Unbreakable

Chapter Five - Regret

Sierra sipped her coffee with shaky hands, her adrenaline had clearly worn off. I got up and closed my office door to make her more comfortable, the sounds of people passing by door seemed to have her on edge. I sat back down, giving her a soft smile. I knew she wasn't ready to speak about the incident yet, so we just sat there in comfortable silence while she nursed her coffee and looked around my office. After a few more minutes passed, I reached my hand out and softly placed it on top of hers, giving her hand a warm and encouraging squeeze to let her know she was safe here. "Whenever you're ready."

She shifted in her seat as she worked up the courage to go over all the details of the incident. "I-I was in the park waiting for Tiffany. We were supposed to meet there, then we were going to walk to the bar together." I could feel her legs shaking my desk, my pen jiggling on top of my notebook. I gave her a reassuring smile. "You're doing great, take your time."

She cleared her throat, attempting to speak again. "I heard someone come up behind me, I thought it was Tiffany but it wasn't. It was him, he wanted my bag, he pulled out a knife and told me to give it to him. I just froze there. I didn't know what to do, it's like my whole body just froze." Her voice practically a whisper as the last of her words left her mouth.

"That's a normal reaction, you did nothing wrong. Most people have one of four reactions to traumatic events: they either fight, flight, freeze, or fawn." I explained. "Can you tell me what happened next?"

"You." Her body seemed to visibility relax. "You happened, you came out of nowhere and took him down." I nodded as I took notes of the encounter. "I never thought I'd ever see you again, or that you'd ever save me from a mugger." I put my pen down, looking up at her, realizing this was no longer about the mugging. "I just wanted to say thank you, for saving me. I know its part of your job as a FBI agent, but still... thank you."

Her words stirred within me as I searched her gaze. Her face held strong but her eyes betrayed her. They told a story, a story of hurt and sadness with what appeared as almost a small sense of urgency brewing in those beautiful ocean blue eyes. I let her eyes wash over me, taking it all in. My brows furrowed as I searched for the words to leave my mouth.

"Even if it wasn't my job, I would've saved you. I would always save you." I muttered sheepishly, suddenly feeling very nervous with her gaze still on mine. Her face turned with surprise. "You would?"

I broke our eye contact for a moment, trying to gather my composure back before returning my gaze to hers.

"Always." I whispered.

The sudden loud knock on my door had us both jumping, I laughed as the jump scare wore off. Excusing myself for a moment to answer the door. It was Elara, "Hey Spencer! I'm sorry to disturb you, but you're needed in the conference room." She smiled warmly.

"Thank you, I'm just wrapping up here." Returning her warm smile.

"Of course, I'll let the others know." She turned on her heels to walk towards the conference room but stopped in my doorway.

"Would you like to get a drink sometime and talk more about the case, maybe you could give me a few tips and show me the ropes a bit more?" She asked, a small genuine smile on her lips.

"Of course, Elara. I'd be happy to." I gave her a warm reassuring smile thinking back to earlier when she was clearly overwhelmed by the pressure of being a new Agent. I was more than happy to help her any way I could.

As she walked away I could feel Sierra's stare in the back of my head, the air in the room felt different. Sierra's demeanor abruptly changed, she seemed bothered, before I could ask her if she was okay she had stood up to grab her bag and was heading for the door. I felt a bit of anxiety creep into my chest as I watched her start to walk away. Before I could process why I was feeling this was my legs had already moved towards her, blocking her from leaving.