AN: Taking a break from Independence to write this short piece. Had some frustration to work out, though I ended up torturing the wrong character, lol. If you love Beth this may not be the fic for you, could be construed as no pairing, or Hotch/JJ, Hotch/Prentiss, probably the only ambiguous pairing fic I'll ever write considering I'm a Jotch fan. Hope you enjoy it.
Hotch closed his eyes against the bright light as he felt himself regaining consciousness. Despite the pounding in his head he wanted to speak, but realized he was gagged as he experimentally tried to move his limbs. He could tell he was tightly fastened to a large wooden table judging by the splinters digging into his bare back. He was also missing his shirt and shoes but thankfully still wore his dress slacks. He could barely process his thoughts over the pounding in his head as he tried to regain his bearings.
Through the haze the memories started coming back to him, dropping Jack off at Jessica's as he went to pick up Beth for their Friday evening date. They had been seeing each other a little over two months and he felt the relationship had been progressing nicely. He remembered a nice dinner followed by nervously accepting her invitation inside her home for the first time and wondering if this meant he should have made overnight plans for Jack as he had not anticipated their relationship progressing this quickly.
In his mind's eye he could see them sitting on the sofa, sipping a glass of wine before things began to get hazy. He desperately tried to see where an attacker might have come in but in his mind all he could see was Beth smiling at him as she gently reached over to take his glass before beginning to kiss him on the neck, whispering in his ear.
Worry for her began to flood his system as he wondered what her fate had been, trying in vain to turn his head to see if she was also being held captive with him, but the binding was too tight and the light continued to hurt his eyes if he opened them. As the fear for her safety grew, just as quickly he felt an icy cold wash over him as the words she had whispered in his ear became clear in his memory, "shhh, just relax, let go." The disembodied words came together as he realized there was no unsub, the pieces rapidly coming together in his mind as he could almost visualize her slipping something into his drink when she went into the kitchen to pour the glasses, her back turned towards him as she had done so. He could now see how he had played right into her hands from the first day she had approached him and felt sick as he began to wonder what the end scene was in her carefully planned game.
"Look who's awake" her familiar voice came from somewhere nearby, though he couldn't open his eyes to look for her due to the bright light still blinding him. "Oh let me help you with that," she almost cooed before the light was mercifully turned off. As he opened his eyes to take in his surroundings the first thing he saw was her standing over him, a triumphant smile on her face as she examined his restraints. As his eyes went around the room he could see that it appeared to be a basement of sorts, gray cinder blocks and thick planks overhead told him his screams would not likely be heard even if she did take the gag off. He saw a portion of a stairwell which he assumed was the door she had entered from, and out of another corner of his eye he could see what appeared to be a small back door with a rusty knob showing this room was probably not used very often as he wondered if the team might be able to find him.
"Sorry, I'm a bit of a mess," she said wiping hair from her eyes, her clothes slightly damp. It took a lot of work to get you down the stairs and up on this table, the drug almost knocked you out completely before I was able to lead you here. But we made it. Oh and don't expect help to come," she said as if reading his thoughts. "By the time your team misses you from work you'll be dead just like the others," her voice took on a sinister tone despite the look of joy still on her face. "I have a whole weekend before anyone will miss you. We're going to have so much fun." She said still smiling, "oh and I texted Jessica from your phone to ask her to keep Jack for the weekend as something had come up, so see, all bases covered." She obviously enjoyed taunting him mentally as she worked to cut off his every hope of rescue.
He couldn't stop a cold trickle of fear as she laid a leather pouch on his bare stomach, opening it to reveal shiny instruments as she held up a scalpel. "You'll be the most fun of all," she said, an eerie look on her face. "You want to know why?" She asked, obviously lost in her own thoughts, not really requiring any response from him as she kept going. "Because unlike the others, this is personal, you killed George and now I finally get to exact revenge."
Through the edges of the lingering haze Hotch tried to piece together what she was talking about, realizing that this was apparently a vendetta she was carrying out. He hated the feel of the knife against his skin as she held it, remembering clearly the sensations from his stabbing at the hands of Foyet and the pain he had felt as the blade had dug into his skin. He tried not to tense his muscles as she began running the blade over his stomach while he wondered if she intended to kill him quickly or carve on him like a Thanksgiving turkey.
She paused as a buzzer apparently wired in to the doorbell above sounded. She quickly moved her tools out of his reach as she went to ascend the steps. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," she laughed as she disappeared.
Hotch tried to feel hopeful as he squirmed against the bindings, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead from the effort, but his hope was short-lived as only a few moments later she descended and picked the tools back up, this time selecting the scalpel which she began using to trace the lines of the scars almost lovingly as she spoke. "That was Agent Rossi, seems they need to find you for a case but your phone has been turned off. I of course told them we had been at dinner and you dropped me off and I hadn't seen you since. I acted worried of course and asked him to have you call me to be sure you were ok when they did find you. I've already hidden your car of course," she almost purred as she again attempted to shatter any hope he might feel.
"This will be even better than the others" she said again as she continued to methodically trace his bare chest. Hotch searched his mind and remembered some internal memo about 2 agents who had recently gone missing but couldn't recall any details other than that. "Of course they were just practice for you" she said almost reassuringly as she continued to trace the scars, just barely refraining from drawing more blood with the sharp blade
"But why?" his mind screamed, still struggling to understand though she was accommodating enough to explain as she replaced the scalpel with her fingers, now tracing his scars as a lover would. "George did such a good job," her eyes misted as she spoke, I just wish he had finished the job, then you would be dead and I would still have him.
"Foyet?" His mind struggled to grasp that there could be a connection between this woman and his arch nemesis. He felt sick to think that he had begun opening himself up and even kissed someone who had obviously had an intimate relationship with the man who had nearly destroyed his life.
Surely Rossi had seen through her lie he thought as he again allowed himself a glimmer of hope, they had to be suspicious if they had come looking for him. He never texted Jessica about plans for Jack, could something so simple have caused her to sense a problem? He certainly hoped he would live long enough to find out.
He tried to cling to those thoughts as his obviously deranged captor continued to talk about her undying love for the reaper. Hotch half listened, letting her talk as he hoped and prayed it was buying time for a rescue. He started to think about Jack and the moments he would miss as his son grew into a young man. Hotch began feeling a pain in his heart from the feeling of loss before using his training to stop the thoughts and instead tried to picture his team in action if they were indeed aware he was in trouble.
He could see Garcia pulling up every scrap of information on Beth, he could see Derek analyzing a tactical approach as the rest of the team readied themselves for action. He almost felt a bitter laugh in his throat as he considered the disaster of his first foray into the dating world since Haley being on display for all to see, he just hoped they weren't looking at his dead body when they realized what a disaster it had been.
He felt a surge of adrenaline as he realized that Beth had stopped talking and picked up the hunting knife again. He saw her raising the sharp blade, the look in her eyes telling him she was ready to strike. He squeezed his eyes shut to visualize his son in his mind wanting that to be the last thing he saw if this was to be the end. As he closed his eyes he saw images of Haley, his brother and his team flash through his mind before he saw Jack's face, his heart aching as he waited for the strike that would end his life.
"FBI, drop it!" He recognized Morgan's voice say the sweetest words he had ever heard as he opened his eyes again, only able to see 4 pairs of legs on the small stairwell from his vantage point, feeling the blade suddenly pressed against his throat even as shock registered on his captor's face.
"Drop your guns or I'll cut his throat even on my way down," the angry woman said glaring at her foes. Hotch was surprised as he heard weapons hitting the floor even as Rossi attempted to negotiate. "It doesn't have to end this way Beth," he began obviously trying to open a dialogue.
"The FBI are such fools," she laughed, "dropping your weapons to allow me the freedom to do whatever I want." Hotch felt the pressure on his throat relax as she lifted the knife to maneuver it menacingly in the air. "Now I could stab him here, or even here, she gestured as she waved the knife over various parts of his bared chest, enjoying the power surge of the unarmed agents watching her.
Hotch almost wanted to grin beneath the gag, well aware of the tactical ploy at work as he had been able to deduce from the voices and parts of their bodies he could see who the agents on the stairwell were and knowing that outside the small door behind Beth that JJ and Prentiss were likely waiting with guns drawn in case the negotiations didn't work.
"Beth, why don't you put the knife down and we can talk," Rossi again tried vainly to reason with her seeing the now almost crazed look in her eyes that told him her ability to think logically was essentially gone. The back door flew open so quickly Beth didn't have time to reapply pressure with the knife that she dropped to the floor as the other agents burst in. As her weapon clattered to the floor she immediately ran into a small adjoining hallway and to the agents surprise disappeared behind a small wall almost appearing to vanish into thin air.
"No worries, Garcia's already sent us the map of the hidden passages," Reid said moving to Hotch's side as the other agents spread out, barking orders as they began to search for their target. Hotch was thankful as Reid began to work on his bindings knowing he had yet again narrowly escaped death.
Beth stood in the dark corner of the passageway panting as her mind tried to work out a solution in the desperate situation she now found herself in, her master revenge plan suddenly destroyed. She was so angry she wanted to scream and cry but she forced herself to stay together knowing she might have another opportunity to kill her nemesis later if she would be able to escape the agents now combing the passages. When she had bought the home she had been delighted to find that it had been built during the prohibition era and belonging to a lesser known gangster who had seen fit to have a few options installed which had served her purpose well for being able to disappear quickly and have an escape route in place.
Finding her way to one of the exits she quickly darted out into a small bedroom that she knew held another passage that would lead her out a hidden back door. But as she entered the room the bedroom door flung open to reveal a brunette agent holding a gun. From Hotch's description of the team she could only assume that this was Agent Prentiss. She began backing up quickly she prepared to crawl back into the passageways only to be stopped when a blonde woman with an FBI vest exited the wall behind her cutting off her only means of escape. She knew from the description that this had to be Agent Jareau now staring at her as if she was quite willing to shoot her between the eyes while ordering her to freeze.
Beth felt the anger surge as she realized her capture was imminent and she would not be able to carry out her plot for revenge as she ran to the small window, opening it and looking down as if to jump, though realizing it was probably not high enough up for her to die from the fall. She turned in surprise as the two women watched her, expecting them to try to stop her but no such directives seemed forthcoming.
"We don't mind if you jump," Prentiss spoke first, holstering her weapon as if perfectly ready to push her if needed.
"What?" She asked, not sure if she believed what she was hearing as she wondered if she might be able to run after such a jump.
"We've got her cornered on the second floor, she's currently opened a window, you may want to be downstairs in case she jumps." JJ spoke aloud knowing the team would hear her as she holstered her weapon as well, knowing that the men would cut off the last viable escape route when they made it downstairs into the street.
"I might die if I jump," she spit out, annoyed that there wasn't even a pretense of wanting to save her.
"Fine by me," JJ responded, her eyes flashing as she stared icily at the woman who was now sitting with one leg out the window.
"This is some weird reverse psychology," Beth finally said looking from one woman to another, realizing they both looked angry.
"No reverse psychology here," Prentiss replied. "You hurt and almost killed someone we care about, why should we care if you fall or not."
Beth continued to look from one woman to the other as if trying to figure out what their plan was but they didn't seem to have one from what she could tell.
"After all he's been through thanks to your psychotic boyfriend you must be pure evil to do this to him again. Knives, really?" JJ ground out incredulously, with a look that would have their quarry dead on the floor already if looks could actually kill.
"You're not very original Beth, and that's why you'll go down just as Foyet did, except you'll get to live in your misery knowing that you failed him." Prentiss goaded the psychopath.
"I wouldn't have tortured him, I was going to kill him quickly," Beth spat back defensively, not liking what the agents were accusing her of.
"You helped him open his heart again, let him believe he could trust you, and then you turn into a raving lunatic, you don't think that's torture." JJ said as she took a step, advancing on the woman still clinging to the windowsill though she had now moved both legs out to dangle over the small ledge. "Do you know how hard it's going to be for him to ever trust a woman with his heart again?"
"What's it to you?" Beth shot back, eyeing the two women as she watched for any sudden moves.
"Because unlike you bitch, we care about him." Emily said advancing another step. "No man deserves what you've done to him."
"And one day he'll find a woman who accepts him for who he is without playing stupid games." JJ said advancing another step to where both women were almost close enough to touch Beth, looking as if they were perfectly happy to give her a shove out the window if she chose not to jump herself.
"I bet she wishes we had found her instead," Morgan chuckled as he stood beside Dave on the sidewalk watching the woman half hanging out the window as they listened to JJ and Emily's tag team responses, it seemed appropriate somehow that it had been the two women on the team to track Beth down.
In the basement Hotch smiled grimly as he listened to the showdown playing out on Reid's earpiece. Despite the embarrassment of his whole team being involved in the fiasco that was his love life, he couldn't ignore the warmth he felt from hearing the support from the two women, knowing it wasn't FBI protocol but their friendship he was hearing loud and clear through the earpiece. It felt nice to know they cared about him not only as their boss but as a man whose heart, not to mention ego, had just taken yet another hit.
"Well then you can have him," Beth said angrily, "He's certainly not my type."
"Of course he isn't," Prentiss said sarcastically, "he's not a sadistic psycho like your last boyfriend."
"You can't tell me George never hurt you," JJ said, accurately profiling what she knew would have been part of the dynamics of a relationship with the reaper. "You know Hotch would never do that, he doesn't hurt people he cares about, you can't say that about your darling reaper now can you."
"Neither of you know anything about my relationship with George," Beth said again as she inched further out the window, tired of being in the presence of two people who seemed to think so much of her target. "George was fun, Aaron has almost bored me to tears, the other two agents were the same way. Is there a requirement to be boring and predictable before you can be an agent." She ranted, thinking about her other victims. "You'll never find their bodies by the way." She added, wanting to do anything she could to emotionally retaliate against the agents cutting off her escape.
At that the two women closed the rest of the distance and approached the window prepared to arrest her just as she let go. Beth had a brief moment as she felt hope she would die instantly when she landed. She felt a bone snap in her leg as she hit the grass below but through the pain was dismayed to find she was still very much alive as agents now crowded around her calling for an ambulance even as they pulled out handcuffs. The looks she saw on their faces didn't seem any friendlier than the women who she could now see peering out of the upstairs window.
Now free from his restraints thought still a little disheveled Hotch had just started visually scanning the room looking for his shirt when the door to the basement opened again, this time admitting JJ who was closely followed by Emily as they walked towards him. He felt a moment of embarrassment, still sitting on the table with his scars showing on his still bare chest, trying to think of the words to say as he felt a soft gentle hand on each shoulder as they each took a side.
"She played you Hotch, but don't give up." Emily said with a reassuring squeeze to a muscular bicep as he looked into her warm brown eyes.
He offered a smile of acknowledgement along with a murmured thanks as the rest of the team entered the room in a show of unity and support that reminded him of how much they had all come to depend on each other.
"And when you find the right one, don't worry, you'll know you can trust her," JJ added reassuringly adding another squeeze to a muscular shoulder as Hotch turned to look into her eyes, seeing the warmth hiding in their blue depths.
"Maybe I already have," the unspoken thought flashed across his mind as he registered the two women whose mere presence was a reminder that not all women were like Beth. Perhaps he needed to look closer to home he thought as he smiled wanly, ready to process the case events with the team as they closed the case so he could get home to his son.
Finis