"He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once."
― Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere

The world had been unkind to Aaron Hotchner, but still he persisted. He woke up every day and drank a cup of coffee, put on a freshly pressed suit and straightened his tie. Day in, day out. The world was unkind to him, but still he fought to right the wrongs of others. To put the monsters where they belonged: behind bars. He did it because it was a part of who he was.

This morning, though, was different. It was a rare morning when he woke up and knew he was off. He was sick. He'd seen it coming, Jack had been sick last week; he was always bringing something home from school. Usually Aaron didn't catch the bugs, but he knew he did this time. Before he'd gone to bed, his throat was dry and his lower back ached, but he brushed it off as just being the end of a long hard week. This morning, though, he felt run down and his body ached just as he lay in bed. He rolled over to take a sip of water and erupted in a fit of deep, guttural dry coughs. He doubled over in his bed as he coughed, his muscles tightening painfully.

"Dad?" Jack asked, entering his father's room. "Can I go to Jason's after school tonight? They're having pizza for dinner and invited me over."

"Sure, buddy," Aaron replied, hearing his own voice for the first time. He was hoarse, his throat was painful and raspy. "You going to stay over?"

"Yeah, if it's ok. You sick?"

Aaron glanced over at him and gave him a smile. "Seems like it. Thanks a lot for that. Good thing it's Friday, huh?"

Jack laughed and sat down on his dad's bed for a minute. Aaron couldn't believe how grown up his son was looking these days. "Want me to see if I can stay the weekend? His mom said she'd take us to practice tomorrow if I stayed the night, anyway."

"I'll call her and ask, buddy. I guess this means you don't want to take care of me like I took care of you, huh? Rude. So rude." Aaron rolled on his side and closed his eyes. The longer he was awake, the more like roadkill he felt. His bed was warm, the blankets pulled up to his chin, but he felt chilly.

"Can I get you anything before I catch the bus?" Jack asked, standing up and hiking his backpack over one shoulder. He was getting so tall, and looking more like Haley every single day. Hotch gazed at his son for a moment and smiled. Sometimes he couldn't believe he had a hand in making such an incredible person.

"I can handle it. Don't worry about me, by the time you get home on Sunday night I'll be right as rain. I'm just going to sit around here naked all weekend eating ice cream." He chuckled a little, followed by a deep dry cough. Jack scrunched up his nose in disgust.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad gross." He replied, pretending to gag. "Bye dad. Love you!" he called, making his way out of the room before his dad could say anything else that might make it worse.

"Rossi speaking," came the soft voice on the other end of the line. Aaron could tell he was driving and had him on speaker phone. He loathed speaker phone. You never knew who was listening. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, it's Aaron. Is anyone with you?" he asked, his voice soft and dry.

"Just me, Aaron. What can I do for you?"

"I'll be working from home today, Dave. I just wanted to call and let you know." Aaron paused, hoping Rossi wouldn't prod him, but knowing full well that he would. It was his way. There was silence for a minute, then Aaron coughed a long, dry, painful sounding cough, and Rossi made a soft noise of understanding.

"I see." Rossi replied. "Can I bring you anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm going to get some sleep for a while, but I'll be checking messages when I wake up. I'm going to forward incoming case files to you for a few hours, if you don't mind, I don't want to…" he paused, coughing again. "I don't want to miss anything while I'm sleeping."

"Understood. Get some rest, friend."

"Dave?"

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell the team I'm sick, "Aaron pleaded, his voice soft and almost sad sounding. "I don't want anyone coming by. Jack's going to be at a friend's house all weekend and I'm planning to lay low and try to sleep this off. I expect to be in a NyQuil coma until Sunday night."

"I'll do my best to keep them off your scent." Rossi replied, hanging up after a moment. He knew the team would be suspicious, and he wouldn't lie to them, but he figured at the very least he could ask them to respect his friend's privacy. Whether they would listen was a different story all-together.