Chapter Text
“I knew I’d find you out here.” Aaron stated as he approached the picnic table on the grass outside of the precinct. The small Iowan town they were in seemed like any cute, perfect quaint Small Town USA; apart from the rapidly devolving serial killer who had been terrorising the town. Now that they had apprehended yet another unsub, the rest of the team had been packing up the precinct before returning to the small hotel they were staying at. The town was little more than a village, with a handful of shops, two churches, an elementary and combined middle and high school and two bars. However, what had reinforced the size of the town was the lack of light pollution.
The night sky was completely filled with stars. Far more than they would ever see on the clearest night in DC. Aaron had never learnt the names or managed to ever find any of the stars but he knew that it was a secret passion of Emily’s. He remembered how she had made the significance of the Heavenly Waters during the Angel Maker case. There was a crescent moon steadily rising through the night sky.
Silently observing the heavens was Emily. Sitting on top of the picnic table, resting her weight on her elbows, Emily didn’t break her gaze from the sky at the sound of Aaron’s voice. “Is it time to go?”
“Not yet,” Aaron said as he sat on the table beside her and turned his gaze upwards. “It’s an amazing view.”
“You should see the night sky in Egypt. One Eid, we hired some quad bikes and rode out into the desert to watch the New Moon rising. You could see the Milky Way and literally millions of stars. It was like nothing I’d ever seen.” Emily replied; her grandfather had taught her the different stars, planets and constellations and how to find them in the night sky. It had been one of her comforts throughout her childhood and time with Interpol. No matter where she was within the Northern Hemisphere; the stars remained the same.
“It sounds amazing.” Aaron said as he squinted at a group of three stars together. “Is that Orion’s Belt?”
“That’s part of Virgo. Orion’s Belt is way over here.” Emily said as she pointed it out and traced it with her finger. “Over there is the Big Dipper, the Bear and if you follow up from there, that’s the Pole Star.”
“It looks like a saucepan with a bent handle.” Aaron commented and Emily laughed. That’s what she had thought too when her grandfather had pointed it out.
“I know, I was so disappointed that it didn’t look like a bear when my grandfather showed me it.” Emily recalled. “I thought there were actually dolphins and lions and dragons in the sky. I was also six. So what’s your excuse?”
“I have no imagination.” Aaron replied in a deadpan tone causing Emily to burst out laughing.
“Your words, not mine.” Emily laughed as she kept her gaze on the sky above. There was always something about the night sky that was comforting and soothing. Like the blanket of stars was like a literal blanket that caressed and supported them. No matter where in the world she travelled, the stars were always there. How many people stared up at the stars above, searching for the same patterns or seeking refuge in the night sky? How many people were looking up at the sky right now and seeing what she was seeing? It made her feel connected and at the same time, reinforced how small everything on Earth was.
She had once read somewhere that due to the amount of time it takes for certain stars to reach the Earth, looking into the night sky was a way of looking into the past.
Aaron smiled softly at the tranquil, relaxed expression on Emily’s face as she looked up into the sky, occasionally furrowing her brow as she attempted to find a specific constellation. He wasn’t sure when he had started to see her in a way that he knew could no longer be considered platonic but watching her as she stared up into the night sky, transfixed by the eons of stars, myths and legends, he allowed himself to attach a word to describe how he felt.
Love.
He was in love with her.
The day would come when he would tell her, but for now, he was happy to sit by her side and stare up into the night sky, scattered with stars.