Against Protocol (Aaron Hotchner X Reader)

chapter sixteen: calculated risks

All day, as the hands of the clock impendingly inched forward, you and the team worked through the case. Every new conclusion came up incompatible with the profile, and every adjustment to the profile was inconclusive with the facts. Nothing matched: the timing of the calls with the murders, the style of the letters with the ruthless murders; every action was a paradox of the next.

"I think we would know if we knew a serial killer," Derek reveals sardonically, stirring his third cup of coffee. "Garcia, try running the phone call again, see if you can trace it or pick out the original voice."

"Unlikely," Hotch disagrees respectfully. "This unsub, he's counteracted every action, always one step ahead. Garcia won't find anything, but it's worth a shot. If anyone could figure it out, it's her."

Garcia taps away at the other end of the phone call as Prentiss mentally traces through the facts of the case.

"I just don't understand what role Y/N plays in the unsub's fantasy," Prentiss ponders, looking at the blatant distance between you and Hotch. "If this is Foyet's partner, then Hotch should've been the focus of the call."

"Maybe I don't fit into the fantasy. He said I was in the way," you disclose, shrugging your shoulders. "Maybe he needs to get rid of me so he can play out his fantasy interrupted."

Prentiss shakes her head. "But it still deviates from Foyet's motives. You and Hotch wouldn't have meant anything to Foyet; it was just a silly relationship. And even if your relationship went further, Foyet would want to get rid of you, like Haley. So, why give you the chance to leave Hotch and live?"

"I don't see how this is relevant," Hotch reminds stubbornly, crossing his arms against his chest. "We should be focusing on the deaths, not the deal."

"Garcia, can you play the middle part of the call again," Rossi inquires, ignoring Hotch's obstinance.

"Sure thing," Garcia cheerily complies, pulling up the saved audio file and replaying it. The scratchy voice permeates from the speakers and fills up the room eerily.

"Oh, if it isn't Y/N. You screwed with my plans, you know? You came into the BAU and messed everything up."

"How did I mess everything up? I don't even know you."

"You couldn't keep your tongue down your throat, you whore. You know he's just with you because his wife is dead, right? You don't mean anything to him."

"Why does that concern you?"

"I'm giving you the chance to leave him, a way out of this mess, and if you don't, I'm going to ruin the only source of happiness Aaron has: you."

"See?" Rossi points out. "When Y/N asks why he's so concerned about their relationship, he ignores the question. Every sentence implies that the unsub is afraid of this relationship going further. The unsub thinks they're emotionally involved, and that scares him — for whatever reason."

"But they're not," Derek clarifies. "Hotch and Y/N aren't emotionally involved. There's nothing more to it. Why would the unsub care?"

"The unsub doesn't know they ended it yet," Prentiss reveals with intrigue, sitting up in her chair now. "We can use their relationship to our advantage."

"What do you mean?" you ask warily, feeling a soft drop in your stomach at the mention.

"A public display of your 'relationship'," Rossi adds in air quotes, following along with Prentiss' line of reasoning. "It would anger the unsub so much for turning down his choice."

"I don't follow," Hotch says, lifting his hand curiously in confusion.

"I'm saying you and Y/N go undercover on a date, force the unsub out of hiding," Rossi reveals. "By giving you a choice, he's playing the role of God. If he sees you turn it down, he'll feel he's losing control and inevitably slip up."