Violent Psychopath + Abnormal Psychologist = Loving relationship?

Chapter 3: Abduction

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Fandom: MacGyver (2016 reboot)

Pairing: Murdoc x Emmett Becker (self insert)

CW: kidnapping, drugging, killing mentions (undetailed), violence mentions (undetailed), needles, knives, general morbidity associated with a character like Murdoc lol

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“MMPH!!” came their muffled cry of surprise when a gloved hand clamped over Emmett’s mouth, quickly followed by the unmistakable feeling of a blade pressing lightly into the side of their neck and the sound of a familiar voice.

“Hiya Doc, how’ve you been?”

There was no mistaking who that voice belonged to, not for Emmett at least. It was Murdoc. He’d escaped. He was out. And now he was in their apartment. 

‘Huh, that’s probably why they wouldn’t let me in last week..he wasn’t there anymore’ they thought briefly, the thought echoing vaguely in their mind as they processed exactly the situation they were in currently. Their train of thought was interrupted as Murdoc spoke again. 

“No, no, really, Emmett! I wanna hear how you’ve been! I mean, we see each other daily, it's been almost a week now? We gotta catch up! Say, I know just the place, actually!” he let the words flow effortlessly out, his voice taking on that artificially chipper tone to it, as if it were hiding something much darker just beneath the surface- and from Emmett’s experience? It was safe to say, it almost certainly was. He paused for a moment before realizing he couldn’t get a response out of Emmett if his hand was still over their mouth. 

“Now, Emmett, so far, you’ve been very good for me… if I take my hand away, you’re not gonna scream. Right?” 

Emmett knew full well what Murdoc was capable of, even before they’d gotten to know him in more detail at the prison; he’d most likely slit their throat without a second thought if he thought they’d jeopardize his newfound freedom. And the only reason this was a ‘most likely’ situation and not a ‘certainly’ situation was because Murdoc seemed to find Emmett fairly amusing. And MAN, was Emmett going to capitalize on that fact. 

So, Emmett nodded a bit, to indicate their intended cooperation with Murdoc, to which the man smiled and let his hand fall away from their mouth, resting, instead, on their shoulder. The knife remained close, albeit slightly further away, from Emmett’s neck. ‘The threat is there’ it said, ‘but I trust you, more than most’. 

Murdoc looked at Emmett, as though trying to gauge whether or not they intended to try to escape. After a few seconds of scrutiny, he looked somewhat satisfied and lowered his knife, putting more distance between its blade and Emmett’s neck. Emmett breathed an audible and shuddery sigh of relief at that, looking visibly less terrified. 

Murdoc felt a brief pang of guilt. Part of him reveled in the power he finally had over one who typically held some level of power over him (the talk sessions in prison). But most of him just felt plain old bad at the fact that he was so clearly scaring Emmett, someone who had to be one of the only people on the planet he could accurately call a friend. Well, he wasn’t even sure about that. He wanted to call Emmett a friend. He wasn’t sure the feeling was mutual. It probably wasn’t, given the fact that he was currently kidnapping them at knifepoint. Oh well. Another problem for another time, he supposed. 

With that thought in mind to quell his vague remorse, he gave Emmett a stern look that said, ‘don’t try anything while I get what I need’. Murdoc pocketed the knife as he grabbed out some zip ties and expertly fastened them around Emmett’s wrists. As he finished, he was less keen to pull out his knife again and instead opted to simply guide Emmett to where they were going with a steady pair of hands at their shoulders. 

Soon enough, Murdoc had them arrived at a vehicle, ‘probably stolen’ Emmett thought, stupidly. Murdoc opened the passenger side, ushering Emmett inside. They briefly wondered why he was letting them sit there and not having them safely tucked in the trunk of the car, before they felt a quick pinch of pain, as a needle entered their arm and soon after, they lost consciousness. As they faded out, they had the realization that, ‘oh, that was why he’s letting me sit here, I won’t be able to…’ and just like that, Emmett was out like a light. 

…

Meanwhile, at the Phoenix Foundation, things were in chaos. Director Matilda ‘Matty’ Webber was shouting orders, lab techs were hurriedly running to assist the more high level agents, the search was on, one of their own had been abducted, and by Murdoc, no less. 

“People! This is Murdoc we’re dealing with here. You all know what that man is capable of. He has one of our own agents. I need eyes on every vehicle leaving the Hollywood Hills area ASAP!”

“Ma’am, we’re working as fast as we can-”

“Work faster”

Matty was not one to let emotions compromise her work but it was tough not to get a little freaked out when the world’s most infamous assassins had just kidnapped one the people she was responsible for…responsible for returning safely to their friends and family…

Especially when said agent was not, in fact, officially trained for working as an agent. Matty had hired Emmett on the condition that they stay in the lab, working in their speciality, psychology, and not in the field, at least, not until they’d completed schooling on fieldwork. 

Now, an untrained member of the Phoenix Foundation, was at the mercy of one of the single most dangerous men alive. 

The thought ran like a lightning bolt through her brain as she alerted MacGyver, Riley, Jack and Bozer of the situation, calling them to the war room. 

As the four elite agents filed into the room, Matty remained stone faced, laying out the facts of the situation carefully, “Listen, guys, we have a major situation here. One of our agents has been abducted by Murdoc-”

Riley cut in immediately, “Wait, since when has Murdoc been out of prison?” 

“Our intel says he escaped six days ago, from supermax prison-”

Then Jack interrupted, “A-And you didn’t think to tell us this, why?”

Matty shook her head in exasperation, “It was on a need to know basis-”

“And we didn’t need to know?! Matty, this psycho ken doll has it out for every Phoenix Agent here, especially us five!” Jack exclaimed.

Matty, ignoring Jack, continued, “I’m sorry to say that the agent Murdoc has kidnapped is Dr. Emmett Becker, our resident criminal and forensic psychologist and the psychologist assigned by us to work with Murdoc in prison.”

MacGyver looked stricken, as though it was directly his fault that Emmett had been put in such peril, “Matty…Emmett.. Emmett isn’t a trained agent yet…”

Matty sympathized with Mac, saying, “I know, that’s why it is imperative that we recover them as soon as humanly possible- no scratch that, I want the impossible, guys. I need Emmett back and safe in their own apartment, yesterday, got that?

Everyone in the room nodded solemnly as Matty continued to give them all the relevant information before sending them on their way, saying, as they exited the room, “Oh, and guys? Make sure to put Murdoc back into federal custody, while you’re at it. Good luck.”

…

Whistling. 

That was the first thing Emmett’s brain registered as they slowly came to again. 

The next thing was the dark, coolness of the room they were in. Then the harsh cold of the metal chair they were strapped to. Strapped to? Oh, yea, there were also the plastic zip ties now binding Emmett to the aforementioned chair. 

And of course, the whistling. The whistling? It was some tune Emmett couldn’t quite place, familiar, but not. They groggily wondered what song it was supposed to be before their brain replaced that question with the more important one of who was whistling it? 

As if to answer their unspoken question, there from the shadows emerged Murdoc. It was more than a little unsettling, the way his pale features stood out amongst the rest of his dark hair and ensemble which allowed him to otherwise blend perfectly with the shadows around him. 

Emmett wasn’t entirely with it quite yet, still waking from whatever sedative Murdoc had injected them with. As they did so their brain fixated on the visual input that was Murdoc standing before them, partially enshrouded in darkness still. They noticed his skin, which looked almost muted in the low light, his aquiline nose, the way his thin lips curled up in a sinister smile. And his eyes, dark and swirling with secrets untold… he was.. kinda really pretty actually, they thought aloud, albeit quietly. 

“Wait. I said that out loud didn’t I..” Emmett murmured softly. 

Murdoc’s smile widened, revealing a few sharp looking teeth. 

“Aww, you think I’m pretty?” he crooned back at them, his voice taking on a sickeningly sweet sound. He chuckled a bit before adding, “Hey, in your defense, I did dose you with some pretty strong stuff!” 

Murdoc straightens up and again before pacing around, circling the chair Emmett is seated in, tracing a finger along the top edge of the chair seat. He momentarily considered ghosting over Emmett’s shoulders with his hands- oh how he wanted to touch them, hold them, even hug them- but quickly pulled away, not wanting to unnecessarily freak them out. He may be a psychopathic murderer but boundaries are important and he wasn’t about to break them. Well, at least not in that sense, anyway. 

Emmett looked…well, surprisingly calm, all things considered. Murdoc wasn’t entirely sure if the drugs had worn off yet but he was at least glad to see that they weren’t entirely terrified anymore, if only artificially. 

After all, he just wanted to talk with them. That was all this was about really. He wanted to get to know them and for them to know him, in an environment where he could express himself, aka, an environment where he wasn’t handcuffed to a table- even if that meant Emmett had to be instead. Eventually, he told himself, they’d work up to not having to do this. He didn’t want it like this. He wanted Emmett to not be afraid, not try to run away, to like him and want to talk to him. But he knew he’d have to work up to that. He knew he’d have to do something different in the future. This wasn’t gonna work if he kept up like this. He’d have to try a different strategy. One that didn’t involve abducting an unwilling Emmett. But for now, for now, this was what was happening. 

For all his bravado and general creepiness, he really was trying, in his own twisted way, to flirt with Emmett. 

Not that Emmett had any clue. From their point of view, as they slowly became more conscious and less affected by the sedative, Murdoc had probably abducted them to force Phoenix Foundation intel and secrets out of them and then kill them. 

“So..Murdoc..what do you want?” they said, their voice becoming less scratchy and more normal. 

Murdoc simply looked at them, tilting his head quizzically. It reminded Emmett, oddly enough, of the movement their childhood dog made when she was confused. ‘Man’ they thought, ‘he even has those dark puppy eyes too, doesn’t he..’

Murdoc hadn’t figured he’d get this far. He hadn’t yet figured out his ‘reason’ for why he was kidnapping Emmett. He just looked stupidly at them, trying desperately to think of some cover question to lessen their confusion. He wasn’t going to just admit to them then and there that he liked them. 

He started out in an uncharacteristically unsteady voice, “Um.. right. I- You need, you are going to tell me everything you know about Phoenix Agent Angus MacGyver”

‘Smart’ he thought to himself, ‘shift the focus to someone else’

Emmett shook their head before hurriedly adding, “I-It’s not that I won’t tell you, it’s just that- well, I don’t know much about Mac! I used to think he worked at a Think Tank. I only recently found out about his real work.”

Murdoc, already running out of follow up questions nodded in acknowledgement before deciding that it was probably time to release Emmett back to their apartment. ‘I mean what else am I supposed to do if I’m too chicken to tell them how I feel?’ he thought, disgusted with his own behavior. 

“Okay.”

“Okay? That’s it? Aren’t y-you, gonna, shit, I don’t know, t-torture me or something..?” Emmett asked, clearly still scared and confused. 

“No.”

“No? So, what, you’re just gonna l-let me go??” 

“Maybe.”

“Maybe??”

Circling as he was about Emmett’s chair, Murdoc paused behind them and suddenly Emmett felt that familiar pinch of the needle before they lost consciousness, again.  

…

“Emmett?”

Emmett felt like they were underwater, just hearing the sounds of the above world from within the depths. 

“Emmett??”

‘Oh hey’ they thought, ‘That sounds like Matty. Wow, she sounds unusually concerned…”

Oh, now they felt they were being shaken a bit, poked and prodded by someone’s hand. They didn’t know whose. 

Their head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton as they slowly registered more voices in the background. 

A voice that was unmistakably Jack’s spoke, saying, “Are they alive?” It was said with a level of heartfelt vulnerability rarely seen in Jack. Emmett felt a bit touched at the sentiment. Even if he always teased them at work about not having any field work experience, he apparently cared. 

Then came Mac’s voice. It was a familiar sound, warm and gentle, calm and levelheaded- exactly the kind of friend he’d always been, “Yea, they’re alive, they’re breathing, see, Jack? Just sleeping…”

Riley’s voice was next, assuring a nervous Bozer that Emmett was in fact okay and as of now, seemed to be miraculously unharmed. 

Matty’s voice again; she seemed on edge. Emmett didn’t blame her. 

“Emmett!”

Emmett suddenly startled awake, or at least, now fully conscious. 

Matty breathed an audible sigh of relief at seeing Emmett’s eyes shoot wide open. They were definitely alive. 

Bozer was immediately at their side, having pushed his way through the crowd of friends to get there, “Are you okay?”

Emmett glanced about the room, taking it all in. They were back in their own apartment, currently laying on their couch, surrounded by their coworkers, all of whom were looking at Emmett with concern etched into their features. 

“...Yea..I’m good.. I think, Bozer, thanks..”

Jack was next to chime in, asking in a concerned tone, “Did Murdoc hurt you? We have a first aid kit here but we just wanted to check if you were alive first, y’know?”

Emmett laughed a little at that and smiled before thinking about Jack’s question for a moment. As they recalled the incident of the hours prior, they realized Murdoc actually didn’t hurt them.. like, at all- sure, he knocked them out with the intravenous drugs, but, Emmett realized, even his administration of the needle was gentle and carefully done in order to cause them the least pain possible. For whatever reason, Murdoc had very intentionally left Emmett virtually completely unharmed. 

Emmett’s smile faded to an expression of confusion as they answered, “No… no he didn’t, actually.”

Jack and the rest of the group looked visibly perplexed. 

“Yea.. I mean, he drugged me, intravenously, but truth be told, that was the most pleasant experience I’ve ever had with a needle. The thing was thin and he was extremely skilled at poking me without it hurting. I don’t know if that was on purpose or not, but in every other aspect, Murdoc… was actually very civil…”

“Civil? How so?” Riley asked. 

Emmett took a deep breath, trying to ground themself before answering, “He.. he just asked me to give him information on Mac-”

MacGyver raised an eyebrow in question. 

“Yea- he wanted me to tell him about you, Mac.. but don’t worry, I just said I didn’t know you as well as I thought I did. Told him I’d only known about your real job since you invited me to work at Phoenix.”

Mac furrowed his brow in thought, “And? How did he react?”

“See, this is where it gets extremely weird. He just said, ‘Okay’. So I said, ‘Okay?’ and asked him point blank if he was gonna interrogate or torture me… and he said no.” 

The group surrounding Emmett looked even more puzzled, if that was possible. Matty asked, “Emmett, do you think this has anything to do with the fact that you were his assigned psychologist? Is that why he left you unscathed? What exactly did you two discuss while he was in prison?” 

Emmett shook their head, “I don’t know, Matty, I would think so? But it doesn’t make sense that he would do any of this? Not only am I a low level agent, not worthy of any ransom-”

Jack cut in again, “Hey, don’t say that about yourself!”

“But there’s also the fact that even if I were a high level target, he should’ve killed me after I left him with no new information. Instead he didn’t even make an attempt at extracting the information from me… it's almost like he just.. Kidnapped me for kicks, or something…”

Matty spoke again. “Then he’s changed his M.O. That much is clear. Emmett, we need you now more than ever. We have got to figure him out and why he’s changed the way he operates. We don’t know what he’s planning now that he’s out. He could kill countless more. We simply don’t know. Emmett, get some rest, but I need you on this ASAP tomorrow.”

Emmett nodded, understanding the urgency of the matter but still exhausted and feeling as though they’d been hit by a truck. 

The rest of the group said their goodbyes and expressed their well-wishes to Emmett as they left. Jack even tried to insist on staying over to guard Emmett as they slept. The two settled on having two armed agents do the job instead. 

As Emmett laid there, not having moved from their position on the couch, they pondered their experience and wondered what Murdoc was doing now…

Violent Psychopath + Abnormal Psychologist = Loving relationship?

Chapter 2: Murdoc

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Fandom: MacGyver (2016 reboot)

Pairing: Murdoc x Emmett Becker (self insert)

CW: killing mentions (undetailed), violence mentions (undetailed), shooting mentions (undetailed), general morbidity associated with a character like Murdoc lol

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See, I wasn’t planning on falling in love. Hell, I didn’t even know that was something I could do. I never had been one for abandoning my job for romance- unlike my mentor, Mr. Helman. No, I was always one for the hunt, and well, the very violent kill too, but that’s besides the point. My point being: I didn’t think I would ever fall in love. With anybody. 

And yet there they were. Sitting across from me, aimlessly rambling about something or another. I wasn’t really listening that closely at the time. Truth be told, I was far more interested in memorizing the details of their face. I do that sometimes. Memorize people’s faces, that is. I like to remember what their features look like with the terror of impending death etched in on them. It's cathartic, really. 

But it’s different with Emmett. I don’t wanna see their facial features contorted with fear. Ever. Sure I would tease them a bit, yea, but that’s only because they’re awfully cute when they blush. No, I don’t want to hurt or even really scare Emmett. I really truly don’t. Which is weird for me. Exceedingly weird. Seeing as I just totally adore hurting people. If you haven’t already gathered, I have a particularly nasty case of antisocial personality disorder. I’m a complete nutcase, actually. 

But here’s the catch; not only do I not want to hurt this person, but I even enjoy their company. I find myself looking forward to their visits. And oh have I been indulged… Emmett used to visit once a week as mandated by my prison sentence. But soon it was upped to twice a week. Now, they’ve been coming in every day, much to my delight. I still haven’t figured out why. 

Today, as I tuned back into the conversation, I realized, Emmett was telling me about how they very nearly went into physics as a career, thanks to their interest in astronomy and astrophysics. I almost let slip that I was glad they didn’t, y’know, because if they had, well I would likely have never met them. Luckily for me, they didn’t seem to notice my near slip-up. Or if they did, they allowed me the dignity of letting it pass unnoticed. 

It made me wonder though, if I’d ever tell them. I really didn’t know. I mean, what does one say in a situation like this? ‘Hey, I know I’m a lethal assassin-now prisoner at federal supermax prison and you’re only here to psychoanalyze me but I might be in love with you?’ Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Really and truly though, I knew I couldn’t handle the blow of rejection on top of being imprisoned. I had to at least get out first. Then, at least then, if I told Emmett and got brutally rejected, well, then I could turn back to my favorite hobby: shooting people. 

It occurred to me, I really should make a plan to escape. I mean, I had the aforementioned motivation but also, my son, Cassian. When would I ever see him again? And would he find out what I did for a living? I couldn’t let that happen. So I had double motivation to get out. 

And so I did. I got out. It was the most fun I’d had in a long time, killing those guards. 

I hadn’t wanted to leave Emmett in the dark. I’d wanted to tell them, let them know where I was going, say goodbye in case things went awry by some odd mistaken chance. But I didn’t. Because, honestly, let’s be real, if you were a psychopathic murderer cooped up in supermax, would you tell your therapist you were trying to escape? Yea, no, I didn’t either. 

But, of course, things went according to plan. I faked my death, killed the guard by my door (and several more along the way) and made my hasty escape from federal prison. 

If only I could escape my own feelings towards that psychologist so easily. I still had that to contend with of course. I decided, however, that this would be my first course of action: pay Emmett a little visit…

Violent Psychopath + Abnormal Psychologist = Loving relationship?

Chapter 1: First Encounters

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Fandom: MacGyver (2016 reboot)

Pairing: Murdoc x Emmett Becker (self insert)

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“Damn, poor Emmett ‘bouta get eaten alive in there!” came the very encouraging remark from Jack Dalton, a fairly new coworker of Dr. Emmett Becker. 

Or rather, Dr. Becker was the new coworker to Jack, really, having only been working at the Phoenix Foundation for a month or so. It was, as usual, Angus MacGyver who served as the social glue that held their little friend/colleague group together, and it was Mac who had recommended Emmett be picked up by the Foundation to work there as their resident psychology expert. The two had been good friends in the short time Emmett had been at MIT and kept in touch in the years after.

In the short time that Emmett had been working at the Phoenix Foundation, they had found quite quickly that most situations escalated very fast here. One such situation was probably a week ago, during which a highly trained and very lethal assassin, dubbed by intelligence Suspect 218- and later revealed to have adopted the name Murdoc- had been sent to kill MacGyver and the rest of the crew, including Riley Davis, Jack Dalton and even Director Patricia Thornton. 

It was a team effort of course, but the crew were more than willing to admit that Emmett’s astonishing psychological expertise as well as their highly attuned empathy may very well have saved their lives by allowing them to get inside of Murdoc’s head and get him arrested. 

Now, standing inside of one of the nation’s most secure supermax prisons, before a steel door, Emmett would soon have to face the man who almost killed four of their closest friends and colleagues. 

They were here to glean further information of Murdoc on a number of things from his past kills to any associates still out in the field. He was a veritable treasure trove of information and Emmett knew that. 

It didn’t make it any easier or less terrifying to step through the door as it clicked to unlock and the guards swung it open. 

As Emmett stepped through and into the small room, they instinctively and very immediately noticed everything about it: the gray concrete walls, the stark and harsh lighting coming from the light fixture above the steel table in the center of the room. And sitting at that table was Murdoc. 

“Well, well, well” he started in what Emmett couldn’t tell was a delighted or mocking tone; maybe it was both, “What kind of little present has been sent to me now and more importantly, by who?”

“Hello Mister Murdoc, I’m Dr. Emmett Becker. I’m a psychologist with the Phoenix Foundation. I’ve been assigned to your case. Or rather, I was assigned to your case when you tried to kill my colleagues. Let’s talk about that, shall we?”

Murdoc looked down at the table, chuckling a bit before raising his head again to meet Emmett’s eyes. They looked at the wall behind him, not wanting to make eye contact with him. 

“Hello, Dr. Emmett Becker!” he said, chipperly, artificially, and a little more loudly than necessary, “As you well know already, I am Murdoc. We can dispense with the formalities on my end, Doc, it's just Murdoc, no ‘mister’ necessary, mhm’kay?”

He paused after that, making a show of openly eyeing Emmett up and down from where they were sitting across from him. “Say, you really don’t look like a Phoenix agent… or really, any type of intelligence operative… you’re new aren’t you?” 

He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

Emmett notices. They can see it in his body language, hear it in the languid voice he uses, this man really is a predator. 

They respond in kind, giving up just enough information to gain some trust and repertoire with Murdoc. 

“Alright Murdoc, you got me, I am indeed new to working at the Phoenix Foundation. And yes, I’m also new to the intelligence world in general. But, I assure you, I am qualified; psychology undergrad at UCLA, graduate and doctoral degree in abnormal psychology at Stanford, multiple years of research in academia at-”

Murdoc cut them off saying, “impressive, impressive.. Very impressive… but, Emmett- may I call you Emmett?- but what exactly makes you think you have any chance at all to get me to cooperate? Seeing as all of the previous therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists in my life have failed, of course. They were all wildly intelligent too, just like you. And I killed every last one of them.” he smiles darkly, “What is it that makes you believe you’re special?”

Emmett blinked owlishly at Murdoc before answering simply, “I don’t. I don’t think I am much of anything special. But I think you are. I think there are things worth hearing, worth learning trapped in your head. I’m just here to do that, just listen, listen and learn, Murdoc. Is that alright with you?”

Murdoc looked a little taken aback at Emmett’s honestly, genuinely surprised at how forthcoming they were being. Most professionals in their field were lying, cheating, backstabbing assholes that were master manipulators. In fact, one of Murdoc’s interests was in psychology for that very reason. They were exploitative tricksters. And yet, this one was so very unlike the others, so … charmingly candid. 

Murdoc looked contemplative for a moment, the malice present there in his eyes before, now fading. He gazed at Emmett thoughtfully before speaking in a soft voice, “You…really mean that don’t you?”

Emmett simply nodded in response. They weren’t entirely sure what to make of Murdoc’s apparent change in demeanor yet but he quickly confirmed what they were guessing. 

“Perhaps we will be having some more little chats in the future…but for now, I’m tired and want to take a nap, go on, run along now Doc, can’t wait for our next little conversation…” 

Something about the way Murdoc had said it; it reeked of sarcasm, and yet, Emmett could tell some part of him was being sincere, he actually was looking forward to talking again.

And that, that was something Emmett could leverage. 

Dylan x Ellery Drabble

VERY much inspired by this post:

As the last of his students filed out of the lecture hall, Dr. Dylan Reinhart made his way over to his office, sitting down and ready to face the vast amount of papers to grade from his classes. Or so he thought. As he sat down to do so, he found his mind wandering, something it didn't typically do. And to a person, no less, Ellery Robins, to be specific.

Dylan had only met Ellery quite recently, a few weeks ago at most. And yet, he'd seen quite a bit of them in those weeks, seeing as they visited him every so often to bring coffee and chat. But it wasn't enough. Dylan found that Ellery occupied his thoughts, more often than not. And now, it was becoming an issue that was interfering with his ability to grade his student's assignments.

Soon enough, Dylan realized that the only was he was ever going to get to effectively work on said assignments was if he indulged his wandering thoughts now, and then, once satisfied, continued his work.

Now, Dylan had no need to write any of this down, what with his phonographic memory and all; everything he'd learned about Ellery's likes, dislikes, passions and more, had been verbally communicated, rather than textually so. Of course, he'd remembered all of it. But, he thought, it would be most effective at expressing these thoughts if he were to write them down.

And so, he opened up a word document and began to type. He typed everything he'd learned thus far about the object of his affection- what they liked, what they didn't like, their passions, their hopes and dreams, favorite colors, what they liked to do, what they liked to eat and drink- everything he could think of, pertaining to Ellery.

Soon enough, he had exhausted his supply of information learned so far about them and, satisfied with the result, set back to grading papers with renewed focus.

---------

It was a Friday, midday, and that meant Ellery would be arriving at his office soon.

Sure enough, at 1:35, right on time, Ellery showed up to greet Dylan in his office- coffee in hand- stepping inside, after being invited in by Dylan's delighted gesturing.

"Hey, Dylan!" they greeted him, a genuine, but still somehow shy, smile on their face, "How are you today?"

Dylan chuckled, a hint of frustration tinging the laugh and replied, "Oh, I'm better now that you're here!"

Ellery, still unable to repress their body's reflexive responses, blushed a bit in response to Dylan's comment, but smiled politely, all the same.

"Oh? Did something happen?" they asked sympathetically, ready and quite willing to listen to any troubles their friend might have on hand.

Dylan hummed in response, before replying, "Nothing in particular today. I'm just not looking forward to the mountain of paperwork and assignment grading I have to finish tonight. I honestly don't know how I'm going to get it all done..."

Ellery contemplated Dylan's lamentation a bit before half suggesting- half asking, "Maybe I could help? I mean, I've always had a lingering interest in psychology, despite going into physics, and I could do the simple stuff that wouldn't require you specifically to grade? Multiple choice test grading, maybe?" Ellery fidgeted nervously at the hem of their sweater, running their fingers over the blue ribbed material repeatedly and tacked on hurriedly, "But if not, that's totally fine!"

Dylan made a small noise of acknowledgement before answering, "Actually, that would be super helpful, Ellery, you would do that for me?" He felt horrible about piling any of his work on others, especially Ellery, but he was fairly desperate at this point.

Ellery simply nodded yes, their eyebrows raised, as if to accentuate their answer.

"Well, I'll share the files with you then, as well as the answer key, of course. Feel free to do as little or much as you have time for, I promise, just the offer means so much to me, Ellery, thank you."

Ellery smiled again, their eyes lighting up at the praise and gratitude from Dylan.

"Yea, for sure, its not a big deal, I'm glad to help you out, Dylan."

There was then a silence for a moment which could have been uncomfortable, were it not for the affectionate expressions worn by both individuals.

Suddenly, Ellery broke it by saying, just a little too loudly, "Well, I'll leave you to your work! As always, thank you for having me and uh, see you next week, I guess?"

Dylan smiled and replied, "Yes, thank you again, Ellery, I eagerly await your next visit!"

Ellery smiled shyly again before turning around and walking out the door, careful to let it close gently behind them, leaving Dylan, alone in his office once again.

---------

Sighing loudly to nobody in particular, except maybe their cat, Ellery plopped down on their couch and yanked out their computer, eager to see if they'd yet gotten the files sent by Dylan. They knew it was going to be tedious work, but the mere thought of Dylan's reaction to his grading being complete was more than enough to motivate Ellery to help.

As they opened up the files from the email sent to them, they skimmed through each document quickly to gain an idea of how much work there was to be done. But one document caught their eye, it had been innocuously titled something like testkey2.docx but when they actually opened said file, Ellery found that it was not in fact a test key but rather a set of notes and various ramblings- about themself.

Curiosity piqued, Ellery continued reading the document, only to find that it had at least 2 and half pages worth of information on them. So many notes on, well, everything about them, from their undergraduate university to their favorite ice cream flavor; everything they'd ever told Dylan, they realized, as they recalled each piece of information they'd given to the man.

Most people, upon finding such a collection of information about themselves, would probably be concerned or even frightened by it. But Ellery found themself flattered and giddy at the thought that they were important enough to Dr. Dylan Reinhart for him to take notes on them. Then came the confusion; Ellery was a little baffled at why Dylan would be taking notes on them of all people. Surely they weren't that interesting? And yet, here were two, almost three, pages worth of notes on the topic of Ellery Robins. And moreover, why would he send those notes to them?

Ellery ultimately came to two conclusions: 1. the document had been sent accidentally and 2. he probably took notes on many other people he interacted with regularly. He was a psychology expert after all, it stood to reason that he'd take a slightly abnormal interest in other people and their behavior. Yea, that was it. That's why he had almost three pages full of notes detailing Ellery, their personality and entire life. That made sense. Yea.

Luckily, Ellery had always been pretty good at compartmentalizing and so they shoved that mystery to the back of their mind while they graded various quizzes.

Finally, after all the documents sent by Dylan had been addressed and graded appropriately, Ellery laid in bed, still wide awake, and thinking about the document Dylan must have accidentally sent them. They'd never confront him about it. No, that would be mortifying for both parties. They'd just sit with it. Yea, that would work. Eventually they'd forget about it. That would definitely work.

And with that thought to comfort them, Ellery promptly fell asleep.

Spilt Coffee - a Dylan Reinhart x Ellery Robins (s/i) drabble

As per the norm, Ellery Robins was running late. 

Very, very late

‘It was a mistake to choose a morning class’ Ellery thought to themself, as they blindly rushed in the general direction of the lecture hall for this particular class. 

Completely lost in their own panic, they failed to notice the figure walking across the way just in front of them, and as such, also failed to stop in time so as not to crash into said person. 

What resulted was violent bodily contact between the two individuals and a resulting spilling of the coffee held by the non offending individual, one Dr. Dylan Reinhart. 

Dylan Reinhart was a professor of abnormal human psychology at this university and had been on his way to begin his own lecture, right up until Ellery had crashed into him, completely obliterating his cup and spilling coffee all over him, while also managing to splash a bit on themself. Almost as if fate would have it that Ellery bear evidence of their mistake all day long as well. 

Thankfully for Dylan, who got the brunt of the spilled coffee, it was not still hot and did not burn him badly. The only ill effects he would suffer were the dry cleaning fees to remove the coffee stains, something he could easily afford. The same could not be said for Ellery, who was quite mortified by their mistake. 

They hadn’t recognized him from afar but now, up close and reaping the rewards of their blunder, they recognized him as one of their university’s most esteemed professors: Dr. Dylan Reinhart. 

‘Oh god’ they mouthed, just barely above a whisper, thoughts racing. 

Ellery’s mouth opened and closed, much like a fish, as they tried desperately to form some sort of adequate apology for having spilled coffee on one of the most well respected men at their university. 

Dylan stood there, looking down at his ruined suit for a moment, before looking directly at Ellery, watching them as they attempted to get something, anything, out in way of an apology. 

After a bit of waiting on Ellery, Dylan simply chuckled and finally spoke. 

“Are you okay?” he asked with a gentle smile. 

Ellery gawked at him before finally finding words. 

“Am I okay?? What do you- No, are you okay? I spilled your coffee all over you!! It didn’t burn you did it- I’m so sorry I’m so so sorry-”

He cut them off after a short while of listening to them practically grovel. 

“Ah, so you can speak” he said cheekily before continuing, “Its quite alright, I only asked if you were okay because, well, you should have seen your expression! No, I’m not burned, the coffee was practically cold by now.” he reassured them. 

A partially relieved feeling overcame Ellery at the knowledge that they at least hadn’t physically harmed him. 

But the knowledge that they had ruined a suit that was probably worth more than them still loomed large. 

As if reading their thoughts, Dylan spoke again, “Don’t worry about the suit, the cleaning fee will be nominal.”

Ellery, surprised at how well he had anticipated their next inquiry, babbled out, “H-how? How did you-”

Dylan laughed before replying, “Well, honestly, it doesn’t take a psychology expert to see how embarrassed you are right now! And even if it did, I just so happen to be a human psychology professor~”

Ellery tried making eye contact with him, out of respect. It didn’t work, their anxiety and autistic nature getting the better of them this time. It didn’t go unnoticed by Dylan, who made a mental note to be more gentle with this individual. 

“Hey” he touched their arm lightly, “its alright, I’m not upset, in the slightest. Really, you can go about your day, I’ll be just fine.” he said kindly. 

Ellery nodded, still not meeting his soft gaze. Dylan attempted to lighten the mood with a joke, “But hey, maybe you should bring me a coffee later, make up for the one you spilled on me!” he chuckled, clearly amused by his own quip. 

Ellery smiled nervously and nodded again before waving goodbye and making their way towards their class. 

Dylan shook his head, “Poor guy” he murmured and laughed quietly to himself as he walked away towards his class. 

-----------

Truth be told, Dylan had not expected to see that student again, ever, really. He’d assumed they would take every precaution in avoiding him after that incident. He didn’t want them to, of course, but he was certain they would be too mortified to risk another encounter. 

So when they walked into his classroom, hot coffee held safely in two hands, as the last of his students trickled out, he was surprised, to say the least. 

“Oh! Hello, you!” he said, not bothering to mask the surprise in his voice, before adding, “I never did get your name this morning!” ever the curious one. 

Ellery stopped in their tracks, looking for all the world like a deer in the headlights, anxious and unsure how to proceed. 

They took a deep breath and tried to compose themself before walking closer to Dylan and replying, “My name’s Ellery Robins, sir.”

They didn’t notice the way Dylan’s breath hitched a little at that formality, and for that he was thankful. He waved at the air and said, “Aww, sheesh, no need for that, Mr. Robins! Just call me Dylan, okay?” and smiled gently. 

Ellery replied quietly, “Okay, then uh, its just Ellery, for me then, Dr. Reinh- I mean, Dylan.” 

Dylan smiled wide at that and responded in turn, “Okay, Ellery, its good to properly meet you now!”

Ellery smiled nervously and nodded, handing the coffee to Dylan. 

“Aww, for little old me?” he joked, though he was genuinely touched by the display. 

Ellery nodded again, “I uh, I felt bad about your suit and the coffee and all that so I er, I took you up on your request.” They laughed, but the anxiety in their voice and stance was damn near palpable. 

“Aww well aren’t you just a sweetheart then!” he cooed at them, causing them to blush a pretty light pink shade that Dylan found absolutely delightful. 

Ellery chose to ignore the odd undertones of this praise and smiled sweetly, nodding abashedly, nonetheless. 

“Well, uh, I hope you enjoy your coffee, Dylan!” a paradoxical mix between cheer and anxiety, in their tone of voice. 

Dylan, reluctant to end the conversation but with a class in 10 minutes, replied, “Ah, thank you again, Ellery, I do hope you’ll stop by sometime again. And please, let me know if you ever need anything!” he said genuinely. 

Ellery stepped back, edging themselves closer to the door, whilst smiling at Dylan. Not looking where they were going, they of course found themself whacking into the door, something which Dylan simply couldn’t hold in a delighted chuckle at to himself. 

Ellery quickly turned around and practically ran out of the door. 

Dylan, quite amused, sat down at his desk to prepare for the next lecture but found he couldn’t quite focus on the work- something very unusual for his trained and intelligent brain. 

-----------

As the students for the afternoon class of Intro to Abnormal Psychology 101 filed into the lecture hall, they just as quickly found themselves leaving after seeing the board, with a note scrawled onto it: 

“Hello class, there will be no lecture today on account of the fact that I have other matters to attend to today. Thank you for understanding! 

-Dr. Dylan Reinhart”

The Intern

"Hey!"

Elis jumped at the raised voice, nearly a foot in the air, before hastily positioning themself in a suitable stance for the approaching superior officer that was making his way towards them.

As they turned to do so, their eyes flashed towards him, putting a face to the aggravated voice.

"Do NOT touch those! You wanna get mycelial poisoning?" the man practically shouted at Elis, who in turn shrunk back, putting their hands in their pockets absentmindedly, before timidly asking, "W-With all due respect, sir, i-is that a thing?"

Astromycology, or really, any kind of mycology, was not Elis's field of specialty but they were knowledgeable enough to know that mycelial poisoning was not, in fact, a 'thing'. Prototaxites stellaviatori, especially, would not result in any sort of toxicity upon coming into contact with human skin. And Elis knew for a fact that this lieutentant's specialty was with the fungi, Prototaxites Stellaviatori. It was the baseline organism for his possibly revolutionary alternative warp travel theory.

But, Elis, being a nervous individual, chose not to outright confront their superior officer about this and rather just simply ask the question they did. Their question yielded them an exasperated sigh and an equally exasperated response from Lieutenant Stamets.

"No, you're right, mycelial poisoning? Not a thing you can get, and not from touching fungi. BUT I don't want you touching my fungi SO I had to come up with something quick didn't I?"

Elis just stared at Lieutentant Stamets owlishly.

"What, are you gonna say something or just touch my mushrooms and question me?"

Elis had to physically shake his head to get out of it and replied quickly, "Sorry! Sir! Sorry, sir, I apologize for uh- touching your stuff without your permission! It's err, its just my first day here as the research assistant for this project and ah, well, umm, I sort of got curious?"

Elis grimaced inwardly at his fumbled apology. He was definitely going to get thrown off this project now for sure.

The lieutenant looked thoughtfully at him before speaking again, "You're my new intern aren't you." It didn't have the intonation of a question.

Elis perked up again, "Yes! Yes, I'm Ensign Elis Carter! I graduated Starfleet Academy a year ago, honors in exobi-"

"I'm Lieutenant Paul Stamets, you'll refer to me by rank, of course and I don't care how many honors you graduated with, you work under me now and I expect the best."

Elis deflated a little bit at that but acknowledged Lieutenant Stamets all the same, still determined to earn his respect and their doctorate in cosmology.

They hadn't expected a friendly warm welcome, not in the rigorous scientific community of Starfleet but they'd figured their new boss would at least be cordially polite. It confused the hell of out them. In time, they would find that there were a lot of confusing things to be learned about this Lieutenant Paul Stamets...

Ambiguously Nighttime

“Will, honestly, this couldn’t wait until the morning?” Hannibal sighed, having just driven several hours to Will’s house, upon the other man’s urgent request. 

For what, reason, though, Hannibal could not fathom. Yes, Will was a strange man but what for what reason could he have possibly needed him at such an odd hour. Hannibal mulled over it for a second before Will’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts once again, nerves in a bundle and anxiety evident in the other man’s voice. 

“Look, Hannibal, I need your help.” Will muttered, begrudgingly, “There’s a situation...and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

Hannibal’s lips turned upwards into a small half smile. Of course Will needed his help. Good. It was good to be needed. Especially by a man so pretty as Will. 

“Yes, I could’ve guessed that. What exactly is it that you need assistance with?” Hannibal questioned further, hoping to pry the truth out of Will as soon as possible. He seemed hesitant. Frightened, almost. What could possibly be frightening him. Whatever it was, Hannibal wanted to get to the bottom of it. Nothing was going to toy with Will, under his watch. After all, that was his job. 

The dark haired man simply shook his head and motioned to Hannibal to follow him, leading him to a closed door. 

‘Now that is an odd sight.’ the older man mused to himself. Will’s doors inside his house were never closed. Wanted to let the dogs roam the house as they please, he had told Hannibal. 

As the two approached the door and Will’s hand drifted towards the knob, he paused and looked back at Hannibal saying, cryptically, “Just...play nice, okay?”

Hannibal chuckled, “And why wouldn’t I do that, Will?”

He replied, lowly, “Because this isn’t your average social encounter, doctor.”

Now, Hannibal was truly intrigued. What could possibly be behind that door? Maybe Will had some skeletons of his own hidden away, so to speak. The thought tickled Hannibal. 

Tentatively, but then with purpose, Will gripped the door handle, slowly but steadily swinging the door open to reveal the contents of the room. 

It looked to be a storage room of sorts, books and boxes of miscellaneous things, lining the disorderly shelves of the room. And in the center of it all, a woman, sitting cross legged, gingerly paging through one of the many books available to her. 

She looked up, calmly, thinking it was only Will, the companion she had met a few hours before and been conversing with for some time prior to Hannibal’s arrival. Upon seeing that Will wasn’t alone, she startled greatly, rapidly shifting back to her original form, the creature Will had first met her as. 

Now, Hannibal isn’t one to startle easily. But this creature, whatever it was, appeared so deeply inhuman and disturbing that he took a step backwards, in well hidden fear. 

Will rushed over to her side, Jophiel, she had told him her name was. 

“Hey, hey, hey, Jo, its okay. He’s a friend. Sort of. He’s an - interesting- friend-”

Hannibal scowled.

“But he’s not going to hurt you. okay? you’re still safe.” Will said quickly, in an attempt to placate her. Slowly, she transitioned back to her human form, the only evidence of her true nature, a glowing halo over her head. 

Hannibal, quickly recovering from his initial fear, straightened his jacket, walking, cautiously, over to Jophiel, before stopping, a couple paces in front of her, until he was given permission to come closer. Whatever she was, while appearing to be benevolent, he could sense that she was incredibly powerful and by extension, dangerous. More dangerous than even himself. He would have to be wary of her. But for now, she presented no threat. 

Glancing at Will, to which he nodded, Hannibal knelt in front of Jophiel and held out his hand to shake hers. 

Jophie looked at him and then down at his hand, before returning her confused gaze to him. 

“Where is the food?” 

“Excuse me?”

“Where is it? The food.”

Hannibal looked to Will for an explanation. 

“Jophiel’s...uh..not familiar with a lot of human customs, Hannibal.”

Hannibal nodded and explained to Jophiel that he was simply greeting her and unfortunately did not have any food to giver her. 

Jophiel nodded, slightly dejectedly, but quickly returned to her curious demeanor. 

“My name is Dr. Hannibal Lecter. You are, of course, free to call me Hannibal.” he introduced himself, calmly. 

Jophiel nodded before replying, “I’m Jophiel. But Will calls me Jo. You can call me Jo, too, if you want.”

Hannibal smiled and thought to himself. He was simply fascinated by her. She clearly wasn’t human. And yet, she seemed so humane. Sweet, naïve, somewhat like Will, actually. 

Jophiel looked at him, clearly confused. ‘Why did he stop talking? Did I do something wrong? What did I do wrong? How do -’

Will, seemingly sensing her distress, knelt down next to her and reassured her softly that she hadn’t done anything wrong and that Hannibal was just like that. 

Hannibal, upon hearing this, also reassured her that she was not to blame for anything and he had merely been thinking. 

There was a short, surprisingly non-awkward silence that followed before it was broken by Hannibal. 

“Ah, Jophiel, I may have lied to you earlier. I do actually have some food with me. I knew I may be here for awhile and figured Will and I could have a snack. Though I suppose, you will want some as well, hmm?”

Jophiel nodded vigorously. Food had become an important way to bond with people for her. After all, it was how Will had convinced her to trust him enough to help her. 

Rising again to stand, Hannibal reached out a hand again, explaining that this time it wasn’t a greeting, but rather an offer to help her up. This time she got the hang of it pretty quickly, taking Hannibal’s hand and standing as well. 

The three turned and left for the kitchen, and sat at Will’s humble table, waiting for Hannibal to unpack his little basket of food. For Will, Hannibal had brought home made sandwich, to which the other man expressed his delight. And for himself, Hannibal had brought an assorted tray of cheeses and meats. He hadn’t known about Jophiel, otherwise he would’ve brought something for her too, but she seemed content in eating the cheese on the platter and asking Will for pieces of his sandwich now and then. 

It was, in honestly, quite a delightful and homey scene, the three of them, having a midnight snack together in Will’s quaint cabin. And they were all happy. For once, Will felt like the rest of the world was fading away, leaving him, Hannibal and their newly found friend. Hannibal felt almost normal, in this moment, like a regular person with regular friends, chatting and laughing away. And Jophiel, well, to her, this felt like what home should feel like. 

Even though she’d only known Will for a few hours and Hannibal for even less time, she implicitly trusted them. And more than that, she was fond of them. She wasn’t really sure why. 

Somehow she knew that these two men were going to become very important in her life. 

But for now, she would enjoy this simple moment of blissful company, taking it for what it was. 

Evening

Late evening. 

That was Will’s least favorite time of the day. He hated it. He was alone with his thoughts most late evenings. 

Not tonight though. Tonight he was out with the FBI on the trail of a killer, one who was most assuredly still active and ready to kill again. They had tracked him to a remote forested area in Maryland, hours away from home. Hours away from the thoughts that usually plagued him in hours like these. 

Will, flashlight in hand and gun at the ready, crept through the underbrush, listening to the distant voices of his fellow agents on this case. Suddenly, he heard a rustling. Slowly pulling out his gun, he steadied himself, getting ready to face the murderer, likely in the bushes ahead. With a standard issue handgun in one hand and flashlight in the other, he stepped towards the brush, as quietly as possible, before suddenly charging and pointing his gun, yelling, “Freeze! Put your hands in --” He paused, realizing very quickly, that this wasn’t the killer. This wasn’t even an accomplice or something like that. 

It wasn’t human. 

Will’s eyes ghosted over the eldritch being cowering before him. It wasn’t very large, roughly the size of a small person. Its body resembled that of a human’s, but with no defining features, other than eyes that seemed to flicker in and out of existence across its flesh. The most foreign part of it though, was its head, if it could even be called that. A mass of floating black scribbles with two dimensional eyes, opening and closing rapidly. And the oddest part. Above its ‘head’ was a bright golden halo of sorts. And on its back, three sets of wings, resembling those of a bird. It certainly was an alien entity, nothing like Will, or frankly, anyone, had likely seen before. 

At first, he was afraid. That very human instinct to fear the unknown kicked in, before Will’s empathy ultimately overpowered that instinct. 

Will lowered his gun slowly, before placing it in its holster. The movement, though slow, seemed to startle the creature and it skittered backwards slightly, fear evident in its body language. 

Kneeling down in front of it, Will held his hands up, placatingly, in an attempt to calm the clearly frightened being. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, taking out a piece of sandwich he had left over from earlier that day and holding it out to the creature. He wasn’t sure what it was, but if it was anything like the strays he’d encountered before, it would help to offer it some food. 

The creature reached out towards Will’s offering, before shrinking back again, seemingly shaking its head, as if saying, “No”. 

Will tried again, this time, tossing the sandwich piece towards the being instead of forcing it to take it from him. This seemed to appease it, because it tentatively grabbed the sandwich, before observing it and tucking it aside next to itself. Will wondered why it wasn’t eating it. Perhaps it was saving it and going to ask for more? Thinking this, he looked into his pocket for more food. As he turned around again to face the creature, he nearly jumped out of his skin, because returning his gaze, was not the creature, but a human woman. She looks so calm and nonchalant now, munching on the sandwich piece and Will realized quickly that this woman must be the creature he had been interacting with.

They are the same being. As he let this realization sink in, he nearly forgot about her, until she reached out a hand towards him again and for the first time, spoke. 

“Do you have more?” she asked in a soft, nervous voice. 

Will looked at her, dumbfounded. 

“You. You can talk.” he stated, clearly confused. A million questions were running through his head. 

She replied, “Yes, I can talk, I’m not some sort of animal, you know” and then giggled a little. 

Snapped out of his daze, Will remembered the fact that there was a serial killer still on the loose. One that, surprisingly, had not yet found this vulnerable woman. creature. whatever she was. 

Talking quickly, Will informed her of the situation, to which she responded quite amicably. She seemed so trusting of him, it was rather startling actually, to him. Which, while confusing, was definitely a good thing. 

Stepping away for a moment, Will radioed in the other agents, telling him he had an emergency to attend to and that he would be back when they caught the criminal to use his special talents to better understand their motivations. Thankfully, nobody gave him any trouble and he turned back to the woman saying, “Okay, I have a car we can ride to my house in. Are you gonna be okay with that?”

She looked down, seemingly mulling it over, before returning eye contact and nodding yes. The two stood up without a word before Will finally realized that this woman was butt naked. She didn’t seem too concerned by it, but Will knew that walking around the woods at night with a naked woman simply would raise too many questions. Taking off his jacket, he draped it around her, to which she thankfully snuggled into it. It was big enough to cover her completely and she happily thanked him for it. Will just nodded in response. He was about too dumbfounded by the events of the night to really say anything more at this point. 

The two climbed into his car and they drove to his house in silence. Will, because he didn’t know what to say to this eldritch abomination turned woman sitting in his car and her because she was fast asleep. 

He opted not to wake her up until they got home, instead, occasionally glancing over at her. 

She looked so peaceful.

“Sort of like a little angel” he thought to himself.