Kate rode in the back of the ambulance with Garcia. The tech had protested that it was unnecessary, but Kate was feeling too spooked to try and walk to her car. Besides, there was no way that Garcia could walk that far.
The cops had come, and Kate promised them a statement after Garcia made it to the hospital, and when they pulled away, they were talking to the security guard.
Kate was still in the waiting room when Hotch strode in, wearing a long, dark coat. Of course.
"I should have known you'd come running," she said.
"You should have been the one to alert me," he said, almost sharply. "Where is she?"
"She's still getting xrays," Kate replied. "And I'm waiting to give my statement to the cops."
"You won't be giving them your statement," Hotch said. "You're BAU. This is an internal investigation by default."
"Of course," she replied.
"Agents will be here to talk soon," Hotch said. "I probably only just beat them." He was still standing, pacing back and forth. "I don't like this," he said, whirling to face her. "I really don't."
"I've been talking to Garcia," Kate began. "She said that there's been something...weird happening in the BAU for a while now."
Hotch's face was grim. "Let's just say someone is trying to seize power," he said.
She hesitated, and then said the word. "Cantor?"
"No comment," Hotch said, but that was enough to confirm it.
She settled back into her seat, tense and worried. "Did you tell the rest of the team?"
"Not yet," he said. "They deserve a quiet night in, and I know this is Em's last night."
"I think she'd be angry with you for not telling," a sharp voice said behind them, and Hotch stiffened.
Emily was standing there, having just exited the elevator. "What the fuck, Hotch?" Emily continued. "I'm not a kid who needs the truth shielded from me."
"How did you find out?" He asked, weary.
"Garcia alerted us in the ambulance," Emily said. "But JJ had to get home, so it took me longer to get over here. Is she doing okay?"
"It was just a twisted ankle," Kate said. "She'll be fine, they're just finishing up with xrays."
Emily barely even looked at her. "Hotch, can I speak with you?" She asked, and Hotch almost seemed to hesitate. But he acquiesced, and the two walked down the hallway, out of earshot.
Kate sank back in her chair, feeling tense, and just a little bit jealous. She'd felt out of place ever since the funeral, and this didn't help anything.
Hotch went into work early the next day, and was gratified to see that Kate wasn't there yet. She'd been working too much lately, and he'd been very clear with her about taking a day off.
Garcia was off as well, and Hotch was in his office when Derek Morgan stormed in.
"What the hell, Hotch?" He demanded, and Hotch inhaled, counting to five. He should have known that Garcia's accident would open up the floodgates.
"What's this about?" Hotch asked wearily.
"You really weren't going to tell us about Garcia?" Morgan snapped. "I had to hear it from Emily."
"Well, then why would you wait on me?" He asked, throwing up his hands. "Obviously the news traveled with or without my assistance, maybe I was thinking about things."
"You don't get to keep shit from the team," Morgan said. "Not after Emily."
Hotch just shook his head, and Morgan scoffed before leaving the office.
Hotch remembered his talk with Emily last night; she'd asked about Cantor, and they'd talked about setting up a secret task force to survey him. That would be a hard one to pull off, but Interpol's assistance would make it a lot easier.
He had a weird feeling, however. Kate had left right after he'd told her to take the day off. Why had Garcia and Kate planned to spend the night together anyway? Did Kate have something she wasn't telling the team as well?
Was the car after Garcia? Or was it after the newest member of the BAU?
He looked up, hearing the distant chime of the elevator, and his jaw clenched when he saw who was heading towards his office.
Kate went straight to Garcia's apartment after waking up. The tech had been driven home by Sam late last night, and she'd told Kate to come over.
"Just because this shit happened doesn't mean I'm going to forget about what we were talking about," Garcia had said on the phone.
When Kate reached her apartment, the door swung open before she'd even knocked. Garcia stood there, in a walking boot, and brightly colored pajamas. She looked terrible, in all honesty, like she hadn't slept all night.
"Come on," she said. "Morgan will be here soon, so we don't have much time to talk."
"We don't need to go into it now," Kate said. "Especially with what's happened."
Garcia shrugged, settling onto the couch. There was a huge mug of tea in front of her. "Talk," she instructed. "Distract me from the whirling mess that's my own brain."
"Okay," Kate said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure where to start, but I guess the beginning works."
"Usually the best place," Garcia responded.
"So you remember my first case, right?" Kate wondered. "Bakersfield?"
"Of course, limbs and all," Garcia said.
"There was always something that felt off to me," Kate began, and eventually laid out all of her suspicions. How Parkett wasn't bold enough to pull that off, the long string of victims without anything in common.
Garcia pulled out her laptop as Kate talked, and began to type, fingers flying. "I'll set up some deep web dives," she said. "See if I can find an auction site. Of course, I can't start anything until I'm back on the FBI server; I learned that long ago. But I can begin to set up the parameters."
"Thank you," Kate said. "I feel like I can breathe again, just telling someone else."
"You need to tell Hotch, too," Garcia reminded gently. "Or he'll kill both of us. Especially after last night."
"Yeah," Kate said softly. "About last night...who do you think that car was after?"
"You or me?" Garcia asked. She shook her head. "Honestly, I don't even know anymore. You know about the trouble I've had recently, but with your new revelation, it might be from the guys you're investigating. We'll just have to keep a careful eye out."
Kate nodded, feeling dismissed. "I have to get going," she said. "I'm so sorry, if it was something to do with me. You didn't need that."
"Don't even start to blame yourself," Garcia sighed. "Let Morgan in on your way out, would you?"
By the time Cantor had left his office, Hotch wanted to throw something through his window. Cantor had somehow wormed his way onto the task force that was investigating what had happened last night with Garcia; he was, for all intents and purposes, way too high up to get involved in something like this.
"I am not letting you into this department," Hotch had finally snapped, standing up. "You are not laying one finger on the BAU."
"Too late," Cantor had drawled. "Agent Hotchner, you seem to be forgetting what my new standing is." He'd stood up as well. "I'm taking you down even if I have to drag the BAU with it. I am so sick of this department breaking all the rules and getting patted on the back for it."
Hotch knew exactly what Cantor was referring to; and he remembered just how many agents had tried to the Unit Chief job after Haley had passed.
He knew for a fact that Cantor had been one of them, but until now, Cantor hadn't been able to do anything about it. Everything had changed after Strauss died.
Just as he started to finally concentrate on work again, he again heard the elevator chime, and again glanced up. Once more, his blood pressure elevated. He'd told Kate to stay home, and he was getting really tired of his agents ignoring his orders. He went straight to his office door, not caring about what people would think anymore. "Callahan," he barked, and she froze, before finally coming over. Her chin was held high; she wasn't dressed for work.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, as soon as she shut the door behind her. "I expressly told you to take the day off."
"I'm just here to grab a file," Kate said. "I need to catch up on paperwork."
"What file?" He asked.
She didn't answer, just opened her mouth and closed it again.
"What file, Callahan?" He demanded. "I'll give it to Reid."
"I just wanted to distract myself," she finally said. "I'm more than a little freaked out about what happened last night and I wanted to...lose myself in work."
He sighed. "While that may be true, there's a little more to it than that, isn't there? What are you up to? What were you and Garcia planning?"
"We were just going to stay up talking," Kate said. "There's been a lot to process the past few days."
His eyes pierced her, but she remained cool, not showing any tells. But he knew Kate. This stone front, that was a tell in and of itself. She was hiding something. But he wasn't getting anywhere with this approach.
"I'll ask Gina to take over your paperwork," he said. "Go home. That's an order this time."
"Fine," she said, and stood up.
It was then that Hotch looked out, and saw Cantor in the lobby, watching closely as Kate left his office.
Was it possible that Cantor ordered the hit? Garcia had had so many blocks lately, did they all come from him?
He'd had it in for Hotch for a very long time now. Would he really stoop so low as to take it out on the BAU as a whole?