normal ‹ supernatural/criminal minds crossover ›

ix.

ix. months of nothing

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months went by. nobody knew where rosalind was or if she was safe. or alive. 

a few minutes after she left, sam and dean had to explain what she was, who was after her, who they were, and when spencer recognized their faces, they had to explain away their endless list of charges leading to the bau's discovery that everything they were scared of as a child was real.

a few days after, when garcia slinked into her office, she cleared sam and dean of all their charges and completely erased them from the system. 

the day after, sam and dean took the group into the bunker and handed them books and journals and laptops and they spent hours asking about monsters. aaron was particularly quiet and sullen, something that was definitely noticed by everyone in the room. 

the unit chief had really grown to like rosalind in the time that he knew her. he would always think back to that evening in the basement. he should've been shot. and had the bullet curved, rosalind should've been bleeding. he saw it. and he knows now that he didn't imagine the golden light that came from her hand.

a nephilim. he couldn't wrap his head around it. she was the daughter of an angel. and not just any old angel. an archangel. gabriel. 

none of them could quite grasp the true power rosalind had. sam and dean tried to explain that she had grown to be just as powerful as her father, if not more. the things she could do where otherworldly. and as far as they knew, there was more she had yet to discover. 

at the first signs of fear that came from the people in front of him, dean quickly jumped to rosalind's defense. he explained how he thought she should be killed at birth. how he insisted they keep her locked in the dungeon or use her to their advantage. but rosalind was good. it certainly wasn't the genes from her mother. 

her kindness came from her father. gabriel wasn't around for most of her life but in the few times they were together, the resemblance of personalities was beyond comprehension. she loved to play around and prank and tease and flirt just as gabriel had. 

of course, it changed when gabriel died at the hands of his brother. doom seemed to follow her and the boys around and she lost the light in her eyes. when she went into hiding, she was sure she'd never experience another happy memory.

of course, that changed. 

later that night, sam and dean insisted they all stay in the bunker for the night and they all willingly agreed. aaron stayed up for hours. he rolled around in bed in search of sleep, of comfort, but nothing came. he stayed up in the library, tracing the words written in rosalind's handwriting in the margins of books and journals. when a tear fell onto the book and left a stain, he closed it. more came and soon, aaron found himself sobbing in the library of the bunker.

it took months for things to go back to normal. aaron had to explain to erin strauss that rosalind resigned and that he didn't know where she was or how to have her confirm her resignation. the older woman sighed, muttered something about members always leaving the team, and sent aaron back to his office. 

sam and dean spent every free moment searching for rosalind. it was near impossible. the girl was smart and that blasted ring from crowley kept her hidden from cas who was flying all over the world for the woman. 

the brothers kept in contact with aaron, informing him of developments or rather the lack thereof. 

on one sunday afternoon, aaron gave jack to his aunt and went out to dc. the team begged him to get out, to stop pouring himself into his work to distract himself from rosalind who was out god knows where and he was home, without her. he so desperately wished he would've made a move sooner. maybe instead of her being hidden in some cave in alaska or dead on the floor in a pub, she'd be in his arms. 

aaron did some shopping, mainly groceries and some other essentials. he splurged on a new watch and a new suit. after walking for a while, he ended up sitting on a bench in some park. 

while he was going through emails on his phone and sipping a coffee, a flash of blond hair came into his vision. he turned suddenly and saw a woman walking away from him, her hair in an intricate, elegant updo similar to one rosalind would do. she was the same height, had a similar style. his heart stopped beating just for a second. 

"rosalind?" he called out timidly. the woman continued walking. he abandoned his coffe, pocketed his phone and stood. "rosalind!" he said louder. 

the woman turned with a confused expression. definitely not rosalind. her face was contorted and she was visibly upset. 

"i don't know who rosalind is. i'm michelle," she huffed and walked away. 

"sorry, thought you were someone else," aaron whispered. he sat back down on the bench and put his head in his hands. 

never would he have thought that he'd feel this strongly for a girl since haley. his heart clenched when he thought of how good she was with jack. he got up and left before he cried in public. 

on the train home, he wondered if rosalind would even be with with if she ever came back. she was practically immortal. she'd live for eternity if she so wished. he was just a human. he felt so small and insignificant now that he knew what was truly out there. sam and dean tried to reassure him that the work they were doing was important and he wasn't worth any less because he was human. it didn't really work, though. 

aaron picked up jack later and thankfully his aunt had already gave him a bath and dinner. he read him a bedtime story and jack was asleep by 8. he poured himself a small drink and soon fell into a restless sleep by midnight. 

no news of rosalind woke him that night.