Disclaimer:
I still don't own Criminal Minds, darn it.
Author note:
This is the chapter where Rossi might act a little out of character, to some anyway. I think it fits his character. I could have gone a lot of different ways with this, and if I wasn't on a time crunch, I might have drawn this out longer. But I did want to finish before the premier.
There will be an epilogue, where the team will hear how it all happened between Hotch and Garcia, and then a nice scene with our two sweethearts alone. By the way, I know there are a few typos in earlier chapters. I don't have a beta, and though I read this thing over and over, and spell check a few times, sometimes, things get past me. I'm sorry for that, and I greatly appreciate your acceptance and forbearance. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter as well.
Chapter Five
Back at Quantico
As everyone was dispersing, Morgan approached Rossi and Hotch.
"I spoke to Alvez and Simmons," he said, "and we agreed I'd stick with you guys. Meadows knows full well I'm not an agent now, so I won't be able to interview her. Besides, I think you might need more man power for dealing with people in this cult. They don't know Hotch and I aren't agents. Where's Reid?"
"He's over there talking to Kevin," Rossi said. "He'll meet us at the elevators. Let's go. I think Aaron is going to fly to pieces if we don't get started."
Hotch certainly looked like he was about to fly to pieces. He stood with his back to the others, his stance like a runner about to start a race. One hand tapped against his hip repeatedly. He was frustrated with any delay. He wanted to be on the move, doing something to try to find Penelope.
Reid joined the others then and together, the four men strode toward the elevators.
"Kevin got hold of Mary Meadows phone," Reid said, as they headed toward an SUV. "Not just her FBI phone but her personal one as well. He's going to try to give us some names from contacts on those. In the meantime, I think we should talk to Theo."
"Who's he?" Hotch asked.
Rossi and Reid quickly filled them in on the case. "Theo must know someone we can talk to, some names, something. And I'm sure he'll want to help us. He killed his own parents, and he killed others in order to protect his girlfriend."
"Good thinking, Spencer," Rossi said. "Aaron, I think you should talk to him. Man to man, one man trying to save the woman he loves, to another man who did whatever was necessary to do the same."
"Do you still carry?" Morgan asked Hotch.
"Oh yes. I'm wearing my ankle holster now."
"Good. When we do find Penelope, who knows what we'll have to do to rescue her."
"I'll do whatever it takes and damn the consequences after," Hotch said.
"We're going to get her, Aaron," Rossi squeezed his friend's shoulder. "She's their only bargaining chip now. They know we'll do anything to save her, but they also know if anything happens to her, we won't rest until every one of them is caught."
Later, Hotch sat across from Theo in an interrogation room.
"Theo, my name is Aaron Hotchner," he said. "I used to be an FBI agent, working in the behavioral analysis unit. I am retired from that now. I teach law at Georgetown now."
Theo looked back at him, saying nothing.
"I know that everything you did was to try to save your girlfriend from those monsters in the cult. If you help me, I'll make sure to find the best defense attorney I can. I was a prosecutor, before joining law enforcement and eventually the Bureau. I have a lot of contacts, and I can just make a couple calls and get you a lawyer who will defend you. I think you have a good chance of either getting off completely or ending up with a light sentence."
"How can I help you? I tried not to have much to do with those assholes. They wanted to kill April."
"I know." Aaron looked down at the table for a moment. "Earlier this evening, they kidnapped my fiancé, Penelope. They are using her for leverage to get the bureau to release their leader, the one they call the Messiah. Penelope isn't an agent nor a profiler. She's a technical analyst."
Theo's face went white.
"What is a technical analyst?"
"She does the computer and cell phone searches for the BAU," Hotch said. "She's a whiz with computers. She doesn't carry a gun, isn't trained with the physical training the agents get. She's as innocent as your April was."
"Oh no. Oh no. They'll try to hurt her to make you guys go along with what they want. And if that doesn't work, they might try to force her to use her skills to change records or something. They would do anything. I know. They tried to make a man they'd held and tortured for months, kill April right in front of me. You have to find your girl, sir! They—they are cruel. You have to save her!"
Aaron reached out a hand and touched the boy's fist.
"Calm down, Theo. I will find her. There is nothing I won't do to save her. And if you help me, there is nothing I won't do to help you when this is over. Do you believe me? Will you help me?"
Tears blurred Aaron's vision. Looking away, he bit his lip to get himself under control. It was not the time for tears.
"I don't know much," Theo said. "I can give you some names. They probably took her to a guy named Nicholas. He's one of their, um, I guess you'd call him an enforcer or something like that. He's the one who deals with people who are causing trouble in the cult."
In the observation room, Rossi, Reid and Morgan exchanged looks.
"Do you have a last name?" Hotch asked.
Theo shook his head.
"No. He was only ever called Nicholas. But he has a cousin, I think his name is something like Sullivan. He would know where Nicholas is or where he might keep your girl."
Morgan took out his cell. Stepping away, he called Kevin back at Quantico.
"Kevin, I have a couple names for you," he said. "Look for someone named Nicholas or Sullivan. Or something like Sullivan. Don't know if either of those are a first or last name. Theo says Nicholas is probably the one who has Garcia, and Sullivan is his cousin. Get back to me right away."
"You got it, Derek. I'll look through the info we have and call ya right back."
Morgan rejoined the others.
"You've been a big help, Theo," Hotch was saying. He stood and walked over to lay a hand on Theo's shoulder. "I will keep my promise. I'll get the best defense lawyer I know to come down here and take your case. Either for free or for a small fee. And I'll help you with that if there is a cost. Penelope means the world to me and to my son. I'll never be able to do enough if we can find her because of your help."
"Thank you sir."
"No, the thanks go to you. I'll be in touch."
He smiled at the boy and left.
"Did you get those names?" Hotch asked the others.
"Yes, Morgan has already given them to Kevin," Reid said. "He should be calling back anytime."
Morgan's phone rang. He answered, and the others held their breaths.
"You're on speaker, Kevin. What you got?"
"Okay. I couldn't find any Nicholas in Penelope's files or on the phones Meadows had."
"Fuck," Aaron swore.
"Hold on. Don't lose it yet, Hotch. I did find Sullivan."
"Where?"
"His name is Paul Sullivan. He's one of those financial planners dudes. He works in DC. I'm sending the address to you. I've got his work and home addresses. Go get him."
"Thank you, Kevin. Thank you." Hotch turned and ran for the door, with the others close behind.
Alone at his office, Paul Sullivan was nervous. He knew that the remainder of the cult had planned to hold some FBI agents hostage to try to get them to release their Messiah. Sullivan wasn't a brave man, not even a wholehearted Believer, and he just knew that this plan would backfire and cause them all even more trouble. Didn't they know that law enforcement types were merciless when it came to one of their own being in harm's way? What a stupid plan. Just then he heard the outer office door crash open and loud voices calling out, "FBI!"
"Oh shit!"
He tried to run for the back door but someone tackled him from behind. He looked up to see a man with black hair and very angry eyes staring at him.
"Paul Sullivan?"
"Y-yes. What do you want? I haven't done anything. Let me up."
Reid produced a set of handcuffs, and Hotch stood up to give his friend room to cuff the man.
"Now, Mr. Sullivan," Rossi said in a cool tone, "we're going to head into your office there, and you're going to answer a few questions for us."
"I don't know anything."
"We'll see about that." Hotch wrenched Sullivan to his feet and marched him back into his office. "Where is your cousin Nicholas?"
"I don't know."
"Wrong answer." Rossi strolled over and stared at Sullivan. "Would you care to try again?"
"I'm not gonna say anything," Sullivan tried to sound tough, but ended up sounding scared.
"Hmmm. Is that the way you want to play it?" Rossi smiled. "Maybe my friends here could step out and leave us alone for a few minutes. Then you and I will have a little chat. Morgan, Block the door."
"I'll stay," Aaron said. "I'm not an agent after all."
"What—what are you going to do?" Sullivan began to tremble. These two looked like they would stop at nothing. All four of the men looked that way, but these two looked vicious.
"Now, then, I know you're cuffed," Rossi said pleasantly, "Let me have a look at those cuffs, make sure they aren't too tight or anything."
Turning Sullivan around, Rossi read for one of Sullivan's fingers. With a quick sharp motion, he bent it back till it snapped. Sullivan screamed.
"Fuck man, why did you do that? You're a fed, you can't do this to me."
"Oh dear. A small accident while you were trying to escape. What can I say? Shall we try another one?"
Aaron looked at Rossi.
"Dave, should you do this?" He didn't really care, in fact, Aaron heartily approved. He wanted to have it appear as if he remonstrated with Rossi, in case Sullivan tried to tell a lawyer this had happened. Rossi shot him a look, showing he understood what Hotch was doing and turned back to Sullivan.
"Now then, where were we? Oh yes, we were discussing if you'd like to have more than one finger broken."
With no warning, he broke a finger on the other hand.
Sullivan screamed again.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Please stop."
"I thought you'd see reason. Aaron, let Derek and spencer in."
Reid made a call to the local police and Paul Sullivan was carted off to spend some time in jail. He had known about the plot, and therefore could be held as a conspirator. Rossi warned the officers not to let Sullivan have his call for a while, so he wouldn't be able to warn his cousin. Then they called Prentiss to fill her in and headed for the address Sullivan had given them.
Penelope's tears had dried. She was still tied to the chair, hands numb despair taking over. She was losing hope that she would be rescued before the morning, and dread filled her at the thought of what that might mean. What might Nicholas do to her if no one came for her in time? The house above was quiet now. How late was it anyway?
There was a crash from upstairs, pounding feet and shouts. She trembled. Were they bring in reinforcements to threaten or hurt her? Then she heard a voice calling her name.
"Penelope, Penelope, where are you?'
There were more shouts, calling out that they were FBI, gun shots, more pounding feet. Then the door slammed open and a light came on. There was the most beautiful sight in the world, Aaron rushing down the stairs to her.
"Penelope, I'm here. You're safe. You're safe. Are you okay?"
She burst into tears.
"Aaron, help me."
"I'm here, Honey. Let me just get you untied." He turned to call up the stairs. "Does anybody have something to cut these ropes?"
Once she was untied, Aaron gathered Penelope in his arms and held her close. She clung to him, shaking and crying from relief.
"I knew you'd come. I was just afraid about how long it would take or what they might do to me before you found me. I was so scared. But I knew you'd come."
"Of course I would. I'll always come for you."
He ran his hand over her hair, pressing her against him as close as he could.
"Morgan and I came as soon as Rossi called," Aaron told her. "Rossi, Reid, Morgan and I found you. The others are handling the cult people."
"I'm so cold. And I'm hungry and I have to go to the bathroom. And I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"
Aaron chuckled softly and kissed her.
"I can say the same thing. I was afraid I would lose you, and I could not bear that. Come-on, the others are waiting. And we need to have the paramedics check you out."
"No hospital. I mean it, Aaron."
"Did they harm you in anyway?"
"No, just grabbed me, shoved me around and then left me tied to a chair forever."
"You probably won't need the hospital then, but humor me, and let the medics check you out. Okay?"
For the first time, she smiled.
"I can't say no when you give me that look with those dimples."
"Mmmm, that's a good thing."
They kissed again. Hand in hand, they went up the stairs. Penelope was safe. For now, that was all that mattered.
"I love you, Penelope Garcia," he said, squeezing her hand. "Are you ready to face the world? Everyone is waiting to see you."
She squeezed back.
"With you by my side, I can face the world and anything else. And, I love you too, Aaron Hotchner."
Together they stepped through the door, leaving the basement behind them.