𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟗𝟒

"𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢

    "WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?" Noah asks as she stands up from the bench.

"Noah!" The little boy exclaims and throws his arms around the teen's leg.

"Hi, Jack," Noah beams with a fake smile. She bends down and gives the boy a proper hug, not wanting him to know that anything is wrong.

"I missed playing planes with you," Jack coos.

"Me too, bud," Noah giggles and stands, looking up at Haley once again, "How are you?  I thought you would've been living out of state."

"You don't know?" Haley asks as her voice cracks.  Noah shakes her head, seeing Haley's chin quiver as she covers her mouth with her hands.

"What happened?" Noah asks.

"He's gone," Haley says in tears.

"What?" Noah questions as fear rises in her stomach.

"Aaron's dead," Haley whispers.  Jack does not know yet, so the mother is sure to be quiet and try her best to hide her tears.

Noah opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She furrows her brows, trying to grasp what is happening. She is not sure if she believes the news, but she would never deny it in front of his child and ex-wife.

"W-Where're you going?" Noah stutters, "What are you gonna d-do?"

"We're going back to the house," Haley tells the teen, "They told us to wait for a bit, so I thought I'd bring him to the park," She explains as she chokes up, "I don't want him to know what happened yet," Haley cries as she runs her hand through Jack's hair.

"Let me go with you," Noah says, "I don't want you to have to take care of him when you're upset."

"You'd do that?" Haley asks with a frown.

"Of course," Noah answers as she bends down to Jack's level, "You wanna piggyback ride to the house?" She asks in an excited tone.

"Yeah!" Jack exclaims and jumps on the teen's back. Noah stands and holds onto the boy's legs. She peers over at Haley and gestures for her to lead the way. Noah makes sure to grab the bike and turns around while walking backward as she scans the area for who she was looking for. She turns back around, walking her bike alongside her.

The teen carries Jack on her back, pointing to things here and there to keep him entertained. She looks at Haley every once in a while to check on her and make sure she is okay. She knows that the woman is hurting, but she does not want to ask any questions or voice any concern with Jack in earshot.

Instead, the teen grabs Haley's hand and lets the woman squeeze tightly. Even though it makes it hard to steer the bike and keep Jack on her back, she does not let go of Haley's hand. She knows that she needs it the most.

—

Inside Foyet's apartment was a computer that brought up pictures of Sam Kassmeyer, the U.S. Marshal assigned to watch over Haley and Jack. Hotch immediately ran out of the apartment and to the car, where Emily joined him. They sped over to the safehouse where Haley and Jack were staying.

The team follows Aaron and parks outside the house. They all run in with their weapons ready, seeing as Foyet might be waiting for them inside. Hotch enters first, scanning the house and finding Sam nearly unconscious on the living room floor. His face is bloody and one of his eyes is swollen shut.