Story I – Chapter 23
After completing the profile, they had the unsub narrowed down a little after lunch, and after Garcia did her job, they had two addresses to raid. Hotch split the team up with him, Rossi, and Mack going to the man's house and Morgan, JJ, and Reid going to the man's workplace. After pulling up on the side of the street and several local police officers joining them, Hotch took Rossi and headed to the front door as he sent Mack to the back with a couple officers.
Once Mack signaled she was ready, Hotch kicked the door open. He made it a point to not use all of his strength because with as powerful as he was feeling, he felt as if he could kick the whole side of the house over. As soon as he took a step over the threshold, though, his steps faltered and he fell into the wall.
"Hotch?" Rossi asked in a whisper as Hotch straighten himself back.
Hotch shook his head and headed further into the house. "I'm fine," he uttered as he readied his gun again.
The look of confusion on Hotch's face told Rossi he didn't know what was wrong, but that scared Rossi even more. What the hell?
Hotch's normally quick and precise movements slowed with each room they searched, and Rossi could have sworn Hotch's skin was turning a greenish gray. He was about ready to say the hell with the unsub and force Hotch to tell him what was wrong, but they finally cleared the whole house, and Hotch turned on his heel and went out the door without a word.
Rossi shot a look to Mack and she nodded knowing he wanted her to start checking things out in the house while he went to see about their Unit Chief. He found him standing on the porch, leaning over with his hands on his thighs, and taking long, deep breaths. "Damn, Aaron, what the hell happened?"
Hotch took another breath as he raised his hand and tried to wave him off. When he finally stood up, he shook his head. "I don't know. I just felt like I was getting weak." He ran a hand down his face. "But I feel fine now. I'm not sure what it was."
"You're sure you're ok?" Rossi asked as he studied him.
He nodded. "Yes."
Rossi leaned even closer. "Did you drink it all?" he asked in a whisper. It wouldn't have surprised him if Hotch had tried to ration himself.
Hotch nodded. "Yes, so I should be fine."
Rossi inhaled deeply as he studied him some more, but he did look a lot better than he had a few minutes before, so he squeezed his shoulder. "Then let's get in there and find something that we can use on this son of a bitch."
Hotch ran a hand down his face, took another deep breath, and then nodded as he gestured to the door. "Let's go," he offered and followed the older man.
As soon as he stepped through the door again, though, he gasped.
Rossi turned and saw Hotch stumbling back out the door. "Hotch!" he yelled as he ran to him.
"It's the house," Hotch got out as he sucked in air.
Rossi's faced showed his confusion as he looked him over and then looked back at the house. "The house?"
Hotch stood back up fully. "It hit as soon as stepped inside again. There's something in that house."
"And you're ok again now that you're out of it?"
Hotch nodded.
Rossi frowned as he looked back at the house. He had no idea what could or could not affect vampires so he wasn't sure what he could do to help him. "You think it's like a reaction or something?" He hadn't seen a bunch of religious artifacts lying around or anything, but he had to wonder if them just being in a home could affect him. Maybe the house has been blessed or something.
Hotch shrugged. "I don't know, but I felt like something hit me and then it was draining me more the longer I was in there."
Rossi ran his hand over his goatee. "Then stay out here and find out if Morgan and them found him or anything. Mack and I can profile the house. Are you sure you're alright out here?"
Hotch licked his lips and nodded. "I'm fine."
Rossi shook his head at him. "You said you were fine in the house."
"No, seriously, I feel normal again. . . or. . . well, you know what I mean," Hotch insisted.
"Alright. Stay out here and we'll hurry," he told him and went back inside to help their youngest team member.
Hotch took a deep breath as he stared at the house. What the hell is in there? He licked his lips again and then took a step towards the house. I have to know for sure. He held his breath as he went through the doorway but he quickly backed up as he felt like he'd been punched in the gut, again. He shook his head and took out his phone as he moved even further away from the door.
XXX
Luckily Morgan and them did find their unsub, and Reid and JJ had gotten his confession out of him before dinner. Hotch decided that the team would split up to go tell their three victims that the man had been caught, and he and Mack drove over to the first victim's home. He eyed the house warily as he walked up the sidewalk, but he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Ms. Steckelberg pulled the door open just a crack to see who it was, but she gave the agents a small smile as she held the door open all the way. "Please come in," she offered as she gestured to her family room.
Hotch licked his lips and stepped in expecting the worst, but after another step, he quietly sighed in relief and followed the woman to the couch. "We wanted to tell you that your attacker has been caught and you won't have to worry about him anymore."
Mack watched him closely, but he seemed alright, so she shrugged mentally and sat down to help explain what had happened, who the man was, and what else would happen since the man was in custody.
XXX
Once the team met back up, Rossi pulled Mack aside and asked her how the final meeting went, but she assured him that Hotch had been fine the whole time. Rossi's brows furrowed as he followed her to the conference room. Hmmm. . . Maybe it was just something in that guy's house. He mentally shook his head as he looked at Hotch. I guess we'll never know, but we don't have to worry about it because he will never have to go in that house again.
XXX
After wrapping everything up, the team voted to head home instead of going out for dinner and spending another night in Ohio, and Hotch agreed after not having that easy of a time on his first case. He would never admit it, but all he wanted to do was crawl into his bed, have his wife curl up beside him, and reassure him that he was going to be alright. This is way more complicated than I thought it would be!
XXX
By the time he got home, Joey was already sound asleep. He kissed her cheek and whispered 'goodnight' to her and then went down to tell the boys. Jack studied him. "You alright, Dad?"
He nodded. "Yes. It was just a long day."
Jack nodded and gave him a hug. "Maybe if you don't get a case tomorrow we can go to Pisano's for dinner."
Hotch smiled. "That sounds fun." He leaned down and kissed him on top of the head. "Goodnight, Buddy. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yep. Goodnight. Love you."
Hotch gave him another smile. "I love you, too."
After telling Wyatt goodnight, Hotch went up to find Kahlan waiting at the top of the steps. He frowned. "What?"
She smiled and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let me show you what I've done," she urged as she pulled him to his den.
He frowned even more when she stopped outside the door and motioned him into it. He took a deep breath and went in and looked around, but he had no idea what she was doing. He turned to her. "Maybe I'm really tired, but I don't understand."
She giggled and went to his file cabinet. "I had to move some files, but. . ." she started and then pulled the middle drawer open.
His brows rose as he stepped closer and then looked at her and his face showed his shock. "Is that a cooling drawer?"
She giggled again as she nodded. "Just like ones people have installed in their kitchens." She pat the bags of blood she had moved in there and then shut it. "You can keep it locked, but even if you don't, you know one will ever go in here, so you never have to worry about anyone finding it."
Hotch looked the file cabinet over and chuckled when he couldn't tell anything had been done to it. He went to her and put his hands on her waist as he shook his head. "You never cease to amaze me."
She shrugged. "The little fridge in the garage just wasn't practical."
"It doesn't bother you to have it in the house?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, Aaron, just as much as it bothers me for you to be in the house."
He ducked his head sheepishly. He should have known better than to even ask. "Sorry."
She shook her head again. "And no one will ever wonder why you are going in here unlike you always going into the garage before you leave for a case. You can do whatever you need to in the privacy of your most private space."
"Thank you."
She smiled as she pulled away from him and went out the door.
He turned back to the file cabinet and opened he drawer again and smiled. This is cool as shit.
He flinched back when something was shoved in front of his face, and he stepped back, turned, and his brows furrowed as Kahlan held out something to him. She smiled. "Here, take it and imprint the lock."
He looked at the object and smiled once he saw that it was like a small gun safe and had a handprint lock on the outside of it. "Why did you get me another safe?"
A sly smile came to her face. "It's not a safe."
He frowned but put his fingers in the right spots and then the thing beeped to let him know the lock was set. Then he pulled his hand away and put it back. When a green light flashed a few seconds later, the top of it popped open. There was nothing in it and his face showed his confusion.
She sighed and went to the drawer and took out a bag of blood and then put it in the box and shut it. "It's made out of ultra-lightweight Polypropylene so it can't be crushed by conventional means, it's waterproof, it can hold five bags without a problem, it looks professional, and it locks."
His smile revealed both of his dimples as he locked eyes with her. "Have I told you how much I love you?"
She giggled. "A couple times today, but it's still nice to hear."
He sat the box down on his desk and then pulled her into a hug. "I love you."
She wrapped her arms around him. "And I love you."
After a few seconds he released her and then opened the box and put the bag of blood back in the drawer. He didn't bother locking it because he knew the kids never went in his den unless they were told to and they would never even consider opening his file cabinet. "I love it, and I'm not complaining, but I don't think a lot of ice will fit in there with the bags."
She smiled again. "It doesn't have to stay cold."
He frowned. "It doesn't?"
She giggled and turned back to a bag at her feet. She bent down and came back up with several smaller, thinner versions of the box in her hands. "No. I called Sebastian and asked him about it after hearing about your little leak. He told me that it didn't matter and even told me how some warm it up."
Hotch cringed with that thought, and she giggled again. "He said that he only keeps his in the cooler because that's the way he prefers it, but the boxes are insulated so if you put it in there cold, it will stay cold, and you can put ice in it at the hotel at night if you want them to stay cold even longer." She handed him one of the smaller boxes. "But, if it doesn't stay completely cold, you can still drink it and it won't hurt you."
He took the box and imprinted that lock. "So why do I need all of these?"
"Just in case," she started and handed him the boxes one at a time so he could set the lock.
"In case of what? If a case takes that long, I'm sure you could bring me more or have some shipped or something," he suggested thinking his go-bag would be full if he tried to put all of the boxes in it and that didn't include his clothes.
She shook her head. "No, these are not for your go-bag." His eyes showed his confusion, so she went to him and placed a hand on his chest and looked him in the eyes. "One for your car, one for mine, one for Dave's bag, and since Reid carries his messenger bag everywhere with him, I asked if he would carry one in there for you."
Hotch shook his head as he backed up. "No. He doesn't need to carry that around. What I take with me will be plenty. . ."
She sighed and gave him her best 'mom' look. "Aaron, you keep your go-bag at the hotel, right?" He nodded and she smiled. "So if something were to happen and you needed blood right away, you'd have to go all the way there to get it. If Reid is carrying some then you'll be covered. It's safer that way."
He shook his head some more. "If I feed regularly, I won't need someone else to carry it."
"And what if something happens?" He was about to argue nothing would happen, so she stepped closer to him. "Sebastian said if you got really hurt, drinking blood would heal you faster." His eyes darted around as he considered that. "It's lightweight, small, Spencer won't even notice it's there, but it will be available should you ever need it."
He sighed and the disappointed look in his eyes made her heart ache. He licked his lips. "I know he would carry it. Hell, they all would because I know they love me, but I don't want them to. Can you understand that? That I need to do this, to be responsible for myself?"
His eyes were begging her to understand, and she wilted. "Then can you promise me that you will put it in whatever vehicle you are driving each and every case. I hope you never have to worry about it, that nothing ever happens, but I will feel better if I know that it is available to you should the need arise."
He nodded and pulled her back to him because he could understand the logic behind her concerns. "Deal."
She pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. "Can Dave still carry one? You know, have an extra if you ever get stuck someplace."
He smiled. "Yes, Dave can carry one in his go-bag."
She hugged him tightly. "Thank you."
He rubbed his hand up and down her back and smiled because while he hated her worrying about him, in a small way, he loved it because that proved how much she loved him.
After a few minutes she pulled back and smiled up at him. "See? You'll be fine."
He smiled. "With you helping me, I will be." He bit his lip. "But I brought the empty bag back because I didn't want to leave it in the hotel trash. How should I get rid of it?"
Her brows and mouth quirked as she thought about it and then she shrugged. "I don't know, but don't worry, I'll figure something out."
He smiled and pulled her back to him. "I know, because you always do."
