"Sometimes I get so sad it's hard to breathe. So tell me how you expect me to talk about my demons when they're sitting on my lungs." ~ Author Unknown
The Daughter
"Nah love, not like that c'mon harder!" I yelled, my voice echoing throughout the gymnasium.
"I'm trying." Spencer grunted, plunging his fist again.
"Well c'mon, you're obviously not trying hard enough."
"I am, I swear I just can't-" He grunted again, plummeting his other fist again, his biceps flexing. "This isn't as easy as it looks." He puffed as he raised his leg and kicked harder.
"That's it!" I cheered. "C'mon, again, again!" With each word I cheered, Spencer kicked and punched harder, the sweat running down his forehead and back, his bare torso shining, his hair sticking to his scalp in the bobble I'd tied it into an hour and a half ago.
"You're doing it!" I cheered. "C'mon!" He plummeted one last kick and I cheered and whistled, Spencer spinning towards me with an exhausted grin.
"That's it love, well done!" I cheered, throwing my arms around him expecting a victory hug but instead was greeted with his sweaty lips forcing down on mine, his sweaty arms snaking around my waist as his chest rose and fell against mine.
He moaned against my lips and snatched me closer to him before breaking away and gasping for breath.
I laughed and ran my hand down his sweaty neck, making him shiver with my cool touch.
"You done good baby." I smiled as he pressed his forehead against mine, gasping for air.
"I've been taught by the best so I'd hope so." He said breathlessly with a quirky smirk.
He absentmindedly ran his left hand from the small of my back to the bump which was positioned between us, rubbing my skin over the thin vest-top I was wearing.
Suddenly the door swung open from the other side of the hall.
"Hey love-birds, time to go, we got a case!" Morgan called and I turned to glance over my shoulder.
"Okay, we'll be right there!" I called before turning back to Spencer and stretching up on my tiptoes. "I'm proud of you Spence. You did good." I kissed his forehead and he grinned, turning and sweeping his t-shirt up off the bench saying,
"On a scale of one to mother-like, how biased or sympathetic are you rating my athletics?" I looked up at him with a scowl and took the boxing gloves from him while we made our way to the door Morgan was holding open.
"I am not been biased, nor am I being sympathetic. I'm a harsh teacher you should know that by now."
Morgan was nodding his head in agreement to my words and I threw him a dirty look.
"Hey I'm being truthful," He laughed.
"When I was helping out with your coaching a couple of months ago in the beginning," He said to Spencer before whistling and shaking his head; letting the door swing shut behind us as we left the gymnasium.
"I thought I was working alongside Hitler and not the pregnant butter-wouldn't-melt British profiler." I laughed and elbowed his side while doing so.
"So you genuinely think I'm improving?" Spencer asked, pausing outside the shower room.
"Spence I know you're improving."
"Kid, do me a favour while you're in there and take a look in the mirror will you?" Morgan reached forward and jabbed Spencer's bicep.
"You're filling out nicely, man. In fact, more than nicely. Mel here has you trained more than I ever thought would be possible. You're no longer the skinny kid you used to be. You're stronger and you're more tactical. You're doing more than improving, Reid."
I was nodding along to Morgan's words and Spencer blinked bashfully down at his tennis shoes, a small smile and blush on his cheeks.
"Now go take a shower so we can put your new kick-boxing skills into action on a new Unsub." I laughed, playfully hitting his upper arm and immediately regretting it.
He chuckled at my expression and swept a kiss over my forehead before entering the shower room.
I sighed as I watched him go and turned to Morgan, realising he was already watching me.
"What?" I laughed self-consciously, walking to my locker and removing my chiffon blouse.
"Nothing," He smirked, leaning against the tower of lockers next to me.
"I just can't believe it was almost six months ago you and my boy in there were announcing to the world your pregnancy and engagement and now you're half-way through the wedding and labour plans and training my boy up to be a replacement-you for while you're gone..." Morgan sighed and shook his head.
"I'm proud." I grinned and took my hair out of its bun in order to retie it into its pigtail.
"Well..." I sighed. "Bump will be here in no time..." I said, absentmindedly caressing my small bump.
"And as for the wedding," I grinned. "Well that can wait until we all have a free day or two, and until I've lost my pregnancy-fat." Morgan chuckled and shook his head.
"You've done good training him." Morgan said, jerking his chin in the direction of the shower room.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day that Doctor-Spencer-Reid would become an ass-kicking, butt-whooping, martial-arts-professional type of Agent." I shrugged and sighed as I took my satchel out of my locker and closed the door.
"I just want everyone to be prepared," I shrugged matter-of-factly.
"I know that once-upon-a-time the team didn't have me and Spence remained as perfect as he is without physical training. But, well, I don't know. We were talking about how physically tactical I am and how I can defend myself and I don't know... I just thought it was kinda sad that he couldn't say the same.
"And I thought about what would happen when I stepped out of the field and when I'm off on leave and I realised that the thought scared me. I wouldn't be there to protect or defend Spencer and I panicked. I know, I know, you guys have his back no matter what but I wanted to make sure that even if it came down to it, he'd still be able to defend himself properly.
"And also, I didn't want any of you taking pity and telling him to stay behind if you ever went out on the field and I knew that that'd leave us a member down if I wasn't there to take his place and I just knew I had to do something about it."
"Mel..." Morgan said once I'd finished. "You're seven and a half months pregnant," He said with a small smile. "You're engaged to be married..." He sighed. "You could've just asked me to train him instead." I smiled and shook my head, reaching a hand out to Morgan's face lightly.
"Derek... You're a sweetheart. But this one thing I had to do myself." Morgan rolled his eyes as I tapped his face lightly and closed my locker door just as Spencer emerged from the shower room with a towel around his waist and his locker-key in hand.
"Ah of course," Morgan was saying as Spencer came into view. "The woman is always right."
"No..." I said, holding a finger up at him.
"Melanie is always right." Morgan and Spencer said at the same time.
I laughed and nodded my hand, patting both of their shoulders saying,
"I've trained you both well." Just as my cell started to ring.
Both Morgan and Spencer looked down at my cell as I pulled it out of my front pouch. Seeing the number on the screen I immediately panicked and rejected the call.
"Again?" Spencer groaned as Morgan looked at it suspiciously.
"Uh... Yeah... Persistent huh." I sniggered bashfully.
"Who is?" Morgan asked in that tone of his.
"Just this sales rep that keeps calling Mel. Who knew outside calls could be accepted by government cells?" Spencer scoffed before taking his clothes and heading to a nearby stall to get dressed.
"Mel..." Morgan began in a low voice so Spencer wouldn't hear. "I know that number. That isn't a sales rep. Reid's right, government cells don't accept those kinda numbers."
"Derek," I said in my warning tone. "Please," I pleaded. "Don't."
"Melanie if you're getting those calls it's only for one thing-"
"Exactly. And I'm not interested."
"Mel, think about it. That's an amazing opportunity. Does your dad know?"
"No!" I blurted. "And I'd like to keep it that way." I hissed in a quiet tone again.
"If he doesn't know now, he'll know soon. If you keep ignoring them they're only gonna go to your chief."
"Morgan I said I'm not interested."
"Have you even thought about it?"
"No, because I'm not interested!"
"Melanie it could be a better offer. Decent hours for when the baby's here."
"Derek, I respect you and I love you like a brother. So because of that, I'm asking you to butt out." He looked at me with wide eyes but I refused to break eye contact. I wasn't backing down. I was serious.
At that, the stall door opened and Spencer emerged wearing his normal work clothes with his hair partially towel-dried to his shoulders.
I cleared my throat and forced a grin.
"Ready love?"
The Doctor
Morgan, Mel and I made our way upstairs to the BAU where the team were getting ready for Garcia's briefing.
As usual, the sight of Melanie and our wonderful bump made me smile and practically glow with happiness; no wonder they say that when a mother's pregnant her skin literally glows; the happiness from such a gift was enough to make one do such a thing.
"How was training?" Aaron asked me with a small smile as we all sat down around the table.
"Good." I nodded proudly with a smile, taking my water bottle from my bag halfheartedly.
The whole caffeine-cut was driving me insane; but what wasn't good for our baby wasn't good for Mel and what wasn't good for my child and my fiance, wasn't good for me either.
"I'm glad to hear it." Aaron nodded.
"Actually," Mel said, leaning closer to Aaron. "He was amazing today. Completely exceeded my expectations." She grinned proudly and JJ grinned happily from my other side.
"Really?" She said excitedly. "That's great, well done Spence."
"That's excellent news," Aaron was saying with a smile. "I'm pleased to hear it." He added.
"Looks like we're one step closer to acquiring our replacement-Melanie. Watch out, we might not need you back." Rossi joked from Prentiss' side next to JJ.
We all laughed but in truth that thought scared me.
A team without Mel? I shuddered at the thought.
"Alrighty folks," Garcia said as she entered the conference room. "We have a bad one, and it's urgent."
"How urgent Garcia?" Aaron asked worriedly.
"Well, wheels-up-in-fifteen-urgent, sir." She said matter-of-factly and Aaron's eyes went slightly wider.
"Laredo, Webb, Texas," Garcia said as she clicked up pictures of three small innocent toddlers. "Over the past three days, these children have been reported missing from local hospitals only to be found dead mere hours later in the outskirts of the town. Suffocated to death and buried in shallow sandy graves. No sign of sexual assault."
"How old were the children?" Prentiss asked in a shaky voice.
Next to me, Mel reached across and clutched my knee, squeezing it emotionally. I looked over at her as I covered her hand with my own, lacing our fingers together as she squeezed them tightly, giving me a small but emotional smile. It was clear this was going to be a difficult one.
"Uh," Garcia clicked up a photo of the only girl; bright blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. "This is Polly Peters. She was twenty months," JJ and Mel winced. "Ian Jasper," Garcia said as she clicked up a photo of a dark-haired dark-eyed little boy. "Was eighteen months,"
Another wince this time from all the women as Garcia shook her head sadly, her voice thick.
"And finally Jonah South was just a year old." The third picture was of a small smiling toddler with three front teeth in his otherwise toothless photo, some golden locks on the top of his head, his cheeks chubby as his hazel eyes melted into the camera.
"Okay well, this Unsub doesn't have a sexual preference. And it isn't for sex or any paedophilic satisfaction." Morgan said matter-of-factly.
"Is there any other sign of sexual assault Garci?" Mel asked.
"Nuh-uh. Not that the coroner can determine anyway."
Mel sighed.
"Well, it's clear this isn't about sex. But what else can it be about?" Rossi asked.
"Whatever it is, this is an Unsub who isn't giving up. We need to make sure we stop them before another child goes missing and is killed tomorrow. Wheels up in ten." Aaron said and we all gathered our things; rising from our chairs.
The Daughter
"Hey Melly," Spencer said as the conference room emptied; leaving the two of us behind in the room. He caught my forearm and I turned with a bright smile.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked and my brow furrowed. "I-I mean you could just stay here a-and look at houses or apartments for when the-"
"Spence," I frowned, shaking my head and lacing our hands together.
"We've talked about this," I said seriously. "I don't want to move, and yes, I'm sure. I love your- our apartment. It's perfect and I can't imagine us living anywhere else, nor can I imagine our baby living anywhere else." His serious expression cracked into a grin and he threw his arms around me; taking me by surprise.
I chuckled in surprise and wrapped my arms around him, swaying slightly with the strength behind his embrace. Emotionally he buried his head into my shoulder, hiding his face from view.
"Hey Spence, you okay?" I asked, rubbing his back and beginning to worry as his arms squeezed me tighter.
"Mhmm." He nodded unconvincingly into my neck.
"Are you sure...? Only you've been super emotional today I-" I cut myself off as I realised what was wrong.
"Spencer, why didn't you say something?!" I pulled back to see his emotional expression and scowled at him. "Have the dreams started again?" He chewed on the inside of his lower lip; a new habit he'd started since the dreams began the week after we found out I was pregnant. "Spence maybe you should talk to someone about this."
"I have. I've talked to you about it." He said in that small sheepish innocent voice of his.
"Baby I mean someone who can help you."
"You help me. Just by being here and letting me hold you every once in a while, that helps. That helps more than any doctor or psychologist or shrink could." I sighed and ran my hand over his cool cheek before giving him a small, emotional smile.
This wasn't over. He threw his arms around me again and this time; I didn't worry because I knew it was helping him.
"Has anybody seen-" My dad halted in the back doorway of the conference room as he saw Spencer and I together. "Is everything okay?" He asked in a worried tone and I smiled, pulling back and nodding my head.
"Spencer's just trying to make me stay behind again." I explained, rolling my eyes and reaching for my satchel.
"Mel's definitely your daughter, Aaron. Defiant all the way." My dad and I chuckled and he shook his head.
"Now that I can't deny."
"Did you lose something?" I asked, pausing before him as I remembered what he'd previously been saying.
"Oh, it's nothing it's just-" He paused and chuckled as he spotted his tablet on the table. "I think I need to start the day over." He chuckled, reaching for his tablet.
"Is something the matter? You're never like this." I asked as we made our way out of the conference room, Spencer still clutching my hand.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Beth just has me stressed out over the weddings and baby-talk." He rolled his eyes and chuckled as we called the elevator.
"Her recent idea is a joint-wedding, did I tell you?" Spencer and I exchanged panicked looks and my dad laughed. "Oh I know, I know, that was my exact reaction. She thinks its a great idea but like I said, it isn't only herself that's getting married." My dad rolled his eyes as the three of us piled inside the elevator.
"Well, it's slightly impractical..." I allowed in a sweet tone. "I mean you guys have most of your plans down whereas Spencer and I have barely even started." My dad was nodding along to my words.
"Oh, I know. Try telling that to Beth."
The Doctor
While Prentiss and Dave were at the coroner's office talking to the medical examiner, JJ and Morgan were talking with the families of the victims.
I had to keep telling myself that although these kids - babies, infants, minors, innocents - were simply that, they were also victims.
And, in cases like these, it made all the difference if I simply referred to them as victims rather than the complete innocent babies that they were.
"Detective Harding, I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, this is Agent Melanie Hotchner and Doctor Spencer Reid."
The short, round, grey-haired, white-moustached, red-faced detective approached with his hand on his hip, a serious look behind his glasses which had slid to the tip of his nose as he looked up from the computer screen he'd been observing over one of the officer's shoulders.
He extended his hand and shook Aaron's with a small nod of his head before turning his beady eyes on Melanie and I.
I suddenly became profoundly aware of our bump; despite the fact it was still small and Melanie's black clothing made it that little bit less noticeable; and exceedingly aware of the fact that I had both of our satchels over my shoulder; Melanie's hand laced with mine.
"Detective." Melanie smiled happily with a nod of her head.
"My oh my," The Detective chuckled, putting his other hand on his hip as he finishing shaking hands with Aaron. "I didn't realise this was gon' be a family affair," He chuckled, looking between the three of us.
"Father, daughter, and," He glanced at Melanie's left hand caressing our bump. "Fiance? Talk about keepin' it in the family." He chuckled, apparently extremely entertained by our close relations.
"Well the BAU does pride itself in being close-knit." Aaron said defensively despite his joyous smile; his usual reaction to PD's pointing out the family connection between us. Melanie really had pulled us all together.
"I must admit," The Detective said as he began leading us to a section of the station assigned to us. "I did expect more of you."
"Our other agents are at with the coroner and the families." Melanie explained with a nod of her head as she pulled out a chair at the table and sat down.
"Oh right," The Detective nodded. "Well, we got everything here that your other agent required," He chuckled as he pointed to a table up the back. "I'm guessing when she spoke about more water than coffee and packs of nuts that she was referring to you?" He said, smirking as he turned his eyes to Melanie who blushed at his words.
"Garcia shouldn't have put you to any bother," Melanie said bashfully. "But thank you for being so considerate. The cravings have only recently started." She explained shyly as I walked to the table and gathered three bottles of water and a pack of nuts.
"I remember when my wife was pregnant," The Detective whistled beneath his breath. "She was craving from the start. Nightmare." He shook his head and cleared his throat, averting his eyes back to the evidence board as Aaron thanked me for the water I passed him and began quizzing the Detective.
"How are you? Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?" I asked Mel as I fussed over her, opening the pack of nuts and passing them to her along with the bottle of water.
"Spence," She chuckled. "I'm pregnant, not handless," She reached up and touched my cheek lovingly. "Thank you though." She kissed the air to me and I blushed insanely red as I took to the seat beside her, averting my concentration to the Detective and Aaron as Mel began crunching next to me.
The Daughter
The team had persistently sent me back to the hotel when darkness had fallen and 'there was nothing else I could do except look after the baby and myself and get some sleep'.
It'd been like this for the past week or so; anytime it started to look like we'd need to pull all-nighters just to get a new lead; they'd get all defensive and protective and send me to the hotel.
At first, it wasn't so bad and only my dad and Spencer were protective, but then their habits rubbed off onto everyone else. JJ had sympathised at first but then she'd grown protective like everyone else.
It was annoying but it was so beautiful to know that everybody was there for me; supporting me; looking after me; simply caring.
From going to not having anybody there to having an entire team and family who love and care for you... it was insanely wonderful.
I stopped by the coffee shop on my way into the station the next morning and bought a round of coffees; suited to their individual tastes along with a thick cake for my satisfactory craving and a bag of pastries for the team.
"Gooooood morning!" I sung as I approached the table where the team of zombies were stood around the full evidence board; Prentiss and Rossi the only ones sitting down.
"Melanie!" They all gasped in surprise; clearly not expecting me so early and evidently so full.
"What're you doing?!" Spencer gasped a few octaves higher than usual.
"Spencer, relax," I said in my firm tone, silencing the team and making the Detective snigger into his arm as he turned his eyes back to the evidence board.
"I am a wonderful person and that is why I brought all these lovely things in this morning for my lovely friends who work too hard," I turned to Spencer and put a hand on his cheek. "And I promise you dear Spence not a drop of caffeine or coffee has touched these lips," I said with a sweet smile.
"I only stopped by the coffee shop for some coffee and breakfast for you all because I know it's been a tough night," I remembered the messages I'd woken up to a sighed. "Judging by the texts you sent it was horrible and I'm sorry for that. Which is why I'm in so early and which is why I thought this would be a lovely thing to do,"
I turned to the tray and searched for the one with Spencer's name written in ink on the side before grinning and passing it to him.
"One large triple shot cappuccino for my Prince," I said. "And before you say anything," I interrupted him before he could start as the team dug into the coffees and bag. "It's okay for you to drink this you know," A small frown graced his expression and I pouted.
"Baby you're exhausted," I said in a quiet voice so the rest of the team wouldn't hear me. "You've barely slept for days, and when you have it's with horrid nightmares about me and our baby dying," His eyes glazed over at the mere memory of such a dream.
"You're practically running on empty," I said. "And I need you," I shrugged simply. "We need you. Which is why you need a caffeine boost to keep you here," I thrust the coffee at him and he eventually cracked a smile as he accepted it. "Thank you." I said with a small smile as he met my eyes again before throwing his arms around me.
"I've missed you." He whispered sadly into my shoulder.
"I know," I sighed, remembering his sad texts from through the night and cursing myself. "I've missed you too," I sighed, running my fingers through his hair. "I knew I shouldn't have gone back to the hotel. You needed me here."
"It was important that you rested." He said quietly as if trying to convince himself and knowing it was a failure before the words had left his mouth.
"Well tonight I'm either staying here or you're coming with me." I said, pulling back with a defiant little smile.
He smirked when he saw it and nodded.
"Okay. Deal." He sighed before I hurriedly swept our lips together and reached for the bag, pulling out my cake and grinning before taking a massive bite, everyone turning to me with parted mouths.
"Sorry," I apologised around a mouthful. "I genuinely couldn't wait another second." I explained once my mouth was free.
"You or the baby?" JJ laughed and everyone joined in.
"She has a sweet tooth it would seem." I agreed.
"She?" Morgan echoed. "You're having a girl?" He asked excitedly.
"Oh well..." I looked at Spencer bashfully and shook my head, shrugging. "We don't know... We want to keep it a surprise but..." I shrugged and absentmindedly rubbed at our bump. "I just have a feeling."
"A feeling?" Morgan echoed. "Oh, well, I think a feeling doesn't allow for sexism." He joked.
"Oh, now I'm the sexist one?!" I scoffed and everyone started laughing.
It was moments like these that stuck out in my mind as being beautiful; wonderful; pure.
My team and I... Well... We're a family.
I know, I know, that's a cliche. But it's the truth. You'd only have to look at a single snapshot of our lives together to know that instantly.
There isn't anything any of us wouldn't do for each other.
We'd die for each other.
And, in some cases, we've done just that.
But the beauty of being so close; of being together; of loving each other so entirely and so irrevocably is what made the events of that evening so tragically heartbreaking.
The Doctor
"Garcia how could you have missed this?!" Aaron was shouting down the phone as we all piled back into the SUVs.
"Sir I'm so sorry I don't know what happened I-I-I-"
"It doesn't matter, where's the wife now?!"
"I-I-I'm looking sir but I just don't know!" At that moment another call beeped in and Aaron groaned.
"Call me back when you do," He snapped before answering the other call. "Hotchner."
"Dad, it's me. It's not Mike Wilson it's Angela Wilson. She's suffering from severe Postnatal or Postpartum Depression. She's bipolar and she stopped taking her medication when she fell pregnant with her last child who died five weeks ago, right before the killings started. The only thing is," Melanie was saying rapidly and on the other line I could hear movement.
Was she pacing?
"The COD was inconclusive. The autopsy didn't reveal anything at all. But that's not the unusual part. ME ruled cot-death as the COD but I've been looking at the pictures and... well... I think Angela killed her own children."
"Do you know where she is now Melanie?" Aaron asked as we aimlessly sat in front of Mike Wilson's home address.
"Yeah I'm on my way there now, she's been living with her mum for the past week after Mike threw her out."
"How do you know that?"
"I called her mum."
"Melanie stay where you are don't go near her!" I called but it was too late, the call had already ended.
"Let's go we need to go!" I yelled impatiently as Aaron waited on his cell downloading Angela's mother's address.
"I don't believe this." Rossi groaned from the back-seat as Aaron floored the car down the street.
"Hang on!"
The Daughter
There was no way Angela Wilson was going to kill another child.
She'd already potentially killed six children; all babies; all infants; all completely innocent; three her own children. There was no way she was going to make it a seventh. And I was going to make sure of it.
I abandoned the car in front of the house and propelled myself up the front lawn; hammering on the door.
I had the last two officers with me, which left only one manning the station.
"Angela Wilson, FBI!" I called but nobody answered so I threw the door opened to find her mother strapped to the armchair in the front room, her mouth gagged and her hands tied.
"Mrs. Carter where's your daughter?!" I demanded and she looked to the ceiling, mumbling what I considered to be,
"Upstairs."
Taking the stairs quickly with my gun raised I hurried upstairs and called out her name again, only to hear a baby cry from the front bedroom.
The officers reached the room before me and were waiting for my orders.
"Angela... I'm going to come in slowly, okay? I don't want to hurt you... Or Thomas..." I said in a calm voice, trying to keep this situation as calm as possible before anything could spiral out of control...
That was the last thing I needed when I was without backup. God only knows how long it would take for my dad and the others to arrive.
I nodded and the officer gently shoved the door opened.
Firstly, I caught a glimpse of the small toddler Thomas in the playpen in front of the window. Breathing a sigh of relief as I realised he was completely free of harm I nodded my head and the officer edged further inside the room; our guns still raised.
"Angela," I said calmly, my eyes falling on the sobbing blonde-haired woman on the opposite side of the room holding a gun in her shaking hand.
Well, that was certainly new.
"Angela, my name is Melanie," I said calmly. "I'm with the FBI..." I explained. "I need you to put that gun down, Angela. It's not going to help you here."
"I lost him... I lost them all." She sobbed, her expression completely torn.
"I know... But it's okay, I'm here now, everything's going to be okay so long as you put that gun down."
"You can't bring them back, nobody can. They were taken from me. They'll always be taken from you! That's what happens!" She cried, throwing her arms in the air.
"Not if you put that gun down... It's not too late for Thomas. He's still here, he can still be here if you put that gun down so we can talk."
"What's there to talk about?!" She sobbed, looking up at me for the first time and gasping. "You're... You're..."
"Look," I said, showing her my gun and slowly moving it to my holster. "I'm putting mine away to keep Thomas safe. Now I need you to do the same for me, Angela. Put your gun away and we can talk about keeping Thomas with us, safe."
"You can't do that..." She said absentmindedly in a breathless voice, shaking her head and looking at my bump. "Y-y-you can't keep him here. N-nobody can. They all leave. All of them. Yours will leave you too. That's what they do, they leave they... they... they leave you and it hurts. It hurts so bad so... so bad."
She was shaking her head frantically, running her hands through her hair with the gun; desperately grabbing at the roots; strands pulling out from her scalp as she dropped her shaking hands in front of her.
"Angela," I began, showing her my free hands after I'd holstered my gun. One of the officers was almost next to her now, and the other office was almost by Thomas on my other side, so long as I kept her talking, her focus would remain on me.
"If you put that gun down, we can get some coffee and you can tell me all about the ones who have left you, and we can make sure that Thomas will never leave you again." I said in my calmest voice.
"No!" She shrieked insanely. Outside I heard cars pull up at the curb and sighed a breath of relief; backup.
Suddenly the officer reached for her gun and tossed it aside, just as the other officer reached Thomas and yanked the sobbing child into her arms, hurrying from the room.
I wasn't sure what was happening, but there was an altercation as Angela realised she didn't have the gun or Thomas.
"Angela!" I yelled, trying to get her attention as the officer struggled with her arms, trying to restrain her. "Angela, calm down, you're safe now. Thomas is-" The wind was completely knocked from me as Angela swung her arm back as hard as she could and plummeted straight into my stomach.
I doubled over in two, wincing as my dad and Spencer pushed into the room.
Next to me, the officer was still struggling to detain Angela, and just as Spencer approached me, Angela flew backwards, staggering straight into me, the pair of us falling to the floor in a heap.