A/N: This is my attempt at a cross-over with Criminal Minds and Huff. Emily and Beth are cousins. This story picks up at the end of season 2 of Huff (where it was cancelled) and season 5 of Criminal Minds, specifically after "Retaliation." This is my first attempt at a crossover so please be kind.

The general idea is that Beth seeks comfort at her cousin's house, while Emily appreciates the fact that she has a distraction from the thoughts that she almost died, and had to watch another man die in front of her.

Just a note, this is starting out as a friendship piece between Hotch and Emily, with the POSSIBILITY of an eventual romance. But I'm not 100% sure on that one yet.

Please read and review.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds or Huff.

Hotch watched as Emily made her way down the steps, carefully and slowly. This was the second time in as many years that he'd seen her body bruised and beaten as the result of an altercation with an unsub. He hated to see anyone on his team in this state, and in spite of her assertion that she was strong and could handle anything that had been thrown at her, Hotch still felt the need to protect her. He frowned when she hit the bottom step and a moan escaped her lips.

Emily could feel Hotch watching her every move, and she hated it. She didn't know how many times she had to tell him that she was ok. One more time and her head might actually explode. All she wanted to do was get home, take a long hot bath, drink a tall glass of wine, and try to forget the events of the past few days. But deep down, she knew she wouldn't forget.

Hotch led the team to the waiting SUV's and everyone climbed in. It was a short drive back to the office and Emily said goodnight in the parking lot. "I'm just going to head straight home ok? I'll see everyone tomorrow," she said quietly. Hotch turned back, waiting until the others were gone before he spoke.

"Emily, why don't you take tomorrow off and come back in on Monday?" he suggested. Emily huffed and shook her head, mumbling something under her breath that Hotch couldn't quite make out. Hotch cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. "What was that?" he asked. Emily blushed and shook her head. "Nothing sir," she replied, gritting her teeth. Hotch frowned. "Ok. Well, at least think about it. You need the rest Prentiss," he said quietly, before turning to head to the elevator. "So do you sir," Emily muttered. This time, Hotch heard. And rather than pretending that he hadn't, he turned back to face her and raised his eyebrows once more.

"Excuse me?" he asked in a superior tone. Emily rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Do you think I'm stupid Hotch? Do you think we're all stupid? We can all tell that you're exhausted. You're trying to be a full-time dad AND a full-time agent and it's wearing you thin," she said. She'd finally had enough of keeping that to herself and now was the moment she could actually say it out loud. Now, when she could at least call in sick the next day and have a long weekend, not seeing Hotch for a few days. Not to mention blaming her loose tongue on the flimsy and probably pointless "painkillers" the discharge nurse had given her.

Hotch couldn't believe his ears. Emily Prentiss: Workaholic. The same woman who was beaten up by a cult-leader and still arrived back in DC the following morning and pulled a fourteen hour day. The same woman who insisted on working a case in which her closest childhood friend was brutally murdered. And the very same woman who had returned to work the day after her beloved grandfather's funeral. Hotch huffed. Damn hypocrite.

"Agent Prentiss, my well-being is not the point here. You were involved in a collision with a truck less than 24 hours ago and you sustained a concussion. You then underwent a cognitive interview during which your mind and body suffered further trauma. You watched an officer get murdered in front of you. And you've barely slept in four days. I was trying to give you the option but I see that now I'm going to have to make it an order. I don't want to see you in the office for the next three days. Take tomorrow off and I will see you bright and early, Monday morning," Hotch said gruffly, before turning to head to the elevator.

Emily frowned and huffed, shaking her head. What the hell? The man was infuriating! She turned on her heel and stomped to her car, violently throwing her belongings into the back seat of the car before slamming the door shut. She climbed into the driver's seat and groaned. She wasn't really up for driving but there was no way she was going back into the office and risking another reunion with Hotch. Emily pulled the bottle of codeine from her purse and popped two pills before turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the carpark.

Thirty minutes later, Emily pulled into her parking spot. She grabbed her bags from the backseat and started her journey upstairs to her apartment. The sight that befell her was one she wasn't expecting. Emily made her way down the hall from the elevator and squatted on the floor in front of her apartment door.

"Beth. Beth, honey. Wake up," she said quietly, trying to wake her cousin. Beth opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, her eyes adjusting to the light. "Em?" she said quietly. Emily smiled and stood up straight. She held out her hand and helped Beth to her feet. The two women hugged and, when Emily winced, they pulled back.

"God. What the hell happened?" Beth asked, rubbing her hands over Emily's arms. Emily shrugged. "Work incident. It's no big deal," she said succinctly. Beth frowned but decided not to push it anymore. Emily nodded towards the door. "How about we go inside and order some Chinese," she suggested. Beth nodded and smiled, picking up her bags from the floor.

Emily threw her ready bag on the floor outside the laundry, her purse on the desk in her study, and her keys and cell on the kitchen counter. She took Beth's duffel and placed it on the small chair under the staircase. Then she turned to the lounge and grabbed the phone. "The usual?" she asked. Beth smiled and nodded. After Emily had placed the order, the two women stood in the kitchen while Emily made them each a drink.

"So, who first?" Beth asked. Emily smiled sadly and nodded to her cousin. "You first. I'm honestly fine," she lied. But, either her skills at lying had improved or Beth had decided to skim over it. Beth took a deep breath as they walked over to the lounge room. Over the decades, Emily's couch had been a veritable refuge for Beth whenever she needed it. When Emily had been studying at Yale, it was her couch that Beth crashed on when she'd had an argument with her parents and fled their New Jersey home. Even when Emily was living in Paris while their grandmother was ill, Beth visited when she found her home life was too difficult. In any case, Beth found herself, once again, more than grateful for the close relationship she had with her almost twin-cousin.

"He left," Beth started. Emily couldn't help her reaction when her eyebrows almost shot through her hairline. "We've been having problems for awhile now, but it's really just started to change recently. And Byrd's not really helping at all. He's misbehaving and driving me nuts. And I love him. He's my baby boy, but… I just don't know what to do anymore," she continued, the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Emily moved over to sit next to her and put her arm around Beth's shoulder. "Huff's just… he's been drifting away. And I'm finding myself loathing him. And we tried couples therapy but it hasn't helped," she explained. Emily stayed silent, offering her support through a hug and offering another drink. When Beth declined, Emily sat back, rubbing Beth's back while she continued.

"He's staying in a hotel until he finds somewhere permanent, but I just needed to get away. I know I'm always coming and crashing whenever there's been a problem and if you need to, just kick me out," she said. Emily smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. I love having you here," she assured her cousin, "Though I would like it if we saw each other when there were good things happening too." Beth nodded and smiled. Emily pat her leg.

"Are you going to be alright if I run upstairs and have a shower?" Emily asked. Beth nodded again. "Absolutely. I'll get the food when it gets here if you're not back down," she replied. Emily smiled and pointed towards the kitchen. "There's a small bowl with loose change and a couple of twenties. Use it please," she begged, before climbing the stairs.

Emily shook her head as she walked into her bedroom. She was stunned, though she'd kept the bulk of her surprise a secret from Beth. Those two had a great life, or so Emily thought. They were always so in love. Huff had a great practice, except for the incident a couple of years ago. And though Emily knew that Huff's family was a little eccentric, he was reasonably normal. Byrd was a great kid, becoming a great man. And they had a wonderful life in California. Or so it seemed. Emily wondered if that old adage was true, that the view from the outside is always different to that from the inside. Or something like that. She shrugged as she undressed and climbed into the shower.

Beth was sitting on the couch, mindlessly flicking through the pages of one of Emily's books while Coltrane played over the stereo. She sat back on the couch and threw the book on the table, before gazing out the window. The view over DC was beautiful. Emily always picked places that had a great view. Her apartment in Chicago had been on the 47th floor of the complex and had a great view of the city; her apartment in San Francisco had access to the roof, where Emily had held fantastic parties. Beth smiled. She could always count on Emily when things weren't going well. She was a shoulder to cry on, a couch (or spare bed) to crash on, and another Prentiss with seemingly endless credit cards and penchant for beautifully unique boutiques. And as it was, things weren't going so great and Beth definitely needed this time with her cousin as a distraction.

Beth was broken from her thoughts when there was a knock at the door. She grabbed her purse from her bag. Emily was giving her a place to stay, paying for dinner was the least she could do. Beth was surprised when the face that greeted her wasn't that of Emily's usual delivery boy, but a tall, handsome, tired-looking man in a dark suit.

Hotch wasn't sure what to say. Well, starting from the beginning would probably be the best. So he cleared his throat. "Emily, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I know you were trying to be supportive and insist that the team worries about me as much as I do about you guys, and I know I didn't react in the most caring of ways, but I couldn't let you go to sleep tonight angry with me. Your opinion matters too much to me, you matter too much to me. Which is probably why I reacted the way I did. You could have died Emily. And I can't get that thought out of my head. Because you're more than just a team-mate… you're my friend," Hotch paused, wondering if he should say the part waiting on the tip of his tongue. He nodded and continued, "I love you," he said, spilling the words he'd wanted to say. He honestly valued Emily's friendship and hoped that their spat earlier tonight wouldn't ruin the relationship that had taken three years to develop.

Beth was stunned. She wasn't quite sure what to say. At first she wanted to thank this man for his words, but then remembered that they were actually meant for Emily. Beth smiled. Emily was lucky. She deserved someone in her life, who cared for her. And apparently, she had this gentleman. Beth cleared her throat and put one hand in her pocket and held the other one out in front of her. "I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Beth, Emily's cousin," she explained.

Hotch wrinkled his brow. Was this a joke? This was Emily. Granted she was wearing a red singlet with cherry details across the left side, which was something Hotch had never seen her in, but… wait, when did he start cataloguing her clothes? Hotch shook his head and held out his hand to shake. "Uh… I'm sorry, you look…" his voice trailed off and Emily's doppleganger smiled shyly. "We get that ALL the time," she assured him. Hotch smiled and nodded, before looking over Beth's shoulder into the apartment. "Uh, is Emily here? I really should say all of that to her," he said, embarrassed.

Beth smiled and nodded, stepping back in the doorway. "She's just upstairs having a shower. Why don't you come in and wait?" she asked. Hotch nodded and walked into the apartment, waiting for Beth to lead him down the hall. Though he'd been here a number of times before, he'd never been there when Emily had other guests. It was usually just for work issues, or the occasional movie night when Jack was spending time with Hayley's family. And it was always just Emily and himself, no-one else. Not that he was opposed to spending time with Emily around other people. They were friends and would probably be just as comfortable in a group as they were one-on-one. But the situation had never come up.

Hotch realized he'd been deep in thought for awhile when Beth cleared her throat. He looked up and saw her standing in the lounge. Hotch walked through and joined her, sitting in his usual seat on the couch against the wall. Hotch looked over at Beth, who was looking at him expectantly. "Uh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Aaron Hotchner," he said quietly. A look of understanding came over Beth's face.

"Uh… Hotch right?" she asked. Hotch nodded, smiling. "Yeah, Emily talks about you a lot," she said, "About the team, I mean. All of you," she elaborated, blushing in the process. "God, she's going to kill me," Beth said, covering her face in her hands. Hotch just shook his head and smiled. "It's fine. I talk about the others to my son too," he said, trying to alleviate Beth's embarrassment.

"I'm trying to remember… Jack is it?" Beth asked. Hotch raised his eyebrows and nodded. Beth shook her head, "Don't worry. I'm not a child-murderer or kidnapper. We're very close… kind of each other's sounding boards," Beth explained. Hotch nodded in understanding. "I have a son too," she offered. Hotch smiled. "How old?" he asked. Beth smiled. "Uh, he'll be sixteen soon. God… that makes me sound old," she said, placing her head in her hands. Hotch chuckled and shook his head. "Not at all," he assured her, "What's his name?" Hotch asked. "Uh, Byrd," she answered. "Unusual name," he said, smiling. Beth nodded. "Unusual kid," she added.

Emily had been starting down on the stairs when she heard Hotch and Beth's laughter. At first, she was confused, then annoyed that Hotch was even there. Then she heard them laugh again and she moved down the steps so she could see them. She smiled when she saw Hotch laugh again. It had been a long time since she'd seen him laugh so hard he was almost crying. It made her happy to see him like that. Emily stood again and made her way down the stairs.

Beth looked up when she heard Emily walking down the stairs. At first she thought she might be mad that she'd let Hotch in, but by the look on her cousin's face, Beth wasn't in trouble. She stood from the couch. "You two look like you're having fun," Emily said brightly. Beth put her arm on Emily's shoulder and tipped her head in Hotch's direction. "We've been regaling each other with parenting stories," Beth explained. Emily smiled and nodded. "Uh, I'm just going to head upstairs to my room and call Byrd. I told him I'd call as soon as I got to your place," she said. Before she moved to walk upstairs, Beth leant close to Emily. "You should ask him to stay for dinner," she whispered. Emily wrinkled her brow and shrugged. "We'll see," she replied. Beth nodded and started up the stairs.

Emily turned to Hotch. "Can I offer you a drink?" she asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her khakis. Hotch shook his head. "No thanks. I just wanted to come and tell you I was sorry for the way I behaved earlier," he replied. Though he knew there was more to what he'd wanted to say, he suddenly found that he'd lost the courage to say what was really on his mind. Instead, he opted for the abridged version. "I reacted badly to your concern and I'm sorry. And I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your friendship. You've helped me through a lot in the past six months and I can't imagine how dark it would've been without you there to help me," he said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

Emily smiled and nodded. "Hotch, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but it's not a problem. You're a good friend and I wouldn't be able to stand by and watch you attempt to handle all of this on your own," she explained. Hotch smiled and closed the distance between them, offering her a hug. Usually she gave him a hug at the end of movie nights, but he never initiated them. So this was a big step. Emily smiled against his chest. "Thank you Emily," Hotch whispered against her hair. Emily pat his back, before stepping back and offering him a smile. "Not a problem jackass," she teased.

"I should get going. You probably want to catch up with your cousin and I have to get home to my son," Hotch said quietly, turning to head back to the front door. Emily nodded. "You sure you don't want to stay? You could find out all sorts of secrets about me from Beth," she joked. Hotch chuckled. "Maybe another night," he replied. Emily nodded and followed him down the hall. "I'll probably take tomorrow off Hotch. I'm moving around a little more but I've still got some sore ribs. So I think I'll just rest up and spend some time with Beth while she's here," Emily explained, standing in front of the door. Hotch nodded and smiled. "Good. I guess I'll see you Monday," he said. Emily nodded ."See you Monday." She watched him make his way down the hall, before turning back into the apartment.

Emily reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up the staircase to find Beth sitting at the top, grinning and shaking her head. "What is it Bethy?" she asked. Beth smiled and stood up, walking down to join Emily in the lounge room. "What he just said to you… SOO not the same as what he said to me when he thought I was you," she blurted out. Emily looked at her with a furrowed brow. "What are you talking about?" she asked. Beth explained what Hotch had said, including those three little words. Emily shook her head. "He didn't mean it like I love you," she said in a sweet tone. "He probably just meant it like "Hey man, I love you. Now let's clink beers and watch the football game," kind of way," she said, more to herself than to Beth. Beth smiled and rolled her eyes. Her cousin truly was the queen of denial. But she wasn't going to spoil the fun. So she'd just agree to disagree and rub it in Emily's face when she finally woke up to the truth.

Emily frowned and shook her head. She was sure that Hotch didn't mean "I love you" in the sense that he wanted to marry her and make lots of little BAU babies. It was definitely a friendship love. And, despite that little niggling in the back of Emily's mind that said a relationship with Hotch would be great, she truly did just see him as a friend. A very close friend, but a friend nonetheless.

Beth stood up when she heard another knock at the door and her stomach was relieved to find the delivery boy. She exchanged the food for the cash and joined Emily in the kitchen. They switched on a movie and sat back in silence, each of them contemplating the recent events in their lives while Hugh Grant cursed his alarm clock.