Day to Remember

Author's Note: I had finally put the finishing touches on this story the night before when news of the school shooting at Chardon High School came out over my local radio station. Yeah, local. I don't live very far away from where this happened. I've got to say, it wasn't a very pleasant coincidence considering I'd just finished working on this story. No, this story was not inspired by the events on 2/27/12. I just wish that the Chardon shooting had a better ending.

And now something a little less depressing before I begin… I know that it's incredibly unlikely for the team to still be together in another 12 years, which is when this story is set. Given that fact, I had considered switching some of the characters, but I like the dynamic of the team too much to change anything, so I just left them alone. You'll just have to play along with my little improbably in that aspect. One chapter will go up per day instead of the two I did with my other story since this one is shorter and each chapter is almost twice as long.

Chapter One

Homecoming was supposed to be one of the best moments of your high school career.

So how had it ended up like this?

Henry LaMontagne squeezed his girlfriend, Adele's, hand reassuringly. She clung to his arm, eyes wide as saucers, an expression that most of the other high schoolers standing in the decorated school gymnasium mirrored. The entire room was dead silence except for the lone footsteps of one student at the front of the room. He'd made it known a few moments before that he was in charge.

None of the others dared to contradict him. It was impossible. Only someone who wanted to die would challenge or oppose a person with a gun.

Especially one who had already proven he could use it.

*0*0*0*0*

When Aaron Hotchner got the phone call the bottom of his stomach had nearly dropped out. He'd frozen, only hearing the rest of the call through a fog.

Yes, they would come.

Yes, they would be there as soon as they could.

Yes, his team could take the lead.

How could he say anything else?

When Hotch started to dial his first teammate's number, his fingers were trembling visibly. As the phone rang, he closed his eyes and tried to control his fears. If he panicked, the rest of the team would be unstable and edgy as well. He couldn't let that happen. Being Friday night, he wasn't sure what any of the others would be doing.

The one thing he did know is what they would all be doing shortly.

"Hey, Aaron," Dave Rossi, Hotch's close friend and fellow member of the BAU answered.

"Dave. Quantico High School."

"What? Isn't that where-" He was cut off rather quickly. Hotch didn't have time for questions.

"I'll call JJ. You call the rest of the team, Garcia included, and have them all meet there armed and protected immediately."

Dave didn't need to ask any questions now. While it was an odd order, he could hear the clipped and tense quality in his friend's voice. This was serious. He sent a silent prayer to God that whatever was happening didn't involve Jack. Hotch's seventeen year old son was a senior at Quantico High. Worse yet, Rossi was pretty sure it was homecoming weekend. Whatever the hell was happening, it was big.

Without another moment's hesitation, he started putting in calls to the rest of the BAU. Each of them was used to being called in on a weekend, and while none of them liked it, Rossi knew that there would be no hesitation from anyone to take on this case. This one, it seemed, was personal.

*0*0*0*0*

"Jennifer Jareau."

"JJ, I need you to stay calm and listen to me."

Hotch knew that, like Jack, Henry was also attending homecoming. JJ wouldn't take this any better than he had. While Hotch was normally perfectly capable of keeping anything he was feeling out of his voice and actions, even he wasn't sure he'd pulled it off completely this time. The terror filling him wasn't something he could hide from a person who knew him well. Still, Hotch did the best he could to speak professionally and controlled. He knew that the moment the words left his mouth, JJ would be feeling the same thing he was, like the floor had suddenly fallen out from beneath you.

"Hotch? What's going on?"

She'd felt a shiver of fear run up her spine at his words. He had never started a phone call like that before, and they'd had some bad ones.

"There's a gunman at Quantico High. Everyone at the dance is being held hostage. The rest of the team is on their way there. I'm coming to pick you up now, but only if you can handle it."

Anger quickly pushed away the numb fear filling her.

"He's my son, Hotch, but I'm a good enough agent to still be able to work this case," she growled. "Should I be asking you if you can work this?"

Hotch had expected that type of response; he'd simply asked on principle. At a different time, he might have let a small smile tug at his lips because of her answer. Not this time though.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. And JJ? We're going to get them out of this safely."

JJ didn't ask if he was talking about Jack and Henry or all of the students at the dance. It simply didn't matter. She'd done everything she could to keep the horrors of her job out of Henry's life since her son didn't need to know the full extent of the evil that existed in the world. She hadn't wanted him to even hear about it.

And now he was living it.

*0*0*0*0*

Henry nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a vibration against his leg. Trying to make the movement as subtle as possible, he fumbled in his pocket for his cell. Hitting okay to unlock the phone, Henry held it low and out of sight as he glanced at the screen.

Text Message – Mom showed clearly on the display.

He couldn't help feeling his heart soar in response. If anyone could get them out of this situation safely it was his mom and her team. A quick tap of the okay button revealed the message, which was short and straight to the point.

Okay? Situation?

Anyone else would have been confused, but Henry knew exactly what to respond. Not wanting to give away what he was doing, the teen started typing a response without looking. Thankfully he'd done it so many times before that it wasn't even difficult. The gym was crowded, and he might not be the only one secretly using his phone, but he didn't want to risk it. If the gunman somehow spotted him texting among the students in the back, things could go quickly from bad to worse. When the message was typed, he hit send.

Fine. One. Gun.

He was fine, there was only one guy, and he had a gun.

That done, he switched the phone off vibrate and into full silent mode. As long as he kept checking he would still get the messages, and there would be no chance of the vibrating buzz alerting his captor. A second later another message came through.

Name?

Henry winced. Their captor wasn't someone from his grade. Seniors and sophomores didn't mix much outside of certain sports and maybe a class or two. Jack would know the guy's name, but he was way too far away to ask. In fact, Jack was right up front.

"Henry?" Adele asked, her voice shaky and barely above an audible whisper. She'd noticed Henry's sudden glance toward the front of the room after his short stint on his cell phone and the flash of unease that had followed soon after.

"It's okay." He paused. It was a long shot, but even if Adele didn't know it wouldn't hurt anything. "Do you know his name?"

"Why is that important?"

"It is. My mom wants to know. It'll help."

Adele glanced toward the front of the room and shuddered.

"Tucker Carbaugh. Nobody likes him. He's weird."

Henry nodded and worked at typing a response to his mother.

Tucker Carbaugh. Senior. Outcast.

Any hurt? Jack?

No. Shot at wall. Fine.

This time it took longer for another message to come through. Henry tapped his phone nervously against his leg. For some reason just talking to his mother like this helped keep him calm. There was no reasonable explanation for why in Henry's mind, but it did. The waiting for her to respond nearly had his heart in his throat. After what felt like ages to Henry, his phone finally displayed another message alert.

Don't antagonize. Coming soon.

He'd wanted to ask her to hurry, but that would only make her worry. Instead, he just let her know that he understood.

Kay.

Henry closed his eyes for a moment and tried to calm his nerves. Chances were his mother wasn't going to be in contact with him as often from now on. It wasn't a good thought, but he'd have to stay strong and deal with it. With any luck she would still send a message from time to time even if it was just to let him know that she was still there working on a solution.

He pulled Adele into his arms, holding her tight and trying to ease her own fears even with his still running high. It would all turn out okay. Help was on the way.