Without that I would not be the man I am today
" Hey. Dave. Can I talk to you for a sec? " Hotch knocked on his friends and his colleagues door who were packing his go back.
" Of course. Come in. "
" About the case. You know, it's in Seattle and.. " He were little nervous, and if something were rare, then that was.
" It's from your home town. " Rossi said and sensed his nervousness. " Are you okay? "
" Yeah. No, I'm fine. It's just.. " Hotch took a deep breath before continuing. " I knew two of the victims, and the life I left behind years ago, I really would not want to dig it back up. "
Those were the words he said two days ago to Rossi without Success. Here he is, in Seattle watching man on interrogation room through the one sided window. And what's worse, he knew the man. That man is bringing him so many painful memories.
" Are you ready? " Rossi asked.
" I think I changed my mind. I don't want to do this. "
" Aaron, you said, you needed to get some things straight. I think this is your chance. "
They were right. They arrested the man earlier that day of a murder of 5 people. Two women three men. He took deep breath and opens the interrogation rooms door, and walks in.
" Finally. " Man with dirty blonde hair, and brown eyes said to him, when he walked in.
" George Miller. Do you know why you're here? "
" Yes. I killed 5 people. "
* Arrogant. Not surprising. Some people just don't change. * He thought and sat opposite of him.
" Why, George? "
" Because I wanted to. They were too successful." He said and Hotch could sense disgust from his voice.
" Too successful. So you were wrong. That is what you're saying. You can't stand that you were wrong about something. " Hotch had this little smirk on his face. He knew exactly who he were, but Poor George didn't have no idea who he were. " You thought that they would never manage on this world. But you we're wrong. "
" How.. How do you know that? " He were confused.
" You have no idea who are you talking with? "
" No. Should I? "
" I don't know. Or were I too so insignificant that you don't remember me? "
" It depends. Who are you? "
" You had a list. Were there more names than these five, who are already dead? " He changed that subject quickly. He wanted to play with him for a moment, so he could clear one thing up.
" Only one. " He said with huge smile on his face. He looked straight to Hotch's eyes, what made him feel little uncomfortable. He knew exactly what that name were already. " Aaron Hotchner. "
He acted like never heard that name before. Like it meant nothing to him.
" Oh god. " Garcia gasped on the other side of the window.
" Rossi. Do you know anything about this? " Morgan asked quickly. For an answer he just got a shake of his head.
" But I guess he did. " Rossi said to then without taking his eyes off of George. " Now I get why he wanted to clear some things up, if this is what he were talking about. They all turned back to the interrogation.
" Why him? What can you tell me about that guy. What was his name? Hotchner?"
" He was just one little brat. And I'm pretty sure he were homeless or something. I mean, always after school, he went to this one park or library or somewhere else, but he never went home. He were so geek in every sublect. He knew everything about everything. I wanted to show him , that he's not the only smart one. " Georges eyes were sparkling. " I don't like geeks. They were always in the way. "
" Are they talking about the same person I know, because that doesn't sound like Hotch. " JJ asked.
" I think, yeah. " Morgan said.
" He didn't have friends, he were always alone. He needed to learn his lesson. "
" His lesson? What did he do to you? " Hotch asked calmly, but inside, he were so mad at him. His blood were burning inside him.
" He had to learn how cruel world can be for someone like him. " He said. He looked so proud what made Hotch even more angry. But he didn't want to show it to him. Just kept his head cold. " What do you mean? " Hotch asks as calm as he could.
" He were too weak. I knew he would not manage in this world. "
Hotch were starting to loose his patience. " So you did.. what? Beat him up? over and over again? " He raised his voice a little.
The team looked all each other. This all felt some how, weird. Hotch were a fighter, never gave up, always fought back. He were strong person. One of the strongest.
" He begged for it. He never fought back . I hit him once, he fell but he always got up. Such and idiot. " He rolled his eyes.
Hotch got up and walked in front of the window. Looked at it for a moment, and tried to calm down. He took a deep breath. He wanted to shout to him like ' you know that person who you are talking about is right in front of you' but decided to play his role to the end.
" You said that he never went home. Do you know why? " He never took his eyes of the glass.
George shakes his head for no.
" No? Because he were scared to go. His father, Michael, were drunk every single day he remembers, and always abused him. He hit him sometimes so hard, he went unconscious. And you know why he didn't fought back? Because he knew someday it will stop. But before it did, he thought he deserved it. That he did something wrong, and he should be punished. He wanted to die." He said, and the team noticed how hard it was for him to talk about this, when he's not even talked about it with them. They knew he were serious about this, that he weren't lying about it.
But still, it was hard to believe that Hotch would been suicidal when he were younger. It didn't sound like Hotch.
George didn't say anything, just waited him to continue his story. So he did.
Hotch turned to him. " He got up, so you could hit him more and more. And someday, if he were lucky, the punch will be so hard that he would die in it. But it never were. So many times he wanted to walk to his dad's gun cabinet and shoot himself. But he never did. He never gave up. And he graduated and he managed. Unlike you said. " He said, and his anger were gone. He were more proud of himself. He's climbed so high, without no one's help. All alone. He has people around him , who really care about him, and who he cares about. And he didn't need anyone's help. He did all that, all by himself. And he should be proud of it.
" You talk about this, like you knew him. " He said confusingly.
" Yeah. Well.. I met him once or twice. But anyway, we're done here. " He said quickly and got his stuff and went for the door.
" Wait! You never said who you are. Who can I thank for this little story? What's your name? "
" Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, the unit chief of Behavioral Analysis Unit. " He said proudly.
And those words shut Georges mouth immediately. He were speechless.
" Enjoy your time in prison. " He winked at him quickly. Hotch gave him one last smirk, and walked away.