Aaron Hotchner POV
Hotch and his team arrived at the school, Mount Horizon, at midnight exactly. He felt bad, coming at such an unreasonable time, but this was important.
"Hey, Hotch," Reid said, "what do we know about the school principal?"
"Not much. Just that he—or she—helps teenagers with problems they might have."
"But we don't even know who we're looking for?"
"No, we will just have to ask around."
Reid nodded.
They walked around until they found a middle-aged, blonde woman. "Excuse me," Hotch said, showing his credentials, "I'm Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. Can you please tell me who is in charge here?"
"Of course." The lady said. "What happened that brought the FBI out here?"
"We have to discuss that with the director of this school."
"Sure, sure. I'm Sophie, by the way; I'm the counselor of one of the groups here. I'm also the director's wife," She informed as she began walking. The team followed her.
"What can you tell me about this school?" Rossi asked.
Sophie turned around and glared at him for a moment. "The first thing to know is that this is not a school for stupid kids, or for children who have social issues. It is a school for adolescence who are having troubles at home and need a place where they can get the help they need, and be with people that understand them. Most people associate that with having problems, and I would like to stress the fact that this is not true."
The team profiled that she had a close, personal relationship with the students here. She defends them.
Hotch responded: "We would never assume anything. We just want to know about this school."
Sophie nodded and continued walking. "Kids come here for all reasons. Mostly drug addictions, although we do have run-aways, eating disorders, people who cut themselves, etc. Sometimes it's a combination of these that bring people here."
The team shared a concerned glance. A school like this would be hard to attend, and even harder to run.
Sophie held open a door for the team before walking into the building herself. There was a man sitting on a couch, looking down at a piece of paper. "Hey, Peter," Sophie said quietly.
"Hey, Soph," He responded, not looking up.
"We have some visitors." Now he looked up. He seemed surprised by the amount of people.
"I'm Aaron Hotchner with the FBI," Hotch repeated, flashing his credentials again.
"What can I do for you?"
Prentiss asked if they could take a seat; this would be long.
"Of course," was Peter's surprised response. The team had a seat on the couch across from Peter.
Suddenly, Hotch's phone rang. "Guys, tell Peter and Sophie what is going on, ask them for any information," Hotch ordered as he walked away, answering his phone.
"Hotchner."
"Hey, Hotch, it's me."
"JJ? Where are you?"
"On the road—really close to Horizon, actually. Sorry I didn't call sooner; I didn't want Garcia to track me and send me back to the hospital."
"How did you--?"
"You didn't actually think that a few doctors would keep me there, did you?"
Hotch didn't respond.
"Hotch, I'm disappointed. Anyways, did you find the director yet?"
"Yeah."
"Well...what did you tell him?"
Something bugged Hotch about that sentence, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Well, we just got here. The team is talking to him right now."
"Okay, well I'll let you get back to what you're doing. See you soon."
Now he knew what was bugging him. "Wait—JJ? How did you know that the director was a 'he'? I never said anything..."
Pause. "Lucky guess. Bye!"
She hung up before he could ask anything else.
Hotch shrugged it off and went back to the rest of his team. "That was JJ," he told them. "She escaped."
Sophie gasped. "Wait—who escaped? What happened?"
Morgan chuckled. "Agent Jennifer Jareau, our media liaison. She escaped from the hospital."
Sophie laughed as well. "Oh. Sorry, I guess I'm a little paranoid. Why was she in the hospital?"
"We...we were doing a surveillance. She got attacked by the unsub." Prentiss answered.
"Unsub?"
"Unknown subject—our killer."
Sophie shuddered. "Oh."
Peter interrupted, "Look, I agree this is horrible, but what does it have to do with us? I mean, these kids are going through enough already, and I don't think being pressed by the FBI is going to do them much good. Plus, there's no way they can escape, and the killings haven't been here."
"We don't believe the students here are killing," Reid reassured him. "We do, however, believe he is after somebody who either is a student here, or used to be a student here."
"W-why would you say that?"
"He began killing at a certain place, then kept moving north. This school is the only sign of civilization for miles, and he is moving towards this school. This leads us to believe he is looking to kill a specific person, and that person probably has some sort of connection with this school."
"Well, I know everybody who stepped foot into this school, and basically all of them kept in touch with me. Tell me who you are looking for, and I'll find them for you."
"Basically all?" Rossi asked, worried.
"Yeah, there are a few people who had such horrible pasts, they cut off all connection with this school as soon as they graduated. But there are only a few examples."
Prentiss took over. "Well, we are looking for a blonde, blue-eyed female. She most likely either is or was a prostitute. There is a chance that her name is--"
"Shelby," Peter gasped.
Emily looked at Hotch. "Well, yes, actually. Is she--"
"No," Peter shook his head and pointed behind the profilers. "Shelby!"
They all turned around. Standing in the door way was JJ.
"No," Hotch said. "That's Jennifer Jareau, one of our team members."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Peter apologized. "You just...you look so much like one of my former students. She's one of the examples I was telling you about," he said, turning back to Hotch.
The BAU noticed that JJ was trying to keep her weight off of her injured leg. "JJ, have a seat," Morgan said, sliding over to make room for her.
"Thanks," she muttered as she limped over and took her seat. She kept her head down.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Um, what were you talking about before I came?"
"This is Peter—erm, I never really got your last name." Hotch pointed out.
"Scarbrow. I'm Peter Scarbrow, and this is my wife, Sophie Becker."
"Nice to meet you," she said sweetly.
"Likewise," Sophie said.
"So, you're saying I look like a Shelby?"
"Yes, is that significant?"
"Extremely," Hotch said. "Before JJ was attacked, the unsub called her Shelby. This is most likely who he is after. Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt Shelby?"
Sophie shook her head. "Shelby was never the nicest girl, but her intentions were good. She hid behind a mask of cruelty and anger because of her harsh past. She didn't want to develop strong emotions, because she believed that nobody was truly good. She didn't want to suffer any more."
Prentiss looked sympathetic. "I'm very sorry to hear that. But is there anyone that would want to hurt her? Anyone she was especially...mean to?"
"No, no one! I said she was angry, but never enough to do anything more than name-calling. Nothing bad, I swear."
"I do believe that she did nothing cruel to people, but do you know of anyone that would have taken it the wrong way?"
"Nobody comes to mind, sorry."
JJ's phone rang. She picked it up immediately. "Jareau."
"Another?" Pause. "Are you sure?" Pause. "Okay." Pause. "No, we are currently at the school, Mount Horizon." Pause. "Yes." Pause. "Okay sir. Please, don't hesitate to call." She hung up, then turned to Hotch.
"He's still out there," She mumbled.
"Well yes, JJ. He is a serial killer." Hotch was a little confused. JJ had been part of the BAU for years, and any first-year training to be in the FBI would know easily that a serial killer doesn't stop killing.
"But he thought he found her! If he was that sure, why would he keep attacking innocent girls?"
"Maybe he doesn't see them as innocent." Morgan pointed out. "Maybe he sees all prostitutes as guilty of something, especially ones that fit his victim types."
"Wait—attacking?" Hotch asked.
"Yeah, this one survived. She kicked him with her heels, and ran. She is coming up to talk to us tomorrow. If that's okay?"
"Yes, of course it's fine," Peter answered.
"Great."
JJ closed her eyes. "Are you okay?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired."
"Of course," Peter said. "Would you like to stay in the Cliffhanger's cabin? They are currently on a week-long climb." Sophie frowned at this.
"Mrs. Becker? Everything okay?" Rossi asked.
"Please, call me Sophie. And I'm fine, I just feel like I should be out there with them. I am in charge of the Cliffhangers, after all. But my sister just had a baby, so I couldn't make it on this hike."
"Aw! Congratulations. If you don't mind me asking, what are the Cliffhangers?"
"A group of students here. Everybody that comes are put in different groups depending on a number of factors."
Reid yawned. "Let me get you to their bunk," Peter suggested, standing up. The team followed him to their new home. As soon as they arrived, they each plopped down onto a bed. JJ was the last in, and nearly gasped when she saw which bed was left. It was Shelby's old bed.
After doing their nightly rituals, Hotch lay in bed as each of the team members fell asleep. He was an insomniac; sleep never came easily.
Suddenly, he heard crying. Getting up quietly, he followed the noise until he found the source.
Sitting down on the edge of JJ's bed, he lightly stroked her hair. "What's the matter?"
She stiffened. He immediately withdrew his hand, and she relaxed again. "I could have stopped him."
Suddenly, Hotch was angry. What was this son of a bitch doing to his team? JJ was probably the strongest person there, and definitely the most innocent. Now, she was blaming herself. "JJ, this is not your fault. Do you hear me? He was armed, and you weren't. There's absolutely nothing you could have done."
"That's not what I mean." She sniffed.
"Then what do you mean?"
She rolled over, so she was facing him. Her eyes were open wide, staring at him. "I just want to get some sleep, okay?" Hotch nodded and left, but was still worried.
And being woken up by JJ screaming just made him more concerned.
