A/N: I'm a bit early tonight; AvngAngl can be impatient sometimes. ;)
Chapter 3
Emily, JJ, Alex and Garcia, along with Aaron, Dave and Jimmy helped with the kitchen clean-up. The hard working crew made short work of it, especially with the fact that Cait went with paper and plastic for utensils and dishes. Derek and James got the garbage into the garage.
While the clean-up crew worked, Cait got her old storied, team coffee pot from the trips to the cabin filled and plugged it in. In other coffee pot, just about as old, she got ready to pour in a gallon of milk and took the cap off the Hersey's Chocolate syrup bottle. "I need a stirrer as I pour."
Reid at the cusp of the kitchen, walked up. "I'm your man," he smiled.
Cait smiled back, handing him her long, old fashioned, wooden spoon. "Start stirring," she said as she poured in nearly a third of the bottle. They both looked in together. "Well done Dr. Reid."
"Thank you Dr. Barkley," he largely smiled back. "Well done by you as well," he smiled. Cait rubbed his back and plugged in the machine as well, turning it down to the lowest possible setting. When the game was over, the team would come back to hot chocolate and coffee. She knew that Dave and Jimmy had provided the "supplies" to give the drinks some extra "kick" for getting all of them warm after the game.
They all joined up in the great room of the Hotchner home, pulling on coats for the night air, while working over carpooling arrangements. Henry looked at his parents. "Can I ride with Cait and Hotch and Jack?"
Aaron smiled. "You bet Henry," he said, rubbing his head. JJ and Will smiled at the two of them.
"That's means me and Jayje can take three," Will drawled. Reid, Alex and James stuck up their hands.
Dave smiled. "Jimmy and I can take three." That left Morgan, Emily, Garcia and Kevin.
Cait smiled. "Kevin, you and Penelope can ride with Aaron and I. I've got a Chevy Traverse; there's a third seat. Em and Derek can ride with Dave and Jimmy."
"Works for us Cait," Kevin smiled.
Jimmy nodded his head. "I believe we have a plan," he smiled. They all got into the three cars and headed to the stadium.
They all got out together, bought their tickets, and headed into the high school stadium. The air was truly electric. The Woodbridge marching band, in their red uniforms, was playing "pep" band music to get the crowd going.
Shortly after the group got settled into their grandstand seats, the band piped up with the school fight song and the team rushed onto the field. Matt, Pete and Lisa blew in and joined them all with Matt giving his mother a huge hug. The team all smiled. Hotch made the introductions. Alex, after greeting Matt, sitting in front of Cait, turned and looked at her. "What number is Mike?"
Cait smiled. "He's number 52. Given his disability, the coaches feel they can only play him on defense. So that's how he's been schooled in the system from day one," Cait proudly smiled.
James looked at her. "His disability?" Alex joined in the look.
Aaron smiled softly at James and Alex. "You don't know?" They both shook their head. "Mike has an 80% hearing loss. While he has cochlear implants, he can't play with them in. So a team member has to give him a hand signal for the play calls. On offense, the other team could read them. That's why he only plays defense. They can get away with that."
James nodded his head in understanding, rubbing Alex's shoulder with a smile. "That was all over the top of my non-football loving wife." He kissed her, looking her in the eye. "That means they know how to play to Mike's strengths."
Alex smiled. "Thank you all."
It was tight and hard played game, with the score not growing rapidly. Each team's defense was ready for the other team. At the end of the third quarter of the rapidly played game, the score was 7-3 in favor of the Panthers. Mike made some wonderful plays, making three open field tackles and had registered a quarterback sack on a blitz scheme, to the delight of the boys who shared a high five sitting between Hotch and Will.
As the fourth quarter started the Panthers were driving when Mike sniffed out a screen pass to the halfback and pounced, knocking the halfback off his feet as he caught the ball. The football popped out of his hands and Mike snatched it out the air, still on his feet, and streaked down the sidelines. The quarterback knocked him out of bounds on the 16 yard line.
Yet a perfectly placed pass from the Cardinal's quarterback Alex Hounder to tight end Jesse Morales in the end zone, put the Cardinals up 9-7. The team celebrated in the stands with the rest of the Cardinal faithful. Jack and Henry shared a double high five. Mike Allen, the Cardinals' steady kicker added the extra point and Big Red led 10-7 with a little over six minutes left in the game.
After Mike Allen's kickoff that sailed out the end zone, the Panthers started on their own twenty yard line. Their first play was a run to Mike's side of the defense. As the runner tried to give him a stiff arm, Mike Hotchner hauled him down. The running back popped back up and tossed the ball to one of the referee's as Mike still lay on the ground, withering in pain.
Aaron and Cait both popped up out of their seats as the Cardinal trainers ran onto the field. Mike was holding his helmet, designed to keep his head safe. Alex looked at the two parents. "He's moving," she smoothed.
Dave, sitting next to Cait, also on his feet, said the same thing to the two concerned parents.
Aaron and Cait watched in the stands as the trainers bent over Mike. They gently took his helmet off and looked at him. Less than a minute later, they had him up on him feet, with Mike shaking his head a bit as they led him to the sidelines, walking on his own feet. Doc Scott, a local chiropractor that served as the team trainer, held his arm around Mike's waist. They two parents took a sigh of relief.
Cait and Aaron kept a sharp eye on Mike on the sidelines as did Dave. When Micah Gonzalez, replacing Mike made a great play, Mike raised his fist in the air. So did Matt and Pete. His play made the Panthers have to punt, giving up the ball.
Johnny Knowles fielded the punt and advanced the ball to nearly the Panther forty yard line on a great punt return for the Cardinals. Dave and Jimmy shared a high five.
The first play for the Cardinals on offense, a Panther defensive lineman put a helmet on the football popping it loose from the running back. The Panthers recovered, leaving them a short field to tie or win the game with four minutes left.
Mike pulled on his helmet. Doc Scott looked at him and signed. "You OK?"
Mike nodded, signing back. "My team needs me; I'll worry about this later." He buckled the chin strap of the helmet and headed out onto the field.
Jack pointed to Aaron and Cait. "Mike's coming back out," he shouted with a smile.
Yet the Panthers started a drive towards their end zone. Abdul Mohammad, a giant of defensive lineman broke throw the line of the Panther's offensive line to sack the Panthers quarterback to set up a fourth down with long yards.
Mike let the tight end go knowing that one of his other defensive players would pick him up and made a speed run towards the Panther quarterback on a late blitz while he was looking left for his favorite receiver. Mike buried him into a tackle.
The BAU team all celebrated in the stands. Alex Hounder ran out the clock and the Cardinals were victorious.
With the Cardinals gathered in the middle of field, they accepted the conference championship trophy. Lisa had sped down to the field level to get pictures for the families. Matt and Pete shared a high five with Aaron, Cait, Dave and Jimmy. The smiles from the BAU team were huge.
The game over, Cait and Aaron were about to provide the perfect catharsis after a huge load of cases. They all made their ways to their cars. Alex looked at Cait. "You're not checking on Mike?"
She and Aaron both shook their heads "Doc Scott would have texted us if he thought Mike needed it," Hotch explained.
Dave and Jimmy, with Emily and Morgan were the first to reach the house, getting out of the after game traffic before the rest. Derek and Father Jimmy got the fireplace roaring again as Dave let the dogs out. Emily warmed herself in front of the fireplace, along with Jimmy.
He looked at her, with a smile, rubbing her shoulder. Emily occasionally showed up in his services. "You OK?"
Emily smiled, as she toasted the other side of her body. "I am now."
The rest of the gang filtered in less than ten minutes later, with Matt shortly after, raiding the fridge digging for anything he could find to eat. Alex, drinking her coffee, laced with Bailey's, standing in Cait's kitchen talking with her, just shook her head.
Cait, enjoying a mug of hot chocolate, laced with some scotch smiled at her. "Welcome to my world." JJ had the two boys in the shower in her and Aaron's bathroom, getting them warm. Garcia was her back-up that could hardly wait to wrap the boys in Cait's soft towels.
Matt warmed up a huge, heaping bowl of chili, already adding some onions. When he pulled it out of the microwave, he added copious amounts of cheddar cheese and sour cream and dived in, pouring himself a large glass of milk.
Cait smiled at Alex, shaking her head. "That's round one." Matt just nodded as he shoveled in the homemade food.
Alex smiled. "Emily did say you were Earth Mother."
Cait nodded her head. "I just love to take care of my family."
Alex looked at her, shaking her head. "That includes all of us, doesn't it?"
Matt gave her the Hotchner glare. "Some profiler you are; you're just figuring that out now," he added with the nearly patented Barkley grin, shoveling in another mouth full of his mother's chili.
Alex grinned as Matt pulled her to his side, putting his strong left arm around her shoulder, drawing her close to him. "Welcome home Alex," he smiled.
###
A/N: Like baseball, I could try and explain all this football stuff to you, but I really can't. If you have specific questions, please PM me. I'm a happy responder!
The "pep" band is the high school band that plays music that all would recognize. When I was in high school (a million years ago ;) ) it was Chicago songs and Rock Around the Clock. Oh; we always played the teams, being football or winter sports onto their home "court" to the strains of Jesus Christ Superstar. The joys of being a graduate of the PHS Bicentennial Class of 1976.
Serious stuff for a second; sorry. Doc Scott is a shout out to Dr. Scott Williams that served my hometown for over 25 years as a chiropractor and yes, as the football team head trainer. Doc Scott got blindsided by cancer four years and lost his life in four short months. My younger sister worked in his office when she was in high school.
This chapter is dedicated to that wonderful man that gave back to his community.