Brothers In Arms

Chapter 16

Josie stepped out of the shower and back into the bedroom to find Opie digging through the pocket of his dirty jeans. He'd left for the day an hour or so before and, although she was happy to see him, Josie seemed put off by it.

"Everything alright?" She asked, toweling her hair dry.

"Yeah," he huffed. "Forgot my license and cash."

"Oh," she sauntered over to him. "Well, I'm glad I got to see you again."

Opie looked down at her and smiled, lifting her up off the floor to kiss her. "Me too." Their lips met again before he held her tight in a good old-fashioned bear hug.

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered into his chest.

"For what?"

As she slithered down his body until her feet hit the floor she felt her cheeks grow hot. "I'm not who I was back then, I'm a completely different person, and then coming here, reopening this case, it's freaking me out. I feel like myself with you, I'm not confused about who I am or what I'm doing."

"Good," he said softly. "I think you're gonna be late for work." Opie growled as he grabbed her around her waist and tossed her playfully on the bed. "Kids are gone, right?"

"Yeah," she sucked in her bottom lip. "I actually called out today too."

"Why?" His devilish grin fell as he looked over her with concern. "You okay?"

Josie shook her head. "I'm not okay with all this so I just wanted to skip being an adult today."

"That sounds like fun," he hung his cut off the bedpost.

Leaning up on her elbows she watched as Opie pulled his shirt off, tossing it on the floor, while kicking his boots under the bed before dropping his pants and crawling into bed beside her. "Can you?"

"Sure," Opie knew Clay would be pissed. "For a few hours."

"Go," she hid her disappointment. "You need to go."

"No, we can make it a partial work day," he suggested as he pulled her closer to him.

"Harry," she giggled. "What's the partial work?"

"Shut up," he groaned playfully, rolling on top of her. "We'll talk later."

--

"He's been trying to pull us out," Spencer spoke as they strategized over coffee and bagels. "The local deputy chief offered one of his officers to keep an eye on her. We think that's his goal, making a big show and forcing you out."

"Why don't we give him what he wants?" Hotch asked darkly.

The others looked at him questioningly, unsure where the sudden risky Hotch had come from, but only Rossi spoke up. "That's dangerous...and not like you."

"I've just spent years overseas working with the military," he said coolly. "I may have changed a little bit."

Morgan pushed passed the awkward exchange. "We couldn't even set anything up; we have no way to getting a message to him."

"We don't have to," Hotch explained. "He's got eyes on Josephine because he's looking for me."

JJ sighed, the whole room seeing her disapproval in her eyes, and called Hale to get Josie's current location. She left for the conversation and Hotch turned to Spencer.

"I know about the drugs," he spoke quietly but not to keep anything from overhearing. They all knew already but he felt it more respectful to keep it hushed. "The addiction."

"How?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"Like I said, I was reassigned with the military," he gave Spencer a knowing look.

"Uncle Sam really does watch us," he sighed. "She went through a lot after you uhh...died."

Hotch looked at them, just as JJ joined them again, and smiled sadly. "Thank you for keeping it from her. I know that must have been difficult."

"It would have been harder if she was still in Virginia," JJ said. "We didn't want her to leave but, in some ways it was better."

"Hotch, what are you going to do?" Emily asked from the far corner. "She's got a new life, friends, a job."

It had been years but his life was effectively on hold, the Aaron Hotchner he left in Virginia was in a bubble, but Josie had changed and grown as a person. "I don't know," he sighed.

"You better figure it out," JJ said regretfully. "She hasn't left the house yet; the deputy is going to call us directly when she does."

--

"This is partial work?" She asked looking at him as they bounced down the road in the tow truck.

He smiled and shrugged. "Hey, better than you being alone in my place or me hearing Clay bitch." There was also the stalker, the whole reason her old team was there, but he didn't want to bring up such a dark topic.

"I guess," she laughed. "Maybe we can grab lunch?"

"Sure," he glanced over at her for a second. "No one knows you came with me."

Josie smiled, feeling more special than she had in years, and looked away as her face turned red. "Sneaky, sneaky." She looked ahead and pointed at the yellow sports car on the shoulder. "Is that it?"

"Jesus," he hissed. "Better be a chick."

"You guys," she shook her head, "You're all so macho."

"Took you over six months to figure that out?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow as he swung open the driver's side door.

She stuck her tongue out and flipped him off before he dragged his feet to the car. Josie watched as he bumbled down the road a few feet, stealing a cigarette from his pack, but she never lit it. Opie poked his head in the window only to pull it out with a confused look.

"Babe," he waved at her. "Get me my phone and my smokes."

Josie grabbed them from the console and jumped out of the tow truck. She bounced toward him, feeling lighter and happier than she had in weeks, and peered in the car. "No driver?"

"Nope," he rolled his eyes. "I gotta make sure this is the car before I hitch it up."

It all happened in slow motion; as he flipped open his burner there was a strange black blur from the trees off the side of the road. Josie turned, catching it out of the corner of her eye, but before she could focus on anything she was tackled to the ground. When she heard Opie calling her name she tried to look for him, to run toward him, but he sounded miles away. Opie lunged toward her, and her attacker, seconds before an deep, deafening boom filled their ears and a wave of intense heat hit them.