Chpt. 29
Don't own squat; sometimes I forget to mention it…..or not so much forget, but a girl can dream right.
(Imagine Dragons, Radioactive)
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah
Woah
I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We're painted red to fit right in
Whoa
I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
All systems go, the sun hasn't died
Deep in my bones, straight from inside
I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
(In Chapter 28, you met James, the highwayman. This chapter opens with Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan asking him a few further questions).
"What I don't get….I understand you're here to help Alecta and the twins. But what I haven't figured out is….Spirits don't usually attach themselves to objects or people." Morgan said.
"Who have you been talking to sir? We can do what we bloody well please. Well, within reason. We can cross bodies of water, everyone thinks that is an obstacle, when actually it acts as a conductor…water makes it worse. And after the time you spent with Alecta at her home, have you learned nothing about us at all? Daphne has her doll, 'Revolutionary Dan' has his jacket, Constance has her deck of cards, Abigail and Ezra have their rings, Dorian has….Well he's Dorian, he's paying for his sins….We can go anywhere we want, we can be mere shadows, or we can become solid, as I am now. The only thing that we are rarely allowed to do, except in utter emergencies is to hurt one of the living. That particular trick….someone has to be in grave danger for us to be allowed to use physical force to hurt one of the living."
"What about this strange diplomat you speak of? What are you allowed to do to him?" Rossi glanced up from the girls sitting with the strange man.
"Anything it takes. He's not alive, he's not dead. He's evil, the devil really. No, that's not accurate, even the devil has better sportsmanship. I should know, I did meet him once. This monster will stop at nothing to either have her by his side or to cage her up to control her, or he will try his dead level best to kill her."
"Why does he hate Alecta so much?" Hotch asked the question that seemed to be on everyone's mind at the moment.
James (Mr. Man) thought for a second, he needed to find just the right words. "They have history together."
"You don't say. Could you be a little bit vaguer?" Rossi asked.
"Look. What do you know about your girl, Alecta?" James looked over to Hotch.
"She's in her late 30's, say 38. She has six children; well she is expecting numbers 7 and 8. She's from NC. Her father was abusive; she was lead to believe that her mother was dead since she was four years old. She used to work for the LAPD. She was married twice…."
"HA! You know practically nothing. Your good friend Dr. Reid….you should talk to him. He can tell you the short form version."
"I've tried asking him and he says he was sworn to secrecy."
"Well, then I don't know what to tell you."
"The truth. You could try telling us that." Hotch glared at the man.
"But where would be the fun in that?"
"Really?" Morgan protested and cocked his gun.
"I'm already dead; I died nearly 430 years ago. What are you gonna do, shoot me?' James' head gave a jaunty little motion. 'Besides, I was a highwayman. What were you expecting? My soul purpose at this time is to protect the little ones, nothing more….until the situation changes, and I receive a different set of orders. What I can tell you is that most of the information that you are going to want to look for is in her cave of wonders. The information won't tell you everything but it will put you on the right track. When all else fails, go through that room."
"Very well. At least that's something.' Hotch agreed.
"Aaron, that's not a damned thing." Rossi was not happy about Hotch conceding defeat.
"Look, Alecta needs help with whatever this is. And we need help with her, apparently. I for one do not want to piss off the few people we have in our corner."
"Well….now that you put it that way…..'Rossi was trying hard to see it Hotch's way.
"Look….I know it's a daunting task. She has accumulated a lot of things over the years…..so very many years…..You have no idea. But, if there ever comes a time where you are lost for answers about her….If there ever comes a time when she's not around anymore to ask her yourself….everything you need to find her, everything you need to answer those questions, it's all in that room somewhere; you just have to know where to look."
"Why wouldn't she be around anymore? What are you getting at man?"
"I've really already said too much. Just, trust me; use that room to your advantage while you can. In the meantime, I need to get these little ones off to bed."
Everyone looked down to see that Sofie and Emma had fallen asleep, their heads resting on James' stomach. He had an arm around each of them. Without much movement he managed to arrange it to where he held each of them in his arms, close to his side as he walked to the cave to set them on the daybed. Jack had fallen asleep on the couch sitting next to Sofie, Hotch wound up carrying him to bed as well; he wondered if there wasn't something more he should be doing to try and protect his son better. But then he thought back to something that Emma had said about Alecta putting symbols all over the apartment. Kneeling down closer to the floor under Jack's bed, Hotch lifted a flap on the area rug that was under the bed, then he grabbed the flashlight off of the nightstand that Jack kept there in case he had to get up in the middle of the night…..turning the flashlight on and pointing it to the floor, Hotch saw the beginnings of more religious markings.
"I'll be damned,' Hotch thought to himself.
Hotch walked out of Jack's bedroom and made his way down the hall to the living room with a perplexed look on his face.
"What is it Hotch?"
"Emma was right. There are more drawings under Jack's bed as well. I guess I don't even have to look under mine, I think I already know the answer to that question."
"Well, look, we need to get some rest. There's no telling what time they will call us with updates about how Alecta is doing, and we'll want to go back to the hospital for visiting hours. We're running on fumes. Morgan, recliner or couch?"
"I can take the chair."
"Alright. Hotch, extra blankets and pillows, where are they?"
"They are in the closet on the right just at the top of the hallway. Blankets are on the third shelf from the top….I had to move them down lower so Alecta could reach them, just in case. And the pillows are on the fourth shelf from the top."
"Very good. You go to bed.' Tossing a blanket and pillow at Morgan, 'And you grab some chair."
"Yes dad,' Both Hotch and Morgan responded in unison.
"Smart asses, the lot of you."
The other two men chuckled. Morgan began to get comfortable in the recliner, Rossi rode the couch. And Hotch made his way back down the hall heading for his bedroom. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't want to be too far from Jack right now, so he made a quick stop to Jack's room and scooped the boy out of bed, placing him on Alecta's usual side of the bed. As he had come into his own bedroom and began pulling back the covers to put Jack down, he was relieved to see that Alecta had changed the sheets before all of this had gone down, apparently she had done a spot of cleaning up while the team was away….hopefully nothing too strenuous, the doctor had been quite clear to keep the stress levels low. But at the same time, after their romp the other night, Hotch had to admit, he loved Alecta's gift of forethought. He couldn't imagine putting Jack in this bed otherwise. After getting Jack rearranged in his bed, Hotch went to his bathroom to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth and wash his face. It had been a damned long day and the days weren't going to get any shorter, at least it didn't sound good for the near future.
Before James, the highwayman, had left he had made sure to make the three men understand not to allow any strangers into the apartment from that point on….at least not strangers that knocked on the door. He reasoned to them that if the strangers just appeared in front of them as he had, they were safe, nothing evil could make it past the symbols Alecta had put all over the apartment….and that's right about the time that he had told them about the holy water and garlic that had been rubbed all over the door jambs and window sills. He admitted that Alecta had worked very hard to ensure that that apartment was as safe as any holy ground he'd ever walked on. He did say that the efforts that she had taken would only hold the boogie man at bay for so long before it became dicey, but that with any luck it would last long enough for her to get out of the hospital. But the bottom line was, admit no strangers that knocked on the door. It didn't matter if it was the pizza delivery boy or if it was a man with a badge. If the person at the door wasn't someone that the men had seen a hundred times before, they weren't to be allowed in; and even if it was someone the men knew well, with them being profilers they were to use their powers of deduction to notice if there were any subtle differences or anything at all that seemed off with these people. James warned them that this was the way that the 'diplomat' worked. He would 'enlist' average everyday people….a librarian at your kids school, the mail man…..anyone was up for grabs. James also pointed out that Jack had been given that medallion of St. George, and that while it may not offer him 100% protection, it was enough to at least give the boy a head start in case he ever found himself in trouble with nobody around that he trusted to help him.
Nobody had realized it yet, but while the kids had been lying in the floor the night before watching 'Toy Story', Alecta had excused herself to go to the restroom. While she was gone she stopped by Jack's room and slipped a small bottle of holy water and a couple cloves of garlic into Jack and Henry's book bags, along with good luck amulets that she got off some old gypsies and some that came down to her from the Sultan. These boys were in danger because of their close proximity to her; she had to do what she could to keep them safe when she wasn't around. Also, she put a note in Jack's bag that told him that if he found himself, or himself and Henry, in the kind of trouble that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, he was to grab Henry's hand and run for the nearest church they could find and go inside and sit in one of the pews and be very good boys.
But nobody had seen that note, or the garlic and the holy water for that matter, at this point. Alecta packed those things with the hopes that they would never need them.
Alecta had been placed in a private room after having been in the recovery unit for a couple of hours to monitor her after her surgery to remove the bullet and stitch her up. She was still unconscious, not having revived from being put under; that coupled with the shock of the initial injury, she wasn't expected to come around for quite a while. Immogene had been sitting with her all night. She had managed to conceal a handgun and two knives on her person, in case they ran into any further problems in the meantime. With their connection to Mac, a lot of things were allowed to slide.
The team had arrived back in Quantico around 4 a.m., they had arrived at the hospital by 5 a.m, and had sat around the hospital until nearly 9 a.m. At that time, Hotch had taken Jack and the girls back to his apartment with Rossi and Morgan. With James making an appearance it was nearly 2pm before Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, and the children were able to get any sleep. It was definitely an odd hour to go to bed, but for the team at least, it had been nearly 24 hours with no sleep at all. And the children had enough excitement for one day, it was an amazement that they had managed to stay awake and alert as long as they had.
At 8 p.m. Hotch woke up and made his way into his living room. Morgan and Rossi were already awake and had gotten themselves something to drink.
"Hotch, we're calling for pizza, that cool with you?"
"Yes, Morgan, that will be fine. It would have to be something the kids would eat when they get up at any rate."
Hotch flopped onto the sofa, resting his head on the back of it, looking at the ceiling.
"What's on your mind Aaron?"
"Nothing much Dave. Just trying to figure out what it is our girl has gotten us into. I just wish she would've told me what's going on with her."
"Perhaps she felt it was safer that you didn't know. Maybe she thought that this….diplomat was only after her and it would always stay that way. If that was the case she may have thought she could take care of this without you ever having to know about it. And this teacher, Mr. Dunbar, just pushed things to the breaking point."
Morgan had put in the call to the pizza place and 25 minutes later the pizza was delivered; Morgan paid and tipped the driver, making a few seconds of small talk. When the driver asked if he could come and set the pizza on the table, Morgan politely declined. He made some excuse about his Uncle was staying with him and was quite sick and that he didn't want the delivery man to catch it. He took the pizza from the delivery man and shut and locked the door, even locking the dead bolt, and setting the alarm with the code that Hotch called out to him.
Morgan went to grab some plates to begin digging in, about that time the twins and Jack came toddling down the hall.
"Wait, Agent Man, wait."
"What is it Emma?"
"Hang on, Sofie, do it."
Sofie leaned climbed up in the chair closest to her and made a motion with her hands that signaled for Morgan to pass one of the pizza boxes to her.
"What is she going to do?"
"Save you. Shhh."
Once the pizza box was in her possession, Sofie held her hand back with one hand and leaned over the pizza slightly, inhaling.
"Well, Sofie…" Emma was getting antsy.
Sofie took another whiff of the pizza. Before looking at her sister, 'Don't eat it."
"What's wrong? There's no anchovies if that's the problem."
"If only…." Sofie jumped down out of the chair. 'Don't eat it." She repeated cryptically.
"What is your sister's problem?"
Emma watched Sofie walk back down the hallway, towards their mother's little cave.
"She can smell death on things sometimes. It doesn't work all of the time; but when it does work, she's never wrong."
"What do you mean, she can smell death?"
Sofie by now was coming back down the hall; she had a card in her hands, 'Call this place, Mommy orders from them all the time. They won't be corrupted."
"What does Emma mean that you can smell death?"
"You know what a dead body smells like after some days right.' Seeing the men nod that they did indeed know. "Well, sometimes I can smell something or be around something and I can get that smell in my nose. If that happens it means that someone will die soon. Or in this case, with the pizza, you will die if you eat it; it reeks of dead body funk. Don't touch it, throw it out. And then in the morning, look outside and tell me what you see."
"Mr. Man warned you about people entering the apartment, I think."
Hotch looked at Emma, 'Well yes, but nobody has entered."
"I know. But, what Mr. Man failed to tell you is that it's 'Game On'. You came between the stranger and his goal of taking us away and trying to get to Mommy. Now he will do what he has to do to get you out of his way. All three of you. He isn't above taking over the person who runs the pizza place."
"What makes the one your Mommy knows so different?"
"It is run out of an old Catholic Church. The building was converted a lot of years ago. And the man that runs it is an old friend of Mommy. If the stranger tries to come after him, he will have to kill this pizza man before he is able to make him do bad things. And Mommy said that killing this pizza man isn't as easy as you think."
"What does she mean by that?"
"Dunno. Why don't you ask her when you go to see her?"
"Who is your Mommy's friend?"
Emma shrugged, 'She calls him Simon, said he used to be very religious, had trained to be a priest, but left the Church. And now he still works in one." Emma giggled.
"Mommy's friends Sam and his brother Dean helped Mommy find Simon. She said she knew him from a long time ago, and that they were good friends, but that over the years they had moved around a lot and lost touch. Sam and Dean know a guy named Cas that knew them both from way back."
"Okay, but we just spent $30 on two pizzas that we now have to throw out."
"Stop worrying Pops. Simon won't even charge you for them."
"How does he make money on free pizzas?"
"Oh silly Mr. Agent Man. He only makes da free ones for us an' Mommy, on account of them being friends." Sophie's voice tinkled as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
This time Hotch got on the phone and called this Simon person and ordered the two pizzas saying that he'd received the business card that Alecta had given her daughters. Simon said he would deliver the pizzas himself, that he hadn't seen his dearest friend in a long time and would like to spend at least a moment seeing how she was doing. With that, Simon hung up before Hotch could explain that Alecta wasn't there.
Simon's pizzas were going to be there in about another 30 minutes or so; in the meantime Hotch had gone over the game plan with the girls and Jack. They were allowed to watch movies while they ate their pizza, after they could do as they pleased but with it being such an ungodly hour of night, they would be going back to bed before the crack of dawn.
"I want to be up early enough to take you to see your mother at the hospital."
"Ok, Mr. Aaron." Both girls replied.
"Yes, Daddy,' Jack had chimed in.
With the remaining time they had to wait on the pizzas to arrive, Rossi leaned over to ask the girls, 'Do you have any proof that your friend James…"
"You call him Mr. Man!" Sofie reprimanded.
"Excuse me. Do you have proof that Mr. Man is who he claims to be?"
"Of. Course. We. Do. Come follow me into the cave. Mommy has a book. I show you it and you'll get over Mr. Man. M'k?"
Sofie and Emma began racing down the hall Jack hot on their heels and the three grown men behind him.
Once in her mother's cave, Sofie ran over to the desk…before she would get into the chair, she looked at it and said very quietly, 'Excuse me, please' and then hopped up in the chair.
"Smurf?"
"Y-e-s?" Sofie's voice was almost sing-song.
"Why did you say excuse me to an empty chair?"
Sofie looked at Derek as if he had two heads, 'Because you never know who is there, Mommy said it's good manners. Emmy, where you think she put the ledger?"
Sofie started rummaging through some of the drawers close at hand, coming up empty. 'Emmy, you're not helping."
Emma shrugged her little shoulders, throwing up her hands, 'Why I gotsta know everyfing?"
Sofie started smacking her own forehead with the palm of her hand, 'Think….Think…."
Emma giggled, ad began walking around the room, meandering really, looking through every little nook and cranny as she went; taking her time, letting her sister, Sofie stew in her own juices.
As she went around the room Emma began to say a poem….
"Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest, Drink and the devil had done for the rest
The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike, The bos'n brained with a marlin spike,
And Cookey's throat was marked belike, It had been gripped By fingers ten;
And there they lay, All good dead men, Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of the whole ship's list Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four. And there they lay, And the soggy skies
Dripped all day long In upstaring eyes, In murk sunset and at foul sunrise
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead,
Or a yawing hole in a battered head And the scuppers glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, Aye, damn my eyes, All lookouts clapped On paradise All souls bound just contrariwise
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
Fifteen men of 'em good and true Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold, With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
And the cabins riot of stuff untold, And they lay there, That had took the plum,
With sightless glare , And their lips struck dumb, While we shared all by the rule of thumb
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
More was seen through the stern light screen
Chartings no doubt where a woman had been!
A flimsy shift on a bunker cot, With a thin dirk slot through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry in a purplish blot. Oh was she wench…Or some shuddering maid…?
That dared the knife, And took the blade! By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight
With a Yo-Heave-Ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sullen plunge
In the sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"
As Emma finished her little poem, she had walked over to the front of the desk, grinning at her sister, and firmly kicked at the panel that was to the right of her; it helped form the right side of the desk, there was a panel on the left side as well, they made the desk look as though the ends of the desk were solid. But as Emma kicked at the right side panel, the front piece fell off, clattering to the floor.
Sofie jumped down and ran around the front of the desk, she threw herself at her sister, wrapping her pudgy little arms around Emma's neck, 'Emmy, you're the best!" the little girl squealed with delight as she saw the ledger in question.
"So I'm told." Emma looked as though she was checking her finger nails, unconcerned with all the excitement coming from Sofie.
Sofie dove to her knees and grabbed for the large ledger, it was a dusty old thing, and began pulling it out of the hidden compartment. "Emmy, help meh. It's too much."
"I gotsa do everyfing."
"Shut up and help already."
Eventually the two little girls together were able to pull the large book out of its hiding spot, then Sofie plopped back on her bottom, Emma sat down to one side of her, and together they turned through the book. Since it was taking longer than they thought, Sofie rearranged her position and laid in the floor on her stomach, swinging her feet behind her lazily.
"Nope, not it….not it….." Emma and Sofie would alternate, letting themselves and the others know if they had found the entry or not.
"Can you actually read any of this?" Rossi looked down and asked the two girls.
"Yes, Mommy taught us the people's names. We don't know some of the big words, but we know how to read the names." Emma explained carefully.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was turned to Sofie as she squealed with happiness, 'Gots it….Emmy, I gots it. L-l-look it Pops, look i-i-it." Sofie was starting to stutter she was so excited that she had made the discovery.
She even stutters like her mother…Hotch thought quietly to himself.
"James Duffy. It says right here. He was executed in about August of 1590, if I'm reading this right. He was hung in some tree just out on the moors for his crimes as a highwayman."
"We have seen that twee. If you look out Mommy's bedroom window….at the house in Scotland….you can see it." Sofie chimed.
"That was how we first met Mr. Man. We were….I fink, what, 2 almost 3…Right Sofie?"
"Uh huh."
"We ran into Mommy's room to wake her up for breafast. And we were jumping on her bed to make her be awake. And we looked out the window. And…."
"There he was,'Sofie interrupted. "He was just swingin' in da twee. I as'ed Mommy who da man was in tree…"
"An' Mommy as'ed us what man we were talking about…'Emma gave her sister a dose of her own medicine. "And we pointed out the window…."
"All free of us ran to the windows…"Yet again, Sofie cut her sister off.
"They was the big window like in Tassles…."
"You mean castles, Emma?"
"That's what I said Mr. Aaron.' Emma sounded rather flabbergasted that he would correct her. 'An' we hadda climb up the step to get in the seat of the windows to see out them….."
"And there he was, Mr. Man….Hanging out. In our twee." Sofie was so animated sometimes….
"Mommy wasn't sure what we were seein' so she made us describe him so she would know. Then she got us all dressed….." Emma looked at Sofie in a funny way.
"An' she took us to the pub."
"Your mother had you in a pub?" Hotch questioned, carefully.
"Yes. Yes, yes she did." Sofie looked at him as if he had a hearing problem.
"Why?"
"Um. Well, for one thing, breafast. The pub had an inn wif it and they hadda make breafast for the people….."
"And 'sides,' Emma thought fondly, 'We hadda talk a Pops…."
"Oh, not you pops…..it's dis man…he's like 100….Mommy said he made Jesus' flip flops….don't know his name, but we always called him 'Pops'. He's got big ears, you can see the light through 'em….."
"Sofie! Be nice. Don't talk bad 'bout Pops…." Emma seemed very upset about this.
Sofie crawled on her hands and knees over to one of the book cases in the room, grabbing a photo album, flipping to the page she was looking for and pulled out a picture.
"Here, look it. It's Pops."
There was a picture of this sweet little old man, Scottish to the bone, with his rosy cheeks and his blue eyes, and mop of white hair. And his ears were huge. Rossi thought he looked a little like Alecta's friend, old Ollie from their visit to her hometown….a bit like Peter O'Toole.
"But anyways,' Emma said as she pinched her sister's arm, 'He told us the story of Mr. Man. And he made us promise ta be careful of another one like Mr. Man…..except this other one is bad. It tried to hurt Mommy. Mr. Man makes it go away. He 'tects us."
"Ow! Emmy! Why you pinched me?"
"Why you be mean about Pops?"
"I love Pops,' Sofie began to look saddened at the thought that Emma didn't believe her."I not trying to be ugly, I promise." When Sofie began to rub her eyes to hide the fact that tears were about to be shed, Emma hugged her tight and said that she was sorry she pinched her.
"So, you see, Mr. Aaron….You and the fellas gotta be nice to Mr. Man. Please, be nice to Mr. Man. Because he's for real."
About that time the doorbell rang. Hotch stood up and began making his way to the door, he thought for sure it was the pizza by now. He knew the kids were likely getting hungry even though neither one of them had said anything.
As he opened the door, Jack squealed with happiness.
"Lexa, you're home!"
Hotch raised his head to actually see who was at the door, having not been expecting this.
As sure as the world, Alecta was standing in front of him, being held up by Immogene and Pen.
"What the hell are you doing out of the hospital?"
"Good Sir, can we get her inside first, please?"
"Of course. What was I thinking?' Hotch stepped aside to let them pass. "She should still be in the hospital, you know that."
Pen chipped in her two cents, 'And she would be if there hadn't been certain events that forced us to make other arrangements."
"What….events?" Rossi asked as he came into the room.
"Please, we have to lie her down first. She's quite weak." Immogene demanded.
"Mommy!" Sofie and Emma squealed in unison.
"Girls, Mommy hurts real bad don't jump on her right now.' Immogene directed the children.
"Ooh! Sofie, go get the…' Emma started to tell her sister to move the ledger and things back to their places.
"Yep,' Sofie turned and ran at top speeds down the hallway to the cave to put everything back.
"Emmy, I need help."
"What have you two gotten into?" Immogene questioned.
"Uh….nuffin'." The little girl says as she follows her sister's lead and high tails it down the hall to help. The only thing that Sofie needed help with was replacing the hidden panel on the desk front, she couldn't quite get it right.
Seconds after they got the panel in place, Immogene and Pen brought Alecta into the room. Alecta had yet to speak; she was doing all she could do to stay conscious at the moment. The other two women laid her down on the day bed, after Pen took a moment to pull back some of the covers, and got her propped up on some pillows. Alecta was in agony. The bullet wound was aching like a son of a bitch. The stitches had been ruptured and it was bleeding again. The babies were having no mercy, kicking the crap out of her from the inside out. She had broken out in a cold, clammy sweat all over from the exertion of having to be removed from the hospital. She didn't look good at all.
"Where's everyone else?" Derek managed to ask.
"Kong is parking, Mac will be here in a minute. He had to swipe some supplies. Pen grab that cart over there. We'll need to set up the monitor on it."
"Look, someone better start talking." Hotch demanded.
Just at that moment the doorbell rang again. "Sonofabitch!" Hotch was becoming livid.
"I'll get it, you stay here with her. Sofie, come with me please." Rossi stated. He decided to take the little girl with him; if she detect the scent of decaying flesh on a pizza, she would be the best shot he had at figuring out who was at the door.
"M'k."
Rossi and the tot went to the door, Sofie squealed, 'Simon!"
"You little mite, how've you been?"
"Come see Mommy. I know she will want to see you. And Emmy, too."
Simon placed the pizza on the dining room table and followed Rossi and the little girl.
Upon entering the little room, he saw his friend lying back on the bed, looking like death warmed over. Immediately he ran to her side and stooped to his knees by the bedside, slightly shoving Immogene out of the way; Immogene just moved over, as if this action was to be expected.
"M'Lady who's done this thing?"
"He's dead,' Alecta replied weakly, blinking her eyes ever so slowly at her friend.
"And the girls ordered a pizza from me. Not that I mind, I have missed seeing my girls, but pray tell what in Heaven's name is going on?"
Sofie lowered her head and looked at him from under her thick lashes, 'Mr. Simon, m'ere. I show you it."
Taking Simon's large hand in her tiny one, Sofie lead the man to the kitchen, and pointed to the old pizza. "Smell of it.' She instructed him.
Simon leaned over slightly and took in the aroma of the pizza. He was expecting the smells of the various ingredients, but what he got instead was the smell of rotting flesh and decay….and something a little musty, like old books. That was stranger still.
Turning to the child, 'Thank you for calling me little one."
"Course, Mommy has taught us what to do for different things. Can you help Mommy?"
Soon Mac came up to the apartment, letting himself in, Kong right behind him…as well as the other young girls.
"Simon,' Mac stated as he entered the apartment. "Good to see you old man."
"Mac, it's been too long….or not long enough, depending on how you look at this."
"Too true, my friend."
Simon followed the men back to the room and helped them get set up. Pen had moved a rolling cart over to the head of the daybed. Mac, with Kong's help got the monitors set up. there was a monitor that would read her vitals and they placed a monitor on the desk that could take readings off of the babies to ensure that they were still alright.
Immogene started sorting through the supplies with Simon's help. There were bandages and gauze. There were several bottles of anti-septic….surgical scissors, scalpel, various other instruments that Mac thought he might need….most of which would help him sew Alecta's stitches shut.
"Mac, not that I'm complaining, but how many hospitals did you rob?"
Laughing, 'As many as it took."
"Where's momma? Rachel?" Alecta tried pushing herself up, realizing all too late that was the wrong move to make, and yelling in agony.
"You be still. They're at the church; we took them there with Sasha, Eva, and Oleg. They have their instructions. "Ivory spoke up from the door way.
Alecta merely nodded.
"I have to get these stitches shut if we have any hope of avoiding infection."
"I want to know why the hell she's even out of the hospital in the first place."
"Come with me Agent Hotchner, I will tell you what I can." Immogene lead the way out of the room. 'Girls, come." Sofie and Emma knew better than to argue with that tone and began to follow.
Part the way up the hall, Immogene turned to the children and asked them politely to go play in Jack's room, which Jack was totally ok with.
"Please, sit,' Immogene directed Hotch to one of his chairs in the living room.
Waiting for him to follow her order, 'Pen and I were on our shift in her room watching over her. After what you told us about….what happened in the stair well, we could take no chances. Pen was knitting, knowing that there will be two new additions she wanted to get a leg up on some of it. I was reading a book. But we were right there. Next thing we know the door flies open, three people come in; two men and one woman. The men turned on us, Pen and myself, grabbing us….trying their best to choke us. The woman's attention was on Alecta. She began to attack her….It took us some doin' but we got loose. In the meantime, we had noticed the stench of death on them, and the state of their clothes….drab, sort of rumpled looking…..and they had this cold stare. And if all these things were the worst of it, once I had gained some leeway on the man that was trying to do me in, I looked over at the one that Pen was dealing with and saw the marks on his neck. I still don't know just how the hell we got out that predicament. One minute they were there, we were fighting for our lives and Alectas….the next minute they were gone. Though I will say I saw a funny light in the room, can't explain it. It wasn't the lights from the room itself. But it was just there….and the closer we looked we saw another man standing there…..different from the others, better, but still….
As soon as the event was over, we called Mac and began to get the shit together to move her. We grabbed what supplies we could, that we knew we needed and got the hell out of that hospital. We didn't know quite where else to go…we thought perhaps the church, like Rachel and the kids. But that would leave us open to too many questions. So, here we are. Maybe not the smartest move, not with the little ones around, and if you need us too we can leave in the morning. But for tonight she needs to stay here."
"Um, where did you all find the monitors for some of this?" Derek asked apprehensively.
"Well, Mac was a Royal physician. He, at one time, was a personal physician to Prince Philip, consort to Queen Elizabeth II. He held that position for a number of years. And Alecta is one of Her Majesty's closest friends. With those connections, between the two of them, they can get pretty much what they damned well want."
"What caused him to leave his station?"
"As much as Mac enjoyed working with the Royal family, he wanted to strike out and try to do something…..more. He wanted to leave some sort of mark on the world. Something that, when he was gone, people could think back and remember him as an honorable and decent man….not that he wasn't already. But he felt there was so much more good he could do with his services. And when Alecta came up with the idea to form this organization, he jumped on the opportunity. They had known each other for years. She had been engaged to his brother, Alistair, briefly. She had every intention of marrying the boy….she loved him…but he died, in her arms. It was a long time before she ever felt ok about that."
"Why is…"
"No names, do not say it."
"Why is this strange diplomat coming after her now?"
"She says it goes back to a dare. Sometime around 20 years ago, she was in the midst of her studies abroad. Her friend Heather had gotten her on the right path with her education….Anyway, she was studying abroad. As part of her studies she decided to go to Romania and study some of the Gypsies that still call it home; it was some sort of Anthropology project. While in Romania, she was having a few drinks with friends and they began to discuss the cultural significance of our friend, the diplomat. After a few rounds of drinks this turned into a dare to spend a night in Poenari Castle, his home base. It was high on an impossibly steep hill in the middle of nowhere. The last time the surrounding area had been a village of any consequence was 250 years ago. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was haunted; at least that's the rumor. Alecta has rarely ever turned down a dare. So she went for it; she was not afraid. Even after she tried leaving and was purposely lead off of her route by….something. It would not let her leave.
She said she was stuck in the forest for three days with no food or water, except for a handful of berries that she knew were safe to eat…aside from the fact she hates most berries. On the third day, she was saved by an old Gypsy woman, just the sort of person she should have been studying at the time anyway.
She stayed with the old woman for several days, regaining her strength….the old lady cared for her carefully.
They became quite close. Alecta loves that old woman. She began calling her the Grandmother.
She seems to think that his fascination with her stems from that visit."
"What do you think?"
"Well, my 'Spidey' senses tell me there is way more to this story than she is saying. Our friend wouldn't go through this much trouble for a trespasser. If anything he would likely have been amused at the idea that she was there on a dare. There is more than she is telling us….I know it as well as I know my own name."
The last few words were said slowly, as if Immogene was distracted; she was looking out through the window. The window was partially illuminated by a street light. Without even flinching, Immogene walked over to the window and opened it. The figure that had been peering in at the group tried to scramble away but for whatever reason wasn't quite fast enough. Not a moment's hesitation was wasted as Immogene dragged the figure in through the window and stabbed it with a silver stake that she had produced from behind her back under her jacket; the stake went straight through the heart of the figure.
Looking down, Hotch and Morgan both were astonished. Before them on the floor was the body of a woman they had known briefly. She had been one of Alecta's dearest friends. Theo had come back.
"Maybe now that bitch will stay dead." Immogene was heard to mumble as she leaned over the body and snatched the chain from around her neck that had contained talisman and the St. Agnes medallion that Theo had been given long ago.
Post AN: So. How d'ya like them apples? Most people say that reviews keep them happy. I will tell the truth. I began writing FF mostly as a public service, it helps me vent. But I do appreciate any reviews that you want to send my way, by all means. Love ya peeps.
