Counter Torque

CHAPTER TWO

As the next couple of weeks went by, Aaron stayed busy at the office. The team had several cases that chained together and many times, Aaron didn't even know what day it was until Reid let him know. He'd been speaking to Jessica, Jack's Aunt, as often as possible and all was well. It wasn't until their last day in Seattle that things started being strange. They had just wrapped up a case and Aaron wanted to be on the jet that night, but the team was just too tired. They'd been working non-stop for almost seventy-two hours. He finally decided that they would stay one more night and sent a quick email to Strauss to let her know. As he climbed the stairs to his room, he got an angry reply from her; something about spending unnecessary funds. Rolling his eyes, he opened the door to his room and checked for missed calls and messages. Normally, there would be a few from Jessica, checking in on how things were going, but today there was nothing. After Aaron finished drying off from his shower, pulling on boxers and a t-shirt, he picked up his cell phone and called. With the time difference, it would be about eleven-thirty in DC so she should still be awake. Strangely, it went to voice mail. Aaron didn't think anything of it, with all of Jack's activities, they'd definitely gone a night or two without communicating before, so he pulled off his t-shirt and climbed in to bed, desperate for sleep.

A dull constant buzzing pulled a fuzzy-minded Agent Hotchner out of his slumber. It wasn't like him to get much sleep to begin with, but soon enough, he recognized the droning of his phone and reached over to the night stand. The clock said five-fifteen am, "Ugh, so early." "Hotchner." he says, groggily, clearing his throat. "Aaron? Aaron! It's Jessica. Are you on your way home?"
He clears his throat again, "Soon. In a couple hours—"
"No, you have to come now! Jack's missing!"
Aaron sits straight up, no longer asleep, "Jessica, what's happened?" He's on auto-pilot, moving around the room, collecting things, throwing them into his go-bag. Jessica is sobbing on the other end, "I don't know, I went to get him up for school and he was just gone!"
"Why didn't you answer yesterday when I called? Why didn't you call or text me?"
"What? Um, w-we were out shopping for Halloween costumes and my phone died. I charged it last night when we got home."
"Good enough," he thinks.
"Alright, Jessica, have you called the police?"
"Yes, of course, they won't come though. They said they think—"
"Ugh, I know," he interrupts, sighing, "don't worry, I'll call them. Jessica, listen, don't touch anything, ok? Leave everything as it is until they arrive. Do you understand?"
"I understand. Aaron, I'm so sorry. I just-I don't know what happened," she sobbed.
"It's alright, we'll figure it out when I get there." Aaron hangs up his phone and immediately calls Garcia, "Garcia, I need you to get a team to Jessica's house."
"Sir, yes, sir, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Jack's been taken," he says quietly.
"Oh no...Sir...I—I will send an army." The line goes dead as Aaron leaves his room, fists banging on the doors of his team. "Everyone out here now, we're leaving! BAU team, out here now!" he shouts. Reid is already awake and dressed, peeking his head out the door, responding to the chaos. Derek, JJ, and Emily all drag themselves out into the hall, trying to understand what the universe is again. Dave is the last one out and the only one willing to speak, "Aaron, what in god's name is going on?"
Aaron turns to him, "I need everyone ready to go ASAP, someone has broken into Jessica's house and they've taken Jack."
Eyes widen on everyone as they look at each other and the information sinks in. They move double time and are ready to walk in five.
The flight home is silent since they don't have anything to go on yet. Garcia promised to keep them in the loop, but information was light until right before they landed.
As they split into two vehicles, Penelope keeps a steady flow of information coming as they head to Jessica's home. Aaron speaks on comms, "When we get there, JJ, I want you with me to talk to Jessica. Reid and Morgan, look throughout the house, start with Jack's room. Prentiss, take the outside of the house, I want to know how this son of a bitch got in. And Dave, see if you can find anything out from the responding agents and find any potential witnesses." Everyone nods at their assignments, ready to do whatever it takes.
Garcia wasn't kidding when she said she'd send an army. When Hotch turned onto the block, there was barely any place for him to park the SUV. As they all exited, Aaron headed straight for Jessica. She was closed in on herself and crying. "Jessica!" Hotch called out.
"Oh Aaron, I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, hugging him tightly when he embraced her.
Aaron leads her away from the crowd and walks up to JJ, "Jessica, this is Jennifer, tell us what happened."
Jessica tries her best to recount the previous night. She'd picked up Jack from school at three, took him home to wash up and get his homework done. She had promised to take him costume shopping for Halloween, so once they were done at the mall they came home around seven. JJ is listening intently, "Jessica, I know this is hard, but I need you to focus. Did you see any strange cars following you, either from the school or the mall? Did anyone bump into you or try and talk to Jack?"
Jessica shakes her head, "No, nothing like that. Jack was upset because he was sure that he wasn't going to find a costume as good as the one you got him last year, so we came home." She looks at Aaron and he smiles a sad, half smile.
JJ frowns, confused, "Hotch?"
He looks at her, "Garcia helped me find this crazy Darth Vader costume that made all the sounds. He loved it so much he slept in it after he got home from trick or treats." JJ smiles meekly, reaching out to him, but decided against it, letting her hand drop to her side. JJ turns her attention back to Jessica, "Ok, so no one unusual while you were out. What about here? Did you happen to see any strange cars parked along the street over the last few days? A van for a company that you didn't recognize or one that stayed longer than it should have?"
Again, Jessica shakes her head, "No, I swear there was nothing. We came home, I made us dinner and he went to bed. I had a glass of wine or two and went to sleep. The next morning I got up at seven and made breakfast. When I went to get him at seven-thirty, he was gone. I looked all over, went outside and checked to see if he was playing, but..." she breaks down again and can't finish. JJ sees Aaron tense and his body language changes. She can tell he's angry, not at Jessica, at least she doesn't think so. If it were her sons, she knows she'd be the same way. Pissed off at whoever did this, wanting someone to give her some answers and being frustrated when they didn't come. She looks back to Jessica, "Ok, that's ok, why don't you go inside and sit down, get yourself some water? We'll come and get you if we need to ask you any other questions."
Aaron watches Jessica trudge into the house, hands on his hips. JJ watches him watch her, "Hotch, you can't possibly think she had anything to do with this?" He doesn't answer her. "Hotch? Hey, can you hear me?" Only after she touches his arm does he look at her.
He asks, "What, JJ?"
She looks at him, "She didn't do this." "What? No, of course not, I know that."
"There's still a tiny part of you inside that wants to blame her though, isn't there?"
Hotch looks from his feet to her, "Maybe, but only because it would be easy."
JJ nods, "I know."
Hotch and JJ head inside the home just as Morgan is coming out of Jack's room. "Hey Hotch, I think you're gonna wanna see this," he says. Hotch's face is now permanently in a frown, "What have you got?" Reid interjects, "Did Jack have a cell phone?""No, I told him he isn't old enough. Why?"
Morgan answers, "We found this under his pillow." He holds up a black cell phone and hands it to him. Hotch pushes the button on the side and the time and date pop up. He presses it again and the lock screen appears. "You found this in here?" They both nod. "JJ can you go ask—"
"Already on it," she's striding out of the room towards the kitchen. Hotch looks at the screen and sighs, "What sort of password would you use, buddy?" He types in Jack's birthday, Haley's birthday, his favorite issue number of Spider-Man. All wrong. Reid walks up to him, "Um, c-can I try?"
Hotch just looks at him, "By all means." He hands Reid the phone and he tries two codes, the screen unlocks after the second attempt. He smiles softly and shows it to Hotch. Hotch asks, "What did you put in?"
"Well, I tried your birthday first, but that didn't work."Morgan looks at him, "So what did?""Hotch's FBI badge number."
Tears start to well up in Aaron's eyes as JJ comes back into the room, "Jessica has no idea where that phone came from." He quickly blinks them back, clearing his throat, "Let's get this to Garcia, see what she can find." Morgan pulls out his phone, "Hey baby-girl I need you to work your miracles.""Gimmie a quarter and you'll see what my magic fingers can do," she answers coyly.
"You're on speak-er," Morgan retorts, grinning.
"Um, I mean, I—"
JJ saves her, "Garcia, what can you tell us about the following number? We need everything you can pull, 202/555-0127."
"On it, I'll hit you back once I have something." They hear a click and she's gone.
Dave and Prentiss come in and they meet up with everyone. Dave speaks first, "No witnesses, the responding agencies don't have much. They're canvasing the area, looking for cameras, but it's too early to tell."Prentiss follows, "Unfortunately I don't have much either. There was no forced entry, no footprints, no broken glass. Hotch, I hate to say it, but I think Jack actually ran away, or—"
"He let them in," he finishes. Hotch rounds on his heels and storms into the kitchen, "Did you set the alarm last night?" Jessica jumps. She's not used to him raising his voice. "Answer me!" he bellows, "Did you set the alarm!?" By now the rest of the team is in the kitchen as well. Jessica pauses and thinks for a moment, "I-I don't know. I-I-I-I think I did..." she stutters, "...oh no." The team's faces drop, JJ turns and leaves, Reid follows her out. "JJ, you ok? Is there a problem?"She pulls him to the side, "Jessica admitted to Hotch she had some wine last night. If she didn't set the alarm, well then..." Reid's eyes widen as he puts two and two together and makes an 'o' with his mouth, nodding. Suddenly, there is shouting, then a loud crash, followed by Morgan yelling, "Hotch! What the hell man? C'mon, get out. Out! Let's go. Let's go!" JJ and Reid shuffle quickly back to the kitchen, seeing a traumatized Jessica being shielded by Emily and a broken wine bottle on the floor. Morgan is escorting shoving dragging Hotch out of the kitchen. Dave puts his hands on his friends' chest, backing him up towards the door, "Let's get you some air, huh, Aaron?"
Once outside, everyone calms down, except Hotch. He's standing in the corner of the yard away from them, enraged. Every time he tries to go back inside, Dave is there, "Ah-ah, cool it."
"Dave," he counters.
"Aaron, I get it, you're angry, but doing that to Jessica here? Now? Even for you that's bad hat."
Aaron looks at his friend intently, hands on hips, flexing his jaw, grinding his teeth, but finally, he sighs and drops his hands to his sides. "Shit. I need to go apologize," he says weakly. Dave stops him, "No, not right now. She's too raw. Emily's got her."
Morgan pulls out his buzzing phone, "Talk to me Garcia."
Penelope replies, "If you'll avert your eyes to said burner phone, you'll see that I've recovered all the deleted texts for your reading...well, I'd say pleasure, but there's nothing pleasing about these." JJ asks, "How do you mean?"
"Well, I mean," she continues, "whoever gave Jack this phone was communicating regularly. They were talking to him about his birthday, how much he loves to make cookies, Halloween costumes..." Reid pulls it out of his pocket and Hotch is staring at it like it's about to explode. Hotch takes a breath, "Who, Garcia? Who gave this to Jack?"
"Sir, that, I cannot tell you. It's a burner, so there is no GPS and no way to track where its been. Hence the name, 'burner' phone. But I can tell you that whoever this is, they've been meeting up with Jack for a few days now, four to be exact."
"Thanks, Garcia," Reid says, as Morgan hangs up. "So," he starts as he scrolls through the phone, "they know what all of Jacks' favorite things are. He likes to make cookies, he loves Halloween." He looks at the texts from last night and frowns, "Guys, come take a look at this." As the team gathers around and reads the texts, their hearts drop. Hotch is the last to look and when he does he nearly collapses.
M-Hey, kiddo! (21:29)
J-Hey! Sorry, I almost fell asleep.(21:41)
M-That's ok, you about ready to go? (21:41)
J-Yeah! Aunt Jessica already put me to bed. She never checks! (21:42)
M-Alright then, where do you want to go first? (21:43)
J-Well, I'm hungry so can we get some McDonald's? (21:45)
M-Whatever you want. You want to shop for costumes? (21:46)
J-Yeah! My Aunt took me tonight but I wanted to go with you so I lied. (21:47)
M-You shouldn't lie. (21:49)
J-I know, but you're more fun to hang out with! (21:50)
M-So, do you want to stay with me for a bit? I don't have to bring you home like last time. Your dad already said it's ok. He's busy, so he said I could watch you for however long he needed me too.(21:51)
J-Yeah, I miss him, but he's super busy helping people. (21:53)
M-That's ok, I'll keep you company until he comes home, deal? (21:54)
J-Deal! (21:56)
M-Ok, so make sure your Aunt is asleep and come out to meet me, ok? Make sure you leave the phone too. I don't want anyone bothering us while we're having so much fun! (21:57)
J-Ok! I'll see you soon. (21:58)
J-HAHA! Aunt Jess is asleep on the couch! I went over and poked her cheek, she didn't move!(22:02)

The team looks to Hotch. There are tears streaming down his face and his hands are balled into fists at his sides, his knuckles white. Dave speaks first, "Aaron, let's get you out of here and back to the office, huh?" Dave glances at the rest of the team as they leave, and they all nod, knowing what they have to do. Aaron doesn't fight him and allows him to lead into one of the waiting SUVs. He's vulnerable and weak, clearly not suited to handle this case. As they drive off, Dave looks over at his friend. Aaron is staring out the window at nothing his chin resting on his fist. Dave asks, "Aaron, you ok?" He turns and looks at him, broken, "No, Dave, I'm not. Please...find my son."

The team digs in both heels as they look for Jack. Hotch told them about his relationship with Maggie, and suggested they go to his school and talk to her. After speaking with the school's principle, they found out that she had not shown up for work the day after Jack's abduction. Ms. Bell told them she was about to be let go based on the allegations of favoritism, and Hotch was able to back up that statement, per their meeting. The team just assumed that based on that, she anticipated being fired and didn't bother coming to work. Finally having a lead, they got a search warrant and checked her home, but it turned up nothing. Her car couldn't be found, and there was no activity on her credit cards. If she did have something to do with Jack's disappearance, her breakup with Hotch and her dismissal from the school could have been the trigger.
Garcia continued searching every angle of the burner phone, trying to figure out who 'M' was, but unfortunately, it all ran cold. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Nine and a half weeks after his disappearance, Strauss ordered Hotch and the team off Jack's case and it was officially closed to the BAU and handed over to the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team.
Aaron sat at his desk, staring at the file. Morgan, acting as the lead on this, had already signed off on it, but as Unit Chief, he had to as well. He'd been staring at it for nearly an hour, not able to even bring himself to open it. He knew there would be pictures, evidence, and interviews; things that he didn't want to associate with his son, his happy boy, his little G-man. It took him nearly two hours before he was finally able to sign the final report.
As he collected his things and walked to Strauss' office to drop it off, Aaron was running on fumes. It was midnight and the team had gone hours ago. He, himself, would go home to an empty house and seethe. Hating Jessica for her fucking wine, for not setting the goddamned alarm. Hating his team, for not finding any evidence or his son. Hating Strauss for taking them off the case to begin with, and finally, hating himself for blaming everyone else instead. If he'd protected Jack, been a better father, a better husband, he'd still be here. There were nights he'd sit in the very home he was driving to, still dressed, crying, staring at his service weapon on the table, wondering if it was all worthwhile, but he pushed those thoughts from his mind. He had to; if, no, when Jack was found, he would need his father.
As Aaron got out of his car and walked to the door, he received a text from Alex. She'd been checking in on him often, seeing how he was doing. A small half smile curved his lips and he responded with a lack-luster answer that he knew she wouldn't be happy with, but she'd understand and leave him alone.
Alex was very attentive to Aaron's needs in his time of grief, wanting to help him through as much as possible. As the team followed up on every lead, Aaron and Alex grew closer. They both wanted Jack to come home safely, wanted this nightmare to end. Alex would stay after hours, so Aaron could come to the school and talk. He, in turn, would talk to her about Jack, fill her in on the gaps left behind in the files that she wasn't there for. He confided in her about Foyet and Haley, what had happened with WitSec and the Marshal's, everything. Eventually, Alex had gotten to know more about Aaron than his team did.

Alex smiled as she looked at the soft glow from her phone. She knew Aaron was putting up the same wall he always did. Giving her one sentence replies was something that became repetitious. He probably didn't even realize it. But, she got the responses she wanted. As she typed out a reply of, AB-"Good enough. Good night, Aaron..." she stood from her chair and walked over to the small sleeping form nestled under the covers. She knelt down, petting the top of his head and whispered, "...and good night to you too, Jack."