Author's Notes: This is my first foray into Criminal Minds fiction, so constructive criticism is sincerely appreciated.
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds, and the characters are not mine. Dialog comes from the episode "Natural Born Killer"
Anyone who didn't know Hotch would have been amazed at how easily he seemed to shrug off nearly being strangled to death. Those who knew him might have been less amazed, but still might have come to the conclusion that it didn't faze him much.
Gideon was in a different category altogether. In many ways, he knew Hotch better than anyone –including Haley. So, when Hotch said that the chains around Perotta had some slack, it was a clear sign to Gideon that the experience affected him much more than he let on.
"If Morgan says he's secure, he's secure." Gideon knew that Morgan wouldn't have made a mistake, and he knew that Hotch knew as well. Still, he understood that Hotch needed the reassurance. He started into the interrogation room when a "Jason" from Hotch pulled him back.
"Let's not give him a weapon," Hotch said, neatly plucking the pen out of Gideon's pocket.
All right, he was clearly even more rattled than even Gideon had originally thought. The deceptively off hand tone in his voice when he said, "he's kind of strong" confirmed it. It was also not surprising that it was worry about Gideon that was at the root of everything. It didn't take any special skill at reading people to know that Hotch was fiercely protective of his colleague. That protectiveness was normally concentrated on any mention of what happened with Adrian Bale, and any expression of doubt that Gideon was anything but fine. This was slightly different. Instead of being hyper-vigilant about Gideon's psyche, Hotch was worried about his physical well being. Even so, it wasn't much different from any other time. Hotch looked after Gideon, and Gideon reciprocated by trying to ease him of that burden.
"Hey, Hotch?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll be okay."
