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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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my shadow (it follows behind)

there's just no turning back

part 3/3

Gotham has lost the Joker. GCPD doesn’t know how he escaped from Arkham Asylum or when. Your team is called in to find him, and figure out what he might be up to, or even if he’s still alive. chapter summary: Poison Ivy thinks you owe her and Harley for covering for you and taking the blame for the Joker's death. She takes her vengeance in the form of hitting you with one of her pollens. A cuddle pollen. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 7 - Sunday, February 9th Backstory Reveal || Undercover Justice League || Profiling a Rogue/Bat || "Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person." part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

Implied future Aaron Hotchner/Reader, feat. Jack Hotchner, this is very self-indulgent domestic fluff, just a very soft scene for Reader :))

(Takes place sometimes after chapter 2, Reader left the Manor to return to DC when Ivy hits them with the pollen)

title from an Alec Benjamin song

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 1.9k

part one // part two

You stumbled down the street and you were at his door before you realized. You paused before knocking, self-doubt and embarrassment overwhelming the cold in your chest.

You could’ve gone anywhere.

You could’ve gone back to the Manor where you’d just left, filled with people you trusted. But you didn’t want to intrude, not after the bombshell you’d just dropped. (They wouldn’t mind, and at the very least Dick would help you out, but the overthinking got to you.)

You could even have gone to Penelope’s. You knew she’d love to help you to, but you thought she might be with the others, or have them over, and you didn’t want to see too many people right now. (And the overthinking got to you.)

So here you were. Outside the door to your boss’s apartment. Hesitating to knock. (You weren't sure why the overthinking hadn't stopped you from coming here.)

Another shudder wracked your body and you forced your shaking arm to reach out and tap on the door.

Hotch answered and frowned when he saw you. He said your name, concerned.

“’m sorry, I didn’t know where to go, ‘m sorry ‘m intruding,” you mumbled, the cold making you half delirious.

“Come in.” You saw his brow furrow as he stepped back to let you through.

Jack obviously heard you and came racing around the corner and launched himself into your arms.

You caught him, easily.

Of course, you did. Aaron always worried about Jack, but he needn’t too much with you. You always caught him, always caught whoever threw themselves at you. It fascinated him in a way, how aware you were sometimes, always anticipating, preparing, always noticing the people around you … You fascinated him.

What worried him now though, was the way you shuddered when you caught Jack and hugged him back. The crease between your brows as if you were in pain, worried him.

“Jack-”

“No, it’s ok,” you said immediately, it wasn’t Jack causing the pain then. Maybe it wasn’t a physical pain bothering you?

“What are you doing here?” Jack asked.

“Uh-”

“Me and Dad were going to have a movie night, can you join us?”

Your eyes flicked to Aaron’s, and he gave a slight nod. Whatever was going on with you, he didn’t want you leaving when you were so obviously not ok. He'd never seen you like this before. It worried him.

“Ok,” you agreed softly.

Jack wiggled out of your arms and Aaron clocked another shiver of pain your body gave when he left. That was interesting and concerning.

Jack was a bright kid, he noticed a lot, and even if he didn’t understand what was going on (Aaron didn’t either), he quickly grabbed your hand and pulled you along with him.

“Shoes, Jack!” You resisted his tug to slip your shoes off, wobbling and reaching out automatically to grab something for balance. You hand landed on Aaron’s arm, he nodded, letting you know it was ok. Balance restored, you quickly slipped your other shoes off and allowed Jack to pull you over to the couch.

Aaron returned to the kitchen, to get the snacks together, watching you and Jack as he worked.

You were subdued but engaged, following Jack with your eyes attentively from where you were curled up on the couch, having been placed there carefully and left with a blanket on your lap.

Jack rambled on about different movie options, bringing a couple back to the couch to curl up next to you and prattle on about them in more detail.

You answered softly every once in while, but Jack took over most of the talking, picking up on the fact that you weren’t in much of a talking space right now.

Aaron carried over a bowl of popcorn and a plate of cookies (it was a special occasion he decided) and placed them on the coffee table.

“We’re watching Cars,” Jack announced.

“Ok, buddy, I’ll get it set it up.” He took the movie from his son and went to put it in the DVD player. When it was ready he returned to the couch.

“You can sit there, Dad,” Jack said, pointing to your free side.

He smiled at his son’s antics.

Jack didn’t know what was going on with you, but he was smart enough that he noticed how cold you looked and took full initiative to make sure you were squashed between him and Aaron.

You gave him a small smile when he hesitated, to let him know it was ok, so he sat next to you, letting his shoulder, arm and thigh press against yours.

You shivered again, but this time at least, it seemed to be from getting slowly warmer.

Jack tugged at the blanket and you helped him pull it up and lay it across the three of you. Aaron pressed play.

Not even halfway through the movie Jack had shifted so he was sprawled across your lap (“To be able to reach the cookies better,” he said as if he hadn’t given them to his dad to hold moments earlier), halfway through the movie he was across both your and Aaron’s laps, and three quarters of the way through he was asleep. Comforted by your and Aaron’s warmth on either side of him and your hand softly carding through his hair.

You stayed like that for the rest of the movie.

When the credits rolled Aaron took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

You mimicked his breath before answering. “Ivy, Dr. Isley … wasn’t so happy about being bothered today. She decided to … inconvenience me. ‘Could’ve been worse though, so don’t worry too much.”

“What did she do?” Aaron’s voice hardened. She'd gone after you? Alone? In revenge?

You huffed a laugh, apparently finding a meta villain attack on you funny. “It’s fine, it’s nothing permanent, no harm done.”

You’d just barely stopped shivering and Aaron wasn’t so sure that if you were left alone now it wouldn’t resume. “What did she do?” he repeated, softer this time. He was worried, god damn it, you were a part of his team, of course he worried, let him worry.

You shrugged, careful of the sleeping boy across your lap. “Hit me with a pollen.”

“What kind.”

You huffed again but answered, “A cuddle pollen. Makes you really cold. Only cure really is human contact.” You swallowed. “So thanks. For this. It helped.” You kept your gaze on Jack, where you were still combing through his hair gently.

“You didn’t stay in Gotham?” was his first thought. You’d told Aaron and the team you were going to visit people, surely someone there would’ve helped?

You shoulders tensed infinitesimally. Your throat bobbed as you searched for an answer.

“No,” you finally said. “Thought about going to Penelope, but didn’t want to see anyone else if they were over. Or if she wasn’t there. Don’t know why I came here.” You voice was soft. You shrugged. “Or maybe I do. Just don’t want to admit it.”

Aaron didn’t say anything, and you lapsed into silence.

Jack murmured in his sleep.

“Should get him-”

“He should-”

You both said at the same time.

You laughed quietly. “Yep.”

Aaron disentangled himself from Jack and stood.

You took the blanket from your lap and wrapped Jack into a burrito. Aaron couldn’t help but smile at the sight, especially when you looked up at him and smiled back, eyes crinkling in such a you way.

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Ok,” you laughed softly. You seemed more … open, energized, comfortable than before and Aaron was glad you felt he was someone you could trust and come to for help. (Why did it fill him with such pride and affection?)

You gathered Jack closer to your chest and shifted to the edge of the couch to stand up.

“I can-”

“It’s ok, I don’t mind,” you said when you stood up. You froze and looked at him with wide eyes. “Unless you want to, he’s your kid-”

“It’s ok. I trust you.”

You blinked. “Oh. Ok. Thanks.”

“You’re good with him. Jack. You’re good with kids,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say. And maybe he didn’t want you to leave yet either.

You laughed softly and shrugged. “I guess. I try at least, I have a few … younger siblings and cousins and friend’s kids.”

“Some that haven’t come in to the office yet,” he joked.

You snorted. “Not even close.”

That answer made him wonder just how many siblings did you have? How big was your family?

“C’mon,” he said and led the way slowly to Jack’s room, walking more beside you than in front.

You set him down in the bed and Aaron tucked him in and kissed him on the forehead.

You had a soft look on your face when he stood up. You exited the room silently and Aaron closed the door behind him.

“Thank you. For tonight. I appreciate it,” you said, fidgeting with your hands.

“Anytime.”

You glanced at him.

“You can come to me anytime, for anything,” he promised.

You gave a small smile. “I know. I trust you.”

“Would you like to stay?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. (Not that he hadn’t been thinking about it since he found you outside his door.)

Your eyes widened. “What? Hotch, you don’t-”

“Aaron, please. … We’re not at work. It’s ok, I’m sorry to spring this on you, I … don’t want you to get hurt, don’t want something bad to happen to you.”

He wore his stern and concerned boss mask for a moment, and you knew how worried he was.

It made sense, you’d shown up out of the blue, something clearly wrong and not explaining until later. It made sense he was worried because technically you were attacked by a supervillain. Not that this attack was that vicious, it was petty if anything, but that wasn’t something a non-Gothamite could really understand. (Or maybe anyone who wasn’t your family. Having the family you did kinda screwed with your perception sometimes.)

“Your couch was very comfy,” you hedged, in lieu of an actual answer.

He nodded. “I’ll grab more blankets.” And was off before you could thank him.

You set up the couch together silently.

“I have … you could borrow some clothes for pyjamas if you’d like,” Hotch- Aaron said when you’d finished.

You nodded. “Ok.”

You followed him to his room and hovered in the doorway as he went to his dresser to grab some options.

You selected what you wanted and hurried to the bathroom to hide change into the pjs.

There was a knock on the door. “There’s spare toothbrushes in the left drawer, feel free to take one, let me know if you need anything. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” you responded so softly you weren’t sure he could hear you. You listened to his feet pad back to his bedroom.

You were in deep. (Deep what? Trouble? Something else? Something you didn’t want to admit to anyone, much less yourself? Yes, very likely.)

You changed and brushed your teeth, folded your clothes, and made your way back to the living room. You placed your clothes on a chair and climbed onto the couch, under the covers.

You lay there. Thinking about your day, trying not to think about your day, the case, your family, your confession, the pollen, ending up at the Hotchner’s … It’d been busy and exhausting since the Joker had been announced missing. But it was over now, and you were safe here.

You breathed in. You breathed out. Focusing on your breathing and quieting the rushing thoughts. (They were a tomorrow problem.)

You listened to the sounds of the apartment until you fell asleep.

~~~

thanks for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc 2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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buried deep, these memories

A faint hum, a fuzz of white noise, started in Jason’s brain sometime during the ruckus. Its volume grows now as the lobby clears out and the chatter quiets down. For a few moments as the spy staggered towards the window, maybe twenty feet away from Jason, the distant side profile of his face looked– familiar. ─── It's been four years since the family lowered Dick's coffin into the ground, and Jason finally feels like he’s settling into his new job with the BAU. That is, until two people part of an illusive group called ‘Spyral’ arrive in custody. aka. Jason works for the BAU and Dick hasn't come back from Spyral.

For @criminalmindsxdc's CMxDC Week 2025 Day 3: Canon-Case, Hero Victim "I think, deep down, we're all capable of unspeakable things."

Rating: Teen Words: 2.2k, 1/? Relationships: Jason Todd & Dick Grayson, Jason Todd & Emily Prentiss

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62983582/chapters/161296525

#yay more things!!#cmxdc 2025 #cmxdc submission #forgetmesunflower

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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Hi! I know it's late, though I still have an ask.

The prompt "canon-case, hero victim" I assume is meant for using cases from CM episodes in the fic, but could it also be in reference to cases (or events) in the DC canon with a hero victim/involvement that are then given to the team as cases or things to solve?

Never too late to ask!

Honestly, the first interpretation is what we intended, BUT I love your take of it as well!! I say it absolutely counts, I’d love to see what could happen with something like that!

#cmxdc 2025 #cmxdc faq

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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Thank you so much for participating in our Criminal Minds x DC Week this year, everyone!

So far, we are sitting at a nice 21 works in the Ao3 collection with a few Tumblr-only additions as well! As with the previous years, the collection will be left open for about a month, possibly two, to allow for late submissions and participation. So if you had some last minute inspiration, please feel free to join in even though the week is technically ‘over’! (I know I’ll be one of ‘em! 😂😂)

You can bet we’ll be back next year! If you have anything you’d like to see from us or if you have any questions, please send in an ask or even a DM.

Thank you again, all!

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc 2025 #criminal minds #dc #cmxdc #criminal minds x dc #crossover events #fanart #fanfic

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

Note

thanks so much for running this!! it really made me push myself to write (and finish) the fics in my head and the prompts were great!! i had so much fun with this!! thank you!! awesome event!!

Thank you so much for participating! We’re so glad you had fun! Events are always the best motivation. ❤️❤️

#cmxdc 2025 #criminal minds #dc #criminal minds x dc #cmxdc

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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my shadow (it follows behind)

love me more (i killed someone for you)

part 2/3

Gotham has lost the Joker. GCPD doesn’t know how he escaped from Arkham Asylum or when. Your team is called in to find him, and figure out what he might be up to, or even if he’s still alive. chapter summary: The aftermath of the case's events. You visit your family. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 7 - Sunday, February 9th Backstory Reveal || Undercover Justice League || Profiling a Rogue/Bat || "Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person." part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

title from an Alec Benjamin song

cross-posted on ao3

wc: ~800

part one

You hovered in the doorway and watched everyone for a moment.

It was one of the rare times that (nearly?) everyone was at the Manor. Cass and Dick had even managed to convince Jason to come. (No one wanted to leave him alone right now.)

Bruce was sitting in an armchair, watching and smiling softly as Tim and Damian argued and Duke stole snacks from both of them without notice. Steph was on the couch throwing her popcorn at everyone, Cass curled up between her and Jason, with Dick on Jason’s other side gesturing wildly when he was participating with Tim and Damian, softening his whole body when he snuck a glance at Jason.

You didn’t want to interrupt but you had to. You didn’t even know where to start, how to tell them … Ideas flew through your mind as you tried to come up with a way …

“He screamed. In the end.”

Quiet. Everyone turned to look at you in the doorway, Alfred hovering behind, a picture of calm although you weren’t sure what he was feeling internally.

Well, that’s not how you were trying to start but you couldn’t stop the words spilling out from you now. “At first he wouldn’t stop laughing, but he screamed in the end.”

Jason’s chest moved infinitesimally with a hitched breath.

Dick said your name softly, confused, worried.

You think you saw realization and understanding in Cass’s eyes.

“I wanted to make sure he couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.” Your focus was on Jason, his eyes warring with emotions. “It was late, but it needed to be done. He wouldn’t’ve stopped on his own. So, I stopped him. I killed him,” you confessed.

“What are you saying?” Dick said, asking for the group. No one else wanted to ask the questions piling on their tongues that you could read off them clearly by the way their browns furrowed and mouths twitched as they tried to … reconcile what you were saying. Admit to themselves that you were telling the truth. Forgive you, maybe, for what you were confessing you’d done.

“Harley didn’t kill him.” You held Jason’s gaze. “I did.”

You tried to convey that he would never be back. Never be able to hurt someone, kill someone ever again. He was gone for good. You and Alfred made sure of that.

“And I helped,” Alfred said, stepping up next to you.

“Alfred?” His name came from two voices. Bruce’s hurt, confused, betrayed, and Jason, quiet, warring emotions, but thankful.

“You are not the master of me,” Alfred said gently. “I respect your lines and morals, Master Bruce, but they are not my own. I made my choice consciously. I should have made it years ago, but it was only upon hearing the request that I gained the courage to act.”

Dick said your name again, there was hurt in his voice, but … less directed at you than in general, and there was gratefulness in there too, you thought.

Jason stared at the two of you, until suddenly he was crying.

“Oh, my boy,” Alfred said softly, walking forward.

Dick shifted to the armrest so Alfred could sit beside Jason and pull him into his arms. He fell into Alfred willingly.

“I’m sorry it took so long.” Alfred’s voice was thick.

Jason just pressed his face into Alfred shoulder and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

You hedged forward tentatively. Slowly. Unsure. Until you were in front of Jason and you lowered yourself to the floor to sit at his feet.

Cass slipped off the couch and leaned into you. Damian got up and snuck into Jason’s open side, latching on. Steph sprawled herself over his back and Tim moved closer to you, to press his head into Jason’s legs. Dick then slipped to the floor to curl over Tim, tugging Duke with him to join your mess of limbs, and they leaned into Jason and Alfred. You and Cass fell against them, pressing further into the pile of Bats supporting each other.

There was a shift and suddenly Bruce was there too. Sitting down on Alfred’s other side, stretching his long arms around to reach Jason (and Steph), joining the family, holding everyone together.

“I’m sorry, Jay-lad, I’m sorry too.”

Your head was next to Tim’s, pressing into Jason’s thigh, Cass pressed hers between your shoulder blades. You could feel, more than hear, Jason’s breath hitch again as he started sobbing anew, Bruce’s breath unsteady, Dick’s silent tears, everyone attached like one organism. You could feel, more than hear, everyone’s breath, everyone’s heartbeats all around you.

These people were so important to you. This was your family. And you’d do almost anything for them. You'd protect them as much as you were able. And if that included killing? So be it. You loved them, that was enough for you.

~~~

part three

thanks for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc 2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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criminalmindsxdc · 4 months ago

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my shadow (it follows behind) :

love me more (i killed someone for you)

part 1/3

Gotham has lost the Joker. GCPD doesn’t know how he escaped from Arkham Asylum or when. Your team is called in to find him, and figure out what he might be up to, or even if he’s still alive. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 7 - Sunday, February 9th Backstory Reveal || Undercover Justice League || Profiling a Rogue/Bat || "Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person." part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

TWs: background character death, mentioned torture and body disposal, guns mentioned but not used

title from an Alec Benjamin song

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 8k+

”You will be forgotten. No one will miss you or mourn you.”

“It’s all over the news have you heard?”

“It’s bad news.”

“Gotham is such a weird place, I’m glad I don’t live there.”

“It’s kind of scary.”

The building was abuzz with whispers as you walked in.

“What’s going on?” you asked upon joining where Derek, JJ and Penelope were huddled around Spencer’s desk.

“Oh my lovely Gothamite! I’m surprised you didn’t hear before us! It’s your hometown! They’re saying the Joker broke out of Arkham again!” Penelope said worriedly.

No, that’s not- Why had no one called you, texted you? You resisted the urge to glance at your phone which you knew was blank of any new notifications.

Derek put his arm around her.

“Time to have some fun.”

“Don’t worry, baby girl, I’ll protect you. And Gotham is over 150 miles away,” Derek comforted her.

“That’s-” you stopped yourself. “He’s out? He’s gone? Has he done anything yet?”

“Gotham news says they looked in his cell early this morning and he wasn’t there, they have no leads on when or how he escaped, or if he had help,” JJ said.

“There’ve been no sightings yet, but the Gotham PD announced they’ve been gearing up for an attack, just in case,” Spencer added.

“They say the Bats have gone to talk to some of the Rogues to see if anybody knows anything. They said they were trying to talk to his girlfriend Harl-”

“Ex,” you interrupted Penelope. “Ex-girlfriend. Harley Quinn. Aka Dr Harleen Quinzel, former psychiatrist. The Joker was one of her patients. Anyways.”

“Yah.”

“You don’t believe Batman is actually real, do you? C’mon, that’s just an urban legend,” Derek said, no way was he real. Derek would need to see him with his own two eyes to believe in the local Gotham Cryptid.

“Considering the Joker considered him his archnemesis and Gotham PD has a ‘Batsignal’, I’d say that one hell of a strong delusion that keeps dragging the Joker back to Arkham if he doesn’t exist,” you said dryly.

“But, c’mon, a man who dresses up as a bat every night? Nuh uh.”

“Don’t forget the rest of the birds and bats!” chirped Penelope.

“The who now?” JJ asked.

“The Gotham Birds and Bats! There’s more than just Batman,” Penelope gushed. Derek loved when she got passionate about things. “There’s Robin too! And others like Nightwing and Spoiler and Batgirl, although she’s not active anymore, and my personal favourite, another hacker extraordinaire, the Oracle!”

“You sure know your Bats and Birds,” you smiled at Penelope.

“Not even Batman can save you now.”

“It’s a hobby of mine, scouring all the message boards and conspiracy theories and fan sites about them, like whether Batman is a vampire or who would be better suited to be Batman: Mark Zuckerberg, Oliver Queen or Bruce Wayne. Definitely Oliver Queen, he had that buffed up makeover a couple years back and Bruce Wayne has way too many kids. And I will not even consider the blasphemous opinion of Zuckerberg, he doesn’t have the face for it. Besides, Brucie Wayne isn’t serious enough to be Batman.” Penelope had her opinions and they were right. She would not be convinced otherwise. But maybe she’d have to drag you into telling her more about the Gotham vigilantes. Certainly there were things you knew that the internet didn’t.

“Did you hear? The Joker’s out of Arkham, apparently that’s the big news today,” Emily said as she joined your group.

“It is troublesome, since the last few times he escaped he mass murdered dozens of people,” Spencer said.

“You’re from Gotham, what do you think of all this?” Emily asked and suddenly all eyes were on you.

“I want to hear you scream.”

You knew it would come eventually but that didn’t mean you were prepared for it, or for five sets of eyes on you at once.

“I think that the guy’s a serial killer and I hope no one else gets hurt because of him,” you said, before making your exit to your desk, which was not far enough away but thankfully they left it there for the moment.

“Uh oh, looks like we have a case.” You heard JJ mutter and followed her gaze up to where Hotch was signaling you with a curl of his fingers.

You followed everyone to the briefing room and sat down.

“Which hurts more? A? Or B?”

“As you may have heard, the Joker’s-“ Hotch was uncomfortable with the fact that he had no other name to call him “-cell at Arkham Asylum was found empty at 2:52 this morning. GCPD have been on the scene but haven’t been able to determine when on how he escaped. None of the local criminals have admitted to knowing possible whereabouts of … the missing criminal.

“We’ve been called in to help, to figure out how he escaped, if he had help and from whom, and profile his possible next moves. Wheels up in 30, we’re driving there and debrief more on the way. Garcia? I want you on the ground with us for this one,” Hotch said.

Penelope’s eyes widened. “Yes sir!” she squeaked.

“Bring the gas masks I gave you, you never know with Gotham,” you added as you followed your team out of the room.

“Wait up, agent,” Hotch called out to you.

“Don’t worry about your pretty little face, there won’t be much left of you after we’re done here.”

You turned to see Hotch looking at you and you took a few steps back towards him. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re familiar with Gotham.” It was a statement as much as it was a question.

“Yes, born and raised, or so I’m told,” you replied lightly, brow furrowed because Hotch knew this.

He nodded. “I want you taking lead on this one, at least for contact with the locals. You’d be familiar with them, correct?”

You nodded.

“Good. And you’re also familiar with …”

“The Bats, Birds and Rogues?” you asked dryly.

“Yes.”

You nodded again. “I am familiar with most of them, and yes, sir, Batman does exist, no matter what Morgan says, and before you say anything about tampered evidence and convictions, when half the justice system is corrupt, having an outside source helps. At least in Gotham specifically.”

Hotch looked considering when he replied, “Commissioner Gordon said that when he called, that Batman was the one to recommend bringing us in.”

You hoped you kept your face as blank as possible without being too suspicious. Bruce!! “Oh wow. That’s a … nice? Surprise?”

“We’ll see.” Hotch waved you on to grab your go bag.

“You will not survive this., You will die here. No one knows you’re here.”

Before arriving, Hotch assigned your vehicle (you, Penelope, JJ and Rossi) to head right to the precinct to meet with Gordon while he, Spencer, Derek and Emily went to Arkham.

You led your teammates inside, winding around desks to Gordon’s office to knock at his door.

It opened to Jim Gordon’s exhaustion lined face. You were struck by how haggard he looked.

“Jim,” you greeted.

“Come on in then.” He gestured the four of you into his office.

“These are agents Jennifer Jareau and David Rossi and our technical specialist Penelope Garcia.”

“JJ, please.”

“Dave is fine.”

“Nice to meet you, sir!”

They shook hands and then Jim sat down and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Thanks for coming out. I know we Gothamites have a reputation for handling our problems internally, but I’m worried we’re out of our depth for this one.”

“Perhaps we’ll start with something small. Something you won’t miss. Work up to the big stuff. Hmm? Let’s start with the fingers.”

“We’re here to help,” JJ said. She could see how exhausted he looked. This would be a difficult case for any city, but in Gotham? They'd already experienced how bad he could be, now they were just bracing for impact.

Jim nodded. “I honestly don’t know when he got out and it pains me to say that. I don’t know what we’re dealing with. Usually he escapes with a big bang and spree killings and a revenge plot against Batman. This time? Silence. It’s unsettling.”

“That’s where we can help, to profile him and see why he might have changed his pattern,” Rossi said.

“Scream as loud as you want, no one can hear you.”

Jim nodded. He stood and began leading you out of his office. “C’mon, this way. I had some officers clear a space for you.” He weaved through the desks to a small corner of the precinct. “I admit I was surprised when Batman was the one to suggest you but he’s usually infuriatingly right about these things so I hope you’re able to help us out here. I don’t want more bodies on my hands.”

“Batman, sir? He …?”

“Recommended I call in the BAU, yes. He and the other Bats are working overtime on this too. Last I heard Batman and Robin were trying to get in with Ivy to talk to Harley- that’s Dr Pamela Isley, Poison Ivy, she’s taken over one of the downtown parks where she lives with Harley Quinn, Dr Harleen Quinzel. They haven’t been seen yet.

“Red Robin and Spoiler were checking with Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot, a mafia boss and owner of the Iceberg Lounge, and Harvey Dent, Two-Face. Haven’t heard anything back yet about Dent but they said Cobblepot said nothing, but they don’t think he knows anything.

“Meanwhile, the Signal is patrolling and Orphan and Nightwing are on Red Hood watch, making sure heads don’t roll until we catch the bastard-” Jim cleared his throat, these were FBI professionals who were out of place in Gotham, but as much as he hated to admit it, Batman was probably right that they needed help this time, and it wouldn’t do him any good to go embarrassing the PD in front of them. “The uh, what do you folks call it?”

“Unsub, or unknown subject,” Agent Jareau supplied.

“Unsub, well, in our case we know who he is, we just don’t know where. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.” Jim hoped they’d be able to work fast. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

Jim nodded and left. As he was walking away, he overheard Agent Jareau whisper, “Wow.”

“This sure is a different city,” Agent Rossi remarked.

“Watch who you’re talking to,” you joked.

Jim wasn’t that close to you, but you’d worked a few years at the Blüdhaven field office and you were close with the Wayne’s, so he’d run into you before. You knew the stakes, he hoped the rest of your team adapted quickly. Otherwise, it’d be a hell of a ride.

“Batman has morals. So do I. But they are very, very different.”

The four of you unpack the boxes of case files of the Joker and get to work. Most of these you’ve read before, not from your time at the Blüdhaven branch of the bureau but from having bat access to them, but it was good starting place for your team to understand him.

Hotch, Derek, Spencer and Emily joined you a bit later and you went over what you knew.

“No forced entry, no hidden escape route or tunnel, no windows, and a hell of a lot of security between the cell and the outside world,” Derek said.

“The room looked untouched, no signs of struggle, as if one day he just decided to leave and walked through the walls,” Spencer said.

“They sent me the security footage and there’s nothing there either. No one coming in or out who’s not supposed to,” Penelope added.

“I gotta say it, it looks like an inside job,” Rossi said.

Hotch nodded. “As of now it seems the most likely. The security on that room means sort of an explosion, there’s no evident way out from the inside.”

“Ok, so who are we looking at first? Workers at the asylum, Gotham criminals, other inmates? He wasn’t supposed to have any contact to the outside world so he couldn’t coerce any one to help,” Spencer said.

“Because he’s done it before,” you added.

“So did he do that again?”

“There was nothing that pointed at the presence of a way to communicate with the outside, but it could’ve been so well hidden we couldn’t find it,” Derek said.

“Or magical interference,” Emily offered.

“What I don’t understand is how no one noticed he wasn’t there, he would’ve needed food while he was there, but no one remembered going to his cell. Ever. And there were no food trays anywhere either. So somehow, someone was able to stop sending him food without anyone noticing when.”

“Unless he just escaped, but that still doesn’t explain how no one remembers going to his cell of having things sent there,” JJ said.

“What are you doing here? Who are you?”

You were in the middle of further discussing the case with your team when someone jumped on your back.

“Dick.”

Your team stared in confusion.

You weren’t sure what surprised them more. A grown man jumping on your back to hug you from behind or you not reacting (except to seemingly swear at him).

“Good to see you!” Dick squeezed you tightly before hopping off your back and coming to stand beside you. “I heard you were called in for the case.”

“Yes. Everyone, this is Detective Dick Grayson, a detective from Blüdhaven PD.”

He slung an arm around your shoulder and gave everyone his best and brightest grin. “Nice to meet you.”

“I … know him,” you added as an afterthought.

“You don’t say,” JJ teased.

Emily snickered. Very unsubtly.

“Grayson.”

Dick let you go of you to spin and smile at Gordon.

“Commish! Good to see you.”

“Not your jurisdiction,” Gordon grumped without heat.

“I know, I wanted to help out,” he said.

“Don’t bother the agents, if they’re ok with it you can stay.” He turned to the rest of your team. “If his defense he’s been around for a lot of Joker events so he could have helpful insights. Still no updates or sightings. No one’s seen or heard anything. Spoiler and Red Robin confirmed that Dent doesn’t know anything. Signal hasn't seen anything unusual either. I don’t like it, doesn’t feel right. So far, Ivy hasn’t let anyone in the park yet, so no one’s heard from Quinn yet. I’ll leave you to it, I have to get back to coordinating patrols, let me know if you find anything.”

“Of course,” Hotch said before he walked off. “Detective Grayson-“

“Dick, please, yes I know, I’ve heard all the jokes, but English is weird.” He flashed them a winning smile.

You saw JJ raised her eyebrows at Penelope unsubtly and Penelope widened her eyes right back. You wondered if the silent communication was about your relationship with him, his conventional attractivity or whether they recognized him as a member of the Wayne family.

Hotch paused for a moment. “Dick, how familiar are you with … the current situation?”

“I only know what I’ve heard, the Joker’s escaped and no one knows how or when, or what he’s going to do next.”

“Gordon said you were familiar with him?” Derek asked.

Dick nodded. “He’s been terrorizing people since I was a kid.” He gave an uncomfortable smile.

“Any ideas on what he might do next?” Rossi asked.

“Go after Batman probably, that’s what he usually does. But he plans things out. He likes having a stage and usually hostages. Booby traps as well. Usually something with Joker gas, which is … a deadly laughing gas if too much is inhaled.”

You heard Penelope gasp.

“And bombs. He likes blowing things up.” Dick’s voice had tightened, and you couldn’t help reaching out to grab his hand and squeeze.

“Where do you think he would go first?” Emily asked.

Dick sighed. “I think that depends on what he has planned. And who helped him.”

“You think someone helped him?”

“I don’t know how he would’ve escaped otherwise.” Dick shrugged. “If there was already a safe house hideout in place, it’s someplace new. W- All his known haunts have been checked by the Bats (a guy hears things), and I’m not sure where else he could be hiding with this much pressure to find him. He thrives on chaos and attention and right now? With the city practically in chaos over his disappearance … he’d love it, feed off the fear and panic he’s created doing nothing. I think it’s only a matter of time before he does something, otherwise …” he trailed off.

“Otherwise?” JJ asked.

Dick seemed to remember himself and shook his head, but he still answered. “Otherwise, I’d start to wonder if someone got to him first.”

“I want him dead. Will you help me?”

“You think someone could’ve killed him?” Agent Morgan asked.

Dick hesitated and tried to find his words. His thoughts on the subject were complicated.

“There’s a lot of people who wish he was dead. Not too many that’d have the guts to try and take him out and none that I know of that wouldn’t claim that fame for themselves if they did it. Or even if they knew that he was dead for sure. That no one has …”

“Means no one knows for sure whether he’s dead or not,” Dr Reid finished.

“What about Dr Pamela Isley and Dr Harleen Quinzel? No one seems to be able to get a hold of them, could they have done it?” Agent Rossi asked.

Dick nodded. “It’s definitely a possibility, and one that seems realistic the more time passes without hearing from him or them. They might even have him right now,” he sighed. “I don’t like not knowing.”

“We don’t either, but that’s why we profile, to see what he might be doing, his possible movements, try to predict and anticipate,” Agent Jareau said.

“Anyways, I’m here to help if you’ll have me,” Dick offered, glancing around at you and your team.

“You already have,” Agent Prentiss said.

“But you’re welcome to stay. We appreciate your insight,” Hotch added.

“Of course, put me to work.”

“I should have finished this a long time ago, but it’s better late than never.”

“I need more coffee, anyone else?” JJ stood and looked around the table you were all hunched around, going through files and reports.

There were groans and grumbles of assent.

“I’ll go with you,” you offered. “You shouldn’t be alone in Gotham, especially right now.”

“Ok, perfect, you can take me to the best coffee place in the city then!”

You chuckled. “Sure,” you agreed, grabbing the keys from Derek.

“I assure you, I am no Batman.”

“So how do you know each other?” Emily asked Dick once you’d gone, stretching in her seat, taking a break from pouring over the files.

Dick looked up from his folder and smiled knowingly, without you there, interrogation time had started.

He did that a lot. Smile. Most seemed genuine but Spencer couldn’t be sure. There were many hidden depths to this man that you seemed so comfortable around.

“Well, it was partially through my brother. They went to the same high school and became friends, but it wasn’t until … after, that we really met and kept talking and hanging out and decided to be friends on our own.”

“Aww,” Penelope gushed.

“You’ve lived here all your life, too?” Rossi asked, also taking a break from the eye strain that was reading all these reports.

Dick gave a small laugh. “No actually. Grew up in the circus, travelled around a lot.”

“Ooh! Sounds like fun!” Penelope exclaimed.

“It was.”

Immediately they could all sense that they were approaching personal territory, especially when Dick picked up his folder again. Spencer knew their curiosity was piqued, but they all knew when a person had talked enough about a subject to want it let go.

Spencer watched the detective for a moment longer, noting how his knee hadn’t stopped bouncing since he’d sat down, how his eyebrows furrowed as he read. Detective Grayson had had good input since he’d joined them, he wouldn’t make a half bad profiler, Spencer thought.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you die until we’re finished here. And we still have quite a lot to do with you yet.”

You and JJ had just left the café with your teammates coffees in trays when you pushed JJ behind you, and she bumped into the wall.

“Hey-!” she started, but then noted your defensive stance and reached with her free hand for her gun.

Something dropped from the sky and JJ was pulling her gun out when she realized you weren’t reaching for your own and had relaxed your posture.

She looked at the figure again and realized it was a someone that had dropped down in front of you.

You sighed. “Red.”

They were, in fact, red. Ah, must be one of the vigilantes. That you were clearly familiar with.

“Agent.”

JJ was partly put off by the white lenses covering their eyes. They hid so much expression, and it was kind of creepy to stare into blank white eyes.

“Batman and Robin have so far been unsuccessful with Ivy and Harley-“

Right, the vigilantes trying to talk to the plant wielding meta and the Joker’s ex-girlfriend, a danger in her own right.

“-and it was suggested that you try, that is what you were called in for, profilers. You can try and talk to Ivy, profile her and Harley if you can get in with them.”

“It was suggested,” you mocked. “By whom? You? Bats? Harley and Ivy?”

‘Red’ didn’t answer, just stared you down, mouth twitching occasionally.

You sighed and glanced at JJ, then the coffees that you both were still carrying, miraculously unspilled from when you pushed JJ out of the way. You looked back at the vigilante for a moment. “Fine, but you have to bring the coffees to our team.”

JJ couldn’t be certain, but she thought “Red” might have been glaring at you behind those impenetrable lenses.

“Spoiler.”

JJ wasn’t sure what that meant. You didn’t move. JJ nudged you and you looked at her again.

“Care to explain what’s going on?”

“Oh! Right, JJ, this is Red Robin, Red, my friend, coworker, person, Agent Jennifer Jareau,” you said formally.

“Spoiler! Nice to meet you!”

JJ didn’t think she hid her flinch well enough when another vigilante swept down from the roofs and landed beside Red Robin.

This one was very purple and very bubbly. For some reason, JJ thought they’d get along well with Penelope.

“Spoiler,” you greeted and handed over your tray of coffee. You looked at JJ and motioned she should to the same.

She hesitantly handed it over to Red Robin. How in the world they were going to get them back to the precinct without spilling the drinks, JJ had no idea.

“Don’t spill that coffee now,” you said in a flat voice, quickly grabbing your and JJ’s drinks before the left.

“Pul-ease, we’re not amateurs,” Spoiler laughed before shooting a line (when had she grabbed a grappling hook/gun??) and swinging away, Red Robin following after.

“C’mon then, seems we’re going to the park.”

JJ shook her head. Gotham was so weird.

“Do you have a blowtorch? I want to burn him.”

You arrived at the park and got out of the SUV, JJ behind as you approached- holy shit, Batman and Robin!! (Derek would have a fit if he were here, and Penelope would probably squeal, JJ thought.) Holy shit, giant wall of greenery!! The two vigilantes were standing not in front of a wall, but a veritable fortress of vines and trees and plants. Isley was one powerful meta is this was anything to go by. JJ was going to get whiplash from all the strange Gotham things here.

She stopped beside you, facing the vigilantes.

You introduced you and her formally, but JJ had a feeling it was for her benefit, that they already knew who you were.

“We’ve come to talk to Isley and Quinzel.”

“Hn.”

Big talker.

“Tt. She will not talk to us, why should she talk to you outsiders,” Robin scowled and JJ was horrified at how young he looked and sounded.

Spoiler and Red Robin sounded like young adults as it was, but tall enough that JJ was sure they were adults (hoped so at least). But this one … this one couldn’t’ve been more than … a young teen? This was a child.

“Well, maybe they will dislike us so much that they’ll talk to us,” you said dryly, as if this wasn’t a child in a brightly coloured costume, beside someone who looked more shadow than man.

“Hn,” Batman grunted again, yet somehow a different grunt that had a different meaning if Robin’s deepening scowl was anything to go by. Robin backed off, closer to the other vigilante’s shadows. Gotham was a good fit for Batman with its almost perpetual cloudy weather.

(Maybe Derek was right in a way, maybe Batman wasn’t a man, but a manifestation of … Gotham? Something that crawled out of the polluted waters of Gotham Harbour? That was way too complex and “meta” for JJ, she’d leave the conspiracy theories to Penelope.)

You seemed to take Robin’s movement as a signal to move towards the giant wall of vines and JJ strode after you. She whispered your name.

“Hm?” You spared her a glance.

“Robin is a child!” she hissed.

Your eyebrows creased. “Hm.” You were almost imitating Batman in a manner now.

“Seriously! That is a child in that costume! He could get hurt!”

You turned fully to JJ, face serious, brow creased, and she knew she had your full attention.

“Or maybe Robin is protecting him. Maybe without the suit he’d go out into the world anyways, with anger and vengeance in his heart, but instead without protection. Maybe instead he’d be one of the kids picked up and put in juvie or kidnapped into a child trafficking ring. Maybe he’d be just a kid trying to survive on the streets or get killed by a criminal because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe Robin gives him a purpose and the skills to do things safely and save others. Maybe he would’ve gone out anyway, so Robin protects him.” You shrugged. “Or maybe Robin’s just made from Gotham magic.”

“I want him to pay. For all he’s done, for all the people he’s hurt. … Killed.”

“We’d like to talk to you and Dr Quinn, Dr Isley. We’re agents from the behavioral analysis unit of the FBI. This is my friend JJ, can we talk?”

Nothing. You wondered how long you would have to yell at the wall of green before you gave up.

“Ivy? Harley? We just want to know if you killed him-“

Not that your team had exactly determined that for certain yet.

“-I know it’s probably annoying that we want to talk about a man when you both have your own long lists of heinous crimes but if we can just smooth out the first thing real quick, we can get on to your disastrous acts.”

JJ raised an eyebrow and you threw your hands up in the air dramatically. You were an awkward conversationalist at the best of times and now you were talking to a giant wall of plants. This wasn’t like talking to your normal household plants, ok?

“I’m JJ, we’ve never met,” JJ started, “but we just have some questions for you-” you saw the other SUV pull up out of the corner of your eye, the rest of the team was here “-about the disappearance of the Joker.” JJ winced, you guessed it was because of the fact that there was no record of any other name to call him.

The team stepped out of the vehicle and was ready to join you, when the wall shivered. Vines shot out towards you and JJ. You heard your teammates yell before you was pulled off your feet and enveloped in vines.

“How are we going to dispose of him?”

Pamela dropped the two of you in her parlour (what? Of course she had specific rooms to her plant fortress) and waited for you to get up. You untangled yourself from where you’d wrapped yourself protectively around the blonde agent, and helped her up, staying between her and Pam the whole time. How sweet.

“Ivy.” You nodded in greeting. “Thank you for having us.” Well, at least you had manners.

“Not my idea. Harls wanted to talk to you,” Pam said, bored. She went over to her lounger to lie down. She slid her sunglasses on and observed you from behind them.

You seemed calm, but she could see the tenseness in your shoulders as you murmured with your partner and dissuaded her from grabbing her gun. Smart move, Pam wouldn’t let that stand in her own home.

“Howdy!” Harley jumped in exuberantly from who knows where.

You had to grab the blonde’s hand from reaching for her gun again.

“Harley, it’s good to see you. Thank you for seeing us.”

“Meh,” she shrugged. “Batsy’s no fun when he’s hung up on Mista J. No one is, I didn’t wanna see ‘em. But I was getting’ bored so you came at a great time! C’mon in, sit down!” She waved you both over to a small table in the corner of the room.

Pam watched uninterestedly.

“So,” Harley started when the three of you were seated, “you wanna know if I killed Mista J, huh?”

“Yes, or if you know who killed him, or where he is.”

Pam had to give the blonde some credit, she was completely out of her depth here in Gotham, and in Pam’s domain, but she faced it head on, and with fantastic style no less.

“Oh, hunny bunchkins, Mista J is most, absolutely, certainly dead. Dead he is.”

“He is? You know this for sure? Do you have proof?”

“Of course I do! He’s as dead as Ive’s relationship with Kite-man!” Harley exclaimed, and- ouch? But not really, she was very happy in her relationship with her girlfriend.

“Do you know who killed him?” you asked.

“You may be wondering why I am here. I’ll do you the courtesy of letting you know. I am here to kill you.”

“Do I know who killed him? Of course, I know who killed him! You’re lookin’ at ‘er!”

“You?”

“You killed the Joker?”

“Yeppers, so I know he ain’t comin’ back, that’s for sure. He’s gone-for-good-goners.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone before? Then we wouldn’t have had to come down and bother you like this?”

Ok, yah. Blondie was smarter than stereotypes, sharp, clever. If she was a villain, Harley definitely would consider inviting her to her and Pam's book club.

Harley shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it. None o’ your business anyways who I kill!” She blew the two of you a raspberry.

“Actually, that’s kind of our job,” you said mildly, unphased.

“But you definitely killed him,” she asked again. Harley gave her props for persistence, she was staring down two powerful supervillains, Gotham’s Queenpins, and not giving an inch once she’d found her footing. It was definitely entertaining. Harley made a good choice convincing her girlfriend to bring you two in.

“Tha’s what I said.” Although, it was still annoying to be questioned so much, Harley was starting to get a glint in her eye. “If ya don’t believe me, try ‘n find him. That’s what you’re supposed tuh be able tuh do with your brain powers, isn’t it? That’s why Gordon called ya here, ‘n you haven’t found ‘im yet.” Harley stood up and you yanked your coworker up too.

“We just want to know where he is. Where he was … buried, disposed of, left, or kept, after he was killed, where is he now?” you asked, backing away from your hostesses, herding Blondie behind you.

Harley paused, then gave her biggest, but not wildest, grin. “You’re lookin’ at ‘im! I had Ives turn ‘im into mulch. Compost ‘im. To feed her plants! So he wouldn’t be such a waste of space after he died. ‘Sides, Ives would hardly let him be disposed in an un-eco-friendly manner.” She rolled her eyes.

“Can I have some? My plants need it.”

“I think it’s time for you to go.” Dr Isley stood up and JJ’s hand once again brushed her side where her gun sat against her hip, but the situation and your arm in front of her reminded her to take a deep breath and move on as if everything was fine. As if she wasn’t preparing to be flung back through the wall of plants. And that was best case scenario. But she was a professional, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, although instances with metas were of the rare sort.

“Thank you for your time, you’re right, we’ll go now,” you said with a calmness that JJ had the sense was more from a familiarity of dealing with your hometown criminals than your regular job experience and professionalism.

“Wait here, I won’t be long.”

Hotch prided himself on having a very good poker face. From years as a prosecutor to years in the BAU, it was in his best interest if no one knew what he was thinking at any given moment.

When you and JJ didn’t come back from your coffee run but instead two colourful vigilantes telling him that you’d gone to talk to two dangerous felons, one of them a powerful meta eco-terrorist, the other a wild and temperamental criminal, he was worried. But he put on his stern boss mask and told Dave to stay with Penelope to continue searching possibilities as the rest of them rushed to the remaining SUV.

Detective Grayson led the way to the park with a GCPD officer in a cruiser car, Morgan following close behind.

They all immediately clocked you and JJ standing by the enormous hedge wall, with … ah, that must have been Batman and … Robin? Batman’s sidekick, Robin?

He started walking towards you two, already planning to save the reprimands (worry) for later when he could shed his mask in private.

But then the wall shivered and vines swallowed you, and his stomach dropped, he was right behind Morgan, racing to where you disappeared from.

Before they could get there, Grayson was in front of them, Batman and Robin(?) behind him, looking intimidating and startlingly contrasted from one another.

“Hey man, get out of our way. That wall just stole our agents-”

“I’m sorry, but whatever you try won’t work. Ivy, Dr Isley, took them, that could be a good thing. That means they might be talking to Harley right now, which no one has done today.”

“They’re in there with two dangerous criminals,” Morgan argued. He was almost itching for a fight with how tense he was.

Hotch knew Morgan hated not being able to protect his teammates, even if they could defend themselves. Hotch wondered, in the back of his mind, how Grayson would fare in a physical fight against Morgan. Morgan had the size and height, but the way Grayson moved displayed a dancer-like grace and good reflexes. Somehow, he thought Grayson wouldn’t be knocked down too easily.

Grayson sighed. “Anything you try to do to get in will likely only piss Ivy off, putting your friends in more danger. Believe me, I want to help them, but the best thing to do right now is wait it out. I’m sorry, I won’t let you closer, at least, Batman and Robin won’t. But they wouldn’t explain anything. You should trust your agents, they have a chance to find out if Harley and Ivy know anything. ‘Sides, one of them’s a Gothamite, used to this sort of thing, they’ll be fine.”

Hotch levelled a stern look at Batman and took a moment to make sure his boss mask was in place. “Morgan,” he said quietly but firmly.

The other man scowled but backed up next to him. Reid and Prentiss hovered close behind.

“What can you tell us about them for situations like these?”

Grayson shifted on his feet. “Well, they’re less volatile together. More powerful sure, but … chiller, in a way. Ivy’s whole schtick is ‘ecoterrorism’, she usually just goes after polluters and other threats to nature, she just wants Gotham cleaned up, in a way. Harley … well, you’ve probably heard that she and the Joker used to be a thing. It was an abusive relationship, very … tumultuous and volatile. But since she’s gone out on her own, she’s … calmer? It’s hard to explain to non-Gothamites,” Grayson laughed awkwardly. “But she’s so much better now that she’s not with him. Did she kill him? I don’t know, she could’ve, definitely. Hopefully they’ll get it out of her.”

Gordon joined them then, with a few more officers, and they discussed options. Unfortunately, he agreed with Grayson, trying to get through by force would only aggravate the situation and put you and JJ more at risk. So for now, there was only one option. Wait.

“Do not worry, he will not be found. There will be nothing left for him to find.”

Morgan was muttering about making a run for it, wondering how big of a fire it’d take to burn through the wall, when the plants rustled again. Everyone was immediately on alert, the BAU walking closer as an arch opened in the wall.

There you were.

You and JJ walked in front of Dr’s Isley and Quinzel, looking unharmed. Every officer’s and agent’s hands sitting on their guns, just in case, but you two were in the way. And against a meta as powerful as Isley? Hotch was reluctantly resigned that they were unlikely to win against her with guns, even with the mysterious Batman and Robin there. (And/or other mysterious vigilantes hidden in the shadows.)

“We’re ok,” you assured the team as soon as you were close enough for them to hear, as they’d moved closer to the tunnel to greet you (get you back).

Prentiss was immediately at JJ’s side, as JJ repeated assurances that she too was ok.

Morgan herded you all away from the plant fortress and the two felons.

When you caught Hotch’s eye, he nodded once, and you gave him a small smile in return. He couldn’t deny that seeing you and JJ unharmed and back with them eased a tightness in his chest.

“Thank you for helping me. I appreciate it.”

“Hiya Batsy!” Harley Quinn launched herself at Batman and Emily reached for her gun, preparing for a fight. She paused.

Batman just stood there. Let Harley Quinn wrap herself around him like she was hugging a teddy bear or tree. Or rather, Batman. She was hugging Batman. And he was letting her.

Emily dropped her hand and shook her head, staring in confused horror. She would never understand Gotham.

“Harley.” Batman’s voice was gruff and deep, and it was the first time she’d heard him speak since they’d got there. He’d grunted and spoken quietly to his sidekick (child?!) or just not spoken at all.

“How ya doin’, Batsy? Baby Bat?”

This was directed at Robin and Emily had to stop herself from laughing at the scowl that rivalled Batman’s that appeared on his face. And then she remembered that this was a child, and he should be at home eating snacks or at school, anything that wasn’t facing down criminals double his age. How old was this kid??

“Did you kill the Joker?” Batman growled.

“Aww, you’re no fun!” She jumped off and blew him a raspberry. “All you wanna do is talk about him, him, him!”

Emily was sure her therapist would not be thrilled to learn that a Gotham Rogue was becoming one of her role models in standing up for herself and feminism.

“Did you kill him?” he growled again.

“So what if I did? What are you gonna do about it, huh?” She stuck her hands on her hips.

Emily remembered Poison Ivy was there too when she walked over to her girlfriend (Girlboss) from where she had been leaning against her doorway?

“There’s nothing much you could do if we decided to kill him, Bats,” she said, bored.

“Did you?” he repeated.

“Yah! I did!” Harley exclaimed and threw her arms up in the air. “He’s as good as dead because he is dead! You can call you search dogs, whatever, but you won't find him! He's dissolved into plant food by now! And make sure you call Hood and tell him that Mista J is dead and he ain’t coming back eva’. Come on Ives, let’s go, I think the Knights game is starting soon.”

Faster than Batman could stop them, Ivy wrapped an arm around her girlfriend and covered them in vines, bringing them back into the green fortress.

Emily glanced around. Robin had disappeared, but Commissioner Gordon and Dick were talking to Batman, before he too swung off into Gotham's concrete jungle.

“Hood?” Spencer asked in a muted voice.

“A vigilante. Red Hood. Bat associated. His territory is Crime Alley,” you answered quietly.

“Crime Alley? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Derek snorted.

You gave a wry smile. “Official name is Park Row, but no one calls it that anymore. There were … a lot of people have died there, and it really fell down the ladder, but it’s better with Hood there now. He’s set up a lot of safe spaces, soup kitchens, after-school programs, keeps the kids off the streets and protects the working girls among other things.”

“Why doesn’t he just try and do that legally?”

You laughed. “Because he’s basically a mob boss/gang leader. And he killed a bunch of people, (but he’s been pardoned by the Justice League) not that he does that anymore, but still.”

Emily heard Derek mutter something like “Gotham is so weird” before nudging JJ and calling their teammates at the precinct to update them.

Him and Spencer hovered beside JJ, on the phone with Penelope and Rossi, which she couldn’t judge, because she too was hovering, JJ on one side of her, you on the other. She snuck a glance at you. You were silently observing their conversation, Hotch next to you, quiet as well. Your face was blank, but in a calm, yet emotionally exhausted way. The way you usually got at the end of especially hard cases when you didn’t have time to rest and reset. Emily knew this case hit home especially hard, given that you grew up here, and although you’d never outright stated it, they all predicted that’d you’d had run ins with the Joker before, or at least that he’d affected you or someone close to you. They could tell that you weren't upset to hear Harley confessing to killing him.

The other GCPD officers stood by their patrol cars, waiting on orders from Gordon.

The commissioner and Dick walked up to you and Hotch stepped forward to talk to them.

“Thank you for all your help, it was good to have you.”

Hotch and Gordon shook hands.

“You’ll be handling the rest now that Dr Quinzel has confessed to killing him,” Hotch stated.

Gordon shrugged with a wry smile. “We Gothamites handle our own. No one’s sorry to hear that, ahem, to hear that he’s dead. Frankly, it’s a relief to know for sure.”

Emily noticed JJ shift next to her and bumped her elbow to JJ’s.

“Glad we could help.”

“Some of my officers can help you clean up at the station. And Agent Jareau and-” he looked at you and you nodded.

“We’ll leave statements,” you affirmed.

“Good, thanks. Safe travels back.” They shook hands again, then all of them stepped forward to do the same.

“Thank you for your help as well, Detective Grayson.”

“Glad to be of service,” he smiled.

“I say this with all the respect in the world, but I hope I never have to see you again,” Gordon admitted.

Emily snorted quietly. Spencer nudged her in the ribs.

“We understand. Nice meeting you, good luck with everything.”

“Thank you, you too.”

“How are we going to get him out?”

You went with the team to the precinct where you pulled Hotch aside.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to stay here a bit longer. There’s people I want to see, to check in on …”

“Of course, no problem. You can get back on your own?”

You nodded. “Yes, don’t worry, thank you.”

“Of course, take your time with your family.”

You hadn’t said family but yah, they were your family. “Thanks, Hotch.”

He nodded and you rejoined your teammates to help clean up.

“I think I’ll take a vacation. It’s been a while since I took time off.”

“I, for one, cannot wait until we get back,” JJ muttered after she and you had finally finished your statements with the Gotham PD officers.

“And I cannot believe you two were alone with Poison Ivy!!” Penelope exclaimed in a hushed voice as she cleared her computer away.

“What were they like?” Emily asked and Spencer looked up from his box to observe your and JJ’s expressions.

JJ hummed. “Surprisingly normal. Like some unsubs we’ve dealt with. Calm, clever, more or less level-headed, perceptive … I believe that she’s sure he’s dead. And I believe that she could’ve killed him, the way she talked about him? There’s trauma there, even without knowing it was an abusive relationship.”

“But…?” Rossi asked.

JJ sighed. “I don’t know, I don’t know.”

“And what are you thinking about, pretty boy?” Derek nudged Spencer.

“Something’s puzzling me.”

“Oh no!” Emily joked good naturedly, but … Spencer was sure something was bugging her too.

He rolled his eyes in response. “Supposedly Dr Quinzel killed him, and Dr Isley helped her and used his body for fertilizer, so there’s no evidence, no body left. But there was a too perfect log of food deliveries made to his cell, that no one recalls.”

“And his cell was seemingly untouched,” Rossi muttered.

“There was dust,” Derek remarked.

“Not much, but it was there,” Emily added.

“She could’ve broken him out and killed him, but why hide it? Why make sure the records still show normal activity, so no one suspects anything?”

“So, no one noticed and stopped her? She sounded like she had plans to make it painful for him before he died,” JJ offered.

“But neither she nor Dr Isley seem to favour stealth. They bust in, break things, make some noise, before leaving with what they’ve come for. I read a few reports of their previous attacks. It just doesn’t make sense that they’d hide killing the Joker.”

“What can I say, it’s Gotham. Things here are different,” Derek said, clapping his hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “Either way-“

“It’s not our jurisdiction anymore,” Hotch finished. “We can’t overstay our welcome.”

“But what if he’s still out there?” Spencer urged.

Derek nudged him along towards the door. “Let’s hope he’s not, but Hotch is right, we can’t stay any longer, it’s out of our hands now.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m with JJ, I believe Harley when she said that he’s dead.” Spencer glanced at you, you weren’t making eye contact with anyone, gazing into space, not after the long, exhausting day you’d had. “Whether or not she killed him?” You shrugged. “But I believe he’s dead.”

Spencer was worried that your want of him dead might be influencing you, but he said nothing. He hoped the Joker was dead too.

“You’re staying?” Rossi asked you when you got outside.

You nodded. “There’s some people I wanna see since I’m here,” you said softly.

“Of course, you have to see your family while you’re here!” Penelope said.

“Come back to us though, Penelope might not forgive you if you don’t,” Derek joked.

You laughed. “I’ll come back, don’t worry.”

“Hugs ok?” JJ asked.

You nodded and opened you arms to give her a hug. Penelope was next, then Derek and Emily and even Rossi. You tilted side to side to say bye to Spencer, he wiggled his hands in response. You waved at Hotch and he gave you one of his rare smiles as he waved back.

Spencer got in the SUV after Emily, Penelope behind him.

“I’m so ready to leave,” Penelope whispered, as if Gotham itself could hear her.

“Just a couple hours, baby girl,” Derek said as he got in the driver’s seat.

“I’m glad the case is over,” Emily said.

“I hope it’s over,” Spencer mumbled.

“When do you think they’ll find out?”

You watched the SUVs pull away and then made your way to the Manor. You let yourself in and went straight to the kitchen.

Alfred looked up when you walked in. You held eye contact with him for a moment and he understood what you weren’t saying out loud.

He nodded, agreeing silently. “They’re in the living room. I’ll go with you.”

You nodded and he followed you out.

”Alfred?”

“Yes?”

“I want to kill the Joker. Will you help me?”

“He considered you for a moment. “Yes. I will.”

~~~

part two // part three

thanks for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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Thanks so so much for running this event! It was an absolute blast to participate in :)

Thank YOU so so much for participating!! We’re so glad you joined in and had a good time!

#cmxdc 2025 #cmxdc #criminal minds #dc #criminal minds x dc #crossover events

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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For what it’s worth, we DO leave the collection open for a few extra weeks for late submissions!! Please participate at your leisure - we LOVE to see what everyone comes up with. 🥰🥰

Our 2025 Prompts!

We tried to do something a little different with the prompts this year and grouped them in ways we thought might be fun to blend together. About half of the prompts are new, and half are reused from last year based on discussion with my lovely collection mods!

We hope you have a great time!

PROMPT LIST

Day 1 - Monday, February 3rd

Better Call Constantine || Supernatural Unsub || Magic User!BAU Agent

“Wheels up.”

Day 2 - Tuesday, February 4th

Meta!BAU Agent || FBI Fitness Test/Certification || Attending a Wayne Gala

“What kind of nickname is ___?”

Day 3 - Wednesday, February 5th

Kidnapping || Batskills Save the Day || Canon-Case, Hero Victim

"I think, deep down, we're all capable of unspeakable things."

Day 4 - Thursday, February 6th

Throwback Thursday* || Time/Dimension Travel || Double Cross(over)**

"The only difference between insanity and genius is success.”

Day 5- Friday, February 7th

Soulmate AU || Secret Relationship*** || Identity Porn/Reveal

“It’s actually safer to kiss.”

Day 6 - Saturday, February 8th

Lazarus Pits || BAU vs. the League of Assassins || Unexpected Allies

“Give a man a mask and he will show his true face.”

Day 7 - Sunday, February 9th

Backstory Reveal || Undercover Justice League || Profiling a Rogue/Bat

"Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person."

*Choose a prompt from a previous year that you wish made the cut!

**This can be taken as a literal Double Cross = Betrayal prompt, or as an excuse to throw in a third universe!

***This can be romantic, platonic, or familial! The world is your oyster, be free!

#cmxdc #cmxdc 2025 #criminal minds #dc #cm

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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dragging 'round a body (dead weight)

Attempted bottom surgery turns into secret relationship reveal? Click below for more!! Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 6 - Saturday, February 8th & Day 5- Friday, February 7th Day 5: Soulmate AU || Secret Relationship*** || Identity Porn/Reveal || “It’s actually safer to kiss.” Day 6: Lazarus Pits || BAU vs. the League of Assassins || Unexpected Allies || “Give a man a mask and he will show his true face." ***This can be romantic, platonic, or familial! The world is your oyster, be free! part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

so this was inspired by one of Taxi's AITAH fics about the Lazarus Pit giving trans!Jason a dick and trans!Tim wanting one too, and an orphan_account's fic about Tim and Jason faking a relationship as their alibi for killing the joker (they did kill the joker but that's not the point) (both linked on the ao3 fic)

i had so much fun writing this one and it was also very cathartic at times. definitely self projected a bit at tim and reader in the middle there

Possible TWs: body/gender dysphoria, Pit rage?, explicit language, death, resurrection, batcest, etc

I know this isn’t for everyone so don’t like, don’t read, take care of yourselves

title from KMS by Sub Urban

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 3k+

flash warning for the gif below the cut

“What did you do over the weekend?” you heard JJ ask Spencer and Derek as you walked into the bullpen Monday morning.

“I read up on Allium haematochiton, also known as the redskin onion, native to certain places of California, and went to a Mitochondrial Psychobiology seminar on human energy and healing. It was really quite fascinating,” Spencer said, spinning in his chair.

“Of course you did, boy genius,” Derek teased playfully.

You reached your desk and put your bag down, still listening to your coworkers’ conversation.

“Oh, and what did you do, Morgan?” Spencer tossed back.

“I worked on one of my places, I’m almost done, just a few more things to finish up.”

“Good for you,” JJ smiled.

“JJ?”

“Henry had a playdate Friday night, so Will and I had some quiet time.”

“OoOoh!” Derek wiggled his eyebrows.

JJ laughed at his teasing. “And yesterday we went to the zoo.”

Emily walked up to their group. “Sounds fun.”

“And what did you do, Prentiss?” Derek asked.

Emily stuck her tongue out at him. “Chilled with Sergio and got caught up on the Real Housewives.”

“Ooh! What franchise?” JJ asked.

“Beverly Hills. Their drama is so insanely cathartic to me,” Emily laughed.

Derek called your name, and you looked up. “What’d you get up to, hot shot?”

“Umm…” You stared into space and thought about how to describe your weekend.

-----

It started with a text on Friday night, one of the days you were lucky enough to get off at a reasonable hour. You had been excited to have the weekend off too, ready to relax and catch up on things you neglected during the week thanks to your crazy work hours.

You’d just gotten into your apartment building when your phone buzzed. You pulled it out. It was Jason.

got an egg + mountain dew problem. come help me wrangle him.

Oh dear.

You turned around and headed right back out to the nearest Zeta tube.

Were you supposed to use them? Not really, but the Batkids had given you access so you took that as permission. Besides, this constituted an emergency.

You followed the coordinates Jason sent and stepped out into a Gotham alley.

“Thank fuck you’re here. C’mon, he’s gone rabid.”

Jason pulled you with him to his bike and tossed you an extra helmet.

You put it on and got behind him without question, but as soon as he pulled away from the curb you opened your mouth. “So, what’s the situation exactly? You were a little vague in your text.”

“Timmers found out that my dip in the radioactive Mountain Dew gave me a dick and decided he wanted to do the same thing, ignoring the fact that it gave me rage issues and other shit to deal with.” You could hear Jason’s scowl. You knew he was just worried from Tim.

“So we are going …?”

“To stop him, obviously. Brat’s already on his way so we’re going to steal the Bat-plane and stop him.”

“Ok.” Just a normal Friday night for you then.

Tim … was a slippery guy. He was smart and determined, which made him annoyingly difficult to catch up with, but you knew where he was headed, which helped. (There were only so many Lazarus Pits so you had a select number of locations Tim could choose from, narrowing your chase down.)

You caught him just before he could enter the caves, fully launching yourselves at him and grabbing onto him like a koala.

Tim, of course, could be as slippery as an eel sometimes. This was one of those times.

“Don’t you fucking dare, baby bird!” Jason yelled as he and you tried to wrangle him away from the mouth of the cave.

“Don’t try and stop me!” he yelled back, swinging his bō at you. Jason jumped over it and you rolled out of the way.

“Too late, we’re already trying to stop you,” you sassed and whipped out a sword to block Tim’s attacks. (Thank fuck, Zatanna had given you a sword charm upon request. You could carry it around, no one the wiser, and in necessary times like these, you could whip it out and have a weapon.)

“Did you learn nothing from my fuck ups? This is not the answer!”

“It’s free surgery!” Tim argued.

“With a bunch of side effects! You’re supposed to be the smart one!”

“Fuck you! I can be a dumbass if I want!”

“Tim, please,” you begged, blocking another hit with your sword.

“No!” he snarled and kicked up dust into your face and launched his staff at Jason.

You yelped and wiped the dirt out of your eyes. “Tim!” He was running through the caves.

“Fuck!” Jason swore and set off after him, you hot on his heels.

“Remember what happened with Jason!” you shouted, a last attempt to hold Tim off.

You caught up to him next to the pit. He was kneeling at the edge, staring into its depths. You went and knelt next to him. Jason stayed back. Hesitant.

“Tim,” you said softly. He didn’t move.

“I just want a body I like. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin,” he confessed, almost silently.

“Tim,” you started again, practically begging him to hear you. “I love you. I’m sorry your body doesn’t fit you right now, but you know that this isn’t the answer. Tim … darling … rationality and realities can be bummers. I wish we could mold our own bodies out of clay, give ourselves the bodies we’re comfortable in without having to jump through hoops and doctors’ appointments and evaluations and years of waiting. I wish we were given the bodies we wanted right away, without having to ask. I wish it was as easy as a suspicious looking bath, but it’s not. Jason didn’t choose to go in there, and he didn’t know what would happen. No one did.

“But there’s small joys in being able to craft your own body. It’s like pruning a tree, it takes time to form it into the big shape we want, but at any point we can decorate it with lights and ornaments and bows, until the time when it’s fully grown the way we pruned it. And even then, we can still decorate it.” You sighed. “I’m not sure exactly where I’m going with this, just that your struggles are valid. Being uncomfortable in your own skin is valid and wanting to change your body so it fits right is valid. But this isn’t the way, Tim, the ‘surgery’ might work but I think somewhere in there there’s a regret rate of 50%, as opposed to other ways. I want you to be happy. I want you to be comfortable, but I want you to be safe. This isn’t safe, Tim,” you whispered.

Tim took in a shaky breath and when you leaned down to see past his curtain of hair, you realized there were tears streaming down his face.

“Oh, Tim,” you breathed.

“I just want to not want to peel my own skin off,” he whimpered.

“Me too.”

You tapped the back of his hand to check his boundaries, and when he didn’t stop you, you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him into you.

You sat there together for a few moments, just breathing. Tim sat up slowly and disentangled himself from you.

You waited to see if he wanted to talk.

“Loving the emotional bonding that’s happening here but we’ve got company and not the fun kind. Unless you like being attacked. Like me. This is my kind of company,” Jason said.

“Alright, Tim-” you held out a hand “-let’s go, live to kick ass, say fuck you to society and gender norms another day.”

“I hate when you speak my language,” Tim said without heat, letting you help him up and grabbing his bō from Jason. “Let’s annoy Rā’s a little before we leave.”

“I’m sure we’ve already annoyed him by being here but sure, let’s make it worse.”

“Hell yeah, baby bird!” Jason shouted, shooting at the incoming assassins. You genuinely didn’t know what kind of bullets he was using.

“Bruce is going to have a fit when he finds out about this,” you said, pulling out your sword to fend off the attackers.

“If he finds out!” Tim called, swinging at more assassins.

If?? Oh dear lord, this was going to end badly, you just knew it. Wouldn’t stop you from continuing on the path, you were just prepared to say ‘I told you so’ to yourself later on.

Your phone rang. You glanced at it. Jason. You picked up.

“Yah?”

There was a cough on the other end, and not Jason’s cough.

“Hello?”

“Were you with Jason and Tim yesterday?”

“Bruce?”

“Yes.”

Ah. That was fast. You could tell yourself I told you so now.

Jason must be somewhere in the background, since it was his phone. You wondered if anyone else was there, was Tim? “Umm, what? Why?”

“A League base was attacked yesterday night. The Bat-plane has several hours of footage missing from its logs and Jason and Tim don’t have alibis for the suspected time period. Their alibi is that they were with you.”

“Ok, and? Yes, they were both with me.” You knew exactly what you did but no way in hell were you admitting that to Bruce. So, you needed to tell him a truth that absolutely distracted him from this interrogation.

“You were with Jason and Tim, yesterday night,” he said it like it was hard to believe. Maybe it was.

“Yes.” You had the perfect idea. You just hoped Tim and Jason wouldn’t want to kill you after this. It just needed the right introduction-

“Hn. And where were you?”

“Getting well acquainted with my bed,” you deadpanned. Oops?

The other side of the phone was silent for longer than Bruce’s normal pauses. Please let Jason and Tim go with it, dear lord.

“So no, we were not near any League base, Bruce, can confirm that Tim and Jason were in bed with me. At my apartment.”

There was a horrified snort-whine that you were pretty sure came out of Dick’s mouth in surprise.

Steph choked on a laugh. (At least you were pretty sure it was her.)

So if they were there, likely Jason and Tim were too.

“Are we done here?” you asked.

“The missing flight logs?”

You had to give props to Bruce for being unfailingly dedicated to his mission.

You pinched your brow. “Evidently, we didn’t want anyone to find out before we were ready to tell them. Yes, I took a Zeta tube to Gotham yesterday, yes, we stole the Bat-plane for a bit. We took it to my place.”

“The flight to DC is shorter than the deleted time. You wouldn’t have needed to delete that much time if you were just hiding your flight from Gotham to DC.”

You sighed. “No. But we … took our time. Hence the deleted footage.”

Silence. You wondered what Bruce was thinking. What everyone else was thinking.

You got your answer soon enough (at least, sort of).

“Don’t look at me like that, old man! My personal life is none of your business!” snapped Jason.

“Tim…”

“Why the fuck are you looking at him like that? Fuck you! I am a fantastic partner!”

“Polyamory does exist,” you added blandly. “I happen to be a practiser.”

“I am capable of making my own decisions, B,” Tim stated resolutely.

You wondered what kind of face Bruce was making when Tim added, “And if that includes dating two people then that’s my choice to make.”

“Fuck you, old man, give me my phone back, we’ve entertained you enough for the day.” You could hear Jason’s snappish voice get louder as he presumably stole his phone back.

“C’mon babe, let’s go.” You imagined Jason slinging an arm over Tim’s shoulders and politely forcing him out of the cave, not that Tim would necessarily fight him off, not to sell the lie.

“Have a nice day!” you called.

“See you later, sweetheart,” Jason said.

“Bye, love, talk later,” Tim said, and the line cut.

Well. You could certainly get used to them calling you pet names like that.

Tim and Jason showed up at your apartment a few hours later, presumably after they’d escaped all the prodding questions and interrogations from their family. You let them in.

“Faking a relationship to distract B? Bold move,” Tim said, taking his shoes off and walking further into your apartment.

“One that I respect, but also what the fuck,” Jason added, following him in.

You shrugged. “I needed something very distracting but believable.”

“Acquainted with the bed? Really?” Jason asked, spinning to look at you.

“What? It’s true! In a very unsexy way!” you defended. “We were cuddling in my bed for a fair amount of time. I’d say that’s getting very acquainted with it, not my fault most people would infer sexy times.”

Tim snorted. “I thought Bruce might have a heart attack for a bit when you said that.”

“Distracting. Like I was going for.”

“Fucking B and his judgemental looks,” Jason scoffed.

You snorted.

“We are going to have to actually fake a relationship for a bit. To make sure everyone believes it,” Tim said.

“I don’t mind,” you said. “I like you both. Sorry for springing it on you like that though.”

“’s fine, was a good idea,” Jason shrugged.

“It was. But now we have to sell it,” Tim said.

“After the shock of finding out is B really gonna believe it though?”

“You don’t think we can pull it off?”

Jason scowled and ran a hand through his hair, starting to pace. “We’re not that close-”

“Ouch.”

“No what I meant, bird brain, and you know it. Fuck, I tried to kill you. We don’t get along, we don’t hang out, no one’s gonna-”

“Not true.”

“Huh?”

“No, Tim’s right, we have been hanging out,” you said. “One, you and him are on much better terms. Two, I’m your friend so I’ve been hanging out at the Manor, so Tim and I have been hanging out more and we’ve become friends. So three, the three of us have been hanging out together. Four, well, Tim’s fallen asleep on me multiple times now and the three of us have ended up hanging out in silence or whatever. They could see that as … I dunno, bonding, feelings, et cetera. Anyways, all in all, we have been seen growing closer so it’s not too much of a leap (for the allos) to expect that they’d think we’ve … grown feelings for each other and started dating or whatever. And it’s not unsurprising that we kept our relationship a secret at the beginning either.”

“Besides, I don’t hate you,” Tim said. “I even had a crush on you when you were Robin.”

Jason was silent, emotions flitting across his face a mile a minute. “What?” Jason managed, looking as if Tim had dropped a bombshell on him. Maybe he had.

Tim blinked, not expecting that reaction from Jason. He shrugged. “Yah, I thought you knew.”

“How would I- Why would I- NO!” Jason exclaimed. “I did not know!”

Tim blinked again. “Oh.”

“I-” Jason cut himself off.

“Do you still?”

“What?”

“Do you still,” you repeated. “Have a crush on him. I mean, his thighs in his Red Hood pants? His forearms? His whole Red Hood look? His whole Jason look? Damn. My aesthetic radars (ace-thetic, haha) are screaming. That is to say, Jason, that I like your face. And I think you’re beautiful. Also, you’re very important to me and I love you.”

“Oh.” Jason almost seemed flustered by your rant.

“So? Tim?” You turned your attention to him.

He didn’t answer but he was also staring intently at your floorboards. You noticed his hands tapping out code on his thighs and the tips of his ears darkening.

“Do you?” Jason asked this time.

“Do you? Tim retorted, looking up to stare Jason down.

Jason blinked, taken aback, and you see the tips of his ears start to blush.

“You do!” Tim crowed.

“No,” was Jason’s kneejerk reaction.

“No?” Tim had a gleam in his eye as he stalked closer.

You watched them amusedly.

Jason held his ground, glaring down at Tim in front of him.

Tim went up onto his tiptoes to breathe into Jason’s ear. “You sure?” His hands trailed over Jason’s chest.

Jason’s hands twitched.

You smiled, barely holding back a soft laugh, enjoying the show.

Quick as a flash, Jason reached down and scooped Tim up and threw him over his shoulder.

Tim squawked indignantly, immediately squirming and flailing and yelling.

Jason carried him to your room. “We’re going to get reacquainted with your bed,” he deadpanned.

You laughed, following behind, watching them affectionately.

Jason tossed Tim on top the bed and jumped on top of him but this time Tim rolled out of the way fast enough. They grappled for a few seconds, you stayed where you were, laughing at them all the while.

“C’mon, stop fighting and let me on,” you giggled.

They let up and soon enough you were all cuddled up in your bed again. Jason and you curled around Tim. (Making sure he wouldn’t get away this time.)

“I don’t hate you. I meant that,” Tim said softly.

“I know, baby bird.”

It was quiet another moment.

“I … don’t either.”

“I know.”

“I like you,” Jason whispered into the air. You couldn’t help but think he had his eyes closed, to hide himself from rejection.

Tim didn’t say anything for a moment and Jason immediately backtracked, “You don’t have to- I mean-”

“I like you too. Like, like like.”

Jason snorted. “Nerd.”

“Says the nerd who’s obsessed with Jane Austen,” Tim retaliated.

“You’re both Nerdy Birdies, ok? Now quiet and let me cuddle you in peace,” you mumbled into Tim’s hair.

“We’re all nerds,” Tim declared.

“Ok, Nerdy Birdy.”

“Oh fuck you!”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Jason shot back, jokingly.

“Love asexual sex jokes,” you mumbled.

Tim and Jason chuckled too. You smiled to yourself as you felt their chest rumble. This was very comfortable, you thought to yourself.

There was another silence. Peaceful though.

“Does this mean we’re dating for real now?” Tim asked.

“I guess,” Jason said.

“Ok,” you agreed, sleepily.

“Ok, cool.”

Jason snorted. “Who’d’a guessed that we’d turn from fake relationship to real relationship so fast?”

“Not fanfic authors, that’s for sure,” you joked. You all snickered at that.

"We'll get you a dick, don't worry," Jason said in his sleep heavy voice.

"Promise?" Tim murmured.

“Promise, now go to sleep, baby bird.”

“G’night, Jay, night, love.”

“G’night.”

-----

Your coworkers looked at you expectantly.

“C’mon, hot shot, what did you do all weekend?” Derek asked again.

You shrugged. “Nothing much.”

“Aww, come on, give us more than that,” Emily laughed.

“Give us details,” JJ urged.

“Nothing much to tell, just stayed at my apartment, chilled, hung out.”

“With who?” Derek immediately caught your slip.

“Were you with someone?” Emily teased.

“Uhh.”

“Come on, tell us,” JJ encouraged.

You covered your face in your hands and blew out a deep breath of air. “I may, or may not,” you started slowly, “have been with my … boyfriends.” You couldn’t help but smile when you said that. Boyfriends.

“Boyfriends?” Spencer echoed.

“Yes.”

“Cutie pie! Did you have fun?” Emily asked.

You huffed a laugh. “Yes, yes we did.”

“That’s nice, you sound happy,” JJ said, silently supporting you.

“I am.”

“You’ll have to introduce us sometime,” Derek added.

You laughed. “Maybe,” you agreed.

~~~

thanks for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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Thicker Than Water [3/3]

Criminal Minds x DC 2025 || Day 5 - Secret Relationship

[LINK]

With not much time left Spencer and Constantine have to work to get rid of a demon- the results only happen to wind up more bloody.

---

In which things go to absolute shit. Things are revealed, Spencer has to acknowledge some stuff and everyone is concerned by Spencer's behavior. AND WHAT'S THIS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE TITLE WITH A STEEL CHAIR?

This fic completely started as a joke- a laugh some might say. I cannot express how baffled I am that this fic turned out not only dead serious but this long. It's the only fic at this time that I've completed and I couldn't be prouder, I'll probably end up reblogging this post with a series of my unhinged discord messages to commemorate this.

@criminalmindsxdc

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc submission #totallyreasonabletubes

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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Gothamites Are Just Built Different

You know Gotham is a weird place, but sometimes your weirdness isn't just because you're from Gotham, but because your family moonlights as Bat and Bird themed vigilantes and runs over the Gotham rooftops at night. Not that you're going to tell your team that. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 4 - Thursday, February 6th Throwback Thursday* || Time/Dimension Travel || Double Cross(over)** || "The only difference between insanity and genius is success.” *Choose a prompt from a previous year that you wish made the cut! **This can be taken as a literal Double Cross = Betrayal prompt, or as an excuse to throw in a third universe! my Throwback Thursday prompt is: Gothamite!BAU Agent part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 2.5k

“What if … could we not go in the second floor?” Your statement was met with weird looks.

“The second floor? How are we gonna get up there? Climb?” Emily scoffed.

“… Yes?”

You and your BAU teammates were currently huddled behind your SUVs in the near dark, watching a two storey house on the outskirts of the city's residential district, where you had tracked down your unsubs. Currently, you were debating the best mode of entry and, clearly, you were accustomed to Gotham procedure more than the BAU's typical course of action.

“You’re going to climb up to the second storey to get in?”

“Is that … that’s not … something you do, right?” You ... might have still been getting used to the way the BAU did things, being their newest agent of only a couple months now. Things were … different than in Gotham, that was for sure. Which you knew, of course, but sometimes you felt Gotham had better, more efficient, way of doing things, being so wild and weird. It really trained you to think in all sorts of directions. You were still learning to reconcile you BAU training with ... Gotham training.

“No, definitely not normal here, but I’m not against it,” Derek said.

“How would you get up there?” Hotch asked, and you appreciated how serious he was.

“Um, you, you climb the sides, the walls. Go through the, uh, windows.” You glanced at everyone’s faces, skepticism but pensiveness and consideration showing.

“How normal is that for you?” JJ asked.

“Uhhh…” Considering your friends and family ran over rooftops during the night and you’d learned most of your skills from them... “Yes?”

“You can get up to the second floor easily? Quietly?” Hotch asked.

You nodded. “Yes. I mean, depends on whether my shoes are on or not (it’s easier without obviously) but yes, I can, and I’m fully aware of my skills, of what I can and cannot do in this. Climbing that house is something I can.” Your eyes flicked between your coworkers, trying to judge their reactions, most of all Hotch’s.

“And you can get in easily without being detected to scout it out silently?” Hotch’s steady gaze on you.

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Ok.”

Was that a … “Permission to scout out the house to determine inhabitants and best place to enter, sir?”

Emily and JJ’s lips twitched at your question, but Hotch just nodded.

They didn’t mention anything about shoes, though, you thought, because toes gave you extra grip but then you were liable to any ground protrusions and more vulnerable to foot injuries. You kept them on.

You left your team and let the shadows envelop you. You could almost imagine they were Gotham shadows curling around you as you crept along to the side of the house and around back, taking note of the pros and cons of each possible entrance (and exit).

It was seemingly completely dark in the house, but your team suspected a team of unsubs holding three little kids hostage. That’s what you needed to assess by getting in there. You had reasonable suspicion the kidnapped children were being held inside, but you didn’t want to go in too loudly and risk them getting hurt.

Having decided upon the best entrance, you reached up and started climbing up to the second storey steadily. Using the ridges, windows, gutters and drainage pipes to help you up. Once up, the trick was getting inside, and you hoped your initial bet that this window didn’t latch properly was right. Balancing precariously, you used one hand to pull at the window, then retracted it to grab the hidden knife at your waist and slipped it between the frame and the sill. It took a few agonizingly long minutes (mostly because you were impatient to search inside), but you managed to get it open almost silently.

You leaned down to look inside. No one in sight. You slipped through the window with less grace than you’d hoped for but still quietly enough. Time to find those kids.

“How long has it been?” Emily whispered.

“11 minutes and 48 seconds,” came Spencer’s hushed reply.

“How long do you think it’ll take them?” Derek asked, getting antsy.

“Morgan-“

“As long as it takes me to get in, take a look around, get out and sneak up on you.” You smiled to yourself when everyone but Hotch flinched at you popping up behind them.

“So, who’s inside?” JJ asked.

“Three kids, all seemed distressed, likely all kidnapped, all in separate rooms on the upper level, 2 adults, partners, I’m thinking there’s a power imbalance, things are getting tense and one young adult, possibly related, possibly some sort of Stokholm syndrome thing going on there, I dunno, seems to follow the two adults, but it’s tense.

“One unsub has a handgun in his pants and a knife on his ankle, the other has two guns, holding one, the other in his belt, also has a knife on his belt. The younger one has a knife, on his belt but uses it as a fidget.

“Two of the kids I think could be snuck out quietly, the third I’m worried is too … tense, uncomfortable, would probably scream at anyone right now.”

Your analysis was met with nods.

“And recommended method of entrance?” Hotch asked.

You blinked, shocked he’d even ask you, even though you had just been in the house to observe the occupants. “As much as I’d like to try and get the kids out quietly first, there’s too much risk that one of the unsubs walks in while we’re getting them out or before we get them all out, so I think you should take one group through the front door, one through the back maybe to cover the exits, quietly, and take down the unsubs as quick and quietly as possible, without alerting the others.

“I can still get the kids out through the second floor, but it’d take me two trips at least,” you proposed, “and only if they come willingly, it’s way too dangerous to try and wrangle a child and get them out a window with another child in tow.”

Hotch nodded, thinking hard. “Ok. JJ will go with you to take care of the kids you bring down. Morgan, Prentiss, you’ll take the back door, Reid, Dave, you’re with me, we’ll go through the front.”

“You’re ok to unlock the doors quietly?” you asked, skeptical of their abilities to move in quietly sometimes. (You knew they could break down doors and charm their way into places, but lock-picking? You hadn't experienced that with them yet.)

“Yes,” Spencer answered.

Emily raised her hand. “Rebellious teenage years.”

“Good.” At least they’d be good to get inside. “The unsubs were spending most of their time upstairs, in the room to the right of the stairs, the room after that has the very tense kid, across the hall another kid and end of the hall left side, the third kid. Sometimes they wander, sometimes they check on the kids, sometimes they go downstairs, so, just be aware,” you added, worried for your team.

“Of course, hot shot.” Derek patted you on the shoulder.

“We go in in two minutes. Head out,” Hotch said.

JJ touched your wrist, and you led her down one side of the house, through the shadows, Emily and Derek taking the other.

You stopped behind a small shed beside the house and looked at JJ. She nodded, understanding your silent words of stay here, I’ll bring the kids to you here.

You slipped away and across the small pathway to the house, quickly assessing the different ways up before starting to climb. This time you went for a different window and opened it similarly to the previous one. You held up a finger to your mouth when the child inside saw you and their eyes widened. When you slipped inside you whispered, “I’m here to get you out, ok? I’m with the FBI; your parents sent us. Can you keep quiet while we get you out?”

They nodded.

“Ok, c’mere, you’re gonna have to be brave now, hold on tightly to me and close your eyes, I’m gonna get you out,” you whispered as you guided them to hold onto your neck and wrap their legs around you.

There was a thud downstairs and a few moments later a call of, “Jonah?”

You cursed internally and changed your plan, instead of climbing down, you climbed across to the next window and finagled it open carefully, very conscient of the child holding tightly to your chest.

You climbed in and again motioned for the child to be silent. “I’m with the FBI, I’m here to get you out, can you keep quiet for me? Ok, let’s get you up here.” You guided them to climb on your back piggyback style.

“Hold on tightly, both of you, and keep your eyes closed, ok? Stay strong, ok? Don’t let go but try not to choke me,” you said in what you hope was a calming tone as louder sounds drifted up from the downstairs.

They both whispered their “ok”’s into your skin and you slowly but surely climbed down where JJ was waiting for you, lifting the kids off you one by one and introducing herself quietly. She led them back to the shed, talking calmly and you head back up to the hallway window, the first one you entered.

You stepped through just as one of the adult unsubs charged up the stairs. He spotted you immediately at the end of the hall and raised his gun. “Hey!”

You flung yourself back out the window as bullets hit the wall.

“Put the gun down!” You heard Derek’s voice call, pouring relief down your spine as you cling to the wall precariously. You snuck a glance back inside to see the unsub’s back to you, his attention on Derek who’s in the stairwell. You ignored what they’re saying as an idea came to you and more shots rang out.

“You put your gun down or I’ll kill her!” the unsub yelled, using his leverage.

Hotch, Prentiss and Reid were behind Derek, Dave with the teenager in the SUV and you and JJ getting the kids out. At least he hoped so.

“I can’t get a good shot,” Derek muttered, “and he’s right, we can’t put the kids at risk until we know they’re out.”

“If he doesn’t have extra magazines, he should only have two bullets left,” Reid whispered. Of course he was counting shots.

“That’s great, Reid, but I need to have him waste those shots and not use them on the kids.”

“Hey!” the unsubs voice was muffled. “What the hell did you do with my kid? Where’d you take her?” He sounded furious.

Derek risked a glance around the corner, but the unsub was gone. There, an open door. Derek motioned for his team, and they followed carefully, guns raised. They surrounded the doorway.

“Hands up!” Derek called.

The unsub spun around. His eyes darted wildly, searching for a way out.

“Just put the gun down and your hands behind your head, man, no need for this to turn dirty,” he called again, knowing that his team was all holding their breath, waiting to see if they’d have to shoot.

Then Derek saw you (re?)appeared in the window frame and crept in silently and fluidly behind the unsub.

“Just put the gun down and you can walk outta here, just drop it,” he repeated.

They all saw the moment when the unsub’s eyes harden, and they knew he’d decided to go down shooting. It’s the same moment you moved, struck like a viper more like, grabbing his wrist and twisting with one hand, wrapping your other around his neck. You disarmed him in one swift moment and immobilized him in the next with some sort of snake grip, pulling him down to the floor with you. Before the unsub even knew what was coming, before he even knew you were there.

He struggled in your grip, but you held him securely. You looked up at the team. “Cuffs?”

“Damn, hot shot, you really like crawling up buildings, don’t you? Might have to start calling you ‘Spidey’ or something,” Derek chuckled as he walked over to help you out and cuff the unsub.

Emily helped him lift the struggling unsub so you could stand up, ignoring the insults and swears spewing from the unsubs mouth. Sometimes Derek wished they could be muzzled, so no one would have to hear the hate they spouted.

“The kids?” Hotch asked you quietly, as Derek and Emily led the unsub from the room.

“All alive and safe with JJ,” Derek heard before he was out of earshot, and he felt incredibly proud of you for getting those kids out safely.

“I am going to rejoin JJ and the kids,” you said as you headed back to the window.

“The house is clear now,” Spencer pointed out.

“Ah, but there is a delay on the stairs, this is faster,” you said, winking at him before you swung yourself out of the window once again.

You rejoined JJ and the kids at the vehicles with Rossi, just before Derek and Emily made it down with the perpetually struggling unsub. Hotch and Reid followed behind and join you by the SUVs.

“Reid, head to the precinct with Morgan and Prentiss, Rossi and I will wait here for crime scene. Book the unsubs and get the children to their parents,” Hotch ordered.

You helped JJ get the kids into one of the SUVs and drive them to the station.

There were many happy and relieved tears shed when the kids were reunited with their families. And once you got everything in order, you left the rest of the case in the hands of the local PD, ready to get on the jet and head home.

“So, where’d you learn to climb buildings?” Emily asked.

“And how to break in through windows,” JJ added.

You popped open an eye from where you’d been trying to get some rest. “Where’d you learn to pick locks?”

“Ooooooh! Touché,” Derek laughed.

You shifted, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. “Technically,” you started, “there was no breaking, only entering.”

“What, does the Gotham FBI office often require second storey entries?” Derek joked.

“There are plenty of apartments and high rises, and yes, surprisingly or not, I have used it at work before at my old posting in Gotham, but uh, it’s more of a … make sure you can get back into your apartment if you get locked out thing? Among other things, of course.”

“Among other things,” Emily laughed.

“That does not sound as reassuring as you think it does,” JJ joked.

“Do you get locked out of your apartment that often?” Rossi joked.

“Gothamites are built different, I swear.” Derek shook his head, disbelieving.

“You got that right.” You grinned.

“So, what kind of other things,” Spencer asked.

“Oh, ya know-“ you shrugged “-family bonding.”

“What?”

“Family bonding?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What kind of family do you have?”

You just laughed.

end scene: “They let you climb through the window?” “You wouldn’t believe how good of an excuse and explanation ‘I’m from Gotham' is.” “Oh, I believe it, but how do they?” “Dick, you really want me to tell them most of my weird knowledge is from my weird family that cosplays as furries at night to fight crime and has no respect for privacy or boundaries?” “Hmmm, maybe not. They might not let you back inside.” “Yah, that’s what I thought. Besides it’s not like I didn’t ever climb up a building for my actual work. I just may have implied it was more often than in reality.” “Sneaky bat, you.” You snorted.

~~~ thank you for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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criminalmindsxdc · 5 months ago

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Steph Joins the BAU for Fun! And Gets Kidnapped for Her Troubles (Not So Fun)

like the title says. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 3 - Wednesday, February 5th Kidnapping || Batskills Save the Day || Canon-Case, Hero Victim || "I think, deep down, we're all capable of unspeakable things." part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

((context: Steph showed up at the BAU to see Reader for reasons (needed to escape to someone less involved but still trusted), a case came in, somehow (for plot reasons) Reader was able to convince Hotch to let Steph join them on the case, as like a (university) student observer, shadowing them kind of?))

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 2.8k

“Where’s Steph?” you asked as you entered the room when you didn’t see her.

There was a pregnant pause when no one answered, and everyone looked around. Your gaze snapped to Spencer as he had stayed behind at the precinct with her while you all had been out at crime scenes and interviews.

His eyes widened. “Uhh, she left the room … 20 minutes ago? Said something about … calling someone outside? I was so focused on the geographical profile, I wasn’t paying that much attention, I’m so sorry,” he sounded torn up.

“It’s fine, Spencer,” you said, not looking up from your phone as you pulled up the bat-tracking program Bruce had set up ages ago (paranoid bastard) and hoped Steph had one on her.

“I’ll go ask some of the officers, see if anyone knows where she went,” JJ offered and left the room.

“She might’ve just wandered off,” Derek said.

“No,” you frowned, this was Steph, she wouldn’t disappear without a reason, and she would’ve let you know if it was something important, if she actually left- you swore. “Can you call Penelope?”

“Do you think she went off on her own?” Hotch asked you seriously.

You shook your head. “Not without letting me know. She’s smart.”

“You think someone got her then?” Emily asked as Derek reached across the table for the console to call her, recognizing the tension in your voice.

“I am here to serve, my lovelies!”

“Can you tell me what’s at the intersection of Vaughn and 15th street North?”

“Of course, my fingers are flying … it’s a warehouse, unused, in the warehouse district, owned by Dover Industries, a shell, I can find out who owns it if you give me a moment…”

“That’s ok, thanks Pen.” You were thinking hard.

“What’s going on, what don’t I know?” Penelope asked, worriedly. You never called her Pen unless you were lost in thought or worried.

“Steph.”

Derek explained for you, “Steph’s disappeared, can you check the security cameras in the area, baby girl? Start around the precinct, … see where she went?”

“Give me a magical moment and I will find out!”

“How do you know she’s there?” Rossi asked.

“Tracker, phone,” you replied, lost in thought.

Hotch stepped closer to you. “Are you going to be ok for this?” he asked you quietly and seriously.

You nodded.

He studied you for a second longer before nodding himself. “Ok.”

“Ok, there’s an ATM, a couple stores, and the precinct, I’m getting the feeds now, when am I looking for, friends?”

“Anywhere between 1:30 and 2:30,” Spencer answered quickly. You nodded at him in thanks. That was the time when you left with JJ and Rossi to interview a family, Hotch, Emily and Derek already out reviewing crime scenes, leaving Spencer and Steph here alone to work other aspects of the profile.

“Hey, a couple officers remember seeing a young blonde woman go outside maybe twenty minutes ago?” JJ said upon returning.

“Oh!” Penelope exclaimed through the phone.

“What is it, mama?” Derek asked.

“Oh dear, I’m sending it right now.”

Emily pulled a computer towards you and pulled up the video.

The grainy feed showed the front steps of the precinct, the road in front and part of the parking lot. It was empty for a bit, until Steph walking into the frame, leaving the building. She walked down the steps and stood on the grass by the pavement, near the corner of the screen.

“She looks like she’s on the phone with somebody.”

Steph hung up a few minutes later, according to the time stamp on the bottom of the screen, but stayed where she was for a few more. She’d just started walking back when a vehicle pulled up next to her, two people jumped out and grabbed her. You watched her limbs flail as they forced her into the van and speed off.

“Plates?” Rossi asked.

“Too blurry, but I’m tracking the vehicle as much as I can.”

“Likely three people if there’s two jumping out and one driving,” Spencer commented.

“Can you rewind?” you asked Emily. “Just the part where she’s taken.”

She hesitated but you saw Hotch nod out of the corner of your eye and she obliged.

You watched Steph intently as the video played and she got taken by the unsubs. “Oh Steph,” you breathed at the end.

“We’ll find her,” JJ assured you, and you couldn’t tell her that you weren’t too worried about that part, she could handle herself.

“Penelope, were you able to get other angles of this? Or down the street?”

“Not that I could get the plate off, I’m sorry, but I have confirmed that the van headed in the direction of the warehouse.”

“Not what I’m after, no worries. Was there anyone else in the area? Anyone else outside, on the sidewalk or something?”

“Let me check.”

“What are you thinking?” Hotch asked.

“Steph … she’s taken self-defence classes, she knows how to defend herself, she could’ve gotten away from them.”

“You think she didn’t try to?” Spencer said.

“Oh dear,” Penelope’s voice came again. “Yes, there were some kids just down the street at a bus stop.”

“Ages?”

“School age? Teens? Could be up to Steph’s age?”

“You think she let herself be taken to protect those children?” JJ asked.

You nodded. “Yah.”

“Dave, call SWAT, get them ready,” Hotch said.

You thought about Steph’s blurry hand signals from the video that you were able to make out, mind working overtime. “I think it’s connected.”

“What?”

“Penelope, can you pull up all homicides slash suspicious deaths, open or closed, for the past two months before our first victim, Tanya Rousse?”

“Sure thing, what are you looking for? Shouldn’t you be going to the warehouse?”

“SWAT needs to get ready so I’m going to use that minute.”

“Ok. We have four suspicious deaths; a domestic assault resulting in homicide, someone found their neighbor dead in his apartment, coroner determined heart attack, ooh! And then we have … a stabbing in a park, perpetrator was never found and someone found dead in an alley, reported missing a week before.”

“C.O.D.?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Uhh, coroner determined DKA, they were diabetic and hadn’t taken their insulin in two days.”

“When was this?”

“Two weeks before Tanya disappeared.”

“Who died from infection and heart complications, also two days after she was taken, and stabbed post-mortem,” Spencer continued.

“Then Iris the next day, taken and killed a few hours later, because of the defensive wounds, she fought back more, hit with a blunt instrument, stabbed post-mortem,” you said.

“Then a cooling off period, 7 days before the next victim is taken, Sandya, and found three days later,” Emily added.

“With her kidney cut out but still inside, post-mortem stabbing with excessive rage,” Spencer added.

“We know all this, what makes you think it’s connected?” Derek asked.

“SWAT’s ready, let’s continue this in the cars,” Hotch announced.

“Ok, bare with me, I’ll be as fast as I can.” You followed your team to the vehicles and put your vests on.

“It’s human trafficking. The first few, just that, but the unsubs’ luck sucks, and the start of their bad luck they have their victim died of lack of insulin, because they didn’t know she was diabetic.” You climbed into the SUV behind Emily. “The next, Tanya, dies from stress and infection, underlying health problems, not necessarily physically visible. And by this time the unsubs are so stressed and frustrated that maybe their anger gets the best of them.”

Derek started driving once all your seatbelts were on.

“So they accidentally kill Iris because they’re so emotional and tense,” JJ inferred, guessing where your train of thought is leading.

“Then they take a few days to cool down,” Penelope said over the speaker phone, still listening in.

“Maybe the dom of the team forces them to calm down, or there could be an outside factor,” Derek added.

“Or both,” Dave said from the other vehicle.

“Exactly, maybe they’re also taking the time to stalk their next victim, because now they’re not just after anyone they can sell, I think they’re after the organs. Organ harvesting,” you said.

“Except they’re not experienced, you think they’re desperate?” Rossi wondered.

“For the organs or the money?” Emily added.

“My guess? Maybe someone needs a kidney transplant. One of the unsubs themselves, a relative, friend, etc, and since they lost their kidnapped victims, they didn’t get money to pay for it, so now they’re gunning for the actual organ.”

“That’s speculation,” Hotch stated.

“I know,” you admitted. “Steph’s kidnapping might be an unrelated occurrence, or…”

“Or maybe not,” Penelope said. “It’s a stretch but since you mentioned kidney transplants, I did some digging. 20-40 year old white males, who own that type of van, related to someone on the kidney transplant list, it’s a wide open guess but miracles do happen, I have one Candace Sawatsky on the waiting list for a kidney and she’s not doing so well, took a turn for the worse right before the abductions started.”

“A likely stressor then,” JJ said.

“Candace’s family set up a GoFundMe, but it didn’t gain much traction, poor woman. She has two brother’s Walter and Friedrich Sawatsky, the older, Walter, has a wrap sheet a mile long, and is involved with some pretty suspicious characters, his cellmate from his stint in prison also lives here, and guess what company the younger brother worked for last year?”

“Dover Industries, the company that owns the warehouse,” Spencer guessed.

“You got it in one, boy genius, now that seems like a lot of coincidences to me to not be connected,” Penelope said.

“Look at you go, you’re a wizard, baby girl!” Derek praised.

“Thank you, my delicious hunk of chocolate thunder.”

“If they’re that desperate for a transplant…” Spencer started.

Steph didn’t have much time, he didn’t finish.

“We’re here,” Emily said.

“Good luck, my darlings!” Penelope wished before she hung up.

“And whether or not it’s connected, we go in smart,” Hotch said as everyone piled out of the SUVs. Reid JJ, with me, we’ll take the north entrance.” He pointed out the entrance on the map a SWAT agent was holding up. He said your name, “you’re with Prentiss, Morgan and Dave, you’ll take the west entrance.” He pointed to another section. “Ok, let’s move.”

Hotch pulled you aside as you walked towards the warehouse. “I need to know-“

“I’ll be fine, Hotch. Professional, won’t step out of line,” you assured him. You weren’t sure if any of your coworkers would believe you, what with the frown that hasn’t left your face since you realized Steph had been taken, but you hoped Hotch would trust that you could compartmentalize, you were bat trained, you wouldn’t act out of turn. Besides, Steph could handle herself, which eased your worry.

Hotch nodded, accepting your statement, and you let out a small sigh of relief. It helped to have your unit chief trust your judgement.

Your groups split up and you followed behind Emily, Rossi and Derek, following SWAT in turn.

SWAT knocked open the door and you moved in, efficiently clearing spaces and making your way to the centre of the warehouse, looking for signs of the unsubs or Steph. ***spatial details??***

You dropped back behind the group and into the shadows. These weren’t Gotham shadows, but they still wrapped you up in their embrace, hiding you further. You went around the boxes and crates, searching for Steph, and finding voices to follow to the centre of the building.

You spotted Steph, tried to a chair on the other side of the space, the three unsubs were at a table to your right, arguing loudly. You sensed your team and SWAT about to surround them. Good.

You slipped around to creep up behind Steph and whistled quietly to let her know you were there.

“Took you long enough,” Steph breathed, barely audible.

You huffed a silent laugh. “No trick?” you asked, checking if there were Steph was attached to any explosives or other traps.

“Nope, a little help?” she hissed, shifting her hands to fiddle with the knots. Surprisingly, the unsubs didn’t do a half bad job with the restraints, but with you there to help, Steph was able to free herself quickly.

“Put your hands up, you are surrounded!” was shouted through a megaphone.

“Oh shit!” Steph slipped out of the rest of the bonds and followed you out of the warehouse, escaping notice.

They were able to apprehend the unsubs quickly, and without casualty thankfully. As SWAT escorted the three unsubs out of the warehouse, Hotch and his team looked around.

“Where’s Steph? Was she not here?” JJ asked.

And where were you?

“Look, there’s a chair, the restraints are undone, maybe Steph already got out?” Spencer said.

“Before or after we got here?” Emily asked.

“Look around for both of them and any evidence that may tie them to the other crimes,” Hotch ordered.

Just then, your voice came over the comms. “I got Steph, we’re outside, sorry for disappearing on you like that,” you apologized. “We’re waiting for the paramedics, they’ve been called.”

“Copy,” Hotch responded.

“Go,” Morgan said, fixing him with a stare. “We got this, you check on them.”

Hotch frowned, surely he wasn’t that transparent? But he nodded instead, and left, confident in his team, and, well, you were part of team, of course he worried, and Steph was young, and your family, like Jack, besides it was part of his job to check up on his team…

The paramedics had arrived by the time Hotch got outside and he found you hovering by Steph, who was sitting on the back of the ambulance, getting checked over.

“Ok, I’d saw you’re pretty good, but watch out for the signs of a concussion-“

“I know what they are, don’t worry,” Steph said flippantly.

“I’ll watch over her too.” You smile was tight.

The paramedic nodded. “Alright. Lots of fluids, and try not to do anything to strenuous for a couple days, take it easy, ok?”

Steph snorted and Hotch thought he saw you poke her back, but from his angle, he couldn’t be sure.

“We’ll be careful, thank you,” you said, and the paramedic took that as a sign to leave you be for a bit.

Hotch couldn’t say how he knew, there was hardly any physical reaction he could put his finger on to point out, but as soon as they left, he just knew that the both of you relaxed. Interesting.

“How are you doing?” he asked softly.

Steph perked up. “Absolutely swell! I’ve had worse kidnappers!”

You face palmed and Hotch tried not to have a mini heart attack. He knew you were both from Gotham, but really?? What is that bad??

“Steph!” you hissed. “Audience! This is not … Gotham humour here.”

Hotch was … very concerned and very confused. Both of you were legal adults so he couldn’t call CPS or anything but … sometimes, not that he’d ever admit it out loud, Gotham confused and worried him. He cleared his throat. “So, you’re ok?”

Steph grinned again. “Oh yah, not even a three on my worst experiences scale,” she said cheerfully. “Barely a one on my worst kidnapping experiences scale.”

You started muttering in another language. Maybe swearing. Face still covered by your hands.

Steph laughed at his expression. “I’m from Gotham, Mr. Boss Man, this isn’t even an abnormal Tuesday! Just a regular one.”

“Somehow I’m not reassured,” he replied.

Steph gasped dramatically. “Mr. Boss Man has a sense of humor?!”

Hotch cracked a small smile, before hiding it again. “I’ll drive you back to the station.”

You nodded and Steph whooped, jumping up. She stumbled slightly, but you were already supporting her until she regained her back.

He was surprised how well you two have read each other since Steph joined you this case. You anticipate each other abnormally well. More than you do for other people, and Hotch wondered how long you’ve known each other, since you never gave a straight answer. He also couldn’t help the profiler inside him that said that that type of anticipation often forms in childhood when surrounded by unsafe and sometimes violent situations. He knew you both grew up in Gotham, but still, he couldn’t help but wonder.

As the team packed up later, Hotch couldn’t help but notice how you hovered around Steph, rarely ever touching her, but you practically orbited around her. Your eyes flicking over to her, taking in any movements, fidgets, winces, all while talking to her about mundane topics like her university classes.

You sat next to each other on the plane, Steph fell asleep soon enough, leaning on your shoulder.

“She’ll be ok?” Hotch asked you softly.

You gave him a small smile. “She wasn’t lying about the whole ‘been kidnapped before’ thing, as concerning as it sounds, but yah, she’s got a good support network, she’ll be ok.”

Hotch wasn’t sure who you were assuring, him, you, or both. “And you have us. For whatever you need.”

“Thanks Hotch.”

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thanks for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

#cmxdc2025 #cmxdc submission #rainbow-universe

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