Kurt waits impatiently as the elevator descends, looking forward to take out after a long day at work and forgetting to have lunch as usual. But what he's anticipating even more is eating dinner with Jane, getting to spend some extra time with her due to the errands she'd been running in the city. Even with a more relaxed schedule with the Denver office, he's found that the amount of time they have together is not enough.
So he's a bit adrift, thinking about Indian food and spicy kisses with his wife when the doors finally open into the lobby. Yet, even so, Weller knows there's something wrong as soon as he exits the elevator, can sense a situation in the air.
He scans the area quickly and sees a commotion at the front door, a number of FBI police just getting back to their feet as others work to subdue a struggling assailant.
Kurt approaches to see if he can help out, but when he catches a flash of short black hair and a tattooed hand he suddenly finds himself also assaulting an officer; barrels into the sergeant who had just punched his wife and nearly wrenched her arm out of its socket.
The officer had just managed to get Jane into the cuffs when Weller attacks him and they tussle for a few rolls before Kurt gets the upper hand, pins the man to the ground. Immediately Weller turns to fend off any other attackers but thankfully the next two security officers on scene recognize him before shooting him, just yell at him to let the sergeant go.
Kurt feels his rational mind kick back in, raises his hands in surrender and backs away from the officer slowly as his eyes search for Jane, checking to make sure she's alright.
She's lying on the ground, her hands cuffed behind her back and clearly starting to panic as she struggles against her bonds. Weller rushes to her despite all the weapons pointed at him, doesn't even think about the danger he's putting both of them in by flagrantly disobeying the officers. He just needs to get her out of the cuffs before she loses it completely, gets stuck in a flashback.
Thankfully being a special agent affords him the leeway to not get shot as Weller takes the cuffs off of Jane, talks to her calmly. Even as he releases her arms she's still frozen in place, her eyes shut tight, her jaw stiffly clenched. The only movement Jane makes is to wrap her arms around her own abdomen as she silently hyperventilates. Kurt puts his hand on her back, rubs circles between her shoulders wishing that he could just carry her away from there. But they were both in the shit if he didn't do something about the situation right then.
So he gives her a reassuring squeeze on the neck, whispers that he's going to take care of the problem, that all she has to do is breathe with him for a minute. Then he looks up at the officers with pleading eyes, asking for the time.
Jane does as he asks, starts breathing more evenly as he quietly directs her to inhale and exhale, slow and steady. Thankfully the officers also look calmer now that Jane is under control, give him the space to help her stop panicking as they step back and put away their weapons.
When Jane is no longer actively hyperventilating Kurt pulls himself away with a whispered reassurance in her ear, a comforting kiss to her temple.
"Everything's going to be okay," he says soothingly. "I'll be right over there. I just have to go talk to the sergeant."
Weller takes a deep breath, forces himself to be calm even as he pictures the huge officer wrestling with his wife. The man had every right to arrest the both of them and hadn't made any moves to do so yet, had even let Kurt have the space to settle the situation down. So he couldn't jump down the man's throat for doing his job, despite how much he irrationally wants to.
The sergeant is looking at Weller with more curiosity than anger when Kurt approaches, offers his hand in peace.
They shake hands and Kurt looks at the man sheepishly, not sure how to begin.
"Sorry about tackling you. And thanks for letting me deal with Jane," he finally says. "I just saw you on her and I lost it, I couldn't think."
The big man shrugs, rubs his jaw where Jane had hit him earlier.
"She really packs a punch," he comments wryly. "She took out four of my guys before I managed to pin her."
Kurt frowns, not sure whether to be proud or dismayed.
"What the hell happened?" he asks, even though he has a pretty good guess.
The sergeant gives Weller a shrug, shakes his head ruefully.
"Look, I've already checked out the footage and it looks like a case of jumpy rookie," he says. "I wasn't on scene and I didn't make it back until she'd already disabled all the guys on duty. I had to cuff her after she disarmed me."
Kurt sighs, knows rationally that the sergeant didn't have any choice but to take Jane down with force. Still, it doesn't make looking at the guy any easier.
"So what the rookie do to set Jane off?" he asks cautiously.
"She was casing the place, had a bag that hadn't been scanned. So he approached her from behind and demanded that she put the bag down and step away. When she didn't immediately comply, he drew his baton and insisted she raise her arms. It looks like she didn't notice him until he raised his weapon and then automatically disarmed him. After that all hell broke loose and she had four guys down before they could get her into cuffs."
Kurt raises his eyebrows, despite having already guessed what had happened. It had been awhile since Jane had done anything more difficult than sparring at her new mixed martial arts dojo but she clearly had not lost any of her instinct or ability.
The sergeant looks equally impressed with Jane's takedowns, only slightly upset at his own guys. Rubs his chin again absently as he waits for Weller's response.
Kurt breathes deep, knows that this is his one chance to get them both out of hot water. He just has to convince the sergeant to drop the matter before any charges are laid.
"Look that's my wife," Weller explains. "She's ex-military, with all the things that come with that, if you know what I mean. She got triggered by the officer approaching her from behind with a raised weapon and frankly your men didn't have a chance at that point. I'm sorry for assaulting you but I'm just extremely protective of her, she's been through a lot. Is there any chance we can say that this was just a huge misunderstanding and a learning situation for everyone involved?"
The sergeant frowns and Kurt feels his gut clench, just wants the man to agree so he can go back to his wife. But then the other man looks skyward and shakes his head once more.
"Goddamned rookies," he scowls with a wink. "Always screwing things up. Good thing it was just an impromptu training incident they can all learn from."
Weller breathes a giant sigh of relief and shakes the sergeant's hand again, thanking him profusely for understanding their situation.
He rushes back to Jane who is still lying on the floor, curled into a ball, her eyes shut tight. Kurt kneels beside her, puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," he says softly. "Everything's dealt with. Do you want me to pick you up?"
Jane shakes her head, tenses at the suggestion.
"I'm so embarrassed," she mumbles. "I can get up. I don't want to make a scene."
Weller bites back a laugh, kisses her on the temple affectionately.
"Hmm, you probably shouldn't have taken out the entire entrance security team on your own then," he muses.
Jane groans, sinks further into herself.
"I can't believe I did that," she moans.
"Come here," Weller says, one arm around her back, the other under her knees.
He scoops her up without much resistance, knows from experience that she's usually exhausted after a PTSD episode. She even snuggles her head in against his neck as he carries her over to the elevator.
"I'm so sorry," she mumbles as they wait for the elevator. "I was wearing headphones and he came at me from behind with that baton. He just moved and looked so much like him."
Kurt bites back the bile that comes up whenever he thinks about what happened to her at the black site. He hadn't made the connection, that the rookie she tossed down greatly resembled Jake Keaton in build and colouring. Add in the baton and the attempt to restrain her and it was no wonder it had triggered a reaction.
The elevator arrives and he steps in with Jane still repeatedly telling him that she's sorry, that she didn't mean to do it even as he tells her that everything's okay, that none of it is her fault.
"You can put me down," she says, once the elevator car is moving.
"I could," he replies. "But I don't want to."
Jane sighs but doesn't argue any further which means she must be extremely tired. Instead, she wraps her own arms around his neck, eases her weight off of him as much as possible while he walks her out of the elevator and into his office, sitting down in his chair with Jane still curled in his arms.
When they're finally settled, she buries her face into his chest, groans yet again.
"I'm sorry," she repeats. "I can't believe I did that."
"You're still tense," Weller replies, ignoring her apology. "It's over. You're safe."
"No, I fucked up, Kurt," Jane argues. "I freaked out and there's going to be consequences for both of us. It's all my fault."
"Listen to me, Jane," Weller says, trying to get past the defence mechanism she has engaged. "Everything's fine, the sergeant understood it was just a mistake. You don't have to worry about any of that. But I do need to know if you're okay."
"I'm fine," she grunts, with a shake of her head.
"Jane, I can feel how not fine you are. You're still so tight. And you're trembling."
She makes an irritated sound, somewhere between a growl and a whimper.
"You should just let me go," she says softly.
Sometimes she says things like that, usually after an episode, when she's low on energy and serotonin. But it still fills him with anxiety to know that she can feel that way, think that he could ever be better off without her.
"Never," he murmurs, laying a kiss on her temple. "Now just let me hold you, please."
Of all the power he's gained in the world, this one is dearest to him. To be able to hold her in his arms, soothe away her hurts.
It takes a long time for her to settle and his arms start to go numb from holding her in the chair. So he subtly shifts her weight further onto his chest to free one arm and rubs her neck for awhile, trying to help her release some of the tension.
He can feel that her body is still resisting and instinctively his hand starts to draw his way down her back before slipping up under her shirt. Kurt traces his fingers along his usual pattern, up along her tattoos, then back down along all her scars. It's something his hands have been drawn to doing ever since he's been allowed to see all of her, touch her everywhere.
Even the soothing pattern doesn't fix things immediately, his hand making a few additional rounds before he feels the tightness start to seep out of her. But then, finally, after countless more loops, Jane is completely relaxed, curled right into him, not a speck of traumatic stress left in her body.
Weller feels elated despite the heaviness in his chest at everything that's happened to her, what she continues to go through. At least he can give her some semblance of peace, a little comfort.
"Everything okay?' he asks, barely audible.
"Mmm," Jane mumbles into his skin. "Thank you. I feel so safe."