Ghost of the Past

You had been given an impromptu invitation to join a Major Louis Daniel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, with a very vague job offer. One you had accepted and asked for the start date. You were a linguist with a speciality in Eastern European Languages and some of the more common European languages, something which attracted both Major Daniel and Prosecutor Dorn to your work as an officer, what made them reach out to offer you a position on the team they were assembling. You knew nothing about any of the other officers they had reached out to or the ones who accepted the job. You had come in earlier than the others, but not earlier than Dorn who met you with a kind smile and offered you a seat as you were putting down your 'go bag'. You smiled back and introduced yourself, instinctively holding out your hand to shake his, he took it gladly and gave you a warm handshake.

You were closely followed into the room by a youngish brunette male who introduced himself as 'Tommy McConnell' – very distinctively Irish. You made a mental note to keep track of the nationalities you would be working with. A blonde female 'Sienna Pride' was next to enter and introduce herself – English. A young dark-haired female then entered the room with a red-haired female, 'Anne-Marie San' – French, 'Eva Vittoria' – Italian. You were about to ask about Major Daniel when you heard a very distinctive German accent enter the room with apologies about potentially being late. You closed your eyes briefly and took a couple of breaths to calm yourself before turning around. The German was exactly who you believed it would be 'Sebastian Berger', he was busy introducing himself to those that were currently standing and faltered when he got to yourself.

"You two know each other or somethin'?" The Irishman wasn't slow in picking up on the awkward realisation between yourself and Sebastian.

"Something like that," was Sebastian's response with a lopsided grin and, dear god, had you forgotten how that accent (and that smile) made you weak in the knees. You faked a cough to break the tension and sat down again, Sebastian sat in the chair behind you, Tommy in a chair near the back with Eva and Anne-Marie had picked the one at the head of the table while Sienna picked the one opposite yourself.

Michel Dorn was introducing himself and the reason for the team when Major Daniel appeared with a scruffy looking male at his heels. "Apologies for the late arrival team, this is Detective Carlton Hickman, he will be joining us" the Major gestured toward the Detective who was looking at the floor, almost ashamed. "Please, Dorn, continue," Major Daniel apologised and gestured for Dorn to continue. You tried to focus on what Dorn was saying and not the fact that Sebastian was behind you, tried to shake the intrusive thoughts of his breath on the back of your neck that you once loved, you gave your head a gentle shake and began to stand when you noticed everyone else was beginning to move.

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You were standing in a cemetery in England, dressed in black with the rest of the team. Sebastian had his arm around your shoulder, and you stared blankly at the hole in the ground which your friend and colleague was about to be lowered into. Tommy had taken the loss hard, angry at himself for not seeing it coming. When the priest had finished speaking and the team began to walk to Sienna's mother you felt Sebastian's hand on your lower back as support as you walked on the grass in heels and saw Anne-Marie with her arm looped in Sebastian's free arm on the other side. Tommy couldn't contain himself and spoke some hard truths to Sienna's mother. The team tried to calm him, but it was in vain. Sebastian continued to support Anne-Marie up the muddy hill while you and Eva had linked arms and walked behind. Returning to the hotel in the cars was sombre and quiet, you were in a car with Eva, Tommy, Ann-Marie and Sebastian. Tommy was driving as he was the one most adept with British roads and driving, you, Sebastian and Anne-Marie were in the back. Poor Sebastian had been placed in the middle seat and you were staring out the window closest to you, not paying much attention to the passing scenery. You felt a warm hand grip the one of yours which had a vice grip on the loose part of your dress making you realise and release the fabric. You focused on Sebastian's reflection in the window you were gazing out of, he had given a small look toward your hand and then looked forward as though it was instinctive and natural. You forgot how grateful you were when he was this thoughtful and effortless in his affections.

At the hotel you got out and Sebastian and Eva helped Anne-Marie, you all met up with Louis and Carlton at the hotel bar along with a couple of other guests who happened to be staying in the same hotel. You all raised a glass to Sienna. You hadn't noticed the glances and staring Sebastian was throwing your way, you were wallowing in your grief too much to notice. Sebastian had forgotten how beautiful and graceful you could be when you didn't think anyone was paying attention to you.

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It had been a few months since Sienna's funeral, her loss was still felt throughout the team. Tommy was still brooding. Anne-Marie had recovered from her surprise trip to the hospital shortly after the incident. The team was in a solemn routine, Tommy entered smelling like a distillery according to Dorn. You and Sebastian tended to be in the computer lab, Sebastian working on his Scan Gen, you working on a programme to gain quicker access to non-public access feeds. It was a comfortable silence between you both, the silence occasionally being broken by questions about software or code checking.

The day you never turned up was a surprise to the team as you were normally quite reliable at being in the office shortly after Dorn and Louis. Eva was supposed to collect you from a predetermined location, and you hadn't shown. Louis attempted to call and message you to no avail. Sebastian discreetly attempted to reach you too. After an hour of no one on the team being able to contact you, Louis asked Sebastian to try and locate your phone, while reluctant, Sebastian obliged. When your phone showed you were at home, Louis and Eva went to your apartment while Sebastian began to internally panic and began to jump the gun and try to access cameras and CCTV to see if you had left your apartment and if you had, then at which point you went missing.

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You awoke with a pounding in your head. You tried to reach up to see if you had been bleeding and found your hands and feet bound to a chair you had been placed upon. You tried to open your eyes to look at your surroundings, but the minimal amount of light which penetrated the darkness surrounding you both was too much for your head but too little for you to see anything. You were left in the darkness, alone with your thoughts and your mind racing with who you had pissed off enough to come at you like this.

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You had been out of it for most of your abduction. The team had taken 2 days to find you, and when they did, they found you in Antwerp, Belgium. When they found you Sebastian and Tommy had been the first to breach the door. They had found you semi-conscious and your feet bound, and hands tied behind your back on the floor. Sebastian called to the team that he had you and for the others to go after the perp while he carried you outside. Once the team had left the room, he held your head in his hands and spoke to you, releasing your feet and hands, "Come on meine Liebe, don't give up on me now Liebling." You groaned and once while your eyes and head were adjusting to the noise and the light. Once you realised your hands were free you quickly and desperately clung to Sebastian.

"Seb?"

"Ja, Ja Liebling, Ich bin hier, du bist in Sicherheit." He was frantic and reverted to his native language knowing you would understand, you gripped him tighter than you ever had before hands tracing his face, making sure this was real. He held you tightly and firmly in his grasp, your lips grazed each other's in your closeness, "you're injured, let's get you out of here, think you can stand?" Seb, always a gentleman and not the greatest fan of getting caught in public. You nodded your head and clung to Sebastian like your life depended on it as he supported you to the ambulance to be looked over. You refused to let Sebastian leave your line of vision or be too far from you, Hickman noticed the reluctance of separation and suggested to Louis that Sebastian be the one to accompany you to the hospital instead of Eva.

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In the hospital you discovered that someone who had wanted to test the team had taken you to prove that the new cross border team could be vulnerable and had caught you as you passed by an alleyway to meet Eva. She had missed you by minutes and began to beat herself up about it, which you assured her she shouldn't do, you were more embarrassed and pissed at yourself for being caught off guard than anything else.