United We Stand 2 And Then There Were Two

The continuing story of United We Stand. The story picks up where we left off. JJ is in the hospital. Shawna Flynn's team is disappearing and new bonds are formed at what cost? And the Unsub is quietly plotting.

I do not own the rights to criminal minds, or any part of CBS. This story is fictional and any resemblance to actual people living or dead is purely coincidence. This is part two of United We Stand, please read part one if you haven't already.

Chapter 1

Hotch was considering what Dave had said earlier. Was he just attracted to Shawna because she was a challenge? He didn't think so. He smiled when he thought about her. She was all he could think of. As a matter of fact he had forgotten about the unsub for a brief moment until Dave brought it up. What was going on with this case? When an unsub escalates they usually don't slow down or stop like this one. He had seen cooling off periods before, but never in the middle of an escalation. And this unsub was pushing. He went from shooting people on the street, to executing an FBI agent in little under 24hrs. Hotch walked to the railing and looked at the time line on the white board. Reid was staring at it and Julie was sitting on his desk asking questions. It was late and he was ready to send them home. Rossi was in his office and Hotch had known he needed a moment alone so he gave him some space.

Morgan had taken Emily home shortly after they arrived and Hotch told him to please stay with her. Morgan agreed and Hotch had wondered about the quick "yes" he got from Morgan. He cared about all of them but he would rather be here or chasing down a criminal, than baby sit someone.

Hotch descended the stairs and said, "The two of you need to get out of here. It has been a long day and will be just as long tomorrow."

Reid looked at Hotch, "And you spent the night on your futon so what is the point?"

Hotch wondered how much Reid may know about last night.

"You're wearing your back up suit." Reid pointed at Hotch.

"Yeah but anyway, I am heading out soon. And I want all of you home before I do." Hotch was relieved Reid just noticed his suit and not anything else.

Julie stretched when she stood up; she hadn't realized she was as tired as she was.

"Come on Spencer take me home, we aren't getting anywhere with this."

Spencer grabbed his bag and was heading to the stairs when Hotch said,

"Hey, congratulations."

Reid turned around and looked at Hotch. He was surprised Hotch noticed, he wasn't around Julie much today.

Julie walked over to Hotch and gave him a hug, "Thank you, you know that means a lot to me."

Hotch smiled at her. He was grateful that Julie found Reid and she didn't want to get involved with him last year. Had they tried, it would have failed and he wouldn't have meet Shawna.

Reid smiled and said thanks to Hotch before he drove Julie home. Reid spent the night with Julie but both of them were exhausted, they decided sleep was more important. Right before Julie drifted off Reid said, 'Maybe we should consider one place instead of two."

Julie rolled over to face him lying on her right side. "Would you like to move in here?"

Reid thought of that some. Julie owned her own house and Reid rented. He wasn't sure if he would like to own a home with her, so he was quiet for a moment.

"Yes I would, if you don't mind. Later we can buy a house together, after we've married."

Julie smiled at him suddenly interested in kissing him. She did and they got lost in the moment, neither of them interested in sleeping any longer.

XXx

Hotch was on the elevator when the doors opened at three. Shawna got on and they both said, "I thought you left hours ago."

Hotch laughed and said, "I was waiting for my team to leave." The minute he said that he regretted it. The look on Shawna's face proved she thought he shouldn't have said it either.

"Hotch, Julie is part of my team or what is left of it."

Hotch looked at Shawna, all he wanted to do is hold her in his arms. She wasn't even comfortable enough to call him Aaron. His mouth got him into trouble again. He had to make this up to her. "I know she is. She was part of my team for awhile and you and Harry are now a part of ours. As long as we need to be one team we will be."

"Are you sure? Do you really think we can still do this?"

Hotch knew Shawna was giving up and he was worried about her. When the elevator opened to the lobby he put his hand on Shawna's lower back. There was a crew working on the glass doors and Hotch led her in the opposite direction.

"I'm in the lot." She said.

"I'm not." He replied.

Shawna walked to Hotch's car with him and when he opened the car door for her, she got in. She didn't know where he planned to take her, but at this moment she didn't care.