Saving Agent Hotchner | 1

7. A break in the case

⚠️Trigger Warning: Mention of sexual assault.⚠️

HOTCH
I unintentionally ended up spending 2 hours in Y/N's hotel room. We ate dinner, I talked about Jack and how much I missed him. Y/N was clearly happy that my mood had changed.

By 12 AM, I was in my own hotel room, finally getting under the blankets that rested on the clean bed. I exhaled and looked at the huge amount of alarms that were organised in my phone. I clicked the alarm that read 9:30 AM and made sure that my ringer was on.

Was I really about to go to sleep and ignore the fact that I had just set a late alarm? Yes.

Every day, - whether at home, at the office or on a case - my alarm was set to 5 AM. That was the normal time for me. At home, the 5 AM alarm meant that I could get up, go for a run or walk and relax myself before doing whatever chores had been waiting to be completed. At 5 AM on a work day, the early wake up call allowed for a morning run before coming home to shower, get dressed, make myself some breakfast and head into work. On cases, 5 AM was the perfect time to wake up, shower, get dressed and be ready for work by 6 AM, which is when my brain usually turned on.

For some reason, as I closed my eyes, I felt grateful that Y/N cared about me like she did. She was willing to step out of line and tell me the truth, even if it meant that I'd have to punish her for speaking against me. No one had done that for me before. Haley cared, sure, but she'd make it seem like me taking a step back would be a move toward me leaving the BAU entirely, whereas Y/N just wanted me to be a bit more relaxed so that I could then focus on solving the case.

The moment I put my phone down after setting my late alarm, I fell asleep. I didn't spend half the night trying to find a connection or the missing piece of the profile. No. I closed my eyes, dreamed - once again - about Y/N and slowly entered a state of rest.

———

Y/N
By 7 AM, the team was back at the precinct, intending to make some significant progress with the case. Unfortunately, the unsub had taken another 2 children during the night, leaving the team with 7 missing children to look for. But, at 7:15 AM, the team was alerted to a child's body having been found 10 miles from where the missing children were taken. That left the team with 6 missing children and 1 dead body - much to the team's dismay.

When Hotch didn't show up, you knew that he had taken your advice.

"Where's Hotch? Is he okay?" JJ asked, concerned.

"He's fine. He needed to step back and take a small break. He'll join us later." You reassured her, watching as she nodded.

Everyone seemed to understand the situation, which relaxed you a little bit. When 9:35 AM hit, you messaged Hotch.

You: Morning Hotch. JJ and Emily went to interview the families of the 1 newest missing child and an unfortunately deceased child. Rossi went to the M.E. after they contacted us with some new information. Derek and Spencer went to the newest dump-site. I'm going to remain at the precinct.

You smiled when he opened your message, but didn't reply. You continued with the case, trying to find any link between the children. Having no luck, you leaned back in your chair, but you looked up at the entrance to the precinct at 9:47 AM, watching as Hotch entered, looking somewhat well rested.

"You feeling better?" You asked, watching as he nodded.

"Much." He smiled.

He moved around the conference room and placed his bag down next to your chair, sitting down.