Chapter 12
They next day didn't bring a new case, so Hotch was home in time for dinner; and he was ecstatic to see that Kahlan had fixed a roast. She smacked his hand playfully as he tried to steal a piece as soon as he walked in the door. "Go wash up while I set the table," she told him as she shoved him out of the kitchen.
He walked backwards as he stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth with a cocky look. He almost tripped on the rug in the hall, though, and she busted out laughing.
"That's what you get!"
He huffed, but turned around to walk they right way.
The house phone rang as she was reaching for the plates, so Joey jumped up to answer it. "I got it," she told her mother as she reached up and took the phone off the hook. "Hotchner residence," she answered trying to sound grown up.
Kahlan giggled as she took the plates into the dining room.
"It's for you, Mommy. Some guy named Lucas," Joey called from the kitchen.
Hotch heard his daughter and then heard Kahlan slammed down the plates. Hotch shut off the water quickly so he could hear what was being said. What the hell is he calling again for?
"Thanks, Pumpkin," Kahlan told Joey as she took the phone from her.
Hotch strained to hear, but Joey went into the family room and turned on the TV. He winced as he dried his hands. What the hell? He went to the kitchen to innocently get the rest of the stuff to finish setting the table.
"Alright. . . No. . . No. . . That won't. . . no," she stressed.
Hotch could only hear half of the conversation, but it was clear that Kahlan was getting pissed from her tone and her free hand had balled into a fist. He looked at her with genuine concern, but she shook her head at him.
"Thank you," she finished and turned and hung up the phone.
He watched her take a deep breath, and as she turned around he took the silverware into the dining room to set the table. "Everything alright?" he asked her as she joined him and passed out the plates.
"Yes. He just wanted to let me know that my advice paid off. He shouldn't be calling me again."
He studied her for a minute, and then gave her a smile. "Of course your advice was right."
She finally smiled and then went to the steps to call the boys up.
He went into the kitchen and got the roast out of the pot. I hope that's all it was.
XXX
The next day found them case free again, so all the team had to worry about was catching up on paperwork.
Once they had everything done, and the case files turned in, Garcia suggested a visit to their favorite bar since it was still early. Everyone agreed and Hotch said he would if he could get Kahlan to join them.
"Ohhhh, let me invite her. I haven't seen Double-O in forever!" Garcia suggested with a little bounce.
Everyone laughed and Hotch told her to go ahead.
"Hell, I'll call Mina, too. We can make it a big family night out. We haven't done that in a long time," Morgan said as he took out his phone. That made almost everyone take out their phones and invite their other halves, too.
Within a minute, Kahlan text Garcia back and told her she would be there as soon as Donna got there to watch the kids, so they all grabbed their stuff and headed out.
Halfway through their first drink, Cam and Chuck showed up. "Where's Kay," Chuck asked quickly.
"She's on her way," Garcia told him as she hugged her husband. "Vinnie home with Cass?"
"Yeah. Her sister is here, too. She let me come out tonight so she can go out tomorrow," Chuck told her as he sat down. Everyone laughed at that. "What? I'm great with Cass!" he exclaimed and they all laughed some more.
Within ten minutes, Sam and Mina had shown up. "Is Cindi coming?" Mack asked Rossi.
"No, she's at Helen's house for the week," he told her as he took a drink of his scotch.
"Is Amy coming?" JJ asked Reid.
"Nope. She's on the night shift tonight," Reid told her.
Hotch finished his scotch and looked at his watch. He was starting to get worried that Kahlan wasn't going to actually come. He stood up. "I think I'm going to go ahead and go home. Apparently Kahlan's not coming," he told everyone.
Garcia frowned at him. "She said she was."
"And there she is!" Will told them as Kahlan walked in the door.
"Yay!" Garcia yelled and went and pulled her into a hug quickly.
"Sorry I'm late. I had to finish dinner and help Joey with a project," Kahlan offered as she hugged Garcia back.
"Nonsense! The kiddies come first!" Garcia assured her and then hooked her arm in Kahlan's and pulled her to the table. "We were just getting ready to order."
Kahlan told everyone 'hello' and sat down next to her husband after she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
Hotch smiled as he grabbed her hand and she gave him a smile, so he settled back to enjoy the evening.
After eating and some very enjoyable conversation, Morgan pulled Mina and Garcia out onto the dance floor.
Chuck grabbed Kahlan's phone. "Let's see how he likes the next song," Chuck told everyone with an evil smile.
"You can change the song using her phone?" Rossi asked him as he leaned in.
"It's an app that works with this type of jukebox. Anyone can do it," Chuck showed him.
"Another way technology lets people become even more lazy," JJ injected, and everyone laughed.
Sure enough, the next song sent Morgan back to his seat; it was an eighties rock song that couldn't really be danced to, and Chuck laughed at him.
"Behave!" Kahlan told Chuck and took her phone back.
"Here, let me pick one," Will cut in and Kahlan gave her phone to him with a smile.
The next song was a slow one, and all of the couples got up to dance.
Rossi looked at Reid and Chuck. "Now I know what a third wheel feels like."
Reid laughed. "Welcome to my world."
Rossi laughed and got up. "I'll go get us another round."
"And I've got to hit the head," Chuck told them as he got up.
Reid nodded and watched his friends having a good time on the dance floor.
Rossi went up to the bar and the bartender started filling up a tray with all of the drinks he knew so well. "Oh yeah, you need to add a Bud to that, too," Rossi told him with a smile.
"Ah. Is that what the big guy drinks?"
Rossi smiled. "Yep, and Sam's now a part of the group, so I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of him."
"Be right back," Bill told him as he went to retrieve the beer.
Rossi turned and leaned up against the bar, and almost choked on his own breath. Shit! He took out his phone and quickly texted Chuck to get over to the bar.
Chuck was already back to the table, so he just looked over his shoulder at Rossi questioningly. Rossi shot him a look, though, so he got up and quickly went over to him. "What?" Chuck asked knowing it wasn't because he wanted help carrying the drinks.
"I don't know what all is going on, but I have a feeling things are about to get dicey. . ." Rossi started as he gestured toward the other room with a slight nod of his head.
Chuck's look of confusion slowly turned to anger as soon as he saw what had Rossi so upset. "What the hell is he doing here?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing."
"He isn't even supposed to still be in the state, let alone in the same place we are." Chuck bit his lip and Rossi could tell he was worried. "Think we could get Donna to lie and say that she needs Hotch and Kay to go home?"
Rossi was shocked. "I don't know if Donna would do that or not. You don't want Kahlan to see him either? This isn't just something you all are trying to hide from Hotch?" Rossi asked as he studied the younger man.
"Now is not the time to profile me Rossi. That guy is bad news for everyone!"
"Alright. Do you want me to see if I can. . ." Rossi stopped midsentence as Lucas made his way into the connecting room that led the way to the backside of the dance floor.
Chuck quickly turned to see why Rossi had stopped speaking. "Damn it!" Chuck muttered under his breath.
Rossi relaxed as the song ended and his extending family made their way back to their table. "Can't you just make him leave?" Rossi asked him.
Chuck huffed. "I wish."
Rossi eyes got wide as he realized what Chuck meant. "How dangerous is that man?"
Chuck licked his lips. "I not even sure me and Cam could take him together."
"Can Kahlan take him?"
Chuck took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know," Chuck offered quietly.
"Do I need to be worried about anyone's safety?" Rossi asked quickly. He really didn't care what was going on exactly at that moment, but he definitely cared about whether or not someone could get hurt, especially Hotch.
"Take these over and quietly tell Cam to come here," Chuck told him as he picked up the tray of drinks and handed them to Rossi.
"Alright," Rossi agreed and took the drinks to the table with a smile on his face.
As he passed out the drinks, he leaned over and told Garcia to pick another slow song. If Hotch and Kahlan are dancing, they can't be watching the rest of the bar. Once he finished, he handed the tray to Cameron. "Take that back, would you?"
Cam could tell by the look Rossi gave him that it was more than just a suggestion. "Sure." He got up and took it to the bar and Chuck waved him over to the corner. "What the hell are you doing, you idiot?"
Chuck grabbed his collar and pulled him close. "Lucas is here!"
Cam's eyes shot open as he looked around quickly. "What?! Are you sure?"
"He's in that room. I think he's looking for Kay."
"He has to be tracing her phone. There's no way he is here out of coincidence."
"I thought Kay said he was gone?" Chuck asked him quickly.
"She did, and I even checked and his credit card was used to pay for a plane ticket home two days ago."
Chuck ran a hand down his face. "What do we do?"
"What the hell are you two up to?"
Kahlan's voice made them both startle because they didn't realize she had walked up behind them.
Cam ran a hand through his hair and Chuck gave her a worried look.
"What?" she demanded.
Chuck took a deep breath. "Lucas is here."
Her face showed shock for a split second but it quickly morphed into anger. "He's here?" she asked as she looked around.
"I think you should make up an excuse and take Hotch home," Chuck quickly suggested.
"That would look a little suspicious, don't you think?" she asked him as she eyed him.
"What are you going to do?" Cam asked her.
"I am going to go back over there and enjoy my evening with my family and friends. I would suggest you two do the same."
"But. . ."
"But what? I don't have anything to hide," she insisted and started away. "You told me Hotch knows that he was on the squad with us."
"What if he tries something?" Chuck asked her as he quickly caught up with her.
"He's not that stupid," she assured him.
"What if he comes up to you?" Cam asked her as he pulled her to a stop.
"Then I will deal with it. He has the same right to be here that we do. Would you two chill!" she told them and started back towards the table.
Chuck and Cam shared a looked that said they didn't see it going so well. Chuck shrugged, and Cam shook his head, but they quickly caught up with her.
"And what are you three up to?" Morgan asked with a grin as they made it back to the table.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Kahlan asked him with a grin as she sat back down and took a drink of her beer.
Hotch eyed Chuck and Cam warily, but he didn't say anything.
A slow song started and Kahlan grabbed Hotch's hand. "Come on," she told him and pulled him up. He smiled and took her to the dance floor.
