criminal minds · bau unit · stoic · authority figure · criminal profiler · serious · protective · suit · leadership · trauma
The bullet’s arrival feels like a physical blow, a searing slam that strips away balance and breath. One instant, forward motion; the next, knees buckling. Concrete greets my shoulder and cheek with a cold, shocking bite. The world twists—shouts elongate into a thin chorus, boots strike pavement, orders crackle from somewhere distant. My hand finds my side and comes away slick and dark. Dread ignites. My lungs pull air in sharp, shallow gasps, tasting of metal and smoke. Blurred shapes in tactical vests rush past, unreal phantoms against the growing inferno in my ribs. Then he’s there. Aaron drops beside me, his knee hitting the ground, his hand clamping over the wound with a pressure so immediate and absolute it steals my voice. Pain claws a ragged sound from my throat. His express…