"𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶
tw: violence, blood, gun/gunshots
NOAH'S LEG SHAKES as she anxiously sits in her seat outside of Section Chief Erin Strauss' office. She bites on her lips, tearing the skin off of them until she tastes blood. It was only two days ago that Noah had seen Haley's dead body.
"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Emily asks as she eyes her daughter that is sitting beside her.
"If it helps Hotch, then yes," Noah replies, her eyes glued to the wall across from them.
"You don't have to, honey," Emily reminds her, "The team's interviews should be enough—"
"We don't know that," Noah asserts as she turns to look at her mother.
"Noah—"
"I wanna do it," Noah repeats, "For Hotch and Jack but especially Haley. Other than him...I was the last person to see her alive."
"I understand," Emily nods, "But don't let her push you. Speak on your own time, do you hear me?" The mother asks as she holds her daughter's chin up, forcing Noah to look her in the eye.
"Yes," Noah mutters.
"Okay," Emily replies, satisfied with her daughter's response.
Noah sits nervously in her spot. She can feel her heart pounding and can practically see it pumping out of her chest. Her breaths are short and her mouth is dry. She turns to look at Emily once more, suddenly leaning her head on her mother's shoulder.
"I'm nervous," The teen whispers.
"I know," Emily coos as she wraps her arms around Noah. She holds on tightly, knowing it will help prevent her from having a panic attack. The teen sinks into the softness of her mother's cashmere sweater.
Suddenly, the office door opens and Anderson steps out.
"They're ready for you," He says and nods towards Noah. The teen stands and peers down at Emily, who flashes her a small smile.
As Noah goes to walk into the office, Spencer walks out. He shows a tight-lipped smile and puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He knows he cannot warn her about anything or say any comfort, not wanting it to come off as them communicating about the case.
Noah walks inside and sees a large conference table. Sitting in the middle on one side of the table is Erin Strauss. She gestures towards the seat across from hers and Noah goes to sit down. There is a tape recorder in the middle of the table, which Emily told Noah was going to be there.
"Ms. Prentiss, how are you?" Erin asks the teen.
"I'm fine," Noah replies.
"Are you ready?"
"No," Noah answers but nods towards the recorder. Erin starts the tape, Noah taking a deep breath as she gathers her thoughts and collects her bundles of nerves.
"Please say your name, age, and relation to the case for the record," Strauss begins as she pulls out the files for the case.
"Noah Prentiss, fifteen. My mother works for the BAU and I know all of the agents on a personal level, including Agent Hotchner."
She takes another deep breath.
"And I was in the house where Haley Hotchner was murdered."
"Ms. Prentiss, do you understand that you are the only witness other than Jack Hotchner that we have to describe what happened on that day?" Erin questions the teen.
"Yes, ma'am," Noah answers.
"Do you understand what that means?"
"That I need to be as detailed as possible," Noah says and peers deep into Erin's eyes.
"That's correct," Erin says, "Let's start with how you ended up in the house in the first place."
"I skipped school," Noah says and takes a breath, "I got a message from a blocked number saying to meet them at Dominion Park in Montclair. I got on a bike and went straight there."
"Why? If the number was blocked — did that not alarm you?"
"I knew Haley and Jack were under witness protection, I assumed it would be them. So, I went because I wanted to make sure they were okay."
"Do you really think that, of all people, Haley would reach out to you in an emergency? Why not her ex-husband, Agent Hotchner? Why not another agent under the BAU? Or the police?"
Noah shakes her head and looks up at Strauss.
"We never fully understand why people do the things they do, ma'am. But we don't need to understand when we love them. We just go — and that's what I did."
"What happened once you arrived?"
"I walked to the house where the murder took place," Noah answers and finds her eyes fixating on the table, "We went inside and I played with Jack until a man arrived. He said his name was Victor Collins, but I recognized him from the news as George Foyet."
"I knew the team was looking for him and I knew that he was specifically after Agent Hotchner," Noah continues, "I didn't alarm Haley and I didn't let him know that I knew who he was. But when Agent Hotchner called Haley, I knew he would reveal himself. I assessed the situation and looked for exits, but I knew he would have a weapon on him. But my main priority at that point was figuring out how to protect Jack."
"And how did you do so?" Erin asks as the teen takes a pause.
"Agent Hotchner told Jack to "work the case" which was some code for them. So, I followed Jack upstairs and left Haley downstairs by herself. Jack took me to the home office and he hid in a cupboard. I didn't wanna hide in the same room because it would've been too close to Jack — I wanted him as far from everything as possible."
Noah pauses as she comes to the part that she dreads the most. The most terrifying thirty minutes she has ever experienced in her life. The thirty minutes that changed her.
"Noah," Erin gets the girl's attention, "What happened after the phone call?"
Noah's eyes are still on the table and have not moved. Erin stares at the teen for a moment, waiting for her to move, say something — anything.
"Take it step by step," Strauss reminds the teen, "Try remembering your senses first, it will bring it back."
"I don't wanna bring it back," Noah mumbles as she folds her arms across her chest. Erin can see that the girl is trying to protect herself from what happened that day.
Erin presses the pause button on the tape and lowers her voice, "Noah, if you're not ready for this then you shouldn't push yourself. You're young and this was clearly traumatizing. You don't owe it to anyone."
The words would shock Noah, but she is too distracted by trying to compose herself. The teen shakes her head and holds in her tears.
"I do," Noah says as she lifts her head, "I owe it to Haley. I didn't tell her, but she knows I promised to protect Jack. And I did. But I wasn't able to protect her."
Erin presses the play button on the tape and it starts rolling again. She looks up at the teen, who gives her a small nod that she is ready.
"What happened after Jack hid in the cupboard?"
"I went to the bedroom," Noah replies but pauses once again as her thoughts jumble together.
"Use your senses," Strauss says. Noah takes a deep breath and continues.
"In the bedroom, you could tell it hadn't been touched in a while. It smelled like perfume though. And the sun was coming through the curtains, but it was still fairly dark. I was looking for a weapon of some sort. I figured Hotch — Agent Hotchner — is an FBI agent, he must have some sort of weapon in his family's house," Noah answers, the memories coming back to her as she closes her eyes, remembering it all.
"I was in the bedroom when I heard the first gunshot," The teen mutters, "I went to the top of the stairs and two more went off."
Erin watches the teen carefully. She knows reliving an experience such as this is difficult for anyone — even agents. So for a fifteen-year-old to sit across from her and compose herself in the way Noah is, Erin is impressed.
"The third gunshot..." Noah pauses, "It...froze me."
"What happened after the third gunshot?"
"I was frozen for a moment, but I went downstairs," Noah closes her eyes again as she tries to remember everything.
—
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥
Noah walks around the corner after she hops down the last couple steps. She goes into the living room, finding Foyet standing above Haley's body.
"No, no, no!" Noah shouts as she forgets about Foyet and rushes to Haley's side. She crouches beside the mother and puts her arms on her shoulders.
"Haley?" Noah asks in a panic, "Haley! Haley, wake up!" The teen exclaims as she picks the woman's torso up, Haley's head falling back. Noah frowns and pulls the woman to her chest, blood getting all over her school uniform.
"Haley," Noah mutters as she carefully lays the woman down, "I'm so sorry."
"Your turn."
Noah peers up to find Foyet standing in the corner of the room, watching her with a smirk on his face.
—
𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕒𝕪
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮
"I saw her eyes," Noah mutters as her voice cracks, "They stared into mine, but I could tell she wasn't there. She was just a body. He took away her soul — the light in her eyes."
"He didn't try to attack you?"
"Not in that moment," Noah answers, "I think he liked watching me in pain. He liked seeing me hunched over her body, calling out her name, knowing she wasn't gonna answer."
"And you knew for sure she was dead?" Erin questions.
"She wasn't breathing," Noah replies, "And I knew what he wanted. It was obvious what he'd done. The only thing that was left was what he wanted to do with me and Jack."
—
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥
Noah quickly stands and runs down the hallway, hearing Foyet's footsteps behind her. She grabs a vase from a table in the hallway and whips around, smashing it on his head. The man stumbles a bit, but he is quick to charge at her.
The teen runs into the kitchen, grabs a knife, and turns around to find Foyet standing right in front of her. She stares at him intensely, the anger building inside of her. The thought of Haley dead on the floor of her own home, Jack obliviously hiding in the cupboard upstairs, and Hotch not seeing his wife one last time — it all builds up.
"You won't, Noah," Foyet tuts as he looks at the teen with the knife. He can see her hand shaking. He assumes it is from nerves, but it could also be her anger.
"Don't say my name like you know who I am," Noah grits.
"You're just a kid," Foyet says, "Do you think you'd even make a scratch?"
"Why're you doing this?" The teen demands an answer.
"You wouldn't understand, Noah," Foyet speaks so casually.
"Try me," Noah replies, taking a step back and tightly holding the knife in front of her.
"I don't want to kill you, Noah. I really just wanted to scare you — to scare Emily."
"Why?"
"There's so much you don't know. So much you wonder about but are too scared to ask. But you deserve to know what she's hiding from you." Foyet tells the teen, making her furrow her brow. She knows he is trying to strike a chord in her so she tries to ignore it.
"You don't know anything—"
"You're right, I don't. I'm just the messenger," Foyet shrugs and steps closer to the teen, "They say don't kill the messenger, so I guess I can give you the same respect."
Foyet reaches into his pocket and pulls out his gun. Noah goes to strike him with the knife, but he holds the barrel to her forehead. She pauses and puts her hands up, dropping the knife on the counter. She knows he will not hesitate, but he did say he was not going to kill her.
"Now, I promise not to kill you, Noah," Foyet says and puts the gun down, "But I never said I wasn't gonna cause any pain," He adds and quickly grabs the knife, running the blade across Noah's left arm. The teen's knees buckle as she feels the blade across her skin and holds the wound with her right hand.
Foyet grabs Noah and drags her towards the staircase, the teen kicking and screaming her way up the steps. The man throws her onto the floor of the bedroom and goes to the closet, grabbing a tie from Hotch's collection. He ties the teen's hands together, making sure to do it tightly to cause more pain.
Foyet grabs Noah again and shoves her into the closet. The teen cries out, but he kicks her in the stomach, which shuts her up.
—
𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕕𝕒𝕪
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮
"I laid there for a minute or so," Noah mumbles, "I felt my vision go a bit blurry, but I woke myself up when he came back upstairs."
"He had brought Haley up," The teen continues, "He laid her on the floor at the end of the bed. He positioned her—" Noah stops as she looks down at her lap, wiping a tear away.
"He came up to me and put tape on my mouth, saying he didn't want me to give his hiding place away," Noah says, "I knew he wanted to kill Agent Hotchner next — and he knew he was coming. So, he closed the closet door and it was silent."
"After that, everything was dark and I only heard what happened when Agent Hotchner came into the house."
"Do you think Agent Hotchner's actions are justifiable?"
"I think him and I and many other people wouldn't be in your office today if it weren't for his actions," Noah answers confidently.
Erin hits the stop button on the recorder and sits up.
"You're free to go," She replies and Noah looks at her with a suspicious expression.
The teen stands and walks to the door, turning around to face Erin one last time, "We have a choice, Mrs. Strauss. We can look for the good and find the good or we can look for the bad and find that too. But only one will make things worse."
Noah opens the door of the room and walks out, finding her mother standing up to greet her. The teen peers up at her mother but says nothing as Anderson comes out to get Emily.
The mother walks into the room and takes the same seat her daughter was sitting in. She looks up at Strauss who is pacing back and forth. The woman presses the start button on the recorder with a new tape.
"Agent Prentiss," Erin begins as she slams a file on the table.
"Ma'am," Emily replies condescendingly.
"We understand that Agent Hotchner managed to separate himself from the rest of the team," Strauss states.
"He didn't manage to do that," Emily corrects her, "When Marshal Kassmeyer was in the ambulance—"
"Agent Hotchner volunteered to ride along," Erin says.
"To get answers before he lost consciousness," Emily continues the statement.
"Why didn't you go with him?" Strauss asks as she leans her hands on the back of her chair.
"It didn't seem necessary," Emily replies.
"Did he tell you that?"
Emily pauses before she says anything. She can tell what Erin is trying to get at. The anger builds inside of her as she furrows her brows.
"Is that what you're looking for?" Emily asks, "A way to blame this on him? What good could that possibly do?"
"Agent Hotchner was looking for an opportunity to separate himself from the team and he found one."
"That isn't true—" Emily grits as she shakes her head.
"He was desperate and he didn't want someone with a clear head to stop him."
"Is there a question in there somewhere?" Emily asks with a confused expression, "My daughter was in that house. She saw a woman she knew lay dead on the ground, hid a child from a serial killer, was wounded with a knife, and had a gun put to her head. If Agent Hotchner hadn't done what he had done, my daughter wouldn't be sitting outside this room right now. I know that, and you know that."
Erin stands still for a moment, peering at Emily. The mother says nothing more, so Erin continues with her questions.
"Tell me what happened while Agent Hotchner was in the ambulance," She demands as she sits down.
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮
"You doing alright, kid?" Derek asks as he sits beside Noah. The teen nods and looks down at her sleeve.
The whole team is sat around the table, and the last person being interviewed is Aaron. They all wait for him, watching Jack as well. They keep him entertained, playing with him and showing him cool things around the office.
"Look at this," Noah says and pulls her left sleeve up. The teen reveals a stitched-up wound that runs from her one side of her underarm to the other.
"Do the stitches hurt?" Penelope asks.
"Not really," Noah shrugs, "I just have to be careful."
"It could be worse, you could have a cane," Derek says as he nods toward Spencer.
"Hey," Reid says with furrowed brows.
"It's so fitting with the Doctor title," Noah mentions, making everyone laugh. Jack gets up from his seat at the table and walks over to the teen.
"Can I see?" He nosily asks. Noah nods and shows him her stitches.
"Woah," Jack lightly gasps, "They look like Frankenstein!"
"Yeah," Noah giggles, "They kinda do."
Everyone smiles at the interaction between the two. What the children had been through was unimaginable. Jack is a bit oblivious to what happened while Noah understood it all. Nonetheless, they all feel for both of them.
Aaron walks into the room, everyone's eyes going to him. Jack perks up at the sight of his Dad and runs over to him. Aaron picks Jack up and holds him tightly as the team gathers around the two.
Noah stands beside her mother and feels Emily's arm wrap around her shoulder. Noah stares at Aaron and Jack, knowing that the boy will be in the safest hands and his Dad will always be there for him.
—
𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
Emily washes the dishes from dinner as Noah stands behind her, leaning her back on the other side of the counter. The teen is zoned out, her mind racing between all the things happening. It feels as if she has no time to breathe.
It is either Jess being mad at her about Parker, trying to process what happened with Haley, putting on a brave face for Jack, dealing with the fact everyone on the team heard about her sexuality or wondering what she will do now that the Reaper raided Dr. Stephenson's office.
Noah's vision becomes blurry as tears fill her eye line. She does not bother to hold them back, knowing they will just come again later. The teen walks up to Emily and wraps her arms around her mother's waist. Emily is slightly shocked at the affection but shows a small smile.
As Noah feels her mother's warmth, her chin quivers more, and tears endlessly spill from her eyes. She finally lets out a sniffle, which makes Emily's smile fall as she grabs the dish towel and dries her hands off.
"Hey," Emily coos as she turns around, tossing the towel on the counter, "What's wrong, my love?" She asks as she wraps her arms protectively around the teen's body. Emily sits her chin on Noah's head and strokes the hair on the back of her daughter's head.
"I just want you to hold me," Noah croaks into her mother's chest, her voice muffled by the close contact.
"Okay," Emily replies with a frown.
Noah lets her emotions go, allowing Emily to see her in a vulnerable state. She is letting her mother pick up some of the pieces. Emily cannot help but pout as she hears Noah's sobs in her shirt.
"It's okay, baby," Emily mumbles into the teen's hair as she places a kiss on Noah's head, "Whatever it is, you'll figure it out. And we can figure it out together if you want us to, okay?"
"Okay," Noah nods.
"It's okay," Emily whispers and kisses her daughter's head again.
"I was the last person to see her alive," Noah mutters against Emily's shirt.
"You did everything you could, Noah," Emily says, trying to calm her daughter, "You protected Jack and yourself. I know it's hard to understand, but it's what Haley would've wanted you to do."
"How do you know?" Noah asks as she pulls away from the embrace a bit and peers up at her mother.
"Because she was a mother," Emily coos, "And she would've done anything to make sure her baby was okay. And she didn't have to, but she protected my baby too," She adds and strokes Noah's cheeks with her thumbs, wiping the tears away.
"I love you," Noah mutters and puts her head on Emily's chest.
"I love you more, bub."