"Cheryll is packing a bag" is all Derek says when he reenters the room. He finds you, Emily and Spencer in different corners, unwilling to make eye contact.
"C'mon guys," he sighs as he rubs his temples "we can't just avoid each other."
"I'm not avoiding anything," Emily says quickly "are you avoiding anything?" She turns to look at you, the first time she's made eye contact since the call.
"Nope. No avoidance here" you shake your head. "Besides, the guy was just another narcissistic creep. He didn't say anything substantial. Just some sub-par profiling, really."
"I know it was sub-par, but it doesn't mean it's not hurtful" he explains "I'm not saying it's true, just making sure you're both alright, that's all."
"I'm fine, Morgan, really," Emily says. "What about you? I didn't see you too upset about the whole 'pumped up side of beef' thing?"
"Alright, I'll admit it. It was pretty funny" he chuckles "but what about Ms. Y/l/n over here? Never disobeying Hotch, huh?"
"Oh, you know me" you scoff, playing along "never straying from command. Perfect follower." This earns a chuckle from the both of them that's only broken up by a light rapping on the door.
"Agent Morgan?" One of Davenport's security agents beckons "Ms. Davenport is ready for you in the car."
"Alright, Y/n, you come with me" he motions with his fingers "Prentiss, you stay here with Reid and Cole and start interviewing Davenport and his security leader. Figure out any way a bug could've slipped through the cracks."
"Will do" Prentiss nods.
"And hey, Emily?" You add "talk to Spencer, too, will you?" When the three of you turn and look, you see Spencer on the floor next to Davenport's bookshelf, pouring over some sort of files he must have found laying around.
"Yeah, I'll make sure he's alright" she nods "but it seems he's already pretty distracted. But either way, you too should go."
"Right" Morgan agrees "come one y/l/n, we've got a safe house to visit."
____________
The ride to the safe house was quiet and a bit awkward. Davenport had insisted that some of his guards came with you, due to them knowing Cheryll better than you and Morgan. Because of that decision, you were sandwiched between him, the girl, and 3 other security guards whose names you didn't even know.
When you arrived at the safehouse, you did the necessary checks and lockdowns and moved Cheryll into her room. Beyond that, all there was left to do was wait. Wait for Emily and Reid to come up with a breakthrough or for Hotch to get a confession.
Your only assignment was to patrol the downstairs area with a hand firmly on your gun. Morgan had opted to take the upstairs with Cheryll and the security guards were distributed around the house and surrounding property.
The absent-minded walking gave you plenty of time to think over the case. At least, it started with the case.
You tried to work through the details again and again, but it still didn't make any sense how they could've managed to sneak a bug in. Everything had been extensively checked, every person and crevasse of the home. Ultimately, every theory you had turned out insufficient.
As you continued your laps, your mind wandered back to the call. Specifically about Katie and Hotch.
It made sense to you now, at least a bit more than it had before. Why she had been so hypercritical of his leadership abilities from the very beginning. She wanted his job?
"Why?" You wondered. She had her own unit that she had started herself. She was highly respected and had a fulfilling career as one of the first profilers. Why did she have to want your unit? Even more, why did she have to want Aaron's job?
She didn't deny it, and even more, her body language gave it away. The tone of her voice, the way she straightened her back, the way her face twitched ever so slightly. Your ability to profile made it crystal clear to you that the kidnapper had spoken the truth. You didn't know if your ability was a blessing or a curse in the moment.
You wondered if he knew she wanted his job, or if she had talked to Strauss already. Strauss would have very little conviction about handing over his job to anyone that asked, you knew. But would she really do that so easily? Without cause?
There was no way. You had to believe there was no way. No way she would steal his job, take over your unit, kick him out. No way that anyone would let her.
Then again, the unsub had said Aaron wanted to leave. That your team had weighed him down from his actual goals. Aaron had never mentioned wanting to go above the BAU. He would've mentioned it, wouldn't he?
"Of course he would've," you tell yourself. "He loves his team. He's got a good position that he hasn't been willing to give up. He would've told me if he wanted to leave, anyway. He wouldn't abandon us like that. He just wouldn't."
But a small, nagging part of your brain reminded you that the unsub was right about almost everything else.
Your thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing in your pocket. When you open it up, Emily's name flashes across the screen.
"Hey, anything new?" You ask, pressing the speaker to your ear.
"Reid found something," she said, sounding slightly out of breath "we vetted the main security guy. Turns out he was so convinced his team was clear he didn't bother checking in the equipment."
"So our guy is one of the security guards?" When the words leave your lips, you take a cautious glance over your shoulder.
"We think so. Right now we're talking to Davenport and the lead guy and going over the list of guards in contact with Trish and Cheryll" she says "but Y/n, listen to me. Don't make a big deal, just quietly take Derek and Cheryll and leave."
"Okay, I'll get them into the car. There's another place we could-" your voice is cut off when you hear a noise upstairs. It sounds like a pained groan followed by a grunt.
"Fuck" you mutter "send backup, now."
"Y/n, don't go-" you click off the phone before she has a chance to respond.
You feel your heart race and thump loudly in your chest as you slowly draw your gun out of the holster. You raise it up as you slowly creep up the stairs, eyes darting back and forth around your surroundings.
When you make it up the steps, you turn the corner sharply and practically drop your gun in shock when you see Derek on the floor, doubled over in pain.
"Derek!" In an instant you're crouched beside him, taking his head in your hands and trying to wake him. You feel panic spread through your body when his eyes don't open, but quickly find a steady pulse under his skin.
"He's alright, y/n" you attempt to calm yourself "knocked out, not dead." Your adrenaline is spiked again when you hear yelling coming from the room down the hall. You know you can't do anything for Derek until you take down whoever did this to him.
You stand quickly before murmuring a promise to return even though you're fairly sure he can't hear you.
Keeping your gun level and doing your best to keep your hands steady, you take a light step down the long hallway. The voice gets louder and covers and squeaking that might be coming from the boards under your feet.
"You wanted this, Cheryll!" The voice screams "I've waited way too long for this. We both have. And when he gets out, we'll have you both. Together, just the four of us. Doesn't that sound perfect?"
Slowly, you push the door open with one hand, keeping the other firmly on the trigger. You see a tall man with blonde hair standing in front of a bed, gripping a blade in his hand. On the bed, Cheryll is curled in a ball, shooting a pleading glance at you as soon as you come into view.
"Drop the knife." Your voice is calm and even but cold. The man's back straightens when he hears your voice, but he doesn't move.
"You have no idea what you're interfering with."
"Are you deaf, or just stupid?" You bark. "I said to drop the knife." Your rage builds in you with each passing second. Ambushing these two girls, mocking Aaron, hurting your team, insulting you, and knocking out Derek was not going to go unpunished if you had anything to say about it.
"You don't understand" he emphasizes again "he would want me to. He'll kill me if I don't-"
"He's being held in a cell," you say "he's going away for a long time. He can't hurt you. If you don't feel like joining him in federal prison for the rest of your miserable life, then I suggest you listen to me. Don't do anything stupid."
He doesn't respond, but slowly raises his hands above his head. His fist still tightly grips his blade which gives you an idea of the length and sharpness.
"Good choice. Now slowly drop the knife to the floor."
"Alright." His hand slowly moves down, the knife now at his side. Before you can order him to drop it again, his body swings around and knocks your gun out of your hand.
He brings the knife up over you, but you grip his forearm ferociously and push him backwards. His other hand comes down hard across your face, but thanks to the adrenaline, you can barely feel it.
It's almost instinctual, what happens next. While still struggling to keep the knife away from you, you bring your knee up and drive it into his groin hard.
His reaction is immediate. You see the look of fury and anguish in his eyes as he doubles over in pain. You take his moment of surprise to knock the knife out of his hand.
All at once, you grab his arm and twist him around in an uncomfortable position. Using your new leverage, you force him face down on the floor and pull his hands behind his back.
You pull out your cuffs quickly and in an instant his arms are secured behind his back. When you stand back up, you keep one foot firmly on his back to keep him from moving. He curses and struggles, but ultimately you're able to keep him still.
"Cheryll, are you alright?" You ask, finally turning your attention to her.
"I'm fine" she breathes "are you?" She looks at you with a mix of shock and awe.
"Yeah" you breathe out, suppressing a smile "this isn't my first arrest."
______________
Everything happens in a blur after that. Immediately, you call an ambulance and squad car in, as well as a team of officers. You watch contently as the man is roughly dragged into the back of a squad car.
You lead Cheryll to her car to be brought back to her house. As soon as that's done, you race back into the house to find Derek being loaded onto a stretcher. You're at his side in an instant, gripping his hand firmly while he's carried out of the house.
"Y/n?" He groans as he's carried down the stairs. He grips his head where he was hit as if trying to stop the pain.
"Hey, Derek" you smile "how's the head?"
"Could he worse" he says "did you get the guy?"
"Yep, already in the squad car."
"He got the jump on me" he sighs "I wasn't expecting a security guard. I figured they'd been checked."
"You did what you could, and it's over now." You let go of his hand as you feel your pocket begin to vibrate.
"Go on, take it," Derek says "you need to finish the case."
"Are you sure?" You ask, following his stretcher out the door.
"I'll be here when it's over" he reminds you.
You smile at him as you watch him be slowly loaded into the back of an ambulance. "See you when you get out."
"You know you will" is all he says before the doors close.
As the ambulance kicks on and drives off, you finally answer your phone and stop the vibrating in your pocket.
"Hey Emily," you say without looking. "Listen-"
"Guess again" the voice responds.
"Oh, sorry Rossi" you suppress a chuckle "I kind of hung up on Emily before, and I- you know what? Not important. Whats up?"
"Did you get the unsub?" He asks, surprisingly forward.
"Yep, he's in the squad car now. Everything's just about wrapped up here. Now all we have to do is find Patricia."
"Rigghhttt," he drags out his words "speaking of which, we could use you down here. Aaron's having a hard time getting a confession."
"He wants me back?" You ask, slightly confused. Why wouldn't he have called you himself? His pride?
"Of course," he says as if it's obvious "how soon can you get down here?"
"Ten minutes if traffics good."
"I'll see you in ten minutes then." Before you can respond, he hangs up. Sighing, you begin making your way towards the SUV.
________
"Rossi?" You call out, entering the interrogation room. He stands with his arms folded over his chest, looking in the interrogation room at Aaron and the unsub.
"Hey kid," he says as you walk up next to him "how was the drive?"
"Fine, thanks" you shrug "how's the interrogation going?"
"Great, actually," Rossi says, "he told us where Patricia was 15 minutes ago."
"What?" You practically rear your head in shock "what- but you said- where was she?"
"An abandoned barn a few miles from here, still alive and well," he says "I sent Emily and JJ to go get her. She'll be fine."
"Why did you tell me you needed help, then?" You ask "the case is over. He got the girl."
"He figured out where the victim was, yes" he replies "but he still needs to get his girl, if you know what I mean." He winks at you.
"Rossi, I have no idea-"
"You're both way too stubborn, you know that?" He sighs "I suppose most people your age are. But really, are you going to let a petty fight like this ruin a good thing?"
"How do you know what we have is a good thing?" You question, folding your arms over your chest accusingly.
"You may be able to fool everyone else on this team, but not me. You two are crazy for each other. You make each other happy, it doesn't take a profiler to see that."
You don't have a proper response to that, but you try not to blush as you look down at the floor.
"The man is head over heels for you, you know that, don't you?" He asks.
"Did he say that?" You ask quickly, looking up from the floor to glance at him.
"No, but I know him well enough to tell when he's in love with someone."
"Love?" You feel your heart skip a beat "in love? Who said anything about that?"
"You're a smart kid, don't pretend you don't know" he shakes his head "and something tells me that love isn't one-sided."
"Cmon Rossi" you shake your head "it's a bit early to be talking about love, isn't it?"
"No," he looks at you earnestly "We're not talking about facts and numbers here. We're talking about love. It's not exactly rational all the time, kid. It doesn't care how many dates you've been on or how convenient it is for you. When you fall for someone, you have to lean into it. No point in denying it and pushing your feelings away."
"I suppose" you shrug.
"Even if the two of you can't see it, I can" he continues "and I won't let you both waste a single second fighting over something like this. I called you here because I want you both to make up."
"I know. And the worst part is, I think it might be my fault. My temper got the best of me" you sighed.
"That's the hard part about work relationships" he nods "this probably isn't what you want to hear, but you've got to accept the hierarchy. What he says goes, at least while you're here. At home, well, that might be different."
"I know" you nod "but it's not exactly easy."
"I get it kid" he nods "but if I know anything about the two of you, it's that you'll figure it out and things will come out smoothly in the end."
"Thanks, Rossi" you smile at his compliment.
"No problem," he says "I'm taking the SUV back to the Davenport place to rally the team. There's one SUV left. That gives the two of you approximately half an hour together undisturbed by the team until you have to be back on the plane."
"Thank you, again," you say as he hands you the keys, turning towards the doors "um, Rossi?
"Mhm?"
"What am I supposed to say to him?" You turn and look at him, still clutching the key in your hand.
"Well, an apology usually does wonders" he smiles "but, I'm sure some sappy hugs and kisses aren't beyond him either."
"Yeah?"
"Yep, anything you can think of" he winks at you.
"Rossi!"
"You better be made up by the time you get on the plane!" He calls out as he leaves the room.
"Typical" you smile and roll your eyes, taking a chair and pulling it up to watch the rest of the interrogation.
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Hey besties!
So here's the update. Again, no Aaron, but some badass fighting and good ol' Rossi advice. Don't worry, loves, you'll get plenty of Aaron next chapter 😉
Also.....
We hit 40K reads! I really can't thank you all enough, for the reads and votes and really sweet comments I've gotten.
Speaking of which, as always, like and comment if you enjoyed!
Lots of love,
-s 💕