The Heart Line by merle_p (Teen)
Title: The Heart Line
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Hotchner/Madame Bouvier
Categories: post-ep, het, trans character, pre-relationship
Length: Medium, 5540 words
Warnings: discussion of childhood physical abuse
Author on Livejournal: n/a?
Author Website: merle_p on AO3
Summary: He takes a deep breath and shakes his head at himself. He's only here to return a Halloween costume, nothing more, he tells himself as he reaches for the package on the passenger seat. He resists the fleeting urge to check his reflection in the rear mirror before pushing the car door open. He knows what he looks like after a long day at work, his shirt still clean but sweaty and faintly creased, his face greyish and lined from too much stress and too little sleep.
I suspect Hotchner/interesting guest character is the closest to a favoured pairing I have in this fandom. This fic brings back a guest character who had a neat vibe with Hotch, who is very different from Hotch, who is positioned in various different ways to spark off his at least apparently staid and reserved and rational edges.
It's a gentle, quiet fic, as they swap their stories, full of texture and character details, and it makes me sorry that the glimpse of this relationship wasn't anywhere the show would have gone. The original scene featuring Madame Bouvier was so short, but here it's charmingly spun out into possibility from so little.
The Heart Line
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Hotchner/Madame Bouvier
Categories: post-ep, het, trans character, pre-relationship
Length: Medium, 5540 words
Warnings: discussion of childhood physical abuse
Author on Livejournal: n/a?
Author Website: merle_p on AO3
Summary: He takes a deep breath and shakes his head at himself. He's only here to return a Halloween costume, nothing more, he tells himself as he reaches for the package on the passenger seat. He resists the fleeting urge to check his reflection in the rear mirror before pushing the car door open. He knows what he looks like after a long day at work, his shirt still clean but sweaty and faintly creased, his face greyish and lined from too much stress and too little sleep.
I suspect Hotchner/interesting guest character is the closest to a favoured pairing I have in this fandom. This fic brings back a guest character who had a neat vibe with Hotch, who is very different from Hotch, who is positioned in various different ways to spark off his at least apparently staid and reserved and rational edges.
It's a gentle, quiet fic, as they swap their stories, full of texture and character details, and it makes me sorry that the glimpse of this relationship wasn't anywhere the show would have gone. The original scene featuring Madame Bouvier was so short, but here it's charmingly spun out into possibility from so little.
The Heart Line