Chapter 21
"Take the knife, Cullen."
"I'm not ready."
"How can you say you're not ready after everything we've done? Don't you get that I'm trying to help you, brother?"
"I know…and… and I'm grateful. Without you I don't know if I would have found my way back to myself."
"So take the knife."
"Not yet…the next one, I promise, Mason. Believe me…"
"Believe you? Why should I? After everything we've done, are you still that weak? Maybe the BAU did too good a number on you, brother...maybe you'd prefer to be with them; because it sure doesn't seem you want anything to do with your real life with me...doing what has always come natural to us!"
"What? No! That's not...why are mad at me, Mason?"
"I showed you who you were, when all you had was a blank slate and each time I asked you to hold the blade, you've refused. You're not complete brother…you never will be until you do what I ask of you."
"I..."
"I know, I know. Next time...you promise."
"I do...I promise, Mason."
"…promise, Mason."
"Aaron?" whispered Jessica.
No response.
"Cullen?"
Hotch blinked, a soft shuttered gasp emanating from his lips.
Where was he?
He looked around, they were halfway down the hallway. One of his hands was gripping the woman's arm tightly, his gun hand lowered to his side; he was trembling, his head feeling like it was being squeezed in a vice.
Jessica was trying to control herself, they were heading away from the bedrooms which was a great thing, but then Hotch suddenly stopped, his grip on her arm tightening; she turned her head to ask him what the matter was, her voice small, low.
But her words froze in her mouth at his pained far away gaze and when he started to shake, panicked thoughts flickered through her mind,
Is he having a seizure?
Take the gun!
Call 911!
But Hotch's hand was like a vise and she couldn't move, she could only stand there in the silence wishing they were a little further away from Jack's door.
Hotch stared at the woman in front of him.
He had promised his brother but they had killed Mason before Hotch had a chance to show him that he was complete, that he was able to pick up the knife.
Hotch had glanced a knife block in the kitchen as they had entered into the apartment after some lights had been turned on.
He'd force the woman to tell him where the members of the BAU lived, then the cult of skin and screams, blood and bone would have one more offering.
He promised Mason.
Garcia had called JJ who had been kept busy dealing with the media, to let her know what was happening.
After a tense meeting with Strauss, JJ made her way to the hospital to talk to Agent Cade and Cadence, the nurse.
They had agreed to not press charges against Hotch and they both hoped he was found safe along with his sister-in-law.
After, JJ had joined Garcia in the hospital's security office where she was looking at the footage of the parking lot at the approximate time Hotch had left taking Jessica with him.
They watched Hotch and Jessica enter into the camera's frame. They were walking close to each other, Hotch slightly behind her, one hand hidden from view. They were weaving slightly as they walked, Hotch the one doing the weaving, Jessica forced to keep in step with him.
"This is all my fault." groaned Garcia. "I let Hotch fool me."
"No, Garcia." stated JJ; Garcia had told her about loosening Hotch's restraints.
JJ pointed at the monitor "That is not our Hotch. The man who tricked you into helping him was confused and saw your goodness, using it for his own benefit. Your goodness is not a fault, Penelope."
Garcia smiled tightly, her eyes still glued to the monitor, her mind warring over JJ's words and her guilt, when her phone rang, she put Prentiss on speaker.
"Emily, are you guys there yet?" asked Garcia.
'No, there was a problem, a car accident on our route, we had to take a detour."
"Emily, how long until you get there?" asked JJ.
"JJ…" sighed Prentiss, hearing her voice. 'I'm guessing Strauss knows then?"
"I had to tell her. She's looking the other way with this because of our suspension. All she wants is Hotch back in the hospital with no new "casualties", her word, not mine, in his wake, the good news and quite helpful is that Agent Cade and the nurse have decided not to press charges."
"Definitely good news, I'll tell the others. We should be there in about 10 minutes, Morgan is burning the tarmac; is the car still outside Jessica's?"
"Yes, still there." answered Garcia. "You guys hurry though."
"We will, call you when everyone's safe." Prentiss severed the line.
Garcia turned to JJ. "Everything's going to be okay, right?"
"We just need to get to Hotch before he hurts himself…or anyone else." replied JJ.
"Do you really think he'd hurt Jessica? Hurt Jack?"
They watched more of the footage as Hotch and Jessica neared her car and Hotch grabbed onto the scared woman as he bent and threw up.
"I don't think he would mean to." replied JJ.
Hotch was getting upset with the woman. They had made a detour though the kitchen where he grabbed a large knife from the knife block on the counter and then forced her towards the living room, ordering her down on the couch where she sat staring at him wide eyed as he asked her over and over for the addresses of the BAU members.
"Aaron, I..."
She saw him bristle. "I...I mean Cullen, I really don't know where they live."
"You claim to know me, they claim to know me. I know you're working together with them; I just want to know why the games?"
Suddenly, a shout of pain echoed through Hotch's head; his brows furrowing as he pressed the back of the hand holding the knife to his forehead.
Jessica glanced at the hallway, then quickly back to Hotch as he lowered his hand.
"I have Agent Jareau's number." she murmured, "But it's in my cellphone."
"Where's your phone?"
Jessica hesitated for a moment. "In my bag, in the car."
Hotch's eyes narrowed. "Of course."
He moved over to a desk in the corner and after placing the knife on it quickly rummaged through the drawers with one hand, the other holding the gun aiming it deftly at Jessica.
Finding nothing regarding the BAU, he turned back to the woman on the couch an image of a man painfully flashing through his mind, he gasped bending over the desk and lowering the gun.
Without thinking Jessica stood and made her way towards him. "Are you o..." she began.
Hotch's head shot up, his face etched in pain. He blinked rapidly to focus as he aimed the gun at the approaching woman.
"Gideon…who's Gideon?" he demanded.
Jessica froze. "I…"
Hotch snarled and tossing the gun aside he grabbed the knife and lunged at Jessica grabbing her at the throat and pulling her to the ground. He had enough of this...enough of everything. He was Cullen Ezral, Mason's big brother. This woman, the BAU, they would learn this the hard way. Kneeling, he straddled her pressing the knife against her cheek, his other hand tightening on her throat as he leaned forward to her ear. His voice low and menacing.
"No… more… games!"
Alice flinched as she heard a thud coming from somewhere in the apartment. She bit her lip as she quietly tried to control her emotions.
Her friend Jessica was out there, God knows what was happening to her. She needed to help her...she needed to do something! Alice squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, her eyes snapping open when her small charge squirmed once again in her arms.
Not yet, Jack. Not yet!
Agent Rossi, where are you?
The Explorer pulled into Jessica's apartment parking lot and the team quickly got out and grouped near the car.
"So how are we going to do this?" asked Prentiss as they all except Reid pulled out their personal weapons, they had chosen to carry after they had handed in their assigned ones with their badges.
"Very calmly." Rossi replied; He motioned to his gun. "These are just a last resort. It's Hotch in there, we have to get through to him somehow."
"And if we don't?" fretted Reid.
"Kid, that's not a choice." muttered Morgan.
They quickly made their way to the building.
Hotch...Hotch was spilling.
Kneeling over the woman, images of unknown people and places were flickering through his mind like a broken projector. Each image filling his heated brain until they were running over the brim in his mind, spiking his anger and frustration; he was losing control.
The woman beneath him was staring at him as she trembled violently.
"Aaron, it's me Jessica. I'm Jessica, Haley's sister, Jack's aunt. Remember, please remember." The desperation in her murmured litany, the names she was calling out; images flashed through his mind now, too fast for him to hold onto, the cup in his mind cracking under the onslaught.
Grabbing the woman by the shoulders he shook her, her head bouncing against the living room floor.
"Enough!" He growled.
Jessica immediately silenced, her wide eyes never leaving Hotch's dark ones.
"I'll find the BAU on my own."
Using the knife he ripped open Jessica's blouse, the sound of her buttons clicked across the floor of the living room as they scattered.
Staring at her torso for a moment, he smiled then grabbed her, quickly slicing away a length of skin down the side of her stomach.
Jessica bucked, and gasped loudly, her eyes filling with tears, but then she fell quiet almost right away; she couldn't scream...Jack would hear.
Hotch frowned as he held the length of skin up for her to see.
She continued to stare at him, as her tears pooled in her eyes, a few drops escaping down the side of her face, her lips tightly closed; her body shaking.
"You...you're supposed to scream." he muttered.
Wide eyes stared back at him.
Why wasn't she screaming?
He was not going to be complete!
No...no…no…
"SCREAM!" he shouted.
In the darkness of the closet, Jack's eyes flew open.
"Daddy?"
-TBC-