Fight or Flight
Prentiss walked into the bullpen, extra large cup of coffee in hand. The dark circles under her eyes were even more prominent today than the days before.
"Morning," Reid greeted.
"Morning, Reid. Do you know where Hotch is?" She asked.
"Um, I haven't seen him yet today. He's normally in by now."
"Ok." Prentiss yawned. Reid bit the inside of his cheek. He'd noticed how much coffee she was drinking (and the circles under her eyes that were growing darker as the days went by) almost a week ago. He didn't know if he should say anything, though. He wasn't very good at reading social cues, so he decided to just say silent. For now, at least. Behind them, Hotch walked out of the elevator towards door, trying to balance his cup of coffee on top of the stack of files he was carrying. As he reached for the door, the coffee spilled onto his shirt, tie, and onto his files.
"Damnit!" He cursed. Prentiss withheld a chuckle and went to go help out the unit chief.
"Here. I'll take these." Prentiss took the half-soaking files from Hotch, who was busy cussing out his coffee as he threw it away. They walked silently towards his office. Prentiss set the files on his coffee table and shut the door to his office, giving them some privacy. Hotch stopped trying to wipe the coffee from his tie with a napkin and looked up at Prentiss.
"Is everything alright?" His brow furrowed. Prentiss took a few seconds to try to form her response. She took a shaky, deep breath.
"No, not really." She shook her head. "Hotch, it's my brother. Well, he's my step brother. But, still."
"Is he ok?" Hotch asked, his attention now completely on Prentiss. He could tell she was fighting back tears, and she was losing.
"He was staying with his uncle, James. My mom couldn't look after him with her schedule, and his dad's always overseas." She looked down at the ground and wiped away the tears that were clouding her vision. "About two weeks ago, his uncle got arrested. Mitch took to the streets. I can't find him anywhere. We know better than anyone what happens to people on the streets. He's only 15, Hotch. God knows where he is, or what's happening to him." She finished and withdrew another shaky breath.
Hotch walked over to her and put a tender hand on her shoulder in a non-successful attempt to comfort her.
"Do you know what city he's in?" Hotch asked quietly.
"They lived in Phoenix." Prentiss whispered. At this point the tears were streaming down her face.
Hotch wrapped Prentiss in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"We'll find him, Emily. We don't have a case right now, and we're not going to touch another one until we find Mitch. I promise." Hotch swore to her.
"Thank you, Aaron." Prentiss wrapped her arms around him, attempting to stop the tears, but to no avail. Hotch pulled away from the embrace.
"How about you go to the bathroom. I'll gather and brief the team. We should be ready to go soon." He smiled, and Prentiss left to try to dry her eyes and reapply the makeup that was barely concealing her dark circles. Hotch took off his coffee-stained tie and jacket, grabbed his spare jacket from his go-bag, and exited his office.
The rest of the team was chatting away in the bullpen. Or at least they were, until Hotch called them all into the round table room.
"I need everyone in the round table room immediately!" Hotch practically shouted, startling the team and causing Reid to almost fall off the desk he was sitting on. Derek smirked at Reid's clumsiness, but worry was eating away at him. A couple minutes earlier, he had seen Prentiss rush from Hotch's office towards the bathrooms, and it had looked like she was crying. Now they were all being called to the briefing room by an agitated Hotch? This can't be good, he thought.
The team, minus Prentiss, sat down at the round table.
"I thought we didn't have a case today." Reid said, puzzled.
"We do now." Hotch said sternly. "A child's missing."
"I didn't get an Amber Alert," Said Morgan.
"This one's different. It's Prentiss' brother." Hotch replied.
"Brother? I thought she was an only child." JJ asked, confused.
"It's her step-brother, Mitch. He's been missing for almost two weeks. He was staying with his uncle, James, but then the uncle got arrested. Mitch ran away, and hopefully he's somewhere on the streets. He's only 15. We all know what happens to people on the streets, so we need to find him before someone else does. Be on the plane in 40 minutes." Hotch finished and walked off.
"I guess that's why Prentiss has been acting so strange lately." Reid said, feeling bad for not picking up on it.
"It's understandable, kid." Morgan slapped his hand on Reid's shoulder.
"Why didn't she ask for help?" Reid asked quietly.
"You know Prentiss, Reid. She's independant. She probably thought she would've been bothering us by asking." Morgan shook his head. He hated when Prentiss did that. She could've asked for the world and he would give it to her in a heartbeat. Anyone on the team would.
Prentiss was putting the last of her makeup back on when the door creaked open.
"Can I come in?" Hotch asked with his back turned to the bathroom, not wanting to intrude.
"Yeah," Prentiss said, trying to smile.
"We're meeting on the plane in 40 minutes. Want me to drive you?" Hotch offered, leaning against the counter while Prentiss put her makeup back in her go-bag.
"Thanks, but I have to grab some things first. I'll meet you on the plane." Prentiss felt bad for turning him down.
"Yeah, of course. See you on the plane." He smiled at her, but she could see the concern in his eyes. Prentiss forced a half smile, and kissed his cheek as she walked out of the bathroom.
As usual, Hotch was the first one on the plane. Rossi was next, then JJ. Usually, Morgan was the last one, but he even beat Prentiss. It wasn't like her to be late, but then again, nothing about this was normal. Hotch kept adjusting the two cups of coffee in front of him, waiting for Prentiss to board. He was about to call her when Garcia popped up on the screen.
"Sir, I just told Phoenix P.D. that you will be arriving in a couple hours. When you do get there, I'm gonna warn you, they do not seem happy about your presence. And from the missing person files on Mitch, it seems like they didn't even launch a full investigation. They just wrote him off, those bastar-"
"They probably just ignored his disappearance because they had arrested his uncle." Rossi cut Garcia off. "You know how cops feel about anyone they arrest. It says here he was a major leader in an international drug trafficking ring. Probably assumed Mitch was taking after his uncle. "
"Reid, can you start preparing a geographical profile? I know we don't have much to go on, but-" Hotch started, but Reid interrupted.
"Yeah, absolutely. I'll start right now." Reid took out the small map of Phoenix he had brought and began going over it.
"Guys," JJ whispered and nodded towards the door. There Emily was, getting onto the plane. Hotch sat upright in his chair, and motioned to the seat he had saved next to him. She sat down silently, and Hotch slid the coffee he had made towards her. She gave him a silent thank you.
"Sorry I'm so late," She apologized, even though everyone knew that was unnecessary.
"No worries." Rossi said sympathetically. Prentiss bit her lip before continuing on. The tears she was suppressing were making talking difficult.
"Thank you. For doing this. You guys didn't have to." She was at it again. Subconsciously, she knew the team would cross heaven and earth for her, but she honestly thought that she would be bothering the team if she asked any favors. Morgan wanted to just shake her and tell her that she isn't bothering anyone by asking for help. They were a team, after all.
"Emily, you don't have to thank us. You're our friend, and we're a team." JJ tried to convince her friend. She didn't know why she was always so insecure. They all loved her, and no matter how much they told her, she wouldn't listen. It broke their hearts every time they saw just how much Emily didn't believe them.
Hotch reached over and took Emily's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. The rest of the flight, the team was throwing around ideas on how to find Mitch, but Prentiss' mind was somewhere else. The reality of the situation had hit her a while ago, but now it felt… real. It wasn't just her trying to investigate during the night hours. Now it was a full-on FBI case thanks to some strings pulled by Hotch. Her mind began to wander to the places she had been so desperately trying to avoid. She couldn't control it. She began to think about where Mitch was, or what he was going through. Hot tears began to sting her eyes. JJ was in the middle of discussing possible ways to use the media to their advantage when Emily hurried to the bathroom. JJ paused, and a look of sadness washed over her. She was concerned about Emily. Before Hotch could head over to Prentiss, Reid jumped up and walked over to the bathroom door. He hesitated before knocking.
JJ sighed, but then continued her conversation. She knew that spending her time being worried about Prentiss wouldn't find Mitch, and as hard as it was, she focused her attention back onto methods of using the media to find the boy.
"Prentiss? Are you… um… is everything ok?" Reid knew it was a stupid question, but he didn't know where to start.
Prentiss gulped before answering. She could go with the honest answer, or the answer that he would want to hear. The door opened slowly and she stepped out.
"I just- I keep imagining what he might be going through. Phoenix is a big city, and we have no clue where he is. What if we don't find him?" She almost immediately felt guilty for telling Reid the honest answer.
"Emily, none of us are going to rest until we find him. I know I won't." He said assuredly, offering a quick smile before returning his gaze to the floor. Even though he hadn't said much, Emily found it comforting.
"I know, Reid." She paused. "Thank you." She forced another smile, and he walked back to the rest of the team.
They exited the plane, not any closer to finding Mitch, even after almost 4 hours of continuous brainstorming. Reid had started the geographical profile but didn't have much to go off of. JJ had some ideas for using the media to try to find Mitch, but that was it. Hotch was eager to get to the police station and start actually making progress. Seeing Emily like this, in pain, was killing him.
The team entered the bustling police station. People were scrambling all around the place, phones ringing, people shouting. Hotch asked the desk clerk where the chief was and the clerk pointed to a room on the other side of the station. He, Rossi, and Morgan made their way through the hectic station towards the office, leaving JJ, Reid, and Prentiss to wait awkwardly at the entrance.
The three men walked into the square room. A tall, slightly overweight middle aged man looked up from his desk at the feds who were standing in front of him.
"I'm Chief Paul Gerrano. How can I help you gentlemen?" He asked, confused. He obviously had no idea that they were from the FBI.
"I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, these are Supervisory Special Agents Morgan and Rossi. We're from the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI." Hotch said, but the chief still had no clue as to what was going on.
"We're here to investigate the disappearance of Mitch Carlson." Morgan added. The chief finally seemed to realize what was going on.
"Fellas, with all due respect, this isn't a federal investigation, and we launched an investigation but came up with nothing. You have no jurisdiction here, so why don't you just leave the investigating to us locals." Chief Gerrano replied snarkily with a cocky smile.
"Actually, it is a federal investigation. And right now, we could arrest you for obstruction of justice and file sanctions against for not complying with procedure during the disappearance of a child." Rossi countered.
"And as we speak, internal affairs is launching an investigation for reckless endangerment of a child, and the DOJ is putting together a lawsuit to sue for abandonment of procedure. I suggest, if you want to stay out of prison, that you cooperate fully." Hotch added angrily.
"Welcome to Phoenix. There's an empty room with boards next to this one. You can have whatever you need." The chief sneered. Hotch scoffed as they were walking into the other room. He waved over the rest of the team.
"That guy was a bundle full of joy." Rossi said sarcastically.
"He didn't want to cooperate?" JJ asked.
"Not at all. He didn't even care about Mitch." Morgan said.
"I'll finish what I can of the geographical profile." Reid continued to pour over the map.
"JJ, you should contact the press and release Mitch's picture. I know I'm rushing, but time isn't on our side. Morgan, Rossi, you should go talk to people on the streets and see if anyone recognizes Mitch.
"It's a long shot, but we don't have a lot of options." Morgan agreed. The two headed out of the station and drove off.
"Emily, has Mitch's house been sold?" Hotch asked.
"No, I don't think so. It was classified as evidence, so no one has probably even been in it other than police and CSU."
"Alright. Do you think you're able to come with me to see it?" Hotch asked hesitantly. His last intention was to inflict anymore pain on her, and frankly, he thought with her current mental state it wouldn't be good for her to relive old memories.
"Yeah. I can do it." She said confidently.
"Okay." Hotch reluctantly agreed, but he knew better than to argue with Emily by now. He bit the inside of his cheek. Her confidence, although obviously false, concerned him. It was like she had something to prove.
Most of the car ride was spent in awkward silence, the sound of the engine filling the empty space.
"You can stay in the car, if you want. You don't have to come in." Hotch reminded her.
"Aaron, I know Mitch. I need to see his room. I'll know if anything's wrong." Hotch nodded, and the two headed into the house.
It was just like any other house. It was two floors, had decent furniture, nice appliances. It was most likely funded from the trafficking money. Hotch followed Prentiss up the stairs, down a hallway, and to what he assumed was Mitch's bedroom.
The walls were painted blue, a white desk sat in one corner. A double-sized bed was against a wall. Three units of bookshelves covered one wall, completely filled with books. Emily smiled at the sight of his books.
"I'd forgotten. He wanted to be an author." She said this happily, but it just made her feel worse. Bittersweet memories tried to pop into Emily's mind, but she quickly shut them out.
"Look at this." Hotch was holding a box. He began looking through it's contents. It was almost filled to the brim with drawings and paper filled with writing.
"Where'd you find this?" Emily asked worriedly.
"It was on the top shelf of his closet." Hotch's facial expression grew more and more uneasy as he went through the box.
"It looks like things at home weren't too good." Hotch said.
"Well, yeah, his uncle worked for drug smugglers. Couldn't have been too fun."
"No, I mean, it looked like his uncle was abusive." Hotch bit his lip. Emily took a while to sift through the box.
"But- why didn't he tell me? I could have helped him." Prentiss said solemnly. She couldn't understand. He was her brother. He knew she could've saved him.
"I… I had no clue. I should have realized." She paused as she shuffled through the slips of paper.
"Abused kids spend their childhood learning how to conceal it." Hotch tried to comfort her.
"He was being tormented. Look at these, he hated himself. He blamed himself for it."
"We're going to find him." Hotch said calmly. He stood up and walked over to Prentiss. Hotch could see how hard she was trying to keep herself together. He took her face in his hands and wiped away the tear that was trickling down her cheek. "Everything is going to be ok." She wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face into his soft, grey suit jacket.
"I love you." She mumbled. He kissed the top of her head, never wanting to let go. Time slowed when she was in his arms, and everything felt like it was meant to be.
"I love you, too." He whispered.
"His name is Mitch Carlson. He's 15 years old, about 5'10", and has black hair. He has been missing for almost 2 weeks. If you see this boy, please call the tip line on your screen. Thank you." JJ finished. Almost every news station in town was there recording the press conference. She walked back into the station.
Reid was sitting on the table, staring at his map. He was surrounding by markers, compasses, and rulers. He had that look on his face that he gets when he realizes something but can't quite put it all together yet. JJ took a seat at the opposite side of the table.
Reid snapped out of his trance at the sound of the chair clanking against the table. "How'd the press conference go?"
"I managed to get almost every news crew in town there, but I don't know if it'll make a difference. If Mitch is on the streets, I seriously doubt the people there are watching TV. How's the geographical profile going?"
"I don't know if I have enough data to finish it. I'm trying to calculate the maximum distance that Mitch could have gone, but there's too many variables. So far I've it narrowed down to a 138.6 square mile radius."
"138.6 square miles? How big is Phoenix?"
"517." He answered.
"138.6 square miles is still a pretty big area," JJ stated.
"Well JJ, I can't narrow it down any more with the data I have! Do you want me to just guess? It's a lot smaller than 517 square miles." The genius snapped. JJ's eyes widened at Reid's sudden outburst.
"Spence, ok, calm down. You did a great job. I'm not saying you didn't. I'm just saying that's a pretty big area." She tried to calm him down
"I'm- I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from." He started rubbing his temples, trying to ease his headache.
"What's on your mind?" JJ could tell that something was bothering him.
"It's Emily. I can tell that she doesn't feel like she belongs. Like she's a nuisance to us. She's my friend, JJ. It kills me to see her think so lowly of herself." His voice was somber and you could hear the desperation.
"I know. I think deep down, she knows too. She just doesn't allow herself to think about how important she is to us. I don't think she can help it."
"How do I make her see it? All of us can see how wonderful she is, but how do I make her see what we see?" He asked. Reid could see it in Emily's eyes. He could see how alone she thought she was.
"I don't know, Spence. But a time will come, hopefully, when she can see it." JJ tried to reassure him, but Reid had a good point. She might never see how wonderful she actually was until they showed her.
Rossi and Morgan walked into the room, Morgan taking a seat next to JJ.
"So, did you guys find anything?" JJ asked.
"Not one thing. Four hours of asking people, and not one of them could help." Morgan sighed.
"Did you narrow down the location of where Mitch could be?" Rossi asked Reid, but he was lost in his own world again, marking what seemed like random lines on the map.
"He's got it narrowed down to 138.6 square miles." JJ responded.
"Alright Hotch. Yeah. See you in the morning." JJ hung up the phone.
"What'd he say?" Reid yawned. He glanced at his watch. 2:34 in the morning.
"He said we should go and get some rest, start fresh in the morning. We'll meet back here at 7."
The team drove to the hotel. They didn't want to give up on Mitch for the night, but they knew they wouldn't be of any use if they were too tired to think.
"Thanks, Hotch." He handed her a cup of tea and sat down at the table. Hotch wasn't wearing his usual suit and tie. He had just put on a regular blue t-shirt and some jeans. The two had decided to grab an early breakfast before meeting up with the team. The sun was starting to scrape the horizon. Hotch was holding Emily's hand as they sat side by side in the booth.. Hotch had his coffee and Prentiss her tea. They ate in silence, not needing to speak. He didn't let go of her hand the entire time.
Once the clock reached 6:25, they decided it was time to leave and meet back up with the team. Hotch and Prentiss were first to arrive at the station. Shortly after, the rest of the team arrived. After a couple hours of attempting to come up with an idea to find Mitch, Morgan spoke up.
"Guys, what do we normally do when we're called on a case?" He asked.
"We build a profile." Rossi answered, unsure of where Morgan was going with this.
"But there's no unsub." Reid stated.
"We profile Mitch. With his profile, we can predict where he might have gone. We can deliver the profile to the cops and they can patrol possible areas where Mitch could be." Morgan finished.
The team agreed and went on to build a profile of Mitch. He was scared, so he would probably go somewhere familiar. But not somewhere so familiar that people would guess where he was. Reid began narrowing down the geographical profile, eliminating places as time went on. Eventually , they had it narrowed down to a total area of 6 square miles.
With a little pressure and maybe a few veiled threats, the police chief agreed to let the agents release the profile to the street cops and arrange search parties.
By the time all this had been accomplished, it was almost 1 in the morning. Hotch and Morgan had been assigned one sector of town, Prentiss and Reid a different one, and JJ and Rossi another. Hotch didn't like the idea of being separated from Prentiss during the search. He was worried that she would hurt herself. It was all he could do to refrain from calling her. He wanted to be at her side, to take care of her. He couldn't do that on the opposite side of the city.
"Hotch?" Morgan called, bringing Hotch back to reality. He had been consumed by so much worry he'd completely zoned out.
"Uh... Yeah. What is it?" He asked, still slightly disoriented from his sudden trip back to the real world.
"He's not here." Morgan shook his head. This had to have been at least the 20th building they'd searched. Hotch sighed, but trudged onto the next abandoned building. They began searching through the dark warehouse calling Mitch's name when Morgan's phone rang.
"Yeah. You're sure? Completely sure? Alright. We'll be right there." He slipped the phone back into its place on his belt.
"Hotch! They got him!" Morgan shouted, his voice echoing down the emptiness of the building. Hotch came running over the rubble and made a beeline for the Suburban. He hopped into the driver's seat and almost drove off before Morgan could even get in the car.
"Rossi and JJ found him. Garcia sent the coordinates." Morgan told him. Hotch took out his phone and hit the first number on speed dial.
"Prentiss! They found him. Morgan's sending the coordinates to your phone." Hotch hung up the phone before Prentiss could say anything. He flipped on the sirens and drove like a madman towards the abandoned house. He slammed on the brakes, going from 65 to 0 in seconds. He almost skidded into Rossi's SUV, but that didn't matter. He sprinted from the car to the old, broken house.
"Dave?" He called.
"We're in here, Aaron." Rossi answered. Hotch followed the sound of his friend's voice.
JJ and Rossi sat next to Mitch. He had a blanket wrapped around him, and was holding a bottle of water.
Hotch's face lit up as he saw the boy, a rare sight nowadays. He kneeled down and smiled at Mitch.
"Hey, Mitch. I'm Aaron Hotchner, with the FBI. Emily should be here any minute. Is there anything I can do for you?" Aaron said, willing to do almost anything to help the poor kid.
"Um, no. I'm good, thanks." Mitch said uneasily. He offered a half-smile before turning his gaze back to the unopened water bottle in his hands.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable small talk, the front door to the house banged open.
"Mitch? Hotch?" A familiar voice called down the halls.
"We're in here, Emily." Hotch replied. He walked towards the corner of the room, not wanting to be in the way. The echos of the footsteps came closer and closer, Emily's anticipation growing greater with each step. She turned the corner and saw her brother wrapped in a blanket, sitting on a mattress on the floor. She walked over to him warily, her lip quivering from the relief of finding him. She felt like the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders now that she knew he was safe.
"Mitch." She embraced him, never wanting to let go. She wanted to protect him, she wanted to make sure he was always safe. The feeling of her brother in her arms caused a wave of joy to wash over her.
"D-don't you ever do that ever again, ok? I was worried sick." She managed to stutter out through the tears.
"I'm so sorry, Emily." He apologized, starting to choke up as well.
"Why did you run away?" She said, not able to understand why he wouldn't ask for her help.
"The people James worked with. A couple hours after he was arrested, they saw me walking home from school. They said that if I told the cops anything about them or what they do, they'd kill me. So I ran." He shrugged, avoiding her gaze.
"You could have called me, Mitch. Running away isn't the answer. You could have been hurt, or worse!" She said, her voice rising. She wasn't angry, though. Prentiss was filled with a confusing combination of joy, relief, and sorrow.
Mitch stared at the ground for a while. He couldn't think of a response.
"I know. I… I didn't want to risk it. I was scared." He said sheepishly. "Where am I going to end up now? Foster Care? Is that any better than here?" Mitch finished, a tinge of anger adding a sharp edge to his question.
Prentiss' eyes darted to Hotch, who was pretending not to hear their conversation. He was fixated on his phone, and she was almost certain he was tapping away on a blank screen in order to seem occupied. She returned her focus to Mitch, and began to tell him something that Hotch and herself had discussed in length the night before.
"Mitch, you're not going into foster care. You're going to come live with us." Prentiss beamed.
"Us?" Mitch didn't know what she meant. Last time he had seen her, she was single.
She looked over to Hotch, and he took the cue. He walked over and put his arm around Prentiss.
"We want you to come live with us. In Virginia." He said warmly. The team exchanged silent glances with each other. For months, they had been speculating about their boss' new relationships, but it was just that, speculations. Now the rumors were confirmed.
"Really? I don't want to intrude or anyth-"
"No, Mitch, don't do that. You are coming to live with us whether you like it or not." Prentiss teased. Mitch smiled, but no facial expression could accurately express what he was feeling. He was getting a home. A real, actual home. And a family. A family he didn't have to be afraid of.
"Emily, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me." Mitch tried to express his gratitude, but he just couldn't show how thankful he was for what the couple was doing for him.
Three weeks later…
"Mitch, Mitch! Wake up!" Jack called, tugging the sheets off Mitch's bed. Mitch groaned and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand.
"Morning, buddy." Mitch ruffled the little guy's hair. "Why are you up at 7:45 on a Saturday morning?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and dragging himself up and out of bed.
"Daddy told me to get you for breakfast. My soccer games today!" Jack squealed excitedly.
"Oh, right! Well then, you need your energy. Let's go eat." The two walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen. A smiling Aaron Hotchner was standing in the kitchen making waffles, wearing a 'Kiss the Chef' apron that Emily had gotten him for his birthday a couple weeks earlier.
"Morning, Mitch!" Hotch greeted.
"Morning," Mitch yawned.
Prentiss was sitting at the kitchen island eating her waffle.
"Sleep well?" Emily asked.
"I was." Mitch eyed Jack playfully, and Hotch laughed.
"Come on, eat up. We've got to get going soon." Emily informed Jack and MItch.
The four of them finished breakfast and headed off to the game. For the whole car ride, Jack babbled about how excited he was for the game. He decided that they were going to milkshakes afterwards.
They arrived at the game, and there on the bleachers sat the group of FBI agents. They saw Jack and Hotch, who coached the team, running over to the soccer team and started cheering.
The teams got into position, and the game began. The profilers cheered as if they were watching an NFL game. Garcia and Morgan competing were to see who could be the loudest. Reid ended up cheering when the opposite team scored a goal, but with JJ's help, he began to learn how the game worked. Hotch and Rossi, the coach and assistant coach, were running up and down the field yelling strategies and instructions to the little athletes.
Before long, the game was over. Jack's team won 7-4, with Jack scoring 3 of the goals. Morgan lifted Jack onto his shoulders in victory.
"Nice job, little man!" Mitch congratulated, giving Jack a celebratory high-five. Hotch and Rossi approached their coworkers with the rest of the soccer team trailing behind them. Rossi opened the large box in his hands and the soccer players crowded around him, eager to see what was in the package.
"You guys did a good job today, so we thought we'd get you a little surprise." Rossi lifted a handful of medals out of the box and started placing them around the kids' necks. The little ones stared in amazement at their medals.
"Good job, buddy." Hotch placed the medal around his son's neck.
"Can we go get milkshakes now?" Jack asked eagerly.
"Alright. You guys want milkshakes?" Hotch asked his friends.
"Yeah I do. We've gotta celebrate the game!" Morgan said as he fist-bumped Jack.
They all walked of the field, and headed towards the parking lot. Hotch had one hand around the love of his life, and the other around Mitch as Jack balanced on his shoulders.