AN: PLEASE READ- I'm going to be changing how post updates on this storyline. This and Wrong Side of a Love Song which I'm also posting today will be the last time I post completely as oneshots. I'm still continuing this storyline however I'm going to be doing it as a mostly single multichapter story instead of how I have been doing it. There are a few reasons though mostly it boils down to logistics and as the story gets longer, I'm starting to feel a disconnect.
Suspicions and Consequences of Cases Past will remain a separate companion piece of the storyline.
I will be putting the already published stories into the new story first before continuing so it is all there. I hope it get it done in the next week and then will continue from there. Apologies in advance for any confusion.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
In the 24 hours since Reid had been kidnapped, the team had been working nonstop to find a lead about where the unsub had taken him. And Hotch was worried. They didn't seem to be any closer tonight to finding him then they arrived the previous evening to find the horrific scene in the barn, drag marks in the cornfield and an injured and traumatized JJ.
Hotch had decided to change their base of operations from the Sheriff's office to the Henkel house. They needed to profile the entire house to learn more about their UNSUB. Garcia had flown down that morning to analyze the extensive computer system in the house. There was a mountain of evidence to sift through. Staying at the house was eliminating the lengthy travel time. Giving them more time to focus on find a lead that would point them in the direction of where to look for Reid and arrest their UNSUB.
Hotch knew if Reid was there he would be able to give them a depressing statistic on the chances the team would find him alive now that they had passed the 24 hours mark since his kidnapping. But tonight it didn't matter what that number was. Not one of them was giving up.
As he was reading through one of Henkel's journals, Hotch could hear JJ and Emily talking. He smiled when he heard Emily invite JJ to go her the following morning. If any of them needed to get away from this farm for a while, it was JJ. He stood up and walked over to ask Emily if her and Gideon had found anything helpful upstairs. It was then that he heard JJ next question to Emily.
As he stood there he continued to look at a journal. After he voiced a similar observation as JJ, he looked up at Emily for the first time and immediately became concerned. She had backed herself into a corner of the hallway between himself and JJ. Her eyes were open wide and glancing quickly back and forth between the two of them. It clearly seemed as if she felt she was being attacked and had backed herself into a corner.
Before he could say or do anything to reduce the tension, Emily found her voice. However, her response was even less reassuring. Now he had more concerns about her coping strategies.
Before any of them could explore the topic any further, Morgan shouted that he had found something outside.
####
Derek Morgan climbed back up the rickety stairs from the ice cellar of the Henkel house back into the cool night air. He quickly noticed Gideon standing over on the front porch, talking on the sat phone the team had gotten before moving their base of operations to this farm. As Derek moved closer, he overheard enough of the conversation to determine the Sheriff was on the other end of the call.
As he paced in the yard trying to get the images of what they witnessed out of his head, a flash of movement caught his eye over towards the barn. With his right hand resting on his gun, Morgan started to walk in the same direction. A break in the clouds as he moved closer revealed that it was a woman he was following.
Slight build.
Straight shoulder length dark hair.
Prentiss.
What was she doing out here by herself?
Morgan could feel his anger at his boss increasing. Why would Hotch have her come out by herself to check a lead?
Gideon had just added to the profile that morning that Tobias felt he was untouchable. His numerous escapes from law enforcement had emboldened him, feeding his delusions.
It would not be out of the realm of possibility that he would return to his house. A house that he had lived in his whole life. Knew the grounds like the back of his hand. He could slip in and back out on a hidden path jumping one of them with the benefit of the element of surprise. And an isolated member of the team, especially in the cornfield that Reid was abducted from, could find themselves in danger.
Morgan had overheard part of the earlier conversation between JJ, Hotch and Emily when he had come into the house to let the team know that he had found the cellar. He could not believe that they were confronting her on that.
JJ doing it was one thing but Hotch's involvement. Morgan shook his head. Hotch should know better. This wasn't the time for that conversation if it needed to happen at all.
Morgan had called out knowing it would interrupt their interrogation. They needed to get the focus back on the case. Finding Reid needed to be their top priority right now.
Relaxing his grip on his gun, he deciding to follow Emily. There was nothing else he could in the cellar. And he was in no hurry to go back into that house. He could help with whatever lead she was following. He followed the path she took and before he could call to her he stopped.
The sight in front of him was heartbreaking. Emily had found a secluded clearing on the edge of the cornfield. She was sitting on what remained of a fallen tree trunk absently looking at the rows of corn in front of her. But from the angle he was at, Derek could see the glistening of tears on her face.
She was affected by the horrors they witnessed on the job just like the rest of them were. She just didn't feel comfortable expressing them around others yet. She was holding all her feelings inside and waited until she could slip away for a few minutes to a cold dark field to let them out.
Suddenly, he felt like he was intruding. Emily had sought out privacy and he was going to respect that. But his concern about her being off by herself remained. Henkel was not going to get another member of the team. Morgan slowly walked away so not to alert her of his presence. He walked over to the barn and slipped into an alcove that the shadows concealed. Emily would have her privacy but he was only a few steps away if that bastard returned.
After a few minutes, Morgan noticed Emily stand and wipe her face. Taking a few deep breaths, she started walking back towards the house. Morgan remained in his hiding spot until she had walked into the house.
Only then did he walk back to the house although he circled around to the back of the house to the kitchen door. As he entered the kitchen, Morgan was surprised to see JJ. Hotch had sent her to rest earlier after Morgan and Hotch walk up on her picking a fight with Gideon as they exited the cellar.
As she began a conversation with him, it was clear that she was riddled with feelings over Reid's kidnapping. She wanted him to say anything to ease her guilt.
But tonight he couldn't give her what she wanted. JJ had been trying to ease her guilt today by lashing out at others. And given what he had just seen, he couldn't bring himself to lessen her pain after seeing Emily's reaction to what JJ had said to her.
Knowing emotions were running hot, Morgan excused himself without responding her JJ's attempt to pick a fight with him.
####
As the evening went on, the tension in house was high. And Hotch wanted to kick himself because the last thing the team needed right now was more drama. And he had no one but himself to blame.
Emily had disappeared outside for a while after they found Charles Henkel's body in the ice cellar under the house. When she returned, she sat in a chair in the living room curled up in a blanket away from where the rest of the team was working. Her body language very clearly saying 'stay away.' The only indication that she was reading the journals she had taken with her instead of being asleep was the turning of the pages every few minutes. Hotch knew he needed to talk to her. But that would have to wait.
It was clear that both Morgan and Gideon had overheard the conversation. And neither one of them were happy that it happened at all or Hotch's role on it. Over the course of the evening, Hotch had seen both of them watching her covertly. Less clear was if Garcia had also overheard it, however he wasn't sure how she would have missed it given the size of the house.
JJ had been told to go rest however that was short-lived. When Morgan had come in through the kitchen door, he ran into JJ in the kitchen. Hotch groaned as he heard her talking with him. That was followed a few minutes later by her having a disagreement with Garcia followed by Garcia walking out of the computer room. It had also become clear over the course of the evening that JJ had taken personally Emily's explanation of compartmentalization as a failing of her own coping abilities.
####
When the call came from the Sheriff about the latest victims, Hotch knew the team needed to check out the scene. His plans of taking Morgan with him were put aside when Gideon said the two of them could go. Hotch nodded understanding the unspoken request. Gideon wanted time alone to speak to him. And Hotch was 95% sure of what the older profiler wanted to talk about.
After assigning tasks to the four they left at the house, the two team leaders left to go check out the crime scene.
Silence and tension filled the SUV as Hotch drove toward the crime scene. The dirt covered back country roads that they needed to take were pitch black. The moon was obscured by a thick layer of clouds. Hotch needed to pay close attention to the unfamiliar road in front of him.
As they got closer to their destination, the road changed to asphalt and the neighborhood illuminated by street lights.
Unable to take the silence any longer, Hotch said. "OK Jason I know you've been wanting to say something to me. Just say it."
Gideon took a deep breath before saying. "What possessed you to say that to her last night Hotch?"
Hotch sighed. They both knew that Gideon didn't need to identify who 'her' was. Hotch knew he had screwed up and feigning ignorance would not have accomplished anything.
"I know. I regretted it as soon as I saw her face. I know I upset her. I know she's annoyed with me. She hasn't said an unnecessary word or looked at me all day."
"She has every right to be annoyed with you, Hotch. You ambushed her. JJ asking was one thing. She is a peer. We all know that what she experienced in the barn was traumatic and JJ feels guilt about Reid. If it wasn't clear before last night to everyone, it has become so since then as she has picked fights with everyone but you.
But you are the team leader. Her supervisor. Instead of interceding and refocusing JJ back to the actual case, you inserted yourself into an interrogation. For you to go involve yourself in that conversation gave the question legitimacy. Made it an official inquiry. Let me ask you this- did you get an acceptable answer to your question?"
"No. You heard her answer. I'm more worried now. Her reaction to the question itself as well as her answer."
Gideon sighed at Hotch's answer. He could see the younger man point. However, in addition the the stress of the case, Gideon was sure that part of Hotch's reaction was his former relationship with the woman in question. That on some level he still cared about her and was doing a poor job of expressing it as concern instead of criticism.
"We all heard the entire conversation Hotch. I'm not saying don't ask if you have concerns. But I do think your concerns are misplaced. But ask it in the office. In private. Give her the same respect that you have given everyone else on the team. The respect you would want in a similar situation. The respect you have been given since you joined the team. Not in the field during an investigation involving a fellow teammate being kidnapped."
"How are my concerns misplaced?"
Gideon shakes his head before responding. "Because I don't think the issue she doesn't feel anything. I agree that would be worrisome. I just think she has learned to put her feelings aside while she's working. There's a huge difference. Hell Hotch, she worked with Crimes Against Children and on a CARD team. You know cases involving children are the hardest. There is no way to work in those areas without finding a way to compartmentalize."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Hotch asks curiously.
"Like I said in my office the day after we got back from Gitmo, she was able to hide her tells during the chess game. Then while you and I were talking in my office that day and she didn't think anyone was paying attention, her tells were clear as day to see. The compassion she showed toward the prostitutes in that DC case and her interviews with Jane and all those kids in Nevada. The effort she put into protecting Morgan's secret during and since the case in Chicago." Gideon says as the SUV turns a corner and a sea of red and blue flashing lights outside a house a block up comes into view.
"That's all true." Hotch said as he pulled up outside the house.
Gideon looked over, making eye contact with Hotch for the first time now that the SUV was stopped. "And one more thing before we go in. Those kids are loyal to you, Aaron. They aren't going to give her a chance as long you keep treating her with an air of suspicion. Do you really think even with everything going on that JJ would have asked her that question yesterday if you had welcomed Prentiss like any other transfer we have had to the team? Think about that."
Gideon releases his seat belt and reaches over to the door handle before continuing.
"I don't want to lose her and I'm going to hold you responsible if we do. She's a good profiler and she has the makings to be a strong member of this team." With that both team leaders open their respective doors and start to walk towards their latest crime scene.
####
After examining the crime scene and latest victims, Hotch and Gideon were on the way back to Henkel house to update the rest of the team.
Thinking back to their conversation on the earlier drive, Gideon continued on while it was just the two of them.
"Hotch, I don't know the specifics about what happened in the previous relationship that you and Prentiss had. And I don't care. I care about the team. And whatever feelings you still have are interfering with the working of the team."
"What?" Hotch said loudly. Looking back and forth between Gideon and the dark quiet road in front of him.
"Don't even try to deny it. I've known you since you were a rookie profiler Aaron. The two of you were involved at some point in the past. And the evidence of it that I've seen has all been from you, not her. Except maybe her not reporting you to HR and/or Strauss yet. And you need to find a way to get past it. And do you want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Statistically she our best chance of finding a lead on this case."
"In what way?" Hotch asked quizzically.
"She is the newest member of the team. Has only been with us for a few months. So she has the least personal connection with Reid. In addition to that, she is able to stay detached. Objective and not distracted with the same level of worry like the rest of us. She is most likely to see a connection we can use. What you and JJ were confronting her about as a problem is right now our greatest asset to finding Reid alive."
