ONE; DAISY AND DEREK

IT IS A KNOWN FACT, THAT IF YOU WITNESS DAISY ALVAREZ CRY, A LITTLE PIECE OF YOUR HEART CHIPS AWAY. To watch the tears slowly prickle in her eyes, her bottom lip wobble and her cheeks flush wasn't a sight welcomed by many, especially considering how rare the event was. She wasn't a crier. She was a doer. She got up every morning and pretended her job wasn't taxing on her mental health as well as the wellbeing of others. She kept her head held high, and hardly ever let it slip that she had become nothing but a shell of her past self over the last ten years of her life.

"Good morning, are you Daisy?"

Daisy's lips pressed into a thin line as she placed a fresh bouquet of flowers on the young woman's bedside table. They were yellow; a colour that symbolised happiness, and the stimulation of mental and muscle energy. Perhaps there was a small part of her, deep down, that thought something as small as a colour could make a difference.

"Yeah, that's me," her dark eyes wandered everywhere but the bed, knowing that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to have turned up after almost a month. The doctor said that if she was to go away for too long, she'd be forgotten. But it had gotten too hard. It wasn't her fault, she'd just been...busy; busy staring at the wall of her apartment, ignoring the incessant ringing of her landline. She knew it was just her friends or her local salespeople checking up on her.

Daisy turned her head back to the doctor, who shook his head once. He knew what she was going to do, despite his warnings not to. His eyes were practically begging for her to keep her mouth shut.

"Thanks for coming to visit," the woman hummed, blinking slowly. The sunlight shone down on her dyed hair, though half of it was gone now. Daisy still thought she was beautiful. "I don't get many visitors."

Daisy lowered herself onto the chair beside her sister's bed. She exhaled softly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear - a nervous tick. "Beanie-"

"Beatrice. My name is Beatrice."

Daisy swallowed, feeling as if she'd been stabbed in the chest at the correction. She closed her eyes for a second to recollect herself. "Beatrice, do you remember anything that happened?"

"Ma'am, I don't think that's a good idea," the doctor took a hesitant step forward, but Daisy didn't spare him any more of her attention. Instead, she reached for her little sister's hand and squeezed. Beatrice stared at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" the bedridden woman's thin eyebrows furrowed, creating a gentle wrinkle in the centre of her forehead. Daisy had always been jealous of her eyebrows. They never needed maintenance - they were somehow always perfect. It was the little things that used to bother her, but they all seemed so unimportant now.

"Do you know who I am?" she pressed on, trying to force down the lump that rose in her throat. She couldn't cry, not in the middle of a hospital. Not with her watching. "Don't you remember me, Beanie?"

There was a brief moment of silence in the room, the only sounds being the whirring of machines, many of which were attached to the nineteen year-old who was staring at Daisy with an unreadable expression. The damaged gears in her head started to turn, but it was clear that Beatrice was running out of energy to try harder.

Daisy finally lifted her head to look at the figure lying on the adjustable bed (one of the many expensive contraptions she'd paid extra for). She didn't pay attention to the bed. She instead saw her sister, clean and beautiful as she had always been, but also someone that had become unrecognisable.

"I don't want you to be here anymore," Beatrice whispered. Daisy felt the familiar sting in her eyes and nose, and lifted the pad of her thumb to her lashes, as to not smear her mascara. Beatrice continued to watch. "Can you leave, please?"

Daisy had no choice. She looked away as quick as she could and got to her feet, walking out the room before another word could be said. She then proceeded to sit in her car and set a timer for forty-five minutes so that she could cry, but still make it to work on time.

★☆

Working for the FBI had its pros and cons. Since the incident, Daisy had mostly focused on the latter. She often couldn't help how she approached her career now; though it wasn't difficult to be pessimistic in such a place. She had no idea how some people did it. She'd seen some of the greats come and go in her time, even Jason Gideon, who she used to teach classes with at the Academy. He was the strongest person she knew, and in the end, even he couldn't handle it.

"Jesus, Alvarez, do you ever sleep?"

Daisy didn't hear the teasing voice of Derek Morgan. Her music was blasting in her ears and her aggressive hits to the punching bag were far too loud for her to pick up on any other sounds. Sweat beaded down her forehead as she grunted, imagining the bag was his face. She saw him every time she closed her eyes, and the closest thing to vengeance she could get was unleashing her anger on the sixty-pound gym accessory before her.

"Alvarez!"

Morgan sighed softly, scratching the back of his head as he watched her for a moment. He could see that her form had improved over the years, and that her punches had gotten much stronger than they used to be in their Academy days. But he wasn't paying attention to that, he was looking at her face. Her expression, though one he'd seen plenty of times, was still one he could never decipher. It was unfortunate, seeing as that was what he did for a living.

When he realised that she wasn't going to reply to his calls, he walked over and wrapped his arms around the punching bag, absorbing Daisy's final blow. She noticed the lack of movement from the bag and took a step back, looking up to see the handsome man opposite her. She panted as she ripped her earbuds out and swung them over her shoulders. "What do you want?"

"Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" Derek hummed, smiling down at the smaller woman. She flashed him a glare, which only amused him further. He stepped around the bag and crossed his arms, observing how the woman unwrapped her knuckles to reveal dark bruising across her hands. "You know the tape is supposed to prevent that sort of thing?"

"I don't always have time to wrap," she muttered, swearing under her breath as the lack of pressure on her hands left her feeling rather sore. Morgan sighed and reached for her, taking her hand in his. Despite being so sweaty, parts of her skin remained cold to the touch. She huffed as he massaged the skin between her knuckles. "That hurts."

"I know, sweetheart," he muttered. "But my guess is that you'll be in a lot more pain if I don't do it. Also, that music is way too loud."

"Sorry, dad," she said sarcastically, causing him to chuckle. A few minutes passed by the time she had finally caught her breath, and she found herself itching to get back into it again. She pulled away from Morgan and reached for her gym towel to dry her face and back. "What're you doing here, anyway? I heard your team was in Dallas tonight."

"We cracked it earlier than expected," he explained, his eyes never leaving her person. "Got home in time to sleep in our own beds. What's your excuse?"

"I needed a workout," she shrugged, forcing a smile. "I haven't been out in the field in a while and I've been enjoying KitKats a little too much."

Derek tilted his head a little, trying to figure her out, but she smacked his arm once she realised what he was doing. He was a profiler, what else would he do when he thought someone was struggling? Nonetheless, he never looked away. "Did Strauss mention the opening?"

Daisy took a breath before nodding. "She sure did. But, I'm not interested in joining the BAU. I'm happy where I am."

"Sitting behind a desk and deciding what kids to let through?" Derek countered, quirking his brow. He tried to keep eye contact, but Daisy kept looking away. He lifted his hand and gently took her chin between his thumb and finger. "You're not a teacher, Alvarez. You're one of the best agents we've seen, and I'm sure Hotch would rather give you a shot than someone new."

Daisy mulled it over for a few seconds before pulling away. She shook her head and tightly smiled at her old friend. "Forget it. I've had enough excitement to last six lifetimes."

She reached for her boxing tape, but Derek stepped in and snatched it up before she could. Her jaw clenched a little in annoyance, and she stared up at him, clearly unimpressed. Derek didn't seem all too bothered by her reaction, and instead tucked the fresh binding material into his back pocket. He then moved around her and started packing up her bags, loading them onto his shoulders and walking towards the exit.

Daisy's brows knitted together. "Morgan! Give my stuff back! Morgan!"

"Catch me first, baby girl!" Derek laughed, breaking into a run out of the gym. Daisy groaned and ran her hands through her hair, before allowing the smallest of smiles to rise on her lips as she sprinted after him.

★☆

hi pls be kind im new to the criminal minds fandom but i hope you enjoyed the first chapter

hopefully daisy will be a good bitch