Author's Note: Hey guys! Remember I said I was working on a story based on the season 5? Well, here it is! It'll be a multi-chapter and the updates will be a little more slow then New Chances because I'm still writing this story. I only have ready until chapter 3 so I'll need a lot of reviews to motivate me and help me write this. I hope you'll like the begining. We'll start with the episode 5x01, with Emily finding Hotch at the hospital. Please, let me know what you think and if I should continue.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 1

Nine stabs. Nine fr... reaking stabs.

It's a miracle that he's alive.

The doctor's words echoed on her mind. She looked at her boss lying on the hospital bed, covered with tubs and machines. Why did this happen? He is Hotch. He is Aaron Hotchner. He isn't supposed to be here. He is supposed to be invincible. He is the one who take care of the injured.

But here he was.

With nine fucking holes on the chest.

She put the visitor chair beside his bed and stood there, looking at his face, watching his chest rise up and down, listening the beeping that indicated he was alive, he was still alive.

She thought about the road that brought them here. Since Boston with the Reaper's case and how he chose their leader to taunt. They knew that it was a case that was going to hunt them sooner or later.

But she wouldn't imagine that it would be like this.

She never wanted to put a bullet in someone's brain so much.

Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half hour, one hour passes. And she stays there, sitting beside him. The team is still working on the other case and although she knows that she should be there, helping them, like the man by her side would want; she knows that she could never do this. She could never let him alone like this. She could never focus in anything knowing that he was in a hospital bed, unconscious and alone.

She is so distracted looking at him that she startles at the change in the beeping of the machine. Suddenly a handful of nurses and doctors enter the room and shove her out.

He's coding.

It's the only thing she manages to hear. Everything after that is just a blur.

Her chest is tight.

Her heart is raced.

Her palms are sweating.

There is a noise in her ear, a ring, caused by the pressure on her brain and heart.

He can't die.

He can't leave me.

Leave me? She thinks. Right then she understands. She finally understands the tightness that she is feeling; the need of being beside him all the time; the jitters he always manages to cause; the difficult of look into his eyes sometimes; the reason why she thought it would be so hard to betray his trust when Strauss asked; the despair she felt when he was involved at the explosion in New York. Everything was suddenly clear.

She was in love with him.

She was so irrevocable in love with him.

And she was watching him die.

He can't die.

He can't leave me.

I need him.

Please God, please. Please don't take him.

She doesn't realize she is crying until she hear the sob that manages to escape.

Suddenly there is a hand on her shoulder. She looks up and finds Morgan's eyes. Another sob escapes, then another and another. She is grabbing his coat and pressing her head on his chest, looking for some kind of strength that she can't find in herself anymore. His shirt is quickly soaked from her tears and he holds her tight. She feels the whole team by her side, but she can't force herself to look at them.

The doctor came from Hotch's bedroom and the team looks at her anxiously.

- He coded for two minutes but we managed to stabilize him. He's condition is delicate but the stabs didn't hit any major organs like I said before to Agent Prentiss. The bigger problem was the blood loss but we've already made the necessary transfusions and he must be stable from now. We decrease the dose of the medication and he should wake up in a few hours. Excuse me.

She left and everyone let out a breath of relieve. Dave turned to Emily, seeing that she was calmer.

- Emily, what a hell happened with him? – She took a deep breath before start to tell everything:

- I was at Dr. Barton's house with Reid going through his medical reports when I saw that it was too much and we needed more help. I decide to go over Hotch's once he wasn't answering his phone. When I got there I knock on his door but he didn't answer. I called him and could hear his cellphone ringing inside the apartment. When I turn the knob the door was unlocked and I got in. There was blood and glass on the floor and a hole of a .44 on the wall. – She took another breath to control her nerves for remember everything. – Then I called Garcia and she started to look in hospitals for him. She found a John Doe left by an Agent Derek Morgan here. So I came to check and found him. I couldn't tell you guys because you were working and needed to be focus. I only tell Reid because he was waiting for me.

- Foyet… - Dave said after a few seconds.

- Yeah, he stabbed him nine times, avoiding major organs just to show him he was in control, that he has Hotch's life in his hands. That son of a bitch left him here anonymously so we couldn't find him fast and get and leads to him.

They stood there, talking about the case and analyzing where the reaper could be when Emily saw his eyes fluttering.

- He's waking up.

The team gathered around his bed waiting for him to get conscious. Emily couldn't help to let out a little smile by seeing him open his eyes.

- Where am I?

- At the hospital.

- How did I get here?

- Foyet drove you.

- What did he take?

- What do you mean?

- He always takes something from his victims. Do we know what he took?

- There was a missing page from your address book, in the B's section.

- What did he leave?

- I don't know. Nothing seemed out of place.

- Where are my clothes? – Emily took his clothes' bag and handed him. He took his badge out of an envelope and his face went blank. – Haley's maiden name is Brooks. I always list her at B's in my personal stuff, in case it ends in wrong hands. He knows where they live.

The team quickly moved, going towards the exit to leave to Hotch's old house. Dave stopped for a second, looking at Emily and seeing that she wasn't going with them.

- I'm not going anywhere Rossi.

He nodded once, knowing better than argument with her.

Emily stood there, sit at the visitor's chair beside his bed, watching him look at the photo of Haley and Jack, anxious for news from the team. She kept looking at him, analyzing his face, knowing very well that he probably didn't even acknowledge her presence in the room. She could see how much he still loved Haley. How much he missed his life with her. How much he cared about her and couldn't prevent her heart from break just a little.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing, what managed to take Hotch's attention too. She answered, hearing Dave say that both Hotchners were safe.

- They're safe. – She said, seeing the relieved look on his face. It was the only contact between the two of them before he proceed to ignore her again. She still stood there; sit, in silence, just drinking his presence, trying to convince herself that he was ok, that he was alive.

The team got back with Haley and Jack and she left the room for the family talk. She went to an empty hall and slide down the wall, sitting on the cold floor, feeling the rush of emotions running through her body, the fear, the love, the need, the anxious, the anger, everything burning her from inside out, bringing tears in her eyes and making her breath became elaborate.

She felt a presence near and looked up to see Dave watching her with a worried face.

- Are you ok?

- No. – She whispered, looking down. He sat beside her, taking her hand. That broke her. She sobbed again, her head dropping on his shoulder while he stayed quiet, just trying to comfort her with his presence. After a few minutes her sobs subsided and he waited for her to talk. – How he'll get over this Dave?

- He's going to need us.

- Is he going to let us in?

- Even if he doesn't, we have to stay by his side. He's going to need it. Even if he doesn't admit it.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

- I thought he was death. – She whispered. – There was so much blood and that hole… And then I found him here. And saw him coded. And… - She stopped, unable to continue to remember everything.

- You love him don't you?

She stayed in silence for almost a minute before speaking:

- I'm really stupid right. That's just so classic. Falling in love with the boss.

- I don't think you're stupid. You're in love. You don't choose. It just happens.

- Yeah. But it's not like anything is going to happen.

- Why not? You're both single, the frat rules are not made on stone.

- But he'll never look at me like this Dave. He still loves her. And I think he'll always love her.

- Of course he will, Emily. She is the mother of his child. He will always love her. But that's different from being in love with her.

- Can we not talk about this? Please Dave. I can't deal with this right now. – She looked at him with pleading eyes.

- Ok cara. C'mon. Let's get back there.

They went back to the room and found the rest of the team talking.

- The Marshal's already took Haley and Jack in custody. – Morgan said.

- Ok, I think it's the best if we all go home, get some rest. Hotch needs to rest too. – Dave said and everyone, except from Emily, started to get ready to leave.

- I think I'm gonna stay a little bit more.

- Are you sure Em? – Asked JJ.

- Yeah, you guys can go. – She looked at Rossi and he gave her a knowing nod before leave. After all the team left she turned around to see Hotch looking at her with an unreadable face.

- You should go too. I don't need you to stay here.

His words hurt like knife and she has to fight the urge to cry again.

- I know sir. I'm just staying for a little bit. Until you fall asleep. – She said with a small voice without looking at his eyes.

- It's not necessary Prentiss. Go home. I've got a lot of nurses and doctors here to help me with anything. – He said, his tone commanding, leaving no room for arguments. She could only nod and take her purse and coat, murmuring a goodbye to him without looking up.

She knew that she couldn't go home. She couldn't sleep without risking relieving everything again, seeing him cod again, or even worse giving the possibilities of the nightmares.

So she decided to stay. Not in his room, but at the cafeteria of the hospital. She ordered a cup of coffee; chose a table at the corner and sat. She prepared herself for what was to about to come, to learn to deal with her feeling and the most important: to know how to help the man she loved, protecting her heart in the process.

A/N: See the review button over there? Give him a little click and let me know what you think!