Criminal Minds

The bible had it wrong, Reid thought as he moved down the glaringly white hallway towards Hotch's hospital room, his briefcase slung over one arm. On the sixth day, God created justice.

It had been late afternoon by the time Reid was able to reach the hospital, relieving an exhausted JJ, who'd already been on her second shift, having switched with Garcia once already that day. Ever since the hospital had given them the okay to have someone with Hotch at all times, the BAU had turned it into an art. For the third day – the day he'd been taken off the ventilator- since Hotchner had been in the hospital, Garcia, Haley, and Sean had rotated staying with him, leaving JJ to deal with the media, and the rest of the team to be on the hunt for Foyet. Yesterday, JJ had finally calmed the media storm, and had been switching with the three of them for most of today and yesterday. He met on the way, her tired blue eyes filled with jubilant tears.

Yes, on the sixth day, God had created justice.

Now, Hotchner had been moved out of ICU. The BAU would all be taking shifts – they were taking no more cases until he was out of the hospital. JJ was making sure of it.

With the threat of Foyet gone, they could all focus on their boss.

"How is he?" Reid asked JJ, tilting his head to the side – his profilers brain noting the tired quality of her steps, the exhausted expression on her face – yet he also noted that her chin was raised, a smile perched on her lips.

"Out of it," She answered. "They put him on fewer sedatives yesterday, but he's still groggy, not completely there." Her voice was soft, as if from this far away she was still afraid of disturbing him.

"How are you?" He asked, matching the quietness of her voice.

She smiled. "I'm alright - same as anyone, I guess. Will's been great - taking care of Henry nearly twenty four seven, no questions asked," She added. "How are you?"

"I talked to the doctor earlier today," Reid said in response. "And he gave the permission for someone to tell Hotch that we caught Foyet." Reid explained. "Rossi won't be able to be here until tomorrow morning, with all the paperwork that he has, and he said that I should be the one to tell him." No one could miss the happiness in his eyes at the chance to tell Hotch that he no longer had to worry.

"I'm glad- go give that man some peace." She touched Reid's shoulder briefly before ducking around him and continuing down the hallway.

--

It was odd, to see the name AARON HOTCHNER, in all bold, square, capital letters, dark, ominous, on a tiny slip of paper on the door. It sent chills down Reid's spine – if he were to think of all the agents on his team, Hotch would not come across the list of most likely to get injured. He was probably number one on the list, Morgan second – the man had a hero complex like nothing else – but not Hotch. The illusion of invincibility that hovered around him had fooled even Reid for awhile, but he knew better now. Nobody was invincible, nothing inconceivable, and it scared him.

He swallowed, his throat tight, before twisting open the doorknob.

Hotch was asleep, which alone was abnormal as the IVs hooked up to his arm. He blinked, fearful that this, too, might be an illusion – that he'd open his eyes and see the man that had been hooked up to a ventilator again, but when his eyes opened again, he was still there, and he allowed himself a sigh of relief, moving to the unoccupied chair. Hotch didn't awaken as Reid placed down his briefcase and unzipped It, pulling out a CD case.

"I may be a genius," He whispered, afraid to wake the man before him, "but I couldn't figure out how to mix a CD on iTunes, so I had Garcia mix it for me. Its jazz music," He explained, shifting in the chair. Why were hospital chairs so uncomfortable, didn't they know that people spent more hours in these chairs then usual? "It helps me relax, so I thought, maybe you would like to listen to some too." He placed the CD down on the table, his eyes on his knees.

"They have manuals for that."

Reid lifted his widened eyes, an expression of alarm taking over his features. "Sir, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, Reid, I was already awake." He attempted another rare smile, with more luck than the last time he had. Hotch's voice was hoarse from disuse, his face pale, but he was alive – and Reid, of all people, knew the statistics of a gunshot wound. "How long have you been here?"

"I-" He paused, tilting his head. "If you were already awake, Hotch, wouldn't you know?"

Hotch frowned, dark eyes focused on Reid.

"I caught you, didn't I?" Reid asked, allowing himself a grin.

"Maybe," Hotch confessed. "But thank you for the CD, Reid. I appreciate it."

Reid shifted again, eyes on his hands. "You're welcome." He swallowed. "I- it's over, Hotch. We caught him, today. We got Foyet."

The unit chief's face went through several emotions – happiness, relief, gratitude, and, for a brief moment, regret that he hadn't been there to stop Foyet himself, and he held his tongue in a silent understanding, letting Reid continue.

The younger agent regarded him for a moment. "We followed him all the way to Indiana before catching up with him." Reid began. "He knows how to disappear, but we were one step ahead of him this time." He slowed his voice, nearly whispering. "It was like a war… he wanted escape, yet we wanted to catch him even more. We had the incentive, you know." He smiled, laughing.

"I don't think that I've ever seen Morgan tackle somebody to the ground so roughly before." Reid mused, seeing the replay of the day's scene in his eyes.

The older agent was a missile, throwing Foyet to the ground with all of his bodily weight – there was no understatement of that, Reid could hear the thud of leaving breath as Foyet slammed into the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Morgan wrenched the man's arms behind him, cuffing them roughly behind his back, one knee on top of him as he leaned close to the man's ear .

"That's for Hotchner, you son of a bitch. Enjoy death row." He ripped the man from the ground, forcing him to a standing position, and Foyet grinned, letting his head fall backwards, eyes to the sky – a twisted laugh leaving his lips.

Rossi shoved the man into the waiting squad car, eyes hard and glinting with the day's victory. "You have the right to remain silent…"

Morgan turned, wiped his hands on his pants as if cleansing himself of the case, and nodded to Prentiss and Reid. A single, simple nod, summing up what each agent was thinking: 'It's over.'

"Let's go home." Prentiss muttered, eyes watching the horizon. "I want to go home."

"Me too," Whispered Reid.

Pink threaded itself through the horizon as the sun rose, breaking in the day.

"He's in custody, and he's not getting out anytime." Enjoy death row. Morgan's words replayed in his mind. "The guards are making sure of it – three, assigned to his cell alone." He accentuated the last sentence, hoping to convey the security involved to his boss.

Hotch nodded, tired eyes suddenly a bit freer, noting the young man's portrayal of the security of the situation. He knew what his team thought, as well as they tried to hide it – that he worried, that he feared it would happen again – and perhaps their worries were not null, perhaps he did, somewhat fear this – but it was not for him he feared, but for others – his team, future victims… for his son. He didn't deserve to grow up in a world where men like Foyet existed.

"The team's alright?" Hotch spoke for the first time since Reid had told him of Foyet's capture.

"The teams fine," Reid said, surprised at the question. We're better than we have been all week, actually. "We're glad it's over."

"Me too." Hotch said, with a sigh, the tiredness returning to his eyes. "This case has been a long one."

"It has." And for once, he had no statistics, just four simple words. "But it's over now."

--

TBC

Author's Note:

I'm glad I finally got the chance to write this chapter – don't worry, it's not the last – there are plenty more after this. I don't know yet just how many chapters that there will be, but if people are enjoying it and I still have ideas for chapters, I'll continue. Keep suggesting things – to those that suggested, all ideas have been logged in my head. Most of them I was already planning on doing, some of them gave me good ideas.

I hope you enjoyed- until next time, then!