If there was only one skill that Hotch had picked up once joining the BAU, it was how to move silently through his house. He had been no stranger to extreme hours as a prosecutor and as a SWAT agent, but once he was regularly being called into the field at any hour of the day or night (really, any hour), it became paramount to be able to get up, get dressed, and out the door without waking Haley or Jack, and vice versa for coming in at all hours.
It was how he managed to make it out of bed whenever he needed the quiet hours of the night to think in private without questions. And how he was able to walk into his guest bedroom one night to check on his temporary charge.
Intellectually, Hotch knew that Gideon needed the time to center himself in the wake of the tragic case that resulted in the death of a suspect, his aspiring victim, and Hotch's suspension. Gideon's own two week leave was self-imposed. And mostly, Hotch suspected that Gideon needed the time to truly come to terms with Sarah's death. Even the weeks he had taken off earlier in the summer hadn't really been productive in that way because of Rachel.
At first, Hotch remained in the doorway, peering into the dark bedroom to find the sleeping teenager under the covers. It couldn't be easy on her to be spirited away to Hotch's house while her father retired to his cabin. Whatever pain Gideon felt after Sarah's death, there was no doubt that it was doubly painful for Rachel. And instead of having her remaining parent there to support her, he had left her behind.
Again, Hotch could understand Gideon's need for solitude and could even argue that Gideon would be better able to help his daughter once he himself was balanced again. But those thoughts and reasons always left Hotch feeling skeptical even in his own mind. Rachel needed her father, now more than ever, but was currently cut off from him.
It wouldn't be easy for any of them in the next two weeks. Haley was putting more pressure on Hotch to switch teams. Hotch was conflicted on the matter himself, weighing the needs of the team against those of his family—his own desires were secondary to those both. Gideon was off in the woods for his soul searching while his daughter…
Hotch watched as Rachel turned over in her sleep, hugging a pillow tightly to her chest and curling around it, an anchor in her dreaming. She settled into sleep again, seemingly resting peacefully, but Hotch was certain it was only a mask Rachel wore, even while sleeping. It saddened him that a seventeen year old girl felt the need to hide her pain even in her dreams. The profiler in Hotch listed out all the likely behaviors and stages that Rachel would go through in the next weeks, months, and years. It wouldn't be easy, but somehow, Hotch hoped that she was strong enough to overcome all the difficulties.
If Gideon was no longer around to help his daughter with that, then Hotch would make sure that he was there for her himself.
Notes:
Yes, I know this one is short, but I didn't want to beat it into the ground and there's more to come anyway. I'm going to try to update these extra scenes as they fit best into the flow of Sonata in G proper. Thanks for reading, another one of these should be up next week as well.
Cantoris
