Oh my God, I'm so sorry

Hotch, JJ and Reid had managed to evacuate the mall parking garage well enough to avoid any civilian getting hurt. There had still been an explosion as well, and Hotch and Reid had stood a little bit too close to it. JJ had informed the other three of what happened, and they had hopped into the car and driven to the mall as quickly as possible – it's only in the car that Morgan notices the blood dripping down the side of Prentiss' face and all over Rossi's hands. They all have bruises and scratches, but when Morgan points out the amount of blood, Prentiss finally registers the pounding headache she's also got.

The EMTs want to take Reid to the hospital for further examination, but he refuses. The argument is short and snappy, and only ends when Hotch mediates.

"What will it take for you to believe he won't need the hospital?"

"Somebody to stay by him for tonight and absolutely no traveling. I know you guys aren't from here but you will not be going back until this man's had at least a night's rest. And at least for tonight, someone has to watch him and not leave his side."

"We'll all stay at a hotel and we'll have the hospital on speed dial. Do we have a deal?"

"If he absolutely refuses the hospital, I guess that'll have to do."

"I do."

"And what about the two of you?" The same EMT notices the blood-covered Rossi and Prentiss. The blood on Rossi is mostly from Prentiss' head wound. He examines them thoroughly but surprisingly fast, and determines Rossi is okay if not for a few minor scrapes and bruises. The same cannot be said for Emily's bleeding head. She has a concussion and a minor headwound. "She will also be watched, am I making myself clear?"

JJ books the team hotel rooms. Instead of getting everyone their individual one, she gets four. Hotch and Rossi each get their own, Morgan's babysitting Reid and JJ's watching over Prentiss. It's a struggle to get JJ to agree to take a shower without Emily being in the bathroom with her. She finally settles on Emily waiting outside the bathroom – with the door open, of course. And when Emily says she also wants to shower, they have the same argument, and end up with the same result. JJ sits outside the bathroom while Emily showers with the door open, every few minutes calling out for her to be sure she hasn't drowned in there. As soon as Emily exits the bathroom, JJ starts up again. She's commenting on her bruises and scratches and asking if they hurt. They're wearing the matching tank top and pyjama pants combos JJ had bought them as soon as she and Emily were close enough. Garcia also has a set that matches theirs, but she has even fewer opportunities to flaunt it. It would be adorable and they'd have a fun time bonding if JJ wasn't so preoccupied with Emily's injuries.

"You don't have to coddle me, I'm fine."

"Emily, you hit your head and it's been bleeding. You are not fine."

"Correction, a flying piece of concrete hit my head." Emily's attempt at humour doesn't land. JJ gives her a this-is-not-the-time-for-jokes-look. Boring, Dave would've laughed at that. JJ insists on looking at the wound on Emily's head and seeing how bad it is. It's not as bad as it could be, but JJ makes a fuss anyway. To Emily's relief, there's a knock on the door. She swats JJ's hands off of her and opens the door. It's Hotch, hair wet and wearing sweats. Emily takes a moment to look him up and down, this is a look she hasn't yet seen from him and it feels foreign.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

"I'm perfectly fine, please tell JJ she doesn't have to baby me." The corner of Hotch's mouth rises ever so slightly. "You?"

"It's nothing." The blast had thrown Hotch sideways, and he'd hurt his shoulder. He does the same as Emily, downplays his pain so the others would worry less. She recognises the attitude and knows to leave it alone, she'll react when she needs to. "Dave and I were just on our way to Morgan and Reid's room. We figured we could all use some… family time. Will the two of you join us?"

Dave's already there when Emily, JJ and Hotch arrive in Reid and Morgan's room. Everyone has showered and changed into comfortable clothes, and it feels weird in a nice way to see everyone dressed down and not putting up a professional front. Emily is shocked to see Morgan fussing over Reid even more than JJ over her; Reid is in bed, propped up on pillows and his lower half under the blanket. There's a glass of water on his nightstand and Morgan is just asking him if he needs anything more. Dave is sitting on the other bed, on his face a mixture of concern and amusement. When Morgan is convinced Reid is doing okay, he sits on an armchair at the foot of Reid's bed and Hotch sits by him on the other armchair. JJ rushes to Reid and starts her fussing over him, too, sitting down on his bed. Emily looks around the room and realises the only available seat is on the empty bed – empty except for Dave. She glances at him only to find him already looking at her. She sits on the middle of the bed, lifting her legs onto it and crossing her ankles. They haven't really talked or even looked at each other since –

"Sorry about only having the desk lamp on, the overhead lighting is burning out, it keeps blinking", Morgan explains their interesting choice of lighting in the room. It is indeed rather dim, as the lamp he referred to is on the desk between himself and Hotch.

"So, as we all know, we're stuck here until tomorrow while we wait for Reid and Prentiss to recover. That also means they have to be chaperoned until they're cleared to leave, which I see Morgan and JJ are taking very seriously, good. Of course, Dave and I will also be available to watch over them to allow you a break." The last words are aimed at Morgan and JJ. Emily rolls her eyes. Hotch gives her a look. She is to take this seriously.

"I'm surprised there aren't more injuries. What happened at the mall?" Morgan asks and gets the short version of the story as a reply. There had been a bomb planted under a car, meant to target another customer of the auto repair shop. Due to the evacuation Hotch had led, almost everybody was out of the garage when it exploded – except for Hotch, JJ and Reid, who were ushering the last people out and were standing just a little too close to the car in question. The blast knocked Hotch down and among minor cuts and bruises the biggest injury is to his shoulder. Reid had been a little closer and along with a minor concussion, there are slight burns on his arms. JJ came out virtually unscathed, as she'd been closest to the exit and only hurt herself when helping Hotch and Reid to safety.

"How about you guys? What happened?" Hotch finishes his story turning the attention back to Morgan.

"We split up. I was on another floor when the bomb went off. It was small enough not to bring the whole building down, but I heard the sounds and went looking for Prentiss and Rossi."

"I heard a sound, kind of like a beeping", Emily explains. "I guess Dave recognised it a little faster than I did, because he knocked me out of the way. It's a miracle I only got hit by one small rock, because it was flying everywhere, complete chaos." She avoids looking at Dave when she recounts the situation, but feels a hand on the small of her back, sending shivers up her spine. She tries to hide her reactiom, but audibly gulps befire continuing. "It all happened really fast, and by the time I realised what was going on, Morgan was already looking for us."

They continue swapping stories and catching each other up, falling into a steady, comfortable banter. Emily stays quiet, until she feels the hand on her lower back move and there's a low, quiet voice.

"Hey. You okay?" She turns to look at him, this time braving eye contact. She regrets it immediately as she sees his eyes drop to her lips when she speaks. What's worse, she realises her own eyes are also not focusing on his eyes, either. The hand on her back is tracing lazy circles, and she can feel her heartbeat rising and her cheeks feeling warmer. Luckily, it's dark enough to hide most of it.

"Yeah. Resting has helped, my head feels much better already."

"I'm so sorry you got hurt, I was supposed to protect you." There's a pained, pleading quality to his voice, and she shifts a little to turn her torso more towards him. What she doesn't intend to do is rest her knee on the top of his thigh. Is she imagining things, or does he gasp a little? His eyes snap to eye contact with her again.

"You did." Pause. "Dave, you saved my life. Had you not lunged at me, I would've been standing right where that fucking boulder crashed." She's nearly whispering now, not wanting the others to listen in on their conversation. He apparently thinks the same.

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" She nods, and he stands up, making an announcement to the room, mostly JJ. "Emily's feeling a bit tired, I'm gonna get her to your room and watch over her. You don't need to worry or hurry back, I've got it." The rest of the team murmur their goodnights and sleep wells, only JJ casts an odd look their way. Morgan and Reid's door closes behind them, and they look at each other, both unsure how to proceed. There's an oddly comfortable silence when they fall into pace, heading towards the other rooms. Emily feels like she's forgotten how to walk, what to do with her hands, and suddenly she feels her hand brushing Dave's. She tries to play it off cool, but it happens again. This time he swirls his hand so their fingers interlace. She could swear her heart skips a beat. They make it to her and JJ's room and she lets them in. As soon as the door closes, he speaks again.

"I should've shielded you better."

"Oh come on, you had approximately three seconds to act before the bomb went off. You did the best you could."

JJ and Emily's room is smaller than Reid and Morgan's, and so there are no armchairs. Beside the beds there's only a desk with a straight back chair, so they opt for sitting on Emily's bed, much the way they'd sat moments before on Morgan's. Emily is fully sat on the bed, her legs crossed by the ankle, her back to her pillow. Rossi sits in front of her, one leg off the bed, the other bent on it.

"I should've protected your head, head injuries are the most dangerous." He places his hand on her knee, looking at her apologetically. With his other hand he strokes her hair near the injured spot. The touch feels good, but she does not care for his apologies.

"You saved my life!" To emphasise her point, she grabs the arm of the hand resting on her knee. Clearly not listening to her, he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It should've hit me instead."

"It would've hit the back of your head, which is a lot more dangerous than the front." He's about to say something again. "I wouldn't be alive without you." One more attempted protest, and this time Emily does something that shuts Dave up rather effectively. In one swift motion she grabs the back of his neck with her free hand and pulls him in, crashing her lips onto his. He freezes. When she realises the lack of response, she lets go of him, mortified.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry – "

She's cut off by his lips returning to hers. His hand on her knee travels up her thigh onto her waist and her hand on his arm travels down to his. They're both pulling the other closer as the kiss deepens and becomes hungrier. Dave is tangling his fingers in Emily's hair, and just as his fingers slip under her tank top, touching the bare skin of her lower back, they hear JJ's voice in the hallway, and the beep of the key card opening the lock on the door.

"Yeah, I hope so. Now, you need some rest too. Good night, Hotch."

Dave and Emily pull apart just as fast as when Morgan had come looking for them. They share a be-cool-damn-it-look and Emily focuses on taming her obviously tampered with hair. The door opens and JJ steps in.

"Hi guys", she greets lightly and then stops with her key card holding hand still elevated as she assesses the situation. One of her eyebrows rises. "…Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine", Emily rushes to answer. She tries to think of an explanation as to why their cheeks are flushed, hearts racing and breathing erratic. Dave thinks of one first, knowing exactly how to get JJ on his side. He just hopes and prays Emily realises his plan fast enough.

"Emily is being a child", he huffs, emphasising the last word. "She keeps trying to kick me out."

"Emily." JJ has that warning motherly tone to her voice, and it makes Emily startle. "You know full well you're meant to be supervised while you recover." She casts Dave a generous look, as if thanking him for telling her of Emily's antics.

"I'll leave you guys to sort it out." She gives Dave her most charming smile as he exits, and immediately after the door closes, she leaps onto her bed and her expression changes radically to the one she uses when there's gossip.

"So, what really happened?"