September 16th, 2013 - 39 weeks pregnant

"Do you feel comfortable with the signs of labor and when to come to the hospital?"

"Sure do."

"Do you have any other questions for me today?" The midwife asked her. Beth thought for a second but came up empty handed.

"I don't think so!"

"Okay, well you and baby look great. Labor could come on at any time but we're not in a rush. Drink lots of water and try to keep stress to a minimum during this next week, okay? Schedule your 40 week appointment at the desk, if you deliver before then it will cancel automatically."

"Perfect, thank you so much!"

Beth walked to her car and texted Hotch the recording she took of their baby's heartbeat.

*Everything looks good with the babe. What do you think about tacos for dinner tonight?*

She waited before driving off to see if he would reply. It had been hard for Hotch to let the team jet off to different cities while he remained at Quantico but as far as she knew everyone was home right now - he should just be working on paperwork.

After a few minutes it became obvious that she wouldn't get an immediate reply so she drove back home to finish her work day from there.

Hotch was listening to the heartbeat in the text that Beth had sent him when JJ came into his office with a familiar sense of urgency.

"Active shooter situation at the local Walmart, they want us on scene for crisis negotiation."

Hotch immediately stood up and put his phone in his pocket.

"Let's go."

They arrived on scene and it was a madhouse. Media was everywhere, cops, ambulances, fire trucks with sirens blaring. Hundreds of shoppers and workers that had made it out safely were crying and some just looked stunned. Hotch assessed his surroundings and made a plan.

"JJ and Morgan; I want you guys interviewing the people who got out. See what we can figure out about the guy in there.

Emily, talk with the employees. See if anyone recognized him as a regular customer or if there was anything unusual about work that day.

Reid; get the blueprints and figure out every way in/out of the store then go over security footage with Garcia and see what we can learn.

Rossi and I will be the main communicators with the inside." Hotch gave everyone their responsibilities and they dispersed.

"Have we had any communication with anyone on the inside?" Hotch asked the police sheriff running the scene.

"Not yet - we have an unknown number of hostages but it has to be at least a dozen. At least 3 wounded if not more."

"We have to start a line of communication. Figure out what this guy wants before even more people get shot."

Hotch got on the megaphone and shouted as loudly as he could so that the shooter would hear him.

"Our number is 555-555-0707. Call with your demands."

Just a minute later the phone in front of Hotch and Rossi started ringing. Hotch answered.

"Hello this is Agent Aaron Hotchner, who am I speaking to?"

Hotch heard sniffling on the other end.

"Uhm my, my name is Ellie.

"How old are you Ellie?"

"I'm 10."

"Okay Ellie, you're being so brave and I'm so proud of you. Are you hurt, Ellie?"

"No," the young girl still sounded like she was on the verge of sobbing at any moment.

"Is anyone around you hurt?"

"Yeah, some people are bleeding."

"Okay Ellie, are you with the bad man with the gun?"

"Yeah." Ellie started to cry.

"Okay Ellie, okay. Will you tell him I want to talk to him?

Hotch heard the little girl talk to the man and soon there was a new voice on the line.

"What?"

"This is Agent Aaron Hotchner, what is your name?"

"I'm not telling you my name, do you think I'm an idiot?" The man on the other end of the phone asked him.

"No, I don't. What do you want in exchange for the injured hostages and the children?"

"I don't want anything except for everyone to leave me alone!" He yelled into the phone.

"You know we can't do that. But we're willing to negotiate."

"Fine. If I'm getting rid of the injured and the children then I want to replace my hostages with something equally as valuable. If you come in unarmed I'll let the kids and the cripples go."

"Deal." Hotch said as Rossi furiously shook his head no.

"Bring your badge so I know it's you."

Hotch hung up the phone.

"Aaron you have to be joking, there's no way you're going in there."

Reid ran up to them. "Garcia and I reviewed the security cameras and we figured some stuff out. We ID'd him as Austin Green, Garcia is digging up dirt on him now. He came into the store but immediately went to the back, where the electronics and photo center is. He hid the gun in his shopping cart under a giant winter coat. He talked to the people working the electronics counter for only a few seconds before he grabbed the gun and started shooting. Both the employees at the counter were shot as well as four other customers making it 6 total. Since he was in a back corner of the store most people were able to escape but he has 18 total hostages including the 6 injured and 3 children."

"Good work, Reid. Keep working on motive, I'm going in." Hotch told him as he removed the guns from the holsters at his hip and ankle.

"What?!" Reid yelled in his distinctive high pitched shriek. But it was too late, Hotch was already walking towards the door.

They watched on the security feed as Hotch showed Austin his badge and another hostage patted him down, proving he was unarmed. A few minutes later 2 children came running out the door; Ellie was with her little brother and was carrying a strangers baby. A few injured came stumbling after and Hotch slowly pulled those incapable of walking to the front doors as Austin remained near him with his gun aimed pointedly at his head. EMT's rapidly treated and transported the injured to the hospital and Ellie and her brother were met by their hysterical father; their mother was still inside.

"Somebody should tell Beth what's going on." Reid said.

"I'll have Anderson pick her up and bring her here - I don't want her driving after getting bad news." Rossi said. "We've got to get back to work and focus on getting Hotch and the rest of the hostages out safely."

JJ rejoined the group.

"Not a lot of success with the survivors," JJ told them. "Most weren't even close to the shooting and didn't see anything and those that were didn't know anything other than a general description of what he looked like. Derek is helping Emily talk with the employees, hopefully they'll have more success. Any progress on your guys' end?"

Rossi updated them and they too were appalled that Hotch had gone in without even consulting anybody. They diligently watched the camera feed and so far he hadn't shot any more rounds after his initial outburst. They didn't have sound but it seemed like Hotch and Austin were talking.

"Something must have made him angry, he didn't start shooting until after he spoke with the employee." Reid wondered out loud.

"Yeah," JJ ageed. "But he already had the gun with him, clearly he was planning something."

Emily and Derek came up to the group.

"Guys, I think we have something." Emily told them. "One of the employees at the electronics booth - he wasn't supposed to be working that shift. He made a last minute trade at the request of another employee named Hannah Jarvis. What if she was the person the shooter was really looking for back there?"

"You may be onto something," Rossi told her. "Penelope, figure out if Austin Green and Hannah Jarvis knew each other."

"Guys this Green kid was sick - he posted a lot on those incel websites and he hated women. Somehow women are simultaneously disgusting whores yet he is desperate for someone to sleep with. Looks like he did know Hannah Jarvis. His email is linked to a Tinder account but he used fake photos. They chatted for a bit and they set a date to go get coffee, looks like after the date Hannah was no longer interested, not surprising since everything on his profile was fake, but Austin kept relentlessly messaging her. Eventually Hannah replied telling him to leave her alone and he proceeded to call her a bunch of foul names that I refuse to repeat."

"Hannah was his target and he got angry when he found out she wasn't working today." Morgan stated.

"Well the good news is that he had a goal, one victim, not as many bodies as possible. The problem is his one target he didn't get and he's clearly very mentally unstable." Emily added.

"Garcia, continue to dig into Green's life. I want to know if he has a weak spot we can use against him." Rossi instructed her. "Reid, any luck with the blue prints."

"With where they're located within the store we aren't able to get a sniper shot from outside. There's plenty of exits and entrances but the problem is if he notices us before we're able to take him down he could easily shoot all the hostages with his AR-15 before we even reach him. From a tactical standpoint I'm not sure if there's a way we get everyone out alive."

"Maybe Hotch will have better luck from the inside," JJ said hopefully.

Hotch wasn't sure of his angle yet, he didn't know much about this kid and he didn't want to unintentionally anger him further by saying the wrong thing. He looked to be late 20's and Hotch knew he didn't have a plan. He was pacing back and forth in front of the hostages holding the semi-automatic in one hand and biting at his cuticles on the other hand.

"I bet life is great for you, Fed. Chicks must throw themselves as you when they find out you're an FBI agent." Austin's tone was dripping with jealousy and rage.

Ahhh Hotch thought to himself. So that was his angle.

"No, actually. I'm out of town so much and women don't like that I can't commit every waking second to them. My ex-wife cheated on me and then filed for divorce after I switched from being a lawyer to an agent."

"Ah sucks, man. Women are fucking sluts. They'll fuck anything that can catch or kick a ball but won't actually take the time to get to know a real man."

Hotch just nodded in agreement. He knew this was his best chance at getting everyone out safely. Yet every fiber of his being rejected him talking about women, specifically Haley or Beth, this way.

"I don't blame you for wanting to get revenge. Women should know that a man has needs."

"EXACTLY!" Austin shouted in agreement. "Men need sex. It's a universal fact. It's on par with food and water on the hierarchy of needs. WHY CAN'T WOMEN UNDERSTAND THAT."

"The woman who wronged you, is she here?" Hotch asked him.

"She was supposed to be. She took the day off, probably to go fuck some guy. The fucking slut."

Hotch listened to his rant and planned his next move.

"Dave! Dave!" Rossi turned to the sound of a woman yelling his name. He saw Beth a ways in the distance running as quickly as she could to him while so heavily pregnant. He quickly met up with her and gave her an arm of support. "Dave, what is going on?!"

Beth was clearly on the verge of hysteria.

"As of right now he is okay. We have video feed and he's unharmed. We're working on strategies now - our main goal is getting everyone out safely." Rossi led her to the table where the feed was set up and she watched as Hotch spoke with the armed man, seemingly unphased.

She rubbed her belly over and over again not knowing what else to do with her hands. The midwife had told her to avoid stress - what a joke that was when your fiancee is a special agent with the FBI.

"I can't do this on my own, Dave. I need him. Get him out of there safely. Please!"

"Everyone is doing their best," Morgan piped in. "You just take a seat right here and try to not worry too much, okay?" Morgan pulled up a chair for her and she reluctantly sat down not taking her eyes off of the security footage.

"Please Aaron, please. You can't leave me now. Not when our life together is just beginning. Stay with me, please" Beth muttered to herself hoping that somehow Aaron would hear her.

"C'mon man, we've got to get you out of here. The longer we stay in here the more likely it is that the men with guns come bursting through that door. You have to get out of this alive, you have to spread your message to the world."

"I can't go to prison. I can't."

"I know, but look. You won't be in for long. As far as we know, no one has died." Hotch knew that was a lie. He had dragged those bodies out the door and he knew there was no hope for at least two of them. "You had a good reason, people will sympathize. We have to get you out of here safely so that you can share your message, people need to know what a bitch this woman was." Hotch was really pushing it but he needed to act fast, he knew it wouldn't be much longer before they raided the building. Luckily the other hostages remained quiet.

Austin stood, clearly thinking through what Hotch was telling him. "You really don't think I'll be in for that long?"

"Year, tops." Hotch assured him.

"Okay, I'll go. But you have to come out with me."

Hotch nodded and walked with him towards the door. As they got closer to the front door Hotch spoke to him again.

"You have to give me the gun, man. If you walk out of here with a semi-automatic rifle they'll shoot you on site."

Austin clearly hesitated, but he had already made the decision to trust Hotch, so he handed over the weapon. Hotch continued to walk with him out the front doors of the Walmart. SWAT agents rushed toward them and Hotch handed one of them the weapon before grabbing Austin's arm and wrenching it behind his back and grabbing the other wrist.

"Austin Green you are under arrest…"

Austin began to shout at him clearly realizing that Hotch was not at all on his side. Hotch paid him no mind and continued to read him his Miranda rights before passing him off. He ran his hands through his hair grateful to be out of that Walmart with no more casualties.

"Aaron!" He heard the unmistakable voice of his fiancee.

He found her in the crowd and ran to her sweeping her into a hug.

"Oh my god, thank god you are safe. I was so worried." Beth was sobbing at this point, finally able to release all the worry she had been storing up since the knock had come to her door.

"Shhhh," Hotch consoled her and rubbed her back. "I'm right here. I'm just fine."

He just continued to rub her back and whisper in her ear that he was fine while she held onto him for dear life.

"Hey, let's go home, yeah?" Hotch asked her after her sobbing had slowly simmered down. Beth just nodded her head and finally released him so she could wipe the tears from her face.

He led them to the SUV saying goodbye to the team on the way and opened the passenger side door for her before getting in on the drivers side.

"Don't you have paperwork or something you need to do, I don't mind sitting in your office for a little bit." Beth told him, regaining her composure.

"It's been a long day and everyone deserves some rest, it can wait until tomorrow." He assured her. In reality the whole ordeal had taken less than 2 hours, but it had seemed like much longer. "Where's Jack?"

"Jessie picked him up from school, she said she'd keep him overnight. I asked her not to tell him what was going on. I didn't want to needlessly scare him if things turned out okay, which thank god they did."

Hotch placed his hand on her leg. "Thanks, that was a good call."

Hotch drove them home and they ordered taco's from the local Mexican restaurant.

"What do you want to watch?" Hotch asked her. She was cuddled up next to his side.

"Something light-hearted," she responded. "I've had enough heavy for one day."

Hotch nodded in agreement before turning on Friends. He closed his eyes as he felt the subtle movements of their baby under his hand and the sound of the laugh track in the background. His job wasn't always easy - but if he could always come home to this then Hotch was sure he'd be just fine.