Summary: AU, set some time after 6x19 "With Friends Like These". Working in law enforcement you soon learn that the hardest cases prove to be those that go unsolved. The hardest thing often isn't the many atrocious deeds you bear witness to day in and day out, but to pour all you have into a case and get nowhere. To not get to the victims in time, to not catch those responsible, to fail giving those left behind closure... And never does that truth hit you harder than when a case proves personal.
Genres: Tragedy, Crime, Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Mystery
Spoilers: Season 6, particularly from "What Happens at Home" up to "With Friends Like These", but also mentions events from prior episodes and some references to the remainder of season 6 and beyond
Warnings: Since this is a CM story there will be instances of violence, mentions of death, etc... Additionally there will be at least one love scene in a future chapter.
Author's Notes: This story idea has been ghosting around in my mind for a while now, and as I've recently gotten back into this show, particularly season 6, I decided I might as well finally start on it. Enjoy reading! 😊

Left Unsolved

1. Harbinger of Bad News

It was still rather early in the morning that day but Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner was already sitting in his office, having decided to start his work day early seeing as he still had piles of paperwork waiting on his desk. Then again, he typically did. After all, aside from his own reports needing to be completed, there was always a steady stream of reports filed by other unit members, incident reports, acquisition forms, requests for leave... Then there were the many personnel files of agents vying for a place with the unit - especially these days as they were still seeking a replacement for Prentiss, well, that was, they were still looking for a competent profiler to help with the workload, since that was all any supposed replacement could ever possibly do ... there was no actual filling the void Prentiss had left behind. Not to mention the pile of case files sent in from law enforcement offices all over the country, seeking for advice and outright assistance from the BAU... It was the unavoidable part of working for the Bureau you seldomly heard about during your Academy days, the part they didn't mention in the glossy recruitment brochures. And the longer you worked with the FBI, the higher up you climbed in the hierarchy, the more you found yourself stuck behind a desk, busy with paperwork, and seemingly ever less out in the field. Granted, Hotch didn't find this quite as grating as he knew some of his colleagues did. He never had. But maybe that circumstance was simply rooted in the fact that he had originally been a prosecutor rather than joining the FBI right after college. As much as he appreciated all the good he could accomplish with his team out in the field, he was also accustomed to working at a desk in an office, dealing with bureaucracy and paperwork. Yet, even so, even though he typically didn't complain about, or for that matter necessarily mind, this aspect of the job, it certainly wasn't a part he particular enjoyed either.

Hotch must have been sitting there at his desk for quite some time, seeing as he by now was well on his way to finishing his second cup of coffee since arriving, when a knock came from his door. His eyes still on the file currently before him he already called out, "Come in," as he finished the paragraph, and thus the page, he had been reading. He could hear the door opening, followed by the clicking of heels - indicating that his visitor was a woman, and as he lifted his head upon finishing with what he had been doing he found Section Chief Erin Strauss approaching his desk, causing his brows to set into a deep frown, admittedly wondering what she might want that required a personal visit rather than being handled with a mere phone call.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, his gaze still fixed on the woman before him, he spoke, "What can I do for you, Ma'am?" his tone as cordial and respectful as possible, even though he couldn't deny that the presence of Erin Strauss in his office served to put him on edge. Then again, he had his reasons, not least amongst them that, for one, she had at one point sought to edge him out of the BAU, apparently displeased by the way he was running the unit, and then secondly there was also the fact that Erin Strauss was a career bureaucrat, and naturally her always-by-the-book attitude and tendency towards getting caught up in the politics of things had a way of causing friction as this, of course, could complicate things out in the field... On top of that, though, was also the fact that it had been Strauss who had pressured JJ to leave the BAU for the sake of pleasing the higher ups. So, yes, Hotch certainly had his reasons to be wary, and even suspicious, whenever his superior showed up around their offices.

Rather than answering his question right off, Strauss took a brief glance around the room, as if perhaps momentarily getting distracted by her own thoughts, before her gaze landed back on Hotch, and frowning ever so slightly she requested, "Could you call Agent Rossi in here as well?"

"Certainly," Hotch replied, reaching over to the receiver of the phone on his desk, punching in the extension for Rossi's office, assuming that by now his colleague had surely also arrived for the day. After just two or three rings the call was answered by the familiar voice of the other profiler and Hotch swiftly told him, "It's Aaron, could you, please, come by my office as soon as possible?" After all, best to not let Strauss wait unduly... When Rossi acknowledged his request, telling him he'd be right over, Hotch thanked him and hung up. He then turned his attention back to the woman standing by his desk, telling her, "He's on the way."

At what Hotch had said Erin nodded, before moving to sit down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Just a few moments had past, perhaps a minute, maybe two, certainly no more than that, when David Rossi already appeared in the doorway of Hotch's office, a cup of coffee in hand. He was about to walk farther inside but paused in his tracks, one eyebrow rising up, as his gaze landed on the woman sitting in one of the chairs in front of Hotch's desk. "Erin... This can't be good," he remarked, his tone a mix of dry humor and wariness, though he quickly composed himself. Still, this unexpected visit from Erin Strauss quite truthfully served to unnerve him, especially this early in the day.

At Rossi's arrival the blond Section Chief turned her attention toward the door, regarding the man merely in silence with her steely blue eyes for a moment. Then she simply told him, ignoring Rossi's own comment, "Close the door, please, would you?"

Rossi cast a brief, questioning glance in Hotch's direction, but his colleague seemed just as in the dark about whatever was going on as he himself, so giving the slightest of nods he went ahead and closed the door before eventually resuming on his way farther into the room. Once he had reached the desk, slipping into the remaining free chair, he briefly glanced between Hotch and Strauss, his gaze eventually settling on the woman, he wanted to know, "So, what's this about? Yet another round of psych evals? More budget cuts?"

Not missing the sardonic tone in his colleague's tone Hotch cast a cautioning, if not to say semi-warning, glance towards Rossi. However, he couldn't deny that he frankly very much shared his friend's wariness. After all, it rarely meant good things when Section Chief Strauss showed up, so he hardly blamed Rossi for his sentiments. Especially being as, clearly, there was some sort of history between his friend and Strauss. Still, whether they had their valid reasons to be suspicious or not, the fact also remained that it would be quite unwise to knowingly and recklessly antagonize her.

Seeing the look Hotch cast his way Rossi merely raised his free hand as if in surrender, before turning his attention back to Strauss. He took a sip from his coffee, waiting silently for the woman to tell them what it was she wanted, so that, hopefully, she'd take her leave as swiftly as possible.

"I'm here about Probationary Agent Seaver, actually," Strauss eventually got to the reason for her visit to the BAU that morning, prompting the two men present to exchange a look with each other. It was clear that both of them had about the same thought at that announcement; wondering if Strauss had changed her mind about assigning Seaver to the team. However, before either of them had a chance to raise that question, Erin continued speaking, her voice holding its usual efficient, stoic and even outright seemingly detached tone, "I just received a call from the warden's office at North Dakota Federal Prison. Charles Beauchamp was found dead this morning, apparently killed during an altercation with another inmate."

At that revelation both Hotch and Rossi tensed, exchanging a concerned look. It was David who spoke first, wanting to know, "Does Ashley know yet?"

"No. At least not from the warden," Strauss answered, adding, "It's my understanding that they have no current contact information for her. However, they did manage to contact the wife. Apparently she had requested to be kept updated about Beauchamp's status."

Both men nodded in acknowledgement of what Strauss said. It was an understandable request, given the circumstances... Granted, serving consecutive life sentences without any chance of parole, it wasn't like Beauchamp would have ever gotten out of prison, but even so, if your husband turned out to be a vicious serial killer, just the mere thought of him potentially getting out - even as slim or outright non-existent as that possibility might actually be - would no doubt serve to put you on edge, to keep you up at night. So, naturally, it was bound to give you at least some peace of mind to know you could be immediately notified if, God forbid, he did get out.

"Has this already hit the news?" Rossi inquired next after a few brief moments of silence, the concerned frown etched between his brows deepening. After all, while it was possible that, even though the warden's office hadn't been able to contact her directly, Seaver may have already heard about this from her mother, there also was the possibility that she hadn't... And she really shouldn't have to find out about her father's death through the media.

At this new question Strauss gave a slight shake of her head, "Not to my knowledge. They're trying to keep his death under wraps for now. But it's just a question of time before at least the local outlets will have the story."

Rossi nodded, knowing that, ultimately, it was inevitable. The media had their way of catching wind of these kinds of things. Even in instances where information was intentionally being held back, at least bits and pieces typically slipped out eventually, often sooner than later.

Meanwhile, with his colleague already asking the questions of immediate importance, Hotch had kept his silence, taking the time to process all that was being said. Finally, though, he broke said silence, asking matter-of-factly, "Why did they reach out to us?" his gaze settling on Strauss, his own brows also still set into a deep frown, "I would assume it wasn't just out of courtesy?" Granted, it did happen occasionally, officials in the corrections system informing the BAU when someone they had brought to justice died while incarcerated - usually when it came to the more notorious criminals, yet it wasn't an outright given that they would be notified of this kind of thing. Prison breaks? Yes, being as, since they had caught that person before, they could potentially help in recapturing them. But deaths that occured at the respective correctional facility, that was something they typically only found out when the news eventually hit the air waves. And it certainly couldn't be that they had called at the Bureau in hopes of informing Seaver of this development, after all, they would have no way of knowing that she was working with them now. Which only left him to assume that the people in charge of the prison had some questions in regards to the killing which they wanted the BAU to answer.

"No," Strauss confirmed his assumptions equally matter-of-factly, "they want you to have a look into the incident. Apparently they have yet to indentify the person who killed Beauchamp... Moreover, there seem to be concerns as to the potential motives and whether it could be indicative of any increased risk for further violence." Shifting in her seat and leaning closer to the desk she extended one hand, holding out a manila folder for Hotch to take, "They already sent over his file. The autopsy is underway as we're speaking, and the coroner's office will forward their findings once they are done."

Hotch accepted the folder, acknowledging what Strauss had said with a slight nod. He cast a brief glance at the folder, but didn't open it right away, instead turning his attention back to Strauss, frowning once more, "Would that be all?"

"Yes, for now," Strauss replied, already rising to her feet, apparently ready to leave.

As Strauss got up from her chair, Hotch rose up as well in respect.

Once Strauss was gone, the door to his office having clicked shut, Hotch retook his seat. For a while neither of the two men in the room said anything as they considered the conversation that had taken place, and the implications of what Strauss had told them.

However, eventually, Rossi broke the heavy silence permeating the room, asking, "How do you want to handle this?"

'Good question,' Hotch thought, frowning as he quietly considered the weighty issue at hand for another moment or two. Given the circumstances it was hard to say just how Seaver was going to react to the news... Granted, just like Rossi, he knew that she had become estranged from her father, that she hadn't had any contact with him since he had been locked up, but the fact remained that, regardless of anything else, he still had been her father. So, no doubt, the news of his death was bound to hit her hard, probably harder than she would expect - or would be willing to accept. It was bound to bring up not only painful memories, but also a torrent of potentially contradicting emotions for her.

With all this in mind Hotch finally said, the frown still lingering on his face, "I think, our first priority ought to be to make sure Ashley will be okay," or well, he supposed, as okay as anyone could possibly be in such a situation, "She certainly shouldn't find out about this from the news or some nosy reporter looking for a scoop."

"Agreed," Rossi replied solemnly, giving a hint of a nod. He couldn't deny that he was concerned for Seaver, concerned over how she would take her father's death, and he could tell that, clearly, Hotch shared those concerns. This certainly wasn't going to be easy, not by any definition of the word.

Again a few moments passed in silence, then Rossi wanted to know, motioning to the folder Strauss had given to Hotch, "So, what do we know so far?"

That question prompted Hotch to also turn his attention back to the folder sitting before him on his desk. As he opened it, finally skimming through the contents in a swift and yet still thorough, efficient manner, the thoughtful frown once again returned to his face. There clearly wasn't much information as of yet... Which, given that it had just happened, was of course to be expected, but still he supposed he had hoped there would be more to go by. After a few moments he looked back at Rossi, telling him, "Well, it's not much, unfortunately... Beauchamp was found dead in his cell following breakfast, stabbed into the neck. Although the guard who found him immediately called for help, it was already too late by that point. The murder weapon hasn't been recovered yet."

"I'd be surprised if they manage to find it," Rossi remarked in response, "Probably some kind of shiv, something easy to conceal and dispose of." He slightly shook his head, thinking that, no doubt, whoever had killed Beauchamp had probably gotten rid of whatever weapon he had used to stab him right away... He then asked, "Strauss said they haven't identified the killer yet, though do they have any suspects? Anyone Beauchamp had trouble with lately?"

Hotch considered this, his frown deepening just the faintest bit, not recalling having read anything on that subject in the file. However, he looked over the scarce information contained in the folder once more to make sure he hadn't missed anything before he went ahead and replied, "No, it doesn't seem like they do. Or if they do have any supsects they failed to mention it here. No witnesses either," or at any rate, clearly nobody had come forward and Hotch doubted anyone would. After all, nobody would want to be suspected of being a snitch... His gaze still on the file before him he added after a moment or two of silence, "But it looks like Beauchamp had been a model prisoner. No gang associations, no fighting, no drugs... He apparently kept pretty much to himself, it seems." As he spoke Hotch looked back at Rossi, still frowning slightly.

"You're right; it really isn't much to go by," Rossi commented after a few moments of silence.

At Rossi's remark Hotch merely gave a brief nod. He truly wished there were more and he was quite certain his colleague did as well... After all, they both knew that Seaver would want answers when they told her the news, and yet there was so very little they could actually tell her as of this moment. But be that as it may, there was hardly any point in procrastinating and putting off the inevitable. They would just have to hope that the coroner's office and local crime scene unit would be able to forward their preliminary findings soon. In the meantime they ought to speak to Ashley, make sure she knew about what had happened...

Just a moment later the two men got up from their seats in all but perfect sync, as if in silent agreement, and went to head out into the bullpen to find Seaver.

As they stepped out of Hotch's office and walked farther into the spacious main room they both automatically took a glance around in search for the blond agent. However, neither of them caught sight of her, so Rossi turned his attention instead to the other two members of the team, instantly finding Morgan sitting at his desk while Reid was making his way back from the breakroom with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

Coming to a halt a few steps away from Morgan's desk Rossi asked, his gaze on the younger agents, "Has either one of you seen Seaver?"

Reid had just reached his desk, taking a sip from his coffee as he moved to sit down, however, when Rossi spoke he paused momentarily, frowning slightly in thought before shaking his head no as he lowered his cup and eventually took his seat.

Meanwhile, Morgan looked up from the paperwork he had been working on and turned to look at Rossi and Hotch. He too gave a slight shake of his head, telling them, "Nope. I don't think she's in yet..."

At their colleagues' responses both Hotch and Rossi frowned, exchanging a look with each other. Seaver should have arrived at the BAU offices by now... Granted, they hadn't had any active cases that morning - well, not until Strauss's visit at any rate, however, even though there was still a little while until the regular briefing time, by now their team had officially been on the clock for about twenty minutes. And Ashley Seaver wasn't the type to be late, if anything she was in the habit of making it a point to come in early, using any extra time to do leftover paperwork or study up on past cases. So, it certainly was strange that she hadn't come in yet.

... Then again, that didn't necessarily have to mean anything. After all, there always was the possibility of simply getting stuck in morning traffic, or having overslept. Or, in this instance, perhaps Ashley had been delayed from coming in due to her mother calling her about what had happened to her father. Which might also explain why she hadn't called to let them know she was running late. There really was no point or need to jump to conclusions as to why Seaver hadn't arrived yet. For all they knew she could be on the phone with her mother right now. She could be too in shock, overwhelmed with processing the news of her father's death, as to realize what time it was. ... Or she could actually really just be stuck in traffic at this very moment, still completely oblivious of what had happened.

Turning to look back at Hotch, Rossi suggested while already retrieving his phone from his jacket, "I'll just give her a call, see where she's at."

Hotch simply nodded at what Rossi said, watching in silence as the other man made the call.

Several moments passed like that as Rossi was waiting through the ringing of the phone for Seaver to pick up. However, eventually, he hung up, a frown on his face as he let the phone sink, and looking at Hotch he announced, "No answer," slightly shaking his head.

A deep frown having meanwhile appeared on his own face, Hotch considered his colleague's words for a moment, weighing their options, but then he simply settled on saying, "Well, I'm sure she's on her way," smoothing out his expression as he spoke. However, he admittedly wasn't entirely sure whether his words were meant to reassure his team or more so to reassure himself... Truth was, although he sought to just shrug it off, he couldn't deny that the fact that, on top of not having come in yet, Seaver also wasn't answering her phone managed to put him just the slightest bit on edge. Yet, still, he continued pushing that faint but nagging sense of concern aside, reminding himself of the various perfectly reasonable, benign explanations for the young agent's absence, her failure to pick up the phone. Once again he reminded himself that although it might be easy to jump to conclusions, especially in their line of work, there really was little point in it. Surely, Seaver would be arriving shortly or, barring that, would call with an explanation. In the meantime, there wasn't really anything that could be done about it and he was well aware that dwelling too much on it won't do much good either. And so, with that in mind, Hotch turned his attention back to Morgan and Reid, telling them, "Let us know when she gets here." Seeing both men nod in acknowledgement of his request Hotch then turned to head back into his office. After all, since the preliminary findings in regards to Beauchamp's death weren't in yet, he might as well get some more paperwork done in the meantime.

Rossi briefly looked after Hotch. He was about to follow his colleague's example, but with a glance at his coffee cup he reconsidered, instead heading towards the breakroom area to get a refill first.

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! As always, feedback would be very much appreciated.
I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, but we'll see, as I have a bunch of other stuff I'm working on and, also, with the weather starting to get really nice I'm not entirely sure how much time I will spend inside in front of my laptop the next couple of days or so.