Chapter 37

Hotch took off his Kevlar vest and sat down on his bed roughly. He leaned his head down and tried to stretch his neck muscles. Where are you, Babe? He got up and started pacing. He knew he should lay down and try to relax, but he couldn't. He was physically exhausted, but he didn't want to think about the nightmares he would have if he actually fell asleep. His brows furrowed as his head pounded. Maybe some Tylenol wouldn't hurt. He got up and walked to the door. He knew there was a convenience store down the block. And some coffee. I need something to keep me awake.

XXX

"Where's Hotch?" JJ asked as soon as Rossi joined them at the table.

"I took him to the hotel," Rossi told her as he sat down.

"What?!" Morgan half yelled.

"Why would you leave him alone? He could. . . he might. . ." JJ stammered.

"He's fine," Rossi assured them, but he could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't agree. "Jesus, he just needs some time alone to process what's happened. It's not like he's going to go anywhere. We have both vehicles."

"He could call a cab or walk," Reid pointed out.

"And where would he go? He has no idea where Kahlan is. Are you afraid he'll just ride around and maybe actually find her?"

"While that would be awesome, I wouldn't want him to do it alone," Morgan told him as the waitress brought them their drinks.

"He's fine," Rossi told them again as he looked at their faces. "Jesus. If you are so worried about him, call Garcia and have her trace his cell. She'll tell you he's at the hotel."

JJ bit her lip as she considered it.

Morgan huffed, though, and took out his phone. He dialed her. "Hey, Baby Girl."

"How is my Chocolate Thunder? I'm really sorry boss man didn't find double-o."

"Yeah, we are, too. Do me a favor?"

"Of course!"

"Trace Hotch's cell."

"What? Why? Has something happened?" She asked quickly as he heard her typing on her keyboard.

"Calm down. We just want to make sure he's in the hotel like he's supposed to be."

"Oh." She brought up the screen and it started to zero in on Kokomo. "Ummmm."

"What?" Morgan asked desperately and put his phone on speaker. The whole table tensed at Morgan's actions.

"Well, unless your hotel is moving, I don't think Hotch is there."

"What?!" Rossi yelled as he stood up.

"He's still on the same street, but he is definitely moving," Garcia told them and they all jumped up.

"Is he moving fast enough to be in a vehicle?" Rossi quickly asked her.

"I don't think so."

Rossi looked at Morgan. "He's probably just taking a walk or something, but I'll go. You all stay here and get something to eat." JJ went to argue. "Bring me and Hotch something back. I'll call you as soon as I have him."

"Rossi. . ."

"If we all show up and all he's doing is trying to clear his mind, he's going to know we all don't trust him. It's better if it's just me." Morgan nodded. Rossi looked back towards Morgan's phone. "I'll call you, Kitten, if I need help finding him."

"Ok. I'll check traffic cams in the area, too," she told him and they heard the call end.

"Calm down, relax, eat, and recharge. Hopefully we get another lead, and we need at least half the team to be at their best if that happens," Rossi told them and they sat back down reluctantly. He gave them a small smile and headed to the exit.

XXX

Hotch opened the door to the convenience store and froze. Reflected in the glass was a woman with long black hair getting into a van. He let the door go and turned to look at the van just as the door shut. That couldn't be. . . he thought as he started walking towards it, but it took off. He shook head and turned back to the store. Get a grip Hotchner! He went in and found the pills and went to make himself the largest coffee they offered. He paid and walked outside. He opened the pills and took them with a drink of the coffee. As he messaged his forehead, he heard a vehicle pull up in front of him. He moved his hand and looked up to see Rossi sitting in the driver's seat of the SUV. Hotch shook his head as Rossi rolled down the passenger side window. "Really, Dave? You have Garcia keeping a trace on my phone?"

"What are you doing?"

Hotch held up the cup of coffee in his hand. Rossi gave him a small smile. "You can't even trust me to walk a block on my own?"

"I was worried. I'm sorry. You'll have to give an old man a break for caring. Get in."

Hotch sighed, but got in. "I know you care, Dave." Hotch shook his head. "Maybe you should be worried."

Rossi furrowed his brows. "Why?"

"I think I am actually losing my mind."

Rossi heart hurt to hear Hotch say such a thing. "What? Why?"

"I'm starting to see her."

Rossi's eyes got wide. "What?"

Hotch shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Rossi was worried that Hotch's fragile emotional state might actually be starting to fracture. "You just need to rest. Things will look better in the morning."

Hotch hung his head. "I can't. She'll be waiting," Hotch told him as his voice started to crack.

"She's waiting for us to save her?" Rossi asked as he tried to figure out what Hotch was saying. He was getting more worried.

Hotch shook his head. "No. She's waiting in my dreams. I can't go to sleep. I can't handle seeing her."

"You're afraid of more nightmares?"

"Even when they're not per say nightmares. I can't handle them anymore," Hotch told him and Rossi saw a tear escape Hotch's eye.

"Oh, Aaron. I know it's hard, but if you think not sleeping well is truly messing up your mind. . ." Rossi's phone went off. He took it out and saw it was Garcia. "Hey, Kitten. Don't worry, I found him," Rossi told her.

"No, Rossi! She was right there!"

"What?!" Rossi yelled as he quickly put the phone on speaker. Hotch half jumped at Rossi's reaction.

"I was checking the traffic cams for Hotch like I said," Hotch rolled his eyes and shook his head. "And right there at the light beside you. . . Kahlan was there!"

"What?!" Hotch yelled.

"She was in a van."

Son of a bitch! "That was her!" Hotch yelled as he jumped out of the SUV and looked for the van.

"Can you follow it?" Rossi asked Garcia quickly. He could hear her typing as she cycled through any traffic cams she could find.

"It's still going north on the same road," Cameron's voice told him.

"Hotch! Get in!" Rossi yelled and Hotch jumped in. Rossi took off and got back on the street. "Call the team!"

"Already done. Garcia's leading them through town to try and get them in front of the van," Cameron told them.

Rossi hit the gas, but he didn't dare turn on the lights or sirens. He didn't want to give whoever was in the van an advanced notice of them coming up behind them. Rossi noticed Hotch getting mad as he was shaking his head.

"They're turning right on Virginia Avenue," Cameron told them with a laugh. "Kind of ironic, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and if there's a Quantico street I'll die," Rossi joked as he watched where he was going. He was quickly weaving in and out of traffic to try and get closer to the van.

"Your next right," Cameron told them.

Rossi quickly got into the right-hand lane.

"Call Chuck and let him know," Hotch told him.

"Already done. He's on his way about two miles behind you." Hotch smiled at the man's proficiency. He knew the man was good by what he had always accomplished with Kahlan, but he had never seen him work first hand. "Left on Maple Drive, three roads ahead."

Rossi nodded even though there was no way for Cameron to see him.

"If they stay straight on Maple, Morgan will be able to cut them off," Garcia told them. Hotch smiled. Thank God! "No, no, no!" Hotch instantly knew they had turned. Of course!

"Right on Tennessee," Cameron told them. "Three streets up, Rossi." They could hear Garcia telling Morgan directions in the background. Hotch wasn't sure how they were directing Chuck, but he knew they were.

"Shit!" Hotch yelled as soon as he realized they were getting to the edge of town. There wouldn't be any traffic cams if they kept going.

"And they're gone," Cameron told them and Hotch could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"Son of a bitch!" Rossi exclaimed but kept driving. Hotch hung his head. I'm so sorry, Babe! Why didn't I realize it was you? Hotch grabbed his head. The pills he had taken weren't working on dulling his headache. Rossi saw a car coming up on him fast and realized it was Chuck.

Hotch's phone went off, so he dug it out of his pocket. "Yeah Chuck, we're still looking," Hotch told him as he saw Morgan's SUV at the corner ahead of them.

"I ran the plates on the van. It belongs to the man from the satellite photos. His name is Anthony Morris. I'm running everything on him now," Garcia told them all.

Hotch searched every road that they passed. A tear escaped him as he thought that he had lost her again.

"I'm checking satellites. Don't give up hope yet, Hotch," Cameron told him as if he could hear Hotch's thoughts.

"You want to pull over and see what they can find?" Rossi asked him. He knew there were too many connecting roads for them to search manually.

Hotch leaned his head back on the head-rest and nodded. Rossi saw a parking lot up ahead and signaled to let everyone know he planned on stopping. Hotch sighed deeply as Rossi pulled the SUV to a stop. Hotch heard the others pull up and then he heard several doors open. He knew they were all making their way to him, but his head was pounding so he didn't make a move to get out.

Rossi looked at him with concern. "Aaron?"

Hotch squeezed his eyes shut and put his head in his hand.

Chuck came up beside Hotch's door, but Rossi quickly shook his head to let him know not to open it. Chuck gave him a puzzling look, but one look at Hotch and he understood, so he moved away and kept everyone back, too.

"Is it just a headache?" Rossi asked quietly. He was truly worried about it being something worse.

Hotch took a couple deep breaths. "I think so." Hotch told him as he rubbed his temples. "Hell, I'll be lucky this whole thing doesn't kill me," he joked.

"That's not funny!"

Hotch winced at Rossi's yell, but looked at him. "That time I was trying to be," Hotch told him with a small smile.

Rossi shook his head at him. "You'll be lucky if I don't kill you!"

Hotch actually chuckled as he got out of the SUV. Everyone gave him sympathetic looks. "Cameron will find her," Hotch told them confidently, and they all visibly relaxed a little.

"Damn, what is it with you? It's like fate has it out for you," Chuck told him jokingly. The look of horror on Hotch's face made Chuck choke on his own breath. "What'd I say?" Hotch shook his head and turned to walk away from the group.

"You're an ass!" JJ told Chuck as she walked to Hotch.

"What'd I say?" Chuck asked desperately.

"The Reaper," is all Rossi said as he went to Hotch, too.

Morgan shook his head.

"Who?" Chuck asked clearly not knowing what they were talking about or why it had upset Hotch so much.

"George Foyet, the Boston Reaper, believed he was fate personified. He taunted Hotch with it," Reid explained.

"Shit!" Chuck said quietly. He knew who Foyet was from Kahlan telling him the story, but he didn't know about the whole fate thing. "I didn't know," he told them weakly and went to Hotch. "Hotch, man, I am so sorry. I didn't know," Chuck told him.

Hotch took a deep breath. He could tell Chuck was sincere. "It's alright. I know you didn't know. It just hit me wrong, that's all. You have no reason to apologize," Hotch told him and patted him on the shoulder and went back to the group.

Rossi gave Chuck a small smile. "Come on. Hopefully Cameron finds us something that will put him in a good mood."

Chuck looked at JJ. "JJ, I swear, I would never hurt Hotch's feelings on purpose, especially at a time like this."

JJ nodded and gave him a quick hug. "I know, it's just that was a really bad time for all of us, especially for Hotch."

"I'm sorry to have upset any of you. That was not my intention," he told her as they walked back to the group together.