AN: So, here's chapter 4. What I know for sure will happen here; we will be meeting a bitchy girl named Whitney. I actually based her on a girl that I knew a few years ago. That girl wasn't so much bitchy, but she and my best friend at the time didn't get along at all, so since I play for home teams…this Whitney winds up eating a little crow, so that's good. We will finally meet Ollie; he's this o-l-d Scottish man who was in WWII. In some ways he makes me think of Ducky from NCIS. But I really wrote him in sort of as a thing for my great-grandfather and grandfather; one was in WWI and died 4 months before I was born, and the other was in WWII and passed away in '95 before I ever had any inclination to ask him about his life. Anyway, I hope that the Ollie character turns out as well as I hope he does.

Alecta and the others that decided to go to the diner parked just up the road a piece from their final destination. That's one thing about the small down town area; there is limited parking, you have to take what you can get. Getting out of the vehicles and walking up the sidewalk to the diner, they passed by a young girl with honey blonde hair and blue eyes. She could've been JJ's evil twin very nearly, she was that attractive.

As she made it a few steps beyond the group the young woman turned back around and made her way over to Alecta; you could cut the tension between them with a knife.

"Oh my gracious. If it isn't the town trash…finally coming back home. You know some of us actually don't miss you."

"Davis?"

"Don't worry Hotch. This is Whitney Pyatt. She's sort of the town welcome wagon. She just hates me because when I lived with her family as a foster child, her daddy spent most of his free time in my bed instead of with her."

As Alecta turned to walk away, Whitney grabbed her by the arm to pull her back. Then Whitney balled up her fist and threw a punch into Alecta's left jaw, knocking her down.

Stepping forward, Chaz whipped out some handcuffs she just so happened to have on her…a good deputy is always prepared, "Whitney Pyatt, you're under arrest for assault on a federal agent…."

Chaz kept reading off Whitney's rights, and Whitney just turned to glare at Alecta.

"You were always such a whore, and you will die a whore."

"Maybe so, but now I do it for benefits. Don't worry Whit, handcuffs can be fun. Now, if you don't mind, I have lunch to eat. Ta-ta. See you in a few right Chaz?"

"Of course."

Alecta sweetly waved and walked away. Hotch was left with the distinct urge to strangle this Whitney. He couldn't believe she had spoken that way to Alecta. And Alecta just let it go; she was a better person than he felt like right now.

The small group finally made it into the diner without further provocation and made it to one of the larger tables to sit down and start to figure out their order. And of course some of them were examining the pictures on the walls. There were so many of some of the local people and places. There was one that was close by the table that they were at.

"Who are these people?" Hotch asked curiously.

The picture was black and white, quite old; in it there were two young people that were standing in front of an old white clap-board church that had and English style garden around it.

"Oh, that's momma's parents, the day they were married."

"I think that was the last time that momma smiled,' Mrs. King spoke up.

"It wasn't long after that that daddy began smacking her around; and pretty soon after the kids started coming, he beat us, too. After years of beatings momma became sort of…." Mrs. King was having trouble finding the right way to describe it.

"It was like grandma had Boxer's dementia. She couldn't complete normal thought processes. It was rather like watching someone deteriorating with Alzheimer's or something like that."

"Yes, that's it precisely. Pretty soon it got to a point where most of her day was spent carrying Lex around like a sack of potatoes. She'd sit and brush her hair and braid it, like Lex was her little doll. Her mental capacity was about the same as Lex's at the time, they both had the minds of a 3 or 4 year old."

"When I was around 5 or 6 they put her in home. Grandpa had since stopped being so bad, and actually turned over a new leaf. Before they put her in the home, he had gotten to where he cared for her 24 hours a day, waiting on her hand and foot, bathing her. It was like he was truly sorry for all the things he'd done. And he didn't want to send her to the home, but her care was just getting to be too much sometimes. He went to visit her daily though. Sometimes daddy would allow me to go with him. It was rare. There was one day when I was 7, we went to go see her and the doctor didn't wanna let me in. He said that she was worse, and that she wasn't communicating at all, and would likely not know who I was anymore. But when I started pitching a bitch that I wanted to see her anyway…"

"You always did have a temper." Mrs. King laughed.

"It was the last time I saw her alive. We sat together, made the nurses bring us PB&J sandwiches. She played with my hair like always. We drew pictures for each other; you know how good she was at art…I mean she drew that over there." Alecta pointed to a hand drawn picture in a frame on a far wall. It was a picture that the old woman had drawn of herself, Mrs. King, and Alecta together. It was quite lifelike really.

"She died a few days later. When it happened, grandpa came by the house and brought a box of her art for me….her paintings that she used to do, her sketches….she had been so good at it…as you were too momma, some of yours were in there that you had made when you were a girl….It was all I had left of you both."

"Whatever happened to them? The pictures?" JJ wondered out loud.

"Most of them are still in the old house I guess. When the court case happened and I was sent into foster care, I was only allowed one suit case for my clothes….I didn't get to take a lot with me."

You could see a great deal of sadness in Alecta's eyes over it all. Those bits of art had been worth more than gold to her.

"Actually, old girl, they are at our house." Kevin spoke up; even after all these years he hated to see that lost expression in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"A few weeks ago, after Chaz came back from Los Angeles…I went into the house; it's how I found out that Jake was out. I went in there, and searched for that box, and a few other things."

"Kev…"

"I know, I know…it was too dangerous. If he had caught me in there, it would have been my ass. I know. But Chaz had told me about her trip to get you and what she found there. And I was going to get some things together to bring to you down in Quantico once you got settled. But then…" Kevin shrugged to indicate his point.

"Hell broke loose."

Kevin only nodded. "The box and the other things that I managed to get out with are in one of the rooms beside the chimney in the ballroom. You know the one." He smiled at her and his dimples showed.

"Thank you." Alecta spoke barely above a whisper.

Suddenly the door to the diner opened and Alecta turned to see who came in.

It was this little old man, slightly stooped from age, with big ears and snow white hair. He had crisp blue eyes and a jaunty way that still clung to him. He looked like he was as old as Methuselah. Alecta pushed her chair back and darted over to where he was at the end of the bar, flipping through the newspapers there. As she reached him she carefully put an arm around his shoulder and hugged him gently. When he looked around and saw who hugged him, he got a huge smile on his face and turned and hugged her back.

"Bless me, old girl, I never thought I'd see you again." He sounded so very happy to see her again.

You could see a tear or two escaping Alecta's closed eyes, "I've missed you too old man." Her head rested on his shoulder as he stroked her hair and hugged her tightly. "Come sit with us."

Alecta gently lead him over to the table by one elbow and tapped Hotch on the elbow, signaling him to move down a seat. Of course Hotch moved. "Everybody, this is Ollie. Ollie these are my friends. Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, JJ, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, and Penelope Garcia."

After getting comfortable next to Alecta, "So mum, where have ya been and why haven't you been home." His still thick Scottish brogue came out gently. Everyone was already amused with this old man. He looked slightly like Peter O'Toole, they could be cousins.

"Well after what happened, I was put into foster care with strange families. And I hated it. So I ran away; I wound up in Las Vegas first, and then Los Angeles. I have a few kids now."

"Yeah, really? And what about a husband or a boyfriend?"

"I was married twice, but it didn't last either time. It's like I told you before…."

"Don't you have your dares to say it. Anybody who doesn't love you just because you're in their presence isn't worth a shit anyway. And if they upset you, send them to me, I'll box their ears for them."

Alecta stopped arguing and just rested her head against his shoulder again. "I missed you old man."

"So what are we eating? I'm not getting younger."

With that the group made their order and set to eating when it was brought out. After about an hour or so of talking and eating it was time to head out and go back to the house. Alecta stood and helped Ollie up; she took him by the arm to lead him out the door as they left as well. Alecta made some remark about Ollie being one of her favorites, and Kevin made some sort of grumbling noise in disagreement.

"I'm sorry old chap. She was really my girl all along. Get your own." With that, Ollie placed his hand over hers that was resting on his arm and they both turned and stuck out their tongues at Kevin. And Kevin couldn't help but laugh. God help anyone that came between her and Ollie; he really was one of Alecta's favorite people in the world. And the team got a good chuckle off of the daring old man as well.

Alecta walked him to his car, though it really scared most people to think of a man that old still having his license. As they walked, with Hotch walking on the other side of Alecta, Ollie told her that he would come by the house later and they would talk some more and that he had some things to give her.

As they parted, Alecta took him by the ears and tilted his head, kissing him on his forehead and hugging him tightly again, but not too tightly. "You be careful whatever you do." She helped him ease down into his car seat and watched as he fastened his seat belt and started the car. He waved to her as he pulled away.

As the others began to pile back into the SUV's that they had come to town in, Alecta informed them she had to go over to the general store.

"I can walk back to the house; it's not really that far away."

"I'm coming with you."

"Hotch, we can wait for the two of you."

"No, it's ok. Go on ahead. We'll be alright."

Morgan nodded twice, although he could see by the look on Alecta's face that she wasn't too sure about this. He almost smiled; he wanted to laugh. Rossi just shook his head candidly, slipping into the front passenger seat of the vehicle that Morgan was going to be driving.

"Mommy, can we come, too."

"No, not this time; you have to get home and get a nap. You have a friend coming over a little later, and I want to make sure you have your rest."

Emma went ahead and got into the car; Sofie was grumbling that they never got to do anything fun.

"Shut up Sofie, or mommy won't let us play later."

JJ shook her head as the girls piled into the car.

Hotch followed Alecta up the road to the general store. He couldn't remember ever having been in one before. The outside had some old fuel pumps, indicating that it had once had some business as a gas station as well. It was a one story, maybe a story and ½, red clapboard building with a large portico that would have been used to pull up closer to the building during inclement weather. There were two large front windows with some displays of what the store sells. There was a double screen door, and after you would go through that, you had to go through a heavier wooden double door that had glass inserts in the upper portions. All of the doors were weather beaten, like the rest of the building. Inside, there was a worn wooden floor; same for the shelves that lined the walls of the place. The sales counter was an old battered wooden piece with glass inserts showcasing some of the smaller items that were available. The inside was being lighted with about 4 bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling on ancient cords. There was an old iron pot belly stove that had to be every bit of 100 years old sitting in the middle of the floor. As Alecta and Hotch entered, Hotch noticed that there were about a ½ dozen old timers sitting around it, with their feet propped up on the edges drinking Coke out of glass bottles and snacking on various candy bars. On top of the counter, the register was an old thing. It still had the numbers that popped up on little wooden pegs when the keys were pressed on the key board; it had a golden finish and was decoratively carved…

Alecta sauntered up to the counter and got the attention of the clerk, "Water Head, I need to pick up a heating coil for Mrs. 'Ouisa's oven. Can you grab it for me?"

"Y-y-yes; o-o-of c-c-course." The old man went towards the back of the store and began to rummage through the odds and ends that were stored in the crates around him. While he was gone back there, Alecta walked around the counter, reaching up to one of the shelves behind her and grabbed two candy bars; she had to stand on her tip toes to reach the shelf she was looking for. Hotch chuckled and shook his head. Then she took a couple dollars out of her pocket and laid them on the counter as she came to the end and reached into an ancient refrigerator and pulled out two glass bottles of coke, handing one off to Hotch. They both popped the caps on the bottles on the bottle cap opener that was on the side of the refrigerator. While Alecta waited for ol' Water Head to come back with the part she needed, she sat in one of the empty chairs; she had to scoot forward to be able to stretch her legs out enough to reach the edge of the stove to prop her feet up like the old guys.

"So, what is it today boys?"

One of the old guys looked at her slyly and raised his bottle, she raised hers and they toasted. Alecta grinned and then chuckled a bit at the idea of toasting a soda bottle. When she leaned back into the chair, the way she had to sit, her head didn't come to the top of it.

This one old man, a man that Hotch came to understand was known as 'Cub', spoke up, "Good to see some things never change."

Getting antsy, "For real, what are we talking about boys?"

And with that the old men cut her in on the conversation. And they were off. They had talked so much that they were able to finish their candy bars and drinks. Eventually they started circulating to get up and get more refreshments, each of them tossing the money to cover the candy and drinks on the counter. Hotch was looking rather put out with just standing there.

"Ooh! I'm sorry Hotch, come sit with us. It's ok."

"There's not an empty chair."

"Don't be silly. Sit on Santa's lap and tell her what you want for Christmas." Alecta said with a devious smile, patting her knee.

"Seriously."

"You can have my chair. They don't bite. Do ya boys?"

"Not unless you tell us to." June Bug interjected, taking a drag off of his fresh coke. June Bug was 85 if he was a day.

While Hotch got comfortable in the chair that had been occupied by Alecta she scooted over and sat on Cub's lap for a second, taking his baseball cap off of his head and placing it on hers. It was so big it slid down over her eyes and nearly engulfed her head entirely. She had to lift her chin and squint her eyes to see under the brim. The old men just laughed.

"Yep. The same as ever."

"Really?" Hotch asked.

"Yes; back there on the back wall behind the counter. The picture….take a look."

Hotch turned around and looked. There was a 5x7 grainy, framed photo in a simple black frame of baby Alecta; not more than 3 years old. She was sitting beside of Cub in the picture, wearing the same baseball cap. She had to hold it up with one hand to be able to look at the camera. She had her 'Snicker' candy bar in her other little pudgy hand; she had most of the candy bar smeared all over her face. Her tiny white teeth were showing, as was her little dimple in her left cheek, from the big smile that she had. She was all big brown eyes and long, curly hair that was falling out of her little pony tail. To look at the picture, you would think that the child in it had no clue about how precarious her life really was. It spoke to how well Mrs. King tried to do right by Alecta that the child could still have a smile on her face.

"That picture has been ol' Water Head's favorite all these years. He used to go to school with her grandparents, all four of them. Hell we all did. My older brother was in WWII with one of her grandfathers." Cub explained.

There was a soft glow in the store, provided by the spare bare bulbs. It really was like walking back in time a bit. It was kind of eerie actually. Once Hotch turned around and got settled back comfortably into his seat, Alecta upped the ante. She came over and sat on his lap, with her legs dangling over his left one so she could keep talking to her 'public'. Nobody seemed to bat an eyelash, as if this was normal. Meanwhile, on the inside, Hotch was on the verge of panic. He had been trying, all day, to avoid any major contact that might get him into trouble. This was a prime example of what he was afraid of.

Yes, Alecta was attractive; dear God was she attractive. She had a great sense of humor. She never gave up; she'd fight you to the death for something she believed in. Although she had her damages, she was practically perfect in each and every way.

But Hotch was the team leader. He was Hotch. Most people would swear he was carved out of stone due to his lack of emotions most of the time. Ever since his wife, Haley, had died, he had dated the odd woman or two. But nobody had been serious. For one thing he had worried that his dedication to his job would ruin another relationship. And with Beth…she left him because of her dedication to her career. He couldn't fault her for it. She had to do the right thing for her life. They were still friends, even now. And then there were the times that he talked himself out of another steady relationship because he was scared to death of the same thing that happened to Haley happening to someone else because of him. He couldn't stand by powerless and watch someone else that he loved be murdered for the fun of it. No thanks, it did a number on him the first time around. And he had to be careful about the kind of person he brought around Jack, especially when he was younger.

But there was just something about Alecta. They had a lot in common. Both of them came from abusive homes. He couldn't count how many scars he had all over from beatings his dad gave him. And he still hadn't heard the whole story about Alecta's childhood. She had guarded that carefully. He knew there was a scar above her left eyebrow; he didn't know how she got it. And there were times, when she would wear short sleeved blouses, that he would notice an odd scar here and there and wonder what it was from; he never asked. If she wanted to talk about it, it was her business.

They were both dedicated to their work. Both had lost someone they cared for deeply to the job. In Alecta's case, Yuri returned to her; he left her again, but at least he returned in the first place.

And where Hotch was all stone faced and rarely ever let his emotions or sense of humor show, Alecta was sort of a clown in some ways.

Right this minute, Hotch had his right arm around Alecta's waist to hold her steady on his lap. Same as in the picture, her long hair was falling gently out of the sides of her pony tail, giving it a rumpled look. She had turned Cub's baseball cap around backwards and was still drinking off of her 2nd bottle of Coke. Hotch was trying not to think about how tiny she was. With his hand resting, curved around her waist, the span between his thumb and pinky finger took up most of the length of her torso. He had to thank God for just a moment that she was wearing that hoodie that she had on; it covered up most of the pertinent details of her figure enough that he didn't have to ogle her. It was testing him bad enough to have to hold on to her, if he had been forced to actually look at her small frame in the clothes she had on…this conversation could have gotten interesting, in a way that would have gotten Hotch shot by these old timers.

The only other thing that Hotch could be thankful for at this moment in time is that Rossi was on his way back to the house with the others and couldn't gloat.

After another 15 minutes, Water Head came back with the heating coil for the oven that Alecta had requested. He made his apologies for taking so long to find it, but the store didn't have so very many of these things left around, seeing as most people were up grading their appliances and all. The poor old man had a terrible stutter, but nobody seemed to give him hell about it. It was just ol' Water Head to them.

As they got ready to leave, Alecta leaned over to put the ball cap back on Cub's head and give him a little kiss on the cheek.

"We'll have to do this again sometime boys."

"Just don't wait another 25 years how 'bout it. We ain't getting any younger ya know."

"Oh hush. I'll be back in later on in the week. I'll be staying for a while, managed to get some time off of work."

"What. Did. You. Do?" Cub asked slowly.

"Eh, save it for the next time I come out here. It's a long story." She winked at them and began walking out, with the heating coil that she had come for tucked safely under her arm.

"Since we're walking back we can take the short cut. Well it's short-er than the normal way to the house. Come on."

Hotch followed her as they cut through an overgrown field; there was no telling what it was once used for, but now it was over grown with wild grasses. As they walked she took her hair out of the pony tail.

"I was starting to get a bit of a headache; I think I had it in too tight." She sort of giggled at herself as she said it. After they walked for a while in this first field, they came to the edge of a dirt road, on the opposite side of which was a corn field. Alecta walked over and reached up and grabbed an ear of corn and pulled it off.

"You're not eating that are you?"

"Oh God no. I'd have to wash it off and stuff first. You'll see what it's for in a few minutes."

Sure enough, less than 10 more minutes into their walk, Hotch and Alecta came upon a deer in the middle of the dirt road. It didn't even flinch. Alecta put her hand back to signal to Hotch to stay a bit behind her. As Hotch did as she told him, she held the corn out to the deer and it came walking right up to her. Once it started eating right out of her hand, she grabbed Hotch's hand and pulled him forward to let him pet the animal. Again, the animal didn't seem scared of him. After the deer had eaten most of the corn on the cob that Alecta had fed to it, they started walking again.

After only 15 feet, Hotch looked back and noticed the deer was following them. When he mentioned that to Alecta, all she said was 'stay tuned, there's more."

Another few feet, and there were at least five more deer that showed up along their path. The original one that Alecta had fed had moved to walk by her side, even bumping her hand with it's head every now and again to alert her that it wanted attention; just like a dog.

Alecta chuckled at the surprised look on Hotch's face. "Yep. I knew you were a city boy."

Once they rounded a corner after another mile or so up the road, the deer took off back into the fields. They must have sensed they were getting closer to home.

By the time they got to the bend in the road, Alecta was walking just a few steps in front of Hotch. Whatever Hotch was feeling would not stay quiet any longer. He grabbed her by her right arm and spun her around and kissed her…kissed her hard.

At first it seemed as though Alecta was reciprocating, but then something happened, and she pushed away from him with a hurt look on her face; she was backing away from him.

"Don't do this to me." With that, she turned and quickly ran the rest of the way to the house, never looking back, still with the heating coil tucked under her arm.

Luckily for Hotch they were close enough to the house he could figure out the rest of the way by himself. By the time he got there, Alecta had already run in, placed the oven part on the kitchen table, and was out of sight. He would have to find her and apologize to her for his actions.

But that would have to wait until the reckoning that was about to hit him in the form of…..

Post AN: I'm evil. I know it. It's one of my better qualities. Ok. The general store in the story is actually based on a general store that is (or was) down the street from my grandma's old house when I was a kid, went there a lot. It's pretty much how I described it, except for the picture on the wall. Cub is based on an old guy that used to live down an old dirt road that ran behind my old house…Water Head is the real-life nick name of an old guy that my grandmother used to go to school with in the 1930's; although I don't know if the real man had a stutter or not. Stay tuned for Chpt 5 to see who is about to make Hotch's life miserable (at least until he explains himself).