I thought I should clarify that Rosemary's FC is Alicia Sanz! Hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far, forgive me for my writing being subpar last chapter, I'll try to do better-
Rosemary had grown increasingly bored during her time in the hospital. And it didn't help one bit that her parents had been forced to leave her in order to be questioned at FBI headquarters in Quantico. She wasn't allowed to leave her stiff hospital bed by orders the nurse that came in to check on her- and it would probably be difficult anyway considering she hadn't tried walking on her injured leg yet, and even moving it in bed proved to be difficult as the muscles were tight and her wound could become inflamed by the slightest mistake.
If only she had a book to read. Her parents were gone so she could not ask them to run out and grab her one from a bookstore- even a crappy paperback thriller from a local Walgreens would suffice. There was one other option, however, she realized. The two BAU agents she'd met had decided to leave one agent with her for safety, because they could not guarantee that her attacker would not come back for her. After all, they said, many times an unsub would be so fixated on victims of their choosing that even if they lost them, they would not stop until they accomplished what they had failed the first time.
She had been introduced to the agent briefly before he took a seat across from her bed in the hospital room.
"Hi, I'm Special Agent Spencer Reid, I'm also a part of the BAU," the young man told Rosemary, offering a smile.
"Agent Reid will be keeping watch over you until your parents get back, and even then, we would like to keep an eye on you until we know for sure we have our guy," Agent Hotchner explained, pressing his lips together and giving her a curt nod.
"Thank you," Rosemary said with a small, though slightly doubtful smile. He sure wasn't as brawny or tough-looking as Derek Morgan, but maybe she was underestimating some secret skills he had. Besides, she reminded herself, all agents have to be able to defend themselves physically and learn how to properly use a weapon.
"We'll be back soon, Ro," her father murmured, leaning down to kiss his daughter on the forehead. "I love you."
"Love you, too," she mumbled as he backed away, letting her mother break in to also say goodbye.
And now here she was, staring at this agent from her bed, formulating a plan in that active brain of hers. He himself was reading a book she had briefly noticed the cover of.
"Are you interested in becoming a doctor or something?" she questioned, brows furrowed slightly.
The young agent with messy, dirty blonde hair glanced up from the pages of colourful diagrams and notes, a dumbfounded expression on his face for a brief moment before his lips broke into an embarrassed smile.
"I'm actually already a doctor," he informed her, carefully shutting the book and setting it in his lap. "Technically, I earned my doctorates in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering."
Rosemary's eyebrows shot up and a smile of awe broke across her face.
"That's insane," she breathed out. "I'm actually working on earning a doctoral degree in history."
His eyebrows rose slightly at this and she looked down, suddenly feeling foolish. Here she was, in front of a man who had accomplished three doctoral degrees in his probably rather short life (how had he done that?) talking about getting a phD in history.
"I know, it's stupid..." she shook her head, light brown tendrils falling into her face.
"No, it's definitely not stupid!" he assured her, and she looked up.
"In fact, I think there's so many fascinating career paths that leads to," he added. "I used to love history- not as much as math and science, of course, but I enjoyed every history class I've taken. I'm pretty sure when I was younger being a museum curator seemed incredibly cool."
"My dream goal is to be an archivist, but I'm open to other options," she admitted, feeling more encouraged by his response. "How did you get three doctoral degrees though? That's crazy, you're so young..."
"See, I graduated high school at twelve and I earned my first doctorate at seventeen so.. I had an early advantage," he said slowly, obviously trying not to make a big deal out of it.
"I graduated high school early as well," Rosemary smiled, blushing lightly. "It was hard being that girl in high school, but I'm grateful to have the mind that I have."
Agent Reid seemed especially interested in this, and he looked into his lap.
"It was rough being the smartest kid in school, definitely." He glanced back up at her, something in his eyes that she could not quite detect. But she could somehow understand anyway. "But people like us, we can rise above all that. I'm incredibly grateful to be where I am now."
Rosemary felt a twinge of jealousy, only wishing she had reached that stage of content in her life. It wasn't far off, but it felt like it would be forever until she was truly accepted somewhere, doing something she loved.
"Well- I was originally just going to ask you if... you could get me a book," she finally said, still flushed in the face. "I didn't mean to pry or anything, I got distracted..."
"Don't worry about it," the friendly young agent reassured her. "A book? I just might have something here you'd like."
He leaned down to dig around in his satchel, pulling out a few books.
"Let's see... you probably don't want to read about neuropsychology... or this one of historical engineering... here we go."
He got up from his seat, approaching her bedside. Rosemary was suddenly very aware of how she must look up close after sitting in this bed for a few days- and he was very cute. She tried to ignore the self-conscious thoughts to look at the book he offered her.
"The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers," Rosemary said with an involuntary smile, her eyes moving back onto his face.
"A tad gross and slightly humorous," he chuckled. She accepted to book from his grip, her fingers lightly brushing his. Rosemary had never felt so conscious about herself and her actions around another person- maybe it was the fact he was so incredibly smart that had her worrying she would do something stupid.
"I'll take your word on it," the brunette said with a quiet giggle. "My mother would never even think of opening a book like this, it makes her squirmish. My dad might give it a read, but he's less interested in dead bodies and more interested in dead languages."
"He studied Latin?" Reid questioned with a slight frown as he instead took the seat next to Rosemary's bed.
"Yes- he's fluent in it, likes to speak it around the house and irritate my mother sometimes," Rosemary said with a fond smile as she ran her hand along the smooth book cover. "He's the one that taught me Latin- of course, I'm not quite as fluent. He's a classical studies professor at our nearby university. He taught me all about Greek mythology and..."
She froze, her hand stiff on the book cover as timid eyes reached concerned hazel ones.
"Oh my god..." she spoke softly, her chest moving up and down rapidly as the realization hit her. "Is that why he kidnapped me? Is that why I was his next target?"
She pushed hair back from her face, suddenly terrified. If the golden masked man really had picked the perfect target, what if he did come back to finish the job?
"Rosemary, calm down," Reid insisted, his attention fully hers. "It... very well could be an important factor in your kidnapping but you can't let it frighten you."
"What if he comes back?" she whispered, terrified eyes landing on his face. "What if they were right and he tries to come back and finish me off? I don't want to see that awful mask again-"
"Rosemary," he commanded her attention firmly, though his tone was gentle. "I am here to protect you. I know I'm mainly brains, but trust me- if I even so much as see a flash of gold step around the corner I will take him down. Trust me."
Rosemary stared in silence, chest still heaving as wide eyes remained open.
"He will never touch you again," Reid added, placing a tentative hand on her arm. "Our unit is doing everything in our power to stop him for good. I know you can't ever forget what happened, but you will pull through this."
A single tear dripped down her cheek as she watched him, her mind racing. She tried to tell herself she could trust this man. He was right about everything. He understood her, and she had to believe that he would not let anything happen to her.
"Okay," she murmured with a shudder, shutting her eyes so she could wipe the wetness away from her lashes. His hand pulled away from her arm and he looked down, trying to give her space in her moment of emotional distress.
"Enjoy the book," he said softly before he got up to take his own book back in his hands and open to the page he'd left off.
Rosemary opened her book to page one, sniffling lightly before beginning to read. Her eyes flickered over the top of the book to look once more at the man entranced once more by the pages. A sense of calm came over her before her gaze returned to the off-white page in front of her.
"Has Rosemary mentioned anything to you recently that seemed abnormal?" Hotch questioned as he sat across the table from the petite woman, a slight shadow under his brow in the dim room. "Or have you noticed anything odd? In behaviour, anything she may have told you over the phone..."
"No, not at all," Rosemary's mother said with a slight frown, tucking dark hair behind her ear. "She was doing well at university, enjoying her time... she never had anything bad to say when she called, other than your normal complain here and there."
The raven-haired chief nodded, looking down at the table in thought.
"No boyfriend at college?" he then asked.
She smiled at that, offering a slight, pitying smile. "Rosemary isn't really the kind of girl interested in dating," she informed him. "She's always been focused on her schooling and other interests. Not many boys took interest in her either."
"And she wouldn't lie to you about having someone in her life?"
She seemed to grow a little offended at that. "Of course not. I mean, we're not as close as she and her father are but- she wouldn't lie to me about that."
Hotch's eyebrows rose just barely, though she couldn't really tell the difference since it was Hotch.
"And they have a good relationship?" he delved, folding his hands on the table.
"She was always a daddy's girl, and he adored her," she confirmed gently. "He got her interested in most of the things she loves now."
"And one of those things would be classical studies, would it not?"
She stiffened at the question.
"Yes," she replied curtly.
"Your husband doesn't have any tattoos, does he?"
"No. Agent Hotchner, are you suggesting my husband would harm our daughter? Because-"
"Ma'am, I'm just trying to eliminate any possibility that he could be a suspect," he interrupted her, sharp gaze on the woman. "The sooner I can take him off the list, the better for the both of you. But no one in victim's family is ever disregarded as a possibility in a case- it's just part of our procedure."
The woman pursed her lips but didn't press.
"When did you start teaching Rosemary about mythology?" Agent Morgan inquired as he sat across from the keen-eyed professor.
The father crossed his arms as he sat straight in his chair, his eyes narrowing just a tad. "I've been teaching her ever since she was a little girl. A story here and there at bedtime, and when she got older she just started absorbing all the information I had to offer. She's incredibly smart."
"When your daughter recounted the way her attacker rendered her defenseless, she told us she felt a sting in her neck before losing consciousness. We figured that means he injected her with some kind of drug before grabbing her."
Mr. Lennox listened intently, though his eyes still conveyed some mistrust.
"Her doctor was able to tell us that she had indeed been injected with propofol," Morgan continued, dark eyes resting absolutely still on the other man's face. "Now, our team did a little background research on both you and Mrs. Lennox- and we found some interesting things from your past."
The man's eyes narrowed further, blue eyes cold. His body was tensed up in defensive body language, which the agent was able to quickly detect.
"You used to be involved in some recreational drug use, as it turns out," Morgan continued, pretending that he was unbothered by the hostile look and body language. "It escalated to prescription drugs, heroin... and propofol."
"I was young!" Mr. Lennox suddenly said in defensive outburst. "Those years have long since passed and I got the help I needed. And you're sitting here trying to frame me for attacking my own daughter! This is unbelievable, this guy could have already killed someone else while you're trying to accuse me of hurting the most important person in my life!"
Morgan said nothing else, watching the explosion with calculating eyes. Mr. Lennox noticed the observation and put his face in his hands as soon as the outburst ended, rubbing it roughly.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I would never, ever harm my little girl," he murmured, bringing his hands back down and slumping in his seat. "And I won't sit here going along with this. Ask me actual questions, don't just set me up to look like the bad guy."
Morgan pressed his lips together.
"I think we've got enough for now," he said simply before getting up from his metal chair and walking over to the door.
"Did you see how defensive he was?" Morgan asked as he approached the rest of the team.
"The drug connection is especially alarming," JJ said with a quick raise of her eyebrows. "There was just something off about all of his behaviour in there. But he did seem genuinely focused on her at the end there."
"Or he's really good at pretending he cares," Blake interjected. "And 'the most important person in his life'? He didn't even mention his wife at all."
"What about the tattoo?" JJ shook her head. "Dad doesn't have any."
"Fake tattoo to match the persona the mask creates?" Blake countered, glancing at the other team members. "And she was barely conscious. Hallucinations are a side effect of the drug- she could have seen something wrong, too."
"There's just something overall fishy about all these connections her dad has with everything involved in this case," Morgan put in, dark eyebrows furrowed.
"Well, if these connections mean something, we're this much closer to stopping him," Rossi decided, finally speaking up, and the rest of the team nodded slowly in agreement.
"Good news, Ms. Lennox," Dr. Luthra said as he approached the young woman's bedside. "One more day and you'll be free to go."
When he saw Rosemary's expression, Reid quickly interjected.
"I'll bring more books tomorrow," he assured her, the brunette having finished her borrowed read already.
"Your wrist is healing very well and your leg will be sore, but no infection or other issues to worry about," the doctor added with a kind smile. "Tomorrow a nurse will help you test out walking again, just to help the muscles lose tension and get them working smoothly again."
He nodded once and then exited the room.
"You'll be here again?" Rosemary asked the agent, trying not to show her delight too evidently.
"Sure will," he said cheerfully, putting his books away in his satchel. "Your parents are on the way back now, and you'll have a guard posted outside the door all night."
The thought of someone other than Agent Reid keeping guard all night made her a little uncomfortable, but surely his team needed him back and he had a home to get back to. What if he had a girlfriend worried about him? Waiting for him to come home? Or a wife at that... no, there was no ring.
"Okay," she said with a feigned smile. "Thank you for watching me today, and for letting me borrow your book. It was both parts equally gross and humorous."
Spencer chuckled and bowed his head in her direction. "I couldn't have picked anyone better to have to keep guard over," he admitted. "It's nice to encounter someone who's not so different from me. And I sincerely hope you reach that archivist dream."
Rosemary's fake smile became very real and she snuggled back into her pillows, unable to wipe the curve of her lips off her face.