Battlecry | Criminal Minds (gxg)

Chapter 8

~Present Day, May, 2010~

Elle's POV

When I wake up Carli isn't in bed. I reach over for her, my eyes still closed, and my hands grasp at empty air. As my senses awaken, I hear shuffling downstairs. I pull myself out of bed and down to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I mumble.

Carli's leaning against the wall, a screwdriver in her hands as she installs the home alarm. She glances my way. "Putting this thing in."

Right. The thing we didn't talk about.

I don't want to argue again, so I stay silent and trudge to the coffee pot. I hear a beep as the alarm activates. Carli comes to the kitchen island, putting away the screwdriver and closing the tool box.

"The passcode is your birthday," she tells me.

I hand her a cup of coffee. "Why are you up so early?"

She shrugs. "Couldn't sleep."

"It's Saturday. You love sleeping in," I say with a small smile. She just sips at her coffee.

I head to the fridge for some breakfast. Carli watches me cook, neither of us saying a word. Finally, when I think I can't take it anymore, she wraps her arms around my waist from behind. I lean against her, my head against her shoulder. She kisses my neck. My jaw. Below my ear.

I reach a hand up to cup her cheek and turn her head to mine. Our lips connect, and it's like I can sense how sorry she is in her touch. Like this is the only way she knows how to apologize.

We separate, her arms still tight around me. I search her eyes for something, anything to let me know what's going on. But I can't see anything past the despair.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" I whisper.

She doesn't answer. But she doesn't let me go.

────

The following Monday we're called in an hour early for a case. Carli and I stroll into the bullpen, hand in hand. She's smiling. And I'm grateful. She hasn't done much of that this weekend.

We arrive last to the conference room. Carli pulls out my chair like she always does before we sit down. I let go of her hand to open the file, but she keeps hers on my thigh. She hasn't stopped touching me all weekend. Like she's afraid she'll look away for a moment and I'll disappear.

Now that we're all here, we start reviewing the case. A serial killer committed suicide. But he killed himself before his last victim could be found, and she may still be alive. And what's weirder, is according to the police, his body is covered in tattoos. Stories about his victims and how he killed them.

It's one giant pile of shit, if you ask me.

"Where's the case?" Carli asks when JJ and Hotch are finished.

"Tallahassee. We leave in thirty minutes."

Carli's hand tightens on my thigh but her expression remains neutral. We trickle out of the conference room and into the bullpen to prepare to leave. I pretend not to notice Carli leaving the bullpen. She returns five minutes later and I cross the room to sit on her desk.

"What was that?" I ask casually.

"Phone call."

I know by the tone she's using that she's not inclined to tell me anymore. So I just sigh. "Okay."

Carli pauses. She looks up at me, her eyes scanning my face. Her mouth opens and I wait for her to say something.

But she doesn't.