Here is the sequel to 'I Know How to Keep a Secret', which I also wrote years ago but never finished. I have three chapters lined up, but I'm considering a fourth one/epilogue. For my own sanity, I've decided to name the different Hotchniss universes that live in my head. This one can be considered the fourth installment of the Indigo Nights universe. I might never get around to completing stories in the other universes, but one can dream.

I'm a sucker for pure Hotchniss fluff, but this particular story has a little more drama. There might be some references to 'I Know How to Keep a Secret', but this shouldn't be completely incomprehensible if you haven't read it.

Disclaimer: I suppose it doesn't have to be said anymore, but I sadly don't own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

…

"You need a hand, Princess?"

Emily glares at Morgan before opening the car door with a little more force than necessary. "I'm pregnant, Morgan, not disabled. I think I can get out of the car by myself just fine."

"Alright, alright, I was just asking." They're both silent for a little while as they walk up to the house of the third victim's husband. They've been working a local case for a few days now. Two women had been found strangled and discarded in dumpsters before the BAU was called in. Another woman was killed a day later, and this morning, a fourth victim was discovered. While the rest of the team was out dealing with that, Morgan and Emily had been left to go over victimology and witness statements in the conference room of the BAU.

At almost six months pregnant, Hotch wasn't letting Emily do much fieldwork anymore. Although they'd previously agreed she could be in the field until she hit seven months, Emily couldn't help but notice she got stuck in the local precincts or field offices more often than not. Visits to crime scenes and even harmless on-site witness interviews were becoming more and more scarce. She had tried to fight him on the matter, but he wouldn't budge.

So when Morgan had said he wanted to re-interview the third victim's husband because the MPD officers had forgotten to ask a few vital questions, Emily had all but begged him to take her along. He'd been reluctant to go against Hotch's orders, but she'd convinced him that it was harmless, no more exciting than interviewing someone at the office.

"Hey, you did tell Hotch we were doing this, right?"

The guilty look she shoots him makes Morgan stop in his tracks. "Emily…"

"Don't Emily me. It's fine, I promise. Hotch and I agreed I could continue to go out into the field until I hit 7 months, with the exception of going into situations with dangerous unsubs and lots of guns. Are we in such a situation right now?"

Morgan hesitates, not liking what he's about to get himself into. He knows better than to argue with his partner though, pregnant or not. "Well, no."

"Then there's no problem, is there?" Without waiting for an answer, Emily walks up to the house and knocks on the door.

"Hi, Mr. Evans? FBI…"

Barely half an hour later, Emily realizes there is a problem after all. Morgan realizes it too. They're face to face with their unsub. Morgan is at the far end of the living room, having made a habit of slowly circling a room to inspect it, when the guy slips up and accidentally reveals himself as the killer. Emily is closer to the front door, still talking to Evans. Emily shoots Morgan a knowing glance, hoping that he can take the guy down before he notices they're onto him.

No such luck. Evans realizes he's been caught, and eyes the door behind Emily.

"Don't even try," Morgan tries to reason.

"Oh, what, like agent Mom here is going to stop me? Yeah, right." And with that, he tries to push his way past Emily. It takes her all of two seconds to have him flat on the ground, her knee on his back to keep him there. After she cuffs him, Morgan helps her up before yanking Evans to his feet.

"I tried to warn you, man."

…

After they toss Evans in the back of the SUV, Morgan calls Hotch to inform him they've collared their guy. Before long, the rest of the team and some MPD officers arrive. While everyone divides themselves over the house and the garage, Hotch approaches Morgan and Emily. Morgan braces himself as Hotch gets closer. It doesn't take a profiler to see the man is furious.

"What the hell were you thinking taking a pregnant agent with you to talk to a potential unsub?"

"I didn't know, man, I swear. I mean, how could we? He was a victim's husband; we were just going over some things MPD missed. I didn't see any harm in bringing Prentiss along."

"Well, look how that turned out. She and the baby could have gotten seriously hurt because of your carelessness."

At this point, Emily intervenes, ever so slightly moving between the two men. "Hotch, take it easy. It was my idea to come along. I practically begged Morgan to take me. We both agreed I could still do witness and family interviews, yet you've kept me stuck in police stations all month now. I was going stir crazy. And this was supposed to be a regular interview so I didn't see why I couldn't join my partner like I normally would. We had no way of knowing this guy would turn out to be our unsub."

"You should have known better, both of you. You're profilers for God's sake." Hotch pinches the bridge of his nose, a clear sign of his frustration. "You know what, I can't discuss this right now. We have a scene to process. When we get back to the BAU, I'll think about how to deal with you two."

"Hotch, come on," Morgan starts as Hotch walks away, and moves to go after him. He's stopped by Emily's hand on his arm.

"Just let him be for now. He's being overprotective and unreasonable. I'll talk some sense into him later, when he's calmed down. We did nothing wrong, and he knows it. He's just too stubborn to admit that right now."

Morgan looks at her, the doubt clear in his eyes. "Okay, if you're sure…"

"I'm sure. Now go and gather evidence somewhere Hotch isn't."

…

By the time they're done at the Evans house, it's too late to go back to the office, so Hotch sends everyone home for the weekend. The glare he throws Morgan's way signals that he's not off the hook just yet, and that there will be hell to pay on Monday.

The ride back to his place is silent. Aaron is clearly too pissed to talk, his hands clenching the wheel so tight his knuckles are turning white. This, in turn, pisses Emily off. She really thought he would have come to his senses by now and realized that he let his overprotective paternal instincts drive him at the scene. Obviously, she was wrong about that.

The second they enter the apartment, Aaron makes a beeline for their bedroom and away from her. But she's not about to let him get away before they've cleared the air.

"Aaron, we need to talk about what happened today."

Aaron turns around abruptly and marches back over to Emily, his movements fueled by anger and frustration. "You know what, we should. What on Earth possessed you to go in there with Morgan?"

"Oh, come on, are you still on that? I think we both know that Morgan and I did nothing wrong. We agreed I could still do field work so long as it doesn't get too dangerous. As far as we knew, going into that house wasn't dangerous."

"And like I said before, you and Morgan should have known better than that. Damn it, Emily, that guy weighed over 200 pounds and he came right at you."

"And I had him down on the floor before Morgan even made it across the room. Sure, I wasn't expecting to take someone down and I wish I didn't have to in my condition, but that doesn't mean I can't still do it if necessary. It was unfortunate that I was forced to do it today, but it turned out okay, didn't it?"

Aaron straightens his back and crosses his arms, towering over Emily. "You really don't see how reckless you were today, do you?"

Emily sees right through his alpha-male stance, and finds herself getting increasingly annoyed. "That's because I wasn't, and you know it. This is just you being overprotective. And it's not that I don't get that, Aaron. I do, but you can't bring your personal feelings onto the job. We can't. I mean, can you look me in the eye and tell me you would have lashed out at Morgan like that if he'd brought JJ along instead of me?"

There's a flicker of defeat in Aaron's eyes. "That's beside the point."

"No, it isn't. Look, I know it's hard sometimes to separate our professional from our personal lives. And that's okay, but we have to be able to admit that so that we can actually deal with it. Clearly, what set you off today had more to do with our personal situation than our jobs. So just drop the Unit Chief mask and talk to me like your partner so we don't bring this into the office on Monday."

Emily had half expected Aaron to finally admit defeat, but the look now covering his face tells her he's far from doing that. He uncrosses his arms, but his hands clench into fists at his sides. Emily knows from experience that doesn't signal an improvement in his mood. "That is not how it works, I'm still your superior and you and Morgan will have to answer to me as such. Regardless of my personal feelings, what you did today was reckless, not to mention a direct violation of my orders."

"Oh, get off your high horse, Aaron. Is it really so hard for you to give up control that you can't even argue with me like your equal when we're at home?"

"This isn't about being in control. I can't change the fact that I'm your Unit Chief and that I have to reprimand you as such when required. There are times when that takes precedence over our personal situation. That hasn't changed just because it got more complicated the last few months."

Emily scoffs. "Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd think our relationship is just a complication to you. So what, you'd rather call it quits so you can go back to being the almighty Unit Chief Hotchner?"

"Well, maybe that would be for the best. You have no idea how hard this has been." Before he can stop himself, he delivers one final blow. One he knows will hurt. "No, that's not true, is it? There was a time where you had a very hard time keeping your personal feelings from interfering with the job. You fell in love with a terrorist, and it damn near got you killed. So of all people, you don't get to play that card."

Emily's mouth drops. Surely she heard him wrong. Or maybe he'd just gotten caught up in the heat of the moment. "What?" She finally manages.

She waits for him to take it back, to explain himself. But he just looks at her silently, clenching his fists even tighter than before. The realization hits her then that he's serious. He doesn't want to do this anymore. An overwhelming sense of heartbreak causes tears to well up in her eyes, but she refuses to cry in front of him now. With all the strength she can muster, she taps into the bit of anger that's still there.

"Wow, that was a low blow. But fine, I'll make this easy for you. If you don't want to juggle being my boss and my boyfriend, then you don't have to. I'll see you on Monday, sir." Quickly turning on her heels, Emily grabs her bag and storms out the door. She's barely made it to the elevator when she breaks and the tears come streaming down her face.

While Emily waits for the cab she just called, she opens her group chat with JJ and Penelope.

Meet me at my place? Something happened and I really need you right now.

Penelope's response comes just as Emily gets into the cab. Of course, gumdrop, anything for you. I'll be right there. You're okay, right?

JJ's text comes a few seconds later. I'm on my way too. Pen, I'll swing by you first. Hang tight, Em.

Emily manages to keep the tears at bay during the drive back to her place. She takes the opportunity to try to calm herself down, to remind herself this is not the end of the world. By the time she steps through her front door – briefly realizing this place hardly feels like hers anymore – she thinks she's done a good job of that. But out of nowhere, a sob wrecks her body. Then another, and she can barely make it to her sofa before collapsing in a fit of tears. Her eye falls on one of the pictures of the two of them. It's one of her favorites, taken on a whim while out on a walk in the park. She'd taken the picture and looked into the camera with a radiant smile, while Hotch was turned towards her with a look of pure adoration on his face. They'd both been so happy that day.

Her sobbing intensifies, until she suddenly feels sick. She bolts upright and runs straight to the bathroom, barely making it in time before she's losing whatever little she had for dinner. Her stomach empties out quickly, but between the vomiting and the sobs that still wreck her body, she can't catch her breath and soon she's retching again. She's so focused on trying to make it through in one piece, she doesn't hear JJ and Penelope at her door.

"Emily? Honey, are you in there?" JJ yells after knocking doesn't get them an answer. Still not hearing anything, she shoots her friend a worried look before taking out the key Emily gave her a long time ago.

Once the two women enter the apartment, they can hear the sounds of retching coming from the bathroom. They hurry over, hearing the toilet flush just before they open the door. Emily is leaning back against the wall, even paler than usual, eyes puffy and tears tracking down her face.

"God Em, are you okay?" Penelope asks while JJ kneels down next to her friend.

Emily just shakes her head, unable to speak just yet.

JJ grips her hand. "Come on, let's get you off the floor. Unless you still feel like throwing up?"

When Emily shakes her head again, the younger blonde carefully helps her up. "Pen, why don't you go make some tea while I get Emily into something more comfortable?"

Penelope nods and hurries off towards the kitchen. JJ sits Emily down on the bed before making her way to the closet. She spots a pile of Hotch's things on what is clearly Emily's side of the closet, but out of instinct she ignores those in favor of one of Emily's own oversized sweaters and a pair of leggings. She turns back to the bed to find Emily staring silently ahead. It hurts her to see her normally strong friend in this fragile state.

"Do you need some help putting these on?" she asks softly.

Emily finally seems to snap out of it. "Uh, no, I got it, thanks. Just give me a minute."

JJ hesitates for a second, not wanting to hover but also not wanting to leave her best friend alone. "Okay, take your time. I'll be in the living room with Penelope."

After changing and rinsing her mouth with some mouth wash, Emily makes her way back to her friends. They each occupy one corner of her sofa, steaming mugs of tea in their hands and one waiting on the table for her. She picks up the mug and settles in the middle. The tech analyst made chamomile tea, and Emily takes a moment to let the smell calm her.

Penelope is the one to break the silence, her voice soft in sympathy and concern. "Do you want to tell us what happened? I don't think I've ever seen you this upset."

Lowering her mug, Emily has to bite back tears again as she remembers the argument. "It's Aaron. You know how he went off on Morgan and me earlier today at the crime scene. I wasn't pleased with him to say the least, but I figured he let his overprotective paternal instincts take over for a minute. It's happened before, but he always comes to his senses later. We figured out a long time ago we have to talk these things through. So when we got home, I tried to talk to him about it, but he refused to see he was overreacting. He just kept getting angrier, and continued acting like my boss even when our problem was clearly personal. I tried to tell him it was okay to have the two mixed up sometimes, but he insisted that being Unit Chief took precedent over our relationship." Remembering the next part, which was definitely the worst, Emily can feel the tears starting to fall again. "I half joked that maybe it was too complicated and that he'd rather end our relationship. And then he just- he agreed. He's ready to walk away from our relationship just because that would make his job easier. I would never make him choose between the two, but he did anyway and he chose the job over me. And if that wasn't enough, he had to bring up Doyle too. He said that I of all people didn't get to judge about not being able to keep personal feelings out of the job. Fuck, he knows how badly that affected me, knows it would shut me up and-"

Her silent tears turn into sobs again, and Penelope reaches out to put her mug on the table before taking her hands in her own. "Em, slow down, you're going to make yourself sick again. I know you're hurting, but think about your little one. She needs you to stay calm right now. You can do that for her, right?"

Emily sniffles a few more time, but manages to take a few shaky breaths and calm herself down. She squeezes Penelope's hands in gratitude. "Yeah, I can. Anything for her. Thanks, PG."

Emily feels one of JJ's hands come up to rub her back. "I can't believe Hotch would say that, it doesn't sound like him at all. I mean, I know he's a hardass at work, but I also know that he's a good father and that he's crazy about you."

"Apparently not crazy enough to put up with me. God, was I stupid to think that we'd be able to make this work? He chose the job over Haley too, and she was his damn wife."

"Not to speak ill of the dead," Penelope adds, "but Haley gave him an ultimatum and left before Hotch could actually make a decision. This is different, you guys are different. I've never seen either of you this happy before. And with the baby on the way, I can't imagine he would just give that up."

"I didn't either until now. He didn't even try to stop me as I left," Emily replies sadly, rubbing her stomach as she feels a slight flurry of kicks. "I always pride myself on being so independent, but I don't know if I can do this without him. I believed him when he said he loved me and that we'd do this together, but now I'm all alone again."

"Hey, you're not alone, okay? You've always got me and Pen, and the rest of the team too for that matter. And while there's no excuse for what Hotch said, there must be some sort of explanation. I'm sure he'll come to his senses and apologize. You'll figure it out together, you always do."

"Yeah, and if he doesn't 'fess up, we'll all go kick his ass because he doesn't get to treat our precious gumdrop this way."

Emily laughs at the utterly Penelope-like statement. "Thanks ladies, I appreciate it. But maybe we can hold off on that for now? I'm really tired and I just want to forget about this whole thing for tonight. I don't think I have any tears left to cry."

Penelope squeezes Emily's hand once more before releasing it. "Of course Em, whatever you need. I can stay the night, you too Jayje?" She waits for the younger blonde's nod before continuing. "What do you say we watch the dumbest, non-romantic comedy movie you've got?"

"Sounds perfect, but I think A Fish Called Wanda is about the only one I have that fits those criteria."

"Oh my gosh, are you kidding? A mindless British comedy is exactly what the doctor prescribed. I'll go put it in right away."

JJ gets up simultaneously with Penelope. "I'll be right back, I just have to call Will and tell him not to wait up for me." She moves out of earshot from Emily before pulling out her phone and typing a quick text to Will. She hesitates for a second then, not sure if it's her place to do this. But thinking back to how upset Emily was, she knows this is for the best. She hits the call button, and is not surprised to have the call answered less than two seconds in.

"Dave? Hi, it's JJ. I need to ask you a favor."

…

I'm mentally flashing back to 2012 trying to remember if streaming was already a thing back then or not. I remember just watching DVDs, but it could be just me. Or maybe all of us in Europe were behind on streaming. Anyway, I think this goes to show how long ago I came up with some of the details for this story.

Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I'll try to update every week or so.