SECT BOUND . aaron hotchner

3.9

Aaron Hotchner hadn't had to ask Annie about her restless night, the woman had pulled the screenshots of the posts from her bag and shown him without being prompted. Anyone else would have thought the woman had lost her mind as she rambled about what the different quotes verses could suggest about the fate of the people in the photo, but Aaron could see the fear that was driving her search. She wished to be wrong, for her understanding of these posts to be as far from the truth as possible. However, as Aaron looked close at the posts from after the date in question, he grew increasingly convinced that she was correct.

That was why they pushed up their plan, Aaron dialling the person number of Adrian Miles without having completed their research into the man. If Annie was right, they couldn't risk waiting and losing more people to the manipulative beliefs of Gabriel Martyr.

Annie was sitting on the other side of his office, her leg bouncing uncontrollably as the phone rang. If they couldn't trust Adrian any hope they had at successfully raiding the compound would be pushed back by months, at the least. She didn't know how she would deal with the guilt of knowing that more people were subject to his teachings, not seeing how they were wrong. Yet, when the phone stopped ringing and the familiar voice ran through the room, Annie's nerves hadn't calmed in the slightest.

"Sheriff Adrian Miles, this is Agent Aaron Hotchner with the Behavioural Analysis Unit." The man declared, leaning over the phone as he watched the Annie grip the edge of her chair in anticipation. Her knuckles had gone white as she tightened her hold, clinging to the chair as if it were the only thing keeping her grounded in existence. The man took a breath, silently asking her if she was still okay with the investigation, she nodded, "I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about Mary Martyr."

There was a shuffling on the other end of the phone, and Annie could almost feel his fear through the crackling line. She had read the reports, so she was aware of the questions he had been subject to throughout his interrogation. Many of them had been completely unnecessary, where they had brought up his family leaving being the most obvious of them, yet he had always remained on the right side of morality. They couldn't find anything solid to pin against him, but it wasn't for lack of trying. So, he could hate her. He could have turned against her, and shared everything he knew with Gabriel. However, Annie was inhumanly optimistic, and she knew that this man would stand by her.

"Mary Martyr died in a tragic car acciedent three months ago, what do you want to questioned?" Adrian muttered, and the discomfort could be heard on his voice. "I brought her husband in and he identified her from her belongings, the body was too badly burnt for a visual identification."

Aaron called Annie towards him, writing his next question on the notebook beside the phone, having read his scribbled handwriting she nodded in agreement, "Other than her husband, did she have any other family?"

"Two daughters, Elisha and Eden, they are twins that live with their father and the rest of his congregation." Adrian declared, proving to Annie that he was still on her side. When she had come to him, begging for help to disappear she had told him about the reason behind her quick and permanent exit: the death of her daughter. Yet, the church continued to act as though both twins were alive and well. Adrien had stuck to that narrative. "Can I ask why the Bureau are interested in this case?"

Annie took a breath, letting Aaron know that she was ready to take the jump. Once she spoke there was no going back, if she made the decision it was a permanent choice. She stood beside Aaron, him holding her hand tightly in his, as she declared, "The Bureau are interesting in learning the truth, Adrian; the truth that I told you when I came to you for help."

There was yet another silence as the man on the other end of the line fought back his surprise at the voice. She had known that there could have been more delicate ways to involve herself in the conversation, but they didn't necessarily have to time to go the long way. They needed to discover whether or not it was safe to raid the compound, and to do that they needed a way to get someone inside. The best way to do that would be to enlist Adrian's help.

"I suppose this isn't a social call, Miss Martyr." Adrian declared, having taken a large breath. "I hope you understand that it isn't safe to call the station."

"Aaron knows the truth," Annie declared, knowing that he had been unsure about using her name in front of the other agent. "And I assumed as much, that is why we called your personal number and not the station."

"We need to ask a favour of you, under the radar." Aaron announced, having realised that it was best to get straight to the point. "Are you able to make a standard visit to the compound?"

"If we have a missing report that can be connected to the church then I can make a visit without it being questioned," Adrian explained. "The problem is that it had been incredibly quiet since Annie left, they've kept to themselves, seemingly mourning one of their leaders."

"Of course they have," Annie muttered. "There was a prophecy that Gabriel talked about, not as much as the others but when he had spoken about this one it was another level of belief. I can't believe I forgot about it."

Aaron caught her gaze, "Annie, what was the prophecy?"

"That when the church lost the person who began everything," She began, her voice tainted with confusion, "that the outside world would not longer be trusted. I never thought he could be talking about me, because the church had existed for half a decade before I joined. Yet, he always acted like he had known me before we met, but I always put that down to his perception that we were divinely linked. What is I was wrong and he did know me before?"

Adrian shifted on the other end of the phone, "He thinks you're dead, so – if you are the person he was referring to – then the church has lost you and he won't trust the outside world."

"That can go one of two ways," Aaron declared, having dropped his grip on Annie's hand and increased the urgency of his tone. "The first is that he has built up protection, and we can find a paper trail of that no matter how under the radar he thinks he has gone." Aaron paused. "The second isn't as easy to know without being inside."

"Mass suicide," Annie whispered, and the agent nodded. "In both of those cases, a under planned raid could end in extreme loss of life."

"Was there anything else that he would say when he discussed that prophecy?" Aaron asked, knowing that the investigation into the church would soon become a priority. "Anything at all that could help us determine which action he would take?"

She was quiet for a moment, trying got remember the conversations that had sparked her interest. Thinking allowed, she stressed, "He didn't like the use of guns or any other modern weapon, he thought that modern warfare had disgraced that of the holy wars and removed the divine value of life." She paused, looking to Aaron with wide eyes, "He spoke about the need to reform, to work towards their goal in a different way."

"It sounds like he was planning on moving." Adrian declared, causing Annie to hum in agreement. "If they have left, they did it quietly and they left everything behind."

"They would, the whole point of the church was to be self-sufficient. If they were starting again, they would start again from the beginning." Annie muttered, her head racing. "Possibly completely."

Aaron caught the spike in Annie's fear at her realisation, "Annie, what do you mean completely?"

"He will be searching for a new Mary, and he would no longer see Eden as his divinely promised child." Annie explained, taking in a breath as she held back her tears. "If I am the person he was speaking about, my daughter could be dead."