or what, sir? |a. hotchner| ✔️

thirty three

I rushed into his house, my gun in hand as I heard loud groaning. My eyes went wide, and I hurried into his living room. I watched Aaron completely destroying George, there was blood everywhere and he was beating the shit out of a dead man. I dropped my gun, and Derek grabbed him.

"Hotch, Hotch! He's dead. Hotch, stop. Come on, stop it. It's over, it's over" He ripped him off of Foyet, and he started to sob. I covered my mouth and kneeled down next to him, making him turn his head to look at me. He grabbed me and hugged me tightly, and I held onto him.

He buried his face into my chest as he cried, and I began stroking his hand. "It's ok, it's over," I ensured, nodding. Tears streamed down my own face as I comforted him, but then he pulled away from me. He jumped up and rushed up the stairs, and I exchanged looks with Emily, Rossi, and Derek.

I quickly ran up after him, and the half of my team that was in the house followed close behind. I peaked into his office, revealing him holding Jack tight. I let out a shaky sigh of relief, smiling faintly knowing that he was okay.

"What happened to you, daddy?" Jack asked him, and Spencer put his hand on my shoulder. Aaron shook his head as he let go of him,

"I'm ok. I want you to go outside with Veronica, okay?" Jack looked behind Aaron, examining me for a moment. He started to walk over, and I bent down to pick him up, and he gladly came into my arms.

I picked him up, and he rested his head on my shoulder, "Hi, sweetheart" I looked at Spencer, who nodded, and the two of us walked downstairs. Once we reached outside, Jack examined the scene.

"That's a lot of ambulances" He pointed out, and I nodded.

"Yeah, it is" I tried to be as calm as possible. I sat him down in the back of an ambulance, he was sitting on the edge of it. I kneeled down and put my hand on his knee. "How do you feel?" He shrugged at my words,

"Tired" He admitted, and I shot him a small tight lipped smile. I nodded, and then a few paramedics came over to us.

One examined me, "Is he hurt?" I shook my head,

"No, he's okay"

"Is the woman who-" My eyes went wide, and she instantly cut herself off. She nodded, because my facial expression said it all. I looked back at Jack, and then I glanced down at his shirt.

"Is Captain America your favorite?" I tried to take his mind off of everything, and he agreed almost instantly.

Smiling, he responded, "Yeah, he's the coolest" He was overly excited,

"I love superhero's, I have all the comics at my house" His eyes went wide,

"No way!"

"And that's what happened, that's everything that happened" I told Strauss, crossing my arms. I looked her up and down, "Can I leave now?" She nodded, turning the tape recorder off. I stood, and I eyed Anderson.

He shot me and innocent smile, opening the door for me. I exited the room, glancing down to see who was next. There sat Aaron, who looked up at me. He stood, "They're ready for you" He nodded, and I started walking away. Then, he grabbed my hand. I turned my head slightly, and the two of us looked at one another for a moment. He was obviously nervous, "You'll be okay, you did what you had to, understand me?" I turned around fully now, taking his other hand too.

He nodded, "Okay" I cupped his right cheek, brushing it with my thumb lightly. I let go of him, and he walked into the room. I made my way towards the meeting room, and when I entered, I saw the entire team sitting and standing around Jack. When he looked up and saw me, he smiled.

"Hi, Ronnie" I grinned back at him, and I took a seat between him and Spencer,

"Hey, sweetheart" I responded, and then I picked up my messenger back. I rummaged through it, and then I pulled out an old Captain America comic book from my collection of many. He looked thrilled, and I handed it to him. "I know they're a little hard to read sometimes, but I can help you if you'd like" He nodded.

He leaned over to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders tightly, "Thank you!" I hugged him back, and I looked over at some of the others. JJ smiled faintly, resting her head on Spencer's shoulder.

Jack let go of me, sitting back in his seat normally and going back to playing with a few of his action figures. Rossi started to play with him, and Garcia came over, about to put down a cup of water, but we heard someone enter. We all looked up, seeing Aaron, almost emotionless. Jack however was happy to see him, and he got up quickly. He hurried over to Aaron, jumping into his arms.

Aaron picked him up and held him tightly, as he rested his head on Aaron's shoulder, and we walked closer to him.

000

I stood next to Spencer as he held my hand tight, examining the casket in front of us. Hotch looked down at his little index card, and he spoke.

"W.S. Gilbert wrote, iIt's love that makes the world go 'round.' And if that's true, then the world spun a little faster with Haley in it" he started, "Haley was my best friend since we were in high school. We certainly had our struggles, but if there's one thing we agreed on unconditionally, It was our love and commitment to our son Jack"

I glanced over at the little boy, who looked incredibly sad. He was too young to understand many things, but I was almost positive he knew he would never see his mother again. And knowing that hurt me.

"Haley's love for Jack was joyous and fierce. That fierceness is why she isn't here today" Tears streamed down my face, and I noticed Spencer look at me. He was crying too. We were all crying, every last one of us.

Aaron continued, "A mother's love is an unrivaled force of nature, and we can all learn much from the way Haley lived her life. Haley's death causes each of us to stop and take stock of our lives, to measure who we are and what we've become. I don't have all those answers for myself, but I know who Haley was. She was the woman who died protecting the child we brought into this world together" I bit my lip, staring back down at the casket.

"And I will make sure that Jack grows up knowing who his mother was and how she loved and protected him and how much I loved her. If Haley were with us today, she would ask us not to mourn her death but to celebrate her life. She would tell us... " He choked up, he had to pause for a moment. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew it wasn't the time or place. I knew he just wanted to finish this speech,

"She would tell us to love our families unconditionally... and to hold them close, because in the end, they are all that matter"

He was right. She probably would have told everyone that. She was gone, but she was still in everyones hearts. Her and I didn't get along, yet I knew she was a good mother. I knew she would do anything for her son, for Aaron.

He finished his speech, and one by one, people started to put their white roses on her casket. I did so with Spencer by my side, and then I put my hand on Aaron's shoulder. I nodded at him, and then me along with my entire team walked off. He needed to be alone with Jack, to say his final goodbye to his ex wife. I didn't need to interrupt that.

Later that night was the memorial dinner, I sat around a large table with most of the team along with Kevin and Will. We watched as Rossi and Aaron walked outside, and I sighed.

"What do we do?" Emily asked, desperately.

"There's nothing we can do" Morgan replied,

I cut in, "We just gotta wait him out"

"You think he'll ever come back?" I was about to answer yes, but JJ spoke first.

"Would you?"

I nodded, looking out the glass doors. I watched as the two of them stood outside, "He'll come back, trust me" I let out.

"I agree with V, I just don't know what he's gonna look like when he does" Morgan replied, and Garcia put her water down.

"We just need to be there for him when he's ready"

*i literally sobbed writing these last three chapters but hope u guys enjoy them ahahahaha ♡ *