Thanks so much for reading! Have a great day everyone! I love this chapter so much, it has great Richard and Devyn moments!
So any of those confused about these two relationship, it's purely platonic.
Please enjoy!
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When Spencer walks into work late, he knows he's not going to live it down. His thoughts are only confirmed when he sees Morgan, JJ, Emily, and Garcia all standing together in the bullpen. He releases a deep sigh.
"Look who finally rolls in," Morgan announces very loudly to the room causing Reid to duck his head. "I'd ask how your night was, but I don't think I need to."
"Morgan-"
"No, I'm proud of you, kid."
"Are you done?" Spencer questions his friend while removing his messenger bag from his shoulder and placing it in his desk chair.
"Ignore him, tell us all about her," Penelope pushes Derek back, the man himself holding his hands up and moving away. "What's she's like? Are you two a couple? Is she nice? She better be nice and she better treat you right."
Spencer's eyebrows raise and his eyes widen. He looks from the colorful blonde and towards the woman standing behind her. They're smiling and shaking their heads, but looking just as interesting as Garcia.
"Yeah," He nods slowly, even his mind struggling to process Garcia's sudden word vomit. "She's nice." He smiles just at the thought of Devyn. 'Nice' doesn't seem like a strong enough word, if he's honest. He doesn't think, out of all the words he knows, there's one appropriate to describe her. Because Devyn Miller is the most amazing person I've ever met.
"Aww, he's blushing," Emily points to him and Spencer lowers his head again while all the women share smiles.
"Spence," JJ coos with a smile, her hands folded loosely in front of her.
"Okay, I need to meet this woman," Garcia declares before stopping suddenly. "Would it be totally wrong of me to look into her?"
"Yes," Spencer quickly says but he goes ignored.
"What's her full name?"
"Devyn Miller," Derek tells Penelope as a joke, he doesn't actually expect his friend to nod and start making her way back to her office. "Wait, baby girl!" He calls out at the same time Spencer shouts.
"Garcia, don't!"
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"I think I might need my sunglasses," Richard grumbles while driving down the street. Devyn gives him a quizzical look. "Your cheeriness is so bright, it's giving me a headache."
"Um, thank you and I'm sorry?" The words come out sounding like a question. Devyn's eyebrows furrow but her smile quickly returns. Yes, she was very cheery today. But what can she say? She had a great birthday.
"I can't decide which is more annoying, your sullen silences or your happy rambling."
"Everything annoys you." Devyn points out and Richard doesn't argue. "Is having a good day suddenly a bad thing?"
"Nope," Richard shakes his head. "Just wondering what's caused your sudden shift in mood."
"I saw Spencer last night." Devyn admits and Richard grimaces.
"I don't want to hear details,"
Swatting his shoulder, Devyn scoffs with a smile. "Nothing happened. We saw a movie, he took me to get cake and..." She trails off, smiling when she thinks back to it. "We kissed."
"You sound like a twelve-year-old girl."
"You asked."
"No, no I didn't."
"Whatever. I want to drive later."
Before later gets a chance to come, the normal tables turn and Devyn finds herself sitting on the tail of the ambulance but not as a paramedic. As a patient. Much to the young woman's chagrin.
"Seriously? I'm fine," She waves Richard off but the man persists and dodges her arm and continues to clean the wound on her head.
"You're getting a CT scan," His voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. Devyn rolls her eyes but winces when it sends sharp pains through her skull. Getting hit in the head with a fire poker will do that to you. "We're going, now."
"I'm not riding in the back," Devyn says and stands, holding a hand to her head. She sways on her feet and Richard grabs her arm, guiding her around to the passenger seat and helping her climb inside. She thinks then that maybe a CT isn't a bad idea.
Devyn rests her head on the back of the seat and closes her eyes. She can tell Richard is driving calmer than he normally does and her lips twitch up. He acts like a grump but he really does care.
"Don't go to sleep," Richard warns her and she groans, peeling his eyes back open.
"I know, I know," She mutters and stares down at the dash when the lights outside hurt her eyes.
After parking the ambulance, Richard rushes around to Devyn's side and catches the door just when she pushes it open. "Come on, girly," Grabbing her arm again, Richard helps Devyn out and into the hospital. It takes a little while, but she's finally able to get a scan of her head before their both waiting once again.
Devyn rests with an ice-pack held to her skull, eyes closed. She doesn't realize her head is tilting to the side until it hits something. It takes her muddled brain a second to realize it's her partner's shoulder. But she doesn't move away and he doesn't make her.
"Alright, Devyn," Dr. Thorne appears and Devyn waves to the man she's met on a few occasions without opening her eyes. "I'm sure you already know, but you have a concussion." She hums in confirmation and she hears the man huff a small laugh. "It's not too serious. You just need plenty of rest. And I can give you something for the pain if you'd like."
"No, I'm fine," Devyn does pick up her head then, shaking it softly even though it hurts.
"Are you sure? It's-"
"I'm sure," Devyn cuts him off, clearing her throat to break the awkward silence that follows. "Sorry, I'm just tired. I'll take and ibuprofen and be all good."
"Not so fast," Thorne stops her when she tries to stand. "You got hit hard, Devyn, loss of consciousness or not, I don't want you going to sleep for a good few hours. It's best if someone stays with you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, doc," Devyn agrees and waves the man off. He shares a look with Richard before turning away. "Welp, I'm going home."
"Not alone," Richard stands along with Devyn, his hand hovering in case she loses her balance again.
"You're still on the clock." She informs him but Richard sighs, shaking his head.
"I'll take off, it's fine," He says while leading her outside. "Charles can cover. He owes me."
"I don't want to go home," Devyn mumbles. She has some distant awareness that she never would've admitted that if her head didn't feel like it was exploding every time her heartbeats.
Stopping short, Richard looks down at Devyn, watching the way she blinks slowly over and over again as if trying to clear her vision. Sighing, the man mumbles under his breath before leading Devyn away.
It doesn't take long to reach Richard's place. The man once again helps his partner out of the vehicle. Only this time it's his, not the ambulance. He leads the young woman inside and she follows without complaint.
"You have a nice house," She observes the place with half-lidded eyes.
"Yeah, come on," Richard sits Devyn down on the couch and flicks the tv but turns the volume down. "Don't go to sleep." He commands, pointing to her, and Devyn nods once but winces.
"Yes, sir," She salutes him and Richard rolls his eyes before turning towards the kitchen, successfully hiding his small smile from her.
When he returns, Richard hands Devyn two ibuprofen with a glass of water. Though he wishes she'd take something a little stronger. He hates seeing her in pain. Sitting down next to her, Richard gently places a gel ice-pack onto her head, eyes tracing the bruise around the cut on her forehead. "She really hit you hard, I'm surprised you didn't blackout."
"Yeah, I have a hard head."
"So I've come to find out." Richard whispers more to himself than Devyn. He chews the inside of his cheek when she leans into his touch slightly, her eyes falling shut. "Don't-"
"Sleep," Devyn cuts him off and forces her eyes open. "Right. Can we watch a movie?"
Richard closes his own eyes and purses his lips. It's hard to forget how young she is but now, she sounds even more so. "Sure, kid, whatever you want." Devyn picks some comedy he's never seen before. Richard doesn't mind, he's never been picky. And the movie isn't half bad though his attention shifts from the tv screen and towards Devyn more often than not. She closes her eyes every once and a while but he nudges her gently to make sure she doesn't fall asleep.
When they move onto the second movie, Richard places his hand on Devyn's shoulder to make sure she's not about to start drifting off again. He only expects her to force her eyes open wide like she has been, so he's a little surprised when she moves towards him instead.
Devyn would never allow herself to do it if she wasn't exhausted and in pain. She was never coddled as a child, never held. She never thought she needed any of that until she got a taste for it. She's relieved but she holds her reaction back when Richard doesn't push her away, only lifts his arm to rest over her shoulders when she leans into his side. Devyn knows the man isn't outwardly soft but she's no stranger to putting up a front. To wearing a mask to hide how you really feel. Takes one to know one, she guesses.
Richard hugs Devyn to him, gaze shifting from the screen and down at her. He can't remember the last time he's been as scared as he was when she got hit.
The disgruntled woman caught everyone by surprise when she grabbed the fire poker, swinging it around wildly. She managed to hit Devyn on the head, sending the young woman falling to the ground. His heart had all but stopped but the young woman stood quickly on shaky legs, holding a hand to her bleeding head, the other braced on the wall for balance.
"Miller," Richard rushes to Devyn's side while the police restrain the woman, holding her back. "Kid?" He reaches out a hand and touches her shoulder. But he retracts his hand as if he'd been burned when Devyn flinches away from him. Very noticeable flinches.
"I'm fine," Devyn mumbles when she realizes who's standing in front of her, blinking her eyes rapidly. "I'm fine."
She had repeated that over and over again with the opposite reaction to how she is now. He hadn't tried to touch her again after her previous reaction but he kept close. It wasn't until she sat on the back of the ambulance that he did touch her again, carefully cleaning the wound on her head.
"Sleep now?" Devyn's slurred question pulls the man from his thoughts and he glances at his watch before nodding.
"Yeah, kid, you can sleep now," He thinks she's going to move away, go to the guest room he'd mentioned on the drive over but she doesn't. If anything, she burrows deeper into his side. Richard finds that he doesn't mind.
Taking a deep breath, Richard grabs the remote and turns the volume on the tv down. The lights are dimmed, had been that way to prevent Devyn from feeling anymore discomfort. He turns his head then, placing a kiss to Devyn's hair. He waits until he's sure she's asleep before he, very carefully, slides the arm around her shoulders lower and the other under her knees. He then lifts her off the couch and carries her to bed.
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And OMG! Whaaaat? That was so wholesome! Richard is great, we actually get to learn a little about his own past in the next chapter! What did you guys think! Please let me know! Ima be hoping for reviews when I get out of work lol.
The team is teasing is teasing Spencer but he's dealing. I just love this whole chapter, I was happy with how it turned out. Richard is great!
Thanks for reading!
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