Chapter Three: When You Are Young Them Assume You Know Nothing
Trigger Warnings: Domestic Abuse, blood, graphic content.
It was an understatement to say you didn't know what was in store for you. You barely got into the house before you were slammed against a wall with a groan. Axels hand gripped your throat tightly so there was no air circulating at all.
"Who were you with, hm?" he spat calmly.
"I w-was in-" you gasped for a breath, "-the bathroom."
His eyes looked crazy, rage pumping his blood, making decisions for him. He wasn't acting rationally, he never really was. The fear you felt was like nothing from before. You truly thought this is how you would die, in the hands of a man who made your skin bruise to the bone.
"You're such a fucking liar!" he screamed, "Do you know how pathetic that is?! Someone didn't raise you right, you listen to me!"
Tears streamed down your face, "I'm not lying, please!"
A hard slap came across your face, stringing your wet skin. The rings he wore made the pain worse and broke the skin, blood now mixing with the salty tears. "Who were you with Y/N?!"
"I was in t-the bathroom" you repeated. Your eyes fluttered closed, suddenly you became tired and ready to give out. "I'm not lying" you whispered more to yourself.
"Yes you are! Do you think I can't see through your lies?!"
You shook your head no as quickly as you could. Suddenly he dropped you onto the floor, your hands catching you just in time, not before he lands a kick in your ribs. Blow after blow, you wanted to die. You thought that anything would be better than this, the pain was so overwhelming.
Another kick.
Another slap.
Another punch.
"Stop, please!" you cried.
"DON'T LIE TO ME! I KNOW YOU!"
No he doesn't, you kept repeating in your head. His hands grip your waist, pulling you off the floor despite the broken ribs pulsing in pain. In seconds, he threw you into a mirror on the wall, shattering the glass. Shards cut you repeatedly, you were becoming numb to the pain. Everywhere was bleeding, your hands, your stomach, your face, even your legs. There wasn't any time to recover before he grabbed a shard of glass, slicing it down your arm just to earn a scream that never came.
The lack of response was setting him off, when you didn't scream he didn't find pleasure. You learned that quickly. You stopped pleading for him to stop, didn't cry, you sat there and allowed him to use you as a punching bag over and over. You thought that maybe if he got his rage out now, you wouldn't have to worry later.
Usually each beating came with a gift the next day. Even him being nice and loving. Some days he wouldn't make you make him dinner or take care of him like a child. When he was really nice, he let you pick out your own clothes for the week.
It seemed worth it if you could get a break for a little while. "I don't even know why I keep you around," another kick, "you're baggage I have to drag around. Worthless shit that I have to deal with."
Insults didn't bother you. It was the physical pain that you suffered from in silence. Of course you were emotionally tired but not more than your body. Some bruises tended to stick to the bone, every step hurt, every breath.
Blood pooped your mouth and you weren't sure how much longer you could stay awake. His energy was wearing down slowly but surely, the kicks becoming less powerful and the punches with less force. Pain still erupted with each touch but you could handle this enough to get by. It felt as though your ribs were broken but you weren't sure or if you were just working yourself up.
"Celia!" Axel called, "Come clean this shit up while you're at it. Make yourself useful!" He glanced down at your shaking body on the floor with a smirk. "I'm leaving sugar, you know why I did this, it was for your own good."
With that, he was out the door and Celia was rushing over to you. She crouched down, desperately trying to avoid the hooded eyes that you had. A wet washcloth was pressed to the cut on your cheek softly.
"Celia you don't have to do this anymore," you coughed blood, "I can get you out of here, please."
Quickly, she shook her head with a sigh, removing the cloth and ringing the blooded water into a bucket. "I need the money Y/N. My daughter depends on these checks."
Even with Celia working at the house for so long, you knew nothing of her daughter but tried not to question it. Keeping a private life was important, you of all people knew that. Exhaustion was becoming more and more prominent as she cleaned each wound with a gentle nature. Her hands were warm, oh so warm, and you just wanted to sleep.
"I'm going to go to bed." you say sheepishly, eyes fluttering closed.
Celia's eyes widened in a panic. "No sweetheart stay awake, then you can go to bed but first we have to fix you up okay? Everything will be okay."
Her words were slurred in your mind as you slipped farther from reality. "Call Penelope, I left my phone I think," you slurred. "Yeah, at her house, call her house."
You didn't know what you were saying or why. It was true that you dropped your phone on the way out and didn't have time to grab it off the pavement before Axel was throwing you into the car. The last thing you remember before losing consciousness was Celia's warm hands and pleading words.
• • •
Penelope gathered around the team in a state of confusion. After she pointed you in the direction of the bathroom, you never appeared again. She rushed into the kitchen, still having the flow of alcohol in her.
"Have you guys seen Y/N? She was supposed to use the bathroom and come back." Penelope frowned with a whimper of disappointment. She doesn't recall a single time when you truly stayed the entire gathering without leaving abruptly in a rush.
Emily replied, "I saw Axel leaving with her," she shrugged, "Maybe she just didn't feel well. Ask Hotch, they were talking together not long ago."
"Oh you're right!" Penelope huffed, placing both hands on her hips, "I hope she's okay."
Emily waved off the concern with a floppy hand, obviously intoxicated from Penelope's urge to make sure everyone had a good time. Hotch quietly stepped back into the room, trying not to cause a distraction. Lumps formed his throat so often that he cleared it twice before attempting to speak. As he was walking in, he overheard the question Penelope asked about you and didn't want anyone to worry other than him so he stayed silent.
Tonight was about a celebration, not a sudden confession to something he didn't have evidence to. Nothing was hurting him more. Truthfully, he had suspicions about what Axel was doing for a long time. Each night you would be invited to go out with the team. It was a routine to have you praised like an official member but then you would disappear into a room and make a call only to come back with a frown saying you had work to do.
Morgan was the one most curious about your personal life that you wouldn't open up about. Hotch tried on occasion when you did go out with the team only to come up empty. How is it he felt like he knew everything yet so little at the same time? Suddenly, in the middle of a mist chatter, the phone rang.
Penelope gasped with excitement and rushed over to her house phone with a smile. "Penelope Garcia's home, to whom do I owe this dazzling pleasure?" She giggled. "Uh about fifteen minutes ago...I'm not sure...Yes ma'am I can check...I will bring it over now!"
All of what was twenty seconds was a full conversation between Penelope and whoever was on the other side of that phone. "Some lady asked if Y/N left her phone here and asked me to bring it to the house," she explained.
Everyone gathered around, excited at the opportunity to see what home you really lived in. Secrets ran so deep through you that they were itching to dig up just this tiny detail, practically tripping over each other in chaos to find your phone. "I call bringing it so her!" someone in the group called.
"No me!" Penelope protested. Hotch watched the scene unfold with pinched eyebrows. You had your phone while talking to him so he knew it wasn't in the house. Slowly, he slipped away from the group in an effort to escape the screaming and yelling. It was no surprise, they wanted to know more about you. Three months and they couldn't even really recall your last name. From your file, it was a complicated name to say the least so he assumed you just didn't like saying it.
Your mother died and your father raised you for a little while long, that's when the trail ends cold. Nothing else is mentioned in the mystery file. Some days he would think about it so much he had an urge to ask Penelope to unseal it on the computer just so he could scrap a single fact about you.
Once outside, he stepped around the gravel, kicking some in small piles as he looked around for the device anywhere on the floor. Tire marks covered the nearby road, showing someone was leaving in a big rush, taking the turn too quickly for the car to keep up.
Stars danced in the sky and crickets sang in the calm night. As he continued to look, he thought about what you were doing right now, how you were doing really. The relationship between a unit chief and a colleague would be inappropriate not to mention you had a boyfriend. None of this truly mattered to Hotch, nothing would happen between you two and he found it embarrassing to even have such thoughts in his head.
Thankfully he found your phone quickly because of a notification lighting up the screen. He didn't hesitate to hop into his car and drive away. He had to go to your house once when a case was prolonged and you needed some extra files but he memorized every turn, every stoplight, every speed bump into his muscle memory.
I'm twenty minutes he made it, grabbing your phone and buzzing past the gates that slung open after scanning his car's licensing plate. Technology was crawling this estate.
A woman he didn't recognize ran out to his car in a hurry with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Sir!" she called out desperately.
Hotch frowned and rushed towards her out of instinct, checking for wounds or scratches. "Is everything alright? You called about Y/N?"
"Yes, yes," she huffed, "Are you Aaron? Aaron Hotchner?" Despite his confusion he nodded and followed her through the big double doors after scanning his hand in the lock. "Come with me. I think he went too far this time,"
The short woman rushed, practically running across the floor. Come with me, I think he went too far this time." Who is he? What does she mean by going too far? His first thought was you, that's the only explanation to who she was talking about and he was so wrapped up that he didn't steal any glances at the house itself. A couple turns were rounded before his heart dropped at the sight in front of him. His breath hitched and he dropped onto the floor by your unconscious body, laying in your own blood. His two fingers immediately attached to your neck to check for a pulse.
Celia stood behind him silently, small sobs leaving her mouth softly every few seconds. Hotch turned to her, "What is your name?"
"Celia Monroe" she sobbed into her elbow. Hotch smiled kindly at the panicked woman, "Celia I need you to call 911 okay? And tell them that Agent Hotchner from the BAU is requesting police and ambulance."
He spoke calmly despite being anything but calm. Deep down he assumed this was his fault for not saying anything sooner. Jagged cuts ran down your arms and any open space on your skin.
"Shit, shit, shit" he cursed under his breath, pressing to a wound in your abdomen where glass was plunged into you.
"He said he's with the BAU," Celia sobbed. "Ambulance and police to 5910 Ticker Road 32217."
Your eyes fluttered, Aaron placing his hand on your cheek so keep you still in a way. "Don't move," he whispered.
It was obvious you didn't know what was happening because you flinched slightly and closed your eyes again, shaking from the cold and blood loss. "Axel? What are you doing here, are you okay?" you asked confusedly.
Hotch shook his head with a sigh, "No Y/N, it's Aaron you're fine just stay awake for me."
"Oh" you slurred. It pained him to know your first instinct was to ask if he was okay when you were swimming in your own blood.
And he prayed that the ambulance would make it in time.
A/N-
Honestly how are we feeling about this? I feel like it's very rushed and I'm repeating a lot of words so let me know! <3