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boldlyvoid · 8 months

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I Know Places: Roadkill

18+ Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader | Masterlist | AO3 link

Summary: Once again, Aaron puts himself in harm's way. Once again, reader scolds him for it. Bickering like an old married couple in front of the whole team, it becomes glaringly obvious that they're more than just coworkers now.

Warnings: background Moreid, Canon Typical Violence (mentions of possible rape, car accidents, hit and runs, murder) angst with a happy ending, arguing, worrying, makeup sex (first time together) teasing, oral sex (fem receiving), unprotected sex, creampies.

Word count: 14.9k

Not much changes between them at work. They’re still acting as professionally as possible, only now with longing stares all across the country and only one bed during their hotel stays.

In the last few weeks, they’ve had 4 cases. Each has gone by as smoothly as possible, without accidents or escapes or injuries. And Aaron’s stopped obsessing over Foyet, for the most part. He still reads the files when he has free time and he asks Penelope to add new perimeters to her searches, but other than that, he’s taken a bit of the weight off his shoulders to share with the rest of the team when the time comes.

Everyone knows they’ve just not filed the paperwork because it’s a hassle and Strauss, their section Chief would find some way to make it a problem. She’ll find out eventually, but until then, they’re just going with the flow, experiencing life together as a happy couple as long as they can.

He hasn’t told Haley yet, either. Seeing as she doesn’t want to admit that Conrad— her “friend” who’s always over during pick up and drop offs with Jack— is actually her boyfriend, they don’t have to tell her that they’re anything more than friends either. Jack likes Y/N, he holds her hand at the park and always asks if she can stay for a sleepover when he’s spending the night at his dad's. It’s the sweetest thing.

Every morning that they’re in Quantico, they meet at the round table at 10 am to prep new cases. They come in to work together at 8:30, holding hands while carrying coffee in their other. When they get up to Aaron’s office, JJ is in there with a file and an awkward, press-lipped smile on her face.

“What’s up?” He asks, letting go of her hand and walking over to his desk.

“Police in Bend, Oregon have asked for our help… this unsub is running people over with his car, there’s been two victims in the last 12 days,” she explains.

“Okay, I’ll look over the file and we’ll meet in the briefing room early today, tell the others 9:30 at the latest,” Hotch orders.

“Got it,” she picks up her things and starts to leave. She pats Y/N on the arm with a knowing smile, “See you out there.”

“You certainly will,” she smiles back at her. “Actually, I’m going to go help her photocopy everything and get ready, I’ll see you in there?”

“Okay,” Aaron nods. “Save me a seat.”

“Beside me as always,” she teases him one last time before heading out.

She’s so cute, he just shakes his head, watching from the window as she skips down a couple of steps and heads over to her desk. She says hi to Anderson and waves at a few people before following JJ up to the briefing room to make photocopies. He is so in love with her it makes him feel a little crazy. He has work to do, but his mind is stuck on her. He’s happy. At his desk. He's... happy?

For the first time in his life, he’s happy while at work.

And everyone knows it too. He’s staying at work less, still keeping up with his paperwork somehow, coming in a little later in the mornings, and he’s smiling more often. He’s heard the rumours and the mumblings, he knows people think he’s like this cause he’s getting laid again… but the truth is they haven’t.

He sleeps at her house, she sleeps at his, they sleep in the same bed on cases and they’ve come close to it before, but they haven’t had sex yet. Neither one of them has brought it up yet.

The first week they were together, they were busy on a case. The second week they had a pretty gross case and neither one of them was in the mood after it and then he had Jack all weekend. Then last week, she was on her period and he was happy to dote on her and give her a massage and cover her in kisses before sleeping beside her and holding her close but not too tight. He loves her so much, this relationship is so much more than just physical… he’s only had sex with 1 woman in his whole life, and even then, it took them over a year to do it because they were in high school.

This is just what he’s used to. He’ll be ready whenever she asks, he doesn’t need it… does he crave it? A little. She’s beautiful. He has to see her in action with her shirt rolled up and her bulletproof vest on. He sees her manhandle creeps and cuff them, sometimes even fight them a little. He listens to her give orders and put people in their place. Of course, he wants her. But he knows how to wait. He’s a patient man.

He has to shake all the thoughts out of his mind before he cracks open the case file. He takes another sip of his coffee and starts to read over the police report. He looks at the photos, the coroner's report, the witness statements and everything else JJ thought was important to include.

This is a weird one. He’s never seen a serial killer who favours vehicular homicide. Most of them want to do the killing themselves, they want to use their hands and feel the glory. This guy might not even be a guy. It could be a woman, using a vehicle might give her the power she lacks. The way they’ve been hit, backed over and hit again… that’s anger that comes from planning and a desire to kill. It’s unlikely that these are just victims of happenstance, this killer is calculated and these women that died were chosen for a reason.

He gathers all his things and meets the others in the briefing room, Derek, Spencer and Dave have yet to show up but they’ll be in soon. Right now, it’s just the girls.

“And then— oh, sorry, sir,” Penelope stops whatever she was saying as she sees him.

“On, no, it’s okay. You can keep talking… unless you don’t want me to know?” He hesitates to sit down, he’d leave if they needed him to.

“No, it’s fine,” she sighs. “Kevin is interviewing with the NSA for a new job and he can’t even tell me where he’s going if he gets it.”

“I’m sorry,” he feels terrible for her. Long distance sucks. But he sits down, ready to listen, wanting to be there for her and offer some wisdom if she wants it.

“I hate this. I hate not knowing what’s going to happen. What if he never comes home? What if I can’t talk to him? What if he breaks up with me right before he goes and then I never hear from him again? I’m not ready to just lose someone in my life permanently.”

“You’re Penelope Garcia,” he reminds her. “You can easily find out where he’s going… and you can easily stop transfers from going through, remember you held mine up so I could stay here?”

She nods, “I still feel sorry about that, sir, I didn’t mean to start things with you at home.”

“It’s okay, I’m much happier now,” he smiles over to Y/N. “I wouldn’t have my beautiful girlfriend if I still had a wife.”

“Very funny,” Y/N can’t believe he said that. She laughs and shakes her head, she licks her lips and laughs again. “You really just said that?”

“And I mean it,” he teases, reaching over for her hand. He brings it up to his lips and kisses her hand, making the other two women swoon a bit.

“Hotch, I had no idea you were a romantic,” JJ teases him. “Were you always like this?”

He shrugs, “I was a teenager the last time I was in love like this.”

“In love?” They hear Derek's voice as he and Reid come through the door. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Y/N waves it off, trying desperately not to be the centre of attention. “We’re just talking about our relationships, anything you two want to share?”

“no—“ Derek starts but Spencer sits beside her and smiles.

“Derek’s never not been the sharing type and then he started dating me and now he’s like Fort Knox about it all,” Spencer teases.

“Hey,” Derek sits beside him and swats his arm. “It’s because I love you, you’re not some rando who came home with me once.”

“And what an honour that is,” Spencer teases again.

Derek’s just about to say something when they hear the whistling. Dave comes in with his coffee and the remnants of a lipstick stain on his cheek and sits down in the only empty spot left. “What’ve we got today?”

Everyone shares a few looks and knowing smiles, but Aaron answers. “A weird one in Bend, Oregon.”

“An unsub who kills with his car,” Y/N adds.

“They’ve had two victims in the last 12 days,” Hotch explains while they all open their files and have a look.

JJ stands, holding the remote for the projector, She starts to show them their victims. 23-year-old Maria Delgado was stuck while out on a jog and the second, a stranded motorist, Shannon Makely, 43.

“What makes the locals think that they were connected?” Derek asks.

“For one thing, they were both backed over after the initial impact,” JJ explains, showing them the photos again which makes Penelope shield her eyes.

“No accident there,” Dave grumbles, cheerful mood already gone.

“Plus, the treads found at both scenes match. Large vehicle, all-terrain,” Aaron adds but doesn’t cover all of it.

JJ moves to more photos on the screen, the ME report as well, “Wounds also indicate a raised bumper, so they’re thinking a large SUV or a truck.”

“Do they know the model or make?” Spencer asks.

She shakes her head, “Tyres aren’t factory issues. They could be on a number of different vehicles.”

“And no witness at either incident?” Y/N asks, flipping through the file, not finding anything.

“No, just the unlucky people who came across the bodies after it had already happened,” JJ sighs.

“A hit-and-run is loud, usually they draw attention. Somebody usually sees something,” Rossi says, posing the question they’re all thinking. How did no one see it happen?

“Both victims were attacked in secluded areas,” JJ explains further.

“Two tones of metal make a hell of a weapon,” Derek says with a shake of his head, disgusted by the lengths these killers go through.

“Serial killers have been known to become rather attached to their vehicles,” Spencer throws in. “Bittaker and Norris even gave theirs a nickname—

“murder Mack,” Rossi finishes for him.

“Bittaker and Norris were sexual sadists. There’s no sign of torture here,” Hotch reminds them.

“Sounds like a thrill kill?” Y/N proposes. “Opportunistic.”

“Easy targets, randomly selected,” Dave agrees.

“With this type of impact, vehicles shouldn’t be hard to pick out from a lineup,” Derek concludes.

“Yeah, there should be significant front-end damage,” Spencer backs him up.

“Somehow I don’t think this is gonna be that easy,” Dave says, closing his file.

“I contacted the pilot already, the jet is ready whenever we are,” JJ informs them, closing down the screen as they all get ready to go.

“Wheels up in 20.”

—

“I think it's safe to assume this unsub is a male,” Y/N says as soon as the conversation picks back up on the plane.

“I agree with you, given what we know,” Hotch nods, reading over the file again. “At first I thought maybe it could be a woman, using a car to feel powerful but with the amount of road rage and aggression we see in men, it’s less likely it would be a woman doing this.”

“It’s also just too messy,” Spencer adds for good measure.

“Exactly.”

“And men have an unnatural bond with their cars,” Y/N jokingly reminds everyone.

“That is true,” JJ gets it.

“Wait a minute, I don't know about unnatural?” Derek feels offended.

“I once dated a guy who washed his car more than he washed his hair,” JJ stares him down until he gives in.

“A nice car needs love,” Rossi pipes up. Derek points at him cause he gets it.

“And a woman doesn’t?” JJ just blinks, not believing what she’s hearing.

“I’m not qualified to answer that,” Rossi teases, making them all laugh.

“I’m just saying, big car… that’s phallic?” Y/N shrugs, looking at Aaron.

“So he’s compensating?” Aaron poses.

“Or overcompensating,” Spencer corrects.

“Impotent?” Derek suggests.

“Possibly, i-if the unsub sees himself as physically defective the car not only gives him the power and control he otherwise lacks, but it also serves as a shield,” Spencer further explains.

“A way to avoid physical contact?” Hotch asks.

“Power and control,” Y/N starts to put the pieces together out loud. “Female victims… that almost reads like a rape profile.”

“Vehicular rape,” Rossi says, taken aback by the mere thought.

“Rape and thrill kill are two very different profiles,” Derek reminds them.

“What does victimology tell us?” Hotch asks.

“Nothing yet,” JJ shrugs, filling through the pages in her file but coming up short. “Shannon Makely was a white, married, 43-year-old commodities trader and Maria Delgado was a 23-year-old Hispanic graduate student and competitive triathlete.”

“So far gender is our only link,” Hotch agrees. “Hopefully the crime scenes will tell us more… when we get there, Morgan and Rossi you can go to the Makely crime scene. Y/N and I will go to Delgados and then Reid, you and JJ can hit up the ME and then head to the station to set up the boards.”

“Why do you two get to do everything together?” Spencer whines.

“Because you’re the doctor, you need to go and pick out shit the coroner missed and Derek is the best at retracing steps, no offence Rossi,” Y/N answers on Aaron’s behalf.

“None taken. Out of all of you, Derek reminds me the most of what me and Gideon were like in the beginning,” Dave gives him a small smile.

“He was a great teacher,” Derek says. “But it’s fine, we’re still partnered up in the hotels, right?”

“Yep,” JJ tries not to smile. “I’ve got you guys in a room with just one queen, down the hall from the rest of us, too.”

The rest of them smirk too, while Y/N and Aaron haven’t even bothered to get sexual yet, those two weren’t hiding anything. Between strange noises in the middle of the night and the rhythmic knocking of a bed frame on shared walls… it was pretty obvious that the good doctor and Derek Morgan were having a lot of fun together.

—

When they touch down, they separate into 3 SUVs on the tarmac and make their way from the small local airport 3 towns over all the way to Bend. Aaron and Y/N get a call from one of the local cops, Detective Feder, who is going to meet them at the jogging trail and walk them through everything. The main detective, Quinn, is with Rossi and Morgan at the most recent crime scene.

It’ll take them about 45 minutes to get there, though the winding country roads on this side of the country are nice, so it’s no big deal. The trees make for nice shade and the shade brings a cool breeze too, when just one state south they’d be in the disgusting heat of California. They have the windows down, the music on low, Aaron holds her hand as he drives and she looks out the window at the scenery. It’s a nice break from the horrors of their job.

When they arrive, the cop is leaning against his car, arms crossed, waiting. He gives them a tight-lipped smile when they pull up, parking right behind him, they get out at the same time.

“Hey,” the cop waves. “Detective Feder, nice to meet you.”

He shakes Aarons hand first, “Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Y/L/N.”

“Hi,” she smiles while shaking his hand. “Hope you weren’t waiting long?”

“Nah, I just pulled up not 5 minutes ago,” he waves it off. “Follow me,” he says, leading them behind his squad car and towards the trail. “It’s not a very popular jogging area. There aren’t too many people who can take that hill coming up here.”

“Well, she was a triathlete,” Y/N reminds him.

“We figured she jogged in off the main road, headed for the trail up here,” he points to the side. When he gets to the bloody spot on the concrete he stops. “The assailant drove in behind her, and ran her down right here.”

“Uh… a woman jogging alone, no… she would’ve known if someone was tailing her,” Y/N states, speaking from a woman’s point of view, she knows what it's like to be on high alert at all times.

“So maybe he was already here?” Aaron proposes. Looking around, there’s a big red garbage bin that’s been dropped off and what looks to be construction equipment set up behind a fence. “What’s the story with all this equipment?”

“Construction stalled out months ago, no reason for anyone to be up here,” Feder explains.

Aaron keeps walking, behind the garbage bin, “it’s nice and quiet. It's the ideal spot to wait to run somebody down without being seen.”

“A little convenient,” Y/N rolls her eyes.

“Too convenient,” Aaron agrees. “What if it was her? What if she were the reason he was up here?”

“You don’t think this was a random attack?” Y/N’s almost shocked to hear him say that.

He shakes his head and kneels down to look at the dirt, “oil,” he points, pressing his finger into the darkened wet patch and showing them. “He was lying in wait.”

“Shit,” Feder sighs, he can’t believe they missed these signs. “Okay. We should regroup at the station.”

“We’ll call our guys,” Y/N says, going to take out her phone. “On second thought… there’s no service.”

“Yeah most of the county has terrible service,” Feder shrugs. “I’ll radio it in for you, Quinn should get it.”

“Thanks," Aaron gives him a small smile and then motions with his head towards their car to get Y/N to follow.

—

“He may have specifically targeted these women,” Hotch proposes to the others as soon as he sits down at the table.

Y/N and JJ were off talking to family, Derek was on a coffee run, leaving him with the lead detective, Spencer and Dave.

“That takes thrill-kill off the table,” Rossi sits back, wanting to hear everything hotch learned at the first crime scene. Cause that’s how they worked best, going backwards.

“Because the murders were planned in advance?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah,” Spencer hesitates, looking at his board with everything he’s mapped out so far. “This type of stalking behaviour indicates a personal motive. There’s a reason he chose these victims.”

“So you think he knows them?” Quinn follows up, wanting to get a look inside the genius' brain. That’s exactly why he called them in for this with only two murders and not the typical 3 killings that would garner their attention.

“Well, he knew their work schedules, jogging routes, drive patterns,” Hotch points out.

“That would explain how he knew where to strike,” Spencer adds.

“Explains the Delgado girl, she was on a run, but he could’ve known Shannon Makely’s car was gonna break down out there?” Quinn says, having a hard time thinking outside the box, unlike the rest of them.

“Did you look at her car?” Rossi asks.

“Guys at impound said that it was a water pump that blew, said it’s a common enough problem,” Quinn explains.

“Maybe we should take a closer look?” Rossi suggests.

“Why don’t you head over there?” Aaron agrees, sending the best man for that job. Dave was a car guy, he had fixed up countless classics, and he’d know how to talk shop better than the rest of them. “Let me know what you find.”

Right as Dave starts to stand up, Y/N comes rushing over to the table, “Shannon Makely’s husband is here.”

Hotch had requested to talk to him when he arrived, he had questions to ask and hearing them from another man might make it go by easier. Whereas the mother of Maria Delgado would’ve done better with the girls, that’s why he had them speak to her first.

“Okay, thanks,” he starts to stand, “you want to join us?” He asks Detective Quinn.

He nods, standing with him. They all head into an office, Mr. Makely is already in there waiting for them, his eyes puffy and red, he’s been crying. Probably a lot. That was a given. Aaron’s not sure how he’d react if his wife— ex-wife died. Even after everything they’ve been through, he’d probably be devastated too.

“I just want it to make sense,” Mr. Makely cries. “But this…” he doesn’t know what to say.

“We may be able to make some sense of this with your help,” Y/N offers, her kindest voice on display. She hands him a photo of Maria Delgado. “Do you recognize that woman?”

He stares for a mere second and shakes his head. Gripping his water bottle like his life depended on it, “No. Should I?”

“She was the first victim,” Y/N explains. “We’re trying to determine if she was connected to your wife in some way.”

“Connected?” He asks, having a hard time processing everything.

“We think he may have been following them. Gathering information,” Aaron adds. “Did Shannon ever mention or notice anyone?”

“No…” his brows furrow as he thinks back as far as he can but his mind is clearly shadowed by grief.

“Did you ever notice anyone out of the ordinary in your neighbourhood?” She asks, watching him shake his head. “Maybe someone who was walking or driving by the house repeatedly?”

He keeps shaking his head, he really doesn’t think so.

“What about a truck? Or a large SUV?” Hotch asks.

His brows narrow then, his eyes wander back and forth as he puts some pieces together, “Thursday, I was expecting a package, I kept checking the street and there was a truck parked a couple of houses down. I didn’t recognize it.”

“Could you see anyone inside?” Aaron asks.

He shakes his head again, kicking himself, “I couldn’t tell, the windows were blacked out.”

“Tinted?” Aaron repeats in a different phrasing, looking to Y/N and then back to him.

“Yeah, only all the way around, like you see with limousines,” he explains better. He rubs his mouth then, trying his hardest to think back, he visibly hates himself for not remembering more.

Aaron gives him a moment and then asks one last question. “Do you think that you would recognize the truck if you saw it again?”

He sniffles and then clears his throat, pulling himself together, he nods, “Mhm, maybe?”

And so they get him pictures of trucks, makes and models, they print off so many pictures they have to bring in more paper. This is the most this department's printer has ever gone off, as it would seem.

Dave was back from the mechanic pretty soon thereafter, they were behind on things and asked him to come back in a few hours, meaning Aaron could go with him this time.

The mechanic working on the little red car pops the hood and brings them around to look, “we figured it was the water pump because it was pretty much melted but what we didn’t figure out on this—“ he pulls forward a piece of rubber tubing with a slit cut through it.

“This car's pretty new, that wouldn’t be normal wear and tear, would it?” Aaron asks.

“No, the rest of the lines in good condition,” he explains. “Someone punctured it. You can tell from the smooth edge.”

Aaron leans in to get a better look, “How did they do it?”

“Probably reached the blade right through the grill. Penknife, something like that,” he hypothesizes.

“Wouldn’t’ve even had to pop the hood,” Rossi tisks, shaking his head. Theres nothing he hasn’t seen. “And then she drove away without water in the radiator, it explains the overheating.”

“It explains the pump, too,” The mechanic adds.

“Could someone possibly gauge how far she could’ve travelled with a car in this condition?” Hotch asks one last question to chase his theory.

He presses his lips together and shrugs, “Someone who knows cars could make an educated guess, I suppose.”

“Thank you,” Aaron reaches over to shake his hand, that’s everything he needed.

Dave does the same thing, shaking the man's hand before the two of them head off back towards their own car. “Sabotage. This guys more focused than we thought. Well organized, highly motivated.”

“By what though?” Aaron asks, still stuck on that part. “What do these women have in common?”

“Different ages, appearance, social status. He’s not hunting a specific type,” Dave recounts.

“Their only connection is the unsub. There has to have been contact before the attacks,” Hotch says, going back on what they’ve profiled before.

Rossi picks that us, “but we profiled a guy who would be afraid of contact? The trucks a shield.”

“Maybe the contacts are incidental. There’s something he perceives in their exchange. Something about his perception triggers his fixation,” Hotch explains. “Could be the way she looks at him, something she says, or even something as trivial as what she’s wearing… whatever it is, the victims have no idea what they’ve set in motion.”

—

Visiting the crime scenes, and talking with loved ones and the mechanic was really all they could do that day. The team goes out for dinner together around 6 and by 8 they’re all in their hotel rooms with nothing to do for 12 hours— or when another kill comes in.

Y/N and Aaron have a room with two beds, like always, one to sleep in together and one for all their bags to sit on. They change, they get into bed together and by 9pm they’re cuddled into each other and absolutely exhausted. It’s midnight back home, they’d normally still be up at this time but still, all the travel and the emotional toll of talking to victim's families has them pretty wiped out.

He loves this time of night, the way they cuddle and how she fits next to him like she’s the other half of his puzzle. They talk a little, about the case and also about nothing serious at all. He loves this part of the night, when they’re tucked away in some random bed in a random town in America… he never thought he’d have this.

He never imagined one day he wouldn’t be with Haley, and even if he did, he never thought he’d be happy without her. So much of his marriage with her was good, he loved coming home to a cuddle and a good night's sleep. But on the other end, he spent a lot of nights completely alone. He would cuddle his pillow and have terrible sleep only to wake up grumpy and keep searching for another psychopath.

Now, he gets to sleep beside his girlfriend whom he loves so much every single night, no matter where he is. Dating someone on his team was not something he thought would ever happen. He had no idea the joy that dating someone at work could bring him.

“I love you,” he whispers before kissing the back of her neck.

“I love you,” she replies, he can hear the smile on her face.

He holds her a bit tighter, snuggling in against her more, “This is so nice to get to sleep beside you on nights like this.”

“Oh, Aaron,” she has her hand over his, and she squeezes him lovingly.

“I mean it… after talking to Shannon Makely’s husband today, I’m just, I’m really glad I have you.”

She wiggles out of his grip and for a moment he fears that she doesn’t feel the same, instead, she turns to face him. Even in the dark, he can make out her features. He holds her close once more, chest to chest this time, and she smiles. She cups his face and leans in for a quick kiss.

“I feel the same… but I have a question?”

“Okay?”

“If something happened to you, would you want me to talk to Haley?” She asks. “And I’m not talking if you die, I mean, if you’re stabbed or shot or taken hostage, do you want me to talk to her or should that conversation come from Rossi or Strauss?”

“Oh,” he’s never thought about that. “I’d want you to tell her. I mean, she knows we're close so she probably expects it to be you… but if I ever do die on the job, I definitely want it to be you who talks to her. I want you to be the one to give them access to my apartment and make sure Jack gets all my things and that my funeral goes smoothly.”

She doesn’t say anything, but her breathing picks up and he can tell she’s trying hard not to cry. “Okay.”

He simply pulls her in closer and rests his cheek off the top of her head, “but that’s not going to happen.”

“I know.”

“And if it’s ever the other way around if it’s Haley who dies before me, I want you to be with me if I have to go through that. If Jack is still young enough to need to move in with me full-time, I’d want you to be around for that too. I know I’d be a mess if I lost her, and if Jack lost his mom, and that’s not because I’m still in love with her… I mean, I do love her. But I’m not in love with her. If I lost her it would be hard on us, but I’d want you to be there with me when things get hard.”

“Of course, I’d be there for you,” she assures him. “The same way I’d want you to come home with me if my parents passed away. She’s family. I know that. I’m never going to be jealous of her. I’d want to be there for Jack too. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose your mom as a kid, and I hope he never has to go through that. I’m praying that his mom is in his life for as long as possible and that maybe one day me and haley could even become friends. I want us to be a family, as unconventional as that may be, I love you enough to love everyone in your family, too.”

He wants to cry now too. When he got divorced he never ever, ever thought that he’d find someone who loves him and his family this way. He never thought his girlfriend would want to be close to his ex-wife. He never imagined a world where his son would have two strong and wonderful women to look up to but that’s what he found.

“I love you,” Aaron says before kissing the top of her head. “I love you so much.”

She kisses his neck where her head is tucked in, holding him as close as possible. “Sometimes I can’t believe this happened. Like, I thought you were cute when I started working with you and I knew you were married and I thought all Jack's photos on your desk were so sweet. I really just wanted to be your friend after the divorce. I never had a lot of girlfriends, I’m not super close to JJ or Penelope, so getting to know you was the first time I had a good friend in a long time.”

“Finding friends as an adult is hard,” he sympathizes. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without our phone calls… I spent the first few months completely silent in my apartment all alone and then you filled my nights with laughter and smiles and I woke up the next morning excited to go to work. I didn’t even realize I was in love with you until it was almost too late.”

She smiles, “I only figured it out cause I got jealous in New York.”

“God, this last year has been absolutely insane,” he shakes his head. He got divorced, he fell in love and the only other woman he’s ever slept with in his life died. In his arms, too. It’s been such a traumatic year but Y/N made it liveable. She made it okay.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else.”

—

They’re up and ready by 7, unable to sleep in that long when their body clock was off.

They all leave at different times, JJ left with Rossi just before Y/N and Aaron were done getting ready and texted that they left. Derek and Spencer were running a little late but that was usual. They had just enough time to get coffee at a local family-owned diner and they even get some breakfast sandwiches too, which were on the house as the owners were thankful the FBI was in town to help. It put an extra pep in their step that morning.

When they arrived at the station, Mr. Makely was already there, still looking through photos of vehicles from the day before but in a new outfit. He went home, didn’t sleep but came back changed to give the illusion that he did. He smelled like booze and the bags under his eyes were the same purple as the tie Aaron had on yesterday. So Arron heads over to the coffee maker, pours the man a cup and sets it down beside him with a smile.

This was going to be a long day.

By the time Derek and Spencer get in, Y/N and JJ have already gone through a box of information gathered on the first two victims. Where they grew up, who they went to school with, their family members, hospital records, speeding tickets, you name it and they’ve seen it. Nothing has added up yet.

Derek takes a seat by Mr. Makely, asking him how he’s doing and questioning him on what he’s able to remember thus far and Marley takes a couple images and lays them out. “These ones stick out.”

“All Ford models, similar grills like you described yesterday,” Derek nods along.

“I guess, they just didn’t have that emblem,” he points. “There was no hood ornament, nothing like that.”

“I understand how hard this must be, but it’ll really help us to know what the truck looks like,” Derek sympathizes. “Our tech girl can put in all these specifications into the system and narrow down who drives this model, she can even go further and track down who’s bought grills and had them shipped to Bend recently.”

“I’ll keep looking,” he assures Derek with a smile.

Derek pats his shoulder and then joins the team at the round table. “How’s it going?” Aaron asks.

“Well, we're down to an older model, black, American-made. Sounds like he de-badged the trucks so nobody could ID him,” Derek explains.

“I can start a list from the DMV matching what we know?” Quinn offers.

“That’s gonna kill a lot of trees up in these parts,” Derek makes a joke, even in times like these he still found a way.

“The trucks only gonna get us so far,” Hotch agrees. “What we need to do is build on the profile.”

“Well he’s mechanically inclined,” Reid throws in. “He certainly knows his way around an engine block.”

“And he can pull a dent too,” Y/N suggests. “If he’s fixing the body damage to his truck himself.”

“Both victims were killed during prime office hours which means he has a flexible work schedule,” Aaron adds.

“Or he might not be working at all? Uh, stalking someone, getting to know their schedule that’s some pretty serious time commitment,” Reid reminds them all.

“8% of the states out of work,” Quinn shares.

“Job loss is a classic stressor,” Derek says for good measure.

“It’s a start,” Hotch sighs. “Look for men who are employed as mechanics, body shops, and look for those with criminal records. Reckless driving, assault…”

“Two murders in 2 weeks, that’s not much of a cooling-off period,” Y/N says.

“He’s not going to wait for another opportunity to present itself,” Hotch agrees.

“No, he’ll create one,” Reid adds, knowing the odds.

—

The call comes in just after 5 p.m., in the middle of shift change. There was another murder, in the parking garage of the local hospital this time. Aaron heads out with Y/N Rossi and Reid, leaving Derek with Mr. Makely and JJ to contact the family once they know more.

When they get there it's a gruesome sight. He was hit in front of the elevator, almost pancaked between the grill of the truck and the metal doors.

“Impact nearly cut him in two,” Quinn says, closing back up the body bag that the coroner had placed the victim in. “His name is Victor Costella. Pediatrist. He works in the building.”

“A male victim?” Y/N can’t believe it.

“There goes the vehicular rape theory,” Rossi says with a sigh, this case was starting to piss him off.

“He ran down from the level above trying to get away,” Quinn explains.

“So the initial collision was up there?” Rossi points. Quinn nods, “Let's go see it.”

They leave the victim where he is and walk up the roundabout ramp towards where he was originally parked. A few cars got caught in the scuffle, and crime scene detectives are already up there taking photos and documenting everything.

“That’s the victims car?” Reid points at the red coop.

“Yeah, why?” Quinn asks, not seeing why it’s important.

“Hold on just a moment,” Reid says, taking his phone from his pocket. “Garcia, I need you to look into something.”

They all knew what that meant. They were about to have a crack in this case and hopefully one big enough to blow it wide open.

“It’s a reserved spot,” Aaron points at the wall, the sign is screwed into the concrete wall with Dr. Costella written on it. Rusty and faded, he’s been at this practice a long time.

“The unsub knew where he was going to park, must’ve gotten here early and picked a spot right across from him,” Rossi explains, turning to look at the other parking spots.

“Somebody might’ve seen him waiting,” Y/N says, hopeful to talk to an eyewitness.

“Somebody did,” Detective Feder says, showing up from the lower level and surprising them with his presence. “I talked to an X-ray tech on the third floor, she noticed the truck when she arrived.

“And he was inside it?” Y/N asks.

“Yeah but she couldn’t see him because of the tint,” he explains.

“So how did she know he was inside the truck?” Aaron asks.

“She said the window was cracked, the occupant was smoking,” he explains further.

Rossi perks right up, “I don’t suppose your people found any cigarette butts?”

Feder looks as though he didn’t even think to look, causing Rossi to head over to the vacant spot across from Costella’s and start to look. “What time did the tech get in?” Rossi asks.

“10 am,” Feder answers.

“7 hours… a proper addict could kill a while pack in that time,” Rossi mutters to himself, squatting down with his pen in hand, he pushes around a couple balled up, yellow, pieces of paper. “Did you ever smoke?” He asks the group.

“I used to do a lot of things,” Y/N answers, honestly.

“I bet you never did this,” he taps the ground.

“He field stripped it,” Aaron notices.

“What is that?” Y/N asks, having not heard the term before, or at least not remembering what it meant.

“Something they teach soldiers to avoid leaving traces in the field,” Quinn explains.

“They squeeze out the filter and then ball up the surrounding paper,” Rossi gives a more detailed explanation.

“Okay so our guy could be ex-military?” Y/N proposes.

Feder takes out some tweezers and an evidence bag, “I’ll get some DNA on this. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’s in our system.”

“If he’s military, why would he choose a truck as his weapon?” Quinn asks.

“Maybe he drove a tank?” Feder shrugs.

“That’s a good question,” Rossi assures Quinn, ignoring Feder. “Using a vehicle on the open road is one thing, but this is close quarters.”

“Yeah, the truck is loud and draws attention. Plus he risked rendering in inoperable,” Y/N adds.

“That doesn’t make any sense?” Quinn is a ball of confusion now. Shaking his head, he just wants this to be over with. He wants answers now. He’s not used to the chase in a small town like this.

“It makes sense to him. He needs to kill this way,” Aaron says and then takes a deep breath, dropping his shoulders, he places his hand on Quinn's arm. “We’ll figure out why.”

Reid comes running up the ramp then. Rounding the corner, he’s out of breath already but he has news. “Guys!” They all turn to him. “I think I figured out what connects these victims.”

He explains it once on their walk back to the SUV and then again at the station, filling in JJ and Derek this time as well. “All the victims drove red, two-door coupes.”

“Don’t you think that could be a coincidence?” Quinn asked, not fully sold.

“It’s statistically significant,” Spencer says, sassy as ever in his own Spencer way.

“We haven’t been able to find any other common denominators,” JJ adds.

“if the unsub is targeting people because of their cars, then his initial contact with them would’ve been on the road,” Hotch explains in a way Quinn would better understand.

“Exactly,” Spencer nods, giving him a small smile to say thank you.

“I spoke to the families about the victim's daily car travel— how they got to work, the gym,” JJ points to the board, showing the different coloured pins for the different victims and the routes they took.

“There’s one road all the victims had in common,” Spencer points out.

Three pins are along one highway. The same highway Shannon Makely was murdered on.

“Route seven.” Quinn knows all too well what that road is like and they can tell by the look on his face.

“That means something to you?” Hotch asks, staring him down, he’s talked to the man enough to know whatever he was about to say wasn’t good news.

“Maybe we should take a drive.”

—

It doesn’t take long to drive out there, maybe 20 minutes? Quinn pulls over onto the side of the road and puts his safety blinkers on. They get out together and he walks them over to the side of the cliff. There’s about a 200-meter drop from where they are standing down to a clearing of trees.

Spencer gets close to the edge, looking down while Aaron stays back further. He’s not terrified of heights but he knew what was good for him.

“Anyone living outside bend who commutes toward Eugene, uses Route 7. It’s the most dangerous stretch of highway in the state,” Quinn explains. “They call it suicide seven.”

Along the roadside there are white crosses, the kind you see on the side of the road in the middle of no where to mark where an accident took place. Either drunk driving or mechanical trouble, swerving into the wrong lane after not enough sleep or black ice in the middle of winter that sends you spinning out… there’s way too many in this little section of highway for them not to find it suspicious.

“These crosses represent accidents?” Spencer asks, filling in the blanks in his building theory.

“Fatalities. The fire chief put them up to remind drivers to be careful,” Quinn explains, monotoned and expressionless.

Aaron could tell he hated this part of the job. He would too.

“Two lanes, no dividers, I’m assuming there’s a lot of head-on collisions?”

“Either that or they go off the side,” Quinn says, letting out a deep breath and walking away from the edge.

“Reid you mentioned the possibility of a physical limitation, something that kept the unsub from attacking in a traditional way?” Aaron asks him.

“I was talking about impotence but we ruled out sexual motivation,” he reminds him.

“What if he’d been involved in a crash?”

“On this road…” Spencer starts to nod, putting more pieces together, Aaron could tell it was starting to make sense to not just himself now. “If the unsub is disabled it explains why he uses a truck— it gives him power, mobility…”

“But what?” Aaron asks, wanting him to explain everything going on inside his genius mind.

“The idea that he’s avenging his own physical suffering speaks to a victim mentality that’s inconsistent with the profile,” Spencer explains, puzzled by this piece.

He thinks back to the conversation he had last night with Y/N. How he’d want her by his side if someone important to him died. He didn’t bring it up then, but if he ever lost her. If Y/N ever died… he’d never be okay again. He never once understood why these men were able to kill so easily and then he fell in love again. Harder than ever before. He would kill for her if he had to.

“Then maybe it’s not just about his own suffering,” Aaron hypothesizes. “What if he got hurt in an accident that took a loved one? His wife or child, or both?”

“We’ve had a few cases like that on this highway,” Quinn nods, “I can get the guys back at the station to start pulling files of men who survived while their family didn’t.”

“Broaden that to women and children who died with husbands who weren’t in the car,” Spencer asks. “He could also have been disabled in combat and come home to his family dead, I doubt it but it's still good to add to the search.”

“Good idea,” Aaron agrees.

When they get in the car this time, he feels a little less easy. Turning around, doing a U-turn on this scary patch of road, it made his stomach uneasy. He was never good at being in the car when someone else was driving. He’s old enough now to know a life of having his licence longer than being without it. He hated giving that control away, unless it was with Y/N or Dave and even Derek.

—

When they get back they have just an hour to prep the final profile and before they get in front of the station and local reporters, Aaron pulls Y/N aside. He steals a hug and a kiss from her.

“What was that for?”

“Cause I can,” he says, just holding her closer. He rubs his hand up and down her back. “I love you.”

“You can love me all you want once we catch this guy,” she teases as she pulls away. “Come on, we’ve got a profile to give.”

He knows she’s right, he shouldn’t be doing this here, in a random back corner of the office where no one can see them. He should be prepping with the others, but he couldn’t help it.

He follows her back towards the others, his smile fades and he puts his stern and serious look back on. It was hard being happy and in love while around such horrible things all the time, but he found a way to make it work. When they get back to the table, the whole station has gathered and a few reporters from the next town over are there too, waiting and ready for the team to start talking.

“As we speak, this profile and a description of the unsubs truck are being released to state and national media,” Aaron explains, standing with the others in front of the crowd.

“In addition to what we already know, we believe the unsub is ex-military, most likely army or marines,” Spencer speaks next.

Y/N takes a half step forward, “We also believe he’s physically handicapped.”

“Form combat?” One of the officers asks.

Aaron shakes his head, “most likely from an automobile accident.”

“An accident that may have occurred along route 7, where the unsub finds his victims,” Y/N adds.

“And that has something to do with why he’s going after red coupes,” Quinn says, sitting with the rest of his station but still in the loop more than the others.

“We believe that he holds the driver of a comparable vehicle responsible for his accident,” Spencer explains further.

“And this person is the object of his rage, but unable to confront them, he’s taking revenge against a surrogate,” Aaron makes it absolutely clear that these victims didn’t hurt the unsub first, they just remind him of the person who did.

“These boxes contain accident reports uh, from a strip of route 7 between Bend and Eugene. There’s about 5 years worth, we’re going to need everyone you can spare to comb through them,” Y/N says, taking the lid off of one of the boxes.

“We’ve also compiled a list of local rehabilitation facilities where the unsub may have gone to recover. Use the profile as you canvas these places,” Spencer adds.

“Remember we’re looking for a white male in his early 40s, former military who may have sustained serious injury in a car accident,” Aaron makes the final summary and then disburse.

He reaches for the TV remote and then, turns it up to hear JJ on the local news giving the same report.

“Though only owners of red coupes have been targeted, at this point, we’re asking all the driving public to be vigilant on the road. If you know anyone who fits this description please contact the Bend Police Department immediately. Thank you.”

While JJ is on the news, Derek and Dave have split off two canvases a few different facilities and ask questions. Y/N is about to leave to hit up a few more with Agent Feder, which leaves Aaron with Spencer to go over everything else and wait for calls. So far nothing serious has come from the lines, mainly people saying they’ve seen reckless red coupes on that road or saying their neighbour has that kind of car, but nothing substantial.

When JJ comes back she weeds through the emails from the news station, some people have contacted the news instead of the police because they want their 5 seconds of fame if they got the suspect right. So far almost everyone just knows someone with a black truck, nothing about a disabled man or even licence plate numbers to back their theories up.

And then they get a walk-in.

“Hotch,” JJ comes over to hear him. “This guy walked in, his name is Gil Bonner.”

“What’s his story?” He asks.

“It’s about the unsubs accident he says it’s his fault,” she says, scratching the back of her head and looking as though she doesn’t know if she can believe him or not.

Aaron stands right up and follows her over to the man with Spencer in tow, he shakes his hand and introduces himself as the head of the investigation, making him follow them into another room to talk privately. “Tell us the story from the beginning.”

He sits down and stares at the wall for a moment. “It was late and I had spent all day in Eugene with my mom, she’d been sick… I should’ve been driving, but I just wanted to get home to see my little girl. And it was darker than usual. I remember the moon, it was just a sliver. Right outside the Cascades, my phone started vibrating. When I went to reach for it, I knocked it off the far side of the seat and it fell down by the door and I thought I could reach.”

He gets teary-eyed explaining it all, he can’t meet their eyes for worry they’d look at him like a monster. He’s so filled with shame, he’s been holding this story in for such a long time that recalls it like a folktale.

“You took your eyes off the road,” JJ says in the most sympathetic tone, talking to him like a teacher or a friend. Trying to make sure he can trust them.

“It could’ve been for more than a few seconds, but when I looked back up there were lights and this horn was blaring and I swerved at the last second and I just… kept on going,” he explains. “Without a scratch?”

“You’d gone into the oncoming lane?” Hotch asks, trying to better understand.

The man just nods.

“What happened to the other vehicle?” Spencer asks.

“That’s the thing,” he whispers, brows furrowed, he’s trying his hardest to think back to the exact things that happened that night but the sleep deprivation from that night and the time that’s passed make it hard. “It was in my rearview mirror and then it was gone. Vanished!”

“Why didn’t you stop?” Aaron asks, there is no way he wouldn’t stop if this was him.

“It didn’t seem real,” he explains, still not able to look at him.

“You’re saying you just pretended it didn’t happen?” JJ asks.

“I guess if you tell yourself something for long enough… You can make anything true,” he says, trying his best not to break down. The guilt is eating him alive.

“Well you’re here now,” Aaron assures him that it’ll be okay. “Tell us about the other vehicle.”

“It was the truck you’re looking for.”

“How do you know that?” Aaron needs him to be as sure as possible.

“When I saw the news… it all made sense,” he explains. “It’s come back for revenge.”

They all look at each other, concerned for this man. He’s speaking as if the truck is a ghost and it’s looking for him not that there's a killer out there using this accident as a reason to kill.

“When did the accident happen?” JJ asks, bringing him back to the real issue.

“December ’07,” he spits right back, knowing it exactly. “The second Saturday.”

Spencer quickly reads over the report in his hand, “There were no accidents reported in December of 2007.”

“No,” he whispers, shaking his head. “Thats— no??”

“Maybe you have your dates wrong?” Aaron sympathizes, it was a long time ago and he was under stress. Dates blur in times like these.

“Could’ve been November?”

“Uh, memories are kinda like puzzle pieces,” Spencer explains. “And it’s-it’s quite possible that in suppressing these for so long, you’ve sort of rearranged things?”

He breaks down then, shaking his head.

“How long was your mother sick?” Aaron asks, maybe this will get them closer to the real date.

“5 months,” he knows that for a fact. When it comes to sick relatives, to losing a loved one, you don’t forget that. “She… she died in January. That much I know.”

They let him stay in the room to calm down as long as he needs to but Aaron and Spencer leave. They head back to the table silently and then they both sigh as they take their seats.

“I feel bad for the guy,” Spencer shares.

Aaron nods, “I remember when my mother died, she was sick for a few years before. I remember it like it was yesterday… hopefully JJ and Garcia can pull some hospital records and we can pinpoint when the moon was like that in the later months of 2007.”

“Maybe the others will come back with something from the rehab facilities that we can cross references with him,” Spencer agrees.

“I hope they come back soon,” Aaron says with his small voice.

“It’s strange you know? We’ve been a team for years and I’ve been beside Derek almost every day since the start and now when he’s partnered off doing something without me, it feels like I haven’t seen him in ages,” Spencer sympathizes with him.

“It is weird,” Aaron agrees. “But it’s also nice loving someone so much that a few minutes apart makes you miss them.”

He nods, trying not to smile too big, “I’m glad she finally told you, I’ve been waiting for you guys to get together for a year.”

“I’ve been expecting you and Morgan to get together since 2005,” he teases back.

“Why?”

“Because he’s always been into you, from the moment you started he was fascinated in you and you just never picked up on it because his flirting comes off as teasing,” Aaron explains. “Y/N was telling me that when we went to Chicago to help him after he was arrested, you were at his mother's house and she said he always talked about you to them. He’s been in love with you a lot longer than you think.”

“Oh,” Spencer softens. “I had no idea.”

He laughs, “we know.”

“I knew Y/N was into you when we were at the cemetery, right after New York,” he explains. “I have never seen someone yell at you like that.”

“I know,” he just shakes his head with a smile. “It was a shock for me too.”

JJ comes rushing from the room then, “Hey, I called Y/N and told her about the crash happening between September ’07 and January ’08, she’s with Derek right now at one of the facilities. Feder got called to another issue somewhere else, but they think they found someone who fits the profile. They’re on their way back now.”

“Sounds good.”

—

When Y/N and Derek get back they take a seat at the table beside their partners and get Penelope on the line. She’s able to send them over details on this guy from the rehab centre, Ian Coakley and Reid pulls the information about said crash from one of the boxes Y/N brought out earlier that day.

“Ian and Sheila Coakley crashed while driving home from Napa Valley, going eastbound on Route 7 around midnight. It appeared their car was run off the road, and flipped numerous times. No witnesses,” Spencer recounts before laying the file on the table for the others to see.

“His wife was riding in the passenger seat, she died at the scene,” Y/N adds, heartbroken for them.

“Coakley survived,” Aaron read from the file. “Paramedics indicated spinal cord injury.”

“He fractured his T6 and T7 vertebrae,” Morgan says with a sigh, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat.

“Paraplegic,” Aaron nods along.

“That’s not all, he’s a former light-wheel mechanic in the Army National Guard,” Spencer adds.

“Did it say anything about a red car?” Quinn asks.

“No. It says Coakley suffered memory loss after the accident,” Aaron reads from the file.

“Short-term retrograde amnesia is common after a serious accident,” Spencer confirms.

“I think it’s safe to say he remembers now,” Rossi shakes his head.

“Do we have an address?” Aaron asks, wanting to go forward with an arrest.

“I’m working on it,” Penelope says from the office phone which has been on speaker the whole time. “Okay, the house Coakley and his wife bought was foreclosed on 10 months after the accident.”

“Well, there’s gotta be a paper trail then?” Spencer jumps the gun.

“Yeah and that trail leads to a land called nowhere,” Penelope spits back. Typing away. “He cashed some insurance cheques during his stay at Adelman's house but after he left... Zilch."

“Any relatives he could be staying with?” Aaron asks.

“No, I tried that,” Garcia explains. “There’s no family in the area. My exquisitely educated guess is he’s either squatting or subletting with cash.”

“What about his truck?” Rossi asks.

“He owns a ’79 Dodge D100, he bought it used 10 years ago,” she explains.

“he’s had to rebuild it several times now, parts can’t be easy to find for a truck that old,” Rossi reminds her. She’s found more people with less before.

“I smell what you’re cooking agent… Checking auto suppliers in Bend… yeah! Rossi gets a fruit cup with lunch. He’s having the parts drop-shipped through Sid’s Auto and sent directly to an address in southwest Bend,” Penelope explains in her ever-Penelope way.

“Send us the exact address, let’s gear up,” Hotch says as he starts to stand up. “We’ve got two options, either he’s there or he’s out stalking his next victim, I want the crime scene to be there to search the house regardless of if he’s there and if he isn’t I need unmarked cars canvassed in the surrounding areas so he doesn’t get spooked if he comes back and sees sirens and officers. We’re getting this guy. Today.”

“I’ve sent it to your phones and the fax machine there at the station,” Penelope explains. “I’ve also emailed the information to the local judge, we should have a warrant ready in the next half hour.”

“You’re a godsend, Penelope,” Derek reminds her.

“I know. Be safe, come home to me!”

“We always do!” Y/N smiles before hitting the end call button and joining the others in getting ready.

—

Derek is the first one inside, like always, he’s followed by Rossi, then Hotch, Quinn and finally Y/N and a few cops. They clear each room, his garage and his backyard, he’s not there. Just like Aaron suspected.

“His truck is gone,” Derek says as he comes back in from the garage.

“Get all the vehicles off the street and start a perimeter,” Rossi orders to the other officers. “If he comes back this way we’ll want to be ready for him.”

“On it,” they all scatter like flies, leaving the house just as the crime scene unit comes in with Reid and JJ.

“Rossi,” Derek gets his attention, “you’re gonna want to see this.”

Rossi follows him out into the garage leaving Y/N and Aaron in Coakley’s kitchen. “I want you guys to search everything, find me any clues as to who he’s going to be getting next, Quinn and I are going to be driving around Route 7 and the reservoir looking for him. Radios work better than phones up here,” he hands Y/N a walkie and then another to JJ and Reid. “Give this one to Dave and Morgan, Call me if you hear anything.”

“You bet,” JJ gives him a smile and starts getting to work.

“Hey,” Y/N stops him before he heads out. “Be careful.”

“I always am.”

They head out then, Hotch drives this time with Quinn in the driver's seat. He’s a quiet man, he doesn’t speak unless spoken to and he could do without small talk. Aaron liked that about him. So far they’ve only talked about the case and similar ones like it, he’s asked questions about if they’ve seen anything like this before and about the other team members but that’s about it.

So needless to say, he’s shocked when he brings up Y/N.

“You two been together long?” He asks.

“Hm? Oh, me and Agent Y/L/N? A while now, yeah,” he tries not to smile.

“She’s nice, smart too,” he compliments.

Aaron just nods, “She’s amazing.”

They’re quiet again for a while, the radio on low and Quinn hums along. He looks out the window and points out every black truck they see but none of them have the License plate they’re looking for, but they know he’s out there.

They get a radio in from Morgan about 15 minutes into the drive, Coakley had photos of previous vics and one man they haven’t seen before. Garcia traced his licence plate and Derek took Y/N over to the guy's house to ask where he is. He’s on a bike ride, headed towards the reservoir. They have this man's bike path mapped out and are chasing him.

“Hotch, we’re on Route 26 heading towards the reservoir, I think we’re about halfway around the loop. So far, no sign of him,” Y/N radios through.

“Copy that. We’re headed southbound on 20. Hopefully, we can hit route 26 before they fly by,” Aaron radios back.

He speeds up, zooming along the old country roads, dust flying behind his tires. He’s careful around the edges, hyper-vigilant that this is a scary road and he’s not the only one on it.

The next radio in is from JJ. “Hotch, you know how Coakley was driving his wife’s car on the night of the accident?”

“I remember.”

“It was a red coupe,” she explains.

“Are you sure?” He can’t believe it.

“We have pictures,” she says, completely positive.

Hotch looks at Quinn carefully and then back to the road, Quinn holds his own radio to his mouth, “What does it mean?” He asks.

“Maybe there was no other car on the road?” JJ hypothesizes.

“Think about it, the make and model of his target car keeps changing,” Y/N chirps in from her end.

“Like he knows they aren’t right,” Hotch adds.

“And his doctor at the rehab facility called it fluid memory but what if it was more than that?”

“So if it’s a single car accident—

“It was Coakley's fault,” Y/N cuts off Quinn. “He was driving back from Napa Valley that night. That’s a long drive.”

“Fell asleep at the wheel,” Quinn can fill in the blanks himself. He’s heard it all before. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“The guilt of that would be overwhelming. The truth, almost impossible to take,” Y/N adds.

“So he’s projecting blame?” Aaron asks, corroborating his theory.

“A red coupe did cause the accident, and he was driving it,” Y/N assures him he’s right.

They reach route 26 then, tyres squeal as he takes a turn and then he gets right back up to speed. Aaron follows the winding path and from his elevation, he can see the truck chasing a group of bikers as they come up the hill. There’s an intersection coming up, the bikers are already heading through it as Aaron goes even faster, hitting 120mph now, he’s going to meet Coakley at the intersection.

“HANG ON!”

Aaron smacks right into the front end of Coakley’s truck as the bikers get away without a scratch. The airbags deployed, they get ditched and the ringing in his ears comes back. He can’t move from his seat, he can barely open both eyes, and he knows he’ll be diagnosed with a concussion as soon as he’s seen by someone but he doesn’t care.

By the time he’s able to get out of the vehicle, it’s too late. The truck has backed up and he’s about to head off after the bikers once more. But Quinn draws his weapon and starts to talk to him anyway.

“You can’t blame other people for what you’ve done Coakley!”

That’s not going to work.

“Detective!” Aaron yells from his seat.

“You know the truth! No one else needs to die,” he continues.

“It’s not going to help!” Aaron tries to get him to stop.

“There was no other red car, was there?” He finally says, making Coakley snap back into reality.

These cases end in 1 of two ways. Either kill themselves or get the cops to do it for them.

Aaron unclips his seatbelt and starts trying to get out but there’s too much damage to the front end of the SUV. His door won’t budge. Coakley is starting his truck back up and he’s about to get away so he pushes harder on the door. It pops open just as Coakely speeds off.

Y/N, riding with Derek, sees Aaron leaning against the SUV and the blood on his face. She jumps out of the car before it even comes to a halt while Aaron shouts, “Go! Go!!” Making Derek keep chasing him.

“Aaron Hotchner!” She scolds him, “What the fuck was that?”

“Oh, don’t start with me,” he waves her off, heading back to the crashed SUV to talk to Detective Quinn.

“You do this all the time!” She yells at him, following him over. “You put yourself in harm's way and you get hurt and then you get pissy that you can’t go back to work right away. Maybe if you stopped putting yourself in the middle of shit—

He turns back to her in the middle of her rant, “I get it! I’m an idiot! But at least those bikers are still alive!”

“Thank god for that!” She yells right back. “It's not like we need you to stay alive too.”

“What is your problem? I’m clearly alive right now?!”

“This time.” That’s all she says. She turns around and starts walking away, up the hill and towards where Derek and all the cops drove.

She makes him feel bad, but at the same time, he’d do it again. His job isn’t to protect and serve, it’s to profile and track down killers. That’s it. He should know that by now… but it doesn’t stick. He’s never been just a normal cop, Derek has, so his instincts aren’t always questioned. It’s ingrained in him. The team brushes it off and sometimes Aaron has to give him a talk.

No one ever gives Aaron the talk. Except Strauss, sometimes she gets on his ass but it’s never got a good reason.

Having someone he loves so much, who loves Him so much, yell at him… that’s new. And he doesn’t like it.

—

Y/N has her own room key, she leaves the precinct before the others and heads to their room so that she doesn’t have to talk to Aaron or see him anymore. She’s still so mad at him. He knows it too.

He arrives at the hotel later on, slowly but surely, he shows up after she’s already changed and sitting in the middle of her own bed. Making it clear to him that he can have the other. She’s in the one furthest from the door, on what is usually his side so that she’s extra far away from him when he gets in.

“Hey,” he says with his safest voice, watching as she simply raises her brows to acknowledge him and then goes back to her book. She sighs, a huff of air leaves her nose and she’s biting her tongue, She clearly wants to say something but doesn’t.

He drops his bags on the floor, kicks off his shoes, tosses his suit jacket onto the free bed and slowly makes his way over to her bed, sitting on the edge with his ankle locked under his other knee. He cocks his head to the side and stares softly. “I’m sorry.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it. I just get so caught up with these guys that I forget that you’re right behind me and you’re watching and everything I do has consequences that you have to deal with, too,” he explains, trying to be as genuine as humanly possible. He wants her to believe him.

“Did you at least get it checked out?” She asks, softening a bit.

He nods and points to the bandage on his forehead, “No concussion and my ear is okay. My chest might bruise up from the seatbelt and this little cut will heal in a day or two, but other than that, I’m okay.”

She nods then too, getting a little choked up. “I can’t lose you. I just got you. I never thought it would happen, Aaron. I thought you loved your ex-wife still and my little crush would end up suffocating me until I moved units. I didn’t think you’d ever love me back and to see you get hurt again after everything we’ve gone through just triggered me a little.”

“It’s okay,” he quickly gets up and sits closer to her, pulling her in for a hug. He rubs her back and kisses the top of her head. “I love you so much I’m never going anywhere. I’m not saying I won’t get hurt again, I can’t see the future, but I’m going to try and stop putting myself in the middle of things.”

“You promise?” She whispers, tossing the blanket away so she can crawl into his lap. She cups his face as she sits down on him. “Please?”

He nods, “I promise, sweetheart. I’m not going to put myself in the middle of this shit anymore.”

“So we won’t have screaming matches in the middle of the woods anymore?” She teases.

He smirks, “Not unless you want to.”

She manages to laugh, dragging her hands down to his tie, she starts to undo it. “I mean… it was pretty hot. I like when you’re angry, every time I’ve seen you put someone in their place I get a little hot and bothered, so it was strange having you yell at me for a change.”

“When you yelled at me that first time, in the cemetery,” he whispers, staring at her lips. “I had to go back to the car because being a little high and in pain… and then getting yelled at like that…”

“Seriously?” Her jaw drops and she looks at him like she’s starving.

He nods again, “You’re hot when you’re in charge.”

She just smirks, pulling his tie off, and she keeps unbuttoning his shirt. She pulls it out of his suit pants, finishes off the buttons, and then runs her hands over his chest. Through the sprinkling of chest hair, she feels him up, “I thought our first time would be more slow and sweet and cute… but now I want to get all bossy and make you fuck the shit out of me.”

“Make me?” He chuckles, “Really?”

“Yeah,” she teases. She leans in and kisses his cheek, “I think,” and then his jaw, “You should,” and down his neck, “fuck me,” her kisses go lower, “‘n show me how sorry you are.”

Her hands now roaming around to his back, over his hips and over his bulge. He basks in it, already getting hard underneath her from just the memory of her wrath. She keeps kissing down his chest until he cups her face and brings her in to kiss her on the lips. He’s kissed her a million times by now but it’s still so exciting. The way she melts against him, the feeling of her tongue against his, the way she slightly whines when his hand starts to move down to her neck and his thumb caress her jaw.

“Mm,” she mumbles as she pulls away. “Can we—“ he steals another few kisses. “Too many—“ more kisses. “Clothes. Need you.”

He lets her pull back enough just to look at him, both catching their breaths, “You have me.”

She reaches for the hem of her shirt and he stops her, taking it in his grip instead he begins to lift it over her head. Arms in the air, he gets it up as much as he can from this sitting position and they laugh when she gets trapped inside her shirt and has to help him pull it all the way off. She tosses it to the side and then rests her hands back on his chest, gently running her fingertips down to his belly button, she starts to unbuckle his belt and pull it through the loops.

He kisses her again and again and again until she starts to grind against him, wanting more. He cradles her body and carefully starts to sit up on his knees, laying her back down against the mattress. He hovers over her and kisses her jaw and down her neck, trailing his hands down her sides until he reaches her shorts and he pulls back just so he can get them off her.

She helps him get them off and sits up on her own knees to kiss him while she pushes his shirt off his shoulders. He blindly flings it to the floor and she reaches down to unbutton his suit pants and reach her hand in there. Between his pants and his boxers, she cups his length and starts to rub. His hands land on her shoulders, smoothing down the warm skin of her back he pulls her in flush against him and slightly moans into her mouth. Her free hand comes up to grip the hair at the nape of his neck, holding him as close as possible.

She smiles into the kiss, he simply bites her lip as he pulls away. He takes a peak between their bodies to see her boobs pressed against his chest, “you gonna let me go so I can take these pants off?”

She leans in and steals another kiss, “Mmm, maybe,” she kisses him again and again. “Just hurry up about it.”

He’s quick to get off the bed and push both his pants and his underwear off, he even pulls off his socks and leaves them all behind in the pile of discarded things. She’s sat there, leaning back with her hands flat on the mattress, she looks him up and down and then her eyes stay fixed on his cock.

“Like what you see?” He teases her, he grips her ankles and tugs her to the edge of the bed.

She’s a bit shocked, laughing it off, she grips his sides and stares up at him, “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He hauls her to her feet, cups her cheeks and he smiles. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she smiles back. “Are you nervous?”

He nods, “Just a little. It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve had sex…”

“We’ll its been a lot longer than that for me and I’m almost positive that sex hasn’t changed that much in that time,” she teases. “I love you and I trust you, so I know it’ll be good.”

He kisses her once quickly, “just good?” He kisses her again, the side of her mouth this time. He starts to kiss down her neck, over her collarbones and he cups her boobs so he can smother them in kisses too. Eventually starts to kneel, taking his kisses lower, he starts to take her panties off, kissing her lower stomach and then he looks up at her. “Sit down, let me show you how good I can be.”

She sits on the edge of the bed, he spreads her legs and kisses from her left knee all the way down her thigh and then her lower lips. He spreads them with his fingers and licks a stripe over her cunt, making her gasp as she reaches out to grip his hair at the root.

She holds back her pretty little noises, and as much as he wants to tell her to go wild, he knows JJ is just past that wall in her own room. From all the teasing Derek and Spencer get, she wasn’t going to be loud enough to be added to the relentless jokes her coworkers make.

He teases her hole with his middle finger, feeling how wet she already is, he circles around the opening a few times before plunging his finger inside.

“Fuck,” he groans against her, flicking his tongue back and forth, sucking at her skin and fingering her cunt all at the same time. “You taste like heaven.”

She grinds against his face, barely sitting on the edge of the bed anymore as he wraps his arm around her legs and holds her impossibly close to his mouth. The sound of him eating her out is disgustingly euphoric, he’s so deep it’s like he’s eating her out in search of her soul.

She’s trembling as she gets closer and closer when he stops fingering her, sucking the wetness from her and bringing it back up with his tongue before he sucks on her clit again. That does it, she cums instantly with a shout, covering her mouth and hoping he doesn’t let her hit the floor as she grinds and thrashes through her orgasm. And he doesn’t stop, tongue fucking her to taste the best part.

Her feet touch the floor, and her back is the only part of her still on the bed as she rides his face through it. He pulls back and lets her drop down to the floor and sit in his lap but his "old man" knees are starting to hurt like this, she goes to kiss him and he lets her get a few kisses in before he holds her closer and starts to stand with her. He pulls away just enough to turn her around and push her against the mattress, he kisses her spine and folds himself over her. He moves her hair off her back and kisses her neck. Again, right under her ear, “Are you ready?”

“Please, please,” she begs. “I need you.”

“I might have a condom in my—

“Don’t need it, I’m on birth control, it’s okay,” she assures him.

“Are you—

“Aaron, fuck me, please,” she begs, sticking her ass out even more, taunting him.

He stands up straighter and grips his leaking cock, tapping it on her ass a few times before guiding it between her folds. Teasing her, he grinds the head against her clit a few times before aligning with her hole and starting to push in, inch by inch, she gasps at the feeling and sucks in a sharp breath the deeper he gets.

He folds over her as soon as he bottoms out, kissing her shoulder gently as he reaches out for her hand on the mattress. He interlocks their fingers, holding her hand above her head, he’s as close to her as humanly possible and yet he wants to be closer. He wants to live in her, settle in right beside her soul and never leave.

When he starts to thrust, he goes slowly at first, she reaches back behind herself and rests her hand on his side. Her nails dig into his skin and she whines, “Oh my god, Aaron.”

He kisses her neck and right under her ear, “Can you feel how sorry I am now?” He slightly pulls out and snaps his hips against her then, fucking her quick and dirty.

“Yes, yes! Oh my god, we should get mad at each other more often,” she all but screams, slightly muffled by her face against the mattress.

He pulls away, letting go of her hand so he can rest his on her lower back as he fucks her harder. She brings her one leg up onto the mattress, opening herself up so he can get a little deeper. He grips her leg under the knee and keeps going, harder and more frequent thrusts, making her gasp and moan into the mattress to try and stay quiet but she can’t. It feels too good for her.

For him, it’s even better. The way she sucks him in, how warm she is, how wet she is… she’s even better than he ever imagined and he never wants it to end. But he misses her face. He wants to embrace her and hold her close and make love to her, not just fuck her. So he pulls out.

“wha—

“Roll over. Move up,” he instructs her, kneeling on the bed, he watches her do just that and gets between her legs. He hovers over her, leaning in for a kiss as she reaches between them and guides him back inside.

Kissing her as he trusts, their lips move together and their tongues clash through breathy moans and whispers of “I love you.” Her legs wrapped around him, her arms around his middle, her nails dug into his back as she kneaded at his skin.

He reaches between them, his hand on her pelvis and his thumb starts to circle around her clit. He wants her to be as close as he is, he wants them to cum together. He wants her to enjoy this as much as he was, and from the way she clenches around him and the cute little noises she makes, he knows she is.

“Oh, Aaron,” she whines, tossing her head back.

He kisses her cheek and buries his head in the crease of her neck as he drives into her over and over. He starts to smile to himself, thinking about how she said sex hasn’t changed that much since the last time he had it… But he’s never had sex as good as this. It was never this passionate, never this needy, never this euphoric.

He bites her gently, grazing his teeth along her skin, making her gasp. He wants to suck at her neck, cover her in marks, and let everyone in the world know he’s been there and she belongs to him. He feels so possessive. He knows he can’t. They have to sit on the jet in front of their friends for most of their morning and well into the afternoon tomorrow and if they’re unlucky, start another case right after. He can’t mark her the way he wants. But he can make her his in another way…

“You close?” He asks, prepared to hold back if she isn’t.

But she nods enthusiastically, “god, yeah.”

Through bated breath he asks, just to make sure, “Are you still okay with me finish—

“Yes, yes, please, cum in me?” She begs. “I need it, Aar, please?”

“I got you,” he assures her. “Let go, sweet girl, whenever you’re ready.”

His trusts stay steady and even, his thumb circles her clit, and he kisses just under her ear. She grips him so tight, wrapped around him like her life depended on it and her breathing changes. He knows she’s right there and he’s going to be right after. He wants to feel the way her orgasm sucks him in deeper, the way she pulsates around him, the way her body goes limp and quakes and the beautiful sounds she’ll make before he gives in. He already got a taste of that earlier, but now he wants to memorize it with his cock deep inside of her.

She starts to quake then, her thighs rumble against him. Her back starts to arch, pushing her core closer to him instinctually like this is what she was made for. Her orgasm is right there, bubbling to the top and about to spill. He gives her one last piece of motivation.

“Come on, cum for me,” he whispers. “Be a good girl and— oh, there it is!” He teases as she releases.

He was right. She clenches around him, pulling him in even deeper. He moves his hand away from her clit, wraps them around her back and starts to fuck her even harder, making her cry out over and over, completely disregarding the fact that her coworker is in the next room. He’s so close, right there, he moves to kiss her on the mouth again and she cups his face as he does so. Breathing while kissing her, his hot breath on her face as their lips and tongues meet once more.

His body heats up, his stomach starts to feel like a swarm of butterflies and then it erupts through his bloodstream. He cums with a deep groan, dropping his forehead against hers, he fucks into her once more and stays there as rope after rope of cum releases inside of her.

“I love you,” he pants, collapsing on top of her, holding her back just as close as she’s holding him. “I love you so much.”

—

On the jet in the morning, everyone sat down with their coffee and quiet. Dave has a manuscript for his new book to proofread. Derek has his music. Spencer has some medical journals he finds interesting and JJ has a big smile on her face. “You guys will never guess how long the couple in the room beside me was fucking last night.”

He watches as Y/N’s eyes widen and the colour leaves her face. He just bites his tongue, pressing his lips together he flips through a file, pretending not to hear her.

“How long?” Derek asks.

Just as she goes to answer Spencer speaks up, “Weren’t you beside Y/N and Hotch…”

“I hate you guys, I hate you so much,” Y/N finally bursts out. She shook her head, mortified. “I can’t believe you. I can’t. Seriously?”

They all laugh, Spencer and Derek are relieved that they’re not the only ones to get embarrassed now and JJ is just happy she’s the one to get to start the teasing this time after a year and a bit of being teased about Will.

“I can write you all up, remember?” Aaron reminds them, trying so hard not to smirk but he fails. He knows he’s blushing, but he doesn’t care. He had the best sex of his life last night, he’s allowed to glow a bit.

They shut up after that but Spencer does reach his hand over, palm facing Y/N, and she gives him a reluctant high five.

General Taglist

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @babybisexual @marsmunson86 @buckleyhans

IKP

@southernraven @alluringshawn @lambsheepsheeping @lmg-stilinski24 @louderfortheback @deludedfruitcake @kleff03 @mrs-ssa-hotch @maxinehufflepuffprincess @lokifanfic2021 @art-and-thoughts @forkswabutnoforks4me @no-1martinipolice @panhoeofmanyfandoms

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotch hotchner #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch x you #hotch smut #hotch x reader #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine

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oddballwriter · 7 months

Text

Stacy's Mom

Summary: Marc is a single father to a lovely daughter, who has a friend who also has a single parent. He's never actually met Stacy's mom before, but when he finally does, he's taken aback by her.

Warnings: Single!Dad!Marc and Single!Mom!reader. It's just Marc here, no mention of the system.

Author’s Snip: I listened to Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne and decided to make this.

Notes: If you guys want I can do a version of this for Steven and Jake. Just give me a prompt to do with them first.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Word Count: 1056

Rayna had this friend, Stacy.

She was a nice girl, don't get it wrong. Marc was glad that his daughter had some friends considering middle school was a tough time for making new friends with the change in schools. And also because as a single, working, dad it gave her something to do. But he would be lying if he said that having two twelve-year-old girls running around his house wasn't a bit of a handful. But Stacy was still a nice guest to have over.

He didn't really know much about her home life other than what she'd mentioned on a few occasions. The fact that she was raised by just her mom, you, and that you were a single working woman, often being away on business trips. And that was pretty much it.

The only communication Marc ever had with you was a few texts and Stacy herself sending a message on your behalf, like your permission for Stacy to sleep over at him and Rayna's home or for Rayna to spend that night at yours. There was also the fact that your houses were, apparently two blocks down from each other, so Stacy would just walk to and fro.

It wasn't until one sleep-over that you two would make contact for the first time.

Stacy was on the track team at school and had hurt her ankle during practice, making her have to wear a boot brace till it healed. She could still walk on her own, but it wasn't the best idea for her to walk her way from her house to Marc and Rayna's so you drove her there this time before getting ready to head off to another business trip.

When Rayna opened the door she greeted Stacy enthusiastically and gave you a nice "Hello to you too, Ms. L/N.". Marc came to the door to originally help with Stacy's bags but he almost froze upon seeing you for the first time.

Marc hated that his immediate thoughts were that you had it going on, with your tight-fitted but still professional-looking outfit. You were gorgeous.

He managed to get himself back into reality though. Shaking off his awestruck expression and extended his hand for a handshake. "Mr. Spector. I'm Rayna's father." he said. You give him a greeting smile, "Ms. L/N, Stacy's mom." you say shaking Marc's hand. "But you can just call me Y/N." you request. "Then you can call me Marc then." Marc suggested.

"I just wanted to thank you for letting Stacy stay over so often. I don't like it when she stays home alone for such a long time when I'm gone." you tell Marc as the girls move to another part of the house. "It's no problem. She's a nice girl and they usually make their own fun without causing too much of a ruckus." Marc assures. "I just feel a bit bad because Stacy said that you're also a single parent and work at the same time." you claim. "Like I said. It's no problem. I'm usually sat at a desk here at home anyways, so I can keep a good eye on them." Marc reassures.

Oh god, you’re hot, a businesswoman, and you're nice?

“Well, thank you so much either way.” you smile. You looked over his shoulder and called out “Bye, hunny. Behave for Mr. Spector and lay off that foot, okay? I’ll see you in a couple of days.”. Stacy turns and says “Wait, Mom! Don’t forget to hire someone to mow the grass.”. A look of revelation comes over your face before you pinch the bridge of your nose, “Now you remind me.” you mutter to yourself. “What’s the hold-up?” Marc asks.

“It’s nothing really,” you tell Marc, “It’s just that I’m too busy to mow the lawn and backyard. And Stacy both has her ankle injury and has never worked a lawnmower in her life so we usually have someone else do it.” you explain. “I can do it for you if you’d like.” Marc offers, without really thinking. “Oh, no, Marc. You don’t have to. You’re already doing so much for me.” you fret. “No, no. Really. If you two aren’t able to do it then I’ll gladly do it for you. I’ll bring my own mower, don’t worry.” Marc chuckles, “Matter of fact. Anytime you need your lawn mowed or anything like that, just call me. Alright?” he smiles, doubling up his offer. “Oh alright.” you give in, “But I will find a way to repay you. Mark my words.” you promise as you leave, saying goodbye to Marc and Rayna on the way out.

The days passed and Marc kept to his word. He drove Stacy home with Rayna tagging along and their lawnmower settled in the back of his truck. Rayna and Stacy continued on like the sleepover wasn’t over and watched things on TV while he worked in the yards still they were all done. When he went back inside to tell Rayna that it was time to head back home, you stopped him for a moment, holding out a tin tray full of freshly baked cookies. He looked up at you with soft eyes, “Ms. L/N. You didn’t have to make me anything. It was no-” Marc tries to say before you cut him off, “I insist, Marc. I have to give you something as a thank you for all that you’ve done for me and Stacy.” you say, placing the tray into his hands.

“Tell you what.” Marc says, “Why don’t you and I eat somewhere sometime? To get to know each other better.” he offers, feeling a bit dumb because you’re standing in a nice apron with sweet-smelling perfume and he’s standing there with his forehead glazed with sweat and reeking of cut grass. You blink a shocked expression at him for a moment before a soft blush reaches your face. “You don’t mean that.” you smile timidly. “No. I mean, it would be nice. We could get to know each other better and feel more comfortable with our kids hanging out at each other’s houses.” Marc explained, trying not to sound like some sleazy dad, “Just a quick little lunch. Or Brunch. Or drink. Whichever you like better.” he says.

“Lunch would be nice.” you smile.

#moon knight #moonknight #moonknight x reader #moon knight x reader #marc spector #marc spector x reader #singleparent!reader #singlemom!reader

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secretsofblackthornhall · 2 years

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Emma to Bruce

Dear Bruce,

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. Will I keep writing to you when all these renovations are done? When things have returned to some form of normalcy? Or is normalcy over—is the crack in the Nephilim world one that can’t be healed but will only widen over time, with more and more changes, until finally there is too much change to bear? In which case I guess I will keep writing to you, Bruce, as a kind of silent witness to the strangeness of these times.

Sorry, sorry. I am feeling a little poetic tonight because Jem and Tessa and Kit and Mina arrived today and…well, that’s just kind of how Jem and Tessa talk. Being, you know. Way old. And because it feels like all this business with the cursed house is in its final chapters and I don’t have any idea how things are going to be after that.

In any event we didn’t do anything about the curse today, we just ended up visiting with the Carstairs-Herondales, who should definitely pick a shorter name we can use for them. Team Victorian Era? Team Time When Everything Was Very Romantic But It Took Forever To Get Anywhere? Hm. I guess I’ll ask them for ideas, since mine are, uh, bad.

There was some complication right when they arrived. We had picked out a couple of bedrooms for them to use and asked the brownies to make them up with sheets and towels and all that. And then we checked them before the guests arrived and I’m glad we did because the faeries had made up all the rooms for…birds? Like, for huge, person-sized birds. Big nests of sticks, six feet across, and branches to perch on. And big balls of birdseed hanging from the ceiling. So we had to ask them to redo the rooms and the brownies looked so disappointed. (But we didn’t say the guests were birds! I have no idea why they thought that!) The worst part is they did a really nice job, like, if we were being visited by giant birds they would have been very comfortable. They still seemed puzzled when everyone did show up that Mina wasn’t a big egg. Faeries, man.

Speaking of Mina, who is not a big egg but rather a small toddler, she is extremely cute. She is walking now, or toddling, I guess, and she says “mama” and “dada” and also “kish” which apparently is what she calls Kit. And she has a little wooden toy stele that she is constantly trying to scribble on everyone with. Apparently Kit has been learning runes and Mina wants to learn them too.

We should have just gone straight into curse-breaking but to be honest we were just having a very nice time hanging out. Tessa and Jem are very easy to spend time with, which is nice given how high-strung most of our other friends are. I suppose once you’ve gone through all the stuff that has happened to them, it takes a lot to upset you. Just the way Jem talks about the curse makes me feel more reassured that we’ll be able to fix it, even though we don’t really know what we’re doing or what’s gone wrong so far.

They seem really impressed by the house, also, which makes Julian look all proud of himself in a highly adorable way. Tessa said the last time either of them were here was after Tatiana was arrested and sent to be an Iron Sister, and they were searching it for demon stuff. (Most of which, she admitted, they clearly didn’t find. It seems obvious from the way she talks that they didn’t understand how dangerous Tatiana really was until it was too late—I really want to ask her about that but it seemed a dark topic while we were all having a good time.) Jem said by that time it was already in pretty bad shape, but Tessa said she saw the house once “in its prime” at a ball, and then she blushed a little. Whatever happened during that ball must have been pretty impressive if she’s blushing about it 130 years later!

Of course there’s still that overall shroud of heavy memory that kind of hangs over the place, and no amount of new paint and replaced windows can help that. That’d be the curse, of course. Still, it felt cheerier this evening than it ever has before. For the first time I felt a little like it was our house and friends had come to visit and it was surprisingly nice and ordinary. As long as I don’t think about what’s going on with the Clave.

Also a concern: Kit. He was hanging out with us most of the day, but he was really quiet, for him, and a couple of times he excused himself to go take a walk in the garden. Julian said he thinks Kit broke up with his girlfriend and maybe he’s sad about that, but I don’t know. He was really jumpy whenever any of the builders were around, and kept a close eye on them anytime they were nearby. Round Tom introduced himself and Kit nodded, but he didn’t say his name or much of anything else. I mean, you can hardly blame him. His relationship to faeries, and Faerie itself, is complicated. According to Tessa, Cirenworth is very tightly warded against faerie incursions, and even the town and the roads nearby are protected. Magnus and Catarina made sure of it. So this would be one of the first times he’s been around faeries since the big battle outside Alicante; even though these faeries are safe, it must be weird for him.

But you know Kit. He has this aura about him like he doesn’t want to answer any questions about how he’s doing. Today he’s been out front, watching the faeries in the garden — it could be he’s worried about them, or maybe he wants to join them? I don’t know. Maybe Julian or I can get him to open up a little while he’s here. Or maybe I’ll get a moment to ask Jem or Tessa if they know what’s up.

Anyway, that’s all from me for now, Bruce. Tomorrow we break a curse! I hope!

Emma

#sobh #secrets of blackthorn hall #emma carstairs #bruce #Kit Herondale #jem and tessa #julian blackthorn #faeries

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bronx-bomber87 · 3 months

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Happy Monday lovely fandom. Lots to love about this one. Their opening scene is *chefs kiss* Some good Metro Tim. Really good Tim SL in general. Love this episode it’s fantastic for a lot of reasons. Let us begin shall we?

5x19 A Hole in the World.

We start off with some domestic Chenford and I’m here for it. Gimme. Lucy is studying in what looks to be one of Tim’s shirts. *squee* Pen in her bun looking all kinds of adorable. Tim stumbles out of her bedroom looking dead on his feet. Lucy having coffee ready for her sleepy boyfriend is everything. Her soft voice and excited features when she sees him is so precious. Gah she loves this man.

Ecstatic she gets to see him before work. Spend a little time together. She asks when he got in? Tim replying depends on what day it is? Ha Poor tired Tim. Lucy shooting back 'That bad huh?' Tim saying he’s eighty percent sure it’s Thursday LOL Lucy crushing his dreams telling him it’s Tuesday….His face is too funny. Poor man needs a day off in bed and snuggle time with his wife.

Lucy asks him what he was working on last night? I just love the whole feel in this scene. Him waking up all sleepy. Lucy is there happy to greet him. Little banter. Asking about what he’s working on. Married vibes in this moment. Lucy saying she stayed up incase she would catch him. Hoping the guy would turn himself in. Risking losing sleep to see her man. My Heart.

Tim says he did show up though. Showing her his battle scar. I saw a great parallel about this moment. That in past she had to ask if he was ok. Now he just shares it with her. She doesn't have to wonder. *happy sigh* Then we get the most glorious thing of all she calls him ‘Babe.’ Which I absolutely love. I think it’s so fitting for her to call him this. Unpopular opinion alert. I hate ‘baby.’ I legit cringe when I see it in a fic. Will straight bounce if it’s used to death as well. Just doesn’t seem like them IMO.

Babe seems much more fitting. Until I hear that word come out of either of their mouths. (Not counting Dim/Juicy) I can’t accept it as canon in my brain. Anyways that rant is over ha I love the concern and the way she softly touches his wound. Wanting to fix it for him. Can we talk about the tight fitting tank top and scruff? My god this man is trying to kill me. Sleepy scruffy Tim in his jams is welcome anytime. Give me more tank top Tim as well while we're at it. Loving that he has a hoodie there when he wakes up.

Which lends credence to my drawer theory. Man is keeping clothes there. I’m melting from all of these things at once. This is a fantastic opening scene for them. I love the way he shows her his wound first thing. Wanting her to make it better. The softest of humans around his girl. The way she gently touches it has me reeling. You know part of him showed her so she’d love on him a bit. Lucy jumped all over that and a sweet pet name to boot. I’m in heaven.

Lucy mentioning it was confident of this guy to try and take on 5 metro officers. I'm losing my mind over how once Tim is seated he’s not close enough for her. So Lucy pulls him even closer. Personal space wasn’t a word they knew before they were together. It’s non existent now that they are. Lucy lights up like a Christmas tree once he’s in front of her. Look at her above. Best thing to happen to her morning is him being there.

That line from 2x05 'They look so happy. I want that.' Now she has it and it looks good on her. Tim’s content ‘Mmm' and head tilt has me melting after she pulls him closer. His sweet gone for her smile and rubbing her arm. I'm a puddle. He is just as happy to be near her. Literally so content to share a quiet morning with his girl *internal screaming* They’re so adorable they might kill me. I’ll be writing the remaining reviews from the great beyond. So damn soft I’m on a cloud.

Once Tim is able to tear himself from her loving gaze he sees she’s studying. Genuinely confused asking what this is all is? I love her playful hit. Thinking he's pulling her leg. Tim is so baffled by this. She reminds him she’s studying for the detectives exam. Then questioning if she told him. I mean she might’ve but the man is sleep deprived and doesn’t know what day it is so...LOL

Tim replying he doesn’t think so? Lucy explaining why she’s going for it. Tim asking if she got the tap? Lucy is beaming when she tells him Harper and Lopez are backing her. (Of course they are. They know what a BAMF she is) Lucy looks so excited to share this news with him. Look at how proud he is of her. Exuding from that sexy smile of his. These are the moments where he’s that big softy for her.

Look at this love struck man. So proud of her he can’t stand it. Lucy starting with a little bit of self doubt. Saying with skepticism all she has to do is score in the top 12. Tim cuts her off before she can doubt herself any further. Saying she will. He knows how good of a test taker she is. Also how incredibly intelligent she is. He is her biggest fan and makes my heart so happy. Something that hasn’t changed from friends to more. Tim’s unwavering faith she will be amazing. No doubt in his mind about her crushing this.

From day one all he’s wanted is for her to succeed. To have an amazing career. Such the supportive husband not letting her doubt herself at all. I love her ‘Mmm’ as she leans in for their kiss. Heart eyes galore for him. Knowing that’s what he’s doing fo her. Her smile before she goes in for their kiss. *dreamy sigh* Always needing more than one kiss so they sneak in a second one. Forever love that. Such a great shot of a really cute morning kiss.

I adore the look on his face when he pulls back. That whole she fell first he fell harder resonating here in that look. The sweet rubbing of her arm getting me in feels as well. Can't keep his hands off her. Tim saying they better get used to not seeing each other then. Lucy adding in sadly yes. Between his hours and detective hours it'll be harder. Can see the sadness wash over her. Just as devastated by this idea as she was at the end of 5x12. Hating the idea of being apart from him so much. I do love Tim’s confidence it’ll be ok though.

Reminds me of Lucy’s in 5x12 and her talk with Tamara. Saying how they’d figure it out and they did. Little rocky but they did. This is a new obstacle for them to overcome is all. I love his wink at her when he tells her they’ll figure it out. It is fun to see their dynamic shift a little bit. Lucy being worried they’ll see less of each other. The worry is etched on her face. Tim being the positive one blows me away. Knowing they got this. Now that doesn’t mean they don’t need to have a deeper convo about this.

They for sure do. But I adore the depth of change in this man. With Lucy by his side there isn’t much he isn’t willing to do to figure it out. What happens when you are truly and unconditionally loved. Lucy has brought out this entirely new side of him and I love it so very much. Also it’s good for them to have these issues to work through. It’ll be productive for them even if it hurts a little along the way. Why productive angst is the best. Hurts so good and all that.

Nothing I love more than watching Tim in Metro mode. Hot damn. Fair warning he makes me very feral in this section. I have no regrets. Grey has looped in Tim and his team to watch Joel. Surveil him since he is a huge person of interest. Something about the the way he commands his team. Does things to me. Watching how he has plans in place.

Communicates everything so seamlessly. Just the complete control he has over this OP got me all hot and bothered not gonna lie. This case is serious but I can’t ignore how much I love watching him in the field. Especially with Metro. Phew lord. So much certainty in his commands and decisions. Crossed my legs couple times watching him in action not gonna lie LOL

We haven’t really gotten to see him on a mission yet. Be apart of patrol's mission's yes. But run his own OP that is exclusively Metro that we get to see? Haven't gotten that. I loved being able to watch him in his new element. Making calls on the fly as the situation develops. Then we get to see how he reacts under massive pressure running a team. He is watching Joel and it's obvious he is trying to split his team up. Tim can see his play from a mile away. Tim decides last minute to split them up in case. His seasoned gut coming into play in this decision. He's such a damn boss in this portion. Fanning myself as I watch him run this OP.

If you can watch him in this portion and not be turned on by his boss leadership I'm shocked.... and you're probably lying to yourself. LMAO Man is making me very thirsty in this scene. Just watching him have absolute control over everything around him is incredibly attractive. I need some water. *phew* We watch the hard choices he has to make during this OP. Joel has taken a motorcycle and they’re chasing him.

It’s getting more dangerous the faster he goes to get away. One of his guys is in pursuit and says he can keep up with him. The issue is he's in a car and Joel is not. Tim lets him pursue Joel till it gets too risky. Joel is going 130 entering the free way on that motorcycle. Tim makes the call to pull the plug despite some protest from his guy. He does as Tim tells him to and backs off.

He can't ensure no collateral damage due to the pursuit. Can't have an innocent family possibly get hurt to do it. Having to let him go despite wanting to pursue him. We can see how having to make this call frustrates Tim. It was the right call but damn it sucks. Once again love watching him in the field. Imma need more Metro Tim OP's in s6 writers just an FYI.

We return to Lucy at the station. They were able to locate Joel at an abandoned house. The kid was saved and removed thankfully. Sadly Tim had to shoot Joel once they entered and located him. He died on the scene. Didn’t leave him any choice in the matter. The shakiness in Lucy’s voice kills me as she approaches Nyla. Needing her guidance in this moment. Very stressed Tim still isn't back from IA yet.

She’s so worried about Tim and her anxiety is coming off her in waves. Harper being the amazing human can see this. She is tells her it’s ok. Harper can see how unsettled Lucy is. So she tries to calm her with some logic. Telling her that these types of interviews with IA are very through. They take awhile. That Tim will be fine. Lucy still looks like she hasn’t taken a breath though. That she can't do that till he's in her sights.

Tim makes his way into the bullpen and Lucy looks on verge of tears for him. That pull to go towards him is innate. Harper stops her when she sees Lucy move towards him. Telling her to let him talk to Grey first. She loves him so much. The look in her eyes when she sees him and her eyes follow him across the room. Ugh. My heart. Worried girlfriend mode has been activated and she can’t turn it off. There is just so much love in her expression and intense worry. A deep need to automatically make this better for him.

We can see how much she is longing to be near him. Wants to wrap him up in her arms and erase his pain. You can feel the anxiety coursing through her as she watches him make his way to Grey’s office. No one worries and cares for Tim like Lucy does that’s for sure. Plus her empathy is absorbing it all as well. She’s hurting because he is and it’s killing her to be away from him. But she is good and heeds Nylas advice to let him go for now….

The scene in Grey’s office has me crying. Gah Eric damn you and your amazing acting. He is WRECKED. Absolutely wrecked. Barely keeping it together in front of Wade. You can see the tears brimming in his eyes. He’s so emotional right now and trying so very hard to keep it in check. I'm so glad that they had this scene. Touched on how traumatic this was for Tim. Wasn’t glossed over. This scene showing the impact it had on him. Not only did he take a life but it was another cop's. One who KNEW Tim would have to pull the trigger if he forced his hand. Joel took the cowards way out. Made Tim pay the price for his exit.

Grey can see how distraught he is. The tears in this man’s eyes are breaking me. If Lucy could see this he would be in her arms so quickly. But she isn’t. I'm so glad he saw Wade first he needed this. Was important for Grey to absolve him in this moment. To hear it from someone who was his mentor and superior at one time. Not that Lucy’s opinion or help isn’t valid or wouldn’t help him. It will. He just needed to hear it from Grey first. That what he did was the right thing.

It’s why Harper suggested he see him first. Before she does. Logically Tim knows all the things he’s telling him. But he’s an emotional time bomb right now. So Grey reminds him that he had no choice. That he was dangerous. Tim repeating ‘I know’ because he does. Doesn’t change how he’s feeling though. I love Wade asking if there’s anything he can do? Tim gives his longest answer telling him to let him get back to him. Such a good scene. Broke my heart but damn good.

We return to our lovely couple catching up in the hallway. What a glow up this is I have to say. Going from hiding to Lucy being on his arm in front of the whole bullpen. The PDA in front of the station got me all in my feels. My heart may implode from how happy this makes me. Love her linking arms with one hand and touching his arm with the other. His reply to her question is such growth for him.

Before when he was keyed up he would just be angry. Lash out at those around him or push his feelings down and pretend he was ok. The fact that he can say he’ll be okay is huge. Tells her this calmly too. What a change in him. I remember seeing good parallel for this. His answer to Nell in 1x12 deflecting 'Yeah' and his reply to Angela in 2x11 when he was upset raging out. That he was fine just needed to blow off steam. With Lucy he's honest and doesn't deflect or explode. How far we've come.

Makes a massive difference when you’re loved by the right person. Lucy tries to be super soft in her approach. It’s why she’s does the soft touch first. It disarms him and she can speak her anxiety. Let out all the advice she’s been dying to say since he got back. Wanting so badly to soothe his raging emotions. Tim cuts her off and says it’s not the first time for him. Being bristly at first because it is still a default mode for him. Grown a lot but still getting used to the love and support of this woman next to him.

Lucy doesn’t let it stop her from being extra soft with him. She looks like she just wants absorb all his pain. Her eyes screaming as much as she touches her hand to his heart. Telling him she just wants to be helpful. Desperate to absolve him of this. He immediately melts at her touch and reverts back to soft Tim. Especially with her motives being so damn pure and in favor of helping him heal. Two episodes in a row she soothes him with just a simple touch. God I love them.

Tim thanks her eternally grateful for this woman in front of him. That she loves him and cares enough to do so. Put him first even when he’s slightly bristly still. Just like before they were together she doesn’t care if he is. Her main objective is to take care of him. He rubs her arm in the same affectionate manner as he did in their morning scene. This sweet touch speaking volumes for him. He’s so used to doing this stuff alone. To not have someone to be there in the aftermath.

But having her there for him changes everything. That realization melting his bristly reply from earlier. Heart eyes for days the two of them. In front of the entire station and I can’t get over it. Lucy giving him massive ones in reply to his thank you. Wanting so much to just make it better for him. Feeling like she isn't doing enough to help him though this. It's the way her body sags in that third gif. Wishing there was more she could do for him.

Tim needing the distraction from his emotions asking if she needs help? We watch Lucy melt like a puddle in front of him in the second gif. Loving him asking her if she needs it. Because despite the distraction it provides he genuinely wants to help her. Then we get a glorious call back to 2x02. Him basically recognizing all she did for him then in this moment. Knowing he wouldn’t be a sergeant without her. Without the books she recorded for him. Helping him study etc. Getting verbal recognition all these years later from him.

I too am a puddle Lucy. Not only recognizing her for what she did but telling her he wouldn’t have gotten score he did without her. (He really wouldn't have...) It’s here we see the scene go from serious to flirty as hell. Lucy touching his chest once again with her finger. Saying that’s true he owes her. Lucy seems so excited by this idea. Ready to cash in this long owed debt of his. Tim is smiling when she pokes him. Not an agitated bone in that man's body over this.

Tim is sassy af in his reply. Telling her he doesn’t owe her. Even though he was just a marshmallow and admitted as such moments ago... The flirty way she grabs his jacket. Oh my lord. The look in her eye as she walks away. Eyeing his lips and pulling on his jacket. Sweet lord this man is powerless before her. He knows it. Doesn’t fight her very long just says ‘Okay’ and goes after his girl. Never seen a man be so happy to be whipped in my life.

He is so ok that she runs this relationship for most part. We all know he actually loves this. Assertive Lucy is one of his favorites. Look at Lucy giving the orders and Tim following her lead no question. How times have changed folks. Broke his brain once again and all he can do is be in awe and follow after her. Such a goner for her and he’s very happy with this setup.

Follows her like a lost puppy out the door. Only Lucy could bring him back from the brink like this. Go from being upset and in his head to chasing after her. I love the amount of flirty sex talk these to have without ever really saying so. It’s amazing. Lucy definitely is owed a debt my god. He’s the one who passed the test but not without her help. Just like in 4x18 a debt is owed sir LOL Damn I love these two so very much it’s insane. S5 was a glorious gift. Kept on giving. Also if you’re needing a post 5x19 fic. D wrote an excellent one I highly recommend.

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Side notes -non Chenford

Lucy is so excited when she runs up to Harper at the station. Ready to sign up for the detectives exams. Telling Nyla she’s ready for this test. Harper is beaming saying she has no doubt. Then Smitty comes up and ruins everything. Saying one of the defective have out it out for her. We knew the 5 player trade could bite her… and it looks like it has Primm found out and isn’t happy about it. Be interesting to see how this will develop on s6.

Aaron’s face when Lucy calls herself one of the cool kids LOL hey man she is... haha

This Ep is Sooo good reminds me why I love this show as a whole. So emotional with Celina’s SL. Makes me cry thinking about my niece and nephew. There would be scorched earth for whoever got between me and them. This was the ep really made me love Celina. I wasn’t sure at first but this changed that. Her forgiving her mom is huge. Makes me cry.

I love Lucy being a BAMF with that offender. Putting him right in his own place when he gets defensive about it being harassment. Never be over how she's come into her own as a cop.

Angela looking up air tagging her kids LOL love her I really do haha

Thank you to my amazing readers who like, comment (love these) and reblogs. You are the reason I do what I do. I shall see you all in 5x20 :)

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ta-ni-ya · 1 month

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When I came back from my break I added in my announcement that I had 4 new ocs to introduce and here is one of them!

MY KNY OC- Hina Aoki

Age- 13-14

Breathing style- melody (it’s kinda complicated, will explain!)

@kiyokatokito really helped me a lot with her breathing style so big credits to her! :3

She is gonna be mitsuri’s tsugoku btw

Andddd this is supposed to be an au because she’s shipped with a dead character 😃

I also didn’t add anything about her ship here!

And I’ll be colouring this soon too :3

Her backstory- she is an only child living with her parents, she never had much friends and everyone would eventually either move away or got busy with their things. All the friends she made weren’t really close and sometimes wouldn’t even acknowledge her but hina was too innocent to know their real motives.

Once she decided to join the demon slayer corps, all her friends hated her and thought she had gone insane, saying things like ‘demons don’t exist’. You can say they were already looking for a chance to leave hina so it didn’t bother them what she did after that.

Hina was very sad and her once known bright personality disappeared. She didn’t understand but she definitely got trust issues and found it hard to make friends with her colleagues. She only opens up to people like her mentor Mitsuri!

Some info about her breathing style- as the name melody itself is very self explanatory, there’s this word ‘mellifluous’ which means a sound that is sweet or smooth, pleasing to the ear. Me and kiyo got the whole idea about her breathing style from that word!

Her sword is shaped all wavy because she uses it for a very important purpose while fighting! Her body is a little small for her age (kinda like shinobu?) by it’s just her height and she’s still growing ofc. But being light weighted she is fast and she used it to her advantage, she easily moves from once spot to another creating melodic sound waves from her katana.

Mitsuri’s katana is itself very weirdly shaped so she learns some things about it and makes her katana’s movements accordingly. Moving around quickly allows her to distract and confuse the demon until its guard is down.

Since her breathing style is created from love/flame breathing, her cuts don’t hurt at the beginning but as soon the demon stops hearing her melody, that cut burns like hell and they realise it’s the end (kinda like a paper cut? It’s small but hurts a lot)

Her moments are like a feather dancing in the air. She basically created this technique because she kinda related it to her old friends? They would sugarcoat her and then suddenly went bitter towards her! Just like how she makes them distract with her melody and slashes them suddenly.

Headcanons I got so far for her!

She loves flowers, cherries and honey!

She loves spending time with mitsuri the most because she never treated her wrong!

Her first friend that genuinely treated her well was one and only kiyoka ;3 (@kiyokatokito’s oc)

Her fav colours are red and light pink

Her hair colour is supposed to be strawberry blonde just in case you get confused 🤷🏻‍♀️

She is flexible but not as flexible as mitsuri :3

She’s 4’5 😗

#niya talks #demon slayer oc #demon slayer #kny oc #art #drawing #artists on tumblr #kny #kny oc art

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feline-bookish · 3 months

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Pairing: Lillianna Cullen/Carlisle Cullen Warning: Spice, Fluff Posting: Tumblr/AO3 Plot: Carlisle had been gone for 24 hours working overtime at the hospital. Lillianna had missed him.

Get up. Eat breakfast. Get ready for the day. Figure out what to do for the day…When Carlisle is gone to work for longer than anticipated Lillianna is left with nothing to do in the expansive Cullen house. No one is there either. The “kids” are at school and Lillianna is the only one who doesn’t have anything important to do that day.

It’s moments like this where she wishes she were a doctor just so she could go to work with Carlisle. Perhaps when he comes home she can talk to him about med school. More importantly, she can be with him at the hospital while he’s working. Why didn’t she think about this before?

Right, because emergencies aren’t planned. He hadn’t planned on staying at the hospital over time. He just had to stay for said emergency which leaves Lillianna now staying awake late at night waiting for him to come home. She felt entirely alone without him there. While there are now other vampires in the house not one of them is Carlisle. She could engage in a conversation with another vampire in the Cullen house, but she’s far too tired…and introverted.

She just wants Carlisle to come home. She is not in the family room talking to one of the other Cullens. She is in bed. She is comfortable and warm…and lacking her Carlisle. She can’t even sleep when he’s not there. It’s like she’s fully dependent on the rock-hard vampire that she can’t sleep when he isn’t there to hold her.

A few moments later she hears the sound of a door opening. It’s the garage door and she knows that means only one thing: Carlisle is back. She is quick to move to the entrance by the garage, eager to see him. “You’re home early,” she says excitedly.

Carlisle smiles and greets her by pulling her body closer to his and planting his mouth on hers in an eager kiss. Lillianna is surprised but her body melts quickly into the kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck as she reciprocates the kiss.

The kiss deepens and continues for a few more seconds before they pull away, both smiling lovingly at each other. The fact that Carlisle isn’t tired is what makes Lilianna more excited. She can see more of him. If he were human he’d be exhausted and wouldn’t be able to spend a lot of waking moments with her.

That is until he remembers that she is human and has been awake for a long time. The tired look on her face with the dark coloring under her eyes suggests so.

“You’re tired, my love,” he murmurs, his nose nuzzling into her neck. “I think you should get some sleep.”

“What about you? I’ve been waiting so long for you!”

“I know, love but you need sleep. I’ll hold you. I’m not going anywhere.”

She looks at him for a few seconds, his hand sliding through her hair playing with the tips as his fingers reach them. Her expression is defiant.

“I know I can’t tell you what to do, but would you please do it for me?” He asks, pleading as he gently tugs her hair.

Finally, she nods and before she can take a step he scoops her up in his arms and carries her down the hall. As he carries her he says, “I didn’t say you could walk.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t tell me what to do?” She retorts.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t make you do anything,” his voice is low and flirtatious, knowing it would make her blush. He gently sets her on the bed once in the bedroom and pulls the covers back, crawling under with her she scoots into his arms.

“You��re incorrigible.”

“And in love,” he adds after her. “Very much so. I missed you.”

#fanfiction writer #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #fanfic writing #fanfic #creative writing #fanfic blog #carlisle cullen #carlisle cullen x reader #lillinna cullen #original character

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astromechs · 5 months

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💗 slow kiss / gentle kiss / inevitable / soft + Rebelcaptain, please <3

i get: being blocked on writing for most of november due to a really annoying chronic pain flare, you get: oneshot about cassian dealing with the scarif aftermath mixed in with the fluff from a meme that was supposed to be for snippets. that's how we roll in this town 🫡 from this list (still accepting); also on ao3!

The evacuation from Yavin 4 had been a chaotic operation. There'd barely been time to load much more than personnel onto transports, much less carefully scout the galaxy for a planet that could serve as a suitable alternative; those transports had eventually landed on Donovia more out of necessity than anything, and the Rebellion has had no choice but to make do with what it has — sparse equipment, less than a what even an entity that has long been strapped is accustomed to dealing with.

Not that Cassian sees much of the planet.

He mostly knows it from the near-constant rain, pattering softly against the walls outside.

For all that it's a complete waste of resources, he's monitored around the clock in the makeshift medbay, from which he's only allowed to leave for physical therapy, a standard hour and a half per day. In recovery , his status still reads no matter how many times he checks it on the holo next to his bed, no matter how many times he's tried to appeal to both the medical droids and the sentient doctors. The Empire's been dealt its first significant blow, and he should be out there, being useful — not here, with the medical droids shadowing his every step like he can’t make it to the refresher by himself.

Which he can, by the way, and he has. This is the third time today he’s done it. His back only even feels like one vibroknife has been driven through it instead of two; that’s an improvement, and an improvement means he can manage something as simple as a damn shave without assistance.

Only trouble is, just after he’s managed to take a razor out of his bag —

The second spasm from his back from the effort has only delayed its arrival, rather than missed him completely. He lays a palm, flat, against the refresher wall, and scrunches his eyes tightly shut, willing himself to ride this out until it’s over. Eventually, it will be; they always are.

But not before the sound of footsteps, mingling with the rain still falling outside, will come so close as to make an approach.

Cassian exhales a deep breath and slowly opens his eyes, his stomach sinking.

He doesn’t want anyone to see him like this more than he has to — and he especially doesn’t want Jyn to see him like this, not after Scarif. Even after being discharged (her injuries had been, thankfully, much less severe), she continues to spend as much time in the medbay as she’s allowed — sometimes more than she’s allowed, depending on how far she pushes at any particular moment — and while he has to admit that the hours pass by much more quickly when she’s there, he does his best to hide the worst until she’s gone. It’s not an effort that totally succeeds, and he knows that (she has this ability, he’s found, to read between his lines like no one else has managed in a long time), but she never says anything about it.

Even here, when he hasn’t had the time, and can’t spare the effort, to hide, she doesn’t say anything, either. Her eyes soften as she looks between him and the counter — not out of pity, because she’d never do that, but out of enough understanding that tightens in his throat.

Her voice is just as soft when she says, “I’ll do it.” An offer, a kindness, not a demand, and one that she, a woman who waits for almost nothing, seems to have all the patience in the galaxy for him to make a decision on.

For that, he nods. Makes his way to the stool just steps away, and eases himself down onto it.

The process is still much slower than he’d like, but he appreciates that she gives him the space to accomplish sitting on his own, and doesn’t try to interfere.

After some time, after some additional slow, deep breaths, the pain in his back dulls. It doesn’t completely fade, of course, because it never has for a single second over the past rotation, but it’s able to shift from being the center of his attention to being white noise in the background of his awareness.

The water runs from the faucet, then shuts off; he stills, just in time for Jyn to lean into his space and begin her work.

She’s as silent as she is careful; the blade is barely more than a brush over his skin as she guides it, gently, from one spot to the next. What he can see of her gaze is completely absorbed in the task — and he watches, fascinated. Even the things that have been his constants, the dull pain in his back and the rain always falling outside, shift from white noise to completely irrelevant.

Not so long ago, he might’ve wondered if she’d use that blade to find the right artery and slit his throat, but now, after everything, there’s no question of trust. The thought barely lingers before it leaves, and in its wake, all he has is a sense of something warm and easy, like the hand on his face, holding him in place.

Like the one that keeps holding him in place, even well after the job is done.

Or maybe it isn’t her hand keeping him there at all; maybe it’s just her — her steadiness, her gravity. Keeping him there, pulling him in. If it’s possible in this position, Jyn bending over him as he sits on a stool, he finds himself leaning into her touch, toward the place he’s supposed to go.

Toward a slow, inevitable collision as they meet in the middle.

He hasn’t put any thought into this — why would he? — but if he had, he might have a twinge of regret that it’s happening in a medbay refresher, of all places, when he hasn’t managed to shower in days and she has to be more than aware of that; he might have a twinge of regret that he hasn’t come up with a single word to say. Even if he had, though, it’s hard to hold onto any thought when her lips are soft against his, when they part under him, letting him in. Hard to hold onto anything else at all when time seems to exist somewhere else, well beyond them and this moment.

It only ends when they’re forced to breathe, but even then, neither goes far; they linger in the shared space, foreheads touching and breaths mingling. He only sees her eyes looking back into his — full of a fire that’s been there from the beginning, what he’d once thought of as a potentially destructive need that he now knows to be just intrinsically her .

There’s no sight anywhere that compares.

And there isn’t anything he can come up with to say, other than, in a voice that’s dry and raspy from a lack of use, “Thank you.”

For what she’s just helped with, of course, but also more than that, in a way he can’t quite quantify. The smile, small and soft, that tugs at the corners of her mouth, tells him that she understands, nevertheless.

She leans in, pressing her lips to his one more time before pulling back.

“I’ll keep this trip between us,” Jyn tells him, seriously, after a beat, gesturing vaguely at the refresher around them before she starts to reach under her shirt. He barely has time to question, much less blink, because a moment later, she’s produced a datapad — his datapad, the one with clearance that he’s been barred from accessing while in recovery. “Only if you don’t turn me in for the contraband.” She must spot the way his brow arches, because she adds, when she hands the item in question over, still warm from being pressed against her, “B-5’s such an ass that I think he’d actually kick me out forever if he caught me smuggling you this, and he’d mean it.”

He exhales a soft, wheezy noise in response — all he can manage through the pain that’s come back into focus, as well as his own rust. It feels like a paltry effort, hardly worthy of the smile that forms on Jyn’s face again and brings light into her eyes, but if trying, even in the smallest ways, lets him see that —

Then he’ll keep doing whatever it takes.

#rebelcaptain #cassian andor #jyn erso #* fic #kiss snippet meme #asks #anonymous

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numinousmysteries · 3 months

Text

Dancing the Tandava (4/10)

[on Ao3] @today-in-fic

Geneva, Switzerland 2023

Hannah forgets William’s parents were coming to visit until she hears knocking on the door. She’s been up all night in a panic and is so tightly wound that the sound of the knock makes her whole body flinch.

Last night, she and William had been watching a movie on his laptop, both lying face down in his bed, propped up on their elbows. He has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of old sci-fi and horror B-movies, and, after learning she’d never seen Plan 9 From Outer Space or Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, he’s made it his personal mission to expand her horizons. As aspiring physicists, they’ve made a game out of poking holes in the films' plots, but she can tell he genuinely enjoyed them.

They were midway through The Thing when William got a call. Dr. Bellona needed his assistance immediately for a special project at the large hadron collider. She heard William agree to come into the lab even though it didn’t make any sense. They were both research interns for Dr. Farber, whose office was next door to Bellona’s. Besides, interns aren’t certified or trained to work directly on the collider, and they’re never urgently needed at 9 p.m.

“Bellona?” she asked. “Didn’t you say you saw him doing something weird near the Shiva statue on your way home today?”

“Yeah,” William replied, getting out of bed. “I guess now I can ask him what he was up to.”

Hannah had a bad feeling. She bit her lower lip and tried to resist the impulse to pull him back onto the bed as he rose up.

She watched as he pulled a thick navy sweater over his gray t-shirt. A thin line of his toned abdomen peeked out as he lifted up his arms and she forced herself to look away. William is her best friend, the first person she’d ever met who could keep up with her in debates about loop quantum gravity. He’s also undeniably hot: Tall and lean, with piercing blue eyes, and a strong jawline. She teases him for being a jock because he played varsity basketball and baseball in high school, but she secretly appreciates his body as much as his mind.

They’re only friends, though—and roommates and co-workers but nothing more. They don’t talk about their dating lives, although based on how much time he spends either with her or at the lab she can’t imagine his is any more exciting than her own non-existent one. Sure, she feels an electric jolt whenever his hand grazes hers, but William Mulder could probably get any girl he wants. Well, maybe if he toned down his own nerdiness a little.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said, leaving her alone on his bed. Hannah groaned in protest but she could already hear the apartment door shutting behind him.

She waited up for him to return. An hour, then two, then three. She texted and called him but he didn’t respond. Finally at 1 a.m. she pulled a puffy coat over her pajamas, slipped on a pair of boots, and marched down to the ATLAS facility at CERN where she and William worked. She tapped her key card to the sensor at the door but it lit up red and didn’t open. When it failed two more times, she knocked at the door, getting the attention of a security guard she hadn’t seen before.

“Can I help you?” he asked, poking his head out the door into the cold night air.

“Um, I left something at my desk. I just wanted to come pick it up.”

“You’ll have to come back in the morning,” the security guard said sternly. “There’s been an incident and the entire facility is on lockdown.”

“An incident?” she asked, scrunching her brow in concern. It seemed too quiet for there to have been an accident at the facility. There were no sirens or crowds assembled. “What kind of incident?”

“Not sure,” he said. “But someone’s gone missing in the collider tunnel.”

“Missing?” she asked. It wasn’t possible. The large hadron collider was housed in an underground tunnel made of reinforced concrete. It was huge, nearly 17 miles in circumference, but entirely enclosed. There was nowhere for someone to go missing.

The guard just shrugged and started pulling the door closed.

“Wait—” she said, yanking the glass door back open. “Who is it?”

“An intern, they think,” he said. Then he shut the door.

Hannah’s bad feeling got a lot worse.

Back at the apartment, she spent the rest of the night texting other interns in their cohort to see if anyone knew what had happened, but everyone was either asleep or equally clueless.

When she heard the knock at the door she perked up, thinking it was William and he’d forgotten his keys. She didn’t expect to see his parents there instead. She met them once before, when she stayed at their home for a weekend over the summer. William’s mother, from whom he inherited his eyes and coloring, was a doctor and scientist, the kind of accomplished and serious woman she hoped to one day become herself. His father, who looked nearly exactly like an older version of William, was funny and, as William warned, did tell some strange stories but she found them fascinating. Hannah sat aghast as Mr. Mulder recalled a liver-eating monster, a telekinetic killer, and satanic PTA members. William and his mom only rolled their eyes, clearly having heard (or, in Dr. Scully’s case, lived through) these tales before.

Now, she watches as William’s mother’s face drops when she tells her he’s gone.

“Where is he?” his father shouts, cutting through her shock.

Hannah tries to answer, but she only starts crying harder. Dr. Scully drapes an arm around her and leads her to the living room sofa. The coffee table is cluttered with her and William’s books and notebooks and the remains of their takeout dinner from the night before. They would have cleaned up after the movie but then William was called away.

Hannah buries her head in her hands, trying to slow her hyperventilation, as Wlliam’s mom sits down next to her, rubbing her back. She’s ashamed to be such an emotional mess in front of them, but she can’t help it.

“Mulder, why don’t you get Hannah a glass of water?” Dr. Scully asks softly. William’s parents call each other by their last names, a holdover from their days as FBI partners. He said it was embarrassing, but she thinks it’s sweet.

Mulder returns with the water and Hannah sips it slowly.

“Hannah, can you tell us what happened?” Dr. Scully asks gently, still with a calming hand on her back.

Hannah takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Scully,” she says.

“Dana,” William’s mom interrupts. “You can call me Dana.”

“Okay,” Hannah continues. “He was called in last night to assist on a project with the large hadron collider, but he never came back. I went down to our worksite and they told me he’d gone missing inside the LHC tunnel. But that’s impossible. The tunnel is fully enclosed.”

She pauses to wipe the tears off her face with her sweatshirt sleeve. “I think this physicist Dr. Bellona has something to do with it. William saw him yesterday leading some sort of ritual outside the Shiva statue and then he was the one who called William last night.”

“What Shiva statue?” Mulder asks, his eyes darting from Hannah to his wife.

“Um, there’s a statue of the Hindu god Shiva right behind our building. Apparently, Dr. Bellona was chanting and scattering something there with these other people and he kind of stared down William when he saw him.”

“We have to go see that statue,” Mulder says, already headed to the door. His frenetic energy reminds her of William when he’s excited about a new idea.

“Is that okay, Hannah?” William’s mom asks. “Can you come show it to us?”

She guides them outside to a courtyard in between her apartment and the neighboring office building. There, on a granite podium, stands a giant brass model of a majestic Shiva dancing in a fiery halo. He has one foot on the back of a smaller being, and the other raised in the air in celebration.

“This is it,” she says. “It was a gift from the Indian government. What do you think Bellona was doing here?”

Mulder steps forward to examine the statue.

“I don’t know,” he says, rubbing his fingers along the engraved plaque on its base. “But I saw this same symbol earlier this morning in the taxi that took us here from the airport. The driver had a medallion hanging from his mirror that looked exactly like this.”

“It’s probably a coincidence,” Dana says. “But I have to admit, it’s odd. Why is there a religious statue at a scientific center?”

“There are parallels between the story of Shiva dancing the universe into existence and the movement of subatomic particles,” Hannah answers. As a self-proclaimed atheist, she’d asked herself the same question upon coming to CERN, confident that all answers could be found in science. But the more she learns about particle physics, the more mysterious the world seems. “Carl Sagan called Shiva’s cosmic dance the most elegant and sublime representation of the creation of the universe.”

“She quotes Sagan,” Mulder says, smiling. “No wonder William likes you so much.”

Hannah blushes. Glancing down, she spots a green, trifoliate leaf on the pebbled ground. It’s bright with two smaller leaflets and a longer, wider one in the middle, and stands out against the gray of the stones on the walkway. As she looks around on the ground, she sees a few more dispersed around the statue.

“Look at this,” she says, bending down to pick it up. “Maybe Bellona was scattering leaves.”

“Let me see,” Dana says, reaching over to take the leaf from Hannah. “It looks like it’s from a citrus plant, possibly tropical. I don’t think it’s from anything that grows around here.”

“Hannah!” a French-accented voice calls out and all three of them turn around.

It’s Emmanuelle Toussaint, a young French engineer who works in the LHC control center. Hannah had met her at a cocktail reception for women at CERN and the two had become friendly. If there really was an incident with the LHC, Emanuelle would know about it.

“Did you hear what happened?” Emmanuelle asks, striding over to the statue near Hannah and William’s parents.

“To William?” Hannah blurts out desperately.

Emmanuelle looks confused. “No,” she says. “The LHC operated at 15 TeV last night.”

“That’s physically impossible,” Hannah says under her breath.

You don’t need to tell me that,” Emanuelle responds excitedly. “I saw it with my own eyes from the control center, though. We’ve calibrated and recalibrated every detector and we’re still getting the same reading.”

“Scully, I might need some translating here,” Mulder leans over to Dana to whisper.

“I don’t think I understand what’s going on either,” she says.

“The collider has a maximum total collision energy of 14 TeV, or teraelectronvolts per beam. It’s only ever operated at 13 TeV, though, and achieving 15 TeV would require physical upgrades that are years away,” Hannah explains.

“Sorry,” she continues. “Emmanuelle, these are William’s parents, and,” she pauses. “William went missing last night.”

“Oh my goodness,” Emmanuelle gasps, bringing a thin hand to her mouth. “That was him with Dr. Bellona.”

“What happened?” Dana asks.

“Dr. Bellona was the one running the experiment last night. There’s footage of him inside the tunnel working on a calibration with someone else. I didn’t realize it was William with him. Then, there was a power surge and we lost connection to the cameras. When they came back online, Bellona was still there but William wasn’t.”

“Where could he have gone?” Hannah asks.

“I don’t know,” Emmanuelle continues. “But Dr. Bellona called the control room and wanted us to begin the collider run. We obviously can’t do that if anyone is still in the tunnel and, since we didn’t see William exit, we couldn’t start the collider. We locked down the facility and had the technicians do a full sweep of the tunnel. No one was there. Bellona insisted William had exited with him and had gone home, and since there was no sign of him in the tunnel, we figured he was telling the truth. That’s when we started the experiment and the LHC hit 15 TeV.”

“But William didn’t come home,” Hannah says quietly.

“What would happen if the collider ran while he was inside the tunnel?” Mulder asks.

Hannah glances at Emmanuelle. They both know it would be instantly fatal for anyone to be exposed to the high voltage and intense magnetic fields generated by a run of the particle accelerator. Hannah’s heart thumps hard in her chest.

“It is impossible,” Emmanuelle says, shaking her head. “We would never run an experiment with anyone inside. There are too many safety protocols in place. And no one was inside at the time. I don’t know where William went, but I can promise you he was not in the tunnel.”

“I think we need to talk to this Dr. Bellona,” says Dana.

#xfiles #txf #xf fanfic #msr #xfiles fanfic #x files #the x files

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blusapphire · 1 year

Text

Play me a memory (Billy Russo x Reader)- Chapter 6

Summary: When you first met Billy Russo, you fell for him hard and fast. Being with him was like a dream, You were perfect for each other, or so you thought. You return home one night to find all traces of him gone. You’re left heartbroken… and with a life changing surprise. Years later, you find yourself in a predicament when you unexpectedly find your way back into each other’s lives.

A/N: Thanks for all the likes, comments snd reblogs! They are all greatly appreciated! I’ve also choose a posting schedule for PMAM which is going to Thursday’s.

Warnings: Some swearing, mentions of murder

Series Masterlist

…

When you got home from that mind boggling day at work, you were met with worried faces and smothered with hugs from Betts and Jaz and you happily returned them, and then went on to smother your daughter with hugs and kisses out of relief, claiming that you ‘just missed her so much’ after a long day.

Obviously, due to the incident that occurred at the company, work was out of the question for the next few weeks until police could conduct further investigation, or so you were told. Everyone was still very shaken up about it, including yourself, so a few days off were accommodating gesture from the company. The next few days leading up to the following week were mostly spent at home, either leaving to drop Ava off at school or running out to get some groceries.

Regardless of the days off from work, that most would find relaxing and enjoying, you were on edge. Sleep didn’t find you easily for the next few nights, your nights and days were mostly spent thinking about the man you and Billy had encountered. You couldn’t get it off your mind, even when you tried distracting yourself. Maybe Billy was right, that the man was just lying to save himself from the highly unnecessary assault. It was the only thing you could think about.

And what happened after with Billy.

“-And then, after I thanked him, he tried to kiss me! Or at least I think that’s where it was going,” You exclaimed, standing by the kitchen entrance, replaying the events of that crazy day to Jaz, who was moving around the kitchen, in search of something to eat. “And he might get called in to give a statement the same time me so, yay me,” You fake cheered.

“The nerve of him,” Jaz scoffs and shakes her head, disapprovingly. “I’ll remind you, that we can still-“

“I’m going to again, decline vandalizing anything of Billy’s in advance, because I know what you’re about to say.”

“Okay I mean, fine, whatever,” Jaz said, as she threw her hands up in defeat. “I still think you should reconsider though.”

“Thanks for the offer, but still no.”

"Ughhh," jaz loudly let out what might've been her hundredth groan of the morning since walking into the kitchen, "I'm so hungry."

"Why don't you just make something? Or eat some cereal? We have more than enough." You added, referring to the endless amount of groceries you had time to get in the previous weeks.

"I know, but I'm so lazy.” She dragged out. “ I'd have to reach a bowl... then get the milk.., and then pour that milk in that bowl that I worked so hard to reach for,” she exaggerated, and opened the fridge, to dig into it looking for anything she could find. "it's just too much. Plus, today is not that kinda day. It's a 'spend all day on the couch' kinda day.”Jaz hums as she closed the refrigerator door, signaling that she found something, and pulls out a slice of pizza, biting into it.

“Hey, it’s pretty quiet this morning. Where’s Ava?” She asked, taking a large distracting bite of her pizza.

“Oh, Betts took her to this children’s, book reading thing, all day. They left pretty early.”

Jaz hums in return, taking another distracting bite of her pizza, before scarfing it down with a glass of water, making you narrow your eyes at her.

"Isn't it a bit too early to be eating pizza? It's 10am." You questioned.

She answered, with her mouth full. "Maybe.., but you have to ask yourself, do stomachs have open and closing times like a store does?"

You thought about her comment for a second, finding some truth. "Huh," you whispered to yourself in thought, "I guess I never thought of it that way." Jaz grinned, proud that she may have convinced you to agree with her.

Just then, you heard your phone ring, and when you’d picked up, it was someone from the station.

You got a call from an agent named, Dinah Madani, a name you hadn’t heard before, and you sounded confused on the phone, because on that crazy day after work, you’d had a conversation with a Sergeant Mahoney, who you told you that he would be contacting you. But you didn’t read further into over the phone, and agreed to go in to the address that was given to you. Just when you grabbed your coat and we’re about to leave, you got an out of character offer, from your best friend.

“…you, Jazmyn Carrera, want to give up your Saturday, to spent it at the police station?” You narrowed your eyes and specified, in a bewildering tone. “What happened to your ‘spend all day on the couch’ thing you had going on?

She shrugged, like it made all the sense in the world. “They’ll be other Saturdays.” She voiced, running to grab her coat and returning to the door, “Yeah I’ll…, keep you company.”

“Um…okay, sure, yeah. I guess I could use the company.”

She muttered a small ‘great’ and passed you, as you stood there for a few seconds, still puzzled, before brushing it off and walking to the door. Jaz noticed the puzzled look on your face, and turned to reassure you.

“Don’t worry, I think most of the warrants the cops have on me have already been recalled or settled in court of law, so we’re fine,” She shrugged, and patted your shoulder, before walking out of the apartment, and you followed behind, hoping that she was joking.

…

Taking the subway was something you had to again, plug into your routine recently, still not having found your car keys. You were still bummed about it, and you’d informed the police, and hoped that maybe if they found something they’d contact you about it, but it had been over a week now, and you still hadn’t gotten any word that they’d found it. During the train ride though, you found you were correct about how bizarre it was that Jaz wanted to tag along, because she spent the entire 15 minutes trying to convince you to agree with her.

“-Just think about it,” Jaz said, as you both walked up the stairs, and out of the entrance of the subway.

“Jaz,” you stop walking and face her, “we’re not egging his car.” You continue walking and she speeds up to keep her pace beside you.

“Okay, I get it. You don’t wanna use eggs, that’s fine, I mean prices aren’t what they used to be, I know. But I gave you other options, like-like glitter bombing.” She holds out her hand, and uses her fingers to count her points. “It’s fast, it’s cheap-“

“We’re not glitter bombing it either!” You interrupt, and stop walking again to face her. “Is this the reason why you wanted to come? To convince me to agree?”

She gives you an obviously fake confused look before shaking her head. “Mm, I don’t what you’re talking about…” she trailed off, before beginning to walk away.

“Jaz I know you, okay,” You reminded her and stopped her from walking again, “when have you ever went into a police station, willingly?

For as long as you knew Jaz, she was always the kind of person to never forgive or forget. She was a someone who held grudges, even if they weren’t her own, which was her own way of showing that she cared, and that she had your back. When Billy left, Jaz was by your side the whole time. She was there for all those long days and sleepless nights.

She was there when you found out you were pregnant with Ava.

You understood her anger. She was angry for you.

“Huh, maybe I did kinda give myself away,” she tilts her head and thinks to herself, before continuing, “but he deserves it! A hundred times over too.” You nod in agreement, and she continued.

“For ripping your heart out, stomping on it, playing whack-a-mole with it, then blonde voyaging right out of your life!” She articulated, throwing her hands up in an angry gesture.

Puzzled, you corrected her. “It’s bon voyage, and that’s not how you use that in a sentence.”

“It’s not blonde?-whatever- I’m just saying,” a stern expression paints her face, and she sighs, “ I remember what it was like for you after Billy left, okay. It was hell, okay?”

“Jaz,” you sighed, “you’re right, it was a very, very shitty time for me, and thank you for hating him right along with me,” you started walking again and put your hand on her shoulder, “even though it is very tempting…, it won’t fix anything.”

You could tell that Jaz didn’t like your answer, but she eventually accepted. “Okay,” she sighed and crossed her arms, “if you don’t want me to, then I won’t.”

“Thank you,” you said. “I really do appreciate the sentiment though.”

“Did he ever tell you where the hell he’s been anyway? Or why he just, disappeared? I mean, what you guys had…, that shit, was love, if I’d ever seen it.”

You looked down at the ground at that, your mood shifting due to the reminder.

“He used to make you, so happy,- like I used to catch smiling to yourself, and you used to practically click your heels whenever-“

“Okay, that’s a lie, I would not click my heels,” you corrected, holding out your hands, “and…I didn’t really ask him, but he said that it was ‘complicated,’ whatever that means,” you scoffed. “ it was just him trying to make up an excuse, and not face up to what he did, ‘cause the damage he left was right in his face. ”

Jaz watched you sympathetically as you spoke. “I wish I had an answer for Ava- I wish I had an answer for myself, one that hurt less than the truth anyway…” you trailed off and let out a humorless laugh, as you reached the police station, and sighed.

“That I was just another name added to his long list of women that he’d fooled over the years. He wasn’t happy, and he didn’t know how to break it off, so he took the easy way out, because he didn’t have the balls to tell me. And now, I don’t know if he’s just trying to entertain himself for the time being, by trying to weasel his way back into my life, because it doesn’t matter. Because his shit doesn’t work on me anymore.” You voiced, shrugging.

Jaz looked, like she felt bad for bringing it up, but you assured her it was fine, before you made your way into the police station.

The station you were called into looked office like, and when you got there, you were escorted to a waiting area, and were told you would be called in by an agent. It was different from any other station you’d been to, and looked more like it were headquarters for company.

You could see through the windows, and the people in the rooms could see you right back, as they were made of glass. Even though it wasn’t a typical police station, being in the building with that many police made you think back to the last time you were in a police station. After Billy left, it was the only place you knew for months straight. And it also made you think back to the first time you were ever in a station.

After that horrific night. The night that you could never forget.

When you got to the waiting area you weren’t surprised by the face that met yours, his head tilting up to look at yours, with a large smile across it, as you approached.

Speak of the devil…” you lowly muttered to Jaz, annoyance in your voice.

Billy was dressed in his regular suit and tie, and his coat in hand. You hadn’t seen or spoken to him since that night he’d dropped you off at your apartment and tied to, what you thought was, kiss you.

“Well, I think I saw a vending machine on our way in, and since you won’t let me swipe his keys so we can mess with his car, I don’t think I’ll be able to control my sticky fingers, so I’m gonna go get some snacks. And In the words of or lovely Ava, just yelp for help.”

You nod with a laugh, as Jaz walks back in the direction you both came, and you walk over to the waiting area, where Billy is already seated.

“Good morning to you,” he says with a smile, Was that, Jaz that I just saw?” He asks, motioning to the place you were standing before.

“Yup, she saw a vending machine on her way in and…you know her and her snacks,” you sit in the only seat left, next to Billy, “you can’t keep ‘em apart.”

“Right, I remember, she was always very.. serious about her food.” He said nodding. You both were quiet for a minute, which was beyond awkward, and he continued. “How have you been? I-I haven’t seen you since-“

“Since we escaped that building of doom? I’m fine. I just wanna do this and go.” You could tell that Billy agreed, but then he looked like he had something on his mind, which he tried to voice.

“Uh, I’ve been meaning to talk to you, about the other day,-“

“Billy, there’s nothing to talk about, because nothing happened, and nothing was going to happen. Okay? No chance.” You blurted out, ending the conversation before it began. Billy seemed a bit disappointed at your answer, but nodded anyway.

“Alright, okay. But there was also something else I wanted to talk about.”

You didn’t really believe him, but you decided to hear him out. “I’m listening.”

“So that guy, that we ran into in the building, I think we should… keep that between us.”

“You shifted in your seat, confused. “What do you mean? You mean, keep that from the police?”

“Yeah, I just think, it’d be, smarter to not tell anyone.”

“Not even the police? It could probably help then catch the guys you know, if we told them what the guy told us. Like how we heard they were sent by some guy, and how they were looking for somethi-“

“Y/N,” he sighed, “It would be better to keep it to ourselves.”

“But why?”

“Let’s just say…,”. He hesitated to speak, “that some of the cops in this place are not very, loyal to the force, okay? If we tell them anything we heard from that guy, it’d be in the system, and it could get back some people, that, trust me on this, we don’t want it getting back to.”

“What people? Billy, you’re not making any sense, at all-,” Billy touching your arm, causes you to stop talking and look at him. His hand felt tense on your arm, a serious look stretched across his face, and his eyes looked to have a mix of worry and softness in them, which you found to be incredibly strange for dealing with the police, since the police’s job was to help people. Maybe he did know what he was talking about, since he ran into police a lot at his job.

“Just, please… trust me. Okay?”

You hesitated, but eventually nodded, and put your hands up in defense, “Okay. I won’t say anything.” And your works seemed to relax Billy, prompting him to take his hand off your arm. “But for future reference, you should really stop saying that, because it absolutely, does not have the effect you think it does.” you admitted to him.

He relaxed at that, and you turned to make a comment at what he was wearing.“Is that three piece suit glued to you or something? It’s Saturday.”

He chuckled at that, and moved closer to you, if it was possible, and put his arm around the neck of your chair. “It in fact, not glued to me, and it comes off pretty easy, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’d be glad to show-“

“Forget it. I regret having asked in the first place. Leave it to only you to that.” You expressed, lightly shoving his arm away.

“Yeah, but you used to love it.”

“Hm, I wonder what changed?” You voiced, putting your finger on your lip in a thinking stance. “Anyway, I got a call from, an Agent Madani this morning? Is that who called you in too?”

“Ahh, yeah. Not personally on the phone, but I’m not surprised that she’s in charge of this case. She’s very… persistent in her work. Stops at nothing to get to the bottom of a case.”

“Wait, you know her?” You asked, shifting in your seat at his information.

“Yeah…” he sighed deeply, “sometimes the police and my guys clash. So I’ve ran into her a few times on the job. ”

“Huh, you seem to run into a lot of people on said job.” You remarked, raising your eyebrows and leaning back in your chair, and resting your head on the wall behind you and staring at the ceiling.

Billy didn’t say anything for a minute or so, opting to just smirk to himself, which you noticed, and you lowered your gaze from the ceiling to look at him.

“Is something funny?”

He looks over at you, a smirk still on his face, as if he found something amusing.“-No, nothing’s, -nothing’s funny at all.” He shrugged and put his hands up in defense.

After he didn’t say anything more, you went back to resting your head on the wall behind you when him speaking, made you look at him again.

“It’s just that, if I didn’t…know any better, I’d say that,” he closed one of his eyes as if he was thinking, “you sound a little jealo-“

“Then you don’t know any better, because you actually thought to finish that sentence.” You interrupted, his words making you sit up in your chair. “I only commented, because that’s what you said last time about the, sergeant guy, and I just wanted to know who I was going to be dealing with. Obviously.” You shared, dragging out the last word.

He was still smirking, so you opted to share further.

“If you think that I’m jealous,” you sat up further, pointing to yourself, “then that tie is on a little too tight. Like you’ve officially, lost your mind.We’re not together anymore you can do whatever you want.”

“Okay,” he cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his seat, a smirk still painting his face. “If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

He shrugged. “Cool.”

“Great.”

“Fine.”

You both sat in silence for the next few minutes, and you thought, actually had hoped that it would’ve stayed that way, but Billy started another conversation.

“…So I never got chance to ask you, ‘cause we were busy, trying not captured and stuff in that building, but you and this Nick character-“

“Oh god…” you groaned to yourself.

“-Are you like” he looked like he had a hard time getting the words out, “together or something?”

“Billy…”

“-I mean if you wanted flowers, I could’ve gotten you flowers,-like I was getting to that,” he sat up now, and looked perplexed, “And I mean the ones he got you, anyways, you told me, that you don’t even like those kinds-“

“It’s the thought that counts Billy, and not that it’s any of your business, but if you must know, we’ve been on two dates.” You paused before adding, “so far. ‘Cause they’ll probably be more, actually.”

“So far, huh.”

“Yup.”

“Well, I just have a weird feeling about this guy, okay? I’ve seen him, somewhere, I can’t pin it down, but he just seems a little… off to me.”

“Uh, you’re a little off, Billy, if you think that you’re going to interfere with my dating life, because you ‘have a bad feeling about guy,” you spat, using air quotes and a mocking tone. “He’s a gentleman and a nice guy.”

“Well, you know what they say,” he said, leaning back in his chair, “Nice guys finish last.”

“Well this nice guy, is In the lead, so.”

Billy looks off into the distance, and runs his tongue over his teeth in frustration. “That’s great.”

“Cool.”

“Fine.”

“Fin-,” just as you were about to finish your sentence, you both hear a loud knocking on the glass behind you, prompting you and Billy to turn around, and when you do, you’re both met with a man, annoyance painting his face.

“Are you guys done!?” He threw his hands up in frustration, and his voice sounded muffled. “I can hear you through the glass. Jeez,” He complained, scoffing.

You mouthed a quick ‘sorry’, while Billy said nothing and turned back around, irritation on his face.

You both sat there in silence after that, not saying anything, when the loud sound of heels coming towards you, prompts you to look up. It was a woman, and she was pretty, and her short curly hair falling just around her neck, fit her perfectly. She approached you, and introduced herself.

“Hello, Ms.Y/L/N, I’m Agent Dinah Madani, Homeland Security, we spoke on the phone. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” She said with a smile.

You noticed an accent when she spoke, her voice sounding friendly. But her smile didn’t seem very genuine to you and looked more, forced, but you otherwise took the hand she held out to you and shook it.

“Oh, no, you’re fine, I wasn’t waiting too long.” You replied, nodding your head. She answers with a nod as well and a smile, and shifts her attention next to you, to acknowledge Billy, who stood from his seat.

“Agent Madani,” he started, “we can’t keep meeting like this. Seems to be a pattern we should break.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Russo,” she says with a single nod and a slight smile, that again, seemed forced, “please, follow me, Ms.Y/LN.”

…

The Agent, who went by Madani, took you to a grey painted room, that looked more like a conference room, if anything. When you walked in, you noticed a yellow folder on the table, which was on the opposite side of where you stood, and you guessed that’s where Agent Madani would be sitting.

“Please, have a seat Ms.Y/L/N,” she gestured to the seat opposite of her, confirming what you thought and you took her offer. “I really do hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. I was just gathering information.” She sat opposite of you now, folding her hands before her.

“No, that’s okay, it wasn’t too much of a wait.” You replied. “Um, did you say that you were Homeland Security?” You asked, to confirm.

“Correct. Most of the time when it’s a large company like this one, with a situation as big as this one, we get pulled in. Is that okay?”

You found it weird that she was asking you that, since it wasn’t like you had much of a choice in selecting which kinds of police would look into the situation, but you nodded anyway.

“Oh, yeah no, that’s… fine, I guess. I mean,” you shrugged, “I just don’t know how these things go.”

“Right. Well, I have a few questions for you, pertaining to what happened that day.” She says and you nod, a sign for her to ask her questions.

“Can you tell me how you were able to get out of the building?”

“Well, I was with Mr. Russo, the entire time, so it was really him who got me out of there.”

“And I was told it was you, Mr.Russo, and another individual, who were the only ones that were able to make it out the building, without police interference.”

“Yes.” You nodded.

“And you were together the entire time?”

“…yes. That’s correct.”

“And… neither one of you were harmed? There were several others, who made it out, that had to be taken to the E.R.”

“Yeah, I know it was, terrible, but Mr. Russo made sure we got out of there unharmed.”

“Hm.” She made a slight face as she bummed to herself, “ I find it… a little hard to believe, that you all just, made it out unharmed.”

Huh. This was sounding more like an interrogation, than getting a statement taken.

Your eyebrows furrowed at that. “Um, Agent Madani, Mr. Russo was in the Special Forces, and owns his own Private Military Firm, so I don’t think it’s that far fetched…”

She nodded, “Well, these guys were able to take down his entire team that he placed in the building, who are also very skilled, so I wouldn’t say it was too crazy…”

“I…guess we were just lucky.” You said, shrugging.

“Lucky, huh?” You nodded, at her question.

When you didn’t say anything she continued, “Well, Ms.Y/L/N, would you say that you were lucky, when you came into contact with one the intruders? When you were alone, and not in fact with Mr.Russo, like you previously said before?”

Shit.

You fixed your posture and swallowed after her words, being caught off guard, and the Agent spoke again.

“They were able shut down the power in the in the building, which also shut down most of the cameras. Except for the ones that were battery powered, of course.”

“Of course.” You repeated in a slight mocking manner.

“We saw that you both, moved out of view of the camera, so can you tell me what happened after?”

You fiddled with your fingers, thinking about what Billy told you. “Again, I was just really lucky. When he saw me he just, left me alone. And I was unharmed.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah…”

She didn’t say anything for a minute, and just stared at you, with a slight smirk on her face, and you stared back, feeling uncomfortable.

“Well, I’m glad, that you were unharmed, of course.” She finally said.

“Thank you. So am I…” you lowly trailed off, as she stood up now, grabbing the folder that was on the desk.

“And the company’s been running, for over 20 years now?”

You quickly counted in your head, then answered. “Uh, Yeah, I would say.”

And it’s run by your boss, a Mr.Harrison Wilburne? He’s a very well known man.”

“Well, he’s rich, so…, and like you said, it’s a pretty big company.”

“Of course, Wilburne industries. I hear that every year, he throws these fancy events, for a fundraiser for charities?”

“Yeah,” you sighed, relaxing a bit. “He invites other rich people that he knows, and us employees get to attend so…I think he’s a pretty great person, for the fundraisers of course. We actually have one coming up soon.” She give another one of her forced smiles, as a response.

“Do you… know where your boss was, during all this?”

“Uh… I actually don’t, I didn’t really see him that day, if he was there at all.”

“Hm..,” she trailed off, “ and let me ask you, you are in a very high position, at Wilburne industries, one of the top spots?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I understand that, it didn’t take you very long to get to that position level. It takes some people years, to get to where you are now. It’s impressive.”

“Thank you, but I got lucky there too. I mean, yeah I did work my ass off, but Mr. Wilburne did, give me the chance of a lifetime.”

She started walking now, around the table you sat, which made you shift uncomfortably.

“I guess you did get lucky.” She said, her smile all too forced. She rounded the table and stood near you now, the folder she previously walked in with, in her hand, and she continued.

“But I mean, it must’ve helped that nobody knew who your father was.”

You froze at the words that left her mouth, caught off guard.

-No. This wasn’t what you came in for.

She can’t know that.

Maybe she didn’t really know anything and was just trying to intimidate you. For some reason.

For whatever reason.

Your eyes shot up to meet hers, as you felt a deep panic begin to rise in you, as she leaned back on the desk, staring at you, and you stared right back, more of a glare really, when you spoke.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, I said, your father.” She repeated matter of factly. “He’s, a pretty famous guy too, been in the news a lot lately.” She opened the folder she had in her hand and began reading from it. “Thomas St.James, A.K.A of course, Mr. White, leader of one of the biggest crime empires New York’s City’s every seen.”

Why the fuck did she know that?

There was no way she would know that unless she did some digging.

Who the hell was this lady and why the fuck was she digging into your life?

You clenched your jaw after she spoke, still glaring at her, enraged. You frozen in place, furious, but she didn’t seem to care though, as she flipped through the folder she had in her hand.

“That has nothing, to do, with the situation at hand, Agent Madani-“

“He built an empire, from drug money, and was on the police’s radar for years, and the FBI’s most wanted list, but could only be identified, as Mr.White, because he always got away clean. White slate.”

She flipped through the folder as she quoted something from it.

“And the night that he was uncovered twenty-five years ago, police found heavy substantial evidence in St.James home, revealing him to be Mr.White, which was only after police went through the St.James home, due to discovering a-“

She stopped in her reading abruptly, before returning her eyes to yours, and your eyes shot away from hers at that, staring at the far wall ahead of you, swallowing hard. You grasped the edge of the table now, your jaw clenching even harder and you couldn’t get any words out, and she continued reading.

-due to discovering a brutal crime scene.”

Your eyes began to burn now, the tears that were forming threatening to spill any second, as Madani continued quoting what she had in her hand.

“Police were near by, when.. they heard screams, at the St.James home and responded, finding a neighbor who had…discovered the suspect Thomas St.James, with the murder weapon in hand, a knife, near t-the victim, St.James’s wife… Olivia St.James.”

The tears fell now, quickly streaming down your face, as Madani read on.

“The neighbor, who was close to the couple, went over pick something up for the couple’s c-child, Y/N St.James, who was… attending a s-sleepover with the neighbor’s daughter. The victim’s sister, Elizabeth Y/L/N, took custody of the child, giving the child her sister’s maiden name. Although, St.James was charged with the crimes pertaining to his criminal empire, and the murder of his wife, he has maintained his innocence, ever since.”

Madani closed the folder now and your eyes shifted to hers, the tears still streaming down your face. Her mouth was agape, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but struggled to.

“I, uh…I didn’t know that he- I didn’t hear that in the news-,” she paused, “I didn’t know, that was going to be in there.”

“Can I ask you, what the point of that was? Any of that?”

“I just- I thought that you could answer some questions on a case that I’ve been working on involving-“

She doesn’t get to finish whatever she was going to say when the door burst open, and a man coming in, his angry gaze on Madani. His grey hair was styled, along with his grey goatee, and he wore a suit.

“Madani!” He yelled, “I thought I told you one of the other agents would be taking over for this,” he reminded the Agent, and you guessed that the question was rhetorical one, but Madani answered anyway.

“Yes..sir. But all the other agents weren’t available at the time so, I took over.” She took and breath, and replied, you could noticeably see that she having a bit of a stand off, with the man that you assumed was her boss.

“…Right..” he trailed off, staring at her with a stern face, before turning to you. “Carson wolf, Ma’am, I apologize for the way that my agent acted, for what was supposed to be a simple appointment for taking a statement,” he held his hand out to shake yours, while glaring at Madani, which you shook in return, “You’re free to go, Ma’am.”

They seemed to be having a stare-off when you leave the room, rushing to find Jaz, so you could go home. On your way out, you didn’t see Billy, and you assumed that he must’ve been in another room, getting his actual statement taken.

Nothing about what just happened made sense. If Madani had questions about a case you knew something about, which you doubted, why didn’t she just ask you? Or was she using what she knew about you father as leverage, because she believed she wouldn’t get the answers to those questions.

But who did she have questions about?

…

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