I take a deep breath before opening the door. Elle stood there, a sad smile on her face, confusion, and hurt. Elle doesn't say a word and just walks inside my apartment. I close the door and turn around. Elle takes off her coat and hangs it up, she sighs.
"Nice sweater" She jokes as she looks me up and down. I laugh lightly. "Okay enough games Hallie. Something is wrong and you need to tell me what it is." Elle's voice goes serious, I'm definitely not getting out of this one.
"I lied to Hotch, Elle," I take a deep breath as I look back at Elle. She takes a step closer, putting her hand on my shoulder and rubbing gently. "H-he asked if there's something going on between us. I lied to him Elle, I told him no."
Elle wraps her arms around me. "We will tell him when we're ready, Hallie. Just breathe." She calms me down as she holds me close. I take a deep breath.
"In a way, we get to be a couple in front of the team." She pulls away and winks, laughing softly. I smile at her, she was right.
——— 2 Days later ———
"Good luck out there and be careful, Rodriguez." Derek pats me on the back before Elle and I have to go into the party.
"I'm sure I'll be fine." I roll my eyes at him and laugh lightly.
I turn around looking Elle up and down. She wore a red dress that stopped at her knees with a pair of black heels. "Ready to go in?" She asks, smiling. I nod my head as we both walk next to each other.
"We'll be right in the back, tell us if you see him. Don't do anything stupid." Hotch looks me in the eye before Elle and I can enter. Elle nods her head and quickly glances at me.
We walk in next to each other, my fingers lightly brush against her hand. Elle takes my hand in hers instantly. I smile to myself as I look around the open space that was occupied by people. They were socializing, drinking, some even danced slowly.
I search the room with my eyes, the killer hadn't arrived yet. I turn to Elle as we walk to a space that wasn't so crowded. "No sign of the killer" We look each other in the eye. Her eyes light up. "What?"
She laughs lightly as she pulls me gently by my hand. "Let's be a couple" She says softly as she pulls me to the dance floor. A slow song plays, she places her hands on my waist, I put mine by her neck. We sway back in forth, keeping eye contact. I look around the room once more, trying my best not to get lost in her eyes, trying to focus on the case.
Then I spot him. "I got eyes on the killer" I whisper to Elle. Hotch told us once we spot our killer to 'do something a couple would do' to get our killers attention. Then, Elle and I would walk to the back where the team was, the killer following.
"Okay, kiss me" Elle whispers.
"What! I thought we were—" I start to say. Elle kisses me, cutting my sentence off. She pulled me by my waist closer to her. I felt eyes on me, people around us staring; the killer was staring. Elle pulls away and licks her lips.
"We definitely have his attention now." Elle winks at me, I feel myself start to blush. I clear my throat.
"We should probably lead him to the back now..." Elle laughs lightly, nodding her head. I take a quick glance at the killer as Elle leads me towards the back of the building. He fell for it.
Elle opens the door and we step outside. Hotch narrows his eyes at me, raising an eyebrow. Derek smirks. Spencer ready with his gun. Elle and I step to the side. I pull my gun out of its holster that was hidden underneath my dress. I glance at Elle, showing off her side profile as she raises her gun, pointing it at the door. I blink myself back to reality as I raise my gun.
The killer bursts open the doors yelling, "You sl*ts! Sinners!" I jump, slightly startled by the killer. He held a knife in his hands, he looks around at the agents.
"Drop the knife, Henley." Hotch says sternly, with his gun pointed.
"They are sinners! They need to pay" He looks at me and Elle.
"DROP THE KNIFE HENLEY" Elle yells at him, the trigger of her gun ready to be pulled.
He takes a step closer to Elle with his knife, I freeze. Hotch shoots him in the shoulder, Henley falls to the floor.
Elle takes a step back, lowering her gun. I place my gun back in its holster and turn away. I walk towards the BAU car as Hotch, Derek Elle take care of Henley.
"That wasn't a lie" Spencer approaches me, standing next to me.
I turn to him. "What wasn't a lie?" I ask in confusion.
"The look in your eyes after Elle kissed you. We all saw it, Hallie, I know they'd agree with me." Spencer looks me in the eye, hurt. Shit shit shit!
I take a deep breath. "I don't know what you're talking about, Reid" I hide all the emotion from my voice, unrecognizable. I glance at Elle in my discomfort, hinting to her to help me out. She nods her head.
Spence steps closer, putting his hand on mine."Hallie, I really—" I know what he's going to say, thank god Elle came up.
"Hey, we are heading back now. Is everything okay over here?" Elle asks, she looks at Spencer's hand holding mine. She takes a sharp breath, ignoring it.
I pull my hand away, taking a small step back from the both of them. "Yes everything is fine. I'll talk to you back on the plane, Hallie." Spencer says, walking away.
"Looks like JJ's not the only one with eyes for you..." Elle says as she steps closer to me.
"I guess not..." I pause for a moment. I look over at Derek and Spencer getting into the car. "We should go in the car now..." I pull Elle gently by her hand to follow me in the car.
We get in the car, I sit in between Elle and Spencer. I move closer to Elle. I glance at Spencer, he looks out the window. As Hotch starts to drive, I lay my head on Elle's shoulder, she puts her hand on my thigh. I put my hand on top of hers.
I whisper the lyrics to the music playing. I hear Spencer taking a deep breath. Hotch doesn't remove his tight grip on the steering wheel, his eyes never leaving the road. Derek leans against the window. Elle rubs circles on my thigh with her thumb.
——