I'm Coming Home

by Shortstakk7932

After having a rocky start in the BAU during 'Who Are You', Alecta and the team head back to her home town for a birthday bash; it's part of the two week vacation that they have been granted by Strauss. While they are there, the team starts to learn even more about what has made Alecta the woman she is today. Nothing very sexual. Rated M to be safe for possible foul language.

5. Chapter 5

AN: So I was evil as hell for the ending of the last chapter. I know. But here's chapter 5 to make up for it.

Heaven bend to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight

Truth be told I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear

Though I've tried, I've fallen..
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

We all begin with good intent
Love was raw and young
We believed that we could change ourselves
THe past could be undone
But we carry on our backs the burden
Time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear.

I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

Heaven bend to take my hand
Nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh they turn their heads embarrassed
Pretend that they don't see
But it's one missed step
One slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed

Though I've tried, I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

(Fallen, Sarah McLachlan)

As Hotch made his way out of the kitchen and into the hall leading to the living room, Kevin came around the corner and landed a left hook out of nowhere into Hotch's jaw; knocking him down to the floor.

"What did you do to her?"

Rossi came running from the private atrium that was off of the left of the living room when he heard the commotion. JJ and Emily came running down the stairs. Kevin's parents came from the downstairs study. Morgan and Garcia had been coming through the door that led out to the view of the river; they were in the hall and heard Hotch hit the floor hard.

"What are you talking about?" Hotch asked, picking himself up, checking that his jaw wasn't broken.

"Kevin…son…you do know you just hit a federal agent?"

"Yeah, put me in a holding cell next to Whitney." Turning back on Hotch, 'Answer me. What did you do to her?"

"Son how can you think Hotch had anything to do with it?"

"Agent Rossi, I am not one of you. I have never been a profiler. I never claimed to be an intelligent man. But when we all went to lunch together she was fine, relatively. She was still alright when we left her. She was with him when she went to the hardware store. And now she comes back from being left alone with him and she was absolutely in tears. Now, I will ask you again. What. Did. You. Do. To. Her?"

"Where is she? I need to talk to her."

"Answer me first, and then, depending on your answer, you might live long enough to clean up your mess."

Hotch hung his head, he was pretty sure he would get hit in his other jaw, leaving him with a matching set.

"Ever since she joined the team I have been gaining feelings for her. On the walk back…I kissed her. At first she was alright with it, even returning the sentiment. But then she backed away and asked me not to do that to her, and ran away."

"I told you Hotch! You had better be sure of what you're doing with her." Rossi hissed through closed teeth.

"Who said I wasn't sure?"

"Yeah, well now she's locked herself in the museum. She won't even open the door for me. But I can hear her talking. I don't know which one is in there with her. Daniel, Abigail...it could be anybody."

"Now, you know I taught you how to pick a lock."

"I tried that daddy. One of them pushed the pick back out. And the door opens out, so it's not like I can kick it in."

Hotch finally stood to his full height, pretty sure that he wouldn't get hit again. "Where is this museum?"

"It's upstairs, in the ballroom. There are fire places on either end of the room. Go to the fire place to the left as you go through the door. On either side of the chimney there are two small rooms. The room to the right of the chimney is the museum. At least that's what she calls it."

Hotch started making his way up the stairs. He had to meet this head on to fix it.

As he came into the ball room he looked around for a second. He located the room that Kevin had told him about. Still shaking the cobwebs out of his head from the blow that Kevin landed, he made his way over there. As he got closer to the room, he was shoved back. Hotch never saw the hands that shoved him. As he landed, yet again on his backside, he looked up and saw an angry Daniel standing in front of him. Before he could say a word, Daniel merely glared at him and turned and walked back through the closed door into the room with Alecta.

Knowing that Daniel had gone back in, but still trying to plead his case, "I only came to apologize." Then, mumbling under his breath to himself mostly, 'I seem to be doing that a lot these days."

He heard the lock click in the door and the door swung open and saw Alecta sitting across the room in the corner on the floor. She was looking through some boxes of things. The museum was tiny, but it was well organized and held quite a lot of stuff. Daniel was standing near the door, still giving Hotch the glare.

Alecta merely glanced over at him and went back to rummaging through the box.

"Davis…I want to…"

"You never have called me by my given name; that's one way that I could tell that you don't actually care a thing about me. Not really anyway. It's not a big deal. After the way I've orchestrated my life over the last 20 or 25 years I've turned it into more of a carnival side show than anything else. You aren't to blame. People just seem to want a front row seat to watch everything blow up in my face."

Alecta rose to her feet and began to leave the room. Hotch took a quick glance around and saw medals and memorabilia from both world wars; and odd piece or two from the Revolution and the Civil Wars. She even had a uniform jacket from the Revolution that had belonged to a patriot soldier, more than likely it belonged to Daniel.

The sad look had yet to leave her face as she walked out into the ballroom.

"Don't give me that look old woman,' was all she said as she walked past the double portrait of Abigail and her husband Ezra.

Hotch followed her out.

"Do you mind? I don't care much for being stalked ya know."

"I'm not leaving you alone until we talk about this. I nearly got my jaw broken when your attack dog jumped on the trail."

"I will talk to him. I promise he won't hit you again."

"No offense, but I don't think he will be that easily controlled. I want to talk about what happened. What if I meant it?"

"But you don't."

"What if I did?"

Alecta was making her way through the house, going downstairs, out the back door leading to the view of the river. Everybody else was sitting back letting her handle it for the time being. Once they were outside, Alecta proceeded to explain to Hotch why he couldn't possibly know what he was talking about.

"Look. I'm not the kind of woman that you want to be kissing on and falling all over yourself for. I'm not the kind of girl you would take home to your mother."

"Lucky for us that my mother passed away years ago."

"That's mean."

"You never met my mother."

Alecta took off her hooded jacket dropping it to the ground where she stood.

"Look at me Hotch, I mean, really look."

"I have been. What do you think brought on that kiss?"

"You're not listening." She lifted the hem of her layered shirts revealing a nasty scar that looked rather like a dog bite among others.

"I can tell you how I got each one of them." Pointing to the one on above her left eyebrow, 'I was two. I was sitting in my high chair, having my morning cereal, 'Fruit Loops' of course. Mom and dad were fighting. Dad came too close, swinging his arms, gesturing. I'm still not sure if it was an accident that he knocked me out of the high chair or if he did it on purpose. I started screaming when my head bounced off of the floor. And because he was already angry anyway, he just turned and started kicking me in the sides and stomach to try to shut me up. Then when he got tired of everything he turned and left mom and I to pick ourselves up off of the floor.

That night was also the first night that he came into my room to rape me. He made me think he was coming to apologize. I was his baby doll, daddy's little princess. He never meant to hurt me like that. And then…." Alecta shrugged as she walked away, sniffing.

"We are more alike than you think. My father beat my brother, mother, and myself for years before he died of cancer. And nobody ever said a word about it because he was a respected lawyer in the state of Virginia. I was stabbed multiple times by George Foyet; I still have scars from that."

"Do you have cigarette burn scars, or scars from being burned with lighters all over you? Were you ever chased down and bitten by your father's Presa Canario? That's what this was from. I was 6, and I couldn't run quite fast enough. It's a lot like being chased down by a large pit bull, they stand nearly 2 feet tall at the shoulders, and they can weigh around 100lbs. At 6 years old, I was barely 3'5, and I know I didn't weigh more than about 40lbs. All I remember is the dog pouncing, screaming, and then blackness. I may have heard a gunshot, but it's all a bit fuzzy.

After that, when daddy came home he found his dog dead. He sat me in the kitchen chair; he sat in one just three feet from me and pulled out his revolver. He wanted me to tell him who shot the dog. He pointed the gun at my head and kept pulling the trigger until I told him what he wanted to know. I would never tell him, he could have shot me if he thought that would make him feel better."

"What happened?"

"The gun misfired, I ducked under the table, or was pushed…it depends on how you look at it. And as soon as I was out of the line of fire, the gun fired properly. The bullet is still in the wall of the kitchen just behind where I had been sitting. He got up and walked out.

Your father may have beaten you. I won't argue that point. But your father and his friends never tortured you. So really, save yourself from looking stupid. You and I are nothing alike. You know nothing about me."

With that Alecta walked away and Hotch continued to follow her. He knew the game she was trying to play. He'd been profiling for years.

"I know what you're doing."

"Please. Do tell."

"You have been through hell, this is true. But you're more afraid of trusting your own judgment."

Alecta grabbed her hoodie and started to walk in the opposite direction, "Oh really? I wonder why. I have had one husband come back from the dead, just to tell me that he's leaving me. My other husband has been trying for the better part of 10 years to beat me to death every chance he got. Fletcher even told me to my face, in the presence of the entire team no less, that he never loved me in the first place. But that he had a bet to win. That's all I was to him, a game; story of my life."

She stomped away, rubbing at her eyes and sniffing. Hotch was wearing her down, at least he was pretty sure of it.

"It doesn't have to stay that way."

"Oh please. I have spent nearly my entire life being somebody's ashtray, their punching bag….somebody's momma. That's all I have ever been. And you can't make me believe for one second that that is the kind of woman you want. The one person in my entire life that ever tried to stick with me through everything….and I walked away from it."

"Well then don't do it a second time."

"I left because he deserved better than me. Just please! Leave me alone. I don't wanna talk about it anymore. I have a card game to get to, and the kids have a play date."

With that, Alecta took off running back towards the house; she had been wiping her eyes and nose on the sleeve of her hoody. The woman was damned infuriating.

Hotch then made his way back into the house. He wasn't sure how he was going to make this work. He only knew that he had to patch this up quick. As Hotch passed back through the house, anybody could see it written on his face that he was warring with what he was trying to say to Alecta.

Kevin saw how desperate Hotch was to fix this. He sort of knew how the guy felt. This was him not more than a couple weeks ago. And Kevin and Lex had a blistering argument, and everything was better. But that was different. They had known each other their entire lives. Hotch was coming in after the fact of Alecta having to put up with 40 years of peoples bullshit.

"Agent Hotchner, just back off for a little bit. Give her some room or she will explode. I've been on the receiving end of that, it ain't pretty."

"I just…" Hotch ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I know. But it'll be hard as hell to fix anything with her hand wrapped around your throat. Just, back off a few feet. Let me talk to her. I'll see if I can't talk some kind of sense into her."

Hotch looked at Kevin, not sure why the man would help him.

"Look. I'm not saying I'm happy about her choosing you over me. I'd be an out and out liar if I said that. But, as long as you do right by her and look out for her the way I would, then I can do nothing but respect you for it. And it's not worth fighting over it if all it would do is make her more miserable than she is now."

Alecta came bustling through the room and ran up all of the stairs, into the cupola, and called out Constance. Alecta told her that she didn't feel like playing cards today. And then she made her way back out of the house. She took her horse with her and rode out to the family cemetery that was a couple of acres away.

Hotch and Kevin had still been having their discussion when they looked up and saw her leave the house. Kevin looked up at his dad, a worried expression on his face.

"I'll go,' Mrs. King figured it was her turn to go talk to Lex; Hotch and Kevin had been crowding her all day and getting nowhere.

Mrs. 'Ouisa stopped her though, telling her that it was really better to give her some space. Hotch kept pacing. He didn't like her being out there, anywhere without somebody with her. Her father or one of his friends could try something stupid at any time. Finally, Hotch had enough; he snuck out the front door and made his way in the direction that he'd seen Lex go.

It took him a few minutes to get to her, but when he did, he found her sitting on her knees in an ancient family cemetery near a particular grave. He walked through the gate to the cemetery and made his way over to where she was sitting.

He could hear her bawling her eyes out as she sat there. She could hear him quietly coming closer.

Without turning around Alecta began to speak, her voice choked by tears, "Ever since I was a little girl, I had to come here to talk to my momma. Daddy never told me where she was buried, I never had a clue. And he always made me believe she was dead. Kevin's mom and dad put this up to try to make me feel better when I was little because I was afraid that she wouldn't know where she belonged if she was just out there somewhere. I never had a mother to teach me anything, or to talk to and tell her my troubles….except for Mrs. 'Ouisa. And she did a good job, she really did. But it wasn't the same. When I couldn't talk to anyone else, this was all I had.

And most of my life, I've been able to….bury it. But lately, after everything that's happened…I've lost so much these last few weeks, and I've got nowhere to turn."

The sad, abandoned look in Lex's eyes was enough to stop Hotch in his tracks. She really felt like she had nowhere to turn.

"Ok. How about this; I take a few steps back and give you some space. When you think you have things straightened out in your head I'll be there."

Lex kept staring at that headstone, sniffing and wiping her eyes. Then, looking up at Hotch from where she still sat she gave a tiny, barely audible, 'Really?"

Hotch wasn't sure which part she didn't believe; the bit about him backing off or the part about him still being there regardless.

"Yes, of course. I mean, think about it. I've sort of taken over for Morgan carrying you around everywhere. You've got me walking into doors. And I just within the last hour or so kissed the hell out of you.

Kevin nearly broke my jaw. Rossi has been threatening my life since you were in the hospital, or damn near as long. And let's not forget Mr. Eason shall we, the man loves his guns. I would be a damned fool to back out now. I think Rossi scares me more than Kevin or his father…."

For the first time in nearly 24 hours, that got a nice little giggle out of her. "That's only because you don't know Kevin and Mr. Dan'el very well."

"Come on back to the house before they have a coronary."

Alecta nodded and Hotch lent her a hand to help her to her feet.

Wiping her hands on her shorts as she rose to her feet, 'Yeah, one of 'em's liable to send a search party soon."

So with that they began the walk back to the house. Hotch was pretty sure that one of his favorite things in the world was when she looked up at him for any reason. To know that there was so much going on inside of her head that he still didn't know about; and when she looked at you, you could see every emotion that was simmering behind her eyes. As if the deep, dark brown of her eyes wasn't enough, you could see all of her thoughts and emotions swirling in them. The mischief, sadness, surprise, happiness…it was all there; everything she didn't say, either because she wouldn't or just wasn't sure how.

The cemetery they had been in, although it was in a clearing, was still very near the edge of some wooded acreage. And, as Hotch and Alecta made their way back to the house, they had no idea that someone was just behind the tree line, watching them….patiently waiting.

So far, these new people had stayed by Alecta's side, never letting her out of their sight for long intervals at all. But they were bound to slip up. Someone always did. And when they did, he was getting back what was rightfully his. He had bought and paid for her, he would have her back. He wondered as he watched if this tall, dark haired man knew that she had been bought and sold like a used car. The thought made the man behind the trees snicker quietly to himself. And as he got a good laugh off of his own little inside joke, he formulated an idea of how to not only get Alecta back, but also get back that other little bitch that had escaped all those years ago. Jake would like that; he'd finally get to finish what he started, as would Lucky. Seeing enough for the time being, Lucky turned to make his way back to Jake to tell him what he had learned so far.