Change My Mind ~ Criminal Minds (Aaron Hotchner x OC)

111.0: Continuing After Failure

Crystal didn't comment on how he changed the subject, "I'm actually starting to feel more energized, so I'm not going to go see him anytime soon. I'll be going to go get an ultrasound soon though, maybe next week or so. My mom said we might be able to hear a heartbeat and Hotch didn't get to go last time when Haley had Jack, so that's going to be nice." Reid hummed on the other line, "Well I was just checking in, call me if anything happens or if you need me."

"Reid, make sure you eat something?" She asked and he cleared his throat, "I will, don't worry about me. Have a good day, be sure to watch your blood sugar levels." With that he hung up and she sighed, but was happy that he was still willing to call her. Hotch looked over at her, "Hey, did he already call?" She hummed and kissed his cheek when he handed her a plate of waffles with peanut butter on them, that had started to become a new craving. "Yeah, he sounds like he's doing better. I think." He wiped syrup off of Jack's mouth, "Give him time, this is hard for him." Crystal sat down and started eating her waffles, she ate slowly to make sure that she wouldn't trigger anything to make her nauseous.

Jess showed up after breakfast to take Jack to school, she did coo at Jack hugging Crystal and then hugging her stomach. "What's this week?" Jack smiled happily, "Blueberry!" Hotch chuckled at this and hugged him before he left, and both him and Crystal left for the BAU. Once they arrived at the BAU, he kissed her. "The rest of the team will be ready soon, try and drink some more water." Crystal hummed and gave him a quick peck, "I will, don't worry."

They went their separate ways and she went to her desk for a second before the briefing for the case began, she looked over at Reid's empty desk and leaned on her hand. She only turned around when she felt a hand on her head, Morgan gave her a small smile. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Crystal responded and turned in her chair to face him, he leaned against her desk. "You finally got that pregnancy glow." She smiled at this and he returned it before Garcia walked past them, "The case awaits." Crystal got up to follow her and looked back at Morgan when he didn't follow, "You coming?"

"I'll be right there, I wanna take a call really quick."

He's calling Reid.

Crystal nodded and went to the round table, she sat down and Blake sat across from her and smiled. "What's the nickname this week?" She rubbed her stomach fondly, "Blueberry." There wasn't a bump yet, but she couldn't wait until she was able to see her baby grow with her very eyes. Blake smiled before sighing and Crystal reached for her hand, "Hey, you can't blame yourself for pushing him to go meet Maeve." 

"Is it that obvious?"

"To me? Yes, because I felt that for a bit too." She told her and Blake squeezed her hand, the rest of the team came in and Garcia started to brief them about the case. "Ladies and Gents, the Golden State awaits. Meet who was formerly Gary Porter," His picture showed on the screen, "He was found dead outside a San Francisco night club last night." Garcia showed another picture on the screen, "And Pamela Hurd, she was found near a cable car stop in San Francisco's Mission District." 

JJ flipped through the photos given to them, "They were both wrapped in clear plastic." Morgan looked up from his file, "Says here that they were only dead for a few hours before they were found, and that's not long enough to make the victims that pale." Garcia motioned back to the screen, "Cause that's where we enter the town of weirdville on the corner of ew and icky-icky. Both victims were almost completely drained of their blood, they had less than a pint left." Crystal rubbed her stomach as she flipped through her file, "The unsub wasn't too keen on hiding them away from the public then, and he's exsanguinating them."

"While they were still alive." Hotch told them and Morgan frowned, "It might be utilitarian, he needs them alive so they can pump out the blood themselves." Rossi stared at the monitor, "Draining a body like that is extremely hard to do. Once the heart stops pumping, it's difficult to continue to extract the blood." Blake looked over at him, "So now the question is how he's doing it." Garcia cringed as she clicked a button on the remote, "See, now I wish you didn't ask that because now I have to show you this picture."