Nothing to Everything

7: Ruthless

(slight smut in chapter)

We finally were working a case that didn't involve me or my past. The unsub was abducting people in New Orleans and forcing them to fight. If they won, they got to live to fight the next person, if they lost, well, they were dead. What we gathered is that after the victims win three times, they fight the unsub. If the unsub fights, there are no more abductions for at least a day or so. If the unsub doesn't fight, there are fights every other night. From the ME reports we have found out that the fighting is only hand-to-hand combat and knives allowed.

It was one long day after another for this case. We have already been working on it for over a week and barely have anything. The ME reports have been the most informative thing, but we want to be minimizing the amount of victims. Everyone was in their hotel rooms and I was sharing a room with JJ. I couldn't sleep so I grabbed my work computer and headed to the floor lounge to do some digging of my own. Penelope has been helping us from Virginia like usual, but I might as well try and see if I can find something. I don't know how long I had been working when I heard the lounge door open. I looked up to find Hotch walking in.

"What are you doing still awake?" He was wearing gray sweatpants and a black fitted shirt. You could see the outline of his abs through his shirt. I realized I was staring and quickly flicked my attention back to his face. I caught him looking at my outfit, just as I was his. I was wearing a black silk pajama set that consisted of shorts and a tank top. I silently thanked the upper powers that this tank top had built in padding.

"I couldn't sleep and I was annoyed that we have been here over a week and have almost no information. I decided to come here and try and do some digging of my own to see if I could find something." I answered and Hotch instantly focused back on my face.

"You need rest." He said as if he wasn't also awake.

"So do you." I shot back while I shifted my focus back on my computer, but I saw Hotch smirk for a second at my comment.

"You know, you aren't like the rest of the team. None of them would have made that comment to my face, even your father or Rossi wouldn't have been that direct." He seemed amused.

"I was raised to not bow down to men, no matter how powerful they are." I shrugged and Hotch's face showed amusement for a second before it was back to his mask. Hotch didn't reply and just sat across from me at the same table and started on what he was doing. Every so often I could feel him looking up at me. After the fourth or fifth time I stopped what I was doing and looked at him.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" I never did beat around the bush, even when I probably should, like now. Hotch looked up at me in shock, but then his eyes softened as they found mine. He stared into my eyes like he was trying to communicate something to my soul. My heart pounded, not with fear, but with forbidden excitement of how Hotch was looking at me. He stayed like that, staring into my eyes, for a few seconds before replying.

"I just... you just keep amazing me and sometimes I think I'm dreaming. You are one of the best profilers I've met and you aren't afraid of me." I had never heard him talk so quietly and unsure of himself. Now it was my turn to look at him in shock. This was definitely not the Hotch everyone else knew. I got up and moved so I was sitting next to him and grabbed his hand.

"Well, you aren't dreaming and remember this feeling the next time I frustrate you." I smiled at him and he laughed. Before he could reply my computer pinged indicating one of my searches got a hit. Hotch looked at my computer while I started to decode the information I was getting.

"Woah, you really could best Penelope at computers couldn't you?" He was genuinely impressed.

"At some things yes, others I would lose a fiery death." I replied not stopping what I was doing. "I know the place he finds his victims, and the location where he turns off all of their phones. It's not much, but it is more than we had before." My computer showed a map with two hot spots, one bar restaurant and one at a random road.