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THE TEAM jumped out of Derek's SUV and approached the seemingly silent house that Aaron previously occupied before Haley left him. The tactical team hadn't arrived yet. Derek gave a silent signal to Ophelia to clear upstairs first while Emily and JJ cleared the bottom floor. Ophelia climbed the carpeted stairs, careful not to cause them to creak beneath her heavy tactical boots. As she gazed around the house, all she could think about was how Aaron was before she met her. She wondered if he was always so serious. She heard was dull rustling, snapping her out of her thoughts before she laid her eyes on the master bedroom. On the floor was the bottom half of Haley's lifeless body, sprawled out behind the bed and out of Ophelia's view. As she slowly crept up to the scene, more blood and gore came into her view. Eventually, she laid her eyes on Hotch, still beating Foyet's corpse to a pulp in a blind rage. She pointed her gun around the room, clearing it before rushing to his side. Derek was quick to follow, pulling the hefty man out of his trance. "Hotch, Hotch! That's enough!" Soft sobs escaped his mouth as he fell backwards and into Ophelia's lap. He buried his face in her stomach and wrapped his arms around her waist. She could smell the fresh blood and sweat seeping out of him and Foyet, who laid lifeless in front of them. Derek called for a medic on his radio and the two agents bounded up the stairs to evaluate what had happened. Ophelia's arms still slightly hung in the air, afraid to touch the mess of a man in her lap. She shared a pleading look with Derek and placed a gentle palm on his black hair, stroking it out of his face as he continued to cry into her stomach. She focused her attention to his bloodied hands. His knuckles were scraped raw and still dripping blood. His dress shirt was practically drenched and a hole had formed in his slacks. His shoulders continued to shake. No one had ever reached out to Ophelia for this kind of comfort. How do you console someone who just lost the mother of their child? She tried, regardless of her experience, to hush Aaron's cries. "Aaron," Her voice was barely above a whisper, trying to remain as gentle as possible. "Where's Jack?" "Jack," He mumbled into her vest. He looked up at her, cheeks drenched with tears. "I have to find Jack," He stumbled to his feet and Ophelia followed soon after. They entered what she presumed to be Aaron's old study as he knelt down near a chest in the corner. He opened the lid, and there lied Jack, smiling lightly up at his father. "I'm helping you work the case, daddy," He remarked sweetly. "Great work, buddy," Aaron replied as he stroked his son's hair just as Ophelia had done to his. Ophelia's attention was taken away from Aaron when Derek placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him. "You really stayed strong for him," He said in an almost concerned tone. "I was just there, any one of you would've done the same," She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince. Derek nodded, his thoughts still lingering on her. Ophelia's gaze never left Aaron and Jack as they reunited. She knew that even though Jack and Aaron were physically fine, that meant virtually nothing to the scars that were left on the two of them and the entire team that day. Because of that fact, she knew she would do whatever it took to help Aaron Hotchner, her colleague and new found friend. Even if she didn't know him after the events that transpired that day. For him, she'd bleed herself dry.
