Ghosts • Aaron Hotchner

Chapter Fourteen

The next time Fallon opened her eyes, she was greeted with the blinding lights of a hospital room. She groan at the aching in her head, and sat up slightly. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light she was surprised to see the entire team sleeping in her room, some of them in very uncomfortable positions. Spencer was curled up in a ball on the hard floor, Emily was resting with her head on JJ's lap, while JJ had her head leaning on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan's head was resting on the wall, and Garcia was sprawled out next to him in a starfish pose.

Fallon was also surprised to see both Hotch and Rossi there as well. Hotch was sitting cross legged on the floor, his head hanging down, his normally slicked back hair, hanging in front of his eyes. Rossi was sitting next to him, legs straight out in front of him, arms crossed, chin resting on his chest.

Fallon smiled at the sight of them all crammed together, wondering why nobody took either of the chairs on the other side of the room. Fallon looked over and on the nearest table to her, she spotted her phone lying there. Taking her opportunity, she snapped a picture of them, and sent it to Garcia. Fallon was well aware that Garcia had a blackmail folder for each team member so the brunette was going to let her put the picture wherever she wanted to.

Fallon readjusted as quietly as she could, but the bed squeaked louder than she had anticipated. She thought she was safe until she heard someone on the floor shift. She glanced over to see Hotch lifting his head up, and rubbing his eyes. He looked over at her, and his eyes widened when he realized she was awake.

Hotch got up tentatively as to not wake anyone else, and he stepped over Garcia's arm as he walked to the other side of her bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, pulling a chair up and sitting down.

"I'm feeling fine, what happened to Jackson?" Fallon asked. She wanted to know for sure that she'd never have to see him again.

"He's dead," Hotch informed her with a tight lipped smile. 

"Dead, why?"

"He let go of you, and Morgan got his hands on him, but Jackson was stronger than we thought and tossed Morgan aside before pointing his gun at him. Had Emily not shot him, it would be Morgan dead instead," Hotch explained, and Fallon pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry about all of this," Fallon said but Hotch just shook his head.

"There's no need for you to be sorry, I just want to know why it happened," he responded. Fallon sighed, and pursed her lips.

"I realized that our relationship wasn't really going anywhere, but when I went to tell him that he interrupted me and proposed with the cheapest ring I'd ever seen. I told him that wasn't what I meant and he got really mad. I wasn't aware that he was capable of getting that mad, I mean we'd only been dating for a month. Anyways, I had him unconscious and called Garcia, but he woke up faster than I expected him to and hit me in the head multiple times. I was already exhausted from the case, so that didn't really help in my attempts to fight back."

"Well then it's a good thing Garcia called us immediately, otherwise you probably wouldn't be here," Hotch said with a small smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah I got lucky," Fallon replied. Hotch studied her silently as she thought back to what was said back in her apartment. "How did you know he's been killing for the last five years, and why didn't I see that he was a serial killer?"