It was a tough mission, and Hotch knew what he was trying to do when he finally let you out on the field despite being the newest and youngest member of the BAU ( stealing the title from Spencer ). It was risky, but Hotch trusted your abilities, you were intelligent, witty, and more charismatic than any agent your age he had the chance to interact with, and even he had to admit that you piqued his interest more than he thought you would.

Aaron had told the team to split up and investigate in different areas, a sense of doubt nagging at the back of his mind, but he brushed it off, telling himself that the unsub wouldn't dare to attack or do something that could prolong his sentence after he gets caught, but for once, Hotch was wrong.

A gunshot was heard, and your voice quickly rang through the walkie-talkie, informing the rest of the team that you got hit in the head. Though this wasn't the first time that a member of his team got injured, for some reason, Aaron's heart just stopped hearing your sentence, and quickly rushed to call for the paramedics.

Now he's sitting by your bed in the hospital, the monitor beeping in the background, signalling your heartbeat like white noise as he sat silently, contemplating about what happened, thinking that it was all his fault. If he didn't let you come along on the mission—even though he knew you were still new—this wouldn't have happened to you, and the thoughts kept repeating in his mind like a chant, taunting him, telling him that if he trusted his intuitions just a little bit, he could've prevented this. The what-if's kept flooding his head until he saw you stirring in his peripheral vision and quickly turned to check on you.

"Hey- easy, take it easy" — Hotch said, his voice soft and gentle, as if he worried you might get a headache if he spoke too loudly, while placing a hand on your shoulder to settle you back down on the mattress when you tried to sit up. "How are you feeling?"