VIOLENT DELIGHTS, aaron hotchner

a farewell to kings

Hotch's expression falters, as if it hurts to hear her speak. "JJ, it's too risky."

"Aaron..." She pleads.

Hotch looks to Juliette, their eye contact not lost on the other team members. As soon as she nods, he gives in. "Let's go in."

They can't just storm the place, and coordinating a plan with SWAT proves more difficult than Juliette thought. As soon as they're about to enter, Will and another hostage manage to distract Chris, allowing the rest of the hostages to exit the building.

They decide to simply rush in, a plan much easier without a dozen other lives to consider. Just as they start in building, a low rumbling precedes a blinding blast, knocking every agent to the ground.

Juliette isn't knocked out by the explosion, instead pushed into an unsuspecting police officer. She mumbles an apology to him, immediately clutching her gun and racing into the rubble. Finding every member of the team but Hotch, she exits the bank to see him on the phone. "Yeah, I love you too, buddy."

As soon as he hangs up, he turns to Juliette, relief coloring his face. "I couldn't find you."

"I went in to find stragglers." She explains. "Do we know what happened?"

"Some sort of explosion near the electrical lines." He exhales, placing his hands on his neck. "We do know that wasn't improvised, someone's been planning this for weeks."

"My bet's on the woman." Juliette shakes her head. "Have they found Will?"

"No, JJ and Morgan are searching the underground tunnels now." Hotch's face softens. "Are you alright to keep working this?"

"As long as I have something to do."

"Go coordinate with MPD, I'll call you when I hear from the others."

It doesn't take long for Hotch to order Juliette back to the tents, filling her in what they found. While Will had left 'breadcrumbs' behind in order to tell the team where they're taking him, it's Garcia who found him on security cameras, leaving with the woman and one of the hostages, who turned out to be her partner. While Will was shot in the arm, they had an EMT patch him up before escaping in a government SUV.

This doesn't leave them with much, as there are dozens of those cars in the area, just that they can see. Thankfully, this is when Emily rushes into the room after another call to her Interpol contact, informing them of times when that type of bomb has been used before, leading to identification of both of the UnSubs.

They use this to piece together their motivation and relationship, leading the team to believe they're attacking Union Station. While JJ rushes back to her house after her sitter doesn't answer the phone, Morgan, Hotch, Emily, and Juliette enter the train station.

Juliette starts up one staircase with Emily, gun unholstered by her side. As soon as they enter the second floor, they see a man running across the platform. "I got the suspect going out the east wing." Emily says into her mic, turning around to look for Will as Juliette runs after him.

Their chase doesn't last long, Juliette knocks the UnSub down after two bullets to the back, only calling for medics after kicking his gun away and ensuring he's unconscious. She then runs back in the direction of Emily, finding her and Will panting on the floor with a freshly disarmed bomb attached to his chest.

The afternoon is a blur for Juliette, between directing the bomb squad, calming Emily through a panic attack, and accepting praise from Strauss and the Director for their work. She finally makes it back to the building that evening, showering in the gym locker rooms and changing into something less ash-covered from her go-bag.