Aaron Hotchner paced the floor and he considered his options. If he acted too rash then he could put his entire career on the line. At the same time, if he refused to take action then maybe the woman who he was developing feelings for would be forever lost to him.
"Rossi, have Garcia check all the cameras in and around the area for any suspicious activity. Prentiss is in charge of managing first responders. Morgan and Reid, I want you to coordinate with the bomb squad and find out who is missing. JJ, I need you to handle the media while I do damage control with Mr. Pierce and potentially the United States defense department. I need Rossi to talk to his contacts at the Pentagon and reassure them that we have a suspect in custody and that it is not an act of foreign terrorism."
Aaron did the best he could to remain the stone cold commander in chief he always was. He knew he could bury his mind in his work. Knew that eventually they would find Charlie. He knew that there was nothing he could tell Mr. Pierce that would stop his pain when he delivered the news that his only daughter was missing. The scream that Mr. Pierce let out tore at his heart and he wished he could tell the grieving man that he shared his pain. That he too wished he wasn't the one delivering the news of Charlie's disappearance. He grieved all that he could do and all that could have been done.
His entire life Aaron Hotchner knew one thing was certain and that was that work would always come first. Now he found himself staring at his colleagues wondering what to do next. He had handled the situation to the best of his abilities and found himself mindlessly talking to government officials with David Rossi at his side. What else was he to do? Search through the rubble and hope that he would find Charlie before search and rescue would? It seemed so idiotic that someone like him would come in and rescue the damsel in distress before disaster struck. So idiotic he some how wished it were true. Maybe then he could finally come to terms with his feels. Maybe seeing her after the thought of almost losing her had filled his mind would make him realize the extent of his feelings.
He watched as his team followed every order without hesitation. How they never doubted his judgement even if secretly Rossi questions his motives. He wanted to deal with the situation as soon as possible so that Charlie would be found. So long as that did not interfere with the investigation it would be fine.
Aaron Hotchner paced in that room for what felt like hours until his phone rang. "Hotch, they can't find her. We should start thinking about a second profile for our unsub."
"We thought his hatred for women would end after one attack, but now it seems like our unsub had a bigger plan centered around Charlie," Aaron responded. "We need to start checking surrounding traffic cameras."
"You think maybe his target was Charlie all along?"
"I'm thinking the bomb was a distraction." Aaron knew it wasn't far from the truth. The unsub despised women.
"How do we tell her father that his daughter was the target all along?"
"We still haven't found all the race car drivers. Mr. Pierce does not need to know that his daughter is missing."
"Hotch, we found everyone else. Charlie is the only one missing."
"Then let us hold off on announcing that. I want the media to believe that all of the NASCAR drivers are making a recovery in the ICU. The longer we are able to keep up with this story then the longer Charlie stays alive."
"Got it. Would you like me to deal with Mr. Pierce?"
That was a question that should have been straight forward and simple, but Aaron found himself struggling to find the words. He knew that they were talking about Charlie. Charlie, the woman he was in love with, The woman he was currently contemplating spending the rest of his life with if he found her alive. The alternative was almost unimaginably to him as he ran through every statistically possible scenario. He knew that the statistics said there was a low probability that she survived past the 24 hour mark. They had to act quickly.
Aaron took all the logical steps. He told Morgan the standard procedure for the families of victims. Knew that any wrong move and he would never see Charlie again.
~~~~~~~~~
"We have a lead," Garcia announced as she finished combing through hours of footage with the help of Morgan and Reid.
It had bee hours since the attack had taken place and their suspect had been placed in custody. Aaron had allowed Rossi permission to interrogate the unsub as he had not trusted his judgement. As a former prosecutor he knew that his involvement would tarnish any confession or information they would reap from any interrogation involving him.
There was no way Aaron would put the life of Charlie in risk for the sake of him pushing the buttons of one of the people responsible for her pain. Aaron was beyond that . He knew that she would want all those responsible behind bars.
As the investigation dragged on he became more and more preoccupied with the questions of "what" and "if." What would they do when they found her? What would he do if they found her? What would he do if they didn't fine her? He knew very well that not finding Charlie was always a possibility, but find her in any condition that was not alive was concerning for Aaron.
He knew Reid could tell him how quickly his hopes were fading with each passing second. Reid would be able to tell him that the longer it took the less likely it would be to have her come back alive.
Aaron watched as SWAT and Morgan followed the lead that lead them to a rural secluded area where Charlie should be. He waited in anticipation for Morgan to make the call. Waited for what felt like ages. Until finally he heard the words.
"We got her Hotch," Morgan announced.
YOU ARE READING
Under Pressure // Aaron Hotchner
Fanfiction"To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am...
