*Thanks for reading, especially thank you to anyone who reviewed!*
Hotch jogged hurriedly down the stairs; he didn't understand why his teammates had to get themselves in trouble all the time; Reid, JJ, Garcia, now Morgan...he felt like a babysitter who had failed miserably.
He dialed Morgan's number. To no one's surprise, his teammate didn't answer. "Morgan," he panted, jogging out into the parking lot, "You shouldn't be driving right now. You aren't in the right state of mind. I know how hard this is for you. But we also know that Reid is somewhere inside the roadblocks, so…" He trailed off. "Please call me back."
He hung up the phone. As he was getting into his car, he called Rossi. "Hotch?" Rossi answered, his voice confused. "Didn't you just leave?"
"Yeah," Hotch said, starting the engine. "Listen, I need you to call Kevin Lynch, we need someone working the—" He broke off. "On second thought, call Kevin Lynch and tell him to come to the office so you can tell him about Garcia. I don't want him finding out about this through the news." Hotch's speaking got faster and faster as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. "Then get a hold of some other technical analyst and have them come in to work the computers."
"Yes, sir."
"Once you've done that, make sure to contact any mental health facilities; hell, any hospitals in the area inside the roadblocks, and get police officers stationed outside."
"Alright, Aaron."
Hotch let out a sigh. "How's Prentiss?"
There was a pause. "As expected," Rossi said gravely.
"Is Strauss in yet? She's not going to be happy about this. She's going to try and take us off the case, I know it." Hotch ran his fingers through his hair. "Is someone staying with Henry? Shoot, I forgot about Henry—"
"Aaron," Rossi interrupted, "Calm down. Strauss just got in. I'll talk to her. I'm watching Henry. He's playing with a dinosaur."
"Right," Hotch muttered.
"Aaron?"
Hotch sighed. "Yes?"
"Are you alright?"
Hotch chuckled darkly. "I feel like I'm living in some kind of sick, fucked up joke." He paused. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"You don't sound it."
Hotch sighed. "Just…stay with Henry until his grandparents get here. Once I find Morgan, we'll come back to Quantico, and—" Hotch broke off, suddenly overwhelmed by a violent rush of anger. "We have to catch him," he said desperately. "I don't care what else happens. I don't even care anymore. We just have to catch him."
Rossi cleared his throat. "Hotch, maybe you should—"
"Don't tell Strauss about Morgan leaving," Hotch said suddenly, returning to giving instructions, "She'll take it as evidence that we can't handle this. Just—just make sure we keep working the case. It's the only way. We have to catch him, Dave."
"Hotch," Rossi said, "Are you sure it's the wisest—"
"Sorry, Dave, I've got another call," Hotch said frantically, ending the conversation. "Hello?" he answered busily.
"Hiya."
Hotch almost slammed on the brakes out of surprise, as if the voice were somehow in the car, with him; the car behind him honked loudly. Hotch put his foot on the gas again, trying to regain his composure.
"Helloo…" The voice said again. "Hotch! Are you there? This is Reid. I'd like to talk to you."
Hotch cleared his throat, trying desperately to remember all of his training. What did he say next? His mind had gone strangely blank. He could only remember one thing; don't let your emotions take over…
"Hello, Reid," Hotch said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "Was there something you wanted?"
"Yes," Reid said, "I'm calling to tell you that I don't like the roadblocks you've set up. I'd like you to get rid of them."
Under different circumstances, Hotch would have laughed. "I don't think that's going to happen," he said calmly.
"Oh," Reid said, obviously disappointed. "Not even for an old friend, Hotch?" His voice had taken on a jeering, mocking tone.
"Nope," Hotch said darkly. Keep your emotions in check…
"Ah," Reid said sadly, "Well, I suppose that's to be expected. Now, Hotch," he said patronizingly, "I like you quite a bit. I liked Garcia, too, and JJ, and even Will wasn't so bad. I like the whole team, actually! If you weren't so stubborn all the time, Hotch…"
Hotch was gritted his teeth so hard that he was certain they had become cemented together.
"Alright, well listen. I don't want to do any of this. But when you start something, Hotch, the only reasonable, sensible, moral thing to do is to finish it. And so, you see…I have to finish. Don't you see, Hotch?"
Hotch took a deep breath, but he couldn't answer. His teeth were still cemented together.
"Well?" The voice demanded petulantly, arrogantly.
Hotch let his breath out. "No!" he snapped. "I don't see! I don't fucking see, Spencer Reid! Do you think what you're doing is good? You're a murderer! You're a murderer, and we're going to find you! We're going to find you and kill you, you hear me?"
Well, so much for keeping his emotions in check.
He heard a soft giggle from the end of the line; as if Reid was trying to keep himself from bursting into laughter; as if Hotch's words had amused him in some delightfully hysterical manner.
"It was nice talking to you, Hotch," Reid sniggered, "I'll see you soon. Bye."
"Wait, I—" The line went dead. Hotch gritted his teeth, utterly furious. He sighed, put on his blinker, and pulled onto the side of the road. He put his face in his hands. He couldn't do this anymore.
His phone rang. Hotch considered smashing it against the window before he saw who it was.
"Hello?" he swallowed anxiously, "Morgan?"
"Yeah. Hey, Hotch." Morgan's voice sounded despondent and exhausted.
Hotch let out a sigh of relief. "Where are you?" he asked.
Morgan didn't answer. "I didn't know what to do," he said weakly, "I had to do something. I went looking for him, but…I don't know where he is. I can't stop thinking about…Penelope. I keep on seeing her face. There has to be something, Hotch…something I can do to make it right again…"
"Where are you?" Hotch interrupted, putting an end to the other man's babbling.
A sigh. "I'm at Reid's apartment building," he mumbled. He sounded embarrassed.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
When Hotch arrived at the building, he didn't see Morgan out front. He pushed his way into the building; he heard the familiar ding of the door as he entered.
He was really beginning to hate that sound.
Morgan was sitting on one of the benches near the reception area. He had his head in his hands, and didn't appear to notice Hotch until the unit chief sat down beside him.
"Hey," he said.
Morgan didn't look up. "I remember coming here," he said at the ground, "When he was just getting his memory back. Remember?"
Hotch nodded. "Yeah."
"And Garcia made him cookies."
Hotch nodded again.
"And…and I stayed the night, to…make sure he was safe. And then he wandered off and got stabbed. And I felt guilty. Guilty. And then I went to visit him every weekend he wasn't working, with Garcia, and JJ, and Garcia made him cookies, and we…" Morgan trailed off, staring at the ground. Hotch didn't say anything.
Morgan glanced up at him. "Sorry," he said, "I know he's targeting the team. It was stupid to run off like that."
"It's okay," Hotch said. There was a long moment of silence. Neither one of them seemed to know what to say.
"Hotch?" Morgan mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Why'd he do it?"
Hotch glanced at the other man in shock; he had never heard Morgan sound so vulnerable in his life. The question was so simple; it was unanswerable. Hotch chuckled weakly.
"You know," he said, "You'd think that with all we've seen with this job, I'd know the answer." A pause. "But I don't."
Morgan didn't say anything.
"There's something that's different about him," Hotch muttered, "Something changed. After the kidnapping, I mean. He was a different person, you know? There's probably some psychological reason why he…." Hotch trailed off. "Oh, who am I kidding? Why does anyone do anything? I don't know. I'm tired of studying human behavior. I hate human behavior." He stood up. "Come on," he muttered, "Let's get back to the office."
When Morgan and Hotch arrived back at the office, they were greeted by a very angry Strauss.
"Agent Hotchner," she snapped, "My office?"
Hotch let out a sigh and followed her into the office.
"Agent Strauss," he said, "If you'd just give me a chance to expl—"
"No," she hissed, "Absolutely not. You requested permission for you team to work the case. What you did not mention was that threats had been issued against the teammates, and as a result two of your team members are dead and—"
"Agent Strauss," Hotch said, "Please. The team has the situation under control. We have set up roadblocks so as to contain him. There are officers stationed at any place where he might attack next. He will not get away. We have dealt with situations where the team was being targeted before. You have to allow us to continue on this case."
She stared at him, openmouthed. "Stay on the case?" She said in disbelief.
Hotch nodded. "Additionally, we—"
"Agent Hotchner," she snapped, "I am considering whether or not to fire you on the spot. Think of the danger—"
"Agent Strauss," he snapped, "The members of our team understand the dangerous risks that are a part of this job. This is one of the reasons we are proud to serve on the Bureau. Please do not allow a personal vendetta to inhibit the progress of this case. If you take us off this case now, everything we've done will have been for nothing."
She pursed her lips, obviously thinking. Finally, she spoke. "Agent Rossi said you expected to catch him before the night is up?"
"That's correct," Hotch said. "He can't leave town, because of the roadblocks. And when he attacks again tonight; or tries to; we'll catch him for sure. We have officers stationed at every mental health hospital in the area."
She let out a sigh. "How do you know he'll attack again, Agent Hotchner?"
Hotch turned towards the window, his back to Strauss. "He has to." Hotch paused, staring out at the darkening sky. "He's got to finish what he started."
*Thank-you for reading. We get to have some fun in the next chapter. Reviews are your friend, of course : )*