CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: THE RETURN OF THE REAPER !

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CASEY WILLOWS' SLUMBER WAS INTERRUPTED WHEN HER PHONE BUZZED ON HER DESKTOP AND SHE HAD BEEN INFORMED THAT THERE WAS A CASE HER AND THE TEAM HAD TO LOOK IN ON. Casey was lucky that the case had been local so she didn't have to pack a go-bag. She drove to the scene outside of a hotel room and met up with Morgan, who had a grumpy look on his face.

"Sleep get interrupted, too?" Casey asked as she met up with him. "Oh, yeah." Morgan said. The two met up with Rossi outside of the building and Casey took notice that they were surrounded by police and an ambulance and flashing lights.

      "We're not working a case. Why call us to a crime scene?" Morgan questioned. "I was hoping you knew." Rossi stated. Emily had approached the three. "JJ said the police told her it was urgent." Emily said.

       "Four hours of sleep after what we went through in Canada, it better be." Morgan stated and Casey nodded, "Amen to that."

        The four find themselves up the stairs of the apartment complex and are led to the room where the crime was committed. "Oh, you guys are already here." JJ spoke, taking notice of her team. "You guys remember Detective Walker?" They are greeted with the detective, all four shake his hand.

        "Thanks for being here. I understand none of you are working on much rest." Walker states. "Who's the victim?" Rossi asks, looking down at the dead body in front of him.

        "His name is Nelson Martinez. From what we can figure, he answered his door, was forced into the apartment at gunpoint and then shot in the chest. It was all pretty sloppy."

        "No disrespect, but I don't understand why you need us here." Morgan tells. "Two days ago, a local doctor named Tom Barton found a note addressed to him at the hospital. It said the person was planning to kill his son. If Dr. Barton tried to keep his boy hidden, one person would die every day in his place." Detective Walker explained.

        "And you think this is connected?" Emily asks. "The note is signed LC." Reid speaks and Casey notices that he is sat over by the kitchen table.

         "Yesterday, we had another victim. Multiple gunshots outside the apartment. The shooter wrote LC in white chalk next to the body." Walker tells. "Now, unless Dr. Barton puts his son in harm's way, we're gonna keep having a victim a day." Reid added on.

         "Where's Barton now?" Rossi asks. "He's at home. He doesn't know about this victim yet." JJ asks.

          Casey then noticed that there is someone in the room that is missing and that was her boss — Aaron Hotchner. "Where's Hotch?" She asks JJ.

         "He's not answering his cell. I assume it's on vibrate. He'll get the message when he wakes up." JJ stated. "Try him again," Rossi suggests. "He can meet us at Barton's house."

         Casey follows behind JJ and Emily as JJ leaves another voicemail for Hotch, giving him the address. Casey wondered why he was a no-show. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that something was wrong. Casey just didn't know what could've been so wrong. Her safest bet was to just assume that he was still asleep.

The team made their way to Dr. Barton's home to talk to him. Unfortunately, his son had overheard the conversation downstairs and snuck out of the house and went to school. Maybe he believed that this was his way of helping people. Rossi, JJ and Morgan had decided to go down to the school that Dr. Barton's son attended to keep an eye on him to make sure nothing would happen to him.

Reid, Prentiss and Casey stayed back at Dr. Barton's home to help him go through old files to see if he had come in contact with this unsub. The team had talked Dr. Barton into going back into his house and Prentiss and Casey had walked back in with Dr. Barton as Reid was getting off the phone with Garcia.

"She's going to email the files. We'll print them out from here." Reid informs. "I could have my office send over the files." Dr. Barton offered. "No, no, trust us, this is faster." Casey stated.

"We need to dig through your life and try to figure out why this is happening." Reid says. "Let's start with the most recent cases first, something set this guy off, and odds are it's in your files." Emily nods and the four begin to do their research.

           Casey could sense Dr. Barton's frustration since he really wanted to find out who was really after his son. "Let's concentrate on the note. For starters, we know that he's male." Reid stated.

          "How can you be sure?" Dr. Barton asks. "Women tend to add adjectives and very specific details to their notes. This has none of those." Emily tells. "Males are also more direct. First sentence... 'I plan to kill your son.'"

          "And their notes tend to be more about themselves than the person they're writing to. 'I watched you every day.' 'I will watch you lose everything.'" Emily gives out examples.
          "We know he surveilled you and your son, which means he either has enough money to be away from a regular job or he's currently unemployed." Reid explains.
           "He's most likely a father. He's clearly grieving and he's taken great measures to make sure you feel his pain and he's directing his pain onto you." Casey told.

            "Let's start with cases involving teenagers killed, but also anyone with a strong family presence. Just because your son is fifteen, that doesn't necessarily mean that his child is the same age." Reid tells.

             "Have you had a lot of cases like this, where someone taunts you with what they're gonna do?" Dr. Barton questions. "A few." Emily nods. "And how did they end?" Reid, Emily and Casey all exchange a glance and Dr. Barton is left with unanswered questions. "Please." He tells.

            "Suicide by cop seems to be an effective way for them to make their point, while ending their suffering all at once." Reid says. Dr. Barton looks over and checks his clock. "Jeffrey is leaving school in five hours. There's no way we can get through all these patients in this time."

            "Well, now, we've narrowed it down already." Emily stated. "And we still have a hundred left." Dr. Barton tossed the folder he was holding back on the table. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be callous, But when you work in the ER, you don't remember names. You operate and you move on."

             "He's right," Emily says. "There are too many files here for us to profile in such a short period of time." Emily stands up and checks her watch. "Um, I can get to Hotch's and get back here in half an hour."

             "Who's that?" Dr: Barton asks. "He's our supervisor," Reid tells. "We weren't supposed to work today. We're having trouble getting ahold of him."

             "But we need more eyes." Emily tells and Casey stands up and nods, "I'll come with you," She looks over at Reid at the couch. "You fine staying here by yourself?" Reid nodded and so, Casey followed Emily out the door.

        
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           Casey and Emily had made it over to Hotch's apartment complex and made their way up to his apartment to which they remembered where he lived. Emily knocked on the door and announced:
"Hotch? It's Emily and Casey." Emily looks over at Casey next. "Try calling him again?" Casey nods and clicks on Hotch's contact and holds her phone up to her ear.

             Suddenly, a sound startles the two and they hear Hotch's cell phone ring inside of the apartment. Emily and Casey look at one another. There was something definitely not right about this. Emily nods to Casey and Casey read her mind and she put her hand on her holster.

              Emily turns the knob to the door — which was unlocked and opens the door and the two hold their guns out and look around the apartment. There was no one around and everything almost looked normal. That was until the two noticed the hole in the wall and the large amount of blood stained on the ground.

               Casey's eyes widen as she looks down at the ground. "Oh, my God." She muttered. A million thoughts ran through her head. Something happened to Hotch but she just didn't know what. She was anxious. What if he was... no, she couldn't think that. And she wouldn't and didn't want to.

           The two decided to call up Penelope to let her know the situation. "Overtime shift, Penelope speaking." Garcia's voice ran through the speaker.

         "Garcia, it's Emily and Casey. I need you to listen really carefully. Something's happened to Hotch." Emily tells. "What do you mean, something?" Garcia asks. "We don't know. We're at his place. He's not here, but there's blood."

          "Oh, my God." There was worry in Penelope's voice. "I need you to send police and FBI techs here right away. Everyone available." Emily tells.

          "Uh, do we need an APB?"
          "Only on Hotch. We checked out front. His car's still here."
          "Someone took him?"
          "I don't know," Emily tells. "There's blood, but I can't be sure whose it is. Just get people here."
          "Okay, I'm sending an army."

        "Garcia, we're gonna have to tell Reid because he's expecting us back, but you can't tell the others. They cannot be distracted, especially if we have case going on," Casey tells and then looks over at Emily. "I'm gonna call Reid."

        Casey called Reid and then began to explain to him the situation to which he had to excuse Dr. Barton. "There's a huge hole in the wall. Probably a .44, but there's no blood or tissue spray around it." Casey informed. "Any idea how he got out?" Reid questions.

        "If he was shot, there are no drag marks. But a body could have been wrapped in something." Casey told. "And bureau techs are on the way?" Reid asks and Casey nods, "Any second."

        "All right, um, write down everything you see and we'll profile from your notes when you get back." Reid tells. "How's Dr. Barton?" Casey asks. "It's a huge list of cases to go through with him." Reid informs. "Okay, don't worry about here. Em and I got this. Just stay focused. Don't tell the rest of the team if they call, alright? We can't afford to be distracted." Casey explained. "Got it." Reid nods.

          Casey hung up the phone and Emily had just gotten off the phone with Garcia. "The techs should be here any second." Emily informed and Casey nods, exhaling. "You okay?" Emily could sense Casey's anxiousness.

         "He could be anywhere by now," Casey sighs and Emily looks at the girl and Casey admits it. "I'm scared, Em. If Hotch is—" The girl couldn't even bring herself to say it but Emily knew what she meant.

         "I know, I know." Emily says. "But we will find him. And he will be okay. And you just have to believe that, right now." She assured and she looks at Casey in the eye. "What's your gut telling you?

           Casey takes a brief pause and she knows he's gonna be okay. The pit of her stomach was churning but she knew... somehow, he was gonna be okay.
"That we're gonna find him." Casey says.

          Emily nods, "That's my girl."

          The two begin to look around before the techs get there and they discover only one thing missing, a page in Hotch's phone book labeled in the 'B' section. Why was the 'B' section taken? Casey thought.

          The techs eventually arrived and they began to investigate the apartment. As Emily was talking to one of the techs, Casey's phone rang and the girl pulled Emily aside to talk to Garcia.

         "Talk to me, Garcia. You're on speaker." Casey tells. "Okay, I... I called hospitals to see if Hotch had gotten himself admitted to an emergency room." Garcia stated. "And?" Emily asks.

        "He's not listed as a patient, but someone dropped a John Doe off At St. Sebastian Hospital, and that someone's name was FBI agent, Derek Morgan." Garcia explains and Casey furrows her eyebrows. How did Hotch have Morgan's credentials?

        "What?" Casey asks. "It doesn't make sense." Emily adds. "I know. Do you think they got their credentials mixed up?" Garcia asked.

         Casey began to think and then finally, it clicked. The night she got hit over the head and Morgan got his credentials taken. The night she was left a bullet because she was lucky to be alive. He was back. George Foyet was back.

         "The Reaper," Casey stated. Emily looks at the girl in confusion. "Don't you remember? Foyet took Morgan's creds."

         "Why would he drop him off at the ER?" Garcia asks. "What hospital did you say again?" Emily asks. "St. Sebastian Hospital." Garcia repeated. "We'll call you with an update when I get there." Emily says. "Thanks, Garcia." Casey hangs up on the girl and the two make their way out of the complex and to St. Sebastian Hospital.

           And to their luck, they found him. Hotch was in pain, but he was alive and he was in a hospital bed. Casey and Emily were led to his room by a doctor and Hotch was still asleep. Casey was just happy that his eyes were closed because of slumber and not because of death. That was pretty morbid to think about but... she was just glad he was alive.

          "He was stabbed nine times, but no major arteries were hit." The doctor informed. "It's a miracle he's alive." Emily tells. "Uh, when will he wake up?" Casey asks the doctor. "The anesthesia should wear off within the hour. But he's bound to be out of it." The doctor informed.

          "Okay," Emily nods. "May we stay here?" The doctor nods and the two women are left with an unconscious Hotch. "You okay?" Emily asks as Casey sits down on one of the seats. "I'm a bit more relieved." The girl admits. She was glad her gut feeling was right about him being okay. Casey could never think of Hotch as dead, it terrified her, the thought.

Both Emily and Casey sat in the room and Emily had looked down at the chart for Hotch and recognized the "L.C." The same initials the unsub used. Emily had looked around for a doctor and found Hotch's doctor. "Uh, excuse me? This abbreviation right here, L.C., What does that stand for?" After she had gotten the info she needed, Casey had listened in so she called Reid.

"Yeah?" Reid's voice spoke. "L.C. from the unsub's note. It stands for 'living children.'" Casey informed. "Are you sure?" Reid asked. "It's administrative. It's when they're afraid a patient's gonna go on life support and they don't have a DNR order." Casey stated. There was a long pause and Casey could tell Reid was deep in thought. "Reid? Reid, you there?"

"What if the unsub was trying to tell Dr. Barton that he is actually the target and that he's gonna leave his son without a father?" Reid theorized and Casey's eyes widen. "Barton!" Scrambling is heard on the other end and suddenly, a gunshot is heard.

"Reid?" Casey asks. "Reid. Answer me. Reid?" Casey tries to call Reid again once the line goes dead but no one picks up. If something happened to Reid back there, I'm not gonna forgive myself. Casey thought and she decided the next best thing was to call the police and lead them back to Dr. Barton's place.

"Hi, yes, hi. This is Casey Willows from the FBI, I'm in agent-in-training. I need police and an ambulance to 120 Kensington Road, McLean, Virginia. Shots fired, federal agent possibly down." Casey explained and Emily makes her way over to the girl.

"What's going on?" Emily asks. "Our unsub, I-I-I think he's at Dr. Barton's house. I called reinforcements and now I gotta hope they make it there in time. I'm gonna try Reid's cell again because it cut out. There was a gunshot."

Five minutes later, Emily had gotten a text from JJ saying that the unsub was shot by Reid and would soon be taken into custody and that Reid was going to a hospital because he was shot in the leg and the team was on their way to the hospital to see Hotch because they had heard about the news with Hotch through Reid.

Emily and Casey sat in the room with Hotch and then took notice of the team — minus Reid, walking towards them. The women stood up and walked towards them. "He still isn't conscious yet." Emily informs. "You sure it was Foyet?" Rossi asks. "He had Morgan's credentials. What other unsub did?" Casey questioned.

"Did they catch him on the security cam?" Morgan asks. "You could see him dropping Hotch off, but the camera's only on the entrance, so I have no idea what direction he went once he left the hospital." Emily explained.

"It doesn't make sense for him to have brought Hotch to the ER." JJ spoke. "We know Foyet gets off on power and control. Maybe what he wants is for Hotch to know his life was in his hands." Rossi stated. "He could do that without risking the hospital." Morgan says.

Casey looks over at JJ. "How's Reid? Is he okay?" She asks, concerned for the man. "Uh, he's up at the hospital wing." JJ told and Casey nods, closing her eyes. "I should've stayed with him."

"Agents," Everyone looks over at Hotch's doctor. "He's waking up. Remember, he's weak. Don't push him." She walks away and the team walks back towards the room and Hotch is awake and he looks as if he's in pain.

"Where am I?" Is the first thing Hotch asks. "In the hospital." Rossi tells. "How did I get here?" Hotch asks. "Foyet drove you." Morgan says. "Can you remember what happened?" Emily asks.

Hotch takes a brief pause before asking more questions. "What did he take?" He asks, his voice is hoarse. "What do you mean?" Rossi asks and Casey furrows her eyebrows. "The Reaper always takes something from his victims. Do we know what he took?" Hotch asks and both Emily and Casey look at one another since they were both at his apartment.

"There was a page missing from your day planner in the address section, the 'B's." Emily informs. "What did he leave?" Hotch asks. "I don't know." Emily says. "He also leaves something with his victims."

"Casey and I looked over your whole apartment." Emily explains and Casey nods, "Nothing felt out of place."

"Where are my clothes?" Emily grabs his bag and Hotch had looked through an orange folder and he had a picture of Jack and Haley folded out and the sudden, eerie realization came to Hotch. "Haley's maiden name is Brooks," He stated. "I always listed her in the 'B's in my personal information in case it fell into the wrong hands." Hotch stated and Casey's eyes widen. "He knows where they live."

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Hotch had sent JJ, Morgan, Rossi and a SWAT team over to his old place that he used to live in with Haley. With Foyet on the loose