𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘. ( 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧 )

chapter twenty-one

You for her, dollface.

- J.W

+++

"Absolutely not," Derek adamantly shook his head. "This guy is dangerous. We've profiled delusions and possible Obsessive Love Disorder. This guy is ex-military-"

"And so am I!" Genevieve rebutted furiously. "You know damn well I can handle myself, so why are you being such a dick about this?"

"There's got to be another way than just handing yourself over to this guy!" He insisted. "He didn't specify no back up I'm willing to bet that he assumed it would be a given,"

"Whatever. It's not even your decision,"

"No, but it is mine," Hotch cut across her. She whipped her head around to look at him pleadingly. Gardener had stepped out to give the team a minute. They had all stayed dead silent except for Genevieve and Derek arguing back and forth about whether she should exchange herself in return for Annike. Hotch was the first one to interrupt. "And even if I agreed, we don't know who this guy is. We've sent the notes to forensics to try and find prints to compare against military records, but I don't think we'll get a hit. This guy's too organised,"

She opened her mouth to argue, but realised that, if she wanted to get Annike back, it was going to have to be a solo mission. She couldn't afford to share that she knew who her stalker was. It'd throw a wrench in the plan that was slowly forming in her head.

"Hotch maybe we should-" Emily tried to intervene, but he shook his head

"She isn't going. End of story,"

"But-" She protested, mostly for show.

"We will find another way," He said firmly, causing her to sag into the nearest chair, dropping her head into her hands. He made eye-contact with Derek, who nodded, and leaned against the table beside her. Hotch signalled for the rest of the team to file out of the room, and leave the two alone.

"Gen, why are you being so stubborn about this?" He asked softly.

"You don't have a kid, Derek," She shot back fiercely. "And I know she's not really my daughter, but I love her like she is,"

"It's not about that. This is about more than that. This is about your guilt," He read her like a book. And she hated it.

"Fine," She snapped, shoving her hands into her pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking so uncontrollably. "I feel guilty about ruining this little girl's life, is that so crazy? I gave birth to her and sent her away because I was too much of a pansy to raise her myself. Then, after four years of keeping my distance, I try to keep tabs on her, and she gets kidnapped by some psychotic freak! She's been doomed from the start, and it's all because of me,"

"You didn't ruin her life, Genevieve. You had no way of knowing this would happen," He disagreed.

"That doesn't make it not my fault," She rebutted. 'Look, I know that you're mad at me for hiding her, so I honestly don't even know why you're here-"

"I'm not mad at you," He promised. She looked up, as if she needed to study his face to fact-check what she was hearing. "How can I be mad? A little over a year ago I was in the exact situation you are. I let my emotions get in the way, and someone could have lost their life because of it. Don't make the same mistake I did,"

She nodded silently.

He pulled her in for a gentle hug, by her waist, squeezing her lightly. She buried her head in his chest, and ran her hands up his back to grip at his shoulders, silently apologising for what she was about to do. After what felt like hours, she pulled away, patting him on the cheek with a small, sad smile on her face.