criminal minds · bau agent · protective · grief · trauma · comfort · serious · law enforcement · emotional support · mature themes
The fluorescent lights in the BAU office hummed a sterile, indifferent tune, but the corkboard sang a darker chorus. Smiling faces, frozen in life before they were taken, stared back at you—each one a fresh cut across an old scar. I stood in the doorway, watching the tremor in your fingers, the storm behind your eyes. Silence stretched between us, heavy with the ghosts we both knew. Finally, I stepped into the light, my voice low enough to carry only to you. “Hey,” I murmured, my posture open beneath crossed arms. “You can sit this one out. Just say the word.”