Now, we get to see (hear!) Emily and Derek for a couple of chapters.
Reminder: Italics indicate Hotch's thoughts, and his words in "quotes" are spoken out loud...
(o.s.)= voice over speakerphone
CHAPTER 4 – The Heist
ROSSI: Garcia, what's the situation over there?
GARCIA (over speakerphone): I don't have many details, yet. There are hostages, shots were fired. Police and SWAT team are on site, or soon to be... It's still developing!
Damn!
ROSSI: Okay, here's what we'll do. Garcia! You keep everyone posted on developments and any findings. Use conference calls. JJ, Reid, and I will head to the bank and offer our help, Morgan and Prentiss, you stay here with Hotch, and hopefully we can all find out more, soon.
GARCIA (o.s.): Yes, sir! Garcia out.
PRENTISS: Be careful!
MORGAN: We'll call if we find anything useful.
That's it! We've run out of time! I don't have the luxury of lying still anymore!
Let's try sitting up, first...
PRENTISS: What are you doing?
MORGAN: Hey! Stay put!
No, leave it!
What the hell?
My brain is moving!
It's—OH NO!
PRENTISS: Are you okay?
This was stupid... very...
"The bagel—"
MORGAN: The bagel?
No!
"The pan!"
PRENTISS: The pan?
MORGAN: Behind you!
Hurry!
MORGAN: Hang on!
PRENTISS: Can you lean over?
I better...
"Arrgh..." *cough*
OW!
PRENTISS: It's okay, it's okay...
MORGAN: Are you done? Do you want to lean back?
Owww...
PRENTISS: It doesn't look like a bagel, maybe half—
MORGAN: Emily...
PRENTISS: It's not that bad. I'll go get the nurse and get rid of this.
MORGAN: Make sure they give you another one, just in case.
No... Not again... I'm not moving a hair for the rest of the day!
MORGAN: Brutal, hey? What were you thinking? You're in no shape to go charging out of here!
I thought the nausea was gone.
I wasn't thinking right... I can't think right. My thoughts are mush.
Even without drugs.
The pain killer... it's not working too well.
The dizziness. Like waves... washing over me...
Rushing tide...
Something about water...
"I can't remember—"
MORGAN: What? What can't you remember?
Damn.
"I don't know."
MORGAN: Okay. It's okay, man. We thought—Maybe you'd be up for a cognitive interview later today. What do you think?
"Anything but doing nothing. Let's start now."
MORGAN: Hotch—you're in pain; the pain will distract you. We have to wait.
"I'm ready."
MORGAN: *snort* Did you hear what I just said? It won't work!
"Then give me your profile, what you have so far."
DOCTOR: How's everything here? I hear your pain killers are not working so well.
Fuck! She brought back the doctor!
We can't afford to waste precious time!
DOCTOR: Sir? I know you wanted to try without them, but I hear you cannot keep food down—
"I'm fine."
DOCTOR: Good, I'm glad to hear that. The nurse is here to give you a muscle relaxant again; I think it's too soon to cut back.
"No! We have an active case. It can't wait!"
DOCTOR: Mr. Hotchner, do you know where you are?
"Of course! But I need to stay awake!"
Getting dizzy again...
Calm down.
"I'll make you a deal doctor: give me a couple of hours or so, while we're working on our case. Lives are at stake, including that of a young boy. He has a gunshot wound, in his back. He needs help. His mother—I'll do whatever you want after that."
DOCTOR: Do you need glasses to read?
What?
"Sometimes."
DOCTOR: Here, hold this at arm's length and read the third line for me.
What the hell?
"I don't need—I need to have my mind clear for a couple of hours. This won't compromise my recovery."
DOCTOR: Probably not, but it will delay it. I can see that you are unable to focus your eyes on me or anything in this room; you can't make any movement without feeling dizzy and nauseous; can't even hold up a sheet of paper, yet you insist that you are able to work? AND you obviously believe this is a reasonable proposition, which only confirms my suspicions that you are unable to make proper decisions right now.
"Criminals have taken hostages at a bank. Lives are at stake, including that of a young boy and his mother..."
DOCTOR: Okay! Okay! Do it your way! I'll be back in two hours, unless you page me before that! Press this if he needs help. Nurse, don't lose that needle.
MORGAN: We will doctor, thank you.
PRENTISS: Wow, you are bad. Wait 'til I tell this story to JJ and Garcia!
Great, I'm really off my game: Prentiss would never tease me this way normally—or would she?
Who are you kidding? She was holding the pan you just puked in!
MORGAN: Are you sure you're up for this?
I don't have a choice.
"Stop arguing, Morgan."
PRENTISS: Do you need a minute? Do you need anything?
Let's focus.
"No, let's get started."
MORGAN: If you say so! You're the boss! Okay, before we begin: you never saw your assailants?
"I don't think so."
MORGAN: Maybe you heard them speak? Do you remember when you first woke up?
"No. Yes: I was on the ground, outside a building. It was dark, late evening, I think."
MORGAN: No, Hotch, you just skipped several hours. That's the second time you woke up, some time after you escaped; and then you walked a couple of miles or so, through the industrial district, until two LEOs on patrol spotted you.
Earlier in the day, then? I remember the boy was hurt, I took off my jacket to keep him warm, stop the bleeding. It was cold... Where was I?
"Were we in a basement?"
PRENTISS: No, it wasn't a basement, but the windows were high up near the ceiling, there were tall concrete walls, and it was cold...
Nothing. I've got nothing.
"Why don't you tell me what you know, instead of me getting it wrong?"
MORGAN: Hotch, let's try this, first. Slow down. Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Just try to relax.
This better work.
MORGAN: Are you comfortable? Do you need a pillow?
Stop reminding me that I'm—
Focus!
"I'm fine."
Breathe...
MORGAN: A few more deep breaths—Okay, it's still daytime, you're just waking up. You got hit on the side of the head. Do you smell anything?
"I don't know."
MORGAN: Take your time. Do you feel hot or cold?
"... Cold, I guess."
MORGAN: Why?
"The boy—I had to lay him over cardboard on the floor, we were in a cold space—"
MORGAN: You're jumping ahead again. Stay with me. Your head hurts, you're just waking up. What do you hear?
I don't know.
This isn't working. I've got nothing.
Maybe Morgan was right...
God! This is useless.
MORGAN: Hotch? Did you hear anything?
"I can't remember."
MORGAN: I think you need a few minutes. Are you thirsty? Hungry?
Can't stop now.
"I need you to tell me what you found. You profiled the case, the abduction site, you said there was a foundry..."
MORGAN: I don't want to influence your memories.
"My memories get triggered, not recalled! I need help. What have you found out?"
PRENTISS: Okay, Hotch. Here's what we know. We found the body of Phil Cook in the back alley. The van was abandoned in the street. Neither revealed anything: the van was empty, but the windows were tinted and there were some tie wraps and two rings screwed to the floor of the van.
MORGAN: It's obvious they had planned to use the van to transport Carla and her son. They went ahead with the abduction, but because of your intervention, they ditched Cook and his van and used another vehicle. They could have left you behind, but they took you with Carla and Nicholas, instead. We don't know why. Maybe to look after the boy?
PRENTISS: Crime scene found nothing useful except blood in the alley. Some was your blood type, but the larger spill was a different blood type. Cook did not have the profile of a kidnapper; at worst, minor larceny. We guessed that he had lost control of the situation, at least temporarily, and that he shot whoever was with you. You shot Cook, who died on the spot. So at that point, we had no idea who took you, or why.
MORGAN: Garcia tried to find connections with Phil Cook, but we found no known associates outside of jail, so we thought he was with someone new.
PRENTISS: Then last night, we found finger prints at the old foundry from where you had escaped; two sets, although only one was usable and revealed an ID: Jules Paulie. The guy's bad news, but barely more violent than Cook. We had no idea why he was involved in a kidnapping, nor that he was planning a bank heist. These things are new for him. We found no hint on who he's working with. We found no current address.
It all fits with what I remember, so far.
"Do you have a picture of Cook, or Paulie?
MORGAN: I do, here, on my phone.
So small! I can't really focus...
Paulie doesn't look familiar.
I think I recognize Cook. Different hair, though.
Something she said...
"She said they were wearing masks."
PRENTISS: Carla did?
"She said a man wearing a mask and a baseball cap got into her car as she and her son were getting in, to go to school. The man was hiding a gun in his pocket. He told her to follow the black sedan he had just stepped out of. She was scared. She did not understand what they wanted from her. They're not rich. She didn't know how much they were hoping to get—"
MORGAN: That's how she and her son were abducted. When did she tell you this?
"While I was taking care of Nicholas, in that concrete space. She said that they drove to 147th Street, then waited for Cook, in the alley. When he showed up, he wasn't wearing a mask."
PRENTISS: But he was wearing a wig. In reality, he had short blond hair!
MORGAN: You found Cook alone with the mother and the boy, in the alley; did she tell you how he ended up alone with them?
"While he was holding Carla and Nicholas at gun point, she said that he looked scared and worried that he had goofed. One of the men was angry at Cook for not wearing a mask and he wanted to talk with the third guy, so both men left Cook alone, to go "move her car." At least, that's what Carla thought was happening, but it doesn't make much sense..."
MORGAN: Bank robbers are rarely the smartest guys around...
I was trying to remember something...
Breathe.
I can do this.
Any feedback, review, PM would be really appreciated. Is it getting easier to follow the storyline?