Talk to Me.
I decided to write another one shot! This is part of my Aaron/Jayney universe. It's not so much linked to 'A Coffee Shop Encounter' but more of a standalone with the same pairing.
~Jayney wants Aaron to talk about work after a difficult case.
I hope you all enjoy this! Reviews are welcome and loved!
Disclaimer – I own nothing.
Aaron looked at his watch as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. It was getting close to midnight, and he was more than ready to be at home with Jayney and Jack.
He'd spent the last three days in Texas on a case. It wasn't often that a case effected Aaron badly, but this one did. It was a series of child abductions. The Unsub was clearly delusional, thinking of each child as a replacement for its own. Thankfully, for the team and most of the parents, only two of the children were killed, but even though many would see that as a 'good thing' Aaron would beat himself up for days. It was two lives too many that had been taken.
Finding the right key as he got closer to his apartment he wondered if Jayney would still be awake. Normally, she would wait up for him, but he knew her well enough to know she liked her sleep.
Pushing the door open the living room was dark, and the only light that was on was in the kitchen. Dropping his bag by the door he kicked off his shoes, he would sort it all out tomorrow morning.
Walking towards the kitchen he went to turn the light off but stopped at the sound of one of the floorboards creaking under the pressure of someone's foot.
"Hey." Aaron turned slightly to see Jayney stood in the hall, leaning against the wall.
"Hey, sorry if I woke you," Aaron apologised. Jayney shook her head before taking another step forward.
"Jack's not well. I think he has a cold coming on, so I decided to stay awake. Keep an eye on him, and of course, wait for you to come home," She explained smiling a little. She took in how tired Aaron looked and thought about asking him about the case. She knew he would want to talk, but probably not to her.
Aaron turned back to turn off the only light before walking into the hall, reaching out to take her hand before the pair walked back to their bedroom.
Jayney stayed quiet as Aaron got changed. She knew, for now, he would leave everything where it was, his go bag, his clothes. He'd sort it in the morning, and although Jayney wanted to make a joke of how she kept the apartment clean she went against it.
"Did you want to talk about it?" She asked.
It took Aaron a moment to register the question. Getting into bed, Aaron thought about it. It would be nice to talk, get it all off his chest, but he knew she wasn't too keen on knowing all the details.
"We don't have to, but if it will make you feel better then we can," Jayney pushed. Admittedly she didn't want to know all the details, but she did want to be supportive and helpful when he needed her.
"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Aaron told her, reaching out to take her hand again.
"I can deal with it. Especially, if it'll make you feel better. I know you normally talk to Dave or Morgan, but I want you to know you can talk to me too. I'd be a pretty rubbish girlfriend if I wasn't there to help you when you needed me." Jayney reassured him. It was the truth. She could cope with it. Since being with Aaron she'd done some minor research into what he did. She began to understand why some nights he would sleep on the floor in Jack's room, why he would triple-check the locks at night. After months of living together, she saw that some cases would just be 'work' and other cases would keep him up at night. Jayney wanted to help, she wanted to hear Aaron talk about it, and for no other reason than to make him feel better.
"I doubt you could ever be a rubbish girlfriend," Aaron replied before squeezing her hand, thinking of where to begin.
"You know I was in Texas. It was a child abduction case, to begin with, three kids had gone missing. The first one went missing on the first of April, the second on the first of May and the third a few days ago on the first of June. At first, no one saw a connection, but then Garcia found a load of other cases dating back two years. This Unsub had been all over the country." Aaron stopped for a moment, shaking his head a little, thinking of how many kids went missing each year, and how many serial killers were never caught because no one cared enough to find a pattern.
"It took some time to get into the Unsubs head, but when we did, it was like finding a slight bit of hope within the whole situation. When we finally found these kids, there was twenty-two of them. All of them in this room, and if I didn't know what had happened to them I would have thought it was normal. They all had toys, food and water, they were clean and fully clothed." Aaron felt Jayney move closer to him and for that he was thankful. He didn't expect her to say anything, all he needed for her to do was be there.
"The first two kids who'd been taken had tried to escape, we found the buried in the backyard…" Aaron couldn't finish the sentence, he knew Jayney would understand.
There was a moment of silence and Jayney tried to think of something to say, but in the end, she knew nothing she said would make any difference to how he was feeling.
"Aaron…"
"I don't need you to say anything, I just needed you to listen. It's not every case, normally I deal with it well enough to be able to come home and sleep at night, but sometimes I just can't. This Unsub looked after these kids. They were a replacement for the child the Unsub had lost." Aaron went on to explain. Jayney leant in to kiss his cheek.
"I don't know, and I will never know what it feels like to do what you do. All I can tell you is that I will always be here for you, whenever you need to talk. You and your team make a difference. You make towns safer and give families closure. Aaron, because of what you do your son has a real life superhero for a father." Aaron laughed at the last part. It was true, Jack was adamant that Aaron was a superhero.
"Thank you. Honestly, thank you." Aaron said letting go of her hand to put his arm around her instead.
"You're welcome. Like I said, I would be pretty rubbish if I wasn't here to help when you needed me." Aaron laughed again.
"You know you can talk to me whenever you need to, as well," Aaron told her as the pair laid down.
"I know. But tonight, you needed someone. You're mine and Jack's hero, but even a hero need someone, sometimes." Jayney smiled when she felt him kiss her head.
"I love you, Jayney." Aaron wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
"I love you too, Aaron,"
Thank you so much for reading! I hope it was enjoyable. Again, reviews are welcome and loved! Bethany-Louise.