Notes: Left completely Gender Neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask.
It was almost one in the morning and you were sitting on the couch watching your favorite movie. You heard the front door click open. You reached over and grabbed the remote to pause it before getting up to meet Aaron at the door.
“Hey y/n, how was he?”
“He was wonderful as always Aaron, how was the case?”
“Better than most.”
“That’s good.”
He walked to Jack's room and disappeared inside.
You neatly placed your stuff in the bag you brought and got ready to go home. As you stood, Aaron came back into the living room.
“I’m going to head home Aaron. I know you probably haven’t eaten much today so there’s leftovers in the fridge on a plate for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that y/n but thank you. Goodnight.”
“You’re welcome. Goodnight.” You replied getting ready to walk out the door.
“Let me know when you get home please, so I know you get home safe.”
“I will.” You smiled as you turned away. He was always the dutiful protector of everyone.
****
Twenty minutes later you were at home. You texted Aaron, “I’m at home.”
His reply came back within seconds, “Thanks for letting me know.”
You plugged your phone in and went to sleep.
****2 days later
You were trying to decide what you wanted for lunch when your phone rang. It was Aaron.
“Hey. Another case already?”
“Fortunately no, and since it’s Saturday I have the day off so Jack and I get to spend the day together.”
“That’s great Aaron. So, what’s up?”
“Well, Jack told me you guys were planning on having a picnic today. I told him we could go together and he asked if you could come. I told him you probably had plans but I would ask. So, if you don’t, we would love for you to join us.”
You smiled, “I don’t have any plans and I was actually just trying to figure out what I was going to do for lunch. As long as you truly don’t mind me crashing your day with your son, I would love to come. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“No, we have everything and of course I don’t mind. Meet us at his favorite park in 30 minutes?”
“Sounds good.”
****
The first thing you did when you got to the park was to start looking for Aaron and Jack. Having to use your hand to keep the sun out of your eyes as you scanned for them. It took you a minute but you spotted the father and son sitting under a tree near the edge of the park. You walked over to the pair. Once you were only a few feet away Jack saw you and immediately ran over.
Jack grabbed your hand, “I helped make the sandwiches.”
You let the little boy lead you by the hand as you smile, “I bet you did a great job. I’m excited to eat them.”
When you got to the edge of the blanket that had been laid out, you were able to see the whole set up. The blanket had a repetitive superhero pattern, showing that Jack picked it out. It was just big enough for the three of you. In place of the typical picnic basket was an insulated bag. It wasn’t over the top but it was perfect. Aaron was already sitting on the blanket. He was wearing casual clothes which you rarely saw him in. The bags that were normally under Aaron’s eyes were almost nonexistent. Relaxed was a good look on him. Jack let go of your hand and you sat down opposite Aaron.
Aaron smiled at you, “I’m glad you could join us.” He reached into the bag and started pulling out the sandwiches.
Jack eagerly took the food from his dad, “We waited till you got here cause its rude to eat without you.” Jack looked up at you as he started eating.
“Such a proper little gentleman.” You smiled back at the two of them, “Thank you both very much.” You gently messed with Jack’s hair.
You got your sandwich next and with that lunch started. The three of you enjoyed eating, taking your time. When you finished eating you took a minute to just enjoy the weather. You leaned back savoring the cool shade and the gentle breeze.
“Can I go play Dad?” Jack asked excitedly.
“Of course you can bud.” Aaron replied with a smile.
You watched him run off to play before turning to face Aaron.
“Thanks for inviting me.”
“Thank you for coming y/n, Jack loves having you around and I enjoy your company.”
You smiled at him. You were about to reply when Jack grabbed both of your attention.
“Dad! Y/n! Come play with me!” He yelled enthusiastically.
“On our way!” Aaron yelled back as you both got up off of the blanket.
You both ran over and you chased Jack across the playground. You almost had him when he went down a slide. His dad grabbed him when Jack reached the bottom.
“Gotcha.” Aaron said, ruffling his hair.
“Hey, no fair,” Jack said with a huge grin on his face. “You guys have two people and I only have one.”
“You’re right Jack,” You replied laughing “It isn’t fair. I think we should do something about it, don’t you?”
“Yeah!”
Aaron looked at you both with confusion written on his face.
“Get him!” You yelled and all three of you took off running.
Once you were back by the blanket, Aaron let Jack catch him and they both fell to the ground laughing.
“Now I got you!” Jack yelled in delight.
“Yeah you do bud.” Aaron told him with a smile.
You just smiled at their antics and said, “Nice job Jack.”
You left the park soon after and went home. You have enjoyed spending time with Jack ever since Aaron hired you. Over time you had gotten closer with Jack and even became friends with Aaron along the way.
****2 days later
You rubbed your eyes as the sound of your phone ringing woke you up. The time on your alarm clock read 2:47 am. There was only one person you would answer the phone for at this hour. You groggily reach over and read the caller ID. It’s Aaron so of course, you answer.
“Aaron?” Is all you say.
“Hey, y/n, I’m really sorry to bother you at this hour but I got called in on a case. Could you come over now?”
“Yeah, of course,” you reply rolling out of bed “Do you want me to leave right now and grab my stuff tomorrow after I take Jack to school, or do I have time to pack some stuff?”
“If you can, now would be better, it’s an emergency.”
You knew he didn’t like to ask this much of you so you tried to sound as cheerful as possible, “I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
You were there in 15 and as soon as you got there Aaron quickly thanked you and rushed out the door. Just before leaving he said, “I’ll call tomorrow morning before you have to leave to get Jack to school. So that I can talk to him quickly. I don't want to wake him now.”
After he left you walked into the guest room and went back to sleep. Before you drifted off you noticed a folded pair of jeans and t-shirt that you accidentally left here last time. Aaron must have washed them for you. You were glad you had something to wear tomorrow.
Summary: Aaron comes home from a case and clearly something is wrong.
Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence(not against reader,) Swearing
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1--Part 2*
When Aaron got back from the case a few days later you could immediately tell something was wrong. It felt like all the air was sucked out of the room the moment the front door opened. He stayed dead silent even after the door closed. You could feel the weight of whatever was bothering Aaron. This was different than any other time you had seen Aaron after a case. You could practically see the metaphorical dark cloud over his head. Part of you was sad you already sent Jack to bed because seeing Jack always helped Aaron feel better. The other part of you was glad Jack was fast asleep so you could try to see what was wrong with Aaron.
You walked over to the door and watched Aaron, “Hey…” You tried to gauge how bad it was but couldn’t come up with an answer.
Aaron didn’t even look up at you. Just dropping his briefcase on the ground as he responded, “Hello.” He ripped off his tie and moved into the other room, going straight into pouring himself a drink.
That’s how you knew it was bad. The drinking in and of itself wasn’t an issue. It was when he started drinking the second after he got home.
You carefully approached, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Aaron didn’t respond right away, finishing his drink. “Not really.”
Deciding it was best to press him further. You asked, “What happened?”
Silence filled the room. You weren’t sure if Aaron was deciding whether he wanted to tell you or he was collecting himself enough to talk about it.
Aaron poured himself another drink, “It was bad. Really fucking bad.”
You swallowed hard and stayed quiet so he could continue at his own pace.
Aaron still hadn’t looked at you even as he continued speaking, “Four boys around Jack’s age had gone missing before they called us in. None of their bodies had been found so the whole team was working under the assumption that they were still alive.”
Aaron paused. You took this moment to grab the bottle of alcohol and gently grab Aaron by the wrist to coax him over to the couch. He was stiff for a moment before allowing you to lead him. When you reached the couch you sat down first, placing the bottle on the table. Aaron sat down next to you, his body still completely tense and rigid.
Aaron took a deep breath before continuing, “The local police barely had any leads. So we all had to work quickly, since the statistics for children being gone more than 24 hours are… bad. We were working against the clock.” Aaron put his face into the palms of his hands, “ We took too long to find him. By the time we found the bastard that had them, the unsub had already put his plan into motion. He had been holding them in a tiny basement and doused them all in gasoline right before we arrived. When we opened the door to the basement that’s when the unsub lit not only himself but all four kids on fire. It was horrible to witness… what made it even worse was we couldn’t do anything about it. I tried going down the stairs and pushing through the thick smoke but Rossi and Morgan dragged me away before I could try to save the kids.” Aaron stared at his empty glass, “They later told me that two of the boys died from fumes before the fire started… Like that somehow makes it any better.
He poured himself another glass before he spoke again. “You know, if we-if I had been just a little bit faster, we might have been able to save them. They could still be alive right now.” When he finished talking, he downed his drink.
You felt your heart break. For the children, for their families, and for the pain that Aaron was in. You moved closer to him and wrapped your arms around him. He leaned into you and you spoke.
“Aaron, it’s not your fault. You need to remember that. I know you are hurting. You just watched four kids die. But, it’s not. your. fault. Okay?”
He didn’t reply. His shoulders started to shake and tears fell down his face. You just held him as he cried.
When he was finished you asked him, “Aaron, when was the last time you ate?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He deadpanned.
“Yes it does, you have to take care of yourself.” You replied cautiously.
“It doesn’t matter when I ate. Those kids will never eat again. Or play or laugh or even cry. So why should I get to?”
You sighed, “Because Aaron, you tried. You tried your hardest. You can’t save everyone. It’s not your fault. You saved everyone the UnSub would have taken in the future. And if you want to keep saving people you have to take care of yourself. Okay?”
“Okay.” He said it so quietly that you could barely hear him.
“So when was the last time you ate?”
“Breakfast.” He mumbled.
“Okay. It’s 11 pm so I need you to eat something. How about I make you a sandwich?”
“You don’t have t-“
You cut him off, “Will you eat it if I do?”
“Yes, but I ca-“
“I’ll be right back.” You cut him off again.
You went to the kitchen and made him a sandwich. You also grabbed a glass of water and a bag of pretzels before returning to the living room.
You handed him the sandwich and the water before setting the bag of pretzels between the two of you. He ate in silence and you ate a few pretzels from the bag. After he was done, you set everything on the coffee table.
He still looked so defeated and you didn’t blame him. He
just watch four kids die and you knew he still felt guilty for not saving them. He noticed you studying him and he looked at you.
The pain in his eyes hurt your heart. You patted your lap, an invitation. You weren’t thinking about anything but getting rid of his pain.
He moved over and put his head in your lap. You ran your fingers through his hair as he laid there. You didn’t stop until you were sure he was asleep. You watched him sleep for a while before falling asleep yourself.
****
The next morning you woke up alone on the couch, covered with a blanket. Aaron and Jack were sitting at the table eating oatmeal and drinking orange juice. They were laughing about something and you thought that it was the greatest sound that you had ever heard after last night.
As you rubbed your eyes you remembered that it was Tuesday, which meant Jack has school today.
Jack pulled you from your thoughts, “Y/n you’re awake! Do you want some oatmeal?” He asked through a mouthful of his own breakfast.
“Sure buddy, I’ll make myself some in a minute.”
“I’ll do it.” Aaron told you.
You smiled and thanked him. As he made your breakfast, you folded the blanket that you had awoken under.
You joined them at the table and ate quietly, listening to their conversation, until Aaron told Jack to go finish getting ready for school. As soon as he was in his room Aaron became serious.
“I’m sorry about last night y/n.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about Aaron, everyone has bad days. I’d say yesterday damn sure qualified as a reason for you to have one.”
“Well,” He paused for a moment, “thank you. I was in a really bad place and you helped me. I really appreciate that.”
You smiled at him, “That’s what friends are for. You’re always there for everyone else and you need someone too sometimes.”
Jack came back into the kitchen, ending the conversation, “I’m ready Dad.”
“Me too bud, let’s go,” Aaron replied. “Goodbye y/n.”
“Bye boys.” You said to the two of them as you packed your stuff to leave.
“Bye y/n!” Jack said enthusiastically and they walked out the door.
You locked the door and walked to your car before you realized you had forgotten to ask Aaron something. How did you forget? You sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled out your phone to text him, “Hey Aaron, sorry to bother you but I just wanted to make sure I was still good to take the day off on Friday.”
You hit send and had an answer in less than a minute, “Of course. Hopefully I’ll still be home then, but if not I’ll ask Jess to watch Jack.”
Summary: You officially get to meet the members of the BAU when Aaron presents your case to his team.
Warnings: Swearing, canon-typical violence, mentions of reader’s family’s death, mentions of child death
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5*
The car ride wasn’t incredibly long. Aaron used this time to ask you questions and get at least a basic understanding of what happened. When you get to Quantico* Aaron leads you inside the large building.
You followed Aaron to the conference room where the team was already gathered. Garcia looked at the unit chief and said, “I actually don’t have any information about this case, sir.”
As she finished speaking you noticed all eyes on you. The team was curious about the person they had never met standing in the room.
“They’re probably profiling me.” You thought.
“That’s because we haven’t been called. This is not an official case yet, so anyone that agrees to work the case will be doing so on personal time. You can leave now or wait for the details and then decide.” Aaron looked at each member of his team.
Not a single team member flinched when offered the chance to leave.
Aaron walked to what could be considered the head of the round table, “It’s a five-year-old triple homicide. A man, a woman, and a child. Leaving one survivor.” Aaron motions over to you.
Even as Aaron spoke each team member alternated looking over at you. You tried to slink back into the shadows so you could hide. You only knew the team members from scattered descriptions Aaron had given you when talking about his coworkers. So you had a vague idea of who they were.
A muscular man, who you were assuming was Derek Morgan, spoke up, “No offense…” Derek looks right over at you before turning back to Aaron, “Even with three murders, there isn’t any proof that it’s serial.”
Aaron practically throws the taunt of a birthday card down onto the middle of the table, “We at least have a threat of further violence. I think that is enough to warrant us looking into it.”
The card is passed around as each member looks it over.
When it reaches an older gentleman who must be David Rossi, “Normally I would say get this to forensics but it seems a bit too late for that.” Rossi turns to look at a brightly colored woman sitting off to the side, who could only be Penelope, “Garcia, look and see if you can find any similar murders.” Rossi hands the card to the much younger man next to him as he finishes speaking, “I have a feeling five years ago wasn’t his first time and he probably hasn't stopped killing for five years either.”
Penelope gets an annoyed almost repulsed look on her face, “Unfortunately one of the things I have learned working at this job is there are a lot of icky... icky people out there. I don’t think that will be a small list.”
A young man with long hair was now holding your card, studying it intently as he speaks, “Birthdays are held in very high regard in some places while others find Name days more important.” As soon as he started talking you knew that this was Spencer. Spencer kept going, almost like he was lost in his own train of thought, “Harvard University did a study. From 1973 to 1999 the most common birthday was September 16th. This was later updated by a different study with September 9th being the most common birthday from 1994 to 2014.”
The whole table just stared at Spencer trying to figure out where he was going with this.
A blonde-haired woman, presumably JJ spoke up, “Spence!”
Spencer looked over at JJ with a confused look.
JJ tilts her head and rubs the side of her neck, trying to redirect her friend, “The point?”
Spencer’s eyes go wide for a moment before refocusing back onto the card in his hands, “Try narrowing it down by seeing if any of the children were murdered on their birthday.”
Your throat closes up for a moment. You had let yourself get lost in how the team worked together for a moment. Under different circumstances, this would have been morbidly interesting. But as soon as murdered children got brought up, mental images of Sammy’s last birthday came crashing onto you. You felt yourself getting emotional again. You tried to control yourself, not wanting to go into a full-on breakdown in front of new people.
Aaron noticed your reaction immediately. He addressed the team, “That’s a good start for now. If you are all fine with continuing this case on personal time then let’s get to work.”
Aaron walks over to you but before he can say anything a dark-haired woman speaks up. Even if you didn’t have a description of what she looked like, there was only one last team member, Emily.
Emily stands up, “I agree we have a case but we will need to talk to them for more information.” She offers you a smile, trying to comfort you.
Aaron replies without even looking back at Emily, “Not right now.”
Aaron’s voice came out slightly harsher and more defensive than before. You noticed it and the collective looks the team shared revealed that they clearly noticed as well. Aaron doesn’t say anything else to the team.
Aaron starts leading you out of the conference room, “Why don’t you sit in my office while me and my team keep working on this?”
Aaron’s voice was already noticeably sweeter than it was a few moments ago. If you were less emotional you would have questioned it more. You were just glad to be out of that room for a moment. You wanted to help any way you could but it was too much in such a short period of time for you that you were glad for the break.
Aaron led you into his office, “Make yourself comfortable. If you need anything you have my number. I’ll be busy but if you call I’ll answer.”
You sit down on the couch in his office and offer a nod, “Thank you.” You weren’t sure what else to say given the situation.
Aaron went to leave but he stopped, “Please stay in the building. I can keep you safe in here.”
You give him another nod, “Of course.”
As Aaron leaves, the look on his face is so intense you're not sure if you’ve seen him like this before. Figuring he must always act like this at work.
After Aaron left you left completely alone. Just sitting in his office by yourself. You were exhausted but couldn't sleep even if you wanted to. Not that you wanted to, considering you could practically feel the nightmares that would come to you in your dreams. Sitting on the couch for a while you started to notice that every time a team member walked passed the office windows that they would try to ‘discreetly’ look at you through the window. You would think that profilers would be better at not being so obvious. Feeling like you were in a fishbowl you couldn't help but pace around the office. You're not sure how much time had passed but you were still pacing and on edge. Someone opened the door causing you to practically jump out of your skin. You turned to see who it was.
Penelope had a guilty look on her face, “I am so so sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.” She walks further into the room, “You must be starving. Some Triple-S is inorder and Triple-A isn’t just for cars, honey.”
You give her a confused look, not sure if you heard her correctly, “Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Penelope laughs “I have a secret snack stash and absolutely adorable animal videos that you have to see right this moment.”
Penelope didn't even give you a chance to answer before she grabs your wrist and starts leading you out of the room and down the stairs. She wasn't giving you much of a choice but you knew Penelope was being nice and trying to make you feel better. Penelope led you out of the bullpen and down the hall before pulling you into a room. It was full of computers and would have looked like what you'd expect a government computer room to look like, except for the additional decorations. Lots of brightly colored objects filled the room. Small stuffed animals, squishy stress toys, fuzzy pens. It may not have been your style but you'd be lying if you did not admit that it was somewhat comforting to see all these cute things.
Penelope sat you down at an extra chair in front of the computers, “I have a whole hard drive full of cute stuff that always makes me feel better.” She pulls up a folder and clicks on a video.
Penelope then pulls out a huge bag and places it in between you both. It was full of every snack you could think of.
You couldn't bring yourself to eat at the moment but you appreciated all the effort, “Thank you it means a lot.”
Penelope offers you a big smile and lets out a happy hum as she grabs a snack for herself and joins you in watching videos. A few videos in you actually find yourself being able to relax and almost forgetting the reason you came here. It was still in the back of your mind but suppressed enough that you found yourself able to laugh along with Penelope as you both kept bingeing cute animal videos. Easily losing track of time.
Penelope's laptop over to the side dings. She rolls over and starts typing away, working on something. She then pulls out her phone and starts texting someone on. You watch Penelope for a moment, setting a range of emotions on her face.
Once she gets a response to her text she looks up and smiles at you, “Looks like our little heartwarming party has to come to a close” She stands up and offers her hand to you, “For now.” She says it in a playfully menacing voice.
You take Penelope's hand and she helps you up. Penelope proceeds to lead you back out of her office and towards the bullpen. When you get within earshot you can hear Aaron speaking. You walk into the room and Aaron watches you for a moment before wrapping up.
“It’s late everyone. Everyone go home and get some rest. We’ll meet back here in the morning at 8.” Aaron announced to the group.
As everyone filed out of the room Hotch called for you to wait, “y/n, I think you should stay with me tonight. It’s not safe for you to go home and be alone. Especially when we know that the killer knows where you live.”
“I can’t do that Aaron. It’s bad enough I’m endangering all of you guys, I can’t put Jack at risk too.”
“How about this, stay with me tonight while Jack is at his sleepover, and tomorrow we’ll find somewhere else for you to stay?”
You hesitated but you knew he wasn’t going to give up on this so you agreed.
****
The two of you walked inside and he showed you the guest room. That’s when you realized something.
“Dammit. I left my suitcase at my house so I don’t have any clothes.”
“You can borrow some of mine to sleep in and you have an outfit in the bottom drawer of that dresser.” He pointed at one of two that were in the room.
“Thank you, Aaron.” You smiled graciously.
He brought you some clothes to sleep in and you both got ready for bed. Before he went to his room you said, “Hey Aaron, do you think you could teach me how to shoot tomorrow?”
He looked at you and nodded, “Yeah, we can go to the gun range tomorrow morning if we go in early.”
“Sounds good. Thank you. For everything.” You said earnestly.
“Of course y/n. Goodnight.” With that, you both went to bed.
****
The two of you had eaten breakfast quickly and made coffee before heading into the gun range in the FBI building.
He started going over gun safety with you in the car. He wanted you to have that down before he taught you how to actually shoot.
“Alright y/n, treat, never, keep, keep?” This is the last question he had for you.
“Treat every weapon as if it was loaded. Never point a weapon at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Keep the safety on until you are ready to fire.” You smiled at him.
“Good job y/n. I think you’re ready.” He gave you a small smile back.
****
He had his arms around you with his hands over yours on his handgun. “Remember to squeeze the trigger slowly.”
You didn’t respond, instead you leaned back into him and pulled the trigger.
After emptying the magazine, he got your target to see how you did.
“Good job y/n! You’re a great shot.” He gives you a tight hug. Your heart fluttered. You decided to ignore it.
He let go of you and you smiled at him, “Thanks, Aaron. You’re a good teacher.”
“We better get going,” Aaron said checking his watch, “The rest of the team should be in soon.”
When the two of you walked into the bullpen, Rossi was the only one there. The rest of the team arrived over the course of the next twenty minutes.
Now you were in Aaron’s office with him, Agent Rossi, and Agent Reid. You and Aaron were sitting on the couch next to each other situated so that you were facing each other. The other two agents were standing by his desk.
Aaron was speaking to you in a soothing tone. “Y/n, I want to do a cognitive interview okay?”
You nodded even though you didn’t know what that meant. Your confusion showed on your face so he explained what was going to happen.
“I’m going to have you close your eyes for me and we’re going to go back to the day it happened. Rossi and Reid are just going to observe. I’m going to walk you through it.” He looked at you with concern in his eyes.
You just nodded and closed your eyes in response.
“Okay y/n, go back to that day. Start right before you leave your house.” Aaron said to you.
“I had hidden Sammy’s gift at my friend’s house to make sure they wouldn’t find it. It was something they had been asking for for months.
’I’m going to go pick up Bean‘s present,’ I told my family after lunch. ’I’ll be back in 45 minutes.’
“Okay honey, see you soon.” My mom said, kissing the top of my head. ‘Drive safe, love you.’ My dad called out to me. ’I will! Love you too!’ I called back.”
You had tears running down your face at this point. Aaron had put his hands over yours at some point.
“Okay, what happened when you got home?” Aaron asked.
“‘I’m back!’ I called in a sing-song voice as you opened the door.
’Sorry I’m late. Traffic.’ I set the package inside and closed the door before walking into the living room.”
Your eyes shot open and you started breathing harder until you were hyperventilating as you got to the next part of the memory.
Aaron rubbed his hand across your back until you were breathing normally again.
“I know it’s hard y/n but can you please try to remember for me? Can you go back?”
You nodded your head and continued, tears still running down your face.
“As soon as I was in the doorway, I screamed. My entire family was laying in the living room, covered in blood. ‘Sammy! Mom! Dad! What happened?’ I yelled frantically as I dialed 911 and ran over to Sammy. Eventually, the police and paramedics arrived but it was too late.”
“Okay y/n, I know this is a lot but I need you to go back to when you opened the door. Look around. Is there anything out of the ordinary?”
“Um-there’s uh-a vase missing off of the shelf.” You hoped this helped somehow.
“Okay, now I need you to walk into the living room and see if it’s there.”
You started shaking but did what he said. You looked around and tried your hardest to keep breathing. You felt his arm around your shoulder.
“No it’s not he-oh it’s in pieces. There’s pieces of it all over the floor.”
“Where at y/n? What part of the floor?”
“It’s over by Sammy.” You said. And with that, you lost it. You were shaking and crying and you could barely breathe. “I can’t-I can’t Aaron. I ca-can’t”
“Shh shhh. It’s okay y/n.” He was rubbing your back again. You heard his door open and close as the other agents left. You had forgotten that they were here.
“Couldn’t keep them safe.” You mumbled.
He wrapped his arms around you and held you against him. “What did you say?” He asked quietly.
You looked up at him. “The night before they came into my room because they were afraid of monsters. I promised Sammy that I would always keep them safe. I failed.”
“It’s not your fault y/n. You can’t blame yourself.”
You opened your mouth to argue and he cut you off, “Trust me. I’ve been there. You’ve seen me there. I was there after Haley died. It doesn’t help anything.”
He wrapped his arms back around you and just let you cry for a little while.
While he was holding you, you realized something. You felt safe. For the first time since you found the notes on the flowers. You also realized that your love for Aaron had grown past that of a friend. You were in love with him. And you felt guilty for feeling such things in your current situation. You decided to deal with that later though.
After a while he got up to help the team work the case, “I’m going to go help the team catch this guy, okay? You can stay in here as long as you need to.”
You nodded at him and offered a small smile before he walked out the door.
****
You walked to the conference room but stopped outside the doorway, hidden from the view of anyone inside, when you heard your name.
It was Aaron and Dave talking. “We’re just good friends Dave. They watch Jack for me and we have gotten close, but that’s all it is with y/n”
“Whatever you say, Aaron.” Rossi replied with a smirk.
They ended the conversation and you waited a few seconds before entering so that they wouldn’t know you had been listening.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5*
Summary: Running from your problems doesn't exactly go as planned
Warnings: Cursing, Mentions of family death (Reader’s)
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2--Part 3--Part 4*
You ended the call, not wanting to give him a chance to change your mind. You turned your attention back to the reason for the decision.
“This birthday will be better for our dear Sammy than the one they had five years ago. This year, they will be reunited with you. And anyone that gets in the way of the long awaited family reunion, will get to meet your parents.”
You considered your options. You could run away. Change your name and leave this life behind. But then the killer could probably find you again. The ringing of your phone interrupted your thoughts.
Aaron was calling you again. You let it go to voicemail. It rang again and you immediately hit ignore.
Aaron. You could go to him. Logically you knew that you should. But you couldn’t put him and his team in danger. You damn sure couldn’t put Jack in danger.
So what options did that leave you with? The police, but since it’s a serial killer they might call the BAU. Then Aaron would be involved and you would have to explain to him why you didn’t tell him yourself. You really have no idea of what to do.
This was giving you a headache. You went to get some aspirin when you heard a knock at the door. You decided to just pretend you weren’t home.
Until, “y/n, I know you’re in there, please answer the door.”
“Shit. It’s Aaron.” You thought before quickly swallowing the aspirin with some water and opening the door.
“Hey Aaron.”
“Hi y/n. Can I come in?”
You moved aside and let him in before closing the door.
“I called.” He said simply.
“I know.”
“Y/n, what’s going on? You love Jack, and he loves you.”
“I do, and I know. I just can’t watch him anymore.” You walked towards the front door and opened it.
“Y/n-“ he started.
“You should go Aaron,” You cut him off. “Please.” He hesitated at the door before walking through it.
You let Aaron show himself out, deciding to get to packing. You walk up the stairs and pull out a suitcase. Starting to push clothes into the bag. You move around your room, making sure to grab everything you need. With everything you need packed up you find yourself staring at the birthday card on the bed. That day had haunted you for five years and you knew this card would haunt you too. So you snatch it off the bed, ready to destroy it in some way just so you didn't have to ever see it again. When you turn around to leave you jump when you see Aaron in the doorway leading into your bedroom.
You were startled enough to not only drop your bag but also drop the card, “Aaron!” Avoiding eye contact You took a deep breath, “I said you should leave… I meant it.”
You reached down to grab the things you dropped. You were able to grab your suitcase but before you could grab the card Aaron seized it off the ground.
Try to grab it back from him as you glare at him, “Don’t...”
You finally look at Aarons face and you can tell he is reading the card. The way his brow furrows and his demeanor changes. Aaron quickly goes from worry to anger. Even though you knew the anger wasn't directed at you, you knew this was when you had to leave. Because once he finished reading he would become too invested and would put himself on the case. You couldn't put Aaron or Jack or anyone else in danger. So you pushed past Aaron while he was distracted enough reading. Practically sprinting down the stairs and out of your house. As soon as you get outside your plan to run away comes crashing to a halt. Aaron had blocked your car in with his own. You should have known that he would be prepared for you to bolt at any given opportunity and that he would do whatever he could to prevent that from happening. Aaron was worried about you and he cared. Sure part of you wanted to tell him everything, he was your closest friend. But a much bigger part of you wanted to keep Jack and Aaron safe. You were terrified. Feeling like you were trapped and backed into a corner you felt yourself starting to breath heavily. You stared at your car, trying to figure out what to do now. You heard your front door open and you turned to look. It wasn't until you saw Aaron that you realized at some point you had started crying. Aaron’s eyes met yours and he looked almost calm as he walked down the stairs towards you. However a few things gave away his true emotions, like the way he was holding the card so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white and the paper was crumpling under the pressure.
Aaron used his free hand to try and protectively wrap his arm around you to lead you to his car, “You need to come with me to Quantico.”
Your immediate response was to back out of his reach, “I...I can't… You read it… I can't put…” You stopped for a moment trying to gather what little composure you had left. You couldn't stop yourself from crying as you kept speaking, “I WON’T put anyone else in danger.”
Aaron stepped towards you, “I don't plan on letting you go anywhere alone and put YOURSELF in danger.”
You were emotional and not thinking clearly. Not knowing what to say as you felt fear completely overwhelming you. You back up again, wanting to run. Aaron took a large step closer to you, crossing his arms.
Aaron stares you down, “Come with me.” His voice was stern, leaving no real room for argument.
Aaron stood there for a minute, studying you. You couldn't handle it anymore and gave in.
You practically fall forward, sobbing, “I’m terrified… please…”
Aaron easily catches you, pulling you into him, “I’ll keep you safe.”
You felt him wrap his arms around you in a protective hug. He let you stay there for as long as you needed.
When you were finally ready you pulled away you felt better but a little shaky, “I… I’m sorry.”
He sounds so sincere that you were able to calm down by a fraction, “Me and my team will take care of this.”
Aaron wraps an arm around you and starts leading you to his car. Slowly your breathing starts to even out. He helps you into the car before walking around and getting into the drivers side. Sitting in the car you had finally stopped crying but were left feeling exhausted and raw. As Aaron started driving the car was silent until he made a phone call.
Someone picked up on the other end of the phone and Aaron responded, “Call the team in. We have a case.”
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2--Part 3--Part 4*
Summary: Its that time of year again. Five years ago your life was changed forever.
Warnings: Mentions of family death (Reader’s)
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask. Anything that is bold and italicized like so is a flashback.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2--Part 3*
5 years ago:
You were laying in bed reading when Sammy crept into your room. “Hey bean, what’s wrong?” You asked, putting your book to the side.
“I can’t sleep y/n, I heard scary noises.” Sammy replied.
“Come here,” you said scooting over and patting the bed beside you, “you can sleep in here tonight. You don’t have to be afraid of anything because I’ll protect you, okay?”
“Promise?”
“Forever.” You turned the lamp beside your bed off and put an arm around them.
Present Day:
There you were, making your yearly trip to the cemetery. Every year got a bit easier but it didn’t exactly take away the pain. Maybe just dulled it a bit. You ambled over to the spot, after five years your body was just on autopilot as you navigate your way through the ocean of tombstones. Once your body came to a stop you looked down at the three graves. These three slabs of fancy rock was all you had left of your family. Your mom, dad and little Sammy. You sat in the middle of all three of them. Pulling out a packed lunch. On special occasions your mom and dad made a special family meal, with recipes that were passed down through the generations but you had never gotten a chance to learn them and now the recipes were long lost. You tried your best every year to recreate it and you were getting close. It still didn't taste right but it was the best you could do.
The next morning you woke up and watched Sammy sleep for a little bit before shaking them awake.
“Good morning Bean. Happy 7th Birthday!”
“Thanks y/n,” Sammy smiled, “let’s go downstairs!”
“Alright, bean let’s go.”
Of course your mom had made the special meal that day. That last time she would ever cook it.
As you slowly ate you noticed flowers had been placed on each of the graves. You must have missed them in your fog of melancholy. It wasn't too unusual. Sometimes people would put flowers on empty graves as a way to show the less visited tombstones some care.You did take care of them whenever you visited but you didn't visit as often as you would have liked. You decided to take a look at them when you had finished eating. You wiped off the face of all three stone plaques, cleaning them up a little. Then you reached down and picked up the first bouquet of flowers off of Sammy’s grave. Once you had them in your hand you noticed a card attached. You had never seen a card on anonymous flowers before. Flipping the card over in your hand so you could see the writing. All it read was ‘To: The One That Got Away.’
You had hidden Sammy’s gift at your friend’s house to make sure they wouldn’t find it. It was something they had been asking for for months.
“I’m going to go pick up Bean‘s present,” You told your family after lunch. “I’ll be back in 45 minutes.”
“Okay honey, see you soon.” Your mom said, kissing the top of your head.
“Drive safe, love you.” Your dad called out to you.
“I will! Love you too!”
Your stomach clenched so tight that you regretted finishing all of your food before looking at these flowers. Immediately you dropped them to the ground before picking up the next set. All three sets of flowers had the same taunt on them, ‘To: The One That Got Away.’ The bouquets felt like hot charcoal in your hands and you dropped them like they were burning you. Everything from your past came rushing back to you causing you to stumble over to a nearby tree. Wanting to be far away from any graves just in case you did actually lose your lunch. Doubling over clutching onto the rough bark of the tree even as it scraped into your skin. The tears started streaming down your cheeks as your nightmare of a memory hit you like a brick wall.
“I’m back!” You called in a sing-song voice as you opened the door.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic.” You set the package inside and closed the door before walking into the living room. As soon as you were in the doorway, you let out a blood curdling scream.
“Sammy! Mom! Dad! What happened?” You yelled frantically as you dialed 911 and ran over to Sammy.
Feeling like you were being watched and you couldn't be here anymore. You had to leave. Starting to head back to your car, about half way back you realized you left your lunch bag and you had to double back. Your vision was blurred from the tears that wouldn't stop rolling down your face. When you got into the driver’s seat of your car you crossed your arms over the steering wheel. Burying your face into your arms as you start sobbing uncontrollably. Even as you got swept up in your own emotions you couldn't get the creepy feeling that someone was watching you to go away. You steeled yourself so that you could see clearly enough to drive before speeding out of the cemetery. When you got home the first thing you did was park the car. The drive had calmed you down a bit. You had managed to convince yourself that you were seeing things and the cards on the flowers didn't mean what you originally thought they did. Your delusion was shattered the second you opened your mailbox. In the stack of mail you pulled out the first thing that caught your eye was a brightly colored envelope. You stepped into your house and immediately went to open it. Ripping the paper open you pulled out a card. When you saw the childrens birthday card you didn't even need to read it. You knew. All the mail fell out of your hands and you abandoned it on the floor in your doorway. You rushed up to your room, trying to figure out what to do as you started panicking.
You knew what you had to do. You picked up the phone and dialed, “Aaron, hey, sorry for the late notice,” you inhaled deeply, hating what you were doing “I can’t watch Jack anymore.”
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2--Part 3*
Summary: Aaron and the BAU start working on your case. You find out the truth about what happened but you find something else out along the way.
Warnings: Mentions of reader’s family’s death, mentions of child death, mentions of blood
Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Collab Series I am doing with the ever amazing @less-intelligent-spencerreid If you are interested in being tagged in the future parts of this comment on this or send me an ask.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5–Part 6*
After the first night at Aaron’s, Penelope had offered to let you stay at her place. Derek also agreed to stay at Penelope’s as basically your bodyguard. Penelope tried really hard to make it like a sleepover. She always had fun movies to watch, junk food, and comfy blankets. So during the night, you could easily forget about your problems and worries for a few hours. It was when it was actually time for you to go to sleep that you had issues. Nothing against Derek, you hadn’t known him long but you trusted him. You just hadn’t been sleeping well at Penelope’s. You didn’t have the heart to tell her that though. The only time you had been able to get a decent amount of sleep with little to no nightmares was in Aaron’s office.
You woke up startled when Penelope walked into Aaron’s office. Your heart was racing as you sat up on the couch.
Penelope was talking a mile a minute holding a large stack of files in her hands, “It took some digging.” She walked over to Aaron at his desk, “Like some digging, digging. Had to partially hire the internet equivalent to a construction crew and use one of those scoopy excavator things to get through layers and layers of old murder cases from all over the country.”
You stare at the brightly colored woman who was being particularly loud. You tried to follow what Penelope was saying but she was talking so fast and your exhausted brain wasn’t letting you follow along, “What’s happening?”
Aaron was glaring at Penelope and you didn’t think it was just for her to get to the point, “Garcia!”
Penelope followed Aaron’s line of sight and landed on you. You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes trying to mentally catch up to what was happening.
Penelope made a face, “I am unbelievably sorry.” She didn’t give you a chance to reply before turning back to look at Aaron, “But I come bearing good…” Penelope makes an unpleasant noise, “Well not good actually, very terrible awful news but helpful.” Penelope finds the word she is looking for and continues, “I come bearing helpful news.” She gives an unsure shrug before handing the files over to Aaron.
Aaron looks over them, one by one. You tried to read his face but ever since Aaron took your case he seemed to only have two looks. Exhausted and determined, a lot of the times he was both at once. Penelope waited for some kind of reply.
Aaron got through the large stack of new files, “We need to bring these to the team.”
Penelope nodded and walked out of Aaron’s office to gather the rest of the team. Aaron grabbed the files and left as well. Leaving you behind for a moment. You wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep and you felt like you should know what was in those files. Even if you didn’t want to know was sort of despicable violence the killer stalking you was capable of. So you slide out of the office as well and slowly made your way to the meeting room, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself. As soon as you made it to the doorway of the conference room, Aaron spotted you. He walked over, physically blocking you from getting into the room.
Aaron looked at you with concern in his eyes, “You don’t need to see this.”
If you shifted just right you could see around him and into the room. Letting you catch glimpses of crime scene photos and evidence bags. Aaron immediately figures out what you’re doing and shifts with you to block your line of sight.
You glare at Aaron, “I don’t really want to look at all that stuff but I need too. I can help.”
A few of the other team members walk past the two of you, Aaron moving to only let them through. The minor standoff earning you side glances from passersby.
Aaron shakes his head, gently placing a hand on your shoulder to both comfort you and keep you from moving into the room, “I’ll keep you updated and ask you questions when we need more information. For now, you should rest.”
You move just enough to see what is happening in the meeting. Seeing the team pull evidence bags out of boxes. When you see a pair of picture frames you are immediately stunned. No longer able to hear anything even if Aaron was still talking to you. Drawn to the objects you step backward out of Aaron’s grasp and then push your way passed him. Slowly approaching the table you could feel eyes on you but you didn’t care. When you get to the table you pick up the two separate evidence bags.
The bags were both filled with a picture frame. Each photo showing two ‘lasts’. One was the last family photo you ever took with, Mom, Dad, Sammy, and yourself. It had been one of those yearly family photos. Some cheesy fake background with tacky matching outfits but each of you had big genuine smiles on your faces. The happy atmosphere of the photo was ruined by the broken glass that had allowed blood to seep through and stain the paper. The other picture was just as badly damaged. It had been the last picture taken of just you and Sammy. You had been pushing Sammy on the swings and your parents had managed to catch it on film. What should have been a good memory was now stained just like the other one. The rusty-red color of dried blood ruining some of the few good memories you had left of your family.
You finally started to gain some awareness again. You placed both bags onto the table before retreating back. Exiting the meeting room just as quickly as you had entered it. You had thought you were ready to look back at this evidence and even thought you could emotionally handle it. Seeing those pictures again however had proved you wrong. You make it back into Aaron’s office before you start crying. Seeing those happy memories with your family ruined by the same thing that had taken them away from you forever was too much. You had no idea what happened to the dozens of family photos that must have been in the house. The year after their murder was a blur and when you had finally came too you had just written off ever having a picture to remember them by. You cover your face with your hands before letting yourself fall back onto the couch. Letting yourself sob into the palms of your hands.
You don’t hear the door open. You feel Aaron rubbing your back and you look at him.
“You were right, I should have listened to Aaron. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize y/n, I know you just want to help.”
When you were calmed down he said, “I’m going to go help my team. We’ll catch this guy”
***
“Okay, the focus is clearly on the kids. With the vase and the birthday,” Morgan starts, thinking out loud. “I have an idea.” He said, calling Garcia in her office.
“You’ve reached the office of supreme genius, speak, and be dazzled.”
“Hey baby girl, I need you to get me a list of kids that died on their birthdays. I need it to be between 20 and 30 years ago.”
“Unfortunately, my chocolate thunder, that is a list of 27.”
“Cross it with kids that have an older brother that is still living. Also, look for suspicious hospital visits for both kids before the death.”
“One! Max Davis died on their birthday. They apparently fell off of a roof. Both Max and their older brother Jordan Davis had multiple hospital visits before Max’s death and Jordan’s continued their’s afterwards.
“Thanks Garcia.” He said hanging up the phone and going to find Hotch.
****
You’re standing in the observation room with Rossi while Hotch and the UnSub, Jordan Davis, are in the interrogation room. Hotch got a confession which ended with the UnSub yelling, “I couldn’t protect Max and these people couldn’t protect their younger siblings! It’s their own faults!”
Agents from a different unit came and took Davis into custody. Aaron came into the observation room and Rossi left. The two of you walked up to his office. He wrapped his arms around you and you put your face in his shoulder, tears running down your face.
“It’s okay y/n, you’re safe, we got him.”
He held onto you until you stopped crying and you pulled away. He looked at you with soft eyes, “Are you okay?”
You nod at him and respond, “It still hurts, but I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.”
You offer him a small, genuine small. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” He returned your small smile.
“Do you want to go get something to eat?” You asked him, knowing he hadn’t eaten all day.
“Sure. Do you want to-uh make it a date?” He replied carefully.
“Do I-yes I would love to.” You smiled at him and he returned the gesture.
He grabbed his bag the two of you walked out of his office and to the elevator. Once you got out, he wrapped his free arm around your shoulder. It was warm and comfortable. He opened the passenger door of his vehicle for you.
****
You had both ordered and there was a lull in the conversation.
“Why were you so surprised when I asked you for a date?” He asked.
You blushed and said, “I may have overheard your conversation with Rossi.”
He chuckled and you let out a small laugh. “He could tell I was lying you know.”
You smiled. You seem to be doing that a lot lately. “Well, I’m glad you were.”
Just then the waiter arrived with your food. The two of you ate and continued talking. When you were both done, he paid the check. You tried to convince him to split it but he refused.
“At least let me get dessert then?” You wanted to repay the favor, but you also wanted the night to last as long as possible.
“What do you have in mind?” He asked as the two of you walked outside.
“We could walk to the ice cream shop that’s a few blocks away.”
“Sounds perfect.”
****
At the ice cream shop you ordered a waffle cone with cotton candy ice cream and he got a waffle cone with cookies and cream ice cream. After you paid you decided to take a longer way back to his car as you ate them. You talked and laughed with him the entire time.
He drove you home and walked you to your door. Before walking inside you turned around to face him.
“Goodnight Aaron.” You said as you looked up at him.
“Goodnight y/n.” The two of you held eye contact for a little while before he leaned in. He stopped just short of your lips, looking into your eyes for approval. You gave him a small nod and he gently cupped your face and pressed his lips to yours. They were warm and smooth. It lasted for a few seconds before he pulled away and took a breath. Your hands were on the back of his head and you gently pulled him back towards you. The second kiss was longer and deeper than the first. He tasted sweet from the ice cream. This time you pulled away, needing to breathe.
“Wow.” Was all you said once you caught your breath.
He smiled at you and nodded slowly.
“Goodnight y/n. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
You nodded and said “Goodnight.”
He walked back to his car to leave as you walked inside your house.
Continuation of The Sitter: Part 1–Part 2–Part 3–Part 4–Part 5–Part 6*
I am going to start re-blogging some of my older fics every Wednesday. If you have no interest in this and would like to keep it off your dash I will be tagging these posts with #bekindrewindwednesdays. I will only re-blog the first chapter of series’ but I should have links to later chapters if you somehow missed some newer sections of said series.
I know for a fact I will be busy for the next week or two because my friend is visiting for my birthday, so my ability to work on new content might slow down. That being said I am still working on new stuff of course, ‘Co-Conspirators’ just got a Chapter 5, my wonderful co-author @less-intelligent-spencerreid and myself are still working on ‘The Sitter’, The first chapter of the SugarDaddy!Hotch fic is being worked on as we speak (I’m writing this on 08/29 so we will see if its finished before this Wednesday), plus whatever other nonsense I decide to put onto my plate. <3
