Character choice is: Aaron Hotchner
movie title choice is: While You Were Sleeping
surprise additional character is: Emily Prentiss
Disclaimer: Unfortunately no matter how much I wish it were otherwise, I do not own Criminal minds or any of its characters
Taking a deep breath, Hotch turned to unclip the seatbelt. He grimaced from the pain shooting up his side. Although he knew better, Morgan tried to help him as he stepped down but Hotch waved him away. Closing his eyes, he tried to slow his breathing until the pain subsided. In the meanwhile, Morgan grabbed his bag and carried it to the house while Reid walked beside Hotch in case he needed help.
That was the extent of the help that Hotch would accept. No matter that the team pleaded with their fearless leader, they could not convince Hotch that he shouldn't stay alone tonight. Hotch insisted that he was fine and did not need anyone to stay with him. In his emphasis with the team, his eyes looked to Emily for a split second and although he longed to tell her to stay, he knew that he wasn't being fair to her. She was just as tired and hurt as he was and besides that, Penelope was on her way over to take care of her little lamb. Hotch watched as the team got back into the SUV and he waved goodbye just before they drove off. Emily gave him a shy smile and a quick wave before he closed the door.
He was always happy to be home but no more than today. His body was as exhausted as his mind and his decision to leave Jack at Jessica's was a good one. He would go over tomorrow when he was awake enough to enjoy his son. Dropping his keys on the hall table, the sound echoed throughout his quiet house. Hotch didn't even bother to turn on the light as he stumbled into his room. He quickly undressed and slipped into the cool sheets.
As he drifted off to sleep he thought about what the team had been through on this case. It was a brutal case and team was relentless in their determination to find the UNSUB before more victims were taken. For him, this case had unfortunately come right on the heels of his first holiday without Hayley. While Emily and the team had certainly made his Christmas very special, their New Year celebration was anything but. They spent the holiday in the sheriff's office cheering each other with coffee and donuts. Not quite the way Hotch thought he would spend celebrating that night.
The case brought them to Atlanta, where the Unsub had eluded the authorities by changing his MO with each killing. At the time the BAU was called in to find the current victim, Natalie, there were 10 unsolved cases that had taken place in the surrounding communities. Normally, JJ would have turned to other cases but there was something that nagged at her. Before she made a decision, JJ ran the details by Rossi who was also convinced that the other unsolved cases were linked to the current victim. The team flew to Atlanta hoping for a quick case so they could be home for New Year's. Unfortunately for everyone, including Jack, this was not to be.
The Unsub eluded them by continuing to changes his MO. Fortunately, for the team, it was that lack of signature that was ultimately the Unsub's downfall. Once they discovered the pattern, Reid was able to narrow down the list for Penelope to get the goods on Charles Wentworth. Charles was so arrogant that when the team finally tracked him down, he was sitting down watching television eating popcorn.
The team was able to rescue the victim without any incident. Natalie was tied to an operating table in the basement waiting for her tormentor to finish watching his shows before he turned his attention to her. She was so grateful to the team that she refused to let Reid go. He helped carry her out to the waiting ambulance before he returned to the basement to investigate the area. He had just reached the bottom of the stairs when Morgan found the hidden panel. "Oh God." Emily cried as she looked into the hidden room. The room was covered with over 100 pairs of woman's panties stapled to the walls of the room.
The team walked further into the room, turning around to see that every wall was covered. Hotch and Emily walked over to the desk and opened the book to see hundreds of pictures of what appeared to be Charles' victims. Hotch could feel Emily shudder and he stepped closer to her so she could lean into him. The rest of the team looked around the room. There was a small bookshelf with a few books on it. Just as Reid reached out to pick the book up, they all heard a click and suddenly the floor under Hotch and Emily opened up. They fell through the trap door landing on the wooden floor. Before Hotch could lift himself up to check on Emily, the floor boards gave way and he fell into a dark, dirt lined pit.
Emily screamed as she watched Hotch crash through the rotten floorboards into the dark hole. Emily looked up to call for the team to get some help. The trap door was shut again and the only light she had was the flashlight that had fallen in the corner. Emily grabbed the flashlight and slowly crawled over to where Hotch had fallen through. She was careful not to go to close to the edge in case she fell in as well. She shined the light down and frantically searched the darkness for Hotch. He was laying several metres below her on his back.
"Hotch! Hotch! Can you hear me? Please Hotch, open your eyes and look at me." Emily screamed down the hole. "Don't you dare leave me! "
"Whhhatt?" Hotch barely croaked out. He tried to find out where that voice had come from. He turned his head from side to side.
"Open your eyes, damn you. HOTCH!" Emily implored.
He slowly forced himself to open his eyes. Lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the light, he squinted and tried to make out the voice above him. Where the hell was he? He wondered and who was making that god-awful shrieking noise.
"Oh thank god." Emily muttered when Hotch finally opened his eyes. "Hotch, you have to stay awake. Help is on the way."
Blinking his eyes rapidly, his vision finally came into focus. "Emily."
Relief flooded over her upon hearing his words. "That's right Hotch, I'm here. We're going to get you out. You just hang on."
Nodding his head, Hotch tried to focus on Emily. He couldn't make out all of her features, but he remembered how beautiful her eyes were. Even though he knew that he needed to keep awake, somehow the overwhelming need to close his eyes took over and he slowly slipped into a content peacefulness dreaming about Emily's eyes. He could hear Emily in the background...far in the background...calling out his name. He tried to open his eyes but they felt so heavy, he didn't really want to try any further. He retreated to the quietness of sleep behind his lids and shut off all the sounds around them.
He vaguely heard Emily continue to call out to him but as hard as he tried he just couldn't respond. He started to feel a chill that seemed to permeate his whole being. "Why was it so cold?" he wondered as he tried to snuggle towards some warmth that seemed to elude him.
While he was sleeping, his mind began to travel to another time, another place where he revelled in the warmth of holding his son and Emily in his arms. He dreamed about how perfect there world was together.
