Title: She's Really Alive This Time
Summary: Aaron said the same thing last time; the woman he loved was still alive. Sean had no idea that this time, she really was. Mentions of Hotch/Emily and Hotch/Hailey, set somewhere between seasons 6 and 7. Contains heavy alcohol use.
Rating:T.
Comments: This is my response to the Criminal Minds Weekly Prompt forum Week 16, prompt: Your character has too much to drink and spills a confession to someone." And yes, Hotch is a bit OOC, but who isn't OOC when their drunk?
"When the conspiracy of lies surrounding me demands of me to silence the one word of truth given to me, that word becomes the one word I wish to utter above all others."
~Andre P. Brink
Aaron Hotchner stumbled drunkenly out of the taxicab parked in front of his brother Sean's house.
"Hay, man you gonna pay me?" the cabby asked impatiently. Aaron pulled a crinkled fifty-dollar bill through the open driver's side window.
"Keeptha change," he slurred and proceeded to stagger up the stairs to Sean's front door.
He didn't even have to knock; Sean was already at the door, most likely having heard the taxi, Aaron concluded. Even heavily intoxicated, he could profile his own younger brother with ease.
"Good god, Aaron! What have you done to yourself?" Sean pulled his brother inside and immediately dragged him to the couch.
"Let me go get you a glass of water, then we'll talk, okay?"
Just as Sean was about to make his way to the kitchen to retrieve the promised drink, Aaron grabbed him by the wrist. "No, Sean. Don't go. I have to tell you something."
Sean was a bit confused, but did as Aaron asked and sat on the couch next to him.
"I have to tell you something," his breath was so heavy he was almost panting his desperate words." It's killing me, Sean. I have to tell someone."
Sean gently squeezed his brother's shoulder. "What's bothering you, Aaron?"
"You have to promise me you'll never tell anyone. I swore an oath to keep this a secret. This is deadly, Sean. For myself, for my team, for everyone."
Sean nodded, now becoming worried that what was to come may be to heavy to bare. But he would hear his brother out; he had to be there for him. Not a month ago he'd lost not only an agent, but also the woman he loved. And just when he was starting to move on from Hailey…
"Emily Prentiss. She's alive, Sean. Doyle didn't kill her. In order to protect her, Declan, and the team from Doyle and the IRA, the FBI and Interpol had to make it look like she was dead; fake her death. She's not dead, Sean. She's hiding in Paris."
Sean sighed heavily. Oh no, not again, he thought to himself.
"Aaron," Sean said soothingly, "Aaron, listen to me. Emily Prentiss is dead. She was stabbed by the IRA terrorist Ian Doyle and died in surgery."
"That's what I had to tell people! Morgan is so full of guilt he damn near hates himself, Reid is sinking so far into depression I wouldn't be surprised if he relapses if he hasn't already, and Garcia is so befuddled she doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground anymore! All of this is because of the lie I have to tell!" Aaron's voice cracked on the last word of his rant; he buried his reddened face in his hands and wept.
Sean could do nothing but sit dumbfounded and continue to rub his brother's shoulder in a vain attempt at comforting him. He had only met Morgan once and didn't really know him well, he didn't know what kind of relapse Aaron was talking about, he didn't know who Garcia was, but he knew that Aaron was probably blaming himself for the pain his team was feeling.
After Hailey's murder, Aaron had come to him several times in the first two months or so, always drunk, always insisting Hailey was alive, even that they were still married. Now it was happening all over again. Aaron was insisting that the woman he loved was alive. But this time he had told himself an elaborately detailed story straight out of a cheesy spy novel, and Sean felt helpless.
"Aaron," he hesitated not quite knowing how to continue. "I'm sorry. Emily's gone. When you sober up you'll realize that everything you're saying is the liquor and regret talking. You insisted Hailey was alive too, remember?"
"I know," he replied weakly. "This time Sean…This time it's real. She's alive. She really is alive this time. Hailey…" With a heavy exhale of breath, Aaron passed out. Sean barely caught him before he fell of the couch.
Sean, almost in tears from the sight of Aaron's pain, gently stood and laid his brother down across the couch. "Sleep it off here, Bro. When you wake up you'll realize Emily's gone." He looked down at the unconscious Aaron heartbroken at the shimmer of tears that were still wet on his face.
"I wish all those things about Emily were true."
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.
~Corinthians 13:6-7