Author's Note; Since Thomas Gibson retweeted my pic of Hotch as 'Sam the Eagle' yday, I decided to rewatch '100' for the second time last night (I honestly couldn't face it again 'til now - the most amazing piece of tv I have ever seen. The whole cast were fab, but TG & Meredith Monroe were especially outstanding!) Considering this verse of the song, this seemed appropriate... Thank you again to those who read and review, you don't know how happy you make moi! *hugs*

Same old boy
Same sweet girl
Five years down the road
He held her tight and kissed her lips
In front of the picture show
Stranger came and pulled a gun
Grabbed her by the arm said "If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm"
And Johnny said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards
Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me
Here's the key to my car
Mister give it a whirl
But please don't take the girl

"Foyet?" he answered with a steadfast tone, armed with whatever possible profiling means to distract the sadistic killer... or, at least, to buy himself any extra time to make it to his home.

"Aaron?" replied a confused voice at the other end, "You're OK?"

Hotch was suddenly disarmed. It'd been eight months since he'd last heard her voice. He held his breath as he contemplated the irony of her words. "I'm fine," he lied after taking a moment to compose himself.

Haley furrowed her brow. "But... he said that...," she looked to their guest sat across from her son before it clicked... She suddenly felt sick. "Oh, Aaron."

"He can hear us, right?" Of course he could - the only reason Foyet let them speak would be to get off on the further emotional torture.

"Yes... I'm so sorry!" she began to apologise, placing a hand to her churning stomach. If only she'd trusted herself and called Aaron... She should have known he was alive!

"Haley... show him NO weakness... no fear."

"I know...," she attested, quickly collecting herself and wiping a tear. "Sam told me all about him." Though she couldn't comprehend a monster such as Foyet, Sam had told her in the event of ever coming into contact with him, she wasn't to show him she was afraid. Oh God, Sam! "Is he, um..."

No," came the quick reply, "Sam is fine."

"Aaron, Aaron, Aaron...," Foyet chastised, deciding to step in. "Is that why your marriage broke up? Because you're a liar?"

"Don't listen to him, Haley!" came another quick response, purposely avoiding addressing Foyet himself. He stared at the road ahead of him as he drove.

"I have Sam's service phone right here," the intruder calmly attested, holding a cell up for Haley to see. "They sent out a mass text about his death. Take a look if you want."

"He's trying to scare you!" Hotch shot again, doing everything he could to keep her from playing into Foyet's hands.

"Did you even tell her what this was about? About the deal?"

At this point, Hotch was also reminding himself to stay focused on the matter at hand. "He's just trying to make you angry," he assured her.

"Well she should be! She's gonna..." he paused for dramatic effect before reaching across the coffee table and covering four-year-old Jack's innocent ears, "...D-I-E because of your inflated ego!

"Ignore him, Haley!" Hotch desperately replied, trying to do the same himself. Please God, let her not react. If she had any chance of buying enough time, she had to stay calm.

Of course, Foyet wasn't even close to done. "I'm sure, you don't want her to know this part, either," he continued with pleasure, turning his gaze to the overwhelmed Haley. "You know, all he had to do was stop lookin' for me and you wouldn't be in this mess."

"Don't react!" Hotch answered before she could.

Haley swallowed hard. She was trying. "What is he talking about?"

He wanted to explain... confess about the whole story... how he'd stopped working on 'The Reaper's' case back in Boston 11 years ago. He wanted to tell her that he'd failed to find him, and that he was sorry to have let Foyet find her and Jack... More than anything, he wanted to tell her that he would save them. But given the situation, he wasn't granted the luxury of time, and he had to stay focused. "Tell Jack I need him working a case."

"What?"

Tell Jack I need him working a case!" he repeated desperately, trying to utilise every second he could.

Haley never questioned Aaron twice. Clearing her throat, she turned to her playing son with a forced smile. "Jack, did you hear that?"

The child stood from his plastic soldiers and took the phone into his small hands. "Hi, Daddy,

It nearly broke him. "Hi Buddy..." his voice shook. His eyes stung and his lips quivered, but he fought to keep the little composure he had left.

"Is George a bad guy?" he asked calmly, and unafraid. Already a profiler.

"Yes he is...," Hotch told his son matter-of-factly, "but Jack, I need you on this case with me... do you understand? I need you to work the case with me..."

"Okay Daddy...," Jack answered, remembering doing just that the last time Hotch came by to do some paperwork in the upstairs office.

Jack, hug your Mom for me," he requested, trying again to make use of every moment he could... and wishing he was there to do it himself.

The realisation of this being the last time she might see their son beginning to hit her, Haley knelt to meet the open-armed child.

"Mommy hugged me too tight!" Jack reported to the phone and she slowly released him.

"I'm sorry," she smiled. She probably had.

"Why are you sad?" he quizzed, looking to his mother's tearstained face. It was a sight he'd seen many times before - especially after she'd talked to his Dad on the phone. Maybe she was crying because she was on the phone to him again?

Desperately trying to keep her smile and sound upbeat, Haley poked him with a playful finger. "I just love you so much!" Unable to resist, she pulled him into another and final embrace – and she cried.

Oblivious to it being their last moments together, Jack moved to leave. "Mom, I gotta go... I'm working the case.

"Okay," she whispered, before watching their son, so characteristically like his father, leave to fulfil the task at hand.

Foyet looked on with a half grin. "He's so cute, he's like a little junior G Man...," he said earnestly, savouring every second. Watching the weeping Haley wipe her face, he couldn't help put note it was already so much better than he'd hoped for. "I'll be right out, Jackie-boy!"

"Is he gone?" came Hotch's voice down the line. I was more of a prayer than a question.

Still drying her tears, she sniffled a "Yes."

"You're so strong, Haley! You're stronger than I ever was!" Hotch declared. With Jack hiding, he wanted to keep her calm in a bid to save her. And he also believed it to be the truth. She had been his rock for over 20 years.

Haley watched Foyet casually rise and then slowly make his way around her. It was just the two of them now, and time was nearly up. "You'll hurry, right?" she gasped, losing her battle against her emotions. Never in her life had she wanted Aaron by her side as she did now. She was given a lengthy, detailed profile about Foyet, but she mostly remembered the word 'sexual' being used a lot. The primary reason she wanted him to hurry was for Jack's sake. If she was killed, there was nothing more she could do to protect him.

The pangs of defeat and failure creeping up on him, Hotch gritted his teeth in desperation to not break down. They both knew, but he wasn't going to give up. Not as long as he was alive. "I know you didn't sign on for this," he began to apologise. She'd always hated his job, and unfortunately, she had been justified.

"Neither did you," she answered, turning the tables and now consoling him with her forgiveness. She couldn't blame him. Not ever. Even the divorce was the job's fault, and all the evil tied with it.

"I'm sorry for everything." It was all he was able to say amid his now falling tears, encompassing all the birthdays and dates he missed, the long hours and numerous days away at work, the lonely nights, the divorce, their being sent into hiding ... and now this – for subjecting them to everything he fought so tirelessly against.

Feeling Foyet's heavy breath beat against her neck, Haley tried to remove herself. She didn't want to leave with his gun playing through her hair as her last memory. "Promise me that you will tell him how we met," she implored, picturing her and a young Aaron Hotchner both in the over-sized pirate costumes, "and how you used to make me laugh." No matter how many times they rehearsed, he still mixed up his only two lines.

"Haley..." he tried, but still none of the countless words he wanted to say would come out.

She already knew. She knew he loved her, and that she loved him. Jack was the proof of that. "He needs to know that you weren't always so serious, Aaron," she began to cry. More for the tragedy of how Aaron would be once she had left than for herself. "I want him to believe in love, because it... it is the most important thing... but you need to show him." It was only since Jack's birth that she began to show her frustration with Aaron's lengthy absences, and if she couldn't have Aaron and Jack spend enough time together whilst she was alive, she wanted to make sure she could in death. "Promise me!"

His thin lips quivered some more before he could manage to answer. "I promise," he painfully whispered.

And as she tried to tell him she loved him amid her sobs, he too tried to say the same. But neither of them could speak.

Inside, he was begging – please Foyet, don't take the girl.

*gunshot*

Might or might not go ahead with a 4th chapt., we'll see...