BIG TRIGGER WARNINGS ON THIS ONE: descriptions and discussions of cult activity and money laundering, solving murders by a serial killer, cursing, an adult attempting to groom a child (she is rejected and it's not in graphic detail, but it is an element of the story), descriptions of a car crash and resulting injuries
We’ve made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed it! I have another fic in mind (Spencer Reid x Reader) and this has been a fun way to start writing again. I don’t know how much I’ll keep writing, but it’s been nice to fully develop an idea like this again. Best wishes to you all xx
~ “Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.” - Jane Austen ~
Winona's death rocks them all. The first female killed, the first connected death - it's an escalation. It feels like a warning, like a retaliation. Their work the other day had clearly bothered someone, bothered them to the point of murder. Chief Polchies sits in his office with Winona's mother while the rest of the team eats in the small conference room where the whiteboard is set up, still looking over the case.
"It's got to be one of the cult members we interviewed," JJ insists.
"I would agree," Emily pontificates, pointing at the board with her shrimp, "but which one?"
"All the former cult members that worked Snow Shine have solid alibis," Luke agrees.
"Were you ever able to get a hold of Irene Elrod?" Chief Polchies asks.
"Not in person," Tara replies, "but she finally answered our calls."
"Yes," Spencer explains, "it seems Miss Elrod, or should I say, Mrs. Aquila, now lives in North Carolina, happily married to another former cult member, Levin Aquila, and neither of them particularly want to talk about their time with The Rites of the Wintering Sun or with Snow Shine. They regret their time with the cult, knew nothing about the money laundering, but they both have incredibly solid alibis. All the former cult members have solid alibis for the murders.”
Aaron looks at the files again, glancing over the names and not recognizing any of them, "Even the basketball coach had a good alibi? Marty Teegan?"
"Teegan was...a strange duck. To be sure," David nods. "But we can't arrest someone for being weird."
"Boy," Tom snorts, "if we could."
"But we don't," Aaron snaps.
"Don't be such an idiot, Enoch," Luisa reprimands him, mostly to show off to Aaron, which is now grating his nerves.
"What? I'm just saying," Tom tries to defend himself.
"I didn't like the climate change advocate, Raleigh Cooper," Y/N says quietly, almost a whisper. As he is sure is the opposite of her intention, everyone looks at her. And he instantly knows she's onto something. Y/N's sense of humanity and understanding of human complexity meant that she was usually onto something. Which is why, despite his own personal misgivings about her presence here, Aaron knew she belonged.
"Why?" Luisa scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Too caring about her students?"
Y/N takes a very measured breath and responds, "No. No, I do think she knows too much about the youth she works with. Teegan was a bit awkward, yeah. To be honest, most of them were, just like Miss Elrod and the other cult member she married - they are former members of a cult whose leader was shown to be a big fraud and who is now incarcerated. So, yes, to David's and Aaron's and even Tom's point, Teegan was weird. But he is no longer in contact with any of the youth he worked with or anyone else from the cult for that matter. Raleigh Cooper is still in contact with kids, for God's sake. That hardly seems appropriate."
"Snow Shine ran for like 8 years," Luisa continues, pushing as though she thinks she's still right, even though Aaron knows that she has to know that Y/N has made an excellent point. "The only one she knew was Heron Li and the kids she's talking to probably aren't kids anymore."
"There's no reason for an after school program leader should have the phone numbers of kids and not their parents or guardians," Y/N states evenly, not engaging even though Luisa's tone is rising. "And she flat out admitted that she was in contact with kids well under the age of 18."
"What do you think her angle is?" Chief Polchies asks. Luisa's head snaps in his direction, clearly irritated this theory is being taken seriously.
"I think she was in love with Heron," Y/N explains. "The way she talked about him...it was weird. She knew too much, but was careful not to reveal it. Guarded, but detailed. But, why would there be something to guard?"
"So why would she have killed him?" Aaron asks genuinely. She turns to him, clearly shocked he's speaking to her directly. Luisa looks particularly put out now that Aaron's talking to Y/N. He can practically see her pouting out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't care less.
"He was leaving," she answers quietly, a sad expression crossing her face. "Heading to RISD. He didn't have a girlfriend, but I bet there was someone he was into or something like that."
"Kara Nicholaus," Tom says suddenly, while turning through a file. He's all excitement then, running over to Y/N with a photo of the climate change club from Snow Shine's yearbook. He's pointing to a beautiful young black girl with very dark, very clear skin. Her hair is natural and her eyes are shining and bright. And right next to her, his arm around her waist rather than her shoulder is Heron Li; he's not looking at the camera, but right at Kara, smile just as big if not bigger than hers. "This was taken about three or four months before the disbandment and raid of the cult."
"Seems like a good possibility," Y/N agrees. Similarly to the picture, Y/N is looking at the photo, squinting down at the picture of Heron and Kara, but Tom is only looking at Y/N. Which is suddenly a massive problem to Aaron.
"If he was interested in this girl, why would Raleigh Cooper try to flirt with him?" Luisa asks, clearly irritated.
"Actually," Spencer answers, "if she was attempting to groom Heron and he rejected her, that might be what set off the murders."
"Wouldn't she kill Heron first?" Luisa asks, still skeptical.
"I agree, actually," Luke pipes up. "I even think she probably knew more about the money laundering. She kept looking away when we asked her about it."
"I remember her," Chief Polchies says. "Her records were incredibly detailed. We couldn't find any connection to the laundering. Though..."
He trails off and Aaron looks at him, "Though what?"
"They were almost too clean, come to think of it," Chief Polchies admits. "It put a bad taste in my mouth at the time, but there was no reason to look into it. I didn't have a valid reason to get a subpoena for her records other than my own concern."
"Cooking the books like that would take a lot of work," Tom states, once again rather clumsily.
"It shows a level of methodology," Emily starts, "a level reminiscent of buying a pair of scissors from a general store and then wipe the security cameras. And then kill people and move them to locations to mix up the victims."
"Yeah," JJ says, "a hebephile like that wouldn't take too kindly to being rejected and if she knew about the laundering, she shows signs of being incredibly methodical."
"She has to be working with someone else," Tara states.
"What makes you say that?" Luisa asks, still miffed.
"She's too small to have gotten those bodies to lay in trees like that," Tara shrugs.
"So then why do we think she's done it at all?" Luisa cries, obviously frustrated and almost yelling. "Just because Officer Boring over here thinks so?"
She's pointing at Y/N, who has the decency to not to yell back. Emily's on her feet immediately and so is Chief Polchies.
"Montoya, out," he commands, pointing at the door. "My office in two minutes."
"Chief Polchies, I-" she tries, looking frantic.
"You what?" Emily asks imperiously.
Luisa blinks hard, trying not to cry, "I just think we should consider-"
"We should consider what?" Aaron asks, his tone curt and harsh. Her head turns quickly to him, clearly hoping he's on her side.
"I just think we could consider other possibilities," she explains softly, her eyes watering.
"Why? Because you don't like SSA Y/L/N?" Emily asks.
"Y/N is the only one with a solid theory," Aaron continues as though Emily hasn't spoken. "She has thought it through and explained it thoroughly and, as we review more evidence, it made more sense."
"Why are you suddenly on her side?" Luisa nearly pouts, still trying to keep her tears at bay.
"Respecting the fact that someone acted on a well thought out idea isn't being on 'her side'," he states bluntly. "It's just recognizing brilliance."
Luisa stares at him for a moment and a tear drops from her eyes, but Aaron finds he doesn't care. He can feel the rest of the team staring at him, especially Y/N, but he doesn't care.
"Montoya," Chief Polchies interrupts. "My office. Now."
The two of them leave the room and Aaron clears his throat, turning back to the desk and looking at the file.
"Is there any evidence of contact between Raleigh Cooper and Heron Li?" Emily asks to break the silence.
"Yes," Penelope replies, typing away, pretending she and the rest of the room weren't entirely focused on Y/N and Aaron. "Funny you should ask that, Boss."
Y/N catches Aaron's eye and mouths, "Thank you."
Aaron smiles for what feels like the first time in years and mouths back, "You're welcome."
Y/N smiles and then looks at him again and mouths, "Friends?"
Aaron thinks about it, hard. He doesn't want to just be friends, but it's better than nothing.
Things are good for about 48 hours. Kara Nicholaus is alive and well, living in New Jersey and about to start classes at Princeton. The evidence surrounding Raleigh's snapchat is eye opening. She's sent Heron hundreds of snap chats, most unopened by Heron. He blocked her and she makes burner accounts to continue trying to talk to him. He's blocked her number and she's made more. It's pretty crazy. And then they can't find Raleigh. She's not at her house, she's not at work, she's not at any of the murders sites, and her car isn't anywhere to be found either. They put out an APB for her, and start patrolling Acadia and the areas around the park as well.
It's for that reason that Aaron and Y/N are sent to the lighthouse together. It's the Baker Island Light Station. Luisa, definitely under the close watch of Chief Polchies, is paired with him to patrol a part of Acadia. Tom and Tara are patrolling another part, JJ and David are put on Raleigh's house, Penelope and Spencer are patrolling traffic cameras, on the lookout for Raleigh's car, and Emily and another officer, a cop called Ben Wick, are on patrolling the general store. The rest of the station are patrolling the previous crime scenes.
While she's giving the assignments, Aaron sees Emily realize that she has to pair Aaron with Y/N. She shuts her eyes briefly and almost stumbles over her words.
As they get ready to leave, Aaron sees Emily mouth and "I'm sorry" to Y/N, who smiles graciously and shakes her head as though to say it'll be fine.
Will it?
The car ride is silent. Like, so silent it feels like he might drown. They'd agreed to be friends, sure, but things were still awkward. His horrible behavior notwithstanding, it's not as though they'd had it out. Yet, anyway. He clears his throat, driving steadily. He feels Y/N look at him, but can only seem to clear his throat again.
"So," he starts, his voice thin and flaky. "This weather is..."
And he trails off, amazed he was able to say anything. His words sit in the air, silent for a while and then Y/N giggles. And then she starts laughing hard.
"My God," she finally gasps out, still laughing, "Emily was right."
"What?"
"You are so fucking formal," she laughs harder. "The weather? For the love of God, Aaron, we haven't properly spoken since we were 19. And you choose to speak about the weather? Look, I appreciate what you said to Officer Montoya, but - ugh, come on, man."
There she is, he thinks. There's the strong-willed girl he knew way back when. Her brilliance is a given, sure, but he'd thought maybe her headstrong character had evened out more than he'd ever wanted.
Thankfully, they pull up to the lighthouse. It's beautiful and old, picturesque, even. Without speaking again, Y/N straightens her kevlar and hooks her gun into her belt and gets out of the car. She walks to the water's edge, staring outward. Aaron gets out slower, fixing his vest and checking his gun methodically, trying to waste time.
"I wish..." he hears her say, her voice faint but present. He walks over to where she is, but stays behind her. She turns her head slightly, acknowledging his presence, but looking back out at the water.
"I wish we were here under different circumstances," she continues. "I wish we had found each other again under different circumstances. No, more than that, I wish...I wish we'd known each other at a different..." She stares out, still, unable to say more, shaking her head.
"No," she states promptly, "no. I just wish you'd realize that I never meant to hurt you. I was just..." She sighs and he realizes she's crying. "I was just young and afraid. And I would've tried and would've done anything for us to work. But we both left and...it's deeply unfair of you to hold that against me."
She looks at him then and, as much as it shames him, he can't fully look at her. He opens his mouth to speak and finds he can't say anything. She turns around fully to look at him, only to sigh - not exasperated or sad, just a sigh.
"So," she states, clearing her throat and looking back toward the lighthouse, "shall we go on patrol?"
Y/N knew being paired with Officer Montoya wouldn't exactly be a picnic, but she'd hoped it'd be...civil. Especially since they'd figured out that Raleigh's partner in crime was Levin Aquila - the husband of Irene Elrod. She’d been paying him handsomely for burner phones, technical support, and, apparently, paying his brother, who still lived in Maine, to help with physically moving the bodies and placing them high in the trees after she murdered them.
Levin Aquila had broken down pretty easily and had told the police in North Carolina everything when they added pressure from the FBI. He told them that, apparently, Arnold Swanson had offered up information in order to get his sentence potentially commuted or lessened. She was scared he'd tell the police about her and Levin cooking her accounting books during Snow Shine and about her attempted seduction of Heron Li. She apparently freaked out and murdered the first victim at the general store, stealing the kitchen shears and attacking ferociously. She'd called Levin - who'd helped her fix her accounting books and gained financially from it - and he'd sent his brother to help her move the body. They'd hid the bodies at the old Snow Shine facility and mixed them up to try and confuse the police.
The whole thing had been meant to threaten Arnie, who had indeed retracted his offer of information, but Levin revealed that Raleigh had decided to murder Heron when he'd posted on social media about his plan to go to RISD and about going to prom with Kara. Levin had felt it was too far, but Raleigh was out of control. He had no idea where she'd run off to, but he knew she was dangerous. He had no knowledge of her murdering Winona and didn't help her or his brother with the plan at all. Levin's brother, a burly man called Leo, gave himself up after a conversation with Levin. He didn't know about Winona's murder either. Levin and Leo both warned that Raleigh was armed, dangerous, and would stop at nothing to get away.
Emily's splitting of the team had been nothing short of borderline despicable lately. If Y/N hadn't known the pressure she was under, she would've thought Emily was angry at her. Pairing her with Aaron 48 hours before was upsetting, but being paired with Officer Montoya was insanity.
Y/N has no idea what she'd expected, but she certainly didn't anticipate Officer Montoya to be silent. Well, silent is kind. It was a passive aggressive silence. Lots of sighing and lots of gum smacking. It's been about two hours of sighs and gum smacking as Y/N sits in the FBI van with her. Montoya had agreed to drive, the last real speaking she'd done all day.
"Are you planning to talk?" Montoya suddenly says, startling Y/N enough that she jumps slightly.
"I wasn't, really," Y/N states calmly.
"That's odd," Luisa says, smacking her gum. "You always seem ready to say something."
Y/N sighs quickly and still says nothing.
"Maybe it's because Aaron isn't around," Luisa prods further, still smacking her gum.
"The lack of Agent Hotchner's presence has nothing to do with my decision to speak or not at this moment," Y/N states evenly.
"Oh, yeah? And what does?" Luisa smirks.
"Present company," Y/N replies flatly, finally looking her in the eyes.
She has the wherewithal to at least look away from Y/N, who rolls her eyes and looks forward again.
"Emily mentioned the two of you knew each other," Luisa says after a few moments of silence.
"We did," Y/N admits. "Quite a while ago."
"In what way?" Luisa asks, her tone different now. Sadder.
"What do you mean?" Y/N counters, trying her best - despite her dislike of Luisa - to sound kinder.
"He just said..." she trails off and looks out the driver's side window. "He didn't make it sound serious."
"Ah," Y/N responds trying to keep her tone in check. She didn't anticipate Aaron telling the whole world about their sordid love affair, but she guessed that, if he was truly interested in this girl, who, for all intents and purposes, made her interest in him very well known, he'd underplay it. Still, it stung. "Yes, he would say that."
"What was...how do you know each other?" Luisa asks, voice almost a whisper.
"I guess you'll find out eventually, if Aaron keeps dating you," Y/N sighs.
"We aren't dating," Luisa states quickly, her old tone completely gone, replaced with an almost desperation. "I've-I've tried, but he doesn't seem...there's something stopping him. I thought it was just being professional on the case, but...but then he took your side-"
"He didn't take my side," Y/N insists, rolling her eyes again.
"No, I know," Luisa says almost apologetically, which surprises Y/N. "I know. I fucked up. I just....he looks at you a lot, you know?"
Y/N stares at her and Luisa smiles sadly.
"I just...I just wanted him to look at me that way," she admits, eyes watery.
Y/N opens her mouth to say something and then Emily's voice comes over the comms: "Unsub has been spotted and is headed towards the split in the trail directed toward the Great Long Pond."
"That's near us," Y/N confirms, grabbing the mic and responding, "We'll head that way and wait for back up."
Y/N puts the mic back and then looks at Luisa. She has a quizzical expression on her face.
"We could cut her off," she says softly.
"What?" Y/N asks, genuinely confused.
"We don't need back up if we cut her off," Luisa states, louder now.
"Officer Montoya," Y/N starts, attempting to keep her voice even, "that's not-"
But Luisa is already putting the van into gear, hurtling forward at great speed. Y/N holds on to the grab handle, gripping it as Luisa speeds up more and more.
"Of-Officer Mon-t-toya," her voice breaks up as the speed over uneven ground, "th-this isn't-t sa-safe!"
"Maybe not," Luisa replies, her voice chillingly even, "but maybe, just maybe, I'm acting on a well thought out idea."
Her echoing of Aaron's words from his defense of Y/N does nothing to calm her nerves. And as Raleigh Cooper's blue sedan comes into view and Luisa presses the gas even harder, Y/N's not sure what either of them says, but all she knows is that Aaron's eyes flashing in her memory are the last thing she sees before the world turns black as they crash into Raleigh's car.
The lights of the hospital are too bright. As Y/N opens her eyes, she has to blink several times, relieved she's not still in that car.
"Oh my God, Y/N," Penelope's voice breaks the silence. "You're okay!" She practically jumps into Y/N's view, hugging her, nearly sobbing.
"Yeah," Y/N rasps out, her throat immensely dry. "I'm okay."
"I'll go find a doctor," Aaron's voice says. He drifts into her view as he crosses to the door, looking back for only a moment. The second he's gone, Penelope looks back at Y/N conspiratorially.
"He pulled you out, you know?" she whispers. "Against what the firemen were saying. Like, broke the car window and pulled you out himself."
"Oh," Y/N finally manages to say. "That's-"
"He told me everything," she continues. "All of what happened with you two."
"That's...um," Y/N blinks, "that's something."
"Raleigh's dead, by the way," Penelope states. "She died in the wreck."
"Oh my God," Y/N's eyes grow wide, "what about Luisa? Is she okay?" She starts trying to get out of bed when a gentle, but strong hand touches her shoulder. She looks up into Aaron's eyes looking down at her with something akin to an incredibly worried awe.
"She's fine," he replies gently. "Hurt, but fine. But you need to lay down until the doctor gets back. You had a pretty nasty concussion."
"I told her we shouldn't-"
"I know you did," Aaron cuts her off, calmly and gently leading her to lie back down with Penelope's help.
"Emily reviewed the dashcam footage after the accident," Penelope assures her. "Remarkably sturdy vehicles, those FBI vans. The front fender is a little bent, but it took out Raleigh's car. And Raleigh."
"What happened to Officer Montoya?" Y/N asks once she's fully laying down again.
"She took the brunt of the accident. She has a broken wrist and a pretty bad cut on her chest, but she's okay. Professionally, she'll face some pretty hefty repercussions," Aaron answers darkly.
"Am I in trouble?" Y/N asks genuinely.
"Absolutely not," Aaron replies. "If anything, I-" He's cut off as the doctor walks in. The doctor does a routine check on Y/N and informs her that they'll keep her overnight, but that she should be able to leave tomorrow morning. Aaron follows the doctor out and Penelope looks at Y/N again, eyes sparkling.
"After he and Emily reviewed the camera footage with me," Penelope tells her, "Hotch cried."
"I see," Y/N replies. Of course it had made him cry. Aaron believed many things that weren't his fault were, and she knew he'd blame himself if anything happened to anyone. It was one of the things that made it so hard to let go of her love for him. She could finally admit that she had always and would always care for him in some way. She looks back at Penelope, hoping her heart isn't on her sleeve.
"He felt like it was his fault," Penelope explains. "Emily told him not to blame himself, but he was pretty inconsolable. I'm sure you being okay will help his spirits tremendously."
Y/N can't help it, she laughs. Penelope looks confused and then she points out the door. There's Aaron, sitting on a bench just outside the room looking incredibly put out and typing furiously on his iPhone.
"You sure about that?" Y/N jokes and the two women laugh before the rest of the team arrives.
Like most cases, as much time as it took, it was over very quickly. Y/N was discharged in the morning and returned to pack her things at the hotel. She stops by the station to get the few things she left there. Chief Polchies apologizes to her for Luisa's behavior, but Y/N reassures him that it's all okay. Tom asks her out, which is surprising, but she turns him down. All is back to...normal, maybe.
It's been a strange case, that's for sure. And she's ready to return to...normalcy? Something has shifted in this case, but maybe it was best to just let it go.
She's picking up the last of her things in the precinct, preparing to meet the team outside when Aaron breezes through the door. He sees her immediately and freezes. The two of them stare at each other, the air suddenly thick and confusing.
"I'm so sorry," he chokes out, not quite meeting her eyes. "I forgot my scarf." He points to the desk chair where, sure enough, there's a light gray scarf with a light tan and darker gray plaid pattern on it. He steps forward to retrieve it, clearly uncomfortable. Without thinking, Y/N picks it up, holding it out to him. It hangs between them in the silence. Aaron's face, softer than it had been in days, softens even more. At least, his eyes do.
He finally meets her eyes, "I sent you an email. I'm sorry if you don't have my email, but I got yours from...um, from Penelope. " He takes his scarf from her, their hands almost touching, but not quite. His eyes drop from hers to the space where their hands almost met. He opens his mouth, as though to say something, but nothing comes out. He meets her eyes once more, then turns and leaves rather abruptly.
She waits all of about two seconds before grabbing for her phone, opening the lock screen and seeing the email waiting for her. Her hands shake as she clicks it open.
Dear Y/N,
I know I said nothing when we were at the lighthouse the other day, and that was a mistake. Though, thinking about it now, I have so much to say, then it may have been too much. So, I'm emailing you. Which feels deeply impersonal and I'm sorry. I don't have your talent of being vulnerable, like how you were at the lighthouse.
You light my soul on fire. I am half agony, half hope. I hope this isn't too late or that my chances are gone forever. You have always held my heart, it has always been yours. It is more yours now than when it was broken.
On this case I have been petty and unkind, which was not deserved by anyone, but least of all you. You were the reason I came. I lied to myself and to everyone and came to consult on the case, but the moment I heard you were there, I knew I had to come. The idiocy that has made me bitter and cold towards you is a wall I've built to protect myself. You hurt me all those years ago, but I know I've hurt you, too.
I'm sorry if I'm rambling.
I have loved no one the way I loved you. The way I love you.
Please, I have to know if you feel anything for me or if I've ruined this forever. One look, one word from you and I will do whatever you wish. Even if it means you never want to see me again.
I am yours if you'll have me,
Aaron Hotchner
Y/N lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. There are tears rolling down her cheeks that she didn't realize were there. This man. This man she'd known for so long and adored...feels the same way. She doesn't want a normal without him. She doesn't want anything without him. Her feet begin to move before she knows where she's going. She runs outside, feeling insane.
"Y/N?" Emily asks, confused by what Y/N is sure is her rather haggard appearance. "Are you alright?"
Everyone is staring, waiting for the cars to the air field, but Y/N suddenly doesn't care. She can feel Penelope beaming, can sense Spencer and JJ putting the pieces together, can see David and Tara look at each other for answers out of the corner of her eye, and can see Luke looking helplessly confused.
"A-Aaron," she breathes out, "Aaron. Where is he?"
"He's-he's walked to the lighthouse, I think," Emily replies. "What's going on?"
"I have to go," she smiles. "To the lighthouse."
"Yeah, you do!" Penelope cheers. Y/N spares a moment to smile for Penelope and then takes off running, not sure how far Aaron's made it down the path.
The late afternoon sun feels as though it's twinkling down on her through the trees as she full tilt runs to the lighthouse. Just as the lighthouse comes into view, she spots him, his black coat and the scarf from earlier. She can barely think.
"Aaron!" she calls, almost breathless. He looks back and sees her, running towards her, meeting her halfway.
His eyes are wide, "Y/N, where's your coat?"
"It doesn't matter," she smiles, the slight shiver to her voice not affecting her at all. "I read your email."
"It does matter. We're in Maine and it's autumn," he insists, pulling off his scarf and wrapping it around her.
"Aaron," she nearly yells over his fussing, grasping his hands in her own. He stares at her, taking in her tears and her smile.
"You read my email?" he asks softly, as though realizing what she'd said for the first time.
She nods, smiling deeper, "And I - I love you, too."
Aaron smiles the kind of smile where it seems to come from his entire being as he looks at her. Almost teasingly he asks, "Are you sure?"
Y/N nearly giggles, wrapping her arms around his neck, eyes intently on his lips, "Yes. And nothing and no one will persuade me otherwise."
~ “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.” - Jane Austen ~
BIG TRIGGER WARNINGS ON THIS ONE: descriptions and discussions of cult activity and money laundering, solving murders by a serial killer, cursing, an adult attempting to groom a child (she is rejected and it's not in graphic detail, but it is an element of the story), descriptions of a car crash and resulting injuries
We’ve made it to the end! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed it! I have another fic in mind (Spencer Reid x Reader) and this has been a fun way to start writing again. I don’t know how much I’ll keep writing, but it’s been nice to fully develop an idea like this again. Best wishes to you all xx
~ “Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.” - Jane Austen ~
Winona's death rocks them all. The first female killed, the first connected death - it's an escalation. It feels like a warning, like a retaliation. Their work the other day had clearly bothered someone, bothered them to the point of murder. Chief Polchies sits in his office with Winona's mother while the rest of the team eats in the small conference room where the whiteboard is set up, still looking over the case.
"It's got to be one of the cult members we interviewed," JJ insists.
"I would agree," Emily pontificates, pointing at the board with her shrimp, "but which one?"
"All the former cult members that worked Snow Shine have solid alibis," Luke agrees.
"Were you ever able to get a hold of Irene Elrod?" Chief Polchies asks.
"Not in person," Tara replies, "but she finally answered our calls."
"Yes," Spencer explains, "it seems Miss Elrod, or should I say, Mrs. Aquila, now lives in North Carolina, happily married to another former cult member, Levin Aquila, and neither of them particularly want to talk about their time with The Rites of the Wintering Sun or with Snow Shine. They regret their time with the cult, knew nothing about the money laundering, but they both have incredibly solid alibis. All the former cult members have solid alibis for the murders.”
Aaron looks at the files again, glancing over the names and not recognizing any of them, "Even the basketball coach had a good alibi? Marty Teegan?"
"Teegan was...a strange duck. To be sure," David nods. "But we can't arrest someone for being weird."
"Boy," Tom snorts, "if we could."
"But we don't," Aaron snaps.
"Don't be such an idiot, Enoch," Luisa reprimands him, mostly to show off to Aaron, which is now grating his nerves.
"What? I'm just saying," Tom tries to defend himself.
"I didn't like the climate change advocate, Raleigh Cooper," Y/N says quietly, almost a whisper. As he is sure is the opposite of her intention, everyone looks at her. And he instantly knows she's onto something. Y/N's sense of humanity and understanding of human complexity meant that she was usually onto something. Which is why, despite his own personal misgivings about her presence here, Aaron knew she belonged.
"Why?" Luisa scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Too caring about her students?"
Y/N takes a very measured breath and responds, "No. No, I do think she knows too much about the youth she works with. Teegan was a bit awkward, yeah. To be honest, most of them were, just like Miss Elrod and the other cult member she married - they are former members of a cult whose leader was shown to be a big fraud and who is now incarcerated. So, yes, to David's and Aaron's and even Tom's point, Teegan was weird. But he is no longer in contact with any of the youth he worked with or anyone else from the cult for that matter. Raleigh Cooper is still in contact with kids, for God's sake. That hardly seems appropriate."
"Snow Shine ran for like 8 years," Luisa continues, pushing as though she thinks she's still right, even though Aaron knows that she has to know that Y/N has made an excellent point. "The only one she knew was Heron Li and the kids she's talking to probably aren't kids anymore."
"There's no reason for an after school program leader should have the phone numbers of kids and not their parents or guardians," Y/N states evenly, not engaging even though Luisa's tone is rising. "And she flat out admitted that she was in contact with kids well under the age of 18."
"What do you think her angle is?" Chief Polchies asks. Luisa's head snaps in his direction, clearly irritated this theory is being taken seriously.
"I think she was in love with Heron," Y/N explains. "The way she talked about him...it was weird. She knew too much, but was careful not to reveal it. Guarded, but detailed. But, why would there be something to guard?"
"So why would she have killed him?" Aaron asks genuinely. She turns to him, clearly shocked he's speaking to her directly. Luisa looks particularly put out now that Aaron's talking to Y/N. He can practically see her pouting out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't care less.
"He was leaving," she answers quietly, a sad expression crossing her face. "Heading to RISD. He didn't have a girlfriend, but I bet there was someone he was into or something like that."
"Kara Nicholaus," Tom says suddenly, while turning through a file. He's all excitement then, running over to Y/N with a photo of the climate change club from Snow Shine's yearbook. He's pointing to a beautiful young black girl with very dark, very clear skin. Her hair is natural and her eyes are shining and bright. And right next to her, his arm around her waist rather than her shoulder is Heron Li; he's not looking at the camera, but right at Kara, smile just as big if not bigger than hers. "This was taken about three or four months before the disbandment and raid of the cult."
"Seems like a good possibility," Y/N agrees. Similarly to the picture, Y/N is looking at the photo, squinting down at the picture of Heron and Kara, but Tom is only looking at Y/N. Which is suddenly a massive problem to Aaron.
"If he was interested in this girl, why would Raleigh Cooper try to flirt with him?" Luisa asks, clearly irritated.
"Actually," Spencer answers, "if she was attempting to groom Heron and he rejected her, that might be what set off the murders."
"Wouldn't she kill Heron first?" Luisa asks, still skeptical.
"I agree, actually," Luke pipes up. "I even think she probably knew more about the money laundering. She kept looking away when we asked her about it."
"I remember her," Chief Polchies says. "Her records were incredibly detailed. We couldn't find any connection to the laundering. Though..."
He trails off and Aaron looks at him, "Though what?"
"They were almost too clean, come to think of it," Chief Polchies admits. "It put a bad taste in my mouth at the time, but there was no reason to look into it. I didn't have a valid reason to get a subpoena for her records other than my own concern."
"Cooking the books like that would take a lot of work," Tom states, once again rather clumsily.
"It shows a level of methodology," Emily starts, "a level reminiscent of buying a pair of scissors from a general store and then wipe the security cameras. And then kill people and move them to locations to mix up the victims."
"Yeah," JJ says, "a hebephile like that wouldn't take too kindly to being rejected and if she knew about the laundering, she shows signs of being incredibly methodical."
"She has to be working with someone else," Tara states.
"What makes you say that?" Luisa asks, still miffed.
"She's too small to have gotten those bodies to lay in trees like that," Tara shrugs.
"So then why do we think she's done it at all?" Luisa cries, obviously frustrated and almost yelling. "Just because Officer Boring over here thinks so?"
She's pointing at Y/N, who has the decency to not to yell back. Emily's on her feet immediately and so is Chief Polchies.
"Montoya, out," he commands, pointing at the door. "My office in two minutes."
"Chief Polchies, I-" she tries, looking frantic.
"You what?" Emily asks imperiously.
Luisa blinks hard, trying not to cry, "I just think we should consider-"
"We should consider what?" Aaron asks, his tone curt and harsh. Her head turns quickly to him, clearly hoping he's on her side.
"I just think we could consider other possibilities," she explains softly, her eyes watering.
"Why? Because you don't like SSA Y/L/N?" Emily asks.
"Y/N is the only one with a solid theory," Aaron continues as though Emily hasn't spoken. "She has thought it through and explained it thoroughly and, as we review more evidence, it made more sense."
"Why are you suddenly on her side?" Luisa nearly pouts, still trying to keep her tears at bay.
"Respecting the fact that someone acted on a well thought out idea isn't being on 'her side'," he states bluntly. "It's just recognizing brilliance."
Luisa stares at him for a moment and a tear drops from her eyes, but Aaron finds he doesn't care. He can feel the rest of the team staring at him, especially Y/N, but he doesn't care.
"Montoya," Chief Polchies interrupts. "My office. Now."
The two of them leave the room and Aaron clears his throat, turning back to the desk and looking at the file.
"Is there any evidence of contact between Raleigh Cooper and Heron Li?" Emily asks to break the silence.
"Yes," Penelope replies, typing away, pretending she and the rest of the room weren't entirely focused on Y/N and Aaron. "Funny you should ask that, Boss."
Y/N catches Aaron's eye and mouths, "Thank you."
Aaron smiles for what feels like the first time in years and mouths back, "You're welcome."
Y/N smiles and then looks at him again and mouths, "Friends?"
Aaron thinks about it, hard. He doesn't want to just be friends, but it's better than nothing.
Things are good for about 48 hours. Kara Nicholaus is alive and well, living in New Jersey and about to start classes at Princeton. The evidence surrounding Raleigh's snapchat is eye opening. She's sent Heron hundreds of snap chats, most unopened by Heron. He blocked her and she makes burner accounts to continue trying to talk to him. He's blocked her number and she's made more. It's pretty crazy. And then they can't find Raleigh. She's not at her house, she's not at work, she's not at any of the murders sites, and her car isn't anywhere to be found either. They put out an APB for her, and start patrolling Acadia and the areas around the park as well.
It's for that reason that Aaron and Y/N are sent to the lighthouse together. It's the Baker Island Light Station. Luisa, definitely under the close watch of Chief Polchies, is paired with him to patrol a part of Acadia. Tom and Tara are patrolling another part, JJ and David are put on Raleigh's house, Penelope and Spencer are patrolling traffic cameras, on the lookout for Raleigh's car, and Emily and another officer, a cop called Ben Wick, are on patrolling the general store. The rest of the station are patrolling the previous crime scenes.
While she's giving the assignments, Aaron sees Emily realize that she has to pair Aaron with Y/N. She shuts her eyes briefly and almost stumbles over her words.
As they get ready to leave, Aaron sees Emily mouth and "I'm sorry" to Y/N, who smiles graciously and shakes her head as though to say it'll be fine.
Will it?
The car ride is silent. Like, so silent it feels like he might drown. They'd agreed to be friends, sure, but things were still awkward. His horrible behavior notwithstanding, it's not as though they'd had it out. Yet, anyway. He clears his throat, driving steadily. He feels Y/N look at him, but can only seem to clear his throat again.
"So," he starts, his voice thin and flaky. "This weather is..."
And he trails off, amazed he was able to say anything. His words sit in the air, silent for a while and then Y/N giggles. And then she starts laughing hard.
"My God," she finally gasps out, still laughing, "Emily was right."
"What?"
"You are so fucking formal," she laughs harder. "The weather? For the love of God, Aaron, we haven't properly spoken since we were 19. And you choose to speak about the weather? Look, I appreciate what you said to Officer Montoya, but - ugh, come on, man."
There she is, he thinks. There's the strong-willed girl he knew way back when. Her brilliance is a given, sure, but he'd thought maybe her headstrong character had evened out more than he'd ever wanted.
Thankfully, they pull up to the lighthouse. It's beautiful and old, picturesque, even. Without speaking again, Y/N straightens her kevlar and hooks her gun into her belt and gets out of the car. She walks to the water's edge, staring outward. Aaron gets out slower, fixing his vest and checking his gun methodically, trying to waste time.
"I wish..." he hears her say, her voice faint but present. He walks over to where she is, but stays behind her. She turns her head slightly, acknowledging his presence, but looking back out at the water.
"I wish we were here under different circumstances," she continues. "I wish we had found each other again under different circumstances. No, more than that, I wish...I wish we'd known each other at a different..." She stares out, still, unable to say more, shaking her head.
"No," she states promptly, "no. I just wish you'd realize that I never meant to hurt you. I was just..." She sighs and he realizes she's crying. "I was just young and afraid. And I would've tried and would've done anything for us to work. But we both left and...it's deeply unfair of you to hold that against me."
She looks at him then and, as much as it shames him, he can't fully look at her. He opens his mouth to speak and finds he can't say anything. She turns around fully to look at him, only to sigh - not exasperated or sad, just a sigh.
"So," she states, clearing her throat and looking back toward the lighthouse, "shall we go on patrol?"
Y/N knew being paired with Officer Montoya wouldn't exactly be a picnic, but she'd hoped it'd be...civil. Especially since they'd figured out that Raleigh's partner in crime was Levin Aquila - the husband of Irene Elrod. She’d been paying him handsomely for burner phones, technical support, and, apparently, paying his brother, who still lived in Maine, to help with physically moving the bodies and placing them high in the trees after she murdered them.
Levin Aquila had broken down pretty easily and had told the police in North Carolina everything when they added pressure from the FBI. He told them that, apparently, Arnold Swanson had offered up information in order to get his sentence potentially commuted or lessened. She was scared he'd tell the police about her and Levin cooking her accounting books during Snow Shine and about her attempted seduction of Heron Li. She apparently freaked out and murdered the first victim at the general store, stealing the kitchen shears and attacking ferociously. She'd called Levin - who'd helped her fix her accounting books and gained financially from it - and he'd sent his brother to help her move the body. They'd hid the bodies at the old Snow Shine facility and mixed them up to try and confuse the police.
The whole thing had been meant to threaten Arnie, who had indeed retracted his offer of information, but Levin revealed that Raleigh had decided to murder Heron when he'd posted on social media about his plan to go to RISD and about going to prom with Kara. Levin had felt it was too far, but Raleigh was out of control. He had no idea where she'd run off to, but he knew she was dangerous. He had no knowledge of her murdering Winona and didn't help her or his brother with the plan at all. Levin's brother, a burly man called Leo, gave himself up after a conversation with Levin. He didn't know about Winona's murder either. Levin and Leo both warned that Raleigh was armed, dangerous, and would stop at nothing to get away.
Emily's splitting of the team had been nothing short of borderline despicable lately. If Y/N hadn't known the pressure she was under, she would've thought Emily was angry at her. Pairing her with Aaron 48 hours before was upsetting, but being paired with Officer Montoya was insanity.
Y/N has no idea what she'd expected, but she certainly didn't anticipate Officer Montoya to be silent. Well, silent is kind. It was a passive aggressive silence. Lots of sighing and lots of gum smacking. It's been about two hours of sighs and gum smacking as Y/N sits in the FBI van with her. Montoya had agreed to drive, the last real speaking she'd done all day.
"Are you planning to talk?" Montoya suddenly says, startling Y/N enough that she jumps slightly.
"I wasn't, really," Y/N states calmly.
"That's odd," Luisa says, smacking her gum. "You always seem ready to say something."
Y/N sighs quickly and still says nothing.
"Maybe it's because Aaron isn't around," Luisa prods further, still smacking her gum.
"The lack of Agent Hotchner's presence has nothing to do with my decision to speak or not at this moment," Y/N states evenly.
"Oh, yeah? And what does?" Luisa smirks.
"Present company," Y/N replies flatly, finally looking her in the eyes.
She has the wherewithal to at least look away from Y/N, who rolls her eyes and looks forward again.
"Emily mentioned the two of you knew each other," Luisa says after a few moments of silence.
"We did," Y/N admits. "Quite a while ago."
"In what way?" Luisa asks, her tone different now. Sadder.
"What do you mean?" Y/N counters, trying her best - despite her dislike of Luisa - to sound kinder.
"He just said..." she trails off and looks out the driver's side window. "He didn't make it sound serious."
"Ah," Y/N responds trying to keep her tone in check. She didn't anticipate Aaron telling the whole world about their sordid love affair, but she guessed that, if he was truly interested in this girl, who, for all intents and purposes, made her interest in him very well known, he'd underplay it. Still, it stung. "Yes, he would say that."
"What was...how do you know each other?" Luisa asks, voice almost a whisper.
"I guess you'll find out eventually, if Aaron keeps dating you," Y/N sighs.
"We aren't dating," Luisa states quickly, her old tone completely gone, replaced with an almost desperation. "I've-I've tried, but he doesn't seem...there's something stopping him. I thought it was just being professional on the case, but...but then he took your side-"
"He didn't take my side," Y/N insists, rolling her eyes again.
"No, I know," Luisa says almost apologetically, which surprises Y/N. "I know. I fucked up. I just....he looks at you a lot, you know?"
Y/N stares at her and Luisa smiles sadly.
"I just...I just wanted him to look at me that way," she admits, eyes watery.
Y/N opens her mouth to say something and then Emily's voice comes over the comms: "Unsub has been spotted and is headed towards the split in the trail directed toward the Great Long Pond."
"That's near us," Y/N confirms, grabbing the mic and responding, "We'll head that way and wait for back up."
Y/N puts the mic back and then looks at Luisa. She has a quizzical expression on her face.
"We could cut her off," she says softly.
"What?" Y/N asks, genuinely confused.
"We don't need back up if we cut her off," Luisa states, louder now.
"Officer Montoya," Y/N starts, attempting to keep her voice even, "that's not-"
But Luisa is already putting the van into gear, hurtling forward at great speed. Y/N holds on to the grab handle, gripping it as Luisa speeds up more and more.
"Of-Officer Mon-t-toya," her voice breaks up as the speed over uneven ground, "th-this isn't-t sa-safe!"
"Maybe not," Luisa replies, her voice chillingly even, "but maybe, just maybe, I'm acting on a well thought out idea."
Her echoing of Aaron's words from his defense of Y/N does nothing to calm her nerves. And as Raleigh Cooper's blue sedan comes into view and Luisa presses the gas even harder, Y/N's not sure what either of them says, but all she knows is that Aaron's eyes flashing in her memory are the last thing she sees before the world turns black as they crash into Raleigh's car.
The lights of the hospital are too bright. As Y/N opens her eyes, she has to blink several times, relieved she's not still in that car.
"Oh my God, Y/N," Penelope's voice breaks the silence. "You're okay!" She practically jumps into Y/N's view, hugging her, nearly sobbing.
"Yeah," Y/N rasps out, her throat immensely dry. "I'm okay."
"I'll go find a doctor," Aaron's voice says. He drifts into her view as he crosses to the door, looking back for only a moment. The second he's gone, Penelope looks back at Y/N conspiratorially.
"He pulled you out, you know?" she whispers. "Against what the firemen were saying. Like, broke the car window and pulled you out himself."
"Oh," Y/N finally manages to say. "That's-"
"He told me everything," she continues. "All of what happened with you two."
"That's...um," Y/N blinks, "that's something."
"Raleigh's dead, by the way," Penelope states. "She died in the wreck."
"Oh my God," Y/N's eyes grow wide, "what about Luisa? Is she okay?" She starts trying to get out of bed when a gentle, but strong hand touches her shoulder. She looks up into Aaron's eyes looking down at her with something akin to an incredibly worried awe.
"She's fine," he replies gently. "Hurt, but fine. But you need to lay down until the doctor gets back. You had a pretty nasty concussion."
"I told her we shouldn't-"
"I know you did," Aaron cuts her off, calmly and gently leading her to lie back down with Penelope's help.
"Emily reviewed the dashcam footage after the accident," Penelope assures her. "Remarkably sturdy vehicles, those FBI vans. The front fender is a little bent, but it took out Raleigh's car. And Raleigh."
"What happened to Officer Montoya?" Y/N asks once she's fully laying down again.
"She took the brunt of the accident. She has a broken wrist and a pretty bad cut on her chest, but she's okay. Professionally, she'll face some pretty hefty repercussions," Aaron answers darkly.
"Am I in trouble?" Y/N asks genuinely.
"Absolutely not," Aaron replies. "If anything, I-" He's cut off as the doctor walks in. The doctor does a routine check on Y/N and informs her that they'll keep her overnight, but that she should be able to leave tomorrow morning. Aaron follows the doctor out and Penelope looks at Y/N again, eyes sparkling.
"After he and Emily reviewed the camera footage with me," Penelope tells her, "Hotch cried."
"I see," Y/N replies. Of course it had made him cry. Aaron believed many things that weren't his fault were, and she knew he'd blame himself if anything happened to anyone. It was one of the things that made it so hard to let go of her love for him. She could finally admit that she had always and would always care for him in some way. She looks back at Penelope, hoping her heart isn't on her sleeve.
"He felt like it was his fault," Penelope explains. "Emily told him not to blame himself, but he was pretty inconsolable. I'm sure you being okay will help his spirits tremendously."
Y/N can't help it, she laughs. Penelope looks confused and then she points out the door. There's Aaron, sitting on a bench just outside the room looking incredibly put out and typing furiously on his iPhone.
"You sure about that?" Y/N jokes and the two women laugh before the rest of the team arrives.
Like most cases, as much time as it took, it was over very quickly. Y/N was discharged in the morning and returned to pack her things at the hotel. She stops by the station to get the few things she left there. Chief Polchies apologizes to her for Luisa's behavior, but Y/N reassures him that it's all okay. Tom asks her out, which is surprising, but she turns him down. All is back to...normal, maybe.
It's been a strange case, that's for sure. And she's ready to return to...normalcy? Something has shifted in this case, but maybe it was best to just let it go.
She's picking up the last of her things in the precinct, preparing to meet the team outside when Aaron breezes through the door. He sees her immediately and freezes. The two of them stare at each other, the air suddenly thick and confusing.
"I'm so sorry," he chokes out, not quite meeting her eyes. "I forgot my scarf." He points to the desk chair where, sure enough, there's a light gray scarf with a light tan and darker gray plaid pattern on it. He steps forward to retrieve it, clearly uncomfortable. Without thinking, Y/N picks it up, holding it out to him. It hangs between them in the silence. Aaron's face, softer than it had been in days, softens even more. At least, his eyes do.
He finally meets her eyes, "I sent you an email. I'm sorry if you don't have my email, but I got yours from...um, from Penelope. " He takes his scarf from her, their hands almost touching, but not quite. His eyes drop from hers to the space where their hands almost met. He opens his mouth, as though to say something, but nothing comes out. He meets her eyes once more, then turns and leaves rather abruptly.
She waits all of about two seconds before grabbing for her phone, opening the lock screen and seeing the email waiting for her. Her hands shake as she clicks it open.
Dear Y/N,
I know I said nothing when we were at the lighthouse the other day, and that was a mistake. Though, thinking about it now, I have so much to say, then it may have been too much. So, I'm emailing you. Which feels deeply impersonal and I'm sorry. I don't have your talent of being vulnerable, like how you were at the lighthouse.
You light my soul on fire. I am half agony, half hope. I hope this isn't too late or that my chances are gone forever. You have always held my heart, it has always been yours. It is more yours now than when it was broken.
On this case I have been petty and unkind, which was not deserved by anyone, but least of all you. You were the reason I came. I lied to myself and to everyone and came to consult on the case, but the moment I heard you were there, I knew I had to come. The idiocy that has made me bitter and cold towards you is a wall I've built to protect myself. You hurt me all those years ago, but I know I've hurt you, too.
I'm sorry if I'm rambling.
I have loved no one the way I loved you. The way I love you.
Please, I have to know if you feel anything for me or if I've ruined this forever. One look, one word from you and I will do whatever you wish. Even if it means you never want to see me again.
I am yours if you'll have me,
Aaron Hotchner
Y/N lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. There are tears rolling down her cheeks that she didn't realize were there. This man. This man she'd known for so long and adored...feels the same way. She doesn't want a normal without him. She doesn't want anything without him. Her feet begin to move before she knows where she's going. She runs outside, feeling insane.
"Y/N?" Emily asks, confused by what Y/N is sure is her rather haggard appearance. "Are you alright?"
Everyone is staring, waiting for the cars to the air field, but Y/N suddenly doesn't care. She can feel Penelope beaming, can sense Spencer and JJ putting the pieces together, can see David and Tara look at each other for answers out of the corner of her eye, and can see Luke looking helplessly confused.
"A-Aaron," she breathes out, "Aaron. Where is he?"
"He's-he's walked to the lighthouse, I think," Emily replies. "What's going on?"
"I have to go," she smiles. "To the lighthouse."
"Yeah, you do!" Penelope cheers. Y/N spares a moment to smile for Penelope and then takes off running, not sure how far Aaron's made it down the path.
The late afternoon sun feels as though it's twinkling down on her through the trees as she full tilt runs to the lighthouse. Just as the lighthouse comes into view, she spots him, his black coat and the scarf from earlier. She can barely think.
"Aaron!" she calls, almost breathless. He looks back and sees her, running towards her, meeting her halfway.
His eyes are wide, "Y/N, where's your coat?"
"It doesn't matter," she smiles, the slight shiver to her voice not affecting her at all. "I read your email."
"It does matter. We're in Maine and it's autumn," he insists, pulling off his scarf and wrapping it around her.
"Aaron," she nearly yells over his fussing, grasping his hands in her own. He stares at her, taking in her tears and her smile.
"You read my email?" he asks softly, as though realizing what she'd said for the first time.
She nods, smiling deeper, "And I - I love you, too."
Aaron smiles the kind of smile where it seems to come from his entire being as he looks at her. Almost teasingly he asks, "Are you sure?"
Y/N nearly giggles, wrapping her arms around his neck, eyes intently on his lips, "Yes. And nothing and no one will persuade me otherwise."
~ “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.” - Jane Austen ~
This is, like, genuinely, insanely kind. I have no idea how I missed your messages in my inbox, but seeing this really warmed my spirits. I hope wherever you are, your pillow is always cool, your skin is clear, and you are safe and happy. My best wishes to you xx
Hi! You've probably been asked this a million times already, but have you considered more parts for Line of Fire? No pressure if you haven't, i just really enjoyed it, and your whole spencer masterlist is amazing 🫶🏾
I JUST SAW THIS AND HAVE NO IDEA HOW I HAVEN'T SEEN YOUR MESSAGES.
This is so kind! I haven't considered continuing it, to be entirely honest. To me, it was such a massive rewrite of that whole story line and of the way CM handled Spencer's drug usage that continuing it would just have to be, like, not kidding, a full rewrite of the series.
However, I will tell you that, in my mind, Reader and Spencer go to Hotch the next morning and tell him what's been going on with everything. Hotch gives Spencer mandatory (paid) leave and gets him in a nearby rehab. He does rehab for a month while Reader does desk work. When he comes back, he requests desk work (to everyone's surprise) and works remotely with Reader and Penelope during cases, all the while going to meetings REGULARLY and seeing an independent (not FBI sanctioned) therapist.
They have a healthy son they name "Jason" (after Gideon, but it also means "to heal" in Hebrew). The two of them get married not long after and Spencer starts teaching WAY earlier. He consults on cases occasionally, but finds he is much happier teaching. Y/N goes back to work full time, but after becoming pregnant again decides (with full support from Spencer no matter what) to become a teacher at the FBI Academy. They have a daughter called "Nadine" (meaning "hope") and the family moves to the suburbs. Spencer teaches at Georgetown and Y/N teaches at the FBI Academy, and they both do consulting when needed. Spencer becomes a regular speaker and sponsor at meetings and becomes the proud owner of his own ten years sober coin. They are very, very happy.
I know this isn't a full story, but when I was writing "Line of Fire", this is what I imagined! Thank you!
TW: grisly crimes described in detail as they solve it, details of murder weapon, description of stabbing, crime scene descriptions, mentions of a cult, drug use, and cursing
So glad you all enjoyed the first part! There will be one more part after this! This part probably is the furthest from Persuasion, but there has to be a case to solve! I hope you enjoy xx
~ “Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted.” - Jane Austen ~
The strange thing about working a BAU case was that it was ever-so-conveniently never as all-consuming as one needed it to be. No matter how hard he tried, Aaron could not shake his discomfort. He remembered cases being a balm for his anxieties, no matter how guilty he ever felt for doing so. When Haley died he’d used work to get through it, to somewhat middling results, obviously, but he’d done it all the same.
The news that Y/N was now an SSA…wasn’t terribly shocking. She’d always been brilliant at pretty much whatever she’d put her mind to. He’d heard just before Haley’s passing that she’d gone to work with Interpol. It sort of made sense in his mind. However, he hadn’t counted on her…being here. But, he hadn’t really counted on being here himself. He, of course, remembered working with Chief Kiosh Polchies. At the time, he’d been an officer, but a very helpful and wise one. It made Aaron happy to hear that his friend had been made chief of police. The area of Maine that the Wabanaki tribes inhabit is largely rural and it his instincts and knowledge of the area made him absolutely vital in solving that case so long ago. It was a real honor to be asked to consult due to his connections with Polchies. Hell, it was great to work with the BAU team again in any capacity. But…now the team included Y/N. He was determined to get through the case just as he’d done after Haley’s passing. Put his head down and work through the pain.
Which wasn’t working. Not even a little bit. Part of it was the difficulty of the case, part of it was the feelings he had about Y/N, whom he refused to address as anything other than SSA Y/L/N. And he wasn’t being mean to her, just kind of ignoring her, almost entirely. He actually thought he was being subtle until Luke repeated something she’d said and he acknowledged it. He just couldn’t allow himself to interact with her.
He’d loved her deeply. The night their engagement was broken, he couldn’t stop crying. In her little notebook, the one from her Anthropology 101 class, she’d written out a plan. She’d have to work two or, maybe even, three jobs to pay for school and house the two of them, but she was willing to do it. He looked at her, then, and just knew that this would end. It would end with them hating each other. And he couldn’t allow her to work three jobs for her dream just to end up hating each other. He’d watched his parents' marriage crumble long before his mother’s illness had taken her life.
But this understanding had crystallized into something harder over time. Surely, surely she could have fought harder for him. Her father had always been strict, hell he hadn’t wanted her to go to a dance with Aaron! But, surely she could have said something…done something. Something more.
The moment they called it on their relationship her father had allowed her to go study abroad, something Mr. Y/L/N had been vehemently against since she’d brought it up. It almost felt like she’d fought harder for that opportunity than she had for Aaron. In the deepest parts of his brain and heart, he knew that wasn’t true, but it was hard to overcome that feeling.
Especially when Y/N is still just as beautiful and smart as she always was. She was made for this work. Her wit, as it always had been, was stunning to see, but her empathy - which had given her archaeological studies a notably humanitarian bent - was incomparable.
“So, the victims,” Y/N begins slowly, looking over the board of victim photos, “are obviously all young males of differing ethnic backgrounds. And they really didn’t have anything in common?”
“Nothing we can find,” says Chief Polchies. “Truly, nothing. They all attended different schools, they did different after school activities, were in different clubs, had varying levels of success in school, in social life, different economic backgrounds, all of it.”
“It almost seems entirely random,” Emily replies, “other than them being male.”
“And relatively the same age,” JJ adds.
“Heron was 16, Jed was 20, Miller was 23,” Spencer reminds them, “and the most recent victim, Terrence, was 18.”
Y/N winces and Penelope, brought along for technical support as she sometimes was in cases that might involve remote locations, rubs her back. Y/N notices Emily looking at her and she shakes her head, “Sorry, it’s just…they’re so young. So much ahead of them, you know?”
“It’s tough,” pipes up Officer Luisa Montoya, a member of Chief Polchie's team. “Tough to be sure.”
Aaron has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Luisa has been paying him…rather pointed amounts of attention. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but her attempts at empathy are hardly as genuine or as effective as Y/N’s.
“There has to be something that brings them together,” Tara insists.
“There’s nothing,” Luke assures her, “except maybe a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“And what about that?” David asks. “All killed the same way, then their bodies placed in trees in a national park.”
“It’s one of the rare cases of identical murder MO but absolutely nothing in common with the victims,” Aaron finally states. “I can’t remember another one like it.”
“They were all killed in weird places, too,” a young officer called Tom Enoch rather unartfully states. He was also a member of Polchie’s team. There’s a somewhat awkward moment of silence after his clunky statement that Y/N generously breaks.
“You’re not wrong,” she says, kindly, looking to Spencer for support. Aaron looks away, almost unwilling to recognize how jealous he is of her looking to Spencer rather than him.
“Yes,” Spencer continues, unaware of Aaron’s jealousy. “Yes, Heron’s body, like all the others, was found in a tree in Acadia National Park, but whose crime scene was identified as the dock at The Cranberry Cove Boating Company. He was killed on the dock there; like all the other victims he was killed with a swift, but fatal cut to the jugular with what the CSU team believes are…kitchen shears?”
“Yes, kitchen shears,” Luisa nods. “Odd, sure, but it matches the blade pattern of the ones stolen from the general store at Acadia.”
“Makes sense,” Tara agrees, “the stolen shears make it harder to find whatever unsub used them.”
“I can’t believe the cameras at the store were wiped,” Luke says.
“Wiping security footage shows intent, though, right?” asks Tom, looking, rather like a puppy, at Y/N.
“I’d think so,” Y/N nods at him, clearly embarrassed by the slight attention, and there’s another pang of jealousy in Aaron’s chest.
“Yes, so Heron was killed in Islesford, which is strange because he’s from Bar Harbor,” Spencer continues.
“Yes,” Penelope agrees, “but all of the victims were killed in random locations. Well, I say random…”
“What are you hedging on, Miss Garcia?” Chief Polchies asks.
“Ooh, Miss Garcia,” Penelope gushes, “I like that, Chief. What I think is that the killer, with the same intent identified by our young Officer Enoch here, is systematically mixing up the locations of our victims.”
“What do you mean, Garcia?” Luke asks.
“Well, basically, Heron Li was from Bar Harbor, attended Blue Hill Harbor School, where he was an excellent student, by the way. Participated in a Climate Change Awareness Club and competed with the chess team-”
“Is there a point here, Garcia?” Emily presses.
“What I’m saying is there’s an alarming lack of docks and boats involved in Heron’s personal history. However, Miller Beckford, who lived in Isleford and graduated from the Ashley Bryan School, didn’t attend college, and works for, not The Cranberry Cove Boating Company, but another boating company in Isleford. He was also, apparently, a proficient fisherman,” Garcia explains.
“But Miller wasn’t murdered in Bar Harbor,” Luke corrects.
“I know that, Newbie,” Garcia retorts, “but Terrence was. And Terrence Gutierrez was from Somesville. Attended Mount Desert Island High School and was headed to Rhode Island School of Design when he graduated. As such, he was part of the art society at school and also participated in a program that taught art and design to underprivileged youth in the area. He also is the only one of our victims who had a girlfriend, Winona Atwen.”
“Her mother is a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe, too. One of our oldest families,” Chief Polchies explains. “Winona is the one who came to us. Terrence’s parents were out of town and returned, obviously, when we were looking for him. It was only after she reported him missing and his crime scene was reported that we noticed the pattern.”
“It’d be pretty hard to piece together such random victimology over different crime scenes,” JJ offers gently.
“Winona knew something was wrong,” Chief Polchies continues. “I’ve known her since she was a child and I’ve never seen someone that terrified. Killed me to inform her when we found the body. The two of them had been together since middle school. We found a ring in his room; his mother said he was planning to propose before he went off to school.”
“That’s a mistake,” Aaron scoffs quietly. They all turned to look at him, except Y/N, who determinedly kept her head down, looking at a file.
“What’s that, Hotch?” Emily asks pointedly.
“Sorry, I mean no disrespect to the victim,” Aaron continues, “but college aged is too young to get married or even engaged.”
“I agree,” Luisa nods all too aggressively, practically begging for Aaron’s approval. “No one knows what they want at that age.”
There’s a horrifically awkward pause and Aaron swears he can hear Y/N’s breath hitch, which is confirmed when Emily looks at her and then clears her throat.
Penelope, blessedly, takes that as her cue to continue: “Now, I know what you’re all thinking, Miller wasn’t killed in Somesville either! And I know that, because Jed was. Jed Allen is from Ellsworth and dropped out of school, but worked at the Acadia General Store. He was an avid fan of basketball and was the assistant coach of a rec league team. He was killed in Somesville and Miller was killed in Ellsworth.”
“I see the pattern,” Tara agrees, “or lack thereof. Whoever is doing this, they’re just sort of choosing the spots at random and then mixing the victims up. Heron was killed at the docks, Jed in an art gallery, Miller outside the general store, and Terrence was killed outside that climate change coalition.”
“Same way they choose their victims,” David sighs. “How are we gonna solve this?”
“I wonder…”, Chief Polchies says staring at the map. “Luisa?”
The young woman perks up a little too aggressively, “Yes, Chief?”
“That Arnie Swanson guy, is he still around?”
“Arnold Swanson? No, he’s still incarcerated, why?”
“Damn,” Chief Polchies clicks his tongue.
“Who’s Arnold Swanson, Kiosh?” Aaron asks.
“Eh, you might know him better as Rising Bull,” Chief Polchies rolls his eyes.
“Rising Bull?” Emily asks, looking between the two of them.
“‘Rising Bull’ was the fake name taken by Arnold Latimer Swanson. A local, non-Native, white man. He would sort of appropriate Wabanaki rituals into his own group. They called themselves The Rites of the Wintering Sun,” Polchies explains.
“Ah, yes,” Aaron sighs. “The cult! They were mildly implicated in the case I worked here years ago.”
“Yeah, not enough to hold any of them then. They weren’t doing anything illegal, just appropriating my culture…rather publicly,” Chief Polchies rolls his eyes again.
“That’s horrible,” JJ says.
“Horrible, yes. Illegal, no,” Chief Polchies agrees. “But, believe me, I tried to get them for years. Finally was able to arrest him last year.”
“How’d you finally get Swanson?” Aaron asks.
“He started running these ‘after school programs’,” Luisa answered quickly, as though desperate to give her input. “And it seemed like there was nothing wrong with them.”
“But he was using the money made from the program to buy drugs and resell them,” Chief Polchies amended. “Then putting that money into offshore accounts. He had a plan to get away from the cult he’d started, likely to start another one.”
“These after school programs,” Y/N says, “what age group did they serve?”
“I know that,” Tom responded, too quickly for Aaron’s liking. He’d pulled the case file while they’d been talking. “The Rites of the Wintering Sun’s after school program was called Snow Shine After School and they served youths from ages 11 to 18.”
“They had a basketball team, art program, chess club, environmental activist program, fishing club…” David reads over Tom’s shoulder. “All things the victims were interested in.”
“I wonder if the victims were members of the after school program. It never occurred to me, the group has been disbanded for over a year,” Chief Polchies murmurs. He sounds regretful, a bit angry with himself.
“Completely disbanded?” Y/N asks tentatively.
“What do you mean by that?” Luisa asks defensively. “We’ve followed up a few times. They don’t get away with anything on our watch.”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Y/N corrects herself. “What I mean is, no matter the amount of police work, some people have trouble letting go, they hold on. For those truly indoctrinated, constancy is hardly an issue.”
“Yes, constancy is only an issue for some people,” Aaron says quietly, but pointedly.
For the first time in what feels like days, Y/N looks directly at him. She doesn’t look angry or spiteful, just…hurt. There’s a tension in the room. Emily goes to stand behind Y/N. And she looks very irritated with Aaron.
“I think we need to go back to the scene of the crime,” Emily announces. “There’s too much evidence and little to no connection, but I like this angle. Let’s split up. Tara and Luke, head to Ellsworth. I’ll go with Aaron to interview some former Rites of Wintering Spring members. Chief, would you mind heading to The Cranberry Cove Boating Company with David and JJ? And Penelope, would you mind staying here with Tom? Look for anything you can find online from members of the cult. Spencer, Y/N, you two go to Bar Harbor and look at the most recent scene again.”
“Can I go with you?” Luisa asks needily. Emily’s mouth twitched, but she plastered on a smile and agreed to Luisa’s presence with her and Aaron. The group stood and headed out to their various locations.
Aaron must’ve looked a little too relieved when Luisa volunteered because Emily stops him just before they reach the van and says, “Don’t let your guard down just yet, Hotch. I still need to have a word with you.”
“About what, Agent?” Aaron replies snidely.
“I am well aware that you and Y/N have a history-”
“Whatever you think you know isn’t your business,” Aaron snaps.
“That may be,” Emily continues. “But if you continue to emotionally compromise one of my agents, I will take you off the case and send you home. Got it, Consultant Hotchner?”
“Understood, Agent Prentiss,” Aaron counters, gritting his teeth.
They all get in the car, Luisa picking the middle of the backseat so she can talk to both of them easily. They drive along for a little bit when Luisa clears her throat.
“So, Mr. Hotchner, you worked with Polchies before?”
“Yes,” he answers vaguely. “I’d only just started with the BAU back then. And Aaron is fine.”
“What made you join the BAU? Weren’t you a lawyer…Aaron?” The way she says his name implies a hell of a lot more than Aaron is comfortable with, but seeing Emily’s annoyance after her reprimand makes it easier to bear.
Emily immediately rolls her eyes at the attention Luisa is paying to Aaron, especially after how she says his name. He smiles to himself. Sure, it felt a little silly and uncomfortable and maybe a lot petty, but it was nice to be getting female attention. Especially since Tom seemed to be so interested in Y/N.
“I was a lawyer, but I wanted to stop the crimes before they reached the courtroom,” he answers.
“That’s awfully noble of you,” Luisa simpers, leaning forward and putting her head on the shoulder of his car seat.
“Oh, well, thank you,” he replies, knowing exactly what he’s doing. Emily sighs and somehow rolls her eyes even harder.
“And you have a son?” Luisa asks, apparently unaware of Emily’s irritation.
“Yes, I do,” Aaron responds, plastering a shit-eating grin on his face. “His name is Jack. He’s almost 14 now.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m sure you’re an incredible father,” Luisa gushes.
“I’d like to think so,” Aaron replies.
“Where do you live now that you don’t work with the BAU?” she questions.
“We still live in Virginia, nearer to where I grew up, actually, in Manassas,” he responds.
“Isn’t Y/N also from Manassas?” Luisa queries innocently.
Emily - a bit too gleefully - nearly slams the brakes at the stop sign, “Why, yes, Hotch, isn’t Y/N from Manassas as well?”
Aaron grimaces before answering, “Yes, she is. We knew each other growing up, actually.”
“Understatement of the century,” Emily says under her breath. Aaron gives her a side eye, but says nothing.
“You grew up with Y/N?” Luisa inquires, not sparing any faux innocence.
“We…ran in similar circles,” Aaron clarifies, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
Emily snorts and then tries to play it off like a cough, but says nothing, clearly enjoying herself.
“Was she always so boring?” Luisa giggles obnoxiously.
“Officer Montoya,” Emily chides.
“I’m only joking, Agent Prentiss,” Luisa says smugly, once again heightening her faux naiveté to look at Aaron . “Wasn’t I just joking…Aaron?”
Aaron keeps looking ahead, knowing he has a choice here. He could reprimand her, defend the woman he once believed would share his life. He could tell Emily and Luisa that, even though he loved Haley, no one had ever been able to make him feel the way Y/N had. How much he loved her then and how easily he could fall back in love with her now. How she is empathetic and brilliant and hilarious when given the chance. How she’s logical and pragmatic, but the most caring individual he’d ever known.
But he can’t do that. Aaron has built up a protective wall for years and he can’t let it down now. Y/N hurt him before, for reasons beyond her power, sure, but she’d clearly moved on, as had he. He can’t allow himself to fall in love, no matter how easy it would be.
He closes his eyes, then opens them and looks forward, determinedly not looking at either of them, knowing that Emily will look disappointed and Luisa will smirk in victory and not wanting to see either reaction.
“Yeah, Emily, she was only joking.”
~ “Once so much to each other! Now nothing!” - Jane Austen ~
Several years after leaving the BAU, Hotch is called back to consult on a confusing murder case in a national park only to discover that the girl who broke his heart when he was a teenager is currently working as an SSA with the BAU. Will the two of them solve the grisly case and overcome flirtations from the local authority and defeat the ghosts of their past to find each other again? Based on Jane Austen’s final novel Persuasion.
TW: grisly crimes described in detail as they solve it, details of murder weapon, description of stabbing, crime scene descriptions, mentions of a cult, drug use, and cursing
So glad you all enjoyed the first part! There will be one more part after this! This part probably is the furthest from Persuasion, but there has to be a case to solve! I hope you enjoy xx
~ “Now they were as strangers; nay, worse than strangers, for they could never become acquainted.” - Jane Austen ~
The strange thing about working a BAU case was that it was ever-so-conveniently never as all-consuming as one needed it to be. No matter how hard he tried, Aaron could not shake his discomfort. He remembered cases being a balm for his anxieties, no matter how guilty he ever felt for doing so. When Haley died he’d used work to get through it, to somewhat middling results, obviously, but he’d done it all the same.
The news that Y/N was now an SSA…wasn’t terribly shocking. She’d always been brilliant at pretty much whatever she’d put her mind to. He’d heard just before Haley’s passing that she’d gone to work with Interpol. It sort of made sense in his mind. However, he hadn’t counted on her…being here. But, he hadn’t really counted on being here himself. He, of course, remembered working with Chief Kiosh Polchies. At the time, he’d been an officer, but a very helpful and wise one. It made Aaron happy to hear that his friend had been made chief of police. The area of Maine that the Wabanaki tribes inhabit is largely rural and it his instincts and knowledge of the area made him absolutely vital in solving that case so long ago. It was a real honor to be asked to consult due to his connections with Polchies. Hell, it was great to work with the BAU team again in any capacity. But…now the team included Y/N. He was determined to get through the case just as he’d done after Haley’s passing. Put his head down and work through the pain.
Which wasn’t working. Not even a little bit. Part of it was the difficulty of the case, part of it was the feelings he had about Y/N, whom he refused to address as anything other than SSA Y/L/N. And he wasn’t being mean to her, just kind of ignoring her, almost entirely. He actually thought he was being subtle until Luke repeated something she’d said and he acknowledged it. He just couldn’t allow himself to interact with her.
He’d loved her deeply. The night their engagement was broken, he couldn’t stop crying. In her little notebook, the one from her Anthropology 101 class, she’d written out a plan. She’d have to work two or, maybe even, three jobs to pay for school and house the two of them, but she was willing to do it. He looked at her, then, and just knew that this would end. It would end with them hating each other. And he couldn’t allow her to work three jobs for her dream just to end up hating each other. He’d watched his parents' marriage crumble long before his mother’s illness had taken her life.
But this understanding had crystallized into something harder over time. Surely, surely she could have fought harder for him. Her father had always been strict, hell he hadn’t wanted her to go to a dance with Aaron! But, surely she could have said something…done something. Something more.
The moment they called it on their relationship her father had allowed her to go study abroad, something Mr. Y/L/N had been vehemently against since she’d brought it up. It almost felt like she’d fought harder for that opportunity than she had for Aaron. In the deepest parts of his brain and heart, he knew that wasn’t true, but it was hard to overcome that feeling.
Especially when Y/N is still just as beautiful and smart as she always was. She was made for this work. Her wit, as it always had been, was stunning to see, but her empathy - which had given her archaeological studies a notably humanitarian bent - was incomparable.
“So, the victims,” Y/N begins slowly, looking over the board of victim photos, “are obviously all young males of differing ethnic backgrounds. And they really didn’t have anything in common?”
“Nothing we can find,” says Chief Polchies. “Truly, nothing. They all attended different schools, they did different after school activities, were in different clubs, had varying levels of success in school, in social life, different economic backgrounds, all of it.”
“It almost seems entirely random,” Emily replies, “other than them being male.”
“And relatively the same age,” JJ adds.
“The most recent victim, Heron, was 16, Jed was 20, Miller was 23,” Spencer reminds them, “and Terrence, was 18.”
Y/N winces and Penelope, brought along for technical support as she sometimes was in cases that might involve remote locations, rubs her back. Y/N notices Emily looking at her and she shakes her head, “Sorry, it’s just…they’re so young. So much ahead of them, you know?”
“It’s tough,” pipes up Officer Luisa Montoya, a member of Chief Polchie's team. “Tough to be sure.”
Aaron has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Luisa has been paying him…rather pointed amounts of attention. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but her attempts at empathy are hardly as genuine or as effective as Y/N’s.
“There has to be something that brings them together,” Tara insists.
“There’s nothing,” Luke assures her, “except maybe a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“And what about that?” David asks. “All killed the same way, then their bodies placed in trees in a national park.”
“It’s one of the rare cases of identical murder MO but absolutely nothing in common with the victims,” Aaron finally states. “I can’t remember another one like it.”
“They were all killed in weird places, too,” a young officer called Tom Enoch rather unartfully states. He was also a member of Polchie’s team. There’s a somewhat awkward moment of silence after his clunky statement that Y/N generously breaks.
“You’re not wrong,” she says, kindly, looking to Spencer for support. Aaron looks away, almost unwilling to recognize how jealous he is of her looking to Spencer rather than him.
“Yes,” Spencer continues, unaware of Aaron’s jealousy. “Yes, Heron’s body, like all the others, was found in a tree in Acadia National Park, but whose crime scene was identified as the dock at The Cranberry Cove Boating Company. He was killed on the dock there; like all the other victims he was killed with a swift, but fatal cut to the jugular with what the CSU team believes are…kitchen shears?”
“Yes, kitchen shears,” Luisa nods. “Odd, sure, but it matches the blade pattern of the ones stolen from the general store at Acadia.”
“Makes sense,” Tara agrees, “the stolen shears make it harder to find whatever unsub used them.”
“I can’t believe the cameras at the store were wiped,” Luke says.
“Wiping security footage shows intent, though, right?” asks Tom, looking, rather like a puppy, at Y/N.
“I’d think so,” Y/N nods at him, clearly embarrassed by the slight attention, and there’s another pang of jealousy in Aaron’s chest.
“Yes, so Heron was killed in Islesford, which is strange because he’s from Bar Harbor,” Spencer continues.
“Yes,” Penelope agrees, “but all of the victims were killed in random locations. Well, I say random…”
“What are you hedging on, Miss Garcia?” Chief Polchies asks.
“Ooh, Miss Garcia,” Penelope gushes, “I like that, Chief. What I think is that the killer, with the same intent identified by our young Officer Enoch here, is systematically mixing up the locations of our victims.”
“What do you mean, Garcia?” Luke asks.
“Well, basically, Heron Li was from Bar Harbor, attended Blue Hill Harbor School, where he was an excellent student, by the way. Participated in a Climate Change Awareness Club and competed with the chess team-”
“Is there a point here, Garcia?” Emily presses.
“What I’m saying is there’s an alarming lack of docks and boats involved in Heron’s personal history. However, Miller Beckford, who lived in Isleford and graduated from the Ashley Bryan School, didn’t attend college, and works for, not The Cranberry Cove Boating Company, but another boating company in Isleford. He was also, apparently, a proficient fisherman,” Garcia explains.
“But Miller wasn’t murdered in Bar Harbor,” Luke corrects.
“I know that, Newbie,” Garcia retorts, “but Terrence was. And Terrence Gutierrez was from Somesville. Attended Mount Desert Island High School and was headed to Rhode Island School of Design when he graduated. As such, he was part of the art society at school and also participated in a program that taught art and design to underprivileged youth in the area. He also is the only one of our victims who had a girlfriend, Winona Atwen.”
“Her mother is a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe, too. One of our oldest families,” Chief Polchies explains. “Winona is the one who came to us. Terrence’s parents were out of town and returned, obviously, when we were looking for him. It was only after she reported him missing and his crime scene was reported that we noticed the pattern.”
“It’d be pretty hard to piece together such random victimology over different crime scenes,” JJ offers gently.
“Winona knew something was wrong,” Chief Polchies continues. “I’ve known her since she was a child and I’ve never seen someone that terrified. Killed me to inform her when we found the body. The two of them had been together since middle school. We found a ring in his room; his mother said he was planning to propose before he went off to school.”
“That’s a mistake,” Aaron scoffs quietly. They all turned to look at him, except Y/N, who determinedly kept her head down, looking at a file.
“What’s that, Hotch?” Emily asks pointedly.
“Sorry, I mean no disrespect to the victim,” Aaron continues, “but college aged is too young to get married or even engaged.”
“I agree,” Luisa nods all too aggressively, practically begging for Aaron’s approval. “No one knows what they want at that age.”
There’s a horrifically awkward pause and Aaron swears he can hear Y/N’s breath hitch, which is confirmed when Emily looks at her and then clears her throat.
Penelope, blessedly, takes that as her cue to continue: “Now, I know what you’re all thinking, Miller wasn’t killed in Somesville either! And I know that, because Jed was. Jed Allen is from Ellsworth and dropped out of school, but worked at the Acadia General Store. He was an avid fan of basketball and was the assistant coach of a rec league team. He was killed in Somesville and Miller was killed in Ellsworth.”
“I see the pattern,” Tara agrees, “or lack thereof. Whoever is doing this, they’re just sort of choosing the spots at random and then mixing the victims up. Heron was killed at the docks, Jed in an art gallery, Miller outside the general store, and Terrence was killed outside that climate change coalition.”
“Same way they choose their victims,” David sighs. “How are we gonna solve this?”
“I wonder…”, Chief Polchies says staring at the map. “Luisa?”
The young woman perks up a little too aggressively, “Yes, Chief?”
“That Arnie Swanson guy, is he still around?”
“Arnold Swanson? No, he’s still incarcerated, why?”
“Damn,” Chief Polchies clicks his tongue.
“Who’s Arnold Swanson, Kiosh?” Aaron asks.
“Eh, you might know him better as Rising Bull,” Chief Polchies rolls his eyes.
“Rising Bull?” Emily asks, looking between the two of them.
“‘Rising Bull’ was the fake name taken by Arnold Latimer Swanson. A local, non-Native, white man. He would sort of appropriate Wabanaki rituals into his own group. They called themselves The Rites of the Wintering Sun,” Polchies explains.
“Ah, yes,” Aaron sighs. “The cult! They were mildly implicated in the case I worked here years ago.”
“Yeah, not enough to hold any of them then. They weren’t doing anything illegal, just appropriating my culture…rather publicly,” Chief Polchies rolls his eyes again.
“That’s horrible,” JJ says.
“Horrible, yes. Illegal, no,” Chief Polchies agrees. “But, believe me, I tried to get them for years. Finally was able to arrest him last year.”
“How’d you finally get Swanson?” Aaron asks.
“He started running these ‘after school programs’,” Luisa answered quickly, as though desperate to give her input. “And it seemed like there was nothing wrong with them.”
“But he was using the money made from the program to buy drugs and resell them,” Chief Polchies amended. “Then putting that money into offshore accounts. He had a plan to get away from the cult he’d started, likely to start another one.”
“These after school programs,” Y/N says, “what age group did they serve?”
“I know that,” Tom responded, too quickly for Aaron’s liking. He’d pulled the case file while they’d been talking. “The Rites of the Wintering Sun’s after school program was called Snow Shine After School and they served youths from ages 11 to 18.”
“They had a basketball team, art program, chess club, environmental activist program, fishing club…” David reads over Tom’s shoulder. “All things the victims were interested in.”
“I wonder if the victims were members of the after school program. It never occurred to me, the group has been disbanded for over a year,” Chief Polchies murmurs. He sounds regretful, a bit angry with himself.
“Completely disbanded?” Y/N asks tentatively.
“What do you mean by that?” Luisa asks defensively. “We’ve followed up a few times. They don’t get away with anything on our watch.”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Y/N corrects herself. “What I mean is, no matter the amount of police work, some people have trouble letting go, they hold on. For those truly indoctrinated, constancy is hardly an issue.”
“Yes, constancy is only an issue for some people,” Aaron says quietly, but pointedly.
For the first time in what feels like days, Y/N looks directly at him. She doesn’t look angry or spiteful, just…hurt. There’s a tension in the room. Emily goes to stand behind Y/N. And she looks very irritated with Aaron.
“I think we need to go back to the scene of the crime,” Emily announces. “There’s too much evidence and little to no connection, but I like this angle. Let’s split up. Tara and Luke, head to Ellsworth. I’ll go with Aaron to interview some former Rites of Wintering Spring members. Chief, would you mind heading to The Cranberry Cove Boating Company with David and JJ? And Penelope, would you mind staying here with Tom? Look for anything you can find online from members of the cult. Spencer, Y/N, you two go to Bar Harbor and look at the most recent scene again.”
“Can I go with you?” Luisa asks needily. Emily’s mouth twitched, but she plastered on a smile and agreed to Luisa’s presence with her and Aaron. The group stood and headed out to their various locations.
Aaron must’ve looked a little too relieved when Luisa volunteered because Emily stops him just before they reach the van and says, “Don’t let your guard down just yet, Hotch. I still need to have a word with you.”
“About what, Agent?” Aaron replies snidely.
“I am well aware that you and Y/N have a history-”
“Whatever you think you know isn’t your business,” Aaron snaps.
“That may be,” Emily continues. “But if you continue to emotionally compromise one of my agents, I will take you off the case and send you home. Got it, Consultant Hotchner?”
“Understood, Agent Prentiss,” Aaron counters, gritting his teeth.
They all get in the car, Luisa picking the middle of the backseat so she can talk to both of them easily. They drive along for a little bit when Luisa clears her throat.
“So, Mr. Hotchner, you worked with Polchies before?”
“Yes,” he answers vaguely. “I’d only just started with the BAU back then. And Aaron is fine.”
“What made you join the BAU? Weren’t you a lawyer…Aaron?” The way she says his name implies a hell of a lot more than Aaron is comfortable with, but seeing Emily’s annoyance after her reprimand makes it easier to bear.
Emily immediately rolls her eyes at the attention Luisa is paying to Aaron, especially after how she says his name. He smiles to himself. Sure, it felt a little silly and uncomfortable and maybe a lot petty, but it was nice to be getting female attention. Especially since Tom seemed to be so interested in Y/N.
“I was a lawyer, but I wanted to stop the crimes before they reached the courtroom,” he answers.
“That’s awfully noble of you,” Luisa simpers, leaning forward and putting her head on the shoulder of his car seat.
“Oh, well, thank you,” he replies, knowing exactly what he’s doing. Emily sighs and somehow rolls her eyes even harder.
“And you have a son?” Luisa asks, apparently unaware of Emily’s irritation.
“Yes, I do,” Aaron responds, plastering a shit-eating grin on his face. “His name is Jack. He’s almost 14 now.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m sure you’re an incredible father,” Luisa gushes.
“I’d like to think so,” Aaron replies.
“Where do you live now that you don’t work with the BAU?” she questions.
“We still live in Virginia, nearer to where I grew up, actually, in Manassas,” he responds.
“Isn’t Y/N also from Manassas?” Luisa queries innocently.
Emily - a bit too gleefully - nearly slams the brakes at the stop sign, “Why, yes, Hotch, isn’t Y/N from Manassas as well?”
Aaron grimaces before answering, “Yes, she is. We knew each other growing up, actually.”
“Understatement of the century,” Emily says under her breath. Aaron gives her a side eye, but says nothing.
“You grew up with Y/N?” Luisa inquires, not sparing any faux innocence.
“We…ran in similar circles,” Aaron clarifies, uncomfortably shifting in his seat.
Emily snorts and then tries to play it off like a cough, but says nothing, clearly enjoying herself.
“Was she always so boring?” Luisa giggles obnoxiously.
“Officer Montoya,” Emily chides.
“I’m only joking, Agent Prentiss,” Luisa says smugly, once again heightening her faux naiveté to look at Aaron . “Wasn’t I just joking…Aaron?”
Aaron keeps looking ahead, knowing he has a choice here. He could reprimand her, defend the woman he once believed would share his life. He could tell Emily and Luisa that, even though he loved Haley, no one had ever been able to make him feel the way Y/N had. How much he loved her then and how easily he could fall back in love with her now. How she is empathetic and brilliant and hilarious when given the chance. How she’s logical and pragmatic, but the most caring individual he’d ever known.
But he can’t do that. Aaron has built up a protective wall for years and he can’t let it down now. Y/N hurt him before, for reasons beyond her power, sure, but she’d clearly moved on, as had he. He can’t allow himself to fall in love, no matter how easy it would be.
He closes his eyes, then opens them and looks forward, determinedly not looking at either of them, knowing that Emily will look disappointed and Luisa will smirk in victory and not wanting to see either reaction.
“Yeah, Emily, she was only joking.”
~ “Once so much to each other! Now nothing!” - Jane Austen ~
Several years after leaving the BAU, Hotch is called back to consult on a confusing murder case in a national park only to discover that the girl who broke his heart when he was a teenager is currently working as an SSA with the BAU. Will the two of them solve the grisly case and overcome flirtations from the local authority and defeat the ghosts of their past to find each other again? Based on Jane Austen’s final novel Persuasion.
Hey! I'm so happy your back in the year of our Lord 2026! I just got back into watching Criminal Minds as well, it must be fate. Your Spencer fics make me so happy!
AHHH thank you! I started rewatching and…I might have a new Spencer fic coming 👀👀👀 but wanted to get this one (which I’ve had brewing since 2021) out first because I genuinely love the work I’ve done on it! Hopefully you’ll enjoy the Spencer fic because I’m very excited about the work I’ve done on it so far, and I hope you’ll enjoy the next parts of the Hotch fic! xx
Screaming and crying and just so happy! Thanks for the new fic! I haven’t even been on tumblr in years but still had push notifications for you and came running!
You had push notifications? For little old me? I’m honored!! And so happy you like the new fic! I’ll have the next part out ASAP! xx
TW: they are solving a grisly case in a national park, cursing, adults drinking alcohol, and mentions of abusive parents.
Several years after leaving the BAU, Hotch is called back to consult on a confusing murder case in a national park only to discover that the girl who broke his heart when he was a teenager is currently working as an SSA with the BAU. Will the two of them solve the grisly case and overcome flirtations from the local authority and defeat the ghosts of their past to find each other again?
~ “Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.” - Jane Austen ~
Prologue
The world, no matter what you believe in, is very small. Especially in the world of criminal psychology.
Aaron Hotchner and Y/N Y/L/N had grown up together, really, in Manassas, VA. He was a couple of years older (more like a year and a few months), but they’d run in the same circles all throughout their youth. He’d been her date to Junior Cotillion - a date her mother approved of far more than her father. He’d raised his eyebrows higher than Y/N had ever seen them when he’d asked her parents if he could take her to the dance. Then, once she and he were in high school together, he asked her out and that’s when it all went downhill. Things in Aaron’s personal life had taken a turn for the worse. Y/N’s father banned her from seeing him, which, in a very teenage way, felt as though it ended both of their lives. His mother became ill, his father became stricter, and he was sent to a different, more structured private high school - as close to military school as his father could get.
Y/N didn’t hear from him again until freshman year of college when she’d run into him on the quad. The two of them had been almost starstruck. She was surprised to find him alone as she’d heard from friends that he’d started dating a girl called Haley Brooks. The two of them got to talking. He was studying pre-law and criminology, like he’d always wanted to and she was studying archaeological studies. He and Haley had broken up because they were going to different schools. The timing seemed perfect and the two of them started dating again. He was going to be a lawyer and she was going to be a museum curator. Their little world was comfortable and cozy and wonderful. It happened so fast, but neither of them minded. And then Aaron asked her to marry him. Y/N had said yes, of course. She was incandescently happy…for about 24 hours. And then their world came crashing down.
Y/N’s father threatened to stop paying for her education, something about not wanting to throw it all away on “that Hotchner boy” that “would never amount to much”. Y/N argued and pleaded, and so did Aaron, but it was no good. Tearfully, Y/N had come up with a plan to fund her education herself. It would require a great deal of work, but she was willing. When she explained her plan to Aaron, he smiled softly and shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. He couldn’t make her live like that. And he couldn’t provide for her. He knew how important her education was to her, so he left.
And that was it. The two of them separated. Y/N’s father paid to send her abroad to finish at University of Cambridge, determined to get her as far away as possible from Aaron. Aaron finished school and moved to D.C., getting his Juris Doctor from George Washington University. And he married Haley.
Y/N didn’t keep track of him so much as she heard from friends and family members when she went home for the holidays. She’d forgotten how to breathe when she heard he’d married Haley. But she swallowed it down. Over time, she felt she didn’t really deserve to feel the grief of losing Aaron. She should’ve fought harder. Insisted more, pushed more, done…something.
She heard of Haley’s passing and genuinely felt sorry for the Brooks family and for Aaron. She was invited to the funeral, but only sent flowers because work got in the way, as it often did when one worked for Interpol.
Sometime around year three of her degree, she’d decided she didn’t want to work in museums anymore. She was staring at a skull that had been fractured with a blunt instrument and she realized that she could use this knowledge to really help people. The preservation of lives and personal histories that had attracted her to work in the humanities in the first place could be improved and even, in some cases, saved. With that, she’d changed her entire course of study. She finished at Cambridge and then attended the University of Glasgow, receiving a Master’s in Criminology. She began working for Interpol. She’d eventually met Emily Prentiss. The two American women were thrilled to find one another, becoming fast friends.
Emily mentioned her old boss Aaron Hotchner and, while Y/N tried to conceal it, Prentiss had just worked as a behavioral analyst and picked up on a micro-expression that gave her away. Y/N told her everything, maybe saying it all for the first time ever. When she finished Emily was silent, then smiled.
“I have to tell you,” she said, almost conspiratorially, “I think he still thinks about you.”
“You’re insane,” Y/N replied.
“No, no, I’m serious-”
“Em,” she began seriously, “you just met me. There’s no way you can think that Aaron Hotchner has a hang up on a girl you just met.”
“No, no, hear me out,” Emily insisted. “I may not have known about you specifically, but, I can tell you that, aside from Haley, there really hasn’t been anyone else. Anyone else that’s lasted. And maybe this is why. That makes sense! I mean, when you put all the pieces-”
“Do not profile me,” Y/N cut her off, only slightly sharp. “Or Aaron, for that matter.”
“It is so weird to hear someone call him Aaron,” Emily shivered.
“Why? What do you all call him?”
“Hotch,” Emily shrugs. “I mean Dave called him ‘Aaron’, but in a very…Italian grandfatherly way. Not in a ‘former starcrossed lovers way’.”
“We were hardly starcrossed,” Y/N laughs. “Just kids, really.”
“Exactly,” Emily pressed. “I know you feel this huge guilt. And I get it, I really do. But, Y/N, you guys were babies. You were, what? 18? And Hotch was, like, 19?”
“We broke up one month after his 20th birthday,” she answered, her voice a little quieter now, almost hollow.
“Like I said,” Emily teased softly, “babies. 19…goddamn. What’d he propose with? A Ring Pop?”
“His mother’s ring,” Y/N answered even more quietly.
“So he has always been that serious,” Emily jokes softly. “Oh, Y/N, I mean it…there’s something-”
“Emily,” Y/N stared at her seriously, “I appreciate it, really, but…he and I…we-” She sighed deeply then. “We were so similar. So stubborn. So open-hearted. We were a team. And my family and I…we ruined that. I have always felt as though I could’ve fought harder. I loved him so much and…I hate to think that he didn’t know that.”
Emily attempted to protest, but Y/N would hear none of it. So they dropped the subject. A couple of years later, Aaron was sent into WITSEC with Jack. It was horrifying for both Emily and Y/N. Emily returned to the United States to lead the team in his absence and, when Aaron retired, Emily took his place as head of the team permanently. And that’s when she’d called Y/N, begging her to join the team. It was time, too. No one is meant to remain in calm waters for the whole of their lives and Y/N was happy to return to the US.
And the team was remarkable - full of good, wholesome people, all of whom Y/N identified easily from Emily’s stories. The team felt huge again, a fact many of the longest lasting teammates remarked upon. It was now Emily, Y/N, JJ, Tara, Luke, Spencer, David, and Penelope. Cases felt simpler with so many voices and options and strategies. It was a big family that Y/N was nervous to join but fell in with immediately. And as the Emily and Y/N were already friends, there was as jovial a quality to the job as there possibly could be.
Present Day
Until today. Y/N knew something was off the moment she walked in today. Emily won’t meet her eyes. Through the whole round table, she hasn’t met her eyes.
“What’s going on?” she asks Emily, pulling her aside after the round table.
“Nothing,” Emily says, far too breezy for the case at hand. “You know, just…just another case.”
“Yes,” Y/N starts, “but something’s off with you.”
“I mean, it’s a pretty grisly case, Y/N.”
And, yes, it is. Three people killed, all strung up in various trees in Acadia National Park. The jet is being prepped as the two women stand in the hallway.
“Yes, it is,” Y/N continues, still eyeing her friend suspiciously, “but you’re being strange.”
Emily takes a deep breath and stares at Y/N in silence for just a moment before giving in, “Fine. Fine; you’re gonna find out anyway, I guess.”
“What am I going to find out?”
“Chief Polchies. He’s a member of the Wabanaki people, of the Passamaquoddy tribe, I believe. The Wabanaki know Acadia very well. Know that whole area of Maine very well. He’s helped the BAU before. Back when he was a Sergeant. The case wasn’t quite as high profile, but it was in his jurisdiction.”
“O…kay,” Y/N nods. “Do you…not like him, or something?”
“No, no,” Emily continues, clearly uncomfortable. “From the files I’ve read he was extremely helpful.”
“So…you’ve never met him?”
“No, I haven’t,” Emily responds. And there’s something in her tone and microexpressions that gives it away.
“Wait,” Y/N gasps, her eyes growing wide.
“So,” Emily starts, her hands gesturing wildly in an ineffectual attempt to calm Y/N, “so, this is a huge case. It’s in a National Park, the park seems like part of the target.”
“Uh-huh,” Y/N agrees vaguely, now trying not to hyperventilate.
“And Chief Polchies suggested that it might be good to have one of the SSAs from the last FBI case he worked on.”
“Okay, sure,” Y/N nods, still trying not to panic.
“And Gideon is dead. And Reid wasn’t here yet, nor was Penelope. And Derek doesn’t work here anymore. And Rossi didn’t even work here at the time.”
“Mm-hmm,” Y/N nods, trying desperately to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth to remain calm.
“So the director made a call,” Emily continues, trying to sound calmer than she’s felt since hearing this plan. “And he was happy to help.”
“Fuck,” Y/N sighs deeply, slumping against a wall and sliding to the floor. “Of course he was.”
Y/N takes a deep breath, finally controlling her breathing and Emily kneels down in front of her.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Emily whispers, “from what the director told me, Hotch had a pretty similar reaction when he heard you now work with the BAU.”
Y/N looks up at her, trying not to appear as bewildered as she feels, “Oh…that’s just…that’s just great.”
Yes, the world is rather small. Small enough that Y/N was going to be working a case with Aaron Hotchner. Calm waters, indeed.
~ “None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” - Jane Austen ~
TW: they are solving a grisly case in a national park, cursing, adults drinking alcohol, and mentions of abusive parents.
Several years after leaving the BAU, Hotch is called back to consult on a confusing murder case in a national park only to discover that the girl who broke his heart when he was a teenager is currently working as an SSA with the BAU. Will the two of them solve the grisly case and overcome flirtations from the local authority and defeat the ghosts of their past to find each other again?
~ “Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.” - Jane Austen ~
Prologue
The world, no matter what you believe in, is very small. Especially in the world of criminal psychology.
Aaron Hotchner and Y/N Y/L/N had grown up together, really, in Manassas, VA. He was a couple of years older (more like a year and a few months), but they’d run in the same circles all throughout their youth. He’d been her date to Junior Cotillion - a date her mother approved of far more than her father. He’d raised his eyebrows higher than Y/N had ever seen them when he’d asked her parents if he could take her to the dance. Then, once she and he were in high school together, he asked her out and that’s when it all went downhill. Things in Aaron’s personal life had taken a turn for the worse. Y/N’s father banned her from seeing him, which, in a very teenage way, felt as though it ended both of their lives. His mother became ill, his father became stricter, and he was sent to a different, more structured private high school - as close to military school as his father could get.
Y/N didn’t hear from him again until freshman year of college when she’d run into him on the quad. The two of them had been almost starstruck. She was surprised to find him alone as she’d heard from friends that he’d started dating a girl called Haley Brooks. The two of them got to talking. He was studying pre-law and criminology, like he’d always wanted to and she was studying archaeological studies. He and Haley had broken up because they were going to different schools. The timing seemed perfect and the two of them started dating again. He was going to be a lawyer and she was going to be a museum curator. Their little world was comfortable and cozy and wonderful. It happened so fast, but neither of them minded. And then Aaron asked her to marry him. Y/N had said yes, of course. She was incandescently happy…for about 24 hours. And then their world came crashing down.
Y/N’s father threatened to stop paying for her education, something about not wanting to throw it all away on “that Hotchner boy” that “would never amount to much”. Y/N argued and pleaded, and so did Aaron, but it was no good. Tearfully, Y/N had come up with a plan to fund her education herself. It would require a great deal of work, but she was willing. When she explained her plan to Aaron, he smiled softly and shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. He couldn’t make her live like that. And he couldn’t provide for her. He knew how important her education was to her, so he left.
And that was it. The two of them separated. Y/N’s father paid to send her abroad to finish at University of Cambridge, determined to get her as far away as possible from Aaron. Aaron finished school and moved to D.C., getting his Juris Doctor from George Washington University. And he married Haley.
Y/N didn’t keep track of him so much as she heard from friends and family members when she went home for the holidays. She’d forgotten how to breathe when she heard he’d married Haley. But she swallowed it down. Over time, she felt she didn’t really deserve to feel the grief of losing Aaron. She should’ve fought harder. Insisted more, pushed more, done…something.
She heard of Haley’s passing and genuinely felt sorry for the Brooks family and for Aaron. She was invited to the funeral, but only sent flowers because work got in the way, as it often did when one worked for Interpol.
Sometime around year three of her degree, she’d decided she didn’t want to work in museums anymore. She was staring at a skull that had been fractured with a blunt instrument and she realized that she could use this knowledge to really help people. The preservation of lives and personal histories that had attracted her to work in the humanities in the first place could be improved and even, in some cases, saved. With that, she’d changed her entire course of study. She finished at Cambridge and then attended the University of Glasgow, receiving a Master’s in Criminology. She began working for Interpol. She’d eventually met Emily Prentiss. The two American women were thrilled to find one another, becoming fast friends.
Emily mentioned her old boss Aaron Hotchner and, while Y/N tried to conceal it, Prentiss had just worked as a behavioral analyst and picked up on a micro-expression that gave her away. Y/N told her everything, maybe saying it all for the first time ever. When she finished Emily was silent, then smiled.
“I have to tell you,” she said, almost conspiratorially, “I think he still thinks about you.”
“You’re insane,” Y/N replied.
“No, no, I’m serious-”
“Em,” she began seriously, “you just met me. There’s no way you can think that Aaron Hotchner has a hang up on a girl you just met.”
“No, no, hear me out,” Emily insisted. “I may not have known about you specifically, but, I can tell you that, aside from Haley, there really hasn’t been anyone else. Anyone else that’s lasted. And maybe this is why. That makes sense! I mean, when you put all the pieces-”
“Do not profile me,” Y/N cut her off, only slightly sharp. “Or Aaron, for that matter.”
“It is so weird to hear someone call him Aaron,” Emily shivered.
“Why? What do you all call him?”
“Hotch,” Emily shrugs. “I mean Dave called him ‘Aaron’, but in a very…Italian grandfatherly way. Not in a ‘former starcrossed lovers way’.”
“We were hardly starcrossed,” Y/N laughs. “Just kids, really.”
“Exactly,” Emily pressed. “I know you feel this huge guilt. And I get it, I really do. But, Y/N, you guys were babies. You were, what? 18? And Hotch was, like, 19?”
“We broke up one month after his 20th birthday,” she answered, her voice a little quieter now, almost hollow.
“Like I said,” Emily teased softly, “babies. 19…goddamn. What’d he propose with? A Ring Pop?”
“His mother’s ring,” Y/N answered even more quietly.
“So he has always been that serious,” Emily jokes softly. “Oh, Y/N, I mean it…there’s something-”
“Emily,” Y/N stared at her seriously, “I appreciate it, really, but…he and I…we-” She sighed deeply then. “We were so similar. So stubborn. So open-hearted. We were a team. And my family and I…we ruined that. I have always felt as though I could’ve fought harder. I loved him so much and…I hate to think that he didn’t know that.”
Emily attempted to protest, but Y/N would hear none of it. So they dropped the subject. A couple of years later, Aaron was sent into WITSEC with Jack. It was horrifying for both Emily and Y/N. Emily returned to the United States to lead the team in his absence and, when Aaron retired, Emily took his place as head of the team permanently. And that’s when she’d called Y/N, begging her to join the team. It was time, too. No one is meant to remain in calm waters for the whole of their lives and Y/N was happy to return to the US.
And the team was remarkable - full of good, wholesome people, all of whom Y/N identified easily from Emily’s stories. The team felt huge again, a fact many of the longest lasting teammates remarked upon. It was now Emily, Y/N, JJ, Tara, Luke, Spencer, David, and Penelope. Cases felt simpler with so many voices and options and strategies. It was a big family that Y/N was nervous to join but fell in with immediately. And as the Emily and Y/N were already friends, there was as jovial a quality to the job as there possibly could be.
Present Day
Until today. Y/N knew something was off the moment she walked in today. Emily won’t meet her eyes. Through the whole round table, she hasn’t met her eyes.
“What’s going on?” she asks Emily, pulling her aside after the round table.
“Nothing,” Emily says, far too breezy for the case at hand. “You know, just…just another case.”
“Yes,” Y/N starts, “but something’s off with you.”
“I mean, it’s a pretty grisly case, Y/N.”
And, yes, it is. Three people killed, all strung up in various trees in Acadia National Park. The jet is being prepped as the two women stand in the hallway.
“Yes, it is,” Y/N continues, still eyeing her friend suspiciously, “but you’re being strange.”
Emily takes a deep breath and stares at Y/N in silence for just a moment before giving in, “Fine. Fine; you’re gonna find out anyway, I guess.”
“What am I going to find out?”
“Chief Polchies. He’s a member of the Wabanaki people, of the Passamaquoddy tribe, I believe. The Wabanaki know Acadia very well. Know that whole area of Maine very well. He’s helped the BAU before. Back when he was a Sergeant. The case wasn’t quite as high profile, but it was in his jurisdiction.”
“O…kay,” Y/N nods. “Do you…not like him, or something?”
“No, no,” Emily continues, clearly uncomfortable. “From the files I’ve read he was extremely helpful.”
“So…you’ve never met him?”
“No, I haven’t,” Emily responds. And there’s something in her tone and microexpressions that gives it away.
“Wait,” Y/N gasps, her eyes growing wide.
“So,” Emily starts, her hands gesturing wildly in an ineffectual attempt to calm Y/N, “so, this is a huge case. It’s in a National Park, the park seems like part of the target.”
“Uh-huh,” Y/N agrees vaguely, now trying not to hyperventilate.
“And Chief Polchies suggested that it might be good to have one of the SSAs from the last FBI case he worked on.”
“Okay, sure,” Y/N nods, still trying not to panic.
“And Gideon is dead. And Reid wasn’t here yet, nor was Penelope. And Derek doesn’t work here anymore. And Rossi didn’t even work here at the time.”
“Mm-hmm,” Y/N nods, trying desperately to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth to remain calm.
“So the director made a call,” Emily continues, trying to sound calmer than she’s felt since hearing this plan. “And he was happy to help.”
“Fuck,” Y/N sighs deeply, slumping against a wall and sliding to the floor. “Of course he was.”
Y/N takes a deep breath, finally controlling her breathing and Emily kneels down in front of her.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Emily whispers, “from what the director told me, Hotch had a pretty similar reaction when he heard you now work with the BAU.”
Y/N looks up at her, trying not to appear as bewildered as she feels, “Oh…that’s just…that’s just great.”
Yes, the world is rather small. Small enough that Y/N was going to be working a case with Aaron Hotchner. Calm waters, indeed.
~ “None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” - Jane Austen ~
Ok you are ABSOLUTELY my favorite fic writer for Spencer. And I know you deleted some old ones a couple years ago, which made me so sad bc they’re amazing. So would you ever be willing to repost the other half of yours, mine, ours and the cowboy one (I don’t remember what the title was 😅😅). I understand if you don’t, they are your fics, but I wanted to tell you how much I loved them
you are so so kind! thank you so much!
unfortunately, I don’t *have* the docs those fics were in anymore. I typically write (or wrote, I should say, I’m trying to get back into writing actively, but it’s been a bit and I feel wildly out of practice and I’m not really sure anyone would want to read anything new tbh) in a document application and my old laptop died with tons of old files like that :(
I sometimes regret deleting them but I like all the things I have on here. I think I deleted four of them and if anyone has them and would like to send them to me, it’d be appreciated!
anyway, thank YOU for being so kind and I hope your holidays (and all days) are as kind as you! xx
I just wanted to say that I absolutely ADORE you and your writing, been obsessed with your writing since ye olde 2021/2022. Whenever I’m sad I reread your fics. 😊 thank you.
oh my goodness - thank you so much 🥹
I’m so so happy they can be a comfort for you ! xx
