A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long, I really need to get my act together. Anyway. School starts in two weeks, work is taking over my life, tumblr killed me, bridal shower tomorrow for a friend, pig roast next week for a friend, wedding in three weeks for a friend, but at least we have a kitchen. Not to mention the diet I'm going on.
All I can say for this chapter is please don't hate me. But you probably will. please review!
Love,
BRTxoxo
It had been weeks since Reid had been abducted, and since the team found out that Sweeny Todd had taken him, they'd nearly doubled their efforts to find him and Katrina. They'd notified Daniel about the revelation, but after a fortnight had passed, they were forced to set the case aside to take on other cases.
Hotch was tormented every day, stressed when he knew that if he had stayed with Reid, they could have potentially caught Sweeny Todd and the whole ordeal would be over; Reid would be safe, Katrina would be with Doctor Pierce, tail would be intact, and Sweeny Todd would be on trial. The team would be having an easier time with cases with Reid's non-stop babble of useless facts. They wouldn't be on edge all day, muscles tensed to the point of exhaustion.
Hotch would be able to sleep at night.
Garcia and Morgan would flirt shamelessly again.
JJ and Elle would smile more.
Gideon would take breaks and eat.
If only Hotch had stayed with Reid at the apartments.
By the time two months had passed since Reid's disappearance, the team had fallen into a routine: get to work, look at satellite photos of Virginia to see if either Reid or Katrina had been outside at all, sigh heavily when nothing showed up positive, and then turn to other cases. They would take turns keeping his desk in some semblance of his normal way, and it was not uncommon for one of them to shed at least one tear by the end of the day.
After three months, and no word from Sweeny Todd or the captives, the case went cold, and was set on the shelf. Hotch was constantly exhausted and restless. Morgan and Garcia had stopped flirting. JJ and Elle couldn't smile anymore. Gideon had lost weight and was now down two clothing sizes. Reid's desk began to collect dust. Soon, as the team began to solve cases, their methods became strict, something boot camp would be proud of.
Four months, to the day, Hotch had a thought that made him jerk awake from his exhaustive dozing at his desk and nearly tumble into Gideon's office. "Gideon, why haven't we heard anything from Reid's mother? He's been missing for four months now; he sends her letters monthly she should be missing them by now."
Gideon looked up at Hotch over his glasses from the case file he was organizing. Pain took over his face as the words sunk in. "Have Garcia do a quick check to see if his mother has received anything from him."
The tall agent nodded and made his way to Garcia's now dull tech lab.
"Garcia can you see if Reid's mother has received anything in the past four months that would indicate where Reid would be?"
Garcia turned around in her chair to acknowledge Hotch and then shared a guilty look with Morgan before answering her boss's question. "Actually, I've been sending her letters, like the one's he would send her. I've tried my best to emulate his writing style and detail the cases like he would if he were here. She's already mentally unstable, she doesn't need the stress of knowing that her son is missing and could be killed any day. I've been keeping tabs on her as well and other than the letters from me, she doesn't get anything or visitors."
The small figment of hope that Hotch had was crushed just as quickly as it had appeared. He tried to be angry with the technical liaison and other member of his team for keeping their doings unknown to everyone else, but the logic behind it stopped that right away. The fact that Garcia had thought about that ahead of time and had acted on an opportunity that she saw actually gave him more of a sense of comfort than anything else. There was one less thing that he had to worry about.
"I'm sorry, sir, I should have told you."
Hotch sighed and drug his hand down his face. "Don't worry about it. You did fine." A forced smile played on his lips. "Keep me updated." With that he left the room to relay the news to Gideon.
Morgan and Garcia shared another look and went back to their monitoring of Katrina's and Reid's apartments.
Another month passed. Emotionally, the team was dead. The fact that one member could cause so much damage to the team astounded Hotch to no end. The fact that each time a case was brought before them in the conference room and no one sat in his seat-to the point where it needed to be dusted-settled in his mind as undeniable. The fact that nothing had come forward in five months nagged at his mind and drove him to the brink of insanity.
Memories flashed through his mind as he stared at Reid's empty chair in the conference room. Reid doing magic tricks in the bull pen. Reid giving a random fact to the team during a case on the jet. Reid sleeping on the couch in the jet with a blanket slipping off and his mismatched socks falling off. Reid reading a case file with his glasses slipping off his nose. Reid rolling his eyes as Morgan and Garcia flirting over the phone. Reid smiling. Reid being there.
"Sir?" Garcia's quivering voice cut through the dark haired agent's thoughts. "There's a phone call for you. Line one."
"Why do you have it?"
"He called me and asked to talk to you. I can't get a trace on it." Morgan stood just behind Garcia, looking nothing like his normal mocha skinned self.
The agent nodded and pressed the speaker button on the phone in the middle of the table. "This is Agent Hotchner."
"Hello Aaron."
"Who is this?"
"Your communications liaison has referred to me many times by the demon barber of Fleet Street. Perhaps you know to whom she is referring."
Hotch's mouth went dry. "Sweeny Todd."
"Very good. I believe it's been quite some time since we've had contact. Many months in fact."
"It's been a very long time. What do you want?"
"Only this. I have two little pets that you want. My good Doctor and my little Rose. Sadly, I've become bored of their company. My Rose doesn't speak, and I'm afraid that the Doctor may have become too attached. In fact I believe they've both formed a bond that I cannot condone." The three agents could hear Sweeny Todd shifting the phone. "Say hello my little pets." Muffled cries were heard.
"We know you have them. What do you want," Hotch bit out.
"Ah ah, don't get too hasty, Agent Hotchner. It is common knowledge that I have both of them. It is common knowledge that I grow tired of their company. However, I only tire of having two people here. Combine this with the fact that they've become too close for their own good, well, one needs to go. But then, I can't very well have one running around telling everyone who I am and the like now can I? Therefore," a gunshot echoed around the room, emanating from the speaker in the middle of the table. "Do have a good day."
The line went dead. Sweeny Todd's sadistic laughter hung in the air like a putrid stench. The three agents stared at the phone in horrific silence.
Aaron looked up at Derek and Penelope. His eyes were red with tears waiting to fall, his face full of lost hope and pure grief. Penelope was pulled into Derek's embrace as he let the tears flow freely.
One of them was dead.
Aaron Hotchner said nothing as he left the conference room.
. . .
Two hours later found him in front of Katrina's apartment building, a cold wind buffing against his face. He let the wind surround him, biting back the tears that he knew were going to eventually fall.
As the first one fell, he became aware of someone walking past him, whom he opted to ignore.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
The agent opened his eyes to look at the woman questioning him. She was of average height, with black hair and concerned eyes. She carried two brown grocery bags in either arm, her purse slung over one shoulder, keys in one hand.
"I'm fine," he said, but his voice told her otherwise.
"I know that's not true. What are you doing here? I don't remember seeing you."
"I'm Special Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Behavioral Analysis unit." He flipped open his badge.
"I take it you're not here just because of my call the other day."
"I beg your pardon?" his brows furrowed together in confusion.
"Why don't you come inside? I've got some coffee made and you look like you could use some." The woman turned around and led him to her apartment just below Katrina's. "My name's June. I called the police a few days ago to report suspicious activity. No one ever came down, so I've been a little worried lately that maybe my call went unnoticed. Unfortunately, I don't think they send FBI for community calls." June out her groceries away and pulled out two mugs. "Please, sit." She set the mugs on the table, one in front of Aaron, and then retrieved the still warm coffee pot. "Do you take sugar or cream?"
"No, thank you. What suspicious activity did you report?"
June sat across from the agent, holding her mug in her hands. "I just moved in a few months ago. After a few nights I was sitting on the little balcony with my husband and I thought I saw someone darkly dressed in the parking lot staring at us. When I tried to point it out to my husband, the person was gone and I just shook it off. But then the next week, I'd taken the trash out, and I saw them again. Only he wasn't watching me, he was watching the apartment above mine, with the caution tape. It's happened like that for the past few months. My husband tried talking to him last week, but he left as soon as we got out our flashlight. That's when I called the police. It had been bad enough just having him out there once a week, but when we saw the scars all over his face-"
"Scars?" Aaron nearly choked on his coffee.
"All over his face. It looked like he'd been attacked by a cat, or even a dog, maybe both."
He stood up then. "Would you mind coming with me to the station? Actually, no. Can you come with me to headquarters in Quantico? I'll take you there myself. Do you remember what he looked like? Would you be able to describe him to a sketch artist?"
"Yes I think so. Let me call my husband."
Aaron nodded and waited for her to slip on her coat and shoes before leading her to the SUV and asking Gideon to call in the sketch artist.
