Finally done! That took a while, but once I actually sat down to write it, it went a lot faster. I just need more time! If only I could add four hours to the end of every day, then I would be able to get everything I want done.
Back in the restaurant, Hotch and Morgan walked up to the lady from the elevator, sitting down at the table next to her. Garcia came over and joined them as soon as she got her credit card back from the waiter.
"So," Hotch said, staring at the lady.
"So," she replied, glaring back.
"What do you want with us?" Morgan asked.
"Why is a teenage boy asking me questions even an adult doesn't have the right to know?" she asked snarkily.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Morgan spat, glaring at her. She had looked at Reid weird; she wasn't going to get away with that.
"Sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about," the lady said, her tone suddenly changing.
"Can we go somewhere private and talk?" Hotch asked.
"Um, yeah. My rooms just upstairs, do you want to go there?" the lady said, looking very confused. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended someone, but really, I wasn't doing anything."
Hotch didn't say anything, he just led her out of the restaurant and she pointed out her room to them.
"This is it." She put the key in and unlocked it, stepping aside and letting them pass.
"Why were you looking at my son?" Hotch asked, getting right down to business once the door closed.
"I told you! Because he looks like my own!" the lady protested. "Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself too, since you obviously aren't going to ask. I'm Molly Cartwright."
"Aaron Hotcher," Hotch said simply. "And how old is your son?"
"Why does it sound like you're interrogating me?" Molly asked suspiciously.
"Ma'am, we just want to know," Garcia injected quietly. "Aaron gets very protective over our son; he is our youngest, after all. You're a mom, you would understand."
"I do, actually. My son, the one yours reminds me of, is my youngest. He just went off to college this fall," Molly sighed. "I miss him so much. He goes to Cal Tech, so he really can't come home very often."
Garcia pulled her laptop out of her bag and softly began typing, ignoring the strange looks Molly was giving her.
"Hotch," Garcia said quietly. When Hotch looked over at her, she nodded.
Hotch then glanced at Morgan and nodded slightly. Morgan pulled out his badge and showed it to her. She looked shocked, opening her mouth to start asking questions immediately.
"SSA Derek Morgan," Morgan said quietly. "This has to stay between us, do you understand?"
Molly nodded, looking very confused.
"We're from the FBI, investigating murders that have been occurring on this cruise ship," Morgan explained carefully.
"Why would you bring your kids with you on a murder investigation?" Molly asked.
"That's the thing. They're really not our kids, they're agents who have been de-aged," Hotch said.
"Oh. Wow. That is quite a bit to take in," Molly said softly, sinking down onto the bed. "How do I know you're not lying?"
"Why would we be lying?" Morgan asked.
"I don't know, you're random people I met on a cruise ship, anything could happen."
"Would I have an FBI badge if I wasn't actually an agent?" Morgan asked, growing frustrated with the woman.
Molly held her hand out for the badge and Morgan handed it to her. After inspecting it, she sighed again.
"I guess I believe you."
"Good," Hotch said. "Now you can't tell anybody about this; if you want the innocent people on this ship to live, it requires us to be able to do our jobs in secret, which means no one can know. Not your family, not even your diary. Not a word of this can be said. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Molly said, standing up and showing them to the door. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. We're just glad you weren't involved with any of this," Hotch said, closing the door behind him and turning to Morgan and Garcia.
"Well, that turned out well," he said, sighing. "Do you want to go back up to the room now, or did you have to grab anything?"
"I'm good," Garcia said. "I have everything I need."
"Yeah, I do too," Morgan said. "Let's just get back upstairs before the kids ruin the hotel room."
Hotch chuckled. "As long as they haven't already."
"Let's hope they haven't!" Morgan exclaimed, pushing the button on the elevator. They neared their rooms and Morgan bid the other two good-night, pulling out his key and pushing the door open, surprised to find the room dark. He crept into the room, not wanting to disturb them if by some chance they were asleep already. When he went over to his bed and turned the covers down, he didn't see Reid asleep there. Confused, he went over to the other bed and similarly found it empty.
He pulled out his phone and called Prentiss, muttering curses under his breath when she didn't answer. He called JJ and Reid, but neither of them picked up either.
"No, no, no," he muttered, pushing the door back open and rushing over to Hotch and Garcia's room.
"They're gone," Morgan said as soon as Hotch pulled the door open.
"What do you mean gone? We saw them 20 minutes ago!" Hotch exclaimed, ushering Morgan in.
"They're not in the room and none of them answered their phones," Morgan said, slightly beginning to panic. "What if they unsub got them?"
"Morgan, relax. I'm sure nothing happened to them, they probably just got distracted and haven't made it back to the room yet," Garcia said.
Still not convinced, Morgan paced around the room.
"We have to go look for them," he said suddenly after a few moments of silence.
"Fine," Hotch said, not seeing any point in arguing with Morgan. "We'll split up, keep your phones on you."
An hour later, the three of them had searched the entire ship and concluded that they were nowhere to be found.
"They're gone," Morgan said flatly when they met up again. His phone screen lit up and he looked at it eagerly, his eyes lighting up when he saw it was Reid.
"Spencer, where are you? And where have you been?" he said immediately, not giving the other boy a chance to speak.
"Spencer? Is that his name? Such a lovely name for a lovely little boy," an unfamiliar mans voice on the phone said.
Morgan paled and his hands started to shake.
"Wh-Who is this?" he asked nervously.
"I have them, don't look for me or they will die, one by one, and their bodies will find their way back to you. In pieces."
With that, the man hung up the phone and Morgan was left standing in the hallway, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
It feels good to write again! Updates are going to continue to come pretty slow, school is keeping me busy and I'm up until almost 1 every night. Review please!
