"𝙵𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚄𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢
"WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?" Noah asks as she stands up from the bench.
"Noah!" The little boy exclaims and throws his arms around the teen's leg.
"Hi, Jack," Noah beams with a fake smile. She bends down and gives the boy a proper hug, not wanting him to know that anything is wrong.
"I missed playing planes with you," Jack coos.
"Me too, bud," Noah giggles and stands, looking up at Haley once again, "How are you? I thought you would've been living out of state."
"You don't know?" Haley asks as her voice cracks. Noah shakes her head, seeing Haley's chin quiver as she covers her mouth with her hands.
"What happened?" Noah asks.
"He's gone," Haley says in tears.
"What?" Noah questions as fear rises in her stomach.
"Aaron's dead," Haley whispers. Jack does not know yet, so the mother is sure to be quiet and try her best to hide her tears.
Noah opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She furrows her brows, trying to grasp what is happening. She is not sure if she believes the news, but she would never deny it in front of his child and ex-wife.
"W-Where're you going?" Noah stutters, "What are you gonna d-do?"
"We're going back to the house," Haley tells the teen, "They told us to wait for a bit, so I thought I'd bring him to the park," She explains as she chokes up, "I don't want him to know what happened yet," Haley cries as she runs her hand through Jack's hair.
"Let me go with you," Noah says, "I don't want you to have to take care of him when you're upset."
"You'd do that?" Haley asks with a frown.
"Of course," Noah answers as she bends down to Jack's level, "You wanna piggyback ride to the house?" She asks in an excited tone.
"Yeah!" Jack exclaims and jumps on the teen's back. Noah stands and holds onto the boy's legs. She peers over at Haley and gestures for her to lead the way. Noah makes sure to grab the bike and turns around while walking backward as she scans the area for who she was looking for. She turns back around, walking her bike alongside her.
The teen carries Jack on her back, pointing to things here and there to keep him entertained. She looks at Haley every once in a while to check on her and make sure she is okay. She knows that the woman is hurting, but she does not want to ask any questions or voice any concern with Jack in earshot.
Instead, the teen grabs Haley's hand and lets the woman squeeze tightly. Even though it makes it hard to steer the bike and keep Jack on her back, she does not let go of Haley's hand. She knows that she needs it the most.
—
Inside Foyet's apartment was a computer that brought up pictures of Sam Kassmeyer, the U.S. Marshal assigned to watch over Haley and Jack. Hotch immediately ran out of the apartment and to the car, where Emily joined him. They sped over to the safehouse where Haley and Jack were staying.
The team follows Aaron and parks outside the house. They all run in with their weapons ready, seeing as Foyet might be waiting for them inside. Hotch enters first, scanning the house and finding Sam nearly unconscious on the living room floor. His face is bloody and one of his eyes is swollen shut.
Sam explains that Foyet came in and shot his legs and his foot, beat his face and cut off some of his fingers. Foyet tortured him as he demanded to know where Jack and Haley are.
"I didn't..." Sam pauses.
"What about her phone number? What's her safe phone number?" Hotch asks Sam.
"I didn't...it won't matter," Sam suffers to speak, "I—I tried, Hotch," He continues as the ambulance sirens are heard coming down the street.
Emily watches in shock as she takes in Sam's injuries. The ambulance men come inside and begin checking him. Emily steps outside as they roll Sam's gurney out to their truck. She stands at the doorstep with Morgan as they both watch Hotch get in the ambulance with Sam, still trying to question him.
"What do we do?" She asks Morgan, who gives her a frustrated look.
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥
"Hey, why don't you play with your cars, bud?" Noah asks as she walks Jack to the living room. The boy goes to play with his toys as Noah looks at Haley, "Did they say who was gonna come?" She asks.
"He said his name was Victor Collins," Haley replies, "He said he's with the Marshals service."
Noah freezes at the last name. She wonders if it is a signal for her. Even if it was, why would Nick involve himself with Hotch's family in witness protection? Is it some sort of payback? You sent me to jail, so I am going to hurt your mother's boss' ex-wife and child?
"Okay," Noah says as she swallows the sudden lump in her throat.
"I don't even know if you should be here," Haley shakes her head, "But if that guy got Aaron, I know the team must be on it and I don't wanna call your mom if she's working. And I also don't want you out there if he hasn't been caught yet."
"It's okay," Noah says and gestures for Haley to take a deep breath, "I don't want you guys to be alone, even if I'm a teenager and don't really know what's going on," She adds, knowing that she has to stay, especially if Nick is involved somehow.
Haley lets out a small chuckle, making Noah smile. The teen sits down with Jack on the floor and distracts him as Haley sits on the couch. Suddenly, a knock sounds on the front door and Haley gets up to get it.
"Hi, you must be Victor," Noah hears Haley say. Her heart pounds in her chest as she waits to see his face. She is not sure how she will react or if she will react at all.
"Yes, don't worry, ma'am everything is going to be just fine," The man replies, "I'm sorry for your loss. But, I'm here to make sure nothing happens to you and your son."
Noah listens to the man speak as she aimlessly rolls one of Jack's cars across the coffee table. The man steps into the living room with Haley. Noah looks up and takes in the man's face. The teen's stomach twists into a knot at the sight. She blinks, trying to get rid of the sudden tears that sting her eyes. Her heart drops and her hands begin to sweat, but she holds in her expression. It is not her brother — it is not Nick. But it may be worse.
Noah flashes a smile and stands.
"Hi, you're Mr. Collins?" The teen asks.
"Yes," The man replies, "Who are you?"
"Oh, she's okay, she's a friend of Aaron's," Haley speaks for the teen, "She just bumped into us in town and I wanted to be sure she wasn't out by herself."
"I'll make sure you're safe," Victor says with a nod as he shakes Noah's hand. The teen swallows hard as her hand touches George Foyet's.
"Thank you," Noah replies, feeling disgusting after having to thank the man before her. She is not sure of anything anymore. Is Hotch really dead? How did Foyet get Haley's number? How did he lie to her? Does the team even know what is happening?
Driving on the other side of town are Emily and JJ. The team found out that Foyet is going to Hotch's house, so they split up and are speeding through the streets to get there. Hotch is driving by himself, which worries everyone, seeing as he is not in a good mental state.
Emily hears a beep on her phone, which is connected to a call with Garcia.
"Foyet's calling Hotch," Penelope says.
"Garcia, can you get us on?" Morgan asks.
The call connects as the team hears Haley's voice in all their cars.
"Aaron?" Haley asks, "You're okay?"
Noah stands at the window, trying to think of a way to escape. She turns around to look at Haley and furrows her brow. She connects the dots but has to pretend that she does not understand in front of Foyet. The man watches the teen, but she seems to be fooling him.
"I'm fine," Aaron replies and Noah inwardly lets go of a breath she was holding.
"But..." Haley trails off, "He said that..." She pauses again as "Victor" looks up at her.
"Haley..." Noah says and makes the mother peer over at her. The woman looks at the teen confused but eventually puts the pieces together.
"Who was that?" Aaron asks as he hears the voice.
"Oh, Aaron," Haley sighs as her chin quivers, "I didn't know."
"I know," Aaron assures her, "Who's there with you?"
"Aaron..." Haley says as she holds in a sob, "It's Noah."
Emily's whole body freezes as she hears her daughter's name. She holds the phone in her hand as her heart wrenches with fear and anxiety. Her mind goes away from the case and becomes a dark cloud with a picture of Noah.
"Penelope," Emily says, "What did she say?"
"Uhm..." Penelope trails off as she quickly tracks Noah's cell phone, "Oh my God," She gasps as Noah's phone pings at Hotch's house.
"Penelope, please tell me my daughter isn't in that house!" Emily exclaims as JJ tries to take deep breaths to focus on driving to the house quickly.
"Everyone needs to hurry!" Penelope shouts down the line, "There are two kids in that house!"