A/N: Chapter 3 is with my beta.

Chapter 2

Rossi's face remained impassive as the detective's answer didn't surprise him. With his many years with the BAU, UnSubs didn't surprise him anymore. But Prentiss glanced sideways at Reid and knew what he was remembering. Just the mere remembrance of this happening again caused them both to recall the other instance in which an UnSub contacted police from inside a victim's home. Tobias Henkel.

Henkel suffered from multiple personalities named Raphael and Charles. Raphael, a ruthless Archangel hell bent on carrying out what he accepted as God's will, and Charles Henkel, Tobias's deceased evil and abusive father whom Tobias murdered several years earlier. (1)

After entering someone's house, Tobias, the weakest of the three, called the police from the unsuspecting person's home. He warned them of the impending murder of the residents by Raphael with Charles' urging.

"The 911 call came from inside this house, is this what you're telling us, detective?" asked Rossi, not sure he heard correctly.

"This is what we determined," replied Brewster. "Apparently the assailant attacked Agent Hotchner and afterward called 911 to make sure the police came here, although why we don't know yet."

"Sometimes UnSubs want the police to be the first to see their crimes because they're so proud of them," explained Reid. "In fact, years ago we pursued an UnSub with multiple personalities who broke into people's homes. One of those personalities called the police to inform them the other two planned to murder the residents. Only thing he did different here is he called the police after he attacked Hotch."

"Are you serious?" asked Brewster. He looked at the young agent's face for any sign of teasing, but found none. Reid's face remained blank.

"Yeah but, if this guy wanted your agent dead, why didn't he just kill him outright, or leave and let him bleed out? From the blood loss, your agent might not have survived until somebody found him hours later."

"We understand why you can accept this fact," Prentiss said. "But it's not what it tells us."

"I don't understand," Brewster said folding his arms.

"The fact the attacker called 911 afterward tells us he wanted Hotch to be found while still alive."

"Why?"

"Because he has a larger plan in mind and it requires Hotch to be found alive at least for the time being. But his end game does include Hotch's death, but not right now."

"Why did he leave Agent Hotchner's son alive? It doesn't make sense to me he left a witness to his crime unless he plans on coming back for the boy."

"Jack called me just after two a.m.," Rossi explained. "Hotch always puts him to bed around eight at night. So either the attacker waited until Hotch had put Jack to bed, or figured Hotch was alone in the house. That tells us he could have been watching the house. Or perhaps he didn't consider Jack a threat which tells us he wasn't interested in the boy. Either way, Jack will be protected as long as it takes us to find this bastard."

As they talked, Reid's hazel eyes looked around the room before something caught his attention. Walking in the direction of the fireplace, he knelt down in front of the iron stand beside the fireplace while putting on latex gloves.

"See something, kid?" asked Rossi as he, Prentiss, and Brewster looked.

The young genius crouched down in front of the stand, and reaching out a hand, fingered each item hanging from it.

"There's something missing here," the young man said. "There's a broom, a shovel, and a pair of tongs. But no fireplace poker." He looked over his shoulder at the others. "Where's the poker?"

Rossi, Prentiss and Brewster gathered around him, staring.

"You're right," Prentiss admitted. "I don't know of anybody with a fireplace that doesn't have a poker."

Rossi glanced at the detective. "Did you find a fireplace poker anywhere?"

Brewster looked at the agents. "We didn't find one outside, and my men are still searching the house, but so far we haven't found one. Why is it important?"

Reid looked up at the man. "There's no reason for a fireplace poker to be removed from the house unless it was used to inflict injuries on the victim."

"I don't understand," said Brewster, confused.

Rossi had an idea where his teammate was going with his revelation. "There's a reason the attacker took that poker with him and we need to know what it is. Detective, I need your lab to check that bat for any traces of dark hair. We need to know if it definitely is the weapon used to assault Hotch with."

JJ sat quietly in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the surgical waiting room with an arm wrapped around Jack Hotchner who sat in the chair beside hers. All traces of blood had been washed from his face and hands. Also, after Hotch had been rushed into surgery, his son had been examined and cleared by a doctor which eased JJ's mind. And when she asked about the blood on him and his pajamas, the explanation was that it had been his father's. He then changed out of his bloody clothes and into a pair of child's hospital sweats and a light grey bathrobe. The soiled clothes were put in a clear plastic bag which rested on the chair beside JJ, and had been sealed to keep them from becoming contaminated. They would be needed as evidence.

The boy brought his knees up to his chest, with his feet up on the chair and his arms wrapped around his legs, his chin on his knees. Even though he was no longer crying, sniffles were still heard by the blonde, and she pressed the child closer to her side trying to give him all the strength she could spare.

"Aunt JJ, will you tell me the truth if I ask you something?" the child asked without moving his head or looking at the blonde.

JJ kissed the top of his head. "Of course I will, sweetie. What do you want to ask me?"

"Is daddy gonna die?"

The question startled her causing her body to tense up even as she struggled to remain calm for Jack's sake. JJ was frightened for her boss based on the injuries she had seen just before he'd been loaded into the ambulance. And despite how hard she tried to remain optimistic, when she remembered how Hotch looked when she saw him, the fear they would lose him this time returned.

She swallowed the lump growing in her throat, and wished the rest of the team was here to help. But since they weren't, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"No, he's not, sweetie. Your dad would never leave you."

Sniffling, Jack raised his head this time and looked into the blonde's bright blue eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Well, for one thing, this hospital has the best doctors in the state working on your dad fighting to save his life. Second, your dad loves you more than anything, and will fight with everything he has in him to come back to you. You need to believe that."

"I want to, but what if all that isn't enough to save daddy?"

"How about you and I say a little prayer asking God to help your dad live and get well."

Jack mulled over what the blonde told him. Then his face brightened as an idea came to him.

"You'll say a prayer with me and ask God to let daddy get well?"

"Of course I will. They have a chapel here in the hospital we can go to. I'm sure there must be one on this floor somewhere. Why don't we go and find it?" JJ got to her feet holding the boy's hand. But after taking one step Jack paused causing her to look down at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"What if something happens to daddy while we're gone? They won't know where we are."

With a warm smile on her face, JJ let go of the boy's hand, and knelt down to eye level. She gently ran both her hands up and down his arms.

"Tell you what we'll do. We'll tell the nurse where we'll be so if they need to find us, she'll know where we went. Okay?"

Now that the FBI had taken charge of the case, the three agents examined every corner as they walked around the living room. They were hoping to find a clue, any clue, which might tell them who was responsible for the attack on one of their own. But so far, one thing had become noticeable right away to each of them.

"Whatever happened here…" said Spencer. "…it looks like it all took place in this room."

"Looks like it," Rossi concurred. "I got a look at the front door when we arrived. There was no sign of anyone breaking and entering. And other than each of us and Jessica, Aaron wouldn't give just anybody a key to his place. I know not even his younger brother Sean has a key. He was extremely careful to who he gave a key to being a single dad and a federal agent. Also, I noticed his home alarm was turned off."

"That means that whoever did this to him, Hotch felt comfortable enough to let whoever it was into the house," said Prentiss. "And with Jack here, I can't see Hotch letting just anyone into his home and especially if he didn't know them. So it had to be someone he at least was familiar with."

"I agree," Rossi agreed.

Once they finished looking around the living room, the three agents went upstairs to search the master bedroom and then Jack's, leaving the detectives on their own. As they looked around Hotch's room, they were interrupted by the sound of Rossi's cell ringing. The older man paused while searching his best friend's closet and reached into his jacket, grabbing his phone. He put the phone to his ear and listened for several seconds.

"Hold on a minute while I put you on speaker." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Prentiss and Reid now watching him. He pressed the speaker button. "Go ahead, JJ. Reid and Prentiss are with me," he said.

"Still no word on Hotch," the blonde reported. "If we don't hear something soon, I'm going to corner a nurse and find out."

"You go get 'em, girl," Rossi smirked sensing Reid and Prentiss were behind him listening.

"How's Jack doing?" asked Prentiss.

"I got him to close his eyes and try to get some sleep. He's exhausted from worry for his dad. We went to the chapel earlier and said a prayer for Hotch then came back to the waiting room, but there was no new information. However, Garcia arrived a few minutes ago, frantic and asking a million questions. I tried to talk her into going home as there was nothing she could do here, but she wouldn't hear it. She said only wild horses would have kept her away. Since she was about to have an anxiety attack while waiting for information, I sent her to an all-night coffee shop next door. She's getting two cups of caffeine for us and something for Jack."

Rossi, Reid and Prentiss chuckled well aware of how their tech analyst was when one of them was hurt. They dreaded facing her wrath should she not be told what happened and found out on her own. They knew how protective she was of the entire team.

"JJ, have you heard from Morgan at all?" asked Reid, becoming worried because of the black agent's continuing absence.

"Not at all and he hasn't called. Isn't he there with you?"

"Not yet," Rossi said. "I called him twice and got his voicemail both times. I left a message but haven't heard from him."

"I can ask Garcia when she returns if she's heard from him."

"Thanks," said Rossi. "If he gets in touch with anybody it would be her."

"Will do. Have you found out anything yet?"

"Hotch may have been beaten with an aluminum bat or a fire poker," said Reid. "We won't know for sure until the bat's been examined and the poker's missing. There were no signs of breaking and entering. So it appears Hotch may have let the person in, and the home alarm was turned off."

"Rossi, do you really think one of ours did this to Hotch?" asked the blonde, horrified just thinking of such a possibility.

The senior agent let out a deep breath. "I don't know, kiddo, I really don't. But let me say this…if it turns out it was, I will take great pleasure in taking this bastard down myself."

JJ swallowed the growing lump in her throat understanding what Rossi had meant by 'taking the bastard down' himself. And while neither she nor any of her teammates would purposely kill someone other than to save a life, or in self-defense, she could understand how the man felt. Whenever someone had hurt children, she often felt like doing the same herself.

But her belief in the criminal justice system wouldn't allow her to take the law into her own hands, and she knew neither would Dave Rossi. No matter how tempting it might be to deliver one's own brand of justice, she knew Rossi would do the right thing.

"JJ, you still there?" asked Rossi wondering if he had lost the connection.

"Yeah, but I gotta go. I see a nurse approaching. I'll call back when I know something."

"Thanks. Give our best to Jack, and tell him we'll be there as soon as we finish here."

"Will do. Bye, Dave." JJ disconnected the call and put her cell back in her pocket. As she carefully got to her feet so as not to wake Jack, a nurse with the name-plate saying Jackie, approached her. From the look on the nurse's face, JJ's heart began to beat faster and faster as she feared the worse.

"Are you here for Agent Hotchner?" Jackie asked.

"Yes, and this is his son," she said gesturing to the sleeping child. "How is he? Is he out of surgery?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid," the nurse answered. "He's still alive. But it'll be at least another few hours. The doctor just wanted me to update you on what's happening. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back into the operating room."

JJ heaved a sigh of instant relief as the corners of her mouth curled upward. "Thank you for keeping me informed," she said tiredly.

Jackie offered the media liaison her own small smile before she turned and walked away in the direction of the surgical area. As she walked out of the room Garcia walked into the waiting room gripping a paper bag in her fingers along with holding two large Styrofoam cups of hot coffee. She stared at the back of the receding nurse then burst into the waiting room, nearly panicked.

"What was that about? What happened? Is Hotch all right? When is the doctor…." She was rambling as wont to do when scared.

"Garcia, just slow down and take a deep breath," JJ said holding up both hands, palms forward. "Hotch is still alive. The nurse was simply telling me he's still in surgery and it'll be a few more hours."

Garcia let out a deep breath and sat down in the chair beside the other woman. She handed the paper bag to her friend.

"I got a carton of milk and a chocolate doughnut for Jack."

"Thanks," JJ said before she put the bag on the floor near her feet. "I'll save it for him until later. I'd like him to sleep as long as possible. Poor kid was exhausted with fear and worry." She opened her Styrofoam cup, took a sip of her coffee and replaced the lid.

"Garcia, I need to ask you a question. Can we speak privately?"

"Sure. Let's go into the hallway."

With another glance at Jack, the media liaison got to her feet and followed Garcia into the hallway just outside the waiting room, where both women could keep an eye on Hotch's son while he was out of hearing range.

Garcia faced the media liaison.

"Now what did you want to ask me, my golden buttercup?"

"I spoke with Rossi a little while ago. He and the others will be here as soon-as-they finish at Hotch's. But Rossi wanted me to ask if you've heard from Morgan at all?"

Garcia's eyes narrowed as her eyebrows knitted. "What d'ya mean have I heard from my Chocolate Mocha Delight? Isn't he with the others?"

"No. And Rossi called him twice only to get his voicemail so he left a message. So far, he hasn't seen or heard from him and is getting worried."

Garcia felt her imagination taking over.

"Then where is he? Do you think he's been attacked?" she asked, now worried herself. This didn't sound like her Morgan.

"I have no idea. I just hope the argument he had with Hotch yesterday morning had nothing to do with this. It's not like Morgan to hold a grudge against someone, and to not show up to a crime scene." Now she was beginning to wonder if something had happened to their teammate also.

(1) Tobias Henkel kidnapped Reid and drugged and tortured him in THE BIG GAME and REVELATIONS, Season 2.