Chapter One: Mourning
The phone rang. Aaron Hotchner's hand emerged from under the sheets and blindly grasped for his cell phone. I wonder what sort of sicko it'll be this time, he wondered, still half asleep. A serial rapist? A serial murderer? An abducted child? How much time will his team have to catch this new monster? These were the thoughts that raced through his sleepy mind as his hand continued to search for his elusive cell phone. Ah! There it is! He pressed the "talk" button. "Hotchner."
But still the phone kept ringing. His head was fuzzy. Perhaps he had pressed the wrong button. He shook his head in an effort to shake the sleepiness from his mind and brought the phone within inches of his face. He pressed the "talk" button carefully, and again said "Hotchner." … "Ring! Ring!" went the phone. Only it wasn't his phone.
Beside him on the bed, a small form rustled and a head peeked out from under the sheets. Oh, right, thought Aaron. Becca. Becca's hand found her cell phone much quicker than Aaron's did, as if it was some sort of heat-seeking (cell-phone seeking?) missile. If you didn't know Becca, you might attribute it to the fact that she is, after all, a woman, and women like to talk on their phones. Not this woman, Aaron thought amusedly, knowing all too well Becca's distaste for chatting on the phone. "Byrne." she declared sleepily as she sat up in bed. Then, silence as she got a mini-briefing on the current situation at hand, or so Aaron assumed, followed by Becca's "OK, I'll be right in."
Aaron shook more of the fuzziness from his head as the previous night's events started coming back to him. They had both had a little too much to drink, but he was still very much surprised at how things had unfolded. Becca ran a hand through her jet black hair and threw a sidelong glance at Aaron. "I have to go." Aaron nodded and watched her as she hurriedly threw on her clothes, gun, and badge. It still surprised him sometimes how petite she really was. Standing at only 5'3" and with a small frame, she was far from intimidating, but her personality was so big that sometimes he forgot how tiny she was. Having finished dressing, she sat down on the bed next to Aaron. She stared at her feet and fiddled with her gun holster as she awkwardly waited for a cue from Aaron as to what to do next. Aaron leaned over and gave her a quick hug, which she returned with an exhalation of relief. Funny, she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. She then headed towards the bedroom door, briefly looking back at him over her shoulder with a sheepish and apologetic half-smile. Or perhaps it was a wistful smile.
Oh well, it was probably for the best that she got called in so early, thought Aaron, suddenly glad Jack was still asleep. It had been a little over 2 years since Haley died and he and Jack were still reeling from their loss. Haley. The familiar vice grip of sorrow squeezed on his heart, kicking the wind out of his lungs and causing his whole body to tense up. "Breathe!" he told himself, as he willed his body to relax and begged Grief to end its assault on his heart. He lay back down on the bed and exhaled, wondering when he would be able to think of Haley without grief and sorrow. Grief, Sorrow, Guilt, Alcohol. These four had become his constant companions since Haley's death. Sometimes he could see them coming and could prepare himself to soften the blow. But most of the time, they greeted him unexpectedly and with a bang.
He stared at the ceiling fan above, trying to distract himself. Tears started welling up in his eyes. OK, this wasn't working. He turned over on his side and closed his eyes, only to be greeted with a picture of Haley's face in his mind's eye. Her eyes stared at him, blank and lifeless. He gulped and sat up with a resigned sigh. This was NOT working. Might as well officially start his day.
As if on cue, his cell phone rang. "Hotchner." This time he was greeted with JJ's voice on the other end. "Hotch, I know it's early but we need the team here as soon as possible. This one's pretty bad." He could hear the grimness in her voice. "OK, I'll be right in." And with that, Aaron Hotchner officially started his day.