Thanks so much for the reviews! Not much Isabella in this, but we have another case and unsub - plus very adorable Jack!
Feel free to leave a review - they are always appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine.
CHAPTER 3
"And then Lucas said I can only be a tree, but then Ms Bianchi said I have to speak because I am very good and then we all had to act a little bit and then Ms Bianchi said she thinks I must be Peter Pan because I'll be the best Peter Pan and Lily is going to be Wendy and Darren is going to be Captain Hook and they are making a plastic hook for his hand because they can't really chop off his hand."
Jack released the entire story in one breath and then made a grab for his cold drink, taking large gulps. Aaron smiled proudly as he looked at his son.
"So you are Peter Pan?"
"Yes daddy! Didn't you listen?"
"I did, I did! You are Peter Pan, Lily is Wendy and Darren is Captain Hook."
Jack nodded, his features morphed into a serious expression.
"But they won't chop off his hand."
"I'm sure they won't."
A large slice of pizza disappeared down his son's throat and Aaron lifted a brow.
"You have quite an appetite tonight."
Jack nodded vigorously.
"Ms Bianchi had us practice running for the competition."
"I see."
For the rest of their dinner, his son continued with his excited tales of school and the friends he had made, the birthday parties he was invited to and the homework he received. Aaron listened attentively - incredibly happy to spend quality time with his child and the ability to forget about work - even if only for a little while. They sat, chatting animatedly, until Jack pushed his half-empty plate away from him.
"Daddy I'm not hungry anymore."
Aaron nodded and waved the waitress over, requesting the bill and a doggy bag. Jack stared curiously.
"Why are we taking it home?"
"To eat later – for breakfast perhaps."
Jack nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe we should give it to Ms Bianchi because you broke her pizza."
"Little man, I don't think your teacher would like cold leftover pizza. You can have it with Aunt Jess for lunch tomorrow."
"Can I buy Mam flowers then? And an apple?"
"Of course. We can do that."
Jack grinned brightly and jumped off his seat, grabbing his father's hand.
"Can we go watch Shaun the Sheep first? I want to watch it."
"Of course. Let's go."
The movie was ridiculous according to Hotch– not one bit of understandable dialogue. It was worth sitting through it however, if only to hear Jack's excited bursts of laughter. Jack could not stop talking about the movie when they left the theatre and Hotch stopped when a familiar voice called out to him.
"Hey, Hotch!"
He turned slowly, nodding in greeting when he saw Garcia, Morgan, Reid and Rossi walking his way.
"Guys."
Morgan knelt down slightly to high five an excited Jack, while Rossi looked at Aaron curiously.
"You're relaxing at the movies?"
"We're having a bit of a father and son day."
Rossi nodded and Hotch craned his neck to look behind the men.
"Didn't JJ and Nina join?"
It was Reid who answered – a bit apprehensively.
"JJ didn't feel like it, she wanted to spend some time with her family."
Hotch just lifted a brow, unwilling to inquire about his sister again. Morgan decided to answer, standing up after his conversation with Jack.
"We're just giving Agent Parker some time to settle in… Get used to the BAU before we bombard her with invitations."
Hotch frowned slightly and Reid shrugged.
"She just doesn't… she's still on the outside."
Hotch nodded, reluctantly agreeing. With the amount of agents who came and left, it had become difficult for the team to let people in and if Nina was anything like him, she wouldn't let herself be pulled to the inside easily. It would take time and he was a little worried about her – at a loss of how to handle it. He felt Jack tugging at his hand impatiently and smiled at his team.
"Excuse me. Jack and I have some flowers to buy."
"Flowers?"
Rossi's voice was inquisitive without being curious – yet carried a note of suggestion and Hotch nodded stiffly.
"He wants to give his teacher flowers."
"I see. Jack wants to give his teacher flowers… have you met her."
"I have."
Hotch's voice was clipped, clearly unwilling to discuss the matter but Rossi would not budge.
"And what does this teacher look like?"
It was Jack who answered, saving Hotch an answer.
"She's real pretty! And she smells like flowers and she gives me hugs when I miss my mom."
Rossi lifted a brow, staring at Hotch and he rolled his eyes.
"So she's pretty?"
"I haven't exactly studied her."
Rossi snorted in disbelief.
"You're a profiler. You study every single person you meet."
Jack tugged at his hand again and Hotch rolled his eyes.
"Okay. Fine. She's pretty. Happy?"
There was a mischievous glint in Rossi's eyes and he smiled.
"Indubitably"
Hotch just shook his head – exasperated – and wished the team a good night before he allowed his son to drag him away.
The agents waited until he was out of sight before Garcia, Morgan and Reid turned to Rossi curiously.
"What was that?"
"What?"
His feigned innocence did not work at all and Morgan rolled his eyes.
"Are you trying to hook Hotch up with someone? Because I don't think that's the best idea."
Rossi smiled serenely.
"He's a man. I'm not trying to hook him up with anyone, I'm just glad he can still admit that he finds a woman attractive. That man needs to move on with his life, he needs to fall in love again."
Reid nodded absently, a frown set between his eyes.
"Hey, do you guys think we should have invited the new girl?"
The others all shrugged silently. It was Garcia who finally answered.
"Maybe like you said… we should just give her time to settle in, get used to us."
"Right."
It was Morgan who answered her, but Reid still looked apprehensive.
"I just think we should try, you know? She seems a little stand-offish, but maybe we should just give her a chance. Maybe she's nice."
Rossi relented, showing support for Reid.
"You're right. Next time, we'll invite her. If she says no, then it was her choice."
Garcia nodded too, but her eyes were still doubtful.
"She doesn't seem to like Hotch much."
Morgan nodded quickly.
"I noticed that too… maybe that's why she doesn't fit in yet. I mean… it's Hotch."
Shrugging, the group moved towards their car –curiosity still playing on their minds.
"We have a case. And it's bad."
Garcia sounded disturbed as she handed out the files, gesturing to the screen behind her.
"Three victims in three weeks… All men aged between forty and fifty, working at the same company, no defensive wounds, stabbed in the neck with a letter opener."
Reid frowned as he looked at the pictures.
"Wait. A letter opener? That doesn't make sense, I mean… surely they had time to defend themselves? It took more than one stab to kill them. Why didn't they?"
Hotch leaned forward slightly to study the pictures.
"They trusted the unsub."
JJ nodded and pushed her file forward.
"It's someone they knew."
"There's something else."
It was Reid who noticed, his voice contemplative.
"They all had children. One was divorced, the other two happily married… but all three had children between the ages of six and thirteen."
Morgan frowned and looked from one agent to the other.
"Assuming the unsub works at the company… it means that someone in that company is killing fathers. Why?"
Nina lifted a brow and fiddled with her file.
"I'm assuming that if someone is killing fathers… it is someone with daddy issues."
Morgan frowned curiously.
"What makes you say that?"
"I know a lot about daddy issues… I think these men are all substitutes for someone – a father."
"So the unsub is killing his or her father. Over and over again…"
Hotch nodded and picked his file up.
"Wheels up in twenty."
Hotch immediately divided the team into pairs when they arrived in Boston. He resisted the urge to keep his sister under his eye again, hoping for her to connect with another team member.
"Rossi and JJ – talk to the first family, find out everything they know. Morgan, you and I will go to the police station and Reid and Parker to the crime scene, talk to all the workers and find out what they know."
Reid nodded and gestured for Nina to follow him, stealing curious glances at her at regular intervals.
"I can feel you staring at me."
"Sorry."
"Are you trying to profile me?"
Reid smiled and shrugged.
"Well… you're wearing minimal makeup, but your nails are red which shows that while you are essentially predisposed to being very in touch with your feminine side, you're afraid that being too girly will prevent people from taking you seriously. Hence you don't wear makeup, but you paint your nails red. The feather tattoo on your wrist shows that you attach a special meaning to feathers – now feathers generally represent freedom, so you long for freedom that you feel you never had, perhaps because you are the youngest child. Your clothes are demure – you always wear grey or black, but your shoes are colorful so even if you repress it, your extroverted, fun side longs to come out. Shall I go on?"
Nina laughed with a shake of her head.
"No, it's fine… I get it. You're not trying, you're succeeding."
He laughed when she parked the car in front of the building and jumped out when it came to a standstill, gesturing to the entrance.
"Let's go."
Contrary to their expectations, the company was bustling with activity when they arrived. A man in his late fifties, dressed in an expensive suit met them and gestured to the people around them.
"We closed down the last office, but… we couldn't stop business. Johnathan O'Brien."
Nina glanced at Reid, waiting for him to take the lead.
"What can you tell us about the victim?"
Jonathan shook his head and sighed.
"Ralph was a good man, friendly… open. He didn't have any unhappy clients or enemies. We don't know why this is happening."
Reid nodded thoughtfully.
"Is there anyone in the company who started working just before the murders started? Or perhaps anyone who went through a recent trauma?"
"None that I can think of, I…"
Jonathan trailed off when a teenaged girl walked through the gates, a backpack slung over her shoulder. He held his hands up to pause the conversation and a dark frown appeared on his forehead.
"Cassie? What are you doing at the office?"
The girl moved forward glumly, her eyes fleetingly observing the agents before she looked back at her father.
"Mom couldn't pick me up, she told me to get a cab to here. I'll just be around, you won't even know I'm here."
"I better not. Be in my office at three, we need to talk."
Something akin to fear flashed over her face, but she simply nodded and stomped off irritably.
"Your daughter?"
It was Nina who asked the question and Jonathan looked at her as though he only noticed her now.
"Yes. Cassandra. Anyway – we don't have any new workers, no traumas… I have no idea who it can be."
Reid forced a smile onto his face and nodded slowly.
"Well… that's what we're here to find out."
Hotch was outside on the porch when they arrived at the police station and he waved at them before continuing his conversation.
"When did it start?"
He nodded, listening attentively and ran his hand through his hair worriedly.
"I… He was supposed to sleep over at a friend's tonight, but if he is this upset… Are you sure?"
He listened again and relief swept over his face.
"Thank you, Miss Bianchi… Right… Okay, thank you Isabella. I'll pick him up as soon as we're back from Boston. Just… let me know how he is, please? Text me the address."
He listened to her response before pushing the phone back into his pocket and wiped a hand over his face worriedly.
"Something wrong?"
It was JJ's voice and he turned to face her worriedly.
"It's Jack… his teacher just phoned, he's having a rough day… he just wants his mom and…"
"Do you need to go?"
"No, his teacher offered to let him go home with her after school. I'll pick him up when I get back – we just need to solve this case fast!"
JJ nodded and squeezed his arm as a show of support.
"Well, we're ready to give the profile."
Hotch nodded and smiled at her before following her inside for the profile.