Chapter 36

"What's Morgan want?" Rossi asked Hotch as soon as they were in the hallway.

Hotch took a deep breath. "He wants me back at the BAU."

"We should go see what's going on," he told him quickly, knowing that it was a perfectly good reason to get Hotch away from the hospital.

Hotch looked at the door to Kahlan's room and then back to Rossi. "She wants you to get me out of here, doesn't she?"

Rossi looked him in the eyes. "I made a deal with her," he told him honestly.

Hotch's shoulders slumped. "Really, Dave?"

"I didn't think she was going to honest with the doc, so I made her promise."

"And the only way she would is if you got me to leave?"

Rossi nodded. "I'm sorry, Aaron, but if it gets her the help she needs. . ."

"Then let's go," Hotch told him and headed down the hall.

Rossi's brows furrowed as he watched him, but he ran to catch up with him. That was way too easy! "Hotch?" Hotch ignored him as he headed through the hospital and headed to the exit. Before he could push the door open, Rossi grabbed his arm. "Aaron?"

Hotch took a shaky breath as he looked at the floor. When he brought his head up to finally look at Rossi, he had unshed tears in his eyes. "She doesn't want me here because she's afraid she isn't going to make it."

"I'm so sorry," Rossi told him tenderly.

Hotch then knew that Rossi thought the same thing. "Why? Why can't she. . . Why does she. . ." He shook his head.

"She wants to protect you."

"Am I so weak that she thinks I can't handle it?"

"No!" Rossi told him sternly.

"Then what?"

"I don't think she likes being weak in front of you."

"But when she's weak, I'm strong and vice versa. That's the way we work."

"I know, Aaron."

Hotch shook his head and then went out the door. He squinted in the bright sun and wished he had his sunglasses. His shoulders slumped again as he realized that he and Rossi had ridden with Chuck to the hospital and Chuck was gone. He shook his head.

"What now?" Rossi asked him.

"How are we supposed to get to the BAU?"

Rossi looked around quickly. "Oh. I forgot we didn't have a car," he told him as he reached for his phone and then realized Hotch still had it. He sighed deeply. "Maybe we both need to get some sleep. You have my phone."

"Oh, shit. Sorry," he told him and took it out of his pocket and handed it to him. Before Rossi could open his contact list, Cam pulled up in front of them.

"Well, you two look a little lost," he told them with a smile.

"Shut up and drive," Hotch told him as he got in the passenger seat. Rossi got in the back and gave him a smile.

"BAU?" Cam asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yep," Hotch told him and he took one more look back at the hospital.

"Here," Cam told Hotch as he handed him a small electronic tablet.

Hotch took it warily. "What's this?"

"A tablet," Cam told him with a smile.

"I know that, smart ass. Why do I want it?"

"Unlock the screen," Cam told him with another smile. Rossi scooted forward in his seat so he could look over Hotch's shoulder. Hotch pushed the button and the tablet's screen came to life. "I thought that might help." Hotch smiled as he looked at his wife talking with Hamill. "I hacked into their system when they were in the lab."

"This is live?"

"Yep."

Rossi squeezed Hotch's shoulder and relaxed back against the seat.

"Will it work anywhere?" Cam nodded. "Thanks, Cam," Hotch told him as he continued to watch Kahlan.

"Sorry there isn't any sound, but their system is kind of old. Had I a little more time, I could have switched a few things out for you," he told him sincerely.

"No, this is great."

"If you touch that little screen on the bottom, it'll switch to Joey's room."

Hotch chuckled. "Of course it does."

XXX

As soon as Hotch walked through the glass doors, Morgan walked up to him. "Hotch, man, I am sorry to have called you away from Kahlan."

Hotch could tell Morgan was agitated. "What happened?"

"I don't think Daniels is our guy."

"What?" Rossi and Cam asked at the same time.

"Come on," Morgan told them and led them to the conference room.

Chuck and Garcia were the only two in there, and Hotch figured the rest of the team was home getting some much needed sleep. Chuck shot a questioning look to Cam. Cam gave him a smile and a nod, and Chuck relaxed considerably.

"Bring it up, Baby Girl," Morgan said.

Garcia typed on her laptop and the interrogation room came up on the plasma. They all watched a recording of Morgan questioning Daniels. "He does hesitate a little too much with his answers," Rossi agreed.

"He knows plenty; it's just a feeling," Morgan started and then shook his head. "I don't know. That's why I wanted your all's opinion," he told them as he ran a hand over his head.

"One way to find out for sure," Hotch told them as he got up. They all stood up, too.

"You gonna talk to him?" Chuck asked him quickly. He didn't want Hotch to be subjected to Daniels' comments again.

Hotch ran a hand over his mouth and chin as he thought about it. He grinned as he looked at Morgan.

"What?" Morgan asked him warily.

Hotch then turned the same grin on Garcia. She cut her eyes to Cameron, and he took a protective step towards her.

XXX

Hotch and Rossi were discussing a file as they stood beside on of the desks in the bullpen when Morgan brought Daniels through to take him to lock up. "How's the wife Hotchner?" Daniels asked him loudly as he pulled Morgan to a stop.

Hotch looked up from the file in his hand and fixed the man with his stare.

"How dare you!" Garcia yelled as she ascended on Daniels in a flurry of color. Daniels took a step back as he took in the tech. She waved a feathered pen in his face. "How dare you turn an innocent movie into something horrible!" He looked at her questioningly. "Trekkies everywhere are in an uproar over you using the Empire's symbol for your delusional campaign! You are not a true Trekkie!" She told him harshly.

"Yes I am! I wanted to use a symbol people would know!" Daniels yelled back at her.

Morgan nodded to Garcia. She huffed and left the bullpen. Hotch bit his lip. God, damn it! They all knew that Daniels was not the self-named 'Han' and leader of the Rebellion. "Get him out of here!" Hotch told Morgan.

"What? You're not going to question me, Hotchner? Too afraid of me?"

"Why would I waste my time on some low level lieutenant when I'm hunting for the general?" Hotch asked him.

The look of shock on Daniels' face was almost priceless. "You don't know anything!" He pulled away from Morgan. "You're a dead man, Hotchner! You think the lodge was the only meeting place? I have so many more men! You'll be dead before the end of the week!" Morgan grabbed him again and started to wrestle him out of the bullpen. "You might even beat your wife to hell!" He shook his head. "Nah, last I heard, she's pretty much on death's door already."

Rossi could tell Daniels was upsetting Hotch. "Somebody shut him up!"

"With pleasure," Chuck said as he cracked his knuckles as he got up from the desk he was sitting in and started towards Daniels. Before he could take two steps, Daniels crumpled to the floor. Cam stood over him with a smile on his face. Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan all stood opened mouth as they realized who had silenced the man.

"What did you do to him?" Morgan asked him as he bent down and checked Daniels for a pulse.

"Vulcan neck pinch," Cam told him awkwardly.

"You know how to do that shit, too?" Rossi asked him flabbergasted.

Cam shrugged and Chuck laughed as he clapped Cam on the back. "Just because you all assumed I was never a field agent, doesn't make it so," Cam told them simply.

Hotch shook his head slowly. "Jesus Christ. Are we ever going to know everything about you all?"

"No," Cam and Chuck both said at the same time.

Hotch huffed. "Well, now you get to carry him out of here," Hotch told them and went to his office.

Chuck looked at Morgan. "Where's Sam when you need him?"

Morgan laughed and went to grab Daniels' feet. Chuck grabbed his arms and they took him to the elevator as Rossi joined Hotch in his office. Garcia quickly went to Hotch's office, too. "How'd I do?"

Rossi smiled and gave her a hug. "You were perfect, Kitten."

Hotch gave her a smile. "Kahlan would have been impressed."

She beamed at the compliment. "It's definitely not him, though, isn't it?"

Hotch sat down in his roughly. "I wouldn't think so. It seems like whoever is in charge of it all is a true Star Wars fan."

"And a true fan would have gotten just as pissed as Kahlan when you called him a Trekkie," Rossi added.

"Yeah, he didn't get the whole Empire thing either. I don't think he knows anything about Star Wars," Garcia told them. With their looks, she explained, "I called it the Empire's symbol, but it's the Rebellion's symbol." She smiled. "Never mind," she told them as she shook her head and went out to her husband.

"Think she's knows what Cam can do?" Rossi mused as they watched Cam hug her for a job well done.

"I have no idea," Hotch told him honestly. "She's better off not knowing," he added with a grin.

XXX

"So what now?" Morgan asked Rossi when he finally got back from taking Daniels to be locked up with the other terrorists.

"I guess we. . ." they were headed to Hotch's office, but he stopped when he noticed Hotch. Hotch had his elbow on his desk, and his head was resting on his hand. Rossi was almost positive Hotch was asleep, so he steered Morgan away from Hotch's office and to his own.

"Was he asleep?" Morgan asked him with surprise.

"He hasn't had a decent night's sleep since those damn invitations went out," Rossi told him a little roughly.

"I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised to actually see it. Take him home. I wouldn't have called him if it wasn't important," defended himself.

"Sorry. I know. We had to find out. . ."

"You need to get some sleep, too. Go. There's nothing we can do about finding the real leader at this second anyway. Once everyone else gets back in we'll start looking at everything again. Maybe we'll find something we missed."

Rossi looked at the younger man, and he could tell he hadn't gotten much sleep lately either. "You know what? I say we all go home and not meet back up until tomorrow morning. Send Garcia home, too. We could all use a break."

Morgan nodded. "Alright. I'll tell the team and Baby Girl and she can take Cameron." He looked around. "I have no idea where Chuck went."

"I'll call him," Rossi told him as he headed back to Hotch's office. "Nine in the morning?"

Morgan smiled and nodded and headed to Garcia's lair.

Rossi walked in through Hotch's door. "Hotch?" he asked quietly. Hotch didn't move. He smiled and went up and put his hand on his shoulder. "Aaron?"

Hotch jumped as if he'd been shot. "What?" He looked around quickly. "Shit! I'm sorry!"

"Come on. I'm taking you home."

Hotch rubbed a hand down his face. "No. I'm fine. We have to. . ."

"Go home. You need a break."

"No. I need to figure out. . ."

"And you're not going to do that if you can't even keep your eyes open."

"I didn't mean to. I just. . ."

"Can't keep your eyes open. Come on, Aaron. You need some sleep. I've sent everyone else home, too. No one has had enough sleep lately. We can meet back up tomorrow and look at everything again with fresh eyes."

Hotch finally conceded and nodded. "Then, I'll go see Kahlan."

"Not until you go home and get some sleep. You can go back up and see her this evening."

"No. I need to be there. . ."

"No you don't. I promised her that I'd get you out of there. She can see how exhausted you are."

"And you did get me to leave. You didn't promise that you'd keep me away."

Rossi grabbed the tablet off Hotch's desk and turned it on. "See, she's resting," he told him as he handed it to Hotch. "And you need to do the same."

Hotch looked at the image. Kahlan looked to be asleep, and he could see a few more IV bags hung on the poll. He smiled mentally because he knew she must have talked with Hamill like she had promised.

"Don't make me get Cam in here and do whatever he did to Daniels. If we have to carry your ass out of here to get you home and get some sleep, we will," Rossi told him with authority as he crossed his arms.

Hotch looked at him, and he actually thought Rossi might do as he had threatened. His shoulders slumped. "Alright," Hotch told him as he passed him and left his office.

"That's a good boy," Rossi told him as he patted him on the back.