"Okay, Aaron, what really happened on that island?" It was close to midnight and Rossi had insisted that Hotch join him for a nightcap at the resort's bar. The two of them had appropriated a small table in a dark corner where they were now sitting facing each other.
"I can't believe I used to drink this stuff." Hotch took another sip of the scotch Rossi had insisted on buying him and grimaced.
"You'll get used to drinking it again," Rossi assured him as he also took a sip. "Give it some time."
"Now," he fixed Hotch with a stare. "All the kiddies and wives and non-essential personnel have been fed and tucked in for the night. So, let's have a talk – Just the two of us."
"Okay, that's settled." Morgan walked over holding up his cell phone. "I just talked to Savannah and, even though her field is emergency medicine, she is willing to see Lynn. She'll just do the basics to make sure everything is okay with her and the baby and then walk her through the ultrasound and anything else that might be indicated. You know, she is really anxious to meet her."
"Thanks," Hotch took another sip of scotch and again grimaced. "I know she had a midwife last time with Jacob and everything turned out fine but I'll feel better if a regular doctor checks things out."
"Now, Big Guy," Morgan pulled out a chair and joined the other two men. "Are you going to tell me how a bad ass, kick-you-in-the-nuts, FBI agent became a carpenter on a not so deserted tropical island – And apparently liked it?"
"That's just what I was asking," Rossi told him. "And we aren't leaving here until I get my answer. Aaron?" He glared at the man.
"Okay – Okay," Hotch took a deep breath. "But you have to promise me that this goes no further than the three of us. And, Lynn, too, of course – Naturally, she already knows. I strongly suspect the truth is going to come out fairly soon and I'm just not sure how I am going to deal with it."
"What happened, Man?" Morgan asked. "It can't be all that bad, can it?"
"It depends on what you consider 'Bad'," Hotch replied thoughtfully. "It's just that things are done differently on the island, and I'm not sure everyone will understand."
"How differently?" Rossi asked softly. "You didn't have to kill anybody or anything like that, did you?"
"Oh No, nothing like that," Hotch hastened to assured him. "It's just that while some of the people who were brought to the island were being 'rescued' from bad situations and were encouraged to become integrated into society as quickly as possible, others were brought there for a specific purpose."
"And that purpose?" Morgan asked.
"I was brought there to be a breeder," Hotch confessed. "To provide genetic diversity to the group of people who have been living on the island for, from what you tell me, over 100 years. Apparently this is a long standing custom developed over time to prevent extensive in-breeding within the population." He drew a deep breath.
"So, you were expected to - ?" Rossi let the question hang.
"Encounters were arranged," Hotch was trying to navigate the explanation without becoming overly crude. "By Mistress, with willing women. I never raped anyone – I always asked at least twice if the woman was there willingly. And these encounters were as anonymous as possible."
"So – Anonymous, willing women in a prearranged setting," Rossi mussed. "Strictly as a means of procreation."
"I assume you initially resisted," Moran assumed. "How did they convince you to cooperate?"
"They threatened Jack and Jessica," Hotch reported. "They showed me surveillance pictures of them. And that's the only reason I eventually capitulated."
"I'm not proud of what I did," he added. "But I did do it."
"How many of these encounters did you have, Man?" Morgan asked.
"Quite a number," Hotch told him. "It seems that after the first several encounters I was quite in demand with the women. Primarily due to the fact that I took care not to brutalize anyone, which is what had happened in the past."
"Brutalize?" Morgan questioned, concerned.
"Not intentionally," Hotch quickly replied. "It's just that, apparently, the various methods of seduction are unknown to the men there and they just did what comes naturally. And, as a result, a lot of the women ended up being hurt."
"So, did this continue after you got married?" Rossi asked curiously.
"No," Hotch assured him. "When 586 – Lynn – expressed an interest in marrying me and I agreed to the courtship, I was relieved of my 'other' duties. Actually, that's why I initially agreed to the courtship, to get out of the encounters. Then, after we were married, we were considered to be an exclusive couple and I thought that would solve my dilemma."
"You had another problem?" Morgan asked.
"Not really," Hotch sighed. "It's just that I woke up one morning and realized that I had fallen in love with my wife. Plain and simple, I love her and her son and our baby. I really hadn't expected that." He stared gloomily into his glass.
"There are a number of men who would envy you." Rossi took another sip of his scotch. "And you are talking to one of them."
"But the bottom line is that you undoubtedly have offspring living on the island," Morgan got right to the point. "And you don't know how you feel about that."
"You're right, I don't know how I feel about it," Hotch admitted. "I always tried hard to be a good father and roll model for Jack and now these children are going to be raised by other people in a communal setting.
"Kind of like an Israeli kibbutz," Rossi said thoughtfully. "Some good men and women have come out of them. Don't sell it short."
"The boys do have male role models, don't they?" Morgan asked.
"When they get around seven or eight years old they are moved into the men's dorm," Hotch explained. "And the men there, some very good men, I might add, begin mentoring them. They also have The Professor who periodically visits them in school and encourages them in their studies. And, if they show promise academically, they are sent to Farm #2 to live there and study with him."
"So, you were mentoring 603?" Morgan observed. "That young man was definitely upset when you left - Even if you did leave him your cat to care for."
"I can hardly lay claim to that cat," Hotch chuckled. "Although, I do admit to feeling abandoned a while back when it apparently switched alliances to 603."
"Now, Lynn's son, was he the result of one of these arranged encounters?" Rossi asked further.
"I assume so," was the considered reply. "As I understand it, Lynn was sent to Farm #2 to study with Professor Chastain. Whether or not Mistress had made arrangements for an encounter while she was there, I don't know. I do know that she was pregnant when she returned to Farm #3. I always assumed, as does The Professor, that he is the father."
"If Mistress was looking to raise the intelligence level of Farm #3, she made a good choice," Rossi observed. "From what Reid tells me that boy's intelligence is definitely above average, and he should know."
"As is his mother's," Hotch quickly added.
"So, Mistress is the one who we need to go after," Morgan said thoughtfully. "She's most likely the one masterminding the abductions."
"She is only following precedents set in place over 100 years ago," Hotch immediately pointed out. "She and the others on the island were unaware of any other way of doing things. And, don't forget the managers of the other three farms. They were doing the same thing."
"The argument could be made that the people living on the island constitute a cult, a type of religious organization," he continued. "And, to a certain extent, they would be protected under the Freedom of Religion Act."
"Or, from what I saw and heard, they could be considered a type of unconventional rehab facility," Rossi added another argument. "It seems to me that a lot of the people out there kicked some pretty nasty habits after they were moved to the island."
"At any rate, it is getting late," Morgan shook his head and stood up. "It's time for this agent to head off to bed."
"The same goes for me," Rossi agreed. "We don't need to sort this out right now. Let's just wait and see what happens."
"Tomorrow is going to be a long day," he added. "And, I would guess that Lynn has never been on an airplane." He looked to Hotch for confirmation.
"Today was the first time she had ever been on a motorboat let alone in an SUV," Hotch told him. "So, tomorrow is going to be a real adventure for her and Jacob."