She can almost understand why he did it. Hotch is one of the best around. No one in the FBI could possibly try to deny that. He is really good at what he does.

Which is why Emily thinks he forgets sometimes. That he is in a team of people who have gone through all the same training as he had. People who are smart, fast thinkers who also know what they are doing. People who are very capable of knowing that sometimes you have to go after the bastard and sometimes you have to wait until he gets one more victim.

But she is positive that he made the wrong call. Not only did he make the wrong one, Emily had it right in the first place.

They were working on a case in Chicago. Middle aged white guy with a God complex. Abducted women in their twenties and sexually assaulted them for as long as he was interested. Until another woman caught his interest.

Emily was the first one to get to his house. They knew he was keeping the women in his basement and the latest one had just been abducted a few days ago. He kept them alive for at least weeks at a time.

She had radioed the team that she was going in but Hotch ordered her to wait for someone else to get there. He was not going to let her go in there by herself. For some reason Emily felt desperate. She hated waiting on that front doorstep.

"Hotch, please! He's going to kill her. I can't explain why I know that, but I do. Just please let me go in there. I have a gun."

There was a pause. "No. Prentiss do not go in there alone. Do not. We have no reason to believe that girl is going to die today."

"Except that he knows were on to him, Hotch!"

"Emily. Do not go into that house."

Even though it was only minutes until another squad car pulled up and they rushed into the basement, Emily knew it would be too late.

He had already killed her and laughed in her face when they got there.

Emily punched a hole in his wall there was so much adrenaline pulsing through her.

When the rest of the team got there it was all over. No one said anything to Prentiss and Morgan gave her an extra shirt to wrap her hand in until she could clean it and bandage it.

The plane ride back to Virginia was excruciatingly silent. Everyone else on the team brought up casual conversation like they tried to after a case but it fell dead.

Emily had her head phones in and was staring out the window. It was no secret between the team that Emily and Hotch were together. They'd been together for awhile now.

So no one was surprised by the glances that Hotch would throw in Emily's direction every now and then. He would look up from the case file and gaze at her apologetically.

Emily pretended not to see him.

Derek caught Hotchs attention and leaned over in his seat.

"Someones sleeping on the couch tonight, huh Hotch?"

Hotch rolled his eyes. "It's my house. She can't make me sleep on the couch of my own house."

Morgan leaned back in his seat. "Five bucks say you wake up with a crick in your neck tomorrow. Those couches can be pretty uncomfortable to sleep on."

"I'll double that." Rossi chipped in not looking up from his book.

"What the hell happened here? You guys look like you've been to hell and back" Penelope stated.

Everyone exchanged glances as they walked into the conference room to finish up the paperwork on the case.

"Why don't you ask the great and powerful unit chief? Apparently none of us are allowed to do anything without him there."

"Prentiss." Hotch warned carefully.

Penelope shot a look to Derek who shook his head in warning.

"This isn't going to be pretty is it?" JJ whispered to Reid.

He shook his head slowly. "Our best bet is probably to get out of here while we can..."

"No, Agent Hotchner. Why don't you please tell Garcia about your brilliant judgment call? The one that you were sure couldn't possibly go wrong."

"What's going on?" Penelope asked hoping that someone would clue her in.

Hotch clenched his jaw.

"Come on, tell her Hotch. Tell her how I was right there. I could have gotten that piece of trash and saved that girls life. He had just killed her. Probably while I was standing on that damn porch waiting for someone else to come. Because God forbid I do anything that you don't approve of. It's totally different if it's Morgan or Rossi or Reid because they're men, right?"

Hotch stepped towards her. "Emily. You know that I trust you and JJ just as much as I trust…"

"But that's not entirely true! Because if you trusted me, if you really trusted my instincts as much as you trusted theirs then you would have let me bust that door down. That girl would still be alive right now."

"I did what was best for the team. What if you had gone in there and he hurt you Prentiss? What if he had killed you?"

"What if he hadn't!? Jesus Christ, I could have saved her! But because of you she's dead. Because I stood there on that damn step her parents are planning a funeral right now. That didn't have to happen Hotch! It really didn't."

The entire room was quiet and Emily fought as hard as she could to keep the tears that were in her eyes from falling down her face. She breathed in deeply and looked away from him.

He stepped towards her slowly and reached out for her hand without thinking. "Emily, please…"

She snapped her hand back quickly. "Don't. Don't you Emily me and don't you dare touch me." She brushed by him and walked to her cubicle.

Hotch closed his eyes and breathed out a slow breath. Everyone else gathered the papers they needed and made their way to their work space. Hotch was the last one out.

It was late when Rossi came and knocked on his office door.

"I saw your office light still on and wondered if you were still here. It's late, Hotch. You should go home. We have another case tomorrow."

Hotch looked up from the case files he had been using to keep his mind off of Emily. Off of the case from today. Off of that girl's family.

"Do you think I got that girl killed today, Dave?"

Rossi sighed and stepped into the office.

"I think…you made the same choice I would have. We didn't have any clear way of knowing that he was going to kill her. Besides Prentisses gut feeling and we all know that sometimes those are wrong. She could have been wrong too."

"Yeah. But she wasn't wrong."

Rossi sighed. "Yeah. That's the part that really sucks."

They both laughed and Hotch ran a hand through his hair.

"I've never let it affect our work relationship before. Her and I seeing each other. Emily and I have always been able to keep it professional while we were at work and keep work away from home. I have no idea how we've done it but maybe, it's starting to catch up with me. Maybe this isn't a good idea at all."

Rossi sighed and sat down.

"Look, Aaron. You and Prentiss are good together. I don't know how you make it work but you do. She makes you happy. You know that there are going to be times when you let the relationship slip into your job. If it was me I would be doing the same thing. You protected Emily today mostly because she's your agent and you didn't want her to be alone in a psychopath's home."

Aaron nodded "And because I didn't want my girlfriend to be alone in a psychopath's home."

"You made a wrong call today. Any of us could have made it. Let it affect you, but not so much that you carry this around."

Hotch nodded slowly and Rossi got up.

"And Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

Rossi smiled. "I'm pretty sure it's safe for you to go home now. Even if you do have to sleep on the couch."

Hotch sighed. "I'm not sleeping on the couch. There's a guest bedroom."

They both laughed and made their way out of the building that had slowly become a second home to the entire team of profilers.

It was close to ten o' clock by the time he got home. Emily's car was in the driveway and he wasn't sure if he should be relieved or if he should be bracing himself for another blow.

They weren't living together but Emily was over so much it was really only a matter of time. Hotch figured it had to be a good sign that she was here when she had another home she could be at instead.

He opened the door and immediately noticed how clean his house was. He smirked to himself remembering that Emily once told him that whenever her mom was pissed at her dad she cleaned the house. Her mom claimed it helped her get all her pent up frustration out at him before he got home.

He loosened his tie and took his shoes off while throwing his keys on the kitchen table.

He climbed up the stairs to the bedroom. Most of the lights were off in the house except for the bedroom light.

He pushed open the door to see Emily lying on top of the covers watching some TV movie.

He undressed quickly and threw on an old shirt. He very carefully sat on the bed and Emily finally turned her head and looked at him. She turned the TV off.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Emily shook her head. "No. I am. It's just been a really hard day and I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. Not in front of everyone. That wasn't fair of me. I know that you treat all of us the same. I know that all I was going off of was my gut but…it doesn't matter. I really am sorry, Aaron."

Hotch shook his head. "No. You were right. I should have listened to you. If it wasn't for my call that girl would still be alive right now. And you know what? I don't treat you all fairly. Today I treated you like my girlfriend and I didn't mean to, but the thought of you going in there without any back up, it scared me to death. I just…I've already lost…."

Emily shook her head and grabbed his hand. "You don't have to explain. I'm an idiot. Seriously. I didn't even think about…I don't know how I didn't put the pieces together that you lost Hayley…I'm just an idiot."

Hotch laughed and pulled Emily into his arms. She collapsed against him and rested her head on his chest.

"Are we done fighting now? Because it's exhausting."

Emily laughed and nodded. "Yeah. I think we are."

"Good. But can we schedule a fight once a month like this? My house has never looked this clean. Ever."

She punched his chest.

"I'll do what I can."

Hotch smiled and they turned the light off in the bedroom and slid under the covers, Emily still in his arms.

"I love you, you know." Hotch whispered seriously.

Emily smiled. "I know. I love you too. Why else would I put up with your crap?"

Fin