Follows along with episode 3x14 - Damaged


For almost five seconds none of us moved, none of us spoke. All of us were paused, waiting for the next move. The only sounds I could hear was my own heart slamming painfully against my chest, desperate to break free and run off, just like I wanted to.

Those few moments took hours in my mind, each tick of the clock driving home the terror rising up within me. I was trapped up against the wall, nowhere to go, at the mercy of a man ready to rip my life away with his bare hands.

Just like Connor had tried to do.

Great, because that was exactly what I needed to think about at a time like this!

To make matters worse – because apparently my mind just wanted to torture me – my breath caught in my throat and for a terrifying moment I couldn't breathe. A wave of dizziness swept over me and my vision began to tunnel. My lungs gave a painful twinge and though I fought to take a breath my body wasn't cooperating. For a second, it felt like I was choking.

Like I was being choked.

When I blinked, trying to break out of the horrifying trance, Chester was gone and Connor was grinning back at me. I fought to keep the panic away. I knew about the undertones of sadism in Chester's profile, I knew fear was what he craved, almost more than the kill itself. He loved having that power over the people he hurt, he loved hurting them emotionally as much as he loved taking their lives.

I wasn't letting him do either to me.

"While you were doing your research, Aria, maybe a question or two about the security tones would've been a good idea," Chester chuckled, snapping me back to the here-and-now. I'd honestly never thought I'd be able to say Connor was a better option to anything I was facing, but the universe just loved to prove me wrong.

Don't show him how scared you are, I ordered myself, forcing the terror off my face and straightening up from where I'd shrunk against the door. When he saw me literally standing up to him, Chester tossed the picture back to the table and took a step towards me.

I hadn't even seen him move, but before Chester could even take the full step, Hotch was around the table and planted in front of me. Chester's face twisted into brief irritation and he rolled his shoulders back, drawing up to his full height. The man between us didn't even flinch.

"We heard the tones," Hotch said slowly, getting another chuckle out of Chester. One of Hotch's hands came back and he took my arm, tugging me from behind him and guiding me towards the table.

Chester turned to me the moment I was out behind Hotch, nothing between us again, but Spencer was at my side before he could make another move. As soon as Hotch let go of me, he reached out and took my hand, tugging me to his side and shifting to angle himself between me and the man that was ready to kill me.

I was moment from melting in relief.

Unable to pursue me now, Chester began to back up, but his eyes still didn't leave mine. He kept hold of my gaze around Spencer's arm as he leaned a shoulder up against the wall beneath the window. When I felt the dizzying panic creeping up and my vision beginning to tunnel again, I shifted a little closer and tangled my fingers into Spencer's sweater. The hand still holding mine tightened in silent reassurance and I gave him a squeeze right back.

Chester spared a brief, dismissive glance to Hotch before looking to me again, slowly cracking his knuckles as he asked, "so you all planned to be locked inside with me, no guns or weapons, while you tempted me with my favorite little treat?"

I didn't realize Chester was referring to me until he winked. My blood instantly went cold and I lost my breath again, nausea sweeping through me and swirling with the dizziness so powerfully I had to press closer to Spencer to keep myself steady.

"I won't need a gun."

Hotch's simple statement was more surprising than almost everything else that had happened today. The threatening tone in those five words was so powerful it finally got Chester's eyes off me.

Was he… had Hotch just threatened Chester?!

Not even looking from Chester, Hotch waved a hand at Spencer and I, ushering us back from him. Well, I guess that answered my question. Spencer complied instantly, beginning to shuffle back to the table, pulling me along with him.

As soon as we started to move, though, Chester's eyes were back on me. His smile widened as he taunted, "where are you going, Aria? I just want to thank you." I tried to hide the confusion on my face but couldn't mask it fast enough. Chester spotted my expression and suddenly the smile fell off his face as he told me coldly, "you see, once I kill you, there's no way they're gonna execute me next week. You saved my life by coming here, doll. So thank you."

He was going to kill me.

Of course, I knew that was his motive the moment he said the guards wouldn't be coming, but to hear him say it out loud? Keep it together, Aria. Keep it together, I chanted, clinging to Spencer, barely stopping myself from spiraling into the panic attack that was just moments away. The more fear you show, the more control he has. Don't be afraid. Don't be –

"Well unfortunately for you, I'm not a five-foot tall college student trapped at your mercy," Hotch cut in as he stepped towards Chester. I looked over to him, not believing that I'd just heard him threaten a serial killer twice in just a couple of minutes.

He was glaring at Chester, who was still staring at me. When I made the mistake of meeting his eyes once more his own narrowed dangerously and he started,

"No, but that terrified little girl is, and she's mine –"

"You're not laying a hand on her."

The certainty in Hotch's voice so unwavering that it got all three of us to turn and look at him now. He'd stepped even closer to Chester, and now he – hold on. He was taking his suit jacket off?!

Sure enough, Hotch tossed the jacket to the ground. Oh my god, he was getting ready to fight. Chester, both intrigued and affronted at the unhindered challenge, pushed off the wall as he began to pace, listening as Hotch continued,

"All your life, you've gone after victims who couldn't fight back. The rest of the time you spent looking over your shoulder, worried about the knock on the door, scared that someone like me would be on the other side ready to put you away."

Now Hotch tugged his tie off and threw it down with his jacket; Chester's lip drew back in a sneer. Mid-pacing, he turned himself towards Spencer and I, his blue eyes dark with burning fury. Both of us tensed, but before he could even think of starting after us Hotch stepped in his path and jammed a finger at him, stopping him in his tracks.

"At your core, you're a coward."

Again, for a heartbeat, everyone in the room froze as we all processed what Hotch had just done. The man was a profiler; he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew how to diffuse a situation at the drop of a hat, but he also knew how to provoke a psychopath into unbridled rage.

Chester snarled and surged for Hotch, who braced for the impact. Panic for Hotch's safety took over and I turned to rush for him, ready to help. Spencer's hand tightened almost painfully around my own as he hauled me back behind him so fast I nearly fell.

Desperately I tried to pull free, mouth open to shout Chester's name as a distraction, just as Spencer rushed out,

"Chester, do you want to know why you killed those women?"

I knew Spencer was a genius, but sometimes that fact slipped my mind until he did something absolutely incredible. Like, for instance, stopping an unhinged psychopath in mid-attack with a single question. Chester stood just a foot from Hotch, still staring him down, but unable to move forward; Spencer had frozen him in place.

For a couple moments, the two alpha males in the room held each other's furious stare before Chester's eyes flicked towards us. He was a narcissist; he couldn't keep his curiosity at bay when it came to hearing about himself. It was one of the reasons we'd guessed Chester had agreed to speak with us, and Spencer was taking our assumption and running with it.

Finally, he couldn't resist anymore. Chester took a heaving breath, and gave Spencer another side glance. "What?"

"Earlier, you said the women you killed meant nothing to you. I-I can tell you why you killed them, and why you are what you are."

At the same time Chester turned to face us completely, Spencer slid to the side to put himself completely between Chester and I, keeping me out of harm's way even while also keeping Hotch safe. Even still trapped in the room, I felt safe now that I was fully out of his sight. The hand I had tangled in his sweater tightened, and I leaned forward to rest my forehead against the back of Spencer's arm. His hand squeezed mine once more in assurance as Chester asked doubtfully,

"You can tell me why I did the things I did?"

Boom.

Spencer had hit the nail on the head effortlessly, and he'd hooked Chester in without the guy even knowing. Realizing it just as I had, he nodded quickly and said, "I think so. I do. Your… your mother's bipolar, and… almost certainly an undifferentiated schizophrenic. Your father suffered severe shell shock in the war. It-it's what we now refer to as post-traumatic stress disorder. As far as I can tell, he remained clinically depressed the rest of his life. 53% of all serial killers have some form of mental illness in their family. In your case, both your parents suffered from psychological disorders, which they largely took out on you. Though, they probably beat each other as much as they beat you, so violence became a natural expression of love."

Had we been anywhere else, I would've gasped. Even silent, I knew Spencer could feel my surprise. I mean, I was all but glued to his back at this point. His last sentence was nearly word-for-word what I'd mentioned last night. In fact, some of what he'd sprinkled in had been in the report I'd given to Hotch.

At some point last night, he must've asked to read it, and knowing he'd gone out of his way to do so – and that he was now quoting my profile to save our lives – had a small bubble of warmth rising up in my chest.

I'd focus on that sweet sentiment later, though. Y'know, given that we got out of this in one piece… Spencer just continued on like there wasn't a murderer staring us down, looking ready to jump the table between us and take us out. "There's something called the hypothalamic region of the limbic system. It's the most primitive part of the brain. It wants what it wants, without conscience and without judgement. It's what makes babies cry when they're hungry, scream when they want affection, become enraged when a toy is taken away…"

As Spencer continued on, going a mile a minute and dragging Chester on right behind him, I saw Hotch slowly shifting backwards. Oh thank god, he was backing down from the fist fight with a psychopath. He felt my eyes on him and he moved until he could meet my stare from where I was all but huddled against Spencer.

He furrowed his brows, then flicked his eyes to Chester before looking back at me: are you okay?

After giving a small, terse nod, I raised my brows at him: are YOU?

Only when I got a nod in return did I let myself tune back into Spencer. He was still going and, as I'd missed at least a paragraph's worth of information, I was totally lost. Honestly at this point, I didn't even know if he knew where he was going. He was just trying to buy us the rest of the thirteen minutes, and we had to be close now.

He'd kept his hand in mine – not like I'd have let him take it, honestly – and I subtly turned his arm just a hint to peek at the watch he had done up over his sweater sleeve. 5:28. Just a couple more minutes, and the guards would be here!

I dared to peek around Spencer's arm to see what Chester was doing. To my surprise, he was still fully caught up in the lecture he was being given. He'd moved to lean forward on the table, but he looked much less like he wanted to kill any of us.

Now he was so focused on what Spencer was saying, he didn't even notice as I hedged out from behind him just a little more. Okay, serial killer or not, I couldn't help but feel a little good seeing someone hanging on the brilliant doctor's every word.

"No functioning sexual partner will ever willingly submit to the painful desires that you have," he was explaining, the hand I wasn't currently crushing with my own waving wildly in the air. "The only way you can serve them is by making a partner compliant, making sure they do exactly what you want them to do. And you ensure that by killing them."

At those words, Chester's eyes snapped to me so suddenly that this time I did gasp. He leaned a little closer, fingers curling over the table as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. Spencer managed to get his hand back from me but it didn't go far. He reached out and put his arm across me, nudging me back out of view.

As he did so, I saw the time again: 5:30. Any minute now…

God, it'd better be soon, because now I could tell Chester was losing patience. I heard the table creak as he pushed off it to stand, and to my left I saw Hotch beginning to tense again. We were on the edge of imploding again, and Spencer realized it. He straightened himself up a bit more and said,

"Chester… when you were arrested, you told the officer that your victims never had a chance…" he was speaking slowly, buying as many extra moments that he could, until there! A faint distant buzz of the outer doors being opened. The guards were here! "I think you know that, deep down… it was you who never really had a chance."

The echo of the lock clicking open was the most beautiful sound I'd heard in years. It set all four of us into one last bout of charged silence, making the guards pause as they came inside. Their concern at our silence only doubled when they saw the state of disarray the room was in. Hotch's jacket and tie on the ground really just pulled it all together.

"Everything alright in here?" one of the guards asked, glancing between Hotch and Chester. The question broke the silence and Hotch gave a swift nod, stalking up to the table and beginning to gather files again.

"Fine. We're done," he told them, giving the go-ahead to put the cuffs back onto Chester. As they clicked into place (the noise just as relieving as the door unlocking had been) he looked back to us. "Reid, Aria, I'll meet you outside."

Spencer nodded, then turned so quickly I didn't register he'd even moved until suddenly he was bundling me ahead of him for the door. As we passed by him, Chester's head swiveled to follow us. This time, now, he wasn't focused on me.

He was looking after Spencer almost desperately, like all that Spencer had said wasn't enough. Like he wasn't ready to end Trivia Time with Dr. Reid. I didn't blame him; the bits and pieces I'd caught had been unbelievably interesting. I actually kind of regretted turning out for sixty seconds and missing the majority of what he'd said. Maybe when my heart went back to a normal rhythm I'd ask for a recap. For now, all I wanted was to get out of the world's tiniest holding room.

"Is that true? That I never had a chance?" Chester called to Spencer, taking a step after us. Though he was pulled back by the guards this time, Spencer all but threw me into the hall as he rushed out,

"I don't know. Maybe."

Laughter bubbled out of me as Spencer continued to herd me through the prison. We barely stopped long enough to let the guards give us back our weapons, and then we were off again, stumbling through the lobby and then spilling out into the fresh air.

When Spencer finally stopped, I stumbled forward a few more steps to the side of the building. Slumping against the brick, I dropped my head back and took a long, deep breath. The fresh air settling in my lungs did wonders to help settle the adrenaline racing through me.

For several moments, I didn't know what to feel. Fear from, y'know, being targeted by a serial killer? Anger at Hotch for almost fighting the serial killer? Frustration at myself for freezing up like I had and being as useful as a screen door on a submarine? Fully smitten over Spencer protecting me? Proud that he'd been able to fully captivate and then outsmart a psychopathic killer with just his knowledge? Guilt because I'd insisted on going, knowing I fit the UnSub's victimology and had probably been the reason Hotch and Spencer had to put themselves in the path of danger?

In true Aria DiMaggio fashion, I settled for all of the above. All of those emotions – and more I couldn't even fully comprehend – came dropping onto my shoulders and suddenly tears were running down my cheeks. Feeling overwhelmed, and just a little too exposed, I buried my face in my hands and tried to take a settling breath.

Maybe it was the weight of everything hitting me now that we were safe, or maybe it was just the lack of sleep catching up to me, but suddenly I felt exhausted. If I wasn't up against the wall, I probably would've just crumpled onto the ground.

"Aria, are you okay?"

Spencer's voice was softer than I'd ever heard before, and his words wrapped gently around my frazzled mind, a warm blanket against the cold thoughts bearing down on me. As I lifted my head, I found him standing in front of me. He was bent over, shielding me from passerby's to give me privacy.

When our eyes met, he instantly studied my expression and a hand came up to rest tentatively on my arm. I went to give an automatic answer, not wanting to burden him with all my ridiculous overthinking and melting pot of emotions. Just as I opened my mouth to insist I was fine, I stopped.

It was something that my therapist had mentioned, about how I had a tendency (well, more than a tendency, but she was being nice) to bottle up my emotions and hold them close to my chest. I preferred suffering in silence because I felt like I was a burden to people.

Spencer had asked. He wouldn't have asked if he didn't want a genuine answer. What had Chester said? Nobody gives a damn about the truth. Well, I could start proving him wrong.

"Physically? Yeah. Mentally…" I took a breath, and another wayward tear slid down my cheek. A thousand different things to say swirled through my mind, but the one I finally whispered to him was, "he was gonna kill me."

"No." Spencer's firm, authoritative tone caught me off guard, and my brows furrowed as I stared up at him. The hand on my arm tightened just a bit. "As long as I – um, as long as we were there, he wasn't going to touch you."

Welp, there went the little bit of control I'd had on my tears. Hearing how genuine his reply was drove home all that he and Hotch had just done for me. They'd literally put themselves between me and a serial killer on death row, fully put their lives on the line for me, without a single ounce of hesitation.

My lower lip trembled, and as my weakened dam finally broke and tears fell hot and heavy, I pushed off the wall and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face into his sweater vest. There wasn't any hesitation from him; his own went around my shoulders and tucked me tight to his chest.

As I clung to him, letting myself work through the realization of all that'd happened, a warm hand settled on my back and added to the comfort around me. Wordlessly I pulled back from Spencer, and he practically deposited me into Hotch's arms now.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he simultaneously hugged me to him and began to maneuver us towards the SUV. The assuring nod I gave conflicted with the watery sniffling and my blubbered reply of,

"I'm good. I'm okay."

Spencer snorted at my very unconvincing answer, and Hotch even gave a chuckle. He patted my back and opened the door for me, a hand lingering on my back to guide me up and into my seat. The first couple miles of the drive were as silent and heavy as they had been on the way here. I was worried both of the men up front were gonna retreat back behind their defensive walls, but finally Hotch took a breath and glanced at Spencer.

"It was smart to get Hardwick to focus on himself long enough for the guards to come back. You diffused a very tense, very dangerous situation in one of the best ways possible."

"Yeah," I piped up, leaning forward a bit. "All parties involved really appreciate you being so smart."

Spencer chuckled, meeting my eyes in the mirror briefly as he shrugged and said, "I find that I do some of my best work under intense terror."

He and I both chuckled again, but Hotch kept a stoic face as he spared a glance between us. When he met my eyes, I raised my brows, and he said softly, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, abandoning my seatbelt to scoot forward and prop my elbows on the center console between him and Spencer.

Hotch pressed his lips together and furrowed his brows – classic Aaron Hotchner Guilt Scowl – and said, "I antagonized the situation."

"No you didn't," I said instantly, and Spencer bobbed his head in agreement. The guilty scowl didn't lessen.

"Well, I certainly didn't help."

I started to try and defend him, but it was Spencer that pulled a face and admitted, "ah…. I guess you really didn't help."

That got a snort out of me. Spencer ducked his head with a smile, and though I expected Hotch to join us, he gave a heavy sigh and just shook his head. Okay, I'd had it with the withheld emotions from the front seat. I nudged Hotch's arm, and when he spared a glance at me, I prompted,

"Okay. What's got you so worked up you were ready to go Muhammad Ali on Chester?" As per usual, he went to deflect and again and I nudged him a little harder. "It's pretty clear the answer isn't nothing, so either spill it, or work on a better lie."

Alright, finally, I'd coaxed a small smile out of him. As we pulled up to a red light, he leaned back in his seat and slowly, his face slid into the sad stare I'd seen way too often on him. "Haley… she wants me to sign the divorce papers uncontested."

My heart sunk and instantly Hotch's behavior made perfect sense. The call from JJ this morning must've been Haley trying to get ahold of him, and it'd pushed him over the edge. Though Hotch was a realist, both he and I had been hoping Haley would start to come around.

Maybe she'd maybe give him another chance or at least a little more time, but with how fast things were moving it was becoming more and more clear that this was something that she'd been wanting to do for a while. And every step forward in the process drove that pain a little deeper into Hotch's already-aching heart.

"She doesn't want money spent on lawyers," Spencer guessed; Hotch gave a single, terse nod. The car went quiet for a few moments before Spencer prompted, "is that what you want?"

"What I want, I'm not going to get," he said simply, clearly not wanting to discuss it any further. I wanted to dig deeper and push him now that he was finally opening up, but considering he'd just been ready to fist-fight a serial killer, I figured I should drop it.

So, instead, I did the best thing I could think of. I sighed, slumped forward, and leaned my head against his arm to offer him the best support I could muster. "I'm sorry. That really sucks."

Hotch finally chuckled, and I could see a small smile on his face in the rearview. "It does. Now, sit back and buckle yourself in again. When I'm driving, we follow all the traffic laws."

I knew he could feel my pout, and I pointedly didn't move. Admittedly, I was pretty comfy. After three hours of sleep and having had so much adrenaline coursing through me I could've powered a small town, I was wiped.

"Only the front-seat passengers are required to wear a belt," I told him. This time, instead of meeting my eyes in the rearview, he turned to frown down at me; I gave him my cheekiest smile. "I'm not breaking any laws."

"Technically, no," Spencer admitted, instantly setting off the butterflies. I'd missed hearing him say that. "You would, however, be considered an unrestrained object. While not necessarily illegal, you pose a greater threat to both Hotch and I, as well as anyone or anything we'd hit."

Alright, he had a point. I couldn't let him win that easily though. "Are you saying I need to buckle up because Hotch can't drive?"

"Just because he's right doesn't mean you need to attack me," Hotch pointed out with a bemused smile. "Put your seatbelt on. I prefer all objects secured when I'm driving."

"I'm not an object," I huffed, admittedly not having anything better to defend myself with.

"You are until you put your seatbelt on," Hotch argued right back, and caught my eye in the mirror again to add, "and objects don't get lunch."

I gasped, actually affronted he'd use a toddler bargaining tactic. Well, admittedly, I was more upset it actually worked. I was hungry, okay?! Begrudgingly, muttering under my breath, I slumped back in the seat. He raised an eyebrow, and I reluctantly clicked my belt back on.

"There. Buckled and secured. Now, what are we eating?"

Spencer and Hotch both shrugged, and the scruffy doctor offered, "I mean, Thai sounds good –"

"No," I groaned, playfully scowling when he peeked at me over his shoulder. "Thai's too spicy!"

"Most restaurants have mild options," Hotch began, and Spencer shook his head.

"According to Aria, the mild selections are still too spicy."

Hotch snorted and I bit back my own giggle as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't appreciate being tag-teamed on this. Besides, as the person who was just blackmailed with the promise of lunch, I think I get to pick –"

Both of the men up front made noises of disagreements, and we all dissolved into playful bickering for the rest of the ride back to the airport. For a couple hours, we weren't weighed down with impending divorces or any of the Unsubs or cases that haunted us. Hotch wasn't fighting off heartbreak and Spencer wasn't pulling away from me.

For a couple hours, we were all together, and things were okay. For now, that was good enough.


"You are never leaving me again!" Penelope informed me, her arm linked tightly with my own as she walked me back to the bullpen. "It's bad enough when you have to go to class, but having you multiple states away from me is not allowed."

Laughing, I leaned against my best friend as I let her lead the way, more relieved to be back in Quantico than she'd know. Hotch, Spencer, and I had all agreed to keep all that had happened quiet for now. With what had happened, all of us would need to include it in our case writeup, and Hotch had explained that, more than likely, Chester's execution would be pushed back now. Until it was confirmed, he didn't want the team badgering us about the details.

Which, of course, was absolute torture for Penelope Garcia. As we reached the lobby, she tugged me to a stop and turned me to face her. Sure enough, she had her puppy dog eyes on again.

"Penny, I told you I can't –"

"Aria, I'm dying for information!" she whined, holding tighter to me and nearly making me lose my balance. "You interviewed Chester Hardwick and you can't even tell me anything you talked about?"

"Okay, okay. Fine, I'll give you one thing, and that's it," I offered. She perked up and I gave her a wide grin. "He confirmed that Baby Spice is the best Spice Girl. Which proves me right."

Penelope threw up her hands. "That's – he so did not! And you are not! Scary Spice is totally the best!"

"What can I say? You'll read about it in the report," I shrugged, giving her a swift wink. As she continued to pout at me, the elevator doors slid open, and the rest of the team spilled out into the lobby around us. Before any of them could even greet us, Penelope was demanding,

"Em and Jayje, we're having a girl's night this weekend and settling the Spice Girls debate once and for all!"

Both of them lit up, and JJ actually clapped excitedly as I pulled her into a tight hug. "Oh, good! Finally we'll all accept Sporty Spice as our girl's night mascot!"

Before Penelope or I could object, Emily pried JJ off of me and took her turn in a hug, looking back with a frown as she argued, "absolutely not. Ginger Spice is the best and no, I'm not taking criticism."

All four of us briefly glared at one another as Morgan and Rossi came up to join us. Morgan folded his arms in faux disappointment and asked, "what, we don't get an invite to girl's night?"

JJ turned to him and crossed her arms right back. "Depends. Who's your favorite Spice Girl?"

"Count me out," Rossi deflected instantly, skirting past us into the bullpen. Morgan, on his turn for a hug with me, roped me to his side as he said, "Posh Spice, obviously. You don't get better than Victoria Beckham, ladies."

"Nope, no invite for you," Penelope decided as she headed back to her office, waving him off. "Unless you can get Aria to tell me what happened with Chester Hardwick!"

Emily, JJ, Morgan, and Rossi all ooh'd and turned to look at me, but I shook my head. "Nope. That's off the table. So, you either pick Baby Spice as the best, or you're out," I declared, trying to push him off me as he went to ruffle my hair. He scoffed and just held me tighter, ruffling away.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll be callin' me, beggin' me to come liven up the night like you always do," he scoffed, playfully pushing me to the desk as he looked over to the man watching us with a bemused smile. "Pretty boy! How was Connecticut? Lil miss sunshine apparently doesn't wanna spill the beans."

Spencer caught my eye and, though he smiled, it didn't reach his eyes. We were back, and now the walls were starting to go up again.

"Ultimately uneventful," he offered, and then looked past me to Rossi and added, "uh, sir? There's somebody waiting to speak to you in your office."

All of us turned to look up where Spencer had pointed, just in time to see no other than Kevin Lynch strolling out onto the walkway. The grin that took over my face was borderline painful. And, to my surprise, I saw JJ doing the same thing. We looked at each other in surprise and I whispered,

"Do you know about the shower?!"

"I know about the shower!" she whispered back, and we both dissolved into giggles as Kevin cleared his throat and asked,

"Agent Rossi? We need to talk… about Penelope… Man to man."

JJ nodded up at him in support as I gave him a quick thumbs up. Emily turned to the both of us, jaw nearly on the floor. "You – what do you two know!?"

"What about Penelope?!" Morgan demanded from us, looking after Rossi as he made his way up to speak with Kevin. JJ and I shared a sly smile.

"Penny and Kevin, sittin' in a tree…," JJ and I teased as she made for her office. I grabbed my case notes off the desk, backing for Hotch's office as I gave the group a wink. Emily was still gaping after me.

"Okay, yeah, we have a lot to cover on girl's night," she decided, putting her hands up and walking after JJ, shaking her head. Morgan and Spencer had fallen into a heated discussion – Morgan was probably explaining the song, if I had to take a guess – so I'd leave them to it.

Though I knocked, Hotch didn't look up, but he motioned me in with the jerk of his head. As I got closer to his desk, I saw the papers he was signing:

MARITAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

"I know she'll appreciate you doing it the way she prefers," I said softly, giving him a tiny smile when he finally looked up at me. His eyes, softened with tears, briefly met my gaze before they dropped back down to the papers in his hand.

Hotch cleared his throat, nodded and tucked them away before he said softly, "I think you're right. And… you're certain you don't mind watching Jack on Saturday for me?"

"Not at all," I promised, setting my file on his desk, knowing he wasn't in the mood for company. As much as I wanted to break out the wine in Rossi's office and steal some of Penelope's candy for an all-night heart-to-heart, I was pretty sure that was what Hotch would describe as his own personal hell.

So, instead, I just came around the desk and pulled him into a brief side hug. He gave a heavy sigh, leaning into my hold for just a moment before I pulled back and patted his shoulder. As I got to the door, just about to leave, he called out, "thank you, Aria. For all you're doing."

"You never need to thank me, Hotch," I promised, giving him a small smile. "Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

He gave a nod in goodbye and I left him to his sullen night of paperwork, knowing he'd probably be here for another couple of hours. Instead, I'd work on cracking the other Gloomy Gus on the team. Spencer was determined to pull away from me, and I was refusing to let that happen.

I'll invite him to girl's night. Or, maybe Jack and I can take him to the park on Saturday, I thought, scurrying down the ramp. As I turned to the desk, I smiled and started,

"So, Scruff, I was thinking, if you're not –"

Spencer's desk was empty.

I was so surprised to see the vacant seat I came to a full stop. Maybe he was getting a tenth cup of coffee? I glanced around the bullpen, but Spencer was nowhere to be found. Morgan and Emily were bickering in the break area, and Rossi was having his manly talk with Kevin, but there was no sign of Spencer.

When I turned back to his desk, my heart fell right through my stomach and hit the ground. His satchel was gone. He'd left for the night. He'd… he'd really just left? He'd never gone home without saying goodnight to me.

There was no doubt in my mind: what Jack Vaughn had done had really hit Spencer hard. I knew how hard it hit me, but Spencer was really taking it to heart. From our brief talks in the last week, he hadn't been to any kind of therapist – BAU appointed or not. If the murder we'd witnessed was affecting me, and I was getting help… how hard was it for him without support?

He wouldn't be alone in this if he'd just let me help, I thought bitterly, snatching up my things, more than ready to call it a day. As I called out my goodbyes to Em and Morgan, heading for Penelope's office, I realized my thought was true for both Spencer and Hotch.

Both of the guys that meant the most to me on the team were hurting, and they were too stubborn to let me help them. As much as I hated to admit it, there really wasn't anything I could do until they let me in.

So, until then, I'd just take care of myself and make sure I was okay. When they finally did admit they didn't need to go through their trouble alone, I'd be ready to help. Which, after all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours alone, meant that a girl's night with the BAU ladies was just what I needed.


Happy Monday, you sweet lil souls!

I hope you had a great week! So sorry posting was a little later today than normal. I got called into work last minute and didn't have time to get everything formatted to post! Hopefully this is a good end to your night, though!

I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for SO long, I'm dying to hear your thoughts on how it all went down with Chester! I know that in the show, he's assumed to be executed after their interview, but... I like him too much to just be done with him, so I'll let you know now that Chester Hardwick will indeed be making another appearance down the road! What are your thoughts on that?

If you couldn't tell, the much-anticipated girl's night chapter is coming up next week! I've taken a bunch of your suggestions and will be mixing them in, if you have any other ideas for the BAU girls I'd love to hear them!

Thank you guys so much for all your support! You make my days so much better! My birthday is this Wednesday, and I'd love nothing more than to hear your thoughts on the story so far, it'd really mean the world to me! So if you've got a couple minutes, please let me know what you think!

Have an absolutely beautiful week, everyone!