Story I – Chapter 14
Hotch took a deep breath as he shut the gate to the back yard behind him. He watched Kahlan as she walked with her hand in the crook of Rossi's elbow, and he mentally smiled.
"Alright, Sebastian, you have to show them the wolf trick first!" Chuck pleaded with a big grin.
Sebastian sighed. "Only if it will make you shut up about it."
Chuck put his right hand over his heart. "Promise."
Sebastian looked at everyone to make sure they were watching and he smiled.
"Ohhhh. I so wish I was there!" Garcia oozed loudly so Morgan held the laptop steady, and Garcia held her breath as she squeezed her husband's hand.
"Here, I'll hold that," Hotch offered from the other side of the group and Morgan suddenly realized his hands were empty and Hotch was brandishing the laptop.
"Ha. . . How did. . . My. . . Damn, Hotch!" he sputtered as he ran a hand over his head. "I didn't even see you move," he insisted as his voice grew quieter and he looked around at everyone else wondering if he'd lost his mind or if Hotch had truly just warped passed him. "Did you see that?!" he wanted to know.
Reid licked his lips as he shook his head, and Mack was wild eyed again and moved a little closer to Rossi as she stared at Hotch. "Can you teleport?"
Chuck laughed. "Nah, they just move really fast." He went and put his arm around Morgan's shoulders. "Jeeze, Derek, did that scare you?"
Morgan shoved him away. "No! I just wasn't expecting that!" he insisted as he stood up straighter.
"I thought I'd hold this so you could focus on Sebastian. I wouldn't want you dropping the man's laptop in excitement," Hotch offered innocently.
"Oh, alright. Thanks. I guess," Morgan uttered as his eyes narrowed.
"Well, try not to do that again. You almost gave me vertigo," Cam put in with a grin from the screen.
Hotch turned the screen and looked at it as he winced. "Sorry."
"Give it here," Kahlan ordered as she went over to her husband and took it from him. She gave him a little smile and then turned to Sebastian. "I think they're ready."
Sebastian nodded and quickly dropped to the ground in his wolf form, and Garcia actually squealed with glee.
Morgan gasped and stumbled back a step, JJ smiled, and Reid's jaw dropped as he was left speechless. Mack surprised them all, though, by not being surprised or scared; she took a step towards the animal and looked at Hotch. "Can I get closer?"
Hotch moved closer to her as he eyed the wolf. "I don't know."
The wolf let out a little whine and moved closer to her and Hotch tensed. He didn't know anything about being a wolf and he wasn't sure how safe it was for his youngest member to be close to it, but he knew he'd try to protect her if it came down to it.
The wolf looked at him and then looked back to Mack and stepped even closer to her. It was almost like he'd read Hotch's thoughts and Hotch was surprised to feel himself calm down, and he suddenly knew the wolf wouldn't do anything to hurt any of them. He smiled. "Go ahead, Jamie. He won't hurt you."
She smiled and closed the gap between them and reached out a slow hand, back of hand up, and let the wolf take in her scent. "I've always loved wolves," she whispered reverently.
Garcia clapped as the wolf moved even closer and let Mack touch it. "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen! You are the luckiest girl alive!"
Mack smiled at the laptop and then stepped back away from the wolf because she didn't want to seem too pushy.
"I told you!" Chuck beamed.
Kahlan eyed the rest of the team. "Go ahead, Derek. Introduce yourself."
Morgan shook his head so fast, he almost fell over with the movement. "Nah. I'm fine right where I am."
Kahlan had to bite back a laugh; they all knew about Morgan's innate fear of wild animals.
JJ giggled and grabbed Reid's arm and pulled him toward the wolf. She stopped just out of reach and looked at Hotch. "You think he understands us?"
Hotch looked at the wolf and smiled. "Yes," he said with certainty even though he wasn't quite sure how he knew.
"I wonder what it feels like to be a wolf," Reid muttered as he reached out and ran his fingers through the wolf's fur.
"I'm sure that will be one of the many questions you ask," JJ told him with a smile.
"Alright. I think it's time we stopped treating our host as an experiment. . ." Rossi started.
JJ gasped and Reid smiled as Sebastian changed right in front of them and straighten his shirt as he looked at Rossi. "I didn't feel that way at all, Agent Rossi. They were just curious."
"Cause it's cool as shit!" Chuck insisted again.
"Yes, Charles. It's cool as shit, as you keep stating," Sebastian agreed as he stepped up to the man and leaned in close. "It's even cooler being the wolf," he whispered and Chuck's grin grew even wider.
Sabastian let out a little chuckle and turned back to the group. "What else can I show you?"
Kahlan looked towards the two story house and then back to the experienced vampire. "Can you climb that?" she asked as she pointed.
Sebastian smiled and looked at Hotch. "Show them."
"But I. . ." Hotch tried as he shook his head.
"You can," Sebastian insisted.
"Ohhhhh, please," Garcia drew out as she held her hands up in prayer like fashion.
Hotch rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the house.
Kahlan and Rossi shared a look. Hotch was afraid of heights normally, and she didn't want him to embarrass himself. "Maybe you could just show him how since he isn't too sure," she offered with a look to the detective.
Sebastian eyed her for a moment, looked at Hotch, and then nodded. "Of course," he offered and then moved to the house. He jumped about half way up it, scaled the rest, and then disappeared over the roof line.
"Now, that's cool as shit!" Morgan exclaimed as he smiled. They were all watching the roof waiting for Bartles to come back into view.
"That was pretty amazing," Reid offered in agreement.
"You don't have to be afraid of heights anymore, Aaron. You won't fall, but even if you did, you won't be hurt," Sebastian whispered into Hotch's ear from behind.
Hotch tensed and turned, but he was gone. He took a deep breath and looked at his team who hadn't even noticed the vampire.
Sebastian appeared back on top of the house. "Anyone want to try it with me?"
Hotch ran a hand down his face. Come on Hotchner! If you can't use this to your advantage, then what good is it? He stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and then locked eyes with his wife as she turned to him. She looked unsure, but Hotch smiled and went towards the group.
He went to Morgan. "Come on, Derek," he insisted and then grabbed him so quickly that Morgan couldn't even register what was about to happen. "You think it's cool watching, let's see how you like doing it." Hotch offered with a wicked grin and leapt into the air. He and Morgan both soared up and to Kahlan's delight, Morgan shrieked the whole way, and they all laughed.
Hotch had jumped so hard, that they landed on the roof effortlessly. Morgan apparently didn't notice, though, because he was still latched onto his boss with his eyes squeezed shut. Hotch started to pry him off. "You can let go, now, Derek. You're safe."
Morgan's foot scraped around on the roof trying to make sure Hotch was telling the truth. Once he was sure he was on a solid surface, he opened his eyes and shoved Hotch away from him as he took a step back.
Hotch quickly grabbed his arm, though, because Morgan had moved too close to the edge. "Easy!"
Morgan eyed the long drop and backed away from it as he gave Hotch a dirty look. "Don't ever do that again!"
Hotch looked hurt. "I'm sorry. I thought you would like it since you found it so cool."
Morgan straightened his shirt and tried to find some of his lost dignity. "Yeah. . . Well. . . A warning might have been nice!"
Hotch nodded. "I'll try not to do that again without your permission."
Morgan huffed but then looked at the edge again. "How am I supposed to get back down?!"
"Allow me," Sebastian offered as stepped forward.
Morgan eyed him warily. "You don't have a fire escape?"
He shook his head. "No. Sorry. I can go get the ladder if you need it."
Morgan's eyes narrowed as he went over to the edge and looked down to find everyone staring up at him and still laughing amongst themselves. He straightened himself back up and tried to look braver than he felt. He shot a hard look to his boss. "Just get me down!"
Hotch bit back a chuckle and nodded as he stepped forward. "Hang on," he offered as he grabbed him in a bear hug and jumped.
Morgan cringed and held his breath as he waited to land.
"Welcome back, My Mocha Tiger," Garcia told him with a smile as they all saw him still clinging to Hotch.
"Tiger? More like house cat," Chuck put in with a laugh as Morgan finally let go of his boss.
"Let's see how you like it," Hotch offered slyly as he grabbed Chuck and did the same thing to him.
Chuck laughed, though, as he went up and as soon as he landed he smiled at everyone still on the ground. "That was awesome!" he yelled as they cheered. He turned back to Hotch. "Do it again!"
Hotch shook his head. "I should have known."
Sebastian laughed. "You did say he was crazy."
Hotch huffed and then smiled wickedly at Chuck. "Have a nice trip," he told him and pushed him right off the roof.
That made Chuck scream right along with everyone else as they watched him falling helplessly.
Hotch was to the ground before he hit, though, and caught him with a grin. "Was that awesome, too?" he asked with raised brows.
Chuck struggled out of Hotch's arms and then fixed him with a deadly look as he straighten. "You're lucky shooting you wouldn't do anything except ruin your shirt!" he hollered and everyone laughed.
Sebastian landed beside Hotch without a sound, and he smiled at his protégé. "Impressive. You're even stronger than other young ones I've seen."
Hotch cheeks heated with the praise, and Kahlan wrapped an arm around his waist. "That's my man!"
"Aaron excels at everything he does," Rossi offered and the 'proud papa' seeping into his tone couldn't be missed.
Hotch turned to him and smiled, but Rossi backed up a step and held his hand up. "But you try that shit with me, and you'll be grounded for a week!" he told him and they all laughed.
XXX
After a few more demonstrations, Hotch decided to call it a night. He could tell his whole team was tired, and when he really looked at Kahlan, he could tell she was exhausted even though she was covering it up. Sebastian offered for Reid to stay the night at his house so they could talk, and everyone else headed back to the hotel. Hotch planned on having one more meeting with the detective, but he promised the team that they would head back home by afternoon; so they all bid each other 'goodnight' and headed to their rooms.
Kahlan stopped to give Rossi a hug and Hotch went ahead and opened their room. He sighed as he looked around. Has it really only been one day? He turned when he felt a hand on his back, and Kahlan grinned at him. "I owe you double."
"Double?" he asked with furrowed brows.
She giggled. "You made Derek and Chuck both scream. Now, that, was awesome," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
He shook his head, but he grinned. "I have to admit, that was fun."
She giggled some more and then flicked her brows, but he took a step back. "Can I take a rain check, though?"
She tried not to frown as she studied him. "Of course."
He gave her a small smile and then went towards his bag.
"What's wrong, Aaron?" she asked with a soft voice as she went up behind him.
"Nothing," he told her as he turned and looked towards the wall. "Except that Dave's on one side and Mack's on the other." He cringed. "That'd be almost as bad as one of the kids hearing us."
She giggled as she nodded. "That's true." She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We'll be home tomorrow."
He nodded and then turned back to his bag and got his pajamas out of it.
She studied him and the tilt of his shoulders and knew it was more than that, and she sighed. "Why don't you go take a nice long, hot shower?" she offered as she placed a tender hand on his back. She knew his mind was probably reeling from everything it was trying to process now that he had a moment to himself.
He looked over his shoulder at her and then nodded again. "That sounds nice."
She smiled. "Go ahead. Then we can relax in each other's arms and drift off into dreamland together."
He smiled as he turned and leaned down and kissed the end of her nose. "That sounds even better."
She giggled as she shoved him towards the bathroom and he chuckled as he went. She watched as he shut the door behind him, and she sighed. We'll get you through this, Hun.