The Fugitive

- Chapter Seven -

"Life has taught me that you can't control someone's loyalty. No matter how good you are to them, doesn't mean that they will treat you the same. No matter how much they mean to you, doesn't mean that they'll value you the same. Sometimes the people you love the most, turn out to be the people you can trust the least."

Hotch sat inside the small cell, his fingers in his hair. He had attempted to rip his hair out earlier, but it wasn't really going to get him anywhere. He wanted to scream…no, he wanted to break something; too bad the small mirror on his wall was a metal one, as was the small latrine and prison version of a bunk bed. The fact that he was sitting inside a federal prison was laughable, he had never realized he was so claustrophobic until he found himself in a six by eight-inch room. He gripped his hair until his knuckles turned white, knowing he couldn't scream the way he wanted to without getting the attention of the security guards. He heard footsteps approaching his cell assuming it was just one of the security guards doing his routine rounds, but his heart stopped when he saw none other than the Director of the FBI standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron asked, feeling his blood boil in anger and frustration. If there hadn't been a cell between them, he would have destroyed the man in front of him.

"How are you doing, Aaron?"

"What do you want?"

"Just to talk to you, the Bureau wants this to end without a political scandal, so they want to offer you a new deal."

Hotch smirked, standing up from the bunk bed looking at the man he once considered a friend.

"How can you dare stand here and ask me to take a deal when you know better than anyone I'm innocent"

"Aaron, this entire…."

"You know I was with you that night, and you lied in your statement…now, you're willing to throw two decades of friendship away that's fine but…"

"I'm just trying to help you, Aaron, I wish you would think about your family."

"Who else is in it?" Hotch questioned, "Are they paying you…is that what it is?"

"The deal is ten years in a federal prison, they will abdicate the accounts in Switzerland since the money is untouched, and they will drop those chargers if you plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter."

This time Hotch laughed, loudly and coldly, "Did you delete the footage from the video, or did you have someone else do it for you? You know nothing is permanently deleted, right? It's just a matter of time before Garcia finds those files."

"Just think about it, it's a good deal, I know it's a lot to process, but think about your kids and your wife…they don't deserve this, they are innocent and they—"

"Do not talk to me about my children, or wife." Hotch warned dangerously.

"Do you think I don't know what you're doing? You think you can break me down by talking about my family? Gideon and I designed these techniques, you bastard! Tell me, how much are they paying you? Is Tidwell in on it? He's the only one dumb enough to try to pull something like this." Hotch swore he saw something flicker through the Director's eyes.

"I knew it!" Hotch said angrily, "How much is he paying you?"

"Look, whatever illusion you have managed to form in your head…"

"It's not an illusion, and you know it. You lied under oath…that's a federal offense."

"Look, Aaron, if they want me to take a polygraph I will and I'll pass it with flying colors because I have nothing to hide..."

Hotch laughed again unable to control himself. "Polygraphs aren't admissible in court you know that better than anyone, that's because anyone can pass them…serial killers do it all the time. The FBI designed behavioral profiling for a reason...that's what we do, we analyze behavior, we can see what the polygraph can't! Like your demeanor right now is telling me everything I need to know..."

"Which is?" The Director smirked at him.

"You killed Beth!" This time the Director laughed out loud.

"Oh, Aaron, you're really losing it, maybe you should consider insanity as an option for your defense..."

"What's your favorite color, Charles?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's a simple question."

"Green, and that matters because?"

"You said you weren't with me the night Beth was murdered, so where were you according to you? I know your wife was out of town so what was your alibi?"

"I was having dinner with a friend."

"Oh yeah? What did you have to eat?"

"This is ridiculous; I'm not playing your little game."

'"It's not a game, it's really easy, Charles, what did you have for dinner?"

"Pot roast, where are you going with all this, Aaron?"

"You see, Charles, being a federal agent is more than just carrying a badge and a gun, you have to be able to understand behavior better than you understand yourself. You must be able to read micro expressions that can you tell when someone is lying. Have you ever heard of neurophysiology, Charles? Probably not, but when I asked you what your favorite color was, your eyes went up and to the left, which means you're accessing your visual cortex which stores memories of colors and images, you are telling the truth"

"You're wasting my time." Charles laughed, shaking his head.

"When I asked you what you had for dinner, your eyes went up and to the right because you're accessing your brains creative center, which means you are full of shit...that dinner never happened…you never had pot roast, that's why you had to think about it for a second, it's not a stored image in your brain." The Director kept straight eye contact with him, his lips twitching.

"See that?" Hotch asked, pleased with himself. "The way your lips just twitched and the rapid movement of your eyes...that's happening because I'm making you uncomfortable... you killed Beth I don't need a polygraph to know that"

"All right, I'm going to go now; I'm not going to be a part of this sick delusion of yours."

"You were never smart enough to pull off something like this...so, whomever it is that's behind this, you just make sure there is not even a tiny piece of evidence left behind because I will find it and I will prove my innocence. Just like the way they set me up, they could be setting you up, as well...so, when you sleep at night…think about that. Your part of their crime and the more people they eliminate, the better for them."

"Good luck in prison, Aaron."

The Director left leaving Hotch angrier than before, but at least now he had a tiny bit of information. Tidwell was involved, and that was better than nothing. He needed to make a call, as much as he hated to call for help, he had no choice.

Emily arrived at Dave's place the next day early in the morning. They had already discussed how to stop Aaron's transfer to Guantanamo Bay. Emily's mother had been with the Secretary of State all morning trying to advocate for him.

"They won't stop the transfer, but they are willing to move the trial date." Emily announced as soon as Dave opened his door.

"Move it to when?" Rossi asked as he finished tying his tie.

"Three weeks from today."

"That's good, right?"

"It's still three weeks in the worst prison in the country, Dave." Emily said with red puffy eyes, too tired to cry, truly she didn't think she could cry anymore.

She was so physically exhausted she was surprised she could keep herself standing up, she had probably lost ten pounds from lack of eating and sleeping since all of this started. Jack hadn't apologized to her for what he said and that truly stung her heart, granted, it had only been a day, but he had ignored her when he saw her that morning, and that hurt her even more.

"I know, Em, getting the trial moved is already a point in our favor."

"So what's next...wait!…what's wrong?"

"Aaron called me."

"And…."

"He wants me to come over and talk with him."

"Oh." Emily said, heartbroken, since he had refused to talk to her all week, or take any of her calls…now, he was about to be transferred to an island outside of the country and he demanded to see Dave, but not her.

"I'm sure it's not personal, Emily."

"I know that, I just..."

"Look, lets go over there; I'll meet with him and then we'll sit down and talk to the judge. I'm hoping she'll remember our years of friendship and hears me out."

"Right, okay," Emily said blinking the tears away. "Shall we… uh…"

"Yeah, let's go." Dave said, placing his hand on the small of her back.

"You seem sullen, is everything okay?"

"You mean besides the fact that my husband has been arrested and charged with murder and treason...yeah, everything is fucking great!" Emily said, giving him a stern look as he drove them to the detention center.

"Bella..." Dave said, looking at her "Come on"

"Will you just drive, please."

"And you're cranky." Dave said, smirking while reaching for her hand.

"I'm sorry." She apologized, closing her eyes.

"What happened with Jack?"

"I take it Morgan went to you with the gossip?" She stated, glaring out the window.

"Actually JJ did, so what happened?"

"Nothing, he's just being incredibly difficult and...he just said some things."

"What things?" Dave inquired, frowning and wondering if he needed to have a talk with the younger Hotchner; after all, he was his grandson, he had the right put him in his place from time to time.

"It doesn't matter Dave, it's just not important really."

"It obviously is because it's bothering you, but regardless, I'm not sure what he said, but I hope you remember that Jack has been through more than any kid his age should ever have to witness."

"I know that." Emily said, feeling teary again and wondering if she should have attempted to talk to Jack again.

"I'm not justifying whatever it is that he said, but..." Dave said, taking the exit off the highway, glancing in his mirror.

"You can't expect the kid to be immune and pretend like nothing ever happened, I'm sure he's hurting just as much as you."

Emily nodded, blinking the tears away again.

"Look, honey, we're in this together, we're all one big family and we will figure this out together."

Emily didn't respond, she was too occupied on getting rid of her tears and grasping Dave's hand. She was grateful to have him in their lives. He had always been such a good friend to the family.

"Can I ask you something and will you promise to be honest with me?"

"Shoot."

"Do you think Aaron…uh—I mean I know he didn't kill her— but…"

"Do I think he slept with her?" He guessed, looking at her for a second before focusing on the road.

"I think that driving yourself crazy with whether he did it or not is not going to solve anything, and it's not going to make you feel any better."

"I just want to know what you think about all this, honestly."

"I think that Aaron loves you more than anything in this world. I know he would never betray his country or oath. I definitely know he didn't hurt Beth. I know the most important thing for him is loyalty and his family, and he would die defending those two, but I also know he's human, and whatever issues you two were having was tearing him apart. Whatever mistakes he made, he doesn't deserve to..."

"I know that Dave I really do." Emily choked out, wiping her eyes. "I just..."

"I know what you mean honey, and you need to stop, is not helping the situation at all"

When they arrived at the prison, Dave headed straight to the visiting area to meet with Aaron.

"Thanks for coming." Aaron said, sitting in front of him.

"Of course, I've been trying to come see you since the arraignment."

"I…Dave, I'm sorry. I needed time to think and process all of this, I also don't know who I can trust anymore."

"I figured that much, but we can't help you if you don't talk to us."

"Dave, Tidwell is involved in this."

"Tidwell? As in Internal Affairs Michael Tidwell?"

"Yes, that Tidwell."

"That's absurd, Aaron, I've known him my entire life, why would he be involved in something like this?"

"I don't know, but you need to trust me." Aaron said, glancing around to make sure the guards weren't listening. "I'm being framed by someone inside the FBI. I can't trust anyone right now, everyone that's a part of this investigation is involved up to and including the prosecutor."

"Aaron, this is insane!"

"I didn't do this, Dave, I swear to you on anything you want."

"I know you didn't kill her, Aaron, you think I'm an idiot?"

"I didn't sleep with Beth either, I never ever touched her."

"Aaron…"

"I know what the evidence says, I read the entire report, someone planted my DNA at her house. I know it sounds crazy, but I need you to believe in me, please."

Dave watched him for a minute…this was the man he had considered his best friend for almost twenty years, twenty-eight if he counted all the years he had known him. He was also smart enough to know someone was lying to him. He had been doing this job forty years, seeing through the most despicable human's lies and deceiving techniques.

"Why you?"

"I don't know that, but I can't really do anything from my end. I need to find any communication between Tidwell and Chauvin. I also need to know anything that has been deleted from the FBI database that touches on this case."

"You can't ask Garcia, or anyone on the team, to do this, they would know immediately."

"I know, Aaron, believe it or not, I'm smart enough to make the connection."

"I also need to know if Beth was having an affair with Chauvin."

"Wait! You actually think he killed her?"

"I know someone brought Beth in to the FBI for a reason, we just need to find out why."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but I do need something in return."

"What?" Aaron asked desperately.

"You need to talk to Emily, you need to see her."

"Dave…"

"Look, Aaron, I know you're trying to protect her and not cause her any more pain, but all you're doing is giving her a reason to think you really did sleep with Beth. Now, I believe you when you say you didn't sleep with her, but you're not married to me."

Aaron sighed, looking away.

"Just talk to her, please, she needs to hear from your own lips that you didn't do any of this."

"I can't even get her to believe I didn't have an affair."

"Right now, all she needs to know is that you love her, and honestly, I don't think she believes that anymore."

"Okay." Aaron agreed looking at his best friend.

"Good, she's waiting outside."

"Wait! She's here now?"

"Of course she is, Aaron, where else do you think she's spent the past week?" Dave said annoyed and walked out of the room.

Emily was waiting outside when Dave came out, biting her fingernails as usual and doing everything she could to keep from crying.

"Hey, how did it go?"

"Good, we just talked about his court case being moved." Dave lied and Emily stood there staring at him, knowing he wasn't being completely honest with her.

"Dave, what is it?"

"He wants to see you." Dave said instead.

"He does?" She asked, feeling tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Yeah, go ahead…the guards already know."

"Dave, are you sure?"

"Go!" He said, giving her a gentle push.

"Okay..." She said shakily, taking a deep breath and gaining enough courage to walk over to the sliding doors. The guards buzzed her in and led her to the room where Aaron was sitting. The first thing she noticed when she walked in was how tired he looked and the fact that he had lost weight already, even though it had only been a week.

"Hi." She said since no other words would come out of her mouth, her eyes already swimming with tears. Aaron stood up from the chair not caring about the guards or anything else and pulled his wife into his arms, where she inevitably broke into tears.

"Oh, Aaron, I'm so sorry; I know you didn't do it, I just…." She sobbed in his arms.

"It's okay, baby, I promise you everything is going to be alright." He vowed, pulling her closer to him and breathing into her hair. It had been over a week since he had been able to hold his wife like that, but to him it felt like years. He would be damned if he spent the rest of his life in prison, no matter what he had to do, he would be with his family again…he already had a plan.

He was expecting the security guards to walk in and break them apart, but, surprisingly, there was no interruption whatsoever…Dave's doing probably.

"I don't know what to do, I'm so scared. My mother has called everyone to try to stop your transfer and keep you here...b-but everything is j-just so complicated."

"Honey, look at me, please." He said, taking her face in his hands and gently wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's going to be okay, I can handle it."

"I can't." She said, looking at him intensely. "I'm falling apart, Aaron, I hate seeing you here, I don't know who else to call, but if I have to go to the president himself I will, we're going to get you out of here."

"Don't call anyone else, okay? I'm going to figure this out on my own."

"How?" She asked, getting frustrated "You're stuck in here, and they're transferring you to an island, and the stupid prosecutor is being a fucking asshole."

"Emily, I need you to trust me, okay?"

"What do you mean? Aaron, please don't get in trouble; my mom is going to talk to Senator Kramer…with her connections, we can get you moved to a lower security prison until we resolve this and..."

"Come here for a second." Aaron said, pulling her to sit at the table and glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"I don't want you to call in more favors, I don't want your mother involved in this at all."

"Why?" Emily asked, looking at him worriedly. "I know we promised not to ask her for anything, but she can help, Aaron. Right now, she's the only person that can get you out of here."

"Emily, just listen to me, please." He begged again. When she finally made eye contact, he glanced at the door again, knowing they were probably about to be interrupted, so he had to be quick.

"Whoever did this works for the FBI, even higher up; I know this sounds crazy, but we can't trust anyone right now."

"What?" She frowned. "I don't understand; you think someone in the government is involved?" She asked incredulously.

"Shhhh." He silenced her, looking around again.

"Just please trust me when I say this, stop asking for help. I know exactly what I'm going to do, and all I need you to do is keep the children safe, all right?"

"What are you going to do?" She asked worriedly. "Aaron, please don't do anything stupid, you can't get in trouble right now."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then please listen to me…stop asking for help, stop talking to people, just please let me handle this."

"I just need this to be over. I need you home, I can't do this, Aaron." She began crying again.

"Yes, you can, you're the strongest woman I know, just focus on keeping the kids safe." He kissed her hand and then stood up again pulling her into his arms.

"I know you still think I slept with her, but I didn't, Emily, never in a million years. I wouldn't betray our love and vows." She started crying again beginning to question if he was really being honest with her…was it really possible the FBI was out to get him.

"I don't care about that, Aaron; I love you and..."

"I do, Emily, this is my life and my marriage they are trying to destroy, and I will not let them. I'll prove my innocence no matter what I have to do." He pulled her close again kissing her softly, tasting the saltiness of her tears.

"I love you more than anything in the world, okay...no matter what happens, please just trust me, okay?"

"What does that even mean?" She asked, watching the fire in his eyes, she knew that look.

"Give the kids my love." He added as he turned to tell the guard the visit was over.

"Aaron, wait, what are you going to do?" She asked, beginning to get scared.

"I love you, sweetheart." He added as he walked through the sliding doors.

"Aaron, wait…!" He was gone before she could say anything else.

Later that afternoon Emily was in the basement finishing the laundry. After Dave and her went to see Hotch, he dropped her back home while he took care of some errands, promising that he would come back for dinner and most likely have an answer from the judge about keeping her husband at the prison where he was now incarcerated. She finished folding the basket of clothes she just pulled out from the dryer, taking them upstairs to the kids' rooms.

Ellie and Zoe were downstairs watching a movie, so she quietly went into their rooms putting the clothes in their respective places. Picking the last stack of shirts from the basket, she headed to Jack's room. Ever since her conversation in the car with Rossi, she had been aching to talk to her son; Dave was right, Jack had been through a lot of things for his young age, he'd lost his mother after Foyet had chased them for months and his grandfather had passed away, as well.

He had always been such a mature and understanding kid, but just like Dave had said, he wasn't immune and he was probably hurting as much as she was. She knocked on the door softly and after a few seconds, she let herself in. Jack was playing video games as usual…he glared at her and then his eyes went back to the game.

"Hey, I just brought you some clean shirts." Emily said placing them on the bed and looking at Jack for a few seconds debating whether she should give him more time to digest everything that was going on, or if she should just try talking to him. She decided on the latter, taking a seat next to him.

"Will you pause the game for a minute." She asked gently, but Jack just ignored her.

"Jack, I'm sorry you have to go through all of this; I understand you're angry and I wish things would be different, but I need you to work with me here" She started, looking at him waiting for a response, only Jack's scowl just got deeper.

"Baby, please just talk to me, tell me what you're feeling." She reached for his hand.

"Will you just leave me alone!" Jack shouted, throwing the controller on the floor and walking away from her.

"Jack, take a deep breath, come sit down, please."

"I don't want to talk to you, don't you get that? I…" He said angrily. "I don't care about anything; I just want to be left alone."

"Honey..." Emily started and stood up watching the tears form in her son's eyes. She came closer to him reaching to pull him into a hug.

"Stop! Just stop!" Jack shouted even louder. "This is why my dad had an affair! Because you are so fucking annoying, and he just got sick of you. It's your fault he's in jail to begin with!"

Emily's heart shattered again looking at her son horrified. She had never seen him so angry, neither had he been so disrespectful to her, and she had no idea what to do. She didn't even think she could form any words, plus, she was shaking and she wasn't sure if it was hurt, or anger, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"Get out of my room! Just go, I don't want to see you or talk to you!"

Emily's eyes began emptying before she made it to the door. She didn't say anything else to Jack, neither did she look at him. All she knew was that she was incredibly done with his attitude. If he wanted to be alone and in pain, fine, she wasn't going to say anything else. At this point, she had far more important things to worry about besides Jack's mood swings. No matter how much she loved him, she wasn't going to take this from him anymore, so she left, gathering herself before she went downstairs to finish watching the movie with the girls.

During dinner, Emily didn't even look in Jack's direction. She was acting as calm as she could for the sake of the girls, but she was furious with him, and he knew it. Dave noticed the tension between them, but he tried to keep a fun conversation going with Ellie and Zoe, not wanting to cause more tension between Jack and his mother. After they finished eating, Emily sent the girls upstairs to wash up while she started clearing the table.

"Listen Em, I was thinking Jack should come stay a few days with me." He offered, taking a sip of the coffee Emily had served him.

Emily looked at Jack but his eyes were on his lap, but she was convinced that was his idea and had managed to drag Dave into this which made her even angrier.

"I think a few days away from here will be good for both of you, that way you can focus on whatever it is that you need to do." Emily sat the plates she was collecting down on the table, her eyes still on her son; he looked up with the same scowl she had seen all week. Why was he even angry? He was the one who was being a complete ass to her, how dare he sit there and act like it was her who was doing something wrong.

"You know what? I think, that's a great idea." She said, picking up the plates and bringing them into the kitchen, letting go of the angry tears that were forming in her eyes.

"It's just for a few days, Em, it will give you both some time away from each other, and maybe it will help him." Dave said following her back into the kitchen.

"Yeah that's okay with me" Emily bit her lip so hard she was sure it was going to draw blood, she glanced at Jack was again, who was beginning to regret his attitude towards his mother.

"I have to go make some calls, so thanks for everything, Dave." Her smile barely covered her face.

"Have a good time, Jack." She said, without looking at him. Maybe it was for the best after all, as he had said, she wasn't his mother why did she have to care so much.

"Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives."– William Throsby Bridges