Caution to the Wind

Chapter 6

Chapter Summary: A new development presents a big opportunity for Emily, but complicates things for her and Tara. Follows S12E6, "Elliott's Pond."

Tara woke up to an empty bed, and at first, she was annoyed. Would Emily really just sneak out like that? After they'd talked it out and come to an agreement about this...whatever it was? But then she saw the note on her bedside table scrawled out in Emily's handwriting, and she smiled. Morning, sunshine! Rossi called me in early today. I didn't want to wake you, but I did make coffee. See you in the office. -E. P.S. You look really cute when you're sleeping.

Sure enough, Tara found hot coffee waiting for her in the coffee pot, and she sipped it with a smile knowing that Emily had made it for her before she left. She finished getting ready for work and headed into the office, where she ran into Spencer, JJ, and Luke waiting for the elevator. They all listened skeptically to Luke's improbable story as they walked into the bullpen, and as soon as Penelope spotted them, she came rushing over.

"Thank God you guys are here. What do you know?" she asked them.

"Nothing," JJ shrugged.

"Okay, Rossi got here crazy early, and then right when Prentiss came in, he pulled her in there," Penelope said, motioning up towards Rossi's office window, where he and Emily seemed to be having a very serious conversation. They emerged from his office to five curious faces looking up at them from the bullpen.

"We need to talk," Rossi said. Something big was happening; that much they could tell, but Rossi insisted they all gather in the conference room to discuss it.

"Okay, okay, what's going on?" Penelope asked.

"It's Hotch," Rossi replied.

"Oh my god, is he okay?" Penelope asked nervously.

"He's okay," Rossi nodded, "But he has not been away on special assignment. That's something we had to say as a cover for the investigation."

"What investigation?" Penelope asked.

"Hotch saw Peter Lewis watching one of Jack's soccer games," Rossi said.

"By the time Hotch reacted, Lewis had taken off," Emily continued, "The Bureau searched the area, but he disappeared."

"When was this?" JJ asked.

"Days after Mr. Scratch resurfaced in Arizona," Rossi replied.

"One of the victims was chanting his name when we found her," Tara said, "She had 'Hotch' carved into her forehead. It really got to him."

"Why didn't he tell us? We could have focused on finding Mr. Scratch," Spencer said.

Rossi shook his head. "He knows we can't drop everything. Also, he didn't want to worry everyone."

"Alright, so...now what?" Luke asked, "They have round-the-clock surveillance?"

"Initially, yes," Rossi replied, "Agents were assigned to watch Jack 24/7. But when we were all in L.A. on the John David Bates case, Scratch surfaced again—this time, at Jack's school."

"Going after Jack takes this to a whole new level," JJ said.

"Peter Lewis is not going to stop," Rossi said, "Which is why Hotch and Jack have now entered the program."

"Witness Protection? Oh, okay, uh, wow," Tara said. If Hotch wasn't coming back, then how much longer would Emily be staying?

"But now that this happened, we can drop everything and focus on catching Mr. Scratch, and then Hotch can come back, right?" Penelope said.