Chapter 37

Rossi pulled up to Hotch's house and smiled when he realized Jessica had gotten the boys out. He had texted her and said he was bringing Hotch and he didn't want Hotch to have to face the boys until after he had some sleep. Jessica had agreed, like he knew she would. He had also texted Chuck to let him know where they were going. Chuck didn't say what he was doing, but he told Rossi to text him once Hotch was awake. Rossi agreed and wondered what the man was up to.

Hotch unlocked the door to find the dogs waiting. Sampson looked outside and whined when he realized Kahlan was not with him. "Sorry, Buddy," Hotch told him and he sulked back into the house. Hotch shook his head as he watched him leave. Goliath was happy to see anyone, and Rossi rubbed his head affectionately.

Rossi went straight to the kitchen. Kahlan had told him about her special tea before, and he put a pot of water on so Hotch could have a cup before he laid down.

Hotch followed him and eyed the pot warily. "What are you doing?"

Rossi gave him an innocent look. "What? Can't a guy make a cup of tea?"

Hotch sighed deeply. Maybe it will help me sleep. "Make me one, too."

Rossi grinned. "Coming right up."

"I'm going to go take a shower," Hotch told him and headed upstairs.

"Take a long, hot one!" Rossi yelled after him.

XXX

Hotch stretched as he woke up. He smiled when he realized he had slept for seven hours. He could hear the boys downstairs, and he sighed. He knew they'd ask about their mother. He grabbed the tablet off the nightstand and checked on his wife. She looked to be sleeping, and he couldn't be sure, but he thought she was smiling under the oxygen mask. You better be dreaming about me, Babe.

He got up, got dressed, and headed down stairs.

"Hey, Dad," Jack told him as he went up and hugged him. "You sleep well?"

"Yeah, I actually did," he told him as Wyatt got up and hugged him, too.

"How's Mom?" Wyatt asked.

Hotch looked at his boys. He suddenly realized that he didn't know if they knew she was sick or not. Jessica handed him a cup of coffee. "Let the man wake up first," she told the boys when she sensed his hesitation.

They looked at her knowingly and went downstairs. Hotch joined Rossi at the table. "You get any sleep?"

Rossi smiled. "Like a baby. I got up about twenty minutes ago."

Hotch nodded and took a drink of the coffee. He turned to Jessica. "What do they know?"

Jessica sat down beside him. "I'm not sure. They knew something was wrong when Donna called me over and headed out last night, but I didn't have any information to give them."

Hotch suddenly looked horrified. "I'm sorry, I should have cal. . ."

"Dave called me with an update first thing this morning, but the boys don't know it."

Rossi smiled as he took a drink from his cup.

Hotch nodded. "I guess if I just leave off the whole scene from last night, and they should be alright."

"Are you going to tell them how sick she really is?" Jessica asked him quietly.

"They have a right to know, but I'll try to play it down as much as I can," Hotch told her truthfully.

"They'd figure it out anyway," Rossi injected and Hotch nodded.

XXX

Hotch got ready to leave to go see Kahlan after he talked with the boys. They were worried, but Hotch insisted that Kahlan would make it. They had studied him and believed him, so they told him to tell her they loved her and let him go without a bunch of questions.

He ran a hand though his hair to try and get it lay right. He smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. Kahlan liked his hair a little longer, but that made his cowlicks even more stubborn. He also didn't shave because he knew Kahlan liked him with a little scruff. I'll shave in the morning. He sighed deeply. You will come home, Babe. He took one last look at himself and then headed down stairs.

Chuck was at the table with Rossi. Hotch eyed him warily. "Chuck," he said as he joined them at the table.

Chuck smiled. "I brought you something," he told him as he used his foot to slide a bag over to Hotch.

Hotch looked at the bag, but didn't move to grab it. "What is it?" He asked and shot Rossi a look. Rossi shrugged to let him know he had no idea.

Chuck gave him a sly grin. "What? Don't trust me?"

Hotch furrowed his brows at him, sighed, and then picked up the bag. His brows furrowed even more as he tried to figure out what was in it. With another look to Rossi, he pulled out the contents. He raised it up in his hands. "Not really make style," he told Chuck with a grin as he looked at it. It looked like a t-shirt, but Hotch knew it wasn't.

Rossi quickly reached out and felt it. He whistled and then fixed Chuck with a look. "Is that what I think it is?"

Hotch laid it on the table. "What is it?"

"I could only get my hands on one. Sorry," Chuck told Rossi.

"How did you even get one?" Rossi asked him in awe.

"Would one of you please tell me what it is?" Hotch demanded quietly; the boys and Jessica were already in bed.

Chuck smiled widely. "That, Hotch, is the latest development in bulletproof material," he told him proudly.

Hotch picked it back up. He pushed his fingers into the almost cloth like material. "No way this would stop a slug."

Rossi grabbed it from him. "No, seriously. It's a combination of layers of polymers and glass fibers. Last I heard, though, is that Rice University still had it in the developmental stages, and it wouldn't be ready for another year or so." Hotch gave him a shocked look; he knew Rossi always stayed on top of new weapons and such, so he was impressed if Rossi was.

Chuck smiled again. "I think their research was hacked," is all he offered Rossi and then turned to Hotch again. "I've seen it stop a fifty caliber at point blank range," he told him seriously.

Hotch raised his brows in surprise and inspected the material a little more closely. After a few seconds, he looked at Rossi. "And how much would something like this cost?"

Rossi pursed his lips as he considered it. "On the private market?" he started and then looked at Chuck. "I wouldn't even want to consider it."

Chuck shrugged. "They aren't even for sale anywhere yet. That is one of the first actually made into a shirt."

"No," Hotch told Chuck simply and slid it across the table to him.

"But I pulled some strings. . ."

"Then you keep it."

"But I got it for you!"

"And I don't need it. My vest is perfectly capable. . ."

"But you heard Daniels! He could have. . ."

"I don't believe that any more than I believe that he's the leader."

"What about what happened at the lodge? You heard what that guy said!"

"What?" Rossi asked quickly.

"Nothing," Hotch told him quickly and shot Chuck a look.

"Charles?" Rossi demanded as he fixed Chuck with a look.

Hotch looked at him pleadingly, but Chuck turned to Rossi, and Hotch sank back into his chair. "The guy that tried to kill Hotch said that Daniels promised ten thousand to whoever got him first."

Rossi turned to Hotch, and Hotch could see the fear and anger in his eyes. "And you didn't think that was something we should have been told?!"

"Keep it down! You'll wake the boys," Hotch told him.

"Don't change the subject!" Rossi told him sternly but quietly.

"Thanks, Chuck," Hotch told him and got up to refill his mug.

Rossi shook his head as he watched him walk away.

"After what that guy said, and after what Daniels said, well, now you know why I think he should wear it," Chuck told him as he, too, looked after Hotch.

"And now Daniels is locked up and can't pay anyone. . ." Hotch started as soon as he came back into the room.

"But they might not know that! Ten thousand is a lot of money to those damn rednecks!" Chuck argued.

"I'll be fine," Hotch started as he sat down.

"You don't know that!" Chuck countered. "They probably want to take you out because they know you'll figure out who the leader is." He turned to Rossi. "No offense."

"None taken; and I agree with him," Rossi told Hotch.

"I am not going to. . ."

"You owe me!" Chuck told him with an evil grin.

That made Hotch pause, because he did. "That just shows that you should be the one wearing it," Hotch told him matter-of -factly.

Chuck smiled. "Fine. Then I will just have to be stuck to you like glue so I can protect you."

Rossi covered a smile with his mug because he knew Chuck had Hotch right where he wanted him.

Hotch studied Chuck's face and knew he was completely serious. He sighed in defeat and grabbed the shirt.

"I knew you'd see it my way," Chuck told him with a smile.

Rossi laughed.

"Shut up, Dave!" Hotch told him as he got up to go see Kahlan.

"You should put it on now," Chuck told him as he got up, too.

"I'm just going to see Kahlan for an hour or so," Hotch told him and then turned to him. "You going?"

Chuck lost his smile. "No," he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm good. I'll just see you all at the BAU in the morning."

Hotch gave him an understanding look. "You want me to tell her anything for you?"

"Nah," he started for the door. "I. . . she. . ." He shook his head. "I'll see you in the morning," he told them and left.

Hotch shook his head as he stared at the door.

"I've heard of people having an aversion to hospitals, but I think he takes it to an extreme level," Rossi told Hotch as he stepped up beside him.

"What's he going to do when Vinnie goes into labor?" Hotch asked him as he went out his door.

XXX

Hamill was in the control room when Hotch and Rossi walked in; she stood up as soon as she saw them. "We've developed the antiviral and we administering it to them all."

"Thank God," Rossi told her with a smile.

Hotch nodded as he looked to Kahlan's door. "So how is she?"

"We're addressing her symptoms," is all she would say.

Hotch wasn't sure if Kahlan had somehow gotten her not to tell him or if that was truly all she had to report.

"She is resting comfortably, though," she quickly added.

"I won't wake her. I just want to check in on her," Hotch told her.

"With the amount of pain killers she's under, I don't think you could wake her if you tried."

Hotch nodded and went to the door. Rossi squeezed his shoulder as he passed. He took a deep breath and went into the dim room. He walked up and took her hand and sat down. He smiled slightly when he realized her fever had come down. He reached up and moved the hair from her face. He wasn't sure, but he thought she was breathing a little easier, too. Her chest wasn't heaving as much as it was before, but he wasn't sure if she was just relaxed from the drugs. "Hey, Babe. The boys send their love," he told her quietly. He figured she probably couldn't hear him, but talking to her helped him relax.

He stroked her hair. "If you don't hurry up and come home, Sampson is never going to be able to get out of his depression," he told her with a smile.

Her chest and shoulders moved as if she had chuckled.

"Kahlan?" He asked as he got closer.

She turned opened eyes to him and smiled.

"Hey, Babe," he told her excitedly.

She reached up and moved to oxygen mask. "Hey, Hun."

"I didn't mean to wake you. Hamill said you were out from the pain killers."

She chuckled again. "It'll take a. . . whole lot. . . more than that. . . to keep me away. . . from you."

"But you need your rest," he told her tenderly, and she could tell he felt bad for waking her up.

She reached up and rubbed a hand on his scruffy jaw. "I slept. . . when you slept."

He held her hand to his face. "Am I allowed to stay now?"

She studied him. "I only. . . wanted you to. . . get some. . . real sleep." He opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped. "Aaron!"

"What?"

She shook her head. "I don't have. . . any plans of leaving. . . you, but if I did, yours. . . would be the. . . last face I. . . would want to see. . . before I left."

"So you don't want me to stay away?"

"Not as long. . . as you. . . take care of yourself." She smiled. "You looked. . . like you were. . . going to collapse."

"Yeah, well, you don't too hot either," he joked.

"I said looked. . . past tense. . . right now," she smiled slyly as she played with his bangs. "You look hot!"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You're bad."

She flicked her brows.

"You better behave, or Hamill's going to throw me out."

XXXXX

"I thought you said she wouldn't wake up?" Rossi asked Hamill as they watched the couple on the monitor.

Hamill shook her head. "I have never seen anyone under the effects of that much morphine wake up," she told him seriously.

"Morphine?" Rossi asked quickly.

"Yes. The normal pain killers weren't helping. Does she have a problem with pain meds?"

"Not in an abusive way, if that's what you're asking," Rossi quickly defended her.

"No, not like that. I was just wondering if she had a high tolerance for them." She thumbed a stack of files under her hand. "I saw where she has had several different types prescribed to her over the years." Rossi still eyed her warily. "I'm sorry if I offended you, that was not what I meant at all."

XXXXX

"How are you feeling, really?"

"I'm better now," she assured him with a smile. He eyed her suspiciously. "I'll be out. . . of here. . . before you know it."

"You better!" he told her seriously and then smiled. "I don't like sleeping alone."

"I'd scoot over,. . . but I don't think. . . there'd be enough. . . room for us both."

He eyed the bed. "Yeah, and it's too short." He noticed her eyes trying to close and he smiled. "You can go back to sleep. I'll leave you alone."

She smiled. "Why don't. . . you go home? . . I'm sure you. . . could use some. . . more sleep, too."

"I thought I was allowed to stay."

"You are. . . but that chair. . . is going to. . . kill you."

"Maybe I want to watch you sleep for a while."

"Well, if I. . . wake up and. . . you're not here. . . I will not. . . be upset." She told him with a smile. "But give me. . . a kiss goodnight first."

He stood up and gently kissed her on the lips. "Goodnight, Babe. I love you."

"Goodnight, Hun,. . . I love you more," she told him with a smile and closed her eyes.

He reached up and put the oxygen mask back on her. No, I love you more!