Title: Power Play
Rating: R
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Universe: Creatures of the Night (Part 1)
Pairing: Morgan/Prentiss; JJ/Hotch
Genre: Supernatural/Drama
Summary: Tensions are running high when a vampire joins the BAU, but all differences must be put aside as the team investigate a series of suspicious werewolf murders. AU.
Author's Notes: Betaed by Windy City Dreamer. Some guest beta work from Yellow Smurf.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The tension is thick in the air as Hotch and JJ wait in the foyer for Senator Richard Owens to make an appearance. He's their last interview of the night, and Hotch will be pleased if it goes just a fraction better than the others. They'd filed the paperwork to pack a little extra heat tonight, and the two stake guns hadn't exactly gone down well with their previous interviewees. Hostile though they may have been, none of them are responsible for the shapeshifter deaths.

Hotch hadn't felt comfortable letting Reid out in the field after the previous night's revelation, and at the same time, it didn't feel right to leave him alone; Rossi had stayed behind with him. That accompanied with the full moon, means that it's just the two of them. While he appreciates the time spent with JJ, he'd much prefer that it were in different circumstances.

'Excuse me.' He stands, signaling to the guard at the door. 'We've been waiting for almost half an hour, is there some way to ensure that the Senator sees us some time tonight?'

The guard's expression is blank. He isn't a vampire, that much Hotch can tell. Why a vampire with such political power would rely on someone outside of his own species for protection is beyond Hotch. He already gets the impression – from newspaper articles, and the TV interviews – that Senator Owens is not exactly your typical bloodsucker. His regard transcends species; though vampires only make up a forty percent of the overall population, Owens has a public approval rating that's through the roof. By comparison, his human opponent, Timothy Cutner, is woefully out of his league.

'Senator Owens is a very busy man,' the guard tells him, voice monotone. 'You're lucky you get to see him at all.'

'Fourteen people are dead,' Hotch tells the guard angrily. 'I think that's more important than any political game that's going on.'

'Politics is no trivial matter, Agent Hotchner,' a voice interjects. 'It might be a game, but that game is still a deathmatch.' The voice comes from the other end of the foyer, where a well-dressed man descends the staircase. By all appearances, he looks as though he's in his mid-thirties, but he gives off an air of experience that tells Hotch that he's much, much older. That's no secret though; Owens' file puts at him at a few years shy of six-hundred.

Not quite as old as Emily, Hotch realizes, which is slightly disconcerting. Not as old as Elizabeth, either, which is even more disconcerting.

'I apologize for my lateness.' He looks Hotch in the eye – it's a show of respect, rather than dominance. 'As you're no doubt aware, things have been somewhat hectic lately. Even without the tragic deaths of the shapeshifters.'

'We would appreciate if you'd allow us to ask you some questions about those deaths,' JJ says, inserting herself into the conversation. Owens looks at each of them in turn, and then nods.

'Bruno, we'll be in the sitting room,' he tells the guard. Bruno does not argue, Hotch notes. He doesn't even move.

Owens begins to speak the moment the door to the sitting room has clicked shut. 'With all due respect, Agent Hotchner, you're barking up the wrong tree. Committing murder this close to election? My approval rating would plummet. And really, murder isn't my style.'

He gestures towards the sofa, but neither Hotch nor JJ feel comfortable sitting down. They're ready to make a move if they need to.

'But it is Elizabeth's style, isn't it?'

Owens gives a short laugh. 'You and I both know that Elizabeth isn't stupid enough to kill so blatantly. Politicians don't succeed by using sledgehammers, Agent Hotchner. They succeed using scalpels.'

'You don't like her, do you?' JJ interjects, brow furrowed.

He laughs again. 'Of course not. But she knows where she stands with me; our arrangement is one of mutual gain. I can't gain the support of the vampires without belonging to a clan, and my presence gives her some level of credibility.'

Hotch frowns. 'You're enabling her.'

'To be honest, Agent Hotchner, I'm of the opinion that she would be a thousand times worse if not for my presence. The opportunity of power beyond being a clan leader keeps her in check, and she can't get that if she goes on a killing spree.'

Hotch shakes his head, but it's more to himself, than to anything that Owens is saying. Power and politics.

Things would be so much easier without them.

'You're not like other vampires,' he says, in lieu of anything else case-related. Owens has nothing to do with these murders.

'There are a few of us,' is the answer given, accompanied by a small shrug. 'Sorcerer blood, werewolf blood. It dilutes the vampirism. Not as common, now that inbreeding has become the way of doing things. You know Emily, obviously. You'd never guess who her mother was if you didn't already know.'

'You've met Emily?' asks JJ, frowning slightly.

'In passing a few times. It's her reputation amongst other vampires that I'm more familiar with. Make no mistake, she's a good kid.'

Hotch raises an eyebrow. "Kid" seems a little condescending for someone that's several centuries old. He brings this point up, and Owens gives another shrug.

'She's removed herself from vampire society altogether,' he explains. 'That cancels out any age advantage she might have. That's-'

'Politics,' Hotch finishes, and Owens nods.

'Like it or loathe it, you can't ignore it.'