Chapter 60
Most men would be frozen with fear and indecision at seeing two of his beloved team members in such close vicinity to a horrible killer; one literally in the clutches of it, and also knowing that another victim, an innocent little girl, was someplace else possibly already hurt or even dead. Hotch wasn't most men, though. Armed with years of experience and a brain made for profiling that kicked into overdrive when the case took a turn for the worse, Hotch was moving before the unsub even realized it.
The little girl in JJ's arms searched the forest around them, but Hotch had disappeared. The maniacal shifter tightened his grip around the blond agent and held back the roar of frustration that wanted to escape.
While it was focused on the trees around them, it didn't notice Morgan taking out his phone and reading a text. Morgan mentally winced at the message, but his own training stopped him from physically reacting, and he slid his phone back into his pocket and turned to his partner. "Let me carry her for a while. I bet she's getting heavy," he offered.
JJ could tell by his look that it wasn't just a gentlemanly suggestion, and despite not showing any outward reaction, her heart sped up. "Yeah, thanks. I could use a break." Armed with her most innocent smile, she pushed Lana away enough to look at her. "Agent Morgan is going to carry you, is that alright?"
Lana looked from one agent to the other, took a second to look back towards where she last saw Hotch and then halfway shrugged. "Ok."
Derek gave her his 1000 watt smile as he took her out of JJ's arms. "You want a piggyback ride?"
The little girl shook her head as her hands tried to latch onto Morgan's arms, but Morgan stopped her from clinging to him as he still held her out at arm's length. "Now!" he screamed, but he needn't have because the girl was ripped from his grip in a blur of movement as Hotch rushed by him before the word was even spoken halfway through.
JJ's eyes flew open and she and Morgan drew their weapons and tried to keep track of the chaotic melee that was playing out before them as Hotch grappled with first the girl and then several different men.
Morgan looked at JJ. "Get Rossi back here!"
JJ nodded as she took out her phone.
Hotch threw the shifter to get it as far away from his coworkers as he could, but it only went about three feet away from him as it turned into the biggest bear that Hotch had ever seen. It roared and lashed out with a massive clawed paw that sent Hotch flying.
"Hotch!" JJ screamed as she ran. The bear's claws had ripped four jagged trenches into the side of Hotch's face and neck.
As she ran, Morgan unloaded his clip into the bear's back, but that didn't even phase it as it roared and reached out again. That time it grabbed JJ with the massive hand of a man who would make Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson look small, and he hugged her to his chest as a surprised yelp escaped her.
Hotch shock his head trying to get his eyes to focus and once they did, his heart skipped a beat. "No!" he yelled as he jumped up.
The tall, muscle bound man laughed as one of his hands held JJ and the other stroked her hair. "This one's pretty. You wouldn't want me to hurt her, now would you?"
Morgan didn't know what to do. He was behind the man, empty pistol still in his hand. He had known the gun wouldn't kill the unsub, but he thought that the ten bleeding bullet holes in the man's back would at least slow him down some. He glanced around the man and locked eyes with his Unit Chief.
Hotch could tell Morgan was wanting to do something, anything, but Hotch gave him a look that told him stay out of it and then focused on the unsub. "Go ahead. She's an FBI agent. She knows the risks we take on every case," he tried in a nonchalant tone while his mind raced trying to figure out what to do.
The man laughed and held her tighter which elicited a grunt from JJ. "Don't even try it, Aaron. I've touched you. I know your thoughts. You love her like a sister." He turned a little and looked at Morgan. "You love them all like siblings. You would do anything for them."
Hotch wanted to scream because the man was right and he hated that someone could get into his head and use all of his thoughts and feelings against him.
The man's hand moved to the top of JJ's head as if getting ready to break her neck, and Hotch threw his hands up and took a step forward. "Please don't!" he begged. His body wasn't healing like it normally should after everything he'd already gone through that day and he wasn't sure he'd be fast enough to get her out of the demented man's grasp before he hurt her.
The man smiled. "How about a trade then?" His hands relaxed. "How about, I give her back to you, and you leave me the hell alone. I'll get my last heart, and then I'll leave the islands."
"No, Hotch! You can't let hi. . ." JJ tried but the man covered her mouth as he yanked her even closer.
"You don't get a say in this, Jennifer; and if you open that pretty mouth again, I'll rip your tongue out with my fingers," he warned her.
As Hotch ran a hand across the back of his neck as if actually thinking about the offer, his eyes strayed to Morgan for just a split second and then to the woods to his right.
Morgan frowned as he tried to figure out what his boss wanted, but then Hotch shifted as if trying to relieve sore muscles and Morgan nodded minutely and started moving towards the unsub's left. He wasn't sure what Hotch had up his sleeve, but it was clear that he wanted the area behind the unsub clear.
Hotch swallowed and stood up tall. "I can't sacrifice an innocent. None of us would ever let that happen."
The man's eyes narrowed as he considered the words and then looked at JJ for a second and then turned to Morgan. Morgan folded his arms across his chest and nodded his agreement with Hotch's statement. The unsub grunted and then took a deep breath and smiled. "But you'd be willing to sacrifice yourself, so. . . Why don't you do that?"
Hotch's brows furrowed. "Meaning?"
The man laughed. "You sacrifice yourself, for this one."
"What?!" Morgan yelled as he took a step towards the man, but Hotch held up a hand to stop him.
"And what would that give you?" Hotch asked as he studied the man. JJ's eyes locked with Hotch's, but Hotch tried to ignore the pleading look in hers.
"You take that damn pistol I know you've reloaded and shoot yourself in the head."
Hotch licked his lips. "But that won't kill me."
"I know, but I would imagine it will take you a while to recover, and I'll be long gone by the time that happens."
"No, Hotch! That doesn't save Lana, and you. . ." Morgan started as he bristled even more.
"Derek!" Hotch yelled as he held up and hand and his look told the agent to shut up.
Derek breathed through his nose roughly. He knew the unsub wanted Hotch out of the picture because Hotch was the only one with a chance of stopping him. He also knew what type of man Hotch was, and it scared the shit out of him to think that Hotch was actually considering doing it. Damn it, Man!
Hotch's hand moved to his pistol in its holster. "And you'll leave my team, all of them, alone?"
The man smiled. "I promise."
"No, Hotch! You can't trust him!" JJ screamed, but the unsub wrenched her arm behind her in a twisting motion and she cried out as one of the bones in her forearm broke.
"JJ, stop!" Hotch pleaded with her and the look he gave the unsub would have a normal man crying for his mother. Hotch sucked in air through clenched teeth. "Hurt her again and I will kill you."
"Either shoot yourself or I will kill her, and then him, and I won't do it quickly. They will still be alive when I start to dine on their hearts!"
Hotch held up his left hand as he drew his pistol with his right. "Alright! I'll do it, just stop hurting her, please."
"Get on with it then!" he demanded.
Hotch's eyes locked with Morgan and then JJ's. "I'm sorry," he offered in a quiet tone as he raised the barrel of his pistol to his right temple.
"Under the chin!" the man ordered, and JJ started to cry.
Morgan was so pissed that he turned and punched the nearest tree. When you recover from this, Hotch, I'm going to shoot you again. His eyes filled with tears of love and admiration. And you damn sight better recover from this too, Man! He cringed as more thoughts entered his head. Cause if you don't, Kahlan is going to kill us all.
"Aaron, please," JJ whined not caring how much the man hurt her. She didn't care if it wouldn't kill him, she couldn't stand the thought of him hurting himself to save her.
Hotch reverted to his Unit Chief persona and locked eyes with the woman who was not only his teammate but also his friend. "It'll be alright."
JJ's first instinct was to argue, but something in his tone made her believe him, so she tried to still her racing heart.
Hotch swallowed and lifted his chin as he moved the pistol to where the unsub wanted it. After looking at him, and him nodding, Hotch's finger closed around the trigger. "You better pray I don't ever run into you again."
The menacing whisper that delivered Hotch's words made the giant of a man laugh. "When and if that ever happens, I'll be stronger than you could ever imagine. You better pray that I don't come looking for you." He smiled a disgustingly sick smile. "Actually, though, I would prefer the heart of that precious little girl of yours more. What's her name. . . Oh yeah, Joey. Yeah, she's more my type."
It took everything in Hotch not to launch himself at the man but if looks could kill, he'd be dead six times over. He took a long, slow, deep breath.
And the resounding slap of a bullet leaving its barrel made Morgan flinch so badly that he almost fell over.
