hotchniss one-shots

Bad Night

emily's pov

I wake myself up with my own screams, struggling to breath. I clutch my hand to my chest, trying to take in a breath of air, but I find that I can't.

The nightmares seem to be every night since I've gotten back from Paris, but this is by far the worst it's been.

By now, there are tears streaming down my face, and I still can't catch a breath. I try to grab my phone from the nightstand, but the tears are blurring my vision, and I end up knocking it to the floor.

Stumbling out of bed, I fall to the floor, searching for my phone. When I finally find it, I collapse back onto the floor, too exhausted and out of breath to move the few inches to my bed.

My hands shaking, I switch on my phone, and go to contacts.

I don't know why he's my first thought. The first person I want to call. He told me I could talk to him, in fact, he told me that I should.

"I want you to make a deal with me. You're going to go weeks, months even, feeling fine. And then you're going to have a bad day. Just let me know when you do."

I'd already gone to him once, after the case, and he had been there for me just like he had promised he would be. I wouldn't want to be annoying by calling him now. It's got be at least 2 in the morning, he wouldn't want to be woken.

And yet I find myself thinking about the fact that he's the only person I want to call. He's the only person I feel comfortable enough with to open up to.

My thumb hovers over his name for a few more seconds, my whole body shaking with tears, before I finally give in and call him.

hotch's pov

I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing, and I groan slightly, assuming it'll be someone calling to tell me that we have a case.

However, when I check the caller ID, I see that it's Emily. A wave of fear washes over me as I wonder what she could be calling for at 2 in the morning. What if something happened?

I answer the call, bringing my phone to my ear as I sit up.

"Emily?" I ask sleepily, but I get no response.

Instead, I just hear her sobbing on the other end of the phone, so much that it sounds like she's choking.

"Emily what's going on? Are you okay?" I ask, even though she obviously isn't.

"I- I can't breathe," she chokes out, her voice barely a whisper.

"Stay on the phone with me, I'm coming over," I tell her, standing up and rushing over to my closet to pull on some proper clothes.

"No, I don't... Don't want to bother you," she stutters, her voice hoarse from crying. "I'm sorry, I- I shouldn't of called."

She still sounds like she's struggling to breathe, like even talking is a struggle because of that.

"Emily, I need you to try and breathe for me, okay?" I say, grabbing my car keys from the table beside my door and heading out of my apartment building, breaking into a run halfway down the stairs.

"I can't," she whispers.

I stay on the phone to her while I'm driving, probably going a little faster than I should be, and try my best to comfort her.

By the time I get to her apartment, she still hasn't calmed down at all, and I know that whatever happened must've been bad.

Knowing that she'll be in no state to get to the door, I reach for the spare key that I know is hidden underneath the plant pot, and unlock it myself, hanging up the phone as I do.

"Emily?" I call out as I walk into her apartment.

I hear a sob coming from the bedroom, so I rush over to the door, knocking only a moment before I enter.

As soon as I'm in the room, I see Emily curled up on the floor, her face stained with tears.

"Emily," I breathe out, going over to her and kneeling down.

She looks up at me, and I see the pain and the fear in her eyes. It breaks my heart seeing her like this, and I wish that there was a way that I could've stopped all of the things that happened to her.

I lean down and wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer to me as I sit on the floor beside her. She leans her head on my chest, clutching at my jacket as she moves closer to me.

I hold her tighter, pressing a kiss to her head and rubbing small circles on her back with my thumb. I know that this isn't exactly appropriate considering I'm her boss, but right now I don't care about that. I don't care about anything except making sure that Emily's okay.