Angel

Nobody's angel

There's a fine line between love and lust, Aurora would know. She was no stranger to the concept of cheating, most of the men in her life were cheaters; especially those who were involved in her father's 'golden circle' sex ring but she had never expected to understand how their women felt. It was a harrowing feeling of emptiness threatening to swallow her as she cried on the floor of her kitchen - something she hadn't done since the day her mother died - wailing into the silence, letting go of all the pain she felt inside. 

Aurora was a strong woman with a heart of gold who usually never let men bother her - she tried her best to be the woman she knew her mother would have wanted her to be but Aaron had gotten under her skin and sadly that meant she was struggling to cope with the overarching feeling of betrayal. Her loneliness was a feeling so vast it it echoed, almost the same way Nietzsche described staring into the abyss. it echoed, and echoed, and echoed until all that was left was a profound feeling of numbness. 

When her doorbell rang, she couldn't even bring herself to answer, keeping herself planted under her kitchen cabinets until a man's footsteps came towards her "what the hell are you doing crying on the bathroom floor?" she looked up to see the sympathetic face of Samoya Sloan, the kind-hearted man who had picked her up off the floor many times before in her youth

"he's married Sam" she whispered to the silence of her house "he's been sleeping with me for almost a year now and he's fucking married" 

Sam's face dropped as he sank down to sit next to her "oh Aurora I'm so so sorry - he seemed so lovely angel" he sighed as she began to laugh a humourless laugh. "you'll get through this my angel I promise" 

she sighed and shook her head, turning to face the British man beside her "that's the thing Sam, I'm not sure I will". Her words shook Sam to his core, Aurora Angelle rarely admitted defeat. She had stared down the barrel of many mad men's guns, withstood weeks of torture and even then didn't say she couldn't get through it 

"that's not like you" he sighed, pulling her closer to him "what's throwing you off?" 

the silence of the cold empty kitchen was all-encompassing as he waited for her response, her breaths shallow and ragged "His wife is Hayley Brooks". the response hit the both of them like a tonne of bricks. The woman who had just months ago accused her of murdering her mother and had spent half her life terrorising Aurora, wife of the man Aurora loved.

"Aurora I have no words." Sam answered quietly "but I promise we will get through this" 

-----------------------------

The BAU office was thick with tension for the rest of the day. None of the members dared to ask why Rori had left that morning, until she walked in that morning. She was dressed in an obviously interpol-coded outfit, a short black skirt with a split up the side and a sheer halter neck blouse, she was the image of a woman scorned as she strutted her way into the office. Her hair was perfectly blown out with a bounce and her makeup was left natural and glowy, without a trace of the tears which had fallen the night before. 

Her first stop was Nicholas' office where she had hoped to find support for the power move she was about to play. Aurora had called him late the night before to explain exactly why she had been absent that day. His reaction was less than pleasant, equally as heartbroken for her as he was angry that Hotch had remained married to Hayley without his knowledge. 

Truth be told, Nicholas had known that Aaron had been married before He knew he had a beautiful son, Jack. He knew his wife was Hayley Brookes. However, he didn't know that Aaron had stayed married to Hayley after the case which almost tore them apart. Nicholas sat with Aurora all night, telling her about how Hotch was famously a workaholic, who got himself personally involved in a case which tope up his marriage ... or so it was believed. 

When Aurora and Nicholas emerged from his office, they went straight to see Aaron who had been expecting them as soon as he saw Aurora's glamourous figure walk through the door. 'Agent Hotchner, we need to talk' Nicholas spoke as he pulled the chair away from his subordinate's desk to allow Aurora to sit down 'Doctor Angelle has explained the contents of her meeting with you yesterday morning and I must say, I find your actions utterly abhorrent. To beg for the money of another unit, let alone your girlfriend - or shall I say mistress' unit, it against everything you should stand for as a unit chief.' 

'Agent Rhodes, Ill stop you there' he growled, waving his hand 'Doctor Angelle linked our units together, it is only fair to ask that the disparity is evened out. It's common protocol in many linked units throughout the system' 

'so you're not going to argue the mistress allegation?' Aurora asked, her voice quieter than usual making her seem even more small and hurt than she was letting on 

'if that is what this is about, Doctor Angelle, then I would like to say it is incredibly unprofessional to bring our boss into this' he commented, busying his hands with a file full of loose papers on his desk so that he did not have to meet her gaze. 

'Nicholas is no longer my boss' Aurora spoke, suddenly regaining the confidence she had lost before fishing out a crisp white envelope and placing it on her ex-boyfriend's desk 'as promised, my letter of resignation. effective immediately' 

'so she's getting special treatment now?' Aaron spat, anger lacing his tone 'she needs to work her 20 days notice, like every other federal agent in the united states' 

'oh right sure' Aurora argued with an eyeroll 'in case you weren't aware, extenuatingly difficult circumstances allow the termination of the 20 day period ... I'd call being surprised that your boyfriend/boss is secretly married with children pretty difficult circumstances' 

'hap[pens every day on the jersey shore.' Aaron argued, leaning on his elbows to get intimidatingly close to her. To which she stayed unwaveringly still, unblinking. 'imagine if they let agents off for such trivial matters there.' 

'enough. the pair of you' Nicholas interjected. running his hands through his hair, partly with stress, partly with anger. Aaron moved away, sitting fully upright as to not come off as crooked 'Aaron is right, unfortunately these circumstances are too trivial - and frankly too messy - to allow an immediate termination. However, Aurora is also correct that we can absolutely allow decreases in notice periods for circumstances in which people feel they will be at risk in the workplace. After the behaviour I've witnessed here this morning, I'd most certainly say that tracks' 

'How am I expected to explain that Aurora will be leaving because I was sleeping with her to my team?' Aaron asked with an incredulous laugh 

'you'll tell them the truth.' Nicholas responded, a curt smile ghosting over his lips 'your actions have consequences, Agent Hotchner, that is if your wife doesn't tell the whole world before you get the chance. Aurora will give you ten days of work in which she will only be present in  the office, she will not work on your team's cases and she will not do your team's paperwork.' 

'I can deal with that.' Aurora responded, picking up her handbag and standing from her chair before extending her hand for Aaron to shake 'I look forward to this new professional relationship, Agent Hotchner' 

he didn't meet her hand, didn't even look up from the file which was now sitting closed on the desk in front of him. She simply turned and walked out of the office with her hands shaking. As she reached the glass balcony of the BAU, she was met by the eyes of the team she had loved for almost a year, who looked at her with a pitifully knowing look. 'guys what's wrong' Aurora asked, masking her fear with a smile the same way she had when she had been beaten by her father all that time 

'I'm taking it you've not read the newspaper this morning then' Derek said, cocking his eyebrow before picking up the large tabloid he had bought, sitting on his desk. there was a picture of Aurora, naked in an unbuttoned men's shirt, splashed across the front page with the bold black headline reading: 

'NOBODY'S ANGEL: AURORA ANGELLE'S ILLICIT AFFAIR WITH A MARRIED MAN' 

'well that didn't take long' she whispered.