When Liv faced a loss that would rewrite her entire life, she stepped away from her work. A year and a half later, she returns to the BAU in search of normalcy; so she can finally move on. On a new team, Liv is immediately thrown into the game of ca...
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Before they could even arrive at the police station, they were redirected to another crime scene. The newest one, and the escalation proved they had very little time before more bodies dropped.
"Sorry to reroute you, but last night, this went down." The lead detective started the second they got there. Most of the team stood in the parking lot of a rundown gas station. It had a pump that was out of service, and the oil stains all over the ground made it look even more as if the structure had been there for decades. Liv looked around at the mess, and then at the tattered building. Their unsubs had a field day with everyone that was inside.
"Have you released a statement to the press?" Hotch asked from his spot across from her, surveying the building himself before looking back at the detective.
"No, but it's already hit the air."
"Where's the car they dumped?" Morgan chimed in, looking round. They had only gotten so much information on their way over, and the whole team was trying to fill in the holes now before another attack happened.
"It's over there, agents are searching it now. One of the victims said the shooters were male and female."
That caught the team's attention, causing them all to pause in wonder of the ways that changed the rough profile they had drawn up in their heads. Liv pondered on it quietly as Prentiss spoke.
"How many people were murdered here?"
"Eight. and if you add the Miles City killings, we're up to fourteen."
Liv looked around at the scene. There was a shattered window, where undoubtedly a bullet had accidentally landed. The bodies were gone by then, but the mess she could she from outside the store was only beginning to be cleaned up. "Thrill killers." She stated quickly. Who could cause such chaos and then simply run away to the next crime scene?
"They are aroused by the adrenaline rush, so they're not gonna stop until we catch them." Morgan added onto that, looking at her with a nod. Her eyes searched over at the dirty ground again littered with broken glass, before landing on a specific pair of polished, black shoes.
"Male-female teams are usually committed to pleasing each other." She said, suddenly feeling a pressure with her words she hadn't before. She looked up at Hotch, who stared back blankly, before continuing. "Both mentally, and physically."
She couldn't help it; and maybe he was better at focusing at his job, or maybe he just didn't care the way she did. But it was hell not to let herself imagine it; the reality of two lovers so passionate in their feelings they felt invincible. Liv couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to feel invincible. Most would think that with a job like hers, the feeling would come easy when you're constantly chasing down death. It wasn't true. She felt more exposed in that moment than she ever had before.
"So this is just foreplay." Rossi stated with a nod. Prentiss and Morgan broke away to go look at the car they had left behind, and Liv wandered into the gas station, eyes scanning every shelf and box that lined them.
"They took the store owner in the back." Hotch's voice broke through the shuffling among the crime scene, catching Liv's attention. He peered down the hallway that led to the bathrooms, and what looked to be maintenance and storage space.
"There's rice all over the floor." She toed at the scattered grains, turning in confusion. She monitored up and down the aisle, trying to find it's source before coming up short.
"Bullet probably hit a box." Hotch shrugged it off, placing his interest elsewhere. Liv stayed shuffling around in wonder, accidentally backing into him as she finally put the pieces together.
"Sorry..." She muttered out in a breath. They were the only two of the team in the building, and for a moment, even Hotch let himself remember what happened the last time they were alone. She pulled at the seam of her shirt, adjusting it as she stepped away from him, trying to retrace her train of thought. "There's no rice for sale on the shelves."
Hotch looked back at her in confusion before she let out a breath. "They're newlyweds."
"And this is their honeymoon."
Hotch looked around in almost disbelief. Liv believed it a little too much. She counted the grains of rice she could see, contemplating the thought of it. They were killers, or course. But Liv couldn't blame them for feeling invincible. She couldn't blame them for believing so much in the power of love.
"Quite the celebration." Hotch said with a tone of distaste.
"What, you've never been so in love you abandon all moral judgement?" Liv said comically, although her face remained stony. Really, had he not?
"No." Hotch deadpanned back. She tried not to frown at his retreating figure as he walked out of the gas station.
He was being unfair again, and Liv felt the way that sat in her chest. It was why he avoided her eyes. It was why he had not a single wrinkle in his perfectly pressed professionalism. She had been smiling like a fool when not a damn thing had changed. She trailed far behind him, stepping back outside into the crisp air. As brutal as it was, it was hard not to ponder where she was. Chasing down two lovers who soaked so deeply in their own passion they set the world around them on fire. It was a twisted love, but it was one she envied.She wondered what was going through his mind, watching from a distance as he talked to the lead detective. It had been a long time since she had gotten the same luxury has he; the blissful ignorance that there was always enough time.
Liv watched as her other team members headed towards the cars, meaning to regroup and set up at the police station.
"Morgan!" She called out to him, hurrying to catch up. "Let me ride with you."
If Hotch noticed her absence, or his now empty passenger seat, he didn't show it. ✺✺✺
