Blood and Battle | Criminal Minds (gxg)

Chapter 72

TW: mention of abduction

The elevator dings as it reaches the sixth floor. I look over at Elle to see a smile on her lips. She cut her hair not too long ago, her collarbone exposed by the shorter length. I squeeze her hand and bring it to my lips as the doors slide open, placing a soft kiss on the back of her palm.

I drop her hand as we leave the elevator. I pause, glancing at her. I smile and take her hand again.

Because I can.

"Elle?" Hotch approaches us.

"Hey, Hotch."

"What are you doing here? You're not cleared-"

"Trust me, Hotch," I interrupt. "You won't get anywhere."

Elle smiles my way. "I'll be cleared by Friday. And there's only so many reality shows a woman can watch before she loses her mind."

The corner of Hotch's mouth twitches up into a smile. "No fieldwork. I'm glad you're back, Elle."

I look over at her and smile, squeezing her hand. We follow Hotch into the bullpen. Morgan, JJ, and Garcia stand around Reid's desk.

Spencer sees us first. "Elle!" He jumps out of his chair and runs over, wrapping his arms around Elle. I drop her hand and take a step back to avoid being knocked over.

The others join us. "Elle! You look great!" Garcia hugs her next, followed by Morgan and JJ.

"Um, hi, I'm here too." I put my hands out.

"We saw you Friday," Morgan says.

I roll my eyes. "You saw Elle Friday, too!" She picked me up from work last week and we went out to dinner. But first, she spent some time catching up with the team. I shake my head and smile, heading to my desk.

The excitement eases as we take our seats. Hotch comes back out a few minutes later with a case file in his hands.

I glance over at Elle. She stops at my desk on her way to the conference room. "You ready for this?" I ask her.

She flashes a smile. "Of course."

I stand from my seat and lean in close to her. "Let's hope you haven't lost your touch, Greenaway."

She smirks. "You better watch it, D'angelo."

"Hey, lovebirds, let's go," Morgan calls back.

I roll my eyes playfully and follow Elle to the conference room. We take our usual seats and I smile when her leg presses against mine. Her chair's been empty for too long.

"A young boy went missing over a year ago and has recently been placed for auction on a human trafficking site. A former profiler called us in to assist the investigation." Hotch pauses. "We have eighteen hours before he is sold. After that, we may never find him."

We outline the case for the next ten minutes, Hotch concluding as always. "And Elle," he adds as she stands, "no field work."

Elle smiles. "I know, Hotch."

I stand as well, resting my hand on the small of her back. We walk back to my desk. "Don't do anything stupid," I tell her.

"Carli, you're the reckless one."

I flash a smile. "I remember you enjoying that." We stand there for a moment, smiles on our lips.

She raises an eyebrow and leans in to my ear. "You're allowed to kiss me now," she whispers.

"Technically, I'm still not supposed to-"

She interrupts me with her lips on mine. I smile into the kiss and she flicks her tongue across my bottom lip. She pulls away and walks to her desk to get ready to go. I stand there for a moment, a dopey smile on my face. I finally snap back to reality and gather my things. I look up to see Morgan smirking at me.

I try to hide my smile. "Shut up, Derek."

────

Elle lies with her back to my chest and her legs hugging mine. The Brass allowed us to take one room with two beds. We may be exploiting the loophole.

Her arms are over her head, her palms up on the pillows. I'm wrapped tightly around her waist with my head tucked against her shoulder. We managed to steal thirty minutes away from the team. I could tell Elle needed it.

She brings her hands down and rubs my forearms. Her fingers brush the fading scar on the inside of my arm.

"An entire year," she whispers. "Trapped in that tiny box, all alone."

"It's awful," I agree.

We're quiet for a few minutes. "We're going to find him," she says.

"We will, Elle."

A knock at the door interrupts our cuddling. I sigh and sit up from the pillows, Elle in my lap. "Yeah?"

"We need you guys back out here," Morgan calls through the door.

"Be right there," I respond.

"Carli?" Elle crawls out of my lap and repositions herself on my legs, turning to face me. Her knees press into my hips as she kneels on her shins.

"What is it?" I ask, concerned.

"Don't let me get trapped in a box."

I smile, cupping her face in my hands. "I won't." I peck her lips. "But I don't think it'd be as bad if we were trapped together."

Elle smiles and kisses me again. "I'll keep that in mind."