Chpt 31

"How to Commit the Perfect Murder" was an old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle: the weapon melts away." (Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones)

"I want you to believe...to believe in things that you cannot." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"Oh, my dear, if you only knew how strange is the matter regarding which I am here, it is you who would laugh. I have learned not to think little of any one's belief, no matter how strange it may be. I have tried to keep an open mind, and it is not the ordinary things of life that could close it, but the strange things, the extraordinary things, the things that make one doubt if they be mad or sane." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"He means to succeed, and a man who has centuries before him can afford to wait and to go slow." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"The warlike days are over. Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonorable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told." (Bram Stoker, Dracula)

"Don't you see? I'm not the spirit of any age. I'm at odds with everything and always have been! I have never belonged anywhere with anyone at any time!" (Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire)

"I know nothing of god or the devil and after 400 years... This is the only real evil left..." (Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire)

"I believe the story starts….In the year of our Lord, 1476….No, I dunno. At any rate….By the winter of 1476, His Gloriousness, Sultan Mehmed II had been battling our evil prince for the best part of 20 years. His men were tired; they were decimated nearly to the point of desperation. The Janissaries, that was the elite corps of soldiers for the Sultan, they never gave up. But after 20 years of germ warfare and night time raids against their camps, their numbers were dwindling.

A young woman was sent away from her homeland and her people to ride straight into the heart of the battle and deliver the kill shot. The evil prince had gotten too close to taking the life of the Sultan.

I'm not taking sides. Both men did some things right, but they both also did a lot of bad things. In war, it's all a matter of perspective.

I rode through the frigid mountains of Romania until I got to the place. The battle was bloody and the Prince was fighting as hard as any of his men. The Sultan and his men were just as unforgiving. As I rode onto the battlefield I could scarcely believe this was the same young Prince that I had known years before. He had been a boy, no older that Jack or Henry the first time I met him. He was a bright boy, a good boy at heart.

I didn't want to execute the boy I had known, but I had no choice. He had grown too evil; the boss wouldn't stand for it any longer. I had tried on so many occasions to intervene and stop everything. I had tried talking to the boy Prince, to stop him from going down this road. He would listen to none of it. He thought because of his current powerful position and that he was so unrelenting that he could cheat death forever.

The final orders came and, although it was difficult for me to accept them, I had no choice; the writing was on the wall. The boy would not listen to reason and wouldn't stop the killing.

So, I rode out onto the battle field, found my princely target nearly immediately. I swung my sword, nearly cleaving his head completely from his body in one swing. I thought to make it a clean death, but it was not to happen that way. He fell to the ground, suffering; perhaps it was what he deserved after all the things he'd done over the years. Some would say so.

I dismounted; one of the Sultan's men was following me. I finished my bloody work and he quickly took the head placing it in a sack and got back on his horse. The Sultan himself was back in his capitol, Constantinople. The rider carried the head all the way back to him. The Sultan only kept it for a few short years, even then keeping it hidden from sight. Although the Sultan respected the Prince for his intelligence, he also feared him for his depravity."

"Nice story, what book did you get that from?"

Alecta raised her right hand and smacked her forehead with it, 'Are you serious?"

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"Rossi! I am the young woman that executed the bastard….."

"You mean like, in a past life?"

"If only. No old man, not a past life…..well not exactly. One second…." She went to the bedroom door and opened it, peeking out into the hall to make sure they were truly alone. Luckily she saw that Hotch was sacked out on the couch. Just for one hot second she felt about two inches tall for keeping this from him…but she had to keep him in the dark for his and Jack's safety. And besides, what if she did tell him and he turned against her? Where would she be then?

Coming back into the room and shutting the door, 'It wasn't exactly a past life. It's hard to explain, God knows is it ever hard to explain. For now, please, just trust me. Please believe me when I tell you what happened. I will try to explain things in full, later. I haven't even told Hotch yet. Reid knows some of it; it's the secret he was trying to protect earlier. I don't think I should tell anyone else the rest of the story until I have at least explained it to Hotch…..of if we are all together."

"If this was anybody but you, I'd never agree to this."

"Thank you,' Alecta said it with such gratitude and relief, hugging Rossi to her tightly, kissing his cheek, that he had no choice but to believe her. "I just need some time. I want to tell you all everything."

Rossi agreed to give her as much time as he could. When he left the room, she seemed a lot calmer than she had before. Rossi had figured for himself that the diplomat was after her now for the whole execution thing. Going out into the living room, Rossi had woken Hotch up and told him it was safe to go back into his own room.

When Hotch woke up and stumbled back into his room, Alecta was sitting on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. She held her arms out to him and he fairly well collapsed into them, resting his head against her chest, falling back asleep nearly immediately. Alecta only kissed the top of his head and ruffled his hair a bit as she sank down into the bed and pulled the covers over them for the night. Once in a more relaxed position, she wrapped her arms around him, and his reflexively wrapped around her. He was nearly holding onto her too tightly, but she didn't complain. She knew he was afraid that he would wake up and she would be gone; and quite frankly, she was terrified of the same thing.

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As it turned out, the next few days had passed quietly enough. The team was back at work. Hotch had been a real bear about that. He hadn't wanted to leave Alecta and the girls, not with everything that was going on. But there was nothing to be done for it. And besides, she had reasoned with him that the apartment was one of the safest places in the city for them at that moment; and she had promised him that if she had to leave for anything at all, she would be sure to take Simon with her.

Simon had stayed with them, refusing to leave. He knew they would need an extra pair of eyes, especially after everyone went back to work.

Alecta was left at home, on medical leave because of her advanced pregnancy and the fact that life had been nothing but more stress piled on top of what was already there. Her blood pressure had been sketchy at best; she was prone to dizzy spells because of it. Sofie and Emma had been especially good for their mother; it's like they understood perfectly what was wrong. They spent a lot of time with their older siblings during the day; it was a way of the kids working on the bonds between them all….there were six of them, they needed to get to know each other. Jack even took to spending more time with the older kids. And on top of that, Sofie and Emma started getting invited over to Aunt Jessica's….especially after Jack refused to go over there unless they came with him.

Yes, the days had been quiet, almost blissfully so. Alecta was still waiting for the other shoe to drop….it always did. She knew it was only a matter of time before that evil man came after her or the people she cared about. But at least for the moment she could relax and take a deep breath. She chose to put her worries on the back burner for one moment in time and just enjoy the peace and quiet with the people around her.

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Tuesday, one of the most boring days in the office. Morgan had been sitting in his chair, at his desk, counting the holes in the ceiling tiles, wishing his paperwork would magically float over to Reid's desk…or Prentiss' desk, he wasn't picky. He would rather be able to jump up and go out to lunch with Pen…..and not clock back in for the rest of the day. They'd had some in house fun last night….lots of fun. Damned alarm clock blaring at 6 AM, there should be rules about that…..

Prentiss was on the phone with one of the local precincts giving a phone consultation about a case they were working on. Reid was blitzing through his paperwork without too much of a care in the world. Rossi was fixing his 3rd cup of coffee….more than anything the walk down to the break room was to stave off the boredom. JJ was pouring through her case files, trying to see if there was any particular case of urgency while talking on the phone to her husband and young son. Hotch was in a meeting with Strauss and the deputy director. Apparently they were signing off on the case where Alecta had killed Jack's teacher.

No charges would be brought against Alecta. It was classified as a justified kill. That man had broken into Hotch's home, Alecta did what she had to do to protect the children. It didn't keep Hotch from being superlatively angry though.

Alecta came into the office, Simon two steps behind her as always; she was carrying a container full of sandwiches that she had made, a smaller container of some cookies on top of that one. Simon had a back slung over his shoulder. They came into the bull-pen. Alecta's pregnant belly had caught up nicely….and she did look a bit like a beached whale if everyone had to be honest….even thought that is the last thing you would dare say to a pregnant woman. She practically waddled when she walked. And trying to carry that container with the sandwiches….Simon kept a hand at her back to make sure she didn't tip over backwards if she came to a too sudden stop.

Morgan, Prentiss, Reid, JJ, Pen….They all started digging in. Everyone chatting over how darn good the sandwiches were.

"Yeah, well the cookies are store bought…..I'm not much of a baker. But they're Danish Butter Cookies."

"These things are better than sex,' Emily chimed in.

"Yes they are." Alecta agreed.

About this time, Hotch was coming down the steps into the bull-pen….grim faced as ever. It was the 'Hotch' face.

Alecta kissed him on the cheek; he just sort of pulled out of reach just as the kiss landed on its mark. She looked up at him funny.

"Oh, sorry, forgot about office politics."

"This has nothing to do with the frat rules and office politics."

"Then what?" Alecta looked at him sincerely confused.

"This Dunbar case. Murder. Really? God, Alecta….sometimes it's seems like you're no better than the UNSUBS we hunt. You're just lucky that there weren't any charges brought against yo…."

The end of the sentence never came.

Alecta raised her left hand and slapped Hotch so hard on his left cheek that the sound of it caused agents all over the BAU to stop in their tracks and look up from their work to see what happened. Mouths dropped open. Eyes bugged out of sockets…..Agent Davis had just slapped the absolute dog shit out of SSA Aaron Hotchner…it was hard enough he rocked backwards on his feet. Had Rossi not been there to catch him, he would likely have toppled over.

"I'm no better than your UNSUBS?! Fine! Simon….the bag. Well since poor, dear departed Mr. Dunbar was such a pillar of the community, perhaps you would like to see what the lovely man was up to. You really want to know why he was in my cross hairs? You want to know why Jack came to me and told me about his concerns about Mr. Dunbar?" She reached into the bag and grabbed some of the DVD's, tossing them at Hotch, they made a clattering sound in their cases as they hit his chest and then the floor.

"No better than one of your UNSUBS….." tears started to pour from her eyes. "I saved your son's life, and this is the thanks I get. YOU'RE WELCOME!"

With that Alecta turned and stormed out of the BAU with Simon hot on her heels. Hotch wanted to run after her, but Rossi grabbed his arm….

"Think of your health Aaron. Right now, it might not be the smartest idea to get too close to her. Give her time to cool off."

"I don't know…."

"Please, at least a couple of hours….that's all."

Aaron finally nodded and conceded that what Rossi was saying made some sense.

Over the next two hours JJ had gotten back to her office and back into sifting through the case load, with Pen's help, and they had dug up another case. They were heading out to Washington State. They had a meeting in the conference room and discussed the major points of the case before Hotch gave the notice that they were wheels up in 30 minutes.

Everyone grabbed their go bags and began making their way to the garage to jump into the SUVs that would take them to the airstrip. Rossi would be driving one with Hotch and JJ riding with him. Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid would be a separate one.

Before they even reached the air strip, Hotch had tried to call Alecta eight times, getting no answer. He was trying to let her know what had happened. He knew he could just leave a voice mail, but he wanted to hear her voice, he wanted to actually speak to her and at least pretend like there was nothing whatsoever wrong and that he could apologize for what he said.

Eventually, as he got onto the plane, he made one last attempt to call her. This time the phone didn't even ring. She had turned it off. Oh, she was mortally pissed at him if she turned it off.

'What have I done?' Hotch was left to wonder to himself as the plane took off.

Post AN: Holy Crap! This chapter just basically fell out. Hope it was worth it, that it was at least up to my usual par. Lemme know what ya think.