"W- Hotch you can't be serious, she's a criminal!" He shifted in his seat, but his face remained impassive. "So was Garcia. She's a good person, Strauss. Give her a chance."
The steady sound of the machine beeping woke Nova up from her deep sleep. She couldn't really open her eyes yet; she felt like a heavy weighted blanket was laid over her whole body. She could tell she was in a hospital but wasn't conscious enough to try to wonder why.
Nova felt herself frown at the harsh light of the room as soon as she opened her eyes. She shifted slightly to take a look at where she was. She was sitting in a hospital bed and there were pretty yellow flowers on the table next to her. She smiled at them before turning to her other side.
Nova's smile widened when she saw Spencer asleep in the waiting chair, an open book lying on his lap about to fall off. She shifted and winced when she realized she was connected to an IV, nearly ripping the needle out of her arm.
She huffed at the fact she was bedridden and decided to try to annoy spencer. Nova looked around her toward the pretty bouquet of flowers to find a bowl of ice chips in the bedpan right next to it. She snickered under her breath as she grabbed one and lobbed it at Spencer.
He let out a slight cough as his arm slid out from under his chin and he shot up out of the chair, his book falling to the ground. Nova cackled at him while he re-calibrated his brain to understand what just happened.
"Really? You just got shot and you're throwing ice chips at me." Spencer remarked with a warm smile, bringing the chair closer to the hospital bed. He furrowed his brows slightly in worry when he looked over her. He had been waiting by her bedside as soon as she got into the hospital and the nurses let him in. Penelope and Emily tried to convince him to go home to sleep, but he wanted to be there when Nova woke up.
"Are you feeling alright?" Spencer said to her quietly, concern evident in his eyes. Nova smiled at him softly, bringing her hand up to his hair and sweeping away a baby hair from his forehead. "I feel fine. I told you I'd feel fine." She said, raising an eyebrow at him. He chuckled at her sputtering a laugh. "Are you really about to hit me with an I told you so?" he laughed and Nova grinned.
"Damn right I am, I did tell you so," Nova replied, letting out a loud laugh. They both turned their heads when they heard a squeal coming from the doorway. "You're awake! Oh my gosh, I brought cake, I brought Jemily, I even brought you a brand new sexy work shirt because your one has a bullet hole in it." Penelope said excitedly, rushing into the room with a bunch of shopping bags.
Nova noticed the air in the room changed whenever Penelope walked in. She quite literally was a ray of sunshine and she always made her smile. "Good morning, Penny. Is the team here?" Nova asked, expecting most of them to be at home.
After putting the bags down, Penelope responded "Yup! They're all here, JJ and Em are getting coffee downstairs, Derek is bringing plates and cutlery for us to have cake with and the two grandpas are talking about tobacco or whatever outside. Do you want me to call them in?" she responded with a hopeful smile. Nova nodded eagerly. She missed them all, they had become her family.
Shortly after, Penelope returned with the whole team and they cramped inside the relatively small hospital room, exchanging light laughter and teasing jokes about getting shot directed at Nova.
"You know technically everyone on this team has been shot at least once," Rossi remarked as he took a bite out of the cake. Derek snickered and said "It's a rite of passage, Noves. You should be proud of that."
Nova simply rolled her eyes. " Yeah, I'm real proud of having a hole in my lower torso. How am I ever gonna wear bikini's again?" Emily laughed. "Yeah I'm sure you look terrible in them," she said sarcastically.
They ate slightly stale cake together and laughed because they all knew how lucky they were that Nova was okay. Nova felt okay. She felt good, and Spencer was right there next to her. That's all she needed.
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"Are you sure you don't need to take the elevator? I can carry that bag for you-" Spencer started but Nova just laughed him off. "Spence, I'm fine, I'm not even sore. It's all good. I'm practically back to normal already. Now, come on I wanna do the star wars marathon you were telling me about," She replied, dragging Spencer to her apartment door. Spencer paused as she looked for her keys and just stared at her.
He thought she was absolutely perfect. Everything about her was. She understood him, she cared about him, she supported him. He swears in all his years of living that he's never met a girl that is as timelessly stunning as his Nova. She turned toward him, feeling his gaze on her and she smiled at him. "What?"
He grinned at her.
"I love you".
Nova felt her heart flip over and drop to her fucking pelvic floor. She knew she told him she loved him when she was shot because she knew he'd need to hear it. She did love him, so much. He meant the entire world to her and she would give up anything to keep him happy. Her eyes met his and his expression held so much emotion she nearly teared up.
Nova had put on expensive mascara this morning and she was not about to tear up. So instead of crying, she took his face in both of her hands and kissed him. He immediately responded and wrapped his arms around her tightly.
The kiss wasn't aggressive or physical, because it wasn't about that. Nova wanted Spencer to know she loved him and Spencer wanted Nova to know she was loved.
Nova pulled away with a soft smile reserved especially for Spencer. "I love you too," she said quietly and he laughed at her, pressing small kisses all over her face. She laughed loudly and rolled her eyes, running off into the apartment to get changed.
She pulled on a big baby blue sweatshirt she had stolen from Spencer and a pair of sweatpants since it was getting cold outside. She paused slightly when she saw her scar peep out while changing. She ran her finger over the tender skin and smiled slightly, remembering Rossi's words.
"It's like a rite of passage."
And just like that, Nova was proud to have been shot. She was proud she was brave. She was proud she risked her life for good. She was proud she was strong enough to get through it.
She took out her pile of menu's from the kitchen and picked out the menu from the amazing Chinese restaurant a block away from her apartment.
She walked back into the living room to find Spencer on the floor next to the TV with a box of star wars DVDs in his hand. His hair was a mop of brown curls on top of his head and he had changed into his clothes that he stashed at her house for lazy days. He sported a comfy-looking brown sweater and star wars pajama pants. Nova grinned at him, plopping right down beside him as he held her hand with his.
"So, kung pao chicken or vegetable and beef noodles?"
