(Haha Heyyyyy so I did decide to make a sequel. I needed some more of this in my life :) This is the sequel to Someone to Stay so please read that one first. I appreciate all the love that y'all give! Thank you for everything)
Special Agent Kara DeBruin had been out of the field for over eight months. Over those months, she spent her time recuperating, talking to several therapists, none that she truly ever felt comfortable with, and getting more comfortable with her relationship. She worked on cases behind the bureau's back and just offered her opinions to her boyfriend here and there, but nobody complained, they all knew how hard it was to be taken out of the field, especially for so long, but the eight months were needed. She was finally able to pass the psych evaluation without her hands shaking and would be Garcia's bitch for a couple weeks before she would be fully allowed to work field work again.
Her boyfriend, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, had been back in the field after three months. He had taken the time off to help DeBruin heal, as well as be the rock that she needed in the worst months of her life. He had worked cases from his home for those three months, although the team rarely needed his help. With being down two agents, their temp ones weren't always the best, or they ran with just the five of them out in the field instead of the normal seven. After those three months he was back in the field, but was not yet back in charge of the team. Special Agent Morgan was still temporarily running the show, that was only until Erin Strauss saw that Aaron was fully fit for duty. Six months down the healing process, he was back on top and giving orders again.
The team was once again a full family. They were on the jet, returning home from a horrible case of serial murders. Hotch sat across from Kara, busying himself with his report, wanting to get it done as soon as possible, but every so often he would look across from him at the sleeping woman and smile. Morgan sat across from Reid, the two sharing stories and playing Poker. Morgan still enjoyed it, despite the fact that he would lose all of his snacks every time to Reid, it was fun to entertain the kid for a while. Rossi sat with Prentiss and JJ, the three talking about life, and mainly focusing on JJ and her family. Everything was good once more.
This was DeBruin's first case back out in the field, which is why she mainly ran orders from the station with Hotch. All had gone smoothly until they were chasing down their unsub and she had run up front. Nobody thought much of it. She was out for eight months and was eager for the chase, it didn't take a profiler to figure that much out. It wasn't until she was out of Hotch's sight that he was worried, but nobody saw much except their suspect on the ground before they were able to catch up to her. DeBruin was unharmed and the case was closed. At the time, Hotch was worried, but now she seemed completely fine.
As the plan was landing, Kara started to wake. The descent of the plane was now something, almost like muscle memory, in her mind. When she felt it, she woke up. Her eyes fluttered open and she caught sight of the man across from her. "Hey baby." She mumbled, throwing her arms above her head and stretching. He huffed quietly, a small, but amused smile on his face. "Hey." He returned quietly. He started packing up his belongings. He only needed a couple finishing touches on his report before they would be able to go home, but it was something that he knew Kara was used to. He threw his bag over his shoulder and grabbed her bag before she could protest. He leaned towards her and placed a soft kiss to her temple before he followed the team out of the jet, leaving her smiling in her seat, and the last one off the plane.
Being back fully was different. Her and Aaron could be out in the open, as long as on the case they were focused and put their attention on the unsub at hand. It was weird, but she liked his tiny bits of affection here and there. They helped, especially when she was struggling mentally. Every rapist case hit even closer to her heart and each one felt like a hill to climb, but now Hotch was there, and he always would be when she needed him.
It was weird even for the team. They weren't used to their boss like this. Hotch was always a stone-faced, emotionless man, but now in the tiny moments the team had to relax they saw him reaching for DeBruin's hand. Even the smile on his face didn't hide as much. It was an adjustment for everyone.
She stepped off of the jet, noticing Hotch already heading up to his office with their bags. Ever since he had taken her back to his house that day she rarely went back to her apartment. Finally there was a day when Hotch took it upon himself and went to her apartment and grabbed her necessities. He returned, asked her if there was anything else she wanted to keep, and when she said no he called in a favor with Morgan and Rossi and the pair had her apartment cleared the next day. It was from then on that the couple lived together and there wasn't even a discussion about it.
She headed to her desk to grab a couple of things. She tensed for a moment as she felt a hand clap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Morgan's bright smile. She relaxed and returned it.
"Glad to have you back K." He grinned at her and pulled her into a side hug. "We missed you out there." He had his bag slung over one shoulder, clearly on his way out, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia awaiting his presence by the door. The blonde waved at Kara, who returned her wave.
DeBruin had spent at least a month in Penelope's office doing everything that she needed. She was the techie's bitch in a sense and that was the running gag the entire month she spent beside her. She loved Garcia, but it was hard sitting back and watching the team take on all these unsubs and she was stuck in the back. Sure she was helping, but not how she liked to.
"Happy to be back." She returned to Morgan, leaning into his hug. The man beside her was more of a brother than her own, but chasing the world's monsters had that perk. Everybody on the team was her family, and it was a perfect little dysfunctional family. His smile dropped for a moment, a thin, serious line taking its place. "You know I love you right?"
Morgan had gone through something similar in his childhood. It was not his father that had caused him harm, but it was the same trauma. He knew the pain and how they had been able to bounce back from it at least once, he just wasn't sure how she would come back a second time. She seemed okay, and to him that was all that mattered at the moment.
She tilted her head and nodded, bumping her shoulder into his. "Of course. You know I love you too right?" She mocked lightly, shifting out of his embrace. "Get out of here, you have a pretty blonde waiting for you." He huffed, fake irritation on his face as she cut their moment short. He looked up at Hotch's office before returning his eyes to her. "Looks like you have somebody waiting for you too." She followed his eyes to see Strauss waiting patiently at the door to Hotch's office, Aaron stood beside her.
Kara made her way up the steps to Hotch's office. "Ma'am." She greeted quietly with a small nod. Strauss returned her nod, but remained silent. Once the three were in the office, the door was shut.
"So?" Strauss asked, looking between the couple. "How'd it go?"
Hotch's brow furrowed. This was not the calm demeanor that he had expected from Strauss. She wasn't the happiest about her agents "getting it on" as she said to him several times before Kara's return, but now she seemed fine. "Good. We were able to wrap it up earlier than we expected. Peterson made a mistake that he shouldn't have." He knew that Strauss was trying to dig, but there was nothing to dig into. They had handled it professionally and that would be the end of the conversation. "Is there anything else you need ma'am?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head.
He figured there would be moments like this. Moments of Strauss trying to find a reason for them to split. They weren't doing any harm to the BAU or the FBI in general. There was no room for distractions out in the field, and they knew that. As soon as the day was done, they could shut off work mode and be all over each other as much as they wanted. When the alarm went off the next morning, they would be back in work mode.
Strauss pursed her lips, debating what else she could ask before making a comment about when she needed Hotch's report before she took her leave. The couple was alone once again.
Aaron looked over at Kara and smiled, stepping towards her and wrapping his arm around her waist. "You about ready?" He asked, turning her and pulling her into him so that her head rested on his chest. Her eyes fluttered shut, the sleep from the jet still in her system. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah baby, let's go home." His hand slid down her side until it found hers. WIth their fingers intertwined, the couple made their way out of his office, through the bullpen, and out to the car.
When they arrived at home, Aaron relieved Jessica of her duties for the night, thanking her several times for watching over Jack while they were away on a case. Jack was in the bathroom when the couple came home and came sprinting around the corner of the hallway as he heard the door shut. "Daddy! Kara!" He yelled, opening his arms and practically jumping into his father's arms.
"Hey buddy." Aaron laughed, a wide smile on his face. He was about to walk towards the kitchen with Jack in his arms, but the child had a different thought in his head and reached out with one of his arms and wrapped it around Kara's neck, pulling her in as best as he could. Kara laughed at the affection and sidestepped her way into the hug, the family enjoying a moment together.
After a minute or so, Aaron set the child down, watching as he ran to the kitchen. He had a proud smile on his face as the couple followed at a slower pace. There was a picture frame on the island in the kitchen that hadn't been there when they left for their case a couple days ago. "Jack? What is this?" Kara asked as she looked at it. It was a black picture frame that had a poorly drawn soccor goal and soccer ball on the bottom of it. The picture inside was one of the three of them. Aaron was standing with his arms wrapped around Kara's waist, a childish grin on his face. Kara was leaning into him, grinning, with Jack on her shoulders. It was the picture they asked Rossi to take after Jack scored the winning goal.
Her heart warmed at the sight of it. "Jack, I love it!" She looked up from the picture and found Jack's big eyes on her. She smiled at the kid and he giggled and returned her smile.
"You're welcome!"
"It's great buddy." Aaron ruffled his son's hair. "How about you go wash up and we can make some dinner okay?"
"Okay!" And with that, the happy child ran off to wash his hands and enjoy the night with his family.
The day was finally ending and the couple was winding down for the night. They were in bed. Aaron was on his back with Kara's head resting on his chest. He ran his thumb across the scar on the back of her shoulder. It was crazy to think that that injury happened almost a year ago, and maybe the fact that they had been together for almost a year.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Kara asked sleepily, tilting her head to catch his eye as best as she could. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, "Nothing baby, get some sleep." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, thankful for their moments together.
"I love you." She offered him a tired smile before settling back ontop of him.
"I love you too baby."
