Chapter 8:Explosive force.
A/N: Hello everyone, next chapter is here! Hope you'll enjoy it. Thanks for the reviews, I've had a problem and while I did receive the email with your reviews they wouldn't appear on the site and I couldn't replay. So thank you a lot about them, I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter too. In this the puzzle is finally coming together and we are one step closer to the end… (?)
Previously
"It's okay Jack" the boy smiled at Spencer and walked to him, Spencer pulled the boy in his arms and hugged him tightly. "Don't worry we'll get your dad back." he said softly in the boy's ear.
"Thank you Uncle Spencer." Jack kissed Reid on the cheek and smiling climbed off his lap going to Tara. She got out of the chair and kneeled in front of Jack. "You don't have to apologize Jack, when we are worried; we all do things we don't mean. Families forgive each other." She smiled and hugged Jack who wrapped his smaller hands around her
"Thank you Aunt Tara."
Chapter 8: Explosive force
She used every favor she had, every string she could she pulled, she didn't care at all. All that really mattered was that her husband was in the building and she had to see him. And so she did, she threatened and yelled and begged and everything. And it was worth it. As she walked to the interviewing room she knew it was all worth it. "This way ma'am" said a new (probably) agent showing her a closed door to her left. The young man took a step back and she stood in front of the closed door. She was getting cold feet. She wanted to see him so much, but who knew how he was going to find him. Would she find her husband on the other side of the door? It took her just two minutes to decide that she needed to see him so much more than she cared about what she was going to face. After all she was there after Foyet and Peter Lewis, what could be worse than that?
She turned the handle and walked in, he was cuffed to the table in the middle of the room, still in his suit and tie, his head was lying on his right arm, and even with his swollen left cheekbone and split lower lip he looked peaceful. The sound of the door closing startled him and his eyes flew open, he raised his head and looked around the room, before settling his sight on her. "Em." He said, a faint smile appeared on his face but soon turned into a winch. Emily walked fastly to his side kneeling down next to him. Her left hand reached for his swollen cheekbone "Oh baby." She said under her breath "What happened?" she asked him tracing softly the bruise she found there.
"That? Nothing, Seaton is a jealous son of a bitch." Something like a chuckle left his lips and Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes. She stood up climbing on the table sitting next to his hands. "And you had to start a pissing contest with the agent in charge of the case, how alpha male of you." Her tone, to someone who doesn't know her seemed light and joking but Aaron did know better, she was slightly pissed at him.
"Well that bastard started talking with a think Bostonian accent and brought up Foyet and Doyle and Gideon's death and I brought up what I knew was going to piss him off." He knew that this wasn't the best explanation he could give to Emily but right now, with his whole body throbbing he wasn't in position to try and find a better one. Emily reached and took his hands in hers. A small smile appeared on her lips. "Just, try not to pull his strings anymore." She leaned forward and kissed his nose softly before placing a kiss on his lips.
"Too long" Aaron breathed when they parted.
"I don't want to be a mood breaker but… did Seaton show you Lewis' testimony?" a dark look appeared on his face, the soft smile dropped from his lips and she felt him trying to pull his hands from hers. "Aaron?"
"Yeah, I couldn't see the whole thing. He made me hear it… I never said those things, Emily…" he turned his head to the other side and she leaned forward, she placed a finger under his chin getting him to face her "I know. Aaron I know you haven't said those things, I know he was lying. It's okay. I need to know who would have had that information; Lewis was clearly fed those things, which would have had that?" she cupped his cheek mindful of the swollen cheekbone; Aaron thought didn't seem to mind as he leaned towards the warmth of her palm. "Don't know. There are many people I've pissed off. I'm not really liked." He said.
"Aaron, who in the bureau would like to see you… out." he closed his eyes tightly, taking a couple of deep breaths. "It's… a stretch but Roger Stafford, he never… we never saw eye to eye." Emily nodded she remembered Stafford, he used to be the Unit Chief of bravo team in the BAU. They never had really worked together but the rumor mile in the bureau used to circulate that he was out for Aaron's job. That was until five years ago when he got the promotion to transition to run the Los Angeles field office. From there he was on the fast track and just six months ago he was promoted to Deputy Director. A position he held with Aaron's friend Bernard "Bern" Tolbert. She never liked Stafford but she never had paid much attention to him either. She bit her lip and smiled, her right hand covered his shoulders softly, a hiss left his lips that had Emily pulling her hand as if it burned her.
"Aaron?" his eyes were closed tightly and he shake his head.
"I'm okay… just… I'm okay." His breath was rugged and Emily felt the blood freezing in her veins. "Aaron, you are not okay. Are you having trouble breathing?"She got off the table and both her hands reached for his shoulders. "Aaron tell me what's going on!"
"Noth-"
"Don't you dare to tell me it's nothing! I swear to god I'm gonna strip you naked if I have to!" any other day Aaron was going to use that maybe make a joke about how she always wanted to get him naked. Emily half expected it, to be true but when after a few minutes when his head hung low and his eyes closed she realized just how bad the situation was.
"Aaron." She pulled him closer to her chest "Tell me where it hurts." She whispered in his hair. "My knee started swelling; I think I have three or four bruised ribs. A couple of them might be broken, the rest are just pumps and bruises." Emily cupped his face with her hands and looked at him, pain and anger mixed in her dark eyes. "Did anyone call a doctor?"
"I'm arrested for terrorism Em. We both know that medical privileges aren't something I have, I'm lucky they haven't shipped me off to Gitmo yet." A dark chuckled left his lips.
"Don't say that. I'll kill him… I swear I will" her jaw was clenched and Aaron leaned forward he softly kissed her jaw, feeling it relax and then her lips. "If I can't start a pissing contest with Seaton neither can you Em."
"Just… promise me you'll try get out of this in one peace. Don't provoke him, alright, for me?" he reluctantly agreed. "There is something else I need to tell you-"
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mrs. Hotchner." Emily's whole body froze, she turned her head and looked straight into Seaton's dull and gray eyes.
"Mr. Seaton, it's agent, not Mrs., I leave that title to your wife. You have one right?" The man chuckled
"Humor. I like that in a woman." Emily could hear Aaron growling from behind her and she just slightly understood why he wanted to piss off Seaton, that man was even more insufferable than she remembered.
"Too bad no woman finds anything interesting in you right?" hear tone was cold, she could swear she could almost see Seaton's veins pop.
"Really though a woman like you what did you find in that lowlife scum over there?" this time Aaron's growl could easily be heard and something in Emily snapped for good. She lunged at him pushing him to the wall by his shirt collar. One hand was gripping the crispy white shirt and the other was pulling his dark blue tie cutting off his airway.
"That lowlife scum as you called him is my husband, and he is ten thousand times the man you'd ever be. If you lay your slimy dirty fingers on him ever again I will break your bones one by one." The man in her hands was struggling trying to suck in air but she wasn't backing down, his face was turning purple and she didn't really found it in herself to stop
"EMILY!" she snapped and let Seaton drop on the floor. Aaron was standing up, he had pushed the chair behind him, a look of pure horror crossed his face, she realized just now how close she came to killing a man and it scared her… it scared her to death. "He's not worth it sweetheart. He's not worth it." She took a few steps back and looked down at her hands; she had really almost killed a man and didn't even flinch.
"I hope you said your goodbyes, Hotchner you are off to federal prison, they'll love you in there." Seaton said as soon as he regained his voice. Two armed agents walked into the room and walked to Aaron, Emily felt panic "No, wait! Wait!" she yelled but they didn't listen to her, she watched as Aaron was pulled away from her and she was unable to stop it. "Aaron!" he stopped for a moment and turned his head "Emily, tell Jack I love him, okay. I love you." And with that he was gone, the elevator doors closed and his face disappeared. Seaton walked closer to her and Emily turned to leave, the last thing she needed was to be in the same room with that asshole. Before she could flee the room though she felt his hand grip her arm tightly…
"You'll regret it" he hissed to her ear, Emily felt her blood run cold, all the fury she had felt few minutes ago all replaced by terror. She still had her stubbornness and someone else to protect from this creep though.
"So will you." She turned her head and faced Seaton, her eyes locked to his, trying to channel her best glare.
"Well you attacked a federal agent sweetheart, I just put a criminal where he belongs." She saw his pupils dilate and felt sick to her stomach.
"Sue me then." She whipped her arm back releasing the hold he had on her and started walking towards the exit.
"Hope you've said your goodbyes, it's not like he'll last long there before he ends up dead."
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Anderson drove the two boys to the hospital, JJ called him few minutes ago telling him that Matt was going to be discharged within the day, so he took the kids and drove to the hospital as fast as he could. The two boys were silent in the pack seat.
"You guys ok? You're too silent." He asked, Jack raised his head and looked at Anderson through the mirror.
"Nothing" he said. His mood seemed to be better than it was yesterday, something that made him extremely happy. "Daddy was alright, right?" he asked, Anderson looked straight ahead and bit his lip slightly, "Sure, he is just fine." He didn't manage to take his eyes from the road even for a minute; he was convinced that Jack would be able to figure out that he was lying."That's all that's in your mind?" Anderson asked.
"Well there is another thing, but Emmy said she needs to talk to daddy first, because it's a secret." The phrase caught Anderson's attention and he raises his eyes for a while, he saw a half smile on the boys face and a glint in his eyes that he hadn't seen in a long time.
"What about you Henry? What's in your mind?" he knew that if the boy didn't want to tell him the secret there was no reason for him to push, it wasn't going to change a thing.
"Nothing, I just want to see mommy, I miss her." The blonde boy didn't even raised his head, he kept his eyes down on the coloring book in his hands, Anderson guessed it was because of something else, and not just because it was an interesting book.
"Well we'll be there in about ten." Anderson said and saw the two boys turn their heads and face each other.
The rest of the ride to the hospital was short and for that Anderson was glad, so glad. It wasn't that he didn't like to chat with the younger boys, because he did, but right now he didn't know exactly what to talk about. Star wars and The Avengers suddenly didn't seem like the right topic anymore.
He parked the car close to the entrance and led the kids to the entrance "Sorry, can you point me to the room of Mateo Cruz?" he asked the nurse in the front desk. She looked up from her computer and smiled at Anderson "Sure sir, Mr. Cruz is in room 215." Anderson thanked her and took the kids' hands walking to the elevators. He was holding the hands of the two boys, they were both extremely silent, but with everything that had happened in the last 48 hours who could really blame them…
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Emily returned to the BAU she run to Aaron's office and shut the door behind her. Tears were running down her face, she knew that somewhere in the vitriol in Seaton's words there was truth. Aaron still was a federal agent and in a federal prison, one he contributed in filling, he wouldn't be liked, it'll truly be a matter of time before the rest of the inmates catch a whiff of him and start on their revenge. She could only imagine the hell they'll put him through.
She walked to his desk and sat down, his scent, the familiar scent of the man she married all those years back, filled the air around her. She kicked off her shoes and raised her legs, her arms hugged her knees and she dropped her head back. She had so many happy memories in this office, late night meals, drinks after the case with Dave talking about sweet nothings, declarations, of love, of commitment, and promises, promises of a future. A future which was currently growing inside her…
This wasn't how she had imagined their lives would be, she had imagined the whole thing in her head differently. Some ways cute, some sweet, some sexy…
Over dinner she and Jack prepared, after a hard case to show him that good still exist even if they've just seen the worse of the worse humanity had to offer. In their bed right after their breaths returned to normal. "Accidently" leaving her blood test on his desk, or the pregnancy test on a visible spot in the bathroom… any other way than that…
She heard a knock on the door, before she could answer the door cracked open. She turned and saw Dave standing there.
"What's wrong bella?" he asked walking to her and sitting on a chair in front of her
"I went and saw Aaron." A sharp breath left his lips. "You knew? Did you know what Seaton did?" he nodded his head softly
"I did, I did cara. When you and Jack left to talk to Spencer and Tara, the rest told me. How was he?"
"He had a swollen cheekbone. Said a couple of rips were probably broken, three or four bruised for sure, and his knee started to swell as well. He had trouble breathing Dave. I don't know if it was from the pain or something worse but he had trouble breathing. And… Seaton transferred him to federal prison. We gotta do something Dave, Aaron won't last there, the other inmates figure out he is there and they'll make him their punching bag before they kill him!" Dave's jaw clenched,
"Emily, we'll get him back, don't worry, Aaron is a strong man he can defend himself. Sure he might get few bumps and bruises but he'll get back and he'll be back to normal in no time." He tried to reassure her and maybe reassure himself in the process.
"I know that Dave, but I need him here, with me. I can't…" more and more tears fell from her eyes "I can't do this without him."
"Do what?"
"Raise our baby."
XXXX
"Mattie! Are you getting ready? I swear it's taking you longer than Penelope to do so." JJ had a small smile on her face which only widened and the string of swears that left Matt's mouth after she called him. He came out of the bathroom looking far healthier than he did yesterday, the color had returned to his cheeks, the glint in his eyes was back and his smile… he was finally smiling.
"Mattie." She walked and hugged him tightly, she felt his hands sneak around her back "I got so worried about you" she whispered against his shoulder
"No need to worry Jen. I'm alright." She pulled back and saw another smile grace his face.
"Good, imagine if we had to get a new Section Chief" she said smiling "It could be someone worse." The two friends laughed still in each others' arms.
"Well, who's going to drive me home?" Matt asked. "You don't have your car here do you?"
"No, Anderson is coming along with Henry and Jack. Michael, Will, Derek, Savannah and Hank are waiting for us in Dave's place." Matt's eyebrows arched "Rossi's?"
"Yeah. He said it's better if we're all together." JJ removed herself from Matt's hug and walked to the other side of the room to gather the few things Will had dropped off for her and Matt last night before going back to work.
"Mommy!" JJ turned and saw Henry running to her a genuine warm smile crossed her face. "Hey baby." She took the blonde boy in her arms hugging him tightly. "Sorry I was mean mommy." Henry whispered to her ear giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. JJ felt the tears filling up her eyes. "Its okay baby, just next time you talk to me alright?" Henry nodded and JJ let him on the floor. His little hand was still grasping hers tightly and she couldn't stop smiling "You okay Jack?" JJ asked, Jack flashed to her a wide smile showing both his dimples which he inherit from his father "Yes Aunt JJ. Uncle Grant talked to daddy and he is alright. And Emmy and I have a secret!" JJ smiled with the smile and happiness the boy radiated. "Really Anderson? Hotch is alright?" Anderson forced a smile, one that both Matt and JJ realized just how fake it was before he answered "Of course. I spoke to him, everything's ok."
"Shall we get going? I'd like to take a shower BEFORE my girlfriend comes from Los Angeles."
"Pff, Mattie!"
"What?"
"What's Katie doing in L.A.?"
"Her mom was sick, she went to take care of her for a while."
The five of them left the room; Anderson was holding Matt's overnight bag walking a little behind from the rest of them. JJ and Matt were walking side by side, talking, laughing, teasing each other. Henry was safely tucked in his mother's arms, while Jack, in surprise to all of the three adults, was walking between JJ and Matt clutching Matt's hand.
They left the hospital and Anderson led them to the SUV Matt took the front seat while JJ sat in the back with the boys. The sound of the mother of two talking exited with her seven year old and his ten year old friend about superheroes and comics was somewhat relaxing.
The ride to Rossi's mansion was easy, nice and mostly without uneasy questions. They got out of the car, Anderson reaching for the keys Rossi gave him and grabbing Matt's bag from the trunk, while JJ helped the boys out of the car. The two young boys started running to the door which opened revealing Will with Michael. "Daddy!" Henry smiled and hugged Will's legs "Hey Uncle Will." Jack said with the smile that had almost become permanent in his face.
"Hey bud, hey big guy." Jack and Henry walked in the house running and probably going outside to the back yard where Rossi had installed some swings for them and his grandson.
"Hey Matt, you gave us a scare man." Will placed an arm on Matt's shoulder giving a tight squeeze "Yeah, sorry to worry you. I'm going to see what Rossi has in his kitchen to eat I'm getting hungry again. I can get Mike too." With that and a smile Matt walked past by Will who gave him his godson and walked to the inside of the house. "Sweetheart." Will raised his now free hands and took JJ's; she walked closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. For a few moments neither spoke, they just stood there on the front porch of Rossi's mansion hugging each other in silence. "This whole thing is a mess Will."
"I know love. I know. But we'll get through it, like we did before, we'll do it again." She nodded and kissed him softly. They stayed for a moment there, just touching foreheads, content to be simply breathing the same air.
"Do you have to go back in the office?" Will asked softly.
"Hmm, yeah." The two of them parted, Will placed another kiss on her forehead, "Let's go inside, you can say goodbye to the kids before you leave."
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Bern walked in the BAU for the first time after what felt like years. So many things had changed since the last time he was there. He walked up to the catwalk standing in front of his friend's office door.
"Hello Bern."
"Emily" he sat on one of the chairs looking at the woman in front of him. He could see why Aaron was smitten with her, why he worships the ground she steps on. Apart from her obvious beauty she was apparently fierce and a sense of strength around her.
"I suppose you know why I called you here." She said, she was all business she didn't have much time to lose after all.
"I know. John is going to visit Aaron as we speak, I was going to but he wanted to visit him personally." Emily smiled "Thank you. You know as well as I do that Aaron in a federal prison won't last long. Is there any way he can be transferred back to our custody here, till all this is cleared?"
"I'm sorry; you know it's not possible. Unless you find something that indefinitely proves that Aaron is innocent, I can't do anything."
"There is another thing I need to talk to you about. When I went to visit Aaron I found him in a terrible condition, SSA Seaton took a few swings at him, Garcia has the tapes if you want them, but I want him to pay for that." Shock took over his expression, he knew that Seaton never liked Aaron, he knew that full well but to go as far as assault a federal agent? "I'll see what I can do, for now he will be suspended though. Don't worry Emily, everything will be okay." As he said that and before Emily could respond a blastening explosion rocked the building shattering all the windows of the office.
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"Oh my!" Penelope murmured under her breath.
"Pen?" Elle asked and walked to the technical analyst.
"They… they are planning… oh my god… they are planning a prison break!" she gasped pushing the laptop for Elle to see. The brunette woman leaned forward and saw the email on the screen.
A storm is coming, make sure you make his bed. The sky will open and the walls will break down on their builders. Like the sun after the storm we'll rise and we'll shine.
"The sky will open and the walls will break down on their builders." Alex mused. "They mean us. The walls of prison will break down on us." Everyone was silent in the conference room; the realization of the bigger picture that started to form in front of them was as disturbing as any.
"They don't mean only us, it's mainly Hotch, he was transferred to federal prison today, that's where they'll start, by killing him." Kate said. A sob left Penelope, Elle turned her head away looking on the other side, she felt the tears filling her eyes, this whole thing was a mess. Too much of a mess.
"We need to get him out of there." Tara said.
All of the nodded but before they could move or do anything else, the building shake beneath their feet and the deafening sound of glass breaking threw them on the ground…
XXXX
Aaron looked around him, his cell was small, he was finally out of his clothes, but the orange jumpsuit they gave him made him miss his bloodstained suit. He was also finally checked by a doctor who confirmed that he didn't had any broken ribs. That didn't lessen the pain and he was sure that they weren't going to give him any painkillers, even if he asked. Small mercy he was at least alone in the cell. He stopped pacing when he saw the guard walking up and down the corridor. The man, a black young man, no older than thirty looked vaguely familiar to Aaron.
"Agent Hotchner? Is that you?" he whispered coming closer to the cell bars. Aaron jumbed from the bed and walked closer "What are you doing here?" Hotch took a closer look at the man, something snapped, he knew exactly where he knew him from. His brother, Steve Ward, a Georgetown student who was abducted two years back, he was the third young African American law school student who was abducted from campus. They found him just before the UnSub killed him, it was one of the worse cased Hotch had encountered in a long time, young people just starting their lives killed brutally, abducted and treated like slaves for days before they finally beg for death, for no other reason than their skin color was, to this day, sickening to him.
"Matthew right?" he remembered the man now, working two jobs to support his brother through law school. They had lost their father in the line of duty and their mother five years back to cancer, but they still endured, still moved forward.
"Yes. What are you doing here?" Hotch smiled to the young man.
"Big story. How's your brother?"
"He's fine, he took his degree. You didn't answer my question agent Hotchner why are you here?"
"They think I wanted to blow up the FBI building. Kill my family and friends. Not see my son growing up, not hugging my wife again. They think I'm a crazy bastard just like the ones I helped them put away." Anger, hot boiling fury boiled inside him and was currently burning him alive.
"Do you need a lawyer? I can call Steve." Hotch's eyes widened, he had expected the man to turn his back. just like almost everyone else had done. Not this, defiantly not this.
"I'd appreciate that." A smile crossed his face for the first time since he was ripped away from Emily. The man smiled as well. It was a sobering moment for both of them…
…till the alarms broke the silence around them.
A/N: I know I had said that the story was going to be about ten chapters long but it's just not enough…
So this chapter we've had a lot in a little time. The puzzle is now almost complete.
Next chapter we'll have probably the last confrontation.
Hope you liked it. Let me know what you are thinking.
Till next time guys, bye and have fun!
Sneak Peak!
"What's going on? Matthew?" Hotch was puzzled as soon as the alarm sounded the young man stiffened.
"Listen to me agent Hotchner. I need you to stay here and take cover till I come back to get you." He reached for his ankle taking off a small gun passing it between the bars "Take this and take cover." Hotch took the gun and nodded to the man who took off fast towards the way he had come few minutes ago…
[U1]Chapter 8