Chapter 53
Hotch finally made it to his hotel room for the night a little after midnight. He wondered if he should call Kahlan. Normally, it wouldn't matter the time, but with her doing God knows what and where, he wasn't sure. He opened his laptop and saw an email from her. He opened it and found another link to what he knew would lead to another song. He sighed as he clicked it. Lifehouse's 'From Where You Are.' started playing. He listened to it and went back to the email. It told him to call her that night no matter what time it was when he got to the hotel. He smiled and took out his phone. "Hey, Babe."
"Hey yourself."
"I can't believe there is actually a song that says, 'I miss the years that were erased.' How the hell did you find that?"
She chuckled. "So you actually listened to it. You should go outside."
Hotch stood up quickly; for a split second he thought that maybe she was there. "Why?"
"So we can both look up at the same stars and pretend we aren't so far away from each other." She could hear him leaving his room, and she smiled as she stepped out of her room into the night air.
Hotch looked up at the sky once he was outside. He didn't have the heart to tell her it was too cloudy to see any stars.
"You see the little dipper?" Kahlan asked as she looked up.
"Yep," he lied.
"Aaron Jackson Hotchner!"
Shit! "What?" He knew he had been busted.
"Can you even see the moon?"
"No," he told her in a tone that reminded her of the boys when they were in trouble.
She laughed. "You're not standing in the rain, are you?"
He chuckled. "No, but I would for you."
"And you said I was crazy."
"Crazy for you."
She laughed.
"How are things going?" He asked her seriously as he headed back into his room.
"Pretty good. How much longer are you going to be gone?"
"We're getting close. Hopefully just one more day, but you know how that goes."
"Well, I better let you go so you can get to bed and get an early start."
"Yeah. I love you."
"Love you, too. . . Aaron?"
"Yeah, Babe?"
"I really do love you."
He smiled. "I know, Babe." He chuckled. "But I love you more!" He told her and quickly ended the call so she couldn't try to beat him. He smiled as he headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. He heard his phone vibrate, and he instantly knew it was a text from her. He went back and picked it back up, opened the text, and sure enough: 'No! I love you more!' He shook his head as he smiled.
XXX
Kahlan stretched as she woke up. She frowned as she looked at her watch; it was already after nine. She noticed Chuck was already awake and he was smiling at her. "I told you it would work."
"What?" She asked as she stretched some more.
"You didn't have any violent dreams or nightmares last night."
She smiled. She had dreamt, but they weren't about fighting. "I was probably too exhausted after that beating you put me through yesterday," she joked as she got up and took the cup of coffee he offered to her.
"Beating you took? Josh says his whole team is so embarrassed, that they never want to show their faces in Quantico again."
"They were great, though."
"You know Seals. They have big male egos that bruise easily. It was bad enough that they all got beat, but when a woman did it. . ." He laughed. "I guess they didn't believe me when I told them you were good."
"I did apologize."
"Don't worry about them. I'm just really glad it helped."
"Me, too." She smiled. "I think I'm about ready to go home."
"So you don't want to see what I have planned for you today?"
"I didn't say that," she told him with a smile and headed to the bathroom to get dressed.
XXX
Later that evening, Kahlan smiled as she saw another email from Hotch. She opened it and followed the link. She raised her brows at his choice. "Lonestar's 'Amazed' played and her eyes watered. That surprised her almost as much as the song he had chosen for them to dance to at their wedding. She quickly replied and sent him another song. It was still early, so she figured it would be a while before he called. She got up and went to soak in the tub to try to help relieve her aching and sore muscles. While all of the fighting she was doing was helping to erase the feelings of wanting to hurt someone, it was taking a toll on her. She wasn't in the shape she had been when she was younger. She winced as she undressed and took in all of the new and one day old bruises that were littered all over her. She shook her head. Twenty years ago they wouldn't have even touched me!
XXX
Hotch opened his email as soon as he got to his room. He couldn't wait to see Kahlan's reply to his choice of songs. He had to call Donna to get a few good songs to choose from, but he knew she'd be surprised by his choice. He was actually beginning to like some country. Well, at least the love songs. Her reply led him to another song, so he listened to it before he called her. Three Doors Down 'Here Without You' brought a smile to his face.
He took out his phone and waited for her to pick up. "Hey, Babe."
"Hey, Hun. Still in Arizona, huh?"
"Yeah. Sorry I was really hoping we'd be done by now."
"Don't worry about it. You all will catch him; you guys are the best! I can feel that you're getting close."
He smiled. She wasn't the only one who was having feelings. The chasm that had been ripped into his chest while she was gone was starting to close, and he knew that they were on their way to truly being connected again. "I listened to your song."
"Yeah? Well, I have been dreaming of you."
"Oh God." He knew what type of dreams she'd been having, and he didn't like to think he was part of them.
She chuckled. "No, not like that. My dreams have been. . . How should I put it? Ahhhh. . . Nice."
"Oh really?"
She chuckled again.
"So whatever you've been doing is working?"
"I think so."
"Thank God!"
"Yeah. I can't wait to be a nice normal family again."
"We were normal?" He asked as he chuckled.
"You better get some sleep. Maybe we'll be together in our dreams."
He smiled. "I'll see you there. I love you."
"Love you, too."
XXX
By the end of the next day, and the team had their unsub in custody. It was already late in the evening, but the whole team voted on flying home to be able to spend the night in their own beds.
Hotch finally pulled in at close to two in the morning; he frowned at the strange car in his driveway. He unlocked the door quietly and the dogs met him. "Who's here, guys?" Hotch asked them. Sampson wagged his nub quickly. Goliath jumped up on him and he could tell they were both in good moods. He eyed them warily, and then a thought hit him. "Is Mom home?" he asked them and Sampson barked quickly. Hotch would have sworn it was a 'yes'. "Shhh," he told them. He pulled off his suit jacket and set it and his briefcase down on the table. Then he went straight to the stairs leading up to his room.
He opened the door to Joey's room and realized Joey wasn't in bed. He sighed because he figured she was in asleep in his room. Wait. Why aren't the dogs with the boys? He turned around and ran down to the boys' rooms. Sure enough, they weren't there either. So who the hell's car is in the drive? He went back outside and looked the car over again. He finally realized it had the same plates as Kahlan's car, and he knew she had gotten a new one and transferred the plates. Is she really here? He wondered as he made his way back into the house.
"Are you done running around the house?" Kahlan asked him as soon as he stepped back inside, and he jumped.
"Jesus Christ, Kahlan! You scared the shit out of me!"
She smiled at him. "Like anyone could sleep through you running around like a kid on a sugar high." She laughed at him. "If you would have called to say you were on your way home, I would have told you about the car and the kids. They're at Donna's."
"I'm sorry I woke you," he started as he stood there and studied her. "Since you're home. . . You're ok?" He asked excitedly.
She smiled again. "Yeah. I think so."
"Do I want to know how?"
"Probably not," she told him and chuckled.
He advanced on her and pulled her into a hug. "I don't care how. I'm just really glad you're here!" She hugged him back. After a few moments he pushed her away so he could see her face. "Then why aren't the kids here?"
She could see the concern in his eyes. "Because Dave called to let me know you all would be home tonight, and I thought we could use the time alone," she told him with a smile and started for the stairs. He turned, locked the door, and followed her quickly. She looked at him over her shoulder. "I didn't know it would be this late, though. You're probably dead tired."
"I actually slept a little on the jet. Why, did you want to talk?" He asked her as he followed her into their bedroom. He stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the candles that were lit around the room.
"Not exactly," she told him as she turned when she realized he had stopped. She laughed at him standing there open mouthed.
