After your night with Hotch, the decision wasn't hard. You needed to bring back Hailey. Since you met, he'd done nothing but support and accepted you. Because he believed you were good. Even when you questioned it.
Times where you thought you caused more pain than aid. Now, you have a chance to truly show that you are what he sees. Just this once, you'd like to put his needs before your own. Because he's always put yours above his.
He'd been a good friend, boss, and lover. There's nothing more you could have asked for.
This was the right thing.
"Are you ready?" You look behind you.
"You know, I should be really freaked out that you can pop up at my place whenever you feel like."
"Don't worry, even I am not that crass." You laugh, the first real one that you've done around him. He's standing in your hallway with his hands outstretched. You stand, turning your back to the door.
"(Y/N) stop!!"
You flinch at the call. Hotch is on the other side of the door. He kicks it in, and the alarms go off. His gun is raised.
"Don't...don't go with him." Hotch sounds out of breath.
"How did you know?"
You were sure you hadn't given anything away.
"All week you've been distant. I thought if I gave you time you'd tell me. But yesterday you..when you told me you loved me, I knew something was wrong. The way you said it, that look in your eyes, almost like you knew something was about to happen." Hotch hasn't lowered his gun. You can't stop the smile.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you figured it out. You really are special Aaron Hotchner. "
Him being here just makes it harder for you to go. That look in his eyes, it's the same one you'd worn since you lost your mother. He could see it too, that he was about to lose you. Maybe not in a way he could comprehend, but a loss nonetheless. You swallow any regret, turning away from Hotch.
"DON'T!!"
"Goodbye Hotchner."
Taking your father's hand, he closes his eyes, and so do you.
That warm feeling washes over your body, and you open your eyes. Hotch is gone, and you do what you can to keep the tears at bay.
"Will they remember any of this?"
Remember you.
"They won't." He doesn't sugar coat it.
You should expect as much. He gives you a moment to breathe. To decide if this is truly the route you want to take.
"I'm ready." He doesn't expect the immediate response.
But he understands.
"Just remember, you're going to alter reality. Because of my status...I can't join you. If anything happens I can't help, not until you step back into the veil." You nod.
"I know."
It's clear that this could be it. You would either save Hailey, or fail and end up stuck in a loop of the past. You need to be smart and quick. You try to picture it. The woman you'd briefly seen in Hotch's home, hugging Jack in those pictures. Your brows furrow, and you can hear it.
A vague sound of a conversation.
"All he had to do was stop looking for me."
Opening your eyes you both view the scene. It's like a clip from a movie. George Foyet has Hailey. He's standing right there, on the phone.
Swallowing, you turn to your father.
"Dad.."
He looks just as solemn as you. Because as good as this would be, it also meant that you would have to live with the pain of all your memories. They wouldn't be erased like the rest of your team.
"I love you, Dad."
If he wasn't crying before, he surely was now. He takes you in his arms, hugging you. Something neither of you have done in years.
"I love you too sweetheart." He rubs the back of your head, right before he pats your back.
"Go and be a hero."
He's wearing a smile, one filled with pride, and you wipe your eyes. Your focus moves back to the veil that separates you. Pressing your hand through the layered light, you step right through. You can hear the conversation of Hailey giving her goodbyes. Foyet's grin was wide, until he took notice of you.
"What the..where did you come from?" He lifts the gun in your direction, and Hailey screams, dropping the cellphone.
"Hailey, HAILEY!!"
You can hear Hotch's scream from the other side of the phone.
You lift your hand, and the gun in Foyet's hand is thrown back. Hailey ducks, and he rushes at you. Hailey scrambles for the gun, and she lifts it in his direction. Her confusion increases when she takes notice of him swinging at the air. There's nothing there, not that she can see. But he's yelling and flailing around wildly.
"You need to shoot."
It's almost a whisper in her head. She doesn't hesitate, she fires off two rounds. Foyet grunts, and her eyes are tightly shut when she does. When she looks up, he's laying on the floor. All she can hear is his gurgling sounds. The bullet had struck him in his neck. The door to her house flies open, and Hotch comes storming in.
"Aaron!!"
She calls desperately. He makes it to the couch, and the second she sees him, she runs right into his arms. Hotch is relieved. He lowers his gun, returning the embrace eagerly. He looks down, at the pool of blood that forms around the male on the ground. Sighing, he holds on tightly.
"J-Jack, where is Jack he's-" Hotch shakes his head.
"Jack is fine. We're fine. We're all fine."
The weight of what could have happened hits her, and her knees buckle as she sinks to the ground. Hotch follows her down, just as his team comes blasting through the door. Relief overtaking them they take notice of Hailey's form. Foyet is the one who's been taken out.
Hailey is alive.
Unharmed.
You'd done it.
The team may never know what happened, the life you led that you'd been so lucky to have been a part of with them. But you don't regret it, not for a second.
Hotch had his family back. He could be happy.
So could you.
~The End~
