❝you're in danger here, spencer.❞
❝we'll worry about that later. right now all that matters is you and me.❞
hazel finley is afraid. afraid of being alone. afraid of losing the people she loves. afraid of making mistakes. afraid of falling back into...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❝Tonight, once more, life sinks its teeth into my heart.❞
SIMONE de BEAUVOIR
✩
0.7 : not the same
(tw: mentions of abuse, death)
"I KNOW YOU'RE EXHAUSTED," HOTCH SAYS, THE MINUTE FIN CLOSES HIS OFFICE DOOR. "But I need you for just a little longer. Ethan's driving down from D.C. with a CID team, and he wants both of us at the safe house to walk through it with him again."
Fin sighs heavily. "Again? Hotch, I already-"
"You cleared it," Hotch interrupts her. "And then you panicked when you saw the photos."
"I didn't panic-"
"You had an emotional reaction to the fact that Esther is stalking the team." Hotch narrows his eyebrows at her. "You didn't walk through it objectively. I'm asking you to do that with me now."
Fin runs a hand through her hair, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Of course she lied about having breakfast with Jo, and Spencer probably knew it, but that doesn't mean she wasn't anxious to get back to the safe house and go to bed.
"You know her best, Fin," Hotch says gently, leaning forward across his desk. "If you can't go back, I understand, but you're our most valuable asset right now."
"I'm fine. I'll go." Fin shakes her head before he can say any more. "I can do it."
"Okay." Hotch nods, although there's something in his eyes, a flicker, a glint of doubt, but the minute he turns to grab his coat, it's gone. "I'll drive."
The drive to downtown Quantico is entirely silent, the only sound Fin's occasional yawns as she stares out the window. Hotch is driving his own personal car, not one of the FBI SUVs; those tend to be fairly conspicuous, especially with the government license plates, and Fin smiles a little when she sees the sticky note just beneath the air vent that reads I LUV YOU DADDY in childish handwriting. It's the only personal thing in Hotch's car, a testament to what's truly important to him.
Hotch parks the car on the street across from the abandoned store, and Fin's surprised at the lack of squad cars or black government SUVs, but then she remembers: that'd be kind of conspicuous. Ethan said the goal is to give Esther as little recognition as possible, give her the illusion that Fin either doesn't know or doesn't care, to anger her into making a mistake.
"The local PD is running with the story that the upstairs floor collapsed," Hotch says in a low voice, lifting the yellow caution tape so Fin can duck under. "Just in case anyone happens to ask."
