Toy car
We got back to the station to get the witness in for interview. I wanted to be the one to do it. He already felt like owed me because, well, he shot me. So I had better chances to get it all out of him quickly. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to.
Hotch sent me to the hospital to get my arm checked out. He instructed JJ and Derek to come with me. JJ to talk to the doctors and Derek to make sure I wouldn’t leave. I swear he treats me like a child.
“How’s the pain?” Derek asked.
“Barely even feel it,” I said.
“Compare it to something,” Derek said.
“Feels like when you get shot,” I said.
JJ laughed, “No kidding.”
“Well, what am I supposed to compare it to? He got shot before,” I said.
“I didn’t,” JJ said.
“Only hurts when I put the pressure on in,” I said.
“On a scale from one to ten?” JJ asked.
“Like a three, wouldn’t recommend, but it’s not the worst thing,” I said.
Derek chuckled, “You’re like crazy smart when it comes to work, but with these kind of things your iq goes down to sixty.”
“That’s cause I spent too much time with you. It was a joke, smarty pants. It’s like a six,” I said.
“Not too bad then,” JJ said.
JJ was laughing the whole time while Derek and I were bickering. He’s like my brother. The kind I’d give my kidney to, but I would end him if he took something of mine without asking. I guess the whole team is like that. It’s really a blessing. And sometimes a curse for Hotch. He secretly loves it, but he’ll never admit that.
The doctors said I was really lucky because the bullet didn’t hit any major arteries. Turns out it wasn’t just a scratch, but I already knew that. They wanted to keep me for an observation and do some tests to make sure everything was fine.
I wanted to go and argue about it because it’s not like I’m here on vacation. We have a very dangerous guy to catch. And that’s when I realized why JJ was the one to talk to the doctors. And why Derek was supposed to not let me walk out. I never underestimated Aaron, but he really does know what he’s doing.
“You seem upset,” Derek said, “Is the pain worse?”
“She’s upset about the hoodie,” JJ shook her head.
“Are you surprised? It was a great hoodie,” I said.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t, but you just got shot and you’re worried about a hoodie,” JJ said.
“It was a really good hoodie though,” Derek said.
“Thank you,” I said.
We’ve been sitting there for hours. I get the doctors have a lot of work, but we do too. We can’t afford to just sit here while the UnSub is on the loose.
We decided to work with the team over the phone. The witness thankfully had a lot of information about the guy we were looking for, so we had something. It was still a long way to go though.
I had to stay for an observation so Derek went back to the station, but JJ insisted on staying. We were still working with the rest of the team over the phone until about nine pm. They were finishing for the day so we did too.
“The first time I ever needed stitches was when Emily got mad at me because I took her remote control car toy even though I had my own. So she took the remote and threw it at me,” I said, “Still have the scar.”
JJ laughed, “Where?”
“Here, on my chin,” I said and showed her.
“Oh god,” she chuckled.
“Yup,” I nodded.
“What was your childhood like? I mean besides the obvious,” she said.
“Besides the obvious it was fun. I mean it was hard since we had to move all the time so we didn’t really have a lot of friends. But we always had each other,” I said.
“That’s good. Probably even brought you closer,” she said.
“It did. We would always get in trouble though. I don’t know who had more stupid ideas, but we were definitely not boring,” I said.
“Give me one,” she said.
“Let’s think. Uh, once we were at a hotel and we wanted to see who would throw a wet toilet paper further. So we took the toilet paper, wetted it and made balls out of it. Emily accidentally hit a lady and she reported us to the security,” I said, “Our mother was not happy.”
She laughed, “Who won though?”
“Is that even a question?” I asked.
“Cocky,” she said.
“Honest,” I shrugged.
“The profile would say that you were both acting out cause that’s the only way you’d get your mother’s attention,” she said.
“No need to call me out like that, but the profile would be right,” I said.
“I’m looking forward to hearing more stories in the future though,” she said.
“Sure thing, I’m just gonna have to make a list,” I said.
Few hours passed and we were both just sitting there. Neither one of us had anything to do besides waiting for me to get discharged.
The doctor came and went a couple times and said that she’d let me go as soon as she could. Maybe even make an exception and discharge me in the middle of the night given that we were here to save people.
We were both tired, but the hospitals always gave me the creeps and I couldn’t sleep in here. Too many bad memories from hospitals with everyone on the team.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one thinking that, because when I looked at JJ after while she looked nervous too. I sat up in my bed and studied her for a second.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, “You’re stressed.”
“Yeah,” she said with her eyes wandering, “I told you I was.”
“Okay, but this is different,” I said.
“It’s the hospital, I don’t like hospitals,” she said, her breathing a little more rapid.
“You don’t have to stay. I can ask Emily to come and get you. She’s probably not sleeping anyway,” I said.
“No, cause then I’d be thinking about the case. I don’t think as much when I’m with you,” she said putting her hand on her chest.
“JJ, what’s going on?” I asked.
“I- I don’t know. The hospital and the case. The, uh, the UnSub is still out there,” she said, her breathing getting even more rapid and shallow, “And, and you got shot and it’s-“
“Okay, Jayje. JJ, you’re having a panick attack,” I said getting up from my bed and crouching in front of her.
“Wha- what?” She asked.
“It’s okay. You’re safe and it’ll pass,” I said calmly, “Try and take a deep breath.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Eyes on me,” I cupped her cheeks, “Your eyes only need to be on me.”
She looked at me and I nodded, “Good, now breathe. Mirror me.”
She looked at me for a few seconds before trying to mirror my breath. After w few minutes her breathing got back to normal and I sat back at my bed. She looked kind of embarrassed and also mad.
“Has this happened before?” I asked.
“No,” she said, “Why did this happen?”
“I don’t know. Probably everything you said mixed up together. It can happen to anyone at any time. It’s okay,” I said.
“I saw him in my head the whole time,” she said, “Until I looked at you.”
“The UnSub?” I asked.
“Askari,” she said, “Why am I not past him? For months I’ve been fine.”
“Maybe you haven’t. It’s normal. We’re getting close to the anniversary and you haven’t fully recovered from it yet. It takes time,” I said.
“You were never like this after you got kidnapped,” she said.
“Wasn’t I? Then why’d you say I wasn’t okay enough for the job I was offered?” I asked.
“Okay. I get it,” she said.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. It won’t make anything easier. It’s okay and it’s normal,” I said.
“It’s just infuriating. Why can’t I let this go?” She asked.
“Because it’s not something you can just forget and move on. You’ve been bottling it all up for months and now it’s coming out. But it’s a good thing. It’s a start and it’ll get better,” I said, “You’re starting to deal with it instead of pretending it didn’t happen.”
“Why now?” She asked.
“You feel like you can? I don’t know. What matters is that you’re doing it. And you’re not gonna be alone, I’ll go through it with you,” I said.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“Yeah. I already told you. Sometimes I actually mean what I say and this is one of those times. Wanna try and go to sleep?”
“Yeah,” she said.
She laid next to me, on the good arm’s side and put her head on my shoulder. I was running my fingers through her hair until we both feel asleep.
Next day we were back at the station. We got closer and closer with each hour. We got the name and a location. When we got there, the guy wasn’t there. It was too late.
We spent some time thinking and came up with a plan that would for sure work out. We had to wait for the next day to put it in action. I was going to go undercover as a possible target.
We planned everything down to a T and decided to call it a day. We all got back to the hotel, but everyone gathered in Emily’s room given it was still pretty early.
“Do you guys think relationships can work out in our line of work?” Derek asked.
“I was married,” Hotch said.
“Was being the operative word,” Emily said.
“I think I’m not the guy to talk here,” Rossi said with a smile.
“Rossi said once isn’t enough. He needed real proof,” Derek said.
“And I’m the one making the same mistakes five times,” I said sarcastically.
“Well, you learned from the best, didn’t you?” Rossi asked smiling.
“I think they can. But it has to be with someone who gets it, you know?” JJ said.
“Then it had to be someone in the same line of work. Because no one else will understand what we do and see everyday,” Spencer said.
“Boy wonder speaking facts again here,” I said.
“Yeah. Someone who experiences the same things we do. So it makes sense they’d have to work the same job,” JJ said.
“I think love can conquer anything,” Penelope said.
“And that’s what we all love about you, babygirl,” Derek said.
Next day it was time to put the plan into action. I got wired up and went out in the open. I was waiting at the bus stop he’d take his victims from. After some time he came up to me.
He made small talk and said he’d walk me to where I need to go because it’s late and all the bad guys are out. No kidding. I agreed and we walked away.
“Remember not to upset him. And don’t temp him, he will not let the chance slip,” I heard Hotch say through my ear piece.
I had a different plan though. I knew I could intimidate him into giving up. I just had to do it perfectly and couldn’t afford a mistake.
He took me to a secluded area and started flirting with me. Then he was giving me orders which I didn’t follow. That made him mad. But he was thrown of his game and that’s what I was aiming for.
He took out a gun and pointed it at me screaming. I still wouldn’t budge and practically laughed in his face. He got uncomfortable and insecure. Just as I figured he would.
“Maya, what the hell are you doing?” Derek asked through my ear piece.
“I’m gonna shoot you,” the UnSub yelled, “I will!”
“Twice in one week, that’d be something,” I said.
“I’m gonna do it,” he said.
“Yeah, alright,” I said taking out my own gun and pointing it at him.
He gripped it tighter, “You’re done.”
“Mhm,” I said.
He just stood there for a few seconds, still pointing the gun at me.
“Do you want me to pull the trigger? You need help?” I asked.
He lowered the gun and dropped to his knees. I nodded and took the cuffs from my pocket and put them on him. The team got out of the suv’s couple block away and came to get him.
“Don’t ever do that again,” JJ said hitting my arm.
I winced, “The stitches.”
“Oh god. I’m sorry,” she said and hit my other arm.
“Ouch. Seriously?” I asked.
“Good thinking,” Emily said patting my shoulder, “You did great.”
“Thanks, champ,” I said.
“But you ever not listen to me again and I will bench you,” Hotch said.
“Come on, I listen to you sometimes,” I said.
“That hasn’t been my experience,” he said and everyone laughed.
“Good job, little Prentiss,” he spoke again with a little smile, “Good job everyone. Let’s get back home and you all have the weekend off.”