DISCLAIMER – I DON'T OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS USED IN MY STORY 

Hotch was just leaving the office. It was 11:30 and the BAU had just recently returned from yet another long hard case. However, this one had affected Hotch more than most as it involved the murders of young boys around 6 years old, who all bared an uncanny resemblance to his son Jack.

The rest of the team had headed home straight after returning and Hotch didn't blame them because, unlike him, they all had something to return home too.

JJ had Will and her newborn Henry to attend to.

Garcia had her cute boyfriend Kevin waiting for her.

Morgan no doubt had at least one hot woman anxiously awaiting his return.

Prentiss's mother had set up an important dinner meeting which Prentiss was to attend, whether she liked it or not.

And Rossi was due to give a speech at a highly respected university the following morning so was at home making sure he had his speech fully prepared and memorized.

Hotch had stayed behind to finish up some paperwork as usual. He was only half way through when he caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on his office wall. 'Looks like time fly's even when you're not having fun,' he thought to himself. He decided to leave the rest till morning, as the six hours sleep he'd gotten in the past three nights began to take its toll on him. He tidied up the papers on his desk and made his way to the nearly vacant car park. He climbed into his SUV and drove home silently praying that tonight the nightmares wouldn't be as bad and he'd get a decent night sleep. But deep down he new it was a waste of time, you can't change the inevitable.

This was something he'd found out shortly after joining the BAU. He was working a case were children had been abducted from there own home and murdered in cold blood. They found the man responsible, he was sentenced to life imprisonment or possibly even death row, the case was closed. But still, for a few nights following the investigation, Hotch suffered terrible nightmares. Then it happened again with his next case involving children, the nightmares returned. Then again, until it became something he just had to learn to live with. There was no explanation for it, no way of stopping it, so he had no other choice than to learn to deal with it.

Hotch parked his car in his usual space in his apartment block, and made his way towards the lift. He didn't see the figure lurking in the shadows until it was too late.

The last thing he felt was a sharp searing pain to the back of his head, and then everything went dark…

Authors little message to you guys: Sorry if I take a while to update but I'm sort of a slow writer and I'm a bit busy lately  x please review even if you don't like it – I promise I won't hate you :P x