The Stars | Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 45: New Moon Part Two

As you landed back in DC, you texted Aaron to find out where he was, just wanting a long hug from your boyfriend. You smiled with relief when he said he was heading to Dave's place, glad he was still going to enjoy himself while your past few days had been a losing streak.

But you were finally back home.

You went up to the house as you saw a few of Aaron's teammates at the entrance of Rossi's mansion. You didn't see Aaron where most of the team was gathered, but you did notice the somber mood.

"Hey guys," you said cautiously, walking up behind the group. "Miss me?"

You were surprised by the faces you saw. The last you had known of the BAU was most of the original team you had met with Agents Callahan and Blake replacing Emily and JJ. However, it seemed that JJ was back and Kate had left, or wasn't able to make it today. Either way, you made your way around, hugging each of them.

When you finished reacquainting yourselves, you asked what happened.

Alex started, "One of my old colleagues... He, he poisoned Strauss and tried to kill the rest of us. He had this vendetta against her for tanking our careers early on after the Amerithrax case.

"Turns out he'd been stalking our team for a while now," Derek continued.

Spencer took over after that. "He was a high ranking member of the Department of Justice, and he'd been taking the details of serial killers we captured in the past year. Fortunately, Strauss was able to detect a pattern when discerning between different killings and managed to create a clever trap through our paperwork to narrow down the group of possible people that could be responsible for the copycat killings."

"It was really terrible Y/N! There was an explosion and pictures of us and he was in my house and he tried killing Agent Blake--"

You hugged Penelope as she hyperventilated, holding her close as you looked at the others in concern. If they had been through this much, and this was the mild version, you wondered what the actual extent of the experience was.

She pulled away shortly after, dabbing away her tears and leaning into Morgan for further comfort, who instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"But he died in his own explosion after we got out and Rossi trapped him," Derek concluded.

When you saw Dave in the next moment, you immediately gave him a hug after he opened the door. You knew he was more or less dating Erin Strauss, and that most people would back off from his currently cold exterior.

He seemed surprised at your presence, as he froze at your arms wrapping around him, but he slowly relaxed into the embrace and let you feel the slightest tremble in his hands as they rested on your back.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Dave. She was doing so good with you, and I'm glad you got the bastard that did this."

You could tell by the other members of the BAU's whispers behind your back that something major had most likely gone down. "Let me know if you need anything, anything at all."

"Thank you, paperotta," he whispered back before pulling away. "I'm glad you were able to make it today." You didn't mention the tears in his eyes as he took a moment to himself and went to grab a drink.

After watching him walk inside, you were beckoned in by the rest of the BAU, sans your boyfriend, as they followed the senior profiler. You were surprised to see Aaron already at the kitchen island, nursing a glass as he looked over his shoulder to see the rest of his team.

Aaron set the tumbler down as he saw you, "Y/N, you're back." He seemed surprised, but came over to gather you in a hug, and you felt him nod at the others before resting his cheek against your head. "A lot's happened..."