*Just a heads up: school's out here, and while there will still be daily updates, they just won't be as early.

Chapter 25

Morgan yawned as he and Mack watched from an SUV as a man quickly left his house and got into his car. He peeled out of his driveway so fast that he almost hit another car that was going down the road; it was morning and everyone was headed to work. Morgan shook his head and put the SUV in drive to follow. "I'd say he's agitated."

Mack huffed. "He's more than agitated. That man is scared."

Morgan glanced at her and then nodded. "Maybe that means we're on the right trail."

Mack nodded and called Rossi to let him know their man was on the move.

XXXXX

Across town, JJ and Reid were also following someone; a woman. She had left her house and headed to her job. JJ took a deep breath as she got out of the SUV. "Come on. We don't want to lose her inside."

Reid nodded and they both sped up to keep the woman in view.

XXXXX

Rossi put his phone away and looked at Kahlan. "Well, looks like two of the possibles are on the move."

Kahlan took a deep breath and nodded. "If we find out that they are the ones the unsubs have under their thumbs, and we stop them. . . Won't the unsubs find out and get pissed?"

Rossi pursed his lips as he thought about it. "You're worried about what they'll do with the hostages?"

Kahlan raised her brows. "Yeah."

He took a deep breath and they both turned as Agent Colson entered the Command Truck. "Agent Hotchner, Ma'am, I was thinking and well. . ."

"Say whatever's on your mind, Agent. No one will bite your head off for thinking."

He licked his lips. "Well, the man in charge in there is using a cell. I was thinking that we should set up a jammer. If he can't send and receive calls, then he can't give anyone else any orders."

Kahlan smiled, but Rossi shook his head. "No, he'll be expecting that. When it doesn't work, he'll retaliate."

Colson smiled. "I was thinking about doing it sporadically, like the towers or something are messing up. We've used that ploy before and it worked to stall the perps for a good twenty minutes."

"Do you have that kind of equipment here?" Kahlan asked him.

He smiled again. "Yes, but it needs to be close. I could have one of my agents get on the roof."

"Excellent idea; get your agent in place but don't have them use it until you give the order," Kahlan told him.

He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," he told her and left.

Kahlan looked back to the monitors. Several agents had been able to place cameras around the gym and school, and while they weren't as good as the school's system, it was better than nothing. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"What?" Rossi asked as he studied her.

"If we have to go in. . . If the unsubs find out what we've done. . ." She shook her head. "We really need those kids out of that gym."

Rossi studied the screens and then looked at her. "True. That would be the safest thing, but how do we do that?"

"Can't Hotch's watch send and receive calls?" Chuck asked from a seat behind them.

Kahlan turned to him. "Yes, but what if the alert that says he's getting a call is too loud and he gets found out?"

Chuck winced at that thought. He took a deep breath and then shook his head. "It's a shame we don't have some way to talk to them in code."

A grin slowly grew on Kahlan's face and she giggled. "Have I told you I love you?"

His brows furrowed as he looked at his watch. "Not since it's been officially a new day."

"What?" Rossi asked.

Kahlan flipped a switch and a monitor came to life that showed Garcia's lair. Kahlan cringed when she saw the couple snuggled up together with Cam holding Garcia's head in his lap. They had worked their butts off to find who they thought the unsubs were after and they hadn't been needed since the team and agents set out to find them.

"Cam?" Kahlan whispered to try and not wake Garcia up.

He opened his eyes a slit and gave her a dirty look. "I'm beginning to hate you woman," he whispered back.

Kahlan giggled. "I know they disabled the security system, but can you get me into the intercom system?"

His brows furrowed as he sat up a little, his interest peaked, but he made sure not to jostle his wife too much. "That would be done easier on site, why?"

She smiled. "Because I have to get a message to Hotch."

XXXXX

Hotch rubbed his eyes. It had been a long night and he was fighting against sleep pulling at his eyelids. Joey had yet to wake up and her breathing softly against his chest made him want sleep even more; he had rid himself of his vest and his tie to try and stay cool and get more relaxed. Several of the parents had even curled up on the floor with their child, but Hotch couldn't allow himself that luxury. I have to stay awake to keep an eye on things. He knew inactivity was making it harder to stay awake because he knew if he had been up and moving around he wouldn't have had a problem. He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. And my ass is asleep!

He tried to shift himself onto one hip to get the blood flowing back where it was supposed to be and when he did, he noticed two unsubs discussing something on the other side of the doors to the hall. While he couldn't hear what was being said, he could tell the discussion was heated by way they were gesturing. Ut-oh. He fingered the watch. "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like a couple of our unsubs are upset about something," he whispered and then let the watch point towards the doors. Once one of the men stormed away, Hotch turned the watch back to him. "And I don't know what you all are doing, but I would really appreciate it if you hurried up. Sitting on this hard floor is killing me," he told it with a grin. "Seriously, though, you may want to have someone offer to bring in breakfast. I don't want to think about being stuck in a gym with thirty cranky kids."

XXXXX

Kahlan laughed as she watched her husband on the screen. "Idiot."

Rossi put his arm around her shoulder. "Gotta love him."

Kahlan nodded. "That I do."

"He has a point, though," Rossi added and then took a deep breath. He sat down roughly and ran a hand down his face.

Kahlan looked to him with eyes full of concern. None of them had any sleep and she was worried it was taking a toll on him. "You alright?" He sighed and looked her in the eyes. When she saw his starting to water, she knelt down next to him. "What?"

He licked his lips and swallowed hard. "I really don't want to ask him if he'll allow food or not."

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

He cringed. "When a hostage situation goes on for so long. . . It's a good indicator of where things are going to lead."

She sat back on her heels as she studied him. "In other words, if he says they can't have anything. . ." Her stomach twisted into a knot. "Then he doesn't have any plans of them ever getting out of there."

Rossi nodded, unable to find his voice. He really didn't want to consider anything bad happening to the man he loved like a son and especially not his Goddaughter/granddaughter, his Bella.

Her eyes darted around and then settled on Chuck. He ran a hand through his hair. "You get those kids out of there and we can have those bastards taken out in under a minute!"

She stood up as she inhaled deeply and put hand on Rossi's shoulder. "Go call him. See what he wants to do. That will tell us which direction we have to take."

He cleared his throat as he stood up. He knew she didn't want to go commando on this op because she was trying to handle it like she thought Hotch would, but he also knew that she would do whatever it takes to keep her family safe and that included going in there and handling them all on her own if need be. He pulled her into a hug. "I'll do my best, Kiddo."

She squeezed him. "That's the only thing you know how to do."

He smiled as he pulled away and then left to go to the phone, praying the whole time that the unsub actually answered.

Chuck fixed her with a serious look. "And if need be, you know we can do it even with the kids there."

She cringed. "Yeah, just what I want any of those innocent babies to see: seven heavily armed people attacking and killing those men right in front of them. That could damage them for life."

He swallowed hard. "But if it comes down to it. . ."

"Yes! IF it comes down to saving those kids, but not before."

He nodded. "Of course."

XXXXX

Hotch heard a little giggle and looked down to see his daughter's eyes open. She smiled. "You have to go pee now, don't you?"

Hotch raised his brows in surprise at her question. "I have very good control of my bladder, thank you very much."

She giggled again. "Then why are you squirming around."

He sighed. "Because I have this giant pain in my butt on me cutting off the circulation to my legs," he joked as he tickled her.

She laughed and squirmed and rolled off of him. As she sat up, she looked around and sighed. "I was so hoping that I would wake up in my bed and this had been a dream."

He pulled her close to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I know, Angel." He drew his knees up hoping the movement would help ease the stiffness and he noticed several of the kids starting to wake up. Even during the summer, the little ones still wake up early. He smiled as the first thing Billy did when he sat up was look to check on Joey. Joey nodded to him and he nodded back and then they both looked to Maddie. She shook her head at them and Hotch chuckled. What I wouldn't give to be able to read their minds.

XXX

About an hour later, another armed guard came through the hallway door. "Alright, everyone wake-up!" he yelled.

Hotch's brows furrowed as he struggled to get standing and pushed Joey behind him. What the hell is going on now?

The guard looked around. "You!" he yelled as he pointed at a woman. "And you!" he added as he then pointed at Hotch. "Get over here!"

"Daddy?" Joey whispered as she grabbed the back of his pants.

Hotch reached back and peeled her hand off. "It'll be alright," he assured her and he prayed that wasn't a lie.

"Come on!" the guard yelled and the woman flinched and Hotch sped up and their eyes met. He could tell she was frightened and he couldn't blame her.

Hotch straightened himself up as he got close to the man. "What?"

The doors behind the man opened and another unsub pushed in a cart. The man gestured to the people in the gym. "You two can pass out breakfast."

Hotch relaxed. "Oh," he offered as he took the cart and gave the woman a look hoping to calm her down. "We can do that."

The woman nodded and moved in beside Hotch as he headed over to the first person. He opened the top of the cart and smiled at the choice of breakfast: yogurts, granola bars, and little milk cartons. Did they steal this out of the school's fridge? He shook his head. And no utensils to make a weapon out of. Someone's smart.

He grabbed two of each item and then handed them to the woman and she passed them to the man and his daughter who were sitting at the end of the wall. As they moved on to the next people, the lady looked towards the unsubs and then moved closer to Hotch. "So you're Joey's dad?"

Hotch grinned. "Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

She smiled. "I'm Mrs. Markham, Seth's mom."

Hotch's brows rose just slightly as he reached into cart and handed her some more to hand out.

She laughed lightly. "I can't believe we haven't actually met with as close as Seth is to Joey," she continued as they made their way down the line.

Hotch's brows furrowed with that and shot a look to his daughter across the gym. Ok, so Seth is a liar on top of everything else. You just stay away from him, Angel.

"Seth became instantly smitten with her on Joey's first day. He went on and on about the new girl at school. 'You should see her, Mommy. She's really smart. She can climb to the top of the jungle gym quicker than everyone else. She has long dark hair and dark eyes.'" She laughed again. "For over an hour he talked about her, and when I finally asked him what her name was he shook his head and said he didn't know. I asked him how they had played if he didn't know her name and he turned beet red and said he didn't play with her, that all he did was watch her."

"Oh yeah?" Hotch asked as they continued.

"That whole first week, all I heard about was Joey. 'She can throw a football, Mommy. She plays with matchbox cars, she plays with GI Joes, she likes playing in the dirt', and on and on. We knew he liked her. To him she was the perfect girl, but after a couple weeks of that, my husband and I knew Seth was just too shy to say anything to her." She sighed. "I'm so glad he's gotten passed that stage."

Hotch licked his lips and looked at her. "He and Joey are not friends. They've never even talked."

Mrs. Markham faltered a step. "What?"

Hotch shook his head as he handed her two little cartoons of milk. "No. Joey said she tried to play with him before, but he ignored her. She thinks he doesn't like her."

"But. . . He. . ."

"He's actually said they're friends?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. "Now that I think about it. . . No. I guess. . . I just thought. . ." She shook her head. "I can't believe he still hasn't worked up enough courage." She sighed. "He's always been a little awkward."

"He seemed to be doing just fine at the dance," Hotch pointed out.

She looked at him. "Oh. . . you're talking about Rachel and her friends?"

Hotch shrugged. "I don't know who they were but they were surrounding Seth."

She shook her head. "Rachel and her little group are Jefferson's mean girls if you can believe that. Seth despises them, but we have raised him to be a gentleman and he would never be mean to anyone especially a girl."

Hotch studied her for a moment and then looked toward Seth. The boy looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, and Hotch chuckled.

"He probably thinks Joey wouldn't like him. He's not like other boys his age."

Hotch looked at her. "How so?" He knew all about kids who weren't normal and he was suddenly very interested if not a little worried.

"Well, he'd rather read than play video games. He loves mysteries and stuff like that. My husband says that's our fault for letting him watch Scooby Doo when he was a toddler, but I like Scooby Doo. I think it's a lot better than some of the cartoons that are out now a days!"

Hotch chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with Scooby."

"He loves Sherlock Holmes, now. I think he has read and watched everything ever put out with him in it."

Hotch smiled. "Sherlock's pretty cool, too."

"He'd rather watch discovery Channel than Cartoon Network, and a lot of the kids think that is very strange."

"Joey's favorite is Animal Planet." Hotch looked at the boy again. I like him more and more.

She shook her head again. "I don't know what his problem is. It's obvious he's wants her to like him."

"How so?"

She laughed. "He started collecting Pokémon cards," she told him after handing out more food and moving to the next people.

Hotch's brows furrowed. "Don't a lot of kids collect those? I know Joey does."

She laughed. "He doesn't even play Pokémon, but he started spending every cent he could earn from mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling walks. . . all on Pokémon cards. When I asked him why he was collecting them when he didn't even play the games, he said it was because Joey was looking for certain cards and he was trying to find them for her."

Hotch laughed. "Really? How was he doing that if they weren't friends?"

She huffed. "He said he slipped them into her locker because he didn't want her to know they were from him, but it still never hit me that it was because he couldn't talk to her."

Hotch knew all about the secret admirer who left Pokémon cards. Joey would get at least one a month and she was always so happy when she found one, but she could never figure out who had given them to her. He took a deep breath and looked towards his daughter who had moved over to Billy and his mom and then turned back to Mrs. Markham. "I think Joey took his shyness as dislike in the beginning."

She pursed her lips. "Well, maybe if we all make it out of here, we can try to get them to at least tell each other hello."

Hotch nodded. "Or we might have to accidently show up at the park at the same time one day."

She laughed. "They're too smart for that; they would know we set it up."

Hotch's brows quirked. "That's true." He noticed another unsub come into the gym and was watching them so he leaned closer to her. "I don't think they want us talking," he whispered. She eyed the men and nodded and they finished passing out breakfast in silence.