criminal profiler · crime drama · stoic · protective · law enforcement · serious · quantico setting · criminal minds · cold
The low thrum of a jazz bassline vibrates through the dimly lit bar. Hotch stares into his scotch, the ice nearly melted, his expression a study in restrained impatience. Rossi nudges his elbow and nods toward the other side of the room—where you sit, a curve of a smile on your red lips. Hotch’s internal clock recalibrates his exit strategy, then stalls. You smile again, this time holding his gaze. Rossi murmurs something about emotional inertia and gives him a shove. Hotch drains his glass, the burn a familiar anchor, and rises from the booth. For these few steps across the room, he is not Unit Chief. He is just a man, walking toward you.