I'm sorry this is so short and so late. Life is getting in the way again. My niece is in the hospital in labour as I write this. I'm very excited but it means updating my stories may take a backseat for a few days. Sorry!

I'm also very nervous. My other niece had a baby two years ago. Seth was perfect, but he passed away suddenly when he was three weeks, three months old. I'm not sure that I can face that again. I know, morbid thinking but it's hard not to. Anyway, hopefully tomorrow we will have a new edition to our family.

I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Not much happens but it helps to set things up for the rest of it, I hope.

Susanne

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"So," Hotch stated, glancing over at Sheriff Hicks. "Who exactly is following us?"

They were approximately half way home. Hotch was in the passenger seat of the SUV while Reid was sprawled in the back seat. During the entire trip Hotch had found it difficult to not be hyper vigilant. He knew Mary was dead and Doug in jail but he still found it hard to not be looking over his shoulder for them. That was how he noticed the dark coloured muscle car staying three cars behind them. The highway was busy but not so much so that he didn't see them.

"Oh, that would be the sibling bounty hunters," Sheriff Hicks responded, a small smile on his face. "They wanted to make sure you got home safely as well. I didn't think you'd appreciate riding home with them."

Reid forced his protesting body up and looked over the seat towards the vehicle shadowing them. Yep, that was them. He smiled. Truth be told, he'd rather be driving with the brothers than with the serious men up front. There had been far too much seriousness in his life of late.

"Are they going to follow us all the way to Quantico?" Hotch asked, watching the vehicle in the side view mirror.

"Probably. I heard them talking before I came to get you. They don't plan on doing any bounty hunting until after the hearing next month. I imagine they'll stay in the vicinity until them," Hicks stated.

OOOOO

"So, do you think they're going to hug?" Dave asked. He knew it wasn't likely but he loved to bug his brother. Jared was the more emotional of the two brothers. Dave wasn't sure if it was because he was younger or just more sensitive. It didn't really matter which, though, Dave would use either excuse to terrorize his brother.

"Yeah, they're going to have an orgy all the way to Quantico," Jared replied, sarcasm dripping from every word. He glanced at his big brother, piloting the car through the busy highway.

"That I really don't want to see," Dave stated, a grimace crossing his face. Okay, so the orgy reference wasn't the best one he could have used. He knew what his brother had been through and tried very hard to be sensitive to things that would bother him. On occasion, though, things just slipped out, like now. Luckily, Jared didn't seem to be taking it to heart. His face hadn't gone pale and colour hadn't risen in his pale cheeks.

"You're the one who created the mental picture, not me," Jared responded. He grinned as he watched his older brother squirm a little in his seat. Dave was a bit of a homophobe. It made times like these particularly special.

"Ah, man," Dave said, still squirming. Beside him, he could hear his kid brother chuckling. That in itself was an improvement. It was almost worth getting that awful picture in his head. Almost.

"Hurry up," Jared said. They'd fallen behind the police SUV by five cars now. "We're going to lose them."

"No, we're not," Dave responded, an evil grin on his face. Humming an AC/DC song, he sped up.

OOOOO

Walking into his apartment, Hotch paused in the entryway and took a deep breath. It seemed like an eternity since he'd been home, much less alone. He moved over to his answering machine and saw that it was flashing. He had messages. For a moment he debated whether to check them or wait until he'd had a little while at home. Deciding there was no time like the present Hotch pushed the button and waited.

The first three messages were someone trying to sell him something. He erased them and moved on. The next five were from Hayley. The first one wasn't so bad, just a friendly hello and a few words from Jack. The sound of his son's voice brought tears to his eyes. As the messages progressed, however, he could hear the concern increasing with each new message. He knew he should have called Hayley, to let her know he was okay personally but he hadn't been able to face it. Rossi had made the phone call for him.

It was a form of cowardice. Hotch knew it but there wasn't much he felt like doing about it at the present time. He had to take the time to get his head screwed on straight before he saw his son. Jack was smart. He always knew when something was wrong with his father and Hotch had no intentions of trying to explain the nightmare he'd just been through.

The least two messages were from Strauss. He'd assumed the woman would know that he wasn't at home but apparently not. Then he heard the time code on each message. She'd called today. Sighing, he decided to wait until tomorrow to return her calls. Just then his new cell phone vibrated. Checking the call display he sighed again.

"Hotchner," he said as he keyed it on. He steeled himself against the voice on the other end. Strauss didn't sound very happy.

"I've been calling you, Agent Hotchner. I was expecting you into the office today," Strauss said.

"I won't be coming in today, neither will Reid. We were just released from the hospital this morning," Hotch said. As he spoke he carefully settled into his couch in the living room. He was already starting to feel very tired. Damn he'd hoped his strength would come back faster than it was. At this rate he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive a full day at work. Luckily, he could get away with spending a lot of time at his desk.

"Your team is heading out to Chicago in thirty minutes. Aren't you even vaguely curious about the case?" Strauss asked. Hotch could hear the accusation in her voice. Clearly she thought he should be at his desk. Well, Morgan and Rossi were perfectly capable of handling a case on their own. All ready Hotch could feel the tension building up inside his mind and body.

"I'll have Garcia send me the information and I'll go over the case here at home. I'll be in the office first thing in the morning. Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss all know my cell phone number if they need anything," Hotch stated.

"Do you think that will suffice?" Strauss asked. There was that accusation in her voice again.

"I'm afraid it will have to do for today," Hotch said. He didn't care much what the woman thought, his superior or not. He knew that neither one of them were capable of being much help. Not until after they'd both had a good night's sleep.

"All right, I will see both of you in the morning." With that, Hotch's superior hung up. Resting his head against the back of his couch, Hotch closed his eyes. Absently, he rested his hand on his side and hip. He wasn't sure if it was phantom pain or if they still ached as badly as they seemed to. And so it began again.

OOOOO

Sheriff Hicks dropped Reid off last. He parked his SUV and helped the kid carry his bag into his apartment. For some reason he had to make sure he knew the kid was safe behind a locked door before he could leave. With Hotch, he'd dropped him off on the sidewalk outside his apartment building and watched until he'd gone inside. That just wouldn't do with Reid.

"Make sure you lock this thing once I leave," Hicks stated as he headed toward the door.

"Yes, mother," Reid responded, a grin on his face. He was used to being treated like a child. For once, though, it felt kind of reassuring. He'd dropped his bag on a chair in his foyer. He turned on his crutches to face the man.

"Don't sass me, boy," Hicks said with a smile on his lips. "I'll see you and your boss in a month."

Before Hicks had a chance to close the door, the brothers were in the hallway, making a b-line for Reid's door. Dave had two boxes of pizza in his hands while Jared had a couple of bags of groceries.

"What are you doing here?" Hicks asked.

"We were hoping we could crash for the night. Since we're not currently working the money is getting a little tight. We'd rather not pay for a hotel room for the night. Besides, we need someone to help us eat all this pizza," Jared stated.

Hicks glanced over at the young profiler. "Is that okay with you?" he asked. He'd chase the guys out if Reid told him to.

"No, no, that's fine," Reid stated, pleasantly surprised. He'd been dreading the idea of spending his first night alone at home. He enjoyed his own company but it would be nice to have something to distract his mind from things. "I have lots of room."

"Okay," Hicks said as he stepped aside to let the young men enter Reid's apartment.

"We figured you wouldn't have much for groceries so we stopped and picked up a few things along the way," Jared said. "Where would you like them?"

"The kitchen. Thank you," Reid said watching as the brothers descended on his apartment. Feeling much better, he nodded at the sheriff before shutting his door on the man. This was going to be more fun than reading journals all night.

Grinning, Hicks had a thought. Hotchner wouldn't have much for groceries either. Maybe he'd like a little bit of company too. It beat driving all the way back home today. Humming quietly to himself, he headed down to the main floor and his cruiser. At the very least the man needed the bare essentials if he was going to make it to morning.