Chapter 7

Hotch passed his physical with ease and everyone knew he would be back to work on Monday morning. Rossi entered the bullpen and noticed everyone else was early, too. Apparently they all wanted to welcome their boss back. Rossi went to his office and everyone else was gathered around the desks on the main floor. Rossi saw them all stop talking suddenly and turn towards the glass doors. When he saw their looks of shock and a couple mouths actually hanging open, Rossi quickly got up and walked to his door. There was Hotch strolling in and headed to his office. Rossi was just as shocked as the team was. Hotch was not wearing his usual suit and tie. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, a charcoal gray v-neck shirt over a white t-shirt, and a pair of black casual shoes. He was walking across the cat walk when he felt everyone's eyes on him. He stopped and looked at them. "What?" he asked as he put his hands out to the side.

They all looked away with mumbles of 'nothing' or 'sorry' and pretended to be interested in doing their work. Garcia did an about face and went quickly to her office. Hotch shook his head and continued to his office. As soon as his door was shut, everyone looked at Rossi. Rossi sighed deeply and went back into his office.

"Has he ever come to the office in anything but a suit?" JJ asked them quietly.

They all look to Reid for the answer. "Other than when we've been called in on short notice, no, he has always worn a suit."

"I didn't even think he owned regular clothes," Blake told them.

At their 9:00 meeting for the new case, they found out they were going to up state NY. There was someone killing the local kids, and time was of the essence.

"Wheels up in fifteen," Hotch told them, grabbed his tablet and headed out the door.

"Well, he seems ok," JJ voiced as she stood up.

"Yeah, but did you see him clinch his fists when Garcia displayed the victims?" Morgan asked.

"Cases involving kids have always upset Hotch," Reid pointed out.

They all looked to Rossi. "Go get ready," he told them, not really sure what they wanted from him.

XXX

Within two days, they knew who their unsub was, but they had no evidence to actually prove it. The local detective was holding the man for seventy two hours like the law allowed, but time was slowly ticking away. They had five dead kids, and their killer might have to be set free, and they were all angry. Rossi was worried about Hotch, but he actually seemed calmer than the rest of the team, like was the norm from before. Everyone had tried to break the man, but he just wasn't budging. After Morgan got into a yelling match with him and got nowhere, Rossi decided to take Morgan outside to calm him down and left Reid with Mr. Hanson, their unsub, in the interrogation room.

Everyone was tired from lack of sleep and exhaustion, so almost everyone went out to be with Rossi and Morgan.

Reid came out about ten minutes later. Morgan looked back towards the door then back to Reid. "Where's Hotch?"

"He told me to take a break," Reid told them.

Morgan shot Rossi a look and they both went running inside. They got to the interrogation room and found Hotch standing over Hanson. Hanson was crouched in a corner crying.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled as he entered the room.

Hotch turned around slowly and fixed Morgan and Rossi with a look. "He confessed," he told them with an almost smile and left the room.

Morgan shot Rossi another look as Hanson stood up. They could both see what had happened to the man. Morgan shook his head and went after Hotch. Rossi followed closely behind him. They caught up to Hotch in the station's locker room.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled again. Hotch turned to him completely calm. "What the hell did you do to him, Hotch?"

"I didn't touch him. Watch the tape."

"You scared him into pissing his pants, Hotch!"

"He confessed didn't he?"

"Yeah, but we don't do things like that!" Rossi could tell by 'we' Morgan was meaning 'you'. The rest of the team had come into the room to check on them.

Hotch advance on Morgan and stopped about a foot away from him. "Really? What about 'Turn off the tape and give me ten minutes with him, Hotch' or 'Fifteen minutes alone with him, Hotch, and we'll know where there are'?" Hotch mimicked Morgan's facial, head, and shoulder movements perfectly as he feed Morgan's words from previous cases back to him. "Whose words are they?"

Morgan just stood there, clenching and unclenching his teeth.

"That's what I thought!" Hotch told him and left the room; the team parted to allow him to leave.

Morgan ran a hand over his bald head. "That's not Hotch!" he yelled as he pointed towards the man who just left. He turned and punched a locker. Then he kicked them then he slammed both fists up and hit them and let his head rest on them under his hands. The rest of the team looked at Rossi and he nodded for them to go.

Rossi sighed deeply and put his hand on Morgan's shoulder. "Morgan," he said as he pulled him away from the lockers.

Morgan had tears slowly running down his cheeks. "I want the old Hotch back."

"I know, Derek," Rossi told him and pulled him into a hug. "I know."

XXX

Rossi found the girls and Reid watching the tape of the interrogation room. They watched as Hotch sat down as Reid left and they watched as Hotch kept leaning closer and closer to Hanson. Hanson eventually jumped up and yelled at Hotch and Hotch advanced on him just inches away from his face. Hanson slowly backed up and Hotch stayed with him. As Hanson slowly slid down the wall Hotch still stayed with him and he clearly yelled out his confession.

"He never touched him," JJ told them.

"That guy is awesome! I wish we had him here for all of the bad ones," the detective told them with a smile. He was clearly in awe of Hotch.

"Yeah, he's one in a million," Blake told him and they all left the little room.

Rossi lingered a minute, his eyes on the frozen image of Hotch. He wouldn't bet his life on it, but the look on Hotch's face looked like he was enjoying scaring the man in front of him. Rossi shook his head and went to find the team.

XXX

The jet ride home was a silent one, and Hotch sat in the back alone. Morgan had his headphones on and was listening to his music. Rossi thought about going and sitting with Hotch but he didn't want to confront him in front of the team so he sat and just quietly watched him.

The next couple of days went by without a case. Hotch was cordial with them all, but they could all sense a rift growing between them and their boss. Rossi sat in his office trying to figure out what to do. He had seen Hotch's knuckles bruised and cut, but when he asked Hotch about, Hotch said he scraped them on the driveway while he was playing basketball with Jack.

Three cases later, and Hotch's presence and power had impressed everyone they had worked with. It was like he had turned into a super FBI agent. The team wasn't impressed, though, as he pushed them farther and farther away. He was basically handling the cases on his own, and was intimidating every unsub without seeming to. Rossi didn't know what to do. He had tried talking to him about it, but Hotch wasn't having it. He saw nothing wrong with his behavior, and the praises from every cop they worked with wasn't helping. He had yet to wear a suit either. Rossi also noticed Hotch coming into work with wounded knuckles a couple of different times.

Rossi sat in his office, again, trying to figure out what to do. He had even had the team ask Hotch to go out for drink, but Hotch politely turned them down. He had talked to Jess and Jack, too, and while they knew he was different, they didn't have any complaints about his behavior toward them.

After four days and no cases, Rossi thought it was time for a visit to Hotch's house. Before he could leave, though, his phone went off. It was Jessica.

"Everything ok?" Rossi asked her.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you could try to get Aaron to leave at a decent time tonight." Rossi furrowed his brows. "He's been working so late, I'm worried his going to work himself into the ground."

"Sure, Jess. I'll try, but you know how he can be," Rossi told her with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Thanks, Dave," she told him and the call ended.

What the hell are you up to, Hotch? Rossi wondered as he left his office to see if Hotch was still there. He wasn't, and Rossi knew that Hotch had been leaving at six all week. Rossi stood there for a minute and then went to Garcia's lair.

"How's my Principal of Pasta?" Garcia asked him in her usual friendly tone.

"Hey, Kitten. Trace Hotch's cell for me."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Just do it, please," Rossi asked her as he squeezed her shoulders.

"Ok, but if he finds out, he'll kill me," she told him as she started the trace.

"If he finds out, I'll make sure he knows it was me."

The trace narrowed to their part of Virginia, and within moments Garcia had an address. "He's at a bar? Without us?"

Rossi could hear the hurt in her voice. "Send the address to my phone." She nodded. Once she was done, Rossi spun her chair around so she was facing him. "This doesn't leave us two," he told her seriously.

"Ok," she told him and nodded.

XXX

Rossi pulled up to the bar and checked to make sure his pistol was at his side. The place was a dive, and he couldn't figure out what Hotch was doing there. He took a deep breath and walked in. The smoke was thick and Rossi grunted at the complete lack of following the nonsmoking law. The place also smelled of stale beer and puke. A couple people gave him a passing glance as he walked through, but most people were too busy to notice him. He found Hotch in the back, drinking a beer, and playing pool with some huge biker guy. There was also a sleazy looking blonde hanging on Hotch's arm.

As soon as Hotch saw Dave, he rolled his eyes and pushed the woman away from him. "Really, Rossi?"

"What are you doing, Aaron?"

"Blowing off some steam, what's it look like?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"Go home, Rossi," Hotch told him as he went back to playing pool.

"No I'm not. Not until you tell me what you're doing here."

Hotch lined up a shot and sunk the ball. He gave Rossi a passing glance as he walked around the table and lined up his next shot. Rossi went up and place his hand on the ball Hotch was aiming at.

"Hey!" the biker guy yelled and advanced on Rossi. Rossi stood his ground, but Hotch stopped the man with a hand to his chest and a look that would stop a charging rhino.

"Whatever!" the guy yelled and threw his stick on the table.

"Really, Rossi? You trying to get yourself killed?" Hotch asked as he threw his stick on the table, too.

It didn't escape Rossi that Hotch had only been calling him by his last name. "What the hell are you doing in a place like this, Aaron?"

"I was enjoying a game of pool until you showed up," Hotch told him and took a drink of his beer.

"You know what I mean."

"First you were second guessing everything I did at work, now you're second guessing what I do on my own time? Damn, Rossi, when did you become my father?" Hotch asked him coldly.

Rossi felt like Hotch had hit him the stomach. "I've never claimed to be your father," Rossi told him softly and turned around and left.