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𝑹 𝑬 𝑴
❝ 𝚒𝚝'𝚜...𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 ❞

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ㅤ𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐉𝐎𝐊𝐄 that took her a while to understand.

"That-- that's funny," she chortled, earning an amused look from Helen, who shook her head at the sound of Tony and Bruce just snorting in the background. "I understand! It's a play on words! A 'chop' is another whimsical term for a karate move, thus a 'pork chop' is a pig that does karate!" Alina laughed again, punching Helen lightly on the arm.

By this point, Helen was giggling as she nodded her head. "That's good! You get the joke!"

"She gets the joke!" Tony praised, raising his arms up triumphantly, grinning at Bruce who was silently shaking in laughter. He tsked and mumbled, "If only it didn't take you five minutes."

"In her defense, it took her about two minutes," Bruce retorted, pointing at Alina proudly, who grinned at him while tilting her chin up smugly. "That's got to be a new record."

"Last time, it took her three," Helen informed them, multitasking as she edited a few things on the Cradle's system with her tablet. They were all working in the labs in the Avengers' compound; she and Alina were very close to finishing what they've been working on for months, she could feel it. "It's a new record."

"HA!" Alina grinned, picking up her own tablet and walking closer to Helen to compare some notes. The light atmosphere then waned a little as silence swept over the room; the scientists working hard to do what they were all aching to do. An intern then walked into the room, holding a tablet of his own.

He pulled Helen aside, and Alina paid no mind as he and Helen both discussed the schematics. She focused on making more subtle changes to the compositions of the machine sitting next the Cradle, a machine that was predicted to change the world of medicine forever. With her background in biomedical engineering, she was in charge of making sure it'll do what it was supposed to do.

It was a machine similar to that of the machine that the Avengers previously had in their infirmary in the tower, the machine that healed Clint Barton when he was injured during the first time they recovered Loki's scepter, only this time, it wasn't as bulky, nor as expensive as it was.

She shook her head slightly, not wanting to be reminded of the time she had her mind taken over by a scepter-wielding, murder bot.

Helen walked back to the spot beside her and said, "So, how's your boyfriend?"

"Not my boyfriend, but he's doing well, I suppose," Alina replied, not noticing Helen's grin as her focus remained on her tablet. The Korean woman was both surprised and entertained, considering she hadn't even mentioned anybody's name, yet Alina's mind went straight to Aaron Hotchner, when she could've asked 'who?'.

"I saw you together at your birthday party," Helen teased. "You even let him drive your Spyder. You never let me drive your Spyder!"

"You're an even more reckless driver than me, Helen," Alina reminded her. "Besides, I let people use my car."

"No, you don't," Helen snorted, nudging the smaller woman with her elbow. "You barely let Gwen drive it. And before you say that it's because she's pregnant, I was talking about the time before she was. You don't just let people drive your car."

Alina hummed in thought, tilting her head before finally lifting her head up and looking at Helen in the eye. "You're...absolutely right," a disgusted look came upon her face, "What was I thinking?"

Helen huffed, crossing her arms after placing her tablet on one of the tables. She was glad both Tony and Bruce were busy discussing amongst themselves, huddled around their shared work space, as she looked at Alina and said, "You like him. That's what you're thinking. You trust him...and that's a great thing, actually."

"Well, he does always say that he trusts me," Alina shrugged. "Might as well return the trust that I'm sure was earned. You know, I have my own drawer in his room. It was a strange yet productive idea."

"You...have a drawer in his room? Lina, you guys are literally dating without being official!" She complained. "That's...well, it's strange but you're you and you don't do normal, so I'm actually not surprised. But seriously, that's, like, a step most couples take. Sooner or later, you'll be living together and..." She trailed off when she saw the look Alina was giving her. She cleared her throat. "Look, you've dated only three people your entire lifetime, and those three relationships took place when you were in your late teens and early 20s. Those relationships were all juvenile, and they were all with idiots. Don't let those three affect your entire outlook in life."

Alina rolled her eyes. "I get your point, but those three were enough to make me realize that relationships are dumb and immature."

"You're being dumb and immature," Helen countered. "Seriously, you have this beautiful, beautiful man just pining over you, waiting for you to say the word before he takes you off on his magic carpet and shows you the world...a world that's shining, shimmering, splendid."

"I don't understand," Alina frowned.

Helen scoffed. "We literally did a whole Disney marathon and you already forg-- never mind. But seriously, think about it, okay? I'm not even just teasing you or anything. Aaron, from what I've seen, is a great guy. You guys look great together, and you already have a bond that can't be replaced."

"It's not that simple," Alina pressed her lips into a thin line. "I have commitment issues--"

"Which, by the way, doesn't seem to a be problem with Aaron, considering you guys are in a committed sexual relationship."

"Keyword: sexual."

"Keyword: committed," Helen sighed. "Come on, Alina. I love you, you're one of my closest friends, best friends even. I only want what's best for you. And right now, it's Aaron."

Alina frowned, her signature pout on her lips. "I-I can't...you know I can't."

"You can, you just won't, because you're too scared." Helen proceeded to walk closer to Alina to pull her into a reassuring hug, releasing her only to place her hands around the smaller woman's arms. "How about this: what do you do when you can't decide on something?"

"I-I make a list of pros and cons," Alina stuttered.

"Make one," Helen grinned. "But make sure not to focus too much on the cons. For every con, there must be a pro, you can't move on to the next con without pairing it off. I'll oversee it."

Alina looked at her apprehensively. "You're serious about this?"

"As serious as a heart attack."

"I...alright," Alina nodded, while Helen grinned victoriously, shaking her excitedly. "Don't make me dizzy!"

"I can't help myself! I'm so excited!" The two of them ended up laughing together at the turn of events, before they focused back into their work.

Alina was deep into fixing another calculation, bouncing ideas off Helen here and there, when suddenly:

"Alina?"

She didn't have to turn to the source to know it was Pandora. "Hi, Dora."

"Lina, I need your help."

"What's it about?"

"You remember Anat?"

"Very much so."

"I think I need to go to the FBI."

Alina scoffed. "Do what you always do, leave an anonymous tip. We don't have to head there, they can just follow your instructions as always and we're good to go, leave the heavy lifting to them."

"I can't, not this time."

This made Alina pause. Finally, she looked up from her work and was taken aback by the terrified look on her sister's face.

"What happened? What did you see?" She asked.

Pandora opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. Alina knew then that something was very, very wrong.

Alina straightened. "Let's go."

"I thought traffickers concentrated in port cities?" Rossi wondered out loud as he sat back against his chair.

"International ones do," Andi Swann, head of the Domestic Trafficking Task Force, responded. "Unfortunately, domestic traffickers abduct all over the country."

"It doesn't seem like they stay in one location long after an abduction," Spencer noted as he looked over the case files.

"They move quickly and efficiently," Andi confirmed. "My guess was in a nondescript car, and until this morning, that was just a theory."

"They've lost their driver now, so they're in jeopardy."

"It's all about survival for them," Rossi pointed out while gesturing with his hands to get his point across. "They'll move out tonight."

Aaron entered the conversation. "But they've got customers and victims lined up. They don't want to lose the money."

"And their location hasn't been compromised yet," Seaver agreed.

"Who knows where they're gonna end up," Andi asked rhetorically.

No one expected a small voice to respond. "I do."

Everyone turned to see a small teenager standing in the doorway of the round table room, clutching a laptop under her arm protectively as if it was her lifeline. Behind her was a figure most had recognized as Alina.

"Alina? Pandora?" Aaron tilted his head in confusion, standing up from his chair and walking over to the Narvaez sisters. "What are you guys doing here?"

Alina licked her lips, exchanging a look with her sister as an expression of seriousness came upon her face, something that no one in the team—who were familiar with her—has ever seen before. "Dora can help."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Andi interjected, staring down at the sisters, but neither of them faltered in her gaze, which made her hum in slightly surprise.

It was Pandora who stole the scene, as she announced, "My name is Pandora, but you know me as Anat."

Andi's breath hitched, finally walking towards the girl, both in awe and trepidation as she gaped. "You're Anat?"

"Who's...who's Anat?" Aaron asked, looking at both Andi and Pandora in confusion, glancing at Alina whose eyes had turned hard and steely, shocking him a little.

Pandora then let out a shaky breath. "I..." She turned to her sister for reassurance, and without fail, Alina wrapped an arm around her shoulders while moving to shut the door of the room. Alina guided her over to the others, Aaron and Andi making way for them, eyes trained on the two. "I'm sure most of you are aware of my...talents."

With a reassuring smile of her own, Penelope nodded. "You're better at me with a computer, and that's saying something."

"You know each other?" Andi asked, her posture still stiff.

"I only met Dora through Alina," Penelope explained. "We talk through encrypted channels, this is the first time we've met in person."

"Did you know about her being Anat?"

"I-I don't even know who or what Anat is."

Andi then nodded as she assessed the situation. She crossed her arms, glancing curiously at the teenager, before beginning to explain. "Anat is well-known in the Trafficking units. International, domestic, you name it. They're an anonymous tipper, someone who somehow knows a lot about trafficking and leads us straight to the source. We don't know anything about them, only communicating with them through encrypted channels," she nodded at Penelope, "sometimes even through email, house phones, 911 hang-ups, everything.

"We all assumed it was a secret organization of highly intelligent individuals with a certain talent for hacking, because how they've been getting this information is all...the point is, we've been working with Anat for several months, already took down six rings in the span of three months. That's more than we've ever done in two years."

"But you didn't know who they were?" Spencer looked up.

"Not until now." Andi gestured towards Pandora. "You work alone?"

"Yes," Pandora answered. She gave Andi a hesitant smile before continuing. "I created this program. I didn't really have a name for it, but I nicknamed it Ayla." Spencer's head snapped up as the familiar name rang through his ears. This action was noticed by everyone in the room. "I made it two years ago, finalized it a year ago, and put it to use around the time I started...leaving anonymous tips. I created it for the sole purpose of taking down human trafficking rings one at a time. After a family friend..." Pandora trailed off. "I made it for her. No one deserves this, and I just couldn't stand by and watch, when I know I could do something about it."

"How old are you?" Andi frowned.

"I'm sixteen." Ignoring the look of shock that overtook Andi's features, Pandora continued. "I knew that people wouldn't take me seriously, so I made up Anat, a persona named after a Canaanite warrior goddess."

The BAU team exchanged looks. They all know Pandora's reputation in the FBI wasn't exactly squeaky clean, and there's a hint of concern they couldn't ignore as they wondered if it would be a good idea to work with someone who—other than being a minor—was also someone who hacked into the Pentagon. They didn't even know if her program was ethical.

"Look, I know you guys don't trust me, but I can speed up your process. I only want to help," Pandora nearly pleaded. "I want to help them, please. Right now, Andi's undercover agent is in trouble--"

"--how did you--"

"--and I can locate her. If you let me."

Alina silently watched as the room's occupants all looked at each other. She sighed. "I know you guys aren't exactly sure if it's a good idea to work with Dora, but ethics, politics, it doesn't matter. Morality trumps over both. We all know that what all these people are doing to them," she pointed at the evidence board were a picture of two victims were displayed, "and we all know what they could do to others. We can't just ignore this."

Aaron sighed. As the assigned head of the case, everyone turned to him, so when he cleared his throat, all their attention was on him as he stood in front of Alina and Pandora. He turned to face his team, "If anyone's against working with Anat, you can tell me now." A barely-there smile ghosted his lips at their silence. "Good. We are working with Anat, not Pandora," he pointed out. He turned to Andi. "You've worked with them before, have you not?"

Andi smirked. "I have."

"Then what's one more...anonymous tip?"

Alina and Pandora finally grinned, and the latter moved towards the table in front of an empty seat. "May I?"

"Go ahead," Rossi smirked slightly. He liked Pandora already.

Pandora let out a breath and sat down, placing her laptop onto the table and opening it. "The way this works is that my program picks up chatter. Sometimes through actual announcements on hidden forums, that may or may not be on the deep web," Penelope raised her eyebrows at this, "or through looking at known or suspected individuals' bank records. Anything suspicious, my program will pick up and will try to decipher. It'll put all those pieces together, and if there's more than one shady movement, it'll alert me."

Andi looked at her. "How did you know about my undercover agent? Her operation was need-to-know."

"It's...better not to ask," Pandora grimaced as she began to type. "Anyway, the second I picked up on it, I got to work. Out of the five my program's currently running, I prioritized the one that your agent was assigned to."

"And?"

"I looked through the case files. Clubs. That's where this ring usually picks up their victims. Real estate is always the key to these kind of operations as they need a place that's secluded enough to...you know."

Andi nodded and walked over to her, leaning against the table to watch the teenager work her magic. "This is incredible."

"I know, I made it."

Aaron looked down to cover up the smile that came upon his face at Pandora's words; she was just like her sister.

Speaking of, Alina was concentrated on her sister. She couldn't help herself from being worried as this was the first time Pandora had ever been closely involved, and with Anat being revealed now, she was afraid that her sister might be in danger—from who, she wasn't sure yet.

The BAU Unit Chief noticed her hands shaking, and quickly covered it in his. His entire hand was able to cover it entirely with no problem, and the mere skin-to-skin contact calmed Alina down. "You doing okay?"

Alina let out a shaky breath and shook her head. "No. I'm scared for her."

"She's a smart girl, Lina."

"I know that," Alina silently scoffed. "She's a Narvaez, of course she is. But she's my baby sister, of course I'll worry."

Aaron looked at her, praying that no one was watching their interaction. He glanced at everyone and noticed their eyes trained on Pandora's screen. He took it as the perfect opportunity to lead Alina outside and into his office for privacy.

As soon as he closed the door, he said in his gentlest tone, "Hey, calm down."

"I can't," Alina whispered. In an instant, Aaron had his arms wrapped around her, trying to ground her, tether her back down to earth. He raised his hand to place it on her hair, gently stroking it to help ease her anxiety. It worked as he felt Alina relax. "I...I'm not even sure who I should be worried about," she admitted, pulling away slightly so she can look up at him.

She was still wearing her sweatpants and t-shirt under a lab coat when she hastily left the lab. She was also just wearing a pair of white Chuck Taylors, which revealed her true height. She only reached his chest.

"What do you mean?"

"Should...should I be worried about the human trafficking leaders that may have it out for her, or should I worry about the FBI finding out and arresting her?"

Aaron clenched his jaw slightly at the look of panic on her face, and quickly brought a hand down to her waist, lifting her shirt up slightly so his thumb can trace circles directly on the skin on her hip. "If the FBI comes, I'll be there to vouch for her. I'm sure Andi wouldn't let her be taken either," he reassured. "She'll be safe. She helped us, and we'll help her."

"You promise?"

"I promise, kitten."

Alina let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Anything for you."

author's note: to be completely honest, i didn't think i'd be updating today, considering i knew i had to plan out this chapter (to make sure pandora fit into the story/case well) but surprisingly, it was easy to incorporate her in it. the case will continue onto the next chapter, and yeah. 

the narvaez siblings are awesome.

and anyway, we're just about to finally see alina slowly changing her mind. but will it be worth it in the end? (˃ᆺ˂)