Here is Hotch's point of view, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds

Hotch's POV

It had been five long days. It was hard enough trying to travel across the country without letting assassins find you, but doing it with a four year old was exhausting and practically impossible. He had stolen a car yesterday and luckily it had a full tank of gas so that they could at least rest their feet. He looked at the seat next to him as he heard stirring. His son was having a dream, one that had him smiling. Hotch smiled as he gently brushed his son's hair out of his face. His son was so strong. He had pulled Jack away from everything he had ever known and not once had the boy complained. He had followed him everywhere for over a year now, and while Hotch was disappointed that his son couldn't have a 'normal' childhood, he still did everything he could to provide for him. Luckily he had been stashing money away for years so he had enough for them to live like this for a decade and he was able to be with his son. He would homeschool him, take him to parks, and just enjoy each other's company.

The whole year hadn't been moving around constantly, but the first few months had. Staying anywhere it was safe, even in abandoned warehouses. Unfortunately the temperature liked to drop below freezing at night, and luckily Jack hadn't gotten sick in any way. Then there was the whole incident with the men in the burning apartment. That had uprooted everything he had been working towards, but he had to do it. He was keeping tabs on his own investigation and he found out that his team was still looking for him. As soon as he found out, he started planning his 'death.' The hard part was recreating the teeth so that they matched his own dental records, but he had still managed to pull it off. The only thing that got him through the ordeal was that he was protecting his family. He had even attended his own funeral. It had killed him to watch his family shed tears over him. He wanted more than anything in the world to run towards them and make them stop crying, but it was the only way to protect them. So instead, he stood back and watched through the scope of his gun. Making sure that no one (more assassins) tried to hurt his team and watched his family grieve for him.

After that he moved to Montana, set up a temporary life there. Things had gone well, they were able to fit in almost seamlessly and he had been able to track down more operatives and take them… out of commission. And the end game was coming soon. So he had packed up once again and started moving cross country, the exact position he was in now. They had been walking for a few hours every day and stealing some cars every now and then. It was a pretty crummy life, the only thing getting him through were his son and the thought of seeing his team, his family again.

"Daddy, are we at Uncle Rossi's yet?" Jack asked as he started to wake up.

"Yeah we are, but we are going to have to walk the rest of the way and leave the car here."

"Ok. Will I get to see Aunt Penny, Emily and JJ too?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah you will bud." Hotch told him as he pulled the car over. "You will get to see everyone again soon." They only had about ten miles of walking, hopefully reaching Rossi's cabin before ten at night. "Well, here's to fitness." Hotch said as he started walking down the hill.

"We didn't save him." Rossi said sadly. "I didn't do enough to save him."

"Well that certainly puts a damper on things doesn't it?" Aaron asked happily. He was home, his family was in front of them and they still had their lives ahead of them, and he was home.

As the team turned around to look at where the voice had come from, there jaws dropped at the sight before them. There, standing before them, alive, was Aaron Hotchner with his son in his arms.

"Daddy are we there yet?" Jack asked sleepily.

"You bet we are bud, do you want to go to sleep or hug everyone first?" Hotch asked his barely conscious boy. He could be with his family again. Jack could finally have his life back! He could have his family back!

"Can they just hug me while I sleep?" Jack asked sweetly.

"You bet they can. Come on, let's get you inside so you can get some rest." Hotch said chuckling. "Dave I'm gonna have him sleep in your bed, you guys just come in when you're ready." He said over his shoulder as he walked inside.

"Is it ok if I sleep daddy? I'm really tired." Jack asked as he laid down in Rossi's bed.

"I know you are, and of course you can. I'm going to be downstairs talking to everyone, but as soon as I'm done, I will come up here and sleep in here, ok?"

"Sounds good daddy. Can I have some more blankets?"

"Yep, I will be back in one minute." Hotch said rising from the bed to go downstairs.

As the team slowly filed back into the house, Hotch was grabbing a few blankets from the cupboards. "I'll be with you guys in just a minute." he said as he walked up the stairs. When he finally came back down, he tried to start explaining. "Look if you guys will just let me-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Rossi's fist had connected with his face. "Sorry, just wanted to make sure that you were really standing in front of me. Wanted to make sure that you are alive, not dead." He told him rubbing his now throbbing knuckles.

"Well I have to admit that I expected that from Morgan or Emily but not you Dave. How about all of you go stand outside, I stay inside, lock the door and we talk over the phone. That sounds like a good plan to me." Hotch told them as he walked into the kitchen to grab an ice pack. He tried to cover his hurt with sarcasm, but it didn't really work for him. 'He actually hit me.' Hotch thought to himself. He didn't know what hurt worse his nose, or his chest. The man he looked at like a father had just hit him, just like his real father. He felt himself shut down his emotions and prepared for the worse.

"What makes you think you can just waltz back into our lives like this?!" Garcia said furiously.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't love you guys." Hotch said seriously. On the outside he was stone cold. But inside he was begging them to forgive him. "I told you the truth because I trusted you enough to handle it. Don't prove me wrong now."

"Why are you here? What gives you the right to come back now?" Rossi spat.

"I left because I had to, not because I wanted to. And I came back because I had to, not because I wanted to. Jack is exhausted and he needed to get an actual night of sleep. We have been traveling nonstop for five days, I would say that he deserves some rest. Besides this is one of the only places that I feel safe enough to actually let him sleep." Hotch explained. If only they understood. Maybe Emily just hadn't gotten through to them yet, she of all people should understand.

"You could have just left him. We didn't have to know that you were still alive. Maybe we were better off without you." Morgan said angrily, pain laced through his voice.

"Well excuse me for wanting to be with my family." His heart practically shattering now. What if they were better off without him? "I never realized how much of a burden I was to everyone." Hotch said back, with just as much pain in his voice.

"Hotch it's not exactly like that…" JJ started.

"No, it is exactly like that. Everyone loves me and remembers my good qualities while I'm 'dead' but now that I'm alive, I'm just a tight ass right?" What if they wanted nothing to do with him? Rossi had already hit him, he couldn't imagine what they were feeling on the inside. Did he even have a life to come back to anymore?

"Damn you Aaron!" Rossi yelled angrily. "Do you have any idea what we went through thinking that you were dead? Can you even comprehend the pain that we went through? The pain that I went through?!"

What about my pain?! He was screaming on the inside. But he knew that bringing up his struggles wouldn't help his situation. "Don't you dare try to pin this on me! I left you that video so that you would stay out of this, not become more involved." Memories of the funeral flashed before him. The tears they had shed for him, unnecessary tears.

"What are you talking about?" Reid asked innocently.

"I'm talking about the fact that all of you only stopped in your search for me, because you thought I was dead." Hotch said angrily. "I didn't want you to feel that pain, I didn't want this to happen! I told you not to look for me, I begged you not to look for me, and what did you do?! You tried to tear apart every aspect of my life! The people who are hunting me found out, they were sending those men after you, I had to protect you!" He had to protect them. When he had gotten wind of what his hunters were preparing to do, he was prepared to do anything to stop them from hurting his family. Anything.

"Are you talking about the men who were murdered in that apartment? Who had been tortured and then burned alive?" Emily asked angrily. "Are those the man you are talking about?"

Looks like they didn't understand because she didn't try to talk to them. "They were murderers, they didn't deserve to live…" Hotch started, knowing that he would do it all over again and make it more painful on those monsters if he had the chance.

"That is not your call Hotch!" Morgan yelled. "You don't get to choose who lives and who doesn't!"

"So what did you want me to do?! Let them kill your mom, or Spencer's mom? Or Will and Henry? Is that what you wanted?!" Hotch yelled back. "In that world it's kill or let them kill someone you love. I will not let your blood, cover my hands!"

"But you can have someone else's? You can look yourself in the mirror, after you murdered those men ruthlessly?" Garcia asked.

"It's not the same, damn it!" Hotch yelled, running his hand through his hair. It wasn't the same, he had seen their handiwork. They had gotten off pain-free compared to what they had done to other, innocent people.

"Daddy, why are you yelling?" Jack asked as he rubbed his eyes and came down the stairs.

"I'm sorry Jack. Just go back to bed, I promise to keep the volume down. Just go get some sleep." Hotch told his son. The last thing he wanted to do was drag his son into this argument.

"Uncle Derek, Aunt Penny, why are you yelling at daddy? Is it because we had to leave?" Jack asked.

"It's more complicated than that." Rossi told the younger boy.

"How? We left to stay safe, and now everyone can be safe. So why would you be angry?" Jack questioned the team.

"Jack do you remember what I told you the day we left?" Hotch asked his son as he kneeled on the ground to be eye level with him. He prayed that Jack would understand what was going on and one day forgive him for all of this.

"You said that sometimes people make hard choices to protect the people we love. And they might not know why we did it, but it is still for the best."

"Exactly." Hotch said letting out a sigh of relief. "Now us leaving was a very hard choice but I did it to protect you, and everyone here. But it wasn't enough, I had to make them think I was hurt, so that they would stay safe. Sometimes things can make sense when you say them, but your feelings will think differently, but it doesn't mean that you stop caring. Do you understand?" Hotch asked his son intently. Please understand what I'm saying, Hotch begged on the inside.

"I think so. Is it like when I eat candy? I know it's bad for me, but I eat it anyway cause it tastes really good?"

"That's exactly what it's like." Hotch told him standing and picking him up, breathing in relief. "We have to keep moving right now. I know I said we could rest, but we can't stop now, ok?"

"Ok. But can I still sleep cause I'm still really tired." Jack said letting out a large yawn.

"Yeah you can. Why don't you go grab your bag from upstairs and then we can leave ok?" Hotch asked as he put his son down.

After watching Jack run up the stairs Hotch turned back to the rest of the team. "Just keep your heads low, alright?" Maybe once, just this once they might actually listen to him.

"Last time I checked, I don't take orders from you." Morgan said coldly.

Or not listening works too. "Last time I checked, you didn't have men after you who intend on destroying everyone and everything that you love." Hotch said angrily. "Just back off. All of this will be over soon, Lord willing. And after that, all of you can go about your lives. Are you ready to keep going?" Hotch asked his son as he came downstairs.

"Yeah daddy, will you carry me?"

"Oh course I will." Hotch said as he picked up his son. "Let's get going. As for the rest of you, goodbye, again." And with that Hotch was once again out of their lives. Once outside he ran off the porch and up the hill, heading in the opposite direction of the cabin. Soon all of this would be over and his son would have his life back. He didn't know what he would do with his life, but his son would have his back. And that was all that mattered.

R&R