It was his anniversary or would have been if he hadn't made the decision to marry his job. The tall man with cold dark eyes and an expressionless face was staring down at a photograph of a beautiful couple, both smiling as they cradled a small child between them; Something wet splashed down onto the glass and trailed down until it disappeared under the wooden frame before it was followed by another and then another. He was drinking in the woman's face almost greedily and he couldn't bring himself to look away until a hard knock pulled his attention away from the woman and the child.
"Hotch?" The door was pushed open and an older man was framed in the door way. "You sit in darkness now?"
Agent Hotchner shook his head "I just forgot to turn the lights on."
"Aaron; you haven't been out of your office all day." The man said in concern "go home, be with your son, you both need each other today."
The agent shook his head again "it's been two years, Rossi, surely it wouldn't" his voice cracked; he cleared his throat and tried again "surely I shouldn't still feel this guilt and this anger" he spat out the last word and clenched his trembling hands into fists.
"What you are feeling is perfectly natural" Rossi assured him "it's the anniversary of your marriage; don't hide your feelings because you think that they are wrong."
"Every night" Hotchner said in a cold dead tone "for months, after Hailey's death, Jack refused to sleep in his bedroom. He'd have night terrors and I still hear him shouting for her, for his mom."
"Jack will heal; he's young and he has his father" replied the older man. "Go home Aaron; there's nothing happening and everyone is packing up. Garcia is trying to get Reid to join the team in a night of Vodka shots and dirty dancing."
Aaron let out a low chuckle and looked up at Rossi "now that I have to see." He stood, straightened his shirt as he pulled his black blazer on and joined Rossi at the door. "Thank you, Dave."
"You're welcome" David Rossi replied "just remember that not only are we a team but we are also a family; you don't need to go through this alone. Everyone in our team is here for both you and Jack."
"Hotch!" Both men turned to see a young blonde with a face like an angel standing just feet from them. She frowned "you sit in the dark?"
"What's wrong, JJ?" Hotch asked the woman.
"Six abductions in Phoenix, Arizona" she replied quickly "all children under the age of two. Snatched from their homes. The most recent took place last night."
"I take it that they're not found alive."
Rossi raised his eyebrows at the young woman as she gave her reply "they haven't been found at all, Rossi."
Aaron nodded "ok, grab the team, we'll brief on the plane; wheels up in twenty."
"Garcia, light of my life, what do you propose we do when Reid is passed out drunk, huh?" Agent Derek Morgan is a very charming man; charming in looks and in persona. He smirked at a woman who was perched on the edge of a desk in the bullpen.
Garcia smiled at him through her horn rimmed glasses. Her hair was particularly crazy today; blonde with orange, red and neon yellow feathers ironed in to the crimps. Her lipstick was bright purple and her nails were long and matched her outfit; yellow. "Well, light of my life" she raised her eyebrows at him "I propose that you, muscle man, carry him out over your shoulder and provide us all with entertainment as he throws up over your back."
"Very funny, baby girl, but there is no way in hell that that is ever happening."
"Er, do I even get a say in any of this?" A tall, gangly, kid piped up.
"No you don't, Reid" Garcia told him shortly before continuing her conversation with Morgan.
"I wouldn't argue with her" A woman with shoulder length black hair whispered to him "she's very stubborn when it comes to her plans." Emily Prentiss left the FBI's BAU unit after her 'death' but returned after the team needed her help with a case; she still thinks that getting her back into the team was the reason they invited her along with them but, either way, she probably would have returned sooner or later.
"Uh, statistically, nine out of ten-"
"Enough with the statistics, Reid, you are not getting out of this one." Morgan told him with raised eyebrows. Spencer Reid is probably the most valuable member of the BAU; he has an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory which helps when it comes to solving cases.
"Sorry guys" JJ said as she hurried over to them "we have a case; grab your go bags, Hotch says wheels up in twenty."
"Saved by Jareau" Reid muttered, with an expression of relief all over his face, as he grabbed a black case from under his desk.
"Oh no, kid" Morgan laughed as he pointed at the youngest member of the team "this isn't over; rain check" he winked before reaching under Garcia to grab his case.
"Careful there, daddy, you're going to give momma the wrong impression if you reach under her legs like that."
"Don't you know it, sweet cheeks." He winked before kissing her forehead "see you later, baby girl, I expect to find you waiting for me."
JJ looked at the pair of them, smiling at their banter, before saying "Garcia's coming too so grab your go bag" and hurried off toward the elevators.
"Pen-el-oh-pee" Morgan grinned "looks like you're working the case, out in the field, with us this time." Garcia's face fell; as much as she loved working with the BAU unit, she hated going into the action with the team. She preferred to be safe in her office, sat behind her computers doing her 'techy stuff' where it was safe from all of the worlds 'ickiness.' "Don't worry" Derek assured her as soon as he noticed that her expression had changed "I'll protect you from the bad men."
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"So" JJ looked at the team who'd all settled on the plane and were now gathered around for the briefing. She pushed a button on a remote control and stared at her computer screen. "We are heading to Phoenix, Arizona, where infants are being abducted and then replaced exactly twenty four hours later."
"Oh, God" Garcia moaned "not babies; give me headless bankers or another anthrax attack but not babies."
Morgan placed his hand in hers and squeezed it for assurance before asking "so what's this guy's MO? How are these babies killed?"
"That's the thing" JJ admitted "there is no MO; the children aren't returned."
"What do you mean they aren't returned?" Rossi asked.
"They are replaced" she repeated as she hit the button again and gestured at the screen "the unsub replaces them with lifelike dolls."
"Hang on a second" Prentiss said slowly "so none of these children have been found but the unsub is making dolls that replicate them?"
JJ nodded "all that the Arizona PD know is what I've told you; the children are abducted and then exactly twenty four hours later the parents find doll that replicates their baby. The unsub has left no clues at the abduction scenes; it looks like it's a walk in, walk out job. They are quick, organised and proficient."
"We are most likely dealing with a mother who is compensating for something; a loss of a child or infidelity." Hotchner told the team "Typically, men have no interest in children as young as these."
"Ok so we have Sammy Evans; she's just turned one and she was taken yesterday evening after her mother put her down for the night. The other five are more or less the same; snatched from their cribs. One minute mom hears them gurgling through the monitor and then nothing."
"She goes in to check on her child and they're gone?" Morgan asked "how? I mean, the unsub must have made some noise."
"All we know that our unsub is confident; they take the child whilst mom and dad are still up, right from under their noses." JJ sighed and looked up at the team "I don't know about you guys but I am going to make sure that we return every single one of the babies, alive, to their parents."
Hotchner nodded "if she's compensating then it's a good chance that she won't hurt them."
"But" Rossi cut in "if these babies aren't like the child she lost, then she might kill them."
"Or Return them" Reid said. Everyone looked around to see that all-too-familiar look of concentration on his face "if the child is not what she wants she may return them to their families."
"What are the chances of that happening, Spence?" JJ asked.
"Not as high as we'd like them to be" he replied.
"Is she taking both boys and girls?" Rossi asked. JJ nodded "then we are probably dealing with infidelity. If it was the loss of a child then she'd be targeting the sex of her own child."
"Ok guys, get some sleep. We land in four hours." Hotchner ordered.
Garcia stood from her chair and went to the back of the plane, closely followed by Morgan who took a seat beside her. "You ok, sweetness?"
She nodded silently before sighing "babies, Morgan; little people who can't even think about hurting people! You know with their itty bitty fingers and that awesome smell."
"Hope you're not talking about dirty diapers." Morgan said, trying to make her laugh but when it didn't work he took her hand again and pressed it to his lips "baby girl, we'll get this unsub, we always do."
"Yeah" she laughed with tears in her eyes "but until then, what is she doing with the children?"
"There's no way of telling; as far as we know she's taking care of them and until we know otherwise, we have to believe that they're alive."
Garcia nodded and rested her head on Morgan's shoulder, letting him stroke her hair and listened silently to his soft words until he soothed her enough for her to fall sleep.
"Hotch?" JJ took a seat beside her boss who looked up at her and smiled softly. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure" Hotch replied "what's going on?"
JJ didn't speak immediately, she that there quietly deliberating her words. "With cases involving children, how do you cope?"
"I de-compartmentalise" he replied simply.
"Every time I look at those pictures, I see Henry" she replied as a tear escaped from her eye and rolled down her cheek.
"JJ" Hotchner leant toward his colleague and placed his hands around hers, cupping them "if you can't separate your private life from this case then you are going to take every single think that this unsub does personally."
"I know" she replied "but with Will gone, I constantly worry about Henry; I have no reassurance anymore."
Hotch pulled her into a rare but very welcomed hug which was returned. "Your mother is looking after him; isn't that reassurance enough?"
She nods into his shoulder "I know, I'm just being stupid."
Both agents pull back at the same time. "You're not being stupid" Hotch told her with a smile "you're being a mother."
"Thanks" she said returning the smile before catching Aaron's eye and staring straight into them. The smouldering look behind his eyes entranced her and before she knew what she was doing she was leaning in and closing the gap between their lips.