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.

13. Chapter 13

AN: So here goes chapter 13. When I started writing it I was in one of the foulest moods I've been in in a while, I'm sure you'll be able to tell. I decided since I could get 25-life the other way, that this was the easiest way to get rid of the 'Grumpies'. Hope you like it.

Tea & Theatre-The Who

Will you have some tea
At the theatre with me?
We did it all - didn't we?
Jumped every wall – instinctively
Unraveled codes – ingeniously
Wired all the roads - so seamlessly

We made it work
But one of us failed
That makes it so sad
A great dream derailed

One of us gone
One of us mad
One of us, me
All of us sad

All of us sad - lean on my shoulder now
The story is done - it's getting colder now
A thousand songs - still smolder now
We played them as one - we're older now

All of us sad
All of us free
Before we walk from the stage
Two of us
Will you have some tea?
Will you have some tea
At the theatre with me?

Alecta jerked awake suddenly. Just a nightmare….Just a nightmare. Daddy's dead. They're all dead. She tried so hard to reassure herself. They're all dead…while that thought ran through her mind yet again, she carefully managed to slip out of the bed. She had to get her land legs back. She had been getting carried around a lot lately. She hadn't been carried around so damned much since she was a child and she didn't really care for it most of the time. The need to be carried around made her feel weak and insignificant. Alecta had prided herself on her self-reliance over the years. She had made it a point to never really need anybody for anything. She didn't like people putting their hands all over her for any reason. For the most part, she loathed being touched. She didn't even really like being hugged, truth be told, but she over looked that for the most part, because she didn't want to seem…bitchy and cold to everyone else around her.

Sliding down out of the bed, she noticed that Hotch and Rossi were dozing; Rossi was beginning to snore a bit. Alecta couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped at the thought. She loved that old man dearly, about as much as Eli and Dr. Mallard. They were her 'old fart tri-fecta'; the three old men that she just could not live without in her little world. They each had a special place in her heart. And she loved Gibbs' father as well, being that he was family and all. But, her favorite three…she loved them just because they were them; it was hard for her to really choose a favorite.

She looked around some more and saw that Hotch had crapped out in the knock off recliner that was in the room. As carefully as she could she made her way out of the room after ripping out her IV needle and making sure she was clear of the wires….lucky for her she knew her way around some of the equipment in the hospital room. She knew what some of the switches were for and could fake it long enough to be down the hall and in the elevator before anyone knew she was gone; never mind how she came by this knowledge. She had been in the hospital enough over the years to pick up a little something.

Slowly she made her way down the hall, holding onto the railing that lined the walls. She was unsteady on her feet. She was in a moderate amount of pain….ok, if she had to tell the truth, on the scale of 1-10 (1=ouch, 10=kill me now) she was more like an 8 or 9.

Making it to the elevator finally, Alecta quickly mashed the button that would lead her to the floor that the morgue was on. She had to see for herself the fallout that was brought down that day.

She carefully entered the morgue, looking around. The attendant asked her if she needed help.

"My fath….Jake King. He was dropped off earlier. I need to see his…Is he really dead?"

"And you are?"

"I was his daughter for a while."

"Oh yes. You're upstairs currently."

Alecta nodded. Without making things worse for her, the attendant showed her to the drawer containing Jake's body. Before the man pulled the sheet back from the head and shoulders, Alecta shut her eyes, taking a deep breath, holding it, and then letting it out…she had to mentally prepare herself for this.

The attendant pulled the sheet back, 'When you're ready…."

Alecta merely nodded, the attendant stepped back a few steps to give her a moment. Alecta opened her eyes slowly…she didn't want to be afraid that Jake would somehow jump down off of his slab and for this to all be a joke. She had prayed and begged for years for all of her suffering to be over. If he was to sit up and speak to her now, she would have completely come apart.

When she opened her eyes, Jake was still resting on his slab. His skin was a strange shade of blue. His eyes were closed. The thing that Alecta noticed the most, and it unnerved her more than anything on earth, was the quiet; that and the lack of aroma of cheap booze and stale cigarettes.

"Are you sure this is him?"

"Quite sure, yes ma'am."

"I'm sorry to doubt you. It's just that, for all my life, I've never heard silence from him. He was always yelling or screaming at me and momma. And he doesn't reek of booze and cigarettes. I've never been around him when he smelled like anything but an ashtray."

The attendant watched as Alecta looked over her dead father's body with sadness in her eyes.

"You know. I thought I would feel so much better when this was all over, when he was dead. I thought that finally I could have some peace, that somehow…." She struggled to find the right thoughts…"but, I don't feel better. I can't swear that I feel anything at all. For all the bad he did in the world…and trust me, there was plenty of that to go around…he was my daddy once upon a time. And I was his little princess. And I don't know what happened or what I did wrong….but he hated me so much." She became choked by tears and for a few moments couldn't go on.

The attendant could see tears running down her cheeks, some of them falling onto her father's face as she leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life with these feelings. I've spent enough time with them. I have to bury them with him, and forget them."

After another minute or two, she gathered herself together and turned to the attendant, 'there were two young women about my age, around 40 or so, brought in around the same time….they were two of my very dear friends. May I see them?"

The attendant showed her to the area that they had been placed after shutting her father's body back up in his drawer; he passed her a stool to sit on between the two slabs that were side by side; he had noticed that she was starting to waiver a bit, she was getting tired and worn out from her journey from upstairs. As he stepped back, he noticed that her back was bleeding.

"Ma'am, I'm going to my desk to do some work, and give you a bit of privacy. If you need something please, let me know."

Alecta only nodded. She was too consumed with her own thoughts to say anything.

The young attendant went to his desk and picked up the phone, he placed a call to the nurse's station on the floor that Alecta had come from. A nurse Jenkins answered the phone. The attendant relayed the information about the patient, Alecta, and told her to send someone down to collect her…that she was in some really bad pain and that he thought her stitches needed to be checked.

While Alecta sat there mulling over her thoughts about the death of her two best friends in the world, Hotch made his way down to the morgue. He and Rossi had just been wondering about how she would take this news. Apparently she remembered everything that happened; at least they would have their answer.

As Hotch came through the door to the morgue he showed his badge to the attendant as he quietly let him know he was here for Alecta. The attendant pointed in the direction that he needed to go.

Hotch stepped closer to where Alecta sat; he could hear her sniffling, a lot. He was trying to get it together in his head what he was going to say to her to make it better.

"Ya know, I never intended for this to happen. I never wanted this."

Hotch almost jumped out of his skin, 'How did you know I was here?"

"One of the tricks I learned when I was, um, under cover. One of Mengele's favorite forms of torture was to blind me. But I grew adept at using my other senses…hearing, smell, etc. to tell when someone was close by. Your after shave gave you away."

"So you have been paying attention."

"Pft. Well yeah, just because I have not confirmed or denied any feelings I might have for you doesn't mean that I haven't noticed you. I have, noticed you, a lot; at least as much as you've noticed me."

She sniffled again, 'my dear sweet girls. "

She started to bawl her eyes out in earnest. "It was never meant to happen this way. They weren't supposed to be hurt, not even a scratch. I loved them best, above all others. They were the best friends I ever had. I was a terrified 15 year old girl when I met them.

After Lady Heather, Moira and Cinnamon were the first two people that I met and became friends with. I remember thinking at first that I needed to stay away from these kind of women, that this was a sick life style they were in; you know how it is.

But they…they helped me once; in truth, so very many times. Apparently I looked like easy pickings to some of the clients at the dungeon. I guess that anyone that's barely above 5ft tall and 115-120lbs doesn't seem like much of a challenge.

Moira was born in Ireland…County Antrim, in a little tiny village called Ballynure. As of 2001, it had less than 700 people in it. I think our fathers were separated at birth. Moira's daddy was the stereotypical drunk Irishman. I never met the man, but I have seen one or two pictures of him. Like my father, he was a handsome man, in his way. Her daddy had strawberry blonde hair, maybe slightly darker, heading towards auburn. He had her green eyes. She got her black hair from her mother. He was a handsome devil that's for sure. A handsome package crammed full of horrible demons. The family came to America trying to find a better life; they had been quite poor back home in Ireland. Things went from bad to worse for them. The American dream turned out to be not what they were given. Her father's drinking and beating became worse….money troubles were worse than ever. Moira ran away from home when she wasn't much older than I was at the time. She was about 17. She said that the last she had heard about her family was that two of her sisters had run away as well, not long after her. Her three brothers were doing time, and that her father had been gunned down in a drunken dispute with some friends of his. Shortly after that, she said her mother returned to her own parents and relatives in Ireland; she had no idea what had become of her daughters. Eventually, Moira did write to her grandparents and asked after her mother and received a letter back with a photo…her mother was alive and well, and was so glad to hear from her. Be that as it may, Moira was never able to go back home."

The sobbing got worse…"And now, I have to send my dearest girl back to her mother in a little box. It doesn't seem quite right. This will never sit right with me. I don't care if I can give up the rest of my regrets….this…this will last me the rest of my life."

Taking a minute, "I didn't know a lot about Cinnamon. The most she ever talked about her life from before was during the nightmares that she had. I don't think she ever knew her biological parents. She was in the foster care system as far back as she could remember. She grew up understanding that nobody had ever really wanted her…that's what she believed. She aged out of foster care. She had a few families that would take her for short periods of time, never more than a few months at a time, each one was worse than the one before. You've heard the horror stories…this was her life.

My darling, darling girls….my dearest sisters. They had my back a few times, many times. The three of us so much alike…..they were the constants. They guarded the citadel that we had built out west. They ran it. They had never traveled to these far flung places….we needed someone to stay on the home front and keep the girls safe that we were able to free from the traffickers and general bad situations. They were the sentinels, everyone knew of them.

They did what they were supposed to do. They didn't give those men the information they wanted. They are busy now taking it to their graves."

When Alecta turned her eyes up to Hotch, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen so many tears streaking down one face, with more on stand-by.

"They deserved so much better than what they got Aaron."

He began to notice how run down she suddenly seemed; her posture beaten down more than he'd ever seen it.

"I can't do this anymore. In a matter of weeks I have lost three of the people that meant the most to me. I have failed them. What happens if I fail again? I'm getting too old for this. I've buried a few of our people over the years, but it was never like this. It never hurt this bad. Sometimes I wonder just how much good I am doing…Am I doing as much or more harm than good?"

"We have to get you back upstairs. You're going to feel pretty shitty if you don't get some rest soon."

Alecta nodded her head as she turned her gaze to Hotch. Looking into her eyes, Hotch realized something was terribly wrong. Her eyes were empty, no emotion in them. There was always something there, even if it was a weariness or anger, there was always emotion in her eyes…but there was nothing. Suddenly, he noticed how her body began jerking. She's having a seizure! Hotch ran over and grabbed her and pulled her off of the stool, laying her on the floor.

"Help. Over here, help us."

The attendant came running again, cell phone in hand. He saw what was happening and began calling for help. All they could really do was turn her on her side to keep her from swallowing her tongue and hold her as still as possible. In a matter of minutes the doctor came running with a nurse and a couple of orderlies. As the orderlies were helping the nurse get Alecta onto a back board and secured onto it, the doctor was checking the dilation of her eyes and her heart beat. The heart beat was erratic and her pupils were quite dilated.

"We have to get her back upstairs, NOW." Turning to the nurse, 'Get the wraps ready. We have to get this damned fever down immediately."

The nurse ran ahead to get started on her task.

As they arrived upstairs on the fifth floor, where Alecta's room was, Hotch was met by Rossi, 'What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know; one minute she was fine and the next…she had a seizure." Hotch kept walking, Rossi falling in beside him. Kevin came running down the hall with his mother and Mrs. King right on his heels.

"What the hell?"

"Kevin, I don't know yet. The doctor will let us know what's going on soon…I hope."

It took about 30 minutes before the doctor was able to give them any kind of update.

"Her fever has risen. It was 102° earlier, and according to readings from the monitors, it had dropped to around 100°. But it seems as though it has shot back up. Currently it is at 104°, which is what caused the seizure. At 105° we have to worry about things such as coma and brain death. We have wrapped her in cold wraps to try to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible. If not for the pregnancy we could have put her in an ice bath…"

"Good luck with that. Fever or no, my girl woulda clawed your entire face off." Kevin said from his spot, leaning against the wall, arms crossed across his chest.

"Indeed she would have doctor. I would have hated to see the left overs." Mrs. King chirped. "My daughter has always been quite cold natured. She doesn't care for it at all. When she was a little girl and had Scarlett fever, we had to put her in an ice bath. I still have two scars going down my arms from where she tried to keep me from putting her in it."

"At any rate, we will have to keep a careful watch on her for the next couple of hours. If we aren't able to get control of her fever soon she will have another seizure."

Hotch was pacing up and down the hall once the doctor left to make his rounds. Kevin called Victor who was currently at the house watching out for his dad, he had to tell him what was going on with Alecta.

"I'm bringing the old man up there…"

"No, don't. He won't be able to do very much anyway except sit around and wait…that's all we're doing. And right now he needs to rest as much as anyone."

"Fine, but if he threatens to break my legs, I'm bringing him up there, and you can deal with his mangy old ass."

"Thank you Victor."

As Kevin hung up the phone he could hear Rossi's exasperated voice as he spoke to Hotch.

"What the…' trying to lower his voice out of respect for the fact that they were in the hospital, 'What the hell was she doing down in the morgue? How did she make it that far?"

"I don't know how she did it. But as far as why…saying good bye to some old ghosts I guess."

"She shouldn't have been able to be out of bed."

"That's Lex for ya." Kevin spoke up, seeing the looks on their faces. "She was probably a 9 on the pain Richter scale; she has let one of ya carry her around without too much argument. But, to go down there, to make sure Jake is really dead and to see her girls…she would have done it twice if she had to. She had to wait 'til ya'll were asleep before she went, or else you would never have let her go."

"You're damned right. Would you have?"

"No. And we would be having this exact same argument. If ya'll want you can head back to the house for a couple of hours and get cleaned up and get some rest…"

"I'm not leaving,' Hotch stated matter of factly before Kevin ever finished his sentence. 'There is a shower in the bathroom that connects to her room. If I have to I can use it."

"Of course you'd say that. That's why we brought a bag for you." Mrs. King handed over the bag of items for him. It was pretty basic; a change of clothes, tooth brush/tooth paste, a comb.

"I'm staying with Alecta right now myself." Mrs. King made it known that she wasn't budging. "Every time I leave my baby alone something bad happens to her….or something worse than bad I should say…."

"Well, I'll sit with you…"

"You should go back to the house Rossi….I'll be fine here for a while. I know…"

"I'm not leaving until you do."

"Well then I hope that you liked the cot, it will be your best friend for a while." Mrs. King said assuredly.

"Lady I was a Marine. I could sleep on the floor if I had no other choice."

"Yes, but you are also a wealthy author. Rich old men aren't usually accustomed to sleeping on floors."

"Oh so now you're calling me old?"

"Indeed."

"Come on you. We have to go check on your daughter." Rossi put a hand to the middle of Mrs. King's back as he guided her into Alecta's room with a slight chuckle.

Meanwhile, back at the Eason's house, Victor had been keeping a lid on the old man, if just barely.

Morgan had been keeping an eye on Garcia; she hadn't eaten since they got home. She tried to pass it off as being too worried about Alecta to eat a thing, which might be true, but Morgan would feel a heck of a sight better if she would just talk to him.

"I'm going to go take a shower,' she said jumping up again after he just tried once more to get her to eat a little something. It was the fifth shower she'd taken in just about eight hours. She would wash herself until her skin was a bright red from scrubbing. She still hadn't told him any of what happened.

Morgan hadn't take her back up to the hospital because she hadn't really rested, and she hadn't eaten; he was trying to save her from getting all worked up being back in that environment, although it looked a bit like he was failing miserably.

It was along about 12am, everyone was starting to finally settle in for bed that night. The bed in the room that Morgan and Garcia were sharing was positioned much like some of the other beds on this side of the house; it was settled in front of a large array of bay windows. There was a nightstand on either side. Garcia had stayed up there after her last shower and not bothered to come back down. Morgan finally decided to go on up; he was so tired. The last time that he could remember feeling this run down was around the time she was shot, well just after that. After Battle was killed, all of the adrenaline had drained from his body, and he was on fumes.

As he walked through the bedroom door, he saw Garcia lying in the bed on her left side. Her left hand was under her head; her right hand was under her pillow. She was still awake; her eyes were focused on the door. Derek wasn't sure what to do for her. When they were still at the hospital, Pen had gone to the restroom before they were all about to leave. Telling the doctor that he was listed as Penelope's next of kin and was also her fiancée he talked the doctor into telling him what had happened to his Baby Girl. It was as bad as he thought, she had been raped. Although, due to patient confidentiality that was really all the doctor was at liberty to tell him. As far as specifics are concerned, Morgan was going to have to wait for her to tell him.

Derek changed clothes; he usually slept in little more than boxers. But, after what happened today, he wasn't sure about how comfortable Pen would be. He decided to put on a pair of sweat pants over his boxers, and at least a tank top. From there Pen would have to let him know what she needed from him…he'd wear a parka in July if she told him to. He carefully crawled into bed behind her, he intended to just drape an arm across her, not trying to really wrap around her in case she was in no mood for that. As soon as his form hit the mattress Pen turned over and threw her arms around him and buried her face into his shirt covered chest. With that being her decision, Derek then just wrapped his arms around her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. It seemed like no time at all and they were both out cold, Pen having turned her face out a little to keep from smothering herself with Derek's chest….although…nah, bad timing.

With that last thought, Garcia tried to shut off her mind a bit and get some sleep; if she hadn't been so upset over the day's events and so shaken by what had happened, she would have chuckled at her own thoughts. But she just couldn't bring herself to do that. That night it took Penelope and Derek less than 10 minutes to fall completely asleep. Normally, they sat up and talked a bit until they dozed off, but tonight, Pen wasn't in the mood to talk. She had to make sense of things in her own mind a bit before she just let it all out. Derek didn't push her. He knew how she could be. If he pushed her too hard to speak up, she would clam up even worse and it would take twice as much effort to get her to talk later. He would have to wait her out. Maybe in the morning everything would be settled enough for her to start talking; a man had to have some hopes.

At 3:30 in the morning in a hospital room across town, Alecta sat up out of a dead sleep, still feverish, still wrapped like a mummy in some dampened linens that they were trying to use to bring her fever down. As she sat up Lex recognized that she was being restrained somehow, and she didn't care for it. She began to struggle to get lose.

"My dear girl be still, you'll upset your stitches."

"Get me out of this…this straight jacket…"

"Listen to your mother…."

"I have to get out of here, there's a problem…"

"Yeah, I'll say. You had a fever, it spiked up to 104°, and you had a seizure because of it. We need to get the nurse or the doctor to come and see if it's dropped."

"You do that, I have to make a phone call…can I at least get an arm free?"

"What number do you need dialed?"

Alecta looked at Rossi for a moment, worried. The number she needed dialed was a foreign number. It belonged to a friend that worked for her other team. Nobody outside of the two organizations had these numbers. There were private cell numbers for all of the members of the 'executive' order….meaning, the 'Immortals', some of the people who guarded the compounds that were all around the world….some of the 'Georges' had them as well. One of these numbers had never been given out to someone from the outside before. She knew she could trust Rossi, of that she had no doubt. But what would the others say?

"Really? Can't we just free one of my arms?"

"What's the number?"

"Fine!" Alecta called out the number, Rossi placed it to her ear, and Alecta leaned her ear to her shoulder in an attempt to keep the phone up to her ear on her own. Rossi backed up a few steps to give her time.

By the time whoever was on the other end of the phone answered, Alecta began speaking at a rapid fire pace.

"What the hell is she saying?"

"No idea,' Rossi commented to Mrs. King.

After a few moments of speaking to the unknown caller it seemed as if Lex barked orders at them. The call was ended as abruptly as it came to life; she winked at Rossi so he'd know he could come and get his phone back.

"Call for the doctor. I have to get out of this damned bed and it has to happen right now."

"Stitches." Kevin warned her.

"Fever.' Her mother, ever the voice of reason.

"Boss man? Make 'em get me out of this. I have to go, I have to go now."

Alecta was laying it on thick. She was using her big brown, doe eyes, batting them at him; as if she was the most innocent person to ever walk the earth.

"Where are you going? And, what will you be getting up to?"

"Oh Hotch, don't be so…."

"A minute ago I was the boss man."

"Yeah, so."

"And as your boss man, it's my duty that you stay put, until the doctor tells you it's time to leave."

"But…"she was going to go for broke, pulling out the big guns. Kevin knew from experience…Tears would be next.

"Don't cave in, man. She's trying to wear you down." Kevin leaned in to whisper into Hotch's ear.

"You shut up. There were problems. I have to get back to Quantico. I have to go back tonight. These damned wraps have to come off." Alecta was getting very frustrated and pissed off right about now.

Noticing that if she kept getting wound up things could get worse, Kevin changed tactics, "What happened?"

Alecta looked sincerely troubled. "There was a bombing. In Marrakesh, near the Koutoubia Mosque…."

Alecta seemed at a loss for words to describe it. "The Mosque is still in-tact, mostly. The only thing that was damaged to any great extent was this old abandoned place. It used to be a royal residence for some of the minor nobility. It hasn't been used officially in close to 200 years. The whole area was getting shelled on, some uprising I don't know. There's no telling what started it. It just so happened that the 'Palace' as we all called it was in the path of destruction. We were using it as one of our bases over there.

Some of the young people we've saved from the trafficking world and just horrible circumstances in general were killed in the blast or by debris. They have made arrangements for the survivors to be brought to Quantico."

After a brief pause, during which she took a deep breath, "I don't even know where they are going to go. Since our place in Quantico was basically destroyed….Now! Get me out of here."

Mrs. King, knowing how stubborn her daughter could be (a family trait to be sure) had run, several minutes ago, to the nurse's station to let them know that Alecta would not be talked down and that the doctor needed to come and try to calm her down and either get her to see reason or expedite her release forms.

By the time that Mrs. King got back, a nurse and the doctor were right behind her.

"What is this that I hear about you wanting to be released already?"

"I didn't stutter."

"Less than 18 hours ago you had a fever induced seizure; we weren't even sure what sort of condition you'd been in after that, and now you are up demanding release?"

"Um. Yes." Turning to Rossi, 'Am I speaking a foreign language? I have to get out now."

"Let me check you over before we make any snap decisions."

"Sign the damned papers or the last thing that's going to snap will be your neck."

"I would be remiss in my duties as a licensed physician if I just turned you lose without at least seeing to your condition first."

"Which nurse is your favorite? She'll go last."

"And besides, you're still wrapped in those linens."

"You'd be surprised what I can kill you with when I am motivated. And today is a code red sort of day. Please don't make me repeat myself. I'm not a patient woman on the best of days, and today isn't shaping up to be that great."

"Compromise, this young lady will check you over and I will get the paper work together. Will you have any proper medical care if you are released?"

Putting his arm around the doctor's shoulders and walking with him out of the room, Kevin was trying his best to keep the man from being severely injured, "You saw what she did with the scalpel right? I'm just thinking you should worry about your personal safety just this once. If 'momma' gets angry, there is a huge mountain of a man that makes me look like a flea. He will pop out of the wood work around here somewhere and squeeze your head like a grape, pick his teeth with your ribs, and belch up your stethoscope. Get the papers ready to sign."

Upon returning to the room to see what he could manage to do, Kevin hears Alecta ordering the nurse to hurry; as he came around the door way Rossi's phone rang.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" Rossi waited for a reply. "Oh. Yes, she's threatening bodily harm to be released immediately. Yes that was a concern of hers of course. I'll tell her. Not a problem."

"Who was that 'pops'?"

"Uh, do I want to know how Kong got my Bureau issued number?"

"No. What did he have to say?"

"That you're covered on a place to send the kids. As soon as there was even knowledge of the coming attack they managed to acquire an emergency shelter. He said that everything is up and running, security is in place. The usual business he said."

"Allah ar rahman." Was all she said to the air as she looked to the ceiling.

Post AN: So there's chapter 13; crazy spot to cut it off I know. But if I hadn't done it then there was a distinct likelihood it would have shot to another 20G word chapter before I even knew it. And, just to translate for you, Allah ar rahman translates loosely to 'God Bless You'….to find out who Alecta was blessing, you gotta stick around for the next chapter. Them's the breaks.