Title: True Love
By: Number1GSRCSIfan
Pairing: Hotch/Prentiss
Rating: PG
Summary: Emily and Hotch are married and expecting. But some things aren't as easy as they should be.

***

March

The phone rang shrilly, cutting through the night. He glanced at his clock. 1:46. He quickly reached over and opened the phone.

"Hello? Hi JJ. We do? Ok we'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up the phone and turned around. Aaron Hotch looked down at his sleeping wife as she slept, resting his hand on the slight bump of her stomach and smiled. Emily looked so peaceful when she slept. He bent his head and gently kissed her forehead.

"Sweetie." He whispered. "We have a case. We gotta get up." Emily turned over and buried her face in her pillow. Emily had been plagued by morning sickness and fatigue during her pregnancy and Hotch hated waking her up at ungodly hours for cases but Emily would kill him if he didn't. She still loved her work. He kissed her forehead again. "Emily." He said, slightly raising his voice. "We have to get up." He shook her shoulder gently. Emily blearily opened her eyes. Hotch smiled. "Hey." Suddenly Emily's eyes widened and she pushed Hotch away and leapt out of the bed. Hotch sighed and followed Emily to the bathroom. She was leaning over the toilet, retching. Hotch held back her hair and stroked her back. She finished and leaned back into Hotch's arms.

"Uhhh." She groaned.

"You don't have to go. We could take care of it." Hotch said. She shook her head and fought back another wave of nausea. She wanted to go in today. The team knew she and Hotch were married, obviously, but only JJ knew that she was pregnant. She was not ready for the rest of the team to know. She put her hand on the edge of the bath and helped herself up. Hotch get his arms around her, supporting her.

"I'm okay. I going to have a shower. Hotch put an arm around her. "I'll have some crackers ready for you when you come down." Emily smiled her thanks. Hotch headed down the stairs.

"Hotch!" She yelled down the stairs. He turned around.

"Yeah?" She smiled shyly.

"Can I have some ginger ale as well?" Hotch chuckled.

"Of course." He headed back down the stairs. The smile slid off Emily's face. She fought down the nausea that refused to leave her. It was hard to act like nothing was wrong with her. She thanked God that she had JJ and Hotch to help her. Emily quickly showered. After she had dressed and put on her make up she headed downstairs. Hotch was already dressed and ready, having used the downstairs bathroom. A plate of crackers and a glass of ginger ale was waiting for her on the table. Hotch pulled her into his arms and hugged her to him. She sighed. "JJ called." he said softly.

"Yeah." She mumbled. He pulled back enough to look at her.

"We have a case." He said. Emily smiled. Cases were good. A case she could deal with.

"I can't deal with this." Emily moaned as she leaned her head against the rim of the toilet. JJ held back her hair and gently comforted her. True it was not Emily's most glamourous moment, against the toilet in the BAU jet but JJ, whose morning sickness had been non existencent, could only offer words of comfort. Her own child, Emma, had been born last year, right around the time Emily and Hotch got engaged. Hotch getting blown up had really brought the two of them together. Emily reached up and flushed the toilet. She got up and grimaced as she got her reflection in the mirror. Huge bags under her bloodshot eyes. Pale, pasty skin. She looked at JJ threw the mirror.

"I'm sick of this." JJ sighed and rubbed her shoulder.

"Em's I know its hard but..." Emily shook her head.

"No." Cutting JJ off."I can't keep hiding it from people. I'm sick of always hiding." JJ was surprised. Emily was pretty adamant about not letting to many people know and having a big fuss made over her.

"Does Hotch know you wanna tell the team?" Emily shook her head.

"No but it was my decision not to tell. Hotch was so happy he wanted to tell everybody." She said smiling happily at the memory of Hotch's reaction. She turned back to JJ.

"Will you get Hotch...please." JJ smiled. She knew how nerve racking it was to tell everybody that you were pregnant. JJ nodded and headed out of the bathroom and to Hotch's seat. The rest of the team was relaxing, knowing that once they got to Jacksonville, sleep would not be in large supply. Garcia was also with them. Every now and again she did come with them to help them one to one with the technical aspect of the crimes. None of them noticed that Emily and JJ had left. Hotch raised a questioning eyebrow. JJ bent down.

"She wants you." Hotch immediately got up and into the bathroom. Emily was leaning against the sink.

"Hey." She whispered.

'Hey." Hotch whispered back, wrapping his arms around her. Emily leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I wanna tell people. Now." Hotch looked surprised. Emily had been pretty insistent about no letting the team know. She didn't want a big fuss made and she hated people worrying about her. She looked up at him. "It's not fair keeping them in the dark and putting everything on you and JJ. And...and it means the baby will be safer." She smiled. "I know the boys will get all protective like you." Hotch chuckled.

"If you really wanna tell thats fine by me." Hotch reassured her.

"Thank you." Hotch reached for Emily's hand and squeezed it gently. The two of them went back into the main cabin of the jet. Morgan glanced at the two of them and smiled. The two of them were really made for each other. Hotch cleared his throat.

"Em guys. We have something to tell you." Everybody turned towards them. Emily took a deep breath.

"Guy's...I'm pregnant." There was stunned silence for a moment and then the whole cabin erupted in screams and yells. Garcia ran forward to hug Emily. Morgan clapped Hotch on the back and swept Emily in a huge.

"Congratulations Emily." He said quietly.

"Thanks Derek." She said. Reid came forward and hugged her. He and Emily had grown close over the years.

"Congratulations guys!" Rossi shook Aaron's hand. The commotion soon died down but the questions didn't. Emily and Hotch held up their hands to the barrage of questions, laughing. Derek was enraged that Emily hadn't told him.

"I let you interrogate that unsub alone last week. It was way too dangerous...!" Emily cut him off.

"Derek. Do you really think Hotch wasn't ready to barge in their if that slimebag so much as breathed on me." Everybody laughed. Garcia waved away Derek's questions.

" First of all I'm disgusted that you've kept this from me all this time and impressed that you were able to. Now lets get down to the important questions. Like...when are you due?" Emily and Hotch smiled at each other.

"November 8th." Garcia's mouth dropped open. "Wasn't that when you got together?" Emily nodded, grinning from ear to ear. JJ and Garcia smiled sloppily at the romance of it all. Suddenly the pilots voice cut threw the happy scene.

"We about to hit rough sky's team sorry. It's going to be a pretty rough until we land in a couple of hours." They all groaned. Everybody quickly clipped themselves in and prepared to ride out the turbulence's. Hotch and Emily sat together as usual, Emily leaning into Hotch. He bent down to whisper in her ear.

"That went well." Emily smiled and nodded. "I love you." Hotch said. Se quickly kissed him.

"I love you too." The two of them smiled at each other, silently rejoicing in their new life. Suddenly the whole plane wrenched to the right. Hotch flung and arm over Emily while everyone else clung to the seats. The plane shook fiercely before calming down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief no one more than Emily. That little moved had done nothing for her sensitive stomach. Hotch looked over, concerned at Emily's deep breathing. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Eventually she stopped and smiled at him. He smiled back, hoping that the pilot would keep the plane as steady as possible.

Over the next two hours the plane continued to shake and lurch around the sky. And Emily's stomach had finally been beaten and she had spent the last hour with her head in an airplane sick bag, Hotch gently supporting her. She was relieved when the plane landed. She shakily got up with Hotch's help and headed to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. Emily opened the door and turned around to find Morgan waiting for her.

"You okay?" he asked. Emily sighed and nodded.

"I will be." Morgan smiled and held open his arms. Emily gladly accepted the hug.

"Now if you need anything Em's just tell me okay." Emily squeezed him back.

"Thanks Morgan." Morgan released her from the hug and smiled mischievously down at her.

"And if you think I'm letting you interview an unsub alone or go into some building girl you are sadly mistaken." Emily groaned and laughed. She knew all the boys, especially Morgan would be like this. She playfully glared at him. The two of them laughed. The two of them had become like brother and sister since Emily had joined the team. Both of them looked out for the other. Suddenly Hotch appeared behind Morgan smiling at them. Morgan excused himself and left them alone.

"The detective is waiting for us outside." He said. The two of them joined the rest of the team, going down the steps of the BAU jet.

Detective eyed up the seven agents coming down off the plane. There was a skinny kid who look no more then 20, a pretty blond, an older man who held himself slightly apart from the rest of the group, a tall and imposing black man, an seemingly quirky blond, a cold looking man and a tall, pretty sick looking brunette. The last to were obviously a couple, the former holding himself close to the brunette. Kinder frowned. He disliked fraternizing in his department and he did not like it in the people who had come to help him with the crimes sweeping through Jacksonville.

He shook with them. SSA Hotch was the head of the team. Kinder offered to bring them to there hotel to relax before dealing with the crime. Hotch stared cooly at him.

"We're here to solve the case. Detective Kinder. Not relax."

***

The seven of them split into two groups one going to the victims house and the other to the police station to get set up. Hotch went with Detective Kinder to the police station. The detective filled him in on the case and by the end of the car ride Hotch had decided he did not like the detective. He was clearly more concerned about his career and how the BAU could help him climb to the top then helping the victims or solving crimes.

Morgan and JJ knocked on the door of the victims house and waited for the door to opened. A frazzled looking middle aged woman opened the door. They could hear children yelling in the back ground.

"Yes?" She asked shortly. Morgan and JJ flashed their badges.

"Mrs Rodge? We're from the FBI and we here about the disappearance of Max Jones." Morgan explained. Mrs Rodge sighed.

"I explained everything to the police earlier. There's nothing more I can tell you." She went to close the door but JJ prevented her from doing so.

"Mrs Rodge we're from the behavioral annalists unit in the FBI and we could help you find your son." Mrs Rodge snorted.

"He was not my son. He was a foster child." Morgan temper flared at the woman's manner but they needed to learn about Max so he kept his mouth shut.

"We could learn a lot about Max from his room and belongings. Can we please take a look?" She stared at them for a minute longer before letting them in. She led them into the kitchen.

"Wait here." She snapped and headed down the corridor. Morgan raised his eyebrows to JJ who shrugged. Mrs Rodge returned with a box of children toys and some clothes. Morgan glanced through it.

"Um sorry Mrs Rodge. Where's Max's room?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Its packed up. Another child sleeps in his bed now. Beside Max just probably ran away. That's all there is left." She turned away to deal with two little toddlers fighting.

Morgan began to spread Max's belongings on the table. A few stuffed teddy's, school books and clothes made. That was all. Morgan sighed. No personal essay were written in the books and all of the toys and clothes were all were clearly hand-me-downs and nothing was personal enough to gain an expression of Max's character. Morgan sighed, frustrated. JJ turned back to Mrs Rodge.

"Mrs Rodge. Would it be okay if we talked to the other children about him? To see what he was like?" Mrs Rodge was about to refuse when an older girl of about 14 came in and helped herself to the fridge. She turned to JJ and Morgan.

"I remember Max. Cute Kid. Really quite though. His mum and dad died in a car accident and he had no other family so he ended up here. He still missed them terribly. I used to comfort him." Morgan sighed with relief. Finally they had a break.

"Would Max just have run away? Tried to find his old family or anything like that." The girl frowned and shook her head.

"No." She drew out the sound. "He was a nervous kid. Like nervous of strangers and strange places ya know? I can't see him just running off." JJ smiled at the young girl.

"Thank you. You've been a big help." The girl smiled back at her. Morgan and JJ turned back to Mrs Rodge.

"Mrs Rodge, if you don't mind us asking, where's your husband?" She pursed her lips. The young girl quickly went outside.

"He died last month." JJ offered her sympathy's. She glared at her.

"If your done I'd like you to leave." They knew it was time for them to go and thanking Mrs Rodge they left. Morgan drove them back to the station. JJ rang Hotch and told him what they had learnt. She hung up the phone. Silence descended in the car. Morgan broke it.

"Can you believe Emily's pregnant." JJ laughed quietly.

"I was just thinking that. Every since that case (Look up) I knew she would be a really good mother." Morgan raised his eyebrows.

"How did you know that?" JJ looked surprised.

"You didn't know?" Morgan shook his head. "She wanted to take the little girl home. Hotch was the one to tell her family had come forward. She was all set to take her home." Morgan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really. I mean, Emily will make a great mother and I know she's really happy about the baby but I never knew she always wanted a kid." JJ smiled.

"I'm really happy for her." Morgan smiled.

"Yeah. Those two really deserve to be happy. Hotch got so burned by Haley." JJ groaned at the mention of her name. Haley tended to ring her and demand to talk to Hotch. Not her favorite calls to deal with. The two of them pulled into the police station. The receptionist directed them in the direction of the conference room the BAU had holed up in. Reid had already taken over the boards and had the evidence spread out over them. Morgan pointed to two pictures of different children. "Who are they?" He asked. Rossi smiled grimly.

"Reid will explain from the beginning." They all took a seat at the table apart from Reid. He began to point around the boards.

"Ok Max Jones, 8, disappeared June..." He checked his notes. "12th some time around 9 in the morning. Didn't turned up for school. School contacted his foster parents..."

"Parent. Foster father died last month. Mother's a cold hearted cow." Morgan explained the mothers behavior to the team. "The girl we spoke to said that Max wouldn't have just run off, that he was a nervous child." Reid absorbed this new information.

"Ok. Follow ups on Max went no where, no one had seen or heard anything. His teachers said he was quite in class but seemed troubled." He turned his attention to the other board.

"Jenny Camps, 9 lived with her twin brother, John, in a foster home, about to be adopted. Again went missing around 9 before school on the 2nd. School said they where nice kids smart and polite. Again no one heard or saw anything."

Hotch looked between the 2 boards. "Ok so all 3 sets of children where taken around 9 before school. No one saw or heard anything suspicious. All were around the same age. But there the similarity's end. Max is hispanic, John and Jenny Caucasian. Max, dark hair and eye's. John and Jenny blonde. Both went to different schools. One reserved, two out going. Different sides of town. Garcia's looking into extra curricular things but...It doesn't seem like these children have anything in common." They all sighed.

Garcia came in from the computer room down the hall. "Sorry guys nothing. These kids had nothing in common ." Emily groaned.

"So what's the connection. Pedophiles and kidnappers usually have a type." Hotch rubbed a hand over his face.

"Ok. Emily, Garcia dig deeper, look from birth. Pediatricians, day cares anything, foster families. Morgan, Rossi go to the schools, shops around them and the houses. Reid work on the victimology and the profile. JJ, you and I will prepare a press conference with what we have. Meet back here in a couple's of hours."

Two hours later Emily, Garcia, Reid, Rossi and the officers from the station settled down to watch the press conference JJ and Hotch had set up. JJ stepped up on the podium and began to give the profile.

"We believe that the unsub is some one who works in close relation to all 3 children, maybe a bus driver, sports teacher, shop worker. They're likely to be in their 30's - 40's a figure of authority." Detective Kinder came to late and sat down beside Emily. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and Emily nearly gagged at the smell. But she didn't want to be rude so she didn't say anything. She turned her attention back to the TV and JJ. The reporters had started asking questions.

"Is this suspect a man or a woman?" One yelled out.

"At this present point, until we get more information, it could be either. But a man would more likely be aggressive, kidnap for sexual reasons. He might have had a rejection or a break up within the last year and be very bitter about it. A woman is more likely to take a child to replace a lost child or loved one. She would have been depressed and withdrawn for a while and now suddenly happier." JJ held her hands up against more questions.

"I'm sorry thats all we can say for now. We will alert you as soon as we have more information." JJ stepped down off the podium and Aaron came into view leading her down and through the crowd. Someone switched off the TV and everybody headed back to work. Kinder turned towards the agents, coffee still in hand. Emily braced herself for the smell and just about held down her lunch.

"What now?" He demanded. Morgan glanced at Emily. Her lips were sealed shut and she was shooting little glances towards Kinder. Morgan followed her eyes and notice the coffee. JJ couldn't stand the smell when she was pregnant either and he guessed Emily's sensitive stomach was misbehaving. He stepped in.

"We wait for information from the public now. See if anyone recognizes the profile and we'll go from there."

Kinder glared at them. He didn't want this. It looked like the BAU had nothing and Kinder had called them in. It would make him look bad and therefore get in the way of his career. Finally Emily couldn't hold back any longer. He stomach was doing flip flops and she really didn't want to get sick in front of everyone...again. She had done that enough for one day.

"Sorry Detective Kinder could you please put the coffee somewhere else." She asked. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're pregnant." He said simply. It was not a question. Emily simply nodded. He smiled slyly and sat forward, bringing the mug closer.

"Well I can't help that. It's your own fault for sleeping with the boss." A stunned silence feel among the agents before Emily shoved her chair back and stalked out of the room, nearly crashing into Hotch and JJ. They looked after her, confused, then to the rest of the agent glaring at Kinder. Hotch raised an eyebrow to Morgan who shook his head. He turned to Kinder.

"Don't speak to our agent like that. We're here to help and if it wasn't for the three children missing we would leave. Now if you have a problem with Agent Prentiss being pregnant..." Aaron's eyes flashed.

"What?" He said. He turned, glaring, to Kinder. Kinder stood up.

"I'm going back to work. Like you should." He stalked out. Aaron walked up to Reid.

"What's going on?" Reid gulped at the obvious anger in Hotch's voice.

"Detective Kinder had some coffee and Emily asked him politely to remove it. He refused and said it was her own fault for sleeping with the boss." Hotch looked furious.

"How did he know she was pregnant?" Hotch asked, his words short and clipped. Reid shrugged.

"He just knew." Garcia ran in.

"Guys. We have a link." She took in tension and Hotch's stony glare and stopped. Rossi shot her a meaningful glare. Garcia got the hint and continued.

"All three kids had the same social worker. A Margaret Wilson." Hotch grabbed his jacket which he had thrown off earlier.

"I'll find Emily and we'll go. I'll see you all later. Keep working on the profile and Garcia.

"Yes Sir?" She asked.

"Find out everything you can about the social worker." With that Aaron left to find Emily. Garcia turned to the others.

"I'm not going to like what just happened am I?" Morgan shook his head.

"Not really. That Detective Kinder is a rude bastard."

"What did he do?" Garcia asked.

"Refused to move coffee that was making Emily sick. He guessed that she was pregnant and basically said her morning sickness was her own fault for sleeping with the boss." Garcia's mouth dropped open.

"No!" She and JJ exclaimed. Rossi shrugged.

"Aaron will take care of her and we're not helping those kids by standing here bitching about Kinder. We have work to do." They all headed off to there own stations though JJ and Garcia's went back to Garcia's temporary office to bitch some more while Garcia looked up the social worker.

"I can't believe he was such a heartless bastard." JJ exploded. Garcia nodded, her hands flying over the keys.

"I know. But it's like Rossi said. Hotch will take care of her and when this is all over his going to take Mr Kinder outside and give him the old one - two."

Both girls looked at each other and burst out laughing at the image of Hotch flinging Kinder around the car park. It felt good to laugh. It was the first time any of them had laughed since the plane landed in Jacksonville.

***

Hotch walked down the halls of the police station, looking for Emily. He was beginning to get worried. Hotch ran outside and swore at the cold. The weather had taken a turn for the worse. It was bitterly cold and the wind blew fiercely. He looked around.

"Emily!" Nothing answered except the wind. He ran out into the parking lot and glanced around. "Emily!" Suddenly he saw her. Hotch breathed a sigh of relief. She was leaning against the wall of the building, shivering, her head bent towards her chest. He ran up to her. "Emily?" He said quietly. She tilted her head up towards him. Her face was streaked with tears. Emily bent her head again and her shoulders began shaking. Hotch closed the distance between them and brought her close to his chest. Sobs shook her body. He was going to kill Kinder. He had absolutely no right to say what he had said. He and Emily had gone through a lot to be together between Strauss and their families - especially her mother's politics. Hotch bent his head and pressed his lips to Emily's hair

"Are you cold?" he asked. Emily was only wearing a thin shirt and suit trousers, neither of which were great protection against the cold. Emily nodded. He quickly took his jacket off and wrapped it around her. "I heard what happened." Emily sniffed . Aaron gently hugged her and began to lead her to the car.

"He was out of line." Hotch said angrily. Emily closed her eyes and leaned into Hotch. Hotch opened the car door and Emily climbed in, tears still falling down her face. Hotch hopped in himself and settled back into the seat.

"You Ok?" He asked. Emily shook her head. She was so angry and upset that she was shaking. Hotch took her hand and squeezed it.

"Kinder was out of line Emily." Hotch said. "He had no right to say it that to you. I love you and I don't regret anything. Kinder has no idea how we fought for what we have." He rested his hand on her stomach. Emily laid her free hand over his.

"I...I just cant believe he would say that!" She spat out.

"Do you want me to say something to him?" Hotch asked her. Emily chewed her lip. She usually hated people fighting her battles for her but right how she was just to tired to fight. She nodded and smiled.

"Thanks." She said quietly. Hotch smiled and gave her a chaste kiss.

"Now." He said. "How bout getting something to eat?" Suddenly Emily's stomach rumbled. They both laughed.

"I guess thats a yes." Hotch chuckled as he pulled out of the PD parking lot. "Ok." Hotch said. "What do you want to eat?" Emily shrugged.

"I don't know. What do you feel like?" She asked.

"How bout we stop at a decent diner and we see what they have?" Hotch suggested. Emily smiled and nodded.

"I remember one of the other detectives saying there was a good one near the police station. It was called...oh there it is. Murphy's diner!" Hotch swung into the diner. he and Emily sat down in a booth by the window. Emily slid in beside Hotch and sank into his side. He swung an arm around her. He picked up a menu and held it in front of them.

"So what do you want?" Hotch asked. He already had his eye set on a chicken club followed by strawberry ice cream. Emily scanned the menu. Something she really craved now that she was pregnant were tomatoes and chocolate ice cream. She glanced over the menu once more and grinned with delight. Emily looked up at Hotch.

"Don't tell me." He said, chuckling. "You are going to have..." He consulted the menu. "The tomato soup and the chocolate ice cream." She laughed back at him and snatched the menu.

"Yes I am." She said. "At what are you going to have. Something with strawberries by any chance?" Emily grinned knowingly. He pursed his lips. He was saved by the waitress coming over. Emily giggled as he ordered his strawberry ice cream but he avoided any other teasing for his strawberry obsession. They relaxed and talk as they ate their food which was delicious. It felt good being back together.

Meanwhile back at PD Reid, Morgan, JJ, Rossi and Garcia were sitting the the room given to the BAU and angrily discussing Kinder. Eventually Rossi put up his hand.

"Listen guys. This is not getting us anywhere and you know Emily and Hotch. They would want us to continue trying to get these kids back. Emily wouldn't want you worrying about her. So lets get back to work ok?" They all agreed and Reid turned back to his oversized map pinned to one of the evidence boards.

"Ok Max lived here." He circled Max's house. "And the twins lived...here." JJ pointed to the map.

"Max went to school here and the twins went to a private school close by." Reid circled the two areas. Reid stepped back and stared at the map.

"Guys...if your eight years old what are you doing around 9 on a week day?" Morgan frowned and flipped his case file shut.

"Waiting for the buss?" He suggested. Reid nodded.

"What if thats the connection between the kids. They were all taken while waiting for the bus." Rossi nodded.

"Could be possible. Kids were probably taken by somebody they knew. But the profile also said that the unsub most likely had a nine to five job. How could you fit in snatching a kid on your way to work?"

"Unless they had recently lost there job." Morgan said slowly. He walked up the board and circled an area, enclosing the kids schools and house's, then turned to Garcia.

"We need to find out what businesses are in the area." Garcia typed furiously.

"Ok its mostly industrial, is suppose this bastard could be holding them in an abandoned building...wait. Guys there's a children's clinic dealing with adoption." Ried's head snapped around.

"See if either kids were adopted through the agency." Garcia looked up from her computer and smiled.

"Margaret Wilson worked there."

"Address?" Rossi asked. Garcia reeled it off. Rossi and Morgan stood up.

"Reid, JJ stay here, call Emily and Hotch, fill them in." JJ nodded and whipped out her phone. Morgan and Rossi ran out of the building and jumped into the car.

Emily sighed as her phone blared. She snapped it open.

"Hello." Her eyebrows shot up. "Woah JJ slow down."

"No time." JJ quickly explained the whole situation. Emily stood up and Hotch followed throwing some money on the table. They jumped into the car.

"Ok JJ we'll meet them at her house." Hotch raised an eyebrow.

"What going on?"

"Short version. Social worker most likely the unsub." Hotch nodded, not missing a beat.

"Ok so where are we going?"

"To her house. We're meeting up with Rossi and Reid." The BAU SUV swung in a parking space in front of the house beside Morgan. Morgan and Rossi were waiting for them outside, vest all ready on.

"Hey guys. Okay everybody lets go." Hotch said. They cautiously approached the door.

"FBI!" Morgan yelled. No answer. Hotch nodded to Morgan who broke down the door. They rushed in, clearing the house as they went. Hotch noticed a door by the stairs. He flung it opened. There was another set of stirs leading into a basement.

"Guys!" They cautiously crept down the stairs before being running into a door at the end of them. They stared at the heavily padlock door and the room behind it in shock. Kids toys littered the floor and a large bed resided in the corner. But most disconcerting was the stinking buckets in the opposite corner and the shackles attached the to the bottom of the bed. Emily held one then flung it back on the bed in disgust.

"Where is she?" She muttered. Suddenly there was a huge crashed from upstairs. They looked at each other and sprinted upstairs. A large car had burst from the garage and was now racing down the street.

"Thats her car!" Rossi yelled. Morgan and Emily jumped into the nearest car while Rossi and Hotch took the other one. Their sirens blaring they began the chase. Margerates SUV swung on the main road. Morgan pressed his foot down.

"We have to catch her!" Emily yelled

"I'm trying!" Morgan yelled back. Suddenly Emily gasped.

"I saw one of the kids! They're in the back seat!" She swore suddenly as the SUV began to slid on the slippy roads. It rammed into the barrier and with sparks flying slid to a halt. Emily's heart leaped into her mouth. Morgan jumped out with Emily right behind him. Emily glanced behind her as she heard Hotch's SUV screeched to halt. Morgan sprinted towards the SUV.

"FBI! Come out of the car slowly!" Nothing happened. He cautiously approached the van and swung the driver side door open. Maregate hung over the wheel, blood dripping from a gash on her head. His fingers scrambled for a pulse but there was no beat beneath his fingers. He stepped back out of the car and shook his head. Emily ran towards the back door of the and gently pulled the door open. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the three children cowering in the back seat.

"Hey kids." She said. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god it was over.

The ride back to the PD was silent. Two ambulances had arrived to take Maregate to the morgue and the children to the hospital to get checked out. The team had all gone back in one vehicle another detective driving it back to the station. They pulled up outside their hotel. Hotch squeezed Emily's hand. She nodded back, both understanding what the other wanted. Emily followed JJ and Garcia up to their shared room. The girls always shared a room on away cases. Emily grabbed her bag.

"You sleeping with Hotch tonight." JJ asked gently. It wasn't a question. Emily nodded.

"Yeah." Emily said. Garcia smiled and hug Emily.

"You Ok girl?" Emily nodded into her shoulder and pulled away.

"See you tomorrow guys." She said and quickly left. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes as she made her way down the corridor to Hotch's bedroom. Hotch opened the door almost before she finished knocking.

"Hey." Emily said. Hotch smiled.

"Hey." He took Emily's general demeanor. She looked exhausted. "Come on." He lead her inside and sat her down on the bed, talking her bag from her. He pulled out a old t-shirt of his and some shorts.

"Lift your arms." He whispered. Emily complied and Hotch quickly unbuttoned her shirt and slipped the oversized t-shirt over her head. He slid her trousers over her legs and put on the shorts. Emily crawled into bed. Hotch lay down beside her, pulling her close to him. Emily nestled her head under Hotch chin and sighed. Hotch breathe the smell of her vanilla shampoo. He loved it.

"Go to sleep sweetie." He whispered.

Emily slept nearly the whole way back to Quantico, her hand intertwined with Hotch's. Emily had been plagued by nightmares during the night. Aaron had been up with her most of the night. As soon as the jet had taken off Emily had collapsed onto the couch and fallen asleep. Rossi smiled sympathetically, indicating towards Emily.

"Long night?" He asked. Hotch nodded, wearily.

"Long case." He replied. Rossi set down his book.

"She'll be Ok. Don't worry." Hotch smiled.

"I know." Silence fell. Rossi glanced down at the sheet Hotch was writing on. Hotch cough his gaze.

"It's a letter to Kinder's supervisor. I wanted to hit him but we ran out of time." Rossi chuckled.

"I would have helped you." Morgan and Reid glanced up from their card game.

"Yeah I would have held down that bastard. He was rude to Garcia and JJ as well." Morgan said, angrily. "He only cares about climbing to the top." Hotch smiled slyly

"Well." He picked up the letter to Kinder's supervisor. "With this letter he'll be stuck were he is for a while."