~~~~~CM~~~~~

Hotch's phone beeped, a text from Sean, "Dude, can u talk"

Half the team was on the jet; Prentiss and Reid were arguing over a TV show about fireflies, while Rossi typed away on his laptop. JJ hid in the back of the plane, whispering on her phone. She always checking on her son before takeoff. They were waiting for Morgan and Garcia, the latter who traveled with many crates of technical equipment. Hotch wanted her in the field, so that he didn't have to depend on the locals and their limited access.

He hit send on the phone, calling his younger brother, "What's up, Sean?"

"How are you, man?"

"I'm good! We are leaving for a case up in Canada soon."

"Have some poutine when you get there. Then you can talk like a Canadian when you get back to the house, eh?" Sean said with a silly accent pronouncing 'house' and 'eh' as their northern neighbor's might.

"Really?"

Sean cracked himself up, "I guess I don't do a good accent. Anyway, poutine man. It's the shit."

"I'd like to reach my 40th birthday."

"It's not that unhealthy. Plus, you work out all the time. So I have two pieces of good news and one piece of bad news. What do you want first?"

Sighing, Hotch said, "Good."

"I made headway with Jody."

Hotch cut to the chase, "Exclusive?"

"Yup!"

"Wow, Sean Hotchner settling down."

"I've had girlfriends before..." Sean ignored his brother's snort over the phone, "Anyway, things are going really well. We even matched up our days off, cause we had opposite schedules. And that leads to the other piece of good news, we hired a manager for the restaurant."

Hotch leaned back in the plane seat, "That's great, Sean! You won't have to work seven days a week anymore."

"Yeah, I haven't had a day off in two months. Okay, I don't want to be the one to break the bad news but it's better you hear it from me."

"Go ahead," Hotch instructed his brother.

"Um, Jess texted, um, I guess Haley is dating some accountant guy from her office."

"That's okay, Sean. I know. Well, I knew she was dating but I didn't know who."

Sean laughed, "Damn, I should have known. Stupid profilers!"

Garcia entered the plane followed by Morgan, who was carrying her laptop bag. They settled into seats, and Hotch finished up his call.

"Sean, I have to go, but do you want to come down and bring Jody in the next few weeks? I'd like to meet her."

"Sounds good, now have some POUTINE!" Sean shouted the last word as he clicked off.

Hotch rubbed his ear as the team all turned to stare at him. He shrugged his shoulders, "Sean takes his french fries and gravy seriously."

The team reviewed the case, wondering why the unsub crashed into the guard station and then confessed to multiple murders. When they finished, Hotch leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Haley was dating. He had watched her change over the last two months. She had highlighted her hair, updated her wardrobe, and wore makeup. She had told him that she was loving the copywriting job, working a few hours a week.

Their conservations had been stilted for the last month, her expression guilty. He wanted to tell her that it's okay that she was dating, but at the same time he wanted her to be alone and miserable. He was jealous; she had moved on.

Hotch released a frustrated grumble of noise causing Dave to turn and look.

"It's nothing, Dave." Hotch said, ignoring Dave's pointed look, and he opened the case file.

~~~~~CM~~~~~

Disturbing case, horrible outcome. This one would go down in the books as possibly one of the worst cases in BAU history. Hotch noticed Prentiss didn't crack open her book on the flight home. She wasn't going home on a high note either. Arriving at the airstrip, the team disembarked, and climbed into the cars quietly. Prentiss drove Hotch and JJ to their cars, the commute was silent outside of the "good night," they muttered to each other.

Returning home, Hotch dropped his stuff and headed for the whiskey. He reviewed his to do list as he poured himself a glass. Drink, shower, drink again and sleep. But, before he could take his first sip, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

He turned slowly and stared into the black mask covering George Foyet's face. The fucking Reaper was in his home, pointing a gun at his head.

~~~~~CM~~~~~

A/N: So my uber nerds, did you catch that reference about a tv show? Hmmm?

Poutine is french fries with cheese curds, smothered in gravy. It's a popular dish in Canada. While I am not in Canada, there is a place near my work that has it. It is truly an amazing dish, it's like heaven in gravy and french fry form.

Since this AU and Hotch is mine all mine, I made him a little younger. He's not quite 40 yet.

Couldn't remember if Garcia traveled with the team, my sweet Beta, Natzinoo, says she met them in Canada. But we are going to pretend….

Episodes referenced: Season 4, Episodes 25 and 26 - To Hell... And Back