#i took the inspiration from autopsies i saw

[dudukbazaar]

Brain Value ●●●●○ ; Size ●●○○○ You need the right tools and technique to open the skull without damaging the brain inside. The brain fluid is crystal clear.

[cynbx]

The Hitchhiker

Hello everyone, my name is Cynthia. I was listening to an old radio show called “Suspense” and was inspired to try to write this story. It is not very good but I am hoping you guys can give me some constructive criticism on it. Thank you guys for the help.

Malcolm is driving on a deserted highway, heading to his next client. He is listening to the radio when he sees him. Malcolm does not know who the mysterious man but he knows that he will kill him. Malcolm steps on the gas and drives straight toward him.. He hears the sound of this man’s body hitting the car and watch as his body rolls off the car toward the ground.. Just to be sure he is dead, Malcolm drives over him a few times. Once he is satisfied, he continues on his drive knowing he is safe from this murderer.

The BAU has gathered in the conference room to hear about their next case. Garcia stands in front of the screen and says, “The land of enchantment is not so enchanting anymore. Three hitchhikers were ran over a car multiple times. The pictures are on the tablet.” They started looking at the pictures and locations and realized they were scattered over the state, several hundred miles between each murder.

Once they are on the jet, the team starts discussing the case. After they landed, they all split up to investigate. Spencer went to autopsy to look at the bodies, the rest went to the crime scenes. After a while, they all returned to the police station to discuss what they learned.

Spencer began by saying, “The medical examiner reported each victim was crushed by the assault.”

Emily added, “The crime scenes showed the no signs of slowing down. The unsub definitely wanted to kill these victims.”

“Why the overkill? Why is the unsub angry?” David asks. “There are no connections between the victims other than the fact they were hitchhikers.”

JJ added, “Maybe the unsub had a bad interaction with a hitchhiker.”

Emily called Penelope, “Goddess of all knowledge, speak and be heard.”

Emily said, “Penelope, please check to see if there are any reports involving hitchhikers.”

Penelope responded, “Not in the area. Let me widen my search.”

A few minutes later, “There is a report that a man named Malcolm Watson stated that a stranger was trying to kill him. He claims he sees this man on the side of the road, always following him even though he doesn’t see another car on the road.”

“Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed, “Malcolm was involved in the accidental death of a man who just wandered in front of his car while driving.”

Spencer asked, “When did this happen?”

Penelope responded “Two weeks before the first murder.”

Matt said, “This was his trigger. His guilt about the accident was too much for him to handle and believes the victim is after him to avenge his death.”

Emily then asked, “Penny, we need his work and home address.”

Once all the information was sent to them, Emily said, “JJ, Matt and Tara, go to his house. Everyone else, his job.”

JJ, Matt and Tara and some officers arrived at Malcolm’s house but no one was there. One of the officers called out to them to come over. When they arrived, they saw a picture of a man taped to his wall. They believed this is the man Malcolm accidentally killed.

Emily, David, Spencer and Luke were at his job. Malcolm’s boss said he was out meeting with clients around the state. This explained why the kills were so far apart. Emily asked what route he took and the kind of car he used. She and the other agents contacted police stations along the route to be on the lookout.

The team reconvened at the police station and waited. About an hour later, they received a call from a station saying they found him and was arrested.

Once the team arrived, Malcolm was just sitting there yelling saying he had to kill him.

[webbedphantom]

Okay so I know I have a bunch of drafts but I really want to talk about my Ideas for Sae's Palace in my AU

To start off with, if you're familiar with the AU at all, you'd know that the MetaNav just straight up doesn't exist, so you might be wondering how I'd even do Sae's Palace? Like is it more about changing her heart through character interactions, kinda like how they do in-game but just making that the focus?

Yes and no.

They do actually go into her Palace, but to explain the how and why of it, there's some setup I need to do first.

See, the way this world works is that with every Persona user awakened by the Metaverse Serum (AF-15), the more the Metaverse begins to leak into the real world. And by the time of Sae's arc, there's now no less than 8 people awakened in this manner, meaning that the connection is now strong enough for something major to cross over, provided it got a little push.

The specifics of this I haven't exactly worked out yet, but someone (probably Akechi being driven mad by his symbiote) sets off a device that causes Palaces to erupt out of the ground, covering the surrounding area in a thick fog that turns people into mindless puppets for the shadows to control, forcing them to go out and bring more people into it. (If you've read my Other Verses doc, this is the scenario that inspired the Kingdom Come verse)

Naturally, this whole scenario isn't something the team was prepared to handle, and since it's affecting the entire city, they need to split up to take care of things, trying to save as many people as they can.

There's a lot that happens during this section, with each of the team members getting their own little missions fighting against one of the palaces (including a lot of original ones, as aside from Shido, Okumura, and Futaba, every other Palace Ruler is in prison and they sort of turn the place into a mishmash of all of their Palaces), either on their own or in small groups, before meeting back up to try and get things back to normal.

Now before we get into Sae proper, we need to do a bit more background to catch you up on her history in this world.

At the beginning of the year, Makoto and Sae's father was still alive, and was a police captain heading the team assigned to bring in the Spider-Man. But while he eventually realizes that they're on the same side, and even helps Aaron and the team against the Shadow Possessed victims, in the end he dies, getting stabbed through the chest by Jack-o'-lantern (As in someone possessed by a Jack-o'-lantern/Pyro Jack, though an evolved version of it that was strengthened by Yaldabaoth to make it more akin to the comic book supervillain of the same name. He's got a sort of Grim Reaper vibe to him, including a gigantic scythe blade on one of his arms) taking a blow that was meant for Aaron.

This naturally scars Makoto pretty badly, since she saw it happen. And while she didn't see the event herself, Sae was no different. She and her father had grown a bit distant over the years, but she still loved and respected him greatly, so losing him really tore her up inside.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Shido pulled some strings to make it seem as though it was Spider-Man who killed Captain Niijima. After all, no one really knew what happened that night, only that the Captain was last seen chasing after the vigilante, and while he didn't use it often, Aaron was known to carry a knife, even if it had a completely different blade from the actual murder weapon.

So Sae, believing in the lies of the falsified autopsy report, began to hunt down the Phantom Spider like her life depended on it.

Over the course of the next few months, Makoto would encounter the symbiote, which led to her lashing out at everyone around her as it took advantage of rage and grief. This would include her sister, and while the team would get her to come to her senses, it would lead to Sae finding out that she not only knew, but worked alongside the Spider. And while she would forgive her for what she did while wearing the suit, that revelation would cause her to disown her younger sister, forcing Makoto to stay with Futaba and Sojiro until she could get her bearings again.

NOW back to our present crisis, despite the growing rift between the two, Makoto still cares deeply for her sister, and immediately rushes to her workplace to make sure she's okay. Only to find a casino standing in the place of the courthouse.

Makoto manages to infiltrate the place, searching desperately for Sae, only to find her on a sort of show stage, being held captive by her Shadow. She tries to free her but ends up getting caught, and is forced to relinquish her symbiote to keep her sister from harm.

Aaron, having just wrapped up dealing with all of his old villains and the Shadows of the Palace Rulers trying to break out of prison, gets word (somehow, I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe Futaba??) that Makoto has been captured, and despite how exhausted he is, he immediately rushes over to try to save her.

Now I'm not quite sure how to work this in, but an idea I had that I thought would make for a neat scene was if Shadow Sae, for some reason, forced the two sisters to do a duet of Whims of Fate (inspired by this cover of the song). Not really sure why, maybe she's just toying with them or something, but I really like the concept.

As this is going on, Aaron begins tearing through the casino, fighting through hoards of shadows, chucking roulette tables across rooms, smashing through walls. He's getting tired but he can't afford to wait even a second, not while Makoto's in danger.

He breaks into the show room, and the second Sae sees him (the man who she believes killed her father), she snaps. Her shadow immediately transforms into Leviathan and begins to tear into the Spider. Makoto seeing this as a chance to escape, trying to use the fight as a distraction to get Sae to safety and get her suit back.

But Sae refuses to move, just staring at the battle before her in silence, almost frozen, but not due to trauma of seeing the Spider again. She's seen him before, several times. No, she's rather torn. Part of her wants him to see justice, to be brought in for his crime and unmasked. But another part of her, the part her shadow embodies, just wants him dead, wants him to suffer like she had to. So she just... watches.

Makoto isn't satisfied with that, though. She tries again and again to get through to her sister, to get her away from here or to convince her that Aaron didn't do it, but nothing seems to work. All the while Aaron is fighting for his life, and he's losing. He's too worn out, and can barely keep up with Leviathan's onslaught of attacks.

Eventually, Makoto figures out that the only way she'll be able to get through is by confessing everything, recounting how she was there when their Dad died, how she saw him get stabbed through the chest to save Aaron, how he fought so hard to keep them all safe, how they did everything they could to save him but it wasn't enough. It's painful for her, to relive one of the worst moments of her life, but she can't let her sister keep lashing out at the wrong man.

It takes Sae a while to process this, unsure if she entirely believes it. But in the end, she decides to act, helping Makoto get her symbiote back and working with her to take down her shadow and get them all out of here.

This would eventually lead to her getting her Persona, though it wouldn't happen right away. She needs to confirm the lies for herself, and come to terms with just how close her darker half came to killing someone, and how she was content to just watch it happen. But at some point, either towards the end or after the Palace situation is resolved, she would awaken to her power (One of the only natural awakenings in the AU, because yeah the connection to the Metaverse is now so strong that Personas can manifest in reality without the serum) as the Wraith.

She'd be a sort of mix between Wraith from the comics and Daredevil (both OG and Electra flavours), using her Persona to induce fear in her enemies, as well as hard hitting physical and gun skills, twin stun batons which she can ricochet off walls like Daredevil's billy clubs, and Wraith's wrapping... thingies for swinging around or tying people up.

I'm not entirely sure what her Persona would be though. I've seen some people either give her a Transformer like Makoto, or turn Leviathan into her Persona, and while I feel like that last one has some potential, I also think she should have something more... original I guess?

I don't know, kinda just spitballing at this point. Most of this stuff is very loose and definitely still needs some work, but I think the general idea is solid.

But anyways, that's my concept. Someday I want to flesh out the rest of this arc, like have an actual explanation for the Palace thing as well as a resolution to it, plus all the little side stories that take place with the rest of the team (I'd love for Futaba to come across the Palace of a shut-in who's going through something similar to what she does in canon, and for Haru to take on Sugimura. Maybe even have Ann and Ryuji come help Aaron at the prison so they can team up to take down Kamoshida, since they weren't actually a part of that fight in this universe).

There's a lot of potential here, honestly.

But that's enough of my ramblings. Thanks for reading!

[morpholomeg]

I love ur Morphology series, it’s one of my fav daemon AUs. I was wondering if you could tell us ur headcanon for each of the Avengers daemons? Even the ones that aren’t written like Thor and Bruce?

And if ur ever inspired to keep writing- I’ll definitely be reading!

Confession: part three of the trilogy (yes, it was originally a trilogy) was going to be a rewrite of Avengers Assemble and I wrote so. much. of it. I think I've got about 10k of it done, but I haven't touched it in absolute years.

Given that the chances of me ever finishing it are... next to nil, have a snippet for each of the Avengers about their daemons:

Steve:

In a classified location somewhere near Greenland, a woman and her dæmon sat in a truck, freezing.

“All I’m saying is that they shouldn’t have sent people with cold-blooded dæmons to the damn North Pole.”

Alison sighed. “Shut up, Logas.”

The lizard stuck his head out of the top of her coat to poke his tongue out at her, then quickly decided this was a bad move and ducked back down to take advantage of her body heat.

“How long do we have to be here?” he whined, his voice muffled.

Alison wasn’t particularly enjoying herself either, but when someone told you that you were on a mission to finally bring Captain America’s body home, it was kind of hard to say no. At least she wasn’t out on the ice, digging. Those guys all had big useful dæmons like huskies. Alison was just the mortician, with a useless, whiny tree lizard to keep her company as they waited to have something to do. Still, this was important, and at least it made a change from the monotony of her autopsy lab back in New York.

She was about to tell Logas something along those lines when she became aware of the raised voices outside. “Wait, I think they’ve found him.”

She got out of the truck, wincing as she did so and wishing she’d kept moving around. There was real commotion now, people yelling and running around.

“What’s happening?” Alison shouted, moving towards the plane where it poked out of the ground. “Agent Beckett?”

Beckett was staggering away from the plane, and Alison would have bet decent amounts that if it weren’t for the wind burn on his cheeks he would have been white as a sheet. His dæmon, an Arctic fox, was hopping up at his knees.

“Agent Beckett, are you alright?” Alison asked.

His eyes refocused on her. “Agent Newbury. Tell me you’ve got actual medical training.”

She blinked. “Yeah, I just got fed up of patients dying on me. Why, someone hurt?”

“We found his dæmon in the ice,” Beckett said.

Alison stared. That sentence just didn’t compute. “His dæmon - you mean Captain America’s dæmon? But that means-”

“He’s alive,” said Beckett. “He must be alive. Shit, it’s been sixty seven years, and he’s alive.”

Alison took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as the cold air bit at her throat. “Well,” she said. “Guess I’d best make sure he doesn’t die on me.”

~

“Welcome to your new apartment,” said Agent Morse.

Steve glanced around. It was a decent, bland sort of space, much bigger than he really needed, although smaller than the cabin in the woods where they’d put him for a few weeks. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Sure,” said Morse. She was smiling professionally, and her bird dæmon chirruped happily from atop her shoulder. It made the facial bruising and the broken arm look weirdly incongruous. “So, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/diner. Plus, there’s a gym in the basement, and the phone line and internet have all been set up - you know what that is?” she checked.

“They gave me a lot of books to read when I was recuperating,” he said. “One of them was called Computers for Dummies.”

Sigouria huffed at the reminder, and Steve saw Agent Morse look down at her. When he caught her looking, she ducked her head a little, but didn’t blush.

“Sorry,” she said brightly. “Just - your dæmon. She looks more like a husky than an Alaskan malamute.”

Steve closed his eyes for a moment. Here we go again.

“She’s a Siberian husky,” he said. “I’m told that soon after I - well, apparently it wasn’t acceptable for Captain America to have a Russian breed for a dæmon.”

Morse’s eyes narrowed. “Alaska didn’t even join the Union until the sixties.”

“1959,” Steve corrected. “Anyway, the history books aren’t too clear on when they made the change.”

“You’re well-informed,” she noted.

“Like I said, ma’am, they gave me a lot of books.”

Books, a computer, and an internet connection. When Steve began to suspect that SHIELD had carefully limited his reading material, he’d felt frustrated until he stumbled onto the chapter of his computer textbook about search engines and realised that the internet couldn’t be limited. He’d augmented his curriculum with Google and Wikipedia, until he couldn’t face any more. The conflict with Russia. The interventions in Lebanon, Panama, Libya. War with Korea, with Vietnam, with Iraq, with Afghanistan.

And Sigouria rewritten.

In all the fiction created about him during the War, all the propaganda he’d helped spread, they’d never touched Sigouria. Sure, they'd talked about her, said she was a sign of the man inside. They'd had nothing but good things to say about Sig: a big, strong, dog dæmon, always the sign of the perfect soldier, even when paired with a scrawny nothing like Steve. She’d only become embarrassing during the Cold War, but that gave the American public a good long time to get it into their heads that Captain America had a perfectly North American dæmon. Morse was the fourth person to accuse him of being a fraud because of Sigouria. 

Her dæmon leaned into her ear and whispered, “Could be genuine.”

Steve smiled blandly. “If it helps either way, you should know that the serum gave me extra sharp hearing.”

She gave up the pretense then. “Look, Captain, you have to realise how good this timing is. SHIELD’s been encountering potential superheroes consistently for a few years now, and none of them are under government control. You resurfacing, just after the Senate pitches a fit about Stark, the Army about Banner, SHIELD about that whole crisis in New Mexico-” She cut herself off with a shake of the head, preventing him from asking for an explanation. “You turned up just when the country needed a clean-cut, well-behaved hero. It’s much easier to believe you’re a fake than to accept the idea that you were suddenly discovered in the ice after seventy years.”

That had Sigouria on her feet and moving in front of Steve, but the little bird didn’t falter, safe on his perch.

Steve didn’t know what to say. He fell back on a platitude. “Well, I’ll try to live up to that.”

Morse sighed. "I'm sure you will. And if you really are him, I should probably say - I'm sorry for your loss."

Steve's throat tightened as she left, and Sig growled at the closed door.

“Don’t,” he said. “She’s only telling us the truth.”

“And doesn’t that make a change,” Sig replied.

~

I don't think it's explicit in those snippets - Sigouria was frozen just slightly too far away from Steve, resulting in the same sort of stretching that Natasha was forced to undergo as a child. That, coupled with waking up in the future, is inducing pretty serious depression in Steve. Poor love. Sigouria comes from the Greek for confidence/safety.

~

Bruce:

The man who arrived at the hut was not charitable to Natasha. He was wary, and wily with it, and his capuchin dæmon fidgeted constantly, swinging up to Banner’s neck and then skittering down to the floor again, staying way back from Cassum. When Natasha brought up an image of the Tesseract on her phone, Banner took it easily enough, but the monkey screeched as it came too close to the threat.

“So Fury isn’t after the monster?” Banner asked.

Natasha smiled. “Not that he’s told me.”

“And he tells you everything?”

Oh, he was good. Untrained, but any cornered animal would bite back. Natasha pointedly did not glance at Cassum. “Talk to Fury, he needs you on this.”

Banner moved forward. “He needs me in a cage?”

Cassum was quivering; Natasha could feel it. “No one’s gonna put you in a-”

“Stop lying to me!”

In the blink of an eye, Natasha had a gun aimed directly between his eyes, and Cassum was a cheetah, poised and bristling, trembling.

The little monkey screeched again in alarm, but Banner just moved back a little. He was almost laughing, looking at Cassum with greed, curiosity, utterly fearless. “So, are you a science experiment too?”

Natasha didn’t say anything; nor did she lower her gun.

“I’m sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you’d do.” His eyes flicked between her and Cassum, and then back again. “Fight and flight both.”

Natasha relaxed her grip slightly. “I like to cover my bases.”

Banner smiled. “So do I. Why don’t we do this the easy way, where you don’t use that and the other guy doesn’t make a mess? Okay, Natasha?”

Patronising. Informal. Still testing her. She raised a hand to the comm concealed under her hair. “Stand down, we’re good here.”

And now Banner was truly amused. “Just you and me?”

Natasha breathed out slowly, aware that it was a tell. “I like to cover my bases.” The monkey was edging closer to Cassum, who stayed stock still. “So, Bruce. Are you coming with us?”

“You understand that I’ll run at the slightest provocation,” he said.

Natasha nodded. “We’ll do our best not to provoke you. Or him.”

The capuchin was inches away from Cassum, who finally stepped back. The monkey chittered in triumph and scrambled back towards Banner.

Natasha smiled. “Well. Shall we?”

And Hulk:

“I’m okay,” Natasha said. She swallowed to wet her throat, and then looked across at Bruce Banner, and that goddamn capuchin dæmon. “We’re okay, right?”

But Banner’s pain was inscribed clearly on his face, and the dæmon was screeching. Cassum became a husky, startlingly like Rogers’s dæmon, and slowly, carefully, began shifting the debris off of Natasha’s trapped body.

“Doctor…” No response, no use appealing to dignity, too far gone. “Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants.” No response, logic no longer helpful. “We’re gonna be okay, listen to me.”

Two agents were coming up to check on them, but Thea was on it. “Go! Go!” she hissed.

The monkey screamed at her.

“We’re gonna be okay, alright?” Natasha continued, knowing the desperation was bleeding through. “I swear on my life, I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and-”

“Your life?!”

“Bruce,” she said, but it was too late.

"Thea, go!" Natasha yelled. "Get out now, go to Coulson!"

The man was roaring as he became the monster, but his dæmon screamed, a high-pitched sound that deepened as the monkey grew. It writhed in agony - or so Natasha supposed - and this was bizarre, this was a twisted mockery of how dæmons were supposed to change. This dæmon did not flick from one form to the next, but tore itself apart in order to expand. Its fur darkened until it was pitch black, and two tusks pushed themselves out of the lower jaw, forcing the face to distort until it looked more like a gorilla. The tail retracted, but not fully, leaving a stump extending from the base of its spine.

Did this thing understand the great taboo? Or would it tear Natasha apart before Banner even had to get himself free of the wreckage pinning them both down?

And then with one last great shove, Cassum had her free, and they were pelting away.

I never quite settled on a name for Bruce's daemon - I felt that what with his self-hatred, he probably never addressed his daemon out loud, so I didn't really need to know a name. I was leaning towards male gender.

~

Tony & Pepper (the scene where Coulson visits the Tower - Thea was not affected by Loki possessing Clint, so she's tagging along):

"Security breach," Stark blurted, but Potts was already coming forward as they left the elevator.

"Phil, hi," she said with a smile. Her bird dæmon fluttered down to greet Alevrie but jerked back and chirped in alarm when he saw Thea. Potts' smile faltered. "And, um."

"Ms Potts, this is Thea," Coulson said smoothly. "Thea, Pepper Potts, CEO Stark Industries."

"Tony Stark, Iron Man," Stark butted in. "Great, we all know each other, so now I can ask what the hell, Agent?"

Thea was watching Potts' dæmon. A northern lapwing, she thought, and clearly very unsettled. He was edging back towards his human, unlike Stark's dæmon, a margay, who was growling and baring her teeth, almost pulling Stark forward as she stalked towards the intruders.

"Thea is the dæmon of a trusted agent," said Coulson. "Mr Stark, you need to get up to speed on our current situation; we're bringing you in."

He tried to hand him a tablet, but Stark lifted his hands and stepped back. "No, you're not. Firstly, I thought you didn't want me in your little boyband-"

"The Avengers Initiative?" Potts said faintly, before catching herself. "Not that I know anything about that."

"-said I didn't play well with others-"

"That bit I did know," Potts remarked.

"-and secondly, can we get back to the trained rabbit?"

"Jackrabbit," Thea corrected.

The lapwing let out a weak chirp and flew up to Potts' shoulder, but the margay sprang forwards with claws unsheathed, only stopping a couple of feet away from Thea. Thea stood her ground, aware of Alevrie tensing.

"So you are a dæmon," Stark said, fixing her with an intense stare.

Thea's nose twitched. "Sure am."

Potts had her free hand held to her mouth. "Sorry," she said. “We're being awfully rude.”

“We are?”

"If we can get to the point," Coulson said, holding out the tablet again.

"I hate being handed things," Stark rebuffed.

Potts took a quick breath, plastered on a smile. "Well, I love being handed things, so let's trade." She handed her champagne glass to Coulson, took the tablet and then pressed it into Stark's hands, taking his glass in turn.

Once Stark got the tablet lit up and connected to his holographic displays, it clearly only took him a second to clock the image of Thea and Clint, but to her surprise it was the margay who spoke up.

“You’re Hawkeye’s,” she said. Her voice was coarse, somehow sharp, sort of like the way that Stark stared.

Potts glanced at her, but didn’t flinch again, so clearly Stark’s dæmon often spoke in her own right.

“Born that way, yeah,” Thea agreed.

“And look at that,” Stark continued, still pointing at the screen. “Our favourite Agent Romanoff with a wolf dæmon I distinctly remember her not having when she was my fake PA. Pepper, you remember Miss Rushman’s sleek little Siamese cat, don’t you?”

Potts looked ready to faint all over again as she moved to his side, staring at the screen. “You mean that wasn’t her dæmon? Is she-”

“Agent Romanoff’s dæmon never settled,” Coulson broke in, sounding as calm and diplomatic as ever.

“Impossible,” the margay snapped, but Stark snapped right back: “Improbable.”

Thea wanted to roll her eyes. “Find it kinda funny that there’s a video of a giant green monster up there and you’re focusing on me and Cassum.”

Potts looked straight to the Hulk, but Stark shook his head. “Human bias. Giant green monsters - completely alien. Muck with something you thought you knew - that captures the attention.”

“You might want to reconsider your use of the word alien,” said Coulson. "Our antagonist doesn't even have a dæmon."

Tony's daemon is a margay called Zoirotita which gets shortened to Roti (it annoyed his father no end that a daemon named for vibrancy got nicknamed after a flatbread). Pepper's lapwing is called Bahariko, which just means spice.

~

(Quick bonus Tony:

"Deploy. Deploy!" he shouted. "Roti, get ready!"

And there was the suit, finally, clinging to him in bits and pieces, encasing him, but Roti wasn't in position, of course she wasn't, she was below him, but what the fuck, why the panic, she was a cat -

She landed heavily but on her feet, just before Tony scooped her straight back up, tucking her under his right arm.

"I need to be a fucking bird!" she yelled.

"We need to revisit Iron Cat," Tony corrected.)

You don't know how long I spent wondering how Iron Cat worked.

~

Thor & Loki:

Back on the now-crowded jet, Steve was ready to settle in for a tense and uncomfortable flight, when suddenly Thor beamed.

“I know this one!” he announced. “Little Thea the far-hearing. Where is your other half?”

Steve shared a surprised glance with Sig, but Thea just shrugged. “Best ask your brother.”

Loki was no longer grinning, apparently adequately threatened by the presence of another Asgardian, but there was still a malicious glint in his eye as he looked at Thea.

“An easy target,” he said. “A man with half a conscience, half a spirit, who has to think through every decision he makes to check if that’s the human thing to do. What could be more natural for a man like that, than to follow orders?”

“That’s enough out of you,” Steve said, and Sigouria growled low in her throat.

Fortunately, Thor seemed to agree with him, turning away from his brother. “And what is your name, shield-bearer?”

“Steve Rogers. They call me Captain America.”

“And you?”

There was a pause where everyone looked at each other, unsure of who was being addressed, for Thor had not turned his head away from Steve. It took Thea stepping on her foot for Sigouria to speak up. “Oh! You mean - I’m Sigouria. Uh. Pleased to meet you?”

“And you, young wolf.” And - oh, this was getting stranger by the second - he looked next at Stark’s daemon.

“Roti,” the margay said. “And this is-”

“Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. And you are really definitely not of this earth, I am gonna need to reread all of Foster’s papers-”

“Natasha Romanoff,” Agent Romanoff called from the front of the jet. “And this is Cassum. We’ll be coming up on the helicarrier in thirty minutes. Let’s save the conversation for when we’ve removed certain parties from the room.”

~

And just because it was going to set up the spin off I will absolutely never get around to, bonus Coulson...

Phil Coulson opened his eyes.

White surroundings. Medical of some sort. His whole body was stiff and weak. What had - where -

Tahiti. That was right. He had been recuperating in Tahiti - a magical place - after the battle. Loki. They had won, Barton was safe, Stark had flown a nuclear missile through a portal into some other dimension, another area of space-time… Why was his brain going over this, when he’d been recovering in Tahiti for weeks?

He shook his head to clear it, and sat up. Yes, this was definitely a SHIELD medical facility. And there was a nurse coming towards him, though not one he knew. He looked - distressed. Pale, eyes darting about. Terrier dæmon hugging his heels.

“Take it easy, sir,” he said to Phil. “You, uh, you passed out on the plane on the way back. Rough landing, apparently. Uh -”

“Take a break, son.”

Phil smiled. “Nick. Long time no see.” He sat up to see Nick striding in, dæmon at his heels, and the poor nurse scurrying out of the way and practically fleeing the room, the terrier scuttling ahead. “I’d tell you to stop scaring the juniors but I know it would do no good.”

“You’re damn right,” said Nick. He took the chair to the side of Phil’s bed, his dæmon sitting gracefully by his leg, tail swiping along the floor. “You don’t know how good it is to have you back.”

Phil smirked. “Looking forward to delegating all the dirty work to me again, sir?”

Nick laughed. “Wish I could, Coulson. You know we’re gonna have to redeploy you.”

That sentence took a couple of seconds to compute, but then it all came flooding back. Loki’s spear, the side-effect that only he had faced. This was why he’d been sent to Tahiti after all: to grieve, and to learn to live again.

“Of course,” Phil said, cursing his own forgetfulness. “Sorry, I knew that.”

“Don’t apologise,” Nick said roughly. “It’s only been a few weeks without her.” Beside him, the jaguar bowed her head. “Can’t expect a man to get used to losing his dæmon that quickly.”

[adoracora-elizabeth]

Music Made Me Love you, chapter 6

"We cannot postpone the deadline again. You need to produce something, or we cannot work together anymore." Cora's publisher sounded harsh, but she did understand where he was coming from. He needed her book to sell, and she was not producing anything. It had now been weeks since she last heard that piano player and her brain did not want to produce any words. She tried but failed miserably. What if the person had moved? How would she ever find her muse again. It did also not help that she had not seen Robert, for the same amount of time.

"I will make sure to have it ready next month. I promise." Cora heard herself say those words, but she knew they were empty promises. How was she going to produce those last chapters? She needed to find a solution, really quick.

"Do not let us down." The dial tone sounded before Cora could answer. She sighed and sat down on the sofa. As it did for the entire last week, her notebook was smirking at her. Maybe she should start by digitalising what she already wrote. It could help, get back into the writing process. She opened her laptop and started typing.

She was thankful her mother had told her to take typing lessons, now she was able to use the keyboard with ten fingers and without looking at it. It saved her a lot of time. There was not much her mother had told her to do, but this was one of those rare ones. She loved her mother, but the relationship had always been strange. She was much closer to her father. Or at least she had been closer to him. She still felt the pain in her heart thinking of that day.

He had been out golfing with some of his friends. They normally took a golf buggy to go around the course. But one of his friends had said that the weather was nice enough to walk that day. So, they all went on foot. Cora wished her father had been lazy that day and had taken the cart. But he did not, true to his nature he was the first one to be enthusiastic. They had walked several holes, and when they decided that it was time for a beer, it had gone terribly wrong.

Another player that was out on the course, was new to the game. He was good at smashing the little ball far, but aiming was not his strong suit yet. Isidor had been at the wrong time at the wrong place.

The ball was hit hard and flew over the course. But instead of going in the direction of the hole. It flew directly at their group. He was hit on his head. According to his friends, he had dropped to the floor immediately and there was nothing they could do.

Later with his autopsy, they found that the artery that lay directly under his temple had burst. It meant an instant death or at least one from which he did not suffer. That was the only consolation she had; he had not suffered.

She shook her head and looked at her screen again. She had still a lot of work to do, she loved writing in the old-fashioned way. With pen and paper, but it did give her extra work. That extra work was a good distraction, otherwise she would start panicking. She needed to find another way to get inspiration.

+++

Robert pushed his father inside. He had been in the hospital for a long time, but finally he was allowed to go home. They hired a private nurse, and with that condition, they finally agreed to let him go. Patrick could still not use his left arm or leg and his speech was still slurred. But as Robert had expected, he was working hard and very determent to get as much function back as was possible. "Welcome home, Papa."

"This is not my home son, and you know that." said Patrick gruffly.

Robert knew that he only saw Downton as his home. "Your home away from home." He tried.

Patrick shrugged his shoulder. It was a weird sight, seeing one shoulder moving and the other one staying motionless.

"Can you bring your father to the living room please. We do not have to stand in the hallway, do we?" Violet's voice snarled in his ear.

Robert walked further on; his parents were staying in their London home for the time being. In the end it was best that they had opened their London home and were not staying in Robert's apartment. He would not like living with his parents again. Especially not with his father being this depending on them. Violet would probably get very cranky, and he could only imagine the frustration his father felt.

"You will be alright then?" Robert looked at his father, he had wheeled him close to the fireplace. Since his stroke he was constantly cold.

"What do you mean?" Violet sat down on the sofa. "Are you leaving?"

"Well, yes. What can I do here?"

"Your father needs to explain you everything about the business. You need to step up now, the time of being lazy is behind you."

"Dear, we cannot state that Robert is lazy. He never has been."

Robert gave his father a thankful look. It was indeed not something they could say, he had never slacked off at work. "Mama, I know I have to take over fully from now on."

"For the time being." Patrick added.

"For the time being, sorry Papa. But Papa is not even home for one hour, I want him to take it slow these days. I will do whatever I can without his information already. And then in a couple of day, Papa and I will sit down to see what I can do."

"Dear, you know Robert is right. I am, to be honest, too exhausted to think about work. I would love to go to the bedroom and sleep."

"I will ask the maid to prepare your bedroom right away."

"The bedroom is already ready, Milady." Maud's voice sounded from the door.

"Good." Violet looked at Robert. "Are you going to help your father to the bedroom, or is that also too much to ask?"

Robert ignored her words and pushed his father into his bedroom. He could not understand how they could be married, but never slept in the same room. How did Rosamund and he came along. Deep down, he knew exactly how it worked. His mother was old fashioned, and she did not allow his father to sleep in her bedroom. From time to time, he was allowed to have fun with her, but that was it. He could not imagine that those things were still happening in these modern times. He shivered; he did not want to think about his parents doing those things.

"Papa, I will be back in two days. Please take the rest you need. I am taking care of the business for now and we will not make any major decisions."

"That is alright son. Thank you."

+++

Annoyed Robert stepped inside his apartment in Westminster. He wished he could go back to Richmond; he missed his small house there. The garden, his piano but most of all he missed bumping into Cora. It had been weeks and he felt foolish for asking her number. He was intrigued by her and just wanted to know more. But with his father's situation, it all got complicated.

He walked to his kitchen to get some water when he made a decision. He was going to Richmond tonight; he would just stay the night and go back tomorrow morning.

He called for a cab and took only a small bag with him. He had clean clothes left at his house, so he did not need much.

Relieved he opened the door to his house and walked straight over to his piano. He caressed the instrument before sitting down. He tossed his bag into a corner and his fingers went to the black and white keys.

Cora popped up in his mind and he started playing. His music turned into a melodramatic song, which brought tears to his own eyes.

He did not stop for several hours, and when he finally looked up and noticed that it was three in the morning, he realised that he had not closed his window. Slightly ashamed he walked over and closed the window. Murmuring an apology to his neighbours.

Once more he stroked with his fingers over de piano, one day I will tell Mama about this. One day. He said to himself, before walking into his bedroom.

With a deep sigh, he lay down and stared at the ceiling. He promised himself that he would bury his personal life. But how could he? It was part of him, a big part. He did not feel complete without his piano. And it seemed that he also could not be genuinely happy without seeing Cora. That last part still shocked him. He had seen her twice; how could she have this effect on him? But more importantly, was she feeling the same thing for him? What if he was dreaming of meeting her again, but she was not? He needed to find out what she felt for him, but he was not sure how he was going to do that.

[theother-victoria]

“WANNA PLAY A GAME?”

SYNOPSIS: You’re bored and Heizou seems to be losing his touch lately, so you play a simple game of hide-and-seek to test him.

TAGS: very steamy towards the end but nothing NSFW, (y/n) likes to tease Heizou, (y/n) works as a forensic scientist in this, Heizou is a little shit, I am down bad for this man

This work was inspired by this lovely fanart!

It’s a quiet day at the police station. Most people are relaxing in their offices, trying to find a way to kill time. Occasionally, Tenryou Commission officers stop in to hand in reports or a tourist will ask for directions, but other than that, it’s peaceful.

And you’re bored out of your mind.

There’s nobody in the hall as you walk towards your lover’s office to see what he’s up to. The late afternoon sun spills through the windows and you can see out onto the main street of Inazuma City. Ogura Mio hands a neatly-wrapped package to a customer, no doubt containing an elaborate kimono inside. One of the city’s many stray dogs is taking a nap on the warm steps leading up to the police station, lazily rolling over onto its back and exposing its stomach. Two civilians are conversing with one of the doushin standing guard outside with severe expressions on their faces.

Heizou’s office was located at the end of the hall. You knock at the door and his response comes instantly.

“Who is it?”

“It’s (Y/N).”

The door slides open a few moments later and you’re greeted with the sight of his infectious smile behind his desk as he plays with the jutte he carries at all times.

As always, his office is a mess. Papers are carelessly scattered everywhere, leaving you unable to see the surface of his desk. Several books are stacked on the floor, acting as makeshift paperweights or lying face-down. The window behind his chair is open and with every gust of wind, the loose papers scattered throughout the room and those tacked to the bulletin board flutter and threaten to fly away.

“Honestly!” you groan. “It would do you good to clean your desk for once.”

You move a thick stack of papers and some books off of his desk until you’ve cleared enough space off his desk to sit. With a sly glance, he leans in closer, practically taunting you with that smug look on his face that never fails to get you riled up.

You pull him in by the collar of his shirt, teasing him, daring him, to test you. His hand sneaks around the back of your head, bringing you in for a heated kiss when you suddenly place a finger on his lips, mischief twinkling in your eyes. He whines, disappointment evident in his eyes as you pull away, chuckling to yourself.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, loverboy. We’re still at work.”

You quickly kiss his forehead and pluck the copy of today’s newspaper off his lap while he's distracted by it.

“Latest negotiation between Watatsumi and the Shogunate went well,” you quote. Beneath it, you saw another headline that caught your eye even more.

“Cold case solved after 20 years by Detective Shikanoin Heizou.”

You lightly swat his hand away, which was reaching for the newspaper. “Is this the case I saw you working on a few days ago?”

“That’s right! Now you can’t tell me I’m not making good use of my time!”

You flick him on the forehead and he yelps. “I wish I could say the same thing. The forensic team is absolutely dead right now. There are no autopsies to perform or samples to analyze, so all there is to do is organize paperwork, which I’ve been doing for the past hour and I’m sick of it.”

Ever since the end of the war, you’d seen a sharp drop in crime rates. Previously, you’d find yourselves swarmed with work every day, ranging from missing person reports to autopsies. While you love your job, being surrounded by dead bodies all day and the constant reminder that you were at war really took a toll on your mental health.

But you didn’t want to be bored out of your mind! You felt absolutely useless and desperately needed something to do

And amid your boredom and playful banter with Heizou, a genius idea that would allow you to both have some fun hits you.

“You know, I recall it took you longer than normal to solve this case.”

Heizou falls silent. His eye twitches and you can practically see the gears in his head processing your comment.

“What a shame,” you continue, laughing to yourself over how easily he was falling for your trap. “I think you’re losing your touch, Heizou.”

“I am not!” he protests, steam practically coming out of his ears as he fumes and puffs his cheeks out.

He looks like a child throwing a temper tantrum. How cute.

You quickly slide off his desk and into his lap, stroking his cheek. His hands find your waist and pull you closer and he gently bounces his leg up and down.

“But I know of a way to test your skills.”

He stops bouncing his leg.

“Let’s play a little game of hide and seek. You’ll be the seeker and I’ll be the hider.”

Heizou doesn’t even try to hide his amusement with that knowing smirk.

“Alright, I’ll bite. So, what are the rules?”

Dammit. You hadn’t thought this far yet.

“Um… first off, don’t disturb anyone in their office. Empty rooms are fair game but don’t hide in one being used by someone. Hiding outside is ok, but you can’t go onto the roof or into the city. Give me three minutes to hide and if you can’t find me within five minutes, the game ends.”

“And what’s the reward?”

“I don’t know,” you whisper into this ear. “What do you want it to be?”

“How about I leave it as a secret and have you find out later?”

He finishes with a sharp squeeze of your inner thigh. You let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak that he for sure gets a kick out of.

“Go on, then. Don’t make this too easy for me. I look forward to this little game of yours.”

You hurriedly slide off his lap, heart racing as you scurry out of his office. Behind the closed door, you could hear him counting.

Shit. What have you done? There’s no way you’d be able to outsmart him in a game like this, where he enjoyed the thrill of the chase.

But you were running out of time. You had to come up with something, and fast.

Think: if I were Heizou, what would I do?

If I were Heizou, I’d probably… hide in plain sight. Trail the criminal behind their backs until they’ve given up before apprehending them.

So you do just that. You sneak outside, avoiding the doushin, and hide behind some crates. A black cat wanders up to you and rubs its head against your leg, purring contentedly. You pause to stroke it, patting the base of its tail as it arches its back in bliss and meows. You’re about to stroke its ears when it suddenly perks up, alert, before dashing off. Mere moments later, you hear Heizou step outside as you had anticipated.

He looks around before heading left, disappearing behind the back of the building. You sneakily trail him in a circle behind his back as he examines behind crates and presses his face against windows, even circling back around and almost catching you at one point, until he’s at the front entrance again. Looking around one more time, he heads back inside.

You fidget. What now? Heading back inside would be part of your plan to trail him but this could all just be a ploy to lower your guard.

Then again, what would your superiors say if they found you outside like this…

You ultimately decide to head back inside. You were familiar with the floor plan and it’d save you the chance of being chewed out by Kujou Sara later. More importantly, while hiding outside was a good idea, it wasn’t a permanent solution. It’d only work for so long before Heizou would appear out of nowhere and catch you.

The doushin are looking the other way now, so you quickly sneak back inside. To your left are the offices while the laboratory is off to the right. You avoid the lab, which has delicate equipment and samples and make your way to your office.

As you make your way through the halls- avoiding Kujou Sara’s office and Heizou’s- a sudden realization hits you.

It’s been awfully silent this entire time. You haven’t seen or heard any sign of him since you went inside.

Has he been predicting your every move ever since the start of the game?

Either way, you were in too deep to chicken out now.

Glancing over your shoulder, you quickly enter your office. You consider locking the door behind you but decide that it wouldn’t be fair to him.

You glance at the clock on the wall. Three minutes had passed. Two minutes were remaining. The workday was almost over as well. Yes, you wanted to win but you weren’t going to stoop that low.

You settle into your chair and lean back. Maybe a small nap wouldn’t be so bad. The police station was vast and it’d take a while to walk from one end to the other. Heizou may be a prodigy detective, but time was against him.

You close your eyes. You feel your breaths getting deeper and your limbs getting heavier.

It’s only been a short while, but after some time, you feel someone’s presence beside you. They’re poking you incessantly and begrudgingly, you open your eyes, only to see Heizou smirking down at you, apple green eyes glinting.

Your sleepiness is gone in a flash. Awake now, you jolt upright and attempt to flee, only for him to pin you down against your desk.

“Found you.”

He dips and bites your neck with his sharp teeth. A strangled yelp escapes you. You cover your hand with your mouth but Heizou pushes it away.

“Don’t try and hide anything from me, (Y/N). I’ll make you confess every last dirty little sin of yours and I want to hear it.”

Heat crawls up your neck from his words. He bites and sucks at the soft skin, leaving marks for everybody to see. One of his hands trails down your chest to the waistband of your pants, where he teasingly tugs them down. Heizou’s touch leaves goosebumps in its wake and you shiver. He laughs at your reactions and you whine, slapping his arm.

“H-Heizou, please…”

“Look at you. I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already a flustered mess.”

You pout and yank him forward by his choker. You press your thighs together in an attempt to alleviate the heat pooling between your legs and the action doesn’t go unnoticed by Heizou. His eyes darken in anticipation and lust and he pushes your thighs apart, hooking your legs around his waist.

“Tell me what you want. Ask nicely and remember- only good girls get what they want.”

“Just kiss me already,” you demand. Teasingly, his lips brush against yours gently. You growl in frustration and pull on his hair, eliciting a groan from him. Flat on your back now with your wrists pinned above your head, Heizou pants into the kiss, clumsily attempting to unbutton your shirt.

A loud knock at the door makes you both freeze, the haze clouding your minds instantly dissipating.

“Kujou Sara here.”

Your blood turns to ice in your veins. As the door starts to open, you finally react. You tug your wrist free from his grasp and push him away. He hides underneath your desk right as the door opens to reveal your boss standing in the doorway.

She nods in greeting. You nod back and discreetly try to make yourself look more presentable. You pray to the Shogun that she doesn’t notice your disheveled appearance or bruises littering your skin.

Briefly, you wonder if she already knows what just happened. If she does, she doesn’t show it or chooses to ignore it.

“Good afternoon, (Y/N). Have you finished those reports I asked for the other day?”

You nod and pull a stack of papers off from the side of your desk. As she accepts them, you feel something sharp pinch your inner thigh and it’s all you can do to not flinch.

She turns away momentarily and you take the opportunity to look down. Heizou’s resting his head on your lap, looking at you with a cunning smirk. A small bite mark on your skin makes you grit your teeth.

That bastard! He bit you!

Heizou was lucky you loved him otherwise you would’ve exposed him in front of his boss immediately.

“By the way, (Y/N).”

You turn towards her as Heizou plants butterfly kisses along your thigh, occasionally sinking his teeth into the soft flesh. A shiver goes up your spine and you fail to hide it in time. Sara raises an eyebrow and you laugh it off.

“Just cold, that’s all. Is something the matter?”

“... I thought I heard something coming from your office earlier. Did something happen?”

You shake your head, fighting back the heat that crept up your neck.

Don’t tell me she heard us…

“Have you seen Shikanoin Heizou? He’s been gone all day and I’ve been trying to track him down.”

You bite back a laugh at that. Heizou pokes you under the table and you kick him in return.

“I wish I did. If I see him, I’ll tell you.”

She nods her thanks and turns to leave. Halfway out though, she stops and casts a look at you over her shoulder. There’s a knowing look in her eyes and your heart sinks to your stomach..

“... I’d suggest keeping your voice down next time.”

And with that, she closes the door. Heizou bursts out laughing and re-emerges from his hiding spot. You push yourself up from your chair and storm over to the wall, hiding in the corner out of shame and embarrassment.

“Heizou, I hate you!” you wail as he buries his face into your shoulder from behind as an apology. “Couldn’t you have waited until we got home?”

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologies as he presses a kiss against your cheek. You bat him away with your fists but he easily holds your wrists in place and continues to leave cheeky kisses across your face.

“I’ll make it up to you when we get home, ok?

Heizou’s warm breath tickles your ear and he squeezes your wrists lightly.

“I promise it’ll be worth the wait.”

[boldlyvoid]

Hypothetically | Chapter 1-5

summary: Reader and Spencer were friends in kindergarten, she watched him grow up and explore the world while she was still trying to catch up to him. now that they work together, they fall in love incredibly fast.

friends to lovers, case of the week style story

A/N: Set between seasons 4 and 6, not following canon. all original crimes based on real-life stories.

Warnings 18+: Murderers, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Blood, Guns, mentions of autopsy, Fluff, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, bed-sharing, Riding, Unprotected Sex, Virgin Reader, Case of the Week, original crimes, Food mention, Smut, Oral Sex, Light BDSM, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Talk, obgyn appointments and info, Home Invasion, Past Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Emotional Manipulation, Grooming, Pedophilia mention, non-con oral (male receiving), Pregnant Sex, Daddy Kink, Breeding Kink, Homophobia, conversion therapy

Word Count: 15k

chapter 1

It took Y/N longer than she had hoped to finally catch up to him. He seemed to go from the cute little boy with a bow tie who sat beside her in her kindergarten class to working for the FBI by the time she graduated high school. It wasn’t fair that he happened to be smarter than anyone on earth, causing him to test out of elementary school before she even got to know him.

Spencer Reid had an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and the sweetest personality to match. Y/N saw him around as he grew up, coming home to see his mom often and minding his business as he wandered around in his free time.

He liked to sit on the swings at the abandoned park across the street from her house, it was a place he would go to at the most random hours of the day for years on end. Every time he was in the area, he visited the swing. And She’d watch him from her window seat in her bedroom. Pretending to read, but really she was watching him read.

It was years of watching, from the ages of 13 to 18 when he was coming back and forth from working on his second Ph.D., and she was still trying to make it through high school.

But she never walked out there and talked to him, she knew nothing real about him other than his name and that he was smart. The town told rumours about him being an alien or a government experiment because there was no way a kid could be so smart, but she never believed them. She liked to keep to the idea that he was sweet, smart, and special.

He stopped coming to the swing for a while after they turned 18, her mother had said something about Spencer Reid’s mother being admitted to the nursing home she worked at and y/n drew the conclusion that he’d finally left the small Nevada town she was seemingly trapped in.

Y/N kept tabs with him online, as weird as it felt to her she had a strange sense of pride when it came to Spencer’s achievements. That was the kid she sat beside in kindergarten out there working for the FBI, saving lives and changing the world. It inspired her.

So sure enough, when she moved to Virginia to join the FBI academy it was the perfect opportunity to finally be on an even playing field with him. An excuse to reach out to him and catch up, get to know him. She was technically older than him, by 10 months, and yet somehow he seemed to feel unreachable, wiser and more of an adult than she ever would be.

At 28 she finally bumps into him again. She’s carrying boxes into her new apartment with help from a moving company when he leaves the apartment across the hall from her.

“Oh my gosh, Spencer Reid?” she said with the biggest smile spreading across her face.

“Hi?” he says, not having any clue who she is.

“You might not remember me, I’m Y/N Y/L/N we were in kindergarten together in Nevada?”

He takes a moment to think, she watches his eyes flutter as he recalls the memory to his mind. She is mesmerized by how his brain works, like a filing cabinet he can just pull memories out. “Oh, yes we sat together the first day and you got in trouble later that afternoon for adding water to the sand because I had said it was too dry to build a model of the Pyramid of Giza.”

Her smile gets even bigger, “yes! I hope this isn’t weird but I’ve kept up with you over the years, I’ve always thought it was so amazing that someone from my town was off doing incredible things! I can’t believe I’m moving in across from you that makes it look so much worse oh god, I promise I’m not stalking you!” She rambled anxiously.

He laughed, “it’s okay I believe you! I’m surprised honestly that you remember me, we were what? 5? That’s a good memory you must have?”

She walked over to him and out of the way of the men moving her boxes into her apartment, that’s what she was paying them for anyway. She set the box down on the floor beside herself to free her arms, “I think your first ever friend would leave an impact on your memory.”

“We did have a good bond before I was transferred out,” he recalls with a smile.

“Well,” she smiled right back, “I also work with the FBI if you want to get coffee before work on Monday and catch up? See if there’s a possibility of being friends once again?”

“Yeah!” he answers abruptly, “I leave around 7:15 normally and I always go to the little cafe down the road, what department are you in?”

“VICAP,” she said, “just a floor above the BAU, surprised I’m only running into you now”

“You sure you’re not stalking me?” he joked.

She shook her head lightly, her cheeks hurting from smiling so hard. “Promise, just inspired by you, that’s all.”

He chuckled to himself, almost shocked that such a lovely person would be inspired by him. “Well, thank you. I’ll let you get back to moving in and I will see you on Monday Y/N.” he said with a small wave and walked down the corridor.

She sighed to herself, this was going to be amazing.

---

Y/N had barely unpacked anything by the time Monday had rolled around. She spent most of her time working on her bedroom organization, leaving a mess of boxes everywhere else. Going through her closet to find the best outfit for her first-morning commute with Spencer.

Her job didn’t require as much fieldwork as he did, so she could wear anything she wanted to the office as long as it was professional. She settled on black flared dress pants, a nice white turtleneck, the watch her family gave her when she graduated from the academy and her cute healed wedge boots.

She grabbed her purse and wallet, ensuring she had her keys and badge in there before unlocking her safe and clipping her gun to her belt. She grabbed her go bag and coat and draped them over one arm, holding her purse in the other.

With everything she needed, she walked to her front door, turning off her alarm just to change the setting to protect her empty apartment. She closed and locked the door behind herself just as Spencer walked out into the hallway.

“Good morning Spencer,” she said, cheerful as ever.

“You’re awfully cheerful for this time of day,” he yawned after speaking.

“Late night?” she asked, joining him as he walked towards the building entrance.

“We had an emergency case this weekend that kicked my ass, I’ve only been home for 15 hours. Hopefully, today is just a desk day,” he yawned again. “Sorry, I’m sure you’re tired as well, from moving this weekend.”

“Oh I’m exhausted, normally I don’t leave till quarter to 8, living farther away now is going to suck a bit.”

“At least our building is nice,” he adds.

“It seems wonderful so far.” He held the door for her as they walked into the parking lot, he dug her keys from her bag, “do you want to take my car?”

“Sure, seeing as I don’t have a car, I normally take the subway,” he said softly, walking to the passenger side and opening the door as he heard the door unlock.

“Well if you want a ride every morning I don’t mind, even If you need rides to emergency cases,” she smiled softly.

Spencer insisted on buying her coffee, saying it was only fair for driving him. But really it was because he wanted to spoil her, ever since she said she was inspired by him his mind hasn’t been able to stop playing that sentence on loop. He’s completely enamoured by her, willing to do whatever it takes to get on her good graces. Not realizing she’s willing to do the same for him.

In no time she’s pulling up to the main building, both of them showing their badges before being allowed access into the parking structure of their building. Y/N parked close to the main elevator, having impeccable luck with getting that spot in the garage.

“We still have time before we’re officially on the clock, if you wanted to come meet my team?” He offered, hitting the button in the elevator for floor 3. His floor.

“I’d love to meet the legend that is Penelope Garcia,” she smiled.

“She is wonderful,” he agreed with a smile.

The elevator dinged and she felt her heart drop into her stomach thinking of how Spencer was going to introduce her. He walked with her towards the glass doors, holding them open for her as she walked into the bullpen.

All eyes were suddenly on Spencer and Y/N, so many faces she’s never seen before, and 2 she knows too well from her research on the BAU. She smiled lightly as she walked towards them all. Spencer not far behind her.

“Good morning,” Spencer smiled a small pressed-lipped smile. “This is agent Y/N Y/L/N, she works up in VICAP, she was one of my best friends in elementary school.”

She smiled, so that’s how. “Hello!” She waved, “It’s so nice to meet you all,”

“Derek Morgan,” the tall dark and handsome one reached his hand out for yours.

“Oh, I don’t shake hands sorry,” she said, grabbing her right middle finger with her left hand and smiling lightly.

He laughed, “wow pretty boy, how come you never told us you have a twin?”

“Do you not shake hands either?” She asked him, “we really do have a lot of catching up to do Spence.”

“Emily Prentiss, it’s lovely to see Spence bring in new friends.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve always admired the BAU, I’ve actually compiled a few of the cases you’ve worked on this year, I’m pretty good at finding patterns even the system overlooks.”

“Oh yes, Y/N Y/L/N, I’ve seen your name on all the emails, thank you you’ve sent some of the best-connected cases to us, you’ve brought justice to people who we would have never connected to cases,” JJ said enthusiastically, “I was actually just about to tell Hotch about the newest one you sent me.”

“It’s horrible, isn’t it? I’ve been carefully looking over this case for 2 years now I knew you’d all be able to help with it. It’s right up your ally,” she nervously laughed.

“You sent in the files on the family annihilator that was going after people he believed to be decedents of Cain from the bible right?” David Rossi asked.

She nodded her head and sighed, “yeah everyone told me it was a stretch to catch onto but when I noticed all the men were from the same online ancestry family tree I knew you guys needed to see it.”

“That was specifically interesting, the death of his own brother led him to seek revenge on the father of murder,” Spencer agreed.

“So what’s this new one you’ve brought us?” Derek asked.

“Oh, would you like to pitch it to us? We’re all here we can meet you in the briefing room before your shift starts upstairs?” JJ offered.

“Oh sure,” she smiled, finally it was her time to show off.

Soon enough, Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia and Jenifer Jareau were all staring at you in the briefing room.

“In Wichita Kansas, there have been a string of murders over the last 6 years that have all been incredibly, creepily similar,” she started explaining as she handed out the case files to everyone.

“Each victim is female, 16 to 24, they’ve all been strangled with rope while completely naked, signs of brutal sexual assault, binding and torture. They’ve all been found wrapped in shower curtains and placed in various public locations. Clearly a sign of remorse with how he keeps them covered but still a taunt that we can’t find him even now that he’s 6 victims deep.”

“Clarise Richardson, victim number 1 was raped, strangled with rope and left by an underpass. She was found in 1998, the M.E said she was dead 16 hours when they found her, COD was asphyxiation. Her family reports she was last seen at least 73 hours before she was found. So he kept her for a while. There were fibres under her nails of green carpet, either she was held at someone's house or in a van with carpet like they had in the 70s and 80s.”

“Were there any fingerprints or DNA on the bodies?” Prentiss asked.

“Yes, there was a sperm sample retrieved on victim number 5, Sharon Flynn. Most likely he wore a condom for the rest of his rapes and he wasn’t in the system already. Either he never ejaculated in earlier rapes before he grew to murder or his victims never came forward before 1998.”

“which is highly likely, we saw in the EARs case in California how hard it was to get the men and women who were raped to even come forward. There were 4 confirmed cases in the news before more came forward with similar stories. It’s seen as a shameful thing when in reality it’s just giving them more power if they believe they’ll never be caught.” Spencer explained.

“Yes, it’s very hard to come forward when it happens to you,” she agreed before quickly hanging subject. “I’ve been searching for any rapes in the area with similar MO, choking, BDSM, ropes, vans with green carpet, and I’ve found 3 women who claimed to be raped by a man at festivals the late 70’s who had an orange van with green carpet who bonded them up in a very intricate form of bondage that tightened every time they squirmed to entice them not to move. And from my research, that's the same pattern of rope as the rope burn on the 6 bodies we have.”

“All 6 of them are fairly similar it’s just their dumpsites that sets them apart. He didn’t have one strict area that he stuck to, he seems to have no problem travelling to them.” Emily said, flipping through the files.

“I’m thinking he has a job the requires him to still use his van. Like a travelling plumber, a phone or computer tech, home surveillance or maybe even he’s with Jehovah's witness or the Mormon church. It would explain him being able to get into these women’s houses and neighbourhoods long enough to pick someone, learn their schedule and grab them.” Y/N explained.

“Garcia, can you look into those businesses, as well as independent contractors, satellite companies, mailmen, and anyone else who might have been on the job by the victim's houses on the dates and times they were last seen,” Hotch asked.

“Absolutely, I’ll also run the DNA samples in my other databases.”

“I was about to ask you to do that, I think he might have children. There is a very large gap between the rapes and the jump to rape and murder, if you could run the saliva sample from victim 3 that's on her neck with any foster system or genealogy company to see if he has a son or uncle we can trace his sample to?”

“That's a great idea, I’ve never thought to do that,” Garcia smiled. “I like you, you’re a smart cookie!”

“Looks like we’re headed to Wichita,” Hotch said. “Do you think VICAP would be mad if we stole you for a few days? You have more connections with the Wichita police than we do, they might cooperate more If they know a friendly face.”

“Absolutely, let me grab my go-bag from upstairs!” Y/N jumped up, “I’ll be right back down!”

“Wheels up in 30,” Hotch said, And with that, she was out the door.

“Reid if you don’t marry her I will,” Penelope said softly.

“Okay.” He blushed.

—

She took a seat beside Reid on the jet, the two of them chatting amongst themselves for a while before they were called for the second briefing.

“So local PD think they have a recent victim from this weekend they want us to check out,” Penelope said over video chat. “she’s a little different than the others. Katie Newton, 27 was found bound to her bed, already having passed and was being assaulted when her husband came home. He screamed at the guy who was only wearing a ski mask and “tight-y white-y’s” as the husband described. He grabbed his bag and clothes with him but he left her tied up with the little time he had to knock the husband out of the way and run out.”

“Did he get any other identification marks on the unsub?” Y/N asked.

“He said he was pasty white, 5’8 and he didn’t talk. He didn’t scream, nothing, he just grabbed his things and ran. He does however remember he had a very large brown birthmark on his chest covering the right nipple down to his stomach.”

“Okay that’s good to know, why do they think it’s our guy?” Rossi asked.

“Blood found on the rope she was tied up with can match back to 13 different women. 6 of the murders that Y/N brought to us, 1 of the rapes she found and 5 other break-in and rapes of other women in the area.”

“Holy shit,” Y/N whispered to herself.

“Well done on finding this one Y/N, this one is going to be big.” Morgan complimented her with a smile.

“Thanks,” she smiled back, “I didn’t expect any of this when I connected the 6 of them originally. This is insane.”

“have you ever been in fieldwork like this?” Hotch asked.

“At the academy, I was combat trained, I have all my clearances and I’m a great shot. I’m good on my feet and I tested perfectly on hostage talk down.” She tried not to brag but this was almost as important as a job interview.

“Well damn,” Morgan nodded in approval. “We might just have to seal you full time.”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all!”

“Good,” hotch smiled, something he didn’t do often. “I’m going to send you and Reid to the M.E to see what else we can find out about these new break-in homicides. Prentiss and Rossi, I want you to travel to the last dumpsite and the latest crime scene to see what else could connect them. Morgan and JJ come with me to the station to set up communication with the local PD and media we don’t need them naming him like they did with BTK.”

“Garcia, would you also widen the search for anyone convicted of sexual misconduct, flashing, stalking, break-ins where underwear was stolen or and peeping toms? Go all the way back to the 70s. If any of them are now working for any businesses that have vans and require him to travel. This guy has to have a mistake somewhere that you will find.” Y/N asked one last time.

“Got it, genius girl, over and out.”

—-

The bureau had the funds for rooms for the main team, meaning Y/N had to double up with someone and she had to decide who once they landed and headed to the hotel.

“It wouldn’t be weird if we got a room with two queen beds right?” She asked Spencer, “it would give us a chance to catch up in our downtime like a sleepover we never had as kids.” She nervously rambled in the SUV as Reid drove.

“No I don’t mind, It would be fun if we get any sleep in this case. This one seems like it will be a bit of a brain rattler.” Reid agreed with a soft pressed-lipped smile.

They booked their rooms, dropped off their things and all headed their separate ways. The M.E’s office was close to the police station, the two of you in an SUV followed Hotch, JJ and Morgan in another down the road.

The bodies had all been cremated or buried shortly after being found, there wasn’t anything fresh enough to examine for them but they did have access to all the information on all the cases.

“I’ve been the medical examiner here for the last 30 years,” the nice old man said as he led them down the hall to the storage room. “These ones have all been some of the worst cases I’ve seen here. So much so that I keep them all in their own boxes just in case a day like today ever happens.”

“That is very helpful for us thank you so much!” She smiled at him as he held the storage door open.

“They’re all labelled by name and date. If you have any questions about tests or need me to run more with what we have left just give me a holler!” He said as he left the room.

Y/N sighed. “Why do I feel like this is going to take a million years?”

“I can read 20,000 words a minute, it will take me 3 hours to read everything in this room. Luckily we only need to read these few boxes.” Spencer pointed at the wall.

“Okay boy wonder, stop showing off,” she smiled, taking the Victim # 5 case box down first. “She was the first one I put into the system when I joined VICAP.”

“Is that why you sent this case to JJ?”

“Partly,” she sighed again. “There was the emotional attachment of this being my first case but there were just too many connections I knew you guys could bring justice to her family. She was so young.”

Spencer opened a box and she watched as his eyes darted across the pages as he flipped through them. She was mesmerized by how he could do that. But he was probably even smarter than god so it made sense.

“This is interesting. They found LSD in the system of the 3 rapes from back in the day which isn’t that uncommon for the time period or the places where they were abducted, but what’s strange is the amount. This is enough LSD to make someone go insane, no one in their right mind would willingly take this much LSD?” Spencer said.

“They were all found 2 days later dehydrated and alone in the middle of nowhere, there’s no way of knowing if more women didn’t have this happen and died where he left them.”

“He is probably in his 50’s now. How fit would he have to be to still be able to break into houses and rape and murder women?” Spencer asked.

“Well that might be just why he stopped dumping, he might have a bad back and can't lift the dead weight. He is more willing to get caught in someone's house so that he doesn’t have to do the dumping, he can just leave after. 5 of the 6 home invasions were with women who lived alone or husbands who worked night shifts. So they wouldn’t be home. He watched them long enough to know when he could successfully get away with this.” Y/N explained as she flipped through boxes.

“And the rope technique our last victim was found in is exactly the same as the rope burns as the others you’re correct,” Spencer complimented her. “He might have ex-girlfriends or even an ex-wife who he would have tried BDSM on and she didn’t like it, so now he feels like he has to do it this way. When we deliver the profile we should alarm the public about him to draw out any women who would have willingly tried something with our unsub.”

Y/N nodded as he spoke, agreeing with everything. “That could have even been the original stressor, all the women are pretty vanilla, I talked to the husbands over the phone and the original rape victims. They weren’t into trying anything like this in their free time. 2 of the rapes were also virgins. They all had good jobs and good grades, they were outstanding, low-risk members of the community. He might be getting revenge on the women who wouldn’t indulge in this fantasy.”

“He probably feels a lack of control in his personal life, maybe he even has a more dominating wife who he feels he can't stand up to so this is how he deals with it.” Spencer agreed.

“Let's go see Hotch, I think we should deliver the profile.”

—-

They walked into the police station, gliding through the doors like they owned the place. Emily and JJ watched as they walked over to hotch with the exact same energy. Both speaking with their hands and rambling about what they had found.

“So he’s a fit, early 50’s, white male. Married, probably with kids, works with or owns a van. He has a problem with authority in his own life, he feels like he is in a submissive role all day be it from a female boss who’s always on his ass or his wife. It’s possible he even has only daughters and no sons. He feels emasculated, surrounded by women, which is why he started taking these women originally to rape them with BDSM-like acts to finally have that control he lacks in his everyday life.” Y/N explained. “He wouldn’t be very handsome, he would have issues speaking with most women, he keeps to himself, he might have even failed out of jobs involving the police or security, he wants to be in a place of power but he has none of the social skills to accomplish what he wants. I would even look into local army cadets or boy scouts he could be a very old member or the father of someone in one of those groups. His affinity for binding them up and the types of ropes he used are very common BDSM ropes but the knots are reminiscent of ones my brothers would do in at Navy cadets.”

“You got all that from the M.E?” Derek said, shocked at how good she was at this.

“I’ve been staring at his work for 2 years, every time a case from this town came in I checked into it to tie it to this guy. I don’t know what it is but this one gets to me, like BTK or Ed Kemper, these men have specific vendettas against women, they need to dominate women because they have a strong mother or wife in their presence. I know the type of man he is and I want to see him rot in prison.”

Spencer walked over to another table, spreading out a map and beginning to look at the geographical profile. Making down the 3 rapes and their dumpsites, the 6 abducted women and their dumpsites as well as the 6 home invasion homicides. Narrowing down on the geographical profile to find his comfort zone.

Y/N stood beside him watching him draw perfect circles over the map, placing a dot right in the middle. “He either lives or works in this area. Everything is within 35 miles of this area.”

Hotch took out his phone and called Garcia, placing the phone on the table with the speaker on. “Hello my lovelies, what can I do for you?”

“Have you narrowed anything down?” Y/N asked.

“Yes, I have 117 orange vans originally bought in the late ’70s that are still registered to men in this area all between the ages of 45 and 60. 63 of them work in home security, 13 of those have a son in boy scouts and 4 of those have prior peeping tom allegations.” She explained.

“Any of the 4 look interesting?” Hotch asked.

“We have Travis Johnson, 55 he works for Acorn Security, he was doing service in each town that a murder took place the same week they went missing. He is married and has been since 1980 right when he stopped raping and his 5th and last daughter was born the same week that Clarice Richardson was murdered in 1998. They took in a foster child to give him a boy 3 years ago who is in boy scouts, and has all his badges in you guessed it, knot tying.”

“Do we have his home and work address?” Morgan asked.

“Yes of course I do chocolate thunder, they’ve been sent to you already. I’ve also sent a list of his appointments for today, he might be on the hunt.”

“Thanks, baby girl,” Morgan smiled at the phone.

“It's what they pay me the big bucks for.”

She hung up and hotch immediately started handing out bullet-proof vests. “Time to catch him.”

Spencer rested a hand on your back as he passed you, smiling as if to say 'good job'.

Y/n grabbed her vest and her go-bag and quickly changed into something more suited for chasing after a runner. It almost always came to that in her experience. She came back out in jeans and a white long sleeve shirt tucked in, her vest on and her hair up. She placed her earpiece in and straightened out her gun. Making sure the clip was full and adding an extra one to her vest.

“Ready?” She asked Spencer as he tightened his vest.

“Let’s do this.”

They split up, Prentiss Rossi and JJ went to his house while Reid, Morgan, Hotch and Y/L/N took a squad of local cops to where the unsub was supposedly doing his house calls.

They slowly drove through the neighbourhoods, lights off just paroling up and down the streets. They saw an orange van parked on the side of the street, they watched as the unsub got out of the driver's seat, grabbing a bag and walking up to a woman’s house. Slowly they all got out of the SUV, Morgan and Hotch taking the back while Reid and Y/L/N took the front door. They waited for confirmation that he wasn’t alone in this home, before going in.

They could hear a woman talking and then there was a scream, “I’m going in,” Y/L/N said, Kicking the door down before Reid took the lead, Y/N following behind him.

“Travis Johnson? FBI!” Spencer yelled.

The two of them cleared the main room, working their way to the hallway, Reid let her take the lead to the bedroom where they heard the struggle.

“Travis put down the rope and let her go,” Y/N said slowly as he walked into the room, gun pointed.

“And why should I?” He panicked, holding the woman against his chest, she was crying gripping onto the rope he was holding tightly around her throat.

“I’m a huge fan of your work!” Y/N said. “I work for VICAP, I’m the one who had to put each and every single one of your victims in the system. I know exactly how much you’re into control and BDSM, it’s honestly surprising that you have to force these women into it, why are women so against letting a big strong man control them anymore?” She said softly as she lowered the gun and her voice.

“You know, I’ve always thought BDSM was super sexy, I’d love to be tied up and taken control of, if you put down the rope how would you like to have a willing participant one day?” She teased him, getting closer and closer, she could see he was rock hard. He loosened the rope and pushed her to the side, stepping forward towards Y/N who quickly flipped him to the floor and cuffed him.

“Travis Johnson you are under arrest for the rape and murder of over 12 women. You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford one will be appointed for you. If you chose to share anything without a lawyer present you have the right to stop at any time. Is that clear?”

She single handily lifted him to his feet and dragged him out of the room as the men in the hall just watched with awe.

“You’re a little bitch you know that?” The unsub said as he struggled in her grasp.

She slammed him against the hallway wall, pressing right up against his back, whispering in his ear “oh so now you have a big mouth huh, finally feel like you can talk to a woman who isn’t tied down? I’m in control here, you’re my little bitch you hear me? Only good boys get to speak to me.” She said as she pulled him back off the wall and handed him off to local PD. “Have fun being a little bitch in prison Travis.”

She stood there with her arms crossed catching her breath as the adrenalin shook through her body.

“Well done Y/L/N,” Hotch and Morgan put their fists out to give her props.

“How would you like to join the team for good?” Hotch asked? “we’ve been looking for an extra hand.”

“Absolutely!”

—

They were going to spend the night in Wichita, all agreeing to spend the night getting drinks at the local bar suggested by the PD. Piling into the SUV all together with Spencer offering to DD.

“How much time have you put into Travis?” Prentiss asked in the back seat beside Y/N.

“Sharon Flynn was the first case I ever put into my system 2 years ago. Her case looked so gruesome and evil it never left my mind. So then when Alice Webster, number 6 came in I did some more digging and found the 4 before Sharon and the 3 rapes, I knew it was cold for a while but something about him always stuck with me. And for some reason last week when I emailed the info to JJ out of the blue I had a gut feeling he was at it again.” Y/N explained.

“It’s a special talent to just feel when something is wrong.” JJ smiled back at them.

“I’ve always been, not fascinated, by serial killers but more interested in the chase of justice.” She explained, “if that makes sense. I love puzzles and finding answers and at least this way the end result is families finding peace.”

They pulled into the parking lot, all of them finding their way into the bar before the ladies went to the bathroom to freshen up.

“So Y/N,” Prentiss said, taking her phone out and calling Penelope. “The ladies of the BAU are very close, so welcome to our little group.”

“exactly.” Penelope said over the phone, “welcome to the group you’re going to fit right in!” She cheered.

“Thank you, VICAP was not a tight-knit group like y’all are. I’m extremely excited to get to know you all more.” Y/N smiled as she straightened her shirt out in the mirror.

“So you and Spencer?” JJ asked.

“We were in the same kindergarten class,” Y/N said with a small smile. “I thought he was going to be my best friend and then he took some test and was bumped into 4th grade. By the time I was in high school he had already finished his second Ph.D.”

“So you never kept up with each other?” Prentiss asked.

She shook her head. “I knew of him, my mom is the Activities Organizer at the home his mom is at, he used to go to the park across from my house, he now lives across the hall from me and works with me. I think we were always supposed to be friends but it wasn’t the right time till now.”

“Sounds like you have a crush,” Penelope teased through the phone.

“I do.” She smiled to herself. “I think I always have.”

“If pretty boy was here he’d say that there is a statistical likelihood that because you’ve been interested in him for longer than 3 years you’re most likely in love with him and you'll never not be.” Prentiss explained, “I heard him say that to Hotch once.”

She nodded along, “I guess I just need to get him to fall in love with me now.”

“It won't be that difficult.” JJ placed her hand on Y/N’s back and they all made their way out of the bathroom smiling.

The men were all sitting together at a table with everybody’s drinks already waiting.

“We didn’t know what you liked,” Spencer said as Y/N sat beside him. “So I said I’d go get whatever you want.”

“Or we can go up to the bar together.” She smiled.

The two of them got up and walked to the bar, the rest of the team watched them.

She leaned against the bar, ordering her drinks and pressing in close to Spencer. “It’s been so nice getting to spend time with you.” He said softly.

She was handed her drinks before she could even respond. Taking her tequila shot there and bringing her margarita back to the table as Spencer followed swiftly behind her.

They all drank and exchanged case stories from within and beyond the BAU, Spencer was able to add a lot of input but he was always cut off. Y/N leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “you can tell me all your facts later I really want to hear them.” She smiled so softly Spencer felt his heart about to burst in his chest.

Emily left the group to go flirt with the bartender, JJ was on FaceTime in the SUV with Will, Rossi had disappeared with a local woman and Hotch and Morgan were exchanging childhood stories over a beer in the corner.

The bar was playing old, slow music, almost everyone had filtered out but there were still older local couples hanging out and dancing in the middle of the room.

“Do you dance?” Y/N asked Spencer.

“I can try.”

She took his hand and led him to the floor. Drunk on the alcohol and his touch as she slipped his hands around to her back, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head on his chest. She felt his cheek rest on the top of her head as the two of them just swayed in a circle together.

“Do you have any other memories of me?” Y/N asked him softly.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “You lived across the street from the park, and your mom works at the nursing home. You have 2 younger brothers who have always looked older than you. They would come and go when I was sitting on the lone swing and I’d always see you in the window reading. I knew you were my age but it still never felt right for me to talk to you when I was in university.”

“I watched you every time you were on the swings, you looked so peaceful. You read at least a book a day every time you were out there and it became so special to me seeing you there every weekend.” She explained.

“The world works in mysterious ways.” He explained.

She held him as close as she could. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect her day to go like this. She expected coffee and a weird goodbye in the elevator and staring at a computer screen all day. Somehow she ended up in Spencer's arms in a different state after having caught the serial killer that's haunted her dreams for years.

He rubbed his thumb lightly over her back, “do you want to go back to the hotel? We have an early flight.” He whispered.

“Yeah,” she smiled pulling back but reaching down to hold his hand as they walked over to Hotch and Morgan.

They drove home quietly, everyone in the back was happily drunk and tired. They parked and wandered up to their rooms, saying goodbye at their doors and disappearing into their rooms.

Spencer let her take the bathroom first, changing into her PJ’s and then he did the same. She laid in her bed, facing his as he sat up and read.

“Can I come lie beside you?” She asked, knowing exactly how needy she sounded.

He nodded, pulling the sheet back so she could slip right in. She laid on her side and just looked up at him. Absolutely astounded that she was with him.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Spencer asked, putting his book down and sliding down the bed to be on her level.

“Yeah?” She said nervously.

“Today you said it’s hard for people to come forward after they are assaulted, it sounded like personal experience and I wanted you to know if you need anyone, I’m always available for you.” He explained.

“Oh,” her face dropped. “I was 12, he was 15. You were in high school at the same time as him. I don’t know if you’d remember him, his name was Christopher.”

Spencer nodded along as she spoke. “When my mom finally went back to work she didn’t trust me watching my brothers alone so her friend offered to babysit us during the days. Her foster son took advantage of me the whole summer and when my parents finally found out he went into Sophomore year and told everyone that the nerdy girl who looks like bugs bunny was obsessed with him, that I stalked him and that anything I said about him wasn’t real.”

“I’m so sorry.” He rubbed his hand over her shoulder to soothe her.

“It’s okay, they used to call me bugs bunny because of my overbite. I used to rest my front teeth on my front lip and they would throw carrots at me,” she explained further.

“It all makes sense now,” he said softly.

“What does?”

“When I was 13 the seniors had a cheerleader invite me onto the football field and convinced me to strip down to my underwear, she was about to kiss me when all the football guys ran out and beat me up, they tied me to the goal post and the one said ‘we should really hook you up with bugs bunny, you losers would be perfect together.’ And they left me there all night long.”

“Oh Spencer I am so sorry,” she cuddled in close to him, placing her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I think we went through our traumas separately all these years because something bigger than us knew we’d need each other one day.”

“When we get back to Virginia, would you like to go on a date with me?” Spencer asked.

“I would want nothing more.” She hugged him a bit tighter.

They stayed like that for a while until Spencer felt Y/N slip into the night's slumber. He quietly reached for the lamp, turning it off and readjusting himself under Y/N’s grasp.

He fell asleep not so long after. Both sleeping soundly for the first time in a long time.

Chapter 2

They had 3 back to back cases once they arrived back at Quantico. They travelled from DC to California to North Carolina within 2 weeks of Y/N working with the BAU.

Meaning she had not yet gone on that date Spencer asked her out on.

“If we get another call as soon as I reach that elevator I am leaving and not coming back. I am exhausted,” Emily said as she packed her bag and all but sprinted for the door.

“I hope my car still runs, it’s been parked here for so long now,” Y/N added and she walked towards the door. “You coming Spence?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the car,” he said with a smile as he waved her off.

Emily and Y/N waited for the elevator, Penelope and JJ quickly followed behind them with their bags in their hands. Penelope’s heels clicked as fast as they could against the floor as she tried to catch up.

“Girls night?” JJ asked, “Will said Henry is asleep and he’s about to go to bed too, so I’m free for a bit?”

“I have to go home, I’ve barely moved into my new apartment, I still have to unpack,” Y/N explained.

“How about we come have some wine and help you?” Emily offered.

“If I’m being honest, I kinda want some alone time with Spencer.” She blushed bright red.

“Oooooo,” Penelope and JJ teased.

“It’s about time someone gave Spencer the attention he deserves,” Emily laughed.

“Believe me he’s going to get too much attention now that I live across the hall from him, work with him and carpool with him,” she giggled right back. “Has he never had a girlfriend before?”

“Not that we know of,” JJ said, “he’s very quiet.”

“Have you?” Penelope asked, “dated before that is?”

“oh no, I’ve never dated anyone before, I haven’t even kissed anyone in years,” she said feeling bashful and embarrassed.

“I think that's what Spencer needs though,” Emily added, “He needs someone on the same level as him all ‘round, you two match in every sense it’s almost perfect.”

“He’s probably the only man who doesn’t make me feel scared like I want my first real love to be with someone I feel safe with, I don’t think I could do anything with like, Morgan or Hotch or any men like them. They’re nice, yeah but the aggressive authority side isn’t something I’m comfortable around outside of work.” She explained.

“Yeah, Spencer is a sweetheart. I think that’s why I didn’t end up with him honestly.” JJ said softly, “Gideon tried to hook us up years ago cause we were the youngest on the team, but I do crave that authority outside of work.”

“It’s probably because you’re in power here. You handle the media, you wear the pants and you get shit done,” Y/N said, “you want to go home and be taken care of by a man who knows how to run a household.”

“Exactly!” JJ laughed.

“I want to be taken care of, yes, but I rather be the caretaker at home. I just want someone who will do their own thing with me in the same room, to kiss me before we go to bed and make sure I know they love me.” Y/N said softly, only picturing a life with Spencer as she said it.

The elevator never moved the whole time they were in there, it dinged and opened to Spencer and Morgan waiting. “You guys are that tired you didn’t even make it to your cars?” Morgan teased.

“didn’t even push the button actually,” Y/N chimed in.

“We were having girl time,” Penelope smiled.

“well let’s go home finally,” Morgan and Spencer walked in, pressing the button to the garage and riding down in silence.

Spencer waited for Y/N to exit the elevator last before walking with her to her car. She unlocked it and got in, watching and waving as her new friends pulled out of the garage.

“Ready?” She asked, pulling out as soon as she saw Spencer nod his head with his cute little pressed-lip smile.

They drove home in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet for the first time in weeks. The drive was quick, 30 minutes in the cold, dark, Virginia wilderness.

She parked in their parking lot, yawning as she turned the car off. She grabbed her purse from the back seat and made her way inside with Spencer.

“You going to sleep?” She asked him when they reached her door.

“Probably not, my brain is still too caught up in the cases,” he said honestly.

“Would you like to come in for some tea? To calm down before bed?” She offered as she unlocked her door.

She stepped inside, unlocking the alarm with the 4 digit code. Spencer tried his best not to listen but he failed, he’ll remember the sound of the code forever now.

She flicked on the light and looked around at the mess she left in her living room. “God I forgot it’s a mess in here,” she groaned.

Spencer followed her inside, following her lead and dropping his bag on the floor. He watched as Y/N walked around the house with her hand on her gun, clearing each room to make sure it was still safe.

“Sorry, I live alone, I don’t take any chances,” she said as she came back into the room.

She unlocked her safe and placed her work gun inside, closing it and spinning the lock right after. She let out a deep sigh, stretching her arms out over her head. “It’s so nice to be back in this mess.”

“I can help you unpack this weekend?” Spencer offers.

“If you want to that would be nice, I’ll order us some take out too.”

She picked up the boxes on her couch and moved them to the floor, she cleared off her coffee table and took the lamps out of the box in the corner. She plugged them into the wall and set them on the end tables. Luckily her furniture was in place all she had to do was put out all her little trinkets, books and photos.

Spencer took a seat on her couch, opening a box with mugs and cups, taking them all out of their bubble wrapping and setting them on the coffee table.

Y/N managed to find her kettle, as well as the box of random food she brought from her old cupboard. She set out a variety of teas and digestive biscuits.

Spencer slowly brought the mugs over, placing them in the cupboard of Y/N’s choosing, making sure he left 2 mugs out for them.

“Can I have a green tea?” Spencer asked softly.

“Of course, is it your favourite?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I would like some caffeine but I’m not interested in having a coffee, so this is a good middle ground.”

“I’m not a fan of most hot drinks, that's why I drink ice coffee in the mornings,” Y/N poured the hot water into both cups, leaving room for milk in both mugs just in case. “But, Orange Pekoe is my favourite.”

She placed a tea bag in each mug and handed Spencers to him.

She watched him add a little sugar to his mug before picking it up and returning to the sofa. She followed him shortly after adding milk and sugar to her own, as well as a plate of cookies.

She sighed as she settled in to the couch. “Going to try my hardest to manifest a full weekend off, with no cases, if my spirit guides loved me they will listen.” She jokes.

“You’re spiritual?” He asks.

“A little?” She shrugs, “I’m very into natural medicine, lunar cycles, manifesting and affirmations. Basically what would be considered a witch back in the day.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I had a pretty invasive surgery when I was 17, and because of the body trauma, I developed fibromyalgia. And there really aren’t any answers or explanations for it so I had to turn to something to bring me peace and pain relief.”

“I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

“It’s okay, eating right, taking my supplements, sleeping and exercise help. Basically, if I take care of myself my body will thank me,” she huffed out a small laugh. “It’s annoying waking up in pain randomly for no reason. I rather wake up sore from taking down an unsub, at least then, the pain is more like a reward, you know?”

Spencer nodded along and smiled softly, “I’m glad you found something that helps you.”

“How about you? I’m guessing you’re a science-only man?”

He laughed, “yes.”

“So do you believe in soulmates?” She asked on a whim.

“In the scientific sense of the word yes. I believe when the big bang happened, all the atoms, electrons and particles that split to make the universe as we know it, still exist in us today. Who’s to say that they don’t pull back to each other, causing a cosmic connection,” Spencer explained softly, his voice low as he explained himself.

Y/N set her drink down, moving in closer to him on the couch. “And how do you know when you’ve met your other half?” She asked. Her voice was just as low.

Spencer set his mug down as well, he placed his warm hand on her cheek, “I think everything would just make sense with them. They’d orbit each other's lives for so long, observing and acknowledging one another and finally one day they’ll connect.”

He leaned in and pressed his perfectly soft lips against hers. She reached her hand around the back of his neck and held him into the kiss. Breathing in deeply through her nose, trying to keep the moment forever.

She pulled back, her breathing was deep as she opened her eyes to look into his. “If you weren’t just explaining the big bang to me, I’d think that was it.”

He laughed at her joke, making both of their hearts soar. She pressed him back against the sofa, adjusting themselves so that she was lying partially on top of him as they cuddled in her crowded living room.

They could hear the sound of the world going on around them. The subtle hum of the subway below them. The distant car horns, someone upstairs was walking around in their apartment.

They were completely quiet then, just cuddled up in their own world without any distractions. The two of them let their hands wander each other as they laid there.

Y/N slowly sat up, peeling herself out of Spencer's grip. “Do you want to spend the night here?”

“I’m just going to run across the hall and get ready for bed, I can lock up when I come back?” He said softly.

“Okay, the button with the person inside the house is the one you hold down on the alarm system after you lock both locks,” she explained before standing up and walking into her bedroom.

She changed into a pair of shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top. She brushed her teeth and hair, throwing it up in a little bun. She took out her contacts, replacing them with her glasses. She washed her face, watered her plants and sat down in her bed finally.

She had her hand on her night side drawer, where she keeps her other gun, just in case the person coming into her house wasn’t Spencer. But then she heard the alarm system arm, both locks clicked, the sound of dishes being placed in the sink and finally the sound of a lamp being clicked off.

Spencer slipper clad feet against the hardwood floor is all she heard as he walked into her room. He took the right side of the bed, wearing his PJ bottoms and a regular t-shirt. It was really the first time she was him so dressed down.

She settled down into the bed, she put her glasses on her side table, plugged in her phones and turned out the light. Spencer spooned into her, cuddling in tight and holding her against his chest.

“Goodnight, Spencer.” She whispered.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

She didn’t fall asleep right away. She basked in the glory that was Spencer Reid’s warm embrace. The feeling of his breath against her neck and his hand on her stomach.

“I love you.” Was the last thing she thinks she heard before she finally fell asleep.

—

She woke up to her phone ringing. She reached over to the nightstand and clicked talk. “SSA Y/L/N,” she said.

“Hey, it’s Penelope.”

“What’s up?”

“Not a case don’t worry, I was just wondering if I could stop by with some iced coffee and breakfast sandwiches to help you unpack?” She asked way too cheerfully for whatever time it was.

“Uh yeah just give us a chance to wake up, can you come by in 30?” She said as she rubbed her eyes, waking up.

“Us?”

“Uh, yeah, Spencer came in for tea and slept on the couch,” she lied.

“No I didn’t,” he groggily chimed in from where he was cuddled into the crook of Y/N’s neck.

“Right okay, so I’ll bring Spencer some breakfast too then,” she said before hanging up.

Y/N placed the phone back on her night table, settling back into Spencer’s embrace.

“Why’d you lie?” He asked.

“Didn’t know if I had your consent to tell her about us yet,” she whispered into his hair as she placed kisses on his head.

“Morgan told me if I didn’t kiss you last night, he’d make me do another round of physical evaluations,” he smiled against her skin. “He wanted to win the bet everyone set to see who would kiss who first.”

“So you just helped the guys win?”

“Prentiss, Morgan and Hotch were betting for me to kiss you first,” he admitted.

“Well, that means Rossi, Garcia and JJ think I’m the one wearing the pants here. Good to know,” she giggled.

“You can wear the pants,” he said as he shifted his weight to look up at her, “as long as I get to take them off later.”

“Well, Dr. Reid, I never thought you’d have it in you,” she was pleasantly surprised.

“When I get comfortable around someone I’m a lot different than I am at work,” he explained, “I heard what you said about needing someone to take care of who still wants to take care of you.”

She blushed, “of course you did.”

He leaned down to kiss her jaw and down her neck. “I think we can work something out,” he whispered.

Her breathing hitched. She couldn’t believe the complete 180º his personality just took, and she wasn’t complaining. All the moisture left her mouth as she just nodded her head in agreement.

“We should get up before she gets here,” he said, kissing her one last time before crawling out of bed.

She laid there staring up at the ceiling, shocked, flabbergasted, enamoured, basically every single word that essentially meant ‘what the fuck just happened.'

She got up, turned off the alarm and waited to use the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and replaced her tank top with a sweater. Spencer slipped across the hall to change into jeans and a button-down shirt, almost like he couldn’t be in anything else around his friends.

Penelope was a hugger, she made sure to give Y/N a good squeeze as she walked into her apartment. “It’s literally the same as Reid’s just backwards,” was the first thing she said.

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been over there yet,” Y/N smiled, taking the coffees out of Penelope’s hands and setting them on the counter.

“JJ and Emily said they’d love to come help later too if you want them to, but it doesn’t look too bad for just the 3 of us,” she said looking around.

“Everything is labelled, my room is all done so you don’t need to worry about it, set up however you see fit, honestly, I’m at a bit of a loss figuring out how to make this place feel more like me with what I have.”

“Alright, well,” she started, looking for the box with the cleaning supplies. “First we clean the kitchen then we put everything where it has to go.”

So that's what they did, they spent a few hours wiping down every surface in the house, disinfecting the floors, the walls, door handles, nobs, everything. Then Penelope got out all her pots and pans, hanging them on the rack above the kitchen island.

Spencer took all the plates out, stacking them neatly in the cabinet. Y/N stacked her cups and glasses, placing them on the shelf with the glass door. They organized her utensils, baking equipment, cookbooks and aprons, asking all about how much she baked.

She offered to make cookies for the team soon, that was a Sunday night with Spencer activity for sure.

In the living space, there weren’t many things. Spencer unpacked the books and placed them on her shelves in library-coded order. While Penelope and Y/N unboxed all her albums and records, cheering and singing along to their favourites.

Y/N had never quite had friends like this before, people who just fit into her life so easily. This was really the best family in the FBI, they knew how to make someone feel completely and wholly loved.

“I need to get some art and stuff,” Y/N said staring at the one empty wall.

“What are you going to do on the fireplace mantle?” Spencer asked, noticing it was still empty.

“Probably some of my spiritual stuff, like my crystals and candles and incense,” she smiled.

“oh, I do that too!” Another thing they had in common.

The day blew past them. They finished unpacking and breaking down all the boxes by 2 pm, finally sitting down altogether, exhausted. Ready to order a few pizzas and chill for the rest of the afternoon.

—

“I really appreciate the help today,” she said as she hugged Penelope. Penelope’s hugs were more comforting than her own mother’s, she thought. Holding her tightly and taking it all in. “I’m so blessed I ran into Spencer and now I get to be your friend.”

“I will cry,” she joked as she hugged y/n tighter. “I’m very blessed to have met you as well.”

She hugged Spencer on her way out as well, forcing herself to leave or else she would have stayed and talked for hours.

As soon as Spencer closed the door behind her, he set the alarm the way Y/N liked it. She smiled at him, seeing him remember how she likes to feel completely safe.

She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in. “Would you like to make out with me on my bed?”

“Like horny teenagers?” He giggled, dropping his forehead to rest on hers.

“We never really got the horny teenage experience,” she said softly.

“Are you-?” He cut himself off before he could say the word.

She looked up at him, her eyes big and innocent, she nodded. “technically.”

“Technically?” He repeated softly.

“I don’t want to count my sexual assault as my first,” she whispered. “I’ve never let anyone touch me since.”

His arms wrapped tighter around her, pulling her in closer to be right against his chest. He kissed her cheeks, her chin, forehead, nose, and finally her lips. “I’m going to try my best to never hurt you.”

She kissed him deeper, her hand on the back of his neck, never wanting to part from him. But when she did, she whispered, out of breath. “Promise to only hurt me if I ask you to?”

He saw the way his breath hitched and the way his grip changed. His face went red as he nodded feverishly.

“Are you a virgin Dr. Reid?” She teased.

“No,” he whispered. “I uh had sex in college, just to get it out of the way.”

She broke out of his grasp, taking his hand and pulling him into her bedroom. She closed the door behind them flicking on her fairy lights and lighting a couple of candles. He sat patiently on her bed as he watched her nervously organize things that had no reason to be organized in that moment.

But he let her calm down until she was fully ready, or she changed her mind. Either way, he was going to hang out with her all night long, however she wanted him.

“Close your eyes,” she asked softly. “Lay back against the bed and don’t look at me yet.” She ordered him and he listened.

He pressed his eyes closed and scooted up the bed till his head was on a pillow, laying back with his hands over his eyes. He listened closely to the sound of her taking her clothes off. She tried to steady her breath as she pulled off her sweater and sports bra and replace it with something cute.

She put on her only pair of matching underwear, ones she got on sale at some department store that she only wore for herself so far. She crawled up the bed, sitting directly on Spencer's hips.

She took his hands off his eyes, noticing they were still closed, she smiled. She placed his hands on her bare hips. “Open them.”

He opened his eyes to the most stunning image he’s ever seen in his life. Blinking a few times as his mind burned the image into the back of his eyelids for the rest of time. “Fuck,” he whispered.

She smiled to herself, “thought you’d like it.”

She leaned down, arching her back and kissed his neck. His hands travelled from her thighs to her perched ass as she kissed up his jaw to his ear. He was nothing but breathy moans and thank you’s as she explored him.

She ground herself down on his growing erection, smirking against his skin. She sat back on his hips, wiggling as she undid each of his shirt buttons, way too slow.

She took her time, pulling the front of his shirt out of his jeans and finally spreading the shirt open. Her hands ran over his chest before she used her nails to scrape her way down to his jean buttons.

He reached for her hands then. Stopping her and looking up into her eyes. “Before we start, I need to know what will trigger you,” he said softly.

“Oh,” her face dropped a little, she was a little overwhelmed with the fact he was asking, but she knew he truly cared. “I can’t do blowjobs yet, I will probably have a panic attack.”

“I can live without them,” he smirked, “look at everything else you do, fuck you’re amazing.” His hands roamed her skin the whole time.

She tucked her ankles under his knees and in one swift moment flipped them from laying on his side of the bed to the middle. He was on top of her now, absolutely amazed that she could do that.

“Told you I was combat trained,” she giggled.

Spencer sat up on the bed, ripping his shirt off and pushing himself out of both his jeans and underwear at the same time. Her mouth couldn’t help but fall open and the sight of his perfect cock bouncing free.

He sat back, trying to tug his jeans off of his ankles when he fell back and landed on the hardwood floor, “Spencer!” She couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from her.

He huffed, clearly embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she quickly bit her lip to try and stop laughing.

“When you said horny teenager phase I didn’t think you meant the awkward part too,” he smiled, standing completely naked in front of her.

“Get back here,” she giggled.

He got right back on top of her, between her legs that she wrapped immediately around him. Locking him in place. “How would you like it?” He asked.

“Well hypothetically,” she began with a smirk, “I think I would like to ride you, sitting up, tits in your face, the whole shebang.”

He forgot how to breathe, the most beautiful girl in the world just laid out how she wants to be fucked like it was a science experiment.

He was in love with her.

She flipped him again, “you have to stop doing that!” He gasped.

She laughed as she sat up, getting off him enough so he could sit up against the headboard. She shimmied out of her underwear before sitting down on him again, their most intimate parts just resting close to one another. She shivered at the feel of his hot skin against hers. She’d never been this close to another human before.

“Do you have a condom?” He asked, suddenly shy.

“If you want one yeah but I have an IUD in case I get,” she stopped herself, “you know, in the field.”

“Yeah that's smart,” he was so nervous.

She leaned in and kissed him. Holding his cheeks in her hands as his hands reached behind her back to undo her bra. She opened her mouth to let him explore with his tongue as she felt the straps of her bra slip down her shoulders.

She let go of his face one hand at a time and peeled the bra from her skin. Flinging it across the room without looking and pressing her breasts against his chest.

She gets on her knees without breaking the kiss, reaching between them she grips the base of his cock. His breath hitches in his throat and she can feel his pulse in his shaft.

She drags the head through her folds, she breaks the kiss to breathe in his ear, “you know, you’re just a bit bigger than what I'm used to.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

She lines him up with her and slowly pushes down on him, pulling up and back down again, each time getting his cock a little wetter on her juices so he can slip in easier. “I think it was called the emerald stud, he’s in a box over there,” she whispers in his ear as she bottoms out.

She sits back, her arms around his shoulders, she rocks on his cock. His eyes slip shut as he dips his head back against her crossed wrists. “Fuck,” he breathes.

She shifts again, bouncing more on him when she’s used to his size. His hands are on her ass again, helping her bounce as he moved to kiss her neck and collarbones.

He’s all noises, hot breath against her chest and sloppy kisses. She reaches between them to rub her clit before he pushes her hand out of the way to rub her himself. Feeling how swollen she is, he squeezes her clit lightly.

She moans out a high pitches squeak that she had no idea she could make, covering her mouth as she bounced a little harder on his cock. “Fuck Spencer,” she whispered into his hair.

He kissed her ear again, “you want me to cum in you?” He asks.

“God yeah, fill me up,” she replies without thinking, tossing her head back and grinding down ever so provocatively on him.

She presses her front against him more, causing the friction from his index finger on her clit to get more intense as she bucks her hips faster and faster against him.

He’s gone. Absolutely destroyed. He cants even worn her that he’s about to cum he just tips his head back and fucks up into her, gripping her ass so tight that he knows she’s going to have 5 deep, finger-shaped, purple bruises around each ass cheek.

Her orgasm rips through her, losing balance with her shaking thighs she gasps for air, falling into him with her face in the crook of his neck. She is breathing so hard as she comes down, she drools on his neck a little.

He pulls his hand out from between them, flicking her clit on last time. Sending a tremor through her body. She twitches against him, tensing up and tightening around the cock still inside her.

He moans once more, and she feels the tiniest trickle of cum slip out of her as he lifts her off him.

They don’t talk. They just hold onto one another, breathing and rubbing their hands over each other's skin.

“Wow,” Spencer finally says.

“Yeah,” she agrees.

“Hypothetically,” he says with a smile, “I think the outcome we reached was the intended goal?” Only Spencer Reid would make a joke like that after sex.

She laughed and kissed his neck, “very successful, I would be willing to switch techniques next time to see if we can repeat this outcome.”

“Sounds like a date.”

chapter 3

They worked together perfectly. Every morning he’d head across the hall to his own apartment to get ready, coming back to a slice of toast and coffee in his travel mug ready to go.

She looked gorgeous every morning. She put time and effort into what she wore to work, just to chase psychopaths all day. He was in love with her, its the only thing he knew for sure when he looked at her. He was never going to recover from falling for her.

He’d hold all her things while she sets the alarm and locks the door. She would drive them to work each morning and even then he’d carry all her things up to the office.

Everyone noticed how Spencer changed around Y/N, he was always smiling, he was basically glowing from being in love, and having sex. Derek teased him constantly, but in all honesty, he was really proud of his little bro.

They had a slow day, which meant all the ladies filed into Penny’s office to shoot the shit when they were really supposed to be writing reports.

“So?” Penelope looked at Y/N with an arched eyebrow. “How is he?”

She shook her head and giggled to herself. “Really good.”

“Really?” Emily pried?

“He has this other personality that comes out when we, you know,” she was afraid to say fuck inside the walls of Penelope’s office. “I’m addicted, I was so afraid to have sex and now I’m like having an internal battle of is it really worth getting caught in the filing room for a quicky!”

They all burst into laughter, sharing stories of all the times each of them has fucked at work, “you won't get caught if you let us help you?” JJ said with a smirk.

“You’re kidding?” Y/N tilted her head, not believing her.

“I can ask Morgan and the team to lunch while you stay here, text Spencer saying to stay back to get work done but he can meet you in here.” Penelope planned the whole thing.

“No,” Y/N shook her head. “I don’t think I’m comfortable enough for that yet.” She was being completely honest.

“We need a code word for when you choose to use this plan,” Emily said. “Like you group text us the word ‘switch’ and we will keep everyone busy for you and Spence.”

“Why do you want me to fuck him here so bad?”

They all laughed, “because we’re not used to Spence getting this kind of love!” JJ said. “Emily and Penelope covered for me literally when me and Will made Henry.”

“having a hand in making my godson gave me a god complex,” Penelope joked.

They got along fabulously, laughing and working all afternoon before the boys came to get them.

“We got something.”

Y/N walked out first joining Spencer in the hall with a smile, standing close enough to him as they walked that their knuckles rubbed together. She sat beside him in the briefing room, opening the case file in front of her and flipping through the info.

“Wow,” she whispered to herself. “I know a few of the 13 women, I put them in the missing system.”

Spencer rubs his hand over her back softly, looking at the pages she’s flipping through.

Garcia wasn’t cheery anymore, she grabbed the remote for the tv and started her rundown.

“Over the last 6 days, police in Winnemucca Nevada have dug up 13 bodies of women who have gone missing in the last 10 years. He seems to kill sporadically without patterns. M.E has confirmed all 13 women, and de-comp shows they were all killed within 24 hours of going missing.”

“Cause?” Prentiss asked.

“All 13 were strangled with plastic shopping bags, that were left wrapped around their faces in the graves. They were all sexually assaulted antemortem, but not all of them died from asphyxiation. He also stabbed 9 of the 13 victims, 5 of which died from massive blood loss. But the real kicker was that all 13 of them had their wombs removed.” Penelope finished.

“Do we know if any of them were pregnant?” Y/N asked.

“Yes,” she said flipping through slides, “victim number 13, Traci Purcell was 17 and according to her autopsy, her HCG levels indicated she would have been 3 weeks along when she was murdered.”

“Are they able to see if the others were pregnant?” Hotch asked.

“They’re working on it, best bet will be for me to pull medical records and to ask the family.”

“Wheels up in 30,” Hotch nodded towards the door.

Slowly but surely they all filed into the plane, Y/N took a window seat, quickly burying her head in the file, looking at each and every victim carefully.

“Spence, would you help me place the geographical profile?” Y/N asked him softly as he got comfortable in the seat across from her.

“Once we take off we can spread out the map,” he smiled softly back at her. Even when dealing with the hard cases they managed to get caught up in each other's eyes.

“Okay love birds, can I sit here too or will I get more than air sickness?” Morgan said, pretending to feel sick as he sat beside Y/N.

She smacked his arm lightly.

“Speaking of,” Spencer said, stopping to swallow nervously. “Hotch I’m going to need 2 of the workplace fraternization forms when we get back.”

Everyone on the plane cheered at him, he got 3 high-fives and all the congratulations in the world. Y/N immediately felt her face warm up.

“Don’t worry, Garcia filed them for you that night she helped you unpack,” Hotch smiled into his paperwork.

“How did she even know?” Y/N’s voice went up 3 octaves as she panicked.

“At least we know when pretty boy lost his V card now,” Morgan smirked.

“No, just me.” Y/N corrected him. To which Spencer was given yet another high five.

Just then Spencer was handed $20 from Rossi, Hotch, and Morgan. Y/N raised an eyebrow, “why?”

“I bet them $20, years ago, that I am in fact not a virgin and they said they would and I quote ‘only pay me if a woman who has fucked me confirms it.’ So who’s going to tell Gideon to pay up?” He explains.

The team carried on like normal after all the excitement died down. Having side conversations, working on the case, sleeping. The trip from Quantico to Winnemucca was fairly quick.

Y/N sat with Spencer at the table, spreading out the map and watching him place where all 13 victims disappeared from as well as where they were found. They were spread over 3 subdivisions, all 35 miles at least away from the burial sites.

“The park,” Spencer said softly.

“Is that the middle ground?”

“Yeah there’s something significant with the park,” Spencer confirms.

—

Spencer and Y/N went to the M.E together, all 13 women were labelled and displayed under white sheets. They took their time looking over each skeleton and the bodies.

“Clean cuts on the stomach, I wonder why he didn’t stab her?” Spencer said as he looked at the 13th victim.

“She might have cooperated better, or and I hate to say it but, seeing as she was Asian there is a high chance she didn’t bear resemblance to the source of the unsubs rage meaning she got to go out a little easier,” Y/N suggested with a disgusted look on her face.

“The 5 who died of blood loss were all white, brown hair, green eyes. 3 were 26, 2 were 29. They might be exactly his type,” Spencer confirmed the theory.

“They were also murdered,” she flipped her notebook open to show a chart with 5 columns. “June, February, June, November, November. Could also mean something to him.”

“What is that?” Spencer asks.

“It’s a chart that has the name, their age, the missing date and last scene location, the estimated date of death, and the cause. So that I can easily refer to the most important info when making a connection,” She explained. “My brain works better if I can see everything, so I also have my own little hand-drawn map of the area on his page as well as all my ideas in case I don’t get a turn to speak.”

“That’s really smart,” he smiled.

“So June, November and February might be significant to him.”

“Let’s go tell Hotch.”

Spencer drove for once, Y/N sat in the passenger seat in the SUV, doodling into her notebook.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Spencer asked.

“I wrote down the first letter of each month,” she explained, showing him the notebook. “And I circled each of the 3 months that repeat, February, June and November.”

“Okay?” He followed along.

“From February to November it’s 10 months or 40 weeks which is the typical length of a pregnancy,” She explained further. “This whole thing is clearly about pregnancy seeing as he is taking wombs. It’s clearly not a woman seeking revenge because of the sexual assault so it has something to do with him seeking revenge for a pregnancy in his life.”

“Could even be his own, like he’s punishing women who look like his mother because he wishes he was never born,” Spencer ponders.

They pulled into the police station, she got out and walked in all with her head still in the notebook. “Find anything?” Hotch asked.

“Of course she did,” Spencer bragged about her.

—

They all took a break, going back to their hotels to get some rest. All agreeing that since the media hasn’t released anything about this case yet the killed has no idea. They take it in faith that he will stick to his 2 to 4 month waiting period.

They all returned the next morning, refreshed and ready to resume their findings. JJ and Emily spent most of the morning interviewing families of the victims, specifically asking if they knew the vic was pregnant as well as what significance the park played in or around their pregnancies.

Y/N sat in silence with a coffee, flipping through her notebook. Hotch and Morgan were running over ideas they all had with Garcia on the phone.

“Hey, Spence?” Y/N called boy wonder over from the map he had been staring at.

“Yes, my love?” He says softly.

“I think I have an idea, can you go over it with me before we tell the team?” She asked.

“Of course,” he took a seat beside her.

“Why do I have an IUD?” She asks him in a whisper.

“In case you get raped in the field,” he whispered back.

“More specifically.”

“So you don’t get pregnant as a result of a rape in the field.”

“The sexual assaults in his mind, are him getting these victims pregnant. But they’re already pregnant when he picks them right?” She explains, “So that when he removes the uterus postmortem it's his way of aborting the child.”

“So this is all about abortion?” Spencer confirms.

“More specifically to do with how you said he regrets being born,” she corrects.

“Do you think he’s the product of a failed abortion?”

She nodded her head, “yeah and that by taking the whole uterus, and the strangling, and the stabbing, both mother and baby are for sure dead.”

“Hotch!” Spencer called across the room. “Y/N figured it out.”

They waited for JJ and Prentiss to finish an interview before they all piled into an office to discuss Y/N’s idea.

“Is there even any way to know if someone is the product of a failed abortion?” Prentiss asked after Spencer and Y/N took turns explaining how they came to their conclusion.

“Probably the best way would be to search for babies born with the common disabilities that occur in babies of failed abortions, but make sure they were born in November,” Y/N explained.

“Why November?” Penelope asked over the phone.

Y/N took a whiteout marker and started writing on the whiteboard.

“The 5 victims that died from loss of blood were all exactly the same, they were murdered in June, February, June. November and November.” She explained.

Writing “J F M A M J J A S O N D” on the whiteboard. Circling February, June and November.

“February, conception. 10 months later, or 40 weeks, is November. June is 4 months along meaning that would be when the mother either had the abortion, be it medical or homemade,” Y/N explained.

“Last year alone 146 of the 164,045 abortions resulted as a failure. When this happens most women choose to have the second procedure, or a D and C. Or they can carry the baby the rest of the way to term,” Spencer explained. “Children brought to term from a first-trimester medical abortion failure often have limb or digit abnormalities while infants born from non-medical approved abortions are more likely to have congenital problems.”

“However someone without a limb would not be able to do what our unsub is capable of. Digging graves, abducting, dragging dead bodies, it’s a lot of effort,” JJ added.

“Exactly, which is why I think our unsub probably has a mental disability.”

“Non-medical abortions, most often referred to as the poor person’s method, is taking a non-FDA approved ulcer treatment drug called Misoprostol, which is causing an epidemic of birth defects all along South America and parts of Asia,” Spencer added. “It induces contractions, causing women to deliver babies far too early to survive outside of the womb. If taken after the first trimester, and unsuccessful it can cut off oxygen to the brain long enough to permanently damage development in the frontal lobe.”

“Did the families mention anything about the park?” Y/N asked Prentiss and JJ.

“So far 4 of the victim's husbands say their wives announced they were pregnant on park benches, near the children swinging. They said it was the typical, ‘that could be us one day, that day came sooner than you thought’ moments from movies.” JJ confirmed.

“Let’s deliver the profile,” Hotch announced, following them all into the precinct.

—

They spent the next few hours looking for anyone with birth defects or mental disabilities that could be a potential suspect. Asking the other officers as well as anyone around the park about the type of man they were looking for.

Morgan and JJ patrolled the park while Rossi and Prentiss asked around on the street.

“Lynette Hayward,” Y/N whispered to herself, standing up and rushing through all the papers on the table in front of her.

“She was the only one who wasn’t pregnant, she was the only one who wasn’t reported missing, she was the oldest and in her youth, she had brown hair and green eyes. What if she’s his mother?” Y/N expressed to Spencer and Hotch who were watching her scramble around.

She pulled her phone out and called Garcia, “what’s cooking good lookin’?” Penelope answered.

“Can you help unscramble my egg brain?” She joked right back.

“Sure thing, whatcha got?”

“Lynette Hayward, does she have children, was she ever pregnant, or put someone up for adoption?”

“Let me check into it and I will call you right back!” Garcia said, hanging up and going right to work.

“Is there anyone here who knew Lynette Hayward about 30 years ago? She would have been 26 to 29, my height, brown hair, and green eyes?” Y/N announced to the whole Police Department.

“I did,” an officer said, standing up from the desk on the other side of the room.

She waved him over, pulling out a chair and asking him to sit.

“Was Lynette ever pregnant?” Y/N asked.

He thought for a moment, licking his lips and harkening all the way back to his 20’s. “There was a summer that no one saw her."

"When was this?" Spencer asked.

"From June to November, not a single person saw her. We thought maybe she was doing summer classes somewhere,” he explained.

“Were there any children dropped off at a fire hall or a hospital that November?” Spencer asked.

“There was a baby left in the park, poor little guy had been left out there in the cold,” he said.

Hotch, Spencer and Y/N all took a deep breath and looked at each other. “That’s him.”

Garcia called back then, “I found 1 baby left abandoned in the park in November of 1979, he was diagnosed with a cleft lip and palate, seizures, and later on he was diagnosed with diabetes, Crohn’s disease and Asperger's syndrome.”

“Name and address?” Spencer asked.

“That's the difficult part, he was born, operated on and handed over to the state and cared for by a foster family that named him Jake Alexander Ingrid. At the age of 6, he was adopted by them fully. When he was 12 he dropped out of the public school system due to bullying that left him in the hospital with a broken arm. After that, his trail goes cold.”

“How cold?” Y/N asked.

“If I didn't know better I'd say he was the one missing not Lynette,” Garcia confirmed.

“Does anyone live in Lynette’s house?” Hotch asked.

The sound of Garcia’s typing was all they heard over the phone, “her bills are being paid on time, someone is in her trailer. I’ve sent the address to your phones.”

“Let’s go.”

Hotch kicked the trailer door in, “FBI!”

He was asleep, startled awake in the bed that used to belong to his birth mother. He cried, overwhelmed with the 3 guns pointed in his face. Hotch sighed, cuffing him and reading him his rights.

“Why are the worst ones always the sadist?” Y/N asked Spencer as they watched forensics tore apart the trailer.

“Sad in what context?”

“His whole life was so fucked up, it sucks. All those women crossed paths with him and he took his fucked up life and ended theirs, as well as their babies,” Y/N couldn’t stop shaking her head as she spoke, disgusted with the whole situation.

Spencer wrapped her up in a hug, “if we spend all our time wondering why the world is like this we won't have enough time to bring justice to the victims.”

“which is the best outcome we can ask for,” Y/N agreed.

“Dr, Reid, agent Y/L/N?” An officer interrupted their hug and watched them awkwardly pull away from each other quickly.

“Yes?” Spencer answered.

“We found the wombs.”

The worst fucking sentence she had ever heard. “I can’t look at that.” She said, walking away to join JJ and Prentiss standing by the SUV.

“Good job kid,” Morgan said, wrapping his arm around her. “You’re almost as smart as boy wonder over there.”

“Just call me Mrs, boy wonder then,” she joked.

“Don’t tempt him!” Prentiss joked.

Y/N turned back to see Spencer walking out of the trailer, a shade of green spreading across his skin. “Excuse me,” she said walking towards the ambulance that was on standby.

“Dr. Reid looks like he might be sick,” she said, taking an EMT with her towards him.

Sure enough, Spencer leaned over the bushes and hurled before passing out into the EMT’s arms. Morgan and Hotch came running over to him, helping get him into an ambulance.

“What happened?” Morgan asked.

“He took a look at the recovered womb’s the forensic team found,” Y/N explained.

“That would do it,” Hotch agreed.

Y/N rubbed her hand along Spencer’s shoulder, “good catch,” the EMT complimented her as he took Spencer's vitals.

“I know him well.”

“Too well,” Morgan agreed. “You’d think you were cut from the same cloth.”

“No,” she said softly, gripping Spencer’s hand in her own as he started to stir a little. “We’re cosmically connected, made from the same space rock that split during the big bang.”

“I love you,” he whispered, awake the whole time she was speaking.

“Yeah, yeah,” she teased him, “I know, save your strength, you’re still all pasty white.”

“Gross,” Morgan smiled, turning away from the ambulance

chapter 4

Prentiss convinced Y/N and Spencer to take the weekend off in Nevada to go visit their parents. They agreed that it would be nice, seeing as neither of them thought to tell their moms that they met again let alone that they were together.

Y/N walked into the Nursing home first, looking for her mom in her office as Spencer walked in quickly to go find his mother.

“Hey mom,” Y/N smiled as she knocked on her mother's office door.

“Y/N!” She yelled, shocked to see her eldest baby standing in front of her for the first time since last Christmas. “What are you doing here?”

“Remember how I moved?” She started there.

“Yes?”

“Well, my new neighbour ended up being Spencer Reid, and he introduced me to the BAU and I helped them with a case, so they hired me, and now I work for them and we just finished a case in Winnemucca and me and Spencer are dating. He’s here too and we’re taking the weekend off to tell you and Diana,” she had never rambled so fast to her mother before in her life.

“Holy shit?” Her mother was shocked, “this all happened in the last 3 weeks? Is that why you’ve been too busy to text me?”

“I’ve been on 5 cases in the last 3 weeks, I was swamped,” she smiled, her eyes welling with tears.

Her mom walked over to her and wrapped her up in her arms, holding her close. “My baby, this is everything you wanted why are you crying?”

“I haven’t taken a moment to actually understand that this is all real,” she whispered.

Her mother pulled back, looking in her eyes with a stern look. “Is he good to you?”

She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes. “He’s wonderful.”

“Diana is in the game room, let’s go see them,” she tucked her arm under Y/N’s and the two of them walked arm in arm towards the game room.

Diana stood up as she saw them walk in, “Debbie’s daughter?” She asked.

Spencer nodded with a large smile on his face. “This is Y/N Y/L/N, my partner.”

“I know you,” Diana said softly, reaching out to pull her into a hug. “You would read to me on Thursdays after Spencer left for CalTech.”

“Really?” Spencer asked.

“I knew you were here as often as you could be, and I felt bad she didn’t have any other children to come see her,” Y/N explained. “I know if my mom was here and my brother couldn’t visit I’d fill in.”

“It was lovely, I still have the book you gave me before you left for the academy,” Diana’s smile was as big and bright as Spencer’s.

They all sat together, sharing stories with each other. It seemed like their mothers enjoyed sharing embarrassing kid stories to make Spencer and Y/N blush back and forth.

Before they knew it, it was 3 pm and visiting hours were coming to an end and Debbie’s shift was about to end as well. “Where are you both staying?” She asked.

“At a hotel downtown,” Y/N explained.

“Nonsense, stay with me and your father!” Debbie insisted.

Y/N shook her head, “we can come to visit for dinner tomorrow, but we need some space.”

“You know how it feels to be in love especially this young Deb, I’m sure you understand,” Diana patted her on the shoulder.

“Go on, have fun. But tomorrow dinner starts at 6:15, Levi and Lizzie also home this weekend,” Debbie smiled, hugging both Spencer and Y/N before Diana.

“Would Diana be able to come to dinner at our place?” Y/N asked.

“I think I can pull some strings,” Debbie agreed, “have a good night tonight guys.”

“We will,” Spencer smiled, taking Y/N’s hand and walking with her to the parking lot.

They both sighed as they sat in their rental car. “That went well,” Y/N said softly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you visited my mom?” Spencer asked, holding her hand again.

“I was going to, there’s so much I want to tell you but we haven’t had enough personal time to get through it all, every time we talk lately it’s about murder,” she replied.

“Let's go get a table at a nice restaurant and tell each other everything.”

“I have something to do first, can I drop you off at the hotel and meet you there?” She asked.

“absolutely.”

-—

She drove to her parent's place as fast as she could, they were all just sitting down in the living room when she walked in the door. “Hi sorry I can’t stay I just want to grab a dress from my closet.”

She kicked her shoes off and ran up the stairs to her bedroom just like she would have after school. Her room hadn’t changed much. Her desk was still in the corner, her bed was made, and her mom now used it for storage. There were boxes, lamps, pillows and a million folded blankets all resting on her bed and scattered along the floor.

She shuffled some things out of the way of her closet door and quickly looked through all the bagged dresses she had left here. Minoring in political science and volunteering with government organizations in college meant she had a dress for every occasion, times the 4 years she was there.

“Cocktail, dinner, black tie, prom, homecoming,” she flicked through them all, “funeral,” she said as she stopped. “Why is this here?”

She pulled out a black dress she wore to a democratic representatives fundraiser, it was an off-the-shoulder, 3/4 length sleeve, plunging neckline, skin-tight dress with a slit to show some leg. It was perfect.

She placed it on the edge of her bed and dug out the black heels that she originally bought to go with the dress. She found a strapless bra in her dresser, and a cute pair of underwear buried at the back of her drawer.

She closed her door and quickly changed, walking across the hall in her heels to fluff her hair in the mirror and figure out how the fuck she was going to do her makeup here.

Just then her brother's wife came walking up the stairs, “Y/N?” She knocked on the bathroom door before coming in.

“Hey Lizzie,” she smiled. “Do I look okay?” She asked.

Lizzie looked her up and down with a shocked look on her face, “yeah what’s the occasion? I didn’t even know you were home?”

“It’s a long story, my boyfriend and I were here on a case and we’re staying for the weekend, you get to meet him tomorrow!” She filled her in as she searched the bathroom drawers for makeup.

“What do you need?” She asked.

“Do you have your makeup kit here? We’re like the same shade right?”

Before she knew it, Lizzie was making her sit on the edge of the tub while she did Y/N’s makeup for her. “Remember when you did my prom makeup?” Lizzie asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “You and Levi looked so good together that night.”

“Not as good as you look right now, he’s going to eat you alive,” she hyped Y/N up.

“You think so?” Y/N asked, standing up to take a look in the mirror.

“Absolutely!!!”

She took a deep breath and shook the nerves out, “okay I have to go,” she said running back to her room for her phones, wallet and badge.

“Go get him, SSA Y/L/N,” Lizzie smiled as she watched y/n steadily run down the stairs in heels, clicking on the hardwood as she ran.

“Wait!” Her dad yelled from the table, “don’t I get to see you before you leave?”

She ran into the table room, quickly hugging her father at the head of the table and kissing him on his bald head. “I’m late for my date, I love you, I’ll be home tomorrow,” she said running back towards the front door and to her car.

She was like a mad chicken running around with her head cut off. She took a breather in the car before starting the engine and making her way back downtown.

--

She left her car out front with the valet, saying she would be back in a minute. She dug her phone out of her wallet and called Spencer. “I’m in the lobby.”

“I’ll be right there.”

She waited by the elevator, she pulled her boobs up into her bra and wiggled the wire till they looked okay, then she straightened her dress out. She never felt this nervous when she wore this dress the last time, she’s never felt this nervous period, actually.

Spencer Reid did something to her that she couldn’t quite describe. But if she had to, she’d say he makes her feel alive.

The elevator dinged and Spencer walked out in one of his best suits. He was looking down at his button as he stepped out not seeing her at first.

She smiled at him, waiting for him to look up. When he did his eyes grew three times their normal size and his mouth dropped. He stopped right in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders and lightly running his hands down her arms. “You never cease to amaze me.”

“Could say the same thing about you Dr. Reid,” Y/N teased as she pulled on his tie.

She pulled him down by his tie and pressed her lips against his. Never before had either of them been a big fan of PDA, but this was an exception.

She pulled back from him and tucked his tie back into his jacket. Smoothing out his sleeves before taking a step back and handing him the keys. “Lead the way doctor.”

He extended his arm to which she wrapped her arm around. He walked her to the front of the lobby, watching as the bellhop held the door for them.

Their car was still there, waiting with the valet who opened the door when he saw her return. She sat on the passenger side, fixing the slit of her dress to not show too much just yet.

Spencer joined her, sitting in the driver's seat he started the car and drove off.

He reached his hand over to place it on her thigh, where it belonged. He gripped her leg and felt down to where her holster was. She saw his eyebrow raise as he looked down, moving the side of her dress to see her gun strapped to her leg.

“Gonna shoot me if I’m not on my best behaviour tonight, agent?” He laughed.

“Nevada is a concealed carry state, and I don’t trust anyone,” she said. “Plus I look like this tonight, do you know what the crime rate is in Los Vegas-? Don’t answer that, of course, you do,” she teased him.

“It’s pretty hot,” he complimented her.

“What? The gun or my attitude?”

“The fact that you don’t take shit from anyone, you’re a badass and I never have to worry about you.”

“What if I want you to worry?”

“I’m always going to worry, I just mean you’re not a damsel in distress. I can go into every situation knowing you’re smarter on your feet than anyone on the team, and as long as you’re there we’re coming out alive,” he explained better.

“That’s the best compliment,” she felt bashful all of a sudden. She put her hand on his and squeezed it. “I love you, Spencer,” she finally told him.

“I love you too,” he smiled.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t said it back yet.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant they were going to, returning his focus fully to driving. He pulled into a parking spot and put the car in park.

“I knew you’d say it when you were ready, I’m in no rush to hear it,” he leaned over the centre console and kissed her on the lips.

He got out of the car and walked around to open her door, helping her out before extending an arm out for her once more.

He made a reservation while he was alone at the hotel, getting a table in the back away from everyone else. It was a round table with a booth stretching all the way around the table. The back of the chair tall enough to enclose them in their own little world for the time being.

They were at a cute little stake house, one where you got to pick the exact piece of meat you wanted and they did it however you asked. They ordered drinks and enough bread to make the waiter look at them differently.

“Tell me the most random fact about you,” Y/N asked as soon as the waiter left to tell the kitchen their order.

“When my mom’s schizophrenia started getting bad, she thought that the government used dryers to take our socks for DNA and clone us, so whenever one of my socks went missing she freaked out. After that, I started wearing mismatched socks all the time so that that way she would never notice which of the pairs were missing since I never wore them that way anyway.”

She smiled the whole time he talked, absolutely in love with him. He was her everything. “So that’s why I’ve got so many random socks around my house.”

“It’s worse at my apartment,” he smiled again. “Your turn.”

“The first time I ever rode a bike without training wheels was because I stole my neighbour's bike and took off with it down the road,” she laughed.

“Why?”

“I think my mom said I couldn’t take my own training wheels off yet, so I took matters into my own hands.”

“See?” He shook his head lightly. “Badass.”

“When was the last time you were in Vegas?” She asked.

“Earlier this year when we reopened the Riley Jenkins case,” he said softly.

“oh, my mom was telling me about that one! Your mom went off her meds to help remember if your dad was involved right?” Y/N recalled.

He nodded, “do you know what really happened?”

“I have the gist, Lou killed Gary in revenge for Riley.”

“That's not all of it,” he said lightly. “Gary was watching me, and my mom told Lou that the way he looked at me, he might have been the one who hurt Riley. And then she witnessed Lou kill Gary.”

“Holy shit Spence, I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “Did you know Gary was my neighbour?” ,

“No?”

“Yeah we were 4, my brother was 2 and my mom was pregnant again, and Gary kept taking photos of my brother through the fence. My dad threatened to kill him a few times and then we finally moved across town,” she explained.

“How is it that our lives were so intertwined, and yet it took 20 years for us to actually connect again?” He asked.

“The same thing happened to my parents.”

“What’s their story?” He asked.

She moved around the table to sit closer to him, taking his hand in hers. “My dad is 8 years older than my mom, they met when she was 17 and he was 26 and they became good friends like he was her older brother. They realized years later that my dad delivered newspapers to the town my mom lived in, and he saw her basically grow up playing in the yard. Then his best friend always invited him to his cabin and when he finally went, the lot across from them was my mom's family cabin. They were always so close but never knew each other till they were meant to. And now they’ve been happily married for 30 years.”

“There's an old Buddhist saying that, when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making. So always appreciate and be kind to each other,” Spencer explained.

“It took 500 years of coincidences to bring us together,” she said softly. “Which kinda makes the 20 years of admiring you from afar not seem so long.”

“From here on out let’s make every moment count then,” Spencer suggested, “we’ve been barely dating for 3 weeks I’m not going to ask you to marry me right this instant, but I do intend to spend the rest of my life with you in whatever capacity I can. Because I think you’re it for me.”

She could bask in the feeling of her heart fluttering like this for the rest of her life, it was like butterflies but completely calm. True happiness at its finest.

“Let’s make a deal,” she said softly, “in 1 year we come back here, and if we feel the exact same way as we do right now, you can propose to me.”

He put his pinky out for her, she wrapped hers around his, before kissing each other's knuckles. “Promise.” Spencer and Y/N said at the same time.

—

Back in the hotel room, she didn’t even bat an eyelash before slamming Spencer against the door. She slid her thigh between both his legs and boxed him in.

She undid the single button of his suit jacket, shushing Spencer. She pushed it off his arms, knocking it to the floor. She loosened his tie, tossing it to the side, still around his neck, while she unbuttoned his shirt.

He was completely silent and still. She was in control.

She tossed his shirt to the ground next. Holding onto his tie as she pulled him down into a heated kiss.

“Take my dress off,” she breathed into his mouth, feeling his hands reach around her back for the zipper.

He pushed the sleeves down her arms, watching the dress gather at her ankles before she stepped out and kicked the fabric out of the way. She tugged him by his tie towards the bed.

“Strip,” she instructed him. “Not the tie.”

“Underwear too?” He asked as she dug through his suitcase.

“yes.”

She returned with 2 more ties. Looking at him, butt naked on the bed. She stepped out of her underwear and the uncomfortable strapless bra. She set her gun in the hotel safe with her badge and returned to the bed.

“Would you be willing to try something?” She asked.

“anything,” he said, overly eager.

“Would you tie my hands to the bedpost and blindfold me and just do whatever you want?”

“Hold on,” he got off the bed and opened his go-bag side pocket. “I have a blindfold for the plane.”

“So you want to?”

Actions speak louder than words, he would always say.

He dimmed the lights down, got on the bed and roughly picked her up laying her back against the pillows. He tied her left hand first, and then her right hand. He took a hair elastic off the bedside table and put her hair back as best he could before he rested the blindfold against her forehead.

He hovered over her. “Anything I want?” Spencer confirmed.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“Ground rules?”

“Yellow for slow down, red for stop?” She shrugged.

“You really mean anything?”

“I trust you, Spencer Reid, make me feel good,” she smiled.

He kissed her on the nose before coving her eyes with the blindfold.

She had always wanted to try this, it was a kink she had always been determined to try. She took a deep breath and tried her best to listen to him as he moved to sit between her spread legs.

He ran his hands up her thighs, over her hips before following the curve to her waist. He gripped her waist tightly and leaned forward, pressing his mouth to her stomach, breathing her in as he kissed.

She wasn’t embarrassed about her tummy, for the first time in her life she loved her body. She felt him kiss all over her chest, dragging his bottom lip along her skin. He licked a stripe between her breasts, dropping his chin to her chest then to blow lightly over the wet trail.

She felt her nipples harden, she could physically hear the smirk that spread across his face.

He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, cupping her breasts with his hands as he groped her lightly. She squirmed, trying her best to grind her hips against his.

He pushed her hips against the bed, “be patient.”

He disappeared then. She felt his weight shift and get off the bed. She let out a deep breath, knowing she told him he could do anything and that included punishing her. She literally asked for it.

“I picked something up after you dropped me off,” she heard him say from the other side of the room.

He walked around for a minute, taking something out of a hard plastic container. He struggled with ripping it, she heard papers fall the floor and something hard hit the floor. “Shit.”

She heard him walk towards the bathroom, she crossed her ankles and just waited.

He came back to the bed, moving her legs apart like they were when he left. “stay.”

He crawled between her legs once more, his hand brushed her thigh and it was cold and wet like he washed his hands.

“Can I touch you?” He asked softly. She nodded her head feverishly.

She heard a small buzzing, an all too failure sound. The first place she feels the vibration is in her belly button. Causing her to let out a shocked little giggle.

“Shhh,” he smiled.

He dragged the little bullet vibrator down her stomach, over her pelvis and finally, finally, against her clit. She let out a moan that sounded more like a sigh of relief.

All she wanted was for someone else to control her pleasure, surprise her, set the rhythm, the speed, everything. She spent so long pleasuring herself, she was so ready to sit back and just take it.

Spencer felt the same. He took his time, feeling every inch of her skin, kissing every single place he wanted to. He spent so much time just looking. Finding freckles and scars and kissing them. He was mesmerized by the fact she was real, that a beautiful woman would lay down in front of him, spread open like this and just let him explore. It felt like the best wet dream his brain could ever conjure.

She could feel him getting closer to her. His weight shifted and she felt his breath on her leg. She took a deep breath, sucking in her stomach in the anticipation of feeling a tongue on her for the first time ever.

He turned off the vibrator. Setting it to the side as he looped his arms around her thighs. Just admiring the view. Just then her whole body shivered as she anticipated the heat of his tongue.

He pressed a kiss to her clit first before flattening his tongue against her. “Sweet fucking Jesus Christ,” she gasped.

“I’ve never done this before,” he breathed against her.

“Explore away, sir,” she whispered.

He clearly did research, if he didn’t just say this was his first time eating someone out, she would think he was an expert. She regretted having her hands tied up at that moment. She squirmed, he held her hips down. She gripped the ties around her wrists wishing it was Spencer's hair.

She was never big into overstimulation or denial, never having the willpower to keep going after making herself cum once. Spencer, however, had the ability to bring her to the edge again and again without ever letting her spillover.

She didn’t beg, she didn’t complain, she sat there in the blissful feeling and waited. It was heavenly.

“Spence,” her breathing was heavy.

He hummed, letting her know he was listening. His tongue still wiggling back and forth on her clit.

“Can you please just fuck me now?”

He kissed his way back to her mouth. All up her stomach, over her breasts, her neck and jaw. She could taste herself on his lips, “untie me?” She asked softly.

He let one hand free, which she immediately used to grip his hair. The second hand was freed and she pushed the blindfold up and worked her way into a sitting position while he kneeled in front of her.

“Anything else you want to try?” She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking into his eyes once again. She pushed his hair out of his face and just looked at him.

“Lie back and roll over,” he instructed.

He pulled her into a face-down, ass-up position and aligned himself with her. Pushing in little by little till he bottomed out. He reached around the bed for the vibrator and placed it in her one hand.

“You decide when you cum,” was all he said before he started fucking her.

She white-knuckled the pillow as he rammed into her, she was arched in the most perfect way for him to hit her g spot every time he rammed into her.

“My hair,” she gasped, wanting him to grab her by her ponytail as he fucked her.

With one hand on her hip to steady her and the other in her hair, he fucked into her like his life depended on it. Her legs were quaking, she felt like she was going to explode if she didn’t cum soon.

She flicked on the vibrator and pressed it against her own clit, feeling the familiar heat bubble in her stomach. “Fuck me, oh god,” she chanted.

Cuming with a shout, she dug her face into the pillow and all but screamed. Pushing back against Spencer as he bucked into her one last time and erupted inside of her.

His hips shook as he emptied his load before slowly pulling out and dropping down beside her.

She turned her head to look at him, eyeliner and mascara all smudged around her eyes, makeup all over the pillow. She was trying her hardest to catch her breath, staring at him with a smile on her face.

“If sex was an Olympic sport, I think we’d win,” she complimented him.

“you think?” He asked, his breath just as shaky as hers.

She rolled onto her back, letting him cuddle into her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. “Everyone told me that the first time I have sex it’ll be underwhelming and uneventful, and yet every time we fuck I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I should invest in a wheelchair.”

He laughed, “would you put that in writing and send it to everyone from our high school?”

She smacked his arm. “and then I’d have to swat women off you with a bat if I wanted any alone time, you’re mine now.” She wrapped her whole body around him and held him there.

“I love you,” Spencer smiled.

“I love you, more.”

chapter 5

They packed everything into their car just to go to her parents house. There was something in Y/N’s gut that told her there was a case coming.

Her parents lived 30 minutes out of the city, on the edge of a cul-de-sac that faced a park. They had lived there since she was 5, it was her mom’s dream home. It was the only place in the town she had good memories in.

Y/N’s mother brought Diana home with her after work. They were waiting in the kitchen for Spencer and Y/N when they arrived. Tonights guests included not just them but Y/N’s youngest brother Levi, his wife Lizzie and their 2 year-old Chloe.

“There’s my girl!” Her dad cheered, standing up and rushing to give her a real hug. “Did you get taller?”

“it’s the boots,” she laughed, holding onto him tightly.

“You look great! The FBI is treating you well,” her dad was always one to compliment her. He pulled back and looked at Spencer. More like glared at him.

“Nice to meet you Sir, I’m Doctor Spencer Reid,” he said, shockingly extending his hand to shake her father's.

The profiler in her knew he was breaking his comfort zone to appease her baby boomer, ex-cop, father.

Her dad always did this thing when he met new men where he squeezed their hands to see how much they could take. “Harrison Y/L/N Sr.” She watched Spencers hand shake as he squeezed right back.

“Strong shake.” Her father complimented him. “She must have warned you.”

“No, he just knows how to read people,” Y/N laughed.

“Well come sit down Doctor Spencer Reid,” he teased him. “Let me interrogate the profiler.”

“Here we go,” Y/N laughed, placing a hand on Spencer's back as she led him into the kitchen.

They sat down together, Spencers mom, Diana, just across from him at the table. They smiled and nodded at each other in a quiet little hello.

“I would ask you to tell me a bit about yourself, but Y/N has kept me all caught up with you over the years,” her dad said. “You went to CalTech at 13, somewhere in there you got a degree from MIT, she idolized you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” she blushed.

“It’s very flattering, but if anything I’m now huge fan of her’s. In the last 3 weeks she has been the one to find the major break in 3 of our cases. She is amazing at what she does, you raised an incredible woman,” Spencer replied, praising her in a way that made her heart flutter.

“Go on then, tell us about these cases then,” her dad asked.

And with that they got lost in all things horrific. Spencer explained, verbatim, how each case went down and exactly what Y/N came up with to solve them. She answered little questions here and there but mostly it was Spencer showing off how much he loved his girlfriend.

Her mom passed out dinner plates in the middle of the talk, some how all of them were able to discuss cases and eat at the same time. Her mom made burgers and potato salad for dinner, just something simple for them all.

“Did you really offer to fuck a serial killer?” Her brother asked, disgusted.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I knew in his sick twisted mind he wouldn’t be able to refuse a woman willing to let him do what he wanted and as soon as the weapon was down, so was he.”

“I always told you she’d be able to kick your ass, Levi,” her dad said. “Ever since she was a kid I knew she had it in her to wrestle someone to the ground.”

“Yeah, Spence didn’t believe me that I’m combat trained.”

“No,” Spencer interjected, “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, I just didn’t ever think you’d be able to take me down.”

“And did you?” Her mom asked.

Her face turned bright red. “Yeah, I showed one of my combat maneuvers on him, we were all horsing around and I showed them how to go from being pinned to the ground to being the one on top.”

“How?” Her brother’s wife asked.

“Yeah demonstrate!” Her mom innocently cheered them on not knowing she was mid sex with him when she showed him how to do it.

“Um okay, Lizzie come with me,” she said, saving Spencer the awkwardness of having to straddle her in the middle of her family home.

She laid down on the floor, “you basically have to just pin me down how ever you see fit.”

Lizzie, sat on her, holding her shoulders down with one forearm. Y/N, quickly flipped her onto her back, making sure to catch her head as she did so. Not wanting her to smack it off the hardwood floor.

“Like that,” Y/N stood up and helped Lizzie to her feet. “Made sure all the girls knew how to do that.” She lied.

“As you should!” Her dad cheered, “nice to know your team all has each others backs.”

“How do they all feel about you two?” Diana asked. She had been mostly quiet all night, just enjoying time outside of where she was used to.

“They love it, they’ve been placing bets about us,” Y/N laughed.

“Like what?” Her dad asked.

“If he would kiss me first, if we’d tell the team ever, they even had one about who is most likely to say I love you first, they’re insufferable,” Y/N ranted.

“So what team one?” Her brother teased, just trying the embarrass her.

“He kissed me first, he told the team that we were together after like 10 hours and he was the first to say I love you,” Y/N blushed.

“Does she still have the I love you problem?” Her mom asked innocently but received a death glare from Y/N.

“Uh no, she says it to me too.” Spencer noticed the awkwardness.

“Any plans for baby number two?” Y/N asked Levi, changing the subject faster than ever.

She’d be lying if she said she was listening to the answer, her ears were ringing and all she cold focus on was Spencer’s hand on her back. Her mom was about to pass out cake when she excused herself to the bathroom, and ended up in her old bedroom.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, hearing the words her mother said over and over in her mind. “Does she still have the I love you problem?”

She rubbed her hands over her eyes and just breathed. She didn’t want him to know about that yet.

Spencer knocked on her door, opening it softly and peaking his head in. “Do you want company?”

She nodded.

He kneeled down on the floor in front of her, running his hands along her thighs. “Are you okay?”

“I told you about Christopher?” She said softly.

“yes.”

“In order to get me to do what he did, he would always say I had to because he loved me,” she explained. A tear dripped down her cheek and landed on his hand. “And so for 7 years after I never told anyone I knew that I loved them.”

“That’s okay, you went through trauma. You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he soothed her.

“I want to though because, before you, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand love, I thought it was weird and forceful and something dependent on coercion,” her voice was so tiny, she didn’t want anyone else hearing her. “Loving you is light and fluffy and special and safe, I didn’t want you to think just now that I said it this weekend to get it over with or something because I truly do love you.

He pulled her into a kiss, “I love you, more.”

She laughed, “we’ll see about that.”

—

Y/N and Diana were doing the dishes as her mom packed the leftover food into Tupperware containers. Debbie was just about to ask who wanted coffee when Y/N’s phone started to ring.

She sighed, drying her hands on a dishtowel before answering the phone. “SSA Y/N Y/L/N.”

“There’s been an explosion at a mall in Los Angeles and reports of 4 more planned, how fast can you and Reid get to LA?” Hotch asked.

“Um, we’re about 45 minutes from the airport.”

“We’re 4 hours out, we want you and Reid there ASAP. Is there any way we could send a helicopter to get you?”

“Yes, there’s a soccer field across the street from my parent's house, Garcia knows the address she can direct them where to go, we’ll be ready.”

“Debrief has already been sent to your phones, I need you and Reid to go to the LA field office and start communication with Garcia on victimology.”

“Got it.” She said as she hung up. “Spence we have to go!”

“What’s wrong?” Diana asked.

“We have an emergency in LA, they need us there immediately. There’s a helicopter coming to get us,” Y/N explained as she walked around the room towards her go-bag.

She unzipped it, unfolding her bullet-proof vest and putting it on. She adjusted her gun and made sure she had everything she needed. Spencer did the same at the table beside her.

“You are a badass,” her dad complimented her, filming her getting her gear on. “This is my daughter! FBI superhero! Kickass tonight kid!” He had an affinity for embarrassing her, but an even bigger obsession with showing her off.

He was like that with all of his children, first with her brother Harrison in the army, then with her other brother Levi and his swat training. Now his daughter was catching serial killers like it was nothing.

“Okay, we gotta go, the helicopter will be landing in that field in 3 minutes. Dad are you okay to take the car back to the dealership if this takes a while? We will be back for our suitcases after the case, I love you guys.” She said. handing her father the car keys and moving to put her shoes on.

“Got everything?” Spencer asked.

“Yep,” she smiled.

They walked out the door and across the street. Most of the neighbourhood watched a helicopter land in the soccer field as the sun was setting. They ducked as they ran getting in the chopper and strapping in.

“Agent Valdez, Nevada PD!” the officer in the pilot seat introduced herself. “We have just over an hour till we land, use the headsets to communicate with me if you need to!”

And they were off. She looked down to see her family waving up at them from their houses as the neighbours she grew up around took photos and videos of them leaving.

“What’s going on?” Spencer asked.

Y/N took out her phone and read over the debrief, “tonight at The Grove in Los Angeles, a small bomb went off killing 6 people and injuring 31.”

“Where did it go off?” Reid asked.

“Inside a small dress store that has been renting the space for the last 7 years,” Y/N confirmed. “I’m sure Garcia is looking into everyone who was injured or killed as well as the current and former employees.”

“It says here that the person who called 911 before the bomb went off warned of 3 bombs to come. Saying; ‘4 bombs in total the first in clear, the next is where her checks would clear.’” Reid read from the phone.

“So we need to find a connection between the dress store and a bank in the area,” Y/N said. “We need to go over that call more, have Garcia look into every aspect of the sound.”

“Where did Hotch say he wants us?” Reid asked.

“At the LA field office, he wants us working behind the scenes in correspondence with Garcia.”

Spencer sighed, “well, our weekend was fun while it lasted.

9:42pm PST

By the time the rest of the team landed and Hotch and JJ arrived at the field office, another 2 bombs had gone off at a Liberty Bank downtown LA.

“Garcia, do we have any connection from the dress shop to the bank yet?” Hotch asked.

“Nothing Sir, I have dug and dug and there isn’t a single person with a connection to both the bank and the dress shop within the last few months, I'm widening back 2-5 years but still nothing,” Garcia panicked over the phone.

“Is there any possibility our unsub is female? This to me feels like a scorned lover, maybe her husband is paying someone under the table who is cashing checks at that exact ATM that exploded and then went and bought a dress,” Y/N suggests.

“Garcia run with that as far as you can and call us back,” Hotch ordered.

“On it!” She cheered before hanging up.

Spencer looked around at all the info he and Y/N brainstormed while waiting for the team. “a female unsub would make the most sense.”

“Did we get any more clues for where the next bomb will be?” JJ asked.

Agent Cunningham from the LA field office shook his head, “nothing at the scene or over 911, we’re on the lookout for any suspicious calls and tips currently.”

“If you were cheating on your wife, after going to the bank and the dress shop where does she go with you next?” Y/N asked Hotch.

“Uh,” he shook his head, clearly faithful to his wife. “Dinner and a hotel?”

“So those are possibly the next two targets,” Y/N said, “but finding out what restaurant and hotel in the entirety of LA is like finding a needle in a needle stack.”

“I hate to say it,” JJ sighed, “but we might need one more explosion before we get a breakthrough.”

“All we can do is hope for minimal damage,” Y/N shot a soft smile over to her, “till then, what kind of woman in the area could make the type of bombs that are being used?”

“Almost anyone,” Morgan said as he walked into the room. “I was just looking at the debris and shrapnel, it’s a fairly simple bomb that anyone with basic knowledge or internet access could make.”

Hotch called Garcia once more. “Can you start a search for women 35-55 who are married, ask the NSA if we can search through any women in the LA area googling how to make bombs in the last month.”

“Of course, I’ve also been looking at the past transactions of the specific ATMs that were targeted, 13 of the people depositing cash and cheques there, recently bought dresses from the store at The Grove.”

“Any of them look like they are partaking in an affair?” Y/N asked.

“2 of them are lesbian women, 3 are drag queens and the other 8 are girls in high school depositing birthday money,” Garcia explained.

“Well thanks for looking, hopefully, the NSA has some hits for us,” Hotch said as he hung up. “I guess we wait.”

11:56pm

“We’ve got reports of an explosion in an all-female dorm at UCLA,” one of the LA agents said as he burst through the door.

“Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi,” Hotch said, “go to the scene and find out everything.”

Y/N called Garcia, “as soon as we know what room the explosion was in I need you to go back 10 years of women who lived in that dorm room and their connections to older men. Sugar daddies, teachers, anyone.”

“The 911 call shortly after the bomb say it was heard on the first floor, possibly room 119 as that's where the blast was heard. Luckily the girl who was supposed to be in that room was with her friend down the hall so we currently have no casualties here,” Garcia explained.

“Thank god,” JJ exclaimed, placing her hand over her eyes.

“In the last 10 years, 6 different women have all had that room,” Garcia said as she narrowed down her search. “Okay, here we go this is the juicy stuff!”

“What is it?” Hotch asked.

“From 2000 to 2002 Maggie Burton was working on a science degree at UCLA. She was working part-time, both years, as the main Chemistry professor's teaching assistant, she was depositing money from him bi-weekly to Liberty Bank.”

“Okay, who was the professor?” Spencer asked.

“Michael Thompson, 56, but that would be too simple now wouldn’t it?” Penelope teased. “Thompson is gay and has been in a domestic partnership since 1998, his Partner Adam Pearson, however, is bisexual according to the sugar daddy website he’s on,” she explained further. “Whether Maggie knows it or not, she had been getting paid to be Thompson's TA, as well as his boyfriend sugar baby.”

“So our unsub is Michael Thompson?” Hotch confirmed.

“By the looks of it, yes. Maggie stopped being a TA when she graduated and now she works with a cosmetics developer downtown. Every week she deposits 500 cash to the ATM, which is the exact amount of cash Adam has been withdrawing for the last 7 years,” she kept explaining, they could hear her keyboard clicking as she kept digging. “Look’s like Adam is filing to remove the domestic partnership and he bought a ring last week.”

“There’s the trigger,” Spencer confirmed. “Do we have a home and work address as well as where the next bomb would be?”

“Adam checked into a Hilton hotel downtown, suite 613 which he has been booking once a month for the last 7 years,” Garcia confirmed. “Sending the locations now.”

“I need a bomb squad sent to the Hilton hotel, evacuations should be done floor by floor saving floor 6 for last, I need agents on floor 6 to evacuate all rooms, except for 613, quietly without making a scene.”

“Sir, suit 612 was booked only for tonight by Michael Thompson, using cash,” Garcia cut him off.

“All rooms but 612 and 613 are to be evacuated, I need a direct line on the scene to room 612 when we arrive,” Hotch ordered as they all hurried towards the elevator.

—

On the scene, Reid, Y/L/N and JJ were sent up with the bomb squad to floor 6. Red lights in the stairwell were flashing to alert that there was an evacuation taking place, but the building was silent.

There were 14 rooms on floor 6, 4 of them being rented that night. Rooms 601 and 608 were the only two they had to focus on to evacuate.

JJ quietly knocked on room 601, “Hi sir,” she whispered. “My name is Jennifer, I’m with the FBI. We need to quietly evacuate this floor, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing your necessities and any other guests in the room, an officer will escort you down the stairs. In the parking lot across the street, there are people issuing refunds and information about relocations for the night.”

The man nodded, he quickly grabbed his things and followed an officer down the hall.

Y/N knocked on 608 next, a young woman answered. “Hi, my name is Y/N, I’m with the FBI. We need to quietly evacuate this floor-“

“I have 2 kids with me,” she whispered.

“Okay, are they awake?” JJ asked.

“My daughter, she’s 2, she’s out cold. My son is watching TV, oh my god my husband isn’t here,” she quietly panicked.

“Ma’am it’s fine, we have officers here to assist you down the stairs and across the street, there are relocation preparations being made. If you don’t mind, I can help you carry your daughter down the stairs?” Spencer said softly.

“Yes, absolutely.” She said, running into the room to gather all her things.

Spencer lifted the little girl up softly, not waking her at all in the process. He held her against his chest softly while the mother grabbed their necessities and her 6-year-old son before followed Spencer down the stairs.

JJ and Y/N stood in the stairwell, Y/N picked up her radio and called down to Hotch. “All civilians on the 6th floor have been evacuated.”

“Any movement in 612?”

“Yes sir,” one of the bomb squad members said. “With our tech, we can see 2 bodies in 613 and 1 in 612, all alive.”

“Any idea how many bombs were talking about?” Hotch asked.

“Not yet, we need a clear look inside the room. Snipers on the building across the street say the blinds are closed,” he explained.

“Hotch, have you gotten in contact with him at all?” JJ asked.

“No, he won't pick up,” hotch confirmed.

“Would you like one of us to knock?” Y/N asked.

“Not yet, I want you both to come down. If we’re knocking on his door we need to have a full plan in place,” Hotch ordered.

“Over,” Y/N said. Following JJ back down the 6 flights of stairs.

Down at the base of operations, Spencer was still holding onto the 2-year-old as the mother called her husband. He shushed her and held her close with a blanket over her back as she slept.

“Hotch,” JJ got his attention. “I noticed each room has vents on the connected walls, is there any way to get into 611 and snake in a camera to see what we’re dealing with?”

“That was my next suggestion,” a SWAT office said as he shook her hand. “We’re prepping the equipment now.”

“Can we also spray a sleeping agent through the vents? If we knock out the unsub we can just drag him out and see what’s going on?” Y/N suggested.

“Yeah that would work,” the SWAT officer said, “we have a sleeping agent in a compressed gas form that we can spray through the vents.”

“Okay, just in 612,” Hotch confirmed. Y/N I want you and Morgan up there to assist in making sure Maggie and Adam are evacuated safely while the bomb squad looks at what we have going on.”

“On it,” she and Morgan said at the same time.

One of the SWAT officers pulled them aside, handing them protective gear for the gas that will erupt into the hallway. She waved to Spencer in the lot as she headed across the street with the SWAT team. They ran up the stairs, it was exhausting but Y/N pushed through, up the six flights. They quietly unlocked room 611 and filled the room with officers.

First, they snaked a small camera through the vent, the image showing on the screen right away, “you seeing this Hotch?” Morgan asked over the radio.

“Crystal.”

“It’s a wall of C4,” one of the Bomb Squad officers quietly confirmed. “Fairly simple to dismantle, it looks like it’s a manual switch. Wait till he crosses the room, and then spray the gas. We need officers to be in the room as it’s sprayed. He needs to hit the floor nowhere close to the detonator.”

Morgan quietly opened the door and assembled the team in the hall, making movements with his hands as he instructed the men. The door kicker was in place, the officers were ready to file in.

The swat agent deployed the gas, they watched on the monitor as the unsub turned to look at the hissing sound, inspecting it before hitting the ground.

“NOW!” Morgan yelled. The door was knocked in and the unsub was in handcuffs.

Y/N ran to 613, knocking on the door as hard as she could. “FBI OPEN UP!” She yelled.

A half-naked man opened the door, “what?” He yelled.

“We need to evacuate the building right now, cover-up and follow me.” She ordered as the two victims covered themselves and followed her down the stairs.

Halfway down, she got a call over the radio. “Bomb has been defused, all clear on floor 6.”

“Bomb?” The man questioned.

“Yes sir,” Y/N confirmed. “your partner, and your science teacher, Michael Thompson, has been bombing places around the city that you two have been to, and was planning to blow you up tonight.”

“What the fuck?” Maggie asked.

“He’s under arrest, you’ll have your chance to ask him questions in court,” Y/N confirmed as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

She held the door for them and watched as they were whisked away by EMTs. She waited for another set for the unsub before turning around and running all the way back up the 6 flights to Morgan.

Morgan was standing over the cuffed, unconscious, unsub in the hallway. “Good job pretty girl!” Morgan high-fived her.

“Thanks,” she smiled, “let's get this bastard down into the ambulance. The elevators should go back up in a minute.”

“What? No more stairs?” Morgan teased.

“I might not be able to feel my legs tomorrow, I’ve been up and down those too many times tonight!” She smacked him.

“Sure that’s why,” he laughed as they waited for the elevator.

—

Spencer and Y/N packed up that night and took a short trip back to Los Vegas. By the time they arrived back on her parent's doorstep it was 5:32 am. 12 hours since they were last there.

She sighed at the front door and called her parent's home phone. “Hello?” Her father's sleep-ridden voice answered.

“Hey dad, it’s Y/N can you come open the front door for me? Please.” She asked nicely.

“Yep.” He hung up.

She watched the hall light come on from the front door. Waiting for him to slowly make his way down the stairs to the front hallway. He unlocked the door and welcomed them in.

“Your mom cleaned off your bed in case this happened,” he whispered, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”

“5:30, go back up to bed, we’ll lock back up, thank you,” she hugged him and sent him on his way.

She sighed and sunk down to sit on the bottom step. She tugged her boots off and left them in the hallway. Spencer picked them up and moved them to be in order with the rest of the shoes. He locked her parent's front door and turned off the entryway light.

“You need water or anything before bed?” Y/N asked.

“No, come on,” he took her hand and walked with up the stairs to her bedroom.

She closed the door behind him, peeling out of her clothes and climbing into bed first. She got under the covers and moved the pillows around to make sure they were how she liked them.

Spencer crawled in beside her, wearing just his socks and underwear. He laid flat on his back while she cuddled into his side. He kissed the top of her head and let out a deep breath as he settled into relaxation finally.

“I love you,” she reminded him.

“I love you, more.”

[arvinsescape]

Free

A/N: I finally got my new laptop and was able to write again so I wrote an idea that’s been in my head for a while, it’s loosely inspired by Luther, a series that I’ve re watched recently, I hope you all enjoy.

Summary: Tom just knows you had something to do with your husbands murder. His problem? He can’t prove it.

Warnings: Swearing. Smut, unprotected sex (wrap it up, condoms are a barrier from many things), oral (Fem receiving), mentions of murder, talks of an abusive relationship. (Minors do not engage). I think that’s all.

This is purely a work of fiction. I accept constructive criticism. 

W/C: 3.6K

You were driving Tom insane, he knew, in his gut, he was so sure that you had something to do with your husband’s disappearance. The case had landed itself on his desk when missing persons had deemed it a murder case, even without a body. Could he find the hard evidence that linked you to the murder? No. Was he sure it was you? A thousand per cent. Your case had been dropped months ago but he couldn’t get it or you out of his head.

“Tell me what happened?” Tom asked as he sat opposite you for the first time.

“I’ve already answered all of these questions.” You replied, Tom could tell you were nervous, you had a hard expression, but he saw straight through it.

“I don’t believe some of the answers that you gave.” He said as interlocked his hands on the desk, leaning slightly closer to you.

“I’m not really bothered what you believe, it’s what happened.” You fired back.

“People don’t just disappear.”

“Sure, they do. That’s what missing person’s is for, right?” You said as you cocked an eyebrow at him and he almost smiled, slightly enamored by the way you were handling his questioning. He’d gained a reputation for getting people to crack, but you? You seemed unfazed by his line of questioning.

Ultimately Tom had had to let you go because he couldn’t find the evidence, he needed to convict you. It drove him mad, it had him stumped for months just trying to figure out how you’d done it. How you’d evaded his thorough analysis of your property and workplace. You were smart, that was glaringly obvious to him, every time he thought he’d found something, he came up short.

A week ago, he’d found himself with a similar case on his desk, only this time the body was found. Again, there wasn’t much evidence but there were so many similarities between your case and this one. He found himself up for hours cross referencing your case file and this one, although the woman they suspected this time wasn’t as intelligent as you were, she’d lied about her alibi. Unlike you she’d said she was with a friend who denied it. You on the other hand had said you were at home all day and he couldn’t confirm that as truth and so this evidence became inadmissible in court.

He’d found himself on your doorstep, almost wanting to beg for your help, it was strange, he’d never felt like he needed anyone else’s help before yet here he was outside your door.

“Detective Holland. A man I thought I’d never seen again.” You said once you opened your door. He couldn’t help but note how beautiful you looked, he shook the thought away as he showed his badge and entered your home.

“Mrs. Leigh, I need your help.” He said in a matter-of-fact manner, he noted the small smile that had appeared on your lips and fought his own back, yours was so contagious.

“It’s Miss L/N now.” You politely corrected him.

“My apologies.”

“What could you possibly need my help with?”

“A case I’m trying to solve.”

“Forgive me but I’m not sure how I could be of help to you.” You said with furrowed brows.

“I think you could.”

He talked you through the case and his theories, all the holes in stories and suspicious behavior and you just drank it all in, nodding in certain places but ultimately you kept quiet. It wasn’t until e was done that you spoke.

“I mean, and this is all hypothetical, you’d hide the weapon in plain sight.” You answered as you made your way over to your fridge.

“That would be stupid though.” Tom said confidently, there was no way he’d missed something that was in plain sight. He watched as you pulled the bottle of wine from the fridge with a sigh. What had urged you to help him was beyond you, but a part of you knew that your case still haunted him, and you somehow felt guilty for it.

“People like you will always overlook stupid.” You said with a confidence he couldn’t quite place.

“So, you’re saying if someone wanted to hide evidence, they’d do it in plain sight because we’d overlook it?” Tom was bewildered, there was no way that this could be true, he’d spent hours going over the case files, there’s no way he missed such major evidence such as the murder weapon. He watched as you nodded mindlessly before digging through the drawer for a bottle opener.

“The autopsy report indicates a stab wound to the neck.” He continued. “They bled out. I’ve searched that house and I couldn’t find a single knife small enough to fit that wound.” He spoke. He knew the evidence for this case was in the house, the timing of everything would not have given the perpetrator any time to hide evidence away from the house.

He watched as you took the cork out of the bottle, once you’d removed the cork you placed the bottle opener on the counter, the tiny blade used for taking the paper lining off the bottle top was shining at him, almost mocking him.

“I could think of a few.” You hummed as you filled a wine glass. Tom was filled with excitement as he realized you were right, the small knife was easily concealed within the opener, he had overlooked it, not thought for a second that such a small knife was in the most basic household item.

“All I need to do is tie the murder weapon to her and case closed.” He beamed and you smiled, genuinely smiled for the first time since Tom had met you and he couldn’t help but return it, he really was enamored with you.

“Case closed.” You smiled as you sipped from your wine glass.

You had started to infect the young detective’s thoughts in a different way. He used to obsess over how you’d done it and now he was more obsessed as to why. He couldn’t understand how a woman like you, who was so quiet, kind and charismatic could have harmed another person. He started to wonder if he was wrong, if you’d had anything to do with it at all but his gut told him you did.

All the evidence for his current case came together and the victim’s wife had gone to prison for his murder, pleading guilty. She’d killed him because she wanted his money. He thought back to your case, your husband had had a lot of money, but he couldn’t see that being your motive, he couldn’t think of anything that would motivate you to murder someone. Over the time it took him to gather the evidence, he’d sought out your help more than once and he’d become enchanted by you, he found you intriguing, he wanted to get to know you better.

He wondered if that was what had brought him to your doorstep yet again. He should have been out celebrating the win, but he found himself outside your door. He knocked and wondered if you’d answer, it was late, he noted but he found himself hoping you’d open your door for him. When he heard the lock click his heart raced with excitement, he hoped you’d have that lovely smile on your face that you always had.

“Detective.” You smiled and he laughed.

“Tom.” He corrected and you smiled wider at him.

“What brings you to my doorstep Tom?”

“I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“I’m not sure I’d have found that evidence had it not been for our chat, so thank you.”

“Well, you’re welcome. Did you want to come in? I’ve just opened a bottle of red.” You asked with that oh so contagious smile.

“How could I refuse?” He said as he made his way passed you and into the living room that he’d become so familiar with.

A bottle of red wine shared between the two later had them both feeling slightly tipsy. Tom knew he should probably make a move, but he didn’t want to, not unless you wanted him to. He found he very much enjoyed your company and wanted to stay in it as long as possible.

“Thank you for helping me finish the wine.” You smiled.

“Favor returned?” He smirked and you laughed.

“Sure. I suppose I won’t see you now.” You thought aloud.

“I suppose not.” He said, you’d moved closer to each other now, faces inches apart. “Unless you want to help me solve more cases.” He continued.

“I don’t think you’ll need my help again.” You said quietly, eyes flicking from each other’s eyes to each other’s lips.

“You never know.” He answered as quietly as you had. Tom licked his lips in anticipation, he probably shouldn’t be entertaining the idea of kissing you, but he couldn’t help it. You hummed in response as your noses brushed one an other’s. He couldn’t stop himself as he closed the small distance between you.

Your lips met in a desperate kiss, his hands finding your hair as you fisted his shirt in a desperate attempt to pull him closer to you. His mind felt blank as he became completely consumed by thoughts of you and what he wanted to do to you. He’d found you attractive the second he’d brought you in for questioning all those months ago but the more he’d gotten to know you the more he found you attractive. The rational part of his brain that was telling him this might be dangerous shut off as bit your bottom lip and you moaned slightly.

Your lips disconnected as you both needed air, both as breathless as each other. You looked at him and the look in your eyes drove him wild, your beautiful eyes were looking back at him completely list blown. He reconnected your lips as you straddled him, his hands finding your waist, lifting your shirt slightly to feel your skin.

“Bedroom?” He asked through a breath as your lips briefly disconnected.

“Upstairs, third door on the right.” You said quickly before reconnecting your lips, the kiss was hot and heavy as Tom stood, carrying you effortlessly to your bedroom, not breaking the kiss for a second. As soon as he found himself in your room, you both fell onto the bed, Tom’s back hitting the mattress. He almost moaned as you rocked your hips into his, the friction causing him to stiffen even more than he thought possible.

“You’re so fucking hot.” He said as he sat up, his lips connecting with your neck. You rolled your head back to give him more access and he took the opportunity to trail kisses down your throat, listening to the small gasps you were exhaling. He was more aroused than he’d ever been in his life, he felt completely drunk off you.

“Tom, I really want you to fuck me.” You spoke and Tom groaned at the filthy words that left your mouth, he wasn’t expecting it.

“Wanna taste you first.” He spoke as he flipped you both over, your back easily hitting the mattress as your lips reconnected. He trailed kisses down your neck as his hands went to the hem of your shirt, pulling it from you effortlessly. He unclipped your bra and threw both your shirt and bra onto the floor. Kissing down your chest as he took a nipple into his mouth, slightly grazing it with his teeth before licking and sucking at it.

Your moans grew louder, and Tom found himself entranced by the sounds you were making, he doesn’t recall ever being with anyone who sounded as pretty as you did. He continued his attention on your nipples, switching from one to the other.

“Tom, please.” You begged and he smirked against your skin.

“What?” He asked as he made eye contact with you, his fingers moving to roll your nipple.

“I need you to move lower.” You moaned.

“Whatever you want baby.” He spoke as he placed a final kiss to your breast before moving down your body.  

He quickly removed your shorts and groaned when he realized you didn’t have underwear on. He looked at your glistening heat and almost moaned at how wet you were for him.

“So wet, look at this.” He said as he ran a finger through your folds. “I’ve barely touched you and your soaked.” He smirked as you rolled your head back into the pillow.

“Please.” You begged as he let out a breath over your heat, watched as you jolted slightly from the sensation. “Tom.” You moaned as he ran his tongue through your heat.

“You taste fucking amazing.” He said before practically diving in, sucking your clit as he listened to your moans. He continued to lick and suck at your clit as he heard your moans grow louder, you must have been close he thought to himself as he sucked your clit and listened to the high-pitched moan you released.

He felt as your hand moved to his hair, almost keeping him still as he continued to lick and suck at your clit, your hips bucking up to meet his movements and e found it so incredibly hot, the way you’d started to use his face to almost get yourself off was driving him wild.

You let out a moan of his name as your orgasm crashed through you, Tom felt your legs shake and helped you through your intense orgasm, feeling proud of himself for not disappointing you. Once you’d come down from your high, he pulled away, moving back up your body, your legs continuing to shake through your aftershocks.

“So perfect.” He mumbled as he gave you a quick kiss, taking in the blissful expression on your face. “Did so well for me. Fucking hot.” He said again as you removed his shirt, placing a kiss onto his chest. You continued pressing kisses to his chest as he fumbled with his belt, almost getting frustrated as it got caught.

“Here.” you said as your hands took over, taking his belt into your own hands, undoing it almost like it was second nature to you. He found it all the more of a turn on. You made short work of his pants; they found their place with the rest of the clothes on the floor of your bedroom.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” He asked.

“Yes. I want you to fuck me Tom.”

It was all the confirmation he needed as he slipped into you, both of you moaning at the contact. Fuck, you felt good, almost perfect for him. You were both a moaning mess as he thrusted into you over and over again. His hand gripping your thigh to hoist it higher around his waist. You almost screamed as he found your g spot from his new angle, your nails clawing at his back which only made him thrust into you harder.

“Fuck, that feels good, you feel so fucking amazing.” He said as he felt you clench around him. He shifted your leg higher to get an even better angle on your g spot as he continuously pounded into you, listening to your moans of his name. he felt his own orgasm approach as you tightened around him, he knew you were close, and he watched in awe as you reached your own hand to your clit and started to rub it.

“That’s it baby.” He said and after a few more thrusts he felt you come around him which brought on his own orgasm, he removed himself from your tight heat and released his load all over your stomach with a moan of your name.

It took you both a good few minutes to recover, he was collapsed on top of you as you ran your fingers through his hair. He kissed your shoulder every few minutes and found himself more happy and content than he’d been in a long time. He removed himself from the top of you and went into the bathroom to find a warm cloth to wash the two of you off.

Once you were both cleaned up he laid in your bed with your head on hi chest as you slept soundly, and he ran his hands through your hair. He was deep in thought as he thought about your case and what had happened and now he was dying to know what had driven you to commit such an act. He was so sure in his gut you’d done it but having you here in the state you were he wondered how you could harm an insect, let alone another person.

“I wish you’d tell me what happened. Just be honest, everything’s different now. I’d want you to confide in me as your partner not see me as a detective who’s looking to lock you away. Fuck Princess, I think I’d move the Earth if you asked me to.” He whispered and he meant it, he didn’t want this time with you to end, he was so infatuated with you by this point. He fell asleep after a while, thoughts of you completely on his mind.

**

“I need to know how you did it.” He spoke after a while of you both being awake, you were spooning now as his hand rubbed your bare skin, he pressed a kiss to your bare shoulder.

“You’ve read the file.” You spoke.

“That says you didn’t do it, but I know you did Princess.”

“My case is closed, why don’t you leave it at that?”

“I can’t. I’m obsessing over it.”

“I’ve already told you.” You said after a while and Tom furrowed his brows as he turned you onto your back so he could look at you.

“No. You haven’t.” He spoke carefully, maybe he’d missed something, a confession maybe.

“For a Detective Inspector, you can be pretty stupid.” You laughed and he thought on your words for a second. Thought about how much help you’d been and what you’d said, of course you knew how this woman had done it, it was how you’d done it. The only difference was that you’d managed to dispose of the body.

“So, you did do it?” He said quietly, a small part of him was proud he was right, his gut was never wrong, but the bigger part of him wondered why.

“You just need to prove it.” You said as a tear made its way down your cheek. Of all the things Tom expected, this wasn’t one of them, he wasn’t expecting you to cry.

“Hey,” he said as he swiped the tear away with his thumb. “Tell me what happened.” He urged in the most comforting manner he could, he needed you to know you could trust him with this.

“Have you ever felt trapped? That’s how he made me feel, like I had no way out. I tried to leave him so many times, but he wouldn’t let me, he had me by the throat and it felt like he was squeezing the life out of me.” You said through your tears and Tom’s heart dropped, this wasn’t a usual case where the wife murders the husband for a payout. “He wasn’t the nice rich guy everyone thought he was, he hit me, took all his anger out on me but I could never prove it, if I had bruises I wasn’t allowed to leave the house until they weren’t visible, which wasn’t often. I snapped.” You spoke and he pulled you into a hug.

“Y/N…” He said and you interrupted him.

“But it never matters to people like you. You don’t give leeway for the small amount of people who had no other choice. That’s why I never came clean, never admitted to what I’d done, I didn’t want him to trap me any more than he had, I didn’t want to go to prison because of him.” You said as you finally let the tears out that you’d kept in for so many months.

You hadn’t intended to kill him; it was an accident. You cried for ten minutes as Tom held you, placing comforting kisses to your temple. Something about finally telling the truth was freeing, you knew he could and would probably arrest you for this, but it felt good to finally tell someone the truth that was eating away at you.

“I’m not going to do anything.” Tom spoke after a while.

“What?” You asked through sniffles as your tears ceased.

“I understand now. You’ve been punished enough. Your secret is safe with me.” He said sincerely and you believed him, but you didn’t want to drag him down with you.

“You could lose your job, go to prison if anyone found out.” You said and he kissed your cheek.

“They won’t, your case has become a cold one. There’s still no body, I doubt they’ll reopen the case.” He said through a small smile. He didn’t want to ask what you’d done with the body, he assumed you were clever enough to make sure it was never found and if it was he would make sure none of the evidence led to you, he would make sure that all the evidence ran dry, he felt like he would do anything for you.

“So, I’m free?” You spoke, hope lacing every word.

“You’re free baby.”

[missmcspooks]

UNSOLVED But Not Forgotten: The Keddie Cabin Murders

On the night of April 11th, 1981, a grisly quadruple homicide took place in Keddie, California. To this very day the case remains unsolved with new leads popping up randomly over the many years. There’s also a horror movie that you might be familiar with already that was inspired by the Keddie Cabin murders, “The Strangers: Prey At Night.” The film, made in 2018, is about a family who goes on vacation and stay at a mobile home resort, where three masked strangers come in and terrorize them. There’s also another movie that I haven’t seen yet that’s based on this case called, “Cabin 28.”

A BRIEF BACKGROUND

Glenna Sue Sharp, born in March 1945, and 36 at the time of the murders, was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts. There she met her husband, James Sharp, and together moved to Connecticut where they had five children. After a while her husband James became extremely abusive, which caused Susan to separate from her husband and fled her home with the children. The Sharp family ended up relocating to northern California where her brother lived, and rented out a home in rural Sierra Nevada Resort Town of Keddie. Her children, John, 15, Sheila, 14, Tina, 12, Rick, 12, and Greg, 5, were friends with the children of their nearby neighbors. On the night of April 11th, 1981, Susan was home with John, Tina, Rick and Greg, along with John’s friend Dana Hall Wingate, 17, and one of Rick’s friends, a young boy named Justin Smartt. Sheila was sleeping at a friend's house down the block. 

DISCOVERING THE MURDER SCENE

The next morning on April 12th, Sheila returned home and found her mother's body, along with the bodies of her older brother John and his friend Dana in the living room. The bodies were bound with electrical cords and medical tape. Susan was found lying on her side near the sofa, completely nude from the waist down, and was gagged with a bandana and her underwear, which was taped on with the medical tape. She had been stabbed in her chest and her throat, the wound going through her larynx and nicked her spine. There was also an imprint matching the butt of a Daisy 880 Powerline BB/Pellet Rifle on the side of her head. John had his throat slashed, while Dana was manually strangled with multiple head injuries. Autopsy showed that John and Dana suffered blunt force trauma to their heads, caused by a hammer or multiple hammers. Two bloodied knives and a hammer were found at the scene, and a steak knife that was later determined to also been used in the murders was bent 30 degree’s. Blood splatter patterns in the house indicated that the murders took place only in the living room. The three boys were found upstairs and unharmed, but Tina was missing completely from the home. After Sheila found the bodies, she ran back to her friend's home, the Seabolt family, where Jamie Seabolt got the three boys outside of their bedroom window to prevent them from seeing the bodies. He also admitted that he went through the backdoor to see if anyone was still alive, which could’ve possibly contaminated the scene. 

INVESTIGATION

It was originally stated that the boys had slept through the entire thing while upstairs in their bedroom, but this was later contradicted. When Justin was interviewed he gave multiple conflicting stories. One story was that he had dreamed details of the murders, but he later claimed that he actually witnessed them. When he was questioned under hypnosis, he said that he woke up to sounds coming from the living room, while Rick and Greg were still asleep. He decided to investigate the sounds, and peaked down from the stairs when he saw Susan with two men. One of the men had long hair, no facial hair, and wore glasses. The other man had a mustache, short hair, and also wore glasses. He explained that John and Dana walked in the front door, and started arguing with the men, which then broke out into a fight. He then witnessed Tina come into the living room, and was taken outside the back door by one of the men. He then went back upstairs and remained quiet due to being frightened. 

Justin explained the description of the two men to get a composite sketch. However, the sketch was made by a man who had no artistic background and no training in forensic sketching. It’s unknown why law enforcement decided to use an untrained volunteer to draw the sketch, when they had access to multiple top forensic artists in the FBI. The suspects descriptions stated that the two men were in their late 20’s to early 30’s, one man being between 5’11 and 6’2, with dark blonde hair. The other man stood between 5’6 and 5’10, with black greased hair. Both men wore sunglasses with a gold frame. 

Rumors flew around a lot during the investigation. One rumor being that the murders were either motivated by a ritual, or had to do with drug trafficking. A family acquaintance, Carla McMullen told police that Dana had stolen an unknown amount of LSD, but had no proof to back up her claims. Drug trafficking was later ruled out due to not finding any drugs anywhere in the house.  

The two main suspects were Justin Smartt’s father, Martin Smarrt, and his guest, John “Bo” Boudebe, who was an ex-convict. Both of these men were seen acting strangely in a bar the night prior to the murders, and Martin also told police that he had a hammer that looked the same as the one found at the murder scene, and that his hammer had “gone missing.” Despite all of this, neither of these men were arrested or charged, as they didn’t have enough hard evidence to make an arrest. Police also ruled out two other men who were serial killers, Henry Lee Lucas, and Ottis Toole. 

Tina was treated as an abduction case and was considered a missing person up until April of 1984, three years after the murder took place, when her skull and other bones were discovered. Her remains were found by a random man in Camp Eighteen, near Feather Falls in Butte County, which was around 100 miles from Keddie. Right after the announcement went out that bones have been discovered, an anonymous call came in stating that the bones were Tina Sharps. This call was not documented in the case, and a recording of it was later found inside an evidence box after 2013. A forensic pathologist confirmed that the bones did belong to Tina Sharp, which now ruled this case as a quadruple homicide. A blue nylon jacket, an empty medical tape dispenser, a pair of jeans with a missing back pocket, and a blanket were also found near the bones. 

FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT WAS IGNORED

A hammer believed to be one of the weapons used in the murder was found in a nearby pond in 2016. It also was stated later that Marilyn Smartt suspected that her husband, Martin Smartt, and his ex convict friend were the murderers in the Keddie case. She left her husband and took their son, Justin, with her the day after the murders. She also provided the police with a handwritten letter that Martin had sent to her after she left. The letter read:

“I paid the price of your love & now that I bought it with four peoples lives, you tell me we are through. Great! What else do you want?” 

This letter was not treated as a confession, and it was completely overlooked. Marylin also told police that Martin “hated Johnny Sharp with a passion.” She also told police that she woke up around 2am on the night of the murders and found both men burning an unknown item in the wood stove. Martin was also polygrapped, and he passed his test. However, polygraph tests are not 100% accurate and can’t be used in court. It was also alleged by a counselor that Martin saw regularly, that he confessed to killing both Sue and Tina, but claimed to have nothing to do with the other murders. He said, allegedly, that Tina was killed to keep her from identifying him, as she saw the whole thing happen. When this was brought up to the police, it was disregarded and was determined as “hearsay.” It was also stated that Martin was very close with the Sheriff that Marylin had given the letter to, and it’s speculated that Sheriff Dough Thomas was helping cover up the crimes. 

A LOVE TRIANGLE GONE WRONG? POSSIBLE DRUG TRADE?

These are the two most widely accepted theories about the Keddie Cabin murders that took place in Cabin #28. It’s theorized that Susan Sharp and Martin Smartt were having an affair, and Susan was trying to convince Marylin Smartt to leave her husband, as Marylin claimed he was acting very abusive towards her. It’s speculated that Martin caught wind of this and got his convicted friend who was experienced in organized crime to help him take out Susan, and the others were just collateral damage. This theory is heavily supported due to the letter that Martin had written to his wife, stating he took four lives for her and now she left him. It also makes sense as to why his son, Justin Smartt and the two boys upstairs were unharmed. 

The next theory about drugs is supported due to Martin being a known drug dealer, and his accomplice, John “Bo,” being involved in organized crime, was theorized to be helping him with the financial parts of Martin’s drug distribution. This theory is also supported as it explains why two allegedly corrupted organized crime specialists were sent in to investigate the crime scene, instead of homicide specialists. It also explains why the two most probably suspects of the murder were overlooked without a smudge of questioning. 

Martin Smartt died of cancer in June 2000, in Oregon, along with John “Bo” who also died there in 1988. As of 2018, new DNA evidence has been found on known living suspects, and other evidence has been found shedding more light on this case. Today, no known arrests have been made, and the case is still considered unsolved. Investigators believe more than two people were involved in this case, and a handful of them are most likely still alive today.

[anothermansjeans]

Feels So Good

pairing: spencer x f!reader

summary: when a case in North Carolina comes up, the team meets detective y/n y/l/n. not only is she good at her job, but she gets under spencer’s skin

warnings: normal cm stuff

word count: 5.7k

inspiration: Carolina by Harry Styles

a/n: hi! this was a request from @openheart12 to do #11 “she’s got a family in carolina” from my Harry Styles prompt list. this is by far my longest cm fic and idk why i’m super nervous about it? it’s an enemies to lovers type fic, but very light because i suck at writing tension, but i hope you enjoy!

- also thank you krista for pre-reading your own request dnfndm

——————————————————————————

“Okay, my fine furry friends, we got a case in Greensboro, North Carolina!” Garcia enters the round table where each member of the team was seated, looking over the files that had been placed at each seat.

“Greensboro,” JJ questioned, “I didn’t see any case files pertaining to them.”

Penelope gave an apologetic smile as she turned on the television that showed crime scene photos. “Yeah, about that … there were already two dead bodies found, Missy Hanover and Alice Trace, and a friend of mine actually has a sister, Stacy Martin, who was found behind a shopping center and stabbed up to twenty times— which is consistent with the other two bodies that were found — and asked me to look into it because she knows they’re related.”

Spencer continues to look at the file, seeing the victim’s autopsy photos as well. “It seems that the victimology is consistent when it comes to physical aspects.”

Hotch quickly cuts in, head snapping to Penelope, “that’s great and all, but we need to be invited by the locals, you know that, Garcia.”

“I know, sir, and after talking to Chief Dolly— who is the head of the Greensboro PD, I might add — he said he would be delighted to have our help.”

“And there are already three victims,” Morgan asked, flipping through the file.

“Yes, all of which you would classify as low risk.”

Hotch took a moment to think about it before closing the file and standing up. “Okay, get your go-bags ready. Wheels up in thirty.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Spencer saw Penelope relax as she turned off the screen. He quickly skimmed over the file one more time, and not wanting to be late to the tarmac, he scurried out of the room, getting ready for the trip to North Carolina.

———

Walking into a small busy police station wasn’t uncommon for Spencer, far from it actually. What was uncommon though, was getting weird looks from a woman across the room.

He noticed her as soon as they walked in. She wasn’t in a uniform, so most likely a detective, and Spencer honestly found her gorgeous.

But, all good things must come to an end, because once she walked over to them, she had a mean but curious gleam in her eye, and the small fondness Spencer had for her evaporated.

“Can I help you?”

Spencer quickly realized the look in her eye wasn’t the only mean part about her. The tone in which she asked her question was rather sharp, but he could see recognition strike in her eyes, mostly putting the pieces together and figuring out they were the FBI.

“Yes, I’m SSA Aaron Hotchner,” he stepped forward and shook her hand before gesturing to everyone else, “and this is Agents Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, and Dr. Reid.”

Everyone shook her hand, except for Reid. He wanted to give his classic “it’s safer to kiss” line, but even he knew that she was probably the last person who wanted to hear about it.

“Well that’s nice, but why are you here?”

Hotch cleared his throat and looked over towards the chief’s office. “We were invited by Chief Richard Dolly to help assist in the recent homicides.”

She took a sharp breath in before plastering on an obviously fake smile, “Of course. Right this way.”

“Actually,” Hotch stopped for a second, turning to everyone on his team. “Morgan, I want you and Prentiss going to the latest crime scene. JJ and Rossi, could you interview the families and try to get victimology down? Reid, you’re with me.”

Everyone nodded and dispersed, leaving Hotch and Spencer following the very annoyed detective over to the chief’s office.

Making their way to the door, she knocked before entering, “You called the FBI?”

The older man looked with a small smile, standing up to shake their hands. “Agent Hotchner, it’s a pleasure. I’m happy you’re here to help with the serial killings.”

“Thank you for allowing our help. I know you hadn’t originally called us.”

“Excuse me?” The look in the woman’s eye was almost deadly.

The older officer sighed and gave an apologetic look. “Agent Hotchner, this is Y/N Y/L/N, the lead detective on the case.”

“Uh, yeah. Lead detective. Lead as in ‘leader’ as in ‘in control’.” Y/N was clearly upset with them being there, and it was obvious that she was blindsided.

“Yes, but we weren’t getting anywhere on our own.”

“Richard, really?”

“I’m sorry Y/L/N, but we need help on this case and you know it.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, clearly not pleased. “I already had a preliminary profile going.”

That made Spencer perk up. Yeah, her attitude since they’ve been there hadn’t been the best, but the fact that she was able to put together a profile intrigued him.

“Well now you have the BAU here to help deepen that profile,” Chief Dolly said, cutting Spencer’s thoughts short.

Rolling her eyes, Y/N walked out of his office, heading to her desk. Spencer’s eyes followed her, but snapped over when Hotch got his attention.

“Reid, go over Detective Y/L/N’s profile and see what she has so far. I’m going to go over logistics with Dolly.”

He gave Hotch a quick nod before making his way over to her desk. She had her leg crossed over the other, reading what seemed to be the profile she concocted.

“Can I help you,” she asked, not looking up from what she was reading.

“Uh, yeah. Do you mind if I take a look at your preliminary profile?”

He watched her roll her eyes for what seemed the tenth time in the short span he’s been in the small precinct. “Why, so you can tell me how wrong it is and how stupid I was for not calling you sooner?”

“I’m just here to do my job.”

That was his first snippy response. He didn’t necessarily mean for it to come out that way, but her constant dismissal thus far was making it harder for him to comply.

Y/N huffed in response, tossing the file on her desk, closer to Reid. He picked it up without looking at her, skimming through what she had down.

White male in his 20s - 30s. Most likely a local, and has a narcissistic attitude. Has a flexible job.

He was actually quite impressed by the fact she was able to get that much without outside help to begin with. Most detectives or officers wouldn’t be able to narrow the race or age, let alone traits like being a local or having narcissism.

He cleared his throat, putting the papers back on her desk and looking up. “It’s actually a good preliminary profile for no help.”

“Actually? What, a pretty face like me shouldn’t be able to get profiles right on her first time or something?”

Spencer’s eyes widened and he immediately started to backtrack, “No! It’s just, a lot of people we help don’t really understand how to start a profile.” He looked down for a second and mumbled again, “and a ‘pretty face’ like yours can definitely make profiles.”

Did he say that? Did he really just say that?

“Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor, but could you actually repeat that last statement? You just seem to mumble when you’re a bit flustered.”

Not only were his cheeks a dark shade of pink, but now his neck and ears wore the same color. “Wha- I- You-”. He tried to form any coherent sentence, but words had literally evaporated from his mind.

“You know, just because the preliminary profile I made was a little bland doesn’t mean I don’t have decent profiling skills in the flesh.” She got up and began to walk away from her desk with a smirk playing on her lips, but abruptly turned around a patted Spencer on the cheek, “oh, and pink really is a good color on you … brings out your eyes.”

He stood there, gaping like a fish at the interaction they just shared. He’s never had a conversation like that. Ever.

Less than five seconds later he realized he looked stupid standing there, staring at where Y/N had once been, and he briskly walked over to the conference room.

He noticed it had been set up for them and went over to the map, starting the geographical profile so that he could try to get some work done.

———

A couple hours had passed and Spencer sat there, in the small conference room looking over the dumping sites. Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi were now at the first dump sites while JJ had been talking to one of the victim's mothers. He wished he got sent out into the field instead. Being stuck here, in this tiny Greensboro precinct quickly became his own personal hell.

The tick tock sound of the clock was excruciating as he sat in silence.

Spencer really wanted this case to be over. He wanted to be home, just with his team, people he actually liked. He loved his job, he really did. And despite being the awkward introvert with germaphobia, he actually enjoyed meeting new people.

But Y/N. Oh, Y/N was different.

She not only dismissed them when they first got there, but there was something else about her that just got under his skin. Was it the aura of arrogance that seemed to follow everywhere she went? Or was it the way she would tell him that he’s only there to bring her down? Or maybe it was the snarky attitude and comments directed towards him and him only?

To be honest, he thought it was a mix of all three.

Not only were the remarks from earlier finally getting to the point where it pissed him off, but every now and then he’d see her look towards him, sending him weird looks. He wanted to say she was glaring at him, or giving him dirty looks, but that wasn’t the case. It was more of a look at screamed “this is unbelievable” or “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

He didn’t even realize he was staring at her until he saw Hotch tap on her shoulder and beckoned for her to follow him, and when she did, they both made their way over to where he was sitting in the conference room.

“There was another found at ‘Wet N Wild’ water park”, Hotch started, setting down a new file onto the table. “Garcia should have a positive I.D in a couple of minutes.”

“He’s getting bolder with the dump sites”, Y/N said, pressing her fingers to her temples.

“Well it wouldn’t have gotten so bad if someone’s ego wasn’t inflated.” Spencer thought he mumbled low enough so that she couldn’t hear, but her head snapped up as soon as he finished his sentence.

“Excuse me,” she seethed, “what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Logically, if our resources were here earlier then we’d most likely already have the unsub.”

“Okay, Dr. Reid,” she crossed her arms and took a step forward, “this is my jurisdiction and I make the call whether or not your ‘resources’ are needed.”

“In all honesty, you weren’t exactly going anywhere with the case. It’s good that Chief Dolly used his authority to allow us to help.”

“Reid”, Hotch cut in, but was interrupted by Y/N.

“Wow, so you do think you’re more qualified than me to catch criminals just because you’re some FBI profiler.”

“Considering what I’ve seen so far, I’d say—“

The shrill of the phone interrupted Spencer’s sentence, and when Hotch answered it, Penelope’s voice rang out.

“Hello, my beautiful crime fighters!”

“Gracia, what do you have for us?”

“Okay, so our latest victim is Mary Summers, twenty-five, works in retail, and oh, she’s got a family in Carolina”, Penelope chirps over the phone.

“Which Carolina?”

Spencer and Y/N looked at each other after they had both asked the same question. The tension between them was obvious, making it clear that even Penelope could feel it because of how quiet she had gotten.

“Um, sir … do I have to answer that”, she croaked.

Hotch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “unfortunately, yes.”

After another long moment of silence, she resented and softly spoke, “south…”

“Ha!”

Everyone in and out the conference room looked over at Spencer, Y/N glaring rather than just looking. He quickly looked to the ground, embarrassed by his sudden outburst, but not too embarrassed to go over to Hotch.

“So um, if I’m correct-- which statistically speaking, I usually am-- doesn’t that officially make it FBI jurisdiction?”

Slowly turning to Y/N, Hotch gave her an apologetic look, “this does make it our jurisdiction,” he paused for a moment and a small smile began to form on Spencer’s face, “but, we would still love your insight on the case. I think you’ve already been an asset and you’ve worked on it long enough to know more about it than any of us.”

Deadpan. That was now the look on Spencer’s face after he had heard the last part of Hotch’s sentence.

The corner of Y/N’s lips turned upwards in a motion that could be described as “mocking the Grinch”, and she quickly glanced over to the unamused doctor before turning her body towards Hotch. “Thank you for allowing me to help sir.”

“Great”, Hotch said, before putting his attention back over to Penelope. “Thank you, Garcia. Continue looking over security from outside the dump sites and we’ll call if we need anything else.”

“You got it, G-man!”

Hotch hung up, looking back at Spencer’s deflated posture. “How is the geographical profile going?”

Straightening up, he began to walk towards the map that laid on the table as he spoke, “I have where the bodies were located on the map, but I’m still trying to figure out the connection. Missy Hanover was found on Battleground Avenue, Alice Trace was found on Wendover Avenue, Stacy Martin was found right by Friendly Center, and our recent victim was found at ‘Wet N Wild’ water park.”

“Let me know when you’re done so we can finish up the profile.” Hotch went to turn on his heel and Spencer turned back to the map, but Y/N quickly spoke up before either of them could miss her.

“All of those places are super crowded.”

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows. It was obvious that those were crowded places, he knew that, so why was she pointing out the obvious?

“And when I say ‘super crowded’, I mean, like, actual hell”, she continued.

“So it’s obvious he wants them found”, Hotch adds on.

“Yeah, and they’re all places you’d see families at. I mean, ‘Wet N Wild’, Friendly Center, and Wendover especially.”

Spencer stared off into space for a moment, thinking back to the original profile, and it was as if something clicked in his mind, his head snapped up, causing Y/N and Hotch to look over at him. “He wants the kids to see.”

“Oh, God”, Y/N muttered.

“You think it could have something to do with his childhood?”

“Possibly,” Spencer began to talk, using his hands as he elaborated, “if he saw something as traumatic as a dead body when he was younger then he could possibly be killing anyone who looked like what he saw.”

“Alright,” Hotch started, taking out his phone, “Reid, gather the profile together while I call Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi, I’ll also go get JJ. Y/L/N, do you mind getting everyone to the bullpen so we can brief them?”

She gave him a nod before heading off, everyone going their separate ways.

———

Once the rest of the team made it back to the precinct, they went over last minute details of the profile before Hotch cleared his throat to get the officer’s attention.

“So to start our profile, we know that the unsub is a white male in his late twenties to early thirties. He is also most likely a resident in Greensboro, so you’re looking for a local face.”

“He also has a job where he can make the schedule,” Morgan added on, crossing his arms in front of his chest, ”mostly due to the fact that the bodies were dumped at night but also taken in the middle of the day. These jobs include contractors or independent business owners.”

Emily then bounces off of Morgan’s sentence. “We also know that this man is a narcissist. Not only because he does the abductions in the middle of the day, but also because he keeps doing that even though we’ve made our presence on the case known. He also continues to dump in very public places.”

Making his way over to the map that was now hanging on a bulletin board and pointing at it, Spencer continues after Emily. “The dump sites of the bodies as well as the victims themselves actually helped us identify why he’s doing what he is. The unsub is dumping in these popular, crowded areas because he knows that’s where children will be. He wants them to see the bodies.”

“And because these victims are so similar in type, we’ve come to the conclusion that the unsub is recreating a traumatic experience from his childhood for other children in Greensboro to see. These victims most likely represent a face he’s seen during that traumatic time”, Rossi said, piggybacking off of Reid.

“With his narcissistic attitude and sense of revenge in a way, he will most likely try to resist authority”, Spencer added on again, squinting his eyes. “Everyone should stay vigilant. He will be dangerous, with or without a weapon.”

Hotch quickly closed off the briefing, encouraging officers to go to them if they had any questions as the chief and Y/N walked up to them.

“Do y’all know what your next move is”, he asked, looking at the profilers.

“Well, we’re stuck until we get a new lead, so we’ll probably stay here and look over any other files. My team has been working to make sure we get this done.”

“I can tell'', Chief Dolly replied before turning to Y/N with a wide grin. “Y/L/N, why don’t you go get these folks the beauty that North Carolina has to offer.”

She lifted a brow as her arms crossed, “and what ‘beauty’ does North Carolina actually have to offer, exactly?”

The irritation was prominent in her voice, prompting Spencer to lift the corner of his mouth as the chief spoke again.

“Cookout.”

“With all due respect sir,” she started, “I’m pretty sure there’s a Cookout in Virginia.”

“Nope, no back-talk missy. Now, go get ‘em some lunch. I wouldn’t mind a milkshake for myself.”

Rolling her eyes, Y/N turned on her heel and started walking towards the front door. The fact that she went from trying to make Spencer her bitch to being his really was the highlight of his day, and he couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.

The sound of that laugh though, had captured Hotch's attention, and Spencer heard the last thing he wanted to hear come out of his mouth. “Reid, you can go help her.”

He let out a sigh, dragging his feet while he followed her. When they made it to the parking lot, they were quiet as they got in her SUV, not talking as they pulled onto the main road.

It was obvious neither one of them was happy being stuck with each other, but Spencer honestly thought it could be worse. She could’ve been giving him those snarky comments, trying to fluster him, or plainly just be a pain in his ass. But she wasn’t. At that moment, she was quiet, not showing any tension.

He thought it was a little abnormal for her, but then again he didn’t really know her.

He didn’t really know her.

This was the revelation Spencer was having. He knew everyone did something for a reason. Something causes people to act the way they do. He just refused to think about it when it came to Y/N because of how blindsided he was when it came to her attitude.

And now, being the overthinker he was, he felt like it actually was his and the rest of the team's fault for her being cold with everyone.

Not being able to help himself, he cast his eyes over to her, seeing what looked like a defeated look. That was new. In the very short amount of time he’s been there, he’s never seen any look on her face other than determination or confidence.

He needed to be the bigger person, he wanted to be, so he cleared his throat to get her attention before speaking in a soft voice. “I’m sorry.”

She lifted a brow, glancing over at him for a split second before putting her eyes back on the road. “For…?”

“For whatever you’re upset about?”

She scoffed and shook her head. “I’m not upset.”

“The look on your face says otherwise,” he quipped back.

“Oh my God…”

He gave her a sad smile, “well, what’s bothering you?”

She sat there in silence, biting her lip before letting out a sigh. “It’s just … I finally left Greensboro when I was eighteen. I went to Columbia and studied Sociology and Criminal Justice just to end up back here, and then when I get promoted to detective and finally get my first case where I could potentially save so many women—“

“—The FBI comes in and hijacks it”, he said, finishing her sentence.

“Yeah. I spent my whole life with people trying to one-up me, and it doesn’t help that they brought in a freaking doctor who is probably less than a year older than me.”

The silence between them was deafening. He didn’t know what to say. He’s never been in the position she was and the funny thing is, he probably would’ve reacted the same way if he was.

Clearing his throat, he wanted to say something, anything that would make her feel better. “If it’s worth anything, I think you’re really good at your job. Better than a lot of people I’ve come in contact with over the years, and I’m a certified genius.”

She let out a laugh, a genuine laugh. “I knew you had some arrogance in you.”

“I think there’s a little bit of arrogance in everyone. It’s just shown in different ways.”

“Hmm, okay. In what way do I show I’m arrogant?”

His eyebrows went up, and when he saw her expectant eyes on the road, he bit his bottom lip. “Well, um … I’d say through your work. I don’t believe you have actual training when it comes to creating profiles, but you gave a very pretentious touch when you told Chief Dolly you already had a preliminary one done.”

“Hmm, guess you are a genius”, she muttered, making him blush. When they pulled into the drive-thru of the Cookout, she turned towards him. “Now, what do you want? Because this really is the only good thing North Carolina has to offer.”

———

A day had passed and the whole team plus Y/N and Chief Dolly were back at the precinct, sitting down and going through all the files from the case when Derek’s phone rang.

“Hey Baby girl, you’re on speaker so please behave.”

“Aww, I love when you beg me.”

Spencer looked over to Y/N who had let out a small chuckle. He liked the look of her smiling and happy.

Wait, no. What? They were literally fighting not even a day ago.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, he tuned back into the conversation.

“Okay, so Hotch told me to keep sweeping the security footage, and I noticed the same guy walking around or near each of the dump sites not even two hours before each body was called in.”

“Can you I.D him”, Emily asked, leaning her elbows on the table.

“Ugh, who do you think I am? Of course I I.Ded him! Mr. Trevor Lind, thirty-one lived in Greensboro his whole life. He owns his own construction business.”

“Lind’s Construct”, Y/N said, face paling.

“You would be correct, beautiful voice over the phone!”

Y/N blushed and looked down at the table before shaking her head and clearing her throat. “I should’ve known it was him…”

Spencer furrowed his brows, “what do you mean?”

He could tell she was angry with herself just by the look on her face, but the tone in which she spoke was the real indicator. “We said this is someone who had a traumatic experience growing up. Trevor lost his mom when he was younger.”

“She’s right,” Garcia added, “some police reports show that when Trevor was around twelve, him and his mom were going back to their car from Oak Hollow Mall when a robbing went wrong occurred.”

“So him and his mother were stabbed”, Rossi asked.

“Hmm, no, actually it was just his mom. They didn’t touch him and she was DOA.”

Y/N put her head in her hands, “there were always rumors about him in high school. I was just a freshman when he was a senior, but going into school everyone made sure to let you know about the kid who ‘so strong to get through that’.”

“People were praising him”, JJ asked, prompting Y/N to nod. “That may be where his narcissism stems from.”

Hotch gave a nod. “You’re right. Garcia, you said his mother died behind Oak Hollow Mall, does it happen to still be open?”

The sound of clicking was heard over the phone before Penelope hummed. “It seems like the only real store open is a clearance store, but other than that it looks like a ghost town.”

“You think that’s where he’s taking ‘em?”

Derek looked over to Dolly and gave a quick shrug. “Most likely. If he’s trying to recreate his mother’s wounds then he’s probably doing it close to where it originally happened.”

“Alright, send us the address and call them, letting them know the FBI wants a complete lockdown on any open stores. I want everyone ready to go on when we get there. Y/L/N, you too.”

“Be safe, everyone”, Penelope said before Hotch ended the call and made his way out of the precinct with everyone following him.

———

They were all parked outside the mall, Hotch going over their positions one last time.

“Okay, each group will get a SWAT team with them. Morgan and Prentiss take the first floor, Rossi, JJ, and I will take the second. Reid, I want you and Y/L/N on the third.”

They all gave a nod, making their way into the building. When Y/N and Spencer made it to the third floor, he motioned for SWAT to take the first couple stores while him and Y/N made their way further.

Walking a few feet, Spencer heard whimpering and signaled Y/N to follow him. Slowly making their way closer, they turned a corner to see the unsub standing with a woman, holding a knife to her.

“Trevor Lind.”

He turned to the sound of his name being called and held the knife to the woman’s stomach. “I will stab her. Don’t move.”

“Trevor, we know what happened to your mother,” Spencer started, “you don’t have to make anyone else go through what you did.”

“Shut up! You don’t understand anything.”

“Trevor,” Y/N said, making him turn towards her, “I went to the same high school as you. I heard how everyone praised you for being strong after what happened. You doing this isn’t conquering it.”

He went quiet, not budging.

Y/N let out a small sigh and spoke again. “Trevor, put the knife down. You know you’re not getting anything from killing her right now.”

“Actually, I do”, before either one of them could blink, he stabbed the girl’s stomach, letting her fall to the ground.

“Reid, get the girl”, Y/N said while rushing over to Trevor.

Spencer put pressure on the victim’s wounds and called into his mic for the medics, looking up to see Y/N knock the knife out of Trevor’s hand. A split second later, his fist connected with her jaw before she swiped her legs under his feet, causing him to fall.

She cuffed him, stating his rights as she dragged him out of the room, looking back to make sure the girl was alright before leaving.

———

Around twenty minutes later, Spencer walked from the rest of the team after talking over what had just happened, seeing Y/N sitting in the back of an ambulance holding an ice pack to her jaw. When he strolled over to her he was silent for a moment. A normal person in that moment would ask their colleague if they were okay, but then again, Spencer never really classified as “normal”.

“I told you he wouldn’t go down without a fight … with or without a weapon.”

Y/N scoffed and rolled her eyes, “you’re gonna say that to me when I one, was just socked in the jaw by an unsub, and two, was just starting to like you?”

A blush rising to his cheeks, Spencer quickly looked down at his shoes before muttering, “sorry”.

There was a silent moment between the two filled with tension and awkwardness. He really didn’t know what it was about her. Why there’s a slight thrill from bickering with her, why he was in total awe of her bad-assery, or why his heart sped up at the thought of her starting to like him. Shit. He had a crush. Spencer Reid was harboring a crush for someone that can not only kick his ass, but could hold their own against him in a battle of the wits.

He wanted to think more about it at the moment, but his thoughts were jumbled by the sound of her voice. “Don’t be.” Looking up at her, he arched a brow, silently asking her to elaborate. “Don’t be sorry. If the situation was reversed I’d probably be gloating too.”

He tried. He really tried to hold back the smirk that began to form on his face, but he was out of luck.

“Oh, don’t go looking so smug. I don’t like that look on you…”

With his lips now turning into a grin, he looked at her and the light blush that fanned across her cheeks. “What look?”

He could hear the small groan leaving her lips as she rolled her eyes, “the cute smug look…”

If Spencer had been standing and further away from Y/N at that time, he wouldn’t hear her, but that didn’t stop him from playing her own games on her. “Sorry, Y/N, do you think you could repeat that for me? It’s just, you seem to mumble a bit when you’re flustered.”

“Ugh! The cute smug look, are you happy now?”

He gave her a genuine smile as she rolled her eyes. The difference between when she would roll her eyes at him before and now was that there was no actual irritation laced with it. It seemed playful in a way.

“Very much so.”

She shook her head before putting the ice pack next to her and hopping down from the ambulance. “Now if you’ll excuse, I have a lot of paperwork I must fill out.”

———

A couple hours later, Spencer found himself packing up boxes of files in the small Greensboro police station. It was finally quiet, not many panicked officers roaming around trying to hunt a serial killer down, and when he looks over to his right, he sees Y/N and Hotch.

He can see them talking. He’s not quite sure what it’s about, but the way her eyes widen and the small flicker of excitement cross her face, he has a guess in the back of his mind.

Not too long though, he watches her as she walks towards him, hands behind her back while the clicking of her heels fills the small hall.

“Do you always watch your boss talk to pretty girls”, she asked, right before she stopped in front of him.

“Wha- no.”

Giving a small chuckle, she raised her eyebrows, “so you admit I’m pretty.”

“I never said that”, he quickly retorts.

“Mhmm, but you were thinking it.” He rolled his eyes at her statement, but couldn’t help the smile that adorned his face.

“Anyway,” she continues after a brief pause, “just thought I should let you know your boss gave me his card and said I should apply to the academy … said something about how you guys could use someone like me.”

Spencer felt a flutter in his stomach. She was going to be working with them? He couldn’t lie, he was a little excited. He practically spent this whole trip on a certain high just from going back and forth with her.

He cleared his throat, trying to hide a certain hopefulness when he spoke to her. “So, are you going to apply?”

She looked at him for a moment before giving a dainty smile and shrug. “I don’t know,” she started, “having to work almost twenty-four seven with a cute nerd kinda sounds torturous.”

There was no way he could hide the blush blooming as he spoke again, “well I could say that working almost twenty-four seven with a cute badass sounds torturous too.”

“Excuse you”, his eyebrows jumped up, of course, the one time in his life he decides to be bold when it comes to flirting, he ends up crossing a line. “I’m hot, not cute.”

His shoulders deflate in relief. Maybe him flirting wasn’t a lost cause after all.

The moment between the two seemed to fade when Morgan came around the corner, “C’mon Reid, we’re leaving in five!”

He nodded his head and threw and satchel over his shoulder before picking up the box of files, beginning to move past Y/N, but before he was too far away, he looked back at her. “So I’ll see you around?”

“Oh, one-hundred percent. See you around, Dr. Reid.”

And with that, they both walked away, neither one of them really able to keep a grin off their face.

——————————————————————————

taglist: @openheart12

[domxmarvel]

Hold on (just a little while longer)

Masterlist

Requested by: @witch-connie-au​ 

Pairing:Connor X Gender neutral Reader        

Words:1092  

Request:Hey could you do a connor x reader (detroit become human) something kinda around the song "hold on" by chord overstreet? 

TW:Suicide attempt,mensions of abuse. 

A/N:I’m terrible with song fics,so this is more  inspired by the song.

"So what've we got?" Putting on a pair of gloves,you followed Connor to the crime scene. 

"Victim's name is Naomi Richards,she was found earlier this morning at 10:48."

"Who found the body?" You asked 

"Her friend,she's the one that put in the call"

"Does she have an alibi?"

"We're looking into that as we speak,detective" 

"Cause of death?"

"Multiple stab wounds,with this kitchen knife" Connor explained,holding up a plastic bag with the knife inside.

"We're still waiting for the autopsy report just to be sure and the time of death." Her death seemed to be extremely straightforward,which was a bit scary almost like her murderer had done this before.

"Any signs of a break in?" The front door seemed to still be in one piece,thankfully her friend got the landlord to open it instead of breaking it open.

"No,there is a broken window but the landlord said that it has been broken for a while." 

"We should still have a look at it" 

Everyone was so focused on the body that no one was searching the rest of the apartment. Connor led you to the window,walking closer you noticed some glass shards on the floor. Kneeling down you noticed blood on a couple of them. You quickly turned your head and was only inches away from Connor,you hadn't even heard him move. Stumbling back,you tried to grab onto anything to steady yourself. You ended up grabbing Connor's jacket,making you both fall down. 

"Detective,are you alright?" You nodded,he got up and helped you. You grabbed the piece you were looking at before taking his hand. 

"See if you can get anything out of this" He took the glass.

"Blood,but definitely not from our victim. Nathan Wilson,extensive criminal record, multiple arrests for breaking and entering as well as robbery.”

“Sounds like our guy. Seems like a robbery gone wrong. But we should still follow protocol,interview the neighbours,see if any of them had anything against her. And see what else you can find out about Nathan”

**The next day**

“Good morning detective”

“Good morning Connor”You said sitting down at your desk,where there was a coffee cup already there. “Thanks”Connor smiled at you.

“I got the autopsy report”He reached over,touching your computer.He displayed all the information on your screen. “Our victim died two hours before she was found and the blood we found indicates that Nathan was there about one hours before the time of death. Detective Reed brought him in this morning,but we’ve already scheduled interviews with the neighbors,so we’ll have to talk to him later.”

“Let’s go” You walked into the other side of the integration room,behind the two way mirror. You saw a woman you never thought you’d see again. ‘NO NO NO!! What was she doing here’ You couldn’t stand still,you were ready to just run out. Everything was spinning and getting blurry.

“Y/N”Connor called out making you look up “Are you alright?”

“No,i need to get out of here”Before he could respond you ran out of the station.

***

"You know those things will kill you" Gavin said walking up to you as you lit the cigarette "Isn't that what your boyfriend would say?" You looked up at him "Hey are you okay?"He asked,more concerned than you've ever seen him.

“Ugh i can’t go back in looking like this” You said before stomping out your cigarette.

“Y/N” Connor’s voice made you freeze,Gavin quickly got up and left.”What’s wrong?” You sighed.

“That woman s-she’s m-my mother”

“But you don’t have the same surname? Y/N what happened?”

“It’s a long story and i don’t feel like talking about it. I changed my surname after. I’m sorry but I can't stand to look at her.”

“I’m sorry Y/N. I can take over her interrogation and call you in once it’s over.”

“Thank you. I’ll go over some of the evidence,I’ll let you know if i find anything” You couldn’t focus. The memories of your childhood came rushing back,the pain and the fear you felt all came back. You just wanted to hide and disappear. 

**Connor’s pov**

“Y/N” I called out as I walked in,I called out for Y/N again and still no answer. There was a vague sound that got louder the closer I got to the bathroom. The door was locked “Y/N!!”I yelled out but still no answer,at this point I started to fear the worst. There was water leaking onto the floor,pushing against the door it broke with ease. Y/N was laying on the bathroom floor,kneeling down. I wrapped my arms around Y/N. Checking for a pulse,and found it but it was incredibly weak,thankfully there was no bleeding.

[Calling 911] 

"Y/N,please stay with me" I was holding onto Y/N so tightly that I did even notice my own body shaking or the tears escaping from my eyes.

*** 

"Connor calm down" Hank said,grabbing my arm.

"How am I supposed to calm down Y/N almost died"

"Connor,Y/N will be alright." I sat down beside him,trying to calm down. I knew Y/N was effective by seeing that woman but I just didn't know how much. Suddenly Detective Reed ran in. 

"What happened?"He asked,breathing heavily. Hank answered 

"Y/N will be fine"

"Connor,I looked into that woman Y/N was talking about" He said, handing me a file. "Apparently that woman is Y/N's mother,she abused her children and they were taken away from her. Seeing her again must've triggered something" One of the doctors walked up to us 

"Y/N is going to be completely fine,you can go in but please keep it down."

**Y/N pov**

You woke up to the feeling of something soft on your face,but shut your eyes when the light hit your face. 

"Y/N" Connor whispered. You were almost paralyzed and it was getting harder to breathe,you just couldn't face him so you turned away from him. You could still feel his hand rubbing your back as you started crying. 

"Connor" He responded with a hmm "I'm sorry" 

"Y/N" You turned to face him. He leaned forward,loosely wrapping his arms around you. "Just promise you'll talk to me if you ever feel like that again"

"I will" 

[bourbon-ontherocks]

closing statements! 1) I saw part of a s1 ep, turns out I’d forgotten how heartbroken morgane still was about romain (underestimation of the year😅) and that rly puts things (buying the house etc.) in a diff light. 2) given she’s their best investigator&it took her this long to figure out her feelings, karadec doesn’t stand a chance, so I AM looking forward to ep7🤣 3) re: Kaamelott, I’m 98% certain my fave quote will be applicable to HPI&can’t wait to verify, but shhh 🤫 bye now!! 👻 😘

(Julia's adventures with the HPI anon)

Bhahahaha, which episode gave it away, anon? Was it the scene where she endlessly plays on a loop Romain's footages from 15 years ago? The moment she runs away when Céline and Karadec found the autopsy report? The moment she and Théa bury the box with all the memorabilia? The scene where SHE BREAKS DOWN IN KARADEC’S ARMS WHEN SHE SEES A MOURNING DOG, which is the very reason I ship them and inspired me a whole fic??? 😱😱😱😱

I feel like the most tragic part here is that Morgane is still heartbroken 15 years later because she never got a proper closure with Romain, which has blocked her from moving forward in her life and committing to anyone else (in that regard, it’s properly miraculous that she still got two kids with Ludo lol). The burial scene imo was an attempt for closure but it’s still very fresh considering the timeline of it all 😭😭 So yeah, she’s still not over it, as the backyard scene explicitely stated... Romain’s ghost has been some sort of compass in her life for the past fifteen years, which -- gosh you have no idea how hard I’m biting my tongue right now! I’m saying no more. You’ll see. Point is, it’s a fucking tragedy 💔 

Well, I would point out that Karadec actually figured his feelings out first, back in season 1... 😂😂 BUT hard agreed, he’s oblivious af so this is gonna be a painful mess! All the good stuff!

WHAT is your favourite Kaamelott quote, anon?? WHICH ONE??? I need to know!!! Mine is “Le gras c’est la vie” which I must say I don’t see how it would apply soooooooo.....  👀👀👀👀

I can’t WAIT to hear your thoughts on tonight’s episode!!!! 😍😍😍

[duskydestra]

Office Hours

Prompt: 15. "I like that in you."

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Ieiri Shoko/Tsukumo Yuki

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings/Tags: Canon-Typical Body Horror, Mutual Pining, Emotional Constipation

The fanart that inspired this: https://mobile.twitter.com/halveablock/status/1441964166885961732

Summary: There's a bit of push and pull to all of Yuki's interactions with Shoko. For now, Shoko prefers to push.

~~

The tip of Shoko’s pen flew over the signature line, finalizing her latest autopsy report. She’d seen a lot in this line of work, but nothing like the current batch of bodies. Describing them accurately in reports was a challenge unto itself. Shoko pulled a cigarette out of the carton in her desk—not looking forward to the remaining inspections—and took a long drag.

“Oh, Shoko…” Yuki crooned through the door. “Guess who’s back!”

Of course Yuki would choose now to show up. Shoko ashed her cigarette, a bit of smoke puffing out from between her lips as she chuckled. Her office was on the opposite side of the main roads, so she hadn’t even heard that motorcycle pull up.

The door was heavy, but Shoko pulled it open in a few seconds. “Well, well. To what do I owe the pleasure this time?”

Yuki grinned down at her. The gleam of teeth coaxed a smile out of Shoko as well.

“I saw something on my trip to Belgium and just had to let you have a taste.”

From behind her back, Yuki pulled out a case of chilled beers, one of the eight spots already empty. A brand name Shoko couldn’t read was etched into the tinted bottles.

“My hero,” Shoko said flatly. She stepped aside to let Yuki into the office.

Every now and then, Yuki imported some drinks for Shoko. It didn’t happen often enough to call it a tradition. Not yet, at least. Until then, it remained a nice surprise to keep Shoko on her toes.

Yuki made her way inside, a particular sway to her hips that appeared whenever she had something new to show off. She stuck an empty index card into the binder on Shoko’s desk, flipped it closed, and pushed it aside. This gave her enough room to perch on the desk in its place.

Shoko took her seat, leaning her elbow close enough to feel the subtle heat rolling off Yuki, but not enough to make contact. Yuki took two drinks out of the case, flicking the caps off with the bottle opener on her keychain, and handed one to Shoko.

“You know I can’t just leave you here to be bored forever,” Yuki said with a wink.

Shoko’s throat closed up at the sight. She opened it with a sip of beer, the sour aftertaste helping her gather her thoughts. “I’m not bored. Plenty of stuff happens.”

“Is that right?” Yuki leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Like what?”

Shoko took another swig of beer as her mind sifted through all the things that’d happened this month alone. Soon, a particularly strange one popped up.

“I take bodies apart and, sometimes, they come back to life.”

Yuki whistled, long and low. “‘Come back to life.’ So you didn’t do it?”

“Nope,” Shoko said, popping the p. “That was the work of his curse. Never a dull moment.”

“I see,” Yuki said through a chuckle. She chugged a quarter of her drink. “Sucks that I’m always the last to hear about the cool stuff.”

Shoko took a drag of her cigarette and turned her head; partly so as to not blow smoke in Yuki’s face, partly so Yuki couldn’t see hers.

“You’d have known about it if you visited more. I’d have kept you up to date.”

Yuki reared back, a sulking tone in her voice. “Aw, come on, Shoko. You know I don’t like sticking around here.”

“I know, I know.”

There were few things as clear-cut as Yuki’s disdain for Jujutsu Tech—both the campus and the institution. But it’s not like she was asking Yuki to stay, just…be around more often. Shoko washed the thought away with more beer.

Yuki swung her feet back and forth, and Shoko turned around just in time to see the quirk of her lips grow into another grin. It tugged at something in Shoko’s heart. Yuki’s eyelids were low, her face and neck flush from the alcohol. She ran the pad of her index finger in a spiral along the back of Shoko’s hand, goosebumps rising in its wake.

“You know I only come back for you, right?”

Shoko blinked once, then blinked again. Maybe Yuki wouldn’t notice the harsh breath Shoko sucked in through her nose. Or the way her eyes darted to the desktop. God, she hoped she didn’t.

“Hm?” was all she managed in response.

“What, do you not believe me?”

It seemed far easier to not believe it than to acknowledge anything that would have to come with knowing. If there was a way out of this with some dignity, Shoko needed to find it. Immediately.

“Not really anything to believe. There’s much more interesting things to keep your attention.”

“Mm. And who says I can’t pay attention to multiple things? We’re talking about you right now.” Yuki smirked, then gasped as if she’d been struck with a revelation. “Y'know what's great about you? You cut right to the heart of a problem and rip it out. Like a uh…” Yuki’s eyes searched the room for anything to help her make her point. “Like an autopsy! I like that in you.”

These beers were stronger than Shoko expected. She was nearly swept up in that sentiment. Yuki stuck around for her. The words rattled unconvincingly in her head, but they stuck to her heart. Dizziness set in. She fought through it, looking for an out. There had to be one.

“That isn't even remotely what I do.”

That should be good enough, right? Her mind conjured up supporting evidence, just in case.

“It isn't?” Yuki leaned back more slowly this time, eyes glued to Shoko’s face.

Shoko shrugged. “The damage is already done by the time bodies get to me. I could show you, if you want.”

“Lucky me, getting drinks and a show.”

Shoko pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray, extinguishing it, and headed to the wall of mortuary cabinets. Her hand hovered over a few of the handles, trying to recall which body was where. Eventually, she settled on an intact transfigured human.

Chilled air rolled out of the cabinet as soon as she opened it. Shoko appreciated the shock to her senses. She pulled the cot out, a set of rollers extending to the floor to help her maneuver it to the operating table.

“Are you gonna…” From the other side of the table, Yuki twirled her finger in a way that vaguely indicated reverse cursed technique.

Shoko scoffed, her arms buzzing slightly from the alcohol. “Nah, I'm good. I can do this with my eyes closed.”

The doctor opened her trusty toolset and got to work; even though it was rote by this point, she chose not to let her mind wander anymore today—at least, as much as she was able. That was easier to accomplish when faced with such disfigurement.

First, she moved the arms to its sides; they had been outstretched as if to stave off an attack. Then she picked up her scalpel, making a single incision from the shoulders down to the navel, and pulled gently to let Yuki peek inside. The organs were displaced, stretched barely within recognition.

“Whoa,” Yuki breathed. “What did this?”

“A cursed spirit that’s on the loose. They were DOA, so there wasn’t much I could do about it.” Shoko moved around to the body’s elongated head and tapped the skull. “This is the real kicker.”

“Can I see it?”

Shoko had expected to see a bit of squeamishness in Yuki (maybe had even hoped for it), but there was none.

Just as well. All traces of their previous conversation had been swept aside, replaced by Yuki’s keen interest. Shoko had gotten too close to what she wanted, too close to having something to lose. Now, she could busy herself with something she had slightly more experience in.

Once the brain was exposed, Yuki stared at it from all angles. She muttered questions, most of which Shoko could answer, and it was hard not to get caught up in that curious energy. It was precise and professional, nothing like the swell of affection from before.

Shoko disliked how much she missed it, but there was no room in their world for silent wishes. The back of her hand still tingled from Yuki’s touch. It would have to be enough for both of them.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

heiress - 5

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

a/n: more parallels between wanda and reader plus hayward being a bitch to reader. also pierce did not die during the winter soldier events in this universe. at this point this is called wanda and y/n collectively grieving over her how shitty their lives are.

previous chapter

The young woman held a small gun in her left hand, shooting the target at least 10 metres away from her with a mechanical precision, switching it to her right hand and achieving the same type of perfection and precision not even senior agents had. Yet, there she was, one of the newest SWORD recruits. Many people had opposed for her to join SWORD straight after escaping from HYDRA and the Red Room; however, Tyler Hayward had forced for her to become a new recruit. “Having Alexander Pierce’s daughter in our team will be an asset” he said and it somehow convinced all of SWORDs panel to take her in. She had nowhere to go after all, the Red Room will be after her in no time and she had no way to defend herself alone and so SWORD was her only option. An option she thrived under, being much more advanced than any junior recruit yet it was a far cry from what she wanted. She didn’t want to be an agent but that’s what she was, what she had been trained to do.

The trainer slowly blinked walking up to her and giving her a congratulatory pat on the shoulder which everyone could sense was filled of jealousy. She was thrown to the back of the line with someone else who also inspired jealousy in most recruits. Monica Rambeau, daughter of Maria Rambeau, the current SWORD director. They had never spoken too much other than orientation day where they introduced each other by their agent number.

     - That was the coolest thing I’ve seen today. - she hide a childish smile as the next recruit started  his training. - I’m Monica. 

     - Y/N. - she smiled and shook her hand. - Is it always like this?

     - Most of time yeah. The trainers are dicks about it when you’re better than them. 

     - Men. - Y/N rolled her eyes, getting an understanding nod from Monica. 

     - Excuse me? - Tyler Hayward entered the trainee room, always dressed in a polished suit as if that would be of any worth in a fighting situation. - I’m sorry for disturbing but I need Ms. Y/N Pierce to accompany me. 

Y/N Pierce. She always hated that name, even more than her code name. The mere thought that she had that last name, the name of one of the leaders of SHIELD was almost like a cruel curse on her. Everyone seemed to think of him as this all around saint yet she knew better; after all, if he had no reservations about submitting his daughter as a project and asset then he would have no reservation in hurting anyone else. SWORD had done their best to keep her existence a secret, not really allowing the connection to pass through but she knew he was looking for her and if he wasn’t the Red Room and HYDRA definitely were. 

She shared a confused look with Monica before stepping towards Hayward who led her away from the room and into the hall. He didn’t stop to explain to her why she had been summoned, instead he just kept on walking and she took the lead to follow him, entering a blackened window filled hall. They stopped in front of a window which gave way into an autopsy scene. Y/N was used to seeing death, some would say she was born surrounding it; however, she was not prepared to see what was being shown to her. It was almost as if she were sleeping, her mother. Laid across the metal table with various doctors surrounding her, the HYDRA symbol branded onto her foot. She looked over to the side, hand over her mouth as she felt sick just to see it. 

    - Our intelligence believes HYDRA is trying to send a message and we don’t believe they won’t stop anytime soon.

    - Was it fast? Did she suffer?

    - Gunshot to the head. Quite merciful, really.

    - Why are you showing me this?

    - Well, HYDRA experimented on you but there is the possibility your “enhancements” might be genetic. 

    -  What is that supposed to mean? Why did you really brought me here, Hayward?

    - We need the next of kin’s permission to perform an autopsy and it seems that would be you, following your mother’s will.

    - No. - she stepped back. - You’re not gonna tear my mother apart for a stupid hypothesis. No. You don’t have my permission

    - We’re being kind enough to hide you from your father for no specific reason. You either accept it or we’ll be forced to hand you to SHIELD.

The night air was crisp and sharp as he sat on the swing next to hers. She hadn’t changed much other than her hair which was much longer but her face was still unblemished by the tragic unkindness of the world. After all it had been about 5 years since he last saw her and he hated the fact he had forgotten her. Somewhere, deep within himself he knew her mark was still there; he could still hear her voice in his dreams but he always chucked it to his mind crumbling under the pressure it had been under for so many years. Nevertheless, he had heard her voice plenty times, specially in Bucharest. It had haunted him from nights and nights on end; “Promise?” “Yes”, turns out it wasn’t someone he had killed but someone he had forgotten. Her of all people. It had come back all to him after that woman gave him the file. Her name alone, her lips telling him her name. He remember telling himself he would not forget him as they prepared him to go back in the blender and he did. He forgot about her but looking at her everything came back to him; the good and the bad. But the most of it was he remembered loving her, he still did, a feeling that had been dormant for a long while and suddenly awoke in him. Of course Bucky did not expect her to love him back, he didn’t blame her either. She was a good kid, too good even. 

     - Uhm ... are you enjoying it here? - she motioned her hands abstractly. - In the hex, I mean. 

     - It’s better than in hideouts with Sam and Sharon. - he chuckled dryly, looking up at the transparent yet red tinted dome. - I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Sam is great, despite everything and Sharon ... Sharon has helped me so much, I owe her that.

     - Oh ... - her heart dropped to her stomach as an ugly feeling took over her. Sure, Wanda would say it’s jealousy but she refused to admit it. 

     - What about you? I never really asked what you did after ... you know, IT. 

    - You can say the name. - she smiled at him yet it was voidless of any emotion, as if she were used to people tip toeing around the subject which they always did. - I became a junior recruit for SWORD until the blip then ... I was gone for a while but it didn’t hurt. It was almost like I was finally at peace and then I woke up and Hayward was director. He sent me and Monica to investigate the hex Wanda created, mostly to keep his own project a bay. Then we all ran off, got classified as fugitives. The rest is really not important. 

     - I don’t really think I need to tell you what I’ve been up to.

     - You don’t ... most of it it’s my fault, anyway. - she got up from the swing once she noticed a purple light a few miles away from the limits of the hex. The back of her eyes started growing instinctively white. Bucky got up as he recognised her fighting stance, a hand safely placed upon her shoulder. - Go grab Wanda.

     - Y/N ...

     - Go grab her, now. - she stood there watching the purple light almost call out for her. Bucky chose to do what she said, the white mist involving around her fingers as she stepped towards the hex, fingers barely touching the wall. 

Bucky rushed inside the building, hoping to reach Wanda before Y/N could do anything irrational. However, before he could find the newly named Scarlet Witch, she found him with one of her twins behind her waist. Her eyes were glowing red, almost similar to those Y/N had except those eyes looked desperate, worried even.

    - Where is she? - she asked him with an ice like directness. - Where is she, Barnes?

    - Outside. She told me to come get you.

Wanda rushed past him with a speed that he had never seen before and he only followed after her. The two stepped outside the building, towards the swing tree where Bucky had left Y/N, except, she wasn’t there anymore. No, he couldn’t lose her. Not again. Vision came after the two followed by Yelena and Monica who had been awakened by the twins; however, Wanda did not need their help. She approached the hex, just missing the purple glow as it entered the woods. Bucky tried to step up but Vision pushed him back. 

    - Y/N? - Wanda broke through the hex, shutting Bucky out as well as Vision. It was night time, dark and cold surrounded by the woods of the place they had chosen to hide from the world. Breaking dawn was so far away and even the tallest individual would’ve melted into the dark night. - Y/N!

   - Are we not going to help them? - Bucky questioned back inside the hex, probably the most awake apart from the synthezoid and the former Red Room graduate.

   - It’s a witch thing. - Yelena smirked before springing into action. - We should activate the hex’s protective system in case something happens.

   - What about them? - Bucky once again interrupted, not receiving particularly kind looks from Yelena.

   - They’ll be fine, Mr. Barnes.

Y/N on the other hand walked further into the confused and dark woods, holding her small trusted silver revolver which reflected the moon light onto its surface; yet most of the light came from behind her coloured eyes. She did not know exactly why they did that, it was almost as if they light up whenever she felt threatened. Whatever it was, it was there inside of her. She, of course, knew it was Agatha lingering around; however, she never got dangerously close to the hex. It was an unspoken truth between the witch and Wanda Maximoff yet there she was. 

     - God, dear, I thought I’d have to break into the hex to get to you. - Agatha showed up from the darkness, dressed in her typical black and purple palette as if she were royalty. - So, how are you deary? Still playing Queen Elsa? Is that fun for you?

     - You’re trespassing. 

     - Come on, is that how you thank me for giving you Bucky Barnes on a platter? What else do you need to thank me? A love spell?

     - Go away, Agatha. What do you want? 

     - I am trying to help you, just like I helped Wanda. I mean how old are you, sweetheart? Old enough for HYDRA and SWORD to realise you can do much more than just magic tricks. Making a whole room objects disappear? Now that, that was impressive. If I knew you were gonna do that, I would’ve brought Barnes into your life much much sooner. - she crossed her arms. - I think you and I are very similar. Much more similar than Maximoff to be completely honest. Where were the avengers when your father handed you over to a terrorist organisation? Constantly overlooked, underestimated, seen as nothing but your father’s daughter. I understand, Y/N and I can help you if you let me help you.   

    - I ... - she faltered her response, slightly lowering down her gun. - You can really help me?

    - I know more about magic than everyone else, Y/N. I can train you, I can help you more than SWORD or Wanda Maximoff will ever help. I can even give you what you want the most. Barnes, a regular family, everything but a SHIELD recruit. A regular citizen and all I want is for you to give me my regular family. 

     - I can’t help you, Agatha.

     - I don’t mean to cause any harm, Y/N. I’m not the villain, I just want my husband back and only you can give that to me. That’s all I want. It’s a small price to pay for your happiness. I can even take it away, your powers, I can take them away and then you will have what you want. Pretty sure Barnes still has some swimmers and if he doesn’t surely Wanda can get you some kids, she sure did well with getting herself some. 

     - Y/N! - Wanda’s voice broke through the two woman’s conversation. Agatha smirked, purple eyes replacing her regular blue ones. - Y/N!

     - I think you need to make a choice, dear. 

taglist: @lookiamtrying

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Ghost of You (Alec Volturi x Reader)

WARNING: Death! Dark Themes! Mentions of possible suicide!

(Inspired by Simulacra) 

You lay lifelessly on the forest floor. Your knees dirty, dirt buried under your finger nails. He made sure you were dead. You didn’t move, you didn't breathe. There was no heartbeat. You were peacefully silent. Carlisle looked down at your body with a frown on his face. "Carlisle?" Carlisle turned to see Bella, who in turn was then exposed to your body. She gasped, recoiling immediately. She couldn't take her eyes off you. You looked as though you were just sleeping. One of your hands draped across your stomach. However your other arm gave a very different story. It was sprawled out flat on the forest floor with your phone mere inches from your fingertips. "What happened?" Bella felt tears well up in her eyes. Carlisle moved closer to your body picking up your phone before hurrying back and moving towards Bella. "Go and find Edward and then call your father." Carlisle said, putting the phone in his pocket. "Are they...?" "Go. Now." Bella pressed her phone to her ear, barely feeling Edwards fingers rest against her back. "Dad? You've got to come to the woods there's... it's (Y/N). They're dead." 

Carlisle couldn't stop his frown as he watched your body be lifted into a body bag. Arms folded over each other ever so slightly. "So Bella and Edward found them?" Charlie shifted to stand beside Carlisle. Carlisle nodded. "Yes." He had to lie. Charlie couldn’t know he was with the body- not Edward and Bella. "Is there any chance you could make a guess on the time of death?" Carlisle numbly shook his head. "Not for certain, there isn't any decomposition but they're pale so it could be a matter of hours." "Well, we'll get an autopsy and see if we can piece together what's happened." Charlie stated. "How do you do that? If you don't mind my asking?" Carlisle turned his gaze to Charlie. "I'm a doctor, I see so many brutal injuries and conditions. So much worse than (Y/N) looks, yet even now i stand here and don't know what to say or do." The question made Carlisle seem human but that wasn't why he asked. Carlisle knew the secret of his profession. He had lost many patients. He knew you personally though. Whilst you looked somewhat unharmed, Carlisle was finding the image difficult to stomach. Charlie had basically watched you grow up. He knew you since you were born and he, at best, seemed unphased. "I try to focus on it in one perspective. I'm the Chief of Police. People need me right now to keep everyone in the right direction. I'm going to be needed composed for now but when I'm just Charlie Swan, I'm going to feel the loss just as much as everyone else. Their parents, my neighbors- my friends- they're going to need their friend when I have to tell them what has happened." Charlie put a hand on Carlisle's shoulder. "I'll take it from here. Don't worry about this." Carlisle nodded. "Take care of yourself, Charlie." "You too. Oh, and one more thing. When you found them, did you move them or anything else on the scene?" Carlisle shook his head. "No, they haven't been moved since I've been here." Charlie nodded before walking away. Carlisle stared at the empty space you were once in. Now he had to tell Alec the news. The news he'd never want. 

Jane stared at her brother who hadn't moved from his desk. "Alec...Alec please say something." It had been three days since he found out you were dead and Jane could see her dear twin was suffering, even if he didn't show it. "Did you know they don't immediately bury the dead anymore?" Alec spoke up but didn't turn to look at his sister. "They put the bodies in a large kind of freezer. Tight, enclosed spaces for people allocated like drawers." "Alec..." "(Y/N) didn't like small spaces, did you know that?" Alec continued. Jane swallowed, biting her lip. Jane moved to crouch beside him, taking his hand and lightly giving it a kiss as he continued. "You know, when the masters told me I laughed. I don't know why I did, but I did. I didn't find it funny. I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that i could go through any more pain. Haven't I suffered enough?" Alec's gaze lowered slightly. "I'm angry at them...at (Y/N). Although I know it’s not their fault. I stood there thinking. ‘how dare you? How dare you leave?’ Then it hit me why I feel so angry towards them. I don’t know how they died.” Alec looked at his twin. “I wasn’t the most loving or approachable person at times but…Jane do you think they would ever…?” Alec trailed off, unable to say the words. However, Jane knew immediately. She firmly squeezed his hand. “No. You two weren’t perfect but you two loved each other very much and I know they wouldn’t never do such a thing. Especially not because of you.” Alec laughed bitterly and quietly to himself. “ 'loved’? That’s the issue isn’t it, sister?” “What do you mean?” “A matter of days ago, they stopped loving me. Yet I still love them.” “Don’t think of it like this was a choice, Alec. (Y/N) died. They didn’t stop loving you because they wanted to. They stopped loving you because they can’t. They’re dead. Besides, perhaps there’s more to death than we realise. Perhaps they still do love you.. wherever they may be.” Alec scoffed. “You don’t want to hear it. I know.” Jane continued. “You and I aren’t very compelled by such things as the 'afterlife’ but if it’s what you have to say for now. Then so be it.” Alec’s empty and unfeeling facade cracked ever so slightly, eyes darkening even more than was thought possible, the red in his eyes no longer visible. “I don’t want to let go and I feel like I have to.” “Alec, you’re already letting go. It’s alright. It’s still early days, you’re going to feel a lot of things but when you’re ready, you’ll say goodbye. No one forces you to let go of someone after they die. You do so on your own.” Jane admitted she wasn’t the best at advice or anything of the sort. However Alec knew that, and for his sister to simply let him speak was enough. Jane rose to a stand. “Be hurt Alec, let yourself feel everything you feel. It’ll be better that way. Just give it time.” She bent over slightly to kiss her brothers forehead before leaving. 

A few days had passed and Carlisle had arrived somewhat unexpectedly for Alec but Aro, Caius and Marcus appeared to have been expecting him. “It’s good to see you all again, even if under such sad times.” Carlisle greeted solemnly. “Yes, dear friend. It is a very sad time indeed.” Aro slowly nodded, his hands clasped in front of him. “I trust your coven are doing well through these difficult times?” “We are doing our best. I can only hope the same goes for the Volturi.” Aro cracked a smile. Carlisle turned to meet Alec’s pitch black eyes. He nodded in greeting. “Hello Alec, I give you my condolences.” “Hello Carlisle. Thank you for the gesture.” Alec replied without a hint of emotion but his eyes spoke volumes. “You also have my apologies. I was unable to bring any of (Y/N)’s things for you. Their death is still in early days of investigation, so all of their things are being inspected.” Carlisle said, guilt in his eyes and sympathy. “You don’t have to worry, Carlisle. I wouldn’t want you to trouble yourself so. I appreciate the sentiment but it’s not your job.” Carlisle nodded. “However, i did get this.” Carlisle dug into his pocket and pulled out a phone. “It was at the scene but I took it before any services arrived.” “Their phone?” Alec tilted his head. “Phones are more advanced in the recent years. They can take photographs, play music, notes, messages, videos. I haven’t looked but I’m certain that a lot of their life is documented in here.” Alec gasped and was inches in front of Carlisle immediately, staring at the device in his hand. Carlisle dug into his other pocket. "This should charge it up. You’ll have to plug it in every now and then for the battery but other than that. It was the best I could do.” “This…” Alec swallowed. “This is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you.” Carlisle smiled a sad smile and nodded. “Of course.” Carlisle held out the phone toward Alec and Alec could barely move to take it. The possibility that even a piece of you was left in the small device was gut wrenching but also releasing the most wonderful feeling of comfort and relief that just maybe he got to have a memory of you after all. 

Alec stared at the charging phone the whole time. When he had plugged it in, it had a ‘50%’ battery. Finally it hit '100%’ and he remembered which button Carlisle said turned it on. He pressed down on it and it vibrated in his fingertips. Unexpectedly, what he saw made Alec squeeze his eyes shut and cover his mouth, barely able to stifle the noise that escaped him. After a moment he opened his eyes. Your picture smiled back at him, your face angled  up slightly towards a light source with your eyes shut. The phone began to load each application and ran 'anti-virus checks’…whatever that meant. He vaguely remembered Carlisle telling him it was a touch screen. He didn’t really know what that meant either.  So he broke the phrase down and tapped the screen. Nothing. He quickly glided his finger across the screen and a box popped up on the screen asking for a password.

The password seemed to be four digits…that he didn’t know. The receptionist suggested your birthday or birth year. He tried both and hadn’t gotten anything. The receptionist hummed in thought. “Four digits you say?” Alec nodded. She sighed and her gaze passed Alec and drifted to her desk. Immediately she did a double take on Alec. “Let me see. I think I’ve got it.” Alec handed it over, peering around her. “What do you think it could be?” “Your name.” She answered. “But I can only type numbers?” Alec frowned. “Yes, so look, there’s tiny letters under the numbers. So if we spell your name then perhaps that’ll be it? I have a niece around your age, she does the same thing with the boys she falls head over heels for.” Alec said nothing but to his surprise it worked and the phone unlocked. 

Slowly things began to reboot, his thumb accidentally touching the screen to see your music playlist. He saw an arrow at the bottom left and tapped it bringing him back to the home screen. He tapped again and found your pictures. Alec’s jaw twisted slightly. There were many pictures of you, your friends, your family. None of him, Alec nor the Volturi allowed it. So his life with you was hidden. These pictures only showed the first half of your life. Although some wouldn’t open. Carlisle didn’t mention any damage so Alec wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at. Suddenly, Alec no longer had access to your pictures and was taken back to the home screen. Instead he found your messages. 

He felt this was a bad idea. He was never one to pry. He trusted you and you trusted him, he felt as though he'd be breaking that trust. However he reminded himself of something very important. You were dead. The messages meant nothing now. Silently he tapped the icon and your messages appeared. 

His eyes were immediately caught by your mother's name. When he opened it he smiled. Your mother loved you to the end of the universe and she had no problem letting anyone know.  There were more family members with their own messages were just as casual- none of which expressed so much love as your mother's did. 

Then there were the Cullen's messages. He went through every last one of them and wasn't surprised by their contents. They were all the same. Disapproval for being with Alec. Edward especially seemed to be eager to pick arguments as the messages always grew heated quickly. Alec was glad that you defended yourself and seemed to disregard him and the rest of the Cullen's. That being said, it seemed as though these conversations didn't end on good terms. In fact, Alec remembered you saying that you were not friendly with the family before you...were gone.  Suddenly a tired sigh ran through his ears.  Alec looked up, no one was around. He grew uncertain as to whether he had sighed and not realised it but the sigh didn't sound like him.  Alec was quick to consider it his imagination, if not himself.  The messages could make him sigh, they were so exasperating.  All the messages in the phone had a contact name. All but one.  The messages from the number were brief and your responses gave the very strong impression that you were not friendly with this person. 

Marcus sat Alec down. “I know how you’re feeling.”  “Were you angry with Didyme?” Alec suddenly asked. Marcus was silent.  “I’m angry with (Y/N).” Alec admitted. “Why?” Marcus asked.  “Because they changed everything. They changed the impossibility of any decent humans. They weren’t decent- they were the best. They stayed long enough to change everything i thought i knew and then left. That means another human has hurt me and this hurt, it’s killing me. It kills me and i cant even hate them for it. i can’t bring myself to regret them, i cant bring myself to wish i had never met them because i would do this over and over again just to have a moment with them.”  “Alec,” Marcus said with a pained look. “I’m so sorry.”  “Master...is that really the only thing you can say to me right now?” Alec put his head in his hands. Marcus responded. “It’s the only response you’re ready for right now.”  “What?”  “Alec, you don’t want to hear that (Y/N)’s death isn’t your fault.” Marcus began.  “Because that’s the point!” Alec cried. “I did everything right! I did everything i could and they died anyway!”  “I know, and that’s why i’m sorry.” Marcus said.

Alec was laying on his bed, the phone in his fingers before he sat up sharply. There was an unknown number in the phone, all of the Cullen’s numbers were saved except Carlisle and Esme’s and Alec was told that Carlisle was the one who found you. None of the Cullen’s approved of your relationship with Alec, their relations with the Volturi strained but surely Carlisle wouldn’t have... Alec couldn’t finish the thought. A noise escaped Alec’s throat, dropping the phone in his lap, he slapped his hands over his mouth. Jane was by his side in moments. “Alec...?”  “Jane...” Alec managed out, his eyes pitch black. “tell me, they said, that Swan girl found Carlisle over (Y/N)’s body right? Right?” Alec asked as Jane wrapped an arm around him. “Yes, why?”  “He gave me the phone.” Alec whimpered.  “Alec...” Jane said quietly.  “He gave me the phone, the only thing left! He- he gave it to me when he didn’t have to and now i think i know why. He feels guilty!”  “For what?” Jane turned her brothers face, forcing him to look at her.  “The Cullen’s didn’t approve of (Y/N) and I. Our covens hadn’t forgiven each other. He...he killed them, Jane. He killed my (Y/N).” Jane was silent, watching her brother and Alec continued. “He wanted the human girl gone before she saw (Y/N). He was the first to find them and he gave me the phone, why would he do that? Why would he risk that if he didn’t feel guilty? We know him Jane, we know him. He feels guilt easily. Jane, he killed my (Y/N).” Jane pulled Alec into a hug as he sobbed although no tears would fall. Alec continued. “There’s an unknown number - his number wasn’t saved. (Y/N) was to meet the person in the woods and not tell anyone and Carlisle found them! It was Carlisle!”  “Alec...” Jane whispered. “We have to be certain. We need proof.”  “How?” He asked. “Stay here, alright? I know what to do. Give me the phone.” Alec struggled, unable to hand it over.  “I’ll give it back, I promise.” Jane took the phone from him gently. “Where’s the unknown number?” Alec showed her. “Stay here, okay? I’m going to check the number.”  “How?” Alec asked.  “Carlisle had called us before so we’ll have a record of his number. We’ll know if the number is a match.”  Jane explained before leaving.

Jane returned with the phone about twenty minutes later. “It’s not a match.” Alec stared at his sister. “It’s not?” Jane shook her head. “No. Whoever was communicating with (Y/N)...it wasn’t Carlisle.” 

Alec needed to spend some time alone in the woods and so he did, taking the phone with him. He propped his back against the tree, sitting on the forest floor, looking through the phone. A new picture had resurfaced, blurred green, grey and brown slanted lines. Another picture had nothing but brown and orange leaves, dirt and twigs. The last picture was of nothing, pitch black. However Alec discovered a video. One he hadn’t seen before. 

“I’ve to meet him here.” You said, the camera shaking and the forest floor cracking with every step you took. “I don’t know wh-” The video cut out momentarily.  “He called me, told me to come.” Your voice said as you put the hone down despite you lowering the phone to show brown, orange and green blurs from the forest floor.

The phone suddenly cut off, moving back to the home screen. However suddenly something wasn’t quite right. A number pad came up and to his shock, Alec watched as a number was typed in. One new number at a time, before the loud speaker was activated. The phone began to dial all by itself. Alec couldn’t look away, the same unknown number had been dialled in and the phone was now ringing without Alec touching it. Much to his horror, someone answered.  “Who in the hell is this?” A male voice said, a familiar one. Alec’s eyes darkened, he recognised the voice. His mouth twisted. This whole moment was so surreal, it never really hit him what he was hearing. Instead of him responding another familiar voice spoke for him.  “You can’t forget me yet!” The voice was distorted but undoubtedly and completely yours.  “W-what?” The man staggered.  “Do you remember my face!?” Your voice yelled.  “Got you.” Alec finally said and there was a pause.  “What?” The man responded. Alec responded out of a stiff jaw, seeing red. “I’m coming for you, Vladimir.” 

Jane moved to Alec’s side. “Are you prepared for this?” Jane asked, her hand resting on Alec’s shoulder.  “Yes, sister.” Alec nodded.  “We’ll get him, he won’t get away with this.” Jane promised him. “I’ll make him pay more than i ever have with anyone else.” Alec looked at his sister with a smile. “I’m counting on it, because I intend to make him pay for ever second. We’re going to enjoy this.”  “It’ll be fun and it’ll be for (Y/N).” Jane agreed.  “He’s not getting out of this alive. I wont stand for it.” Alec said.  “No one lays a hand on them without paying the price and no one hurts my brother.” Jane finished. Alec wrapped his arm around his sister before pressing a kiss to her cheek. 

Vladimir was met with Demetri and Felix first, then the twins, all four boxing him in. Jane grinned tossing Stefan’s head to the side.  “Saving the best for last.” Felix grinned maliciously.  “I told you, i’d find you.” Alec growled, his eyes darkening my the minute.  “But while we wait...” Jane smiled at Vladimir before he fell to the ground in agony. Screaming and wailing. Jane’s smile grew, her stare down at him piercing. Alec watched with eyes full of hate. “I want to rip him apart.” Alec finally said amidst Vladimir’s screams.  “We can’t- not until Aro gets here.” Demetri stated, watching Vladimir. Alec was quiet for a moment.  “Nevertheless...” Alec trailed off and in a matter of seconds he lunged grabbing Vladimir’s arm and bending it back in a horrific way it shouldn’t ever bend before completely ripping it off. Vladimir’s screams became more hysteric. Alec dropped the arm beside Vladimir and a few seconds later Aro, Marcus and Caius had arrived. 

“Jane...” Aro said lightly and Jane broke her stare looking to Aro.  “Master.” She acknowledged. Vladimir curled up slightly on the ground, groaning in pain but no longer under Jane’s control. Aro put a hand on Alec’s shoulder and nodding to him, silently asking Alec to trust him. Finally, Aro turned to Vladimir. “Well Vladimir, you’ve certainly gotten yourself into a lot of bother.” Vladimir chuckled amongst his groans of pain. “Good. That was the plan.”  “I hope you still think it’s worth it when you’re nothing but ashes. You understand we simply cannot let you live don’t you? The Volturi don’t give second chances.”  “You don’t scare me.” Vladimir said ruefully.  “What did you do to them?” Caius spoke up.  “To the human?” Vladimir laughed again before turning to Alec. “You want every little detail? You want to know why? Idiots. All of you.”  “Jane?” Caius turned to Jane but Vladimir interrupted.  “You took my mate from me. I want you to know the pain I've felt for a millennia. So when i heard the witch twin had grown attached to a human? The opportunity was too good. After some time and observations, i tracked them down and pin pointed them. When i found the human, I started sending messages. Of course they tried to figure out who i was through the process. Stupid human thought it was one of the Cullens.”  “What did you do to them?” Caius pressed. Vladimir turned to Alec. “I told them to meet me in the woods, telling them i’d reveal who i was.” 

Vladimir was approaching behind you quickly, watching as you put your phone back in your pocket. You barely got the time to turn when a twig snapped behind you before you were kicked to the ground the phone falling out of your pocket and landing among the fallen leaves. It lit up for a moment before turning black. You yelped and Vladimir grabbed you, rolling you over and pinning you down. You screamed and tried to struggle and get him off but to no use. Vladimir grinned pinning your arms down.  You looked terrified. You didn’t know who he was as you were scared for your life.  “Nothing personal, little human. I have to teach your little boyfriend a lesson.” Vladimir knew how he would kill you, it wouldn’t be quick. “It’ll all be over soon, trust me.” 

Confusion along with terror clouded your eyes and Vladimir suddenly wrapped his hands around your neck and squeezed. You gasped, beating at his arms and trying to claw his hands away from your neck but to no use, he was a vampire and significantly stronger. You couldn’t do anything.  “You’ll be found little one. I promise.” Vladimir smiled down at you as panic set in. Your legs kicked under him but to no avail. Your hands failed in attempt to grab anything on the ground. Your outstretched hands brushing against your phone but only nudging it further away. You clawed at Vladimir once more before noticing you were growing weak. Your struggling became weaker and more like twitching. 

Vladimir couldn’t help but smile. “Damn, did it feel good seeing the light fade from their eyes. Now you know what it’s like-” Alec lunged with a scream. Demetri grabbed Alec hauling him back as Alec screamed over and over again. Jane hurried to her brother, trying to get through to him. Alec didn’t respond continuing to scream, his eyes black and full of rage and agony. He couldn’t handle it, knowing the agony you must have endured for minutes. The torture it must have been to struggle to breathe. He couldn’t forgive, he couldn't contain himself. He couldn't say anything and instead could only scream. 

Bella was immediately thrown off to see the Volturi in the Cullen’s sitting room. Edward urged her to sit down. Bella eyed Alec, Aro, Marcus and Caius on the opposite couch. Alec’s eyes never leaving the floor whilst she had the leaders gaze’s boring into her. Edward sat down beside Bella, taking her hand. “It’s been... what’s happening?” Bella finally asked. “The Volturi...Alec figured out how (Y/N) died.” Edward said gently. Bella stared at him and Edward continued. “A long time enemy of the Volturi is the Romanian coven. There is a man in that coven called Vladimir. Bella, Vladimir killed (Y/N).” Bella was still for a moment before shaking her head. “No...no that cant be right. They- they’d never hurt anybody. Why would they be killed? How did they die?”  “(Y/N) was killed as an act of revenge, to hurt Alec. He didn’t have any interest for their blood which is why their wasn’t any wounds but the bruising suggests that...(Y/N) was strangled.” Edward explained. “I didn’t see any bruises- no! No they just- they just stopped breathing! It happens! I didn’t see any-” Bella shook her head. “Bella, the bruises are there, they’re even more prominent after...” Edward trailed off. 

Bella suddenly leapt out of her seat, staggering back under her back hit the wall. Edward immediately reached for her as she doubled over, gagging as she did so.  “It’s okay.” Edward rubbed her back as she covered her face.  “It can’t be. Not (Y/N). Not (Y/N).” Bella shook her head.  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Edward pulled her in.  “No...” Bella sobbed into his shoulder. 

Emmett, Jasper, Felix and Demetri created a bonfire where you body was found. The Volturi and the Cullen’s gathering together to pay their respects and final farewell that night. 

Alec looked down at the flames of the bonfire, the Cullen’s and the Volturi surrounding it. The final goodbye to you. Alec slowly pulled the phone out of his pocket, hearing a beep. He unlocked the phone seeing a small ‘1′ highlighted in the notes app. He opened it to see one had been made only seconds ago. He opened it and swallowed.  ‘Set me free.’ It said. 

Suddenly an urge over took Alec, telling him what he had to do. He tossed the phone into the bonfire.  Sap from the branches snapped and spat slightly but as he looked up, he was met with your gaze directly across from him. You smiled at him, the breeze flowing through your hair and he stared in disbelief. Alec looked around to see if anyone else could see you but they didn’t seem to notice you. When he shifted his eyes back to where you once stood he found you were gone. He exhaled feeling you were finally at peace and since you were, he could be too. Marcus moved to Alec’s side and Alec nodded, silently assuring Marcus he was okay.

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 243: OgataOgataOgataOgataOgataOgataOgataOgataOgataOgata

Oh yes, finally some much awaited Ogata backstory!  Ah, I feel alive again - well that and I can finally work half days which is a vast improvement from working from home in a make-shift office in a spare room which includes my cat’s litter box.   This is a dense chapter, so I’m going to analyze it alone and also - Ogata.

Chatper 243 is titled “Superior Privates” and it clearly is setting up conflict between Usami and Ogata.  We have Usami’s face framed by Tsurumi and Ogata as the men tattooed on his face running but never able to meet.

I have to admit it took me a bit of staring at it to get the joke.  I also think there is a Captain Tsubasa reference in here as it looks like they are playing soccer, but that is a series that I know little about.

The title page also has a rifle and a hammer and a horse in the background implying the vastly different ways that Ogata and Usami have for killing other people or living things.

The chapter starts out with Usami using his *ahem* rather intimate method for trying to find the serial killer while Kikuta tries to make small talk with him.  He remarks on how Usami’s methods are odd and it leads him into mentioning Ogata.  He states how he thought that there was something wrong with the superior privates.  Kikuta says this calmly and his eyes are shaded a bit and his eyes are narrow.  I think Kikuta is trying to get a rise out of Usami or see how he really feels about Ogata.  Usami is not happy that Kikuta has put him in the same category of weird with Ogata, he doesn’t want to be lumped in the same category as Ogata.  Now keep in mind that we are reading an English translation so that is what I have to work with but Usami both refers to him as a bastard and I get the feeling that it is both a literal and a descriptive way that Usami feels about Ogata.  He even uses very interesting language of ‘snot-nosed spoiled little punk’ which in English implies that Ogata has much more in common with Koito as it reads to me that Usami sees him as a spoiled rich kid (something that we know Ogata certainly was not).

Kikuta seems to partially ignore Usami’s statement and continues to state that he was the best marksmen in the 27th and that Tsurumi gave him ‘special attention’.  Again, this statement seems to be baiting Usami and he quickly and angrily responds yelling that Ogata was just a glorified walking firearm, and he’s Tsurumi’s number one. 

This leads Usami to give Kikuta information to prove that he’s better than Ogata and that Ogata is not important.  I read this exchange to be an expression of Usami’s jealousy of Ogata and he is here to set the ‘record’ straight.  This is interesting as we know that Kikuta was working with Ogata for some time as they were the ‘Russian’ kidnappers of Koito in 1902 in Hakodate.  Usami must know that Kikuta and Ogata worked together, but we still don’t have a time when either of them joined the 27th.

Anyways, Usami brings up 2nd lt. Yuusaku Hanazawa and he reminds Kikuta that he died during the battle of the 203 Hill.  Which he then transitions to when Ogata was recovering in Otaru from being beaten up by Sugimoto and dumped into the river.  Ogata is in bed, he’s groaning and he says Yuusaku-sir which is one way to translate Yuusaku-dono.  So while in pain and potentially dreaming, Ogata has mentioned a very distant and respectful way to refer to Yuusaku.

This has such a strong callback to chapter 165 when Ogata has the fever dream and he links Yuusaku to Asirpa as being a pure idol for a cause. 

Now let’s stop and pause here - many readers of the manga have always thought that Ogata is a cold hearted bastard who feels no remorse for killing at all.  Ever since I read chapters 164 & 165, I have always felt for Ogata and I read it to be the glimpse into the fact that Ogata did have second thoughts about what he did and he had doubts and possible guilt.  I started writing meta because of how strongly I felt about Ogata and I have thought that he is a very complicated and fascinating character.   This scene here in 243, gives much more evidence to how Ogata feels about Yuusaku’s death, that he does feel guilty as he is haunted by Yuusaku and it makes chapter 164 and 165 make so much more sense.  Keep in mind when he has his melt down on the ice floe with Asirpa, he’s haunted by Yuusaku again there so more evidence of his feelings of confusion, anger, and guilt.  He wasn’t just haunted by Yuusaku in 164 and 165, he was haunted by him all the way back in the beginning of the manga’s current events timeline.

Okay, back to the flashback.  Ogata isn’t alone saying his half-brother’s name in a detached fashion, but Usami is watching over him and he mocks Ogata by repeating “Yuusaku-dono” and Ogata then stares at him, now awake.  It is a typical blank Ogata stare back at Usami.  It is clear that Usami wants to get a rise out of Ogata from the start with his aggressive body language.

Usami then drops the ‘bomb’ that Ogata said the name of his brother that he killed and he follows it up with Ogata being a weakling.  This implies that Usami sees this as an admission of guilt about Yuusaku’s death and that Usami doesn’t feel guilty about killing others.

Kikuta seems surprised that Ogata may have killed Yuusaku and Usami is certain based on the fact that Ogata is the only person who could snipe that accurately.  This implies that they actually performed an autopsy on Yuusaku which I do find curious as they were in the middle of a trench warfare situation.  But I am no expert on battlefield autopsies.  I would have thought that they didn’t pay much attention since, well they were in the middle of a battle but perhaps the fact that he was an officer they felt it was more important to at least note how he died.

This then leads to an interesting comment from Kikuta.  He makes it clear that Ogata would have no reason to kill him and he follows up with the fact that they seemed to get long well. The next panel is a flashback with Yuusaku trying to be friendly with Ogata and he’s literally trying to merge with the wall to escape his attention.  Now when I first saw the raws and read two rough translation from @goldenkamuyhunting​ and inori, I was like, seriously?  Come on Kikuta the body language is so obvious that Ogata wanted nothing to do with Yuusaku.

So I dug around to find a similar type of panel for a character’s expression in profile like Kikuta and I came back to this one here.  We have Ogata hallucinating Asirpa as Yuusaku as he looks stressed and a bit deadpan but he’s definitely surprised by what he’s seeing.

When I then look at Kikuta’s expression, I think he’s also surprised at the obvious fact that Ogata is not happy with Yuusaku.  Therefore, I think Kikuta is lying to Usami.  He knew that Ogata was uncomfortable with Yuusaku but plays it cool when talking to Usami at this moment.

There is also this helpful tweet from Sei Kobiyama:

He highlights that the fact that Ogata uses such formal language with Yuusaku also shows a clear separation of Ogata from Yuusaku. Keep in mind that in 103, it was stated that Yuusaku would refer to Ogata as “older brother” while we know 100% now that Ogata called him “Yuusaku-dono”.  This shows that both men were defining their relationship based on their own prerogative.  Ogata never saw Yuusaku as a brother, he kept the relationship professional.  Yuusaku wanted an older brother and thus he used the language towards Ogata to make their relationship familial. 

Therefore, I think that KIkuta is smart enough to read between the lines and see that the brotherly relationship was one way and unrequited.  I know you are clever man Kikuta, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and that you are playing Usami in this conversation.

Usami continues to explain to Kikuta why he believes that Ogata killed Yuusaku.  The flashback goes back to the battle for the 203 Hill.  This is directly after the flashback from 165 when Ogata is sniping Russians from the trenches and Tsurumi approaches him and updates him that there is a new plan.  He is to not kill Yuusaku as he is an inspiration to the men in battle as a flag bearer.  Ogata replies to Tsurumi as he uses the bolt action to eject the expired shell as he blankly replies to Tsurumi.

Chapter 243 starts off with this scene where Noda copy-pasted Ogata into the trench from 165 but added Usami in.  Usami is asking Ogata if Tsurumi told him that it is better for him to not kill Yuusaku.  This means that Usami was also aware of the original plan to kill Yuusaku along with Ogata.  What is interesting is that Usami then repeats that Tsurumi used the lines that “if Yuusaku is out of the picture Hyakunosuke’s father will show him love” and via Hanazawa’s love for Ogata, the 27th can control Hanazawa.  Usami adds in that this is a boring option; I find this hard to read as is he thinking Ogata controlling Hanazawa is boring or if this is how Usami is expressing his jealousy that Ogata is required to control Hanazawa thus giving him more Tsurumi love.

Ogata replies that Tsurumi has decided to use Yuusaku’s role as a pure idol as a way to inspire the men in battle.  Ogata looks reflective as he says this, he clearly understands the power of an idol such as Yuusaku and this is before he has his conversation with Yuusaku on the battlefield.

Usami clearly disagrees with Ogata’s read on Yuusaku, he angrily states that he’s just using his father’s position to gain respect from others and he already hopes that Tsurumi doesn’t give him more glorification that he deserves.  Keep in mind that 164 was when Ogata tried to get Yuusaku to destroy his purity by having him visit with a prostitute in a brothel but it failed.  Tsurumi read this as an indication of Yuusaku’s purity and his nobility, which Ogata clearly disagrees with.  Ogata had first hand evidence of Yuusaku’s attempt to fulfill his father’s wishes. 

What is interesting is that when Usami speaks to Ogata, his back is to him and we see Ogata’s eye from under the hood of his cloak and then we see Ogata frowning just a bit as his eyes look rounder than normal.  I really think that Ogata at least is beginning to observe that Yuusaku’s purity may be a part of his character but he’s still unsure if he’s doing it as a dutiful son or if he’s doing it for himself.

The flashback jumps to sometime later and we see Ogata having a conversation with Usami.  At this point in time, Ogata is stating a hypothesis that Yuusaku is presenting a false image of himself.  He states that if the false front is removed, Yuusaku will be shown to be the same as everyone else, and Tsurumi will change is mind about him as an idol of purity.  Ogata states that everyone is the same deep down.  He then asks Usami if he feels bad when he kills a Russian solider and Usami replies that he doesn’t.  Ogata continues with the rationalization that those who die on the battlefield die b/c of their own fault, that they are inept and therefore they die and Usami just agrees again with this statement.

The bottom right panel is more important as it shows that Ogata is setting up his ‘test’ for Yuusaku with Usami, you see Ogata to the right, Usami to the left and a third figure being dragged between them.  It looks like Noda made a goof in the final panel as Ogata’s hood is now down on his cloak but it was clearly up right before then.

Ogata continues his verbal thesis as he states that the love from one’s parents doesn’t change how you turn out.  Usami agrees.  Usami came from a 100% loving and friendly household and he’s our most twisted member of the 27th.  Ogata came from a completely broken home and he tries to rationalize that is why he can kill.   This allows Ogata to state that, he’s correct and if he and Usami are the same despite different household he’s not strange.

Some period of time passes and Ogata goes to find Yuusaku and test him with the Russian POW.  This means that we need to recall what happened in chapter 165 where Ogata brought Yuusaku to the POW here.  I always wondered who else was involved in this ‘test’ as Ogata does not look like the kind of guy who could carry a Russian POW to a random place to hide him and stage him for Yuusaku to encounter.

With his hood heavily drawn and no longer wearing his military cap, Ogata asks him if he’s killed a single person.  This leads to Ogata’s observation that Yuusaku doesn’t even use his sabre which other flag bearers will fight with in battle.  Ogata asks if he’s using his position as an excuse so that he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty by killing.

Yuusaku is clearly nervous about this accusation.  Is this actually in part the truth of Yuusaku’s own personal beliefs?  This leads to the ultimate Ogata ‘test’ he asks him to kill the POW.  Note that Yuusaku refers to Ogata as brother while we know that this entire time Ogata is using Yuusaku-dono again showing the gulf between them.  He questions if Yuusaku is trying to stay innocent by using his position and he presses him that he wants to see him kill him.

This is then repeated with Usami narration on page 7.  The text box is Usami stating that Yuusaku was truly pure and we see Yuusaku walk away from Ogata.

We have to remember between Ogata handing the bayonet to Yuusaku and then Yuusaku leaving a LOT more happened.  Yuusaku explains that he’s upholding the role that his father told him that he must play.  That he must go above and beyond the expectations of most flag bearers.  It is his job to alleviate the inevitable guilt that soldiers will feel as a result of their actions.  Ogata questions his statement about guilt and that people only act like they feel guilty.  This reply makes so much sense as we now know that right before this happens, Ogata was talking with Usami about how all people are the same deep down.  It doesn’t matter if they came from a loving family or a broken family, they are the same and that they can kill and NOT feel guilt. 

Ogata’s statement that everyone is the same as me, is with the huge caveat that Usami says he’s the same as Ogata.  This conversation ends with the incredibly awkward brotherly hug of one direction.  Yuusaku looks like he’s even crying from his left eye has he embraces Ogata, while he stands there unresponsive.  Yuusaku is certain that Ogata does have feelings and will feel guilty and he emphasizes that he’ll understand one day.

The hug scene ends with Ogata blankly staring off as Yuusaku hugs him and we can see a small foxhole in the trench that we saw before.

Going back to 243, we see Ogata address what first appears to be no one (clearly not the Russian POW) and it reveals that Usami was in the bunker/foxhole the entire time!  This means that Usami witnessed the full awkward brotherly hug and the statement from Yuusaku that people must feel guilt over killing.

Ogata then states that if he kills Yuusaku and it shows that his father loves him, it will demonstrate that Yuusaku could have become just like Ogata.   And he asks if Usami agrees with him.  Of course, Usami emerges from the bunker to state that he completely agrees with Ogata as the Russian POW still remains hog tied between them.  We get the final panel of Yuusaku collapsing on the battlefield.

The conversation returns briefly to the present as Usami tells Kikuta that Hanazawa instead became depressed over the loss of his legitimate son and never even bothered to look up Ogata.  The next statement is unclear to me, “So he was feeling all miserable and upset because Yuusaku died while he was still pure and good.”  This could be about how Hanazawa felt, but it could also refer to Ogata, and that Ogata was upset as he was never able to prove that Yuusaku wasn’t pure.  Or is this referreing to both Hanazawa and Ogata making their responses to Yuusaku’s death the same?

After this is said, Kikuta decides that he doesn’t have time for this and leaves Usami behind to lay on the ground in the afterglow.

Usami then thinks more about his conversation with Ogata in the hospital.  He tells Ogata that he knows he’s involved in the rebellion in the ranks and that he’s one of the people who has been stirring up discontent. 

Usami inquires if it has to do with Ogata’s role in the death of Hanazawa.  Usami can’t see how Tsurumi could do something that makes him unhappy.

Usami’s recollection then reveals that he was the carriage driver when Ogata met up with Tsurumi after he killed Hanazawa and staged the body.  We see Usami biting his lip seething with anger as Tsurumi dotes upon an unemotional Ogata.  This the leads to more information, at somepoint, Tsurumi gets out of the carriage and leaves Usami and Ogata alone.  Tsurumi damn well knew he was able to rile Usami up, just like what happened with Usami and Tomoharu at the dojo.

Usami then quotes Tsurumi, “You’ve been left behind Ogata, so I’m sure everyone will support you.” this leads Usami to ask Ogata if his goal is to become the leader of the 7th and if this was the reasn he agreed to be the member of the 27th to kill Hanazawa.  This implies that Usami at this point in time thinks that Ogata wanted the power and status of becoming the next Hanazawa of the 7th. 

Interestingly, Ogata stated that he accepted the job because he had to ask Hanazawa things before the end.  This implies that Tsurumi’s plan to kill Hanazawa could have gone to others in the 27th and knowing that Hanazawa was a marked man, Ogata’s opportunties were liminted to get his own personal questions answered.

What is interesting is we see here now in 103 that Ogata’s mindset about children is different than his previous conversation with Usami.  First off, Hanazawa tries to rationalize that how Ogata responded to his mother’s mental illness was the same that Hanazawa felt towards her.  We know that her mental status was already poor around the time that she gave birth to Ogata and Hanazawa never came back for her.  Ogata then highlights that children can’t choose their parents.  His theory has shifted that if love exists, he is a child who grew up lacking love and therefore he’s lacking something fundamental and it is unrelated to social status.

This is different than what he had when he spoke to Usami.  At that time Ogata felt that he and Usami were the same, they could both kill regardless of the fact that he grew up lacking the love of his parents when Usami was clearly loved.  After Yuusaku’s death, Ogata’s opinion changed, he now sees himself in a different category than Usami.  His words make it clear that he, himself is lacking something fundamental due to his upbringing.

He uses this as the transition to reveal that he shot Yuusaku on the battlefield with the intention of getting Hanazawa’s attention.  Ogata wonder if this was an event that might allow his father to love and accept his other son.

This lead to what is one of the most bittersweet panels of the entire manga where he asks if there was a ‘blessed path’ for himself as well.

Hanazawa makes it quite clear that Ogata is ‘lacking something [fundamental]’ and that he should go to hell.  Hanazawa’s dying statement is pretty clear, if he could kill his mother, his brother and now Hanazawa he was a broken individual who lacked love.

With time and perspective, this confirms for Ogata that he is lacking something fundamental.  He was able to get the words from his own father thus creating a self-fullfilling conclusion. 

What this does tell us, is that Ogata wanted answers more than anything.  He’s an intelligent man and all of these flashbacks are beginning to show how he’s trying to rationalize who he is, how he became the adult that he is.

So when we return to this part of the page, it makes so much more sense.  Ogata had to ask Hanazawa questions before Tsurumi made sure that he was dead.  Usami then immediately thinks that this is a power play on Ogata’s part to get more attention from Tsurumi.  Usami is thinking “Ogata volunteered to kill his own father - he clearly wants Tsurumi’s love!”

Ogata replies after a brief hesitation that this is not the case.  Usami just looks at Ogata with his angry rabbit face.

Usami decides to stir the pot more and he tells Ogata the true purpose of why Tsurumi wanted Hanazawa dead, the Manchurian Railway (Mantetsu).  Usami then decides to try to rile up Ogata by saying that Tsurumi didn’t want Ogata to kill him so that Ogata would be in Tsurumi’s good books but that Ogata’s father was preventing Tsurumi’s own plans in regards to the Manchurian railway.

Usami then thinks back to when he approached Ogata in the hospital as he tries to rationalize why Ogata was a part of the rebel element.  He thinks Ogata is upset that he killed his father to gain Tsurumi’s love, to show his loyalty, but instead Ogata was just a simple tool to allow Tsurumi’s plans for the Railway to proceed.

Usami tries his best to rile Ogata - he killed Yuusaku and he didn’t gain his father’s love, he killed his father but didn’t gain Tsurumi’s love.  Therefore, Ogata is bitter and angry and full of spite since no matter what Ogata has done, no one has loved him.  I think that Usami is partially correct, Ogata did these actions to see if he could gain the blessed path.  He killed Yuusaku to see if Hanazawa would approach him, but deep down, I still think Tsurumi ultimately wanted Yuusaku dead and I still think in a way, Ogata thought he was saving Yuusaku from being killed by another member of the 27th in the future.  Say Yuusaku survived the war.  It was clear as soon as he heard about Tsurumi’s plans he’d be dead.

With our new information that Ogata wanted to ask Hanazawa questions ‘before the end’ implies that again, Ogata knew that Tsurumi’s plans required Hanazawa out of the way.  Ogata needs answers to his questions about the nature of his own guilt and his need to be loved and recognized.  To me, by volunteering to be the person of the 27th to kill Hanazawa, it was the only way that he would be able to talk to his father.  His father was a dead man walking with Tsurumi’s plans and if say Tsukishima had killed him instead, he would have been left wondering if the ‘blessed path’ would open up for him as a result of his father recognizing him.  That fact that Hanazawa completely ignored Ogata’s existence after Yuusaku’s death clearly bothered Ogata and he needed to hear those answers.  It is terrible that he could only get his answers in such an extreme situation but it was Ogata’s only option and if there is something Ogata is, it is hyper-rational.

Usami tries to push Ogata further by tearing him down as he explains why Ogata became a traitor.  He states that he’s a “piece’ in Tsurumi’s game, just like Koito is a “piece”.  Thanks to inori for clarfying on discord that the translation refers to them as shogi pieces; as shogi is similar to chess, I think it is safe to make a leap that this implies that members of the 27th are pieces with different abilities and therefore, some are more useful and valuable while others are less valuable. Usami really goes for the hurt by comparing Ogata with Koito as we know that Koito and Ogata never got along even when Koito was a young officer in training.  He thinks that Ogata’s ego got the better of him and this is why he became a traitor.  He says that his ‘overwhelming’ love became ‘overwhelming’ hate and he states that Ogata knows exactly what he means and he sees Ogata for what he is.  This is interesting as we know that Ogata has changed his opinion on love and around the time that he killed Hanazawa he didn’t believe in ‘love’ as a concept.  It is clear that Usami never realized that this shift occured in Ogata’s thinking.

Ogata finally whispers something in Usami’s ear that we don’t know.  Ogata then smile as he replies to Usami’s shogi [chess] anology.  He calls Usami’s hypothesis a delusion and if they are to see members of the 27th as shogi/chess pieces, Usami is the cheapest piece on the board.  Ogata’s insult likely means that Usami is a simple pawn (or whatever the shogi equivelent of a pawn is, I should know this after watching “March comes in like a Lion” but it clearly didn’t stick in my brain).  If we are to follow a chess/shogi example, I’d say that Ogata’s interpretation hurts Usami deeply, by implying he’s a worthless pawn, he’s disposable and not important to Tsurumi.

This clearly does the trick as Usami pulls out his bayonet to stab Ogata and we see his veins on his face bulging out, a direct reference back to when he killed Tomoharu.

However, just like with the poor Russian doctor, Ogata clocks Usami in the face with a bedpan.  Ogata, using bedpans to beat people in the face since ~1907.

The next page then shows us how Ogata was so effective when he escaped the hospital in Akou.  He hit someone with a bedpan, and sprinted off barefoot in hospital clothing.  This flashback has many parallels with what happened in the hospital.  Usami refers to both Ogata and Koito as similar pieces and we learn that Usami told Ogata to investigate the Mantetsu before this happened.  On Karafuto, Ogata manages to have the Russian doctor hit Koito with the revolver and he also hits Koito with it.

Usami at somepoint wakes up and another man checks in with him.  Usami states that Mishima is following Ogata and it implies that Usami is smart enough to realize if he let Ogata go, he’ll lead them right to the other rebels.  Usami is upset that he was called a cheap piece by Ogata.  Of course I’m not surprised that Ogata knew exactly what to say to Usami to piss him off, he is always watching.  Usami is not a piece, Ogata, Koito, Tsukishima those men are pieces but Usami is special.

And yes, for good measure his is the scene after Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian he told him about the South Manchuria Railway and to investigate it as it would explain that Hanazawa’s death was suspicious.

Chapter 210 has Koito’s whole, I’ve connected the dots Tsukishima and Tsurumi may have been involved in Hanazawa’s death!  This lead to Tsukishima revealing to him that Ogata was the one who killed Hanazawa.  Just like Usami, Tsukishima projects his own issues onto Ogata’s behavior as he also thinks that Ogata became upset after he killed his father even though Tsurumi gave him exactly what he [Tsukishima] wanted.

Tsukishima also re-interates his own theory that Ogata is working as a spy for Central Command which came up during his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari.

Therefore, a really major theme is that Usami and Tsukishima both think that they know what Ogata wanted from Tsurumi with their own issues projected onto Ogata’s behaviors.  It is clear from Usami’s flashback that Ogata wanted something else that we the readers know but Usami doesn’t know because he didn’t hear the conversation between Ogata and Hanazawa. 

What this also shows us is that Ogata’s motivations are not what others think that they are and he clearly has his own agenda.  We’ve known for sometime that he has his own agenda and now we can see it is partially driven by his own need to answer some pretty basic philosophical questions about the nature of love and how people are raised and if this is connected to the ability to kill and to feel guilt or not.

Back to the chapter, we have Usami now alone, abandoned by Kikuta, doing his ‘thing’ as he says that Ogata will come to Sapporo to interfere with Tsurumi’s plans and he’s clearly upset by it.

The chapter then wraps up with an update on Ogata’s marksmenship.  Ogata sees a duck, takes aim and fires.  I like how the final panel shows an emotionless Ogata pull his rifle back before the next page reveals the result.

Like any good cat, he comes bearing a gift for his current servants.  He holds up the duck to display and offer to Hijikata and Ushiyama.  With full on smug cat expression, he explains that he’s finally become accustomed to shooting with his left hand.

He looks like such a happy cat has he lifts the rifle off his shoulder.  Hijikata then asks if this implies that the sniper has completely recovered.  Ogata looks quite contimplative as he replies “No.  . . .”

The answer is defined by his final full page reply.

He can only be called a sniper when he snipes a person.  He’s now holding the rifle left handed indicating that he’s ready and he looks so confident.

Based on the fact that Usami predicts Ogata’s involvement in the search for Jack the Ripper, and that Ogata has now stated his ready to become a sniper again. It looks like Ogata’s sniping will begin again in Sapporo and Usami will be involved.

And with that our chapter ends.

As a card carrying Ogata fan, I was so happy to read this chapter!  Ogata, I have missed you sooo much and I’ve been waiting for more background for your mysterious motivations.

1.) Ogata feels guilty about killing Yuusaku.  The fact that Ogata said “Yuusaku-dono” in the hospital, the fact that he was being possessed by Yuusaku in chapters 164 & 165, the fact that when he was talking to Asirpa, he was talking to Yuusaku on the ice floe; all of these events show us that he does have feelings of guilt in regards to his actions.

However, I do not think Ogata’s guilt is because Yuusaku was his half-brother, it is clear that Ogata did not want Yuusaku’s love or attention as it likely made his already miserable life in the 27th even worse.  We know that Ogata was bullied due to his status as an illegitimate child (chapter 169).  From Ogata’s language around Yuusaku he saw him as a pure idol.  A man who was shaped to become a pure idol by his father and he was the dutiful son that Hanazawa expected from him. 

The pure idol concept is a connection that Ogata made himself between Yuusaku and Asirpa.  When he wakes up from his fever dream in 165 he knows that in his mind, Asirpa is a pure idol that Wilk shaped to lead the Ainu and ethnic minority groups into the future.  We as readers know that Asirpa’s personal value to not kill is something that she developed herself and it wasn’t something that Wilk told her to be or do directly.  But Ogata doesn’t know this, he assumes this from his own interactions.  That is why when he has his meltdown on ice he begins to talk to Asirpa like he picked up his converation with Yuusaku with the Russian POW from chapter 165. This is why Asirpa is a bit puzzled herself, Ogata is speaking her in terms that she doesn’t quite get since she is not Yuusaku but in Ogata’s mind they are cut from the same cloth and therefore in a way almost the same person.

Both Asirpa and Yuusaku were raised by important men who had a clear destiny laid out for their children.  Yuusaku was the dutiful son who was placed into a ‘pure’ job as a flag bearer even though he likely knew it would result in the loss of his son’s own life.  If Sugimoto can make the connection of Asirpa to Joan of Arc and he only read it in a shoujo magazine, we know that Ogata clearly knows of such examples as well and he learned enough from Kiro and Sofia about Wilk to know his motivations. 

I’m guesing he may have been able to see Wilk’s conversation with Sugimoto at Abashiri before he shot him as well, Wilk flat out tells Sugimoto that he raised Asirpa to be a guerilla fighter for Ainu independence.

Or Ogata already knew this and his time on Karafuto only confirmed his thoughts.  It doesn’t really matter, what we know is Ogata thought for sure that Wilk trained Asirpa to be the pure idol for Ainu independence.

What I’m really trying to hammer home is that Ogata, seeing Asirpa’s own personal code to not kill implied to him a need for her to be a pure Ainu idol, just like Yuusaku was a pure Japanese military idol. 

And Ogata clearly has indicated he doesn’t like how these men groomed their children into becoming pure idols who lead others into battle.  Those others lead into battle, such as himself, are supposed to feel better about their guilt of killing others as their idols remain pure.  But Ogata thinks that this is utter bullshit and that there are no pure people.  To cope with all of the trauma from his own life, he has to tell himself that people don’t feel guilt and that people are not that great.

Yet, the two pure people he has met both wanted to connect with him.  Yuusaku wanted so much for him to connect with Ogata and be his brother.  Now, Yuusaku was a next level dumbass in this regard as he clearly was making Ogata very uncomfortable, likely making his position in the 27th worse than it already was and in a way, his desire for an older brother was quite selfish.

Asirpa accepting Ogata and caring about him really throws him for a loop as she is not related to him, nor is she Japanese.  Perhaps, @goldenkamuyhunting​ and I’s crazy idea that Ogata is mixed race may play a part of this if Ogata is part ethnic minority from Karafuto.  It would make his connection to Asirpa more of a familial/genetic type again making him more uncomfortable. 

Yet, it is clear that he comes to accept her attention and he clearly cares about her on some level.  So when she tries to pull the same “purity” crap on him that he feels Yuusaku did he snaps.  I think what started it was when she told him she “There’s not a single thing I can trust about you!” He really lost it then as all these other people have lied to Asirpa and she trusts them but the one time he lies to her she knows immediately and rejects him.  And she had accepted him.  It hurt him. 

Ogata gets his wish when Asirpa accidentally shoots him.  His twisted smile, to me, indicates that he was like “Yes, she shot me!  There are no pure idols in the world.  My hypothesis is correct!”

This therefore, at that point in time shows Ogata that if only Yuusaku had more time, he too would have lost his purity if given the right circumstances. 

What I’m more curious is where this leaves Ogata standing in at the present in the manga.  We don’t know what he was thinking after he was injured, but I’m sure there were more fever dreams and deep thoughts about philosphical contimplations about the meaning of love, purity and family in Ogata’s overactive mind.

Did Ogata escape the possession of his soul by Yuusaku in chapter 165?  Or with the admission of his guilt in 243, does it mean this was a self-imposed ‘possession’ which was removed by Asirpa shooting him in the eye and he lost his sinning eye. 

It is also interesting that he replies to Hijikata that a sniper needs to snipe other humans to be called such, will he actually snipe to kill or will his sniping style change with  the loss of the eye and the guilt tied to it.

The fact that we still have yet to see Yuusaku’s full face implies to me that his guilt still remains and when Ogata confronts that guilt, we will see what Yuusaku actually looked like.

And this long first point is to conclude that Ogata feels guilty for killing an ‘innocent’ like Yuusaku, not because he was his half-brother but due to his commitment to what was expected of him by his father.

2.) Our interpretation of Ogata almsot always comes from another character’s interpretation of Ogata.  Throughout GK, Ogata has been framed in a rather unique fashion as a character.  Most of what is said and believed about Ogata is based on what other characters say about him and how they act with him. 

Sugimoto sees him as a traitor and can’t be trusted, though likely it is due to the fact that Sugimoto feels that he has betrayed others and he even goes on to betray Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Koito first sees him as an ungrateful son, and the son of a wildcat.  Therefore, Ogata is out to con others.  He may also think that Ogata should love his father as a second son, because he learned that his own father (Koito Sr.) loves him as the literal second son.  He later learns that Ogata killed Hanazawa and he has not given us any indication what this means to him.

Tsukishima sees him as a man who was angry at his father for hurting him.  When Ogata was given the chance to kill his father, Tsukishima thought it would have given him peace and a place in the 27th to continue to live off of Tsurumi’s sweet lies.

Usami sees Ogata as an individual who wanted Tsurumi’s undevoted attention and love.  Just as Usami gained love from Tsurumi through violence, he saw Ogata perform despicable acts to his half-brother and father but those did not get him Tsurumi’s love.  Ogata is just like Tomoharu in Usami’s eyes, another person taking attention from Tsurumi away from him.

Tamai saw Ogata as a capable solider and reliable.  Unfortunately as a member of the bear death trio we learn little else about how he saw Ogata as Noma and Oda seemed less keen on Ogata.

Hijikata knows he’s an unusual man who was under Tsurumi and as much as he deflects, he knows that Ogata has an intelligence background.  He keeps Ogata as far away from him as possible and makes Ogata travel with the other groups while he tries to figure out Kiro’s background.  Hijikata likely knows that Ogata has his own plans and he’s not going to tell him for sure.

What this has done for many readers of the manga is that they take what these characters say and do and use that to form what they also see Ogata to be.  But really, we have a bunch of unreliable narrators telling us who they think Ogata is, not who Ogata actually is.

When we examine Ogata’s own actions independent of what everyone else thinks, we see a different picture.  Ogata is an intelligent military man who pretty much calls things as they are, figures out things quickly, thinks on his feet and can command small groups of people effectively.  I really don’t want to belabor this point, I’ve written tons of meta about why I think Ogata is an interesting and capable character.

3.) Ogata is a philosophical guy.  This drives his interpersonal behaviors and likely is a coping mechanism with his poorly developed childish emotional maturity.  The flashbacks in 103, 164, 165, 243 as well as many things that Ogata have said throughou the manga or done all point to a man who is mature as an adult but who never got beyond basic child emotions. 

What is really interesting is that we see what Ogata is thinking, he asks others for their inupt, he finds more people and asks them questions which then allows him to change what he is thinking as he gets more information.  He is clearly constantly thinking and changing how he feels about family, love, guilt from killing.  The issue is that all of his behaviors are through a rational and logical thought process.  Sadly, he is not taking his emotions into his questions since he doesn’t really know what to do with his own emotions. 

We know that he does feel guilt from killing at least ‘innocent’ people and this may be where his self-control came from.  Think of when he was with Nikaido trying to snipe Tanigaki.  Nikaido didn’t care about Asirpa’s Huci and Osoma, but Ogata wouldn’t hurt them, he only wanted Tanigaki.  His character’s behaviors scream out that he wants to be loved and accepted by someone after a lifetime of bullying but he doesn’t even know how to go about it.

4.) Usami is super messed up.  I just felt that this makes a good point.  Usami is fucking nuts.  This chapter just gives us more information that Usami has his mindset and he sticks to it = Tsurumi loves him, he loves Tsurumi and he will be Tsurumi’s favorite.  Obviously, he’s indicating there will be an Ogata encounter.  Usami better be careful as Ogata’s sniping skills are back.

5.) Kikuta is likely relaying information to Ariko and Central Command perhaps.  As I stated when I first read the chapter and saw Kikuta’s remark about Ogata and Yuusaku, I was like, wtf Kikuta are you blind?  But then if you read the beginning of the chapter, Kikuta is gently nudging Usami to talk.  He drives the entire conversation and as Usami is so emotionally invested in it, he says so much that he likely shouldn’t.  This is exactly how Ogata got information out of Sugimoto when they first met in chapter 5.  Both men have worked in intelligence and they easily pull information out of others before they even realize it.  The fact that he asked Usami his opinion of Ogata makes me wonder if Kikuta knows more or he started asking Usami about Ogata as Ariko told him Ogata was in Sapporo with Hijikata and got injured somewhere.  Ariko was shocked to see Ogata as he thought Ogata was dedicated and loyal to Tsurumi. 

The fact that Kikuta literally left Usami alone in the street ‘investigating’ means he could be going to do his own intel exchange and he doesn’t have to worry about Usami snooping on him.  If Usami was supposed to keep an eye on Kikuta for Tsurumi in Sapporo, he’s doing a shit job. 

Well that is all that I have for now.  Apologies for the long meta, but it was so interesting and I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of points.