AN: Once again, thanks for your reviews and favorites. This chapter is the longest and was the hardest to write, not only because Aaron is reaching some kind of a breaking point, but also since there are Reid, Emily and Blake in it, three characters I'm not really good at writing. I hope I did them some justice. There's also a guest appearance by Clyde Easter, Emily's boss at Interpol, played (as in the series) by Sebastian Roché. Enjoy and review!

Chapter 4

"Reid, Blake, Emily"

Over the next hour, Aaron was keeping himself busy. First things first, he woke up his son, telling him the news in a way the young boy would understand. But he couldn't help but think that his sweet little son had more experience with death and funerals than probably every single one of his classmates.

After having breakfast, Aaron sent Jack packing, while he tried to reach the next teammate, namely Dr. Spencer Reid. Knowing that the young genius also had more than a fair share of deaths happening to people around him, he tried to get the news to him in a way they were lest shocking.

"Hotch, do we have a new case? I can be on the next plane back to DC…"

"Reid, take a breath. And please sit down."

"Oh, ok, I'm sitting. Did something happen? Are you and Jack okay?"

Aaron had to suppress a chuckle. Leave it to their team "baby" to worry about the youngest family members first.

"Yeah, Jack and I are okay, as far as you can be after receiving news like that. And before you ask, JJ and Henry are okay, too."

He could hear Reid letting out a breath he apparently had kept holding. And under other circumstances, Aaron would be more than grateful for the worry for the well-being of both his and JJ's little man.

"Which news? Hotch, what happened?"

"Spencer, Derek's dead."

"Wh… whh… what?" It was said with great calmness, but the increase in his breathing told Aaron that his young colleague was about to become more and more agitated.

"Spence, calm down. You won't do yourself any good if you get all worked up."

"Hotch, you can't break news like that to me and then tell me to calm down. Derek was my best friend, and I wasn't there to help him."

"Spencer, none of us could have helped him."

"How can you know that? And how did he die?"

"You know that he was back in Chicago, visiting his family?" He heard a soft "mhm" and took this for an answer. "They had run out of some things and Derek went down to the shop. Then two boys tried to rob the shop, Derek tried to stop them, and he ended up with several bullets."

"Did… did he… did he die on location?"

"No, they took him to the hospital, but there was too much damage done to save him."

Next thing Aaron could hear over the phone was some shuffling, and he guessed that Spencer was already packing his go-bag to take the next flight from Vegas to DC.

"Have you told anyone else? Does Penelope know?"

"Yes, she does. Just as Dave, Erin, Will and JJ."

"Should I call Blake?"

"No, Spencer, that's my job. I already left a message on her mailbox. And I also have to notify Emily."

"Oh, right. So, is there anything I can do? Cause I want to do anything. I could fly to Chicago and assist the local troops."

"No, Spencer, you won't do a thing like that. The Chicago PD can handle the case, and if they need assistance, I will ask Sam Cooper for help. But there is one thing you can do."

"What, Hotch? What can I do?"

"Keep yourself together, son. I know you're teetering on the edge, you feel lost, but believe me, I'm feeling lost too. Just come back to DC and we all will pull through this, together. As a family. Can you do this for me? Or better, for Derek?"

"Yeah, Hotch, I can. No, I will do that. For Derek."

Before Aaron could come up with a response, Spencer hung up, leaving him to collapse on his bed, letting the tears flow freely.

"Dad!" He could feel a small hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Daddy!"

Pulling himself finally together, Aaron turned around, only to be met with the worrisome face of his son Jack.

"Hey, buddy, what's up?"

Instead of answering, the boy held up his mobile, which was chirping away. Nodding a thanks and ruffling Jack's hair, Aaron took the device, reading Blake's name on the display.

"Thanks for calling back, Alex."

He didn't even try to cloak the remnants of the tears in his voice. After all, Aaron was just a human being.

"Hotch, what has happened? You sound as if you've been crying."

"Yeah, I've been. Blake, I need you to take the next flight to DC."

"Why? I mean, yeah, okay, sure."

He knew her for only some time, but in this time he hadn't hear her stuttering so much.

"Alex, Derek Morgan is dead. Shot during an attempted robbery back in Chicago."

"Have you told Spencer already?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't good. He's getting agitated, and for the first time since I know him I'm not sure if I can handle him."

"Don't worry, Hotch, I'm sure we all will lend a hand. It might sound a bit high coming from me, but we are a family, and yeah, I know that I didn't have the best start with the most of you, but I consider you all my family. Even Erin."

"Wow. You should tell her that some time, Alex. She needs to hear it from you."

"Yeah, if I only could bring up the courage. Anyway, since my flight will definitely detour via London, should I contact Interpol for Emily?"

"No, but you could send me a message with your flight dates. Maybe we can arrange that the two of you can fly over together."

"Yeah, can do that. Keep me updated on Emily."

Without waiting on him responding, the latest addition to the team hung up. Shaking his head, Aaron only could wonder about Blake. As brilliant as she was as a team member, her people skills were as bad as Spencer's were back in the day.

Aaron and Jack finally left the family inn outside of Charleston and drove over to the airport of the city. While they were waiting for their flight to board, Aaron's mobile began to ring. Since he had left messages to both Emily's and Clyde's number over the last hours, he had quite a hunch on who might give him a call right now.

"Hotchner."

"Agent Hotchner, how can I be of assistance?"

"Well, Agent Easter, you could put Emily on a hold for the next time."

"You mean I should keep her from going undercover." It wasn't said as a question, it was a statement. And for the first time since he met Clyde Easter, Aaron was somewhat thankful for the bluntness of the British agent.

"Yeah, something like that."

"And why should I do that?"

"Clyde, you remember Emily's former team mates?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"Well, Derek Morgan is dead. And Emily…"

"…was his partner most of the time. Wasn't he the one who found her after Doyle stabbed her?"

"Yes, he was." He heard the door of Clyde's office opening. "And now…"

"Hold on, I put you on speaker. There's someone who wants to speak to you, Emily."

"Who?"

"It's me, Emily."

"Aaron, how's everybody back home?" Before he could answer, she continued. "Hold on, if you call Clyde and leave several messages on my number, something very bad must have happened." He heard her sitting down. "Alright, Hotch, spill it."

"Em, Derek's dead."

"What? No, you're joking, right? Tell me you're joking."

"No, Emily, I'm not."

"Oh… my… God. What the hell happened?"

Once again, Aaron related the details he knew about Derek's departure to Emily and Clyde, and even if he couldn't see his former teammate, he practically could feel her fighting the tears.

"Hotch, I'll be on the next flight to DC." Again, he heard some shuffling, indicating that the ambassador's daughter was about to leave the office.

"Emily, hold on."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Blake is on the way from Paris to DC. Her flight will be on London Heathrow in two hours. You might wanna catch it."

"Alright, thanks, Hotch. See you in DC."

He practically could see her fleeing the office and the building, trying to compartmentalize her emotions as she did so many times before.

Next chapter: The funeral (short, but with surprise guests) and a view to the other side...