Retribution, A Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 36. A Matter of Faith

Months passed in as normal a fashion as could be expected.

Ana…increased. The Reids found a bigger apartment and began stocking it with baby supplies. Hotch and J.J. donated what they could from their own respective journeys into parenthood to ease the financial strain on the young family.

Rossi checked daily to be sure Hotch was still wearing the amulet he’d been given. He also kept a wary eye out for any pranking the younger man might have in the works. So far, nothing drew his attention. But Rossi remembered last time. Hotch was a patient, devious adversary in the practical joke department. Years might pass and he still wouldn’t be completely safe. Even though leery, he was perversely proud, too. He appreciated, even as he dreaded, Aaron’s imagination and talent for strategizing. It had an Italianate elegance to it.

Consulting continued to be a large part of their daily duties, and cases were worked to the best conclusions the team could manage.

Then one case hit the team particularly hard, especially Hotch.

Children were being abducted . The photos of the victims showed the unsub’s preference for dark-haired, dark-eyed, six-year-old boys. Then the abductions turned into murders. The small, pitiful, mutilated bodies appeared, dumped under cover of darkness; dumped where other children were likely to find them…taking advantage of the disbelief that anyone would do such a thing. School yards, parks, residential streets, daycare centers, front lawns with toys or bikes left out, marking the houses as those sheltering children. Each grisly find twisted its way deeper into the surrounding communities, crying out almost audibly: “There are no safe places. This is what’s real. This is what happens to children in the end.”

Rossi watched Hotch grow grimmer and gaunter in the space of a few days. When they finally found the unsub, it was like having a wolf on a slender, inadequate lead. They burst into the deceptively pretty, isolated, house on the outskirts of town. The latest victim was in the process of being beaten. When Hotch saw the bruises and the hopeless, vacant look in the child’s dark eyes…the wolf slipped its leash. Morgan and Rossi together were unable to restrain the lunging fury that took over their boss. Prentiss and Reid removed the unsub and the boy while Hotch raged against the hands trying to hold onto him. It was J.J. who finally got through. With no regard for personal safety, she slipped under Morgan’s arm as he threw his weight against his boss, and took Hotch’s face in her hands.

“Aaron. Aaron. He’s safe, Aaron. He’s safe. No one can hurt him now. He’s safe. Aaron. Hotch. He’s safe.” Her soft voice accomplished what the men’s shouts couldn’t. The eyes filled with a crazed kind of hate fastened on this woman who continued to speak in soothing tones. Morgan and Rossi felt the body stop trying to break free. When they eased up on him, Hotch stood panting, refusing to meet any of the eyes watching him.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m sorry.” It was all he said. Looking shamefaced, he left the house, needing to assure himself that the little victim was being cared for.

He remained quiet on the trip back to Quantico, electing to sit alone in the back of the jet.

Morgan and Rossi exchanged looks. They were the only ones to whom Hotch had ever mentioned his abusive childhood. Being profilers, the others couldn’t help putting the pieces together for themselves, but the subject was never brought up. Respect for Hotch’s privacy came first.

On that flight home, Rossi had time to consider once again the words of the strange old man who believed souls could shatter and reform. Maybe I should look into the reincarnation thing. Not to prove or disprove, but to see if there’s anything there that could help Hotch. Based on his behavior at the crime scene, Rossi knew his friend’s childhood injuries still hurt.