~~~
A few minutes later, Prentiss informs us that the old woman is in the house and they found blooded clothes, albums with photos and souvenirs from the victims.
Meanwhile, I call Penelope and I ask her to check traffic cameras or any camera she could find in the neighborhood for any signs of the van.
She finds an ATM camera that shows a dark van passing 2 minutes ago. Hotch and I return to the car and head there while Penelope checks for more footage.
Two blocks away, I notice the van parked in a dark alley. It looks empty; no one is in the driver's seat. Hotch stops in front of it and we get out of the car with our guns up.
I take the handle of the side door and with his nod I open it quickly. A guy jumps out from the other side and starts running. I run for a bit while pointing my gun and I shoot once.
Left leg.
I get to him and I step on his chest with my stiletto heel and my gun pointed at his face. "Well, hello there. I should have aimed for the bone actually but I didn't want to have you crying out here"
"Barnes" Hotch calls and hands me a pair of handcuffs.
I kick the guy over and I cuff him as I tell him his rights. Back up arrives and they take him to the station.
"Congratulations. First case, first arrest" Hotch says
"You arrested the guy in these?" JJ asks looking at my stiletto heels
"She even ran after him" Hotch adds
"I'm used it. It's fine" I reply.
I am lying. Sure, I can walk in heels all day due to my first job, but I can't run in them ! I just wanted to look like a badass to him. My feet are killing me!
Despite that I made the arrest and brought the guy in without any signs of pain. And the best part was when I walked in front of detective Bennett.
It is pretty late so we decided to fly tomorrow morning and kind of earn some hours off. As soon as I close my room's door I sit down and knock my shoes off.
I change into my pyjamas and I lie down but someone knocks on my door. I sigh and I get up to answer.
"Detective. What are you doing here?" I ask
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior the last two days". His tone doesn't sound apologetic.
"Ok. Sure. Apology accepted" I say and I move to close the door. He puts his foot in between stopping me.
"Why such hurry?"
"How did you find my room? Did you follow me here?"
"I asked the front desk"
"No, they know that our names and rooms can't be shared"
"Right. Ok, I just happened to see you come in. That's all"
"If that was all, then why did you lie about it?". He doesn't respond.
"Agent Prentiss is right next door, Agent Morgan is two doors down, Agent Hotchner is in the room right behind you. Don't do anything you'll regret"
"Come on, sweetheart--".
Immediately I punch him in the face breaking his nose.
"Crazy bitch!" he yells and tries to get in the room.
I kick him in the stomach and he falls back. "Go away and if I see you again, I'll make sure you finally see the inside of jail" I shut the door and I go back to bed.
Not that I could sleep, especially after this. I was so angry that around 5 am, I went down to the hotel's gym to punch something and when I looked at my watch again, it was almost 7 am.
I returned to my room, showered, picked up my things and headed to the airport. Today's suit is grey with a black top inside my blazer. Honestly, I can't wait to see what suit Hotch is wearing today.
I step in the jet and I almost lose my breath. Holy...
He is not exactly wearing a suit today. The jacket and the tie are missing.
Black pants, black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Arms.
Veins...
His chest falls and raises against the fabric as he breathes.
Fuck, he's hot.
I snap out of it and I sit down. Soon the others joined and we took off. I played a round or two of cards with the team before retiring to a corner by myself.
Hotch came to me a few minutes later. The second I notice him looking at me and coming to me, my pussy gets a heartbeat. What's wrong with me?
"Is it ok?" he asks before sitting down
"Of course" I answer and he sits across from me.
"You mentioned insomnia the other day, so I wanted to ask you if you got any sleep last night"
"Not really" I answer honestly. "But I'm used to it. I can't sleep during cases ever"
"You feel guilty for sleeping while someone could be getting hurt, don't you?"
"Wow. You're really good at this" I admit
"I told you I've been there. First and foremost, stay away from caffeine" he suggests as he looks at the cup in front of me
"Look, I appreciate this but I am handling it just fine. I have tried changing my diet, setting a sleeping schedule, exhausting myself, medication, even therapy. Their effects didn't last long. So I'm dealing with it my way"
"Which is?"
"Mostly ignoring it. I sleep for a couple of hours and then I wake up more tired. But I'm doing my job, right? You don't have to worry about me outside of it".
I look down but he's still looking at me.
"Is that also what you do? Ignore your team outside of work? Because if I'm not mistaken you were just checking on them from the phone" he points out. It's true, I called to make sure they are all ok. So I stay quiet.
"Lexie..." he calls in a lower voice and I look at him again. "I heard what Bennett last night--" he almost whispers
"Ok, enough. If I promise to sleep tonight, will you drop this conversation?" I ask
"Deal" he answers.
I smile satisfied and he smiles too. And then it hits me. He pissed me off on purpose. "Did you just manipulated me into saying that?"
"You promised now" he says and crosses his arms, causing his forearms to flex against the fabric of his shirt.
"I hate you" I chuckle and he laughs.
When we returned to the bureau, each took their desk. Despite the normal paperwork, I had to fill out some extras regarding my transfer, etc. I thought I was the last one until I walked past Hotch's office.
"These are from the case, and these are for our exchange" I say as I let the files on his desk
"Thank you. Now, goodnight"
"It's 7 pm" I argue
"Goodnight" he insists
"Fine. You're the boss..." I reply defeated and he smiles as I leave.
His POV
As soon as Lexie disappears in the distance, I notice Dave walking to me from my office window. Oh, no...
"Am I dreaming or were you smiling at Barnes?" he asks
"I wasn't" I answer, holding back another smile.
Even the sound of her name makes me smile...
"Not even on the jet? I'm not judging. I get it. Ginger, green eyes, you have the same closet but she's definitely better looking...".
She definitely is...
"Can't a man and a woman talk without meaning anything?"
"They can. But during a 10 minute conversation with her you smiled more times than I've ever seen you smile. And every time you did, she blushed".
That's true. And her blushing made me smile even more. She is beautiful and when her dimples appear she's even more adorable.
"All I'm saying is, shoot your shot before Morgan does" he warns me.
Her POV
Evelyn wasn't at my place tonight. So like I promised, I lied down after I took a hot shower.
But still not much sleep all night.
Just me and my overthinking...