Chpt. 30

"Mac, stitch faster old man, we got company. Simon, do what you do." With that being said she rummaged through the cabinet of wonders and pulled out some scrolls and tossed them to Simon who caught them; upon unrolling them he began to speak in a different language.

Alecta tried to laugh a little and only succeeded in coughing from the effort, 'Oh, Reid would love to be here right about now."

"Hush girl and let me work.' Mac placed a hand on her forehead and smoothed her hair out of the way. "Cossette, she's running a little warm, get wet towels or rags for her now."

"Of course." Cossette jumped up and ran with Ivory to the hall closet where Hotch indicated there were towels and linens.

"I'm almost finished with the stitches. But she's had it for one day. How's he coming on the 'voodoo' over there?"

Stopping his progress, 'Excuse me, Sir!"

"Less arguing and more of that thing you do my friend. Mac, stop antagonizing him."

"Ingrate." Simon mumbled at he went back to his work.

"Cossette, I need you and Ivory to stay with Mac. Anything he needs…."

"Of course."

"Wait. Where are Reid, JJ, and Emily; and Will and Henry for that matter?" Morgan asked with true concern in his voice.

"They went to JJ's house. For now, they are safe. Young Dr. Reid is more prepared than you think. But since I just staked the diplomat's little bitch, he may have figured things are too hot and will stay away."

"Last stitch going in…now. Ivory, get the jug."

"Wait, she's pregnant, you can't just get her liquored up."

"Agent Rossi, I can't give her just any old pain killers either, she's allergic to the ones she was given in the hospital, and some of the others would react poorly with the pregnancy if they worked at all. There's little else I can do for her. Trust me, one nip off this and she won't feel a thing."

"Stout is it?"

"Agent Rossi, this has its own vapor trail." Mac grinned, arching a brow at the older man. 'Drink this,' Mac put a small glass, much like a shot glass, not even full, to her lips, lifting her head to help her take a bit of the drink. "That's enough; don't want the little nuggets born with a taste for it."

Meanwhile, Simon walked over to the window in the room, stood in front of it, and sliced one of his palms open, using his finger to draw a bloody line around the frame of the window.

"Excuse me what are you…."

"Possibly saving your lives. Quiet. No further interruptions or this will not work."

Simon went about his work as Immogene, Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan left the room to get refreshments ready for everyone.

"Look, I know this is all strange for you. I don't blame you for being apprehensive. The first time I came across things like this it wigged me out as well. But in our work, we see all sorts of shit. Sometimes….the old ways work the best."

Mac came walking out of the cave, wiping his hands on a towel; Ivory and Cossette were tending to Alecta.

"So, we have to give her a couple hours to rest. That was cuttin' it close."

"Perhaps, but we need to talk about what to do if one of those damned things comes back after us again. We need to figure out where to go and how we are going to get there. There's only one true exit out of this apartment, and then we have the fire escapes. With her injuries….."

About that time there was some movement coming down the hall, and arguing.

"I'm not saying anythin', just that you should stay lying down for now…." Ivory could be heard arguing with Alecta. She was struggling to walk down the hall, her good arm draped around Simon's shoulder, he was doing his best to keep her steady.

"Two hours? Mac, it's like you don't even know me.' There was a wince and a little sound of agony as Simon sat her down. Simon had whispered something in her ear as he leaned down to help her get situated. The only thing the others in the room heard was her response of 'how very true'.

"You should get back in your bed girl. You'll pop them stitches again, and this time I'll let ya bleed." His Scottish brogue was getting thicker with his irritation.

"No. You won't. You'll zip me back shut again. It's not in your nature to leave it be; which leads me to my next issue. Let's worry less on how we will get out of here and focus a bit on where we will stay once we do leave. I can go down the escape if there's no other choice to be had, but a tank of gas will last only so long. Speaking of which…..make sure that someone gets some surplus, don't want a 'Deliverance' situation when we are on the lamb ya know."

"Oh, some of our people have commandeered a gas station on the route to the airport, I think we're covered."

"Lovely."

"And by a gas station, I meant 10."

"But of course."

"Why would anyone need to take over 10 gas stations?" Rossi asked clueless.

"There is route that will take us to Dulles; we have several different roads that we can take to get there. And there are five stations along that route down those roads should we need them. Then there is a second route that will take us to a privately owned airstrip. Again, we have multiple roads that we can use to get there if necessary, and the stations dotted along the path periodically…..

Rossi…..The kind of running that would need to be done, if it comes to that…It's not the time to run out of gas or supplies.

Speaking of which…"

"There is a tanker truck at each air strip ready for instructions." Cossette informed her.

"Very good. Now, where should we point the planes?"

"We could always go to London."

"I do love that city. But I won't bring this on her Majesty or my darling Prince Philip. No."

"We can go to Paris,' Cossette suggested. "Or well, one of the villages nearby."

"That idea has some merit. I have a few properties there that I haven't visited in a while. Cossette, go ahead and call the caretakers. Let them know to make ready. It's not 100% certain we will head in that direction, but I want things in order in case we do."

"Of course, mama." Cossette stepped over near the window and dialed.

"Wait. Cossette."

"Yes mama?"

"Not Paris. Lyon." Alecta said with a wink.

"Yes, Lyon!" Cossette hung up and began dialing a different number then.

"What is in Lyon?" Hotch asks.

"Well above all else, it is a town basically built on secret passageways. Those might come in handy. I'd go to Paris, but all they really have is the catacombs. Lovely as they are…..I have apartments and other properties in Paris, but if we were to go to one of them then we might end up having to relocate again. By going to Lyon….I have a friend that controls one of doors to the passageways. He knows the labyrinth inside and out. I know them quite well myself, but if we were to get separated both groups would need a guide."

"Well after Cossette makes her call, we need to head out. We'll be staying at the church, you know the one. "

"Of course. Immogene, thank you. "

"To the end." Immogene winked at Alecta.

"I'm going to stay with Alecta. I am needed more here than anywhere else." Simon declared.

"Thanks old man. I always tease you but you're alright." Mac shook his hand.

"That's alright. I let it go because I realize you were raised by wolves."

"Boys, please! There will be time for your pissing contest later." Alecta commanded.

"Sorry. I'm sorry m'lady." Both men said in unison.

Simon went to the door with the others as they got ready to leave. Alecta was too sore to keep getting up and down. However Hotch had noticed the weary look on her face. This whole scenario was weighing heavily on her conscience.

"Look. For tonight, we can put the inflatable mattress in Jack's room, and the girls can sleep in there. That way your friend Simon can have the bed in your office, if he chooses. That way he can be close to his work if needs be."

"That was a most excellent idea sir. I will be grateful for it." Simon tipped his head to Hotch.

"Rossi and Morgan were sleeping out here. You're with me."

"I was wondering about that." Alecta said with a smirk.

They got ready to bed back down; the children had managed to sneak a couple slices of pizza, so that was taken care of. They hadn't been up so terribly long, but a lot had happened, they were tired. And besides, Hotch knew that Alecta was going to have enough stress in her life over the next few days, she needed to get some rest of some sort.

Once they walked back down the hall, they stopped by Jack's room to set up the inflatable mattress and get the kids ready for bed. Then they made their way to Hotch's room to get themselves ready as well. Hotch walked into his room, Alecta stood at the door for a moment. She seemed unsure about things. There was nervousness to her posture.

"What is it?" Hotch asked, wondering what could make her suddenly so nervous.

"Rossi and Morgan are staying the night?"

"Yes. They came with me when I brought the kids back. After what happened in the hospital while you were still in surgery, neither one of us thought it was a good idea to be on our own."

"What happened?"

"Sofie and Emma…..they got up and started walking out of the waiting room and said they were going to go get some water from the fountain just up the hall from the waiting room. A couple of minutes had passed and they still hadn't come back yet, so I went looking for them. The others helped. Rossi and Morgan had followed me into the stairwell where I had thought they'd gone. When we got there, there was….your strange diplomat…."

"I see you've been warned."

"Yes. He was there, trying to get the girls to go with him. He kept telling them he'd take them to you or some story that he knew they'd believe. We stopped him…with a little help from a boy named Jesse." Hotch smiled about the boy.

"Ah yes. Dear, sweet, Jesse. Did you know, when he was alive….he rode his bike to school one day. He fell off the bike. The driver of the bus didn't see him, and drove over him. It crushed his little scull. His brothers and sisters held it together until their parents arrived at the school. As soon as they saw their father, they started crying. His mother never recovered. He was, I think, 7 or 8….about Jack's age when it happened."

Alecta stayed standing at the door way; still nervous.

"What is it?"

"Why are they staying?"

"Why does it bother you?"

He hadn't seen her look that nervous in days. He didn't care for it.

"It doesn't bother me." A blatant lie.

"Is that the story that you're going with? Would you rather they left and went home and something happen to them?"

"No! N-N-never." Her eyes looked sad at the thought; a tear actually started rolling down her cheek. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

Stuttering like Sofie.

"Then what is it?" Hotch asked quietly.

"Never mind; it doesn't mat…."

"Alecta….You can tell me. You should know that by now."

"Nightmares…..worse than the ones from before."

"Oh, girl, we've all had them…..comes with the job."

"Do you have nightmares about seeing…..'she cut herself off, not wanting to tell him about the nightmares. If she did she might leave herself open to a much longer discussion than she had the strength for tonight…..this morning…..whatever.

"Nightmares about what?"

"No. Just. No." She gave up and walked more fully into the bedroom. Hotch had won a small victory, but at what costs? She still looked nervous as hell, jittery. And he was left with the distinct impression that she might feel as though he had pushed her concerns to the side, as if they didn't matter. He didn't ever want her to feel like her problems didn't matter.

"Come here,' Hotch was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, the covers were just down around the foot of the bed, or close to it. Alecta walked over to the bed and stopped.

She sort of growled at the bed a bit.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"Tall bed, pregnant belly. Can't just pole-vault in like I did before."

"Hang on, I think I might have something that can help. I'll be right back."

Hotch jumped up and ran to the kitchen. There was a small utility closet off of the kitchen and opened the door and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. It was a step stool that he let Jack use a few times to help him put away dishes. Hotch had to chuckle as he grabbed the stool and began to make his way back to his bedroom.

Rossi had been just lying on the sofa, not really asleep; really he was reading a bit, and heard the commotion as Hotch had looked through the closet.

"Aaron, what's going on?"

"Alecta was having trouble climbing into bed. And since she's the independent sort…." He waved the stool at Rossi.

"Isn't that Jack's stool?" Seeing Hotch nod in the affirmative, Rossi started laughing. "I've got to see this."

"No you don't; she's already upset about the two of you staying here."

"Why?" Rossi sounded almost hurt.

"Not for why you think. She's just concerned about her nightmares being so bad, that's all."

"Hogwash. Let me come in and talk to her for a second."

"I don't know if that's…." Hotch trailed off the end of the sentence. Rossi had stopped listening anyway and continued to walk into the bedroom.

By the time Rossi got there Alecta had given in and was sitting in the chair in the corner; she was curled sideways, her head resting on her arms that were crossed on the arm of the chair. At first Rossi thought she had dozed off, until he saw her shoulders shaking slightly.

"What's wrong doll face?" Rossi got down on one knee in front of the chair.

Alecta looked up at him, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"It's nothing. It'll be alright."

"Try again."

Alecta looked out of the window, thinking. Then she looked back at Rossi, her eyes weren't weary, but they did contain a deeply troubled look.

"He knows I hate this waiting."

"Who knows?"

"Santa." Alecta looked at Rossi unbelieving that he had asked that dumb of a question. "He knows I can't stand waiting. He can pick off any one of you at any time. It could be you or one of the kids or Pen….hell if the mood strikes him he could go after Kevin or Mama. I never know who he will take next until it's happened. You don't know what he's like….not really. You've heard the stories I know that you have. But until you've been stuck in the middle of this you have no idea what it's like.

Reading and hearing the stories….people sit back and say 'oh, how horrible it must have been'. They don't know a thing about the waiting to see what will happen next. The nightmares that I have about the last time we met each other in battle."

"When was that?"

"Trust me when I say that you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Matter of fact, if I were to tell you, the first thing you would be doing after receiving the information is calling my old sanitarium."

"Try me."

"Forgive me if I don't. I enjoy my freedom."

"Lex, you know me better than that."

Alecta looked up and saw Hotch standing there. Taking a deep breath, she stood and placed a hand in the middle of his chest and began shoving him out of his bedroom.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry love, but if I am to get any peace, I have to do this." With that she shut the door in Hotch's face and turned back to begin speaking to Rossi.

"In my own home, too." She heard coming from outside the door.

Opening the door she tossed a pillow and blanket at Hotch who barely had time to catch them.

"Get comfortable, this could take a while." Before she shut the door this time, she popped up on her tip toes and gave Aaron a quick kiss on the cheek and a mischievous smile.

AN: Ok, so that seemed like a decent cut off point for this chapter. I was sort of getting tired of it anyway. I hate to say that about one of my own chapters, but the truth hurts. Anyways, next chapter we will get to see what she tells Rossi, at least a bit. I keep wanting to hurry up and get to the good parts….but the harder I try the longer it takes. Grrrr. Love ya peeps.