Shattered. [Aaron Hotchner + Emily Prentiss]

Chapter 11.

"Leila!" Consecutive bangs on the door, followed by Emily shouting for Leila to get up, made the small brunette spring from the bed and straight to her closest, grabbing whatever clothes she could, as she shouted back she was almost ready. She looked at her alarm clock, only to realise the power was off. No power, no alarm. "Come on Leila, we're really late!"

"Ok, ok, I'm here!" The little one hopped out of her room, sliding her second Converse shoe on with her backpack in hand.

"Come on. Power must have cut out in the entire neighbourhood, no one's lights are on."

The two left the apartment, dropping and fumbling their belongings as they made their way to the parking garage. Emily's car was telling them it was 8:34 AM and, although it was a car and not connected to a power source, neither brunettes could trust it fully. By the time they speedily arrived at Quantico, the car displayed 8:56 AM. Luckily it wasn't a long drive from their apartment, but still enough for when they arrived, all eyes turned on them and Hotch called Emily to his office.

As soon as he shut the door, she began talking, "I- I'm so sorry. There was a power cut throughout the whole neighbourhood and I didn't charge my phone so we had no alarm. We rushed as much as we could and we tried to get here but-"

"Slow down. Take a breath." He interrupted, stopping her from her flustered thoughts and rambles.

"You're- you're not shouting. Why- why are you not shouting?"

"Because I'm more worried then mad." He walked around the desk, grabbing his phone and showing her. "I sent you texts and when you didn't reply after the third one. I was going to drag Rossi with me to check on you, but what's more worrying is the fact you normally wake up, if you're without alarms, around 7. What's going on?"

"Nothing, I guess I was just really tired. I'm fine."

"Em-"

"Prentiss." She corrected him, pointing at the clock.

"Prentiss." He mimicked while rolling his eyes. "What's going on?" He asked more sternly.

"Aaron-"

"Hypocrite!" He exclaimed, noting her choice of name.

"Fine, Sir, I am fine. We are being watched closely since my 'death' and I guess it's just stressing me out. I really can't afford to mess up, and if I do, hell is going to rain down on all of us. I care, maybe a bit too much, and it's all I could think about last night..."

Normally, after a hectic day, such as yesterday, Emily would be out like a light. As soon as her head would hit a pillow on a long day, she would be asleep with no plan of waking up for hours, even on the jet - especially on the jet, even more so if she was next to Aaron.

"...And you were thinking about Doyle?"

"Yeah." Her head bowed down, staring at her hands as she picked at her nails. "Like, I know he's dead now, and I don't have to worry about him getting to me, the team or Leila now, but what if one of the ties from Europe comes after us. I mean, we are on the news for most of the cases we solve, and anyone could watch that online now. Before, it was just local or county news but now sometimes worldwide, it makes me think if it's still safe here..." She slowly said, considering each word she just said to the man she's trying to make a relationship work with - in Virginia.

"Em, I didn't know you felt this way." He walked back around the desk. Glimpses of his polished, black leather shoes made her look up, finding him right in front of her, his small dimple following the sad, sympathetic smile he displayed.

"I mean, if I didn't have Leila here, with the team or you, I would probably move back to Italy. It was one of my favourite places and we still have a villa out there and the views are amazing. I know it's still Europe, but it's one of my safe places. You, Leila and Italy are my three. "