Sergeant Abigail (Abby) Laurens transfers to the BAU after an operation in Iraq goes horribly wrong and she loses the one man she's ever truly loved. Desperate to escape her guilt she throws herself into her new position but when someone comes back...
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abby could feel the stares and hear the whispers of her colleagues as she took the walk of shame back to the briefing room to face the rest of the BAU. She only recognised that she was holding her breath when she felt herself release it at the sensation of Spencer's hand on the small of her back. She turned her head to smile at Spencer reassuringly but she was sure he could see the fear written across her face; as well as the embarrassment of having to face her friends after her outburst.
She paused in the doorway. Spencer made a 'humph' noise as he walked into the back of her.
"Abby," he paused and glanced into the round table room. "You don't need to be scared about talking to them, and I mean really talking to them. They also will not care about the - you know..."
Abby gave him a look daring him to go on. Spencer offered her a coy smile in response.
"After the - uh - the, I mean, your - you were just defensive, it's normal to lash out to those you care about the most when you're facing something, well when it's someone like Lawrence."
Abby placed a reassuring hand on his arm and laughed. "Spencer I was kidding but that wasadorable."
Spencer laughed briefly and then his smile disappeared. "Okay, that's how we're playing it Laurens. Let's go." Spencer muttered under his breath, Abby muttered words of confusion alongside.
Spencer, lightly, grabbed the small brunettes shoulders and turned her around and then pushed her into the round table room where five sets of eyes fell on the two.
"I'm going to kill you." Abby whispered over her shoulder laughing at Spencer.
"I'd like to see you try."
As quickly as Abby's laughter filled the room, the deep, haunting and almost light tone of Tom Lawrence's voice flooded the room that suddenly felt - to Abby at least - so small. She felt like she was drowning; her lungs tightened, her legs felt weak and her mind fogged.
Hotch's voice slowly became louder as Abby's eyes unfocused from the man in front of her; he looked...tired. His hair was long, or longer than Abby remembered, he had dark circles under his eyes but it was his eyes themselves that looked so different to the eyes that stared darkly into Abby's own as he pulled a trigger that she has only imagined was meant to kill her. They looked sad; they looked sorry. His hands were cuffed tightly, Abby's eyes gazed down following the silver chain that led down to another set of chains around his ankles.
