Summary: Panic sets in when Luke and Spencer are told about a potential terrorist attack coming on a case, while their partner happens to be home with their child.
Warnings: Mentions of case, usual cm stuff, all of them are worried asf messes
Category: Fluff/ a bit of angst
Word count: 4.4 k
A/N: hEllo!!!! I’m here for another fic :) It was @imagining-in-the-margins who gave me the original prompt, so I took it in!!! It’s my first Ralvez fic, so I’m really excited! Another one might come around soon!!! I hope everyone enjoys :)
The peace and calm that they had finally managed to find in what seemed like an eternity quickly disappeared as soon as they took conscience of it, with a pleasant surprise known as: a case.
It kind of...ruined the mood of everyone, but after Luke and Spencer saw their partner’s reaction as they woke up at 5am after hearing the phone, they quickly decided to set aside their anger as y/n already had enough of it.
Even if she was indeed quite mad, she tried to calm down, quickly helping them check their stuff within the few minutes they had, and before she could even say something, the door closed, and she just...stood there.
She’s been used to being alone with her daughter more than she can ever count with her hands, but when she finally thought that they’d be home for more than a few days, she couldn’t admit that she wasn’t upset about it.
She could handle it fine in general, but some moments, when it’d become too much, she couldn’t call them, have a proper conversation, because they’d either have no time, or just a few minutes, which wasn’t clearly enough.
Y/N was well aware of that when the relationship become more serious, she knew that it meant that she would be alone most of the time, even if they’d eventually call or send a text to try to ‘be with her’, she knew that she couldn’t do anything no matter how angry it made her, all she could do was hoping they’d both return as fast as possible and in one piece.
She had enough stress to deal with when they were away, so deal with the stress of knowing they’d gotten hurt, and not knowing right away if it was bad or not, she didn’t even want to.
They had given her enough heart attacks, whether they were hurt or not; various stories about it can be remembered.
For example, when they didn’t happen to be hurt, both of their phones were out of battery, and she was there, calling again and again, she even went to JJ and whatever colleague that was with them, and they also told her that they went somewhere and didn’t answer.
Even if she really wanted to, she chose not to lash her anger on her, and...tried not to have a literal panic attack.
Because after knowing them and their jobs along the way, she knew that the ‘not responding to the phone’ situation wasn’t always caused by a battery problem, a busy problem, but possibly them being in a dangerous situation.
She didn’t hear from them at all for half an hour (which, by the way, seemed like an entire hour), and they just called in like ‘Oh, hi, it all went well, we’re coming back soon’.
Oh, how she wanted to yell at them (which...she did) at this moment.
They were just there, calm as ever, as she was close to take the plates from the cabinet and smash them on the floor, so they clearly felt the anger all the way, it lasted a while before she could not yell.
Eventually, they still joke about it, but at least, it acts as a reminder to not let the mistake happen again.
After a brief moment of thinking, she just decided to return to the living room, not really in the mood to sleep anymore, it’s always stressful to see them go on cases.
Especially when she has no idea what it’s even about, they just left in a hurry, and didn’t even have the time to talk a bit to reassure her, she just hopes that she’ll get to have a bit to call them.
She’s probably imagining stuff that won’t happen, and everything is going to be fine, she just can’t stop but worry after what happened with the previous cases.
*
*
Both of them were afraid that the car might crash on the way, they were told that it was local, but might have to go to another state, it kind of was...blurry.
They arrived around ten minutes later, thankfully. It would have been more like twenty with morning traffic and all of the joys of 9am rides.
The main reason explaining why they were frightened about having a literal accident with the crash was y/n, they really didn’t like to be away knowing she was on her own.
Sure, she could protect herself, but, with all of the stuff that happened to their colleagues, their families, they couldn’t know in advance, hence, they wouldn’t even know at all if something would happen hundreds of miles away.
That’s what would get them stressed in most cases. That one was close to where they lived, but, at the same time, they couldn’t go there every minute because of the work, and also in case they happen to go to another state, all there is to do are phone calls, and hope she’ll be okay on her own.
Frequent work visits weren’t up either, they preferred her not to attend if a case was on, because of, again, all that happened, and security reasons.
As much as they wanted to just stay a bit more, other people needed their help and they happened to be the ones called to assist.
After rushing through the glass doors and walking in the direction of the conference room, only two members were missing, probably stuck in the traffic or called in in surprise like for them.
It didn’t take much for everyone to gather, in just a few minutes they had begun the briefing, which was quite short considering that not much evidence was there. But even if they happened to be limited, they were enough for them to have something to work on.
Once they had discussed a bit, a few orders were given as the one given a place to go exited the room, leaving the others in the bureau to work on what had been ordered to them as well.
Mainly everyone was less stressed, as they didn’t have to travel or anything, they could go straight to work and directly work which was a tad better than having to rush along with all of the directives that had to be done when boarding and all, which would cost a bit of time comparing to when the case was closer and only needed them to drive from a location to another.
But, the plane wasn’t ruled out yet, they couldn’t really know if they didn’t need to go somewhere else throughout the case, so, they just had to ‘enjoy’ their home-work moment.
Not really ‘enjoy’, as...people had been killed, maybe on the work side for them, so, the ‘enjoy’ thing had to be kept to themselves and certainly couldn’t be said and heard by Hotch.
No one really wanted to upset him, he seemed upset enough when he stepped in the room, so...an inappropriate comment wasn’t up now, or even till the case was done.
*
*
Spencer and Luke have been the ones that had to exit the office to attend one of the scenes in order to meet the officers first present on the location, only a few minutes were necessary to be there, traffic wasn’t present in the roads they used for the ride thankfully.
This was always reassuring when they couldn’t allow themselves to take their sweet time, and in this case, even if they were only driving to the scene with only a few officers and evidence laying around, this wasn’t a reason to be slower than for another situation that requested immediate assistance before turning to dire.
More talking than observing stuff was done not long after they had arrived, presented themselves to the officers and made their way to the different evidences discovered.
Not a lot was to be seen, but each of the evidence was constructive enough to be discussed for long as they moved on a bit around the others, and possible history about the case and their possible witnesses, suspects, and everything that Spencer could spit out.
Facts included.
No matter how many times he’d do that, no one would expect it and would either, understand half of it, and kind of hesitate to ask for further explanation as they didn’t want to interrupt him, or just sit there as he’d deliver an essay.
This was funnier from everyone else’s point of view, at least the ones used to it, they liked reading the look on their faces.
Even if it mostly happened in cases and no moment was to be found for fun, it still was something that’d quickly happen to brighten their mind before turning back to the ugly and dark stuff.
It isn’t always strict, they still happen to talk about ironic-ish stuff without making it sound offensive, but some situations are dark enough and certainly don’t need a fun comment to lighten the mood or something.
That’s why it’s better to think of the words about to be said, no one wants really to waste time for a stupid choice of words.
No one even noticed the time going by, they just talked about all that could be said from A to Z, and stood a bit outside as they briefly continued before Luke and Spencer headed back to the alley leading to the entry portal.
“Oh, I...didn’t even hear my phone, wait. Shit, I forgot to turn the silent mode off. Hotch’s going to kill me.” Spencer said, sighing as he walked further to take in the call. “Yeah. Oh, JJ?...I know, it was stupid and...what do you mean?” He asked, as the pitch of his voice was nothing but slightly alarming.
“What’s going on? Put it on speaker.” Luke asked, getting closer to the phone as Spencer displayed it in front of them.
“We just found out that there might be a potential...terrorist attack coming. We have no idea when it’s coming, and how important it is. We just know that it’s gonna happen at like...any moment.” JJ explained.
“Okay, normally, no offense- I would have thought it was a joke, but...it doesn’t really sound like one...anymore.” Luke admitted.
After a slight moment of confusion and panic, the phone call came to an end, as they just looked at each moment, not quite sure how to react, what to say, hence, even do.
“Um...in that situation, does y/n and the baby count as possible problems to count in? Because, even if they’re not involved in the case at all, they might be involved in the matter we just discussed over the phone. And I don’t think that I could...remain calm knowing they’re at risk...you know.” Spencer explained.
“Yeah, they might be.” Luke agreed.
“Why does it have to be so...complicated? I really want to call her right now, but we can’t risk it. We could put them in danger before it even comes, that could worsen it.”
“We can’t let them, y/n doesn’t even know and won’t know until they discuss it and possibly do an announcement minutes after it could have begun. I don’t give a fuck if I get fired, I have to go. I can’t keep going with the case until they’re not somewhere safe.” Luke argued.
“Gosh, I...okay. You go, and make sure they’re okay, you do not let them by themselves until they’re somewhere really safe, even if y/n tries to play it stubbornly. Promise me that, you have to keep them safe, no matter what happens. I’ll find whatever Hotch can believe.”
“I promise, I can guarantee it to you.” Luke said, entering the car by the driver’s seat, not even wasting time to check around, he just turned the car on and began driving as fast as the car allowed him to.
They had to be okay.
*
*
Luke didn’t even care about counting the minutes,or whatever distance was between the scene to their place, because the potential twenty minutes ride had just turned to a thirteen-ish one, he doesn’t even think that he ever drove that faster than today.
Either him or the car would have ended with scratches if he didn’t take the time to think about being careful, it kind of was better to at least arrive in one piece to not stress her more than she would as no one could tell what was on.
Hell, they weren’t even supposed to be there until they could be told to in the first place.
They might end up with some problems, such as, a big talk, or in the worst case, a suspension, but, to be honest, none of them really had a fuck to give about it, not until they knew her and their child was okay.
Still trying to be careful, he parked the car in whatever space was free and seemed correct, and pushed the door of the building, going for the stairs as the elevator would be way too slow for his liking.
All of a sudden, the choice of settling at the 2nd floor wasn’t such a bad idea, in just a minute he stood in front of it, fidgeting with his keychain to find whatever key fit to the door.
That’s when he regretted putting so much stuff on it, he eventually found it, but as quick as he wanted to, nothing was going fast enough.
A rush of panic set itself in the whole place when he didn’t see them around, but both of them surprised the others when they faced each other.
“Gosh, you scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here? You barely left...five hours ago. Did the case miraculously end or what? Where’s Spencer?” Y/N catches her breath, holding her grip on the little girl.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t tell you, we have to go like...right now. Spencer will come later”
“What the hell is going on? You’re freaking me out. Is someone trying to kill me or what?”
“I still can’t tell you.”
“Once all of this is done, you both owe me an explanation. It better be a good enough one.”
“I don’t have one yet, but I can guarantee you that I’m not pulling a prank on you, it’s serious enough that I had to rush here.”
“It better be. My heart is about to get the hell out of my chest.”
“Try to not have a heart attack, I promised Spencer to keep you safe, and even if he didn’t tell it...alive as well.”
“Easy to say, I have no idea what’s going on, and how dangerous it might be, as no one is capable of telling me how big I need to worry in order to possibly try to calm down if it’s not too bad.”
“It’s bad enough that none of us could wait until the end of the case, that’s all you need to know.”
“Okay, so I do need to worry, a lot. Right?”
“...you might, but not too much, don’t want you to have an attack, please.”
“I’ll try.” Y/N admitted, as the same scenario that happened this morning repeated itself; they both hurried to get what was needed in a big enough bag, and after everything else was checked, he made his way back to the car with them.
After exchanging brief words, Luke started the car again, speeding up to the location, while trying not to cause an accident. He really had to be more careful this time, as he wasn’t alone at all.
The two most important persons to his eyes were with him, and not one single scratch was to be on them.
Not even a two millimeters one, nothing.
Even if Spencer wouldn’t have made him promise to keep them safe (which would have happened to matter what anyway), he didn’t need to, he was ready to protect them, even if from a bee flying in the room.
This example might be ridiculous, but he doesn’t need someone to tell him, he still does it when there’s absolutely no danger, even if there might be one in this case.
He just hopes Spencer’s safe as well.
*
*
What he didn’t give a single fuck about this morning had been bugging him off more than anyhting during the ride that seemed like an endless one rather than a quick ten minutes one.
Traffic decided to mess up with him, and it wasn’t like he could just go and tell to the car blocking his way ‘Hurry up, a potential terrorist attack is coming’, because he wasn’t even supposed to be out in the street, he should be with his team and whatever people they called back in also whatever place they were at.
Normally, he should not be here, in a car with his partner and kid.
But he couldn’t leave them by themselves, waiting for a stupid announcement that would probably come too late along with it getting complicated for Luke and Spencer to reach out to both of them.
He didn’t care at all about getting fired.
If y/n, his kid, and Spencer were safe, he didn’t care about the damn consequences, whatever Hotch had to say.
None of them could stand there while knowing they weren’t safe and sound.
They’d both have to come up with something to make up all of the panic that they caused, but the only thing she needs to know is that this action was necessary for their security.
...which wasn’t something she really wanted to hear, she was...really panicked.
Her face didn’t actually show it, as she didn’t want to worry her daughter and have to comfort two people, but when she doesn’t know what’s going on, it’s impossible for her to stay calm.
She doesn’t care about the whole, ‘don’t panic, take deep breaths, it’ll relax you.’, because the only thing you’ll get back after saying would be anything but a ‘Oh, thanks, I feel way better.”
They already did that with her, and...it didn’t go as well as they both planned.
It only got her more upset.
“Don’t you dare say the whole ‘deep breaths’ shit, I am not doing that. You know it better than me.” Y/N spat.
“...I’m aware of it, don’t worry.”
“Can you at least inform me about Spencer? Since you can’t even tell me why you jumped in the apartment and why you brought me here, at least knowing if he’s okay would be...nice?”
“I can’t tell you either, because I don’t even know, I haven’t heard from him since I drove from the scene to our place.” Luke admitted.
“This is...great.” Y/N softly rocked the child in her arms, stroking her hair as she made a few noises. “It’s okay, shh.”
“I can take her if you want.”
“It’s okay, thanks.” She gently answered, slightly raising her brow as the sound of a notification made itself heard easily.
Luke quickly took the phone out of his pocket, turning it back on as he walked a bit further, still keeping his face visible to hers.
That was a mistake to do that.
His eyes revealed that the message was nothing but reassuring.
“This doesn’t sound good, tell me what’s going on. Luke.”
“Nothing, it was just….uh, a stupid twitter notification.”
“Who the hell reacts to a fucking twitter post that way? Tell me what’s going on, or I swear to god that I’m coming to take that phone from your hands right now.”
“Y/N, just let me explain-” He said, trying to get her to calm down, but she quickly set down her child on the couch, taking the phone from him before sitting on the couch, setting her on her lap.
[Prentiss]
“Alvez, where the hell are you??” read - 10:02
“There’s been an explosion somewhere.” read - 10:03
“Call me ASAP” read - 10:03
Y/N stared at the phone for a minute, staring back at Luke.
“Um, care to explain? I hope it’s not a joke.”
“...it’s not.”
“Where the hell is Spencer? He should have gone here with you.”
“I know, it’s just...complicated. I wasn’t even supposed to be here myself. Just try to calm down, he’ll call.”
“There’s no way I’m staying calm until I’m not seeing a genius standing right in front of me.”
“I happen to be in the same boat, I have no idea when he’s going to be able to come.”
“You better find out, because I’m not going to be able to hold that attack long.”
“Me neither.”
He couldn’t even find the courage and right time to say that he had to promise Spencer to take care of them if he didn't make it home.
How could he even think of that?
Spencer not coming back? It couldn’t happen.
He had to walk right through that door, safe and sound.
How could he ever think of having to announce to her that she wouldn’t see him again?
He couldn’t.
He had to be fine.
Spencer had to…
The loud ringing interrupted his panicked thoughts, sending a sudden rush of fear as he took the phone back.
Was it going to be Emily calling to say Spencer was hurt?
Was it going to be Spencer calling to say everything is okay?
Please don’t let it be the first option, please let it be Spencer, it has to be him.
[INCOMING CALL - SPENCE]
If God even exists, he swore that he’d thank him a million times for that.
“Luke, I- I’m sorry I couldn’t call earlier, it was just...a mess. Is everyone alright? Please don’t tell me someone got hurt on the way.”
“Is that Spencer?” She asked, receiving a quick nod from Luke before he had resumed the conversation.
Turns out none of them will be having a heart attack today.
*
*
After Spencer arrived, (as expected), y/n both had them sit down on the bed, while she was (nicely) yelling at them for...quite a while as long as they can recall.
“What the hell were you both thinking? Risking literal national security? What is that...madness?”
“We’re sorry, really. We didn’t mean to...cause that much trouble.” Luke exclaimed.
“That much trouble? You could have gotten fired.”
“We know that, we just...loved you and just wanted you to be safe even if...we could have gotten fired.” Spencer said.
“I love you too, but if you ever do it again, I swear to god, your superior and the whole FBI, that I will kill you myself, okay?”
“Okay...we’re sorry, again.” Spencer apologized, as Luke kind of repeated what he had said.
“Stop being sorry! You guys have no fucking idea at how angry I am at you two.”
“I mean...it’s kind of romantic in a way, you were worried and now you’re-”
“Luke if you don’t shut your mouth right now-”
“I shouldn’t have told that.”
“Yeah, no.” Y/N sighed, putting her hand on her forehead, firmly keeping the other around the baby. “I just...why did you decide to stay back there? Who the hell was...going to do the damn taxes Spencer? We don’t know anything about it!”
“...the taxes? Why are we-” Spencer looks at Luke, confused.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know anything about that.”
“Why are you confused about the taxes? That’s why we married in the first place! You knew how to do the damn taxes!”
“I mean- It’s kind of easy...to me.” He admitted.
“Well it’s not to us!” She stage-whispers. “How could you think that it was smart to do that?”
“I didn’t think about the taxes first.”
“You should have!” She exclaimed, gently tapping on her baby’s back. “How the hell do you think we could have done them? I truly wonder if you really have a 187 IQ sometimes, because right now, it was more of a 60.”
“...60’s a bit low, maybe 90.” Spencer quietly said.
“No, trust me, it wasn’t close to that, I’m being…” Y/N stopped for a bit, holding back tears. “...nice with 60.” She continued, as she resumed her motions on her daughter.
“Okay; I did...not really think about it.” He agreed, suddenly getting interrupted by the baby, who had just let out a pretty...loud burp that kind of, gave the envy to laugh at the three of them; at the moment.
“I’ll punch you right in the face if one of your laughs. I am...certainly not in the mood.” She warned.
“We won’t.” They both answered.
“Great. Now I have to change!” She yells, exhausted. “This is the worst day ever. I really like this top too.” She says, getting a bit tearful as the baby moves a bit, getting comfortable in her arms.
“Here, I’m gonna take her for a bit.” Spencer gently takes her from y/n’s arms, as she sniffles. “There should be one hoodie in my bag, can you get it Luke? I left it on the couch.”
“Sure.” Luke answers, as he briefly kisses his cheek, doing the same gesture to y/n, as he wipes her tears from her face before leaving the room.
“I’m sorry, I just...It’s been a tiring day. I just want to get home Spencer.” Y/N explains.
“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, we’re going back.” He reassured
“Are we going back?” She asked.
“Sure, sure. We are. We’re gonna get you changed, and then we’ll head back.”
“But, what about your work?”
“It’s okay. I...briefly got a talk. But, we’ll see later. Let’s get back home first.” Spencer explained, as he left the room along with them.
After a few words, Luke had helped her get changed, quickly checked on the baby, and once they had gathered the stuff left there, they all headed back to the car that had stayed in front of the building, starting it a moment after.
“I’m sorry about what I said. I...I didn’t mean it.” Y/N apologized.
“It’s okay, we understand. You don’t have to-” Luke answered as she cut her off.
“I know, it’s just that...I was really angry because...I was kind of, trying to process the fact that I could have...easily lost you both today. And, I wouldn’t have known what to do if Hotch had called to announce me that.”
“It’s okay, we’re here now. We know we scared the hell out of you, took a lot of risks, but, we’re all fine.” Spencer interrupted.
I’d just like to go on record that if Criminal Minds ever does a flashback to Emily Prentiss in her late 20s/early 30s or if they end the series with a flash-forward that shows Emily and JJ had a daughter who joined the BAU...
Then young-Emily/future daughter should 1000000% be played by Mara Wilson aka Matilda-but-now-shes-all-grown-up
NOTE #1: I want to add that so far just two source has been announcing this, EW & TVLine I’ve not seen a confirmation from other sites and/or CBS, so this might be clickbait and urging for more “fandom social media campaigns & clicks”
now... the cast & crew and fandom will wait what follows... will some other network “buy” the show, or will some other decision be made.
I am sorry, fandom. But networks mainly look at ratings, still. Even considering everything else. And if even the fans, who love the show did not watch live (many because of the late air time), then what do we expect from “regular” TV viewers... aka “the nielsen box families”, whose TV habits are more random? Also...
Yes, I believed until this week that the “almost time for syndication” and “owned by network” and other secondary reasons were enough to get a finale season. Especially since despite the lower-than-before ratings our show had pretty decent ratings (solid, throughout the season). But I guess several networks decided this spring that it’s time for a complete spring cleaning. (and perhaps the network didn’t like that The Nicks were trying to “Chris Carter” them (writing a cliffhanger that leaves things very open & “blackmailing” for renewal this way).
Also... it’s most likely that you’ll be hearing all kinds of talks/rumours online... soon... maybe. Regarding the show. I will not be commenting on any of those rumours. Cancellations always lead to all kinds of rumours... But yes, I am actually aware of that stuff. But that is all I will be saying on that matter. I will be referring/linking to this post if anyone asks me about the topic... when/if it will be brought up in TV media/online. I do think that it’s such a shame, and it made me sad, but I don’t think any of it was good/right.
Personal note: the annual spring fandom campaigns for TV shows that don’t get early renewal... and wait for the news on their fate (in March, April, May...til upfronts) are adorable, and all. But... these campaigns count very little (read: nothing... even if TV media makes them sound as counting, because we all feel warm & fuzzy inside thinking our voice is heard & matters), because they come too late & the loudness of fandoms doesn't translate into viewer numbers rising... (no connection... at least on level that it matters) between fandom promise campaigns & actual ratings), so sadly any “takebacks”after cancellation (cancelling the cancellation or shipping the show to another network) are decisions made between the two networks... deciding if its worth to “sell to someone else/buy from someone else” (cost efficiency)
