#while JJ and Emily are just giving her the side eye because they also know

[only-one-brain-cell]

Maeve singing along to Paper Rings by Taylor Swift and Spencer proposing the next day. 😭

[reiderwriter]

I'm Your Fluffer!

Pairing: Spencer Reid x female reader (best friends to lovers)

For @imagining-in-the-margins FWB Challenge!

Prompt: "I'm your boyfriend without the benefits." "Do you want the benefits?" "Yes- No... I'm your fluffer!" (Inspired by New Girl) (yes, I suggested this prompt, bo idc if that's cheating)

Warnings: Mentions of BDSM, unprotected vaginal sex, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, choking, mentions of spanking, and butt worship, slight Dom Spencer, bratty reader, creampie. The classics, yk.

A/N: I'm back!!!! I took a break because I couldn't bring myself to even look at a word document for about a month, but there's nothing like a Pom challenge to get me writing again! I did have a lot planned for my 1 year anniversary, but because I was sick, and then busy, and then work got hectic, I had to put it off. I still am going to try to finish my kink bingo Carr, though, even though its a month late, but I had two fics left iirc, and I have both of them plotted, so I may as well! I will, however, be abandoning the final epilogue of I Can't Help Myself, because I wrote myself into a depressed corner with that one, and honestly, some people were getting very pushy about it, and it wasn't fun anymore. Anyway! This one was fun to write, so I'm going to stick to one shots for the foreseeable future, or incredibly limited series.

Masterlist

Spencer was your friend. A good friend. Your best friend, perhaps. A really good, very best friend.

Obviously, you were good friends because he always knew when you were feeling down. He bought you flowers regularly when he passed by flower shops. He came over to your place and helped you build every piece of flatpack furniture you had, which, as a single woman in your mid-twenties, was every piece of furniture that you owned.

You really looked forward to the movie nights the two of you had weekly. The popcorn, the blankets, the cuddling, his lips by your ear, in-time translating the foreign movies word for word as you watched it, the shivers down your spine as you pressed further into the heat of him.

Spencer was the best best friend you could ask for.

He was also the most frustrated.

“Kid, what are you doing this weekend? I'm thinking of hitting some clubs, you know, getting my groove on, maybe meeting A few ladies,” Morgan smirked, rubbing his hands together as he gently moved side to side, already dancing to himself as he anticipated his big weekend out. “You in, or are you in?”

“I can't. I promised Y/N I'd help her with some document digitalisation. We're going to order pizza and watch Star Trek while backing up her entire paper trail.”

The smile on Spencer's face was so stupid that Morgan had to stop himself from wiping it off of him immediately.

“Man, you are so down bad for that girl,” he mused, shaking his head.

“What? Down bad?”

“You like her. It's okay to admit it.”

“We're friends. I'm happy being friends,” Spencer said, picking up his bag and walking to the elevator desperate to escape a repeat of a conversation he'd already had three times that week.

“You know everyone thinks you're dating.”

“Well aware. Despite the number of times we've both stated to the contrary, people don't seem to accept ‘we're just friends’ when they hear it.”

“That may be because you're doing things that just friends don't do.”

“Everything we do is totally platonic.”

“You buy her flowers-

“I buy my mother flowers,” Spencer said, turning on the man and raising his hands in exasperation.

“You know that's different. Do you buy Emily flowers?”

Silence.

“What about JJ?”

“I bought JJ flowers!” He grinned triumphantly until the other man spoke again.

“When she was in the hospital. Giving birth. Okay, what about the movie nights?”

Rolling his eyes, the younger man walked on, pressing the bell for the elevator and allowing his friend to keep bothering him.

“Friends watch movies together, Morgan. We've watched movies together, are we dating?”

“One, you are not my type, pretty boy, and two, you didn't exactly have your dick pressed against my ass the entire time we watched a film now, did you?”

“Be q- be quiet. I don't have my dick against her ass ever.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, was it pressed against her stomach instead? I know she likes to lie on top of-”

“Derek!”

The elevator arrived, and the two quickly jumped in, to Spencer's relief.

“All I'm saying, kid, is-”

“Hold the elevator!” You shouted, running to it quickly with Penelope Garcia on your heels.

“Thanks, Spence!” You said, smiling at him as you entered the small space.

And continued your not too unsimilar conversation with Penelope.

“So, as I was saying Penelope,” you shot her a look that told her you were finished with the conversation. You were not dating Spencer Reid, and you were unlikely to in the future because of his total and complete lack of interest in you.

“You can set me up this weekend, right? It's been an age since I've been on a date, and I would really like to-” you glanced around the elevator and whispered the end of your sentence, suddenly mindful of your company. “You know.”

“If you're absolutely sure, I have a few men in mind that could throw you about, but-”

You squealed and squeezed the woman as the elevator landed on your floor and jumped out of the elevator quickly, cheeks burning.

“Thanks, Pen, you're the best!”

“Y/N, wait,” Spencer called out behind you, desperately holding the elevator open for a few more seconds.

“I thought we were doing your papers this weekend? Star trek, pizza, remember?”

You stared guiltily at the floor as you forced your voice to sound as casual as possible, not sure you could make any excuse that didn't sound pathetic.

“Oh, sorry, Spencer. I totally forgot. We can rain check, right? I… I really need this.”

Spencer was aware of what disappointment felt like, but it never hollowed out his chest like your lack of eye contact in that moment did.

“Yeah. Sure, of course. We can do that whenever.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Spencer. You're the best… friend.”

He smiled and let the door finally shut, aware of the two sets of eyes now watching him.

It took a surprisingly long time for the ‘I told you so’ to come, but come it did, as if Morgan were unable to help himself.

“You're telling me that you're not into her at all?”

“I'm…not into her like that at all.”

“And you're fine with me setting her up on a date with a man that'll do somewhat empowering, somewhat disgusting things with her?” Penelope piled on.

“What? That's…that's not my business,” he ground out.

“No. Of course it’s not. Because you're not her boyfriend.”

“Exactly, I'm not her boyfriend-”

“You're her fluffer.”

With a pat on the shoulder, the elevator hit its last stop, and Morgan exited, leaving Spencer scrambling after him as Penelope waved the two of them off.

“What? No, what's a fluffer?”

Morgan chuckled and waved him off, walking to his car.

“Come on, what's a fluffer, and why am I hers?”

“You've seen porn before, right?” The older man asked, pausing as he opened his driver side door. “Actually don't answer that. The fluffer is the person who keeps the actors and actresses… ready between takes. Prepares them for the good stuff.”

With a bright flush across his cheeks, Spencer tried his best for an indignant look, landing somewhat closer to a petulant child.

“I am not her fluffer. We have never-”

“I know you've never. If you had, we wouldn't be standing here right now having this conversation. What I'm saying is you should.”

“We're friends!”

Climbing into the car and closing the door, Morgan dismissed the younger man quickly, but he wasn't finished.

Knocking on the door, Spencer waiting a beat, then two for it to open again.

“I'm not her fluffer.”

“You build her furniture and cuddle with her. You're doing everything a boyfriend would do, without any of the boyfriend rewards.”

“What rewards?” he gasped, exasperated.

A single look was all the reply he got before Morgan out his keys into the ignition and started driving.

Spencer never made the decision to turn up at your house later that night. He just found himself all of a sudden at your front door on a Friday night, pulling out the key from the plant pot by the front door and letting himself in. Unlocking his shoes, he called out through the apartment, letting you know he was there as he slipped into the house shoes you'd bought him after the first of many movie nights.

“Spencer? We cancelled earlier, remember?” you said emerging from your bedroom, fitted in the tightest dress he'd ever seen you in. He already had no answer for your question, but seeing you like that, getting ready, he had no answer to any question at all. If you'd have asked him his name, he wouldn't have known it.

Well, he would've, but only because you'd said it only three seconds ago and had reminded him that he was, in fact, standing in your apartment when he should've been literally anywhere else.

“Um. I'm…I'm just-” he scratched the back of his neck, waiting for something to come to him.

“Spencer, I'm leaving in like an hour, so there's no time to watch a movie, and I have to get ready, so-”

“I'm… I'm angry?”

You raised an eyebrow at his questioning tone, unsure where this conversation was going.

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah..yes. I'm sure. I'm angry. We, we had plans, and you gave me like an hours notice and cancelled them to go do something stupid-”

“Spencer! I'm going on a date. That's not stupid.”

“It is when you have me!”

He half shouted, half murmured the words, as if he himself were unsure of how confident he was in making that statement.

“That came out wrong-”

“Yeah, I think it did.”

“What I mean is- I mean…Morgan said that-”

You crossed your arms and sat yourself on the arm of your sofa, looking forward at him and waiting for him to get through whatever this was. You hoped the entire time that he was saying what you'd wanted him to say for the last year and a half.

“Have you ever watched porn?”

Not what you were hoping for, but a start, at least.

“Spencer!”

“That came out wrong, I- don't throw the couch cushions at me. I have a point, I swear!”

You lowered your next projectile and gestured for him to go on, not fully relinquishing it just yet.

“I'm your fluffer! I get you…in the mood for dates, and- and- I do all the boyfriend stuff without any of the boyfriend benefits!”

He stood in front of you, red-faced, and you stared him down a second or two as you collected your thoughts.

“Do you…want the boyfriend benefits?”

“Yes! No, wait - wait a second. I- I- What are the boyfriend benefits exactly?”

You threw the pillow down and turned your back on him, not entirely sure what you were expecting from the most oblivious genius on the planet.

“Y/N, wait. Wait-”

With a hand wrapped around your wrist, Spencer spun you around, and, tripping over your feet, you landed hard on your sofa. Your fall should've been relatively pain-free, but for the 6-foot man that landed directly on top of you.

“Get up.”

“What are the boyfriend benefits?”

“You should know if you're saying you want them! Now, get up!”

“Not until you tell me.”

“Spencer!”

“Y/N!”

You groaned and writhed under him, but he just dropped his weight onto you, unmoving, hands pinning your wrists lazily, leg poking between your two, hips pinning yours.

It certainly wasn't the closest you'd ever been, but in those circumstances, during that conversation, you felt more flustered than you had before.

“What are the benefits.”

“You really want me to say? You're not afraid it's going to throw off our friendship, ruin whatever good thing we have going?”

“I think that if you go out tonight, and enjoy your date, and get a boyfriend, that he's going to feel weird about this good thing we have going and it's going to be over anyway. Tell me.”

You desperately searched for a way out of this situation, but a stronger part of you wanted to simply wrap your legs around him and let him take as much advantage as he could.

You settled for disturbing him.

“Fine. A boyfriend would be able to spank me.”

“Y/N, be serious.”

“I am. I like it. A boyfriend would pull my hair back and make me count as he hit my cute round ass until it turned all red, and I couldn't sit down comfortably anymore. A boyfriend would then kiss it better.”

You'd never spoken about sex with Spencer, and you hoped the vulgarity would force him back to his senses. Instead, he didn't stir, and you had no choice but to continue.

“Another boyfriend benefit would be choking me. I like that, too. Are your hands big enough to wrap around my throat, Spencer?”

“Yes.”

The answer came so quickly and do confidently, you weren't sure you actually heard it outlook until he spoke again.

“What other benefits, Y/N?”

“A… boyfriend would get to cum inside me,” you whispered, suddenly aware of hips rocking into yours slowly as his cock poked up, listening intently to the promises spilling from your lips that you likely should've regretted.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I want the benefits.”

Your body was hot everywhere he touched you, but he didn't move, didn't follow through on anything just yet. But you were aware of his head moving closer and closer to yours and panicked.

“And what have you done? As my fluffer? To deserve those benefits?”

“What have I done?” He asked, pulling back an inch. Even as his chest rested, flush against yours, your breasts pushed up against him as his hands held yours over your head.

“I-I bought you flowers-”

“Emily buys me flowers, too. So does Penelope. Should I let them be my boyfriend?”

With your hands in use, you took advantage of his distraction and wrapped your legs up and around his waist, rolling your hips up into him.

“I suppose I do like flowers, though. What else?”

“I… We're always t-together?”

“We work together.”

Using the leverage of his weight against yours, you rolled up harder into his hips, grinding into him slowly as you watched his resolve melt away.

“The m-movie nights are-”

“The movie nights where you rut your cock into me while we watch a movie? Friends do that all the time. You're just translating the movie for me after all.”

“Y/N, please don't-”

“Don't say that? Okay. I'll just let someone else hump against my thighs to get off because you're too proud to admit you want to sink your dick into me and pound me?”

“Y/N-”

“Maybe that's why you don't have the boyfriend privileges, Spencer. Because I'm waiting for something, you're too much of a prude to try-”

His lips meet yours before you can finish the thought, and you're not sure whether it's a triumph or a defeat.

After precisely five seconds of his lips on yours, though, you no longer cared.

Releasing your hands gently, he lifted his hips an inch, distracting you enough to force his tongue into your mouth as his hand found its way between your legs.

“Did you really mean it?” He asked between kisses as you rake your hands through his hair, getting lost in him. “About the benefits?”

You allowed yourself to imagine it for a second, Spencer's hands on your throat. His hands on your ass. His mouth buried between your legs.

You moaned into his kiss, and he laughed - actually laughed - as he pulled away.

“Spencer!”

“No, no, please, don't let me keep you from your thoughts, I'll just be down here.”

His fingers reached your clit and he wasn't surprised to find you already wet, legs spread. Snaking another hand to your neck though, he wasn't exactly as opposed to the ideas you'd flung at him as he'd acted.

You gasped as his hand closed around your neck, the prettiest necklace you'd ever worn. You grabbed a hold of his hands as he pulled your underwear off, pushing them down your legs as he gently pushed your legs open wider and replaced his fingers with his tongue.

You curled up on yourself, craving your body to watch him devour your pussy as you tried your best to keep your breaths shallow, to keep breathing entirely as he squeezed your throat.

His tongue licked and flattened, his head bobbing up and down and then stilling as your hips began moving by themselves, letting you ride his face as you moaned and whined and desperately ran towards your climax.

You wrapped a leg around his shoulder, pressing down on his back to keep him in position, grabbing a handful of hair as you jerked against his face, fucking it as he looked up at you through hooded eyes, drinking down every drop of you.

His hold on your neck tightened, and you felt your body shudder as you squeaked out his name, not wanting this to end so soon, needing to feel more of this. He let you ride it out until you were whining in frustration again, hips twitching from the friction of his tongue against your cunt.

Then he pushed away.

He wasn't gone long, but you followed him up. You thought about pushing him down to the couch again, thought about sitting on his pretty boy face and doing it all over again. You thought of turning over and presenting your ass to him, letting him punish you like you'd promised. Your thoughts ceased as quickly as they came when he pulled his cock free of his pants, not even bothering to pull them off fully before pulling you into his lap, lining himself up, and pushing you down onto his hot, hard, lengthy cock.

You swear you would've screamed if his to guess hadn't already claimed your mouth. A good scream. A “holy shit holy shit holy shit” scream. Definitely a “I didn't know it was that big, and honestly I'm a little scared” scream. But overall, a “god that feels so good” scream.

From the lack of movement, you were sure that Spencer was giving you a moment to adjust to his intrusion, and you were thankful as you clung to his neck, hands balling in the material of his shirt on his back.

Although he was bigger than expected, he wasn't uncomfortably large, and you calmed quickly, giving him a quick nod as you buried yourself in his neck, hiding your face to stop yourself from drooling, mouth wide as he tipped you back against the couch pillows, lifting your legs slightly and slipping his hands underneath yous thighs, and began his steady pace of thrusts.

You were sure your world was imploding on itself, that all your senses had ceased except that of touch, and his touch was fire. But you heard the wet, slutty sounds of your pussy welcoming him, you smelt the sweat against his skin, and, opening your eyes, you saw the absolute pleasure blasted against his features as he groaned in your ear.

And before you could form another coherent thought, he'd claimed another boyfriend benefit, as, rocking his hips against yours, he slowed to a stutter as he emptied himself inside you.

“Spencer!!” you moaned, but he wasn't done, spitting on his fingers and finding your clit again as you squealed, twitching and turning and milling his cock with your movements as you found your second release.

You moaned his name again, though it sounded less like his name this time, and more like a definite noise complaint from your neighbours in the morning.

“Spencer?” you asked, still trying to regain your breath as he, once again, collapsed on top of you.

“Mhmm,” he said, slowly pulling out of you, watching the mess you'd made together drip out too, and resisting the urge to push right back into you and go again.

“Was that a friendly fuck, or a boyfriend fuck?”

His eyes snapped to yours again as you continued.

“I just want to give Penelope the correct reason for cancelling on her friend when I text her-”

“I came inside you.”

“So you did.”

“Y/N!”

“.... So that wasn't a fluffer thing, but a boyfriend thing, got i-”

With a kiss, he shut you up again, and you realized quickly that you probably wouldn't have the time to send that text anyway.

[greg-montgomery]

the latest hotch x sunshine reader fic?

u think u ate with that?

no.

U DEVOUREDDDDDD. GRRRRRRRRRRR

part 2 now mama i love u so much

bestieee thank you omg!!!! <3 i hope you like part 2!!

part 1

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Spencer took a deep breath staring at his desk. On any other day it would be due to the amount of paperwork waiting for him, but this time it was a cup of his favorite coffee order, a muffin, and a chocolate croissant, all sitting right on top of the report he was working on.

He wasn’t ungrateful for the treats, but he would rather enjoy them if they weren’t accompanied by three pairs of wide eyes looking at him, while searching for answers in return.

Emily threw her head back dramatically. “Come on, give us something.”

“They’re on a date right now, aren’t they? That’s why he left early. I know you know,” Penelope said. “I know you do. Rossi knows too, but he won’t say anything.”

“Yeah,” JJ agreed, “Every time we ask he says nothing and just…smirks at us.”

“Please, you’re our last hope.”

Spencer took a bite of his muffin and smirked.

“You’re even worse than him,” Emily said and pointed at him.

“Come on, girls. Let’s go hack Hotch’s phone.”

“No, wait!”

--

Was it silly to start planning your wedding on a first date?

Maybe it was; you didn’t care. Because there was no way Aaron was not your future husband.

He did everything perfectly: he picked you up from your house, got you flowers, did not let you touch a door handle, paid for your dinner date, and let you play your music during the car ride.

Aaron also smiled a lot and the sight of it made you melt into your seat. It wasn’t often that a man gave you butterflies by just one look or with the sound of his laughter.

“What are you in the mood for now?”

The last thing you wanted was for the date to end, so instead of suggesting you walk back to his car you made a different offer.

“Let’s get ice cream!”

He chuckled, but you could already tell he would not say no to you. “Okay.”

You were walking side by side and even though you were already falling in love with his warm voice it was hard to pay attention to his words. Your mind was too occupied thinking about his arm swinging next to yours and how bad you wanted to hold hands with him.

Did he want it too? Would he think it’s childish to hold hands?

What if you just…did it?

Life’s too short, you thought and grabbed his hand.

Yes, you had not been paying attention to what he'd been saying but you did notice how he stopped mid-sentence when your hands touched. Was he mad?

Your heart was jumping against your chest, afraid you did something stupid. Aaron was quick to ease your anxiety, intertwining your fingers and squeezing gently your hand.

He wanted this too.

He cleared his throat. “So it’s um…a good chance to…”

With the side of your eye, you caught him turning his head to stare at you. You hadn’t wiped the grin off your face from the sudden hand holding yet, and he saw it.

His dimples made an appearance, and as your grin got bigger you noticed he blushed.

“Oh, shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!” you giggled.

The sound of Aaron’s phone ringing interrupted your moment.

“Sorry, I have to get this,” he said.

You, of course, didn’t mind. Even though he hadn’t said so himself, you knew he had left right on time – early in Hotch’s terms - from work just for your date. Perks of being best friends with your date’s subordinate was getting to have this kind of inside information.

“Hotchner,” he said sternly.

You stayed quiet.

“What? I didn’t authorize this.”

Oh.

“No. And I trust this won’t happen again.”

Oh…Maybe you liked this side of him a little bit more than you should.

“Thanks,” he said, and hung up. “I’m sorry about that.”

I’m not.

“No, it’s okay! It’s fascinating observing you being a boss.”

“You like observing people?”

“Why, are you interested in hiring me?” you teased.

“Oh, I would never.”

“Why not?” you asked, acting offended.

“I would not be able to focus on a case with you around.”

You took advantage of the fact you were on a sidewalk and stopped walking, turning your body to face him. “And why is that?”

Aaron moved closer and dropped your hand only to cup the side of your head. His thumb moved back and forth on your cheek and his eyes on yours made you feel dizzy.

“Because you take my breath away.”

And with his next move he took yours. Maybe you’d actually faint if he didn’t pull you in and place his lips on yours.

Your hands moved to his tie with the intention of pulling him even closer to your body. His kiss was heavenly and you really wouldn’t mind if you were to stay like that forever.

Yeah…there was no way Aaron Hotchner was not your future husband.

[boldlyvoid]

Waiting Rooms

Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader

Summary: JJ goes into labour with her second baby, on Christmas Eve. Aaron and Emily are the only two still in town, they rush to the hospital to support her where Aaron meets a lovely woman who's friend is also giving birth that same night.

Warnings: Pregnant JJ, mentions of throwing up, Meet Cutes, Love at First Sight | Canon rewrite: Haley doesn't die, JJ doesn't lose her baby in season 6, Emily is Alive and living with Aaron for the time being

Word Count: 2.7k

After losing Emily, JJ was able to rejoin the team. And thank god because Hotch was struggling to keep things afloat without both of them. Spencer was a mess, Penelope was needier than ever and Derek... Derek had this look of vengeance in his eyes that made Aaron worried what he did to Foyet look like a walk in the park.

It was scary. 

The only one who was semi okay was Dave and that’s only because he’s better at hiding his feelings than anyone else on the team. 

JJ was doing really good pretending to be distraught while knowing the truth that their good friend was safely tucked away in Paris for the time being. But something was off about her in the first few weeks that she was back… something he couldn’t quite place until she threw up on the jet. 

He went back to pour himself a drink on their way home when he heard her in the jet washroom. He was instantly worried, he knocked on the door and asked if she was okay. She groaned, but let him in. He helped her up to her feet again, got her some tissues to wipe her mouth and stared at her with the most concern in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing's wrong,” she can’t help but smile. “I’m pregnant…” 

He’s been so, so happy for her ever since. He keeps close to her side on cases, he keeps snacks in his bag for her and they double up in hotel rooms later on in her pregnancy just in case she needs anything in the middle of the night. She’s not one to go on early maternity leave, so starting at 27 weeks, he steps up his protectiveness and steps in when he knows she needs to go easy on herself. Wills grateful, he knows she’s in good hands with all the boys on the team and even Sever was really good at taking care of her before she transferred over to Andy Swan’s unit. 

And much to everyone's surprise, Emily is back in their life when JJ hits 7 months pregnant and she’s so pissed that she can’t be involved in the takedown due to her baby bump. She wanted revenge, she wanted to make Ian Doyle pay… but getting to sit back at the BAU with Emily made up for it. Everything goes smoothly, they get Ian in custody, and they find his son-- sure the criminals all died at the trade-off, but at least Emily was safe from here on out. 

The team is overjoyed that they get another Halloween with Emily. Another Thanksgiving, another Christmas and right as New Year's rolls around, JJ is due to bring in another member to their little family… they get two weeks off baring any emergency cases and so everyone goes their separate ways with the plan to come back right before new years to be there when JJ has her baby.  

Spencer’s gone back to Vegas with his mom, Derek goes to Chicago with his mom and sisters, and Dave ends up in Long Island with his cousins and the few aunts he has left… Haley has Jack for Christmas this year, Penelope was volunteering at the local homeless shelter to give out Turkey dinner and so that left Emily and Aaron at his house— where she’s been living since coming back, with nothing to do.

And then the phone rings right before midnight. Moments before Christmas Day click's over.  

“Hotchner?” He answers, expecting it to be a work call. 

“Hey, JJ’s water broke and we’re at the hospital. Her mom has Henry, she’s like 5 centimetres now and she really wants you and Emily here,” Will rushes out. 

“I need them!” She calls from the background. 

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he assures before hanging up. He quickly gets up from bed to put his pants back on and rushes out the door, down the hall, he knocks on Emily’s door. 

“What?” She answers and so he pushes the door open. She has a book in one hand and wine in the other. “Sure, come in.” 

“JJ’s water broke, she wants us there,” he says. “Come on, I’ll see you downstairs.” 

He grabs the rest of his things while she hurries to get back into something appropriate for waiting in a hospital for god knows how long. But they were going to be there the whole time. They were last time, they would be this time and then again if she ever has a 3rd. Or 4th… but he doesn’t see that happening. 

The drive over is nice, the roads are clear and it doesn’t look like it’ll snow again anytime soon. Emily’s quiet, bouncing her knee and picking at her fingers. She’s not good with other people being in pain, especially not the people she loves… she’s the first one in the room when they get there. She kisses JJ on the head and asks if she needs anything and JJ just smiles up at her. 

“They gave me the good shit,” she holds up her hand with an IV in it. “I’m great.” 

“You look good,” Aaron gives her a smile. He loves her like a daughter, he’s so proud of her and she does look amazing for a woman going through the worst pain imaginable. 

Just before she can reply, a nurse shows up in the doorway, “I’m so sorry, but it’s after visiting hours which means we can only allow 2 family members in the room at a time…” 

“I’ll go,” Aaron offers, knowing how much time with Emily would mean to JJ. “I’ll be in the waiting room.” 

“Okay,” JJ gives him a smile. “Thank you for coming, Aaron.” 

“Anytime,” he smiles right back before heading out with a wave. 

The waiting room is pretty empty, seeing as it is just after midnight on Christmas Day. Most people plan to have a baby around Christmas, avoiding it like the plague. JJ wasn’t due till New Year's, but, she has a habit of going into labour early. He sits alone in one of the pink pleather seats, there’s magazines on a rack in the corner and the news quietly on the TV screwed into the wall in the top right corner of the room. The chair he picked is perfect for watching the TV, however depressing the reports are, it keeps him company for the time being. 

Another woman walks out into the waiting room 10 minutes later with a similar disappointed look on her face. “You get kicked out for not being family, too?” She asks him. 

He nods, “I did. But it’s okay.” 

“Can I sit beside you?” She asks and actually starts to sit well before he can nod. “Do you know what your friends are having?” 

“Uh, no,” he lies. Keeping their privacy. “We just hope it’s healthy.” 

“Same… but Cassy— my co-worker, she’s having a girl,” she explains. “Sorry, uh, I’m Y/N,” she sticks her hand out to shake his and make his acquaintance. 

“Aaron,” he smiles back. “Was your friend due today?” 

She nods, “Yeah, actually she was. We didn’t expect her to go in today because this is her first, sometimes they take a little longer but then her contractions started getting really bad a few hours ago.” 

“This is my friend's second,” he shares. Finding it easy to open up to her. She’s nice, she doesn’t have a threatening bone in her body. And her smile is beautiful. “She actually went early both times.” 

“Wow, lucky,” she laughs. “I really hope if I have a baby one day that it’s easy and quick…” 

“You don’t have any kids?” 

She shakes her head. “No, I don't even have a boyfriend… sorry, you didn’t need to know that.” 

“It’s okay,” he smiles. “I uh, I have a son. He just turned 6, and he’s with his mom this Christmas.” 

“Do you guys go back and forth?” 

He nods, “It’s easier on him this way.” 

“I bet,” she nods along, staring off at the floor, awkwardly losing the conversation there. 

They’re silent for a few minutes and then he looks around to see where the vending machines are. “Are you hungry?” 

“A little… but I used my cash on the parking pass,” she shares, lips pressed together, she’s not going to ask for food and she looks like she doesn’t want him to offer either. 

“I’ll be right back, save my seat for me?” 

“Okay,” she gives him another smile and he feels like blushing. She’s so pretty… 

He gets a coffee from one machine and a bunch of snacks from the other, including a bottle of water and if she wants his coffee, he’ll just go back and get a second. He brings back his haul and places them on the little coffee table in front of their chairs, “Merry Christmas.” 

She laughs again, “You didn’t have to do this?” 

“We’re going to be here for a while, might as well eat up,” he shrugs, he really doesn’t mind. “Did you want coffee?” 

She shakes her head, “No, I’m okay but thank you.” 

“Take whatever you want,” he points to his collection of things. “There’s chips, candy, chocolate… they also had some egg salad sandwiches in there, if you prefer one of them?” 

“No, no, it’s okay,” she assures him. “Thank you, I’ll take some chips… but first, I’m going to see if a nurse has a remote for the TV, the news is so sad and boring lately.” 

“Oh, thank you. I get enough of this stuff at work,” he sighs with a shake of his head. 

She disappears then, over to the nurses station and comes back with a remote inside a plastic bag. “What do you want to watch?” 

“Anything is fine with me,” he assures. 

“Okay,” she starts to flip through the channels. “What do you do at work?” 

“I’m… I’m an FBI agent,” he tells her the truth. Feeling safe enough with her to be honest. 

“Oh wow,” she’s impressed. “So is that why you didn’t tell me about what your friend is having?” 

“What?” 

“I teach kids, I can tell when someone is lying to me,” she explains with a smile. “Your voice went up a bit, you looked away from me… you know what she’s having.” 

“I do. We’ve seen a few cases of people trying to hurt us specifically, I’m always weary to talk about my kid, her kids, any kids really because it shows people we have weak spots.” 

“I feel you… I have to watch 23 kids for 8 hours a day and keep them all safe while school shootings are on the rise,” she explains. 

“We don’t deal with a lot of those… but I see kidnappings often. At least 1 a month. It’s terrifying not being able to be with my son all day every day, but knowing there are teachers like you out there means a lot,” he gives her a smile. 

“I would do anything for my kids,” she nods, the most genuine smile on her face as she stares into his eyes. “And I’m glad there are people like you out there who would be able to get the guy who puts me in a position to do anything for them.” 

“And I get them all,” he assures her. 

“I’m sure you do,” she smirks. Liking how cocky he is. “Do you wear a uniform like cops do or?” 

“I typically wear a suit… and when I’m in the field a bulletproof vest— no suit jacket though.” 

“Ah,” she likes the sound of that, looking him up and down. “And does your son have a mother?” 

“He does… she’s with someone else, they’re all together at their new house right now,” he explains. “Scott is actually asking her to marry him tomorrow— well, today technically.” 

“How weird is that for you?” 

“Not really weird, I like him. He’s nice,” Aaron shrugs. “And he’s good with my son so I’m glad he has another father figure who’s home more than I am.” 

“Your son sounds very lucky,” she smiles. “You clearly love him so much.” 

“I really do,” he smiles right back. Something about her makes him so happy, the way she compliments him how she looks at him and how easy it is to just talk to her. “Are you doing anything tomorrow?” 

She shakes her head, “Nope… don’t know when I’ll be leaving here though and I do need some sleep.” 

“Yeah, same,” he forgot how long labour takes. “What about on New Year's?” 

“I’m free,” she assures, leaning more into his space. “Are you asking me out, agent?” 

“I am,” he nods, staring down at her lips and then back to her eyes. “You’re so nice and pretty… I’d like to get to know you more.” 

“I’d like to—

“Aaron,” a voice calls out. Emily’s voice. “We have another niece.” 

He’s quick to pull away and stand up, “already?” 

She nods, “JJ is good at what she does… who’s this?” 

“Oh, hi,” she stands up and puts her hand out to his friend. “I’m Y/N.” 

“Emily,” she smiles. “Nice to meet you…” 

“my friend is also having a baby tonight,” she awkwardly smiles. “But go, go meet this little girl. I’ll talk to you later?” 

“Yeah,” he nods, “I’ll come back out and see you before I leave?” 

“sounds good.” 

Emily walks him down the hall and stops at the door, “only 2 people are allowed in there at a time… I can go keep your friend company?” 

“Don’t… don’t be weird. I like her, she’s sweet,” he whispers. “I don’t get to meet nice, normal women often, let me have this.” 

“You can have her, I’ll go to Penelope’s,” she teases and he swats her arm. “Hey, okay, go in. I’ll wait out here.” 

—

Penelope is the next one to show up, Will and Aaron go out for some bad coffee, giving the girls some time to talk and Y/N’s nowhere to be seen out in the waiting room. Her friend must’ve had her baby… and he never had the chance to get her number. 

Visiting hours start again in a little while, meaning that they’ll all be allowed in her room soon and maybe, just maybe, he can have a peak into the other rooms to see her? 

Before he knows it, JJ goes for a nap, Penelope and Emily head out to get some food and Will sits beside his wife with his hand over hers. A nurse is coming in to take the baby for tests and monitoring and Will lets Aaron accompany her wherever she goes. She doesn’t have a name yet, she’s just baby girl LaMontagne and she’s the cutest. 

He waits outside the glass windows, watching all the nurses attend to all the babies wrapped up in their blue and pink blankets. He’s staring at them with so much awe and happiness, he doesn’t notice someone coming up beside him until she’s bumping shoulders with him. 

“hey there…” 

“Hi,” he beams a smile at her. “Did she have the baby?” 

She nods, “Yeah, she’s right there,” she points at the cot beside JJ’s daughter. 

“My friend's is to the right of her,” he coos. “Isn’t she beautiful?” 

“She is,” Y/N swoons. “God, now I want one even more.” 

“You’d be a good mom,” he whispers. “I can tell.” 

“Cause you’re a good dad or a good agent?” She teases. 

“A bit of both… Do you still want to go out sometime?” 

“I would,” she can’t believe it. She looks up at him in awe, “do you want my number?” 

“I would love your number,” he says as he pulls out his phone and hands it to her. “I don’t go back to work until the 3rd, intense cases permitting… so I was thinking maybe we could go to dinner? Maybe take a walk around and see the lights and fireworks at midnight?” 

“I’d really like that,” she swoons as she hands his phone back to him. “Even if we just ordered in and watched TV, I’d have fun with you.” 

“You know, out of all my times in waiting rooms, this has to be my favourite,” he teases. “I’m so glad I met you.” 

“Me too… and if it all works out, we have two little girls to thank for this,” she points at the two babies side by side, peaceful as ever. 

“That we do.” 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @buckleyhans @mrs-ssa-hotch

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Can I request an Aaron Hotchner x autistic!daughter young adult ideally but any age. Or even she’s on the team and he’s a father figure to her because her own is so ableist. My dad is so ableist and I have so much autistic trauma from him even though my autism is from him too. He thinks that gives him even more rights to say whatever he wants to me and bully me even more. I just need to know what it feels like to have a good dad who cares about my autism. Who cares about me ❤️❤️

Aaron Hotchner x Autistic! Young adult reader

Of course I can, I'm sorry you have to deal with that, my parents have trouble understanding my Autism as well but they are getting better. I will write this for you!

Summary: Y/Ns ableist Dad comes to the BAU and starts being an Ableist arsehole to his daughter, her father figure (Hotch) steps in and saves her.

Third Person pov...

It had been 3 years since Y/N L/N joined the BAU, she was 21 when she joined and instantly became the baby of the team and Hotch became her Dad, Y/N is autistic and has sensory issues.

Ever since she was little her father was ablest and would bully her and verbally abuse her saying how her being Autistic meant something was wrong with her and that she needed fixing, the man caused her to have so many meltdowns and sensory overloads that it made others concerned her teachers as school.

He was later arrested for child abuse and was sent to prison, Y/N was then left with her neighbours who were a nice loving family and always liked her but hated her dad and were glad she got away from him after suffering for years, her Mum was out of the picture.

The young girl had so much trauma from her childhood when she joined the BAU that Hotch became her father figure, their relationship helped mend Y/Ns trauma from her bio dad and she was able to live comfortably knowing he wasnt in her life anymore, she was treated with respect and was always told that her autism wasn't a bad thing.

From being with Penelope and Spencer (who are also Autistic) her relationship with her Autism was mended and she was able to be herself, while with her dad she could stim or doing anything 'autistic' but with her new found family she was free to stim and had all her accomedations, if anyone disrespected her or called her weird they would have to deal with an angry Hotch and the rest of the team.

It was a normal day for the team, they weren’t on a case and for once they all got to relax and fill out paperwork, well aside from Hotch and Spencer no one was doing any paperwork, Derek and Emily were sat giggling loudly like children as they kept throwing rolled up pieces of paper at their second youngest member.

The laughter increased as they kept hitting their mark, Spencers head, the genius was none the wiser as a pile of paper was forming around him at their many failed attempts. From the side JJ and Penelope sit and watch as Spencer doesn't realise, opposite the genius sat Y/N she was busy spinning in her chair with her headphones on and watching the scene play out.

She had the perfect poker face for when a paper ball hit Spencer's head, as the children in the bull pen play the two adults Hotch and Rossi where actually getting work done, , well Hotch was at least the Italian was drinking and watching the kids outside keeping an eye on them as someone responsible needed too.

As Y/N continued to spin around her in chair she didn’t hear the heavy footsteps off someone walking up behind her, the H/C woman was suddenly yanked off her chair and onto the hard floor by a man, in the process of being manhandled her headphones when flying off her head.

“What did I tall ya about doing that Girl!” exclaimed a voice that haunted her nightmares, gasping in terror Y/N stared frozen at her Father who was suppose to be in prison, the large man had a sickening grin on his face as he saw the terror in his daughter eyes.

“Yes its me!” he laughed that horrible laugh that had Y/N holding her hands overs her ears, the 21 year old was still frozen on the floor while the others were staring at the scene before them guns raised, by this time Hotch and Rossi had heard what happened and were out of their offices.

“bu-but your supposed to be in jail!” exclaimed Y/N finally finding her voice stuttering, the man looked down at her crumpled form, he then grabbed the front of her blouse pulling his daughter close. “they let me out for good behaviour, did ya miss me!” he semi whispered as Y/Ns face grew a sickening pale white, she scrambled to get away but the man wouldn’t let go instead he raised his hand and slapped her.

Y/N cried out in pain. “you really didn’t think I could be held for long did ya you retard! You really are still a fucked in the head as you were years ago” yelled the man, Hotch had had enough, he rain down thw ramp arms raised, gun in his hands. “Get your hands on hr now, you do realise you just assaulted a federal agent” growled out Hotch as the man teared his eyes away from the shivering form of his daughter.

He spat at Hotch. “your not her father I am, this waste of space in am Agent HA!”!” he laughed again and kicked Y/N hard in the ribs, Penelope gasps tears in her eyes as she witnesses her friend get beaten. Y/N holds in her cries of pain and raises her head from the floor glaring at the man.

“your not my dad you never have been!” she cried tears rolling down her face, the sadistic man smirked at the tears rolling down his daughters face, the sight reminding off when she was a kid and he would verbally abuse her, he had never hit her before now, it felt good.

Her words made him angry. “I am your father retard, though I hate to admit it you share my blood, your as stupid as I remember crying on the floor like the child you are to stupid to do what I say” he goes on on berating Y/N and saying how stupid she was once again verbally abusing her, as he went on his rant Y/N managed to stand up.

She was then pulled behind Hotch, his finger close to pulling the trigger. “you Bastard, you shut the fuck up now, you have crossed the line now get out of my building and away from my Daughter before I pump your body full of bullets!” yelled Hotch threw clenched teeth, he was so close to pulling the trigger instead he stormed up so he was chest to chest with the man and pulled back his fist.

When he lets go his right hand connected with the nose he was satisfied to feel it shatter, a smirk on his face before gesturing to a couple of agents. “now don’t ever come back or I will kill you” Hotches hand was burning but he felt satisfied when Y/Ns Dad freeze before he tsked and stormed out not before calling Y/N the R slur before he was detained by two agents ans forced into handcuffs.

Hotch crossed his arms before turning around to hug Y/N was had collapsed, the stress from her dad coming in draining her, she was then sat at her desk with Hotch hovering around her looking at her injuries, E/C eyes locked on his brown ones.

“Im your daughter” she whispers hoarsely, this made Hotch smile and run his hand through her hair. “of course, you are sweetie” he smiled softly kissing her forehead still smiling when she smiles back.

The end!!

Hoped you liked this oneshot so sorry for the wait! As usual sorry for the grammar and spelling mistake!

Requests are open!

Word count: 1366

[the-guilty-writer]

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Request from anon: Spencer x daughter!reader (like 19/20) after the JJ confession she like storms into the BAU to confront her and basically is really mad that she told him that whilst married

“He told me, about the date. I was too young but I just remember him crying.”

“You don’t get to do that, you don’t get to choose when he matters to you and when he doesn’t. You don’t get to tell him something like that knowing you have a family and he only has me. It was a shitty thing to do. You’re so f****** selfish”

Sorry I went off I just hate that scene it was so pointless hahha

But I need some protective daughter!!!!

Spencer Reid x daughter!reader

Summary: After you hear about JJ's feelings towards your dad, you tell her the truth about how you feel about her too... and it's not friendly.

A/N: This is basically just the reader yelling… I’ll let you guys imagine how the conversation afterwards might go (this will not have a part 2). I changed the dialogue a bit to have it make more sense but kept it the same for the most part. This is also unintentionally Taylor Swift inspired. The lyric just fit so I put it in.

CW: Spoilers for S15, swearing, reader is kinda really mean to JJ (it's understandable thought)

---

Trying to find a part of me you didn't take up Gave you too much but it wasn't enough But I'll be all right, it's just a thousand cuts -Taylor Swift, Death by a Thousand Cuts

---

It was a conversation that you were sure you weren’t supposed to hear… honestly, it was a conversation that your Aunt Penny wasn’t supposed to hear either. You were on your weekly phone call with her when she told you about it… what JJ had said to your dad. Well, she didn’t exactly tell you as much as you could tell something was off and then you pressed until she spilled.

At first you had kept your composure- simply saying goodbye to Penny. You’d driven peacefully from your college campus to the BAU. You were pleasant while going through the security check. It wasn’t until the elevator indicated you’d reached the sixth floor of the building that your vision went red, anger burning inside you like a fire that was burning at the edge of its confinement, blood boiling in your ears.

You stepped out of the elevator and went straight through the glass doors, not even bothering to say hello to Agent Anderson as you passed him in the hall. The team was in the bullpen, all at their prospective desks, calmly working on files when you marched your storm of anger right through the office.

“You bitch!” Your voice was filled with fury as you seemingly hurdled yourself towards JJ’s desk. “You selfish little-”

Luke grabbed you hard before you could swing your fists in the direction of the blonde woman you once would have trusted with your life. You strained against the man holding you. The sounds of voices filled the bullpen and agents were getting out of their seats but no one bothered to reach for a side arm. You weren’t a real threat.

But you didn’t need a gun to kill someone.

“(Y/N)-” Your dad’s voice stuck out to you. “What happened?”

You looked at your dad for only a split second before turning your head to meet JJ’s gaze. Both of you knew what happened. You stopped your struggle against Alvez and he loosened his grip, letting you go, but your eyes never left JJ’s.

“If there’s something you need to talk about, you can do it in my office,” Emily offered, but in your feeling of anger you didn’t want help from the woman who faked her death, leaving you and your dad to mourn her only to find out she was alive seven months later.

“How could you?” The fury was beginning to taste bitter with sadness. “How could you do this to my dad? How could you do this to Will and Henry and Micheal-”

JJ cut you off. She was calmer than you, but just as loud. “You don’t get to bring my family into this-”

“Yes I do!” you screamed. “Because I actually give a shit about people! Because for ten years Will took care of me while you guys were out on cases and Henry brought me to show and tell as his older sister when he was in kindergarten and my name was one of Micheal’s first words! So yes- I do get to bring your family into this because I care about them. I care that someone loves them because that’s what they deserve! They don’t deserve to have a wife and a mother who tells another man that she’s always loved him- especially when that man is their godfather! You don’t get to say things like that when you had the chance to do it fifteen years ago!”

JJ’s eyes were filled with tears. Her voice was meek as she spoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really?” Your laugh was humorless and dry. “Because I do. I was only four at the time, but he told me about the date. I was too young to understand what was truly going on but I just remember him crying. You had your chance, JJ. You had a choice and you decided against my dad. He’s always cared about you. You could have at least told him that he mattered.”

“Your dad matters to me-”

“No!” you cut her off this time. “You don’t get to do that- you don’t get to choose when he matters to you and when he doesn’t. You don’t get to tell him something like that knowing you have a family and he has me. It was a shitty thing to do. You’re so fucking selfish. You hurt everyone who cares about you and you don’t even see it because you’re too busy making sure everything goes the way you want it to. Fifteen years ago you made a choice and you sure as hell don't get to go back on it and damage everyone around you, especially not my dad.”

The bullpen was silent, the venom in your words lingering in the air. Having said what you needed to, you turned away and walked back towards the glass doors. Before you pushed against them, you stopped and turned to glance back.

The entire team was staring at you, utterly bewildered by the events that had just transpired. The only one who wasn’t looking at you was JJ- her eyes averted from the person who had called her out on all her bullshit, every mistake she had made, every insecurity she had now out and open for everyone to see.

And some malicious part of you was happy she was in pain.

“You know,” your voice was calm now, “my mother was a bitch, but at least she was kind enough to break my dad’s heart and leave. But you, JJ? There isn't a single part of our family- our lives- that you didn't touch. You've taken everything and it's stil not enough for you, so the rest of us have to suffer death by a thousand cuts.”

Without another word you pushed open the doors and left.

[aswallowssong]

Sicktember 2024 #6: Dizziness/Vertigo

Welcome to my first installment (this season, iykyk) of "Aaron Hotchner, my sweet sweet baby, I'm so sorry to do this to you." I love playing in @themetaphorgirl's PSOLC sandbox (tysm my queen), and if it also means I can write soft things about Aaron, it's a two-for-one!!

“Shut up, or die!”

“You literally cannot threaten me with death over this! Hotch!”

Aaron looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow, tugging at his earlobe. He hadn’t been listening, but there were three other big kids in the room, and he had no idea why he’d been the chosen target of the whining.

“What?”

“Derek said he was gonna kill me!”

Derek rolled his eyes at JJ, crossing his arms over his chest. “I did not. I didn’t say how you were going to die, I just said that the options were shut up or die.”

Aaron’s eyebrow only raised further on his face. “Sounds like witchcraft to me, Jayje. I’d watch out.”

Derek spluttered for a moment, arms failing before he started babbling about how he couldn’t be doing witchcraft, because witchcraft is for girls and he was a man, but Aaron blocked them back out sometime around when Penelope started assuring Derek that, oh, no, men could definitely do witchcraft.

He had way too much to do to be worried about that. The english paper he’d forgotten to write and been mercifully granted an extension on was due at the end of the weekend, and he was still three chapters away from being able to outline the damn thing, let alone actually write it. Thankfully he was a good writer, and he knew that, but his spelling was awful, and he was going to need Alex to go over it with a fine tooth comb before he could submit it.

And he couldn’t have her look at it until it was written.

And he couldn’t write it until it was outlined.

And he couldn’t outline it until he’d read the chapters, which the little kids were going to make impossible to get through.

He’d considered moving to Alaska when Spencer wriggled under his arms and into his lap.

“Bug,” he said, an apology already in his mouth. “I really need to focus, can you go sit with–” He cut off, looking around.

Alex was at the library, working a long shift so she didn’t have to work on Sunday night, and could go over his paper with him.

Dave was writing something on his laptop with an expression that was giving ‘violent’ and ‘don’t come near me.’

Emily was nowhere to be seen. Probably out with that guy Ian that Aaron hadn’t met but definitely hated on principle.

Which left–

“James?”

James looked up at the same moment that Spencer deflated.

“Hmm?”

“I don’t wanna sit with James, I wanna sit with you.”

Aaron ran a hand down his face. His eyes were blurring, even with his contacts in, and the words had started swimming on the page. He hadn’t even been reading that long, but if eyes could ache, his sure were. That, and his ears hurt. But his ears always hurt, so, what else was new.

“I know, Bug, but I need to be able to focus on this.”

“I’ll be quiet!” Spencer pleaded, dropping into a whine immediately. “I won’t be distracting or wiggly, I promise!”

A pout settled on Spencer’s little face, and Aaron closed his eyes and took a breath before shaking his head.

“We can watch a movie or something when I’m done, but my eyes are already tired, so I just need, like, an hour of space.”

Spencer huffed, his shoulders slumping, and slid off Aaron’s lap to go sidle up to James. James, unphased, beamed at Spencer while ruffling his hair. 

“Do you wanna help me with this math problem, Bug? I know how much you love numbers.”

Aaron turned his eyes back to the book, and it felt like the page was swirling. He closed them for a second, a hand reaching up to press on his temple. When did the headache come on? Usually he could feel them starting, but it felt like it had gone from nothing to pounding.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, rubbing slow circles on his left side, and when he cracked his eyes back open, he’d managed to dislodge one of his contacts. “Fuck.”

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like anyone had noticed his slowly crumbling composure, and he stood up, setting his book down on the arm rest. The world moved in a dizzying spin, and he reached out to steady himself on the back of the armchair. It seemed that the only person that noticed was Dave.

“Where are you going, fagiolino?”

Aaron scowled, stomach swirling with how dizzy he suddenly was. “I knocked my contact weird. I’ll be right back.”

James and Spencer both looked up at his voice, and then back down as Spacer said something about matrices that James clearly didn’t understand. Dave, looking unimpressed, shrugged, and went back to glaring daggers at his computer. 

The others didn’t seem to even notice, still arguing about witchcraft.

He stalked out into the hallway, and when he was nearly to his room, everything tilted, and the pain he’d been feeling in his temples and his ears seemed to throb in sync, sending the world sideways. One of his shoulders hit the wall, and his knees buckled as the edge of his vision started to darken.

Aaron wasn’t a stranger to passing out. It happened relatively frequently, but usually when he was sick. He wasn’t sick.

Or, he hadn’t thought he was? He’d been tired, sure. Spencer had been having crazy nightmares as the weather shifted, something about tinfoil being a bad window insulator. He didn't know what that meant, but he hadn’t given it a huge amount of thought past calming him down, and promising that the windows were closed tightly, and that while Lincoln House was sort of shitty, it wasn’t bad enough to be drafty. 

He didn’t get to contemplate it, because he slid into a crumpled heap of limbs against the wall, the darkness almost overtaking him before he glimpsed someone come into view in the hallway. They might have shouted his name – his actual name, Aaron – before he slumped the rest of the way sideways to the ground, his consciousness left behind.

When he came to, not very many seconds later, he only knew two things. Someone was pulling on him, and he was definitely going to throw up. The latter, he was used to. That happened pretty much every time, and then the nausea abated. 

He usually got a warning, though, when he was going to pass out, so he was either in a bathroom already, or in bed, if he could be, with his little desk trash can ready to be used for its secondary purpose, right after throwing away abysmally incorrect math assignments.

There had been no warning this time, so he was mildly surprised that after he gagged, there was a trash can (maybe the one that lived in the hallway?) being shoved under his chin. He was sick immediately, coughing and heaving several times before it let up, and he shuddered, wiping his mouth along the back of his hand and willing himself not to cry. The dizziness usually abated, but it was hanging on, and the throbbing in his head or the pulsing of pain in his ears hadn’t stopped, either.

“You’re okay,” he heard, finally registering that someone was holding him up. “Did you know your ears are leaking?”

Aaron didn’t know that his ears were leaking, but he wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t a stranger to ear infections by any means. He just didn’t know how it could have gotten so bad they were leaking, and he hadn’t realized.

It took another second for him to register the voice that was speaking to him, muffled as always. Everything was always muffled.

“James?” He mumbled, a little surprised, but not unhappy. He’d rather James find him like this than Dave, or one of the younger kids, or god forbid, Spencer.

“That’s me,” James said, pulling him the rest of the way upright. The world spun a little faster, and Aaron swallowed his stomach down. “You know, if you’d told Alex you were sick, she would have traded her shift.”

“I didn’t know,” he said, sounding far away to himself as he fought to shake off the fog. “Just had a headache.”

That’s a lie, he heard a voice, Alex’s probably, say simply in his head.

It wasn’t a lie. At least, it wasn’t until it was. 

“Snuck up on me,” he amended, to at least have a sliver of truth between them.

James sat with that for a second, moving so Aaron could push his back against the wall. He’d always thought that James had the sort of eyes that looked at you, but looked through you more, like he was analyzing you in a polite way. Alex talked all the time about James’ dream to be a doctor, and there were moments where Aaron could see how perfect of a match that would be.

“You probably have an ear infection, probably both of them,” he said, his tone void of emotion, save for sympathy. James didn’t do pity, and Aaron appreciated it. “Do you have a fever?”

“Dunno,” Aaron said, and James pressed a palm against his forehead.

His face pulled, just slightly, before he said, “I think so.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Aaron looked up at him with lidded eyes, trying to focus on his face as everything spun.

“Really dizzy.”

James raised an eyebrow. “Well, I– Yeah. Yeah I figured that, you passed out.”

Aaron felt himself flush, more than embarrassed that James had seen that, but the stubborn part of himself won out. “I didn’t mean to pass out, James. It’s not like I wanted to collapse in the hallway.”

“Well, your ears are definitely infected. They’re literally leaking, so your equilibrium was bound to be off. And you definitely have a fever.”

He stopped, pulling his phone out, and Aaron took half a second too long to figure out what he was doing before the phone was up to his ear.

“Jame–”

“Al? Yeah, hey sorry, I know you’re at work. Aaron’s sick, do you think you could call someone to come cover your shift?”

“James, stop–”

“Yeah, I think his ears are infected. He said he’s really dizzy, and he’s definitely got a fever.”

Aaron gave up, knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere, but let himself be incredibly grateful James didn’t mention him passing out in the hallway. Alex would freak.

“Yeah, text me when you’re leaving. I’ll get him in bed. I’ve got it … Spencer? No, Spencer is helping Dave figure out the best synonym for ‘star,’ so I think that’ll take a while … Yeah. Okay. See you soon.”

He hung up, looking down at Aaron with half a grin. “She’s worried, but she’s coming when she can. Think you can get off the ground?”

Relief flooded through Aaron against his will. He didn’t want Alex to worry, but he did want Alex to come back.

“I think so,” he said, trying to get the world to stop spinning by sheer force of will. He didn’t want to ask James for help, but it turned out he didn’t have to. James was about as tall as he was, and broad, which helped when he offered Aaron his hand and was able to help pull him up to standing. 

The dizziness was bad, and it didn’t help the nausea either, but he kept a stable hand on Aaron’s arm as they started down the hallway.

[dust-in-her-face]

So this is where Gideon’s wife comes in, right? And whoever is trying to clean house is someone who gave access to this unpublished paper that the guys in the basement were working on, right? Someone higher up in the ranks who’s trying to cover their ass now. They’re working on all fronts too—using Fucking Brian to rattle Emily, using Tyler to put them on little side quests…it’s all smoke and mirrors. But it’s someone big and I’m leaning towards someone within their own ranks—whether they’re within the FBI or the Justice Department or further, we’ll see.

I can’t help but think about The Florida School for Boys and that popular unsolved mystery Lake City Quiet Pills while I’m watching this season. I’m most likely wrong but I can’t help but think of those two cases.

Also, I want to know the significance of the song choice. Maybe Rossi just likes old blue eyes? Watching Rossi having a nightmare about Emily like that and listening to her talk about “how she wants to go out”…mean. So, so mean, but damn that was beautifully done.

It’s never fun to see Rossi breaking apart though. He cannot lose Emily—or anyone else—but particularly Emily. They seemed to have created this close relationship that I really, really appreciate because those two have been riding at dawn for each other from the beginning. Damaged and Demonology are some of my favorite episodes for precisely this reason.

Aaand thank god for whoever blessed us with Tara Lewis. I adore her, I do. She is a calming presence in any space she inhabits.

Her and Garcia are the team’s safe haven. Protect them and give them love.

Speaking of hot women with a Latina last name…Luke…sir, just..sigh. Don’t make me grab a stick.

Oh! And of course Emily laughs when she finds out she inadvertently dosed JJ.

sidenote: did Elizabeth Prentiss really name her child Emily Elizabeth Prentiss? Seriously, what goes through people’s minds when they name their children that way? Like shit.

But like protect this team at all costs especially Papa Pasta and Little Ravioli. We need them.

For funsies: glad to see JJ is doing better but also she needed that edible, okay? Aaaand adoring Garcia’s eyeshadow this episode. I want. So much. Look how it matches her puff ball keychain!

[unitchiefwives]

Talks with Wine, and Letting Go (Maybe?)

Pairing: Jemily

Rating: T

Summary:

JJ and Emily have a fun evening with some wine and things take an impulsive and interesting turn.

AO3

“Oh, so you think you can beat me in an arm wrestling match?” JJ was laughing because her and Emily were both four glasses deep and she knew she was stronger, she thought Emily did too. 

“Oh, JJ, I KNOW I can.” she had a whole plan, but JJ looked so clueless.

The glasses were set down and the sleeves were rolled up. Over Emily’s island in her kitchen, they each took their stance, looking each other in the eyes. JJ was in competitive mode while also knowing she had to not try so hard as she knew Emily didn’t workout much…at all, while JJ did pilates everyday. 

Emily on the other hand just wanted JJ to be here because it was cute and hot. There was just something so attractive about JJ and well, her arms. The countdown began from three. Letting up a little bit Emily got some movement.

“See Em, you got this.”

Just after those words were said, Emily let her hand have less strain and JJ quickly slammed Emily’s hand on the kitchen counter, “YES”

While JJ was jumping around in excitement, Emily couldn’t help but watch her and bite her lip. It was followed with her licking her lips. She had achieved her goal, the blonde did, in a way, slam her on the table. The wine was creeping in a bit and Emily could feel herself loosen up more emotionally and if she would admit it, physically too. 

JJ was getting over her excitement of winning and started feeling a little embarrassed because she just acted like a teenage boy in middle school trying to prove a point. She usually let her guard down around Emily, they just hadn’t had that time together in a while. She quickly snapped out of it though when she locked eyes with Emily and saw her giving a look she didn’t fully get, “What?”

“Nothing, JJ, you’re just cute.” she paused for a second then continued, “And I accomplished a secret goal”

JJ couldn’t handle not knowing things about other people so she was very curious, “Oh you did, did you?” 

She brushed off the cute part because no matter how it seemed outward, she was very insecure of herself and truly didn’t know how to take a compliment. She had wished though that Will called her cute more often, even beautiful but not everyone’s strengths are compliments. Not being able to admit it outwardly, she did get very giddy inside that Emily thought she was cute but she shoved that feeling down quickly.

“I did, but you aren’t going to figure it out”

“Emily, we are both profilers” 

She went around to the other side of the island and stood right in front of Emily, putting her hand on the counter to lean before continuing, “I think I can get it out of you.”

They were face to face and Emily gulped. JJ examined her expressions with love and deep care she could tell that Emily was showing some lack of control of her emotions, in herself as a whole, but not in an uncomfortable way. There was more silence inbetween them for a bit as JJ continue to stare and observe. She couldn’t help to look at all of Emily’s features in this late night kitchen light.

The way her medium length, shiny grey hair fell so perfectly over her face and shoulders was so intriguing and she couldn’t help but be amazed. Her smile graced not only her but the entire room. She was directed closer to her mouth as Emily bit it again and quickly licked her lips. She stood there staring at her lips for a few seconds longer before realizing that she had been entranced by the woman. Quickly, she moved a little away,  cleared her throat and grabbed the bottle on the counter near the sink. Pouring herself another glass, a real glass, not a depression glass, she couldn’t help but have the image of Emily in that moment in her brain like it was going to be there forever. That didn’t bother her but it circled her back to that thing called curiosity, at least that’s what she called it to help her sleep at night.

If you took a deep look into the blonde woman’s brain you would see Emily Prentiss stamped all across it. She was so in love with her that it hurt to even be there in her house in that moment or even for that night. She finally got the courage to look at her again and somehow gathered herself and had some pieces of confidence back.

With that confidence, the cockiness came back as well, “Let’s make a bet”

“Depends on the bet?” a giant smile crossed her face.

“How about this, I bet that if I win another arm wrestling match, I get to show you something?

Emily laughed a bit, “Oh JJ, we both know you would win again”

“Wait, then why did we arm wrestle earlier?”

“JJ, that’s for you to figure out” 

Emily downed the last of the wine in her glass, poured herself another with the same bottle JJ grabbed and walked over to her couch to sit down. There were already coasters on the table so she sat the glass down. She sat criss crossed and looked at JJ. The blonde followed and sat next to her, glass in hand. 

Emily started talking about something along the lines of how secrets are bad but okay to have but somehow they can ruin you on the inside and with our line of work the secrets stack up. As JJ sat there listening she started to stare at her again with admiration as she was sipping on her glass. Her eyes focused on all aspects of the woman infront of her, the way Emily’s eyes looked at her with so much safety, or how she felt so comfortable around her. 

“JJ, JJ, are you listening?”

Snapping out of the trance once again, JJ nodded her head, “Yup, totally listening, secrets are bad.”

“What’s going on JJ? Talk to me?”

In her head JJ couldn’t help but go through the moments that just happened earlier, over and over again in seconds. Out of panic she spoke really fast, “Emily, I have a secret”

Her face got red, and it wasn’t from just the wine. She wasn’t drunk, they were both tipsy though. What was about to happen was all her and she was freaking out about it, she had to get consent first. “Emily, you are still single right?”

“Yeah, it’s just been me and work.”

JJ took a deep breath, “Can I kiss you? I want to make sure it’s okay. I didn’t want to just spring it on you.”

Emily seemed a bit shocked but a smirky smile appeared across her face as she grabbed JJ’s wine glass, set it on the table, and climbed on her legs facing her. She put her hands on JJ’s chest, slowly moving her right hand upto up JJ’s neck. This time it was time for her to admire the blonde as she had waited years for this moment.

“JJ, you don’t understand how long I have waited for you to ask that.”

The blonde put her hand on Emily’s neck gently and pulled her head closer to hers and placed her lips softly on Emily’s. There was a warmth there, a comfort, a lost  puzzle piece finally found. They separated and looked eachother in the eyes with such safety and understanding. They didn’t know where to go from here, but this was definitely a start to figuring it out. 

After this moment, JJ figured out Emily’s secret, and she was so excited she did.

[cissyenthusiast010155]

BAU Team Drabble ~College!au (S3-6)

Request by @commanderh2022 —College!au where Emily, Morgan & Reid are siblings. Hotch adopted them, Rossi is his cop partner, dads. Jj and Penelope are sisters who just moved to town. Will and jj start going out but then she realizes she has a thing for bad girl Emily but keeps it to herself. Morgan is an athlete, player and him and Penelope have a flirty friendship. Reid secretly pines over Jj, knows he can't be with her so…

Mommy… Master List

Requests & Prompt-List

Warnings: fluff, unreciprocated pining, implied mutual pining…?, teasing, flirting, playful flirting, etc.

Enjoy (:

Reid gets to the college scene, a green freshman, already pretty young. He’s doing a double major, linguistics and criminology. He drops his bags off in his dorm and is about to sit down to a moment of peace…

Morgan, Reid’s older brother, immediately bombards Reid with all the info he needs to know and make sure he gets settled.

Hotch and Rossi stop by to make sure Reid is settling in well.

Hotch makes an effort to be a present adoptive dad, and all his practically-kids love Rossi, so he brings Rossi along.

They’re all together in Reid’s new dorm, except Emily, who’s off somewhere, most likely getting in some sort of trouble…

Morgan makes a joke about Emily’s non-existent presence, making Hotch roll his eyes.

Hotch & Rossi work at the local towns PD next to the college.

They work with Will, a young and new cop, whose grown up in the town.

Penelope & Jj, sisters, recently moved to town. Penelope starts up and runs her cat play/ pottery studio, she’s an upcoming artist. Jj works at the local coffee shop as a barista.

One day at the coffee shop, Will finally bucks up the courage to ask Jj out on a date while ordering his regular. Jj accepts out of impulse and Penelope’s voice reminding her to ‘get out of her comfort zone’, but also because Will seems like a genuinely nice guy.

Penelope likes to chat with the art professor at the college, and then ends up running into Morgan. They instantly click. She likes his athletic, flirty nature, and he likes her playful, quirky personality.

Will talked to Hotch & Rossi about Jj, Rossi blabbed about Will and Jj to Reid at one point— Reid got curious about Jj and went to the coffee shop.

Reid now goes to the shop daily, only to talk to and see Jj.

On any random day at the shop, Jj has served Reid, who now sat in a booth, slowly sipping his drink.

Then Emily came in, making Reid look up, smiling and wave at his sister, Emily gives him a light smile.

Jj’s eyes widened and she gulped as the resident bad girl approached the counter. Jj made Emily her coffee, and she then sat on the other side of the coffee shop from Reid.

Minutes later, Will comes in at 9 o’clock on the dot, as always. But Jj couldn’t pay any attention whatsoever to him. Only Emily existed in her eyes now. She tried to snap out of it, trying to act normal. Will left, leaving Jj with a pit in her stomache and a knowing, sinking feeling.

Reid leaves a couple minutes after Will in a huff. He can’t stand the sight of the two as a couple. But he would never confront either one of them…

Emily comes back for seconds, making Jj blush, as she winks and thanks her for the second drink, going back to her previous spot.

God, Jj was screwed…

Thankfully, Pen and Morgan come in to distract the blonde. They have witty, loud banter across the entire shop, until they come up to the counter to order, where they only get louder.

By the time Penelope and Morgan have gone, Emily had slipped out from the shop. Jj feels a happiness slip away from her when she realizes that Emily is gone.

Jj now looks forward to anytime that Emily comes into the shop. It always makes her day. But she doesn’t dare tell a soul.

Jj and Pen make it a habit to meet at Pen’s studio, often making art, cleaning up, or playing with the cats while chatting away. They are quite close and tell each other almost everything.

Penelope ends up catching onto Jj’s little crush and she relentlessly teased the blonde about it. Jj made Penny swear to never speak a word about it to anyone else.

Obviously Penelope couldn’t keep to that, because she had to tell Morgan. Morgan loves the tea.

At a later ‘Family’ Dinner— Hotch, Rossi, Emily, Morgan, and Reid— Morgan blabs about Emily and Jj obviously having a thing for each other. Emily chuckled and does not deny it. But this pisses Reid off, as that makes another person that Jj apparently likes. He excused himself quickly to go be alone and cry his fragile heart out.

Emily then playfully confronts Jj the next time she’s at the coffee shop. She catches the blonde off guard with her sultry, flirtatious tone. Jj feels conflicted and torn afterward, between Will and Emily.

~~~

Part 2, Continuing the Story…? 😏

Emily Prentiss Masterlist

Jennifer Jareau (Jj) Masterlist

Penelope Garcia Masterlist

[natashasfilms]

Chapter Three - The Fox

Summary: FBI agent Leila faces a profound life change after giving birth to a baby girl, supported by her loving husband. Despite the challenges of motherhood, Leila returns to her role as a dedicated agent a few months later, ready to confront gruesome and haunting cases with the BAU team.

Pairing: BAU!Fem!OC x Male!OC , EVENTUAL Aaron Hotchner x BAU!Fem!OC (Like much later)

Warnings: This story contains mature themes such as sexual content, strong language, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs, blood, gore, and death. All the usual Criminal Minds stuff. And there is NO CHEATING.

Note 1: I imagine Leila Kade as South Asian but I have decided to let you, the reader, imagine her appearance, hence the reason why I have not given her a face claim. However, her race does not affect the story, whatsoever. You, as the reader, are free to imagine her however you want. If you don't see her as South Asian, then that's fine. It won't affect the storyline. I also imagine the OC!Male as South Asian, but again, it won't affect the storyline.

Note 2: The team will consist of the main cast (Emily, Derek, JJ, Spencer, Penelope, Aaron, and Rossi) but will also include Elle Greenaway and Jason Gideon because they were some of my favorite characters and I wanted to include them with the rest of the team. Basically, Elle and Gideon never leave when Emily and Rossi join.

Note 3: There will be multiple time skips throughout this series. For example, the first chapter will begin on the first season and episode of the show but then there will be a time skip to later episodes (because there are obviously way too many episodes to write this series on and I wanted to include specific episodes that would help the plot of this story). This means that this series will be a slow burn romance but I believe it to be better this way. This will also stray from the actual show a lot, so don't expect it to follow the plot precisely.

Series Masterlist

Season 1, Episode 7

"Just call us if anything happens, and we'll do our best to get back as soon as we can." Leila told their nanny, Grace, as she and Zaid prepared for work. "Jasmine might get a little fussy, but don't worry if she keeps crying."

"Of course, I have everything under control. You guys focus on your work while..." Grace playfully tickled Jasmine's stomach, causing the baby to giggle. "Jasmine and I have a blast together."

Leila smiled, planting a gentle kiss on her baby's forehead. "Thank you so much, Grace. It's been challenging to find a good nanny who fits our needs. We truly appreciate you stepping in."

Grace returned the smile, nodding her head. "I'm grateful that you two chose me. You won't regret it."

Leila nodded in agreement and walked back to her room, where she noticed Zaid fiddling with his tie. She rolled her eyes playfully and approached him, standing in front of him. "How many years have we been together, and you still don't know how to tie a tie?"

Zaid flashed a cheeky smile, allowing his wife to fix his tie. "Who says I can't tie a tie? What if I pretend not to, so you can tie it for me?"

She finished tying his tie, her eyes meeting his. "You're such a dork." Leila teased.

Zaid gently cupped her cheeks, planting a tender kiss on her lips. "And I'm proud to be your dork."

Leila giggled, giving him a playful shove. "Come on. We have to get going, or we'll be late."

He groaned playfully, grabbing his briefcase and her bag, and they headed out of their room. After bidding farewell to both Jasmine and Grace, they quickly got into their car. Zaid drove Leila to the BAU before he left for work as a detective.

Arriving at the BAU, Zaid stepped out of the car and walked over to the other side to open the door for Leila. They strolled into the building together and stepped into the elevator, Zaid managing to sneak in a sweet kiss before the doors opened.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Leila spotted her team huddled in a circle in front of the glass doors. Her eyes lit up when she saw Haley and Aaron, with their newborn baby Jack cradled in his arms.

Leila walked over to them, softly gasping with delight. "Aw, is that baby Jack?" Haley beamed and nodded, the two women sharing a warm embrace as Zaid approached Aaron, offering a quick hello and a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

"He's so gorgeous." JJ remarked, a warm smile on her face as her eyes remained fixed on the baby.

"Thank you." Haley replied with a grateful smile.

"If you find baldness and wrinkles attractive." Spencer quipped, earning an eye-roll from Leila at his cheeky comment.

"Look at his little widdy biddy nose." Penelope cooed, playfully slapping Spencer's hand while sporting a big grin. Derek approached them, and Penelope turned to him, teasing him. "Don't you want one of these?"

Derek pursed his lips, allowing a brief smile to escape before adopting a more serious expression. "I'll stick to practicing."

Leila playfully furrowed her eyebrows. "Shh, there are children here." She said, making everyone laugh, and Derek playfully left the scene. Leila's eyes then locked with Zaid's, who winked at her. "I already miss Jasmine." She admitted with a touch of longing in her voice.

Elle walked up to them, and looked at both Aaron and Haley, congratulating them on their new baby. Her face seemed tense, which meant they had a new case. The Hotchners thanked her warmly, appreciating the kind words and well-wishes.

"She's amazing." Aaron said, looking lovingly at his wife and then back at the baby in his arms. "I'm a little terrified."

Zaid joined the conversation, a playful grin on his face. "Oh, I can relate to that feeling. I remember holding Jasmine as if she would be crushed if I so much as moved."

Everyone laughed once again, enjoying the lighthearted moment. Haley gently took Jack from Aaron's arms, cradling their precious baby close before putting him in the stroller. "Well, we should get going." She said, looking at Aaron with a loving smile.

Zaid checked his watch, realizing the time. "Ah, shoot. Me too." He kissed Leila goodbye and exchanged farewells with the rest of the team. After Haley and Jack got on the elevator, he followed suit, joining them before the doors closed.

"A pleasure seeing you, Mrs. Hotchner and Detective Divan." Spencer called out with a friendly wave as the elevator descended. Elle walked up to Leila and Aaron, handing them files on the new case. The rest of the team had already made their way to the conference room, ready to focus on the new case.

"Bad?" Aaron asked as he accepted the file from her.

"The worst." Elle responded, shaking her head.

Leila sighed, already looking through the case file as the three of them went to a separate room to look through it in detail. The new case involved a murder of the Crawford family, a mother, father, son, and daughter. They were found dead inside their home in what seems to be a murder-suicide.

However, the team isn't convinced that it is a murder-suicide since there was another family murdered the same way, the Miller family. The other connections between the two sets of deaths are that the families were found five days after the start of what was supposed to be a family vacation. The families ended up not taking the vacation, but their bodies were found less than a day postmortem.

There was already a suspect named Eric Miller, the deceased Reese Miller's ex-husband and the biological father of the two deceased Miller children. He was known to be extremely abusive towards his ex-wife, prompting Reese to get a restraining order against him for domestic violence.

Leila put down the file, closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. Cases like these were difficult for her, as it reminded her of Zaid and Jasmine. She shook her head, grabbing the file once again to sort through the details.

Elle played the recording of a medical examiner detailing the autopsy report of the victims, which listed all the wounds inflicted on the family. "Sam Crawford, white male, aged five, multiple stab wounds, laceration to the left ventricle. No defensive wounds present. Allison Crawford, white female, 32, multiple stab wounds, COD, exsanguination. Emily Crawford, white female, eight, multiple stab wounds, COD, exsanguination. Christopher Crawford, white male, 36, point-blank single nine-millimeter gunshot wound to the temporal lobe."

Aaron looked through the photos of the victims, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion when he noticed something strange. "Where's his wedding ring?"

Elle looked through the personal effects, shaking her head. "It's not listed in his personal effects."

Aaron's frown intensified, and he turned a photo around to display it to both women. The image captured the husband's hand, revealing a distinct tan line where his wedding ring should have been. "He obviously wore one, so where is it?"

Leila tilted her head, mirroring Aaron's expression. "He took the ring?"

Spencer was tasked by Gideon to talk to Eric Miller, the primary suspect. Though Leila could sense his nervousness, she tried her best to encourage him. Leila, Elle, and Aaron stood outside of the interrogation room, observing as Spencer initiated the conversation with Eric.

As the younger profiler brought out photos of the Crawford family to show Eric, the latter began to grow increasingly agitated, slamming his handcuffed hands onto the table, causing Spencer to startle. Eric's voice rose as he got up from his seat, locking eyes with Spencer and shouting at him.

The trio swiftly entered the room, with Aaron using his commanding tone to immediately shut him down while other officers present restrained him. "Sit down. Now."

"Who's this? Your daddy?" Eric shouted, glaring at them. "I'm done talking to you people."

"You don't have to talk." Spencer cleared his throat, still nervous but confident enough to continue. "Just listen."

The three profilers listened intently to Spencer's words, observing as he skillfully broke through Eric's emotional defenses. Leila's focus remained fixed on Eric, witnessing the transformation of his angry expression into something more vulnerable. "I never laid a hand on my children. You hear me?" His voice cracked as he raised it again.

"I hear you." Spencer responded softly, offering empathy.

"I found them like that. Dead. Bloodied. My babies. My sweet babies." Eric's emotional walls crumbled, tears streaming down his face as he sank into the chair. "I was crazy out of my mind, I didn't know what to do, and I knew the cops were gonna blame me, and they have."

Spencer's brow furrowed as he probed deeper. "So you ran?"

Eric's gaze moved between the agents, searching for understanding. "So what have I got now?" He deflected, avoiding the question.

"You have your innocence." Spencer assured him, his voice sincere. "For the sake of your children, I believe that they, at the very least, deserve the truth."

As Spencer prepared to leave the room with the others, Eric's voice halted them. "I can't get the image of my dead children out of my mind. Ty, my little boy, he was clutching a piece of paper. I think it was a drawing, maybe a painting. Please. I'd love to know what he painted, Dr. Reid."

Leaving the room, Leila paused for a moment, her expression reflecting concern as she regarded Eric, before eventually following her colleagues out.

"Interesting interrogation technique." Elle remarked, directing her attention toward Spencer as they walked. "What'd you hope to accomplish?"

"Miller was closed off, defensive, hostile. I needed a way in." Spencer clarified, clutching the file in his arms. "He suffered a breakdown but I don't think he killed his family, and I know he still loved his wife."

"Why do you say that?" Aaron asked him.

"Even though they were divorced, he still wore the wedding ring."

With Penelope's assistance, they managed to access the Crawford family's financial records. It became evident that Allison Crawford was spending considerably more money than Chris could comfortably afford. Furthermore, Chris had written several checks for therapy sessions. Interestingly, Allison held two separate cell phone accounts, one of which was billed to an address located in Southeast Washington, D.C.

They stormed into the location they had uncovered, weapons at the ready as they methodically cleared each room. Gideon's attention was drawn to a painting hanging on the wall, which he took and examined closely.

Curious, Leila approached him and asked, "What's that?"

"It's a child's painting. It's a colonial house. Mom, Dad, two children out front holding hands." Gideon replied, his focus fixed on the painting.

"And a big dog." Leila added.

"I think this is the Crawford house, it's signed by Emily." Gideon's gaze remained on the painting as he remarked.

"Strange." Spencer's voice interjected, capturing Leila's attention. "Eric Miller said he found his son clutching a painting. He wanted to know what was on it."

"What was on it?" Elle asked.

Gideon turned to face her. "His son's blood."

An abrupt crash echoed through the house, instantly grabbing their attention. Reacting swiftly, they rushed toward the source of the noise, the accompanying sound of a dog barking filling the air. Someone whistled, prompting the dog to bound towards the person. With their firearms at the ready, they approached cautiously, their weapons trained on the individual who confronted them.

The man apprehended turned out to be Allison's brother, Frank. He was convinced that Chris was responsible for the family's demise. Despite Chris's disapproval and reluctance to let Frank visit their home, Frank had sneaked in after his phone was cut off. He recounted that he had peered through the window, spotting Allison, Emily, and a weeping Sam. Frank assumed that Sam was upset due to getting into trouble. As Allison noticed him, she allegedly mouthed a message that seemed to say, "Get the hell out," compelling him to leave.

Gideon probed further, asking if Chris had seen him. Frank confirmed that Chris was absent, but there was another person present at the head of the table. Derek raised an eyebrow, seeking clarification about this "friend." Frank acknowledged the peculiar detail, indicating that he saw someone, though not their face, but the person seemed notably petite.

Derek pressed on, asking whether the person was white or black. Frank couldn't definitively determine the person's ethnicity but hesitated before revealing that their hair was red.

Outside the interrogation room, Leila, Elle, Spencer, and Aaron stood watching. Leila's voice chimed in. "Frank didn't see a friend that night. It was the unsub."

"And she wasn't saying, 'Go away.'" Aaron added, arms crossed. "She was saying, 'Help me.'"

In that moment, the expressions on Derek and Gideon's faces made it unmistakably clear to Frank that the individual he had seen wasn't a friend at all. Filled with the weight of this realization, he began to bang his head with his hands, unleashing a piercing scream as he shouted about how that person had murdered his sister and her entire family. The urgency of the situation prompted all of them to rush into the interrogation room, where they tried to restrain Frank and prevent any further self-harm.

"Both families had a dog and both houses had a dog door." Derek pointed out, his gaze fixed on the photos displayed on the crime board. The team had reconvened to discuss the case, armed with the new evidence they had uncovered.

"Fielding said that the person he saw was small." Elle added.

"Yeah, well, in order to get through that door, you'd have to be 5'4", tops, and real thin." Derek replied.

"'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" Gideon quoted Sherlock Holmes.

"Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character." Derek countered. "Whoever did this isn't."

"He's probably already found another family by now." Leila remarked, her gaze straight ahead of her.

With more thinking, discussing, and Penelope hacking through the Government's HMO database, they managed to find out that both the Crawford's and Miller's were going to a therapist. The therapist they discovered was not a man, but instead a woman.

Dr. Howard said she only saw the two families once but prescribed medication for them as she was the only medical doctor there. Gideon asked who she handed her files over to, prompting her to search through the files and identify Karl Arnold as the recipient.

Guided by Dr. Howard, they proceeded to Karl Arnold's office, only to find it locked. Swiftly, Derek took matters into his own hands, breaking down the door with a kick, a sight that left Dr. Howard astonished and concerned about the door. Derek turned on a lamp nearby and saw all of the children's paintings on his wall.

Derek got a call that Karl's home was raided, however, he wasn't there. Aaron reached out to Karl's ex-wife while Leila, Derek, and Gideon sifted through the office, searching for any clues to his whereabouts. Amid the stacks of patient files, they stumbled upon families with similarities to the Crawford and Miller cases, though only one family captured Dr. Howard's attention.

"Wait. The Dunkens. That's not one of his cases, that's mine." Dr. Howard declared, her voice quivering as she spoke. Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued. "They have a baby boy and a slightly introverted eight-year-old named Jackie."

Gideon uncovered another painting and presented it to her. "Jackie's work?"

"He took it from my office." She cried.

"Were they planning a trip?" Leila inquired, her expression filled with concern.

"To the Adirondacks."

Leila, Gideon, and Derek hurriedly exited the room, leaving Aaron to search Karl's office. They raced to the Dunkens' residence with backup in tow, approaching the house cautiously. The SWAT team paused briefly before forcefully entering. Inside, they encountered the mother, father, and daughter seated at the dining table. Panic-stricken, the family pointed out that the unsub had taken their baby to the basement.

Descending the basement stairs, Leila, Derek, and Gideon readied their guns and flashlights, their footsteps steady. Their voices echoed in the dim space as they called the unsub's name, scanning their flashlights for any sign of movement. Eventually, they spotted him, hunched on the ground with the baby in his arms.

"Karl." Leila's voice was measured, her movements cautious. "Give me the baby."

Karl moved his hand away from the crying baby's mouth, his eyes locked onto the agents aiming their weapons at him. Leila, taking a calculated risk, holstered her gun and slowly approached, extending her arms towards the infant. As Karl rose to his feet, his gaze remained unwavering, a shift in his eyes catching Leila's attention.

Just as she anticipated a sudden move, Karl unexpectedly tossed the baby into the air. Reacting swiftly, Leila caught the baby and retreated against the wall. Meanwhile, Gideon and Derek dealt with Karl, who brandished a knife. Derek swiftly disarmed him and pinned him to the opposite wall.

The cries of the baby reverberated in Leila's arms, her heart racing. She held the infant tightly, her thoughts racing as images of Jasmine flashed before her eyes. While her priority was the baby in her arms, memories of her own daughter briefly consumed her mind.

She shushed the baby quietly, her eyes softening at the small human. "Shh, you're okay. Let's get you to your mommy and daddy, okay?"

They brought Karl back to the precinct, determined to get a confession from him. Despite the absence of DNA evidence linking him to the families, their only chance at securing a conviction was to get Karl to admit to the brutal killings. Gideon devised a smart strategy, rearranging the photos of the families to provoke Karl's emotions. Their calculated approach ultimately led to a confession from him, avoiding the need for a prolonged struggle.

They all gathered at the conference table once again after Aaron found a box in Karl's office. An unspoken tension gripped them as they awaited someone to open the box, prompting Gideon to take the lead. He unlocked the box, spilling its contents onto the table.

Wedding rings started spinning on the table in front of them. Leila's heart clenched as she gazed down at her own wedding ring. She and Zaid had been married for about ten years and the thought of any harm befalling him or Jasmine sent shivers down her spine. She swallowed hard, her eyes transfixed on the last ring as it came to a halt.

As Leila packed her belongings in her office, a knock on the door pulled her attention away. Zaid had told her he'd pick her up once their case concluded, and Leila had called him as soon as they closed it. She turned, finding her husband leaning against the doorway, a warm smile gracing his features. But his expression shifted as he caught sight of the weariness in her eyes, prompting him to stride forward and gently cup her face.

"Tough case?" He inquired, his voice hushed.

Leila nodded subtly, and she found solace in his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "I just want to go home and cuddle with both you and Jasmine." She confessed, her voice a soft murmur.

Zaid's response was immediate and reassuring. "Okay. Let's go home." He murmured, pressing a tender kiss atop her head. Gathering her bag, he slung it over his shoulder and guided her out of the office, his arm securely draped around her shoulders. Together, they walked down the corridor, on their way to seek the comfort of their own home.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 34: The Organizers

[Story Masterlist] // [Aitana’s Masterlist]

Fandom: Criminal Minds // Pairing: Spencer Reid x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​ @averyhotchner​ @foxesandmagic​ @kmc1989​​​​ @midmourn​​​​​​

If you’d like to be a part of Aitana’s taglist, please let me know!

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

"You are so fucking evil, Aitana."

Aitana snorted at her brother's remark. She stepped back from her closet with her hands on her hips. She was quite tired from pulling out all of her shoes from the deepest ends of the closet. She could've found Narnia back there if she wasn't careful. As it turned out, she really did have a lot of shoes. It should make a good lesson for Spencer to get an idea.

Angel came to stand beside her and looked down at the mess of shoes on the floor. He let out a low whistle. "Man, I hate to say this but I think Mateo and I taught you too well because to win a bet like this...it takes skills."

Aitana smiled smugly. "You two couldn't be any more complete idiots."

"Wow, also very kind of you."

Aitana patted Angel's arm. "Also something you two taught me. You should feel proud!"

"I almost feel obliged to apologize to Morgan and Spencer for this chaos," Angel remarked. "Poor guys are gonna be here until next week. Hey, who do you call when an FBI agent goes missing?"

Aitana gave him a playful shove on the side. "I'm FBI, dumbass!"

"Exactly, I obviously can't call you because you'd cover up your crime!"

Aitana rolled her eyes. "You should be proud of me! Two boys messed with me and I got them back! You taught me great!"

Angel waved her off and started heading out her room. "Don't call me when they inevitably get you back!" he warned before disappearing.

"Oh, I'd like to see them try!" Aitana laughed to herself.

~ 0 ~

At around noon, the team started arriving at the Serrano house. Penelope was first with several bags of snacks for them. She left the entire kitchen counter covered in all sorts of snacks that Aitana had truthfully never seen. JJ arrived not long later with more snacks. By the time Emily showed up, Aitana was relieved to see the women had decided to bring wine instead of chips.

"As much of a candy eater that I am, I do love me some wine," Aitana said to JJ and Penelope after doing a particularly loud squeal at the bottle of wine Emily pulled out first.

Emily shot both blondes a smirk while Aitana brought the wine to the kitchen aisle. "I found my new best friend."

When Rossi and Hotch showed up, they were practically pushing Morgan and Spencer in ahead of them. Rossi made sure to announce the "cleaners" were there to make it all the more great.

"Give it up!" Emily clapped loudly, making JJ and Penelope soon join in. Aitana almost felt bad for the whole set up...almost. She would survive with the guilt.

"Alright, alright, we're here," Morgan waved them off. "Where's the dang shoe closet?"

Aitana came around the kitchen aisle in a smooth stride. She'd planned this down to the dot. "I already took out all the shoes. I just need you to clean them and put them back neatly inside. You boys get lemonade somewhere in the middle."

Morgan let the comment go before he dug a deeper hole for himself.

"Is there a specific way you want us to order the shoes?" Spencer asked as he came to set his own bag on the kitchen aisle. Penelope, being the closest one, took a peek inside the bag.

"No, just something neat," Aitana told him. She wasn't that evil.

"Oooh! Spencer brought more sweets!" Penelope cheered and pulled out a box of familiar looking chocolate lollipops.

"Actually," Spencer was quick to take the box from Penelope, ignoring the blonde's pouting face because of his move, "These are for Aitana."

The woman in question blinked as she was presented with the box of lollipops, the same ones she had once introduced to Spencer when they first met. "For me?"

"Yeah, I really do feel bad for the way Morgan and I acted so I'm hoping that the sweets will help me a bit here," Spencer said, pushing the box closer to Aitana. He felt more assured with the soft smile on Aitana's face. She wouldn't know it but he'd been tossing and turning during the nights thinking she was genuinely upset with him...and Morgan of course.

"Thank you, Spencer," Aitana said, taking the box from him. She was aware of the lingering eyes some of the others were giving them so in an effort to stop any comments that might be coming, she set the box down on the counter and ushered Spencer and Morgan out the kitchen. "The rest of you can start with the wine!" She called out from the hallway. That should keep them busy and entertained.

Aitana brought Spencer and Morgan upstairs to her room where the pile of shoes waited for them.

"I hope this answers your question about the shoes, Reid," Morgan said after taking a look at the pile waiting for them.

Spencer was more than surprised with the heavy amount of shoes in front of him. He glanced back at Aitana, his widened eyes asking her if this was really all the pairs she owned. "This is — you can't possibly wear all these shows!"

"Course not, I rotate during seasons," Aitana crossed her arms. "I also did some spring cleaning so that should help you guys out."

"And when was this spring cleaning? Three years ago?" Morgan scoffed. He bent down in front of the pile, eyeing it with disdain. "Aitana, c'mon."

"Hey, you lost the bet," Aitana said, raising her hands in front of her. "Think twice before you decide to mess with me again — or rather think twice before pulling me into your shenanigans."

The unfortunate truth is that this really was making Morgan think twice about involving her in anything ever again.

~ 0 ~

One hour later, Spencer and Morgan were regretting their actions a lot more. Morgan started wishing Aitana never even joined the FBI which, Spencer remarked, was going a bit too far.

"This is ridiculous," Morgan grumbled as he finished setting a pair of pumps inside a plastic box dubbed 'party shoes'. "

"But well deserved," Spencer reminded, more resigned to their afternoon. He picked up a pair of casual sandals with bright yellow pineapples on them. It seemed totally Aitana if you asked him.

Morgan chuckled at the sight of the sandals. "I guess maybe there is one good thing that's coming out of all this."

"What's that?" Spencer asked him curiously.

"We're learning a bit more about Serrano," Morgan smirked as he slipped a finger under the strap of an insanely heeled shoe and raised it in the air. "She's a party girl."

"What?" Spencer laughed lightly.

Morgan mused over his accusation. "I know what I see. These are party shoes. Why else would she have them?"

"A number of reasons," shrugged Spencer. He moved around the remaining pile of shoes, tilting his head as he decided how they would be organizing what was left. "Many women wear them for the simple reason that heels are an ingrained part of our culture. Although there have been experiments testing what exactly makes heels so popular. One of them claimed that the act of wearing heels led to a strut walk instead of your usual walk."

Morgan stared at Spencer, dumbfounded as the latter kept going on about the different experiments. "So you know all that, but you don't know they're more likely to have a lot of shoes in the closet?"

Spencer straightened up. He'd found the best course of planning. "It doesn't really matter. I have a lot more books than people usually tend to own. Aitana likes shoes and…" He looked around at the room, the bright greens of her plants, the golden yellow decor up on the ceiling, the bright white of the duvets with equally bright golden flowers and the cream colored furniture pieces. "Summer. She likes Summer. It's her favorite season."

Morgan, who'd gone back to organizing, looked up with a furrowed brow. "Huh?"

"All the bright colors in here, the plants, even those shoes over there," Spencer pointed at a smaller pile of shoes they'd discarded for the time being. They were all a mixture of sandals and open toed shoes. "Summer is her favorite season."

"Alright then, since those are the most shoes around here, you do 'em," Morgan gestured for Spencer to take over the pile on the right side.

Spencer scrunched his face as he made his way over to the pile. He should've just kept his mouth shut. Story of his life.

~0~

When Aitana returned to her room later in the day, she came in cautiously with a tray of drinks in her hands. "You two haven't destroyed my shoes already, have you? Or plotting revenge against me?"

Morgan threw the woman a look, clearly not amused with the sarcasm. Aitana suspected he wasn't amused with anything today.

"I think we're doing well with time," Spencer said, much more light-hearted than his partner.

Aitana smiled at him and placed down the tray she brought on the dresser. "I'm not cold-hearted. I did bring you some wine."

"It's the least you can do, sprinkles," Morgan said, letting the tennis shoes in his hands fall to the floor.

Aitana watched him walk over, her smile widening. "You brought this upon yourselves. If anything, this makes you realize I make a much better ally than enemy. Spencer, you're not thirsty?"

"Oh, um, not really my suit," Spencer apologized with a small smile.

"Oh," Aitana blinked. It didn't occur to her he wouldn't want the wine. "Sorry, I just thought...you had before…I mean..." She supposed it was wrong to assume just because he drank wine that one time that it meant he would always drink.

"Special occasions," Spencer shrugged, feeling even worse for some reason. Aitana tried offering him something else to drink — lemonade, soda, even just water — but Spencer politely refused. He felt like his time to accept anything else had been with the wine. Aitana shouldn't have to go out of her way to accommodate him, much less when they (he and Morgan) had already been more than rude with her prior.

"Don't work yourselves too much," Aitana half joked on her way out of the room. She had half a mind cutting their work hours short anyways, but she'd let them grovel for a few more.

Morgan let out a low whistle once Aitana was long gone.

Spencer didn't have to look at him to know what he meant. "Don't say anything."

"I haven't," Morgan pointed out, his smirk implying that he was about to speak now. "But…"

Spencer chose that moment to walk to the other end of the room. There had to be shoes to organize over there as well.

"I notice you have some difficulty talking to Sprinkles over there…" Morgan was smirking. Spencer saw it from the corner of his eye. "I mean, more than usual with other people."

"Really, I hadn't noticed," Spencer muttered quickly. Aitana would want her brown boots with the rest of the winter boots.

"Oh, I've noticed," Morgan assured, still smirking at Spencer despite facing his back. "Genius, pretty boy? Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Please."

Spencer's was stuffing the brown boots inside a plastic box. "I have trouble talking all the time. Remember when I couldn't get two words together with JJ?"

Morgan nodded. He would be the first to admit to those awkward moments. JJ would have no problem bringing it up either to make fun of Spencer.

"But this is different," Morgan clarified, pausing his work for a second, "It's not a secret that she's got you tongue twisted sometimes."

Spencer ended up shoving the brown boots in the box however they fit. "So what?" He snapped unintentionally. "That happens with others too."

Morgan would concede on that but he also had another point to make. "Yeah, but, Sprinkles has you just a bit more twisted, don't you think?"

Spencer put the box away in the closet, perhaps not as organized as he had wanted. "No, I don't. I also don't know why this is pertinent to our organization? You do remember that's why we're here, right? Because we screwed up with Aitana."

"Yeah," Morgan picked up the box in front of him and stood up, "And how'd that go for you, eh? Brought a whole box of lollipops and all…"

Spencer strode over and grabbed the box from Morgan. "Politeness and guilt," Spencer clarified his intentions. He took the box towards the other side, preferring to do it all himself if it meant ending this conversation.

"Still, kinda sweet, don't you think?" Morgan smirked again. "C'mon pretty boy."

"C'mon what, Morgan?" Spencer finally turned back again, his head tilting at Morgan demandingly. "I'm not talking about this. I already did this. And you remember how that went, right?"

"Yeah, but we had the story all wrong, didn't we?" Morgan gathered a few more pairs of shoes from the floor. "You thought Aitana had a boyfriend but he turned out to be her half brother." Morgan laughed to himself.

Spencer did not. He didn't find it that amusing.

"So why not ask again?" Morgan swayed his head on his way to drop off the next couple of shoes. "Or, I guess, it's the first time since you didn't actually get to ask last time…"

"Morgan, just stop," Spencer said with a sigh. "I'm not doing anything."

"Why not?"

"Because it's nothing," Spencer took a pair of sneakers from Morgan. He set them accordingly in another plastic box.

"Is it, though?" Morgan genuinely wondered.

Spencer shrugged without thinking. He was actually trying not to think about that stuff. "Of course. Aitana's a friend and since we've screwed up, I'd rather fix it. So let's just finish up, alright?" Spencer took the remaining pairs of shoes out of Morgan's arms and arranged them in the best possible organizing way.

~0~

The next time Aitana went upstairs, it was late in the afternoon. She came with the plan to finally free her two prisoners, deeming one whole day was more than enough for them to learn their lesson. What she didn't expect was for her entire shoe closet to be genuinely organized. She figured they would've dallied and maybe organized a quarter of what she had set out.

"Oh my goodness, you actually did it," Aitana laughed. She stood in front of her closet, gazing over the clear plastic boxes holding her shoes. "I can't believe you actually did it."

"What, you didn't think we were capable of organizing a couple shoes?" Morgan feigned offense.

"I thought there would be too many for you to handle," Aitana smirked and folded her arms. She glanced at Spencer who seemed busy figuring something out with the shoe boxes. If she was right, he was calculating. "Spencer, something you want to share with the class?"

"You have exactly 50 pairs of shoes," Spencer said, although it sounded like he had just figured out his calculations. "That was actually less than Morgan guessed."

"What?" Aitana pouted. "You guys were making bets on me again?"

"Reid," Morgan reprimanded, whilst also begging for help. He was not going to organize shoes again or anything else in the godforsaken room.

"No, no, I just wanted to know the average amount of shoes a woman has," Spencer explained himself as best as possible. "See, I'm not very knowledgeable in that department and this provided a good learning opportunity for me. We just wanted to see who was closer with their number."

Aitana's head turned from one man to the other, deciding whether or not she should believe them. Ultimately, she decided they both looked scared enough to think twice before using her for another game. "Alright, you're both done. Breathe, gentlemen, you've paid up."

Morgan did exactly that, letting out a huge breath that had Aitana laughing. "Sprinkles, you are a hard woman."

"I've got to be," Aitana said, raising her hands in defense, "It was constant war living with two older brothers. I had to learn. You're welcome."

"I never had any siblings," Spencer shared, "So I guess this was a good learning experience."

Morgan scoffed, letting a small 'aha' slip out of him. He didn't think Spencer saw Aitana like a sister at all.

Aitana clapped her hands together. "Okay, you two have officially paid your debt off and as such, you are now welcomed downstairs. We're ordering in."

Morgan was quick to drop the rag in his hand to the floor. "Good, cos I'm starving!"

Aitana laughed after him, motioning Spencer to follow as well. Work time was officially over.

~0~

Penelope had chosen their dinner that evening and as such, they eagerly took their Chinese food from the delivery boy as soon as it got there. Aitana helped her carry it to the living room, after having to insist that it was fine eating there instead of the kitchen.

"I'm not my parents," she said to Penelope when the blonde reluctantly sat down on the couch with her take-out box. "I don't care if you spill."

"But it doesn't mean I want to spill! Your furniture is so beautiful!" Penelope exclaimed, worriedly looking down at the couch. It was a nice white that an ugly Kung Pao chicken orange stain would definitely contrast with.

"You think it's beautiful?" Aitana sat down on the couch chair. "Angel chose all this. He actually had this whole place furnished before I stepped in."

"He did all this?" Emily looked around the living room in disbelief. "Can he come do my apartment?" The others laughed despite Emily saying she was quite serious. "What!? He has nice taste!"

"He's a good brother," Aitana concluded. "Bit of a bully but good brother nonetheless."

"Meet my sisters," Morgan said, "They were nightmares."

Aitana smirked. "And you weren't?" Morgan shrugged. "How many sisters do you have?"

"Three."

"Oh," Aitana sucked air between her teeth. "Yeah, okay, I can see that being bad."

"Sometimes I'm perfectly fine being an only child," Emily admitted easily as she sipped her wine. She abandoned her Chinese food when it was half done claiming the wine had taken most of her appetite away.

"I would have liked the friendly competition," Spencer said, earning matching scoffs from half the group. Even Hotch gave a slight shake of his head in amusement. "What?" Spencer made a face.

"It's only friendly on the best of days," Aitana clarified for him. "You never said 'I love you' to their faces or else they might throw you something. Mateo threw his baseball at me one time."

"What?" Spencer gaped. "Why!?"

"Because I said it to him in front of his friends."

"You are so bad," Penelope giggled. She leaned over to high five Aitana who laughed.

"Yeah, I said it to him because he'd pissed me off that morning!"

Spencer couldn't wrap his mind around such a strange relationship.

"Cheer up, Spence," JJ called from her spot on the sofa chair, "You have no competition in the magic department, right?"

Spencer ended up smiling. Of course JJ would think of something like that.

"What's she talking about?" Aitana said, confused.

"Oh, our Dr. Reid is a magician as well, remember?" JJ said with the most dramatic wide eyes. She waved her chopsticks in the air as if they were wands. "Moonlights as one."

"Shut up, you don't do magic," Aitana eyed Spencer with disbelief.

"I do," Spencer nodded.

"You?"

"Yeah, why's it so hard to believe it?"

"Because magic is...magic. You're a factual guy."

"Magic relies on powerful psychological illusions," Spencer explained, "It exploits gaps and errors in our conscious experience."

Aitana looked more bemused than anything else. Her eyes went over the rest of the group, silently asking them if this was actually real. Each one of them nodded like a chain of dominoes.

"No!" Aitana suddenly exclaimed, laughing to herself. "Don't ruin magic for me, Spencer!"

"What — I'm not!" Spencer couldn't help but laugh as well. "It's true! Look, magicians tend to use misdirection to manipulate what you pay attention to and so they can control what you see—"

"Oh my god, no!" Aitana insisted. "When I think of magic, I think of Harry Potter!" Morgan snorted and laughed. Even Emily had trouble hiding her own laugh. "I don't think of misdirection!"

"Aitana—"

"Or gaps and errors!"

"It's about cognition—"

"No!" Aitana pointed at Spencer, warning him to stop right there. "It's magic! Don't ruin it!"

"You heard the lady," Morgan said, flashing a smirk at Spencer. "Don't ruin it for her."

"But I didn't — I'm not…" Spencer sighed in resignation. Everyone was already chuckling. It was futile to try anything...right now. Plus, Aitana was smirking at him knowing exactly what she'd done. She was confident that she won and Spencer didn't really see the need to prove her wrong right there and then. He could wait. He was patient.

~0~

After a few more glasses of wine, Penelope started wandering through the house picking out things she swore Angel must have read her mind about because she wanted them all. She even almost stuck her head into Aitana's big fish tank. Thankfully, Rossi had spotted that intention and led Penelope away with the idea that he had found another furniture piece she would like.

"I think I'm going to take her home," Morgan announced.

"Preferably walking her to her door?" Aitana asked curiously and out of concern. She didn't think Penelope was in any condition to walk any stairs on her own.

"And inside," Morgan assured seconds before Penelope nearly tripped on her own feet. "Possibly to her room."

"Yeah, just in case," JJ chuckled.

"Hey Aitana!" Penelope called as she wobbled her way up to the brunette in question. "Did you have Nemo in that tank?"

"What?" Aitana blinked and even looked around Penelope as if the fictional fish was really swimming in her tank. "No, no...no. No Disney fish, Pen."

"Oh." Penelope drew in a breath as if she'd heard the worst news ever. "Is he okay? Did he...you know…?" She made a cutting motion across her neck, causing a whole round of laughter from the others.

"Please get her home," JJ told Morgan who was already on his way to retrieve Penelope.

"I will," Morgan promised them and the rest of the group. He then guided Penelope out of the house, having to pull her once they reached the door and Penelope realized she had "seen" Nemo.

"Maybe we should start heading out too," Rossi said, already getting up from his seat. Hotch was doing the same thing.

"We don't work tomorrow," Emily reminded them as she took another sip of her glass.

"No, but some of us have early bird sons," Hotch smiled tightly. "My only day off and I still have to get up before eight."

JJ agreed with the sentiment and lowered her wine glass. The others laughed.

"Take the leftovers please," Aitana said, "JJ brought a ton of stuff! It's in the kitchen!"

"What, I don't like coming to someone's house empty-handed," JJ said with her hands raised in defense. "Besides, Spence brought a boxload of those chocolate lollipops or something."

"I only brought one," said Spencer with a scrunched nose. "And that was an apology, not for you."

"Oh," Emily's lips morphed into a dramatic 'o' shape. "Watch out JJ, you've been replaced."

"Shut up," Aitana gave Emily a gentle shove. "No one here is replacing anyone. We're not doing that anymore. And Rossi, Hotch, seriously, take some of the wine in the kitchen. Angel and I don't really drink a lot."

She herself guided the two men into her kitchen to make sure that they took the bottles. When she returned to the living room, she came out with the very box JJ had spoken of.

"I will share," she informed her remaining guests. "But you only get one."

Emily and JJ laughed and made fun of Aitana's concept of sharing. Aitana ignored them as she took one more chocolate lollipop out of the box and walked over to where Spencer was. He'd become interested in her fish tank, completely engrossed in it for that matter.

"I know, I'm a hoarder of fish," Aitana said as she came up beside Spencer.

"Not really," he said, straightening up, "There's the same amount as last time. Still haven't found Venus and Mars yet?"

Aitana beamed, although a moment later she realized she shouldn't even bother being delighted that he remembered. Of course he would remember. He remembered everything. "No, no I haven't. I thought I found Mars but it turned out to be a a bust."

"You're seriously naming those fishes after planets?" JJ looked bemused more than anything. "Sounds like something Henry would do."

Aitana chuckled rather nervously. "I mean...yeah...guess it is kinda silly…"

"It's an interesting idea that I've never seen," Spencer said, looking at JJ with some disapproval. He of all people knew what it was like to have his interests shut down, even if it wasn't with the intention to be rude. It still didn't feel all that good. "And if I see a fish that might fit your idea, I'll send you a picture," he said to Aitana.

Her smile came back with full force. "I'd like that," she said, flushing red. She had no idea why but everything felt pretty warm. She offered Spencer a marshmallow chocolate lollipop.

Spencer took it from Aitana with his own smile, although if he had asked JJ and Emily they would've told him he seemed rather flushed as well.

A/N:

So it seems like fanfic . net is being useless again because I'm not getting notifications about anything again no matter what I do. It says that my email doesn't recognize the site's email address which is total bull because I have it listed as as contact. So just an fyi for anyone who's on this platform, check your account settings because they may have messed with your account too .

[knoxic]

Random Criminal Minds canon things (based on my DR)

(I think it accidentally happened because of my headcannons?)

divided it into 2 parts, 2nd one under the cut is NSFW and contains: panic attacks, anxiety, homophobia, suicidal thoughts. (but there is a fun part dw)

SFW

• Derek is lactose intolerant, still drinks milk almost every day and loves icecream.

• Dave and Hotch genuinely consider each other best friends.

• Hotch and Pen give the best birthday gifts.

• Derek broke someone's nose because they made fun of Spencer behind his back, Spencer doesn't know what happened and gave him a lecture on why he shouldn't pick fights.

• JJ is in charge of ordering food and coffe while we're on cases, chooses the best food and place and somehow always knows what we want.

• Dave made pizza one night and now Garcia keeps begging him to open a Pizza restaurant. (he rolls his eyes and says "it's a family thing" as an excuse every times she asks)

• Hotch kept groaning and mumbling for 7 hours straight because our coffe machine was broken and we couldn't get coffee.

• Emily has terrible migraines, only Spencer and I know because we shared medicines once.

• Hotch thinks everything he does as a father is wrong and Jack hates him for them. Cried on my shoulder one night after Jack called him his hero.

• Out of everyone in the team, JJ has the best aim and worst eye sight. (she wears lenses at work and glasses at home)

• Hotch banished Spencer from making everyone's coffee ever since he put 4 cubes of sugar in each cup. (I let him do mine tho)

• Dave keeps 3 bottles of whiskey in his office. Tried sneaking one in Hotch's office once claiming its "so you can have a drink every time you're feeling miserable:)", Hotch felt like it was wrong so he took it home without Dave noticing (he did).

• Penelope once dreamed about getting married and having a kid, sometimes cry herself to sleep missing the baby.

• JJ never took Henry to a church but taught him about every religion she knows so he could choose if he wanted to have one. Will teaches him to be acceptable and open minded.

• Spencer likes fem terms (especially being called pretty)

• Jack has a doll named Lisa, plays with her as if she was a baby (Hotch gets baby fever watching him).

• Hotch, Spencer and Emily are queers.

• Penelope is pansexual.

NSFW

this is the not fun part... feel free to skip

• Emily once had a panic attack because Strauss forced her to "sit properly", her mom used to tell her that all the time.

• Hotch has CPTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

• JJ was homophobic, knows its wrong but its the way she was raised to be as a kid, grew out of it but still catches herself judging ppl.

• Emily had a ED for a great part of her life.

•Emily and Spencer have chronic anxiety.

• Hotch used to have suicidal thoughts during his 8-18 years, never tried anything because he heard his dad say that "people who kill themselves are cowards"

• Derek had toxic relationships (on both his side and his partners side) for years,

• Before Haley, Hotch had an abusive relationship with a girl older than him (he was a minor, she wasn't...).

ehhh

• Emily used to only have one night threesomes to avoid relationships and feelings.

• Spencer and Ethan had a established dom/sub relationship. It ended when they had a fight over Spencer going to the FBI, Ethan knew it meant they wouldn't see each other much and he just wanted to settle down with Spence, so he left.

now to the fun part:))

• Hotch likes to have his nipples sucked.

• Spencer has a thing for biting (being bitten and biting)

• Derek tried men before, it didn't stick but he had a great time.

• Hotch also tried men (college) but he actually liked it, would do it again 100%, asked Haley to top him once but she refused.

• Emily owns a strap-on.

• Hotch and Spencer have a insane libido, literally the wind could turn them on.

• JJ could cum just from giving head.

• Hotch + couch sex =👩‍🦽

• Suck JJ's Fingers.

• Make love = Hotch Derek

Fuck = JJ Emily

Have sex = Spencer Pen

• Penelope is not extremely experienced but she does it good.

• Hotch loves body worship (giving)

• Kinks

Hotch = Breeding, Exhibitionism, Pregnancy, Age Play, Quirofilia (hands🥴), Somno, Praise (giving) Dd/Lg, Deepthroat.

Derek = Collaring, Blindfold, Roleplaying, Corruption, Dom/sub.

Emily = Somno, Corruption, Choking,

JJ = Cuckolding, Corruption, Deepthroat

Penelope = Roleplaying, Age Play, Spitting,

Spencer = Bondage, Praise, Quirofilia, Corruption.

(btw I'm not sure if Hotch got more kinks because hes kinky or because I just (sexually) know him better than the rest?)

anyways:) that was it, might do another one if I remember other things later.

[lucreziaq2001]

•TV show: "Criminal minds".

•Content warnings: Mentions of a baby who died in his mother's womb around 37 weeks into the pregnancy, his mom going through the whole pregnancy without a partner or spouse by her side (by choice), her having to give birth to her son after having found out he had passed away, her having to leave him at the hospital and go back home, mentions of a baby's funeral, her feelings after the loss of her baby (grief, wanting to isolate from her friends and many others), her accepting to meet her friend's newborn baby, but entering into a delusion in which that child is her son, her baby watching over her from Heaven and praying she'll be okay one day and her finally letting out all her feelings with one of her two closest friends helping her.

•This One Shot is an AU in which JJ and Will's second baby didn't die and was born alive in mid 2011. I named her Margaret because Maggie, the name JJ said she would have given her in the show, is not a full name, it's more of a nickname and it is her nickname here too. Emily also didn't go through the "thing" with Ian Doyle and JJ didn't have to leave her team in this story.

•I know JJ and Will weren't married yet in 2011, but to make things easier for myself, I chose to refer to him as her husband, since that's what many people do in my country with live-in partners, mostly if they have kids together. I hope this doesn't bother you.

•I don't fully know how maternity leave works in the USA, especially for an FBI agent, so I made those details up. If you know more about this, feel free to correct me, though.

•I don't know if Emily was religious in "Criminal minds", but even not religious people say that their dead loved ones are in Heaven, so I used that word around the end of the story.

•Tags: @lex13cm, @golden1u5t, @arabellavernierwrites (who helped me write this a pretty long time ago), @asolitaryrose3, @oneshotnewbie, @whotfskai, @marril96, @babiebom.

Until they'd meet again

On July 5, 2011, her first day back at work after her five-weeks-long leave, when Emily Prentiss walked into the bullpen, the first thing she would have liked to do was scream as loud as she could.

Why?

Well, because not really knowing what to say to her, all her co-workers and friends just asked "Are you alright?".

What Emily would have wanted to say was "No, I'm not! Who the hell would be alright just one month after their baby's death?!?", but to avoid worrying her friends and most of all, knowing they wouldn't have been able to understand what she was going through, what she ended up telling them was just "Yes, I'm okay".

She knew they didn't believe her, also because she wasn't able to look them in the eye while saying that.

Most of them were FBI profilers, after all.

Analyzing human behavior was their job.

None of them pressured her to open up, though, and Emily was partly happy, partly annoyed by that.

Less than half an hour after she had arrived at the office, she was already convinced that the worst part of her day was going to be having to stay at work, around people who didn't know how to talk to her, but shot pity-filled looks at her every few minutes, while all she actually wanted to do was go back home, the only place were she would have been alone, lay in bed and just miss her baby boy.

Her beloved Isaac, whom she had gotten pregnant with thanks to a sperm donor, had died in her womb in late May of that year.

His mother had found out about that on May 28, exactly thirty-eight weeks into her -at least until then- healthy pregnancy.

Hearing her doctor say "I'm so sorry. There is no heartbeat" had been more devastating than anything she had ever been through to Emily, and finding out she still had to deliver her son was even harder.

After two days spent locked up in her apartment, mostly crying and staring mindlessly at the TV, in the late afternoon of May 30, Emily had gone to the hospital to give birth to her much loved and wanted little boy.

The next morning, at 10:40 am, Isaac William Prentiss had come into the world, lifeless, but still perfect in his mother's eyes.

For the next two days, Emily held him every second she could, trying to memorize every single one of his features, talking and singing to him and taking more pictures than she could have counted.

Then, the time had come to say goodbye, and leaving Isaac to the nurses while she went back home was one more heartbreak for her to deal with.

For almost five whole weeks, she stayed cooped up in her house, only going out on the day of Isaac's funeral and one evening because her friend Penelope had basically forced her to go out with her.

That night, Emily had just wanted to go home as soon as possible, but on her first day back at work, in spite of her still very present heartbreak, she craved nothing more than to have normalcy and a healthy routine again.

That was why, although it had only been a little over a month since her son had passed and she would have had the right to three more weeks of paid leave, she had insisted on returning to the bureau.

There, however, everyone was tip-toeing around her, going the extra mile to make sure everything within their job maintained some sense of balance.

The team was trying their hardest to provide stability to the grieving mother Emily now was.

The next day, however, their friend and co-worker JJ, who had given birth to her daughter Margaret just three weeks prior, had decided to come see them.

She hadn't brought the baby with her, but she knew she was going to have to bring her up at some point.

Everyone else on the team had already been to her house to meet little Margaret for the first time, and JJ was now nauseous at the idea of having to find a way to invite Emily's freshly broken heart.

"Emily" she said, tapping softly on the door to her friend's office "Can I talk to you real quick before I go back home?".

Hardly looking up from her papers, Emily nodded and just responded with "Of course".

JJ timidly entered the room, still unsure of how to say what she wanted to tell the older woman.

"I thought now would be a good time to talk to you about this. As you know, I just had a baby. If you refuse, I understand. I want you to do what's best for you now. Don’t feel pressured or think that you somehow have to spare my feelings in any way-" she started to explain, but Emily soon interrupted her.

"JJ" she told her "You can ask the question".

JJ swallowed intensely.

"Would you like to meet my daughter?" she then asked.

Even though she had given her friend permission to ask her that, when she heard those words, Emily felt like she had just been punched in the stomach.

She tried to hide the fact that that question had knocked the wind out of her, but even a brief mention of a baby was enough to send her back into the pit of despair she was actively trying to claw her way out of.

"I can’t wait" she still forced herself to say, giving JJ a half-fake smile.

She was genuinely happy for her, but also fighting a losing battle inside.

The idea of her friend's new baby stormed up inside Emily.

She remembered what it felt like to hold her little one for the first time, his soft skin, his tiny fingers and toes and his impossibly long eyelashes.

He was perfect, but no screams had come from him.

Unlike all the other babies there that day, he hadn't been born alive.

So much of Emily was happy that JJ was getting to experience becoming the mother of an alive baby for the second time.

One of the most precious things life could offer was in the palms of her friend's hands.

But still, heartache consumed her.

She was devastated that there was still so much life and beauty in the world, when she had just had to experience a death so earth-shattering.

The idea of meeting JJ's baby made Emily's heart race, but still, she agreed to do it, and a few hours later, there she was, sitting on JJ's couch, an evening full of homecooked meals and genuine conversation leading her up to that point.

"Here she is, Auntie Emily" JJ told her with a smile on her face, placing her baby girl into Emily's protective arms.

The older woman's first reaction to that was a chuckle of disbelief she just couldn't hold in.

Her mind twisted at the memory of her own sweet baby, the one that she had been grieving so violently over.

She wasn’t sure what it was, motherly hormones or just pure reality-distorting heartbreak, but she felt like she was holding her late son.

That thought poisoned her mind, the maternal instinct pumping through her veins, her heart intertwining with the one of the baby in her arms.

"She’s perfect" Emily whispered, overcome with emotion.

"She is, isn’t she?" JJ replied with a smile on her face, taking a seat in a chair across the room, keeping an affectionate eye on the two of them.

"You're just the sweetest thing, aren’t you?" Emily then cooed, completely enamored with the infant in her arms.

She felt like she was getting sucked deeper into the sickening hole of motherly grief.

She didn’t feel real anymore and to her, the baby she was holding wasn't JJ's daughter.

It was her son.

Her innocent child she should have protected from all things evil in the world.

Now she had a second chance, and anyone and anything that would have even tried to harm that baby would have died at her hands before being able to come near the child.

"You just need someone to keep your little heart safe, sweet boy" she cooed as she stroked the baby's big, round cheeks with love "You need your mommy to keep you safe".

By that point, JJ had become weary of her friend's behavior, since she had witnessed a shift behind her grieving eyes.

"Will, how about you go upstairs to see if Henry is sleeping?" she decided to tell her husband, mostly wishing to salvage the image of her co-worker, not wanting anyone else to have to witness what she pretty much knew was coming.

"I can protect you, my son" Emily then promised, still looking at the baby with so much love in her eyes "As your mommy, I swear I won’t let anything ever hurt you".

"I think it’s time she goes back to bed, Honey" JJ tried to tell her, wanting to get her baby back into the hands of someone with a more present mind.

"I can’t" Emily replied, her eyes filling up with tears "I can’t have my baby taken from me again".

"Don’t you want us to have our baby back?" Will, who had come back downstairs by that time attempted to ask her.

As a response, however, Emily shook her head.

"No, he is mine!" she then exclaimed "I have to protect my baby!".

"Come on, she needs some rest" JJ told her, gently rubbing her back.

Suddenly, Emily’s brain felt like it could have exploded.

It was so full of heartbreak, confusion and despair.

The thoughts that had been racing through her mind for weeks pounded on the walls of her skull, desperate for an escape from the pain that brewed in her mind.

She just wanted something she could hold on to, something that she could have a second chance at, something that would stay alive.

"No, I can’t" Emily told her, tears streaming down her face by that time.

All the sternness in her voice had disappeared and there was nothing in her tone except pure defeat.

That was when JJ knew she wasn’t just talking about the baby.

She was talking about everything she had experienced since the day she had found out Isaac had passed away.

Everything that had swept her off her feet in the tornado of losing a child.

She couldn’t do it any more.

She couldn’t live with that missing piece in her life.

She couldn’t plaster on a smile and show up to work like she hadn't just lost the person she loved the most.

JJ was careful, removing her baby from Emily’s arms and quickly giving her to her husband, who took her upstairs to give the two women a moment alone.

"I can't do this" Emily sobbed, her figure collapsing entirely against her friend.

Her body heaved violently as everything that had been building up was let go.

The excruciating experience of losing her baby boy had broken her.

Maybe one day there would have been a way out of all the pain she was experiencing, but at that moment, everything around her seemed dark and the only good things were JJ's arms around her and the fact that in a way, she still had her baby boy in her life.

He was watching her from Heaven, loving on his mommy and praying for her to be able to find peace and the strenght to wait until they were meant to meet again.

[amberjazmyn]

criminal minds bau one-shot

𝓲𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓮 - panic room

𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 - normal criminal minds warnings, character death, torture, angst, loads of tears, grief

𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 - agent ellianna johnson is taken by the unsub after she was assigned the task of taking said unsub down. the unsub was ellianna's uncle and a serial killer who had been killing during ellianna's entire thirty years of life, ultimately ruining and shaming the "johnson" last name. that was until she was her uncle's very last victim before arresting him finally bringing some peace, justice and closure for the victims and her family.

𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻'𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮 - i've had this idea swimming around in my brain for a while so i hope i don't mess this up. also, italics will be the characters' thoughts and the pov's will be switching a lot but you'll know who's pov it'll be. also, whilst i have included gifs, i am not categorising this as a gif imagine because even though they are used to describe the grief that i explain from the four gifs i've chosen, i am not labelling it as a gif imagine if that makes sense.

part two masterlist

- - -

ellianna knew she had to do something so the unsub wouldn't get away with his crimes but, she really should have been more thought out with her decision-making skills, especially as an fbi agent with the behavioural analysis unit. yet, if she was questioned later about the decision she made, she would 100% defend herself and say that whilst she could absolutely have been more thought out, her plan was the most logical idea and the only way in which the unsub was going to meet his end as a serial killer.

now, ellianna, in her almost ten years with the fbi's bau has been through many a torture chamber but, none were as horrific as the one that she was currently hanging in by her wrists that were attached to the top of the ceiling of the old warehouse she was being held captive in. refusing to show the fear that she didn't have, she put her life on the line so many times at this point that it almost becomes something of an "inside joke" within the bau to act like some "lighthearted" therapy. and to make light of all the times the thirty-year-old had been kidnapped and tortured whilst on a case. however, this torture was going to be the one case that wouldn't ever be a laughable one, even in the far-off future. this one was for sure the one that ellianna was about a hundred million per cent sure going to kill her. this warehouse was the panic room that haunted the agent's dreams every single night, despite the constant denial to her fellow agents and sometimes herself about the nightmares she'd have about the said warehouse.

the unsub that ellianna and her boyfriend dr spencer reid were tasked to capture was a sixty-year-old male, just shy of 6ft tall, with shaggy brown hair, and dirty brown eyes with the stench of a garbage collector. the man's name was peter johnson and heartbreakingly, ellianna's own uncle from her dad's side of the family. hence why she threw herself into the warehouse rather than jj, derek, emily or her two bosses aaron and david. but that didn't mean that ellianna threw herself into that warehouse on her own entirely, she had her boyfriend and fellow supervisory special agent dr spencer reid as her number two. she made a promise to her parents, basically her whole family, that even if it killed her, this job, she'd be the person to eventually take down her serial killer uncle so no one else had to go through the trauma that this man was bringing not just to her family but to the wider state of virginia and the country of the united states of america.

"...why is it that you always have to sacrifice yourself for your team, ellianna? is this something that gives you a buzz? an excitement?" the gruff voice of the unsub, who was ellianna's uncle, made her entire body shiver as she grunted, really showing her body strength as she held herself up

"why else do you think, peter? and no, why would this give me a buzz or excitement? i'm doing my goddamn job!" the thirty-year-old spat back, not wanting the niceties to be much longer, the man understanding that almost straight away

"oh, that's right, how could i forget! you want to prove to our family as well as to your team that you can arrest me after i've spent the last thirty years committing these crimes and only now i've been caught and you wanted to be the final victim!" the older man snarled as ellianna dryly chuckled at her insane family member

"i don't want to prove myself to them because i don't need to prove anything to anybody. i promised my family years ago when i first joined the fbi academy that i would do anything in my power to make sure they and i were all alive to see you finally be thrown into prison. i was nineteen then and i'm thirty now and only one small thing has changed about that statement!" ellianna huffed out, her attitude really testing her uncle's patience, just like it did when she was younger as the older, grotesque man crossed his arms over, daring to challenge his fed niece

"what's changed then, enlighten me, my dear niece. what has changed in the last ten years, ellianna johnson?" peter spat out as ellianna chuckled to herself, always up for the fun that was challenging her dad's older brother

"what's changed, is that i no longer care whether i come out of here alive or not. as long as the rest of my family is alive and healthy to see you get thrown into prison and have their witness statements taken and given justice by getting charged and thrown away for the rest of your life, it no longer bothers me whether or not i'm alive or dead. as long as my family gets justice for the despicable and abhorrent crimes you committed, i'll know i died a hero and a role model for the family because i helped them take down the serial killer who destroyed not just the name of our family but also all the good that's in our family because of the decision you made over thirty years ago to finally listen to those little voices in your head that you had been ignoring for so many years until they got so loud that you couldn't deal with them anymore and the only way you thought you could stop them was from killing others!" ellianna was raging mad at this point, not caring that she was covered in blood, blood that was dripping from her forehead and feet - all she cared about was her family and all the other families getting the justice they deserved years ago

this was when ellianna wished that she had an eidetic memory because she couldn't even remember that spencer, her boyfriend and fellow agent had come with her into the warehouse, also getting caught by her uncle - though only getting restrained to a chair in front of her as he opened his eyes and made eye contact with the love of his life

a flash of memory then came across ellianna as she moved to make eye contact with him. she knew he'd be just as terrified as she would be. wordlessly, without peter realising since he was distracted, ellianna comforted spencer, letting him know that whilst it looked like it hurt from the way she was hanging by her hands, she was completely fine and that she was able to handle it. the moment that she got the confirmation head nod from spencer, she focused back to peter, who had seemed to suddenly remember also, that he had kept spencer restrained to a chair sitting right in front of ellianna, whilst he had stood slightly off to the side.

"hmm, seems like you hadn't forgotten about spencer like i would have thought you did, i mean, i forgot about him for a second because of how quiet he is..." peter trailed off in a taunting voice as ellianna rolled her eyes as the sounds of the warehouse lights sounded, the burst of light making both spencer and ellianna turn away due to how bright it was and how their eyes still needed adjustment

"...of course, i didn't, you douchebag! now, what are you going to do to him, peter?" ellianna started to slightly panic, on the inside that is, she was staying calm on the outside as she hoped that whilst the team were all wired and connected, they were still close by and had the opportunity and a chance at rescuing spencer

"absolutely nothing dear niece of mine. i mean, i haven't forgotten and i don't think spencer here has forgotten the entire screech of a speech you made to me and everyone that cares to watch this live feed at the start of this entire ordeal. you screamed for spencer not to be hurt and i haven't. i haven't laid a single finger on dr reid and i won't because i'll be way too busy laying every single finger on you to even give that squib a second look..." peter trailed off as spencer let out a wrangled cry, making peter and ellianna snap their heads, peter moving closer to his niece to move a strand of her hair behind her ear

"...shh, spence, please, it's okay! i'm okay, i promise, he isn't hurting me!" ellianna tried her absolute hardest to convince her boyfriend that the torture by her uncle wasn't painful at all - and it was true, ellianna hadn't screamed one single time

"she's right, boy genius, she hasn't screamed, not once. not since she begged on her knees for me to hurt her, instead of you..." peter snickered as all spencer's mind could go back to was that moment, he had never seen his girlfriend beg like that in their entire time at the bau together, and neither did the rest of their team who was watching via the live feed that penelope had hacked into after being given the link by peter

"--please, peter, i beg of you. take me instead, leave spencer alone. hurt me, touch me, rape me! whatever it is you want, just do it to me. just leave spencer and the rest of my team alone, they've done nothing wrong! and keep your bloody hands off of him!" she begged, she had never sounded so sure but so pained at the same time as she saw her uncle drift closer to her boyfriend as though he was taunting his niece

in her almost decade of serving as a federal agent with the fbi's behavioural analysis unit, ssa ellianna johnson hadn't ever begged an unsub for something more than for her boyfriend, ssa dr spencer reid to be spared by them, the unsub they were trying to take down, which had turned out to be ellianna's own uncle.

the rest of spencer and ellianna's team; derek morgan, emily prentiss, jennifer (jj) jareau, penelope garcia, david rossi and aaron hotchner watched the security camera live footage with anxiety and uncertainty for their two youngest members. the team was usually so fearless so whenever something bad happened to spencer and or ellianna, the team was always at their most vulnerable. the girls had tears blurring their vision and the guys tried to hold back their own tears and their anger as the team sat in silence as they watched the live feed that had been sent to penelope for this very reason and it boiled their blood.

peter was still not budging on his niece's pleas to leave spencer alone. neither spencer nor ellianna had been restrained as yet as they had just arrived but peter had already thrown things at them and given both of them minor concussions.

if it took ellianna to get on her knees begging her uncle for him to stay away from spencer, she would do anything to make sure he would be safe and, that's what she did. ellianna got down on her knees, her hands in the air and her gun out of its holster and discarded on the floor, begging for her uncle to leave her boyfriend alone and to take her as his hostage and torture her so that her boyfriend would be safe and sound.

"for fuck sake, peter, please! stay the fuck away from spencer, don't you dare think about even laying one of your dirty fingers on him. put all those grubby, bloody, serial killer fingers on me and torture me with every ounce of your body because you'll have so much more fun hurting me than you would if you were hurting spencer. please, let me take spencer's place he has so much more life left to live for and new things to research and find out about life. he...he has to take care of his mom, he has to find a cure for her! please, leave him alone!" ellianna begged again, on her knees as peter finally changed his mind, ellianna eased as spencer was then placed in the chair, right in front of the chains that were suspended in the air with all different kinds of torture devices next to it

spencer had never been known fear in his life until this moment right here. it wasn't him being tied up to the chair that terrified him, the thing that scared him was having to watch the love of his life, the girl he wanted to marry, watch getting tortured and killed right in front of him with a front-row seat, their team also helplessly watching, by someone who once loved her, he'd do anything to protect her as her uncle.

"ellianna, what are you doing?" spencer whimpered, not caring that he sounded like a weak, scared little boy in front of the unsub because, at this moment, that's how he felt as ellianna smiled softly

"i'm saving your life, spence. i can't let you die, you mean way too much to me. you've been through so much, it's time i deserved some pain once in a while, i'm lessening the load," ellianna smiled, keeping up her strength as peter drew ever so closer to his niece so he could start assembling the torture, grabbing her and chucking her against a wall, causing spencer and the team watching to flinch at the noise ellianna's body made as it connected with the wall as more blood started to pool at the back of her head, matching the blood trickling down her forehead, due to the force the push had created

the metal chains loudly clasped her hands above her head as she hung with her feet no longer touching the ground beneath her as she remained tough and unafraid. a smile suddenly formed on the young agent's face as she suddenly giggled at how unflattering this pose must have looked to spencer and the team at the angle they were watching it at. saying it in a way to make the horrific situation more comedic, however, it of course didn't land as well as she wanted it to land.

"this pose must look very unflattering to you guys right now..." ellianna giggled suddenly as she then looked down, the mortified look of her boyfriend, spencer, as well as her team who she couldn't see, didn't find it as comedic as she thought they would have

halting her laughter, ellianna quietly gulped, not knowing what else she could say to fill the suddenly eerie silence that fell throughout the abandoned warehouse - peter ignoring the exchange

it seemed as if ellianna's begs to save spencer in replacement for her was working. she smiled to herself that her boyfriend was safe, though he was having to watch his girlfriend be tortured right in front of him whilst restrained, he was safe.

no more than a second longer did peter wait before his homemade torture equipment was powered up before it started to tear into and shock ellianna's body. the equipment varied from kitchen appliances like knives, screwdrivers, ice picks, and a baseball bat to an electric wire that would end up being bound around ellianna's legs as well as other things that burnt into the agent's skin. ellianna's entire body was being torn into and was on fire however that gorgeous, loving, caring, bright smile remained etched on her face, not once letting it falter or letting herself scream out in pain for her uncle to switch the torture equipment off.

ellianna knew that it was bothering her uncle immensely that she wasn't reacting to the torture. she knew that he always thrived off of the pain of his victims yet, she'd always been known to have the physical and mental strength throughout her entire life to be able to withstand whatever torture that was subjected to her. so, ellianna could tell that if her uncle was a firecracker about to explode, he would have set the entire warehouse ablaze because he wasn't getting the reaction and what he wanted from his victim. but, the catch was, due to how smart peter was, it didn't take him too long to figure out what could possibly make his niece falter and that was seeing her boyfriend falter and freak out. for ellianna, the only known thing to cause her pain in the world was seeing her boyfriend spencer in pain. whether it was seeing him cry, seeing him sick or just seeing him in some sort of pain made ellianna break. it was definitely her biggest weakness but it hadn't ever been a worry to think about because, until today, none of their unsubs had a personal connection to any of the team where they would know any of the agents' weaknesses in the way that peter knew what his niece's weakness was. so, peter then decided to use it against her by turning up the level of pain on all of the equipment which effectively made spencer start to thrash around in his seat, crying out for peter to stop.

the rest of her team were barely able to continue watching as peter turned up his dial on the equipment's power grid when they heard spencer's screeches for peter to stop. and the worst part of all was that penelope and the rest of the team were nowhere near close enough to finding where on god's green earth this abandoned warehouse was in downtown virginia.

"ellianna! peter, stop it! please, leave her alone! stop it now! you've done enough, you've hurt her enough! she's bleeding, peter! please, peter....put...put her down! you're hurting her!" spencer sobbed, the hot tears streaming down his face as he thrashed around in the restrains that were stopping him from saving her himself

"spence, please, it's okay! it doesn't hurt, i promise, i can't even feel a single thing!" ellianna attempted to comfort her devastated boyfriend as peter groaned, both his plans of inflicting the most pain on his niece and making her scream and cry weren't working so, that was when he decided he needed to go a step further and bring out the big guns

"is it bad that she can't feel it, hotch?" jj questioned, her tears that had pooled in the corner of her eyes now dousing her cheeks, her head turned from the screen to her unit chief, hotch not knowing how to respond

"i...i don't know jj but just trust ellianna. trust that she knows what she's doing," hotch gulped nervously, just hoping that his not-so full proof statement was correct and that one of his very much beloved agents was going to be safe - especially after he promised that he would keep her safe

however, hotch couldn't have been more wrong in his hope for ellianna to get out of this torture alive. everything had happened so quickly that it was as though the team and spencer had just blinked before they heard a gunshot ring through the warehouse. spencer's heartwrenching and guttural screams followed shortly after as he helplessly tried to free himself from his restraints to shoot peter.

from the time it had taken the rest of the team to find the banged-up industrial warehouse that spencer and ellianna had found peter johnson in, it felt like time had slowed down. because it felt as though spencer just blinked before one other shot rang out. morgan and prentiss had rushed in within seconds. morgan had delivered the shot that hit peter in the leg, not killing him only immobilising the elderly man so the arrest would be easier. prentiss then quickly rushed over to spencer to untie him from the seat, however, that only accomplished spencer collapsing to his knees, more gutwrenching sobs and screams leaving his mouth that had come from his gut as morgan quickly discovered that ellianna's pulse was gone and that she was deceased. peter had been killing his victims with a gun, not his torture equipment and he had done the very same thing to his niece after morgan and prentiss had stormed the building because he panicked and didn't want to be caught with his final victim still alive.

morgan bit his lip as he turned to spencer, "...she...she's dead, reid..." morgan whispered out, the taller man's body going slightly numb as he watched his best friend lose himself over the loss of his girlfriend

reinforcements, including the other members of the bau, excluding penelope, and the coroner had been called to the scene. david rossi and hotch rushed over to spencer, trying to convince him to stand up off the floor and get him to the safety of an awaiting ambulance to patch up the lesions on his wrists and ankles and the dried blood on his forehead from the mild concussion. usually, in a situation like this, spencer would be fighting tooth and nail to stay with his girlfriend, however, this time, he was way too weak to even scream anymore, let alone fight against his chief in command and senior officer as they carefully helped the grief-stricken boy walk out of the warehouse and to the ambulance.

whilst rossi and hotch coerced the broken spencer out of the warehouse, prentiss, jj and morgan had the awful task of having to turn each individual piece of torture equipment off and had to wait a couple of minutes so they wouldn't blow up themselves and the entire rusting building. finally, after they were sure that everything was turned off and no longer a danger to everyone, it was time they could release their best friend, their fellow agent ellianna johnson from the ceiling restraints as they couldn't entirely ignore the large gunshot wound that was right in the middle of her chest. however, it was obvious that even together, emily and jj were not physically strong enough to get ellianna down from the ceiling so, that was morgan's next job as he grabbed her safely and carried the girl to the medical examiner who then put her body into a body bag to be then transported to the coroner's office for an official autopsy to be taken. the task after that was to then make sure all of the injuries and causes of death are checked out. meaning, spencer alongside emily was assigned the job of visiting the coroner's office to make sure that ellianna's autopsy was done correctly and could be used as well-rounded evidence against her uncle, the vicious unsub that had finally, after thirty years of killing, had been caught.

"--what was the official cause of death, doctor?" emily finally asks after radio silence from the medical examiner and the two fbi agents, spencer trying to hold himself together, his tears burning the back of his eyes, emily keeping the close eye on her grieving best friend

"traumatic brain injury due to insistent trauma and the blood loss from the gunshot wound to her stomach. the tbi started the moment she got the first head knock and then the second one only made it worse. the ongoing trauma after the knock to the head only worsened the trauma which caused internal bleeding along with external bleeding from the back and front of her head as well as her stomach after the gunshot. she didn't feel anything because her body was in survivor mode and overcompensating with the adrenaline that would have been pumping through her veins as she traiged her pain and chose to prioritise her strength," the medical examiner, a 5'3 asian female spoke softly but professionally, emily nodding her head whilst spencer looked as if he was watching ghosts

"thank you, doc. would...could you excuse us, please?" emily was soft in her question as the examiner nodded her head, not hesitating for a moment to give the two fbi agents time alone

"of course," the examiner spoke softly and escorted herself out of the room

"thank you," emily spoke quietly, the examiner now out of the room leaving only emily, spencer and the deceased body of ellianna johnson that rested on the cold metal slab, her body covered with a white sheet that was covered with bloody splotches - on her head and stomach

grabbing a soft hold on spencer's hand, emily knew it was now time to focus on bringing some comfort to her devastated best friend.

"did you hear any of that?" emily's voice was soft, whilst heartbroken, showed strength and stability as a shaky breath left the young agent's mouth, his hand stuffed into the jacket that he had been wearing since getting checked over by the paramedics

"she wasn't in any pain, spence," emily knew telling spencer that his girlfriend didn't feel a thing as she died wasn't at all going to bring the boy genius any comfort but, she knew she had to repeat it to him

silence is what was returned to emily from spencer other than a single tear from the corner of his eye. it didn't stay there for long before it was dabbed away by a tissue that the young agent had been fiddling with in his jacket pocket the entire time. it wasn't long, though, until the single tear turned into so many tears that the singular, crumpled-up tissue wasn't enough and emily pulled the inconsolable spencer reid into her arms as he sobbed and wept into her shoulder. his crumpled-up tissue covering his face as he tried to conceal the noise his sobs were making. to have this moment in the medical examiner's office broke emily's heart, it caused her the most pain in her body that ellianna never made it out of that case alive like she had promised everyone she would. now, she wasn't alive to see her uncle get his just deserts in court and wouldn't have the opportunity to testify against him - that job now going to spencer. for he was the only other viable witness to peter's crimes, ellianna, his other one deceased.

*

𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚔 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚗

derek's grief over ellianna's death was unusual. it hurt the tall, chocolate-toned, slightly older male more than he'd like to admit it hurt him. because that's the type of person derek was. he wasn't the biggest fan of showing his vulnerability so, as he grieved over the loss of his best friend, ssa ellianna johnson, he tried his absolute hardest to hide it like he always did. however, this time, it was different and, he wasn't able to be as discreet about his grief as he usually was. there were times that he would have trouble just looking at certain nooks and crannies around the bau building because so much of that building was ellianna and was too reminiscent of her. however, unlike the other team members, derek only openly cried thrice over the death of ellianna. the first time was at the funeral, of which he, himself was physically and consciously aware of his tearful reaction. the second time was during a small memorial that the entire bau building had hosted for the young agent, this was a moment that derek wasn't consciously aware of his tears, not until a tissue from penelope was offered to him did he realise he was even crying. the third and final time derek cried over ellianna's death was during the court date of peter johnson. this was the worst of the three times that derek had cried. he would have thought hearing spencer, three of dozens of peter's victims, ellianna's older and younger brothers and aaron hotchner say their witness statements wouldn't have affected him in any certain way but, they did. whilst the way that three of the dozens of victims of peter, hotch and ellianna's older and younger brothers were heartbreaking statements to listen to as they had them being said with peter in the courtroom, it wasn't until spencer's tearful statement which had the detailed way in which ellianna had been murdered was spoke through gutwrenching sobs that also got derek himself weeping silently as well. that, hearing spencer weep as he spoke of the way in which peter taunted and tortured his own blood relative, his own brother's daughter, was enough to bring derek to shed tears that had been held back for years. however, it seemed as if within a month or two, derek was starting to have his life continue somewhat normally. for, he no longer had teary eyes when he looked at ellianna's empty desk that was now a memorial for the girl at the bau.

𝚓𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚓𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚞 (𝚓𝚓)

similar to derek, jj's grief over ellianna's death was strange. like everyone else's was as no grief is technically normal if it's really thought about. however, jj straight up denied that she was upset over ellianna's death. which caused so much in-team fighting and arguing. unlike derek, who finally did come forward and say he was struggling, jj did not. she tried so hard to push her grief to the back of her mind so she could take care of everyone else around her, spencer being her number one priority until he wasn't when emily told her that she could take care of him. which caused the fights because of her stubbornness and willingness to allow herself to properly grieve. everyone in the team and her own husband and sons could tell that jj was struggling but was refusing to open up and say that she wasn't actually as okay as she was making herself out to be. typically, every day, jj would either be spending time at the bau, outside of working hours, just calmly sitting crossed-legged in front of ellianna's desk that was now covered with photos and bits and bobs, where she knew she'd be alone and when she knew that if she did cry, she wouldn't get caught or before emily took over, she would be locked up in spencer and ellianna's house, trying her hardest to comfort an inconsolable spencer reid, hugging him as tightly as she could as he sobbed rivers upon rivers of tears, anguish, grief and despair over the loss of his girlfriend. until she couldn't any longer, she'd be the one to hold the tissue box for everyone if they needed it, she'd be the one to provide and initiate the hugs, she'd be the one (alongside spencer and then later emily) to check up on ellianna's family, her siblings most especially, and she would be the one that drowns herself in everyone's paperwork because those were all distractions.

these things were all distractions to stop jj from wallowing in her own painful grief that she was still so stubborn about admitting to everyone, but most especially to herself. however, it wasn't until her regular check-in call with her husband, will, that she finally admitted to her husband and herself (after trying to once again stubbornly deny it) that she really wasn't okay. as soon as that phone call to her husband was over and jj found herself unable to stop crying, that was when everyone turned in support for jj. showering her with the same love and comfort that she showered them in as emily told jj that she could now grieve as she (emily) took over all of jj's old jobs of taking care of spencer and ellianna's family until jj was able to stomach it all again.

𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚜

emily was one that struggled with the loss of ellianna in a major way. the thing that hurt emily the most about the loss of ellianna was that the older girl still had so much more things left that she wanted to say to the young thirty-year-old that, she could no longer tell them to her. it broke emily's heart to pieces that the only thing she had left of the young girl who she saw as a younger sister was the photos, videos, text messages and voicemails that she shared and coowned with ellianna. it was times like this, times of immense grief, that emily just wished that she had eidetic memory as spencer did. she'd only wished that she had the eidetic memory so she could remember every single thing, small, medium and big, that she did with and alongside her best friend. all she wanted was just to remember the reason that she made ellianna laugh or smile on the fifth day of the sixth month one year ago because emily's biggest fear was forgetting everything about her best friend, ssa ellianna johnson. whilst it was known how well emily could hold back her tears and suppress her emotions, she could do it well especially when she took over jj's job of consoling spencer and ellianna's family. when it came to the loss and grieving process of ellianna, it seemed as if anything and everything about her best friend for a while made the older girl teary-eyed. one of the many things that would consume emily's time and grieving process when she wasn't visiting spencer or the rest of the johnson family, was to go back through her phone and look back at the photos, watch back those videos, read those text messages and listen to those voicemails left behind by ellianna. when emily was looking through her phone records to find her favourite voice message that ellianna had sent her, she hadn't realised that the morning before ellianna's death, she had a missed call from the young agent. that was just enough to tear open emily's heart and make her cry, however, it wasn't until her shaky finger pressed the play button to the voicemail and heard her best friend's voice again that really made the older agent cry more.

ellianna

"hey em, it's just me, ellianna. i'm sorry if i've called you at the wrong time, which, i most likely have considering you didn't answer and we've just been called out to our case. thank god it's a local one, am i right? but, anyway, that's not the point, the point is that i just thought i'd ring you just in case something was to go pear-shaped and slightly wrong... umm, if peter does go off the rails and escalates and ends up killing me, please don't cry over me all the time. even though that sounds harsh, just know that i wouldn't have felt a single thing and i died with the biggest smile on my face because he didn't get the chance to hurt you guys or spencer let alone any other teenager or child. also, i just have one wish though in regards if my uncle does end up killing me. please, take care of yourself but, also take care of spence. if i get murdered, it'll absolutely knock him down for six and flip his whole world around on its head. please, make sure that he doesn't shut down and run away from everyone as he did after maeve. but, do let him cry for as long as he has to. but, also, promise that he'll start smiling again as i would love to see him be happy again. if he can find it within himself, i want to see him fall in love again, i want to see him get married and become a father. he deserves all the happiness in the world and, i know he felt his happiest when we were together and, i feel the same exact same way but, i seriously doubt i'll make it out of today's case alive and in all honesty, i'm okay with that..."

"...please don't cry over me for too long, okay emily? and, if you could play this voicemail to the rest of the team, i'd be most grateful. i love you guys all so much, and that is not a word of a lie. you guys gave me a purpose in this world and you guys gave me something i never thought was possible. being a part of the bau for the last ten years has brought me some of the happiest memories contrary to the horror and trauma we've seen and gone through, if i could repeat it and go back in time, i would do it all again if it meant i could spend more time with you guys. i love you all so much and, please, emily, never stop smiling... oh and, please, reconsider your resignation. i don't want you to leave, especially if it's after my death. this team will need you more than ever after i die if i die today, and, i wouldn't wish for you to resign so early when you've still got too much power and drive left in you. okay, uhh, i gotta go as spencer's giving me a look of "i need to hurry up"... so, umm, bye emily prentiss and to the rest of my beautiful, powerful family that is the behavioural analysis unit. i love you all so much, it's been a pleasure to be a part of this family, ellianna johnson,"

after hearing that voicemail, whilst it destroyed emily and the rest of the team to their cores, it also brought them loads of comfort and became the source of their comfort and roads to individual recovery - spencer's included. however, emily kept her best friend's promise and revoked her resignation and she decided to stay with the bau because it was the final wish of her best friend, ellianna johnson, supervisory special agent.

𝚍𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚍

it was quite obvious from the beginning as to who would be the most grief-stricken from ellianna's murder. the moment that ellianna sacrificed herself to save her boyfriend's life, spencer was terrified and already beginning to start in his grieving process. he knew he wouldn't be able to save her and that the rest of their team would be too slow in finding the warehouse in time to save them both and that devastated him the most with that being the main reason for his heightened grief and devastation. spencer drowned in grief for days that spanned over weeks and then months. over those months, he had cried tears that could have also been tears shed due to all of his other past traumas that had resurfaced after the death of his ultimate lover. whilst he appreciated the comfort that jj and then emily alongside the rest of the team supplied him with, nothing was going to bring him more comfort than ellianna being home, her shoulder being the shoulder he cried on, not jj's or emily's or anyone else's. no one else's shoulder brought spencer the same amount of comfort that his girlfriend's warmth and light gave him. in regards to crying, that meant that he was easily going through at least five kleenex boxes a day, maybe even six or seven if he was really crying a lot. the toughest part about ellianna's death wasn't the fact that wept his way through the entire funeral, barely able to stay on his own two feet without collapsing whilst he said the eulogy that he had written for her but, the court date for peter johnson's trial where spencer, amongst others from ellianna's family, his unit chief hotch, to some of peter johnson's survivors had taken to the witness stand and testify against the serial killer and prove evidence to why peter johnson should be jailed for the rest of his living, breathing days. that day was an absolute nightmare for the grieving boy wonder. he had never been so helpless, vulnerable and empty in his entire life until that moment. he had to tell the judge and the entire court from start to finish of ellianna's torture and murder because he was, other than peter himself, the only other witness to the serial murder that could testify against the elderly man, emily and jj who watched through the live feed had tried to coerce the judge into having either or both of them to testify but weren't allowed to because whilst they did witness it, they didn't see all of it as spencer had done. the sobs that left the doctor's mouth as he tried to get through his witness statement wracked his body as he tried as hard as he could to calm down to a state in which his speech could be understood clearly. which, when he did, it seemed just as unbearable for the judge and the fellow jury members to hear what had happened to the young ssa ellianna johnson without either feeling sick to their stomachs or bursting out into their own fits of tears.

by the time peter johnson's trial had finished and was successfully found guilty only after one hour of deliberation and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of being placed on death row, it felt as though all the tears that dehydrated and exhausted spencer's body weren't cried for no reason. finally, after thirty years, ellianna had her family's last name no longer dragged through the mud because their serial killer uncle, son, brother and grandfather had now been placed behind bars forever where he was no longer capable of torturing and killing anyone else. the one positive of ellianna's death for spencer was the fact that her family and all the other families of the deceased and surviving victims were also finally given justice, peace and just a small slither of closure as to what happened to their loved ones that never got to come home like ellianna wasn't allowed to.

- - -

yes, i rewrote all of it, including this author's note, don't @ me, i've started rewatching criminal minds again and i hated how i originally wrote the majority of my cm one-shots so you will most likely see them rewritten in lowercase haha.

ok ily bye xx

wc; 7307

[railingsofsorrow]

Riptide

[spencer reid × reader]

summary: reader is reluctant about accepting the new reality so she just pretends nothing really changes, while emily keeps trying to shake her up and spencer is really bad at noticing stuff.

or

a sequel to the mess is mine oneshot

pairing: s.r × f!reader

w.c: 2.5K

warnings/content: hints at divorce; tw!pregnancy symptoms (especially vomiting!); firearms trafficking scheme; tw!descriptions of violence; usual criminal minds stuff; tw!anxiety; y'all like criffhangers? cause i do; allusions to tw!drowning.

A/N: bold means there are messages being exchanged. bold and italics means it's the other person, only bold without italics it's Y/N.

A/N: I revised this FIVE TIMES, guys. you'll probably still find some spelling mistakes huh

➶ ➷ 

Morning sickness was definitely the worst symptom Y/N had to deal with after the sixth week of seeing the dreadful confirmation on the pink stick.

She couldn't hold down food. Any type of food for that matter. She craved coffee all the time. Probably because she had an awful tendency to desire things she couldn't have. And she could not have coffee. Emily wouldn't stop bugging her about it. It would be bad for the—

Y/N was trying to say it. She really was. But it was still something that stayed at the back of her mind. Especially with an important case like this one.

“What's the address?” Derek inquired, arriving at Garcia's left side as Y/N was on her right, pointing at something on the screen that the blonde should go over.

“Already sent you, my cupcakes.” Penelope replied, eyes not leaving the screen in concentration.

“Great.“ Emily clasped her hands together, gaining everyone's attention. “Morgan and Reid can go to the Henley's, while JJ, Rossi and I will follow to the Zara's house.”

“Good luck with making them cooperate with anything.” Y/N made a comment. She had tried getting some answers out of the family before, but it was no use. You'd think with their daughter being missing they would make the FBI's job easier.

“I can get into their files...” Garcia singsonged, the clash of typing loud in the room as she worked. Y/N smirked, leaning on the desk.

“It won't be necessary.” Rossi said with a warning glance.

Y/N couldn't help but think the people she was working with resembled a family in some way. Even if she had not been present years before, she had heard from Emily and Spencer about the dynamics everyone shared. They cared deeply about each other. She figured with the hardships they have to go through in every case, it shouldn't be any different. Y/N admired that.

She also admired the fact that despite Spencer being a profiler—a great one at that—, a self proclaimed genius and an extremely sensitive person; he could not see what was right in front of him.

Or maybe, he was simply giving her space to deal with her stuff. It was not that he didn't know what was going on, but that he didn't want to push her to talk about anything she did not felt comfortable with.

Yet, she had not said a thing to him since two weeks ago, when Emily cornered her in the bathroom and made her buy a pregnancy test.

She bought five. Just to be sure.

One negative and four positives.

If Emily wasn't by her side when she took each of them, Y/N would've took the negative one as the only that mattered and moved on with it.

“An appointment will ease your worries.” Emily advised, pushing a glass of water into Y/N's shaky hands. “I'll go if you want me to.”

“Please. I'll probably pass out when I get the results.” She croaked out, taking a sip of water to rest her head against the cool tiles of the bathroom wall. She knew the results, deep down. But she still had to read them in an official trusted test, not a pharmaceutical one.

After the doctor's appointment, she decided to dial a number she had memorized by heart. During the ride to her apartment she had planned out the entire speech.

She hung up as soon his voice said hello.

A wave of nausea overcoming her and her anxiety did not make it any better. Y/N was a mess. She was aware of that.

Still married. Currently cheating on her husband with her best friend's coworker. Nine weeks pregnant.

What could get worst?

Ah, yes. Not telling the father of your child that he was going to be a father.

Besides being a mess, she was a fucking coward.

She felt as if she was on a non-stop riptide. With no sight of land for a safe forthcoming.

Her phone vibrated as she was telling Garcia another file code they needed to see. Keyword being need. It was extremely necessary for the investigation, alright? Not that the rest needed to know how they got into the servers.

Or how they accessed the files.

“We need to talk.” The message sent from her husband read. Y/N sighed softly and blocked the screen, shoving it in her back pocket again.

Last night she asked for a divorce and he wanted to know why. He wanted to know why. Couldn't it be more obvious? Both inside the marriage are cheating, clearly unhappy for years, and he still had the guts to ask why?

“There's nothing to say. Have you signed the papers?”

“We can fix this.” He wrote back.

“Sign the divorce papers and we'll talk, Jack.” She hoped that had put an end to the conversation.

“Oh, my. Y/N, look at this.” Penelope pointed at the computer screen. Y/N looked up, “Look at how many weapons are out of the system. Look at the numbers... What are they doing?”

“Trafficking.” concluded Y/N, squinting her eyes at the screen on the side when she saw a familiar name. Her phone already forgotten. “Penny, what's this purchase here? When it is from?”

Penelope clicked on it so they could see it better.

“Miron Zara sold around 145 million weapons to Raymond Henley and a Carlos Stewart in twelfth of March,” Garcia interrupted her out loud explaining, narrowing her eyes as another set of lists appeared on the screen.

Y/N wasn't paying attention anymore. Not since she heard the name of Carlos.

That couldn't be her partner on NBS. Her friend?

“... since 2017— Y/N? Are you alright?” Noticing the distraught gaze of her friend, Garcia quickly stood up and moved closer. “Honey, you're a bit pale—”

The annoying vibration of her cellphone made her come out of her inner turmoil.

“Call them.” Y/N requested, standing up although still shaking with the earliest revelation. “Call the team. We need to go over everything before they question the Henley's and the Zara's.” Garcia watched her warily.

Y/N sighed, brushing away a strand of hair from her cheek. Her tone was soft as she begin to explain. “You know how I told you that I covered my tracks when I did the research on the softwares? The data... It's all in my servers.” Penelope nodded slowly, “Carlos Stewart helped me cover my tracks. He works at NBS for years and has been my partner for half of those. He knows about my investigation and what it is really about, not the cover-up story we told to keep from compromising.”

“Oh, my god. Y/N, he is in the scheme!”

“Which means he has been accessing my stuff for years now. That fucking bastard.”

Once Penelope called everyone and they were updated on the news, a new path had been cleared. But one thing was still unclear for Y/N and she needed to free her mind.

“I found a possible address of the girl!” Garcia exclaimed, eyes not leaving the computer. “Already sent them— Where are you going?” She frowned when she saw Y/N grabbing her stuff to go to the door.

“I need to go to my office. It will be a minute.” Before Penelope could question her further she leaves the room.

“I know what you're thinking. Don't confront him.”

Spencer's name lightened up her phone on her desk as she connected a harddrive to her own computer.

“I should've fired him from the first slip up. Look at what happens when I don't follow my gut.”

She sent as the device uploaded.

“Please, tell me you are in the BAU.” Spencer sent.

How did he knew she wasn't at their floor? It would always send shivers down her spine how Spencer knew her behaviour. He was a profiler, after all.

“Y/N?”

“Y/N, I'm being serious. Everyone inside the NBS floor is in danger, including you. Go back to Garcia's office.”

“Stop ordering me around, Doc. I'll be fine.”

Yes. That was the best she could come up with. She stopped paying attention to the upcoming messages when the upload reached 91%.

“Fuck, just go.” She whispered, eyeing the door continuously. If he got in, which he could very well do, then he would definitely know he was being investigated. It would blew up in the whole FBI.

Y/N expect that not so literally.

“I did not expect to find you here.”

Her body froze entirely when the voice reached her ears.

95%

“Didn't thought you'd be stupid enough to come here willingly.” A cold metal was pressed gently against her temple, and she closed her eyes momentarily. Is this where she was going to die? In her office? Her boring office?

98%

“Turn around and don't even try anything. It wouldn't be a pretty sight to have your brains splattered out here, would it?” Carlos sneered, grabbing her forearm with such force that it would certainly bruise later.

99%

Now she couldn't see the screen anymore. Still, she held herself back in a way that the harddrive upload would be complete by the time she stepped away from the front. If he saw it, then it was her end.

“Move, bitch!”

He cornered her to a wall, causing her forehead to throb with the action as she groaned.

“Stewart, we can talk about this.” She pretended to reason. There was no time for that anymore; she was just trying to buy some time for her.

The hand around her neck begged to differ.

“I always did find you a pretty girl, you know?” His other hand pressed the gun against her hip in a kind reminder that it was there and it wasn't moving any time soon. She felt herself getting sick. “When you were oblivious to everything, of course. Couldn't have you messing around with a good thing I had going on for a while, could I, sweetheart?” The difference from the sweet man that worked with her was colossal.

Her ears picked up a click when he lead them towards the door.

“Don't do this. Don't do this, Stewart.” The desperate tone that left her lips was not Y/N's. An inner voice took over as soon as the gun threatened her back. “You can get out of this. We can help each other.”

“Oh, I know I can get out of this, baby. You? Not so sure.”

Saying that he had a good thing going on for a while was a complete euphemism on Carlo's part. Stewart, Henley and Zara had a squeme worth fifteen billion dollars in firearms trafficking.

“Put the gun down, Agent.”

Emily's voice silenced all the nervous commotion inside the FBI. Y/N felt Carlo's snicker on her ear as she turned her neck to stare at the eyes of three within the BAU team, since the rest were probably following the address Penelope had given of Aaliyah. Her attention caught calculated eyes of a person that held a gun like they wouldn't do in his early years of FBI; with an unexpected good aim and not even a spasm of shaking muscle.

Spencer didn't even glanced in her direction.

She hoped he aimed right into Stewart's head.

“You shoot me, she gets a bullet in her pretty brain. Is that what you want?” His warm breath clinged onto her cheek and she swallowed a lump in her throat. If she didn't throw up right now she was convinced she had become superwoman. The will to do it was just so strong.

“What's the use in hurting an Agent?” David Rossi raised an eyebrow when he finally got Carlo's attention. This is when Y/N tried to talk to Emily through a look. She would get her. She had to get her.

Emily stared at her and then Carlos, lowering her weapon. He flinched behind Y/N, pressing the gun against her back strong enough to bruise. She winced. Spencer tightened his hold on his gun.

“You want more years in a maximum security prison? Because this is what will happen to you. A young man. Full of life. With all the reputation you've build for yourself over the years—destroyed. Just like that.” Carlos' didn't move. He seemed to freeze suddenly. Y/N wondered if this was the right moment to pull his arm away but with only a look Emily warned her against the decision.

The Unit Chief was slowly moving towards Y/N's office.

Until a shot was fired.

And each trained Agent in that room aimed towards Carlos Stewart and his partner that had just arrived.

Emily Prentiss got the hard drive with all the relevant information Y/N had kept over the years. Once she left the office, the scene made her wish she hadn't.

Y/N Y/L/N was on the floor. A growing pool of blood drawing the path from her stomach to the white tiles. Someone yelled to call an ambulance instead of simply staring at the gruesome scene.

Spencer was hyperventilating as he pressed his hands against Y/N's wound. He couldn't concentrate on anything. How rare was it when Spencer couldn't concentrate on anything? He always focused when he wanted.

“'M fine.” Y/N choked out, frowning when she tried to move because it hurted. God, why does it hurt? “Spencer—”

“Don't move.” He said shortly, feeling his fingers slip with so much of her blood. Her blood. There's so much of it— “It's okay. The ambulance is coming. Just-just hang on, alright?”

Y/N stared at him with a deep crease between her eyebrows. Confusion written all over her face, despite the obvious dizziness she couldn't point out where it came from. Why was she even on the ground? Wasn't she being held at gunpoint only a minute ago? Did she missed a chapter of that play?

“What—” She lifted her arm to grab his hand. When her eyes found the crimson red she couldn't look away. “I'm- I'm fine, Spencer. What is this? Are you hurt?” A groan left her lips when her vision became too blurry to see. There were loud voices. Then, far away sounds she couldn't comprehend anymore. “Spencer,” She felt her body being lifted and the world turned dark.

She could still faintly hear her name being called from afar. But everything was so fuzzy… Like drowning. The riptide had finally reached her, hadn't it? Oh, she was so tired from swimming away from the waves.

A question haunted her brain until she gave up to darkness: why is nobody helping Spencer if he's bleeding?

Y/N thought Spencer was the one bleeding. She thought he was the one that had been hurt. She thought he was dying as she was suddenly losing all the focus around her. Why couldn't she see him? Why are the lights out? Where is Spencer?

And Emily couldn't move.

There comes a moment where you have to stop swimming. Just let it take you. You'll feel the peace enter your body, penetrating your bones and embracing your heavy soul.

Stop swimming.

Let it go.

---

sources used:

about morning sickness

about the trafficking of weapons