Request: unsub targeting women who are brunette-believes they're witches and burns them at the stake after putting them in white dresses. Agent is dating Aaron or Spencer, gets kidnapped, team arrives just after unsub starts the fire where she is tied to the stake. Agent suffers burns to her feet and Hotch or Spence care for them after. (Thank you!!)
2The Witch Hunt. Aaron Hotchner x Reader.
Warnings- fighting, talk of death, kidnapping, injuries, burns, witch hate, some cussing.
I’m a witch so this was a little difficult to write. Sorry it took so long. Words: 5,253
“When change cometh, she will bring peace at her back. She will not bend to your will; you must bend to hers.” -Adriana Mather. How to Hang a Witch.
Things were quiet for the first time in what felt like a week. Aaron, Jack, and I were watching movies together. It was a quiet Saturday and I really enjoyed that, especially since it was one of those weeks where Aaron hadn't been home so it was only me and his son. Aaron and I had been dating for about 7 months, I figured that moving forward was the best way to handle our situation. I worked from home as a website coordinator for major companies who just hadn't caught up with the technology wave, which was the polar opposite of Aaron's job. He was constantly gone, and in danger. I sighed softly, it was my idea to move in so soon. He didn't exactly love the idea at first but after I told him it could be good for Jack to have someone in the house it made him feel a little better, and since life is too short especially for him it was best to skip too much in between fluff. Life is a mess and yet I was content with the life I had chosen. "Opie." Jack said quietly to me. He had become like a child to me and I wasn't exactly read to be a parent so an Opie was next best thing I guess. "what is it Jack?" I asked softly "I want some snackies" he said quietly "please can I have some?" I just nodded and smiled nodding "Of course you can buddy. What kind do you want?" I hummed softly as he thought softly "How about some gushers" I suggested to him and he gasped nodding quickly "Gushers!" He yelled excitedly making Aaron let out a very rare laugh, a gentle smile resting on his face. "gushers!" Jack grinned bouncing on the couch as I walk to the kitchen. I sighed standing up onto my tiptoes to grab the box of gushers off the top shelf. Aaron said to put all the junk food up high so Jack couldn't reach it easily, but what he forgot was I struggle to reach sometimes depending on the shelf. It was a pain in the ass. I squeaked quietly as I felt a hand on my hip and a man pressed against my back. "Jesus Aaron, don't scare me like that" I snorted softly leaning into his touch closing my eyes. "sorry (Y/N), I figured you'd need some help since the unhealthier snacks are on the very top shelf," he hummed closing it and swaying with me happily. Sometimes I forgot just how romantic Aaron actually was, it wasn't the laying out flowers on valentines day, or calling me cheesy silly things, just sweet. He held me when he felt I needed to be held, spent as much time with me as I could, never made ridiculous accusation. He was an adult and we had an adult relationship. It was the first one I had too, so to say it was refreshing was a slight understatement. I really loved Aaron but I wasn't quite ready to say that yet. "Daddy! Opie! You're missing the movie!" Jack called making me laugh "He's right. We should go" I hummed sweetly pulling Aaron to the couch handing Jack his Gushers. I cuddled into Aaron's chest thinking about what to make all of us for dinner. I was tired of having takeout because that was what Jack and I ate when he was out on a case. This last case was a fairly easy one. A few murders here and there. Yes it took them a week but the guy was clever and kept getting out of custody, so I was told. It was scary how many bad people were out there and how you just had to narrow down the bad to the worst, and then take your pick of those sickos. "So-" Aaron began ever so thoughtfully. I've been thinking and I think it's time, you meet the BAU" That sentence alone made my heart skip a beat. "Really?" I grinned. The BAU was his family, a whole different world, and meeting them would mean he was sure of where this relationship was going. That was the best feeling in the world. "Yeah. I think we both know this relationship is going well, and I feel good enough to tell them. What do you think?" He questioned and I nodded quickly "Please! That would be so wonderful Aaron!" I squealed hugging him.
As we talked excitedly the phone rang, more specifically Aaron's hand held rang. My heart dropped because I knew what the deal was. He answered with a stern "Hotchner" as he always did. It scared me how fast his mood changed sometimes so sweet and happy, to stone faced mean man in seconds. I guess it was his way of coping with the job and everything it had put him through. Aaron's history at the BAU was nothing to scoff and and I knew better than to question his job or authority within it. I just sighed "What kind of takeout do you want tonight Jack?" I questioned the small boy softly who hummed "Chicken!" he grinned and I nodded sitting back slightly disheartened "That sounds yummy." I hummed. "right. Alright, be there soon. Thanks JJ" he said hanging up "I'm sorry. The good news is, I don't have to leave town. Bad news is this guy is so active we might need to stay at the Bureau for a night or two." He said looking to me with a frown. "Go." I smiled gently "go be a hero, and when you catch this guy. Make sure he knows he fucked with the wrong team" I whispered the last part in his ear. He grinned kissing me gently, the encouragement was always something he appreciated, I knew that much for sure. I kissed back holding his face as he stood up. I didn't want him to go. I knew he had to, I knew it was important, and I knew not to take it personally but it was still hard to watch him go every time. "I really have to go (Y/N)." he muttered against my lips making me whine. "Just. One more minute." I sighed as he pulled away putting on his jacket. "You know want to but I can't. You know that" he sighed kissing Jack's head and giving him a big hug "I'll see you in a little bit buddy." He said softly. Even when he was telling the truth it still hurt just a little, Jack was probably the strongest kid I'd met. He had become so used to his father leaving, he missed him every single time, but he sat brave sure his dad would come back the hero he knew he was. And that was what kept me strong. A little boy so assured of his father that you couldn't help but be too. I just sighed softly lost in my thoughts as Aaron left, I tired to keep a really open mind about it. His wife had left because of his job and I didn't also want to do that. It was a demanding and dangerous job though and the idea of him being gone for so long and maybe not coming back leaving me with his son? It made me feel sick. Worry was always on the forefront of my mind when he was gone. It was the worst sometimes. I started to fill a pot with water since I figured some macaroni for lunch would be good. "Jack! How do you feel about macaroni for lunch?" I hummed softly to the boy, who didn't respond causing me to be confused.
I just sighed and set the pot down on the counter, and went to check on Jack wondering if he had wondered into another room. "Jack?" I called out into the almost empty apartment. I blinked walking into Aaron's study with a loud sigh. I wondered if he was 'working a case'. I learned that was what you said when you needed him to safety. A good way for him to hide, I was surprised, I remember that was when he told me about his late ex wife. I had just moved in with him and he was panicked and looking for Jack. When we had found him he smiled widely saying "sorry daddy. I had to work a case". It was sweet until Aaron had to explain the emergency plans. He told me he just couldn't take anymore chances. I just sighed as he told me the story of what happened to Hailey, and shook my head smiling when he offered me an out. "I'm not going anywhere Aaron. I care a whole lot about you, and danger? It's a given." I told him, we hadn't even come close to saying I love you. It was so early on that saying it felt a little wrong. We still hadn't actually, it was one of those things we were both scared to admit. "Here I am Opie!" Jack called from his bedroom making me smile and walk to him "Hey buddy. How does some mac and cheese sound for lunch?" I knelt down with a smile. "Yeah! We get to save some for daddy too right?" he asked "Of course. Come on. Lets go, you can play in the ki-" I stopped when I heard glass break "Actually, while I make lunch, you... uh you, daddy needs you to work the case with him okay? Keep working till daddy or I comes and gets you." I said softly kissing his forehead. He nodded and got up running off to his safe place and I grabbed a bat from his room slowly walking towards the living room. The picture of me and Aaron had fallen off the table. I let out a soft sigh and picked it up and went to the kitchen to get a broom to clean the glass. I set the picture on the counter and hissed in pain as I gently nicked my finger on a larger piece of glass. "Shit..." I hissed starting to wash it, I decided to get Jack after everything was cleaned so he wouldn't get hurt. "How did that even fall off the table. I didn't think it was that close to the edge." I muttered to myself. I shook my head gasping in shock as I was grabbed causing me to scream. My hair was used to pull my head back and I was faced with a masked man. It wasn't a ski mask but instead a plastic mask. I hissed and screamed turning myself around tangling my brown hair in the process. The man very clearly displeased with my actions shoved me into the counter causing my hair to fall over my face. "Stop struggling" the stranger's gruff voice commanded making me shiver with pure fear as he stepped closer grabbing my neck.
I was so scared I was going to die I did the next best thing and grabbed the pot of water slapping him across the face with it ignoring the water. I stumbled out as he yelled in pain not even thinking straight. I could have grabbed a knife but I instead went for the phone. I was about half way there when I felt a blunt object causing me to fly forward into the table. I didn't feel the pain I was far too scared not to mention that my body was pumping adrenaline like crazy. I hissed sitting up searching quickly for anything. I found one of Jacks toys that was just a little too sharp but not sharp enough to harm, unless you were using it like I was. I screamed loudly using the toy to take out his fucking knee. He screamed falling to the ground long enough for me to discover I literally broke the phone under me when I fell into the table. I stood trying to run away from the broken side table and batshit insane man trying to grab me. I ran to the other side of the couch trying to trick him into following my path so I could make a B line for the kitchen. I need a knife more than ever, I couldn't leave to get help. There wasn't a guarantee he wouldn't follow and if he didn't follow for whatever reason that could be putting Jack in a seriously dangerous situation he didn't need to be in. I gagged at the smell of this man, he smelt homeless and like cigarettes. There was another smell I couldn't place but it was absolutely terrible. Add a years worth of whiskey to the mix and you had the man standing in my living room. "Come here bitch." He hissed "You need to pay for your crimes." now, the problem is I never committed a crime. And i wanted nothing more to scream and cry, but Aaron said never to show them fear, or give them what they want. So even if he did kill me, I wasn't letting him get any satisfaction from it. He came at me and I ran grabbing a glass shard from the counter and a knife, I stabbed at him blindly yelling, and cursing. "Get away from me!" I snapped, I missed the stab to the chest and only got his arm. Gasping for air I tried to grab another and screamed as a bag was put over my head, he shook the knife off like a god damn champ. I let out one final plea for help before everything when black.
With Aaron. 3rd person P.o.V
Aaron silently wondered if he really needed to be here. If it was actually a case that his team needed to take. He wondered if he could just shrug off JJ saying it wasn't actually priority, and he fully planned on it until he saw what was on the screen. It was just about enough to make him sick, there were four skeletons on the screen all of them had a pile of long brunette hair next to them, all wearing a white dress that was scorched to hell. It was almost nothing, it was a lot of messy cloth but you could just tell what is was. He sighed sitting down, it was local. He hated it, he hated how close it was to his own home. How close it was to Jack and (Y/N). He called the house with a frown before everyone else got there and it freaked him out slightly when it went straight to voice mail. He wondered silently if the battery had died, he hadn't changed it in a long time and had a bad habit of leaving it off the holder. He really was concerned, but tried to keep himself composed. And so when everyone came in he held his same stoic face. Spencer though was definitely the first to notice something was off though. He was good at his job like that, so when he asked if something was wrong it threw Aaron off slightly. "Hotch?" Derek questioned after noticing as well how off he was. Emily also noticed but decided not to press the issue as JJ walked into the room with a sad smile. "Time to get this show on the road." Everyone knew that it was time for the worst part of their jobs. Figuring out what they were too late to stop.
"This-" JJ gestured to the skeleton on the screen "Is Anna Beekly. She was reported missing three days ago and turned up two days ago as you see her now." She said quietly and pulled up two other pictures. They looked almost exactly the same as the previous victim except the first one seemed to have a cross in the picture. "All of these women were believed to have been taken by the same person and killed exactly the same." JJ said "and all of them had one thing in common while alive" she stated putting up the pictures of the alive and smiling women. "They were all brunettes." she sighed. "Well that takes victomology out of the way" Emily said quietly "Its odd, no one decomposes that fast and the bodies are badly burned but if he wanted to dispose of the evidence why wouldn't he keep trying instead of dumping them." Rossi mumbled blinking "Unless he isn't trying to burn the evidence" Spencer suggested. Aaron looked sick. (Y/N) was a brunette, sure it was a common hair color but the idea scared the hell out of him. "What do you mean?" Derek asked patting the now very quiet Penelope Garcia's back. "Well, maybe he's burning them alive." He said quietly "Look at the dresses and how they're burned matching up to how their body is burned. The fire's hottest point is at their feet." He said pointing out all the facts. "And look at the first picture" Aaron continued "It seems like hes burning them on it. And after the first dump it didn't feel right to leave the cross with them so he stopped" he frowned
"So what your saying is-" Derek began "-We have a witch hunter" Rossi finished scowling. Aaron nodded. "Penelope. I need you to look up anything and everything these victims may have had in common and if they knew or met the unsub. Now. Before we even leave." Aaron hissed. He was getting nervous and antsy. He hadn't even received a text that everything was alright from his girlfriend. "Yes sir" Penelope yelped tapping like mad at her keyboard "Okay.. Okay um..." she stuttered "all these women had online stores. And were connected to a man who's user was Olsin24, and that user traces back to a fake email address I can't track but he was the last one the victims had contact with" she whimpered softly. Everyone was a little shocked by how snappy Aaron was all of a sudden, it wasn't like him to have mood swings especially ones that made Penelope worried. "It looks like he only messages and meets one person at a time since he only has correspondents with the three women and a fourth." She said tapping quickly "Who's the fourth?" Derek asked raising a brow "She's our next victim and we got to help her before anything else" he said firmly "Already on that my sweet" she grinned and pulled up her laptop onto the big screen "Her name is (Y/N) (L/N), she works as a social media manager, and met up with this man three days ago to discus getting his business online." she hummed pulling up the picture of Aaron's girlfriend making him sick to his stomach "Where does she live? We need to get there immediately" Emily said standing up adrenaline already pumping. "She lives.." She pulled up the address and her face dropped. "With Hotch..." She blinked in surprise as everyone turned to the pale man for an explanation. "She's my girlfriend..." he mumbled "I was going to tell you all about her later." He mumbled "But we don't have time for that. She and Jack are alone at the house and our home phone is dead. We have to go" he stood and ran out to the SUVs everyone following "Hotch scored" Derek said to Emily before hitting him and running after them.
I woke up dizzy and confused at the very least. There was one blissful moment where I had forgotten everything that happened. I only wondered if Jack had brushed his teeth before we went to sleep, and not about the fight, and the mess, the knives and toys. I almost forgot about how I felt like my head was splitting and two and thinking Aaron would be home soon. But when I opened my eyes instead of questioning my surroundings I started to sob quietly, as all the memories flooded back and I was left in a cold room with water dripping down the roof. It smelt like death and I realized I was in a cage. One of those cages you'd put a husky in when it was bedtime and you didn't trust them to not shit in your room. I whimpered realizing I was tied up and pretty lost. The feeling in my wrists was gone and I was sure if I could see them they'd be purple but as they were behind my back I couldn't do much. Until I remembered a trick Aaron had taught me. You aren't normally supposed to be able to get your hands from behind your back to in front of you, but with enough bending and flexibility it was easily possible. I slowly worked and sighed in relief as I could see my hands. I began to bite at the rope hopelessly tugging on it even if to just loosen it enough so it would be less painful, silently panicking as I heard the jiggle jangle of keys down the hall.
I nearly started sobbing again as the man stepped into the cage "If you wanted them looser you could have just asked" He muttered unforgivably and started to loosen them but not taking them off. "Sit in that chair" He muttered stepping aside giving me room to crawl out. As I did I silently contemplated if I could run, looking at the disgusting green chair that looked as if it'd been thrown up on and smelt like cat piss. He grabbed me shoving and killing any hope I had of escaping. "We need to cut your hair. You'll burn to long if we don't" He said quietly and sighed basically inhaling it making me wince away fro him. I had never been so disgusted in my entire life. I moved away from him "Shame, it was so pretty" he moaned into it causing me to gag involuntarily. The body knew what it wanted, and it did not want this. "what.... what do you mean by,, I'll burn too long?" I winced regretting the question the second it came out of my mouth. "You're a witch..." he sneered. "I'm n-not a witch... a-and even if I wa-was. Witches aren't bad. They just want to do good things and live life wit-with good vibes. It's j-just a religion lik-like any other one." I whimpered softly as he threw me in the chair ignoring my pleas for mercy. I was human, that was it. I needed to humanize myself, Aaron told me that if I do that it may appeal to him "M-My name is (Y/N), I-I'm 39 years old, I have a boyfriend named Aaron who cares for me a lot, and he has a little boy." I whimpered, it hit me that we had met. "R-remember me... J-Jacob remember me? We met the other day" I cried softly "Yeah. But your hair, it's the devil's color. We can't let a witch like you walk aroun' runin' lives and such" he shook his head. I whimpered as I felt the brush start making its way down my hair. "Brushing makes it easier to cut" he muttered. Am I going to die here?
With Aaron 3rd person p.o.v
Aaron nearly busted down his own door and went into a state of shock at the scene of his apartment. He quickly ran up to his study "Jack? JACK!" he yelled as the rest of his team followed shocked as well. He went to see if Jack was in his hiding spot and there he was peacefully napping. Aaron quickly picked him up hugging him, he yawned in response sleepily looking up "Hi daddy. Opie said you needed help working the case and not to come out until she or you came back" He yawned looking around "Can I goes back to sleep now?" He mumbled earning a soft nod from Aaron as he handed him off to JJ. He quickly got up and went to investigating. "This was some struggle, the table is broken and so is the home phone. There's a knife on the ground over here along with a bloody toy. There's broken glass but no picture" Spencer mumbled "He must have broken it to distract her so he could catch her off guard, and it didn't work very well" he muttered. It damn near killed Aaron to hear about his girlfriend being talked about like a victim. He'd had this happen with Hailey and he wasn't ready for it to happen again. "The picture is in here. Seemed like she was trying to clean it up. Maybe she worried someone was in the house, saw it was just the picture and decided to clean up, not knowing someone was actually here." Emily suggested as she yelled from the other room. "There's some blood and a lot of water all over the floor. But the pot is in the sink. (Y/N) clearly didn't put it here, and the glass has been moved to the trash, but there blood on the counter clearly someone cut themselves on it cleaning it up" She hummed confused. "The question is, who's really doing the cleaning?" She muttered. "Is that even important?!" Aaron snapped "What is important right now is finding (Y/N)" he muttered "Look. We're missing a knife. She had to stab him meaning there has to be a guy out there in need of medical attention." He snapped again, being way too on edge. "Hotch" Derek grounded him with a sigh "Look..." he said "I know you're very involved with (Y/N), but you need to calm down. Step outside okay?" He mumbled, worried for the man who looked like he might just break the other. "Fine" He hissed going out to his son, leaving them to look through the apartment. It came up clean. Except for one thing. A hand print on the table, bloody and clear as day. "Lets get to it." Emily said blinking.
I stared at the pile of hair the bastard chopped off crying softly picking up strands. I was proud of my hair and it was a different kind of violation, I was in shock and I felt sick. I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't even have time to recognize that Jacob had come into my cell. I was completely terrified, I didn't know what he wanted, and I didn't know how to appease him. "What do you want!" I sobbed. "Why won't you let me go!" I screamed crying out in pain as he grabbed me by the face pulling me off the ground roughly. I whimpered in fear, unable to stop myself at this point. The pain was real, horrifically real, and that's what fear became. "Admit to your crime and maybe God will have mercy on you" he hissed spitting on my face. I winced my lower lip quivering "I haven't done anything" I sobbed "I'm not a witch. I'm just a woman!" I screeched as he threw me to the floor. He threw a dress at me "What do you want to eat? It'll be your last" he mumbled. I cried softly, "I... I want... some..." I thought about my first date with Aaron, it was simple but I could be myself. I ordered a burger and fries, with chilli to dip the fries in. It was the best, the food was mediocre but Aaron was attached to it. I wanted a little bit of him left. I sniffled "can I write it down for you?" I asked. He nodded handing me a pad and pencil. I wrote the order with a sniffle, handing him the paper. He took it leaving, and I immediately felt empty and sad. I needed to write to Aaron and Jack. They didn't know where I was and if this guy continued to bring victims here, someone was bound to find it and give it to him for me. That was all I could do, that and put on the dress. If I tried to escape lord knows what would happen.
Aaron paced in Penelope's lair just waiting for a match to come up. He was monitoring (Y/N)'s credit card, any online history from Olsin24, if he messaged someone else that meant (Y/N) was already dead, but Aaron didn't want to think about that. He needed to continue working off the belief that (Y/N) was alive or else he might just loose his mind. He needed to find her and fast, he couldn't let anything happen to her. "Sir! We have a match!" Penelope said quickly "Jacob Harrson! He's a 51 year old man! And he was spotted... at a restaurant. He used (Y/N)'s credit card 12 minutes ago" she swallowed a lump in her throat "I'm sending you the address now." Aaron could have hugged her but right now he needed to focus on finding his girlfriend so he ran the team following. As they loaded into their cars, (Y/N) was being pulled from the floor and towards the field. The dress flew behind her and she kept stepping on broken glass from what she assumed were beer bottles. The SUVs going as fast as they could sirens blaring. The idea of (Y/N) being dead was at the front of Aaron's anxious mind, he felt sick and so did she. She was being pulled through a backyard and tied to a cross. She felt sick watching as he slowly added more and more kindling. "You're going to be okay. God will have mercy. He always does." Jacob said, brushing his thumb across her cheek making her gag. They pulled up to the house guns out and they were ready to bust down the door. The BAU was ready to actually solve a case super fast the idea not dawning on them that if they were wrong, (Y/N) was dead. But her screams and cries for help caught Aaron's attention the flames and smoke being seen from the back yard. Aaron ran back Derek following quickly.
The fight that followed was too blurry for anyone to remember but Jacob was on the ground nearly dead and Aaron was pulling (Y/N) off the cross quickly. "Shit. Baby it's okay. It's okay you're safe" He whispered crying and holding her. She just cried "I can't feel my feet" she whispered gagging. "I can't do anything, am I moving them?" she whispered Aaron looked down nearly gagging at the sight. (Y/N) had fourth degree burns, it had only been a few minutes but that was enough apperently. The bone shone through the skin around it red, the blisters bursting and the crisp skin around the bone charred beyond repair "MEDIC! WE NEED A MEDIC!" Derek yelled as Aaron tried to distract (Y/N). "Its okay. Don't think about it. We'll get you taken care of. You'll be home soon, you, Jack, and me can all watch movies, and it'll be fun." He watched her eyes light up. She nodded slowly "okay... I'm tired." She mumbled "Not yet. Okay? Just, keep looking at me" He whispered the stretcher back. Aaron knew everything would be okay.
"I am no more a witch than you are a wizard. If you take my life away God will give you blood to drink" -Sarah Good.