dangerously ↝ a. hotchner

e l e v e n

Charlotte practically raced into the office, cursing herself for not setting her alarm and being almost twenty minutes late.

"Sorry I'm late!" Charlotte called out, hoping Ana could hear her from her office. She threw her bag down behind her desk and walked into her boss's office. "So you have Mr- Ana?" She looked around the room for a moment, her mind confirming what her eyes already knew. Ana was late.

Charlotte furrowed her brows, heading back to her desk and calling her boss. After the fourth time her phone went to voicemail, Charlie knew something was ... off. The doctor was never late and if she wasn't coming in to work, she always called.

So she quickly canceled all Ana's appointments for the day and got to work on finding her. She was probably at home, sleeping or something — she usually was.

"Charlie." Dr Larsen boomed, drawing out the 'e' as he entered the office. "You seen Ana?"

"Good morning Doctor." Charlotte greeted, "I haven't. She hasn't called in sick either."

Connor frowned, "That's ... not like her. At all."

Charlotte nodded and was about to carry on speaking when Dr Ashford appeared next to Dr Larsen.

"What's not like who?" She questioned, her eyes shifting between Connor and Charlotte.

"Ana hasn't come in yet. She hasn't called in sick or anything and she's not answering her phone." Charlotte filled her in, her facial expression now a permanent worried frown.

Seraphina lifted her eyebrows up in disbelief. "Con, I think we mistakenly took the wrong bus this morning, causing us to be twenty minutes late." She mumbled.

Connor nodded, "Those darn city buses." He smiled at Charlotte, hoping she'd get the idea. Thankfully she did, nodding her head subtly and busying herself with work.

In the meantime, Connor and Seraphina clambered into Connor's car, buckling them selves in and then holding on for dear life as Connor sped out of the hospital and drove to Ana's apartment.

"Maybe she's just fast asleep and we're overreacting." Sera exhaled sharply from her cheeks.

"I don't know Sera, she wakes up at the tiniest noise. Surely she heard her alarm go off this morning?" He muttered, his eyes focusing on the road. "I'm worried."

Sera sighed, her pessimistic attitude abandoning her. "Me too."

They made it to Ana's place and rushed inside the building, practically pacing in the elevator as it took them to her floor. They walked straight towards her door, which was on the far end of the corridor and stopped in front of it.

"Shit. What if it's locked." Connor said, staring at the doorknob.

Sera pulled two pairs of latex gloves out of her pocket. "What if it's not? Here, put these on." She shoved a pair of the blue gloves into his hands.

He looked at her quizzically, "This is not a crime scene." He hissed, his eyes widening as she twisted the doorknob and watched as she threw the door open.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." She whispered, her eyes narrowing at the the eery silence that swallowed the apartment. She ventured inside, Connor following close behind her. Everything was just as she remembered, neat and tidy and no signs of anything fishy. That is, until they entered Ana's bedroom.

Sera gasped and Connor felt his breath get caught in his throat as they stood still in the doorway and inspected the scene in front of them. The bedroom was a mess. The bedsheets were mussed, a curtain was hanging off its rails, Ana's closet was wide open with clothes spilling out onto the floor. But worst of all,