This one's a little longer; some loose ends to tie up. ^^

TEN: Warned In a Dream

Dawn was breaking when Rossi offered Hotch a cup of coffee. Hotch shook his head. "I might actually get a little sleep after this," he said. "Where are we with Herod?"

"He lawyered up," Rossi answered. "Not that it will help him much. His wife seems genuinely oblivious to her husband's involvement in the murders. They live about forty miles east of Bethlehem, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to take a trip out here now and then to look for victims. Garcia thinks he usually connected to the chatroom at public wifi spots like coffee shops and libraries so his personal IP address couldn't be connected to it."

"Bob must have taken Jenny's phone," Hotch said, "probably as soon as she was asleep. He knew Beth had her number and she'd probably call when the baby was coming. So, as soon as he saw the text from Beth, he took out a victim he'd vetted earlier. He chose one on the opposite side of town in order to get us distracted there while he went back to kill Joshua as soon as he was born. He hit a snag when Jack wouldn't leave the trailer."

Rossi nodded. "Jenny woke up and missed her phone, so she called Beth from the hotel lobby—apparently she had memorized Beth's number—and then it was clear to Beth that Herod wasn't telling the truth about something."

"Bob tried to smother Beth, Jack called me, Beth managed to get her hands on the gun, she shot Bob, Bob heard the sirens and grabbed Jack as a hostage."

"It's a hell of a lot for a new mom to go through on top of childbirth. A lot for Jack, too. Little guy's a hero. I can't believe he pushed on Herod's wound to get away from him."

"I tried to draw Jack's attention to it because it's something I've talked to him about before: if someone is hurting him or trying to, and he knows they have a weakness, he should attack the weakness."

"It sure paid off. He knew when to make his move, too."

"Yeah, I'm pretty proud of him. He still doesn't understand why Bob tried to hurt them, but for now it's enough to know that we're safe."

Prentiss walked over to them. "Hotch, JJ and I have been discussing. Since the Herods aren't staying in the hotel anymore, we're going to take their little room and you, Beth and the boys can have the one we've been staying in."

"You don't have to do that," Hotch said.

"Don't be ridiculous. The SPCA is sending someone to pick up the horses. You don't need to—and shouldn't—stay here any longer. Once she can walk, you need to move Beth somewhere more sanitary."

"She's right," a tired Reid said, coming up behind Prentiss. "Keeping a newborn in an environment like this puts him at risk for late onset neonatal sepsis." He held out a bouquet of lilies. "These are for Beth when she wakes up... from Gideon. And here..." he offered Hotch a small white box with a blue ribbon on it. "That's from me."

"The tie?" Hotch guessed. "You guys didn't really have to buy these..."

"Oh, yes we did," Rossi said, chuckling into his coffee cup. "I heard a rumor that this kid is going to be a king or something, and here he is living in a horse trailer. The least we can do is class it up a little for him."

"I can see it now," Prentiss said, smiling wistfully into the distance. "Someday Joshua will leave the front door open and you'll tell him, 'Close that door! Were you born in a barn?'"

While the others chuckled, Reid said, "I never understood that saying... I mean, it's very important to keep barn doors closed too, so the animals don't get out."

"Hold on," said Hotch. "Dave, does this mean you actually started a trust fund for Joshua, too?"

"I certainly did," said Rossi. "It's not exactly a fortune, but it'll give him a good start."

"I don't know what to say."

"Just don't tell Jack. He might be jealous."

"I think you could buy Jack a matchbox car and he'd call it even."

"Probably. That's not a bad idea. He's probably going to have some sibling envy."

"That's right, they'll be brothers," Prentiss said with a smile. "Jack and Josh."

"Joshua," Hotch corrected. "Let's not nickname him already."

"But Jack is a nickname," Reid pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," said Prentiss. "I forgot. What is it again, Jacob?"

"James," said Hotch. "Though James is derived from Jacob, so you weren't far off." He thought about the moment when JJ had paused in filling out the birth certificate information to ask what name she should put down for the baby.

"Joshua Immanuel," Beth had said.

"Clemmons?" JJ asked, looking at them uncertainly.

Beth shook her head. "Hotchner."

"Are you sure?" asked Hotch.

"I'm sure if you are. You still want to help me raise him?"

"Yes."

"Hotchner. And the sooner I can change my name too, the better. Just wait until I can fit into a nice dress, okay?"

"Oh, honey..." JJ said knowingly as she filled in the name, "don't hold your breath on getting your body back. It's never quite the same... Um... who should I put down as the father? I can let you fill it in later if you want."

Hotch watched Beth's face in silence, running through the ramifications of putting his own name down. If he wanted to deny being the father later, he could get in trouble for falsifying the document. But putting anything else down would call Beth's reputation into question.

"Unknown," Beth said at last.

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked again, stroking her face gently.

She nodded. "It'll be okay."

"Okay. Unknown, it is."

JJ wrote the word in the blank. Hotch could tell she was worried about it, undoubtedly wondering if Beth had been raped, but he knew she wouldn't ask. She wouldn't tell anyone, either. If there was anyone JJ was intent on protecting, it was mothers and babies.

Hotch leaned down to kiss Beth's forehead. "I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too."

He lightly ran his hand over the soft skin of the baby's head. "You have a family here," he said, too quietly for JJ to overhear. "For as long as you need it."

Outside, in the early morning sunlight, Morgan gladly took the coffee Hotch had refused. "Hotch, you'd better get some sleep, man. You look like hell."

Hotch didn't have the energy to take offense at his subordinate's word choice. "I will," he said. "When are the people coming from the SPCA?"

"They'll be here in a couple of hours," said Prentiss. "But you don't need to worry about that. They don't have to take the trailer, and we can tell them anything they need to know."

"The trailer is kind of a crime scene..."

"The sheriff is aware that Beth can't move yet. No one will go inside it until she can."

They paused as a few strangers approached the cordoned-off area.

Rossi went to meet them and, after some quiet discussion, motioned Hotch over.

"We heard a baby was born here last night," a gray-haired man said. "I have a farm just outside town... me and the boys were out checking our livestock when we saw... well, we saw something we couldn't quite believe."

Hotch looked at the faces of the younger men on either side of the one speaking and saw a resemblance in ear and nose shape. They were undoubtedly his sons.

"It, uh... it was a man... or something that looked like a man... he was in this white robe and kind of... shining?"

"Glowing," one of the younger men confirmed. "Scared the crap out of us."

"But he said not to be afraid," the father went on. "Said he came to give us good news—that a savior had been born." He looked intently at Hotch as if expecting to be ridiculed or scolded, but when it didn't come, he went on. "Then he said we'd find him wrapped up and sleeping in a place where animal feed is kept. Then there were a whole bunch of them... they were saying 'Glory to God' and stuff..."

"So, this morning," said the younger man who hadn't spoken yet, "when we saw the news about a baby being born in a horse trailer, we thought that might be what they were talking about."

"We want to see him... if you'll let us."

"The family has been through a lot—" Rossi started.

"It's okay, Dave," Hotch interrupted. "If they'll submit to being frisked, I don't think there's any harm in letting them have a quick look."

So, the man and his sons were quickly searched to make sure they weren't carrying weapons and then Hotch checked with Beth before letting them come to the door to observe the little baby in her arms.

"Doesn't he look the part," the elder man said, eyes shining. "Looks like a little champ."

Beth smiled tiredly. "Thank you. Aaron said you have a farm outside town?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's my wife and me and these two boys and their little sister. I'm Ben Shepherd and this is Ben junior and Joe."

"It's nice to meet you."

They talked a little more and then the Shepherds took their leave.

Jack and Joshua were asleep when Hotch crawled onto the hay pile. JJ and Reid had removed the bale that had absorbed a significant amount of blood and other birth fluids, so their bedding was clean and dry. Hotch kissed Jack, Beth and Joshua in turn before letting himself close his eyes at last.

"That was a close call."

"Gabriel, I'm exhausted. Can't you leave me alone?"

"Make sure you follow the wise young man's advice. Get the messiah child out of Bethlehem."

"Is he really still in danger?"

"Herod's followers may not know exactly who he is, but the news coverage will lead them to him if you don't disappear as soon as possible."

"Okay... that makes sense. But we can't go back to D.C. until the flooding recedes."

"Take him out of the country."

"Out of the country? Are you crazy?" Hotch huffed. "I forgot I'm the one having an argument with a figment of my subconscious mind... maybe I'm the crazy one."

"Try Egypt. They'll never expect it."

"Because it's crazy."

"You've taken this on, Aaron. Make sure you keep him safe."

"But come on..."

Hotch sat up and found himself in the dim horse trailer. "He is so obnoxious..." he muttered.

Joshua whimpered quietly and Beth stirred.

"I think he's ready for another feeding," Hotch said, sitting up to lean on one elbow.

"He's so quiet," Beth whispered. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I think so, but we'll keep an eye on him. Once we get out of Bethlehem, we'll take him to a doctor to finalize his paperwork and everything."

"Outside Bethlehem?"

"There's still a chance he could be in danger. As soon as you can travel, I want to get him out of here."

"Okay. I don't want to take chances either." Beth cradled the baby and he began to nurse.

"Do you have a passport?"

"Passport? Well, yeah... I took an extended trip to Canada for work. But we don't have to go that far, do we?"

"I was thinking that since things are such a mess here maybe we should get married on paper, take our honeymoon now and have a real wedding when we come back. What do you think?"

"Well... maybe. But we would need passports for the boys too."

"I think I can get them quickly if I pull a few strings. I just have to convince them that it's a life or death situation."

"Is it?"

Hotch hesitated a moment. "I think it is."

"How long would we be gone?"

"I don't know. Maybe a few weeks... maybe... longer."

She was silent a little while, staring at her baby. Then she said, "I just want to know how big a bag to pack this time."

Hotch smiled. "I'm glad you're ready to do this with me. I didn't want to lead with 'I dreamed an angel said we should leave the country.'"

She looked up in surprise. "Did you really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Wow... it's settled, then. But we need to stay in the states for at least eight days."

"You want to have him circumcised the eighth day," Hotch guessed.

"Yeah."

"We can do that, just not in Bethlehem. And we should take him to a synagogue. That should give me plenty of time to get the passports and a marriage license. Thank God there's no waiting period or blood testing required for marriage in Virginia."

"So, this can be the start of our synagogue attendance?"

"That's what I was thinking." Hotch put his arms around mother and baby. "We're going to do this right. We're going to raise a Jewish boy."

The chapter title is of course about Joseph getting warned to flee to Egypt. One more chapter should do it. Hope you've enjoyed the story.