A Miracle From Hell

Chapter 12

Start by doing what's necessary; then what's possible; and suddenly you're doing the impossible.---Francis of Assisi 

24 hours. 

Morgan had watched the sun rise. He had watched the sun rise multiple times, but today his friend, no really his little brother's, life hung in the balance. He turned from the window, waiting for the rest of the team to show up.  He and Rossi had narrowed down the geographical profile, weeding out small name towns in hopes of finding Chaser. They had sent groups to the convenient stores located in the towns to bring him in. 

Rossi walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "How you doing?" 

Morgan nodded. "We should get word on the towns and the robberies, soon."

Rossi took a sip from his coffee. "That's great, but how are you doing." 

Morgan sighed. "Awful, I had just gotten used to the idea of him being dead, you know? And then, out of no where-" He shook his head. "He was alive this whole time, and we didn't know."

"We couldn't have known Morgan." 

"We could have done better Rossi. I've always had his back, you know that, always. And now, what is he going to think?"

"He's not going to think any different. Come on Morgan, he needs your head in the game." 

They walked to the briefing room. Hotch was standing at the front, passing a coffee cup from hand to hand. Looking up as they walked in, he said, "anything?" 

Rossi nodded. "Our undercover groups should be reporting back within the hour. If he holds to his convenience store robberies pattern, today should be the day. All we have to worry about is the location." 

JJ and Prentiss walked in, rings of purple around their eyes. 

"We managed to talk to Chaser's classmates, or as many that agreed to talk to us." JJ said. "Dr. Schneider was a new teacher, that was his first semester there." 

Prentiss nodded, before picking up on her partner's comment. "They all thought it strange that Chaser seemed to know Schneider so well. First semester and they already had an established relationship." 

Hotch shook his head. "There's the partnership. How did we miss this the first time around?" 

The unanswered question hung in the air, accusingly. How did they miss that. 

"We're making progress, we know who the partner is, we've narrowed down location, we might nab Chaser. If we can get Schneider's real identity, we might actually get a break in this case." Rossi put a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder.

20 hours. 

2o hours, 20 hours, 20 hours. It was like a never ending loop running inside of Hotch's head. He tried not to let it get to him though, he had to focus. 

One bright piece of news had come up, they had located Henry Chaser. He was trying to rob a convenience store and the undercover agents posted there shut him down. They were on their way now. 

Hotch bit his lip, the only sign of anxiety he had allowed on his face. He was worried about the interrogation. Chaser was mentally unstable, newly brought into an uncomfortable situation, these were factors he had to consider. The less rational part of him told him he didn't have the time to pander to the criminal. He let out a heavy sigh, drumming his fingers on a table, going over different approaches. 

He was startled out of his deep thinking by Prentiss's approach. 

"I hope you let me crack this son of a bitch open." She stood next to him, examining the board. Her voice was hard, but matter of fact, there was no emotion in it. "Trust me Hotch, I know what you're thinking, and it's not going to work. Let me go in there, and you'll have your information."