Ghosts • Aaron Hotchner

Chapter Sixteen

Only one word described life between the car ride home and the present, intense. From moments chasing down unsubs, to moments where Hotch and Fallon were alone and all they wanted to do was show some sort of affection. Of course they couldn't, they promised not to act on anything until things got less complicated. Fallon had to admit, it was difficult knowing that Hotch felt the same way she did, and not doing anything about it. 

The team had just got home from a the most horrible case they'd ever worked on, in Canada. It was unsettling to know that while they were out there catching serial killers who had only killed three or four people, there was a killer in Canada, who had killed eighty nine people. 

Fallon had only gotten about four hours of sleep, however, because she was suddenly awoken by a phone call from JJ at around eight in the morning. She was walking side by side with Morgan, both of them upset that they were awake since the team wasn't supposed to be working today.

"We're not working a case, why call us to a crime scene?" Morgan asked as the two approached Rossi. 

"I was hoping you knew," Rossi responded, just as Emily ducked under the nearest crime tape and walked over to them.

"JJ said the police told her it was urgent," Emily said.

"Four hours of sleep after what we went through in Canada, it better be," Morgan grumbled.

"If it's not, I'll become the unsub," Fallon murmured to herself, earning an amused glance from Rossi.

"And just how would you do that?" He asked.

"I've seen a lot of stuff, I'll come up with something," Fallon commented. Rossi chuckled as the four agents crossed the street into the building the cops are surrounding. 

The elevator ride was short, and soon the four of them were stepping into the crime scene, JJ walking past them as they did so.

"Oh, you guys, over here," JJ said, looking away from her phone. "You guys remember Detective Walker?"

Fallon smiled tightly at the man who nodded grimly in response, shaking each of their hands. 

"Thanks for being here. I understand none of you are working on much rest," Walker told them, and Rossi nodded in confirmation.

"Who's the victim?" Rossi asked, as the team examined down at the body bag on the floor in front of them. 

"His name is Nelson Martinez. From what we can figure, he answered his door, was forced into the apartment at gunpoint, and then shot in the chest. It was all pretty sloppy," Walker answered. 

"No, disrespect, but I don't understand why you need us here," Morgan told him, obviously still annoyed that they had been forced to wake up early after what they experienced. 

"Two days ago, a local doctor named Tom Barton found a note addressed to him at the hospital. It said the person was planning to kill his son. If Dr. Barton tried to keep his boy hidden, one person would die everyday in his place," Walker explained.

"And you think this is all connected?" Emily asked.

"The note is signed L.C.," Reid pointed out, reading from the folder that JJ had handed them. 

"Yesterday we had another victim. Multiple gunshots outside the apartment. The shooter wrote 'L.C.' in white chalk next to the body," Walker said.

"So now, unless Dr. Barton puts his son in harms way, we're going to keep having a victim a day," Fallon said, realizing the seriousness of the case. It was a good thing that they were called in, even though all of them were traumatized and sleep-deprived.