AN: So, here we are at Chpt 15. Let's see where this road takes us, yeah.

"You've faced horrors in these past weeks... I don't know which is worse. The terror you feel the first time you witness such things, or the numbness that comes after it starts to become ordinary." (Tasha Alexander, A Fatal Waltz)

Having been completely jarred out of a dead sleep, Hotch's rolled over, falling off of the couch, landing on the floor between the coffee table and the sofa.

Hitting the floor, 'Damn it." He jumped up and took off down the hall.

He rounded the corner of the bedroom door, taking only a split second to check the room over, his eyes falling on Alecta. She was sitting straight up in bed, disheveled, gasping for breath. If you didn't know she had just been asleep, you would think that she had just got done running a mile. She couldn't seem to get her breath. Her hair was completely disheveled; most of it was still falling down her back, but several strands were askew across her face, she used her right hand to try to swipe it out of her way.

Hotch stepped carefully towards the bed, 'Are you alright?" More than anything he just wanted to make sure she was aware that he was there. After she took a swing at him with the scalpel at the hospital the other day, he wanted to make sure she knew he was coming. She merely looked at him through the strands of hair that had partially blocked her vision; there was a terrified look in her eyes, but yet, there was a touch of relief in them, too.

Hotch sat on the bed, near her, he reached out and raked the hair out of her face. "What happened?"

"I fell asleep."

"Yeah, I was there for that."

"There was a shadowy figure trying to take my baby. I was fighting it, whatever it was, but it took my baby. I had the same nightmares with my other pregnancies, too. A lot of them came with Rachel, she was my first baby. And I had a lot of them when I was pregnant with Sofie and Emma…after losing the one before them….It t-t-took my baby…."

He could hear it in the way that her voice quivered when she spoke that she was really upset by this. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She was so tense, but she leaned on him, only for as second.

She began to get agitated again, trying to get out of the bed, suddenly uncomfortable with everything, 'I have to go. I have to go now."

"No. You don't have to go. You can stay here, right here."

She started shaking her head 'no'. "I have to leave." She began to may a serious effort to get out of the bed and collect her things. She kept repeating that she 'had to leave'. For someone that was supposed to be taking it easy, per doctor's orders, she could move unnervingly fast when she was motivated.

"I'm not letting you go back to that station."

"I'm not going back to the station."

Suddenly, Hotch began to worry. If she didn't go back to the station, where would she go? Would she go to Rachel's place? Or would she run farther? And would he be so lucky finding her again?

"You can't leave."

"I have to. I don't have a choice."

"Do you really think that you'll be able to out run whatever is in your nightmares where ever you're planning to go? Stay with me; at least then I'll know you're in one piece."

"I know I'll never out run them. But what else am I supposed to do? Running is all I know. I've had to do it for so long, it's the only thing I'm good at anymore. Running's all I got left." She shrugged her shoulders, and he saw it then, the resignation in her eyes.

"Ok, well, I can't let you just leave, not happening. I can sleep in here with you,' seeing the look she shot him, 'no funny business. Just sleep, that's all. Like, at the Eason's. I can wake you up if you have another nightmare."

"I don't know if I can go back to sleep. Usually I can't."

"Well, you don't have to sleep if you don't want to; just lay there and rest. After the last couple of weeks that you've had, you need to at least rest."

Hotch was still sitting on the bed, Alecta was standing a few feet away, he could see the indecision eating away at her. She was weighing her options. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she really wanted to just split. He was afraid to blink, knowing that if he did she'd be gone when he opened his eyes.

She could run, it was something she was used to; she would likely wind up at Rachel's apartment, which, in Hotch's mind, was just fine. If she had to run away from him and go anywhere, he'd prefer it be to Rachel's….or to Rossi's. Her mother was staying at Rossi's; Rachel's apartment would be wall to wall kids, what with both sets of twins, Oleg, and Jazzy. Or, if she ran away, she could do it right and run completely away and leave the state, or even leave the country. And considering how many friends she had internationally, this was a distinct possibility. He figured it was unlikely she would stay at any of her compounds, some of them had been coming under fire recently from outside forces, and a few inside jobs, and she was unlikely to cause more problems for her friends. But it was common knowledge that she had access to various properties all over the globe. There were a couple of apartments in Paris, a few estates in and around London that she could hide-out in….and let's not forget her friend Eli would put her up in his native Israel if all else failed; and the Gypsies in Eastern Europe. Then there was always her beloved Istanbul….she could go to literally any corner of the world, and she could stay hidden as long as she pleased, nobody would ever find her. Even if she couldn't hide herself entirely, there was always Penelope. She could just do some little trick with her computers and Alecta could disappear for as long as she wanted, and Penelope's particular skill set was pretty iron clad. If Hotch wanted her to stay, he would have to do some fancy foot work to get her to see things his way.

Then, she could decide to stay. Hotch wasn't sure he liked the odds that were stacked against that idea. She just had a nightmare about a shadow figure, probably a man, taking her baby away from her, he couldn't really expect her to just crawl into bed and sleep next to another man….he hoped this would work. He knew she was so very tired.

She stood there for a bit, staring at Hotch, trying to decipher what his intentions might be. Finally, fatigue must have won out over everything else; she began coming closer to the bed. She stopped just long enough to grab at his suit case, standing it on its flat side, and standing up on the suit case. Hotch could only smile ruefully when he realized she was using it as a stepping stool to be able to reach the bed.

He was shaken out of his humor when she paused, one knee on the bed, her hands placed down in front of her to brace for when she shifted her weight, 'You promise? No funny business…just sleeping?"

"I swear, that's all. I don't have to touch you at all; I can sleep on this side, with my back to you…..whatever. I just want you to be able to get some rest."

Alecta either believed him, or she was seriously tired, but she nodded and finished making her way onto the bed. She began to settle down next to Hotch, but stopped, 'Can I sleep on the side away from the door?" She asked in her small, tired voice. Nodding, Hotch held his hands out to lift her up and over him, he could never believe how light she was. As he lifted her up she tucked her feet up close to her body so she could avoid hitting him with them, and then he placed her down on the other side of the bed, and scooted over a bit onto his new side.

She was still sitting up on her knees, legs tucked under her, when Hotch finally got resituated. She was looking at him, a questioning look on her face.

"What?"

"Do you think…..Do you think I've been an awful mother? To…well all of them, from Rachel on down?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"N-nothing. Never mind."

She made a move to turn over and go back to sleep, Hotch placed a hand on her arm to stop her, 'No. What do you mean? What makes you think you're a bad mother?"

Alecta sighed heavily, trying to figure out how to say what she had to say, at least that's what Hotch figured was going through her head.

"It's just….I was thinking out loud is all. It's nothing." She pulled her arm free and got settled down beside of him, Hotch knew there was a lot she wasn't saying, it didn't take being a top notch profiler to realize that. But he had to let it go for now. If he pushed her, she might clam up altogether, she'd been known to do that. He knew that, after recent events she had been left feeling like a class A failure, that she had somehow fallen short of whatever it was she was trying to achieve and in the process had failed everyone around her.

Letting it go, Hotch hunkered back down under the covers, laying on his right side, facing her. She had turned on her left side, facing him and curled up closely to him, practically resting her head against his chest the way she had back at the Eason's house. Hotch wrapped his arms around her like he had then and they fell back asleep, neither one of them waking for several more hours.

As he drifted back off to sleep, he murmured to her, 'Nobody is taking your baby from you. If they try, they have to go through me first. You got that?"

The only response she gave was a soft little 'mmm hmmm'; she was already falling back asleep.

The next morning Hotch sat up and leaned over Alecta a bit to see the clock. Ten in the morning? Good grief, he never slept this late, unless he didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. Alecta was still out of it, so he jumped out of bed and went on into the bathroom to start his morning routine. After washing his face and combing through his hair, Hotch made his way out into the kitchen…he intended to make some kind of breakfast for Alecta if it killed him. It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that he remembered he didn't have a lot of fresh ingredients and that the fridge was a science fair gone horribly wrong.

At about that same moment his cell rang and he snatched it up quickly, in a hurry to answer it so it wouldn't wake up the angel in his bed.

"Hotchner."

"Where's Alecta?"

"Good morning to you, too, Rossi."

"Yeah, yeah. Where is she? Her mother is going bananas. She called over to Rachel's to talk, to see if Alecta was alright, and Rachel told her she wasn't there. And now, momma bear is wearing a hole in my hardwood floors. Where. Is. She?"

"As of right now, she's still asleep, in the bed. If you want, you can bring her mother over and she can see that she's safe for herself. But, if you do bring her over, might I ask a favor of you?"

"You dog. What do you need?" Hotch could hear the smirk in Rossi's voice.

"Nothing has happened, nothing like what you're implying anyway. Food. We need food. I was going to make her some breakfast to be ready when she got up, but I don't have anything that isn't four different colors, and she has enough problems with nausea. Just remember, no eggs."

"Ok, give us about 45 minutes. We're already dressed for the day, but that will give us plenty of time to pick up the goods and get there."

Rossi and Mrs. King had run to the store on the way to Hotch's house. Mrs. King did the 50yrd dash while she was in there grabbing anything she might need to make pancakes. She made sure to grab some sugar free syrup for Alecta. Even after all these years, she managed to remember that regular high-octane syrup made Alecta painfully nauseous under the best of circumstances…also she picked up some blackberries (Alecta's other favorite food group, behind the oatmeal cookies and juice), and she picked up strawberries and blueberries, as well as a bunch of bananas. While Mrs. King was doing her power shopping, Rossi grabbed stuff for sandwiches for later, knowing that Hotch had enough to think about without worry about food. Between the two of them, Rossi and Mrs. King had wrapped up their spree rather quickly. Hotch didn't live more than a 10 minute drive from the store, so they were still able to get there within the 45 minutes that Rossi had quoted Hotch.

Once they arrived, Mrs. King looked determinedly at Hotch, 'Third door on the left ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am. I'm not that much older than you. I'll be back in a minute, boys."

Rossi turned on Hotch as soon as Mrs. King made her way down the hall, 'What are you thinking?"

"I did nothing wrong…"

"Oh please. Don't give me…."

"I started off sleeping on the couch. She woke up, screaming like somebody was killing her….after the last few days, can you blame her? I rolled over, hit the floor, went to go see if she was alright. She was going to run. She started to gather her stuff.

Rossi when I found her after leaving the airstrip in the first place, she was going to sleep on a bench in the bus station. If she ran, where would she go? I'm not worried that she has nowhere to go; I'm more worried that she has too many places that she can go. Between that and Garcia's help, we'd never find her again, unless she wanted us to.

I told her to just go back to sleep, I stayed with her so if she had another nightmare I could wake her up….

Besides, when are you gonna start calling her mother by her first name?"

"When I get amnesia and forget that my mother tried to raise me right."

About this time Mrs. King came back down the hall making her way to the living room, she saw that the guys had put away some of the grocery items while she was checking on Alecta.

"Oh, you're both such good boys. I'm making pancakes and bacon. Go sit down."

"I can help if you would like, I cook for Jack and myself all the time."

Mrs. King just turned a finely arched eyebrow on Hotch, tilting her head to one side. Hotch only nodded and went to sit on the sofa. Rossi began to laugh, 'You too old man, go park it." Rossi stopped laughing then and just looked at Mrs. King, 'Are you sure that you don't need help?"

Pointing to the living room, 'Go. Sit."

Rossi meant a lot to Alecta, his little visit to her when she was in the funny farm had meant more to that girl than she could ever put into words. Alecta had quietly adopted this old man as the kind of dad she had always wanted…..always deserved. And the younger of the two men, Agent Hotchner, he had saved Alecta's life on at least two different occasions now. The least she could do is make them breakfast. It was only pancakes, it's not like it was hard. Besides, she knew it had been a long time since her baby had had a decent meal. Alecta was too thin; Mrs. King knew that with Alecta being pregnant she should be having better food on a regular basis.

Mrs. King started by mixing the pancake batter, then she set that to the side for a couple of minutes while she cleaned the berries off and put them into bowls and chopped the bananas. Next, she was ready to drop the pancakes. In a matter of about 20 or 25 minutes she had four plates of pancakes, four high on each plate, and she had managed to get a bit of butter smeared on them as she went. While she had been flipping the pancakes, she had the bacon going in the other frying pan; by the time the pancakes were all finished, the bacon was definitely done.

"Breakfast is ready,' she called as she stacked the bacon on a plate on top of some paper towels to drain the excess grease away from it.

"You fellas fix your plates; I have the fruit in separate bowls. Lex hates blueberries even touching her food. She's never been able to stomach them. I'm going to go get her."

Mrs. King went back down the hall to get Alecta up and bring her back into the dining area for her breakfast. Mrs. King couldn't help but laugh a little when she saw what her daughter was wearing. Was there nothing Agent Hotchner wouldn't do for my girl?

"I'm coming momma, let me get my hair tamed back a bit, and I'll be right there."

Mrs. King made her way back out to the kitchen and dining room of the apartment. They guys had loaded their plates with some of the fruit to top off their pancakes and some syrup as well as getting some of the bacon.

They all sat down at the table, Mrs. King had gotten her plate together and Alecta still hadn't come out yet.

Worrying, Hotch called out to her to come join them or they might accidently eat all of the pancakes. Mrs. King was a wonderful cook.

Alecta came down the hall; she had brushed her hair out and pulled it back in a simple sloppy ponytail. She went into the kitchen and got her plate, 'You got me blackberries?" she asked her mother questioningly.

"Yes, they are your favorite." Mrs. King smiled at her daughter confidently.

"Thank you,' Alecta said quietly, turning away, pretending to put some of the berries on her plate, with some bananas, and next gathering some of the bacon.

Hotch wasn't obtuse. He'd heard the tears that were forming in Alecta's voice. Having her mother back in her life was still new to her, and surreal to boot; but he felt like there was something else bothering her that she just hadn't talked about yet.

After turning away from her mother and her colleagues Alecta hadn't moved much at all. She had been standing in one place for several minutes, not even bothering to add more bacon or fruit to her plate. They heard her sigh, and then she set back to gathering her breakfast together.

The way the table was arranged she wound up being seated between her mother and Hotch with Rossi sitting on the other side of her mother. Alecta was careful eating her pancakes, not sure how it might all suit the baby. Apparently the kid liked the pancakes, so far no nausea.

Alecta had been quiet most of breakfast, content to just listen to her mother banter on with Rossi, and the back and forth between Rossi and Hotch.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've had pancakes?"

Mrs. King looked at Alecta, 'How long?"

"The last time you made them." There was a bittersweet smile on her face; it was like the memory was the best and worst memory that she had all at the same time. "You made the little silver-dollar ones, you had gotten some blackberries just for me from the Gatlings' yard. You mushed them up a little bit since we didn't have syrup. You even had a couple of pancakes for yourself, but you let me eat as many as I wanted.

I remember you had wanted to make them for my birthday, but weren't able to. You had gone to the store the day before and managed to have enough to get the stuff to make them.

They were the best things I had ever had in my life…it was the day before…..

I always made them for Rachel for her birthday, starting when she was old enough to eat solid food. It was one of the few things I could remember about you, those damned pancakes."

With that Alecta finished her last bite and got up taking her dishes into the kitchen, placing them in the dishwasher.

"Momma, can you help me with something, please?"

Mrs. King nodded 'yes' and followed Alecta to the bedroom. Alecta handed her a tube of some ointment that the doctor had prescribed to be put on the area where her stitches were to keep them from getting itchy and irritated.

"You don't mind helping me do you? I just don't know about…."

"Oh, don't be so silly. Of course I'll help you. You know I haven't gotten to do this sort of thing in a long time. I know some people might complain from time to time about their kids running them ragged. And sometimes it might be true. But, I really enjoyed being your mom, at least while I was able. Putting together your little collection of fairies, making you that little costume….even in the bad times, when I would sleep in the bed with you after a visit from your father, we'd read your fairytale book to help you forget. Even in those times, I was proud to be your mother, because whatever the cost was, I was able to spend five more minutes with you.

And then that fight happened. And he locked me away when he found out I was alive. Once he came to visit me…once. He only came to warn me that if I tried to get out and come to see you, that he would kill you. I knew what he'd done to me; he nearly accomplished what he wanted. I couldn't let him kill you. I knew he'd find out a way to get away with it. He got away with making it look like I was dead all those years. I knew it wouldn't take much for him to do the same to you."

Mrs. King was finishing up the final touches of putting the ointment on Alecta's back, 'And I don't blame you or hold you responsible for lying to the cops about what happened that night." She began putting the cap back on the tube, seeing Alecat's shocked expression.

"Oh don't look so shocked. Agent Rossi told me about it. he said that you had talked about that being one of 1,000 regrets that you had. Well, you don't have to regret it. I don't blame you, never had."

Alecta started sobbing uncontrollably at that point. Mrs. King pulled Alecta's shirt back down to cover her up, then she grabbed her daughter and wrapped her in a tight hug.

Stroking Alecta's hair, 'You did what you had to do to live in that house…"

Sobbing into her mom's neck, 'But you had 'died' trying to save me."

"And I wouldn't change a thing about my decisions, whatever the cost. Except maybe that I wouldn't have let him bully me into staying locked in that institution for all those years."

Mrs. King took some time, as she rubbed the ointment into Alecta's back, to just rub her back as she used to when Alecta got upset as a kid; although, this time she had to be quite careful.

"Why didn't you let Agent Hotchner help you?"

"Why would I?"

"He really seems to be genuine about what he says and how he feels. And he knows this is here already; it's not like it's some big secret."

"Him I trust. Me, not so much. I had to learn the hard way that my judgment, where it concerns my own well-being can't be trusted. Making the wrong choices has cost me more than I have. No, Hotch I trust. I mean if I didn't before, I would have no choice but to trust him after he killed Fletcher.

Besides, knowing that this is there and seeing it are two different things. And really momma, that's not the only one, it's just the biggest." Alecta thought for a second, 'Although he has seen some of the others….and it doesn't seem to have made a difference in the way he's behaved towards me."

"Now, see, that's what I'm talking about. You should really give the poor man a break. He's taken out a hall table, the floor…"

"A doorway…"

"And I'm sure there is a lot more furniture that we are forgetting to name….either let him off the hook or put him out of his misery. Besides, since I'm alive and well, if he turns out to be scum, you've got momma here to make him pay. And not to mention what Garcia and Rossi would do to him….and Kevin."

"This poor man; putting up with me is punishment enough don't you think?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm your mother, so I'm biased. But do try to give him some slack. You're not that bad are you?"

Alecta looked up from where she had her head laying against her mother's shoulder, her eyes cut up to her mother's face.

"You're kidding me right?"

"What happened to the sweet little girl I tried to raise?"

"Um. I worked in a fetish dungeon in Vegas for a couple of years…In the office, in the office. Met my two friends Moira and Cinnamon…we started the Agnes's…Became a cop, then a detective. Married twice, had six kids. Somewhere in the middle of all that stuff, due to activities in my organization, I became trained as an assassin in Israel. Met a lovely old man there, Eli David, he is he head of their Mossad…it's kinda of like their version of the CIA. His daughter Ziva is like the sister I never had. She's great. I became so good at my assassination skills that I had to get myself registered as a lethal weapon. Although as of lately you'd never know it, I haven't been doing such a great job."

"You've lived, isn't that good enough?"

"I've become unfocused. I've let my environment control me. It's like I told Hotch, I've lost a step somewhere. I don't know what happened or when it happened, but there's just something wrong. I never used to be off my game this much."

"Maybe it's time to retire from the organization."

"You don't retire from the organization…it's like the mob. I could run one of the citadels…train them, I guess, pass on the assassin training I received. And since I have master's degrees in history, anthropology, and foreign language I can teach."

"When did you have time to get a master's degree?"

"The lady that ran that dungeon I worked for….she got me enrolled in an independent high school. I finished early, and started college. Some of the classes I took were online courses, so I could stay home and take care of Rachel part of the time. And then when I did need to go to the campus there was a day care if I needed it." Alecta shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You've packed some life and mileage into your years haven't you?"

"Yeah. But it's not like it worked. I could never run fast enough or far enough. It has all caught up to me in the long run hasn't it?"

"Anyway, I think we have the cream rubbed in pretty well, we better get back out there or the guys will send a search party."

"Yeah they will. Rossi is a former Marine; he takes the whole 'no man left behind' thing pretty seriously. And then there's Hotch….I'm forgetting what it's like to have personal space. I'm used to doing everything on my own, without help from anybody."

"Well I think it's cute. And it's about time you had a decent man in your life that will help you."

"I had Yuri, for a while."

"And maybe he was a great husband. But, that was 12 years ago, he was into some shady business, you couldn't even really keep the kids with you much because of your job and his. And he still left you, however honorable he may think he's being he still left.

You need a guy that isn't part of a mafia family from God knows where…and a man that isn't going to black your eyes the first time he disagrees with something you do or say."

"It's just strange to have a little 'normal' after so much chaos."

"Well I think it's cute, so shut up and enjoy it."

"Yes ma'am."

Mrs. King helped Alecta pull her…Hotch's t-shirt back down and they made their way out to the living room. In truth, Alecta was already starting to feel a little tired again. All the drama of the past couple of weeks on top of her insomnia…it was all finally kicking in. Add that to the crazy things that a pregnancy can do to a body….and she was really tired.

Rossi must have sensed that she was wearing out, 'Rachel, would you like to go see a movie and then maybe have an early dinner after?"

"Why certainly, what movie did you have in mind?"

There was some movie with Kathy Bates that was playing. "Is she any good?"

"You've never heard of Kathy Bates?"

"Agent Rossi, I've been locked up in an institution for the last 36 years. There's a lot I don't know. Now, is she any good?"

"Yes, momma, she is one of the best. I think you might like the movie. It sounds like a good one from the descriptions of it that I have heard."

"Well. Alright then, one movie and a dinner can't hurt. Let's go then."

Rossi took Mrs. King by the elbow and escorted her out, getting a rueful smirk from Hotch, both men muttering 'good luck' to one another.

Having heard what Hotch and Rossi had said, Alecta whacked Hotch in the arm, muttering 'I'm not that bad."

"Of course you're not." He smiled at her ruefully.

"Ok, maybe I am. But, you're the one that wants me. So, what's that make you?"

After bantering back and forth for a couple of minutes, 'What would you like to do today?"

"I don't know. There are so many things that need to be done, and I don't know where to begin. I have to make two separate funeral arrangements; although, I could get away with sending both Moira and Cinnamon to Ireland for burial. Considering that Cinnamon never knew any of her birth family, it's not like she has anyone…she doesn't have any other family outside of us that really cares what happens to her."

Hotch noticed how sad she seemed all of the sudden; it was like for just a few hours she had put the thoughts of her friends in the back of her mind, and now that they were back, they made her so sad. She turned to walk back towards his kitchen, one resting backwards on her hip, the other resting momentarily against her forehead before being raked through her hair, dislodging some of it from the ponytail…then that hand, too, rested in reverse on the opposite hip. She was looking down at the floor as she walked trying to get her thoughts straight.

Without looking up or acknowledging any movement or thought from Hotch, she continued into the kitchen, and was still muttering to herself about all the things she had to do….

"I still have to go through the remnants of the compound, see if there's anything else left to be salvaged. I'm sure the crew got most of it, but still…."

Hotch had enough of her looking so beaten down with thoughts of what to do to pick up the pieces, if all of them could even be salvaged.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, 'We're going out. You've got to get out of here and do something fun."

"No time for fun Hotch. I got two bodies on ice waiting for me to do one thing right by them. I have ashes and debris to dig through to see if there's anything left of my little enterprise….."

"Tomorrow. It'll all still be there tomorrow. You need a break."

"No. What I need is a time machine."

"Go get dressed. We're going out, that's the end of that."

"Um, what am I supposed to wear? No clothes, remember."

"Then we will have to go buy you some new stuff."

"Or you can call Rachel and tell her to bring my old stuff over. She'll be wanting to get rid of it soon anyway…"

"Why?"

"If I know Kevin the way I used to…."

"What did he do?"

"Nothing, just packed the uniform jackets that belonged to 'Revolutionary Dan' and Dorian. And the odds are decent that he added Constance's playing cards, Daphne's doll, and the box that holds the rings that belonged to Abigail and Ezra.

Although, if she was smart she'd hang on to Daphne's doll; she'd love being able to visit the girls."

"Are you telling me that they are connected to the items that are in that luggage?"

"Yes, very much so. Kevin probably thought he was doing me a favor, sending me back up like that."

The idea that he had sent that stuff with her finally brought a smile to her face, 'That ought to teach her to take off with my stuff. She should be getting tired of ol' Daniel in…3…2...1"

There was a sudden ringing of Hotch's doorbell. Walking over to the door, Hotch checked the peep-hole.

"How did you…?"

"I know my dead people. Daniel is nothing if not persistent."

Rachel was on the other side of the door waiting for someone to open it and let her in.

"Come on Agent Hotchner, I know mama is in there. Grandma already called and let me know that she found her."

Hotch opened the door to Rachel, who in fact had brought her mother's bags with her.

"I can't stay long; I left Jeffy in charge of the kids, which isn't so bad if Sasha and Eva will help out. But still, he's new to having to deal with all these kids. And I have to run to the grocery store anyway. Daniel is an ass, Dorian is a close second. Daphne kept the girls up all damned night playing dolls. And if Constance would have shook me just once more to ask me 100 questions or play cards at 3 am, I think I would have snapped. Abigail was the only one that has any common sense apparently, and sometimes that was spotty at best.

I'll be back sometime tomorrow to see how you're doing but I have to run, you know how cranky the kids get on little sleep and an empty tummy. And like I said, Jeffy is alone with that bunch."

Alecta could barely contain her laughter. "Go, I don't want the heathens to turn your house into the Donner Party."

"They're your kids."

Rachel hugged her mother and then beat a path back out the door, having left the bags just inside the entry.

"Well that solves the whole shopping issue." Alecta all but laughed.

"We can still go if you want. It's not a big deal."

"I've never been much for shopping. When I was a kid, I wore my clothes 'til they fell apart, had no choice. And when I got older, I spent everything I had making sure Rachel had what she needed. I don't think I have ever done much shopping for myself."

"You need to get out with Garcia and the girls some time, they'll show you how it's done."

"Yeah, I already know about Garcia's shopping habits. She could go pro. I'm going to go get changed, think seriously about what you might want to do."

Alecta took about 15 minutes pulling herself together. She washed her face, brushed her teeth….ran the brush back through her hair, she left it free hanging, but put the ponytail holder around her wrist for later.

Hotch looked up from his seat on the sofa as she made her way back down the hall into the living room.

'Terrific, maybe I should just invest in a helmet'. Hotch thought to himself, shaking his head.

Alecta was wearing a white camisole top, with a crimson colored oversized shell that was over that…one of those that draped across one shoulder and exposed the other one. She was poured into the jeans that had boot cut legs on them….they were definitely an 'ass' pair of jeans. She had walked the hem around the ankles of her jeans 'til they were frayed. She was wearing a pair of thong flip flops that were a matching shade of crimson to her shell, and they had some silver decorations and little beads on them.

He watched her like a hawk (as always) while she rummaged in her messenger bag, 'Jackpot!" she had found her big 'fish-eyed' sunglasses that were white like her camisole top. Reaching back into her bag she was able to pull out a smaller little purse of sorts. It was just big enough to hold a couple credit cards, her driver's license, and cell phone. It had a strap that fit around her wrist.

"I'm ready, are you?"

Not trusting himself to not say something incriminating, Hotch merely nodded the affirmative.

"Well then come on, boss man, we're burning daylight." Alecta said flirtatiously as she reached up, patting his cheek as she walked right under his nose.

Hotch was left trying to figure out what kind of masochistic test God was trying to put him through.

As Alecta walked out the door, Hotch could hear her voice lingering in the air, 'Enjoy the view. It won't be long and I'll be bigger than a barn."

Post AN: Ok, I felt like this was a decent place to end this chapter; if I had not, it could have gone on indefinitely…you've seen it happen before. Besides, since the chapter opened with Alecta having a nightmare, I thought it would be nice to end it on a lighter note. Next chapter I will try to work out what they did for 'fun' and maybe get Alecta into see a doctor to do a check up on her pregnancy (she's been sort of lax about that….) Depending on how the next chapter works itself out, I may be able to get some Morgan/Garcia in there (just for you Virginia)…maybe, dunno yet.