Back To December || Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 23 - Aaron

It has been many hours since Taylor and I got to the storage space, and we have found nothing. There are files from February 20th, and then February 22nd. It it like February 21st was skipped, which doesn't make sense because even if what happened to Taylor and Sean wasn't documented, there were two more people in jail that night who's arrests should be mentioned here somewhere. It seems like Nolan destroyed the files from that entire day.

Taylor is trying to keep herself together and do as much work as fast as possible. But momentarily, she forgets that I am sitting across from her and lets herself yawn. My eyes lift from the files immediately.

"We can go get some rest and come back tomorrow" I suggest

"Absolutely not. I am not going back to the station and risking to run into Leo" she replies

"You need to eat and sleep, Taylor"

"I am fine, I have done worse"

"You will not when you are with me" I insist.

"Two more hours" she bargains

I sigh. "One".

I only let her because I think I just caught an interesting file. It contains the reports from Nolan's death on that one shootout 15 years ago, which is only 1 year after Leonard joined the police department.

"How was Leonard's relationship with his father?" I ask Taylor

"They argued often, but it was because of Leonard's behavior" she answers, keeping her eyes on the file she is reading

"Did they ever get physical with each other?"

"No, Mr. McClain was a good guy. Up until one point at least..."

"Are you sure? Because Leonard hurt you when he was angry..." I point out hesitating

"Leo had a temper about his father's treatment of him. He was cussing him for telling him to study, do his chores, etc. Everything pissed Leo off"

"Would you put it passed him to have killed his father?"

"What?"

"From the files I went through a minute ago, it seems like in the first year into Leonard's work in the station as an officer, Nolan was giving him easy jobs that normally a training officer would be taking on. And he was getting written up by him quite often".

I give the file that contains all reports from Nolan's death. "But all that seems to stop after Nolan's death. Is it possible that he--".

"Red! What a pleasant surprise..." a male voice interrupts me.

Taylor immediately straightens her back with a shakey breath and the tough face is on again.

I turn to face Leonard McClain. "SSA Aaron Hotchner" I introduce myself

By the expression on his face, I can tell he recognizes my name, but he is too cocky to think I read through him.

"Officer McClain" he replies

"Can I do something for you?" I ask

"For starters you can tell me why you are here"

"There is an ongoing investigation into some old murders around the area"

"Care to be more specific?"

"No. I am afraid the details are classified".

He laughs and nods. "I would like to speak with your partner for a moment" he tells me.

He takes a step forward, but I stand in front of him not letting him get to Taylor. "You do not give me orders" I remind him.

"Tell him that you know me, Red" he tries to talk to Taylor

"I don't think she wants to talk to you"

"You do not speak for her".

"Step away, Officer. We are working" Taylor speaks up

"Officer. Why so formal? Haven't we been through a lot together, Red?" he says and I struggle to keep my hand away from my gun

"Don't call me that"

"Red?"

"It is Agent Wilson for you".

She walks besides me, holding a file on her chest. "I think I got it, sir. We can go" she tells me

"You think I'm stupid?" Leonard laughs.

Actually, I do.

"You come searching through papers with Sean's brother coincidentally and you think I am going to let you walk away with a file? Did you forget there were rules, Red?"

"He is my boss, this has nothing to do with that" she lies

"I don't care. You are not going anywhere with that file"

"You interfering with a federal investigation, and we can come back with a warrant" I say

"Be my guest" he replies and takes the file away from Taylor.

The tiniest contact with her and the cocky smile across his face make my blood boil. Taylor's hand flexes but to his disappointment she doesn't show any emotion to him.

"Let's go" I say

"Goodnight, Agents. I will be waiting for you tomorrow with that warrant" he says as he takes the keys.

We make our way to the car and Taylor almost runs. She slams her door closet and I buries her face in her palms. I close my door as well and I turn to her. However, I quickly realize that she is not crying.

"Are you laughing?" I ask

She nods. After a second, she takes the jacket of her suit off and she reveals a file she has hidden on her back. This woman tucked an entire file in the waistband of her pants without anyone realizing. And it is the file of Nolan's death.

"When did you do that?" I ask surprised

"While you and Leo were having a staring contest" she answers

"And what was the other file he took from you?"

"A random unsolved murder one. I grabbed it as a distraction" she admits.

"You are unbelievable..." I say unable to hide my proud smile. I place my hand on her leg and rub her softly "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I thought I would. I definitely froze as soon as I heard him but then I looked at how little he was in front of you, and I almost felt sad for him. Maybe I had made him too big in my head" she admits

"That is good to hear. Please keep talking to me about the way you feel. I want to help you in any way I can. And that applies to crying too"

"No, I am not used to crying in front of others. What happened earlier was not normal for me"

"We will make it normal. Because if you're at the point of absolute frustration, exhaustion, or whatever it is that is making you sad, I'd rather you call me than do it alone. I need to know when you're not ok, I need to know what's going on, because I want to be able to keep you safe"

"Thank you" she squeezes my hand and I can see a glimpse of tears in her eyes

"You are very welcome" I kiss her.