FOURTEEN DAYS

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.
Henry Van Dyke

DAY TWO

Emily never knew one small child could be so much trouble. Or so exhausting. Of course, she'd never kept Katie for nearly two full days before either. How did Corrine do it?

Emily'd barely had time for a shower while the child slept, and was towel drying her hair when her cell phone rang. "Prentiss."

"Emily, you sound out of breath, are you ok?" Her supervisor's voice asked.

"Yeah, Hotch, just being run ragged by a three-year-old. What do you need?" What else could she say to him, with his words from the day before running through her mind. He wanted her.

And she was a bit afraid she wanted him, too.

"You've still got Katie?"

"Yes. Her mother had to do an emergency transport of three little boys. Flew them to upper Michigan yesterday. She'll be back early enough tomorrow morning to get Katie before I have to be in." Emily explained, rinsing the girl's sippy cup as she spoke. Her once immaculate condo now showed more than indisputable evidence of a toddler's presence.

"Dammit." Hotch's words were flat. "Strauss's lackey has requested an emergency meeting of all the BAU members, teams A through C. We have to be there."

"Hotch, what am I supposed to do with Katie?" Emily's hands stilled over the sink, and she dried one quickly, raising it to pull her phone out of the crook of her shoulder where she'd set it. "The Culbertsons aren't home. I have no one else to leave her with."

"I have the same problem. Hayley won't be home until tomorrow morning. I was supposed to run Jack home on my way in." Hotch's tone was completely disgruntled, and Emily didn't blame him—she knew he'd taken personal days to be with his son. "We'll just have to bring them in."

"And do what with them?" Emily asked, hesitantly. Take a three-year-old, two three-year-olds, into the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI? She couldn't see that going over real well.

"We didn't make it through the Fraggle movie. I can bring that. But it's only about an hour long." Hotch said. "Crayons, coloring books. Toys. I don't know how long this damned meeting will last."

"What time are we supposed to be there?" Emily asked, running one eye over the clothes she was wearing—pink lounge pants and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt was more than appropriate for a slumber party with a little girl, but not exactly for the BAU. "It'll take me at least a half hour to get her up and ready. And I don't have a whole lot of her stuff."

"It's twelve now. Everyone was supposed to be in by one." Hotch said. "If you'd like, we can swing by and get you. You're on the way."

"Thanks. I'd appreciate it. My sedan's in the shop and the BMW just isn't big enough for Katie's car seat." Emily said. She'd not planned on having to take the child anywhere, although she did have her car seat for emergencies. She guessed this qualified as an emergency. "So if this doesn't go well, can I kill Strauss's assistant? Where is she going to be?"

"Apparently she is in Maine at the office up there. I'm not sure why. Or why they want the whole unit. Dammit. I really hate to do this."

"We'd better get moving. Just get it over with. Maybe I can bribe her into being quiet with the promise of ice cream after." Emily decided to pack the girl's bag before even attempting to wake her up. The child did not wake up easily.

"We can do that. It might buy us some good behavior. At least a little." Hotch said, as he shook Jack's shoulder. The little boy always fell asleep around eleven-thirty in the morning. Hotch hated that he'd have to interrupt the child's nap. It was probably not going to be a good day at the BAU. What was the point of taking personal days if they were ignored?

Dammit.

But at least he'd get to see Emily.

"I'll be there around twelve-thirty, Em. Hopefully." Hotch said, as the little boy began to whimper.

"Ok. I'll see you then. Dammit. I'm going to kill whomever is responsible for this." She sighed, as she moved toward her own little charge. "This is not going to be a pleasant day."

"No. It most likely won't." Hotch agreed before he disconnected.

"Jack-Jack. You want to go see Katie and Emmie?" He asked his son, seeing the cross look in the dark eyes so like his own. "Go to Daddy's work and then get ice cream?"

"Embully, too?" Jack was in love, and Hotch knew it. The dark-haired lady had easily stolen his little boy's heart, and Hotch didn't blame his son the least little bit for his fascination. Emily was just that special.

Maybe the day wouldn't be a total wash after all.

KATIEANDJACKKATIEANDJACKKATIEANDJACK

JJ's mouth dropped slightly when her friend walked in carrying a tow-headed toddler on her hip and leading little Jack Hotchner by the hand. Wow.

"Uh, Em?" JJ said, as she and Morgan moved to help relieve the woman of the heavy diaper bag slung over Em's injured arm. "What's up?"

"This is my neighbor, Katie. She is spending the weekend with me while her mommy is in Michigan." Emily said, as the little girl moved to hide her face in Emily's hair. "Jack here, graciously offered us a ride when they called—I had to have the mechanic come get the sedan this morning. It wouldn't start. The Roadster was not designed with car seats in mind."

"Hello, Katie. I'm JJ." JJ smiled at the little girl, as Jack went and wrapped his arms around Morgan's ankle and growled—a game they'd made up a few weeks back at Derek's birthday cook-out.

Morgan picked the boy up and pretended to eat him, and the little boy just giggled and giggled. Katie looked up at the handsome man, and with regal disdain told him. "You not do dat to me, you mess up my nails."

She held a little hand out and showed the adults her little fingers, which Emily had painstakingly polished the perfect shade of little girl pink. "Aunt Emmie, worked weally hard."

"And she did an excellent job." JJ said, around a laugh.

"Did I mention that Katie is a very girly little girl?" Emily asked, rhetorically, as Hotch finally arrived. He carried Jack's bag, plus the one he'd crammed with extra supplies. It had taken him longer to park than he'd expected.

He still didn't have a clue how long this meeting would last—or what it was about. And he wanted to spend time with Jack—and Emily—but not in the middle of the BAU bullpen.

"Morgan, you heard what this is about?" He asked, taking Jack from the other man's arms. He placed the little boy on his shoulders where he sat and growled down at Morgan and Katie. The little girl was still comfortably resting on Emily's hip. Hotch moved him closer to the little girl, and Emily.

JJ smiled at the way the supervisor unconsciously moved closer to the dark-haired woman. It didn't take a profiler to see what Aaron Hotchner was feeling. And he and Emily certainly looked like they were together, with the two kids between them, diaper bags and toys spread near their feet. JJ just wondered if Emily realized how she'd changed in the last few weeks, too.

Emily's face wasn't always so stoic, anymore. She laughed a little more frequently, she seemed to relax more—even with Hotch in the room. Before, whenever he'd be near, she'd clam up or shut down, always on some sort of alert.

JJ would freely admit it was a nice change. And Hotch was beginning to remind her of the man he'd been when she first started at the BAU. Before Elle, before Gideon, before the great divorce. He was relaxing, too. More open, more approachable. More a part of the team.

And if he and Emily had created those changes in each other, JJ couldn't see how the BAU could possibly suffer.

In fact, it might just make things a little better, all around.

"Spencer still in California?" Emily asked, rocking Katie slightly, her casted hand behind the girl's shoulder.

"Should be back at the end of the week." Hotch replied, readjusting Jack a little.

"Good." Emily and JJ shared a smile, remembering how nervous the boy had been before his date with the Nortan Springs detective.

Before anything else could be said, the sound of a man clearing his throat from behind Hotch caused them all to turn quickly. Mr. August Parsons—Strauss's second-in-command—stood staring at the premiere BAU team with derision in his uninspiring eyes. His lips curled upon seeing the two toddlers in the team's midst. "What's this?"

"They're children." Hotch said, deadpan. "It's a weekend. We all had plans. What's this all about, Gus?"

"I'll get to that in a minute." Parsons said. "What are you going to do with these children? They can't be here during the meeting."

"Well, I suppose we could have left them at home, alone, seeing as how they are three-years-old and capable of taking care of themselves." Hotch said. He still wasn't too happy about being called in during his personal time.

"Agent Hotchner, wasn't there someone who could have watched your son, and…" He looked at Emily and the child in her arms. He was pretty certain SSA Prentiss didn't have any children, but what did he really know?

"This is Katie, she's staying with me all weekend." Emily said, "Since I was off this weekend for medical leave. And, no—there was no one else to watch her. That's why I have her."

"I apologize for putting everyone out." Parsons tone belied his words. "It was a matter of extreme importance. If you'd adjourn to the conference room—and do something with these children—I'll explain."

"Emily, let's do something with these children." Hotch said, near her ear, where only she could hear. "Then I can think of something we can do."

"Hotch." Emily chastised softly, moving Katie to subtly block her face from Parsons' view. "No planning Parsons' murder, he may just take you seriously."

"Oh, I should be taken very seriously." He snickered, as the little boy on his shoulders glared and growled at the little hairless guy walking in front of his daddy. "You should know that by now. And I meant something else."

As Emily followed Parsons to the conference room, she couldn't help but shiver at his words.

The man was so damned coldly hot, he was lethal.

HOTCHEMILYHOTCHEMILYHOTCHEMILY

Apparently, Hotch's team were the last to arrive at Parsons' little meeting. Teams B and C and their support personnel—technical analysts and media liaisons and office staff—were all arranged around the large mahogany table.

All conversation stopped as they turned toward Team A—and the two toddlers, who'd yet to stop jabbering at each other.

Emily felt the majority of the eyes on her and her bundle, and she struggled not to lose her composure. What was so strange about seeing her with a kid?

Garcia—who'd been recruited to set up Parsons' projection equipment—looked at her friend and knew exactly what the rest of the unit were thinking. Especially the men.

Emily wore jeans—something she rarely did—and they showed her shape to perfection. The soft t-shirt she wore clung in all the right places and was a beautiful red shade. Emily always looked good in red, and with her hair down and curled, she looked earthy, beautiful—stunning, and soft.

And since most of the unit was composed of men—women were outnumbered six to one in most Bureau units, the BAU being no exception—Emily, looking much different than she normally did, was bound to be noticed.

The little girl in her arms was just secondary. Most of the men of the BAU were well aware of the fact that SSA Emily Prentiss didn't have children, wasn't married. A few had even been brave enough to ask her out, to which the answer was usually a firm no. But it didn't stop some of them from dreaming of the day she'd change her mind. If she ever changed her mind. Made them wonder why she'd always said no.

Maybe the man at her side was the reason. Garcia easily recognized the little boy, who waved to her fiercely from his daddy's broad shoulders. Then the little boy turned to the little girl and started chattering rapidly. It was obvious to all who saw them—and most who did were the people trained to catalogue human behaviors—that the children had met before. That Aaron Hotchner and his subordinate had been together in strictly non-professional settings.

It led many of them to…wonder. Speculate. Consider.

Hotch and Emily quickly set the two children up with Emily's laptop—which had dual jacks for headphones. The subject matter at the BAU was never appropriate for two toddlers to hear, and the couple was taking no chances. Coloring books, sippy cups, and small cartoon-covered pillows and blankets were arranged in the corner furthest from the projection setup. Then the children were all set, their movie ready to play.

Hotch unthinkingly lowered a hand to Emily, who'd been down in the floor arranging pillows. She took it, equally unthinking, and rose. Neither one caught the glances that passed between many of those watching. It was more than obvious that Prentiss and Hotchner were very comfortable with each other.

But nobody said anything. Not to Aaron Hotchner, one of the founders of the preeminent profilers in the unit, in the country. No one dared, as he, and only he, was the leader of the entire BAU. Unit Chief Strauss just supervised several units in the section. Hotchner controlled the BAU.

But that didn't keep them from speculating.

Hotch and Emily took their seats, beside each other, and Derek and JJ, respectively. Garcia soon moved to JJ's other side. It was the five of them, ready to face whatever Parsons was about to hand out.

"Parsons, I suggest you get this thing started. That movie is sixty-three minutes long. You've sixty-three minutes until they'll be demanding attention." Hotch ordered. "Understand?"

"This won't take long, Agent Hotchner." Parsons began, with an oily smile on his chubby face. "Its come to our attention that some of the teams are failing in their objectives. So all teams will be reorganized and reassigned. Starting immediately."

"Excuse me?" Hotch's words were low, but no one missed the threat in them. Half the people at the table moved back slightly. "Who's attention? What failure?"

"Team C's recent case in Alabama. Four young men were killed while they struggled to find him. The review board has decided it was a sloppily led investigation. Team B's Texas experience. Two agents wounded, because they were too busy playing poker to watch their own backs. Team A. Your team, Agent Hotchner, and the media circus surrounding the Nortan Springs California incident."

"How was that case a failure?" Hotch demanded, in a tone that was rising.

"Roofs collapsing, dead suspects, a chief-of-police arrested on petty assault charges. The media leak, the press conference ending in bullets. Need I go on, Agent Hotchner?" Parsons smirk had Hotch unconsciously fisting his hands, as he stood and moved closer to the man.

Emily looked over to the corner, checking to make sure the toddlers were still engaged in their movie. They weren't. Jack and Katie sat, staring at Hotch, eyes wide and nervous.

"Hotch!" Emily's tone was firm and had every head turning toward her. She motioned to the children.

"Garcia!" Hotch said, keeping his tone mild and unemotional. "Will you take Katie and Jack to the canteen. I think they should have some chocolate chip cookies, today."

"Yes, sir."

Nobody said anything, or moved, as the blonde tech led the two children out of the room, leaving the movie playing forlornly in the corner.

Hotch turned back to Parsons, stepping slightly closer. The smaller man backed down when faced with the colder man's fury. "Are you questioning my team's actions, Gus?"

"I'm just saying the review board thought there might be a slight cause for concern." The man equivocated.

"Was the review board concerned with the fact that it was one of the UNSUBS who was responsible for the media leak, or that the police chief in question, assaulted three members of the FBI? Then threatened the female members of my team with sexual harm? Was the review board concerned that one of my agents was injured while chasing a man responsible for the deaths of six people across a roof? That that agent was nearly killed when that same UNSUB held a knife to her throat after they'd both fallen through that roof? If so, then I want to speak to this review board."

"That won't be necessary." Parsons warbled. "I said they thought there might be some cause for concern. Just some."

"Good." Hotch said, his tone so cold nearly everyone shivered.

Emily watched the mini-drama and wondered again, how one who appeared so cold could manage to be so damned hot at the same time.

"What about my team?" Neil O'Dell demanded, as leader of team C, he'd taken as much exception to Parsons' accusations as Hotchner had his team's. "We followed procedure in every aspect of that case."

"And one of the victims was the governor's granddaughter!" Parsons said. "That doesn't exactly make the unit look good, now does it?"

Emily's mouth twisted up as she caught the underlying point of this meeting. Politics—dammit, she hated politics. Hotch returned to his seat, and she felt his knee bump hers, felt his hand as it ran down her thigh, both soothing and heating her.

His touches were going to burn her alive.

"And Team B?" The third team leader asked, though he knew his team had been a drain on the unit. It wasn't his fault, half his team was inexperienced agents, while the rest were just not adequately suited for a behavioral unit. He wasn't even sure why he'd ended up with half of them. He longed for a team like Hotchners. "What changes will be made there?"

"In the next few weeks, all the teams will be evaluated and reassigned if necessary. And we will be forming a fourth team, Team D." Parsons said. "Any more questions?"

"No." Hotch said, "One statement. Under no circumstances will my team be reassigned. Do what you want with the others, but my team remains intact."

"I'll let Chief Strauss know that's how you feel."

"I'll let her know myself." Hotch threatened, low and menacingly. Cold and frightening. "You can count on that. Now, if you'll excuse us, I believe Agent Prentiss and I promised a pair of three-year-olds some ice cream. Meeting dismissed."

It took Hotch and Emily less than two minutes to gather the children's paraphernalia. And thirty seconds after that to say their goodbyes before they hunted down Garcia.

JJ and Emily left the room ahead of Derek and Hotch, chatting about inconsequential things.

So they didn't hear the comments from a couple of members of Team B. The comments about the dark-haired female member of Team A, and why the cold-ass son-of-a-bitch Hotchner wanted to keep a hot piece like that close.

But Hotchner heard. And as he looked at the two men, he made sure they knew he had. And knew that first thing Monday morning—they'd be gone. Transferred to the worst overseas posts available. All that talk about cold and hot—see how they'd like an Iraqi or Siberian assignment.

And Aaron Hotchner could do it, too.

But first, he had an ice cream date. And he planned to enjoy every bite and every minute of it.