Warning: The genre is tragedy so there will be some deaths. No main characters will die though.
I'd say 'please enjoy' but given the genre maybe that's the wrong thing to say…
Genre: Tragedy
Author: SussiRay
Emily closed the folder she had been idly reading through the last few minutes and placed it back on top of the "to do" pile. Despite the fact that she had been a part of the BAU for several weeks her body still hadn't adjusted to the crazy hours and if she didn't get the gallon of coffee that she needed the words started to blur together.
Sweeping her eyes across the length of the mezzanine, she didn't really dare to stop at Hotch's closed door or at the window where the blinds were still pulled halfway shut, and let her eyes wander to Gideon's door. As her eyes met the door it opened and for a brief moment her eyes locked with the older man's gaze. Feeling like a fool, she looked away, all of a sudden very interested in her stapler. For fear of things becoming even more tense than they already were between them, she had refrained from asking Hotch again whether he thought Gideon liked her or not. She wasn't sure of anything but it still felt like she had some way to go before she had proven herself to him. Sometimes it even felt like she hadn't earned Hotch's trust completely yet either.
She wasn't sure which bothered her the most. She desperately wanted the approval of one of the most brilliant profilers ever – one of the founding fathers of the BAU – and to earn his respect would prove to everyone that she was as capable of doing this job as anyone else on the team. At the same time she knew that Hotch's trust issues with her ran so much deeper and she could sometimes feel a gnawing sensation deep in her gut when she thought of how they had left things so many years ago.
Needing something to clear her mind, she got up, skillfully avoiding catching Gideon's eyes again, and walked over to the small kitchenette for her second cup of coffee for the morning. Standing with her back to the bullpen as she poured a packet of Splenda into her coffee cup, she could hear heels clicking rapidly against the floor. Spinning around, so fast so that some of the coffee splashed over the rim of the cup, she saw JJ sprint up the staircase and knock once on Hotch's door before entering.
As she stood absentmindedly stirring her coffee while watching Hotch's door with rapt attention she noticed Reid coming up next to her through the corner of her eye. "What do you think it is?" she said, her eyes not leaving the closed door.
"I don't know," Reid said, drumming his long fingers against the cup he was holding on to, "but I highly doubt it's anything good."
Emily just nodded, closing her eyes tightly and opening them again to see Hotch and JJ leave his office wearing matching grim expressions. Watching Hotch steady himself against the railing Emily could have sworn she saw panic flicker across his eyes but just as quickly as it was there, it was gone again, and he was barking orders.
"Reid! Prentiss! Morgan!" he called, "Conference room, now!"
"What've we got?" Morgan said, as he entered the conference room and took a seat next to Gideon, closely followed by Emily and Reid sitting down next to each other.
"A hostage situation," Hotch said, "The unsub took an entire pediatrician's office; doctor, nurse, children and their parents, hostage in McLean about thirty minutes ago. All information we have is from the nurse who managed to dial 911, but the call lasted less than a minute and all they could really get from her was that the unsub is male, Caucasian, possibly in his thirties and heavily armed, then the line went dead. All security cams have been disabled, so for now we have no way of knowing how many there are in the hostage."
"He hasn't made any kind of demand?" Morgan said, looking from Hotch to JJ.
"No," Hotch said, "police at the scene have been proceeding with caution and have been waiting for the unsub to make contact. They want us there as soon as possible to make up a profile and to handle negotiations." With that he started walking towards the door, followed closely by Gideon, talking over his shoulder as he did so; "Morgan, Prentiss you're with us. JJ, Garcia, Reid stay here and start working on a profile, see if you can figure out who are unsub is. We'll call as soon as we know anything else."
Following Hotch and Gideon at a light run, Emily noticed the tension in Hotch's shoulders as he walked with long strides towards the elevators. She was sure that she had seen panic flash through his eyes again as he went through the case. It had startled her. He was always the immaculate professional, never showing any emotions even to cases that hit close to home, but now he seemed stressed and almost scared. She knew he didn't want anyone to notice it and she was pretty sure she was the only one who had but that was because she knew him well enough to read him like a book.
"Let's split up on two cars," Gideon said as they entered the parking garage, "Morgan, you're with me," he said, walking towards one of the SUVs.
"You're with me then Prentiss," Hotch said, a faraway look in his eyes, as he pulled the keys from his pocket. When they slipped from his fingers and landed on the concrete floor with a clash he swore loudly making Emily look up in surprise.
"Hotch, what's going on?" she said, taking a few steps towards him and picking up the keys. As she handed them back to him, she could feel his hands tremble under her fingers. "Aaron, you're shaking. Are you sick? What's going on?"
Without looking at her, his eyes focusing on some spot in the far distance, he said; "Jack. He had the sniffles yesterday. And Haley said… she said that if he didn't get better she would take him to see the doctor today. It's just the sniffles but she said she wanted to make sure…" His voice tapered off, but Emily could see the tight fists his hands had balled up into.
"Hotch, I don't… I don't understand," Emily said, as she took one more step towards him and wrapped a gentle hand around his upper arm, his suit feeling rough under her fingers. "What's going on?"
"It's Jack's pediatrician." He paused, taking a few short breaths. "The hostage situation is at Jack's pediatrician's office and Haley said that she was going to bring him there this morning if he was still having the sniffles."
"Oh, God. Oh, Aaron," Emily said, squeezing his arm. "You have to call her. Here," she guided him into the passenger seat, "I am going to drive and you are going to call her, okay?"
He nodded, fumbling with the phone, as she pulled out of the parking spot, maneuvering the large car best she could as her heart raced a million miles per minute. She watched through the corner of her eye as he pressed the phone against his ear. His raspy breaths, and her thundering heart she was sure, were all that could be heard around them. She had the sirens blaring but the sound didn't register with her.
She didn't know how many minutes had passed when Hotch ripped the phone from his ear and threw it at the backseat. "She's not answering," he said, running a hand across his face in frustration, "not her cell phone and not at home."
"Okay," Emily said slowly, keeping one eye on Hotch and the other on the road in front of her, "maybe she's out and her cell died, maybe it's on silent…" She breathed deeply, knowing how futile her excuses sounded no matter how valid they were. Hotch didn't respond. He was staring out the window and it was scaring her. They were on their way to a situation he might be the only one able to resolve. It sounded cold hearted in her head but she knew that no matter where Haley and Jack were there were other children that needed him. "Hotch," she said, gripping his wrist and tugging on it until he turned and looked straight at her, "I know you're in a nightmare right now but I need you to come back to me. Please don't clam up. You don't know if Haley and Jack are in there but there are other kids and their moms and dads and they need you now. I need you."
He shook his head and brought a hand to his eyes to wipe away a few stray tears. "Yes. I know. I'm fine," he said through teeth that were still clenched but he seemed to relax some, so she didn't push it. The rest of the hurried ride went by quietly and as soon as Emily pulled up next to the other SUV and a couple police cruisers, Gideon was by their side.
"What took you so long?" he said.
"We hit a bit of traffic," Emily lied seamlessly, glancing towards Hotch not sure what she would see. She let out a sigh she hoped no one heard when she saw the mask of professionalism sitting secure over Hotch's features. She knew not a person there would be able to tell that only a few minutes ago he had been on the brink of panic.
"Any developments?" Hotch said, his lips a thin line across his face, as he turned his full attention towards Gideon.
"No, nothing yet," Gideon said, as he started walking back to the front of the building, "it's an old office and he took out the only security cam they had in the waiting room so there's really no way of knowing how many people there are in the hostage. Morgan's on the phone with Garcia now to see if there's any way she can work with the one blurry screenshot the camera managed to get of him before he smashed it."
"What about their computer system?" Emily said, coming up next to them, "They must have something that Garcia can hack into and get us some information."
"Like I said," Gideon said, turning towards her with a frown marring his face, "it's an old office and the technology isn't up to date, but hopefully she can get something from it." Turning his attention back to Hotch he said; "I told them to hold off on any attempts to make contact until you arrived; you're the best negotiator we have and I think you should handle all communication…" he trailed off as he noticed the slightly distant look that had reappeared in Hotch's eyes. "Hotch?"
Hotch fought to keep the panic he could feel bubbling inside him at bay. He couldn't let it surface. Not even for the slightest second because if he let his mind wander, he could easily lose control of the situation and he could not let that happen. "Yeah, Jason," he said, giving him a curt nod, "I'll take point. It's crucial that we approach this as carefully as possible."
As he picked up his speed, walking towards where the local police had set up, he felt warm fingers wrap around his elbow and give it a squeeze. Looking over his shoulder, as discreetly as he could, his eyes met Emily's and the small smile she gave him felt reassuring and comforting. Coming up next to the detective in charge he could feel the panic die down a little more.
"Detective?" he said, gaining the older woman's attention, "I'm agent Hotchner, this is agent Prentiss. " He nodded at Emily who reached out and shook the other woman's hand. "Has he tried to make contact yet?"
"No." The detective shook her head. "We assume that he has access to the cell phone the nurse used to call 911, but we haven't tried calling it yet."
"The phone's still on," Morgan said, coming up behind them, "I had Garcia check it. They're still working on ID-ing our unsub."
"What about the hostage?" Emily said, glancing carefully at Hotch, "Do we have any more information on them? Do we even know how many they are?"
Morgan shook his head. "No, Garcia wasn't able to get into their system. She says that either it's ancient or the unsub has destroyed it somehow. I think we'll have to accept that we're going in blind here. At least until the others can find something we can use."
"You're right," Hotch said, "we can't keep waiting. We will have to tread carefully but we have to establish contact." He turned towards the detective and accepted the cell phone she handed him. "Morgan, as soon as Garcia can find anything on the unsub you let me know."
Taking a breath he looked to his right and to his left, feeling Emily's calming eyes on him the entire time, as he pressed the pre-programmed number. Waiting, he felt his breath lodge in his throat.
"Yeah?" a gruff, clearly distraught, male voice answered.
"Hello? This is agent Hotchner of the FBI, who am I speaking to?"
"That's none of your business. Leave me alone," the man on the other end said.
"Please, I'm only here to help," Hotch said, injecting as much compassion into his voice as possible, "Tell me your name and I will help you whatever way I can. That's a promise…" he trailed off hoping that the man on the other end would at least give him a first name.
"Mike," the man said dejectedly, "You can't help me. No one can. I have no need for your help. I don't want it."
"Mike," Hotch said, looking pointedly at Emily who picked up her phone and dialed Garcia. He watched as Emily took a few steps back and he could hear her hushed voice spitting information into her phone. "I know I can't force you to accept my help but I wish you would reconsider." Only a loud sigh was given as an answer and Hotch decided to switch the topic. "How are the children, Mike?" he said, "Can you tell me that?"
"They're all ill," he said and Hotch could hear every ounce of sadness in his voice, "but eventually they will get better." With a final deep sigh he hung up.
Listening to the dial tone, a very bad feeling creeping over him, Hotch hurried towards Emily and Morgan. "He hung up," he said, "I could hardly get a name out of him, I need something to work with."
"We might have him," Morgan said, "I'm putting you on speaker, Baby Girl."
"Right," Garcia's voice flitted through the air, "Michael Smith, age thirty-two, lost his seven year old son, Steven, four months ago. His son had leukemia and passed away after he caught pneumonia in the hospital just when he was going into remission. I dug a little deeper and found out that our pediatrician Dr. Swanson was Steven's pediatrician. As I continued my digging I found that a few months later Michael lost his job because he stopped showing up and then a week ago his wife filed for divorce. So pretty much every crappy thing that can happen to a person has happened to him over the last six months."
"Thank you, Garcia," Hotch said.
His voice showed no emotion but Emily could see the flash of fear shining for just a few seconds in his eyes. Standing next to him, she placed a hand discreetly on his arm, silently conveying her support as he brought the phone to his ear. They didn't have to say anything, they all knew that the man they were dealing with was had nothing to lose.
Dialing the number again, his heart racing, he waited until Michael picked up again sounding even more desperate. "What?"
Hotch let out a small sigh of temporary relief when other man's voice came through the phone. At least he still let him talk to him. "Mike, how are you?" he said.
"Why do you care?" His voice was raspier and rawer, almost as if he had been crying, and Hotch felt a new wave of doubt and desperation come over him.
"I told you I want to help you, Mike," he said, "I know what happened to your son and I know what happened to you and I am so sorry, but hurting these people – these kids – it won't bring him back."
"You don't get it. I'm not hurting them, I am helping them."
"Let me help too," Hotch said, trying to find some straw to grasp, "Let me in and I will help all of you, I promise. I will help you and I will help the children."
"I can't do that… and I can't keep wasting time talking to you. You can't help! No one can help and no one wants to help. I had to learn that the hard way and if I can do something so that some people don't have to go through what I went through – what my son went through – then I'm going to do that!"
"Mike!" Hotch knew the other man wasn't listening. He knew the phone had fallen from his hand as the sounds on the other end were muffled and finally it hit the floor with a thud breaking the connection. Turning to face the others, he didn't even get a chance to open his mouth to speak before several loud gunshots crashed through the silence.
He was sure that time stood still as the string of gunshots rang out. He couldn't feel his heart beating as he yelled his orders to the SWAT team. "Go! Go! Go!" He couldn't feel his feet hitting the ground but he knew he was moving as the small building came closer and closer. He knew that Emily was right behind him, for some reason the distinct sound her heels made against the asphalt was all he could hear.
"Hotch!" he heard her calling his name but he didn't stop. Only one thing was before his eyes - his son. He knew that he might not be able to stomach what he would be faced with inside that building but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
Tearing up the narrow staircase, his gun drawn and his heart beating harder and faster than it ever had before, he just avoided crashing into the back of one of the SWAT team members standing just outside the door.
Alerted to their presence the man turned around; "Oh, agents," he said, slowly shaking his head, "We were too late. There was nothing we could do." He trailed off, looking uncomfortably at Hotch, as Emily told him a quiet 'thank you'.
HHHHHo
Taking a step forward, the ground wobbling beneath his feet, Hotch stumbled into the small waiting room, his eyes immediately searching for his son's sandy blonde head. In the far corner he saw a little girl sprawled out on the floor with blood trickling from a wound in her forehead and dampening her chestnut hair. Next to her, with a protective arm slung over her stomach, lay a man with red marks peppered across his chest. Taking a few, shaky, steps closer Hotch noticed that though the man's eyes were open they no longer saw the world in front of him.
Not far from where the man and his daughter were, lay another little girl, her small face pressed into the bloodstained carpet and her leg in an awkward angle. Behind her, draped over a chair, was her mother, one hand stretched as if trying to touch her daughter and small red wounds covering her body.
Feeling lightheaded Hotch spun around, searching for other bodies. His vision blurred as he saw the back of the head of a blonde woman lying behind a small table. Closing the distance with a few swift steps he fell to his knees by the motionless body. As he scanned the length of the woman's body, he found a young boy, six, maybe seven, years old, clutched in her limp arms. The boy's black hair was spattered with blood and his head hung to the side.
Pushing himself off of the floor he could finally feel his heart beating again. His legs still shaking, he stood up, getting more and more aware of the other people in the room. Gideon was standing at the entrance talking to the leader of the SWAT team. Morgan was standing in the middle of the room talking into his phone. He couldn't see Emily but he could feel her. He knew she was somewhere close by.
"It's not a pretty sight in there. He emptied one clip in the doctor and nurse and then he shot himself," he heard a dark voice say. He heard Emily's soft answer and then boots clicking against the floor. He felt her slim arm wrap gently around his waist. Looking down at her he finally, for the first time in hours, let himself take a deep breath. "They're not here," he breathed so quietly that only Emily could hear him. "Jack and Haley… They… they were never here."
Without saying anything, allowing Hotch to slowly soak up the fact that his ex-wife and their son had never been in harm's way, Emily slowly lead him from the scene. Looking over her shoulder, making sure that they weren't being watched, she took him down the stairs and stopped in an empty spot in a far corner. Tightening her grip on his waist, closing her fist in the fabric of his jacket, she leaned her head against his shoulder hoping it would help calm him down at least a little. "It's okay," she whispered, "everything's okay."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review :)
