Chapter 54

Once they were all packed and ready to leave, Kahlan left Kara and Trey to secure the house, but everyone else loaded up in the three SUVs to head to LA. Skip, Bobby, Chuck, Kahlan, and Hotch rode together. Hotch drove while the old friends talked about this and that but they kept talk away from the case or anything else bad, and Skip, while not completely relaxed, seemed at ease at least. Hotch kept an eye on him through the rearview mirror. Once there was a lull in the conversation, Hotch cleared his throat and looked at Skip. "So what kind of embarrassing stories can you tell me about Kay and Chuck?"

Kahlan looked at him from the passenger seat and shook her head. "Nothing. He can't tell you anything," she tried as she shot a look to Skip.

Skip laughed. "Oh I don't know. I'd say that story about that bar in France is pretty embarrassing."

Kahlan turned around so quickly Hotch almost startled. She gave the younger man a stern look. "Rutherford Daniel Pedimore the third, I will kick your ass!"

Skip gave her a wicked smile. "I'm in custody. You'd get in trouble if I got roughed up. Right, Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch chuckled. "He does have a point, Kahlan."

She huffed and sat back in her seat and stared out the window.

Hotch turned and looked at Chuck and he was trying his hardest not to laugh. He looked back at Skip. "So what happened in France?"

Skip cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. "We went out with all of the locals after wrapping up a really big case to celebrate, and that's when we found out that Kay can't drink Whiskey."

Hotch noticed Kahlan shrink into her seat even more and he bit back the chuckle that wanted to escape. "Why? What happens when she drinks whiskey?" he asked as he remembered Kahlan telling him one time that she wasn't herself when she drank it. He'd always wondered what she meant but he'd never asked.

Chuck snorted and shook his head. "She acts all kinds of crazy."

"Crazier than normal?" Hotch asked, and Kahlan smacked his leg and he laughed.

She turned around. "It won't matter if I hurt you, Charles."

Chuck quickly cleared his throat and bit his lips.

Skip laughed at him and then looked back at Hotch. "Oh yeah," Skip started. "We didn't realize it cause it takes her a while to get drunk, and before we knew it she was up on the bar."

Hotch almost choked on his own breath. "On the bar?"

"Dancing and singing, and before we could get her down, she was kicking her shoes off and started in on her shirt."

Hotch looked at his wife with wide eyes. "Your shirt?" He had to shake away the image of his wife doing a strip tease so he could actually concentrate on driving.

She wilted even more. "Shut up, Aaron."

Skip laughed. "And the whole bar full of mostly drunk cops and agents had stopped to watch the show, but we got her down before she revealed too much."

Hotch shook his head slowly. "I can't believe. . ."

Kahlan sighed and sank down even more.

"And while she didn't try to get on the bar anymore, she started working her way around the room flirting and dancing with all the guys." He laughed. "It was like she'd lost all of her inhibitions."

Hotch shook his head again. "And I'm sure the men were eating that up."

"Oh yeah, but we kept an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything too over the top that she'd regret later," Chuck made sure to point out.

Hotch studied the men in his mirror. "And yet the story doesn't end there?"

Skip winced. "No, apparently flirty Kay was just the first step. Mean Kay came out next."

Hotch looked at his wife. "Mean Kay? You mean she wasn't always mean?" he joked but then cringed when he saw Kahlan looking even more disturbed.

Kahlan hid behind her hands. "I didn't mean to hurt them."

"Them?" Hotch asked as he looked at Skip and Chuck.

"Well, Kay just got quiet and went into one of the corners by herself. We could tell she didn't want to be messed with, but apparently that wasn't obvious to some of the French agents. These two guys kept bugging her and we tried to tell them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't, so Chuck and Cam grabbed them and tossed them out the door, so we thought it was over. After about another hour, we decided to call it a night and tried to get her to leave," Skip went on and Kahlan tried to ball herself up even more.

"And when I tried to pull her to the door, she broke my arm," Chuck put in.

Kahlan moaned. "I didn't mean to."

Chuck reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "I know, Kay."

Hotch looked at his wife. "So she felt bad enough that she left?" he asked hoping that's how the story was going. When Kahlan groaned his stomach clenched and he regretted even asking Skip for a story.

"No. Then this big burly ass guy came up and said he'd take her out and went to grab her before we could stop him. I guess he figured he was big enough that she couldn't hurt him, but he was wrong."

"Oh God. What did she do to him?" Bobby asked with wide eyes as he glanced at the woman in the front seat.

Skip shook his head. "I'm not even sure, but she touched him one time and he dropped to the floor."

Bobby looked at Kahlan and then to the two men sitting next to him. "She killed him?"

"His buddies rushed to him and he wasn't breathing and they couldn't find a pulse, but Cam pushed them out of the way and then hit him in the chest and the big guy coughed and started breathing again. He was fine after a few minutes," Skip explained.

Kahlan huffed. "If Cam wouldn't have been there he'd be dead. I can't believe I did that."

Hotch ran a hand down his face and then looked at his wife. "One hit? What the hell did you do to him?"

She shrugged. "I guess I gave him a hiccup. I don't remember any of it."

Hotch could tell she wasn't going to elaborate anymore and he shook his head. And I thought the nerve shit was scary. He took a deep breath. "And then what happened."

"By the time they got the big guy up, Kay was gone, but we found her passed in her bed at the hotel," Skip finished.

"And I woke up with a hangover from hell and once they told me what happened, I vowed never to drink whiskey again," Kahlan put in.

"And those French guys were even more scared of Kahlan after that," Chuck put in with a little laugh.

Kahlan rolled her eyes. "And every time I looked at Chuck in that cast, I wanted to crawl in a hole."

"Yeah, but he played that shit up, and you babied him the whole time he had it on. Believe me, you made up for it a dozen times over," Skip assured her.

Hotch looked at Chuck and Chuck smiled as he shrugged. "It was the nicest she ever was to me on missions. Of course I milked it."

Hotch shook his head.

XXX

When they got close to LA, Hotch cleared his throat and looked at Skip in the mirror. "When we get to the LA office, you're going to have to be put in a holding cell."

Skip nodded and when he saw Kahlan shake her head she reached up and grabbed her shoulder. "It's alright, Kay. He has to do it."

She sighed. "I know, but it still sucks."

Hotch shot her an apologetic look and she nodded. He looked back at Skip. "And I'll send part of the team to that locker for those files and then we'll set up the raid on that building."

Skip nodded. "I really hope you find that bastard."

Kahlan turned around and gave him a serious look. "I won't stop looking until I do."

Hotch watched them out of the corner of his eye and knew she was again assuring him that the man would die, and he mentally cussed because he wasn't sure he could talk her out of it.

Once they parked and got out, Skip gave his brother a hug. "Find some place close to stay. Maybe they'll give me a chance to visit with you again or something."

Bobby nodded as he pulled away. "And I'll get things rolling with the company and all." They'd already discussed what Skip wanted to happen and Bobby had accepted the fact that his brother was going to jail. What Skip didn't know was that Kahlan and Hotch had assured Bobby that they were going to try to make sure Skip didn't take the fall for all of it and were going to do everything within their power to try and get Skip the least sentence possible.

Skip looked at Hotch. "Do you need to cuff me to take me in?"

Hotch shook his head. "No. You'll be fine. Come on," he told them as everyone else joined them and Hotch led the way. Kahlan quickly joined him and they were quietly discussing something as they rounded the corner of the building.

Skip was looking around, trying to savor what may be his last bit of freedom, when a flash caught his eye across the street. He looked and his stomach clenched when he realized what he had seen was the reflection of the sun off the end of a scope. Well trained eyes scanned the crowd around him and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the red dot of a laser point on the side of Kahlan head. Without thinking he lunged. "Down!" he screamed as he tackled both Hotchner's.

Gun fire erupted but training had everyone ducking and scattering as soon as Skip had yelled. They took cover behind anything they could find as they all pulled weapons and searched the street. "There!" Chuck yelled as he pointed to a window across the street and Morgan nodded and they took off with JJ, Michaela, and Mack following. Cam, Reid, Rossi, and Chip also took off across the street when they saw the barrel of the rifle pull back from another window and knew that whoever it was, was trying to get away.

It had happened so fast, Hotch couldn't right himself before they had taken off, but he jumped up when the shooting had stopped. He shook his head as he took a deep breath and then turned towards his wife and his heart skipped a beat. She was holding Skip in her lap, and he was covered in blood and Bobby was huddled in close and holding his hand. Hotch wanted to scream but he took out his phone and called for an ambulance even though he was pretty sure it wouldn't do the wounded man any good.

Skip smiled and the blood that coated his teeth, made Kahlan cry even harder. He chuckled. "I guess that makes up for trying to kill him, huh?"

Kahlan laughed despite the situation. "Yeah. I'd say you saving us makes us even."

He shook his head. "Nah. You're still up by three."

"Shut up, you idiot. You need to save your strength. Help's on the way," Kahlan assured him.

Skip shook his head. "Not gonna matter," he offered as he looked at his brother.

Bobby cried and held his hand even harder. Hotch watched the scene silently and he knew Kahlan had done something to stop the man's pain because he way too still.

"It's alright, too. I really didn't want to spend the rest of my life in prison anyway," Skip told them and then started crying. "The only thing I regret is that I won't be able to see my girls again."

Kahlan frowned down at him. "Yes you will! They'll be there waiting on you!"

He shook his head. "With what I've done. . . Killing those innocent people. . . I'm going to hell, and you know it."

She shot a look to Hotch and he cringed. She looked back down at her dying friend and shook her head. "No you aren't! Those assholes made you do that! God wouldn't hold that against you. And the other stuff you did because of what they did to you and your family! You will be reunited with them!" she tried as tears trailed down her cheeks.

Skip searched her eyes. "You really think so?"

She nodded. "I promise."

He looked at Bobby and he quickly nodded his agreement, so Skip smiled. "Then I guess I'll see you guys later. We'll have to finally have that drink."

Kahlan laughed. "Yeah, and then you can tell Hotch all of the stories."

He laughed and then locked eyes with Hotch. "They were aiming for her. Protect her."

Hotch knelt down next to him and nodded. "I will do my best. Thank you for saving her."

Skip smiled again. "That's my job," he got out and then his head fell limply to the side.