No-one had seen Annabel Bradey in a decade, that was until she resurfaced in SSA Aaron Hotchner's office in Quantico. She was carrying scars both physical and mental, but wouldn't share her story. Or at least not until everyone she loved was in dang...
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Annabel Bradey was sat in Aaron's living room, watching a cartoon with Jack that she was sure had been running since she was a child. Never-the-less, he was continuously muttering about who the different characters where and generally narrating the show to her, and she was encouraging him. The young boy seemed to have taken a liking to the red head, having all bar tackled her when she had walked through the door with his father.
When that had happened, she could have sworn that she had seen a glint of admiration in Aaron's eyes. There was a chance that she had made it up, but the corner of his lips had risen when Jack asked her to look at the picture – which he had drawn earlier that morning – in a way that Annabel had become unfamiliar with. Staying in the compound, very few people smiled, those who did would force it to overcome their features, but their eyes will remain screaming for help. That wasn't the case with Aaron, his smile started in his eyes. His smile was always genuine.
Of course, her attention to Aaron's smile had been cut short when Jessica came to greet the agent, questioning why he was home midway through the afternoon. The blonde woman had stopped in her tracks, her face turning pale as if she had seen a ghost. She had tried to speak, but the words caught before they had even formed coherent sentences. Jessica hadn't ended up saying anything, she simply embraced the woman. Through the union of Haley and Aaron, the two had become close, as they were both invited to any event the couple threw.
The blonde had gone home shortly after that. For some reason – which Annabel couldn't discern – Aaron trusted her to care for Jack in his absence. Had he known about the last year, he wouldn't have let her anywhere near Jack, no matter how much she explained the situation. So, while Aaron was unaware of her past, she decided to make the most of her time with his son.
Annabel smiled as she saw the credits rolling, turning to the boy as she asked, "Do you want to surprise your dad when he gets home?"
"How?" The boy questioned as a grin filled his features. "Are we going to jump out at him when he gets home? Because me and Auntie Jessica did that once too."
Annabel shook her head, causing the boy's face to fall slightly, "I was thinking that we would bake him a cake." Jack nodded his head quickly, his face become bright once more. "I need you to promise me that you will be really careful and won't touch anything unless I tell you it's safe. Okay?"
"Okay, Annie." The boy repeated, causing her to smile and hold her hand out for him to move to the kitchen with her.
They spent the afternoon at the kitchen table, Jack telling Annabel stories about his school friends, his dad and occasionally his mom. To the young Hotchner boy, Aaron was a superhero and, despite knowing that he couldn't shoot webs, the red-haired-woman had to agree. His father was the strongest man she had ever met, even before he had joined the Bureau, having lived through his father's need for success, and not turned cold, Aaron was clearly made of stronger steel than he would ever let anyone know.
The woman turned for a second placing the cake in oven, only to be greeted with the sight of Jack with cake batter in his eyebrow. He didn't seem to be bothered by the mark, but continued to lick the batter from the spoon, consequently smearing even more of the batter over his face. Annabel couldn't help but laugh, pulling the phone Penelope had given her earlier that day out of her pocket and photographing the moment.
She sent to photograph to Aaron, paired with the message 'like father like son' before taking a sheet of kitchen roll and crossing the room to the boy. He scrunched up his nose as she wiped his face clean, his appearance mirroring that of his mother as he did. One thing that Annabel was sure of was that Jack didn't deserve to lose his mother.
"Is there anything you want to do while the cake is cooking?" Annabel asked, and the boy nodded again.
She watched as he stood from the table, pulling a box out from the cabinet in the living room. There was a hint of recognition as Annabel saw Jack place the wooden box on the table before climbing back up onto his chair. Pulling off the lid, Jack smile as his eyes met those of his parents.
"Can you tell me about these?" Jack asked, pulling the photo album from its home. "Auntie Jessica didn't know when a lot of them were taken."
Annabel nodded her head, not wanting to disappoint the boy. However, the moment she saw the photos of herself as teenager, a smile almost permanently fixed on her features, she wanted to run from it. All those year ago, performing beside her best friends, had been the best time of her life. So, she decided that she would share those memories, of times when his father made a fool of himself, with Jack.
It had gotten late by the time the duo stopped looking at the photos. They had taken a break part way through, decorating the cooled cake with green icing and eating the microwave meals that Aaron had left in the fridge for them. He had known that he wouldn't be home until the case was over, but he trusted Annabel enough that it hadn't bothered him.
He had called during a moment of quiet, checking in on them and asking Jack if he had enjoyed cooking the cake with her, but she knew that the twinge of guilt in his voice had been caused by his inability to come home to his son. However, Jack told him to go back to saving people, which caused both adults to chuckle slightly.
It was after that call that Annabel had put Jack to bed, reading him a story he had requested before moving herself to the living room where she wrapped herself in the cardigan that Penelope had given her. She wanted to let her tears fall but didn't dare until she was sure Jack had fallen asleep. It was then that she let herself break the flood barrier she had been keeping up all evening.
Talking about high school and the times she spent with Aaron and Haley, she became home sick for her old life. Perhaps she could still be Annie, she was still there, beyond the places where Gabriel had twisted her heart until she had become the person he wanted. It was Annie who had left, and Annie who stayed gone. Though, a part of her was still Mary, and a part of her still loved Gabriel Martyr.
