Adopted daughter of Aaron Hotchner joins the BAU. Harper Vincent, naturally reserved with her head always in her sketchbook. Spencer Reid, naturally shy with his head always in a book. Some would say it's fate, others would say it's a curse.
[kinda...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿 I sigh as I tap my fingers on the kitchen counter. My dad was out on his usual run but today he was late. I pick up my phone and quickly dial Spencer's number.
"Harper?" His voice sounds like honey. "Hey Spence, my dad seems to be running late. Can you uh come to pick me up?" I ask. "Oh, of course, I'll be right there." He stutters lightly.
"K love you bye" I hang up. Wait. Shit. Did I just say that?
Spencer honks his car horn signaling his arrival. I grab my bag and cup of coffee before leaving the townhouse.
"Hey" I greet breathlessly as I buckle into the passenger seat. "Good morning" he smiles as he pulls out of our driveway.
Spencer opens the glass door for us, me thanking him quietly. I sit down at my desk, noticing a few case files on my desk. "Ugh, I hate paperwork" I groan.
"Tell me about it" Emily replies with a tone matching mine.
Garcia walks into the conference room mumbling words to herself, a now-familiar sight. "Yay a new serial killer" I fake enthusiasm as I walk into the conference room.
"Where are Hotch and Rossi?" Morgan asks. Just then we hear the deep voices of our lead agents. "You know what they say about riding a bicycle." Rossi chuckles.
"Who's getting a bicycle?" Spencer questions innocently. "Nobody, let's get started" my dad replies quickly. "Um, yeah, okay, um, so" Garcia starts with a smile.
"Two men were beaten with a metal pipe. In Philadelphia last night. Sam Eeks, 58, he was in town on business." Pictures of the victims flash on the screen as she explains the details.
"He sat them up on crates" Emily remarks. "Demonstrating remorse" I further explain. Spencer begins spewing out facts about serial killers covering the faces.
"Wheels up in thirty"
࿏
"Okay, Rossi, out with it. Is Hotch dating?" Garcia inquires. "D-dating?" I gasp feeling the breath leave my lungs. He wouldn't do that to me, right? I can't go through another Haley situation.
"I don't know." Rossi smiles defensively. "You know, statistically, widowed men start dating much faster than females, but Hotch is refuting the data. It's been two years and 19 days." Spencer rambles.
I give him angry side-eyes.
"Venus is aligned with Mars, which means love is in the air and maybe we will get weekends off." Garcia gushes. I put my head in my hands as Morgan clears his throat.
"What? Is he standing there? He's standing there, isn't he?" Garcia gasps. "Hello, Garcia" my dad tries to joke. "Hello. Someone talk about the case." She averts her gaze from that of my father.
I quickly stand up to push past him to lock myself in the bathroom. I try to steady my breathing as I get flashbacks to when Haley was alive.
"I have no idea why he brought you into this house!"
"Stay away from Jack, you'll corrupt him."
"Aaron should've left you in that closet!"
"Harper?" Spencer's calming voice calls from the other side of the small bathroom door. I unlock the door slowly to let him in. "What is wrong?" He asks with puppy dog eyes.
"I'm scared," I mumble. "Of what" he puts a hand on my arm. "His new girlfriend not liking me" a single tear escapes my eye.
He reaches up and wipes the tear before it falls too far. "I'm sure it won't be like that this time" he assures me. "I hope not."
࿏
We were trying to figure out how this unsub could possibly commit these gruesome and tiring crimes.
"Garcia, I need all the information you can find me on the Philadelphia boxing scene." My dad asks the phone. "Well, let's see. There's Rocky I through V. And let's not forget about the last one." She jokes.
"Penelope." Morgan interrupts. "Sorry kidding" we can hear her fast strokes on the keyboard. "Here we go real stuff, uh let's see." She continues typing.
She begins spewing facts in the same way that Spencer does.
࿏
Currently, my dad and I were standing in the unsub's son's hospital room. The poor thing is on his death bed. " Is that you, Dad?" The young boy groans.
"Yeah, It's me, buddy." He attempts to keep his voice steady. "What happened?" His son asks in a weak voice. "My fight didn't go too well." The unsub chuckles lightly.
"Did you win?" The boy fights hard to form a smile. "No, I got knocked out, kiddo. I got knocked out." Jimmy sighs rubbing his son's head. "But you always win." The amber-headed boy frowns.
"Well, I couldn't, you know? I just couldn't." Jimmy looks back to Hotch and me before speaking again. "And when I was in that ring getting punched over and over again, I figured out something. Sometimes, I want to fight, but my body, it keeps telling me to stop. And it doesn't matter how hard I punch, it just... I can't do it. And... And when that happens, you know what I do? I let go, Ryan."
He holds back a sob before speaking again, his wife crying at the sight of her son. "And what I figured out is, letting go doesn't mean that you're a quitter. It doesn't mean that you lost. It just means that you realize in that moment that it's time to let go and move on." A few tears stream freely down my face.
"So, if it's time, Ryan, it's all right. 'Cause you fought a hell of a fight. Your mother and I, we both love you. Don't you ever forget that."
"I love you, too, Daddy." We're the boy's last words before the defining noise of a non-beating heart haunts my ears. I quickly turn to walk out of the room.
Spencer greets me with a large hug as I sob into his chest. "I watched him die" I cry out. "I'm right here Harper, I'm right here."
࿏
I do be handing out trauma left and right. Word Count: 1014
