#please read tags and warnings

[rayrayor]

And my SBB is here , so different then I usually write . And this art by @badassfetish ,OMG , the perfect mix of beauty and loss in their faces.

@shamelessbigbang thank you both for being our hosts 💕💕💕

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63367348

What if Terry canceled “ The Russian “ because he found someone even more fitting in his sick mind.

Enter Iris Gallagher, Ian’s twin.

Ian had Mandy as his beard, Mickey had Iris.

But when Terry catches the boys, Iris is pulled into the madness of the Milkovich house.

How do you lose yourself and family and plow ahead to find forgiveness?

And for Mickey, fatherhood.

[chibikyo]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Mortal Kombat - All Media Types, Mortal Kombat (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Female Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython/Darth Vowrawn, Darth Vowrawn/Reader, Smoke (Mortal Kombat)/You Characters: Smoke (Mortal Kombat), Darth Vowrawn, Reader Additional Tags: Titfucking, Cock Warming, Public Sex, Voyeurism Summary:

Day 1 - titfucking (smoke x reader) Day 2 - cockwarming (darth vowrawn x reader) Day 3 - Wall Sex (Goro x F!Reader)

Trying out kinktober this year. Will update tags and description as i go. Likely will not do every day, unless i think of something I want to write for the days I've planned to skip

*suggestions welcome, tho no promises, open to write for any gender and any mk character) **edit - I've thrown in a non-mortal kombat story but it will mostly be MK

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[littlelovelunette]

Sevika G!P Headcanons

Contains- Sevika G!P, nsfw content ahead, BDSM, CNC

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Big spoon all in nude; Sevika likes her cock pressing against your butt as you both sleep, especially because if you're the one who wakes earlier, you can feel her morning wood hard against your cheeks. If she wakes up first... Get ready for a morning pounding.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Precums A LOT; you get her hard and you see her oozing her precum and it's always so hot to you. It's like her drooling, but with her cock. If you ever tease her with it, she will deny it though.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Sensitive tip and underside; Sevika will squirm when you suck her off and tease her tip a little too much. Her hips will raise off the bed, she'll try to hold back her moans though as she tangles her fingers in your hair and tries to make you suck all of her instead of just teasing her. Babygirl gets miserable :((

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Gets a boner at the worst possible time; You're both baking together? Gets hard. Maybe she just wants your buns? You both outside on a date? Gets hard. Playing poker with you on her lap? She'll get hard.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Didn't stop complaining after Vi kicked her in the nuts during their brawl; Sevika is still mad about the fact that Vi had kicked her in the balls during their fight. She won't let it pass, and you sometimes tease her saying Vi was thinking about Sevika's cock.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Won't have you sleep with it inside; Sevika is stern about it and you know no matter how many times you'll ask her to elaborate, she won't give you a proper reason whatsoever. Her point stands and she ABSOLUTELY won't allow you to sleep with her cock inside.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Prefers feeling you raw but is always stern with protection even when drunk; No matter how drunk or high she'll get, she won't forget to use protection. As of now, she can't imagine little hers or little yous running around, yet.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Barely needs lube because you're so wet for her, will tease you about it; do I need to explain?

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ When she spanks you, she'll get hard and you can feel it under her; she spanks you often. When you tease her during her poker games or don't wear panties under your skirt deliberately, she will bend you over and spank you. She prefers to do it with her hand too and most of the times when she's done that, you could feel how hard she was getting. She has a thing for impact play.

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Will put it in whenever you're naked and bent even at the most ungodly times just for the hell of it; whenever you both finish having sex and you go and bend to pick your clothes up, you can expect a 2nd round of pounding. She claims you willingly tease her by doing it. But we all know our Sevika is just horny ;)

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ Doesn't like jerking it if you're not there with her; Sevika says she doesn't like jerking it or fapping if you're not around or with her indulging. Because it feels wrong to be doing that although she would do that if she got way too horny without you around to help but she prefers not to jerk it. Likes having you do that though.

[ram-to-the-ham]

If I can't find any fan art for He Is My Master then goddammit I will make that fan art myself.

[vulturevanity]

A Father's Purpose

Someone asks Martin if he actually cares about his daughters. He laughs at the joke he thinks they made.

Alternative version and thoughts under the Read More (please read the content warnings in the tags before clicking through!)

Epithet: ☆Dumb☆

Martin Blyndeff is a carefree man.

Despite his uncomplicated character, I have plenty of thoughts on Worst Dad and his impact on his daughters -- particularly Lorelai, but she isn't the focus on this piece and I'll talk about her another day.

I think what gets me about Martin and Molly is how efficient he is at shutting her down. Whether or not he's aware of what he's doing (it doesn't matter), it's really telling how smoothly he's able to do it. In the Museum Arc, he unloads another night shift onto her, rapid-fires excuses for why she has to take the night shift, takes credit for the school worksheet which she filled out, then changes subjects so she'll drop it. And he does it often enough that Lorelai has caught on to it, to the point that the first thing she does in the book is use his name to shut Molly down too. No matter what, if it's up to Martin, then Molly will have to shut up and deal.

I wonder how much of this DARVO-adjacent behaviour is a result of losing Calliope, if at all. I mean, I really, REALLY can't see how someone like Calliope would've fallen for Martin as he is today; we know he's always been the personification of the word "carefree" and Callie was an anxious workaholic mess, but honestly the Martin we see would probably just constantly stress her out even more (which he did sometimes). He was already rather senseless back then, but I can't help but think having Calliope to take on every burden for him for over 15 years and then losing her so suddenly must have exarcebated the learned helplessness. And since Molly was the one who took over, he just went "well I guess it's her job now", dusted off and went right back to his little world of toys and blissful obliviousness.

And speaking of Molly. She was suffering so much in that house, and yes, there have been plenty of walls of text about the verbal and emotional abuse she suffered from Lorelai, but I feel like we don't talk enough about Martin's complete dismissal of her feelings, thoughts and protests, and how deeply that affected her. He was the one who taught her no one would listen to her. He was he reference point Lorelai used to take advantage of her. He parentified Molly and made her bear the brunt of their financial troubles. And he did it all with a genuine smile across his face.

Martin Blyndeff sucks and I think we should talk about him more.

[blue-cyber-dreams]

Baby I'm Yours

Reformed!Megatron x human!reader

I think reader is GN? Def racially ambiguous

It's kinda left up to the reader what version of Megatron this is, but I was thinking of/inspired by @revelboo's version of MTMTE/Lost Light's Megatron 🩷

SFW and fluffy with bits of angst

-----------------------------------------------

You swayed slowly as you hummed an old tune, right arm stretched out with your hand clasped in Megatron's left servo, his other gently resting on your ribcage.

While sitting on his desk, you had been humming a song to yourself and gently moving to the beat, when he asked about human dancing. So after he mass-shifted, you had introduced him to the simplest form of human dancing you knew. You guided him in how to place his hands and encouraged him to relax enough to move with the music. The dance style was intimate, but you tried to maintain some distance between your bodies, if only for the sake of your nerves. Now you were alternating between humming and softly singing lyrics to that sweet song you remembered from Earth as you rocked from side to side.

"...And I'll be yours, 'til the mountains crumble to the sea..." the words fell from your mouth as you stepped away to twirl, right hand still in his, only to return to his hold.

You looked up to offer a small smile, hoping this was entertaining the mech. He was already looking at you, a wistful expression on his face.

"You humans have much more complex optics when viewed up close," he said lowly.

You tipped your head to the side and smiled. "We call them 'eyes,'" you responded, playfulness dappling your tone.

You continued to hum before he spoke again. "Your eyes look deep, like I could leap inside. They seem like portals to another world."

You stilled at his words, and he leaned closer to you. The eye contact and proximity made it hard for you to breathe and you became aware of a whole new level of intimacy.

Then, he looked down. At your lips? Surely not. But then he released your hand and brought the servo which had been holding it to your side, and he inched closer. And closer...

You realised you were unconsciously leaning in as well. Then eyes and optics both fluttered shut as lips and dermas met softly.

His servos and arms moved to encircle you, drifting slightly lower, and his grip became firmer. For a moment, all your thoughts halted, and your palms rested on the metal of his chest.

Then, you became catastrophically self-aware again. With a spark of panic, you broke off the kiss to hide your face against his chest.

His hold on you loosened, as if to allow you room to escape, but you didn't want to move away. His embrace felt safe and soothing; you just needed to pause for a moment.

"Little one?" he murmured, a hint of concern in his tone.

You felt embarrassed. You had pulled away without thinking, and you felt you definitely owed him an explanation.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," you said softly into his chest plates. You decided to just be out with it.

"I've never done that before." And if you didn't before, you definitely felt a wave of heat at your face now.

His tone was mild. "What? Kissed someone?"

You pulled away slightly to look up at the big mech. You were met with optics which held a flicker of... Uncertainty?

You averted your eyes before responding. "No, I haven't..." you said, fingers fidgeting with the edges of his armor plating to relieve the akwardness you felt.

His servos shifted up, now loosely resting near you shoulder blades, higher than they had been even during the slow dancing. You looked back up to see a whisper of pain and sadness on his face.

"You are too innocent for me," he murmured.

"I'm not that innocent!" A note of incredulity slipped into your voice.

He looked down at you again. His response came out smoothly at first, then slipped into a near-growl by the end.

"I mean no offense. But you do not know who I am, or what I've done."

"I know what I've seen. I know my own experiences. You saved my life!"

You had been abducted from Earth by another Cybertronian, and kept as a pet. Or a plaything, more like. They had no idea how to care for you and clearly took you on a whim, just wanting a defenseless creature to mess with. Megatron had found you by chance. "Humans are not fit to be kept as pets. They are intelligent, sentient," he had growled to your inept keeper. You hadn't been sure why at the time, but they had clearly regarded him with fear and intimidation, so they easily handed you over when he extended his servo to take you. You remembered what he had said when he departed from them. "Do not worry, little one. You are safe now." And you were.

You brought your mind back to the present, and Megatron's brow was furrowed, his optics screwed shut. A low sigh escaped him.

"They may not have taken you if I had not encouraged disdain for organic life in my followers."

"But it was still their choice. And you're different now," you responded firmly.

You continued in a softer tone. "You are always kind to me, and gentle." His optics opened again slowly.

"I do not deserve you," he murmured, voice rumbling.

You pursed your lips. "That word - 'deserve' - I don't like it. It's so subjective."

He looked at you intently, like he was trying to understand, so you went on.

"By some philosophical metrics, none of us deserve anything good that happens to us." You reached up to stroke the bridge of his nose, and despite his previous protests, he shuttered his optics and slightly leaned down into your touch.

"I prefer to aim for maximising the good things in the universe. Sometimes, or even often, that means pursuing justice, and trying to determine just what it is that someone deserves... But not always."

Your finger came down from his nose and traced his dermas, and they parted when you made contact with them. His optics opened again and met your eyes.

"You are far too compassionate towards me," he rumbled.

"I'm just a big believer in people having the capacity to change. It doesn't always happen, but I admire it when it does. It takes more strength to admit you were wrong and change course than it does to have the correct course from the beginning."

Megatron took your hand in his servo and pressed a kiss to it.

"Could I be allowed this?" He seemed to be asking no one at all, and yet also the entire universe. Any being who might be listening, or perhaps the eternal sparks and souls of those whose deaths he had brought about.

You reached to pull him down for another kiss. "That's up to me. And I say yes."

[secriden]

This line. God, this line! It has been eating me up inside for 2 days now, because let's not forget, this line isn't about love, it's about trust. And that has implications that make me want to scream.

It's a direct reference to this moment earlier in the episode:

At the start of this discussion, Style and Fadel still have a kind of playful air about their conversation:

Style: Oh? Not even me? Fadel: You're at 80% at best. I feel like you're hiding something from me in the 20%.

In this exchange, though, there's a sense that Fadel is issuing a challenge, like there's something specific which Style can do to gain Fadel's full trust. And while Style knows there are things he cannot (yet) reveal to Fadel, I think a part of him is determined to be as honest as he can be, which is why he issues a challenge of his own by asking for more specificity:

Style: What do I have to do to gain your complete trust?

Part of this question is a simultaneously inquisitive and deflective - What (and why) do you think I'm hiding (something) from you? - but there's also a moment after Style finishes speaking where he stills and goes quiet that feels... genuine, weighty. Or, as @airenyah has pointed out in her meta on Style in episode 4, the "grounded[ness]" in Style's demeanour is a signal that Style means what he's saying in the moment. Maybe about his own desire to be worthy of Fadel's trust, maybe about how he genuinely does want this relationship to be real in whatever way that matters to Fadel.

I think Fadel sensed that too, because the moment looses all the lightheartedness it had before. Fadel pauses, and then gets a look on his face that just... breaks my heart. There's a sombreness there, like he knows he's going to have to say something that makes him sad. Fadel looks away, and then down, before he seems to steel himself and says:

Fadel: It'll never happen. No matter how much you love someone, I just don't believe that you can completely lay yourself bare in front of them.

Fadel says this like it's fact. Like what he's expressing is something foundational and true and irrefutable. It's not even about his doubt in Style's honesty, because this statement has no qualifiers or conditions put on it to connect it to Style. Rather this is what Fadel fundamentally believes about relationships and trust: he finds the very concept of being fully known and still accepted an impossibility.

Sure, maybe this is because of the falling out (or betrayal or disappearance) associated with the former lover; but I also think it might be because Fadel is acutely aware not only that he's hiding a rather big and dark secret (not to mince words, but: actual literal premeditated murder), but also about what it implies about Fadel. Because being able to kill another human, coldly and clinically and without remorse, takes a certain type of person. Because, yes, Fadel has lived through an absolutely harrowing and traumatising event (his parents' murder), but it's also undeniable that it changed him. Because there's something about Fadel that twisted dark and which he never quite got back. There's an anger, a hurt that colours every moment of his life; that enables him to look a man in the eyes, smile politely, and pull a trigger.

And at this point in their relationship, Fadel's understanding of Style is that he's... well, kind of innocent. Especially in comparison to Fadel and Bison, and even Kant.

Style, who easily reveals facts about his life which Fadel already knows (winning a car tuning competition), making Fadel doubt his own instincts about Style hiding secrets. Style, who also reveals the things Fadel doesn't know, like the tender and secret pain of a mother lost to cancer (which, now that I think about it, Fadel may also know) and his worries about a father who "lost his bearings for a bit" (which he probably doesn't). Style, who tries to comfort Fadel in his own loss by offering a safe space and a sympathetic ear.

Style, who doesn't just see Fadel for his tragedy, but is asking to be given the chance to accept all of Fadel as a person. Style, who not only wants but has the capacity, to be the only person Fadel needs to rely on. Style who, despite the sea of differences between them, understands Fadel on a level that is so very foundational.

I'm going to slightly segue and mention something that may not resonate with everyone, but really hit me in the gut this episode: because I lost my father when I was 16 after he battled cancer for 2 painful years. And this revelation about Style has totally shifted and coloured everything Style has done in a new light for me. Because not only does this totally explain Style's sometimes almost stubbornly childish demeanour (it's common in adults who've had to 'grow up' too early), but also why Style shows seemingly random flashes of insight and maturity when they are most crucial. Notably, Style has this almost instinctive sense of when he needs to back off a sore point with Fadel that I couldn't quite put my finger on until this episode.

I've seen a few jokes about Style's awkward subject change, but I've actually got a friend who I hold very dear to my heart who was one of the only people to give me a sense of normalcy and comfort when my dad was on his last few days and then at his funeral. And part of that was the instinctive way she would know when I needed to just. Not be a grieving daughter for a few minutes. To get a small respite from the overwhelming hopelessness and sense of impending loss. To get a moment to breathe and gather my strength, because knowing I was never going to see my dad again, or hear his voice, or hold his hand was tearing me apart back then. Sometimes she'd talk to me about college drama, sometimes she'd introduce a new kpop video to me, sometimes she'd just ask me what I wanted to eat and take me to go have a meal with her. And sometimes there really just isn't anything else to say other than "I'm sorry." Nothing you say - nothing you can say - is going to ever, ever make this grief go away, and in most cases, it was better when people (especially those who couldn't really understand) didn't try.

And I think if you look at Fadel very closely, there's a moment of genuine surprise (Fadel wasn't expecting the subject change at all) and then... something that looks like fondness mixed with exhausted relief. Because I don't think Fadel was ready to talk about his parents yet. This was honesty he wasn't ready to give Style, mostly prompted because Style himself had willingly been so vulnerable that a part of Fadel wanted to reciprocate. But further down that path lies not only his darkest memories, but also the connection to the part of his life he is not willing to share with Style yet. So this subject change is a relief, it's a blessing, but it's also Style knowing when he shouldn't push any further with Fadel's fragile heart.

Which brings me back to how well the episode's theme of trust (both deserved and undeserved) was woven in this episode. This is true on multiple levels and characters but I'm not even going to attempt to touch Kant in this post because... Lord, that is beyond me at the moment. Someone else needs to do that, pretty please, so I can reblog it and scream.

It starts, somewhat unexpectedly, with Fadel asking for entrance into the intimate spaces of Style's life.

So, this episode was not about Fadel's fear of his own feelings, desires, or even affection for Style - that appears to be fully addressed in episode 4. I think that's why we see Fadel be so physically affectionate and indulgent of Style in this episode. He's come to terms with his lust for Style's body (hence his comfort in initiating sex), he's accepted Style as his boyfriend and so can enjoy Style's playful teasing (still reluctantly, but Fadel is still an introvert even if he's mostly enjoying Style's rambunctious nature), and give into Style's (and Bison's and Kant's) cajoling with relatively little fuss.

He's even comfortable toying with the edges of revealing his darker and more sinister side by reminding Style implicitly about how violent Fadel has the potential to be. Recall that Fadel knows Style knows some of his capacity for violence; he just doesn't know how very thoroughly Style is aware of the full scale of this truth. It does help that Style evidences no actual fear and, in fact, looks positively euphoric. Like, buddy, pal, dearest one... please control yourself.

And yet something very, very telling is the way the show makes it a point to depict Fadel very deliberately getting drunk during the double date. Even before the date has started, Fadel looks to be about half a beer in and we see him constantly drinking, drinking, drinking during the whole date. From the conversation about trust he has with Style while Kant and Bison are being off key and adorable about it, to after Kant leaves and Bison gets worried. And we've seen Fadel cope with emotional and mental distress with alcohol before, so we know that Fadel is internally fighting some kind of very intense battle even as he is also very clearly enjoying moments with Style on this date (most notably when they're dancing by the bowling lanes and when Style asks him to go home with him).

So here's my take: rather than being about love, this is about Fadel fighting to hold onto his own philosophy on relationships and trust. Because as much as I do believe Fadel believes he's telling the truth when he tells Style that 100% trust is "impossible", I think it's clear that's not what he wants.

What he wants is to finish this last job so that the only thing he can't be honest about with Style will finally stop being a factor in his life. What he wants is to fully and completely reciprocate the openness Style seems to be giving Fadel. What he wants is to switch off his brain and let his heart lead for once, to stop fighting a battle he has no desire to win anymore, only he can't. Trust (not love) is Fadel's final frontier, and one which he can't quite give up in spite of himself.

Which is why I think Fadel intentionally gets himself drunk here. Because he wants to let his guard down around Style. He wants to open himself fully, he wants to "lay himself bare" for Style, he wants Style to know the full truth and accept him anyway - and he gets so close, but can't quite get there - because he doesn't know that Style already has.

When Style says this, Fadel thinks it's empty words, not knowing that Style has long passed the bar Fadel thinks is insurmountable. And just like Style was able to offer safety and reassurance to the vulnerability Fadel was showing in episode 4, Style instinctively gets to the core of Fadel's darkest fears again:

Style: One day, I'll be your 100%.

This isn't (just) a promise that Style will wear Fadel's stubbornness down, or that Style will be worthy of Fadel's 100% (which, already, has me in tears, ngl). Beyond that, this is Style promising Fadel isn't ruined for this; that it isn't too late, that whatever hurts and wounds Fadel has can be made whole again. That the kind of honest and all-encompassing and unconditional trust which Fadel says is impossible can, in fact, be his. That Fadel still has the capacity to trust and be trusted the way he so desperately, painfully longs for.

I know a lot of people have said Style in this episode is writing cheques he has no ability to honour, but I think it's more layered than that. Because in a very significant and profound way, Style is wholly deserving of Fadel's trust. Because in all the ways that Fadel has ever known he should want, Style actually IS worthy of his trust. Style knows the truth Fadel is hiding, knows what this man is capable of, knows the danger of being in his arms, knows the likely nonexistent future Fadel has to offer him -- and wants him anyway. Style is a man who would stare into Fadel’s darkness and reach out first. Strip away the complication of Kant being blackmailed and dragging Style into his mission, and Style is literally perfect for Fadel. He is exactly what Fadel wants (and possibly has wanted for a very long time). He is, in fact, exactly what Fadel needs to ever experience anything beyond the shadow of a life he's had so far.

But oh, the cruel narrative means that Style is also, simultaneously, painfully undeserving of Fadel's trust; and this is something Style is very much aware of. I think that's why he's trying so very hard to be worthy in all the other ways he can be. Style's awareness of what Fadel is hiding enables Style to (counterintuitively) be completely honest about his feelings for and about Fadel even as he cannot reveal his motivations. So he gives Fadel as much honesty as he can: offers the vulnerability of his own pain and hurts; the comfort of his true understanding and acceptance.

And just as Fadel's vulnerability in the abandoned factory was met with Style choosing a form of physical connection that prioritised Fadel's pleasure (it's made very clear that Style is jerking Fadel off and that all his focus in that moment was on Fadel, not his own pleasure), so too is this moment met with Style very intentionally choosing to worship Fadel's body with all the tenderness and genuine emotional weight that Style wanted Fadel to have in their first time in the storeroom.

Because, crucially, this was Style giving Fadel the chance to lay himself at least physically bare. This is the closest either of them can get to full honesty with the secrets they both are keeping. It's why Style tries so very hard to show the care and adoration and genuine feelings he has for Fadel. Why he makes sure that the vulnerability of Fadel getting himself as drunk and as relaxed and as trusting as Fadel can allow himself to be is tied only to gentleness and tenderness and pleasure.

Because Style actually knows that Fadel can't (and shouldn't) trust him in the way Fadel truly wishes to.

And as much as I believe that Style genuinely means this from the bottom of his heart, the horrifying full truth is that it is Style that has the metaphorical knife hovering over Fadel's chest. He is the one with the capacity to actually give Fadel a new scar that would truly matter. He is, in fact, the only one Fadel wants to fully trust -- and this, along with Style's compromised heart, makes it so that the circumstances will doom them both.

[theotherbuckley]

Just a reminder that people can write whatever they like! If you don’t like it don’t read it! It’s so simple. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s bad. It’s fanFICTION. Which people do for free. If you don’t like it don’t interact. You can ever block or mute them!! But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. As long as they’re tagged correctly they’re giving you the tag you need to decide if you don’t want to read it.

[frownyalfred]

gently grabs you by the chin hey. if an author selects “chose not to use archive warnings” on a fic, they’re allowed. even if you don’t like it or disagree.

[fijiitt]

goodness gracious, it’s gordon and gordon!

[emberfrostlovesloki]

National Anthem [Hotch X Reader]

Photo Credits: Left (@adropofacid) Center (@hannahs-quirky-moments) Right (@pedroscowgirl)

Prompt: When the reader goes AWOL, the BAU has to figure out way she is leaking government secrets, and if she’s working with a group of terrorists taking out soldiers seemingly out of the blue.  

Pairing: Aaron x Non!BAU-Reader. The reader uses she/her pronouns. 

Category: Hurt / Angst - No Happy Ending 

Word Count: 6.4K 

Content Warnings: Kidnapping, Drug Overdose [Reader], Death [Reader], Mention of sex, guns, language. If I missed anything, please let me know. 

A/N: Hi all! I hope you are all doing very well! Here is a fic that I have been thinking about for a long time. I want to note that I don’t know a lot about the army or its command structure, so if I got something wrong, I’m sorry. I love a good bit of angst, and I hope it delivers for you. The title is based on the Lana Del Rey song of the same name. I hope that you enjoy this fic, and if you do, please like, share, and comment. Love Levi - ❤️ 

List with all stories 

y/n = your name 

y/l/n = your last name 

y/e/c = your eye color 

The DOD building had so much more extra security than the Quantico Office that even Aaron thought it was a bit over the top. As he and Emily got through the fifth and final chcheckpointthey were scanned over one last tmtimend met by a stern-looking general who had the nametag Harrow on. He greeted the two agents and said, “Follow me. I’m happy the BAU is involved in this case, because right now we’re stymied, so having a new set of eyes on this will be helpful.” Hotch nodded and replied, “We’ll do what we can to help, Sir.” As they walked down the long tiled hallways Emily shot Aaron a look that said, “That wasn’t a thanks for being, that was a fix this shit, talk.” Hotch caught the drift and nodded, ing back, “It is, but we don’t say anything about it.” Em nodded back in understanding. The trio got to a secured door, and General Harrow opened and ushered Hotch and Prentiss inside. The room was large with maps and charts on the wall as well as a printout of the city of Chicago on top of the long table. There were three other people in the room who stood when the Agents and the General entered the room. General Harrow made quick introductions by saying, “Agents Hotchner and Prentiss, this is Brigadier General Pabts, Officer Keen, and Lieutenant Blake. I’ll let General Pabts tell you about our current sensitive situation. thereTherealso folders holding the highly classified information as well.  

Pabts motioned Hotch and Emily to sit, which everyone did before he clicked a slideshow, and the face of a young woman in army marine fatigues appeared on the wall. The older man stated, “Officer y/n, y/l/n. She’s been enlisted in the Marines for years and is a dedicated officer. She disappeared two weeks ago, and we believe she’s been kidnapped by a foreign group who is torturing her for information, which is being leaked on sites online.” Aaron gave a nod in understanding as Pabts continued, “Not only are classified documents being leaked, but because of those leaks, a highly skilled sniper seems to be targeting those in the documents. Five decorated army men have been unceremoniously gunned down in the dead of day and I’m sick and tired of seeing my people get hurt and killed for serving this country.” The man’s moment of anger was ignored by everyone in the room as Lieutenant stepped in and said, “I was Offcer yOfficer CO on our mission in Chicago. There had been rumors of the terrorist organization setting down roots in IlliniosIllinoiswere trying to get ahead of the group. We had an elite squad of both Marines and Army on an undercover mission. A week into the mission had names and a location. On our first scouting mission to the location was whe, y/n/n disappeared. Officer Keen was the last to see Officer y/l/n before she disappeared. So either we have an AWOL officer or one that’s being tortured this moment for information - neither of those is are good option for us. Now. Officer Keen, please describe your last encounter with Officer y/l/n.” 

Officer Keen swallowed nervously before saying, “Officer y/l/n and I were scouting an alley. She seemed anxious. More anxious than normal, but we were getting close to where the terrorist cell was, and she was taking point, so I would have been nervous too. We reached an alley that had ladder access to the roof of the building we were scouting. y/n took the ladder route, and I took the street. I expected to meet her again before we got to the building, but she never showed. As it turned out, the building was a ruse. There were signs that the terrorist cell had been there, but they’d left the day before or so. It was only ten minutes before I realized that y/n wasn’t showing up. The unit all started looking, but we couldn’t find y/n anywhere. There weren’t signs of a struggle apart from some blood that was DNA matched to Officer y/n on the top of the roof and down to the street below, but from there the trace went cold.” 

General Harrow looked at Aaron and Emily and said, “Now you understand the circumstances and severity of what we’re dealing with. I’ll leave you both with General Pabts, Officer Keen, and Lieutenant Blake as you read over the information in those folders. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them anything. We’re hoping to have you and your team at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois by the end of the day.” General Harrow didn’t have to say, “Do I make myself clear?” to be understood. This was an order that the BAU would follow. Hotchner stood and shook the General’s hand and said, “My team will be there by the end of the day, Sir.” Harrow nodded once more and then left the room, not even acknowledging Emily’s presence. Aaron sat back down and didn’t even open the file before asking his first question: “Can my team and I see the leaked documents that have been causing the L.D.S.K.?” Lieutenant Blake asked, “L.D.S.K., Sir?” Emily tried not to sigh and said, “Long Distance Serial Killer. There are only two known cases dealing with L.D.S.K.s, but it looks like we might be dealing with three now.” Blake nodded and said, “Understood. Unfortunately, we can’t share those classified documents with you. They’ve been rescrubbed from the web, nd the fewer people who know about that information, he better for the country it will be.” Aaron’s jaw tightened, and he said, “I understand this is a matter of national security, Sir, but how are we supposed to work out the motivation of the sniper, or unsub as the BAU calls them, if we don’t have that information.” Bl? Ke didn’t budge, this was now a power play between the FBI and the DOD, where bad blood was thick. Blake continued, “Your unit is all about looking at trends and finding patterns. We have five dead army men in those folders looking for justice. See if you can link those patterns together.” Hotch chose not to respond to the taunt, instead, he and Emily opened their files and started reading. 

After three hours of reading and asking tense questions, Emily and Hotch got out of the stifling room with their files and more information about the Marines and y/n’s unit than they may have wanted. The duo was about to walk out of the building when Officer Keen found them in the hallway. She approached and in a quiet voice stated, “Please find y/n. She was my friend.” Emily looked at the younger woman in front of her and, with sympathy, said, “We’re going to do our best.” As soon as they had their things back and were in the car, Aaron called Morgan and said, “Get the team ready to fly now. We’re headed to Chicago. Wheel’s up in thirty.” 

On the jet, the team was more together than normal as Hotch and Em briefed them on the case so far. After hearing the details, Rossi stated, “I think we should split up into two teams. Morgan, JJ, and I can take the L.D.S.K. aspect. That will leave Aaron, Emily, and Spencer on the missing soldier.” Hotch nodded in agreement and said, “Sounds good. I’m going to give Penelope a call and see if she can find those files.” Hotch dialed Garcia and said, “Garcia, you’re on speaker. Do you think you could track down some files for me? They’re DOD and they’ve been scrubbed from the net.” There was a long pause before Penelope said, “Are you telling me to break into the DOD firewall, Hotch?” Aaron sighed and said, “I’m saying having these files will make our jobs easier and save more lives.” There was the sound of frantic typing before Pen said, “Got it. This might take longer than usual, but I’ll find your files. Please fax me the relevant data.” Hotch nodded and replied, “And Garcia, don’t get caught,” before he hung up the call and moved to the back of the plane to fax the documents that Penelope would need to do her job. 

Arriving at the Military base was like moving into another world, one that didn’t jive with the BAU. Commander Rambart showed the team the room that was for their use and the bunks that they would be staying in. The younger man looked at Reid and Morgan as he said, “This isn’t the Hilton like you’re used to, but it will have to work for you folks.” After that, the man left the team to their own devices. Morgan looked at Aaron and asked, “Is there some bad blood between the army and the BAU that I don’t understand?” Hotch sighed, setting his duffle bag on his lower bunk before saying, “It’s the army, Morgan, they have bad blood with everyone. And let’s not forget that we’re stepping on their toes, they can’t be too happy about that.” Derek nodded, setting up his stuff above Hotch, and replied, “Noted. Stay away from the army brats.” 

In the evidence room, the team regrouped, and with Rossi’s team working their angle, and Aaron looking for y/n. Hotch turned to Reid and asked, “Assuming that Officer y/l/n was taken, how many routes are there on and off of the roof she was on?” Reid looked at the map and ran some calculations in his head in a millisecond before saying, “There are three viable routes, but if y/n was carried or knocked out on the roof then I’d say there’s only one, and given that she was injured, it’s possible that was the scenario. If not, why wouldn’t she have screamed?” Hotch nodded along and said, “Are we going to go and check out the scene? I can also call Garcia and see if y/n’s phone has pinged anywhere since the day she was supposedly taken.” Hotch nodded and replied, “Sounds like a plan. I think having boots on the ground is the best option for us to start with. We’re looking for any sign that y/l/n is alive, see if she left any clues on how to find her. Anything.” Prentiss and Spencer nodded and headed out the door with Aaron at the front of the pack. 

Rossi turned to Derek and said, “JJ and I will start looking at the profiles of the victims. How about you go down to the evidence and see if the bullet fragments can tell us anything. Morgan nodded and said, “Good luck with those files. Hotch told me they were heavy reading.” Just as Morgan left the room, he overheard Dave say to JJ, “Great, heavy reading and our super iededic reader is off on a team I assigned him to.” Derek chuckled and pushed open the door and moved through the long building, and outside. As he walked through the compound, he passed a group of trainees doing pushups and jumping jacks in the hot evening sun. The drill sergeant's voice calling out numbers and insults to the recruits on the ground. As he passed the people, Morgan was happy he was where he was, and not in their position. It was a bit of a trek to the evidence building on the other side of the base, but Morgan got there in good time. He checked in with the officer at the front desk, showing the young woman with slicked back hair his credentials before he was swiped into the next level of the building. Morgan was directed to go down the hallway, take a left, and right, and it was the door at the end of the hallway. Derek followed the directions and entered a large room that had three tables at the front end and a shooting range on the other side of the room. Morgan stood alone for a second before another person entered the room. It was another young, attractive officer with a name tag of J. Palacios. The woman nodded at Derek and said, “I was told you were here to look at the evidence from the recent shootings. Am I correct?” Morgan smiled and replied, “Yes, Ma’am.” Ms. Palacios looked unamused and replied, “Save your Ma’ams for someone else, I have a job to do here, and your little team is just getting in my way, so put on some gloves. I’ll show you what we have so far, and you can be on your merry way.” Derek soberly nodded before moving to put on some gloves. 

It was golden hour by the time Hotch, Prentiss, and Reid got to the rooftop where y/n had allegedly been taken. Thankfully it h, it hadn’t rained since y/n went missing, and the blood stains were still visible on the roof. Spencer and Aaron quickly started examining the blood splatter pattern to see if it looked like a bullet wound or a knife wound at had been used to inflict the bleeding. Reid followed the blood splatter to the edge of the roof and motioned Hotch and Emily over. Once at the genius’s side, Spence said, “Officer y/n wasn’t unconscious or carried off the roof. She must have been ambushed, injured, but left the roof using her own strength.” Prentiss looked and Reid and asked, “Why do you think that?” Spencer frowned and said, “Well, if I were trying to get someone unconscious off a roof, I’d use the safety ladder, not the option where you have to jump to a different roof and then down to the ground.” Hotch nodded and said, “There’s something about the blood pattern that’s off t, oo. Like the bleeding was controlled, I doubt Officer y/l/n was patched up on the roof by her abductors.” Emily looked at the pair and said, “You think Officer y/l/n went AWOL, don’t you?” Aaron crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I don’t know that, I just think that her abductors would have asked for a ransom already, the facts just seem off. Emily looked at the distance that y/n would have had to jump and couldn’t fault Hotch or Spencer with how they were thinking. No matter what, when she looked at it, the facts weren’t adding up. 

Rossi closed the file he was finished with and opened the next one and said, ‘Well they didn’t redact that all of those who have been killed so far were all on the same base at the same time in Iraq two years ago, the question is, what kind of mission where they running.” JJ looked up from her file and replied, “Well, that’s what we hope Garcia can find. It didn’t seem like anything special was happening at the base during the stint the victims were there, so it must have been a pretty top-secret clearance mission. No wonder the DOD didn’t want that information out in the public. Rossi tapped his foot under the table and said, “These people didn’t seem to have that high of a clearance, unless they were undercover, or had altered military identities? I mean, why kill a random technician, two officers, and one general? I mean, the general makes sense, but how are the other three involved?” JJ gave Rossi the “I have no clue face” and buried herself back in her current reading. 

“You’re saying the gun was 3D printed?” Derek asked Officer Palacios. The woman nodded and said, “You’ve seen the target patterns under the microscope. Bullet patterns from known gun manufacturers would have had a positive ID by now, but there was no known barrel pattern that was recognizable. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem with 3D printing. You can print anything, and it becomes untraceable.” Morgan nodded along and said, “Well, that makes things more interesting. The bullets were generic too, so there’s nothing to go off of there either,” Officer Palacios nodded and said, “I told you there was nothing here for you. So, are we done here?” Derek put up his hands and replied, “I guess so. Thank you for your time.” Derek was disappointed with his findings because he had hoped to find out some kind of information, like a gun manufacturer or a serial number. 

Without much to go off of t, he team met that night for dinner at the canteen. Halfway through the meal, he got a call from Penelope. He stood and took it in the hallway, saying, “Talk to me, Gacia.” Penelope smiled and said, “Well I’ve got something for you pulled from the depths of the surveillance state.” Aaron looked around the empty hallway and said, “Don’t say stuff like that too loud around here, Garcia, I don’t want to be thrown in jail if I can avoid it.” Penelope laughed and said, “Well I’ve sent you the files that I have, you should be warned, it’s not pretty information. I understand why the DOD wanted this gone.” Hotch nodded and ended the call with, “Thank Garcia, you’re a life lifesaverven that information, Aaron moved back to the canteen and motioned for his team to follow him back to their sleeping bunks. The team piled around Aaron as he pulled open his laptop and opened the encrypted files that Penelope had sent in encrypted files. There were multiple documents, but one video was also attached. Hotch opened the file, nd the BAU watched a video footage from a drone following a flow flying bomber plane making multiple passes over a poor-looking neighborhood and dropping multiple bombs. There was no sound to the video, but the flashes on the screen indicated that the explosives had hit their mark. There were a few seconds where the video cut out, and then the after-effects of the bombs were shown from a high altitude. What had been a neighborhood before was now a smoldering pile of rubble and ash. 

“Shit,” Derek muttered. Hotch shook his head and said, “I’m going to print these documents, I need us to look over them with a fine-tooth comb. If you notice anything about anyone related to this case, tell me. Where did this happen, why, and when?” The team nodded and settled down for a long night of reading. By 3:00 AM, the team had a lot more information. So far, they knew that all of the men and women who had been killed so far had been on the bombing mission in some way. The mission itself was called Operation Bright Burn, and it was supposed to take out a sect of the terrorist cell that had allegedly taken y/n hostage. However, from the documents Garcia has sent, it turned out to all have been a huge mistake. The terrorist cell was nowhere near the neighborhood that had been bombed, and 25 civilians had been killed, including ten women and seven children. There were only two other people who could be targets. How y/n was involved was still unknown.  

As the other team members continued reading and writing down information from the files, Rossi motioned for Aaron to join him by the door. Dave and Hotch huddled, and Rossi said, “That video footage is terrible news for the State Department and DOD. No wonder the government had it buried.” Hotch nodded and replied, “It’s even worse than Desert Storm. That footage could radicalize thousands of people abroad and here nationally. Rossi didn’t mince his words when he said, “I mean it’s fucked. No matter what, we have to keep this under wraps.” Aaron nodded and said, “I’m going to go talk to the staff sergeant about keeping the other possible targets at safe houses, we don’t have time to lose, you go tell the team how iimportan tit is that none of this information leaves this room.” 

The night slowly bled into dawn. The team just had a few hours of sleep when the men were woken up with a harsh knock on their door. Morgan and Hotch were the first to the door, and a nervous-looking officer stated, “Agents, Commander Payne wants to see you at central command immediately.” Hotch nodded and said, “We’ll be there in five minutes.” Everyone else in the room had heard the conversation at the door and quickly changed. Spencer moved next door to knock on the women’s room to let them know to get up as well. Harried and worn, the BAU arrived in central command, where Commander Payne and a few other high-ranking officers were standing stiffly around a large screen. The BAU didn’t need the full breakdown of what was happening, but they got it anyway, as Commander Payne stated, “Officer Crimps has been taken hostage by the terrorist organization and is demanding 500,000 dollars for his return. They will call back in ten minutes for an answer.” Hotch looked at his team, nd they all understood. Officer Crimps was the pilot flying the bomber plane for Operation Bright Burn. The TV seems to show live video footage of the officer tied to a chair in a nondescript room. Aaron took point as usual and said, “Let me speak with the terrorists. I have hostage negotiation experience. Payne didn’t look happy, but after some convincing, he was the one to pick up after the five minutes had elapsed. 

The first thing Aaron asked was, “Who am I speaking with?” to which the voice on the other end of the line replied, “It does not matter. What matters is the innocent blood that was spilled, and how much you are willing to pay to not have more be shed.” Aaron anxiously tapped his finger on the table as the call was trying to be traced by Penelope on a secure line. He needed to keep whoever he was speaking to talking for at least two minutes. Thinking of another option, Hotch asked, “Before we talk about your ransom offer, I’d like confirmation that Officer y/l/n is alive. We won’t talk money until that fact is made clear.” There was a beat of silence before the man on the other end of the line said, “We know of no y/l/n. We only have the man you see on television. Meet us at the West shipping port in twenty-four hours, come alone and with our money, or this man dies. And he will die with the whole world watching.” With that last sentence, the line went dead. Hotch quickly changed to the line with Penelope on it and put her on speaker phone: “Garcia, were you able to trace the call?” After the sounds of frantic typing, Penelope responded, “No. There were at least a dozen layers of encryption and rerouting on that call. Whoever these people are, they have high tech. I’m sorry, Hotch. I’ll keep trying.” Disappointed again, Aaron thanked Garcia and hung up. 

Before Hotch could get a word in, Commander Payne looked at the other men in the BAU and also the BAU and said, “So Officer y/l/n went AWOL. We spent time and money on a target who’s a deserting son of a bitch while another officer’s life if being threatened. Rossi stepped in and said, “There still might be a correlation between the cases. Maybe y/n was leaking the classified documents to the terrorists.” That suggestion made Payne so mad that he slammed the tabletop top saying, “If that’s true, I will rain fire on y/l/n’s head like the plagues in the Bible.” Morgan moved forward and said, “Commander, can you share the live video footage with our team. We might be able to get to Officer Crimp before we have to think about the ransom if we can analyze the footage, but the sooner we can do that, the better chances we have.” Commander Payne looked Morgan up and down before nodding his head and saying, “You can have it, now, if you don’t mind, I need to make a call to the Pentagon hostage negotiation.” When Commander Payne and the other men had stepped out of the room, Aaron let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in. He looked at Derek and said, “Good thinking to get them out of the room, now we can really strategize.” Emily added, “And now that they’re gone, we don’t have to pretend that we don’t actually know what’s going on.” 

The team took the next three hours looking at every shot of the video the terrorists had sent, listening to every cadence of the call with no avail. Just as the team was losing hope, Gacia called. Derek picked up and said, “Talk to us, Baby girl.” Penelope's smile was audible through the phone as she said, “I have something for my people.” Rossi leaned forward and asked, “Did you manage to get the track and trace?” There was a pause before Penelope said, “No, but I do have a location on Officer y/l/n. And I know she’s the one who’s been leaking the documents. Hotch seemed to sag with relief, hearing some information, and asked, “Is she working with the terrorists?” Garcia replied, “No, oh actually. The terrorists were willing to pay y/n to join them, and she wholeheartedly refused. In her message to them, she was highly offended that they would even ask. It’s so strange. Here she goes leaking all this sensitive information, which led to the deaths of three men in the military, but she’s offended to be associated with terrorists? Make it make sense.” To Aaron, however, it was starting to make sense. He replied, “She’s acting on a level of extreme moral consciousness. One that almost verges on delusion. To her, sharing the information goes above any law, any order, and religion. The question we have to ask ourselves is what pushed her to this point.” There was a brief pause before Hotch pulled himself together and said, “Thanks for the information, Penelope. We’ll keep you updated on the case,” and then he hung up the phone. 

“We hit the location hard and hot. I plan on blowing Officer y/l/n to hell.” Commander Payne said it with such confidence, and Aaron had to put on his most authoritative voice as he said, “Absolutely not. The DOD sent me and my team to figure out this case, and if you want to see Officer Crimps alive, I need to speak to Officer y/n.” Payne wheeled on Aaron and said, “Now wait a minute. I’m the commanding officer in this situation, and Officer y/n is under my jurisdiction.” Hotch let out a breath through his nose and replied, “Well, the DOD is in charge of the army, and they sent me and my team here to help you and your officers. So, would you like to waste more time while I call someone over at the Department of Defense, or can we get to officer y/l/n’s location?” 

The car ride over was tense; Rossi and Derek talked about the best way to handle the situation on the ground. Commander Payne had ordered snipers to surround the cheap motel where Officer y/n was holed up. It was decided that Aaron would go in with Emily following behind, but not so that she would be seen. The team didn’t want y/n to feel cornered. “So we think this is PTSD from what Officer y/l/n saw while she was stationed abroad? Or just watching the footage that she leaked?” Ask Spencer. Hotch looked into the review mirror to look at Reid before saying, “Something set her off. We can’t know what that means yet, but I intend to find out. And I intend to get y/l/n out of that building alive.” Rossi chipped in, “That’s going to be hard with Commander trigger happy on our ass.” The fact that no one laughed to commented back at Dave meant that he was right. 

The cars were parked a block away from the cheap motel that y/n was hiding in. The SUV and not-so-inconspicuous military HUM-V parked in another motel that might as well have a sign that read, “affairs happen here,” printed on their marquee. Hotch and Commander Payne had a private conversation that the rest of the BAU were not privy to. Finally, Aaron walked back to this group and said, “Payne’s giving Emily and me an hour, but he has his snipers ready to shoot if Officer y/n tries to make a run for it. That’s the best I can do. The clock just started, so, Em, let's get going. While I’m talking to Officer y/n, I want the rest of you to get more information. Scout out possible exits, see when y/n checked into the motel, all of that.” Rossi and Derek nodded that they’d take care of what Aaron had said, so Hotch and Prentiss turned on their heels and quickly jogged in the direction of the motel. 

The motel was old and dilapidated. It reeked of mold, peeling wallpaper, and stains the occupants didn’t want to think too much about. Penelope had forwarded y/n’s room number along with the name of the motel - The Lucky Star - which sounded more like a casino than a place for people to sleep. The outdoor stairs to the second floor looked rusted and ready to crumble, but thankfully, they didn’t make a noise as the agent duo moved up them. Emily stayed at the top of the stairs, while Aaron crouched forward and walked to room 215. He stayed lower than the peephole and knocked on the door before moving back behind the wall. There was a moment before a voice replied, “I didn’t ask for any cleaning services, and if you’re soliciting, I’ll call management. Now go away.” Aaron waited a beat before replying, “This isn’t housekeeping. My name is Agent Aaron Hotchner from the Behavior Analysis Unit. I just want to talk.” Y/n replied through the door, “I’m done talking, and I’m done watching. I’m finally doing something for once in my life, Agent, and you can’t stop me.” Aaron nodded, trying to think of an angle to work as he bought time saying, “I understand why you feel like you have to do this, y/n.” Hotch could hear that sigh through the door as y/n responded, “How could you possibly know why I’m doing this? And even if you did, it doesn’t matter, you can’t undo what I’ve done. The internet is forever. The whole world will see what the U.S. Government is willing to do to innocent people in the name of freedom.” 

Hotch remembered that y/n was driven by moral obligation as he said, “Those terrorists. The ones that offered you a job? They have Officer Crimps. They plan to kill him unless we can find him first. You can help us with that. No one else has to die.” Y/n replied, “Crimps isn’t innocent. He has blood on his hands, too. Not that I want him to die, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if I can get the last of this information out to the public. My last service to my country.” Just as y/n finished speaking, there was a loud blaring noise and the sound of a megaphone attached to speakers as Commander Payne’s voice echoed through the room and outdoor hallway: “This is Commander Payne of the U.S. Army. Officer y/l/n you have thirty minutes to surrender yourself to court martial. If you don’t come out willingly, we will see that you are taken by force. The second option will not be a fun experience for you. I promise you that.” Aaron cursed under his breath. He had been promised a full hour to talk to y/n. To get her to come willingly, the commander was forcing his hand. 

There were some sounds from inside the room, and Aaron began to panic. Just as he was about to kick open the door, he could he it unlock from the inside. Hotch stopped just in time to not kick in an open door like Derek might have. Sensing something might be off, Aaron pulled out his gun and moved to the door. It only took a light push for the door to swing inward. Aaron didn’t charge in. There was a room with a ghastly green carpet and wallpaper from the eighties. The bed was covered in papers and multiple laptops and monitors. There was a desk with a chair that looked like it was about to fall apart. However, y/n was nowhere to be seen. And if she had moved to the balcony, Commander Payne would have said something already. That left the small closet to the left of the door, or what had to be the bathroom on the right. Aaron crept into the room and opened the shallow closet, and felt inside with his right hand. It was empty. Before Aaron could call out, there was a voice from behind the bathroom door, “In here, Agent Hotchner. I’m unarmed.” Hotch furrowed his brow, It sounded like y/n was having a hard time talking. No matter what Officer y/l/n said, Aaron was still cautious and kept his gun in front of him as he opened the bathroom door. The fluorescent tube was flickering on the yellowing tiled floor. The shade covering the light of the sink was covered in dust with bugs trapped inside. Officer y/n was draped over the toilet. She was breathing fast, and sweat covered her face and arms. It was pooling at the pits of her arms. 

Hotch quickly holstered his weapon, realizing that y/n wasn’t going to be a threat to him. Aaron moved to his knees in the small space next to y/n, who was starting to spasm involuntarily. Leaning above her, Aaron looked into y/n’s y/e/c eyes and asked, “What’d you take, Officer y/l/n?” y/n coughed and turned her head to vomit into the toilet. She didn’t really make it, but that didn’t seem to bother her. Y/n handed an empty pill bottle to Aaron and said, “I’m not really an officer anymore, Agent Hotchner. You don’t need to keep up the formality.” Hotch looked at the title on the bottle, Duloxetine. Y/n was overdosing, and he said, “We need to get you medical attention, fast.” Y/n shook her head and said, “Please, don’t. I… I’m ready. I can’t live the rest of my life in a military prison., Just let me go.” Hotch knew that wasn’t how justice worked. However, he knew that time was precious, and he asked, “Why do it? You swore an oath to your country? What made you a traitor?” Y/n looked at Aaron with thanks in her eyes, which were turning glassy. She knew Agent Hotchner was giving her more time, time to die. So she stated with struggle, “Crimps and I were fucking. It gets boring being at an outpost all the time with nothing to do.” Y/n coughed and said, “One night he seemed more excited than usual. As we were fucking he told me he’d ran a mission early that day. That he’d killed a lot of people, and some of them were civilians. He was gleeful about it. Something in me just snapped that night. Can you imagine going down on a woman and saying you’d killed innocent people while doing that?” 

Aaron nodded no, and moved his hand to brush some spittle from the corner of y/n’s mouth as he said, “No. I can’t. I’m sorry.” Y/n shook her head slightly as the tremors in her body got worse. “I had to let the world know., I’ve done such horrible things in the name of this country, and I’m ashamed. I’m trying not to be scared.” Hotch cupped y/n’s face as tears streamed down her cheek and into his hands. He knew the pain must be horrible as he said, “I know. You’re being very brave. But no one else has to die. Tell me where Crimps is being held. Please.” Y/n closed her eyes, every breath a pain as she whispered, “22 West Westlake Ave. Unit 110.” Y/n took one last breath before saying, “Tell my family I’m sorry.” With that,t y/n gave out a cry and seized until she went rigid and her breathing stopped. Aaron did what he could, but by the time the ambulance and the Army came storming in, y/n had passed to wherever she was destined to go next. 

There was no time to grieve or think, and Aaron, his team, and the Army moved onto the terrorists’ location to save Crimps, who had a few broken bones but was going to be okay with some rest and leave. It was late when Aaron made the call to break the news to y/n’s family. Hotch was tired, emotional. He could feel the anticipation on the other end of the phone as he stated, “Y/n wanted to let you know that… that she loved you.” Just as he heard the tears begin on the other end of the line, he slipped to phone over to JJ to continue the rest of the difficult conversation. Aaron slipped out the back door, the base's head command. Standing in the dark, Aaron leaned against the wall and let out a breath. He was alone for only a few minutes before Rossi also exited the building and asked, “Hard day?” Aaron looked over to his friend with tired eyes, saying, “They’ll bury the victims this weekend with pomp and circumstance. Men who were all involved in the killing of innocents. Officer Crimps will be a hero. And Officer y/l/n? What does she get? Nothing but a dishonorable discharge even in death. She was trying to show people the ugly truth that can never be seen.” Rossi sighed and said, “They don’t pay us to think about things like that, Aaron. Just remember, you did what you could today. And you were there for y/n when she probably needed someone the most.” Hotch gave a slight nod, and Rossi patted his arm before returning inside.

Text Break Banner by @cafekitsune

Tag list: @potatovoyager @princessjax @geminitapestry @mandarinmoons @alicewonderao3 @beardedhotchner @michasia24

Want to be added to my tag list? Please check out this post (linked) 

Want to send in a request? Please check out this post, CM Request Post (linked)

[moeblob]

follow up to this

[catofoldstones]

Sansa Stark whenever the psycho bitch who killed her father or the next top contenders for Westeros’ most traumatised unaware pedophiles try to info dump & project their secrets/plans/opinions on her

[epiphanyepica]

Thoughts on Captive Prince

So, fun fact! I did not do chapter-by-chapter thoughts on Captive Prince's first book. I did send some of my reactions and scathing opinions about Laurent to my friend, though! So, I figured I'd share some of that with those of you who like these posts!

A few things to note is that most of these were texts, but I've reformatted or adjusted the wording on some of them to be better suited as reactions. I've also omitted the responses my friend sent to my texts, so some things may seem like they're a part of a conversation.

Now... be warned... I was not the biggest fan of Laurent in the first book.

...

Okay, so my first impressions of Captive Prince so far include:

1. I think I should give lesbian books a chance because this book described a woman in a seductive light one time so far and I immediately felt intrigued 🤣.

2. I love how Damen's type is pale, blond(e), and probably blue eyed, and guess what LAURENT IS.

Damen just called Laurent PRINCELING. My Kadolin heart is feeling like this is infidelity. A blond prince and a tan man who is beneath him, socially 😭 calling him 'princeling'.

I've gotten far enough into Captive Prince to begin questioning whether or not Laurent is redeemable or if I can really ship him and Damen.

Laurent, from Damen's POV anyway, and from his ACTIONS, is nearly just as bad as all the other power hungry, sadistic rapists in that court, to be honest.

Like, I'm sure he has backstory that explains it, but it does NOT excuse the fact that while he won't rape anyone himself, he'll have someone else do it to punish that person.

As it stands right now, I want Laurent to get his ass fucking kicked so badly. He's coming across as spoiled and sadistic and I deeply dislike it.

I don't know if I'll ever like Laurent. He literally had someone raped to prove a point because he was acting like a spoiled prince not getting his way.

I also personally think he's a horrible person. Like I get that there's a backstory here that Damen doesn't know and Laurent grew up in Vere and they're practically all sadists there, but as it is, he's nearly just as bad as the rest of them because he not only doesn't do anything to change things, he perpetuates them.

Laurent is a compelling character. I just hate his actions.

The whole situation is messed up, but I'm more on Damen's side because he doesn't turn a blind eye to the sadistic torture these slaves are enduring.

I'm like 50% of the way through book 1 currently, by the way.

I do have hopes for Laurent's character to improve, but right now, he's pissing me off so badly.

I'm not over here trying to debate whether or not Damen is in the wrong for his own participation with sex slaves, but that Laurent's handling of him seems worse than what Damen would do to a palace slave.

Damen goes on about how the palace slaves in Akielos are meant to be treated better and are trained to be treated better, but that they are being wildly abused in Vere because Veretians are so much more violent in this respect.

So far, I just want to punch Laurent, and to be fair, regardless of the backstory, I still thinks he deserves a punch or two.

Okay, I have things to say...

I have a love-hate relationship with Laurent because, right now, Damen has a love-hate relationship with him.

Anyways, Damen going outside and realizing that the other prince was FLIRTING with Laurent and he just randomly, without thinking about it, interrupted the whole thing. Like hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Also, Nicaise is THE REGENT'S PET AND HAS BEEN SINCE HE WAS TEN/ELEVEN YEARS OLD?

That man is a fucking pedophile.

And Damen respected him, too 😭.

And it's just giving me really bad vibes because of how Laurent interacts with Nicaise and it makes me wonder...

Like the Regent is a full on pedophile, and when they have nephews or nieces, those are usually their number one victims.

I love Erasmus. He's so sweet 🥺.

The pedophile Regent going on about how Laurent used to be such a "lovely boy" NAHHHHHHH.

RED FLAG 🚩 RED FLAG 🚩 RED FLAG 🚩.

The Regent took his sweet time with planning to kill Laurent and it's making me wonder if, perhaps, that's because he was useful to his uncle when he was a boy. NOOOOO 😭😭😭.

...

BONUS:

I have spent the last 45 minutes or so looking into getting other library cards for free to get Prince's Gambit sooner. None of the options were working for me and then BAM.

Cue maniacal laughter.

...

PS: When I do a reread of this series someday–depending on how I feel about it once I finish it–I might do reread notes for Captive Prince and the rest of the trilogy for funsies. I think it'd be cool to react to my old theories and what not.

[ivoryratdoggerythethird]

i could've gone my whole life without learning about hector as more than the boyfriend-killer because what do you mean. what do you mean he was favored by apollo. what.

apollo who is the god of prophecy? apollo whose prophetic powers were a of gift of cassandra? fucking cassandra of troy, the mad oracle, sister to hector? cassandra who rejected him?

cassandra who was then cursed to never be believed about her visions. cassandra who saw her kingdom fall and her brothers die and her own murder play out. cassandra whose eyes were blessed and doomed but whose voice was denied. by apollo.

apollo who was supposed to help hector triumph. apollo who would rather let the seer be harked as hysterical and mad than compromise his ego. apollo who let even his champion be deaf to the prophecies of their loss. of his own death.

hector who was graced by apollo. hector, brother of all-seeing cassandra. hector who was denied the warnings of their fates by the god who was meant to guide him. hector, who his patron deity would rather let die and be disgraced and have his corpse paraded around his horrified, beloved city and leave his wife a widow and his son vulnerable to his own murder and his loving king-father left to beg the killer of his son for a cold dead body.

hector who was blessed by apollo to die a gruesome death before his doomed city because apollo would rather punish his sister than keep him alive. cassandra knew, cassandra tried to tell him, to tell anyone. apollo wouldn't allow it.

the hubris and wrath of a god always triumphs over their own favor. aphrodiate would rather her beloved son be miserable than concede to a mortal woman, zephyr would rather kill the mortal he loves than suffer the jealousy and shame of watching him with another god.

apollo who guides the arrow of paris to avenge hector but what does that matter? for years he kept their sister's words of warning and desperate pleas from reaching their ears, visions that might have saved him, warned him. but of course, the lives of a city full of mortals is worth nothing against a sliver of a god's pride. what the hell.