Just My Luck

Chapter 1

"Life is about choices. Some we regret, some we are proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: We are what we choose to be."
-Graham Brown

Trailing behind Hotch I am aware I look like a small child, being 5'4 and all compared to his 6'1, but it doesnt bother me. I still cant beleive that we are just going to go home after this creep gets away. "We cant just up and leave Hotch." I realise arguing with my boss is not the smartest idea, but we cant just leave. I cant just "Let it go" as Morgan suggested. For the past seventeen days we have been stationed 264.4 miles from our home base in Quantico to the Big Apple NYC. We have been chasing a Mr. Walter James Davis. Mr. Davis for the past, as far as we know, 3 years had been stalking and killing prostitutes in down town New York. He would find women between 17-30 years old, blonde, and fairly petite and take her off the street. Not only would he take her, but her children as well. He would take them back to an old abandoned factory and torture them but never hurting the children. We had found out that his mother was a fairly popular prostitute and would bring men home, sleep with them, then leave the random man in charge of Mr. Davis while she went out. As he grew older he began to fantasize about his own mother. When she rejected him he tortured and killed her at the age of 23. He began hunting other women who reminded him of his mother and taking them and their kids so that he could rape and torture the mothers and take care of the kids. Each woman lasted. Week and then the kid would be dropped off at a church or hospital. His last victim was a 27 year old woman named Amailia Johnson and her 4 year old son Owen. We had gotten there in time to save Ms. Johnson and Owen but Mr. Davis was no where to be found. He didnt pick up another woman so we, by we I mean Hotch, opted to head back to Quantico. "I understand your frustration Saoirse but we have other cases that we need to look into." I am left standing in the police station glaring daggers into the empty hallway with Reid and JJ standing a few paces away. JJ places a hand on my shoulder and gives me a sideways smile sith her lips pinched. "I know I know," I put on my best JJ voice "We have lives to save Shelly, all we can do is try to help and move on." She laughs and pats me a few times before heading outthe same direction as Hotch. "Ya know, about 55% percent of homicide cases go unsolved every year, all we can do is our best." He smiles and my heart melts. I forget for a second my irritation and get lost in the way he makes the world feel grounded again. For a moment. We walk out of the NYC PD station and hop into my Black SUV and begin our journey back to the airport. I just wish there was something I could do.