It seemed like forever, but only four months had passed. They made slow, painstaking progress as they laid their trap for the kidnapping ring. Kate and Hotch had started to make conscious efforts to avoid each other, but it seemed like every time their eyes met, it was heavier, harder to pull away.
He rarely sat next to her on the jet, but he didn't keep them separate on cases. As usual, he distributed the team as he saw fit.
And finally, on the first of May, Garcia came into the round table room, carrying her laptop.
"We've done it," she said. "I've gotten through, and I already have a buyer for JJ."
The plan went off almost perfectly. Alex and Bobby Zorgen came to collect JJ's "dead" body, and the BAU was waiting.
Alex and Bobby struck a deal, and they pointed straight to the rest of the ring.
Hotch came into the round table room, JJ right behind after they finished the last interview. "It's done," Hotch said simply. "We have agents going to arrest every single person registered on that site."
After everyone had filtered out, Hotch came over to Kate, as she packed up her bags.
"You did this, you know that, right?" He said, voice low. This was the closest they'd been since Texas.
"We all did," she said.
He shook his head. "No, we stopped investigating last September. You are the one who stuck by this, who kept looking. Kate, you did good."
He was close enough for her to kiss him. She could see a reality where she did, a reality where they went home together.
But in this reality, Hotch gave her one last smile. "I have one more folder of paperwork," he said, and walked back into his office.
After he walked away, all she could think about was that they still didn't have any answers to the car almost hitting her and Garcia back in January. They'd interviewed so many men, and not one of them had been in the area. Plus, they hadn't had a clue that they were being watched in January. Which meant that...it didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping ring.
She had just gotten into the elevator when someone held out their hand to stop the doors. Once again, she found herself alone in an elevator with Agent Cantor.
"Nice job on this case," he said. "Very impressive."
"I was just doing my job," she said, holding her purse a little tighter.
"You know, we never got to talk about what happened in January," he drawled.
"I'm sure someone just lost control of the wheel and got scared," Kate said.
"Is that the statement you gave to my agents?" Cantor asked.
"That's what I said back in January," she affirmed. "Honestly, it probably had to do with this case I just closed. There were a lot of creeps we arrested."
"Well, did any of these...creeps admit to it?" He asked.
"No, but it would be pretty stupid to admit to charging a federal agent," she hedged.
He smiled, a tight, eerie grin. "Let's go to my office," he said. "I need to talk to you about how you investigated this. Again, I'm very impressed."
"I don't have time," she began.
"You can make time," he said simply.
Kate gritted her teeth, wanting to text Hotch. He'd been so clear that day, going so far as to take her hand and tell her if Cantor made contact again. She went so far as to take out her phone, but Cantor smoothly slid it out of her hand as soon as it was out of her pocket. "You can tell Agent Hotchner later," he said.
They got out at the second floor, and Kate reluctantly followed, if only to get her phone back. She didn't plan on talking to him.
When they opened the door to his office, there were already two agents waiting inside.
"SSA Kate Callahan, I'm afraid we have to place you in custody," Cantor said smoothly.
"What the fuck?" She asked. "What for?"
"Well, you freely admitted in interviews to investigating on your own time, taking files home, using a burner phone to contact suspects, all outside of FBI purview."
She felt her heart freeze. There was no way any of these things would stick. FBI agents investigated on their own time and usually got a pat on the back.
Usually. No one ever brought charges against them.
"Listen to me, SSA Callahan," Cantor said, as the two agents placed her in handcuffs. "You do not want to fight me on this." He nodded at them. "Take her away."
She wanted to fight them, but she knew better. What did she think she could achieve? Break free of them and run all the way to the sixth floor? She'd be restrained or dead before she reached the elevators. The FBI took rogue agents very seriously.
She was confused, though. The only time she'd talked about investigating this on her won time was with the team. How did he know about it?
Garcia? Hotch? They would never say anything.
And then her heart chilled, and she remembered who had been in the round table room with them, that first Monday in January when they'd gone through everything, and started hatching a plan.
SSA Eve Gardiner.
Okay, so Eve must have overheard something, and gone straight to Cantor.
Her head was spinning, and she didn't know what to make of anything, until the two agents finally reached an interrogation room and dumped her inside.
She had never been on this side of the glass before, and she didn't have her phone. She was still handcuffed. And she was fucking terrified.
Would Hotch have any power in this situation? Would Mateo Cruz be able to do a damn thing? Most likely not.
She waited for what seemed like eternity. The room was so silent, and she had to pee. Her mind wouldn't stop spinning, and she was ready to start sobbing by the time the door finally cracked open.
SSA Eve Gardiner walked in, followed by Cantor. She had another sick feeling. Of course. It wasn't that Eve had just happened to overhear.
She'd been his mole all along, hadn't she?