Blinded by Hate | a.hotchner

Chapter 47

It had been a few hours since the team had gotten back to the hotel when your phone rang, which you quickly answered. Aaron was soundly sleeping on your shared bed, and he needed as much sleep as he could get.

"Agent y/l/n." You quietly spoke into the phone as you stepped into the hallway.

"Agent, I am calling with an update on SSA Kate Joyner." The person, who you identified as a nurse, told you.

You held your breath for a moment before speaking, "Yes, thank you for making the exception, you truly have no idea how much it means." You started to pace in the narrow hallway, "How is Agent Joyner?"

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry to inform you that at one forty seven this morning, Kate Joyner died. Her wounds were extensive, and in the end, massive blood loss was the cause of death." Her solemn voice told you, and you felt a lump form in your throat.

"I, uh. Thank you for notifying me, I will let my team know." Your words caught in your throat, but you managed to push them out.

Not four hours earlier, you were holding Kate's hand in the back of an ambulance, next to a terrorist no mind, and now she was in the morgue.

"Of course, Agent. We have already contacted her family, and they should be arriving within the day. Again, so sorry for your loss." She didn't wait for a response, just hung the phone up.

Deciding to give Aaron more rest before telling him, you walked down to the lobby to find the rest of the team nursing various drinks at the otherwise empty bar.

Emily was the first to spot you and your tear stained face. She quickly made her way over to you, "Y/n? What's wrong? I mean I know what's wrong, but why are you crying?" It was clear that the little amount of alcohol in her system had already done away with her filter.

"Kate didn't make it." You told her, and the rest of the team, quietly.

They sat in silence for a moment, and you spotted tears on Derek's face out of the corner of your eye. You quietly ordered a glass of whiskey, letting the liquid burn down inside of your throat. You could hear JJ's attempt to hide her crying and Emily's hand rubbing up and down her back. Rossi was the first to speak, picking up his glass.

"To Kate. May she rest in peace." His tone was airy and dry, and if you looked you were sure there were small tears in his eyes.

The rest of the team raised their glasses and spoke in unison, "To Kate." And all of you drank together, letting the various liquids slide down to your stomach. Even Spencer was drinking, which was very odd for him.

After a few more minutes, you stood from the bar, "I've got to go tell Aaron now." You would have rather done anything else, but he needed to know.

The team only nodded in response, taking another sip of their drinks as they did.

Once you made it back to your room, you realized that you didn't have a key, so you had to knock. Aaron was probably still sleeping, so you rapped your knuckles rather hard on the wooden door. After a few seconds, you heard Aaron approach the door and pull it open far enough to see who it was.

"Oh, y/n. Why'd you knock?" Aaron asked, pulling the door open for you to step in.

"Went to go talk to the team real quick, and forgot the key. Sorry for waking you." You apologized, sitting down on the bed.

He sighed and sat next to you, "It's fine, I probably needed to get up anyways. Why'd you need to talk to the team?"

You hesitated, knowing that the information of Kate's death would send him into either rage or sadness, probably both, and you didn't want to experience either. "I got a call from the hospital, about Kate." You started to tell him.