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𝑹 𝑬 𝑴
❝ 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 ❞

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ㅤ"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄?" Jess asked as she looked over all the supplies Alina pulled out of Aaron's kitchen cabinets.

After she drove back from the airstrip, Alina didn't hesitate to pull out all the necessary instruments from her front trunk, and haul them up Aaron's apartment for Jack and her to experiment with. She was glad that the experiment Jack chose consisted of things found in a regular household, so she didn't have to bring any ingredients from the lab; but mostly, she was glad she didn't have to slow down her driving just to make sure nothing would spill.

With Jess watching, she quickly set up a little station for Jack on the dining table, arranging everything she grabbed by the order in which they will be used. She made sure everything was in order and mentally recounted all the materials they needed: three cups of sugar, a cup of water, a pot, and some food coloring she found.

"Jack and I are just gonna make rock candy, isn't that right, Jack?" Alina glancing, glancing up at Jack's bedroom door once she heard it opening while she shrugged her lab coat on.

"Right!" Jack exclaimed as he walked out of his room, wearing his brand-new lab coat that Alina ordered for him, so he wouldn't have to use her extra.

Jess cooed at the little boy, kneeling down to his height to adjust the lab coat. "You look like a scientist!"

"I am a scientist," he replied, flaunting the lab coat that fit him just right, and pointing towards the embroidery which read Jack Hotchner, and right underneath it was Junior Scientist. He tilted his chin up proudly. "Lina got it made for me."

"I can see that," Jess chuckled, looking up at Alina, who shrugged at her. "It's cute."

"Thank you," Alina and Jack chorused, which Jess laughed at as she stood back up.

"Well, don't let me get in your way," she raised her hands up, moving towards the living room when Alina stopped her.

"You're helping," the small brunette stated with a small smirk, gesturing toward her extra lab coat. Before Jess could shake her head or say anything, Alina whined, "Come on, it's gonna be fun!"

With an amused shake of her head, Jess walked back over and grabbed the lab coat, shrugging it on. "Feels like I'm back in high school again."

Alina grinned. "I loved high school."

"Why?" Jess made a face.

"It's fun when you know everything the teachers are about to teach, and it's even more fun to watch your classmates fumble while trying to understand basic concepts," she shrugged. "It was all very amusing."

"Of course."

"Now," Alina began, clapping her hands together as she looked at Jack, an amused grin still on her face, "Did you get the sticks?"

"I did," the boy nodded firmly while holding up the four popsicle sticks, all different colored. "They were clean, I made sure."

"Good," she nodded. "What's the first step in doing experiments?"

"Wear your protective gear," Jack answered, pointing at his lab coat before walking over to the box of gloves Alina had brought, alongside the three goggles, four beakers, and four pins. He pulled out three pairs and handed a pair to Alina and Jess. After he secured his own gloves, he handed the two women their goggles.

"He's so cute," Jess gushed. "I've never seen him look more like Aaron right now, with the furrowed eyebrows and everything."

"That's exactly what I thought when Jack and I did our first experiment!" Alina gasped, nodding at Jess with wide eyes and a proud smile. "He looks just like his dad whenever he's acting serious. And I'm glad he's taking our experiments seriously."

Jess gave her a knowing smile. "He loves you, you know? He'll do anything to make you happy."

Alina only shrugged as her smile turned bashful. "I don't know about that, but I'm glad he wants to learn. Regardless of whether he's doing it for me or himself." To escape the rather emotional conversation, she quickly turned to Jack. "So, first step it to pour the water into the pot. Can you do that for me?"

"Mhm!" Jack nodded and hopped onto the chair the properly reach the instruments. He carefully picked up the glass of water and poured it into the pot. "Sugar next?"

"Sugar next."

With his tongue poking out in concentration, Jack picked up the bowl of sugar and poured it into the pot with the water. He didn't even wait for Alina to tell him anything before grabbing the whisk and quickly stirring the solution.

Laughing, Alina nodded. "That's good. So, we'll be growing rock candy, correct?"

"Yes."

"Rock candy is made from crystallized sugar," she began to explain, "and crystallization is the process of forming a solid crystalline precipitate from a solution or melted substance. Basically, it occurs when a solute transfers from a liquid into a pure solid crystalline substance. Understand?"

"Ummm, no."

"That is to be expected," Alina accepted, glancing up at Jess who was shaking with laughter.

"Alina, he's five," Jess giggled. 

"I'm aware," she reassured. "I just hope he gets to retain some bits of information. I'd love for him to be smarter than his peers. What is it that we don't want to be, Jack?"

"An imbecile!" Jack answered.

Jess' jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Dear Lord."

Alina hummed and glanced down at the pot, nodding while ignoring Jess' quip. "That's good enough. Next step is a little too dangerous for you, baby Hotchner. I'll need to boil the solution and make sure everything's mixed properly, so I can add the food coloring. But, while I do that, you and your Aunt Jess can prepare the popsicle sticks. Can I trust you on that?"

"Yes!"

She grinned at his enthusiasm, before picking up the solution and placing it on the stove. She gestured Jess over, and the blonde nodded, walking over to her. The biophysicist then explained everything Jess had to do with Jack, and soon enough, everything was ready.

With the added food coloring, the solution was now a green color, and Jack couldn't help himself from clapping excitedly as Alina poured it into equal parts in four different beakers after the solution cooled. As soon as the four beakers were ready, Jack dipped one popsicle stick into one, and Jess quickly pinned in so it can remain upright. The aunt and nephew duo continued this until the last beaker.

Grinning, Alina clapped again. "Now we just have to wait three days for the crystal to grow!"

Jack started clapping, before saying, "One for me, one for dad, one for Aunt Jess, and one for you!"

"Really?" She excitedly leaned down towards him, peeling off her gloves and goggles before picking him up and tickling his tummy. "You made one for me?"

While giggling, Jack nodded. "Of course!"

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Alina's halted her tickle attack and pressed a kiss to his forehead before placing him back down on the floor. "Time to remove the gloves and goggles, Jack."

Nodding, the little boy did as she instructed, before asking, "Can I keep the lab coat?"

"It's yours, anyway," she pinched his cheek, ignoring how Jess was leaning against the doorframe with a hand on her heart as she watched the two. "You'll take care of it, won't you?"

"I will," Jack assured, hugging his lab coat tightly before shrugging it off and running towards Alina to give her a big hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby Hotchner."

"Do you know anything about this drug called trilamide?" Aaron asked Alina as soon as he arrived back into his hotel room.

"You mean scopolamine?" Alina replied. "Well, the street name's Devil's Breath, that's one."

"What else?"

"Devil's Breath, sometimes called scopolamine, scientific name hyoscine, is derived from the flower of the 'borrachero,' a woody tree or shrub sometimes called the 'drunken binge' tree, common in Colombia," Alina recited as if she was reading from a book. "The seeds of the borrachero can actually also be used as a drug when powdered, which they call the 'burandanga'. It's said that it can cause hallucinations and a lack of free will, sometimes even amnesia."

Aaron hummed. "Reid said it can treat Parkinson's and mainly used for seasickness, which led us to believe the unsub could be a fisherman."

"That conclusion is appropriate," she commented. She was a little surprised he allowed her to ramble. "There's a transdermal patch you can wear behind your ear to reduce seasickness. The DEA doesn't classify the patch as a controlled substance."

"So it's possible he actually used it?"

"Not just possible, it's probable," Alina emphasized. "I mean, I know you can't really give me any details but from what I can gather, yeah."

He couldn't help himself from smiling a little. "Thank you, Lina."

"You're welcome, Aaron," she chuckled under her breath. "Oh, hey, can I sleepover at your place? Jack asked, and--"

"Of course."

"Oh, okay."

It was silent for a few seconds before Aaron took a deep breath and said, "You know, you don't need to ask."

"What? Why?"

"Lina, I trust you," he admitted. "And I trust you with Jack."

"Oh...okay," Alina nodded, despite him not being able to see her. "I...thanks?"

He chuckled. "You don't need to say anything. Just be safe."

"You too." She looked down at her nails, fidgeting a little. "So, um, is it okay if I wear something of yours to sleep in? I didn't really expect to stay the night, so..."

"It's fine. Grab anything."

"Okay...I'll talk to you...soon?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you soon. Jack asleep?"

"Not yet, he's right beside me, though," she told him. "He wouldn't let me go, and wanted to sleep beside me, so we're just cuddling on your bed. Hope that's okay."

"It is. Can I talk to him?"

She handed over her phone to Jack before getting off the bed and walking towards Aaron's drawers. She grabbed a random t-shirt and a pair of his boxers to use as loose shorts, and made her way into the bathroom while humming a song that's been stuck in her head for a couple of days. After brushing her teeth, she quickly changed into Aaron's clothes, and surprised herself by sniffing the shirt.

She let out a noise of satisfaction. "Smells good."

Alina then walked back into the room and jumped into the bed with Jack, who giggled when the bed bounced. She watched as he talked to his dad about his experiment, and how excited he was to taste them once his dad gets back.

Eventually the two say goodnight and Jack handed the phone back, which she put next to her ear. "Goodnight, Aaron."

Aaron chuckled. "Goodnight, Alina."

And the call ended.

Jack immediately latched himself onto her, gripping his dad's shirt tightly, as she laid down beside him. He looked up at Alina who had her head placed on her hand that was being held up by her elbow, and asked, "Can you sing me to sleep?"

"Uhhh, I can't sing."

"I heard you humming earlier," Jack pouted.

"Humming is very different from singing," she defended. "I cannot sing even if my life depended on it. I am what you call 'tone-deaf'. If you heard me sing, your ears won't appreciate it. If you want to listen to someone sing, go to your Aunt Gwen. She's a good singer."

"But I don't want her, I want you," he pouted even further. "Then...hum me to sleep."

Alina groaned. "Fine." She thought for a moment, before settling on Once Upon a Dream from Sleeping Beauty. She began to hum as she finally laid her head down onto the pillow as she played with his hair. Soon enough, Jack was slowly drifting off to sleep.

But before he could, he whispered, "Mom used to sing me to sleep. I miss her a lot."

She quickly stopped her humming and sighed. "She's also gonna be with you," she told him, "in here," she pointed at his head before pointing at his heart, "and here, okay? All the memories...they stay with you, as long as you have someone to remind you."

"Daddy doesn't like talking about her," he frowned a little. "Can you remind me instead?"

"Jack..." Alina sighed again. "I...I'll try."

"Thank you," he said, before succumbing to sleep.

With another sigh, she adjusted their position so she'd be more comfortable, when a sniffle suddenly caught her attention. She looked up and saw Jess standing by the doorway. The blonde had decided on sleeping on the couch for the time being, wanting to spend some time with her nephew.

Spotting her tears, Alina asked with a gentle voice, "Are you okay?"

Jess wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek. "He's right, Aaron doesn't like talking about her. Neither...neither do I. It's just so painful to even talk about that I never thought about how Jack must be feeling. I...God." She sniffled. "Jack's a lot like his father, he never really...talks about his feelings. It's why I...you got him to talk. Thank you."

Alina only awkwardly gave her a smile that she hoped didn't look too much like a grimace. "You're...welcome?"

She laughed a little through her tears. "I'll leave you two to bed. I...thank you, again."

The brunette can only blink at her, and nod slowly, as she left the room.

Alina looked back down at Jack and brushed his hair, silently thinking to herself, What have I gotten myself into?

author's note: hi please point out any spelling/grammatical mistakes!!! i don't really notice most mistakes i made because i type too fast so i need yalls help :L

anyway, i really love how alina and jess are getting close. it's def gonna make everything more painful once the angst rolls in eheh

also, rem reached 5k reads and i didn't even notice!!! thank you guys so much for all the love for this spin off !!! to the pov fans, don't worry, immediately after this, i'll be starting on 6:30, so yall can read the direct sequel. hope you're all excited!!

rem (like pov) will most likely have 40+ chapters again, so i can complete the song lmfao.

BYE :)