Blood and Battle | Criminal Minds (gxg)

Chapter 38

The weekend lasted about five minutes. 

I sink into my desk chair as I arrange the stacks of files in front of me. Elle comes in a few minutes later. She stops in the doorway before making a beeline for her desk. She sits, the two of us refusing to look at each other.

"Hey, C, how was your weekend?" Morgan calls.

"Fine," I respond casually. Just wonderful, Derek.

Reid speaks up, saving me from having to elaborate. "I went to this chess tournament in Maryland, there were hundreds of competitors..."

I tune out as I open the files in front of me, reading each one and putting them in order of urgency.

"How's the arm?" 

I glance at Morgan once I realize he's talking to me.

"Oh, uh, fine," I stutter, unprepared. Derek raises an eyebrow. "Okay, so I popped a stitch, but it's fine."

"First, stop saying you're fine. I didn't believe you the first time, I don't believe you now. Second, what the hell did you do?" Morgan stands and comes around to sit on my desk, concern in his voice.

"Nothing, I'm good."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"Actually, I'm a great liar, I'm just not trying very hard right now," I reply slyly. I sigh as he continues to regard me with concern. "Okay, you win. I was doing pushups in my bedroom at 3:30 AM on Saturday because I couldn't sleep. Realized I broke a stitch in the shower later that morning."

Morgan stares at me in disbelief. I notice Elle has finally glanced up from the file in her hands, her head tilted as she listens. 

Morgan leans in closer. "Because of Friday?" 

I don't respond. 

"Call me next time, okay? You know I'm here if you ever need to talk." He puts a hand on my shoulder.

I give him a sad smile. "I know, Derek. Thank you." Even though I could never tell you the real reason.

He smiles back before taking his seat and we quietly return to work.

────

Around 11:00 I see JJ walk over to Elle and tap her on the shoulder. "Hey, you get that cut taken care of Friday?"

Elle gives a small smile, her head turning for a moment in my direction. "Yeah, thanks. What's that?" She wonders, gesturing to the file in JJ's hand. She reads JJ's expression. 

"Another one already? It's been three days," Elle complains with noticeable tiredness in her voice.

"I know, I'm sorry. You look tired, did you sleep at all last night?" JJ questions, concerned, their conversation mimicking the one I had with Morgan earlier.

"Not really, no," she admits.

"After what happened Friday?"

I stiffen, scared of what she's going to say. "Something like that, yeah," Elle replies.

JJ rubs her arm comfortingly before turning to the rest of us. "Round table in five."

I hear her but keep my head down. 

"C?" she calls, "You hear me?"

I sit up quickly. "Yeah, I heard, sorry."

JJ and Morgan exchange glances, then look between me and Elle. The room buzzes with tension.

"Okay..." JJ replies slowly. "Let's go."

I push my chair back and follow the others to the conference room, hesitating in the doorway. Elle takes her regular seat beside mine. Instead of sitting beside her I take the seat two chairs down, Morgan between us. I ignore the sideways glance Hotch gives me.

We begin to outline the case. Serial killer, strangles his victims. "We're not sure what he uses to do it, though," JJ adds from the front of the room.

"It looks like..." Elle trails off as she stares at the pictures.

"Chainlink," I finish for her. I instinctively glance at her. We hold awkward eye contact before I break away. "Uh, the pattern matches, and chains are effective for strangling because of the strength of the metal."

Hotch perks up as I mention the chain and I wait for him to comment. "This M.O. matches a cold case from the 80s. Elle, go to the file room, see if you can find it."

"Aren't most cases also digital now?" Morgan asks.

"Most are, but not all. They're still transitioning."

Elle sighs. "I'll find it, Hotch."

"The rest of us will head out to the local PD and crime scenes," Hotch continues. "Call us if you find anything."

I follow the others out the room, careful to avoid Elle. "A little frosty in there," Morgan whispers to me.

I elbow him in the ribs and keep moving, trying to put her to the back of my mind.

────

A few hours later our team stands around a conference table at the local police department. We've gone to the crime scene, the ME, and we've started to build the profile. But if this does match an older case, it'll change our analysis completely.

Hotch's phone lays in the center of the table top, on speaker. Elle's voice flows through the receiver.

"I've gone through five boxes, but I haven't found it yet. The files aren't organized at all, completely random." She sounds tired.

"Okay, I'll send someone to help you," Hotch tells her.

She hesitates before answering. "Alright. Thanks, Hotch. Bye," she hangs up.

Hotch addresses me. "D'angelo, go back to the BAU, help Elle find that file."

I glance towards Morgan and back to Hotch. "Could you send someone else? I just think it'd be better if–"

"Carli," he interrupts. "I'm asking you."

I sigh and nod. "Okay."

He takes a step closer. "And by the time you get back I expect whatever's going on between you two to be worked out. Understood?"

I nod again. "Understood."