You stood next to Aaron in the house of the fourth murder since you had been on this case. You had only come down to charleston, south Carolina yesterday, but the woman was accelerating her killings and the whole team was stressed. Not to mention they were all acting weird towards you and you couldn't figure out why.
The girl that laid in front of you, as you watched the people sent from the mortician's office clean her up off the floor, followed the trend of every other killing. It was an organized killer, who was extremely clean with her killings. She would shoot the women, then carve a heart in their stomach.
The women's makeup would be done, but then smeared all over their faces, as an attempt to degrade them before they died. The killer, who was deemed a woman, would then clean up and organize the room. With no fingerprints left behind, she was clearly wearing gloves, and the scent of bleach meant she was hyper-aware of germs or feared a trace of her would be left behind.
All the women that had been murdered were recent adoptees. The women all adopted one of two kids, Ethan and Ryan. Twins that were separated at birth. The issue was there was no record of the mother, and the children were left at the steps of a hospital.
"Call Garcia and have her see if she can trace back to the security cameras footage of 2015 when the kids were left at the hospital. I think the woman who is killing these women is the mother of these twins." Aaron said as his hand rested on the small of your back before the two of you walked out of the house.
"Will do," you said, giving him a soft smile before stepping away and dialing Garcia.
"Hello?" A somewhat unwaveringly monotone voice came through the phone. It was not your normal Garcia. She always called you her sunflower when she answered the phone, and now it was like there was a world between the two of you.
"Hey Garcia, I need a favor." you asked sweetly, "ask away," she said again her voice was still monotoned
"I need you to trace down a security camera footage from 2015, the date is July 13th, on the outside of The children's hospital down in charleston. We have suspicion to believe that the unsub is the woman who dropped the children off at the front of this place." you finished
"Of course." she said before she was about to hang up "Hey Garcia is everything okay?" you asked before she had the chance to hang up on you. You were worried you had done something wrong in the time that you were gone to cause them to be mad at you.
"No, uh... w- why?" she squeaked out a lie like she was hiding something and that gave it all away. You knew something was wrong.
"First, everyone was really distant to me this morning and I don't know why, Aaron is being overly touchy, which is fine, but unlike him," you sighed to yourself getting a bit frustrated with the situation that you were in.
"and now you," you paused. "You are acting completely not like Garcia, and I want to know what is wrong? Did I do something while I was gone, I am so confused." you finished as you held your breath slightly, scared that you had just acted like a fool and it was just your brain this whole time telling you that something was wrong.
"Oh, it's nothin' don't worry. I bet the team is just tired. This case sucks. I love you, sunflower." she said like everything was normal again. Any other time you would've written it off and continued on, but something in your head told you that there was something wrong.
"Uh okay, I love you too Garcia," you said while you hung up the phone and walked back over to Aaron who was waiting by the SUV for you. You had a confused look on your face, your mind still on what was up with Garcia.
"You okay? The gears in your head seem to be stuck." Aaron said poking fun at your confused look. His hand took your quickly, which again was unusual. He never really showed a lot of affection towards you while at work, which was totally okay, but this time it just felt odd.
"I just feel like I am losing my mind. Has the team been acting weird to you? I feel like all of them are hiding something from me." He looked at you with an odd face, something you didn't recognize. It was somewhere between happy and smug.
"What?" you asked
"This case is harsher than others, they're probably just sick of it. I'm sick of it too," he said as you two got in the car and drove away. He said the same words that Garcia said and that didn't seem to help, but you ignored it again. Maybe it is all in my head.
When you arrived back at the police station, they had just finished giving the profile and the cops had scattered to do their jobs that Rossi and Prentiss had told them to spread out and do. Some were in charge of scoping the streets for anything suspicious, some were marked to pick up phones, and others were doing the dirty work stuck looking through cases to check for copy cats.
"Where do you think she'll strike next?" you asked Reid as you two looked at the board that had a map on it to get a location on where she worked. "We are looking at some adoption agencies to make sure the kids don't get sent somewhere else," he said frankly before walking away from you.
"Alright" you mumbled to yourself before joining the rest of the team, you were kind of frustrated at everything. The team and this case was all just a bit too much and you wanted it over. When you walked up to them Emily greeted you with a smile before speaking up. "So, what is the next move?" she said looking at Rossi and Aaron.
And like clockwork, your phone rang, and it was Garcia.
"Hey Garcia, you are on speaker."
"Hello love bird," she said in a horrible British accent before she cleared her throat and got to the nitty-gritty. It's nice that someone is acting normal again, you thought to yourself.
"Isabella Raleigh, She left her sons Ethan and Ryan at children's hospital in center charleston. I had her face on camera and I ran it through VICAP and facial rec. And she came up for petty crimes. Her fingerprints match those that were left in the first house. With no other fingerprints we have nothing to go off of." she paused as the team began to scramble realizing that this was your woman.
"Her kids, are at separate foster homes, and I can almost guarantee that she is going to one of them. The addresses are sent to all of your phones. Go catch the killer" she screamed through the phone like it was some sort of chant.
Hotch's pace became hastened and so did the team's "Rossi, JJ, Reid, and Prentiss to the house of Ethan's foster parents, Morgan, y/n, and I will go to the house where Ryan is staying. If you get any word of her call us immediately, and vice versa." he finished as the team ran to get going to the houses.
Derek sped there as you all hopped out of the SUV and ran to the door of the house that was already opened and you heard a woman screaming obscene things at the top of her lungs. You locked eyes with Aaron who gave you a nod as you led the three of you into the house with guns drawn.
The woman, Isabella, with son in hand and gun drawn pointed at the husband and wife who you assumed were the foster parents. On her hands, she had gloves on and a bottle of bleach that was spilled all over the floor. She followed her pattern to the T.
"They're here" you talked into the mic quickly to alert the rest of the team to come to the house, "Isabella put the gun down," you said aggressively to the woman, avoiding the yell for fear that it might agitate her.
"THEY TOOK MY CHILDREN" she yelled as her grip on the gun got tighter and she held Ryan, her kid, closer to her. "You gave up your children when you dropped them off at the hospital six years ago," you said again in that aggressive tone.
"Let go of the kid and put the gun down. We will not ask again." Derek yelled as he crept closer to the woman. You knew she wasn't going to unless you guys talked her down, and you thought of everything that you could think of.
"Isabella, Look at me" you yelled and she turned to you with tears in her eyes. "You just want your children back and you can have them. You regret leaving them all those years ago, but you need to put the gun down and let him go for you to have them," you said as the woman began to release slightly.
"YOU ARE LYING TO ME" she screamed at you just as you thought everything was going well. You crept closer to her and you lowered your gun. "You love your kids, you couldn't give them the life that you wanted them to have, so you gave them away. But now, now you can give them that, and if you just put the gun down and let go of Ryan, you can have it for them. You can have them, and that life."
Isabella looked at you with hopeful eyes. She hesitated before she looked at the family that was in front of her, looked at you, Derek, and Aaron, and then looked at her hand that held the gun. She took a deep breath out before her hand lowered the gun to the floor and she let go of her son, Ryan.
Without hesitation, Derek came from behind you and picked her up off of the floor, and Arrested her. Ryan ran into the hands of the foster parents as you heard Isabella scream at you while she was dragged out of the house. "You told me they were mine. You mother fuckers. I hope you rot." she screamed out of anger as more tears ran down her face.
You just walked out of the house with Aaron's hand interlaced with yours. This case was exhausting, and you were tired. The rest of the team joined you while you were in the house but they just waited outside.
"We will leave in the morning, everyone go back to the hotel and decompress," Aaron said releasing the team from the case and releasing his hand from yours. You walked with Prentiss to the cars needing some social interaction.
"How is Ethan?" you asked Prentiss as you all got into SUVs to go to the hotel "He is fine, the parents want to get the twins to meet each other, but not until a little bit of family group therapy." she laughed slightly and so did you.
"Thanks for acting normal," you said to her slightly. "Huh?" she looked at you confused. "You're acting normal, nobody else is. They were very... uh distant with me and I don't really know why." you looked at her before she laughed and just shook her head.
"huh, okay." she nodded with a huge grin on her face. She made the same face Aaron did earlier. "I hate this whole team," you said to her with a frustrated smile on your face. You just wanted to know why everyone was acting so odd.
Aaron walked you two up to your hotel room and he opened it. When you walked in, you just fell on the bed that was in there. Your face was shoved into a pillow as you muffled out words. "Can we order room service and sleep for an eternity?" you spoke out knowing fully Aaron would not be able to hear you.
"I got room service and my little pony out of that... I'm lost in translation." he laughed before you looked up at him. He looked tired, and you could tell it too. He was walking around the room organizing his things like he was making sure everything was still there.
"Aaron, what are you looking for? We can pack in the morning when we leave." you looked at him confused, and he just looked up at you like he had been caught in the act of doing something he was not supposed to do.
"Oh, uh... I was just organizing my things, I don't want to stress about it in the morning," he said with a slight chuckle. "Come sit with me," you said as you patted the spot on the bed next to you. You grabbed the menu that was next to you before Aaron wrapped his arm around you and you were leaning into him.
You two pressed along ordering food. You turned on a movie and sat in his arms while you waited for the food to arrive. Not that shortly after eating, you and Aaron fell asleep. You were both just too exhausted for anything and Aaron kept telling you he didn't want to be tired for tomorrow. He was suggesting sleep.
You woke up the next morning in a panic. You stuck your head up fast off the pillow and looked over at the clock. The clock readout 1 am. You immediately smacked your hand over onto Aaron's shoulder and woke him up.
"Aaron it is 1:00 pm the team is waiting for us. We were supposed to be on the jet at 10. We need to go, now, get up." you were scrambling to get out of bed but Aaron wasn't moving. "Seriously get up," you nudged him again
"They already left" he mumbled out, "I told them to leave without us, now come back its cold without you here," he said, his eyes still closed and his arm reaching out for you. You curled up next to him in the bed as he spooned you and wrapped his arms around you.
"How are we getting home?" you said to him as you felt his face nuzzle into your shoulder. "We will take a plane, I thought it would be nice for us to go out tonight." he was waking up a bit as he spoke to you.
"What are we doing?" you asked him very confused why he didn't tell you this earlier. "Sleeping," he said, pulling you tighter to him. You just couldn't sleep though, your mind was stuck on your plans for today. And then you realized you did not pack for this and only had work clothes.
"I do not have clothes for this," you said to him as you sat up out of your touch.
He sat up next to you resting his fingers on your waist, "I packed something for you in my bag. We have a reservation at 5 at the obstinate daughter. It is down on Sullivan's island so we will have to leave a bit earlier." He paused for a second to gauge your reaction.
"The sun is going to set at 6:30 and it is supposed to be warm like summer tonight, so I thought it would be nice to do this. Take a small break together after everything." he sighed like he wanted it to be a surprise and you just ruined it.
"I'm sorry if that was supposed to be a surprise," you said as you kissed his cheek lightly. Your lips grazed over his slight stubble, "Thank you for planning something special." he said to him sweetly
"Anything for you." he smiled.
***
As you finished curling your hair you glanced down at the time, which was 4:15. You realized that it was time for you to get dressed so that you and Aaron would not be late for dinner.
"Aaron, what dress did you bring for me? I beg of you please don't tell me it is ugly." you joked before he walked into the bathroom with one of your favorite beach dresses. It was long and floral. It was nice enough for any occasion and it sat on you gorgeously.
"I picked it out of our closet at home, so there is no way it could be ugly." he smiled as he looked at your face. He was amused with himself that he picked the right dress. You quickly slipped the dress on and then put on your nude heels to match it.
"You look handsome," you said as you walked close to him. He was wearing navy blue dress pants and a white button-up that had the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. Your hands rested on his chest as he wrapped his arms around your waist and held you.
"You look beautiful," he said with a smile as he leaned in and kissed you. All of it was very romantic. It all seemed back to being perfect again. Life had fixed itself and you were finally happy.
"The car is here if you are ready to go," he said as he took your hand. You nodded in response.
The drive was short and the Uber driver was nice. He kept calling you and Aaron a beautiful couple. But when you arrived at the restaurant, and the waitress sat you down, you knew how perfect all of this really was. He was perfect, this was perfect, you loved him so much.
His hand was tangled with yours the whole time and he seemed so giddy the whole night. You ate the delicious dinner that you ordered and you and Aaron shared a bottle of champagne. He claimed it was a celebratory dinner.
As the check was signed and given away Aaron took your hand again and pulled you out of the restaurant. As you stood outside, the sun had just begun to set and the sky sang out a deep orange and red color. The beach nearby brought sounds of the waves crashing and the salty scent of summer. It was warm, and a complete dream come true.
"Do you want to walk down to the lighthouse on the beach? It's only a short walk" he looked at you with a gleaming smile. "Of course." his hand squeezed yours tightly before you two began the short walk.
"This," you paused, "Tonight, I have felt happier with you than I have ever felt. You do something to me that I just can't explain," you said to him. Your body warm and tingling with love for the man that walked next to you.
He smiled as he breathed a slight laugh through his nose. "I love you so much it is unimaginable," you said to him again. "I love you too" he pulled you in for a kiss before you both kept walking.
"I've always loved it here." he said to you, "Sullivan's island is small and quiet. I've vacationed here a few times before. It is the perfect place, my favorite place. I wanted to show it to you," he said as he guided you onto the beach walk down.
You slipped your heels off so that you could feel the sand on your feet. You loved this feeling. And as you two stood next to the lighthouse that sat on the coast of the shore, you admired the gorgeous sunset.
"Aaron this view is gorgeous, I'm glad we stayed behind and did this," you said before you realized the man was no longer next to you.
"Aaron?" you said as you turned around
there he was on one knee with a box in his hands and slight water in his eyes.
Your breath hitched into the back of your throat, you dropped the shoes that were in your hands, and they instinctively went to cover your mouth. You felt your eyes water and your hands shake slightly.
"Y/n" he paused, "From the day we started this, you were it. You may not have known it but I sure did. I know I was an ass, and we hated each other, but you, you are a magnet that I can't seem to not be drawn to. Each day that I got to know you, spend time with you, take care of you, I fell deeper and deeper in love with you." he sighed slightly like he forgot what he had to say.
"God I prepared for this, but I am going off-script. I love you more than I can even imagine, Jack loves you to the moon and back, and I can't even begin to imagine what I would do without you. I want to grow old with you. I want to sit on a porch in rocking chairs watching the sunset."You both laughed slightly.
"I know it's been a short time, God I know it's been only like six months, but I don't care. We don't have to get married now, we can be engaged for another year if you want. Just, with everything that happened, it made me know that I want you. I want you now and I want us forever. Just, please, y/n" he paused again.
"will you marry me?"
"Yes, Aaron, oh my god," you paused, "Yes." tears of joy spilling down your face as a few steamed down his. "I love you," you said as he stood up from the beach that he was kneeling on. He pulled you in tightly as he kissed you passionately.
The kiss broke apart as you looked down at the ring in his hand. He slipped it onto your ring finger and it fit you perfectly. The simplistic gold band with a center diamond and small ones surrounding was perfect. You never wanted anything too big and obnoxious as your mother had, you always loved the dainty jewelry. He picked the perfect ring.
"I love you," he said to you before he kissed you again.
"I want to be with you forever," you whispered in his ear as he held you close. Your two hearts beating as one in sync as you could picture your future together.
The End
____
Hello, my loves.
This is technically the last chapter but there is going to be an epilogue and one more chapter after that. So really there are two more chapters, so don't remove it from your libraries!
I just want to say how much of a joy this book has been to write and I appreciate every comment, vote, or DM that you gave me because of this. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did to write it. I hope this made your heart swell. I love you all so much and thank you for everything. The tremendous support has been more than I can even express and I am so thankful for it.
With love,
Caroline <3