake you're about to make."

"What-" Emily can't say anything as Penelope grabs her arm and drags her through the hallways to her new office.

As they reach the door, the blonde quickly types her security code and points to her chair. "Sit." Emily does because she can imagine how Garcia would react if she doesn't. "Why are you leaving us? You can't leave us, we are your family, a fairly new family, but still family."

"Garcia."

"I mean, yes, in the beginning, you were a little bit annoying. Yes, your Arabic was impressive, but you were new and trying to outsmart us, but that's not true, you can outsmart us in a cool totally not offensive way."

"Garcia."

"And then it turned out you are not just a pretty face, you're also pretty dope. You can't leave us when I already have your Christmas gift."

"Garcia."

"Oh, Emily, you really need to see it, I knitted the perfect cardigan for you, I even added some swans after finding out you're actually an Odette. That's such a mysterious name, why don't you use it? You can totally pull off the white swan, black swan energy, and-"

"Penelope!" Emily stands up to put her hands on Garcia's shoulders stopping her pacing and rambling. "I don't use that name because." Emily takes a deep breath bringing to the surface her memories of a not-so-pleasant time. "It can be pretty embarrassing to have that name and not be good at ballet." She chuckles. "The other girls used to make fun of me, calling me the duck, not even the ugly duckling, just the duck."

"Sorry, I got carried away." Emily nods in agreement and takes a seat before the slow speech starts. "Those girls were total bitches if you ask me." She lets out a little laugh at that. "And you're definitely a swan princess, a beautiful swan princess who is going to leave us."

"Garcia-"

"No, wait, I really need you to stay." Garcia sits on her desk right beside Emily. They share a look that reflects their friendship, so bright and so strong. "After Elle left, we were a mess, everyone felt guilty and the air was totally tense. I thought that this place would never feel the same again, and it doesn't, it feels better." Penelope huffs, letting out some tension. "You've helped each one of us, JJ feels lighter, Reid worked through his stuff, Morgan has someone he can trust beside me, Emily, you even play chess with Gideon and make Hotch smile which is totally impossible, I'm impressed."

The comment about Aaron makes her run her hands through her face. For a second everything seemed like a terrible idea, but then she remembered who she is doing this for. "Penelope-"

"Still not done, because you're my friend and I need my friend here. I need to be your chair lady so you can fight the bad guys and take all the credit." Garcia sniffles as she tries to fight the urge to cry. "Emily, please stay? We need you, I need you." She looks at her friend putting all of her emotions out in the open.

But Emily can't take them, she needs to stay strong and carry on with her decision. She stands up and wraps her arms around Penelope, who doesn't hesitate to return the hug. "Can I say something?" Garcia effusively nods. "I have to do this, please, don't make it harder than what it already is."

"But-"

"Please." Emily begs.

"I'm going to miss you so much." They break the hug to look at each other. Both of them are trying their best to not cry.

"Me too, but hey, I leave, and Hotch comes back today, that's good, right?" Emily subtly just told Penelope what all of this is about, but she's not a profiler, she doesn't catch it. A part of herself is grateful that she doesn't have to explain more, but she would like to let one person in on her secret. Even though Penelope might be the worse person to trust your darkest secrets with. Emily wants to make the weight lighter, not to have to explain the joke to Bob in accounting. Either Garcia plans them a wedding or she tells the whole FBI, there's no middle point.

"Yes."

Little did Penelope know that half an hour later her computer would alert her of another departure. She needs to do something to fix this.

The suspension wasn't a blessing in disguise, the transfer wasn't what he needed, and his wife cheating on him wasn't on his plans, but he could handle it. Amazingly, only a few things can bring a man to his knees. He could handle every stone the universe decides to throw at him, except Emily leaving. Anything, but her being the scapegoat of Strauss' plans. Anything, but her paying the price of his sins.

He never thought he would be in this position, every road seems like the wrong one, except the one that leads to her. Aaron was too righteous to allow her to sacrifice herself for a job he was getting ready to say goodbye to. He could see right through her in his -former- office, even with the Section Chief on the couch, they had a whole conversation with their eyes, and neither of them wanted to go. Unfortunately, the only shining worth-saving thing about them is fool's gold.

Hotch would never admit it out loud, but he is glad that Morgan is very stubborn. What used to drive him crazy about his teammate turned out to be one of his best qualities. By keeping him updated on the case, he kept that flame inside of him alive. He was born to do right, to put bad guys in prison, that is who he is, not just what he does.

The fight with Haley left him unstable, he could never understand how his wife couldn't see him for his true nature. He repeats their words in his head over and over again as he soothes his two years old in his arms. He kisses Jack's head adoring the sweet smell of baby cologne. "I love you, buddy." Aaron whispers in his tiny ear before putting him down on his bed.

"Is it that hard for you to choose between your job and us?" Haley surprises him with her words. She's been standing on the door for a while enjoying the way her husband is with their kid. Their bond is so special, she can't deny that, but why is it so hard for him to put them first? The man she has in front of her right now would sacrifice everything in the blink of an eye, and the man she lives with would hesitate.

"Haley, please, not here." They leave the room at the same time and Aaron makes sure to close the door before entering the main room. He has too many memories of unpleasant interactions between his parents, he won't allow his son to generate the same kind of ghost stories. Not now, not ever.

He was expecting more screams, maybe some curse words and fake apologies. He wasn't expecting to find her sitting on their bed with divorce papers right at her side. She even placed a pen on top of them. "How long?"

He doesn't need to elaborate, she knows what he means. "Before your suspension, I thought those two weeks showed you how good our life can't be without the pressure of your job, but I was wrong. This will never be enough for you, we will never be enough for you and I can't stay here and pretend that I can live like this, because Aaron I'm too tired." Haley fidgets with her wedding ring feeling ready to take it out.

Aaron wants to fight her decision, to drop to his knees and beg her to stay, but he can't. He loves her, but not enough to stay with her. He doesn't feel that impulse to jump into her arms and never let her go. "What about Jack?" So he focuses on his only concern.

"Your schedule is hard enough for me to bring lawyers into this, you will see him when you're available, I won't fight that, but please, let me go." She grabs the papers and the pen and hands it to him. "We can discuss details later, right now, I don't have any fight left in me."

The lawyer in him wants to read them, analyze them, and maybe counteroffer, but something's got to give. Someone has to show mercy and he is not in the place to make demands as long as he can still see his son without custody battles. A battle that would present him as an absent careless father. So as he writes Aaron Hotchner and signs, he sets her free. He hands her the papers back and she does the same. When she's finished, she takes out her ring. "It's done."

"When do you want me to move?" He will give her anything she wants. The house they bought together will be his last gift to her. They filled each room with care and the love that used to be between one another, he will give to her with the hope she can save the skeleton and erase any memory of who they used to be.

Haley hums as she thinks. "I think I need to stay with my sister for a few days, work on some things, lick some wounds." She's avoiding looking into his eyes, she never thought she would say goodbye to him. All the things they have left to do start to vanish from her mind leaving her feeling hollow.

"Okay." And he leaves. As he walks through the hallways of what used to be his home, he hears the sobs of his ex-wife. It's done.

Ironically, as a newly divorced man, he drives to Emily's house to beg her to stay. He is walking into another awkward conversation. However, he feels more prepared for this one. Emily understands him better. Although, there's a difference between understanding him better and not being angry, and she is. She is giving him an out, a way for him to keep his job and his life without her presence in it. The bastard didn't take it, instead, he came out with a solution that would allow them to keep their jobs. To keep ruining their lives with each other's presence. I hate you, Aaron Hotchner.

Except that she doesn't, she appreciates his honor. He could've kept his job and left her with nothing but a broken heart, and he chose to save them both. Emily doesn't know how she's going to keep working with him when apparently, it doesn't matter the distance, he finds a way to sneak deeper and deeper into her mind leaving no room for rational thoughts.

"I never pictured you as a Cat Power fan." Emily turns her head to look at him. He's right by her side on their commercial flight to Milwaukee. "The song you were listening to, Lived in Bars, right?"

Emily raises one eyebrow. "I'm impressed, I always pictured you as a Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and whatever sounds like what a 'fancy kind of guy would listen to fan'." She chooses to ignore how their shoulders brush every now and then and decides to allow herself to enjoy being this innocently close to him.

Aaron laughs. "I am, but there was a coffee shop that I used to frequent quite a lot that forced me into listening to a lot of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Fiona Apple."

Emily feels the desire to grab his hand and interlock their fingers, but she doesn't. "You just described my whole playlist." He turns to look at her sensing there's more to the story. "When you move from city to city and then from country to country, you learn to pack light. Just the right amount of clothes and each time fewer and less valuable items, but music follows you everywhere. You don't need to put it in a suitcase because the song will come back to you eventually on the right radio station." He notices how memories of her past years flash through her eyes as her stare looks as if she was reminiscing each one of them. "Well, my music taste did change over the years, I used to be very into goth, Siouxsie and the Banshees got me through some stuff, but I think right now I'm more of a Slipknot kind of sweet girl."

"What about The Smiths?"

Emilly rolls her eyes. "You're such a good guy."

He wants to wrap her up in his arms for the rest of their flight. He can do it now, but he feels too raw, too shattered to use her as emotional support. "And you are an impressive woman." But that doesn't mean that he can't let a small comment slip.

"I know."

If there was one thing that could be said about both of them is that they could keep it professional. Emily saw his concern through his strong orders and furrowed brow, Aaron saw that she was clearly in pain through her so popular 'I'm fine'. Nonetheless, they did nothing, they couldn't do anything with the team and Strauss there. They couldn't do anything but stay at the BAU for the rest of their careers and neither of them hated the idea.

Emily would need to rebuild her life plan, but as she stares at the beautiful view of her apartment, she thinks of all of the what-ifs. What if she leaves the FBI at some point? What if she really joins the State Department? What if she joins Interpol? But all of that means saying goodbye to her other dreams, to her white picket fence fantasies that she would never admit out loud. If there's one thing she can do as her career is now permanently on hold, is focused on that. She wants a house with a big garden so she can turn it into her own space even though she can't keep plants alive. Maybe also a cat, preferably black. The husband isn't a requirement, but the family to call her own is. She wants to break the cycle, no more generational trauma, no more family that was merely blood, no more sitting down every night to eat dinner with strangers just to keep appearances, no more having to avoid questions about a father she knew nothing about or a mother that couldn't care less. However, to get all of that, Emily needs to get rid of her abandonment and commitment issues, and her strong need for independence. Something quite complicated to achieve as someone who isn't willing to go to therapy or even read a self-help book.

The buildings start to get wobbly as her head feels heavier and heavier. She doesn't have a concussion, her only medical diagnosis is the wound on her forehead, but her common sense diagnosis is that a psychopath hit her in the head with a piece of wood. Of course her head is throbbing, all she wants to do is lay down and drown her sorrows in hot chocolate because she can't have alcohol with painkillers.

Just when she gets to her bedroom, the phone on her nightstand starts ringing. She drops her bag on the floor and grabs the phone. "Hello?"

"Sorry, were you asleep?"

She recognizes his voice right away. "No, I just got home." There's an awkward but not unpleasant silence as they listen to the sound of the other's breathing, enjoying the company and reassuring them they're okay. "Why are you calling, Hotch?" She uses his last name emphasizing that this better not be about something non-work related.

Aaron swallows the lump in his throat. "Mmm, Haley and I just got divorced and it feels weird to be in an empty house." He drops his head preparing to be vulnerable. "And I don't know how to be alone."

Emily has to take a seat on the bed with the impact of the news. "Hotch, I'm sorry." If she keeps it impersonal, she won't jump into her car. She won't drive to his house to hold him in her arms. They won't have sex filled with unspoken emotions fueled by his solace. She won't make him the worse breakfast he has ever tasted in the morning and they won't get McDonald's for lunch. Of course, he wouldn't give her his pickles just to see her smile again. Of course, they will never do any of that.

"Not your fault." He says it fast to make the point clear.

However, Emily feels memories of their moments overwhelm her with a strength she didn't know they had. She wants to comfort him, but it feels wrong, even more, wrong than what they did to his family. "What do you want from me?" He hears the same tone Haley used to ask him for the divorce. The tiredness was so palpable that he can't believe what he did to two women at the same time. "Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?" Aaron huffs feeling so heavy.

"There's a chance that you're asking too much for a guy that just got divorced." The implicit meaning is clear to both of them. "Take some time and then you call me."

Aaron has never felt more alone and confused. He should be mourning the life he lost, but he only has one thing on his mind. "Emily, I still want to be with you."

Emily drops her head in shame. "Please tell me you didn't tell that to Haley."

Aaron wants to laugh at the irony. "It wasn't necessary, I didn't need to tell her that I kissed another woman because me choosing my job over her was enough to drive us to the edge." He doesn't mention Haley's affair, it feels like an excuse.

"How many times am I allowed to say I'm sorry before it gets weird?"

That's why he enjoys her company, she makes things lighter. "As many as you want."

Another silence makes itself present as thousand of unsaid things travel through their minds. Emily doesn't want to fall into a cliché and ask what are they going to do now, but her mind hasn't been capable of coming up with a solution for their dilemma.

"Emily-"

"Aaron-"

They giggle at the same time as Emily feels her eyes moistening. "Me first, we want the same thing, but we can't do it now. You do need time to figure out if you really want me or if I am just the rebound."

"Emily-"

She interrupts him because all of this time, he has been the one in control. They're finally on her playground and it's not revenge, it's doing things the right way. "Aaron, it's fine. I knew what I was getting into."

"You don't deserve any of this."

"Stop that, we're adults, it's not about who deserves what, it's about finally accepting the consequences of our actions, and if by that it means that I have to wait, I'll do it because I still believe you're worth it." It feels good to speak without fearing he's going to walk away back into the arms of his wife. Her conscience is a little bit shaken up, she feels horrible about what she's done to Jack. It's going to be rough for a while. For a second she wonders if that time is for him or for her to be ready.

He feels like he should say more, but it doesn't feel right to ruin her momentum. "Goodnight, Emily."

"Goodnight, Aaron."