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"my heart is a cathedral. widows, ghosts and lovers sit and sing in the dark, arched marrow of me." - segovia amil

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Delilah stood beside Gideon and Hotch in the conference room, Elle, Derek and Spencer sat around the table. The door opened and Kruger, Sanchez and Bruno walked into the room, looking at the BAU with raised eyebrows.

"What? What's going on?" Bruno asked.

"What are we doing here? You're pulling us away from our assignments? There's a woman out there whose life depends on us," Kruger said.

"Where's Olivia?" Sanchez said.

"Olivia Hopkins was murdered 10 minutes ago. Her neck was snapped," Hotch said.

"Just like John Summers," Delilah said.

Delilah stared at them, watching their expressions. Kruger clearly didn't believe them. Sanchez looked concerned. But Bruno? He just had a blank expression on his face.

Compartmentalization, or was he lying?

"What are you talking about? You're lying. Where is she? Look, people don't just get murdered inside the CIA," Kruger said, looking more alarmed as he realised they were not lying.

He saw Sanchez and Bruno looking at him and turned, glaring at them.

"What are you looking at?" Kruger scoffed.

"I realize the enormity of this, but Hassan Nadir is still out there looking to kill his wife, and I need every agent on this," Bruno said, looking at Gideon before leaving the room.

Gideon looked at Delilah before following Bruno.

Delilah headed out of the conference room, leaning against the stair railings as she watched Sanchez and Kruger head back to their desks. Sanchez stared at her computer for a few seconds before she shook her head, snapping back to work.

Kruger stared at his computer for longer. It was clear he was shocked by the news, even if his reaction had been more textbook guilty than anyone's. But Bruno's face was what caught Delilah's attention.

No matter how many colleagues you lost, a normal person would still feel guilt, especially when they were the boss. And nobody could hide their emotions quick enough to fool profilers. The fact that Bruno had no expression made Delilah believe he knew about Olivia's death before they told him.

Delilah chewed on the inside of her cheek, twisting her rings around her fingers as she glanced over her shoulder. Gideon was staring out of the window of Bruno's office. Delilah's eyes glanced over, then back to Gideon. He raised an eyebrow and she nodded once, heading down the stairs to make more coffee.

Gideon knew, now. All she had to do was wait for her next order like the trained spy she was.

•

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Delilah leaned against the railing near the stairs again half an hour later, watching Elle and Spencer interrogate Kruger.

"Just because I lied about Olivia doesn't make me the mole," Kruger said.

"No, but the virus that took out the CCTV monitors does. It originated from your computer," Derek said, hurrying past Delilah to get to Kruger.

"Then whoever put it in my computer is trying to frame me!" Kruger said.

"Olivia was looking for something. She didn't find a thing. You know why? Because all of your files had been erased," Derek said.

"Do you really think if I was the mole, I would keep files at would incriminate me? Those files were erased to make me look guilty," Kruger said.

"Looks like it's working," Elle said.

"Morgan, your girlfriend's back," Sanchez called over.

Derek walked over to the desk, Spencer, Elle and Delilah hurrying after him.

"Garcia, it's Morgan. Go."

"That virus left a back door into the CIA mainframe," Penelope said, appearing on the computer screen with JJ.

"Yeah, so?" Derek said.

"I sort of went ahead and used it to find out who ordered John Summers' psych eval with Gideon," Penelope said.

"Who was it?" Elle asked.

"Well, that's what's so weird," Penelope said.

"Who, Garcia? Who?" Elle asked.

"John Summers," Penelope said.

"Summers? Why would he order his own evaluation?" Derek said.

"So we'd ask that question ourselves," Spencer said. "We missed something on that tape," he said.

"We better figure out what it was before Hassan's friend in here beats us to it," Derek sighed.

•

•

Delilah sat in the conference room with the rest of the team, rewatching the tape of Gideon and Summers at Summers' psych eval.

"Presidents come, presidents go. One thing always remains: the people that run those presidents," video Summers said.

"People like you?" video Gideon said.

"Me? No. No. No. I'm an expendable pawn. But I got wise to their game."

"Game? What game?"

"Battleship. I'm the ship at sea. They try to sink me."

"How do you cope?"

"Compartmentalization. Separate and seal every aspect of my life."

"How does that work?"

"If one part of the shell is compromised, the rest of the hull remains intact. I stay afloat."

"And what about a direct hit?"

"Then I have a box that I put the really important things in, a sort of insurance policy."

"Against what?"

"Sudden death. Keep it safe from the who appear to be friends."

"He was trying to tell you about the mole," Hotch said, pausing the tape.

"If they were following Summers, how come they don't know where Summers put Aaliyah?" Derek said.

"You couldn't follow Summers through a desert. He was that good," Gideon said.

"Somebody followed you," Hotch said.

"Then Summers must have known they'd be filming him," Derek said.

"They always are. So smile," Gideon said, pointing at one of the cameras in the room.

"Garcia, let's review the tape again," Hotch said.

"He sure likes boats," Penelope said.

"He refers to compartmentalizing his life like the hull of a ship," JJ said.

"Yeah. And then he talks about a box," Penelope said.

"And putting something inside the box as an insurance policy," Delilah spoke up, twisting her pen in her fingers. "Penelope, look at any connections between Summers and shipping containers," she said.

"A shipping container?" Hotch said.

"I've seen them used to hold people before. He put something inside the box as an insurance policy. Aaliyah and her kids," Delilah said.

"Summers' cover in Saudi was for a shipping company," JJ said.

"Shipping ports near Summers' apartment?" Delilah said.

"The only shipping port near Summers' apartment in Baltimore, it's north up the l-95 from Langley," JJ said.

Gideon squeezed Delilah's shoulder, nodding his approval at her. Delilah nodded back.

"Garcia, I love you," Hotch said. Penelope stayed silent. "Garcia?" Hotch said.

"Someone just tapped into this feed," Penelope said.

"We just found out where Aaliyah is. And so did someone else," Hotch said, looking out of the window with a frown.

•

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"I can have the chopper on the roof fueled and ready in two minutes," Sanchez walked into the bullpen a few minutes later, jacket on and ready to do and find Aaliyah.

"There are thousands of containers at that port. What makes you so sure Aaliyah's in one of those containers?" Bruno protested.

"Why don't we send in a swat team, split them up, have them search in grids?" Elle said.

"Why? Because Hassan has diplomatic immunity, this mission can't exist," Hotch said.

"It's not Gina," Gideon said, making Sanchez look over at him with raised eyebrows.

Bruno looked at Gideon with a frown.

"Delilah, take Gina with you," Gideon said.

"You got it," Delilah said, checking her gun holster and nodding to herself.

"Wait. This is my command. These are my people," Bruno said.

"We have jurisdiction here, and there's nothing you can do to stop us," Hotch said.

"This is my career on the line here," Bruno said.

"You always trusted me, right? Trust me now," Gideon said.

"Come with us," Elle and Spencer walked over to Kruger, Elle's hand on her gun.

"This is crazy. Bruno," Kruger said, glaring at his boss.

"Go. Go, go, go," Gideon told the others.

"Use the thermal imaging. Search every contain for body heat. You can walk us in and direct us when we get there. Green, Adams. Duncan, come with me," Sanchez called to other agents, following Delilah towards the doors out of the CIA.

•

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"They're somewhere on the east side of this port," Delilah told Sanchez as they landed at the port, pulling her gun out of her holster and making sure it was loaded.

"You guys, take that area over there. Bellerose, let's go," Sanchez said.

The two of them split off from the other agents, ducking through the containers and looking around.

"This is crazy. We're going in circles," Delilah huffed, stopping in a clearing after a few minutes. She pressed her earpiece on. "Hey, pretty boy, help me out, here," she said.

"A hundred meters north of your current location," Spencer said.

"I adore you," Delilah said, looking at Sanchez. "Let's go back," she said.

The two of them ran down the aisle of containers, heading north to where Aaliyah would be.

"Delilah," Spencer said.

"Yeah. I hear you," Delilah said.

"They're right in front of you," Spencer said.

"Make the arrest, Delilah. It's FBI jurisdiction. You're in charge," Gideon said.

Delilah looked at Sanchez, the two of them raising their guns as they eyed the shipping container left ajar. Sanchez nodded.

Delilah used her foot to pull the shipping container door open, pointing her gun at the man holding Aaliyah with an arm around her neck, a gun to her head. Two children cowered in the corner of the container.

"FBI. Let the girl go and put the gun down," Delilah said.

Hassan didn't move. Delilah clicked the safety off, moving her finger to the trigger and raising her eyebrow.

"Drop it, Hassan," she said.

He let go of Aaliyah, Aaliyah moving to stand by her children. Hassan carefully put his gun down on the floor, holding his hands up.

"Diplomatic immunity, my friend," Hassan said.

"Afraid you're wrong there, my friend," Delilah said, keeping her gun trained on him. "This container hasn't gone through customs. Legally, we're not on US soil. Summers was a smart man," Delilah said.

She felt the cold barrel of a gun press against the back of her head and she clenched her jaw, moving her finger to clip the safety back onto her gun.

"That he was. Drop the gun," Sanchez said.

"You fucking moron," Delilah muttered.

She stretched her arms out to either side, dropping the gun on the floor. She stepped away, turning around so her back was facing the wall of the container and she could see everybody. Sanchez kicked the gun towards her, keeping her gun trained on Hassan as she knelt and grabbed Delilah's, pointing it at Delilah with her other hand.

"Outside," Sanchez said. "Now. Lilah, you first."

"Don't call me Lilah. We're not friends," Delilah said, holding her hands up as she stepped out of the container.

Hassan, Aaliyah and the children followed, Delilah stepping aside at Sanchez's nod to cover Aaliyah and her children. Hassan moved to where Sanchez nodded, putting them in a triangle with Sanchez's gun trained on Hassan, Delilah's tucked away in her holster.

"Lilah? Lilah, what's going on?" Hotch said into the radio.

"We've got a little situation, here," Delilah said.

"Gina, don't do this," Gideon's voice came over their earpieces.

"I don't take orders from you. Bruno, what do you want me to do?" Sanchez asked.

"Cover their eyes. Cover their eyes," Delilah turned to look at Aaliyah quickly.

"Please. Please stop this," Aaliyah whispered, covering her children's eyes.

"Bruno," Sanchez said.

"You know what to do," Bruno's voice came over the earpiece.

"Say it," Sanchez said.

"Gina, what are you waiting for?" Bruno said.

"An order," Sanchez said.

"Finish him," Bruno said. "Finish him."

"Gina, don't do this," Gideon said.

"You're gonna cut the visual feed. Right, Bruno?" Sanchez said, looking at Hassan with the gun levelled at his head.

"Of course. Cut it now. Cut it," Bruno said loudly.

Sanchez waited a few seconds before Bruno said it was good. Delilah stared at Sanchez, watching as she lifted the gun and fired four times above Hassan's head.

"Get down on the ground!" Sanchez yelled at Hassan.

He slowly got onto his knees, the other agents in the yard coming over to handcuff him. Delilah turned to Aaliyah and the kids, checking them over quickly with her eyes.

"Nobody's hurt?" Delilah said.

"No," Aaliyah said softly.

"Good," Delilah said. "Someone's gonna come and help you, okay? Just stay here," she said.

They nodded, watching Delilah walk over to Sanchez with raised eyebrows.

"You really had to put a gun to my head to prove Bruno was the mole?" Delilah said.

"I learnt that from you," Sanchez said.

"You did? When?" Delilah said.

"You let yourself get shot by the SWAT team so Jorge wouldn't think you were the mole. I figured, well, if I can get you out of the way for a minute and Bruno told me to kill Hassan, then he was the mole," Sanchez said, handing Delilah her gun back. "There isn't a reason in the world to kill a man who knows as much as Hassan does," she said.

"Except one. Self preservation. Summers, Olivia. Hassan. Probably you, if you ever started figuring it out," Delilah said, putting her gun in her holster.

"I'm all too aware," Sanchez sighed.

"In future, tell me before you put a gun to my head. Please. It's not a lot to ask for," Delilah said.

"Sorry," Sanchez smiled. "I'll remember it for next time. Is there going to be a next time?"

"If you guys find yourselves another mole, I'm sure we'll be back. Or maybe I'll get bored of the BAU and jump departments," Delilah said.

"You'd leave serial killers for this?" Sanchez said.

"Honestly? No," Delilah chuckled, running her hand through her hair. "But I would like to do something different."

"I can't blame you," Sanchez said.

Delilah looked over the yard, seeing Aaliyah hugging her children close to her chest.

"Do me a favour?" Delilah said.

"Yeah?" Sanchez said.

"Stop looking. For Sunny and Alberto," she said.

"What?" Sanchez looked at her.

"They're gone. It's been two years and no sign of them being alive. There's some people you just can't save, and that's shit, but it's the way it is," Delilah said.

"How do you let go of them? Your kids," Sanchez said.

"It gets easier, over time. Everybody says that, but it's true. I can pretend it didn't happen to me, either. It was Alia's life, not mine. And I know better, being an FBI agent, seeing the cases we see. If, by some miracle, they survived that much blood loss and are out there, they're not going to be living a good life. At least, if they are gone, they're safe now," Delilah said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Sanchez said.

"Don't be," Delilah said. "Just let go. You saved a woman and her kids today. You didn't let history repeat itself. Now, focus on the people still out there that need your help," she said.

"I will. Thank you," Sanchez said.

"Anytime," Delilah smiled.

•

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Delilah sat at her desk in the BAU bullpen a few hours later, having returned off their flight and now waiting for Liv to pick her up after surgery. JJ had gone home already, considering the late hour, but had text Delilah to tell her that she'd pick Delilah up the next lunchtime so they could go to the farmers market with Penelope together.

She heard footsteps and looked up, seeing Hotch walking over to her. He sat at Derek's desk opposite hers, studying Delilah for a few seconds.

"Are you okay?" he said.

"I'm okay," Delilah said.

"You kind of had a gun held to your head," Hotch said.

"Yeah, I'm well aware," Delilah chuckled tiredly, rubbing her face. "But it's cool. Case was rough, but, uh, it's fine. I'm gonna go home, shower it off, sleep for so long until JJ wakes me up tomorrow morning for the farmers market," Delilah said.

"Is JJ at your place?" Hotch said.

"No, her house. We're going out with Penelope. She's gonna pick me up and we're meeting Pen there," Delilah said.

"That's good. You two had fun when you went out?" Hotch said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Delilah said.

"It's just a question," Hotch said. "And I may have overheard Penelope and Derek discussing a bet they have going on how long it'll take you and JJ to realise you like each other, and who will ask who out. Olivia is also in on it," Hotch said.

"Seriously?" Delilah groaned. "Are you in on it, too?" she said.

"I may have put a stake in for myself and Haley. And I got a bank transfer from Dave a few hours ago, so, I'm assuming he's agreed to join the bet with Olivia," Hotch said.

Delilah groaned again.

"It's not a bad thing," Hotch said.

"It is. I don't do work relationships," Delilah said.

"Nobody mentioned relationships," Hotch said.

"Okay, look. We were out, and I was dancing with a girl, and JJ might've got jealous? I think she was jealous? I don't know. She said she didn't like me dancing with that girl because I'm supposed to be her best friend, and I told her I didn't dance with that girl because I wanted to be her best friend, and JJ said she knew that, but she doesn't know why she knows that, and it's gonna get messy already," Delilah mumbled.

Hotch blinked a few times.

"Okay," he said.

"And then we go home to my place, and she's talking to me in the cab about how she doesn't know why she feels this way, but she does feel this way, and then we went to bed and we were cuddling and she told me she loved me," Delilah whispered.

"Did you say it back?" Hotch said.

"No!" Delilah said. "I don't... No. It's weird," she said.

"You tell Penelope you love her all the time," Hotch said.

"I've never told her I love her. I say I adore her. It's a cop out, yeah, but, I'm not in love with Penelope. It's a friend thing with her. It's different with JJ," Delilah said.

"Because you're in love with her?" Hotch said.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm not all there, yet, but it's something and it's freaking me the fuck out. She doesn't even like girls! Everyone I love romantically dies. Everyone who loves me romantically hurts me and breaks my heart, and I end up running away because that's what I do," Delilah said.

"Does anybody else know about this recent development? The L-word?" Hotch said.

"Lesbian?" Delilah said.

"I thought you were bisexual," Hotch frowned. "The L-word is love."

"Oh. Nobody knows. Nobody else seems to see the problem with this," Delilah said.

"What do you want me to do?" Hotch asked. "Do you want me to just listen, or do you want advice?"

"I want you to look for openings in other departments for me," Delilah sighed, leaning back in her seat.

"Delilah," Hotch sighed.

"Aaron, I'm not leaving. Not yet, at least. I just... I need options. I need places to run for when things blow up," Delilah said.

"I'll look around," Hotch said. "But, Lilah?"

"Yeah?" Delilah said.

"Have you considered the fact that this is a temporary period of insanity and not love?" Hotch said.

Delilah laughed, a smile spreading across Hotch's face, too.

"I did, for a minute. Then I realised that love and insanity are basically linked, so, I'm fucked either way," Delilah said.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you could fall in love with worse people," Hotch said, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets. "JJ's good. And, even if she doesn't know why she feels this way yet, the fact that drunk JJ knows there's something to feel is a good sign. If she realises, if she likes you back, would you run?" Hotch said.

"Probably," Delilah said.

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"Dylan only became a target because he was my best friend. He died trying to save me. Sunny and Alberto are gone because of my recklessness. All three of them are gone because of me. I'm not adding JJ to that list. I care about her too much to hurt her," Delilah said.

"Do you not think running away will hurt her?" Hotch said.

"Less than anything else I could do to her," Delilah said.

"You're not a bad person, Delilah," Hotch said.

Delilah shrugged, twisting her rings around her fingers.

"Sanchez was keeping tabs on Sunny and Alberto. Trying to find them. And she found nothing. How ridiculous is that? Someone who never even met these kids spent longer looking for them than I did? Their own mother?" Delilah said.

"The agents on the scene said there was too much blood loss for them to have survived, even if no bodies were found. And any sign of you searching for those kids could lead back to Jorge and blow your cover. You had orders to leave it to the experts," Hotch said.

"Yeah, I was, but so was everybody else on this investigation and Sanchez didn't care. I mean, we've got Penelope Garcia right here. I could ask her to look and I could probably get further than Sanchez did. But I didn't. I told her to stop looking for them because she was wasting her time," Delilah said.

"You didn't look because you know, realistically, they're gone," Hotch said.

"A mother doesn't give up," Delilah shook her head. "Dylan's mom never once gave up when he went missing. She told me. I read about it in the newspapers. Even now, she still holds search parties in the woods to try and find his body, the bodies of the other boys. And it's been over a decade. Why didn't I even want to look for my kids' bodies?" Delilah said.

"Because the fact that no bodies were found gives you hope. It's minuscule and you'll deny it's there, but there is some part of you that thinks they might be out there, alive and safe by some miracle. If you find their bodies, you lose your hope and destroy any dreams that you had of a life with your children," Hotch said.

Delilah ran her hands through her hair, nodding to herself as she stared at the desk in front of her.

"You're a good person, Delilah. And you're a good mother. You did everything you could and it wasn't your fault they disappeared. You're allowed to protect yourself from things that'll hurt you. It's self preservation, an instinct, and it's understandable. Nobody judges you for that. JJ would never judge you for that. But running away from JJ won't make you feel any better. You can't run forever," Hotch said.

He walked away when Delilah didn't answer, heading to his office to pack up for the night. Delilah packed up her own desk, deciding she was going to wait outside for Liv so she could get some fresh air and try and calm down the riot in her head.

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