⚠︎︎TRIGGER WARNING⚠︎︎
⚠︎︎Mention of terrorism and explosion, mention of past s*xual assault and past domestic violence.⚠︎︎
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♡︎
"We've got a case," Hotch announced as he strode out of his office.
"Seriously?!" you exclaimed, a little too loudly.
"Yes?" Hotch frowned.
"Sorry," you mumbled, jumping up from your desk.
"Are you ok?" Spencer asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's nothing, I just had a... Parcel coming," you lied.
"Oh, ok, uh, could you get it re-directed?" Spencer questioned, walking with you towards the conference room.
"Yeah, probably," you murmured, taking a seat at the table.
"We're about to be swarmed," Hotch began.
"A bomb just went off on a busy high street in Washington, DC. We don't have a specific number, but we suspect at least 12 to be dead. But that number is increasing rapidly."
"Jesus," you murmured,
"how long ago?"
"14 minutes ago exactly. This is a suspected terrorist attack, so we need to act fast," Hotch replied.
"What street?" Spencer questioned.
"14th street"
"But that road is usually really busy," JJ mentioned.
"And it's almost Thanksgiving and Christmas, meaning-"
"It will be busier than usual," Derek sighed, finishing JJ's sentence.
"Have there been smaller, more localized attacks recently, or is this their practice run?" Spencer questioned.
"I've messaged Garcia to search through all police files, to see look at cases involving explosives," Hotch responded.
"So, if this attack isn't our unsub/unsubs endgame, then what is?" JJ questioned anxiously.
"Something that could kill thousands," Rossi murmured.
"So, we've got an unsub with a similar intention to Carl Dallas" you chimed in, causing the entire team to turn to you with concern on their faces. You shifted in your chair anxiously and continued.
"Carl's primary aim was to kill thousands, possibly millions, and he planned his attack in the capital. "
"Do you think this is something to do with Carl Dallas?" Rossi asked, unconvinced.
"Of course not," you chuckled, receiving a sigh of relief from everyone.
"I'm just trying to say, there are different levels of terrorism, and this seems to be the most dangerous form... Sorry for bringing up Carl, I didn't realize it was taboo to say it."
"Sorry, Y/l/n, we didn't mean to react like that," Hotch apologized.
"But you are right, if this ends up being only a practice attack, then these unsubs must have something much bigger planned... We need to go to the attack site, let's go."
Standing up from the table, you and the team filed out of the room and hurried towards the elevator.
"Are you ok?" Spencer asked anxiously.
"Spencer, I'm allowed to say his name without having a nervous breakdown," you sighed.
"I-I know, it's just — It was the fact that he came into your head at all," Spencer mumbled.
"Well, my brain connects things like that. I'm sorry to have mentioned him." You shot back.
"I didn't... I'm sorry, it's just you never mention him, and then suddenly you-"
"I talk about him to my therapist, but personally, talking about my past abuser/sexual assaulter, to my husband, isn't something I enjoy talking about. It's like me talking about the sex I used to have with other people with you. It makes me feel weird." You snapped.
"Sorry" Spencer murmured.
"It's ok, just... Believe me, I'm better than I was. Sometimes I need you to have faith that I'm not about to break," you whispered, pressing the button to call the elevator up.
"I know... I'm just over worried. It's not like you've had it easy," Spencer sighed.
"Have faith in me, Spence," you murmured softly.
♡︎
The explosion of sight was horrific. It was worse than you expected it to be. There was rubble everywhere.
The smell of smoke hadn't cleared in the air, and some buildings were still burning ferociously. You watched dead bodies being pulled out from under the rubble, and you heard the screams of survivors as they were saved by first responders.
"Holy shit," you muttered under your breath.
"That was a child," JJ murmured, watching a young boy being zipped up in a body bag.
"I understand how difficult this might feel, so if anyone needs to take a moment at any point, let me know," Hotch told the team, before getting busy with the investigation.
"Do we know where the epicenter of the explosion was?" You asked Hotch. Hotch shook his head.
"We can make an approximation from where the most destruction was," Spencer mentioned.
"My guess, it was around there." he pointed to a point in the destruction, where several buildings had collapsed completely.
"Ok, Reid, Y/l/n, go have a look, see what you can find," Hotch ordered.
"Yes, sir. " You nodded, turning away with Spencer.
"This sucks"
"I know. Sometimes I forget things like this happen. You always watch scenes like this in the news when they're reporting on war zones, but you never really think it would happen so close to home," Spencer sighed glumly.
"This is only 20 minutes away from our home."
"I know," you mumbled as you climbed over the rubble.
"I-I mean, we came shopping here a week ago, I..." Spencer paused before letting out a deep heartbroken exhale.
"I'm here," you whispered gently, squeezing his shoulder as you headed towards an empty, half-destroyed shop.
As if Spencer could see into the future, he quickly wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you back, right before the rest of the building collapsed where you stood.
"Are you insane" Spencer snapped.
"Top rule after a catastrophe like this, never walk into unstable buildings"
"I'm sorry," you mumbled, dropping your gaze from Spencer to the floor, spotting something intriguing on the floor.
"What's that?"
"What?" Spencer frowned, following your gaze. Hidden under a pile of bricks looked to be a small red barrel on the floor.
"I-I don't know why, but it reminded me of part of a TNT bomb," you mumbled, crouching down while putting on your gloves.
"It could well be part of it. Maybe one barrel didn't go off," Spencer mentioned, lowering himself next to you.
"Be careful when picking it up, make sure it would not be triggered by anything."
Pulling off the rubble that lay on top of it, you soon came to realize the case wasn't attached to anything. Thank god.
"It's got writing on it," Spencer mentioned as you dropped it into the evidence bag.
"'George Washington Mall. 13:50 PM... Clock's ticking,'" you read aloud. Next to the writing were 2 small symbols, one being a circle with a V in the middle. The other is a red anarchy symbol (a circle with an 'A' in the middle). The V symbol was clean. It looked to be stamped onto the shell. The anarchy symbol next to it was messier, likely deliberately messy, but clear.
"It's 13:48 pm," Spencer mentioned, looking down at his watch.
"We're not going to make it in time," you murmured, turning your mic on.
"Hotch, we have evidence to suggest the next attack is going to be at the George Washington Mall, in..." you paused, re-reading the time on your watch.
"30 seconds"
"What?" Hotch said into your earpiece.
Moments later, you felt the earth underneath your feet shudder. Standing up, you looked into the distance at the large mall as it went up in flames, thick black smoke filling the air.
You gasped and buried your face in Spencer's chest, realizing you had failed.
"Y/l/n, Reid? Do you copy?" Hotch spoke into your earpiece once more.
"Y-Yes sir" you murmured.
"Meet us at the SUVs asap"
"We're on our way," Spencer replied, taking your hand and running across the rubble back towards the team.
"How did you know?" Hotch questioned.
"We found this," you sighed, holding up the evidence bag.
"These attacks were part of an anarchist group?" Emily questioned.
"We think so, I don't recognize the other symbol." You pointed out.
"I do. It's the sign of the Valencia's. They're 3 brothers who run major drug and human trafficking rings along with providing bombs and other weapons to criminals. They are one of the most notorious families in America, and unfortunately, one of the hardest families to track down." Hotch explained.
"I've heard of the Valencias," you mentioned.
"Carl had dealings with them. Are we going to work their case?"
"No, there are teams out there working on the Valencia case. It would be extremely dangerous for us to get involved. They have a lot of power in this country." Hotch sighed.
"As for the anarchist group, I know of one extremist group in DC. There's a high chance it's them. "
Taking the evidence bag from you, Hotch handed it to the head of the anti-terrorist protection unit from the FBI before heading back towards you and the team.
"The anti-terrorist squad is going to do some research into the anarchist group. As for us, we need to go to this mall and do our best to help," Hotch explained.
"Yes, sir," Everyone mumbled, jumping into the cars.
♡︎
"This just keeps getting worse. " You gulped, staring up at the devastation that surrounded you.
"This is going to be dangerous. We're going to need to get as many people out as possible. The firefighters will work inside the mall getting people out. It's our job to lead them to safety." Hotch instructed.
Nodding, you all ran towards the mall and began guiding people away from the building. You weren't allowed to go in because inside the building was full of smoke, and you neither had the training of the protective gear for it.
Running back and forth, repeatedly, group by group to get people to safety was tiring, to say the least.
You had to run quite far just to be safe. The first responders were instructed to keep their distance, making it even harder if you were aiding someone who had been badly injured.
"I think we have almost all the survivors out," one firefighter mentioned to you, as you got ready to run back to the safety checkpoint.
"We'll do one last sweep of the building, then we'll have to evacuate. "
"Ok" You nodded.
"Y/n, I'll hang back, just in case there are any more people," Spencer chimed in.
"Get them to safety."
"Ok, but I'll be back," you murmured, as you helped the group of hysterical, traumatized victims to safety.
"The fire crew think that's everyone" you mentioned to Hotch, setting a small child down on the edge of the ambulance.
"I'm going back for Reid"
"Ok, be sa-" Hotch was cut off by a loud explosion ripping through the hair, a tsunami of black smoke surrounded you, choking you.
There was a moment of shock after it happened, where your ears rang so loudly that everything felt muffled, and your heart began pounding against your chest.
When you finally gathered your thoughts, you looked around you to find hundreds of terrified civilians, screaming and crying at what they just witnessed.
The team looked as shocked as you, but then you noticed something. You could see Derek and Emily staring over at the building. You could see JJ and Rossi trying to calm down the crowd of people. You could see Hotch tending to a screaming child. But the one person you couldn't see was Spencer.
"SPENCE!" you screamed, running into the storm of black smoke. Derek lunged forwards to grab you, but you sped up fast enough to escape his grip.
"y/n! STOP!" Derek shouted, but it was too late.
You were in the smoke now; it was thick and hot. It burned your eyes and suffocated you slowly as you ran.
"Spence," you croaked out as loudly as you could.
"Spence..." You said a little quieter as you began to lose hope.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette appeared in front of you. To be honest, at first, you couldn't be sure if it was a hallucination, triggered by the lack of air in your lungs.
But as it got closer, you figured out the recognizable features on the face.
"Spence," you whispered as you struggled to breathe.
In Spencer's arms was a little girl. She couldn't have been older than 2. I mean, she was really young. She had his vest wrapped around her mouth to filter the smoke a little. Spencer also wore a wet rag around his mouth. You guessed the firefighters had provided some aid to him.
Spencer looked tired. In fact, he looked as if he were about to pass out, grabbing his waist quickly. You guided him forward and headed towards the light.
You weren't sure of whom to be more worried about, Spencer or the little girl. She wasn't making a sound. Of course, she could've just been a well-behaved child, but something felt wrong.
"Reid? Y/l/n?" Hotch called as you escaped out the cloud of smoke.
"We need medics now!" Derek exclaimed as he, Emily, and JJ ran towards you both.
JJ tried to take the little girl out of Spencer's arms to help her, but the child had fixed her arms so tightly around Spencer's neck, JJ physically couldn't detach them.
The team led you to the back of the ambulance and put oxygen masks around your mouths to help clear your throat. Both you and Spencer seemed to gasp for air, as if there wasn't enough for either of you.
When the oxygen mask was placed on the little girl's mouth, she changed her position and curled up on Spencer's lap, sobbing quietly.
"Do we know if her family is looking for her?" JJ asked, draping a blanket over the little girl's body. Spencer shook his head solemnly. He had a feeling her family would not come to find her.
"What happened back there?" Emily questioned, perching herself on the edge of the ambulance and placing her hand on your back to comfort you, especially since you had no material covering your mouth, so your lungs were filled with hot, thick smoke.
"Th—there... w-were t—t, two bombs," Spencer choked out.
"W-Wh-when t-they f-found th-this little g-girl, t-they t-told m-me t-to run"
"Jesus, the casualties of the fire crew alone will be huge," Emily murmured.
"You guys need to go to the hospital," Hotch mentioned, wandering over to you both.
"We'll meet you there"
♡︎
You ended up breathing into an oxygen mask for hours until your lungs finally cleared.
You stayed with Spencer and the little girl while you were in the hospital; she stayed silent, still clinging onto Spencer with everything she had.
"I think you've made a friend," Savannah chuckled as she came over to check Spencer's vitals.
"She's just scared," Spencer murmured, stroking the top of the little girl's head.
"Has the team been able to track down her family?" Savannah questioned. Spencer shook his head.
"Her name's Dani," you mentioned. This was all the info you could get out of her. She was so much younger than you thought she was. Although that wasn't surprising, you never really could tell what age a child was before the ages of 8.
Your guess was that she was 1, probably around 18 months altogether. She could say a few words, but not a lot.
"She's cute," Savannah whispered as the rest of the team came in to join you. They had been in and out of the hospital several times over the last few hours. They still had a case to solve, and people to help.
"The anti-terrorism unit, just arrested out unsubs," Hotch announced.
"Anarchist group?" you questioned.
"Yes," Hotch sighed.
"They were planning on attacking the white house next."
"What are the casualty numbers?" Spencer asked nervously.
"Altogether from both attacks, 46 civilians confirmed dead, 98 missing and assumed dead. 27 firefighters dead. And 8 police officers," Hotch informed you both solemnly.
No one said anything straight away. The collateral damage for these attacks was astronomical and heartbreaking.
"Also..." Hotch added, breaking the silence.
"Social services are here for Dani"
"What?" you and Spencer mumbled in unison. Over the last few hours, you had bonded with her, and now you were going to have to say goodbye, where she was going to get thrown into the system and forgotten about.
"C-Can't we take her?" you asked hopefully.
"That's a conversation you should have with the social worker if that is what you both want," Hotch told you.
And with that advice, both you and Spencer took the little girl to the social worker and asked if you could qualify as being foster parents.
Yes, it was quite a spur-of-the-moment decision, but it was something you both silently wanted. - I say silently because neither of you conferred with each other. You just decided.
"I'm sorry, but with 2 parents, who frequently go on business trips together, it wouldn't be fair on Dani to have you as her legal guardian," the social worker told you both after a long chat with her.
"But... We'd look after her and-" You began.
"Ma'am, with both of you working the jobs that you work, it can't be possible. However, we do have a program that allows young children to go to loving homes during the school holidays..." the social worker explained.
"If you would like to take part in that program, and take Dani home during thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the summer holidays, then I can get you to sign some forms. You'll have someone come to your house and look to see if it's safe..."
"We'll have to do background checks on you both, but considering you're both in the FBI, I doubt that will be necessary... Also, if you decide to join this program, every so often, you will be joined by a social worker, just to make sure everything is ok." The social worker told you.
"They never had that when I was a kid," you mumbled, looking over at the little girl, who was now playing with Spencer's hair.
"We've learned it's important for young people in the care system to still get to have fun during the holiday's especially when things like thanksgiving and Christmas are marketed as spending time with your family, which for many who don't have a family, can be tough," The social worker replied.
"We'd like to get involved," Spencer said suddenly.
"Please"
"If you give me your email, I can send through the forms. "
"I'll write it down for you," you mumbled happily.
♡︎
"Are you guys sad you couldn't take Dani home?" Emily asked as you drove back to the BAU.
"Kind of... I felt like she was meant to be ours.," You sighed.
"It's fine. If everything goes well with the forms, we can celebrate the holidays with her. So, in ways, it's like we're looking after her." Spencer chimed in, trying to look at the bright side of life.
"True" you mumbled.
"It's better than what I got."
"I didn't even know you two were ready to have kids," JJ mentioned.
"We're not, well... We kind of are, but it was different with that kid... She was so young, and in one day she lost everyone she loved. I... I wanted to give her a home." You replied, looking down at the text Penelope pinged through.
"In other news, Spencer's early Christmas present has arrived at the BAU."
"What?" Spencer frowned.
Once you arrived at the BAU, you grabbed Spencer's hand and pulled him over to the enormous box on his desk that was being guarded by Penelope.
The box wasn't sealed, and moments before you arrived, Penelope had placed the present inside the box. In other words, the present was not hurt in the preparation for this surprise.
"Open it," you whispered. Spencer gulped nervously, for some reason he found this sudden surprise nerve-wracking.
It was even scarier for him when he heard scratching against the cardboard and noticed how the box moved slightly.
"If there's a snake in here, I'm leaving and never coming back," he mentioned as the entire team gathered round to see the surprise.
"Reid, I'm getting impatient," Derek exclaimed.
"Open the damn box"
Sighing loudly, Spencer folded down the flaps and looked inside. Much to his surprise, inside the box was a teeny tiny puppy.
"Oh, my god!" Spencer exclaimed, picking the dog up out from the box and holding it to his chest.
"It's so cute!"
"It's a miniature cockapoo... Immy said nothing big because big dogs were hard work, so we had to find a little dog, and this little guy was found recently after someone found his pregnant mother on the side of the road." Penelope explained.
"The mom didn't make it. She was very sick, and unfortunately her puppy's were very sick too. This was the only survivor. "
"He's a rescue?" Spencer asked with such happiness in his voice as the little dog licked his cheek.
"Oh, this is adorable," Emily giggled, taking a picture of your husband and his present.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Reid connected with a dog," Hotch chuckled.
"Perhaps he's overcome the Reid effect. "
At the exact moment, the dog barked right in Spencer's face.
"Ha, it's the Reid effect," Hotch laughed.
"What are you going to call him?" JJ asked, curiously.
"Rumple" Spencer replied speedily.
"Y/n said I can't call our kid rumple, so I've settled for the dog."
"Fair enough" JJ giggled.
"Right, well, this has been fun, but I would really like to go home and sleep," you announced.
"Today has been exhausting."
"Amen to that," Emily yawned.
"You all are free to get," Hotch mentioned.
"Good work today. I know the outcome could've been better, but there wasn't much we could do, besides from help as many people as possible."
"Night guys. " You smiled, adjusting your bag on your shoulder before heading towards the elevator.
"Can Rumple sleep at the end of our bed?" Spencer asked curiously.
"He can tonight because it's his first night at ours, but he can't stay at the end of our bed every night until he's been trained to pee outside, because I do not want to wake up to dog pee on my legs," you mentioned.
"That's fair enough," Spencer mumbled.
"And thank you, this is the best present I think I've ever received"
"You're welcome, pretty boy," you whispered.
♡︎
A/n: Sorry for the slow updates