before i get a chance to respond, spencer and i are grabbed by emily and morgan, and are dragged away from the building.

"what's going on?" i ask quickly, as morgan picks up my crutches, and basically shoves me.

"hotch found a bomb in the building. he's on his way out now, but it's big. it's set to go off in 2 minutes." he answers hurriedly, as we rush over to the black SUV's.

just as morgan gets me in the car, we see hotch running out in a hurry. i wave my hand in the air as he runs faster towards our SUV, and morgan gets in and starts the car. i look to my right and see JJ and rossi. where the hell is emily and spencer?

a few seconds later, hotch swings open the passenger door and hops in as morgan presses on the gas before hotch can even shut his door. he wipes sweat from his forehead and his panting breath slows. "you guys alright?" he asks, turning around to me.

i nod slowly. "yeah, i think i'm good-" before i can say anything else, a deafening boom fills my ears and, out of instinct, i turn around to see the warehouse i had previously been in. it has burst into flames, pieces of metal flying all around, and a large cloud of smoke begins to fill the sky. "woah." i mutter under my breath as i turn around. "did emily and spencer get out?"

"i believe so. i didn't see the other SUV when i was walking out. i think they left while you all were waiting for me." as hotch talks, i look him over. his hands are covered in blood, and his body is covered in dirt. before i can ask, derek takes the words right out of my mouth.

"what happened to you, hotch?"

hotch looks over at derek, and takes a deep sigh. "i was in the back room of the warehouse, looking for the last couple of people, and i, uh, found one of the men trying to sneak out with a woman. i stopped them and announced my presence, and as i was trying to negotiate with them, he took his gun and shot her in the neck, splattering her blood everywhere. i shot him after, and then tried to help her, but she bled out."

we all nod solemnly at his response, and then sit in comfortable silence on the way back to quantico.

-

as i hobble along on my crutches exiting the elevator, my skin comes in contact with the freezing air from the air conditioning. i let out a shiver and it was then that i realized that i'm still in the clothes i wore in the warehouse. hotch, derek, and i are greeted by the rest of the team just outside of the bullpen.

emily is the first to wrap me in a hug. "stella, we were so worried when we found out you were in there."

emily's comment is followed by a series of more comments from JJ, rossi, and garcia.

"thank you all for your worries. i am pretty sure that i'm okay, minus the shot to the foot, my crushed fingers, and the punches across the face. i wasn't in there long enough for it to get worse. you should've seen some of those other girls. it was just.... not okay in any sense."

"we saw a few as they were leaving. i spoke to your therapist, and she is willing to resume sessions if they're still needed." rossi adds, cracking a soft smile.

"thank you, rossi. i'll definitely be needing those after that, as much as i hate to admit it."

"stella, it's okay. we all need those talks sometimes." emily reassures me, as she rubs my arm. "let's get you into something warmer, shall we?"

i nod, and prepare my crutches to begin walking. as JJ is opening the glass door for emily and i, i look over at spencer for the first time. the corners of his mouth twitch up into a slight smile, and he nods his head. i return his smile, and then i walk into the bullpen.

i watch emily walk over to my desk, grabbing a small grey duffel bag out from underneath her desk, and we turn and walk towards the women's bathroom. before i can even shut the door, emily sets the bag on the sink counter and turns to me.

"stella."

i shut the door. "what?"

emily crosses her arms and her dark eyes focus on mine. "don't act like i didn't see what happened at the ambulance earlier." a smirk grows on her face.

i feel my cheeks heating up as i try and think of a proper response to her response. "it was nothing."

emily rolls her eyes. "stella he kissed you. on the lips. and you didn't pull away. that was not nothing."

i let out a deep sigh as i reach for the duffel bag and zip it open. "i honestly don't know how to feel. spencer is my best friend. he said he likes me more than a friend, right before you guys came over, but i just don't want to ruin our friendship." i pull out a large black sweatshirt with an FBI logo on the left chest, and grey leggings, matched with a pair of black sneakers. not exactly dress code, but i just went through hell, so they'll cut me some slack.

i set my crutches to the side, turn around, and pull the tank top over my head. i don't mind being naked around certain people, emily being one of them. i'm very confident in my body, so that isn't a big problem of mine. i slip the sweatshirt on and turn around, and emily exhales, and continues the conversation. "stella, there's obviously some feelings lingering there. i've seen that picture that both of you have on your desk, the way you guys speak to each other. why won't you at least try?"

i am starting to get annoyed. my head is already pounding from the blows i took earlier, and the fact that emily is nagging me about this topic is making worse. i'm fine with talking about it, just not right this moment. before responding, i slip off my grey shorts and pull on the leggings and shoes. i then guide my eyes to meet emily's. "emily, i just don't want to. alright? for all i know, it'll interfere with work. if we break up, it won't end well. i'm sorry that's not what you want." i snap, and i turn and grab my crutches, propping open the door with my good foot.

"stella..." i hear emily call from behind me. i ignore her, blink back tears, and move away from the bathroom, towards my cubicle. i'm not mad at emily, i just want some space. i sit down in the spinning black chair and set my crutches on the side of my desk. i open a small drawer and pull out a brown colored hairbrush and a mirror. as soon as i see my reflection for the first time, i wince at the sight of my hair. it's in knots, and very messy.

i try to run the brush through my hair, but it won't get the knots out. i sigh, and pull out the suave kids detangler that i've been using since childhood. it always seems to do the trick.

"kids detangler?" i hear someone snicker behind me. i whip around in my chair and see derek, looking at me with an amused smirk.

i throw my arms back in defense. "what? just because it says kids, doesn't mean adults can't use it too! plus, have you seen my hair? it's like a tornado whipped through!"

derek lets out a laugh, and continues to his desk, while i spray the detangler through my hair. i glance around the bullpen, and watch everyone's actions. hotch and rossi are talking on the staircase leading to the offices, JJ is working in her office, derek and penelope are gathered around his desk, talking about God knows what, spencer is playing himself in chess, and emily is neck deep in files.

i sigh, looking at my own stack of files, before leaning over and grabbing one, only for it to be the case i just closed, the case i was undercover on. i read the details about the people running it, the bidders, and then i come across information on myself. i read it as tears threaten to surface, as my mind recalls what i went through. it was short-lived, but enough to mess with my brain, to insert those memories that i will never forget.

i slam the file shut and reach into my drawer, pulling out a medication used for headaches. it's a strong medication. it's called naproxen, i was prescribed it after the whole kidnapping incident with spencer. my therapist recommended it, and i trust her a lot. let's just say i've been using it regularly for a while now.

i pop two pills in my mouth and down it with a swig of water, and just as i'm putting the cap on, and opening back up the drawer, spencer walks up behind me.

"stella, how many of those did you just take?"

a moment of silence falls between us. "2." i mumble very quietly. my therapist said to only take 1, but sometimes i take 2 if they're very bad.

"stella, i've read up on naproxen. at your age and size, you should only be taking 1. taking 2 could lead to addiction, and so many other side effects, such as nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, heartbu-"

"spencer, calm down. i'm fine. i'm not going to get addicted."

just as i'm about to turn around, spencer mutters, "i thought the same thing."

i look up into his chocolate-colored eyes, and he stares back with a frown. "what do you mean?" i ask.

"nothing. don't worry about it. just... only take 1. please."

before i can say anything else, he walks back over to his desk and grabs his leather satchel, and heads for the big glass doors. i glance at my watch. it's only 6 pm.

i sigh and turn back to my file. my headache is beginning to subside, and i turn back to my file, and begin to work it.

-

A/N: this chapter is kind of a filler, so it's kinda boring. i'm sorry. i just needed to set the stage for the rest of the story. i don't really know how to explain it lol. also should i change the cover of the story? or could someone make me one?? idk.