EVENTUALLY NEVER came. A month had passed and Ophelia could just barely make out a bump on her figure. Her clothes were tightening, especially her pants, in more way than one, and the morning sickness had subsided. Aaron definitely noticed, but he couldn't pinpoint on what made her look so good. She just did.
"Aaron!" She gasped as his hand met her bottom. "I had coffee in my hands, what if I spilt it?" She whined. No one was around in the office kitchenette, but it was risky all the same.
"Sorry love, I just can't help myself," He whispered darkly, still looming behind her as she poured an ungodly amount of sugar into Spencer's coffee. His hands rested on either side of her on the counter, trapping her beneath him. She turned to face him, two steaming cups in either hand.
"Can I go, sir?" She giggled. His eyes were level with her chest and he didn't try to hide his staring.
"Kiss me," He ordered, a sheepish smirk forming on his face. Her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Aaron," She chuckled in protest.
"Kiss me, and you can go," He repeated, just inches away from her face. She oblidged, planting a gentle kiss on his lips. He held himself there for just a moment, then begrudgingly lifted his arm.
"Thank you," She mused, purposefully swaying her hips as she returned to the cluster of desks in the bullpen.
"Five sugars," She placed the coffee on Spencer's desk with a wide smile still lingering on her lips.
"What's got you so red?" She didn't even notice.
"I'm not red," She patted her warm cheeks in denial.
"Yes, you are," Spencer took a sip from his cup. Her smile was so obvious that he couldn't help but return one.
"Hey guys, we've got a case," JJ rushed into the bullpen, cellphone in hand. Spencer and Ophelia shared a look; almost to say 'we'll talk about this later'. She blushed harder, if it was possible, and followed the rest of the team into the conference room.
"Several illegal immigrants have been found dead on the Texas border, and until recently, they seemingly died of exhaustion," She clicked her pointer to show the faces of what Ophelia assumed to be the victims.
"What changed?" She questioned. JJ clicked once more, and the decapitafed heads of several men showed on the screen. She winced.
"The decapitaded heads of five men recently showed up on the police departments doorstep, all without documents for a stay in the US," Ophelia gulped. Please don't throw up. Usually she could stomach gore, but with morning sickness just recently subsiding, she was extra sensitive.
"What makes them think they're connected?" Aaron asked, lifting his gaze from the case file.
"The M.E. found an abnormal amount of sand in the victims lungs,"
"They were running," Spencer connected.
"What were they running from?"
Three gruesome days of finding more bodies and no leads followed. They were always once step behind the unsub. Ophelia stood in front of the profile board, silently analyzing the case. The rest of the team were either interviewing a possible suspect, reading over the case with the deputy, or taking a coffee break. So when a presence suddenly appeared next to her, she was shaken out of her thoughts and turned her attention to the man beside her.
"Deputy Boyd," She greeted, looking the officer up and down. Usually deputies weren't this involved in cases, and Ophelia just felt odd being alone with him. She couldn't pinpoint why, but he was definitely too excited to see her without Hotch or Morgan by her side. He nodded a hello and gazed at the board.
"What do you think about all this?" He asked grumpily. She watched as he looked at all the evidence pinned to the board.
"About what?" Her brow curved downward. She prayed he wasn't going to ask what she thought he was implying.
"Aliens getting killed," There it was. Of course.
"I'm not allowed to answer that," She shot back coldly. She was really tying her best to remain professional and not absolutely school this dimwitted deputy in front of the entire department. He was quiet for a moment.
"I would say they shouldn't try to cross the boarder if they don't want-"
"With all due respect, deputy, people are dying," She folded her arms and faced him. She could feel her cheeks burning with fury. "I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself and let me do my job so I can stop that," It was his turn to scan the agent's body. He was smart enough to walk away without another word. Ophelia took a deep breath and fixed her hair, almost as if it started to frizz with her anger.
"What was that about?" Aaron approached her from behind and she stifled the urge to flinch as he rested his hand on the small of her back. She was still on edge from being so creeped out by the deputy.
"He was distracting me from doing my job," She said vaguely. She knew she shouldn't have snapped at someone like that, especially on an active case where they were a guest at the department.
"Mhm," He smirked adoringly at her. He didn't want to say anything as to not anger her further, but she was undeniably cute when she was mad. She almost blushed, almost. Instead she sighed and focused back on the board. If they missed something, she would find it.
In the late morning the next day, Spencer and Ophelia continued to work endlessly on the profile board. She requested that someone work on it with her rather than alone, as to not spark another situation like last night.
"He'd have to know the area well enough and spend a lot of time there," Spencer began.
"That's how he knows the trails, he stalks them," Ophelia added.
"Do you think he'd have property out there?" He questioned, looking at the map.
"If he does, it's not on there, I already checked—"
She was cut off by none other than deputy Boyd practically throwing himself through the door.
"It's Sheriff Ruiz— he killed her," He was visibly distraught. Ophelia immediately got to her feet. The rest of the team was checking out the crime scenes, so Spencer and Ophelia were left at the station with no vehicle.
"You go, I'll check with Garcia to see if she can find anything that isn't on the map that might tell us where our unsub is hiding," Spencer pulled out his phone and dialed Penelope's number. Ophelia found herself hesitating. The team needed her on the scene, but she really did not want to be alone with the deputy.
"Let's go," She muttered, fixing the cuffs on her blouse. She followed the deputy reluctantly out of the station and into his police cruiser.
"He did exactly what Omar said he would do," Aaron observed, pulling gloves over his hands.
"Do you really think it's not him?" Rossi questioned, examining the body from afar. Aaron shook his head.
"He doesn't fit the profile even a little bit. He's already powerful, why would he target illegals that are vulnerable?" He stood, pondering. "But the only people that heard this description are me and Morgan," JJ perked up.
"Wait, Hotch," She stepped forward. "There was a speaker outside the interrogation room— Boyd turned it on. He stood next to me and heard what Omar said," Aaron immediately removed his gloves and started towards the rest of the group.
"Deputy, where's Boyd now?" He had claimed to find the body, but was nowhere to be found when the team showed up.
"He said he was going to go pick up the other agents at the station, why?" Suddenly, it clicked in his mind.
"Ophelia snapped at Boyd last night when he implied the victims deserved to be killed from crossing the border illegally. He killed Sherrif Ruiz because he was angry— Ophelia's his real target," Everyone started gathering around the cruisers and SUV's. "And we just lead him right to her,"
The car ride was mostly silent; Ophelia wasn't going to rely on Boyd for details. He watched as they got deeper and deeper into the desert, dust flying around either side of the cruiser.
"So what do you think about the profile?" He asked, never taking his eyes off the road. Here we go again.
"I think my team is never wrong," She grumbled. She crossed one leg over the other and rested her hands on her stomach.
"So you think the killer is a coward?" Her eyes darted to the side of his face. Her heart started racing. "I think he's doing us a good service," He continued. Ophelia gulped.
"What are you implying, deputy?" Her voice was shaky and her hands wrapped around her stomach subconsciously. He didn't reply. He just looked at Ophelia, and for a moment, she could've sworn Santa Muerte was staring directly at her and her unborn child. A presence of evil that she should've addressed sooner took over the police cruiser. In that moment, she prayed. She prayed that her child wouldn't be taken away so soon. She prayed to anything and everything that was holy to get the both of them out safely. Then, buzzing.
"Put in on speaker phone," He ordered. His voice sent chills down her spine as if it had come from the depths of hell itself. She obeyed and answered the call.
"Ophelia, don't say anything if you're near him, but Boyd is the unsub," Emily's voice brought her to tears. They were too late.
"I know," She breathed. She had to stay calm and out of distress. If she got too worked up, there was no way her baby would survive this. He ripped the phone out of her hands.
"Still think I'm a coward? I'm holding an FBI agent hostage," He bragged. Ophelia knew she had to slow her heart down. She gripped the seat beneath her and tried with everything inside of her to calm down. On the other side of the call, Aaron was doing the same. If he lashed out at any point, that would definitely push the unsub over the edge and Ophelia would be dead in minutes.
"No, not anymore," Aaron. His voice was the only calming thing about the situation. She had to have faith in Aaron as an agent that he would get her and their child out safely. "You've proved us wrong, Boyd,"
"Then I'll make sure you're never wrong again," He tossed the phone onto the dash. He pulled his gun out of his holster and pressed it to Ophelia's temple.
"No, please!" She cried out. "I'm pregnant," Her arms held her stomach as she sobbed. His finger lightly squeezed the trigger.
"Boyd, listen to me," Aaron's voice was still calm, but dark and stern. "You've already proved to us that you're not a coward," On the phone with Spencer, JJ was giving Derek instructions on how to get to Boyd's barn. They knew that's where he had to be taking Ophelia. "Killing a defenseless pregnant woman would just show that we we're right," Ophelia could tell he was battling with himself on Aaron's words. "She is not the enemy, Boyd," Her shoulders still shook underneath the barrel of his gun. The team now had eyes on his cruiser approaching the barn, picking up speed. The cruiser came to a screeching halt a couple yards away.The team set up a barricade outside the doors of the barn, they had him surrounded. He took his gun in his other hand and grabbed onto Ophelia's hair, dragging her out of the cruiser on the driver's side. He pushed her to her knees in front of him. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She had to stay calm. She felt the cold feeling of the metal barrel pressing against her skin return at the back of her head.
"We have you surrounded, Boyd," Derek shouted from behind the SUV door. "If you shoot her, you'll die," Wind whipped around Ophelia's face. She could barely keep her eyes open from all the dust. "You'll never get to see what a legend you'll become," A moment of silence. Then, he spoke.
"Too bad there'll always be people like her," Shots fired into the empty desert. Ophelia folded into herself, surrounding her stomach like a shield. She heard Boyd's body drop behind her, a cloud of sand being released underneath him. She held herself there, ears ringing, until she saw a pool of blood start to form beside her. She prayed that it wasn't hers. She heard footsteps bounding towards her, but she couldn't move.
"It's alright, princess, you're alright," Derek's smooth voice cooed as he helped her stand.
"We need two ambulances ASAP, she needs to get to the hospital immediately," Hotch ordered over the radio. She felt around her body for injuries and was surprised to find none.
"See? You're alright," Derek soothed, rubbing her shoulders. Aaron strode towards them. Oh, god.
"Are you okay?" Aaron had never been angry at her, but she could tell that he was absolutely seething. She nodded. Derek left her side to guide the ambulance through the scene.
"How long have you known?" His voice was stern. He was trying his best not to shout.
"A month," She couldn't lie to him, not now. He looked away from her and pulled at his chin.
"How far along?"
"Seven weeks," He ran his hand through his raven locks. He had absolutely no idea how to react. He just knew now was not the time to yell. A medic approached her, telling her to lie down on the stretcher.
"We'll talk about this when we get home," He joined her at the side of the stretcher and climbed into the ambulance with her. They didn't speak the rest of the time unless the medic asked them questions.