Chapter 70

Hotch had trouble getting the team up the next morning after all of the fun they'd had the day before, but they all eventually got packed up and headed to the jet. Most of them wanted to settle in and go back to sleep, but none of them more than Morgan who was nursing a horrible sunburn because he had insisted to Garcia that he didn't need any sunscreen at the beach. However, Hotch insisted that they tell him about the case first.

He winced when he found out that there were other victims, and he was shocked when he found out that one of Jimmy's relatives had pretended to be their unsub. "How is he. . . But he's locked up. . ." He shook his head. "Why would he volunteer to do that?"

JJ held up a hand. "They assured us that they were going to take turns and that none of them would do it for over twenty four hours at a time, and when the prisoner is transferred back to the mainland, that something will happen."

"I'm not sure if he was implying that they were going to let him escape or if they were going to make it look like an accident or what, but I'm sure they'll make it look good," Mack assured him.

"But it all went very well," Reid put in. "Your doubles were so convincing that I even forgot they weren't you from time to time," he told them and then stuck his nose back in a book. He'd taken all of the hunters' books and was using the long flight home to finish reading them.

Rossi nudged Hotch's arm. "You hear that, Aaron? We can take a vacation anytime we want. All we have to do is hire those shifters to come take our place and the Bureau would never know."

Hotch shook his head. "I don't think so."

Garcia smiled. "Actually, any one of us could be a shifter right here on this plane," she told them in an eerie tone as her eyes trailed over them all. "And none of us would even know it, well, except for Mon Capitan, of course."

Morgan's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he looked at all of them and they all laughed, but he fixed Hotch with a serious look. "Nah, Man. You promise me right now that you can hear all of our hearts and swear to me that they're beating like a normal human being's!"

Hotch gave him a devilish grin. "I could do that, Derek, but what's the guarantee that I'm not a shifter lying to you?"

Morgan's breath caught in his chest as he looked at Unit Chief, and they all laughed again. He wasn't having it, though, as he kept staring at Hotch.

Hotch sighed and flashed his yellow eyes at him making him flinch from not expecting it. "It's me, Derek, and I promise you that there aren't any imposters with us."

Morgan finally took a deep breath and Garcia wrapped her arm around him which made him cringe and push her away. "Watch the shoulders, Baby Girl." And they all laughed again.

XXX

Once they were about half way home, Hotch put the case files he'd signed off on in his briefcase and then stowed it in the forward compartment. As he was walking back to his seat, he frowned at the book in Reid's hands. He paused. After a few seconds, Reid finally realized he was standing next to him and looked up at him as he showed him the front of the book. Hotch read it and then huffed. "'The Book of Vampires', really?"

Reid frowned, looked at the book, and then looked back at his boss. "I guess. I'd say it's more than over a thousand years old, and the illustrations are amazing." He flipped back to the page he'd been on. "I really wish I could read it."

"What do you mean you wish you could read it?" Hotch asked him as his brows furrowed.

Reid shrugged. "I have no idea what this language is. It seems like it might be a derivative from the Balto-Slavic line but some of these characters look like ancient Greek or rudimentary Latin to me."

Hotch's frown deepened.

"It's fascinating really. I think a linguist would love to see something like this. I bet they would find another whole branch to the Indo-European Language family tree," he told him and the excitement in his eyes and in his tone made Mack, who was sitting beside him, roll her eyes.

Hotch licked his lips as he studied the younger man. "You really can't read that?"

Reid shook his head. "No, but I really wish I could. You want to look at it. The drawings truly are remarkable," he told him as he offered him the book.

"Sure. I have to have something to help pass the time," Hotch told him and took the book and went to his seat.

Rossi, who had heard the whole exchange, snatched the book out of Hotch's hand and flipped through it. "Wow. A language Boy Wonder couldn't even decipher, that's amazing." He frowned as his eyes roamed over some of the pages. "How do you know it's about vampires? Oh, never mind," he added as he landed on a page that showed a drawing of what appeared to be a vampire biting the neck of his victim.

Hotch sighed and took the book back as he sat down and flipped to the first page.

Rossi watched him. When Hotch turned the page and his eyes trailed across the page over and over again, his jaw dropped. He took a deep breath and leaned closer. "You can read that?"

Hotch winced and fixed him with a look, but Rossi's look told him he wasn't going to let it go until he got an answer. Hotch sighed as he looked to make sure none of the others were paying them any attention. "Yes. I don't understand how you all can't."

Rossi eyed him wearily. "The only other language I know how to read is Italian. Why would you think I could read that ancient gibberish?"

Hotch glanced at him. "It looks like English to me."

"What?!"

Hotch held up his hand to make Rossi try and reel his excitement back in. He titled the book towards the older man. "I don't see an ancient language. I see English just as plainly as that text you were just reading from Cindi."

Rossi eyes searched the vampire's for a second and then flicked to the page. He pointed at the header on the page. "These symbols mean words to you?"

"I don't see symbols. All I see are words, English words."

Rossi took a deep breath as he ran his hand down his goatee and considered it. "Maybe it's a vampire language of some sort which allows you to read it."

Hotch's brows wavered. "Maybe."

"Is it written by vampires?"

"I don't know yet. It does seem like it's written from a vampire's point of view, though."

Rossi scooted even closer to him. "Maybe it's full of deep, dark vampire secrets," he offered and then grinned.

Hotch cut his eyes to him. "Yeah, maybe it'll teach me how to deal with annoying old men."

Rossi huffed and smacked his arm. "I'll show you annoying, you ungrateful brat."

Hotch chuckled quietly and then turned to the next page.

After getting through a couple of the chapters, Hotch turned a page and then his brows shot up. There, on the facing pages, were three drawings. His eyes drifted over them. The first one, labeled 'Primul', was either a vampire in human form or it represented the human before being turned. The next one showed fangs in the opened mouth and lighter eyes obviously showing the vampire form and was appropriately labeled 'Vampir'. The last one, though, didn't make any sense to him. He wasn't exactly sure it could even be classified as a vampire.

He swallowed and studied the drawing labeled 'Nosferatu'. The figure in the picture didn't even look like the same figure from the first two. Not only was that figure about six inches taller and more muscular, its facial features had also changed drastically. Its cheek bones and brows were more pronounced, its ears stuck out more, and it had no hair at all on its head or face. He licked he lips as his eyes were drawn to the figure's mouth. Instead of the fangs being in the canine position like Hotch's and the figure in the second drawing, it had two in the incisor positions right next to each other, and all of its teeth were angled toward the center just a bit. Its eyes were drawn differently, too, and even though the drawing was in only done in dark ink, Hotch could tell that the eyes were supposed to be a different than even the vampire's.

Hoping for an explanation, he flipped to the next page but there wasn't any information about the drawings. Frowning, he flipped back to the writing before the illustrations thinking that he'd missed something, but there wasn't anything there about them, either. Son of a bitch! What the hell is this?

After a couple more seconds, he pushed the images from his mind and put the book down. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He wasn't tired per say, but so much had happened on the case, that he wanted to give his brain a chance to process and store it all properly instead of adding more to it.

XXX

By the time they finally got home, they were all dragging even though they'd all gotten some sleep on the jet. They'd left Hawaii around noon island time which was six in the evening in Virginia. Add to that the almost thirteen hours the flight took, and it didn't put them home until it was after seven o'clock the next morning. Paxton had text Hotch to let them all know that they had the rest of the day off, so Hotch sent the rest of them home and then went into the BAU just long enough to turn in the case files.

By the time he got home, the kids had already left for school but Kahlan got to him before he could even shut his car off. He smiled at her as she opened the door. "Hey, Babe."

She huffed, grabbed his shirt collar, and tried to yank him out of the car. Of course, she couldn't actually move him, but he chuckled as he got out, and as soon as he was standing, she wrapped strong arms around him. "God I missed you!" she breathed into his chest.

He wrapped tender arms around her. "It's only been a week since I left, Babe."

She pulled back and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "A week? It's seemed so much longer than seven days."

He sighed. "Yes, yes it has, and I missed you, too, Kahlan," he told her as he pulled her back to him, breathed in her sent, and leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head.

After a couple deep breaths, she forced herself to let him go and leaned back and looked him in the eyes. "Are you really alright?"

He smiled. "Yes, Babe. I promise."

She finally smiled at him. "I bet you're tired after that trip, or did you get some sleep on the jet?"

He bit back his smile as he reached into the back seat and grabbed his bags. "I got some sleep."

She nodded as she moved in to be next to him and they walked to the door. "Good, cause you need to clean out the garage."

He actually almost tripped over his own feet as he stopped so quickly and looked at her with wide eyes. "The garage?"

She laughed and pulled him towards the door. "Got ya."

He shook his head and once they were in the house and the door was safely closed behind them, he threw down his bags and snatched her up. He smiled as he stared into the blue eyes he loved so much. "I know it's not the second night, but. . ."

"We are in a kid free house," she finished for him as she smiled and wrapped her hands arounds the back of his neck and played with his hair.

"Yes, we are, and we definitely shouldn't waste this opportunity."

She giggled. "No we shouldn't because your luck, you'll get a case tomorrow morning."

He sighed. "Probably."

She searched his eyes. "Of course, not all cases will be as hard as this last one."

He nodded. "I know."

"And if you can get through that. You can get through anything, Hun."

He smiled. "I know."

"In fact, with everything you learned, you might find that. . ."

He shut her up by leaning down and kissing her. Once he pulled back, he smiled. "I just spent about half of my thirteen hour flight home thinking about this case, and right now I really just want to let it go and be with the one I love more than life itself."

She smiled. "So you want to go pick up the kids from school?"

He huffed as he shook his head, picked her up completely, and started them up the stairs. "We can pick them up when school actually gets out, but first. . ." he started as he pushed open their bedroom door, "but first I want to show you exactly how much I missed you."

She giggled again as he laid her on the bed. "Sounds like a plan, Mr. Hotchner."