retribution.

Chapter Six

"Collins, you need to get out of your apartment. You can't isolate yourself like this." I said quietly. My arms were folded as I stared at her with a sympathetic yet slightly stern stare.

Collins shook her head, lifting her feet to sit on her bed with her legs crossed. She slowly closed her eyes, and her exhaustion was apparent. She seemed to have been not sleeping at all. I sighed and moved across the room from the wall to the bed, and sat down next to her. She momentarily opened her eyes to see what had happened, before closing her eyes again.

"Collins..." My voice was barely above a whisper. I had never been good at comforting others. Last time I tried to comfort people was with Beth after one of her siblings had passed away. She had actually told me I was doing a terrible job, but then she told me I was cute for trying.

"Collins, look at me." I said, voice taking up a slightly authoritative tone. She paused for a moment, but then looked up at me. Being this close to her, I saw a lot more detail about her current appearance. Her eyes were tinted a shade of red, a sign that she had been crying a little while ago. She looked incredibly different then what I was used to. At work, she took up a dominant, 'everything is okay' personality. I've never seen her cry before, except for when Reid died and when we were at his funeral. His death had hit her in the spot that hurt the most.

"Hotch... I-" Her voice cracked and she paused, unable to finish her sentence for fear that she'd start crying again.

I prayed she wouldn't start crying. I never knew how to handle these situations. I was good at talking down unsubs and capturing serial killers. But they don't teach you how to comfort somebody whose crying in the academy.

Luckily, Collins seemed to be able to compose herself before tears began to fall. She wiped her eyes and stood abruptly.

"Hotch, you should go home." She spoke as she left the room, leaving me no choice but to follow her.

"Collins, I'm not finished."

"I don't care if you're not finished, this is my apartment and it is 2 a.m. You need to sleep." I followed Collins out of the bedroom and down the hall, into the livingroom. My mind drifted back to the fact that there were case files by the coffee table. I had previously counted three, but now that I was doing a double take, I spotted four. She didn't seem to notice the messy case files and books on her coffee table, the only thing on her mind being to escort me out. I furrowed my eyebrows as I stared at the scene again.

Then I remembered the phone call.

"It's time to take matters into my own hands."

That's what she had said. Slowly, my brain connected the very evident dots. Four case files.

Four unsubs from Reid's case.

The books stacked on the coffee table were books on criminal psychology and murderous gangs.

Collins followed my line of sight, all the way to the coffee table when she began to panic. "Hotch, leave." She now took up an authoritative tone as she sped to the coffee table to pick up the files and books, like I hadn't already realized what she was doing.

"No." I spoke calmly, and Collins just glared at me as she carried the files and books to her office to put away. My eyes followed her as she moved around her apartment. I didn't bother to follow her, as I knew she'd return soon.

"Hotch I swear to god if you don't leave, we're going to have problems." I could hear Collins reply in a threatening voice. I heard a few drawers open and then shut as she put the files and books away, out of sight.

"I'm not leaving until you explain to me what you're doing."

Collins reappeared from the office and walked back into the livingroom with her arms crossed. She glared at me with a frustration that I haven't seen in a long time from any woman.

Women were intimidating when they were frustrating, but I'd never admit that out loud.

"Aaron Hotchner, I could arrest you for breaking and entering right now."

I raised my eyebrows at the usage of my full name. She rarely used my full name unless she was really serious. But of course, I didn't let it bother me. I forced myself to remain calm, although the fact that she had went behind my back to investigate the case, went behind the team's back, was angering.

So of course, I called her bluff.

"You wouldn't arrest me." I responded in a relaxed fashion. I crossed my arms to mimick her body language, which she noticed. My brain was running a mile a minute, profiling every small gesture she was showing.

"Stop that, stop profiling me."

I suppose I wasn't the only one profiling the other.

"Collins, listen to me-"

"No, Hotch! You listen to me! You said I could take as long as I need, and that's what I'm doing. If you really need me that much, then bring in a replacement. I'll come back to work when I'm ready, but right now I'm not. So if you excuse me, I'm done trying to get you to leave. I'm going to bed." Collins turned around, leaving me as she walked to her bedroom to do just that.

But I couldn't let her stay here if she was investigating Reid's case. She and I both knew Strauss wouldn't let us do the investigation because of our correspondence with Reid. I knew there were good, professional people investigating it. They wanted the gang in jail, but Collins seemed to want them dead.

I followed her briskly. "I'm taking your gun." I announced as I entered her room. Collins was facing the other way, lying down in bed.

Before I could reach the gun on the nightstand, Collins rolled over in bed and grabbed the gun, holding it close protectively. "No you're not." She growled with a glare.

I stared at her sternly. "Give me the gun." I spoke low, threatening. I absolutely did not have the patience for this. At this point I was very ready to go home. Collins shook her head stubbornly, holding the gun in one hand as she crossed her arms.

"Would you prefer to give it to me yourself, or would you prefer I call Morgan and Prentiss to hold you down while I take it?" I was very serious about that threat. But Collins scoffed with a laugh.

"You wouldn't."

I held eye contact as I grabbed my phone from my pocket, dialing '2' and '3', which were the speed dials for Morgan and Prentiss. And Collins knew that. Her confidence seemed to waver, but she kept her eyes on me the entire time.

I put the phone on speaker so Collins could hear everything that was happening. After a few rings, both people picked up.

"Hotch?" Morgan's groggy voice could be heard on the other side of the line.

"Morgan? Hotch? What's going on?" Prentiss seemed to be very awake. She probably hadn't gone to sleep yet.

"I need you two to get to Collins' apartment right now." I spoke calmly. Collins seemed dumbfounded, and after a few moments it finally clicked in her head that I never made empty threats. She glared at me and stood up, stomping over like a child and pressing the hang up button on my phone. With a huff, she shoved her gun into my chest.

"Fine, take it. Just get out." She turned around to lie back down.

"Thank you. Also, I am ordering you to stop investigating Reid's case at once. If I find you're still working on it, there will be consequences." Before she could respond, I turned and swiftly left her apartment. I could hear her yelling at me from the bedroom. She was saying things I really shouldn't repeat, calling me probably every name in the book.

I finally left the apartment, shutting the door so the neighbors wouldn't hear her shouting.

Well, that was a fun trip.