moonstruck 2 // criminal minds fanfic

ch. 9

Hotch lay in bed, feeling irritable and useless. He felt as though he had spent this entire case either unconscious or lying down. He sat up straight and pushed himself to his feet, despite the burning pain in his chest as his stitches pulled at his skin. He walked slowly over to his bag in the corner of the room feeling a little nauseated, and when he bent down to find a pair of socks, there was a sickening sensation in his chest and he could almost hear the sound of his broken ribs grinding together.

"Hotch?" Morgan had appeared in the room with a stack of paperwork from the Sheriff's office.

"I'm fine," Hotch said automatically, straightening up slowly and returning to the side of his bed. "Is that the suspect list for the Sheriff's murder?"

"Yeah," said Morgan, eyeing him warily. "You sure you're okay? You look kinda pale."

"Fine," he said, gesturing for Morgan to hand him the papers. "That's a lot of suspects."

"Four pages of them," he agreed.

"Any luck questioning Jacob Fox?" Hotch asked.

"Maggie and Camilla haven't brought him in yet," Morgan said. They'd been gone for almost an hour and Hotch was becoming concerned but before he could worry anymore, Morgan's phone rang.

"Hey, speak of the devil," he said. "It's Camilla." Hotch wondered why she had called Morgan and not him and he checked his phone for missed calls but there were none. He realized that he was no use in the investigation while he was stuck in the hospital but he would have liked to be involved. Morgan answered the call but remained silent for a long time, listening intently. He didn't speak a word for the entire phone call but his expression spoke volumes.

"Jacob Fox has Maggie."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"Where's Camilla?"

"I don't know," he said, moving towards the door.

"What do you mean you don't know? He called from her phone," Hotch said, his voice and his temper rising. "Where the hell is she, Morgan?"

"I don't know, man! I would have asked but he said if I spoke he would kill Maggie. He didn't even mention Camilla, I don't think she's with them." He ran his hands over his head, pacing anxiously in the doorway. "I need to find her. I have to go."

"Get Garcia to trace Camilla's phone," Hotch said. Morgan obeyed and texted Garcia. Within thirty seconds, Jacob Fox's location was in his hand. When he looked up, Hotch was pulling on his shoes and grabbing a sweater.

"You aren't going anywhere, Hotch," Morgan said.

"We are a lot closer to Jacob Fox's house than anyone else. Camilla might still be there. I can't afford to wait for the cops."

"You're going to kill yourself," Morgan said, but when he met Hotch's gaze he seemed to realize that there was no reasoning with him.

"Will you just help me?" he asked. He hated the sound of the words but he couldn't make it down the stairs and out to the SUV by himself. Morgan grabbed two sets of car keys and helped Hotch out into the main part of the ward, pausing momentarily to avoid one of the nurses. They stepped into the elevator and Morgan hammered the button with his thumb for the entire time down to the dark basement where their SUVs sat waiting. Hotch pulled open the driver's door of the vehicle, fighting back the waves of dizziness and nausea that kept threatening to submerge him. He closed his eyes and leaned on the car door, taking deep breaths and willing himself to keep going for Camilla.

"Hotch?"

"Just go," he said, waving Morgan away. "Find Maggie. Back-up won't be far behind."

Morgan got into his own SUV and tore out of the basement parking lot, following the GPS that Garcia had sent. Camilla's phone was about four miles outside of town and hopefully so was Maggie. Morgan could feel the rage growing inside him, something he hadn't felt in a long time. If Jacob Fox had killed Maggie, he would kill him.