Y/n's POV
Running my hand through my hair as I focus on the file I'm filing out I look up when I hear Aaron call my name and he motions for me to join him in his office which makes everyone look at me confused. Shrugging at them I grab my blazer as I get up from my desk and slip it on as I make my way up to his office, frowning when I see Dana and who I can only imagine is Agent Mulder in there. Raising an eyebrow at my girlfriend she just smiles as she gets up from her seat and comes over to wrap her arms around my waist making me chuckle as I kiss her quickly. "So much for keeping us at home Dana." I mutter and she just shrugs making Aaron laugh as he motions for me to sit down. "This stays in this office Hotchner, if anyone outside of this office finds out about this I know who's responsible. I've kept your relationship a secret have the decenct to do the same or I will do much worse than just expose that little secret. Understood?" I ask him as I sit down with Dana beside me and he nods with a laugh while Dana smacks my arm lightly.
"You have my word y/n, no one will find out about this from me." Aaron says with a smile which I return as Dana takes my hand. "Right, let's get onto the reason that I called you in here. Agent Mulder, Agent Scully would one of you like to explain or should I?" He asks and Dana turns to me with a pointed look making me groan.
"We need your help, actually I need your help and Mulder's being a baby because I won't listen to him." She says making me roll my eyes at that because that seems to be a common complaint she has about the man. "Can you come take a look at something with us and tell me what you honestly think without either of us telling you anything? I need a fresh set of eyes on this and no offense to the rest of your team but you're the only person I trust bringing in on this y/n. I know how good you are at what you do along with your exact qualifications which will be perfect for this case we're working on."
"If it helps you solve your case and gets me out of filling out paperwork then I'm in Dana, so long as it's okay with you Aaron." I tell her and look at my long time friend making him nod with a smile which is pretty rare these days. "Wait for me by the elevator and I'll meet you there in a few minutes?" I ask Dana and she nods with a smile as she gets up and leaves the office with Mulder after kissing me quickly making Aaron chuckle. "What's up with you mister smiley? You've smiled more today thanyou have since before Hayley died. Spill it."
"Emily's coming over for a couple weeks and has been in talks with Erin to come back to work now that we're an agent down." He tells me as he leans back in his chair with a smile and his normally stoney eyes are softer than I've seen them in ages making me smile and reach over the desk to rest my hand on top of his. "How come you didn't tell me? You were the first person that I came to when I started developing feelings for Emily."
"There's never been a great time to. Dana and I have known each other on and off throughout the years and she's the one I told you there's been an attraction to since day one. When we met up one night after we got home from a horrendous case we ended up getting dinner and some drinks which led to us sharing one very drunk and passionate night together. We didn't speak for months after that and then out of the blue she turned up at the house and kissed me senseless when I opened the door, I wanted to tell you but we caught so many cases and very rarely got to work alone together like we used to." I explain with a sigh and he nods with a smile as I stand up. "We really need to try and arrange something at some point though Aaron, that way we can actually catch up properly because I have a lot that I need to get off of my chest and I'm sure you do too."
"Once you've finished helping Dana we'll arrange something y/n but for now you better go before the others start asking a million questions." He says and I nod as I leave his office with a smile, making my way back to my desk I raise an eyebrow at Dana who holds my things up with a smirk while Mulder glowers at me. Shaking my head at her I take my bag from her while she steals my jacket making me laugh as we get into the elevator, completely ignoring the rest of the team who are looking at me confused.
"I'm never getting that jacket back now am I?" I ask her and she just looks at me with a smile making me shake my head with a fond smile as she takes my hand, pulling me closer to her as she tangles our fingers together. "Alright, you officially win, you can keep the damn jacket."
"Told you that I'd get it off of you eventually." She says with a smug smile and I just shake my head with a laugh while Mulder grumbles under his breath making Dana look at him with a glare. "Seriously? If you have something to say then say it. Honestly you're a fully grown man so just say whatever you have to say, don't just grumble under your breath like a child." She tells him with a scowl as the elevator stops in the parking garage and I pull her out of it before she can do something stupid like punch the twat.
"Right, who's car are we taking?" I ask hoping to difuse some of the tension and Dana looks at me with a soft smile as she pulls me towards my car.
"Yours. It's the biggest and you have a siren and lights in yours should we need it." She says and I pass her my keys with a chuckle making Mulder look between us confused. "Oh for god sake would you just say whatever's on your mind and get it over with already?"
"I'm trying to understand what the hell is going on right now. Since when have you been into women and when did this happen? Also what was the deal with mister serious up there?" Mulder asks as we get in my car and I chuckle at Aaron's nickname.
"Hotch has had a rough life Mulder, me and him grew up in pretty crappy families and for a while only really had each other to rely on. He's not always been mister serious but I will say that our job hardens you slightly and when his ex-wife and son became targets to a serial killer... it changed him, even more so when Hayley was murdered in her own home." I tell him with a sigh and he looks at me with wide eyes making me nod. "Aaron's a good guy and completely dedicated to his job but he's just as dedicated to his little boy so don't let that outer shell fool you."
"As for your other questions I've been interested in women since I was in high school and me and y/n have been together for going on ten months now." Dana tells him with a shrug as she drives us to wherever we're going and I look back at him with a chuckle when I see the shock on his face. "We didn't tell people we were together because of both our jobs, we didn't want to risk anything happening to the other so outside of us only you and Aaron know about us. I'd prefer to keep it that way as well, for the sake of our privacy as well as for our safety." She adds as we pull up outside a house making me look at her confused when she gets out and quickly follow her. Walking into the house with her I follow her through to one of the bedrooms confused only to gasp slightly when I see what they needed my help with. "Please tell me this isn't actually a vampire we're dealing with y/n." She mutters to me as I walk over to the side of the bed and crouch down to get a better look.
"Have either of you got a pair of gloves?" I ask as I squint at something and one of them hands me a pair which I quickly slip on. Reaching under the collar of the girls top I pull out a small bit of material that was protruding from one of the many pin point incisions scattered along her body. "I hate to say it Mulder but you aren't looking at a vampire attack, the holes are too small for that. What we are looking at though is a sadistic fuck who has tortured this poor girl before killing her." I say quietly as I tilt my head slightly and motion for Dana to come over to my side. "Look at this, it looks like some kind of ritual mark." I tell her as I point at a specific area where the pin pricks look like they form some sort of celtic knott.
"WHat kind of ritual and how do you mean that he's tortured her before killing her? We thought these were done after she was killed." He asks as he comes over to us and looks at where I'm pointing making me look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Because there was no blood we assumed that they must have been done after he had killed her."
"There's no blood because he didn't kill her here but I bet... do either of you happen to have a blacklight?" I ask and Mulder's quick to hand me one and I move over to the window, shinning the light on the dark wood I groan when I see blood speckles. "Dammit, I didn't want that to be the case. Dana turn her onto her side and tell me if there's any sort of markings that would show she had been dragged through the woods."
"Fucking hell! How did we not even think of that?" Dana asks and when I look at her I see the annoyance on her face making me smile slightly as she does what I had asked. "There's one cut on her back but it looks old, maybe a couple days old given the bruising around it." She tells me and I bite my lip as I try to think, closing my eyes as I try to picture what might have happened.
"Okay... so we know that he didn't kill her here because there's no blood, even if he had cleaned up there would be more than a small speckle of blood residue on the window frame. Given that the UNSUB would have to be relatively young, late twenties to early thirties, and in pretty good shape. He'd have known her rather well so not to draw attention to himself and he'd have some connection to celtic rituals." I say more to myself than anyone else and bite my lip as I open my eyes. "Dana did you grab my phone when you packed up my desk?" I ask her and she pulls it out of my jacket pocket before throwing it at me with a grin, calling Garcia I cut off her usual bullcrap with a groan. "No time Pen, I need you to search something for me. If I send you a photo can you try and find anything on a celtic knott and celtic rituals? More specifically groups local to here that are into all that?"
"Of course I can, do oyu really doubt my abilities miss secret keeper?" She asks and I can hear the hurt in her voice making me roll my eyes, I really don't have time for this bullshit today.
"Of course not Pen but this needs to be really specific and it needs to stay between us. No telling Derek or anyone else in the team, this isn't a case they're working on but one I'm helping out on with another department. This needs to stay confidential and stay out of my personal shit, I've already talked to you about that." I tell her and she hums on the other end making me sigh. "Yes I'm dating someone, yes it might very well be the gorgeous redhead I am helping and yes I do want you to keep this between us as well. Now please, keep this case confidential."
"My lips are sealed y/n, you have my word." She says and I hang up with a scowl before taking a picture of the celtic knott and send it to her. Shoving the phone in my trouser pocket I pinch the bridge of my nose as I try to figure out a motive for any of this.
"Wait, Dana did you say that cut looks a few days old?" I ask and she nods with a frown as she tries to figure out where I'm going with this. "Weren't you just telling me the other night about some girls going missing at a party only to turn up with cuts on their backs and no recollection of how they got them?"
"Yeah, the police put it down as a case of them getting drunk and them getting lost in the woods and hurting themselves." She says with a frown before her eyes widen as she looks between me and Mulder. "You think the scratches may have been markings? A way to pick out targets without raising suspicion?" She asks as she comes over to me and I nod with a sigh.
"It's a possibility." I tell her as I pull out my phone and search for the article, scanning through it when I finally find it I groan as I find photo's of the marks. "You guys might have another two murders on your hand if we don't find this guy." I add as I pass her the phone making her groan as well before handing it to Mulder.
"Well fuck, how do we stop any of this before he gets them? He obviously knows where they live and it's almost dark out." He asks and I take my phone back with a frown as I call Penny again after sending her the names of the two other girls.
"Hey, forget the prior search I need addresses for thise two girls and I need them now." I tell her when she answers and my phone pings making me grin when I see the addresses which I forward onto Dana. "Anything on the knott or groups?" I ask as we leave the house and get back in the car, putting the phone on speaker phone as I do.
"In the late nineteen nineties there was a killing spree a few blocks away from where you were and all of them were linked to some looney that claimed to be cursed by a celtic god. After he was arrested nothing has been reported since." She says and I frown at that. "Oh he does have a son who is due to turn thirty this year that recently escaped from a mental hospital after rambling about the celtic gods coming for him. He went to high school with one of the girls you asked for the address for."
"Dammit, send me his details and address as well Pen." I tell her before hanging up and look over at Dana who's looking at me shocked. "She's a tech genius, best of the best and a bloody brilliant addition to any team. " I say with a shrug making her laugh as she starts driving to one of the girls houses which is only five minutes from the first house.
"The other girl lives five minutes from here, I'll go get her and meet you back here in say ten minutes?" Mulder asks and we nod with a smile as we all get out of the car. Watching him go I follow Dana up to the front door and just as we go to knock there's a scream from the back of the house. Drawing our guns I kick the door open and together we carefully make our way back to the bedroom where we find the poor girl in a headlock.
"FBI, let the girl go and put your hands up or I will shoot you." I warn as I level my gun at his left shoulder and to my surprise he lets her go and raises his hands with a slightly maic look in his eyes. "Dana get her out while I deal with him." I say without taking my eyes off of the UNSUB who tilts his head at me slightly which is slightly unnerving. "Put your hands behind your head and down on your knees."
"You can't stop me. I will purge their souls and free them from their evils." He says as I walk behind him and holster my gun before quickly handcuffing him. Forcing him to his feet I guide him out of the house with a glare and am thankful that the police are already here as they take over the scene. "You'll be next! The gods will purge your soul and free you from your evils." He shouts at me as he's pushed into a cop car making me roll my eyes as I turn to Dana and Mulder who look at me confused while Dana pulls me into a tight hug with her head resting in the crook of my neck.
"I'm fine, the creep didn't hurt me sweetheart." I tell her softly and she relaxes into me more before pulling away and kissing me. "Hmm, what was that for? I'm not complaining but I am curious Dana."
"You're too fucking hot when you're in work mode." She says with a grin making me chuckle as I pull her into my body again and she wraps her arms around my neck happily. "Shall we go do the paperwork for this case, grab some dinner and head back to yours?" She asks and I nod with a grin as we get in the car seeing as the police are handling things from here.