"𝙸𝚝 𝚆𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚎 𝚊 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘴𝘵. 𝘴𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭
𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕠𝕟

     EMILY sits in Hotch's hospital room, picking at her fingernails.  The team comes walking down the hallway, Emily standing to greet them with the sad news.

"He still isn't conscious yet," Emily says to JJ, Derek, and Dave.

"You sure it was Foyet?" Dave asks as JJ and Morgan stare at Aaron through the door.

"He had Morgan's credentials," Emily mentions.

"Did they catch him on the security cam?" Morgan asks.

"You could see him dropping Hotch off, but the camera's only on the entrance, so I have no idea what direction he went once he left the hospital," Emily explains.

"It doesn't make sense for him to have brought Hotch to the E.R." JJ notes as she shakes her head.

"We know Foyet gets off on power and control," Rossi interjects, "Maybe what he wants is for Hotch to know his life was in his hands."

"He could do that without risking the hospital," Morgan states.

"Agents, he's waking up," The doctor says as she comes out of the room, "Remember, he's weak.  Don't push him."

The four agents nod subtly and walk into the room.  They stand around Hotch's bed, his eyes still closed.  They all look at him with pain and worry in their eyes.  Maybe that is why Hotch does not open his eyes at first; he is scared to see his team vulnerable.

"Where am I?" Hotch asks with a croaky voice.

"In the hospital," Rossi replies.

"How did I get here?" Aaron inquires, fearing the answer he believes is true.

"Foyet drove you," Morgan says.

"Can you remember what happened?" Emily asks softly.

Aaron seems to fall into a flashback.  He threw his keys on the table, dropped his briefcase on the couch.  All he wanted was a drink.  He remembers taking a sip of whiskey and hearing a gun cock behind him.

"You should have made a deal."

"What did he take?" Aaron asks.

"What do you mean?" Dave replies.

"The Reaper always takes something from his victims," Hotch explains, "Do we know what he took?"

"There was a page missing from your day planner in the address section, the B's," Emily says, making Aaron open his eyes and look up at her.

"What did he leave?"

"I don't know," Emily replies.

"He also leaves something with his victims," Aaron says, closing his eyes again.

"I looked all over your apartment, nothing felt out of place," Emily says.  JJ watches Hotch, not having the heart to speak up.

"Where are my clothes?" Hotch asks, wanting to go through his belongings.  He knows Foyet would leave something.

Emily picks up the bag that has all of Aaron's belongings that were on him when he arrived at the hospital.  He pulls out a package that has Morgan's credentials in it, opening it to find a picture folded inside.

A picture of Haley and Jack.

"Haley's maiden name is Brooks," Hotch says breathlessly, the situation becoming a million times worse, "I always listed her in the B's in my personal information in case it fell into the wrong hands."

"He knows where they live."

—

Emily walks out of Aaron's hospital room as Haley makes her entrance.  The team had sent for her, immediately having eyes on her and Jack at all times from here on out.

As Emily walks out of the room, she stares down at the floor.

"Em?"

"What're you doing here?" The mother asks as she locks eyes with her daughter in the hallway.

"I'm sorry," Penelope says as she catches up to the teen, "I had to come here and I didn't wanna leave her alone, seeing as everything that's going on."

"What is going on?" Noah asks her mother as Penelope goes to find JJ and Derek.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Emily sighs.

"Is that Hotch?" Noah asks as she peers past her mother's shoulder.

"Yes, but—"

"What happened to him?" Noah quickly questions Emily, wanting to know what is happening.

"Noah, I promise, we'll talk about it later, but not right now." The mother pleads for her daughter to let it go.

"Can I see him?  Is he okay?" Noah asks, Emily slightly shaking her head.

"He needs to rest, but he's okay," Emily tells her daughter and sees the teen's worried expression.  The mother wraps her arm around Noah, the teen's head instinctively falling on Emily's shoulder.

Noah watches as Haley stands at the foot of Aaron's bed.  Noah watches their conversation, not being able to hear anything, but seeing the pain on both of their faces.

"Noah!" A sweet voice squeals behind the teen and Emily.  Noah turns around and sees Jack barreling towards her with JJ behind him.

"Hi, buddy!" Noah exclaims, putting on a smile for the child, "C'mere!" She beams and bends down to hug the boy.

"I came in a police car and they let me turn on the sirens!" Jack says with excitement in his lisped speech.

"Oh, wow!" Noah chimes, "That's so cool!"

"What're you doing here?" Jack asks innocently.

"I came to see what you were up to," Noah lies, but the boy cannot tell the difference.

"My Mommy brought me here," Jack replies, "She said you stayed at the house."

It may be selfish of Emily to think about her own child in this situation, but Noah was a day away from being in danger.  If the Reaper had decided to strike on Haley or Jack a day sooner, Noah would have been there.  Emily cannot even imagine what she would have done.

"Yeah, but I came when you were sleeping," Noah says with a pout.

"Is that why you were too tired to wake up to come to school with me?" Jack asks with a frown.

"Yeah," Noah replies and she tickles Jack's stomach, making his frown disappear.

"Do you wanna see my picture?" Jack asks as he holds up a drawing.

"Oh, cute!" Noah coos as she takes the picture to look at it, "Can you tell me everything you drew?"

"That's me and that's Daddy," Jack says as he points out the two stick-figure people, "And Daddy's wearing a cape because he's a superhero!"

"Of course," Noah nods along.

"And that's the park where we always play," Jack continues as he points, "And I drew the sun and the flowers."

"What an artist!" Noah giggles as she admires the drawing.

"Jack?" Haley calls out as she comes to bring the boy to see his father.

Jack runs into his mother's arms, leaving Noah with his drawing. The teen stands up beside Emily again, watching the mother take the little boy away into the room.

"He doesn't know when he'll see him again," JJ mentions as she, Emily, Noah, and Penelope watch the small family of three.

Noah stares at the hospital room.  Too many times she has seen a loved one in those rooms.  First Max, then Penelope, now Hotch.  How many more people will she see in those white hospital gowns?

Noah peers at the white bedsheets.  She thinks to herself as she recognizes the color.  The teen gets lost in thought as she recognizes the white from her nightmares.

White chrysanthemums, white bedsheets, white hospital gown.  She puts the pieces together.  Jack was the little boy, Aaron was the body.  The only difference is that Aaron is alive.

"It was supposed to be a dream," Noah mumbles under her breath.

"What?" Emily asks, not hearing her daughter.

"Just sad," Noah mutters and walks over to the large windows in the hallway, peering out into the street.

Emily watches her daughter, knowing that this will put a damper on Noah's progress.  Every time something happens, Noah shuts down.  She forgets everything she learned and loses herself in her emotions.

Emily steps up to the windows and watches Haley and Jack walk out of the hospital.

"Spence is gonna be fine," JJ mentions, "He's gonna have to be on crutches for a while, but he said kicking down doors is Morgan's job, anyway." She adds and turns to Derek with a smile.  Emily slightly laughs and turns to look at Morgan as well, finding him solemn.

"You know, Foyet having your credentials had nothing to do with any of this." Emily tells him, "It was just his way of trying to torture you."

"Yeah, I know," Morgan replies, "Foyet's about power and control.  He was hoping to watch me fall apart, and...now he wants to destroy Hotch."

"Exactly," Emily sadly agrees, "That's his plan, and now we fight it."

Noah loosely listens, even though most of the conversation between the agents is out of context for her.  She watches Haley get in an FBI agent's car, watching over Jack.  She worries, but knows, if anything, Jack is in the safest hands he can be in — his mother's.