The Long, Lonely Road Ahead

The following events take place after Hotch’s divorce but prior to JJ’s giving birth.

Yes, I know it’s a Mary Sue in some ways, but it was fun to write, so I’m throwing it out there for you to read and see what you think.
Please, read and review. Or at least vote on this story. I know you’re out there…

The Long, Lonely Road Ahead

Chapter Twenty-Two

(“The warrant just came through, Hotch,” JJ said, holding up several pieces of paper. “We’re authorized to arrest Josiah Herald on charges of trafficking in child pornography, sexual assault… you name it, we’ve got it here.”
“Is anyone else named on the warrant?” Morgan asked.
“We’ve got leave to arrest anyone as long as there’s probable cause,” JJ told him.
“Good. Get your men. We’re going in,” Hotch told Agent Taylor.
“This was our party first,” Taylor said with a frown. He gestured to one of his men, who took off at a jog. “We’ll go in our way or you won’t be joining us.”
“We don’t mean to step on any toes,” Rossi said, holding up his hands. “You let us know what you want us to do.” Taylor walked away to his truck and his men. Rossi turned to Hotch.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Hotch shook his head.
“You’ve got to get a hold of this, Aaron. You can’t keep blaming yourself for the fact that she’s out there where she can get into trouble.”
“I let her go, David. I can’t not blame myself. I’ve been doing this too long,” Hotch said, blowing out a breath. He sighed. “I’m tired, I think. Maybe I need to find something else to do.”
“You’re not Gideon,” Rossi reminded Hotch. Hotch looked at him sharply. “You do this job very, very well, but you can’t take it so personally. Gideon taught you that, if nothing else.”
“You’re right.”
“Let me ask you something,” Rossi said, pulling Hotch to the side. “And you may not think this is relevant, but I think it might be.”
“What’s up?”
“Do you love her?” There was a pause, then Hotch looked up at Rossi.
“David, I can’t tell what I feel. Not yet. It’s too soon.”
“It’s never too soon. When you met Hayley for the first time, you knew, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“When I met my first wife, I knew it was love the moment she opened her mouth.” Rossi chuckled ruefully. “And that was probably my first mistake. But that’s me. If you love her, you should probably not be a part of the raid. It’s going to affect your judgment.”
“I’m going to be a part of this, David.”
“You know better than I do, I suppose, what you can handle. But would you recommend one of the team go into a situation where the potential shooter is a lover, or even just a friend?”
“I can’t just sit here and wait!” Hotch looked down at his shoes for a moment. “I know what you’re saying and I appreciate it, but I’m going in and that’s the end of it. And if she murders Herald, or anyone else, I will arrest her. Whether I love her or not.”)

The ride on the golf cart took an inordinate amount of time, but finally I reached the end. There was a second golf cart and a closed door at the end of the line. I turned off the engine and the lights, and opened the door by feel in the dark. The basement on the other side was dark as well, but I couldn’t risk turning on the lights. I reached the stairs out of the basement and could just see them by the light under the doorway above. There must have been at least 30 stairs. This was one seriously deep basement. I crept up the stairs and cracked the door at the top open a tiny bit. There was light on the other side—a kitchen. I listened carefully, but heard no one, so I opened the door a bit more.

What I wanted was to surprise Josiah in his living room, or when he was napping on the couch, or better yet, in the act of fucking some small child. I wanted to kill him and I wanted him to know why. But there seemed to be no one in the house. That was odd, because Josiah never left his house unless he had to. I stood in the kitchen, near the basement door and thought. What to do next? I wished I’d thought this out better. All three men should be at the compound at the moment. Where else would they be? I suddenly froze—there were footsteps coming from upstairs. Shit! What should I do? I ducked back into the basement door, and closed it almost all the way, watching through the slit. Josiah was coming down the stairs. He was a big man, almost 300 pounds, not all of it fat, and about 6’4”. He was in his sixties by now, I guessed, although I wasn’t really sure how old he’d been when he started the Militia more than forty years ago. He had long, slicked back grey hair, and was clean shaven. He was holding a newspaper and wearing a bathrobe and slippers. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I held my breath. I wanted to surprise him, right? I slowly pulled out a gun from my jacket and prepared to open the door. Then the door was pulled out of my hands and Josiah was standing in front of me.


“Terra! What a nice surprise,” he said, a smirk on his face. “How good of you to drop by like this.”
“Josiah,” I said, training the gun on him. “I’m here to kill you.”
“Oh really?” he asked, his face mild. “I find that hard to believe.”
“And why would you say that?”
“Because if you wanted to kill me, you’d have done it already. No, you’re here for something else.” He reached for my gun. “Why don’t you just give me that?” I pulled back and he grabbed me by the arm. I slammed a fist into his gut and winded him briefly. He flailed a bit at me, lunging for me. I lost my balance on the stairs and took a step backwards, trying not to fall. His hands went wide and he fell forward, tripping over my feet. He almost took me with him, but I held on to the banister for dear life.

Meanwhile, Josiah Herald, cult leader and monster, fell head first down thirty steps to land heavily on the concrete floor of his basement.

He lay where he fell in a twisted heap. I sagged against the banister, breathing heavily. Shit! There was a light switch right behind me and I flipped it on. I looked down at my nemesis. There was a small puddle of blood underneath his face, but the odd angle of his neck told me he had to be dead. I turned the light off and walked out of the basement, closing the door behind me. One down, two more to go. What I needed to do was wait until it got dark outside. That would be safest. So I helped myself to a pop from Josiah’s fridge and sat down in the dark of his living room to wait.

(“The compound is just over that rise,” Agent Taylor told the team. “We’re going to set up stations all around the woods that surround the compound and wait until dark to begin the raid. It’ll be easier to surprise them at night.”
“We’ll have to use infrared goggles,” Morgan said.
“Yes. We’ve got enough for everyone,” Taylor replied. “Now, this is the main entrance, but there are three other possible points of entry.” He pointed to the map of the terrain in front of him. “The compound is strategically placed on top of a small hill, but there are woods all around the fenced area, so it’s fairly easy to place men unseen all the way around.”
“We can set up on the northern perimeter,” Hotch suggested.
“DEA and ATF said they want in on this party too,” Taylor said. He sighed. “Too many cooks in the kitchen, I say, but the Governor himself has told us to let them in on this.”
“Governor Schwarzenegger? What does he think is going on here?” Rossi asked.
“He and the DEA and ATF have information leading them to believe that Herald and the Blackhawk Militia are engaged in both drug smuggling and gun running,” Taylor said. “Seems to me that we could cover all of that between the two of us, but we’re getting more people than we need. So we’ll hold tight until they arrive, then set up and break the raid into pieces, so we don’t have any friendly fire.”
“Do we have an ETA?” JJ asked.
“Reps from both agencies should be here within the hour.” Taylor seemed to consider for a moment. “Okay. Let’s play it like this. You set up north, we’ll take south, and they can fight over east and west when they get here. You want to be about here,” he said, pointing again at the terrain map in front of him.
“Got it,” Morgan said. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll liaise for supplies and I’ll let you know when the other teams arrive,” Taylor said.
“Thank you,” Hotch said, and the team got into their SUVs and left for the north side of the compound.)