CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: BOSS DOWN !

9x05

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AS USUAL, THE TEAM WAS CALLED IN FOR YET ANOTHER CASE. Currently, Casey was seated next to the father of her child, holding his hand as he was talking to Rossi about a car.

Rossi was showing Reid a picture of the car as Casey was writing things in her notepad. "I just put in new brakes. She's running like a dream." Rossi told. "I always admired the aesthetic of the classic Torpedo C body, especially in the 1947. They just don't make them like that anymore." Spencer explained. "Yeah, well, I'm lucky to have found it. Uncle Sal would be proud." Rossi told.

          Casey squeezes Spencer's hand and he turns over to the girl. "Are you gonna help me pick out baby names or what?" Casey asked. "Well, we're going with Stephanie Diana for a girl." Spencer shrugged. "I thought we were going with Violet Diana." Casey stated, noting how she always wanted a daughter named Violet and how Reid's favorite color was basically purple.

           "Okay, anyways, well, we have the girl names down. But we don't have the boy names down." Casey says and Spencer begins to think. "Derek?" The man turns towards Derek Morgan, who holds his arms up and nods. "One Derek Morgan's enough." Casey comments.

            "How about... Willie?" Casey asks.
            "Willie... like Free Willy?" Morgan intrudes. "The kid would be begging to get made fun of." Casey sighs, "Fine, no Willie."

             "Sam?" JJ inquires.
             "Michael?" Blake asks.
             "Spencer Jr.?" Garcia adds.
             "David?" Rossi asks, making Casey chuckle.

             Suddenly, Hotch had walked in and the team had moved on. "Thank you for coming in, everyone. We can get started." Garcia stands in front of the team. "Okay. Guys, meet Samantha Wilcox, 16-year-old junior in Wichita, Kansas. Last night, she snuck out with her boyfriend, they were attacked, she hasn't been seen since." Garcia explained.

        "Boyfriend got a broken jaw and a concussion." Morgan reads from the file. "And the description of the attacker matches her father, Eddie Lee Wilcox." Hotch informed. "Ex-con." Blake adds.

        "Oh, is he ever," Garcia comments. "Still on parole. Eddie is a car thief and wheel man extraordinaire." JJ nods, "String of assault charges, too. Been in and out of jail since he was a kid."

         "Me and this girl would get along pretty well." Casey commented, thinking aloud.

         "We don't usually work parental abduction cases." Blake says. "We do when the abduction's violent and dad's a former convict." Rossi tells. "He hasn't been incarcerated in over three years. I mean he's had ample opportunity. Why pick yesterday to kidnap her?" Reid questions.

          "Well, he beat the boyfriend within an inch of his life to do it, so taking her had to be real important." Morgan said. "And to add on, I'm assuming Eddie was none too pleased that Samantha's mom, Melody, had decided to remarry and then move from Chicago to Wichita. That's a different type of anger unleashed." Casey explains as she reads the file. "He lost visitation rights the last time he got locked up."

        "So, the anger about that is the stressor that builds up over the years. Last night, he decides to do something about it." JJ followed. "This could be vengeance for taking his daughter away." Spencer mentions. "If it's revenge against the mother, he'll either hurt Samantha or disappear with her." Rossi added.

          "She's been missing for over 5 hours, and we know how time sensitive these cases are. The AMBER Alert is expanding... every hour..." Casey looks Hotch's way and he almost looks sickly. Hotch's face went pale and he quietly excuses himself and that was when he lost his balance and fell.

           The team had immediately sought to his attention and then realized that he had been unconscious and it was then that Casey had dialed 911. The team had never gone through something like this before, especially with Hotch, he was always healthy as a horse.

            Rossi and Casey had decided to go with Hotch to the hospital so they could inform the team of what was going on with Hotch. Casey thought it would be better to stay with Hotch than to travel to Wichita. Last time she was there, a storm was brewing.

             After speaking with a doctor, they had finally figured out what was wrong and had then brought it to the team via video chat on the jet. "Bleeding internally from what?" JJ questioned.

           "They think it's probably all the scar tissue. Torn adhesions from the stab wounds from You-Know-Who all those years ago." Casey explained. "George Foyet returns from the grave." Morgan comments. "You're telling me." Casey added.

          "What's the prognosis?" Blake asks next. "He's stable right now," Rossi stated. "Did an ultrasound, but can't seem to see exactly where the bleeding was coming from."

         "He'll need an exploratory laparotomy." Spencer informs. "Does Jack know?" JJ questions. "Not yet, I talked to Haley's sister, Jessica. We didn't want to worry the little guy." Rossi answers.

         "What about Beth?" Blake asks. "I left a message, but she's on a business trip in Milan." Rossi answers once more. Casey rubs her belly in anxiousness. All this stress had seemed to work her up, too.

         "Look, I know you're all worried. So am I. But a teenage girl has been abducted, and Hotch would want us to focus on the case, not on him. And that's exactly what we're gonna do." Rossi assured the team to continue the job. "When the plane lands, Morgan, JJ, I want you to interview Samantha Wilcox's mother. Reid, Blake, you go check out the abduction site. I'm catching the the next flight to Wichita and I'll meet you there."

        "What about Hotch?" Blake questions.
        "Garcia and I are here. We're not going anywhere. You guys do your job and go find this girl." Casey tells.

         Spencer nods towards the girl, thankful that she would be staying with Hotch for this case. He had been getting worried about how much she was on her feet and her not taking care of herself as much and focusing on other people. And staying at the hospital with Hotch was where she needed to be right now.

Now, Casey and Garcia had been following an unconscious Hotch and some doctors. "Get him into OR 2 right away." One doctor told. Garcia's cell began to ring as they followed and Garcia had put it on speaker. "Hey, Morgan." Garcia greeted.

"How is he?" Morgan asked.
"He's still out," Casey stated. "They're taking him to surgery now."

"Listen, we need those big old brains you both have if you're ready." Morgan told and Garcia and Casey nodded as they walked. "Born ready."

"All right, we need you to check out all of Samantha Wilcox's texts and email correspondence." JJ stated. "Okay, what am I looking for?" Garcia asks. "Anything in particular?"

"She's been in touch with her dad on the DL. There might be something in there." Morgan said. "Oh, and check ViCAP for any recent armed robberies between Wichita and Eddie Lee Wilcox's last known address in Chicago."

They had wheeled Hotch into the room and stopped Garcia and Casey from following further more. "Why?" Garcia asked to Morgan. "Well, according to Samantha's mom, Eddie may have been more than a car thief." Casey furrowed her brows. "How much more?" Morgan adds, "Armed robber more. He may be running from something work related."

"Gotcha." Garcia said.
"They just wheeled Hotch into the surgery right now." Casey told. "All right, keep us posted." Morgan said. "You know we will." Garcia concluded the call and Casey had been breathing heavy due to all the walking they had just done.

"You okay, fair maiden?" Garcia asks the girl and Casey nods, "Yeah, just need to sit down." Casey tells and Garcia helps her over to the waiting room. "Yeah, let's get you seated."

         As the two waddled over to the waiting room, Casey spoke: "I think it's really funny how I'm the one who called the ambulance and it's not even for the pregnant lady. It's for my boss whose demons are coming back to haunt him." Casey had been seated.

        "Well, it's a good thing we're in a hospital." Garcia told. As she helped the girl, Garcia couldn't help but notice the girl staring at the doors to the OR. "Got something on your mind?" She asked, curiously.

         Casey sighed and admitted: "Hotch," Garcia had sat right next to the girl. "I'm worried about him. If something goes wrong—"

        "Nothing's gonna go wrong," Garcia assured. "He's gonna be okay."

        Casey sighed and looked around. "You know I've never been on the waiting room end in a hospital before. Usually, I'm the one on the bed." Casey had thought about the times where she had needed to go to a hospital. The last time she was in one was when she had gotten herself shot after saving her own life.

       "Yeah, it's weird that usually I'm here for you in hospitals but now it's Hotch." Garcia had come to the realization, as well. "It's weird how things happen. The last time I was in a hospital for Hotch, the stabbing happened. Only I was with Emily. Even then I wasn't sure." Casey trailed off, remembering the past events.

       "Well, now my job is to make sure that Hotch is okay and that you and Baby Genius here are okay, too." Garcia points to Casey's stomach as she speaks. "So, kick your feet up and relax. I have to do some digging." The woman said as she pulled her laptop out of her bag and started typing and Casey looks down at Garcia's screen as she flips through a magazine. "Wow, you really do type fast."

         "Who told you I—?"
         "Spencer."
         "Right."

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         It had been over an hour and Casey was busy flipping through the fourth magazine she had found and there was still no word on Hotch. Garcia had done her digging and had called Morgan to inform him on what she found. This unsub was fast and he was dangerous and his daughter was now pretty much helping with the case after what they had found now.

        Casey had checked her cell and chuckled. "What's up?" Garcia asked. "Just a photo Morgan sent me of Spencer in his sunglasses." She shows Garcia the picture. "He looks so cute." Casey chuckles once more.

         Garcia notices the notepad next to Casey. It was the same notepad from the round table room. The one with the baby names. "You still having trouble with baby names?" Casey looks at her own notepad. "With the inspo with these magazines, I've come up with Johnny, Brad and Leonardo." Casey jokes. "No idea for a boy?" Garcia asks. "No idea, it's like every idea we come up with, either he doesn't like it or I don't like it. We know we want Gideon as the middle name. I mean, he brought us close." Garcia nods at the woman.

"How about... Harry?" Garcia thinks.
Casey shakes her head, "Nah, I knew a Harry in high school. He was mean."

Garcia had received info about their unsub's daughter and had called Morgan. "Hey, what you got, good-lookin'?" Morgan asked. "Still nothing on Hotch. I have a sort of something on Samantha Wilcox. She just called her mom from a motel in Odessa, but they weren't..."

They hadn't even let Garcia finish and Spencer interrupted. "That's only 103 miles West of here." Morgan added on with: "Alert local PD. We're on our way."

"Wait, wait, wait." Garcia stopped them. "I already did that. I called the police and Samantha and her dad are nowhere to be seen. Sorry, sugar."

"He won't like the idea of her calling home. That phone call will probably drive a wedge between the two of them." Spencer stated. "We're close and he knows it. Maybe he'll make a mistake." Morgan guesses.

As the phone call occurred, Casey had stood up to go over to the vending machine and Garcia had offered to go get her a snack but Casey had insisted she could get her herself. Before Morgan hung up, Spencer had taken the phone. "Garcia, can Casey hear me?"

Garcia looked over at Casey at the vending machine. "Nope, she's over at the vending machines." Spencer took the phone off speaker and had talked to Garcia individually. "Is she okay? Are they okay?" He started with and then corrected himself.

Garcia looked ahead to make sure Casey wouldn't walk forward at the wrong time. "She's stressed out about Hotch. I keep telling her to sit down and rest but—"

"She's stubborn," Spencer understands. "I know. Just make sure she's off her feet and that she takes her prenatal vitamins at 4 and has the baby listen to Mozart for an hour and—"

"Whoa, Boy Genius. I'll let her know. Just don't tell me to make her eat baby food because it helps the baby's brain develop or something."

          "Mm, actually, if you include some baby food in your diet, bearing in mind you might find savoury foods bland because babies should not have any food with added salt until they are 12 months old—"

         "Gotta go, bye."

          Garcia looked over at Casey as she had finally figured out what she wanted from the vending machine and had gotten four more bags of donuts.

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        Two more hours had gone by and Casey by now was restless. Garcia had told the team she had been planning to talk to the doctors to see what was up with Hotch and she had but they never gave her a solid answer. Garcia had planned to do it again in the next hour but Casey already beat her to it. Hours with no answers sure set the two on-edge. Especially Casey.

         Casey went up to the reception desk. "Excuse me," She began. "Is there any news on Aaron Hotchner? At all?"

        "Ma'am, we are doing everything we can—" Casey grew agitated. "You said that two hours ago. Is there anything new?"
        "Ma'am, I need you to wait—"
        "Oh, my God."

        Casey pinched the bridge of her nose and her name was called but it wasn't from Garcia. It was from one of the surgeons in charge of Hotch's operation. "Miss Willows. Miss Garcia." The two made their way over to the man.

       "What's up, doc?" Casey asked.
       "Is he okay?" Garcia followed.

        "There are some complications with the surgery as of right now and we are doing everything we can to—"

        Casey groaned and shook her head. "That is all I've been hearing for the past three hours. Now, I'm sorry but I'm pulling the hormonal pregnant lady card because I'm tired. I've been on my feet all day but this man is one of the most important people to me and I'll do anything and everything to stay with him so march your butt right back in that room and save him and make sure he comes back to us in one freaking piece!"

       "Miss Willows—"

       "He's my father," Garcia looked at Casey in surprise as she said the words and Casey didn't even seem to recognize the words coming out of her mouth either because she had continued: "And you're going to save my father."

       The doctor looks at Garcia and the woman encourages him to go with it and the man looks back at Casey and exhales. "I'll see what we can do."

       When the doctor left, Garcia stammered a she began to speak. "You... called him—"

       "Don't ever tell anyone that I said that, alright?" Casey tells as she goes to sit back down.

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Hotch had finally been out of surgery and now the women were waiting for him to wake up. Casey had even taken the liberty of watching him and watching his breathing. Garcia had glanced Casey's way. Her eyes never left Hotch.

Casey had never once referred to Hotch as her father. Ever since the whole ordeal with her mother, their relationship wasn't the same — even when they had mended it by clearing the slate. And ever since that, Casey never once referred to him as her father — until now. She had cared for him and she didn't want to lose him like she lost her actual father.

Finally, Casey had taken her eyes off of him and had look through her notepad. Casey began consider other girl names as well as the ones she already picked out. Casey had then tried to figure out the boy names until she had looked up and noticed that Hotch's eyes were open and that he was awake.

Casey nearly jumped up and then touched Garcia's arm and she had also noticed he was awake. "Hotch." Casey greeted. "Hi, sir. Welcome back." Garcia smiled.

"Do you feel okay? Do you need anything?" Garcia immediately asked.

"What happened?" Hotch asked groggily, looking around. "Uh, you-you collapsed and they performed emergency surgery because you were bleeding internally. The doctor said it had something to do with the stabbing. But you're fine. You're okay now. There were some complications with the operation, but you're-- you're okay."

"I mean, you're like as healthy as a puma, a bedridden puma. But the point is you're gonna be fine." Garcia added.

"Where's Jack?" Hotch asked. "He's at home with Jessica. Shall I send for him?" Garcia asked and Hotch nodded immediately. "Please. And I need my phone." Casey hands over Hotch's phone. "Thank you. I need to call Beth."

"I'm gonna... call Jessica and let the team know you're okay." Garcia told and then immediately went in for a hug and afterwards apologized because she knew he had just woken up but she couldn't help it.

"Sir, I'm sorry. I'm just--I'm-- I'm really happy you're back. You had us worried sick." Garcia told and before she could leave, Hotch stopped her. "Garcia..." He took a deep breath. "Thank you for staying."
Garcia smiled, "Wild horses, sir. Wild horses."

While Garcia left, Casey was then left with Hotch. "I, uh, should probably go get a nurse. Leave you... to your... phone call." Before Casey could leave, Hotch stopped her next. "Casey..."

The girl stopped in her tracks and Hotch immediately caught a glimpse of Stephanie, her mother. He wanted to tell Casey that while he was in his dreamlike state and that he saw Haley and George Foyet — he had also seen and talked her mother and that her mother was watching over her and her soon-to-be grandchild. But he knew the topic of Stephanie was uneasy for Casey to speak about, so he had left off with: "I'm glad you stayed, too."

Casey smiled and nodded, "Of course, I know you would've done the same." With that, she had gone to get a nurse.

Garcia had gone to get Jack and Jessica came with balloons in her hand. Jack reunited with his father in a hug and asked if he was okay and Hotch assured that he was. Casey smiled as she watched the scene, glad that Jack had a father like Hotch.

It was then that Casey leaned over towards Garcia. "Hey, do you know what Hotch's middle name is by any chance?" Casey whispered to the woman. "I can take a look his files, why?" Garcia asked. Casey looked back at Hotch. "I think I could figure something out with my boy name."

Even though Casey wasn't sure what she was gonna have, she knew that if she were to have a boy, she would definitely want to name it after one of the best men she'd had the pleasure of knowing and was grateful he was a part of her life and filled a void she didn't know she had.

okay i really like this chapter lol
anywayssss
my fav father-daughter duo lowkey reminds me of ray holt and jake peralta's relationship from b99 🫶
i'm so happy i've been on top with updating lol
i'm so scared about my permit test tomorrow i'm gonna cry
anywayssss
thank you for reading!
next chapter will be: in the blood
{thinking of bringing that back^^^}

love you all!
-mya </333