𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 | 𝘼. 𝙃𝙊𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙉𝙀𝙍

twenty four

'I'm SSA Beckett. I'm here to ask you some questions, Alex,' you introduced yet he remained silent.

'I have nothing left to say. If I'm going to talk, I want my attorney.'

'Oh, sure you do,' you nodded- smiling- thanking Hotch mentally for allowing you to do this under probation, 'So let me lay it out for you a little bit,' you pushed the document of photos forward.

'I've already seen those,' he pointed, knowing his way around the protocol.

'My god,' you looked him up & down, 'How insecure are you? I mean the way you're sat, the defiance against my questions. You're- you're not scared of a harmless woman are you?' you chimed, his head twisting like it had been broken.

'Why would I be scared of you, Agent?' Alex piped up, his confidence dimming.

'Because I'm a woman of authority,' you held up your badge, wavering it about his face, 'And usually, you don't kill women like me and steal their new-born children from them,' you curled your voice around his neck, slipping it in knots such as a serpent would.

'You can't deny she's good at her job, Aaron,' Rossi asserted, walking up beside the chief who was intently staring at Alex- watching his every move as a female member of his team was with him alone. Hotch had let you do this strictly under the rule that you would be watched within an inch of your life.

'No. She is. She's just,' he broke his sentence in half, shrugging with his hands perched in his trouser pockets, 'Unpredictable,' he described, to which Dave nodded in agreement. Your body was moving up through the window; both male agents saw how the unsub was riling up.

'Why did you take their children, Alex?'

'Do you have kids, Agent Beckett?' said he.

'Why is that relevant?'

'Because they wouldn't have picked you to 'interrogate' me if you had. You don't speak like a mother,' stretching, the unsub uttered.

'He's getting through to us,' Hotch exclaimed, panicking ever so slightly behind the glass- unbeknown to you.

'So what if I'm not a mother, they were. You stole those children- thankfully, we've found them,' you sighed in superficial relief.

'Really? The feds did something right for once.'

'Yeah, yeah,' you pursed your lips, 'Except for one. Lilian,' you grimaced. Lilian Carter-James was the only child he kept alive as a servant. Some of the BAU believed he was in love with her, but you knew he just had infatuation. This man knew not to flinch, twitch or whatever you liked to call it. Lilian was his pride and joy- using her as a decoy for fragile minds alike the other children he stole. Well, except the oblivious new-borns he ripped from their mothers- literally.

'Then why am I here?'

'Lilian Carter-James. Ring a bell? A daughter, and you took her. The night we raided that barn shelter you kept them in like rats, they were all quivering in a corner- such as sheep do from a wolf. The smell, Alex, was gut wrenching. Rats had already worked their way into the side of her cheek and mauled a part of her arm,' you wretched out, upturning a crime scene photo of the girls in the corner, the faeces covering the ground every once in a while. In his eyes he was livid, his face like stone.

'Why are you showing me that?' gathering himself he brushed off.

'16 years is a long time to keep somebody hostage without getting caught. For what though? She's dead now. But you'd know that wouldn't you? You'd know how scrawny and feeble she was, the ribs stretching her skin, veins barely visible, hair matted half to death?'

'Dave,' Aaron inched; he was uncomfortable with how you spoke of the girl, but Rossi put up a hand- you were close, and he knew it.

'Why, Alex? Why did you let her die? She had a whole life to live with you-'

He got up.

'You won't get a confession out of me,' he writhed.

'I just did,' you grinned devilishly, storming a look to Hotch behind the glass, where Rossi too was tensing with relief. Aaron moved to open the interrogation door, and as Lilian Carter-James walked through still draped in foil- she snapped. Broke. Her unkept nails clawed at her captor's throat. Rossi nearly caught but missed her arm by a second, your chair screeched back in shock and Hotch just managed to break the poor girl's hands from Alex's chest & neck.

               'Just a minute,' letting your hair drop from a loose bun you'd tied, shouting to the knock on the hotel door. Aaron was simply doing his nightly check on the team; this hotel meant you all had individual rooms. The flight was soon.

'Everything alright?'

'Yeah, I think so' you smiled, nodding. On the desk behind you, the lasting buzz from your mobile drilled into the wood. Ignore it.

'Right, good,' he sighed, 'Need to get that?' a hand left his pocket and pointed.

'Hm? Oh, no. Its nothing important,' you avoided it, quite well to be fair.

'Well, fine. I'll let you get some rest,' he backed off as you closed the door a little, 'Oh, and Beck-'

'Yes?'

'-Good work today. I'll be sure to mention it in my reports & your probation will be shortened' Hotch's mouth creased slightly in the corner, making you smile too.

'Thank you,' and with that, you met your phone on the side, next to the whisky you'd left earlier. Tucking the phone between shoulder and ear, you picked up your drink and began to pack for the flight that left in 3 hours.

'Hi, no, no- I'm here- sorry to keep you waiting,'

             By the time 2am had rolled around, JJ and Emily had finally slumped down to the lobby and the cars were waiting outside. Being a night owl, you drove; Spencer next to you & the two girls in the back, asleep against the windows and resting on coats. Reid turned back around from shifting his fiancées coat. It was quiet. Hotch's vehicle was upfront, both whirring along empty roads.

'Nervous?' you whispered.

'For what? The wedding? Meh, a little I guess,' he curved his lips into a smile, 'What are you wearing?'

'Well,' you actually didn't know, but seeing it was less than a week away, you had to pick- and fast, 'butterflies' you proposed.

'Like, on a dress?' Spencer pondered.

'Yeah, butterflies on a dress,' you beamed, griping the wheel, and thinking about how that dress had been untouched since your first date with Aaron. Times had changed. It couldn't stay in the closet forever.

'I like it' he looked at you, still talking in a low tone. 

            Rounded, the road seemed to last forever, and as the cars eventually pulled up next to the jet, the girls were awake, and you felt like you could sleep for eternity. Morgan had clearly been resting too and slung his arm around Emily, who was groggily clutching her bag. Rossi and Hotch looked just about ready for a scotch whereas you and Spence would probably end up playing many games of chess into the morning.