PANOPLY OF FEAR
Chapter 4
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The sun beams down on a brand new day
No more welfare tax to pay
Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light
Jobless millions whisked away
At last we have more room to play
All systems go to kill the poor tonight

The Dead Kennedys – Kill the Poor

By the time Emily got back to Dave and Hotch's room, everyone else was there, sitting on the beds with a table between them. She was surprised that Hotch wasn't there. Garcia looked over to her, and was equally surprised that Emily was alone.

"Where's Hotch?" Dave asked.

"I thought he'd be here by now." Emily said, starting to feel anxious. "I haven't seen him."

Dave stood up, and went to the door. "He didn't look well. I'll go and see if I can find him."

Reid stood up and followed him. "I'll come with you."

Emily followed the men out of the room and down to the lift. As they descended to the ground floor, Emily told them what had happened.

"I didn't think the glass had anything to do with Hotch." She said worriedly. "I picked it up and binned it."

"It's ok." Dave said. "It will still be there."

"I saw a little blood too, but I just thought it was from someone's hand, trying to pick up the glass." She held up her finger. "Surely it can't be..." She didn't finish her sentence. She suddenly felt very sick. Surely not...

The lift bumped slightly as is halted on the ground floor. Emily noticed that Reid had gone a little pale again. Didn't he like lifts?

"The glass was here." Emily said, pointing out the spot by the sun lounger. "The blood was near the edge. It looks as if it's been washed away."

"There's a tiny smudge here." Spencer said, pulling gloves over long fingers. He swabbed the blood smear and gave it to Rossi. Emily retrieved the glass out of the bin. She sniffed the round piece of glass that was once the bottom of the tumbler. "Scotch." She said. "That is what Hotch drinks."

"This sun lounger has been moved recently." Dave said. "There are fresh scrape marks on the tiles. He was sitting here when something happened" He looked across the pool to where he saw a light on in one of the cabins. "I'll do a house to house." He said. "You check that Aaron was drinking scotch. And if the bar tender saw anything."

Dave quickly walked around the pool and knocked on the only cabin with a light on. The door was answered a few minutes later, just as Dave was about to knock again.

"Uh... hello." Dave said, trying not to notice that the young man was wearing a quilt. "David Rossi, FBI." He showed the man his ID. "I was wondering if you could help me. Did you notice a disturbance out on the other side of the pool earlier this evening?"

"Who is it Chick?" A woman called from inside the cabin. For the briefest of moments, Dave wondered what she would be wearing...

"It's ok, Hun. I'll tell you in a minute... I did see some men carrying a drunk out to a car. I didn't see anything else though."

"And what time would that have been, Sir?"

"Oh about half, three quarters of an hour ago."

"Can you remember anything about the men you saw?

"Yes... One was..."

"Would it be possible for you to get dressed and come over to the lounge and make a statement?" Dave said.

"Sure." The man said. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be over."

"And if your wife saw anything, maybe she could come over too."

The man nodded and closed the door. David left the man and checked the other two cabins, but both were empty. He went back to the lounge section of the bar and waited. Emily and Reid were chatting to the barman. Then they came over and joined Rossi.

"Hotch was on his second double scotch. He told the barman that he was going up for a sleep when he'd drunk it." Reid said.

"He went out and sat on that lounger." Emily said. "Then a few minutes later I came down and he told me Hotch had gone out side. By then he had gone."

"Why were you looking for him?" Dave asked. When Emily looked embarrassed, and didn't say anything, Dave said, "You will have to tell us, Agent Prentiss."

"I erm... It was kind of private." She stammered, feeling very vulnerable. She really didn't want to tell Dave before she even told Aaron! The rest of the team were coming over. She said, "Can I tell you in private, please."

Dave got up and the two of them went lover to the corner of the bar and sat down.

"Ok, I'll keep it private as much as I can."
"Thank you Sir. The fact is, I want to start a relationship with Hotch. I came down to talk to him about it. Garcia will back me up there."

Dave smiled at her. "Thank you, Emily. Let's go and join the others. Our witnesses have just arrived."

-0-0-0-

Aaron slowly became aware of the sound of a car engine. He realised that he was sitting in the back of a car, strapped upright, head on a rolled up jumper, as if he was sleeping. His chest hurt to breathe, and his mouth tasted of blood and chlorine. He tried to remember what had happened, and he remembered being held under the water; they had tried to drown him. He decided to stay 'asleep' and listen to what was being said. He felt sick from swallowing pool water, but he wanted to pretend to be asleep. He listened, and hoped he wouldn't throw up.

He knew one of the voices. He desperately tried to get his brain to work. His sinuses were full of chlorinated water, and his head hurt too much to think. He thought his cheek bone was broken again. He moved his jaw and the pain that resulted almost made him scream. He just managed to stay 'asleep'.

The voice... It was the technician from the monkey labs... Edward.

He's the UnSub? And they were standing right by him! He hoped that Dave would figure it out. Aaron thought Dave was suspicious of him at the time, he could tell by Dave's body language. Only he had access to the monkey with his card. And he could handle the animals without them hurting him.

The car came to a halt, and Aaron's seat belt tightened painfully across his chest. He decided to wake up. He blinked open his eyes, and looked around.

It was Edward from the labs.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Aaron mumbled. It hurt too much to talk. He wondered if it was worth the effort. No one was listening. "Kidnapping is a Federal Offence. You'll get life..."

"Shut up." The man sitting next to him said. Or rather child. He only looked about seventeen.

"How did you get mixed up in this?" Hotch said. "You're only a kid."

The kid gripped Aaron's face and pulled him round to face him. The pain was making his eyes water, but still he refused to let them know he was in pain.

"I might be young, but I have principles." He said. "Get rid of poverty and have a free white America."

He pushed Hotch away, and this time, he couldn't stop it; a cry escaped his lips. Hotch clawed hack his self control and dignity.

"You'll get life without parole for abduction."

The kid just stared at him. The car door opened and Hotch was pulled from the car. He was pushed against the side, and his hands were tied behind his back with cable ties. He suddenly has an overwhelming need to throw up. He slid down the car onto his knees and was he sick on the grass. The pain in his face was unbelievable. He could feel the screws that used to hold the bones together grind against bone. As he heaved and retched, the plate moved, and he threw up again. His eyes watered, and his nose ran and he wondered if the agony would ever be over.

When at last his guts were done twisting, he sank back on his heels, and hung his head forward, exhausted.

"Ok, get up now!" He felt strong hands under his elbows, and he was lifted onto his feet and led into a building, which looked like an old disused hospital or clinic. He was pushed along a dusty corridor and through a door on the right. He found himself in a lab, not unlike the one he had visited earlier that day with Dave. Only this one was smaller. At the end, like in the other lab, was a bank of cages. Some had rats and mice in, a couple contained rabbits, and one had a small monkey in. The creature was holding the bars and chittering in distress.

"Is that the monkey that was stolen?" Hotch asked Edward. His voice was slurred, and he wondered if he had been drugged to keep him docile. He had no energy to fight these men, or even to think of a plan of action.

He was led towards the bank of cages.

"Yes, this is Maureen." Edward said. "Your cage is next to hers."

Aaron looked at the cage that Edward was showing him. It was about a metre high, a metre in length, and half a metre wide.

"I can't get in there!" Hotch said, a sudden unwelcome wave of fear passed over him.

"Shut up." The kid and a girl about the same age came across the lab. The girl started to undo his shirt and pull it around his back, where he could hear the kid cutting it off him. Then they removed his trousers and shoes and socks. They took his second gun. They left him his shorts and tee shirt, and they left the empty holster strapped to his leg.

"Turn around, get on your knees, and crawl backwards into the cage." When Aaron didn't move, Edward squeezed Aaron's face, and he made a small cry of pain as he felt bones move again. "Get down onto your bloody knees!"

Hotch found himself looking down the barrel of his own gun. With shaking breaths, he sank to his knees again, and crawled backwards into the tiny cage. He had to bend forwards so his chest was against his thighs, and his head facing his knees. His shoulders touched the sides and his back touched the top of the cage. He had about three inches in front of him, but his feet were against the back.

There was no movement allowed. He couldn't even raise his head. The cage door was closed onto him, and a plastic tube was attached to the bars near his head.

"That's your water." The girl said. "Make it last. We won't be back until the morning."

The light went out. Hotch heard a door lock, and he was alone. The monkey curled up on a little pile of straw. Hotch shivered, His knees hurt on the metal base of the cage and his wrists were starting to bleed where the plastic ties were digging into his flesh. The way he was kneeling in the cage was pressing on his lungs, and he was breathing with difficulty. His muscles began to cramp after an hour or so. There was no one to hear him, so he cried out in his pain, and tears fell from his eyes, and dripped from his lashes. He thought he was going to be sick again, but in the position he was in, he didn't think he would be able to. He rested his forehead on his knees and drifted into a semi-conscious faint as exhaustion took him.

-0-0-0-

The Great Kanaka said, "Some people were born to die."