𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 | 𝘼. 𝙃𝙊𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙉𝙀𝙍

two

One year later.

It was a tall, handsome building that was bricked with auburn and had windows on every floor, sort of hard to believe there was a murderer holding hostages inside. Vesting up, the team were ready to go in; Rossi was negotiating for as long as he could, but that was all he could do. It's not often hostages made it out of a situation like that, not all of them; the captors become hasty and just want to escape, their motive is lost by negotiation and they could start gunning down some of the people. There were children inside. Shots had been fired already; you couldn't waste anymore time. 

Hotch led you, Spencer and Rossi through the main entrance and Prentiss had JJ and Morgan round the back. You saw them and chose to lower your weapon slightly yet keeping your guard up; they were all tied to the large palm displays in the middle of the building, there was glass everywhere. Blood. You saw Hotch walk over to the man, the man whose blood belonged to; he checked his pulse, pressing two fingers against his neck.

'He's gone. Reid?' Hotch ordered, Reid knowing to untie the hostages and get them to medics as quickly as possible- Rossi followed him.

'Hotch,' you whispered, and nudged your gun pointing towards the stairwell where the door was swinging open. You both made an approach.

'Get behind me,' he instructed, but you rarely followed his requests. To be honest, Hotch never seemed to care- or he did, he was just sick of telling you off. With his gun, he tapped the door wider and checked down the stairwell- nothing. A bullet ricocheted off the railing and skimmed past your head, both of you ducking simultaneously.

'The roof!' you said as you tried to get a clear shot-no; you bolted up the stairs before Hotch, him trying to catch up behind you, but you were going to catch them. You were adamant. Footsteps became quieter as it was only you and your boss; you heard the roof exit slam against the wall as it flung open. Getting to him, you promptly surveyed the rooftops- there, you saw him running across rooves- the other must still be inside. You fired a shot. Missed.

Decide, wait for Hotch or chase him; he was close behind as you heard his steps increase when he heard the shots. No, run. Tripping, the unsub saw you catching up on him and stumbled forward, then he jumped. He hung on to the other building for dear life and pulled himself up, despite how skinny and frail he was. There was the reason he felt the need to overpower people. He scrambled up and fell. You had to make the call, but again, the roof exit door swung open and you heard Hotch shout for you. Buzzing, whirring, your head was blurry, but you stepped back. And ran. As your foot hit the wall, you could hear Hotch in the distance

'Beck! No, Beck! Don't do it-' he was shouting, getting closer. You were in the air. Soaring across the gap between the buildings freely, not once did you look back. Falling to the other building, you looked for him- gun drawn. He was hiding. Coward. Hotch met your gaze, breathless and stern. Knowing you would get the worst of it, you went to speak to him, but two shots impaired you. Ringing was all you could hear or hear nothing at all; you turned around to see him, fall to the floor behind you and drop the knife he was wielding.

He would've killed me. Covering your ears with your hands, you crumpled into your knees at the pain- it would be temporary hearing loss, but it could be worse. Hotch saved my life. Reid came out of the exit on your side of the rooves and dropped his gun seeing you on the floor; he tried asking you something, but you simply couldn't hear.

               Once the nurse checked you out, you had instructions from Hotch to meet him on the jet an hour early, and you already knew it wouldn't be good. You handed your bags to the officials and stepped onto the jet, the whirring sending your head into panic. Seeing him with his back towards you, you didn't have to ask.

'Sit down, Agent,' he spoke, cold and harsh. 'Agent' was the term for when you really messed up, and you were about to hear that for yourself. You sat opposite him, he was ready to write down anything you said, treating you like an interrogation. A psychological check-up.

'What you did tonight was dangerous, unprofessional and stupid to say the least,' he said, obviously outraged at what you did. Truthfully, you didn't see the issue, yeah you could've misjudged but you were alive, weren't you?

'I'm alive, aren't I?' you said, a little cockiness in your tone and Hotch placed his fists onto the table.

'You could've died. Do you understand me?' not once did he break his cold demeanour.

'Yes,' you sighed, standing up, 'Yes, I understand,' you crossed your arms and leaned against a seat, watching him reopen the file. 'Is this one of your necessary check-ups?' you eyeballed him, and the report.

'Not if you tell me the truth. I won't turn it in to Strauss,' he shook his head slightly, you knew he meant it, 'Beck. Look at me,' and you did, 'Promise me you won't take any chances like that again?' he looked deep, it felt as if he was passing through your soul.

'I promise,' you smiled at him as you lied, but winced when the aircraft's turbines roared; your head was muffled to all senses again- he noticed.

'You shouldn't fly,' he said.

'Hotch, I'm fine,' you replied, realising you lied. He picked up on it.

'I'll drive you back if you want,' he was sincere.

'You would do that?' you asked, completely unexpecting it.

'Of course,' he said without seeing the confusion, 'I know what it's like. The pain,' you'd heard about that incident, but never brought it up with him.

'No,' you asserted, 'I'm flying,' and he nodded, smiling slightly as you sat back down.

'You're smiling,' you remarked, then thinking it was out of line. Hotch peered into your eyes almost knowing it was a novelty himself, and continued to look at you as Spencer got onto the jet and saw you.

'A game of chess, Beck?' Reid invited.

'Absolutely,' you delighted him, smiling at the usually stern man in front of you, who too, was smiling back.