Hotch put the last of his things into his go bag and zipped it up. He looked at his watch. With any luck the weather would hold up and they'd be home in a couple of hours. Beth had already arrived and Jack had sounded so excited when he'd spoken to him on his cell. Beth was there and Santa was coming tonight; what more could a little boy want. He was so glad they'd finished their case on Christmas Eve; it had been in doubt there for a while but it looked like they would all be home for the holiday. His cell rang as he headed for the door, "Hotchner."

"Sir, this is Rick," said their pilot of many years. "It doesn't look like we're going anywhere for a long while."

Hotch looked out the window. Inclement weather had been expected due to a Colorado low that was heading northeast but he was sure they would beat it out. "Is is snowing that badly?"

"It has picked up in the last hour Agent Hotchner; visibility is poor and there's a lot of snow and ice buildup on the runways. In addition the crosswinds are quite strong making take off and landing at the airport dangerous. Then, once flights are able to take off, we'll be quite far down on the list. They're going to start with planes destined for high frequency markets with the largest capacity and especially international flights. After all, it is Christmas Eve; they want to get as many people home as possible and our flight is only eight people including the flight crew."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hotch asked, a scowl developing on his face. Obviously, things were not going to work out as well as he'd hoped.

"No sir, the airport, air traffic control and the FAA make all the decisions." Rick told him.

Hotch left his bag on the bed and headed down to the lobby to break the news to the others that they were to be stuck in Rochester, Minnesota a while longer. The elevator opened to find them all there waiting.

"Where's your go bag?" Morgan asked.

"Up in my room; apparently, according to Rick, we're not going anywhere for a while so we're stuck here until we get the go ahead to fly." Hotch turned toward the front desk. "I'll take care of extending our reservations."

"Damn it," JJ said. "I can't not be there for Henry on Christmas. The dinner is supposed to be at our place and I had a ton of things to do. Will will never be able to…"

"Weather related cancellations are the highest in December followed by January and February," Reid rambled.

"That really doesn't help right now," Rossi replied.

Hotch approached at that moment, a rather grim look on his face. "There seems to be a problem."

"What now?" Morgan asked.

"Our rooms, they've already been booked. Apparently the whole place is full and didn't I know it was Christmas Eve."

"So, what you're saying is…" JJ began only to be finished by Blake.

"There's no room at the inn."

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"Fa la la la la, la la la la," Garcia sang as she turned off her computers. She was heading to JJ's to help Will with some of the prep for the big meal tomorrow. JJ had insisted that there was no need but Garcia knew they'd be getting home quite late from their latest case. Thank God they'd captured the unsub before Christmas. The tech grabbed her bags filled with gifts and locked the door to her lair. Heading down the hallway, she wished everyone she passed a Merry Christmas, her red and white peppermint earrings bouncing as she made her way toward the elevator. She'd just pushed the down button when her cell rang. She looked at the call display. "Hey Stud, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Not much pleasure," Morgan began as Garcia's smile began to fade, "Got a job for ya mama."

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Morgan closed his phone, "That was Garcia; not luck with hotel rooms, not even enough for us to double up."

"That sounds almost impossible," Blake responded. "Rochester must have, what, 100,000 people…"

"One hundred and seven thousand, eight hundred and ninety," Reid interjected.

"So there must be a fair number of hotel rooms," Blake continued.

"According to Garcia, they're all full because it's…" Morgan said before the others added in unison.

"Christmas."

"I'll contact Detective Yeager," Hotch said as he pulled out his cell. "Perhaps we'll be able to find a hostel or get some kind of billeting."

"I can't believe this," JJ began pacing the hotel lobby.

"Don't fret JJ; Garcia said she would go over to your place and help Will with everything," Morgan told her.

"I know and I know she'll be there for Henry if I'm not; I just hate missing out on him opening his gifts."

Rossi touched her shoulder. "Maybe you won't have to miss out on any of that. Maybe things will clear in time for us to take off."

JJ nodded but he could tell she didn't truly believe it.

Hotch turned back to them and everyone knew before he spoke. "The hostels are all full, aren't they?" Morgan voiced what the others were thinking.

"Seems so, Yeager's going to put the word out and see if there's any kind of billeting out there for us."

"We might as well go to the restaurant, have a meal and cool our heels while we're waiting," Rossi suggested.

"Yeah," JJ pulled her own cell out. "I've got to call Will."

Hours passed; the snow continued to fall and the wind continued to blow but no word was received about available accommodations. Finally, at 5pm, Hotch's phone rang. He listened to the caller. "Of course it's not ideal but if it's the best that can be done, we'll certainly have to take it." Hotch took a pen and his pad and wrote something on one of the sheets. "Thanks again Detective Yeager and Merry Christmas."

"So what have we got?" Morgan was the first to ask.

"One of the residents of Rochester said he doesn't have room for us in his home but he has a sizeable garage he'd be willing to let us have. He had a delivery business before he retired and he's gotten rid of the vehicles, just hasn't sold the building yet. Detective Yeager says the hospital, which is close to this man's garage, has offered us mattresses that are due to be thrown out anyway and they'll be delivered there before we arrive. The garage is apparently fully heated and has electricity if we want to charge our phones or make coffee. Yeager said the man felt really badly because he'd heard on the news about us catching the unsub and wanted to offer us some place in his home but it seems his house is full because it's Christmas."

"Does it have a bathroom?" Reid asked.

Hotch nodded. "It's not the Ritz but the best we can do at the moment."

The team kept their heads down from the wind and the snow it blew with it as they made their way to the SUV's that would take them to the garage. "I can't believe this," JJ said from the back seat as Morgan maneuvered the vehicle slowly around according to the prodding of the GPS, until they reached Osseo Road where they found the garage a few miles up the road. The lights were on inside and when they left their vehicles and hurried indoors, they were greeted by a short balding grey haired man.

"Martin Trelor," he said extending his hand. "I'm sorry this is all I have to offer you at the moment. I know what you people did for the people of this city and I want to do more but…"

"We totally understand Mr. Trelor," Hotch replied. "We appreciate this. We really do."

He gestured to the work table at the back of the room where another man was stetting some things out. "That's my son Mitch." The man turned and waved. "I brought a coffeemaker we had one extra and the wife insisted I bring a pot of soup." They could see a large crock pot plugged into one of the outlets. "Sorry that the bowls and cups are disposable. I know you people deserve better but that's all we had since we need all our dishes for the family we have down for Christmas this year."

"Um, I also hope you don't mind a little company." He gestured behind him with his thumb where two beautiful animals, a black and white border collie and a brown tabby with a white chest and paws were sitting. "They won't be any problem. My niece has asthma and is allergic. She rarely ever comes to our place because of Maggie and Astro but she did this time. I thought they could stay here with you folks. They're no trouble. I've put out food and Maggie's litter box in that corner." He pointed to the farthest reaches of the building. "Astro'll be fine. He's been walked and everything so you won't have to do anything."

"That's fine, Mr. Trelor; not a problem," Hotch replied noting Morgan and Rossi were already making friends with the animals. "Thanks so much for your hospitality." Hotch reached out to shake the man's hand, "Merry Christmas."

Mr. Trelor and Mitch left and the team looked around their lodgings. A work table against one of the walls held a coffee maker complete with coffee and Styrofoam cups, a crock pot with plastic bowls, some plastic cutlery and napkins. Six mattresses sat on the floor in one corner, each covered with a fitted sheet and a blanket provided.

Blake began to laugh. "No room at the inn, a makeshift lodging and animals, doesn't anybody find that funny?"