Brothers In Arms

Chapter 15

The shrill ring of the phone cut through the silence at quarter after two in the morning. Without even opening his eyes Hotch answered, groggy, and whispered into the phone.

"Hotchner," he mumbled.

"Can you save her this time?" The voice croaked through the phone. "Will you sacrifice an innocent again?"

"Who is this?" Sitting up, completely awake, Hotch was relieved to see Josie sleeping soundly beside him.

The line went dead and Hotch threw his legs over the side of the bed unable to shake the sudden tightness in his chest.

"Josephine," he whispered softly.

"Everything okay?" She rolled over sleepily.

Shaking his head he threw his feet over the side of the bed. "No. We need to call the team."

"We have a case?" Rubbing her eyes she sat up and watched as he quickly began to dress. "Aaron, what is it?"

"He called," Hotch said ominously.

"Shit," Josie hissed. "Okay. So, we're doing this?"

"Yes, we have to."

When he disappeared into the hallway Josie got out of bed and stretched. Hearing a groan, then a soft thud, she grabbed her gun from the nightstand and moved stealthily toward the hall.

A few feet from the doorway she saw a figure pinning a body down but it was too dark to see which was Hotch. The glint of a blade made it imperative she do something even without knowing where he was.

"Aaron," she called into the darkness.

The attacker jumped at the sound of her voice and, as he looked up at her, she was able to get a better view. His face was illuminated by the light streaming through the window from the street lamp. Seeing clearly it was not Hotch, Josie pulled the trigger without a second of hesitation. He stumbled back, falling hard onto the hardwood, and Josie swiftly disarmed him.

"Aaron," she dropped to her knees. "Are you okay?"

He groaned, blood pouring from his abdomen, by managed to nod and answer her. "Is he dead?"

"No," Josie turned to check the stranger again. "He's-"

Silence. Hotch couldn't lean up enough to see but seconds after Josie went quiet the attacker stood, carrying her over his shoulder, and bolted out of the house.

--

"Feds?"

Alvarez began to laugh before Clay even finished explaining the situation. "The shooter is some stalker, screwing around with one on your girls, and the Feds are sniffing around?"

With a smarmy grin, Clay shrugged, and tried to play it all off. "The good ones always come with baggage," he joked.

"Baggage is a kid," Alvarez shook his head, "Or an ex who needs to learn the hard way, not Feds and a drive by."

Opie huffed, feeling defensive of Josie but also undeniably guilty. He knew that the mess was daunting and risky and solely on Josie. "She thought it was done," he explained. "It's been years since he was around."

"Doesn't change shit for us," Alvarez said harshly. "What's to keep these assholes off my ass?"

"It's the FBI," Clay sighed, already tired of the back and forth. "They don't bother with us, it's the ATF and DEA we have to worry about, Marcus." Pulling an annoyed face, Clay huffed and said, "You know that."