WARNING: THERE'S SWEARING IN THIS CHAPTER
"The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind."
― Kiran Desai
Crystal was tired, her body ached and she wanted someone to cut off her side. Hotch wasn't doing much better, the only reason he hadn't fallen yet was because Crystal was supporting him up. Hotch stumbled a bit and Crystal stopped walking to catch him, Hotch looked over at her. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize, maybe we should rest Hotch."
"No."
"Hotch-"
"I'm fine, after we find the trail." Crystal stared into Hotch's eyes, she was trying to find any signs of pain. Hotch sighed as he noticed this and his head started to hurt which made him wince, "I promise to tell you if I need a break, let's just keep moving. I can still move, are you still okay?"
Crystal sighed, "Okay, we can keep going. I'm still good to, let's get moving Hotchner before a bear catches us." He let out a soft chuckled before nodding, Crystal had one arm around Hotch from his back and front as he had an arm around her. They continued walking in the direction they hoped would lead them to a trail, Crystal winced as her side started to hurt more with each step she took.
Please let the team be close.
___
Morgan and Rossi were currently waiting for Prentiss and Reid to radio them that they arrived on the trails when JJ came in, "We've got three of those matches on our volunteers list." Rossi shook his head, "How'd that happen?"
"They either work for the rangers or have the insight needed to explore the woods, I didn't approve of these." Morgan sighed at JJ's words, "Sheriff did?" She nodded as she sat down, JJ was about to say something when Morgan's phone rang. "Baby girl tell me you've got something on this son of a bitch."
"Better, I've got him and his vehicle. George Hutten, 46, white, and his boss says he's a piece of work. Last summer he got into an accident with his wife which causes him to limp now, his leg was badly injured during the crash and he had three surgeries just for him to walk again. They crashed in the middle of nowhere and when I say nowhere I mean they were lost for 4 days with no cell service or any civilization for another 30 miles. They had just finished camping when the accident happened and were in the middle of the woods."
JJ looked confused, "4 days? He takes them for 2."
"Ah, they were reported missing after two and it took two days for them to be found. So I looked into the reports and it turns out that his wife was driving when the accident happened and she was hardly injured, how'd they crash? She swerved to not hit a squirrel, they walked until George couldn't anymore since his leg was hurt to badly. His wife, Hannah, went to go get water for them since she wasn't as injured, but in their tired state they didn't realize she had gotten salt water from the lake she found."
Morgan sighed, "Which made them malnourished and dehydrated, they were exhausted."
"Right you are handsome, now when they were found they were in bad shape. They get to the hospital and it turns out the surgery to help fix up George's leg so that it'd be perfectly fine was not an option since he was to dehydrated, it would be to dangerous. They needed to make sure he was stable, but by the time they did that-"
"It was already to late and they couldn't do it anymore," Rossi finished as he looked at JJ and Morgan, "That's where his hatred for women comes from, he blames his wife for taking away his ability to walk. Garcia, I'm guessing their marriage didn't last?"
"You would be correct, according to this they filed for divorce 4 months ago and it was finalized two and a half weeks ago." JJ sighed, "There's your stressor."
"Hannah got the house which she sold and used the money to get out of there, George was left in a lot of debt. He works as the local vet assistant and says here he gives a class about how to avoid bears coming to the campsites, his classes are mandatory to take before camping there."
JJ opened the door and looked around, once she saw the sheriff she beckoned him over. "Sheriff, where are George Hutten's classes located?"
"At the local community center, he had one yesterday."
"Where is the community center?"
"It's in front of the coroner's office if I'm not mistaken, maybe a little down the street from it." JJ turned to Rossi and Morgan, "I know why he took Hotch and Archer, Archer drove because Hotch was sick. It set him off, he took them as his next target because it reminded him of how his wife drove him. Garcia is there anyway you can check what classes the victims took?"
There was typing on the other end before Garcia answered, "Oh, they all had it the same day. This didn't come up in my initial search since the sign up is done through the vet and not online."
Rossi shook his head, "How would he know about their problems?" Garcia cleared her throat, "I can answer that, they have to fill out the emergency contact info if they are attacked by a bear or if anything goes wrong. Their financial status, jobs, spouse, next of kin is all on that."
Morgan looked at the sheriff, "We need an APB on George Hutten, he's our unsub."
The sheriff's eyes widen, "Well he's out there with the groups, said he wanted to make sure we wouldn't disturb the bears." Rossi grabbed the walkie, "Prentiss, Reid answer me."
"Something up Rossi?"
"Is there a George Hutten with you?"
"Not sure, we split up into groups."
Morgan sighed, "Garcia what car does he drive."
"White truck with a blue logo of a bird, the symbol for the vet place."
Rossi nodded his head, "He's in a white truck, blue bird on the side. He's our unsub, he's out there hunting Crystal and Aaron right now!"
___
Prentiss's eyes widen as she looked over at Reid, he looked just as shocked. "We had a white truck following us not to long ago." Reid looked behind them to see if it was there, it was gone. Prentiss turned into one of the trails to turn around, "Rossi he's in the forest."
"How long has he not been there?"
"At most 5 minutes."
"Where are you guys at?"
"We're near the trail leading straight to the river and cliff." Prentiss stepped on the gas, she was looking for any signs of a truck. Reid cleared his throat, "He most likely knew Crystal and Hotch would try to find a trail like we did, he knows all the shortcuts and he has the head start."
"The sheriff has the other groups coming towards you guys, Morgan and I are on our way."
"We aren't waiting Rossi."
"I'm not asking you to, just be careful."
___
Crystal sighed as they walked on the trail, they had finally found one but there wasn't any signs indicating where they were or what it lead to. Hotch stopped walking and Crystal looked over at him, "Hotch?" He didn't say anything, his eyes closed as he slumped over and Crystal quickly tightened her hold on him so he wouldn't fall on the ground.
"Woah! Okay I got you, let's rest over there." Crystal helped him over to a tree not far from the trail but well hidden, she didn't want to be seen if the unsub was near by. Once she got him leaning against the tree she felt his head, she instantly pulled her hand back.
He's burning up.
Crystal took off her jacket and put it on him, she took off her scarf and started to pat down Hotch's forehead and neck. Even with the freezing temperatures he was sweating, he winced and opened his eyes a bit to look at her. "How's your side?"
His voice was raspy and he said it so softly like it would hurt his throat if he talked any louder, she smiled at him. "I'm fine Hotch, I'm more worried about you. You're sick, dehydrated, and you might get hypothermia if I don't get you warm soon."
Hotch hummed before closing his eyes again, he looked exhausted. Crystal shivered a bit at the lack of her jacket as she looked around, she stopped when she heard something.
Is that...running water?
Crystal stood up and walked a bit towards the sound, it was faint but that was definitely water. Crystal returned to Hotch and squatted down in front of him, "Hey Hotch can you hear me?" She softly moved his sweaty hair from his face as he opened his eyes again, she smiled at him. "I think I hear the river Morgan and Prentiss was telling us about, I'm gonna see if I can get you some water. Stay here, okay?"
She got up to leave when she felt Hotch grab her wrist, "Don't-" Hotch cleared his throat, "Don't, it's not safe by yourself." Crystal bit her lip as she looked around, she grabbed a stick. "There, now I'm not by myself." Hotch gave her an amused look, he coughed a bit. "Hey Hotch, do you have your gun or something? Mine fell out during the crash."
Hotch felt around before pulling it out, "You should take it with you-"
"It's for you Hotch, if he comes at you or you think he's near I'll come running when I hear you take a shot. I'm glad you still have yours, I forgot about our guns until right now." Crystal smiled as she turned to walk away, she stopped when Hotch called after her.
"If you're not back within an hour I'm coming after you."
"I'll be back Hotch, I'll scream if I get trouble. You just focus on resting and not dying by your fever." Crystal turned around and gave him another smile before setting off towards the sound of water, her stick helped support her side.
Hotch watched as she got farther and farther away, he sighed before closing his eyes for awhile.
___
Hotch stirred as he heard something, he tried to open his eyes but his head was making that impossible. The noise got louder and Hotch winced, he tried to make out what the sound was.
"-ch"
"-tch"
"Hotch!"
Hotch opened his eyes wide as he pointed his gun at the source, his eyes widen when he saw it was Prentiss and Reid. He looked around and saw that there were more officers around him, he gave a sigh of relief as he lowered his gun. Prentiss gave a sigh of relief as she radioed Morgan and Rossi, "We found Hotch, we're about a quarter mile from the unsub's truck."
Prentiss and Reid went over to help him stand up, Reid looked around. "Where's Archer?"
"She-" He cleared his throat, "She heard a river near by, she went to go get water." Prentiss nodded as she picked up Crystal's jacket and scarf off the ground, she was about to say something when they heard a scream.
It wasn't Crystal, it was a male's scream and Hotch tensed up when he realized it came from the direction Crystal had went. Before anyone could say anything he was already sprinting towards the scream.
"Hotch!" Reid called after him, but he didn't stop. He kept running as he heard another scream, this time is was a woman.
Archer.
___
Crystal sighed as she kept walking, she stopped a couple times due to her side hurting. The stick was a still supporting her, the sound of water was getting louder and more clear. She didn't stay on the path for fear that the unsub would be on there, she wasn't in the best shape to take them on.
Crystal walked for about 20 minutes before she saw a glimpse of the river, she gave a sigh of relief.
Would've taken me 10 minutes walking if I wasn't injured.
Crystal looked around for something to carry the water in when she heard a twig snap, she turned around to see a man a couple feet away from her with a cane. He was standing on the path as he put up his hands, "Woah there, you okay?"
"What are you doing out here?"
"I'm a part of the search party, are you Agent Hotchner or Archer?"
"I'm Archer, where's the rest of the group?"
"I'm a vet, so I went ahead to make sure we wouldn't mess with the bears around here," The man pointed behind him, "I'm not parked to far away, we can head in my truck to go to the station."
Crystal didn't answer, this man looked normal.
So why does my gut tell me to run?
"I need to go get Hotch, why don't you wait here? I'll be right back."
"I can go with you."
"That's fine-"
"No I really insist."
Crystal narrowed her eyes a bit as she shifted a bit, she took a casual step back. "What kind of truck do you have? Might not fit all of us...."
"Don't worry about that, it's a big white one and it's got plenty of room."
Crystal swallowed nervously when he said this, she took a quick glance towards the way she came.
The unsub had a white truck, blue logo on the side.
The man's smile fell, he started to frown. "Y'know, it's not nice to refuse help. You think you're better than me or something? Can't accept help from someone like me?" He took a step towards her as she took one back, "White truck, blue logo."
That stopped him in his tracks with his eyes wide before he laughs, "Well done, looks like you did see my car. To bad no one is looking for my truck, why don't you make this easy on yourself and go quietly? I'll even spare the guy."
He took more steps and tried to grab her before Crystal took the stick and smacked it against the leg she saw him limping with, he screamed loudly as Crystal made a run for it. Her side didn't allow her to run fast, but she needed to get some distance between them.
Crystal then felt him grab her hair and pull hard, she let out a scream as he slammed her head into a tree. She fell to the ground with a groan, "Listen here you bitch, I'm in control! I'm in charge!" Crystal couldn't hear what he was saying as she grabbed her head, that really hurt.
The man grabbed her roughly and held her against a tree, he was crushing her neck and she had trouble breathing. Crystal tried fighting him but her head made her coordination off beat and she felt drowsy, Crystal saw him pull out a knife. "After I'm done with you, I'm gonna go get that sorry bastard who's been out all night with you."
Crystal shut her eyes as he raised his knife, she waited for the stab until she heard leaves crunching. "Drop the knife!" Crystal opened her eyes as she looked over to see Hotch, she let out a shaky breath of relief. The unsub let out a laugh, he grabbed Crystal and brought her to his chest as he put her in a head lock.
"You're not in control Agent! I am! Drop your gun or I'll stab this bitch!"
Hotch didn't even flinch, "No you won't, the moment you move I'm putting a bullet through your head."
The unsub growled, "I'm in control! I don't want to hear it from a sissy who had to have a woman drive him!"
"Put the knife down, now."
"Not happening, I'm gonna slice this bitch and then you!"
Crystal felt the unsub tightened his hold on her, he was getting agitated how calm Hotch was and this made it seem like Hotch was in control. Crystal winced as she tried to think of something, her head was spinning like crazy and she couldn't think straight.
Think Chris, you took classes....cooking, painting, self-defense-
Self-defense.
Crystal's eyes widen as she took a deep breath and swung her legs forwards before swinging quickly back, she got out of the unsub's grasp and proceeded to twist his arm before kicking him in his leg. He let out a scream as Crystal let go of him, she felt someone pull her towards them and she was in their embrace.
Hotch.
Crystal took a deep breath as she put her arms around Hotch, she pressed herself closer to him as she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. He tightened his arm around her waist as he pointed his gun at the unsub who was glaring at them from the ground, "It's over, drop the knife."
The unsub started to hyperventilate before letting out an angry scream as he stood up with his knife, "George Hutten, FBI! Drop you weapon!" Crystal opened her eyes as she looked over Hotch's shoulder to see Prentiss and Reid with other local officers, she let out a sigh of relief as she tightened her hold on Hotch.
George's eyes widen as he looked around him, he started to walk backwards. "Don't even think about it George!" Crystal turned to look towards Hotch's direction to see Rossi and Morgan with more officers, George gulped as he looked around for an escape.
There was nowhere to run, he dropped his knife and dropped to his knees. Morgan made his way over to him as he kicked the knife out of reach and handcuffed him, "George Hutten you're under arrest for the murders of Carly Frank, Simon Frank, Jenny Clym, Kenny Hoover and the attempted murder of Aaron Hotchner and Crystal Archer."
As they stood up George looked over at Crystal and Hotch, Hotch gave a sigh of relief as he dropped his gun before hugging Crystal properly. He had his chin on top of her head as he tightened his hold on her, George frowned, "They aren't married?"
Rossi grabbed him, "Nope, just friends." Crystal sighed, "Hey Hotch?"
"Hmm?"
"It hasn't been an hour yet." Crystal felt his chest shake as he gave a slight chuckle, "My bad." She smiled as she held onto him, suddenly Hotch put more weight on her and her eye's widen.
Oh shit Hotch is still sick!
"Need the paramedics!" Crystal maneuvered them to the ground as she let out a soft sigh, Prentiss and Reid went over to them as Hotch laid against her chest. Hotch was basically laying on top of her and Reid cleared his throat, "You guys need a minute?" Prentiss smiled over at him before Crystal picked up some leaves and threw it at them, "Not the time, Hotch's condition got worse with the freezing temperatures."
Reid nodded as him and another officer came over to help him up, Prentiss offered her a hand. When Crystal stood up she stumbled, Prentiss kept her steady. "You need to go see the medic."
"I'm fine, the bastard slammed my head into a tree."
"Exactly, lets go see the medic." Crystal was to tired to fight her on it, she let Emily help lead her out of the forest.
___
"You're lucky you only have a bruised rib, you could've fractured or broken it. You've got a mild concussion, I'll prescribe you some pain meds for the rib, it shouldn't affect your concussion but I'll do it as a low dosage just incase. You shouldn't be out in the field for awhile, if you do take it easy." Crystal nodded as the doctor wrote things down on her clipboard, "I'm keeping you over night, I hear you and your partner were out in the woods last night. This is just to make sure you both don't develop anything like hypothermia."
"How is he?"
"His fever has gone down, the medication has kicked in. He'll be fine within a day or two, he's lucky too since his condition could've been worse." Crystal thanked the doctor as she sighed after they left, she heard a knock on the door. "Hey, you feeling better?"
Crystal smiled at Prentiss, "Yeah, pain meds are kicking in."
"That's good." Prentiss took a seat as she smiled at Crystal, "I'm glad you guys are okay."
"Hmm," Crystal looked over at Prentiss with a soft smile, "You okay Prentiss?"
Emily's eyes widen a bit before giving a small laugh, "Yeah, just- I'm glad we got there in time."
Crystal didn't respond as she patted Emily's hand, she sent her a reassuring smile. Emily smiled back as she cleared her throat, she picked her nails a bit.
She's worried, glad I have her as a friend.
They didn't talk after that, Crystal closed her eyes as she fell asleep finally.
___
Crystal was currently sat next to Hotch on the jet the next morning, he had his blazer off while he was doing some paperwork. Since Crystal had a concussion doing any paperwork was out of the question which meant hers would be pushed onto Hotch, to say she felt bad was an understatement.
"Archer it really is fine, it's only for a week."
"You're still sick-"
"Only for another day at most."
"Still, I'm sorry."
Hotch looked up from his file to look over at her, "You have nothing to apologize for." Crystal sighed as she looked over at him, before she could respond Rossi sighed. "If it'll make you both stop your little banter, I'll take half of Archer's files." Prentiss went over to Crystal and put a cup of juice in front of her, "I'll take the other half, don't worry about it."
Crystal sent her a smile as she went to go sit with next to JJ, Crystal winced as her head started to hurt again. Hotch noticed as he set his pen down, "Maybe you should try sleeping, might help with the pain."
"Could, but my side hurts a bit still. Not the most comfortable, I'll be fine." Crystal smiled at him as she looked out the window, "Just sleep on my shoulder." Crystal turned to look at him with her eyes widen a bit, Rossi looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow. "It's fine Hotch."
"Just try, maybe it'll make you feel better," Hotch's lips twitched a bit, "Unless you're afraid of getting sick?" Crystal gave a light laugh, she shook her head a bit. "Alright, wake me up if I'm bothering you though." Crystal sighed as she gently leaned over to put her head on Hotch's shoulder, she was expecting her side to hurt. Surprisingly it didn't, she gave a sigh of relief before closing her eyes.
The rest of the team watched this happen, Rossi was trying to hide his smile as he looked down at his book, Morgan chuckled quietly as he tried to take a picture from behind, Reid gave a small smile before trying to peek at Morgan's cards while he wasn't looking, JJ smiled at Spence and at what just happened, and Emily just smirked as she nudged JJ. "They're gonna happen."
"Most definitely."
Hotch wasn't paying attention to what the team was doing behind him, he was writing in the file when he looked over at Crystal. She had fallen asleep quickly which made his lips twitch a bit, she had argued with him about sleeping and she was out within 5 minutes. Hotch gently grabbed his blazer and draped it on her so she wouldn't get cold, he then moved her hair out of her face so that she could sleep better.
Rossi had a front row seat of this happening and he smiled over at Hotch, he didn't say anything. No one said anything, but if they all got a text of from Rossi with a pictured attached of Crystal sleeping on Hotch's shoulder they didn't say anything. Especially with what Rossi texted them.
Rossi: Say one word and I'll never send anymore
___
Once the team landed they began their work, since Crystal couldn't do any paperwork she helped with delivering them and running small errands that Hotch approved of since she could strain herself. Garcia had given her a long hug and made her promise to tell her if anything started to hurt, she checked on Crystal every hour. Crystal sighed as she sat at her desk, she could go home since she didn't have any paperwork. She looked at her watch and hummed.
8:30 PM
She stood up and went over to Hotch's office, she knocked and he looked up at her. "Do you need something Archer?"
"I'm gonna head home for the day, will you be alright driving home?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? I can take you home."
"I'll just catch the bus."
"I'll send you home." Hotch stood up as he grabbed his files, as he was putting them in his briefcase Crystal gave a sigh. "You don't take no for an answer do you?"
"Not really." Hotch shrugged and he gave her a small smile which she returned, "Will you be okay?"
"I feel much better, my fever is gone." As they walked over to the elevators he looked over at her, he did the hand thing and Crystal gave him an amused look. "Hotch, you're doing the thing." He looked down at his hand and stopped, "Would you like an ice cream night?"
"Yeah, you could come over-"
"At my place?"
Crystal pushed the button for the ground floor, she looked over at him. "That's fine, do you have ice cream?"
"You don't mind?"
"Hotch, I did say that if it was more convenient for you I would go to your place. You haven't seen your son in technically three days and we were on the run from a killer, your place is fine." Crystal smiled at him and he returned it, "Thank you for understanding."
"No problem, but do you have ice cream?"
"Yes Archer, I have ice cream."
"What flavor?" Crystal asked as they walked towards his car, he opened her side. Once he got in the car he shrugged, "Guess you'll just have to wait and see."
___
Author's Note:
Heya! Long chapter today (whoops) but I couldn't find a decent place to cut it off. Hope you enjoyed this case and the interactions between Hotch and Crystal! Also, did you notice how Emily and Crystal's friendship is developing? I decided on that since I love Emily and feel like she'd be an amazing friend to be around during some tough times. Next chapter will be Crystal and Hotch's ice cream night and it might jump right into the next case, haven't decided yet.
ALSO: Hotch and Crystal's development was them becoming closer, nothing romantically has been developed (When it does happen I won't tell you lol, so you'll have to figure it out later on but I promise it won't be long before somethings might happen~)
THANK YOU GUYS FOR 4K READERS💖I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT
Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter~
See you in the next update!