Yes Sir [Hotch X Reader]

Chapter 12

You find yourself pacing back and forth in the conference room while waiting anxiously for results. The parents had just got on the air and already there had been several phone calls. You were sure that Garica had her work cut out for her in looking up all the suspects.

"Y/n, are you okay?" Emily asked, ever observant. The team looked up at you.

"No, I'm not," you say with honesty "But I will be when we get the girl. I can't just sit around like this and wait for her to die."

Your mind ran wild. You had seen pictures of this girl. You had spoken with her mother. You imagined breaking the news to the parents, telling them that whatever you had done wasn't enough. Would that be your fault?

"Y/n" a calm voice drew you from your thoughts "We're doing all we can as of now. Garica will call us when she finds something. Sit down and relax." You realized it was Hotch who had spoken. His voice was level and gentle, his warm brown eyes steady.

You nod and follow his orders, taking the only available seat next to him. You fidgeted nervously with your fingers.

Slowly, he moved his hand from his lap to yours, setting it gently on the edge of your knee. You calmed under his touch as you felt the warmth from his palm. You felt as his pointer finger tapped gently on your knee cap. You feel your heartbeat steady in rhythm with his taps. Without thinking, you place your hand on top of his. You survey the room, and, realizing no one is watching, wrap your fingers around his palm. He looks at you almost quizzically but doesn't move away. You realize it's the first intimate touch or recognition he's given you since that morning.

"Guys, Garcia found something," Derek says, bursting through the door. You feel Hotch remove his hand before placing them folded on the table.

"Who is it?" Rossi asks.

"It's an Arthur Morrison" he replies, holding up a picture "a neighbor called in an anonymous tip about him fitting the description. Get this: he even had a dog named Rex before."

"Sounds like our guy. Let's run it by the girl" Hotch says as he rises to his feet. The team follows him into the next room, standing over the girl in her mother's arms.

"Hi Em," you say sweetly, taking the picture from Morgan "I need you to look at this picture and tell me if this is the man you talked to at the park." She studies it for a moment, cocking her head.

"Yes."
_______

You and the team drive to his house as quickly as possible, sirens on and blasting. Hotch continuously speaks on the phone, trying desperately to get a warrant for the house while driving.

The longer you wait, the worse the images in your head get. Imagining the poor girl lifeless, nothing you do being enough to save her. You had worked plenty of kidnapping cases in your time, you were a child crime expert after all, but deep down your work terrified you at times.

"That's the house," you say, watching as the rest of the SUV's pull off to the side down the road. Hotch parks and you both get out of the car quickly to meet with the team.

"I'm waiting on a warrant, it should be done soon," Hotch says "until then, we wait."

The images flash in front of you. You didn't have time to wait. That girl only had a couple of hours left, if she wasn't already gone. How could he ask you to wait?

"I'm not waiting," you say quietly.

"What?"

Before the team can ask further questions, you take off, running down the street at full speed and up to the front door.