Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
Like a good mother hen, Hotch sent them all to bed, but Rossi didn't even bother to change into his pajamas. He walked up and down his room, leafed through the book he kept in his ready bag, tried some TV and finally turned everything off. Standing at the window, he looked at night-time Chicago and its million lights dimly illuminating the cloudy sky. Suzanne's face haunted him. She had died in a car accident in 1998, never having spoken to him again after the fateful night their daughter was born. Formulating the death notice had been the last thing they had done together. A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"You should really get some rest, David", Hotchner said, still in suit and tie himself.
"If the DNA analysis confirms the nurse's story, Charlotte could still be alive. Hell, Hotch, maybe she's only a few blocks away. One of the lights out there could have been switched on by her. But even if we passed on the street, I wouldn't recognize her."
"Wait till we have the result. Everything else is just fruitless speculation", the Unit Chief tried to calm down his friend.
Another knock on the door kept Rossi from replying. It was Reid, fully dressed, too. Betraying himself as the bad liar that he was, he stuttered: "There's a documentation about Quantum Physics on the Discovery Channel. I helped writing the script… The TV in my room doesn't work properly… Would you mind if I…?" He scuttled into the room like a young mouse and of course he didn't even glance at the television set.
Two minutes later JJ appeared, carrying a stack of files. "There's some paperwork that really needs to be done, but the lights in my room…"
Prentiss slipped in behind her, also carrying a couple of Manila folders: "Yeah… same problem… paperwork… lights too dim…"
Morgan didn't even bother about a pretext: "You didn't really think we would leave you alone in a night like this?" He joined Reid who had already settled down on the bedspread. They began a card game. The women retreated to the far end of the furniture, leaning against the headboard.
"You know that you should all be in bed by now?", Hotch addressed his team, trying to sound stern.
"Technically, we are", Reid murmured.
"Either you're sleep talking, boss, or you're not heeding your own counsel", Morgan replied dryly.
"We're just following your shining example", Prentiss stated, suppressing a smile. JJ tossed him a pillow.
An hour crept by in silence. Reid and Morgan quietly played, not really concentrating. JJ tried working through a file but found herself unable to pay attention for more than a few seconds in a row. Prentiss caught herself reading the same sentence thrice without understanding. Their leaders sat frozen by the window. As the clock struck three, the stillness became unbearable.
"In Russia this is called wolf's hour", Reid spoke up. "It's the time of night the wolves start howling. KGB and Gestapo used this hour to drag in suspects for questioning. Psychologists have discovered that the body is most vulnerable and least alert between three and four o'clock in the morning. It's statistically proven that this is the time span during which most people either die or are born."
"Number 57", Morgan murmured.
"Excuse me?" Reid was puzzled.
"I've got a list of things I never wanted to know but learned anyway because I'm acquainted with you."
"You're working with him for years now and you've only reached number 57?", Prentiss blurted out.
"I started compiling last week."
Suddenly Rossi's cell phone rang. Seeing the number on the display the profiler couldn't help but smile for a split second. Of course she wouldn't let herself be excluded. Hotch, who had recognized the number, too, shrugged his shoulders in an almost sheepish gesture: "We are a team", he said.
Rossi accepted the call and turned it into loudspeaker mode.
"Garcia, don't tell me you spent the last few hours hacking into the crime lab's computer system to catch the results as soon as they come in…" Hotch said, trying to sound stern and no-nonsense once more.
"Okay sir, I'm not telling you", the technical researcher replied, a wide smile audible in her tone.
Nerves tight, Rossi interrupted them: "I'm listening, Garcia."
"The lab checked the results twice", she reported, her voice trembling with sympathy. "The infant from the grave is not your daughter."