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𝑬 𝑽 𝑬 𝑹 𝑮 𝑹 𝑬 𝑬 𝑵
❝ 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏, 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 ❞

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ㅤ𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄. On the way back to Quantico, though she could heal faster than a regular human, the sudden exertion of power—add the fact that she hadn't used her 'abilities' in quite a while—rendered her exhausted. But while her physical body slumbered, her spirit unexpectedly began to travel.

For the first time in weeks, she was travelling. But why? It was a question that lingered within her as the world seemed to slow down while she remained moving at the right pace. Her hands, though translucent, were unexpectedly glowing. But why? She questioned again.

But there was a tug that was nagging at her, a tug that seemed to originate from her belly; a tug that seemed to want to lead her somewhere. So, without much thought, she closed her eyes, and allowed herself to float away.

Travelling within the spirit world is something she couldn't really properly describe into words, especially when asked by either her father or Old Quil. The best she could come up with is that it's beyond. Beyond everything possible, beyond time, beyond space, beyond what can be perceived and understood by humans. Not even she could understand it, despite how connected she is to it. It has a mind of its own, she explained once to Sam. I'm only being allowed to use it, but it's not mine to control.

And that was the truth. It's...more. It was never meant to be meddled with, yet she had been blessed by the Tsikati. She still doesn't even have full control of it anyway, still learning, still trying.

A silent breeze moved across her face, prompting her to open her eyes. She was home. The evergreen was familiar, and despite being in the spirit world, she could almost smell it, feel it, get lost within it. The spirit world was not as colorful as she would have liked, but she could just imagine the vibrance of the world around her. But a disturbance made her jump. It was a wolf. A new wolf.

But the eyes were familiar. Similar to hers in eye color, just slightly different in shape. Her eyes, she got from her dad. These eyes...they were her mom's.

"Jacob..." She whispered into the air. The wolf unexpectedly began to move the way she did, and as if the wolf—her brother—heard her, his eyes snapped to meet hers. Even while he was in his wolf form, May was eye-level to him. And slowly, he walked towards her.

"How are you here?" Jacob spoke, and both siblings were shocked to hear his actual voice. Especially since he's in his wolf form.

"Jacob...you're travelling..." May trailed off, still slightly unfocused due to shock. "How-- have you travelled before this?"

"No," he shook his big, furry head. "I just...this is the first time I...I'm a wolf, May."

"You are," she nodded. "We all are. Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry."

"Is that why...?"

"Yes."

"I...I think you're the one who's doing this."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The travelling? Whatever it is," he shook his head again. "I was panicking, wondering why I suddenly burst into a wolf...when I heard you. I could already hear voices in my head, but you stood out, and all of a sudden, I'm here."

"Huh," she nodded slowly. "I was called here. You...you could've called me somehow. I-I don't know, I don't know how this works--"

"May."

"What was that?" She asked.

"What was what?"

"Someone called my--"

"May, come on, we're here."

"I..." She closed her eyes, feeling a newer tug on her belly, leading her towards another different direction. "You meet with Sam. And then you meet with dad and the other elders. They'll tell you everything. Then, you call me when you can. Just be mindful of the time difference, okay? I'll see you."

"May, wait!" Jacob called. But his sister had already vanished.

"Hey, May," Derek's voice took her out of her slumber, the warmth his presence gave her flushing over her form, reminding her of the rays of sun that would rarely shine upon the reservation. It was addicting.

She let out a breath, eyes slowly opening to adjust to the harsh artificial lights of the plane. She groaned, pulling her hands out from her blanket—that she didn't need for warmth and rather for comfort—so she can rub the sleep from her eyes. Then, when she was awake enough, she gave Derek a small smile.

"Thanks," she told him, peeling herself from her seat. Her actions automatically made him pull away, giving her space. She looked around and saw that the rest had left, except for Spencer who was awkwardly waiting for her by the door. Only then did she remember that she had driven the both of them to work. "Right, sorry Spence."

"All good," he gave her a nod, eyes flicking to Derek who was wordlessly folding up May's blanket.

May took a few seconds before realizing this, however, eyes widening as she did so. "Oh!" She exclaimed, hand immediately landing on his hand to stop him from going any further, ignoring the shivers that ran down her spine at the contact. "You don't need to do that."

"I want to do it," Derek merely shrugged, dropping the folded blanket onto the chair opposite hers. "You were completely knocked out. Hotch told us you got into a fight with one of the unsubs, so we all decided to let you sleep for a bit."

"How long was I asleep then?"

"Well, we landed about ten minutes ago."

She opened her mouth to apologize, but quickly closed it when the man gave her a look. "Right. Thanks?"

"It's no problem." He then held up her go-bag. "Here, before Spencer decided to walk home."

Unable to stop the smile, she shook her head and took her bag from his hands. "Thanks, Derek."

"Like I said, it's no problem," he grinned. "By the way, Hotch told me that he wanted to talk to you tomorrow. Said something about needing specifics on the report."

"It's paper work day tomorrow," Spencer piped up from where he stood. "He said it's because he didn't see everything that happened while you protected the children, so."

"Right," she nodded, a little shocked that Hotch hadn't told anyone; especially Gideon, it seems, who tends to tell Spencer everything. She faced Derek again. "Why'd you wait up for Spencer and I?"

His grin surprisingly dropped to a more bashful smile. "Couldn't leave you."

"I'm here too," Spencer scoffed.

Derek looked at him. "Both of you aren't exactly on good terms right now, for whatever reason. And yeah, I noticed," he faced May again, "but I don't really care much about your guys' issues. Just need to make sure you're safe."

May pursed her lips slightly, nodding. "I'm safe. We'll just...go home now."

It was awkward silence from then on, with May still mulling over her little moment with Jacob in the spirit world, of all places. And Spencer wasn't really up to speaking to her anyway, so conversation wasn't present. When they got home—after buying some take out from the nearby Chinese place—they ate while doing their individuals hobbies. From then on, they went into their separate bedrooms.

When the next day rolled in, with May entering the bullpen wearing her usual casual get-up. This time, she wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and a red pair of shoes. She had her short, shoulder-length hair in a low ponytail; the shorter strands, however, escaped the grasp of the elastic, so her face was slightly being framed by her hair.

Upon reaching her desk—awkwardly glancing at Spencer who arrived before her as they had taken separate cars—she dropped her duffel unceremoniously underneath it. She then plopped down on her chair. But before she could fully get settled in, a deep voice called out her name.

"May," it was Hotch, "I need some clarifications on what happened yesterday."

Heads turned towards her direction, and she tried her best to conceal her blush upon feeling Derek's. She cleared her throat, nodded, and went towards Hotch without uttering a word. Unexpectedly, the senior agent closed the door behind her as soon as she was inside.

"You ready to tell me everything?" He wondered, getting straight to the point.

"Not really," she mumbled, sitting down on his couch. "It's not really something you should know in the first place, but given happened, I can't exactly lie."

Hotch let out a breath through his nose, unsure of what to make of her words. "What does that mean?"

"It means that whatever I'm gonna tell you should never leave the privacy of your office," she stated clearly, looking him in the eye. Despite her rather guarded body language—leaning forward towards her knees, hands clasped together—Hotch could tell that there was hint of a threat underlying her tone.

"I swear."

"You won't tell anyone?"

"I won't."

"Not Gideon, not Strauss?"

He scoffed. "As if I'd tell Strauss anything."

"Point," she sighed. "Fine. This is gonna sound...stupid. Unbelievable. But just remember what you saw last night. How I healed after getting shot by a .22. How...how I picked a man up with one hand."

"Yes."

She let out a breath. "My dad always said that Quileutes may have been a small tribe, but we've always had magic in our blood. And it's true. I come from a long line of spirit warriors. For a long time, we've used our abilities to fight our enemies and protect our tribe. It's always been that way. Until a new enemy came. Cold Ones.

"In our world, Cold Ones roam around freely, claiming victim after victim without much care in the world. Why would they? They looked like men, blended in with men, but their skin was hard as stone and cold as ice. And they...they were monsters. Feasting over innocents that they've claimed as their meal. Our ancestors knew that above all, these leeches will forever be a threat not just to our tribe but also the rest of the world. Luckily, our abilities allowed us tear to them apart. Then again, only fire can truly end them.

"By the time I was born, the threat of Cold Ones were minimized to a point our abilities were never triggered. It had no need to be, because there was no threat to our tribe. But I knew one day they would come back, and as the eldest child, I was to replace my father in the tribal council. So I knew the truth, I knew all the stories. And I knew how my grandfather, Ephraim Black, was the last alpha to the last pack.

"Despite being the eldest, I was born a female. So there was no chance of me joining the pack. I was fine with it. But then I started getting sick. Feverish. Reaching temperatures that wasn't normal for a normal human being. That's when you guys sent me home. And I found out that I was to be part of the pack whether I liked it or not."

Hotch frowned. "Spirit warriors? Cold Ones, pack...what does that all mean?"

"Hotch...I am a spirit warrior. I am a shifter. I can transform into a wolf, born to protect my tribe. And as a member of the pack—as the alpha—I have the ability to protect innocents from Cold Ones."

"And what are they?"

"...vampires."

He inhaled sharply, lips going thin as his dark eyes scrambled to find any sign that May was lying to him. He tried to rationalize, tried to understand, but his mind couldn't wrap around the idea that vampires and werewolves existed.

"Are...are you sure?" Hotch stuttered. For the first time since she's joined the BAU, May witnessed her senior agent actually speechless. He looked lost, confused, and unlike his usual demeanor.

"I'm very sure," she finally stood in front of him, eye-level. "You saw me heal at an unprecedented rate. My regenerative healing's there to keep me going, to push me to stand against vampires. I am strong, so I can stand against vampires. Do you understand? I wasn't even supposed to tell you this, but you've been exposed to the supernatural already...to me. So...there you go."

Hotch blinked slowly, digesting her words. His hands were shaking, and he clenched his fists to stop them from shaking any further.

"Why are you...are you okay?"

"No," he closed his eyes, his jaw clenching, before he relaxed his fists. "You're telling me that one day, we might have to go head-to-head with vampire? You're telling me that I shouldn't truly be afraid of humans, rather, I should be scared of blood sucking demons?"

May couldn't stop a chuckle. "Hotch, word of advice, vampires may be blood sucking demons, but they mostly run on instinct, on hunger. You should still be afraid of humans."

"Right," he gave a tight-lipped smile. "Still...vampires?"

"Yes, they're real. But I'm here. My tribe's here for a reason. We protect. You mustn't be afraid."

"I still am," he sighed. Now, he was the one sat on his couch as he mulled over his thoughts. "I can never truly understand everything you've said without seeing it first-hand. But from what I have seen, I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yes."

She finally smiled and sat down beside him. "Hotch, don't you worry. Vampires are definitely not part of your paygrade, alright? Plus, from what I've learned, vampires try to be as inconspicuous as possible, considering all the modern technology that can for sure wipe them out. For once, they're afraid of humans. So, I highly doubt we'll ever encounter some."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

author's note: it's been a hot minute since i've written anything so i hope y'all like this somehow :p

i really haven't been motivated to write anything especially with how busy i am with college—our school has 3 terms per year and we're alr nearing our midterms ALREADY—so you can imagine why. but i missed this so...

hotch knows now! who do you think will be the next to find out?