Chapter 10

"Um, Mr. Boss Man." Garcia said, knocking on Hotch's slightly opened office door. The dark door once gave her comfort knowing that if she ever needed help, someone was behind that door, more than eager to do so. However, now, as she stood outside, more anxiety troubled her soul than comfort.

"Come in Garcia."

Garcia walked in and took a seat across from Hotch. Her hands shook ever so slightly, so her white knuckled hands grasped the manilla folder, trying to get a hold on herself.

"So, I put a rush on the DNA results from the rape kit." Garcia stated.

"And?" Hotch said, hope filled his dark eyes.

"They got a hit." Garcia bit the inside of her mouth.

"They did?" Shock consumed Hotch's usually stoic face. Hotch scooted forward in his seat and set his hands on his desk.

"His name is Brandon Colby."

"Get the team, let's get this guy." Hotch said with a fire in his eyes.

"There's just one small hiccup. Brandon Colby is dead."

"What do you mean?" Hotch's mouth pursed into a tight line. He swallowed an angry retort, obviously not directed at Garcia, but the entire situation.

"His record, it says he is deceased." Garcia's face contorted in confusion that matched The Boss Man's.

"He obviously is alive. What's the story?"

"Not sure. . .his record reports charges of rape and murder in the third degree and he has a sealed adoption."

"I'm guessing you've already unsealed it."

"Of course, but there's nothing in it."

"It looks like this guy has done everything he can to erase his presence from this world. What the hell is he doing raping a FBI agent? Especially if his DNA is in the system."

Hotch paused for a minute to let the information set in.

"When did he 'die'?"

"Last year. Sir."

"And the attack entailed?"

"She was killed and she was raped, but the man used a condom. He was of course a person of interest, they got fingerprints, DNA, everything. They were positive it was him."

"What happened?"

"He was - uh - kidnapped."

"What the hell? Get the team. We need to brief them. Is Morgan here?"

"No, sir."

"Get him here."

Garcia nodded and rushed out of the office.

Morgan awoke by JJ's side, the blaring sound of the phone ringing captured his attention. He jumped out of bed and ran to the phone, hoping to catch it before another ring, so JJ could still sleep peacefully.

"Hello?" Morgan answered as quietly as possible.

"hah! I knew you would be there." Penelope Garcia's quirky voice filled the phone.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked, until realization dawned on him. She meant there as in JJ's.

"At JJ's. You silly."

"What do you need Penelope?"

"You need to get your lazy ass in here. We have a break in the case."

"Okay, I will be there in a half hour."

"You better hurry, my luscious love of dark chocolate."

Morgan smirked and in a dreamy voice, "Bye Penelope." Dragging out the last part a little longer than necessary.

He hung up the phone and looked over at JJ. Last night he stayed the night again, but this time it was different, he ended up in her bed. And even though nothing happened, it was one of the most precious and intimate things he had ever experienced. Morgan walked away from the bed and into the bathroom, he quickly jumped in the shower, careful to not make a loud noise to wake up sleeping beauty.

By the time he was out of the shower, ready, and about to leave, JJ had woken up. But she still laid in the warm bed.

"Hey, I've got to go in for a little bit. I will be back for lunch though."

"Kiss me." JJ answered.

Morgan hesitated.

"It's okay, do it."

Morgan leaned to JJ's level and planted a gentle peck on her forehead. He rose from the crouch and JJ had closed her eyes again. For now, that was enough. He wasn't going to push JJ into anything she wasn't ready for. Everything was still very new, Morgan didn't want to jeopardize anything.

"I'll stop by when I'm done."

Morgan arrived to the whole team waiting for him in the conference room.

"Sorry guys." Morgan offered, with nothing else to say.

"All right, let's get to work." Hotch ordered and grabbed the remote clicker that controlled the screen.

"2 years ago, Shelly Vanfleet was brutally raped and murdered. There was one person of interest. Brandon Colby. He was the ex-boyfriend." Hotch clicked the remote and pictures of the 2 people filled the otherwise blank screen. Hotch momentarily looked, but then pulled his gaze away and continued. "They took Colby's DNA, fingerprints, everything. However, they were never even able to make it to court."

"Why's that?" Emily spoke up.

"He was kidnapped." Hotch grudgingly answered.

"What?" Rossi said.

"He was kidnapped, and the kidnapping was believed to be an escape from the prison life he knew he would be living. But they were never able to actually prove this. The case went cold and Brandon Colby was forgotten. Sometime between then and May 12th, last year, he resurfaced."

"Wait, hold on. Why are you telling us this?" Morgan asked, clearly confused.

"There was a match on the DNA from the rape kit. The DNA belongs to Brandon Colby." Hotch answered.

"What the hell are we waiting for? Let's go pick him up." Morgan said already standing.

As I was saying," all the while Hotch's mean stare followed Morgan, "Colby resurfaced, his resurfacing was actually his death."

"Brandon Colby is dead? But I thought you said it was his DNA?" Reid said.

"It was his DNA. Obviously he is still alive. We need to figure out how he was able to fake his death and why, to be able to find him." Hotch commanded.

JJ re-read the same page for the third time. Reading really wasn't working out, she couldn't keep her busy mind to stay still for 2 seconds. It was driving her nearly insane. But she had nothing else to do. She had already cleaned the house the day before in her efforts to remain busy and TV just couldn't keep her entertained; looked like reading couldn't do the job either. Finally she slammed the book down and jumped up from the couch that consumed her lazy body. That's when she decided exactly what she was going to do.

She was going to go workout at the gym. That was one of her favorite things to do before the attack, especially when work stressed her out. Everyone knew this was how JJ cooled down. Not to mention, she liked the toned figure it gave her, in addition to the stares.

JJ only hoped this workout would help her feel more like herself. Of course she would have to take it fairly easy because of her injuries, but in the past that had never been an issue.

JJ quickly changed and headed out, even a small smile lit her face.

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