TW: SEXUAL ASSAULT, VIOLENCE, SPOILERS
The hum of the elevator as it passes through floors serves as the most quiet you have heard in a while. All was at peace, and no one was asking anything of you at the moment. Looking down at the rock on your left hand, supporting your very pregnant belly with your right, you find yourself appreciating everyone and everything in your life right now.
Being thirty weeks along, you begin to feel your baby girl somersaulting inside of you. You loved feeling her move, and you could tell she was going to be your best friend for life. Lately, you find yourself thinking about who your child's godparents will be. You have a few ideas, and you and Aaron have been discussing it for weeks. The only decision you have fully arrived at was that you would choose someone from the team, and both get to choose one person.
Your thoughts get interrupted by the dinging of the elevator. One of the other superficial things you were longing for was being able to drink coffee again. Beginning to walk through the doors of the BAU, you stumble upon JJ.
"Hey, JJ, how are you and the little one this morning?" You inquire, your hand still on your belly.
Looking down, circling her stomach, she sighs. "Well I'm exhausted. This one, on the other hand, is the one making me exhausted."
You both giggle. Reaching down for JJ's stomach, you ask, "Can I?"
"Only if I can feel yours."
It was one of your favourite things to do, lately. You and JJ would feel each other's bump, admiring the perfection lying beneath. JJ had just found out she was having a boy, and you were happy for her.
"You know, people say pregnancy isn't all that bad, which I get. But at the same time, it takes some serious heavy lifting to carry a human the size of a freaking zucchini." You comment, you and JJ enjoying another laugh together.
Before she is able to say anything in return, Morgan comes bursting through the doors of the BAU.
"Hotch says we have another case."
"Well nothing came across my desk?" JJ replies, beginning to walk towards the doors.
"This one came directly to Hotch, I guess." He commented.
The three of you rushed towards the conference room, preparing for the horrific nature of the case ahead. When a case is urgent, the team is racing the clock to prevent something terrible from happening.
Upon entry to the conference room, each of you take a seat, the rest of the team already seated. Hotch hops up when you go to enter the room, gives you a brief kiss, and pulls out your chair for you.
"Good Morning everyone. A deputy called me personally to request help on a case of theirs including three murdered woman."
"And we are just being called now?" Morgan questions.
"They thought they had the Unsub in custody, but he wasn't the Unsub. And now that they're racing against the clock, there's not much time left for them to catch him." Hotch continues.
"What does his timeline look like?" You chime in.
"Every Friday night he murders a woman who he abducted while they shopped for groceries. The PD usually finds them late Friday night or Saturday early in the morning. Being that it's Thursday, the Unsub probably has another victim planned out."
Rossi begins to get up from his seat. "Let's get going then."
"We are set off to Texas. Grab your go bags, wheels up in thirty." Hotch replied.
— —
"Sir, I sent you a list of people fitting the profile to your PDA." Garcia pipes.
"Thanks, Garcia. Okay Morgan and Reid, I sent you the address of Louis Ramos. Bring him in for questioning. Emily and Rossi, pick up Randall Neilson, his address was sent to you, too. JJ work on the press conference, and Y/N, get ready to talk to the Unsub with me." Hotch announces to the team.
"Me? Why?" You ask.
"We know that since he is a narcissist who hates when women boss him around, we can get a reaction from him. This way we will be able to get more information on him."
You nod in agreement. "Of course."
The team rolls out, you and JJ staying clear of the field. Both Will and Hotch wanted the two of you out of the field altogether. Being thirty weeks pregnant, both you and JJ have only been participating in interrogations, paperwork, and participation in profiling.
You and JJ sit side by side, in the local field office's conference room. "Weird isn't it?"
"What is?" You reply to JJ.
"That we are one of the only ones staying back. That's what I hated through my last pregnancy with Henry." JJ answers back.
"Yeah, I miss it too. But knowing that my baby is safer with me here makes me feel better."
"It's good to look at it that way." JJ looks up from her paperwork, smiling. "Have you and Aaron decided on a name yet?"
You look at your belly, then back up at JJ. "It's the one thing we argue about. He wants one name, and I want another name. How about you and Will?"
"Same with us. But we really like the name Michael."
You grin at JJ softly and chuckle. "That's a really nice name, I like it."
Morgan and Reid shuffle in with Louis Ramos, followed by Rossi and Emily with Randall Neilson. "And here is my favourite part. Screwing with the Unsub." You state.
"Good luck, Y/N."
"So, where do you want me? With Ramos or Neilson?" You promptly ask Hotch.
"Neilson. He fits our profile more accurately." Hotch walks with you to the interrogation room.
Opening the door, unsurprisingly, you are faced with a cuffed Randall Neilson. He is sitting beside the table, his cuffs around his wrists under the table. Ready to taunt him, you decide to take a different approach; sympathy. Hotch shuts the door behind you, and you grab a seat at the same table. While Hotch remains standing, you realize he is taking the approach of intimidation with the Unsub.
Looking down at the folder in front of you with Neilson's information, you begin to read it to him. "Randall Neilson. Thirty-seven, lives at home with his mother, never had a steady job for more than three months at a time. Anger issues, killing many small animals."
"What are you trying to do? We know all of this." Randall states loudly, reaching for the file.
Pulling away slowly, you roll your eyes. "I'm just reading your information. You know, getting myself familiar with you."
Randall smirks, making direct eye contact. "Well you could have just asked me."
"And I'm sure you would have told the truth." Aaron boomed in response.
You get a sickening feeling in your stomach. Something wasn't right about this guy. Surely he had a plan, he was too smart not to.
You display the pictures of his three victims on the table infant of you. "So... do you know these women?"
Intrigued, Neilson leans in, almost drooling at the photos. "Those are the murdered women. I saw them on the news."
"Are you sure that is the only place you've seen them?" Aaron interrupts.
"Janette Leonard. Kendall Riley. Sam James. These are the women you murdered. The home you tore to shreds." Your blood boiling at the way the Unsub looks at the pictures. His reaction cements the accusation of his being a murderer.
In a sinister voice, Neilson replies. "They're so... beautiful. Just like you. And I'm sure your little one... a girl is it? She's going to look just as beautiful."
Before you had a chance to process the words Neilson said, Hotch dragged him across the room and pinned him against the wall by his neck. Hotch appealingly had been overcome with anger at the mention of his fiancé and daughter, leading him to break the protocol he had once treasured.
"Is this how you made them feel? Afraid? Alone? Vulnerable? All while your hands were around their necks, life draining out of their bodies? How does this feel? Do you feel strong now, you coward?" Hotch squeezed his hands around the Unsub's neck.
"Aaron! Stop! It's not worth it!" You try to pull them apart, Morgan bursting into the room.
Aaron turns away, walking back to the other side of the room. Neilson folds over, coughing and gasping for air. After a second of crouching down, Neilson sits back up and walks to the chair, giving you a sinister look.
"Did I strike a nerve?" Neilson teases Hotch.
You hesitate, but still carry on, not giving him the satisfaction. "Do you want to know how we figured out that you killed these women?"
"Well I didn't kill them. But the person who did... must have been really smart." Neilson replied.
"I think you're a coward. You wanted to feel powerful, so you took their power away. So if you ask me, you're looking pretty stupid." Hotch points his finger in the Unsub's face, now leaning over the table.
"We found out by simply running your name and record. Who would have known that an arrest for peeping into a girl's windows would have given you away."
Neilson tries to convince you of his innocence. "You have no way of proving that I killed any one of these women."
Emily walks through the door of the interrogation room, handing you a blank folder. The team had set in motion a tactic to bluff to the Unsub. Though you and Hotch knew the folder was blank, you walked over to him, and pretended to show the results you got from the lab.
"It's interesting, you know..." You think out loud.
Almost jumping out of his seat to see what was in the file, the Unsub demanded, "what is that?"
"Its the results of DNA found at the scene of the last murder... and is yours." Hotch taunted Neilson back.
"Pretty damning evidence against a man who didn't commit any of these murders." You continue.
The Unsub's body language shifted from confident to rage. "No it can't be. I made sure to clean up when I left. You liars!"
You opened up the folder of blank papers, slid it in front of the Unsub and got up from your chair, to exit the room. Accept at the last minute, you stopped before twisting the handle to open the door, and looked back.
"For a so called smart man, you're pretty dumb." Smirking, you opened the door, Hotch following closely behind. From the interrogation room, all you could hear was the screams of an insecure murderer looking for validation.
"Nice work, Y/N." Rossi commented, as you reunited with the team.
— —
The team headed back to their hotel rooms to get some rest before their flight the next morning. The team all walked through the lobby of the hotel, heading up to get some sleep, when Emily stopped everyone.
"Hey guys, usually we would go for a drink, but since JJ and Y/N can't, how about we go for some coffee." Emily asked. "Tea for Y/N and JJ."
"Aaron and I will be there." You said, nudging Aaron's arm.
"I'm in. I just have to call Will first." JJ added.
"Me too." Derek chimed in.
"Reid and Rossi?" Emily chirped.
"Well I was going to go read a book-"
"Count me and the kid in, too." Dave corrects Spencer.
The team walked back out of the hotel for a late night coffee, laughing. You and Emily hooked arms, while the others walked in front of you.
"Hey, Em?" You whispered to her, Aaron slowing down beside you. "Aaron and I wanted to ask you if you would like to be the baby's godmother?"
Emily stops dead in her tracks, and wraps her arms around you and Aaron. "It would be an honour."