New fanfiction because I recently finished season 8-10 of Criminal Minds in the past two weekends!

Enjoy!


Chapter 1.

My eyes cracked as I peeled them open. Something felt off about the atmosphere surrounding me. I smelled fire, smoke. When I regained sight, I saw a man standing in front of me with a confused face. Tears were rolling down his burnt and bloody face. He screamed something at me, but I winced as a ringing pierced my sore eardrums.

I squinted, trying to make out the man better. He was tall, handsome, with short black hair that flew into his face whenever a slight breeze blew by us. He was yelling louder now, although he sounded extremely muffled. I felt his fingers brush my cheek softly. I wanted to go back to sleep. There was a drumbeat sounding in the back of my head that matched my heartbeat. I closed my cracked eyes again, falling asleep in a quick manner.

When I awoke again, I was in a sterile room. A hospital room.

A steady beeping was present to the right of my sore head. I reached my hand up to rub it, but it got tangled in the tubes that were stuck into my vein.

With no recollection of what happened, I started to cry. My head hurt to try and think of what happened. Everything seemed fuzzy. I remembered going to college, going to get a job at the FBI and then…

nothing.

Everything was blank. I saw vague faces in my mind, but had no idea who they belonged too.

A minute after waking up, a nurse walked into the room in blue scrubs.

"You're awake," he said in a nice, smooth tone. He was young, in his early thirties with dirty blonde hair. His blue eyes were striking.

Wait, how old was I?

"How do you feel?" he asked. I shook my head, pursing my lips. I realized my throat was dry when my voice came out raspy and crackly.

"It hurts," I said.

"What does?" the nurse came to my aid, checking my vital signs and making sure none of the bandages on my body were bleeding through. There were a lot of bandages.

"My head," I said, "I can't remember anything."

"Do you remember your name?" he asked.

"Alice," I whispered. "Alice Parker."

"Do you know how old you are?"

"Thirty."

"Thirty-one actually. Your birthday was two months ago." He smiled warmly in my direction, peeking at a clipboard on a medical table near me. "I'll have to doctor figure out the amount of time, but it seems as if you don't remember the last year of your life, huh? You do have visitors. A lot, actually. Should I let them know you're awake?"

"Yes." My answer was quick and short. If my family were out there in the waiting room, I wanted them to know they were okay. The nurse nodded and disappeared behind a blue curtain that separated my bed from other's. There was silence for a few moments.

Silence, except for the beep of my monitor and a few other's. I heard a few coughs, yawns, and groans from all around.

A minute later, I heard the sound of hurried footsteps. Five people appeared in the room. One old man, a young man, a black man, and two blonde girls. They were the vague faces in my head.

"Alice," one of the blondes said in a relieved tone. She was a pudgy woman with glasses and a dress. She walked up to me, and I could hear her heels clack against the tile floor. She tried to hug me softly. I responded as best as I could to someone I didn't remember. The woman backed away slowly, with a confused face.

"You really don't remember us?" the black man said. He was handsome to look at, almost too perfect.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves, shall we?" the older man said. "I'm David Rossi, this is Derek Morgan," he said, gesturing to the pretty boy. "This youngster is Spencer Reid, that's Jennifer Jareau, and lastly, Penelope Garcia."

"It's nice to meet you all," I said in a hushed tone, my mind running circles trying to find familiarity with the names.

"Where's Hotch?" Penelope asked. The name rang a bell.

"Aaron," I said softly. The entire group of people turned towards me. "Who's Aaron?" I said. The name stuck out in my mind. Aaron Hotchner. I wasn't sure why.

"We should let her rest," Rossi said. "I'll go tell Hotch."

The crew waved at me, wishing me to get better, and that they'll see me after I rest. They didn't answer my question of who Aaron Hotchner was and I was frustrated at that. For minutes after they left, I fiddled with my fingers softly. There were bandages on my forearms with dried blood showing through the top. I untangled my arm from the tubes and felt my head. A strand of my brown hair lay directly in my line of sight. I brushed it out of the way, feeling another large bandage stretching around my entire head. I sighed in pain when I pushed on it. I felt my way down my face, feeling minor cuts and bruises on my cheeks and chin. My hand reached a bandage on my chest. I felt my heart beat through my frail skin as I heard someone rushing outside the curtain.

A man appeared in the room, the same man I saw when I woke up in the haze of desolation.

"Alice," he said, exasperated. He was in a hospital gown, with bruises and burns and blood still trailing his entire face.

This was Aaron Hotchner.

He came up directly next to me. He reached his hand up to gently stroke my cheek. "How are you?" he asked.

"My head hurts, everything is confusing," I said quietly, feeling his hand warm my face. He looked curiously at me.

"Do you remember me?"

"Aaron Hotchner," I said. He smiled with a sigh of relief. "I don't know why I remember you," I said. He brought his hand away from my face and furrowed his brow. I relished the spot he stroked, wishing to feel his touch again. Something about it felt so familiar, so comfortable and calming.

"Maybe it's best it stays that way for now on," he said in a stern voice. His eyes became cold and he stared at me with an intense gaze. I was confused.

"Why?" I asked.

"This was because of me." He sounded hurt, dumbfounded. He turned to leave the room.

"Stay with me, please," I called after him. His presence made the pain and confusion stop for a bit.

Aaron turned to face me. "I will see you at work in a few days, Parker." He strode out of the room, gown and all. I watched after him, confused of what just happened but oddly sad.


If you enjoyed, feel free to leave a review and favorite the story!