Saving Agent Hotchner | 1

28. Heart to heart

Aaron hadn't felt this lonely since Haley divorced him. Somehow, since Y/N's leaving (only 4 days ago), Aaron's bed felt even emptier. He felt uncomfortable sleeping in it without Y/N by his side. So, he slept on the couch. Jack could feel the loneliness too, often laying on her side of Aaron and Y/N's bed if he felt sad, sick or upset.

As for work, Aaron would find himself glancing at Y/N from time to time, but she'd purposely avoid his gaze and focus on her other co-workers. He was unsure if anyone - but Penelope - had been told about their current situation, but decided to keep things on the down-low if she hadn't said anything.

A few nights after Y/N left, Aaron woke up at 1:45 AM, having just endured another nightmare about losing Y/N. He sat up on the couch, making sure not to wake up Jack, who had been sleeping beside him. He rubbed his eyes and exhaled, jumping slightly when he saw Haley sitting on the arm-chair near the TV.

"Haley?" Aaron whispered.

"You really messed up, Aaron." Haley shook her head.

"You don't think I know that? I can't even sleep in our bed because of how guilty I feel." Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Was Y/N right? Did you really stay with Kate because she looked like me?" Haley leaned back, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, maybe? I mean, she looked so much like you and when I saw her on the ground like that I...I thought that maybe I could save her, because...I couldn't save you." Aaron started crying.

"I love you, Aaron and I know you love me but, you need to get over me. I'm gone now. You have a son and a beautiful girlfriend who love you. I'll always be looking out for you, Jack and Y/N. If you lose Y/N, you'll feel even worse. You need to apologise to her. You need to make sure that you make her feel just as loved as you once loved me. And yes, I know that she's knows you'll always love me, but I can see that deep down, she feels like she's like a replacement and that you'll never truly love her." Haley walked over to Aaron and held his hand.

"You made a promise to me, that you'd show him that love is the most important thing. You can keep that promise by loving Y/N. Love her and Jack as much as you once loved me and I'll know that you kept your promise." Haley placed a gentle kiss on Aaron's cheek before disappearing, like a shadow in the night.

When Aaron got up the next morning for work, he felt determined. He wanted and needed to apologise to Y/N as soon as time would allow him to. Much to Aaron's chagrin, he walked into work and Penelope handed him a file, explaining that the team were on their way in for the next case in Boston.

"Beantown has turned into Chokeville. 3 victims, all male, wallets stolen. The unsub uses a garrotte to strangle his victims. He strikes at night and there have been no witnesses." Penelope explained as she put up images on the screen behind her.

"How much did he get?" Derek asked, curious.

"Well, it's odd. Each of the victims, socio-economically, is lower to middle class. It's doubtful there would have been much cash, and there have been no charge attempts on any of the credit cards." Spencer noted as he flipped through his case file.

"So the murder might not be about money at all. Taking the wallets could be a forensic countermeasure to delay victim identification." Emily exhaled.

"That could be the situation with the first two victims, but the latest one, Scott Delfino, he was on the phone with his roommate when he was attacked, call cut out unexpectedly, repeated call-backs went straight to voicemail. And Delfino's body was found an hour later." Penelope kept explaining.

"Indications were they'd been blitzed. Which speaks to the killer's prep work but also his desperation. He chose a location to lay in wait but wasn't capable of adapting to a target on the phone." Y/N swiped through the photos on her screen, trying to keep her gaze between her screen and her friends.