Story I – Chapter 7

When Hotch heard Kahlan stumble and hit the chair because of how hard he'd shoved her, he slammed his eyes shut, groaned loudly, and willed himself to regain control. After a few moments he brought his head back up and Rossi released the breath he'd been holding when Hotch looked normal again. Tears started down Hotch's cheeks as Rossi moved to help Kahlan up. "I'm so sorry, Babe," Hotch uttered as he stood up.

"It's alright, Aaron. I pushed you into that," she told him as she stepped towards him.

"No!" he screamed as he held his hands up. "Don't come near me!"

"Aaron. . ."

"No! I am a monster!" he cried and turned towards the door.

Kahlan's face filled with shock as she saw the door hitting the wall. She hadn't even seen Hotch move, and yet he was gone. "Wha. . ." She turned to Rossi. "Did you just see that?"

Rossi was just as shocked as she was. "I didn't. . ." He shook his head and went to the door. "We've got to stop him!"

Kahlan joined him and they ran towards the exit. When they got to the glass doors, Chuck was standing just outside them dusting himself off. They looked at him and he shook his head. "I think I'm still drunk from yesterday."

"What?" Rossi asked him as he looked around, but Hotch was nowhere in sight.

"I reached for the door and someone ran into me, I hit the ground, was picked up, apologized to, and then he was gone in a flash, and the only thing that I thought in the split second it all happened in was that he looked like Hotch. I think I'm still drunk," he repeated hoping he was because nothing else would explain what had happened.

"Which way did he go?" Kahlan demanded to know as she looked around.

Chuck's eyes grew wide. "That was Hotch?!"

She winced and held up her hand to try and get him to quiet down. "Which way?"

He shrugged. "I don't know! It all happened so fast, I didn't have time to ask him where he was going!"

"Damn it!" she yelled and hit her thigh in frustration.

"Jesus Christ, Kay! What happened to your arm?" he asked as he ripped a strip off of the bottom of his shirt and wrapped it around the still bleeding wound.

"Nothing. I accidently cut myself," she tried and pulled away from him and turned to Rossi. "We need to go after him."

"And where would we even begin to look?" he sked dejectedly.

She wilted. "Why did I have to push him? I'm the dumbest damn woman alive!"

Chuck looked back and forth between them. "Would someone please explain what's going on?"

Rossi ran a hand down his face. "He'll come back. He just needs time to process all this," he told her trying to sound more confident than he felt as he put his arm around her shoulder.

She shook her head and then swallowed. "I sure hope you're right," she uttered and started back towards the room.

Chuck fell in step with them and waited until they were behind closed doors to ask them again what was happening.

Kahlan ran a hand through her hair. "Just give me a minute to think, Chuck," she insisted.

He nodded and sat down at the table. She walked toward the bathroom and motioned for Rossi to follow her. He shut the door behind them. "Are you going to tell him?" he asked in a hushed tone.

She pursed her lips. "Do you agree he is a vampire?"

Rossi's eyes watered and she could tell he didn't want to believe it, but he did. He nodded. "Yeah, so what do we do now?"

She sighed. "Well. . . if he is, then this is permanent, right? He'll be sticking around?"

He huffed. "If the stories are correct, he's immortal."

She nodded. "And that means he can go about his life and everything can go back to normal, right?"

He studied her. "Are you willing to see this through?"

She balked. "What? I don't give a shit what he is! He's my husband and I love him! Of course I will see this through!"

He put a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "I had to ask, Kiddo."

She took a deep breath. "What about you? Can you handle this and still love him like a son?"

He stood up tall and smiled. "Of course, and if he tries to take a bite out of me, I'll beat his ass," he joked.

She laughed and then sighed. "So we have some damage control to take care of."

He appraised her. "Meaning?"

She reached for the door handle. "He can't go about his life if everyone thinks he's dead. Have you all contacted anyone about it, yet?" she asked him and thanked God she hadn't had the courage to tell anyone yet, especially the kids.

He shook his head. "Only the team knows. They wanted me to take care of calling everyone."

She smiled. "Good." She went out the door as she took a deep breath as she went to her best friend.

XXX

After talking to Chuck, she wasn't sure he believed her or not, but he said he would do anything needed to help. Then she called Cam and got him to hack into the hospital database and erase any and all evidence that Hotch had ever been there. Cam didn't even ask why, but she promised she'd explain it all to him and Garcia, who was with her husband, as soon as she could.

Kahlan ran a hand down her face. She knew they'd have to explain it to the team, but she was pretty sure they would need proof, but she needed Hotch for that. She knew she could deal with Hotch being a vampire, she knew Rossi could, and she was pretty sure everyone else in their little group who would have to know would be able to deal with it, too. The main one she was worried about dealing with it was Hotch. She wasn't sure he could handle being one, and that scared her. If he can't handle being one, then he might do something about it. She didn't want to think about having to lose him again. Come on, Aaron. You can do this. She closed her eyes and sent out a silent message to her husband. I love you, Aaron, no matter what! I will help you through this!

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. There's no way that's him, is there? She looked at Rossi and Chuck as she walked to the door and both of their looks told her they had no idea who it was. She opened it and frowned at the stranger standing there. "May I help you?" she offered politely.

"I'm sorry. I must have the wrong room," the man told her as his eyes quickly took in the hotel room.

"Detective Bartels?" Rossi asked as he got up from the chair and went to stand beside Kahlan.

"Agent Rossi. I'm sorry to disturb you."

"It's fine," Rossi insisted and turned to Kahlan. "This is the lead detective on the case we're working," he explained.

She nodded as her eyes studied the man standing in front of her. "Please, come in," she offered with a smile and stepped back to allow him entry.

He took a deep breath and entered with a small smile. "I don't mean to bother anyone," he started as he checked out the room in earnest.

Kahlan's eyes shot to Chuck and Chuck quietly moved in behind the man even though he had no idea why Kahlan was so put off by him. Kahlan smiled at the new arrival. "What can we do for you, Detective?"

Bartels licked his lips nervously. "I was just wondering if there was anything I could do for you," he offered lightly as his eyes trailed to the closed bathroom door.

Kahlan's eyes grew cold as she studied him some more. She suddenly tipped a chair over, broke one of its wooden legs off with a swift kick, grabbed the broken piece of wood, and advanced to the man all within a split second as Chuck grabbed him from behind. Kahlan held the piece of wood directly over the man's heart. "It was you!"

Rossi's looked at her and then the man and wasn't sure what to think. "Kahlan?" he asked quietly.

Bartels looked down at the splintered chair leg that was sharp enough to stab and then looked at Kahlan. "Where is he? I need to help him."

"Help him?!" she screamed. "I think you've done enough! I ought to kill you right now!"

He glanced at Chuck, and Chuck wrenched his arms tighter. He sighed. "He needs me. Please let me help him."

"Why would you help him when you're the reason he's like this in the first place?"

"You don't know the whole story. I did it to save him," Bartels tried.

"Save him? Save him!" Kahlan screamed. "You son of. . ."

"Enough!" he screamed and twisted out of Chuck's grasp and shoved him and Kahlan away from him in a flash. "He needs my help!" he insisted again as he straightened his clothes.

Chuck shared a look with Kahlan and she agreed with what wasn't said. How and the hell did he do that? She mentally winced because she knew that she'd never had the advantage, he'd just let her and Chuck think they did. Her mind raced because she wasn't getting anything hostile from the man, and knew he could have hurt them if he'd wanted to, so she wasn't sure what to make of him. "How can you help him?"

He looked back towards the bathroom and then back to her. "He's not here, is he?"

She stood up tall. "No. He ran out of here as soon as he realized what he was."

Bartels sighed. "Damn it! Every time I think I'm close. . ." He shook his head. "So he's turned?"

Kahlan winced. "Yes. I kind of pushed him into it."

He appraised her and his eyes trailed to the wound on her arm. "I see." He looked at all of them. "And you don't have a problem with what he is?"

Kahlan locked eyes with him. "Of course not! We love him!"

He nodded. "I will find him. Now that he has changed, the hunger will grow. If he doesn't feed, he will get to the point of losing control and he will attack someone. I have to stop him before he does that."

Kahlan stepped towards him. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

He shook his head. "You can't travel like I can."

She figured he was referring to the lighting fast way he and Hotch could both move. "So travel my way."

He shook his head again. "No. I need to move quickly. The huger will grow rapidly. He needs to be helped now."

"How are you going to find him? He could be hiding," she tried.

"All vampires have a sort of link with their children," he started and when he saw Rossi bristle, he quickly rephrased. "We have a link with those we change. I can sense him within a certain radius. I will find him."

She sighed. "But. . ."

"He may not want to be helped. He left out of here pretty upset at what he's become. You may need her help to convince him that he needs help," Rossi put in quickly.

Bartels appraised him and then finally nodded. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this, so I understand that he may be reluctant." He took a card out of his inside coat pocket and handed it to Kahlan. "Go to that address. I will find him and bring him there," he told her and was gone.

Chuck looked at the opened door and shook his head. "Yep. That's as fast as Hotch was moving when he ran me over."

Kahlan sighed and looked at the card in her hand and then looked at Rossi and smiled. "Well, he's proof that Hotch can go about his life."

Rossi shook his head. "How the hell did you figure out it was him?"

"Did you see the way he was looking around? He was looking for Hotch, and the only one who would look for him is the one who would know he wasn't dead."

"What did he mean by he did it to save him?" Chuck asked them.

Rossi shrugged. "I have no idea."

Kahlan went to her bag. "I better get ready and go."

Chuck shot her a look. "You're not going alone!"

"No you're not. We can all go!" Rossi agreed.

She looked at them and was about to argue, but Chuck spoke up first. "You don't know that man! I am not letting you go to him without backup. My God, it could be a trap. Maybe he wants you to show up where he and all of his little vamp friends are waiting to drain you or something!"

Rossi cringed with that thought, but he shook his head. "I don't agree with him on that. He's seemed like a decent guy since we got here, but you are not going alone, Kiddo. You and Hotch need all the help you can get to get through this."

She gave him a small smile. "You're right. I'll get ready and we can all go."