heart like yours (jennifer jareau)

3. twenty seven

AN: hey guys! happy monday!

so, this is my last week of updating before my break i'm afraid! my uni deadlines are in three weeks and me graduating depends on these assignments so i will NOT be updating for the next three mondays! i'll be back on the 6th of May!

to make up for it, i have a surprise!

happy double update day!

thank you guys for reading again and for being so amazing about this arc, writing this book and sharing my little world with you all is incredible and i'm so excited for the next few seasons ahead with delilah!

i'll see you all in may <33

TWs:
mentions of murder
mentions of torture
mentions of injuries
mentions of sexual assault
mentions of sex trafficking

•

"i grew afraid and went inside my head." - henri cole

•

Delilah was meeting Strauss for her interview in twenty minutes, and she was still in the car in the Quantico parking lot trying to put a sock over Ziggy's cast because he refused to have his bare toes out in a fancy office where people carried guns.

"I like my toes," Ziggy said, wiggling them at the end of the cast. "I don't want one of 'em to get blown off."

"He's got a point," Dave said from the driver's seat, fixing his suit jacket.

"A sock isn't gonna do shit against bullets. His cast is better protection," Liv said. "Are we sorted?"

"Stop moving your- Yeah," Delilah said, fixing the sock around the cast. "All done. Let's get this over with."

The adults piled out of the car, Liv grabbing Ziggy's crutches out of the trunk and helping him get his balance as he got out of the car. He had insisted on not using his wheelchair, though he seemed to have got the hang of the crutches, so, Liv had let it slide.

Delilah felt sick the closer they got to the doors.

Most people at work, or at least most of the people in her unit, would know about what happened to her. They would see her face, see the mark of her father on her skin, and they would know how bad things were for her.

This was going to haunt her for the rest of her career, and she hated it.

The four of them stepped into the building, the security guard waving them through the metal detectors when he clocked Ziggy's crutches. Delilah swiped her badge, and the four of them were allowed through the check towards the elevators.

"Where are we meeting her?" Liv asked.

"She said Hotch wants to talk to me in his office, and Strauss wants Ziggy and Delilah in hers," Dave said.

They stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button for the BAU floor and leaning against the walls as the doors closed.

"Is anyone working today?" Ziggy asked, watching the numbers change as they got higher.

"Emily and JJ," Liv said. "And Hotch."

Delilah felt like she might actually vomit as the elevator beeped. The doors opened, the four of them stepping out, and there they were.

Emily, JJ, Hotch, and Strauss were all waiting for them.

Emily and Hotch had both seen Delilah since rescuing her from that basement. They'd seen the damage to her face without the dirt and dried blood covering the magnitude of how bad this was. JJ and Strauss hadn't. The shock was obvious on their faces, and in their body language.