Author's Note: I wrote this at like midnight so I hope it's not complete trash. I've been trying to write a more "shippy" story for Kate and Alejandro and I feel that the "someone special" he said she reminded him of during the whole scene after she was attacked was his wife. I just don't feel that they had a father/daughter relationship. Anyway, any comments or constructive criticism are much appreciated. Also you'd think with a Hispanic father who can speak pretty fluent Spanish I could but alas I cannot. So these translations are from google translate (because I certainly wasn't going to ask my dad to translate pieces of my fanfics). The title of this fic comes from "Anathema" by twenty one pilots. It's also posted on my AO3.

During his time as a prosecutor, a judge once told him after a trial that a murderer's punishment would be being haunted by their victims.

Alejandro knew from experience that wasn't true.

He honestly couldn't recall the number of people he'd killed and he rarely ever thought about them. If he saw them in a dream, it would be nothing more than an unrecognizable blur of a face that couldn't be distinguished in any way from the next one that would appear. Perhaps he'd just gotten to used to taking lives that ghosts had no power over him anymore.

Well, not all ghosts. There were two ghosts that haunted him every time he closed his eyes, two that he hadn't created by his hand yet were still taken away due to him. They were his wife and daughter.

He would see them every night in his dreams, all lively and happy as they were in life. It was more like reliving a memory than watching a dream.

Tonight was no different.

"Papá, Papá. Despertar (wake up), Papá!"

Alejandro opened his eyes and saw his daughter, around 10-years-old, standing in front of him, a soccer ball in hand.

"Va a jugar conmigo después del desayuno (Will you play with me after breakfast), Papá?"

He couldn't help but smile as he swung himself out of bed. "Por supuesto, princesa (Of course, princess)."

He ruffled her hair as he passed by, and she turned to follow him, all the while asking questions.

"Vas a trabajar en otro caso hoy en día (Are you going to work on another case today)?"

He shook his head. "No, soy tuya y de tu madre para todo el día (No, I'm yours and your mother's for the whole day)."

Speaking of his wife, Alejandro saw her standing at their stove, preparing some eggs.

He walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, then bent down to start kissing her neck. "Buenos días, mi amor (Good morning, my love)," he whispered against her skin.

A small hum of a moan and her leaning her head to the other side was the only response he got and he smiled as he continued up her neck to her lips. He didn't even need to open his eyes to know how to follow her body. He'd kissed her every morning for years.

So when he tasted her lips he immediately could tell something was unusual. She tasted like cigarettes and beer; Alejandro had never known her to smoke or drink.

Then, her hands came up to his face and he could tell they weren't as soft as he remembered. They were rougher, more callused as if they'd spend more years holding a gun than a spatula.

It all felt off.

So, he opened his eyes and then immediately pulled away. Standing in front of him wasn't his wife. Standing in front of him was Kate Macer.

She looked just as she had when he's left her that night, hair down, jeans and t-shirt on, the marks on her neck still glowing somewhat red. She was looking at him with that look in her eyes, the one that looked so tough but he knew was really hiding her fear.

Alejandro couldn't deny that there was a certain beauty to her.

He didn't know what happened next but suddenly they weren't in his house anymore but in her apartment. He was standing right in front of her, his hand on her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. She stared at him and he couldn't help but lean in toward her. He felt her breathe against his lips and just when he was about to kiss her...

He jolted awake.

His breathing was heavy for a moment as he looked around the room to remind himself of where he was at. Matt's deafening snoring and the humming of the computers were enough to let him know he was in the motel room. He leaned back against the headboard and gained his composure before turning to look at the clock.

5: 31.

The meeting was at 7 am so he decided it's not worth going back to sleep. Not that he really could anyway. That dream had his head all out of whack.

He stared up at the ceiling as he thought about it. Normally, Alejandro was made of stone; he showed no emotion, nothing ever got to him in anyway. But seeing Kate Macer in a dream had him more shook up than seeing dead bodies hanging from bridges ever did.

"You remind me of someone very special to me."

He'd told her that earlier that night and Alejandro couldn't deny that Kate reminded him of his wife. It was something about their personalities and that damned look she gave him. The look of a woman trying to be strong and human in a world where you'd have to pick one or the other.

His wife had been a strong woman too; of course, you had to be if you were married to a prosecutor seeking justice in one of the most politically corrupt systems in the world.

He could remember the times she would give him that look, mostly after the threats started coming in. He would reassure her the threats were empty and that they were protected. And she would just shake her head in agreement, wanting to be strong enough to believe in him but also being human enough to still have that fear.

He always wondered if she gave her killers that look. If she tried to conjure up enough strength to try and show them she had no fear, even when she was probably at her weakest. He would like to believe she did but part of him knows she was probably more like Kate, in that the fear was clearly visible when it felt like death was so close.

Kate Macer. Why did she have to do this to him? Why did she have to come into his life and fuck up his head?

He thought back to his dream and their almost-kiss. He tried to reason with himself that it was just him seeing his wife in her and feeling the urge to kiss her. He certainly felt nothing for Kate herself. She was just the new body for an old ghost.

But, how did that explain how much he wanted to blow the head off of that asshole who was choking her? How did it explain how he wanted to check on her afterward just to make sure she was ok?

Half of it had to be because she's so much like his wife but the other half...well...he honestly didn't want to confront that.

Suddenly, he could hear Matt stirring and so he looked back at the clock. 6:15. He decided he might as well get up and start the day and get his mind off this whole dream.

XXXXXXX

She arrived at around 7:10, Reggie right behind her. When she entered the room, he could see she'd gotten some of her color back and was looking all professional. As if she wasn't almost killed the night before.

Alejandro couldn't resist the urge to go check on her so he left his spot at the computers and went to shake both of their hands while telling them good morning.

He then turned his attention to her, placing his hand on her arm. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she replied with a small nod as if she was trying to reassure herself that that's how she really felt.

"How's the neck?"

She absentmindedly traced her fingers over it. "Better."

As he watched her, he can't help but think back to his dream and how it was his lips on that same spot of her neck. He quickly shook away the thought though and inwardly groaned.

He hadn't had feelings like that in the longest time and he must say he's not a fan. They were making him feel off his game and this was the time he needed to be prepared the most. This was his first chance at some real vengeance.

So, he let go of her arm and just patted her on the shoulder as he walked away from her. "Good, good."

He then headed back over to the computers to sit and watch for Diaz, all while getting his head back together.

Kate was just supposed to be a tool that him and Matt needed so they could complete their operation. She was supposed to be nothing and she was supposed to mean nothing. Simple as that.

But Alejandro realized that God must have decided that sending ghosts to haunt him didn't work so he's sent Kate Macer into his life to mock him. To remind him of everything he's lost and everything he wants but can't have.

So, Kate Macer was far from nothing; she was his punishment.

Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! ;D