For the Love of a Daughter (A Criminal Minds Fanfic)

Chapter 7: This is all so new

Aaron re-entered Aria's room to find the teen sitting cross legged on her bed, idly flipping through the channels.

"You got her to leave. That's impressive." She said as she looked up at him. He took a seat in the chair next to her bed.

He smiled. "Well, it wasn't easy. Is she usually so..." He paused.

"Crazy? Protective? Paranoid?" She filled in with a grin. He laughed.

"Yeah. Pretty much." She said with a soft smile as she glanced back towards the TV.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked quietly. She turned her attention back to him and nodded.

"What did you say to your mom earlier? It was in Italian, right?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah." She paused then shook her head.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. I was just curious." He said when she didn't continue taking.

"No. It's not that, it's just... It sounds kinda dumb in English." She admitted. He waited for her to continue. "I told her to 'Go save some lives'."

He nodded. "I see."

She shrugged. "It's just something I always told her before she went to work."

"Then why did you stop?" He asked. Seeing the confused look on her face, he continued. "She said you hadn't said it in a while."

She looked down at her hands in her lap. "We, uhm...haven't exactly been on speaking terms these past couple weeks." She said. "Today's actually the first time we've really talked since, you know, that night." She said, emphasizing that night.

He nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry."

She frowned. "What for? It wasn't your fault."

He shrugged. "I shouldn't have just showed up like that unannounced. This whole thing could have been avoided."

She shook her head. "Maybe but I'm glad you did." She said then turned her gaze to him. "If you didn't, I wouldn't have known about you. I wouldn't have met you."

He sat forward. "Then I'm glad too." He said with a small smile.

They both turned back towards the TV, not really paying any attention to what was playing. After a couple minutes, Aria started rubbing her head and messaging her temples. Aaron, of course noticed this.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah, it's just a headache. I'll be fine." She said with her eyes closed.

He nodded, half-convinced. "Why don't you lie down and get some rest. You only need to take your meds in a couple hours. I'll be here when you wake up." He told her.

She frowned. "Okay." She said as she settled back onto the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. It didn't take long for her exhausted body to fall asleep.

Aaron watched Aria as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as her breathing evened out. He fixed the blanket tighter around her then brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. She was still warm.

He grabbed the TV remote and put it on mute while he flipped through the channels, looking for something to distract him. He settled on an old action movie, glancing every now and then at his sleeping daughter, until he, himself, fell asleep.

He woke up an hour later to find Aria moving around on her bed. At first he thought that she was awake, until he heard her say 'No'.

He got up from the chair he fell asleep in and sat down next to her on the bed. Her eyes were still closed but she was moving around and mumbling in her sleep. He couldn't make out what she was saying. He figured that she must be having a bad dream, so he gently grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly to wake her up.