Work Text:
1. Energetic
When they finally get to return to Quantico, Penelope is eagerly waiting by the elevators, a beaming smile on her face that quickly becomes infectious to the rest of the team.
2. Fold
Elle used to dread the late-night cases; but as Spencer sits across from her, a victorious smirk peeking from behind his cards, she decides they might not be that bad after all.
3. Scorch
Emily swears she can hear the sizzling of the branding iron, feel her flesh burn again and again in her dreams, bloody and raw skin sticking to the shirt Ian seemed to delight in re-buttoning.
4. Whistle
As Jessica watches her brother-in-law cook for her nephew, more carefree than she can ever remember seeing him, it’s easy to understand why his team had finally forced him into a vacation.
5. Trust
They’re around the back of an unsub’s house when Derek nods his head toward the right, and as Emily nods back before sneaking off that way, he can’t quite pin down when he’d started to trust her again.
6. First
The tech analyst- Garcia, she thinks- practically begs her for a chance at reintroduction, and Alex is so flustered that someone cares it takes her a moment to respond appropriately.
7. Stare
Rossi traces the matching dates on Carolyn’s tombstone until his vision starts to swim; until the only person who knows the truth about everything brings him back to earth.
8. Billow
Her face softens as she sees him, her hair like gossamer in the wind, and Ian silently swears that he’ll burn the world down if anyone ever takes her away from him.
9. Tenuous
A little piece of her irreparably shatters when he dies, but Rossi holds her hand just like Matthew did so long ago, whispering in her ear to trust him as they cross over the threshold of the church.
10. Quicksand
It would be easier for JJ to pretend she wasn’t drowning if she could finally believe that he was who she wanted.
11. Clouds
The plane ride to Guantanamo Bay must be one of the longest of Emily’s life, but she squares her shoulders and sets her jaw; one chance is all she’s going to get.
12. Thoughtless
Garcia is pushing and pushing, and it’s only teasing, but Ian is coming to torture her, kill her whole team because she lied, because she made him love her, and Emily can’t stand these jokes on the best of days, because- god- how does she explain her sin, and-
13. Bashful
“Got any other surprises up your sleeves, Dr. Reid?” Elle teases breathlessly, her eyes slightly glazed and a lazy smile on her face as she relishes the way that Spencer’s ears turn bright red.
14. Scattered
He’s rambling as he writes, scribbling down every philosophical sentence that passes through his mind, and as he does, Gideon silently begs the universe to make Spencer, one day, understand why he has to escape.
15. Overflow
The last words he’d ever said had been barbed and hateful; the final way Emily had ever remembered him was for supposedly betraying her in a way Clyde knew he never could.
16. Neglect
Being forced to watch Jack grow up through a screen breaks Hotch’s heart in a million ways he always thought he’d be safe from.
17. Hushed
Derek whispers soothing words long after Penelope has cried herself to sleep, promising his best friend that he’d make sure the son of a bitch who broke her heart got what he deserved.
18. Swallow
He’s trying- really trying- to push his feelings for Carolyn aside and to make the right choice, but as she confesses she’s already doomed herself, it’s all Rossi can do to hold her close.
19. Cold
It’s strange, Emily hazily thinks, that she’s still so cold in the warmth of the ambulance.
20. Question
The whole team is staring at her, probably concerned- definitely confused- but all JJ wants to do is figure out who’s staging these suicides and go home.
21. Furniture
“Come here. Let me fix it,” Derek pleads, and the guilty look in his eye is the only thing that makes Emily finally relent- building a bookcase with a concussion probably wasn’t her brightest idea anyway.
22. Lean
Reid is resting on Elle’s shoulder, both of them fast asleep as they fly back to Quantico, and that’s when it finally sinks in for Gideon that he didn’t fail again- his team is safe.
23. Rough
Her voice is hoarse and broken, every breath filled with smoke, every movement of her face painful; but still, as Emily desperately limps back toward the compound, she knows she’ll never forgive herself if Spencer dies.
24. Misty
If Alex’s eyes are more than a little misty as she finishes cutting his hair, and if Spencer squeezes her tighter than usual when she accepts his hug, neither of them says a word.
25. Ocean
Alaska is far behind them, Penelope sitting safely next to him, but the facts don’t matter when staring out of the plane’s window is doing very little to curb Derek’s residual fear.
26. Troubled
Emily might technically be his unit chief now, his superior, but as she begs him not to leave her, all Spencer sees is the sister he’d always wished for.
27. Free
Alex gently re-adjusts his hands, a spark in her eye as she explains the vital importance of eyebrow movements in ASL culture, and Spencer hopes she feels as unrestrained as he does talking to her.
28. Lacking
Loving him, Haley suddenly understands, just isn’t enough anymore.
29. Connection
Emily writhes in utter agony on the cot, the metal stakes drilled into her legs setting her nerves into overdrive, and she isn’t sure how much longer picturing Jack’s face can keep her sane.
30. Abandon
Her fists pound weakly against his chest as she finally breaks, but Spencer stubbornly holds Elle closer, tightening his grip as he grounds her back to their shared safety.