Author's Note: Wow, a big old gap here on the repost! All I can say is . . . oops :) It wasn't intentional. Somehow I just kept forgetting that it was in the rotation, so I never opened up the next chapter to read it over.

Picking up shortly after the grandparents' call.

The Breakdown

Hotch hurried across the landing and along the upstairs hallway, clutching a nearly hysterical Emily to his chest.

Even though he'd never been in this part of her apartment before, fortunately her place wasn't that big so he quickly found her bedroom.

It helped that the door was open.

So he rushed inside and placed her down onto the rumpled sheets . . . she immediately curled into a fetal position. With his heart aching, he stooped down to brush the back of his hand along her cheek.

"I'll be right back," he whispered.

She didn't answer, or even acknowledge that he'd spoken . . . she just kept sobbing. And now that he'd touched her skin, he could feel that she was starting to overheat. So he turned, and seeing the open door leading into the master bathroom, he hurried over.

His gaze was bouncing around frantically as he stepped into the next room.

Now where the hell were . . .?! Ah, there!

Facecloths!

Hotch grabbed one off the shelf and went over to wet it with cold water from the sink.

Right after Emily had told her grandmother about the plane crash, she'd begun to scream just before she'd dropped the phone. And then when her grandfather had come on the line, already panicked, asking what had happened Emily . . . his lips pursed . . . the poor thing, she'd had to say it all over again.

From there, it was only screaming and sobbing coming through the phone.

Hotch had heard it all even though he wasn't even the one HOLDING the phone! That's when Emily had started to shake, so he'd taken the portable from her, trying to get some response from the grandparents, but there was nothing intelligible. And he wasn't at all surprised that THEIR total breakdown had been what finally put Emily completely over the edge. Because her shaking had quickly led to sobs, and then a full on, grief fueled, wail.

It was an agonizing, heartbreaking, sound which had made his own eyes burn in sympathy.

That's when he'd yelled over to the stunned, and clearly horrified, Derek, that he needed to get somebody over to the grandparents' house. And also knowing that Emily would never have wanted for Derek to see her that way . . . her breaking down in front of him was different, because their relationship was different . . . he'd then scooped her up into his arms, and carried her upstairs.

It hardly even mattered though that he'd gotten them some privacy, because she was still absolutely inconsolable, and it was just breaking his heart. Her weeping was KILLING him! Literally, killing him! Because he couldn't fix any of this for her. She was in hell, and all he could do about her suffering, was get her this stupid FUCKING facecloth!

As the burst of rage hit him, Hotch whipped the just moistened square of terrycloth straight across the bathroom. It hit the far wall over by the shower, before falling to the floor with a splat.

With his eyes now feeling slightly wild and his heart pounding, he looked over at the droplets of water running down the beige tile. Then he scrubbed his hands down his face.

Jesus Christ, Aaron, calm the fuck down! Emily NEEDS you! And she needs you CALM! Because if you start letting your frustration show in front of her, then you're going to start making things even WORSE for her! So get your shit together!

NOW!

The 'pep' talk, such as it was, did as intended. Because after he'd taken a deep breath, held it for ten seconds, and then had slowly let it out, Hotch had indeed gotten his shit together. And now it was time to get back to taking care of Emily.

He'd already left her alone for too long.

So after he'd gone over to pick up the 'angrily flung' washcloth from the floor, and had dropped it into her hamper, Hotch took a fresh cloth from the shelf. He wet it, wrung out the bulk of the water, and immediately headed back to the bedroom.

He walked in to see that Emily was still curled up in a ball, but now she had both hands over her mouth as she tried to stifle her sobs.

His heart broke for her all over again.

With his sneakers still on the floor downstairs by the couch, he just went straight over and climbed up onto the bed with her. That's when he wrapped himself around her from behind.

Then he snuggled her in close.

It was a position they'd previously ended up in by accident when they had fallen asleep together a couple times on the road, but he'd never done it deliberately before.

It still seemed right though.

"It's okay, Emily," he whispered sadly in her ear as he let his free hand settle on her stomach, "you know that you don't have to hide your tears from me."

That's when she rolled over in his arms, gasping and stammering against his chest.

"But . . . I'm . . . afraid . . . I . . . won't . . . be . . . able . . . to . . . stop . . . CRYING!"

The last word was broken on a wail.

And there was nothing he could think to soothe over that one. It was clear that she was beyond rational thought. So with his own eyes again watering in sympathy, Hotch bit his lip as he used the cool cloth he was still holding to gently brush over her warm skin, trying to cool her down.

But she was so hot and sweaty from being so worked up, that the cloth didn't really do much. So he just used it to wipe around her neck and behind her ears before he dropped it down onto the rug behind him. Then he brushed her hair off her forehead and pressed a kiss to her temple.

He tucked her back to his chest and rested his head down next to hers.

There was no doubt now, he was going to have to call a doctor. Not that he wanted to sedate her, but things were obviously going to continue to get worse, before there was even a chance of them getting better. And it would be good if they at least had SOMETHING for her to take in an emergency. And given that he hadn't expected the grandparents call to go quite as badly as it had, it was clear that he couldn't even anticipate what would constitute an 'emergency' in this hellish situation.

Although as he felt Emily's shuddering gasps against his chest, Hotch knew that this moment most definitely counted as one.

And God did he wish that he had one of those blue pills to give her right now! But without one, all he could do was just try to make her feel safe. So he pulled the sheet up over them, and he rubbed her back and cooed in her ear, and generally did everything he could think to do to let her know that he was there to take care of her.

And again, he wasn't going anywhere.

It wasn't until at least another five minutes had passed though, before he finally felt her settling against him. Still, he gave it another sixty seconds before he tipped his head back slightly to see that her eyes were closing. She had worn herself out.

Again.

His brow wrinkled with worry as he wondered if there was any way to convince her to stay in the States, at least until tomorrow. Really, to try and just grieve for a day before she did anything else.

But no . . . he sighed after thinking about it for a second . . . there was no way she'd go for it. Because it wasn't like they were just flying to California or something. This was Egypt. They were losing literally a full day just on the flight.

Oh God . . . a horrible thought came to him . . . the flight!

A minimum of twenty-four hours trapped in the cabin of a plane, with OTHER people!

Strangers.

There was no way that she'd be able to keep it together for that long, and she was going to be COMPLETELY mortified if she had another attack like this one while they were out in public.

He pressed another kiss against her warm skin.

Oh Emily, he thought sadly, I don't know how we're going to DO this!

"Aaron."

Startled by the sudden intrusion of Dave's voice in what should have been a completely private environment, Hotch's arm was tightening protectively around Emily's shoulders even as his head was snapping up. The man in question was standing in the doorway.

He looked worried.

Not that the worry excused the intrusion though . . . even if Dave was family, Emily's breakdown, and the care he taking with her weren't for anyone else to see, it was bad enough that Derek had had a glimpse of it downstairs . . . so Hotch quickly brought his finger to his lips and then made a waving motion for their friend to go back out into the hallway.

Fortunately, (for Dave), he immediately stepped out.

So once he and Emily, who was still sleeping, (thank God) were alone again, Hotch gently disentangled his body from hers, before he rolled off the bed. Then he again fixed the sheet up over her shoulders and brushed his fingers through her hair.

"I'll be right outside," he murmured, just in case she could hear him. And only then did he go out to meet Dave.

"When did you get here?" Hotch whispered as he stepped into the hallway, pulling the door half shut behind him.

Again, he didn't want Emily on display.

"About ten minutes ago," Dave answered in the same hushed tone, "Derek told us what happened with her grandparents. Reid just got here too. We both heard it on the news when we got up. And I tried reaching you on your cell first, but it went to voicemail so I just came straight over myself."

His brow furrowed in concern, Dave looked over Hotch's shoulder, trying to see Emily on the bed . . . Hotch just pulled the door even further shut. Finally getting the point there that he was invading her privacy, Dave's eyes snapped back up to her designated protector's. He tipped his head.

"Sorry." Then he cleared his throat, "but is she okay?"

Hotch shook his head as he rubbed his hand over his mouth.

"No," he sighed, "no she really isn't. And God help me, Dave, but I don't know what else to do for her. She wants to go to Egypt to collect get their bodies but," he shook his head, "things have been so bad so far, that I can't even imagine taking her down to the lobby right now, let alone to a foreign country."

Dave's eyes widened in shock.

"She wants to go to Egypt?!" Then he shook his head in confusion, "wait, you're taking her?"

Although Dave was aware that their friendship had evolved over the past few months . . . it was obvious they spent a lot more time together now than they used to . . . that kind of trip was still a MAJOR commitment of both time and emotional energy. Thinking about it though, Rossi knew that there was no way anyone on the team would have let Emily go off to Egypt by herself, so one of them would have had to have gone with her. And given how protective Hotch was being of her right now . . . not to mention the holding her in bed, yeah Dave hadn't missed that . . . he supposed logically, he really was the only choice.

Hotch leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"Yeah, I promised her last night that we could go today. Except," he dropped his eyes to the hardwood and huffed in exasperation, "I don't have the flights or the rooms booked. We have to pack because our ready bags won't cut it, which means that I need to go home, and I also have to get us clearance for our weapons." He looked up, "right now we're only set for domestic flights. And oh," he rolled his eyes, "at some point, I actually need to tell Strauss that I'm taking off for two to three weeks whether she likes it or not."

He tipped his head.

"Although," he added somewhat reluctantly, "shockingly, she actually did have the decency to call me at one-forty this morning to tell me about Emily's parents because she said she didn't want her to find out about it on the news."

While letting his gaze fall back to the hardwood, Hotch muttered to himself, "maybe she's not all bad."

A year ago, when she was actively trying to destroy both his and Emily's careers, he would have said that she was rotten to the core, and few people would have disagreed. But obviously, thinking about it now, she had to have gone into the FBI with SOME initial desire to help people. After all, if she'd only wanted to play politics, she could have simply run for office.

The Bureau was a much harder road.

Dave nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, I don't know if I ever told you before, but Erin and I actually started out together. Back in her rookie days, she was a decent broad. It wasn't until she started moving up the chain that she, well," he rolled his eyes, "you know how she is now."

"Yeah," Hotch huffed bitterly, "I know how she is now."

Of course Dave didn't know anything about what happened with her last spring. Only he and Emily knew what had she had done to them.

Oh, shit, Emily!

Suddenly realizing that he hadn't checked on her for a good two minutes, Hotch quickly leaned around and pulled back the door slightly so he could see into her room.

Still sleeping. Good. And God . . . he brought his hand up to smother a yawn . . . he could really use a nap himself, but there was SO much to do!

"Why don't you go lie down too?"

Hearing Dave's suggestion . . . like he could read his mind . . . Hotch whipped his head around.

"Did you not hear me just say all of the things that I have to do?!"

Dave nodded.

"I did, but you don't have to handle all of those details on your own. I can see that you're feeling very protective of her right now, and that's good, she needs someone to look after her, but," he gave him a sad look, "she's our girl too, Aaron. We'll help you take care of her. And to that end, we can certainly get your travel and hotel booked. And," his lip quirked up, "I'll handle the shit with Strauss. I can get you both your time off, and have her get the paperwork expedited for your weapons."

At that pronouncement, Hotch raised an incredulous eyebrow, "and how in God's name are you going to do that?"

Dave shrugged.

"She owes me a favor. A big one. It's an old chip that I never called in," he gave him an ironic smile, "I was saving it for something important." Then he tipped his head, "trust me, she'll do it. Not a problem."

Hotch dropped his eyes to the floor and then looked back up.

"Well, if you're sure that you can get her to clear those two things immediately . . ."

Though he trailed off, at Dave's affirmative nod Hotch continued on with a nod of his own.

"All right then, those two were my biggest worries, so maybe I will lie down for a few minutes." He shook his head slightly, "I slept a little when Emily passed out this morning, but basically I've been up since before two."

And he'd only gone to bed at midnight so, yeah, that was not enough sleep.

Feeling a burst of exasperation that they were STILL talking about this, Dave scowled,

"Then Jesus Hotch, please, just take the nap! You're going to have enough to take care of later when it's just you alone with Emily. That's when you're really going to need your energy."

With a reluctant nod, and a murmur of, "yeah, I know," Hotch looked down at his watch . . . quarter after seven. He looked up questioningly.

"Wake me in an hour?"

Dave nodded, "sure." He started to walk away but then Hotch hissed.

"Oh shit! I forgot, I need to help Derek make the calls to Emily's family!"

But Dave was already shaking his head as he turned back.

"Reid's helping him," he called back softly, "and if they're not done when I get downstairs, I'll grab the last ones."

Seeing Hotch was about to open his mouth again . . . and knowing what his next words would be . . . Dave cut him off.

"And Morgan has a friend in the Birmingham Office. He's trying to get through to him to go check on the grandparents." He gave a pointed nod back to Emily's room, "really Aaron, just go rest. We have things under control for now."

Hotch snapped his jaw shut.

Hmm, it seemed like Dave really did have all of their bases covered. And he couldn't think of anything else outstanding, so finally he nodded.

"Okay," his lips pursed, "I guess we're good. But don't forget to wake me up."

"Right," Dave gave him a firm nod, "one hour." Then he headed for the stairs muttering to himself, "or maybe two."

A/N 2: I put her grandparents in Alabama because that's where Kate Jackson is from and I was going for some authenticity on the origins of the Ambassador's accent.

Otherwise, a slant here on the repost that wasn't in the original, is Hotch's protectiveness of Emily. I mean, he's always been shown to be protective of her, but considering their relationship as I now see it (having subsequently written SO many more big and little stories all over the Girl'verse in this same block of time), he would have been adamant about protecting her privacy and her dignity. It would have been the only thing he COULD do for her. To make sure that she wasn't a 'spectacle' in front of the others. So carrying Emily off to her bedroom specifically to get her some privacy from Derek, and then sending Dave out of the room and shutting the door so he couldn't see her, that was stuff added in here. I think it shows more of the layering and intimacy that already exists in their relationship. The ways that they'll be emotionally 'exposed' with one another, but not in front of the other members of the team.

And now that I remembered I was working on this too, I will try to get the next one up a little more quickly than this one :)