With a deliberately cheerful "Hi sweetie," Cass walked with Hotch into Nora's room. "I brought someone in to visit you, Nora. A real cutie!" Cass grinned briefly in Hotch's direction and pushed a chair to Nora's bed.
Hotch grabbed the other chair and sat down. "Um ... hello Nora. I'm Aaron Hotchner, with the FBI. And um ... cutie is way ahead."
Cass giggled and mumbled something that sounded like "You don´t know, how wrong you are."
"Cass has asked me, to come here, Nora. I am sorry that we ... That I wasn´t here for you when you needed me," Hotch said softly, Cass pushed him vigorously.
"Will you stop this, right now, Hotch. You're not to blame, this beast is. You tried everything back then, I'm sure, Nora would see it that way, too."
"If we had really done everything, Nora wouldn´t be a living dead, damn it!", Hotch bursted out. To see Alienore Brewster like this, was like a reminder of his incompetence. Hotch stood up abruptly and walked to the window.
"He's not mad at you, Nora. He is mad at himself." Cass patted Nora's hand and then also stood up. She came to the window and put her hand on Hotch´s back. "What else could you have done, Hotch? I´ve read the reports, in my opinion, you did everything."
"My head knows very well, we have done everything, Gideon and me. But my heart is not so sure. Especially not, when I see Nora like this." Hotch took a deep breath.
Cass nodded. "I understand you, Hotch. But this 'what-if-shit' does not work. For none of us. let´s try to find this bastard now."
"If he's still alive," Hotch replied soberly.
"Such pigs don´t die easily," Cass said firmly, "but his grace period is over now."
oOo
"And genius, how´s it going?" Derek handed Spencer a steaming mug of sugar/coffee and put a box of donuts on his desk, right under his nose. "I took the chocolate sprinkled ones, your favorites, right?"
"Something you noticed?" Spencer asked in surprise and Derek grinned. "You would be more than surprised about what I notice. So, what about our Sleeping Beauty?"
Spencer was typing somehow unwillingly on his tablet, he was preferring 'normal' files, made of paper, like it used to be. Better times, back then.
"Remind me that I won´t give you an e-reader for Christmas." Derek laughed cheekily.
"That's her," Spencer explained, ignoring Derek's taunts.
"Nora Brewster? Good Lord. She's a real beauty, Reid. Despite of the coma. Just imagine how she would be alive as a cheerful woman. I´m beginning to understand, why Hotch won´t let go this case. This is Nora´s medical records? Anything interesting?"
"Hotch said there were irregularities in the last few days. Her local doctor, Dr. Baxter, considers it as malfunctions. I'm not so sure. It´s the respiratory rates, that vary."
"An indication, she´s waking up?" Morgan asked.
"Or it turns the other way, Morgan. Perhaps only a last gasp, before the inevitable. But that's just my opinion. But I guess, it´s unlikely she wakes up after nearly 20 years."
"Pretty shitty, right?"
Reid nodded. "It is. I do hope Hotch will find something, he and Gideon have overlooked that time. Or maybe find new evidence."
"Why should Hotch do that all by himself?" Morgan asked, who now apparently tasted blood. "We have nothing current and I´m in charge. So it´s my call to investigate an old case. Can I interest you in taking a look...deep down in our dusty archives?"
Reid grinned briefly. "An excellent idea. And don´t you forget the donuts."
oOo
Hotch and Cass spent nearly an hour at Nora´s. Cass told her what had happened in the world and Hotch read a few chapters of Dan Brown to her. A deeply satisfying thing as Hotch noticed in surprise.
They went back to the car, when a man stepped in their way.
"Agent Hotchner? Do you remember me? I'm Abe Dent."
Hotch nodded, of course, he remembered. "Mr. Dent. Kerry's father. I remember who you are, of course."
"Are you here, because there are new clues, Agent?" Abe asked hopefully.
"Sir, I don´t want to raise any false hopes, in you or the other families. I'm only here to help Miss Munroe in her doctoral thesis. However, it is true that I´m looking all over the facts again and I´m looking very hard. Even at the things that Miss Munroe has additionally collected." Hotch said as calmly as possible.
"But I was thinking ... ... Agent Hotchner, please. This beast has to be found! It´s not a life without our Kerry", Dent formally collapsed and Hotch grabbed him, right away. Cass and he placed the broken man in a chair. Calvin came with a glass of water and gave Hotch and Cass a hand.
Of course, the excitement at the reception counter was not to be missed by Baxter.
"That's why I think your visit will do no good, Hotchner!" he shouted angrily. "I don´t tolerate this confusion in my Hospice, do you understand? Calvin? Bring the man in one of our rooms and let him rest. I´ll take care of him, asap.", Baxter commanded and threw Hotch and Cass a venomous look.
Hotch was unimpressed, and helped the nurse to bring into a room.
"I don´t understand you," Cass said irritated. "It's not Hotchner's fault that Mr. Dent has emerged here. But it's understandable, isn´t it? We all want this monster that has haunted our home city."
"Not at the expense of my patients!", Baxter snarled, pointing to the inmates who had gathered together, watching what´s going on.
"I bar you from this house, if you´re gonna bring Hotchner along again, did I make myself clear ?!"
Cass was stunned, she just stared at Baxter when he ordered some other nurses, to bring the patients back into the common room. Then he disappeared into his room. Slamming the door behind him, of course.
"I wonder what kind of problems Baxter has," Cass said thoughtfully, when she and Hotch went home.
"Maybe he really is concerned about his patients," Hotch said with little conviction. "But banning you is over the top. How long has Baxter been running this hospice?"
Cass frowned, "good question. Nora was living there just a few months when the responsibilities did change. Baxter is from Portland, as far as I know. I've heard nothing negative about him yet, frankly."
"But now you doubt," Hotch said firmly. Cass nodded, "Why would I not? Being helpful to solve a crime looks different to me."
"To me, too," Hotch admitted. A job for Garcia, he thought. If there was something strange with Baxer, she would find out. Just to make sure. It would be different this time. No trace would remain unpursued.
oOo
"Who had the idea with the archive, again?" Reid asked, a little frustrated. Said archive consisted of a huge collection of shelves, cardboard boxes and dust ... a lot of dust. Spencer sneezed.
Morgan patted his shoulder. "Come on, kid. No pain no gain, or something like that. Autumn 98, right?"
Reid nodded. "October 98", he sneezed again. "You on the right side, me on the left?"
Morgan grinned and tapped his nonexistent cap. "Yes sir!"
"Goofball."
"Genius."
oOo
"I've got something," Morgan called about 20 minutes later and was looking for a stepladder. October 98 was placed on the top shelf and stretched over 5 filing boxes, as Morgan noted.
"Caution. Heavy and dusty," he handed the first box down.
"I´m not made of icing," Reid put the files on a cart. Gradually followed by the rest. Now it was time to sort out.
The two agents took the elevator to the 6th floor and placed the files in Derek's office. After another mug of coffee, they started working.