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Aaron walked into the Forensics department, pinching his brow in a feeble attempt to ward off his headache. Whatever they had expected with this case had long since gone out of the window. Despite Phillip Harrison being in custody for three separate murders in the greater DC area; someone was clearly attempting to frame him. Harrison was an impulse killer; he didn’t have the patience or even the ability to attempt to poison Senator Crammer in his office or try to gas Strauss in her own car.
In fact, the more they looked at it, the more apparent it was.
Whoever this copycat was; it was someone on the inside.
One of their own. Hence why Aaron had hurried down to forensics. O’Halloran had claimed that the DNA on the mosquito they had found in Strauss’ car would be quickly linked to their real unsub. Except that had been two hours ago. Anderson had offered to stay with O’Halloran and let him know as soon as the results came in. Yet he had heard from neither of them. His ominous suspicion didn’t improve as he noticed all the other labs were dark, empty and abandoned for the evening.
“O'Halloran? What have you got?” Aaron called as he walked towards the desk. The computer O’Halloran had been using was still on, the screen blinking with a notification that a match had been found. As Aaron reached the desk, he spotted the body of the forensic expert. His brown eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, his white lab coat stained scarlet from the knife that had been plunged into his chest. “O'Halloran?”
Aaron knew it was pointless to call the EMTs, O’Halloran was already gone. Aaron turned to the screen to check the DNA match. Clearly whoever the DNA matched to had also killed O’Halloran. Aaron looked at the screen, stunned at the name and face which appeared on the screen.
“Anderson?” Aaron whispered in disbelief as he sensed too late that someone was behind them before something hit the back of his head and the world went dark.
Emily looked around the bullpen as she waited for Aaron to come back. Why it had taken him half an hour to check Forensics on the third floor was beyond her. It was late, they needed to get home and rest and he had been the one to give her a ride after her car broke down. Emily waved goodbye to Rossi as he left the bullpen and pulled her phone from her pocket. She was relieved that the call connected but that relief quickly vanished when the voice on the other end was clearly not Aaron’s.
“Hi, Emily.” Anderson said politely as he watched Aaron slowly regain consciousness. This was the tricky part but he knew how to keep Emily from suspecting him. Emily was always so nice to him. Unlike the rest of them. She would believe naive, helpful Anderson just found Aaron's phone.
“Grant?” Emily asked puzzled. “Where's Hotch?”
“Oh, he and O'Halloran went out for a bite to eat. Left his phone on the desk.” Aaron replied calmly as Aaron struggled against the duct tape around his wrists and ankles, any sound muffled by the thick piece of duct tape that had been placed over his mouth. His eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and frustration as the tape held firm.
“Weren't they waiting for the DNA?” Emily asked, her gut instinct wasn’t just prodding her, it was screaming that something wasn’t right. Namely, Aaron and O’Halloran weren’t that close that they would leave together for food. Not to mention the fact that she and Aaron had already made plans to get something to eat on the way home. It wasn’t a date. Technically.
“Ooh, hasn't popped yet. But they won't be long. Just ducked out for sushi. Want me to tell him you called?” Anderson asked innocently as he pulled the knife from O’Halloran’s body and held it threateningly in front of Aaron. The sight of the blood stained blade was enough for Aaron to pause in his attempts to free himself but he maintained his fierce glare on Anderson.
He didn’t blink for George Foyet.
He most definitely wouldn’t blink for Grant Anderson.
‘Something is definitely wrong,’ Emily thought to herself but instead, she kept her voice calm as she spoke into the phone. This was a dangerous game that Anderson was playing and she would need all of her skills to ensure she won it. “Yeah. It’s nothing urgent. Thanks, Grant.”
“You bet. Bye, Emily.” Anderson said cheerfully as he hung up and tossed Aaron’s phone across the room. The only sound was the phone shattering as it hit the wall as Anderson stepped towards Aaron, the knife still in his hands as he peeled back the duct tape from Aaron’s mouth. “Surprised, huh? Yeah, I bet you are. You didn't think I could do anything right.”
“Anderson, what have you done?” Aaron asked in between gasps of air. This wasn’t the Anderson they knew. Anderson was someone almost naively innocent, someone who blended into the background. This knife wielding, furious madman was not who they knew. Maybe they never did know him at all.
Anderson smirked at Aaron as he gestured around the room. “What? You can't figure that out? Huh? Big Mr. Unit Chief?”.
“You tried to kill Senator Crammer. You attacked Erin Strauss.” Aaron replied as Anderson nodded. What he still was trying to figure out, was why?
“I killed O’Halloran too. And now...you. You ready?” Anderson asked as he dragged the blade lightly across Aaron’s chest. Although it didn’t puncture the skin the way Foyet had, it did create a shallow cut which began to bleed through his shirt. Aaron groaned in pain as Anderson lifted the knife away. “You shouldn't have been mean to me. You were always criticizing what I did, what I said.”
“So after we cut Harrison loose, that was all you.” Aaron stated as he drew breaths in between his teeth. From the position he could tell that Anderson had missed any of his scars from Foyet. This time.
“Yes. I was trying to help. Harrison is a bad man. He's supposed to be in jail. And, yes, I screwed up a little bit.” Anderson shrugged, sounding more like a child who had dropped a cup instead of a man admitting to both murder and attempted murder.
“You followed Morgan and Reid all the way to Georgetown, and you murdered that innocent girl under the bridge?” Aaron asked, of course they hadn’t noticed that Anderson was gone. His ability to blend into the background had provided the perfect cover for him. And now that innocent nineteen year old was dead.
“But then I put the thumbprint on the soda can to get Harrison, right?” Anderson prompted as Aaron kept his eyes firmly on the blade.
“So he'd go back to jail and your mistake would be forgiven?” Aaron finished; that wasn’t how it worked in the BAU. Or anywhere. It was obstruction of justice, murder, falsifying evidence; how could that be forgiven?
“Yay.” Anderson cheered mockingly, clapping his hands sarcastically. “See, now you're figuring it out. Now you're a profiler.”
“Anderson, listen to me.” Aaron said as sternly as he could without letting his temper slip. This was a precarious situation and admittedly, he hadn’t taken the time to obsess over Anderson the way he had Foyet. “Harrison's in jail. You can't pin any of this mess on him.”
Anderson scoffed and shook his head. “Not him. One of his paranoid pals. You see? There will be nothing that links me between any of this once I get rid of that pesky little mosquito.” Who would have thought an insignificant insect could have potentially brought him down?
“What makes you think that's the only evidence? Every killer leaves something behind. You know that Anderson.” Aaron reminded, regretting his choice of words as Anderson’s expression darkened and he slashed the knife across Aaron’s chest again. Another thin cut, not life threatening but a warning. A threat of what was to come.
“You think I'm stupid. Right? Just like everyone else. Just like O’Halloran, that bitch Strauss. Senator Crammer too?” Anderson rambled. He was sick of it. Sick of being the butt of the joke. Sick of being the idiot. Know they would all see, see what he was capable of, how clever he was.
“So what are you going to do? Kill everybody who ever hurt your feelings?” Aaron asked, yelling in pain as Anderson cut him again, this time the wound was slightly deeper. Not much but a definite escalation.
“You know what, I have been very busy, haven't I? And you didn't know, because you are stupid. Not me.” Anderson snapped before the light sensor in the hallway outside was activated. Someone was walking down the hallway. Anderson placed the duct tape back over Aaron’s mouth before he stepped out of sight.
Whoever it was, they would be the next to die.
Emily pushed open the door to the forensics lab, her hand resting on her gun as she stepped into the room. The first thing that caught her eye was the shattered remnants of Aaron’s phone and she stepped forwards. “Aaron? Hotch?”
Her eyes widened as she spotted Aaron; his ankles taped together and his wrists duct taped to a spinning chair, his mouth covered with tape and with shallow cuts on his chest. There was a warning look in his eyes but his yells were muffled by the tape. Emily hurried towards him at once. “Aaron!”
“Don't move!” Anderson called from behind Emily who froze before she looked over her shoulder at Anderson who was pointing his own gun at her forehead.
“Grant?” Emily whispered as she looked at Aaron and spotted O’Halloran’s body on the floor and a plan formed in her mind. It was risky, it was dangerous but it was their only chance. However, Emily alone wouldn’t be able to do this.
She needed Lauren’s assistance too.
“Put your gun down.” Anderson ordered as he stepped towards her. His voice getting louder as Emily initially didn’t move. “Put your gun down!”
“Okay, Grant. Okay.” Emily said gently as she placed her gun on the side table and held up her hands in surrender. Slowly, she turned to face Anderson as he approached her.
“What are you doing here, Emily? I didn't wanna have to hurt you too.” Anderson said, to Emily’s surprise, he almost sounded sincere. Then again, it was only yesterday that Morgan was teasing her about Anderson’s slightly childish crush on her. That made it a little easier to let Lauren play the part.
“Then don't.” Emily suggested as Anderson laughed humourlessly at her suggestion.
“I don't have much of a choice now.” Anderson stated almost apologetically. His rapidly fluctuating emotions only served to reinforce Emily of the danger that she and Aaron were in. one wrong move. One misspoken word. And they were both dead. “You've seen a little much.”
“Let's all calm down. Okay, Grant?” Emily suggested, her hands still up to show she wasn’t a threat. Yet. “Just relax. 'cause you did good. Really good.”
Anderson looked puzzled at her words and she could sense that Aaron felt the same confusion. Good. She needed it to be believable. “What?”
“Well, I think it's pretty clear what happened here. Right?” Emily stated as she looked around the room, at the deceased agent and her wounded colleague. “One of Harrison's crazy followers must have got in here… He attacked these two… You found the bodies. You secured the crime scene, and then you called me. Right?”
“I did?” Anderson asked, his expression even more confused as Emily smiled at him. The same smile she gave when she offered him reassurance after one of his mistakes. The smile that told him that he could trust her. Then again, he knew how close she and Aaron were. If she had to pick one of them, it wouldn’t be him.
“That's what I'll tell Rossi. And then you can manipulate the forensics so everyone else believes it too.” Emily explained as she pointed towards Aaron. “The BAU hero, Agent Hotchner; killed in the line of duty. It's perfect.”
Anderson shook his head, his gun still pointed at Emily. “You're lying. You're lying!”
Emily knew she had to kick it up a notch. Therefore she turned and walked towards Aaron, her own expression darkening as she approached him. “Did you think that you're the only one whose life is hell because of this prick?”
Emily punctuated her question by slapping Aaron across the face as hard as she could. “It’s always ‘Emily, you’re wrong’’ . ‘Emily, be the bait.’ I'm sick of it.”
Emily slapped him again before she reached for the duct tape over Aaron’s mouth. She could hear Anderson’s protestations but she pulled the tape quickly and painfully from Aaron’s mouth. “I’m sick of it! I want to hear him scream!”
Aaron glared up at Emily, his cheeks stinging from the slap, his lips pulled from the multiple laying and pulling of the duct tape. “Don't you touch me again.”
Emily tilted her head and scoffed at him. “Did somebody say you could talk?”
“Both of you, shut up!” Anderson ordered before he stepped forwards in order to see it for himself. Emily kept her cold gaze on Aaron who glared back at her. “Hit him again.”
“Don't do it, bitch.” Aaron ordered, the insult served its intended purpose as Emily struck him again, even harder. This time, she caught his eye with her little finger. The tears that instinctively sprung to his eyes helped to convey the ferocity of the slap.
“No more orders out of you, Boss Man!” Emily shouted as Anderson shook his head.
“No, I don't believe you. I don't believe you.” Anderson insisted. This had to be a trick, a trap. Emily would never hit Hotch like this but if it was a trick, there was no faking that level of anger.
“If you knew half of what this prick has done. Half of what he made me do from the moment I joined the team. Lie for him. Ruin my career for him. Risk myself by baiting myself to an unsub. Being kidnapped or wounded and then blamed for being kidnapped or wounded. Like I asked for it. The constant belittling, every error publicly displayed to the others. Somebody needs to take him out.” Emily explained, the venom in her voice as she considered her rocky start in the BAU, the injuries that she knew Anderson was aware of, the countless arguments he would have witnessed. “I just didn't know you felt the same way as I did. I've never had anybody-”
“Anderson, don't listen to her. She'll turn on you the way she's turning on me.” Aaron yelled out, only to have both Emily and Anderson yell at him before Anderson struck him with the gun across the cheek. Aaron fell silent, focusing on regaining his breath and being able to see clearly.
“And when this son of a bitch is out of the picture, we’re going to need a new profiler.” Emily offered, a wry smile on her face as she looked at Anderson, who seemed to believe her words before he looked concerned.
“What about Rossi?” Anderson asked; Rossi was Hotch’s best friend and was always there to degrade or treat him like a child. If anyone were to refuse him joining the BAU’s elite team, it would be him.
Emily smirked coyly at Anderson and laughed to herself. “I’ve got Rossi wrapped around my little finger. The same goes with Morgan, Reid, JJ and Garcia. Grant, if I say the word, you're in. Think about it, Grant.”
“I like the sound of that.” Anderson commented; it was true. Everyone knew that Emily wasn’t just Rossi’s favourite, she was the favourite of the entire team. Most of the time, they only stopped teasing him when Emily stood up for him. However if Emily made him part of the team, then that would stop. They would finally see how clever, how important he truly was.
“You like it because we get each other. We share the same pain.” Emily said as she stepped forward and took his free hand, squeezing it tightly. “We're connected.”
“We’re connected.” Anderson agreed and Emily knew she had him. She just needed to distract him long enough so that she and Aaron could take him down. However this was the most dangerous part of the game. Anderson still had the gun in his hand as he turned back towards Aaron and raised it.
“Let's take care of the third wheel.” Anderson said as he aimed the gun at Aaron’s forehead. To think, all of those unsubs, all those dangers and yet, he would be the one to take Agent Aaron Hotchner down. Incredible.
“Wait.” Emily said quickly as she played her final card. She could see the confused look on Aaron’s face as Anderson’s brow furrowed as she set her hand on his arm, the one he used to point the gun at Aaron. “Just wait one second.”
Emily lowered her voice to a seductive whisper as she looked at Aaron with disgust. “I want him to watch.”
“W-watch what?” Anderson asked, puzzled as Emily smirked over at Aaron before she looked back at him. He had dreamt that she would look at him like this and now she was… it was better than any of his fantasies.
“Watch you get the one thing he wanted from me but he never got.” Emily admitted as she moved closer and with her free hand, guided Anderson’s cheek so that he was facing her.
Then she played her winning card.
Emily kissed Anderson and as his cold lips responded eagerly to her kiss, especially as she pressed her tongue against his lips; she knew she had won. Emily cupped Anderson’s face in her hands and as she felt his gun hand lower, she turned him slightly so that when she opened her eyes, she looked directly at Aaron.
She could see the hurt and turmoil in his eyes, even as he silently counted down from three. On ‘one’, he kicked his joined ankles up, kicking Anderson squarely in the crotch. As Anderson broke away from Emily with a cry of pain, she punched him in the side of the head, causing the disgraced agent to fall to the floor. As he fell, Anderson hit his head painfully against the heavy metal table and he slumped unconscious to the floor.
Emily snatched up her gun and kept it trained on Anderson as she looked around for a scalpel which she used to slice through the tape around Aaron’s wrists and ankles. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll be fine,” Aaron replied as he pulled the fabric of his shirt away from the cuts. From what he could tell, they had stopped bleeding and he hopefully wouldn’t require any further stitches. As he stood up, he saw Emily send a message, most likely to Rossi or Morgan. “How'd you know?”
Emily smiled sincerely at Aaron as she put a supportive arm around his waist, her gun still focused on Anderson. Just in case. “Anderson said you went to get sushi. You and raw fish?”
“Plus we had dinner plans, until you slapped me.” Aaron remarked dryly and Emily smiled apologetically.
“I had to make it believable. Also, after that kiss, you can’t say that I’ve never taken one for the team.” Emily remarked and Aaron laughed before he winced at the pain in his chest. As Emily looked at him, concerned about his injuries, Aaron gently kissed her on the top of the head.
Whatever came next; whether they remained best friends or became something more; it didn't matter. Their bond was one that couldn't be defined as merely platonic or romantic. They were just them. Whatever road he and Emily eventually decided to travel down together; he knew that as long as they had one another; had that unbreakable trust; then they would be OK.