Keeping Her Safe

Travelling to Timbuktu.

By the time Sera pulled up to the jet, no one else was around, but Hotch was sure that he left his pride and decorum a few miles back when he slowly grabbed the handle above the door. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, although he didn't, it was because she seemed too calm considering the risky maneuverers that she made.

'Did you not want to check the hand break and clutch on this car too?' Hotch asked as he climbed out.

'Ask me again and I will. Let's just hope you're out of range in time,' Sera snapped back.

Right, there is a difference between making distance, and making enemies. He must hate me right now. Why am I being such a bitch?

The pilots already had the steps down, and the rest of the team had messaged to say that they were on their way. 'You might want these,' Hotch mentioned as they stepped aboard.

From deep in his pocket, he pulled out three yellowish orange tubs that rattled. 'Thank you,' she hummed.

Hotch sat first, and Sera was about to take the seat opposite him when he tapped the chair beside him. Rossi would have been furious if he didn't get a window seat on the way back.

Sighing, Sera opted to show that she wasn't so angry as she slid into the chair beside him. 'It's okay to struggle. Especially after an interrogation like that,' he awkwardly comforted.

'I'm not struggling,' Sera calmly replied.

Thank goodness I'm not Pinocchio, my nose would be longer than the jet.

'I normally go for a walk after interrogations,' Hotch confessed.

Sera didn't know how to respond as the heat from his body extended to her side and made her too warm to focus. She was still reeling from the time in the toilet.

Just in time to see the way she retched, Hotch glanced at Sera, and in an instant she shot to her feet, pulling her hair back while she covered her mouth with her other hand.

It was impossible to not hear the way she threw up. The quiet jet was dimly lit, and the ambience was completed when Hotch was serenaded by retching and splattering as she lost what little contents she had left in her body.

Only throwing up twice, Sera staggered to her feet and glanced in the mirror. Her lips looked as pale as her face, but red was soon running to her cheeks and she splashed her face with some cold water in an attempt to cool down.

Sweat splattered her brow, and she used a towel to dab off the mix of oils and water before she removed her jacket and rolled back her sleeves. They sat just past her elbow, and as much as she hated to do it, a few buttons of her shirt were undone.

Far less was on show than in the interrogation room, but even the sight of her chest made her wince as she recalled the way he looked at her and licked his lips. For a split second, she could have sworn that she felt his wet tongue running over her skin and she held out on yelling.

I literally asked for this.

Shaking her head, Sera cleared her throat and took a deep steadying breath. Fields. Her safe space was fields where leaves swayed and the grass tickled her ankles. Sun shone down, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Screwing her eyes shut, she willed her mind to remember the happy place she had once created. And, it worked. She had faced far worse in the past and smiled the day away because in the back of her mind was a corner that nothing could touch.

Trees cast shadows, giving relief for when the sun got too much, and a gentle breeze where her hair could fly around. For a split second, while stood in the cramped toilet of the jet, Sera was free, nothing else mattered and the world was at her fingertips.