Chapter 37
All I own is debt and OC's.
Yuri saw the three friends drive off; he followed them to an apartment building. All three got out; the dark skinned man that he had come to know as Agent Morgan had an arm wrapped around Penelope's waist as they walked side by side. He could hear Agent Morgan talking to young Dr. Reid.
"You're staying with us tonight. We have the room to spare. Don't worry; we just don't want you to be by yourself right now…"
"Morgan I'm a grown man, regardless of what everyone thinks."
"Yes. We know that. But you're so upset. You've been lonelier than anybody understood. Please, Reid, stay with us; at least just for tonight." Garcia looked at Reid with big doe eyes, pouring it on thick; she knew he'd never be able to say no.
Reid merely nodded; he was too tired to argue really.
"Wait here; I'll grab your bag from the truck." Morgan ran back to the SUV and grabbed the boy's bag and jogged back over to Penelope and Spencer.
"Here ya go pretty boy."
Pen and Reid waited for Morgan to get the door unlocked, letting Pen go in first, turning the light on in the living room as she went.
"Ok, Reid. The guest room is down the hall on the right. You have your own bathroom, so you can get set up."
"I'll get the sheets for your bed out of the closet and help you get the bed made boy wonder. Are you gonna want a blanket at all?"
"No Pen, the comforter that is there will be enough. Thanks."
"You're welcome baby." Garcia made her way down the hall to the linen closet to get the sheets and pillow cases. Reid made his way to the bedroom to set his bag down and get his toothbrush and toothpaste out of it.
"Garcia, before we get started, I'm going to go ahead and change and brush my teeth."
"Go ahead, I'll wait."
Garcia sat on the sofa in Morgan's living room, Derek sat down beside her.
"Poor little genius; everybody has been so worried about Hotch's state of mind lately and we haven't thought about the rest of our team."
"Yeah tell me about it baby. But it's been easy to over-look with the way that Hotch has been acting. I half expected to have him put on leave for sure. Somebody must owe Rossi big time."
"It's Rossi, of course they do baby."
Garcia saw Reid come out of the bathroom and make his way down the hall towards the guest room and she got up to follow him. They got the bed made and Reid went ahead and climbed in; he was getting comfortable and Garcia was making her way to the door to leave the room and let him get to sleep.
"Wait. Garcia?"
"Yeah, Spencer?" Garcia walked back over and sat on the edge of the bed looking at the young man; Reid was leaning against the headboard.
"You know her better than anyone else on the team….."
"That's relative. Nobody really ever knows much about Alecta. We all just know bits and pieces that she lets us know."
"Well still….is it likely she would ever come back….to Quantico I mean? At all? She can't just leave us."
"Honey I don't know. Right now she is a hell of a lot of trouble. And she's still so…."
"Mad?"
"No. Hurt….maybe a little mad, but more hurt. She isn't the kind that accepts change well. She doesn't do well accepting new people into her life. She's been screwed so many times she's trigger shy, I guess you could say. And she really started believing that Hotch loved her. She really began to feel like she finally belonged somewhere….."
"She does….belong somewhere, I mean. She belongs here, in Quantico, with us. With Hotch, even though he's being kind of a douche bag right now. What kind of trouble is she into?"
Garcia took a deep breath, weighing her options.
"Please, tell me."
"When she left she went to Ireland to bury the girls…."
"Yeah, that we knew was bound to happen."
"After Ireland she was going to take the kids to Russia to see her in-laws. When she got off the plane, somebody started shooting at her and the kids."
"Who would…."
"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this apartment. Derek knows, but Hotch doesn't; and for now, that's how it has to stay until I can figure out what the hell is going on….."
"Pen, what is it?"
"Immogene, when she called me, she told me that she had caught the shooters in her sights. She killed one of them, winged the other….."
"Who Pen?"
"Yuri and his brother Sergei."
"But why?"
"That's what I am trying to dig and find out. I have no clue what would bring Yuri to this all of the sudden. I can't imagine Impatiev giving the order. And the traffickers are dead; at least the ones that are pertinent anyway."
"Look into the politics of the area of Russia that Impatiev and the brothers are from. It might have something to do with that."
"I may have to try that. Thanks for the idea. But I am just trying to figure out how that would have anything to do with Alecta."
"Well it would take a piece of research. But, if the unrest is still going on between two different sides like it was in years past….Do you remember when Impatiev talked about his sister's death, that the people of his village were having issues with some other…..I think he said it was Serbs? And he explained how close he had been to his sister. And then when he first saw Alecta, he told us it was like seeing a ghost…that she looked so much like his deceased sister. He assigned Yuri to protect her.
What if Yuri isn't who he presents himself to be? He may not even actually be Russian; his family could be from somewhere else…..Serbia for instance. And if that's the case, whatever hatred is bubbling between the two nations….I'm not saying this has anything to do with what he's after. But, I don't know another explanation off the top of my head."
"No, you've given me a lot to think about. I will have to try this angle. Would you care to help me? I mean, you can help me read whatever material I come across as well as study up on the political issues that may be at play."
"If it will help bring her home to us any faster….then, hell yes! I'll help. I need her back just because she's one of the best friends I ever had. You need her back for much the same reason. Rossi needs her back because she's like the daughter he never had-and her mother has been just all upset over the whole thing. I'm not sure what magic Rossi has worked to keep her from messing Hotch up. Should we go to his house and check it out? Mrs. King doesn't seem the tame type. I mean, she's Lex's mom.
Hotch needs her back because otherwise could you see the headlines:' Former FBI Agent arrested for spree killing!'"
"Yeah, really. Well, get some sleep G-man; we can think about this tomorrow some more."
"Thanks Garcia."
"Don't mention it. We all miss her. Just let us know if anything else is bothering you, ok."
Reid nodded in the affirmative as he got himself situated in the bed, pulling the covers up to about his hips. He grasped the medallion hanging from around his neck, running his thumb and forefinger across it.
"You better know what you're doing old girl." He mumbled just before falling asleep.
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By 9 a.m. the next morning, Selim and the others had Alecta and the babies packed up and were headed for the safety of the fortress, Rumelihisarı. Though Alecta had stopped here briefly around the time she had Sofie and Emma she hadn't stayed long, which was a pity. This was one of her favorite places in the world. Watching the sunset over the Bosphorus River from the battlements….it wasn't to be missed. It was a sight that had moved her for centuries, since she began her partnership with the Sultan. Sometimes if she closed her eyes and cleared her mind she could still hear him as they walked the halls and made plans.
These days the cover story was that the Fortress was a museum, among other things. This meant that people could visit it, but only certain days and hours…..there were limitations. This allowed Alecta and her friends to hide everything they did right under people's noses. The government gave them carte blanche.
The night before, Selim had called a friend that worked at the fortress as a 'guide' to let him know they were coming and the basics of the situations. When they arrived there signs had been posted about construction work that was being done, therefore the Fortress was temporarily closed to the public.
"Clever, clever devil." Selim said with some mirth as he clapped his friend on the back. Really, Tokar was not a guide, per se. Technically he was; his function within the grand scheme of things was to lead the tourist away from the delicate secrets of the inner sanctum. And there was really nobody better suited for the job. Tokar was as bad as Reid when he had to spiel some bull-shit babble to mislead a person.
Alecta was escorted into one of the towers; her room was large and overlooked the river. There was enough room here that the babies could be placed in the room with her. This would make it easier to protect them if they are all together. Besides, she hated the idea of being separated from them. So much could happen.
The rest of her children had rooms in the tower as well, some on the same floor, Rachel was one floor below. Alecta had watched her babies had been placed in their cribs; then Cossette and Ivory left, shutting the bedroom door behind them. Everyone wanted to give her some time alone with the babies. She walked over to the first crib, the one that held the eldest of the two infant girls.
"I think I will call you Devika Renee. Kong sometimes calls me 'Devika'. You aren't old enough to care yet, but it means 'little goddess' in Sanskrit; and Renee is said to mean 'rebirth'. I'll explain it when you're older if you need me to." She scooped the baby up that had been watching her carefully, blinking slowly, and taking in the new surroundings. Alecta checked the diaper, it was messy, so she decided there was no time like the present to get acquainted with her new babies.
As she unwrapped the blanket from around her little girl, the baby began to swing her arms and legs a bit, trying to get a feel for being in the outside world already.
"As a nickname, until you and your sisters get used to saying your name, I think we can call you Vika for short. Well, that's what I will call you anyway."
Just like her twin sister, Vika's hair stood straight up on end, and there was a lot of it.
"I have always heard that when the baby's hair is like yours that it means it's going to be thick and curly…..so your hair will probably be like mine when you're older. I'll have to show you a picture someday and let you see what you think."
Alecta kept babbling right on, she knew that most newborns didn't have the capacity to really focus that long on any one thing and that they were too busy trying to take in all of their surroundings. But when she looked down at her baby girl, the child was focused solely on her mother; her large brown eyes were locked on Alecta's. Vika, only 24 hours old was trying to figure out how to reach up and grab for her mother's hair.
"You do understand me don't you?" Alecta tickled the baby's tummy a little which earned her a small grin from the baby and some strange sort of half laugh, like the baby was trying to let her know that it did indeed tickle…..but being only a day old, Vika was limited in what she could do.
"We'll figure it all out later; time for me to change your sister."
Alecta had wiped the baby's bottom and grabbed some powder to sift into the diaper, just a touch…..and she then folded the diaper onto the baby and fastened it properly; wrapping the blanket back up around the baby a bit, she laid Vika back into her little crib with a pacifier. Next she picked up her other newborn daughter.
"Me thinks we will call you Leta, it means 'the hidden one'…..I think it's appropriate, since you were hiding behind your brother and sister don't you?"
Just like the other baby, this one let out almost a half giggle, her arms swinging in the air excitedly.
"Your middle name will be Marie, for my friend, Mrs. 'Ouisa, her middle name as Marie. You'd like her. She's super nice. I'll have to take you there someday when…..when all of this mess has calmed down. I think you will like your Uncle Kevin….he's Mrs. 'Ouisa's son….and his daddy Mr. Dan'el. They are awesome. I love them so. And I know that Ouisa and Dan'el will love the three of you like you are their own grandkids. That will be nice. Since your biological dad isn't around anymore, and I never knew his family to speak of…..Aaron's parents are gone. All you have left is my mother and Kevin's parents. Well, and Agent Rossi. He and momma have a thing going…..Anyway, clean butt, happy baby. It's your brother's turn."
She wrapped Leta in her little blanket and set her back in her crib; next she turned to pick up her baby boy.
"You, my darling boy….I am naming you Michael, after a dear friend that I have had for ages, seems like forever. And then the middle name is going to be Aaron. I'm still mad at him a little bit….I know that he was only upset over the challenge to the safety of his child. I know that is what was behind the awful things he said to me. And perhaps on some level he was right to be a little angry. But I'm still mad."
Watching little Michael try to make a grab for the medallion hanging around her neck, she leaned in to kiss his little forehead; she wrapped him in his blanket, leaving his arms free to flail around some more if he chose to. Holding him snuggly she walked over to the window that looked out onto the river.
"Michael, this river….the Bosphorus….it's seen a lot. There's so much you and you sisters don't understand right now. But, all you need to know right now is, here we will be protected better than any other spot on earth. Did you know that his Gloriousness, Sultan Mehmed II built this place? Yeah, centuries ago….I watched them, from the other bank; watched every stone be slid into place. I know this fortress like the back of my hand. Ever since I did that thing for the Sultan, he swore to always protect me and anyone that I cared about, and that means you."
Alecta looked down at him, he was studying her just like his sisters had.
"The three of you are just going to be too smart for your own good aren't you?"
There were some baby gurgles.
"Why not, the others are." Walking back over to his little crib she raised him to her a bit and placed a kiss on his chubby little cheek. His hair was blonder; his eyes were a deep ocean blue. He looked quite a bit like her mother and both of her grandmothers really…..the lighter hair, the blue eyes. Yep, he was a throw-back baby; her throw-back baby. She squeezed him gently before placing him in his crib with his pacifier in his mouth as well. The babies had been fed on the way to the fortress, so they would be good for another two hours or so.
Alecta walked back over to the window and looked out onto the Bosphorus River, watching the current, watching the day pass by.
Smiling out of the window, 'It's good to be home." With that she turned and made her way to the bed, lying down.
After lying there for about 10 minutes, she realized she couldn't relax. There was one more thing that she had to do before she could rest.
Alecta got back up, walking over to her bag; she found the burn phone that she kept in there. She began dialing the number she knew from heart, and then she waited for an answer.
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Aaron Hotchner was in a meeting with Strauss and Rossi; they were in Strauss' office when his phone began to ring. Checking the caller ID, it showed up 'Private Caller'. He clicked for it to be ignored and went back to concentrating on what Strauss was trying to say. Mere seconds later his phone began ringing again and again, the caller ID showed 'Private Caller'.
"Excuse me ma'am, I need to take this." Hotch got up and stepped out of the office, into an alcove near a window in the hallway.
"Hotchner." He waited a moment for the person on the other end to respond.
He heard a slight sniffle, 'I'm sorry."
"Alecta?"
"I'm sorry Hotch."
"Sweetheart, sorry for what?"
"I hit you. I shouldn't have."
"You have nothing to apologize for. I was out of line with what I said; if you hadn't been there and done the things you did, there's no telling what could have happened to the kids. I was just afraid a bit I think."
"I was so angry at what you said. I just couldn't believe that it came out of your mouth….."
"I'm the one that is sorry, you have no idea."
"How's Jack?"
"I guess he's alright…He hasn't spoken to me since you left. He spends every weekend at Jessica's house. And when he is home he only sits out in the living room or dining room with me for meals. Otherwise, he stays in your cave, reading the books you left him….sleeping on the bed in there. He doesn't leave it unless he has to go to school. He's so angry at me…."
"I will try to call again tonight; can I talk to him then?"
"Yes, of course."
"I can't promise that I will be able to, I can try."
"Where are you now?"
"Hang on, give me a second….' Seeing the time, Alecta walked over to a different window on the tower, looking out, she could see part of Hagia Sophia in the distance. She snapped a picture and then sent it to his phone. Then she ran to another window, looking out of which she saw a minaret….at the top, one of the religious men were getting ready to call the faithful to their prayers. Just as he began his work, Alecta hit the record button on the memo app for her phone.
"I've sent you something that will help you find me."
Hotch got the sound recording first, that didn't really narrow it down much…..just somewhere in the Middle East, that was all he got from that. Then the picture she took came in; having known her as well as he did for the time that he'd had her, he'd know that building anywhere….Hagia Sophia.
"Istanbul?"
"Yes. Aaron there is something else…..The babies, they are here already. Do you want to see them?"
"Of course I do."
"One second, I'm going to video on this call." He waited while she did so. Both of their phones had the face to face option for calls. Once she had gotten it set up, she turned around and Hotch saw the face of one of the babies pop up in his screen.
"This is Devika Renee. Kong sometimes calls me Devika, it supposed to mean 'little goddess' and Renee means 'Rebirth' it seemed right.' Then she pans over to the boy, 'This is Michael….he has the blonde hair and blue eyes like my mother and grandmothers before her, so that's different….his middle name is A-Aaron."
She saw the look on his face, he was immensely happy with that, 'My name is Aaron Michael."
"You're kidding?"
"I cannot tell a lie."
"Well, that's great. I'm not done yet." She panned over one more time. "This little girl…."
"Triplets?"
"Let me make the introductions, she might get cranky."
Hotch apologized and smiled, 'Go ahead baby."
"This is Leta Marie. Leta stand for 'hidden one'….I picked it because she had been hidden by her brother and sister, and the doctor had totally missed her on the scans. And Marie is also Ouisa's middle name."
She gave Hotch a moment to digest all of this before she spoke again, 'I can't wait for you and Jack to meet them. So far, they've been wonderful babies."
"I will come out there just as soon as I possibly can."
"But Hotch, be careful. There's someone that…."
"I know, someone took shots at you when you were in Russia."
"Immogene called Pen to have her do research."
"Yep."
"I figured as much. She wanted a hacker that could get around any possible concerns over legality."
"I don't care about shooters and all of that; I will come to Istanbul as soon as possible."
"Whatever you say. Just please be careful, I've already buried enough people these past couple weeks. I don't want to go through that again anytime soon."
Hotch could hear the sadness that still lingered in her voice. "I will be careful, I promise."
"And listen to whatever Simon tells you…."
"I will…"
"Or Jack for that matter."
"What does Jack have to do with this?"
"You trust me?"
"Well yeah."
"Well then just pay attention….Listen to them."
"Alright. If it will get me to Istanbul faster and in one piece, then I will do whatever they say."
"Thank you my good man. Now, look, the babies are falling asleep; and I need to get some rest while I can. I just couldn't before I called you."
"Ok, well, I suppose I will let you go for that then." He chuckled, feeling 1,000 times light than he had in nearly a month.
"And you stop snapping at people and being a complete bear. I know how you can be. Hug Jack to death for me…you know if he lets you."
"Well if you are able to call us tonight, he should be fine. He's just missed you so damned much."
"And I miss him."
"I know." Hotch could hear her yawn, though she tried to stifle it. 'Go, get some rest. It's currently three against one now."
"Yep. Talk to ya later Aaron."
They disconnected the call. Hotch smiled and walked back into Strauss' office, still smiling.
"Agent Hotchner, I take it the phone call was satisfactory."
"Yes ma'am, quite so. Did I miss anything important?"
"Not as important as that phone call I wager,' Rossi grinned at him.
Hotch could not stop smiling to save his life. He just couldn't help it.
"Well, we're pretty much done here. The two of you can get back to work if you'd like; the faster you get it done, the faster you get to go home."
"Enough said Erin. Come on boy, let's get out of here."
Alecta had flopped out on the bed. This bed was always so comfortable, all pillowy and fluffy; and it was covered in Turkish style linens with the colors and patterns native to Istanbul. And it was covered in pillows to boot. When she fell back onto the bed, the linens were cool to the touch, which felt wonderful because of the heat of the day outside. She had left the window open so she could feel the breeze coming off of the Bosphorus and smell the scents of the local food carts and hear all there was to hear of the city. It was no time before Alecta drifted off to sleep. She had no worries about leaving the window open, there were Islamic religious symbols all around the room. Anything that had much demonic power to it at all wouldn't make it far.
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After having watched Agent Morgan, Dr. Reid, and Miss Garcia most of the night Yuri had gone back to his hotel room, getting a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow he would be taking a look at some of Agent Rossi's activities in the morning. When he had tired of that he'd see what Agent Jareau and Agent Prentiss got up to in the afternoon, about lunch time. He would save the evening for Agent Hotchner and his dear boy, Jack.
Before getting completely ready for bed, Yuri went over his gear again. Chloroform, duct tape, rope, fake passports for himself, his paperwork for the jet he was commandeering, gun and ammunition. It all seemed to be there.
With the check being done he laid down on the bed on his back staring at the ceiling.
"Anyone that sides with the Russians has to die." He remembered his father saying as he slipped into a peaceful sleep.