A/N: Lots of case-action in this one, and I promise that after this the Hotch/Prentiss will really start up. I've really appreciated all the feedback I've gotten, so please please keep up the comments!
And none of this belongs to me.
"Alright, we've got the address, let's head out," Hotch directed the team as they departed from the BAU offices. They had been called in on a local case, and Garcia had just given them a break as to where their Unsub was probably hiding out. The team moved quickly out the doors, and jumped into two vehicles. Hotch, Emily, and JJ had hopped into one car, Rossi, Morgan and Reid the other. The drive would take them about forty minutes if they caught some breaks with traffic, and all agents were eager to get to their destination quickly, as their Unsub was the only one who knew the location of the latest victim. If they got really lucky, the victim would be with the Unsub, and would still be alive.
"Thank god Garcia finally found us something," Emily muttered as Hotch merged onto the highway. "This guy is ridiculously difficult to profile. Nothing makes sense!" It had been a frustrating case - the details the profilers were able to find and tease out led to a very confused profile where every detail was contradicted by another.
"Well let's just hope we'll find him here," Hotch replied. "If not..."
"We'll have to look at the dump areas again..."
"And possibly triangulate," Hotch finished, while JJ rolled her eyes in the backseat, stifling a laugh. She hadn't been lying when she had told Emily she and the boss man were on the same wavelength - it was almost freaky sometimes. Personally, JJ was hoping for some sort of romantic entanglement for the two sooner rather than later; it had after all been a long time coming, she thought. And she really couldn't think of any two people more suited for each other. Emily was serious enough to match Hotch's emotional intensity, but she also brought a levity with her that Hotch (and Jack) would certainly benefit from. All in all, JJ was convinced that her two dark-haired coworkers were perfect for each other, but also quite possibly the two most romantically-clueless people she'd ever known. No matter, JJ decided. She'd prod both of them as long as she had to until some heavy action began to happen.
Soon enough, they had reached the remote area where the Unsub's parents had built a house. They had died years ago, subsequently leaving it to their son. The team gathered around, surrounded by various local law enforcement, and Hotch gave out directions. Just as he was about to assign his team members to different areas of the house to enter, a phone call came in.
"Hey my captain," she spouted cheerfully as Hotch picked up.
"Not now, Garcia," he warned.
"Okeydokey sir, duly noted. Just wanted to let you know that Captain Douglas here got a tip and picked up the guy you're looking for - Joshua Travers? at a bus station near the Capitol. The victim was nowhere to be found nearby, and the guy isn't talking," she explained quickly.
"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch gave a sigh of relief and hung up.
"Alright, it appears as though our Unsub isn't here. However, the victim still might be, and we don't know if he's left any traps or anything, so still tread carefully. Rossi, Reid, you go around back. Morgan, JJ, take the side door, and Prentiss and I will go through the front. Keep in communication," the boss added, and then nodded as the team dispersed. Emily followed Hotch through the yard and up the porch, guns drawn. They each got on a side of the door, and Hotch gave her a look then kicked in the door. It swung open easily, and making sure it was clear, Hotch lead Emily inside. Both were too preoccupied with the task at hand to hear the door slam shut behind them. It was only when Emily felt a presence behind her that she turned around - and was met with the face of their supposed Unsub, leering at her just before he struck her and the gun dropped from her hand. She had been startled, and it was relatively easy for the man to disarm her. Hearing the gun clatter to the floor and Emily's yelp, Hotch turned around to see a man identical to the pictures of their Unsub holding Emily's wrist menacingly, pulling her body flush with his. He was strong - he handled Emily with ease, and she quickly realized that she was pretty damn defenseless.
"Don't even think about calling for back-up," the man threatened.
"Let her go, Joshua," Hotch said, his voice low, adrenaline pumping through his veins immediately, his heart pounding.
"Joshua? No, no, sir, you've got it wrong," the man sneered. "That would be my twin brother, the idiot," A light of understanding dawned on Emily and Hotch - twins. Two unsubs. Now the contradictory profile began to make much more sense. Although, of course, that information would have been much more helpful a few hours ago. Less so now that one twin had two agents trapped in a stand-off of sorts.
"Okay, well I can tell you that we have Joshua. He's down at Quantico. It's over, okay? You need to let her go," Hotch's voice was measured, calm, but inside his heart was beating faster than he thought possible. The house was large, and spread out - no one was close enough to hear what was going on, and he was worried what would happen if someone crashed into the room and startled this guy.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," the man gave a laugh. As he did, he loosened the grip on Emily's arm slightly, and she used that to her advantage as she whirled around and socked him in the gut as she kneed him in the crotch. She twisted out his grasp, no easy feat, and ran toward Hotch. In a moment of weakness, the boss had lowered his gun as Emily came toward him, and though the man had been temporarily brought down by the force of Emily's blows, he was up again quickly - this time with Emily's gun in his hand. He shot twice in their direction before Morgan came bursting through the door behind him and fired off a fatal shot. They watched as the man fell to the ground, his body lifeless. It all happened within a matter of seconds, though of course for Emily and Hotch it felt as though the seconds had stretched on for hours. Both were bewildered.
"Hotch! You're bleeding, man," Morgan said, moving quickly over to his team members. Hotch frowned, then felt a sticky substance on his temple. Emily gave out a deflated shout when she saw the blood coursing down the side of his head.
"It's okay, it's just a graze," he said, his voice strong. It hurt like a bitch, but he knew that he needed to remain calm and strong, both for himself and for his team. And it wasn't that much blood, he could feel. He was certainly going to be all right. "Are you okay?" he turned to Emily, and looked her up and down. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, Hotch, I'm fine. But you need to get that looked at!" Emily said, her voice strained. Hotch nodded.
"Yeah, Hotch, let's get you to a hospital, man. Shit, this coulda been bad," Morgan cursed.
"We were completely unprepared," Emily said. "How did we not know that it was twins? There were only records for one son!"
"I don't know, but it's over now," Hotch's usual stoic demeanor had returned after the momentary panic-stricken minutes previously. "We need to get back to the station and see what Joshua himself can tell us. Clearly he wasn't the one perpetrating the violent crimes, which makes much more sense now that we know there was an other Unsub."
"Hotch, you are not going back to the station like that," JJ said, having heard their boss's previous statement as the team regrouped by the cars. "You need to get that cleaned up and bandaged."
"JJ," Hotch began impatiently. "There's still a woman missing."
"Right," Rossi took charge. "JJ, why don't you take Hotch to the hospital? The rest of us will head back and deal with Joshua." The group nodded their assent, save for Hotch who was grumbling to himself.
"Aaron, just shut up and get your head taken care of, okay?" Rossi gave him a look, and Hotch silenced himself, and took a quick look around the circle. He landed on Emily's face, saw the concern etched there, saw her nervous tick of biting her lip, and agreed, following JJ to one of the cars.
"Statistically, head wounds look much worse than they actually are," Reid brought up as the agents watched their leader get into the car, his jacket held up to his head as a compress. "He'll be fine."
"Shit, I still can't believe it," Morgan let out. "Thank god he didn't hit either of you," he said to Emily, who swallowed and nodded.
"I didn't even hear him," she said. "All of a sudden, he just had me. I should have looked behind the door. I should have done that immediately. Then Hotch wouldn't be bleeding out his head at the moment," she said bitterly.
"Don't do that, Em," Morgan said sternly. "It's not your fault. Besides, I'm pretty sure Hotch would argue that a scrape on his head was a small price to pay for your safety." He looked at her appraisingly, and then his gaze landed on his wrist. "Oh, come on! Emily, your wrist!" Emily looked down. Her wrist was ballooning up, and was already turning a weird purple color.
"I must have twisted it when I pulled away," she said, surprised. "I didn't even feel this."
"Alright, let's get you to the hospital," Rossi sighed. Immediately Emily began to protest, but Rossi silenced her quickly.
"Emily!" he roared. "Good god, get in the car. You and Hotch, I swear to god, the two most stubborn people in this world," he muttered. "Speaking of Hotch, I'm pretty sure the boss man isn't going to be too happy if you choose to ignore that injury," he gestured to her wrist, and looked at her imploringly. "Might even put you on desk duty."
"Fine," Emily muttered. "And I am not as stubborn as Hotch!" She got in the car begrudgingly, and as the door shut behind her Rossi turned to Morgan.
"She's right," Morgan said, grinning. "She's more stubborn than Hotch, I think. When are those two hard-headed idiots going to realize they're meant for each other?"