Note: this story was first published in the summer of 2011, but I needed to correct some typos and make other corrections, which I finally managed to do now. (January 1st, 2012)
Warning: Spoilers for most of Season 6, including the last episode.
Here is how I would bring back Emily Prentiss/Paget Brewster's character into the picture, i.e. resolve the Ian Doyle storyline. When the truth about Emily comes out, the fact that JJ and Hotch kept this huge secret from the team will be difficult to forgive and this could threaten the solidarity of the team and the trust in Hotch's leadership. So, I try to make it easier to forgive him in this story. I suspect forgiving JJ won't be as hard, or only an individual's problem (Reid, for example, may feel more betrayed by her than the others).
To lighten my story, I have Ashley Seaver gone already. This is my first fanfic story. It was not beta'ed, and French is my mother tongue, so I apologize in advance for the (occasionally?) poor grammar and would welcome feedback, corrections, advice... of any kind.
This story follows the canons of the TV series, no slash, just a team and Hotch-centric story. I rated it "T" because I don't think Criminal Minds is for young children and called it a 'Drama/Friendship' story, but it could be called a 'Suspense' too, I suppose. Again, you're invited to comment and offer advice of any kind. Thank you!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the copyrights to Criminal Minds and its characters. I do not profit from borrowing them temporarily for my own pleasure. Hopefully, some people will also share in this pleasure, as I invite them to read the following story:
Quote: "Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself." - Ausonius
TEASER:
Washington, D.C.'s wet streets are glistening in the darkness. It is very late as Clyde Easter's car rushes past the few motorists still up on a September weeknight. He and his assigned body guard are both tired, but alert and ready for any unusual or ominous event during the drive. Easter knows the dangers of coming back to Washington, of possibly revealing his presence while Ian Doyle is still out there, but he has been careful, keeping mobile, and taking all precautions to stay a step ahead of Doyle and his men.
It has been almost six months since Doyle disappeared after losing several members of his gang and 'killing' Emily Prentiss that decisive night, and Easter is quite aware that he's the only name left on Doyle's 'payback list'. He and his colleague never stay long in one place, and tonight is no different. The loft that will be their home for the night was selected only forty-five minutes ago, courtesy of the State Department.
As they approach the entrance to the underground garage of their building, Easter slows down, makes a turn, and triggers the signal for the automatic gate to open. Within a few seconds, his car pulls into the garage.
Unexpectedly, a dark SUV rushes in through the gate, tires screeching on the concrete. A second car appears following closely the SUV, but stops at the gate, forcing it open, and Easter and his man realize they are in trouble.
THE NEXT MORNING
Hotch is reading from a sheet of paper at the breakfast table, as he and Jack are finishing their morning meal.
"It says, here, that you're having a fire drill this morning at school. You remember, Jack? It's like what we rehearsed, here, a few months ago: what we must do when there's a fire?"
The boy looks up to his father, nodding his head while chewing on his food.
"There will be a lot of noise when the alarm rings, then all the students will be asked to follow the instructions from their teachers, and you will all leave the classrooms in order and go outside... There will be nothing to worry about, right? Just paying attention to the adults and doing as they tell you..."
"Okay, dad" replies Jack. He swallows the last bite on his plate.
"Okay. Go wash up, we've got to go" says Hotch as they both get up. His cell phone rings and he quickly answers after seeing that the caller's id is blocked.
"Hotchner... Yes, I've contacted my team; we're meeting in a couple of hours... Okay. Yes, let me know..." He holds still for a moment after hanging up, pensive and concerned about all that is going to transpire in the next hours and days, wondering if all of this might finally be over... soon.
Rossi is on the phone, sitting at his desk in his BAU office, a concerned look on his face.
"No, I have not discussed this with our unit chief, yet, but I'd like to do it today. So as soon as you can confirm the budget cuts can be cancelled, I'd love to hear from you... It's never that simple... Yes, I understand... I appreciate all your help. Let me know if I can return the favor..." He smiles at the answer he receives and slowly hangs up.
A month ago, Rossi cleverly orchestrated JJ's return to the BAU, despite threats of budget cuts and during Chief Strauss' leave of absence. After the initial celebrating by all the members of the team and the grateful public appreciations he received from both Hotch and JJ, the reality of the job cuts remained. Agent Ashley Seaver offered her resignation a week later and it was accepted by Hotch. The recent graduate from the academy had received other job offers, and though none was as interesting as the BAU, she felt that being the last addition and least experienced member, she could not hold on to her position on the team and force someone else out.
Her departure has since helped the situation, but Rossi feels he needs to do more: the pressure on his boss to reduce costs has not lifted; that much he knows despite Hotch's attempts at dealing with the problem by himself. While Rossi believes he's finally found a way to evade the cuts, he is also worried that he's running out of time: Hotch has been delaying making a decision for two months, but he cannot put it off much longer. It's probably why he called them here this morning when they were all due to take a day off, at home. Rossi is determined to talk to Hotch before their meeting starts, now that he thinks he can offer his friend another option.
In the bullpen just outside his office, the team is gathering one by one around Reid's desk, expecting to head for the meeting room at any moment. Reid had initially thought he had arrived early for the meeting, but then noticed that Hotch and Rossi were already in their respective offices and both on the phone. So, for the past half hour, he's been sitting at his desk, monitoring Hotch through the open blinds of his office window: the man continuously answers or makes calls, while rapidly pacing back and forth in his office. Something is up, and it's not budget cuts.
JJ and Morgan have now joined Reid in observing their boss, whose frantic pacing is giving away more than his eternally serious expression. Morgan and Reid cogitate in silence, quite intrigued, while JJ seems to be determined to not express any interest, and is looking almost annoyed at her prying colleagues... until she is distracted by Garcia, as the technical analyst loudly enters the bullpen and hurries to join them and give JJ a warm shoulder squeeze.
"Good morning my lovelies! I did not expect to see you here today, you just got back yesterday! Why are we having a meeting this morning?" she asks JJ.
"Yah, we've been away for ten days, we deserve a break," adds Reid. "How come Hotch called us in for 'a meeting'? Not another case already?"
They are all looking expectantly at JJ, but the young agent is busy watching Rossi exit his office and approach the group.
"Are we having our meeting out here?" Rossi enquires, hoping his absurd question will encourage them to move on to the meeting room and give him a chance to talk to Hotch in private.
JJ ducks all their questions and points to Hotch who is exiting and closing his office door: "We were waiting for Hotch; he was on the phone..." The ring of Hotch's cell phone interrupts her.
"Again?" exclaims Morgan, exasperated. Hotch apologetically waves at them from the landing as he answers his phone, yet one more time. "These days, he's on that thing every minute we're not working on a case."
They continue talking while Hotch remains outside his office and blocks his free ear with a finger to not hear their voices; he seems to be talking to someone friendly now, and his affect is more relaxed.
"Strauss asked him to supervise the teams while she's on leave" begins Rossi. "When she's in charge, the teams in the field don't call in; SHE has to call the teams to control what is going on... And at first, they didn't call Hotch, either, but Hotch has field experience: he gives them feedback, advice, support... So now, they're all calling him more and more to run things by him, and use him like an extra team member... He's the victim of his own success!"
"JJ, do we have a case, or not?" Morgan asks her again, trying to read her expression. It is obvious that she is not comfortable with the delay, but it doesn't appear to be for the same reasons as the others, he can tell...
"Not exactly," she answers briefly. The group, expecting more information to come, waits quietly as JJ looks at her watch, looks up to Hotch, then down to her shoes, then Garcia... Garcia is at present intensely scrutinizing Hotch and not aware of JJ's discomfort; their boss is still on the landing, trying to signal to the group that he'll be just a moment longer. Garcia, however, does not acknowledge him: she's wearing a concerned frown instead of her previous gentle smile.
"He's lost more weight..." Garcia seems to be talking to herself, but she then quietly asks the others: "How much would you say he's down... ten, twelve pounds?" They all turn to Hotch.
"Why would you think that?" Reid asks.
"His belt is down to the last hole, that's the second time he's tightened it since... since we lost Emily... and his shirt collar is too big, and he's floating in his suit..." Garcia explains. "I hope our boss-man is not sick..."
They look surprised; how could they have not noticed the change until now? Garcia tries to soften the blow: "You see him every day, I haven't seen you guys in over a week, it's easier for me to pick up the gradual changes..."
"I should have seen it," wonders Reid, puzzled that he missed the signs despite his perfect visual memory. It's perfect, but not infallible, especially when I'm not 100% myself...
"When is he due for his vacation?" Rossi turns to JJ.
"He was supposed to have some time off the same time we did..." She scoffs, remembering the days after her return: "I'd just returned to the BAU and already I had to go away on vacation! But I came in for a couple of days, to meet with Hotch and get back into the game; he had to stay anyway, to cover for Strauss, so... I think he's planning some time off after she returns. Have you heard when she's coming back?" JJ asks Rossi.
"I don't know." Rossi is quiet. He too is baffled by Hotch's appearance and his own lack of observation. He's been so involved with trying to help with the cuts... Could that explain it? Or am I off my game?
Morgan looks worried: "He's too busy to eat! And that's with JJ back with us... I thought your return would have lightened up his load. He does seem to depend on you more than ever..." JJ returns his comments with a warm smile, careful not to reveal anything about some of the real reasons she's been working with him in his office, lately.
"Well, you guys are just gonna have to feed him when you go on the road," Garcia concluded. "He can't afford to lose much more than he already has!"
"Are we? 'Going on the road', that is?" Reid wonders out loud, asking the same question, hopefully for the last time.
"No, we're not!" Hotch answers, approaching him from behind. Reid gets up to face him.
Afraid his phone will interrupt him again, Hotch begins right away. "I asked you to come in this morning because we were contacted by Interpol: Ian Doyle is back in town."
Hotch pauses to let the news sink in and sees by their faces that they are hungry for more details, especially Morgan whose features have suddenly hardened. JJ, whom he knows has already received a call from her friends at the State Department, looks actually relieved that she doesn't have to duck more questions.
"How do they know? When did he get back?" Rossi asks.
"Clyde Easter was taken last night. He had been back in Washington for a couple of days, incognito, still trying to stay under Doyle's radar. Somehow, Doyle found out that Easter had been tagged with a sub-cutaneous locating chip; Interpol's way of keeping track of Easter at all times. But Doyle obtained the frequency of the emitting chip and used it to locate Easter.
"Two groups of men cornered Easter and his body guard in an underground parking. They were both neutralized with Tazer guns and knocked out. The body guard was left behind, but they took Easter with them, after removing his emitter: the chip was found covered with blood, discarded at the kidnapping site."
They all know Emily Prentiss' colleague at Interpol, Clyde Easter, the only remaining member of the team that captured Doyle some years back, everyone else involved having been killed by Doyle, including Prentiss, along with their families.
"How did he manage to do that? I thought he was in hiding?" Morgan interjects.
"They're still finding out the details... I've been on the phone with Interpol a few times and they think that he has a mole selling him info, either at Interpol, or the State Department... He probably bought the list of codes and frequencies from an employee of the company that makes the chips. I guess he just ran down the list until he was led to Clyde Easter."
"Well, that's the end of Mr. Easter..." Reid comments, quietly.