A/N: This case is really rushed because I'm trying to work fast (sorry if you were expecting a detailed case!)
WARNING: THERE'S SWEARING
TRIGGER WARNING: TALKS ABOUT SELF-HARM
"The past can teach us, nurture us, but it cannot sustain us. The essence of life is change, and we must move ever forward or the soul will wither and die."
― Susanna Kearsley
Crystal and Hotch entered the hospital quickly and asked for the victims room, the doctor lead them over. "He's in and out of it at the moment."
"We won't be long." Hotch stated and the doctor nodded before entering the room, there laid an older gentleman and the doctor quietly spoke to him. "Mr. Turner? There's people from the FBI here to talk to you, can you speak with them?"
The man shifted a bit before opening his eyes, he looked over at Hotch and Crystal. Hotch walked over to him, "I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Archer. Can you tell us who did this to you?"
The man groaned quietly and Crystal walked over, "Can you blink once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'?"
Blink
"Do you know who did this to you?"
Blink Blink
"Did you see who attacked you?"
Blink Blink
"Did this person say something to you?"
Blink
"Did it sound like a man?"
Blink Blink
"A woman?"
Blink Blink
Crystal frowned and looked over at Hotch, Hotch looked puzzled before he cleared his throat. "Was the person who attacked you young?"
Blink
"Their voice sounded young like a child?"
Blink Blink
"Young like a teenager?"
Blink
"A teenage boy?"
Blink
The man started to gasp for air and the doctor ushered them out, "That's enough, he might hurt himself from his injuries." Hotch and Crystal walked back to the SUV as Hotch called Morgan, "Morgan, we think our unsub's a teenage boy."
___
They were back at the station looking at the board, Crystal took a bite of her fries as she listened to Morgan. "Crime scene shows no sign of blood."
"Autopsy shows that they most likely died out there though, particles found in their lungs match." Seaver stated and Morgan sighed, "Which means that our unsub is organized to not leave any blood, but disorganized enough to be sloppy with the killing."
"Fits the profile of a teenage boy." Rossi said as he took a sip of his drink, "Has Garcia been able to connect the victims?"
"Not yet," Crystal said, "But Abby told me that her mom has a dog who's protective of her, he wouldn't let anyone near the house that was a threat."
"Most likely means the dog recognized the unsub if he did break in." Morgan said and Reid shrugged, "Or she willingly walked out with the unsub, could've used a ruse to get her to go with him. Did the victim at the hospital say anything?"
"He's unable to answer questions at this time, he'll be further questioned when he's more stable." Hotch answered while looking at his file, Crystal looked over at the team. "Abby told me they had a gardener come around the house, he lost his job apparently so her mom paid him to mow the lawn."
Reid raised an eyebrow, "Deputy Shepard's wife said they had some gardening done too, they pay the guy to water their plants."
"That could be our connection." Morgan stated when there was a knock at the door, the Sheriff walked in and smiled over at Crystal. "I don't know what you said to Abby, but she made you guys an apple pie."
Crystal smiled as Abby shyly walked in and placed it down on the table, "It's not a big deal papa."
"No, it is. Thank you Abby we appreciate it." Crystal smiled over at her and Abby smiled back, "It's not as good as my mama's, but I hope you enjoy it." Abby looked down at her hands, Daisy walked in after them. "You guys walk so fast."
Abby frowned, "It was on purpose Daisy." Crystal smiled as she gently booped her nose, "You shouldn't be frowning so much, what if someone's falling in love with your smile?"
"I thought that was our thing?" Hotch asked with an amused smile and Crystal tilted her head, "Jealous?" Hotch's lips twitched as Rossi gave him a look as well as his plate with the apple pie, Crystal turned to look at Abby who looked uncomfortable with all the people around. "Let's get some air?"
Abby eagerly nodded and they walked out of the room, Abby sighed with relief as they were now outside the station. They sat down on a bench near the door, "Was that your boyfriend."
"No, that's my boss."
"You and your boss seem close."
"We're really good friends."
"Best friends?"
"In a way yeah, you could say that." Crystal smiled at her and Abby nodded, "My mama, she was my best friend...I miss her a lot. How long have you known your boss?"
"About a year."
"You've only known him for a year and he's your best friend?"
"We've been through a lot in only a year." Crystal stated sadly, "If I'm being honest, the last time I had a best friend she made out with my boyfriend. I was a bit wary of getting close to people again, so it's weird for me to say he's my best friend."
"How'd you know he was your best friend then?"
"Because I've opened up to him more than anyone I've ever met." Crystal said honestly and Abby looked at her, she smiled and shook her head. "That ain't a best friend, that's a boyfriend."
"We're just friends Abby." Crystal laughed and Abby shook her head, "He don't look at you like a friend, he looks at you like my papa used to look at my mama." Crystal turned to her with wide eyes, she cleared her throat. "I brought you out here to ask a few more questions."
"Go ahead." Abby nodded and Crystal smiled at her, "Do you know the name of your gardener?"
"Mr. Limburg, he used to own this nice shop until it went out of business last year."
"Can I ask how it went out of business?"
"He was hitting his wife, people didn't like that. He went out of business and his wife left him and Charlie, so-"
"Charlie?"
"His son, he's around my age. His mama loved him to bits, but she wanted to get away from this life so she left him with his dad. My mama paid him as a gardener out of pity cause she didn't wanna watch Charlie starve." Abby shrugged and Crystal hummed, "Do you know where we could find Mr. Limburg?"
"Probably at home drunk or working, he's been a mess since his wife left him."
"You sure know a lot."
"Small town, big gossip." Abby stated with a sad look, "Always the people not up to the beauty standards that get left behind." Crystal frowned at this, "What do you mean?"
"Look at Miss blue-eyes, she's got the long, pretty blonde hair with the sparkling, gorgeous blue eyes that make all the men around her go weak at the knees. She could've had any man out here and she chose my papa, makes me sick. Charlies mama was a beauty too, had these nice green eyes that made you feel like you were walking in a forest just by looking into her eyes."
"You've got beautiful eyes too."
"No I don't, I have brown eyes. Brown eyes are boring and don't stand out like hazel, blue, or green." Abby stated sadly, she sighed as she stood up. "We should head back in before papa gets mad that I'm distracting you from your job."
Abby walked back inside the station before Crystal could ask her what she mean by her just having 'brown eyes', Crystal frowned at her words before standing up to follow her.
I have a suspicion that there's another meaning behind what she just said.
___
After Crystal returned and filled them in on what Abby had told her as she ate her piece of the apple pie, "I knew you'd save me a slice Trainee", the team gave the profile. Morgan and Reid had left to find Mr. Limburg and his son Charlie, Garcia was doing a background check on Charlie and Garcia called them back.
"So, Charlie's a straight A student with very high grades. His grades slipped for awhile after his mom left, but other than that there seems to be no other problems."
Seaver hummed, "What about his dad? Any indications that he's abusive to his son?"
"Oh, oh this is just sad. Charlie was in and out of the hospital a lot as a kid until one day it stopped. His mom started to be in and out of the hospital around the time his visits stopped."
Crystal sighed, "His mom started to take the beatings for him, do we know if Charlie fits our profile?"
"He's been to therapy to deal with his mom leaving, says here that he was admitted to anger-counseling."
Rossi looked at the team, "He's most likely our unsub, but why the people who've been trying to help him and his dad?"
"Because they have pity in their eyes for him." Crystal sighed, "Abby said her mom pitied Charlie, I'm guessing the message on the stomachs was about them not seeing him as a person. He feels neglected because the people in this town see him as a sad story now, they don't see who he really is and he's acting out."
"Guys, I'm patching Morgan though."
"He's not here, there's a struggle shown in the house and there's blood." Morgan stated as he looked around the house, Seaver frowned. "Where would he take his dad?" Hotch looked at his phone, "Garcia, where's the store that they used to own located?"
"Sent to your phones."
Hotch looked at the team, "He's going to the place where his dad ruined his life, after he lost the store."
___
Crystal and Hotch exited the SUV as the rest followed, they had roadblocks set up just incase Charlie tried to make a break for it. Crystal, Hotch, and Rossi headed in and cleared the room. Rossi called Garcia, "Garcia, is there a hiding place in here somewhere? A closet, a bunker, another room?"
Crystal walked into the employee room and noticed a bookshelf had been moved, she reached over to her radio. "Hotch, I think I found the room." Hotch quickly made his way over to where she was, they both quickly moved the bookshelf out of the way and sure enough there was a door. Hotch kicked in to see Charlie there with a knife, "One more step and I'll kill him."
"Charlie, drop the knife." Hotch stated as him and Crystal aimed at him, Charlie shook his head. "No, that's not happening. You both leave us alone."
"It's over Charlie, don't do this to yourself."
"No its not! Do you know what this son-of-a-bitch did to me? He ruined my life! I lost everything because of him...I lost my mom." Charlies voice broke and he wiped his eyes, Hotch took this moment and went for the knife as Crystal helped Mr. Limburg to his feet and out of the room.
Hotch was able to get it out of his grasp, but Charlie quickly picked up the gun in Hotch's holster. Crystal's eyes widen as he pointed it at Hotch, her heart was racing.
Do something Crystal! Move!
"Drop your gun or he dies." Charlie stated and Crystal shook her head, "Shoot me instead Charlie, he's got a son." Hotch turned to her wide eyed, "Don't listen to her, shoot me Charlie."
"No Charlie, he has a little boy at home who loves him a lot."
"She has a family waiting for her, she has 3 brothers who'll be devastated and her parents will be crushed."
"Shoot me Charlie, he's a dad."
"No Charlie-"
"Shut up! Both of you stop!" Charlie screamed and took a step away from Hotch, Hotch took this chance to tackle him to the ground and wrestled the gun out of his grasp. Crystal sighed with relief as Hotch handcuffed him, they brought him outside and handed him over to the Sheriff. Hotch turned to look at her before embracing her, "Don't do that, don't try and....you could've died."
"I've got a vest." Crystal whispered as she hugged Hotch, he sighed before tightening his embrace on her.
I couldn't just stand and let him shoot you Hotch, it would've hurt me more.
___
They were back at the station when Abby walked in, "My papa said I can keep Reggy." Crystal smiled at her as she took things off the board, "That's great Abby."
"Daisy said you convinced her, thank you."
"No need to thank me Abby, I'm glad it worked out for you." Crystal stated and Abby gave her a bag of starbursts, "It's a thank you, I didn't want to get you apples." Crystal laughed at Abby's statement as she accepted the bag, "Why thank you Abby, I don't need anymore apples to add to my collection."
Crystal turned to see the Sheriff standing by the door, "Y'know Abby, I've been thinking about what you told me."
"About?"
"About people with brown eyes, I have brown eyes. Are they ugly?"
"Of course not, you look amazing with your eyes."
"Then why're blue, hazel, and green eyes better?" Crystal raised an eyebrow and Abby sighed, the whole team was listening now and Abby gave Crystal a sad smile. "Because the girls with those eyes are beautiful, they're the girls with the deep and pretty eyes that make all the boys throw themselves at her. They're the girls that I won't ever be, because my eyes are brown. I look like my mama Agent....maybe if my mama had blue eyes like Daisy my dad would've stayed."
"You're right that they have those sparkly eyes, the ones that apparently men want. We can't change that, but their eyes aren't rich like yours." Crystal stated as she started to fold a piece of paper, "Blue represents the deep sea and endless sky, green has the life of the forest in their eyes and the green shows energy and spirit, and hazel has the color that's rarely seen that has a way of making the person looking into them feel a spark that they've never felt before. I can see why'd you be jealous."
Crystal shrugged before smiling at Abby, "But, you've never properly looked in a mirror. You don't see the rich brown eyes that you have that captivate the people who stare at them, you don't see the way your eyes shine when the light hits them just right and a golden hue shines through, the golden halo that surrounds your eyes as you stare at them with the rich soil of the earth that holds everything together. So yes, men are weak for the deep blue, the forest green, and shiny hazel, but there are more brown eyes in the world for a reason. Because the brown eyes are rich, dark, and captivating with their chocolate color that makes men not weaker but stronger for the person that holds them." Crystal stated softly as she put a paper crown on her head, "The brown eyes with the gold hue, made perfect for royalty."
Abby looked at her shocked before tears ran down her face and she quickly hugged Crystal, "Thank you." Abby whispered and Crystal smiled as she rubbed her back gently, "I think your dad wants to talk to you Abby." Abby let her go to see the Sheriff, "Oh Abby, I didn't leave your mom over appearances." The Sheriff gave her a teary smile as he lead her out to talk with Daisy who most likely heard Crystal's speech, Crystal smiled as she watched them leave. Crystal turned to look at the team who were staring at her, "What?"
Rossi smiled at her, "Nice speech." Crystal hummed as she opened her bag of starbursts, she handed one to Reid who happily took it. Hotch moved her hair out of her face, she turned to him and Hotch smiled as he looked into her eyes and saw what Crystal had talked about. He looked at how her eyes shined with wonder and the gold hue appeared, "You've got something on your face."
Crystal laughed, "Not falling for that again Hotchner." Hotch lightly chuckled as he stole a candy from her, Crystal smiled as the rest came over and took some as well. Crystal turned to see Daisy and Abby hugging, Crystal smiled at this as they walked out.
Later on that day, if Abby found a card in her paper crown with Crystal's number and the BAU address she most certainly started to write a letter to her.
___
Crystal was at her apartment when there was a knock on her door, she smiled as she went over to open the door. "Hi Hotch."
"Hi Archer." Hotch gave her a small smile and Crystal returned it, Hotch walked in and Crystal went to make them ice cream. After she sat down next to him he cleared his throat, "So, that was a nice speech you gave to Abby."
"Thank you, I thought it was nice too." Crystal smiled and Hotch hummed, "Is there something you want to talk about?"
"No?"
"Archer, you were willing to get shot for me."
"That's because your my best friend and I panicked." Crystal stated and Hotch's lips twitched, "Okay, but are you okay? It seemed like you were very protective of Abby."
TRIGGER WARNING*
Crystal sighed as she looked at Hotch, "Because I was a teenage girl who thought no one understood what was going on with her, so I just wanted her to know that she wasn't alone." Hotch nodded as he held her hand, Crystal smiled at her hand and flipped it over. There was a faint white line on one side of her wrist, "I did this to myself when Kyle broke up with me, he had told me how I wasn't good enough for him so I thought if I maybe looked like my so called best friend he'd like me better."
Hotch traced the faint white line, Crystal smiled at his actions. "I have a mole right here, she didn't. I took some scissors thinking I could make my skin heal without it reappearing. My mom caught me after I had sliced my skin, she started crying as she started to look for bandages. My mom's been really protective ever since, but I can't forget that day. She looked destroyed at the thought of me not liking my appearance, I guess you could say that I was so paranoid Ben was going to leave after Kyle told me I didn't meet his standards. Maybe that's why I changed myself so much for Ben, I didn't feel beautiful unless he said I was even if I didn't recognize myself."
Crystal gave a shaky laugh, "I know it sounds stupid now-"
"It doesn't." Hotch reassured and Crystal smiled at him, "I was so desperate, I just wanted to know why he didn't like me, why I wasn't enough, why I was not as good as her. I was protective over Abby because I know what it's like to grow up wondering why you don't look like others."
Crystal didn't look up at Hotch, Hotch continued tracing the white line. "Have you talked about this with anyone?"
"My mom, you....and Emily." Crystal answered honestly as she felt tears in her eyes, Emily had found the small scar on her wrist by accident. "Emily noticed that I'd rub my wrist sometimes when I'm stressed and asked about it, so I told her."
TRIGGER WARNING END*
Hotch didn't respond as he brought her wrist to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to the scar, Crystal snapped her head to look at him with wide eyes. Hotch had his eyes closed as he continued to press the gentle kiss to her scar, he opened his eyes to look at her after he was done. "You're breathtaking Archer, you don't need to look like anyone else to be beautiful." Hotch mumbled against her wrist and Crystal swallowed as her body felt electrified. "Thanks for saying so Hotch." Crystal whispered and he looked over at her, "We all have scars Archer, I didn't take my shirt off for your birthday pool because I still have scars from where Foyet stabbed me."
Crystal looked at him sadly as she used her other hand to hold his face as she rubbed his face, "Are you okay?"
"It's been a year since Haley's been gone, sometimes I feel like the scars still hurt and ache from pain. I don't think they'll ever go away, I still feel the guilt." Hotch answered honestly and brought Crystal's hand to his chest, "Scars don't go away, they stay forever but it's your choice if they dictate your life. I've been learning how to live with the guilt of Haley's death and the scars Foyet gave me, it's not been easy, but the scars will one day be nothing but scars with no pain or meaning. The guilt's been eating me alive, but it no longer does like it used too."
Crystal gave him a teary smile, "Scars will always have meaning, they remind us that we're alive and that we survived." Crystal said gently and Hotch wiped a tear from her face, they sat there with Hotch holding Crystals hand to his chest and Crystal held his face gently. They sat quietly like that until Hotch had to leave, Crystal walked him to the elevator. Hotch hugged her in a tight embrace, Hotch brought up her hand to his lips again and pressed a gentle kiss to her scar. "Have a goodnight Archer."
"Have a goodnight Hotchner, want me to kiss your scars too?" Crystal asked jokingly and he chuckled against her wrist, he pressed another kiss to her wrist before stepping in the elevator. Crystal watched it close and she held her wrist to her chest, she smiled widely before walking back into her apartment with a very flushed face.
___
Author's Note:
Hey! Hope you enjoyed this chapter (the case wasn't the main plot so sorry if that's what you were expecting) and the next chapter will be 6x24 with some mentions of 6x23 and after that season 7 is here!!!!! I'm very excited to write it and I will say this now, just because romance happens in season 7 does not mean it immediately happen (I know I hate me too) but I promise that when it happens it's worth the wait!
Summary: Crystal felt devastated after Kyle dumped her, so in an attempt to win him back she thought if she looked more like his type he would like her again. She tried to get rid of a mole on her wrist and her mom caught her which is why her mom is very protective of Crystal now (her mom didn't tell anyone). This insecurity followed her into her next relationship since Ben asked her to change and she obliged since she was afraid he'd leave.
Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter~
See you in the next update!