dangerously ↝ a. hotchner

t w e n t y - s e v e n

After questioning Stacey and determining that she had a schizophrenic break (she had another hallucination while Ana was questioning her), Ana retired to her office. She had one last patient before she could go home for the day, but for now, she was sitting in silence and doing paperwork.

She was slowly working through updating patient files when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and an unknown number flashed on the screen, peaking her curiosity.

"Dr Anastasia Pierce." She spoke curtly into the phone.

"Ana? It's Spencer. I'm calling from Rossi's phone." She heard the breathless voice of Dr Spencer Reid on the other side.

She smiled lightly, "Hey Spencer. What's up."

"It's about Hotch." He sounded hesitant, unsure whether he should tell her. But then he looked at his boss, who was holding his son close to him with a broken and faraway look in his eyes.

Ana sat up straighter as she listened to his tone. Whatever it was, it was not good. "Is he okay? What happened?"

"He's fine. Jack is here with him. It's actually, um, Hayley." His voice cracked as he watched them roll out her body in a black body bag. "She's dead."

Ana gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "What- do you want me to come there?"

"I'm not sure. Hotch needs you, but I don't think he wants to admit it. Could you come? I'll send you the address." He said softly, noticing the man they were speaking about glancing at him with furrowed brows.

Ana nodded, packing up her stuff in an instant. "I'm on my way."

He ended the call and she sprung out of her seat, grabbing her coat and bag and rushing out of her office.

"Charlie, could you cancel my next appointment. It's important." She spoke quickly as she stopped at her desk.

Charlotte nodded and picked up the phone. As soon as she made sure the appointment had been moved to a later date, Ana sprinted out the door of her office and ran to her car. She put the coordinates Spencer had sent her into her GPS and sped out of the hospital parking, driving as fast as she legally could.

She pulled up outside the scene and saw a bunch of police cars, black SUVs and an ambulance. Her eyes roamed around the scene as she parked a distance away from everything and she gulped when she saw the black coroners van parked to the side. She quietly hopped out and immediately saw Spencer's unruly head of hair standing a little bit to the side, presumably waiting for her.

"Spence." She called out as she ran up to him. "What happened?"

He sighed, "I should probably let Hotch explain the full story. But there was a serial killer who's been after Hotch for quite some time now and he finally caught up to him. He killed Hayley and-" he paused, not wanting to tell her the rest.

"And what?" She asked, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Spencer stayed silent and a couple minutes passed before he opened his mouth again. "Aaron killed him." He whispered.

Ana paused and her eyes went wide. "Oh." She said softly. So softly Spencer almost missed it. "Is Jack okay?" She asked after a moment.

Spencer nodded. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and led her to where Hotch and Jack were still sitting. Aaron lifted his head up when he saw Spencer walking towards him and felt his eyes go wide when he saw who was with the young genius.

"Ana!" Jack ran towards her and she immediately swept him up in a big hug, holding him to her and lifting him off the ground as he hugged her.

"Hey bud. How are you feeling?" She murmured softly.