A New Start {Sequel to 'A Bond that Can Never Be Broken'}

Profiler, Stalked

I watched as everyone slept on the plane on the way to my home town, Chicago, Illinois. I was unable to sleep, but I was watching some old videos of Andrew. JJ had recorded my first few minutes with him.

In the video, I was sweating and my face was red. Andrew was loosely wrapped in a baby towel and his head was a little wet. A nurse's hand came into view and was rubbing my baby's head clean. I was too focused on Andrew to notice that the nurse was smothering him. After he was clean, JJ focused on me and the baby. I had tear stains on my face. I was smiling and stroking Andrew's head. He looked like his father as a baby, his skin was the same color and his eyes were light-brown with specks of blue. His tiny little hands were moving and one found my chin.

"What are you going to name him?"JJ asked from behind the camera. I looked back her and smiled. I looked back at my baby.

"Andrew."I said, choking on my tears of joy. "Andrew Christopher Morgan."

"It's beautiful, a beautiful name."Hotch said as he came into the room with the rest of the team. They encircled my hospital bed and stared at Andrew.

"Oh my God, he's beautiful."Garcia said with a wide smile that stretched from ear to ear. She knew he looked like his father and she knew that it pained me to see that. I loved what I had carried with me for nine months, but the memories were as painful as they come.

"He looks like his father."Rossi said. Tears stung my eyes as I cradled Andrew to my neck. I closed my eyes and rocked Andrew back and forth. I brought him back down to my stomach.

I looked back at Garcia, "Wanna hold him?"

"Oh yes!"she answered, enthusiastically. I handed the baby off to her and her smile, despite my hypothesis, grew even bigger. One of Andrew's hands groped at hers and wrapped around her thumb.

"He's even got his eyebrows."Reid said, looking over Garcia's shoulder. Andrew started to wale and the two of them started to panic. Rossi stepped over to them and took him from them, bringing him to his shoulder and singing a lullaby in a foreign language that sounded like Italian. Andrew's crying ceased and Rossi handed him back to me.

"Guys. Can you give me a minute with my son?"I requested. Hotch nodded in reply and called everyone out of the room. JJ shut off the camera and the video turned into snow. I shut the camera screen and reached for my necklace. I looked up and saw that Reid had slipped into the seat in front of me. He was looking at me with a small smile across his mouth.

"Hey, kid. You not asleep?"I asked. He shook his head and glanced at his hands. He plopped an overflowing book onto the fold up table. The papers sticking out were glossy —my guess— photos.

"Thought you might want it. Found it in his old car Rossi bought after —you know— this afternoon and mailing it seemed really impersonal."he said, keeping his eyes on the book. I tentatively pulled it closer to me and flipped it open. The pictures inside brought my body physical pain. 

The first picture was of Andrew's father and me in Hamilton High School just after we won the championship in our senior year. The second was on my 18th birthday; he had smashed my head into the cake that year. The next was prom; we were dancing when one of his sisters snapped a quick picture before we saw. These pictures made me feel better, but the next ones would do just the opposite.

They were black and white photos of the Andrew's father and me after I had joined the FBI. These weren't memory pictures, they were pictures taken from afar.

"Reid, you said you found this in his old car this afternoon?"I asked, flipping through the pictures quickly.

"Yeah, why?"he asked, his eyebrows narrowing with confusion. I flipped through the last of the pictures. The very last gave me a sickening feeling.

"Cause, this was taken around seven P.M. today."I said, showing him a picture of me meeting JJ at the jet earlier that day. His eyes shot wide and he leaned forward as I stood and clapped, waking everyone up. Hotch was the first up on his feet and he took the picture from me.

"Where did you find this?"he asked Reid, observing the picture.

"His old car, this morning."Reid replied, running his fingers through his hair. Hotch's expression changed as he saw the picture of me and JJ."

"Hotch?"I said, shaking Rossi to wake up. "We need to land this jet." Reid woke JJ and her eyes first found me.

"What's wrong?"she asked. I shook my head and she took it as saying not good. She stood and wiped away her drowsiness.

"I'll go tell the pilot."Rossi said, shuffling his way to the cockpit. I started to hyperventilate, so I sat back down and reached for my necklace again. JJ come to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You good?"Hotch asked. I nodded and waved him away.

"Yeah."I panted. "Yeah, I'm good. Just need to get my head screwed on straight." Rossi closed the door to the cockpit as sat on the couch.

"We're close to Chicago, so they said they'll land a couple airports away."he said. I nodded and my breathing returned to normal.

"So, what's the plan?"Hotch asked. I looked around and saw that everyone was waiting for my orders.

"When we get there, "I started. "We get y'all out of those formal clothes."

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts." ~ Arnold Bennett