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sassycheesecake · 1 year

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A/N: Hi everyone! This is a request from one of my readers! The request was to write the „Dream A Little Of Me“ in the male reader perspective. Also, instead of the manager, the reader is the Athletic Trainer for the MSBY Jackals. Hope you guys like it! Enjoy <3

genre: a lil‘ angst, fluff, smut in the beginning

warnings: sex dream, male masturbation, cursing

Shūgo Meian x Reader “Dream A Little Of Me”

“Oh (Y/N)... that feels so good… yeah j-just like that. Holy shit! O-Ohh…” Meian moans heavily with your wandering touches.

His broad chest rises and falls fast, his mind is all over the place.

Your skilled tongue swirls around the head of his long cock, making it twitch with need and he blissfully pants as precum starts dripping from the tip.

”(Y/N) please… stop teasing me… I want to fuck you so bad.” Meian tangles his hand in your hair and tugs on it occasionally. His other hand fists the sheets of the bed.

You willingly let go of his cock, making a ‘pop’ noise as you retreated from his form.

A mix string of saliva and precum connects your wet lips and his tip and Meian throws his head back in satisfaction, trying to calm his breathing.

Looking at him with a glint in your eyes, you crawl onto his lap, placing each leg next to his waist.

Meian stares at you with flushed cheeks, a small smile growing on the corner of his lips.

Placing your hands to rest on his ripped abdomen, you begin to sit down on him with a dreamy sigh, feeling him stretch your insides out.

Gasping at his enormous size, he too, moans shakily at the feeling of your tight hole squeezing him.

”Hah, hah. Gosh you feel amazing!”, scrunching his face in gratification, he places his giant hands on your hips, grasping them tightly, surely leaving marks.

Meian opens his eyes and looks at you with pure love and adoration.

”(Y/N)… I love y-“ , Meian’s voice stops suddenly and you hear your annoying alarm going off.

You wake up with a startling gasp, scooching back and moving to sit up against your headboard as you try to calm your breathing and your racing heart. Your hair is slightly sweaty, no doubt about the stimulation you felt in your dream. It felt so real.

Unbelievable, this is now the third time you dreamed about the MSBY’s Captain like this.

Rubbing your hands over your face, you groan in sexual frustration as you replay the images in your head over a naked Shūgo Meian confessing his feelings for you.

Looking down, you see your boner pressing up against your dark bed sheets, a small wet spot marks the sheet.

‘Great.‘ You think to yourself as you slowly reach for your hard member, thinking about the raven-haired Middle Blocker and Captain.

Just everything about that guy is perfect. His smile, his stature, his personality, he’s just a dream come true.

As a Captain of a Pro Volleyball team, he is strict with his teammates and is not afraid to scold three certain rascals for their shenanigans (every day) from time to time.

As the Athletic Trainer of MSBY, you just graduated from the Hardin-Simmons University in Texas.

They offer one of the best Athletic Trainer programs, moving there after you graduated High School in Tokyo.

You remember your first day with the Jackals, as if it happened yesterday.

It was an early Monday morning five months ago and you being nervous to meet the team was an understatement.

Standing in front of the gym doors of the official training hall of the MSBY Black Jackals in Osaka, your trembling hands reach for the door handle and you push it open with ease, having built a sturdy and strong frame after years of working on your body.

The first thing you notice is the smell.

It’s a mix between sweat, lemon and a faint hint of ‘Dark Temptation’ Axe deodorant spray.

Your eyes find the team, playing a three-on-three match, not noticing yet that you have walked in.

Coach Foster hears you first and he tells his team to take a small break while he talks to you.

After saying those words, the team finally looks at you and it’s making you feel small.

Even though you’re not the smallest person, their massive height DO intimidate you.

“Thank you for your application, I am guessing you’re (Y/L/N) (Y/F/N). Correct?” Foster asks you.

You bow deep in respect, confirming his question.

“Nice to meet you sir, yes I am.”

Foster nods, telling you they already did warm ups for about 30 minutes with a 15 minute jog round in the gym hall. Now they were just doing a small session until you arrived.

The Coach gathers the team around, telling them to introduce themselves.

After each introduction of the team members, Meian, the last one on the left, speaks up and introduces himself.

While hearing his deep voice, you barely listen to what he’s saying, too distracted by his body and gorgeous face.

Feeling your heartbeat go a little faster than usual, you try to snap out of your trance, thankfully being successful with it before anyone notices you checking out the team captain.

When the ravenette is done talking, he flashes you a dazzling smile, almost sending you into cardiac arrest.

Now, the first few weeks weren’t so bad.

You helped the team with their stretches, correcting their forms, delivering medical care if necessary, monitoring athletic events, obviously watching their practices from the side and giving out tips so they avoid injuries during real matches and practice matches.

You’re with the team three times a week, each time you can’t help but watch Meian a little more than the others.

The way his jersey sticks to his big torso, the way you help him stretch by touching his back when you feel his strong back muscles, whenever he wipes the sweat off of his face with his shirt, you can see his abs and holy shit what you wouldn’t do to actually feel them and not just dream about touching them.

Still, you need to stay professional about this because it’s your job and your attraction unfortunately only grew with time.

It happened like two months ago when you started your deep and strong crush on the raven-haired man intensified.

Almost every day after work, your brain gathers the memory as if it happened yesterday.

Everyone was done with training, headed straight to the showers and left the volleyball gym in a hurry. Or so you thought.

It was around 18:00 and training officially ended 30 minutes ago. Guessing that all the players have already left since it was so quiet, you wanted to shower as well since you were meeting up with a local friend from town. Since time was too close to the meet up, you wouldn’t have had time to go home, shower, change and drive into town again.

Noticing the door was still unlocked, you didn’t think much of it, simply deciding that Meian forgot to lock the room after he left, since he and the coach are the only ones with a key to the lockers.

When you entered the still light up locker room you didn’t expect a half-naked Meian to be standing in front of his locker with just a white fluffy towel wrapped around his waist.

Your eyes followed the water droplets as they ran down on the massive muscles on his torso and stomach, watched as they got soaked into the towel.

Meian turned his head in your direction and stared at you in shock but it was more the curiosity than shock that showed on his face.

After a few seconds, you felt an extraordinary heat blow up on your face and you let out a small squeak as you turned around and left as quickly as you entered.

Meian stared dumbfounded at the door where you left and heard a small amount of apologies getting quieter and quieter.

He just chuckled at your behavior and resumed changing.

‘Oh God, oh God, oh God! You just burst into the locker room with a half-naked Meian still standing there, what must he think of me?!’

Well you can forget about meeting up with your friend since you can cross out the thought of having a shower before meeting up. Exiting the doors of the gym hall, the cold air surprisingly makes it easier to breathe, helping your blushing face to calm down as well.

Once Meian was done changing, he saw you waiting outside and it was pouring down.

Wanting to clear the awkward air after the embarrassing encounter, he approached you and offered to drive you home but as soon your ears picked up on his voice, your eyes were wide and you told him off, saying you were going to miss the train to meet up with a friend.

Meian tried to stop you but you were already sprinting to the train station in the rain saying you were going to be fine on your own.

The Middle Blocker stared sadly after your retreating form and kicked a trash can over in frustration. The loud bang of the trash can falling down on the pavement echoed in the silent night.

Some of the trash landed on the floor and after he heaved out a deep sigh he picked up the trash and put it back in before he went home.

Meian has been developing feelings for you ever since you started and those feelings only started to grow the more time he spent talking to you. And now he thinks he blew his chance of getting closer to you. He purposely pretended to have troubles with some muscles, so you’d come over and put your strong hands on him, to feel the pressure of your muscles on his own, inwardly making the Middle Blocker sigh in bliss whenever he would feel the heat of your skin on his own.

Ever since that incident, you have been avoiding him like a pest. Always walking in a different direction whenever he is near, not talking to him any way except when it’s absolutely necessary, it’s almost driving him insane.

When he needed help with a stretch, you started to wear gloves and your voice sounded cold, almost apathetic when you talked to him.

Meian thought he had a good relationship with you but your sudden strange and distant behavior makes him think you had a change of heart.

He honestly thought you liked him the same way he liked you. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him but nonetheless he decided to leave you alone.

His teammates notice the relationship change between you two, making it feel like two parents who had a bitter divorce because the other one got custody over the children.

Inunaki and Tomas notice it first when they have a small three-on-three match together after an intense training match.

They both take a drink from their water bottles, wiping the sweat off of their necks with towels, watching you write something down on your notepad before packing up your stuff.

Helping them with the clean up, you gather the towels and put them into the washing basket.

Then they watch you pick up the scattered volleyballs around the court and Meian is about to grab the one you’re about to pick up when your eyes make contact with his dark ones.

For a moment, neither of you say anything, simply staring at each other.

All of sudden, you straighten up and walk around him with a neutral expression on your face, still not saying anything, beginning to drop the volleyballs into the wagon.

Meian’s remorseful gaze follows your figure and he breathes out slowly and closes his eyes, grabbing the ball with his hands and throws it into the volleyball cart.

Inunaki nudges Tomas with his elbow, gaining the Middle Blocker’s attention.

“Did something happen between Cap and (Y/N)?” He questions him.

Tomas looks at you and then Meian, before he answers with a clueless shrug of his shoulders.

“Don’t know about Cap but I just feel like (Y/N) is lately more quiet than usual.”

“Yeah but like a couple of weeks ago, they were talking so much and seemed really friendly towards each other. Then just like that-”, he snaps his fingers, “they act like complete strangers.”

Tomas thinks for a few moments before he decides to speak up again.

“Maybe something DID happen between them that causes them to behave like that. I mean look at them, they are acting like they’ve never interacted with one another.”

Atsumu appears and joins their conversation. He rests his sweaty arm on Inunaki’s shoulder as he leans against him.

“What we talkin’ ‘bout?” the sandy-blonde asks and Inunaki grimaces at the gesture but doesn’t shrug him off.

Tomas begins to answer.

“We’ve just been talking about how Meian and (Y/N) have been acting differently toward each other. Almost like there’s a visible tension hanging in the air.”

Atsumu grins at that, not being able to refrain the next words from spilling out.

“Ya think they fucked? Maybe he didn’t give ‘im a good time and he tries ta avoid ‘im cuz of it.” The Setter laughs.

The Libero and Middle Blocker’s faces change into disbelief and disgust and Inunaki shrugs Atsumu off.

“Meian doesn’t strike me as the type to just sleep with someone to get their dick wet. Unlike you of course.” Tomas grins cheekily at Atsumu and he scowls at him.

“Fuck off.” The blonde man spits at him before walking off.

Inunaki shakes his head at their behavior and looks back at you.

You’re looking troubled, almost sad as you collect the towels together from Bokuto and Hinata as they hand you their black towels as well.

The energetic duo seems to notice your expression and their smiles drop immediately as they ask you what is troubling you with concerned faces.

You just shake your head and wave them off, walking away to resume packing up the rest of your stuff to go home.

Hinata and Bokuto share a look of worry but leave you be.

The Wing Spikers walk into the direction of the locker room of the MSBY Jackals followed by the rest of the teammates.

Inunaki and Tomas both agree that they should ask their Captain in the locker rooms about his and your tense body language and silent treatments lately.

Coach Foster has also noticed your change of attitude as well, your usual cheerful expression replaced by a dark cloud of sadness looming over you.

Walking over to you, he tries to indulge in a talk with you.

”(Y/N)? You okay? The guys didn’t say anything mean or inappropriate to you did they?” Foster starts.

Startled by his sudden voice, you turn around to him with a small smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes.

“Y-Yeah I am fine, having some private trouble sir.”

He purses his lips at your answer and advises you to leave the trouble at home and not bring it to work.

Accepting his advice you apologize for your behavior and you promise him to be in a better mood tomorrow.

~ At the same time in the locker room ~

The team members of MSBY are all freshly showered, getting dressed and ready to go home.

Meian rubs his head dry with a towel and Tomas and Inunaki share a quick glance before nodding to each other.

Tomas clears his throat and Meian whips his head and his direction with an arched eyebrow.

“Yeah? Did you need something?” Meian asks him.

“Uhh…” , he begins.

Tomas turns his head to look at Inunaki and he just sends him a thumbs up with an unsure smile as encouragement.

Meian looks at Inunaki, back to Tomas and begins to get slightly irritated at his teammate’s behavior.

”Well?” Meian starts to get impatient and Tomas is not used to this side of him.

“Inunaki and I were wondering if something happened between you and (Y/N). We just feel like you had such great chemistry with him and it’s like the next day, you’re acting like you don’t know each other.”

Bokuto, Hinata, Atsumu and even Sakusa slow down their movements, quite intrigued by what the raven-haired Middle Blocker has to say.

Meian stops for a second, pondering what to say.

”I don’t know.” He begins.

“You know when I had to stay behind to clean the mess you guys left in the locker room? (Y/N) saw me while I was there. He’s been distant since.” The spiky black-haired Middle Blocker explains.

Questions started flowing through the room immediately, not acknowledging the fact that Meian was pissed about the dirty laundry that they left on the floor for him to clean up.

”Woah, did he see you naked??” Wide golden eyes stare in amazement at Meian.

“Did he confess his undying love to you or something?” Hinata suggests with stars in his eyes.

“Please tell me you didn’t have sex with him in here, I am going to kill you if you did.” Sakusa scrunches his face in disgust and anger.

” Or was it yer size that was disappointin’?” Atsumu teases with a shit-eating grin.

Meian looks at his team and puts on his MSBY sweats, only giving one answer.

”No we didn’t do anything inappropriate, he just saw me in a towel and ran out like the room was on fire.”

Silence, followed by some laughter from Atsumu’s and Bokuto’s side.

“Is that it? Then why do you look so down about it?” Barnes finally joins the group, already dressed and ready to go.

Meian blows air through his nose, looking at Barnes with tired eyes.

“I like him. A lot. Maybe more than I’d care to admit. But now I feel like I ruined my chances with him.”

Atsumu leans against the locker next to Meian’s and starts taunting him.

”Awww he too shy to admit he wants yer dick? Is that why ya been so pissy lately bro?”

Meian doesn’t look at Atsumu and puts on a fresh new shirt from his locker.

Still ignoring his teammates, he puts his bag over his shoulder and leaves the locker room without a word of goodbye, slamming the door on his way out.

Everybody gapes at the Captain’s reaction, if you could even call that a reaction and turn to glare at their Setter.

Atsumu is aware of everyone’s eyes on him and he just says cluelessly with wide eyes “What?” when he glimpses in the round.

Bokuto’s excited deep voice breaks the silence.

”I think they’re SO cute together!” Bokuto puts his hands over his heart and sighs dreamily.

”So do I! Maybe we can convince them to talk together!” Hinata suggests.

“Are you serious? Are you going to play matchmaker?” The curly dark-haired Outside Hitter asks Hinata in a ridiculous tone when he puts on a fresh mask from his bag.

“Omi you should totally participate! Consider this a team building exercise!“ Bokuto beams.

“Yeah Omi-Omi! Join the group of ‘Match made in Heaven’!” Atsumu adds.

“No.” Sakusa says bluntly and leaves the locker rooms without another word.

”I don’t think we should snoop our noses in their mess. They are both adults after all, they need to sort this out themselves.” Barnes swings his bag over his shoulder and bids his teammates goodbye.

Tomas, Atsumu, Bokuto, Inunaki and Hinata are the only ones left now in the changing room.

“Well you can definitely count us in.“ Inunaki smiles at his teammates with a supportive thumbs up and a wide grin, while Tomas just nods his head in agreement with a small smile on his face.

“Awesome! Let operation ‘Jackal Love‘ spring into action!“ The white-haired boasts his fists in the air with a massive grin on his excited face.

“Shōyō, text ‘im ta meet ‘us’ tomorrow at the local bar in town, yannow the one that’s called ‘Cloudhouse’ or something like that? He’ll probably answer ya unlike the rest of us. Besides Bokkun, ya have da best connection with ‘im.” Atsumu puts the word ‘us’ in a quotation with his fingers.

Hinata takes out his phone and starts to write the message to you, while the remaining MSBY members peeking over his shoulder to read what he types down.

~ Back to you ~

You walk your way home in the cold dark to the train station without saying goodbye to the team, listening to ‘On My Own’ by Ashes Remain.

Sitting in the cold train wagon, you hide your face into your thick black hoodie, trying to stay warm.

You feel a vibration in the pocket of your jacket, signaling you got a text. Grabbing the phone out, you unlock it to open the message from Hinata.

> Ninja Shōyō 17:48 <

‘(Y/N)!!! We are all going out to the bar

tomorrow night! We wanted to invite you to come along! 😃’

> You 17:50 <

‘Sorry Shōyō. I am usually pretty tired after work, maybe another time.’

Hinata pouts at your answer, showing the others your reply.

“Be a lil‘ bit more persistent bro!“ Atsumu tells Hinata.

Hinata thinks for a moment, before he starts typing again.

> Ninja Shōyō 17:51 <

‘Awww c’mon! 😭😭 Bo and I will be very sad otherwise! 🥲’

Thinking for a few moments, you actually agree. You haven’t been out in a while and the constant hiding from Meian has been tiring you out.

> You 17:59 <

‘Alright. Okay. What time and where?’

> Ninja Shōyō 18:00 <

‘Let’s say 19:00 @Cloudhouse!!’

> You 18:01 <

‘👍🏻’

When the rest of the MSBY Jackals read your message they all cheer loudly and text their Captain to be there at the same time.

~ The next day ~

It’s 18:15 and Coach Foster decided to let everyone go home early today since it’s Friday. Atsumu took care of the reservation, paying extra so the two of you don’t have to deal with too much of a crowd.

The operation “Jackal Love” starts now. The matchmakers except Meian, you and the non-participant Sakusa, know about their hooking-up-plan.

As everyone gets ready to go home, Hinata and Bokuto have been excited all day long, getting on Sakusa‘s nerves.

Once Meian hits the showers, Sakusa walks over to Hinata with an aggravated scowl.

“Will you stop it?! Your constant twitching and giddiness is getting on my nerves!“

Sakusa‘s foul mood doesn’t scare Hinata in the slightest.

”Ahhh I am sorry I can’t! I am so excited for (Y/N) and Meian’s secret date tonight!” The orange haired Wing Spiker gloats.

Sakusa’s scowl changes into disbelief and he whips his head into Bokuto’s and Atsumu’s direction.

”You’re joking right? You didn’t seriously set those two up for tonight.“ The Outside Hitter hisses at them.

“Why not? It’s ‘bout damn time somethin’ happened between ‘em. I cannot take their sexual tension anymore.“ Atsumu defends.

Sakusa scoffs in disgust and leaves the locker room to go home. Before he exits the room though, Bokuto calls after him.

“Omi! I will keep you updated on the lovebirds!“

Sakusa doesn’t reply and closes the door.

Inunaki waves his teammates over in a hurried manner and the rest gets changed quickly before moving over to their Libero.

“Okay guys, Meian will be out of the showers in a little bit, we only have a few minutes. So here’s the plan again. Meian and (Y/N) will meet each other at the Cloudhouse in about 45 minutes. What are you all going to say or write in the group chat when the clock strikes 19:00?“ Inunaki asks in the round.

“Samu needed help movin’ somethin’.“ Atsumu answers easily.

“The new Call of Duty Game came out and Bokkun and I forgot to pick it up and we only have today to pick it up before they send it back!“ Hinata adds.

“Tomas twisted his ankle in the subway and I need to drive him home.“ Barnes sighs while crossing his arms over his chest.

Inunaki nods happily with every answer, giving his own reply after Barnes‘ answer.

“Great! Now let’s all get out of here!“ The light-haired Libero shoos the rest of the team out, except Meian who just turned the shower off.

Walking into the locker room with a black towel around his waist, Meian notices that it’s deadly quiet.

Not thinking much of it, he changes into a long-sleeved black polo shirt along with a pair of black ripped jeans and black-and-white All Star sneakers.

Spraying some ‘Dark Temptation’ on him, he finishes packing his bag and heads out towards his car.

Noticing that some of the cars of the players are gone, Meian thinks that his teammates are already on their way to the bar.

After 15 minutes, Meian arrives in front of the colorful LED sign that reads ‘CLOUDHOUSE’’ in cursive writing.

What’s weird though is, that no members of the Jackals are in front of the building.

The building’s lights are on and he sees some people walking around and getting inside but he doesn’t see any familiar faces.

While Meian waits in his car, little rain droplets begin to fall on his windshield, the sound gently disturbing the silence.

After about 8 minutes of waiting, the time now being 18: 55, Meian gets out of his car and while he is walking towards the club, he takes his phone out of his pocket and texts his teammates.

‘MSBY Jackals 🐾’

> Me <

Where are you guys? Aren’t we meeting at 19:00 @Cloudhouse?

> Pestilence #1 <

Ahh sorry cap, Bo and I had to pick up the new COD game!

They would have sent it back otherwise and I already paid for it…

We won’t be able to make it sorry!😕

> Pestilence #2 <

What he said 🤩☝🏻

> Pestilence #3 <

Samu needed help movin a new cabinet into his apartment,

sorry it was last minute won’t make it either sorry 🤐

> Sakusa <

I am not coming anyway.

> Me <

Are you serious??😡 Barnes? Tomas? Inunaki?

> Barnes <

Adriah twisted his ankle badly in the subway, taking him home

we won’t make it either

> Inunaki <

Yeah my dog ate something bad I have to take him to the vet sorry

> Me <

Well I am going home then if no one is coming…

> Pestilence #3 <

(Y/N) is comin tho. Just go with him 😁

As Meian is about to turn around and leave, you show up.

Slightly drenched from the sudden rain, you tighten your jacket a little bit more around yourself.

Taking your headphones out of your ears you widen your eyes a bit and give him a tight smile and pack your headphones away into your jeans pocket.

‘’Where is everyone? We are both on time” you question him.

Meian heaves out a deep sigh before he answers you.

“They bailed on us, it’s just you and me. I hope that’s okay” The Captain rubs his neck nervously.

Honestly, you could scream right now. Out of excitement or frustration, you’re not really sure about that.

Somehow you get the feeling that the scheming members of the team have something to do with this.

Nonetheless, you give him a small smile and nod.

Meian returns your smile and opens the door for you to enter first. The doorbell chimes softly with your arrival.

Quietly thanking him for opening the door, you walk in and are greeted by flashing lights and loud music playing.

Meian follows you inside and begins to look for a free spot to sit down with you.

It is a busy night, a lot of people are occupying the tables and the bar, laughing and drinking with family or friends.

The Middle Blocker eventually spots a free corner, telling you to follow him.

As you both sit down, a waitress comes over and lays the drink and food menu down on the table, winking at you while eyeing your body up and down.

Your clear your throat and you sneak a peek at Meian to find an annoyed look on his face but quickly relaxing when she leaves.

It is quiet for a while, neither of you know how to start the conversation or in other words how to address the elephant in the room.

“Meian I -”, “(Y/N) listen -” you both start.

“Go ahead.” He beckons you.

You weren’t exactly sure where to start. Apologizing seems the best way to start the conversation.

“I just want to start by saying how sorry I am to have burst in the locker rooms the other day. I-I thought everyone has already left and I didn’t expect to see you still in there. Naked. B-Barely covered.” Squeaking like a shy little mouse, your voice gets quieter at the end of your sentence.

You can feel your cheeks and your neck heating up like crazy and you don’t have the nerve to look at the Captain's face.

For a few seconds Meian is not saying anything until he chuckles a little bit and leans forward to meet your eyes that are still focused on the table.

“Hey (Y/N), look at me. Please.” He pleads in a soft voice.

You force yourself to look up, straighten your posture and he gives you a warm smile with a look of adoration and… something else you can’t quite place.

His pupils are dilated as he stares at you.

Only a person in deep love would look at another person like Meian is looking at you right now.

“It was just the wrong time at the wrong place. Accidents happen.” He begins.

The waitress comes back and writes down your order, putting her acrylic nails on your shoulder, making you flinch away from her and she takes her leave again.

Leaving you two alone again, Meian continues where he was left off.

He clears his throat and a small blush decorates his cheeks. Looking at his massive hands, he fidgets a little bit before looking at you again.

“I just wanted to apologize as well. I am sorry that I didn’t talk to you after the incident happened. I just felt you’re too uncomfortable around me and I didn’t want to make it worse.”

“You don’t make me uncomfortable at all! I just… I really like you Meian. I thought if I didn’t talk to you anymore my feelings for you would disappear.” Quickly realizing what you just said your eyes feel like they bulge out of your sockets and you place your hands against your face to hide the shame.

“Please ignore what I just said. This was a bad idea.” You try to get up and leave but Meian snatches your wrist before you can disappear.

“No! Wait! Please don’t walk away again! I feel the same way about you (Y/N).” The Middle Blocker confesses.

Did you hear that right? The Captain of a professional Volleyball team likes you too?!

You sit down again but Meian doesn’t let go of your hands, instead he tightens his hold around them.

“I liked you for quite some time now, I was just honestly sure you didn’t like me in the same way. But you have no idea how happy it makes me right now to hear you say that.” He begins to lace your fingers together with his gorgeous smile.

You blush at his comment and as you are about to reply, the waitress comes with your two beers and a nacho plate. Slipping a little note on the table, no doubt with her number on it.

It is now a very nice atmosphere, the two of you talking about your favorite shows, your high school lives and about the team.

“That woman seems pretty into you.” Meian laughs.

You laugh along with him, the alcohol no doubt relaxing you.

“She ain’t my type. And I am here with you. Also, I am not interested in women.” You wink at him with a teasing smile.

After dinner is over, Meian pays for your guys’ drinks and food and opens the door for you to let you out first.

It is still pouring outside and you turn towards each other, getting wet by the rain.

The temperature has cooled down, making your breaths visible to the eye. Yet the cold doesn’t bother either of you. The thought of knowing that you return each others’ feelings makes your heart warm enough.

“So… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Meian.” You stare into his dark eyes while stuffing your cold hands into your big jacket.

“Call me Shūgo. Do you want me to drive you home? My car is right over there.” He suggests.

“No it’s okay the train station is not far from here.” You assure him.

Meian steps a little bit closer to you and takes your cold hands from your pockets into his warm ones.

“I know this seems kind of forward… but ever since I saw you for the first time, I really wanted to kiss you. Can I?” He whispers, his face coming closer to yours.

You answer him by removing your hands from his and stand on a little bit to wrap your arms around his neck to pull him towards you.

Feeling his soft lips against yours makes your body explode in fireworks. Meian envelopes his arms around your waist and pulls you even closer to him.

The rain makes this kiss even better, it feels more romantic, more intimate.

The two of you continue to kiss, feeling his tongue trying to enter your mouth, you grant him access and the Captain begins to explore your mouth.

Fingers carding through his now very wet hair, he sighs heavily and swallows your moans.

Finally pulling apart from each other what feels like an eternity, you are both panting and smiling at each other like idiots in love. Which you are.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” He grins at you cheekily.

“So bad.” You grin back and follow him to his car.

Le next day

Everyone except Meian is already in the locker room the next morning. Oddly enough no one questions it because they can already guess why the Captain is late.

As soon as the rest enters the gym, they are greeted by the sight of gross PDA between their Captain and their Athletic trainer.

You try to push Meian away with a blush and a smile as you help him with sit ups as he tries to get closer to you.

“Shūgo, stop it! They will be here any second” you scold him in a laughing voice, pushing his face away with your hand.

“No can do handsome, want to feel all of you again like last night and this morning.” You begin to stand up and Meian follows your movement, eyeing you like a predator.

Visible marks decorate his neck and your body is still so sore from last night and this morning, no doubt from Meian rocking your world.

Especially your back, hips and butt hurt, from his harsh grabbing at your hips, to your soreness of your ass, feeling like Meian stretched your insides out multiple times.

Which he did.

No one says anything. The team just stands by the entrance and watches in a mix of happiness, cringe and disgust at the sight.

Sakusa turns to his teammates with a pissed expression, as begins to walk in.

“This is all your fault. I would rather take the silent treatment act over this any day.”

“What have we done?” Inunaki asks with a shuddering voice.

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protege-not-protagonist · 6 months

Text

Criminal Minds: The Protégé Chapter 5

Ch 5: My Brother's Keeper Pt. 2

Blurb: The team work out the new Unsub's motives and start searching for a suspect who fits the profile. But as Grace works the case, certain aspects of it stir up a past she would rather forget. Meanwhile Spencer can't help but start working on the victimology of this new possible serial killer back home.

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Audience: 16+ mature audience for depictions of violence and sexual references

Author's Note: if you see a trigger warning that concerns you, you can scroll to end and I'll have a brief description what happens and how you can avoid it.

TW: Ableism, child death, violence, gore, crime scene depiction, kidnapping.

BAU, Quantico, VA, 7:45 PM

Spencer knocked on the door of Penelope’s cave. She didn’t turn around, continuing to stare at the collection of monitors in front of her.

‘Who dare’s seek the goddess of knowledge and everyone’s business? Speak mortal.’

‘Hi Garcia,’ he announced himself sheepishly and braced for a bone-crushing hug.

‘Oh oH My GOd! You’re HEERRREEE! You’ve come to see meee!!! Here at work!’ she lept from her chair and all but tackled him. ‘It is way past home time, Mr. Why are you still here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but I thought you weren’t going to come here any more-’

He pulled back and shrugged. ‘I wish I could say that I came on a whim, but I need to ask you something. I thought it would be more polite to ask the goddess of knowledge in person. She would perhaps be more gracious than if I only spoke to her on the phone. I wouldn’t want to anger her.’

‘I don’t think I could ever be angry at you, gorgeous grey matter!’ She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled at him. ‘What’s up?’

He looked at the numerous lists the computers were compiling and searching. ‘How is the case in Groton going?’

‘It is not good, and very icky. It’s a family annihilator. The parents are still missing, the children are confirmed dead, the team is waiting for the state police to arrive and they're still working on the profile. I am trawling through everything I can get my hands on, but there are no suspects yet, and the profile is too broad, and I am miserable. I don’t want to go home without finding something.’ She sunk back into her chair, deflated. She then cocked her head, ‘Hang on, how did you know about the case?’

‘I was speaking with Agent Matthews this morning. Alvez came to tell her they were getting called away to it,’ he said and watched Garcia’s expression brighten with excitement. ‘What?’

‘Oh my god, you guys finally met. What was it like? She adorable, right? She’s like a tiny Baby Spencer. Except, well, she’s not tiny at all. She is almost as tall as you, and really quiet somehow. Have you noticed that? She’s like a ninja. Actually, it makes sense, because she literally is a ninja, she has a black belt, did you know that?’

‘No, I didn’t. I don’t know much about her. I just met her today.’ He frowned. A martial artist? He hadn’t picked that.

‘You wouldn’t expect it, right?’ Her face fell, seeing his slight frown. ‘Don’t worry though, she is probably more unco than you ever were,’ she interjected. He frowned because a martial arts back ground really blindsided him, but he knew from Garcia's expression she thought it was because she told him Matthews was "cool." She didn’t want him to think she had replaced him. He smiled as she rambled. ‘Like way more unco than you were. Last month, Simmons tried to get her to sub in for the FBI mixed volleyball team, because she mentioned she did it in high school. She didn’t tell us she had only umpired though. She didn’t want to let the team down. Poor baby got Scott-Stirling-ed by a buff firefighter first serve-’ He watched Garcia's loyalties conflict on her face as she realised in trying to reassure him, she had embarrassed Grace. ‘-Um please don’t tell her I told you, we’re not supposed to talk about it. Simmons was devastated that the FBI lost to firefighters. It knocked us out of the finals for the first time in years. And Grace was really upset-'

‘-Garcia,' he stopped her. 'It’s fine. I like her. She seems like a good fit here. She’s nice.’ He smiled at her, letting her know he approved. ‘Nice’ was the key criteria they both hoped for in all members they worked with. ‘What is Scott-Stirling-ed?’

‘It’s a reference to a meme, she um got-’ Garcia mimed getting smacked in the face and passing out.

‘Ouch.’ He winced. Speaking of Agent Matthews, the pulled out her notepad, ‘Hey Garcia, I know you’re busy, but-’

‘Anything for you, Reid,’ she gave him her full attention. ‘Hit me.’

‘Did Matthews ask you for mortality data for the past 5 years?’

‘No, she did not. I am trying not to get offended, but she knows her way around data collection and can use Excel like no man's business. Was it for her thesis?’

‘Thesis?’ He asked in surprise. ‘She’s working on a Ph.D?’

‘Ah, she would have called it her personal project?’ Garcia said smugly.

‘Yeah?’ He asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘I’ve been here long enough to pick up a few things from you profilers. Grace has this complex about being seen as smart. I can’t work it out. When she’s around people she doesn’t know or sees as superior, like people she should show off to, she acts… shy, but that’s not the right word, it's more like she’s afraid of people knowing she’s smart. For example, now when I ask her what she did on the weekend, she tells me exactly what she did. But if I asked her when she first started, or if Tara, JJ or Emily asks… she like normal-ifies her life. “Oh, I had brunch with a friend, did some chores, worked on a puzzle.” Except I know her friend is actually her supervisor, Dr Boland, with the Smithsonian. The puzzle is sorting boxes of bones in the unidentified collection. Chores is code for personal stuff, that I won’t share with you because she trusts me enough to tell me. It’s weird, but you should be flattered. It means she has a high opinion of you.’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, but she sees you as a friend, which I can tell makes you feel just a little superior to me right now.’

Garcia giggled. ‘Maybe just a bit. But the thesis, I don’t think she’s got a solid hypothesis, but she’s looking at something to do with efficient grave finding. Somehow from that, she’s working a model for clandestine-depression—something-or-other. It’s beyond me.’

‘You mean a predictive model for Secondary Depression indicators of clandestine burials?’ He guessed.

Garcia shook her head, ‘I don’t know what that means Reid, but it sounds kinda similar to what she told me. Please don’t tell her, but I kinda... wasn’t listening when she explained it to me.' She grimaced. 'I love her to bits, but I switched off as soon as she said grave finding. And I know that’s bad, but it was Saturday. Saturday. A day off and we were having bubble tea and enjoying the Romantasy Fiction Festival. I wanted to think about hot elvish princes, to buy merch, and get a book signed. I did NOT want to think about bones.’

‘She said it was a fantasy novel convention.’ He frowned, ‘What’s Romantasy?’

‘Oh Reid, I’m sure you pretty little head will work it out, but she wasn’t lying. It was a fantasy novel convention. I, however, was solely there for the more spicy adult readers panel, which, I may have miss judged Grace’s interests and booked her a seat for as well. And that may have triggered the nervous ramble about said thesis on the way to the YA fiction stands she wanted to visit Afterwards. Like I said, graves are her comfort zone, elvish princes are mine. Anyway, why is her thesis important?’

He nodded along, ‘Would you say her research is more generalised, doesn’t involve case studies?’

‘Yeah.’ She nodded. ‘She is working with is census data. She is going off public information, said it would be unfair to fellow students if she used FBI resources. I think she’s been compiling data: place of death, cause of death, place of burial, missing persons reports, geographic data and also weather data.’

‘So she hasn’t asked you to pull case files for specific people?’ He pried.

‘She asked me for Nathan Harris’s files yesterday, oh and one of Rossi’s interviews from a few years back, but she did come to me after she couldn’t find them herself. I get the sense she doesn’t want to bother me. She’ll even go to the basement and go through the compactors before asking me to search for something,’ Garcia told him.

‘Can you see if she has pulled any files by herself?’

‘What has she done? Is she in trouble?’ Garcia asked and quickly pulled Grace’s work search history.

There was nothing related to old cases that he could see recently. That was good news. If their hunch was right, they were dealing with a highly intelligent, sophisticated killer who might have had access to their case files. And those types had been the most dangerous the BAU had dealt with. It was not something Grace should pursue alone. It was dangerous.

‘Reid, what is going on?’

‘Can I get you to discreetly compile a list-’ She turned around and poised her hands over the keyboard, ‘-of every case we’ve worked on has led to an incarceration noting that an unsub is criminally insane or a person being institutionalised, as well as the current status of that unsub and print it for me? Can you also set a tip off warning if anyone accesses more than one of those files or searches the same parameters?’

‘Oof, that is a big list, that will take all night compile and print, tree killer, especially with these babies already searching like 7 different databases for all these things-’

‘It’s okay, it’s personal request, it might not be serious, I can come back tomorrow and pick up the list,’ he tried to brush it off, not wanting to alarm her. But it didn't work.

‘Why the secrecy and setting the tip offs them?’ She stared at him with worry. And he knew he couldn’t lie to her.

‘Agent Matthews found a pattern that might indicate an active serial killer while compiling her data, but it’s hard to tell at this stage. If there is one, they’re making the deaths look like suicides. It’ll be faster if I go through them rather than trying to correlate it with the computer. I remember what we profiled. I’ll be able to determine if it’s in character or suspicious. You guys can take it from there. But Garcia, if this unsub is out there… it would mean he has access to our files or has been following our cases closely for years.’ Spencer watched carefully to see any sign of fear in her. He knew how personal things got for her if the unsub was inside the system or could find out that anyone was looking for them. But there was no hesitation.

She finished typing and hit enter. ‘I’ve queued it up for you. That list should be ready and printed by morning.’

'Garcia,' he placed a hand on her shoulder, ‘Thank you so much.’

‘You are very welcome.’

The computer chimed, and they both looked at the alert on the screen.

‘Oh no. No, no,’ she winced.

His eyes flicked over the preliminary report the Highway Serial Crimes database had just flagged and he sighed. ‘I know this isn’t the news you hoped to update them with, but until we get people to Rapid City and process the crime scene, there’s not much else you can do from here once you send the team that. Have you eaten yet?’

She shook her head.

‘Well, we better fix that. Do you want to grab dinner with me?’

She managed a small smile. ‘I’ll never say no to spending time with my favourite genius. Tandoori or Burritos?’

‘Actually there’s this new Korean barbeque place I really enjoy-’

‘Done. I will drown my sorrows in kimchi and gyoza.’

‘Wait, did you just say I’m your favourite genius?’ He pretended to preen, which made her laugh. Good. He couldn’t leave her without putting a smile back on her face.

------- Groton, SD, Gold Stallion Inn Thursday July 8:15PM

The team reviewed their evidence, waiting for the State Troopers to arrive. They picked at the bowls of loaded fries the Inn’s owner had served them. They established a headquarters in the Inn’s adjoining diner that had been commandeered. The local police were looking at camera footage from the main road’s traffic light, trying to pin a time on the abduction by spotting the family car. Avery and Dr Boland were debriefing the CSI team and cataloguing the personal effects in the Gile’s room. They were also processing prints they had found. Nothing had come from it so far.

Dr Lewis updated the case board as the new crime scene photos came through. Garcia had found a link: Rapid City PD, the state capital, had just reported the bodies of a man and a woman who matched the description of their kidnapped parents. Photos of Lilian and Travis Giles Bodies stared back at her and names were now attached to the photos of the victims she had just seen: Tyler and Connor.

Grace was surprised that the parents weren’t as hard to identify. Their deaths were nowhere near as brutal. If it weren’t for the stolen car, she would not have thought it was the same unsub.

The Giles were found in a ditch next to a main road. Posed next to each other, single shots to the chest. She would guess a 24. Calibre. There were no casings, so he’d used a revolver or was more organised than they thought and took the casings with him. He had also dumped the Giles’ car as well. That was what disturbed her the most; he’d be looking for another ride, which meant he’d be looking for new victims.

The profile of a Family Annihilator was typically a patriarchal male narcissist who was experiencing stress, which presented as rage directed at his own family. However, this wasn’t his own family, and annihilators usually fitted into a certain typology. There were kills with motivators like; financial gain; drugs; sadism; or jealousy that an ex-partner had moved on. Or there were fantasy motivated kills; like believing a delusion that by killing a family, they were protecting them; assuming the role of a parent, inserting themselves in the family; punishing a certain member of the family for their own family troubles; or the involvement of a sexual fantasy.

This had various elements, but not enough to point to a specific motivator. Then there was also the overkill on the children that had a disability as well. This case seemed all over the place, yet somehow, in this unsub’s head it made sense, trying to untangle that was proving difficult.

Grace sat on the table closest to the map with her legs criss-crossed. A can of diet coke appeared in her vision unprompted. ‘You need some caffeine?’ Prentiss offered her her favourite beverage. She took it appreciatively and nodded a thanks as Prentiss continued pacing the diner, talking out loud to the team.

‘Okay, so this guy is one of a kind. There’s no sexual assault to any of the family members, overkill on kids. Then he is taking the parents across the state before killing them. Why, how does it all connect?’

‘Maybe he enjoys prolonging the terror of the parents. But if that the case why the overkill on the kids?’ Rossi put forward.

‘Well, separating the family would raise anxiety and terror for both the parents and the kids. Maybe there’s something there.’ Alvez agreed.

‘The posing of the parents, the shots to the chest could be a message, something about love or the family unit?’ Dr Lewis suggested.

‘What I don’t get is how did he get the parents to go with him all the way? I wouldn't comply if he did that to my kids. I'd be too broken to drive. I have no reason to follow directions.’ JJ pointed out.

‘Well, maybe that’s it, maybe the parents don’t know? Maybe he takes and kills the kids before the parents notice them missing. Then he threatens the parents, tells them to drive, do what he says and they will see their kids again,’ Simmons proposed.

There were nods of agreement around as Emily added their points to the board.

‘But if he is not showing the parents their kids’ remains, then it’s not about the psychological torture for the parents. Which means this whole thing is about the children. It’s the kids he is angry at, their the target of his rage.’ Dr Lewis spoke, and Grace focused on the map in front of her.

Dr Reid’s advice played in her mind as her team’s theories continued to bounce around. She placed her finger on Minneapolis, where the Giles were from, and drew it across to Groton, then from Groton to Rapid City.

Why Groton? There was nothing to attract the Giles family here, no personal connection. Simmons said it was a rest stop, but where were the victims going if they chose to stop in Groton? They most likely took Route 12 to get here, so perhaps the route went somewhere important. Using her phone, she searched Route 12. The result surprised her; it was a scenic route. It went all the way to Washington State coast. Coast to coast pretty much east to west. It was a tourist drive.

The next question was why dispose of the child victims at a golf course and then drive 6 hours with the parents in their own car and kill them, and dump them and their car?

Answer was that the car ride had to be some kind of ritual.

To get to Rapid City he would have taken Route 37 south and then Route 11 to west to Rapid City. When she typed Route 37 and 11 into google, all it did was confirm that it was the fastest route to get to Rapid city. There wasn’t much else about it. So if it wasn’t about the journey, it had to be the destination. She searched the map in front of her around the Rapid City area and something stood out nearby.

‘Mount Rushmore,’ she voiced.

‘What you got there Five-O?’ Alvez asked as he spied her put a pin on Mount Rushmore.

She thought of the timeline. The Giles checked in to the inn and had dinner around 7:40. The map said that the journey was about four hours, which meant they left Minneapolis at around 3:30. on a Wednesday. It clicked; school. School was out. It was summer. Grace swept her eyes over the Giles’ belongings CSI were cataloguing into evidence across the other side of the diner. She looked over at the table of belongs and saw large full suitcases, multiple camera bags, a large advanced first aid kit and a Nintendo Switch. The family left Minneapolis and drove as far as they could before they would need to stop for dinner and a rest. This was supposed to be a road trip holiday. Probably the first the family had been able to go on because Tyler, the younger boy, was now old enough that his bones didn’t fracture as easily.

On the other side of the equation, the trip the unsub took to Rapid City was around six hours. Right nearby was a famous landmark, and the fact that the car was dumped might suggest that the unsub was taking a rest, like he would stay the night there.

Four to six hours was the distance you would travel a day if you had kids in the car.

‘I think it’s a road trip,’ she turned to her team, ‘He saw the Giles family was on a road trip. That’s why he chose them. He kills the kids to get rid of them and then makes the parents fulfil his fantasy; he made the parents drive him to see mount Rushmore. That’s his fantasy: he is on a family road trip and he has their undivided attention.’

Everyone went silent. It wasn’t the last piece of the puzzle, but it certainly filled in a lot.

‘This guy wants to be an only child,’ Rossi concluded.

Prentiss stalked forward and with confidence wrote in big letters across the board; JEALOUS ANNIHILATOR.

-------- Groton, SD, Gold Stallion Inn Thursday July 8:35 pm

‘We are looking for a white male in his late 20s to early 30s. He is definitely physically fit and we believe he has served time before. He is emotionally immature, violent, bad tempered, and a narcissist. He has an inflated ego and this will make him difficult to be around. He most likely doesn’t have many friends or stable relationships because of this,’ Prentiss told the gathered police, CSI, and State Troopers. They all listened intently, some even scribbled notes down.

‘This guy would be in and out of a job or in a job that afforded him isolation, but it will be a menial job with physical labour. This kind of job paired with his narcissism makes him feel undervalued and un-listened to. He craves validation attention. And this is something he has struggled with since childhood.’ Alvez explained.

‘We are looking for a type of killer called a Family Annihilator. This unsub falls in the jealous type. This type of killer is usually a patriarchal male jealous of his Ex “replacing” him with a new partner or new relationship, which results in the unsub killing his own family. However, in this case, instead of a patriarchal role, he is taking on the role of a child. He is jealous of his siblings. He wants to be an only child. And also unusually in this case, he is subjecting other families to his rage which indicates he cannot inflict this upon his own family. Now this will because he can’t get to them, is too afraid too, or he has already killed members of his family and cannot complete the fantasy. The target of his rage is mostly likely his younger siblings, who probably have a physical disability that affects their mobility.’ Grace detailed and met Avery’s eyes. He sent her an encouraging nod as he prepared a press brief.

'As this guy seems to have periods of organised behaviour and disorganised behaviour, is likely that he is delusional and has suffered a psychotic break caused by a recent stressful event. He is stuck in a fantasy that involves going on a road trip holiday as an only child and when reality breaks that fantasy; he snaps. We need to issue this warning to the public: Holidaying families with physically disabled children need to be aware and exercise caution. Stay together and ensure their vehicles and hotel rooms are locked. Be wary of hitchhikers and rest stops.’ Rossi told them.

‘As the children of the family were killed first and brutally, the children are surrogates for people he really wants to kill or wants to relive killing. These would be his own siblings. They would have probably been younger than him and had mobility issues. This would have resulted in them receiving more attention and care from his parents. Which, when met with his difficulty in empathising and narcissism, caused extreme resentment. He likely expressed this in outbursts of rage throughout his youth, attempting to gain attention.’ Dr Lewis explained.

‘His delusion is trying to recreate something from his past. We believe there was a particular traumatic event in the unsub’s life that would have either occurred when he or his siblings were around 10 to 15, as this is the age of his victims. We need to be looking at incidents involving families with one or more children with physical disabilities or mobility issues around 15 years ago. His choice of disposal site and abduction point suggests he is local or grew up here. So have a think back to anyone you remember fitting this description,’ Simmons added.

‘Rapid City Police is canvassing rest stops and hotels within a 10-mile radius of the last disposal site. He will probably be out there looking for new victims, so it is priority one that we get this warning out to the public to reduce the opportunities for this guy. We will send three of our agents with the state police to Rapid City, and we will reconvene in the morning with any updates to the case. That’s all, thank you,’ Prentiss summarised and the crowd of people dispersed. She turned to her team.

‘Simmons, JJ, I want you to take Avery and some of the State Troops with you on the jet and get to Rapid City as soon as you can. Get some rest and first thing in the morning, get everything you can from them. We need crime scene collaboration and geographic profiling to be top-notch here. We can’t let this guy slip out the net. Rest of us will stay here and try to figure out who this guy is. Hopefully, Garcia can find something in the morning or the locals will come forward. The Groton is too specific a place for it not to be personal choice. I think it’s likely he could return here.’

They all dispersed, finishing up what they could and deciding who would room with who. Grace paired up with Dr Boland, who said she was a heavy sleeper, which was great because Grace was not a great roommate.

She sat on the table flicking at the tab of her can despondently. She stared at the crime scene pictures and the then at the smiling family photo. She thought she should give Dr Boland a head start.

Grace knew she had always had trouble sleeping, diagnosed insomnia, which, when the treatments didn’t work, lead to the ADHD diagnosis. She had known that she would have disrupted a light sleeper. Given the various positions she had woken up in, she knew she fussed a lot in her sleep. There was also the fact that occasionally she woke up screaming, tangled in sheets, stumbling into a wall or tumbling over her nightstand. Not a pleasant roommate at all. But what she didn’t know until JJ told her was she talked in her sleep whenever she passed out on the couch in the jet.

This was one of those cases that would add to the bad nights if she didn’t get home to get it all out soon. It wasn’t just the brutality of the case; though that never helped. Instead, it was the motivation behind the case. This was awful on another level for her. It was too close to home. She wished she couldn’t imagine the hate this unsub had towards his own siblings that caused the carnage she saw in the photos as she stared at the board. True, she didn’t know resentment on this level, but she was ashamed to admit she understood.

‘What is it, kid?’ Rossi’s voice startled her. She turned to him and saw his concern. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he gave her that look. The downward tilt and eyebrow raise. The one he gave her when he first met her. She sighed. He knew her weakness, her tells, he knew her probably better than anyone. There was no point in trying to hide.

‘This case… it’s just the amount of times I wished that… nothing like this, of course, but I don’t know, the times that I wished they would just disappear, that they would just get out of my life, you know? What does it say about me? I understand this guy and I hate that I do.’

He reached a hand out and rested it on her shoulder, and she didn’t flinch away.

‘Hey, just cause you understand a wacko doesn’t mean you are one, right? You’ve got empathy. That that is a certified fact. Thinking like that, it’s part of the job.’ She hung her head. He didn’t let up though. ‘Considering what you’ve gone through, I think I’d be more surprised if you hadn’t had thoughts like that. No one is that much of a saint. And call me biassed, but you’re my favourite.’

She snorted a laugh then, ‘You haven’t met them.’

‘Well, by the sounds of it, I never will. One’s in space.’

‘Pfft if only,’ she snorted, then chuckled as she remembered something he would find funny, ‘You know, before I knew where babies came from, I used to think they came from space. Dad played along. He told me that what’s the helicopter pads on top of hospitals were for, it was where the spaceships landed. When they were born, I remember siting by the window with dad, looking at the stars trying to guess which planet they came from.’

‘My money’s on Vulcan,’ Rossi joked.

‘See, you would think so, but I’ve been told that Vulcan is actually inhospitable to humanoids,’ she rolled her eyes.

Rossi shook his head amused. His eyes flicked to her face and he could tell exactly where her mind was at now.

‘How is your family?’ He lowered his voice and stepped closer, asking before she could dodge it. She took a deep breath and her shoulders sagged.

‘Last I talked with mom, dad’s not any worse, but he’s not any better. They’re in Houston to be close to Ody and his girlfriend. I don’t know about Cass… she was in Hong Kong last I heard. But I don’t know, people don’t tell me stuff anymore. And the thing that sucks is that mom’s the only one who reaches out, because she feels guilty. And I still can’t… I can’t forgive her. I only talk to her because she’s that last link I have to the rest of them. And I think dad wants to talk but… the way I left, Rossi, the whole thing, it hurt everyone, especially dad. I’ve tried to fix it, but its just… its not fixing. I reached out to Ody about Thanksgiving. I haven’t heard anything back.’

Rossi gave her a painfully empathetic look. ‘I wish I could say it will be fine, that it will go back to normal, but you and I know that things like that are going to take time to get over, and they are never going to go back to the way they were. But, I want you to know my place is always open for thanksgiving if you want somewhere to go.’

‘I appreciate it, Rossi but… if I don’t get invited home or called away, I’ll probably spend it in Honolulu, with you know… She doesn’t get any other visitors.’

She could tell he hoped that she wouldn’t say that.

‘You don’t have to keep going back there. You don’t have any obligations.’

‘She has no family, no one else Rossi-’

‘-Yeah, and that’s her own fault, because she killed them, Grace.’ He said simply.

She knew he was right, and she knew he meant well and he tried to understand, but he never would. There were very few people on this side of the law that would.

‘I know, but I also know she did what she did because not one person who should’ve cared for her, ever did. She was my friend Rossi, in some way she still is. Everyone deserves to have at least one person who cares.’

‘I just worry that you forget that you need to take care of yourself,’ Rossi admitted.

‘My therapist isn’t concerned about it, and I’m always honest with her,’ she told him, hoping that it was enough to satisfy him. It wasn’t. She sighed. ‘Look, tell you what, if… I don’t get invited home and I end up spending Thanksgiving in Honolulu, I promise that I will spend Christmas with you. Does that make you feel better?’

‘Immensely,’ Rossi said. ‘And you’re not just using me to hide from this stripper that Alvez, JJ and Tara have been talking about?’

She laughed, ‘No, though it would be kinda funny to see you kick one out of your house mid-Christmas dinner. It’d be a better show than what they'd be paid to perform.’

Another thought came to her, and she remembered what she was supposed to tell him and Prentiss tonight, when she had the chance.

‘On a kinda related note, there’s no rule I’m missing, like you can’t be in the BAU if you were friends with a… ah, mass murderer before you joined, right? Cause I declared everything when I joined the bureau, I’m not going to get fired if it comes up or-’

‘Hey no, no. You weren’t on that case, and given that the circumstances in which you became friends were unrelated to her… activities. There is no conflict of interest,’ Rossi reassured her, then shrugged, ‘Unless she breaks out and we have to catch her. Then you would have to sit that one out. Why do you ask?’

‘Hypothetically...' she began

‘Oh no,’ Rossi rolled his eyes.

She winced and continued, ‘-If a current case were to involve her, but not for the crimes she did, but like, she was a witness to another crime? Would that be a conflict of interest or an established rapport?’

‘That’s an oddly specific, you care to explain that hypothetical kid?’ Rossi frowned.

‘Well, I… may have something to run by you and Prentiss.’ She walked over to her bag and pulled out her files from this morning. ‘This is what I went to see Dr Reid for.’

‘Hey Emily! You got a minute?’ Rossi called her over.

Prentiss turned to them and looked at Grace’s files and Rossi's frown.

‘Why do I sense a migraine coming on?’ she asked, concerned.

‘Uh, I’ll try to be quick but, you better grab a coffee. I’m sorry, this isn’t going to take a minute.’ Grace apologised.

---------

Rapid City Area, SD, Thursday July 9:00 pm

He sat at the diner with the map and a plate of pie in front of him. He wasn’t looking at it, though. He was looking at them; his new family. They were perfect; well, they would be. The young burden was in a wheelchair, like his brother had been at the start. These kids were girls though. But that didn’t matter. Surely if the parents kept the runt, they would love to have a bit of variation. A boy would be a lovely addition. They would welcome the change, unlike the last ones.

He watched the eldest girl, perfect like him. She was on her phone, withdrawn like he had been. The parents talked to her sister animatedly, ignoring their perfect child. The Elder Girl was unappreciated like he had been. He saw himself. He’d make it right for her. It could be fixed. He could stop her from growing up to be like him, do her a favour. Not before he undid it though, that had to come first, and there was only one place he could do that. He couldn’t hear what the family were saying from here, but he decided tomorrow they would be his.

‘…The FBI especially has warned holidaying families with children with mobility issues and physical disabilities to be alert of their surroundings, to travel together when making stops, and ensure doors are locked. The killer is thought to be armed and dangerous and currently in the greater Rapid City region. Anybody with information is encouraged to call the hotline at the bottom of the screen…’

The words caught his attention. The FBI was looking for him in Rapid City? He smirked. The fools. He was finished here. He’d seen what he needed to. They wouldn’t find him here. How stupid would they look when he took this next family, right from under their noses?

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Next Chapter

Note: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this and if you love it, or even just like it, please leave a comment and/or like, it is much appreciated and it really motivates me.

TWs:

Ablesim: this is the big one. Unsub is targeting physically disabled people and uses awful language to describe disabled people. this is in his view point. it is the last section of the chapter under the time stamp 9:00PM if it not something you wan to read skip it. Summary is, he decides to target a family cause he see they have a young girl in a wheel chair. It's never justifiable at all to hate like that. unsub is horrible and delusional. Be warned for ick factor.

Child death: sadly the victims are kids. also hinted that the unsub has done this before to his own siblings

murder, crime scene description: non graphic, but the parent's are shot, some photos are described.

#oc #OC Grace Matthews #BAU #criminal minds #mentor spencer #big brother spencer #spencer gets a happy ending #the protege #the protege chapter 5 #fanfic #my fic #criminal minds case #spencer reid

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