CHAPTER ONE:
Becky Harris stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror. At 18 years old, she was one of her school’s most popular girls. She had chocolate-brown hair that came past her shoulders. Her dark green eyes sparkled like diamonds when she stood outside in the sun. Her ankle-length silver prom dress was the most expensive thing her mother had ever bought for her. But unfortunately, Becky’s mother had to have passed away so suddenly, leaving her behind with her abusive father.
Mr. Harris seemed like a nice guy to get to know, but inside, he was mean and cold-hearted. He didn’t care about Becky at all, and blamed her for her mother’s death four months ago. He spent more time with his girlfriend, Rebecca, then with Becky.
The girl heard the doorbell ring, and knew that her boyfriend was outside, waiting to take her to prom.
But Becky didn’t even have to react. A masked figure entered the house, holding a butcher knife, and immediately stabbed her in the leg with the weapon.
She felt the blade cut through her skin, slicing right through her femoral artery. Blood began pooling from her leg, staining her cream colored carpet.
Suddenly, she felt another blade touching her neck. The knife punctured the skin, cutting right through her jugular vein and carotid artery. Dark red blood began spraying the walls, staining pictures and drawings.
Becky felt the darkness closing around her. Black spots were clouding her vision. She figured that she was either going unconscious or was dying because she figured that she had lost over two pints of blood in about 30 seconds.
“Becky, I’m here,” a voice whispered in her head. “I’ve missed you.”
She felt her body go numb, and then saw nothing but darkness.
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The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia, was always a busy place. Chasing serial killers, hunting down stalkers, abductors, and rapists was a hard job.
SSAs Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Penelope Garcia, and Elle Greenaway were taking a small, brief break from work to fill up their growling stomachs.
Unit Chief Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner and Agent Jason Gideon were eating lunch in Hotch’s office, talking about the upcoming trip to the bar after work.
In the bullpen, Morgan pulled up a video parody of “What Makes You Beautiful” and immediately, everyone started laughing.
Hotch felt his phone vibrate and saw that he had received a text from Section Chief Erin Strauss, telling him that his team was needed on a new case.
“Conference room, we have a case,” Hotch said, throwing his salad back into his mini-fridge.
“I’ll get the others,” Gideon replied, wrapping up his turkey sandwich and tossing it in the fridge next to the salad.
When he walked out into the bullpen, he found the team eating lunch and completely distracted by something on Morgan’s computer.
“Conference room, now,” Gideon said.
The others threw their lunches into their bags and followed the agent into the conference room, to find Hotch standing in front of the screen displaying their latest case. The SSAs took their seats around the reddish-brown mahogany table, which was already covered with old case files.
“Yesterday evening, the body of 18-year-old Becky Harris was found in her bedroom. She had been stabbed once, the first time in the leg, which cut her femoral artery. Her throat was slit just several seconds after. The M.E. still hasn’t made a certain cause of death, but he thinks that she died of exsanguination,” Hotch said, pulling up a photo of Becky, along with ten other girls.
“Becky matches The Fisher King’s M.O, which is females in their late teens to early 20s. Ten other girls just like Becky were abducted over a span of two years and their bodies were found in an alleyway a week later. He has never been caught.”
The FBI agent sitting at his desk in the bullpen was extremely distracted by Hotch’s team talking in the conference room. The agent was trying to focus on tracking some bank accounts on his desk computer, but Hotch’s team was much more interesting to look at. He spotted the woman with dark hair, laying back in the swivel chair and listening to her boss talk about the Fisher King.
Mine, he thought. She’s mine. She’s just like Becky and the others.
But he knew that there would be some obstacles in his way. First on his list was Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner. Those two men would just glare at you and you would never want to do anything stupid in front of them ever again. Then there was the technical analyst Garcia who was probably the best tracker in the state. She would be able to identify pretty much anything in so short of time that he would have no time to escape or to carry out his plan.
The agent groaned in frustration. He knew that his plan to snatch Elle would be ruined once again.
“I must plan more carefully,” he said to himself. “I’ve got work to do.”
He pulled up a blank Word document and began typing away.
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15 minutes later, the agent looked up from his typing to find Hotch and his team leaving the conference room and heading towards the back of the BAU, towards the private jet. Unbeknownst to Hotch, his phone had been bugged, allowing the perfidious double agent to read all his texts, hear his calls, and hack his work and personal emails.
“Hotch, you have no idea what’s coming your way. Maybe I’ll just have a little fun with that pretty little wife of yours,” the agent said, revealing a burner phone and heading towards the bathrooms, where he could make a private phone call.
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Haley Brooks-Hotchner had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing. Drying her hands on her towel, she picked up the phone and saw that the number was unknown. Thinking it was one of the BAU, she answered the call.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Mrs. Hotchner? I’m so glad that you picked up the phone. After three rings, I was afraid I would never hear your voice,” the strange person replied.
“Who are you?” Haley asked, regretting picking up the phone.
“My name doesn’t matter to you at all. What matters to you is that your husband will pay for what he did to me all those years ago. He will lose someone important to him, and that person could be you.”
“I don’t know who you think you are, but stay away from me, or my husband will hunt you down,” Haley said, trying to sound threatening.
“Too late. I’ve already selected my next victim. Expect a phone call from me in the next three days. I know your husband will only be gone that long. Be prepared.”
The line went dead, and Haley found herself hyperventilating. She knew immediately that she had to call her husband and let him know what had just happened.
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Hotch was sitting near the middle of the plane, his laptop on and ready to receive any call from Garcia or Strauss.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed before the plane was about to taxi onto the runway.
“Hotchner,” he said.
“Aaron, honey, it’s me, Haley,” the frantic voice of his wife replied into the phone.
“Haley, what’s wrong?”
“Someone called me just about two minutes ago. He or she threatened me about you. They said that you were going to pay for something that you did to them years ago. They said that you would lose someone important to you, and that person could be me.”
“I’m on my way home right now. I’ll tell the team I can’t come with them on this case. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Once Hotch hung up the phone, he heard JJ telling the pilots not to taxi until the phone call was ended.
“Everything ok, Hotch?” Gideon asked, noticing his best friend’s worried expression.
“I’m not sure, but you and the team will have to continue this case without me. There’s an emergency with Haley. She said that someone was threatening her about me, and I need to be home with her,” Hotch said. “Gideon, you’re in charge.”
“Hopefully everything’s ok. Call us if you need anything.”
“I will, thanks.”
Hotch grabbed his briefcase while Gideon told JJ the news and the pilots turned back towards the BAU.
Once at the gate, Hotch immediately headed towards the ‘sign in/out’ sheet, signed himself out, made sure both of his weapons were fully loaded and raced home.
But when he got home, a surprise was awaiting him.
Hotch had just barely set his keys on the mantel, when he heard a terrifying scream come from upstairs. He knew that scream right away. It was Haley, and it meant that she was in trouble.
Pulling out one of his guns, he quickly ran up the stairs, and stepped inside the master bedroom...to find a figure, dressed entirely in black, wearing a mask, and holding Haley close to him. She had a loaded gun pointed at her head, and tears pooled in her eyes.
“Let her go,” Hotch snarled at the person.
“Not a chance. You will set BOTH of your weapons on the ground, and kick them over to me. Disobey, and I kill your wife.”
CHAPTER TWO:
“Disobey, and I kill your wife.”
Those were the last words that Hotch heard before falling unconscious on the floor of the bedroom. The person had shoved Haley to the ground and pulled out a can of an unknown substance. Whatever was inside was sprayed in his face, and he felt his body going numb.
“Aaron, no! You can’t die on me!” Haley had shouted, but was slapped in the face.
“Leave...her..alone,” Hotch mumbled, but no words came out.
The last thing he had seen was the sight of his wife being dragged out of the room before the entire world around him faded to black.
Sometime later, he regained consciousness...only to discover that his hands had been handcuffed behind him and his mouth was covered by a strip of duct tape.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” the person said, holding up Hotch’s FBI credentials and ringing cell phone.
“BAU Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner,” the person continued, reading the name on the ID. “Looks like someone really wants to talk to you.” Then, they read the caller ID on the phone. “Who’s Jason Gideon?”
Hotch’s eyes widened. Gideon was someone that the agent looked up to as a father figure since his own father had abused him as a child.
“Oh, right, you can’t speak.”
The person ripped off the tape, and held the phone close to Hotch.
“You will call him back, and tell him that everything’s ok. Otherwise, I will hurt Haley and her unborn child.”
Hotch was astounded. Haley was pregnant? How was he not informed of this news?
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you for a while now. You are just so fascinating to study and watch. How everyone looks up to you as a role model. Too bad that you’re going to lose that opportunity.”
The person left the room and came back a couple minutes later, half-dragging Haley with him. Her face was covered in sweat and her eyes were still pooling with tears.
“Haley!” he exclaimed. Then he did his best death-glare at the unsub. “What did you do to her?”
“I did nothing. This is all your fault. If you hadn’t prosecuted me all those years ago, involving me in the death of my daughter, then none of this would had to have happened. Now, you’re going to call Gideon back and tell him that everything’s ok.”
The person pulled up his name in the contacts info, and held the phone to Hotch’s ear in one hand, while the other pointed a gun at the side of his head.
“Try anything funny, and the next thing Jason’s going to hear is a bullet going right into your head.”
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Gideon stared at his phone for the umpteenth time in the last half hour. He had called Hotch twice, and so far, there hadn’t been a response. The agent had gotten a bad feeling that something terrible was going to happen when Hotch went home.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Gideon answered the call.
“Hotch, thank goodness. I was getting worried.”
“I’m ok, Jason,” Hotch’s voice said. But Gideon noticed that the tone of voice sounded scared or nervous.
Hotch was trying hard not to sound like he was in trouble. But with a gun touching the side of his head, and his wife tied to the bed, it was hard to keep his tone normal.
“Hotch, are you sure you’re ok? You sound very nervous,” Gideon said.
“I’m fine, Jason. But I do appreciate your call.”
Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass was heard. Gideon stood up, alarmed. He knew that something had happened to Hotch.
“Aaron really enjoyed talking to you, but now it’s my turn,” an unfamiliar voice replied. “Hope you had a nice chat.”
“Who is this?” Gideon’s tone became threatening.
“Now, now, I wouldn’t be saying things like that to the person who holds your boss’s life in my hands. You will do as I say, or Hotch here will pay the price. You will continue the case and pretend as if everything’s alright. You will not be turning around and coming back home to Quantico. If I see that you or any of his team members have arrived back here, I won’t hesitate to hurt him or his beloved Haley.”
“Fine,” Gideon muttered.
“Good. I’ll expect you to be at the Hotchner house the moment you land back in Quantico. I will offer you a trade, and you will either take it or leave. I will contact you soon.”
The line went dead, and the agent put his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do? He cared about Hotch, and now his Unit Chief was being held somewhere unknown.
But Gideon couldn’t do anything, because he was 35,000 feet high above the skies of Virginia.
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“Good job, my friend,” the man said, snatching Hotch’s phone out of his hand again. “Gideon and the team will be continuing this case without you. He must pretend as though nothing is going on here.”
“You little- what did you tell him?” Hotch snapped, still struggling against the handcuffs.
“I told him that you had a nice chat with him, and the fact that he can’t come back home to Quantico just yet. I’ve decided to arrange a trade. His life for yours.”
“No! Leave him out of this! Do whatever you want to me, but leave Gideon alone.”
“I’m sorry, but are you the one giving the orders around here? I think not. If I say that Gideon will be involved in this situation, then he will.”
The man slapped Hotch in the face. “You don’t feel my pain. And it’s all the pain that YOU caused me. You don’t give a crap about my pain. But I will make you pay. And you will lose someone important to you.”
“Gideon will track you down. And he will kill you,” Hotch glared at the unsub.
“Like I care? No, I don’t. I really don’t care. But since Gideon can’t come and rescue you, you and your wife will be my prisoners. Haley here will be my slave.”
“Do what you want to me, but leave my wife alone. She had nothing to do with this.”
“I’m in charge here!” the unsub snapped, slapping the Unit Chief in the face. “I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. And right now, Haley will do what I tell her to do.”
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Gideon and the team arrived in North Carolina, where Becky Harris had died. He was the last person to step off the plane. Elle, JJ, Morgan, and Reid were already headed towards the airport to grab their luggage.
Gideon didn’t get very far before he heard a familiar voice talk to him from somewhere off in the distance. It was Timothy “Tim” Vogel, AKA The Seattle Strangler.
“It’s been so long,” Tim said, pulling out something from his back pocket.
“What do you want?” Gideon snapped. Somehow, Tim managed to escape from prison and was now out in the world, going after more people.
“Revenge. You put me in prison, so now you’re going to pay for all your mistakes. I do only hope that you will cooperate.”
Jason felt something prick his neck. Whatever Tim had given him was fast acting, because the profiler was already going numb. His vision was fading and the darkness closed around him.
Just before he went unconscious, he heard the vicious voice of his captor speaking into the phone. The unsub was talking to Morgan.
“You will never get him back.”
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Morgan and Elle had just stepped into Becky’s house when he suddenly heard his phone buzz. Thinking that his BabyGirl had just called, he opened his voicemail. But he was even more astounded when he saw that Gideon was the person who had called.
He pressed ‘play’ and heard an unfamiliar voice speaking.
“You’re too late, Agent Morgan. You’re already too late to save him. You will never get him back,” the taunting voice said. The voicemail ended and Morgan almost dropped his phone on the floor, near a large pool of blood.
“Elle, we’ve got a problem, but I don’t know what happened. Someone just called me and said ‘You will never get him back,’” Morgan said.
“Wait, before you continue, where’s Gideon?” Elle asked.
“He’s not with you?”
“No, last time I saw him was back at the plane. That was 45 minutes ago.”
“JJ! Reid!”
The other two profilers entered the room.
“Have you seen Gideon?” Morgan asked.
JJ and Reid looked at each other and shook their heads.
Morgan suddenly paled. He realized that the person who had called him on the phone was talking about Gideon.
Elle heard her phone ring. “Hello?” “WHAT? He’s back?! Garcia, are you sure? Ok, thanks. Call you when we arrive.”
“What happened?” JJ asked.
“Hotch just arrived back at work. He’s fine. Someone held him and Haley captive in their home, but released them after learning that Gideon had been abducted.”
“Gideon’s been abducted?!” Reid said, completely astounded.
“The person who took him called me!” Morgan cried. “That creep called me using Gideon’s phone!”
“Morgan, calm down, we will find him,” JJ said.
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Gideon awoke to a stinging pain in his neck. He was sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. The Seattle Strangler entered the room, carrying a burner phone.
“Mr. Hotchner is going to be so disappointed once he learns who has you,” Tim said, dialing Hotch. “I only hope that he will have enough money to pay for your ransom. But unfortunately, whatever amount of money he gives me will never be enough. You will never leave here.”
“This is Agent Hotchner,” the Unit Chief said.
“Mr. Hotchner, what a pleasure it is to speak to you again,” Tim replied. “I believe that I have something of yours.”
“What have you done to him?” Hotch demanded.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“What did he ever do to you?”
“He put me in jail. He must pay for what he did to me. He will suffer. You will never see your beloved co-worker again.”
“If you’re not going to comply with me, then we’ll have to do this the hard way,” Tim said, after ending the call. He walked towards his helpless hostage. “You will become my accomplice and you will do everything I tell you to do.”
Grabbing Gideon’s wrist, the Seattle Strangler cut the zip-ties and led his hostage into another room. It was isolated from the rest of the house, and the room had no windows.
The Strangler led Jason over to a strange device attached to wooden posts in the middle of the room. Forcing him to stand against the wood, the perpetrator made sure Jason wouldn’t escape. His wrists were locked on either side of him with metal cuffs. A helmet was placed on his head, and was locked just under his chin. Jason noticed that the skin under his eyes had been pulled down, and were being held inside several small clips attached to the helmet.
He was somewhat in pain, and then was greeted by the sight of something spinning. His eyes were focused on the spinning spiral on the screen in front of him.
“This won’t hurt at all,” Tim said, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Jason couldn’t do anything to get himself free, and was stuck staring at the spiral for an hour until Tim returned. The Strangler stood in front of the screen, temporarily blocking the thing that seemed to be blinding Gideon.
“You ready to comply?” Tim sneered.
“Screw you,” Jason snapped.
“Fine then, you asked for it. I’ll be back in an hour.”
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An hour later, Gideon’s eyes were hurting from not being able to blink for two hours. Tim entered the room and shut off the screen. When he looked at his hostage, he saw a different look in his eyes and smiled sadistically.
Tim unlocked the metal cuffs and whispered something in his hostage’s ear. Jason headed off into another room of the house, while Tim hurried down the hall to his office.
Five minutes later, Jason entered the office, a grin on his face and a file in his hand.
“I got the file just like you asked me to,” Gideon said, handing the file to his new boss.
“Thank you very much,” Tim replied, taking the papers. The BAU logo was clearly stamped on the front of the folder.
“Happy to comply,” Gideon said, smiling sadistically. He knew that he wasn’t going to be leaving Tim anytime soon and heading back to the BAU to help his team. Actually, he didn’t have a team anymore. The faces and names of people he cared about were gone. He didn’t know who Morgan, JJ, Reid, Elle, Garcia, or Hotch were anymore. All he knew was that they were part of a team from the FBI known as the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, and that hunted down criminals using profiles.
“The BAU is a bad place. The people working there want to kill you. And they will,” Tim said.
Gideon listened to his new boss give him orders.
“I will do that right away, sir,” Jason said.
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Clara Hayes sat outside her college’s front office, when she was approached by Gideon. She started to back away, but when she saw that he was FBI, she took a few steps forward.
“I’m Agent Gideon, could I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.
Clara nodded her head. “Sure,” she replied.
Once she was away from the campus, Gideon started talking to her. He agreed to help her commit a small series of crimes that wouldn’t result in anyone’s death.
It was 3:33 PM in the afternoon, and Gideon handed Clara a match, making sure that the camera wouldn’t pick up on either one of them. She struck the match on a match box, and set some grass and a bush on fire. Then, Clara and Gideon made a run for it, running towards Tim’s house.
He knocked on the door, and his boss opened the door.
“Jason, what are you doing here?”
“I completed my assignment, and now I’ll be on the run from the place you call the BAU,” Jason replied.
“Excellent. Tomorrow, at the exact same time, you will set another fire.”
“Yes, Sir,” Gideon replied.
Tim stepped inside and let Jason and Clara enter. She was given the guest room, and just as she set her binder and notebooks down, she noticed that her mother had texted.
Mom: Where r u?
Clara: At a friend’s. It’s Friday, so I’m spending the night.
Mom: A girl or boy?
Clara: Girl.
Mom: Ok, see you Saturday.
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Hotch was sitting in his office, trying to figure out if Gideon had a message anywhere in the phone call. He heard a knock, and said, “Come in.”
Elle entered with a grim look on her face. “Hotch, I’ve got bad news. One, the DNA results that we found in Becky’s house came back. It’s the Seattle Strangler, boss. One of Gideon’s old cases. And two, your official BAU file appears to be missing, or stolen. The lock containing all our files was unlocked, but I found several scratches on the drawer. I think the file was stolen.”
“How could anyone just break into the drawer and steal our files? The only people who have access to that drawer is my team.”
“We will have to look at the security camera feeds and take a closer look.”
Hotch and Elle headed into Section Chief Strauss’s office, and saw that she wasn’t in the room.
“Hotch, are you sure you want to use her computer?” Elle asked. “We could get in huge trouble.”
“I’ll be fine, because she let me use it in the past if mine wasn’t working. And she’s the only one who has access to the security camera feeds. She only told me the password, and no one else can know what it is.”
Hotch sat in her desk chair and turned on his boss’s computer. He entered a password, only to realize that Strauss had changed the passcode.
The Section Chief entered the room a minute later, a new engagement ring on her finger.
“Agent Hotchner, what are you doing at my computer?” she asked.
“My file’s been stolen,” Hotch said. “My file. The official file that everyone has while working here. And the only people who have access to the drawer where my file is are my team and I know them well enough that they would never do something like that.”
“Your file? Isn’t it locked?”
“Someone had a key and opened the drawer. There were scratches. Someone broke in and stole it. I had hoped that I could see the security camera feeds to see if I could find anything, but the password has changed. Did you change it?”
“No, I haven’t changed it in two years.”
“Who’s the lucky man?” Elle asked, while Strauss walked over to the computer and tried to input the password, but got the same result as Hotch.
“Dave Rossi,” Strauss said. “He proposed at lunch today. I don’t know when we’re getting married yet.”
She groaned in frustration. “Darn it, why doesn’t this passcode work?!”
Suddenly, her computer beeped. The screen went dark and a message appeared a few seconds later.
MISSING SOMEONE?
The message disappeared and focused on an unknown room. A figure was handcuffed to wooden posts. The person wore a helmet, and was seemingly forced to watch something on another screen.
Elle ran into the bullpen and called Morgan, JJ, Reid, and Garcia into Strauss’s office.
When Reid saw the screen, he gasped in horror.
“That’s Gideon…” the genius began, but couldn’t finish his sentence.
“What’s happening to him?” JJ exclaimed, watching her co-worker being unable to blink.
“He’s been forced to stare at something, but I don’t know what,” Hotch said.
The screen went dark and another message appeared.
TWO HOURS LATER…
The message disappeared and was now focused on Gideon again. The metal cuffs had been unlocked, and he looked like he was having trouble focusing. Another man came into the room, and Morgan gasped.
“Oh no, that’s the Seattle Strangler,” he said. “The man who killed Becky Harris.”
The Strangler whispered something to Gideon, and the profiler disappeared into another room. Five minutes later, the camera shifted to an office in another part of the unknown building.
“Oh no…” Hotch said, seeing a part of a tan folder. Gideon pulled the folder out and handed it to the man sitting behind the desk. The BAU’s stamped logo came into view, and then came Hotch’s full name.
“No, it can’t be!” he said. Gideon was just smiling.
“I got the folder just like you asked,” the profiler said to the Strangler.
“Thank you very much,” the killer replied.
“Happy to comply.”
Hotch realized that Gideon was working for The Seattle Strangler. How could his best friend, who he had known for over 15 years, betray the BAU like this?
“Gideon…he just stole my file. He just gave it to the Seattle Strangler. I don’t how I’ll ever forgive him for this.”
Strauss’s computer then showed the security camera feeds from two days earlier. It showed Gideon, looking straight into the camera, and then unlocked the drawer using his key. Jason reached into the drawer and took Hotch’s file out, locking the door behind him and heading out the door.
Morgan and JJ had astonished looks on their faces. They couldn’t believe that someone they knew and trusted had betrayed them. Elle was speechless and excused herself to head out to the bullpen. Hotch’s hands became fists, and he slammed his fists against the wall. Strauss grabbed her phone and dialed her fiance to tell him the news.
But the news hit Reid the hardest. Gideon had been like a father to Reid, since the genius never had one. And now Reid had been betrayed the most.
The BAU had walked straight into the arms of the enemy. And they would never be the same again.
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Reid stormed out of Strauss’s office, furious at Gideon. The genius had trusted him more than his own life, and now the trust had dissolved like salt sinking to the bottom of a glass of water. And there was no one to take a spoon and stir the salt into the water. The salt just stayed at the bottom.
JJ ran after him, pulling him into a hug.
“How, JJ? He betrayed me! I trusted him!” Reid said.
“He betrayed us all, Spence. It’s going to be hard for all of us. Do you remember when Will left me for Haley?” JJ replied.
“Haley...as you mean, Hotch’s wife?”
“Yes. Hotch knows nothing. Haley is pregnant with Will’s child. She already has divorce papers drawn up and waiting for Hotch’s signature.”
JJ had developed a crush on Reid a couple of weeks after Will left her. She needed to let her co-worker know how she felt about him.
“Spence, I need to tell you something,” she said. “Don’t hate me for this.”
“What?” he asked, but couldn’t ask any more because JJ was kissing him. The Jennifer Jareau. Quantico’s top media liaison for 6 years.
“JJ…” he began.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have-”
He interrupted her by kissing her back.
“JJ, I love you,” he said. “I always have.”
“Me too.”
They attempted to kiss again, but immediately scurried off once they heard Hotch walk out of Strauss’s office. JJ stood in front of the copy machine, pretending to copy papers about Gideon’s abduction. Reid was standing in front of the whiteboard, trying to figure out Tim’s location.
“Agent Jareau, Doctor Reid, my office now,” Hotch said.
CHAPTER FIVE:
Reid and JJ entered Hotch’s office, receiving strange looks from their boss. They knew that they would be in big trouble for PDA in the workplace.
“So, how long has a romantic relationship in the workplace been going on between you two?” Hotch asked once his two teammates had taken a seat in front of his desk.
“It actually just happened before you told us to come in here, Hotch,” JJ said. “It just happened.”
“Since it hasn’t been very long, you won’t be getting reprimanded. But this is a warning. You may continue your relationship, but in the workplace, you must remain professional. Whatever happens outside of work is your business. Understood?”
“Yes, Hotch,” Reid and JJ said.
“Ok, then get back to work.”
The two agents left the office and headed back out to the bullpen where a smiling Garcia was demanding that Morgan give her 20 dollars for losing the bet on whether or not Reid and JJ were a couple.
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Clara stood outside her college, waiting the final bell to ring. She had agreed to commit another crime at 3:33 PM that day, which was starting another fire. She had already set four fires, and so far, no one had gotten hurt. But she enjoyed burning things, so she decided to continue doing what she had started. And with a brainwashed FBI agent on her side, he could easily hide evidence from the members of his former team.
At 3:33 PM, Clara walked into the history classroom and found it completely empty. The only person inside was a student named Matthew Rowland. When he saw Clara, he said hi, but only received silence in response.
When he wasn’t looking, she quietly pulled out a match and a matchbox. She set the match on fire...and dropped it right over a pile of ungraded papers. The fire quickly spread, setting off the smoke alarm. Clara locked the doors behind her as she ran out, trapping Matthew in the classroom with no way out.
“Clara, what is are you doing?” he shouted. But she never looked behind her as she exited the campus, running towards Gideon, who had a car waiting for her.
In the classroom, Matthew was trying to open the windows, but the smoke level was so thick that he began having trouble breathing. His eyes burned, and his vision was spinning. His life was flashing before his eyes, and he knew that he was going to die.
He saw the flames coming straight towards him and then nothing else.
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Hotch was sitting in his office when his desk phone rang. He answered the call.
“This is Agent Hotchner,” he said.
“It’s Strauss. We have a new case,” the Section Chief replied. “Conference room, five minutes.”
Hotch headed out into the bullpen and found Reid and JJ standing close to each other while reading the whiteboard. Garcia was sitting at Morgan’s desk, trying to destroy a virus that had infected his computer. And standing by Reid and JJ was David Rossi, a man who had retired from the BAU many years ago. Elle was nowhere to be seen.
“Dave?” Hotch said.
The former profiler turned around, and a smile appeared on his face.
“Hotch, so good to see you!” he said, giving the Unit Chief a hug. “How have you been?”
“Pretty good,” Hotch replied. “What brings you back to the BAU?”
“I heard about Gideon, and Erin asked me to come back and take his place. I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. I just can’t believe that someone I knew and trusted for 15 years went out and betrayed me. He betrayed my entire team. Reid and Elle have been hit the hardest. Gideon was like a father to Reid. And Gideon was Elle’s boyfriend. He supposedly cheated on her with a woman named Sarah, but that was false.”
Strauss walked out of her office and called everyone to the conference room, where Garcia was already pulling up pictures of the latest crime.
“Matthew Rowland, 19, was found burnt to death by his teacher, professor Wallace. Wallace was at lunch at the time of the crime, and when he came back, he found his room burnt along with the body,” Garcia said.
“Did Wallace have any idea what might have started the fire?” Reid asked.
“Possibly, because he remembered having a pile of ungraded papers on one of the desks and they were partially burned, but not entirely ash. He thinks that the papers were where the fire began.”
“Wheels up in 15,” Hotch said.
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Gideon sat in the pilot’s seat of the BAU’s private jet alongside his new boss. The actual pilot and co-pilot were both dead, and had been stuffed in the cargo hold, where no one would even think about looking for a body.
“Sir, the BAU is heading to Nevada to check out the scene of Clara’s latest crime. What shall we do?” Gideon asked.
“We’re going to lead them off course, and land in Arizona. There, we’ll leave them exposed to the elements and have them die,” the boss replied. “You understand what to do?”
“Yes, sir, I’m always happy to comply.”
“Good, now prepare the plane for takeoff.”
Gideon made sure the plane was ready to go, and heard the members of his former team boarding the jet and settling down in their seats.
“We shall be landing in Vegas in about five hours, so sit back and enjoy the flight,” Gideon said, using a voice changer to sound like the original pilots.
Four hours later, Hotch awoke to some turbulence and noticed that Morgan was wide awake. He was heading up towards the cockpit door.
“Morgan, what are you doing?” the Unit Chief asked.
“Something’s wrong. The plane’s descending and it’s only been about four hours since we took off,” Morgan replied.
Hotch headed up to the door and knocked.
“Sir, why is the plane descending when we’re not even near Nevada yet?” he asked.
“Sit down, Agent Hotchner, otherwise you and your team are going to pay for it,” the voice said.
He paled. He realized that Gideon was the one flying the plane and had hijacked the controls.
“You...how could you? How could you betray us?”
Gideon opened the door, a cold expression on his face and a gun in his hand, which he pointed at Hotch.
“I won’t ask you again, Agent Hotchner. SIT DOWN or one of your team members gets it.”
Elle heard the commotion and was astounded to find her boyfriend pointing his gun at her boss.
“Gideon...please, you don’t have to do this,” she said. “I love you, but it doesn’t have to end this way.”
“Who do you think you are? I’m not going out with you. I don’t even know who you are. You have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m in charge here, and you will obey what I say.”
“What...what’s going on with you? Gideon, it’s me. Elle. We work together. We’ve been going out for a year and we’re going to be married in a month,” she said, showing him the engagement ring.
“I don’t know anyone by the name of Elle, nor do I care. I’m the one flying this plane. SIT DOWN!”
Elle was taken aback. She couldn’t believe that her fiance would do something like this, turning on everyone he cared about. She quickly walked back to her seat and let the tears fall.
“What happened?” JJ asked, grabbing Reid’s hand.
“Gideon’s hijacked the plane and is landing it nowhere near Vegas. He’s got a gun pointed at Hotch. Gideon doesn’t know who I am. He doesn’t know who any of us are,” Elle said.
“That’s...that’s not possible. Gideon’s worked with Hotch for 15 years. How could he not know who his own boss is?”
“The only option is that he’s been drugged or brainwashed. Someone did this to him, and I intend to put a stop to it right now. He is my fiance, and I need to help him.”
“He’s got a gun pointed at our boss, Elle, and he’s going to hurt you if we don’t do what he tells us to do.”
The brown-haired agent reluctantly sat back down in her seat. Hotch came back as well, but his wrists had been handcuffed in front of him.
“He took my guns. Both of them,” the Unit Chief said. “He handcuffed me and told me that we would be landing in about 15 minutes. From the sky view, it looks like we’re somewhere over Arizona. He also said that he would confiscating all our electronics and weapons. All our IPads, laptops, cell phones, and pagers are either going to be turned off or the GPS will be removed. I’m hoping that Strauss will notice that something is wrong because we are below the radar.”
“AGENTS,” Gideon said over the intercom. “Please prepare for landing. Once we do in about 15 minutes, you will hand over all your weapons and electronics over to us. Then you will be told what to do next.”
CHAPTER SIX:
Erin stared at her computer screen. She hadn’t heard anything from her fiance since he had bored the plane to Vegas. It had been seven hours since her team had left Quantico and they were supposed to have landed two hours ago. Air Traffic Control hadn’t contacted her and she was becoming sick to her stomach with worry.
Suddenly, the phone rang, and Erin didn’t even bother to look at the Caller ID.
“Hello?” she said.
“Yes, is this Section Chief Strauss?” a voice replied.
“Yes, this is she. Who is this?”
“This is Craig Landon from Air Traffic Control. We saw that a plane of yours was supposed to have landed in Vegas two hours ago. But it never arrived. We’re looking through the radar to see if we can find it, but it looks like the signal disappeared just over the New Mexico/Arizona border,” the man said.
“But...that’s nowhere near Vegas. Why was the plane over in that area?”
“We’re still trying to rule out the possibility of a crash, but we think that the plane was hijacked and lead off course.”
“Please find them,” Erin said. “My fiance was on that flight.”
“Ma’am, we will do our best and will call you when we hear any new details.”
She put a hand over her mouth and silently prayed that Rossi and the team were alright.
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Hotch saw that the plane had landed, and that the rest of his team was looking at him with concern. They had no idea how they were going to get out of the situation. They had never experienced a hijacking before.
“We have now landed in Death Valley, California. You will be escorted off this plane immediately, and you will leave everything behind. All your electronics, food and water will be stored here,” the Seattle Strangler’s voice said over the intercom. “Be prepared for high temperatures. Even worse for you guys is that it’s July. The hottest month of the year in this city.”
The door opened and Hotch immediately felt the desert heat on his forehead. He had never been to Death Valley, but he had read all about the high temperatures. It had once been 134 degrees in 1913, but the temperature was in the high 110s during the summer. A list of dangers began running through his head, dehydration being the first. Then fatigue would set in.
“Off the plane,” Gideon ordered harshly.
JJ and Elle were the first people off, and the hot sun began to beat down on them. They were lucky that they had drank some water while on the plane otherwise they would be even thirstier than normal.
Morgan and Reid stepped off next, with Rossi and Hotch getting off last. The Unit Chief tried to grab the smallest bottle of water available, but Jason just took it away from him.
The door shut behind them, and the six agents began walking from their only source of survival. After walking for about 10 minutes, they turned around and saw that the plane had taken off and was heading east, away from the group.
The profilers looked around at their new surroundings, but all they could see was cacti, dead plants, and...sand. Lots of sand.
Hotch and Rossi took off their jackets and dropped them on the ground, hoping that someone would find them and call for help. JJ and Reid ended up holding hands and trying to find large rocks to form a trail. They had no idea where they were going, and were scared that they would die a painful death.
After three hours, the sun began to set and the profilers were feeling the first effects of mild dehydration and fatigue. Reid leaned against a boulder and allowed JJ to use him as a pillow.
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Hotch said that he was going to walk some more and see if he could find some help. He remembered to leave rocks on the ground as a trail for his team to find if he got stranded.
But leaving his team in a place that he had never been to would be the worst decision he would ever make.
He had walked a mile away from his team and thought he spotted a building off in the distance when all of a sudden, his foot slipped out from underneath him. He had unknowingly stepped on a piece of dirt that wasn’t secure. He fell to the ground, falling onto his behind and slipping off the side of the trail. The ground was covered in pebbles and little stones that did nothing to prevent him from falling any more. He slid about 30 feet down the side of the trail, and thought that a small ledge would prevent him from going even further away from his team. Unfortunately, the ledge was not wide enough for him to stop himself.
He quickly fell off the side of the canyon and began falling towards the ground. And it was not going to be an easy landing.
Hotch began to see his life flash before his eyes. He thought about his son, leaving him without a dad. And he and his son shared a special bond.
Suddenly, a POP! was heard and then Hotch saw nothing but black.
But, a few seconds later, he opened his eyes and saw that he was at the bottom of a canyon. An excruciating pain flowed throughout his entire body.
I’m not dead, he thought. I thought I had died.
He tried to push himself back up, but he discovered that he couldn’t. He could still feel his legs, relieved to know that he wasn’t paralyzed. But he didn’t realize the deadly consequences that he would be facing.
Unbeknownst to Hotch, the 50-foot-fall (30 feet off the side of the trail, and 20 feet off the side of the narrow ledge) had caused his pelvic bone to shatter into pieces. Because of his broken pelvis, he wasn’t able to pull himself up to walk or run. Instead, he would now be forced to crawl back to where his team was or wait for his team to rescue him.
Hotch tried to flip himself over onto his stomach to begin crawling, but the only thing he heard was the sound of his own scream.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
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Hotch clenched his hands into fists and desperately tried to crawl back to the bottom of the canyon, where a natural ‘staircase’ made of rocks had formed. He figured that he could try to use the upper half of his body to push himself back up and hopefully make it back to where his team was. But the pain of being broken perfectly in half made it nearly impossible for him for him to even begin to move. He used every bit of energy he had left to begin to push himself towards the ‘staircase.’
It took him two hours to reach the bottom of the rocks, but if he wasn’t broken, it would have taken him a couple of minutes to walk. He tried lifting his arms to push himself up the rocks, but his body was too weak to go any further. Night was coming quickly and Hotch knew that temperatures could drop below freezing. If he fell asleep, he would suffer hypothermia. He began to wonder if his team was worried about him because he had been gone for about three hours.
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Reid awoke a couple of hours later to discover that the sky was pitch black and that JJ was fast asleep against his shoulder. Rossi and Elle were the only others awake.
“What time is it?” Reid asked.
The older profiler looked at his watch. “It’s 11 at night. Why?”
“Because Hotch hasn’t returned. He left about five hours ago to go find help, and he’s nowhere to be seen. Do you think something’s happened to him?”
“Hotch is strong, and a fighter. I’m pretty sure he just got a little lost, but he told me that he was going to leave a trail of rocks behind so that if he did get lost, we would be able to see where he went,” Rossi replied. “It’s dark, and I don’t want to get lost at this time of the night. We will go looking for him in the morning.”
Reid nodded in agreement, then fell back to sleep, his arms protectively wrapped around JJ.
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Hotch looked around him and saw that no one was coming to rescue him. He had started screaming ‘HELP’ over and over again, but to no avail. Given up on any hope of rescue, he decided to try and get some sleep. He knew that it was in the high 80s, so he wouldn’t freeze to death.
The next morning, around seven, the Unit Chief awoke to a blinding pain in his midsection. He noticed that a slight bump had formed around his injury. He still didn’t have any idea that his pelvis was broken. But he felt the bump and noticed that it was squishy like a balloon. He thought the squishiness was inflammation, but unbeknownst to him, the injury was far worse than he expected.
Because of his broken pelvis, the pieces of bone had severed several major blood vessels in his abdomen. He had been bleeding internally for over 12 hours, and if he did not receive emergency surgery to repair the severed vessels, he would likely exsanguinate to death within the next 24 to 36 hours.
“HELP, PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!” Hotch screamed as loud as he could. He heard Rossi’s voice off in the distance, calling his name.
“DAVE, HELP, I CAN’T MOVE!” the Unit Chief begged.
“Hotch, where are you?”
“Down here, at the bottom of the canyon!”
Rossi, Reid and Morgan quickly ran down the ‘staircase’ and found Hotch, completely in pain. They noticed they he could barely push himself up without screaming.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Rossi said.
“Can’t...walk or get up,” Hotch replied.
Morgan gasped, thinking that his boss was paralyzed from the waist down. He and Rossi supported Hotch and tried to get him to stand up, but it was no use. Their boss couldn’t use the lower half of his body, even though he told them that he could feel his legs.
Rossi pulled out his watch, which turned out to be the Samsung Watch. This technology allowed you to text and call whoever you wanted. It also had Samsung Voice, which was the Android version of Siri.
“Call Death Valley PD,” Rossi said into his watch. After two rings, someone picked up on the other end.
“Death Valley PD, Chief Nelson speaking,” a female voice said.
“Yes, my name is Dave Rossi, I’m with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and my co-workers and I are stranded somewhere in the Mojave Desert. We have never been here, so we have no idea where exactly in the Desert we are. Our boss is critically injured and cannot stand up or walk.”
“Ok, we’ll be sending two choppers over there now,” the Chief said.
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Gideon and the Strangler had landed the plane back in Quantico and had snuck back into the BAU. Erin didn’t even have time to react seeing her former subordinate enter the building and head towards into her office because Tim shoved a cloth soaked in chloroform over her mouth and nose, forcing her to breathe in the deadly chemical. After a few seconds, she went unconscious and collapsed in Tim’s arms.
“Get her out of here before someone sees us,” the Strangler ordered. Gideon and his boss carried the unconscious Strauss out to a dark car in the parking lot. They tied her wrists behind her with zip-ties and made sure that the car had enough gas. Locking the trunk, Tim took her car keys and put it into the ignition. The car was out of the parking lot within two minutes, and was on its way to Tim’s house, where his prized possession would be used once again on another unfortunate victim.
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An hour later, Erin awoke in a brightly lit room, her hands trapped in metal cuffs attached to wooden planks. She was strapped against a wall, which was completely bullet and soundproof. A metal helmet had been fastened on her head, her eyes being forced to focus on the sight in front of her. The engagement ring had been taken off and sealed inside an evidence bag, the kind of bag that CSIs would use to collect evidence at a crime scene.
To her horror, Jason Gideon, BAU profiler turned deadly unsub, stood in front of her, holding the evidence bag containing her seven-thousand dollar ruby-sapphire-diamond engagement ring. A note had been taped onto the bag saying, ‘We have your fiancee. And you will never see her again.’
“Gideon...how could you do this to your friends? To me? To the BAU?” Erin asked, trying to reason with her former subordinate.
“The BAU is nothing compared to the life that Tim has given me. You wanted nothing to do with me and instead you hired me to work for a place that I learned is trying to kill me. So now, your team is going to die. Every single one of them. Starting with your fiance, then everybody’s favorite boss, Aaron Hotchner,” Jason said.
“No! Please don’t hurt them. They are all I have left. Especially Dave.”
“Well, it might be a little late for that, ERIN,” Jason said in a voice she had never heard before. “Your team is gone. They’re gone. They’re in the middle of the desert. Their plane crashed over New Mexico/Arizona. That’s why the signal disappeared. The last thing I heard was that Rossi fell 50 feet off the side of a canyon and broke many bones. He’s been bleeding internally for almost 16 hours. No one’s even looking for them. No one.”
“NO! NO, NOT DAVE!”
“Too late,” Jason grinned sadistically, then turned on the screen. The spinning spiral appeared and Erin was forced to stare at it.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said, walking out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
~CriminalMinds~
An hour and a half later, Jason and the Strangler returned to the room to see how Erin was doing. Her engagement ring had been sent to the hospital where Rossi would be taken to. The note had been folded so that the threatening message couldn’t be seen.
Jason walked over to Erin, and called his boss over to look at her.
“She’s good to go,” the Strangler said. “Let’s first ask her a few questions to see how she is really doing.”
Tim turned the screen off and stood in front of Erin.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Erin Strauss,” she replied.
“Who do you work for?”
“You, and I know that Jason is your accomplice,” she said.
“What is the BAU?”
“A place that wants to kill me.”
“Who is Dave Rossi?”
“My ex-fiance.”
“Are you ready to complete your first assignment?”
“Yes, Sir. Happy to comply.”
CHAPTER EIGHT:
The team was panicking. Hotch had been in surgery for almost six hours and so far, there had been no news. Until the lead surgeon came out to the group with a grim look on his face.
“Family of Aaron Hotchner?” he asked.
“We’re his co-workers, but since his family is unavailable, then all emergencies are notified to me,” Rossi said.
“I’m sorry, but Agent Hotchner did not survive the surgery. He never made it off the table.”
Every member of his team had horrified looks on their faces. They broke down crying after learning the fate of their leader.
“Agent Rossi, may I speak to you alone, please?” the surgeon asked.
Rossi followed him into another room, shutting the door behind him.
“I have some good news. Agent Hotchner actually did survive the surgery, and is now resting in the ICU. But the bad news is that he may never walk again. The blood vessels have been repaired, but the chance of him walking or getting back out into the field is at five percent. He requested that if he did die and we were able to save him that you would be the only one to know this information. After he is released, he will be sent to a physical therapist to hopefully regain full movement.”
“Thank goodness he’s alive.”
“Also, this was delivered here about 20 minutes ago. There’s a note taped to the bag, but you’re the only one that can open it.”
Rossi took the bag and gasped in horror when he saw that Erin’s engagement ring was inside. The note had two typed sentences: We have your fiancee. And you’re never going to see her again.
The profiler walked back out into the waiting room, telling the team that Hotch was going to be buried tomorrow.
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Hotch’s entire team and family gathered at the cemetery to remember the loss of someone special. A black coffin was on the ground, in front of a headstone that said: Aaron Hotchner, 1965-2014, loving husband and father.
The team each placed a white rose on his coffin, then spoke about how important Hotch was him.
However, at the very end of the cemetery, Erin Strauss stood out of sight, preparing to attack her target. The Strangler had done an excellent job of brainwashing her into working for him, and now she was prepared to do whatever he told her to do. There was no way that she would be returning to the BAU anytime soon. Gideon had his memory completely changed, but the memories of his fiancee and team were somewhere else in his mind that he didn’t really use much. Erin didn’t remember anything about Rossi; all she knew was that instead of him being her fiance, he was her ex-fiance. And she was prepared to get her revenge.
You should have known better not to mess with me, honey. I’m gonna love you like a black widow, Erin thought. And female black widows kill their partners, just like I’m going to kill you. You left me for that Carolyn woman.
The former Section Chief pulled out a handgun and walked towards the group. But just before she reached the six members, she put the gun into her pocket and prepared to trick Rossi.
“Dave!” she exclaimed.
Rossi turned around at the sound of his fiancee’s voice. She looked fine, and didn’t appear to have been hurt.
“Erin! Are you alright? Did he hurt you at all?” the profiler asked.
“No, he did not hurt me. But I’m fine,” she replied.
As Rossi prepared to hug her, she reacted quickly and whipped out a gun, pointing it at him.
“Erin, what are you doing?” he asked.
“Shut up,” she snapped. “You don’t deserve to talk. Sir, I got him trapped. What shall I do with him?”
“Wait for me to arrive,” a voice said.
The former Section Chief kept her gun steady. Elle, JJ, Reid, Morgan, and Garcia turned around to see Rossi being held at gunpoint by his fiancee.
Two minutes later, Gideon and the Strangler arrived, carrying sniper rifles.
“Sorry, Dave, but I’m working with them now,” Erin said, smiling sadistically. “The life they’ve given me is so much better than the one that I ever had with you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Shut up. You treated me like nothing. I was just your little love interest until you ran off with Carolyn. That’s why I’m not your fiancee anymore.”
“Erin, what are you talking about? Carolyn’s been dead for seven years. I love you.”
“No you don’t. Is it because the BAU is trying to kill me? Why would I even want to work there?”
“Erin, you’ve been drugged. The BAU is trying to help you.”
“Like I would ever believe your lies.”
“I’m not lying.”
“I don’t believe anything you say. Everything you told me was a lie. A lie. We’re finished.”
Erin fired off a shot, but luckily, the bullet didn’t hit anyone.
She turned on her heel, then started walking away with her new boss and best friend by her side.
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Hotch awoke in a bright room. The pain in his abdomen had subsided, and he noticed that he was wearing a hospital gown.
“Agent Hotchner, good to see that you’re awake,” the doctor said. “You nearly died on the table, but we were able to bring you back. You broke your pelvis, causing you to be unable to stand or walk. We were able to repair the severed blood vessels and your broken pelvis. But the bad news is that you might never walk again.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. But you may never get back out into the field again. You are believed to be dead by everyone you know. Except for Rossi, who is the only one that knows that you’re alive. You will be sent to a rehab facility for several months. We are going to try and hope that going to rehab will help you regain movement and hope that you’re going to get back out into the field.”
CHAPTER NINE:
It had been exactly a month since the team had learned about the fate of their leader. Rossi was now the new Unit Chief, and Mr. Matteo Cruz was the new Section Chief since Erin had left for the dark side. Rossi was finding it hard to keep Hotch’s secret. The former Unit Chief was doing well at rehab, and he was a speedy healer, because his therapist had told him that he had regained full movement. He was able to walk, run, and shoot. He would be returning to the BAU that day.
Rossi called the team into the conference room and told them that he was stepping down as Unit Chief. Section Chief Cruz had gotten to meet Hotch already, and the profiler was more than willing to regain his position as Unit Chief. Rossi had told Cruz that when Hotch returned, he would step down and become a profiler again.
In the conference room, JJ and Garcia were crying heavily. The other team members were looking up towards the sky, knowing that their team leader was looking down on them.
“We have a new case,” Cruz said. “A serial bomber has resurfaced. The bomber who killed six FBI agents three years ago. We think that it’s a copycat, but we are not sure exactly. We are going to be bringing in someone who personally solved the original case.”
A knock was heard on the conference room door, and the team didn’t seem to hear the noise. But they jumped once they heard the person speak.
“I think that would be me,” Hotch said.
The team turned towards the door and could not believe what they were seeing. Hotch couldn’t believe alive; they had buried him.
“Hotch?” Morgan was the first person to speak. “Is that really you?”
“Yes it’s me,” the Unit Chief said.
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Erin stood in her boss’s house, watching the BAU’s security camera feeds. She saw Hotch walk into the conference room.
“Sir, he’s alive!” she cried. “Agent Hotchner is alive!”
“That’s not possible,” the Strangler said. “You even saw the team bury him.”
“Well, I’m looking at the screen, and he’s standing right in the room. He is alive.”
“I’m going to make sure that when I get my hands on him, he dies. The Unit Chief dies by my hands tonight,” Tim replied. “Want to help me?”
“Done,” Erin said sadistically.
In another room, Gideon was thinking of helping Clara get out of prison. But, he suddenly was overcome by a pain in his head. He began hearing strange voices, and saw the vision of a woman wearing an engagement ring. He heard a voice say, “Elle, will you marry me?”
Suddenly, more faces and voices were coming back to his mind. People he recognized, and people that he remembered working with.
His memory slammed back together, and Gideon realized that he had been kidnapped and brainwashed. He remembered seeing Erin having the same thing happen to him. He knew that he needed to grab the Section Chief and run before the Strangler noticed anything wrong.
Gideon was no longer a deadly unsub. He was a BAU profiler, and one of the people who began the Unit 20 years ago. Erin had become Section Chief a few years after.
He headed into Tim’s office, and found Hotch’s file sitting on the desk. He grabbed the file and hid it in his jacket pocket. He figured that Elle and the team would probably never forgive him for what he and Erin did. Gideon found Erin holding a black handgun and walking towards the office.
“Strauss, can I speak to you alone for a minute?” he asked. Erin nodded, but suddenly became aware of a pain in her head.
Once inside the office, with the door locked, Gideon told Erin what had happened to them. Her memory came back, and she realized that she had tried to kill her fiance. They needed to get out of their prison.
Erin dialed Rossi, and he picked up after the second ring.
“Hello Strauss,” he said without any introduction.
“Dave, it’s me and Gideon. We know who you are. We know that you are not trying to kill us. And we realize that the BAU is a good place. We were kidnapped, drugged, and brainwashed into working for him. Gideon has Hotch’s file, and we are going to figure out how to get out of this prison,” Erin replied. “Do you have my ring?”
“Of course.”
“We’re going to bring this unsub in ASAP. Expect a call from me once we arrest him.”
“Ok, I’ll tell the team.”
Gideon had a pair of handcuffs hidden in his jacket, and he signaled to Erin to go looking for their target.
Tim came around the corner, and before he could realize anything, Gideon had tackled him to the ground and had him arrested.
“Tim Vogel, you are under the arrest for the kidnap of two federal agents and attempted murder of another. Also, you will be arrested for hijacking a plane carrying federal agents and possible terrorist actions. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.”
Erin dialed Rossi and told him that Tim’s threat was over, and that she and Gideon were free from his control.
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Hotch had been happily reunited with his team, until he heard them gasp. Cruz had just entered the room, telling them that two federal agents had just arrested an unsub, and that they were about to enter the room.
Hotch and the team headed out to the bullpen, and saw the elevator doors open. Erin walked out first, evidence bag in her hand, and out next came Tim and Gideon. The team was astounded to find the betrayers had the unsub arrested and being lead down to the holding cells.
“What is Jason doing with the Seattle Strangler?” Reid asked.
“He and Erin both have their memories back. They realized that he had kidnapped and brainwashed them. Once they had regained the memories, they arrested Tim and brought him down here,” Rossi said, pulling out Erin’s engagement ring. She walked over to her fiance and allowed him to put the ring back on her finger where it belonged.
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In a dark room of a quiet house somewhere unknown, a man was watching his computer screen. He saw the BAU profilers sitting around a table, looking very happy. But unfortunately, he wasn’t. He had been discovered by the FBI, and was now going to have to stay hidden. And he hated having to stay hidden.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he threatened under his breath. “I will make you pay, Agent Rossi.”
The man headed into another part of the house, and began pulling out many different materials, including metal and C4.
CHAPTER TEN:
The man had all the materials gathered together in one pile on his wooden table. He made sure that the C4 would not be easily disabled. He attached wires everywhere on the bomb so that it confused whoever would try to disable it. He put the bomb in a box, set a timer and headed out to his car towards the BAU Headquarters.
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Rossi and the team were heading out the front door when they spotted the man in black wearing a strange device around him.
“It’s a bomb!” Rossi shouted. Other agents walking towards HQ began to panic and ran towards what they thought was the safest place to get away from the bomber.
“Stop! Don’t anyone move!” the man said.
“You...you’re the copycat bomber,” Hotch replied.
“You! Shut up! Get down on the ground and don’t say a word.” The bomber pulled out a gun and pointed it at Hotch, who signaled to his team to obey what the unsub said.
The team got down on their stomachs and put their hands on the ground, not daring to disobey what this crazy man had to say.
“Agent Rossi, it’s been so nice to see you again,” the bomber replied. “It’s time that you paid for what you did to me all those years ago.”
“SWAT and Bomb Squad are already on their way,” Rossi said. “You can probably make it out alive if you disarm the bomb.”
“No way. You deserve to pay. You caused my daughter to die. How would you feel if you lost someone important to you?”
“I have lost important people. I was devastated. I wanted their killers to die.”
“That’s exactly how I felt. I want you to die. You will die at my hands. You murderer!”
“It was not my fault. Your daughter was a convicted murderer. SWAT had to shoot her because she was going to kill several hostages.”
“If you had just told them to stay away and mind your own business, then nothing bad would have had to happen. You will pay for the mistake the cost my daughter her life. Something that I will never get back.”
He showed off the bomb just as SWAT arrived on scene. The bomb squad began trying to get closer to the bomber, but he threatened to shoot Elle. Gideon was trying to stay calm, but he knew that he would protect his fiancee at all costs. He would take a bullet for her, knowing that he wanted to see her on their wedding day in less than a month. She was the love of his life and he didn’t want to see her die.
Morgan was on the ground next to Reid and JJ, who were holding hands to comfort each other. Morgan wanted to go inside headquarters and make sure that no one got near his babygirl. He often flirted with Garcia during work. They were unknowingly developing feelings for each other.
“You have two minutes Agent Rossi to say goodbye, or I will kill your entire team. Agent Hotchner, you will be joining Rossi.”
“What did I do?” Hotch inquired.
“You’re his best friend, you deserve to be with him as he pays for what he did to me.”
“The bomb squad is already here; they can help you.”
“I don’t want help, I want death.”
The timer beeped again, and the copycat bomber died, failing to take Rossi and Hotch with him. Erin screamed and Rossi ran over to her, pulling her into his arms.
“It’s ok,” he said, stroking her hair. “He can’t hurt any of us anymore.”
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When Hotch arrived home from work, he found Haley sitting on the couch, cuddling Jack. Her protruding belly had gotten bigger since last week, since she was six months along. However, he noticed papers sitting on the table. After giving them a closer examination, he was shocked to discover that they were divorce papers. Haley’s signature was already on the page. The only thing needed for the divorce to happen was for Hotch to sign. But Haley was the love of his life, and he didn’t want to lose her.
“Haley, why are there divorce papers on the table? I thought we were good in our marriage. We were working it out and you said it was good. Why did you change your mind?” Hotch asked.
Haley told Jack to go to his room, and once he was in his room, she walked over to her husband.
“We’re finished. When I got the call saying that you were dead, I was going to get all the money. Custody of our son. But now, I have a new man in my life and a new little one to take care of.”
“You’ve been cheating on me? With who? And for how long?”
“How dare you accuse me of cheating! You’ve been with that JJ for a couple months now. Why should you care about who my new lover is?”
“I’m not with JJ. I never cheated on you. You cheated on me. Is the baby mine?”
“No, it’s his. I just played your little heart.”
Hotch picked up a pen and signed the papers. He couldn’t believe that his own wife would cheat on him. He was officially single again.
Haley headed to the bedroom and then came out a few minutes later with several suitcases.
“Once the divorce trial is over, my new lover and I are getting married,” she replied. She carried the luggage out of the house and out to her car. Without waving goodbye, she started her car and drove off towards her lover’s house.
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The next day at work, Hotch was late for the first time and had a scowl on his face. Divorcing his wife and learning that she had been having an affair for quite some time had started to take a toll on him.
Strauss entered the bullpen and told them to meet Garcia in the conference room about their latest case. The team entered the room and the technical analyst was already pulling up the pictures of the victims.
“These three women were all beaten and shot with a .22. They are all between the ages of 25-28, and have brown or red hair. The unsub seems to have a fantasy of these women being his deceased wife who passed away back in 2002 from liver failure. She had brown hair, but dyed it mahogany-red. This unsub is going to continue his fantasy until he finds the right woman.”
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The team walked out to the tarmac and settled themselves in the plane. Gideon would be watched closely in case he still had some of the brainwashing serum in him. They were heading to San Diego, California to investigate the unsub, who was revealed as The Tommy Killer. They noticed that Quantico’s skies were grayer than normal, but no storms had been forecasted. The plane took off and they began hearing the sound of rain hitting the wings. However, the ride was peaceful and not bumpy from turbulence.
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The Tommy Killer was sitting in a coffee shop, watching a red-haired woman walking with her husband and daughter. The woman was so happy; she was laughing and smiling. The Killer knew that she was the perfect woman for his little fantasy, and he would do whatever it took to get to her. Even if that meant killing her husband and sending her daughter away.
He looked at his buzzing phone and saw that a text from his partner had come through.
Partner: Got eyes on your prize yet?
Tommy: Yep. She’s walking towards the zoo with her husband and daughter.
Partner: The BAU is on their way to hunt you down. They are coming to San Diego later today.
Tommy: What? How did they discover me?
Partner: I don’t know, but they are going to find you if you don’t hide yourself.
Tommy: I’ll grab my prize, then escape to National City. It will prevent the Feds from following me.
Partner: Ok. Text me when you get there.
Tommy: Ok.
He paid for the coffee, then felt around in his pocket for the taser. He needed a quick way to knock his next victim out and grab her without anyone noticing.
Very quickly, he hid behind a trash can and noticed that the woman’s husband and daughter were heading towards the ticket window and she was heading back towards their car. The Killer quickly and quietly snuck up behind her and tasered her. She fell unconscious in his arms as he dragged her across the parking lot to his car. He zip-tied her wrists and covered her mouth with duct tape. Shutting and locking the trunk door, he headed up to the driver’s seat and started the car. It was out of the lot within two minutes.
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
The team was relaxing on the plane, when they suddenly heard the computer beep. Garcia was calling, but the team thought she had a development in the Tommy Killer case.
“Talk to us, Garcia,” Hotch said after answering the call.
“Boss-man, I’ve got bad news. A woman with red-hair was just abducted outside the San Diego Zoo. She was walking back to the car to grab some food while her husband and daughter headed to the ticket window, and The Tommy Killer took her,” Garcia said.
“Baby Girl, do you have a name for us?” Morgan asked.
“One second. Yes, we do. Marcia Gordon, 32. Her husband, Bill Gordon, works as a lawyer for the San Diego Attorney Offices. Please, please find her before we find another dead body.”
“Alright, will do.”
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Marcia slowly opened her eyes to a dark room. The room had no windows and the door was squeaky. Her abductor entered the room, a grin spread across his face.
“My dear Marcia, I’ve been waiting for you for so long. You look just like her,” he said.
“Who’s her? What do you want from me? Let me out!” Marcia begged. “I won’t say anything!”
“Why would I let you go? You’re mine now until you die. You look so much like my wife.”
“I’m not your wife! You idiot, let me go!”
“Don’t you dare ever speak that way to me ever again,” he said, slapping her across the face. “You will listen to me, and do as I say. Understand?”
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The team landed in San Diego a few hours later. They needed to talk to Bill about his wife and see if they could get any info about her or the person who took her.
Gideon hated being stared at by his own team. He was angry that they needed to keep an eye on him even though he was no longer brainwashed.
Elle was still a bit upset that her fiancé hijacked the Unit's private jet, but she was warming back up to him. Her three-karat diamond ring sparkled in the warm California sun. Even when Gideon had hijacked the plane and nearly killed Hotch, Elle still cared for him.
The team arrived at Bill's house and asked him some questions about Marcia. They then knew that they needed to deliver the profile of the Tommy Killer.
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The Killer was admiring Marcia. He would never let her go, not matter how much money her husband was willing to pay for her. Marcia would never leave his sight.
“You’re just like her,” he said, touching her hair. It even felt the same as his wife’s.
“You are a psycho,” she snapped.
“I’m just getting back what I’ve lost.”
"I am not your wife for the last time! Don't you get it you sicko? You are messed up in head who wants to get his wife back."
"Shut up!"
The phone rang, startling the Tommy Killer.
"Hello?" He said.
"Sir, the BAU is in town. They are interviewing her husband. You don't have a lot of time," the accomplice replied.
“Crap, why do they always have to show up at exactly the right time?” the Killer muttered. “But make sure your plan is ready. We need a couple of weeks to take down the BAU. Understood?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Good. Now get working on finding me and Marcia a place to hide.”
“I’m on it.”
The Tommy Killer grabbed Marcia’s arm.
“You will call your husband and tell him to get rid of the FBI. Otherwise, more people including you are going to die. Am I clear?” he said.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good.”
After untying her hands, he pointed a gun at her head and made her read off of a paper. He dialed Bill, with him answering the call after only the second ring.
“Who is this?” Bill demanded, seeing that the number was unknown.
“It’s Marcia, honey,” his wife answered. “I have a message for you.”
“What is it?”
“You are to get rid of the BAU and tell them that they are to stay off the case. Otherwise, they will be responsible for the deaths of many more innocent people.”
“I can’t just get rid of the FBI Marcia. They are the people that are trying to find you and rescue you from that psychopath.”
Rossi mouthed to Bill, “We got a location.”
“Bill, I don’t care that the BAU is after me, but you’re never going to find your wife,” The Tommy Killer taunted.
“Like I give a crap. Try me.”
The line went dead, and once the call ended, Bill and the BAU were in two vehicles heading to the location.
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Marcia had been tied up again, but smiled in relief once she heard the sirens. She knew that her husband was coming to rescue her.
But the Killer was furious. He realized that he had accidentally left the GPS on when he dialed the BAU. He knew he was going to jail. But he had one more important task to do: tell his partner the news.
The other person picked up the phone right away after his partner called him.
“What’s going on?” the mystery person asked.
“I’m such an idiot. I left the GPS on while I called the BAU and I’m now going to prison. You must stay hidden. You’re going to finish what we started: Bring down the BAU. Eliminate every one of them. But leave Aaron Hotchner alive. I just know that you need to tell him a few things,” the Killer said.
“It’s done. I will bring them down. I’ll make sure Aaron Hotchner looks me in the eyes and realizes that he stepped right into the arms of betrayal. He will die, looking at the friend who betrayed him for the dark side.”
Marcia felt relieved once her killer had been arrested. She would need some time to recover, but she would be just fine now that she was back with her husband.
The BAU was exhausted. Another case had been closed, and Hotch noticed how difficult it was for Gideon to work the case with everyone staring at him. Even though Gideon was free from the brainwashing machine, the team wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going to lash out at anyone else.
On the flight back to Quantico, Gideon pulled his fiancee aside.
“Elle, I love you, why should we wait on the wedding?” he asked.
“Because you hijacked a plane and nearly cost Hotch his life. We buried him, Jason! Hotch was dead. And then we find out nearly a month later that he’s alive!” Elle exclaimed. “I know you were brainwashed, but you almost killed a member of this team.”
“I thought you were warming back up to me, what’s the issue?”
“I need some more time. Hotch was and still is important to me, and when I learned that he was dead, I was broken. Of course I still love you, but I just need more time.”
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However, Elle didn’t need a lot of time to cope with her boss’s ‘death.’ She and Gideon decided to tie the knot today. It had been a week since the Tommy Killer had been arrested, and Marcia was visiting a psychiatrist in order to deal with her traumatic experience at the hands of a serial killer.
JJ and Reid were the first people at the church. It would be their two-month anniversary in a few days. Hotch arrived next with Rossi, Erin, and Cruz by his side. Morgan and Garcia were the last to arrive because her car had broken down.
After the team had taken their seats, Hotch’s brother Sean began the reception.
“Anyone who thinks that these two shouldn’t be married, speak now or forever hold your peace,” Sean said.
“I object!” came a response from the back of the church. Will LaMontagne had somehow snuck in, and he was trying to crash the wedding. An eight-month pregnant Haley had also entered the church, a large diamond engagement ring on her finger.
“Will! You are not going to crash my wedding!” Elle snapped. “We were done a long time ago. After you cheated on me, I knew I could never trust you again. I bet you never told JJ that we dated for a while, until I caught you secretly dating Haley.”
“What?” JJ screeched. “Elle, he was cheating on me on our wedding day?”
“Yes. Since we broke up a year ago.”
“I don’t believe you!” the blond yelled at her ex-husband. “You never loved me. Did you?”
“Of course I did, Jennifer. You were the love of my life,” Will lied.
“You’re lying. I’m a profiler. I can tell when someone doesn’t speak the truth.”
“JJ, I would never lie to you!”
“Both you and Haley get out of this church, or I will have you arrested for violating your restraining order. Don’t look so surprised, I have a friend at work who can find anything. I know about the restraining order Elle put on you after the breakup. You are not to get within 100 feet of her.”
Will knew that he would probably go to jail if JJ told the police. He and Haley immediately bolted for the exit, never looking behind them.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Sean said.
Gideon kissed Elle, and they enjoyed hearing the sound of their team members applauding for them. The newlyweds were going to his cabin in the woods and enjoy two weeks away from work.
“I’ll have Rossi take your position,” Hotch said to Gideon before he and Elle ran off to the awaiting limo. “And I’ll see if I can get Todd to take Elle’s place.”
“Thanks, Hotch,” Gideon replied, taking his wife’s hand. “We’ll see you in two weeks.”
“See you then.”
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A day after the Gideon-Greenaway wedding, the team was being called away on a case- a girl named Patricia Davenport had been abducted. She would only be alive for two more days, which was the exact time frame as the previous victims. But after a week, the unsub went silent and there was no trail for the team to track him/her down. Patricia still hadn’t been found, and the team was worried that her body was going to be delivered to them in pieces. Garcia had been watching the news and doing some research on the Internet, and discovered that a body had been found alongside a damaged car. Witness reports said that the body was male.
“Sir, a body’s been found. A man, but there’s no sign of Patricia,” she said as she walked into the conference room.
“Where is the body?” Reid asked.
“On the main road leading out of Quantico.”
“Wheels up in 10,” Hotch said, heading out of the conference room.
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He sat in his car outside the BAU. He used to be one of them, until Gideon fired him for tampering with evidence, which framed Hotch, almost costing him his career.
The man pulled out a set of binoculars and saw the team getting into one of the BAU’s vehicles. He smiled at the thought of having Hotch in his hands, completely defenseless and unable to cry for help. Gideon would pay for what he did. The man had almost all of his master plan formed. When his partner was taken to jail, Gideon was once again responsible. The man was hurting to his very core. He wanted revenge. Hotch seemed to be the most important person in Gideon’s life, more important than his wife. When the man would get his revenge, Hotch would suffer. Hotch would take the pain, even if he died. He was going to learn that a former friend and colleague of his had joined the dark side and was never coming back to the good side.
The man decided to go back to his house and form more of the plan. It was coming along nicely, and only needed a few more days. He contacted his partner and made sure that after Hotch was trapped, the plan was executed.
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It had been another week since the Davenport case was opened. The unsub had been silent, with no activity of kidnapping another girl. Patricia had a twin sister, Cheryl, who was still at home with her father. She noticed a package on her front porch, and immediately brought it inside.
“Daddy,” she said. “Patricia’s handwriting is on this package.”
“Where did you find it?”
“On the front porch.”
Mr. Davenport opened the package and found a ransom note, demanding that Cheryl would bring five-hundred thousand dollars to a parking lot at three AM that night.
He immediately called the BAU and told them about the note.
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He sat outside the Davenport house, watching Hotch go into the house. Gideon and Elle followed right behind him.
Just a little longer, the man thought. Just a little more time until you’re in my hands. Then, I can do whatever I want to you.
He couldn’t stay in this area for long. Hotch would recognize him right away and have him arrested for stalking a federal agent.
The man noticed that Elle was having a little trouble balancing as she walked into the house.
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Hotch and his team were exhausted. Cheryl and her father had delivered the ransom money and had been able to rescue Patricia. But not before her abductor was able to escape.
Elle was sitting in Mr. Davenport’s office, watching Cheryl. But the profiler was feeling really nauseous. She hadn’t been able to keep any of her breakfast down. It had been a month since her wedding and since the case was opened. A massive headache began to bother her.
“I’ll be right back, Cheryl,” Elle said. She immediately ran out of the room and towards the closest bathroom. She was going to throw up.
But as soon as Elle left the room and was out of Cheryl’s sight, a figure dressed in black walked into the room and smiled once he saw the young girl alone.
“Hello Cheryl,” he said. “I’m the man who took your sister.”
Elle was finally able to get away from the toilet. She had been feeling so sick, and Gideon had begun to notice that she wasn’t doing so well. He told her that she should stay home, but she wanted to work on the case.
After coming out of the bathroom, she noticed that her husband was waiting for her. He had a concerned look on his face.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yea, I think it’s just stomach flu. I should be fine in a couple of days,” she replied. “I sense something. What’s wrong?”
“Cheryl’s gone. I think her sister’s abductor took her.”
“No! How did he/she know?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. But I want you to go to the Davenport house and rest. You have barely eaten anything and you’re looking really pale. I’ll tell Hotch that you’re not feeling well, and that you’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“But-”
“No buts, Elle. You are in no shape whatsoever to be working right now.”
He tried to kiss her, but she backed away.
“No! I’m sick; I don’t want you to catch the bug if I have it.”
He walked her out to the car, then drove her to the house. What he didn’t know was that his wife had a box of pregnancy tests in her purse.
He made sure that she made it inside ok, then told her to call him if she needed anything.
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Those 15 minutes were the longest minutes in her life.
She was not ready to be a mother if the test was positive. She didn’t know what Gideon would say. He had never been a father either.
The timer beeped, and the 15 minutes were up. She headed into the bathroom and picked the stick off the counter. She looked for the little sign that said ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
She was pregnant.
How am I supposed to tell my husband? she thought. What will his reaction be? Will he leave me?
As she contemplated her options, she got a text from Gideon, saying that everyone was going home for the evening because they were all exhausted.
Crap! she thought. I don’t have much of a choice. He will notice that I’m not feeling well, and then he’ll ask what’s wrong. I’ll have to tell him. Better to do it now than later.
Within 10 minutes, Elle heard the front door open, and her husband say, “I’m home, how are you feeling?”
She put the pregnancy test in her pocket and walked out to the living room to greet him.
“I’m feeling much better,” she said, greeting him with a kiss. “It was nothing contagious.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” he replied. “Do you know what the diagnosis is?”
“Yes, in fact it was one of the best things I ever heard. I’m pregnant.”
“We’re having a baby?” he asked, completely shocked.
“Yes.”
He picked her up off the ground and spun her around. Giving her a kiss, he said, “Thank you for giving me the best present ever.”
“I couldn’t ask for more.”
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Garcia had texted early the next morning saying that Cheryl had been found in an abandoned warehouse. Elle immediately woke her husband up and the two made sure that their wedding ring and band were on a chain around their necks. They arrived at work within ten minutes and found the rest of the team waiting for them. Elle and Derek argued over who was driving to the warehouse until Hotch told both of them to shut up. The Unit Chief told them to “sit down, shut up, and don’t say anything unless it’s something nice.”
Within five minutes, the vehicle pulled up in front of the house, and Elle was the first person out of the car and running towards the front door. Morgan caught up to her, kicking the front door down and the rest of the team going around the back of the warehouse. Morgan, gun pointed in front of him, stepped into the house and was greeted by the sound of electricity buzzing. He had been shocked with a taser, which brought him to the ground, and caused unconsciousness to take over him.
“Morgan!” Elle shouted. But she didn’t get to do anything because the unsub snatched her gun away, surprising her. She felt the electricity flowing through her body, her legs unable to support her body.
My baby, she thought. Gideon’s baby. I can’t let him/her die.
“Stop please! I’m pregnant, please don’t hurt my baby!” Elle begged the unsub, who just ignored her cries. He pulled out a knife.
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“Vincent?” she asked.
“Elle.”
“You...you’re FBI! How could you betray them like this?”
“Because I had a girlfriend that never loved me. And that someone is you.”
“All you ever did was abuse me! You scarred me permanently. And now I have a husband that loves me with all of his heart.”
“You’re married?”
“A month as of today.”
“Maybe I’ll even let you scream for him when I kill you.”
“You are just sick.”
But her response only angered him. He revealed the knife and prepared to stab and kill her with it, but not before a shot was heard and Vincent fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Elle saw Hotch holding his gun in front of him with JJ and Gideon preparing to arrest Vincent.
“You alright?” Hotch asked his subordinate.
“Yea,” she answered.
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“He Tasered me and almost killed me with a knife, but otherwise I’m fine.”
But she saw that Hotch looked furious, like he regretted saving her life.
“Hotch, what’s wrong?”
“I want to speak with your husband alone for a moment, if you don’t mind,” the Unit Chief said.
“I don’t mind.”
Gideon followed Hotch outside, where they saw JJ and Reid leading Vincent, in handcuffs out to a police car.
The Unit Chief slammed Gideon against the side of the house.
“You betrayed this team! I can never forgive you. I’m the one who gave Elle away at the wedding. I regretted it immediately and now I can never take it back,” Hotch snapped.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know well what I mean. When you went into the drawer and stole MY file. You gave it to a killer who now knows everything about me thanks to you!”
“He threatened me way before my kidnapping! He told me he was going to kill Elle if I didn’t do what he said.”
The color drained from Hotch’s face. He felt so guilty. How could have he just verbally accused his friend of betraying the BAU without evidence?
“Gideon, I’m sorry. I thought you had actually gotten the folder and was selling the info to a third party. Forgive me. And I should never have said anything about the wedding. You make her happy. Promise me that you will always make her happy.”
“I will, Hotch. I promise. Also, on the way to work this morning, Elle told me that it was fine to tell you the news. We’re expecting.”
“Congrats! Parenthood, can you believe it?”
“No I can’t. Elle’s very nervous. She’s never had a child before and with the job, she’s frightened about losing the baby.”
“I think she’ll be just fine,” Hotch replied. “I’m sure your wife is wondering where you are now, how about you come over to the house later?”
“That’d be great.”
The two men walked back to the car where Elle had a look of relief on her face.
“Are you ok?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck. “You were gone for almost five minutes. I was just about to send JJ to find you!”
He put his hands on her waist. “I’m ok, Hotch just got a little angry at me from the brainwashing.”
Elle looked at her boss strangely. “You’re still mad at him?”
“I was until he told me he took the file to protect you.”
Gideon gave her a kiss, then led her over to the BAU’s vehicle.
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On the way back to the airport, Elle was sitting beside Gideon, his arms wrapped her, when she noticed that she had a missed call from an unknown number.
Thinking it was a solicitation number, she put her phone back into her pocket, but then it rang again. The unknown number was calling again.
“Hello?” Elle asked. Gideon straightened up in his seat.
A chilling voice responded right away. “Hello Elle, I know that you have no idea who I am, but I know all about you.”
“Who is this?”
Gideon gave her a worried look.
“Someone who will be harming someone you care about,” the voice said before hanging up.
“Who was that?” Gideon asked his wife.
“I...I don’t know, but whoever it was said that they were going to hurt someone I care about.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
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The team finally made it back to Quantico. After an exhausting flight, Elle wanted to go to the one place where she felt safe: her house. She wanted to be with her husband, who made her feel safe anywhere. And now with a baby on the way, he would be even more overprotective over his family.
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Wake up call
Caught you in the morning with another one in my bed
Don't you care about me anymore?
Don't you care about me?
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“Get out of my house Savannah!” Morgan snapped. “I never want to see you again.”
“It’s not what you think, Derek. I was coming in the door when Sam kissed me,” the voice of his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend said.
“What I saw was more than just a kiss. Now, get out of my house!”
Savannah and Penelope’s boyfriend Sam ran out of the house, but were greeted by the sight of an angry Garcia.
“What the heck Sam!” Garcia yelled. “How could you do this to me?”
“I never did anything to you!” Sam snapped.
“You cheated on me with my best friend’s girlfriend. We’re through.”
Garcia slapped him in the face and headed up to Morgan’s front porch.
He immediately opened the door and stepped aside so that his Baby Girl could come inside.
They walked over to the couch where she broke down crying. He wrapped his arms around her.
“How could he have cheated on me?” Garcia said angrily.
“I don’t know Baby Girl, but I had no idea that Savannah was with him.”
“After all those months I suspected him cheating on me, I realized something.”
“What’s that?”
“I love you, my Chocolate Thunder,” Garcia replied.
“I love you too, Baby Girl,” Morgan said, planting a kiss on her lips.
“You have no idea how long I wanted that from you.”
“I’ve been wanting that forever ever since I saw you.”
They were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.
“Morgan,” he said. “Wait, what? We’ll be over right away.”
“What happened?”
“Hotch and Reid are being held hostage in the hospital by the unsub.”
“The one who sniped the officer in the park’s parking lot two weeks ago? I had gotten the name yesterday, Phillip Dowd.”
“That’s him. But JJ also told me that Vincent Shyer, the man who tried to kill Elle, was the man who held Haley and Hotch hostage before her affair was exposed.”
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Reid was absolutely terrified. He had failed his firearms qualifications and now wasn’t allowed to carry a gun. He wished he had one because he was on the ground with the unsub pointing a loaded automatic rifle at his head. Hotch had his weapon pointed at the unsub, who said that the shot “better be a headshot.”
Hotch knew that he wouldn’t be allowed to fire and take the man down. The Unit Chief set his gun down on a stack of folders and backed away.
“Get up! Get over here!” Dowd yelled at Reid, who was pulling himself up. He ran over to Hotch and the two men had their wrists tied.
“If you two are supposed to be the big and scary profilers, then how come you don’t have a gun?” the unsub teased.
“Well, we would have had a gun if you hadn’t taken away from us,” Reid snapped. “I don’t even have one.”
“You’re FBI, how do you not have a gun?”
“He failed his qualifications exam and isn’t allowed to have a weapon,” Hotch said, turning to Reid, who realized that a plan had been put into motion. “Since we won’t be here for much longer, but before you kill me, can you at least let me take my anger out on him? He’s made my life miserable for so long. I have no idea how the team and I deal with him everyday.”10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2f8vOw7Bpf
“Be my guest,” Dowd replied, watching Hotch shove Reid to the ground. The younger profiler began to feel his boss kicking him. But Reid knew the plan- without making it look obvious, grab Hotch’s backup gun and prepare to shoot.
“It’s not even that hard!” Hotch sneered at his team member. “Even a dog could do it!”
Reid managed to grab ahold of the weapon and prepared to pull the trigger.
However, Dowd noticed that Reid was acting strange. He was in an awkward position, and suddenly, the unsub noticed that Hotch had an ankle holster...and the weapon was missing.
Before Dowd could fire off a shot, Reid pulled the trigger, hitting the unsub right between his eyes. Several other hostages screamed when Dowd fell to the ground, dead.
“Wait, hold your fire, federal agent!” Hotch shouted to the SWAT team waiting outside, guns loaded and ready to fire.
“Hold your fire!” the SWAT leader said to his men. Hotch opened the door and said, “All clear.”
JJ, Morgan, Gideon, Rossi, and Elle all ran over to the room. The blond profiler saw her boyfriend come out of the room unharmed. She ran over to him, who immediately pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Spence, are you ok?” JJ asked him.
“I’m ok, just a little shaken up that the unsub was about to kill me,” he replied, kissing his girlfriend again.
Gideon walked over to his best friend and gave him a big hug.
“Glad you’re alright man,” Gideon said.
“Thanks Jason,” Hotch replied, walking over to Reid. When the Unit Chief reached his subordinate, he gave him the gun and said, “Congrats, you passed your qualifications.”
Reid took the gun and gave both Hotch and JJ big hugs.
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The man sitting in his car outside the hospital slammed his hand against the steering wheel. He threw his binoculars onto the passenger seat and slammed the steering wheel twice more.
He swore, then angrily said, “Darn it! That stupid profiler had to kill my asset!”
The man began to mutter more nonsense to himself, then picked up the phone and dialed a number.
“Yes? We’ve got a problem. Dowd is dead. One of Hotch’s team killed him. Another asset has been removed. We need to plan this a lot better. Maybe we need to send this so-called Unit Chief a message telling him that he doesn’t have a lot of time left.”
The voice on the other end of the line answered right away. “Excellent idea. Make sure there is no ID, fingerprints, DNA, or anything. This is a PROFILER we’re talking about. One of the best in the country. He’ll be able to use his analyst Garcia and she’ll find us in a matter of seconds. We have to be extremely careful. Understood?”
“Yes. I’ll make sure that the note is untraceable.”
The man in the car suddenly smiled maliciously. He had just come up with an idea to mess around with Hotch. But the note was needed. Along with some very familiar DNA...
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Hotch began to panic. A note had been left on his desk with only a few typed sentences. He had no idea who left him the note, but he wore gloves just in case he could get an ID on the mysterious sender.
-Hello, Hotch, how’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in years. And yet, I see you now, just another lonely profiler whose spouse has left him because of work. Must be difficult, right? I feel the same way.-
The Unit Chief’s breathing began picking up. Someone other than his team knew about Haley cheating on him. He was nervous about leaving his workplace because he didn’t know where the sender was.
Hotch sent the note off to the Lab to be tested for DNA and/or fingerprints. The tech said the results would be ready in a hour.
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He sat in his car once again, but this time, he wasn’t outside the BAU. Instead, he was outside Hotch’s house, looking at his phone. He managed to get the Unit Chief’s security code from his asset inside the BAU. The man also managed to hack the security cameras and disable them so that his identity couldn’t be revealed. He had an obsession with Hotch and would make sure in every way that the Unit Chief was his. Hotch would never see the light of day again, and instead would be kept away from the people he cared about.
The man had followed Hotch home from work a week ago. The man knew the work schedule, and how he could be in the house for several hours without anyone interrupting him. He picked the front door lock and stepped inside the house. It was bigger than he expected. He explored the entire house, finding out that the Unit Chief had a son. The man found Hotch’s bedroom and collapsed on the bed, feeling its softness. However, he needed at least 45 minutes to have the house the way it was and be gone before the Unit Chief returned home from work.
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“Jason Gideon, you are under arrest for threatening an FBI agent.”
He stood in astonishment as Hotch slapped the cuffs on his wrists.
“Hotch, I never threatened anyone,” the profiler said.
“The evidence says otherwise. You sent me a note and left it on my desk. Your DNA was all over the note.”
Hotch had gotten the call two hours ago from the Lab, and to his horror, his own teammate’s DNA was on the note.
The Unit Chief lead the profiler into the elevator, which would take them to the first-floor prison.
Jason was locked in a cell, but before Hotch left, the Unit Chief turned back to his ‘friend.’
“Unless you have other evidence proving that you didn’t send the note, then you’ll spend a few years here. I’ll have your badge and credentials taken away.”
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That Saturday, Reid decided to take JJ skydiving. They had practiced this sport for a couple of months and the blond felt like she was ready to do a solo jump. Reid would jump out a few seconds after and film her jump.
The weather was sunny, with hardly a cloud in the sky. JJ jumped out of the airplane and once it reached 12,000 feet, and Reid was right behind her. His video camera was ready and rolling. JJ began to spin in circles, and her boyfriend thought that she was just having fun.
“JJ, you shouldn’t be doing that,” he said.
But he quickly realized that something was seriously wrong. She wasn’t doing the spinning around for fun- instead, her parachute was malfunctioning.
“JJ, PUMP THE BRAKES!” he screamed. She shouted back that she was, but the brakes weren’t working. She was spinning out of control. Reid just wanted to get close to her and grab her, but he knew that the parachutes would tangle and they would both fall to their deaths.
“PUMP THE BRAKES!” Reid screamed again. As he got closer to the ground, he could see that she was still spinning. Suddenly, he heard a loud POP! and then the only response was silence.
“NO!” he said, realizing that his girlfriend was gone. He shut the video camera off and made a safe landing onto the ground. JJ had landed on the pavement, surrounded by her broken parachute. It had broken some of her fall, but she still hit the pavement at almost 60 MPH.
Reid was horrified at the sight of his girlfriend.
He suddenly heard her voice. “Am I alive?”
He breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately, he dialed for a medic, and the ambulance was on scene within two minutes. She was loaded up on a gurney and taken to the hospital.
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Hotch was waiting for news on JJ from the doctor. Reid was angry, upset, and worried at the same time.
“It’s my fault!” the profiler said. “I should have never taken her on that skydiving trip. She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me!”
“It’s not your fault,” Morgan tried reassuring his best friend. “You had no idea that the parachute wasn’t going to work right.
The doctor came out with a slight grim look on his face.
“Family of Jennifer Jareau?” he asked.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Reid said, “And these are her co-workers.”
“Well, Ms. Jareau suffered quite a bit of head trauma from hitting the ground that hard. She lost eight of her front teeth, broke her nose, and suffered from moderate brain damage. Because of this, she will suffer from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, known as BPPV or positional vertigo for the next while until her brain heals. Basically, she will feel dizzy whenever she rolls over in bed, tilts her head up or looks over her shoulder, or when she bends down to pick something up. I recommend that she does not go back out into the field for the next year.”
Reid couldn’t believe the diagnosis. JJ wouldn’t have a job for a whole year.
“Why a year and not a few months?”
“Because of the brain damage. We want her brain to heal. Something like running too quickly may trigger an episode of BPPV.”
“What about her nose and teeth?”
“We were able to fix her nose, but she will need a bit of support for a month or two until her nose can work on its own again. As for her teeth, we got the dental records and are currently making eight false teeth for her.”
“She’ll be able to speak again properly, right?”
“Yes, the false teeth will allow her to speak properly.”
Hotch suddenly felt his phone buzz. He excused himself and once he turned his phone on, he discovered in horror that an unknown number had texted him.
It was a picture of JJ and how she looked when she had hit the pavement.
-I know all about your profiler’s little accident, Hotch. How’d you enjoy my little note?-
The Unit Chief began to panic. Who could of found out about JJ? And how could of Jason sent the text? He was in jail and wasn’t allowed a phone.
Hotch quickly composed a text to the number.
^Who is this and how do you know my name?^
-You’re so easy to find, Hotch. I know where you live, about your team, and your little failed marriage. Maybe your son would enjoy me as a father.-
^Leave my son alone, whoever you are.^
-Nice try. We’ll see who wins in the end.-
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
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Two weeks after JJ’s disastrous near-death fall, Hotch received paperwork saying that a new female agent was joining the team. She was needed to help solve a case about a man who lived with families, then murdered them.
The unsub’s profile had been created, and before the new female agent could come into his office, Hotch received another text from the mysterious number.
-I have a little something for you. Gideon never sent you the note. I did. I just framed him to mess around with you.-
Once the Unit Chief realized that his innocent co-worker was in jail, he knew that he needed to let him out and hopefully find out who sent the note.
Hotch still hadn’t told anyone about his mysterious texter. However, Rossi had begun to notice his Superior was acting a bit strange.
Hotch felt his phone buzz again, and this time, a threat from the texter came through.
-Tell anyone on your team about me, and I will hurt your son and sister-in-law.-
The Unit Chief fought the urge to destroy his phone. This texter had gone too far.
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Outside the BAU, the man was just loving seeing Hotch get angry. The man was getting even more excited about his unsuspecting victim. He would make sure that Hotch would vanish without a trace. No one would find him...alive.
The stalker felt his phone vibrate. His partner was calling.
“Section Chief Cruz, what can I do for you today?” the man asked.
“Hotch is starting to figure out that someone is coming after him. We need to get out of Quantico,” Cruz said. He had been working with this man ever since Hotch had ‘died.’
Cruz had been hired as Section Chief in order to keep an eye on the Unit Chief.
“I stopped by his house. It’s amazing. But I do need to get back to the location. And also, Gideon is out of prison. Hotch figured out that his friend was innocent. I knew that trick wouldn’t last long.”
The man said a quick goodbye to Cruz, then drove off to the secret location where he would study the Unit Chief for hours.
The man entered the location and then turned on the only lamp in the abandoned warehouse. An entire wall was covered in photos and newspaper articles about Hotch. The man smiled, knowing that he was getting closer to having his victim.
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Hotch was looking through file folders on his desk when he heard a knock. A woman with dark brown hair wearing a suit was standing in the doorway.
“Agent Hotchner?” she asked. “I’m Emily Prentiss.”
“Please come in.”
After telling her about the most current case, he introduced her to the team, who quickly accepted her. Reid was a bit upset that a new agent had joined, and he took off for the restroom.
“That’s Reid,” Morgan said to Emily. “He’s upset that you’re replacing JJ, his girlfriend. He doesn’t feel as though the team will be the same without her.”
“What happened to JJ?” the brunette asked.
“She was injured in a skydiving accident that caused a lot of trauma to her face and head. She’s been in the hospital for two weeks, and already she’s showing a little progress in her recovery.”
“That’s good to hear. How long is she supposed to be out for?”
“She’s not allowed to work for a full year. Her brain was damaged enough that she’s not allowed to be running around chasing the unsubs.”
After Emily began to become acquainted with Morgan, Gideon, Garcia, and Elle, Rossi pulled Hotch aside.
“You’re acting very weird lately,” Rossi said. “You’ve been nervous and now you’ve gone bananas. I think someone’s in love with the new agent.”
“I barely met Prentiss. I think she’s a great agent who will be valuable to this team. I’m not in any way in love with her,” Hotch replied.
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Garcia had tracked down the location of the unsub who was murdering families. Hotch and the team quickly headed to the house and found the unsub holding a baby boy, barely five months old.
“Set your weapons down!” the unsub shouted. Hotch and Prentiss were the first to react, then Reid and Elle were next. Morgan still wanted to kill the guy, but the unsub tried to stab him with a handmade iron knife.
Morgan shot the unsub, hitting him in the shoulder. Hotch arrested the killer and lead him out to a police car. Elle was feeling quite sick, now that she was almost seven weeks pregnant. The smell of blood just made her want to vomit.
Before Morgan had shot the unsub, the baby boy had been thrown through the air and was safely caught by Gideon. He knew that the boy’s entire family had been murdered, so Jason decided to adopt him. Elle was ok with the decision, but she didn’t know how she was going to manage a full-time job and take care of two children.
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The man and Cruz were sitting in their car outside the warehouse where the team was. They saw them leading their unsub, in cuffs, out to a police car already waiting for them. The two men decided to mess around with Hotch a bit more, so they drove to the next block, then dialed him.
Hotch felt his phone ring, and Caller ID said that the number was restricted.
“Hello?” he said.
“Agent Hotchner, how are you doing? I guess you did ok when arresting the unsub,” the voice replied.
“Who is this? What do you want with me? I’m tired of playing this game. I’m not going to play it anymore.”
“You will regret ever saying those words, Hotch.”
Suddenly, the Unit Chief heard two voices crying. He recognized one of them as Jack.
“Daddy! Please get me out of here. Aunt Jessica is with me too,” Jack begged.
“What have you done to them?”
“Nothing. They’re not even hurt. But if you tell anyone, or try to ignore anything I say, then I will hurt your family.”
The line went dead, and Hotch began to break down crying. How was he supposed to keep something like this hidden from his team, who were experts on reading people?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Hotch began to panic. Learning that his own son and sister-in-law were the hands of an unknown stalker scared him. He would risk their own lives to hopefully get the word out to his team. Someone had to know what was going on in his life.
“Rossi, can I talk to you alone for a minute?” Hotch asked his co-worker, who was busy reading a case file.
“Sure,” the older profiler replied.
Once the two men were in Hotch’s office, the Unit Chief prepared to share the secret that had been bothering him for almost a month.
“Dave, I think I’m being stalked,” Hotch said quickly. “Someone has Jack and Jessica. They said that if I tell anyone, my family gets hurt.”
“How long has this been going on?” Rossi replied.
“About a month. Whoever this person is knows where I live, about my family, the team, and JJ’s accident.”
“We will find out who’s doing this. I promise.”
“You can’t tell anyone else. I’m putting my secret in your hands, and I could have my family killed.”
“Your secret will never be told, I’ll make sure. Also, JJ’s doctor had some good news. Her nose is healing more quickly than they thought, and he thinks that by next week she’ll won’t need to wear the support device. Secondly, they were able to get the false teeth in place, and she’s doing ok with talking. Her brain is starting to recover.”
“Thank goodness,” Hotch breathed a sigh of relief.
“She’s a fighter, Hotch. She’s going to make it through this.”
“How’s Reid coping?”
“He’s doing ok at the moment.”
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Cruz was outside Hotch’s office, listening to the Unit Chief tell Rossi about being stalked.
Immediately, he picked up his phone, ran back into his office and dialed his boss.
“Sir, Hotchner disobeyed you. He told Agent Rossi that he was being stalked.”
“Thank you for reporting to me. I think I’m going to have a little fun with Hotch’s sister-in-law.”
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The man hung up the phone and turned around to look at a tied-up Jessica. He smiled sadistically. She saw that look and was terrified. She had no idea what this man wanted with her, or what he was planning on doing to her.
“Since your brother-in-law disobeyed what I said, I get to hurt you. I’ll send him a little video showing him what mistake he choose in telling his best friend.”
“What did Aaron ever do to you? It’s not like people get angry at him. They don’t like some of the things he’s done, but it’s just his job,” Jessica replied.
“His boss got me fired. I supposedly tampered with evidence, but I didn’t. His boss hurt me to my very core. And now, he’s going to pay big time for hurting me. Aaron seems to be the most important person in his life, so he will take Gideon’s pain for him.”
Jessica didn’t even have time to react before she felt the stinging pain of bone breaking and the smell of blood on metal. She screamed, but the man just tied a cloth around her mouth. Her leg had been broken with an iron bar and she had a cut in her abdomen. She passed out from the pain, but didn’t know how long she was out for. When she awoke, she felt a pain in her lower abdomen. Her hands had been handcuffed above her head.
“Well, Ms. Brooks, I think your brother-in-law should have received the video by now. He will not be able to trace it. We wouldn’t want him to know who I really was, wouldn’t he?” the man said.
“You are just sick,” Jessica snapped. “Let my nephew go and I’ll take his place.”
“No! I have to have two hostages at all times. I’ll make sure that little Jack doesn’t get hurt. You’ll just all the pain instead of him.”
Jessica screamed in pain when the iron bar hit her broken leg again.
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Hotch was reviewing the case file of their latest investigation- the Organized Crime Unit had one of their members killed, but the murder was believed to be a mob hit. He noticed that his stalker had sent him a video along with a message.
-I told you not to tell anyone about me. You didn’t listen. So now, I sent a video of your sister-in-law.-
He opened the message, and immediately the camera focused on Jessica. She had been tied up and now the stalker appeared, holding an iron bar. Hotch saw the bar being brought down hard on her leg, hearing the bone break. His hands became fists and under his breath, he swore to murder the man who had hurt her.
The stalker never once did show his face to the camera. He did move out of the way so that Jessica could speak.
“Aaron,” her voice said. “If you want Jack and I both back alive, then you’ll pay the 500,000 dollars this man wants. Otherwise, you’ll never see us again.”
The video ended with a message saying:
-You have 24 hours.-
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Rossi had noticed that Hotch was acting even more strange. The Unit Chief had been looking at something on his phone, then had an angry look on his face.
“Hotch,” the profiler said. “What’s going on? The rest of the team is starting to notice.”
“I can’t tell anyone more. I already got Jessica badly hurt. That creep broke her leg and did something else to her. He wants half a million dollars ransom or I’m not going to see her or Jack again,” the Unit Chief replied.
“I’m so sorry. What can I do to help?”
“Act like you know nothing. Just me telling you about the ransom is enough to get Jessica killed.”
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As Jessica sat tied up, helpless, she couldn’t stop thinking about her brother-in-law. Was he going to pay the ransom and free her? Or was she doomed to spend the rest of her days in this madman’s hands? But, someone else was coming to her mind: Agent Anderson.
Hotch had introduced the agent to her. They became friends very quickly, and had known each other for a year. She had been developing feelings towards Anderson, not knowing he felt the same about her.
“Please, I want to say a goodbye to a best friend of mine. Please,” Jessica said.
“Fine, you have three minutes,” the man replied.
“Brian…” Jessica began. “I know that you’ve been trying to reach me for a while, but I’ve been so busy looking after my nephew. I’m sorry that I haven’t been spending as much time with you as I thought I should. But, I may die and I want you to know something before you may never see me again. I love you. I mean every word of it.”
She showed her shoe to the camera, which had a secret code written in Sharpie. The shoes were so old that once she got out, and if she got out, she would throw them out. The code said where she was being held. Hopefully Grant would notice the clue.
Without looking at the video, the man sent it to the number that Jessica gave.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
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Agent Anderson was reviewing Hotch’s case file when the phone buzzed. Anderson saw that a text from Jessica had come through. He had been working up the courage to ask her out. But when he opened the video and saw that she had been tied up, his heart dropped to the floor.
He heard her begging voice. He heard her say, “I love you,” and then saw the code. He had been studying the symbols since they gotten to know each other, and he realized that she was telling him where she was being held.
He picked up the phone and dialed Strauss.
“This is Agent Anderson, I need a response team to 306 Hazel Parkway, Quantico, Agent Hotchner’s sister-in-law is being held captive.”
Strauss responded right away, saying that Hotch’s team had been notified and they were heading to the scene.
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Jessica felt the man slapping her over and over again. Somehow, he knew that she told the FBI where she was.
“You just had to tell your lover where you were!” the man snapped. “I bet you learned it from him. He probably taught you how to communicate with someone when you don’t want a criminal to know what you’re saying! But, you will get rescued, along with Jack, but I will vanish without a trace. Just like your brother-in-law will.”
The man quickly headed out the back door, wearing gloves, then disappeared into the daylight.
The front door was kicked open, and Jessica heard the sounds of, “FBI! FBI!”
Hotch ran over to her and untied her. She broke down crying as he brought her into an embrace. Anderson was the second person to join the embrace, and when Jessica saw him, she had happy tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was here to rescue her.
Hotch said that he would be right back- he was going to find his son.
Anderson took Jessica into a hug, where he stroked her hair comfortingly. Then, he kissed her, and she melted away into his embrace.
“I love you,” he said. “I didn’t know you felt the same way about me.”
“I felt the same way for a few months. I didn’t know what you’d think.”
“Jessica Brooks, will you go out with me?”
“Yes, I would love to. When?”
“After you get out of the hospital, does that sound fine?”
“Absolutely.”
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Anderson was the first person to stand up when the doctor came out holding the clipboard. He asked to speak to the agent alone.
Hotch and the team were anxious to know what happened to Jessica. Jack wasn’t hurt at all, so he didn’t have to stay in the hospital.
Hotch saw Anderson’s face pale and begin to cry. Something was not good.
“Doctor Collins? I’m Jessica’s brother-in-law. What’s going on with her?”
“She...she is unable to have children. It is physically impossible,” the doctor replied.
Hotch suddenly paled. He knew what the man had done to her. He had seen the exact same thing happen to thirteen women in a case from three years ago.
“I going to find this no-good, vicious, dirty, hung-up piece of crap and kill him myself,” the Unit Chief said. “I’ll make sure he pays for what he did to Jessica.”
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Cruz was sitting at his desk, reviewing the case file. He felt so guilty for working for the dark side, but, if Hotch hadn’t married Haley...then Cruz could have married her. He had been in love in her...deeply in love, but Haley ditched him for Hotch. She had lied to her now ex-husband about being single, but she had been constantly sleeping around with Cruz and cheating on Hotch.
Ever since Haley married the Unit Chief, Cruz’s anger had been building up. He wanted Haley, but then she ran off with Will LaMontagne.
The former Section Chief had to step down from his position once Erin had been declared ‘sane.’ He was now Unit Chief of Anderson’s team.
Cruz didn’t even like Anderson. Now that the agent had asked Hotch’s sister-in-law out on a date, the boss would not be impressed.
Cruz picked up the phone and dialed the boss.
“Boss, Anderson asked Jessica out. And Hotch barely got his family back alive. What’d you do to the sister-in-law?”
“You really want to know the details, idiot? The BAU’s probably listening in. Get off the phone and talk to me later. I’ve got something to take care of,” the voice snapped before hanging up.
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It was the day of Elle’s two-month scan, and the one-month anniversary of JJ’s fall. Her nose was working fine and she didn’t need the support to breathe. She could do it on her own.
She was quickly adapting to the false teeth. She was forming complete sentences and was rapidly able to develop a paragraph. She and Reid were going to celebrate their fourth month of dating at the hospital. The brain damage was coming down significantly. It was still damaged, and she was suffering from her temporary vertigo condition. The doctor told Reid that she would be in the hospital for another one to two months until her brain was well enough to be able to rest up at home.
When Reid came by the hospital after work, he brought her flowers and gave her a kiss.
“Happy anniversary,” he said. “Four months.”
“Wow already? I can’t believe it. I love you.”
“I love you too. But I came here to ask you a very important question.”
“Ask me Spence.”
“Jennifer Jareau, I’ve known you for seven years and it feels like I’ve known you forever. I don’t want this to end at all. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Will you marry me?” he asked, pulling out the ring.
JJ couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She hadn’t expected Reid to propose. She was expecting flowers and a visit.
“Yes, of course, Spence, I will marry you,” she said. He put the ring on her finger and gave her a long kiss. It was certainly the best anniversary date he ever had.
-Everybody's been there, everybody’s been stared down by the enemy. Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing, bow down to the mighty. Don’t run, stop holding your tongue. Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live. Maybe one of these days you can let the light in. Show me how big your brave is.-
-You’re not brave. You just save other people’s lives because it’s your job. You’re just another worthless person who doesn’t deserve this job. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you soon.-
Hotch set his phone down on his desk. He looked like he was going to cry, but he didn’t. His stalker was hurting him to his core emotionally.
The phone rang, and he noticed that his team was talking about the case amongst themselves, but Rossi suddenly looked up and saw Hotch.
The team set their folders down and started walking towards his office.
“Hello?” Hotch asked.
“Hello Greg,” the voice on the other end replied.
The Unit Chief’s face drained of all its color. He was turning white. No one knew of his real name. Not even Rossi or Strauss.
“What do you want and how do you know my name?” Hotch replied.
“I think you should already know that, Greg. Or do you want to be called Aaron?”
The Unit Chief put his hand over his mouth, trying to prevent himself from crying. He couldn’t believe that his stalker knew even his deepest secrets. On the other hand, Hotch had no idea who this person was.
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?” he yelled. It was loud enough that his team could hear him on the other side of the glass.
“Your real name, Aaron? It’s not that hard to find. All I had to do was put your name into the search engine and I found your records as Greg Montgomery. That simple. Soon, Greg, soon.”
The line went dead and Hotch set his phone down on the desk like it was a black widow spider ready to bite him. He was unable to hold back his tears. Pulling open the office door, he stormed out, headed for the bathroom, crying the whole way there.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” Rossi said to the team. He walked down the hall and entered the bathroom, hearing someone sobbing loudly. He saw Hotch sitting on the floor, his head in his hands, crying like there was no tomorrow.
“Ssh, calm down.” Rossi ran over to his best friend and pulled him into a comforting hug. Hotch had finally broken down. “What’s wrong?”
“He...he called me,” the Unit Chief said in between tears. “My stalker. He knows about my past. Those records have been sealed for almost 12 years. I don’t know how he found them.”
“Your past?”
“My real name is Greg Montgomery. I was a lawyer. I was married to a woman named Dharma, and she died in a car accident fifteen years ago. I had my name legally changed and I moved on with my life. You can’t tell the team, Rossi. You just can’t.”
“I won’t. No one else knows about the stalking, although they are starting to suspect something.”
“He called me Greg. He knows about my name change.”
“Hotch...I promise you, we’ll catch this guy. He’ll rot away in prison for the rest of his life. I’ll make sure he does.”10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1ZA9x2yQb
Jason was on his way to the OBGYN’s office with Elle, when his phone rang. She answered the call.
“Hello?” she asked.
“May I speak to Gideon please?” the voice asked.
“Who is this?”
“Max Ryan.”
“Honey, it’s Max Ryan,” Elle said, giving her phone to her husband.
Jason smiled once he heard his former boss’s voice. “Max! It’s been too long. Where have you been all these years?”
“Traveling,” Ryan replied. “Gone to Paris, Italy, and found a woman while I was in Fiji. We’ve been married for seven years and have two beautiful little girls. And you?”
“I’m still at the BAU, and am now married to the love of my life, Elle. I’ve been loving Quantico even more. I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave.”
“You want to meet up for dinner in a couple of days? That Italian place downtown.”
“Sure, I’ll see if I can get away from work. How about 6?”
“Yeah, that should work. I got to go, my wife’s calling me. I’ll see you then. Bring Elle too. I would love to get to know her.”
“Alright, I’ll bring her along. See you in a couple of days. Bye.”
“Bye.”
But when Gideon hung up the phone, he looked a little nervous.
“Jay, what’s wrong?” Elle asked, using her husband’s nickname.
“Something feels off. I don’t know what, but when I talked to Max, he seems to have changed. Not in a good way.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine, you’re going to meet your best friend, someone you haven’t seen in years. Now, we’ve got an appointment to attend.”
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The expecting couple headed into the hospital and found the directory that told them where the OBGYN’s room was. Suddenly, just before they turned the corner and headed down the hall to the room, the couple heard a terrifying scream. Gideon and Elle both pulled out their guns, but attracted attention from a nurse.
“Ma’am, we’re allowed to carry guns, we’re FBI,” Gideon said, pulling out his credentials. Elle did the same. She said that she wouldn’t say anything, and the couple was running down the hall. The scream had come from the OBGYN’s room, the exact room where Elle was supposed to have her scan.
She gasped in horror at the sight of the nurse, lying dead and lifeless on the floor. A puddle of blood was on the floor, coming from a stab wound to the chest.
“Oh no…” she began, finding a piece of paper lying next to the body.
Pulling out gloves, she picked up the paper, which had only one typed sentence on it, along with a picture.
It was a picture of Hotch with a red box around him. Underneath the picture, the sentence said:
-He’s next.-
CHAPTER TWENTY:
*Two months later*
A four-month pregnant Elle walked into work feeling tired. The team had solved six cases in the past two months, and yet, they were no closer in finding out who Hotch’s stalker was. The person behind the crime was extremely good at hiding themselves.
As Elle and the team gathered in the bullpen, they heard a voice over the intercom saying that about 20 people holding guns were on their up to the sixth floor and were planning on taking out the entire BAU task force. But, Hotch’s team was prepared for the worst. They loaded up on guns and prepared to shoot. The team knew that there were two elevators down to the first floor. The team, including Strauss, headed straight for the spare elevator. Unbeknownst to the team, the men downstairs had disabled the controls on the elevator, preventing it from going down. Cruz was nowhere to be seen.
Morgan, Gideon, and Rossi had their sidearms drawn and began shooting at the men. Elle, Reid and Emily were ducking because they didn’t have their weapons. Finally, 17 of the original 20 men were lying on the floor, in comas from the amount of pain they were suffering from. Reid stood up and began to push the ‘down’ key to hopefully have the team escape before the final three enemies arrived. But the key wasn’t working properly.
“What the-?” the genius asked. “The button’s not working!”
Hotch noticed a large red button across the way from the elevator.
“That’s the override button, one of us can press the button and hold them off,” he said.
“If you even think about it,” Prentiss began, standing up. “I don’t want you to die.”
“For goodness sakes!” he replied angrily.
The brunette profiler was confused. She didn’t know what her boss was saying.
Then, Hotch did something that shocked the entire team, even Prentiss herself.
The Unit Chief grabbed onto the sleeves of Emily’s suit jacket and pressed his lips against hers for a few seconds. He gave her a small push backwards into the elevator. Morgan and Gideon caught her before she fell and hit her head.
“I love you, Prentiss,” Hotch said to Emily before pulling down on the iron-caged door handle. This elevator did not have doors that opened and closed within a few seconds. Instead, you would push the ‘up’ or ‘down’ button, then someone would grab onto the handle and pull the door down to the ground.
Hotch pulled the door to the ground and used a hook to lock the door in place. He grabbed his gun and quickly ran over to the override button and pressed it.
Emily stumbled forward, gripping her fingers around the iron-cage holes. Her face had paled, and it looked like she wanted to scream.
One of the final three men came around the corner, and Hotch fired off a shot, hitting the man in the shoulder. He stumbled to the side, and received a second bullet to his shoulder, causing him to fall next to the other men on the floor.
One down, two to go, Hotch thought, but didn’t even have time to see the other two men...both of whom he knew very well.
“HOTCH!” Emily screamed. But it was too late.
The man in front, Cruz, pulled the trigger. A bullet rang through the air. It slammed into the right side of Hotch’s chest. He started to lose his balance, but managed to stand up.
“No, Hotch!” Emily said.
Her boss was able to fire off two more bullets, both of which unfortunately missed the targets. Cruz pulled the trigger again, the bullet slamming into the right side of Hotch’s abdomen.
The Unit Chief was unable to fire another shot. He fell to his knees, the gun falling out of his hand and skidding to the floor.
“NOOOOOOO!” Emily screamed, her face streaked with tears. Morgan and Rossi were pulling her fingers away from the door. They were horrified at the fate of their leader. Hotch lay on the floor, barely moving and blood spilling onto the floor from the gunshots. Cruz took Hotch’s backup gun and gave it to his boss.
The brunette profiler saw the image of her Unit Chief fading away before her eyes. Hotch had sacrificed himself to save his team. As the elevator began heading towards the first floor, the last thing Emily saw before the sixth floor faded away from her vision was the sight of former Section Chief Mateo Cruz pointing his gun at Hotch’s head.
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Emily was upset. More upset than the rest of the team. She was not accepting any form of comfort. She was crying her eyes out. Her boss, her now-would-be boyfriend had been shot twice. She had seen him, bleeding on the floor, looking like he was dead. She had seen Mateo pull the gun out. But she never heard a shot. Maybe Cruz had put a silencer on the end of the weapon and killed Aaron quickly.
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He was in pain. A blinding light greeted his eyes when he woke up. He had seen two men, then felt white-hot pain rip through his body. He slowly rolled his head from side to side and discovered that his hands had been handcuffed behind him. He was unable to say anything because of the cloth tied around his mouth.
“Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, how nice to see you again,” Hotch’s stalker said, entering the room. The Unit Chief saw he had a bandage around both of his gunshot wounds. He also recognized his stalker right away.
“Oh, I forgot, you can’t speak,” the man said, roughly yanking the cloth away.
“You...how could you? How did you know about me?” Hotch demanded.
“Cruz here found everything. He was my Garcia. Now I know everything about you.”
“What do you want from me?”
“You are here because Jason screwed up big time. He got me fired. Now, he will pay for his mistakes. You will be taking the pain for him. Let’s see him suffer even more.”
“I don’t believe you! You were his best friend. How could you do this to him?”
“Shut up,” the man said, ripping off a strip of duct tape and putting it over Hotch’s mouth. “I don’t want Jason to hear you yet. I’m going to have a nice little chat with him.”
The man pulled out a burner phone and dialed Gideon. He picked up after the second ring.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Hello Jason,” the man said. “You know who I am.”
“No, no way! You’ve been stalking him? How could you?”
“Because you screwed up my whole life. Everything. You cost me my job. That was one of the best things that ever happened to me!”
“What do you want?”
“You to suffer for what you did.”
“You killed our OBGYN, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did. Wasn’t so hard. My prize will be much harder though.”
“Your prize?”
“Why, yes, I do believe I have something that belongs to you that you will most certainly want back.”
“What is it?”
A ripping sound was heard, then came a voice.
“Jason…” Hotch said, unable to finish his thought.
Gideon’s hands became fists.
“You son of a- I hate you!” Jason shouted at the stalker.
“You won’t get him back until you get me what I want. But I’ll call about that in a few days.”
“I will kill you.”
“Nice try, Jason,” Max Ryan snarled into the phone. “You’ll be too late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
Hotch looked incredibly frightened. He couldn’t believe that his co-worker’s former boss was the stalker. The one who knew everything about him. The one who hired Cruz to find the records. And now, the Unit Chief had absolutely no way of escaping from this madman.
“Just look at you,” Max sneered. “BAU Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner completely defenseless and can’t even survive 20 men bursting into his workplace. You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to have you in a place like this. All alone, hurting, suffering, and away from your little friends. Now, what’s your wife going to think about this when she finds out that you’ve been cheating on her?”
“I’m not cheating on my wife! We’re divorced. She cheated on me. I can date whoever I want now!” Hotch yelled.
“Yea, yea, like I would believe any crap that comes out of your mouth. I’m going to torture and beat you until I can’t take it anymore. I’ll even let your girlfriend and little BAU friends watch. But first, I have to speak to Gideon again. We’re going to try and do an exchange. But it will all be fake. You will never leave my sight.”
Ryan pulled out a phone and dialed Gideon. The profiler picked up right away.
“What do you want, Ryan?” Jason snapped. “I’m not in the mood to speak to you. You’re not even my best friend anymore. You’re a betrayer and a liar. I trusted you, but once I heard Hotch, I knew what you’d done. Just let him go and you can have me instead.”
“Why, you’re so brave. But it’s not like I’m going to listen to you. I have what I wanted for years, ever since you screwed up and ruined my life, and nothing will be good enough for me. Unless you will agree to my demands.”
“What do you want?”
“If you want your precious Aaron back alive, then you will do everything I say or I will hurt him.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“I demand a million dollars wired to an untraceable bank account at this number: 2NE1. You have exactly 48 hours from the moment this call ends to get the money or you’re never going to see him again. Understood?”
“Understood, Ryan.”
“Good. Remember, you have 48 hours or he’s dead.”
The line went dead.
TIMER: 47:59:59…
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As Hotch felt Ryan punching him in the face, the Unit Chief remembered bringing in a dangerous killer from two months ago…
The man’s name was Vincent Perotta, and he had killed over a hundred people. The BAU had finally trapped him in an abandoned office building, and when the team entered, they found one of Perotta’s soon-to-be victims lying on the floor, close to death. Hotch had told the team to call a medic, but he was going to find the killer.
As he turned the corner, he was suddenly hit from behind. Luckily, his gun didn’t fall out of his hand. But Perotta tied a cord around the Unit Chief’s throat and began to strangle him. Hotch suddenly gasped for air, the oxygen quickly running out. He felt the darkness trying to claim him, and just when he thought he would fall victim, Morgan arrived and shot Vincent in the shoulder. Hotch collapsed on the ground, coughing and trying to regain his breath.
“You ok?” Morgan asked.
“Yea,” the Unit Chief replied. “Just get that creep out of here before he kills another person.”
Morgan led the unsub out of the building, and had him taken to prison.
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Hotch realized that he must have fallen asleep because Ryan had entered with a projector and a screen. The Unit Chief, still having his hands handcuffed behind a chair, snapped himself awake.
“Good, you’re awake,” Ryan sneered. “This is connected to the BAU’s wifi. You can now see the time you have left before you spend the rest of your days here, suffering. Right now, your time has 47 hours to get me a million dollars.”
The Unit Chief let out a laugh. “Like they’d pay a traitor a million dollars. They’ll never trust you again. They’d do anything to get me back, but they wouldn’t give away that kind of money.”
Ryan’s voice became ice-cold.
“You watch your mouth if you want the full time to live. Otherwise, I’ll kill you and send you back to them.”
Hotch gulped, then stopped talking. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to spend time with Emily since he was deeply in love with her. He was still thinking about the goodbye kiss in the elevator he had given her before he tried to take down Cruz and Ryan.
The former Section Chief entered the room, carrying a bowl of chicken soup, a bottle of water, and a bucket.
“Eat,” Ryan ordered. “You need food to keep you healthy in order for me to torture you longer. You seem like you can take pain for quite a while before you’ll give in.”
“Can I have my cuffs removed so I can at least eat the soup?” Hotch asked.
“Cruz, take off his cuffs and make sure he doesn’t get away. I need him alive.”
Mateo obeyed, but Hotch was quick. Knocking Cruz aside, the Unit Chief almost made it to the door before Ryan noticed that his prisoner was trying to escape. Without wasting another second, Hotch felt the excruciating pain of electricity flowing through his body. He dropped to his knees and turned his head to see an angry Max walking towards him. Ryan grabbed onto his hostage’s ankle and dragged him back into the room. This time, Hotch was forced to stand with his wrists tied above him with a chain.
“I warned you,” Ryan threatened. “You have an electricity belt around your waist that allows me to shock you when I want. And now, you listen to me. I do the demanding and you do the obeying. Otherwise, there will be consequences. I’ll just turn up the setting on this little button. It’s connected to the belt. I do only hope you’ll listen to me.”
Hotch felt the electricity again, but this time the setting had been turned up.
“Disobey me and the next shock will hurt a thousand times worse than what you just felt.”
TIMER: 45:36:56..
“It’s been three hours and we are no closer to getting that money and saving Hotch!” the team heard Gideon shout from Rossi’s office. The members were worried for their boss’s safety, but no one was as upset as Jason was. He had come out of the office and angrily walked over to his desk. Then, he began searching for something on his computer, but with no results. As if his day couldn’t get any worse, his computer monitor started showing an error message and the screen turned blue.
“Stupid computer! You just have to ruin my already bad day even worse!”
Other agents in the bullpen began to snicker when Jason started going on a rant. He slammed his hand against the monitor, but the error message wouldn’t go away. In his anger, he picked up the monitor and threw it across the room. Several agents ducked as it flew through the air and hit the wall.
“JASON, STOP IT!” a voice shouted. It was his wife, who put a hand on her pregnant belly. “CALM DOWN! THROWING YOUR MONITOR ACROSS THE ROOM ISN’T GOING TO HELP GET THE MONEY ANYTIME FASTER!”
Gideon froze at his wife’s yelling. Whenever she yelled, she would get angry and became impatient.
“Alright,” he replied, going over to where the now-broken monitor was.
“Come with me,” she said. “I have a surprise for you.”
He followed his wife into the back hallway of the BAU, where she showed him a sonogram photo.
“You wanted to know the gender, it’s on the top. Just take the Post-It off and you’ll see. Thought it might cheer you up.”
Gideon took off the little empty note, then found the word ‘GIRL’ written in capital letters.
“I love you even more,” he replied. “I was hoping for a little girl.”
“Then I’m glad I gave you your wish.”
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Hotch began looking around the room for some sort of escape plan. He had finally come up with one, but was waiting for the right time.
After Ryan was in the room, his back turned away from Hotch, the Unit Chief began to swing back and forth, gaining some momentum. The chain broke from the swinging motion, and Hotch knocked out Ryan and ran for his life. Stealing Cruz’s cellphone, which had been left on the computer desk, he quickly dialed Gideon and told him the address. The profiler replied, saying that they were going to be at the location in five minutes.
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The team actually arrived early, and Hotch was able to arrest Cruz, but there was no sign of Ryan. Morgan and Reid searched the entire house, but the stalker was nowhere to be found.
“Hotch,” Morgan said once he was outside. “Ryan’s gone. We searched the entire house, but there’s no sign of him.”
“Darn it! How could he have gotten away? I was about to arrest him. But at least we have Cruz. Maybe he can tell us where Ryan went.”
Morgan lead Cruz to another vehicle, and made sure that he wouldn’t try and escape.
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Another case was about to wrap up the next day: a schizophrenic patient at a mental hospital had escaped and was now holding five people hostage on a train.
Gideon and the team, minus one member, arrived at the scene to find SWAT trying to negotiate with the patient.
“Any info on the condition of the hostages inside?” Morgan asked the SWAT leader.
“The hostages appear to be alright at the moment. So far, the man, Doctor Ted Bryar, has released three of his five hostages’ names. He has shot and killed a security guard, but everyone else is alive. The names are Josh Patel, Elaine Curtis, and Harry Anderson. There are two women who have yet to be identified,” the leader said. “Wait, another name has just been released. The first woman is Ted’s doctor, Linda Deaton. She’s treating his condition.”
Morgan reported back to Hotch, but when the profiler arrived back, he noticed that someone was missing. He knew it wasn’t JJ, since she was still in the hospital, but getting out soon.
“Hotch, where’s Elle?” Morgan asked.
The Unit Chief panicked. Elle had gone on a train to investigate a lead in the Bryar case.
“I think she’s on that train,” Hotch replied.
“Sir,” the SWAT leader said after walking over to the group. “There’s a woman on the train who says that she’s from your team. Elle Greenaway.”
“She’s not Greenaway anymore, but yes, that’s her.”
“Oh, I apologize. What’s her name?”
“Elle Greenaway-Gideon.”
“Alright, I’ll see if Bryar will let her talk to you.”
Once the walkie-talkie was handed to Gideon, he paled once he heard his wife’s trembling voice on the other end of the line.
“Jason, please get me out of here,” she said. “He’s crazy.”
“Sweetheart, we’re coming up with something. We’re going to get you out of there.”
Bryar’s voice interrupted. “You will get this machine out of my head or I swear I will kill everyone on this train. Including your precious wife. Now, we wouldn’t want that, would we?”
“If you hurt her in any way, I will make sure you never get out of that hospital. I’ll make sure it happens.”
“Sir, I can help,” Reid said into the walkie-talkie. “I’ve had to deal with this kind of situation before.”
“And how can you help me exactly?”
“I have a schizophrenic mother who sometimes does the exact same things as you.”
“Alright, get on this train in the next five minutes.”
Reid obeyed, making sure he would be able to use his gun if he had to. When he got on the train, Elle had managed to secure Bryar with handcuffs. She was leading him out to the SWAT team, who would take him back to the mental hospital where he lived.
Gideon saw Elle and immediately ran over to her, pulling her into a hug.
“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
“He slapped me and took my gun, but that’s it.”
As she began walking towards the team, Jason noticed that she had a small bump forming. He wanted to name his daughter Jenny after JJ, whose nose was completely healed and false teeth were allowing her to speak properly again. The brain damage was healing quicker than the doctor predicted, and he said that JJ would be able to come back to work in three months instead of waiting a whole year.
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As the team were packing up their things, Hotch was finally able to spend a little time with Prentiss.
“About what happened in the elevator…” she began, but Hotch put a finger to her lips to stop her from finishing.
“I meant it, every moment of it. I’m in love with you, and I know I could lose my job, but I love you and nothing’s going to change about that,” he replied.
“You did? You meant it?”
“Yes.”
She kissed him. “I love you too,” she replied. “Ever since I walked into your office a month ago, it was like we had an instant connection.”
“Will you join me for dinner tomorrow after work?”
“Agent Hotchner, did you just ask me out on a date?” she teased.
“Agent Prentiss, I believe I did,” he teased back. “But, in times like that, you can call me Aaron.”
“Okay,” she said. “And yes, I would love to go to out to dinner with you. Right after work?”
“How about 7?”
“Sounds good. Goodnight, Aaron.”
“Night Emily,” he said, kissing her once more, then grabbing his things and heading out the door.
His phone rang, but the Caller ID was unknown.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Hello Greg,” the voice responded.
“What do you want, Ryan?” Hotch snapped.
“You have no idea where I am, but I will find you. Until we meet again.”
“One little sound and I’ll kill you!” a voice said.
Erin looked around at her surroundings. Rossi and the team were on their way out to the jet. They didn’t seem to realize that she was missing. She felt herself get dragged towards a car off in the distance.
“Help!” she screamed, but no one seemed to hear her.
“Bad move,” the man replied. “I told you not to say anything.”
She felt him hit the back of her head with the .22 caliber, then everything went dark.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Erin suddenly awoke to the sound of Rossi’s alarm going off. What a dream to have on the last night of being single! she thought.
“Dave, shut your darn alarm off; it drives me nuts!” she said, shaking him awake. He shut it off, then jumped out of bed to run to the bathroom.
I’m so hungover, he thought as he went and threw up. Why did I drink so much at my bachelor party?
A honking noise told Erin that Emily and Garcia were ready to pick her up. The bride-to-be was spending the day with her co-workers to get ready for the wedding at five that evening.
As Emily waited for the older woman to come out, she saw that Hotch had texted her.
H: Hi sweetheart, how’s my favorite profiler doing? :)
Emily smiled. Gosh, how she loved this man. He was so kind to her, and he seemed to smile more after getting to know her.
E: Just fine. :) Erin’s going to be coming out soon. I’m so tired.
H: I got coffee back at work. You want some?
E: Yes, that’d be great. So, when do we tell the team about us?
H: When we’re at the church before the wedding. Dave and Erin should know before they’re gone for two weeks. And Jack’s awake, so I got to make him breakfast. I’ll see you at the wedding. Love you.
E: Love you too.
However, Garcia had accidentally snuck a peek at Emily’s phone, and discovered that she was talking to Hotch.
“You and Boss-Man are dating?” the technical analyst asked.
“Garcia! You weren’t supposed to know that yet! We haven’t told anyone yet,” Emily said. “And you looked at my phone, didn’t you?”
“It was an accident! But I knew it was coming. You make him so happy.”
“I do?”
“Haven’t you noticed that he’s been more cheerful lately? Other than his kidnapping and stalker, he’s been a lot happier since you joined the team.”
“I haven’t noticed that as much, but I’ve seen his mood change.”
“So, when are you two going on a date?”
“After the wedding. He’s taking me to dinner.”
“Aww, Boss-Man’s a romantic one.”
Emily saw Erin walking out of the house, looking slightly disheveled. The older woman climbed into the backseat, looking a little sad.
“Chief Strauss, are you ok?” Garcia asked.
“I’m just nervous,” the blond woman replied. “What if I mess up? It’s my wedding, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“You’re not going to ruin your wedding,” Emily spoke up. “Have you seen how much Rossi’s changed ever since you got engaged? Whenever we’re on a plane, he’s so excited about the wedding. That man loves you with all his heart and soul.”
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Nine hours later, Emily pulled the vehicle in front of the church and almost ran it into the curb when she saw JJ standing outside, next to Reid.
“Oh my gosh, it’s really JJ!” the brunette exclaimed. She and Garcia helped Erin out of the car and started walking towards the front door. In the light from inside, Emily saw her co-worker’s engagement ring.
The blond profiler was going to be the one walking Erin down the aisle since her dad had died ten years ago and her mother was in jail for a drug bust.
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Rossi was at the end of the altar, waiting for his wife-to-be to walk down the aisle. Their co-workers, friends, and family were all attending the wedding. The music began to play, and Rossi saw her.
She was absolutely beautiful. He couldn’t imagine his life without her. Before he knew it, she was standing at the end of the altar, holding his hands, preparing to receive her ring.
Rossi said his vows first, then gave her the ring. After three failed marriages, one of which ended in death, and the other two in adultery, he knew that Erin was going to be faithful to him.
He didn’t realize that the ceremony was nearing the end until he was asked the most important question of his life.
“Do you take Erin to be your lawfully wedded wife until death do you part?” the pastor asked.
“Yes, I do,” he replied.
“Do you take Dave to be your lawfully wedded husband until death do you part?”
“Yes, I do,” Erin replied.
“Then by the power vested in me, and the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Erin wrapped her arms around Rossi’s neck as he kissed her.
“I love you,” he said. “Mrs. Rossi.”
“I love you too, Mr. Rossi.”
As the newlyweds made their way to the dance floor, Gideon stood up.
“We have a few announcements to make,” he replied. “I have only told Hotch, but he hadn’t told the rest of the team. We are expecting a little girl and we have adopted a son.”
Reid took his fiancee’s hand. “JJ and I are engaged. And she’s coming back to work in three months instead of waiting a whole year.”
Morgan and Garcia went next.
“We’ve been dating for almost three months,” he said.
“We’re dating also,” Prentiss replied, taking her boss’s hand. “We’re going on our first date today.”
Ambassador Prentiss, Emily’s mother, looked at her daughter with concern. She then threw the look at Hotch, who was told that he needed to be spoken to alone.
Hotch felt like a teenage boy being introduced to a girl’s parents before the first date. But the Unit Chief put himself in profiler-mode, making sure that Ms. Prentiss would like him as a good choice for her daughter.
“So, you’re dating my daughter?” the Ambassador asked.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied. “I’m going to take very good care of her.”
“I would hope so; you’re her boss, are you not?”
“I am her Supervisor, and no, I’m not going to harm her. I love her very much.”
“Isn’t it against the rules for a Supervisor to date or be in a relationship with their subordinate?”
“Not anymore.”
“Well, you have my blessing to date her. Take good care of her, and if you’re not, then we’ll-”
“Mother, haven’t you questioned him enough?” Emily asked. “Yes, he’s my boss, and yes, I love him. Are we done here?”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” the Ambassador said, walking away.
The profiler noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor. “Aaron, what’s that paper doing there?”
Hotch used his sleeve to pick up the paper. A single-typed sentence was on it.
-Watch where you go.-
He suddenly saw a red light pointed at Emily’s chest, right at her heart.
“Emily, get down now!” he ordered, pushing her to the floor. The bullet zipped through the air, missing both of them and hitting the wall.
“Hotch, what’s going on?”
“Someone just tried to snipe you,” he replied, pulling her away from the window. His phone rang, but the number was unknown.
“Yes, who is this?” he said, not even saying a ‘hello.’
“Did you miss me Aaron?” the voice replied. “Of course you did.”
“No I didn’t, would you just leave me alone?”
“No. I like messing around with you. You’re a fast one, pulling your girlfriend out of the way of a sniper’s range.”
“Shut up, Ryan, screw you.”
“You’ll regret ever saying those words.”
Suddenly, the two profilers heard Garcia’s scream from the main room of the church. Hotch and Emily ran in to find the Ambassador lying on the floor, coughing and choking.
“She’s having trouble breathing!” Erin shouted.
In ten seconds, nothing could be done. Ambassador Prentiss was dead.
Hotch felt his phone buzz. He saw that a text had been sent.
-This was all your fault, Aaron. Look what you’ve caused.-
^Ryan^
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
“Hotch, why do you keep staring at your phone?” Rossi asked his best friend.
“It’s Ryan,” the Unit Chief replied. “He’s blaming me for the Ambassador’s death all because I told him ‘screw you.’”
“Why have you been keeping this to yourself?”
“Because I’m going to find that no-good piece of crap and kill him myself,” Hotch said. “Sorry, I’m just in a really bad mood. Since now I just caused the Ambassador’s death.”
“Hotch, it was not your fault. It’s Ryan’s fault. And we’re going to find him. He won’t get out of prison, ever.”
The phone buzzed. Another text from Ryan.
-You really think you’re going to find me? Think again.-
Hotch wanted to throw his phone across the room because he was so angry. But, he decided to let his anger out through a text to the one person he loathed.
-You no-good piece of crap. I will kill you. And if I don’t, then I’ll make sure you rot away forever.-
-Those are some brave words coming from someone like you. But I’m not scared.-
-You should be. Because when I say I will shoot you, that means I will actually do it.-
-Nice try. You got to catch me first.-
-Oh, I will. Just you wait.-
-We’ll see who wins in the end.-
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After the reception, Erin and Dave walked out front to find a limo waiting for them. A “Just Married” sign had been taped to the back window.
“Have fun,” Hotch said, trying to keep his mood at a normal level.
Morgan smirked. “When you come back, am I really gonna want to see the wedding photos?” he teased.
Emily, JJ, and Reid started cracking up.
“Yes, you’ll want to see them,” Rossi replied. “We’ll take lots of pictures.”
The couple waved goodbye, then got into the limo and drove off towards the airport.
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An hour later, Emily was finishing up getting ready for her date. She had changed out of her work clothes and had put on a knee-length black dress with red-velvet shoes. She was putting her hair up in a bun when she heard her cat Sergio meowing. She knew her cat meowed only when people had pulled in the driveway.
Crap, I’m not finished and he’s here! she thought. Grabbing her shoulder purse, she threw in her wallet and driver’s license.
A knock on the door made her nervous. I am going out on a date with my boss. This shouldn’t be too bad.
But when she opened the door, it was not who she expected.
“Hello Emily,” the voice said. “Sorry I had to come like this.”
“No,” she replied. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to say hello.”
“You are not to come near me.”
But he didn’t listen. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and forced himself into her house. “You broke up with me and ruined my life!” It was her ex-boyfriend, Clyde Easter. He used to be her boss, but she quit Interpol and moved to the States.
Just as Clyde prepared to punch her in the face, he suddenly felt a gun touching the back of his head.
“Touch her again and I will kill you,” Hotch said. “You are under arrest for violating a restraining order and attempted assault of a federal agent.”
The Unit Chief handcuffed him and lead him out to the vehicle waiting off in the distance.
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After Clyde was thrown into prison, Hotch found Emily sitting in the bullpen, looking like she was going to cry.
“Hey, are you alright?” he asked, sitting down beside her.
“It’s...it’s just that Clyde was my ex-boyfriend and he was going to kill me when we were together. He threatened me all the time,” she said. “And now I’m going to cry and ruin my makeup.”
“It’s ok,” he continued. He pulled her out of the chair and hugged her comfortingly. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t get out of prison ever again.”
“I just want to leave here.”
“I couldn’t ask for more.”
He grabbed Emily’s hand and intertwined their fingers together as they walked out of the building, attracting strange looks from other agents. They all had the same thought: Oh, she’s just sleeping around with her boss to get a raise.
But what the other agents didn’t know was that Hotch and Emily were actually in love and not just fooling around with each other.
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When she saw the car pull up in front of an expensive pizza restaurant, she couldn’t believe she was actually going to eat here. Her family never went to this place because they didn’t really like pizza, but Emily did. It was her favorite, and the only times she really got to eat it was with her friends when she was growing up. Also, no one knew about her secret abortion.
Hotch opened the door for her and took her hand. He loved her so much, and he wasn’t going to let anything ruin their relationship.
They walked inside, and the waitress called out, “Hotchner, table for two?”
“Yes, that’s us,” he replied.
The waitress lead the new couple over to a table, which was somewhat close to a person that Hotch knew very well.
As the Unit Chief prepared to look at the menu, his phone buzzed. Thinking it was something unimportant, he ignored the buzzing. But then, it began to go off several times. Rolling his eyes and apologizing to his soon-to-be-girlfriend, he pulled out his phone and gasped in horror.
There were four texts from Ryan.
-Hello Aaron.-
-I see you, but you can’t see me.-
-I will go after the people you care about.-
-You can’t and will never catch me.-
“Aaron, what’s wrong?” Emily asked.
“Ryan’s still out there, somewhere. He keeps taunting me with texts and calls. He just told me that he’s going to go after people I care about,” Hotch replied. “When I find him, I’ll kill him myself, no questions asked.”
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The couple ordered dinner and after paying for the bill, they quickly headed out to the car, wanting to be as close to work as they could. They needed to tell the team tomorrow morning that the texts were coming more and more often.
Hotch drove Emily to her house, then walked her to the front door.
“I had a great time,” he said. “But I do have something for you. I had Morgan put them in the car while we were at dinner.”
He revealed a large bouquet of red roses and handed them to her.
“Oh, Aaron, they’re beautiful,” she said. “I’m going to put them in a vase right away.”
“They’re beautiful like you,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
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Hotch had to leave after kissing Emily goodbye because he needed to check on Jack and Jessica.
When the Unit Chief arrived home, he was immediately greeted by his son.
“Daddy!” the boy said, while his father picked him up. “When can I meet Emmy?”
“Soon, buddy, real soon.”
Jessica walked out of the kitchen with Anderson right behind her.
“Hello Anderson, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Hotch said.
“I was just helping Jess out. She’s still in a bit of pain from the...thing. But anyway, I was on my way out.”
He gave Jessica a kiss. “Love you, see you tomorrow.”
“Love you too,” she replied.
Everything seemed just fine until a gunshot and a car’s screeching tires were heard.
“Brian!” Jessica screamed.
“Stay here,” Hotch replied, giving his son to her. Then, the Unit Chief pulled out his gun and made sure that the coast was clear before going outside. On his front porch lay Anderson, bleeding from an abdominal wound.
“Jessica, call 911, I need a medic!” he shouted.
She told Jack to go to his room, then ran to the nearest telephone.
Outside, Hotch noticed a piece of paper lying on the ground. Using his sleeve, he picked up the paper and to his horror, discovered that Ryan had sent him a note.
-You didn’t heed my texts, did you? I guess not. I told you I would go after the people you care about. How’s my dear Jessica doing?-
^Ryan^
Once the paramedics arrived at the house, Anderson was immediately loaded up onto a gurney and driven off to the local hospital. Hotch ran back inside and showed Jessica the note. Her face turned white and she looked like she was about to faint. Hotch carried her over to the couch and made sure she laid down in order to let more blood rush to her head.
He picked up the phone and dialed Gideon.
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Elle heard the phone ring after getting out of the shower. Quickly wrapping the towel around herself, she ran into the bedroom and saw Caller ID.
“Hello Boss,” she said.
“Hi Elle, can I talk to Jason for a minute?” Hotch asked.
“He’s out getting groceries, do you want me to tell him you called?” she asked.
“Yea, sure, that’s fine. Have him call me when he gets home.”
After saying goodbye, Elle grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down: HOTCH NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU. CALL HIM BACK. SOUNDS URGENT.
She headed into her son Stephen’s room, finding him crying. As she bent down to pick him up, she felt her daughter kick.
“Wow, sweetie, stop kicking. Mommy’s getting tired,” Elle said to the little baby inside her. She and Jason had decided on naming their daughter Natalie.
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When Elle woke up the next morning, she felt herself starting to panic. She kept hearing his words over and over again in her head. She didn’t want to go to work, but she was going to have to.
She was being harassed in the workplace. And she couldn’t speak up because her harasser threatened her not to say anything.
When she arrived at the BAU, she headed up to the sixth floor and saw Agent Meyer sitting at his desk. He signaled for her to come with him. Making sure that Hotch and the others were distracted, she followed the agent into a part of the floor that wasn’t occupied- it was the janitor’s closet.
When the door locked behind her, she was so scared. What was she supposed to do?
“We’re alone, at last,” Meyer said, grabbing her wrist and gently stroking it. “My, my, you’re such a beautiful woman. I wish I could have someone like you.”
“I appreciate the compliment,” she said. “But I’m already married.”
“Your husband doesn’t have to know about us,” he replied, moving closer to her. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”
“Meyer, enough! I’m married. I love my husband and he loves me. I’m not going to start an affair!”
“Too bad,” he said, pressing his lips against hers, then opening the door.
Meanwhile, Gideon had noticed that Elle had gone off to the back of the building. Something didn’t feel right.
As he reached the back of the building, he turned the corner...and saw his wife kissing another man.
Jason felt so dizzy. His face drained of all its color and he was turning white. He began to walk away from the scene, but just as he reached the bullpen, he suddenly felt his vision going away.
“Gideon!” Hotch shouted, running over to his best friend, and catching him before he hit his head on the floor.
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Jason regained consciousness a few minutes later, and when he woke up, he realized he was lying on the break room couch.
“Where...where am I?” he asked, looking at the faces of his co-workers.
“You’re in the break room,” Hotch explained. “You looked so pale, and that’s when you passed out.”
“Is it ok if I go home for the rest of the day? I need some time apart from my wife.”
“Why? Is there anything going on?”
“I passed out because I saw my wife kissing another agent. Agent Meyer.”
The team gasped in horror. They couldn’t believe that one of their own would sabotage a marriage.
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The clock reached 6 PM, and Jason knew that his wife would be home from work any minute. If this marriage was going to end, he would take it. He didn’t want to be married to a cheating spouse. But Elle was the first person he ever married, and after dating several other women in the past, he realized that the dating scenario wasn’t his forte.
He heard the key turn in the lock, and started fiddling with his wedding band.
Should I take it off? he thought. No, wait, let me hear her out first before we end the marriage.
“Hi honey,” he heard her say. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then set her car keys down on the mantel.
That’s funny, Gideon thought. A kiss on the cheek. It’s usually on the lips. I suspect something.
“I have something to tell you,” she continued. “But first, you know I love you, right?”
He started to pale.
“Jason, what’s going on?”
“I...I saw you...and him…” Gideon began.
“Oh no! Jay, I’m so sorry! That guy kissed me.”
“He...he did?”
“Meyer’s been harassing me at work for about three weeks. He’s been hitting on me, asking me to join him on dates, sending inappropriate pictures, and recently started kissing me when I didn’t want him to.”
“He’s been harassing you? Why didn’t you tell me or Hotch?”
“Meyer threatened that he would kill Natalie if I told anyone. He’s also been touching me. I tried to push him away, but he was quicker.”
“He touched you?!” Gideon asked in astonishment.
“Several times. I told him I was married, but he wouldn’t stop. He was trying to get me to start an affair with him.”
“I’m so sorry, Elle, to think you were cheating on me. I love you so much and I don’t know what I would do without you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “And I love you too. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here with you.”
“Has Natalie been driving you crazy all day?” he asked.
“She’s been kicking several times- oh, she’s doing it right now!” Elle exclaimed.
Jason put his hands on his wife’s stomach and felt his daughter kicking.
“Hi sweetie, it’s good to hear something from you,” he said.
But, before they could watch their usual evening TV, his phone buzzed. He gasped in horror when he realized who the message was from.
-I’m sad to hear about your little marriage scare. I was worried that she might just leave you for that guy, oh, what was his name? That’s right, it was Agent Meyer.-
Gideon, in a furious rage, almost broke his phone typing the message.
-I’m going to kill you. Hotch will get a piece of you before we both kill you. And Meyer, does he work for you?-
-Yes, he does. But he’s already gone. Never to be seen again.-
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When Gideon and Elle entered the bullpen, Hotch and the rest of the team looked at the couple in shock. Yesterday, Jason was upset at her for supposedly starting an affair. And now, they were holding hands and walking in like the ‘thing’ never happened.
“What’s the story?” Morgan asked, while watching Garcia head back to her workspace.
Ignoring the question, Gideon asked to speak to Hotch alone.
In the office, Hotch sat down at his desk and pulled out his notepad at Elle’s request. “Boss, I want to report a case of sexual harassment,” she said. “Against Agent Meyer.”
“Alright, can you describe to me what happened between you and Agent Meyer that started this whole thing?”
“About three weeks ago, Meyer touched me inappropriately. He told me to come to the back of the building, and he told me that we would be starting a secret affair because he threatened to kill my daughter and ruin my marriage. So, secretly and with coercion, I had to be in an ‘affair.’ He asked me out on dates, kissed and touched me without my consent. And that’s when Gideon saw me. We made up last night.”
“That’s all I needed to know, and I will be putting a sexual harassment report, which will be given to Strauss when she comes back.”
Elle and Jason walked out and headed towards his office. The team was looking at their latest case, but noticed where the couple was heading. They disappeared into the office and the door was shut.
Hotch heard a thud! and walked out, noticing that his team, minus Gideon and Elle, were staring at the locked door.
“What’d I miss?” the Unit Chief asked.
“Um…” was all Reid could mutter. “You missed a package from an Agent Meyer.”
“But what was that banging noise?”
“Either Gideon or Elle fell against the door.”
“Ok then, I’ll just investigate later.”
Hotch walked out and heard another thud!
He sauntered over to the door. “What are you two doing in there?!”
“Hotch…” came Elle’s weak voice.
“Gideon, open the door now!”
The door opened and the Unit Chief saw Elle lying on the floor, coughing up blood and screaming in pain.
“Morgan, call 911, we’ve got a problem!” Hotch shouted.
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The doctor, holding a clipboard, came out to the waiting room.
“Family of Elle Gideon?” he asked.
“I’m her husband,” Jason replied.
“Please come with me. I need to speak to you alone.”
Jason followed the doctor into another room.
“I’m sorry, but the baby’s gone,” the doctor said. “There was nothing we could do.”
“My daughter is dead?!” Jason shrieked.
“We ran some blood tests and discovered that your wife had been drugged. It was slow-acting, but deadly to a fetus. Your wife will make a full recovery.”
The words pelted him like rocks. He started to cry. His child had been killed. He knew Elle would never take drugs or do anything to harm their baby.
The only other explanation was that someone had slipped Elle a spiked food or drink.
Gideon felt his phone buzz. A text from Ryan.
-I’m sorry for your loss. Not really. This is exactly how I felt when you screwed up and ruined my life.-
The profiler wanted this piece of crap wrung from his neck.
-You killed my child, you piece of crap! I will murder you, not matter how long it takes.-
-I wouldn’t sound so confident, Jason. Look what you’ve caused.-
-You deserve to be in prison.-
-Nice try. But you’re not going to catch me.-
Hotch looked up from the case file he was reading when he saw Jason walk out, looking very upset. He had tears running down his face.
“Gideon, what happened?” the Unit Chief asked, dropping the magazine on the seat and running over to his best friend. Reid, who had just returned with JJ, saw the look on his face and immediately went into profiler mode.
“That creep Ryan...he murdered our baby,” Gideon said, the tears continuing to fall. “He killed my daughter.”
“Oh, Jason, I’m so sorry,” Hotch replied, pulling him into a hug.
“Ryan slipped something into her food or drink. She’s going to recover, but how am I supposed to tell her about the baby once she wakes up?”
“That’s for you or the doctor to tell her,” Hotch spoke up. “I don’t know how I would deal with this.”
Jason decided to visit his wife, who was just coming out of her medically-induced unconsciousness. She had to have the baby surgically removed, and would now be recovering for three weeks.
“Jason,” Elle said once her husband came in. She noticed his depressed mood. “What’s wrong?”
“Natalie’s gone,” he said. “Ryan killed our daughter.”
“No! No, it can’t be!” Elle replied.
“I’m sorry, honey, but he slipped you something that killed Natalie. You’re now on work medical leave for the next three weeks. The doctor said that after six weeks we can try again.”
“I just want to go home and lie down.”
“Well, you do need to stay and recover for a couple of days, then you can go home.”
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While Elle rested in the hospital and JJ on bedrest at home for about eleven more weeks, Hotch asked SSA Jordan Todd to take Elle’s place. The SSA learned that Morgan was on the team, and she had a plan to get Morgan to be her boyfriend. But she knew nothing about him dating Garcia.
The latest case was two high-school students getting murdered. The BAU believed that the students had died because of a cult, but as they began to gather evidence, they discovered that only one person was behind the crime: a teenager named Cory Bridges. He had killed both students, and now was holding Reid as a hostage.
The genius had seen what this man had done to the other two victims.
“If you make a mistake, I’m going to kill your friend here,” Cory said, taunting Morgan. The profiler was waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. They were actually outside an abandoned house where the second body had been found.
Jordan came around the back of the house and shot Cory in the shoulder. Reid broke free of his holder’s grasp and collapsed in Morgan’s arms.
As Emily and Rossi lead Cory out to the waiting vehicle, Reid noticed that JJ was calling.
“Hi sweetie, I’m actually heading back to the station,” he said. “Did you need something?”
“I just needed to hear your voice,” she replied. “I’m so lonely, but I appreciate you leaving everything out for me. I can easily grab the things when I need them. Are you coming back to Quantico soon?”
“I should be back there later tonight. Have you given any more thought as to when we should get married?”
“Maybe after this creep is arrested and thrown in jail.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I can’t wait to see Hotch kick the crap out of that guy.”
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But Reid was barely able to spend time with his fiancee because in the middle of night, he got a call from Gideon, saying that a body had been found. But it had nothing to do with the Cory Bridges case.
“JJ,” the genius said after getting off the phone. “Got a call from Gideon. There’s been another body. Completely different case.”
“Ok,” she replied. “I really wish you didn’t have to go.”
“I wish I didn’t have to either,” he replied. “I want to stay here with you.”
He gave her a kiss, then threw on his work clothes and headed out the door.
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He walked into work, extremely tired. He noticed that Gideon was even more upset and depressed. The profiler wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone, and he couldn’t keep his full focus on the case.
“Jason,” Hotch said. “If you want to go see her, I’ll have Anderson come and work the case. You need to be with your wife. She needs you more than ever.”
“I think I will,” Gideon replied.
He signed out and immediately headed to the hospital to spend his time with his wife.
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Hotch was contemplating on whether to call Rossi in the middle of his honeymoon. He and Erin were coming back in ten days, but the team did need some help. With two members out on medical leave and another suffering from loss, the team needed a few more people to come and work with them. Todd had settled in nicely and Anderson had come over as soon as he had been paged.
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Two weeks later, the case was officially closed. It didn’t take long for Garcia and her excellent hacking skills to figure out that the unsub was a cannibal. She had found where he was hiding, and the team was on their way to arrest him before he killed anyone else.
Rossi and Erin were back from their honeymoon. They had been sad about leaving, but they knew their jobs were very important.
Erin had told her team that she didn’t mind being called by her maiden name. When she arrived back, she found about 50 sheets of paper on her desk. On top of the stack of papers was Elle’s sexual harassment report.
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Ryan just sat outside the BAU, watching every one of them carefully. He had found some very interesting info about Erin...and he planned to expose it.
Picking up his burner phone, he dialed her number from the photocopied version of the BAU’s phonebook.
“Strauss,” she said.
“Hello Karen,” Ryan responded.
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Erin had been sorting through the stack of papers when she heard the desk phone ring.
She answered it, and suddenly froze when he said her name. Her REAL name.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“You don’t know? I was an old friend,” the voice replied. “Why’d you change your name, Karen? Is it because of Bill, your first husband?”
“Who are you and how do you know that information?”
“You should already know who I am. While we continue to talk, do you want me to call you Karen? Or Erin?”
Rossi, reading the case file board, looked towards Erin’s office and suddenly noticed his wife turning white. She looked like she wanted to cry.
“We’re done with this conversation,” Erin snapped. “I’ll have this call traced and have you arrested.”
“I don’t think so. You see, I have a friend that can hack anything and find out some very interesting things that are hidden for years. He found your records. You have a very interesting past. Working for Homeland Security, married to a Bill Buchanan, but then he committed suicide in an explosion. Must have killed you so much emotionally that you couldn’t bear to live as Karen Hayes-Buchanan anymore. And now, your life as Section Chief Erin Strauss-Rossi must be so much better. Also, you won’t be able to trace this call, it’s being done on a burner phone. And by the time this call ends, I’ll be gone. I look forward to meeting you, Karen.”
The line clicked, and Erin set the phone back on its cradle. Her breathing picked up in a panic, and she let her tears fall.
Rossi walked into her office and closed the door behind him.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I...I have a past. I changed my name after my husband died. Someone called me, calling me by my real name and telling me about my past. They knew it all,” she said, breaking down in his arms.
“I believe the same person who called you is Max Ryan, the man who stalked and kidnapped Hotch. Ryan managed to escape. We have no clue where he is.”
Rossi suddenly heard his phone buzz. A text had arrived.
-Hi Dave, did you appreciate my little phone call to your wife?-
^Ryan^
The profiler immediately responded back.
-What do you want with us?-
-Payback for ruining my life. I told Aaron I would go after the people he cares about. And your wife is one of them.-
-I’m going to rip you to shreds.-
-Nice try. I’m not afraid and never will be.-
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
The next morning was just another ordinary day in Quantico. But what the BAU didn’t know was that high winds were headed their way. And it would change Erin and Hotch’s lives forever, learning that Fate was everywhere and could strike at any moment.
The Section and Unit Chief had to take a break from the case for about an hour and wash the sixth floor windows from the outside.
Erin and Hotch got into the window-washing platform and rode up to the sixth floor. Between the two of them, the job was taking less time than they expected.
The two finished their task in half an hour, and prepared to head back to the bullpen, grab the team, and head off to the jet.
But, suddenly, there was a quick, sudden shift in the wind change. The platform, unable to stay still, was blown away from the building and began moving around in the air.
The rest of the team was on their way to the jet, when they heard a terrifying noise. Rossi turned around and gasped in horror at the sight of the platform crashing into the window. He heard the glass shatter, and realized that his wife was still on the platform.
“Erin’s still up there!” Rossi shouted to the team. “I’ll dial a response team.”
The team continued to watch the platform spiral out of control as the supporting line snapped from the roof.
Rossi realized that with the support line broken, if the wind continued to push the platform around, the other two cables would snap and both his wife and Hotch would fall to their deaths.
Meanwhile, dangling six stories above the hard concrete, Erin and Hotch had grabbed onto the sides of the platform and held on for dear life.
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The response team quickly headed up to the sixth floor and tried to calculate when the platform would crash into another window. Erin and Hotch were still holding on to the side, hoping that the cables wouldn’t snap. But, just as they thought they were going to fall to their deaths, the platform crashed through the window where the rescue team was. The two superiors saw that this was their only escape chance. They ran off the platform and into the building, where Erin saw her husband running to her.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m a little shaken,” she replied.
But she started crying. “I thought I was going to die. I thought I’d never see you again.”
He pulled her into his welcoming arms. “It’s ok, you’re safe now.”
Emily saw her boyfriend shaking with fear. She lead him away from the window. She hugged him comfortingly.
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Eight weeks passed, and JJ was only a matter of days away from coming back to work. She missed working cases and hunting down unsubs. They had arrested a kidnapper after he abducted a child from a local park. They had been searching long and hard for a month and a half, and they finally found him, hiding at his mother’s house. The boy was alive and returned home to his family.
But now, the team was investigating a poisoning case. Elle had walked into the house and tried to take some pictures, but the awful smell of death began to overpower her. She felt like she was going to vomit.
“Excuse me,” she said, running outside to get away from the smell.
“Jason!” Morgan called down the hall. The older profiler had been looking through the victim’s computer with Garcia when he heard his name being called.
“Yes Morgan?” Jason asked.
“Elle ran outside, looking really sick. The guy hasn’t been dead that long, but she ran out like he’d been dead for two weeks.”
Gideon walked out to the backyard, and found his wife with her head between her knees. Morgan had been right- she looked so ill.
“Are you feeling alright?” Jason asked her.
“I think so, but I think that guy has been dead for too long and the smell just hit me.”
“Reid said the guy’s only been dead for about seven hours.”
“It smelt like two weeks. I don’t feel so great.”
“I’ll ask Hotch if I can take you home. I don’t want you working if you’re not feeling so good.”
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After Gideon dropped his wife off at home, he noticed that she immediately headed for the toilet. She looked so pale, and he wondered if he should stay home with her.
“Go back to the scene,” she said. “I know where the medicine is. I’ll see you when you come home.”
He was reluctant, but he told her to call him if she needed anything.
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She saw that stick lying on the counter with its pink lines. She had accidentally thrown the box in the trash, but left the instructions next to the sink.
The directions, near the bottom, read: IF THERE ARE TWO LINES, YOU’RE PREGNANT. IF THERE IS ONE LINE, YOU’RE NOT PREGNANT.
She was sweating nervously. What would Gideon say about the results? Would he leave her?
Picking up the stick, she saw the two lines.
“I’m pregnant!” she shouted to the empty house. She couldn’t wait to tell her husband. They had lost their first child, and now there were going to have a second one.
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When Jason arrived home, he saw that his wife was more excited then she had been that morning. She didn’t look sick at all anymore.
I guess the medicine worked, he thought.
“You look much better,” he said. “Did you get rid of the bug?”
“It wasn’t a bug,” she replied. “I’ve got bigger news.”
“Bigger news?”
“Yes. You’re going to be a daddy.”
It took him a minute to process what she had just told him. But once he understand, he was crying happy tears. They would have their own family. The one thing they wanted in their marriage.
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Emily was getting ready to leave for another date with Hotch. They’d been going out for two months and their love for each other was stronger every day.
They had decided to go to the new Mexican restaurant around the corner from the BAU. What Emily didn’t know was that it was Tango Tuesday at the restaurant. Hotch had planned to take her dancing.
After taking their seats, the live band started playing Tango, and Hotch got out of his seat and faced his girlfriend.
“Emily, would you care to dance with me?” he asked, holding his hand.
“Yes, I would love to,” she replied, taking his hand.
There were about 50 other people in the restaurant, and everyone’s attention was on Hotch and Emily, who surprisingly had amazing dancing skills.
Emily had taken Tango lessons in her free time, and Hotch had learned them while he was still married to Haley.
After dancing for about 15 minutes, they took their seats and decided to order dinner. While looking at the menu, Emily noticed her boyfriend’s tan line on his ring finger. She suddenly thought she had caused an affair.
“Hotch, I need to go,” she said. “I don’t want to ruin your relationship with your wife.”
“Emily, I’m divorced,” he replied, placing his hand over hers. “My wife cheated on me with JJ’s husband. Our marriage was over several months before you joined the team. We’ve both moved on from each other.”
“I saw the tan line and was afraid.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything. I’m more in love with you every day.”
“And I love you too,” she replied. “When you catch the man who murdered my mom, let me have a piece of him before you kill him.”
“Certainly,” he said.
His phone buzzed, and it was a text from Ryan.
-You think you’ll get a piece of me? Think again. What did I tell you before? You’re not going to catch me.-
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
“Agent Hotchner, I need to speak to you in my office now. It’s urgent,” Strauss said to her subordinate. He had been looking at the bulletin board containing the name of the man who had poisoned fifteen people.
Hotch walked into his boss’s office and closed the door.
“Agent Hotchner, I’m aware of your stalker because he contacted me and taunted me about my past. I got word from the city prison that Cruz had escaped. They have no idea where he is or how he got out undetected. But whatever plan these two have formed seems like it won’t go so well in the end,” Erin said.
Hotch’s phone rang. The Section Chief said she would have Garcia trace the call.
He didn’t respond with a ‘hello,’ and instead waited for the other person to speak.
“Hello Greg,” the voice responded.
His face drained of its color. Ryan was back, still out there, still having secret info that had been hidden for years.
“Do you still want me to call you Greg? Or do you want me to call you Aaron?”
“My entire team is searching for you. They will find you. And you will spend the rest of your life in a prison cell where you belong.”
“Ha, like I’m scared. Oh, Mr. Big and Scary Aaron Hotchner threatens to find me. But I’ll be out of the city before you can even find out where I’m been over the past few months. And by the way, I know about your little near-death experience with the platform. But I didn’t cause it because it was the wind.”
“I’m going to put a bullet between your beady little eyes. But my team will get a piece of you before you die. I’ll watch them beat the crap out of you.”
“Hmm, very lovely. But you’ll never catch me.”
“We’ll see. I’ve got a very skilled technical analyst that can find anything.”
“I’ll be gone, using methods to escape that are untraceable.”
“We’ll see about that.”
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After having a conversation about Ryan, Strauss told Hotch that Garcia had found the location of the poisoner. But, another case had come in: a man in Aurora, Nebraska, had been found with a missing arm. The killer was supposed to be a two-person team, a husband and wife, but supposedly, the wife wasn’t guilty. Hotch told his boss that they would arrest the poisoner, bring him back to the station, and fly to Nebraska to talk to the police.
Within 15 minutes, the team reached the poisoner’s home, where he was about to kill his own doctor with an LSD overdose.
“Set it down!” Morgan shouted, gun pointed right at the unsub.
The man set his killing agent aside, was arrested, and taken back to the BAU prison, where he would remain until he went on trial for fifteen counts of murder.
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After the unsub was securely locked away in a holding cell, Hotch and the team headed off to the jet, which had just finished getting refueled. They had some clothes in their suitcases, but it would only last for a week. Hopefully, the case would be over soon.
The Unit Chief decided to visit his brother while he was in Nebraska. Sean had moved there after a great job opportunity had been offered.
He and his two younger cousins were all living together until the cousins could get a place of their own.
Sean lived in a house about two miles away from Aurora. What he didn’t know was that his house would be ripped to shreds later that evening.
Aaron and the team arrived at the airport around four in the afternoon. The sky was somewhat sunny, but the clouds were telling a different story.
Hotch’s instincts were telling him that the weather wasn’t going to be pleasant that evening, and that they should be close to his brother’s house.
Emily and Reid decided to go to the fast food restaurant just outside the airport and grab some dinner for the team. They had gotten reports from Strauss that severe thunderstorms were headed their way and that they shouldn’t investigate the scene until tomorrow, when the storms would have dissipated.
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It was five minutes until 9 that night, and Hotch saw how dark the sky was. It wasn’t entirely black, but with his instincts and Reid’s years of reading about the weather, Hotch gasped in horror as he noticed streaks of green in the sky.
The Unit Chief that a greenish-blackish sky meant danger was coming.
“Everyone, get in the car now!” he shouted. “We need to get to my brother’s house and warn him! There’s a tornado coming!”
The team knew how dangerous and deadly this type of weather could be. They had seen the stories on the news of what tornadoes could do to homes and people.
Rossi had pulled out his big video camera and got out of the car, prepared to film the scene beginning to unfold in front of them.
“Rossi, what are you doing? Get in the car!” Hotch shouted.
“I’m ok,” the profiler replied. “I was a storm chaser for 15 years before joining the BAU.”
He jumped back in the car, and Hotch immediately picked up the phone and dialed his brother.
“Hotch, is that you?” Sean’s voice immediately responded.
“Yes, it’s me! I’m coming towards your house, but a tornado’s headed your way! Get to the basement now!”
“I’m on it!” he shouted.
Meanwhile, Sean shouted to his cousins to run to the basement, with him grabbing a flashlight and his cell phone, then running for his life.
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Exactly four minutes later, a small funnel touched down in a field, but quickly grew in size. With Hotch holding the video camera and Rossi driving, the rest of team watched in horror as their teammate headed straight for the monster in front of them.
As if driving towards a monster tornado wasn’t bad enough, Hotch looked at his phone and received a text from Ryan.
-I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Don’t believe anything that anyone says. Who knows if Rossi really was a storm chaser 30 years ago? You really want to die?-
Hotch was furious. He was sick of this creep talking to him.
-I believe him. I know when he’ll turn away from it. You’re more of a monster than this black thing in front of us that could possibly end our lives.-
-You’re really going to compare me to a tornado? I thought you be more scared of weather than me.-
-How do you know where I am anyway? You got a mole among my team?-
-Now why would I do that? If you’re so smart, Mr. Agent, profile them all. Break the rules. I wouldn’t care.-
-You’re just sick. I will end you.-
Rossi, his eyes sharp on the road, watched as a dog food building lost some of its roof from the twister. Within a few seconds, he watched in horror as the spinning air column headed straight for Sean’s house.
“Hotch, it’s hitting your brother’s place!” the profiler shouted.
“No! Please tell me he took shelter in the basement!” Hotch replied. He was silently praying that his brother had obeyed him.
As Rossi followed the tornado around for about 15 minutes, he saw the damage that it had done. Trees were uprooted and snapped, several homes, including Sean’s had been ripped to shreds, and two people died.
Once the storm dissipated, Hotch was running to his brother’s destroyed home and saw Sean, holding his cousins, walking out of the basement without a scratch on them. They were extremely lucky to be alive. Sean thought that if his brother hadn’t called him, then he would have died.
“Sean!” Hotch shouted, hugging his brother. “Are you alright?”
“I’m alright, but I know my house isn’t,” the younger Hotchner replied. “I knew it was a bad idea to move here. I should have stayed in Quantico.”
“No, that job was really important to you, Sean. I told you that if you wanted the job, then you could take it. You seemed really happy about it.”
“Yea, but now my house is destroyed and I don’t have the money to rebuild it.”
“You can stay with me,” Hotch said to him. “I’m sure that Jack will want to see you. You can stay as long as you want.”
“Really? Thanks brother.”
“You’re welcome.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
“What are we going to do about the scene?” Hotch asked as the team drove to the spot where the man’s body had been found. The tornado had thrown pieces of debris all around the body, messing up the entire scene. Evidence was either destroyed or missing.
“Can we even investigate this?”
“I don’t know, I’ll call Strauss,” Rossi replied. Once his wife picked up the phone, she sounded extremely worried.
“Dave! Are you alright? I heard about the storm!” she exclaimed.
“Calm down, honey, I’m alright. The team’s fine, but Sean’s house has been destroyed.”
“I’m sorry, I was just really worried. I was scared that you had died.”
“I chased the storm, but I think everyone else is a bit frightened. And Ryan seems to know that we’re in Nebraska. I don’t know how he’s able to determine our location.”
“I want him arrested and brought back to Quantico alive. I need to ask him a few questions.”
“I’ll make sure he is. Sorry, Amore Mio, I’ve got to go back to the scene. I’ll see what we can do about it. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
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Ryan, hidden behind several damaged cars, watched the team investigate. They had no idea what was coming.
He remembered breaking into the Gideon household and finding the pregnancy test in the bathroom trash can.
I guess she can have the kid this time, Ryan thought. She deserves to be happy. She wasn’t really part of the whole thing. It’s Gideon and Hotch that I need to be worried about. They’re the ones that really need to pay for what they did to me. Gideon especially.
He pulled up his phone and checked in with his invisible camera/listening device. It was so small that it could easily slip by airport security undetected by the metal scans.
“Very interesting,” he said to himself. “It’s almost time. Just a little more time to watch and stalk him and nothing will ever be the same again.”
Ryan imagined having Hotch in his hands, completely defenseless and unable to fight. Cruz was hiding somewhere in the city, wanting to be as far away from Quantico as he could get.
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The Unit Chief looked around at the damage again and didn’t find any evidence. The husband and wife serial killers would be executed any day, and the wife was claiming that she was innocent.
He had no idea what would happen to this case. And how exactly was Ryan knowing where they were at all times?
This creep was going to rot away in prison once he was caught. And Hotch would make sure that he would never get out.
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Mysteriously, three weeks later, the team had arrested the person responsible for killing the man who was missing an arm was found hiding behind a dumpster. The wife was released, but not before being shot by her husband.
As the team walked back to the station with the killer in handcuffs, Ryan, Cruz, and their newest accomplice sat in a car. Cameras were quickly taking pictures, and the three figures just sat back and relaxed.
“How much longer are you going to wait before you’ll grab him?” Cruz asked.
“A little while longer,” Ryan said, his fingers tapping impatiently on the dashboard. “I want to mess around for a bit longer before he’s in my hands.”
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After the team returned to Quantico, the first thing Reid wanted to do was see JJ. She was due to start working tomorrow, and he had missed her greatly.
He drove home and found his beautiful fiancee lying on the couch, watching TV. She paused her show when she saw Reid walk through the doorway.
“Hi beautiful,” he said, walking over to the couch and picking her up off of it. “Are you feeling ok?”
“Yes, I’m just excited to go back to work tomorrow,” she replied. “I miss everyone. And I can’t wait to talk to Emily again about her and Hotch. I tell her about you, Spence. Our relationship.”
“Oh, please don’t reveal the details about Emily and Hotch’s relationship.”
“Oh, come on, it’s not weird. She justs me how great Hotch is. How much of a romantic he is. He even took her Tango dancing.”
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The next day, JJ was warmly welcomed back and given a new case. College students in New Mexico had been tortured, then killed. Also, Hotch told the team that Ryan had published a book about a new development in a case he solved eighteen years ago. The creep was still out in the world, hiding, obviously waiting for something. The team was taking extra precautions and making sure there was security outside Hotch’s house twenty-four seven in case Ryan decided to break in.
Hotch’s instincts were also telling to stick close to someone. He felt like he was being watched, but he never saw anyone. He would always think it was his imagination tricking him.
While Hotch was investigating the case, his phone rang. It was Haley calling.
“Yes, Haley, what do you want?” he said.
“I want full custody of Jack,” she replied. “FULL.”
“No way, not after you betrayed me and ran off with Will. I’m sure you’re happily married to him. You are in no way getting any custody of my son.”
“He’s our son, Aaron! He deserves to see his mother!”
“No, he doesn’t! Do you remember the trial? The judge gave you no rights to see him. The house, money, car, and Jack are all in my custody. You get half the money. But nothing else belongs to you.”
Haley groaned in frustration. “I’m still in love with you, Aaron. Would you ever take me back?”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT! You cheated on me! My love for you was done the moment you told me of your affair. I’m in love with someone else.”
“I knew it! I knew you were cheating on me with JJ! I was right all along!”
“I’m not with JJ! It’s someone else. You have no idea how much I love her. I love her more than you could imagine. Goodbye, Haley.”
He hung up the phone, angry at his ex-wife. How dare she try and take away Jack!
CHAPTER THIRTY:
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Two months after closing the New Mexico college student case and their latest case, which was murders committed by a vigilante, the team was now traveling to LA to investigate the stalking of a Hollywood actress named Lila Archer. What Reid didn’t know was that once he saw Lila, she would become immediately attracted to him.
She came to the police station a couple of days later to talk to Reid about a possible suspect who might have stalked her. They were acquaintances, and Lila really wanted to ask him out on a date, knowing that he was already engaged to his co-worker.
“Hey Spencer,” she said, noticing that the blond woman was not around.
“Hey Lila,” he replied, looking through his case file.
“I came to talk about a possible suspect in the case, but I just wanted to talk to you alone. Do you have any plans this weekend?”
“Hm, probably on Saturday, I’m going to sort through old cases.”
“I’m going to see a Calculus Seminar on Sunday.”
“Oh, that one? It sounds really great.”
“If you want, you can come with me.”
“I would love to, but I’m supposed to hang out with Jennifer that day.”
“You could bring her,” Lila said, a little disappointed.
“Yea, but she’s not really interested into that kind of math.”
“Well, maybe another time I can tell you about the seminar. Maybe over dinner or something,” Lila replied, successfully hitting on Reid without him noticing.
Reid became startled and dropped his case file on the floor.
“I’ll talk to you later, Lila. I think you should tell my boss about the possible suspect.”
He picked up the file, left the room, and headed out to the station’s bullpen, where Morgan was talking to Garcia over the computer.
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The next day at lunch, Rossi and Morgan were already sitting in a conference room, eating lunch when Reid walked in.
Once the genius sat down, he said, “Something weird happened to me yesterday, and I need your advice.”
Rossi sat down the salad he had been eating. “What happened?”
“Our victim Lila asked me out on a date, and I don’t know what to do. It’s weird.”
The other profilers noticed that Reid was smiling as he spoke.
“Oh my gosh, you’re loving it!” Morgan exclaimed.
“To my core!” Reid replied. His smile started to fade a bit. “Of course I’m not going to join Lila; I’m engaged to JJ and am more in love with her every day.”
Hotch walked into the conference room, carrying his lunch of a turkey and cheese sandwich with an apple and a bag of carrots and celery.
“What are we talking about over lunch today?” the Unit Chief asked as he pulled out his sandwich.
“Lila’s totally hitting on Reid and he’s loving it,” Rossi replied.
“Well, that’s not acceptable.”
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Hotch needed to tell JJ what was going on, but it wasn’t really his business to get involved in his subordinates’ personal lives. But he needed JJ to be aware of the situation when she saw Lila tomorrow.
“Jennifer, may I see you in the conference room alone please?” he asked in front of his entire team.
Their eyes fell onto her, as she swallowed hard and followed her boss away from the bullpen.
The door was closed, and JJ felt slightly scared. What could Hotch have to say to her that needed a closed door?
“You’re not in trouble or anything. I just need to speak to you about an urgent matter regarding Reid,” Hotch said.
“Reid? What did he do?” she asked.
“He didn’t do anything, but he has been the victim of flirtation from a woman other than you. From our stalking victim Lila.”
“Lila’s hitting on my fiance?”
“The problem is, Reid’s loving the fact that another woman is hitting on him.”
JJ couldn’t believe what Hotch was telling her.
“So, basically, you’re saying that Reid’s cheating on me with Lila?”
“No, but it’s a possibility.”
JJ felt the tears coming. She couldn’t believe that she would get cheated on for the second time. First Will and now Reid.
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Once the team arrived at their hotel rooms, JJ was heading up the stairs and saw Reid coming out of the room he shared with Hotch.
“Hey Beautiful,” Reid said, holding a basket of laundry along with detergent.
“Hm, you seem really happy today,” JJ replied, a somewhat-fake smile on her face. “Anything in particular?”
“Nothing much. Morgan was snoring in the car on the way to the station this morning, so I got to listen to the radio without interruptions.”
JJ was still waiting for Reid to say, “I’m now dating Lila and have broken off the wedding with you.”
She tried questioning him again.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Um, I found a game called Minecraft while I waited for dinner to cook. I started playing it, and it’s a pretty awesome game,” Reid replied.
“Seems like you had a really great day,” JJ said, continuing to fake-smile, then turning around and began walking to her room, which was just down the hall from her fiance’s.
“The one thing that will make it better is an evening with my special woman.”
JJ decided that now was the time to confront him. “Oh, and who is your special woman exactly?”
Reid looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I just was wondering who your special woman was. Do you mean your fiancee or Lila Archer, the stalking victim?”
“Why would I mean Lila?”
“Because I know that Lila hit on you and you liked it!” JJ shouted, attracting attention from Hotch, who was eating his bowl of pasta.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Spencer Reid,” she snapped, opening her door and slamming it in his face.
Reid looked surprised. How could JJ found out about Lila? The only explanation was that someone had told her.
“Hotch, did you mention something to Jennifer about Lila?” Spencer asked once he walked back into his hotel room.
“I needed to, Reid, I’m her boss,” Hotch replied.
“She hates me now! I love JJ, and now she thinks I hurt her! Why did you have to tell her?!”
Reid stormed out of his room and went down the hall to Morgan’s room.
The next morning, Reid awoke early and headed back to his room, finding Hotch still asleep on the couch. The genius needed to apologize to his boss once he woke up. Reid needed to tell JJ the truth that nothing was ever going to happen between him and Lila.
He walked down to her room and heard her waking up, so he knocked on the door.
JJ opened the door and was surprised to see Reid standing outside. She was about to speak when he cut her off with a kiss.
"You are too important to me, JJ," he said. "I can't lose you. I love you so much."
"But you had another woman hit on you and you liked it!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry that you had to hear about the whole conversation. I was going to tell you about Lila, but I couldn't find a chance to. Nothing happened between me and her, and nothing will ever happen. I'm dedicated to you and you only JJ. I want to get married and have a family with you. But I'll wait until you ready for the wedding."
"I'm thinking that in a month we should get married. I want to wrap up this case, and then spend some time planning for the big day. I've been dreaming of this day since I was a little girl. I never thought I would get another chance to have the perfect day. I knew that marrying Will was a big mistake."
Reid took his fiancée into his arms and hugged her.
"Thank you for understanding," he said.
"I couldn't stay mad at you Spence, I love you too much to break the engagement off."
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Lila's stalker turned out to be her best friend Maggie. The actress tried to ask Reid out again, but he caught on to her little stunt right away.
"Lila, I'm not interested in going out with you. I am engaged to the woman of my dreams and I'm not going to leave her. She's more important to me than my own life. I'm sorry Lila, but I'm not breaking up our relationship," Reid said confidently, his arm around JJ's waist.
The actress stormed off, upset. She wouldn't stop until she got what she wanted. She would get Reid no matter how long it took.
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The next case involved fifteen women murdered over a course of twenty years. When the team came upon the killer two weeks later, he was already dead, next to his recently-dug grave.
JJ and Reid were spending whatever time they had outside of work to plan for their wedding.
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Haley sat next to her lover in the backseat of his government-issued vehicle.
"Baby, I'm just going to be married to Will a bit longer. But when we divorce, we'll get married, just like you always wanted. I don't know why I fell in love with Aaron, but I just did," she said to Cruz. He had offered her a job to stalk her ex-husband and have him delivered to Ryan in exchange for full custody of Jack. There had been a lot of money offered, more than a hundred grand.
"You know I could never turn down a big money offer from you," Haley continued. She has joined the team back in Aurora, and had been following Hotch around the city, and had found out who his new girlfriend was.
As the couple sat in the car, they noticed Emily walking with Hotch out of the BAU, holding hands. Haley could see how happy her ex was with the brunette.
"That woman is just nuts if she thinks she can steal my man away," the blond muttered, wanting to eliminate Emily altogether. But it wasn't part of Ryan's plan to get Hotch. Emily was just an irrelevant person in the trap currently being planned out and tested. Ryan wanted to make sure that no one would be able to escape from the deadly trap. One part of the plan was confirmed to have worked: forcing Hotch to comply using The Seattle Strangler's old brainwashing/mind-control machine. It was still in perfect condition, and once Hotch had forcefully complied, he would have no memory of Emily or his team. Hotch would ordered to eliminate them all.
Ryan entered the vehicle, divorce papers in his hands.
"For you," he said, handing them to Haley.
"Thank you Boss," she replied. "So, how is the pln coming along?"
"I'm going to be headed over to Vogel's house since he gave me a key, and then Cruz and I will grab the machine and bring it back to our house. The plan is coming together just as I've been hoping it would.”
“Excellent job, Boss. I cannot wait to deliver my ex-husband over to you. I’m curious to know what you’ll do to him once he’s in your hands.”
“You don’t want to know. I’ve got a lot of things planned for Mr. Hotchner. His team will have to look extremely hard in order to find him. I must get in touch with Mr. Foyet. I’m sure he’ll have something in mind for his nemesis.”
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Fifteen minutes later, once Emily was inside the BAU again, she saw another agent walking over to her. She recognized him as her workplace bully.
“What do you want, Martin?” she snapped. She knew that Hotch was on the other side of the floor, but once he heard her yell loud enough, he would come over and investigate.
“You break the rules more than you know it,” the agent replied. “You’re just screwing around with your boss in order to get a raise.”
“I am not screwing around with anyone! I’m in love with him, and he feels the same way about me. Ask him yourself!”
“Is Strauss aware of what you’re doing?”
“Yes, she’s aware, and yes, she approved of it! Leave me alone, or I will have Hotch make sure your badge is taken away. Hotch!”
He was over to the area right away. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Martin’s bothering me again,” she replied. “I told him to stop, but he won’t.”
“Leave her alone,” Hotch glared at Martin. “Or I will have your badge suspended. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” Martin replied, grabbing his case file and running away.
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Strauss was sitting in her office, sorting through papers, when she suddenly began to feel dizzy. The peanut-butter sandwich she had for a snack was now feeling like she had eaten spoiled meat.
Rossi had walked into her office, but she immediately put her hand over her mouth and bolted to the bathroom, almost knocking JJ over.
The older profiler looked slightly concerned.
“JJ, has Erin been like this all day?” he asked.
“Um, I don’t think so. She was fine when she came to work this morning and when she was eating her snack an hour ago. She looked perfectly healthy,” the blond replied.
“Can you check on her?”
JJ nodded, then walked into the bathroom and heard Erin groaning in relief.
“Chief Strauss, are you ok? Rossi’s a little concerned,” the profiler said.
“Yea, I just think that bread I used for my sandwich was moldy or something. I should be fine.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
The next day at lunch, Reid, Morgan, and Rossi were sitting in the conference room, discussing the latest case, the upcoming wedding in 12 days, and whether zombies or vampires were the same thing.
“They are most definitely not the same,” Rossi said.
“Yes they are,” Morgan argued back.
“It’s impossible, they don’t even look the same.”
“Well, for vampires, it’s a fashion choice. It doesn’t matter what they wear as long as they have a cape.”
“Alright then. Reid.”
“If you get bitten by a vampire, then you turn into one. But, if you get bitten by a zombie, you not only become a zombie, but it wants your brain, unlike vampires, which want blood. You, Agent Morgan, have been beaten two to one.”
Rossi smiled, then gave the genius half of his cookie.
Hotch walked in, carrying his lunch of vegetable soup, Saltine crackers, and several slices of cheese.
“What’s going on today?” he asked, sitting down at his spot.
“Morgan still on the zombies and vampires thing,” Rossi said, right before he took a bite of his chicken salad.
“Morgan, they are not the same thing!” Hotch replied.
The profiler tried to respond, but couldn’t come up with a good comeback.
Rossi also gave Hotch the other half of his cookie. The Unit Chief took it, but pulled out a set of car keys.
“I got a new Mercedes this morning,” he said, setting the keys down on the table.
“Congrats, does it have that wonderful new car smell?” Morgan asked.
“Yes it does, and I want to keep it that way for as long as I can. If you guys want to see it, it’s parked in the spot closest to the front door. The one with the Japanese Cherry Blossom tree.”
“I”m sorry?” Reid piped up. He was enjoying his meal, but stopped once he heard where Hotch’s new car was parked. “The Cherry Blossom tree?”
“Yes?” Hotch asked.
“That’s my spot,” Reid responded. “That’s where my car and only my car goes.”
“You don’t have a car, so why do you have a spot?” Morgan asked.
“That doesn’t matter, but it’s still my spot. I know how to drive, but I haven’t bought a car yet.”
“Reid, once you get a car, I’m sure the BAU will give you another spot. Ask Strauss; she can give you one right now if you want.”
“I want my parking space, not anyone else’s. The spot is so perfect. That tree provides so much shade, and that’s especially good on hot days like this one. It also has a short walking distance. You know that I hate walking outside of the job.”
“Nice story, Reid, but in the end, you still don’t have a car!”
“Hotch, don’t change the subject. We’re talking about a parking spot, not about me getting a new car. Now, get your car out of my spot! It’s mine!”
“Nope.”
Reid looked slightly upset. “Fine, you leave me no choice.”10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFawIVmqOLk
While Hotch left to meet Emily in the break room, Reid headed out to the parking lot and used whatever strength he had to push Hotch’s car out of the spot.
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When Reid got back to his house that night, he found JJ sitting at the desk, doing something on her computer. He picked up the phone and dialed Strauss.
“Chief Strauss, I know that I’ve never used that spot, but that isn’t the point I’m trying to say. I-”
Erin interrupted him.
“Yes, Erin, I’m aware that you told me not to call you at this time, but I know you were at home. Your lights were on and I saw you sitting on your couch watching TV!”
Erin ended up saying a couple swear words, which shocked Reid.
“What kind of language is that? You’re the boss of the best profiling team in the country, not the swear-word club. You know what? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you that way. I’ll send you an apology email in 20 minutes.”
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At eight AM the next morning, the team was working on a case in their area, and were allowed to stay at the BAU and work on the case.
Reid had been given his own office, which was next door to Gideon’s. The older profiler and Elle were on vacation in Denver for three weeks, and they would be returning two days before the wedding.
Hotch had walked into his office and found his Glock 26 lying on his desk, but his Glock 17 was missing.
Darn it, where’s my gun? the Unit Chief thought. I know I left it in my desk drawer last night, locked. Someone must have broken in and taken it.
The first person that came to his mind was Reid. The Unit Chief needed to find him.
“Where’s Reid?” Hotch shouted to his team in the bullpen.
“Shooting range. By the way, Reid took one of your guns,” Morgan replied, then going back to the case file he was reading.
As Hotch headed down to the fifth floor, he received a text from Ryan. It had been a while since the stalker had sent him a message.
-You still can’t figure out where I am? Wow, I guess you’re not the great profiler everyone thinks you are. By the way, your ex-wife is now best friends with me. Try and find her, and your son will find himself in a situation he can’t get out of.-
Hotch was scared. He could let anything happen to Jack. But the profiler ignored the text and continued on his way to the shooting range.
Without knocking, Hotch opened the door and had his hands clenched into fists.
“Give it back,” the Unit Chief snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Reid said, taking off the protective ear and eye wear. “What are you talking about? Please be more specific.”
“My Glock 17. Morgan saw you break into my desk and take it, now give it back.”
“Oh, that. Here’s the thing, Hotch, I wanted that gun. And you weren’t using it.”
Hotch realized that his own words were being twisted back at him.
“Apparently, I guess we live by new rules now.”
Hotch was looking slightly angry, but Reid just kept his temper at a normal level.
“Payback. It truly hurts, doesn’t it?”
The Unit Chief tried to reason with his subordinate.
“Reid, that’s a two-hundred dollar gun, and I want it back,” Hotch said.
“Well, I would really love to help you out, Hotch, but right now, I’m using it. So, you might want to cover your ears.”
Hotch saw Reid pick up the Glock 17 and prepared to fire a shot.
After Aaron covered his ears, Reid fired off two bullets, getting perfect bulls-eyes.
“Fine,” Hotch said. “I’m taking your Doctor Who Season 8 box.”
“Go ahead, it’s the only signed edition you’ll ever get!”
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The guys were meeting back at Reid’s house for drinks and popcorn. Rossi and Morgan were having another discussion about zombies while Reid unlocked the door.
One he stepped inside, he saw Hotch sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of popcorn, and looking through all of Reid’s embarrassing photos.
“Hi Reid,” Hotch said, waving and smiling.
Spencer screamed, then pointed at the couch and turned to face Morgan.
“He’s looking at my bad photos! Morgan, make him stop looking at my pictures!”
Derek let out a little laugh and smiled. “Hotch, what are you doing?”
“Reid wasn’t using his computer,” the Unit Chief replied. “I needed something to look at while I relaxed on this couch.”
“Get off my couch!” Reid demanded.
“Give my back my gun.”
“Give me back my spot.”
“You don’t need a spot because you don’t have a car.”
“You don’t need two guns; you’re not The Terminator!”
“Well, I thought you’d be more concerned about the fact that I’ve been downloading the funniest of your embarrassing photos to my phone so I can look at them while I work.”
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However, Reid and Hotch’s fight was also affecting their significant other’s lives. JJ and Emily were now fighting with Garcia stuck in the middle. The case was almost halfway solved, but this fight needed to end.
That night, after more than enough evidence was found to create a suspect profile, Garcia decided to spend some time with Emily. The brunette was starting to have some trouble coping with her mother’s assassination.
The two women were looking through old photos of Emily and her mother, when there was a knock on the door. The brunette headed into the kitchen to refill both mugs of apple cider, while Garcia answered the door.
“Ooh, it looks like someone decided to be on Team Emily!” JJ said, stepping into the house. “Where’s Hotch?”
“He’s not here; he’s with Jack,” Emily replied. “What’s going on?”
“He had my car towed, and it cost a hundred bucks to get it back!”
A few hours ago, Reid was still angry at Hotch for claiming the parking spot, so the genius had JJ park her car in the spot, leaving the emergency brake on. He knew that cars were difficult to push once the backup brake was on.
“Oh no,” Emily replied, a trace of falseness in her voice. She didn’t sound so innocent. Even Garcia picked up on the new tone.
“Where was your car located?” Emily continued.
JJ glared at her best friend. “In Reid’s spot, of course. Where else would I park it?”
“That’s strange, because if I remember correctly, Reid doesn’t have a parking spot. Was your car parked in Hotch’s spot, perhaps?”
“Don’t be stupid with me, Prentiss, you tell your boyfriend he owes me a hundred bucks!”
“That sounds ridiculous as well.”
JJ looked confused. “And why is that?”
Emily, with confidence and a slight trace of venom in her tone said, “Because I was the one who had your car towed.”
Garcia looked surprised and JJ just wanted to punch the brunette in the face.
“You-” the blond began.
“You didn’t see that one coming, did you now?” Emily snapped.
“Yea, and you won’t see this one either!” JJ responded, swinging her purse.
It missed Emily because she ducked and instead hit Garcia in the face, who screamed and clutched her nose.
“Ouch! What is in that thing?” the analyst asked.
“My wallet, keys, and a glass jar of quarters I’ve been meaning to drop off at the bank for the past week,” JJ said.
“I’ll get some ice for your face,” Emily responded, running over to her freezer.
She came back with a bag of frozen peas, then gave it to Garcia.
“You think this has gotten out of hand, don’t you?” Emily snapped at JJ.
“Ya think?!” Garcia said, but it was muffled by the bag.
“I agree 100 percent. Penelope, Emily and I are sorry for what happened,” the blond replied.
Emily immediately became defensive. “Hey, you hit Garcia in the face with a glass jar full of quarters, what did I do?”
“You towed my car and I had to spend a hundred dollars to get it back!”
“You were parked in Hotch’s spot!”
“That spot is Reid’s!”
“Reid doesn’t and never had a spot!”
“Guys,” Garcia said, interrupting them. “I think I need to go to the ER.”
“I’ll drive,” JJ offered. “Then you can see where my car got scratched up.”
“The tow truck did nothing to your car,” Emily snapped.
“How would you know that?”
“Because I did it!”
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After Garcia was told that her nose was sprained, she still was going back to work. Morgan had found who the killer was, and wanted to tell her the news.
When he saw her wearing a bandage across her nose, he became suspicious.
“BabyGirl, what happened to you?” he asked.
“JJ accidently hit me in the face with her purse. There was a glass jar of quarters inside, but luckily, my nose is only sprained, not broken.”
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The next morning, before Hotch arrived at work, Reid had set up a whiteboard full of pictures of the victims and suspects. The genius was making sure that he would get his spot back.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Hotch shouted, leaning out the car window.
“You told me that I wasn’t using my spot, so now I’m using it,” Reid replied, sitting down in the chair.
“You need to move.”
“Nope, I don’t have to.”
“You can’t stay there forever.”
“Actually, I can. This plastic bag tied to my leg says I can. Give up, Hotch, I’ve won this war. There is nothing you could do to-”
Hotch, angry, hit the car horn, which caused Reid to put on a pair of headphones, drowning out the noise.
“You know those won’t help you Spencer!” Hotch snapped.
“Oh yes they will. I mean, what?”
The yelling attracted Rossi’s attention, who had just come out of the building, carrying his daily breakfast coffee.
“You guys are acting like idiots! What are you doing?”
“Hotch is trying to kill me, Rossi. All those days at the shooting range have sparked this violence,” Reid replied.
“Will you speak some sense into this idiot?” Hotch snapped.
“Both of you are acting like idiots; it’s just a parking spot! You don’t need to fight over something that simple!”
“It’s not just a parking spot! He can’t seem to grasp the fact that I’m higher up in ranking.”
“What I don’t get is why you would try and run him over!”
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After work that day, Reid walked into Hotch’s office and asked to speak to him alone.
“Hotch, I’m sorry about the whole parking-space thing,” Spencer said. “I don’t want us to fight. I’m sorry I got defensive over a parking spot. I decided that until I get a car, you can use my spot and I’ll get another one from Strauss.”
Hotch shook hands with him. “I’m sorry too. Can we forget that this whole thing ever happened?”
“Yea, I think that’s a good idea.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sZ0dgFxUu
JJ and the team had located their unsub, who had begun to lead them into a train station. The blond, gun pointed in front of her, was chasing after him, dodging through dozens of people.
But when JJ had finally caught up to the man, he had already taken shelter on a train, which was headed out of the country to Canada.
“Hotch, he’s going to be out of the country if we don’t do something,” she said once she approached the team. “We need to set up roadblocks underground and make sure he doesn’t get away.”
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With another case wrapped up involving a mole in the CIA, the unsub from the previous was shot and killed by Ryan, who had left a note at the crime scene, saying, “You’re lucky I saved your life. Maybe next time, if there is even a next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
It had been 11 days since Hotch and Reid’s ‘Parking Space War,’ and today was the day of the Jareau-Reid wedding.
Gideon and Elle had returned two days ago from their vacation to Denver. They were going to the OBGYN’s office to find out how their baby was doing.
Jennifer and Reid had spent the night apart, and before they separated until the wedding, he kissed her and said, “I’ll see you at the altar.”
At her bachelorette party last night, she could see that Erin was still looking pale and had thrown up her dinner.
“Chief Strauss, I think you should stay at home and get better,” the profiler said. “You look very pale.”
Erin was dropped off at home, where she immediately bolted for the bathroom.
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Five minutes before the wedding was supposed to begin, Erin rested her head on Rossi’s shoulder. She had some news to tell him. Exciting news.
“Rossi…” she began. “I found out why I’ve been so sick lately. And it should lessen up overtime.”
“What was going on?”
“We’re having a baby.”
It took him a minute to process what she was saying, but once the words sunk in, she saw how happy he was.
He gave her a kiss, then whispered in her ear, “We’ll celebrate this back at home.”
“I can’t wait,” she replied.
The music began to play, and Elle walked in first, being that she was the maid of honor. After she took her place next to Emily and Erin, the three women saw JJ walk through, carrying a bouquet of white orchid flowers. Her father had died in a car accident when she was 17, so she was going to have to walk down the aisle alone.
When Reid saw his wife-to-be, he just stared at her in awe. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. His first and only love. He had fallen in love with her while she was still married to Will. They didn’t start their relationship until she was single again.
It didn’t take long for JJ and Reid to say their vows, their ‘I Do’s’, and give each other the ring and band.
“Reid, you may kiss the bride,” the pastor said, closing the Bible.
The genius pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her longingly. Once they pulled apart, JJ threw her bouquet behind her and immediately Garcia and Emily dove for it, with the analyst grabbing it first.
“Everyone to the dance floor!” Reid shouted, pulling his bride along with him.
The DJ immediately started the music with the song ‘Space Jam’.
After about a minute, at the beginning of the chorus, Emily began to shuffle, which was something that no one else on the team could do.
Everybody get up, it's time to slam now
We got a real jam goin' down
Welcome to the Space Jam
Here's your chance, do your dance at the Space Jam, alright
Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine
We're gonna take it into overtime
Welcome to the Space Jam
Here's your chance, do your dance at the Space Jam, alright
JJ and Reid began pulling out some salsa moves, even though it was the wrong genre of music, but everyone started applauding for them.
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Within three days of the Jareau-Reid wedding, the rest of the team was being pulled into the deadly case of a serial killer known as The Fisher King. The team was so close to figuring out who the killer was, but when Anderson decided to take Elle home, he unknowingly dropped her instead of staying with her. She waved goodbye to Anderson, then was suddenly grabbed from behind. On the living room floor of her house, The Fisher King pulled out a gun. He dialed Gideon, who answered immediately.
“This is Agent Gideon,” the profiler said.
“You disobeyed my rules,” the unsub snapped. “So now, you pay the price.”
Gideon heard the sound of a gunshot, then gasped in horror once he realized that Elle wasn’t at the BAU.
“Your wife’s been shot. I think she’ll make it, but with some very serious injuries.”
The Fisher King said the address, then ended the call.
The team grabbed their guns and immediately were on their way to the Gideon household. When Jason arrived at his house and kicked the front door open, he found Elle lying on the hardwood floor, crying in pain, and unable to move. Hotch and Morgan had gone around the back of the house to find the unsub gone.
Inside, Elle tried to stand up, but found out that she couldn’t.
“Jason,” she said. “I can’t get up.”
He and three paramedics lifted her up off the ground and got her onto a stretcher.
~CriminalMinds~
“Family of Elle Gideon?” the doctor called out two hours later. The team stood up and Gideon was the first person to react.
“I’m her husband,” he said.
“I’ve got some good and bad news. The good news is that she had a successful surgery and they got the bullet out. The bad news is we’re still running some tests to make sure she’s ok. Is your wife pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, but the only way we could save your wife was by putting her under a general anesthetic. We don’t know whether the baby survived or not.”
Meanwhile, in Elle’s room, she was just regaining consciousness from being under the anesthesia. But there was a major problem: the lower half of her body was feeling numb. It was like the medicine still hadn’t worn off.
“Something’s wrong,” she said to herself. “Why am I feeling so numb?”
The doctor came into the room, a sad look on his face.
Elle felt her face pale as the doctor told her the news. She saw the balloons and flowers around the room and just wanted them to go away. She was never going to get better. How was she supposed to tell her husband?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwMPOzMpRn
Foyet was sitting on his comfortable couch, carefully running his fingers along with his weapon of choice: a .44 Magnum S&W 629.
He had killed 36 people in his lifetime. Hotch was number one on his ‘wanted dead’ list. Foyet had hated the man for years. The criminal saw that his phone was ringing, and that it was from an unknown number.
“Yes?” Foyet asked.
“Mr. Foyet, how are you today? My name is Max Ryan, and I’m a criminal working on a plan to take down the BAU one by one,” the voice said.
“Go on…”
“I’ve been stalking Aaron for the past six to seven months, and I was able to kidnap him once, but not before he escaped and got one of my partners arrested.”
“This sounds very interesting, I’m thinking about it.”
“I’m offering you a chance to get revenge on the one person you absolutely hate. My two partners are Hotch’s ex-wife Haley and her lover, Mateo Cruz. We’re coming up with a plan to hopefully make Jason Gideon suffer for removing me from the BAU. Haley gets full custody of her son and more than a hundred grand just for working for me. I’ll give you 50 grand.”
“I’ll take the offer,” Foyet said, smiling sadistically. “When shall we meet?”
“Tomorrow, the main coffee shop, Downtown, 12:30. I look forward to discussing more with you, Mr. Foyet.”
The call ended, and Foyet continued to smile. Everything was coming together just perfectly. Revenge would be so sweet.
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Elle looked at her doctor and felt the tears running down her face.
“I’m so sorry,” the doctor said. “We were able to get the bullet out, but not before it hit your spinal cord. It was severed at L2, one of the main nerves that controls leg function. Unfortunately, because of the severe damage to this nerve, you will never be able to walk again.”
Elle continued to cry. She didn’t know how she was going to cope with this serious of an injury.
She immediately asked for her husband to come into the room. He entered and tried to kiss her, but she cried out in pain when she tried to sit up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Jason...I’m paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of my life.”
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While Elle was in the hospital recovering, the rest of the team was on the hunt for The Fisher King. They would do whatever it took to find the man and have him arrested.
But once they discovered where he was, he already had a bomb vest strapped to his torso and pressed the button, ending his life.
Two days after The Fisher King’s death, the team was going to listen to Rossi give a presentation about profiling to a group of college students.
Everyone thought he spoke well, except for one man sitting in the back.
“Any questions?” Rossi asked once he had finished speaking.
While the audience clapped, a voice said, “Yes, I have one. What was that?”
Rossi saw the figure in glasses and a hat. “Any other questions?”
“Dr. Spencer Reid,” the figure said, standing up. “I’m the author of this presentation.”
However, the audience didn’t give him a reaction.
“You Sir,” Reid continued, pointing at Rossi. “You have completely skipped over the part about you, Gideon, and Max Ryan starting the BAU back in 1976.”
“I didn’t skip it; I just figured that it wasn’t an important detail. I would say when it started of course,” Rossi replied.
Hotch pulled out his phone and began recording the scene in front of him.
“Oh, I get it,” Reid shot back. “Was it that the case you first started with involved a missing girl? Is that something you want to skip?”
“You are not Section Chief!”
“No, I’m not, but I think I still would have found out about the case anyway.”
“You seriously cannot be that audacious.”
“You really underestimate me.”
“Guess what, if you thought I would screw up this presentation, then maybe you should have done it with me!”
“As I have said before, I don’t need affirmation.”
“Oh really, so, why’d you come watch me then?”
“Because I knew you would mess it up.”
“I did not screw up my presentation!”
“I admit that gun joke you said at the beginning was funny. But it all went downhill from there.”
Rossi was ticked off. “Alright! I’ve had enough of your patronizing attitude! Maybe I didn’t graduate high school when I was 12 like you. And I’m not the only person in this room who suffered from low self esteem. No offense.”
“So you admit to me that you needed help?”
“Yes!”
He turned to the audience. “My name is Dave Rossi and I always suffered from anxiety. But he’s worse!”
As Rossi pointed at Spencer, the genius became enraged.
“Okay, that’s it!” Reid said, pretending to destroy Rossi’s brain.
“You cannot destroy my mind with yours!” Dave snapped.
“I’ll settle for a stroke!”
Rossi hit Reid on the arms, knocking them down.
“Ouch! He hit me. You saw him; he hit me!” Reid exclaimed angrily.
“You were trying to destroy my brain!”
“So it was working, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t! You’re an idiot!”
“Oh, we’ll try that again,” Reid said, putting two fingers to both sides of his head, which was supposed to be him pretending to destroy Rossi’s brain.
“Stop! Stop it! Quit it!” Rossi snapped, knocking Reid’s arms down.
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Three days later, Elle was finally released from the hospital. It was still hard to grasp the fact that she would never be able to walk or run again.
After she was disconnected from the machines, Gideon lifted her up off the bed and into her wheelchair. The team still didn’t know what Elle’s diagnosis was because Jason had asked the doctor not to say anything.
The team arrived at the hospital and gasped in horror at the sight of their friend.
“Jason, is Elle alright?” Hotch asked.
“No,” Gideon replied. “She’s paralyzed from the waist down.”
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The team huddled around Elle, telling her how bad they felt for her. She began to cry, jealous for her co-workers. They could walk, skip, and run, but she couldn’t. Not anymore. She was too young to have lost her ability to walk. Gideon had decided to hire a nurse to take care of Elle while he went to work.
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“It’s time,” Ryan said. “It’s time to put our plan into action. Haley, do you know what you’re doing?”
“Yes boss,” she replied. “I’ll grab Jack and lead my ex-husband right into your hands.”
“And Foyet, you got your part down?”
“Absolutely,” the killer responded. “I wouldn’t want to miss this very special moment.”
“Cruz is going stay behind at the house and make sure the machine is working,” Ryan continued. “Hotch should be arriving at home any minute now, so it will be a good time to get him. Are we all ready?”
“Yes boss,” the other three members said. “We will make sure he doesn’t get away this time.”
“What about Erin?” Cruz asked. “Since she’s also got some very interesting secrets from her past.”
“She isn’t a part of the plan,” Ryan replied. “It’s Gideon that needs to suffer the most. He’s the one that ruined my life. Erin’s fine. Maybe I’ll get in touch with her friend The Replicator and see if he wants anything to do with her. I’m sure he does. He hates her.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Foyet replied. “I’m ready.”
He, Ryan, and Haley got into the car and drove off to the Hotchner household, while Cruz made sure the brainwashing machine was turned on and running.
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Hotch arrived at home within ten minutes, but when he entered, he saw that the house was silent. Jack and Emily were nowhere to be seen.
“Jack? Em?” the Unit Chief asked.
“Aaron, help!” Emily cried from upstairs.
“I’m coming!” he replied. Pulling out his gun, he quickly but quietly headed into the master bedroom and found Emily, tied up with a cloth tied around her mouth.
“Em! Are you alright?” he asked, running over to her.
She was trying to say, ‘BEHIND YOU!’ but it was too late. Haley touched the back of his head with her own gun.
“Put the gun down or Jack and your little girlfriend both die,” Haley threatened.
Hotch was astounded. His ex-wife was working for the man who was stalking him?
The Unit Chief set his gun down on the ground. Haley walked in front of him, taking away his second weapon.
“You have no idea how long Ryan’s been waiting to see you,” she said. “His partner offered me a lot of money and full custody of Jack if I agreed. Of course I get to see our son. Right, Jack? Don’t you want to spend time with Mommy?”
“No,” the boy said. “You hurt Daddy. I want him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Jackers. I thought you would want to be with the one parent you never see anymore.”
“You can’t call me Jackers! Only Aunt Penny can call me that! Not you!”
“Aunt Penny? Who’s Aunt Penny?”
“It’s Garcia,” Hotch spoke up.
“Shut up!” Haley snapped at her ex. “You don't get to talk."
"You want to shoot me, Haley? Go right ahead. But I don't think you want to. You have something else planned for me. Something more important than killing me."
"I can't kill you, even though I want to. Ryan has a much bigger plan for what he's going to do to you. And trust me, you don't want to know what he had planned for you."
“You’ll never get full custody of Jack. Ever. I made sure of it at our divorce trial. You don’t deserve to see him, not after how you tore this family apart.”
“We’ll see about that. But now, it’s time for part two of the plan. Say goodbye to your little girlfriend since you’ll never see her again.”
Before Hotch even had a chance to say an, ‘I love you,’ to Emily, Ryan snuck up behind him and clamped a cloth soaked in chloroform over his mouth.
Hotch tried to fight back. He wasn’t going to let Ryan win. That creep was going to prison without any chance of parole.
The chloroform took effect and the Unit Chief fell unconscious in Ryan’s arms.
“Get him out of here,” Haley said to her boss. Foyet entered the room and helped Max carry Hotch out of the room and out to the car. The Unit Chief was handcuffed and gagged, then locked in the trunk. Haley grabbed Jack and made sure the seat-belt was locked in place. She left Emily tied up, taking the two guns with her.
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Rossi was on a small forklift, working on fixing something underneath his car. Erin was standing on the front porch wearing a bathrobe, curlers in her hair, and a glass of grape juice in her hand.
“Hey!” she shouted. “Didn’t I ask you to mow the lawn?”
Rossi rolled his eyes and crawled out from underneath his car.
“Would you stop working on your car and mow the lawn?!”
This was the only time Erin bossed him around outside of work. He couldn’t disobey her, especially since she was his boss.
Her cell phone rang, and she saw that Emily was calling.
“Hello?” the Section Chief asked. “What? When? Ok, we’ll be right over.”
“What happened?” Rossi replied.
“Hotch’s been abducted. By Haley, Ryan, and who appeared to be Foyet.” 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwwt154wHJ
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Rossi and Erin were the first people to arrive at Hotch’s house. They found Emily and quickly untied her. She started crying and Rossi pulled her into his arms.
“They took Jack too,” she said. “Haley has them both.”
“We’re going to find them,” Rossi replied. “I’ll call the team and tell them to meet us back at the BAU.”
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The first thing Hotch felt when he woke up was that his head was throbbing. His hands had been restrained behind him and his mouth felt dry and scratchy.
He couldn’t believe that his ex-wife had joined this mess just for money and custody of Jack, something she would never get. Haley, Ryan, Cruz, and Foyet would all sit in prison for the rest of their lives and would never get out. They had too many offenses to their names to even think about being released on bail or with parole.
Hotch heard the car stopping on the side of the road. He began to wonder where he was. Was Jack safe? Had Emily managed to call the team and tell them what happened?
The trunk door opened and Hotch saw the cruel face of Max Ryan staring him down.
“This time you won’t be getting away,” Ryan snapped. “My plan has been designed very carefully. It has been proven to work. I’ll make sure not to send you back to your team until I’m finished with you.”
Hotch was taken out of the trunk and led towards a two-story house off in the distance. Haley was clutching Jack close to her. He was trying to get away, but she held onto him with all her strength. She wasn’t going to let him go.
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You shout it out,
But I can't hear a word you say
You're talking loud, not saying much
You criticize but all your bullets ricochet
You shoot me down, but I get up
I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium
Hotch was dragged through the house and into the basement, where the brainwashing machine was.
“What do you want from me?” the Unit Chief snapped.
“I want you to suffer. We’ll call Gideon in a bit and see how he reacts. But first, you will comply with me or else,” Ryan replied.
“I will never comply with you! My team knows that you are responsible and will hunt you down.”
“What have I told you before? I’m not scared of the BAU. I used to work for them until Gideon removed me and screwed up the rest of my life.”
“I’ll make sure you’ll rot away in prison for what you’ve done to me. I’ll make sure you’ll never get out.”
“We’ll see who wins in the end.”
Hotch was restrained in the machine, his hands tied down and a helmet placed on his head.
"You will comply," Ryan said before leaving the room. He then turned to Haley.
"In this bag is a hundred thousand dollars and two plane tickets to Paris. You and Jack need to escape the country and take on new identities. Passports are in the bag along with the plane tickets."
"Thanks Boss. You need anything else?"
"Actually, one more thing. Take this burner phone and charger. Any call you make is untraceable."
“Sounds good.”
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Haley took Jack with her and got him strapped into his car seat.
“You and I are going to take a little trip,” she said. “You’ll get to spend some time with Mommy.”
“But I want to see Daddy!” Jack begged. “Please, Mommy, don’t take me away.”
“I’m sorry, but the only way I’m ever going to see you again is if you come with me.”
“I won’t go anywhere without Daddy.”
Haley ignored her son and got herself into the driver’s seat. She was prepared to arrive at the airport, get on her flight, and never come back to the U.S.
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The team arrived at the BAU, and immediately began alerting airports, bus stops, and Metro stations about Haley possible kidnapping a child and taking him out of the country. Ryan, Cruz, Foyet, and Haley’s profiles were all sent to TSA, and they would call if they saw either one of them.
One of the TSA agents spotted a woman with a young child. She had short brown hair.
The woman looked at the ticket, then at the mother.
The agent picked up her phone and immediately dialed the BAU, telling them that Haley was trying to board a flight to Paris.
The profilers responded right away, saying they would be at the airport within five minutes.
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Haley handed her ticket to the collector. The woman behind the counter said that their was a problem with the ticket and needed to be looked at more carefully.
Haley and Jack had to wait in the waiting area, which was were the BAU would pick her up.
Hotch’s team arrived at the airport and found the gate where Jack and Haley were sitting.
“Put your hands in the air, Haley!” Rossi said, pulling out his gun and pointing it at her. “It’s over!”
She slowly set the bag in the ground and put her hands behind her head. Jack ran over to Morgan, who immediately picked the little boy up off the ground.
Haley was arrested and taken out of the airport and into the waiting SWAT van.
“What’s going to happen to me?” Jack asked the profiler. “Mommy and Daddy are gone.”
“We’re going to find your Daddy,” Morgan replied. “And until we do, you’re going to live with Uncle Dave and Aunt Erin.”
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“Darn it!” Ryan muttered angrily, throwing his glass of unfinished wine into the fireplace and watching the glass break. “Cruz, get in here!”
The partner immediately entered the room. “What’s up, Boss?”
“Haley was just arrested by the BAU. Jack is now going to be in protective custody. Our plan is falling apart,” Ryan continued.
“Told you they would figure it out,” Hotch replied from the other side of the room. He had been locked in the brainwashing machine for a half hour, and so far, he was refusing to let himself comply with his captors.
“You shut up!” Cruz snapped. “You’ll be working with us before you know it."10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4R2mJkBu5
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVinChOsoEj
Rossi sat across the table from Haley in the interrogation room. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk to her, especially since she betrayed her ex-husband and Will.
“Where’s Hotch, Haley?” the profiler asked her.
She just crossed her arms. “I’m not telling you anything unless I have a lawyer in here.”
Rossi just rolled his eyes. His boss’s ex-wife was getting on his nerves.
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Brian and Jessica were out on a date when he suddenly pulled out a little black box. He knew he just had to ask her the question.
“Jessica Brooks, will you be my wife?” Anderson asked his girlfriend, revealing the diamond ring.
She put a hand over her mouth and gasped. Then, the happy tears came.
“Yes, Brian, I will!” she said. He kissed her as he slid the ring on her finger.
“You just made me the happiest man alive.”
His phone rang, and Caller ID said that the number was unknown.
“Hello?” Anderson asked, holding his fiancée close to him.
“Hello Anderson, it’s been awhile,” the voice replied. “How romantic that you decided to propose to your little girlfriend. But unfortunately, that wedding won’t be happening for a while.”
“Who is this?”
“The man who almost ended your life a couple months ago. I’m still alive.”
“I’m going to find you and put you in the ground,” Anderson threatened. “I will find you. And when I do, it won’t be a happy ending for you.”
“Jessica better be careful. Her decisions must be wise. I have her brother-in-law right here beside me. Put her on the line.”
She took the phone from Anderson and once she heard Hotch’s voice on the end of the line, she became enraged. Hotch was still her family and she knew that Jack needed his father more than anything since her sister was now in jail.
“What do you want from me, you creep?” Jessica snapped at Ryan.
“You to listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. Any decision you make must be the right one, even in difficult situations. Otherwise, it only takes one bullet to end Aaron’s life,” Ryan replied.
“I’ll do what you want, just don’t hurt him.”
“I won’t if you obey me. He’ll be perfectly fine.”
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The team was in the bullpen, trying to figure out anything that could led them to finding Hotch.
“Garcia, does Hotch have GPS on his phone?” JJ asked her best friend.
“Yes, he does, give me one second,” the analyst replied, quickly heading down to her lab.
Within three minutes, she was back in the bullpen.
“Hotch does, and I found the location.”
She told them the address, and the team was immediately grabbing their weapons and walking to the elevators.
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Meanwhile, Hotch was still doing his best to fight the machine. His resistance was working, but now, he was running out of energy. He had already been partly brainwashed, but the other half of him was fighting to stay sane.
“I will never work with you!” Hotch snapped at Ryan. “Never in my life would I ever want to. You betrayed everyone! Who would want to work for someone that deceived them? I know I wouldn’t.”
“You shut your mouth,” Ryan replied. “The transformation is halfway done. You’ll never be the same again.”
“My team has probably already located you and is on their way. They will arrest you and throw you into prison.”
“I won’t be going there. Not for a while, at least. I still have some things I want to do to you first. They’ll be done before I even go to prison.”
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The team was only five minutes away from the house when the GPS signal from Hotch’s phone was shut off.
“Darn it, we lost the signal!” Rossi muttered from the passenger seat.
They were now lost on the road, and were trying to call Garcia and have her send them directions to the house.
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“I found your little GPS tracking device,” Ryan said. “I know of a simpler way to make you comply, since we now have to change locations.”
He pulled out a syringe and pricked Hotch’s neck with it.
“This will take no time at all to work,” Ryan continued. He called Cruz and Foyet into the basement.
Within a minute, Hotch awoke from the drug’s immediate unconsciousness agent. But he awoke a completely different person. He no longer was BAU Unit Chief. He now was smiling sadistically, and eagerly took a spare gun from Ryan.
“You now work for us,” the killer said. “The BAU will be here shortly, and Cruz, Foyet and I must go someplace else to keep from being arrested. Your job is to hold the FBI off until we can escape. We will come back for you. Sound like a good plan?”
“Yes, boss, I’ll do it,” Hotch replied. “I’ll make sure you get away.”
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The team arrived at the house, guns at their sides and ready to fire. They would do whatever it took to get their leader back.
JJ and Morgan found the kidnappers’ car and searched the exterior for any clues. JJ decided to stay behind while Morgan and the rest of the team searched the house.
Cruz came out through the front door, where he was overpowered by Morgan and Emily. Rossi, Gideon, and Reid all headed into the house.
Morgan and Emily threw Cruz into the trunk of the FBI car, then made sure JJ was ok before going into the house.
After the two agents went inside, JJ was suddenly knocked out from behind by Ryan. He and Foyet moved her away from the car and quickly got inside.
Morgan heard the car starting up and tried to shoot out a tire, but missed. Both Ryan and Foyet made a clean getaway.
“Darn it!” the profiler muttered, then noticed the unconscious JJ lying next to the front yard garden. “JJ!”
Morgan shouted into his walkie-talkie: “Agent down and Ryan and Foyet got away in a 2003 Red Chevy with the first three license plate digits 489.”
Meanwhile, inside the house, Gideon was searching for anything on the first floor, while Rossi headed upstairs.
Rossi was almost done his search, when suddenly, a gun touched the back of his head.
“Hello, Agent Rossi, long time no see,” Hotch said, grinning sadistically.
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Rossi felt the air leaving his lungs. His own best friend and boss was pointing a gun at him. How could he betray the BAU?
“Hotch, what are you doing? I’m trying to help you! Ryan is crazy, he doesn’t want to help you, he wants to kill you!” Rossi exclaimed.
“No he doesn’t,” Hotch said, the sadistic grin still spread across his face. “I’m so happy now that I work for him.”
“No! Hotch, you’ve been drugged, he’s going to kill you! He knocked JJ out and got away with Foyet! They’re probably planning something bigger that could eventually lead to one of our deaths. I can’t let that happen to you. You’re too important to us, Hotch. You must fight him!”
“I’ll never-” Hotch said, but was suddenly pricked by a needle. He immediately went unconscious and collapsed in Gideon’s arms.
“I’ve got you, Hotch,” Jason said. “We’ll catch Ryan and make sure he’ll never escape prison.”
“We got Cruz,” Morgan replied as he reached the second floor. “We got him.”
“And JJ? She ok?” Rossi asked.
“Yes, she’s fine, I think she’s going to have a headache for a day or two, but she’ll recover.”
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When Hotch awoke, he saw that he was surrounded by his team, even Elle, who was resting comfortingly in her wheelchair.
He was incredibly groggy, feeling light-headed and wondering where he was.
“Where...where am I?” Hotch asked.
“You’re in the hospital. Ryan drugged you with the Strangler’s brainwashing machine and a muscle relaxant which causes amnesia. You’ll recover just fine,” Rossi said. “We got Cruz, Hotch. He’s currently in a prison cell. Unfortunately, Ryan and Foyet got away, but we’ve been setting up roadblocks at state borders and have extra security at bus stops, train stations, and airports. Even ones with private planes. Those two whackjobs won’t be slipping away too far. We’ll get them, Hotch. We’ll make sure they’ll pay for what they did to you.”
“Elle,” the Unit Chief replied. “Is everything ok?”
“I guess. I mean, I can’t walk or run or do anything with my legs ever again, but I think I’m fine. I’m managing with my injury. I’m resigning from the BAU. I want someone else to take my place. Is Emily already permanently staying?”
“Yes, she’s full-time. I know that there are a couple of applications waiting to be looked at, and when I go back to work, I’ll look at them. We need two or three new people. Anderson has already volunteered to work on the team full time. He is now the newest member. Also, Rossi, I’m sorry that I pointed a gun at you and almost pulled the trigger. I don’t know what got into me.”
“It’s ok, Hotch. I think you would have made Erin a very unhappy woman, and in the future, a single mother,” the profiler replied.
“She’s pregnant?” the team asked.
“Yes, she told me at JJ’s wedding. We’re very excited.”
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But Hotch didn’t stay in the hospital very long. Barely six hours after being admitted, he was back in his office looking through the first application on his desk.
He called the young woman into his office, which Emily took note of. She didn’t like unmarried women going into her boyfriend’s office, because she was afraid that he would cheat on her. But he promised her that he wouldn’t leave her for someone else because his love for her was stronger than ever.
After five minutes, the team minus Elle was in the bullpen when Hotch walked out of his office with a blond woman beside him.
“This is Ashley Seaver. She’s going to be taking Elle’s place.”
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Jordan Todd had started to feel very unaccepted on Hotch’s team. Morgan paid no attention to her and would always be hanging around Garcia.
The profiler wanted Morgan to tell her how he felt about her. But she would never get to talk to him with his girlfriend hanging around.
So, when Penelope got up and left with JJ and Emily for a coffee break, Jordan found Morgan at the bulletin board, with pictures of the crime scenes.
“Hello Morgan,” Jordan said with a slightly flirty smile. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing fine, Agent Todd,” Morgan replied, picking up on her clues. He realized that she was trying to hit on him. He loved Garcia and no other woman was going to ruin their relationship.
“Where you going? You want to grab some coffee?”
“Let me be straight, Agent Todd. I will report you to the boss for harassment if you continue to aggravate me. I know that you’re trying to hit on me and ask me out on dates. Listen to me, Jordan, I’m not interested. I love Garcia. You and I are co-workers, nothing more.”
“But...but I love you Morgan. I have been since I met you.”
“And I was in love with Penelope longer than I’ve known you. And don’t you dare try to ask anyone else on this team out. We’re all taken. Rossi is married to Erin, Gideon’s married to Elle, and Reid is with JJ. They were married just a few days ago. I’m dating Garcia, and Hotch is dating Emily. Anderson’s engaged to Hotch’s sister-in-law. So, go find someone else.”
Jordan’s face became red and she stormed off towards the bathroom. She was done working for Hotch’s team. She would be transferring to Andi Swann’s team tomorrow.
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After work that night, Reid and JJ headed out to a club, where JJ was already high on three glasses of vodka and heading out to the dance floor.
Flo Rida’s “Touch Me,” started playing, and after a minute and a half, JJ pulled her husband out onto the floor, where everyone started applauding for their excellent dance skills.
I like you sexy, I want you next to me
Let's leave a legacy, got me feelin' like ecstasy
And a little bit of jealousy, it's all about your melody
Right where I care to be, Shawty glad, that's definitely a felony
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The next day, while the team was investigating a lead on where Ryan possibly was, they didn’t realize that they would be traumatized by the time they were ready to leave.
Ryan was hiding on the top floor of a tall office building, which had been abandoned for three years. The entire BAU team, minus Elle, Erin, and Garcia were all headed towards the Downtown bank.
The killer pulled out a sniper rifle with long-range distance, and attached a silencer to the end of the weapon. He lined up the shot, and pulled the trigger.
The team saw Todd get hit right in the middle of her forehead and immediately hit the ground. They slowly moved away, trying to hide.
Ryan quickly took apart the gun and packed it away in its case, then walked into the elevator, headed down to the first floor, and vanished into the daylight.10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1ddHJvdj7
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCh7CfVlH4M
The team came out from behind the tall planters when they thought it was safe to come out. Morgan saw Jordan, lying on the cold cement, dead and lifeless. He immediately regretted yelling at her yesterday, telling her to go find someone else because everyone else was taken.
“Darn it!” Morgan angrily muttered. “This is all my fault! I shouldn’t have yelled at her, and now she’s dead!”
“Morgan, this is not your fault,” JJ said.
“Is it? She tried to ask me out on a date. I told her off, and I didn’t apologize for being so harsh. She was going to transfer today. And now, I’ll never get the chance to tell her I was sorry.”
“We’ll find out who did this, Morgan. I promise,” Reid spoke up. “I’ll kill them myself if I have to.”
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Foyet just sat and watched the team letting their tears fall. He knew he didn’t have much time left before the FBI nailed him and Ryan. They were going to have to hide in plain sight in order to continue getting their revenge on Gideon. With Elle gone from the BAU, it would be much easier to mess around with Jason.
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Reid’s head felt like lead. He couldn’t lift his head up to see where he had been brought to. He remembered heading back to the BAU to start investigating Jordan’s murder when he was suddenly grabbed by his arch-enemy, Tobias Hankel. This man had escaped from prison after nearly trying to kill Spencer five years ago. And now, Hankel was determined to finish where he had left off.
Reid needed to get out of this prison. Foyet and Ryan were still out in the world, determining to do harm. Trouble was heading their way.
“What do you've want, Tobias?” Spencer snapped at his kidnapper. “I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t hurt my team. Please.”
“I wasn’t planning on hurting your team, Spencer. I was only planning on finishing what I started five years ago. We never finished our little party. Trust me, it’s going to be a lot more fun than last time.”
“It wasn’t fun! I nearly died!” Reid snapped again. “I will kill you! I will! And I don’t break promises once I make them.”
Tobias left the room and came back a minute later with a syringe and a strange- looking liquid.
“This won’t hurt a bit,” Hankel said, filling the syringe.
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Hotch arrived home, feeling exhausted. With Reid missing and Ryan and Foyet still loose, he needed a good night’s sleep before continuing the case tomorrow.
As he prepared to pour himself a drink, he suddenly became aware of footsteps coming up behind him. The sound of a gun being cocked startled him.
“You really should have made a deal,” the person said.
“Foyet!” Hotch replied under his breath.
“Did you really think that you would catch me?” Foyet taunted. “I knew you’d be here. All alone, with no team and no girlfriend.”
“They’re looking for you!” Hotch replied. But, Foyet wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. The killer fired off a shot, the bullet hitting the wall and creating a large hole.
“Do I have your attention now, Hotchner?” Foyet snapped. “Next time I decide to fire, I may hit you in the chest. And then you won’t be coming back from that.”
The killer removed his mask, but wasn’t fast enough. Hotch leapt forward and tried to shove Foyet to the ground, but he was stronger. Foyet shoved the Unit Chief backwards, causing him to lose his balance. Hotch was slapped in the face twice, but the second slap with the gun temporarily stunned him. As Hotch put his hands to his face, Foyet pulled out a scalpel and stabbed the Unit Chief in the chest with the weapon.
Hotch leaned forward, then fell backwards on the carpet, blood spilling from his stab wound.
Foyet stabbed his hostage eight more times, then prepared to finish him off.
But then, Hotch’s cell phone rang. The killer looked at Caller ID.
“Hm…” Foyet said. “Looks like your girlfriend is calling. How about you say goodbye? We’ve got somewhere to go after. I’ve got to drop you off at the hospital so that you don’t die. Then I’m going to find that little son of yours and kill him.”
He gave the phone to Hotch, who was looking quite weak.
“Emily?” the Unit Chief exclaimed, but the pain was starting to affect how he was doing.
“Hotch!” her voice echoed on the other end of the line. “We’ve found Reid and arrested Hankel. Where are you?”
“Prentiss…” Aaron began. “I may not ever see you again. I may die.”
“Hotch, what are you talking about? Where are you? I’m coming to get you now.”
“No, you can’t. It’s...it’s Foyet. He got to me first. He’s letting me say goodbye. That’s all I have time for.”
“Hotch, no! Don’t you dare die on me! I won’t let you! Jack needs you!”
“I’m sorry…” Hotch said, the tears starting. “I love you, Emily. I always have and I will never stop loving you. Even throughout eternity, I will always love you. Take care of Jack for me.”
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Emily heard the line die, then immediately told the team that Hotch was in trouble. They were taking Reid with them, even though he wasn’t 100 percent ok.
The team raced over to Hotch’s home, where they saw Foyet climbing into the driver’s seat of a red truck. Hotch’s hands had been tied with a rope, and he was bleeding through his shirt.
“There!” JJ said, pointing to the truck. The profilers immediately hit the gas after Foyet, who was causing mayhem throughout the supposed-to-be quiet street that Hotch lived on.
After a half hour of chasing, Morgan was able to fire off a shot, hitting one of the truck’s back tires, flattening it.
“George Foyet, get out of the car with your hands on your head!” Rossi shouted.
The killer knew he had been defeated. He obeyed and was immediately handcuffed by JJ and Morgan, who locked the criminal in the trunk. Hotch was freed and laid down in the backseat of the car. He needed to be taken to the hospital right away.
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An hour later, Hotch was in a hospital bed, resting. He saw the little black box sitting on the table beside him. He was expected to make a full recovery in about ten months to a year.
Emily came in and gave him a kiss.
“I was so scared!” she exclaimed. “I thought Foyet had killed you!”
“I’m a fighter,” Hotch replied. “I could never let him win. The war between the FBI and the unsubs is almost over. Once we get Ryan, it’s over. I won’t let him succeed.” 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZeay6ato0
“I’m just glad you’re ok.”
“Can you hand me the little black box that’s on the table?” Hotch asked.
“Sure,” Emily replied.
“This little box determines my future with you.”
Emily realized what he was saying right away before he even opened the box.
“Will you?” he asked, showing her what was inside.
“Yes, Hotch, I will,” she replied, kissing him, but being careful not to knock out any IV lines.
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Hotch carefully slipped the diamond ring onto his fiancée’s finger.
“Oh, Aaron, it’s beautiful. I love it,” Emily said, kissing him again. “And I love you more.”
“I love you too,” he replied. “How are we going to tell everyone?”
“I don’t know, I’m too excited about it that I want to tell everyone once you go back to work. Tomorrow right?”
“Yes, I’ll be back at my desk tomorrow. I want to go back there already. I hate being locked up in a hospital bed.”
There was a knock at the door, and immediately, Emily hid her left hand behind her back. She really wanted to keep the engagement a surprise to her co-workers.
“Hey Garcia,” the brunette said to her best friend.
“Hey, Em! I’ve got someone here who wants to see you two,” the analyst replied, holding a squirming Jack.
“Daddy! Emmy!” the little boy cried.
“Come here buddy, just be careful,” Hotch said, as his son walked over to him.
“I’ll be back later,” Garcia replied, noticing that Morgan was bringing her a cup of coffee.
Once the blond woman was out of earshot, Jack turned to Emily and noticed the ring.
“Emmy, what’s with the diamond around your finger?” he asked.
“It’s a little present to me from your dad,” Emily said. “It’s something that a Daddy gives to a Mommy when they decide to be together forever.”
“You mean like getting married?”
“Yes, Jack, your Dad and I will be getting married in a few months.”
“What do you think, Buddy?” Hotch asked his son. “About having Emily as your new mom?”
“I like her! I’ve been wanting her to stay for a long time.”
“The thing is, you can’t tell any of your aunts or uncles until tomorrow,” Emily said to her soon-to-be stepson. “Your dad and I want to keep it a surprise.”
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Jack was finding it hard to keep his dad’s secret. The little boy couldn’t believe he was going to have a Mom again. He wanted nothing to do with Haley anymore, not after she kidnapped him and tried to take him out of the country.
In the main bedroom, Hotch was having trouble sleeping. He and Emily had agreed when they started dating to not sleep in the same bed together until they were married, if that step would ever happen. But now that they would getting married, there would be some changes going on around the Hotchner household.
The first big change was that Emily would move out of her apartment and into the house. The family had also decided to adopt a dog once they were all together. Haley hadn’t been a real
‘pet person’ and she had forbidden Jack from getting any type of pet.
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The next two months was spent planning for the Hotchner-Prentiss wedding. Ryan seemed to be hiding someplace, because he hadn’t shown his face or was anywhere near the BAU. It seemed as though he had fled the country or was now living under a new identity.
However, Ryan was hiding in Quantico. He was still stalking the BAU, wanting to get his revenge on Gideon.
The killer had followed the soon-to-be married couple to an office in Downtown, which was the marriage license office. After Hotch and Emily left, Ryan was able to sneak a peek at the licenses and saw Hotch and Emily’s info. The killer planned to ambush the happy couple and destroy them once and for all.
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The team had discussed a plan on how they were going to capture Ryan. Since they had figured out that he had seen the marriage license, they were going to use the wedding to ambush Ryan and put an end to him once and for all.
The team would be hiding in a guesthouse at Rossi’s mansion, and once the killer entered the house, FBI agents would be prepared to arrest him.
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The wedding date was finally here.
Hotch, in his tuxedo, was waiting outside in the front yard for Emily to walk out and join him. She exited the house through the front door, looking absolutely stunning. Her white dress came to her ankles and the beautiful bouquet of white orchid flowers made her look even more wonderful.
She walked up to Hotch and linked her arm around his. He smiled at her, knowing that in just a few minutes, they would together forever. Their unending love would last throughout eternity.
They walked into the guesthouse, closing the door behind them. However, Ryan had been hiding in the bushes outside the house, and now had his gun pointed in front of him. His plan to shoot and kill Hotch was going as expected.
When Ryan opened the door to the guesthouse, he found the room completely empty. The bride and groom were nowhere to be seen.
The gun was still pointed in front of him. He was looking for any sign of movement.
“Freeze, FBI! Put the weapon down on the ground!” Rossi’s angry voice shouted from behind the door.
Ryan knew he had been defeated once he saw the group of profilers coming out with guns pointed at him. Even Emily had a weapon in her hand.
Ryan set his gun on the ground, and was arrested by Morgan and JJ. The others made sure that their prisoner wasn’t going to get away.
Andi Swann’s team would take care of Ryan while the wedding took place.
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“It’s over,” Hotch said to Emily after Ryan was being lead away. “The nightmare has finally come to an end. He will never bother us again.”
“Let’s get married,” she replied to her soon-to-be husband.
“I couldn’t agree for more.”
The happy couple walked through the guesthouse and into the backyard, where the team was waiting for them. The pastor was standing at the end of the altar, along with JJ, who was the maid of honor. Rossi, Morgan, Reid, and Gideon were standing off to the right. Ashley and Garcia were standing on the left next to Elle, who was sitting in her wheelchair, holding her bouquet of flowers. Jack was the ringbearer and the flower boy.
After saying their vows, the pastor turned to Hotch first.
“Do you take Emily Prentiss to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Hotch replied, giving her the diamond-encrusted ring.
“Do you take Aaron Hotchner to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Emily said, giving Hotch the gold band.
“By the power vested in me and by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the pastor said, closing his Bible.
Hotch smiled at Emily, then kissed her as everyone else burst into applause.
“May I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Hotchner!” the pastor said as the couple started to make their way back down the aisle towards the dance floor.
While on the floor, Morgan and Penelope spent some alone time, watching the newlyweds dance.
“Penelope Garcia, will you marry me?” he asked. “I’m the only man on the team who isn’t married yet, and there’s no one I would spend the rest of my life with.”
“Yes, Morgan, you know I could never say no to you,” the analyst replied, kissing him.
Hotch and Emily walked over to Jack, who was just loving the music.
“Hey, buddy, we’re going to be leaving for a couple of weeks. You going to miss us when we’re gone?” Hotch asked his son.
“Yes, daddy, I want to go with you. What are you going to do there?” the boy replied.
“We’re going to go down to the beaches and watch sunsets, and explore the tropical islands.”
“I’ll miss you Daddy. Mommy, I’ll miss you too.” 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBGEiGviqs
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE/EPILOGUE: 10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡID0gkgKrFI
*A year later*10565Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZUE4awpRX
The entire BAU team was gathered at Rossi’s mansion for a summer barbeque. After Ryan was finally arrested and locked away in jail, the team knew that their nightmare was over. Haley, Cruz, Foyet, and Ryan would all die behind prison walls, never going to be released.
Rossi was in the backyard preparing lunch when he suddenly felt something touching his arm. Setting the tongs on the barbeque, he noticed his three month-old daughter was reaching out to him.
Erin was holding the little girl in her arms, looking very happy.
The baby began to cry, but Erin was having a little trouble calming her daughter down.
“Ssh, Alyse, it’s ok,” Rossi said, taking the little girl and rocking her in his arms.
“She seems to have been wanting you for a while,” his wife replied.
“There they are!” a voice shouted. The couple turned around to find Hotch and Emily entering the backyard with a bag of potato chips. Jack was now six, but today he seemed extra happy about something. Rossi suddenly picked up on the clue right away: Emily was putting a hand over her lower abdomen and rubbing circles around a slightly protruding bump. He looked over at Hotch, who seemed to have no clue what Emily was doing.
Within twenty minutes, everyone else arrived. Morgan and Penelope had just gotten back from their honeymoon a week ago, and a very pregnant JJ was holding a bowl of fruit salad. Reid was walking right behind her.
Jason was pushing Elle in her wheelchair. She was cuddling her son and their newly adopted daughter Phoebe.
Walking behind the couple was Ashley Seaver, who had resigned from the BAU and had become Elle’s stay-at-home nurse.
After Seaver’s resignation, two other women had joined the team: Alex Blake and Kate Callahan.
The two women walked into the backyard with their spouses and children. Soon after, Anderson and Jessica walked in with their adopted son Matthew.
“Is everyone here?” Rossi asked.
“Yep,” Erin said, counting the people. “Everyone’s accounted for.”
Rossi and Hotch worked the barbecue while Emily jumped in the pool and pulled JJ in with her.
The others either joined the women in the pool or raced over to the drink cooler.
After fifteen minutes, everyone heard Rossi’s, “Lunch is ready!” and immediately ran over to the food. The team was enjoying their lunch and day off. It was also the perfect day to share some exciting news.
“I have an announcement to make,” Emily said, setting her food on the table. “What better place to share the news than in front of all my friends and family?”
Jack was having trouble keeping his excitement down.
“I’m pregnant,” she said. “Sixteen weeks along.”
She turned to look at her husband, who was actually cracking a smile. He looked like he was about to cry happy tears.
He got out of his chair and ran over to his wife.
“I love you,” he said. “This is the best news I’ve gotten in a long time.”
“I love you too. I did find out the gender, would you like to know?”
“Yes please.”
“We’re having a little girl.”
He kissed her, then said hello to the little bundle of joy growing inside her.
After Emily’s surprise pregnancy announcement, the team felt a wave of darkness pass over them. Today was the one-year anniversary of the day Ryan first showed off his plan to destroy the BAU. But now, the team was living normal lives. No more Ryan. No more stalking. No more threats.
The team decided to partake in a toast, celebrating one year of pain-free lives. Ryan and his group would never come near them ever again.
Raising their glasses, the team began looking ahead at what the next phase of their lives would be.
and then Add to home screen.