Chpt. 26-As always don't own a thing except a little debt and my OC.

"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations)

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" (John Lennon)

"Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer-both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"My sleep wasn't peaceful, though. I have the sense of emerging from a world of dark, haunted places where I traveled alone." (Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay)

"Your nightmares follow you like a shadow, forever." (Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project)

After seeing Reid out Hotch shut and locked the door and armed the alarm. He knew there was something going on between Reid and Alecta and he just wasn't sure what it was. Oh, he knew they weren't screwing around behind his back, they would never…..Yes, Alecta was the most gorgeous woman Hotch had ever met, and he was sure that most men in the free world would agree riotously so. Yes, she was gorgeous and deeply troubled; that combination had a tendency to bring out the hero complex in ever man in the room. And Reid….he was unbelievably intelligent, and socially awkward….but the ladies seemed to think that was too adorable, and he was actually a nice looking young man. Sometimes Hotch wondered if Reid didn't play the socially awkward card just to get the women. It would be a clever move since Reid wasn't built like Derek or Hotch himself nor had the athletic ability that either one of them did….he could play the socially awkward part and have some women eating out of his hand….

But neither Reid nor Alecta were like that. Neither was the type to fool around behind someone's back that way. Reid was too honest of a person, and Alecta….she knew first-hand what it was like to be used and lied to, she would never want to make someone else feel that way. She had a genuine love of the people she tended to care about, whoever they may be. It wasn't in her nature to go back on that; Hotch wasn't even sure she could go back on that. He knew she loved Reid to death, he was her history buddy. It was nothing to hear them discussing some arcane thing from 400years ago that nobody else knew or cared about. In return, Reid had grown close to Alecta….she was one of the few who's mind came anywhere close to keeping up with his. They were really a lot like brother and sister, or just very best of friends.

After arming the alarm, Hotch turned to make his way down the hall. He stopped at the door to Alecta's office to tell her that he was going to bed and he saw her looking at two paintings. They were rather large; they sat on the floor near one end of the day bed, but they were still large enough that the figures in them were eye level with Alecta. They had apparently been hidden behind some burlap wrappings.

One figure was one that Hotch had come to know since having met Alecta. It was St. George battling a dragon. There were differences in this image and the other ones he had seen of St. George though. The dragon in this work was larger and fiercer looking. And St. George, in the other images was usually on horse-back…in this one he was on foot, his horse having been killed in battle. Poor St. George looked as though he was in for the fight of his life with this God awful big dragon.

The second painting….there were two figures. The first was a man of some noble rank. Hotch couldn't place who he might be, but he could tell that the man was of some Middle-Eastern persuasion judging by the clothes he wore and the scimitar in his hand (not that the turban on his head didn't give it away). The woman in the picture looked almost exactly like Alecta; she had the same gleaming brown eyes, laden with mischief, and the same thick dark hair to her waist in large curls….the figure was even the same. The woman was actually wearing a feminine version of a suit of armor. She had a large sword in one hand, poised and ready to strike, and in the other hand she held a silver inlaid Roman Pugio dagger. Thank you Reid for that particular history lesson. Hotch thought back to a case where some idiot was killing people with recreated ancient weapons. Both figures looked as though they were ready for one hell of a fight; you could see streaks of blood already on their clothes and armor.

He knew something was bothering her and he wanted to know what it was. It wasn't that he didn't think she could take care of herself; but whatever this was it had her scared. In the past few weeks he had seen her in fear of her father, Fletcher, even the traffickers…but this was different. This was more like a never-ending helpless fear; it must be similar to the way he felt when he realized Hayley was going to die. All he wanted was for her to trust him enough to tell him what was wrong.

The more he stood there and thought about the paintings that Alecta was looking at he could not get over how much the woman in the second painting looked like Alecta. He was almost drawn to stare at it the same way he was over the real deal. Beyond the looks, there was that equal level of magnetism. He couldn't explain it. But he knew that the woman in the painting wasn't Alecta because the painting looked to be late Medieval or early Renaissance. But if he didn't know anything about the painting, he would have staked his life on the fact that the female figure was Alecta.

Coming more fully into the room, Hotch could hear her speaking quietly, as if speaking to the paintings; he couldn't make out the words she said, all he knew was that it was not English.

"I just came to tell you that I was going to get ready for bed."

Alecta nearly jumped out of her skin, her breathing almost sounded like she was running track.

"Ok, I'm coming, too."

Alecta tried to quietly cover the paintings back up with the burlap that they were wrapped in, but Hotch stopped her.

"You love your St. George collection."

"Yep. It's a beautiful idea that there is always someone that you can call on to help you fight your demons."

"And this woman looks so much like you."

"Perhaps she is a distant ancestor and it's a family resemblance. Of course, I always get told I'm an old soul; perhaps I was her in a past life."

Take that Reid! Alecta was able to creep up to the truth without going too far over that particular cliff just yet. She covered the paintings back up and turned to walk down the hall to the bedroom.

"Why do you keep them covered?"

"To keep them from getting damaged; they are quite old."

Hotch and Alecta shared the bathroom long enough to get their teeth brushed, then they took turns doing their nightly business; Alecta went last so she had a chance to wash her face a bit and take some ibuprofen before settling in….she was getting one bitch of a headache.

After finishing up in the bathroom, Alecta padded quietly back into the bedroom, hoisting herself up into the big bed. Hotch had been making notes on a pad that he kept on his bedside table, but once she jumped up into bed, he put it away quickly as she settled down next to him.

Wrapping his arms around her and rubbing his cheek against the top of her head, 'Alecta, I know there are things going on that you aren't telling me about. I won't ask you again what it all is, because you won't tell me anyway. But, I need you to know that you can trust me with whatever it is. It can't change what we have."

Those last words were nearly impossible for Hotch to form. Alecta had moved to where her upper body was lying on top of Hotch, licking up the left side of his neck only to nibble on his earlobe at the same time her small right hand had slid down into his boxers and was currently wrapping around his dick.

Alecta heard Hotch suck in a deep breath, as she begin to stroke him up and down, 'Shhh. You talk too much boss man. You really need to learn how to focus on the task in hand. AT HAND!...at hand."

Hotch couldn't help but chuckle at her word play. When she heard his laughter, Alecta looked up and winked mischievously before pressing their lips together; Hotch wasted no time in slipping his tongue into her mouth. He'd been jonesing for another one of these kisses since the last one. He couldn't explain it….it wasn't necessarily that Alecta's kisses were particularly sweet…well they were, but that was sort of beside the point…..it was almost undefinable….but the only thing that Hotch could compare it too was being hooked on drugs. You try it one time to see if you like it, and the next thing you know, getting the next fix is the only thing you can think about 24/7. Not able to get enough of the kiss, Hotch threaded his hands through Alecta's hair to pull her closer to him. Alecta had never let go of his length, if anything she wrapped her fingers around him tighter, squeezing. Hotch groaned into Alecta's mouth and pulled back.

"What's wrong boss man?"

"Mercy."

"What about mercy?"

"Have some."

"Now you know I'm not that kind of girl, I don't do mercy; especially when I know for a fact that that isn't what you really want." Alecta grinned at him before nibbling on his collar bone.

Oh crap. Have I created a monster? Hotch thought to himself.

"What is it that you seem to think I really want?"

The only answer Aaron got was the sensation of Alecta taking him into her mouth. He couldn't even see what she was doing because she was under the covers. Aaron's head fell back onto the pillow as Alecta continued to give him what had to be one of the best blow jobs he'd ever had in his life. It wasn't long before Hotch was doing his dead level best to throw the covers back so he could watch….an effort like this deserved to be admired. Within moments of tossing back the covers, Hotch was as close to losing it as he'd ever been.

He pulled her away from her duties of driving him completely insane, 'I thought you were supposed to be an angel."

Just for a split second, Alecta thought the jig was up, 'Oh honey, you have no idea." She said with a confident grin as she tried to go back to her originally scheduled program, but Hotch stopped her.

"Your turn."

He rolled them over until she was under him and he began moving down her body much the same way she had done to him. He had spent a few moments nibbling on her earlobe and the spot just behind it that was ordinarily quite ticklish (there weren't a lot of spots that weren't, he'd found that out to his great delight) but was also one of THEE spots. Next he snacked on her collarbone and moved on to suck on her left nipple….why was this his favorite…not a clue… he thought to himself as he went about his work, moving to the right one and repeating the attention he'd given the left one. After some time he managed to work his way lower, kissing her stomach.

"I actually can't wait you know….to see them." He missed the look in her eyes as he moved lower. If he had seen it he would have seen the tears coming to her eyes at the idea that he was really happy as a clam about the fact that she was going to have babies, even though they weren't really his. Their own biological father hadn't really wanted them….hadn't ever really wanted her….She couldn't figure out how Hotch was so different from Fl….from him. But he was, and she was trying to reason with herself that that fact was all that really mattered. Feeling him plant his face between her legs and begin to….her train of thought completely derailed for a moment when he sucked her clit into his mouth. And that was all she remembered until she regained consciousness a few minutes later. He looked rather smug, pretty damned proud of himself, and had laid back onto the pillows and pulled her onto him, her head resting on his chest as he stroked her hair until she came back to him.

"What has you as giddy as a school boy?"

"I told you it was your turn; or did you forget the last time?"

Sitting up, 'It wasn't about…"

"I know, but I couldn't let you do all the work and have all the fun now could I?" Seeing the look she gave him, 'You didn't think stuffy old Hotch knew a trick like that did you?"

"You're not that old."

"You little shit.' Hotch grabbed at both of her sides, tickling the shit out of her, causing her to burst into laughter, not stopping until she had tears in her eyes and was barely able to breathe.

"Ok, uncle!" Apparently one of the babies thought the exact same thing because at that moment Hotch felt a substantial kick to the spot where his hand was resting on her stomach. When she grimaced in a little discomfort he stopped what he was doing immediately.

"And that was likely Sofie Jr."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I was carrying Sofie and Emma….just like now…Emma was the quiet one and Sofie was the demanding little drama queen. You've met the child, you know how she can be. And…oh hell, there will be two of them." Alecta raised her hand to her forehead.

"It won't be that bad…"Hotch stopped as he saw the look Alecta shot him.

"You've never been around Sofie during one of her full blown freak outs. Kid needs some valium. And, then there's little Emma, just as quiet as a church mouse. I love Sofie because she is so dramatic sometimes; it's part of her charm. But then there are times that she is just….and there will be two of them. I'm doomed."

"No you're not. You will have help this time. We'll be doomed together."

He noticed Alecta's eyes starting to get heavy now, she was really tired, but it was as if her mind wouldn't shut off and let her sleep.

They rolled over on their sides, Hotch snuggling up behind her, wrapping his arms around her snuggly, rubbing her belly. His head resting in the crook of her neck, he began to question her about what she had thought about naming these children. He could tell this was working on her, she was getting more drowsy by the moment. 'Pooky for the girl." Hotch busted out laughing at the thought of naming the little girl Pooky.

"No, really what do you want to name the girl?"

"Hmmm. I think,' Alecta paused for a yawn, '…I think Laila for the first name."

"What about for the boy?"

"Michael, for an old friend."

"Alecta?" Hotch carefully looked around only to notice that she was out like a light. If this was a Tom & Jerry cartoon, the 'Do Not Disturb' sign would have registered on her eyelids. Kissing her temple, Hotch pulled the covers back over them both and wrapped his arms back around her, settling in himself.

Post AN: Yeah, I know, strange place to stop it all. But I figured, as good a place as any. This way, with any luck I can pick up Chpt 27 and get to this deviant, Mr. Dunbar and all the trouble he's about to cause. Until next time then.