Chapter 3

Hotch and the team were compiling everything they had on the five shootings. Garcia had pictures of several of the shooters through security footage and traffic cameras, but nothing was coming up through facial recognition. 'The Rebellion' had claimed the shootings, saying that the judicial system had become too skewed and no longer worked to protect the people. In the phone call to the 911 operator, the man proclaiming to be the leader promised more action against the government until things changed. Without saying what changes the group wanted, Hotch was worried that the group didn't actually want anything real; that they only wanted to cause more panic and damage. Out of the five shootings, sixteen people were dead and thirty two were wounded. Reports varied, but it looked like there were at least two shooters at each courthouse, and Hotch knew that the numbers could have been a lot worse with that many automatic guns aimed at unsuspecting civilians.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. This is not the way I wanted to spend my Monday! They had a couple decent eye witness accounts, one from Kahlan, one from on off duty police officer in Arlington, and one from a retired Marine in Alexandria. The rest of the scenes were just a jumble of mixed reports that represented all of the panic and chaos that had ensued. Hotch sighed deeply. They had no idea what the terrorists were going to hit next or where they were going to hit, and the Rapid Response Team consisting of every agency in the area wanted a report from him in ten minutes. He didn't really have anything concrete to report, and it pissed him off.

Rossi put a supporting hand on Hotch's shoulder. "We'll start on the profile and as soon as we sift through all of this will have more to report."

Hotch nodded. He looked at his watch. He was worried about Kahlan. With as long as it was taking, he wondered if she was hurt worse than he thought. He shook his head. Stop thinking that! She's fine! He looked over the pictures they had been able to get. The ages of the shooters ranged from late teens to middle aged. They could tell the men were familiar with the weapons they were using, and Morgan suggested that they were some militia group. Garcia was busy searching the internet to see if she could find any group that was connected with the symbol they had found at the courthouses. A card was found at every courthouse, and after the CSI units reported that they didn't provide any evidence, they knew the group was very organized; and that wasn't a good sign.

With one more look at everything they had, Hotch went to give his report. Rossi went to the break room to get some much needed coffee and when he was walking back to the conference room, Agent Anderson came back with Kahlan. "Hey, Kiddo, how are you?"

Kahlan gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm fine," she told him with a smile.

Agent Anderson was looking around for Hotch; he was ready to be relinquished of his charge.

"What do you need, Anderson?" Rossi asked the young man with a smile.

"Agent Hotchner. He wanted a report from the doctor on Mrs. Hotchner."

Rossi chuckled as Kahlan rolled her eyes. "I'll give it to him. You can go."

Anderson hesitated for just a second, looked at Kahlan one more time, and then gave Rossi the report. "Yes, Sir."

Kahlan watched him leave. "He's a good kid. Nervous, but good."

Rossi laughed and then read the report. He eyed Kahlan warily and shook his head. "Aaron's briefing the RRT, he should be back shortly."

"He wants a sketch of the shooter I saw."

"Come to the conference room, maybe we have a picture of him," Rossi told her and led the way.

Kahlan studied the pictures from Manassas. "Yep. This is the guy I saw. He's not the one to fire first, though."

"Who fired first?" Reid asked her as he looked over the pictures with her.

"Whoever was behind that tree fired first," Kahlan told him as she pointed to the tree in one of the pictures. The only thing that could be seen was the end of an assault rifle sticking out from behind it.

"Make the total dead, eighteen, just got a report in from the hospital; two more didn't make it," Morgan told them as he walked into the room.

Kahlan went to him quickly and hit him with one fast strike on the top of his arm.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow!" Morgan yelled as he grabbed his right arm with his left hand. "What the hell, Kahlan?"

"I told you I was going to hit you!"

"What did you do to him?" Mack asked as she watched Morgan still wincing in pain.

"It's just a cramp. Damn, Derek, toughen up," Kahlan told him with a wicked grin.

"A cramp from hell! Make it go away!" He pleaded through clenched teeth.

Rossi shook his head. "Alright, children."

JJ and Garcia laughed. Morgan was usually the tough one. Garcia didn't feel sorry for him, though.

"But it hurts!" Morgan yelled as he tried to rub the cramp in his tricep away. They could all tell the muscle had tried to ball itself into a knot.

"Kahlan! Don't make me put you in time out!" Rossi told her as he tried to act mad.

Reid and Mack shared a smile.

"Oh, jeeze! Come here, baby!" Kahlan grabbed Morgan and messaged his shoulder with her thumbs.

They could all see the relief wash over his face. "Ahhhhh." He quickly stepped away from her. "I'm sorry!" He told her. "I'll never make that mistake again!"

Kahlan's look told him that he better not. Hotch walked into the room and they all quickly acted like they were busy doing something. Hotch looked at everyone slowly. Even Kahlan had picked up a file and was acting like she was reading it. She looked up as if she just realized he had walked in. "Oh, hay, Hun. Seems like you got a picture of my guy, so you don't need a sketch.I guess I'll go," she told him as she started to go past him.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. "Where's the doctor's report?"

"Anderson gave it to Rossi," she told him with an innocent look.

Rossi handed the report to Hotch. Hotch read it over and his look darkened. "Just a scratch, huh?"

"Yep," she told him with another smile.

"Twenty three stitches isn't just a scratch."

"I didn't say it was a small scratch," she told him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then left.

He shook his head as he watched her leave. He finally turned back to the team. "What have we figured out?"

XXX

Hotch finally got home at two in the morning. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he unlocked the door. He opened the door to find Kahlan smiling at him. "It's about time you got home," she told him as she pulled him into a hug.

He hugged her back and sighed deeply. "Sorry. I tried not to wake you."

"I wasn't asleep yet. I was waiting up for you. I got some tea on, you want a cup?" She asked him as she pulled his suit jacket off of him, led him to the couch, and made him sit down.

He smiled. "That actually sounds good," he told her as he pulled off his tie.

She went to the kitchen. "So what did you all figure out?"

"That we don't have any idea who they are, what they want, or where they'll hit next."

She could hear his frustration. "Don't worry, Aaron. You all will figure it out," she tried to reassure him as she handed him his mug. She sat down beside him with a mug in her hand, too.

He huffed. "Unless they do something else, I don't see how that's going to happen."

"So you didn't get anything from the pictures?"

"Nope."

She winced. If none of the men were in the system, then that meant that none of them were criminals. That meant that they were organized enough to make sure that they couldn't get recognized. Damn it! No wonder they weren't wearing masks. She put her mug down on the coffee table, got up, and went behind the couch. "Sit back," she told him as she pulled his shoulders to the back of the couch and started kneading his tight muscles. He moaned as she dug her knuckles into the muscles of his stiff neck. "Damn, Hun. I don't think I've ever seen you this tense."

He leaned his head to the right so she could get to his neck easier. "Yeah, but this feels good."

She smiled and continued across his shoulders. He leaned his head down as she concentrated on his lower neck. He moaned as she massaged the muscles down the middle of his back along his spine. She leaned down and kissed the left side of his neck. "Finish your tea. It will help you relax."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Exactly what did you put in it?"

She smiled. "Just some natural extracts. It's not going to hurt you," she told him as she kneaded his back.

He sighed and took a long drink, the warmth of it filling his chest and stomach.

"Did you even eat dinner?" He squinted his eyes. "Do you even remember?" she asked with a little chuckle.

"JJ brought us sandwiches around five."

"Are you hungry? I can fix you a plate."

"Nah, I think I'll just head to bed," he told her as he finished his tea.

She smiled as she went around in front of him. "Then come on," she told him as she pulled him up and led him upstairs.

He stripped to his boxers and climbed in beside her. She snuggled up to his side and smiled as she noticed he was already blinking a little slowly. He put his arm around her and kissed her head. "Night, Babe."

"Goodnight, Hun."

XXX

After a week and nothing new from the terrorists, the Rapid Response team was put on stand down. After another week, almost everyone speculated that the courthouses were the only attack the group had planned. The BAU team wasn't letting their guard down, though. They had seen too many times when the case had gone cold, they'd relaxed, and then it blew up in their face again. Garcia had found traces of a secret militia group who had stolen the Star Wars symbol as their own, and they did call themselves 'The Rebellion', but she couldn't find too much on them except that they were based in Montana.

When Hotch told Kahlan about what Garcia had found over dinner one night, she winced. "Really? Montana?"

He chuckled. "Does anything good ever come out of that state?" He asked with a smirk and a look at Wyatt.

"Hey! That's where Harrison Ford lives!"

He shook his head. "And it's just creepy that you know that."

She gave him an evil grin. "Maybe I've had Cam task his satellites and spied on him while he was sunbathing by his pool."

Hotch choked on his drink. "I wouldn't doubt it!"

Joey giggled. "Indiana Jones is cute!"

Kahlan laughed. "That's my girl!"

Joey smiled widely and then looked at her father. "But he's not cuter than Daddy!"

"Hah! And that's my girl!" Hotch exclaimed proudly.

Kahlan shook her head as she laughed.