Old Enemies

Chapter 10

Dave quickly searched Hotch for a pulse as Emily ran to Jack. "Medics to my location, now!" Rossi yelled into his comm link."

"On their way, sir." Garcia's voice answered him. "Sir?" It was only one word, but her tone asked a far different question.

"Not now, Baby Girl," Morgan answered for him through the comm link. "Rossi?" Morgan yelled out trying to find him.

"Here, hurry!" Rossi yelled out into the room. He looked down at his battered boss, "come on, Hotch!" Rossi was trying to get a reaction from his friend.

"Oh my God!" was all Morgan could say as he took in the horrible scene.

JJ cried out and instantly turned around and threw up.

Reid and Blake came running up last. They just stood and stared, shocked at the sight.

"Check Jack!" Rossi yelled at them and they all went to the boy. "Reid!" Reid stopped in his tracks. "Put pressure on that!" he yelled motioning to the gash in Hotch's thigh that was still oozing badly. Reid took off his sweater and held it onto the wound. The pressure made Hotch moan. "That's it, Hotch, stay with us!" Rossi said in a soothing voice, right as Hotch stopped breathing. "No Hotch! Come on damn it!" Rossi yelled and slapped his friend gently on the face. Hotch took another breath. "That's it, Hotch. Come on, come back to me," Rossi pleaded with him.

Morgan came up to them, not sure what to do. He had seen Richard Cypress, so they knew he wasn't going to be a threat to anyone anymore.

"Take those off," Rossi told Morgan gesturing to the handcuffs. As he retrieved his key and started to take off the handcuffs, Morgan finally allowed himself to take in Hotch's whole body. The sight made him sick to his stomach. Foyet had done some damage, but that was nothing compared to what he was seeing. He moved Hotch's left arm down beside his body and when he grabbed his right arm, he immediately noticed that something was definitely wrong with it, and not just the knife wound.

Rossi noticed his hesitation. "What?"

"It's like it's not attached," Morgan said as he held Hotch's arm. He tried to gently move it to Hotch's side, and Hotch let out a low moan, so he stopped. "Where's the damn medics, Garcia?"

"They should be coming around the corner any second Morgan." Garcia told him in a low voice.

"Oh Baby Girl, I am so so. . ." Morgan started to apologize.

"Don't Derek. I understand." Morgan could tell by her voice that she had been crying. "Let him know I'm sending him vibes of love."

"He's stopped breathing again," Reid said frantically.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled.

"Come on Hotch," Rossi said shaking him. The searing pain from his dislocated shoulder made Hotch inhale again. "There you go. Come on, stay with us." Hotch's eyes started to flutter open. "Yeah Aaron, come on, you can do it."

Hotch's eyes wouldn't settle. He kept blinking and his eyes kept trying to roll back into his head. Morgan reached down and pressed on Reid's hands.

"What are you doi. . ." Reid started to ask.

A horse scream escaped Hotch, and his eyes snapped open. Rossi gave Morgan a small smile and looked back down to Hotch. "Hey there," Rossi smiled at his friend.

Hotch tried to focus. He couldn't understand why the pain was back. He couldn't make sense of seeing Haley but hearing Rossi. He didn't want to make sense of it. He just wanted it all to go away, and his eyes slowly shut again.

"No, Hotch. Damn you stay with us!" Rossi demanded and picked his friend up to hold him against his chest in a hug.

The movement caused more pain to jerk Hotch awake. "Dave?" Hotch's voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm here Aaron," Rossi tried to reassure his friend.

"Let me die," Hotch told him. Morgan glanced at Reid. They had all heard it, and it made Reid cry.

Rossi looked at his friend's face. He could see the defeat in Hotch's eyes. "No Aaron, please, please don't give up now. Not after all you've lived through," Rossi pleaded.

"Let me go, Dave" Rossi could barely hear Hotch's voice.

"No Aaron. I can't. You mean too much to me." Rossi was crying, and his tears were falling onto Hotch's face.

"Please, Dave? Let me die." Hotch pleaded.

"Damn it Agent Hotchner! You will not quit on me!" Rossi yelled.

Two medics ran up to them, and two ran over to Jack. "Sir?" The medic looked at Rossi.

"Rossi, you've got to let them work on him. You've got to let him go." Morgan told him putting his hand on Rossi's shoulder. Rossi sighed and carefully lowered his friend to the ground as Reid instructed the medics on what he knew of Hotch's injuries. Rossi gave his friend a kiss on the forehead before he got up out of the way.

All three of the men stood there watching the medics do their job, and all three of them were silently praying and hoping that their boss, their friend, would make it.

Reid kept looking at his bloody hands. He shuddered a little. He had had blood on his hands before, but not Hotch's and not so much.

Morgan ran a hand over his bald head; he'd never seen anyone that badly injured who was still breathing. His mind flashed back to a wounded and bloody Emily, and how he fought for her to stay with him. That was bad, but seeing Hotch like this made him think that had been a walk in the park.

Rossi was silently crying. If I hadn't messed up, if I hadn't of went against my gut, the Hotchner men would be at home doing fun father-son things instead of lying on the floor of this damn warehouse!

Blake came up behind them. She felt strange, like an outsider, encroaching on the men. She was the newest member of the team and not as attached to Hotch as everyone else. She wasn't even there when everything had happened with Foyet; so she slowly backed away and turned her attention to the room around them. She approached Cypress' body and wondered how the horribly wounded Hotch could fight the massive man. A trail of blood by her feet caught her attention, and she followed it with her eyes. The trail led her eyes to Hotch. She shook her head, wondering how he even made it as far as he did.

A fireman used bolt cutters to release Hotch's leg from the chain that had kept him from his son. Once Hotch's leg was free, they quickly moved him to the ambulance gurney. "I'm riding with him," Rossi told them as he followed the medics.

"We'll get things started here and be there as soon as we can," Morgan told him. "And Rossi. . ." Morgan started. Rossi gave him a nod, telling him he understood what wasn't said.

XX

The long beep told Rossi that Hotch's heart had stopped beating. "He's flat lined," the medic said letting go of the bag of blood that he was trying to attach to an IV so they could start to replace the loss of blood in Hotch's body. He prepared the defibrillator and looked at Rossi. "Clear!" he yelled, and Rossi let go of Hotch's hand. He had been holding it to try to comfort his friend. Rossi's heart screamed and he jumped when Hotch's body jumped as the paddles jolted his heart into beating again. "He's back. ETA?" he questioned the driver.

"Seven minutes," the driver yelled back as Hotch's heart beat became erratic and faint.

"Make it five!" the other medic yelled as he slammed a needle into Hotch's chest. Rossi looked at the man questioningly. "Adrenalin," the medic said simply. Rossi noticed Hotch's heart beat start to get a little more regular and his blood pressure started to come up, which was great because it was almost nonexistent in the beginning. Hotch's eyes started to flutter. "There you go Agent Hotchner. Come on, wake up," the medic told him adding another bag of blood to his IV.

"Dave?" Hotch's voice low and raspy.

"Right here, Aaron," Rossi told him as he moved into Hotch's view.

"Let me die. . ." Hotch was too weak to fight. He just wanted the pain to go away. The Medic looked worriedly at Rossi.

"No, damn it, Hotch! You are not allowed to give up!"

"Please Dave. . . I'm so tired."

Rossi was crying again. "Hotch no. . . don't give up." Rossi begged him as he grabbed his hand again. "If you won't fight for yourself Aaron, fight for Jack!"

Hotch winced at his son's name and the image of Jack's head hitting the pillar seared his eyes. Hotch knew Rossi was lying. He knew his precious son was dead, but he couldn't blame Rossi for lying about it, he had done the same to victims before.

"If you won't fight for yourself, fight for me. You're like a son to me. I can't lose you, Aaron. . ." Hotch heard his friend start, but the darkness enveloped him again. "Hotch?" Rossi looked at the medic.

"He's just passed out," the medic told him. Rossi sat back down as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. They quickly got Hotch inside and they disappeared with him around the corner. Rossi sent up a silent prayer for God to watch over and help his friend. Then Rossi walked up to the nurses' station to fill out the needed paperwork.

Emily and JJ walked up to Rossi, they had ridden in the ambulance with Jack. "Is he going to be alright?" Emily asked as she studied his face.

"I honestly don't know." Rossi's eyes watered, threatening to cry again. JJ pulled the older man into a hug. "I think he's given up," he told them as he hugged her back.