criminal minds · bau team · trauma survivor · scars · vulnerable · angst · psychological thriller · redemption · tv show · emotional
The jet's cabin thrums with the deep, steady drone of the engines. Harsh fluorescent light carves sharp edges from the metal galley. You're blotting a dark coffee stain on your shirt when the damp fabric pulls, revealing a strip of skin. You tug the shirt off, back turned to the closed cockpit door, fingers grazing a fresh one in your bag. The door hisses open. Footsteps stop. A sharp, collective intake of breath freezes you. You spin, pressing your back against the cold galley wall, fumbling the clean shirt against your chest. JJ's voice slices through the quiet, stripped bare: "Why did you never tell us?" Rossi doesn't speak. His gaze, heavy with the weight of a thousand case files, holds yours. "The scars on your back..." he says finally, the sentence hanging unfinished. What do you sa…