A/N: Okay so I'm not going to lie. I was out of town the last week and just got back and saw all of the reports on Paget Brewster leaving the show at the end of the season. So now I am seriously depressed. I was so into this new story, with Emily and JJ and their little family, but now I just want to wallow in my own misery. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Paget and understand completely that she is ready for something new, but still…Anyways you guys need to keep me really happy so that I finish this story, because now I feel like stopping. Anyways, if you guys really like this story and want me to continue, including once this story is finished, by adding more stories from their life together, especially the missing four years that I have so far, please, please, please let me know. Because at this point it's going to be you guys rallying behind me to make me finish! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Ch 10
The two men, whom Chloe had hired, to take out the rest of the team one by one, had received her picture text message. They had tracked down the genius member of the team and were disappointed to find him being flanked by an older agent. The two men watched as the agents came out of the beach house and began to look around outside. From there they began to walk down the street and up to each of the houses, knocking on doors and talking to the neighbors. Sometime later they were finally walking back towards the beach house they had originally come out of. The older man was on the phone and was clearly annoyed.
Neither agent noticed the large dark vehicle coming towards them until it was nearly too late. Rossi turned just in time to see the car speeding towards them.
"REID" the older man yelled as he dove out of the way
Reid snapped his head towards Rossi and he saw the large, dark vehicle coming towards him. He attempted to dive out of the way but the driver of the car anticipated that move and hit Reid dead on. After the dark vehicle was speeding away Rossi leaped to his feet and ran towards Reid, who was lying on his back in the middle of the street. He pulled out his phone and called 911 stating that there was a federal agent down. The older man then dropped to his knees beside the young man. Reid was fighting to stay conscious as he looked up into Rossi's eyes.
"It's okay kid, help is on the way. Just hang on" Rossi told Reid
Reid slowly nodded as he fought the pain in his body. Rossi looked him over and could tell that his leg was clearly broken and he had cuts all over him, along with a gash on the side of his head. But what worried Rossi was what he couldn't see. He knew the younger man had to be injured worse than what he could see and as if on cue Reid began to cough up blood.
Rossi tried not to panic as he watched Reid suffer as he tried to breathe.
"Hang on Reid. You're going to be fine" Rossi told him as he placed a hand gently on the young man's shoulder
Reid coughed up more blood before finally lapsing into unconsciousness. Rossi heard the sirens getting closer and prayed they made it to them in time. He felt for a pulse on Reid's neck and found a faint one, but the older man could tell it would be a matter of minutes before Reid's heart stopped.
"Come on" Rossi said loudly as he stood up and turned towards the sounds of sirens
By this time people were lining the street to get a glimpse of what was transpiring. Rossi wanted nothing more than to hop into the ambulance with Reid once he was loaded, but he knew he needed to get any information he could from people who could have possibly seen what happened.
The ambulance finally pulled up and two paramedics jumped out and ran over to where Reid was laying. Rossi gave them the logistics of what happened and how the younger man had passed out shortly after coughing up blood.
"Okay sir, you're going to have to step back so that we can do our job" one paramedic told him
Rossi nodded as he stepped further away from Reid. He stood there and watched as they began to assess the young man's injuries and he paled further when one medic shouted that they were losing him. The medics moved fast, quickly getting Reid on the backboard and loading him into the ambulance.
"Where are you taking him?" Rossi asked quickly as he ran up beside the ambulance
"Sentara General" the medic responded quickly
Rossi nodded as he watched the medic shift the bus into gear and peel away. By that time uniformed officers were surrounding him, asking him questions. Rossi filled them in quickly on what had happened and then they all branched out to question any witnesses they might be able to find. Rossi called Garcia immediately with a partial plate, telling her he needed her to find whatever he could ASAP. He then filled her in on what had happened and had to try to console her over the phone. Once he got off the phone with her he called Hotch.
"What is it?" Hotch asked
"Reid is on his way to the hospital" Rossi told the other man, "Somebody tried to run him over and for the most part succeeded"
Hotch dropped his head, rubbing his forehead with his free hand, "Is he okay?"
"It looked pretty bad Aaron. He was bleeding internally" Rossi informed him
"Where are they taking him?"
"Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital" he answered
"Okay, Dave, I need you to focus. I am just as worried about Reid as you are, but someone is obviously after our entire team. They've attempted to kill two of our team members and they have kidnapped the other two, along with their children. We are all at risk here, but I need to know if there was anything at all left at that beach house that could point to the where they took the girls."
"There was nothing Hotch. It was completely clean. The police here are going to dust for prints but I'm betting they don't find any"
Hotch nodded, expecting as much, "Okay, look, bring their phones with you and I am going to borrow another jet, if possible, and I will meet you at the hospital"
"Okay"
"And Dave"
"Yeah"
"Be careful"
"You too" Rossi replied before hanging up
Rossi then turned and headed over to the black SUV and climbed inside. He sighed as he watched the uniformed officers and detectives swarm the house to dust for prints and to look for any other clues the perps may have left behind. Then he started the car and began to slowly head towards the hospital.
Meanwhile, Hotch ordered two guards to be posted outside Morgan's hospital room and requested Kevin stay there as well. Then he called Jessica and filled her in on what was going on. He asked her to bring Jack and Penny to the office because he thought it would be safer. As he hung up with Jessica he saw Garcia hurrying through the doors and heading for his office.
"Sir" she said busting in without knocking
"I know" he nodded at her
"What is…I don't understand" she mumbled as she paced in a circle
"Garcia I need you to focus right now, okay" he said walking up to her
"But-"
"I know" he said with a nod, "Someone is seeking revenge on this team and we need to do everything in our power to figure out who that person is. In order for us to do that I need you to be able to focus"
She nodded slowly "Okay"
"Good. Now I have called in some officers to be posted outside Morgan's room and Kevin is to remain with him until I remove him. Jessica is on the way here with the kids because it is safer for them to be here. I know Jack is going to ask questions, but try to deter him as much as possible until I get back."
"Where are you going?" she questioned as he grabbed suit jacket and headed for his office door
"I am meeting Rossi at the hospital in Virginia Beach to check on Reid" he answered as he pulled on his jacket
"Oh and Garcia" he said turning back around to face her
"Yes sir"
"Under no circumstances are you or the others allowed to leave here. Are we clear?"
"Crystal" she replied
"I'll call you when I know something. You just concentrate on doing what you do better than anyone else I've ever met"
She nodded as she watched her boss rush down the stairs and head through the bull pen when she remembered that Derek's family was supposed to be coming the next day. She called Hotch immediately on his cell.
"Garcia?"
"Sir I forgot that the Morgan's were supposed to fly out here tomorrow morning. Would they be in danger if they came?"
"Yes. I'll call her right now. You just get to work"
"Yes sir" she answered before hanging up and heading back to her office lair
Hotch made his way to the tarmac, lucky that they could spare a jet under the circumstances. He called Derek's mother and explained to her what was happening and that they couldn't risk any more people being put at risk. After much arguing on her part, as well as Hotch's, she finally relented as long as Hotch promised to look over her son and bring this monster to justice. He promised both, knowing that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.
The one hour flight seemed to take forever in Hotch's mind and as soon as they landed and he was able to get off of the jet he got a car and headed for the hospital. When he got there he found Rossi sitting in the waiting room and as Hotch took in his appearance, he knew the older man had been shaken. His shirt was torn and dirty, and Hotch saw some cuts and bruises forming on Rossi's arms and his face.
"Dave" Hotch said as he walked into the small waiting room, where there were a few other people sitting sadly
Rossi nearly jumped out of his chair as he made his way over to the other man.
"The doctors haven't come out yet. The only thing that they would tell me is that they had to rush him into surgery" Rossi informed Hotch
Hotch nodded as he motioned for Rossi to step out of the waiting room and into the hallway. The older man obliged and as soon as the door shut behind them Hotch turned to stare at Rossi.
"Dave you look like hell"
"Well Aaron there was a maniac out there who tried to run us down"
"I realize that, but have you been checked out by a doctor?" Hotch asked in an authoritative tone
"I'm fine" Rossi insisted
"Look I know you think that you're fine, but I can tell by looking at you that you are not fine. You need to get those cuts looked at" Hotch told him as he pointed at Rossi's arm
"Hotch-"
"No Dave" Hotch stated, cutting the other man off, "Listen to me. Every member of our team is in jeopardy right now. Two are severely injured and in the hospital, another two have been kidnapped along with their kids. That's more than half of our team, which leaves only you, me, and Garcia, so I need your head in this…And I don't need you bleeding to death on my watch because you were too stubborn to get checked out by a doctor"
Rossi nodded, "I really am okay"
"Humor me" Hotch told him with a glare
Rossi nodded as he and Hotch turned and walked down the hall in search of a doctor.
As they waited to be seen Hotch and Rossi decided to go over what they knew so far.
"Okay Derek was shot around 630 this morning in DC" Hotch said
"And the girls had to have been taken sometime yesterday, late afternoon or evening, because none of them had slept in their beds"
"And then you and Reid were nearly run down this afternoon"
"That's a lot of ground to cover in just one day" Rossi pointed out
"Which makes me believe there is definitely more than one unsub"
"There would have to be. There is no way Emily and JJ couldn't subdue one man"
"Well they wouldn't try if the unsub was holding one of the boys hostage. Then they would probably do whatever they were told" Hotch said
"I don't know Aaron, those women are pretty strong and stubborn, and I think it would anger them even more if someone threatened one of their kids. If there was just one unsub there, eventually Emily and JJ would have come up with a plan to overpower them" replied Rossi
Hotch nodded, "Okay so how many are we talking about?"
Rossi shrugged, "I'm thinking that someone had been watching them for awhile, probably all of us for that matter. This person knew their routines…our routines, so they knew that Emily and JJ were going to that beach house with the boys"
"Which means they knew there would be a teenage boy with them" Hotch added
"They would need three men of good size to overpower that family"
Hotch nodded, "Okay so let's say there were three, maybe four who took them. Do we think the same ones got to Morgan and Reid?"
"I don't know. There has to be several people involved in this. It's possible the same ones who took Emily and JJ, went after me and Reid. But I don't think the same people shot Morgan, they would have had to rush from one place to the other, and it's a good four hour drive"
Just then a doctor came in to look at Rossi. After examining him, they stitched up his left arm where he had slashed it open pretty good. He then cleaned up his other cuts so that they wouldn't get infected. Otherwise the doctor gave him a clean bill of health.
As the two men were heading back to the waiting room Rossi stopped walking. Hotch turned to him with concern until he realized that the older man had just thought of something.
"What is it?" Hotch questioned
"I was just thinking about that car coming at me and Reid" Rossi began, "It could have just as easily hit me, but I think they purposely went for Reid. He even tried to get out of the way, but it's like they were planning for him to do that…they anticipated that move, that's how they hit him…besides if you were going to hit one of the two of us, who would you go after? The younger, faster one? Or the older one?"
"So you don't think they were gunning for both of you?" Hotch asked him with intensity
Rossi shook his head, "No I'm pretty sure they were just going for Reid"
Hotch nodded as he pulled out his phone and dialed Garcia.
"How's Reid?" answered Garcia
"Still in surgery. Look I need you to find out if anyone we've arrested has gotten out of jail in the past year. Especially anyone who made knowing threats to us" Hotch ordered
"Sir isn't that going to be a long list?"
"Well I'm hoping they aren't just letting possible serial killers free" replied Hotch
"Right"
"I need that ASAP"
"Yes sir"
"Did Jessica and the kids make it there?" he asked with concern
"Yes they did and let me be the first to tell you that your son is quite perceptive and he is not going to wait much longer to be told what is going on" the blonde informed him
Hotch nodded as he responded, "I know and as soon as we get an update on Reid, Dave and I will be back that way and I will explain to him what is going on"
"Okay"
With that they both hung up as Hotch and Rossi rounded the corner to the waiting room. Right before they were about to enter the room Hotch stopped, much in the same way Rossi had earlier.
"Aaron?" Rossi questioned
"There's got to be more to this. There's something we are missing"
"There's a lot we are missing Hotch"
Hotch nodded as he followed Rossi back into the waiting room and they took a seat. After about an hour both men were growing agitated and restless. They knew they couldn't wait around much longer, they needed to be out there searching for the people responsible for Reid and Morgan's injuries, as well as trying to find the girls. As if on cue Hotch's phone rang, showing Garcia calling. He stood up and answered the phone as Rossi followed him back out into the hallway.
"What do you have?"
"I have two names of men released within the past year. One of them made clear verbal threats to the team, specifically Morgan and Prentiss, seeing as how they are the ones that made the actual arrest. He's living in Norfolk and currently unemployed"
"And the other one?"
"The other one made no threats to anyone on the team. He was more of one of those silent creepers. He's living in South Carolina and working at a warehouse as a stockman"
Hotch sighed, fairly certain the second man was not their guy. The first one was the only possible lead they had so far.
"Sir I was thinking" Garcia began
"Yes" he replied urging her on
"Well Emily and JJ were obviously kidnapped, along with the kiddos. Then Morgan was shot and Reid was nearly run over"
"Garcia where are you going with this?"
"Well what if my precious beauties were the targets all along. And what if they are trying to make them suffer by taking those who are closest to them, in the order of how important they are to them"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I love my girls, I do, but we all know that Morgan and Prentiss have a special bond, and not that I want it to seem like we are back in junior high, but-"
"Garcia just spit it out"
"Well Morgan and Emily are obviously two of the closest on the team besides she and JJ, and while I love my blonde gum drop, she has always thought of Reid as a little brother, and besides, I'm cooped up in my lair all day, it's harder for someone to get to me"
As Hotch let the words sink in he realized they did make some twisted sense, "Okay thanks Garcia. Rossi and I are going to head back that way shortly"
"What about Reid?" she asked
"I'm going to have some officers posted outside his door once he comes out of surgery" he informed her before hanging up
Hotch then found a doctor and called the local officials to get special permission for his request. Once he spoke to all of the people involved they assured him that they could make his request possible given the circumstances. As Rossi and Hotch boarded the jet and took their respective seats the older man finally questioned the team leader.
"What did you meet with the doctors about?" Rossi asked
"As soon as Reid is out of surgery he is going to be flown back to DC and placed in the same room as Morgan, as long as they are both stable and doing okay. That way they are both close and we can be sure they are being protected" answered Hotch
Rossi smiled slightly, "Of course"
They arrived back in Quantico at nearly 630pm and both men walked with purpose into the bullpen. Hotch then headed straight for Garcia's office, only to be stopped by Jack running down the hall towards him.
"Dad" he shouted
Hotch stopped and took a deep breath before he turned around, "Jack there's no need to shout"
The caramel haired boy stared straight up at his dad as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Nobody will tell me what's wrong. Not Aunt Jess or Aunt Pen, they said I had to wait for you to get back. I know something's wrong. Where is everyone?"
Hotch stared down at his brown eyed son, "What do you mean where is everyone?"
Jack rolled his eyes and Hotch couldn't help but let a small smile escape him. 'Definitely learned that from Emily and JJ' he thought to himself.
"Dad, even I know not to answer a question with a question" the boy stated
"Of course you do"
"Seriously, where is Aunt Emily? Aunt JJ? Ethan?" Jack took a pause as he rattled off the names, "Declan and Henry? Are they for real still on vacation even though Uncle Derek got shot?"
Hotch took a step closer to his son and placed both of his large hands on the boy's small shoulders.
"No son, they are not on vacation" he answered truthfully
Jack's facial expressions changed slightly when his father said that, "Then where are they?"
"Jack I need you to listen to me, okay-"
The boy didn't let him finish as he jerked away from his father's touch, a frightened look on his face, "What happened to them?", he asked worriedly, tears already forming in his eyes at all of the possible things that could have happened
"Jack, listen to me" Hotch said stepping closer to his son again, "I'm not going to sugar coat this for you because I believe you are old enough to handle it. Emily and JJ, along with the boys, were kidnapped from their beach house, we believe, sometime late yesterday."
"Wha…but…what?" the young boy questioned as he fumbled for words
"That's really all we know so far, but we are doing everything we can to try and find them" Hotch said, trying to sound confident for his son
Jack swallowed the lump in his throat as he nodded and leaned back against the wall.
"Is that why Uncle Derek got shot? And why we're here?" he asked as he looked back up at his father
Hotch nodded silently as he looked at his son.
"You should also know that Reid has been hurt also" Jack's eyes darted back to his father's as Hotch mentioned the newest twist of events, "So it is of utmost importance that you do not leave this building, not even this floor unless I say it's okay. Understood?"
The young Hotchner nodded, "Yes sir"
The lead agent nodded his head as well as he placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed it slightly. Then he turned to head to Garcia's office.
"Dad" Jack spoke up as he pushed himself away from the wall
Hotch turned back around to look at his son, "Yes"
"You're gonna find them right?" he asked, his voice slightly shaky
Hotch paused a moment before answering with a stone cold, serious expression, "Yes"
Jack nodded before walking quickly towards his father and throwing his arms around his father's waist, burying his face in his father's lower chest. Hotch returned the hug, squeezing his son tightly against him.
"Be careful dad"
"I will. And you mind your aunts and help look after Penny" Hotch replied as he pulled away from his son
Jack nodded as he watched his father turn and walk down the rest of the hallway before punching in the code to Garcia's office.
As Hotch entered the office, Garcia spun around in her chair to face him.
"Did you talk to the little one?" she asked looking up at him
He nodded, "Now have you found anything from either JJ or Prentiss' past that might have sparked someone wanting revenge on them?"
The bubbly blonde spun back around in her chair to face her computers, "Not so much as even a glitch. Everyone the team has arrested in the past ten years is either in prison or dead. The few names, other than the two I already gave you, that I found have proven to be dead ends. There was only two other names that surfaced and when I made some phone calls to find out information I found out one of them died about two weeks ago and the other is some fisherman dude that's been at sea for the last three months"
"Okay, keep digging Garcia, there's something we are missing and it is starting to make me very angry. Rossi and I are going to head to Emily and JJ's house to see if there is anything there we might be able to find"
"Sir I stayed there last night and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary" she told him
Hotch nodded, "Well we are going to look anyway"
Garcia nodded and began typing away on her computer as Hotch walked out of his office.
Once Rossi and Hotch made it to the Prentiss-Jareau household they pulled into the driveway, noticing Garcia red convertible parked at the top. They pulled up behind it before getting out of the SUV and walking around to the backyard.
"Let's look around outside, first, see if anything seems unusual or out of place" Hotch said as he began walking through the grass along the back porch
Rossi nodded as he turned and walked to the fence line. He began carefully walking and looking around to see if anything seemed out of place. He got to the corner where there were some bushes and flowerbed. As he looked closer he saw that there was a cigarette butt in the soil by the bush. He crouched down and as he looked closer he could see footprints behind the bushes as well.
"Hotch" Rossi shouted across the yard
The leader immediately headed over to where the older man was still crouched down. As he knelt down beside Rossi, he saw what Rossi was looking at. Hotch pulled out a baggy and carefully slipped the cigarette butt into the bag before sealing it.
"I'm going to call the crime unit over here. Maybe they will be able to find something else"
Rossi nodded as they both stood up and Hotch made the phone call. Once he hung up he turned to face the back of the house, the same way Rossi was.
"What are you thinking?" Hotch asked
"I'm trying to figure out what he was looking at. Was he watching Emily and JJ? Or just one of them? What if it wasn't them at all, what if he was watching one of the boys?"
Hotch looked up at the bedroom windows that overlooked the backyard, "Well if he was watching the boys, it would have been Ethan and Henry because they are on this back side, Declan's window faces the front"
Rossi nodded, "But then he would have a clear view of Emily and JJ's room from here also. If they had the curtains open, or even the French doors open to their bedroom you could probably see in pretty well"
Hotch nodded, "I'm going to go up there and open the curtains in all of those rooms. You tell me how much you can see"
Rossi nodded as Hotch walked up the steps to the back porch, before pulling out a spare key and opening the back door. He closed the door behind him and a few minutes later Rossi saw the blinds in the boys room go up. Then a few minutes later the blinds in Penny's room went up, and lastly the curtains across the French doors in the master bedroom opened up. Rossi stood back by the bush and looked at each room when his phone rang.
"What can you see?" Hotch asked as he stood behind the closed French doors
"I can't see much in Penny's room, probably because her bed isn't near the window. The boy's room I can see into a little better, but I can't see their bunk beds. I could probably see them if they were getting something out of their closet or dresser"
"What about up here. Can you see into the master bedroom?"
Rossi turned his attention to the small balcony where the French doors remained closed but the curtains open. The older man could see Hotch clearly as he stood next to the doors.
"I can see you right now. Try walking more to the middle of the room, maybe towards the bed"
Rossi watched as Hotch's form slowly started to move backwards.
"Well I can definitely make out a silhouette. You're sitting on the bed aren't you?"
"Yes. Okay I'm going to open the doors and you let me know if you can see more of the room that way" Hotch said
Rossi waited as Hotch opened the French doors to the master bedroom and then began to walk around the room.
"Any different?" the team leader asked
"Just a little bit. I can obviously see you more clearly. Will you walk into the bathroom and then walk back out" Rossi asked
Hotch complied and as he came back out of the bathroom Rossi spoke up, "I can clearly see you come out of the bathroom, as well as the majority of the front half of the bedroom, but anything else I can't see at all"
Hotch nodded, "So we think they were watching JJ and Emily, not the kids"
"It seems most plausible, but there's still the possibility that these guys could have been watching Ethan and Henry as well, which might explain why they took the whole family"
"Maybe" Hotch replied, "Let's look around inside while we wait for the crime unit to get here"
Rossi nodded and hung up his phone before heading inside through the back door. The two men began to slowly look through the kitchen and the living room, but nothing seemed out of place, but the fact that Garcia and Kevin had both stayed the night there previously didn't help.
Soon the crime unit arrived and after they gathered evidence from outside they moved indoors and began combing the downstairs for anything that might point to foul play. However, about half an hour into the search, one of the techs found a bug tucked up inside the kitchen light that hung above the sink. He pulled it out and showed it to Hotch and Rossi.
The two men looked at one another and both of them were thinking the same thing. The only other time that they had been bugged was a little over four years ago when Emily went after Doyle and some of his men had bugged their phones, offices, and homes.
"We need to talk to Garcia and get back to the office" Hotch stated as he turned to walk out the back door
Before he exited he turned to the techs, "Search the entire house for any bugs, cameras, anything"
They nodded as Rossi and Hotch walked down the steps of the back porch and climbed into the SUV. They sped back to headquarters as fast as they could.
"There's no way Doyle is back Hotch. He's dead. Morgan killed him" Rossi stated
"I realize that Dave, but I still think it is someone connected to him or his past"
"But even when we were searching for him, we didn't find any relatives and the men who worked for him were all killed or put in prison" Rossi added
"What if they didn't all die or end up in prison. What if there are still some out there?"
"That would mean that most likely it's someone who had to have known Emily personally when she was undercover" Rossi said, as the actuality of that began to hit home with him
Hotch nodded, "And that someone wants revenge, not just on her, but on all of us"
"Well it kind of makes more sense now. Especially if this person knew that Morgan is the one who killed Doyle"
Hotch nodded, "Or that could have been due to what Garcia said earlier about the relationships amongst the team"
"True, but Aaron…If this is true…If it is someone connected to Doyle's past, and he knows Emily, personally, she's not going to make it out this time. And I'm afraid to think of what will happen to the rest of them…Hell, I'm afraid to even think about what's already happened to them" Rossi said
Hotch nodded, "I know"
As soon as they made it back to headquarters they headed straight for Garcia's office. Garcia spun around in her chair and she knew by the look on the two men's faces that something was wrong.
"Oh my God, what's wrong? Is it Reid? Morgan? Oh no-"
She was cut off by Hotch, "Garcia it's not them okay. I need you to dig up as much information on Ian Doyle as you can"
"What? But…but he's dead. He is dead isn't he? Because if he's-"
"Garcia he's dead" Rossi assured her, "But we think one of his accomplices may still be alive and we think he is behind everything that has happened"
Garcia's jaw hung open at what the older man had just told her.
"Garcia, now" said Hotch
"Right" she replied as she spun back around in her chair and began typing away on her computer, "I just wish everything and everyone associated with Ian Doyle would just die already" she said angrily as she hit the keys on the keyboard slightly harder than needed
Right after she said that she immediately stopped typing and spun back around to look at her two bosses, "Except Emily of course…and Declan…and Ethan. I just-"
"We know what you meant Garcia" Rossi replied as he spun her back around in her chair to face the computers, "Now work your magic"
"The results aren't going to magically appear. And you two hovering isn't going to make things go any faster" the bubbly blonde stated, feeling the two men hovering behind her
"Let us know as soon as you find anything" ordered Hotch as he and Rossi turned and left the room
The two men headed to Hotch's office and once inside, began to pull files on all the men associated with Doyle that they had either caught or killed over four years ago. A few hours later, after making several phone calls to prisons, they found that none of the men from four years ago that they had captured had been released.
Hotch got up and began to pace his office while Rossi remained sitting in the chair. The team leader then left his office and walked down to Rossi's. The older man got up and followed Hotch, watching as he entered his office. Rossi leaned against the doorframe as he watched Hotch bend down next to the air mattress that they had set up for Jack and Penny. Hotch brushed his hand over Jack's caramel hair, the boy not moving a muscle. The boy was sleeping on his stomach, his head facing Hotch, one hand tucked under his stomach while the other was thrown haphazardly over his pillow. Hotch then leaned over Jack carefully and gently stroked Penny's cheek. The toddler didn't react at all, instead she remained in a deep sleep, laying on her back, her chest rising and falling at a steady pace.
As the team leader stood back up and turned he found Rossi standing in the doorway, "We are going to find them Aaron"
"I hope so. I think I'm just afraid of what we are going to find" he replied
As Hotch was walking towards Rossi and the two men were exiting the office, Jessica was walking towards them.
"Are they okay?" she asked in a worried voice
"Yes they're sleeping" Hotch answered
Jessica nodded in relief, "Have you found out anything?"
Hotch shook his head, "We're working on it. You should get some rest"
Jessica nodded, "Easier said than done"
"Feel free to use the couch in my office" Hotch told her
"That's okay, I think I'll stay with Jack and Penny" she told him
"Of course" Hotch replied
Jessica then walked into Rossi's office and sat down next to the air mattress as she watched the kids sleep.
As Hotch and Rossi walked back into Hotch's office, his cell phone rang. When he finished his serious conversation he turned to Rossi who was standing there, clearly waiting to find out what Hotch had just been told.
"That was the hospital in Virginia Beach. Reid's out of surgery but he's still in critical condition" the leader looked up at the older man and he could tell Rossi wanted more information than that
"He has three broken ribs, a broken leg, a major concussion with some brain swelling, and one of his ribs punctured his lungs, which is why he was having trouble breathing and began bleeding internally"
Rossi nodded before asking, "Are they going to be able to move him?"
"They want to see how he does through the night. If he seems to do alright, then they said they would call in the morning to make arrangements. For now there are two officers posted outside his room in ICU"
Hotch moved to sit down at his desk as Rossi followed suit, sitting in a chair in front of the desk. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each man taking in the information they had just been given, as well as trying to figure out who was behind these acts of revenge.
"Are we sure that Doyle didn't have any relatives at all?" Rossi asked, breaking the silence
"Garcia couldn't find any connections when she searched the last time" replied Hotch
"I just find it hard to believe that he has absolutely no relatives, or that Declan's mother didn't have any relatives. Doesn't that sound suspicious?"
"Not if Doyle grew up in an orphanage" Hotch pointed out
"But if so there would be a record of that, right?"
Hotch understood his point and immediately intercommed Garcia, asking her to look up that information.
"I'll do what I can, but I'm not making any promises, the orphanages over there haven't been known to keep very good records" she informed the two men
"Just do what you can" Hotch said before ending the conversation
Hotch looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly 11pm. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
"We are going to find them Aaron…We have too" Rossi stated
"Then why haven't we found anything. It seems like everywhere we go and everywhere we look is just a dead end. I feel helpless" Hotch stated, obviously frustrated as he shoved his chair back in anger and stood up before walking out of the office
As Rossi watched him leave, he sighed, shaking his head, before saying out loud, to himself, "Me too Aaron…me too"
A/N: Please remember what I said up above and remember to review this story and tell me what you think of the situation, every thought and opinion will count towards building me or bringing me down, lol.
