"Spencer!" JJ had called for him to see the culprit advancing towards him—no, Aitana.

"I knew I'd find you at this stupid park," Miles Holloway was gripping a gun in his right hand that he kept raising and lowering as if he wasn't sure what his next move would be.

Spencer knew that it was exactly that—Miles literally had no idea what he would do to Aitana. Spencer didn't hesitate to reach for Aitana and yank her behind him. His only regret was not wearing the bulletproof vest.

"But Logan!" Aitana was terrified out of her mind for her nephew still on the playground. She had no qualms running towards the play structure.

Spencer did not hesitate to grab her arm and force her behind him. She wasn't thinking straight—he'd been there a few times himself so he knew that she wouldn't' think twice in running for the little boy.

"Out of the way," Miles ordered Spencer, waving the agent off with his gun. "It's between me and her."

"I can't do that, but we can definitely talk," Spencer replied.

Aitana was very aware of Spencer's discreet attempt to reach his gun. She knew it was impossible, it was far too prominent for Miles not to see his hand moving.

"I tried doing that," Miles snapped and took aim, though it was clear he was trying to fix it on Aitana. "But she said 'no'." He bitterly laughed. "Not once, not twice, but three times! She said 'no'!"

Aitana couldn't help the anger bubbling inside her. She tried to get in front but Spencer grabbed her arm halfway in her attempt.

"Don't," he muttered to her. He could see JJ from the side trying to get everyone she could to leave. He just needed a bit more time until he could either talk Miles down or have JJ get him from behind. "Listen Miles, it's tough getting a 'no' from a girl—I've gone through that many times but if you really do like her, you wouldn't hurt her."

Aitana appreciated Spencer's attempt here but she doubted Miles would listen. He was gripping that gun like his life depended on it. Somebody was getting shot and she would rather the bullet hit her than someone innocent.

"C'mon Miles," she called despite Spencer's clear glance telling her not to. "I'm sorry about this but...do you really want to hurt me now?"

"Why not?" Miles cocked his head to the side. "You hurt me. It's only right that you hurt too!"

"But you hurt others too! You don't just get to hurt people because somebody didn't want to go out with you!" Aitana made the mistake of snapping. Miles fired and though the bullet went past them, it didn't stop Aitana from shrieking and gripping Spencer's arm in the process. He didn't move with either action—his only priority at the moment was keeping Aitana out of harm's way. His arms expanded to cover more of Aitana and since she practically hid behind her, it wasn't that hard.

"Miles Holloway," JJ called from behind, "Put the gun down or the next time you hear a bullet, it'll be mine going through you!" She had zero patience left with him since he decided to fire at Aitana and Spencer. The only consideration she had wasn't for him but for Logan Serrano who was frozen on the playground, hiding himself while the entire thing happened.

Miles didn't seem to care about anything. "I don't think I will! I'm damn tired of all these people getting to live with everything they want. Mehcad kept talking about his fiancee and how they were finally setting the date! Gale was finally asking the 'girl of his dreams'—" he mimicked the victim's tone, "—out on a date! And Jones?"

Are you insane!? Popped into Aitana's head but she knew that if she said that, she would get another bullet and this time Miles wouldn't miss her nor Spencer. She swallowed down her anger to come up with a better tactic. "Just put the gun down, Miles, and we can talk. Before this, I...I knew you were a good guy. You always did a good job at the precinct—Mateo would tell me—and you were fun."

"So then why did you say 'no' to me?" Miles asked through gritted teeth. Behind him, JJ was considering at what point would be best to fire. She really didn't want to since Logan was so close by but if she saw Miles' fingers even twitch on that gun, he was out.

From his end, Spencer felt like he was in the worst position. His hands were far from reaching his gun, he simply wouldn't be able to retrieve it while keeping Aitana safe and not getting a bullet in his chest. Yeah, definitely the worst spot.

"I was...I was messed up from what happened to me in Witness," Aitana didn't realize she was once again gripping Spencer's arm. Her answer wasn't exactly a tactic. "I spent almost three years in there and I'm still grappling reality. Miles, please, let's talk. I-I'm open to talking right now."

"Really?" Miles' eyes squinted.

Aitana nodded. She let go of Spencer and slowly stepped around him. He begged her not to get any closer to that man. "I'm good," she whispered to him then faced Miles.

No, no she was not good.

She took in a subtle breath and stepped forwards. "I'm here," she told Miles. "But so is my nephew. He's four, Miles, he doesn't need to be scared because his aunt made a mistake."

"Well, I didn't exactly want to involve anyone in this but you—" Miles was getting worked up again so Aitana said the first thing that popped into her head.

"Then let's go!" she exclaimed. "Let's-let's go somewhere! A-a date...we can do that. A date. Just promise me that Logan can go with the FBI agents. He's just a kid; he didn't do anything."

Miles thought about it, at least he seemed to be, which gave Aitana a brief moment to relax. If she was lucky, she might just be able to save—

Miles' fingers twitched.

A gun fired for the second time and Aitana yelped again, her entire body jumping with the act.

"It's okay! It's okay!" she heard Spencer saying as well as feeling his hands on her arms.

She was shaking thinking that she had a bullet somewhere in her body. She expected the numbness to fade soon and finally give her a taste of the pain but it never came.

"Aitana!" Spencer finally had to yell at her to make her listen to him. "You're alright! Look!"

Aitana looked down at herself, patted some parts of her body too, and saw no such blood nor bullet lodged somewhere. "What…? But if I'm not…?" She turned around to see Miles on the ground with a bullet on his back. JJ had fired at him. "Oh God," Aitana brought her hands to her mouth. "Oh my God…"

"Auntie Tana!"

She snapped back to reality at the cry of her nephew. "Logan!" She dropped her hands to her sides and dashed for the playground.

"Good shot," Spencer said to JJ once the two met.

Miles was dead.

JJ nodded. "I was trying to give her some time," she nodded over to Aitana who had gathered Logan in her arms, "I thought talking him down was possible but…"

"He wasn't thinking logically before and he wasn't going to do it then," Spencer shook his head.

"Still, I thought she had a chance," JJ admitted. Aitana seemed to know exactly what to say to Miles to calm him down and though it didn't work, it didn't mean her strategy was wrong. If she had been in Aitana's place, she would've done the same thing.

Spencer felt his phone buzz in his pants. He pulled it out and took the call. JJ watched his expression go grim real quickly. When Spencer ended the call, he glanced at her with a sigh. "I know it's our job, but I just feel like every time she's—" he made a nod at Aitana, "—involved, we always have bad news."

JJ could agree with that. She did him the solid of telling Aitana the news they received.

~ 0 ~

Aitana was safe, Logan was safe, but Jones and Mateo were in the hospital. The ride to the hospital didn't seem to get any shorter. She had asked for every possible detail of how her brother had landed himself in the hospital when Miles hadn't been home. As it turned out, Miles had left a fail safe in his basement. When Mateo had tried to reach Jones, something snapped his leg.

"I'm really alright, Tana," Mateo assured his sister however many times she needed to hear it. He laid on a hospital bed with his leg in a cast. Aitana sat beside him with Logan on her lap. "And you have no idea how good I feel now seeing you're okay too."

Aitana had been scarce with the details of how she and Logan made it through. She thought it would be better to hear the full story when Mateo was out of the hospital. "Why didn't you tell me that Miles was acting strange? That was a huge red flag, Matt."

"Like I was going to tell you anything about that guy." Mateo was careful with his words due to his son's presence. "Besides, I didn't think that he would go this far."

"We never do," Aitana said quietly.

"Don't go blaming yourself, Aitana," Mateo warned. He scooted himself up on the bed. "No one's responsible for someone going insane."

"What does 'insane' mean, Daddy?" Logan innocently asked.

"Nothing sweetheart," Mateo said quickly.

"Are you going to come home today?"

"Not tonight…"

"Aww," Logan pouted. "But Mommy's gone too. Am I going to stay at home all by myself?"

"Yup," Aitana popped the 'p' and gripped her arms around his small body. "You're going to stay with the lights turned off too, muahahaha!"

Logan squirmed with her ticklish fingers. "No! I don't want to!"

"Stop torturing my son please," Mateo shook his head at her.

Aitana chuckled and let Logan breathe. "Yeah alright, I'm sorry. You and I, Logan, are going to have one sweet sleepover tonight."

"And probably tomorrow," Mateo cleared his throat. "Carla wasn't able to find a ticket until tomorrow."

"It's fine," Aitana waved him off.

"Are you really okay?"

Aitana nodded at him. "Yeah," she whispered. Maybe it wasn't the entire truth but her brother didn't need to know that. "I also checked in on Jones. He was pretty bruised but he'll be okay."

"I don't understand why Jones was still alive but I'm so grateful that he is," Mateo heaved a sigh of relief.

"I know," Aitana smiled. "Why don't you rest for a bit? Logan and I...we'll go get some lunch. Lunch and dinner since we sort of missed the first one."

"Yeah!" Logan happily exclaimed at the idea.

Aitana got up from her chair and shifted Logan on her left hip. "We'll be back tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah," Mateo nodded. "Thank you so much, Tana. Really. It's just so good to have you around again."

Aitana reached down for one of his hands. "Yeah," she wholeheartedly agreed. "Give me a call if you need anything, alright?"

"Bye Daddy," Logan said and with his aunt's help, he was able to kiss Mateo's forehead and give him a hug.

"You be good for your aunt," he warned and Logan nodded firmly.

"The best!"

Aitana chuckled lightly. She turned with her nephew in arms and headed out the door. She closed the door behind her with Logan's help then took a moment to breathe. She was utterly tired and still unable to believe what happened but she was also not a fool to believe it was all over.

"Hey," JJ found her by Mateo's door.

Aitana stiffened in front of the agent. Her mouth was a bit dry but she needed to be able to express her gratitude for the park. "Th-thank you. I didn't...I guess I was stupid to believe that he wouldn't, uh…" Her eyes drifted to Logan blissfully staring at JJ, "...s-h-o-o-t me."

JJ raised her eyebrows. "It's alright. Sometimes we're just wrong. But all in all, you did a good job out there. Now I believe you when you said you worked in the department." Aitana smiled nervously. JJ didn't need to be a profiler to notice it. "Umm, you'll have to give us your statement."

"Oh…" Aitana seemed terribly unsettled.

"Not right now," JJ said quickly, raising a hand to help calm Aitana down. "Obviously you have a lot to deal with."

"I'd rather just get it out of the way, honestly," Aitana sighed. "I need to go home and figure out what to do with this guy." She gave a gentle pat to Logan's back.

The boy grinned. "Aunt Tana says we're going to have a sleepover!"

JJ smiled at the boy. "That sounds like a lot of fun. My son loves sleepovers too." She met Aitana's gaze and saw how shaken she still was. "Would you like a moment to yourself?"

The question caught Aitana by surprise. "What?"

"I'm a liaison, I know how families and victims can get after...well, things like these. You need a moment to yourself before you do a statement and, honestly, just to get yourself back in order. I can take Logan for a walk outside." Aitana didn't want to look like she was just itching to get away. JJ could see that too. "It's alright, really. You deserve one."

Aitana slowly let Logan slip down her side until he was on his feet. Naturally, he was confused. "Aunt Tana, what's happening?"

She flashed a soft smile at her nephew. "Aunt Tana has to talk to some more police people. Agent Jareau is going to take you on a walk outside."

"But I don't wanna," Logan pouted. "Daddy's not coming home and Mommy's not going to be here until tomorrow. What if you don't come back too?"

Aitana bent down in front of him and took each of his hands. "I'm coming back, I promise. It's just grown up things I have to do first."

"Hey," JJ bent down beside the two, "I saw some really nice flowers outside. Does your Mommy like flowers?" Logan shyly nodded. "Maybe we can pick some out for her, then. You can give them to her tomorrow when she comes home."

Logan was very interested in the idea. He looked back at Aitana with newfound excitement. "Can we!?"

Aitana nodded. "Of course. But you be a good listener to Agent Jareau. She's a Mommy so she knows what to do if you're not." Logan giggled as he stole glances from JJ.

"I know that giggle," JJ straightened up on her feet. "Henry makes that giggle right before he's about to do something sneaky."

"Noooo, I'm not going to do anything sneaky," Logan pulled his hands out of his aunt's to put them behind his back.

"Don't trust him," Aitana warned JJ as she straightened up as well. "Last time he said that to me, I found him trying to climb up my kitchen cabinets."

JJ laughed. "Henry tried re-organizing my closet."

Aitana scrunched her face. "Oh."

"Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds." JJ held her hand out for Logan's. "So mister, ready for that walk?"

Logan nodded and grabbed her hand. "Yeah! I want to take a lot of flowers for my Mommy."

"Thank you," Aitana said to JJ as the agent started leading Logan away.

"Of course." JJ was sure that Aitana was in dire need of five minutes to herself.

Aitana watched her and Logan go down the hallway until they disappeared on a turn. Only then did she finally exhale. She swallowed roughly and brought her hands to her face. She thought she processed everything already, though quick and rash, but now that she thought back to it...she wasn't quite done.

She never would've believed that Miles Holloway would become a murderer. Yes, he was never all that kind but to become a murderer? That was a huge leap. And to try to kill her? She shuddered.

But it didn't happen. No, but it wasn't the first time she'd been caught in a situation like that. Aitana drifted towards her brother's room door. She peeked through the window and saw Mateo had fallen asleep. She felt stupid for believing that once she was back home everything would be normal again.

You were very stupid. Aitana inwardly sighed. She'd tried living normally for almost a year now but as much as she tried to, something always happened. This time, though, it wasn't just her thoughts that got in the way...it was an actual homicidal maniac that got in the way. And he hurt her brother too.

Standing in front of the room door was how Spencer and Emily found her. Emily checked her phone for the text she received.

"JJ has the nephew with her," she told Spencer. "We should take her statement now."

"You think she'll be able to say anything concrete, though?" Spencer was studying Aitana's hands wringing together. "She looks far too out of it."

"Well—" Emily put her phone into her back pocket, "—maybe if a certain puzzle-master talked to her instead, she might be able to put some words together."

Spencer glanced her way to see her wiggling an eyebrow. "What?" he frowned.

Emily tried her best not to outright smirk but instead be coy. "Your rapport from 3 years ago?"

Spencer rolled his eyes the moment he understood her intentions. "Seriously? That was 3 years ago!"

"Exactly and you're still flustered as you were back then. C'mon," Emily nudged his side and motioned him to go on. "I watched you the first time and you know that I'm right."

"I wouldn't say that you're 'right'—"

"Sure you would," Emily said proudly, bringing her hands on her sides. "Just do a simple statement. Maybe ask a few questions here and there. Who knows what could happen. She might like yah…?"

Spencer wanted to stay cool and collected but he failed miserably when Emily shot him a wink. "Really?" He wasn't a stranger to missing important social cues, especially when they came to women. Had he missed something? If so, did he care that he may have missed something?

"Go," Emily practically shooed him. She would be staying right in her spot to see how things went.

He had no idea what he was walking into but Spencer found his feet moving forwards anyways. He hoped to shake off some of the nerves that had suddenly crept up on him before he reached Aitana.

Aitana felt his presence beside her but she wasn't that brave yet to face him. She was just glad it was him and not another of the agents she had purposely tried avoiding. "Thanks for the save back there," she started with what made more sense. "I usually carry but...I don't really like to when I have Logan with me."

"Don't worry about it. It is my job. I mean, it's my job to protect people not-not you specifically — I mean of course I would try to protect you because, you know, it's my job but…"

Suddenly, Aitana found it easier to look at him. She was far too amused not to. "I don't remember you stuttering so much before."

"Ah, just…" He brought a hand to scratch the back of his head. From her spot, Emily wondered what the hell he was doing that had him so nervous. It was just a statement for God's sake!

Aitana smiled lightly before shifting her gaze back to the door window. Mateo was still fast asleep. "I promise that I'm good at staying out of trouble. It's just been my unfortunate bad luck that I've been the center of your cases."

"It's no one's fault, Aitana. You really have to understand that. Miles Holloway had a lot of problems before you came along. You saying 'no' to his dates was probably your intuition. It's usually what increases the chances of survival by letting us anticipate threats such as these. So, you kind of saved your own life."

Aitana lowered her gaze. Her smile returned in seconds. "The well of knowledge is still up and active, I see."

Spencer sheepishly smiled. So far, that was one of the kinder ways he heard to describe his 'vast knowledge'.

"I feel like I should explain why...I didn't say anything when I got back," Aitana brought a hand to her chest. "It was last year. But, the part where I said I was a little messed up from everything...that wasn't a lie."

"Aitana, you don't owe anyone explanations, much less me." Although Spencer wouldn't deny that he was a tiny bit curious of how she had gotten out of Witness Protection, especially since she had to have gotten her journal back. Wasn't she curious of how that journal made its way back to her?

"I did think about seeing you guys again," Aitana turned to him, rather abruptly too. "I just...I wasn't really sure what to say. I didn't exactly leave a good impression on you guys in San Diego. Actually, I'm pretty sure my track-record with your team is completely ruined after this."

"Seriously Aitana, you don't need to say anything about it. I'm just glad to see that you were able to come back."

Aitana nodded. "Thanks. Believe it or not, it's still hard re-integrating back into a normal life. It took me a while to remember that I didn't have to hide anymore. I could say my name proudly again. But...there's still times where it gets to be a little overwhelming. That's part of the reason why I didn't talk to your team. It was never because I didn't want to see any of you—on the contrary, I wanted nothing more than to thank you all properly for helping me out in San Diego. I, uh, didn't really get to do that. Lewis got me out of there so fast I didn't even have time to come back to the hotel for my things."

It was then that Spencer presumed she would land on the journal subject...but she didn't.

"So if you want to do that statement thing, I'd like to come to the precinct and see the rest of the team. Say my long overdue thank you in the process." She smiled softly at him. "I'd like to start with you."

The fluster that Spencer got into was quick and downright embarrassing for him. One stupid sentence and he was tripping over his own feet...when he wasn't even walking! How the hell was that even possible!?

"I, uh, well...that would...you don't…" Maybe this is what Emily was talking about? A chance? He wasn't going to stand there and say he wasn't interested. It could be nice to be interested. "Uh, Aitana, maybe we could—"

"Aitana?" He heard a man call. He glanced back—something Emily did as well—to where a brunette man was coming towards them.

Aitana seemed utterly relieved to see him. "Angel!" She ran forwards to meet him in a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry I didn't see your calls," 'Angel' held her tightly. "I was at work and—"

"No, it's fine! I'm glad you're here!"

"How is he?" Angel let her go and looked ahead. Aitana took his arm and led him towards Mateo's room.

"He's fine but it was just a big scare, you know?"

"Yeah," Angel patted her hand.

Aitana stopped by Spencer, still with her soft smile. "Can I get a moment before we do that statement?"

"Yeah, of course," he nodded at her.

Aitana thanked him and continued on her way to Mateo's room with Angel at her side. It took him a few seconds to gather himself but eventually, slowly, Spencer walked back to where Emily waited. She was, of course, feeling terrible about the whole thing.

"Hey..."

He should know better than that. It wasn't even Emily's fault. It was just how things usually went for him. It was why it later became easier to just avoid any of those 'chances', no matter how promising they looked. This one wasn't even that promising and look where it got him just for even considering it?

He walked towards Emily with his hands awkwardly stuffed into his pockets, face scrunched in the same manner, and stopped by her. "A chance, huh?"

Even though he didn't intend to, Emily still detected the subtle resignation in his tone, like this was something that needed to happen to him. Before she had the chance to say anything, Spencer took off.

A/N:

Poor Spencer :/ (and I'm the one who wrote that lmao)

P.S. As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"