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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"Follow the light with your eyes." The paramedic instructed, blinding her with the pen light as she followed along. "Good."
The girl wiped down her face, ridding it of it's blood stains, and leaving her adorned with the gash across the bridge of her nose, already starting to form a bruise that crept under her eyes. She was sure she looked like hell. "Given the placement, stitches won't do you much good. You don't seem to be concussed either. We can clean it up and give you something for the pain."
Morgan and Prentiss hung around the back of the ambulance, waiting for the rest of the team and grimacing at the girls face. "It's fine," Liv told them. "My nose was never my best feature anyways."
That was able to gain a smile from both of them, being far too used to business-as-usual Liv. But for her, the unsub was dead, the family saved, and the case closed. All business was finished.
Once the paramedics were done with her, they headed back to meet up with everybody. Reid had been at where their work space was set up, Rossi and Hotch in the chopper that had trailed the guy. They arrived to see everyone had made it back safely, Coopers team extra routy for finally cracking the case they had dedicated more time to than anyone.
To Liv's pleasure, they were passing around beers for everyone, clinking them together and cheering for another successful case. Liv took one happily, giving a shout of support before taking down half the thing in a few gulps. To her defense, she had just been whacked pretty brutally across the face, and she was looking for any kind of pain management she could get.
She sipped happily for a few moments before snaking her way over to where both Reid and Morgan were, undoubtedly bickering like brothers about something useless. Morgan had the tendency to challenge the things that Reid said just for the sake of getting him all worked up.
"Morgan." She said once it had fizzled out. He turned to look at her in question, eyes glancing at her nose in the meantime. Yeah, she knew she looked like hell. "You saved my ass today, so thank you."
He gave her what felt to be the most genuine smile so far before shrugging. "You might not be my favorite person, pretty girl, but I'd rather you alive than dead."
At his playful jab, she laughed loudly, elbowing him softly and shaking her head. "Ohhh alright, alright. Little quicker on your feet next time and maybe you can save my nose too. Much like you, my looks are all I've got."
Liv found peace in the diminished tension between them, acknowledging that while from the start, he had been a pain in the ass, he wasn't too bad of a partner. Her eyes scanned over the two teams all mingling together. She had been looking for Emily, but in between heads of people moving around, her eyes met Hotch's. They seemed like they had been on her for much longer than she had noticed.
"Good work, kiddo." Rossi came up from behind her, clapping her on the back. She turned to give him a smile and a thank you, quickly turning back to gaze where Hotch just was. Her lips pulled downwards without a thought as she scanned the room, unable to spot where he had disappeared to.
She finished her beer, weaving through people to get to the cooler to replace it. The chatter was pretty loud, and while she was as happy as them that the case was a success, she still felt a throbbing in her face there wasn't enough beer in the world to subdue.
"Tate." A low voice said from behind her. She spun around to face it, Hotch standing before her holding a beer of his own, a curious look on his face. "I came to see how you're feeling."
He looked at her intently, and she wasn't sure why, but she caught herself praying that she didn't look as bad as she thought she did. His eyes hung on her face, though it seemed like they weren't so focused on her banged up nose. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She shrugged off, a small laugh escaping her. Something about getting punched in the face really loosens a person up. "It comes with the job, right."
The corner of his mouth pulled upward lazily, giving her an agreeing nod. "You did good work on this case. I'll be sure to tell Strauss that you're fitting right in with our team."
Liv couldn't help but glance down at the beer in her hand. She hadn't had that much, she hardly even had a buzz. So why were her words catching in her throat? And why was she hung up on the way his subtle smiles made her chest tighten?
"I appreciate that, Agent Hotchner." She said, shaming herself for the professionalism. "Hotch." She corrected herself.
Liv wondered if it was seeing him so casually that was causing her pause. No paperwork in his hands, no brow furrowed in thought, no orders being given. Her eyes wandered down to the way his short sleeves hugged his arms tightly, the way his hair was more disheveled after the long day. The way his jaw looked when he tipped his beer back to take a sip.
Liv's free hand flew up to her necklace, finger tracing the circle that hung from it. And as quickly as the good feelings had come, they were stripped away, replacing themselves with a blanket of guilt and self loathing. How horrible was it of her to even let her mind think of someone in that way? Like she could ever move on, pretend she hadn't already found the person she thought she would spend forever with? Was she not a monster to think that just because he was gone, that someone else could suit her the same?
She didn't notice the way Hotch was watching her, observing her nervous fidgeting tic and wondering how he was a profiler for the FBI, and still couldn't figure out in the slightest what was going through her mind.
She cleared her throat suddenly, all traces of enjoyment on her face gone. "Uh, alcohol and pain meds, not a good mix." She forced a laugh. "I'm gonna head back to the hotel. Night, Hotch."
He didn't get the chance to wish her a goodnight before she was gone, already weaved through the crowd and out the door.
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A/N This is honestly a lot of fun to write, so thank you to those keeping up with it. I appreciate getting to share the hotchner love with some people:)
