Going Home

This is my first fan fiction and first time ever writing one of my fantasy stories. I would love to hear your opinions and look to working further on the story.

I do not own or have connection with the "Criminal Minds" program or its characters.

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She looked at the body of the child with the cuts and bruises as he lay on the hospital bed. From the looks of him, it appeared to be a long term case of abuse and will be a long term case of therapy and healing. She turned and looked at the police chief beside her.

Unknown female: "How many does this make, Mike?"

Mike: "Three and we have no leads as to who is causing it. He was found on the outskirts of town in the old Townsend meadow."

Unknown female: "Might I make a suggestion?"

Mike: "Any help would be appreciated right now."

Unknown female: "Call in the feds, specifically the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI. They help in locating people who do this kind of thing by looking at the scenes differently than you do. They do it by looking at who does it, why and how from very little to go on. I have a number if you want it."

Mike: "Who do you know in the FBI?"

Unknown female: "Remember Aaron Hotchner."

Mike: "Didn't you live near the Hotchners?"

Unknown female: "Yeah, next door. Aaron and I went to school together. He's the head of unit that I mentioned. Although I haven't seen him in over fifteen years, he still writes and we send each other Christmas cards. We were great friends at one time."

Mike: "Give me his number. I'll call this afternoon when I get back to the station."

Unknown female: "Let me know when he and the team arrive."

Mike: "Will do."

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The BAU office in Quantico is a hive of buzzing with phones and typing going on. The phone rings in the office of Aaron Hotchner, the unit supervisor of this office.

Hotch: "Hello. Aaron Hotchner."

Mike: "Mr. Aaron Hotchner?"

Hotch: "Yes, how can I help you?"

Mike: "I am Mike Tyler, police chief of our town and it was suggested to me that you might be able to help us find the person harming children and dumping them outside of town. We have found three in the past four months."

Hotch: "Could you fax the details of the case to our liaison, Jennifer Jereau?"

Mike: "Certainly, what is the number? Agent Hotchner, Dr. Katherine Moore suggested that I contact you."

Hotch: "Kathy Moore?!?"

Mike: "Yes."

Hotch: "The fax number is 202-555-0398. Agent Jereau will contact you."

Mike: "Thank you Aaron. Good Bye."

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As Hotch hung up the phone, he remembered the last time he saw Kathy, at his wedding to Hayley.

They were in the men's preparation room at the church while Kathy tied and straitened his tie.

Kathy: "She's not good enough for you."

Hotch: "In your eyes, nobody is. But I love her and have since our last year in high school. I have wanted to marry her forever."

Kathy: "And now here you are doing just that. Does she know about why you don't want your mother here?"

Hotch: "No, I haven't told her much about my early home life."

Kathy: "Does she know about me?"

Hotch: "Yeah, but only that you are one of my best friends."

Kathy: "How does she feel about that?"

Hotch: "What do mean?"

Kathy: "Well, most women are very possessive about their men and have difficulty dealing with their man's former female friends."

Hotch: "You are not a former friend but an always friend and when did you get to be so knowledgeable about that."

Kathy: "I am a Psychiatrist with a medical degree and a PhD in psychology. I specialize in trauma and victimology. We have worked on some cases together."

Hotch: "Yeah, we make a good team. I put the bastards away, while you help the victims recover their lives."

Kathy: "The important thing is to help and we profile them differently."

Hotch: "Profile?"

Kathy: "Well, we each see the perpetrators and they view their victims and what they do. Profile the perpetrators."

Hotch: "Never thought about it like that. It would be nice to catch them before they get to me."

Kathy: "Well, check into that about going into the investigating of these creeps. It would sure nice to have fewer victims. But not today, today you get married and I probably will never see you again."

Hotch: "Oh, I don't think that will happen."

Kathy: "I do."

Hotch: "Isn't that my line?"

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A knock on the door breaks Hotch out of his remembrances. It is Jennifer with the fax about the case that the police chief just sent.

JJ: "Hotch, I think we need to discuss this case with the team."

Hotch: "Okay, call them together, I will be right in."

At the round table, the BAU team sits and begins to view the case files that JJ has handed to each of them.

JJ: "In the town of __________________, there has been found three bodies of children just outside the city limits. The first two were found dead of exposure and dehydration, the third is alive but only just. They range in age from five to eight. We have been asked to come and consult as to finding the perpetrator, the police have found very little evidence yet as to who is doing it and where the children come from."

Morgan: "where they come from?"

JJ: "They haven't been able to identify the children yet, there does not seem to be any missing children reports that conform to the children and they do not seem to be in any database, not even in the school system."

Prentice: "So, where do they think they came from?"

JJ: "There's no telling at this time."

Hotch: "Ok, we'll head out in 30 minutes. Collect your things people."

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Several hours later, the team was entering the police station.

Mike: "Hello, you must be the BAU team. Welcome, we have a place where you can set up in the conference room."

JJ: "Hi, I am Special Agent Jereau; this is Special Agent Morgan, Special Agent Prentiss, Special Agent Rossi, Special Agent Hotchner and Doctor Reid. Thank you, we would like to set up immediately."

Kathy: "Hello, Galahad"

Everyone turns and looks at her. Morgan and Reid look at each as mouth the word "Galahad?"

Hotch: "Hello, Scarlet"

Kathy: "Umm, you remembered"

Hotch: "Why would you think I forgot?"

Kathy: "It has been a long time."

Hotch begins walking toward her, their eyes never leaving each other. He kisses her on the mouth, to the surprise of everyone else around them.

Kathy: "I've missed you. You are too thin. Me, I've gained a lot of weight, but I was never thin. How's Jack? I got your Christmas card and he is getting so big and just as handsome as his father."

Hotch: "Jacks fine and you look beautiful as always."

Kathy: "Are you keeping yourself clean and dry?" As she does a very personal pat to his backside.

Hotch: "Doing my best." As he reddens slightly and looks at her with laughing eyes.

Kathy: "Thank you for coming, I didn't know who else could help. The third child is at the county hospital with a lot of contusions, cuts and is severely dehydrated. He appears to be about seven and hasn't awakened yet."

Hotch: "We'll get settled into the room and you can meet the team."

In the conference room, the team settles in and the police chief begins to brief and explain the facts of the case. Hotch sends Reid, Morgan, Rossi out to the crime site where they found the third child. They would then check out the other two sites with the chief. He and Prentiss would go to the hospital to check on the child. JJ would get in touch with Garcia to check more on the identities of the children.

At the crime site, they would begin to look around and to see what happened to the child and how he was placed and from where to perpetrator might have brought the child. Looking at the area, Morgan begins to surmise about what may have happened. He speaks out that it appears that there had been a large vehicle parked along the edge of the road, it had come up onto the shoulder and there were tire tracks, they had previously been measured and Garcia was checking on their size and what type of vehicle they would have belonged to. Morgan then moves through the scene surmising what might have happened. The unsub would have removed the child from the vehicle and walked to the spot under the tree where the child was found. The child had been found with his hands folded in front of himself on his stomach. The guys would continue to search and examine about the scene, they would then move to the scene where the second and then the first child was found.

At the hospital, Dr. Moore walked with Hotch and Prentiss to the child's room. She explains the child's injuries and the agents ask questions about those injuries.

Hotch: "Did it appear the child was sexually molested?"

Kathy: "No, that was a thankful surprise, that there did not appear to be any molestation in any of the children. There were just a great deal of abrasions and whippings by paddles, whips and other things. Are you going to see your mother while you are here?"

Prentiss: "His mother?"

Kathy: "Oh, you didn't know. You never told them where you grew up, Aaron?"

Hotch: "Can we stick to the case? And no, I am not planning to see my mother."

Prentiss looks at him with interest and wonder.

Prentiss: "Why don't you want to visit your mother? You never talk about your mother. I didn't even know she was still alive."

Hotch: "We are here about a case not my former life."

Kathy: "Former? Have you really forgotten everything about it?"

He looks at her as she looks at him with hurt, interested eyes.

Hotch: "Not everything."

Kathy: "Well, Sean doesn't want to remember much about it. He ignores all my overtures to tell him about what is happening to your mother and you never respond to my statements about her. But at least you tell about the rest of your life, I don't know what is happening with Sean at all."

Prentiss: "I take it that you know a lot about the Hotchner men."

Kathy: "At least their childhood, my house was directly next to theirs. Still is, of course, I own it now. Their mother still lives there. The house hasn't changed at all, since the boys left. Everything is still the same."

Hotch: "How do you know that?"

Kathy: "I visit her and check on her physical needs. She hasn't left the house in years. I get groceries and stuff like that. It would be good if you went to see her

Hotch: "No."

Kathy: "I understand your anger at her, but that was a long time ago and it helped to form the good man that you are."

Hotch looked at her with the stern and foreboding scowl that the BAU team is familiar with.

Hotch: "My mother did nothing of that, you did."

Kathy reaches up and caresses his face, smiling.

Kathy: "Thank you, but that's not really true. I was just someone you were able to talk to."

Hotch: "That's what I needed at the time."

Kathy: "You didn't listen to me about Hayley. I told you she wasn't good enough for you or would be able to understand you well."

Hotch: "I don't want to talk about her either, besides she gave me a beautiful son."

Kathy: "That's true but you were married how long before that happened?"

Hotch: "Don't go there Kathy."

She chuckles.

Kathy: "Of course, she didn't to have a baby, she had you. Was she a lot like your mother?"

Hotch glared at her. She just smiled at him.

Kathy: "We are at the room; would you like to see the child? Emily already went in, although she was certainly curious about our conversation."

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He continues to glare as he enters the room with a child lying on the bed. The child appeared to be a boy of about seven years old with dark brown hair and multiple tubes coming out of him. An IV in his arm, a breathing tube in his nose and he looked very small lying in the large bed. He appeared to be sleeping with bandages and black and blue marks all over his body. Prentiss was standing on the side of the bed looking at the boy, holding his tiny hand in hers. She looks up.

Prentiss: "He is still sleeping."

Kathy: "The good news is that it is sleep and he's not in a coma. But I don't want to wake him; I would prefer he woke on his own. He is going to be scared and he is fragile as it is. We don't need him getting his blood pressure up unnecessarily."

Prentiss: "I can stay with him until he wakes up. Why don't you see if you can find more information about him?"

Hotch: "That's a good idea, call me when he wakes up." He leaves the room.

Prentiss: "I don't mean to be nosy, but what's your relationship with Hotch? He doesn't talk much about his past."

Kathy: "We were neighbors and grew up together. We are the same age and went to the same elementary, junior and senior high school. We were very good friends and still keep in touch but haven't seen each other since he had married Hayley."

Prentiss: "You know they aren't married anymore."

Kathy: "Yes, but he has a great son."

Prentiss: "Why haven't you seen him since the divorce?"

Kathy: "It's not that I didn't want to see him, but that he didn't want to see me. I don't think he wanted me to say 'I told you so'."

Prentiss: "What do mean?"

Kathy: "I told him on his wedding day that she wasn't good enough for him and I knew then that we wouldn't see each other as long as he was married to her. I don't think he wanted to admit to me that I was right. You know they were married for more than ten years before she had Jack. She didn't really like children or want them. Yet, that made me wonder why she wanted Aaron Hotchner. Most people in town knew about what his mother did."

Prentiss: "I'm not sure what you mean."

Kathy: "If Aaron doesn't want you to know, I won't tell you. Ask him then we can talk more about 'Galahad'. Call me if the boy wakes up." She walks out of the room.

to be continued.