Keeping Her Safe

Growing Together.

No one was surprised when they saw Sera walk into work the next day. They weren't shocked when they saw her dark bags that seemed to grow darker every time she touched her under eye. And they didn't even think to comment on it when she fought back yawns for over a week.

However, after struggling to sleep in a house that had gone from happy to sad, and then unsafe, she was soon distracted by the prospect of moving, and all the memories she would lose. Of course, there were good and bad sides to it, so she made an itemised list, in short-hand, to understand what she was meant to do.

It was during her lunch that she pulled the list out. But as she was in the middle of weighing up the pros and cons, someone walked into her office without saying a word. Instead they closed the door and slumped on her sofa.

'Please, come on in,' Sera dryly remarked.

Hotch sighed. 'This team makes me want to murder people,' he groaned out.

'You shot someone yesterday. His funeral is tomorrow,' Sera disbelievingly hummed, as if making a point. Hotch failed to notice the inflection of her voice.

'But I want to murder this team,' Hotch explained.

'Why?' Sera asked, giving in as she realised that her comments weren't going to make him stop. So, instead she directed the conversation.

Grumbling, Hotch rested his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes with his palms. 'They can't do their paperwork. How many times can I email them about using the correct grammar? We have a book, they could read for once. I know Reid has, but he still keeps making his reports too long. Meandering anecdotes. He calls them meandering anecdotes, but they're actually just long words that aren't funny,' he complained.

Why is he doing this? Is he trying to make me do his work? This is going to hurt, but how?

After the week Sera had, Hotch knew that offloading on her was unfair. But he reasoned that it was a distraction that brought her out of her own head, and he knew that she wouldn't tell anyone.

'Have you considered talking directly to them and coaching them through their paperwork?' Sera asked.

I sound like a relationship counsellor. Matthew and I were told to try communicating how many times?

Hotch looked up with an irritated glare, but Sera seemed unfazed as she stared him over. 'I already stay well past working hours,' he complained.

'But a few slightly later nights would be a compromise for years of earlier nights. It can't be that bad,' Sera reasoned.

With conviction, Hotch stood and shoved a hand into one of his trouser pockets. 'I'll send some over to you. And then you can get back to me,' he angrily explained before storming out.

Looking out of the door, at the carpet just past the frame, Sera stared at nothing as she processed what had just played out in her office. Reid watched the way her face flicked from blank to shocked, until she mouthed 'what the fuck' and then looked forward.

With a smile, Reid saw what happened, but before he could watch her for longer, Garcia stormed in and practically slammed the door shut. 'I don't know what to do,' she began as she walked over to the sofa and threw herself into it.

Am I a therapist or something?

I'm thera-pissed.

Entertaining herself with the joke, Sera tried not to smile as she listened into Garcia's ramblings. 'I'm only here because you can keep secrets and the rest of the team are biased. Is it normal for your boyfriend to expect you to clean up after him all the time?' She asked.